Thought of the Day !!
"Notice the fig tree, or any other tree. When the leaves come out, you know without being told that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things taking place, you can know that the Kingdom of God is near. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
Luke 21:29-33 (NLT)
Verse 32 of this passage of scripture is one of the most difficult verses for me to understand in the whole bible. In it Jesus says that "this generation" will not pass away before he comes back. But wait a minute Jesus. Hasn't there been many generations to come and go since you walked this earth?
After checking out what some scholars have said, I will briefly paraphrase some different opinions.
1. Jesus (and Luke) believed that the end would come quickly –– within their generation. Jesus himself did say that no one knew the day or hour. But Luke writes this about 3 decades after Jesus death and resurrection. Surely many people have been dying since then and Luke would have to wonder.
2. The word, generation, is imprecise. "The word can refer to a period of approximately thirty years or to a period of an indefinite number of years but characterized by a particular quality such as suffering or waiting or witnessing." (Craddock, Interpretation, 247)
3. This means "the evil generation of humankind", from Adam until the last man and woman who walk the earth.
4. Or, this might refer to the generation of the end. In other words, the end will occur within one generation; the same group that sees the start of the end will see its end" (This is my interpretation.)
It’s clear that the interpretation of "this generation" is, at best, tentative. It’s also clear that this issue is hardly the central theme of the scripture. So let’s not get too bogged down with the issue of what this generation means and understand that the deeper meaning is that Jesus will come again.
Jesus concludes this section with “Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will remain forever.” --- A reason for hope. No matter how the earth changes…no matter how old it gets…we can be assured that the words of Jesus will still ring true for people. Nothing can stop the Word of God…not earthquakes or famines or floods or wars…and especially not Satan!
In the love of Christ,
greg
8 Comments:
Greg,
Have you considered another possibility?
In the Bible, the people of Judah and the nation of Israel is often referred to as a "Fig Tree" or represented symbolically as fig tree. Christ obviously knew that.
Now, using that context, the nation of Israel did not exist at all after the Romans overthrew them in the year 70.
Suddenly, in 1948, the nation of Israel comes back to life. Jews from all over the globe, North, South, East, and West have populated the historic Promised Land.
Now, read the words of Christ very carefully and when Christ speaks of the Fig Tree, think of the nation of Isreal. Couple Christ's words with the valley of the Dry Bones passage in the Book of Ezekiel. Now, image a human born in 1948 and how old they would be in 2006, look at the other predictions given in the rest of the Bible, particularily, the Olivet Discourse.
Keith, this still isn't how I would interpret it, though I do see how you (and many others) do. You do help me make my point that there are many people with different interpretations. And the most important part of this is not the how and the when, but the fact that it WILL happen. And that is where we find our hope.
Thanks for your comment and for another way to look at this scripture.
Greg,
Don't forget that the question that prompted this passage was about Jesus' declaration that the temple would be destroyed, which was the center of the Jewish religion. The temple itself was destroyed in 70, which was within a generation of Jesus' words.
And for the kingdom of God being near, could be a reminder that it is within the believer's themselves, and not the temple, that the kingdom of God exsists and takes place.
In his "Mark for Everyone" commentary, I don't have the one for Luke, N.T.(Tom) Wright, has a wonderful discussion for this discourse.
In Christ,
Mr. Embry, yet another good interpretation. You are actually taking in consideration the text as a whole........ Wow! What a concept.
I still like mine though...ha ha.
Anybody else? Bring on your own interpretation of this text.
well,
out of the 4 you list, it is the best...
In Christ
A text withouth a context is a prooftext, and a prooftext doesn't prove anything...
It's just a drive by scripture quotation...
It's a funny thing that you, Mr. Embry, are typing away on my blog when you're supposed to be in a meeting with the senior pastor.
Oh how do I know this? Because I left a message with the secretary about 30-40 minutes ago for you to call me. Hmm. Either playing hooky or just don't want to actually talk to me. :)
Well, Mr. Hazelrig,
I called you when I got out of the meeting, and I must assume that you looked at your caller ID, and groaned and did not answer.
So I looked up your reply and replied back...
And as always, you are leaving out an e in my name...
LOL...
In Christ
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