The Day and Hour Unknown - Matthew 24:36-51
The Day and Hour Unknown
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Reflection: As we have said before the bible is not always neat and tidy, and Jesus is not always "nice". He offers strong words with high challenge that we would do well to meditate on. After explaining some of the dynamics of the end times such as what are some signs, and how we can take notice and be alert for such signs. Today he gives more direct and specific teaching on His second coming.
The first thing he says is that no one knows that date or time, not even the angels or he, himself. It seems odd that being the Son of God that he wouldn't know, but this Jesus in the flesh, who does have some limitations according to his humanity. For instance, he needs to eat and sleep. He has feelings and emotions. He dies. But we also know He rises from the dead and sits at the right hand will come back to judge the living and the dead as we confess. But the bottom line is we do not know when he will come back, and Jesus likens it to a thief in the night.
So since we cannot know when Jesus will return, though a lot of people have predicted it already and all been sincerely wrong, what should our position be? Although it is obvious it is worth re-stating. We need to be ready at anytime. Jesus doesn't mince words about what will happen to the person who thinks it will be long time, so they take the liberty of doing whatever they want, thinking they will reform later. This is a dangerous position as hopefully is obvious.
But Jesus does commend and calls as "ready" the servant who is doing what he was asked to do. In the case of the disciples, Jesus told them to "feed my sheep". And this metaphor is continued here when Jesus says, it is good "whom the master has put in charge to give His servants their food at the proper time!"
We need to be careful with our theology here. Does it mean if I'm having a bad day and Jesus returns I might be on his bad side? Does it mean we cannot be sure of our salvation? Other passages show us that is by grace we are saved and grace will lead us home. And the One who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it. So God calls us to be faithful, and we can be certain He is always faithful to us. So there is a good tension here between god's faithfulness and the call on our lives to be faithful to our calling in Christ. As we rely on what Jesus has done for us and are led by His Holy Spirit, we have everything we need to be faithful to our calling and be ready at any time for His return. Amen.
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Reflection: As we have said before the bible is not always neat and tidy, and Jesus is not always "nice". He offers strong words with high challenge that we would do well to meditate on. After explaining some of the dynamics of the end times such as what are some signs, and how we can take notice and be alert for such signs. Today he gives more direct and specific teaching on His second coming.
The first thing he says is that no one knows that date or time, not even the angels or he, himself. It seems odd that being the Son of God that he wouldn't know, but this Jesus in the flesh, who does have some limitations according to his humanity. For instance, he needs to eat and sleep. He has feelings and emotions. He dies. But we also know He rises from the dead and sits at the right hand will come back to judge the living and the dead as we confess. But the bottom line is we do not know when he will come back, and Jesus likens it to a thief in the night.
So since we cannot know when Jesus will return, though a lot of people have predicted it already and all been sincerely wrong, what should our position be? Although it is obvious it is worth re-stating. We need to be ready at anytime. Jesus doesn't mince words about what will happen to the person who thinks it will be long time, so they take the liberty of doing whatever they want, thinking they will reform later. This is a dangerous position as hopefully is obvious.
But Jesus does commend and calls as "ready" the servant who is doing what he was asked to do. In the case of the disciples, Jesus told them to "feed my sheep". And this metaphor is continued here when Jesus says, it is good "whom the master has put in charge to give His servants their food at the proper time!"
We need to be careful with our theology here. Does it mean if I'm having a bad day and Jesus returns I might be on his bad side? Does it mean we cannot be sure of our salvation? Other passages show us that is by grace we are saved and grace will lead us home. And the One who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it. So God calls us to be faithful, and we can be certain He is always faithful to us. So there is a good tension here between god's faithfulness and the call on our lives to be faithful to our calling in Christ. As we rely on what Jesus has done for us and are led by His Holy Spirit, we have everything we need to be faithful to our calling and be ready at any time for His return. Amen.
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