DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- WATCH OUT!

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – WATCH OUT

"And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!" (Mark 13:37)

The disciples were bragging about how beautiful the Temple was. Jesus used their question as a platform to talk about what was coming down the track. Jesus pulled them up short by telling them that the Temple would be destroyed. The disciples then began to ask him to explain about the signs of the times when this would happen. Jesus gave them an extended teaching about how things would be before the end would come. Things such as false prophets, wars and rumors of wars, natural disasters like earthquakes and famines and troubles, persecution and betrayal of the righteous. He spoke of the time of the "abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet" and a time of tribulation greater than anything that has happened before. He explained that after the tribulation, there would be great cosmic disturbances. And then, the Son of Man would come in the clouds with great power and glory.

Jesus ended His discourse with two parables. One was about a tree. We know that Winter is past and that Summer is coming when the branches sprout leaves. I see that in my neighbor's tree. Where it was bare of leaves, now it is sprouting green. The second parable was about a man who went into a far country and left his house in the custody of his servants. The servants did not know when the Master of the house would return, so they were to live in watchful anticipation of that day. The meaning of the parable was that the Son of Man would come at any time – at evening, at noon, or in the morning, and they were to be watching and not sleeping. So the key word is, "Watch."

It is so easy to get wrapped up in the issues of today that we lose sight of the fact that Jesus is coming again. We just don't know when. Jesus said that even the angels don't know when. Only the Father (vs. 32). So it is incumbent on us to keep a watchful eye on the signs of the times, but know that He will come at an unexpected time. As the Gospel of Matthew in a parallel and extended passage puts it, "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect….Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming" (Matthew 24:44; 25:13).

The Apostle Peter wrote about this coming. He said that there would be scoffers who would say, "Where is the promise of His coming. For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation" (II Peter 3:3-4), but that "the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night" (vs. 10).

So, let us be watching and ready because Jesus could return at any time.

Love,  Dad