The key to the entirety of the interchange between the high priest and Jesus is found in the book of Daniel. Before looking at the details of both Daniel and Matthew it is helpful to understand what takes place in the interchange.
- The high priest asks two questions in verse 63. Are you the Christ (the Messiah) is the first and are you the Son of God (making Him equal with God) as the second. It is the second question that caused the high priest to exclaim that Jesus was claiming to be God in his accusation of blasphemy.
- based on Matthew's gospel alone, one might surmise that Jesus ignored the second question, but in Mark's account (Mark 14:62) Jesus includes the declaration of deity statement like the one that YHWH gave to Moses: I AM. One might explain the absence in Matthew because Matthew's gospel links the concept of the Messiah and His deity together (Matthew 16 for example), just as John's gospel links Jesus as Messiah and God (John 20:31). Luke's account (Luke 22:67-71) splits the two questions entirely and omits the exclamation of Blasphemy on the part of the high priest. John' gospel omits the encounter altogether.
- Based on the response of Jesus the high priest has heard enough, Jesus had claimed to be God (so either He is God or He is a liar and a sinner) and so the High Priest exclaimed that Jesus was Blaspheming because of what He said.
Back to the specific question, what is the timing of the events that Jesus is describing:
Jesus quotes Daniel 7:13, which is part of the vision that is contained in Daniel 7:9-28, with Daniel 8:15-27 being the explanation of the two visions (the second in Daniel 8:1-15) that Daniel received at the hands of the angel Gabriel.
In Daniel 7:13-14, the Son of Man declares the events that will occur when He is given power and authority over His kingdom. The events of Daniel 7:13-14 corresponds with the events in Revelation 4-5. Daniel 8:17 declares that the timing of the vision will be "at the time of the end." Therefore the hereafter of Matthew 26:64 will occur as an end time event associated with the giving of the kingdom to Jesus. The "time of the end" is a brought term that is associated with the "Day of the Lord," which is not a single point in time.
This is based on a literal interpretation of both Daniel and the gospels. It also takes into account a literal interpretation of Matthew 24-25, which describes the period known as the tribulation and the Great tribulation.
There are those who have a different look at these events as detailed in the gospels and in Daniel: (1) Ammillenialists, will argue that the second coming will be literal but the kingdom is spiritual, arguing against a literal 1000 year kingdom; and (2) Full preterists argue that the events of Revelation and Matthew 24-25 have already taken place and therefore both of these ideas are spirtualized.
There are a number of issues that are raised by this passage: (1) do all of the uses of the phrase "son of man" refer to the same thing? In the passages associated with Daniel 7:13 they are certainly a title of deity. The question is do the other uses in Luke's and John's gospels also refer to the same thing? Luke seems to be using it in a different way to refer to His humanity but it is an open question. The other is the timing of the resurrection (presuming a resurrection unto judgment) for the high priest, so that he would see the coming of the Son of Man in His glory?
Even among dispensationalists there is some debate as to when the lost of Israel will be resurrected. In Daniel 12 and in Isaiah 26 there is a description of the saved of Israel being resurrected after the tribulation at the time of the second coming. The goats at the sheep and goat judgment (Matthew 25:31-46 in the Olivet discourse declares they will be cast into "everlasting fire" and "everlasting punishment", which would make it possible that the lost of Israel are raised at the same time as the saved of Israel. Yet this last idea is an absence from silence, because there are no passages stating when the lost of Israel will be raised, except the general resurrection of the lost at the Great White throne judgment in Revelation.
Part of the argument in favor of the view that the lost of Israel will be resurrected at the time of he sheep and goat judgment is the fact that the basis of judgment is how they treated their fellow Israelites ("as ye have done to the least of my brethren"), whereas the judgment at the Great white throne will be according to their works. Another help in this argument is it will allow a literal fulfillment of the words of Jesus as it applies to the high priest in Matthew 26:64. Of course this is a debate among dispensationalists that would be rejected altogether by interpreters who employ a hermeneutic that results in covenant theology.
