THE SON OF MAN GATHERS THE DISRUPTED AND DISTURBED
Matthew 24:36-44
First Sunday of Advent, Year A
Analysis by James Squire
36“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so, too, will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40Then two will be in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. 41Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken, and one will be left. 42 Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
English: Christ’s sermon on the Mount of Olives about the Second Coming”
From Wikimedia Commons
“We are freed from our need to worry about our fate, about our future, or about maintaining whatever comfortable life we think we deserve.”
DIAGNOSIS: Not ready for the coming storm
Step 1 – Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Contentment disrupted and disturbed
In the apocalypse of Matthew, the disciples have their moment of blissful oblivion, wowed by the great “buildings of the temple” (24:1). Jesus kills the mood, talking of a coming destruction. When things are going swimmingly, we act like they will continue on that trajectory without disruption. We enjoy the beauty and the glory of the moment. We don’t think about the fragility of it all.
Step 2 – Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem): Obsession with knowledge
When we are informed that destruction is headed our way, we become obsessed with wanting to be in control of its impact and preserve as much as possible. Hence the disciples immediately begin peppering Jesus with questions about when this will happen and what will be the signs of it’s coming (24:3). We want to know all that we can.
Our obsession with gaining such knowledge, however, is at odds with the source of that knowledge. We treat Jesus as our slave, duty bound to give us a blueprint of the essential aspects of our future. We might as well ask the thief to warn us when he is coming (v. 43). It’s never going to happen.
Step 3 – Final Diagnosis (Ultimate Problem): Swept Away
If there’s no way to prepare for the coming destruction, then we are liable to be taken (vv. 40-41) against our will. The Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour, and he is in charge of what is going to happen to us. We have no say. Any sense that we are in the driver’s seat of what happens for us in the end will soon be over, as will our days.
PROGNOSIS: Stolen away from the storm by the Son of Man
Step 4 – Initial Prognosis (Ultimate Solution): Swept up into Christ’s righteousness
The “Son of Man” who “comes in his glory, … and will sit on the throne of glory” (25:31) “is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners” (26:45). Jesus is the suffering servant who comes for us on the cross to say, “Your days of staving off the eternal judgment are over, but step aside. Let me suffer the judgment in your place.” Any and all divine judgment represented by the Son of Man finds embodiment in the crucified suffering servant. He does not protest death and judgment, but he establishes a new political calculus whereby sinners are accepted into the kingdom of God as siblings of Christ Jesus.
Jesus is in the driver’s seat for us. And it is his pleasure is to give us the kingdom that we could never achieve nor control.
Step 5 – Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution): Raised from sleep to joy
Through our baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus, our fate of judgment is overcome and our divine status as children of God is established.
We are freed from our need to worry about our fate, about our future, or about maintaining whatever comfortable life we think we deserve. Even in losing life, we gain the promise of righteousness. Whatever within us rebels against God is put to death so that that the servant/saint in us may rise and grow. This is what the Son of Man Jesus the Christ does for us.
Step 6 – Final Prognosis (External Solution): Inviting the disrupted into the kingdom
Even though the disciples had abandoned Jesus at the hour of his death, in his resurrection Jesus gathered the scattered followers into his care once again, giving them the gift of his kingdom. Then he sends them out to gather all nations (28:19).
Many people in our world are already disrupted and disturbed by fear and fate. Many more probably will be very soon. But the Son of Man sends us out to gather them by offering them the gifts of his kingdom free of charge. We see the fragility all around us. We are authorized to share the promising kingdom of God with them and to stand with them against all chaos.
