Talkin' 'bout My Generation

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.  So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.  Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."

Mark 13: 28-31

Back when I was a young-idealistic-recent-college-graduate, I had a friend (Bobby D!) who was steeped in a particular brand of theology (he isn’t anymore -- he's been delivered! haha). 

He had this passage all figured out. 

He said the fig tree is the nation of Israel. 

He said the fig tree becoming tender and putting out leaves was Israel being formed as a nation in 1948. 

He said that when Jesus predicted “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place,” he meant that he (Jesus) would return within “a generation” of Israel’s independence.  This is that Hal Lindsey, Late Great Planet Earth stuff.  Premillennial dispensationalism for you geeks.  

The problem is that twenty, then thirty years came and went – the generally accepted length of time for a “generation.” By 1978, Jesus had not returned.  Nor by 1988, or forty years.  Or 1998.  Or 2008, two “generations” after the formation of Israel.  The pre-mils were starting to feel like JWs.  

It’s funny how your theology changes when the facts don’t fit. My OT professor Ray Dillard used to say, "To every difficult question, there is a simple, wrong answer."  That’s the danger of trying to make the Bible say what YOU want, instead of listening to what IT says, with humility.   

A couple of points: for starters, Israel in the OT is usually referred to as an olive branch, or a shoot, not a fig tree.  Besides that, devout Jew and former Pharisee (and later, Saint) Paul argues that the true Israel is anyone who shares the faith of the patriarch Abraham, whose belief in God was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), not just those who cite a bloodline or share a ritual like circumcision. Anyone, from any nation, can be a child of God: 

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham.  He is the father of us all.

Paul, in Romans 4:16

Second, the Greek word for generation – and its usage in the New Testament – has different meanings in different contexts, just as ours does.  “Generation” can be used to refer to chronological generations (the way my friend used it): 

For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.

Luke 1:48

But “Generation” can also be used as a prevailing moral quality of the times: not just a matter of a specific set of years, but more often, especially in the NT, a reflection of what’s inside the person.  

Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?”  Then he healed a guy.  

Matthew 17:17

And with many other words [Peter] testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”

Acts 2:40

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

1 Peter 2:9

So the lesson of the fig tree in the passage above is two-fold: 

First, Jesus is in fact coming again.  He can come at any time. 

"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.  Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door.

Mark 13:28-29

Second, these things will surely be fulfilled.  You can count on it. 

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Mark 13:31

There's a metanarrative for you.  And it's not postmodernism.  It is a God who acts in history, in a world fraught with heartache, and with injustice that can be overwhelming, to ignite within individuals hope and love, while he never abandons us and will ultimately fulfill his purposes.  History will be fulfilled .  The hopes we long for will be realized.  "And all flesh shall see the salvation of God."