Title: ADVENT ALERT
Focus: Jesus calls us to be alert: he is coming again.
Function: To encourage the people to ponder Christ’s final coming, and thus deepen our preparedness for Jesus’ final coming.
Text: Matthew 24:36-42
William Miller was a self-taught Bible teacher who lived during the 19th century. In 1818 he came to the conclusion that Jesus Christ would return in the year 1843. More intensive Bible study led him to declare that Jesus’ return would be somewhere in between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. But Jesus did not come. Dumbfounded, William Miller and other “Millerite” leaders went back to their calculations, and they discovered that they had made a mistake. Jesus would return on October 22, 1844. But Jesus did not come on the clouds.
Harold Camping is a self-taught Bible teacher running the Family Christian Radio program in California. In the early 1990’s Mr. Camping predicted—with great conviction--that Jesus would return in the fall of 1994. But Jesus did not come on the clouds in blazing glory. All throughout the last 2000 years, Christians of different stripes and tribes have claimed to know the period, if not the exact date of Jesus’ final coming in glory. It’s easy to make fun of them, pointing out how wrong they are. But it’s best to learn from their mistakes, especially in light of what Jesus has to say about his final coming.
On this first Sunday of Advent, we do well to pay close attention to Jesus’ advent—his comings, that is, his final coming in glory, his present-day coming in our lives, and his first coming in humility. The season of Advent is a perfect time to focus on the Bible’s teachings on the advent of Jesus. Today we learn that Jesus calls us to be alert. Why? Because he is coming again in beaming, brilliant, blazing glory.
Listen to these words of Jesus (found in the context of the passage we just read) (vs. 30) “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from the one end of the heavens to the other.” It’s almost 2000 years ago that the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven publicly but quietly. He will come again, publicly and with sounding trumpets. This same Jesus calls us to be alert, to watch for his coming. His call is our Advent alert today.
Jesus has much to say about his final coming. Much of it is clear; some of it is murky; and some of it is downright mysterious so it seems. Sober Christians will say no more than what is clear from Scriptures; serious sober Christians may walk around in the murky area of Christ’s cryptic teaching on his final coming and make observations from Scriptures, yet stay away from drawing firm conclusions.
And then there are reckless serious believers who, like Miller and Camping, will make dazzling claims of truth, only to find themselves disillusioned with their calculations. Jesus’ advent alert calls us to be watchful, awake. So, shall we be sober? Serious and sober, perhaps? Or shall we be recklessly serious throwing and drowning ourselves into mystery and neglecting Jesus’ warning that “no one knows the day of his coming”?
Let’s make some observations from the passage. First of all,
· Jesus puts us all on notice: Listen: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” No one knows about that day or hour. The date of the final coming of the Son of Man (which is Jesus) is shrouded in mystery. Let no one presume that what God has NOT revealed, can be known to a few elite Bible students or self-styled prophets who are “in the know” by virtue of their charisma and piety. Is Jesus coming again? Yes! When? I don’t know for sure! “No one knows,” says Jesus, “not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Jesus, then, puts us all on notice. Secondly,
· Jesus confronts us with mystery: He makes us wonder about himself. Who is this Jesus? He is both: true God and true man! He is unique: whereas you and I have only one nature, going back to Adam, Jesus has two—a human and divine nature. And these two natures dwell mysteriously in Jesus. Even the best scientist—Einstein included—cannot separate these two natures in Jesus. That’s mystery. And here’s how Jesus confronts us with that mystery even further: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
God, the Father knows the date of the final coming of God, the Son. But Jesus, who is God’s Son, does not know that date. Although the Father and the Son, along with the Holy Spirit, are one God, and although God is all-knowing, here we learn that God the Son does NOT know the day or hour of his final coming.
Logically, serious and sober Christians may not know what to do with Jesus’ statement, but we should not be turned off by its mystery. Even though we do not understand with the noodles up here, we can talk with some sense and awe about the mystery saying, (as one commentator does—Hendriksen) that “Jesus himself, viewed from the aspect of his human nature, does not know that hour or date.” Be sure not to let the mystery of Jesus’ divine and human nature keep you from being alert today. Rather, be captivated by the One who confronts you with Advent mystery! Thirdly,
· Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man: Now that rings bells for Jesus’ audience. They know the Scriptures, and they are familiar with the writings of Daniel, the prophet. In Daniel 7:13 we read about one of Daniel’s visions about the end of history. And Daniel says: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” In Daniel’s vision the Son of Man is an obscure, unknown figure. But a few centuries later, Jesus points to the Son of Man figure and connects himself with that figure.
Now Jesus really has our attention, because he gives us a clue, a piece of the puzzle of history’s tail end, when God will establish his eternal rule by sending his Son, Jesus, to make all things new.
Jesus puts us on notice; he confronts us with mystery; and he reveals himself as the Biblical end-time figure, the Son of Man, whose kingdom will last forever.
Perhaps you think of yourself as a practical person. After all, we’ve got to put food on the table; we’ve got a family to raise; we’ve got a career to pursue. So, why bother being alert about something that will take place in the future? Why get excited, or why be on the alert as to Jesus’ final coming in glory? Not only that, since no one knows about that final day, why bother being watchful all together? Ah, consider these insights from the text: when Jesus comes again
· We will be part of a harvest. Note how the Lord Jesus brings out that theme of harvesting: “That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.” Jesus will gather all of humanity into his barn of judgment; there he will sort out the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goat, the righteous from the unrighteous, the believers from the unbelievers. He will separate us: those who are his—by grace through faith in him—will enter the kingdom of everlasting life; those who rebelled against him and revealed themselves as enemies of God will suffer the absence of God’s presence: darkness and fire, destruction and perdition that will last forever. Jesus’ advent alert is about the eternal harvest. Be alert and ask yourself, where do you want to spend eternity?
Note also that
· The final coming of Jesus will catch the world “off guard” but not those of us who are alert: Listen: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.”
There’s nothing wrong with eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage. Noah engaged in these very same activities. But he was alert! He believed the coming of God’s judgment. And believing Noah and his family entered the ark of salvation when the rains came down.
We, too, go about our daily
business. No need for panic! That’s for sure. But be alert! Keep on the lookout
for Christ’s coming. For if we are not prepared to enter the boat of Christ’s
salvation, the fires of judgment will consume us. If we live as if there is no
tomorrow, no final coming, no judgment day, we will be caught off guard. That’s
why we do well to take note of Jesus’ advent alert! Listen: “Therefore
keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”