Read Mark 13:24 –32. What great event is described here?

The great event described in Mark 13:24 –32 is none other than the return of Jesus Christ in glory, preceded by signs in the sun, moon, and stars. The New Testament is full of prophecies pointing toward this wonderful event. The apostle Paul describes it in detail in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 –18, where he speaks of those who have fallen asleep in Christ being raised to life and caught up with the living saints to meet Christ in the air. In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle speaks in detail about the reality of the resurrection of the dead, which occurs at Christ’s return.

Peter describes that great day as well in 2 Peter 3:3–13, explaining that the Lord is not slow about His promise but wants all people to come to repentance. And Revelation has vivid descriptions of Christ’s return (see Revelation 1:7, Revelation 6:12 –17, Revelation 14:14 –20, and Revelation 19:11 –21). The consistent New Testament teaching is that Christ’s return is personal, literal, visible, and audible. Everyone will see Him when He comes.

What, however, does Jesus mean by “this generation” and “that day” or “that hour”? These words have troubled many people because obviously the generation to whom Jesus spoke is long dead.

A number of solutions to this passage have been suggested. Some argue that the word “generation” can refer to a race of people, in this case the Jews. That is to say that the Jewish race would not perish before Christ returns. Another solution is to speak of the generation of people who see all the signs fulfilled as those that will not pass away before Christ returns.

But a simpler solution is to note that in Mark 13:30 , Jesus uses the word “this” as in “this generation,” and in Mark 13:32 , He uses the word “that” as in “that day and hour.” In Mark 13, the word “this” (houtos, hautē, touto) appears more often in verses 1–13, leading to the destruction of Jerusalem. The word “that” characterizes the latter part of the chapter.

Thus, “this generation” most likely refers to the first-century generation, which saw the destruction of Jerusalem, as Mark 13:30  describes. However, Mark 13:32  refers to the second coming of Christ, which is still future and was more distant from the first century. Consequently, Mark 13:32  uses the word “that” to speak of events more distant from the first century.