Did Jesus Destroy Jerusalem in AD70?

some thoughts on Gospel Jesus and Apocalypse Jesus

For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 2 Thessalonians 1:6–8

When I read this passage, I imagine Paul banging the pulpit and raising his voice. I imagine Jason taking the introduction of this passage as a cue to get the next song ready because the invitation/ altar call is a comin’.

But I also imagine Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, telling his followers that the one who picks up the sword dies by the sword, and teaching us to love our enemies.

This passage doesn’t seem very loving.

And we’ll return to it in the latter part of this article. First, we’re going to discuss why this is an issue and why being careful in interpreting these things matters.

Gospel Jesus Versus Apocalypse Jesus

In Luke 19, Luke told us about Jesus’s thoughts on the fall of Jerusalem:

When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” Luke 19:41–44

First, Jesus wept.

When he considered the future of the city filled with people he loved, Jesus was brought to tears.

He lamented that the people didn’t know the way of peace. They thought peace would come if they would just rebel against Rome. Surely if they demonstrated the faith of David by picking up a measly stone, then God would bring down the Goliath empire through their sling.

But they didn’t realize that they had, in a sense, already cast the stone that had struck and slain Goliath when they cast aside the Messiah by slinging him into the courts of Pilate and into Hades itself.

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?” Matthew 21:42

God used their mistake to “disarm rulers and authorities” and brought them “to an open shame” through the cross (Colossians 2:15).

By humbly submitting to the violent hands of the religious and political leaders, Jesus became the stone that struck the statue in Daniel’s vision (Daniel 2).

But instead of learning from Jesus’s example, the people rejected Peter’s call for them to repent, to change their mind, and they continued to engage themselves in the cycle of violence through persecution and, eventually, rebellion.

In this passage in Luke 19, it is not Jesus who levels Jerusalem, destroying the children along with their parents; it’s their enemies, embodied in the Roman empire.

This version of Jesus that weeps over the fall of Jerusalem and laments that they do not know the way of peace seems different than the version of Jesus presented in 2 Thessalonians 1, doesn’t it? But is there a difference between Gospel Jesus and Apocalypse Jesus?

…when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God…

Before we get there, we need to tackle the most immediate issue: are vengeance and retribution Christlike?

Are Vengeance and Retribution Christlike?

In the NASB95, 2 Thessalonians says that Jesus would deal out retribution; in the NRSVue, the text says that Jesus would inflict vengeance.

So if we are to emulate Christ, to follow him in word and example, is coming in flaming fire to deal out retribution and inflict vengeance a Christlike quality?

Is this how we are to treat our enemies? Is this how we are to treat those who have wronged us? Is the message of the cross: “I love you and forgive you, but if that love and forgiveness doesn’t change you, then I’m going to personally destroy you!”

That is, are we to turn the other cheek for a bit, but then unleash holy hell onto someone if they don’t ask for forgiveness within an acceptable time?

Another way to ask this might be, “Who would Jesus bomb?”

These questions don’t come from some “soft, liberal, lovey dovey desire to coddle snowflakes” who can’t handle manly passages like 2 Thessalonians 1.

Instead, it comes from attempting to take Jesus’s teaching on violence and retribution seriously.

So let me ask another question: what does it mean to properly teach the Law and the Prophets?

This might seem like a strange question, but read the following passage and think about what you see:

The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Deuteronomy 19:18–21

This passage may seem brutal, but it really was a big step forward in the world because it limits the escalation of violence. If someone knocked out your tooth, for instance, taking their life isn’t a lawful response. If someone cut off your hand, you can’t retaliate by cutting off their foot.

We might say, “The punishment must fit the crime.”

If you walk away with this interpretation, I’d say you’re doing pretty good.

But Jesus may have a different opinion.

You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you: Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also, and if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, give your coat as well, and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. Matthew 5:38–42

After quoting the Law of Moses, Jesus commands his followers to take it even further: instead of avoiding the escalation of violence by only demanding a punishment that fits the crime, Jesus told them to endure abuse in a way that would bring the perpetrator to “open shame” (Colossians 2:15).

I haven’t read this entire transcription, but this content seems to be similar to what Walter Wink presented in a book called “Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way.” Check out this post to see how the actions Jesus describes in Matthew 5 bring the principalities and powers to an open shame, which is far more powerful than simple pacifism.

But here’s the big question!!!

Why does Jesus interpret the Law this way? Why does he take it as far as he does?

Because that’s what God is like.

In the very next passage, he says,

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. Matthew 5:43–45

We love our enemies because that’s what God does.

What is God Like?

We only know what God is actually like because of Jesus. As we saw above, even our best attempts at interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures fall short of Jesus’s own vision of what the kingdom of God is like and how the scriptures are best fulfilled.

Any statements made concerning wrath, vengeance, or retribution, then, need to be read through Jesus’s plain teaching in his sermons and through the example that he presented through the cross, especially if those passages are couched in prophetic or apocalyptic language that characterized the literature of ancient Israel.

In Matthew 16:27-28, Jesus said that he would come again “in the glory of his Father.”¹ So Jesus’s “coming on the clouds in glory” looks like the Father’s “coming on the clouds in glory,” and we may think that the best way to determine what this looks like is to rush to the Hebrew Scriptures.

But before we go there, we need to remember something important. We can’t truly know what the Father is like without Jesus, so if we rush to the Scriptures without Jesus as our interpretive lens, we won’t actually be able to see the Father’s glory. In fact, Paul specifically said that the glory of God is veiled if we read Scriptures without Jesus:

…not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, the same veil is still there; it is not unveiled since in Christ it is set aside. Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 2 Corinthians 3:13–16

Let’s take a quick look at Isaiah 19 before moving back to 2 Thessalonians 1.

An oracle concerning Egypt. See, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, one against the other, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom; the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their plans; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead and the ghosts and the familiar spirits; I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master; a fierce king will rule over them, says the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts. Isaiah 19:1–4

How does God ride on a swift cloud? What does that look like?

It looks like what happens when people don’t uphold justice and practice peace, so they end up destroying each other despite God’s continued warnings through the prophets. It looks like what happens when people perpetuate the cycle of violence only for it to come back to them worse than it was for them in the beginning.

But do you know what else it looks like?

It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; when they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and will defend and deliver them. The LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD on that day and will serve with sacrifice and offerings, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them. The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing, so that they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their supplications and heal them. Isaiah 19:20–22

God coming on the clouds of glory isn’t about retributive violence; it’s about restorative discipline and a hopeful longing for restoration (Hebrews 12:5-13).

Because God causes the sun to rise on the good and evil, and God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

Because even God turns the other cheek and loves enemies.

Exegeting 2 Thessalonians 1

The Context

Jonathan Bernier wrote concerning the date of 2 Thessalonians:

There are two primary matters of concern: the correlation of 1 and 2 Thessalonians with Acts and the date of the Corinthian sojourn. On the basis of these considerations, we argue that 1 and 2 Thessalonians were most likely written no earlier than 50 and no later than 52.²

To put it in another way, the composition of 2 Thessalonians seems to line up with Paul’s activity in Acts 17. The company he was with (Silas and Timothy), his concerns for the church at Thessalonica, and the context of persecution all seem to point to this view.

In Acts 17, Luke recounts the volatile situation at Thessalonica:

But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason’s house. When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers and sisters before the city authorities, shouting, “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also…” Acts 17:5–6

Paul ended up having to escape by night, something that was characteristic of his missionary trips.

Apocalyptic literature thrives in times of oppression. When nations war and violence reigns, the arts tend to flourish. Think of the artwork, literature, and music which emerged during the American Revolution, the Vietnam War, or even during the turbulent times in the life of David.

Apocalyptic language is similar. It is over the top, extravagant, and has the effect of comforting people who are oppressed. It is theater. It is art. It is subversive political commentary.

Its purpose is to capture the attention of the audience, illicit strong emotions, and encourage them to action. To read it literally would be to rob it of its majesty, power, and grandeur!

With all of this in mind, let’s return to 2 Thessalonians 1.

2 Thessalonians 1:4-5

…therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.

How could persecution be a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment? Does God really judge people with persecution? Does God enter the minds of the persecutors just as Satan entered the heart of Judas to lead people to persecute the church so that they will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God?

Or does God use times like persecution as a way for God’s people to become mature and pure?

Check out this text:

Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children, for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? Hebrews 12:7

I’d encourage you to read the context of this passage, but remember that this is what Isaiah said of the Egyptians as well: that God disciplines in order to heal.

The “righteous judgment” of the church could have been seen as a reason to give up the faith and go back to idols, but Paul wanted them to frame it as a way for them to grow closer together and to God.

It’s worth it here to quote 1 Peter. As you read this, notice the language of fire and judgment and how it is used:

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed…For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:12–17

Peter viewed the persecution the church was experiencing as a kind of fiery judgment they were undergoing in order to be purified like gold or silver as he had written earlier,

In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6–7

Keeping in mind that Peter was writing some of the same things Paul wrote about, being familiar with his letters (2 Peter 3:15-16), perhaps Peter was familiar with 1 Corinthians 3, which was written not long after 2 Thessalonians:

…the work of each builder will become visible, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If the work that someone has built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a wage. If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire. 1 Corinthians 3:13–15

Fire destroys the impurities but ultimately saves the person tried in the fire. It’s like what Jesus said in Mark:

For everyone will be salted with fire. Mark 9:49

So, two takeaways from this first text: (1) the Christians weren’t exempt from God’s judgment but were undergoing it during their persecution, and (2) the judgment was restorative, not retributive.

2 Thessalonians 1:6-7a

For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well…

In Luke’s account of the gospel, he recorded two statements of Jesus pertinent to this section:

Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for sin are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come!” Luke 17:1

For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed! Luke 22:22

In our section we might say that persecutions were bound to happen, but woe to the one through which they would come.

That is, quietly enduring persecution would be nothing compared to enduring the escalating cycle of violence that would come upon the persecutors.

With zero intentions of reflecting upon modern Jews in any sense, I simply want to remind you that Jesus wept over Jerusalem for not knowing the way of peace, and Acts identifies some of the Jews of the first century (not later) as those who initiated persecution of the church by appealing to the Empire.

The persecutors would end up suffering the same kind of affliction they had perpetuated upon others because the eye for an eye for an eye for an eye for an eye cycle only stops when someone turns the other cheek. It’s our responsibility to say no to this vicious cycle.

Just as God didn’t put it into the minds of the persecutors to inflict pain upon the church as a way to judge them and purify them, God didn’t enter the hearts of the Romans to destroy Jerusalem; it was the natural outcome of following the path of violence and forsaking the way of peace.

2 Thessalonians 1:7b-8

…when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 2 Thessalonians 1:7–8

When we read that Jesus would be “revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,” our minds might return to that passage in Matthew 16:27-28 I introduced earlier which says,

“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” Matthew 16:27–28

There are a few quick things about this passage I need to note: (1) Jesus expected this to happen before some of his disciples would die, which lines up with the idea that this text and 2 Thessalonians 1 best find their fulfillment in the fall of Jerusalem, (2) a few chapters later Jesus would connect the fall of the city and the temple to his “coming on the clouds in power and glory” (Matthew 24:1-3, 29-31, 34), and (3) remember that God’s coming on the clouds in glory in the Hebrew Scriptures led to Egypt’s eventual restoration.

We may view fire as being purely destructive, but fire is also restorative.

In Malachi 3, a major passage behind the work of John the Baptist and Jesus, the prophet said,

But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like washers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD, as in the days of old and as in former years. Malachi 3:2–4

Is this pleasant? No. But is it ultimately restorative? Yes.

Returning to 2 Thessalonians, notice the last part of the passage where Paul says that the two subjects of judgment would be those that do not know God and do not obey the gospel.

In Matthew 7:21-23, which I preached on recently (a link is below), Jesus said that some would not enter the kingdom because they did not know him. From the context of Matthew 7:21-23, we know that they did not know Jesus because they did not love their enemies, seek God’s righteousness, and practice the golden rule. In the greater context of Matthew, chapter 25 tells us who would be go into “eternal fire”: those who didn’t recognize Jesus in their neighbor.

Just as Paul failed to recognize Jesus in the ones he persecuted, those in Thessalonica had failed to love God by failing to love their neighbor.

2 Thessalonians 1:9-10

These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed. 2 Thessalonians 1:9–10

The expression “the glory of his power” can be found three times in Isaiah 2: verses 10, 19, and 21. This grammatical connection is more than just a coincidence because Paul was constantly drawing from Isaiah to talk about the results and implications of the gospel.

One of the major sins of Isaiah 2 that calls for such a response hopefully doesn’t shock you.

Isaiah starts by imagining a time in which weapons of war would be turned into agricultural tools. In the last days “concerning Judah and Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:1), the kingdom of God would be established, and the covenant community would no longer learn war.

Then, he begins pointing out Judah’s issues, which all stem from idolatry and the love of money. One of their major issues was investing in military strength, fortification, and the expansion of their trade/ naval fleet instead of putting their trust in God.

Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Isaiah 2:7

against every high tower and against every fortified wall; against all the ships of Tarshish and against all the highly prized vessels. Isaiah 2:15–16

So, whose power is stronger? Which strength is actual strength?

Is it the kingdom of heaven or the kingdoms of the earth? Is it the nonviolence of the lamb or the violence of the persecutors?

Which will endure?

In 2 Thessalonians like Isaiah 2, it is those who choose peace, who refuse to take up the sword, that endure. They may not understand it during the time of persecution, but they would marvel at who the real victors are: those who refuse to take up the sword.

Compare these passages in Revelation which talk about confidence in the violence of the sword and the mystery of nonviolence.

They worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” Revelation 13:4

Let anyone who has an ear listen: If you are to be taken captive, into captivity you go; if you kill with the sword, with the sword you must be killed. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. Revelation 13:9–10

People think that the beast wins because nobody could match the military strength, but worshipping the beast leads to destruction while quiet endurance leads to resurrection.

Going back to 2 Thessalonians, I want to point out something about the expression “eternal destruction.” Dr. Bradley Jersak said in his article on 2 Thessalonians 1 that “eternal destruction” is possibly better translated as “destruction in the age [to come].”³ Keep in mind that Jesus tied “the end of the age” to the fall of the temple in Matthew 24:1-3. There’s no need to interpret this text outside of those bounds identified by Jesus in Matthew 24 in order to scare people in running from a fiery, vengeful Jesus today.

On the word destruction, there is an interesting correlation between 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians again:

When you are assembled and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 5:4–5

Could it be that Jerusalem was preserved to give people space to recognize the way of peace, but when it was “turned over to satan” (or to the dragon/ beast of Revelation 13 as cited above), that the removal of the protective presence of Christ was for the purpose of their eventual restoration? Could it be that the “destruction of the flesh” led to the “salvation of the spirit”?

This would be much worse than the persecution endured by the saints, but would it eventually serve the same disciplinary purpose?

Did Jesus Destroy Jerusalem in AD70?

No. The Romans and the zealot rebels did.

That was easy, right?

On the surface it might be, but passages like 2 Thessalonians 1 do raise very important questions about the character of Jesus, how we are to live, and what God is like.

I’m interested in exploring other texts like these throughout the New Testament. Make your suggestions below if you’d like.

I don’t know all the answers, but I know they all lead to Jesus who, while looking down from the cross, said, “Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.”

It’s my belief that as long as I try to stay humble and admit my ignorance that this prayer extends to me in some way.

Credits

Special thanks to Corri Johnson and Jordan Winkert for reading and editing what I write and for all of you who pitch in through liking, sharing, and otherwise contributing to the community here.

1. This is a HUGE side note and one that deserves its own book. In the gospel of John, the glory of Jesus and God is directly tied to the revelation of divine love at the cross and resurrection. If we follow this pattern throughout the “coming in glory” texts, what we might discover is that the fall of Jerusalem reveals Jesus’s (and the Father’s) glory in that it vindicates the path of nonviolence and the spiritual nature of the kingdom. My thoughts aren’t fully developed on this, so I’ll leave it at that for now.

2. Bernier, Jonathan. Rethinking the Dates of the New Testament: The Evidence for Early Composition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2022. Print.

3. April 29, 2020; Accessed July 3, 2025: https://www.ptm.org/qr-with-brad-jersak-eternal-destruction-in-2-thessalonians-16-10