This Generation: Jesus Wasn’t Talking About You
8/27/20252 min read
Why "This Generation" Matters
For hundreds of years, churches have taken Jesus’ words about “this generation” and bent them into predictions about our time. But in Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30, and Luke 21:32, Jesus couldn’t have been clearer. He wasn’t talking about some far-off future. He was warning the people standing right in front of Him.
If Jesus said, “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34) and it still hasn’t happened, then you only have two options:
Jesus was wrong.
Your pastor is.
I know which one I’m picking.
What Jesus Actually Said
Jesus didn’t leave the timing wide open. He repeated the same line three times, in three different Gospels:
Matthew 24:34, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”
Mark 13:30, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”
Luke 21:32, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”
That’s three witnesses all saying the same thing. And He tied every sign: wars, false prophets, persecution, the abomination of desolation, Jerusalem surrounded by armies, and the Temple’s destruction to the people alive right then.
Signs They Already Saw
Jesus warned, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near” (Luke 21:20). That wasn’t written for us, it was a first-century warning.
Josephus describes Jerusalem boxed in by Roman armies, famine so brutal mothers ate their own children, and the Temple burning to the ground in AD 70 (Wars of the Jews, Book 6).
Eusebius adds that Christians remembered Jesus’ words and got out. They fled to Pella before the city fell (Ecclesiastical History 3.5). The warning saved lives.
The Generation Timeline
So how long is a “generation” in the Bible? About 40 years.
Numbers 32:13, Israel wandered 40 years until “the generation” that sinned died out.
Hebrews 3:9-10, God was provoked by “that generation” for 40 years.
Jesus spoke these words around AD 30. The Temple fell in AD 70. That’s 40 years, one full generation.
Early Church Agreed
The first Christians didn’t shove fulfillment thousands of years down the road. They saw it. They lived through it.
Eusebius, Christians fled Jerusalem before the war.
Clement of Rome (before AD 100), pointed to fulfilled prophecy as proof of God’s faithfulness.
Nobody in the early church claimed Matthew 24 was talking about us. That idea came centuries later.
Futurist Objections Answered
Doesn’t “generation” mean race?
No. In the Gospels, “generation” always means the people alive right then (Matthew 11:16, 12:41-42, 23:36).
What if some of the prophecy is still future?
Then Jesus was wrong. He said all of it would happen before that generation passed. Not some. All.
Could there be double fulfillment?
The Bible never says that, and Jesus never hinted at it. “Double fulfillment” is a modern patch job to cover up failed futurist predictions.
But my pastor says it’s the end of the world.
Your pastor isn’t the authority. Jesus is. And Jesus said this generation. Jerusalem fell. The Temple burned. Fulfilled.
The Verdict
Jesus was right. The Temple fell. Jerusalem was judged. Prophecy fulfilled—exactly when He said it would be.
So who’s misleading you? Not Jesus.
What To Do Next
If your pastor’s been stringing you along with charts, timelines, and failed predictions, it’s time to face the facts. Jesus kept His word. The Old Covenant age ended in AD 70. Stop waiting for a future apocalypse and start trusting the Savior who already proved Himself.