Mark 13:33-37
Chapter 13
33
Stay alert and watch out, because you never know when the time will arrive.
34
When a man travels abroad and leaves his home, he assigns his servants responsibilities and instructs the doorkeeper to stay alert.
35
So stay alert, because you don’t know when the owner of the house is coming—whether it’s in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or before dawn.
36
If he arrives unexpectedly, don’t let him find you asleep.
37
What I tell you, I tell everyone: Stay awake!”
Commentaries
The Example of the Fig Tree – About the Day and the Hour.
The eschatological discourse ends with Jesus’ urging to be watchful, alert, and ready for the coming of the Son of Man, his parousia. To emphasize this, he uses familiar images: the example of the fig tree and the householder who goes on a journey, but whose servants do not know when he will return. We must fully live the present and eagerly await the Lord’s Parousia. Instead of worrying about “the date” of his coming, we should focus on finding him now, in our daily lives. Jesus rose from the dead and remains among us. We do not wait for him to “return,” because, in truth, he has never left. What we anticipate is his glorious appearance.