ProlepsisOpen in the graph →

Prophecy

“Some of those standing here will not taste of death” (Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27; Matthew 10:23)

The Transfiguration, artist’s impression by Raphael (1516-1520): the scene that follows Matt 16:28 and that some readers put forward as its fulfillment.
Artist’s impression The Transfiguration, artist’s impression by Raphael (1516-1520): the scene that follows Matt 16:28 and that some readers put forward as its fulfillment. — Raphael, Wikimedia Commons · Domaine public

⊘ Not fulfilled as written

Written c. 30–62 AD according to tradition; c. 64–90 AD according to historians. Event: c. 70–117 AD.

See the full entry: sources, objections, answers

In short

The announcement. Jesus, in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke (words spoken around 30), tells his disciples that some of them will not die before they see him “coming in his Kingdom”. Elsewhere, he tells them that they will not have finished going through the towns of Israel before his coming.

What happened. No source reports a public coming of Jesus during the disciples' lifetime. They die in the 1st century; according to an ancient tradition, the apostle John was still alive under the emperor Trajan (98-117). Only the Bible tells the events that believers put forward as an answer: the Transfiguration, told just afterward, and Pentecost.

What is still debated. believers see the fulfillment in the Transfiguration, Pentecost or the ruin of Jerusalem in 70, whereas skeptics see in it a coming at the end of time, promised within the lifetime of the hearers, that did not take place.

What is surprising

The first Christians saw in it a deadline within their lifetime: the Gospel of John has to deny the rumor that a disciple would not die. Since Antiquity, believers have proposed several fulfillments, from the Transfiguration to the fall of Jerusalem in 70: the difficulty is an old one.

Main objection (in French for now)

Reimarus, résumé par Schweitzer : Mt 16:28 « promet l’accomplissement de toutes les espérances messianiques avant la fin de la génération présente » ; rien ne justifie de le tordre ou de l’expliquer autrement.

The text (World English Bible)

Most certainly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste of death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

Matt 16:28

But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next, for most certainly I tell you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man has come.

Matt 10:23

Sources