12 Thrones

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on March 3, 2008 under Ask the Pastor |

A visitor to our website writes:

I have a question about 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.”  He was addressing his Disciples. Judas was among them, yet all of my life I have been taught that when Judas betrayed Jesus, and then later hung himself, he sealed his fate to spend eternity in Hell.  How could Jesus tell the 12 they would set on 12 thrones, when He had to know that Judas was going to betray him and would not be in Heaven?   This is NOT a “trick question”.  I grew up and still attend a “Holiness” Church, and am having this discussion with a Baptist friend of mine.  My own pastor has been unable to give an answer thus far, so I searched “Google” for ‘ask the pastor’ and found your website. Thanks & God Bless.

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Don,

Greetings from far-away Oregon.  I know I should get over how amazing the internet is; but it still thrills me to know we have visitors to our website from the other side of the nation.  You’ve asked a great question.  I’ll do my best to attempt an answer.

First, I wonder if it helps to notice that, though Jesus mentions twelve thrones, He does not say, “Assuredly, in the resurrection, you specific twelve will sit on those twelve thrones.”  He is, it seems to me, very careful to speak only of “you who have followed Me” (which, of course, Judas did not).  It’s interesting that, in a similar passage (Luke 22:28-30); Jesus speaks in similar words after He had His last supper with the disciples, and after Judas had left to betray Him.  On that occasion, He said, “But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials, and I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

In other words, in the Matthew 19:28, Jesus seems to speak in a way that could exclude Judas even if Judas were present (““Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”).  But on that different occasion when Judas was no longer present, in Luke 22:28-29, He seems to speak in a way that would only include those to whom He was speaking (“But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials, and I bestow upon you a kingdom . . .”).

There were occasions when Jesus spoke to the twelve with Judas present; and yet seemed to deliberately isolate Judas in what was being said.  In John 6:70-71, Jesus says, “‘Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?’  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.”  And yet later, after Judas had been dismissed from the group to go and betray Jesus (John 13:27), Jesus told the remaining disciples something that would not have applied to Judas, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you” (John 15:16).

So; it seems to me that, when Jesus says what He says in Matthew 19:28, though Judas is present, Jesus speaks carefully so as to exclude Him from the promise of “thrones” that the others received.

Now, of course, that leaves us with the question of why Jesus mentioned twelve thrones instead of eleven.  It may be that this was something that even the eleven disciples were wondering when they were gathered together in Acts 1:15-26.  Judas was gone–having gone out and hung himself.  And Peter and the others felt compelled to (if I may put it this way) try and make it an even dozen.  So they cast lots and selected a man named Matthias.  Perhaps they were afraid that one of the thrones would now be empty.

While I’m sure that Matthias was a good, godly man, I don’t think that he was the Lord’s choice to complete the twelve.  He was chosen before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2; and he was chosen by lot–not by the command of the Lord.  And in fact, we don’t hear from him any longer in Scripture.  But I believe that God DID have someone in mind.  I believe that the position of that twelfth throne was going to belong to the apostle Paul; who had not yet been saved and called, but soon would be.  Later, Paul wrote, “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God I am what I am . . .” (1 Corinthians 15:9-10).  But as unworthy as Paul considered himself to be, he nevertheless was still a called apostle; appointed by Christ (Galatians 1:1).  And so, I believe that there WILL be twelve apostles sitting on the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  Judas will not be one of them; but my strong suspicion is that Paul will be.

I sincerely hope this helps.

Blessings in Christ’s love,
Greg Allen, Pastor
Bethany Bible Church

(All Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James Version.)