You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Luke 12:40
A Promise Without a Timeline
Jesus is speaking here to his disciples and all his followers, that they should always be ready for Jesus to come back. This is before Jesus' crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, so the disciples don't have the full context of what Jesus is talking about, but we do. Jesus is telling us today that He will be coming back. His disciples know that, but they don't know what's to come. They will eventually find out, and they will remember these words: Jesus will come again soon, and they should also be ready.
But no one knows when Jesus is coming again. He says that the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him, and that still applies today. We don't know when Jesus is going to come back, so we should be ready.
Heaven Brought a Little Closer
What does it mean to be ready? What does that look like? Well, Jesus has given each of us a specific calling in our lives. Generally, that's to go out and make disciples of all the Earth—our great commission. Specifically, each of us has a unique set of abilities, talents, gifts, and knowledge granted to us by the Lord and developed over time that we can use to help usher in the Kingdom of God now.
But beyond those talents and those gifts, Jesus actually has a very practical application of what He's saying here. And it's about what you would expect from Jesus. He tells us to care for one another, to love one another, to serve one another, and to do so with joy. Even though Jesus is going to take his time coming back, we can still bring a little piece of heaven here on Earth today, and we do that through loving one another.
Prayer
Jesus, help us to love one another. Help us to see you in our relationships and in our community, and help us bring a little piece of heaven here on Earth wherever we are today. Help us see the people around us and do what you have called us to do, and give us the ability to do it. We pray all this in your name. Amen.