In order to understand verse 34, it is necessary to look at the reason Jesus was in the world and to whom he came with his message. First, he came to the children of Israel, known as the Jews to give them salvation. The scriptures tell us in John 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. That eliminates the Gentiles for the moment because his teaching/gospel was not given to the Gentiles at this time (See Acts 10 and 11). He also said John 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. This is a reference to the true Gentiles and the lost tribes of Israel that had become Gentiles due to living amongst them, but they were still the house of Israel.  (I am indebted to a friend, Jim Gunter, for insight into many scriptures on the subject of the lost tribes and other subjects for that matter.) Paul stood before King Agrippa And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: 7 Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. (Acts 26:6-7) The other sheep of which Jesus spoke was a reference to the lost tribes and the actual Gentiles to whom Peter preached. Every scripture in both the Old Testament and the New undeniably prove those two truths.

Keeping those facts in mind, we are closer to the meaning of verse 34. Greek has some grammar rules for the language that are he same as other languages and also there are rules that are completely different. However, in verse 34 a common rule of grammar for Greek and many languages must be followed in verse 34. Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. (These things in verse 34 mean the same as in verse 33.) The words this generation have to be studied according to the rules of grammar, syntax and the context of the chapter. The Greek word for this is houtos--pronounced: hoo'-tos (G3778). This is both a demonstrative pronoun and an adjective since it modifies generation; meaning not just any generation but this one. Since it is also a demonstrative pronoun it has to have an antecedent, a noun or other pronoun. As such, it demonstrates or points out some object or group that is immediately present. In the verse, generation is those present when Jesus is speaking. Thus the antecedent of the pronoun is those to whom Jesus addressed throughout the chapter and identified as generation in verse 34.

Generation is the other word that is disputed. Matthew is the book of genealogy and lists the generations of the people who helped bring Jesus into the world. The Greek word translated generation is genea--pronounced: ghen-eh-ah' (G1074) means people and conforms to the genealogy of Matthew. In addition, genea is used six times in Matthew, one time in Mark and three times in Luke. In all of the uses the word means people that were living at the time of Jesus. Using a comparison of word usage consistent with good hermeneutics, there is no reason to make it mean otherwise in verse 34.

There is another word, genos, often cited   to avoid the meaning of genea. Genos means race of a people, but it does not appear in the scriptures. The English word race translates two Greek words which refer to a race contest for a prize. I Corinthians 9:24, and in Hebrews12:1 show a specific race with the eyes on Jesus.

Knowing that these things refer to everything that Jesus spoke, all of those things would be fulfilled since many of those that heard Jesus that day would still be living when Jerusalem was destroyed. The historical context, the prophecies of the Old Testament and the grammar demand that Jesus was not speaking of anyone who would be living thousands of years later. Those who try to make Matthew 24 fit some future time must twist word meaning, lift verses from context and ignore scriptures in other places that address the subject.

Two more verses 35 and 36 are construed to make them teach what Jesus did not teach. They will be explored in Part XVI.

© 09-18-2012 DEC