35 “Be dressed, ready for service, and have your lamps shining. 36 Be like servants who are waiting for their master to come home from a wedding party. When he comes and knocks, the servants immediately open the door for him. 37 They will be blessed when their master comes home, because he sees that they were watching for him. I tell you the truth, the master will dress himself to serve and tell the servants to sit at the table, and he will serve them. 38 Those servants will be blessed when he comes in and finds them still waiting, even if it is midnight or later.
39 “Remember this: If the owner of the house knew what time a thief was coming, he would not allow the thief to enter his house. 40 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at a time when you don’t expect him!”
41 Peter said, “Lord, did you tell this story to us or to all people?”
42 The Lord said, “Who is the wise and trusted servant that the master trusts to give the other servants their food at the right time? 43 When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be blessed. 44 I tell you the truth, the master will choose that servant to take care of everything he owns. 45 But suppose the servant thinks to himself, ‘My master will not come back soon,’ and he begins to beat the other servants, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master will come when that servant is not ready and is not expecting him. Then the master will cut him in pieces and send him away to be with the others who don’t obey.
47 “The servant who knows what his master wants but is not ready, or who does not do what the master wants, will be beaten with many blows! 48 But the servant who does not know what his master wants and does things that should be punished will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. And from the one trusted with much, much more will be expected.
49 “I came to set fire to the world, and I wish it were already burning! 50 I have a baptism to suffer through, and I feel very troubled until it is over. 51 Do you think I came to give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, I came to divide it. 52 From now on, a family with five people will be divided, three against two, and two against three. 53 They will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
54 Then Jesus said to the people, “When you see clouds coming up in the west, you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it happens. 55 When you feel the wind begin to blow from the south, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it happens. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to understand the appearance of the earth and sky. Why don’t you understand what is happening now?
57 “Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right? 58 If your enemy is taking you to court, try hard to settle it on the way. If you don’t, your enemy might take you to the judge, and the judge might turn you over to the officer, and the officer might throw you into jail. 59 I tell you, you will not get out of there until you have paid everything you owe.”
Read Luke 12:35-59 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
As Jesus was teaching the disciples that they should always be ready for His return, Jesus illustrates this idea like a homeowner waiting for a thief. Luke’s gospel describes Jesus illustration like this: “Remember this: If the owner of the house knew what time a thief was coming, he would not allow the thief to enter his house. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at a time when you don’t expect him!” (v. 39-40)
Reading these two verses might make me think that Jesus will return secretly, steal His people away from the earth, and leave everyone else behind. But while this does describe the behavior of a thief, it is not the characteristic of the thief that Jesus wants His disciples focusing on.
Both the context of this illustration as well as the immediate explanation for this parable focus our attention onto the unexpected nature of Jesus’ return. Thieves try to arrive when we don’t expect them and ideally while we are away or asleep. While Jesus isn’t waiting for us to leave Him or fall asleep before He returns, He tells all His disciples that His return will be at a time they did not expect.
This tells me that while Bible study is important, the goal of our studying should be focused on growing closer to Jesus and not on uncovering a secret code or explanation for a prophecy that would lead to setting a date for His return. Rarely does prophecy make sense before it has been fulfilled, and while God may have placed clues regarding His return in the Bible and/or in the natural world, it is foolish for us to focus on uncovering them.
Discovering the true date of Jesus’ return before it happens would be just as harmful as it would be helpful. If we knew Jesus was returning 40 years from now, we might let our relationship with Him slide, thinking we have time — but unknown to us is that we only might be alive for 10 of those years. The date our lives end should remain just as unknown as the date of Jesus return because when we don’t know the dates of each, we can better focus on building the relationship with God that He desires to have with us.
Jesus’ return will surprise everyone. It will be unexpected. And it has intentionally been set at a time that is unexpected for those living in the world, but will make perfect sense for those looking back on the event.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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