The Crucifixion of Christ

The Easter season is the apex of the Christian calendar.  Today, let us take the time to meditate on the death of Jesus Christ and to praise Christ's Father for His love for humanity.

I Find No Fault in Him!

Then Pilate went out to them and said, What charge do you bring against this man? They answered and said to him, If he were not an evildoer, (even according to their own laws they could not honestly have accused Him of any wrongdoing) then we would not have delivered him up to you.  Then Pilate said to them, You take him and judge him according to your Law.  Then the Jews said to him, It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. John 18:29-31.  Before the trial had even begun the leaders of Jerusalem had already decided that Christ would be put to death.

Pilate tried the second time to release Christ from such an unjust death, so he said to them, I find no fault in him. But you have a custom that I should release one to you at the Passover.  Then do you desire that I release to you the king of the Jews?  Then they all cried again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas!  

This is an interesting name for the guilty Barabbas.  "Bar" is Greek for "Son of" and "Abba" in Chaldeaic, means "father"; so here we have the guilty son of a father being released in place of the innocent Son of The Father.  

But Barabbas was a robber. John 18:38-40.  In the case of Barabbas we know from S. Mark and S. Luke that he had been guilty of insurrection and consequent bloodshed. Cambridge Commentary.  Because Christ had insulted them and hurt their feelings they would rather kill Christ and set a murderer free!

Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and flogged Him. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and put it on His head. And they put a purple robe on Him, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they struck Him with their hands. Then Pilate went out again and said to them, Behold, I bring him out to you so that you may know that I find no fault in him. Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.  It has been suggested that this was another attempt by Pilate to release Jesus.  According to this theory, Pilate hoped that when the Jews saw Christ bloody from the lashes and the thorns on his head they would feel sorry for him and ask for His release.

They put a reed in his hand, symbol of a scepter, (one) supposes that he refused to hold it, in consequence of which they took it from him, and smote him with it. The awful indignity was a wondrous prophecy. Nay, from that very hour he began to reign. That crown of thorns has been more lasting than any royal diadem. The Pulpit Commentary.  And Pilate said to them, Behold the man! Then when the chief priests and under-officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, Crucify! Crucify Him! Pilate said to them, You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, We have a Law, and by our Law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. John 19:1-7.

The King of The Jews

Then he (Pilate) delivered Him up to them (gave them permission) that He might be crucified. And they took Jesus and led Him away. And bearing His cross, He went out to a place called, The Place of a Skull (which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha) where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the middle. And Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. John 19:16-19.  Is it possible that Herod thought that the Jews, as a nation, were losers, and therefore, this loser of a man, is a fit candidate as their king?

Then when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished! And He bowed His head and gave up the spirit. Then the Jews, because it was Preparation, begged Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away, so that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the sabbath. For that sabbath was a high day. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a lance, and instantly there came out blood and water. John 19:30-34.

And after these things, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus ... begged of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave permission. Then he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus also came, ... Then they took the body of Jesus and wound it with linens with the spices, as is the custom of the Jews to bury. And in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one yet had been placed. There, then, because of the Preparation of the Jews, because the tomb was near, they laid Jesus. John 19:38-42.

Was Christ Crucified on a Friday?

That the Roman Catholic Church is wrong in very many of its doctrines is not at all surprising.  That the Protestants (those who protested against the Roman Catholic Church doctrines) have, seemingly, without thinking, accepted so many of the Roman Catholic’s false doctrines is surprising.  The belief that Christ suffered crucifixion on a Friday is a case in point.  Here we investigate that teaching.

Chronology of the Passion week

Mr Roy M. Allen in his book, Three Days in the Grave, has written a treatise that completely answers the question; on which day of the week did Christ’s crucifixion take place.  He knocks holes into the theory that Christ died on Friday, and also into the theory that (as some allege), Christ died on Wednesday.

If one follows the chronology of the last week of Christ’s pre-crucifixion life, as given in the Gospels, the only way that Christ could have died on Wednesday is if Christ made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the Sabbath.  Mr Allen infers that Christ would not have done that because in every other respect, Christ always obeyed all the laws of Moses and He would not carelessly have disregarded the law of the Sabbath during the last week before His death. 

One fact that he points out is that the Jews chose the Passover lamb on the 10th day of the month of Nisan and then sacrificed it four days later, on the 14th.  At length, Mr Allen shows that the typology of the Old Testament is exactly accurate in the New Testament.  Why then would this one case not follow true to form? 

He also shows that Christ, the Passover Lamb, rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on the first day of the week.  We call that day Palm Sunday.  The Jews rejected this Passover Lamb and four days later, on Thursday, they killed Him.  It is interesting to note that Wednesday is only the third day after the tenth and Friday is the fifth day.  Therefore, the only possible day for the crucifixion is Thursday.  

For that sabbath was a high day. John 19:31.  Saint John makes it a point that the Sabbath he is writing about is not "your ordinary kind of a Sabbath"; a Saturday.  This sabbath was a high day - a holiday.  There are indications that in the year that Christ died this special Sabbath fell on Friday and therefore Christ must have been crucified on Thursday because the Jews would not have crucified Christ on a holiday. 

It is true that every Gospel has words to the following effect; Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, ... coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Mark 15:42-43.  Based on these words, we have learned that Joseph asked for the body of Jesus on the day that we call Friday, because, that is the day before their Sabbath, our Saturday.

However, what Bible teachers have failed to notice, or have not been willing to tell us, is that during the week of the Jewish Passover there are two Sabbaths. In this case, the word Sabbath means “a day of rest” but not necessarily Saturday.  In the Passover week (in some years) those two days fall on (what we call) Friday and Saturday.  Mr Allen writes: Let it once be admitted that the special Passover Sabbath and not the seventh-day Sabbath is the one which caused a cessation in the embalming process, and the effect on Friday as the day of the crucifixion is obvious. …the Passover could occur on any day of the week. It just so happened that in that year the Passover occurred immediately before the Sabbath.

Therefore, it is easy to see that Joseph could have asked Pilate for the already crucified body of Jesus on Thursday evening.   In accepting this, we allow the Bible to mean what it says about Christ being entombed for three days and three nights.

There were two Sabbaths within that 72-hour period! ... They rested twice: once on "a high day" and once on the weekly Sabbath. Forerunner Bible Commentary.   The Jews reckoned days as starting at "sundown".  So, if Christ was buried before sundown on Thursday the necessary third day, before Christ rose, is accounted for.

Bible students tend to date the year of Christ’s death in accordance with His birth.   That, however, makes it very arbitrary.   Christ’s birth year is given as early as 7 BC in The Jerusalem Bible and as late as 4 BC by some Protestant scholars. 

The Jerusalem Bible in its chronological chart, presumably in order to defend a Friday crucifixion, writes, on the eve of the Passover, i.e. 14th Nisan, a Friday death of Jesus. (The Passover fell on the Saturday, April 8, in 30 (AD) and April 4, in 33 (AD): the second date is too late).  This argument, however, does not make it conclusive that Christ died on Friday.  There is no proof that Christ died in 30 AD.

In the chronological chart of The System Bible Study, the year of Christ’s death is given as either 30 (or 29) AD.  With this option open, and all other evidence, pointing towards a Thursday crucifixion, it seems logical to accept that, in the year Christ was crucified, the 14th of Nissan, the Passover, fell on a Friday. Hence, the crucifixion happened on a Thursday.

The Bible argues against a Friday Crucifixion:

Another convincing argument for a Thursday crucifixion is the Gospel’s presentation of the Passion Week.  The Gospel writers spell out every day of the week, at places almost hour by hour except if one accepts a Friday crucifixion, there is one day of that week, Thursday, which is not even mentioned. 

Considering the exact schedule recorded by the writers, it is unbelievable that all the Gospel writers would completely fail to mention one complete day.  Of all four Gospels combined about 33 per cent is spent recording the events of the Passion Week.  Since, the writers, were so intent on giving such detail of that week, could all four of them inadvertently fail to mention one complete day? However, if we allow that the crucifixion happened on Thursday that one "unmentioned" day is accounted for. 

As Mr Allen says: There is not one passage of Scripture in any of the four Gospels which does not fit properly into this chronology, centring around Thursday, the day of the crucifixion. 

Throughout Christendom, the crucifixion of Christ is commemorated on Friday and His resurrection is celebrated on Sunday, only two days later. Christ distinctly said, For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:40.  If Christ was crucified on a Friday it just does not work to expand the two days allotted into the three days needed before Christ’s resurrection.  There must be a different, and a right, answer, in spite of what the church has taught us.

After two days was the feast of the Passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. Mark 14:1.  About this verse Dr McGee in Thru the Bible Commentary says, The Passover was observed on the fourteenth day of the first month, which is the Jewish month Nisan and corresponds to our April. “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s Passover” (Lev. 23:5). Then the Feast of Unleavened Bread was on the fifteenth day of the same month and it continued for seven days thereafter. “And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. Lev. 23:6.

Following this reasoning, we see that the feast of unleavened bread was on the Sabbath (our Saturday) and the Passover was always the day before, on Friday. Mark 14:2 continues, But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.  So the Jewish leaders decided that they would not crucify Christ on the Feast day, (Friday) so they needed to crucify Him on Thursday.

Why, then, does the Church still keep Friday as the day of the crucifixion?

A Cup of Cold Water

"And when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then will He sit upon His glorious throne. 

All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another 
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 

And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left. 

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 

for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 

I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' 

"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 

When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 

Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 

"And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.' 

"Then He will also say to those on the left, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 

for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 

I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' 

"Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and we did not minister to You?' 

"Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, neither did you do it to Me.' 

 "And these shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Mat. 25:31-46. 

The Rapture Predicted

Some Bible commentaries insist that Matthew 24-25 relate specifically to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.  As mentioned earlier, some prophecies in the Bible apply to more than one situation.  It seems that these two chapters fit into that category.

Throughout our study of these two chapters, we have noticed that Clarke's Commentary has insisted that these prophecies relate to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.  He maintains that point of view until 25:31 where he writes This must be understood of Christ’s coming at the last day, to judge mankind: though all the preceding part of the chapter may be applied also to the destruction of Jerusalem. Clarke.

It is significant that words to this effect, when the Son of Man comes, are found 7 times in Mat. 24 and 25 alone.  This indicates that the return of Christ, which is the Rapture of the Church, cannot be overemphasized.  The lesson to learn from that fact is that Christ said, For this reason you also must be ready, for at an hour that you think not, the Son of Man comes. Mat. 24:44.

Several points insist that these words cannot apply to the fall of Jerusalem:

1. the Son of Man comes in His glory (this does not sound like the fall of Jerusalem).
2. all the holy angels with Him. (This is said to refer to the Roman soldiers; but can we really think of them, as holy angels.)
3. All the nations will be gathered before Him (not just Judea).
4. He will separate them one from another. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left.  (This separation happens at The Judgment Seat of Christ which is also known as The Great White Throne judgment.)

all the holy angels: The word holy is omitted in many texts, and some have supposed that this signifies that both holy and unholy angels will be present at the judgment seat of Christ.  The unholy angels will be there to collect those who were placed at Christ's left hand and take them to eternal punishment.  

This sounds like an unwarranted supposition, because:

1. the angels will come with Christ from glory, surely that fact would exclude the evil angels.
2. even if the word holy should not be in the text, the best argument that there will be unholy angels is the argument of omission; the text does not say that there will be no unholy angels and so we must assume that there will be some.  Such an argument, in this case, really carries no weight.

Rewards or Punishment?

Then the King (Christ) will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit.  Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia, Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, also an heir of God through Christ. Galatians 4:7.  An inheritance is not what one gets because it has been earned, it is received because one is a member of the family.

It is essential to be "born again" and accept that Christ is the master of your life.  This, of course, means doing your best to live as Christ would have you live.  In the two parables, Christ told, starting in verses 14 and 31, as recorded in Matthew 25, He made it very obvious that our rewards will be in accordance with how we have lived our lives (how kind we have been) and not on how well we knew or obeyed the church's doctrines.

Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  This phrase certainly speaks of humility.  It says that when we do good deeds for others we are not doing them to be noticed by people.  We do them out of the goodness of our hearts; that goodness is implanted in us by the spirit of Jehovah because we are members of His family.  

You Must Be Ready

But just as the days of Noah were, so also shall be the coming of the Son of Man.

For just as they were in the days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 

and they didn't know a thing until the flood came and took them all away, so also shall be the coming of the Son of Man. 

Then two will be in the field: one will be taken, and one will be left. Two will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken, and one will be left. Watch therefore, for you do not know in what hour your Lord is coming. 

if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have kept watch, and he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.  

For this reason you also must be ready, for at an hour that you think not, the Son of Man comes. Mat. 24:37-45.

The Days of Noah

Even though Noah, a preacher of righteousness, 2 Peter 2:5, preached for 120 years, his hearers lived as if they were oblivious to his message.

First, knowing this, that there will come in the last days scoffers walking according to their own lusts and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. 2 Peter 3:3-4.  Scoffers, in the first century, were already jeering the Church because Christ had promised to come back but He didn't.  The thing to notice is that if the scoffers can convince themselves that Christ is never coming back they are free to continue walking according to their own lusts.  

This seems to be human nature.   Ignore it - it might go away.  If that doesn't work try ridiculing the message presented; and ridicule the messenger.  This might make you feel better for a while but the truth will still be the truth and the effects of the truth will catch you and make you pay the full price.

This seems to be what Christ was speaking about.  Christ has no problem with people eating, the problem is when gluttony or drinking become a god. Or, as Luke put it take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and worries of life, and that Day come upon you unexpectedly. Luke 21:34.  If your life is full of partying, drunkenness, or worries there is no way you are looking for or even expecting the return of Jesus.

Being married is normal for grown-ups but getting divorced just to marry someone else is still adultery; according to Christ.  Christ said that this kind of lifestyle happened before "the flood" and that it will happen again before His return.

For this they willingly forget: they don't know because they do not want to know.  The truth is available but people do not want to believe that the present heavens and the earth ... are being kept for fire until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:5+7.

There is a theory, which I do not accept, that Christ is coming back two times.  Once, in the air, for the Church, when Christians are taken to the "judgment seat of Christ".  Once, to the earth, to take all other humans to "The Great White Throne Judgment".  The argument is there are actually “two” second comings. One is in the air, for the church - commonly known as the rapture. The other is to the world, coming with the church, commonly known as the Second Coming of Jesus. Guzik. 

one will be taken, and one will be left.  Another false theory says that at the rapture one shall be carried up to heaven by angels, the other shall be left a prey to devils, on account of her bad life. Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859.

This view, totally unbiblical, allows no time for a fair trial before the punishment takes place.  The Bible says that at the time of the judgment the dead, the great and the small, (were) standing before the throne, and they opened the books ... And the dead were judged by the things having been written in the books, according to their works. Rev. 20:12.

Another theory states: one will be taken not by angels, to meet Christ in the air, and to be introduced into his kingdom and glory (the Rapture) but by the eagles, the Roman army, and either killed or carried captive by them. Gill.  This teacher confines all of Matthew 24 to the fall of Jerusalem and that it makes no reference at all to the Rapture.

if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have kept watch, and he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.  These words do not make sense if we force them into the scene of the destruction of Jerusalem.  There is no way that the master of the house could have kept the Roman soldiers out of his house.

However, the major point of what Christ is saying is you also must be ready, for at an hour that you think not, the Son of Man comes. 

In the Meantime

Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master appointed over his household, to give them food in due season? 

Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 

Assuredly I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his possessions. 

But if that evil servant should say in his heart, 'My master is delaying to come,' 

"and should begin to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 

the master of that servant will come on a day which he does not expect, and in an hour which he does not know, and he will cut him in two, and will appoint his share with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mat 24:46-51.

he will make him ruler over all his possessions.  Christ tells a parable about two kinds of servants.  Christ's teaching is that if you fulfil your obligation you will be rewarded with prestige and more responsibilities. 

If the steward in this story messes up in his responsibilities and quits expecting his boss's return he may become hostile to his servants; he may become a glutton or maybe take up drinking with the town alcoholics.  However, his thoughtless activities have not changed the master's plans.  The master will come home in any case, totally unexpected by the steward.  

he will cut him in two.  This is so distinctly an un-Jewish thing to do.  A dictionary definition clears up the misstatement.  cut = to flog severely. Strong G1371.  We know from Christ's and Paul's experiences, at the hands of the Jews and Romans that flogging is what the Romans did.

The Last Trumpet Call

Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light; and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. 

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 

And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 

...

Assuredly I say to you, this generation shall by no means pass away till all these things are fulfilled. 

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall by no means pass away. 

But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. Mat. 24:29-36.

The Rapture of The Church - Maybe

The disciples had asked a loaded question what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world?  In answer to that question, Christ has talked about Judea's fall and Jerusalem's complete destruction including their beloved temple.  

He continues His answer; of that day and hour no one knows, no, not the angels of Heaven, but only My Father. Mat. 24:36.  Christ said that He did not know the answer to that question, even the angels don't know that, but Christ could fill in some blanks.  

Immediately.  This word, used here, is a real problem for people who believe that Christ was speaking about the Rapture.  We know that the Rapture did not happen immediately after the fall of Jerusalem. 

the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light;  The images used here are not to be taken literally. They are often employed by the sacred writers to denote “any great calamities.” As the darkening of the sun and moon, and the falling of the stars, would be an inexpressible calamity, so any great catastrophe - any overturning of kingdoms or cities, or dethroning of kings and princes is represented by the darkening of the sun and moon. Barnes.  So was Christ simply referring to political upheavals in Jerusalem?

After the sixth seal is opened in The Book of The Revelation John writes the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth. Rev. 6:12-13.  Even if what Matthew wrote about the sun and moon refers only to Jerusalem's problems after the fall of Jerusalem John, writing in the future tense, wrote the same thing about the era in which the Rapture will happen.

Those Bible students who say that Matthew is not speaking about the Rapture have a problem with this phrase; then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven.  They say this does not mean that Christ is coming for the Church but the sign of the Son of Man refers to Christ's power and great glory as it is revealed in His Church from the Day of Pentecost till the Rapture.

The most feasible approach is to accept that Christ was making a double prophecy.  It seems to be the only way to make all His words fit into the picture.

The Rapture of the Church - Definitely

Throughout history Jews have been scattered worldwide.   Some Bible scholars say that all the tribes (races) (Strong G5443) of the earth means only the Jewish race.  In the next verse, Christ may have been speaking of the re-gathering of the Jewish people.  He said they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.  This, of course, did not happen before Rome destroyed Jerusalem. Therefore it is feasible that Christ was speaking of a time just before the Rapture.

In The Revelation, John wrote the kings of the earth ... the rich and the mighty, and every slave and every free man ... said to the mountains and crags, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb! Rev 6:15-16.  It seems ironic that Christ warned the Judeans to flee and hide in the caves for safety when the Roman army comes, and now, in this scene, when Christ comes with power and great glory people will again hide in caves to escape the wrath of the Lamb!

He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet.  Those who believe this does not refer to the Rapture say His angels pertains to his messengers, the apostles, and their successors in the Christian ministry. Clarke.  It is correct to say that the word angels can be translated as messengers.

The words, With a great sound of a trumpet - Or, a loud-sounding trumpet - the earnest affectionate call of the Gospel of peace, life, and salvation. Clarke. I have an aversion to spiritualizing ideas in the Bible that can be taken more literally.

Concerning the Rapture St. Paul wrote Because the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. 1 Thes. 4:16.  In this setting, obviously, the sound of the trumpet does not refer to spreading the gospel of salvation.  It is much more akin to the trumpet call of judgment.

Saint John wrote, And the seventh angel sounded the trumpet: and there were great voices in heaven, saying: The kingdom of this world is become our Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall reign for ever and ever. 

this generation shall by no means pass away till all these things are fulfilled.

this generation:  that present age, or generation of men then living in it; and the sense is, that all the men of that age should not die, but some should live (till Christ's return). Gill.  When Gill uses the words "Christ's return" he is referring to the meaning he used before - Christ's power and great glory as it is revealed in His Church.  He is not relating it to Christ's return to earth or to the Rapture.

this generation: A generation is about 30 or 40 years. The destruction of Jerusalem took place about forty years after this was spoken. Barnes.  

this generation:  When Israel became a nation, again, in 1948, preachers told us that the word generation meant those people who were alive at that time and that they would not pass away before the Rapture of The Church took place.  Christ had warned us not to set dates for His return!

this generation: this race; i.e. the Jews shall not cease from being a distinct people, till all the counsels of God relative to them and the Gentiles be fulfilled. Clarke.  This is probably the right meaning for the word generation as it is used here.