The Ready Disciple

2/24/25 Bible Thought (Mk. 13)

I often wonder how much the average Christian thinks about the second coming of Jesus Christ, and for those who do, what it looks like to them. We live in a world today where many famous preachers and teachers talk a lot about it. For some, it seems it’s about their whole message. Christians and scholars divide themselves into all manner of camps regarding the second coming: pre-tribulation premillennial, post-tribulation premillennial, amillennial, post-millennial, and these are just the more popular ones in view of the millennium! Some Christians don’t think about it hardly at all while others look for signs and indications of His coming everywhere, even in shape of tire marks on the road. Some people have effectively lost their minds, concluding that the imminence of the rapture has relieved them from any ordinary duties in life. Surely “so and so” in today’s politics is the antichrist and this other guy is the false prophet!

In Jesus’ Olivet Discourse, and His teaching on the second coming though, we don’t see any of this. In Mark 13, Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple, a source of much pride for the Jews, that was ultimately fulfilled in 70 A.D. (Mk. 13:2). To this, the disciples want a sign. “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” (Mk. 13:5). To this, Jesus doesn’t give a sign. He gives a number of warnings of things that must precede the end and are therefore not the end (see 13:5b-8).

Jesus also warns that after the destruction of the temple there will arise false christs, and as such He says to His disciples, “But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand” (Mk. 13:23). There will be a day of His coming. He will come, “on the clouds with great power and glory” (Mk. 13:27) and there won’t be any explaining it away. Then the Lord Jesus concludes, “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mk. 13:22).

It astonishes me that Jesus says we won’t know the day or hour and some people still devote their lives to trying to figure out the day and hour! If the eternal Son of God in His condescension to humanity limited Himself in His omniscience to the point where He didn’t know, how in the world are we going to figure it out? If the angels who are forever gathered around the throne of God are clueless, then how are we going to know?

See, Jesus didn’t give signs that we are to be looking for, but an admonition to readiness. Again, He commands His disciples, “Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come” (Mk. 13:33). He likens his coming to a doorkeeper awaiting the master’s return after he goes on a journey (Mk. 13:34-36). The goal isn’t to predict the exact moment of the master’s return and then scramble to get ready at that moment. The goal is to be faithful in the master’s absence, so that no matter when he comes the door is ready.

This is the nature of Christian discipleship. Truly, Jesus’ disciples in the first century all the way through the 21^st century aren’t to be putting their effort into figuring out the time of Christ’s coming, but rather to put their effort into personal preparedness. We aren’t to be scanning the news for signs of His coming, but to be awake and ready.

One of my daughter’s favorite games to play is hide and seek. I find that when it’s my turn to hide she counts rather fast, and I struggle to tuck my 6’5” frame into small spaces in the house in a hyper 20 second count. Then her little voice shouts out, “Ready or not, here I come!”

Are we ready for Christ’s coming if He were to come today? What if all our timing in eschatology (the doctrine of the end-times) is wrong and He shows up unexpected? Is it even on our radar? Do we think on it at all, or would it mess up our plans and earthly endeavors? Truly He’s going to return someday and, on that day, we must be found in Him, without a righteousness of our own (see Phil. 3:9). Let’s not try and predict the day or hour, but rather be ready, no matter if He comes or continues to tarry.