Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Jesus

Day 24

OT Reading: Exodus 7-8

NT Reading: Matthew 17

At the end of yesterday's reading there was a verse that I wanted to mention today. The verse was Matthew 16:28 which reads, "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." When mentioning this verse I often get questions about what exactly Jesus means by this. So, here are some common interpretations:

Jesus is saying that one or more of the apostles would still be alive (i.e. had not died) when he returns.

Yes, there are people who believe that out there is still one of the original apostles hanging out and still alive in the world today. Of course that would mean that the man is over 2,000 years old, but hey look at the guy in the cave from The Last Crusade. He didn't look all that bad.

Jesus is talking about the Apostle John who wrote the book of Revelation.

I can buy this one. The Apostle John did in fact witness (in a vision) the return of Jesus so that he could write to us about it. That makes this interpretation quite plausible.

Jesus is talking about the Transfiguration.

This one takes a bit more explaining. During today's reading we read how Jesus was "transfigured" into his glorified state. Which means Peter, James and John all got to witness him in his heavenly form. His heavenly form is essentially the form in which he's displayed with all the power and authority that comes with his place in his own Kingdom.

The reason I lean more towards the third option is simply because of its placement. I truly think that Matthew (and Mark for that matter) intentionally spoke of those who would see Jesus in his glory right before they saw Jesus glorified.

There are other interpretations, but those are the big ones that I've seen/read the most. Is it a big deal which way we lean? I don't think so. But it is good for us to deal with some of these questions that exist in our daily readings. Plus, every time I read this passage I want to pull out my Indiana Jones trilogy one more time...and yes I say "trilogy" because I'm pretending as though the most recent movie never really happened.