Matthew 24:42

42 Therefore be alert, since you don't know what day [a] your Lord is coming.

Matthew 24:42 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 24:42

Watch therefore
Since the time of this desolation is so uncertain, and since it will come upon the Jews unawares, and some wilt escape, whilst others perish; for the words are plainly an inference from what precedes, and clearly relate to things going before, and are not a transition to a new subject: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come;
to avenge himself of the unbelieving Jews, and fulfil what he in person, and by his apostles, had predicted and warned them of: though I will not deny, but that what follows may be much better accommodated and applied to the second coming of Christ, and the last judgment, and the behaviour of men with regard to both, than anything said before; and it may be our Lord's intention, to lead his disciples gradually, and as it were imperceptibly, to the last scene of things on earth, to make way for the parables and description of the future judgment, in the next chapter; still keeping in view, and having reference to, the subject he had been so long upon.

Matthew 24:42 In-Context

40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one left.
41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and one left.
42 Therefore be alert, since you don't know what day your Lord is coming.
43 But know this: If the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into.
44 This is why you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Other mss read hour; time
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