Another Difficult Verse

Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (ESV throughout) 

In the August 2025 issue of the Restoration Herald, we examined a verse that many consider difficult to understand, namely Luke 10:18. This month, we are looking at another hard-to-understand verse found in Matthew 19:28, the verse quoted above. 

The context of this verse follows the encounter Jesus had with the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16ff; Mark 10:17ff; Luke 18:18ff). This man wanted to gain eternal life, but the desire for wealth and his unhealthy attachment to riches caused him to go away from Jesus, sadly. His intentions seemed genuine, but materialism had too much of a hold on him. 

Jesus used this encounter to teach His disciples. He spoke with them about the difficulty of the rich entering the kingdom of God, and this caused great astonishment among the disciples. It was common for Jews to associate wealth with the blessing of God. If a person had great riches, surely, they must be under divine favor. Jesus points out the fallacy of such a viewpoint. The disciples are surprised. They ask, “Who then can be saved?” The answer: such things are not possible with man, but they are with God. He has the power to save anyone who will humbly come for salvation. 

This prompts Peter to ask, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Peter realized he and the other Apostles had left what they knew to become genuine followers of Jesus. Our difficult verse is found in the reply Jesus gives. 

We must be careful not to generalize these words of Jesus to the Apostles as if there is some application for us. Jesus is speaking to the Twelve and them alone. Peter uses the pronoun “we” in verse 27, which is in the emphatic position, to refer to himself and the disciples with him. Jesus also singles out the Twelve by using the pronoun “you” in verse 28, also in the emphatic position. Whatever sense “judging the twelve tribes of Israel” is to be taken, it must be in reference to the Apostles.  

To understand what Jesus meant, we must take into consideration the time factor He is referencing. There are three main approaches: First, Jesus is speaking of the age of the new birth/salvation era when the Apostles would be preaching and writing by Holy Spirit inspiration (the church age). Second, He is referring to the eschatological age to come (eternity). Third, the Lord is talking about the period that encompasses both the present and future ages. Let’s examine the words and phrases Jesus uses to see if we can understand what time He had in mind.  

First, Jesus says, “In the new world.” This expression in the ESV is somewhat misleading. The word translated new world (palingenesia) is used only here and in Titus 3:5. When Paul writes to Titus, the word is translated regeneration, which would fit better here. The word means “to be born again, rebirth, new birth.” Paul’s use of the word indicates the new spiritual birth/nature we receive at conversion through the work of the Holy Spirit. In the Matthew context, I see no reason not to apply Jesus’s use of the word in the same way. He is talking about the era of the new birth, which is the church age, beginning with the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, right up to the present time.  

When properly understood, the next phrase, “when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne,” leads us in the same direction. Does the Bible tell us when Jesus began to sit on His throne to reign? It certainly does. Although King Jesus was present on earth, in the context of Matthew 19, His enthronement is still future. However, what was future in Matthew 19 is the reality of the church age. His enthronement over His kingdom begins after His ascension and exaltation to the right hand of God. The “official” start of the kingdom begins in Acts 2. Unlike the false interpretation of Scripture among those of certain end-time views, Jesus is reigning right now from the right hand of God as King of His kingdom. We are not speculating about this; it is the testimony of the Bible. JESUS IS: 

The prophesied King of the kingdom — Psalm 2:6; Daniel 2:44; 7:13-14; Zechariah 9:9. 

The resurrected Lord exalted to the right hand of God presently as Lord and Christ — Acts 2:32-36. 

The blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords — 1 Timothy 6:15. 

The Lamb who even now conquers as Lord of lords and King of kings —  Revelation 17:14 

Jesus is reigning on His glorious throne as King over His kingdom, the church, right now. Christ will indeed reign throughout eternity, but He is already the King, and He is already sitting on the throne. His present and ongoing enthronement matches perfectly with the new world being the era of the new birth/regeneration of the Christian age. 

The last phrase has Jesus addressing the Apostles, saying, “You who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” In what sense will the Apostles sit on thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel? Was this to be done temporally, on Judgment Day, or in eternity? 

It will help us to look at the construction of the wording. The verb sit is future tense, so this judgment was something yet to come. The word judging is a present active participle (see Luke 22:30 for the same wording and construction). The present tense indicates ongoing, continuous action. Participles are verbal adjectives that modify or support the action of the main verb, which is sit. When the time came for the Apostles to sit, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, it would be something ongoing. We must ask what judgment could be done by the Apostles over Israel in a continuous sense? It cannot be on Judgment Day since God will do the judging through Christ (Romans 2:16; 2 Timothy 4:1, 8). To have the Apostles helping Christ with judgment would be superfluous at the very least. Also, relatively speaking, this judgment will be brief, not ongoing. 

Next, what judgment would be necessary for the Apostles to make concerning Israel in eternity? The only Israel in heaven will be the spiritual Israel, the church (Romans 2:28-29; Galatians 4:21-31; 6:15-16; Hebrews 8:8-13; 12:18-24; Revelation 21:1-4). Once Christ has completed His judging on Judgment Day, there are no judgments remaining since all Christians enter the final state of heaven for eternity, including the Apostles, and the lost are sent to hell. We are left, then, with a temporal, ongoing time of judgment where the Apostles do their judging through the Holy Spirit-inspired Word of God. They would be speaking for Christ throughout the church age (John 14:26; 15:26-27; 16:12-15; 17:17, 20). This fits the time element of the rest of the passage and, in my estimation, makes the most sense. 

John 12:48 indeed tells us that the Word of Christ, which is mediated through the Holy Spirit-inspired Apostles and prophets, will be the standard for judgment on the last day, but this still does not imply any direct sense of judging over Israel done by the Apostles on Judgment Day or in eternity. The time of Apostolic judging over the twelve tribes of Israel is during the Christian age and is accomplished through Holy Spirit-inspired word revelation. The Apostles were ambassadors in a very specialized sense (2 Corinthians 5:20). The words they spoke were the words of Jesus. 

J. W. McGarvey makes an insightful and succinct comment: 

By the term “regeneration,” Jesus in this case means the period in which the process of regenerating men would be in progress; i.e., the period of the mediatorial reign. After His ascension, Jesus sat upon His throne. And on the day of Pentecost next following, He began this process of regeneration. Having enthroned Himself, Jesus enthroned the apostles also, not as kings but as judges, having jurisdiction over all questions of faith and practice in the earthly kingdom. During their personal ministry, they judged in person, and since then, they have judged through their writings. i 

New covenant revelation was needed for the new covenant era. This inspired Word from God brought judgment upon Israel. We remember Pentecost was the beginning of something, the church, but it was also the end of something for the Jews as the covenant people of God (this end culminated with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70). Being the physical offspring of Abraham would not save Israel, as the New Testament writings would clearly show. Salvation is now in Christ. The inspired Apostles judged by bringing forth the complete word revelation from God in the church age.