7/27/25 Weekly Bible Lesson: The Harder They Fall

Introduction — One of the most important teachings in the New Testament is that we are to be watchful and ready for the Lord’s return. Today’s lesson addresses Jesus’s command to be watchful in three ways.

Verses 1-3. UNDERSTAND the Times

The disciples ask Jesus TWO questions. First, when will all this happen (meaning the destruction of the temple)? Second, what sign will signal your return and the end of the world?

The answer to the first question is AD 70. That is when the Romans besieged Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. Matthew 24:34-35 says, “I tell you the truth, THIS GENERATION will not pass from the scene until all these things take place.” Everything Jesus predicted in Matthew 24 up through verse thirty-five was fulfilled within the lifetimes of the people who were listening to Jesus that day. All the so-called “signs” described in Matthew 24:4-35 are leading up to the destruction of the temple in AD 70. The statement in verse 29 should not be taken literally. It is the Old Testament prophetic formula for God’s TEMPORAL judgment of a nation.

We can “keep watch” by understanding OUR times. We pay attention to what’s happening, culturally and politically, to take the necessary steps to protect our families and avoid UNNECESSARY suffering and persecution.

Verse 36. MIND the Time

What Jesus DID say about the end of the world starts in verse 36. No one knows when the end is going to happen. “But what about the SIGNS that tell us Jesus is just about to come back, and the world is just about to end? What about the Middle East, 666, and the mark of the beast?” Good question. Let’s take a closer look.

Matthew 24:36-39 says, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. THAT is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

What “signs” do we have in this passage? “Eating and drinking,” “Marrying and giving in marriage.” That is business as usual. Right up until the day of the flood, it was business as usual on earth, and it’s going to be the same right up until the day of Jesus’s return and the end of the world. There are NO signs telegraphing the immediate return of Jesus. The “Left Behind” book and TV series are good fiction and bad eschatology.

What are we supposed to do? Keep watch! Matthew 24:42, 44 says, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come ... you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

To “keep watch” means to “mind the time” because it’s getting LATE. Jesus’s teaching about His return and the end of the world is purposefully ambiguous because every generation should live as if it is the LAST generation. We live with the expectation that Jesus could return at ANY time. Are we ready?

Verse 46. REDEEM the Time.

Jesus concludes this chapter with the parable of the faithful and unfaithful servants. The parable has two hypothetical scenarios. In the first, the master puts a servant in charge, the servant does his job and is rewarded upon the master’s return. In the second, the master puts a servant in charge, the servant mistreats his subordinates and neglects his job. The master returns and PUNISHES the servant. The point of the parable is to “keep watch” by keeping BUSY doing the good works that God has called us to do.

In 1818, William Miller predicted Jesus would return on October 22, 1844. Despite many doubters, he steadily gained followers. By 1840, Miller had gathered a sizable following of 100,000 “Millerites,” mostly in Massachusetts. As the year of the expected apocalypse neared, believers in the prophecy gave away their belongings, abandoned their crops, and sold their land and cattle. On October 22, believers donned white robes, climbed up mountains and trees, and awaited the coming of the Lord. The Millerites were devastated, and some were impoverished, by the failure of the prophecy. A remnant continued to believe. They reinterpreted the meaning of the prophecy and today’s Seventh Day Adventists carry on Miller's teachings.

The point is not just that they were wrong about the DATE of Jesus’s return. The point is that even if they had been RIGHT, that was the WRONG way to “KEEP WATCH.” When Jesus returns, He doesn’t want to find us dressed in a white robe, sitting in a tree, and gazing at the sky. He’d rather find us dressed in jeans, working our jobs, and advancing the Kingdom. We don’t “keep watch” by SELLING the cow, we keep watch by MILKING THE COW. We don’t keep watch by selling land but by WORKING the land. We don’t keep watch by sitting on top of the church building, but by worshiping IN the church building and making disciples. Redeem the time. Keep watch!