The “Space Age” of Jesus' reign from heaven: In other words the time and space between Matthew 16:27 and verse 28 is explained in His own words and defined by His resurrection and ascension until His return. Verse 27 clearly points to His final, visible Second Coming in glory with angels for judgment exactly as Enoch prophesied (Jude 14-15: “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment…”) and which all the disciples knew for basis of their question "when" will that happen.
And "when" will the faithful, rule and reign with Him in the expression of His Kingdom begin?
His declared destruction of the wicked, was part of Jewish expectation and aligns with what the disciples were asking about (“when will this final end happen?” in the broader discourse).
Verse 28 assures that “some standing here” will see the Son of Man “coming in his kingdom” and reign with Him before "tasting death" which is something that was being disclosed in immediate that they did not know yet. They did not yet understand how it would happen, conflating the two widely spaced and millennial gapped events, but thereafter they most certainly did, and the how, for them, was much more important than the when, of His ultimate return at the consummation, for they understood to be absent from the body, is to be present with the Immortal King where He is until then.
The implication in His answer, "some standing here will not taste of death UNTIL" is that they will taste of death, thereafter, so therefore, it cannot be a proclamation of His second coming when death will be finally destroyed completely and in it's entirety forever after.
The swallowing up of all mortality by immortality occurs at His second coming, and there is no more death forever after that.
This fresh reveal of His ascension to Kingdom from heaven, created a "Space Age" of separation bodily from those who would remain on earth to His final coming. His answer and explanation was framed in the validation of already known truth, bridging His resurrection/ascension (about 6–12 months later, depending on exact chronology from Caesarea Philippi) with His second coming, this explanation defines how He must go away, to engage His Kingdom from heaven, in order to then fulfill His return in an already long described event, is a well recognized interpretive option.
Jesus receives “all power… in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18) right after rising — this is the Daniel 7:13-14 enthronement: the Son of Man approaching the Ancient of Days and receiving dominion.
The Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8, six days later) functions beautifully as the “decidedly forecast illumination” and preview as described — a foretaste of resurrection glory for Peter, James, and John.
Many solid interpreters see verses 27–28 as bracketing the whole complex: final return (27) previewed/inaugurated in transfiguration-resurrection-ascension (28).
This is not an artificial gap but prophetic compression common in Scripture (near and far fulfillments in one breath).
Jesus takes them from Enoch’s known prophecy of the end to the surprising near-term inauguration they “had no idea was about to happen sooner than expected.”
Manifest in His ascension to the Throne and John 20:17Jesus’ words to Mary Magdalene at the tomb (“I must ascend unto my Father and your Father…”) explicitly announce the coming ascension (John 20:17).
This is His enthronement by the power and glory of the Father’s right hand (Acts 2:33-36; Ephesians 1:20-22; Hebrews 1:3).
This reference fits comprehensively: He must first ascend and sit on the throne before returning at, and for the consummation. He was preordained to this glory!
Handing the Kingdom Back to the Father at the consummation, is Fully Biblical:
1 Corinthians 15:24-28 — After subduing all enemies (last of all, death), Christ delivers the kingdom back to the Father, by whose power He is enthroned, so “God may be all in all.”
My wording is expressly precise. Apostleship, Eyewitnesses, and the Elisha Parallel, is one of the strongest parts of my statement:
Seeing the resurrected Christ was indeed the defining prerequisite for apostleship recorded in (Acts 1:21-22; 1 Corinthians 15:5-8; Acts 2:32).
The Elisha/Elijah parallel (2 Kings 2) is apt: the successor receives the double portion only after witnessing the master’s departure in glory, or the disciple had only received the half of it lived together in the same body of mortality.
Like as though the disciples had been with Jesus and experienced all the miraculous, wonder of their partnership with Him on earth, but at end, had only witnessed the empty tomb, and not Himself ascended.
Peter, James, and John (and others) lived to see the risen Lord, receive the Spirit at Pentecost, and lay the foundation of the Church (Ephesians 2:20).
Jesus’ promise in 16:28 underwrites this empowerment “by His glory immortal from heaven.” He was endorsing the coming Church age with full commitment.
Some in the larger crowd may have died before the resurrection — “some” allows flexibility, and the promise held for the key eyewitnesses. Concerning overall Prophetic Declaration and Continuity my statement in this regard is Biblically continuous with:
Daniel 7 (kingdom reception).
Enoch/Jude (final judgment).
The Gospels’ passion predictions + resurrection/ascension narrative.
Apostolic witness and the present reign of Christ.
Our blessed hope of consummation and rejoin immortal to Him, when death ends forever.
It avoids making Jesus appear to err on timing, or yield to a misinterpretation that any of the disciples would live in the mortal body, until His final return, while preserving the tension of the “already and not yet" of His present Kingdom from heaven.
The nuance of the Holy Spirit is indispensable here, only He can weave these threads together by one breath from His mouth. (Enoch → Transfiguration preview → Resurrection inauguration → Ascension → Final return) into a unified revelation of Jesus Christ in two verses.
The core revelation here, in Spirit and in truth, is solid.
This remains a faithful presentation of our blessed hope: the King who has come, and who reigns now immortal from heaven, who will come again to make all things new. Revelation 21:5
Rightly dividing by depending on the gift of His Holy Spirit and comparing Scripture with Scripture, reveals, over and over again, He is the main character of it all.
May the reader understand and agree in one Spirit, and one truth eternal, and secured immortal in the body of Jesus Christ! Amen!
