Read. Reflect. Write.

A few days ago, I shared a brief statement from Gary DeMar on Facebook: “The great tribulation mentioned in Matthew 24:21 took place before that generation passed away. Verse 34 demands it.” I simply replied, “Yup.” Shortly afterward, a pastor who opposes preterism responded, claiming that “verse 34 does not demand it,” and posted a lengthy excerpt from an article to support his objection. What follows is a summary of the key ideas from his critique, and then my rebuttal. I do not address every minor detail of his post, because the central issue—his handling of “all these things” and the structure of the discourse—renders the rest of his points irrelevant. Before offering a response, it’s helpful to note the main thrust of the critique I’m addressing. The critic argues that “all these things” in Matthew 24:34 does not include the coming of the Son of Man in vv. 29–31, but refers only to preliminary first-century signs. On this basis, he separates vv. 29–31 into ...

In the New Testament Gospels, the only times the disciples ever seem confused about what Jesus is saying are the parables. But notice—never in the Olivet Discourse do they stop, scratch their heads, or ask for clarification. It’s almost as if they actually understood him. Meanwhile, modern commentators twist themselves into knots imagining all kinds of futuristic, cosmic scenarios that the text itself never hints at. Yet Jesus looks straight at his disciples, speaks in the second person plural, tells them what they will see, and caps it all off with the unmistakable phrase, “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” Taken together, it’s a lock-solid case that the disciples knew exactly what he meant—and that what he described had everything to do with their generation, not some far-off future they’d never live to see. And if you step back and actually think through what’s going on here, the logic is pretty airtight. You don’t even need to force it — just pa...