[fortheDeclaration]

Just as it stretches credibility to suggest that "this generation" really means "that generation".

It meant the generation He was speaking about, which were Jews, not Christians.

Why would Christians be concerned about fleeing on the sabbath?

'This'-the person or thing mentioned-Webster's New World Dictionary.

[topcat54]

It meant the generation He was speaking about, which were Jews, not Christians.

Are you saying that no Christians were Jews in the first century?

Why would Christians be concerned about fleeing on the sabbath?

Well for one thing, Jewish Christians in and around Jerusalem would have had to contend with all the Sabbath restrictions placed on the citizens of ancient Israel. For example, the NT speaks of things like "a Sabbath day’s journey" (Acts 1:12). According to rabbinic tradition based on multiple OT texts, this distance was only about 2000 cubits (1000 yards). It would have been very difficult to "flee to the mountains" to escape the armies of Rome given this restriction.

However, to counter your futurist perspective, looking at modern secular Israel today, why would anyone care about whether or not they were traveling on the Sabbath? These OT commands are largely ignored in modern times. Certainly no one in Israel today is limited to traveling only 1000 yards on the Sabbath. Jesus’ words were obviously meant for an ancient time.