No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the
Father.

 

I love a good movie with a surprise twist at the end, don’t you? The plot draws you in, you
begin to really care about the characters, you go through all kinds of emotional ups and downs,
and just when you think it’s all over. . . something happens that makes you say, “I did not see
that coming!”

 

That’s similar to what Jesus says the end of time will be like. It will take us all by surprise.
“About that day or hour no one knows. . .” he says. He explains that at the time of the flood,
people went about their lives as usual, “up to the day Noah entered the ark. . . until the flood
came and took them all away.” Jesus’ arrival on the Last Day to judge the living and the dead
will be a shocker—the kind of thing that makes you say, “I did not see that coming!”

 

People have made all kinds of predictions about the end of time and have tried to calculate just
when it will be. None of them has ever proven to be true. That’s no surprise, because that day
is known only to God. But there is one aspect of the end that we do know. We know that it’s
going to come. That is certain. And when it comes, we need to be ready.

 

This Advent season, get ready for Jesus. Come to worship and listen to his Word. Recognize
your sin and trust in the blood that washes it all away. You know what’s coming. Grow closer to
your Lord, so that when he comes you can say with confidence and joy, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

 

Pastor Thomas Fricke