Context and audience relevance are key principles to proper exegesis. Another key element is that Scripture interprets Scripture. With these things in mind, let's reconsider such things as the "end of the age," "every eye shall see Him," and the "new heavens and new earth" in their contexts and with proper attention to the clear time frame given.
About what age did the disciples ask Jesus? We find some insights in Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Jesus is above all things "not only in THIS age but also in that which is ABOUT to come." What age were they then living? In the age of Judaism--in the age of the shadows and types (Old Covenant, Temple, priesthood, Mosaic Law, etc.). But there was an age that was then ABOUT to come. It was the age of the anti-types, the realities of all of the shadows (New Covenant, spiritual temple, Christian priesthood, law written in the heart, etc.). Paul speaks of this again in Colossians 2:16 in the context of the shadows in which they then lived, but they were shadows of the "things ABOUT to come." That was the great hope of THOSE first-century believers. We cannot separate them from our understanding of the NT teachings! See also Hebrews 6:5 which also speaks of an age ABOUT to come! In summary, the disciples were not asking Jesus about the end of the earth or the end of the world but the end of that OT system of physical shadows, the chief one being that very first-century Temple which Jesus clearly said would be totally destroyed. Not one stone HERE! It is obvious that Jesus was talking about Herod's Temple and its destruction. Will we believe Jesus' words?
Do we assess the Bible through empiricism or do we assess the Bible by the clear teachings of the Bible? Jesus clearly and without any ambiguity said that all the things of which He had spoken to His disciples on the Mount of Olives would take place in that generation! Do we because of a lack of "seeing" deny His words or do we seek to validate His words by studying the Scriptures? Because many stumble over Matthew 24:29-31 and cannot "see" how those things actually took place, they twist the meaning of "this generation." But this is not necessary if one will but put on Jewish glasses to see what those metaphors mean. These verses deal with prophetic, apocalyptic language that is common in the OT Scriptures. Did not God "come" in judgment against Egypt according to Ezekiel 32:7-8? Did God literally cover the heavens "and make its stars dark?" Did He literally cover the sun with a cloud?" Symbolic upheavals in the heavens and earth were often employed to emphasize God's wrath and judgment. Consider also God's jugment against Babylon as described by Isaiah (Isa. 13:9-10, 13). It was described as "the day of the Lord" and was "cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger" and would "lay the land desolate." The light from the heavenly bodies would be darkened. Did the heavens literally "shake." Did the earth literally move out of its place? Again, this is figurative, metaphorical, apocalyptic language commonly used by the prophets to describe God's coming in wrath against a nation or peoples! What about God's coming against Edom (see Isa. 34:4-5). Did the mountains actually melt with the blood of the slain? Were all the host of heaven dissolved? Were the heavens literally rolled up like a scroll? Did the Lord have a literal sword that was "filled with blood?" Of course not! Again, this is apocalyptic, figurative language. It is the same language found in Matthew 24 and should not be taken literally and pressed to involve actual physical occurrences! The timing for verses 29-31 is clearly given. "THIS generation will by no means pass away till ALL these things take place." Preterists take Jesus at His word. Employing another very basic principle of exegesis reveals that Jesus always used that expression (this generation) to refer to His contemporaries--always!
As for seeing Him--notice Matthew 24:30. The "tribes of the land" were to see Him and mourn not everyone of all nations throughout all time! Why were the "tribes of the land" to see Him? Because THEY were to be judged for all the righteous blood shed on the earth (Matthew 23). That generation of Jews who had rejected Him, killed all the prophets sent to them, and who were guilty of putting to death the Lord of glory, was to "see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." How did they see that? They saw it in the destruction of their Temple and city, representative of God's favor upon them, favor which was take from them. More than a million Jews died in the Jewish Wars with Rome, many suffered horrible deaths within the walls of the city, and many were subsequently taken into captivity to other nations. Rome was not their ultimate enemy--God was! They had committed their last adulterous affair; they had disobeyed Him beyond recovery; all the woes Jesus pronounced upon that generation of "scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites" came to pass in fulfillment of Jesus' promise--"Behold, your house is left unto YOU desolate!"
This same timing is found in the book of Revelation. John was shown those things which were to SHORTLY take place because the time was then NEAR! (Rev. 1:1, 3). In that time that was to shortly take place in John's day, those who pierced Him and those tribes of the land were to "see" His coming. They saw His coming as clearly as their forefathers had seen God come against them through His instrument--Babylon! No Jew would have misunderstood that the wrath of God had come upon them! Clearly, they were those of the generation in which "those who pierced" Him lived!
Furthermore, every does not usually mean every all inclusively. If a youth attends a youth meeting and comes home and his parents ask him "who was there," He might easily say "Everyone was there." Did he mean everyone throughout the whole world throughout all time! Of course not! The context determines the extent of the "every." He meant every in the context of his youth group! Every eye of that generation of Jews and even of those who pierced Him saw the effects of His coming in the destruction of the city and the Temple. These things were great wonders of the world. People came from everywhere to marvel at them. The whole world at that time would have known of this destruction and would have surmised that somehow the God of the Jews had come in judgment upon them. According to Josephus, even the heathen Titus made such an assumption.
What about the "heavens and the earth?" These terms are often used symbolically or metaphorically. In Leviticus 26, for example, God describes what He will do FOR His people if they obey Him and do not worship idols and what He will do TO them if they "do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments" (vs. 14). For disobedience, He would "break the pride of your power" and "make YOUR HEAVENS like iron and YOUR EARTH like bronze." The heavens and earth here are representative of their world and their way of life. This is clearly borne out in Isaiah 65 where a distinction is made between God's physical people of the Old Covenant and His spiritual people of the New Covenant. God would repay the disbedient, "rebellious people who walk in a way that is not good . . . a people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face" (verse 2). This vengeance is described in the book of Revelation. In verses 6 and 7 we see the parallel to Matthew 23. God declares that He will repay those rebellious people for their iniquities and for the iniquities of their fathers together. His true servants are described in verses 13 through 15. They are His chosen and the elect and they would be called by another name (Christians). In the New Covenant, Christ created "new heavens and a new earth" and a "Jerusalem for rejoicing."
There is a confusion concerning the difference between the end of time and the time of the end. This is a big difference. The time of the end of what? It is the time of the end of the age not the end of the world. This confusion is propagated by a misunderstanding of "elements" (stoicheia) in 2 Peter 3. That term is never ever used of the chemical make up of the earth. It is always used of the rudiments or principles of man's understanding and way of life. That OT age with its principles of enslavement to the law was brought to an end (burned if you will) and all of its symbols were done away with (e.g. Temple, priesthood, sacrificial system) when Christ returned in judgment, put an end forever of the OT Jewish nation (old heavens and old earth) and established forever His new heavens and new earth--the Church!
Matthew 24:34
Gotta keep my eye on the punster here. Anyway, I wasn’t at all referring to the Messiah in that particular sentence. But I’m sure you knew that already 
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