Matthew 16:27

Many people sit down and read the Bible as though it is a Universal document, when the truth is that it is Covenantal.

So they will see a passage such as this one in Matthew 16:27



"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works"




We will say see right there that God is going to bring the judgment to all.



Naturally we have not been taught to place the passage in its setting to Rightly Divide the meaning. When we start looking at the Bible as Covenantal ,we will see the light on this scripture.



So in the Old Testament, we have a Covenant established between God and a Physical nation, and in the New Testament we have a Covenant between God and a Spiritual nation.



Let’s look at this parable in Matthew 21:



V.33 landowner (God) who planted a vineyard (Nation of Israel)




V.34 he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.




V.35 they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third




V.37 Last of all, he sent his son to them




V.39 so they took him; and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.




That's a perfect parable speaking about the people of God in the Old Testament; God sent his Prophets to them but they rejected them and even killed them. So God loves his Covenant people so much, he sends his Son (Jesus) to them.




What did they do?




We know the answer!




1 Cor. 2:8 they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.




This opening verse of Matthew 16:27 has to deal with a judgment of every man that was part of the Old Covenant.




Matthew 21:40-41 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? He will bring those wretches to a wretched end....."




Sounds like some judgment was coming someone’s way for dealing with God's vineyard so carelessly; as so for dealing with God's servants/Son so cruelly, this has been a little introduction to the end description to the passage.




Now I will do a little examination of the passage to show you the immanency of the passage. What I mean by that is when Jesus spoke this about a judgment coming upon every man, it was going to come soon and not 2,000 + years later.




Now to examine:




Matthew 16:27 "For the Son of man shall [MELLO] come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works"



This verse contains a very important Greek word (MELLO):
MELLO = which means about to, or be on the point of doing something.





So in reality the verse is saying God is at the point of doing, this Judgement




The accurate translation of Matthew 16:27 should be as follows:



"For the Son of man is ABOUT TO come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works"




Jesus made his point very clear to the audience present with him, in Matthew 16:28 because he says that some of THEM standing THERE, THEN, would not taste of death until they saw the Son of Man COMING in his Kingdom.




It really is beautiful how the Bible speaks through clarity, if we allow it to.




Looking at the text spoken of here, lets bounce it off one astounding statement almost Word for Word in the book of Revelation.




Revelation 22:12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done”




This judgment or reward could only be given to those who were once in Covenant with God, and in continuing with the time restraints within the book of Revelation.




Look at some of the time restraints on the Book of the Revelation (unveiling) of Jesus Christ.




Rev. 1:1 show unto his servant the things which must SHORTLY take place,



Rev. 1:3 for the time is AT HAND



Rev. 1:7 every eye shall see him and THEY [also] which PIERCED him




Rev 22:6 the things which must SHORTLY be done.




Rev. 22:7 Look, I am coming SOON!




Rev. 22:10 because the time is AT HAND.




Rev. 22:12 Look, I am coming SOON!




God IS NOT the author of confusion and I believe He made it plain in what he was going to do. The TIMING is clearly shown in him saying "I'm about to bring Judgment" and anyone can understand the message of the Book of Revelation; maybe not in every detail but the general message is quite easy to understand.




In closing, I would like to point out one last thing with




Matthew 21:43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit”




Anyone can look in history and see that this judgment on Old Covenant Israel took place in 70 C.E. This transition of reality of the Kingdom was exemplified at the Cross and given a tremendous sign of the Parousia of Christ in the temple being destroyed; again, in 70 C.E.




We are in, and walking about in the Spiritual Kingdom of God, being and bringing forth the Fruit of God.



May God Bless all as you continue your studies.


Danny F.