51: This Generation (Mt 24:29-35) - The Judgment of Jerusalem - part 4

Preacher: “I don’t know where to begin”

A preacher stood up before his congregation and said, "I have so much to say, I don't know where to begin."

Someone in the pew shouted, "How about somewhere close to the end.”

It’s been 5 weeks since we covered Mt 24:15-28. And since this is one of the most misunderstood & misinterpreted passages in the New Testament, it’s important that we back up a little bit and catch the context. So, I’ll start with the END of THAT teaching. :)

You’ll remember that this whole conversation on the Mount of Olives starts of with Jesus telling His 1st century disciples that the temple was going to be destroyed within their lifetime (Mt 24:1-2).

He warns them of what they can expect to see and tells them when THEY see the abomination of desolation that they are to get away from Jerusalem instead of running to Jerusalem (Mt 24:15-16 ).

We saw how Luke likely interprets for his Gentile audience what this Jewish language - abomination of desolation - means - when you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies …flee to the mountains (Mt 24:15-16; Lk 21:20-21).

Jesus explains that…

Matthew 24:21–25 (NIV) For then there will be great distress [great tribulation - ESV, NAS, LSB], unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.

Here it’s important to note that the elect - followers of Jesus - ARE present during this great distress/tribulation.

[v23-25] At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.

Matthew 24:26–28 (NIV) So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.

[v27-28] For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

This coming of the Son of Man involves DEATH - hence the language of carcasses & vultures, likely referring to Jesus coming in judgment against His enemies in Jerusalem as He had previously mentioned to His disciples when He said…

Matthew 10:23 (NIV) When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

It seems that there are 3 interpretations of this:

This has nothing to do with THESE MEN because His 2nd coming will be 2000 years later - hence Jesus doesn’t really mean YOU - the people He is speaking to at the time.

Jesus thought His 2nd coming would happen during the lifetimes, but Jesus was WRONG.

The phrase Son of Man comes isn’t referring to His 2nd coming, but His coming in judgment against unbelieving Israel during the lifetime of His 1st century followers.

Now we’re caught up with what we’ve covered so far. To hear that more in depth - go to our website or CHURCH APP and check out parts 1-3.

You might say, wait a second Jackie - What if you’re wrong? What if Jesus IS talking about His future return here - just like I’ve been taught my whole life? Then I will be THRILLED to find that out when He returns…because HE WILL RETURN! And if you’re wrong, I’m going to be incredibly gracious as the Lord will have given me a sinless soul - with no more desire to prove you wrong. We’ll both be on the same team! And we should be now as well - even if we aren’t agreed on all the ‘play calling’. In other words, you might disagree with my interpretation on this - that’s okay. But let’s not draw battle lines against a brother or sister because we disagree on one of the most difficult passages in all of Scripture!

PRAY

Now, let’s read the next chunk of Scripture and attempt to interpret what Jesus means.

Matthew 24:29 (NIV) Immediately after the distress [tribulation - ESV, NAS, LSB] of those days “ ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

What are these Cosmic Convulsions? Many interpreters would say - THAT hasn’t happened yet - so it must be a future event.

But hold your horses for a moment.

Remember that we Americans have interesting idioms - funny phrases that would need explaining to people from another culture, sayings like - “IT’S RAINING CATS & DOGS!”

The Chinese person who is just learning English would probably have no clue what we mean by that. We would have to explain, “This phrase means….”

Just as we’ve seen how “the abomination of desolation” is a Hebrew phrase referring to an army surrounding, capturing, & defiling Jerusalem & the Temple of the One True God. So too…

“The sun & moon being darkened and the stars falling from the sky” is ‘raining cats & dogs’ language that Jewish people could explain to us by pointing to Old Testament prophets, where disturbances in the sun, moon, and stars pointed to political & social upheaval - where those who ruled over the Jews would be humbled or even destroyed by God’s judgment.

Remember the imagery used when Joseph had a dream of the SUN, MOON, & STARS bowing down to him (Gen 37:9-10)? His father, Jacob interpreted this to refer to HIMSELF (sun), his wife (moon), and Joseph’s brothers (stars) - all older people who had authority over Joseph, who would one day have their authority taken away & bow before Joseph.

Many people have no clue that 700 years before the ministry of Jesus, Isaiah used this same language of sun, moon, & stars to describe the destruction of the Babylonians by Medo-Persians.

Isaiah 13:9–10 (NIV) See, the day of the Lord [Yahweh] is coming —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger— to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.

I used to read this text of a FUTURE event for us - it sounds like the ultimate judgment of the word - UNTIL I read the whole chapter and saw that this is referring to God’s PAST destruction of Babylon.

Isaiah 13:17–19 (NIV) See, I will stir up against them the Medes…Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants, nor will they look with compassion on children. Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the pride and glory of the Babylonians, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.

So, God uses this language to refer to His judgment coming on the Babylonians by another army…sent by Him!

Further, Josephus and Tacitus DO write about strange occurrences in the sky just before the Roman besiegement of Jerusalem in AD 70. In AD 66 - what we now refer to as Halley’s [rhymes with “valley”] Comet - showed up over Jerusalem. Josphus writes: “Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet that continued a whole year.” [1]

Josephus later understood this and others strange signs in the sky as omens pointing to the destruction that was coming to Jerusalem in AD 70.

So, it is likely that the weird astronomical anomalies were pointing to the ruling Jewish authorities, like the chief priests, being thrown down & destroyed.

Jesus continues:

Matthew 24:30-31 (NIV) Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

Matthew 24:32-33 (NIV) Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you [Who is YOU?] see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.

Let’s start with this last part and work our way back to verses 30-31.

Matthew 24:34-35 (NIV) Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

It seems that Jesus expected the previous events mentioned in Matthew 24 to occur before that GENERATION passed away.

And there are at least 3 ways to approach how to interpret Jesus’ words:

Atheists like Bertrand Russell have seized upon this passage to point to Jesus being WRONG. Russell writes:

“He [Jesus] certainly thought that His second coming would occur in clouds of glory before the death of all the people who were living at that time. There are a great many texts that prove that and there are a lot of places where it is quite clear that He believed that His coming would happen during the lifetime of many then living.” [1]

Further, it seems that some Christians who have come to the same conclusion.

C.S. Lewis called this verse, “The most embarrassing verse in the Bible”, as he thought that Jesus - in his human ignorance - got this wrong. [2] I disagree.

And…if Jesus DID say His 2nd Coming would occur during the generation of His 1st century followers, and did not, then Jesus WAS wrong.

More contemporary voices like John MacArthur have a way to dispel this dilemma. They say that this generation is NOT referring to the generation of the 1st century disciples. but says,

“This generation will therefore be composed of Jews and Gentiles who are alive at the rapture but are not taken up because they do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.”[3]

But those who claim this is FUTURE for us…have some heavy lifting to remove the intention of “this generation”.

Others, including me, think both of these interpretations are incorrect. Let’s see why.

WHO has Jesus been talking with this entire time?

His 1st century disciples. Up to this point Jesus has warned THEM of what THEY could expect to see - wars, famine, false messiahs, and the abomination of desolation taking over Jerusalem - WITHIN their lifetimes.

Now, let’s consider that text - placing ourselves in the sandals of the disciples on top of the Mount of Olives - when WE had asked Jesus about the destruction of the temple - He told us a bunch of things that would happen to that point and then said,

Matthew 24:34-35 (NIV) Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

What generation would WE have thought He was referring to?

The Greek word translated ‘generation’ - genea - is used 33 times in 27 verses in the Gospels (13 in Matthew; 5 in Mark; and 15 in Luke). I have provided you with references to all 33 uses in your teaching note in the bulletin. (Matthew 1:17, 11:16, 12:39, 12:41-42, 12:45, 16:4, 17:17, 23:36, 24:34; Mark 8:12, 8:38, 9:19, 13:30; Luke 1:48, 1:50, 7:31, 9:41, 11:29-32, 11:50-51, 16:8, 17:25, 21:32)

Greek Scholars tell us that this word - genea - is used in a couple of different ways:

People of the same KIND - common characteristics including interests or race.

People of the same TIME - contemporaries living at the same time - how we typically refer to 'generation'

* Genea is used of people of the same time in all these biblical cases.

You might remember us covering these example in weeks past. It was THIS GENERATION that rejected Jesus and it would be this generation that would face God’s wrath. (Mt 12:41-42)

If “all these things” (Mt 24:34-35) occurred BEFORE the 1st century disciples of Jesus all passed away, then we have do some work to properly interpret the rest of the passage.

Dr. RC Sproul, a dear friend of Dr. John MacArthur, disagreed with his take on “genea” and I share Sproul’s view.

Dr. Sproul noted that if “this generation” is to be taken literally, then some of the language in this passage must be understood as figurative (for example - the coming of the Son of Man must be figurative since Jesus did not physically return during the 1st century), OR if “all these things” are to be taken literally, then “this generation” must be figurative as it can’t refer to the generation of the 1st disciples. But you can’t have both.

In fact, all these things DID happen, if not in a literal way - in a figurative way - in other words - events really occurred and some of them must be understood in a ‘raining cats & dogs’ way - a figurative way to express something that REALLY HAPPENED.

Timeline of Events

A.D. 33 Olivet Discourse - just before Jesus crucified - Jesus had warned of destruction of Temple. The apostles ask the question, “When will this happen?” (Mt 24:1-3) Jesus answers that wars & rumors of wars would come first, along with false messiahs, persecution, famine, & strange earthly & cosmic events - like earthquakes & signs in the sky.

A.D. 33-35 Peter and John imprisoned (Acts 4); Apostles imprisoned and flogged (Acts 5)

A.D. 35 Stephen stoned to death as pre-Christian Paul persecutes followers of Jesus

A.D. 44 James the apostle beheaded (brother of John); Peter imprisoned as Herod intends to kill him too

A.D. 44-48 Famine as mentioned in Acts 11:28 by

A.D. 40s-60s False Messiahs

A.D. 62 James - brother of Jesus - murdered in Jerusalem by unbelieving Jews

A.D. 64-65 Peter & Paul killed under Nero’s reign

A.D. 66 Jewish War begins against Romans

With that in mind, let’s back up to verse 30-31.

Matthew 24:30 (NIV) Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven [sky]. And then all the peoples [tribes - NET, ESV, NAS] of the earth [ge = land] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.

Here’s how I think all of this makes sense. While we certainly are taught that Jesus WILL physically return one day - more on that in next week’s teaching - but the language from verses 30-31 must be understood in a figurative ‘raining cats & dogs’ kind of way.

When the stars & comets in the sky/heaven started doing weird stuff, and as the Roman army marched toward Jerusalem beginning in AD 66, it became obvious that there was trouble coming.

The Son of Man was coming on the clouds - “raining cats and dogs” JUDGMENT language used over & over in the Scriptures (Ps 68:4, 104:3; Is 19:1; Nahum 1:3; Eze 30:3, Zech 12:10–14).

There are 3 words here where the translators flavor our interpretations here:

The peoples of the earth - could/should be translated tribes of the land will mourn. Indeed this fits the context as everything to this previous point had been referring to the destruction of Jerusalem and dealing with the people of Israel as they are killed or taken captive.

A.D. 68-69 General Vespasian marches & battles to Jerusalem, Nero dies, Roman Civil Wars erupt and Vespasian leaves for Rome - Followers of Jesus flee to Pella

A.D. 70 Jerusalem & Temple besieged & destroyed by Titus (Vespasian’s son) after 5 month besiegement.

So Jesus ‘comes’ in judgment against unbelieving Israel through the Roman army that totally destroys the Temple, most of Jerusalem, kills over 1 million people, and takes thousands captive (Lk 19:41-44, 21:23-24, 23:28-31). This is no different than how God had brought the Assyrians to destroy northern Israel and the Babylonians to destroy Southern Israel.

Matthew 24:31 (NIV) And He will send His angels [messengers] with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

Finally, the term angels comes from the Greek term angelos simply meaning messengers. As I have mentioned before,

John the Baptist and some of his disciples are called angelos of God (Mt 11:10; Lk 7:22) and the translators rightly call them MESSENGERS not angels.

There are 1) heavenly messengers - angels & 2) earthly messengers like John the Baptist. I wish the translators left this as MESSENGERS as well.

If so, this would be such a great encouragement in the midst of news of the devastating judgment that was coming - that the messengers of Jesus will be sent out to all the known world to gather his elect - those people who would follow Jesus in the future!

And lastly, we find significant application and our BIG TRUTH in the final verses we’ve already read.

Matthew 24:34-35 (NIV) Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

You see, the words of Jesus didn’t fall to the ground.

Jesus warned His apostles about what was coming - wars, earthquakes, famine, plagues, and signs in the heavens. They were to be persecuted and many would be killed…and ALL this was to occur…within ONE GENERATION…THEIR GENERATION. And it DID!

We should celebrate that…

BIG TRUTH: What Jesus said HAS & WILL come true

There ARE future events that we await.

Jesus talked about His return one day. How can we trust that will REALLY happen?

When Jesus returns, the dead will be raised and be judged by Him.

Followers of Jesus will receive a transformed body - no more sickness, death…or SIN!

This is a time that faithful believers should LONG for and a day that disobedient people should BEWARE.

But How can we trust that will REALLY happen?

Here’s why:

BIG TRUTH: What Jesus said HAS & WILL come true

Jesus WILL return. Jesus WILL judge. Jesus WILL reward His faithful & punish the unfaithful.

So what if that were to happen THIS WEEK? What if we KNEW - and we don’t - that Jesus was returning NEXT SUNDAY?

How would you LIVE differently?

Would you bow your knee and ask Jesus to forgive you?

Would you turn from your sin and seek the King?

Would you open the Scriptures to READ and HEED what they say? Would you warn of God’s wrath and offer God’s peace to your friends and family who don’t follow Jesus?

How would you LIVE differently…if you knew

BIG TRUTH: What Jesus said HAS & WILL come true?

PRAY

________________

Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987), 742.

Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957), 16.

C.S. Lewis, The World’s Last Night and Other Essays (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1960), 97-98.

John F. MacArthur Jr., Matthew, vol. 4, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1985), 67.

Resources:

The Apocalypse Code by Hank Hanegraaff

The Last Days According to Jesus by Dr. R.C. Sproul

The Olivet Discourse Made Easy by Dr. Ken Gentry

Last Days Madness by Gary DeMar

Revelation: Four Views: A Parallel Commentary edited by Steve Gregg

Revelation Made Easy by Dr. Ken Gentry

Discussion Questions

Share about a time you misunderstood a phrase or a term you weren’t familiar with. Are there any phrases or words from today’s teaching that challenged you to reconsider how you read this passage? Explain your answer.

Read Isaiah 13 (the whole chapter) and then read Matthew 24:29 & Genesis 37:9-10. Have you ever considered the connection between cosmic language that is pointing to those in authority who God is bringing judgment on? How is this helpful in trying to interpret Scriptures?

Read Matthew 24:34-35. Why is it so important in how we understand what “this generation” refers to in light of the context of this passage?

Read Matthew 24:30-33. Regardless of whether you consider this to refer to the 1st century judgment of Jesus on Jerusalem or the future coming of Jesus, why would people mourn the coming of Jesus?

If the “angels gathering the elect” is actually earthly messengers taking the gospel to the known world, how would this encourage the first followers of Jesus & how should it encourage US?

The BIG TRUTH from today’s teaching was: What Jesus said HAS & WILL come true. Many Christians have never considered the many fulfilled prophecies that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24. Answer this - is it any less powerful to appreciate prophecies that have been fulfilled compared to looking forward to prophecies yet to be fulfilled?

What does God want YOU to do with what we studied today?

How can we pray for/care for one another this week? (Pray for one another.)