Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?

 "Now learn this parable from the fig tree:  When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.  So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near -- at the doors!  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.  But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  Then two men will be in the field:  one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill:  one will be taken and the other left.  Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.  Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

"Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.  But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

- Matthew 24:32-51

In the past two readings, Jesus has begun teaching about end times, and the destruction of the temple with war to come in Jerusalem.  In yesterday's reading, He told His disciples, "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.  And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.  But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.  For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.  Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you beforehand.  Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.  For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.  Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

 "Now learn this parable from the fig tree:  When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.  So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near -- at the doors!  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."  My study bible says that this generation refers to all believers at all times, the generation of the Church, and not merely those alive at the time of Christ.

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only."   St. John Chrysostom suggests that Jesus says the angels are unaware of the precise day of His return "so that men should not seek to learn what angels do not know," and to forbid them not only from learning the day, but from even inquiring about it.  In accordance with Mark 13:32, and Chrysostom's Matthew text, Jesus declares that the Son also does not know the day of His own return.   Chrysostom teaches that this isn't to be taken literally but is rather a figure of speech.  Rather it means that Christ, although He revealed all the signs that will accompany His return, will not reveal the exact day to anyone, and that believers should not be so brazen as to inquire of Him.  

"For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  Then two men will be in the field:  one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill:  one will be taken and the other left."  My study bible points out that the second coming of Christ will entail a sudden revelation of judgment.  One will be taken to heaven and the other left.  This separation of the saints from the wicked, it says, will occur at the coming of the Son of Man according to the text, and not as some teach today, at a certain time before His second coming.

"Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.  Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."  What's the purpose in Christ's discourse on this subject?  It is not to make people experts on end-time prophecy, but to tell us that we must watch and be ready -- continuing in virtue, my study bible says, and obeying Christ's commandments.

"Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.  But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Here's Christ's illustration of our lives in this time, as we await His return.  We're to remember the that we're servants of the Master, and treat our fellow servants and conduct our own lives according to His instructions.  The repeated stress is on the fact that we don't know when He'll return.  Moreover, He repeatedly emphasizes that it will be at a time we're not aware of.

The unexpected quality of Christ's return is something Jesus vividly and repeatedly teaches us.  He urges us to really understand that not only is the hour unknown, but explicitly says that He's coming at a time we're not going to be aware nor looking for it.  The tone of these warnings is to give us pause, to pull us up short, and to consider right here and right now where our focus is.  To teach us about the end time is not to prepare us in the sense that we can anticipate a time or an event and plan for it.  Rather, the intention here is to tell us to focus on what is at hand and how we're living our lives, because no one knows that day and hour -- least of all us!    On the contrary, Jesus' teaching has the effect of teaching us that every moment counts:  there is no spare time to waste in our lives, and each moment is significant.  As servants, we're given the image that we always have a job to do, duties and responsibilities, commands to follow.  He specifically mentions the duty "to give them food in due season."  Let us consider that He's speaking to His disciples, including the apostles who will go out to all the world preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God.  So, as servants of the Master, how do we give our fellow servants food in due season?   Moreover, He proclaims another kind of beginning of creation as with Adam in Eden:  He's put us in charge of His household (whom his master made ruler over his household).   How do we feed others, and with what?  We're reminded here of the Lord's Prayer request:  "Give us this day our daily bread."  The word translated as "daily" really means something much more, and was apparently coined just for the prayer as it doesn't appear in any other literature or anywhere else.  It means "supersubstantial" or "above the substance" or perhaps even more literally, "supernatural" -- it's the bread that is the food of eternal and true life, that extra substance that we need because we do not live by bread alone (4:4).  Connecting the passages, we can't help but understand that Christ is asking us -- not only as fellow servants, but as those whom He's put in charge of His household -- to feed all those for whom we bear some responsibility in community with this bread that gives life, His word.  Moreover, we are to do this by living the lives He asks of us, following His commands ourselves.  His household is to be ruled with compassion and wisdom, humility and grace.  He asks of us alertness and care.  The opposite is selfishness, abuse, exploitation.   How do we stand as those whom He's put in charge of His household?  What's on the list to do today?