In one of the most simple statements found in the Bible, Christ promised his second coming would occur before some who stood with him died. How did we miss it? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. (Matthew 16:27, 28). When these words were spoken, Christ and his disciples were on earth in the first century. It is a message concerning the coming of the Lord in his kingdom. Sadly to say, men deny that either has come. For many, they yet pray, thy kingdom come. They yet pray, Come, Lord Jesus! In an eschatological context, these prayers are contrary to the will of God, (John 9:31, 1 John 5:14, 15). Yes, God grants the prayers of those who pray according to His will, but those mentioned above will by no means be answered. Why? It is because they ignore the fact that Christ has already returned and the kingdom is now present and has been for centuries. Before Some Standing Died The promise of the coming of the Lord in his kingdom happened as and when Jesus said it would. One could opt for one or the other alternatives, --to believe that those disciples living in the first century are yet alive today. On the other hand, one could believe Christ is a liar. It is impossible for God/Christ to lie which rules that option out (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18). On the other hand how sensible is it to conclude that first century disciples are yet living today? The Help That Hurt Many expositors and commentators have tried to help the Lord out of a seeming embarrassing difficulty claiming that he had no clue about the time of his return. C.S. Lewis, Albert Schweitzer and others believed Jesus made a mistake. He did not. Jesus knew and stated over and over again in his ministry that his return would happen within one generation, --not within one generation of the 21st century but of the 1st century.
What was denied by Christ relative to knowledge of time, was not the precise generation. That he knew well, understood and taught, (Matthew 34:34). What was claimed to be unknown was the precise day and hour. Those are two very different matters. We all know that there are some things we each will do before this year passes, but with many of those things, we do not have the knowledge of a precise time as of yet. That's the simple point of Matthew 24:36. Redemptive Revelatory Events George Eldon Ladd in his Theology of the New Testament, wrote about a concept which he called a redemptive revelatory event. By this he meant that God revealed invisible truths through physical or natural events. God revealed himself as the true God through the plagues he brought upon the Egyptians and their land. For at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. (Exodus 9:14). Obstinate through the first six, after the seventh plague, Pharaohs heart began to crumble. After the eighth plague, Pharaohs servants were pleading with him to let Israel Go. They had gotten the message, God was the true God. The Destruction of Jerusalem, -The Sign of Christ's Return Likewise, Jesus gave a very notable event and according to liberal scholar John A.T. Robinson, the most datable event in the New Testament, as the sign which would manifest both his Parousia and which would crown the evidence of His Deity. It was the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman invasion of Judea in 70 A.D. But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that is desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the mist of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Luke 21:20-22. Robinson astutely observes that none of the New Testament writers speak of the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 as a past event which is strong evidence that all books of the New Testament were written before that event occurred, (which by the way is a matter of research the Da Vinci Code has overlooked in its unscholarly claim that the New Testament was of much later origin). All New Testament books were written and in use before Jerusalem's fall in 70 A.D. God gave that historical event as a redemptive revelatory event, i.e. his visible natural sign, that revealed a higher spiritual truth, --Jesus deity and divine favor, (Matthew 24:30). The Promise That Caiaphas Would Live To See Jesus' Return Jesus referred to the same event when speaking to Caiaphas the High Priest. Testifying under oath before Caiaphas, Jesus affirmed that he was the Son of God. Nevertheless, he perceived that the High Priest did not believe him. Jesus then offered as proof that Caiaphas would see him sitting on the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. That is another promise of Jesus that he would return in the lifetime of the first century generation. Caiaphas as predicted, lived to see it. See also. Matthew 10:23; 24:34. The 21st century will see a major shift from futurist eschatology to fulfilled eschatology as more and more readers and students become familiar with impact of time statements in the scriptures. Take a few minutes to read them and you will see that the Lord and all the apostles spoke of his imminent return. Matthew 10:23; 16:28; 24:34; Luke 21:22; 31, 32; Romans 13:11,12; 16:20; 1 Corinthians 1:7,8; 10:11; 15:51; Phil. 4:5; Hebrews 10:37; James 5:7, 8, 1 Peter 1:5; 4:7, 17; 1 John 2:17, 18; Revelation 1:1, 3; 12:10; 22:6, 10, 12. |
