When you see the desolating abomination standing where he should not (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, 15 [and] a person on a housetop must not go down or enter to get anything out of his house, 16 and a person in a field must not return to get his cloak. 17 Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days. 18 Pray that this does not happen in winter. 19 For those times will have tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of God’s creation until now, nor ever will be. 20 If the Lord had not shortened those days, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect whom he chose, he did shorten the days. 21 If anyone says to you then, ‘Look, here is the Messiah! Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 False messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders in order to mislead, if that were possible, the elect. 23 Be watchful! I have told it all to you beforehand.
Jesus continued to prepare his disciples for the coming tribulation and gave the disciples the answer to their question “Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be when all these things are about to come to an end (Mk. 13:4)?” He explained that the destruction of the Temple would be preceded by signs (vv. 14-17). He used imagery from the Book of Daniel (9:27), the ‘desolating abomination,’ which could be a reference to a statue of Zeus erected on the altar where sacrifices were made to God in defilement of the Temple in Jerusalem in 168 BC. However, exegetes use different explanations. To the Jews, there was no greater desecration.
The events will unfold so quickly that there will be no time for anyone to mount resistance to prevent them. Christ warned that those in Judea at that time must flee, and historical records indicate that Christians fled Jerusalem just before the siege and the destruction of the Temple. It was not a war that Jesus was speaking about, but an unimaginable series of events as described in the Book of Daniel (Dan. 12:1). God set a timetable for the coming of the Kingdom which will be preceded by these tribulations. Jesus warned that there would be a great tribulation from which no one could be saved if the Lord did not shorten the time so that the chosen elect could receive eternal salvation (vv. 19-20).
Jesus again warned the disciples against believing the false prophets and those who will claim to be the Messiah who will perform signs and wonders. The disciples have been forewarned and must patiently endure.
Almighty God, we humbly pray that through your grace we may learn to value what is truly important in life. Help us not to curse our trials but to endure them with patience and look for the good you bring out of them. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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