Which Generation?

 

 

This two-word question

Has caused quite a stir

And what was clearly expressed

Became particularly blurred.

 

Not so much what was said

But what was said about it,

The views became the news-

Another people’s habit.

 

Throughout the book of Mathew

The word generation is used,

Thirteen times you will find it

You can go there and peruse.

 

Of the thirteen times recorded

Twelve were spoken by Jesus,

This generation in that time

Could not be speaking of us.

 

We know what it is not

It is not any generation since,

“This generation” is found six times

And that is my sure defense.

Which generation did Jesus mean?

That to which he was speaking,

That generation of vipers, it is clear,

Overtly selfish and self-seeking.

 

Of the Pharisees and Sadducees

That came to his baptism,

This generation of vipers, he called them,

That lavished him with criticism.

 

That evil and adulterous generation

Seeking after a sign,

Yet right before them was that sign

But they saw it at no time.

 

Here was the sign of Jonas

That occurred in their generation

But they could not see the forest-

The trees were a major problem.

 

 

“All these things,” Jesus said,

Shall come upon this generation,

What things was he speaking of?

To this, we must pay attention.

 

“Verily I say unto you,

This generation shall not pass,

Till all these things be fulfilled.”

“What things?” again I ask.

 

Matthew 24 gives the answer

Beginning with the standing temple,

“Not one stone will be left upon another”

He said to his disciples.

 

 

For the temple had been abused,

It had become a virtual idol

And the god the Pharisees worshipped

Was not the God of the Bible.

 

As Jesus sat on Mount of Olives

He explained to them “these things”,

These were troubles like never before-

The future appeared quite grim.

 

Many will claim to be Christ

And deceive a lot of the people,

They will hear of wars and rumours of war

But they were not to be troubled.

 

Nation shall rise against nation

And kingdom and against kingdom,

Famines, pestilences and earthquakes

Will also add to this problem.

 

These are but a few

Of the difficulties they would face,

It was of that generation Jesus spoke:

That generation, that time, that place.

 

A proper reading of the fig tree

Indicates that summer is nigh,

That generation understood this parable

On its timing they could rely.

 

 

That generation did not pass away

Till all these things were fulfilled,

Who are we going to believe?

Jesus or contrary theologians still?

 

“This generation” did not mean us

And none of that generation is alive,

The old covenant age has long ended

Now it’s time for the Gospel drive.

 

Jesus spoke of the end of that age

In judgement the Son had come,

The temple was destroyed and its rituals

And the new covenant had begun.

 

 

Let us be a part of the new temple

That temple not built with hands,

There is no need for another

From the beginning this was God’s plan.

 

That temple of living stones

Established on and being built by Christ,

Why worry about the dome on a rock

When our living temple will suffice.

 

Let us not return to Judaism

As many had done in that day

But let us evangelize until Jesus comes

Because he is the life, the truth, the way.

 

Stewart Russell © May 2020