Matthew 24:42 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

NIV: "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

NASB: Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.

CSB: Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.

NLT: So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.

KJV: Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

NKJV: Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

Jesus now arrives at His main point about His return as judge and king (Matthew 24:3). It will come unexpectedly, as the flood did in Noah's day (Genesis 6:5–8). Before being swept away, the people then were just going about their daily lives as if nothing would ever change. Then they were gone (Matthew 24:37–39). In that same way, Christ's return will be unexpected. The signs will be clear (Matthew 24:27–31), but only when they occur, at which point it will be too late to react.

Pointedly, Christ made it clear that no person can claim to know the time of His return (Matthew 24:36). Absolutely every prediction that gives a date of the second coming is based on false premises.

That leaves only one option for those who want to be ready: His followers must "stay awake" all the time. Of course, Jesus is not speaking literally, suggesting one should avoid actual sleep. Instead, He is telling them to live in a state of awareness. Believers should never lapse into the false notion that what happens in this life, from day to day, is all that will ever happen (2 Peter 3:3–7; James 4:13–14). Wakeful believers remember that this life is temporary, and the next life is eternal. The next life can begin without warning.

Far too many people live only for today or for the days before this life ends. They put off dealing with the reality of God's judgment and eternity as if they are sleeping through the alarm. The opportunity to trust in Christ for salvation is limited to the length of one's life before death (Hebrews 9:27) or the return of Christ (Revelation 19:11–15). In either case, the time is short. By the time a person knows their moment has come, their choice has already been made.

Matthew 24:36–51 contains an explicit warning which has frequently been ignored by false teachers. Nobody will know the precise time of His return to earth. Only God the Father knows when it will happen. Everyone will be caught by surprise at the sudden appearance of those signs, just as the people swept away in Noah's flood. Jesus' followers must live in constant readiness for His return. He uses a parable to illustrate this, describing the choices of two servants while their master was away. One was faithful and wise, the other wicked. When the master returned, the faithful one was rewarded, and the wicked one was cut into pieces.

Jesus makes a dire prediction about the destruction of the temple. Immediately after this, while seated on the Mount of Olives, Jesus responds to a question from the disciples. They ask when judgment will come and what signs will signal His return. Christ describes a season of unimaginable world turmoil and persecution. He points to a specific moment of defilement of the temple, at which point people should run for their lives. Jesus speaks of world-threatening tribulation which will be cut short right before He returns as King and Judge. Since nobody can possibly know when He will return, His followers must live in readiness.

Jesus has just left the temple area, after delivering a blistering criticism of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23). After predicting that the temple would be destroyed, He answers their questions about the end times. He speaks of a period when He will be gone from earth and they will be persecuted and killed. The world will be in turmoil, but the gospel will be preached everywhere. Nobody knows exactly when Jesus' return will be completed, so his followers should constantly be prepared. Jesus continues to teach on these themes in the next chapter.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.