False Prophecies in the New Testament
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. - Matthew 16:27-28
What Scholars say:
The one objection is that 'the Son of man coming in his kingdom' is most naturally associated with the parousia. Particularly decisive in this regard is 16.27: 'The Son of man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels and then render to each according to his work'. This is about the last judgement, and it would be quite off if the very next verse, which is also about the Son of man coming, were about a different event. - W.D. Davies & D.C. Allison, Matthew 8-18, Vol II, Page 678
The close connection with the saying about the judgement of the Son of Man in v. 27 and his other sayings about a fixed time speak against the idea that Matthew say the fulfillment of the prediction in the story of the transfiguration. - Ulrich Luz, Matthew 8-20, Vol II, Page 387
Mark 9:1 intensifies "this generation" (13:30) to "some standing here" and clarifies "all these things" (13:30) as "the kingdom of God . . . come with power." Matthew 16:28 removes the ambiguity in the latter phrase by substituting for it "the Son of Man coming in his kingdom," which seems to rule out interpretation of these verses as referring to the transfiguration, post-resurrection appearances, or Pentecost. "Some standing here" means some present with Jesus prior to his crucifixion, so in the time of Matthew, the end was expected soon indeed. - R. Alan Culpepper, Matthew A Commentary, 322
Say what you like,” we shall be told, “the apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false. It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them so. He shared, and indeed created, their delusion. He said in so many words, ‘This generation shall not pass till all these things be done.’ And he was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else. It is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible. Yet how teasing, also, that within fourteen words of it should come the statement “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” The one exhibition of error and the one confession of ignorance grow side by side. - CS Lewis, The World’s Last Night, 1952, pp. 97-98
Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the kingdom of God come with power: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit and the inauguration of the kingdom in the present age; (4) Jesus’ second coming and the final establishment of the kingdom. The reference to after six days in 9:2 seems to some interpreters to indicate that Mark had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom. As such, the transfiguration would have been a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (8:31; 9:31; 10:33), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan. The major problem with this interpretation is that some standing here…will not experience death seems to suggest that some of the hearers would die before the arrival of the kingdom, yet there is no indication any of Jesus’ hearers died in the six days between the statement here and the transfiguration. This suggests either the coming of the Spirit as the inauguration of the kingdom or the second coming with the ultimate establishment of the kingdom are more likely referents. - NET Bible Footnotes, Mark 9:1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruD5Y7QjZ2U
Possible christian response:
It is talking about the transfiguration in the next chapter
However, this does not work because in the transfiguration, angels do not come and the world isn't judged as Christ says.
Paul says the coming of Jesus would happen within his lifetime:
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. - 1 Thessalonians 4:17
Bart Ehrman:
Both Matthew and Paul warn their readers that they need to be alert because Jesus is coming soon. But how soon? When Paul talks about this coming day of judgment, he speaks about the reward that will come to Jesus’ true followers, both those who have already died, who will be raised from the dead, and those who are still alive. Notice that Paul appears includes himself among the living at the time. When he speaks of the two groups, he refers to “those” who are dead and “we” who will still be alive. It’s a point worth emphasizing. These New Testament authors who speak of Christ’s return thought it was to happen in their own day. - Bart Ehrman blog, June 4, 2025
Source: https://archive.org/details/worldslastnighta012859mbp
Source: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%209&version=NET
Source: https://ehrmanblog.org/1-thessalonians-and-the-coming-rapture/
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