Was Jesus a liar?

I know, that title almost sounds blasphemous, but that is how the question was posed on a recent radio talk show. It is in reference to Matthew 16:28, I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. (NET) The idea is pretty clear, Jesus hasn't come yet and those standing there that day has since died and did not see it. You could soften it a little and say Jesus didn't lie, he was just mistaken, but that still leaves us with a serious problem.

To escalate the issue, the preceding verse seems to demand that interpretation. The verse states, 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. The narrative that was put forth on the radio show goes something like this: Jesus said he was coming back with his angels, and there were some standing there that day that would see that happen before they died. If that is the way you want to read those verses and demand it to be the only meaning, then you only have two options, he lied, or he was just simply wrong.

The first thing I notice about the text is it speaks of the effort the scribes put into copying the text accurately.  Obviously, if they were going to change it along the way, you would think they would just leave this verse out after the fact. So we must conclude that is what the text said, and they were determined to copy it accurately. 

But are there any other possible interpretations? Often our first conclusions are base on quick references, but a further study reveals other possibilities. One way to understand this passage is simply as two statements related and connected to the subject, but speaking broadly concerning the events. Verse 27 speaking concerning the end results, and verse 28 speaking of the beginning results. In other words, verse 27 was speaking of the end and the judgment, verse 28 speaking of the beginning of the kingdom, which they themselves would see. We know Jesus spoke using such language from his conversation with Nicodemus in John 3:1, Now a certain man, a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council, came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3, Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (NET) Clearly, it was understood that the Kingdom was visible in the spiritual sense, which the disciples that were then present in verse 28 of Matthew would see when they were born again. 

Another possibility would be the transfiguration which would occur 6 days later, which is recorded in the succeeding chapter of Matthew. It's even more suggestive in the account recorded in the Gospel of Mark, who records many of the same events but at a much faster pace.  Mark 9:1 And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.” 2, Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John and led them alone up a high mountain privately. And he was transfigured before them, 3, and his clothes became radiantly white, more so than any launderer in the world could bleach them. 4, Then Elijah appeared before them along with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. (NET) The Greek word translated “in his Kingdom” in Matthew 16:28 is βασιλεία which carries the meaning of royalty, i.e., (abstractly) rule, or (concretely) a realm (literally or figuratively) That certainly would fit the description of the event that would occur 6 days later.

There are other possible ways to understand what those with him that day would actually see. Those who want to find fault with the Bible will obviously demand the first interpretation and thereby render the Bible false and Jesus a liar. Christians will obviously look to one of the other ways to understand it. 

Critics will use such difficult texts to further criticize the Bible, using them as examples to prove we can't really know what it says. That is true in certain cases, there are passages in scripture that are obscure and because of the passage of time we may never know the exact meaning that was intended. It doesn't mean the text is incorrect or corrupted, it is simply difficult for us to know exactly how the first readers would have understood it because of the passage of time. 

This is one of those passages, however, by applying other text such John 3:1 or Mark 9:2 we gain much greater insight. The problem the radio host had, was limiting his insight to those two verses alone and linking them together in such a strict manner, he was not allowing for any other understanding. When reading the Bible, we are not able to ask the author what he may have meant about a particular phase. So it becomes necessary in cases like this to look to other passages that may explain the phase in more detail. How does the Bible understand the term “Kingdom”? We can see from Eph. 5:5, that Jesus has a Kingdom right now, verse 5 For you can be confident of this one thing: that no person who is immoral, impure, or greedy (such a person is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Also, Col. 1:13, He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, and 1st Thess 2:12, exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you live in a way worthy of God who calls you to his own kingdom and his glory. 

Acts 1: 3, To the same apostles also, after his suffering, he presented himself alive with many convincing proofs. He was seen by them over a forty-day period and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God. 

Acts 8:12, But when they believed Philip as he was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they began to be baptized, both men and women.  

Romans 14: 17, For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. 

1 Cor. 4:20, For the kingdom of God is demonstrated not in idle talk but with power. 

We could go on and on, speaking of the Kingdom. It seems to me this would most likely be the Kingdom that Jesus was referring to when he told them there would be some standing there that would see him coming in his Kingdom. I would even include the transfiguration in the next chapter as a part of that. I can understand how an atheist could see that as a false statement or contradiction, but it is because he has no desire to discover any other possibilities, what he thinks he sees achieves what he's trying to prove. Furthermore, I don't know if he would even accept the other interpretations as viable, probably not, but it is certainly not a text that Christians have any difficulty with. 

Hope this was helpful,

David