Matthew 10-12

[Jesus says,] “When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” Matthew‬ ‭10:23‬)

I’m not sure what this means. Jesus calls his disciples and gives them instructions. He tells them to preach, heal, exorcise demons, and raise the dead. He anticipates the resistance they will encounter and encourages them to persevere in the face of it. In the verse above he indicates that resistance will rise to the level of persecution and advises them to move rather than to defend their words, work, or thoughts. He tells them to minister among “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” and that the Son of Man comes before they will be able to complete the mission he gives to them.

Matthew doesn’t give any indication that the twelve go on their mission immediately. In fact “the disciples” accompany Jesus through events recorded in the next several chapters, though “the twelve” are not specifically identified.

This, I guess, is the sense in which the Son of Man comes: First, the Resurrected Christ comes to the women, then to the twelve, then to a host of others. Next, following the ascension of the Resurrected Christ, God the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, comes and indwells his disciples.

The ministry, the resistance, and the persecution that Matthew seems to have in mind takes place after the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. That is when they flee from persecution, and they preach, heal, cast out demons, and raise the dead.

And in what sense does the Son of Man come today?