1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”
This leads into an entirely different subject, although as written in the red-letter Bible in the ESV it is recorded as part of the same speech recorded above…..why did Jesus switch from ‘afterlife judgement’ to people who were standing listening as He spoke who would “not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” Today we get the answer!
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”
Comment: This is a wonderful scene! It is almost as if a small window in the heavens opened and God the Father shone down a beam of Glory to ‘light’ a meeting between His Son, Moses and Elijah. Moses was the one whom God had used to give the ‘law’ and to lead the Israelites from slavery under the Egyptians. Elijah was one of the greatest prophets and who was promised to announce, as a forerunner the coming of the Christ. Elijah’s prophesied announcement was performed by John the Baptist. Peter had to say something! But then God speaks. The disciples were there to fulfill the words which Jesus had spoken, six days earlier, promising that some would see the kingdom of God before they died! But after they descended why the secrecy? Jesus had to be crucified as the sacrifice for our sin before people acclaimed Him as their King, because of what He had done and this experience was conclusional of Him being the Messiah. Can you imagine what modern media would have made if this story had got into their ears? The sad thing is that the whole story of Jesus is ‘out’ but most people poo-hoo it!
Proverbs 5: 12-14 – and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.”
Prayer: Sometimes I fail to see and obey what You so clearly point out. Please forgive me yet again, and with the Holy Spirit’s help may I keep my mind wide open to You.
As I read it! 