Naherwartung in Luke? A Note on M. Wolter’s Explanation of Luke 21

Abstract

For M. Wolter what is described in Luke 21,20-24 takes place within the time referred to in vv. 12-19. "This generation" of v. 32 points to people of the same family but the concept is extended by Luke to all those baptized. Luke and his readers look back to the fall of Jerusalem but they do not know when the end will come. The specific Naherwartung of the original disciples has disappeared. Yet, although for the Luke and his readers the fall of Jerusalem ― separated however from vv. 12-19 - already lies in the past, for the Lukan Jesus and his disciples that fall is strictly eschatological. Of course the persecution period as well as "the times of the Gentiles" (v. 24d) indicate a delay, but Luke and his addressees most likely still anticipate the end, the coming of the Son of Man. Luke appears to consider "this generation" literally, however stretched this meaning may have become. The Naherwartung itself has not disappeared.