The Day and the Hour Unknown.
The Day and Hour Unknown
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
Reflection:
There have been many over the years who have predicted Jesus' second coming on this day or that. And, of course, they have in one thing in common, they were all 100% wrong. Secondly, we know that actually there is no reason to try and predict it, because only the Father in heaven knows the day and the time. Interestingly Jesus says that not even he or the angels in heaven know the date or the time, only the Father.
We are actually only given one instruction, one thing to be focused on. We are told to keep watch. Let us notice several aspects of what this preparation looks like:
1. While our Master has gone he has left us in charge like the servants in the story. And it says each with his assigned task. And he tells us to keep watch. As we are awaiting Jesus' return, one of the ways we prepare is by doing the task he has given us. Notice it is not someone else's task but ours. We each have a charge given to us by our Lord. We each have a spiritual gift given to us to employ on behalf of Jesus and his church. When Jesus comes back, we will be held to account with what we have been given. Therefore, it is a serious deal to figure out what God has given us to do and be about that in the meantime.
2. We are told to keep watch. Much like during a prayers of the Jewish people, each one would take three hour shifts for the different watches throughout night. We are told to pray unceasingly, or continually. You might say this is maintaining conscious contact with God throughout the day. We are told to keep watch so that we are not caught sleeping. Obviously this doesn't mean we can never physically go to sleep. It means that we need to be spiritually awake, and avoid laziness in our walk with Christ. This is a big challenge because we have all had periods in our lives of spiritual apathy. That is why it is good to have frequent reminders that Jesus will return and it will be like a thief in the night.
So how about you? Are you ready? And please don't hear that this is just about doing more religious stuff. Being ready means we are remaining in Christ and He in us. If we feel far from God guess who moved? We know from other stories that if we have strayed, that God waits for us to return to Him. In the parable of the prodigal Son, the Father who, represents God, throws a party when His lost Son comes home. God loves you and me, and more than anyone He wants us to be ready. And He has sent His Son to give us everything we need to have a right relationship with Him. And He has also sent the Holy Spirit who keeps us in the one true faith.
Jesus thank you for calling us back to the Father. We know one day you will return and we want to be excited to finally meet our Savior and Lord. Amen.
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
Reflection:
There have been many over the years who have predicted Jesus' second coming on this day or that. And, of course, they have in one thing in common, they were all 100% wrong. Secondly, we know that actually there is no reason to try and predict it, because only the Father in heaven knows the day and the time. Interestingly Jesus says that not even he or the angels in heaven know the date or the time, only the Father.
We are actually only given one instruction, one thing to be focused on. We are told to keep watch. Let us notice several aspects of what this preparation looks like:
1. While our Master has gone he has left us in charge like the servants in the story. And it says each with his assigned task. And he tells us to keep watch. As we are awaiting Jesus' return, one of the ways we prepare is by doing the task he has given us. Notice it is not someone else's task but ours. We each have a charge given to us by our Lord. We each have a spiritual gift given to us to employ on behalf of Jesus and his church. When Jesus comes back, we will be held to account with what we have been given. Therefore, it is a serious deal to figure out what God has given us to do and be about that in the meantime.
2. We are told to keep watch. Much like during a prayers of the Jewish people, each one would take three hour shifts for the different watches throughout night. We are told to pray unceasingly, or continually. You might say this is maintaining conscious contact with God throughout the day. We are told to keep watch so that we are not caught sleeping. Obviously this doesn't mean we can never physically go to sleep. It means that we need to be spiritually awake, and avoid laziness in our walk with Christ. This is a big challenge because we have all had periods in our lives of spiritual apathy. That is why it is good to have frequent reminders that Jesus will return and it will be like a thief in the night.
So how about you? Are you ready? And please don't hear that this is just about doing more religious stuff. Being ready means we are remaining in Christ and He in us. If we feel far from God guess who moved? We know from other stories that if we have strayed, that God waits for us to return to Him. In the parable of the prodigal Son, the Father who, represents God, throws a party when His lost Son comes home. God loves you and me, and more than anyone He wants us to be ready. And He has sent His Son to give us everything we need to have a right relationship with Him. And He has also sent the Holy Spirit who keeps us in the one true faith.
Jesus thank you for calling us back to the Father. We know one day you will return and we want to be excited to finally meet our Savior and Lord. Amen.
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