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
