But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 24:43-51
Jesus uses several parables and anecdotes to teach the importance of how we view His second coming. This portion of scripture clearly teaches that Jesus is coming at a time when no man knows. This reminds us to be looking for it all the time, every day.
The lesson here focuses on someone who is not looking for the return of Jesus and how that affects his behavior — He becomes mean and cruel to his fellow servants.
Several years ago I had the opportunity to work on the Primitive Baptist Hymnal. Part of the design in the hymnal was to categorize hymns by topic. One of the most striking things that we found was there was a very small number of hymns written in the 19th and early 20th century regarding the return of Jesus. Knowing that a church sings what it believes, this startled me.
I immediately thought of this text and realized why we have seen so much infighting among the baptists for nearly 200 years. We had stopped singing about the imminent return of Jesus which means we had stopped focusing on it in our preaching.
Now, I do not think for a second that we need to toss out proper Biblical doctrine or practice. These go hand in hand to worship God in spirit and in truth. However, the way differences are handled should be far different from the debate, putting up bars of fellowship, attempts to destroy the ministry of other men, and break down churches we do not agree with.
The main focus that Jesus has in the Mount Olivet Discourse is the disciples’ attitude about the fact of His return. Our response should be in joyful anticipation of that day, and that is reflected in our daily behavior. Do we love or do we hate? Jesus loved. He instructed. He admonished. But to God’s people He did everything in love.
So should we.
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