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.
Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, [ tines (G5100 ) toon (G3588 ) hoode (G5602 ) hesteekotoon (G2476 ) - 'some of those standing here,'] which shall not taste of death, until they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom - or, as in Mark (Mark 9:1), "till they see the kingdom of God come with power;" or, as in Luke (Luke 9:27, more simply still, "until they see the kingdom of God." The reference, beyond doubt, is to the firm establishment and victorious progress, in the life-time of some then present, of that new Kingdom of Christ, which was destined to work the greatest of all changes on this earth, and be the grand pledge of His final coming in glory.
Remarks: Remarks:
(1) The distraction and indecision of the public mind on the great vital questions of Religion will be no excuse for the want of definite convictions on the part either of the educated or the illiterate on such momentous matters. On the contrary, it is just when such distraction and indecision are greatest that the Lord Jesus expects firm conviction and decision on the part of His true friends, and values it most.
(2) The testimony here borne, in our Lord's commendation of Peter, to the reality of an inward divine teaching, distinct from the outward communication of divine truth, is very precious. For Peter had enjoyed the outward teaching of the Son of God Himself. But since many others had done this to no saving effect, the Lord expressly ascribes the difference Between Peter and them to supernatural illumination.
(3) When the Lord has any eminent work to do in His kingdom, He always finds the fitting instruments to do it; and yet, how different, usually, from those He might have been expected to select! Who would have thought that a humble Galilean fisherman would be chosen, and found qualified, to do what at that time was the highest work for Christ, to lay the foundations of the Church-opening the door of faith to the Jews first, and thereafter to the Gentiles? But this is God's way-to choose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).
(4) In the words of commendation and reward here addressed to Peter we have a striking example of the extremes to be avoided in the interpretation of Scripture. While Romanists and Romanizers build upon this a distinction in favour of Peter, in which none else, even of the Twelve, were destined to share, able Protestants have gone to the opposite extreme, of denying that our Lord, in speaking of "that rock on which He was to build His Church," had any reference to Peter at all; and take the rock to mean either the Speaker Himself, or at least the fundamental truth regarding Him which Peter had just uttered-that He was "the Christ, the Son of the living God." But as in that case the manifest play upon the word "rock," which the name of Peter was designed to express, would be lost, so we do not lose the truth for which these Protestant interpreters contend by admitting that Peter himself is intended in this announcement, provided it is understood that it was not as the man "Simon, son of Jonas," that anything was to be built upon Peter, but on Peter as the man of most distinguished faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Thus, while the plain sense of the passage is preserved, the truth expressed is according to Scripture.
(5) How hard is it even for eminent Christians to stand high commendation without forgetting themselves! (See the note at Luke 22:31, etc.; and see 2 Corinthians 12:7.) Peter, it is to be feared, must have been carried somewhat off his feet by the encomium pronounced upon him-even though his superiority was expressly ascribed to grace-before he could have been betrayed into the presumption of taking his Master to task.
(6) How deeply instructive is the sharp distinction which Christ here draws between the things that be of God and those that be of men, and how severe the rebuke administered to Peter for judging of the one by the standard of the other! If the things of God be hidden from "the wise and prudent" (see the note at Matthew 11:25), can we wonder that when God's own children make use of the world's wisdom and prudence to measure His ways, they should misjudge and run against them? And yet, so plausible is this worldly wisdom, that when, having fallen into unspiritual conceptions of the things of God, Christians throw stumbling-blocks before those servants of Christ who are more devoted than themselves, they fancy they are only checking a too fiery zeal, and arresting proceedings which are injudicious and hurtful; while our Lord here teaches us that they are but tools of Satan!
(7) Let the example of Jesus, in not only resenting and repelling all such suggestions as tended to arrest His onward career, but even when they came from His most eminent disciple, tracing them with horror to their proper source in the dark enemy of man's salvation, stand out before us as our perfect Model in all such cases.
(8) In times of severe persecution, and in prospect of suffering in any shape for the sake of the Gospel, it will be our wisdom, and be found a tower of strength, calmly to weigh both issues-the gain and the loss of each course. And to be prepared for the worst, it will be well to put the best to the world's gain over against the worst of Christ's service. Put the gain of the whole world against only one loss-the loss of the soul-and the loss of everything in this world, friends, goods, liberty, life itself, against only one gain-the gain of the soul. Then let us ask ourselves, in the sight of conscience and God, and an eternity of bliss or woe, With which side lies the advantage? And to make the answer to this question the more certain and the more impressive, let us habitually summon up before us the scene here presented to us by Him who is to be Himself the Judge-the great assize, the parties at the bar, the open acknowledgment and acquittal of the one, the disavowal and condemnation of the other, and the eternal issues. So shall we feel ourselves driven out of the denial of that blessed Name, and shut up and shut in to Christ and the fearless confession of His truth and grace, come what may.