The time has come!

Both Mark and Q portray Jesus as saying very similar statements about the immediate future:

Mark

8:12 He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it."

8:38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

9:1 And he said to them, "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power."

9:19 "O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?

13:30 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

Q (references are from Matthew)

11:16"To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
11:17 "`We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.'

12:41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.
12:42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.

23:35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
23:36 I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.

23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
23:38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.
23:39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

Matthew

10:23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Luke

12:56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?

13:4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?
13:5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

At the very least, we can assume that Jesus was often quite critical of his 'generation', particularly for persecuting the prophets, and warned the people of a coming divine judgement or disaster.

Jesus' parable in Mark 12:1-9 backs up the Q passages in Matt. 23:35-39 and Matt. 12:41-42 ...

He then began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey.
At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully.
He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. "He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, `They will respect my son.'
"But the tenants said to one another, `This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
"What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.

Note that Jesus is not claiming here to be the "Son of God". He is simply claiming to be the last and most important of a long line of messengers from God, and rejecting him will be the 'last straw' - God's judgement will follow.

Compare now Luke 16:14 (Q), when Jesus says:

"The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it."

Again, Jesus is saying that the times of God bringing His message through legal codes and warnings via prophets is over - but this time he focusses on the positives - the offer of belonging to the kingdom of God.

Jesus is also portrayed as heralding in a 'new age' in Mark 2:21-22 ...

"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.
And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."

and also in Mark 1:15 ...

"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"

and also Mark 11:12-14, where Jesus acts out a parable by pronouncing judgement on a fig tree - it is no longer the 'season' for Israel, and her judgement is coming ...

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.
Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.
Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it.

Significantly, this comes immediately before the story of Jesus 'cleansing the temple' - another acted parable of destruction.

In Luke 13:6-9 (particular to Luke) Jesus tells a parable which mixes some of the motifs of the parable in Mark 12 and of the cursing of the fig tree:

Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.
So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, `For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'
"`Sir,' the man replied, `leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it.
If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'"

Once more, the themes are present of the time being nearly up, and destruction to follow soon after.

Jesus also often uses the metaphor of a crop in order to illustrate the same idea, most clearly in Matthew 13:24-30 (particular to Matthew) ...

Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.
But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.
When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
"The owner's servants came to him and said, `Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'
"`An enemy did this,' he replied. "The servants asked him, `Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
"`No,' he answered, `because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'"

Mark 4:26-29 also contains a briefer version ...

He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground.
Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.
All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.
As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

The harvest and sickle metaphors recall Joel 3:12-14 ...

`Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.
Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow-- so great is their wickedness!`
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

Swinging the sickle at the harvest is always a metaphor for God's judgement (The major theme of the Old Testament book of Joel is the final judgement of God - "The Day of the Lord").

In summary, themes abound throughout all the strands of tradition that Jesus' teaching contained the following elements:

(1) The time is up! God's judgement is coming very soon.
(2) No more chances! No more warnings! God is not sending any more prophets.
(3) Something is coming - "The Kingdom of God" - which has elements of judgement, at least to begin with, and elements of something to follow - a 'new age'?

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