Parables Part 6 - Expectation

Luke 12:35-48, “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?” And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” (Matthew 24:45-41, Mark 13:33-36).

Be ready, because Jesus is coming back at an hour, a moment when we do not expect. What an incredible exhortation for us to consider today. The reality is, Jesus is coming back. He promised this in John 14:1-3 and this truth is reiterated at Jesus’ ascension in Acts 1:11. Jesus will return for us, oh what a glorious day it will be. But we must never guess when. Jesus himself told us in Mark 13:32 that only the Father knows when He will return, not us, not the angels, even Jesus himself, while on earth, did not know. In Mark’s gospel a version of this parable follows telling us to watch for His return. There is so much in here that we could focus on today but there are really two things that I think we need to bring into view.

First, we must be watchful and ready. Just like the man who would not let his house be robbed, or the servant who would want their behavior to be appropriate when the master returns, so are we to be watchful for Jesus return and ready for His return. How do we do this? We recognize that it could happen at any moment, even before I finish writing this or you finish reading it. When Jesus returns we should be watching for it, expecting it to happen at any time and ready for it. We are ready for His return by knowing Jesus as Savior. Having placed our trust in His finished work on the cross prepares our hearts and souls to be received into His presence when the time comes. Moreover, no one is promised tomorrow. So if Jesus just chooses to bring you home via your death, we must be ready for that because it is appointed for us to die at a certain point and we don’t know when (Hebrews 9:27). This passage of scripture gives us many instructions for our watchfulness such as the way we treat other people, the way we are living out God’s will in our lives, and Jesus tells us we will be blessed and rewarded if that is the state of our lives when He returns.

Second, there is a consequence for not being watchful and ready. I had a conversation with a brother in Christ once who did not want Jesus to come back because He wanted to watch his kids grow up. While I understand his sentiment, Jesus coming back means being with Him and our families for eternity, which is far better. But for the servant who is not watchful and ready there will be consequences. The parable speaks of a servant being drunk and ignoring the master’s will being beaten and that the consequences will be in line with our level of knowledge concerning the Father’s will. What is the consequence for not being ready for Jesus return? Not being ready means we did not know Jesus and that will send a person into the great tribulation or worse yet, into eternal condemnation. Whatever the case, being watchful and ready for Jesus return is far superior to not being ready.

So, here is my encouragement to you. Be Ready! Be Watchful! We don’t know when He is coming back for us, it could be today, it could be in a hundred years, we don’t know. We do know God is patient wanting people to come to Him in repentance for forgiveness (2 Peter 3:9). But that patience will not last forever, and eventually Jesus will return for us. Each of the gospels records Jesus telling us to watch. Therefore, we must know Jesus as Savior and look for His return. Let’s live our lives in great expectation of that moment. I know I can’t wait!

Image Borrowed from – Vetsallnatural.com