Matthew 24:44 - Printer Friendly

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

NIV: So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

NASB: For this reason you must be ready as well; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

CSB: This is why you are also to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

NLT: You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.

KJV: Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

NKJV: Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Jesus is the Son of Man, a title from Old Testament prophecy (Daniel 7:13) which Christ often applies to Himself (Matthew 9:6; 16:27; 20:18). As He teaches His disciples in this moment, He is sitting on the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24:3) with a clear view of the Jewish temple. At the time He speaks, none of the things He has described in this passage have yet come to pass. He has yet to be arrested, tried, crucified, or resurrected. He has not yet returned to heaven. He is still very much with these men He is training.

However, He is warning them with great urgency. A season is coming when He will be gone (John 16:4–5) and the world will be waiting for His return as King and the Judge (Hebrews 9:28). He has been clear that nobody will know when that moment is coming (Matthew 24:36). Nobody can know. The only way to be ready for His return is a constant state of preparedness (Matthew 24:43). Jesus' will for His people is to live each day as if He might appear at any moment.

The parable in the following verses describes some of what faithful, expectant living should look like.

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.