The Logic of “This Generation” A Syllogistic Case for Why Jesus’ Prophecy Belonged to His Disciples’ Lifetime
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...