ISB ~ Luke 21 v20

Jerusalem surrounded:Jesus envisions the siege and destruction of Jerusalem that eventually took place in A.D. 70. Some scholars infer from this verse and from 19:42-45 that Luke must have written his Gospel after the catastrophe of A.D. 70. The claim is that Luke’s wording in these passages reflects knowledge of the event as past history. Two considerations cast doubt on the validity of this interpretation. (1) The language of Jesus’ discourse in Luke draws heavily on the wording and imagery of judgment oracles aimed at Jerusalem in the OT. Jesus formulated his own prophecies in this way to alert believers that Jerusalem would be laid waste for its iniquities in the first century A.D. just as it had been in the sixth century B.C. (Jer 6:6-8; 52:4; Ezek 4:1-3). To say that Luke must be dependent upon actual reports of the event is to minimize the prophetic character of Jesus’ discourse and its distinctive biblical coloring. (2) There is nothing unique about Luke’s description that suggests he must have known the details of Jerusalem’s downfall. Although Roman troops did besiege and destroy the capital, the military operations described by Luke were commonplace in the ancient world for the overthrow of walled cities.

See introduction:Date and note on Mt 24:15.