this generation will not pass away: This saying is difficult to understand. Jesus seems to have predicted that he would come again before the first generation of his disciples died out. There are three main interpretations:
the reference is to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 when Jesus "came" in judgment against Israel;
this generation refers to a future generation alive when these signs start to happen;
the term generation could mean “people,” referring to the Jewish people, who will not disappear before Christ returns.