Thursday in the 34th Week of Ordinary Time, November 25, 2021

Luke 21:20-28

Jesus said to his disciples: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation is at hand. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. Let those within the city escape from it, and let those in the countryside not enter the city, for these days are the time of punishment when all the Scriptures are fulfilled. Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days, for a terrible calamity will come upon the earth and a wrathful judgment upon this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken as captives to all the Gentiles; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”

St. Luke lays the Lord’s teaching on the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans alongside his teaching on the end of the world.  We should understand a new paragraph beginning after verse 24  (“. . . until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled”).   St. Matthew does the same in his Gospel.  Very possibly Luke thought that the end of Jerusalem would lead directly to the Second Coming of the Lord.  Even so, the meaning of the Lord’s words is not affected.  We simply read them, aware that the two teachings are set next to each other in the text.  We can also see the teaching of the fall of Jerusalem as signifying the final persecution of the Antichrist against the Church.

“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation is at hand.”  Less than forty years after the Lord’s Death and Resurrection, provoked by the plundering of the Jewish Temple by the Roman governor, the Jews revolted.  Initially, the revolt succeeded and the Holy Land was freed from Roman occupation.  In the next year, however, the Romans returned and began the reconquest.  After subduing Galilee and most of Judea, the Romans laid a siege to Jerusalem which lasted seven terrible months.  At last, with the Jewish food stores gone, the Romans broke into the city and destroyed it utterly.  The Lord Jesus here warns the people, many of whom would live to see this happen, that divine intervention would not save it from the Romans.  “Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.”  The Lord may have meant the mountains across the Jordan River.  The city was doomed, but those who listened to Jesus might spare themselves.  The Jewish Christian community did in fact leave at this time.  “Let those in the countryside not enter the city, for these days are the time of punishment when all the Scriptures are fulfilled.”  Typically, when a foreign army entered a territory, those living in the country fled to the safer environs of the walls of the nearest city.  The Lord is saying that this will not save anyone in the coming war because all the cities and forts will fall to the Romans.  For safety, one had to leave the territory altogether.  The Lord emphasizes that heaven will not intervene on the side of the rebels, for punishment has come upon them.  “Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days, for a terrible calamity will come upon the earth and a wrathful judgment upon this people.”  Women who are pregnant and nursing are most vulnerable to any sort of abuse but in time of war will have a terrible time even if they choose to flee the country.  The Lord seems to remind the people of this to make his warning more urgent to them: Leave when the war breaks out and do not be deceived by the early success.  Get out before the Romans return.  “They will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken as captives to all the Gentiles.”  Not only will the rebel soldiers be defeated and killed, but civilian populations will be put to the sword or enslaved, as indeed happened.  “Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles.”  As in the days of Jeremiah, the people and their leaders would trust in their belief that the city enjoyed divine protection because of the Temple.  “Until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”  That is, until the end of the world, for the present “age” or “times” is that of the Gentiles.  By 70 A.D. and the Fall of Jerusalem, Christian missionary efforts, such as those of St. Paul, had turned largely from the Jews to the Gentiles.

While the revolt against the Romans is a historical event which the Lord foretold, we can also understand the war of the Jews against the Romans as the final persecution of the Antichrist and his forces against the Christians.  It will commence successfully with many believers of little faith apostatizing.  It will seem that the Church will be wiped out completely.  Yet after the Church is purified of “false brethren” (cf. 2 Corinthians 11, 26) the Lord will rise up and kill the Antichrist (that is, “Jerusalem”, in this interpretation) and the persecution put down completely.  A short time of peace will then be granted the Church before the end of the world.  

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.”  This can be understood as heresy, schism, and scandal among the leaders of the Church in the last age, as the Venerable Bede taught, but also as the physical disassembly of the universe at the end of time: “And the city [the New Jerusalem] has no need of the sun, nor of the moon to shine on it. For the glory of God has enlightened it” (Revelation 21, 23).  “People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”  Many of those who had no thought of God in this world and who lived only for the pleasures of this world will die of fright.  They will be like the merchants who grieve and despair in Revelation 18, 16-17: “Alas! alas! that great city, which was clothed with fine linen and purple and scarlet and was gilt with gold and precious stones and pearls. For in one hour are so great riches come to nought!”  

“And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”  The old creation has passed away and now the Son of God arrives in glory with the angels and the saints to judge the world.  All who ever lived will be gathered before him and there shall be no further evasions, denials, or disbelief, for “every eye shall see him, and they also, who pierced him” (Revelation 1, 7).  The sight of him will overwhelm all, and will cause jubilation among the just and such dread among the wicked that they will cry out to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” (cf. Luke 23, 30).

“But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”  Jesus is speaking to those who will persevere in their faith, come what may.  At the end of our lives on earth, having withstood and overcome the temptations of the devil, the enticements of the world, and our own fallen human nature, we will “stand erect” in the light for the wicked to see as unconquered, with our heads “raised” in victory to gaze with the most sublime love upon the Love of our lives.