Hi frako,
frako writes:
And one would think that when the kingdom of god comes it was here to stay or was it there just for that day ?
What is a kingdom? 1. A political or territorial unit ruled by a sovereign. According to
this dictionary.
According to that definition Jesus had a kingdom before he ever came to earth. He is the sovereign ruler of the universe. But that aside.
Jesus extablished a territorial unit when He called Andrew and Peter to be fishers of men as He walked by the Sea of Galilee. A little further along he called James and John to be fishers of men. He had followers. But that aside.
Jesus was accepted as King of God's people by many lay people on the day of His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. He was received as a king and accepted as such.
This parade into town with the people accepting Him as king was the last straw as far as the Pharisees were concerned. They refused to accept Him as messiah and had to kill him to stop His advancement of the kingdom.
Now I am glad to see you accepted your 'F' in theology. I have given many to students.
Now if you are interested in learning how to understand what the texts you keep throwing around means or any other text I will present the following rules to go by. I first learned these in a journalism class in 1952 and later studied them in College in a course called Bible Analysis. A course I have taught many times.
There are 2 primary rules for understanding the Bible.
The first primary rule is the 5 point question rule as follows.
1. Who is speaking or writing?
2. To whom or about whom is he/she speaking or writing?
3. About what subject is he/she speaking or writing?
4. When, or about what time is he/she speaking or writing?
5. What is the occasion for the speaking or writing?
The second primary rule is as follows.
1. The general application of a truth or deed to every person.
2. The particular application of a truth or deed to an individual or particular group.
The biggest mistakes about understanding the Bible is that many people believe everything in the Bible is spoken by God.
That is far from the truth as God did speak through men and animals, but men spoke on their own, as well as the devil spoke through men and animals.
The second biggest mistake is that everything in the Bible is written to all people.
That is also very wrong. Much is written to the nation of Israel and Abraham's descendants. Much is written to lost mankind. Much is written to the Church Jesus established in His personal ministry.
Because all these problems exist it is necessary to employ the 5 point question rule concerning any passage to understand what it is saying and to whom it is said.
Now to the scripture you quoted in the OP.
Mark 9:1
King James Version
1. And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.
According to Mark Jesus was speaking to the people that had come out to meet Him along with His disciples. Mark 8:34 According to Matthew 16:24 Jesus was speaking to His disciples and he does not mention ay other people.
In Mark 9:1 he quotes Jesus as speaking about the kingdom.
In Matthew 16:28 Matthew quotes Jesus as saying:
quote:
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 mentions nothing of power as Mark does. Remember Mark had been a slave as was speaking from that view point. Matthew was a tax collector and was speaking from a kingdom view point.
So far we have:
Jesus speaking, to His disciples (at least) about the kingdom (that they have been told is within them).
The reason is given in Matthew 16:21 that Jesus would soon go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
The occasion was Jesus teaching concerning His impending sacrifice for the sins of the world.
So now we are left with when.
According Matthew 17:1 six days passed and Jesus took Peter, James, and John on a high mountain and was there transfigured. He taught much then departed to the coasts of Judaea.
All time is not accounted for but from here Jesus goes into Jerusalem riding on the colt of an ass. Which took place on the Sabbath prior to Jesus crucifixion on Wednesday the day the lamb was prepared for the Passover meal.
So Mark was speaking a few days prior to Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem where He was treated as royalty in His parade into town and accepted as King by some. He then cleaned out the temple of the money changers and told them they had made it a den of thieves.
Now let us examine the Greek word translated kingdom.
βασιλεία transliteration basileia meaning 1) royal power, kingship, dominion, rule
a) not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom
The entry of Jesus and the reception as king is fulfilled in the word used whether you are willing to accept the Biblical description of His kingdom or not.
Mark added power so I will address that Greek word also.
δύναμις transliteration dynamis meaning, 1) strength power, ability
Jesus had the ability and power to be king.
Now you seem to be expecting Jesus kingdom to be what the Jews expected that He would come riding on a white horse and put all their enemies under foot and set them us as rulers of the world.
Since He did not meet their expectations the establishment did not receive Him as King even though a great multitude did.
Because some did not receive Jesus as King, does this cancel those that did receive Him as King?
He was King of those that accepted Him, just as He is the Savior of those who receive Him.
Thus His itinerary was fulfilled as it was not a prophecy just a statement of the events to happen over the following days which did in fact happen.
There were those in Mark 9:1 who was there when Jesus made His entry into Jerusalem. There were those there also that was at His crucifixion and then they saw Him after His resurrection.
They saw the power He had and that is the reason they were willing to follow Him even unto the death as all the apostles were killed except John. They couldn't kill him as they tried by boiling him in oil that failing they banished him to the Isle of Patmos.
God Bless,
"John 5:39 (KJS) Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."
™ Version 4.2
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