Will Kynes, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biblical Studies, Samford University
TRUST GOD’S TIMING
Matthew 24:32–41
We live in an immediate information age. Thanks to the powerful processors we carry around in our pockets, nearly infinite knowledge is simply an internet search away. This can deceive us into believing no knowledge should be beyond our grasp. We are easily frustrated when we encounter something we cannot know, such as when a pandemic will end or how much time we have left with a loved one.
Though Jesus has offered His disciples a number of signs that will help them anticipate His return, in this passage He tells them the exact day and hour is not for them (or even Him) to know. This should inspire trust in God’s timing.
We don’t know when Christ will return, but we can see the signs. (32–33)
Having just described the cataclysmic signs that will usher in His return — wars, famines, earthquakes, the sun and moon darkening, the stars falling from the sky (vv. 6–7, 29) and an angelic trumpet call (v. 31) — Jesus turns to a more subtle, ordinary analogy. The blooming of fig leaves indicates the coming of summer.
When His disciples see the persecution and tribulation of which Jesus has warned them (vv. 4–25), they will know “it is near, right at the door.”
Trust God’s Word about Christ’s return, because His word is eternal and unchanging. (34–35)
The vague reference to “it” in verse 33 is significant because Jesus is addressing two events: the destruction of the temple that occurred in A.D. 70 and His future return.
Referring to the former, He can guarantee the present generation will live to see it with a certainty firmer than the existence of heaven and earth.
That event, as terrible as it was, offered only a shadow of the final judgment, but Christ’s return will also hold hope for God’s chosen people.
Don’t speculate about the timing of Jesus’ return. (36–41)
Though Jesus has clearly communicated the certainty of His return and indicated the signs of its approaching (v. 33), He discourages speculation about its precise timing. Not even He knows when it will be.
When He “emptied Himself” and took on humanity (Phil. 2:6–8), the Son laid aside His prerogative to this knowledge which is now reserved for the Father.
The sudden judgment on the earth will be like the former judgment in the flood (Gen. 6:5–22). People were living their lives, enjoying the pleasures of food and drink and marriage, oblivious to its coming, before the waters swept them away. But Noah and his family were delivered, just as the elect will be gathered (vv. 40–41; see also v. 31), suddenly, “in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52).
Though the knowledge of the exact timing of Christ’s return will elude us, Jesus has made several things absolutely certain in Matthew 24: He will return. That return will involve judgment, but also deliverance for His chosen people from all nations. Great affliction will precede His return. No one will miss His return when it happens.
This certain knowledge should exhort us to obedience and give us hope as we face challenges, suffering and even persecution in this life. They are not unanticipated, and one day they will end.
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