So will the coming of the Son of Man be...

Matthew 24:29-51New American Standard Bible (NASB)

²⁹ “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

³² “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; ³³ so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. ³⁴ Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁶ “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷ For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰ Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.

⁴² “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; ⁵⁰ the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, ⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷ For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.      In Genesis 6, we see the beginning of the account of Noah. Verses 5-8 say:     Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. ⁷ The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.     The reason God sent the flood over the earth was to eliminate the evil and wickedness of man. This again flies in the face of those who promote doctrines today which say God embraces the sin of man, that God has updated His standards to align with those of our culture.

If though, Jesus return was, like the flood, simply for the purpose of wiping out evil on the earth there would be no reason for the delay, no reason for the undisclosed time of His return. 2 Peter 3:8-9 sheds some light on the reason behind the delay in Jesus return.         But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.    God is not locked into finite time like we are. There is no need to hurry or rush things to accomplish His will. The reason there is a delay is because God will is that all should come to repentance.

In today’s text Jesus gives a warning that since no one knows the day of His return we should live each day as though it is that day. We should look forward to His return, not fear or dread that day.  Once again Jesus is clear about how He views sin and what will happen to those who choose to live a sinful life until He returns.   The text says:         But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; ⁵⁰ the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, ⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.       The concept of eternal punishment and judgment for sin is not popular in our culture. The idea that a loving and gracious God would exclude some people from eternity in heaven because of their lifestyle choices doesn’t fit into their image of God. Many people today say things like the god I love and serve would not judge like that. They do have that choice. There are many gods people can choose to serve. Scripture is clear,  God indeed is a loving and gracious God, in fact:

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)       God could judge each of us based on our own goodness, our own ability to live up to His righteous standard, that would be fair, that would be just. The result then would be that no one would measure up, no none would qualify for eternal life with God. Ecclesiastes 7:20 says:   Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.    Romans 3:23 says:   all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God           Man’s solution to the fact that he does not measure up to God’s righteous standard is to change the standard, to modify the standard of righteousness so that everyone qualifies, that’s the tolerant thing to do, to be inclusive not restrictive.   God’s solution is:  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)  

If you ask most children whether they would prefer ice cream or green beans for dinner they would probably choose the ice cream. Is it then wrong, are we not being loving and gracious to our children if we set the guidelines and we make the choices, knowing that what seems best, what is the most enjoyable, may not always be what is best? God’s rules, His guidelines are not meant to be restrictive, to keep us from what is good. Rather God’s way is to give us what is best. Jesus says:   The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)  Each of us has a choice, we can believe the lie of the devil and the current culture which says we should be free to choose whatever we want with no consequence or judgment. Or we can choose the abundant life which Christ provides for us. We can choose what looks good and feels good or we can choose to walk in the fullness of God’s love, grace and provision through Jesus Christ, who died for our sins.

When Jesus came the first time He said: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Matthew 4:17) He came to redeem all sin. He came to reconcile man to God and He came to restore all things to the way God intended them to be. On the cross Jesus said:   "It is finished!"(John 19:30) When Jesus returns it will not be to defeat or destroy the evil in the world, that work, all the work of redemption, reconciliation and restoration is already finished in the cross.  Colossians 2:13-15 says:      When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, ¹⁴ having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.    “It is finished” Jesus has overcome sin and death. When He comes again He will not come to bring the kingdom of heaven near to earth. He will come to establish His kingdom in heaven and earth. When Jesus returns what is written in Revelation 21 will come to pass.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, ⁴ and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

There is nothing to fear, nothing to dread about the day of Jesus return. We simply should choose wisely how we live today, whether we choose what the world says we deserve and so get what we deserve, or we choose the love and grace of God, demonstrated through the finished work of the cross.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, thank You for Your love, Your grace, thank You for giving me not what seems good in my own eyes, but the best that You have, redemption, reconciliation and restoration through the finished work of the cross. Holy Spirit enable me and empower me to walk in the fullness of Christ, the abundant life He gives, until the day He returns. In Jesus name, Amen.