For at that time there will be such great tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, and never will be.
Jesus describes the dreadfulness of the coming trial by using an absolute measure: “such tribulation has never happened and will never happen.” This word first of all refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, which both Roman historians and first-century Christians describe as an unprecedented catastrophe, but at the same time it is also a prophecy about the world’s final tribulation. Christ reveals the climax of evil accumulating in human history, when suffering will not be only physical but also spiritual, because of the rejection of the truth and a faith that is being extinguished. This word is at once a warning and a consolation: a warning, because the times will be hard, but also a consolation, because even then God’s control does not cease. Truly, this word reminds us that when humanity reaches the limit of its trial, there also begins God’s saving work.