Are you ready for Christ’s return? by Rod Bayley, 7 October 2007, Matthew 24:36-25:13

[dann...@gmail.com]

Events can take us by surprise - some catastrophic events are a real
shock to millions of people as they are totally unexpected.

One famous example in history was the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in
Italy, which buried the nearby towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum in
burning ash and gas in AD79. No one expected this event, and for good
reason, because it was a green-topped mountain which hadn’t erupted
for 800 years. I’ve visited Pompeii with Christine, and you can see
how everyone was going about their daily business, unaware of what was
overtaking them until it was too late.

More recent examples include the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004 which hit
vast stretches of coastline in South Asia and claimed 200,000 lives,
or the Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005 which took the lives of many
Australians.

My brother-in-law was in the Twin Towers in New York on September 8,
2001, three days before the terrorist attacks which reduced them to
rubble. No one expected such a horrifying event to occur - he was one
of many fortunate people who escaped being part of the carnage. He
just happened to be holidaying in New York and was stuck in the city
on September 11 for 12 hours before eventually getting a ferry out, as
all roads and the subway was shut down. It is said that the world we
know changed on September 11, 2001, and arguably that is correct.

But there will come a day when not only will the world be shocked, but
no-one will escape the event which will bring our world to a halt. It
won’t simply be a somewhat different environment, history will
actually come to a close. The day when this will occur is unknown,
and at that point there will be no opportunity for reassessing your
life - a line will be drawn, and that will be it. Listen again to how
Christ describes his 2nd coming in vs 36 to 39:
“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven,
nor the Son, but only the Father. 37As it was in the days of Noah, so
it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before
the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark, 39and they knew nothing
about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.
That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

Though some signs of Christ’s return were offered in the first part of
chapter 24, the exact time, that day or hour, is known by no one. Not
even the angels in heaven know, or Jesus himself, but only the Father.

In these verses, and those that follow, Jesus highlights two things
about his return: the unexpected timing of his return, and its
suddenness and finality. People will be taken unaware by his arrival,
and it will happen quickly with no chance of a changed response
towards him. Notice how these points are brought out in verses 37 to
44. Firstly, in verses 37 to 39 we have the comparison with the
sudden and unexpected flood in Noah’s day. No one, apart from Noah
and his family, anticipated the flood’s arrival - it took people
unaware as they were continuing there everyday activities of eating
and drinking and marrying. But more than that, it’s swift arrival and
finality meant that there was nowhere to hide when it happened - “the
flood came and took them all away.” There was no opportunity for last
minute preparation or repentance - and Jesus states in verse 39 that
it will be like this with the “coming of the Son of Man.”

Secondly, these themes are again emphasised in verses 40 to 41 with
the description of men and women at work, doing their normal routine.
Again, it is a picture of people being confronted with Christ’s
unexpected arrival - there is no banner in the sky the day before, no
advertising for a month leading up to the event - it just suddenly
happens. The men working in the field and the women grinding grain
will be overtaken by the event of the second coming. There is no
second chance, no extra injury time - one is left, one is taken. The
emphasis is on division - that our choices now affect us for
eternity. The coming of Jesus marks a complete and permanent
division. The return of Christ does not mean that all will enter the
joys of that day. Rather, those who have chosen to live without God
will find their choice respected when the great day comes. Those who
have rejected God will get to be without God permanently.

Thirdly, these themes are taken up again in the example of the house
owner and the thief in verses 43 and 44. You could be sure that the
head of the house would stay awake if he knew when the thief would
arrive and tunnel through the wall of the house to rob him - he could
safely neglect watching at all other times. But since he doesn’t know
when, he must take reasonable precautions at all times or run the risk
of losing everything - constant readiness is his only safeguard.
Likewise, if people knew just exactly when Christ’s return would take
place, they could delay preparations until just before the time. The
application for all this, which Jesus gives to his listening disciples
in verses 42 and 44, is to keep watch, to be in a continual state of
readiness - it will be too late to get ready once he arrives.

In verses 45 to 51 which complete chapter 24, we have a parable which
contrasts two servants and their faithfulness to their master while he
is away. Jesus moves on to a second application for this period while
we wait and watch. Look at verses 45 to 47 again:
“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? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds
him doing so when he returns. 47I tell you the truth, he will put him
in charge of all his possessions.”
Jesus turns his attention here from the duty of watchfulness, of being
prepared, to that of serving faithfully in the meantime. Jesus
considers the fate of the servant who is faithful, and compares it
with that of the one who is unfaithful. Notice that Jesus doesn’t
nominate the servant who is ready, but rather asks who he is. This is
a way of inviting his disciples to reflect on their own state of
readiness, on how they are living their lives while they wait. Jesus
is taking his illustration from a household where there are many
slaves, one of whom is put in a responsible position while the master
is away. The first slave or servant does what is asked. This “wise”
or ‘sensible’ servant is the one who, when the master returns, will be
found to be faithfully carrying out his or her responsibilities. The
servant doesn’t know when the master, and so he works at the task
that’s been given so that whenever he returns all will be in order.
The master will reward such a servant by placing him or her over the
entire estate. Notice that the reward for faithful service is the
opportunity of serving in a more responsible position, not ease and
idleness.

In contrast, the servant who is “wicked” is the one who is led to
believe that the master will be away for a long time and therefore
seizes the opportunity to “beat his fellow servants” and spend time
with drunkards. He reasons within himself, ‘in his innermost being’ is
the meaning; that the delayed return means he can act faithlessly.
This is not what he says to other people, but the thinking that
governs his actions. There is a hint here that Jesus’ return will be
delayed, as he is obviously the master who is being depicted. The
servant appears to seize on the fact that he will not have to give
account of himself for quite some time, and acts as if the delay
removed all possibility of the master ever returning. When the master
does return unexpectedly the servant is naturally punished in verse
51, and assigned a fate with the hypocrites. The phrase “cut him to
pieces”, or literally ‘cut him in two’ cannot be meant literally as
the man is still alive in the next phrase, but it clearly stands for
severe punishment. In Luke’s parallel account, the man is assigned a
place with the ‘unbelievers’ rather than the “hypocrites”, which
points us to the meaning of Matthew’s phrase. It is also elaborated
on by the final phrase, “where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.” This is an expression that Matthew uses a number of times in
his gospel. Jesus speaks more about God’s judgment and hell than
anyone. It stands for the anguish and suffering of those who are
finally lost (eg.8:12). This harsh judgment on those who would claim
to be Christ’s followers, is no different to the judgment offered for
the Pharisees in the previous chapter. All will have to give account
of themselves - “we must all appear before the judgment seat” (2 Cor.
5:10).

In summary, we should be prepared, and the proof of that will be seen
in being about our master Jesus’ business while we await his return.
It is not about underachieving, or not doing enough good works. The
unfaithful servant is unfaithful because he was never truly Christ’s
servant - he wasn’t prepared, he wasn’t anticipating his return. It’s
about hypocrisy - of talking the talk, but not walking the walk.

The first time I went skiing one particular guy in our group acted
like an expert and said he’d show me the way. As I waited on the take-
off pad for the chair lift to arrive, he gave me instructions about
how to bend my knees, so that as the chair came round behind me we
would simply fall into our seats. Well, the chair came round and I
found myself seated. But, to my horror, the expert had not been
standing in close enough, and the arm on the end of the chair hit him
in the backside, so that he landed face first in the snow. What was
more, one of his skis got caught up under the chair. So he was then
being dragged face first along the take off area, as we threatened to
launch off skyward. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the lift
controller saw what was happening and shut the lift down. The expert
didn’t walk the talk.

In verses 1 to 13 of chapter 25, Jesus offers another parable which
reinforces the need for all people to be ready for his return. Notice
again how discussion must involve entering or failing to enter the
kingdom of God. Christ’s return brings judgment, and so will lead to
a permanent division between those who genuinely follow Christ and
those who do not. Verses 1 and 2 set the scene for us:
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took
their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were
foolish and five were wise.”
Jesus says that the kingdom will be like ten girls with torches who
were going out to meet the bridegroom. Jesus is clearly speaking of a
wedding, although not much is known of the exact details of a first-
century wedding ceremony. We do know that the bridegroom and his
party made their way to the home of the bride and her people, or
possibly to a neutral venue. When the two groups came together the
wedding took place, and after this there was a procession, generally
to the home of the bridegroom where feasting took place that might go
on for days. The processions back to the banquet often took place at
night, when torches made for a spectacular display. Clearly this is
presupposed in Jesus’ parable where the ten girls are going out to
meet the bridegroom - they would have had their place in the
procession to the bridegroom’s home for the feast, or in our day, the
reception.

In verse 2 we’re told that the girls fell into two groups - five were
foolish and five were sensible. From verses 3 to 10 we discover why
some were considered wise, and others considered foolish. They all
had torches or lamps, but the foolish took no oil with them and so
were essentially unprepared. It was necessary to pour oil on the rags
at the end of the torches to get them to burn brightly - the lack of
preparation can’t really be excused as lack of foresight that the
bridegroom’s return might be delayed. In a society where little
importance was placed on punctuality, it was foolish to think that the
amount of oil the rags in a torch could hold would be sufficient. In
contrast, in verse 4, the wise virgins rightly reasoned that oil was
needed to ensure a bright and lasting flame.

Of course the bridegroom was late as there would be no hurrying
through the marriage ceremony. There was nothing to do but wait and
so the ten girls all nodded off to sleep. The bridegroom eventually
appeared at “midnight” or literally ‘in the middle of the night’ and a
cry went up that he’d been sighted and the command is given: “come out
to meet him!” The shout gets immediate attention from the ten girls
in verse 7, and they all wake and get to work on their torches, but
it’s immediately clear that more oil is needed. The foolish girls now
found themselves in trouble because their torches were going out right
then, so they are forced to ask the others. But it doesn’t appeal to
the sensible girls as the supply was not enough for all ten to have a
burning torch for the procession and the risk was that none of them
would see the procession out. So they suggest they go and buy some
more, but of course all this would take time and they miss the
procession.

It is not unkind that the wise girls do not share - Jesus is teaching
the importance of watchfulness. Being ready for the return of Christ
is not something that can be shared - it is an individual matter.
Jesus then gets to the punch-line of the feast - the other five go in
to the wedding banquet and the door is shut. This brings us to the
application in verses 11 to 13, as we see that some will be shut out
of the wedding banquet. The other five eventually arrive at the
reception, and notice they call to the bridegroom, they appeal
directly to him. But far from opening the door as they request, the
bridegroom makes it clear that they will be excluded: “I don’t know
you.” The conclusion that Jesus draws is “therefore keep watch
because you do not know the day or the hour.”

In this parable it is clear that Christ is the bridegroom, whose
return is awaited, and the ten girls are representative of humanity.
The wedding banquet is heaven, where God’s people who are often
described as Christ’s bride, will join the bridegroom. That there
were five foolish and five wise girls does not mean that half the
world will find salvation. The numbers simply provide two categories
- wisdom consists of being prepared for Christ’s return while
foolishness is a lack of preparation that means being shut out of
God’s presence. The door to eternal life, once shut, will not be
reopened. The opportunity to respond to the gospel is lost once Jesus
appears again.

I dont’t know what shutting doors conjures up for you - maybe you have
images of missing the bus and chasing it down the road, or the train
doors closing just as you reach the platform and so you watch the
train pull away without you. It’s generally a lack of planning that
puts us in such a position. I remember on Christmas Day in 1999,
Christine and I were in the western suburbs of London metro area and
were planning to travel in to London to attend church at St Helens
Bishopgate. It was quite a cool morning and we rugged up and walked
to the nearest station, having studied the timetable the day before,
only to find that the whole train system was shut down to avoid any
incidents on such a significant day. There had been recent IRA bomb
scares, and so this precaution was taken. A little bit of planning
might have alerted us to this fact, which was probably well
publicised. In this case we’d missed the train by a whole day, and we
were unprepared for an alternative option like a bus. We had to
settle for a local church, which turned out to be unbiblical, and we
really felt like we had missed the celebration, in this case of
Christ’s birth, at least with people who gave due honour to Him. It’s
a terrible sinking feeling - missing the boat, the train, the bus, the
party. I’m sure you can think of your own examples of missing key
events - perhaps a wedding of a family member or some close friend.
How we wish we could turn back time and be prepared. How we wish we
could un-do our poor choices that saw us miss out.

This is the sad image of Christ’s parable here, but it’s not just a
wedding reception that we’re talking about, it’s the wedding banquet
of heaven. It will be too late once Christ arrives - when he comes a
permanent division of humanity will ensue, time will be up. Elsewhere
in the N.T. the apostle Paul states these words: “... when the Lord
Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful
angels, 8he will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the
gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will be punished with everlasting
destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the
majesty of his power 10on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy
people and to be marvelled at among all those who have believed” (2
Thess. 1:7b-10a).

God’s judgment is real and unavoidable - the bible does not mince
words. However, God the Father does not delight in anyone being shut
out of his presence, of anyone missing the heavenly banquet with his
son Jesus. In fact, he has gone to extreme lengths to secure the
salvation of people rebelling against him and ignoring him - he sent
his Son Jesus to die on the Cross in our place. In the most famous
verse in the bible, John 3:16, we are told: “For God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life.” Well what about you - are
you going to the greatest banquet ever in heaven, are you prepared?
If so, are you watchful of his return, and are you serving your Master
faithfully while you wait? There is too much at stake to ignore such
questions. Please talk with someone today if you don’t know where you
stand.