Word Live: Wide-Awake Waiting
Thank the Lord for walking with you in the week that is ending.
Bible passage
Mark 13:28–37
28 ‘Now learn this lesson from the fig-tree: as soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
The day and hour unknown
32 ‘But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: he leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35 ‘Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the cock crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: “Watch!”’
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Explore
Jesus continues his description of the end times, now telling us not just what will happen but what we should do about it. First, we are to watch the signs (v 29), but be aware that we cannot know the precise timing (v 32). Secondly, we are to live as if he might come at any moment (vs 33–37).
If Jesus was telling a parable like this (vs34–36) today, he might set it in a school classroom. Do you remember what would happen when the teacher left the room? Did everyone carry on working quietly? And do you remember the scramble to get back to your place, pen in hand and head down, as the teacher returned?
So what does it mean to ‘watch’? Obviously we can’t literally never sleep (v 36). But it does mean not postponing changes that we know God wants in our lives. Perhaps there’s a persistent sin that we keep telling ourselves we’ll deal with next week, when we’re not so tired or stressed. Or, perhaps it’s something we should be doing, like praying, offering to help someone, or serving in some way in our local church. Being God’s servant doesn’t just mean that we get our ticket to heaven, then do what we like; our Christian living should be an active day-to-day service.
Author
Alison Allen
Respond
Is there anything God has been nudging you to do or to stop doing? What steps can you take today to make changes?
Deeper Bible study
‘Yea, Amen! Let all adore thee, / high on thine eternal throne; / Saviour, take the power and glory, / claim the kingdom for thine own. / O come quickly … / Alleluia! Come, Lord, come!’1
As Jesus looks beyond the looming cross to the end of the age, he leaves his disciples – and us – with a certainty: he will come again in power and glory (v 26). Concerning the timing of that second coming, however, he leaves us all with uncertainty. Three times Jesus states that we will not know the time of his return (vs 32–35). Three times he exhorts us therefore to keep watch (vs 33–37). This mystery over the timing of Jesus’ return, we can be sure, is not petty but purposeful: ‘We are to see the very uncertainty as to the date as a strong stimulant to ceaseless watchfulness’.2 Indeed, we should be as watchful for Christ’s return as was the early church.
What does that mean for us, as part of the church that has been waiting 2,000 years for Christ’s return? It means to believe and not doubt that he will come again – despite what seems to us to be a long time between promise and fulfilment. It means to be anticipating eagerly his return – to be looking forward with great joy to when Christ will return in all his glory. It means to be living holy lives – ready at any moment to meet with our Lord and Saviour who redeemed us by his blood.3 It means to be praying fervently for those who do not yet know Jesus – that salvation may come while Christ tarries.4 It means to be buoyed on through this life by the glorious hope that the best is yet to come, when Christ completes the establishment of his kingdom. For, in the ancient words of the Nicene Creed, ‘He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end’.
With Advent soon to begin, meditate on the glory of Christ’s promised return; pray for increased joy and expectancy; and consider how this future hope can impact your present life.
1 Charles Wesley, 1758, ‘Lo! He comes with clouds descending’ 2 Cole, 1995, p282 32 Pet 3:11,12 42 Pet 3:9
Author
Fiona Silley
