Mark 13:36

33. Take heed, watch and pray; for you know not when the time is. 26. And as it happened in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27. They ate, they drank, they married wives, and were given in marriage, till that day when Noah entered into the ark; and the deluge came, and destroyed them all. 28. In like manner also, as it happened in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29. But on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30. In all these respects shall the day be when the Son of man shall be revealed. 31. In that day, let not him who shall be on the housetop, and his furniture in the house, go down to take them away; and in like manner, let not him who shall be in the field return to what he hath left behind. 32. Remember Lot's wife. 33. Whosoever shall seek to save his soul, shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose it, will beget it to life. [161] 34. I tell you, in that night two men shall be in one bed; one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 35. Two women shall be grinding together; one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 36. Two men shall be in the field; one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 37. Then they answering say to him, Where, Lord? And he said to them, Wherever the carcass is, there will the eagles also be gathered together. 34. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly. 35. For as a snare shall it come on all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36. Watch therefore, praying at all times that you may be permitted to escape all those things which shall happen, and to stand before the Son of man.

13:28-37 We have the application of this prophetic sermon. As to the destruction of Jerusalem, expect it to come very shortly. As to the end of the world, do not inquire when it will come, for of that day and that hour knoweth no man. Christ, as God, could not be ignorant of anything; but the Divine wisdom which dwelt in our Saviour, communicated itself to his human soul according to the Divine pleasure. As to both, our duty is to watch and pray. Our Lord Jesus, when he ascended on high, left something for all his servants to do. We ought to be always upon our watch, in expectation of his return. This applies to Christ's coming to us at our death, as well as to the general judgment. We know not whether our Master will come in the days of youth, or middle age, or old age; but, as soon as we are born, we begin to die, and therefore we must expect death. Our great care must be, that, whenever our Lord comes, he may not find us secure, indulging in ease and sloth, mindless of our work and duty. He says to all, Watch, that you may be found in peace, without spot, and blameless.

Mark 13:36 . ἐξαίφνης , suddenly, here in Luke 2:13 , and four times in Acts.— καθεύδοντας : this applies to all the servants, not merely to the porter; therefore all must watch as well as work. In the case of a master absent on a journey, the servants cannot know even the day , not to speak of the hour or watch of the night, as they could in the cases supposed in Luke 12:36 , Matthew 25:1 . Therefore they must keep awake not merely one night, but many nights, an incongruity which again suggests that we have not here an original utterance of Jesus, but a composite logion with elements borrowed from several parables.

36 . lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping ] “During the night the ‘captain of the Temple’ made his rounds. On his approach the guards had to rise and salute him in a particular manner. Any guard found asleep when on duty was beaten, or his garments were set on fire—a punishment, as we know, actually awarded.” Edersheim, p. 120. Mark 13:36

[Reformed Biblical] {u} "Take ye heed" Matthew 24:42; 25:13; Luke 12:40; 21:34; Romans 13:11,12 1 Th 5:6; Revelation 16:15 ## THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 13 - Verse 34 Verse 34. 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. As 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, defend the house from danger, and be ready for his return. The porter. The door-keeper. To the janitor or door-keeper was entrusted, particularly, the faithful care of the house, whose duty it was to attend faithfully on those who came, and those who left the house. ## THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 13 - Verse 35 Verse 35. Watch ye. Be diligent, faithful, and waiting for the return of your Lord, who will come at an unexpected hour. Master of the house. Denoting here the Lord Jesus. At even, or at midnight or, at etc. : This refers to the four divisions into which the Jews divided the night. ## THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 13 - Verse 36 Verse 36. Find you sleeping. Inattentive to your post, neglecting your duty, and unprepared for his coming.

striking by our Lord's addressing his disciples just as if they were domestics left in charge of their master's property and dwelling. Ho does not say, 'for you are like those servants in not knowing,' but without employing any term of likeness or comparison, he says to them directly, for ye Tcnow not when the master of the Iwuse cometh, thus transporting them at once into the ideal situation which he had been just describing. There is something in the turn thus given to the conversation as pleasing to the taste as it is helpful to the understanding. The last clause is, if possible, more exquisite and admirable still; for with inimitable ease and grace, it carries out the imaginary case in its details, without a formal application, which could not be needed even by the dullest or most careless reader. The divisions of the night here mentioned are commonly supposed to be the four military watches which had superseded the three ancient ones at the Roman conquest. See above, on 6, 48, where this division is implied; but here the watches are distinctly enumerated, no doubt by their pi'oper and customary names. At even, a Greek adverb, strictly meaning late, a relative expression sometimes meaning late in life, but commonly late in the day, or towards its close, at evening, and in reference to night, the early portion as distinguished from the three that follow. Midnight explains itself, and has its synonymes in every language