No One Knows-not even the Son!

The door bell rang late in the evening and when I opened the door, I was surprised to see a group of pre-teens all with fancy dresses greeting me “Happy Halloween” and asking for treats.  Acting in ignorance, I struck up a conversation with the little ones to find out what they knew about ‘Halloween”.  They said that they got all their information from ‘Google’.  They wondered why I was unaware of this special day.  Finally I gave them some chocolates to send them away.  The word spread and soon we had two more groups of kids from our gated community visiting us for chocolates. 

Knowledge is power. There were days when astrologers ruled supreme because they claimed to know the future. Today our mobile devices keep us abreast of what is happening around the world within seconds including the weather and traffic updates – even though at times the prediction mislead us.  We rarely go outside our home without our devices in the fear that we may miss any ‘breaking news’.  We want to know and know more.

Recently, an elderly friend in church asked me ‘Do you believe Jesus is coming back soon?’ Whenever there is a natural or man-made disaster or out-break of a war or riot, we start to wonder about the second coming of Jesus. Especially, when we are no longer in control of what is happening in our lives and in the world that we expect the end times.  Jesus’ disciples were perturbed at the comments made by him on the destruction of the temple and the end days.  They wanted to know more. They wanted more precise information so that they can be prepared.  But Jesus said ““But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matt 24:36). We often assume that Jesus knows everything.  But he himself acknowledges that there is one thing he does not know – i.e. about his own second coming.  One thing is sure, whether we will have our mobile devices or not – none of us will miss Jesus’ second coming as it will be visible to all like a lightening, with signs in the heavens and a trumpet call.  (Matt 24: 27-31)

It is never easy for us to live without knowing what is going to happen the next year, the next month, the next day or even the next hour.   Learning to trust God without knowing the future is an important step in our faith life. We have the Scripture to know about the future events. We need not depend on astrologers, prophets or mobile devices.  We can study the scripture to understand the times and learn to be watchful.  Let us be prepared like the early Christians praying “Marana tha – Come Lord Jesus”! (I Cor.16:22)  John Amalraj