come upon
See, Revelation 18:21-24 . It is the way also of history; judgment falls upon one generation for the sins of centuries. The pediction was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70.
Verse Meaning
With a strong assertion of certainty Jesus predicted that God"s judgment would fall on the generation of Jews that rejected Him. This is Jesus" formal, culminating rejection of Israel for rejecting Him as her Messiah. "These things" refer to the outpouring of God"s wrath just revealed ( Matthew 23:33; Matthew 23:35). That generation would lose the privilege of witnessing Messiah"s establishment of the kingdom and the privilege of being the first to enter it by faith in Jesus. Instead they would suffer the destruction of their capital city and the scattering of their population from the Promised Land (in A.D70). The whole generation would suffer because the leaders acted for the people, and the people did not abandon their leaders to embrace Jesus as their Messiah (cf. Numbers 13-14). [source][source][source]
"The perversity of the religious leaders of Israel does not excuse the people of Israel. They were guilty of willfully following blind guides." [1][source]
However notice that it is only that generation that Jesus so cursed. It was not the entire Jewish race. [2] God is not finished with Israel ( Romans 11:1). He postponed the kingdom. He did not cancel it. [source][source][source]
Jesus" mention of the suffering of the present generation led Him to lament the coming condition of Jerusalem ( Matthew 23:37-39). [source][source][source]
Context Summary
Matthew 23:27-39 - Judgment And Lament
True goodness recognizes and rewards good in the living; while the evil-minded cannot, or will not, believe that the people whom they meet daily are purely and sincerely good. They pride themselves on what they would have done if they had lived in the great days of the past, but they miss the opportunities which are always ready to hand. In this they judge and condemn themselves.
How sad is this lament over Jerusalem! The yearning love which longed to intercept her descending judgment, as the hen the stroke of danger which menaces her brood, was about to be withdrawn. After striving His best to save them, the world's Redeemer was abandoning His people to the results of their sin, until the time spoken of in Zechariah 14:1-4. Oh my soul, see that thou art hidden under those wings, until all calamities are overpast and the day has broken! [source]
Chapter Summary: Matthew 23
1Jesus admonishes the people to follow good doctrine, not bad examples 5His disciples must beware of their ambition 13He denounces eight woes against their hypocrisy and blindness, 34and prophesies of the destruction of Jerusalem
What do the individual words in Matthew 23:36 mean?