What generation did Jesus refer to in Matthew 24:34?

Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34).

After describing His return to this earth, which it will be “just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west”, Jesus said, “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matt 24:27, 34). This statement has caused much uncertainty, for it seems as if Jesus said that He would return in that same generation.  Some argue that “this generation”, refers to the generation that will see the signs of His coming.  The purpose of this article is to analyze how the gospels use the word “generation” in support of the main article on Matthew 24 (The Little Apocalypse).

OVERVIEW

In Matthew 1:17, it is said that there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen generations from David to Babylon and another fourteen generations from Babylon to the Messiah.  Similarly, Mary said that “His mercy is upon generation after generation” and that “from this time on all generations will count me blessed” (Luke 1:46-49).  This is also how we also use the word “generation” today.

But Jesus also used the phrase “this generation” to say things that may be applicable to all generations, for instance:

That when “He comes in the glory of His Father”, He will be ashamed of everybody in “this adulterous and sinful generation” that is ashamed of Him (Mark 8:38);

That “this generationis like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children” (Matt 11:16);

That the last state of “this evil generation” will become worse than the first (Matt 12:43-45); and

That this is an “unbelieving and perverted generation” (Matt 17:17);

These four statements might be applicable to all generations or to His contemporary generation specifically, but in the following examples “this generation” can only refer to His contemporary generation.  He said:

That no sign will be given to “this generation” but the sign of Jonah;

That the Queen of the South and the men of Nineveh will stand up with “this generation” at the judgment and condemn it (Luke 11:29-32; Mark 8:11-12);

That He will send prophets to “this generation”, whom they will kill and crucify, so that “all these things will come upon this generation” (Matthew 23:34-36 – It is generally agreed that this refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.);

That the Son of Man must first be rejected by “this generation” (Luke 17:24-25);

The context in Matthew 24 must be studied in more detail, but, on the basis of the usage in the gospels, “this generation” most probably refers to Christ’s contemporary generation.

TEXTS QUOTED IN MORE DETAIL

Jesus said:

Matthew 24:34 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” (Also Mark 13:28-32; Luke 21:29-33)

A few verses before this, He spoke about His return to this earth:

27For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

These words have caused much uncertainty for Christians, for it seems to say that Jesus would return in that same generation. The purpose of this article is to analyze how the gospels use the word “generation”.

In the following examples it refers to a specific generation:

Matthew 1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

Luke 1:46 And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord … 48  … For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. 49 For the Mighty One has done great things for me … 50 and His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear him.

In the following example it may refer to all generations, although it could also refer to His contemporary generation:

Mark 8:38 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”  This may be compared to Matthew 10:32-33, where Jesus said, “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven”.

Matthew 11:16 “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children … “ (Also Luke 7:31-32)

Matthew 12:43 “When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45 “Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

Matthew 17:14 “A man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, 15 Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is … very ill …  16 I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” 17 And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” (also in Mark 9:17; Luke 9:38-42)

In the following example it can only refer to His contemporary generation:

Luke 11:29As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” (See also Matt 12:39 & Matt 16:4)

Mark 8:11The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him. 12 Sighing deeply in His spirit, He said, “Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.

Matthew 23:34Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 “Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” (The same is recorded in Luke 11:4551.  The general agreement is that this refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.)

Luke 17:24For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

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The End of the Age

Jesus referred to “the end of the age” as His return to this earth when the peoples of the world will be separated into two groups; those who will be thrown into the furnace of fire and those who will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

Jesus referred to “the end” and to “the End of the Age.”  These phrases are recorded twelve times in the gospels. The purpose here is to determine the meaning of these phrases, as a background study to the interpretation of the controversial texts in Matthew 10:23; 16:28, and 24:34, where Jesus seems to say that He will return within the lifetime of some of His hearers.

SUMMARY

MATTHEW 10

The first time that the phrase “the end” is used in the gospels, is in the controversial Matthew 10:22-23, where “the end” is when “the Son of Man comes”.

MATTHEW 13

Next, the phrase “the end of the age” is used three times in Matthew 13, where it is described as “the harvest,” when the peoples of the world are separated into two groups; those who commit lawlessness” are thrown “into the furnace of fire”, while “the righteous will shine forth as the sun”.

DANIEL 12

The concept of “the end” comes from the book of Daniel. The phrase, “the end of the age,” comes specifically from the last verse of Daniel, where Daniel is told that he will “rise again” (come to life) at “the end of the age” to receive his “allotted portion.” This “allotted portion” is described earlier in Daniel 12, where it is stated that “many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life” (Dan 12:2). Since others will awake to “everlasting contempt” (Dan 12:3), Daniel 12, similar to Matthew 13, describes “the end of the age” as the time when the peoples of the world will be separated into two groups; those that “commit lawlessness” and the “righteous.”  What Daniel 12 adds is that people will again come to life at “the end of the age”.

LITTLE APOCALYPSE

The next time that the phrase “the end” is found, is in the Little Apocalypse, in which Jesus foretold the events leading up to and at “the end.”  These chapters (Matt 13; Mark 13; Luke 21) use the phrase “the end” seven times. The Little Apocalypse confirms, as concluded above, that “the end of the age” is the Second Coming when the people of the world will be separated into two groups; “those on His right”, who will “inherit the kingdom” (Matt 25:34), and “those on His left”, who “depart … into the eternal fire” (Matt 25:41).

THE GREAT COMMISSION

The only other place in the gospels where the phrase “the end” is found, is in the great commission: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20).

– END OF SUMMARY –


MATTHEW 10

The first time that the phrase “the end” is used in the gospels, is in Matthew 10, where Jesus sent His disciples on a mission trip on their own to the cities of Israel. While giving them instructions, He said:

22You will be hated by all because of My name, but
it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

23 But whenever they persecute you in one city,
flee to the next;
for truly I say to you,
you will not finish going through the cities of Israel
until the Son of Man comes.

The end” is used here in the immediate context of the difficult verse 23. Read in isolation, “the end” in verse 22 may be understood as referring to the person’s death, but in verse 23 Jesus said that He will come before His disciples have finished “going through the cities of Israel.” He said, in other words, that He would come while they are still alive. This implies that “the end” is when “the Son of Man comes”.  (A separate article is devoted to Matthew 10:23.)

MATTHEW 13

The next time that the phrase “the end” is used, is in Matthew 13 in Christ’s explanation of two of His parables.  Here the phrase “the end of the age” is used three times.

39 the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

49 “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The end of the age” is, therefore “the harvest,” when the peoples of the world are separated into two groups:

Those who commit lawlessness” are thrown “into the furnace of fire” (vv42, 50), also called the “eternal fire” (Matt 18:8) or “lake of fire,” which is “the second death” (Rev 20:14-15).

The righteous will shine forth as the sun” (v43, 49).

DANIEL 12

The phrase “the end of the age” is found once only in the Old Testament, namely in the last verse of Daniel, where a supernatural being tells Daniel:

But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age” (Dan 12:13).

The phrase “the end” does appear in the other books of the Old Testament, but only in Daniel is it used for the end of time.  This appears in various forms, such as “the end of the age,” the “time of the end” (Dan 8:17, 19), “the end of time” (Dan 12:4), and “the end time” (Dan 12:9).  Just like Jesus used the phrase “Son of Man” from Daniel 7:13 to refer to Himself, He used the phrases “the end” and “the end of the age” from the book of Daniel. The meaning of “the end” in Daniel 12, therefore, is important for an understanding of “the end” in the gospels.

According to Daniel 12:13 Daniel “will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age”.  This helps to explain what “the end of the age” is:

Rest– Similar to Revelation 6:11, “rest” in Daniel 12:13 refers to the condition in which Daniel will be while dead, which the Bible often refers to as “sleep,” for instance “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep”  (1 Cor 15:20).

Rise again – “Rise again” in Daniel 12:13 refers to his coming to life again. As stated earlier in Daniel 12, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake” (v2).

Allotted portion – The “allotted portion” is also explained by Daniel 12:2-3 when it says that “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life … Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

These verses are also the source of Christ’s reference in Matthew 13:43 to the shining of the righteous at “the end of the age.

But Daniel 12:2 also describes what happens to the lost at “the end of the age,” when it says: “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake … to disgrace and everlasting contempt”.

In conclusion then, in both Daniel 12 and Matthew 13, “the end of the age” is when the peoples of the world are separated into two groups; “those who commit lawlessness” and the “righteous.” While the emphasis in Matthew 13 is on “those who commit lawlessness,” Daniel 12 emphasizes “those who have insight.”  An additional principle found in Daniel 12 is that, at “the end of the age,” people will come to life again. Similar to John 5:27-29 and Revelation 20:4-5, it says that both “those who commit lawlessness” and the “righteous” will come to life.

LITTLE APOCALYPSE

So far, four of the twelve occurrences of the phrase “the end” in the gospels have been discussed. The next time that this phrase is found is in the Little Apocalypse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21). In this sermon, Jesus foretold the events preceding and at “the end.”  In these chapters, this phrase is mentioned 7 times. This shows the strong end-time focus of the Little Apocalypse.  The Little Apocalypse is discussed in a separate article.  In summary:

Questions – The disciples asked two questions:

    1. When the temple will be destroyed?
    2. What will the sign of His coming and the end of the age be (Matthew 24:3)?

Jesus’s answer may be divided into three broad sections:

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Jesus commenced His answer by warning them that people will mislead them by saying “the time is near” (Luke 21:8). He then told them that wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, and pestilences are not signs of the end (Matt 24:6; Mark 13:7; Luke 21:9).  He also warned them that they will be persecuted (Matt 24:9). So far, He has not answered their questions. He only gave general principles; applicable to all times and places. But then, He concludes this first section by mentioning “the end” twice:

but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved … this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt 24:13-14; Mark 13:13).

JERUSALEM

He then warned them to flee to the mountains when they see Jerusalem surrounded by armies because that will be a time of extreme distress; if God did not shorten that time, all people in Jerusalem would have been killed.  This happened in A.D. 70.

SECOND COMING

In the third section, Christ described His Second Coming. He first told them that false prophets will arise that claim that He has already come. He then described the signs of His coming, namely when the powers of heaven will be shaken, resulting in the roaring of the seas.  They will then see Him coming “in clouds with great power and glory” (Mark 13:26), and “He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds” (Mark 13:27).

The phrase “the end” is not used in the third section, but since this concludes Christ’s description of the future events, this is “the end” to which He referred at the end of the first section. When He comes His angels “will gather together His elect from the four winds” (Mark 13:27). This means the other will be left.  As stated a little later in Matthew 24 “one will be taken and one will be left” (v40-41) to be destroyed (Rev 19:21; Luke 17:29-30). Matthew 25:31 continues the discussion of His return when the people of the world will be separated into “those on His right”, who will “inherit the kingdom,” and “those on His left”, who “depart … into the eternal fire” (Matt 25:34, 41). Please see the article on the Second Coming in the New Testament for more detail.

This confirms, as concluded above, that “the end of the age” is His return to this earth when the people of the world will be separated into two groups.

THE GREAT COMMISSION

The only other place in the gospels where the phrase “the end” is found, is in the great commission: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (MatY 28:20).

CONCLUSION

Judgment Day –  “The end of the age” therefore refers to His return to this earth, when the peoples of the world will be separated into two groups. “Those who commit lawlessness” will be thrown “into the furnace of fire”, but “the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt 13:41-43; 49-50). It cannot be interpreted, as some do, as the attack on Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70.

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