Welcome to FR!.......................
The Lord is my Shepard.
Don’t overlook verse 34: “Truly I tell you, THIS generation will certainly not pass away until ALL these things have happened.”
If I am taking Jesus at his word, then these things have already happened. They just didn’t happen in the way we wanted to see it happen. He was referring to his coming in judgment on Jerusalem, not a final return.
When was this desolation supposed to happen? Within one generation. Luke further confirms that this account refers to the destruction of Jerusalem:
“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. 22 For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 23 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
I know most of the readers here will not accept this interpretation, but give it some good thought. Jesus is not one to mislead his followers to believe some event that would occur thousands of years later would happen to them.
The Kingdom is at hand!
you are so correct
Chapter 24 is split. Jesus was answering two-three, depends on a comma, different questions from His disciples after Jesus drew their attention to the Temple and the fact that stones would be thrown down.
Questions:
1. When will it happen?
2. What will be the sign of Your coming?
3. What is the sign of the end of the age?
Question 1 answer was the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Verses 4-26, verses 32-35 jumps back to the destruction of Jerusalem.
Question 2 answer is the Second Coming
27-31. “Elect” are Jews, not Christians. (Remember the audience of Jesus AND Matthew. They were not Christians, they were Jews)
Verses 36-44 seems to be speaking more about a Rapture. There is no warning for this event: “one taken and the other left.” Might coincide with the sign of His Second Coming because once the Rapture happens the End of the World clock starts moving.
Honestly, the chapter is a mystery in some parts.
This is my interpretation and from commentaries.