Do you remember playing the popular children’s game “Hide and Seek?” Usually, a group of the children go out to find hiding place, while the seeking child hides his or her eyes and waits for the others to hide After the seeking child counts to one-hundred, he or she alerts the hiding children by shouting “Ready or not, here I come!
This is precisely what Jesus is shouting in today’s Scripture text. As Jesus continued his journey toward Jerusalem, he knew that his time on earth was quickly coming to an end. So, he took this opportunity to prepare his disciples for his approaching departure and subsequent second-coming. He used a unique combination of imperatives, parables, and warnings to make sure their souls would be ready for the final judgment day.
Jesus originally spoke these words to his 12 disciples, but they are meant for all Christians at all times. Jesus is shouting to everyone: “Ready or not, I am coming!” Are you ready for Jesus’ return? Let’s see!
Watchfulness (35- 40)
Jesus begins teaching about his second-coming by telling a parable about watchful servants. He urges his disciples to be dressed and ready for action and keep their lamps burning as the servants of a great master would while he was away attending a wedding feast. In biblical times, wedding receptions could last up to a week (can you imagine the catering bill), and the servants would not know when the master would be home. If the master came home in the middle of the night and found his lamps lit and his servants awake and watching for him…if they open the door and greet him when he comes in, they would be rewarded by the master. The master would actually take on the servant’s attire and serve the servants as they recline around the banquet table.
This was an incredible proposition! It was utterly preposterous to think of a master serving a servant in the ancient world. For Downton Abbey fans, this would be like the Cousin Violet, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, adorning an apron and serving Mr. Carson, the butler, in the dining room. The thought is quite simply absurd!
But this is exactly what Jesus promises! Do you see the meaning of the parable? Jesus is the master. His disciples are the servants who are left to tend the master’s house while he is away. They must always be ready because he could return at any time. If they are found awake and watchful, they will be richly rewarded by the master!
Friends, Jesus our master, is away right now, but he will return someday! When he comes back, will your soul be found dressed and ready for action? Will the lamp of your soul be found burning? Will you be ready to open the door when he knocks? If you have honestly repented from your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ, he will one day escort you to his great banquet table and serve you the finest foods in heaven. As you recline around the heavenly table, all of your sorrows, fears, and worries will be wiped away. The master himself will serve you the cuisine of contentment: perfect peace, joy, and love. This is Jesus’ promise to those who are found ready when he returns! Are you ready?
Jesus uses another mini-parable to impress the importance of preparedness for his second coming. In verse 39, Jesus paints a picture a master’s house that is burglarized by a thief in the night. If the master had known what time the thief was going to strike, he would have been prepared. But the problem is that no one knows when a thief will come.
So it will be with the second coming of Jesus Christ. He will come at an hour when no one expects him. This is all the more reason why people need to be constantly prepared!
Every time I read this verse I can’t help but think of the 1972 Christian end times film A Thief in the Night, which is a fictional account of what will happen on earth after Jesus returns and raptures all of the Christians to heaven. The film was ironically dubbed a “Christian horror movie” because it terrified thousands of people as it was shown in churches throughout the 1970 and 80s. It literally “scarred the hell” out of people!
Even though the film is theologically suspect and contains deplorable acting, an improbable plot, and achieves a high ranking on the cheesiness chart, it actually does help people come to grips with the unexpected nature of Jesus’ second coming. It features Larry Norman’s classic song “I Wish We’d All Been Ready”:
Life was filled with guns and war
And all of us got trampled on the floor
I wish we’d all been ready
The children died, the days grew cold
A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold
I wish we’d all been ready
There’s no time to change your mind
The son has come and you’ve been left behind
A man and wife asleep in bed
She hears a noise and turns her head he’s gone
I wish we’d all been ready
Two men walking up a hill
One disappears and one’s left standing still
I wish we’d all been ready
The father spoke, the demons dined
How could you have been so blind?
Indeed, Jesus will come like a thief in the night! The Son of Man will return to earth at a time we do not expect! Are you ready? Being ready means getting right with God by trusting in Jesus Christ. Unless we have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are not ready! How can we possibly be prepared to meet Jesus if we have not repented from our sins and have asked him to forgive us. We are only ready for his return when we have given our lives to him! (Ryken 686)
Faithfulness (41-48)
As the disciples heard Jesus’ teaching about his second coming, Peter wondered if this warning was just for the Twelve or to everyone. Instead of directly answering Peter’s question, Jesus told another parable. He continues his “master and servant motif” by asking the question, “Who is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?” Once again, the master is away from the house and appoints a manager to care for the needs of the household. If the manager did his work wisely and faithfully, the household would flourish and the manager would be richly rewarded by the master. He will even be promoted to serve in a higher capacity.
But if the master returns and finds that the manager was not faithful, he will be punished accordingly. If the manager is arrogant and lazy, selfishly squanders the master’s resources in drunken indulgence, and abuses his servants, the master will cut him into pieces and put him with the unfaithful. The manager who is unfaithful to a lesser degree will receive a lesser punishment.
In this parable, the master represents Jesus, the manager represents the apostles (or those who have leadership roles), and the household represents the church (or Christians in general). The master’s return represents Jesus’ Second Coming and the Final Judgment, when everyone will stand before him and give an account of their life and faith. Those who are found faithful will be blessed and experience the full bounty of heaven! Those who neglect following the will of the Lord will be disciplined. And those who know the Lord’s will and flat out reject it will be “cut into pieces and put with the unfaithful” which is a reference to eternal punishment in hell.
The Bible affirms that there will be a day of reckoning when Jesus returns! Unfortunately, many people today scoff at the idea that Jesus is coming again. They take advantage of the time God is giving them to repent by constantly putting God off. They abuse the good things God has given by wasting their resources on themselves. They are not faithful in serving Jesus Christ, and they are not ready for his return.
To those of us who have leadership roles in the church, we especially need to take stock of our lives. We must make sure that we are faithful to the Lord’s will—ministering God’s Word, caring for the church members he has entrusted to us, and using his resources wisely. But those of you are not pastors, elders, or church council members, you are not off the hook. We all have some type of leadership role in God’s kingdom. If you are married or a parent, you have kingdom responsibilities.
These are serious matters for all of us to consider. Do you believe that Jesus is coming soon or do you live as if he has been delayed? Are you using your possessions for the good of others and the glory of God, or are your concerns mainly for yourself? Are you teaching others about the God’s grace or are you silent about your faith? Do you treat people with respect, compassion, and love, or do you use people for your own advantage?
Hide and seek is a great game to play with children from the neighborhood, but it is a terrible game to play with God. There is no place hide where he will not find us. Do you hear Jesus calling: Ready or not, here I come! Are you ready?