Originally posted by 37818
View Post
For instance, consider the interpretation provided by R. T. France in The Gospel of Matthew (NICNT: Eerdmans, 2007), pages 640-641, comment on Matthew 16:28, via Accordance):
28 This future authority of the Son of Man is now given a timescale. Some of those standing there as Jesus speaks will still be alive to see it. The solemn introductory formula “I tell you truly” (see on 5:18) and the emphatic wording “will by no means taste death” mark this out as a pronouncement to be noted. The wording seems unnecessarily heavy: “there are some of those standing here who will” seems a long-winded way of saying “some of you will,” and “will by no means taste death before they see” seems a complicated way of saying “will live to see,” or “will see before you die.” But it is the preceding words which have produced this solemn wording. Jesus has spoken in vv. 24–26 of martyrdom as a realistic prospect for those who follow him, but not all of them will “taste” that death before his kingship is revealed to them. Some of them may be martyred before that, but not all.
So how and when might some of them expect to see “the Son of Man coming in his kingship”? Perhaps the simplest answer is to link these words with the further allusion to Dan 7:14 in 28:18, where after the resurrection eleven of them (“some,” not all, following the death of Judas) will encounter Jesus now endowed with “all authority in heaven and on earth.” But that will be only the beginning of an extended period during which the newly established sovereignty of the Son of Man will be increasingly visible. The imminent “seeing” of v. 28 need not then be thought to exhaust the range of application of the fulfillment of Daniel’s vision. Verse 28 speaks of a more specific focus for the more general and timeless authority expressed in v. 27.12 See above on 10:23 for this range of application of the Daniel vision, and below on 26:64 on when Jesus’ judges in the Sanhedrin might be expected to “see” him as king and judge. So it is probably inappropriate to this saying to posit a specific time and place. The point is that while some of them are still alive it will have become clear to those with the eyes to see it that Jesus the Son of Man is enthroned as king.
But the immediate context here suggests another possibility which perhaps better suits the surprising phrase “some of those standing here.” Six days later (an unusually precise time-connection in Matthew, which suggests a deliberate linking of the two pericopes 16:24–28 and 17:1–8) just three (“some”) of those who heard Jesus’ words in 16:28 were to witness a “vision” (17:9) of Jesus in heavenly glory. This was a unique experience granted to those three alone; the rest of the Twelve would not see anything like that before they died. It may be questioned whether the vision on the mountain fully matches the promise of “seeing the Son of Man coming in his kingship,” as that kingship was yet to be established after his death and resurrection hence, no doubt, Jesus’ instruction in 17:9 to keep the vision secret until after the resurrection. But it is likely that Matthew (and Mark and Luke, who use the same awkward phrase about “some of those standing here” and equally closely link that saying with the following account of the Transfiguration) saw in this vision at least a proleptic fulfillment of Jesus’ solemn words in v. 28, even though the truth of Jesus’ kingship was to be more concretely embodied in later events following his resurrection.
So how and when might some of them expect to see “the Son of Man coming in his kingship”? Perhaps the simplest answer is to link these words with the further allusion to Dan 7:14 in 28:18, where after the resurrection eleven of them (“some,” not all, following the death of Judas) will encounter Jesus now endowed with “all authority in heaven and on earth.” But that will be only the beginning of an extended period during which the newly established sovereignty of the Son of Man will be increasingly visible. The imminent “seeing” of v. 28 need not then be thought to exhaust the range of application of the fulfillment of Daniel’s vision. Verse 28 speaks of a more specific focus for the more general and timeless authority expressed in v. 27.12 See above on 10:23 for this range of application of the Daniel vision, and below on 26:64 on when Jesus’ judges in the Sanhedrin might be expected to “see” him as king and judge. So it is probably inappropriate to this saying to posit a specific time and place. The point is that while some of them are still alive it will have become clear to those with the eyes to see it that Jesus the Son of Man is enthroned as king.
But the immediate context here suggests another possibility which perhaps better suits the surprising phrase “some of those standing here.” Six days later (an unusually precise time-connection in Matthew, which suggests a deliberate linking of the two pericopes 16:24–28 and 17:1–8) just three (“some”) of those who heard Jesus’ words in 16:28 were to witness a “vision” (17:9) of Jesus in heavenly glory. This was a unique experience granted to those three alone; the rest of the Twelve would not see anything like that before they died. It may be questioned whether the vision on the mountain fully matches the promise of “seeing the Son of Man coming in his kingship,” as that kingship was yet to be established after his death and resurrection hence, no doubt, Jesus’ instruction in 17:9 to keep the vision secret until after the resurrection. But it is likely that Matthew (and Mark and Luke, who use the same awkward phrase about “some of those standing here” and equally closely link that saying with the following account of the Transfiguration) saw in this vision at least a proleptic fulfillment of Jesus’ solemn words in v. 28, even though the truth of Jesus’ kingship was to be more concretely embodied in later events following his resurrection.
Leave a comment: