Interpretation of Matthew 24:34

[Jonathan95]

Mt 24:34
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Does it follow that this text also means: 'This generation will pass once these things are fulfilled'?

I ask because after I read through this chapter I found myself noticing that this verse could be used as an apparent Bible contradiction.

If that generation has passed, all that was spoken in Matt 24 was fulfilled. But the chapter, at least in part, clearly refers to the second coming of the Lord and because that hasn't happened yet, that generation has not passed. But we know those people in that generation have been dead for a long time. So this text is either found to be false or we are somehow reading it wrongly.

I'm curious as to how Christians read this text so that it avoids being any sort of contradiction. What say ye?

 

[arapahoepark]

Gentry, France, etc. Including myself believe verse 36 is transition from "when shall these things be" (referring to the Temple) to "your coming."

 

[Contra_Mundum]

One answer some give (it may not be the only good answer) is that the question of v3 is actually two questions, and Jesus divides them and answers each separately. The disciples believed, wrongly, that the end of the Temple was synonymous with the end of the world. Jesus' answer could be taken as referring first to the the living generation, who would see the Temple destroyed within 40yrs; and then the latter portion of the ch. addressing the interim time and the end of the age.

edit: Or, what Trent said.

 

[Jonathan95]

Gentry, France, etc. Including myself believe verse 36 is transition from "when shall these things be" (referring to the Temple) to "your coming."

One answer some give (it may not be the only good answer) is that the question of v3 is actually two questions, and Jesus divides them and answers each separately. The disciples believed, wrongly, that the end of the Temple was synonymous with the end of the world. Jesus' answer could be taken as referring first to the the living generation, who would see the Temple destroyed within 40yrs; and then the latter portion of the ch. addressing the interim time and the end of the age.

edit: Or, what Trent said.

I see, that's interesting!
So would this view take verses 29-31 as still speaking about the destruction of Jerusalem?

 

[arapahoepark]

I see, that's interesting!
So would this view take verses 29-31 as still speaking about the destruction of Jerusalem?

Yes; through 35.

 

[Jonathan95]

Yes; through 35.

That's interesting. I feel as if I've heard verses 29-31 taught exclusively as referring specifically to the 2nd coming of Christ. I think it's due to the reference to the gathering of the elect and how all the tribes of the earth will mourn. The Son of Man coming on the clouds sounds like 2nd Advent language. I'm sure there are parallels to the book of Revelation as well that could be drawn.

 

[Contra_Mundum]

That's interesting. I feel as if I've heard verses 29-31 taught exclusively as referring specifically to the 2nd coming of Christ. I think it's due to the reference to the gathering of the elect and how all the tribes of the earth will mourn. The Son of Man coming on the clouds sounds like 2nd Advent language. I'm sure there are parallels to the book of Revelation as well that could be drawn.

1) The terms of vv29-31 are of such a character, that reference to the 2nd Coming cannot be precluded, or entirely precluded. It could be a direct or indirect reference to that event. Jesus could be tying the end of the Jewish Temple with the end of the ages, while not validating the disciples full expectations.

2) The apocalyptic language of v29 doesn't have to refer to the end of time. For proof, go to Act.2:19-20, quoting Jol.2:30-31,

19 and I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:​

As v.16 says, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." In other words: the "blood, fire, and smoke," together with the darkened sun and moon, are the prophetic equivalent to the signs of the Pentecostal event, with its mighty rushing wind, its enflamed participants, and its de-Babeling proclamation. Joel wrote: Expect what happens to be like the world turned upside down, an earth-changing moment not qualitatively different than if you woke up one day to find that black was white.

The prophets were writing/speaking for their own temporal moment first. They were not taping a movie of the future and playing that for their initial audience. So they write in accessible if hyperbolic terms for all times, and expect the moment itself to reveal the nuts and bolts; and God expects the people of Jerusalem on Pentecost (and us today) to accept Peter's authoritative interpretation.

3) What is "the sign of the Son of Man... in heaven," v30? Is it the reappearance of Christ in the sky over the earth somewhere, everywhere, or Jerusalem in particular? Or, is it a reference to a sign--something--that alerts everyone to the fact that "the once-crucified Son of Man, rejected by men, dropped in a hole to be forgotten, and who belongs (according to some) to the lowest hell forever IS IN HEAVEN where he belongs in fact."

That is, do the words "in heaven" refer to the Son of Man or the sign? And what "heaven" is it? There are actually several interesting interpretive questions about what the language of v30 means. Translations can push readers in this direction or that, another argument for preachers being familiar with the underlying text.

4) Is the coming of the Son of Man "on the clouds of heaven" an indication of his return (2nd Coming), or must it be? There could be a more general reference here to the Lord who comes in judgment, e.g. Zep.1:15, " That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness." Jer.4:13, "Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled." see also Ps.97:2; Ps.18:9-12; Nah.1:3.

Dan.7:13 is the most direct allusion of this language, and it refers there to the Son of Man's ascension, which naturally gives rise to the language of his return "in like manner," Act.1:11. But he comes also in his preliminary judgments, though not bodily as he will at the final hour.

5) What are "all the tribes of the earth," (cf. Rev.1:7). Is it a poetic reference to all the nations of the earth? Is it a poetic reference to the people or families of Israel, recalling that they were once divided into 12 tribes, Num.26:55; Jos.13:7; cf. Ezk.47:21? The Gk for earth in general, or land in particular, is the same word. But given the interrelated themes Jesus is drawing together, Christ could be implying that in the context of the one judgment on the Temple, there is yet the promise to be fulfilled of fully recalling the scattered tribes of Israel from out the whole earth whence they were driven.

So see Zep.3, esp. vv10, 13, 19. V18 speaks of "them that are sorrowful," and this could have more to do with Jesus' language, "they will mourn," (cf. Zech.12:10); rather than these words being a reference to all the people who now in the end of the world regret that they did not trust in Christ before the time. In other words, the terms of this "coming" may coincide with the power and glory of bringing the lost to repentance, and v31, the gathering of the elect from the ends of the earth. And are those "angels" the holy spirits of heaven, or are they the "messengers" of the gospel whose call effects the final gathering? Is there a slight blending of these concepts in this context?


In point of fact, the end of the Old Covenant and its Temple does not mark the end of the world, but rather indicates the falling of the final barriers that might prevent the return of the remnant, and the incorporation of the Gentiles into Israel's tribes (as before at the Exodus and Sinai). Jesus is helping his disciples see that the actual vision of what the kingdom will be far outstrips their limited expectations, constrained by the old wineskins of their experience till then.

"Summer" (not harvest) is near, v32. So, time is passing, even slipping away. Seeing what is happening, you will know the time is near and getting nearer all the time, v33.

 

[Wretched Man]

One answer some give (it may not be the only good answer) is that the question of v3 is actually two questions, and Jesus divides them and answers each separately. The disciples believed, wrongly, that the end of the Temple was synonymous with the end of the world. Jesus' answer could be taken as referring first to the the living generation, who would see the Temple destroyed within 40yrs; and then the latter portion of the ch. addressing the interim time and the end of the age.

edit: Or, what Trent said.

Kim Riddlebarger (who I've been heavily persuaded by with regards to amillennialism) asserts there are three questions asked by the disciples (I guess he contrasts with you in that they did distinguish between the destruction of the temple and the end of the age), but follows a similar logical argument. Here is a brief explanation he provides.

Another interpretation I used to hold (when I was a premillennialist) is that the generation described by Jesus is a future generation in final days of the tribulation. In essence, he might be saying (to those reading Scripture), when you start seeing some of the awesome signs described, this would indicate the end is fast approaching and your generation would witness it...