Expect The Unexpected: Jesus Is Coming, Round Two
Matthew 24:36-51
Many of you know that I had a friend die 1 1/2 weeks ago. It occurred unexpectedly in a
way. On Thanksgiving morning I rode bike by his apartment and was surprised that his car was
home; I thought he might have headed to eastern shore to be with his mother and family. So,
when I got home from my ride, I called him up and left a message on his phone wishing him a
good Thanksgiving, and maybe we could meet on Friday. The next morning I received a phone
call from his sister saying that he had died, probably on Wednesday. I was stunned.
Yet, as I was pondering this and grieving in different forms over the last week, I wonder
why I was stunned. He had some health issues; one of them was a relative of sickle cell disease.
About two or three years ago, I came home from vacation and got a call from his sister that very
evening telling me he was at Franklin Square in grave condition. He was in a coma for about a
week and was in the hospital then for over a month. So, why should I now be stunned at his
death? Why should I have not expected his death?
Expect the unexpected.
One thing that we don't expect anymore is Jesus' coming. Though Jesus tells us to keep
alert and be watchful, do we really do so? Are we really expecting him to come any moment, or
for all that matters, before we die? It doesn't help that there are people who predict that Jesus is
coming or the world is coming to an end, and then they are wrong. Hippolytus predicted Jesus
would come again before the year A.D. 500. Several people predicted Jesus would come
January 1, 1000. William Miller of the Millerites, predicted Jesus would come on Oct. 22, 1844.
I think he changed that a couple times. Charles Russell, founder of the Jehovah Witnesses,
predicted Jesus would come in 1874 and the final day of wrath would be in October 1914 in
which the world would end. Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormons, predicted Jesus would
come on the scene in 1891. Herbert Armstrong, of the Worldwide Church of God, predicted
Jesus would come in 1935, 1943, 1972, 1975. In 1999 Jerry Falwell predicted that within 10
years Jesus would come. There were many end time predictions with the year 2000. Most
recently, you may have heard of Harold Camping predicting the rapture on May 21, 2011 and the
end of the world on Oct. 21, 2011. Jack Van Impe thought it might be in 2012. I have given you
only a taste of predictions; I found most of these in wikipedia on the Internet.
So, what does Jesus tell us about his second coming? What we should know about his
second coming will be the theme of the messages this month as we worship Christ this advent.
Matthew 24:36-25:46, Jesus' own words, will be our focus.
Thus, what does Jesus tell us in this passage today? Expect Jesus to come unexpectedly.
Expect the unexpected.
What makes us think that Jesus will come unexpectedly?
First of all, in verse 36 Jesus states that no one knows the day or the hour he will come.
No one knows the day Jesus will come. We use a calendar to measure the days of the year. No
one knows which of these days it will be or which year of the calendar we need. We have no
answer. No one knows the hour Jesus will come. We use a clock to measure hours and seconds.
We don't know which hour or second Jesus will come. These time measurement pieces are
useless in predicting Jesus' coming. No one knows the day or the hour, not the angels, not Jesus
himself, only the Father. Some people wrestle with why Jesus, who is God himself, doesn't
know the day or the hour. I can't answer that. There is a mystery on how Jesus is fully God and
fully man, and for this message I will leave it at that. Remember though, the image of Jesus
throughout the gospels, especially in John, is of Jesus doing the will of the Father. So, we know
that Jesus will come whenever the Father tells him. In a sense, it will even be unexpected for
him, because he doesn't know when God will send him back. The point of this verse, Jesus will
come unexpectedly.
Secondly, Jesus' coming will seem unexpected, because people will be living their life as
usual. They will be focused on doing their normal things. Jesus uses the illustration of Noah.
Before the flood occurred, all the people, except for Noah and his family, were doing their own
thing. They were eating and drinking. They were marrying and giving in marriage. There is
nothing wrong with these things. This is the normal part of life. So, whether Noah warned them
or not, these four things and more were part of their lives. Life was going on as usual for them.
Now in some other passages, we see that these people were really wicked, only thinking evil all
the time. But here, Jesus is not mentioning the evil of the people, just that the people were living
life as normal. They had no other expectations of anything else occurring.
That is also the point of Jesus' images in 40-41. It is nothing unusual for men to be
working in the fields; that is what farmers did. But Jesus' coming will be unexpected. No one
was prepared. They were going about their usual work. But when Jesus comes, one will be
taken, the other left. It is nothing unusual for women to be grinding with a hand mill. One
source I read says it takes two women to do this. Either way, during the normal course of life,
doing things the usual things, Jesus will come. Since Jesus will come when people are doing the
routine things of life, that is what will make it unexpected.
Thus, Jesus teaches us that his coming will be unexpected. You won't know the day or
the hour, and you will be doing the normal deeds of life. It will come when you least expect it.
Then Jesus tells us in verse 42-51 how to respond to his unexpected coming. Expect his
unexpected coming. He tells us, keep watch or be ready. Keep watch because his coming will
be unexpected. "Be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect
him" (44).
He uses two different images to tell us this. He uses the image of the thief. Most people
do not know when a thief will come. It is an unexpected event. Am I right? It surprises people.
Well Jesus says, if you know that a thief is coming, would you not get ready for him and protect
your house. Would you not make sure the doors were locked, the lights were on, and the police
called? His coming will be like a thief, unexpected, but he wants us to expect he will come like a
thief, so he calls us to be ready. Expect it.
We need to be doing the work Jesus assigned us to do until he comes. Jesus uses image
of two servants to illustrate this. The first servant was given charge of the other servants until the
master returns. He expected the master to come back at any time, and so the servant takes good
care of the servants. Jesus says this servant will be rewarded. The second servant is considered
wicked. He begins to think his master is staying away a long time and will not be back soon.
Thus, he mistreats the servants and begins to party by stuffing himself and getting drunk,
probably at the servants' expense. He was not ready for the unexpected arrival of the master,
thus, the master punished him.
The point is this: in expecting Jesus' unexpected return, we need to be doing the work
Jesus has assigned us to do until then. We don't need to focus on the date and time. We need to
keep focused on his work, and that is how we expect the unexpected. By the way, in the days of
Noah the ungodly people did not expect a flood, and in other passages we see how sinful they
were. This second servant was called wicked, because he did not expect a return, and lived
sinfully. Living unexpectedly leads to living a life apart from God.
Expect the unexpected.
Is that logically possible? Some might wonder. Yet, if you don't expect the unexpected,
you might not see it. You might miss it. Or in the words of some person, "Expect the
unexpected. Be prepared for anything, because something unexpected could easily happen."
There is this story told by a pastor with people's full names; let me tell you it without the
names. Jenell was expecting Jeff to show up. She was dressed and ready for the date. She waited
patiently for an hour for him to show up and finally gave up. She figured that he stood her up…
So she went to the bathroom took off her makeup, and slipped into her pajama’s. Grabbed a pint
of ice cream and sat down in front of the TV. After 2 hours had passed guess who showed up at
the front door. Right Jeff… He took one look at her and said “I’m two hours late and your still
not ready!"
Expect the unexpected. Jesus' first coming came unexpectedly. Born as a baby to poor
parents where animals were kept. No Jew expected the Messiah to come that way. Plus, they
didn't know the day and the hour either.
Expect the unexpected. Jesus' second coming will be unexpected. No one will know the
day or the hour. People will be living "life as usual." Jesus will come unexpectedly.
But there is a way to expect it. Be in a growing vital relationship with God through Jesus
Christ. That is why he came the first time. Boldly and daringly do the assignments God gives
you until Jesus comes unexpectedly. Whether he calls you to make an ark or to clean bathrooms,
do his assignments boldly. As you do these two things, his return will not surprise you.
Expect the unexpected.