Do Jehovah's Witnesses "fulfill the prophecy" of Jesus to preach the Gospel "throughout the world"?

Matthew 24 is one of the most important chapters in the Bible for Jehovah's Witnesses since it deals with predicting the End Times (which JW theology is entirely based upon, see Here). Most of us have heard certain features of what Jesus said in this chapter, but JWs are unique in that they zoom in on certain details in order to emphasize that only they are the ones actually taking it seriously. The JWs are especially keen on what Jesus says in Mt 24:14, "This good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."

JWs think they are the only group that is preaching the Gospel everywhere, and thus that their global preaching ministry fulfills this prophecy that the end of the world will come any day now. To many who hear this it sounds convincing, because most Christians are not evangelizing at all, so the very fact only the JWs are evangelizing gives the JWs credibility that they are the true Biblical religion. So how do you counter this impressive JW claim? It turns out there's a powerful counter-argument that can pull the rug from under them, which we'll look at in this article. 

First, we should take a look at some official JW claims about Matthew 24:14, which can all easily be found on the official JW Online Library page:

• Jesus pointed out another part of the sign when he foretold: “This good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14) While the world is experiencing terrible problems, over eight million people from all nations are declaring the good news of God’s Kingdom in 240 lands and in over 1,000 languages. This has never happened before in human history. (Watchtower, 2020, Public No.2)
  

• Whether people agree with us or bitterly oppose us, few would deny that as a group Jehovah’s Witnesses are well-known for their preaching activities. As we know, Jesus foretold that the good news of the Kingdom would be preached in all the inhabited earth. (Matt. 24:14) But how do we know that the work we do is in fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy? Is it presumptuous on our part to think that we are the ones who are doing this work? Many religious groups feel that they are preaching the Gospel, or good news. However, their efforts are often limited to personal testimonies, church services, or programs broadcast through the media​ ... What group of people are preaching that message in “all the nations”? The answer is obvious​—only Jehovah’s Witnesses. (Watchtower, May 2016)

• But how would they [the 12 Apostles] preach “in all the inhabited earth” and give “a witness to all the nations”? Where would the workers come from? If only they could have looked into the future while sitting with Jesus that day! They would no doubt have been amazed to see the fulfillment of those few words that we now read at Matthew 24:14. We are living in the time of the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy. Millions have joined together to fill the earth with the preaching of the good news of the Kingdom. (Watchtower, April 2013)

This is but a few of dozens of passages expressing the same idea from official JW material throughout the decades. The sentiment is understandable and their argument is straightforward and apparently quite solid. So where should we turn? How about the Bible itself! Let's see what Paul had to say about this matter:

• Colossians 1:6 Just as the good news is bearing fruit and increasing in all the world, so it is also doing among you from the day you heard
  
  
• Colossians 1:23 the hope of that good news that you heard and that was preached in all creation under heaven. Of this good news I, Paul, became a minister.
  
  
• 1 Timothy 3:16 He was made manifest in flesh, was declared righteous in spirit, was preached about among nations, was believed upon in the world, was received up in glory
  
  
• Romans 10:17 So faith follows the thing heard. In turn, what is heard is through the word about Christ. 18 But I ask, They did not fail to hear, did they? Why, in fact, “into all the earth their sound went out, and to the ends of the inhabited earth their message.”
  
  
• Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the holy spirit comes upon you, and you will be witnesses of me in Jerusalem, in all Ju·deʹa and Sa·marʹi·a, and to the most distant part of the earth.
  
  
• Romans 16:25 Now to Him who can make you firm according to the good news I declare and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the sacred secret that has been kept in silence for long-lasting times 26 but has now been made manifest and has been made known through the prophetic Scriptures among all the nations according to the command of the everlasting God
  
  
• Romans 1:8 First of all, I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ concerning all of you, because your faith is talked about throughout the whole world.

Most JWs are totally unaware of these passages, so it can be quite a shock when they see them since it would completely undermine their understanding of Matt 24:14. We can see from these texts that the Gospel had reached 'all the nations' and was preached 'throughout the world'. These texts don't necessarily mean the Gospel reached literally every individual and literally every square foot of the Earth, but they mean the Gospel had reached to the limits of the known world. This is not a controversial idea, as even the official JW publications admit this is what these verses mean, though they try not to speak of this when they discuss Matt 24:14 because of how it undermines their current understanding of it:

• Watchtower, April 2001 says: Within 30 years after the outpouring of the holy spirit at Pentecost, Paul wrote that the good news had been “preached in all creation that is under heaven,” possibly referring to the then-known earth.​—Colossians 1:23.
  
  
• Watchtower, March 2010 says: The Good News “Preached in All Creation” About 60-61 C.E., the apostle Paul wrote that the good news was “preached in all creation that is under heaven.” (Colossians 1:23) Did he mean that Christians had already preached in India, the Far East, Africa, Spain, Gaul, Britain, the Baltics, and Pytheas’ Thule? That seems unlikely, but we cannot be specific. It is beyond doubt, however, that the good news had spread extensively. Jews and proselytes who embraced Christianity at Pentecost 33 C.E., for example, carried their newfound faith at least as far as Parthia, Elam, Media, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Asia Minor, the parts of Libya toward Cyrene, and Rome​—encompassing the world known to Paul’s readers.​—Acts 2:5-11.
  
  
• Watchtower, April 2020 sats: It was after that remarkable outpouring of God’s spirit in the first century that the preaching work began to go forward to the greatest extent. By the time the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians, about 61 C.E., he could describe the good news as being preached “in all creation under heaven.” (Col. 1:23) In Paul’s day, “all creation” meant the world as it was then known.
  
  
• Insight on the Scriptures, Vol 2, p.673 says: Since all who became disciples also became preachers of the Word, the good news spread rapidly, and by the time Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians (c. 60-61 C.E. or about 27 years after Christ’s death), he could speak of the good news “which was preached in all creation that is under heaven.” (Col 1:23) Hence, Christ’s prophecy of the ‘preaching of the good news in all the nations’ saw a certain fulfillment prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 C.E. (Mt 24:14; Mr 13:10; MAP, Vol. 2, p. 744) Jesus’ own words, as well as the book of Revelation, written after that destruction, point to a greater fulfillment of this prophecy at the time of Christ’s beginning to exercise Kingdom rule and preliminary to the destruction of all adversaries of that Kingdom, a logical time for a great heralding work to be accomplished.​—Re 12:7-12, 17; 14:6, 7; 19:5, 6; 22:17.
  
  
• JW Study Bible, Note on Rom 10:18 into all the earth their sound went out: Paul here quotes from Ps 19:4, which describes how the silent witness given by God’s physical creation reaches the whole earth. Paul extends the application to the preaching work. He indicates that just as creation’s testimony reaches all the earth, to the point that rejection of God is inexcusable (Ro 1:20), so the extensive preaching of the “good news” (Ro 10:15) concerning Christ had given the Jews plenty of opportunities to accept it.
  
  
• JW Study Bible, Note on Acts 1:8 to the most distant part of the earth: Or “to the ends (extremity) of the earth.” The same Greek expression is used at Ac 13:47 in a prophecy quoted from Isa 49:6, where the Greek Septuagint also uses the term. Jesus’ statement at Ac 1:8 may echo that prophecy, which foretold that Jehovah’s servant would be “a light of nations” so that salvation would reach “the ends of the earth.” This harmonizes with Jesus’ previous statement that his followers would perform “works greater” than his. (See study note on Joh 14:12.) The statement is also in line with Jesus’ description of the worldwide scope of the Christian preaching work.​—See study notes on Mt 24:14; 26:13;28:19.

Given this, we can certainly say that the claims made by Jesus in Matthew 24:14 were fulfilled in the first century, during the very lifetime of the Apostles. This also means that the "end will come" refers to the end of the Jewish system of things, the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70AD. Of course, this throws a wrench in the JW understanding of things, so they must do damage control and put a spin on it and argue that there is a 'second' and 'greater' fulfillment of Jesus' claims in Matthew 24. But this idea that there has to be a second greater fulfillment of things is an unwarranted stretch that cannot be allowed to slide. Even if we were to grant there is a future secondary greater fulfillment for some features of Matt 24, each of those would have to be clearly shown, not merely assumed. 

 

Again, most JWs are totally unaware of this, and think that 'preaching throughout the world' is only happening in our current time. By introducing them to to this far more Biblical claim of Colossians 1:23, you can plant seeds of doubt. As an apologist, your hidden (and longer term) goal will be to show the JWs that Matt 24 applies to the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, and not some secret prophecy of our times that only they are fulfilling. Not only that, the JWs are not very deep thinkers, so they don't even realize that of their 7 million JW members, the possibility of preaching to each of the 8 billion people alive today is highly unlikely. Each JW would have to preach to at least 1,000 other people, but getting a hold of that many people is very hard. For example, assume a family of 4 is living in most houses or apartments, but when the JWs come either nobody answers the door or only one parent answers the door. That means that family never truly got a fair chance to hear the Gospel. On top of that, in some countries preaching is either highly illegal or very unpractical, so I doubt the JWs have given the people of India of China a fair chance to hear the Gospel. This is very different form the context of Matthew 24:14 though, where the goal was really for the Apostles to reach out to the Jews of the world to let them know the Messiah arrived and that the Jewish system would be going away soon. That goal 'simply' required going to all the major synagogues of the Roman Empire, which is why Acts repeatedly says Paul's custom was to go to the local synagogue of a city for a few weeks to let them know the Messiah arrived (Acts 17:1-2).