---
title: Matthew 24:26
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-24-26/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-24-26.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Matthew 24:26
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Matthew 24:26

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> So if they tell you, ‘There He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "Therefore, if people say to you, 'Look! He is in the wilderness,' do not go out; 'Look! He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it."

## JW Usage

The Watchtower reads "do not believe" anyone claiming Christ is hidden in inner rooms as confirmation of the JW invisible-presence doctrine — Christ is NOT in any visible human location, because his presence since 1914 has been heavenly and discernible only through the signs of the times and the work of the organisation. The verse is read as ruling out claims of a localised visible Christ rather than as ruling out invisible-presence claims.

## Protestant Usage

Read v. 26 with v. 27 as a single warning. Jesus's contrast is not "do not believe in a visible Christ" but "do not believe claims of a hidden, localised, secret Christ — because when the Son of Man comes, it will be as visible as lightning across the whole sky." The verse explicitly rules out invisible or hidden presences in favour of universally visible coming. Pair Matthew 24:26 with Acts 1:11 (the angels saying Jesus will return "in the same manner" as he ascended — visibly, bodily, witnessed) and Revelation 1:7 ("every eye will see him, and those who pierced him"). The Watchtower's 1914 invisible-presence doctrine is precisely the kind of hidden-arrival claim Matthew 24:26 warns against.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Visible, Bodily, Every Eye — The Return Acts 1:11 Promised](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/visible-bodily-return-acts1.md) — Acts 1:11 / Revelation 1:7 / 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 [Eschatology]