Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect

 

 "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."

 

- Matthew 24:32-44 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has been telling His disciples about the end times.  In yesterday's reading, He taught them, "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 all 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; that is, to the generation of the Church, and not merely to 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."  According to St. John Chrysostom, cited by my study Bible here, Christ tells of the angels being unaware of the exact 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.  According to Mark 13:32, it adds, as well as in the Matthew text of St. Chrysostom, Jesus declares that the Son also does not know the day of His own return.  St. Chrysostom teaches that this is not to be understood literally, but rather is a figure of speech which 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.

"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."  Accompanying Christ's return will be a sudden revelation of judgment; these two events are inseparable one from the other.  One will be taken to heaven and the other left for eternal condemnation, my study Bible says.  This separation of the saints from the wicked will occur at the coming of the Son of Man, and not at a 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."  My study Bible says that the Lord's purpose in this discourse is not to make people experts on end-time prophecy.  Instead, it is so that they may watch and be ready, which is to continue in virtue and obeying Christ's commandments.  This warning is also illustrated in the parable of the returning master (which will be in the reading to follow; verses 44-51).

 In Jesus' talk of end times, He emphasizes surprise.  First He remarks that absolutely no one but the Father knows the day or the hour, the time of Christ's return.  But then He tells us that life will go on with people unsuspecting about what is to happen.  Certainly it seems that only those who understand His teachings will have any sense of this impending time; we're to watch for the greening of the shoots of the tree, so to speak.  That is, the signs of which He's spoken, which portend His return.  Most of the things He discusses are with us always, such as famines and pestilences, or warfare and earthquakes.  It may be that the time just feels more pressing.  Moreover, Jesus' teachings on end times are combined with the destruction that was to come in Jerusalem, as He clearly predicts the destruction of the temple that came with the Siege of Jerusalem in AD 70.  So our sense of Christ's return is combined with the extremely violent upheaval of the past, a destruction that marked the end of a great era and the beginning of a new which we might call modern history.  But when He returns, certainly -- as we remarked in yesterday's reading and commentary -- that will mark a new era indeed, which time itself seems to change and the world will shift in its realities, and this will be accompanied by Judgment.  That marks a complete shift in the realities of the world, where two women are illustration here as those who work side by side when one is taken and the other remains.  The same is true of the illustration of two men working in a field, where one is taken and the other is left.  What we consider normal relations will be entirely disrupted, a judgment will come that changes all things we understand.  In this we can seemingly take assurance, and so we are told to "watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming."  And this remains His byword to us, to "watch."  We must keep alert and watchful, to obey His commandments, to follow as His disciples, to continue in the ways He has taught us even as we wait for Him to come.  It is in this way that we remain ready and vigilant, and those who watch will be the only ones who have possibly a sense that His return is coming, that judgment comes soon.  So in all things, we are prepared through one thing:  a focus on discipleship, on the cultivation of virtue, the following of His commands and teachings, and to understand that it is how we walk through this world that is most important.  Faith is important, but it is faith that is truly lived that He is looking for, faith in which we are told to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12); that is, with all care and sincerity, taking choices seriously for the value they are worth in the eyes of Christ.  Keep in mind that this is in the midst of a world of which we're told that "the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now" (Romans 8:22), and so what we are expecting is to be born into the fullness of the return of Christ, and this is the great and important emphasis here.   And it is important that we understand the return of Christ in this context; that the meanings within our lives are made all the more powerful and poignant through His teaching about His return, for we expect an even greater fullness of life.  This is why we are to watch and anticipate, because it is all linked to the life in abundance that Christ promises, and to miss what He offers in His teachings is to miss this promise of the fullness in His return.  But Christ warns us to be ready, to live our lives as He is taught, for the fullness of that life that awaits transfiguration is prepared and rooted there, in living faith.  In living His faith and commandments, in participating in His life, He teaches us how to live His love, and this is the ground of being.