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 (Matt. 16:28).
Verily I say
unto you, This generation shall not pass till all these things be
fulfilled (Matt. 24:34).
ARGUMENT:
Isn’t this text
implying that Jesus would return during the lifetime of His hearers? (yet still
has not returned)
(I)
Prof. Herman C. Hanko
It seems to me that problems with
interpretations of texts such as this arise oftentimes out of a wrong
conception of Christ’s coming. Or, at least, if we have a proper conception of
Christ’s coming, we tend somewhat to forget about it in discussing it.
We must remember that the Scriptures
look at Christ’s coming, not so much from the viewpoint of the time, but rather
from the viewpoint of the idea.
Christ’s coming is really one
coming from the viewpoint of the idea, because Christ comes, sent by the
Father, to bring salvation to His church and to the whole creation of God.
Yet that coming can, in a certain
sense, be divided into two comings, because, although the idea is always
the same—Christ coming to save—He comes in humiliation when He is born in
Bethlehem, in order to establish the possibility of salvation. Having done all
that is necessary for salvation to be accomplished, Christ ascends into heaven,
where, from heaven, He actually does the one great work of salvation.
That work is finished when He comes
again upon the clouds to make all things new.
* *
* * *
*
That work of salvation which Christ
accomplishes from heaven involves various different works; and each work is, in
its own way, a coming of Christ.
In the most fundamental sense of the
word, Christ came on Pentecost when He poured out His Spirit on the church.
When Christ sends His Spirit to the
church, He Himself comes to the church to dwell with the church and give the
church all the blessings of salvation which He has earned for the church.
The coming of the Spirit is literally
called the coming of Christ in John 14:16-18: “And I will pray the
Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever,
even, the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him
not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall
be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”
Thus, in a way, Pentecost is
the end of the world—from the viewpoint of its idea. That is why Peter can tell
the people on Pentecost that the prophecy of Joel is fulfilled—a prophecy that
speaks of the end of the world.
And so, many who heard Jesus speaking
in His earthly ministry were still alive at Pentecost—as Jesus said.
* *
* * *
*
But Jesus’ coming again also refers
to the death of a believer.
This, too, is literally stated by the
Lord in John 14:1-3: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God,
believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so,
I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that
where I am, there ye may be also.”
If one stops to think about it, of
course the death of the believer is the end of the world. It is the coming of
Christ to take him out of this world so that this world exists no longer for
him. It is the end of the world because it is the beginning of perfect
salvation in heaven for that believer, for he is with Christ.
It is just as really the end of the
world for that believer as the second coming of Christ upon the clouds of
heaven.
All Christ’s coming is the work of
salvation. What a glory is to be found in that coming of Christ.
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(II)
(II)
More to come! (DV)
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