Jesus' words about ‘the abomination of desolation in the holy place’ recall the Book of Daniel, which is hardly surprising: it mentions events somewhat similar to those that occurred when the Romans devastated the Temple. Admittedly, the events in the Book of Daniel took place roughly a century and a half before Christ came, and the Temple was not destroyed then; however...
Jesus' words about ‘the abomination of desolation in the holy place’ recall the Book of Daniel, which is hardly surprising: it mentions events somewhat similar to those that occurred when the Romans devastated the Temple. Admittedly, the events in the Book of Daniel took place roughly a century and a half before Christ came, and the Temple was not destroyed then; however, it was desecrated by pagans—not Romans, but Syrians. Jesus, on the other hand, clearly has in mind the catastrophe of AD 70, when Jerusalem was completely destroyed and even the Temple was reduced to its foundations. The Saviour tells His disciples to leave the city, if possible before the siege begins, warning that they will have to do so quickly—and God grant that it should not be in winter or on the Sabbath.
At the same time, He clearly says that everything He has foretold will happen within the lifetime of the generation to which the apostles, among others, belonged (‘this generation will not pass away’). Here everything clearly points to the events of AD 70 as the end of history. The end, because Jesus goes on to mention those very last times which He calls ‘those days’, the time of His return in glory. Jesus does not say exactly how much time will elapse between this catastrophe and His Second Coming, but He mentions nothing else significant enough to deserve attention apart from His return and the triumph of the Kingdom.
Remembering these words of their Teacher, Christians, especially those of the first centuries, expected Him to return any day. After the catastrophe of AD 70, their expectations initially grew stronger, but then a measure of disappointment set in: everything the Saviour had foretold had happened, yet He Himself still did not return. Yet He had not promised to return immediately after the fall of Jerusalem; He had only said that this would happen no earlier than the destruction of the Temple. History proper does indeed end with the events of AD 70; after that, something new begins, a kind of metahistorical process which is to culminate in Christ's return and the revelation of the Kingdom to the world in all its fullness.
Like the many generations before us in the era we habitually call Christian, we live in the age of the advancing Kingdom, whose spiritual and historical dynamics are determined by the very process of its coming. That is why Jesus mentions nothing after AD 70 worthy of attention apart from His return and the triumph of the Kingdom: everything else is either determined by the dynamics of the advancing Kingdom or is of no significance. Such is the meaning of history passing into metahistory to which Jesus points.
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13:14 Where it ought not - That place being set apart for sacred use. Mat 24:15; Luk 21:20; Dan 9:27.
13:19 In those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation - May it not be doubted, whether this be yet fully accomplished? Is not much of this affliction still to come?
13:20 The elect - The Christians: whom he hath chosen - That is, hath taken out of, or separated from, the world, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. He hath shortened - That is, will surely shorten.
13:21 Mat 24:23.
13:24 But in those days - Which immediately precede the end of the world: after that tribulation - Above described.