Questions & Answers

The words of our Savior in Matthew 10:23 have been discussed by many and understood in a variety of ways. Predictably, those who have a low view of Jesus himself or of his Word are quick to accuse him of being mistaken. Others who may love Jesus their Savior and have a high regard for his Word have been tempted to ignore the verse and pretend it doesn't exist. Far better is the route you are taking, namely, to seek additional information.

There is no question that, in context, Jesus is offering comfort along with instruction. His followers may rest assured that their sharing the good news of God's ruling activity will stimulate opposition and persecution as long as the world lasts and until Christ returns in glory. But they may remain confident. They will continue to testify among Jews as well as Gentiles until Christ does return. And he will return. To say it another way, Jesus is identifying the start of a process that will include multiple events and generations and will culminate on the Last Day.

Jesus gives this predictive prophecy using a device or technique that many Old Testament prophets also employed. Sometimes this way of speaking is called ""telescopic prophecy," "prophetic foreshortening," "intermediate fulfillment prophecy," or "mountain peak prophecy."  It presents short-term and longer-term events in such a way that they merge and their similarities become prominent. Just as widely-separated mountain peaks are seen from a distance as one, so also different historical events are merged and seen as though they were the same. Jesus uses this technique again in Matthew chapter 24, merging the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD with the events of the Last Day. As the particular events are fulfilled and become history, God's people are able to identify the partial fulfillments and continue to anticipate the ultimate fulfillment.

In this verse Jesus is describing a pattern that will continue among his faithful followers and witnesses, a pattern that will culminate when he returns in glory.