Redundancy is necessary to break
through the clutter of so much ridiculous, textually irrelevant, and ultimately
unhelpful “end times” speculation that has grown up around these Matthean,
Markan, and Lukan passages. In Jesus’ discourse on the fall of the Temple
(as He answers His disciples’ question in regards to His statement about the
stones of the Temple being cast to the ground), “He,” of course, is the Son of
Man, and He is right at the door, ready to go before the Ancient of Days to
receive His kingdom.
When will this appearing before
the Ancient of Days and the reception of a kingdom take place, or when will all
know for sure that this appearance and reception has taken place? When
the Temple falls. That is still the context. Even though this will
happen, and even though most of Jesus’ primary audience would consider the fall
of the Temple to be a horrific and cataclysmic event equivalent to the sun,
moon, and stars falling from the sky and the world being rocked from its
foundations, signaling the Creator God’s judgment upon Israel, it is actually
to be understood as the time in which the Creator God renders His judgment
against those that do battle against His people, establishing His kingdom reign
through the Son of Man. So in effect Jesus here delivers a message of
hopefulness. Helpfully, Luke again renders Jesus’ words with slight
differences, there reporting Him as saying “So also you, when you see these
things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near” (21:31). This
statement about the kingdom of God, considering the overt Daniel seven context,
is unmistakably clear in its message.
Though Matthew and Mark have been
nearly identical from their report of words concerning the gathering of the
elect, to the mention of the fig tree, and on to the Son of Man being near and
at the door, with Luke diverging slightly from that Matthean and Markan
renderings, the three synoptic evangelists all go on to agree, word for word,
with what Jesus has to say next. Matthew reports: “I tell you the truth,
this generation will not pass away until all these things take place”
(24:34). This type of congruence, considering the regularity of
differences that are encountered, especially when comparing Matthew and Mark to
Luke, should arrest attention. Clearly, much rested on these words, as
well as those that would immediately follow, which will be observed
momentarily.
What is one to make of these
words? How would they have been heard? How should they be
heard? Well, in all honesty, this is all rather uncomplicated. All
that has to be done to grasp the meaning of these words of Jesus with one
hundred percent confidence is to reach back to what has premised all that Jesus
is saying throughout this lengthy discourse which was set in motion by His
triumphal entry, subsequent actions in the Temple, and all that took place in
the Temple prior to His explicit leaving of the Temple. Doing so, one
once again hears Matthew reporting that “as Jesus was going out of the Temple
courts and walking away, His disciples came to show Him the Temple buildings”
(24:1). Jesus says “Do you see all these things? I tell you the
truth, not one stone will be left on another. All will be torn down!”
(24:2) This, as is quite obvious, is what prompted the disciples to say
“Tell us, when will these things happen?” (24:3b)
Now, as He has progressed through
His answer, Jesus finally informs them that “this generation will not pass away
until all these things take place.” This is quite specific. Jesus
has said “the Temple will be torn down.” The disciples have asked
“when?” Jesus effectively says, “Pretty soon. In fact, this
generation will see it.” If one is willing to put the blinders to
pre-conceptions, turn a deaf ear to so many fanciful interpretations that have
attempted to hold sway through the years, and inhabit the narrative in order to
hear Jesus speak, what one finds is that this is about as straightforward of an
answer as Jesus ever gives when a question has been on offer to Him.
Frankly, there’s very little mystery here. In addition to that, the eyes
and ears are drawn to the “these things” of the first and third verses of the
twenty-fourth chapter, and the “these things” of the thirty-fourth verse of the
chapter. The repetition provides a clue as to the explicit connection
between the verses as part of this revealing and informative answer on the part
of Jesus.
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