The Time of Jesus’s Coming and the Temple’s Fall

Jesus foretold the Temple’s fall. The disciples asked two questions: when would “these things” happen and what sign would there be (Mark 13:1–4). 

Jesus answered the sign question first (Mark 13:5–27). He listed Israel’s birth pains (Mark 13:8), the preaching of the gospel to all nations (Mark 13:10), the abomination of desolation (Mark 13:14), the great tribulation (Mark 13:19; cp. Matt 24:21), the dissolution of heaven and earth (Mark 13:24–25), the coming (Gk. erchomai) of the Son of Man (Mark 13:26), and the sending forth of angels to gather God’s elect (Mark 13:27).

Jesus then answered the disciples’ other query—when would these things happen? (Mark 13:28–36). His answer completed the Olivet Discourse, which he gave on Tuesday of Passion Week, AD 30.

There is a widespread misconception about Jesus’s answer to the when question. It is that “the time of the Second Coming is unknown.”¹

This is not Jesus’s answer! To show this, we will analyze Mark’s account of Jesus’s response. He gave the disciples an assurance, an affirmation, a negation, and a warning.

An Assurance

Instead of saying “the time … is unknown,” Jesus assured his disciples they could discern the time through the signs he gave. Here are his words:

Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near—at the doors! (Mark 13:28–29)

When the disciples saw the signs happening, they would know the Temple’s fall was “at the doors.” This would mean “that the son of man was come, was in the gates, displaying his power and his glory … or else the kingdom of God, or a more enlarged state of the Gospel dispensation was near.”²

Why would Jesus say the disciples would “know that it is near” if he meant the timing “is unknown”?

An Affirmation

The Lord gave the disciples explicit information about when these events would happen. He said,

Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. (Mark 13:30–31)

Inmillennialism suggests Jesus had already defined his meaning of “this generation.” In a previous prophecy he had said,

“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes (Gk. erchomai) in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.” (Mark 8:38–9:1)

Both passages predict the coming of the Son of Man in “this generation.” In Mark 8, Jesus said some standing before him would not die before it happened. In Mark 13, he said “this generation” would not pass. The term “this generation” limits these events to the lifetime of Jesus’s contemporaries.

This timeframe for “these things” contradicts most prophetic models.³ This contradiction causes commentators to propose other meanings for “this generation.” All such proposals create significant problems.

We will do well to heed Jesus’s definition of “this generation.” James A. Brooks does so when he says,

elsewhere in Mark [Mark 8:12, 38; 9:19] the term refers to the contemporaries of Jesus. That is certainly the most natural interpretation here. Jesus meant that some of the people of his generation, and more particularly some of his disciples, would not die until the things of [Mark 13:5–23] had happened, including the very significant destruction of Jerusalem and its temple.⁴ 

This definition means the signs Jesus gave and the Temple’s fall itself would occur within the space of about forty years.

The length of generations varied but was often represented in the Old Testament by forty years (in the Dead Sea Scrolls, forty years represents the suffering of the final generation). Jesus speaks these words near A.D. 30; the temple would be destroyed in A.D. 70.⁵

Jesus did not say the time of his coming to destroy the Temple was unknown. He said it would happen in his generation.

A Negation

The Lord reinforced the fact that “this generation” was a chronological indicator. He contrasted it to two other time markers when he said,

But of that day and hour (Gk. hōra) no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Mark 13:32)

The Lord revealed the general timeframe for “these things”—one generation. However, he did not reveal the precise timeframe—the day or hour of the Temple’s fall.

So, the disciples knew the general timeframe. They conducted their ministries while observing the signs Jesus had given. Near the end of their generation, the Holy Spirit gave insight into the precise timing of “these things.” The Apostle John wrote, “Little children, it is the last hour (Gk. hōra); and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour (Gk. hōra)” (1 John 2:18). 

When John wrote these words, the “generation” of which Jesus had spoken was almost over. The Holy Spirit had revealed John was living in the last “hour.” The Son of Man was about to come. The Temple was about to fall.

A Warning

Jesus warned the disciples about these matters. He said,

Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch! (Mark 13:33–37)

This warning reinforces what Jesus had said about the time of the Temple’s fall. The servants knew the master would return within their lifetimes—in their generation. They did not know the “day and hour” of his arrival.

Conclusion

Jesus provided a full answer for the disciples’ when question regarding the Temple’s destruction. All the signs—Israel’s birth pains, the preaching of the gospel to all nations, the abomination of desolation, the great tribulation, the dissolution of heaven and earth, the coming of the Son of Man, and the sending forth of angels to gather God’s elect—would occur in their generation. Then the Temple would fall.

The Lord did not know the precise time of the Temple’s destruction. The disciples would learn that later. Like fig trees budding shows summer is near, the signs Jesus gave would show that the “day and hour” for “these things” was at hand.

The signs Jesus predicted happened, then the Temple fell in AD 70. The Roman armies did not leave “one stone … upon another.” This occurred in his generation, just as he had foretold.

This answer to the disciples’ when questions fits well in inmillennialism, our prophetic model.

1. Ronald F. Youngblood, F. F. Bruce, and R. K. Harrison, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1995), s.v. Second Coming.
2. John Gill, An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 9 vols. (1809–1810; repr., Paris, AR: The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1989), 7:295.
3. See a comparison of the four most common prophetic models here. Links there lead to more detailed explanations of each.
4. James A. Brooks, Mark, vol. 23 of NAC (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1991), 217. Emphasis added.
5. Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 2nd ed. IVP Academic, 2014), Mark 13:10.