Fisherman
The
following is an excerpt from The
Watchtower of
May 1, 1999 (p. 11,12)which contains some elements of sound
interpretation.
In the years
leading up to 66 C.E., Christians would have seen many of the
preliminary elements of the composite sign being fulfilled-wars,
famines, even an extensive preaching of the good news of the Kingdom.
(Acts 11:28; Colossians 1:23) When, though, would the end come? What
did Jesus mean when he said: 'This generation [Greek, ge.ne.a'] will
not pass away'? Jesus had often called the contemporaneous mass of
opposing Jews, including religious leaders, 'a wicked, adulterous
generation.' (Matthew 11:16; 12:39, 45; 16:4; 17:17; 23:36) So when,
on the Mount of Olives, he again spoke of "this generation,"
he evidently did not mean the entire race of Jews throughout history;
nor did he mean his followers, even though they were "a chosen
race." (1 Peter 2:9) Neither was Jesus saying that "this
generation" is a period of time.
Rather, Jesus had in
mind the opposing Jews back then who would experience the fulfillment
of the sign he gave. Regarding the reference to "this
generation" at Luke 21:32, Professor Joel B. Green notes: "In
the Third Gospel, 'this generation' (and related phrases) has
regularly signified a category of people who are resistant to the
purpose of God. . . . [It refers] to people who stubbornly turn their
backs on the divine purpose." *
The
wicked generation of Jewish opposers who could observe the sign being
fulfilled would also experience the end. (Matthew 24:6, 13, 14) And
that they did! In 70 C.E., the Roman army returned, led by Titus, son
of Emperor Vespasian. The suffering of the Jews who were again
bottled up in the city is almost beyond belief." Eyewitness
Flavius Josephus reports that by the time the Romans demolished the
city, about 1,100,000 Jews had died and some 100,000 were taken
captive, most of those soon to perish horribly from starvation or in
Roman theaters. Truly, the tribulation of 66-70 C.E. was the greatest
that Jerusalem and the Jewish system had ever experienced or would
ever experience. How different the outcome was for Christians who had
heeded Jesus' prophetic warning and had left Jerusalem after the
departure of the Roman armies in 66 C.E.!
Despite the Watchtower's pitiable effort to claim a modern day dual fulfillment of this prophecy, there is no way around the fact that the Matthew 24 GT is an unrepeatable event (Matthew 24: 21 and Luke 21: 24)