And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Mat 24:14 BSB
Jesus said, that the end, or His second coming will come when this gospel is preached in all the world. Most Christians, especially in the West, believe that the meaning of “all the world” is throughout the world as we know it. Terra Forma —if you will. If this is true, then Jesus clearly contradicts Himself by previously telling His disciples the following:
When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Truly I tell you, you will not reach all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. Mat 10:23 BSB
Here He is telling them that they will NOT reach all the towns of Israel with the gospel before He comes back, and now He is telling them that the “whole world” needs to be preached to before He comes back!
After hearing these two statements, He must have gotten His disciples shaking their heads in confusion, wondering what He was talking about!
Did Jesus clearly contradict Himself, or maybe He just can’t get His story straight?! How can both of these statements be correct!?
For me, in the past, this seemly contradiction has always left me scratching my head. How about you?
However, if we were to dig a little deeper, we would learn that these two statements don’t contradict each other at all, but actually, complement each other. The problem is that most Evangelical Christians wrongly interpret these verses. Let me explain.
In Matt 24:14, the Greek word for “world” is “oikoumenē”, and not the Greek word “kosmos.” Oikoumenē means, “the inhabited earth, or Roman Empire.” It was the world as they knew it. On the other hand, the Greek word “kosmos,” is the “world, universe.” For example:
For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence… Eph 1:4 BSB
Paul writes that you were chosen in Christ before God created the “kosmos” or world. You were always holy and blameless before God. You were always “in Christ” before anyone was ever “in Adam.” But, I digress.
In addition, we also need to consider the phrase “then the end will come.” When Jesus said this, what did He mean, was it the “end of the world”, or maybe something else?
If we go back to the beginning of Matt 24, the disciples asked Jesus a few questions. The KJV translates it like this:
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? Mat 24:3 KJV
If we look at this at face value, we would think that they were asking about the “end of the world.” However, this is a mistranslation. Let’s dig deeper.
The Greek word for what the KJV translates as “world” is “aion.” It means, a “period of time, age.” Most other translations translate it properly by using the noun “age.”
Jesus was talking to His disciples who were Jews. In the Jewish understanding, they understood that the world (kosmos) was going to last forever,1 so they would never ask about the end of the world. Their understanding and thought were in “ages.” The Greeks had this understanding also. To them, there were only two ages: the current age (Old Covenant), and the age to come (age of Messiah).
Consequently, they were asking Jesus about the end of the Old Covenant age, which is the beginning of the age of Messiah, and not the end of the world.
Next, we need to understand that the gospel had been preached throughout the known world by the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70. Paul declared that the gospel had been preached throughout the world. [Emphasis is mine]:
Col 1:6 BSB that has come to you. [All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing,] just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood the grace of God.
Col 1:23 BSB if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, [which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven,] and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
1Ti 3:16 BSB By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, [was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world,] was taken up in glory.
Now we understand what Jesus was meant in Matt 10:23.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Truly I tell you, you will not reach all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. Mat 10:23 BSB
From the time of Jesus’ ascension to His coming (parousia) in judgment of the apostate Jews with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 — a span of 40 years2, they did not have the time, nor reach all the towns of Israel with the gospel.
In the end, Jesus knew exactly what He was talking about and these two verses don’t contradict each other when you properly interpret them.
- These verses declare that the earth will remain forever: Gen 8:21, Psa 72:17, Psa 78:69, Psa 89:36-37, Psa 90:2, Psa 93:1, Psa 96:10, Psa 104:5, Psa 119:90, Psa 145:13, Psa 148:4-6, Ecc 1:4, Isa 9:7, Dan 2:44, Dan 4:3, Dan 4:34, Dan 7:14, Dan 7:18, Dan 7:27 ↩︎
- 40 years is exactly a Biblical generation. It is just as Jesus said: Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened. Mat 24:34 BSB ↩︎