“No one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only,” Jesus, Matthew 24:37
"1948.5 plus 51.4 equals 1999.9--around September of the year 1999. Now, we are not date-setters! Of that day and hour knoweth no man…(Matthew 24:36). But wait! Don't say, `No one can know the APPROXIMATE time when Christ will return,' for Jesus also said in verse 33 that we will know when it is near, even at the doors" (Jack Van Impe, Perhaps Today magazine, January-February 1993).
“It is ridiculous quibbling divorced from the context to say that though the day and hour remain unknown, we ascertain the year or month.” (D. A. Carson, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 508)
“A man and wife asleep in bed, she hears a noise and turns her head, he's gone, I wish we'd all be ready; Two men walking up a hill, one disappears and one's left standing still, I wish we'd all been ready. There's no time to change your mind, the Son has come and you've been left behind.” (Larry Norman, “I Wish We’d All Been Ready”, 1969)
I believe that the place to start with this passage is actually away from Matthew’s gospel. Let’s turn to Philippians 2:6-8. Who (Jesus), though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Most cults exploit the idea that Jesus did not know the day and hour of His return and thus they deny His deity. But the entire witness of Scripture states differently. For example, the Word was God (John 1:1) and the Word became flesh (John 1:14). Jesus emptied Himself into a human body and laid aside many privileges of deity, including omniscience.
Jesus also claimed to be the “I am” in John 8:58, the same title God gave Himself in Exodus 3:14. Jesus also forgave sin (see Matthew 9:2-6) raised the dead (Luke 8:54-55; John 11:43-44) and raised Himself (John 2:19-22). Jesus received worship and did not rebuke those who worshiped Him (see Matthew 28:17, John 20:28). Jesus made claims and performed acts that only God could do. We must interpret Matthew 24:36 in light of all of Scripture and not vice versa.
Jesus continues: “As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. … in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man,” (vv. 27-29).
When Christ returns, faith in God will be minimal. People will not interpret the signs of His return. They will neglect Biblical teaching and will persecute believers (24:9). Life will be marked by eating, and drinking and marrying, as it was when Noah entered the ark. And if some people do believe God exists, they will believe He is a god of only love and tolerance, while ignoring His holiness. They will have no category for the judgment of God and the return of Christ.
Recently I was sharing my faith with a young man from Spain. I told him that I love my children and I love my wife but my greatest love is for Jesus Christ. He replied, “I have no category for that; I do not understand.” Likewise, when Christ returns, He will interrupt an ignorant and unaware world, one without any category for the return of Christ.
“Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one left,” (vv.40-41). Although many Christians believe this references the rapture, most scholars believe these verses teach that the one taken is taken away to judgment, as in the parable of the weeds (see Matthew 13:30).
Sometimes our favorite musicians are better artists than theologians. However, I believe Larry Norman expressed the heart of this passage, and the next 56 verses, very well: Be ready. For we do not know the day nor the hour of His return. How tragic it will be if we look back after the Second Coming and lament, “I wish we’d all been ready.”
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