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This verse is one of the major "prooftexts" of preterism. "There it is in black and white," they hiss, while living a "Christian" life of such utter self-absorption that they can't see the world falling apart around them. "Proof that the prophecies were fulfilled in the first century."
But hole up.
That the word translated generation (genea in the Greek) can also mean race or tribe is agreed upon by scholars. In fact genea is a "presumed derivative" of the Greek word genos, which means kindred. So the standard futurist rebuttal has been that "this generation" refers to the Jewish people, who would never cease to exist as a people until the prophecies were fulfilled or near fulfillment. I used to subscribe to this notion, though I always felt that although sound, it was not quite rigorously proven enough for my taste and ignored the obvious sense in which Jesus did mean the generation He spoke to.
Then I discovered the idea of double fulfillment, the notion that Biblical prophecies could (and often did) see multiple instances of fulfillment. "Her seed" and the "serpent's seed" (Abel and Cain and Jesus and the Antichrist). David's son building a temple (Solomon and Jesus). A child named Immanuel (Isaiah's son and Jesus). Babylon invading God's land "at the time of the end" (Nebuchadnezzar, Rome, the end time empire).
Hebrew is a "punny" language. Every letter means different things, which leads to every word having multiple meanings. I used to think this was just a quirky fact, but now I realize that everything God says and does must have more than just one meaning (though never more than one truth), because He means everything. There is only one truth, but there is so much that comprises the truth. So much, in fact, that the truth can only be "summed up" in one Person. The infinite made finite. The Word (meaning) of God. Jesus Christ. He was, is and always will be what God means. And what God means is the truth.
All that to say that Jesus meant more than one thing by "this generation." Yes, He meant that the generation of the people He was standing among would see "a" fulfillment of the signs He gave. But He also meant the "generation" living at the time the signs saw their greatest fulfillment. And He also meant something else I shall try to elucidate.
One of the root meanings of generation is "fruit" or "seed" (as in what is "generated" or produced by the plant). So generation is also used as a stand-in for seed in Scripture:
In Deuteronomy 32, obviously God is not speaking of a single generation, but of the Israelites as a whole. New Testament authors even quoted verse 21 in condemnation of a much later generation than the one of the Exodus.
Which brings me to the point. The third and arguably more important sense in which Jesus meant "generation" was the holy seed. The seed of the woman, of which He was the foremost, but which consisted of the Israelites, foremost of which during His day were the Jews, but also Christians, who have been grafted into Israel. The holy seed and the serpent seed have been contrasted all through Scripture:
Has Jesus come with His angels yet? Then He didn't just mean the generation that heard Him. Aside from the fact that it hasn't been ok to be ashamed of Him or His words since that generation died. Preterism is stupid.
In Luke 16, the two opposing "generations" are made explicit. The children of this world (seed of the serpent) and the children of light.
A chosen generation (people/nation/seed) of light. Another word for chosen is elect. Keep that in mind for later.
Here's some context to Jesus' "this generation" statement:
Now that we know elect = chosen = "this" generation (or the generation of light), we can see that one of the meanings of "this generation" is a restatement of the claim that the elect will survive what is coming, because the days will be shortened and because they will live to see all the signs come to pass. (We shall not all sleep, but those who are alive and remain shall be changed.)
So to recap, Jesus meant all three things at once. Being the truth and God Himself, He can pack a lot of information into few words. "No one ever spoke the way this man does." The generation that heard Him would see the signs. A future generation would see all the signs. And the generation of light would not pass away (die, pass away, be destroyed, be overcome by the gates of hell) before all was fulfilled and all the signs came to pass.
For some additional confirmation, let's look at a prooftext preterists ignore, which also happens to be the preceding verses:
Is anyone aware of preterists dealing with the fact that Israel is called a fig tree throughout Scripture?
It's no coincidence that the Lord Jesus curses the fig tree at the time when the leaders of Israel at that time firmly rejected and plotted to kill Him. It was highly symbolic. The point of the parable of the fig tree blooming again is the acceptance of the Israel which at that time was rejected, as I've also explained in my Elijah post.
The Greek word translated "leaves" in the verse of the fig tree indicating the "nearness" of the time of the fulfillment of the signs is "phullon." It is related to the word translated "tribes" in this verse:
That word tribes is the Greek word "phule." The phrasing in this verse is also reminiscent of "and every eye shall see Him, even those who pierced Him (referring to the Jews)". The "tribes/leaves" which will be budding are the tribes of Israel, which began doing so in 1948 when the country was miraculously reformed after 2,000 years. That was a major "sign" Jesus gave to indicate the nearness of the end and of His return.
Futurism is wrong to ignore the signs which occurred in the first century, because their purpose (aside from the purifying of the church then which will be repeated in the end days) was to warn of what is coming on a global scale for "this generation." But at least futurists are prepared to some degree. Preterists who claim God only cares to hold the Jews accountable and smirks at their own sin are an eternal danger to themselves and everyone around them.
This understanding is not of my own devising but was given to me by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belongs all glory, praise and honor, and to His Father and our Father.
Though we be but "shadows and broken images"
We shall see Him as He is
For it is to the pure He shall appear
Punishment has to do with fear
We know not what we shall be
But we will know as we are known
It is only to the pure in heart
That the face of God is shown
For before His face the shadows flee
And death cannot abide the sight
Only those whose eyes be single
Can bear the unapproachable light
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