Matthew-058

 

Let us begin today’s message by reading Matthew 16:27-28.

I would like you to notice that the word in the Greek for the first word of, “truly” in verse 28 is “amen.” The word “amen” simply means “truly.” Hence RSV and many other translations correctly translate “truly.” Now whenever the Lord Jesus introduces any state­ment of his with “truly” or “amen,” we know that he is about to say something important. Unfortunately, this verse has given all kinds of problems to the commentators, and we shall consider in a moment why.

Let us look at Mark 8:38 - 9:1, the parallel passage to Matthew 16:27-28.

The Lord Jesus uses the word “truly” or “amen” again. Notice care­fully, what will they see? They will see the kingdom of God. What about the kingdom of God? It has come with power.

Finally, let us look at Luke 9:26-27, another passage that is parallel to that of Matthew 16:27-28, and notice again, the word “truly.”

 

Matthew 16:27-28 is called a crux interpretum

Now this passage is regarded by virtually all commentators as a most difficult passage to expound or even to understand. For example, the Expositor’s New Testament says it is a crux interpretum. When I study this passage, somehow I don’t feel this is one of the most difficult passages. I find that when we study the Scriptures, there are some passages which are really very difficult in terms of spiritual understanding, but which we seem to think are easy. And there are other passages which are really relatively simple which we think to be extremely difficult. This shows that there must be a problem with our spiritual understanding in our relationship to God.

The passages I find to be profoundly difficult are the ones which prima facie (on the face of it), seem to be extremely simply stated. The Gospel of John is a case in point. The Gospel of John seems so simple to understand, yet it has a depth which is almost impossible to fathom.

All the commentators throw up their arms in despair thinking that there is virtually no hope of a solution to a passage like this in Matthew 16. When I said to the Training Team that this would be one of their assignments to expound on, one of the sisters said, “Is there an answer to this passage? Is it possible to understand this passage?” We shall see as we examine this passage closely today.

 

Liberal view: Jesus was wrong to expect the kingdom of God would be fully manifested in the life-time of at least some of his hearers

First of all, as you read these words, “some of you standing here will see the kingdom of God coming,” there is a view of this passage taken by liberal scholars who feel that what Jesus expected is that the kingdom of God would be fully manifested in the life-time of at least some of his hearers. Then they conclude that since the kingdom of God did not appear in the life-time of some or any of his hearers, he must have been wrong.

That is one possibility. As Christians who love the truth, we shall not shy away from any possibility. Could it be that Jesus was wrong? Did he expect the kingdom to come in his life-time? So notable a person as Albert Schweitzer for example, took this view. He was a mission­ary, although of a rather liberal position, and like the rest of the liberal school, took the view that Jesus expected the kingdom of God to break into this present age in his life-time, or perhaps in the life-time of his hearers, but that did not happen.

Now we should not be terrified at such a suggestion. As I have always said, we must be lovers of the truth. If that is right, that is right. There is nothing to argue about. But first of all, we have to see if it is right. We will have to examine the exegesis of this passage to come to a conclusion whether this is so or not. If the evidence leads us to the conclusion that the Lord Jesus was wrong, we will have to accept the truth for what it says. A Christian should never refuse to listen to an opposing opinion simply because he doesn’t happen to agree with it. We must love the truth to the extent that we will consider any position in the light of the facts.

 

Jesus is not afraid to be misunderstood

Anyone who is familiar with the teaching of the Lord Jesus will soon observe a remarkable quality about his words. In fact, the quality of his words is such that he seems deliberately not to be afraid to be misunderstood. That’s very interesting. I would like to stress again that Jesus is not afraid to be misunderstood because his words are like a sword that will divide the very thoughts and intentions of your heart. It will divide the very congregation that is listening to the Word. You will notice the remarkable words in Luke 9:26, “He who is ashamed of me and my words,” notice it is not just of “me,” but also “my words.” Sometimes, a Christian may be so embarrassed by the words of Jesus that he feels that he is really ashamed of him.

 

“Eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will live by me.”

Let us take an example of when the disciples were deeply distressed and offended by the words of the Lord Jesus when he said, “Any man who eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live by me” (cf. Jo. 6:53). I have pointed out to you many times the offense of such words: eating flesh, drinking blood. Let us be more refined in our phraseology. The language of cannibals does not suit our high social and cultural position. The disciples were offended by this type of language. It’s not worthy of Christ, the great teacher of the Law, the great teacher of life, to talk about eating flesh and drinking blood, especially eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Being that concrete and specific is rather bad on the appetite (cf. Jo. 6:60-61).

But I would like you to notice that the Lord Jesus is not in the least disturbed by the fact that his words have led to a sense of offense. As it said, they were ashamed of his words. They found it an offense to talk like this. But the Lord Jesus is not in the least disturbed. That is the point I would like you to observe. When his disciples left him, he did not say, “Come back! No, you misunderstood me. Come back! Don’t be so literal. Let me explain what I meant. You don’t have to leave me now.” As they walked away, He did not say anything to stop them. He just let them walk away. Isn’t it incredible?

 

Jesus never stops anyone from leaving him

Then, for those who stood there crest-fallen, depressed, confused, they had not walked away but they seemed to be about to walk away. They seemed to be so confused. The Lord Jesus said to them, “Will you leave me also?” (Jo. 6:67) He did not say, “I don’t want you to go.” He said, “Will you leave me also?” In other words, “If you would like to leave, don’t hesitate. Just walk away.”

You would think, This teacher is amazing! He makes no explanation. He doesn’t try to stop them. He’s so different from the way we do things. When we are misunderstood, we say, “Come on, don’t take it so hard! I didn’t mean it like this.” The Lord Jesus doesn’t make the slightest reaction. If they walk away, that’s all right. How amazing!

What is this attitude? He doesn’t even try to explain himself. He makes no attempt whatsoever to stop them because his word is slicing straight into their hearts, separating the people. In that separating process, painful as it is, if they must go, they must go. He will do nothing to stop them. It is so contrary to human thinking.

 

“Destroy this temple. In three days, I will raise it up.”

Take another example which is an offense to the Jews, as indeed to many of his disciples. “Destroy this temple. In three days, I will raise it up.” Oh! The very suggestion that you should destroy the holy temple of God is blasphemy to a Jew! That is an offense that no Jew can tolerate. They were furious!

Jesus does not explain any further. John only goes on to say, “He was referring to his body.” But did the Lord Jesus say to the Jews, “Stop! Don’t get excited. I meant my physical body.” He does not make an explanation at all.

The prima facie meaning of these words, “destroy this temple” is to be understood quite literally, and the Jews understood that it meant the temple of Jerusalem. Jesus made no attempt whatsoever to correct their understanding. God spoke through Jesus about this to the Jews. The spiritual meaning is that when the Jews destroy Jesus physically, God can raise Jesus in three days.

At the final trial of Jesus, what did the witnesses bring against him? Precisely those words: “This man said, ‘Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.’” That was the charge of blasphemy the witnesses brought against him to condemn him to death.

 

Jesus did not defend himself at the Sanhedrin

Did Jesus say anything in his defense? He said nothing! Did he immediately take his position in the courtroom and say, “Now gentlemen, you are all learned, and I am sure you are all very reason­able people. Please give me your ears because I am going to explain to you that when I said, ‘Destroy this temple,’ I did not mean this building. I meant my body here. Do you understand?” You would say, “If you are misunderstood, clear yourself.” Jesus doesn’t say one word. He neither gave an explanation nor made one word in his defense. When they brought these charges, Jesus simply remained silent. He was not afraid to be misunderstood. Even if it was going to cost him his life, he still said nothing. It’s incredible!

We, Christians would have thought, “But surely, you can preach to the Sanhedrin. You can think, ‘I’m arrested. Now is my chance to preach to the leadership of the whole nation.’” The Sanhedrin was the highest leadership of the whole Jewish nation. Jesus is standing before all the leaders of Israel, so here’s the chance to vindicate his position, to explain why he came into the world, to see that maybe some of them would be saved. Jesus doesn’t say one word. He stands there silent. Incredible!

Jesus allows them to judge his sayings either on their face value, or in any other value they want. If you think that is what it means, then that’s fine. We don’t understand this attitude do we? We find through so much of the teaching of the Lord Jesus that he pro­nounces the words that God speaks through him, and he makes no attempt to explain what he meant.

 

God’s Holy Spirit reveals the meaning of Jesus’ words to those who love the truth

Why is this? The reason is that the Lord Jesus operated with a concept of God’s work that we have yet to fully grasp. He knew that God’s Holy Spirit would open the meaning of these words to those who are spiritually open to God, and he would close their meaning to those who are spiritually closed. This was the very premises on which he began to teach his disciples. He told them, “To you, God reveals the mysteries of the kingdom.” (Mt. 13:11)

In Matthew 16:13, what did the Lord Jesus say to his disciples? “Who do men say that I am?” And they said, “John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” And he said, “Who do you say that I am?” He did not go on a great speech to say, “Now let me tell you who I am. I am this and I am that.” He just said, “Who do you say that I am?”

And Peter says, “You are the Christ. You are the Son of the living God.” Then what did Jesus say? “Bravo Peter! You are a good student. I haven’t wasted my one and a half years teaching you yet. You really do learn a few things.” No, he said, “Peter, you know this for only one reason, because my Father has revealed it to you. You have walked with an ordinary man, a man who by profession is a carpenter. You have watched me eat and sleep like anyone else. You have seen me as a human being, and yet you know that I am the Son of God. How can you know? My Father revealed it to you.”

 

The words of Jesus are like a sword to the hearers

In the same way when we come to the words of Jesus, they will either be an offense to you, or they will be a life-giving word to you. It will become a stumbling block to you, or a rock upon which your life will be built. It’s very interesting!

The same applies to Paul. He says in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16,

The preaching of the Word of God brings life to some and death to others. It is like a sword which separates between mankind.

When you understand this principle, you will understand that the exposition of any particular passage of the Bible tells us more about the person than about the meaning of the passage necessarily. It tells us a great deal about who that person is. When a person comes to me and says, “Jesus is wrong. He expected that the kingdom would come in his life-time,” that tells me about him, it doesn’t tell me anything about the passage. It tells me again about his relationship to God. I know that such a person does not stand in living relation­ship to God. God has not revealed the truth to him.

You will notice that Jesus again, makes no attempt to explain this passage at all. No explanation is given! And hence this Word becomes like a sword, separating man from man. The words of Christ are very remarkable indeed! He is simply not afraid to be misunderstood. He speaks and lets God do the rest.

Now having this observation in our minds, we shall go on to see what the Lord Jesus meant in these words, not simply by my telling you what it means. What we do in all these Sunday messages is exegesis, exposition. That means I don’t simply tell you what it means and give you one or two cross references, but I explain to you how we arrive at these particular results. You will then determine whether this exegesis is accurate, is based on a search for truth and not because of some dogmatic predisposition. I have no dogmatic predisposition. As I say, if someone says anything, I am willing to examine what he says in a commitment to the truth. Searching for the truth is the attitude God would have us have. If anyone wants to know the truth, and follows Christ, he will not be disappointed.

 

How to understand Matthew 16:27-28?

1. The words of Jesus are spiritual in character, not to be taken literally

As we look at these words of Jesus in the Matthew 16:27-28 passage, there is immediately, a great stumbling block. There are two counts that we must take into consideration.

First of all, the fundamental principle in understanding the teaching of Christ is to let it sink into our minds that the words of Christ are spiritual in character.

The Lord Jesus said in John 6:63, “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” In other words, you have to understand them spirit­ually. Too often, this crude literalism will land us in serious trouble. The disciples took it crudely literally when the Lord Jesus said, “He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood.” They could not think spiritually, but were thinking in a crudely literal way, hence the offense. In the same way, when the Lord Jesus said, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it in three days,” again, if you are thinking in a crudely literal way, you are going to be wrong because he was not speaking in a literal way. In any part of the Lord Jesus’ teaching, you must understand the principle of its spiritual character. And those people who are trying to “observe days and months, seasons and years” (Gal. 4:10), are going to run into all kinds of problems because they are thinking in a literal way.

 

2. Essential to examine the word translated as “before” [“until”] in the Greek

Secondly, the problem specific to this particular passage is the understanding of the word translated as “until” [ESV, NAS, NKJ] or “before” [RSV, NIV, NJB] in Matthew 16:28.

If you are dependent on an English translation, unfortunately, you will be in trouble, because once more, you are at the mercy of a translation. You don’t know what is the original that is being tran­slated now as “before.”

 

“Until” or “before” refer to physical or spiritual death

If you have already made the assumption that the Greek words ἕως ἂν (heos an) translated here as “until” or “before,” means that you will first see the kingdom of God before you die, and therefore after you see the kingdom of God you will die, then there are only two possibilities left in exegesis. The one possibility is that this refers to physical death, the other refers to spiritual death.

If the physical view is taken, you will first see the kingdom of God coming while you are still alive physically in this human body, and after that, you will die physically. That is one way to look at it. It is assuming that heos an means “before” or “until” in the sense that you will live until then and die physically after that, that it is reversive or adversative in meaning. It is rather astonishing that so recent a scholarly work like that of I. H. Marshall’s, the author of the Greek commentary of Luke, makes a mistake like that. One expected more careful work on the part of a scholar like that.

So once you have already assumed that “until” means you will live until then and die after that, then you are only left with two possibilities. One alternative is, some of you standing here will be physically alive until the kingdom of God comes and then when you have seen the kingdom of God coming, you will die physically.

The other alternative then is the view that this does not refer to physical death but a spiritual death. That is, you will be alive in some spiritual sense, but after you see the kingdom of God coming, you will die spiritually, that being called “the Second Death.”

 

Objections to both views of physical death and spiritual death

Both of these views are in serious trouble. The first point is heos an (the word translated in the ESV, RSV as “until,” “till” or in the Authorized Version as “before”) does not have an adversative or reversive meaning, that is, live until and die after. I have to be a little bit technical here because some people will be interested in the more technical details of the exegesis. But I hope that generally, it will not be hard to follow what we are saying.

 

1) heos an doesn’t always mean after you see the kingdom you will die

The objections to “taste death” means physical death or spiritual death is: first of all, heos an does not necessarily mean that after you see the kingdom you will die. That is the wrong assumption that even Marshall makes in his Greek commentary on Luke. By the way, I should also mention that W. H. Meyer does not make that mistake. He excludes the notion of a dying after the seeing of the kingdom, except the weakness of his position is that he failed to explain why he rejects that position.

 

2) Jesus is primarily addressing disciples. How can they die spiritually?

Now the second objection to this explanation that you will die after you see the kingdom, whether physically or spiritually, is that the words are addressed primarily although not exclusively to the disciples. It is important to observe this. In other words, when you study a passage, you must look at the context. And when you study by comparing the three Gospels, you will soon observe that the passage is addressed primarily to the disciples, but there are also non-disciples, that is, there is a crowd also listening in on what the Lord Jesus is saying to the disciples. So he is primarily speaking to the disciples, but also to the crowd.

This rules out any reference to spiritual death because the words in this context would not be very meaningful if they were addressed to the disciples. He is not saying to them, “You are going to see the kingdom and then you will die spiritually after that.” That will be disastrous! Is this a prediction that all the disciples will be lost? Of course not!

This would only leave the possibility that he is saying some of the disciples would be physically alive when the kingdom comes. But this would rule out the spiritual application.

 

3) Spiritual death does not fit into the context of the cost of discipleship

The third objection to some kind of reference to spiritual death—that God would destroy some of you in hell—is that it does not fit well into the context at all because it is talking about the cost of discipleship. It is a call to discipleship and also an exposition of the cost of discipleship, how costly it is to be a Christian, but what makes the cost worthwhile.

If you tell people discipleship is costly, you also have to explain what makes it worthwhile. You don’t go on to say, “It’s very costly. Moreover, I want to tell you that most of you will perish spiritually.” What kind of connection is this? Or is it the connection to say that if you don’t count the cost correctly, you will perish spiritually? But the disciples have already counted the cost. They are already following him as he has already explained.

We must bear in mind that he is addressing primarily the disciples but not exclusively so. And one point that all the scholars agreed on is that these words must not be taken in a negative sense to mean a warning or a threat: “I say to you that some of you will perish after you see the kingdom.”

 

4) Be born anew or you cannot see the kingdom of God

More seriously, what eliminates both suggestions that it refers to the physical or spiritual death is this most important reason which I am going to mention, and which no one seems to have observed to date for some strange reason.

If we study the Scriptures carefully, you will see all these passages refer to seeing the kingdom. Then how do you see the kingdom? If we remembered one simple lesson, we would have avoided a very serious mistake here. Let us turn to John 3:3, where Jesus speaks to Nicodemus:

Notice again, the words “truly,” and “see.” If we have really grasped the spiritual content of this verse, we would have avoided making all kinds of serious errors. Who can see the kingdom of God? Only the person who is born again can even see it. You cannot see the kingdom of God unless you are born again, born anew.

If we understood this point, we wouldn’t be talking about people dying physically or spiritually after they see the kingdom. Because to talk like this shows that we don’t really understand what is the kingdom. You cannot so much as see the kingdom unless you are born again. So how can that passage refer to unbelievers? How can it refer to any of those people standing there except to those who are born again?

What is more, it is important to understand that the word “see” in John 3:3 is future tense. It does not come out in the word “see” in the English. It is a future middle in the Greek and that is very important to observe. It is a condition and a promise that only those who are born again, who are regenerate will be able to see the kingdom of God.

Now the explanation is perfectly clear. We understand now why these words must be addressed in particular to the disciples. Those present who are not disciples, not believers, will not even see the kingdom because they are unregenerate. But some of the crowd will believe in Jesus; they will see the kingdom of God quite apart from the disciple, but they must be born anew. That is the basic principle. The unregenerate will never see the kingdom of God. Only the regenerate man will see the kingdom.

 

Only the regenerate will see the kingdom of God by way of revelation

Now that would make Matthew 16:28 very easy to understand, but only if we have grasped that principle well. Let us continue to examine this point and begin to see how it emerges consistently in the teaching of the Lord Jesus. Why must you be regenerate to see the kingdom of God? The reason is only the regenerate person is open to God’s revelation. You will see the kingdom only by way of revelation. This point is made very clear by what the Lord Jesus says to his disciples in Luke 10:23-24:

 Why are the disciples blessed to see and hear the things kings and prophets have longed to see and hear but could not? Let us look back at verse 21:

In other words, the Lord Jesus is saying the spiritual things of God cannot be seen, heard, understood or perceived except that God reveal them to you. If you don’t see it, it’s not because you are stupid or unlearned, it is because God has not revealed it to you. Therefore, unless you commit your life totally to God, and he regenerates you, making a new person out of you, you cannot see the kingdom, you simply cannot perceive spiritual truth. So God has hidden these things from the learned, the intelligent; and revealed them to babes. These are people who are willing to put away their arrogance and yield themselves as little children who are dependent on God, their Father. This is wonderful! In other words, unless there is a change of heart within you, you cannot see the things of God, you cannot see the kingdom.

Here is the blessed word in Matthew 16:28,

They will see the kingdom of God coming in power (Mk. 9:1). Oh, that is a glorious revelation! By now, I think once we have understood John 3:3, Matthew 16:28 is becoming very clear to understand: Some of you standing here will be regenerate, and you will see God’s kingdom for only the regenerate can see it.

This point is a consistent element in the Bible. You can see that for example, what Paul says in Ephesians 1:18-20:

Paul seems to be just commentating on Matthew 16:28 in his letter. He says that as God enlightens your eyes, and he will continue to do so, you will see what it is you are hoping for: the very coming of his kingdom, and that coming of the greatness of his power – a power which was already demonstrated in the raising of Christ from the dead!

By this time, this teaching of the Lord Jesus that the kingdom is spiritual and visible only to those who are regenerate becomes very clear to understand.

 

To see the kingdom of God is to see life, to experience eternal life

But seeing the kingdom is to see life. You will know that life and kingdom are parallel in the Lord’s teaching.

In John 3:3, Jesus said,

Let us turn in John 3:36, a little further along:

I have to keep mentioning the Scriptural passages so that you will see my exposition is not based on my opinions but on the Word of God.

Now notice the future tense again – “shall not see” life. What does the Lord Jesus mean by “shall not see life”? I see the people around me are all alive. I see life. No, that is not life. “Life” here is God’s life. You will not see the kingdom unless you are regenerate. You will not see (God’s) life unless you are born again.

He who believes in the Son, who commits his life to the Son has eternal life. Notice the word “obey” and “believe” are simply parallel to each other. What does believe mean? Believe simply means obey. These two parts of the verse are parallel to each other. He who does not believe or does not obey the Son shall not see life. But he who believes or obeys the Son has eternal life.

What does this verse have to do with the passage we are studying? Seeing life is seeing the kingdom, but those who don’t obey will not see it. Therefore, again this verse cannot refer to unbelievers. They cannot see life. They cannot see the kingdom. Seeing here means to experience it. It’s not seeing in some kind of intellectual sense, seeing by looking through a telescope and observing in the distance. We shall see this in the next passage.

 

To see (experience) the kingdom of God is not to see (experience) spiritual death

Jesus says in John 8:51,

Here again are the words “truly, truly.” Each of these passages come with this solemn expression of importance. There will be some of you standing here who will not see death. What will you see? You will see the kingdom; you will see life. Everything is very, very clear. No problem there at all. “Some of you standing here will see the kingdom, you will not see death.”

We will look at the meaning of the word “until” in a moment. It does not at all mean you will see death after you see life. What kind of a statement is this? When you see the kingdom, it is to see life. How is it that you will see death after you see life? This becomes a statement of nonsense. No, the whole point is you will never see death. That is exactly what the Lord Jesus says here.

Read those words again in John 8:51.

Remember that “to believe” is exactly the same as “to obey”, “to keep my word” (cf. Jo. 3:36).

In the next verse, John 8:52, notice the word “taste” which has to do with Matthew 16:28 and all the parallel passages:

You can see that their opinion of Jesus was very high! Like the liberals, he is wrong, he is mad, he has a demon. All this is a very interesting assessment of Jesus. The Jews are quoting him, “You said if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death.” Now you will see that the words “see” and “taste” actually mean the same thing. The word “taste” here is just an idiom for experiencing something.

When we apply this insight back to Matthew 16:28, Mark 9:1 and so forth: “There are some standing here who will not taste death until you see… the kingdom,” you could turn it the other way around: “Some will not see death until you taste the kingdom”

It will be exactly the same in meaning because these words are synonyms. Or you can put it this way:

“There will be some standing here who will not see death until they see the kingdom.”

Or, “they will not taste death until they taste the kingdom.”

Or, “they will not experience death until they experience the kingdom.”

 

Those who believe in Christ have passed from death to life

We can see the Lord Jesus constantly teaches this teaching. It is not confined to one particular passage. To give you a few more examples of this, let us stay in John for the moment, and go to John 5:24. As I say, I have to keep referring to passages in Scripture because it is essential that you see that my exposition is not my opinion, that it is firmly based in the Lord Jesus’ own words.

Again, we see the words, “truly, truly.” It seems that every time, it comes to something about not tasting death or seeing life, the Lord Jesus prefaces these life and death statements with the words, “truly, truly.” Again, this statement is exactly parallel to the passages we are looking at in Matthew 16 and Mark 9. In other words, he does not go back to death again, he doesn’t taste death anymore, but has passed from death to life.

 

He who eats bread from heaven will not taste death; he has eternal life

Let us look at John 6:47, where the Lord Jesus says,

Then, he says in verses 49-50,

Try to bear the parallel meaning in your minds. In what sense did their fathers die? They died physically. They died, but those who eat this bread will not die, they do not see death. This is truly quite remarkable!

And then just a little further on in verse 58, the same statement is then made:

Whoever feeds on this bread will never die! These are the same words as “will not taste death” in Matthew 16:28, because they will have eternal life. (Jo. 6:47) So the words “not taste death” have to do with eternal life.

“Your fathers did not have this eternal life which I am offering.” Certainly, they died physically, but remember the Lord Jesus is not talking physically. He is talking spiritually. His words are spiritual, they are spirit and they are life. “I came to bring eternal life.” That is the quality of God’s life.

This does not mean the fathers will perish forever. This is another issue altogether. They will also live in the kingdom, but not in quite the same way as the sons of God in this new covenant of grace.

 

In the Bible, “sleep” describes a Christian’s physical death

Those who obey Jesus will not taste death because they have eternal life. These words are everywhere in the Lord Jesus’ teaching. Let us read John 11:25-26.

The Lord Jesus is saying to Martha, “He who believes in me, though he die physically, yet shall he live because he has eternal life.” I have expounded this particular passage in its depth, its power and its beauty, that in a sense we die, and in a sense we do not die. This is truly remarkable and truly powerful! But suffice it to say that the Lord Jesus is saying here in this remarkable way, that those who have committed themselves to him, who obey him, they never die, they will not taste death. And of course, he is speaking spiritually.

In line with this, you will find that in the Bible, when a Christian dies physically, he is said to fall asleep. A Christian is not said to die, he sleeps. You will constantly find in the New Testament, this reference to sleep which refers to physical death, for example, in 1 Corinthians Chapter 15. In that sense, a Christian does not die, he only sleeps. Let me give you a few examples. After Paul had listed all the people to whom the Lord Jesus appeared to after his resurrection, he said in 1 Corinthians 15:6,

Notice, he doesn’t use the word “die.” Christians do not die, they sleep. It’s hard to remember that when you lose one of your loved ones, isn’t it? He only sleeps, because if he or she belongs to Christ, “he that believes in me though he die yet shall he live.” In that sense, he will never die.

Then the so-called “sleep” occurs again, in 1 Corinthians 15:20,

Again, death is spoken of as sleep.

Verse 51 says the same thing:

A Christian does not die; he sleeps. 1 Thessalonians 4:14 is another instance, and so we can go on. But suffice it to see by now that sleep is what happens to Christians, because we have entered life. This is truly powerful, truly remarkable! We have passed from death to life (Jo. 11:25-26). And when you have passed from death to life, you don’t die again.

 

We will not taste death because Jesus has tasted death for us

The Lord Jesus said, “Some of you standing here will not taste death.” Why don’t we die? Why will we not taste death? The Lord Jesus is saying, “The reason is I will taste death for you. (I will die in your place.)” Hebrews 2:9 uses exactly the same expression as here in Matthew 16:28, Christ “might taste death for everyone.”

It doesn’t take profound logic to see that if he tasted death for us, and we also taste death, then why did he taste death for us? He died for me precisely that I may not die. If he died and I must also die, why did he die for me?

Now we can see that the whole reference is to spiritual living and spiritual dying. Therefore when the Lord Jesus is saying, “There are some standing here who will not taste death,” he means:

By now, I hope that the meaning becomes quite self-explanatory.

 

Use of heos an:

Psalm 110

Let us look at this word “until,” whether it means that you will see the kingdom and then die after that; you will see death after seeing life. It doesn’t even make any kind of sense.

If anyone had taken the trouble to examine the use of the word “until,” heos an in the Scriptures, you will see that it does not necessarily mean that there is a reversal after the “until,” that is, you will die after you see the kingdom of God.

The most frequently quoted passage in the New Testament is Psalm 110:1, for example, in Matthew 22:44.

Here the same construction in the Greek, heos an appears, and you judge whether this means a reversal in meaning or not. What does the word “until,” heos an mean here? Does it mean that God says to Christ, “Sit at my right hand, this place of exaltation and glory until I subject your enemies to you, I put your enemies under your feet; and after that, I will say, ‘Bye-bye, you can get off the throne now’”? Is that what it means?

Obviously, such an understanding of the word “until”, of “heos an” is ridiculous. The whole point is that God says to Christ, “You will constantly be in a position of glory. You will never cease to be in a position of glory next to me on my right hand, the highest seat of honor.”

Here the Greek word heos an, which is translated as “until,” is exactly the same word used in Matthew 16:28, where it is translated as “until” or “before.” There is no adversative sense, no reversal in meaning here. Christ will always have the name above every name because his enemies are put under his feet. Or indeed, when his enemies are put under his feet, then he will have the name that is above every name. At no time will he be more truly at the right hand of the Father as then. So the word “until” does not mean any kind of change in meaning.

Psalm 110:1 is quoted many times in the New Testament, other examples being in Acts 2:35, Hebrews 1:13, to name a few. Anyone who would like to study the linguistic evidence of the word heos an is welcome to ask me about it directly because I don’t wish to burden you with a mass of technical matter as all the evidence on this word.

 

1 Corinthians 4:5

Just briefly, another example of heos an is in 1 Corinthians 4:5. There Paul says,

By “before the time,” Paul means before the Lord Jesus comes. What does that mean? Does the word “before” or “until” mean that you don’t pronounce judgment now, but when the Lord Jesus comes, you can start pronouncing judgment? Of course not! The whole point is that when the Lord Jesus comes, it is not you pronouncing judgment but God. You will never pronounce judgment. So “before” or “until” means you will never do it.

Therefore the words heos an quoted from Psalm 110:1 mean Christ will always sit at God’s right hand; and in 1 Corinthians 4:5, heos an mean you will never pronounce judgment because God will pronounce the judgment. Far from indicating a reversal in meaning, it actually emphasizes the continuation of the original meaning.

We can go on analyzing other verses with heos an in the New Testament and come to the same conclusion.

I have also made a careful study of the use of the words, heos an in the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament, and find the same thing to be true with some exceptions. The point is that the words don’t necessarily have a reversal in meaning. This is very important to grasp.

 

Does “see the kingdom of God” refer to see the transfiguration of Jesus?

Suggestions have been offered as to the meaning of this passage in a number of ways. Some have suggested that “seeing the kingdom” means seeing the Transfiguration, as you will notice that the Transfiguration follows this passage. This does not apply because of the nearness in time. What we need to observe is that the kingdom of God comes in a number of stages, and that each of these manifesta­tions of the kingdom are a foretaste of the final coming of the kingdom. For example, the Transfiguration is a foretaste of the com­ing of the kingdom so that in seeing the Transfiguration, you have seen or experienced a foretaste of that coming kingdom. But the Transfiguration does not exhaust the meaning of seeing the king­dom.

Again, some suggest that it refers to Pentecost, and that is also correct, but only as a foretaste to seeing the kingdom. Pentecost does not exhaust the coming of the kingdom.

Again, others have suggested that it refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. That again, is merely a foretaste of the kingdom, of the execution of the Lord Jesus’ kingly rule when he comes.

No, we can see that the context refers to the Second Coming of Christ. This is very plain as you read the previous verse, Matthew 16:27, the Lord Jesus speaks of his Second Coming, the Day when he will come in his glory, with his holy angels to judge the people.

 

Distinguish between see the kingdom and see the Son of man himself

What will be visible? It is the coming of Christ! People will see Christ at the Second Coming. What will not be visible is the coming of the kingdom; the coming of the kingdom is never visible. That is something that you must carefully distinguish in your minds and not make an error. The whole world will see Jesus when he comes again. They will see the Son of man but they will not see the kingdom, they will not experience life. To see the kingdom is to experience the kingdom, to experience the life. These are entirely two separate things.

One of the major problems for the misinterpretation of this passage, or the inability to interpret this passage was the failure to distin­guish between seeing the kingdom and seeing the Son of man himself. There is a world of difference.

You may see the Son of man coming in his kingdom if you are a regenerate person because in order to see him coming in his king­dom, you must be able to see his kingdom. Every eye will see Jesus, the Son of man, when he comes, but only the regenerate will experience the kingdom of God. Those who are not regenerate cannot experience the kingdom of God. That is vital.

The Lord Jesus said to the Pharisees in Luke 17:20-21, that the kingdom of God will not come with observation. You will not see how the kingdom is coming because the kingdom of God is within you. It is spiritual. It is either within you, or it’s not there at all. It doesn’t necessarily mean it is within the Pharisees. The Lord Jesus is telling the Pharisees: “The kingdom of God is either within you or it’s not there at all.”

The kingdom of God is spiritual and only the regenerate person can see it. It’s not something physical that you can observe— as though you observe the stars, the sun and the moon—or calculate in some external manner.

 

The cost of discipleship is worthwhile, for we will experience life in his kingdom at Jesus’ coming

So then let us conclude. I said at the beginning that there are some passages which are apparently simple and yet profoundly difficult. Yet, there are some passages which seem to be difficult but are profoundly simple. I let you judge for yourself what the Lord Jesus is saying here. The meaning of his words are profoundly clear when you understand it in the context of his whole teaching.

He is saying, “Count the cost of discipleship. The cost is high but is it worth it? Certainly, it’s worth it because you will have eternal life. And there will be some of you standing here who will not taste death because you will see the kingdom of God. You will see eternal life. You will never taste death.”

Is it worth paying the cost? It’s a very high cost to become a disciple, but it’s so worthwhile because it involves God giving his life to us. And we will never taste death—because Christ has tasted death for every man and freed us from the bondage of death—but we will experience the life in his kingdom in all its fullness. This will take place when Jesus comes again, when he comes in his kingdom in the glory of his Father, that kingdom which we will experience.

We thank God for such precious words of the Lord Jesus! They seem to me easy to understand, but are profoundly deep, powerful, and precious!

Let us be quiet before God in prayer.