When Jesus returns everything will change. There will be a division between the righteous and the wicked (Matthew 13:49). Of course, no one is righteous; all are sinners, except they receive forgiveness of their sins and the righteousness of Christ (Philippians 3:9). And so the separation will be between those who have received Christ and those who have resisted His rule over them.
 
Jesus described piety, not in the temple or synagogue but in the workplace. The often-ignored manual workers of agriculture and domestic life were in His spotlight. Two people doing the same work, having the same skills and enjoying colleagueship, would be physically separated – one taken away and the other left behind. The preceding verses say that the suddenness of the event would be as in the days of Noah when the wicked were oblivious to judgement until the flood came and swept them away (Matthew 24:38-39).
 
The flood reference has led some to think that the wicked will be removed to judgement and the righteous will be left behind, but Matthew uses the word 'taken' in a kindly, gathering sort of way. Many believers therefore consider that they will be among the huge number who will be physically taken out of the world to be united with the Lord Jesus (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18), and the unbelievers will be left in a godless world where evil is left unrestrained: a hellish place on earth before the final judgement.
 
Whichever interpretation is applied, the message is clear. The coming of the Lord will bring an eternal division and therefore all who hear His Word now should get ready, every day, for that final day … for we do not know when it will be. That should dispel complacency about our lifestyle and put urgency into our evangelism. It would be terrible if our colleagues should fail to be ready for the Lord, because we have never told them the eternal importance of that Day. Likewise believers in trouble should not give up but keep trusting the Lord, knowing that their difficulties are only temporary (Romans 8:18-25; James 5:8).