The words recounted in Matthew 24:34,
following upon the twofold preaching of the destruction of Jerusalem and the
end of the world, “this generation shall not pass till all these things take
place,” are understood in different ways by various commentators—namely, either
as pertaining to the generation of all the faithful and the end o the world, or
as pertaining to the present generation and the sin of Jerusalem. We can also
say this present generation will not pass away until all of these things really
take place, or at least in figure, for the destruction of Jerusalem will
be the figure of the end of the world (and Christ did not always distinguish
the time of the prior event from the time of the latter). Finally, others
understand this as saying that the Jewish people will not pass away until the
end of the world comes, for in many places in Sacred Scripture, “generation”
refers to the [Jewish] people [pro gente] (See Num 11:30; 13:28; Lev
20:18; Ps 44[5]:19, etc.). Moreover, as St. Peter says, in speaking of the
second coming of the Lord, “One day with the Lord is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day,” (2 Pet 3:8, DR), for God sees all things
in eternity. However, a prophet is elevated in some way to have knowledge of
future things as they are in the divine name . . .
However, when Jesus said, prior to his
transfiguration, “There are some of them that stand there, that shall not
taste death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom” (Matt
16:28, DR), some refer these words to the transfiguration and others refer them
(as seems better) to the destruction of the Jerusalem temple or the synagogue,
along with the expansion of the Church. (As is said concerning the death of John
the Apostle in John 21:20ff.) here it is not a question of the end of the
world, for Jesus said: “Of that day or hour no man knoweth . . . but the Father.
Take ye heed, watch and pray. For ye know not when the time is.” (Réginald
Garrigou-Lagrange, On Divine Revelation: The Teaching of the Catholic Faith,
2 vols. [trans. Matthew K. Minerd; Steubenville, Ohio: Emmaus Academic, 2022],
2:267-68)
