Jules,
Jesus said in Matthew 24:32 – 34:
“Now from the fig tree
learn her parable: when her branch is now become tender, and puts forth its
leaves, you know that the summer is nigh; even so you also, when you see all these things, know you that he is
nigh, even at the doors. Assuredly,
I say to you, this generation will
by no means pass away till all these
things take place”
"All These things" referred to
all of the events that Jesus had said would accompany the destruction of the
temple. The problem is however, that not all of the things which Jesus said
would accompany the destruction of the temple occurred in 70 CE.
ABOUT THE FULFILLMENT OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION
(GT):
In Matthew 24 (Mark 13, Luke 17 & 21) Jesus
said that here would be great tribulation which has not occurred since the world’s
beginning and which will never occur again.
There is general agreement among New Testament
scholars that Jesus was telling his disciples of a great tribulation that would
happen when Jerusalem
was destroyed.
HOWEVER, most Christians maintain that the GT
is yet to happen as Jesus said that there would be no event that could compare
to the GT and it would occur only once.
ABOUT THE FULFILLMENT OF THE OTHER EVENTS:
In Matthew 24 (Mark 13, Luke 21) Jesus said
that:
-
Immediately
after "the tribulation of those days" certain celestial signs would
be seen: the sun would be darkened, the moon would not give its light, the
stars would fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven would be shaken. There
is general agreement among New Testament scholars that Jesus was telling his
disciples of a great tribulation that would happen when Jerusalem was destroyed. Jesus was saying that these signs would
come immediately after "those days" of the tribulation that accompanied
the destruction of Jerusalem.
-
After
the appearance of the celestial signs, which would follow immediately after the
tribulation of those days, "the sign of the Son of Man" would appear
in heaven. All tribes of the earth would mourn, and they would see the Son of
Man coming on the clouds of heaven. He would send his angels forth with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they would gather together his elect from the four
corners of the earth.
-
All
these things would take place before his generation had passed away.
Matthew 24 is not the only passage where Jesus
promised that he would return before his own generation passed away. One of the
clearest statements of this promise was made in Matthew 16:27-28:
“For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His
angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say
to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see
the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
Jesus was describing the final
judgment when he would come with his angels and reward every person according
to his works. The New Testament teaches that the second coming of Jesus will
signal the end of the world, at which time there will be a final, personal
judgment on the basis of what each individual did in his/her lifetime:
-
The
apostle Paul said: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what
he has done, whether good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10).
-
The
book of Revelation closed with a warning of this final judgment: "Behold,
I come quickly and my reward is with me, to render to each man according to his
works" (Revelation 22:12).
-
In
his interpretation of the parable of the tares, Jesus was very clear in saying
to his disciples that the final judgment would take place at the end of the
world:
Matthew 13:37 – 43:
“He that sows the good seed is the Son of Man; and the field is the world,
and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons
of the evil one; and the enemy that sowed them is the devil: and the harvest is the end of the world;
and the reapers are angels. As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned
with fire; so shall it be in the end of
the world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall
gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do
iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the
weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the
sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that has ears, let him hear”
None of these things
occurred when the temple was destroyed in 70 CE. These are just some of the
things which did not occur. For a discussion of the events which did not occur
when the temple was destroyed in 70 CE see:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070301122226/http://www.theskepticalreview.com:80/mainmenu.html
(See “Preterism: Phase 1 to Phase 3)
https://infidels.org/library/modern/farrell_till/prophecy.html
http://www.religioustolerance.org/end_wrl16a.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/symes05.htm
Christianity has taken different approaches to the events which were unfulfilled when the temple was destroyed in 70 CE:
- The
destruction of Jerusalem
in the year 70 by the Romans signalled Christ’s return, but in an
invisible manner. The unfulfilled events were referring to symbolic
fulfillments, which happened during the time of the generation that Jesus was speaking to. This is known as
PRETERISM which has variations such as Partial-Preterism, Full-Preterism.
- Although
Jesus’ words are presented as a continuous sequence of events,
conservative Christians believe that the first part of the prophecy relates
to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, whereas the remainder refers to
Jesus' second coming in the future. The unfulfilled events are projected
into the future. Jesus was addressing his statements to a remotely
distant generation of people:
-
JWs stipulated that this was the generation that saw
1914;
-
Other Christians maintain that Jesus was talking about the generation that
would be alive when the nation of Israel was restored in 1948.
This is known as
DISPENSATIONALISM which has variations as well but essentially the Tribulation
is believed to precede the second coming of Christ. The Tribulation is followed
by 1000 years of peace when all live under the authority of Christ. Afterwards,
in a brief, final battle, Satan is permanently conquered.
Both approaches
attempt to explain away the obvious failure of Jesus’ promise to return during
the lifetime of his generation. Refutations of PRETERISM can be found at the
links provided above.
Consider also
when the various books of the New Testament were written.
If I’m not
mistaken, John’s Gospel was written
90 or 95 CE, his 3 letters were written between 96 and 98 CE years after Jerusalem’s destruction
in 70 CE. If John had believed the event in 70 CE to be the fulfilment of Jesus’
prophecy about the end coming within his generation, wouldn’t he have stated
that in his writings? But he did not. Wouldn’t it have been the best way to
silence the doubters? But he didn’t even refer to it. To the contrary, the
context of his letter shows he was still expecting Jesus’ prophecy to be
fulfilled. 1 John 2:18:
“Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard
that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared;
from this we know that it is the last hour.”
Revelation was written in 95/96 CE
after Jerusalem's
destruction in 70CE and mentions that Jesus was still yet to come.
Matthew and Luke were written 80 or
85 CE. They record Jesus' prophecy about the world ending in his generation but
there is no mention of a fulfillment in 70CE.
Couldn’t help the long post.
