by Adam Linton » November 2nd, 2007, 3:28 am
I think that there's something to be said for believing that the pre-Passion "apocalyptic" narratives of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, and Luke are, at least in some qualified sense, polyvalent.
"The end of the world" there discussed brings together, in the single, particular focus of Christ's immanent Passion, two (and maybe three) things: the Crucifixion, and the Destruction of Jerusalem, and possibly, as well, the end of our present space time continuum (although I'd note that N. T. Wright is very cautious--to say the least--in applying last of these).
The Crucifixion is certainly often seen in Christian theology as a decisive inbreaking/manifestation of ultimate judgment, the End. Notice, in particular, the apocalyptic events in Matthew following Jesus' Death!
If such thinking has any merit, it certainly could reframe the approach to "This generation will see it all."
we have not loosely through silence permitted things to pass away as in a dream