This refers to a prediction in what’s called the Olivet Discourse. Some famous skeptics have used this prediction to reject Jesus’ divinity. The Olivet Discourse appears in three Gospels (Matthew: 24:1–25:46, Mark: 13:1–37, Luke: 21:5–36). Many people view this narrative as describing Jesus’ return to earth in what’s known as the Second Coming. Others see the section as describing a preliminary return of Jesus to the sky, but not to the earth. This action, known as the rapture, will take away the Christians and leave the rest of the world behind.
In all three Gospels accounts of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus is quoted as saying that “this generation” will not pass away until all these things happened (Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30, Luke 21:32). So, if this discourse deals with the second coming or a rapture, it looks like Jesus made a false prediction. In my opinion, this issue cannot be addressed by a simple look at popular English versions of the New Testament. A proper answer requires looking at ancient Greek renditions of the New Testament, understanding figures of speech, recognizing references to Old Testament verses, and knowing a bit of the cultural background of the times.
First off, the idea that Jesus was describing a preliminary return to extract the church can be discarded as a completely indefensible concept. Many Christians accept this idea, but the Bible never teaches it. I discuss this in a postscript below.
What about the idea that Jesus falsely predicted a first century second coming? Here are four counter responses of which I am aware:
- The Greek word translated generation could be translated as race. I find this proposal weak. This word clearly doesn’t mean race when used in many other places in the New Testament (including other places in Matthew’s Gospel).
- Jesus could have been referring to the future generation when the predictions occur. That can’t be ruled out, but it’s hard for me to buy. When describing the events, Jesus keeps saying “you”, not a future generation.
- The passage deals with the first century destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, not Jesus’s return. The discourse clearly began with that context based on Mark 13:1-4. And, the destruction did happen in that generation. The temple destruction was the physical end of a spiritual transition. Instead of symbolic temple sacrifices for sins, Jesus’ sacrifice by death on the cross now paid for sins. Thus, when Jesus says: “…then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14), it means the end of the temple system, not the end of the world.
- The passage talks about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, but transitions into end of the world issues as a follow up topic (particularly in the next chapter of Matthew’s Gospel). If this position is chosen, then the Jerusalem destruction is what got fulfilled in the generation of the Olivet Discourse.
Either 3 or 4 explains Jesus’ prediction, but it must be recognized that the language of the Olivet Discourse includes figures of speech and references to Old Testament verses. An example of the former is “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” (Matthew 24:29). How do I know this constitutes figures of speech and not a literal supernatural astronomy event? I know because in Acts 2:20 and Isaiah 13:10, similar language described events that have already occurred. All of these involve a painful authority change. We use these types of expressions in modern times. For example, an old song by the Walker Brothers about a breakup said: “The sun ain’t gonna shine anymore. The moon ain’t gonna rise in the sky.”
An example of an Old Testament reference is “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory” (Mark 13:26). Matthew 24:30 says something similar: “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.” An NIV Bible footnote gives a different translation for part of the sentence: “At that time the tribes of the land will see…” For reasons I won’t go into, the footnote gives the better translation than “all the peoples of the earth.”
This could refer to Jesus’s second coming, but two alternative views have been raised. Possibly, Jesus’ quote merges both views. One refers to passages like Isaiah 19:1: “A prophecy against Egypt: See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt.” These passages refer to God using an army to enact judgement. That would fit the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in “this generation.” Also, that would fit the idea that people will see something happen.
This proposition is reenforced by Jesus using similar language later before Jewish religious leaders (Matthew 26:64). Jesus’ statement comes right after complaints were made about Jesus saying he would destroy the temple. Moreover, a threat to the city and temple would explain part of the extreme anger the leaders felt toward Jesus. These leaders’ power and livelihood depended on Jerusalem and the temple. One big reason they wanted Jesus killed was a fear of the Romans destroying the temple: “If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation” (John 11:48).
One problem with this idea is the timing associated with Jesus statement to the Sanhedrin. Jesus said: “From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:64, bolding mine). However, the context of both the Matthew chapter 24 and chapter 26 sections gives a simple explanation. Jesus may have been saying that the transition of temple sacrifice to Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice has now begun. This goes with Jesus’ saying that he would destroy the temple and rebuild it in 3 days (a reference to his dying and rising as a replacement for temple sacrifices-John 2:19-21). An accuser raises this point about temple destruction just before Jesus says “From now on” in Matthew 26:64.
The other view of this verse has Jesus taking his place in Heaven as having authority over all the world (fulfilment of Daniel 7:13-14). The Gospel wordings show similarity with the Daniel passage. This coronation of Jesus as king would be taking place shortly after Jesus statement to the Sanhedrin (which could explain “from now on”). However, two problems arise with this interpretation. First, in the Olivet Discourse, the timing of the coming in the clouds seems to be intertwined with the destruction of Jerusalem. A number of Bible verses suggest that Jesus’ coronation happened before the Jerusalem destruction. Also, in both the Olivet Discourse and the Sanhedrin exchange, Jesus said people will see what’s happening. People on earth wouldn’t have seen a coronation event occurring in heaven in the first century. It is possible that Jesus was talking about both the destruction of Jerusalem and the coronation. The coronation sets up the destruction of Jerusalem which would be a visible event.
In my current thinking, a strong case exists for “this generation” referring to the destruction of Jerusalem. I view the addition of the coronation into the picture as also possible.
Despite claiming that I have a strong case, the verse right after Matthew’s clouds of power and glory quote may seem to wreck everything. The verse reads: “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 24:31). I have to admit that this one threw me at first. It appears to talk about the end of the world when angels gather all God’s people from all over the earth. However, after doing some reading, I now think something else is being said.
The Greek word translated as angels (angelous) only means messengers. It can refer to celestial beings, but in multiple New Testament passages, the same root word is applied to humans. An example involves John the Baptist being called a messenger (Matthew 11:10). Similarly, ancient Greek versions of the Old Testament use this word to describe human messengers. Thus, Matthew 24:31 can be saying that after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, God’s messengers will go into all the earth to bring people to Jesus.
This had already started. Jesus said that his message would be preached to the Roman Empire before “the end” came (the destruction of the temple ending the symbolic sacrifice era) (Matthew 24:14). Here, the English NIV says the message will go to “the whole world,” but saying the Roman world would be more appropriate. The Greek root word used here is oikoumenē. It refers not to the planet earth, but the “world” of the people in a conversation. This same root word appears in Luke 2:1 and Acts 11:28. There the newest NIV Bible translates this as Roman world. This should also be applied to the Olivet Discourse verse about where the gospel was preached before the “end.” On the other hand, Matthew 24:31 talks about messengers going from “one end of the heavens to the other.” So, before the destruction of Jerusalem, the Gospel message had started spreading in the Roman world, but after the destruction, the message would eventually span the whole planet.
In conclusion, I feel that I have presented a very strong solution to the “this generation” problem. This interpretation strengthens the case for Jesus’ divinity. That’s because the prediction of Jerusalem’s destruction in “this generation” was recorded before the event. I won’t go into all the evidence for that except for one idea. If Luke’s Gospel was written after the city destruction, Luke would have likely written about both the prediction and fulfillment. Luke did this very thing in the Book of Acts about another prediction and fulfillment (Acts 11:28).
Postscript. An idea exists that at some point, the church is secretly taken up to heaven (“raptured”) while all others remain on earth. This is supposed to occur before a 7 year tribulation period (though the Bible never actually mentions a 7 year tribulation period anywhere). At a point after the rapture, Jesus is supposed to make a full return to bring judgement. This concept got its main boost from writings in the 1800s promoting a view called dispensationalism. From what I have found, this idea was not generally taught in the early church. More importantly, a secret rapture is not taught ANYWHERE in the Bible.
Rapture teachings commonly use Olivet Discourse mentions of people pairs:
“Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left” (Matthew 24:40-41).
“…two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left” (Luke 17:34-35).
The has been wrongly interpreted to mean that one is taken to heaven while the other is left on earth. The first problem with this idea is Jesus’ answer to the question of where this happens. His answer is “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather” (Luke 17:37). This sounds like the killing that took place in Jerusalem’s destruction, not like people being taken to heaven. Moreover, the Greek word translated “left” is translated forgiven in a lot of other Bible verses. In another part of the Olivet Discourse, this word is used to say one stone is not left on another. Thus, the idea of one of a pair being left has to do with releasing or being set free. So, the one left is the fortunate one, not the one taken.
To make matters worse for the rapture view, in the Olivet Discourse, the situation is compared to the times of Noah and of Sodom and Gomora. In both, one group of people died and the others escaped death. Nobody went to Heaven. Moreover, Jesus warned that when certain things started happening in Jerusalem, people should get out. One of these signs was the abomination of desolation prophesied in the Bible book of Daniel. This was fulfilled initially in around 167 BC by a Greek ruler. Jesus said something like this would happen again. This did happen progressively through the Roman army’s actions against Jerusalem.*
Jesus said that when the signs of trouble appear, people should leave quickly without looking back. If people were going to be raptured to heaven, they would not need to escape or look back. So, absolutely nothing in the Olive Discourse teaches about a secret rapture.
Some people try to use 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 to sell a rapture concept (instead of a Jesus second coming). However, as with the Olivet Discourse, these two passages say absolutely nothing about a secret rapture with non-Christians being left on earth. On the contrary, both passages talk about a trumpet, which indicates something public.
Neither Bible section gives a lot of detail. I Corinthians mainly just says that some Christians won’t die, but will suddenly be given a new body. The Thessalonians passage adds that Jesus will come down from Heaven. That sounds just like how two angels in Acts 1:11 said that Jesus will return to earth. The angels said that Jesus would return just like he left. In Acts, he ascended into the sky from the earth; at the second coming, he will follow the same path, only in reverse (descend from the sky to the earth).
One argument offered against the second coming interpretation of Thessalonians is that it says people will meet Jesus in the air (not on earth). However, the Greek words describing this are thought to reflect a cultural custom of the day. When a dignitary would arrive in a city, trumpets would sound and people would meet the dignitary outside the city. Then, the people would accompany the dignitary back into the city. So, Jesus will be met in the air and return with his followers to triumphantly set foot on the earth.
Also of note is that Thessalonians says the dead in Christ will rise just before the live believers meet Jesus. I Corinthians also puts the resurrection of dead believers in the same event as live people being transformed into new bodies. Both scriptures mention a trumpet, but the Corinthian sections calls it “the last trumpet.” Some have argued that this is not the same as the seventh trumpet seen in 11:17 of Revelation (a book of events not written strictly in chronological order). The Revelation 11 passage clearly indicates a final arrival of Jesus to earth as ruler: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah and he will reign for ever and ever.” Revelation links this occurrence with judging the dead and giving out rewards. This sounds a whole lot like the Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians passages. This supports the idea that these sections speak of the second coming, not a secret church rapture.
Some fine points of this whole subject can be debated. However, what is clear is that not one single place in the Bible actually states that a secret rapture of the church will occur. A rapture belief may seem harmless, but it can it can promote an escape mentality. Nobody should tell a Christian in the Congo that they will be raptured out of a great tribulation. They already face a great tribulation.
*For further description see: https://www.revelationrevolution.org/the-abomination-that-causes-desolation-explained/. I haven’t fully decided on this writing’s interpretation of the numbers in the Book of Daniel, though I find them interesting. However, the parts about the Roman army and the abomination make sense to me.