The
central theme of the reading from Matthew 24:36-44 is promise. Jesus promises
that when he returns he will gather his people. We don’t need to be afraid of
the Great Tribulation or the Battle of Armageddon. Jesus will be with us. He
will protect us.
No
one knows when He will return to set up His kingdom. Periodically someone will
claim to have discovered a secret that indicates the date of Christ’s return,
but such claims are not true. Jesus will return when we least expect it.
Christians who are expecting His return will know it will be a great day. When
He returns, we will have to give an account of how we lived for Him. If we are
faithful and wise servants we will be ready. Jesus will see us doing His will
when He returns.
Jesus
can’t make it any plainer. Even he doesn’t know the exact date and time of his
return. At first glance this doesn’t make any sense because Jesus was fully God
even though he was also fully human. While Jesus was on earth he learned things
the same way other humans learned them. Because he was fully God at the same
time, he had infinite knowledge, so how could he have not known the date and
time of his return? One possibility is that he regularly lived on the basis of
his human knowledge, but he could call to mind anything from his infinite
knowledge.
The
idea the Jesus will come like a thief in the night is found in multiple places
in Scripture such as Luke 12:39, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 2 Peter 3:10, Revelation
3:3 and Revelation 16:15. We must keep looking for Christ’s return, but we must
also continue to spread the Good News. We must always be prepared because he
could return at any time.
Some
may wonder why Christ hasn’t returned yet. One possible reason is that he might
be waiting until the affairs of the world are so messed up that waiting any
longer won’t make a difference. This supports the fact that the Battle of
Armageddon has to take place before Christ returns. Some people say that we are
getting closer to the end of the world because of all the wars and natural
disasters that are taking place in the world today.
Another
sign that we are getting close to the time of Christ’s return is the falling
away from the faith. Church attendance is declining. Some clergy even stand in
the pulpit and deny the virgin birth and Jesus’ resurrection.
It
isn’t easy for us to wait for anything, and our modern society doesn’t help.
With all of our time saving devices such as microwave ovens and cell phones, we
are used to getting things almost immediately. We forget to stop and look. We
forget to let God interrupt our plans so that we can see Jesus.
God
reveals enough about the future to give us hope, but not so much that we do not
have to live and walk by faith every day. We have His assurance about our
future with Him. He will bring justice and hope to our hurting would.
Jesus
said that people won’t notice His return when it happens. While it is true that
the event will be reported by the media thanks to our 24-hour news channels,
that does not mean that people will be paying attention. After all, how many of
us pay attention to every news story on radio or TV or in the newspaper? People
will keep on doing things as they have always done. They won’t realize that
things will change because of Jesus’ return. It’s important that we must always
be ready for Christ’s return. We don’t want Him to catch us by surprise.
The
end will be unexpected. God will come into the ordinary events of our lives.
His coming will cause a great separation between believers and non-believers.
He doesn’t want us to have a “ho-hum” attitude about his return, but he doesn’t
want us to be afraid of it either.
When Jesus returns, will we recognize him? The only way to
know for certain is to get lots of practice doing what he wants us to do. In
other words, we are to show his love to a hurting world be serving the less
fortunate. This means feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty,
welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked and visiting the prisoner. These
will be credited to us as if we had done them for Christ. While we are waiting
for Christ to return, we are to witness to unbelievers and warn them about
Christ’s judgment. We are to share God’s love and plan for salvation.
Bibliography
1.
Jeremiah,
David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy
Publishing; 2013; p. 1325-1326)
2.
ESV Study
Bible. Part of Wordsearch 11 Bible software package.
3.
Augsberger,
M. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s
Commentary Series, Vol. 24: Matthew (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.;
1983)
4.
MacArthur,
J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible, New
American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN; Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5.
Stanley,
C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life
Principles Bible, New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles;
2005)
6.
Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville,
TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010; pp.1339-1340)
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