Matthew 24:36-51 (Revelation 22:7-21): He is Coming Soon!

Presented to the Swift Current Corps, 27 June 2010
By Captain Michael Ramsay

I was watching a youtube video with my kids the other day. It is based on a joke that I have heard before that I would like to share with you. There was this duck. He walks up to a lemonade stand and he asks the boy there, “Excuse me sir, do you have any grapes?” The boy says, “No” and the duck goes away. Twenty minutes later the duck comes back. He walks up to the lemonade stand and he asks the boy there, “Excuse me sir, do you have any grapes?” The boy says, “No” and the duck goes away. Twenty minutes later the duck comes back. He walks up to the lemonade stand and he asks the boy there, “Excuse me sir, do you have any grapes?” The boy who is getting a little agitated now says, “No and if you ask me again I will tape your beak closed and then tape you to a tree” and the duck goes away. Fifteen minutes later the duck walks up to the lemonade stand again and he asks the boy there, “Excuse me sir, do you have any… tape?” The boy says, “no” and the duck says, “Do you have any grapes?”

[1]

My children saw this on a youtube video this week and they just loved it and have been telling this joke over and over again.

Speaking of children, we all know that we are still awaiting our new child, a new member of our congregation here, a little boy or girl. Mom especially is getting understandably a little bit impatient to meet babe. When baby finally does arrive, it will be a real time of celebration because – as many of you know the due date was almost 2 weeks ago now so we know that baby is coming very soon one way or another. Through this time we didn’t and don’t necessarily know exactly when but we are ready. Our bags are packed and in the car. I keep the camera and the phone list at my side. Grandma and Boppa are here and have been since just before baby’s first due date to help look after the children when baby arrives. We know baby is coming soon, sooner than ever before…but baby isn’t here yet. We thought a doctor said that baby was coming on the 16th but the 16th came and went and the baby hasn’t come yet. We saw a doctor had written that the baby was coming on the 17th but the 17th came and went and the baby hasn’t come yet. I thought the ultrasound technician said the baby was coming on the 20th or the 21st ; Susan thought they said the 22nd but the 20th came and went and the 21st came and went and the 22nd came and went and the baby hasn’t come yet. We were prepared for the baby many days before all those dates, in between all those dates, and after those dates. We know the baby is coming soon but the baby hasn’t come yet.

Revelation 3:11, Jesus says, “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” But Jesus hasn’t come (back) yet. Revelation 22:7, Jesus says, “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.” But Jesus hasn’t come (back) yet. Revelation 22:12, Jesus says, “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” But Jesus hasn’t come (back) yet. And Revelation 22:20, “He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” But Jesus hasn’t come (back) yet.

The people in the first years after Jesus rose from the grave – when the early church was formed - expected him to come back soon, any minute, but Jesus hasn’t come back yet. The people in the first decades after Jesus rose from the grave – when most of our New Testament was written - expected him to come soon, any minute but Jesus hasn’t come back yet (cf. Luke 17:26-27).[2] The people in the first centuries after Jesus rose from the grave – when most of our church fathers lived - expected him to come soon, any minute but Jesus hasn’t come back yet.[3] The people through the first millennium after Jesus rose from the dead – when the church continued to spread through North Africa, Europe and Asia - expected him to come soon, any minute but Jesus still hasn’t come back yet. The people through the second millennium after Jesus rose from the dead – when the church experienced its Renaissance and Reformation - expected him to come soon, any minute but Jesus still hasn’t come back yet. And now we are into the third millennium…and still Jesus hasn’t come yet.

This past week with all that was going on in ministry -soap box derby, food drives, new phone system installation and training, farewell events for Betty, 3 barbeques- even when Susan was becoming quite anxious about baby coming, I could have continued on just working on what I wanted to do or what I thought was best (cf. the sin of Judges: Judges 21:25). The longer we waited for baby to come the more I could have slipped back into a regular work routine or even headed down to Maple Creek with our Emergency Disaster Services team (Lloyd Blyth, Elaine Blyth, Rachel Sloper, Alvin Gador, Larry Jaster, Lori Reimer; who did a great job, btw)[4] and as a result, risked missing out on the whole thing. Instead –as was needed - I decided to stay by Susan’s side watching and waiting for Baby. I was still working of course, fulfilling my duties in this post-modern age of laptops and blackberries, but I remain waiting ready for baby to arrive.

Similarly relating to our Lord Jesus, Matthew 24:42-51 that we read from earlier, records (cf. also Luke 12:42-46):

42"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' 49and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Let us look a little closer at this story. What is it about? It is about the fact that Jesus is coming soon and we – even more than doctors and ultrasound technicians - we really don’t know when Jesus is coming but we need to be ready because, like our baby, he is coming (Matthew 24:26, 25:13; Mark 13:32; Luke 12:39-40, 46). He is coming like a thief in the night (Matthew 24:34) and we should be ready (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3, 16:5). This is important. We know this is important for a couple of reasons not the least of which is the fact that Matthew records for us that Jesus says this is important and he repeatedly makes this very point in a number of stories placed back to back to back here in the text.[5] This story of being ready for Jesus to come because he will come like a thief in the night is in the context of a number of similar parables about Jesus’ immanent return.[6]

Matthew 25:1-13 compares Jesus’ immanent return to bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom and the whole wedding celebration to begin (cf. Luke 14:16-24).[7] This is a big deal. It is the party of the year and no one wants to miss it and their ticket in, in this case, is to be prepared by having oil in their lamps when the groom returns. There were those who started waiting but they weren’t prepared to wait quite long enough and then the bridegroom shows up when they have already gone to do something other than wait for him so they don’t get to celebrate with the groom upon his arrival. They weren’t prepared and, like an out-of-town father when his baby is born, they missed their opportunity to greet him (cf. Heb. 3:7–4:13).[8]

There is also the so-called, ‘Parable of the Talents’, Matthew 25:18-30 (cf. Luke 19:11-26).[9] Remember that story about waiting and being prepared, about being ready? An employer, a master divides his investment portfolio between his employees, giving them responsibility for it. He gives his servants, his slaves some money, some talents, to be in charge of while he is away. He tells them to take care of his talents. Two of the three servants do just this and thus they are ready for their master’s return. The third – he is thrown into the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:31). He is not faithful with a little when the master was away so how can he be trusted with the treasures of heaven when the Lord returns (Matthew 25:21,23, 30)? He was not prepared for his Lord’s coming.

And we all know the parable of ‘The Sheep and the Goats’ (Matthew 25:31-46). Here when the Son of Man comes he divides the nations on his right and his left. Those who are prepared to reap the benefits of his Kingdom took care of the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the naked, the sick and the prisoners while they were waiting for Him. They were prepared and, to them, He said ‘take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world’ and he said ‘well done my good and faithful servant’. However there were those that did not do this and as such they were not ready to meet their maker and they did not celebrate at his return (Cf. Exodus 23:6,11, Lev. 19:10,15, 23:22, 27:8, Deut. 15:7, 15:11, 24:12-15, 1 Samuel 2:8, Psalms 22:26, 34:6, 35:10, 82:3, Ezekiel 16:49, 18:12, 22:29, Amos 2:7, 4:1, 5:11-12, 8:4-6, Isaiah 3:14, 15, 10:2, 11:4, 26:6, 32:7, 41:17, 58:7, 61:1; Zechariah 7:10). He still came but they did not celebrate. They were cast aside. They were not prepared for his return so they miss out on the blessings of the coming of his kingdom.

It is like with Baby Ramsay. When the first due date came and went we could have taken the camera out of the baby bag and put it where it usually belongs; when the next anticipated due date came, we could have taken the baby clothes, Susan’s magazines, and toiletries out of the baby bag. When the next day came and went, we could have taken the very baby bag itself, in which we held everything in anticipation of baby’s arrival, and filled it with various work or play related items instead so that we were no longer prepared. If we did or if we do all of this still now it won’t stop baby from coming. We just won’t be prepared for baby’s arrival and even if I am looking for everything that we have unpacked and I can’t find what I need in time to be there, baby will still come at the pre-appointed time, I just may miss out on the blessings of that moment. Also if I was in Maple Creek when baby came I would have missed the occasion or if baby had come early, a few days before the due date instead of almost 2 weeks after the due date now, my parents wouldn’t have been a part of it. They would have missed out on baby’s arrival. Hopefully baby gets here before they have to leave! Baby is coming soon whether we are ready or not and if we aren’t ready we will miss out.

In our spiritual life, will we miss out on Jesus’ arrival? Or are we ready for him? Are our spiritual bags still packed? Or have we in the weeks, months and years since we gave our lives to Christ, have we been slowly unpacking our heavenly baby bags? Do we still have our Bibles that we read daily in there or did we put them back on the shelves because Jesus hasn’t come just yet? He’s still coming. How about our incessant, fervent prayers: do we still practice them daily or have we put them away until we feel we need them? How about our offering of food, clothing, and love to the least, the lost, and the last: is this still with us and in our spiritual baby bags or have we filed these away somewhere; leaving us unprepared for the immanent arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ who is coming soon?

What about all of us here today? If Jesus comes like an overdue baby tonight, are we ready? Will we be there to greet him or will we miss out on his return? Today, are our bags packed with our prayers, Bible study, and love for our neighbour? Are we ready to meet our maker when he returns? As sure as Baby Ramsay is coming soon, Jesus is indeed coming very soon. So when he does, are we ready? Are we ready for when he shows up like a thief in the night or will we be left outside like the unprepared bridesmaids? Are we investing the talents God is entrusting us with? Or will He take even the very life that He has loaned us because we wasted it? Jesus is coming soon. When he does, will he say to us ‘away from me’? Or will he say to us, because we are prepared to meet him, ‘take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world’ - and ‘well done my good and faithful servant’? In short, I ask us today, Jesus is coming soon whether we are ready for it or not.

Are we ready?

Let us Pray

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] Bryant Oden ( Music) and Forrest Whaley (Animation) ‘The Duck - Hey! Got Any Grape's ?’, available on-line: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hiimc8u5P4
[2] Cf. Douglas R.A. Hare, Matthew (Interpretation: Louisville, Kentucky: John Know Press, 1993), p.281.
[3] Volume 120 of The Expository Times has a good series of articles on the church fathers. See for ex. Judith L. Kovacs ‘Clement of Alexandria’ in The Expository Times, Vol. 120, No. 6 (March 2009), pp. 261-271
[4] Information about the team and their mission is on-line at: http://renewnetwork.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html#1586402264514679316
[5] Cf. R.T. France, ‘Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary’, Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 1), S. 342. Endurance is a prominent apocalyptic theme (cf. e.g. Dan. 12:12–13).
[6] Cf. Michael Ramsay, 'Jesus use of Parabolic and Metaphorical Methods to Affect the Listeners of the Parable of the Wicked Tenants', Presented to William and Catherine Booth College (Fall 2006). Available on-line at http://sheepspeak.com/NT_Michael_Ramsay.htm
[7] Luke includes the parable of the Marriage feast – the third of Matthew’s three (Matt. 22:1-14) - in an entirely separate setting (Luke 14:16-24); it is not mentioned at all in the account of Mark and neither Mark nor Luke mention the parable of the two sons (Matt 21:28-32).
[8] Cf. Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14-28. (WBC 33B: Dallas, Texas: Word Books, 1995), 612.
[9] There are several commonalities in the parable’s contextual setting. It is recorded after the triumphal entry when the people proclaim ‘Hosanna’ or ‘blessed be the king’ and that Jesus is the ‘Son of David’ (Matthew 21:10-11, Mark 11:9-10, Luke 19:38); the clearing of the temple (Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-46); and Mathew and Mark’s account of the fig tree (Matthew 21:18-26; cf. Mark 11:12-14, 20-22).