You Also Must Be Ready

Matthew 24:1-51

Key Verse 24:44

So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. 

This passage teaches us how we should prepare ourselves for the day of Jesus’ coming.

First, the beginning of birth pains (1-8)

Look at v. 1. “Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.” The buildings looked gorgeous: they looked really impressive. But Jesus looked kind of unimpressive. So, most likely the disciples stopped Jesus and said, “Look at the buildings! How impressive? What do you think?” 

What did Jesus say? Look at v. 2. “‘Do you see all these things?’ he asked. ‘I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’” This prophecy must have shocked the disciples. Many people were shocked by the coming down of the World Trade Center. But the twin towers were just a trade center. However, it was not so with the temple. In the minds of the disciples, it was God’s temple. To the Jewish people, the temple was the center and the foundation of their identity as a chosen people. And yet Jesus said that the whole building was going to come down to rubble. It meant a real catastrophe. To the disciples the day it happens must be the very end of the world! 

So what did they say to Jesus? Look at v. 3. “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’” Here the disciples asked Jesus three questions concerning the end times. But Jesus did not answer these questions right away. Rather he issued two warnings for them. The first warning has to do with “people,” the second with “things” (or events) of the world. 

(1) The first warning. Look at vs. 4-5, “‘Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many.’” Jesus said, “Watch out that no one deceives you.” The word “one” (in “no one”) or “many” (in “many will come in my name”) indicates that it will be people who will deceive people. The claim “I am the Christ,” can take on different phraseology such as a man saying, “I have the solution to the problems you have. I am the one you are to follow. Please follow me.” Again it will be people who will deceive people. People will be the greatest source of confusion. It is fellow human beings who deceive and destroy fellow human beings the most. For example, it was Charles Darwin (1809-1882) who himself got deceived in his Darwinism – and then with this theory deceived tons of philosophers, politicians, scholars, and scientists.  It was Karl Marx who deceived people like Lenin, Stalin, and Mao Tse-dong into believing his own version of utopianism called Marxism. Having been deceived by Marxism they in turn went out and deceived and destroyed many more people. On the American scene young people get deceived by people-worship even as the program “American Idol” suggests. Remember that the “idol” in “American idol” is not just regular idols made of clay, iron, or silver, but a real human being. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. So many people (rich people in particular) follow so many gurus – motivational gurus, business gurus, religious gurus, gurus from the east, gurus from the west – it appears that America became a gurus’ heaven. In a broader sense, so many people (young and old) indulge in pornography, fornication, adultery, prostitution, or homosexuality. When you think about it, these problems have one thing in common: the worship of men (or women). They seek solutions to their problems in men, not in God. Jesus Christ alone has the fundamental solutions to all the needs of man. So Jesus says even to his disciples, “Watch out that no one deceives you.” 

(2) The second warning. Look at vs. 6-7, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places…” Let us pay attention to two words: “alarmed” and “things”. “See to it that you are not alarmed.” “Such “things” must happen…” It is the things (or events) that will make you alarmed. These things or events may destabilize you. They may cause you anxiety, nerve wreck and paranoia. They may hit you with so-called “anxiety attacks”. The disciples are supposed to remain “cool.” You know Jesus is “cool.” In fact, he is “totally cool.” No matter what happened to him, he kept himself cool and collected. So Christians are supposed to remain “cool” also. No matter what happens to them and to the people around them, they are supposed to remain calm, collected, and cool. They are to keep their heads straight, so that they can think and see clearly and then perform the way they are supposed to perform. “See to it that you are not alarmed.” 

Jesus then said, “All these are the beginning of birth pains.” Here Jesus taught them to have God’s hope, for despite confusing and frightening things that are going on in this world, God is working continuously towards fulfilling his redemptive purpose, that is, helping men to repent of their unbelief and sinful disobedience, believe in Jesus Christ, and be saved into his kingdom. We must turn our eyes and attention away from the people and things of this world, and, rather, pay attention to what God is going to do today and tomorrow. We must have in mind the things of God, rather than the things of men or the things of this world. This is the first and foremost important way to prepare ourselves for Jesus’ second coming. 

Second, this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world (9-14).

Specifically then how will God bring about the new birth out of the turmoil that rages through human history? How will he bring about an orderly world out of this chaotic world? We find an answer to this question in Jesus’ words recorded in Matthew 24:9-14. Let us read this passage together. V. 14 reads, “And the gospel of this kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Here he said essentially that the end will come when “this gospel of the kingdom [has been] preached in the whole world.” This statement tells us two things: first, it speaks of God’s will to save all peoples on earth through Jesus’ disciples preaching the gospel of his kingdom (despite the world’s hostility to the gospel and the servants of the gospel); and second, it reveals God’s will for us that we must share the gospel despite hardships and difficulties such as family persecutions or peer pressure. 

The Bible shows us that God is a good God. In his goodness he gave the first couple Adam and Eve a perfect paradise. But due to their unbelief and rebellion they lost the privilege to live in the garden. Then pains became the order of the day, not just for them but for all of us who are descended from them. However, the Lord God did not leave us in endless loss. He sent Jesus to relieve us of the burdens of sin. Even as Jesus was speaking to his disciples at the Mt. of Olives, Jesus looked ahead to the moment (two days after) when he would suffer and die on our behalf and rise again for our justification, so that by faith in him, we would be saved from eternal loss and live in his presence under his blessings. 

At the moment his disciples were seated in front of him. As they were listening to Jesus, he indirectly reminded them that they were to live as the carriers of the gospel light. After the death and resurrection of Jesus, they were to go out to the four corners of the world and preach the gospel to all nations.

How will the world respond to the gospel the disciples were going to preach? The world would not welcome the gospel message. Rather all nations will hate them because of Jesus. Indeed tradition tells that most of the disciples suffered martyrdom.

Matthew 24:10-12 describe the church’s history from the birth of the church in the first century till the end. Jesus describes the trend in two ways: first, many will turn away from faith; and second, because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. 

Faith and love are two main sources of comfort. They provide men with the impetus to spread the gospel to the world. Faith is the faith in the gospel. By faith in the gospel one can overcome the power of sin and death. God’s kingdom then rests in him. When one abandons faith very naturally he becomes wicked. So unbelief and wickedness are like a virus and a cold. They go hand in hand. The same is true with faith and love but in a positive way. When one has strong faith, God’s kingdom arises in him in power. As he enjoys the good fellowship with God the Father, God keeps pouring in him his Spirit who in turn empowers him with the spirit of love and power.  In his love and power God’s servant can go out and serve the gospel to others with great enthusiasm. But, if one loses faith, or turns away from it, he grows increasingly wicked. He grows cold in love. He loses enthusiasm to preach the gospel. He loses the power to do anything noble. He becomes a statistic. 

Jesus does not want this to happen to his disciples. So Jesus says, “He who stands firm to the end will be saved” (13). Let us continue to believe in the gospel of Jesus. Let us continue to love others with Christ’s love. Let us continue to preach the good news of his kingdom, even to those who give us hard times. 

Third, the abomination causing desolation standing in the holy place (15-28) 

In verses 15-28 Jesus describes: 1) the cause of the end times; and 2) the condition of the people going through the end times (16-28). Overall Jesus says that unlike such theories as Darwinism (which maintains that when left to themselves people and nature will naturally become progressively better), the human world without the gospel will rather degenerate, people and nature will only become worse, until it would grow worth nothing but destruction. 

The cause that will plunge the generation into the theatre where the end time scenario will be staged will be the rising of the events and people that will epitomize the inversion of God’s creation order. The expression “the abomination (causing desolation) standing in the holy place,” is an idiom for the ultimate version of creation order put totally upside down. When man keeps God’s creation order, that is, giving first priority to God (worshiping him, studying his word, obeying his will, serving his purpose), the second priority to men, and then the third priority to material things of this world, man can enjoy perfect happiness even in this world of imperfection. But when this order is broken, man will only go from bad to worse. Jesus came to restore this broken order. If however man rejects Jesus and goes on his own, he will only go worse, until man’s living condition both here in the physical world and the world to come becomes devoid of every thread of comfort and ease, exposing man to torments in their complete form, with no way out. 

While great tribulation is going on, the Lord God will still be concerned about his elect. Even during these days the Lord will find ways to save them. 

The message for us to learn from the terribleness of the end times, then, is couched in such words as “flee” or “flight.” The people immediately involved are the believers in Judea both around A.D. 70 and in the days to come. These expressions then remind us of such exhortations as the one we find in 2 Timothy 2:22. “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” Or the exhortation found in 2 Corinthians 6:15-17, “What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore come out from them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’” 

In addition, the expression, “let no one…go down (or go back),” indicates the need for us to put our hope in things above rather than things below, so we would live as holy pilgrims, not like Lot or his wife in Sodom and Gomorrah but like Abraham who lived in tents. 

Fourth, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky (29-31)

Again the Biblical constant is that where God’s spiritual order is broken discomfort will ensue. So the end of the world will come concurrently with the total violation of God’s creation order. 

The end of the world however will mark the beginning of the new world to emerge. How will the new world order usher itself in? It will begin with a major shake-up in the constellations followed by the sign of Jesus’ second coming appearing in the sky. Thus in Matthew 24:29-31 Jesus describes his second coming. Let us read this passage. 

Here we see two contrasting scenes happening on the surface of the planet earth as well as in the heavenly realms: as the sign of Jesus’ second coming appears in the sky, two opposite phenomena will happen, that is, some will mourn, some will rejoice. While all nations mourn, Jesus’ elect will be gathered to him. This tells us that to some Jesus’ second coming will be absolute terrible news, to others absolute good news.

The question then is, “What differentiates those who mourn from those who are gathered to him?” What makes the same event, the coming of Jesus, hit people totally differently – either as totally bad news or as totally good? 

The Bible abounds with words that answer the questions. In view of the generality of the teachings in the Bible, especially such teachings of Jesus as those found in the four gospels, and particularly many of Jesus’ parables like the parable of the sower, the parable of the weeds,  the parable of the net (Matthew 13), or the parable of ten virgins, the parable of the tenants, the message of the sheep and goat nations (Matthew 25), we can secure a pretty accurate idea of the cause for the distinction, that is, one’s relationship with Jesus Christ which begins and is nurtured through each person accepting, feeding on, and obeying the living word of God. In general, we can say with considerable accuracy that those who mourn will mourn because although they might have listened to God’s word, especially the words of the gospel, they did not take God’s word seriously. Rather like a man (in Jesus’ parable of a sower) with path like soil, or rocky soil, or thorny soil, due to their unbelief and unrepentant hearts, they allow Satan, and the wickedness of the world to make the most of them. They render their hearts to be stages for the devil and the wickedness of this evil world. Naturally, they end up living as God’s enemies. Of course every once in a while they think about repenting. But they keep postponing. In this way, by the time the sign of Jesus’ second coming appears, they no longer have time to repent and welcome Jesus. Rather they even find the coming of Jesus as repulsive. This is why they mourn at the coming of Jesus. It is like a college student who goofs around throughout the school semester, and when the time for him finally comes for final exams, he realizes it is too late. 

But it is not so with those who are gathered to Jesus Christ. Like a bride waiting for the bridegroom to walk into the wedding hall, and after the wedding to take her on a honey moon, the elect has long been preparing themselves for the occasion, painstakingly adorning themselves in their inner person, working on their character, spirit, and soul, making them sanctified through and through as Paul mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” More joyfully than this, they have borne lots of good fruit to present themselves to Jesus Christ. Like the good servant who earned ten more talents in Jesus’ parable of talents, or like the man with a good heart soil, they bore lots of good fruit 30 times, 60 times, or even 100 times of what had been sown.

In this way, Jesus’ second coming will be the worst news for those who are not prepared for it but the best news for those who are prepared for it. 

Fifth, therefore keep watch (32-44)

Concerning the exact day and hour of Jesus’ second coming, many Bible scholars proceeded to make many speculations. But in Matthew 24:32-44 Jesus says that no one can know the time. Let us read this passage altogether. Only the Father knows. This does not mean however that we are left clueless. In fact, Jesus says that there are plenty of clues for us to figure out whether or not the time is near. 

One powerful clue is that he will come at an hour one would not expect him. This does not seem like much of a clue. But when we think about it, this is a most powerful clue because being alert all the time is as good as and even better than knowing the exact moment of his coming. 

Let us stop for a moment and think about Matthew 24:44. “So you also must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” So what wisdom/clue do we have here? Expect him! That is the answer. When we expect him all the time, daily he who is with us is going to work with us. We will be in a knowing relationship with him. Then just as Daniel or the Apostle John maintained a close relationship with the Lord, and thereby were well informed of all the details of the things of God including the important business of the second coming of Jesus, we too will be fully informed about the coming of Jesus Christ first hand. And it is each individual who must be in a “personal” relationship with Jesus Christ, for it is this “personal” relationship which will result in his or her “own” salvation. Remember: salvation is never a “group” thing. God created each person one by one. Likewise, God saves each person one by one, all in the context of each person getting into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is for this reason that Jesus says in vs. 40 and 41, “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.”

Sixth, who then is the faithful and wise servant (45)?

As we passively wait for Jesus to come, there is one thing we need to do positively and proactively. Look at v. 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?” Jesus’ question to the disciples stands in contrast with the questions the disciples asked Jesus. While the disciples wanted to know when or what the signs of Jesus’ second coming will be, Jesus asked them what their duties should be. On Jesus’ departure it was the disciples who should take over the ministry, shepherd over the flock of God, serve them with the word of God, especially the gospel message, and thereby lead many to God’s kingdom. But instead of attending to their duties they wanted to know secret insider information. They are like stock traders, especially day traders who are looking for inside information which would affect the stock price, minute by minute, second by second, so they can act upon it in a split second. But Jesus had no inside information for them, for no one but the Father knows that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven.  Because Jesus saw in the disciples’ questions a red flag going up, that is, their unhealthy interest in eschatology, Jesus rather reminded them of their duty as God’s servants. Many Bible scholars, pastors, evangelists, also suffer from the same problem. By trying to predict the time of Jesus’ coming even down to the date and even hour, they try to set themselves above others. They try to make themselves look bigger and better than all others. Some write many books and sell lots of tapes talking about nothing but end time things, so that they take advantage of God’s flock, ripping them off financially. Some of them even say, “Look! I got it!” They say that finally the Lord God blessed them and revealed to them the secret inside information. Then they say that this information is available in such and such tape or book which is available at such and such website or 800 number, and they say that because they love you so much they had made their own source material available just for you at such a bargain price. We should not follow them. Rather we must remember Jesus’ question, “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?” 

Seventh, I will tell you the truth (46-51)

Verses 46-51 contrast the reward for a good and faithful servant with the punishment for a wicked servant. Let us read the passage responsively. What is the difference? We find the difference in v.48, for the wicked servant said, “My master is staying away a long time.” This man did not know that the time was nearer than he thought. He also did not know that the time to do God’s work was a lot shorter than he thought. 

This passage then tells us about the way to practically have ourselves ready for the coming of Jesus, that is, Jesus wants us to wake up to the reality that the time to do God’ work is not as much as we think it is. For this very reason the Apostle James says, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:13-14).  

In conclusion, of all the promises recorded in the Bible, the promise of Jesus’ second coming and the promise for him to gather his elect is by far the greatest. Let us pray that each and every day instead of being curious about the day and hour of Jesus’ coming, daily we would devote ourselves to Jesus and his will to feed God’s flock, for it is the best way to have ourselves ready for his coming. 

One word: who then is the faithful and wise servant? 

 

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