What does it mean that the apostles will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes?
Many interpretations have been proposed for Matthew 10:23b. Jesus certainly means that the disciples should not expect their task to be easy or quickly finished, but it is significant that they will not complete this task "before the Son of Man comes.” This means that with the arrival of this moment, the preaching of the gospel in Israel would not have yet been completed. Jesus could be speaking of 1) his second coming in glory; 2) the coming of his replacement, the Holy Spirit; 3) his resurrection, or 4) his coming to visit judgment on Jerusalem (that is, with its destruction in 70 AD).
We hold that Jesus here speaks about his second coming (see also Matthew 24:30, Matthew 26:64), but also that the towns to which he refers are real places to which the disciples can flee (Matthew 10:23a). In this way this is a comforting promise, because this means that until the Son of Man returns, there will be cities to flee to.
A variety of interpretations have been proposed for Matthew 10:23b. Jesus certainly means that the disciples should not expect their task to be easy or quickly finished, but it is quite significant that they will not complete this task "before the Son of Man comes.” This means that with the arrival of this moment, the preaching of the gospel in Israel would not have yet been completed. Some believe that Jesus is here speaking of 1) his second coming in glory; others maintain that 2) he is speaking of the coming of his replacement, the Holy Spirit; while a third view is that 3) he is referring to his resurrection, and yet another interpretation maintains that 4) he is speaking of his coming to visit judgment on Jerusalem—that is, with its destruction in 70 AD.1
We maintain that Jesus here indeed speaks about his second coming (see also Matthew 24:30, Matthew 26:64), but at the same time we believe that the towns to which he refers here refers to very real places to which the disciples themselves can flee (Matthew 10:23a). In this way this becomes a particularly comforting promise, because this means that until the Son of Man returns, there will be cities to flee to.
23 Quand on vous persécutera dans une ville, fuyez dans une autre. Je vous le dis en vérité, vous n'aurez pas achevé de parcourir les villes d'Israël que le Fils de l'homme sera venu.