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. 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 the 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 chapter 24 of St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus has been teaching the disciples about "end times" (beginning on Thursday).   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 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 comments 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.  But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."  According to St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible says, Christ speaks 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 just from learning the day, but from even asking about it.  My study Bible also cites Mark 13:32, and Chrysostom's Matthew text, in which Jesus Himself says that the Son does not know the day of His own return.  Again, according to St. Chrysostom, this isn't to be understood literally, but is rather a figure of speech.  It indicates that Christ, although He has spoken of all the signs that will accompany His return, will not reveal the exact day to anyone -- and that believers should not be so bold as to ask of Him.

"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."  Here is where Jesus indicates the judgment that will be revealed at His second coming.  One will be taken to heaven and the other left, my study Bible writes, for eternal condemnation.  It notes that this separation of the saints from the wicked will occur at the coming of the Son of Man, and not, as some teach, at a certain time before Christ's return.  

"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 the 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."  My study Bible concludes here that Christ's purpose in making this discourse (the whole of chapter 24) is not to make people end-time prophesy experts.  Clearly His words are given to us so that we may be ready, continuing in virtue and obeying the commandments of Christ.  The final parable, of the returning master, illustrates this warning to all of us. 

 

We don't know what Christ's judgment will entail, nor can we second guess even how it will happen, who will be chosen and who will not, and all the other myriad questions we might have about what it will look like, how it will happen, and how judgment even works.  These things are beyond us and are strictly the purview of God.  Indeed, we're told that we shouldn't even speculate on when this might happen.   The best clue we have is simply the parable of the fig tree.  But, as is so with all of the things Christ has prophesied in this chapter on end times, reflections and glimmers of the things He predicts here come to us throughout history, as their truth continues to manifest itself.  So, therefore, we might conclude that we are at all times to prepare and be ready -- and this seems to be the main thrust of all of His conclusions and warnings to us.  It might not sound warm and fuzzy and comforting, but it seems true that when we forget about judgment, when our consciousness of God's awareness of all that we do slips away from us, then we are in the greatest danger of error and lack of discernment ourselves.  It is at such times we're more likely to be carried away by a passion, a mob mentality, or the exigencies of violence and upheaval in either a personal or larger scale of life.  Indeed, this is the very point of Christ's repeated warnings to us to be vigilant, awake, and aware of who we are and what we're meant to be about, how we live our lives as those who follow His commands, as those who would be His servants.  The final parable makes this completely clear to us:  "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 the 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."   To fail to keep His warnings uppermost in our minds is to forget about how we relate to one another, to engage in unrighteous violence and abuse, and to become forgetful, even lawless, in our passions and self-indulgence.  This turn of phrase, that the master is coming at an hour that he is not aware of, seems to be a reflection of a solemn promise given here:  Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.  It seems to be a kind of affirmation that we surely will be unprepared, as our own forgetfulness is so common, and that the only solution for us is what He tells us:  that we are always to be ready.  We cannot simply depend upon an assumption that we'll see all those signs of the fig tree, or explicitly understand them.  Even the ways that Christ presents end times cannot be construed to have a definite chronology.  Our only resource is obedience to His words and commands, to live a prayerful life, and work the work of God.  We can't do this without ongoing active faith, keeping our prayer lives vital, and participating in His communion.  Moreover, this active and ongoing effort is not ever going to be a static experience, but one that grows and changes and transforms, illuminating errors in our own thoughts and behaviors, and growing in correction and repentance and learning.  It is never meant to stop.  Therefore let us keep vigilant, and do as He asks, reminding ourselves that the Master is returning at an hour we do not expect.  Let us pay attention to what we are to be about!