Why did Jesus instruct people to pray that their flight would not happen in winter?
Jesus told them to pray their flight would not occur in winter because winter weather in Israel brings cold, snow, rain, and ice, which would make fleeing more difficult and add suffering. He also tied it to the Sabbath, when the law limited how far they could walk to escape.
Les explains that this instruction in verse 20 shows the Jew will be back under the law. Jesus said to pray their flight not be in winter so they would not have to suffer cold, snow, rain, and ice, conditions that can happen in the area of Israel. He also said to pray it would not happen on the Sabbath day, because according to law they were limited as to how far they could walk on the Sabbath; otherwise the law would limit them from being able to escape. This fits the broader scenario of hard circumstances for pregnant women and nursing mothers making a long trek, possibly to the southeast of Jerusalem, perhaps the area of Petra.
But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
More Questions
Why did Jesus say to pray that your flight not be in winter or on the Sabbath day?
Jesus told them to pray their flight would not be in winter or on the Sabbath because winter would be cold and miserable and the Sabbath law would limit how far they could walk, since they were going back under the law with temple worship for the first three and a half years.
Why should they pray that the flight does not happen on the Sabbath day?
Jesus tells them to pray that the flight not be on the Sabbath because the law limited how far they could walk on the Sabbath, which would hinder their escape.