In the Gospels, Jesus made many statements to the effect that there was going to be a Kingdom of Heaven, with himself as the ruler, which would be ushered in within the lifetime of his audience.

These statements are:

• Matthew 10:23
• Matthew 16:27-28, Mark 8:38-9:1, Luke 9:26-27
• Matthew 24:3-34, Mark 13:4-30, Luke 21:7-32

This article will examine these prophecies, and how they failed to come to pass as predicted.

1. You Will Not Go Over the Cities in Israel

The first prophecy is contained within a lengthy speech given by Jesus to his 12 Apostles (Matthew 10:1-42), in which he tells them to preach "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 10:7), and says that they "shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake" (Matthew 10:18).

Then, he says:

Matthew 10:23

23 But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.

Note in context that as the speech progresses, it seems to take on a wider scope than any immediate instruction, almost like these are final "marching orders". Consider the following:

Matthew 10:18-22

18 And you will even be brought before governors and kings on My account, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
19 But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given you in that hour.
20 For it is not you who are speaking, but it is the Spirit of your Father who is speaking in you.
21 Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.
22 And you will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

This is the immediate context of the passage in question. He speaks of the Apostles' future grand persecution, and the decline of society (Matthew 10:21). Then, he says, "You shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come" (Matthew 10:23).

The task of going over all the cities of Israel would take a long time. Jesus himself did not cover nearly that much ground during his lifetime. This detail definitely supports the position that the "coming" spoken of in verse 23 refers to Jesus's "Parousia" (arrival as triumphant king of the Kingdom of Heaven).

In other words, Jesus declared here that the Parousia would be very soon. He is stating here that it would occur before the Apostles were able to evangelize the entire nation of Israel.

And, notice how he says it - "truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes". Here, Jesus is essentially making a promise. "Truly", he tells them, he will return before they even finish Israel. But, he did not. He made a prophecy about "the end" (Matthew 10:22), and the prophecy failed.

Common Christian responses to this charge of a failed prophecy are:

• That Jesus meant the Apostles' short-term journey before he rejoined them would not cover all of Israel. In other words, the "coming" refers not to the Parousia, but to Jesus rejoining the Apostles and continuing his ministry with them
  • This is obviously not true, and in context, absurd. Jesus is speaking of "the end" (Matthew 10:22), and foretells intense persecution of the Apostles. There is nothing at all about such persecution happening in the Gospels on this trip, nor at any time prior to Jesus's death. When Jesus speaks about the "Son of Man" - an end times figure from Daniel 7:13-14, who rules the whole word - "coming" in Matthew, it clearly refers to the Parousia (Matthew 16:27-28, 24:3, 24:29-31), or at very least, for the sake of argument, a great end-times event, not him joining back up with them or resuming his acquaintance with them in a matter of weeks in his ministry. Further, he prefaces the statement with, "truly I say to you", which denotes a serious prophetic saying, not a casual statement that would essentially amount to "I'll see you soon in a few weeks"
• That the "coming" here is not the Parousia, but Jesus "coming" and destroying Jerusalem in 70 AD
  • Jesus did not "come" in 70 AD and destroy Jerusalem, a Roman army did. So, unless "Jesus" coming in his kingdom to Christians means a pagan Roman army killing Jews in Israel - which seems rather blasphemous - this explanation should be rejected. Additionally, it should be rejected because examining the other statements Jesus made about the coming of the Son of Man renders any fulfillment at 70 AD absurd. This is the time when, specifically, the Son of Man is said "to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every person according to his deeds" (Matthew 16:27-28), and, "the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other" (Matthew 24:30-31) - in other words, end-times, apocalyptic events, none of which happened at all in 70 AD
• That the "coming" here does refer to the Parousia, and the Parousia has already taken place
  • No, it definitely hasn't, and anyone who could read Matthew 16 or 24 - even just the portions excerpted in the response above - and conclude that those things happened, is simply making nonsense of language, history, and the words of their own prophet

So, none of the proposed responses succeed in defending the prophecy. The language of the prophecies in Matthew disallow every proposed explanation, both for the passage in question from Matthew 10, and the others from Matthew 16 and 24.

2. Some Standing Here Who Will Not Taste Death

The next prophecy to examine is Jesus's words to his disciples before the Mount of Transfiguration event (Matthew 16:27-28, Mark 8:38-9:1, Luke 9:26-27), in which he says:

Matthew 16:27-28

27 For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every person according to his deeds.
28 Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.

Above, Jesus swears ("truly I say to you") that some of those listening to him will not die before they see him "coming in his kingdom", which is shown by verse 27 to be in reference to when "the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works" - that is, the Parousia, in which Jesus will rule the whole world, as the Son of Man prophesied in Daniel 7:13-14.

Of course, this did not happen. Everyone to whom Jesus made this statement died without any such event taking place.

Some Christian responses to this critique are:

• This refers to the Mount of Transfiguration event, which immediately follows all of the passages in question in each Gospel account
  • The Mount of Transfiguration story occurs "six days" (Matthew 17:1) or "about eight days" (Luke 19:28) after he says the prophecy in question. Jesus's words in the prophecy suggest a long period of time - namely, later within their lifespans, possibly near the end, as "some" listening to him may presumably have died - not one week. Also - and this applies to every single response to this passage - Jesus did not "come in the glory of his Father with his angels", and "reward every man according to his works" (Matthew 16:27) at all, but definitely not during the Mount of Transfiguration
• This does not refer to the Parousia, but to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD
  • See the response to this same claim in the section on Matthew 10:23 above

Jesus has definitely not returned in glory with angels, and judged the world, or brought in the kingdom which he swore was imminent (Matthew 4:17, 10:7). This is a failed prophecy.

3. This Generation Will Not Pass Away Until All These Things Take Place

The final passage in question is from the Olivet Discourse, and is prompted by a question from one of Jesus's disciples, who says to him, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3).

In response, Jesus describes:

• Many coming in his name, declaring themselves to be the Messiah, and deceiving many people (Matthew 24:5)
• Hearing of wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6); Warfare between nations (Matthew 24:7)
• Famines and earthquakes in various places (Matthew 24:7)
• His followers will be killed, and hated by all nations (Matthew 24:9)
• Many false prophets will arise and deceive many people (Matthew 24:10)
• The Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all nations (Matthew 24:14)
• The "Abomination of Desolation" spoken of by Daniel (Daniel 9:27) will take place (Matthew 24:15)
• There will be great tribulation the likes of which have never been seen before, and which would kill all people without it being shortened (Matthew 24:21-22)
• False Christs and false prophets will perform great wonders (Matthew 24:24)

Jesus then says:

Matthew 24:29-34

29 But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.
31 And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
32 Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near;
33 So you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.
34 Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Notice that Jesus, after his extremely lengthy description of future events, says, "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place" (Matthew 24:34).

Of course, as was the case with the other passages in question, things definitely did not take place as Jesus said they would, and he never returned in the lifetimes of the people listening to him. This is a very detailed, specific, false prophecy.

The Christian responses to this critique include:

• The "this generation" being spoken of does not refer to the current generation, but to the generation seeing the events
  • Throughout Matthew, "this generation" always refers to the generation of people currently listening to Jesus speak (Matthew 11:16, 12:41-42, 12:45, 17:17, 23:36). If Jesus had meant some future generation, he would have said "that generation". Additionally, the other passages which have already been examined inform this one, and when all three are considered together (Matthew 10:23, 16:27-28, 24:3-34), there is no doubt as to what Jesus was saying here
• That the "coming" here does refer to the Parousia, and the Parousia has already taken place
  • See the response to this same claim in the section on Matthew 10:23 above. Jesus explicitly says that "all these things" - the things that he has just spent the entire chapter foretelling - will take place in this generation. And, it is simply denying reality, and making nonsense of language to say that he got this correct

Jesus's own words explicitly disallow any type of reinterpretation of this prophecy. He swore ("Truly I say to you") that a series of apocalyptic and cataclysmic events would take place, culminating is his own glorious return in which he would rule the whole world (Matthew 19:28, 25:31-32, Matthew 26:64, Mark 14:62 with Daniel 7:13-14). He swore that it would happen within his generation. However, it did not, and so this is a failed prophecy.

Playing With Words

It is to the advantage of Christian apologists trying to explain these prophecies to introduce as much haziness, imprecision, and vagueness as possible into the words used by Jesus. Having done this, they then attempt to make a statement that what was prophesied actually has been fulfilled - "in type", or "in part", or "in a very real way, but not completely", and so on. Suddenly, Jesus is said to have been speaking of "inaugurating the Kingdom", or being "enthroned in Heaven", or some other invisible, unverifiable, or vague, imprecise event, which they then will assure the critic has taken place, usually in the first century.

However, these responses are shown to be totally unimpressive when simply reading the passages in question. They are not imprecise at all. They are incredibly explicit, and often packed with detail describing exactly what was supposed to happen. They describe Jesus coming back and ruling the whole world, in a definite, visible way, such that there could be no doubt for the "elect".

This has not happened. It did not happen in 70 AD (far from "all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory" [Matthew 24:30], no human being at all recorded seeing Jesus in 70 AD). It did not happen at Pentecost. It has not happened since then. The reason why words need to be played with by Christian apologists is because these failed prophecies present a problem which cannot be surmounted without resorting to nullifying what is being said, because things clearly did not happen as Jesus had said they would.

Conclusion

Throughout the New Testament, the authors assume that Jesus will be returning very soon (Romans 13:11-12, 16:20: 1 Corinthians 7:29, 10:11: Philippians 4:5: 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Hebrews 9:26, 10:37, James 5:7-8: 1 Peter 4:7 Revelation 1:1, 1:3, 22:6). This lends to the idea that Jesus actually did say at least some of what is attributed to him in the passages in question, but it is impossible to know for sure.

If Jesus did make these statements, then he was, unfortunately, a false prophet. He prophesied things which did not come to pass, and there is no other label for such a person. If Jesus did not make these statements, and they were invented by the early Christians who were trying to grapple with Jesus's execution, then it becomes virtually impossible to know which, if any, of Jesus's statements from the Gospels are legitimate.

In any case, an examination of these passages makes the religion of Christianity unbelievable. Its central first century theme - the coming of the Son of Man, from the very dubious book of Daniel (which itself has so many serious issues) - did not happen as foretold.