Metz 06/30/19

How to Wait for JesusMatthew 24:32–51 (ESV)

Waiting…. we do a lot of it, don’t we? We wait for our fast food at Whataburger.We wait in the Walmart line.We wait for our computers and phones to buffer. We wait for calls from our doctors.We wait at stop lights--more waiting at some than others.We wait for our Amazon purchases to arrive.We wait for the mail.We wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas.We wait for rain. We wait for warm weather.We wait for cold weather.Those of us who are older wait in bed… to fall asleepAnd we wait in bed the next morning….until our alarm goes offWaiting is common to the human experience

And when we think of spiritual realities, waiting often flavors our relationship with God. In fact I think if we surveyed the bible for the terms ‘wait’ or ‘waiting’ I think we’d conclude that God likes to use waiting in our lives. We wait for answers to our prayers. We wait on the Lord for grace to persevere. We wait on the Lord to gain new strength. And all of us are currently waiting for Jesus to come again.

1 Cor. 1:7…We wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ Titus 2:13…We wait for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and

Savior Jesus ChristAnd how about this one….1 Thess. 1:9-10…. we’ve turned to God from idols, to serve the living

and true God, and to wait for His son from heaven. Serving and waiting…. Serving and waiting

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{Now it would be a bit ludicrous for Walmart or Whataburger to have a sign near each cash register that gave advice on “How to Wait” …no retailer would ever want draw attention to the waiting you have to do in their store.}

But when it comes to the spiritual life, it’s different. God wants us to wait well.

The title of the sermon this morning is “How to Wait for Jesus”1

Having sketched the future in the first 31 verses of Matthew 24, Jesus now turns in the Olivet Discourse to the topic of how to wait well. In a series of parables “Jesus deals with attitudes that should characterize those who live … awaiting his coming,”2…. “different facets of how we are to wait for Jesus”3

And I think this is very helpful. Perhaps like me you’ve wondered what it means to ‘wait’ or ‘be prepared’ for Jesus’ return. One author suggested that we are to be perpetually vigilant.4 Really! Wow! Give me some toothpicks! We might imagine waiting looking like this….

suit case/chair/passport/overcoat/hat.

But surely that’s not what Jesus has in mind! So how are we to practically apply the commands to “be prepared” or to “be watchful”5 or to “stay awake” or to be perpetually vigilant ? That’s what we will be looking at today and the next several weeks… “How to Wait for Jesus”

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We pick up in verse 32 with a challenge to learn a lesson from the fig tree.

32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.

In the winter months, fig trees lose their leaves completely. You can see that in this picture:

1 This title comes from a Don Carson sermon on the gospelcoalition website2 Wilkins, page 7853 Carson, “How to Wait for Jesus” sermon on gospel coalition web-site4 Blomberg5 Matthew 24:42, 43; 25:13

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And that differentiates fig trees from all the other trees in Palestine.6 But in the late spring the sap begins to move into the branches. The branches become tender and they begin to put out some leaves. And that means one thing--summer is near! So also, verse 33, when you see all these things--I take that to be the birth pains mentioned in verses 4-28--then you should know that the return of Christ is near. It’s at the gates! Disciples should be alert because the end may be imminent.

Les and Maxine Williams, our missionaries to Ethiopia, visited last week and they came into Sunday school and Les kind of said in passing, “With the events of the world, or something like that, it sure seems to indicate the soon return of Christ.” He may have been talking about the recent attempted coup in Ethiopia but also the incredible opportunities to share Christ with others. Les was basically saying “Summer is near!” And believers have said that for a long time. And it seems right that we would cultivate a longing for the return of Christ.

34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Now if you believe that all the events in the early verses of Matthew 24 occurred in the first century7, then you don’t have any problems with Jesus’ words this generation will not pass away until all these things take place--the generation listening to Jesus’ words is the generation that will not

pass away until all these things take place. OR if you believe that all of Matthew 24 is future and that it applies only to the Jews living at the end of the age--that would be the Left Behind perspective--then the generation in view would be the generation of Jews at the end of the age. 8So there’s no problem understanding who Jesus has in mind in either of these two options. Some suggest the word generation refers to the kind of wicked people in Jesus’ day who opposed him in his earthly ministry and who will again arise to oppose Jesus’ disciples prior to his return.9 I wonder along with one student of scripture, if it could be a twofold reference, as Jesus has done throughout the discourse? In other words because the discourse seems to apply to two different time periods--the destruction of the temple in 70Ad and the end of the

6 “The fig tree is particularly fitting for illustrating his point, because unlike many Palestinian trees, it loses its leaves in winter and begins to sprout new leaves in late spring.”

7 Davies, Allison, and France, Morris8 Schweizer9 Gundry, Morris, Nelson

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age--could Jesus have in mind both generations ---“this generation” (those living in 70AD) and “this generation” (those caught up in the time period of the coming of the Son of Man.)10

I’m not sure we can pin it down11 but verse 35 urges us to take Jesus’ words to the bank.35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

If we were asked to make a list of things that would last a long time, heaven and earth would probably make our list. “Heaven and earth have lasted through many lifetimes and they stand for what is permanent.”12 But Jesus says, 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words --what I’ve said about the future--will not pass away. What a claim Jesus makes about all that he has said and all that is left to be said in the Olivet discourse and really all of his teaching--my words will not pass away! “Jesus’ words will endure even longer than the universe itself, which will be destroyed and recreated.”13

Well as we come to verse 36 we come to the subject of the sermon in a series of extended parables that begin to tell us how we should wait for Jesus.

36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

Do you see what verse 36 says? No one knows when Jesus will come back--not even Jesus himself while he was on earth That surprises us doesn’t it? Doesn’t Jesus, since he’s God, know everything?

And yet in the gospels we know of times when it appeared that Jesus’ knowledge was limited. For example, with the women with the issue of blood in Mark 5, Jesus asked “Who touched my

10 Wilkins, page 786-78711 ESV Study Bible 24:34 this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Several interpretations have been offered for this difficult passage: (1) Some think “this generation” refers to the disciples who were alive when Jesus was speaking, and “all these things” refers to the beginning but not the completion of the sufferings described in vv. 4–25. (2) Others see in “all these things” a prediction with multiple fulfillments, so that Jesus’ disciples will be both “this generation” that sees the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 and also those at the end of the age who see the events surrounding the “abomination of desolation” (v. 15). (3) Since “the generation of …” in the OT can mean people who have a certain quality (cf. Ps. 14:5; 24:6; cf. Gk. genea in Luke 16:8), others understand “this generation” to refer either (a) to “this generation of believers” throughout the entire present age, or (b) to “this evil generation” that will remain until Christ returns to establish his kingdom (cf. Matt. 12:45; Luke 11:29). (4) Others, particularly some dispensational interpreters, understand “generation” to mean “race” (this is another sense of Gk. genea) and think it refers to the Jewish people, who will not pass away until Christ returns. (5) Others understand “this generation” to mean the generation that sees “all these things” (Matt. 24:33), namely, the generation alive when the final period of great tribulation begins. According to this view, the illustration of the fig tree (v. 32) shows that when the final events begin, Christ will come soon. Just as “all these things” in v. 33 refers to events leading up to but not including Christ’s return, so in v. 34 “all these things” refers to the same events (that is, the events described in vv. 4–25).12 Morris13 Blomberg

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garments?” 14 There are other places like that in the gospels where Jesus’ knowledge seems to be limited. And there are passages where Jesus’ power seems to be limited.15

Based on these instances, a group of German theologians in the 1800s proposed a theory called the kenotic theory (after the Greek word “kenosis” meaning emptying). The theory suggested that Jesus emptied himself of aspects of his deity when he became a man. 16

But theologians today argue that that goes too far--it’s an insufficient Christology. That when Jesus walked the earth he had to be always fully God and fully man. So instead of Jesus emptying himself of some of his divine attributes, they speak instead of Jesus voluntarily limiting the use of his divine characteristics so he could experience human life in its entirety.17 While he did not in any sense give up his deity, he voluntarily limited the use of his divine attributes.18 So in this particular case we could say while he was on earth, he restricted himself to normal human knowledge in his human nature, while retaining omniscience in his divine nature.19 It’s definitely a mystery.

Well in verses 37-38 Jesus uses the story of Noah and his family to emphasize the unexpectedness of his coming

37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Now when you and I think of the days of Noah we think to ourselves, “There was so much idolatry”…. “There was so much debauchery”….”There was so much hedonism.” In fact we would probably think that the days of Noah were like our days. But that’s not the focus of Jesus’ words. No the focus of Jesus’ words is how it was business as usual when the flood came…people were still going to weddings, still having babies, going out to restaurants… bringing in the crops…it was normal life….it was business as usual. …let’s go get some ice cream….and then WHAM came the flood…they were unaware…..they did not realize what was happening20… they suspected nothing21… until the flood came and swept them all away…

14 Mark 5:3015 Mark 6:5; Matthew 13:5816 Grudem, page 550-55117 Wilkens, page 80018 Wilkins, page 80019 Wilkins, page 80020 TEV21 NJB

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…so it will be when the Son of Man comes.

Just as people were blindsided, caught unawares by the flood in Noah’s time, so it will be when the son of man comes. By contrast Noah and his family went about preparing for the coming flood, even though they saw no tangible evidence of its coming.

Paul’s words to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 5:1–6 carry this same division between those who will be prepared and those who will be completely surprised:

5 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

Well in verses 40-41, Jesus shares two other scenes from daily life that illustrate the unexpectedness of the coming of the Son of man

40 Then 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.

Two men will be in the field--a father and son? Two brothers? Two women grinding at the mill--a mother and a daughter? Two sisters?

One will be taken, one left. You’re either prepared or you’re not. Preparedness is an ‘either-or- proposition.’22

What are we to believe about the ones taken? Are the ones taken away, taken to judgment like the wicked were swept away by the flood in Noah’s time?23 Or is it vice versa? That the ones taken away are ‘taken to safety to enjoy the blessing of the arrival of the Son of Man (like Noah and his family were protected on the ark?)

22 Wilkins, page 80123 Blomberg

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It would seem that the best option is to see those ‘taken away’ as those taken away to safety. Why do we say that?

Well it fits with verse 31 where the elect are gathered when the Son of man comes.

Secondly, it seems more consistent with the parables that follow.

Thirdly, the verb used here --take--means to ‘take to safety’ in2:13, 13, 20, 21. Listen to

Matthew 2:13 An angel is speaking to Joseph about protecting baby Jesus… “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”

While the verb left in Matthew often has the meaning of ‘abandon’ or ‘forsake’ (eg 4:20, 22; 8:22; 19:29; 23:38; 26:5624) The disciples left their nets to follow Jesus.

SO…. two men will be in the field; one will be taken (to safety) and one left( for judgment) 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken (to safety) and one left. ( for judgment)

But again the point is complete surprise! When Jesus returns it will be a complete surprise. There won’t be any time to make decisions.

42 Therefore, stay awake (NASB be on the alert; NIV keep watch) for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But 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. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

So there are the various phrases in verse 42 that give us conniptions-- “stay awake”, “be on the alert” and ‘keep watch”. What do those really mean? How do we practically put them into practice? And doesn’t it sound a bit exhausting? And it definitely doesn’t sound like good news, does it? Where is the gospel in all this? We’ll return to that thought at the end of the message.

In the first century there wasn’t a police force. Each homeowner had the responsibility for the safety of his own home. If a homeowner knew a thief was coming, he would do all he could to be prepared--either staying up all night watching or perhaps enlisting the support of neighbors25. The homeowner, in such a situation, needed to live in a state of perpetual 24 Davies and Allison as quoted by Wilkins, page 80125 Wilkins, page 802

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watchfulness, a state of readiness. Verse 44-44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

A fellow by the name of Norman T. Wright, a British scholar, shares this story…

“It was a fine Saturday afternoon in the heat of summer. (My) family, some on holiday from work, were relaxing in the house and the garden. Books and magazines were lying around the place, along with coffee mugs, newspapers and packets of biscuits. Everything had the look of the sort of cheerful untidiness that a large family can create in about an hour.

Suddenly there was a ring at the doorbell. Wondering vaguely which friend might be calling I went to answer it, dressed as I was in very casual clothes. There, outside, to my horror, was a party of 30 or so well-dressed visitors. They had arranged, many months before, to come to look at the house, because of its historic associations. And neither I nor the family had remembered a thing about it.

You can imagine the next five minutes. I suggested that the visitors went into the garden for a little while (‘to get a good look at the house from the outside’), and then mobilized the family to clear everything up. Within minutes everything was clean and tidy. The children retreated into bedrooms. We opened the front door again and the visit went ahead.

You can tidy a house in a few minutes, if you put your mind to it. But you can’t reverse the direction of a whole life… By the time the ring on the doorbell happens it’s too late. That’s what this passage (is) about.” 26

So what do these verses--verses 36-44 that we’ve looked at--say to us about waiting for Jesus?

Practically we should examine ourselves to make sure we are in the faith27. If we’ve been putting off the decision to trust Christ--“I’ll do it later”-- we ought to take care of that decision right now. We should also keep short accounts with God and just be about seeking his kingdom continually.28 Now if you’re listening you know I just urged you to do something impossible--seek his kingdom continually? Is there some gospel help here?

26 Wright, T. (2004). Matthew for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 16-28 (pp. 125–126). London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.27 2 Corinthians 13:528 Wilkins, page 803

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Well in verses 45-51, we come to a second parable about two kinds of servants, one who is faithful and wise and one who is wicked. Notice, like everything that has gone before this morning there are only two options. The parable is written in such a way that it invites you and me to reflect on the kind of servant we are?

Look at verse 45 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.

The parable would seem to describe not just any old servant but one who is more like a chief servant or steward over the master’s entire household. It’s his task to be sure that the members of the household get their food and they get it at the proper time. And the master goes away (that’s implied in verse 47) and then he returns unexpectedly. And if the steward is faithfully doing his duty when the master comes back he will be rewarded with the ‘opportunity of serving in a higher and more responsible place.’29 So the test of his responsibility occurs when the master is absent; will he faithfully carry out his master’s tasks?30

We can’t get around the fact that this parable teaches that we wait for Jesus well when we are faithful to follow through in doing the work that Jesus has assigned us to do.

48 But if that wicked servant --opposite in character and achievement31--says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,…and we can imagine him reasoning to himself… ‘I won’t have to give an account for some time’ … ‘I’m free to do what I want’…and he begins to act unjustly….he begins to act cruelly…that which is in his heart begins to come out…. Verse 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants…he’s not taking care of them like he is supposed to, he’s beating them… and then he becomes self-indulgent… eat(ing) and drink(ing) with drunkards…he has no care for the master’s household, he’s just looking after himself….50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

So what are we to make of this wicked servant? Just as the good servant revealed his nature by his good actions when the master was gone, the wicked servant revealed his depravity when left to his own devices.32

29 Morris30 Wilkins, page 80331 Morris32 Wilkins, page 803

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In the long absence of the master, the wicked servant gravitated to activities that were characteristic of idolaters, pagans, unbelievers, and those who had turned away from the faith33. In other words he wasn’t really saved. The true condition of his heart was put on display. That’s why Jesus put him with the hypocrites, those who wear a façade of righteousness that masks an evil heart. He was a false professing disciple.

In that place…where the Lord puts him… there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And the weeping and gnashing of teeth stand for the anguish and suffering of those who are finally lost34.

So from his parable, how do we wait for Jesus?

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As a leadership team we’re trying to make sure that we highlight the gospel in our teaching and preaching. Let me elaborate what I mean.

Here is an attempt to illustrate that our lives need to be lived out in the shadow of the gospel.

33 EX. 32:6; Is. 28:7; Is. 56:12; 1 Cor, 10:7; and Gal 5:2134 Morris

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We don’t just need the gospel when it’s time to be saved. We need the gospel every day we live. We need the gospel to start the Christian journey. And we need the gospel to continue the Christian journey. We need the gospel to save us. And we need the gospel to sanctify us. So if I’m thinking about my sermon and it turns out that it’s a series of ‘to do’s’….that it’s all about my effort (for example I did say in this sermon ‘these verses teach us that we need to be perpetually vigilant’ and then I admitted I just told you to do something impossible)… that’s the kind of thing we’re trying to be sensitive to.

So think back about the first century home owner in verses 43-44--and he’s drinking lots of coffee so he can be perpetually vigilant and not be burglarized. It’s up to him to make sure he doesn’t get burglarized. What if he doesn’t do it right? What if he fails to be perpetually vigilant? What if we don’t do it right? What if we fail to be perpetually vigilant? That’s where the gospel comes in. The gospel is like the safety net beneath a series of acrobats. Yes we’re commanded to do stuff but we’re secure in his love. If we fail, his safety net catches us. The gospel tells us that God has done the heavy lifting. He has given us a great and secure salvation. The gospel tells us that Jesus reigns from heaven and that’s praying for us and that he’s got us in his grip. The gospel reminds us that Jesus died to take the penalty of sin from our lives, that it was God’s love for us that sent Jesus to the cross and that there is nothing I can do that will cause God to love me more and there’s nothing I can do that would cause God to love me less.

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As you may know my wife works for Dr. Joey and one of the marketing techniques that they use is having different phone numbers for different marketing initiatives. So a newsletter that is

mailed out will say “Call this number to get deGraffenried dentistry… and a billboard will say

“Call this number to get the dentist, and there’s actually a bench at the golf course that has its own phone number. And the reason for all these phone numbers is so that they can figure out what is working. If someone calls using the bench number then you know that the bench is reaching customers. If someone calls using the billboard number, then you know that the billboard is working. And that’s all pretty amazing. And that’s probably a common marketing technique. But there’s one other aspect that makes it even cooler. Say you see the number on the bench and you make the call right there before you hit your ball off the tee at the golf course-- when the front desk person answers the phone she hears a whispering voice (that the caller can’t hear) that says… “Bench” so the person at the front desk knows which phone number is being utilized and can record it.

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Why the story? Well let’s go back through the story and see if we can hear any gospel whispers in the passage that we’ve just looked at. Because often times we can teach through a passage and miss any allusions to the gospel…

How about verse 33?35 Jesus said he’s coming again. He will come. His promises can be trusted. And his promise about the gospel ---that our sins can be completely forgiven--can be trusted. He said it…we can count on it!

How about verse 35? My words will not pass away… Difficult things will come into our lives, probably not as bad as heaven and earth passing away, but difficult nonetheless. But we can count on the things that Jesus has told us. What Jesus has told us is true, is always true. So we can trust the gospel, we can trust the good news that God knows every detail of our sin problem and yet he has set his love on us irrevocably.

How about verses 36-41? We highlighted that some are taken and some are left. But we didn’t stop and celebrate that there is a great rescue for those who belong to Christ! While all deserve to perish and be left behind, some are rescued! No flood or other earth swallowing event can pluck God’s own from his hands! Our rescue is secure!

How about verses 45-51? Because our father has loved us and saved us and given us a new heart and new desires, we will gladly be about his bidding. We will delight to follow his will. We will gladly be a faithful steward in his household! We will gladly prioritize the things that are important to him.

Let’s continue to live in the shadow of the gospel.

Would you stand for a closing prayer?

35 All of the following questions and answers were generously taken from a 6/26 email from Joey deGraffenried.

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