Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 12:37
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.
37. he shall gird himself and make them to sit down to meat ] Doubtless some of the Apostles must have recalled these words when Jesus washed their feet. To Roman readers the words would recall the customs of their Saturnalia when slaves were waited on by their masters.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Shall gird himself – Shall take the place of the servant himself. Servants who waited on the table were girded in the manner described above.
Shall make them sit … – Shall place them at his table and feast them. This evidently means that if we are faithful to Christ, and are ready to meet him when he returns, he will receive us into heaven – will admit us to all its blessings, and make us happy there – as if he should serve us and minister to our wants. It will be as if a master, instead of sitting down at the table himself, should place his faithful servants there, and be himself the servant. This shows the exceeding kindness and condescension of our Lord. For us, poor and guilty sinners, he denied himself, took the form of a servant Phi 2:7, and ministered to our wants. In our nature he has worked out salvation, and he has done it in one of the humblest conditions of the children of men. How should our bosoms burn with gratitude to him, and how should we be willing to serve one another! See the notes at John 13:1-17.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 37. He shall gird himself] Alluding to the long garments which were worn in the eastern countries; and which, in travelling and serving, were tucked up in their belts. That those among the Romans who waited on the company at table were girded, and had their clothes tucked up, appears from what Horace says, Sat. b. vi. l. 107: Veluti SUCCINCTUS cursitat HOSPES, He runs about like a girded waiter. The host himself often performed this office. And ibid. viii. 10: Puer alle cinctus: and that the game custom prevailed among the Jews appears from Joh 13:4-5, and Lu 17:8. From this verse we may gather likewise, that it was the custom of those days, as it was, not long since, among us, for the bridegroom, at the wedding supper, to wait as a servant upon the company. See Bishop PEARCE.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The duty which Christ is here pressing upon his hearers is watchfulness, which signifieth:
1. A negation of sleep;
2. An industrious keeping ourselves awake with reference to some particular end. The end here expressed is the happy receiving of Christ, coming to judgment; from whence is evident, that the watching here intended is a spiritual watching, which is a denial of ourselves as to our lusts, and the sleep of sin, which is compared to sleep, Rom 13:11; Eph 5:14, and an industrious keeping ourselves from such sleep in order to the coming of our Lord, who will come at an hour when we think not, Luk 12:40; his coming is to us uncertain, and will be to many surprising.
This watchfulness he presseth upon his hearers;
1. From the reward the Lord will give to such persons:
He shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them: very high metaphorical expressions, signifying no more, than that he will put upon them a very high honour and dignity, and satisfy them with a fulness of happiness and glory, and they shall be at rest for ever. The state of glory is elsewhere set out under the notion of drinking new wine in the kingdom of God, and eating and drinking in his kingdom.
2. From the benefit which they will have by watching in this; that let the Lord come when he will, whether in the second or third watch, they will be ready, and they shall be blessed.
3. He presseth it also from the ordinary prudence of men, who if they have an intimation that a thief is coming, will watch, and prevent the mischief that might ensue by the breaking open of their houses. But concerning those words;
See Poole on “Mat 24:43-44“, where we met with them before used upon the same occasion.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
37. gird himself, &c.”apromise the most august of all: Thus will the Bridegroom entertainhis friends (nay, servants) on the solemn Nuptial Day” [BENGEL].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Blessed are those servants whom the Lord,…. The Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, “their Lord”, the master of them, or the Lord Jesus Christ:
when he cometh shall find watching: for him, and not asleep. The Ethiopic version reads, “so doing, and watching”; girding up their loins, trimming their lamps, and waiting for their Lord’s coming: such servants are happy, they will appear to be in the favour of their master, who will take notice of them and show some marks of respect to them; as Christ will to all his good and faithful servants, whenever he comes, whether at death, or at judgment; and who will be happy then, being found so doing, and found in him:
verily I say unto you that he shall gird himself; not that Christ shall really do this, or appear in the form of a servant; but that he shall readily, cheerfully, and at once introduce his servants into his joy, and make them partakers of all the glories of the other world:
and make them to sit down to meat; at his table in his kingdom; see Mt 8:11
and will come forth and serve them; with food, yea, will feed them himself, and lead them to fountains of living water, Re 7:17 The Arabic version renders it, “he shall stand to minister unto them”: the phrase is expressive of the posture of a servant; who, as Dr. Lightfoot observes, is , “walking”, and who goes round about the table, whilst others sit t: some think there is allusion in the words to a custom used at some feasts, particularly at the feasts in honour of Saturn, in which servants changed clothes with their masters, and sat at their tables, and their masters served them u
t Jarchi in T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 77. 2. u Vide Lipsii Saturnal. l. 1. c. 2. p. 6.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He shall gird himself (). Direct future middle. Jesus did this (Joh 13:4), not out of gratitude, but to give the apostles an object lesson in humility. See the usual course in Lu 17:7-10 with also the direct middle (verse 8) of .
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Watching. See on Mr 13:35.
Gird himself. As a servant girding up his loose garments to wait on the table.
Serve. See on minister, Mt 20:26.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Blessed are those servants,” (makarioi hoi douloi ekenoi) “Blessed are those slave-servants,” of mine as well, Mat 24:42, for they shall then be rewarded, Rev 22:12.
2) “Whom their lord when he cometh shall find watching:” (ous elthon ho kurios heuresei gregorountas) “Whom the lord will find watching when he comes,” Mat 24:42, at an uncertain and yet unknown time, Act 1:6-8.
3) “Verily I say unto you,” (amen lego humin) I truly tell you all,” as my little flock of serving church followers, who shall soon be left with my work, Joh 15:16; Joh 15:27; Joh 20:21.
4) “That he shall gird himself,” (hoti periposetai) “That he will gird himself,” to serve them as a servant-master, so expressly done by our servant-master, as recounted, Joh 13:1. The ancient custom was for the groom to wait on the guests.
5) “And make them sit down to meat,” (kai anaklinei autous) “And make them to recline,” for food, that he provides, 1Ti 6:18-19.
6) “And will come forth and serve them,” (kai parelthon diakoesei autois) “And upon coming to them he will serve them in their material needs,” for food and drink, and in all spiritual needs, as pledged Rev 3:20-21, when they shall sit with Him in His throne-glory, Jas 2:5; Mat 24:45; Mat 25:21-23; 2Ti 4:7-8; 1Pe 5:1-4; Rev 14:13.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(37) He shall gird himself.The words give a new significance to the act of our Lord in Joh. 13:4. Their real fulfilment is to be found, it need hardly be said, in the far-off completion of the Kingdom, or in the ever-recurring experiences which are the foretastes of that Kingdom; but the office which He then assumed must have reminded the disciples of the words which are recorded here, and may well have been intended to be at once a symbol and an earnest of what should be hereafter. In the promise of Rev. 3:20 (I will sup with him and he with Me) we have a recurrence to the same imagery. The passage should be borne in mind as balancing the seeming harshness of the Master in Luk. 17:8.
To sit down.Literally, to lie down, or recline.
Will come forth . . .Better, and as He passes on will minister unto them. The Greek verb expresses, not the coming out as from another chamber, but the passing from one to another, as when He washed the disciples feet, in Joh. 13:5.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
37. Blessed are those servants At the Roman Saturnalia the masters put on the servile dress and waited on and served their servants. As our Lord bases this parable upon the ancient relation of master and servant, so he uses this custom for an image to express the great honour he will confer upon his servants at the judgment day. He will indeed then have put off the “form of a servant;” and all the blessings accruing to his followers from his ever having worn it, he will then confer.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he comes will find watching.”
Jesus then points out that those servants who are found ready and watching when the lord returns will be truly blessed. Not that they were doing anything special. It was one of the main duties of servants to be at readiness waiting for the return of their master. They would be blessed because in fulfilling their duty they were pleasing their lord. They were doing what it was their duty to do.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
“Truly I say to you, that he will gird himself, and make them sit down to food, and will come and serve them.”
Indeed they will be so blessed that they will receive far more than they could ever have anticipated. It will become a special Servant’s Day. The lord himself will tuck in his robes and sit them down at his table, and will himself come and serve them.
It is one of the quirks of human nature that through the ages important men have had ‘servants’ days’ when precisely this was done. For one short day (or part of a day) the servants were sat at table and the masters and their families served them. (They then made up for it over the remainder of the year). In this case it was to be a special day as a reward for their hard work and loyalty, and for their being ready. But this time it would be the Master Himself Who would serve them. Once again Jesus gets over the point that the greatest are those who serve. Men and women would expect Him to come in order to sit at the head of the table and lord it over all. But even in His glory, He would come as One Who had come to serve. Note that it is this act that definitely identifies Whom the lord of the house represents, the great Servant of the Lord.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 12:37-40. Will come forth, and serve them, &c. It was usual for servants to sit at table, and for the master to wait upon them, among the Babylonians, at their feast called Saccas; among the Cretans, in their Hermoea; and among the Romans, in their Saturnalia: but whether our Lord alluded to these, or any of these, it is difficult to judge. The words certainly are very intelligible, without supposing any such reference. Our Lord, in the next verse, enforced constant watchfulness, and habitual preparation, from the consideration of the uncertainty of his coming; telling them, that as there is no master of a family but would make some preparation against a thief, if he knew of his coming, so it would be no great matter, if they should make preparation on receiving certain information of his approach; for which reason their zeal could only shew itself by keeping in a constant readiness, as they did not know at what hour he would come. The coming of the Son of man, as we have before remarked, often signifies his providential interposition for the destruction of Jerusalem: but here, (Luk 12:40.) it cannot be taken in such a sense, because our Lord speaks of an immediate reward to be bestowed on all faithful servants, and an immediate punishment to be executed on all that were unfaithful; and expressly declares this to be a matter of universal concern: all which particulars have very little sense or propriety, when applied to the destruction of Jerusalem. It must therefore be understood of his coming to remove them from the capacities of service here, to give up their account; and if we suppose it to relate to death, as well as judgment, which, by consequence at least, it undoubtedly does, it strongly intimates his having such a dominion over the invisible world, that every soul removed into it might be said to be fetched away by him. Compare Rev 1:18 and the note on Luk 12:56. Instead of and this know, Luk 12:39 some read, but this you know.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 12:37 . A symbolic representation of the most blessed recompense , which the servants of Christ, who are faithful to their calling, shall receive from Him at His Parousia . It is not the idea of the great and general Messianic banquets (Mat 8:11 ) that underlies this, but it is the thought of a special marriage-feast for those servants (the disciples). That the washing of the disciples’ feet by Jesus, Joh 13 , gave occasion (de Wette) to the mode of representation, according to which the Lord Himself serves (“promissio de ministrando honorificentissima et maxima omnium,” Bengel), is the less probable the greater the difference is seen to be between the idea expressed by the foot-washing and that which is here set forth. The thought of the Saturnalia (Grotius, comp. Paulus and Olshausen) brings in something wholly foreign, as also the calling of the slaves to partake in certain sacred feasts according to the law, Deu 12:17 f., Luk 16:11 f., is something very different from the idea of this feast (in opposition to Kuinoel, de Wette, and others), in respect of which, moreover, it has been assumed (see Heumann, Kuinoel, de Wette) that the Lord brought with Him meats from the wedding feast , an assumption which is as needless as it is incapable of proof.
. . .] a vivid representation of the individual details among which even the drawing near to those waiting ( ) is not wanting.
The parable, Luk 17:7-10 , has an entirely different lesson in view; hence there is no contradiction between the two.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
37 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.
Ver. 37. Blessed are those servants ] So Luk 12:38 ; Luk 12:43 . They are three times said to be blessed that watch. Terque quaterque beati: Faelices ter et amplius. Horat.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
37. ] See Rev 3:20-21 , where the same similitude is presented, and the promise carried on yet further, to the sharing of his Throne . The Lord himself, in that great day of his glory, the marriage-supper of the Lamb, will invert the order of human requirements (see ch. Luk 17:8 ), and in the fulness of his grace and love will serve his brethren: the Redeemer, his redeemed, the Shepherd, his flock.
., coming in turn to each. Compare the washing of the disciples’ feet in Joh 13:1 ff., which was a foreshewing of this last great act of self-abasing love.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 12:37 . : here as always implying rare felicity the reward of heroic virtue. : the Hebrew word retained here contrary to custom, introducing a startling thought, the inversion of the relation of master and servants, lord and slaves, through joy over their fidelity. For the other side of the picture vide Luk 17:7-10 . : the master, in genial mood, turns servant to his own slaves; makes them sit down, throws off his caftan, girds his under-garments, and helps them to portions of the marriage feast he has brought home with him , as a father might do for his children (De Wette, Koetsveld, p. 244). There is not necessarily an allusion either to the last supper (Luk 22:27 ) or to the Roman Saturnalia (Grotius, Holtzmann, H. C.).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Luke
SERVANTS AND STEWARDS HERE AND HEREAFTER
THE SERVANT-LORD
Luk 12:37
No one would have dared to say that except Jesus Christ. For surely, manifold and wonderful as are the glimpses that we get in the New Testament of the relation of perfect souls in heaven to Him, none of them pierces deeper, rises higher, and speaks more boundless blessing, than such words as these. Well might Christ think it necessary to preface them with the solemn affirmation which always, upon His lips, points, as it were, an emphatic finger to, or underlines that which He is about to proclaim. ‘Verily I say unto you,’ if we had not His own word for it, we might hesitate to believe. And while we have His own word for it, and do not hesitate to believe, it is not for us to fathom or exhaust, but lovingly and reverently and humbly, because we know it but partially, to try to plumb the unfathomable depth of such words. ‘He shall gird Himself, and cause them to sit down to meat; and come forth and serve them.’
I. Then we have, first of all, the wonderful revelation of the Servant-Lord.
And the words are not only remarkable because they couple so closely together the two antagonistic ideas, as we fancy them, of rule and service, authority and subordination, but because they dwell with such singular particularity of detail upon all the stages of the menial office which the Monarch takes upon Himself. First, the girding, assuming the servant’s attire; then the leading of the guests, wondering and silent, to the couches where they can recline; then the coming to them as they thus repose at the table, and the waiting upon their wants and supplying all their need. It reminds us of the wonderful scene, in John’s Gospel, where we have coupled together in the same intimate and interdependent fashion the two thoughts of dignity and of service-’Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hand, and that He came from God and went to God,’ made this use of His consciousness and of His unlimited and universal dominion, that ‘He laid aside His garments, and took a towel, and girded Himself, and washed the disciples’ feet’; thus teaching what our text teaches in still another form, that the highest authority means the lowliest service, that the purpose of power is blessing, that the very sign and mark of dignity is to stoop, and that the crown of the Universe is worn by Him who is the Servant of all.
But beyond that general idea which applies to the whole of the divine dealings and especially to the earthly life of Him who came, not to be ministered unto, but to minister, the text sets forth special manifestations of Christ’s ministering love and power, which are reserved for heaven, and are a contrast with earth. The Lord who is the Servant girds Himself. That corresponds with the commandment that went before, ‘Let your loins be girded,’ and to some extent covers the same ground and suggests the same idea. With all reverence, and following humbly in the thoughts that Christ has given us by the words, one may venture to say that He gathers all His powers together in strenuous work for the blessing of His glorified servants, and that not only does the metaphor express for us His taking upon Himself the lowly office, but also the employment of all that He is and has there in the heavens for the blessing of the blessed ones that sit at His table.
Here upon earth, when He assumed the form of a Servant in His entrance into humanity, it was accompanied with the emptying Himself of His glory. In the symbolical incident in John’s Gospel, to which I have already referred, He laid aside His garments before He wrapped around Him the badge of service. But in that wondrous service by the glorified Lord there is no need for divesting ere He serves, but the divine glories that irradiate His humanity, and by which He, our Brother, is the King of kings and the Lord of the Universe, are all used by Him for this great, blessed purpose of gladdening and filling up the needs of the perfected spirits that wait, expectant of their food, upon Him. His girding Himself for service expresses not only the lowliness of His majesty and the beneficence of His power, but His use of all which He has and is for the blessing of those whom He keeps and blesses.
I need not remind you, I suppose, how in this same wonderful picture of the Servant-Lord there is taught the perpetual-if we may so say, the increased-lowliness of the crowned Christ. When He was here on earth, He was meek and holy; exalted in the heavens, He is, were it possible, meeker and more lowly still, because He stoops from a loftier elevation. The same loving, gentle, gracious heart, holding all its treasures for its brethren, is the heart that now is girded with the golden girdle of sovereignty, and which once was girt with the coarse towel of the slave. Christ is for ever the Servant, because He is for ever the Lord of them that trust in Him. Let us learn that service is dominion; that ‘he that is chiefest among us’ is thereby bound to be ‘the servant’ and the helper ‘of all.’
II. Notice, the servants who are served and serve.
Further, this great promise assures us of the supply of all wants that are only permitted to last long enough to make a capacity for receiving the eternal and all-satisfying food which Christ gives the restful servants. Though ‘they hunger no more,’ they shall always have appetite. Though they ‘thirst no more,’ they shall ever desire deeper draughts of the fountain of life. Desire is one thing, longing is another. Longing is pain, desire is blessedness; and that we shall want and know ourselves to want, with a want which lives but for a moment ere the supply pours in upon it and drowns it, is one of the blessednesses to which we dare to look forward. Here we live, tortured by wishes, longings, needs, a whole menagerie of hungry mouths yelping within us for their food. There we wait upon the Lord, and He gives a portion in due season.
The picture in the text brings with it all festal ideas of light, society, gladness, and the like, on which I need not dwell. But let me just remind you of one contrast. The ministry of Christ, when He was a servant here upon earth, was symbolised by His washing His disciples’ feet, an act which was part of the preparation of the guests for a feast. The ministry of Christ in heaven consists, not in washing, for ‘he that is washed is clean every whit’ there, and for ever more-but in ministering to His guests that abundant feast for which the service and the lustration of earth were but the preparation. The servant Christ serves us here by washing us from our sins in His own blood, both in the one initial act of forgiveness and by the continual application of that blood to the stains contracted in the miry ways of life. The Lord and Servant serves His servants in the heavens by leading them, cleansed to His table, and filling up every soul with love and with Himself.
But all that, remember, is only half the story. Our Lord here is not giving us a complete view of the retributions of the heavens, He is only telling us one aspect of them. Repose, society, gladness, satisfaction, these things are all true. But heaven is not lying upon couches and eating of a feast. There is another use of this metaphor in this same Gospel, which, at first sight, strikes one as being contradictory to this. Our Lord said: ‘Which of you, having a servant ploughing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, go and sit down to meat, and will not rather say unto him, make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink.’ These two representations are not contradictory. Put the two halves together like the two pictures in a stereoscope and, as you look, they will go together into one solid image, of which the one part is the resting at the table of the feast, and the other part is that entrance into heaven is not cessation, but variation, of service. It was dirty, cold, muddy work out there in the field ploughing, and when the man comes back with his soiled, wet raiment and his weary limbs a change of occupation is rest. It is better for him to be set to ‘make ready wherewith I may eat and drink,’ than to be told to sit down and do nothing.
So the servants are served, and the servants serve. And these two representations are not contradictory, but they fill up the conception of perfect blessedness. For remember, if we may venture to say so, that the very same reason which makes Christ the Lord serve His servants makes the servants serve Christ the Lord. For love, which underlies their relationship, has for its very life-breath doing kindnesses and good to its objects, and we know not whether it is more blessed to the loving heart to minister to, or to be ministered to by, the heart which it loves. So the Servant-Lord and the servants, serving and served, are swayed in both by the same motive and rejoice in the interchange of offices and tokens of love.
III. Mark the earthly service which leads to the heavenly rest.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Blessed = Happy.
servants = bondman.
watching. Greek. gregoreo, as in 1Th 5:6, 1Th 5:10 (wake).
verily. See note on Mat 5:18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
37.] See Rev 3:20-21, where the same similitude is presented, and the promise carried on yet further,-to the sharing of his Throne. The Lord himself, in that great day of his glory,-the marriage-supper of the Lamb,-will invert the order of human requirements (see ch. Luk 17:8), and in the fulness of his grace and love will serve his brethren:-the Redeemer, his redeemed,-the Shepherd, his flock.
., coming in turn to each. Compare the washing of the disciples feet in Joh 13:1 ff., which was a foreshewing of this last great act of self-abasing love.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 12:37. ) The participle is pleonastic (), and often occurs in similar cases where a banquet is spoken of. See ch. Luk 17:7, .[123] Sir 29:23 (26), . This promise of Himself ministering to (serving) His servants is the most distinguishing and greatest of all marks of honour. It is thus that the Bridegroom receives and entertains His friends on the solemn day of the marriage feast.
[123] Go forward and sit to meat. Wahl, Clavis, under , , attributes this pleonastic junction of a participle with the finite verb to the simplicity of antiquity, which is wont totum rei ambitum emetiri, nihilque cogitationum, quod eodem spectet, missum facere.-ED. and TRANSL.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Blessed: Luk 12:43, Luk 21:36, Mat 24:45-47, Mat 25:20-23, Phi 1:21, Phi 1:23, 2Ti 4:7, 2Ti 4:8, 1Pe 5:1-4, 2Pe 1:11, 2Pe 3:14, Rev 14:13
that: Isa 62:5, Jer 32:41, Zep 3:17, Joh 12:26, Joh 13:4, Joh 13:5, 1Co 2:9, Rev 3:21, Rev 7:17, Rev 14:3, Rev 14:4
Reciprocal: Gen 18:8 – stood 1Ki 2:7 – eat 2Ch 9:4 – the sitting Pro 27:18 – shall be Mat 5:18 – verily Mat 8:11 – shall sit Mat 24:46 – General Mat 24:47 – That Mat 25:10 – they Mar 8:6 – to sit Luk 14:15 – Blessed Luk 17:8 – and gird Luk 22:16 – until Luk 22:27 – General Luk 22:30 – eat Joh 17:24 – I will Rom 2:10 – glory Eph 2:6 – sit 1Th 5:6 – watch 2Th 3:5 – and into 2Ti 4:5 – watch Rev 3:20 – will sup Rev 16:15 – Blessed Rev 22:14 – Blessed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7
If a servant is watching he will not be caught with surprise, but will be ready to open the door to let him in. The happy bridegroom will regale his faithful servants by serving them with the wedding feast.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
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.
[He will come forth and serve them.] He that serves at the table goes about while the guests sit. He will come forth seems to denote the same thing here; unless it may refer to some such thing as this, viz. that the master will pass by his dignity, and condescend to minister to his own servants.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luk 12:37. Blessed, etc. The blessedness of these faithful servants is set forth in a figure.
Gird himself, to serve them. Comp. Joh 13:4, which foreshadows the ministering condescension of the master, at His return.
Shall come forward. A peculiar expression, describing His approach to the guests.
Serve them, wait upon them at table.In this passage no prominence is given to the wedding feast, and this must be remembered in interpreting it.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here our Saviour makes use of several arguments to enforce the duty of watchfulness upon his disciples; the first is drawn from the transcendent reward which Christ will bestow upon his watchful servants: He will gird himself, make them sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them; a very high metaphorical expression: as if a master should be so transported with the diligence and faithfulness of his servant, as to vouchsafe not only to let him sit down to meat in his presence, but to take the napkin upon his arm, and wait upon him himself at his table.
Lord, how poor and how inconsider-able is that service, which the best of us do for thee! And yet thou speaks of it as if thou were beholden to us for it. Thou does not only administer to us a supper, but thou ministers and waits upon us at supper: He will gird himself, and serve them.
The second argument to excite to watchfulness is drawn from the benefit which we have received by watching in this life; then let the Lord come when he will, whether in the second or third watch, they shall be found ready, and in a blessed condition, who are found diligent in his service, and waiting for his appearance.
Note here,
1. The Son of man will certainly come at one hour or other.
2. At what hour the Son of man will come cannot be certainly known.
3. That there is no hour wherein we can promise ourselves that the Son of man will not come.
4. Very joyful will the coming of the Son of man be, if we be found upon our watch, and ready for his coming: Be ye therefore ready also; for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Luk 12:37. Blessed are those servants, &c. And blessed also will you be, if this shall be your case: verily, he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat The master of such servants, pleased with their care, would perhaps order them a refreshment, after having watched and fasted so long; and if he were of a very humane disposition, might even bring it them himself, and give it them out of his own hand. It may not be improper to observe here, that it was usual for servants to sit at table, and for their masters to wait upon them, among the Romans in their Saturnalia, among the Cretans in their Herm, and among the Babylonians at their feast called Saccas: but whether our Lord here alludes to these, or any of these, it is difficult to judge. The words certainly are very intelligible without supposing any such reference. What our Lord chiefly meant by the similitude evidently was, to intimate to his disciples how acceptable their zeal in discharging the duties of their function would be to him, and how highly he would reward them for it.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The blessing that Jesus promised was that the Master would serve His servants. This was unthinkable in Jesus’ world (cf. Joh 13:3-8). However, Jesus enforced its certainty with a strong affirmation that Luke did not record Him using since Luk 4:24. The messianic banquet on earth at the beginning of the millennium is evidently in view here.
"Eschatological fulfillment, and specifically sharing in God’s reign, is repeatedly pictured in terms of a festive meal in Luke. This association must be considered when interpreting the meal scenes and references to a future meal in the gospel, which have an unusually prominent place in Luke’s account of the ministry of Jesus." [Note: Ibid., 1:218. Cf. 13:28-29;14:15-24; and 22:16, 18 and 30.]
Messiah will continue to serve His people during the messianic kingdom, but He will honor the faithful especially. The second watch was from 9:00 p.m. to midnight, and the third watch was from midnight to 3:00 a.m. by Jewish reckoning. These periods present the present world as a place of darkness in which a disciple can sleep rather than bear witness. [Note: E. Lövestam, Spiritual Wakefulness in the New Testament, pp. 84-91.]