Matthew 24:36-51

³⁶ “But no one knows the day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

³⁷ As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.

³⁸ Because as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,

³⁹ and they were oblivious until the flood came and swept them all away, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.

⁴⁰ At that time two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.

⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.

⁴² Therefore, stay alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

⁴³ But be aware of this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and would not have let his house be broken into.

⁴⁴ Therefore you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

⁴⁵ “Who then is the authentic and intelligent servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?

⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

⁴⁷ Honestly, I am telling you, he will appoint him over all his possessions.

⁴⁸ But if that sinful servant says to himself, ‘My master is overdue,’

⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards,

⁵⁰ the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware

⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

business as usual

Noah’s days were normal days, and there were a lot of them. For 100 years, Noah preached the coming of the flood to an apathetic and distracted people, and was completely ignored. The people kept up with their business as usual lives until the flood came and destroyed them all. That is the picture Jesus uses as a comparison to answer the specific question in verse 3 about the sign of his coming.

Jesus’ advice to his disciples is not to be caught unprepared for that coming. He speaks of pairs of people in ordinary activities when the coming occurs. One of the pair is “taken” and the other “left.” Some see this as a reference to the rapture, others see those “taken” as taken in judgment. It is not clear which Jesus intended. What is clear is that the coming is going to be a surprise to both individuals. Any preparation will have to be done now, because there will be no time to prepare just before Christ returns.

Jesus says that the way to be prepared for his coming is to take care of his other servants. We have an obligation to our master to take care of his household until he returns.

LORD, show us how to make taking care of our brothers and sisters in Christ our business as usual – until you return.