‘And he said to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some here of those who stand by who will in no way taste of death until they see the Kingly Rule of God has come with power.” '
The introductory ‘and He said to them' separates this saying off from the earlier ones, and the presence of Scribes (Mark 9:14; Mark 9:30) suggests that they were now back in Galilee. The words were probably spoken only to His disciples. They have caused a great deal of discussion, especially in view of the parallel verse in Matthew. The basic question is, what did Jesus mean when He spoke of ‘the Kingly Rule of God' being seen as having come with power'? In Matthew it reads, ‘until they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingly Rule' (Matthew 16:28). Luke reads, ‘until they see the Kingly Rule of God' (Luke 9:27). For He said that there were some there who would not die until they had seen it. Note especially that here the emphasis is on the coming of His Kingly Rule ‘with power' which will occur in such a way that it will be for those who see it a past event (perfect tense), not on its future coming ‘in glory' (Luke 8:38).
We can compare the words in Matthew 16:28 with Jesus' words at His trial. In Matthew 26:64, in reply to the question as to whether He was the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus said to Chief Priests, Scribes and Elders who were present,, ‘ From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power (i.e. God) and coming on the clouds of Heaven' (compare Mark 14:62). This must be interpreted in its context. It is clearly intended to have significance for His hearers, and to be understood by them in the light of their question, and of their own state of knowledge, and in their case their minds would immediately turn to Psalms 110:1 (quoted in Matthew 22:44), ‘You sit at my right hand' and Daniel 7:12-13 ‘there came with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man'. ‘The right hand of power' is a synonym for ‘the right hand of God', ‘power' being used, as was customary with the Jews, to avoid the use of the word ‘God', which they sought to avoid. Here therefore Jesus speaks of His receiving Kingly Rule and their witnessing it (in its effects) as something shortly to happen (‘from now on, from the present time').
Neither of these references would suggest to his listeners a leaving of and return to earth. Both would be seen as signifying that His claim was that He would be crowned as God's chosen king, the latter after coming to the throne of God in Heaven, presumably in some kind of mystical experience. The ‘sitting at the right hand of God' indicated His coronation and subsequent reign, and the ‘coming with the clouds of heaven' represented a coming to the throne of God to receive everlasting dominion (Daniel 7:13-14). And Jesus told them that it was something that they would ‘see from the present time', not necessarily literally with their eyes, but by seeing it manifested on earth. In other words His enthronement as king would be made apparent to them in what was in some way shortly to follow. Clearly then He spoke of His enthronement and its after effects as an event about to happen and to be evidenced on earth. Thus we must see Matthew 16:28, which uses similar language, in that light as well.
So ‘see the Son of Man coming in His Kingly Rule' can be seen as connected with the idea of His enthronement at the right hand of God as He came before His Father ‘in the clouds of heaven' (signifying a heavenly connection) and we should note that in Matthew it is later specifically stated by Jesus as having occurred at His resurrection, when He says ‘all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth' resulting in the going out of the disciples to ‘disciple all nations' (Matthew 28:18-19) and the building up of a new people of God. This would certainly be something that would be ‘seen' by the leading Jewish authorities (Matthew 26:64) and also by the disciples (Matthew 16:28), apart of course from Judas.
Furthermore in Acts 2:34-36 Peter uses Psalms 110:1 ‘sit on My right hand' to indicate the enthronement of Jesus as ‘both Lord and Messiah' and directly connects it with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33). As far as he was concerned, at Pentecost he ‘saw' the Son of Man coming in His Kingly Power.
What then are we to make of the meaning of Mark 9:1 and its parallels? Firstly we should note that the emphasis is on the coming of God's Kingly Rule (or in Matthew ‘His Kingly Rule') in ‘power' (dunamis) as something that will be experienced by some present while they are yet alive. There is no thought of the ‘glory' which is elsewhere always emphasised when His final coming is baldly stated (Matthew 16:27; Matthew 19:28; Matthew 24:27; Matthew 24:30; Mark 8:38; Mark 10:37; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27).
Secondly we should remember that Jesus has spoken of the Kingly Rule of God as ‘drawing near' and as something available to His hearers. For in response to the question as to when the Kingly Rule of God will come, He had said:
'b7 That it was ‘among or within them' (Luke 17:21).
· That from the time of John the Baptiser ‘the Good News of the Kingly Rule of God is preached and every man presses (enters violently) into it' (Luke 16:16; Matthew 11:12).
· That men were even then being made ‘disciples to the Kingly Rule of heaven' (Matthew 13:52).
· That they must receive the Kingly Rule of God like a little child if they were to enter (Mark 10:15).
· That the good seed in the parable prior to the end were the ‘sons of the Kingly Rule' (Matthew 13:38).
· And He had said, ‘if I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then is the Kingly Rule of God come upon you” (Matthew 12:27).
Thus the Kingly Rule of God was to be seen as present at that time as well as being something which was to be experienced in the future at the end time. To Jesus, therefore, as a result of His coming, the Kingly Rule of God was an ever present reality, both in the present and in the future. Its revelation in power is not therefore necessarily the same thing as its revelation in glory.
Thirdly we should note that this word of Jesus is placed before the Transfiguration scene in each Gospel and connected with it specifically by a time reference e.g. ‘after six days'. Thus it was clearly seen as having some connection in some way with the Transfiguration.
In the light of what we have seen earlier it is probable therefore that we are to see it as fulfilled in three ways, each interconnected.
1). It found partial fulfilment in the Transfiguration. There the majesty and glory of the King, hidden from the world, was revealed, supported by those two pillars of God who represented the Law and the Prophets, Moses and Elijah, who had proclaimed His word and whose ministry and word He was to bring to fulfilment. The Kingly Rule of God was seen on the mountain in embryo with its manifested power and glory, for the Transfiguration foreshadowed both the resurrection and exaltation of Christ to God's right hand brought about with power (Romans 1:4; Philippians 3:10) and His second coming in glory. Some see in this a sufficient fulfilment, for it was a unique and incredible experience for those who witnessed it, and indeed for us all. But against this is the fact that His talk of some not tasting death would be odd if He was talking about something that would occur within a week. On the other hand it can be argued that most of those who were there would taste of death without seeing the transfiguration.
2). It found further fulfilment when Jesus, having been raised to God's right hand, appeared to His disciples to inform them that He had received from God ‘all authority -- in heaven and earth' (Matthew 28:18) and was sending them out to ‘make disciples' of the nations, with ‘signs' (of power) following (Mark 16:15-18). Indeed He promised them that shortly they would receive ‘power (dunamis) from on High' (Luke 24:49 compare Acts 1:8). The Kingly Rule of God would thus ‘come with power'.
3). It found its complete fulfilment when the King, having risen, sat down at God's right hand (Acts 2:34-35) and received and poured out the Holy Spirit on God's people at Pentecost (Acts 2:33). By this He empowered them to go out throughout the known world with ‘power' (dunamis) (Acts 1:7-8; Acts 3:12; Acts 4:7; Acts 4:33; Acts 6:8), preaching the Good News of Jesus' death and resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of God where He was proclaimed both Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:36), and performing ‘miracles' (signs) before the people (Acts 4:16; Acts 4:22; Acts 6:8; Acts 8:6). Then indeed they did see the Kingly Rule of God ‘coming in power' (see 1 Corinthians 4:19-20), and they saw through Stephen the Son of Man, having received His dominion, coming to manifest Himself in His Kingly Rule (Acts 7:56), just as He had similarly manifested Himself to the three. And all this confirmed by the fact that within forty years there appeared to be Christians everywhere.
To the objection that the verse says that only ‘some standing here' would see it, we can point out that if the words were spoken to a crowd of any size it was always likely that quite a number would die before the event, as Judas certainly did before 2) and 3), and as James did before it reached out to the Gentiles (Acts 12:2). Thus all that Jesus was saying was that it would be delayed long enough for some to die before it occurred, but that others would be preserved in order to see its fulfilment. Thus it would certainly be within the lifetime of others. (In the case of the Transfiguration only some did see it). And the same applies with the outreach of the Kingly Rule of God to the nations.
But the words provide a further assurance, for in His previous words Jesus had been stressing not only that He must suffer, but that His disciples must also be ready to suffer, and even to face martyrdom. Here therefore He is giving assurance that that will in no way hinder the advance of the Kingly Rule of God. They must not think that the tasting of death by some of them will prevent its onward growth.