Welcome to Defenders, the teaching class of Dr. William Lane Craig.

For more information and resources from Dr. Craig, go to reasonable faith.org.

Last time I argued that a saying about the return of the Son of Man

can look as if it means different things when it's read in different contexts.

Given the editorial freedom that the evangelists exercise,

I'm suggesting that we can't know for sure that the sayings like Mark 1330 meant that the Son of Man would return

before everyone listening to Jesus would pass away. So let's look again at this pair of verses

that constitute the problem we're dealing with. I want to suggest that these two

could appear to take on different meanings when moved from the original context in which they

were uttered. We may well not know the original context in which they were uttered.

Just as a reader of Matthew's Gospel wouldn't know the original context of the material

that Matthew inserted into Jesus' charge to the 12 disciples before their mission to the cities of Israel.

Look first then at Matthew 16 and verse 28.

Here is Matthew's version of this saying, truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste

death before they see the son of man coming in his kingdom. Well, that looks pretty clear,

doesn't it? But now, turn over to Mark chapter 8,

verses 38 to 9-1, which is the passage that Matthew has adapted and then gives back in somewhat

different words. Jesus says,

for whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation,

of him will the son of man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his father

with the holy angels. And he said to them,

Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they

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