27For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.
28Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
There are various Futurist interpretations of Matt.16:28:
1. It refers to the transfiguration passage immediately following it in the context of Mt.16:28 & the other 2 parallel passages in the other gospels:
"It is important to see when Matthew 16:28 was literally fulfilled. To find a literal fulfillment we need only look to the next chapter (Matthew 17), where we find that the "some standing here" refers to Peter, James and John and "seeing the Son of man coming in His kingdom" refers to the transfiguration. This is confirmed by 2 Peter 1:16-18 where the transfiguration is said to be "the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." The transfiguration was a marvelous preview of the Lord's future coming in His kingdom majesty."
Preterism and Matthew 16:28
"The Lord's promise refers to literally seeing—in a picture . . . in a foreview—the Son of Man coming in His kingdom (a preview of Christ in the glory of His kingdom), which is in perfect accord with all other scripture revelation on the subject, and particularly as to the nature of the kingdom. It is in perfect harmony with all other scripture (2 Pet. 1:20), including the immediate context, and thus the correct and genuine literal interpretation."
Preterism Answered - Matthew 16:28
"Moreover, against the idea that this verse refers to A.D. 70 is the pivotal fact that some of the disciples “standing” there were no longer alive by A.D. 70 (all but John had been martyred by then). Still further, no astronomical events occurred in A.D. 70, such as the stars falling from heaven and the heavens being shaken (Matthew 24:29). And Jesus did not return “on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30)."
The Problem with Preterism | Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries
2. It is conditional based on Israel's repentance, which did not occur at that time or during that generation:
"The subjunctive mood calls attention to the contingent (i.e., dependent) nature of what is being affirmed. It speaks of the connection which obtains between what is affirmed and that upon which the affirmation depends for its fulfillment...if that upon which a declaration expressed in the subjunctive mood depends, is not unrevisably certain, the declaration itself is revisable and is not certain to occur... if the will of God, then revealed, was not peremptory, then these prophecies were not certain to occur in that generation...It should be noted that the prophecies of the establishment of the kingdom within that present generation of Israelites to whom Christ came, were necessarily provisional. They were contingent upon Israel’s national repentance and acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah and Saviour.
This Generation
"This indeterminacy may be a bigger issue than it might appear at first. There are several schools of thought that see a "parenthesis" in this period, corresponding to the age of the Church--cf. Rom 11.25, and some that see the entire event-stream as being conditional like the prophecy of Jonah 3.4. There were Jewish groups that also held this conditional nature of the timing of the 2nd Advent. So Keener (BBC:115) summarizes:"
"Jewish teachers struggled with a tension between two positions: (1) one could predict when the Messiah would come, in a time ordained only by God; and (2) one could not predict his coming, but he would come whenever Israel repented and wholly followed God. This is a distinct possibility."
http://christianthinktank.com/qaim.html
3. "...of the appearance of his kingdom, in greater glory and power, upon his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension to heaven; when the Spirit was poured down in an extraordinary manner, and the Gospel was preached all over the world; was confirmed by signs and wonders, and made effectual to the conversion and salvation of many souls; which many then present lived to see, and were concerned in"(Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)
"The reference, beyond doubt, is to the firm establishment and victorious progress, in the lifetime 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." (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)
"This inclineth others to think, that it is to be understood of Christ’s showing forth his power in the destruction of Jerusalem. But the most generally received opinion, and which seemeth to be best, is, that the coming of the Son of man here meant is, his resurrection from the dead. His ascension into heaven, and sending the Holy Spirit, after which the kingdom of grace came with a mighty power, subduing all nations to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was declared, (or determined), to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Romans 1:4. And when, after his resurrection from the dead, they asked him, Acts 1:6, whether he would at that time restore the kingdom to Israel, he puts them off, and tells them for an answer, Acts 1:8, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. And then, Acts 1:9, he in their sight ascended up into heaven. Then did the kingdom of the Son of man come with power, Acts 2:33-36, they knowing assuredly that the Son of man, whom the Jews had crucified, was made both Lord and Christ, as Acts 2:36, and, as Acts 2:34,35, set at God’s right hand, (according to the prophecy of David, Psalm 90:1), until his enemies should be made his footstool. (Matthew Poole's Commentary)
"His conspicuous coming to judgment (see Gnomon on Matthew 16:13) is meant, which would begin to follow immediately after His ascension." (Bengel's Gnomen)
"Son of man coming in his kingdom - Mark and Luke have explained this: Mark 9:1, "Until they have seen the kingdom of God come with power;" Luke 9:27, "Till they see the kingdom of God." The meaning evidently is, "till they shall see my kingdom," i. e., my church, now small, feeble, and despised, greatly enlarged, established, and spreading with great rapidity and extent. All this was accomplished. All these apostles, except Judas, lived to see the wonders of the day of Pentecost; some of them, John particularly, saw the Jewish nation scattered, the temple destroyed, the gospel established in Asia, Rome, Greece, and in a large part of the known world." (Barnes' Notes on the Bible)
4. "to have regard to his coming, to show his regal power and authority in the destruction of the Jews; when those his enemies that would not he should reign over them, were ordered to be brought and slain before him; and this the Apostle John, for one, lived to be a witness of..." (Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible @
Matthew 16:28 Commentaries: "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.")
"This advent is doubtless the destruction of Jerusalem, which, as it occurred only some forty years after this time, some of his auditors, apostles and the multitude, would live to behold. This great event was a type of the second advent, the two being closely connected by Christ himself (see ch. 24.)." (Pulpit Commentary)
5. "And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ."
"Here we see how Simeon was promised that he would behold the object of his delight before he should taste of death. This is precisely what Jesus is promising his hearers in Matthew 16:27-28!"
"For evidence to support the idea that individuals would behold the kingdom in power and glory, take a look at Stephen’s martyrdom in Acts 7:"
"Acts 7:54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.”
"Notice again that the immediate context of the coming of the son of man passage in focus is persecution and martyrdom:
"From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?"
"Now, what is it about this context that would lead a person to think of a single, impersonal event 40 years in the future? It just isn't there.
"Instead, the similarities between the martyrdom in Acts 7 and the promise in Matthew 16 are staring us in the face"
Todd Dennis - Matthew 16:27-28 is NOT a "Preterist Time Indicator" pointing to AD70 (2008) @ PreteristArchive.com, The Internet's Only Balanced Look at Preterist Eschatology
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"At least six plausible possibilities have been advanced.
1. Jesus looked to His resurrection.37
2. Jesus meant His ascension.38
3. Jesus looked ahead to the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost.39
4. Jesus pointed to a coming in A.D. 70—the preterist view.40
5. Jesus referred to the advance of His kingdom through the church.41
6. Jesus had the transfiguration in mind.42"
https://www.tms.edu/m/tmsj14a.pdf
