Where have I heard that before?
Oh, yeah:
Matthew 16:28, NIV:
'Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.'
What span of time is implied by the statement, "Some of you will still be alive to witness the..."? What would a reasonable person expect was meant by "Not all of you will be dead when..."?
Five minutes? Really?! Would you reference an occurrence likely to transpire in the next five minutes by saying, "Some of you will still be alive?"
How about seven weeks? Would that make more sense? "At least two of you will not have yet died before..."?
How about two thousand years?
Regards,
I take Christ's words literally, as I do much of scripture. I believe some 'nuances' crept into translations over the millennials.
But in this case, he did appeared in His glory to his disciples and many others in coming days after His resurrection:
"On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord." - Book of John
Certainly His ascent to heaven must've been something to see!
"Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?" - Book of Acts
My 'predictions' some of those alive today will see his return, hardly compare to Christ's Gospel. Mine are based on my own interpretation of prophesy, world events, and other pointers as I see them.
Btw, thank you for tips on photograph naming conventions and reminding me that I also need to scan a great number of our family photos.