Among the most misunderstood teachings of Jesus, this passage is full of relevant urgency for the disciples. The temple would be a sweet place to rule from, but Jesus has other ideas. The earlier parables were given for hearing; the command here is to watch. It’s important because these things are coming, and distractions abound--faux messiahs, nationalism, bad teaching. I want to make the case that we don’t have to treat this text like Gumby or find some parts true and others false. We don’t need to special plead. Jesus told the four what would happen before the destruction of the temple, how to act when it began, and to be vigilant in the meantime. If all this stuff came to pass in a generation like Jesus said it would, if it’s not in our future, how does it benefit us?