In Matthew 23, Jesus addresses a certain group of people he was not too fond of:
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
Notice that it is the then-present religious leaders of Israel. Jesus tells them:
For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
Jesus addresses not only their sins, but the sins of their fathers – the previous generations of religious leaders, and blames them for shedding the blood of the prophets. Then notice:
32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
Jesus tells them to go ahead and “fill up” or “top off” the measure of their fathers, and pronounces judgment upon them. Meaning, they were going to be the LAST generation of religious leaders of Israel. Jesus was DONE with their wickedness and murders, which would culminate the very murder of the Christ Himself! See here in Matthew 21:
35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’
By the way, what was the end game for those wicked tenants? Remember how Jesus drew the answer out of them:
40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
Furthermore, Jesus says that the kingdom would taken from the religious management of Israel and given to another:
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.
Now back to Matthew 23:
34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah,[f] whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
And what generation is Jesus going to punish? The generation of their great grandfathers long before them? Some generation of religious leaders 2,000 + years into the future? No! He told them them to “top off” the measure of their sin, for their generation was to be the final one before ultimate punishment. Look at the next verse:
36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Now, look back at Matthew 23:34 and notice what Jesus tells the pharisees they will do:
34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,
Jesus tells the pharisees of THAT generation, the LAST generation of religious leaders of Israel that will kill prophets and Jesus Himself, that they will FLOG His people in SYNAGOGUES.
Keeping that in mind, let’s look at the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:
16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues,
This is that! The FIRST CENTURY religious leaders that would kill Jesus would ALSO be flogging the disciples!
Now note the rest of this conversation, and it’s similarity to the Olivet Discourse:
18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Sound familiar? Here’s a bit of the Olivet Discourse from Luke 21:
12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers[c] and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.
So what’s the logical conclusion? There’s only one! The 1st century religious leaders of Israel that would kill Jesus would do the flogging of the same disciples that were told they were going to be flogged in the synagogues within that generation, and Jesus would come before those disciples made it through all the towns of Israel, just as Matthew 10:23 says:
23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Furthermore, Jesus was PERFECTLY consistent. See the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24:
33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
Note that this statement is ALSO in perfect harmony with Matthew 16:
27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Unescapable conclusion: the great tribulation was a 1st century event, as was the 2nd coming of Jesus in judgment on Judea and Jerusalem … on time, and on target … just as He said.