This Generation Will Not Pass Away (6)

“Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”

In verses 4–35 we are examining Jesus’ teaching concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70, and from verse 36 onward concerning the future return of Christ. Verses 29 and 30 present us with some difficulties. Do they apply to A.D. 70 or the Second Coming of our Lord? As the product of Western thought and civilization, it is very difficult for us to see these verses other than in a literal way. Liberals often point out that Jesus must have been mistaken when he used such language to describe the destruction of Jerusalem, but that is because they are interpreting literally, and, therefore, it does not make sense to them. And if it doesn’t make sense, it cannot be true.

We must deal with verses 29 and 30 separately and then tie them together. If the “tribulation” (vv. 21) refers to the savage brutality displayed by Rome during the closing stages of the Jewish War, culminating in the destruction of the temple and city, then verse 29 refers to something after that rampant and wanton destruction because it says “…after the tribulation of those days…” But how long afterward is the question? Verse 29 also says “immediately,” and, therefore, the idea of something consequential must be considered. Jesus has been using dramatic Old Testament language—the language of the prophets—to depict and reveal the fall of Jerusalem. Again, one of the great difficulties we have is in understanding Old Testament language, and perhaps this also reveals our weakness in understanding the Old Testament. It is even more important to remember that Jesus is about state verse 34: “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” It’s very important to keep that in mind.

The first thing we can say about verses 29 and 30 is that neither of them says anything about the coming of Jesus or about the end of the age. Those words are not used or found in the verses—you would have to assume that they are present or Jesus is referring to something else. Second, if verses 15–26 refer to the impending destruction in A.D. 70, and verses 29 and 30 refer to the Second Coming (which is to happen immediately after the “tribulation”) then both Jesus and Matthew expected the Second Coming in the first century. And now, since two thousand years have gone by, they, therefore, must have been mistaken. The idea that our Lord would be mistaken is impossible and abhorrent to us, so we must consider other things.

Verse 29 indicates that four incredible events are going to happen immediately following the siege of Jerusalem. First, the sun will be darkened; second, the moon will not give its light; third, the stars will fall from heaven; and finally, the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Now how should we understand these statements by our Lord Jesus? In Matthew 24, Jesus has spoken of signs which seem rather broad (vv. 4–14). These “all must take place, but the end is not yet” (vs. 6); “all these are but the beginning of birth pains” (vs. 8); and then in verse 14: “and then the end will come.” Then our Lord becomes more specific with the“abomination of desolation” in verse 15. This sign is so clear that people should take it as a sign to get out of the city. This brings about “great tribulation” (vs. 21). The context is suffused with the phrase “those days”(vv. 19, 22, 29), and as far as Jesus is concerned, his “generation” would see “all these things” (vs. 34). So how should we understand this dramatic imagery portrayed in verse 29? I believe that our Lord is using the vibrant, rich language of the Old Testament to speak about the destruction of the temple. We must think in biblical and covenantal terms and not literal terms (as is so easy to do). Matthew makes use of the word“immediately” on some thirteen occasions. When Mark uses the word “immediately,” it is in the sense of a story telling device heightening occurrence. Every use in Matthew refers to something happening soon after a preceding event. By using “immediately” with the word “after” our Lord tightens the web of events around the impending temple fall. There is, therefore, no time gap between verses 15–28 and vs. 29.

We have similar language being used in Judges 5:4 and 5 when we read of Deborah’s song describing the fall of Jabin and Sisera: “LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, yes, the clouds dropped water. The mountains quaked before the LORD, even Sinai before the LORD, the God of Israel.” This means that the kings of the earth are nothing to God who made all things.

The language of verse 29 is very similar to Isaiah 13 which describes the future fall of Babylon. It’s a judgment oracle. This coming judgment has results in Isaiah 13:6–9: “Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt. They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame. Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it.” Devastation is coming, and then Isaiah 13:10 states: “For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.” Isaiah also describes the fall of Edom in similar language: “For the LORD is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter. Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood. All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree.” (Isa. 34:2–4).

Ezekiel describes the fall of Egypt this way: “When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the bright lights of heaven I will make dark over you, and put darkness on your land, declares the Lord GOD” (Ezek. 32:7, 8). Joel says the same things against Israel: “the earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining” (Joel 2:10; see also vv. 28–32 fulfilled in Acts 2:16–21). Amos 8:9 states: “‘And on that day,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.’”

This is all dramatic Old Testament prophetic judgment language highlighting God moving against nations. This is cosmic disaster language and this is what Jesus is saying about Jerusalem’s impending demise. Creation in turmoil reflects the nations under judgment. This language signals world–shattering events that imply the “end” has come. When God judges a nation using these terms, then its end has come. This is what our Lord is saying about Israel. Its end is coming. The excellent NT commentator R.T France puts it this way:“language about cosmic collapse, then, is used by the OT prophets to symbolize God’s acts of judgment within history, with the emphasis on catastrophic political reversals” (NICNT Commentary on Matthew, p. 922). Jesus has now answered the disciples’ first question from verse 4: “tell us when will these things be…”Jerusalem will not stand just as ancient Babylon could not stand. And the collapse of Jerusalem means that something must take its place. (Part 7—more cosmic signs coming on “this generation.”)