Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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(Today’s Reading)
The Biblical Case for the Second Coming as Accomplished Fact
(Book Installment 19)
Part Two – The Timing of the Second Coming
Chapter 2 – What the Gospels Say
Other Things Jesus Said About the Timing
Having accepted and understood the master timetable Jesus gave in the Olivet Discourse, we now look elsewhere in the gospels to see any other references Jesus might have made to the timing of His Second Coming. It is reassuring, but not surprising, that what we find fits and harmonizes with what He said in Matthew 24-25 (Mark 13, Luke 21).
Matthew 16 records the meeting between Jesus and His disciples when He asks them about His identity. After Peter rightly identifies Him as the Messiah (i.e. the Christ), Jesus tells them about the crucifixion and resurrection to come. He also tells them about the Second Coming. He uses the expression “The Son of Man will come” which is the same way He repeatedly spoke of His Second Coming in Matthew 24-25 (see specifically Matthew 24:27, 30, 37, 39, 44; 25:31). Here is what Jesus said in Matthew 16 and the other two gospels that record the incident:
“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds. Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Matthew 16:27-28 [emphasis added]
“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” And Jesus was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” Mark 8:38-9:1 [emphasis added]
“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:26-27 [emphasis added]
You can see that Jesus clearly promises to come while some of the disciples were still living – and He emphasizes that promise by preceding it with “Truly I say to you.” In Mark’s version He even uses the words “this generation” adding the adjectives “adulterous and sinful” that characterized it as a whole. As we know, some of the disciples present (most of them, in fact) died for Him in the course of the mission. The sinfulness that characterized the age would manifest itself against these disciples in the same murderous persecution that crucified Jesus. We would not be surprised therefore if Jesus had to choke back some emotion when He came to the words “some standing here shall not taste death” knowing therefore that some of those present indeed would taste it on His behalf.
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