30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.The question at hand:
What does this mean? Doesn't this 30th verse mean that the end of times will happen in our lifetime, or--weirder still--back in their lives?Yeah...this is on my list of "What exactly did you mean here?" questions for Jesus when we see him. I wish he would have taken time to explain a little more clearly!
Some folks over the years have used this verse as proof that the Bible is false. "The guy said that the end would come in the lifetime of those dudes. It didn't. He was wrong. End of story." Obviously this is a little unsatisfying.
In response others have opted out with the old, "Well...you don't have to believe every word in order to get the message." This is just as unsatisfying. If we're just going to pick and choose what we consider true in the Bible then why have it at all? Why not just consult our instinct or some other source that's easier for us to accept?
I would offer the caveat that this is probably not the most important thing that Jesus said. We could get along just fine never understanding its real meaning and we may have to! I wouldn't hinge my entire faith on this one statement. But neither am I willing to just throw it out or ignore it. Jesus said it. There has to be some reason and truth to it. What could that be? Is there a way this statement could be true and literal even if the world didn't end before 100 AD?
One approach involves personal experience. We haven't seen the end of the world yet as a group but plenty of individuals have seen the end of their world since Jesus spoke those words...as we all will sooner or later. What happens to us when our world ends? At the moment we enter eternity time ceases to be an issue for us. When we die the very next experience we have, blending seamlessly with our lives, is exactly the one Jesus describes: seeing him come in glory. To the living--those still on their journey--time passes in the interim. Therefore we say Jesus has not come yet. Not so for the departed. They don't have a "yet" anymore! Those who have died are touching eternity. They can see eternity. They are experiencing eternity. Therefore God has already come to them even though he's still in our future...or at least what we perceive as "future". (Eternity doesn't really have a future as we think about it, you see. All times are one when you touch it. Now...later...it's all the same.) This is a wicked pretzel to think your way through since we can't possibly grasp what touching eternity does, our current minds and eyes being so limited. But it does offer the possibility that what Jesus was saying to his followers literally came true for them, as it does for each of us. The world did end for them and it will for us, exactly like you have said in your question. This would also explain why he couldn't explain it better! He'd have just left us scratching our heads more!
A somewhat easier explanation is that Jesus was defining "generation" differently than we think. We tend to define generations--and indeed our lives--by two things: time and family. We say a new generation comes along every twenty years or so. We say that a grandfather is in a distinct generation from the father who is in a distinct generation from the son. Jesus defines generation by God's Word and grace instead of our own mortality or time limitations. When Jesus rose again after being crucified he changed the world...re-creating it every bit as much as Adam and Eve re-created it when they bit the fruit. Everything they ruined he redeemed. Everything they scuttled he saved. Therefore he inaugurated a new generation, or "age" if you will, of the world: the age when God's salvation was truly revealed, his Word fully explained, his victory truly won. Everybody before Jesus' time had been waiting for the Messiah. Everybody since has seen him! Therefore when Jesus says, "this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened" he means, "This is it! You've now seen everything you need to in order to understand God's plan. There isn't another age or another development to come after this except the end and the final coming of heaven."
This generation--this new age--created by his death and resurrection will never fail or die out up until the very last day. His Word will not fail. We will never know a time when it is not with us...when he is not with us. This was true of his followers and our great-great-grandparents. It was true of our own parents and it's true of us. It will be true for our children and for all the children that follow after until the roll is complete. We no longer belong to different generations. God's children are no longer divided by age or time. We are united in a single, larger family, one giant generation in the history of the world defined and united by his Word, his love, and his saving act for us. It's no accident that right after Mark 13:30 comes verse 31...
31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.Our generation has Jesus and will never lose Jesus. Our progression will go: Jesus with us...Jesus with us...Jesus with us...Heaven! There won't be any gaps in between, even when there appear to be because we see the world suffering. That is a very nice thought. I also believe it's the most likely meaning for the 30th verse of Mark 13.
The promise Jesus made to his followers continues today, even when those particular followers are long gone. It's become much larger and stronger and truer than they ever could have understood or believed. And it will keep going until we all see the end together and get to celebrate its goodness.
Keep sending those questions along if you have them!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
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