Luke 5:35

5:35 But those days are coming, and when the bridegroom is taken from them, ¹  at that time ²  they will fast.”

Luke 13:26

13:26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ³ 

Luke 21:20

The Desolation of Jerusalem

21:20 “But when you see Jerusalem ⁴  surrounded ⁵  by armies, then know that its ⁶  desolation ⁷  has come near.

Luke 21:27

21:27 Then ⁸  they will see the Son of Man arriving in a cloud ⁹  with power and great glory.

Luke 23:30

23:30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ¹⁰  ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ ¹¹ 

¹ sn The statement when the bridegroom is taken from them is a veiled allusion by Jesus to his death, which he did not make explicit until the incident at Caesarea Philippi in 9:18ff.

² tn Grk “then in those days.”

³ sn This term refers to wide streets, and thus suggests the major streets of a city.

⁵ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁶ sn See Luke 19:41-44. This passage refers to the events associated with the fall of Jerusalem, when the city is surrounded by armies.

⁷ tn Grk “her,” referring to the city of Jerusalem (the name “Jerusalem” in Greek is a feminine noun).

⁸ sn The phrase its desolation is a reference to the fall of the city, which is the only antecedent present in Luke’s account. The parallels to this in Matt 24:15 and Mark 13:14 refer to the temple’s desolation, though Matthew’s allusion is clearer. They focus on the parallel events of the end, not on the short term realization in a.d. 70. The entire passage has a prophetic “two events in one” typology, where the near term destruction (a.d. 70) is like the end. So the evangelists could choose to focus on the near time realization (Luke) or on its long term fulfillment, which mirrors it (Matthew, Mark).

⁷ tn Grk “And then” (καὶ τότε, kai tote). Here καί has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁸ sn An allusion to Dan 7:13. Here is Jesus returning with full judging authority.

⁹ sn The figure of crying out to the mountains ‘Fall on us!’ (appealing to creation itself to hide them from God’s wrath), means that a time will come when people will feel they are better off dead (Hos 10:8).

¹⁰ sn An allusion to Hos 10:8 (cf. Rev 6:16).