This passage probably suggests that the temple's desolation constitutes the final visible prerequisite for the kingdom before the cosmic signs of Jesus' return. Because fig trees, unlike most trees in Palestine, lost their leaves seasonally, their fruit indicated the season (Jeremias 1971:106; Song 2:13). The temple establishment was like fig trees with the veneer of maturity yet without fruit (Mt 21:19; compare Mk 11:12-25). Though some wish to take generation (genea) as "race," Matthew 23:35-36 leaves no doubt that Jesus uses the term normally and, as elsewhere in Matthew, refers to the climactic generation. Jerusalem fell about forty years after Jesus' warning. Once God had judged the fruitless authorities who dominate the temple, Jesus could return at any time.