Seeds for 01/18/2024 - Matthew 24:36-44
Scripture: “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. 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.”
Observation: Jesus has been talking about events to watch for, from natural events to geopolitical conflict, to biblical prophecy. While it’s important to pay attention to what’s going on in the world, it’s also important to recognize our limitations. This text aids that by reminding us that “about that day or hour no one knows.” In fact, Jesus specifies that any future events are not known to the angels in the heavenly court, nor by the Son of God (Jesus Himself), but only by God the Father. This is being held extraordinarily close to the vest.
If the disciples do not and cannot know when the events Jesus describes will come to pass, then how should they respond?
The illustration of Noah is used to underscore and intensify Jesus’ point to maintain watchfulness. The commentary about Noah sets the stage for Jesus’ other examples. In “the days of Noah,” the people were carrying on as if nothing was the matter—eating, drinking, marrying, etc. They were not ready for God’s judgment, which “took them all away.” Likewise, Jesus says, there will be two men in a field working or two women milling. One will remain and survive, the other will “be taken” like those taken away by the flood. Pursuing faithfulness to the Lord is not something that goes in and out of season. The Noah story was about the evil of humanity multiplying dangerously.
“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” (Genesis 6:5)
They neglected watchfulness over their own lives, therefore aligning with evil and wickedness, rather than with God and goodness.
Jesus’ illustration about the owner keeping watch over his house if he had known what time the thief would arrive continues this theme.
The stories and images cascade over one another like a series of waterfalls so that together they drive the point home. We cannot know when a (the?) judgment day from the Lord will come, but we can be ready.
We need not depend on foreknowledge for faithfulness. Our sense of urgency should come from steady devotion that is always ready for the Lord to show up. Watchfulness looks like tending to the tidiness of our soul because we don’t know when the Lord may knock on the door to be our guest.
Application:
What distracts us from watchfulness over our soul?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, give me a holy urgency about the state of my soul and grace to keep watch over it. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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