Matthew 16:27-28

16:27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. ¹  16:28 I tell you the truth, ²  there are some standing here who will not ³  experience ⁴  death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” ⁵ 

[16:27]  ¹ sn An allusion to Pss 28:4; 62:12; cf. Prov 24:12.

[16:28]  ² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[16:28]  ³ tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

[16:28]  ⁴ tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[16:28]  ⁵ sn Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the Son of Man coming in his kingdom: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit; (4) Christ’s role in the Church; (5) the destruction of Jerusalem; (6) Jesus’ second coming and the establishment of the kingdom. The reference to six days later in 17:1 seems to indicate that Matthew had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom (although this interpretation is not without its problems). As such, the transfiguration would be a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (in vv. 21-23), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan.