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The Greatest Generation of Them All

Newscaster Tom Brokaw wrote a book, published in 1998, about the generation of Americans that experienced the Great Depression and World War II, titling it The Greatest Generation. In that book he says “[I]t is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced.” I don’t know how he manages to rank that generation of Americans above the one that birthed the country, but to say it was the greatest generation that “any society has ever produced” seems incredibly naive and myopic. I’ll leave it to secular historians to identify how many generations Brokaw overlooked, but clearly the one generation that has been the greatest of any so far is the Jewish one that ushered in the kingdom of God, led by Jesus Christ. It is good and right that we Americans show respect and appreciation for what the Depression/WWII generation of Americans did for us. However, we mustn’t think that their greatness came anywhere close to that of the greatest generation of all – the one we read about in the New Testament.

The greatest generation of them all is the generation we read about in the New Testament. It is the generation that included Zacharias and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, John the Baptist, Peter, James and John the sons of Zebedee, Matthew and the rest of the twelve (save Judas Iscariot), James and Jude the brothers of Jesus, Mark, Luke, Paul, Timothy, and many others. Most importantly, it included Jesus leading the way.

Beyond the saints enumerated above, there were many nameless individuals who changed their ways, believed in Jesus, prayed for each other, gave to the poor, and much more. Not everyone who began that journey finished it. And some of those who joined the journey late were just pretenders, along for the ride. The book of Revelation makes clear in its first three chapters that many hearts in the churches had grown cold. But God was in the process of perfecting a body of believers, and it was those believers who lit the way for us, their succeeding generations.

The prophet Daniel foretold of them six centuries before they were born:

Daniel 12:3 “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” 

And Isaiah, a century or two before Daniel, spoke of them in similarly glowing terms:

Acts 13:47 “I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES,
THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.”

The New Testament generation was the pivotal generation of all humanity. During their time, the old covenant gave way to the new covenant, the old age gave way to the eternal age, and the old heavens and earth gave way to the new heavens and earth. This generation endured what Jesus called “the great tribulation” (Mt 24:21) – what He said was the greatest tribulation the world ever had seen or ever would see. Thus that generation paid a price that created a debt we can never fully repay. These faithful ones endured the immeasurable tribulation that their contemporaries brought on them. And they endured for our sakes. We must never forget them.

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10/15/25