Watchful waiting for Christ to come (Mark 13.24-37)

[Stephan Choe]

September 15, 2025

Verses 35–36: „So watch now; for you do not know when the Lord of the house will come, whether in the evening or at midnight or at the cries of the rooster or in the morning, lest he find you asleep when he suddenly comes!“

Every person is preparing for their retirement period, which requires some savings and pension insurance.

Unfortunately, this savings and pension insurance are not enough to insure our future 100%, because after this earthly world comes a new world, namely the heavenly world. For this we need a different insurance.

Today we want to get to know this insurance for our heavenly life.

Part of this heavenly assurance is that we should be ready to receive the returning Christ.

There are various necessities for our earthly life, e.g. Accommodation, housing, health, family, etc. To do this we want to lead a blessed life. However, we should not forget that we should be insured for our future lives.

This Bible text explains to us the need for insurance for the future.

In the end times we will have great difficulty because of the catastrophe, because „after this time, after this affliction, the sun will darken and the moon will lose its light, and the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will falter come“ (24–25).

When the sun darkens and the stars fall, the end times are near. Whoever has placed his hope in this world will suddenly be helpless. But all who have placed their hope in Jesus Christ will share in the glory of Christ.

Jesus makes us aware that life here on earth is not everything, but that our real life is yet to come. That's why we should be prepared for our real lives. To do this, we should not place our hope in this world, but in the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore Jesus says to us in verses 26 and 27: „And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send the angels and gather his chosen ones from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.“

When Jesus Christ returns, he will gather all the chosen ones from the four directions of the wind. He will not forget a single chosen one. That's why we don't need to look for Jesus Christ on our own initiative. He will gather all the elect into the kingdom of heaven, so that we will be a flock under a shepherd. The assembly of the saints in the kingdom of heaven will be the perfect congregation of Christ. There will be neither strife nor sin nor pain nor death there. Perfect love, the grace of God and eternal life will reign there. All saints will become like angels and see God face to face. We will participate in the glory of Christ and rule with him.
That's why Paul said in Romans 8:27:
„For I am convinced that suffering at this time is not significant compared to the glory that is to be revealed in us.“

Unfortunately, his return means the hour of judgment and damnation for the unbelievers. They will indeed see the glorious coming of Christ, but it is too late! They will howl and clatter their teeth in the darkness.

But for believers, the coming of Christ means the hour of salvation and victory. They are warmly welcomed by Jesus Christ and led into the kingdom of heaven.

That's why every person should accept Jesus as their Savior and Son of God as quickly as possible, ideally now. Then he will be accepted as God's child and received by Jesus into the kingdom of heaven.

With the word in verses 28-29, Jesus teaches us to feel over time: „But a parable learns from the fig tree: Now when its branches become juicy and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near. Likewise: if you see this happening, know that he is close to the door.“

We should have a sense of divine time; we should notice that the end times are approaching. The worldly tendency gives us the feeling that the end times are getting closer and closer. People's behaviour and way of life changes drastically in a short period of time. It is said that technology develops so quickly. The development of the technique (f) with time (t) is referred to with the formula f = t2.

And people's behavior is changing as quickly as the development of technology. We were afraid of wars with atomic bombs. Today people are afraid of the false development of artificial intelligence and its robots. This intelligence is thousands of times smarter than humans. That's why people are afraid that robots could be rulers of humanity. This is, for example, an indication that the end times are approaching. It makes us realize how fragile and finite everything there is here in the world that people's hearts are attached to is. But we shouldn't let this confuse us, but rather concentrate on what lasts forever.
For Jesus says to us in verses 30 and 31: „Verily I say to you: This generation will not pass away until all this happens. Heaven and earth will pass away; but my words will not pass away.“

People believe that this world would last forever. But that's not true. There is no earthly thing that can last forever. That's why we shouldn't rely on earthly things, but on Jesus and his word.

When will Jesus' coming come true?
Jesus says: „But no one knows about the day and the hour, not even the angels in heaven, not even the Son, but only the Father.“ (32).

Therefore, it is pointless to speculate about the exact time of Jesus' return. This is part of God's will and his wisdom. Nobody knows about the time of his return. God wants everyone to stay awake and wait for his return.

Finally, Jesus said: „Be careful, watch! Because you don't know when the time will come. As with a man who went overland and left his house, and gave authority to his servants, to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch; so watch now; for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening or in the morning, lest he find you asleep when he comes suddenly. But what I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!“ (33–37).

On the one hand, we should wait with great hope for the return of Jesus, because when he returns he will give us the kingdom of heaven. In the kingdom of heaven there is neither sin nor death nor pain. There we will see Jesus Christ face to face, so that we will live happily ever after. There is paradise.

On the other hand, we should always be vigilant and wait for the return of Jesus. We shouldn't be lazy and think that we can enjoy the world enough and still go to the kingdom of heaven.

Rather, we should wait for the coming of Christ through prayer, Bible study, singing praises and good works. And we are to bear witness to Jesus Christ through our holy life.