Gospel question

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katy

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In the Gospel I heard for today, Jesus seems to tell followers that some of them will still be around when the end of the world comes. What’s up with that?
 
This generation shall not pass away, that is, the generation of Christians, until all things be fulfilled, which were spoken concerning Jerusalem and the coming of Antichrist; for He does not mean the generation of the Apostles, for the greater part of the Apostles did not live up to the destruction of Jerusalem.
But He says this of the generation of Christians, wishing to console His disciples, lest they should believe that the faith should fail at that time; for the immovable elements shall first fail, before the words of Christ fail; wherefore it is added, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
 
Katy,

In church today our priest said that Jesus had just been talking specifically about the destruction of Jerusalem when He said that some of His listeners would not die before they had seen these things happen. It’s a sort of “typology,” I think, where the distress of the siege and fall of Jerusalem prefigures the great tribulations of the end of the age.
  • Liberian
 
copland said:
This generation shall not pass away, that is, the generation of Christians, until all things be fulfilled, which were spoken concerning Jerusalem and the coming of Antichrist; for He does not mean the generation of the Apostles, for the greater part of the Apostles did not live up to the destruction of Jerusalem.
But He says this of the generation of Christians, wishing to console His disciples, lest they should believe that the faith should fail at that time; for the immovable elements shall first fail, before the words of Christ fail; wherefore it is added, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
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please give the reference to the verse you are referring too.
 
HailMary

Mark 13:30 from the Mass Reading. I actually quoted from the early Church Father Theophylus.
 
Liberian said:
Katy,

In church today our priest said that Jesus had just been talking specifically about the destruction of Jerusalem when He said that some of His listeners would not die before they had seen these things happen. It’s a sort of “typology,” I think, where the distress of the siege and fall of Jerusalem prefigures the great tribulations of the end of the age.
  • Liberian
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Your priest is correct.

And so is Theophylus.

Remember, as Catholics, we interpret the bible 4 ways, we call them the four senses of Scripture.

To deepen our understanding, we rely on the four senses of Scripture:

Literal sense: What the author intended

Allegorical sense: Pertaining to Chirst & Mary

Anagogical sense: End Times

Moral sense: What is God telling me today

The literal sense of this Gospel reading is the destruction of the Temple, the age of the Old Law.

Theophylus applied the Anagogical sense. Make sense?

Read about the four sense: catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0360.html and also check the Catechsim. God Bless.
 
As Liberian said, considering the sense that much of End Times discussions in scripture (like the Book of Revelation) can at the same time be a microcosm on earth of the macrocosm of the end of the world. What Jesus said did come to pass before that generation passed away. In Scott Hahn’s discussion of Revelation in his tape series “The End”, this verse is brought up. Jesus was discussing the destruction of the Temple at the beginning of Mark 13. In verse 14 one sees Jesus warning the Christians to “take to the hills” when they see these signs and the desolating sacriledge (which turns out to be Temple sacrifices to pagan Gods). I have even read that because of Jesus’ warning, while about a million people were killed during the seige of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by the Romans, not one Christian died. It is very unlikely that when Jesus comes at the second coming that Christians will have to “take to the hills”. This prophesy of Jesus can be interpreted to have been fulfilled in 70 AD with the fall of the Temple and Jerusalem - thus it did occur within “this generation”.

MBS1
 
HailMary said:
Your priest is correct.

And so is Theophylus.

Remember, as Catholics, we interpret the bible 4 ways, we call them the four senses of Scripture.

To deepen our understanding, we rely on the four senses of Scripture:

Literal sense: What the author intended

Allegorical sense: Pertaining to Chirst & Mary

Anagogical sense: End Times

Moral sense: What is God telling me today

The literal sense of this Gospel reading is the destruction of the Temple, the age of the Old Law.

Theophylus applied the Anagogical sense. Make sense?

Read about the four sense: catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0360.html and also check the Catechsim. God Bless.
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Thank you for the really great post! Let me post it again.
 
The reading had it fulfillment in 70 AD, but also it will be fulfilled at the end of time. Scripture can have more that one meanings, or fulfillments.
The Temple was a symbol of the whole universe for the Jews of that time.
 
What helpful replies!! I just love being Catholic on the Internet. I am going to look into this 4 senses idea some more.
 
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