TEXT [Commentary]
4. The parable of the fig tree (24:32-35; cf. Mark 13:28-31; Luke 21:29-33)
32 “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation[*] will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.”
NOTES
24:32 lesson from the fig tree. “Lesson” here is lit. “parable.” This is more like the short parables of 13:31-33, 44-46 than the longer narrative parables in that chapter. The parable proper is stated in 24:32, and it is applied in 24:33 (“in the same way . . .”).
when its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. The budding of the fig tree in the spring is a sure sign of the nearness of summer. Similarly, the matters of which Jesus had been speaking are reliable indicators that he is near (cf. Isa 13:6; Ezek 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1; Zeph 1:7, 14; Jas 5:8), ready to walk through the door, so to speak (cf. Jas 5:9; Rev 3:20).
24:33 when you see all these things. A crucial matter here is the referent of the expression “all these things.” In the commentary to follow, it will be argued that “all these things” refers to the signs about which the disciples asked and of which Jesus spoke in 24:4ff. For another parabolic statement on the signs of the times, see 16:1-4.
24:34-35 this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear. These verses contain two statements that stress the reliability of Jesus’ promise about the signs of his coming in 24:32-33. The promise is so reliable that Jesus’ contemporaries (“this generation”) will not pass away until it is fulfilled. Secondly, heaven and earth will pass away, but his promise will not. This statement places the words of Jesus, the ultimate and definitive interpreter of the Torah, on a par with the Torah itself (cf. 5:18). Jesus’ words are equivalent to the very words of God, which are as eternal and authoritative as God himself (Ps 119:89; Isa 40:8). There are two major issues in the interpretation of 24:34—the meaning of “this generation” and of “all these things.” In the commentary to follow, it will be argued that Jesus promises his contemporaries that they will still be living when the signs he has mentioned, including the destruction of the Temple, occur (Turner 1989; Blomberg 1992:364). Thus, Jesus did not mistakenly predict his return during his lifetime (McNeile 1949:355), nor is this a piece of mistaken early church tradition (Beare 1981:473; Davies and Allison 1997:367-368).
COMMENTARY [Text]
At this point, Jesus moved from speaking predictively to speaking paraenetically or hortatively. From this point on, his goal was not to provide additional information to answer the disciples’ question (24:3) but to exhort them on the proper response to that information. This may not be what the disciples wanted to know, but it is what they needed to know. Matthew 24:32-35 parabolically expresses the nearness of the coming of Christ. Jesus’ contemporaries were familiar with the process by which the fig tree in the spring buds, blossoms, and eventually in the summer bears fruit (24:32), so he compared his coming to that process (24:33). The signs about which the disciples asked in 24:3 are signified by the budding of the tree in the spring, and his coming by the summer, when fruit was borne. When the disciples see the signs (of spring), they know the coming (summer) is near. The certainty of these things is underlined by 24:34-35, which affirm that Jesus’ contemporaries will observe the signs, and that Jesus’ words are eternally trustworthy. In days of relative peace and prosperity, it is difficult to take these words of Jesus to heart. One may become so occupied with the details of everyday living and enjoying the fruits of one’s labors that one forgets that it all may end abruptly (24:37-42). The skepticism of unbelievers compounds the problem by influencing disciples of Jesus to doubt his words (2 Pet 3:3-9). But genuine followers of Jesus dare not become too comfortable with the status quo because it will surely—if not speedily—give way to the Kingdom of Heaven’s coming to earth.
Two crucial terms in these verses must be explained. First, what did Jesus mean by the expression “all these things” in 24:33-34? This expression refers to the preliminary signs that anticipate the coming of Jesus, not that coming itself. This is clear from the parabolic imagery used by Jesus. If “all these things” included the coming of Jesus, 24:33 would be saying, “when you see the coming of Jesus, you will know that he is near.” This would be a tautology, a statement which belabors the obvious and goes without saying. If “all these things” refers merely to all the preliminary signs, the statement makes sense since viewing the signs confirms that the coming is near.
The second crucial term in these verses is “this generation.” Although some futurist scholars argue that the word refers either to the nation of Israel as a whole or to the eschatological generation which is alive at Jesus’ return (e.g., Toussaint 1980:279-280; Walvoord 1974:192-193), Matthew’s use of the term clearly shows that Jesus was talking about his contemporaries (11:16; 12:39, 41-42, 45; 16:4; 17:17; 23:36). Scholars who argue otherwise opt for an understanding of “this generation” which is contrary to Matthew’s clear usage because they want to protect Jesus from affirming that his coming will occur during the lifetime of his contemporaries, when, in fact, it didn’t. If Jesus was speaking only of the preliminary signs which augur his coming, however, he did not err. As argued in the previous paragraph, “all these things” refers to the signs, not the coming itself, and Jesus predicted that his contemporaries would see those signs, including the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in AD 70.