Keep Watch

 The second picture Jesus paints to describe the nature of things at his return is in verses 40 and 41. “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.” Here the suddenness of Christ’s return introduced in the reference to the days of Noah is carried forward, but there is the additional thought of a sudden separation.

 Each of these pictures in Matthew 24:36-51 has been alike in stressing the sudden nature of Christ’s return. But each has also added its own unique elements. The picture of the flood has reminded us that many persons will be lost. The picture of the two men working in the fields and the two women grinding at the mill points to a radical separation and reminds us that we are not saved by being close to a believer.

There is an important contrast between the verses we were looking at in the last study and the opening verse of the section of Matthew 24 to which we come now. It is the difference between “you know” in verse 33 and “no one knows” in verse 36. What the disciples were to know is that “when you see all these things” the end will be “near, right at the door.”

The first story Jesus uses to emphasize the suddenness of his coming and the need to be ready for it was the destruction of the earth by flood in the days of Noah. This was a well known case of God’s judgment of wickedness in history, and it is referred to quite naturally by Old Testament prophets like Isaiah (Isaiah 54:9) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 14:14-20) and by New Testament writers like the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 11:7) and Peter (1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5). Jesus refers to it in verses 37-39.

The second picture Jesus paints to describe the nature of things at his return is in verses 40 and 41, “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.” Here the suddenness of Christ’s return introduced in the reference to the days of Noah is carried forward, but there is the additional thought of a sudden separation.

The third of Jesus’ illustrations is of a thief breaking into a house, “But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into” (v. 43).

Each of these pictures mentioned in Matthew 24:36-51 has been alike in stressing the sudden nature and unpredictability of Christ’s return. But each has also added its own unique elements. The picture of the flood has reminded us that many persons will be lost. The picture of the two men working in the fields and the two women grinding at the mill points to a radical separation and reminds us that we are not saved by knowing or being close to a believer.