Consequences with Mercy

 

"In fact, unless the Lord shortens that time of calamity, the entire human race will be destroyed.  But for the sake of his chosen ones he has shortened those days." Mark 13:20 (New Living Translation).

 

"You're all going to die."  In essence that's what Jesus is telling those listening to him who would never believe in him.  And so it came to pass.  Once again, this prediction of Jesus, though it may sound like it should be associated with Jesus' second coming, has nothing to do with end times at all.  It is a prediction concerning the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 a.d.  That's what Jesus has been talking about and is still talking about.  He hasn't changed subjects.  He is predicting Jerusalem's destruction.

 

Luke makes this very clear in his account of this prediction.  He records Jesus' words like this, "There will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.  They will be brutally killed by the sword or sent away as captives to all the nations of the world.  And Jerusalem will be conquered and trampled down by the Gentiles until the age of the Gentiles comes to an end." Luke 21:23b-24 (New Living Translation).

 

Luke's commentary on what Mark and Matthew record about this prediction is painfully clear.  It has absolutely nothing to do with the end times or Jesus' second coming.  And neither this prediction nor any in this chapter so far are "signs of the times" that we should watch for that tell us Jesus is coming back soon.  Instead, it is a clear and concise prediction of Jerusalem's downfall. 

 

The Jewish people who had continually rejected Jesus would reap the consequences of their sin.  Jesus predicts this.  In fact, he predicts that the calamity that would come upon them would be so great that virtually everyone would die when Rome took Jerusalem.  The New Living Translation says that the "entire human race will be destroyed."  This is not a good translation.  The phrase "entire human race" does not appear in the original.  Literally, Jesus says that "no life would have been saved" unless the Lord shortened those days.  And this was so true.  The horrors and atrocities that happened to the Jews when Jerusalem was attacked in 70 a.d. killed nearly everyone in the city in animal fashion.

 

Josephus, a Jewish historian, describes some of these atrocities.  He writes, "Titus' [the Roman General's] earthworks were progressing, his troops captured any who ventured out to look for food.  When caught, they resisted, and were then tortured and crucified before the walls as a terrible warning to the people within.  Titus pitied them - some 500 were captured daily - but dismissing those captured by force was dangerous, and guarding such numbers would imprison the guards.  Out of rage and hatred, the soldiers nailed their prisoners in different postures, and so great was their number that space could not be found for the crosses" (Josephus, "The Jewish War" p. 347).

 

Josephus goes on to write, "Titus then ordered the hands cut off several of the captives so they would not be mistaken for deserters. Many of the rich were put to death by Simon and John, while the sufferings of the people were so fearful that they can hardly be told, and no other city ever endured such miseries.  Not since the world began was there ever a generation more prolific in crime than this bastard scum of the nation who destroyed the city."One refugee, who had been in charge of a single gate, told Titus that 115,880 corpses had been carried out in an eleven week period.  Other leaders reported that 600,000 bodies of the lower classes had been thrown out, and it was impossible to number the rest" (Josephus, "The Jewish War", pp. 347, 350, 351).

 

Josephus goes on to tell how one Jewish man swallowed his gold coins to keep the Romans from getting them.  Later, he was found digging through his excrement to get the coins.  After that, Arabs and Syrians ripped open and searched the intestines of 2,000 people in one night.

 

Clearly, the horrible consequences Jesus' predicted for the Jews who rejected him came true in Jerusalem in 70 a.d.  This passage has nothing to do with end times or Jesus' second coming.

 

But despite the horror Jesus predicts, he also gives us a glimpse into the merciful heart of God.  He says, "For the sake of his chosen ones he has shortened those days" (Mark 13:20b).  What does he mean by this?  If Christians fled prior to these atrocities and weren't involved in the great slaughter of Jerusalem, then why would Jesus say this?

 

Really, the answer is simple if you think about it.  Many Christians in 70 a.d. when all this happened had converted to Christ when family members hadn't.  They would have very likely had relatives in Jerusalem.  Remember that the destruction of the city and millions of Jews happened during the Feast of Tabernacles.  This feast was one of the few that all Jews were required to attend.  This would have brought Jews from all over the Roman Empire to the city, greatly multiplying the city's population when Rome attacked.  But also, it would have meant that virtually every Christian who fled the city because of Jesus' warning to do so (See the article "The Abomination of Desolation"), would have had unsaved family members and friends they left behind.

 

It must have broken their hearts to have their unbelieving family members starved, tortured, and slaughtered by the Romans.  Just because a family member is not a Christian does not mean we don't love them!  In fact, we often love them dearly.  And certainly the Christians that lived when Jerusalem was destroyed loved those who were slaughtered.  This is why Jesus says that God would show mercy.  For the sake of the Christians, God did not permit everyone in the city to be killed, but allowed some to live.

 

This gives us a glimpse into the merciful heart of our God.  Sometimes, for the sake of his children who have accepted his Son Jesus, he protects the unsaved.  He knows how much we love those who are lost who may be near to our hearts.  So he waits.  He sometimes withdraws his hand of discipline for our sake.  He gives our lost loved ones more chances.  He lessens the consequences of their sins at times, for our sake.

 

So pray for those who do not know God or who are rejecting Christ.  God hears your prayers, and he may just shorten the days of their suffering for your sake.