The Day and Hour Unknown

"the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him"


Does the thought that Christ could come back at any moment scare you or excite you? 
When it comes right down to it are you really ready? 
Is His return more of an eventually that will happen in the far off future or a daily hope and anticipation for you? 
Is Christ's eminent return at the forefront of your thoughts? 
Do you think we should always have the return of Christ in mind?


Matthew 24: 36-51 is entitled The Day and Hour Unknown. It talks about our need to be ready for the return of Christ. Verses 36-39 says, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and 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."
The statement and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away in verse 39 stood out to me because it conflicts with my memories of childhood versions of the story of the Flood. Do you have a childhood picture of the Flood? You may remember Noah warning people, who refused to believe him, of the coming flood. You may remember people scoffing and laughing at Noah as he built the ark. Maybe Noah did warn the people, maybe they asked him what in the world he was doing building the ark, maybe they laughed at him, but it doesn't actually say that in the Bible. In fact this verse in Matthew indicates they were not warned. It would actually seem that this was an unheralded judgement, given without warning. If you read Genesis 6-8, what is in the Bibe is that God saw that the people were wicked, regretting making them, and decided to wipe them out. God told Noah ("a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time" Genesis 6:9) to build an ark because He was going to destroy the people and the earth. And that's just what he did, without telling them He was going to. Imagine the horror of the flood as rain poured, gathered and rose to dangerous heights and people had nowhere to go and no chance to save themselves. We see in Genesis 7:23, "Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark." 


A flood with out warning. No escape. No hope for salvation. This is what the coming of the Son of Man is compared to. It's a bit chilling isn't it?


Matthew 24:40-51 says, " 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. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. “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? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 
The coming of Christ will be sudden and like the flood it will be in God's timing and without warning. There is, however, a small difference. We, like Noah, have the foreknowledge of it's coming. Like Noah with the Flood we have been given an ark - Salvation.

There is a two fold responsibility we have with this knowledge. The first is to be prepared ourselves. Matthew 24:42 admonishes us to "keep watch." We must always be ready for Christ's return. He wants us to be ready (vs. 44). He wants us on the ark. The second is to share this knowledge so that others also have hope for salvation. Psalm 130:7 says "Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption." and 2 Corinthians 1:10 says "He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us," This second responsibility is of great importance. Of all the things Jesus could have said to His disciples before He ascended into heaven He chose to remind them to share Him with the world. The Great Commission found in Matthew 28: 18-20 says "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." and Mark 16: 15 "He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." 


Will you be on the ark? Are you sharing the hope of Salvation with others?