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Bible Notes...

Sitting on Thrones

Mike Maney
Text: Matthew 19:28
"And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

In the above passage we note that Jesus referred to the time when He shall return as a "regeneration" during which time He will sit upon His throne of glory. The apostle Peter, who heard those very words from Christ, spoke later of that same time frame as "the times of restitution of all things" (Acts 3:21). John was later given a vision on the island of Patmos wherein Jesus was pointing to those future days as being made "new" (Revelation 21:5).

Here in this context Jesus sought to settle His apostles' fears of possibly not receiving any favorable benefits for their having chosen to follow Him. Jesus reassured His apostles to expect a future of great blessings in His coming kingdom. Far from their losing out for having decided to follow Jesus, they would receive the status of "judges" over their peers who had failed to believe.

In fact, their future governorship over Israel might be viewed as a reflection of 12 previous governors who rose to power under king Solomon. Recall that upon Solomon's ascent to the throne 12 chief governors were nominated by him to preside over his kingdom (1 Kings 4:7). Solomon had appointed those 12 governors to facilitate food for himself and his household.

Thus, in similar fashion Jesus will give His 12 apostles positions comparable to that in His future kingdom. Indeed, Jesus was already training the apostles for such a time when they would eventually slip into those positions.

"And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

In Luke's gospel we are given a "preview" of their future governorship in the kingdom. Recall when Jesus had them distribute food to the multitude (Luke 9:12-17). The twelve baskets of leftover food were probably for the apostles themselves.

(You may find more Bible Notes like this in The Aletheian Landmarks).