THE TEACHING OF OUR LORD CONCERNING THE PAROUSIA,
IN THE SYNOPTICAL GOSPELS
The close of John the Baptist's ministry, in consequence of his imprisonment by Herod Antipas,
marks a new departure in the ministry of our Lord. Previous to that time, indeed, He had taught the
people, wrought miracles, gained adherents, and obtained a wide popularity; but after that event,
which may be regarded as indicating the failure of John's mission, our Lord retired into Galilee, and
there entered upon a new phase of His public ministry. We are told that 'from that time Jesus began
to preach, and to say, Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand' (Matt. iv. 17). These are the
precise terms in which the preaching of John the Baptist is described (Matt. iii. 2). Both our Lord and
His forerunner called 'the nation to repentance,' and announced the approach of the 'kingdom of
heaven.' It follows that John could not mean by the phrase, 'the kingdom of heaven is at hand,' merely
that the Messiah was about to appear, for when Christ did appear, He made the same
announcement. 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' In like manner, when the twelve disciples were
sent forth on their first evangelistic mission, they were commanded to preach, not that the kingdom of
heaven was come, but that it was at hand (Matt. x. 7). Moreover, that the kingdom did not come in
our Lord's time, nor at the day of Pentecost, is evident from the fact that in His prophetic discourse
on the Mount of Olives our Lord gave His disciples certain tokens by which they might know that the
kingdom of God was nigh at hand (Luke xxi. 31).
We find, therefore, the following conclusions plainly deducible from our Lord's teaching:
1. That a great crisis, or consummation, called 'the kingdom of heaven, or of God,' was proclaimed
by Him to be nigh. 2. That this consummation, though near, was not to take place in His own lifetime,
nor yet for some years after His death. 3. That His disciples, or at least some of them, might expect
to witness its arrival.
But the whole subject of 'the kingdom of heaven' must be reserved for fuller discussion at a future
period.
PREDICTION OF COMING WRATH UPON THAT GENERATION.
There is another point of resemblance between the preaching of our Lord and that of John the
Baptist. Both gave the clearest intimations of the near approach of a time of judgment which should
overtake the existing generation, on account of their rejection of the warnings and invitations of divine
mercy. As the Baptist spoke of 'the coming wrath,' so our Lord with equal distinctness forewarned
the people of 'coming judgment.' He upbraided 'the cities wherein most of his mighty works were
done, because they repented not,' and predicted that a heavier woe would overtake them than had
fallen upon Tyre and Sidon, Sodom and Gomorrha (Matt. xi. 20-24). That all this points to a
catastrophe which was not remote, but near, and which would actually overtake the existing
generation, appears evident from the express statements of Jesus.
Matt. xii. 38-46 (compare Luke xi. 16, 24-36): 'Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees
answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An
evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign: and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the
sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so
shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh
shall rise in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, because they repented at the
preaching of Jonas and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up
in the judgment with generation, and condemn it, for sue came from the uttermost parts of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. When the unclean
spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he
saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come he findeth it empty,
swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than
himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.'
This passage is of great importance in ascertaining the true meaning of the phrase 'this generation'
[genea]. It can only refer, in this place, to the people of Israel then living- the existing generation. No
commentator has ever proposed to call 'genea' here the Jewish race in all ages. Our Lord was
accustomed to speak of His contemporaries as this generation:
Whereunto shall I liken this generation?'- that is, the men of that day who would listen neither to
His forerunner nor to Himself' (Matt. xi. 16; Luke vii. 31). Even commentators like Stier, who
contend for the rendering of 'genea' by race or lineage in other passages, admit that the reference in
these words is 'to the generation living in that then extant and most important age.' (1) So in the
passage before us there can be no controversy respecting the application of the words exclusively to
the then existing generation, the contemporaries of Christ. Of the aggravated and enormous
wickedness of that period our Lord here testifies. The generation has just before been addressed by
Him in the very words of the Baptist- ' O brood of vipers' (ver. 34). Its guilt is declared to surpass
that of the heathen; it is likened to a demoniac, from whom the unclean spirit had departed for a
while, but returned in greater force than before, accompanied by seven other spirits more wicked
than himself, so that 'the last state of that man is worse than that first.' We have in the testimony of
Josephus a striking confirmation of our Lord's description of the moral condition of that generation.
'As it were impossible to relate their enormities in detail, I shall briefly state that no other city ever
endured similar calamities, and no generation ever existed more prolific in crime. They confessed
themselves to be, what they were- slaves, and the very dregs of society, the spurious and polluted
spawn of the nation.' (2) 'And here I cannot refrain from expressing what my feelings suggest. I am of
opinion, that had the Romans deferred the punishment of these wretches, either the earth would have
opened and swallowed up the city, or it would have been swept away by a deluge, or have shared
the shun. defaults of the land of Sodom. For it produced a race far more ungodly than those who
were thus visited. For through the desperate madness of these men the whole nation was involved in
their ruin.' (3) 'That period had somehow become so prolific in iniquity of every description amongst
the Jews, that no work of evil was left unperpetrated; . . . so universal was the contagion, both in
public and private, and such the emulation to surpass each other in acts of impiety towards God, and
of injustice towards their neighbors.' (4)
Such was the fearful condition to which the nation was hastening when our Lord uttered these
prophetic words. The climax had not yet been reached, but it was full in view. The unclean spirit had
not yet returned to his house, but he was on the way. As Stier remarks, 'In the period between the
ascension of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem, especially towards the end of it, this nation
shows itself, one might say, as if possessed by seven thousand devils.' (5) Is not this an adequate and
complete fulfilment of our Saviour's prediction? Have we the slightest warrant or need for saying that
it means something else, or something more, than this? What presence is there for supposing a further
and future fulfilment of His words? Is it not a virtual discrediting of the prophecy to seek any other
than the plain and obvious sense which points so distinctly to an approaching catastrophe about to
befall that generation? Surely we show most reverence to the Word of God when we accept
implicitly its obvious teaching, and refuse the unwarranted and merely human speculations which
critics and theologians have drawn from their own fancy. We conclude, then, that, in the notorious
profligacy of that age, and the signal calamities which before its close overwhelmed the Jewish
people, we have the historical attestation of the exhaustive fulfilment of this prophecy.
FURTHER ALLUSIONS TO THE COMING WRATH.
Luke xiii. 1-9 : 'There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood
Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that
these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you,
Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in
Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I
tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.'
How vividly our Lord apprehended the approaching calamities of the nation, and how clear and
distinct His warnings were, may be inferred from this passage. The massacre of some Galileans who
had gone up to Jerusalem to the feast of the Passover, either by the command, or with the
connivance of the Roman governor; and the sudden destruction of eighteen persons by the fall of a
tower near the pool of Siloam, were incidents which formed the topics of conversation among the
people at the time. Our Lord declares that the victims of these calamities were not exceptionally
wicked, but that a like fate would overtake the very persons now talking about them, unless they
repented. The point of His observation, which is often overlooked, lies in the similarity of the
threatened destruction. It is not 'ye also shall all perish,' but, 'ye shall all perish in 'the same manner'
. That our Lord had in view the final ruin, which was about to overwhelm Jerusalem and the nation,
can hardly be doubted. The analogy between the cases is real and striking. It was at the feast of the
Passover that the population of Judea had crowded into Jerusalem, and were there cooped in by the
legions of Titus. Josephus tells us how, in the final agony of the siege, the blood of the officiating
priests was shed at the altar of sacrifice. The Roman soldiers were the executioners of the divine
judgment; and as temple and tower fell to the ground, they buried in their ruins many a hapless victim
of impenitence and unbelief. It is satisfactory to find both Alford and Stier recognising the historical
allusion in this passage. The former remarks: the force of which is lost in the English version
"likewise," should be rendered "in like manner," as indeed the Jewish people did perish by the
sword of the Romans.' (6)
IMPENDING FATE OF THE JEWISH NATION.
The Parable of the Barren Fig-tree.
Luke xiii. 6-9: 'He spake also this parable: A certain man had a figtree planted in his vineyard: and
he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he to the dresser of his vineyard,
Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none: cut it down; why
cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I
shall dig about it, and dung it: and if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it
down.'
The same prophetic significance is manifest in this parable, which is almost the counterpart of that
in Isa. v., both in form and meaning. The true interpretation is so obvious as to render explanation
scarcely necessary. Its bearing on the people of Israel is most distinct and direct, more especially
when viewed in connection with the preceding warnings. Israel is the fruitless tree, long cultivated, but
yielding no return to the owner. It was now on its last trial: the axe, as John the Baptist had declared,
was laid to the root of the tree; but the fatal blow was delayed at the intercession of mercy. The
Saviour was even then at His gracious work of nurture and culture; a little longer, and the decree
would go forth- 'Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground ?'
No doubt there are general principles in this, as in other parables, applicable to all nations and all
ages; but we must not lose sight of its original and primary reference to the Jewish people. Stier and
Alford seem to lose themselves in searching for recondite and mystical meanings in the minor details
of the imagery; but Neander gives a luminous explanation of its true import: 'As the fruitless tree,
failing to realize the aim of its being, was destroyed, so the theocratic nation, for the same reason,
was to be overtaken, after long forbearance, by the judgments of God, and shut out from His
kingdom.' (7)
THE END OF THE AGE, OR CLOSE OF THE JEWISH DISPENSATION.
Parables of the Tares, and of the Drag-net.
Matt. xiii. 36-47: 'Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples
came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said
unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed
are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that
sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world [age]; and the reapers are the angels.
As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be at the end of this world
[age]. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all
things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a [the] furnace of fire: there
shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 'Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.... Again, the kingdom of heaven is like
unto a net, that was east into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they
drew to the shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So
shall it be at the end of the world [age]: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from
among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of
teeth.'
We find in the passages here quoted an example of one of those erroneous renderings which have
done much to confuse and mislead the ordinary readers of our English version. It is probable, that
ninety-nine in every hundred understand by the phrase, 'the end of the world,' the close of human
history, and the destruction of the material earth. They would not imagine that the ' world ' in ver. 38
and the 'world' in ver. 39 40, are totally different words, with totally different meanings. Yet such is
the fact. Koinos in ver. 38 is rightly translated world, and refers to the world of men, but aeon in ver.
39, 40, refers to a period of time, and should be rendered age or epoch. Lange translates it aeon. It
is of the greatest importance to understand correctly the two meaning of this word, and of the phrase
'the end of the aeon, or age.' aion is, as we have said, a period of time, or an age. It is exactly
equivalent to the Latin word aevum, which is merely aion in a Latin dress; and the phrase, (Greek-
coming), translated in our English version, 'the end of the world,' should be, 'the close of the age.'
Tittman observes: (Greek - coming), as it occurs in the New Testament, does not denote the end, but
rather the consummation, of the aeon, which is to be followed by a new age. So in Matt. xiii. 39, 40,
49; xxiv. 3; which last passage, it is to be feared, may be misunderstood in applying it to the
destruction of the world.' (8) It was the belief of the Jews that the Messiah would introduce a new
aeon: and this new aeon, or age, they called 'the kingdom of heaven.' The existing aeon: therefore,
was the Jewish dispensation, which was now drawing to its close; and how it would terminate our
Lord impressively shows in these parables. It is indeed surprising that expositors should have failed to
recognize in these solemn predictions the reproduction and reiteration of the words of Malachi and of
John the Baptist. Here we find the same final separation between the righteous and the wicked; the
same purging of the floor; the same gathering of the wheat into the garner; the same burning of the
chaff [tares, stubble] in the fire. Can there be a doubt that it is to the same act of judgment, the same
period of time, the same historical event, that Malachi, John, and our Lord refer ?
But we have seen that John the Baptist predicted a judgment which was then impending - a
catastrophe so near that already the axe was lying at the root of the trees,- in accordance with the
prophecy of Malachi, that 'the great and dreadful day of the Lord' was to follow on the coming of the
second Elijah. We are therefore brought to the conclusion, that this discrimination between the
righteous and the wicked, this gathering of the wheat into the garner, and burning of the tares in the
furnace of fire, refer to the same catastrophe, viz., the wrath which came upon that very generation,
when Jerusalem became literally 'a furnace of fire,' and the aeon of Judaism came to a close in 'the
great and dreadful day of the Lord.'
This conclusion is supported by the fact, that there is a close connection between this great
judicial epoch and the coming of 'the kingdom of heaven.' Our Lord represents the separation of the
righteous and the wicked as the characteristic of the great consummation which is called 'the kingdom
of God.' But the kingdom was declared to be at hand. It follows, therefore, that the parables before
us relate, not to a remote event still in the future, but to one which in our Saviour's time was near.
An additional argument in favour of this view is derived from the consideration that our Lord, in
His explanation of the parable of the tares, speaks of Himself as the sower of the good seed: 'He
that soweth the good seed is the Son of man.' It is to His own personal ministry and its results that
He refers, and we must therefore regard the parable as having a special bearing upon His
contemporaries. It is in perfect harmony with His solemn warning in Luke xiii. 26, where He
describes the condemnation of those who were privileged to enjoy His personal presence and
ministrations, the pretenders to discipleship, who were tares and not wheat. 'Then shall ye begin to
say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I
tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the
prophets, in the kingdom of God; and you yourselves thrust out.' However applicable to men in
general under the gospel such language may be, it is plain that it had a direct and specific bearing
upon the contemporaries of our Lord - the generation that witnessed His miracles and heard His
parables; and that it has a relation to them such as it can have to none else.
We find at the conclusion of the parable of the tares an impressive nota bene, drawing special
attention to the instruction therein contained: 'Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.' We may take
occasion from this to make a remark on the vast importance of a true conception of the period at
which our Lord and His apostles taught. This is indispensable to the correct understanding of the
New Testament doctrine respecting the 'kingdom of God,' the 'end of the age,' and the 'coming
aeon,' or ' world to come. That period was near the close of the Jewish dispensation. The Mosaic
economy, as it is called - the system of laws and institutions given to the nation by God Himself, and
which had existed for more than forty generations,- was about to be superseded and to pass away.
Already the last generation that was to possess the land was upon the scene,- the last and also the
worst, -the child and heir of its predecessors. The long period, during which Jehovah had exhausted
all the methods which divine wisdom and love could devise for the culture and reformation of Israel,
was about to come to an end. It was to close disastrously. The wrath, long pent up and restrained,
was to burst forth and overwhelm that generation. Its 'last day' was to be a dies irae ' the great and
terrible day of the Lord.' This is 'the end of the age,' so often referred to by our Lord, and constantly
predicted by His apostles. Already they stood within the penumbra of that tremendous crisis, which
was every day advancing nearer and nearer, and which was at last to come suddenly, 'as a thief in the
night.' This is the true explanation of those constant exhortations to vigilance, patience, and hope,
which abound in the apostolic epistles. They lived expecting a consummation which was to arrive in
their own time, and which they might witness with their own eyes. This fact lies on the very face of the
New Testament writings; it is the key to the interpretation of much that would otherwise be obscure
and unintelligible, and we shall see in the progress of this investigation how consistently this view is
supported by the whole tenor of the New Testament Scriptures.
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