Mark 13:32-37

In reference to the Lord's coming, we as the church have one job and only one job. That job, contrary to the opinion of many teachers, is not figuring out when. The job of the church and the individual disciple is to be ready. Not only do we not know when Jesus will return, we cannot and are not capable of knowing when He will return.

The Father alone knows when the Son will return; a fact that He did not see fit to reveal to the Son and certainly not to us. The parable the Lord tells is to illustrate the proper attitude and is fairly simple and straightforward. We are to be doing what we are supposed to be doing until the Lord returns. The doorkeeper is especially singled out as the one who must not be caught sleeping while on duty.  His job is to keep watch, to be ever ready, not to try to guess when the master will return, just be ready. We see here that the single most important principle of apocalyptic and eschatological literature is ethical and not chronological. Remove from your minds every aspect of prediction of when the Lord will return.  Instead spend that mental space and energy on knowing how we shall live until He returns.