A few posts back (on this blog) I think I focused heavily on the fact that we don’t know when Jesus will return and even said that he could come at any time. I mentioned that by the time the Apostles had died everything was in place for his return. (That comes from Matthew 24: 32-35). There is a verse in today’s passage that may contradict what I said. Jesus says that the Gospel will be preached to all nations (the word really means people groups) before He returns. That obviously hadn’t happened by the end of the first century AD. There’s not easy solution between those two passages.
I will tell you this though. Jesus’ promise that the Gospel will be preached to all nations before he returns has been a great motivator for countless generations of missionaries. Many sincerely believed that their efforts of taking the Gospel to unreached places could usher in the return of Christ.
I wonder how our generation will take this challenge. There are fewer and fewer physical obstacles to getting the Gospel to far-away places. Travel has become much easier. Civilization has spread into most corners of the globe. Certainly political obstacles still separate some places from access to the Good News. But still we have less excuses than any generation in the history of the world for not taking the Gospel around the globe.
In fact the biggest obstacles that might stand in our way might be our love of comforts. We have to learn to put the spiritual destinies of others in front of our wants and desires. But who knows? Maybe our efforts for Jesus’ sake might lead to the greatest day in the history of the universe. The day when Jesus consummates history with his return.
It’s no surprise why that thought motivated so many generations. Will it motivate us?
