Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life[g] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Mark’s account (Mark 9:1) reads, “Verily I say to you, That there are certain of those standing here, who may not taste of death till they see the reign of God having come in power” (Young’s Literal Translation). NASB reads, “There are some standing here that shall not taste of death until they see that the kingdom of God after it has come with power” (NASB). In other words, there were those standing nearby that day that would not die until they witnessed that the coming of the Son of Man in the kingdom had come in power! They would live until that event and could connect this prediction of Jesus to its present fulfillment.
The phrase, “some standing here” suggests that others, if not a majority, would die before the parousia. The event was far enough in the future that most of those then living would have already died. However, it was not so far away that some could not and would not have been alive when the event occurred. According to Got Questions Ministries, from www.BibleRef.com, “The most likely answer is that Jesus means the transfiguration. Although the wording sounds awkward if it refers to an event that will happen within a week, the facts are that Peter, James, and John see the glorified Christ before they die.” I concur that it is awkward on several accounts. First, did they see the Son of Man coming with His angels in the glory of His Father in the transfiguration? Second, does the word “some” refer only to three men?
Peter’s reference to the transfiguration in 2 Peter 1:16f, which made the prophetic word more sure, is hardly saying that the transfiguration fulfilled the prediction of Matthew 16:24-28. Matthew 17, which records the transfiguration, did imply the end of an age and the resurgence of the kingdom of Christ. It prefigured the end of the Jewish age that took place in that generation. Moses and Elijah and their words contained in the old covenant that was fulfilled became null and void as an active covenant of the people. God’s anointed is declared to be the only one to whom they should give heed. The father declared, “Hear Him.” They saw a vision of the passing away of the old covenant age. To make this a fulfillment of Matthew 16:28, Peter, James, and John would have been the only three individuals who did not die within two weeks to witness the transfiguration. Second, seeing Jesus conversing with Moses and Elijah and witnessing the testimony of heaven’s choice hardly equals the coming of the Son of Man in His kingdom with His angels. He had not yet died nor was resurrected when he gave this prophecy. Matthew 16:28 is another passage that clarifies the coming of the kingdom of Christ in that generation.
Finally, when we compare the language of this text with Matthew 24:30, we place the coming of the Son of Man in His kingdom with the establishment of His power and kingdom in the context of the destruction of Jerusalem. Matthew 24:30 reads, “— they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.” Verse 34 reads, “— this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” Mt25:31 reads, “— when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him,
then He will sit on His glorious throne.” The coming in His glory with all the angels is a description of Christ sitting on His throne in His kingdom.