“It
is like a man, traveling to another country, having left his house, and given authority to his servants, and to each one his work, and also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch. Watch therefore, for you don’t know when the lord of the house is coming, whether at evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning; lest coming suddenly he might find you sleeping. What I tell you, I tell all: Watch.”
Mark 13:34-37
Mark 13 [28.] “Now from the fig tree, learn this parable. When the branch has now become tender, and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near; even so you also, when you see these things coming to pass, know that it is near, at the doors. Most certainly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Watch, keep alert, and pray; for you don’t know when the time is.
Mark 13 [34.] “It is like a man, traveling to another country, having left his house, and given authority to his servants, and to each one his work, and also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch. Watch therefore, for you don’t know when the lord of the house is coming, whether at evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning; lest coming suddenly he might find you sleeping. What I tell you, I tell all: Watch.”
Mark 14 [1.] It was now two days before the feast of the Passover and the unleavened bread, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might seize him by deception, and kill him. For they said, “Not during the feast, because there might be a riot of the people.”
Meaning:
Jesus ends his teaching on the Mount of Olives with a short parable and a single command. A master goes away, leaving his servants work to do and a doorkeeper on watch. No one knows when he will return. The word “watch” appears three times in these verses, and it is the last word of the whole discourse. In the very next chapter the plot to kill Jesus begins (Mark 14:1-2).
- “It is like a man, traveling to another country”
The master in the parable is Jesus himself. He was about to leave his disciples through his death, resurrection and ascension, and he would be away for a time whose length no one knew. Before leaving, the master has “given authority to his servants, and to each one his work”. The time of his absence is not a holiday. Every servant has a task, and the master’s authority goes with it.
In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus tells a longer parable on the same theme, in which the faithful servant hears his master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things” (Matthew 25:21).
- “And also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch”
In a large household the doorkeeper stayed by the door, ready to open it the moment the master arrived, whatever the hour. A sleeping doorkeeper left the master standing outside and the house unguarded. Each servant has his own work, but all share the doorkeeper’s duty: to be awake and ready to welcome the master home.
- “Whether at evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning”
Jesus names the four watches into which the Romans divided the night: evening, midnight, cockcrow and early morning. Mark’s account of the following night seems to pass through these very watches. In the evening Jesus ate the Passover with the twelve (Mark 14:17). Later, in Gethsemane, he found the disciples sleeping and asked Peter, “Couldn’t you watch one hour?” (Mark 14:37-38). When the rooster crowed, Peter denied him (Mark 14:72). In the morning the council bound Jesus and handed him over to Pilate (Mark 15:1).
Those who had just heard “lest coming suddenly he might find you sleeping” were found sleeping that same night. The warning was not for others only; it was for them, and it is for us.
- “What I tell you, I tell all: Watch”
Jesus had spoken privately to four disciples (Mark 13:3), but he makes it clear that the command is for everyone who follows him. Paul echoes it: “so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6), and “it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11). To watch is to stay spiritually awake: faithful in prayer, obedient in daily work, and looking forward to the Lord’s return.
The Significance of Mark 13:34-37
- Everyone has a task
The absent master has given each servant work to do. Every believer has a calling to serve Christ with the gifts and opportunities he gives.
- Spiritual sleep is the danger
The greatest risk is not open rebellion but gradual drowsiness. Prayer, Scripture and fellowship keep believers awake.
- Ready to open the door
Watching is not anxious waiting but eager expectation. “Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong!” (1 Corinthians 16:13).
Cross-References:
Matthew 24:42: "Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes." The same command in Matthew.
Mark 14:38: "Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." The disciples asleep in Gethsemane.
1 Thessalonians 5:6: "so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober." Paul’s call to stay awake.
Romans 13:11: "it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed." The time to wake up.
Conclusion: Jesus closed his teaching about the future with the picture of a master who went on a journey, gave each servant his work and told the doorkeeper to watch. Because no one knows whether he will return at evening, midnight, cockcrow or morning, his servants must not be found sleeping. The disciples failed that very night, yet Jesus’ final word stands for all who follow him: Watch. Stay faithful, prayerful and ready, for the Lord of the house is coming.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible