The “blessed” slave has not predicted when the master would return, but he knew that the master would return. Notice that neither kind of slave knows when the master will return. In this parable we have a picture of two kinds of slaves, one who is ready for his master’s return and one who is not.
But if that evil slave says in his heart, “My master is not coming for a long time,” and shall begin to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and shall cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites weeping shall be there and the gnashing of teeth. Truly I say to you, that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. What exactly does it mean to be “on the alert”? Jesus goes on to tell a parable that shows very clearly what it means to be ready for His coming: Now we are getting to the heart of the issue. While the rest of the world is asleep, we are on the alert, waiting expectantly for the day that Jesus promised would come. We do not know when Jesus is returning, but we do know that He is returning. We do, however, have a critical advantage. Why? Have we been told in advance exactly when Jesus is returning? Not at all the day and the hour of Jesus’ return is just as much a mystery to us as it is to the rest of the world. The followers of Jesus, however, should not be taken by surprise. But who ever knows in advance that a thief is coming? Jesus is saying that His return is going to catch the world by surprise in the same way. If the homeowner had known the thief was coming, he would have been ready for him. The homeowner goes to bed assuming tonight will be like any other night, but he is wrong tonight, a thief will creep in through the window and overturn his life. In fact, He is going to come like a “thief in the night.” Thieves do not announce that they are coming. Who would have guessed that the Messiah would come into the world only to go away again? Instead of announcing to them that He was going to establish His kingdom today, or tomorrow, or next month, He tells them instead that He is going away and that His return is going to be unannounced and unexpected. In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus is telling His disciples a very surprising thing. For this reason you be ready too for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
As He came to the end of this “Olivet Discourse,” Jesus said: Near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus stood on the Mount of Olives and talked to His disciples about the future. What should our attitude be toward the events that will lead up to the return of Christ? Is trying to sort out the prophetic puzzle essential for believers or foolish? One thing is certain: as Christians, we are followers of the one who said concerning His coming, “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.” But what does it mean to be on the alert? Jesus clearly means us to take His second coming seriously, but what exactly does He want us to do?
They see any concern with the “signs of the times” as naïve and pointless. In response to this embarrassing picture, other Christians have decided that it is foolish to concern themselves with the second coming at all. So far, we have a 100 percent failure rate we have never been right. During the Gulf War, there was such a demand for books connecting Saddam Hussein with Armageddon that bookstores could not keep them on the shelves. Christians have been certain they saw the signs of the end in the rise of Napoleon, Lenin, Hitler, Henry Kissinger, and many others. Unfortunately, we also have to admit with some embarrassment that Christians have wrongly seen signs of Jesus’ return in many historical events. Such cataclysmic events certainly feel like “signs of the times” signaling the end of the age. World-shaking events like those of September 11 cause many Christians to think about the return of Christ and the end of the world.
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