WE DON’T KNOW WHEN CHRIST WILL RETURN (THE SIGNS WERE FOR THAT GENERATION)
There is a great confusion in many minds concerning the words of our Lord about “the signs,” as though He had spoken chiefly of the end of the world. In truth, He was answering a very specific question about a very real and soon-coming judgment. The disciples had pointed to the temple, admiring its stones and grandeur. Jesus answered plainly that not one stone would be left upon another (Matthew 24:1-2). This was the subject. This was the matter at hand. And when they asked, “When will these things be?” and “what will be the sign?” they were not speaking of the end of time, but of the destruction He had just foretold (Matthew 24:3).
Our Lord, in His mercy, did not leave them without guidance. He spoke of wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, and persecution. These were not distant mysteries, but realities that would unfold before their eyes (Matthew 24:6-8). The book of Acts records such things plainly—conflict among nations, famine in the days of Claudius, and great trouble among the people (Acts 11:28; Acts 18:2). These were the beginning signs—not of the end of the world, but of the end of that religious age of Judaism that was passing away.
Christ spoke also of a great tribulation, a time of distress unlike what had been before, and warned those in Judea to flee to the mountains when they saw the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15-21). This was not language meant for a distant people in another age, but for those living in that land, in that time. And history tells us that when the Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem, the believers remembered the words of Christ and fled, escaping the destruction that fell upon the city in AD 70. The warning was real, the sign was clear, and the fulfillment was sure.
Then come those words that have troubled many, where the sun is darkened, the moon does not give its light, and the stars fall from heaven (Matthew 24:29). But this is the language of the prophets, used again and again to describe the fall of nations and the shaking of kingdoms. Isaiah spoke in this way of Babylon, and Ezekiel of Egypt (Isaiah 13:10; Ezekiel 32:7-8). It is not the undoing of creation, but the collapse of a world, the judgment of a system, the end of an order that stood in rebellion against God.
And what of the Son of Man coming in the clouds? This, too, is not new language. It comes from the vision of Daniel, where the Son of Man comes to the Ancient of Days to receive authority and a kingdom (Daniel 7:13-14). It is a coming in judgment and vindication, not a descent to earth, but an exaltation in heaven made visible through earthly events. When Jerusalem fell, it was a declaration that Jesus had been enthroned, that the One they rejected was now ruling, and that judgment had come upon that generation.
Let the words of our Lord settle the matter: “This generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34). He did not speak in riddles here. A generation is a generation. Those who heard Him would see these things. And they did. To stretch this beyond its plain meaning is to make His words uncertain, when in fact they were fulfilled with exactness.
This does not deny that there is a final coming of Christ. The same Jesus who ascended will return, and the dead will be raised (Acts 1:9-11; John 5:28-29). But the signs given in Matthew 24 were not about that final day. No signs were given for the end of time, for that day comes like a thief, without warning, known only to the Father (Matthew 24:36; 1 Thessalonians 5:2). The signs belong to Jerusalem. The suddenness belongs to the end.
So let us read our Lord’s words with care. He was not leaving His disciples in confusion, but giving them clear instruction for what was near. The destruction of Jerusalem was not an accident of history, but the fulfillment of prophecy, the closing of an age, and the vindication of Christ. And in this, we see that His words do not fail. What He spoke came to pass, and what He has promised yet to come will come with the same certainty.
BDD
