The Event of a Generation

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” (Mark 9:1)

There are three events that have been (sensibly)  proposed as the target of this  prophesy of  Jesus. They are:

1. The Transfiguration
2. Pentecost
3. The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple

The first one, the Transfiguration, certainly fits the bill in terms of its magnitude. Those who witnessed the Transfiguration beheld an image of Christ in his glory and power, and heard the voice of the Father. The problem, and it's a big one, is a question of  timing: The Transfiguration would  occur less than a week after this prophecy was uttered. It is hard to imagine why our Lord would say, in effect, "some of you will still be alive six days from now."

Pentecost is also of more than sufficient supernatural Holy Spirit amazement to qualify. However the timeline there, while better, is still a little iffy. If my New Testament chronology is accurate, there were about nine months between the prophecy and Pentecost. Life was tough in first century Palestine, but nevertheless it is reasonable that anyone listening to Jesus' words, if they were not on their deathbed, would  have the expectation to live another nine months.

The last event, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (and the death and enslavement of about a million Jews), came some 40 years later. That certainly fits the  timeline. Only a minority of those listening were likely still around. But does it fit the details and the magnitude of the prophesy? Well I would argue that it fits the magnitude. The Jewish war of rebellion, the horrific siege of  Jerusalem, and the subsequent raid following the breaking of the siege resulted in a million or so Jewish casualties. And it marked the end of Temple worship. It could be argued, reasonably I think, that Temple Judaism was preserved until the nascent Christian movement reached a critical mass. Before that, at least in the eyes of the Romans, Christianity was viewed as a Jewish sect, and so providential protection of Jerusalem also provided safety for the early Christians. But that was temporary; AD 70, some would say, marks the formal end of the Jewish age and the formal onset of the kingdom. However, even if the event itself was of sufficient magnitude, it is not quite satisfactory to tie it directly  to the kingdom coming with power as it was the Romans, not  fire from heaven, that provided the immediate source of destruction.

I lean toward the  third possibility, the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of Temple worship. I think it is  the best fit of the three. But I don't find it a perfect fit.