“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.” – Jesus (Matthew 19:27b-30)
Jesus daily encountered a literalist mindset. When he told the crowd he was the real bread from heaven, that they had to eat his body and drink his blood, they went wild thinking he was implementing a new form of cannibalism. The context of his statement clearly showed otherwise.1
We, in our culture, have swung the other way to the point we don’t take anything he says literally.
Jesus taught there is an actual, touchable, noticeable change coming to this world – what he called “the regeneration”. Those who “spiritualize” this miss the point of why we remain here in this life; why we continue to have struggles and work through our problems.
Jesus is taking real human beings as leadership material and engaging them in an apprenticeship program. We who follow Christ were chosen to have real responsibilities in that coming renewal. All the apostles knew this and believed it literally.
“It is a faithful saying: … If we suffer, we shall also reign with him…” – 2nd Timothy 2:11a, 12b
Don’t spiritualize it to the point of irrelevance; live like it, expect it. Appreciate the privilege!
– fritz
1 – John 6:30-60
