As I pointed out in the study What about the time of his coming?, Jesus did not just speak about the fact of his coming or his return, but also about the time of this event. I pointed out one of the passages from Mt 16:27-28 where we can read that Jesus mentioned rather emphatically that some of those who were standing there that day and hearing him speak would not die before the coming of the Son of man. In this study, I would like to point to a few more passages of scripture where information concerning the time of his coming and the time of the coming of his kingdom is given.
Jesus own words surely must be considered when we want to learn something about his coming and when it will happen. Some may think that Jesus did not mention any information about the timing of his coming, and usually it is claimed that "even Jesus did not know the time when he would come". But, is this what Scripture teaches? Or is it what some have interpreted into what they have read? Did Jesus really not say anything about when he would come?
Matthew 16:27-28
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall
reward every man according to his works.
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.
This event is also recorded in the gospels of Mark and Luke, where we read:
Mark 8:38 - 9:1
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of
his Father with the holy angels.
And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here,
which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.
Luke 9:26-27
For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed,
when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.
But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death,
till they see the kingdom of God.
We see that Jesus did point to his coming in glory and power and speak of his coming with his angels. There is nothing cryptic or mysterious in his words, his words are rather clear and simple. There is really no information here which one cannot understand just as Jesus spoke it. Now, did Jesus make a reference to the timing of his coming and the coming of the kingdom of God with power?
Yes, Jesus did make a rather interesting remark concerning the time of his coming when he states that some of his audience would still be alive and experience the event! Furthermore, we note that this was not just a side remark, but it was introduced by his words, "Verily, I say to you, ..." Jesus is pointing out that what follows is important and spoken with conviction and certainty! Well, what did Jesus then say "verily"? He stated that some of those standing there and listening to him would not taste death, that is, they would not die, until they would see his coming happen! Jesus declared that some of his audience would live long enough to actually experience the coming of the Son of man and coming of God's kingdom in power.
Are Jesus' words clear? I would say that he could hardly be any more clear and precise! Are those words in any way difficult to understand or can they be understood in more than one way? I would say, No. Christ is clear!
But then, how can it be that almost the whole of Christendom reads those verses and even agrees in some way that Jesus made a clear statement here, and then they preach that the coming of the Son of man and the coming of the kingdom of God in power are still -- even today, almost 2000 years later -- a yet future event!? How can that be?
If we consider Jesus' words without pre-conceived assumptions and analyze the content, we can recognize that the three gospel records which tell us of this event in Jesus' life and ministry mention 3 major points which would still happen during the lifetime of some (not all, not most) of his audience:
It is also very important that we do NOT read these records and the words of Jesus as if Jesus was now standing in front of us and talking to us! We must recognize that Jesus spoke those words almost 2000 years ago to some of his disciples. If we put ourselves in their situation, we will have a better opportunity to correctly understand Jesus' words.
Let's consider that we are accompanying Jesus on that day and we hear him speak those words .... what would we have understood and thought when he said, "Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming ..."? Some of us would experience it ... would those words mean that this would happen (a) in a few days or weeks? (b) in some years or perhaps decades? (c) in some centuries or thousands of years?
If Jesus had spoken of only a very short period of time, it would have been not "some" but rather "many" who would have experienced it. If Jesus had meant that it would be hundreds or thousands of years in the future, it would have been "none" of those standing there who would experience it. However, if Jesus meant a few years or decades, this would fit rather well with his words "some of those standing here", seeing that most of them would most likely already have died.
These rather simple considerations of those quoted words of Jesus about his coming in glory and the coming of the kingdom of God in power are clear and point without doubt to the truth that Jesus himself did know that his coming would be within the timeframe of his generation, more precisely toward the end of the time period of that generation rather than the years immediately after he spoke those words. Only some of his disciples would still be alive at the time of his coming.
I would like to consider several other passages in the NT scriptures where we can read words of Jesus regarding his coming, where we could see if he perhaps revised what he stated here or else perhaps added further details about it. Perhaps the most well known passage of Scripture about this topic are the records of Jesus' so-called "end-time" sermon on the mount of Olives, where he taught a few of his disciples about events relating to his coming. This discourse is recorded in Mt 24, Mk 13 and Lk 21.
In Mt 23 we read an interesting statement concerning the time element which Jesus had in view when he spoke to his disciples.
Matthew 23:32-36
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them
ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and
persecute them from city to city:
That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of
righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the
temple and the altar.
Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
We should note carefully that Jesus said that "all these things shall come upon this generation"! In Mt 24:1ff Jesus then proclaims that the temple would be destroyed and not one stone would remain unturned, which caused the disciples to ask him:
Matthew 24:3
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us,
when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world [age]?
Jesus then mentioned a number of things which they should pay attention to and which would still not mark the end. After a number of remarks Jesus again uses the same expression which he had used before when he spoke to the Pharisees.
Matthew 24:34
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
What did Jesus mean with "this generation"? For one, he does not speak of "that" generation, but of "this generation"! These are obviously people who lived ins "this time" (that is, the time when Jesus spoke). Furthermore, we should look some more into the term "generation" because this translation could be misunderstood. The Greek word for "generation" is used in two major ways: (a) "generation" as the descendants of one ancestor, e.g. race, children, progeny, descendants; (b) "generation" as those who have been born and live around the same time, contemporaries, people living during the period of a generation of people.
The context of the passage makes clear that Jesus is obviously not speaking about the Jewish race continuing until all those different things he prophesied would come to pass. The context does point to Jesus using this term "this generation" in the sense of "my contemporaries", some of those who were living at the time would experience these things.
We should note that it is those time elements which make Jesus' words to real prophecy, because now there is a fixed time frame whereby they must be fulfilled or else Jesus would be a false prophet if his words do not come to pass as stated. It seems to me that those who put Jesus' coming in the yet future do not realize that they in fact stipulate with their claims that Jesus was a false prophet. They most likely do not think of this when they declare that the early Christians did at first believe in a rather imminent coming of the Lord but that it then did not happen and still has not happened. But, such claims are in fact implying that Jesus is a false prophet, for the Law already states that one can know a true prophet by the fact that his prophecies come true as stated!
Now the question remains what we will do with these statements. How will we treat these words of our Lord Jesus? There are several possibilities open to us:
There are a few more passages where we read about other statements made by Jesus where he spoke of his coming and mentioned time related details, for example the following section where he was before the Sanhedrin.
Matthew 26:64
Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on
the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
How could Jesus claim at his interrogation by the highpriest that he and others of those present there would later see the Son of man when he was sitting at the right hand of power and as he would come in the clouds of heaven, IF that event was something which would only happen several thousand years later? Was Jesus mistaken? Did he only "babble" without thinking or caring what he was saying? I would say that such was definitely not the case! Jesus knew exactly what he was talking about! And he knew that this event he was referring to would be happening still during the lifetime of some of those who heard him make those statements!
Another interesting passage is found in Joh 21.
John 21:21-23
Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that
to thee? follow thou me.
Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should
not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that
he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
Even though we are not told who exactly this other disciple mentioned in this record was, it is clear that Jesus considered the possibility that this disciples could live until his coming ... We again see that Jesus thought of his coming as happening still during the timeframe of the generation of his contemporaries. This is simple and there is really no other logical and fitting explanation.
In some church history sources we can read that the apostle John was one of the few, or possibly the only one of the original apostles, who still lived at the time of the events of 70 AD, and that he was alive and ministered in Asia minor for some years after that. If this other unnamed disciples was indeed John, Jesus would have prophesied correctly what later happened, since John did live to see that day.
The biblical records are clear and point in detail to the truth that Jesus knew and spoke of his coming as happening still during "this generation" (a period of time of about 40 years). Jesus' words are simple and clear! The clear and simple words of Jesus should not really pose a problem for our understanding, nor should they cause many or difficult questions.
Sure, many readers will have quite many questions, and some may have "Yes, but ..." comments to make. Well, such questions and comments are fine, but we should think soberly and be watchful to not change the words of our Lord or to imply that Jesus did not really know what he was saying. We should rather question the validity of those ideas and doctrines which have been propounded by men and which seem to contradict or in fact do contradict the clear words of our Lord Jesus.