Understanding Jesus' Prophecy: The Kingdom in Power

And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.” Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. [00:00:22]

Now what you have here in this verse is a prophecy, and it’s a prophecy of something that will take place in the future. And it’s not a future event that’s going to take place according to this text two thousand years later. There is a timeframe specifically attached to this prophecy where Jesus said, “Some of you who are present will not taste death,” which means will not die, “until you see the kingdom of God present in power.” [00:08:00]

Now the first question that we have here is to what event is Jesus talking when He makes the prediction that some people will not die before they see the coming of the kingdom of God in power. What’s He referring to? What is this coming of the kingdom in power all about? Now before I try to answer that question, let me raise the ante on this text and show you that it’s linked closely to two other texts in the New Testament that are equally or even more controversial. [00:10:07]

The first aspect of this problem has to do with again a timeframe reference where obviously it’s not going to take the disciples two thousand to go through the cities of Israel. They accomplished that within the first generation of Christian missionary activity to the cities and villages of Israel. And so we could say of that text that some of those who were sent out also would not taste death until that event came to pass. [00:12:50]

Now the most controversial of all with respect to timeframe references in the New Testament comes later in Matthew 24, which is Matthew’s version of what we call the Olivet Discourse, a discussion that Jesus had near the end of His life with His disciples on the Mount of Olives. And that discourse is contained in all of the synoptic gospels and has become the most controversial of all. [00:13:37]

The weight of New Testament skepticism is this. Jesus predicted His return in the first generation of believers. Yes, the temple was destroyed. Yes, Jerusalem was destroyed, but Jesus didn’t come back. Therefore, if He was a prophet, He was a false prophet. And not only is His prediction not true, but the New Testament documents cannot be trusted either. [00:20:50]

But certainly it’s going to be within the next forty or so years, this generation, which leads me to conclude that what He’s talking about here is not His coming at the end of time, not His what we call the second coming, but His judgment coming on Israel, that does happen within that framework of forty years with the destruction of the temple and the destruction of Jerusalem. [00:22:29]

But now back to Mark, where Mark says, “Some of you will not taste death until you see the kingdom of God manifested in power.” Now let’s ask this question. What is Jesus talking about here? Well, He doesn’t say, “Some of you will not taste death until I return.” He doesn’t say, “Some of you will not taste death until you see me coming on clouds of glory.” [00:23:34]

And so how have commentators treated this prediction in church history? Many of them argue that since Mark places this prediction right before his description of the transfiguration, and the transfiguration was the most dazzling manifestation of the presence of the kingdom of God in glory and power that occurred during Jesus’ earthly ministry prior to His resurrection, that obviously the editorial reason why Mark places it here is that Mark is saying, he’s giving a prediction of the transfiguration. [00:24:00]

But if Jesus is talking here about the manifestation of the kingdom of God in power coming when the last vestiges of Jewish resistance to the breakthrough of the kingdom of God, that Jesus has been encountering all through the gospel of Mark, happens when the temple is destroyed and Jerusalem is laid bare. In 70 AD for the first time, the Christian church was now understood as a distinct entity from Judaism. [00:27:09]

Now, let me end this by saying. Maybe that’s what Jesus was talking about, but I don’t know for sure. But I know if you’re wrestling with these timeframe passages in the New Testament, you don’t need to wrestle any more if you take seriously the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy concerning the temple and concerning the city of Jerusalem. [00:28:32]

One thing I know for certain that the Word of God does not fail, that Jesus was truth incarnate, and when He said that something was going to happen in a certain timeframe, then what do I know? I know it happened within that timeframe. And if my coming to that conclusion makes me challenge some of the constructs of theology in our day, so be it, because where we go for truth is to the mouth of Jesus. [00:29:02]