24:32-41 The Nearness and Time of Jesus' Coming. Jesus moves from describing future events to dealing with the attitudes that should characterize his followers as they prepare for the end (vv. 32-35), knowing that his return is imminent (vv. 36-41).
24:34this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Several interpretations have been offered for this difficult passage: (1) Some think "this generation" refers to the disciples who were alive when Jesus was speaking, and "all these things" refers to the beginning but not the completion of the sufferings described in vv. 4-25. (2) Others see in "all these things" a prediction with multiple fulfillments, so that Jesus' disciples will be both "this generation" that sees the destruction of the temple in and also those at the end of the age who see the events surrounding the "abomination of desolation" (v. 15). (3) Since "the generation of . . ." in the OT can mean people who have a certain quality (cf. Ps. 14:5; 24:6; cf. Gk. genea in Luke 16:8), others understand "this generation" to refer either (a) to "this generation of believers" throughout the entire present age, or (b) to "this evil generation" that will remain until Christ returns to establish his kingdom (cf. Matt. 12:45; Luke 11:29). (4) Others, particularly some dispensational interpreters, understand "generation" to mean "race" (this is another sense of Gk. genea) and think it refers to the Jewish people, who will not pass away until Christ returns. (5) Others understand "this generation" to mean the generation that sees "all these things" (Matt. 24:33), namely, the generation alive when the final period of great tribulation begins. According to this view, the illustration of the fig tree (v. 32) shows that when the final events begin, Christ will come soon. Just as "all these things" in v. 33 refers to events leading up to but not including Christ's return, so in v. 34 "all these things" refers to the same events (that is, the events described in vv. 4-25).
24:35my words will not pass away. Jesus attributes divine authority and permanence to his own teaching--it is greater even than heaven and earth.
24:36 In response to the disciples asking, "when will these things be?" (v. 3), Jesus says no one knows, not even . . . the Son, but the Father only. In his incarnate life, Jesus learned things as other human beings learn them (cf. Luke 2:52; Heb. 5:8). On the other hand, Jesus was also fully God, and, as God, he had infinite knowledge (cf. John 2:25; 16:30; 21:17). Here he is apparently speaking in terms of his human nature. This is similar to other statements about Jesus which could be true of his human nature only, and not of his divine nature (he grew and became strong, Luke 2:40; increased in stature, Luke 2:52; was about 30 years old, Luke 3:23; was weary, John 4:6; was thirsty, John 19:28; was hungry, Matt. 4:2; was crucified, 1 Cor. 2:8). Taking account of these verses, together with many verses that affirm Christ's deity, the Council of Chalcedon in affirmed that Christ was "perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man." Yet it also affirmed that Jesus was "one Person and one Subsistence." With regard to the properties of his human nature and his divine nature, the Chalcedonian Creed affirmed that Christ was to be "acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved." That meant the properties of deity and the properties of humanity were both preserved. How Jesus could have limited knowledge and yet know all things is difficult, and much remains a mystery, for nobody else has ever been both God and man. One possibility is that Jesus regularly lived on the basis of his human knowledge but could at any time call to mind anything from his infinite knowledge.
24:40-41taken . . . left. The description may indicate that one is taken away to final judgment (cf. v. 39) while the other remains to experience salvation at Christ's return. Or possibly the one who is taken is among the elect that the Son of Man will "gather . . . from the four winds" (v. 31).
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