Questions about the Bible/Christianity

[Jayda]

8. Jesus prophesied that men of his generation would not pass away without witnessing his second coming and the falling of stars (Mark 9:1, 13:30). Why was this prophecy unfulfilled? Why was it that Jesus did not return within the lifetime of his generation?

Hola Ironbeard,

The passages you are referencing are

And Jesus was saying to them, "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power."

And

"Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

And your question is about whether Jesus promised the second coming would be during the life of the disciples.

First let us talk about Mark 9:1 because I think you might be confused about its relevance to what you wish to know… Mark 9:1 is describing an event called “the transfiguration” which is when Jesus went on top of the mountain and transformed to demonstrate his divinity, in all his glory. The prophets recognized and adored Him and the Father confirmed what He said at Jesus baptism that this is his Son and that we must listen to Him. More information concerning the Transfiguration is here.

The transfiguration is talked about in all of the gospels, Mark 9:1 is the beginning of Marks narrative of the events. That is why Mark chapter 9 is titled “The Transfiguration.” This is a link to the entire chapter of Mark 9.

Mark 9:1 was a prophecy about something different than what you are asking… and Mark 9:1 was fulfilled as described in the rest of Mark 9.

Mark 13:30 is a translation issue. The word comes from “generatio” and “genea” which both mean “become from” in Latin and Greek. A more guided translation in this passage is something closer to “race” or “nation,” which the NASB includes in the footnote.

The use of the word “generation” in Mark 13:30 is defined thusly in the Catholic Encyclopedia:

“Independently of the idea of time, generation is employed to mean a race or class of men as characterized by the same recurring condition or quality. In this sense, the Bible speaks of a "just generation", literally "generation of the just" [Ps. xiii (Heb., xiv), 6; etc.], a "perverse generation", equivalent to: "generation of the wicked" [Deut., xxxii, 5; Mark, ix, 18 (Gr., verse 19); etc.].”

This more correct translation of Mark 13:30 referred to in the NASB footnotes shows that Jesus means that the class or collective grouping of people experiencing the end of times Jesus was describing would experience all of these things all at once… This is a warning to not interpret every earthquake, war or famine as the end of the world, all of those things and more will happen to the people of that time.

But the key is that the Latin word “generatio” used in Mark 13:30 and in other areas is meant to be independent of time. Since Jesus was already talking in the abstract about what the end of times looked like and what those people would experience we was not talking about the actual “generation” of people presently living, as understood in a temporal context that “generation” usually carries in English.

So here is your question:

8. Jesus prophesied that men of his generation would not pass away without witnessing his second coming and the falling of stars (Mark 9:1, 13:30). Why was this prophecy unfulfilled? Why was it that Jesus did not return within the lifetime of his generation?

And the answer is that Mark 9:1 is not talking about the end of times… it is talking about the Transfiguration which is something different, that prophecy has already been fulfilled (see the rest of Mark 9).

And in Mark 13:30 the translation of the Latin word “generatio” into the English word “generation” does not convey exactly what the word generation means… which is definitely non temporal and closer to something like “race” or “class.” So Jesus was talking about the people experiencing the end of the world abstractly, he was not referring directly to the generation of people living in his time or threatening them with the end of the world. This prophecy has yet to be fulfilled since Judgment Day has not yet arrived.

Gracias, Dios te bendiga