Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 13:34
[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.
34. For the Son of man is ] These words do not occur in the original.
taking a far journey ] Literally, one who is absent from his people, who goes on foreign travel. “Which gon fer in pilgrimage,” Wyclif. The verb formed from it occurs in chap. Mar 12:1, “A certain man planted a vineyard and went into a far country.” Even so our Lord left His Church, gave authority to His servants the Apostles, and to those who should come after them, and to every man his work, and is now waiting for the consummation of all things.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Who left his house – The word house often means family. Our Saviour here represents himself as going away, leaving his household the church, assigning to the apostles and all his servants their duty, and leaving it uncertain when he would return. Since his return was a matter of vast consequence, and as the affairs of his kingdom were entrusted to them, just as the affairs of a house are to servants when the master is absent, so it was of vast importance that they should be faithful at their post, that they should defend the house from danger, and be ready for his return.
The porter – The doorkeeper. To the janitor or doorkeeper was entrusted particularly the care of the house, whose duty it was to attend faithfully on those who came and those who left the house.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mar 13:34-36
And to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
Christian watchfulness
I. A certain event referred to. That He should go away was necessary.
1. It was impossible that His state of humiliation should be continued.
2. The work He had to do in heaven required His presence there.
3. His removal was necessary in order that the Holy Spirit might be bestowed.
II. A responsible trust committed.
1. What He left in charge of His servants was His house. The church is frequently set forth under this designation.
2. Those whom He left behind were invested with the powers necessary for the transaction of affairs during His absence.
3. While peculiar authority was granted to some, none of the servants were permitted to remain idle.
III. An important duty enjoined.
1. To no subject is our attention more frequently directed than that of watchfulness.
2. The consideration by which it is enforced. It is the uncertainty as to when the master of the house might return; whether at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning.
3. Whatever limits may belong to other obligations, this is universal in its claims. And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch. (Expository Outlines.)
Christs second coming
I. The Churchs authority. He gave authority to His servants. The more we serve the more authority is given. For, what is authority? Not position, not office; but a certain moral power: the power of truth, the power of affections, the power of virtue over vice, the power of faith over sight. There are degrees of authority in the Church. There is authority which belongs to the Church collectively, essential for her wholesome discipline. But we have to do only with what is personal to ourselves, it is your authority to go to every single man under heaven and tell the glorious things of the gospel. It is your authority to go to the throne of God Himself.
II. The work. Authority is never given in the Church of Christ for any other end but work. The work is specific, to every man his work. Each Christian should pray till he finds out the work God has assigned him in this present life. There is work active and passive in the Masters house; the childlike reception of the grace of God, to evangelise mankind.
III. Watching. There are two ways of watching. There is a watching against a thing we fear; and or a thing we love. Watch for the second advent, and you will be vigilant against sloth and sin. Will you not keep every trespasser out of the Masters house, when you feel that that Master Himself stands almost at the door? He is worth watching for. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Watching for the Master
In all, therefore, you do, brethren, and in all you suffer, you are to be in the spirit of a man who, expecting a dear friend, has taken his stand at the gate, to meet him when he arrives,-a porter. Oh, it is such a pleasant thing to watch,-pleasant to go up on the high door of prophecy, and turn the telescope of inspiration down the road where He will come: pleasant, in every trouble to feel,-in a moment He may come, and cut this trouble very short: pleasant, in every fear, however deep, to think Christs coming may be nearer than we might fear: pleasant, to feel,-when the world knocks at your door, to say, I am keeping place for Jesus, and I cannot let you in: pleasant, in some work to have conscience say, I think my dear Master would like to find me here: pleasant when all is happy, to double the happiness with the thought, And He, too, will soon be here: and pleasant to wake up every morning and think, What can I do today to prepare the way for my Saviour. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The Master cometh
I. The house.
II. The householder.
III. The journey.
IV. The servants.
V. The charge.
VI. The individual work.
VII. The command to the porter.
1. Watch against thieves and robbers.
2. Watch for the Master. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
Our absent Lord
The parable in Mar 13:34-36 cannot be discharged of its meaning by a reference to the ordinary risks of human mortality. Its theme is not mans dying, but Christs coming.
I. The Son of Man is represented as a householder away on a journey (Mar 13:34).
1. It is not fair to look upon Jesus as a mere absentee lord of the soil. For. He made this world; He has suffered wonderfully to save souls; and He owns what He has purchased.
2. It must be remembered that He went away for a most gracious purpose. He would send the Comforter (Joh 16:7). He has gone to prepare a place for those whom He died to redeem (Joh 14:2-3).
3. It is better to urge His coming back with eagerness of prayer. There is fitness in the passionate words of Richard Baxter: Haste, O my Saviour, the time of Thy return: send forth Thy angels, let the last trumpet sound! Delay not, lest the living give up hope. Oh, hasten that great resurrection day when the seed Thou sowedst corruptible shall come forth incorruptible, and the graves that retain but dust shall return their glorious ones, Thy destined bride!
II. To everyone our absent Lord has given his own work to do (Mar 13:35).
1. There is a work to be wrought on ourselves. Our bodies are to be exercised and skilled for service (Rom 12:1). Our minds are to be developed and embellished for Gods praise. One of our Lords parables spoken on this very occasion has actually added to our language the new word talents, as signifying intellectual gifts (Mat 25:15). Our souls are to be sanctified wholly (1Th 5:23).
2. There is also a work to be wrought upon others and for others. The poor are to be succoured, the weak to be strengthened, the ignorant to be taught, the sorrowful to be comforted.
3. There is another work to be wrought for Gods glory. Mans chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Our whole life is to be consecrated to this, even down to the particulars of eating and drinking (1Co 10:31).
III. Our absent Lord is surely coming back again to this world (Mar 13:26).
1. He predicted His second advent (Joh 14:28). The language Jesus used in this remembered declaration is not at all figurative; it all goes together as a statement of fact. He said, literally, He would send the Comforter, and the Holy Spirit came in person on the Day of Pentecost. And just as literally did He say He would Himself return at the appointed time.
2. He asseverated the certainty and solemnity of His own promise, as if He foresaw some would deny or doubt it (Mar 13:31). This was endorsing the covenant engagement by a new oath; because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself.
3. He left behind Him vivid descriptions of the momentous day on which He should arrive (Mar 13:24-26). In these, however, He does little more than repeat the vigorous language of the Old Testament prophet (Dan 7:9-14).
4. He even sent back word from heaven by an angel (Act 1:11). It should be this same Jesus who should come back, and He should come in like manner as they had seen Him depart.
IV. The exact hour in which our absent Lord will arrive is not announced (Mat 24:42).
1. Jesus asserted that He did not know it Himself (Mar 13:32). The disciples once asked Him about this (Mat 24:3). He told them that God the Father had kept this one secret in His own solemn reserve (Act 1:6-7).
2. But our Saviour declares that His coming might be expected at any moment, morning or midnight, evening or cock crowing (Mar 13:35). It would assuredly be sudden. The figure is employed more than once in the Scriptures of a thief in the night (2Pe 3:10). Peter in his Epistle only quotes our Lords own language (Luk 12:39-40).
3. Moreover, Christ told His disciples that there would be tokens of the nearness of this great day, by which it might be recognized when it should be close at hand (Mar 13:28-29). These signs would be as clearly discerned as shoots on fig trees in the opening summer. He mentioned some of them explicitly (Luk 21:25-28). We may admit that wars and rumours of wars, earthquakes, famines, falling stars, and pestilences (Mat 24:6-8), together with great signs in heaven and earth, are alarming disclosures; but will any one doubt that such phenomena are conspicuous at least? (Luk 17:24).
4. So Jesus insisted that men were bound to be wise in noting these signs, and be ready (Luk 12:54-56).
V. The greatest peril is that, when our absent Lord comes, men will be taken unawares (Mar 13:36).
1. The instinctive tendency of the human heart is to procrastinate in the performance of religious work.
2. Time glides mysteriously on with no reference to daring delay. The grave, like the horseleachs daughter, cries Give (Pro 30:15-16), and damnation slumbereth not (2Pe 2:3), but men sleep clear up to the edge of divine judgment. They did in Noahs time, and in Lots, when a less catastrophe was at hand; and so it will be when the Son of Man is revealed (Luk 18:26-30).
3. Christians ought to hold in memory the repeated admonitions they have received. Walter Scott wrote on his dial plate the two Greek words which mean the night cometh, so that he might keep eternity in mind whenever he saw the hours of time flitting by. Evidently the Apostle Paul feels that he has the right to press peculiarly pertinent and solemn appeals upon those who had enjoyed the advantage of such long instruction (1Th 5:1-7).
4. There is no second chance offered after the first is lost. When Christ comes, foolish virgins will have no time to run for oil to pour into their lightless lamps. A forfeited life cannot be allowed any opportunity for retrieval. Where the tree falls, north or south, there it must lie, whether the full fruit has been ripened upon its branches or not (Ecc 11:3).
VI. The final counsel left behind him by our absent Lord is for all to watch (Mar 13:37).
1. Christs coming would seem to be the highest anticipation for true believers. When He appears, saints will appear with Him in glory (Col 3:4). This is the blessed hope of the Church along the ages (Tit 2:13).
2. It might clear an inquirers experience to think of this coming of Jesus. Does one love to watch for Him? In the autobiography of Frances Ridley Havergal we are told of the years during which she sought sadly for peace at the cross. At last one of her teachers put this question to her: Why cannot you trust yourself to your Saviour at once? Supposing that now, at this moment, Christ were to come in the clouds of heaven, and take up His redeemed, could you not trust Him? Would not His call, His promise, be enough for you? Could you not commit your soul to Him, to your Saviour, Jesus? This lifted the cloud; she tells the story herself: Then came a flash of hope across me, which made me feel literally breathless. I remember how my heart beat. I could surely, was my response; and I left her suddenly and ran away upstairs to think it out. I flung myself on my knees in my room, and strove to realize the sudden hope. I was very happy at last. I could commit my soul to Jesus. I did not, and need not, fear His coming. I could trust Him with my all for eternity. It was so utterly new to have any bright thoughts about religion that I could hardly believe it could be so, that I had really gained such a step. Then and there, I committed my soul to the Saviour, I do not mean to say without any trembling or fear, but I did-and earth and heaven seemed bright from that moment-I did trust the Lord Jesus. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Work for God
The sentence which must have seemed to Adam a curse, In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread, has been turned by God into a blessing. The elements of Adams doom are the materials of human happiness. Heaven is made out of the ruins of the fall. What a world this would be without work! What a weariness! What a hot bed of every bad passion! What a torment!
I. Every living creature has its own proper work. It matches with each mans natural endowment and his spiritual attainment. It is what suits him: neither too little nor too much. Enough to engage, and occupy, and draw out all his powers; and yet not so much as to injure or distress them. Take pains to ascertain whether the work you are engaged in is really yours-the work God would have you to do. To settle that satisfactorily, the following conditions must be fulfilled:
1. There must be the vocation of the heart-conscience and spiritual conviction telling you, after prayer and thought, that you are called to it.
2. The vocation of circumstances-your position and means being suited, and your education and habit of mind accommodated to it.
3. The vocation of the Church-the advice and judgment of pious friends who are in a position to offer an unprejudiced opinion on the subject. If these three things unite, you may be sure that, though you are directed to it by human agencies, the work is really allotted to you by God.
II. You are responsible only for doing the work, not for the results. The work is yours, but the issue is Gods. Leave that to Him. Do you work with faith-for faith is confidence, and confidence is calmness, and calmness is power, and power is success, and success is Gods glory. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Wakeful work
Unless we work, we shall not keep spiritually awake and lively: unless we are awake, we shall not work. The last thing that would please a master would be the idle curiosity which would make the servants neglect their work to stand outside the door gazing to catch a glimpse of his return. What the Master desires is wakeful work. He desires-
I. Work.
1. Work of mercy.
2. Work of uprightness.
3. Work of struggling against evil within us.
4. Work of witnessing for Christ.
5. Work of helping others in various ways.
6. Work of comforting the sad, of supporting the weak.
7. Work of reclaiming the erring.
8. Work of saving the lost.
II. He wants this to be done wakefully; in that fresh and earnest way which men take
(1) when their faculties are on the alert;
(2) when they are on the watch for opportunities of doing good, and against seductions to neglect it;
(3) when they are wakeful enough to see a living Saviour, and feel His inspiration;
(4) when they watch lest they lose the things they have wrought;
(5) when they are awake to the immense needs and the awful dangers of their fellow men;
(6) when they are awake to the littleness of time and the greatness of eternity the nearness and sufficiency of the Spirits help, and the certainty and value of the Saviours reward. When there is this working and this watching mutually aiding each other, then the desire of the Master is fulfilled, and whenever He appears we are ready to receive Him with exceeding joy. (R. Glover.)
Work and watching
I. The work of the servants.
1. Work is the common duty of all in Christs house. The calm stars are in ceaseless motion, and every leaf is a world, with its busy inhabitants and the sap coursing through its veins as the life blood through our own. It would be strange then if the Christian Church, which was intended to be the beating heart to all this worlds activity, were exempted from a law so universal. Such a thing would be against our highest nature. Work is not only a duty, but a blessing. Every right deed is a step upward. Instead of praying that God would grant us less work, our request should be that he would give us a greater heart and growing strength to meet all its claims.
2. This work is varied to different individuals. In one respect there is something common in the work of all, as there is a common salvation-to believe in Christ and to grow in grace; but even here there may be a variety in the form. There is a different colour of beauty in different stones that are all of them precious. One man may be burnishing to the sparkle of the diamond, while another is deepening to the glow of the ruby; and each is equally useful and necessary. The cornerstone and the cope stone have both their due place in the palace house of Christ. To see how this may be, is to perceive that an end can be put to all jealousies and heart burnings, and may help us even now to take our position calmly and unenviously, working in our department, assured that our labour will be found to contribute to the full proportion of the whole.
3. Each individual has means for ascertaining his own work. Not a special revelation, or an irresistible impression. Still Christ does guide men into their sphere of work by the finger of His providence and by the enlightenment of His Word in the hand of His Spirit. If it be thought it would be simpler and more satisfactory to have our place directly pointed out to us, let us remember the trouble and care necessary to ascertain it are part of our training.
There are these rules to guide us.
1. Our aptitudes.
2. Our opportunities.
3. The opinion of our fellow men when fairly expressed.
II. The watch of the porter. The porter is that one of the servants whose station is at the door to look out for those who approach, and open to them if they have right to enter. It would be wrong, however, to suppose that the body of the servants are exempted from watching, while one takes the duty for them (Mar 13:37). In saying the workmen are many and the watchman one, our Lord indicated that, while the mode of labour in the house may vary, the duty of watchfulness is common to all who are in it. The porter must stand at the door of every heart, while that heart pursues its work. What, then, is this watching? It is to do all our work with the thought of Christs eye measuring it, as of a friend who is ever present to our soul, gone from us in outward form, sure to return, and meanwhile near in spirit; to subject our plans and acts to His approval, asking ourselves at every step how this would please Him, shrinking from what would cloud His face, rejoicing with great joy in all that would meet His smile. This is a more difficult task than to have our hands busy with the work of the house. But, if attended to, it will bring its proportionate benefit.
1. It will keep us wakeful.
2. It will preserve purity.
3. It will maintain the soul in calmness.
4. It will rise increasingly to the fervour of prayer-that prayer which is the strength of the soul and the life of all work.
III. The bearing of these two duties upon each other.
1. Work cannot be rightly performed without watching; for then it would be
(1) blind and without a purpose;
(2) discouraging and tedious;
(3) formal and dead.
2. Watching will not suffice without work; or it would be
(1) solitary;
(2) subject to many temptations, such as empty speculations, vanity, pride;
(3) unready for Christ.
The solitary watcher can have no works of faith nor labours of love to present, no saved souls to offer for the Redeemers crown, and no crown of righteousness to receive from Him. He is saved, but alone, as on a board or a broken piece of the ship; not as they who have many voices of blessing around, and many welcomes before, and to whom an entrance is ministered abundantly into the kingdom of heaven. Happy is the man who can combine these two duties in perfect harmony-who has Stephens life of labour and Stephens vision in the end. In every soul there should be the sisters of Bethany, active effort and quiet thought, and both agreeing in mutual love and help. (John Ker, D. D.)
The discipline of work
Consider what an amount of drudgery must be performed-how much humdrum and prosaic labour goes to any work of the least value. There are so many layers of mere white lime in every shell to that inner one so beautifully tinted. Let not the shellfish think to build his house of that alone; and pray what are its tints to him? Is it not his smooth close-fitting shirt merely, whose tints are not to him, being in the dark, but only when he is gone or dead, and his shell is heaved up to light, a wreck upon the beach, do they appear. With him, too, it is a song of the shirt-Work-work-work! And the work is not merely a policy in the gross sense, but, in the higher sense, a discipline. If it is surely the means to the highest end we know, can any work be humble or disgusting? Will it not rather be elevating, as a ladder, the means by which we are translated? (Thoreau.)
Christs service delightful
A beautiful incident in reference to Mr. Townsend is mentioned in the life of John Campbell. Finding him on Tuesday morning, shortly before his last illness, leaning on the balustrade of the staircase that led to the committee room of the Tract Society, and scarcely able to breathe, I remarked, Mr. Townsend, is this you? Why should you come in this state of body to our meetings? You have now attended them for a long time, and you should leave the work to younger men. The reply of Mr. Townsend was worthy of his character. Looking at his friend with a countenance brightened and elevated by the thoughts that were struggling for utterance, his words were: Oh! Johnny, Johnny, man, it is hard to give up working in the service of such a Master! (Biblical Treasury.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 34. Left his house] , family. Our blessed Lord and Master, when he ascended to heaven, commanded his servants to be faithful and watchful. This fidelity to which he exhorts his servants consists in doing every thing well which is to be done, in the heart or in the family, according to the full extent of the duty. The watchfulness consists in suffering no stranger nor enemy to enter in by the senses, which are the gates of the soul; in permitting nothing which belongs to the Master to go out without his consent; and in carefully observing all commerce and correspondence which the heart may have abroad in the world, to the prejudice of the Master’s service. See Quesnel.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In the Greek, those words, For the Son of man is, are not, but those, or some such like, are necessarily to be understood to make up the sense. The watching here again twice called for is the same with that before mentioned. The sense of these verses is the same as before; the uncertainty of the time when Christ cometh to judgment should oblige all men to be diligent and industrious to keep themselves from sinning, that they may be ready at what time soever he cometh. He mentions only the four parts of the night, having spoken of sin under the notion of sleeping, and holiness under the notion of watching.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
34. For the Son of man is as a mantaking a far journey, c.The idea thus far is similar to thatin the opening part of the parable of the talents (Mat 25:14Mat 25:15).
and commanded the porterthegatekeeper.
to watchpointing tothe official duty of the ministers of religion to give warning ofapproaching danger to the people.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[For the son of man is] as a man taking a far journey,…. Or this case of the son of man’s coming to take vengeance on the Jewish nation, is like a man that takes a journey into a far country. This puts me in mind of a question asked m by the Jews:
“what , “a far journey” from Modiim, and without.”
from Modiim, according to the Gemara n, and commentators o on this passage, was a place fifteen miles from Jerusalem; so that, according to them, fifteen miles were reckoned a far journey p.
Who left his house; and his goods in it, to the care and management of others during his absence:
and gave authority to his servants; to govern his house, and exercise power one over another, according to their different stations;
and to every man his work; which he was to do, while he was gone, and to give him an account of when he returned:
and commanded the porter to watch; his house, and take care that it was not broke open by thieves, and plundered of the substance that was in it. So Christ, when he ascended on high, went to heaven, the land afar off; left his house, his church, particularly in Judea, and at Jerusalem, to the care of his apostles, and gave authority to govern it, according to the laws, rules, and directions prescribed by him; and assigned every man his particular work, for which he gave him proper gifts and abilities; and ordered the porter to be on his watch, not Peter only, but all the apostles and ministers, whose business it is to watch over themselves, and the souls of men committed to their care.
m Misn. Pesachim, c. 9. sect. 2. n T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 93. 2. o Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. ib. p Maimon. Hilch. Korban Pesach. c. 5. sect. 9.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Commanded also the porter to watch ( ) . The porter or door-keeper (), as well as all the rest, to keep a watch (present subjunctive, ). This Parable of the Porter is only in Mark. Our ignorance of the time of the Master’s return is an argument not for indifference nor for fanaticism, but for alertness and eager readiness for his coming.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
A man taking a far journey [ ] . The A. V. is incorrect, since the idea is not that of a man about to go, as Mt 25:14; but of one already gone. So Wyc., gone far in pilgrimage; and Tynd., which is gone into a strange country. The two words form one notion – a man abroad. Rev., sojourning in another country.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
OBLIGATION TO WATCH FOR JESUS’ RETURN, V. 34-37
1) “For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey,” (hos anthropos apodemos) “Because He (the Son of man) exists as or like a man away from home,” on a far journey, for a specific purpose, specifically planning to return, Joh 14:1-3.
2) “Who left his house,” (apheis ten oikian autou) “Who upon leaving his house,” going away for an extended period of time, from his house. He had no earthly house, Mat 8:20. But He built, established, and left a house (His church), that was better than the house that Moses built, Heb 3:1-6; 1Ti 3:15.
3) “And gave authority to his servants,” (kai dous tois doulois autou ten eksousian); “And giving over to his slaves (household slaves or workmen) authority,” to care for and carry on His estate, His house of worship and service, Mat 28:18-20; Mar 16:15; Joh 15:16; Joh 15:27; Joh 20:21; Act 1:8.
4) “And to every man his own work,” (hekasto to ergon autou) “Even to each servant his own work,” his particular work, 1Co 3:8-9; So that each is to give account of himself as a workman, a light-bearer, and a witness in the house of the Lord, the church, Eph 2:10; Eph 3:21; Mat 5:15-16; Joh 8:12.
5) “And commanded the porter to watch.” (kai to thuroro eneteilato hina gregore) “And the doorkeeper he commanded (gave instructions) in order that he might watch,” as a time-keeper and a record-keeper, over the work of his Master who had gone away for an extended period of time. This appears to represent the charge of the Lord to the Bishop over the flock, the household, or local assembly, as in Act 20:28; 1Ti 5:17-18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(34) For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey.The italics indicate, as usual, that the words are not found in the Greek. Their absence, seeming, as they do, essential to the meaning of the sentence, is singular. A possible explanation is, that we have an imperfect fragmentary report, as from a note taken at the time, of that which appears, in a developed form, as the parable of the Talents in Mat. 25:14-30.
And commanded the porter to watch.This feature is unique in our Lords parables, and, as such, seems to call for a special interpretation. The servants we accept at once as the disciples, and we understand generally what was the authority and the work assigned to them. But who was specifically the gate-keeper or porter? The answer appears to be found in the promise of the keys of the kingdom that had been made to St. Peter (Mat. 16:19). It was his work to open the door of that kingdom wide, to be ready for his Lords coming in any of those manifold senses which experience would unfold to him. We may accordingly venture to trace in St. Marks record, here as elsewhere, the influence of the Apostle. That word the porter was, he felt, meant for him, and this he remembered when much that had been recorded by others had faded from his recollection. If we adopt this application of the word here, it throws light on the somewhat difficult reference to the porter of the sheep-fold in Joh. 10:3.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
34 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.
Ver. 34. The porter to watch ] That the rest did their work.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mar 13:34 . Enforcement of the exhortation to watch by a brief parable. At this point each of the synoptical evangelists goes his own way. In Mt. Jesus presses home the lesson by historical and prophetical pictures of the surprises brought by unexpected crises; in Lk. by general statements; in Mk. y a comparison which seems to be the germ of the parable in Mat 25:14-23 . (here only), a travelling man, cf. . , a merchant man, in Mat 13:45 . , : these participles specify the circumstances under which the command to the porter, the main point, was given; it was when the master was leaving, and when he gave to all his servants his parting instructions. , his (the master’s) authority, distributed among the servants when he could no longer exercise it himself. ., to each one his work , in apposition with . In the master’s absence each man became his own master; put upon his honour, the seat of the , and prescribing careful performance of the entrusted to each. . , also, among the rest, and very specially, to the porter (he gave instructions). The here is emphatic, as if it had been . , that he should watch: note that in this parable the function of watching becomes the business of one the porter. Each servant has his appropriate task; the porter’s is to watch. Yet in the moral sphere watching is the common duty of all, the temper in which all are to discharge their functions. All have to be porters , waiting at the gate, ready to open it to the returning master. Hence the closing exhortation in Mar 13:37 . What I say to you, the four disciples (Mar 13:3 ), I say to all: watch. This had to be added, because it was not said or suggested by the parable; a defect which makes it doubtful whether we have here a logion of Jesus in authentic form, and which may account for its omission by Lk.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mark
AUTHORITY AND WORK
Mar 13:34
Church order is not directly touched on in the Gospels, but the principles which underlie all Church order are distinctly laid down. The whole community of Christian people is a family or household, being brethren because possessors of a new life through Christ. In that household there is one ‘Master,’ and all its members are ‘servants.’ That name suggests the purpose for which they exist; the meaning of all their offices, dignities, etc.
I. The authority with which the servants are invested.
Explain by reference to ‘the kings of the earth exercise lordship over them’; ‘the greatest shall be your servant.’ It is then but another name for capacity for service, power to bless, etc.
And this idea is still further borne out if we go back to the parable of our text. A man leaves his house in charge of his servants. To them is committed the responsibility for his goods. His honour and interests are in their hands. They have control over his possessions. This is the analogy which our Lord suggests as presenting a vivid likeness to our position in the world.
Christ has committed the care of His kingdom, the glory of His name, the growth of His cause in the world to His Church, and has endowed it with all ‘talents,’ i.e. gifts needful for that work. Or, to put it in other words, they are His representatives in the world. They have to defend His honour. His name is scandalised or glorified by their actions. They have to see to His interests. They are charged with the carrying out of His mind and purposes.
The foundation of all is laid. Henceforth building on it is all, and that is to be done by men. Human lips and Christian effort-not without the divine Spirit in the word-are to be the means.
It is as when some commander plans his battle, and from an eminence overlooks the current of the fight, and marks the plunging legions as they struggle through the smoke. He holds all the tremendous machinery in his hands. The plan and the glory are his, but the execution of the plan lies with the troops.
In a still more true sense all the glory of the Christian conquest of the world is His, but still the instruments are ourselves. The whole counsel of God is on our side. We ‘go not a warfare at our own charges.’ Note the perfect consistency of this with all that we hold of the necessity of divine influence, etc.
His servants are intrusted with all His ‘goods.’ They have authority over the gifts which He has given them, i.e. Christian men are stewards of Christ’s riches for others.
They have access to the free use of them all for themselves.
Thus the ‘authority’ is all derived. It is all given for the sake of others. It is all capacity for service. Hence-
II. The authority with which the servants are invested binds every one of them to hard work for Christ.
1 Gifts involve duties. That is the first great thought. To have received binds us to impart. ‘Freely ye have received, freely give.’
All selfish possession of the gifts which Christ bestows is grave sin.
The price at which they were procured, that miracle and mystery of self-sacrifice, is the great pattern as well as the great motive for our service.
The purpose for which we have received them is plainly set forth: in the existence of the solidarity in which we are all bound; in the definite utterances of Scripture.
The need for their exercise is only too palpable in the condition of things around us.
2 In this multitude of servants every one has his own task.
The universality of the great gift leads to a corresponding universality of obligation. All Christians have their gifts. Each of us has his special work marked out for him by character, relationships, circumstances, natural tastes, etc.
How solemn a divine call there is in these individual peculiarities which we so often think of as unimportant accidents, or regard mainly in their bearing on our own ease and comfort! How reverently we should regard the diversities which are thus revelations of God’s will concerning our tasks! How earnestly we should seek to know what it is that we are fitted for! The importance of all protests against priestly assumption lies here, that they strengthen the force with which we proclaim that every man has his ‘work.’
Ponder the variety of characters and gifts which Christ gives and desires His servants to use, and the indispensable need for them all. The ideal Church is the ‘body’ of Christ, in which each member has its place and function.
Our fault in this matter.
3 The duties are to be done in the spirit of hard toil.
The servant has ‘his work’ allotted him, and the word implies that the work calls for effort. The race is not to be run without dust and sweat. Our Christian service is not to be regarded as a ‘bye-product’ or parergon. It is, so to speak, a vocation, not an avocation. It deserves and demands all the energy that we can put forth, continuity and constancy, plan and system. Nothing is to be done for God, any more than for ourselves, without toil. ‘In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread and give it to others.’
III, To do this work, watchfulness is needed.
What is this watchfulness? Not constant fidgety curiosity about the coming of the Lord; not hunting after apocalyptic dates. The modern impression seems to be that such study is ‘watchfulness.’ Christ says that the time of His coming is hidden see previous verses. Ignorance of that is the very reason why we are to watch. Watchfulness, then, is just a profound and constant feeling of the transiency of this present. The mind is to be kept detached from it; the eye and heart are to be going out to things ‘unseen and eternal’; we are to be familiarising ourselves with the thought that the world is passing away.
This watchfulness is an indispensable part of our ‘work.’ The true Christian thought of the transiency of the world sets us to work the more vigorously in it, and increases, not diminishes, our sense of the importance of time and of earthly things, and braces us to our tasks by the thought of the brevity of opportunity, as well as by guarding us against tastes and habits which eat all earnestness out of the soul.
Thus ‘working and watching,’ happy will be the servant whom his Lord will find ‘so doing,’ i.e. at work, not idly looking for Him. Our common duties are the best preparation for our Lord’s coming.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
a man. Greek. anthropos. App-123.
taking a far journey. See note on Mat 21:33.
who left = leaving.
servants = bond-servants.
and commanded the porter = commanded the porter withal.
to watch = to keep awake. Not the same word as in Mar 13:33. Note the Figure of speech Epanadiplosis (App-6), Mar 13:34 and Mar 13:37.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
[34. ) D. Hauber has ably proved that this passage is parallel, not to Mat 25:14, but to Mat 24:45.-Harm., p. 484].- , authority) This He gave to His servants conjointly, as is evident from the antithesis, and to every man) . The authority so assigned was a great authority: Mat 21:33.-) also [even].- , to the porter) [He gave charge], inasmuch as the porter is one who keeps watch even for others, and whose duty it is to rouse them up.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
as a: Mat 24:45, Mat 25:14-30, Luk 19:12-17
and to: Rom 12:4-8, Rom 13:6, 1Co 3:5-10, 1Co 12:4-31, 1Co 15:58, Col 3:24, Col 4:1
and commanded: Eze 3:17-21, Eze 33:2-9, Mat 24:45-47, Luk 12:36-40, Act 20:29-31
the porter: Mat 16:19, Joh 10:3, Rev 3:7
Reciprocal: Exo 18:20 – work Num 3:25 – the charge Num 4:4 – General 2Ki 7:10 – the porter Ezr 8:29 – Watch ye Ezr 10:4 – for this matter Neh 4:15 – every one Pro 7:19 – he Isa 56:10 – loving Mat 20:1 – labourers Mat 21:28 – sons Mat 21:33 – went Mar 12:1 – and went Luk 10:2 – the labourers Joh 3:27 – A man Act 20:31 – watch Rom 14:18 – in 2Co 6:5 – watchings Phi 1:1 – the servants 1Th 4:11 – and to do 1Th 5:2 – the day 1Th 5:6 – watch 2Ti 4:5 – watch
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE ABSENTEE HOUSEHOLDER
It is as when a man, sojourning in another country, having left his house, and given authority to his servants, to each one his work, commanded also the porter to watch.
Mar 13:34 (R.V.).
The parable makes it quite plain that our Lord is now in the position of an absentee householder. He is sojourning in another country. So He said in His high priestly prayer: I am no more in the world, and these are in the world. But the Church is still His house. Nor has He forgotten us. He has gone to take possession of heaven in our name. The Forerunner is for us entered within the veil. There He remembers us continually. Yet we are left without any visible Director or Head. His Church is a well-appointed household with a large staff of servants; but the personal oversight of the Master has long been lacking. He is with us indeedby His Word, by His Sacraments, by His Spirit; but He is not with us in visible bodily presence. He is sojourning in another country, cut off from us so far as all ordinary communications of sight and hearing are concerned.
I. Because of the long absence of the Master there is often much slackness among the servants. The Masters interests are not studied as carefully as they should be, and the work appointed is neglected or only perfunctorily performed. Sometimes, indeed, the servants are puffed up with pride, they get lax through indulgence and neglect, they waste the Masters goods, misrepresent His teaching, and enter into discreditable alliances with His enemies. In such cases there is no Masters flashing eye or commanding voice to rebuke and restrain, and if in their carelessness they neglect secret prayer and Bible study they soon cease to hear the still small voice of the Comforter, they forget their high calling, and their hearts wax gross and hard.
II. Slackness is seen in three directions:
(a) The slack servant begins to doubt the sufficiency of His authority. He relies more upon human philosophy and intellectual strength, or upon ecclesiastical and political influence, than upon the still small voice of the Spirit.
(b) These slackers are shirkers. They are so wrapped up in their personal comfort and enjoyment, so anxious about their own safety and reputation, so intent upon laying up treasure on earth and keeping on good terms with the world, that they shirk the work the Master gave them.
(c) And they fail in yet another matter. He commanded the porter to watch. He meant His servants to remember how He had promised to return. Every remembrance of Him, especially that at the appointed Communion Feast, was to be a looking forward as well as a looking back. They were to be on the watch, lest, coming suddenly, He should find them sleeping.
III. Remedy for slackness.Who then is that faithful and wise servant whom his Master when He cometh shall find so doing?
(a) Faithfulness. The faithful servanthe who is pure in his aims, sincere of heart, diligent in duty, impartial in judgment, constant and persevering in applicationis always ready to welcome the returning Master.
(b) We must be wise as well, not with worldly prudence, but with Spirit-taught foresight and discretion. Realising our limited knowledge, we must have the good sense to seek the guidance of Him Who knoweth all things.
Rev. F. S. Webster.
Illustration
Here is a West-End house, the owner of which is travelling or at his country residence. He is not expected back for some time, and the house, left to the care of a small staff of servants, presents a somewhat melancholy appearance. But a telegram announces an alteration of plans and, with the prospect of the masters immediate return, everything is changed. Fires are lit and windows thrown open, additional help is secured, and charwomen and window-cleaners are hard at work, that the master may find his house clean, well ventilated, and in perfect order. Which of these two pictures represents the condition of the Church of Christ to-day?
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
4
This short parable has the important lesson of the necessity of being faithful to the trust bestowed upon the servants of Christ.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 13:34. It is as when a man. The whole matter of watchfulness is as in the following parable.
Away from his country, sojourning in a foreign land.
Having left his house and given authority (i.e., the delegated power necessary for their duty) to his servants, to each one his work (the authority being joined with duty), commanded also the porter (as it were at the door, just as he went away) to watch. This injunction is the main point of the parable.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 34
Authority to his servants; to each one his proper charge.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Jesus told another parable about a doorkeeper. Mark is the only evangelist who recorded it. It is similar to the parable of the talents (Mat 25:14-30) and the parable of the minas (Luk 19:12-27) though much shorter.
In this parable the doorkeeper is the focus of attention. A doorkeeper or porter was responsible to guard the entrance to his master’s house. Entrusted with his master’s goods this doorkeeper did not know when his master would return. However whenever the master returned the doorkeeper would have to be ready to admit him to a well-managed house. Evening, midnight, rooster crowing, and dawn were the names that the Romans gave the four watches of the night. [Note: Wessel, p. 753.] The porter had to remain watchful (Gr. gregore) at night, when the Light of the World was absent from His estate. The opposite of watchfulness is insensibility, lethargy, and inactivity, pictured here as sleep (cf. Rom 13:11; 1Th 5:1-11). Likewise it is necessary for Jesus’ disciples to remain watchful (Gr. gregoreite, Mar 13:35).
"The element of surprise is ineradicable from the parousia expectation." [Note: G. R. Beasley-Murray, A Commentary on Mark Thirteen, p. 117.]