Matthew 10:23 – You will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.
Chapter ten of Matthew is the clearest expression of Jesus to His disciples that He would return before they had finished their mission of taking the Gospel to every city in Israel. At the time of Jesus’ statement they did not comprehend what He meant. Throughout their ministry they looked for His return. They truly desired to be with Him. Throughout history, believers hoped for Jesus’ return. They interpreted the events of their times as the certainty of His return. It is no different in our day.
Beloved, it is important to understand what Jesus was saying to His disciples before we try to understand how these Scriptures apply to our generation. In Matthew 10, we read of Jesus sending His disciples out to the towns of Israel with power to heal and cast out demons. They went with a clear word of the good news that the Messiah was present. They were sent only to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:6). They “proclaimed that the kingdom of heaven was at hand and to prove it, they healed the sick, raised the dead, cleansed the lepers, and cast out demons” (Matthew 10:7-8). Jesus gave them many other instructions as well. He warned them that there would be wolves among the sheep that would try to harm them.
Jesus defined the clear meaning of discipleship for His disciples. “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master (Matthew 10:24). I encourage you to read the whole tenth chapter. Jesus spoke very clearly of that generation and the mission He was giving to His disciples. It was a mission to the House of Israel. In the book of Acts, we see that the Samaritans and Gentiles were brought into God’s plan as well. The first and primary mission of these disciples, who became apostles, was to the lost sheep of Israel.
Jesus was saying to them, “You will not finish the mission before I come.” They fully expected Christ’s return before the end of the century. When Jesus spoke of His return, it is obvious He was not speaking of His physical appearance. To have a better understanding of the glorious return of Christ, it is important to understand what took place in first century Christianity.
As Jesus spoke of the “Son of Man coming,” He spoke of His return to judge unbelieving Israel at the end of that generation. He is not speaking of the end of the world, but the end of an age. The age of Moses, or the age of the Law, was about to be brought to an end. It had served its purpose and now all of Israel was called to be reconstituted through and under King Jesus. The message went out to every city of Israel. All of the tribes of Israel heard the message that the kingdom of God was present among them. The message was confirmed with signs following. Tomorrow we will see the contrast of what Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 10:23 and His return at the end of the world to receive His church and judge the nations who reject His offer of salvation.
Father, I thank You for the Scriptures that speak of Your plans and purposes. I thank You for the blessed hope of Christ’s return and pray that I will be filled with Your Holy Spirit daily in order to represent You well with whomever I come in contact.