Mark 9:1 NKJV
[1] And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.”
Luke 9:27 NKJV
[27] "But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”
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Matthew 16:28 is one of the passages often used for the second coming of Christ. The NKJV entitles this passage, "The Prophecy of the Second Coming". Though the Bible does teach that Jesus will return, I am not certain that this is one of the passages that says so.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all include this passage, and Jesus is recorded in each one as telling his disciples, "there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see" the event take place. Well, it has been over 2,000 years since Jesus said this, and he still has not returned. All of his disciples who were with him at the time he made this statement have all tasted death. If this is a prophecy of Jesus's second coming, then he is a false prophet because it did not come true.
However, Jesus is not a false prophet. The truth is, the passage is probably not about his second coming at all, but rather about his first coming, and bringing his kingdom with him at that time.
Of the three Gospels in which the event is recorded, Matthew is the only one who includes, "the Son of Man coming in His kingdom", which has led people to believe that he is referring to his second coming.
However, the other two parallel passages do not refer to Jesus coming, but to the coming of his kingdom. Matthew is also referring to the coming of the Kingdom, but he also said that Jesus will accompany its coming.
Mark's account says that some who were present with Jesus when he said this, would not die before they saw the kingdom of God present with power.
Luke said that they would not die before seeing the kingdom of God.
According to these passages, some who were alive and present when Jesus made the statement, saw the kingdom of God present (in their time) with power.
Paul wrote, "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love" (Colossians 1:13).
According to Paul, believers are saved from the power of darkness and brought into the kingdom Jesus (God's kingdom where Jesus reigns as King). Paul's teaching agrees with Jesus, and that is that the Kingdom of God has come and is here now.
I highly doubt that Jesus was talking about the second coming in this passage, when he would return and bring his kingdom with him, as some Bible translations and Christian tradition suggests, otherwise he would have been a false prophet because his listeners are long gone without ever seeing his return.
He was likely referring to his first coming. Jesus brought the Kingdom with him when he came the first time. He established it in the midst of the world. It is here now, present among us (Luke 17:21).
Jesus is a king; he is the King of kings. A king is only a king if he reigns over a kingdom. Jesus is the king of God's present, everlasting kingdom, which is comprised of those who are subject to Jesus's Kingship.
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