Mark 13:29

Even so ye also, when ye see these things coming to pass, know ye that he (Greek, it) is nigh, even at the doors.

He is nigh ... By this rendition the translators evidently understood this to be a reference to the Son of man, which is surely indicated by the masculine pronoun; but the Greek word in this place, as also in Matthew 24:33, is "it," not "he." This facilitates the application of the fig tree parallel to both events, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Advent. But just how can the latter event be "nigh"? Its near approach shall be indicated by the appearance of the conditions described in this chapter as being antecedent to it; and the application of the words "it is nigh" to both events does not mean they were to occur simultaneously. Of course there is a sense in which the Second Advent is always "nigh." As Cranfield put it:

If we realize that the Incarnation-Crucifixion-Resurrection-Ascension, on the one hand, and the Parousia (Second Coming), on the other, belong essentially together and are in a real sense one Event, one divine Act, being held apart only by the mercy of God who desires to give men opportunity for faith and repentance, then we can see that in a very real sense the latter is always imminent now that the former has happened. It was, and still is, true to say that the Parousia is at hand and indeed this, so far from being an embarrassing mistake on the part either of Jesus or of the early Church, is an essential part of the Christian faith. Ever since the Incarnation, men have been living in the last days.[44]