Then follows the judgment—but very briefly—on the scribes; and in contrast with their selfish hypocrisy, (“which devour widows’ houses, and for a show make long prayers,”) the Lord’s estimate of real devotedness is the widow’s mites (Luke 21:1-41And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. 2And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. 3And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: 4For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had. (Luke 21:1‑4)). Mark notices it as the service of faith, and so brings it into his Gospel of service. Luke shows it as a question of the heart’s state and trust in God. It fell, therefore, within the domain of these two.
We have after this the hearts of the disciples proved to be still earthly and Jewish; but the Lord brings before them, not the glory and beauty yet in store for Jerusalem, but it is judgment specially on the temple (vss. 5-36). At the same time we have particulars which demonstrate the weighty difference between this description of the judgment of the Jews and Jerusalem, and mark it off from the accounts of either Matthew or Mark. Observe more especially this, that here the Lord Jesus brings before us a very direct and immediate picture of the destruction of Jerusalem that was then imminent. Matthew passes by the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and fixes attention upon that which will take place in the end of the age. Luke gives us this last also—closes, at any rate, with the future crisis; but the main point in the central portion of Luke is to point out the destruction then actually at hand as a distinct state of things and time from the circumstances of the Son of man’s day. This is made perfectly plain to any one who considers it patiently. He says, “When ye shall see Jerusalem”—not “the abomination of desolation” (not a word about it here, for it belongs to the last days exclusively; but “when ye shall see Jerusalem)—compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Not a word about the great tribulation, such as never was since time was; it is simply “days of vengeance.” “These be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” There is retributive severity, but not a sign appears of its being anything unparalleled. “There shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.” So there was. “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations.” This is a matter of fact description of what was really fulfilled to the letter in the capture of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus. Thus there is no exaggerated description. The pretense of commentators, who rush to hyperbole as a cover for their misapplication, is cut off. Not that I allow it any more in Matthew. The only reason why men have so spoken of that evangelist is, because they turn aside his prophecy of the end of the age to that which has been already accomplished. When the last days come, be assured they will learn too late that there is no hyperbole with God or His word.
“And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Not only is there the sack of the city, the slaughter and captivity of the people, but continual occupation by their enemies till the termination of the period God allows the nations to have the supremacy over Israel. These times are going on now. Jerusalem has been trodden down of the Gentiles for many centuries, as every one knows, throughout medieval and modern history. It seems particularly thus expressed, in order not to confine the phrase to the Romans or previous imperial powers from Babylon downwards. Thus at the present time the Turks are the actual holders of it. The fact is notorious, that Jerusalem has been in the hands of many masters who have dealt hardly with the Jews. So He closes this matter.
Next, He introduces the last days. “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars.” There was not a word of all this when He spoke of the siege and capture of the city under Titus. After the Gentile domination is over (which clearly it is not yet), there shall be signs in the sun, and moon, and stars, and distress of nations; men’s hearts failing them for fear; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken; and then shall they see—not when the Romans of old took the city, but, in the future crisis, when these astonishing tokens, heavenly and earthly, are given by God “then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:27-2827And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:27‑28)).
He gives then, a parable, but not of the fig tree only: this would not be suitable to the largeness of Luke’s scope. “Behold the fig tree, and all the trees.” The difference between Luke and the others is this—not that you have not the Jewish portion in his Gospel, but that, moreover, all the Gentiles are brought in. How perfect it all is! If it be but a parabolic description, the evangelist for the Gentiles not only gives the fig tree which is in Matthew, but the Gentile trees which are heard of nowhere else. That one tree notoriously applies to the Jews as a nation; the other figure (“all the trees”) adds the rest, so as to be universal.
Then the Lord adds some moral considerations for the heart: “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.” Need it be remarked here that this again falls in with our evangelist beyond all others? So too the brief picture of His daily occupation in the temple, and of His nights apart at Olivet, which in no way precluded the people from coming to hear early in the morning. What unwearied travail of love!