Jesus and all the disciples preached a gospel that Jesus would be coming back in that generation.
Matt 26:63-64
63 But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to him, "I demand in the name of the living God that you tell us whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God." 64 Jesus replied, "Yes, it is as you say. And in the future you will see me, the Son of Man, sitting at God's right hand in the place of power and coming back on the clouds of heaven."
Caiaphas died - this never happened.
Matt 24:33-34
33 Just so, when you see the events I've described beginning to happen, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. 34 I assure you, this generation will not pass from the scene before all these things take place.
That generation did pass and those things never took place.
Matt 16:27-28
27 For I, the Son of Man, will come in the glory of my Father with his angels and will judge all people according to their deeds. 28 And I assure you that some of you standing here right now will not die before you see me, the Son of Man, coming in my Kingdom."
Obviously Jesus was wrong here - unless he's talking to Vampires or something.
Mark 8:38
38 "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
Well whoever was ashamed of him in that 'adulterous and sinful generation' were obviously facing an empty threat.
Mark 9:1
1 And Jesus was saying to them, "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power."
They're all dead - it DIDN'T happen.
Mark 13:30
30 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
In fact all of Mark 13 seems to be speaking to Christians living at the time. (Let the READER take note!)
John 21:20-22
20 Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them – the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, "Lord, who among us will betray you?" 21 Peter asked Jesus, "What about him, Lord?" 22 Jesus replied, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You follow me."
Jesus implies that he'll be back within the lifespan of Peter and maybe Judas.
Luke 21:27,32
27 Then everyone will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds with power and great glory
32 I assure you, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these events have taken place.
In Luke 21 Jesus describes an apocalyptic future ending with his arrival on the clouds. He stated that the current generation would not pass before HIS coming - but they did.
Matt 10:23
23 When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I assure you that I, the Son of Man, will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.
Seriously - this indicates a return in the very, very, near future - NOT something that will happen thousands of years in the future.
Matt 16:27-28
27 For I, the Son of Man, will come in the glory of my Father with his angels and will judge all people according to their deeds. 28 And I assure you that some of you standing here right now will not die before you see me, the Son of Man, coming in my Kingdom."
(Christian explanation:) Talking about the 2nd death that is refered to as "the death" many times throughout scripture? Remember now we look at the natural as our human bodies dying as being the only death, but that is just the end result of sin enering the world, the death is when we are ultimatly judged and thrown into the pit of fire for eternity.
(My response:) This isn't just twisting the clear and obvious meaning of the scripture but TORTURING it until it SCREAMS! The only way Jesus wasn't mistaken here is if someone hadn't died PHYSICALLY before he came again. If he MEANT "condemned to hell" he would've SAID "condemned to hell" and then the statement wouldn't mean anything anymore would it?
Let's read this scripture using the TORTURED version...
Matt 16:27-28
27 For I, the Son of Man, will come in the glory of my Father with his angels and will judge all people according to their deeds. 28 And I assure you that some of you standing here right now will not GO TO HELL before you see me, the Son of Man, coming in my Kingdom."
Does this make sense? Of course not - the clear and OBVIOUS meaning of the scripture is that there are some alive right then who wouldn't die before Jesus came again. This was obviously a cautionary statement meant to keep the current Christians on their toes.
Luke 21:27,32
27 Then everyone will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds with power and great glory 32 I assure you, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these events have taken place.
(Christian explanation:) Of course they havn't passed from the scene, we still talk about them today. And if you read Revelation the people in heaven will look down in awe at the wrath of God as he executes his judgement upon the Earth.
(My response:) So Jesus' words meant absolutely NOTHING! Using this type of TORTURED logic, NO generation will ever pass from the scene and therefore his words are absolutely pointless. Again, the clear and obvious meaning of this scripture is that Jesus' generation would not pass before the apocalypse. This was also a cautionary story for the Christians at the time meant to keep them on their toes! The Christians at the time undebatably thought they were living in the "Last Days" because of the clear meaning of scriptures like these.
Matt 10:23
23 When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I assure you that I, the Son of Man, will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.
(Christian explanation:) They have been all killed and have been taken home by the Son of Man have they not?
(My response:) The clear and obvious meaning of the scripture is that they would be interupted in their evangelism by the second coming. If they would be killed before they finished then Jesus would've said that wouldn't he? It's like telling a salesman "Before you get to the end of the street we'll be restocked." This statement is significantly different then "You will DIE before you reach all the towns of Israel."
I didn't place these apologetics here to belittle the Christian. These arguments are simply examples of how hard a Christians has to rationalize to believe his own religion.
The Bible says Jesus would return in that generation.
His disciples thought he would return.
He didn't.