4 times and a 5th is coming...Matthew 24:32-51

 

It is the last day of April and the snow is coming down again.  You can see the small leaves coming out on the aspen trees in the picture and the haze of snow in the distance.  We welcome any precipation after a winter of pretty much no snow at the 8400 elevation mark.  Any assistance naturally against forest fires stops any type of complaining about the weather.


The white haze in the background is snow coming down.  This is our front window of the church.  I have always loved stain glass windows and these come to life at the close of the day with the sun setting down on Elk Mountain.  

Jesus gives His disciples a 4 fold message of "no one knows the day or the hour."  He will bring this up again once more in the next passage.  It will also be a part of His dialogue with them just prior to His ascension in Acts 1.  It amazes me that so many books are written toying with the opposite of what Jesus is saying.  So many predictions have been made about Jesus' 2nd coming and then walked back or rationalized away.  To prove the point this Sunday I pulled all the books out of the church library that dealt with the topic of the end times.  I was glad to be able to see over them.  I also spoke of one that was going to find the trash can after service because it predicted His return in the year 2000.  Charts, codes, and formulas were provided to let you know that they had cracked the code.

I think I wrote of this last week but we spend so much time on the "what" and "when" of Jesus' 2nd coming while we ignore the "how" we are to be.  Jesus goes into story mode this week with illustrations of the spring time fig tree; the certainty of God's words about the flood; the general knowledge of Someone is coming like a known thief in the neighborhood; and the master returning to find faithful and prudent servants doing what he said and evil servants making excuses.  

I love how Jesus says in verse 42 (LSB), "Therefore stay awake, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming."  He emphasized what we don't know and then follows it with what we do know in verse 43a, "But be sure of this,..."  How are we to be?  Not deceived by the false teachers and christ; not like jello with the news of an ever increasing evil world; enduring to the end alongside of Jesus and His words; and being faithful and obedient with His words over men's words.  

Jesus will give us one more illustration to make His point this Sunday before moving onto another related topic in this final teaching discourse recorded by Matthew.  It is one of the most beautiful illustration that God has used throughout all of the Bible.  The message will be the same but maybe it will tug on some different heart strings to get us to grasp what He is saying.  

Finally I am thankful for the tools that we have now to understand the Greek language in which most of the New Testament is given to us.  It brings our English words to life.  In verse 39 (LSB) Jesus says, "...and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be."  The "took them all away" means to carry them away.  Then we get to verses 40-41 (LSB) when Jesus says, "Then there will be two in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.  Two women will be grinding grain at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left."  The "taken" in these verses are a different Greek word than in verse 39.  This "taken" means to be taken to or to another or to be a companion of.  The "left" in these verses means to carry away or to divorce.  These insights help us to see those who will be "taken" meaning taken to, to be the companion of another and those who will be "left" meaning carried away or divorced from.  Still learning.

Adam



A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 39th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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