175. Blessed
Revelation 9:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Jesus predicts that He will come again and when He does it will be as a thief, without warning and with surprise. The conditional promise of blessing is for those who watch and keep their God-given clothes. The surprise Coming is not a promise; it is a fact; it will happen. The promise is that it will be a blessing for us when He comes.
Since we don’t know when Jesus is coming back and it will be a shock when it happens we need to watch, that is, stay awake and alert and prepared; we must not fall asleep like the Virgins waiting for the Bridegroom. We cannot be lulled into complacency and doubt, thinking: “Where is the promise of His coming?…All things are continuing as they were since the beginning of creation.” [2 Peter 3:4]. Watching does not mean that we must constantly be thinking, “Jesus could return any time,” for we cannot consciously be aware of the Second Coming all the time. But we can “watch” by keeping our faith in the Gospel up to date, by daily repentance and faith and by weekly hearing the Gospel in church. The Gospel makes us ready.
The second condition for the one who is blessed: he keeps his clothes, lest he is caught with his pants down at the coming of Christ. The symbol of clothing is the robe of righteousness earned, given and placed upon us by Christ. The one who thinks he can come to the Wedding Feast in his own clothes will be cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Naked” means standing in our sin and its shame for all the world to see, or even putting on the fig leaves of our own good works. No one will stand in the Glorious Appearing except the ones who are robed by Christ. We “keep the garments” by continually hearing and believing the Gospel. When we do not hear and believe the Gospel we may drift into the complacency of thinking, “I’m good enough as I am with my own good works.” It is possible to lose sight of the daily need for Jesus. Blessing comes to those who stay awake and stay dressed. The blessing is not only later after He comes but also now while we wait.