But this know, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be dug through.
The Lord has just described a master coming home from a wedding, met by servants who open the door at once. Now He pictures a thief breaking into a house — the same arrival, a very different welcome, and everything turns on one thing nobody has: the hour.
The verse turns on something that never happened. Nobody gets warning of a break-in.
The Lord has a word on the other side, where the servant has somehow become "the master of the house," and the coming of the Son of Man is like the unwelcome visit of a thief. Such a person needs to remember that the thief does not come at an expected hour, or perhaps the house would not have been dug through. "If he had known" only presses the fact that he does not know.
Older translations read "dug through" where the ESV has "broken into."
Commentators read the shift from "servant" to "master of the house" as deliberate. The man is no longer waiting for someone; he is settled at home, defending his own property.
Verse 39 speaks differently. Instead of a servant, we read of the master of the house, the ruler, and the Lord's coming is likened to the visit of a thief. He does not come as a thief to the Church, but to the world (1 Thess. 5:2-4). The man here had lost his servant character, and was really part of an ungodly world, whatever his profession might have been… Luke is not concerned with the time element, but with the reality of the Lord's coming, whether to reward watchfulness or to judge the careless.
The wedding picture speaks to the heart that loves Him. This one speaks to the conscience.
If He does tarry, and the heart that loves Him finds it long and has need of patience, it is well worth waiting for Him, whatever the delay… At the same time, it is important to add the aspect of His coming for the conscience. The return from the wedding does not present this… Present ease and unwatchfulness in such a world as this always make the return of the Lord to be more or less unwelcome. The only right attitude for love or conscience is the attitude of watching for Him.
The same thief picture turns up in 1 Thessalonians, where the apostle rules it out for believers. His reason is not that they watch better. It is that they belong to the day.
The words "they" and "you" make it still clearer that the day of the Lord is for the world. He does not say "When you shall say, Peace and safety" but when "they shall say." The apostle excludes the believer completely from that day when sudden destruction falls, for he says, "you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness"… therefore belonging to that coming day to be with the Lord when He comes to judge, it cannot overtake them as a thief.
Still, the warning is not wasted on believers. One writer shows what this picture does for the watcher: it starts low, then lifts higher.
Look at Matthew 24:43, and you will see how well the mind of Christ trains the soul in watching for His coming. How graciously He begins! At first He gives our watching a very low character. The master of the house watches against the coming of "a thief in the night." This shows the duty in its very lowest form. It pictures us watching for His return as though it were something against us, an object of dread and worry. The mind of Christ meets us here on very low ground, but it does not leave us here; it trains our hearts to reach a much higher level, raises our watching to a finer character, and gives higher beauty to the same features.
The break-in is not the end of the story. When the Son of Man arrives, He deals with the intruder — and the faithful servant meanwhile has one limited job.
Therefore not only watch, for you do not know the hour your Lord comes, but also be ready, for in the hour you do not think the Son of Man comes — to destroy the thief and restore His house. Meanwhile all the faithful servant can do is to give the household food in season. He cannot repair the damage to the house.
- Unknown — nobody knows the hour. "If he had known" only presses the point that he does not know.
- Unwatched — the owner is robbed because he is at ease. Present ease and unwatchfulness make the Lord's return unwelcome.
- Unwelcome — the thief picture fits a man who has lost his servant character and belongs to the world. To children of the day His coming is no break-in.
- Unfinished — the servant cannot repair the house. He feeds the household in season and leaves the restoring to his Lord.
- Upward — Christ starts our watching at its lowest form, dread, and then trains it into something finer.
And ye therefore, be *ye* ready, for in the hour in which ye do not think [it], the Son of man comes.
Jesus has just pictured a householder who would have stayed awake if he had known when the thief was coming. Then He turns the picture on His hearers. The command is not to calculate the hour but to live in a condition where any hour would be fine.
The verse gives its own reason for readiness: no one can time the arrival. Men mishandle that fact in two opposite ways.
That uncertainty was arranged to keep men always expecting. It is remarkable that men have taken it and used it as a reason for not expecting at all.
The opposite error is trying to pin down the date. One writer answers it from the Lord's own words to His closest followers.
Setting dates for the coming of the Lord is a harmful thing, and those who do it are presumptuous people... The apostles gave us the Word of God by the Holy Spirit's inspiration. Yet the Lord said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority" (Acts 1). The Father in His wisdom kept this knowledge from them. So where is there any hint in the Word that He would reveal it to us?
Jesus names Himself here as "the Son of Man." Commentators tie that title to His coming in judgment on the world, not to His coming for the Church.
He does not come as a thief to the Church, but to the world (1 Thess. 5:2-4)... What the Lord said in verse 40 is clearly connected with verse 39. His coming as the Son of Man is His coming to the world in judgment, and it will be at an unexpected hour. Of course, no one knows when He will come for the Church either. But that coming is not unexpected, and we are to be watching!
One writer watched two passengers reach the same harbour on the same ship. The arrival meant opposite things to them.
For the bride, the end of the voyage meant hopes realised: a husband, gladness and home. For the criminal, it meant a judge, conviction, and punishment to follow.
"Be ready" raises the obvious question: ready how? One writer says it covers two things, resting on two different works.
First, we must be "ready" in title; and secondly, we must be ready in our moral state — ready in conscience, and ready in heart. The one is founded on the work of Christ for us; the other is connected with the work of the Spirit in us. Suppose we are simply resting by faith on the finished work of Christ. Suppose we are leaning only on what He has done and what He is. Then we are ready in title indeed, and we may be sure of being with Him when He comes.
The same writer answers a common plea: that outward things do not matter.
Some may say — and some have said — "As long as we have Christ in our hearts, it doesn't matter what we have on our heads or in our hands." We reply: if we really have Christ in our hearts, it will regulate what we put on our heads and take into our hands. Yes, it will have a visible influence on our whole behaviour and character.
Readiness is measurable by a simple test: would today be a good day for Him to arrive? One writer put that question to a dinner guest.
"Would you like the Lord Jesus to return today?" "No," she said, "I would not." "And why not?" "Well," she said, "I have many things to settle up first; there are many things I would not like Him to see. I would rather He did not come today." Well, the Lord says, "You also must be ready." That means everything settled up. It means living as real pilgrims and strangers, passing through this world with nothing to hold us here. And why? Because our hearts are on Him where He is now.
How a person feels about His return exposes how that person has been living.
Ease and lack of watching in a world like this always make the Lord's return more or less unwelcome. The only right attitude, whether for love or for conscience, is the attitude of watching for Him.
- Hidden by design. The unknown hour keeps believers expecting. It is no excuse for drifting, and no invitation to set dates.
- Ready in title. Rest on the finished work of Christ alone. That settles your standing before He comes.
- Ready in state. What is in the heart shows up in the hands, the habits and the whole character.
- Ready means settled. Nothing you would rather He did not see; a pilgrim with nothing holding him here.
- Ready is love's posture. When love is real, conscience agrees. Watching becomes natural, not a strain.