johntheapostate

In Mathew chapter 24 Jesus goes into some detail concerning his second coming. In Verse 34 he says this

"I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

To me it seems that Jesus was indicating that he would return before all the members of that generation died and this is also indicated in

Mathew 16:28 :I tell you the truth, some of you who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

These verses and many others seem to indicate the second coming would occur in a relatively short time. Yet it has been 2000 years.

My NIV Bible tries to explain this by saying that generation could also be interpreted as race. By this I guess they think that the words of Jesus could also be interpreted as the Jewish race would not die out before the second coming.

This seems rather strained in the context of the passages and it would give validity to the claims by some that the Jews are a cursed race because the text often shows Jesus vehemently condemning " this generation" For example

Luke 11:50-51 " Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the alter and the sanctuary. Yes I tell you, This generation will be held responsible for it all."

If generation is correctly understood as race, this could be used as a proof text showing that Jesus considered the whole race as cursed.

Are Christians justified to interpret generation as race when it suits them and deny that it means race if they don't want to associate themselves as anti Semitic?

I was also wondering is the text of Mathew 24:36 is an interpolation considering that it sounds like some kind of disclaimer after some passages that appear to make claims for the second coming in complete confidence and certainty?

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son but only the Father"

I was wondering if the text of Mathew showing Jesus making his confident prediction concerning his second coming had been written using a sayings of Jesus document, but the disclaimer was included because the book had been written at a time much later after his death and the confidence his followers had for his imminent return had really diminished?

ferrari

Indeed. But doesn't every self-proclaimed messiah use "the End is Nigh" type arguments to emotionally blackmail people into believing in them?

Diogenes the Cynic

I think the saying comes from Mark, not Q, but the "no one knows the day..." jazz is pretty much Matt's.

My own WAG is that the original saying was something akin to Luke 17:21 or Thomas 3 and it got distorted by Mark to make it more apocalyptic.