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"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 Heb. 2: 9 refers, while the words "nevertheless,
not as I will, but as Thou wilt" link it with Heb. 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 Heb. 2: 9. This is seen by Heb. 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 Heb. 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."