What Did Jesus Mean By "This Generation?"
In Matthew 24, Jesus makes the following famously difficult statement:
32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. (Matthew 24:32-34)
This comes immediately after his description of numerous end time signs, as well as a physical description of the Second Coming. What makes verse 34 so difficult is that any kind of literal interpretation of Matthew 24 would mean that Jesus made a false prediction. The signs that he predicted did not come to pass in the generation of Jesus’ contemporaries. Upon further examination, this becomes fairly obvious. Matthew 24 predicts:
- Universal gospel proclamation to every ethnic group (Matt. 24:14)
- Persecution by every ethnic group and ensuing apostasy (Matt. 24:9-13)
- “Abomination of Desolation” (an idol in the temple which causes people to flee) (Matt 24:15)
- Great Tribulation that threatens life of every human on earth (Matt. 24:21-22)
- False Messiahs and false prophets performing extremely deceptive miracles (Matt. 24:23-24)
- Globally visible return of Christ (Matt. 24:27; 29-31)
- Doom like Noah’s flood (Matt. 24:38-39)
Some theologians, called partial preterists, try to force-fit these events into the 1st Century. They say that these correspond to the events immediately leading up to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. However, they have to resort to a non-literal interpretation of some parts of Matthew 24 in order to make this work. This does not seem to fit the literary genre of Matthew 24, which is a sequential listing of literal events.
But what about those of us who want to read Matthew 24 in its plain literal sense? Do we have to take “this generation” as a metaphor, and become hypocrites? On the contrary!
Some have tried to find a solution to this problem by showing that Jesus often uses the term “this generation” in a negative context. I too held this view at one point. But I don’t think it is the correct one. When using the phrase “this generation,” Jesus is, in fact, almost always referring to people alive at that time.
The answer to this problem does not lie in the word “generation.” Generation means what generation means. Instead, the solution lies in the meaning of the word “this.” In Greek, the word used for “this” can refer to something close in time, space or context.
A few Bible passages can illustrate this point quite well. Take Jesus’ interaction with the woman at the well in John 4 for example:
13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” (John 4:13-15)
At first, when Jesus talks about “this water,” he is referring to the water in the well. He contrasts that with the spiritual water that he can give the woman who is at the well. In response, the woman says “sir, give me this water…”. Now Jesus had just used the term “this water” to refer to the water he was standing next to, namely, the water in the well. But the woman responds, using the term “this water” to refer to the spiritual water that Jesus is offering her.
This simply proves that the word “this” in Greek can refer to something close in time, space, or context. When Jesus says “this water,” he is referring to something close in space. When the woman refers to “this water,” she is referring to something that is close in context, namely the water of eternal life that Jesus just spoke about.
Other uses of “this” in the Bible bear out this usage. This is even true of a passage in Luke 17 about the Second Coming.
30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 Remember Lot's wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that [Greek: this] night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. (Luke 17:30-34)
Jesus is not saying that he will come back the very night he gave the teaching in Luke 17. That’s one way you could interpret “in this night” in verse 34. Alternatively, he is simply referring to the night he mentioned in the immediate context, namely, the night that he comes back. Interestingly, for clarity’s sake, English translators translate the word “this” in verse 34 as “that,” in order to avoid confusion. This is yet another example of where the word “this” is used to refer to something close in context, not close in time.
The book of Hebrews also quotes the Psalms using the Septuagint, which was the Greek Old Testament which was widely used at the time of Jesus. Interestingly, when he quotes the Septuagint, he says “this generation” when referring to a generation of people that had existed hundreds of years before.
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers put me to the test
and saw my works for forty years.
Therefore I was provoked with that [Greek: this] generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
they have not known my ways.’
11 As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’” (Hebrews 3:7-11)
Keep in mind, this is a Psalm. This means that it was written well after the events of the Exodus. But regardless of this, the author of Hebrews quotes God as saying that he was provoked with “this generation,” when the generation referred to pointed to a time hundreds of years prior. Even the New American Standard Bible, which is known for how literal it is, uses the word “this” instead of “that.”
10 Therefore I was angry with this generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they did not know My ways’; (Hebrews 3:10 NASB)
Obviously then, the word “this” refers to the group just referenced in the context, not a generation currently alive at the time of the writing of the Psalm.
With all this in mind, let’s revisit Jesus’ very controversial statement:
32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. (Matthew 24:32-34)
Remember, “this” can refer to something close in time, space, or context. Usually, when Jesus refers to “this generation” he is referring to people close in time. But in this instance, it seems he is using the word “this” to describe something close in context. Namely, he is referring to the fig tree generation, namely the generation that sees the end time signs.
Which immediately raises the question. Why didn’t he say “that generation will not pass away until all these things take place”? After all, when Jesus talks about his second coming, he uses the word “that” not “this.”
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24:36-37)
This actually makes sense, considering he was talking about something distant in context. After describing the coming of the Son of Man, Jesus goes on to talk about the fig tree and “this generation.” Only after that does he say “but concerning that day and hour no one knows.” He uses “that” in the second case because it refers to something before the fig tree parable (i.e. the coming of the Lord on the clouds). Whereas “this generation” refers immediately back to the fig tree parable that he had just mentioned in context.
Another possibility for why Jesus may have said “this” instead of “that,” is because he was leaving open the possibility that he could return in the lifetime of his disciples. Since even Jesus did not know when he was returning, he used the demonstrative pronoun “this.” His word choice fits the context and also leaves open the possibility that “this” generation, namely the fig tree generation, could be referring to the current generation as well.
(Note: References to particular ideas that are not my own are linked throughout.)