Luke 12:36-40
Luke 12:36 (KJB)
And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return
from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him
immediately.
In Mark 13:34 we read about the porter, who is the doorkeeper, and had as his
responsibility, to watch for the master returning form the long journey.
(Mark 13:34 KJV) For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left
his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and
commanded the porter to watch. He would also prevent unauthorized people
from entering into the estate. In Luke 12:36, we are looking at a similar
situation but instead the Lord is coming from a wedding. In ancient Israel,
weddings were not like they are today for just a part of a day. The festivities
could last 7-14 days, so the doorkeeper would be ready to open the door but
would not know exactly when the Lord would return and that was why he was to
remain vigilant, so he could open the door immediately.
Luke 12:37 (KJB)
Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching:
verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to
meat, and will come forth and serve them.
Here is a tremendous verse speaking about the faithfulness of the servants.
Those who were ready and vigilant at the return of the Lord from the wedding
feast, would now be tended to by the Lord. These are the ones who were saved and
would now be taken to Heaven where they will be taken care of eternally by God
the Father and God the Son. He is not speaking about someone sitting down and
date setting when it comes to girding up their loins and keeping their lights
burning. As Christians we go into this world with the light of the Gospel which
burns brightly in a spiritually darkened word. So here the watching is in the
faithful service of the Christians who are engaged in obedience to the Great
Commission in sending out the Gospel to the world.
Luke 12:38 (KJB)
And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find
them so, blessed are those servants.
Here the Lord is restating the fact that the Christian must be ready and
prepared for His return. They will not know what watch He will return in but He
states that those who are vigilant in their service will be ready in all watches
and because of their faithfulness and obedience in continued service, He will
find them faithful and they will be blessed.
Luke 12:39 (KJB)
And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief
would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken
through.
Here once again we read about the master or goodman of the house and if he knew
when the thief was going to break in, he would have watched out for him so there
would be no break in of the house. Now since a person does not know when a thief
will strike, the only way to prevent a robbery would be to prepare beforehand so
the thief would come but would not be able to break in. Prevention, in this
case, would be preparation. In modern days we have burglar alarms, dogs,
electric fences, walls, etc., to prevent robberies. All of these are proper
preparations. A person does not wait until they are robbed before they prepare,
they prepare as soon as a possible and before anything happens.
The night was normally broken up into four three hour watches. If the owner of
the house had prior knowledge of when a thief was going to break in, then he
could have been ready at that specific time to prevent his home from being
robbed. No thief will ever give a warning as to what his plans are and his
timing for robbing a specific house. This is what Jesus is trying to get across
that just as the thief gives no warning, His second coming will be without
warning. (2 Pet 3:10 KJV) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in
the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are
therein shall be burned up. It will come without warning and it will happen
fast. This also means that the sun being darkened, and the moon not giving her
light and the stars falling from Heaven will also be quick simultaneous events
and not a long period of time before the Lord returns.
Luke 12:40 (KJB)
Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think
not.
One of the greatest diversions Christian can fall prey to is date setting. They
try to figure out when the Lord Jesus Christ is returning to this world. There
has never been a correct date given by anyone and there never will be. One date
which these date setters never include is the fact that Christ comes for many
believers everyday in death. Many Christians die everyday and that means the Son
of Man has come for them. If God did not see fit to reveal to us our day of
death, why would He reveal to someone the date of the deaths of billions of
people? Date setters never take this into consideration. Just like Satan has
taken judgment day and placed it 1,007 years in the future, date setters always
place the return of Christ in some future date not realizing that many, maybe
including the date setter, will never see that date. This is why the Lord Jesus
commanded His children to be faithful in occupying the time instead of trying to
figure out the date of His return. Just as the servants who were in the field
and the mill worked right up until the day the Lord returned, we must follow the
same pattern and work and be as faithful in ministry as long as we possibly can.
Jesus states in no ambiguous terms that the believers need to be ready because
they will not know what hour the Lord will come back on. Notice that He states
in such an hour ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. There will be those date
setters who will think they know when the Lord will be back. So if you are
saved, you are ready for both scenarios, when you think the Lord may return or
when you don‘t think the Lord will return. (1 Th 5:4 KJV) But ye, brethren, are
not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. If a person is
saved, then they are ready for that day. One reason why this Scripture verse may
be worded this way is because the Lord may be back when there still seems like
there is much work to be done and people groups to evangelize. The key to that
is to understand that the Lord does not have to reach every single person in the
world, just His Elect who are predestined to be saved from the foundation of the
world. The unbelieving world has the witness of the creation. (Rom 1:20 KJV) For
the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and
Godhead; so that they are without excuse: