24:32,33 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.”
The disciples asked, What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age (24:3). Jesus responded with an extended teaching on the signs and characteristics of the last days of these end times. He now expands on this teaching and shares two parables to illustrate the truth. Jesus used the world around Him — fishermen, farmers and fig trees — to illustrate truth. He reminds His listeners that when a fig tree buds, it is spring which means summer is approaching. There are dependable signs in nature which reveal the times and seasons of the year. By the presence of one season, we know the near approach of the next season.
In the same way there are signs that reveal the time of history, and by implication, the time on God’s clock. We know that the Messiah is near when we see the signs described by Jesus in the preceding verses. We are reminded in this that history is not an unending spiral of random events, not an out of control river bursting through dams and levees. History, violent, tragic and perplexing as it often appears, is under the sovereign Lordship of the God who declares the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’ (Isa. 46:10).
It is pleasing to God that we discern our times. Indeed, Jesus exhorts us to be able to recognize that He is near, right at the door (Matt. 24:33).
Yes, Jesus also said, It is not for you to know the times or epochs (seasons) which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses (Acts 1:7). He spoke those words in response to the disciples’ expectation of the immediate establishment of the kingdom of God. He meant that the church is not to stand around looking at the sky or devising false end time calendars and charts. We are to go forth and preach the good news among the nations, declaring with words of truth and works of mercy the presence of the coming kingdom. But at the same time, we are to be discerning, perceptive.
The Lord’s priority in our lives is not prediction but preparation. We will not know the exact hour of Christ’s return, the hour when history ends. However, it is not God’s will that we be caught unprepared for His return or for any season of God’s purpose. In every generation, God is present, active and establishing His kingdom purpose. As we live Spirit-led lives, as we feed on God’s Word, as we grow in the grace and knowledge and likeness of Jesus, we will discern God’s purpose and timing for each day and day by day we will fulfill His calling on our lives. Holy, obedient, active servants of Christ will be ready in the hour that He returns because we are prepared each hour of each day.
One further note here. The fig tree was occasionally used in the Bible as a symbol of Israel (for instance, Hosea 9:10). Some consider these verses (Matthew 24:32,33) to be a prophetic reference to the blossoming of the state of Israel as a sign of the end time. However one interprets this, it is significant that in 1948 Israel was reestablished as a sovereign nation after almost 1900 years of nonexistence.
24:34 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”
In a limited sense, this generation can refer to those alive when Jesus was speaking. Remember, there was a near fulfillment to His words — Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. However, this is more applicable to the final generation of the end times. There will be extraordinary signs in the heavens, a multiplying of false prophets with false signs and wonders, an increase in natural and national disaster. The generation living when these signs take place will not pass away until all the signs are completed and the Messiah returns.
24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”
Jesus pauses in the midst of His end time teaching to remind us that His words are more dependable than the continued existence of the universe. Heaven and earth will pass away but His words will remain. In fact, there will be a new heaven and a new earth someday. In 2 Peter 3:10-13, the apostle talks about the dissolving of this sin-tainted universe and the creation of new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. But the living, dynamic Word of God that creates, destroys and makes all things new, will abide forever. Not one word that God has ever spoken can ever pass away, fade, diminish, be proven to be untrue (Isaiah 40:8) or fail to accomplish God’s purpose stated in that word (Isaiah 55:10,11). As the psalmist testified, Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89).
This is good to know in a world where change is constant, where the mountains and monuments which seemed so permanent shake and quake and collapse into the swirling sea of chaos and confusion. It is good to know that God’s word is unchanging and enduring, especially when those words are challenging to the soul and sometimes hard to fathom, as are these words concerning the end of time. Following Christ’s truth in a time of false prophets and false teachers requires true discernment. Following Christ’s truth can lead to persecution, suffering and death. But take courage, we are following truth that will never die, truth that will outlive its persecutors, truth that will outlive the universe, for that truth is incarnate in an ever living Savior who said, I am the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6).
24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”
The disciples wanted to know the exact timing of the end of history and Jesus responds that no one knows except the Father. He wants us to be discerning of the times and the seasons so that we may be faithful, responsive to God’s purpose, fulfilling His calling upon our lives, prepared at any moment for the continuation or the ending of history. But not even Jesus, in His humanity, knew the exact hour and neither will we.
When Jesus was born in human form, He did not cease to be God but He did veil the glory He had with the Father in heaven (see Philippians 2:6,7). Otherwise, Mary’s womb could not have contained Him. He did not cease to be God — He was in fact the fulness of Deity in bodily form (Col. 2:9) — but in submission to the Father He voluntarily laid aside some of the rights and privileges of Deity. Though as God He was omnipotent, as Man He depended on His Father’s power and at times became so weary that He fell asleep in a boat in the midst of a storm. As God He was omnipresent but as Man He was limited to being in one place at one time. As God He was omniscient but as Man, His knowledge was limited to that which the Father revealed to Him.
So regarding the end time, Jesus, in His earthly ministry, knew only what the Father showed Him. When He says that only the Father knows the timing of the end, He was not denying His Deity but confessing His humanity. He was Son of God and Son of Man. Having returned to the Father, Jesus now shares all knowledge with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
24:37-39 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
These words refer to the time just prior to the Tribulation — people living their normal lives, completely oblivious to the moral and spiritual devastation around them. Then, with sudden and violent force, the wrath of God will be outpoured and the last days of the end times will empty out into the complete annihilation of this God-rejecting world system.
Just as it was in those days before the flood when people were unmoved by the evil of human society, unmoved by the preaching of Noah, unmoved by the building of the ark, so it will be in the last days of human history — business as usual until the sudden, violent, outpouring of tribulation. It is not wrong to marry or to eat and drink. These are normal human behaviors. But it is wrong to be so caught up, so absorbed in our daily routine, that we fail to discern the times and seasons of God’s purpose. Even normal living can become self indulgent.
The people of Noah’s day did not understand the time, did not hear God’s call to repent, lacked discernment and so were destroyed, swept away by the sudden cataclysmic events of their day. So it was when Jesus ministered in Israel. He wept over Jerusalem because the people did not recognize the season of their salvation (Luke 19:41,42). So it will be at the end of time. How sad that people can look at a fig tree and know the time of year and yet not discern the seasons of their own life nor the presence and purpose of God in the world around them.
Once the tribulation begins, as governments and economies collapse and nature itself disintegrates under the weight of human sin and curse and the judgmental wrath of God, even then many people will still be refusing to heed the call to repentance, still attempting to go about the business of the day. This reveals the depth of human depravity expressed in a willful refusal to accept accountability for sin, a willful rebellion against God’s command to repent, a willful blindness to the time, to the presence and activity of God. Again, we will not know the exact hour of history’s conclusion. But we are exhorted by Christ Himself to recognize, to discern the signs of the times and live accordingly.
24:40,41 “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.”
Jesus is speaking of the suddenness of God’s purpose, the rushing in of the day of the Lord, the instantaneous passing of a culture, the termination of an idol-worshipping world civilization as history concludes. But this is not merely an end time truth. For all of us, life can change in a heart beat; life can end in the twinkling of an eye. We each have a personal end time and had best be ready each day. The way of readiness is not by knowing the future but by knowing the God who holds the future and holds our lives in His hand. To know Him, to worship Him and pray to Him, to open our lives to His Word and live His Word, to allow His Holy Spirit to inform and transform our lives, to discern and follow the leading of our Good Shepherd, this prepares us for this time, for all time and for the end of time.
Moses wrote in Psalm 90, So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom (90:12). What a wonderful prayer: “Lord, teach us to evaluate our priorities, our investment of time and energy and skill and resource so that our life will be significant, meaningful, fruitful; so that we may fulfill the purpose for which You designed us.”
24:42-44 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”
The words be on the alert or watch means to be spiritually awake, vigilant, ready. Our lives must be in a state of discerning readiness for the inbreaking of the Lord, not just at the end of time but each day. Whatever is God’s purpose today, we must be discerning if we would know it, holy if we would enter in, faithful if we would fulfill that purpose. The life that is watchfully prepared to know and obey Christ today, will be ready in the hour of His return.
The context for the following parable is the preceding teaching: signs of the end of time, events that would take place prior to the return of Christ. Jesus climaxed that teaching with warning and exhortation — if the head of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert. For this reason we must be ready too, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
Again we see this dual theme of discerning the times while not knowing the exact hour. Jesus’ purpose is to build a church which is faithful day by day and prepared for His return at history’s end. That event may take place sooner than we expected or later than we dreamed. The emphasis is on discerning faithfulness and preparation, not precise knowledge or prediction of the timing.
Jesus then told the following parable to illustrate a crucial attribute of end time people: faithfulness.
24:45,46 “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.”
The faithful and wise servant could be compared to a pastor, set in the church by Jesus and commissioned to spiritually feed the people of God until our Master returns. This servant may also be compared to anyone with responsibility to others, whether in a family or a business. How blessed he or she will be if, upon the Lord’s return, the pastor is found faithfully sharing the bread of God’s Word with the people of God, the parent is faithfully nurturing the child, the spouse sacrificially ministering to husband or wife, the employer responding to the employees with justice and equity.
What is it that the Master of our house will reward? Not fame or notoriety, not the size of buildings or church membership nor headlines of grand accomplishment. He will reward faithfulness to His command: feed my sheep.
24:47 “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”
The reward will be greater responsibility in the house of the Master. The faithful exercise of responsibility on earth, in this age, leads to greater responsibility now and in the millennial reign of Christ and in eternity. Those who are faithful over a little will be given charge over much (see also Matthew 25:20,21). The reward for giving glory to God in this life through faithful obedience is greater opportunity to glorify God in this and the next life.
24:48 “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’
There is an evil servant. The root of his evil is his belief that his master is not returning for a long time. He no longer senses any historical connection to his master. This may be that person who believes there is a God but does not believe God is actively involved in history.
This may be the person who believes there is a God but He will not hold me accountable to His clearly stated standards of justice, mercy, faithfulness or holiness, will not hold me accountable for the way I exercised stewardship over the time and resources I was given in this life. This person believes that there is a God but God does not mean what He says, does not say what He means. His Word may apply to others but not to me. I can live any way I choose — there will be no accountability.
Or this may be that person who entirely disbelieves in the existence of God, who believes that God-talk is nothing other than myth or legend. Therefore, there is no transcendent standard of truth because there is no truth speaker who transcends our human philosophies or institutions. There is no transcendent standard of justice because there is no standard of justice or law beyond or above my own society or my own personal interpretations of justice and law.
24:49 “and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards;”
This loss of accountability motivates the evil servant to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. His lifestyle becomes characterized by cruel abuse and self indulgent excess. After all, the master either does not exist or, maybe he does, but he is not sovereign over my life and will not hold me accountable for my use of time, talent, opportunity and resources.
This might be the pastor who does not feed his flock the Word of God, a Word which works powerfully in people to produce Godliness. Instead he beats on them with doctrines and tirades, exercises authority to control and manipulate while withholding the gifts and grace of God. He then takes the resources of ministry and consumes them on himself.
Or this might be the pastor who feeds his flock counterfeit bread, false teaching or sweet pudding which has no spiritual nutrition. His flock grows fat on that which is not bread, starving in a famine of the word.
This might be the parent who produces children but abuses them or neglects to raise them in the grace and nurture of the Lord, which is a terrible form of abuse.
This could be the corporate executive who plunders the stockholders, lies to his customers and abuses his employees with no pang of conscience, with no thought of accountability to anyone. He lavishes the corporate profits on himself while his self indulgence and excess reveal his true motive for living: selfish greed.
This could be the politician, the king, the leader, the tyrant, who refuses to recognize the rule of law, who abuses the public trust, whose exercise of power serves to enrich himself while oppressing, diminishing and even enslaving those under his authority. Relatively few world leaders recognize the sovereignty of God over their lives even though they exercise authority by God’s permission.
The Psalmist reminds us that all power belongs to God (Psalm 62:11). Paul reminds us that, There is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God (Rom. 13:1). Recognize this truth or not, every person in the world who exercises authority whether in the church, family, business or government does so by the permission of Almighty God and under His sovereign Lordship. Though many live as though there is no accountability, shaking their fists at God, the Lord laughs at them, scoffs at them and will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury (Psalm 2:4,5). There will be accountability.
24:50,51 “the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Jesus warns that the master of this house will return and will punish the evil servant and it will not matter what the servant believes about his master. The master still exists, will return and will require accountability from the evil servant.
Men and women of power and influence may not recognize the sovereignty of God over their lives, may not believe that they are ultimately accountable to God, but they are. The Lord has said, By Me kings reign, and rulers decree justice (Prov. 8:15). This is the God of whom Daniel said, It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings (Dan. 2:21).
The unfaithful servant will be cut … in pieces (Matt. 24:51) and what will be more cutting than the piercing realization that the Master truly exists, that there are standards of truth and justice which transcend our self-justifying policies and fragile institutions? What is more cutting than the piercing knowledge that we are ultimately held accountable to the Master’s truth and justice, whether we believe in Him or not? What will be more cutting than the sudden severing of empire and wealth and power and glory in the moment of accountability?
What will be more cutting than to stand in the dust and rubble of fallen palaces and realize
that all the empire building was nothing more than a futile waste of time and resources, a mere chasing after emptiness and vanity? What is more cutting than the terrifying insight that humanity’s personal kingdoms, which seem so magnificent and mighty for a season, are nothing more substantial than wind, a wind which dissipates even as the servant’s last breath escapes from his dead lungs?
The evil servant is assigned a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (24:51). This is the outer darkness (25:30), a place of terrible torment and grief. This is a picture of hell, a state of being which is defined by the absolute relational absence of God and all that comprises God’s being: light, life, mercy, joy, holiness, blessing, truth and grace. The punishment indicates that this was not a true believer in Christ. A redeemed follower of Jesus would not be cast into outer darkness, no matter how terribly he or she failed. Whereas our endurance proves our salvation, those who fall away into condemnation prove that they were never redeemed at all (I John 2:19).
The Lord of the church, who is also the Lord of history, will return someday and though the years pass and He tarries, He is still Lord and we His servants are still accountable. Indeed, all who live on earth, even those who live autonomously in denial of God’s existence, will be held accountable for the exercise of time, talent and resource.
John wrote, Children, it is the last hour (I Jn. 2:18). The last hour has endured for nearly two thousand years and Peter warned that there would be scoffers, ridiculing the return of Jesus (2 Ptr. 3:3-9). They ask with mocking voices, Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation (2 Peter 3:4).
They are mistaken on two counts. First, all of life does not continue just as it was from the beginning. The Lord poured out cataclysmic judgment on a sinful earth in the days of Noah (see Genesis chapters 6-8). Every civilization on earth at that time was destroyed.
Second, it is only out of mercy that the Lord does not conclude human history today, desiring that none would perish ( 2 Peter 3:9). It is not that God is powerless, unaware or indifferent to the evil and suffering in the world today. Rather, in His mercy He sends forth a gospel-proclaiming church, calling all who will come to repentance and salvation.
These end of time teachings of Jesus are open to manifold interpretations and at times can be difficult to interpret. But we do see clearly the portrait of a God who is not absent but deeply and compassionately involved in this world. And we see a portrait of history itself, not out of control, not spinning into meaningless chaos, but rather, moving resolutely according to the providential purpose of God, a purpose that was determined before the beginning.
There is an end point to history and though we will not know the hour of our Lord’s return, His return is certain. As we await that day, we should take to heart His warning and admonition to be discerning, vigilant, prepared and fruitful.
And what does the Lord require of us? That we be found faithful.