For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
Matthew 16:27 NIVUK
An encounter I once had outside Bucharest Otopeni airport has long since remained in my memory.
It was a freezing cold day. I was on my way to Brașov, having just arrived from Scotland. I needed to catch a bus to Union Square, a metro to the main station (Gara Nord) and then a train to Brașov.
Easy.
I stood at the bus stop, checked the bus timetable to see when it would come and waited.
A taxi pulled up in front of the bus stop. The driver rolled down his window and called out to me, ‘Hey, Mister, are you waiting on a bus?’
‘Yes.’ I replied.
‘There is no bus.’ he replied.
I didn’t believe him. ‘The timetable says it will be here in a few minutes.’ I told him.
‘It’s not coming.’ he retorted. ‘The timetable is wrong.’
‘Well, I'll wait for it.’ I responded.
He shrugged his shoulders disappointedly. ‘Okay.’ he said, and drove off.
What do you think happened five minutes later?
The bus came.
The taxi driver was lying. He was looking to trick an unwary foreigner. But this foreigner was wary.
Let me tell you, it’s not just in Bucharest that people lie and tell you something, or someone, isn’t coming. It’s global.
And neither is it a new lie:
Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this “coming” he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’
2 Peter 3:3-4 NIVUK
So when you hear people doubting both the reality and the potency of the Second Coming, don't be alarmed: they've been doing it for centuries.
However, the context in these verses gives a little extra spice to these verses, while also challenging our thinking.
You see, as we saw earlier, Peter had made his confession that Jesus was the Messiah (Matthew 16:13-20), and was then firmly rebuked by Jesus when he struggled to believe that Jesus would die (Matthew 16:21-23).
The reason why is because the disciples expected the Messiah to rid them of their problems now; to defeat the Romans in battle now; to bring them to some form of utopia now.
But what Jesus is saying is that it won’t happen now. It will happen instead during His Second Coming. You see, the very fact that He said He, the Son of Man, would come in His Father’s glory, means that He would first have to go. John recorded Jesus saying exactly that:
My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
John 14:2-3 NIVUK
‘You heard me say, “I am going away and I am coming back to you.” If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.
John 14:28-29 NIVUK
So Jesus would come back after He first went into Heaven.
And He will not come back at a known time.
No, He will come when He is least expected:
‘But about that day or hour no-one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Matthew 24:36 NIVUK
But understand this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.’
Luke 12:39-40 NIVUK
Then they gathered round him and asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
Acts 1:6-7 NIVUK
Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety’, destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-4 NIVUK
So if some trickster and charlatan comes to you and says they have worked using some complicated formula when Jesus will come again, don’t believe them.
Not even Jesus knows.
And there is a reason for this: Jesus wants us to be ready.
Let me give you a reason why. My daughter often has a quite frustrating approach to timekeeping – but that probably comes with the cockiness of being young. Most days she scrambles to get ready and grab what she needs before leaving the house at the very last minute before her train comes. I went with her to put her on a train once. The train actually arrived as she was walking onto the platform.
I, on the other hand, am a good bit older. I’m not as fast. I prefer to get there in good time. Whether I'm catching a bus, train, coach or plane, I’m not someone who likes to rock up at the last minute. I'd rather arrive early and need to wait than panic because I might miss it. I guess it comes from experiencing places where transport was highly irregular. I just don’t like taking risks.
If we knew when Jesus was coming back, we’d disobey every command, live carelessly and recklessly, and repent at the last minute to make sure we get into Heaven. To quote an old saying, we’d ‘sin at haste, repent at leisure’.
That is not at all how God wants us to live.
But since we don’t know when Jesus will come again, we will do our very best to be ready:
You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.’
Luke 12:40 NIVUK
He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Revelation 22:20 NIVUK
So, are you one of those who can honestly pray Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus?
Are you ready for Jesus to come again?
Questions
1. What did the disciples expect Jesus to do right then and there, but He would only do it when He came a second time? How does this affect how we perceive our problems? Should we expect them to all be solved now?
2. Why will Jesus come at a time when we do not expect Him?
3. Are you ready for Jesus to come again? How do you get ready?
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