Although it isn’t easy, we must always try to remember that Jesus was the Son of God incarnated, and therefore required to use the poor human invention of language to communicate. Remembering that, we might expect that His recorded words conceal depths of meaning, and that to wring them of only their surface meaning would be as childish as boasting familiarity with the universe, having examined diagrams of the night sky.

When Jesus speaks of this age or this generation, He is not joining the ranks of cultural historians, demarcating units of years and giving them names: the Industrial Age, the Pre-Columbian era, the Boomer Generation. We must always try to remember that Jesus was the Son of God incarnated, come to inform us of things we could not otherwise encompass.

One thing we know, as a starting point. God does not speak to nations or generations or ‘ages’. None of those has ears. God speaks – Jesus speaks – to individuals. Christ’s Spirit does not inhabit groups or even couples. There is no ‘soul’ of any historical movement or party or century. God’s transactions are utterly individual and unique: When you pray, go into a private place and close the door.

So, the present age is individual and unique, as is the age to come.