During the Delay - Matthew 24:36-25:30
Some years ago, Tom Hanks starred in a movie called The Terminal. Hanks plays an Eastern European tourist who flies into NYC, into JFK airport, but while his plane is in the air, the government of his country, the fictional Republic of Krakozhia, is overthrown by a coup. Because of this, U.S. Immigration seizes his passport, and he’s not allowed to enter the United States, but neither is he allowed to board a plane home. He’s forced to wait in the airport terminal, stuck there indefinitely while civil war is going on back in his homeland. He has to find a place to sleep, get food, shower and shave. Weeks and then months go by, and he establishes a makeshift home in a part of the airport that is under renovation. He makes friends, lands a job inside the airport, endures conflict, helps people in need, and meets a woman and falls in love. Basically, he goes on with his life. But all the while, he’s delayed from his ultimate destination, with no idea how long the delay will be.
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The life of a follower of Jesus can feel something like this. Stuck in between. It’s obvious from the words of Jesus in Matthew 24 and 25 that his return, what we call his Second Coming, would feel delayed from a human perspective. There would not be a clearly established day or time to mark on our calendars. There would be only this time in between, a delay of sorts, and a call: to live with a sense of expectation for His return as we wait for an unspecified period of time. His servants must remain faithful and live wisely.
But we don’t naturally remain faithful during an indefinite delay. Our sense of expectation naturally diminishes. When we wait, we innately drift away from faithfulness and wisdom. However, Jesus demonstrated the faithfulness that God requires of us. Not only was the death and resurrection of Jesus important, but his life was important also.
Early on in the gospel of Matthew, we see how Matthew understands Jesus to be the true Israel. Israel was the nation established by God to bring salvation to the whole world. But on the whole, they turned to false gods. They did not remain faithful or live wisely. Matthew shows how, according to God’s plan of redemption, the life of Jesus paralleled the history of OT Israel.
Jesus obeyed God the Father in all the ways that the nation of Israel did not. And so it is Jesus who is the true light of the world; Jesus shows the way to God through faith in Him. Jesus remained faithful and lived wisely, and he brought salvation to us.
And because Jesus did this, those whom He saved and who would follow Him should remain faithful and live wisely until He comes again. But how does it look to live our lives this way during the delay? Three things to consider today: during the delay, the faithful and wise servant of Jesus remains constantly mindful of His return, makes everyday decisions in light of His return, and produces fruit that will last at His return. Let’s look at each of these together.
Jesus says, “That day and hour no one knows.” This is the Last Day, the day of His return. The day of Judgment. The apostle Paul describes it this way in 1 Thessalonians 4: “the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. This is the end of time as we know it.
Notice here that Jesus differentiates here between himself and God the Father. The incarnate Jesus, in his human nature, is like the angels, and like you and me, in that his knowledge is limited. The angels are naturally limited. They are not omniscient or all-knowing. Jesus chose the limitations of humanity in order to stand in our place for our atonement. During his earthly life, he knew what the Spirit revealed to him. So, he could honestly say at that time that he didn’t know when he would return.
But the Father knew. It’s already planned out. And when it happens, it will be similar to what happened in the days of Noah. Noah had heard from God and built an ark for the coming flood of judgment, but Noah was mocked by so many of those around him. Those people carried on like judgment was not on the way. But it was, and the surprise that overtook those people is like the surprise, or the shock, that will fill many people on Judgment day. Noah was not surprised. He expected the flood.
Of course, in many ways, Noah was like those people he warned. The Scriptures are clear that he was not a perfect man. But he was different in this regard: Noah took to heart the commands of God. In the end, that will be the difference maker. Notice these people described in verses 40 and 41. “two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. [41] Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.”
Again, Paul wrote, “we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
So take these two men or two women doing the same job. Their lives look very similar in that regard. What’s different? One has taken to heart the command’s of God, one has not. Notice this: when the Son returns, the people are living their ordinary lives. It’s just another day. Another day in the field. Another day at the grindstone. But “stay awake,” Jesus says in verse 42, “for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”
We should not overly dwell on the length of this delay. Why? Because not knowing when Jesus will return requires you and I to live how we ought to live: by faith. We ought to live obedient lives. We ought to live under the lordship of Jesus at every moment. Why don’t we? Because we don’t think it makes a difference. Because we don’t think, “Oh, he’s could be here in any minute.”
But notice what Jesus says in verse [43], “know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.” If you knew exactly when Jesus would return, there would be no need for faith. If you knew the time of his return, would you be willfully engaging in sin at that moment? Would you be knowingly defiant of God and His word at that time? Would you be brazenly in pursuit of worldliness? Would be apathetic, showing little interest or enthusiasm for God’s mission in the world? No, you would repent, you would make amends with others, you would be a godly steward of what He had given you, and you would live humbly. And so, Jesus tells us: that is how you should live all the time during this delay. The faithful and wise servant of Jesus remains constantly mindful of His return. True obedience to God’s Word is a demonstration of that.
And then in verses 45-51, Jesus addresses his disciples who were the leaders of the church, those “set over his household,” which is the church. During the delay, there will be church leaders who, rather than being loving and just toward the members, will be selfish, abusive, and worldly. And there will literally be hell to pay. You didn’t think that all the pastors and church leaders are truly Christians, did you? There will be many wolves dressed like sheep. Their behavior will reveal their hearts. Some will behave like the Master of the house will never return.
But He will. If He returned today, would he find you remaining faithful and living wisely? Are you only living for this world, this life, and all it offers? Are you concerned only with the treasures of earth, or are you storing up treasure in heaven? If you do not remain constantly mindful of his return, you will live like he’s not coming back.
Jesus tells two parables or stories to illustrate the point further. What else should His followers understand about this delay? Well, imagine ten bridesmaids, who are the attendants of a bride. They await the arrival of the groom and his wedding party. He is traveling from far away, so they don’t know when exactly he will arrive, but when he does, the festivities will begin. The responsibility of the bridesmaids is to be ready at a moment’s notice.
Each bridesmaid is to keep a lamp burning that is filled with oil. But it won’t burn without oil. Imagine that half of the bridesmaids keep extra oil, but half do not. And because of the delay in the groom’s arrival, the half without extra oil find that their lamps are going out. And without a lit lamp, a bridesmaid cannot enter the wedding banquet. You notice here that when the groom arrives, those who don’t have oil are trying to beg some from those who do.
When Jesus returns, it’s too late to start living for him. And for that matter, when your time is up, which could come on any day and at any time, it’s too late to start making decisions according to God’s commands. The faithful and wise servant of Jesus makes everyday decisions in light of His return.
Notice here that for a while, all ten bridesmaids were ready. All ten had lit lamps. But that light that burned in the past doesn’t matter. Jesus calls his people to live with readiness in the present. To live for Him now. To be ever-faithful. Do you display this kind of readiness?
You may be familiar with Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. One of those seven pieces of advice is, “Begin with the end in mind.” Do you make choices with your time, and your money, and your words, and behavior with the confidence that Jesus, the eternal Bridegroom, will return for His Bride, the Church?
Jesus has made his point, but he isn’t done. If His Second Coming is on minds, and influences our decisions, then there should be results. In verses 14-30, Jesus wants us to imagine a master who gives out assets for his servants to invest and multiply while he is away on other business. He gives out “talents.”
A “talent” was a monetary unit in first century Rome worth about 20 years’ worth of wages. The master entrusted a tremendous amount of money to each of these servants. Let’s estimate that today, one working-class person brings home about $45,000 a year. Over 20 years, that’s $900,000, or one talent.
These three servants receive 5 talents, 3 talents, and 1 talent. Now, the servants receiving 5 and 3 - huge sums - took what they were given and produced a profit. When the master returns, he is very pleased. In fact, he says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” And he entrusts more to them.
But this other servant took the 1 talent he received and basically sat on it. And when the master comes to him, the servant makes an excuse. Look at verse 24. He says, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, [25] so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’
The servant shifts the blame to the master for his own lack of effort and fear of risk. The master replies that he could have at least put the money in the bank and drawn interest. The servant did nothing with what was entrusted to him. But the master gave him the talent for a reason. The master could have buried it in the ground. The servant was to be productive. The master had a purpose in mind; but the servant was unconcerned with that purpose.
Now, you might read this and take the analogy too far. The servant’s description of the master is not an apples-to-apples description of God. But this is a relatable story. Here’s an unproductive employee. Lazy? Perhaps. But more so, afraid. Afraid to risk. Afraid to step out on faith with what he was given.
What are you doing with what Jesus has entrusted to you? The faithful and wise servant produces fruit that will last at Jesus’ return. Put aside for a moment what you say you believe about Jesus Christ. Consider your life, the way you live, and what spiritual fruit your life produces. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Are you producing these things? Because that is the fruit that will last at Jesus’ return. All else will burn up and fade away.
If you are born again, what are you doing with the rich treasure God has deposited in you? If you do nothing with it, then in the end, perhaps you are not truly born again, and if so, you could be like the abusive, wicked servant described at the end of chapter 24. What you say counts for very little; the proof is in your life.
And understand that for everyone cast into hell by Jesus on the last day, that will be justice. It will be terrible, it will be horrific, but it will be deserved, Jesus says. The behavior of the faithful and wise servant does not earn the love of God for the person; it reveals the work of God in the person. This is why the apostle Peter, who followed Jesus during his earthly ministry, later tells the churches, “be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.” How? He says by making every effort to follow Jesus in every aspect of life. The Second Coming of Jesus on your mind, in your decisions, and producing good fruit.
As we stand in a moment to sing, I want to remind you again that Jesus is the true and better Israel. Jesus is the only one who can redeem us. The OT nation of Israel failed to remain faithful during the delay they experienced. They did not remain wise. But Jesus did so. He did so for His people. He is our hope and peace during this delay. Put your trust in Him alone to make you right with God. For our sake God made Jesus Christ, who was sinless, to be sin for us, so that in Jesus we might become the righteousness of God; so that we could be found in Jesus, not having a righteousness of our own that comes from our own works, but a righteous record which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
Put your hope fully in the work of Jesus Christ for you, and then you can remain faithful and live wisely during the delay.
Let’s pray together.