(2) ' The ISon of Man shall ooine in the f^lory of his Father with his angels, and then shall he render unto every man according to his deeds. Verily I say unto you, There be some of them that stand here, which shall in no wise taste of death, till they .see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom ' (Mt 16-^- -*). .Jesus predicts here two ' Comings ' — one at the end of the world, when He returns in the glory of His Father to judge the world, the other within the lifetime of some of those present. Opinions may ditt'er as to when this latter was fulfilled, whether at the Transfiguration, or at the Resurrection, or at Pentecost, or at the destruction of Jerusalem, or at each of these in turn ; but un- less we are to convict Jesus of error of judgment, we cannot hold that He identified any of these with His final coming to judgment. So that here, as in the words to Caiaphas, we find necessarily a prediction in mysterious language of His ' historic Comings ' — a prediction that time would explain to His disciples by fulfilling.
(3) ' Ye shall not have gone through the cities of Israel, till the Son of Man be come ' (Mt 10-^). These words are a fragment peculiar to Mt., and occur in the charge of Jesus to the Apostles when sending them out. Much of this charge as given by Mt. is found in difi'erent connexion.s in the other Syno))tics ; it is therefore impossible to say whether this particular prediction was spoken at the time given by Mt., but this doubt does not enable us to conclude that it never was spoken at all. On the contrary, the great difficulty on the face of the saying renders it the more certain that it was spoken by Him on some occasion. Further, it should be noticed that it occurs in that Gospel which, as we have seen, records most fully those sayings of our Lord which refer to His ' Comings ' (1627 2664). We therefore are right in seeing in the words a prediction of His ' Coming ' at the Resur- rection, or at Pentecost, or at the destruction of Jerusalem.
(4) ' The lesser Apocalypse of Jesus ' is a title sometimes given to His discourse found in Lk 17^' 18^. Having told the Pharisees that the Kingdom of God was ' among them,' He turned to His dis- ciples and told them that in the future they would desire to see ' one of the days of the Son of Man ' but would not see it ; but that when ' his day ' did come, there would be no mistaking it, as it would shine as lightning and come as suddenly. He, however, would have first to suffer many things and be rejected. He then told them that as ' in the days ' of Noah and of Lot (vv.-"- ■^), worldliness predominated until ' the day ' that Noah entered the ark and Lot left Sodom (vv.^'''- -'), so would it be in ' the days of the Son of Man ' until ' the day ' when He would be revealed (w.-*- **). ' The days' of Noah and Lot were days of opportunity for repentance before ' the day ' of retribution! So ' the days of the Son of Man ' must be the period of grace that ever precedes ' the day ' of His reve- lation in judgment, whether that judgment be the final judgment or such a penal visitation as the destruction of Jerusalem. That the immediate reference in the passage is to the latter, follows from the warning contained in the next verses, bidding those on the housetop not come down and
tho.se in the field not return home (v.^^). These words could not possibly apply to the final return of Jesus, but must have been spoken in reference to the flight from the city before its destruction. And as that impending doom drew near, as the atmosphere became weighted Avith forebodings of coming calamity, and as their hearts failed them for fear (21^")^ then they would desire ' one of the days of the Son of Man ' — one of those days of God's patient waiting ; but they would not see it, for all was ripened to judgment. ' His day ' of vengeance was at hand. He concluded this section with ' where the body is, thither will the vultures also be gathered together' (17^^) — enigmatic words whereby He told His disciples that when the cir- cumstances became ripe, the event would hajipen. Then followed the parable of the Unrighteous Judge (18^), bidding God's 'elect' pray importu- nately for relief during the days of trial ; and, lastly, came the sorrowful question of Jesus, whether, notwithstanding the certainty of His de- liverance of His people, He, when He comes, shall ' find faith on the earth ' (v.*). The worldliness of the days of Noah and Lot supply the answer.
(5) The discourse found in its .simplest form in Mk 13 (cf. Mt 24, Lk 21) is the most elaborate recorded prophecy of Jesus, and presents to inter- preters many and serious difficulties ; but what has been said on the four preceding passages lessens the difficulties and points to the solution. Some scholars get rid of all that puzzles by assum- ing that the Evangelists inserted portions of a cur- rent Jewish-Christian Apocalypse throughout the discourse of Jesus. (For a good statement of this position, and for the various authorities, see Mott'att, Historical New Test. p. 637 ; and for a good exposition on conservative lines, see Briggs, Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 132-165).