Staying Awake While We Wait for Jesus' Return

Introduction

How do you live if you believe the end of the world is coming, but you don't know when? That's the question Jesus raises in Mark 13:32-37. His return will be unexpected, sudden, and cataclysmic, and yet no one (not even the angels, not even the Son), knows the day or the hour. Faced with this reality, Jesus doesn't call you to strange or Hollywood-style choices. He calls you to watch: to stay awake, stay alert, stay active in his service until he comes back.

Message Outline

1. Let's watch : he will return without warning

• Jesus' return will be unexpected, sudden, and cataclysmic, Jesus compares it to a master who goes on a journey and leaves his servants without telling them what time he will return.
• The four night watches mentioned in verse 35 (evening, midnight, when the rooster crows, or morning) remind us that we don't know how long we'll have to wait.
• Watching doesn't mean scanning the news to decode the signs: the one clear sign was already given with the destruction of the temple in AD 70.
• It is a kindness from God not to reveal the date to us: it protects us from the foolish and bad choices we would make if we told ourselves we still had time.

2. Let's watch to follow him without falling asleep

• Being ready doesn't mean quitting your job, selling all your belongings, or stockpiling canned goods, it means doing everything you can to always be following Jesus when he returns.
• Three dangers lurk: false teachings (come to church with your Bible open), frightening news, and hostility toward those who follow Jesus.
• But the main danger for many of us is falling spiritually asleep: letting distance grow between us and Jesus, letting other things take first place.
• Saving faith is a faith that perseveres: it isn't enough to have said a prayer at age 15 · you must seek to grow spiritually so you don't stagnate, like on a bicycle, if you're not moving forward, you fall.

3. Let's live with our eyes on our future

• First key to not falling asleep: remember what you're waiting for. Like a child on Christmas night, if you measure the joy of the coming kingdom, you won't be able to fall asleep.
• The master who returns is not a grumpy boss: he is the one who did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for us.
• Second key: serve while you wait. The work Jesus gave us, in a word, is to help others be ready for his return.
• For parents in particular: the primary parenting task is not to suspend Christian service, it's to help your children be ready for Jesus' return.

Key Takeaways

• Jesus is coming back (that is certain), but no one knows the day or the hour, not even the Son: only the Father knows (Mark 13:32).
• Watching doesn't mean trying to decode the signs of his return; it means staying awake, staying alert, being ready at all times.
• The real danger isn't outside: it's falling spiritually asleep by letting other things take first place in your life.
• Remembering what you're waiting for wakes you up: the coming kingdom will be 1000 times better than Christmas, better than anything you can experience in this world.
• One of the best ways to stay awake is to stay active in service, helping others be ready for the master's return.

Personal Application

1. If Jesus came back tonight, would he find you following him, or making choices you'd regret?
2. What in your life risks putting you spiritually to sleep: settling into a new city, a career taking off, a desire for comfort, the feeling that you've already heard it all?
3. When was the last time you took concrete time to meditate on life in the coming kingdom? Does that perspective still awaken your heart?
4. Who around you needs help being ready for Jesus' return, and what first step can you take this week toward that?
5. If you are married or in a community group, who do you give permission to wake you up when they see you dozing off spiritually?

Scriptures Cited

• Mark 13:32-37 · Therefore keep watch
• Mark 13:24-31 · The return of the Son of Man
• Mark 13:13 · The one who stands firm to the end will be saved
• Mark 8:34 · Whoever wants to be my disciple
• Mark 10:45 · The Son of Man did not come to be served

Frequently Asked Questions

Can we know the date of Jesus' return?

No. Jesus is explicit in Mark 13:32: "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Every time someone has announced a precise date (like pastor William Miller in the 19th century, who predicted Jesus' return in the 1840s), the date has passed without anything happening. These episodes have left behind what have been called "Great Disappointments." The one clear sign God gave us was the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in AD 70, which foreshadowed the final judgment. Since then, the next date on his calendar is Jesus' return, to be expected at any moment.

What does it concretely mean to "fall spiritually asleep"?

It's what happens when you let distance grow between yourself and Jesus, when other things gradually take first place. It can look like the student who discovers the freedom of Paris and for whom Sunday morning follows Saturday night. Or the young graduate who wants to prove to their bosses that they're ambitious and pushes God to later. Or the forty-something who settles down in the countryside working remotely and tells themselves they'll follow church online. Or the person who thinks they've already heard it all and no longer really listens. The problem with sleep is that you don't see it coming, you have to decide in advance to be proactive about staying awake, seeking to grow spiritually rather than stagnate.

If we don't know the date, how can we be "ready" without falling into paralysis or panic?

Being ready doesn't mean quitting your job or living in fear, it means doing everything you can to always be following Jesus when he returns. Two practical keys emerge from the passage: first, remember what you're waiting for. The coming kingdom will be 1000 times better than Christmas, and this perspective awakens you like a child who can't fall asleep the night before opening presents. Second, serve while you wait. The work Jesus gave us is to help others be ready for his return: in our community groups, with our unbelieving loved ones, and (for parents), with our children. Staying active in service is one of the best ways to stay awake over the long haul.