Matthew 23:36

"Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."

Context:

In Matthew 23, Jesus delivers a scathing rebuke to the scribes and Pharisees. He accuses them and their fathers of murdering the prophets, culminating in the killing of the Messiah Himself. He says:

Verse 34: "Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes..."

Verse 35: "...so that upon you will fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth..."

Then He declares in verse 36, that all these judgments would come upon "this generation", not some future age or people 2,000 years later.

How the word "generation" is used in the Gospels:

Matthew 11:16 – "To what shall I compare this generation?"

Matthew 12:41-42 – "...will rise up with this generation..."

Matthew 24:34 – "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place."

In every usage, the phrase "this generation" refers to Jesus' contemporaries, not a future group of people.

Fulfilled View:

Jesus was warning of the coming judgment upon apostate Israel, which was fulfilled in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Romans. This was the culmination of God's wrath, just as Jesus predicted in Matthew 23 and 24.

So, "this generation" means:

The first-century Jewish generation alive at the time Jesus was speaking.

This interpretation is consistent with both:

The immediate context of Matthew 23.

The timeline of Jesus' other prophecies, especially in Matthew 24:34, where He says the same thing right before describing the destruction of the temple.