COVENANTS AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES
65
To John 8:52 we need not refer, for the Lord said `see death' (verse 51) and we are not certain enough of those
children of the devil (verse 44) to follow them here. That to `taste' does not mean to `drink' Matthew 27:34 shows,
and thus, in the figurative sense also, to taste of death need not necessarily mean to die. When the ruler of the feast
`tasted' the water that was made wine, he certainly did not drink the entire amount which the Saviour had
miraculously provided, and when the Lord said `none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper', it is
equivalent to the more modern colloquial phrase, `they shall not have a bit of it'. Again, the phrase in Acts 20:11
does not indicate what we call a meal. The curse under which the enemies of Paul bound themselves was not that
they would not eat, but that they would not even taste food, so great was their enmity. Those who during this
present evil age experienced in any measure the powers of the age to come are said to have `tasted' of the heavenly
gift, and to have `tasted' the good word of God (Heb. 6:4,5). They sampled these things, but it will be true of them,
as of the Queen of Sheba, that `the half has not yet been told'.
1 Peter 2:2,3 is quite in line with the rest. The new-born babes, though feeding on the milk of the Word, have
but `tasted' that the Lord is gracious. As they grow thereby and feed upon the stronger food, they will realize that
blessed truth more. Every passage we have referred to leads us to draw distinctions between tasting and fully eating.
Coming back to Matthew 16:28 let us notice how this helps us:
`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'.
It is a difficulty with many that these men died before the Lord's return. Now apart from all other factors in the
true explanation, this difficulty is a fallacy. The Lord did not say `shall not die', but shall not taste of death, and He
refers to what He had just been teaching them:
`If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will
save his life (soul) shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life (soul) for My sake shall find it' (24,25).
This is surely `tasting' death. To take up the cross and to lose one's soul - this, though not actual death, is tasting
death. The disciples however were not permitted to suffer anything for their Lord until they had first of all seen the
vision of His glory so closely connected with His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke
9:31). This word `decease' impressed Peter, for he uses the very same word immediately before he speaks of the
Transfiguration in his second epistle. This time it was his own decease, but the link is there and visible. That bitter
sorrow of soul `even unto death' experienced by the Lord in the garden of Gethsemane reveals the awful character
of the taste of death to which Hebrews 2:9 refers, while the words `nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt' link
it with Hebrews 5:4-10. Who were they that were chosen to be near the Lord in this dread hour? The very three
who witnessed the foreshadowing of His glory on the mount of Transfiguration. When the Lord tasted that bitter
cup, He prayed:
`O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done' (Matt. 26:42).
As we stand upon this holy ground and witness that agony and bloody sweat, we see the Lord Jesus tasting
death. How pointed therefore the words are to those who are exhorted to follow Him in this path of suffering when
they are told, `He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted' Temptation
hung over that garden of Gethsemane, as is seen by the Lord's words to His disciples. `Watch and pray that ye enter
not into temptation'. The garden of Gethsemane is no sentimental idea foisted upon Hebrews 2:9. This is seen by
Hebrews 5:7-9:
`Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears
unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared; though He were a Son, yet
learned He obedience by the things which He suffered; and being made perfect, He became the Author of
aionian salvation unto all them that obey Him'.
How fully this agrees with Hebrews 2:9,10. We have only to read on to verse 10 to complete the parallel:
`For it became Him, for Whom are all things, and by Whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to
make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings'.