You Better Watch Out
Matthew 24:36-44
Advent - it means “coming” or “arrival” - in Christian tradition, we use it as a season to consciously get ready for Jesus
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 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; 39 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. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 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. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. —Matthew 24:36-44
Context: Jesus was talking to them about a great national crisis that was going to sweep over Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside at a date unknown, and it was going to leave them in devastation and the Temple in ruins
(we know now that it would happen in AD 70 at the height of the war between Rome and Judea)
Here’s what we do know:
- No one knows when
- Life will go on like normal until it happens
- When it does happen, families, work colleagues, communities will be divided
Isn’t this how it always works with crises?
And so, Are you ready? Are you awake? Are you watching out?
Advent is a time to watch.
Get up early and get ready (i.e. meet with God) - hashkem
We don’t wait in fear - we wait in expectation!