Mark 13:32-37 32“But about that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Watch, be alert. For you do not know when the time will come. 34Be like a man away on a journey who leaves his house and gives his servants authority to each one his work and commands the doorkeeper to be watchful. 35Therefore be watchful; for you do not know when the Lord of the house will come, in the evening or at midnight or when the rooster crows or in the morning, 36when he come s he might not find you sleeping. 37And what I say to you I say to all: Be alert.”
Jesus now gives a significant qualification to the “signs of the times” he mentioned earlier in this passage. We can know that the time is near but not know specifically when he will come again. The idea that the Son does not know what the Father knows has caused a lot of discussion and controversy, especially from a Trinitarian perspective. Is God not one, as the Shema states in Deuteronomy 6:4, so what the Father knows, the Son knows? The difficulty is the possible notion that this refers to the eternal state of Jesus as the Son. So, when he is exalted to the right hand of the Father, he still does not know when he will return. This limitation is not satisfactory for those who see perfect unity of Father, Son, and Spirit. One possible answer is that Jesus is referring to his Sonship on earth as the Incarnate one. His knowledge was limited by his humanness. He gave himself fully to the Father in full submission to the Father’s will, thereby setting the perfect example for his disciples. Like Jesus, we should not speculate but model our Master in full submission to God’s divine plan not only for the end of this present evil age but every aspect of our lives.
Since we cannot know the specific time when Jesus will come again, we need to be always ready. Jesus uses different words and a short parable to make his point. Watch (blepete, verse 33) is the common word for looking at something. As believers, we look to the future with hope and expectation. Looking at something requires focus and attention. Everything else becomes part of the periphery. We must keep our focus on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2). Be alert (agrypneite, verse 33) shows more vigilance, effort, and care in our looking. It has the sense being aware of the situations around us, not letting them divert our attention, focus, or energy but not ignoring them either. Be watchful (grēgorē, repeated three times, verses 34, 35, 37) gives the image of a guard who has the job of making sure no one bad enters or does something wrong. As believers, we must be on guard against laziness, apathy, complacency, and moral compromise and give our attention to doing God’s will in the obedience of faith. In verse 33, Jesus repeats the reason to be alert because we do not know when he will return.
The short parable in verse 34 gives a vivid picture of how the disciples must be alert. There are three key ideas in this short story. The first is that the man leaves his house for a journey. Jesus would be away from his disciples for a while, a theme found also in John 14:2-4. Second, the man gave his servants the authority to do what he wanted them to do. The word authority (exousian) indicates that the disciples would be empowered to do what Jesus commanded because they would be his representatives. It was not their authority but his authority. Their mission would be accomplished because he would be with them in the person of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8). Third, the watchful doorkeeper provides a model of what the disciples should do: keep alert and on guard, always looking for the Master of the house to return.
Verse 35 gives the third time Jesus tells his disciples that no one knows when he, the Lord of the household, will return. Mark records the four watches the Romans used for night time, which adds weight to Mark being in Rome when he wrote this Gospel. The danger is that they might be sleeping, meaning they have dulled their senses and become spiritually lazy. Being asleep spiritually can lead to moral compromise and make it easier to fall into temptation. This problem would be illustrated and experienced by the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane (14:32-42). The reason Jesus gave this whole discourse on the Mount of Olives is given in the last word: be alert, watch, pay attention, be on guard, be ready! That simple command will help us not to be distracted by the bad news, challenges, and temptations of the world.
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