This generation

[Zao is life]

The signs of which we read in the gospels, as Augustine says, writing to Hesychius about the end of the world, refer not only to Christ's [future] coming to judgment, but also to the time of the sack of Jerusalem, and to the coming of Christ in ceaselessly visiting His Church. So that, perhaps, if we consider them carefully, we shall find that none of them refers to the coming advent, as he remarks: because these signs that are mentioned in the gospels, such as wars, fears, and so forth, have been from the beginning of the human race (Thomas Aquinas; Summa Theologica, Supplement Question 73, Article 1)

I would challenge you to find ANY scholarly opinion that suppports your claim that St Thomas Aquinas was NOT a "Serious Christian Scholar".

Historically most Christian scholars have placed the end of the Age and the return of Christ in the future.

And when people start pointing to extra-biblical sources to support their theses, then you know that they're getting desperate.

If the thesis is correct you would be able to prove it from scripture.

 

[rwb]

The texts says their destruction is simultaneous with the taking of the kingdom from them and giving it to another:
Matthew 21:40-41
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”
41 They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.”

Matthew 21:41 (KJV) They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

The chief priests and elders are speaking here, and they are not speaking of 70 AD. Here they acknowledge when the owner (Christ) returns the wicked will be destroyed, and what might have been to them, given to those of faith "vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their season."

When does Christ say the wicked are destroyed and the good rewarded? It's not 70 AD.

 

[rwb]

Death will be defeated when humans stop dying. Many have stopped dying since the Cross. They no longer tasted death. But many more continue to die. The last being those after the 1,000 years consumed by fire. Jesus hands back the kingdom to God perfect without death. Unfortunately, Jesus will have many tasters of death, who at the very end still choose death over life. They choose to listen to Satan, whose best offer to humanity, is always death.

Why does Christ say "he who lives and believes in Me shall never die"? (Jo 11:26)

If this is a true statement, and it is, then Christ has already defeated death. The death of our body, is not death of the spirit of believers. That's why Christ can say, we shall never die.

 

[rwb]

Paul apparently disagrees with you.

Paul understood that absence from the body meant that he would be present with the Lord. Because Paul knew that bodily death, which is appointed unto mankind, is not the death of his spirit/soul. Bodily death too will be destroyed when death and the grave are cast into the LOF, but whosoever believes in Christ is eternally alive through His Spirit in us, and will never die.

 

[rwb]

The signs of which we read in the gospels, as Augustine says, writing to Hesychius about the end of the world, refer not only to Christ's [future] coming to judgment, but also to the time of the sack of Jerusalem, and to the coming of Christ in ceaselessly visiting His Church. So that, perhaps, if we consider them carefully, we shall find that none of them refers to the coming advent, as he remarks: because these signs that are mentioned in the gospels, such as wars, fears, and so forth, have been from the beginning of the human race (Thomas Aquinas; Summa Theologica, Supplement Question 73, Article 1)

I would challenge you to find ANY scholarly opinion that suppports your claim that St Thomas Aquinas was NOT a "Serious Christian Scholar".

The only part of the Olivet Discourse that Christ speaks of regarding 70 AD is in reply to the disciples admiration of the Temple and buildings in Jerusalem. So Christ basically tells them not to put their hope in the Temple or the city, for it will not last! This part of the discussion has nothing to do with the questions the disciples ask Him about the sign of His coming and the end of the world.

Matthew 24:1-2 (KJV) And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

 

[parousia70]

Matthew 21:41 (KJV) They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

The chief priests and elders are speaking here, and they are not speaking of 70 AD.

Sure they are:
45 Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking of them.

When does Christ say the wicked are destroyed and the good rewarded? It's not 70 AD.

Deuteronomy 28
The Whole Chapter.

 

[rwb]

Thanks to two millennia of natural dispersion, Israel is present in ALL of Humanity today.
It is found within every member of the human race.

ALL of us are that "remaining people Israel on earth" that you speak of.

Abraham lineage
DNA Tests Could Fulfill God’s Promise to Abraham by Revealing Millions of Jews. But How Jewish is Jewish Enough?
Israel in all of Us? Research finds 'Jewish genes' in unusual places
Jewish-Roots Arabs in Israel
Tracing the lost tribes to Jewish communities in Africa
Nigeria's Igbo Jews: 'Lost tribe' of Israel? - CNN
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/...-africa-has-jewish-roots-genetic-tests-reveal
https://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/...her-claims-proof-of-tribe-of-Ephraim-in-India
https://www.jta.org/2013/05/23/life...bush-bani-israel-tribe-claims-jewish-heritage

Example of the mathematical confirmation of ancestral genetic ubiquity

What have you discovered about the Seed (Christ) of Abraham? Abraham's biological seeds (many) may be found throughout the earth. But that biological seed is of little import unless they are of the supernatural SEED of Abraham by grace through faith.

 

[parousia70]

The only part of the Olivet Discourse that Christ speaks of regarding 70 AD is in reply to the disciples admiration of the Temple and buildings in Jerusalem. So Christ basically tells them not to put their hope in the Temple or the city, for it will not last! This part of the discussion has nothing to do with the questions the disciples ask Him about the sign of His coming and the end of the world.

Matthew 24:1-2 (KJV) And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

And their first question to Him after He said the temple would fall is "WHEN, LORD?"

So I'm clear, Your claim is He COMPLETELY ignored that question and refused to answer it?

 

[parousia70]

What have you discovered about the Seed (Christ) of Abraham? Abraham's biological seeds (many) may be found throughout the earth. But that biological seed is of little import unless they are of the supernatural SEED of Abraham by grace through faith.

I don't disagree. Your Point?

 

[Timtofly]

Why does Christ say "he who lives and believes in Me shall never die"? (Jo 11:26)

If this is a true statement, and it is, then Christ has already defeated death. The death of our body, is not death of the spirit of believers. That's why Christ can say, we shall never die.

"We" is not universal. Death is both spiritual and physical. Christ has not defeated death until ALL no longer taste death. Those consumed by fire in Revelation 20:9 will be both physically and spiritually dead. So until they are pronounced dead, Death has not been defeated. Because those who listened to Satan have to be condemned to death. That is why fire came down and consumed them. If they were pardoned, then death would have been defeated, because they literally could never die. Yet they were not pardoned, and death still happened, because Death was still viable.

Death is still available throughout the 1,000 years. Sin and Satan are not. They were already defeated and finished, Daniel's 70th week finished at the 7th Trumpet. Even Satan is loosed one last time, thus the point of turning from God to listen to Satan is the last catalyst to bring about Death to whomsoever would choose that Death.

So while death can be no more for all people, most people reject the life that would remove death. Paul said the last enemy defeated would be death. While Satan and sin have been defeated, they still devour many who go through life never hearing such good news of this defeat. Being removed assures they no longer have power, yet death is not removed during the Millennium, as death is still the result of disobedience to the law. Whatever those laws will be.

 

[parousia70]

"We" is not universal. Death is both spiritual and physical. Christ has not defeated death until ALL no longer taste death.

Putting a pin in this...

Those consumed by fire in Revelation 20:9 will be both physically and spiritually dead. So until they are pronounced dead, Death has not been defeated.

This Seems exactly the opposite of your first comment above.
Since those pronounced dead are in fact TASTING DEATH, then How can death be defeated while there are those STILL tasting death, if your first comment is correct?

Death is still available throughout the 1,000 years. Sin and Satan are not.

Let's put Another Pin here...

death is not removed during the Millennium, as death is still the result of disobedience to the law. Whatever those laws will be.

Disobedience to the Law is NOT Sin?

Where is that taught?

 

[Timtofly]

Putting a pin in this...



This Seems exactly the opposite of your first comment above.
Since those pronounced dead are in fact TASTING DEATH, then How can death be defeated while there are those STILL tasting death, if your first comment is correct?



Let's put Another Pin here...



Disobedience to the Law is NOT Sin?

Where is that taught?

Do you still live by the Law of Moses and taste death? You place pins, but cannot post an idea because you know there is no idea to place.


If death is defeated, then literally no one could physically nor spiritually die. How do you explain that to all the morgues on earth? They are just imagining something that cannot exist in your ideology?

Until death is defeated, morgues are still going to carry on business as usual.

Of course Jesus defeated death in theory on the Cross. Jesus was already the Resurrection and the Life before the Cross. You don't even allow a soul an immediate resurrection into a permanent incorruptible physical body in Paradise, thus literally no one in Christ literally physically dies either. They just change location. This flesh is already dead at conception so returning to dust is not physical death, but remains constantly physically dead, even though animated for a period of time while the soul is in residence.

Some here claim to be apostolic with a quickened physical body that has been transformed out of death. But the majority live in dead flesh their whole temporal existence. That is just as well as the flesh needs to be crucified daily any way. Surprising that some claim life, while others need to crucify the flesh. Total submission judges one's own self, yet many claim spiritual condemnation towards others.

Jesus had an answer for those handing out spiritual condemnation. Those without sin should cast the first stone, and subsequently all stones. Since they were smart, they dropped their stones. Jesus then said, neither do I condemn thee. Then Jesus added, go and sin no more. Jesus handed the condemnation to the individual and took it away from those in authority who thought they had the right to judge others, and from then on, no one could ever be the self righteous judge, holding the Law over people.

Having a disagreement and even differences of ideology is one thing. Holding others to the Law when no one can keep the Law is another animal altogether.

Yes, there can be a law without sin present. Breaking that law is not sin. Unless you call them sinners in Death. They certainly are not sinners in life though. During the Millennium one can only break one law one time. Then immediate Death. Living in sin was defeated, Death was not.

"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."

Nothing about death. Yet Paul made death the biggest deal that was overcome at the Cross. Paul never claims sin itself ended. Now 1900 years later, we can see the end of sin in view, and yet you question how can there be laws without sin. Adam and Eve lived in a time of Law without sin. Just not the Law that was necessary with sin in the world. Adam and Eve could not kill anyone, because Death was not present either. Do you think they had to keep that thought in check? They could not even think about sin and death, and such laws. Yet the Law of God persisted, even though there was no knowledge of such laws. One could not accidentally die either. Obviously they could not even think up scenarios where accidental death was even possible. Do you question that God in the Millennium could remove such knowledge again? The knowledge will be that breaking a law will end in death. Breaking a law will not allow sin to enter the world, like Adam's disobedience. That is the difference.

 

[rwb]

And their first question to Him after He said the temple would fall is "WHEN, LORD?"

So I'm clear, Your claim is He COMPLETELY ignored that question and refused to answer it?

Christ did answer their question, but they had no way of knowing the destruction of the Temple and city would not come to pass at the same time that Christ returned and the end of the world. How could they know that?

Christ is concerned about their lack of faith, they still admire the Temple and see Jerusalem as the Holy City. So Christ tells them the things occupying their attention will not last. They need to be focused on Him and the mission He is giving them. They believed and had been taught that the Temple would remain forever, so hearing the Temple would be destroyed immediately takes them to the end of the world, when they thought all that He said would be accomplished. They believe the coming of Christ and the end of the world as inseparable, so to them the destruction of the Temple is linked with the end of the world.

But the Temple and city were physically destroyed as Christ has said they would be. Why would some allegorize the second coming since clearly the city and temple were literally destroyed?

 

[rwb]

"We" is not universal. Death is both spiritual and physical. Christ has not defeated death until ALL no longer taste death. Those consumed by fire in Revelation 20:9 will be both physically and spiritually dead. So until they are pronounced dead, Death has not been defeated. Because those who listened to Satan have to be condemned to death. That is why fire came down and consumed them. If they were pardoned, then death would have been defeated, because they literally could never die. Yet they were not pardoned, and death still happened, because Death was still viable.

Death is still available throughout the 1,000 years. Sin and Satan are not. They were already defeated and finished, Daniel's 70th week finished at the 7th Trumpet. Even Satan is loosed one last time, thus the point of turning from God to listen to Satan is the last catalyst to bring about Death to whomsoever would choose that Death.

So while death can be no more for all people, most people reject the life that would remove death. Paul said the last enemy defeated would be death. While Satan and sin have been defeated, they still devour many who go through life never hearing such good news of this defeat. Being removed assures they no longer have power, yet death is not removed during the Millennium, as death is still the result of disobedience to the law. Whatever those laws will be.

Paul is speaking of the death of the body that will be no more. That's why the grave (hell) and death are cast into the LOF together. Christ defeated both Satan and death by His cross. So there is no more death for whosoever lives and believes. When the body of believers dies, his/her spirit goes to be with the Lord in heaven.

Hebrews 2:14-15 (KJV) Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Romans 14:8-9 (KJV) For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

 

[Hammster]

Paul understood that absence from the body meant that he would be present with the Lord. Because Paul knew that bodily death, which is appointed unto mankind, is not the death of his spirit/soul. Bodily death too will be destroyed when death and the grave are cast into the LOF, but whosoever believes in Christ is eternally alive through His Spirit in us, and will never die.

Paul knew that the last enemy was death. Physical death is a curse of the Fall. With the new kingdom growth, the curse is being reversed and the final event will be the end of death.

 

[HARK!]

MOD HAT ON

MOD HAT OFF​

 

[Zao is life]

Since I don’t know what I’m ignoring, I would like to know what it is that you claim

I asked you a question which you did not answer.

What is Matthew 24:9 referring to? The tribulation of the saints? Or the destruction of Jerusalem's temple?

The grammar in Matthew 24 makes it pretty obvious that everything that follows Matthew 24:9 is talking about Matthew 24:9 and not about the temple at Jerusalem that was destroyed in 70 A.D. This is what you're ignoring.

 

[rwb]

Paul knew that the last enemy was death. Physical death is a curse of the Fall. With the new kingdom growth, the curse is being reversed and the final event will be the end of death.

Yes physical death is from the fall, death entered into creation through sin. It is because our physical body is mortal, and corruptible that it dies.

Romans 5:12 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

The curse of death is not being removed for those who believe, death has been removed for them. It is only our mortal, corruptible body that dies. Our body is the outward shell that contains us. From the fall our body is appointed to grow old, or sick and die. Just because our body dies does not mean that which is within our body, our spirit/soul dies.

If believers do not continue to live after our body dies then Christ would not have said the life we receive when we live and believe in Him will NEVER die. Christ gave us this assurance after the death of Lazarus. Then to prove their is still life after death for whosoever believes in Him, He raised Lazarus from the dead.

For believers the curse of death is gone through Spiritual life we receive when we are born again. When the Holy Spirit enters in, He becomes one with our spirit (mind, heart, will, emotion), and this part of believers never dies. In death we become as the angels of heaven, spiritual body. These verses aren't speaking of the bodily resurrection of every human on the last day. They speak of the resurrection of our spirit, through the Spirit in us, going to heaven as spiritual body after the death or our mortal, physical body of flesh & blood.

Matthew 22:30 (KJV) For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Luke 20:36 (KJV) Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

Luke 20:37-39 (KJV) Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said.

1 Corinthians 15:12-14 (KJV) Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

1 Corinthians 15:16-18 (KJV) For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

1 Corinthians 15:22 (KJV) For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:35 (KJV) But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

1 Corinthians 15:37-38 (KJV) And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

1 Corinthians 15:44 (KJV) It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:45-50 (KJV) And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

It is because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God in heaven that our physical mortal body must die, and cannot go as a spiritual body to heaven after death. When our mortal, corruptible body is raised and made immortal and incorruptible when Christ comes again on the last day when the final trumpet sounds, then ALL death will be defeated. That's when the last enemy (physical death) is swallowed up in victory, and there will be no more sting of the grave. Once our body is changed to immortal and incorruptible to join again with our eternal spirit, we will be whole again and fit for everlasting life on the new earth, to be with Christ throughout eternity.

 

[Hammster]

Yes physical death is from the fall, death entered into creation through sin. It is because our physical body is mortal, and corruptible that it dies.

Romans 5:12 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

The curse of death is not being removed for those who believe, death has been removed for them. It is only our mortal, corruptible body that dies. Our body is the outward shell that contains us. From the fall our body is appointed to grow old, or sick and die. Just because our body dies does not mean that which is within our body, our spirit/soul dies.

If believers do not continue to live after our body dies then Christ would not have said the life we receive when we live and believe in Him will NEVER die. Christ gave us this assurance after the death of Lazarus. Then to prove their is still life after death for whosoever believes in Him, He raised Lazarus from the dead.

For believers the curse of death is gone through Spiritual life we receive when we are born again. When the Holy Spirit enters in, He becomes one with our spirit (mind, heart, will, emotion), and this part of believers never dies. In death we become as the angels of heaven, spiritual body. These verses aren't speaking of the bodily resurrection of every human on the last day. They speak of the resurrection of our spirit, through the Spirit in us, going to heaven as spiritual body after the death or our mortal, physical body of flesh & blood.

Matthew 22:30 (KJV) For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Luke 20:36 (KJV) Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

Luke 20:37-39 (KJV) Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said.

1 Corinthians 15:12-14 (KJV) Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

1 Corinthians 15:16-18 (KJV) For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

1 Corinthians 15:22 (KJV) For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:35 (KJV) But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

1 Corinthians 15:37-38 (KJV) And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

1 Corinthians 15:44 (KJV) It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:45-50 (KJV) And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

It is because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God in heaven that our physical mortal body must die, and cannot go as a spiritual body to heaven after death. When our mortal, corruptible body is raised and made immortal and incorruptible when Christ comes again on the last day when the final trumpet sounds, then ALL death will be defeated. That's when the last enemy (physical death) is swallowed up in victory, and there will be no more sting of the grave. Once our body is changed to immortal and incorruptible to join again with our eternal spirit, we will be whole again and fit for everlasting life on the new earth, to be with Christ throughout eternity.

How is it that you think this is a counterpoint to my post? Maybe I missed something, but my point is that Paul said the last enemy is death, and that is the completion of the reversal of the fall.

 

[claninja]

To the contrary, there is no serious Christian scholarship that agrees with you that Matthew 24 is all and only about 70 A.D and that everything Jesus said was fulfilled in 70 A.D.

incorrect. there are plenty of non-full preterist scholarly resources that demonstrate the belief “this generation” refers to the destruction of Jerusalem. See below for just a small example. However, as to your position, I cannot find any that agree. Are you able to provide any?

Barnes commentary on Matthew 24:34

“This generation ... - This age; this race of people. A generation is about 30 or 40 years. The destruction of Jerusalem took place about forty years after this was spoken.”

Gills commentary on Matthew 24:34:
“Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass,.... Not the generation of men in general; as if the sense was, that mankind should not cease, until the accomplishment of these things; nor the generation, or people of the Jews, who should continue to be a people, until all were fulfilled; nor the generation of Christians; as if the meaning was, that there should be always a set of Christians, or believers in Christ in the world, until all these events came to pass; but it respects that present age, or generation of men then living in it; and the sense is, that all the men of that age should not die, but some should live

till all these things were fulfilled; see Matthew 16:28 as many did, and as there is reason to believe they might, and must, since all these things had their accomplishment, in and about forty years after this: and certain it is, that John, one of the disciples of Christ, outlived the time by many years; and, as Dr. Lightfoot observes, many of the Jewish doctors now living, when Christ spoke these words, lived until the city was destroyed; as Rabban Simeon, who perished with it, R. Jochanan ben Zaccai, who outlived it, R. Zadoch, R. Ishmael, and others: this is a full and clear proof, that not anything that is said before, relates to the second coming of Christ, the day of judgment, and end of the world; but that all belong to the coming of the son of man, in the destruction of Jerusalem, and to the end of the Jewish state.”

expositor Greek testament on Matthew 24:34
“Solemn assurance that the predicted will come to pass.—πάντα ταῦτα is most naturally taken to mean the same things as in Matthew 24:33, he main subject of the discourse, the impending destruction of the Jewish state. Jesus was quite certain that they would happen within the then living generation (ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη), not merely through miraculous foresight but through clear insight into the moral forces at work”

Bengels gnomen on Matthew 24:34
“From the date of this prediction to the destruction of Jerusalem was a space of forty years, and from the true year of our Lord’s nativity to that event was a space of about seventy-five years. The Jews, however (as, for example, in Seder Olam), reckon seventy-five years as one generation, and the words, οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ, “shall not pass away,” intimate that the greater part of that generation, but not the whole of it, should have passed away before all the events indicated should have come to pass. The prediction is true with respect to either the forty or the seventy-five years.[1062] So accurately did the Evangelist describe it many years before the event took place.”

Benson commentary on Matthew 24:34:
“This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled, — Hereby evidently showing that he had been speaking all this while only of the calamities coming on the Jews, and the destruction of Jerusalem. “It is to me a wonder,” says Bishop Newton, “how any man can refer part of the foregoing discourse to the destruction of Jerusalem, and part to the end of the world, or any other distant event, when it is said so positively here in the conclusion, All these things shall be fulfilled in this generation.”