Wherefore *ye* also, be ye ready, for in that hour that ye think not the Son of man comes.
This verse turns a long stretch of prophecy into one command: be ready. It raises two questions. Whose coming does it describe? And how can anyone be ready for an hour no one can work out?
Commentators place this verse at a seam. It ends the section dealing with Israel and the last days, before the Lord turns to servants, virgins and talents.
With these words of warning and call to watch, our Lord closes the predictions about the end of the Jewish age. The Jewish remnant will understand this warning and take it to heart, for it is addressed to them. They are to watch for the Son of Man; the church is to wait for her Lord.
Behind the command is a picture of a house broken into. Notice what the word "if" is doing in it.
The Lord has a word on the other side. There 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. If he had remembered, perhaps his house would not have been broken into. "If he had known" only presses the fact that he does not know.
Which coming is this, and when does it happen?
As the dreadful time of tribulation judgment draws to its close, the Lord will come, but at an hour no one has known beforehand. That is why men are told to watch. At that time He will come as a thief, unexpected and unwelcome, so at least let men be ready. At the rapture (which is earlier) He will not come as a thief (1 Thess. 5:4), but for expectant believers. Verse 44 ends the Lord's consideration of Israel in this prophetic discourse, pressing the fact of His coming then as Son of Man.
The hour is hidden on purpose, and that purpose can be turned upside down.
That uncertainty was ordered to keep men always expecting, though the time was not far off. It is remarkable that men have turned it into a reason for not expecting at all.
Pushing the coming far into the future empties the command of meaning:
We are taught to watch for that coming, because we do not know when the time is. This answers two mistakes at once. Some set times, near or far, for His coming. Others put it off to the end of the millennium. You do not know when the time is; therefore the Lord says, Watch. You cannot watch for what you know will not come for a hundred years; how much less, a thousand.
Commentators differ on how far the verse reaches believers today. Some read it as a word to a future remnant. Others press it as a daily test: would you welcome Him tonight?
Now you will say, "How can we be ready?" It is not the state of the soul only. That is the main thing, but there are many things to be settled. I was dining one day with a lady in London, and I said to her at the table, "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." So the Lord says, "Be ready" — that is, everything settled up, and we as real pilgrims and strangers passing through this world with nothing to hold us here.
Readiness has two sides:
First, we must be "ready" in title. Second, 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. If we are resting by faith on the finished work of Christ, leaning only on what He has done and what He is, then we are truly ready in title, and we may be sure of being with Him when He comes.
A comfortable life quietly makes His return feel like an intrusion — which is exactly the householder's problem.
Present ease and unwatchfulness in such a world as this always make the return of the Lord more or less unwelcome. The only right attitude, for love or for conscience, is the attitude of watching for Him.
- Unknown — "If he had known" presses one fact: he does not know. That ignorance is the whole reason for the command.
- Ordered — the uncertainty keeps people always expecting; turning it into a reason to stop expecting flips its purpose.
- Thief — to a sleeping world His coming breaks in unwelcome; to those expecting Him, He is not a thief but their Lord.
- Ready — first ready in title, resting on the finished work of Christ; then ready in state, in conscience and heart, with everything settled up.
- Now — ease makes His return unwelcome; watching for Him is the only right attitude, for love and for conscience.
Who then is the faithful and prudent bondman whom his lord has set over his household, to give them food in season?
The Lord has just warned His followers to keep watch, because they do not know the day their Lord comes. Now He asks a question, and it turns on who the servant is and why the food must come at the right time.
This question marks a turn in the Lord's prophecy on the Mount of Olives. So far He has been speaking about the Jews. From here the subject changes.
Matthew 24 and 25 are His great prophecy on the mount. They begin with the Jews and end with the Gentiles in Matthew 25:31 to the end. Between these two (from Matthew 24:45 to 25:30) is the part that deals with the Christian profession. So it takes the broad, unrestricted form of three parables, because the link is with Christ Himself, not with the land or the people of Israel.
The servant is not sent out to the world. His work is in the house, among the Master's own people.
It is not a question of evangelising here, but of care for the household. The principle of trading outside with the Master's gifts will come later (Matthew 25:14 onwards). But here the great thing is this: the Lord loves His saints ("whose house are we"), and so He makes much of faithful or faithless service within that sphere. Instead of serving Christ in His household, many become the agents of a particular group. Real ministry is from Christ and Him alone. It is not title or position, but doing the work the Lord wishes to be done.
The Lord names no one in particular. His question reaches wider than a special class of workers.
First, then, we have a servant — a faithful and wise servant. All Christians are called to be so, though some specially so. A servant in the house is called to provide good and suitable food for the house. Every Christian shares that in a way, though some are more suited for that work than others. Responsibility is according to privilege.
Two words describe him, and each carries its own weight.
The servant who is "faithful" to his lord's interests is reliable and worthy of trust. The one who is "wise" is obedient and intelligent. These are surely the two qualities most looked for in a servant.
Set these two qualities beside the things people usually count as success.
Faithfulness is worth more than outward, visible success. Wisdom is worth more than the most brilliant gift, as 1 Corinthians 13 shows. There may be much of what passes as success where there is little heart-faithfulness to God. There may be little self-denial, little personal communion with the Lord, little separation from the world and its ways, little true submission to the word of God, and little prayer.
The food must also come "at the proper time" — older translations read "meat in due season." That asks more of the servant than correct content, as this comment on the parallel words in Luke 12 shows:
It is not enough to speak correctly from Scripture, or to present a subject with eloquence. The Lord wants ministry that is "meat in due season" — the suitable word, given at the right time, for the needs of those gathered. This is living ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit, meeting present needs.
The servant does not supply the food himself. He passes on what the Master has put into his hands.
He cares for His household. He has provided plenty of food for their spiritual health and strength, and He has committed this food to His stewards. No servant of His could commit a greater sin than withholding this food from those who need it. And none could do the Lord a greater service than handing it out with diligence.
The master "has set" the servant over his household. Older translations read "made ruler," and the word behind it is used elsewhere for official appointment.
The word translated "ordain" in Titus 1:5 is kathistemi, meaning to establish, or set up. The same word is translated in different ways elsewhere: in Matthew 24:45 — made ruler; in Luke 12:14 — made judge; in Acts 6:3 — appoint over this matter. It is the word mostly used in connection with appointment to authority. It is interesting to note that every one of these passages refers to God's act.
- Placed — the verse opens the part of the prophecy that deals with Christian profession. It runs to Matthew 25:30 and is tied to Christ Himself, not to Israel.
- Appointed — the servant does not promote himself. Elsewhere in Scripture the same word marks God's own act of setting someone in place.
- Entrusted — the work is inside the house, not outside it. The food is the Master's, already provided; the servant only hands it on, and withholding it would be his greatest sin.
- Timely — food "at the proper time" means the suitable word for the moment, not just a correct or eloquent one.
- Tested — the two marks are faithfulness and wisdom, not gift or visible success. The Lord names no one, so the question comes to every Christian.