Why did Jesus' greatest prophecy turn out to be false?

Question

False because he said his coming would be in their lifetime, in their generation:
"The Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels. Then shall he reward every man according to his works.

There shall be some standing here who shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom."

Also: "This generation shall not pass till all these things be fuflfilled."
What things?
(1) Sun will be darkened.
(2) Moon will not give light.
(3) The stars shall fall from heaven.
(4) Powers of the heavens shall be shakened.
(5) The sign of the Son of Man shall appear in heaven.
(6) All the tribes of the earth shall mourn.
(7) They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven.
(8) He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet.
(9) They shall gather his elect from the four winds.

So you understand fully, please read ALL these references: Matthew 16:27, 28; 24:29-31; Luke 9:27; Mark 13:24-27, 30

Question: Why?

Then why did he say some standing there will still be alive when he comes back?

Sounds like "generation" means generation.

Answer 1

Matt. 16 and Luke 9 both mention the same statement and immediately following the mount of transfiguration is described. Christ was speaking of the witnessing of His glory at the transfiguration, not the second advent.

Answer 2

Matthew 24: 27-31

It seems to me that Jesus, when using the phrase “THIS generation (Matt.24:34)”, is not speaking of Matthew’s and Jesus’ generation. I believe this because Matthew 24:27, 29-31 (below) references the events of the Sixth Seal (Re.6:13-17, 1 Thess.5:2, Acts.2:20, Luke 21:25-27, Isa.13:6-11, Jer.30:7, Joel 2:31-32), a yet future event. Therefore, I would believe that “THIS generation” refers to the generation alive to witness the Sixth Seal event and future end time prophetic events to the Seventh Trumpet ascension (1 Thess.4:16-17, 1 Cor.15:52, Re.10:7).


Matt.24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Matt.24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

Matt.24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Matt.24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.



Pat (ndbpsa ©)

Answer 3

If you will read these passages again carefully and look back at the other things and context of what Jesus said, you will see that it was the belief of the disciples that Jesus would return in THEIR generation but Jesus did not actually make that statement. When Jesus was asked about the various signs that would foretell his final coming, he responded by naming the things on your list ending with "and this generation will not pass etc." He was referring to the fact that the generation that lived at the time these various signs would occur (all within one generation) would not die before his return. Although you have picked several very good portions of the Bible to illustrate your point, you have neglected to read ALL of what Jesus said and neglected to study the meaning of words based on the original writings pre translation meaning. I know many people feel that every single word in the Bible is intended to be taken exactly for what it says but unless you look at the historical situation, the language differences, the context and the intent all together you can not truly say you understand. It is for this very reason that churches today are at odds with one another over various issues. Their particular doctrines are always based upon a small groups interpretation of what it meant. That small group in turn convinced others to believe as they do etc. I believe that it is important to have an open mind and not to prejudge someone regardless of whether we agree with them or not as long as they have done their homework.

Although I think your original intent in asking this question was because you wanted to attack the authenticity of the Bible and/or the reality of Jesus and that is unfortunate. However, I give you a lot of credit also in the fact that you at least were willing to ask questions based on what you had read. There is nothing wrong with wanting to know the reasons for things.

Answer 4

The "generation that Jesus is talking about is the generation of man, or the age of man, which we are currently in. thee was the age of Adam, there is now the age of man, there is to come the age of the King and finally the age of Christ. The age of the King shall be the millennium kingdom of Christ, and the age of Christ will come after the millennium kingdom, and it will last for all eternity. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. Everything that you have place on your list shall happen in the Great Tribulation, which shall mark the end of the age of man. Jesus did not infer that he was coming during the time of his disciples, but that the effects of the work would not be ended until the coming of the millennium kingdom. Go to Bible college.

Answer 5

Hello, I'm Christian and study in the manuscripts.
What Christ is referring to (you need to follow the subject and object of what you read) is the second death - the death of the soul, not the flesh.

As for the generation not passing until the fulfillment of the prophecies: The generation He is talking about is the Generation of the Fig Tree, that was fulfilled coming in on May 15, 1948 when the Tribe of Judah returned to the Country we call Israel. Now, in this generation, you can look for all of the other prophecies to be fulfilled.
Do you understand the parable of the Fig Tree?
Its origin, and your ability to fully understand it, lies in the Book of Genesis when Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together to hide their private parts, those parts that were involved in their sin.
The rabbit hole goes far deeper than you know.

Answer 6

You misunderstand the prophecy.With regards to the definition of the word "generation", the word in the Greek is "genea", and it's primary definition according to the Liddell Scott Greek-English Lexicon is "birth, race, descent", and it is often used this way in other passages of Scripture. So then what "birth, race, descent" was Jesus speaking of? I believe He was referring to the Jews, as a distinct people group. It is nothing less than extraordinary that they should retain their distinct identity after being scattered around the globe for 1900 years. Yet this is exactly what Moses foretold 3500 years ago in Deuteronomy 30:1-5, where he foretells the regathering into the land of Israel. This is in complete agreement with the prophecies of Jesus who said "Jerusalem shall be trampled under foot by the Gentiles UNTIL the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." (Luke 21:24) This was spoken AFTER warning the Jews of the imminent destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., a prophecy to which the Christians at the time gave heed, resulting in their deliverance; but which the unbelieving Jews ignored, all of whom either perished or were sold into slavery.
As for the other passage, "There are some standing here who shall not taste of death until they see the Son of man coming in His Kingdom"; I think there are 2 ways of interpreting this - certainly that this was referring to the manifestation of Christ in His glory on the Mount of Tranfiguration is substantiated by Peter's interpretation of this event as expressed in II Peter 1:16-20, where he says "we were eyewitnesses of his majesty."
However, there is another way of interpreting this in the definition of the word "Death". Jesus in numerous places uses the word in reference to spiritual death, separation from God. For example in John 11:25,26 He says "I am the Resurrection and the Life: He who believes in Me shall live, even if he dies; and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die."
Therefore, it is clear that you can interpret this passage one way or the other, and it stands True.
There remains one more prophecy Jesus spoke which pertains to you. "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who disbelieves shall be condemned." (Mark 16:16) I assure you, so shall it be with you, according unto His word.

Answer 7

Why did Jesus' greatest prophecy turn out to be false?

Simple..He was a false prophet.. (and therefore not the son of God or a messiah either)

Deut 18 and Jeremiah 28...How to spot a false prophet.

Answer 8

We muslims are told by Allah in Quran The original scriptures of All religions before are interpolated, corrupted and mutliated.

If you are really interested about forthcoming Jesus pbuh. You must read hadith in which there are more than 70 prophecies about Jesus pbuh.

Come towards Islam
www.hadices.com
[e-mail]

Answer 9

You need to ask a trained professional like a pastor about this, but I don't see "this generation" as that particular generation of people, but the generation of the Christian church.

Answer 10

Well presented. A shame we can vote for the Questions, I would have given you 100 points for yours.