Commentary. Trampling of Jerusalem

⁵ And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,
⁶ As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
⁷ And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?
⁸ And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
⁹ But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.
¹⁰ Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
¹¹ And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
¹² But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.
¹³ And it shall turn to you for a testimony.
¹⁴ Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:
¹⁵ For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
¹⁶ And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
¹⁷ And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
¹⁸ But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
¹⁹ In your patience possess ye your souls.
²⁰ And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
²¹ Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
²² For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
²³ But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
²⁴ And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles (Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἔσται πατουμένη ὑπὸ ἐθνῶν), until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled (ἄχρι πληρωθῶσιν καιροὶ ἐθνῶν).
²⁵ And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
²⁶ Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
²⁷ And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
²⁸ And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
²⁹ And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
³⁰ When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
³¹ So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
³² Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
³³ Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
³⁴ And 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.
³⁵ For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
³⁶ Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Luke 21:5-36Лк.21:5-36

John Chrysostom on the trampling of Jerusalem

… When he came into Jerusalem and saw the temple, he said: "Jerusalem will be trodden down by many nations, until the times of many nations be fulfilled."

By this he meant the years to come until the consummation of the world. And again, speaking to his disciples about the temple, he nude the threat that a stone would not remain upon a stone in that place until the time when it be destroyed. His threat was a prediction that the temple would come to a final devastation and completely disappear.

…

Suppose a mere ten, twenty, thirty, or fifty years were to have passed since the capture of Jerusalem. Even then you would have absolutely no right to show your impudence by rejecting his prediction, but if you wished to be obstinate, you might have had some pretext for protest left to you. But not only fifty years but many more than one, two, or three centuries have passed since Jerusalem was captured. And never has there been seen a single trace or shadow of the change for which you are waiting. Why, then, are you so rash and foolish as to keep up your shameless objections?

… I shall make it clear that the Jews will recover neither their city nor their temple in days to come (ὅτι οὔτε τὴν πόλιν, οὔτε τὸν ναὸν λοιπὸν ἀπολήψονται).

John Chrysostom
Against the Jews. Homily 5

Hegumen Varsonofy (Khaibulin) on the trampling of Jerusalem

The Zeitoun apparitions of the Mother of God cannot be classified as phenomena in the traditional sense of this term, phenomena that were honored by the great saints and chosen ones of God in all the ages of the New Testament era.

Their unprecedented total duration (more than three years), the duration of individual phenomena (April 30, 1968 — 2 hours 15 minutes continuously), an unlimited number of eyewitnesses of the most diverse spiritual state, an unusually generous outpouring of healing Grace, which restored the health of many, including terminally ill, — all these are signs of promised grace-filled events, called in the Gospel signs of special, predestined times.

In the New Testament text, such times are denoted by the Greek noun καιρός, and their onset by the verb πληρόω. The latter in relation to time can have two opposite meanings: “end” or, conversely, “begin, be fulfilled.”

Both of these words are contained in the Greek text of the Gospel prophecy about the trampling of Jerusalem by ethnic groups (see: Luk 21:24). The translations of this prophecy that have come down to us: until they die, until they end (the times of Gentiles, pagans, peoples) — are dictated by the interpretation of St. John Chrysostom: “He said: 'Jerusalem will be trodden down by many nations, until the times of many nations be fulfilled.' By this he meant the years to come until the consummation of the world.” “the Jews will recover neither their city nor their temple in days to come” (Against the Jews. Homily 5).

But from June 1967 until now, all Jerusalem has been under the rule of the State of Israel, which in 1980 proclaimed it its eternal indivisible capital.

Hegumen Varsonofy (Khaibulin)
Preface to the Russian edition of
«When millions saw the Virgin Mary»