You’ve read these verses any number of times. Take a look at them again—in fact turn them up and read the full context. Jesus is the speaker in all these:

“Be like men who are waiting for their master to come home… You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:35-40)

“Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Matthew 24:36-42)

“It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” (Acts 1:7)

“If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.” (Revelation 3:3)

“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake!” (Revelation 16:15)

Paul writes something similar to the brand new baby church in Thessalonica: “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2) But then he goes on: “But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.” (verse 4)

So, is Jesus coming like a thief or not like a thief? At an expected time or not expected? Will we be surprised or not surprised?

Taking all of it together (and other similar passages), what emerges seems to be this: The timing of the return of Jesus Christ is not known to us. For many, he will come at an unexpected, surprising time—and note, it isn’t a good thing to be surprised in the night by a thief breaking in! On the other hand, for those who stay awake, although the timing isn’t known in advance, they are ready. For them, Jesus isn’t a thief in the night. He is their master, coming home—no surprise, they’ve been expecting him.

We do expect our Lord. We long for his coming! But the staying awake part is an issue, isn’t it? Constant, never ending vigilance isn’t something we humans are very good at. As the night wears on, we get more and more tired. Is there some sort of spiritual caffeine that can keep us awake?

Jesus suggests there is. Here’s a larger excerpt from the Matthew 24 passage:

Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. (verses 44-47)

The full parable in Luke 12 says the same. The point is this: If we just sit around, we’re going to fall asleep! What keeps us awake is doing. Specifically, he suggests, feeding our fellow servants.

Can it really be that simple? Well, it is expressed in simple terms, but simple isn’t the same thing as easy. What’s easy is falling asleep. But our Master is expected; we’d better stay awake, and to do that we better stay busy with the work he’s given us to do!

Love, Paul