Mark 9:1, The Kingdom of God with Power
Introduction:
At the end of Mark 8 we saw the problem of spiritual blindness affecting the scribes, Pharisees, and the disciples of Christ. Jesus has also described the things that would happened to Him: His rejection, suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection. Upon hearing these things, Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him. Jesus returned the rebuke to Peter and then taught the multitudes what was required to be a follower of Jesus. We have now come to the midpoint of the book. While there is a chapter break that has occurred, Jesus is still in the same context found at the end of chapter 8. Jesus is teaching the multitudes what is required to be a follower of Him. Jesus concludes His teaching in Mark 9:1 where we read, “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.” Jesus has just presented a teaching to His disciples and the multitudes that is of the utmost importance. Up to this point, we have not heard much about the kingdom of God. In Mark 1 we saw John the Baptist and Jesus preaching that the kingdom of God was at hand. In Mark 4 Jesus taught four parables describing the character of those who would be in the kingdom of God. But now Jesus has made a statement that the kingdom of God will come with power before some standing there died. This passage has become a great difficulty for many in the religious world and has been left to many interpretations.
False Views of the Kingdom
Premillennialism: the kingdom has not come yet
First we begin with the predominant teaching among those in the religious world. The majority view concerning the kingdom of God is called premillennialism. According to this view, the kingdom of God was to be established when Christ came, but due to the rejection of Jews, the kingdom of God was postponed until His second coming. In the meantime, Christ established the church as a temporary solution till the kingdom could be established. This is the predominant view among religious commentators, scholars, and teachers. Therefore, this passage has become an extremely difficult passage to interpret. Mark 9:1 clearly teaches that there would be some who were there with Jesus who would be alive when the kingdom of God came.
This has led premillennialists to two possible solutions.
1--Some are still alive. There have been some that have suggests that some of those who were alive at that time are still alive, living as hermits, awaiting the coming of the kingdom. Some have said that there is an apostle or two in hiding whose lives have been extended as they wait for the kingdom. Very few people accept this as a possible solution, if any anymore, because of its fantastic nature. Even though this solution seems ridiculous, I submit to you that it is more realistic than the second solution.
2--Jesus was wrong. The solution that has nearly universal support is that Jesus was mistaken about the time when the kingdom would come. In fact, it is stated that as Jesus saw His kingdom being rejected, His teachings moved from the kingdom to the coming of the church. I would like to show you why this answer is absolutely impossible.
First, if Jesus was wrong about the coming of the kingdom to which He preached, who is to say that He was not wrong about His death giving forgiveness of sins to those who believe in Him? Maybe He was mistaken about that as well. Maybe He was mistaken about our being able to live with Him in heaven. Maybe He was mistaken about some of the laws He gave us and murder is really okay with God. If Jesus was mistaken in one aspect of His teaching, then it can be reasonably argued that He was mistaken in other areas of His ministry.
Second, this view says that Jesus did not know His kingdom would be rejected. Once He saw this was going to happen, He preached concerning the church to come and the kingdom as postponed. But carefully examine the text of Mark 8:31-9:1. All of these teachings occurred in the same setting. There is not a break of time, but rather we see one continuous teaching. What did Jesus teach in Mark 8:31? Jesus taught that He would be rejected. Jesus knew that He was going to rejected. This was not some sort of surprise or shock to Jesus. Eight verses later Jesus also said that the kingdom would come with power before some of these people died. The kingdom of God and Jesus’ rejection were preached together. Premillennialism says that Jesus did not yet know that He would be rejected. However, Jesus taught His rejection in this passage prior to teaching the coming of the kingdom. Clearly, these solutions are impossible to accept.
The transfiguration was the coming of the kingdom
Some have tried to resolve the problem concerning the coming of the kingdom of God before some died by saying that power of the kingdom of God came at the transfiguration. The transfiguration is the next event to happen in Mark 9, six days after this teaching. But this solution is also insufficient. What kingdom can we see coming at the transfiguration of Jesus? There is not a kingdom set up when Jesus went up on the mountain. If this is the case, why did Jesus continue to preach the coming of the kingdom as a future event? Why did Jesus teach in Luke 19 that the kingdom would not come immediately? If the kingdom came at the transfiguration, why did these same apostles who had seen the transfiguration ask in Acts 1:6 if the kingdom of God was going to come right then? In Mark 15:43 we read that Joseph of Arimathea was still waiting for the kingdom of God, years after the transfiguration. Further, how absurd would it be for Jesus to use this kind of language that only some would still be alive when the kingdom came if He was referring to an event that would happen in six days! This would be like me saying that there are some here in this auditorium that will not taste death until we meet again on Wednesday night. It is an empty statement because it is a statement of the obvious. For these reasons, this cannot be accepted as a reasonable solution to what Jesus means by this teaching.
The Kingdom of God
Characteristics of a kingdom
Before we go further, we need to understand what are the characteristics of a kingdom. If I were to say that I have a kingdom, there are certain things that this statement would imply. --Kingdom requires a ruler. To have a kingdom means that there is a ruler. Someone or some sort of system of government must be in charge of a kingdom. Jesus taught that He was the ruler of the coming kingdom. In speaking about Christ, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:25, “For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.” Paul made a similar statement in Ephesians 1:22, “And He put all things under His feet.” Jesus is the ruler of the kingdom and Paul says in these passages that He is currently ruling.
--Kingdom requires authority. Another obvious attribute of a kingdom is that the one in charge has authority. The reason you know that I do not have a kingdom is because I do not have any authority. Jesus taught that He had the authority for this kingdom. In Matthew 28:18 Jesus says, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” He is the ruler and He has been given the authority to reign.
--Kingdom requires a realm. One cannot have a kingdom within their own minds. A kingdom requires subjects and also requires a constituency. We have a representative who we voted for to watch over our interests in Congress. The person would not be a representative if he did not have people to represent or a geographic constituency to be elected from. Such it is with a kingdom. Christ has a realm, both heaven and earth, and His kingdom includes all the people in those realms.
There are many times when Christ simply refers to the kingdom of God in this very general sense of the rule of God over heaven and earth. For example, we read in Matthew 11:12 that since the days of John the Baptist, the kingdom was suffering violence. In Matthew 21:43 Jesus said that the kingdom of God would be taken from the Jews and given to a nation bearing fruit. Also, in Matthew 13:38 Jesus told a parable of tares in which the kingdom was described as the field of the world. These instances show that there was a kingdom in existence. God was ruling over the earth and over all people. So what is being spoken of here in Mark 9:1 in reference to a coming kingdom? Most of the time as we read through the gospels, we are reading the teachings of Jesus that a kingdom would come. In fact, there were Old Testament promises and prophecies of a kingdom that would come. 2 Samuel 7:12-13,16 says, “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” God has always ruled over the earth and over all who live on the earth. Premillennialists miss the mark by suggesting that this is something still to come. God has always had authority, rule, and power over His creation. The promise was for something more specific than a general rule.
Descriptions of this kingdom
In Mark 9:1 we are told three specific things about the coming of this prophesied kingdom that would be established and would rule forever. Whatever answer is given concerning the coming of this kingdom must fit the three things Jesus said would take place.
1--Some standing here. First, Jesus spoke to those who were standing right there with Him. The coming of the kingdom would affect the people who were standing there with Jesus. The promise of the kingdom was not something that would not involve those in the first century. These people were going to participate in the coming of this kingdom.
2--Will not taste death. Second, the kingdom would come while some of these people were alive. The kingdom was going to come in the lifetimes of most of these people. Some would not live long enough for the kingdom to come. But some would be alive for its coming.
3--They will see the kingdom come with power. There was going to be some sort of visible event that would be readily seen so as to show that the kingdom had come with power. The kingdom would not come by surprise and people would go around saying they had no idea the kingdom came. There were to be some visible events that would happen so that they could see the kingdom come. Now, this teaching of Jesus does not nullify the words of Jesus in Luke 17:20-21. In that passage Jesus said, “Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Jesus was responding in this passage to the notion that the kingdom of God was going to be like in the days of Solomon where it was the world power with a physical capital in Jerusalem. Jesus was teaching that His kingdom would not be physical in nature. But Jesus did say that there would be some things that would be seen so as to know that the kingdom of God had come.
The Kingdom of God With Power
Power of the Holy Spirit
Jesus taught that the kingdom of God would come with power. I believe the scriptures teach that there were two visible events that occurred which showed the kingdom of God coming with power after the resurrection of Jesus but before His ascension, Jesus told His apostles in Luke 24:49, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” Before Jesus ascends to heaven He tells His apostles to wait in Jerusalem to receive this power. Before Jesus’ ascension, the apostles again ask concerning the coming of the kingdom in Acts 1:6. Jesus answers, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Jesus again ties the coming of the kingdom of God with the apostles receiving power. The power was to come when the apostles received the Holy Spirit, according to Acts 1:8. In Acts 2:1-4 we see the Holy Spirit coming upon the apostles as a rushing mighty wind.
Allow me to set up a syllogism for us in order to prove our point. The kingdom was to come with power (Mark 9:1). The power came with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). Therefore, the kingdom of God came with power at Pentecost. I believe that this is an important logical conclusion that cannot be escaped. Does this answer fit the criteria that Jesus established in Mark 9:1? Were there some who had been with Jesus in Mark 9:1 who saw the kingdom come? Yes, the apostles who were there, as well as some of the crowd who had been following Jesus. Did the kingdom come in a visible way for people to see it? Yes, there were tongues of fire that appeared above the apostles at the coming of the Holy Spirit. Further, all the devout Jews from every nation under heaven were there to see this event happen to the apostles (Acts 2:5-13). Therefore, this answer fits with the teachings of Christ. Those who obeyed were added to the kingdom of God, in Acts 2:47 called the church, and this was proof that the Messiah had come and was now reigning on the throne in heaven (Acts 2:33-35).
Power in crushing the other kingdoms
But I do not believe that this is the sum total of our answer. There are more passages that also describe the coming of this kingdom that do not fit in with what took place in Acts 2. Daniel had also prophesied about the coming of the kingdom of God in Daniel 2:44. “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Daniel says that when the kingdom of God is set up, God’s kingdom will shatter and consume all these other kingdoms. In Matthew 3, John preached that the kingdom of God was at hand. But John also preached that with the coming of the kingdom of God, there would come a judgment. Matthew 3:12 says, “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Come back to Mark 9:1. What did Jesus tie the coming of the kingdom of God to? Back up one verse to Mark 8:38, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” The sign of the coming of the kingdom would be to see the Son of Man in power. If you do not believe that these teaching were tied together, look at Matthew 16:27-28, which is a parallel passage. “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Also Luke 9:26-27, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”
The gospel writers tied the coming of the kingdom of God with power to the Son of Man coming in the glory of His Father. Jesus said so to the high priest in Mark 14:62, “Jesus said, ‘I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.’” Can this be talking about the second coming? It cannot be because this coming with power and glory would be something that even the high priest would see. What would the Gentiles see to know that the kingdom of God had come? Luke 21:31 says, “So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.” What things were to happen that they would know that the kingdom of God is near? To notice the context of these words, back up to verse 20. “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.” Daniel said that when the kingdom was set up it would shatter the other kingdoms. Jesus said that the high priest and all the multitudes would see Jesus coming in power. How? The power of the kingdom would be seen in the destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus said that when they saw these things happening, they would know the kingdom was near.
These were the two ways the kingdom of God would come with power. The prophets foretold, as Peter quoted Joel, that the Holy Spirit would be poured out, showing the kingdom had come. The prophets also spoke that when the kingdom came, it would shatter all the other kingdoms. This was the other visible sign of God’s power. Does this fit the criteria of Jesus in Mark 9:1? Were there some who had been alive with Jesus who saw the fall of Jerusalem? Yes, some of these apostles and many of the followers were still alive. Did the kingdom come in a visible way? Yes, the fall of the city was a very visible image of God’s power in His kingdom. This also was a sign Christ is reigning in heaven.
Conclusion:
2 Peter 1:10-11 says, “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” We, too, can enter into this powerful kingdom of God. When Christ ascended to heaven, all things were put under His feet and He must rule until the last enemy is destroyed with is death (1 Corinthians 15:25-26). To become a follower of Christ and be added to His kingdom, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow wherever He leads.
