Mark 8:38

‘For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.'

Then Jesus puts it all in the light of the great Day that is coming when He ‘comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels', and He closes by stressing that everything with regard to that would depend on their response to Him, and on their willingness to follow Him. Those who turn away from Him and who are ashamed to respond to Him and to His message, will find that when the Son of Man ‘comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels' He will be ashamed of them. For it will reveal them as a part of this ‘adulterous and sinful generation'. They will thus have no part in Him and will join the unbelievers in the awfulness of their judgment. But the corollary is that those who do respond will be received and welcomed. He will not be ashamed of them but will acknowledge them before all. They will hear Him say, ‘Well done My good and faithful servant!' The whole statement may have seemed to His listeners as assuming that many of them would still be alive at His coming. That is the purpose in portraying something as ‘imminent'. But it does not say that. It is more general. It is saying that He will be ashamed of them in that Day whether they are still alive or whether they have been raised for judgment. Compare Matthew 8:10; Matthew 10:32; Luke 12:8.

Excursus.

What Does Jesus Mean When He Speaks Of ‘Coming In The Glory Of His Father With The Holy Angels'?

This passage raises the question as to what ‘when He (the Son of Man) comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels' refers to, a question which has been variously answered. There are two possible main interpretations. The first, which is the majority one, is that it refers to the second coming of Christ. Certainly the closest parallels would initially appear to support this interpretation, for in Zechariah 14:5 we read, ‘Then the Lord your God will come, and all the holy ones with Him', where most would feel that Zechariah clearly has in mind the final time of perfection, for it is speaking of the Day when the Lord will be king over all the earth, night will cease, and everlasting worship will have been established, all pictures of the eternal kingdom. That would then be an indication that here Jesus was paralleling Himself with ‘YHWH your God', and was to be seen as coming in His Name with the holy angels (compare Matthew 28:18 where ‘the Son' shares ‘the Name'). This might be seen as supported by Matthew 25:21 where we read, ‘when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him', which is admittedly very similar to ‘when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels' and that too is certainly referring to a time when the final judgment is in mind.

A reference may also be made to Jude's quotation from apocalyptic literature which was clearly prevalent at this time, which runs as follow: “Behold the Lord came with ten thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have ungodly wrought, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him” (Jude 1:14). Jude almost certainly has the second coming in mind, and thus sees His coming as being ‘with the holy ones' (the holy angels).

However one or two caveats must be entered here. The first is that none of these references actually refer to ‘the holy angels', even though Zechariah 14:5 and Jude 1:14 might be seen as implying it. (However, the failure to refer to ‘the holy angels' is even more true in Daniel 7, for there the ‘holy ones' are the people of God). The second is that the reference to the Son of Man coming in His own glory is not necessarily the same thing as the Son of Man coming in His Father's glory. Indeed it must be seen as quite possible that the former refers to His own glorious appearing at the Parousia, as in Matthew 25:31 and that the latter should be seen as referring to the revelation of the Father's glory in Jesus when He comes to His disciples at, for example, Pentecost in the holy breath and fire, (‘lo I am with you always' - Matthew 28:20) and to Stephen in Acts 7:56 where the Son of Man is seen to be at the right hand of God, and therefore as partaking in His glory. It could indeed be argued that the differentiation between the two phrases is as deliberate as the similar differentiation which is made in Revelation 3:21, where the Son of Man says, ‘He who overcomes I will grant him to sit on my throne, even as I overcame and sat with my Father on His throne'. There Scripture is clearly indicating that sitting on His Father's throne refers to His enthronement in the past after He had ‘overcome', while the idea of the overcomers sitting on His throne still has the future in mind, when the King has taken His throne (Revelation 19:11; Revelation 20:11). This would fit well with the former referring to His enthronement as mentioned in Matthew 28:18; Acts 2:36, and the latter referring to His own throne of glory as revealed at His second coming once the general resurrection of the dead has taken place (Matthew 25:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:15). However this argument is double edged, for we can then equally argue that Mark is deliberately following the pattern, referring in Mark 8:31 to the Parousia and in Mark 9:1 to Jesus enthronement after the resurrection.

The second possible interpretation is that this refers to the ‘coming' of the Son of Man to the Ancient of Days, Who in Heaven is surrounded by the innumerable company who minister to Him, in order that He, the Son of Man, might receive Kingly Rule, glory and dominion (Daniel 7:14). It could be argued that those in the crowd who knew their Scriptures would, if Jesus had said nothing further about it, probably have seen in Jesus' words ‘when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels' a reference to that Scripture. For there the Son of Man (Mark 7:13) would come into the presence of the innumerable company who minister to the Ancient of Days (Mark 7:10), and would be brought by them into the Presence of the Ancient of Days (Mark 7:13), and would be given all glory, dominion and power (Mark 7:14), this taking place once the records had been opened and judgment pronounced on the opposing ‘wild beast' (Mark 7:10).

It might thus be claimed that to those in the crowd who knew the Scriptures these words would not therefore have been seen as speaking of ‘the second coming' (of which they perhaps knew nothing), but of the coming of the Son of Man to be crowned in Heaven in the presence of the heavenly court, because judgment had been pronounced on those who opposed Him. The weakness in this argument, however, is that the only verse in the Old Testament Scriptures which actually refers to ‘coming with holy ones' is that in Zechariah 14:5, which would therefore be the one more likely to come to the minds of the crowd (especially as in Daniel 7 the ‘holy ones' are ‘the holy ones of the Most High' who possess the kingdom, that is, the people of God). Thus we could argue that it is that Scripture in Zechariah that they would most likely have in mind, especially as boosted by apocalyptic ideas.

The case for looking to Daniel 7 could be seen as further supported by the fact that it is ‘this adulterous and sinful generation' of which Jesus is speaking which must face being shamed by Him, something which would aptly fit in with a reference being then made to His being crowned after His resurrection and calling them to account, followed by His judgment on them in the destruction of Jerusalem and its environs. In the same way ‘seeing the Kingly Rule of God coming in power' (Mark 9:1) could then also be seen as referring to the same enthronement, being there connected with His sending of the Holy Spirit and the rapid spread of the new community under God's Kingly Rule, which would then take place within the lifetime of many standing there. The idea has its attractions.

What conclusion then can we come to? The arguments in the latter case are undoubtedly attractive, and as we shall subsequently see have some truth in them. They almost certainly do apply, for example, to Mark 9:1 where the coming is not with the holy angels but with power, and in Mark 14:62 where again the angels are not mentioned. But in our view they fail in Mark 8:38 because of the mention of the angels (and in Mark 13:26, partly for the same reason, and partly for other reasons. See on those verses). For it cannot be doubted that the prominent verse in the Old Testament Scriptures which speaks of ‘coming with the holy ones (as the angels)' looks forward to the consummation (Zechariah 14:5), something confirmed by Matthew 25:31.

End of Excursus.

‘Whoever will be ashamed of me.' The point here is that men will be judged by their previous attitude towards Him (compare also Matthew 7:23). What greater claim to divinity could He make? He is here stressing that those present had to take up an attitude towards Him. They could believe in Him, and submit to the Kingly Rule of God. Or they could turn away from Him and His words, being ‘ashamed' of Him and His message (compare 2 Timothy 1:8). But let them consider this, that their eternal future would depend on it when He finally came to call them to account.

‘In this adulterous and sinful generation.' This was His definition of the world in which they lived, adulterous and sinful, and it was this that He was calling them to turn their back on. It is a description that aptly applies today.

‘Adulterous.' In the Old Testament the unbelief and disobedience of Israel was often described in terms of adultery. God was seen as their ‘husband' and they as unfaithful to Him. They had forsaken God and indulged in their own pleasures, including those of sexual misbehaviour and perversion, and idolatry. See Hosea 2:2; Hosea 4:12; Ezekiel 16:25; Jeremiah 3:8; Jeremiah 9:2. And they were thus unacceptable. The thought covered a whole host of behaviour (some of which involved idolatry) in their rebellion against God and His ways. Thus the very fact of their being ashamed of Him would demonstrate that they were adulterous at heart.

‘Sinful'. This covered all that was left out in the description adulterous. It covered all the sins of the Pharisees who themselves were only too willing to call others ‘sinners'. For they too were ‘ashamed' of Him. Josephus would make clear the depths to which the Jewish people had sunk at this time, and his thoughts were echoed by pagan writers concerning the people of the time everywhere. Thus Jesus' words aptly covered both Jews and Gentiles.

‘The Son of Man will also be ashamed of him.' Those who have refused to acknowledge Him and have cringed in shame from doing so will find that He too will refuse to acknowledge them. He will be ashamed of them. While not stated here it is clear that He is being seen as co-Judge or Prosecutor. The same principle is found in Jesus' words in Luke 12:8; Matthew 10:32; John 5:22; John 5:27. None would be more fitted for the position of Prosecutor than the Son of Man, for He would also Himself have gone through His own suffering (Mark 8:31). In the light of the general resurrection in which most Jews believed there is nothing in this that requires any limitation in time as to when this would happen.

Some have tried to differentiate Jesus from the Son of Man here as though Jesus and Mark were saying that there was another yet to come, but this does not bear examination. To the disciples the term Son of Man tied in too closely with Jesus, for it was His favourite title for Himself. They knew Who the Son of Man was. The use here simply differentiated the present earthly Jesus, from His ‘coming' as the glorious Son of Man. But to the crowds there was a certain veiledness, for they were not familiar with Jesus' teaching. They may well have thought in terms of two figures and were inevitably being required to think it through. To them He was teaching parabolically. But they could always, of course, ask, and no doubt some did.

‘When he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.' This was assurance that although the Son of Man must suffer and die as He has warned (Mark 8:31), yet He would rise again and would come to the throne of God in order to receive His eternal kingship (Daniel 7:13), a kingship which would then be revealed in His coming in His Father's glory with the holy angels.

‘With the holy angels.' If this refers to the coming of the Son of Man to the throne of God then the idea here is of the ministering heavenly beings who surround the throne (Daniel 7:10). If it refers to His coming to earth it stresses that His coming is with heavenly intentions and with kingly glory, for the angels would not come to rule on earth, but would come as His escorts and attendants. (Compare Mark 13:27; Matthew 13:39; Matthew 13:41; Matthew 13:49; Matthew 16:27; Matthew 25:31; 2 Thessalonians 1:7). This description of His coming with the angels is not as common as we might at first think, for it should be noted that elsewhere in the Gospels Jesus never speaks of Himself as coming to earth in glory ‘with His angels' apart from in Matthew 25:21, where we read, ‘when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him'. He is always otherwise spoken of in the Gospels as coming and ‘sending the angels forth'. On the other hand in Zechariah 14:5 we do read in an eschatological context, ‘Then the Lord your God will come, and all the holy ones with Him', which is backed up by such apocalyptic ideas as we find evidence of in Jude, and by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 1:7. And we can see why Jesus should add ‘angels' to ‘holy ones' so as to prevent any confusion with the people of God who are also often called ‘holy ones' (saints) in the Old Testament. In the light of this the natural interpretation of Mark 8:38 therefore is that it refers to the second coming.

So this passage, which began with a statement of His Messiahship, has progressed through the idea of suffering and ends with a depiction of His triumphant glorious appearing as One Who is the Son of the Father, Who will ‘come in glory', first to the throne of God in the presence of the holy angels, and then to earth escorted by holy angels as in Matthew 25:21. It is then that His Messiahship will be fully revealed. Tragedy will be followed by triumph.

One further point must be made here. It is often pointed out that if this is a reference to the second coming it is the first clear reference to be found in Mark's Gospel, and that is undoubtedly true. But equally strange would it be if Mark made little reference to the second coming at all. For Mark did not write in a vacuum. He was fully aware of the tradition that was common in all the churches, and would therefore write in the light of it. It would, however, be left to Matthew and Luke to provide fuller details, and Luke especially makes clear that the idea of Jesus' second coming was proclaimed throughout His ministry (e.g. Luke 12:35).