Matthew 16:28 confusing?

vin_dedvukaj · May 21, 2020

28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Ive tried researching this one no one ever gives a clear answering. just wanted to know what our Lord was referring to here.

po18guy · May 21, 2020

The Transfiguration. Read the very next sentence - in Matthew 17. The Gospel was not written with chapter and verse - it was one long letter.

BartholomewB · May 21, 2020

The Jerusalem Bible has the following footnote, though I can’t guarantee it will give you a full answer to your question.

• In vv. 27-28 two sayings of Christ, each dealing with a different event, have been grouped together because they have a common reference to the coming of the kingdom of God: v. 21 refers to the Last Judgement which inaugurates the kingdom of the Father; v. 28 refers to the destruction of Jerusalem which demonstrates the presence of the kingdom of Christ, cf. 24:1.

benedictinehopeful · May 21, 2020

I’ve also heard the explanation that it relates to the destruction of the second temple, as God coming in wrath against Jerusalem being Jesus coming on the cloud of heaven. This would make more sense of the part where He says “Some standing here, which shall not taste of death” because not all of the apostles were alive at that time though some of them were.

JGD · May 21, 2020

po18guy said:
The Transfiguration. Read the very next sentence - in Matthew 17. The Gospel was not written with chapter and verse - it was one long letter.

Thanks very much. Flows together beautifully then.
Brings to mind the chapter break between Rev 11:19 and 12:1 et. seq. Such chapter breaks easily lead a reader to miss the connection between the verses — to think of them as separate events/visions/teachings etc.

vin_dedvukaj · May 21, 2020

very helpful thank you!

Crusader13 · May 25, 2020

The interpretation which I found makes the most sense is that He is referring to His coming in judgement against Jerusalem and the Temple.

You’ll notice that starting in verse 21, Jesus begins to speak of His coming death at the hands of the elders and chief priests. And then He goes onto to tell His disciples that anyone who seeks to save his own life will lose it, speaking of the coming tribulations and persecutions against them as well.

Then He says:

“ For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done.“
Matthew 16:27

This repayment for what they have done is in reference to His crucifixion and they were judged when the Temple was destroyed in AD 70 and all those who were guilty were killed.

So some of His disciples were still around when this coming took place and they witnessed the destruction of the Temple.

This ties in perfectly with His words in Matthew 24.

annad347 · May 25, 2020

I think its about the return of Christ. About how when we die we are not dead but are alive with Christ. So when The Son of Man comes in his kingdom.they would not have tasted death, no matter how long it takes.

anyway that’s how I understood it.

@Crusader13, that’s what I thought too.

Huiou_Theou · May 25, 2020

Simple.
Read the account of Stephen’s martyrdom where he dies in the Acts of the Apostles. Notice carefully what Stephen sees just before he dies.
Acts 7:52-56.

The book of Daniel and Ezekiel talk about the “Son of Man” coming on the clouds of heaven; a sort of mirror image of the Apostles seeing Jesus “going away” on a cloud at the ascension.

There is a way in which heaven and God’s kingdom is present, now, but invisible. Some see it beautifully before they die. There is also, I suppose, in Church Teaching, a definitive second coming where all who are on earth will see Jesus before being transformed. (eg: not necessarily dying, in the corruption sense. )

Some see Jesus as king to strengthen them before death, other’s will see him definitively at the end of time. But this image of the “Son of Man” on the clouds of heaven is Jesus universally being proclaimed the judge of the whole world by his father.

Jesus enters his kingdom in heaven by riding upon the angels (clouds/wind/thunder/fire.). That’s what Stephen saw before he died.

Justin_Mary · May 25, 2020

The footnote in my NABRE (Kindle edition) says:

Coming in his kingdom: since the kingdom of the Son of Man has been described as “the world” and Jesus’ sovereignty precedes his final coming in glory (Mt 13:38, 41), the coming in this verse is not the parousia as in the preceding but the manifestation of Jesus’ rule after his resurrection;

EndTimes · May 25, 2020