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 we encounter, especially when comparing Matthew and Mark to Luke, should arrest our attention. Clearly, much rested on these words, as well as those that would immediately follow, which we will reach momentarily.
What are we to make of these words? How would they have been heard? How should they be heard? Well, honestly, this is rather uncomplicated. We are again called 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, we once again hear 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 we know, 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 we are willing to blind ourselves to pre-conceptions, make ourselves deaf to so many fanciful interpretations that have attempted to hold sway through the years, and inhabit the narrative in order to hear Jesus speak, we find 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, our 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 should clue us to in an explicit connection between the verses as part of this revealing and informative answer.
We’ll recall Mark’s account of the disciples’ question, as he reports their asking “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that all these things are about to take place?” (13:4) In Luke, the disciples pose a similar question which, we’ll also recall, differed from Matthew’s report, as there they instead went on to ask “what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age” (24:3c). As has been adequately demonstrated, this question was not making reference to Jesus’ return to earth, nor to the end of the world, but was a question that was ensconced in a worldview shaped by the presentation of Daniel seven, as the Son of Man comes to the Ancient of Days to receive His kingdom, thus ending the present age and ushering in the age in which God exercises dominion through the Son of Man.
So how should this statement by Jesus be heard? As plainly as possible. When Jesus says that “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place,” making reference to the fall of the Temple, what He means is that this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Jesus is informing His hearers that the Temple will fall during the lifetimes of many of those that were listening to Him speak at that moment. Seeing as how the Temple actually did fall in the year seventy, with not one stone left upon another, and with this taking place roughly forty years beyond the time of His speech, it seems that He was right. As we contemplate that, let us also remember that Jesus was very clear in His insistence that the fall of the Temple would coincide with “the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (24:30b).
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