Ok, I haven't read every post, but so far from what I have read, I do not see where this has been mentioned or brought up, however if it has, please forgive me.
First, I will preface by saying this. Literary context should be our general rule. We should read the Gospel as if we were living in the first century, not as if the Bible just fell out of the sky yesterday and we are trying to interpret it's passages. The first century church would know and understand the words of Christ and also Revelation with no quandry that we are today in. To many times we forget that there actually was a church that lived and existed long before us. The Bible was not written to us, but for us. That changes the way we should read and interpret the passages within.
Now back to context...
I love the discussions about Matt. 24, however I rarely hear anyone talk about Matthew 23.
34 "Therefore , behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes ; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 "Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. 37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling . 38 "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate ! 39 "For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD !
Vs. 36, Christ is talking to a very specific group of Jewish leaders and tells them that because of their sins, they will see their house (the Temple) desolate. And Christ uses the very same literary language and tells them that their very own Generation will see their house left Desolate. Now that we have this we can move to Matthew 24 and the Olivet Discourse.
1 Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He said to them, "Do you not see all these things ? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down." 3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately , saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age ?"
Now, one thing that has led to poor interpretation is that 2000 years later, we devised the Chapter and Verse disection of scripture. Is some ways, I think people unintentionally seperate context, just because a passage maybe seperated by chapter or by verse. And I believe that Matthew 23 & 24 suffer because of this.
But as we read Matthew 24, it's just a continuation of what JUST happened with the pharisees. Christ just told them that their house, the Temple, will be left desolate and as they are leaving he points out that the Temple will be destroyed. Of course, the Temple, being the Holiest icon to the Jews, causes the Disciples to wonder, WHEN.
And Christ, using OT metaphor and allegory, tells them and then uses the same literary language when he says, "This Generation". So not only does he tell the pharisees "this generation", but also, his own disciples.
There is not literary reason to try and change the words of Christ to mean anything but that Current generation. We can try to change it, but we are adding to the words and meaning of Christ. Jesus was speaking to a very literal group of people, and If I were to hear those words spoken that very day, I would take them to mean exactly what Christ said, nothing more and nothing less.
Christ in Matthew 23 AND 24, is talking about the coming judgement and destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple which will Fullfill and end the Old covenant and usher in the New.
But because we want scripture to be written to us and only us, do we fail to realize that their is a deep rich history to scripture that we fail to recognize. Because of this, we then try and mold scripture to mean what we want it to say, rather than allowing scripture to say what it so easily already does.
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