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Complete Jewish Bible
whether it will be evening, midnight, cockcrow or morning -- you don't want him to come suddenly and find you sleeping!
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Commentary on Mark 13 verses 28–37
28 ¶ Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.
30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points
We have here the application of this prophetical sermon; now learn to look forward in a right manner.
I. "As to the destruction of Jerusalem, expect it to come very shortly; as when the branch of the fig-tree becomes soft, and the leaves sprout forth, ye expect that summer will come shortly, Mar 13:28. When second causes begin to work, ye expect their effects in their proper order and time. So when ye see these things come to pass, when ye see the Jewish nation embroiled in wars, distracted by false Christs and prophets, and drawing upon them the displeasure of the Romans, especially when ye see them persecuting you for your Master's sake, and thereby standing to what they did when they put him to death, and repeating it, and so filling up the measure of their iniquity, then say that their ruin is nigh, even at the door, and provide for yourselves accordingly." The disciples themselves were indeed all of them, except John, taken away from the evil to come, but the next generation whom they were to train up, would live to see it; and by these instructions which Christ left behind him would be kept from sharing in it; "This generation that is now rising up, shall not all be worn off before all these things come to pass, which I have told you of, relating to Jerusalem, and they shall begin to take effect now shortly. And as this destruction is near and within ken, so it is sure. The decree is gone forth, it is a consummation determined," Dan 9:27. Christ doth not speak these things, merely to frighten them; no, they are declarations of God's fixed purpose; "Heaven and earth shall pass away, at the end of time; but my words shall not pass away (Mar 13:31), not one of these predictions shall fail of a punctual accomplishment."
II. "As to the end of the world, do not enquire when it will come, for it is not a question fit to be asked, for of that day, and that hour, knoweth no man; it is a thing at a great distance; the exact time is fixed in the counsel of God, but is not revealed by any word of God, either to men on earth, or to angels in heaven; the angels shall have timely notice to prepare to attend in that day, and it shall be published, when it comes to the children of men, with sound of trumpet; but, at present, men and angels are kept in the dark concerning the precise time of it, that they may both attend to their proper services in the present day." But it follows, neither the Son; but is there any thing which the Son is ignorant of? We read indeed of a book which was sealed, till the Lamb opened the seals; but did not he know what was in it, before the seals were opened? Was not he privy to the writing of it? There were those in the primitive times, who taught from this text, that there were some things that Christ, as man, was ignorant of; and from these were called Agnoetae; they said, "It was no more absurd to say so, than to say that his human soul suffered grief and fear;" and many of the orthodox fathers approved of this. Some would evade it, by saying that Christ spoke this in a way of prudential economy, to divert the disciples from further enquiry: but to this one of the ancients answers, It is not fit to speak too nicely in this matter - ou dei panu akribologein, so Leontius in Dr. Hammond, "It is certain (says Archbishop Tillotson) that Christ, as God, could not be ignorant of any thing; but the divine wisdom which dwelt in our Saviour, did communicate itself to his human soul, according to the divine pleasure, so that his human nature might sometimes not know some things; therefore Christ is said to grow in wisdom (Luk 2:52), which he could not be said to do, if the human nature of Christ did necessarily know all things by virtue of its union with the divinity." Dr. Lightfoot explains it thus; Christ calls himself the Son, as Messiah. Now the Messiah, as such, was the father's servant (Isa 42:1), sent and deputed by him, and as such a one he refers himself often to his Father's will and command, and owns he did nothing of himself (Joh 5:19); in like manner he might be said to know nothing of himself. The revelation of Jesus Christ was what God gave unto him, Rev 1:1. He thinks, therefore, that we are to distinguish between those excellencies and perfections of his, which resulted from the personal union between the divine and human nature, and those which flowed from the anointing of the Spirit; from the former flowed the infinite dignity of his perfect freedom from all sin; but from the latter flowed his power of working miracles, and his foreknowledge of things to come. What therefore (saith he) was to be revealed by him to his church, he was pleased to take, not from the union of the human nature with the divine, but from the revelation of the Spirit, by which he yet knew not this, but the Father only knows it; that is, God only, the Deity; for (as Archbishop Tillotson explains it) it is not used here personally, in distinction from the Son and the Holy Ghost, but as the Father is, Fons et Principium Deitatis - The Fountain of Deity.
III. "As to both, your duty is to watch and pray. Therefore the time is kept a secret, that you may be engaged to stand always upon your guard (Mar 13:33); Take ye heed of every thing that would indispose you for your Master's coming, and would render your accounts perplexed, and your spirits so too; watch for his coming, that it may not at any time be a surprise to you, and pray for that grace which is necessary to qualify you for it, for ye know not when the time is; and you are concerned to be ready for that every day, which may come any day." This he illustrates, in the close, by a parable.
1.Our Master is gone away, and left us something in trust, in charge, which we must give account of, Mar 13:34. He is as a man taking a far journey; for he is gone to be away a great while, he has left his house on earth, and left his servants in their offices, given authority to some, who are to be overseers, and work to others, who are to be labourers. They that have authority given them, in that had work assigned them, for those that have the greatest power have the most business; and to them to whom he gave work, he gave some sort of authority, to do that work. And when he took his last leave, he appointed the porter to watch, to be sure to be ready to open to him at his return; and in the mean time to take care to whom he opened his gates, not to thieves and robbers, but only to his Master's friends and servants. Thus our Lord Jesus, when he ascended on high, left something for all his servants to do, expecting they should all do him service in his absence, and be ready to receive him at his return. All are appointed to work, and some authorized to rule.
2.We ought to be always upon our watch, in expectation of his return, Mar 13:35-37. (1.) Our Lord will come, and will come as the Master of the house, to take account of his servants, of their work, and of the improvement they have made. (2.) We know not when he will come; and he has very wisely kept us at uncertainty, that we might all be always ready. We know not when he will come, just at what precise time; the Master of the house perhaps will come at even, at nine at night; or it may be at midnight, or a cock-crowing, at three in the morning, or perhaps not until six. This is applicable to his coming to us in particular, at our death, as well as to the general judgment. Our present life is a night, a dark night, compared with the other life; we know not in which watch of the night our Master will come, whether in the days of youth, or middle age, or old age; but, as soon as we are born, we begin to die, and therefore, as soon as we are capable of expecting any thing, we must expect death. (3.) Our great care must be, that, whenever our Lord comes, he do not find us sleeping, secure in ourselves, off our guard, indulging ourselves in ease and sloth, mindless of our work and duty, and thoughtless of our Lord's coming; ready to say, He will not come, and unready to meet him. (4.) His coming will indeed be coming suddenly; it will be a great surprise and terror to those that are careless, and asleep, it will come upon them as a thief in the night. (5.) It is therefore the indispensable duty of all Christ's disciples, to watch, to be awake, and keep awake; "What I say unto you four (Mar 13:37), I say unto all the twelve, or rather to you twelve, I say unto all my disciples and followers; what I say to you of this generation, I say to all that shall believe in men, through your word, in every age, Watch, watch, expect my second coming, prepare for it, that you may be found in peace, without spot, and blameless."
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 28–37. Public domain.
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Pseudo-Jerome (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
For we must needs watch with our souls before the death of the body.
For he who sleeps applies not his mind to real bodies, but to phantoms, and when he awakes, he possesses not what he had seen; so also are those, whom the love of this world seizes upon in this life; they quit after this life what they dreamed was real.
He thus concludes His discourse, that the last should hear from those who come first this precept which is common to all; wherefore He adds, But what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Shepherd of HermasAD 160
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9
Having spoken these words, he said to me, "Let us go, and after two days let us come and clean these stones, and cast them into the building; for all things around the tower must be cleaned, lest the Master come suddenly and find the places about the tower dirty, and be displeased."
Hilary of Poitiers (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 367
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(de Trin. ix) This ignorance of the day and hour is urged against the Only-Begotten God, as if, God born of God had not the same perfection of nature as God. But first, let common sense decide whether it is credible that He, who is the cause that all things are, and are to be, should be ignorant of any out of all these things. For how can it be beyond the knowledge of that nature, by which and in which that which is to be done is contained? And can He be ignorant of that day, which is the day of His own Advent? Human substances foreknow as far as they can what they intend to do, and the knowledge of what is to be done, follows upon the will to act. How then can the Lord of glory, from ignorance of the day of His coming, be believed to be of that imperfect nature, which has on it a necessity of coming, and has not attained to the knowledge of its own advent? But again, how much more room for blasphemy will there be, if a feeling of envy is ascribed to God the Father, in that He has withheld the knowledge of His beatitude from Him to whom He gave a foreknowledge of His death. But if there are in Him all the treasures of knowledge, He is not ignorant of this day; rather we ought to remember that the treasures of wisdom in Him are hidden; His ignorance therefore must be connected with the hiding of the treasures of wisdom, which are in Him. (Col. 2:3) For in all cases, in which God declares Himself ignorant, He is not under the power of ignorance, but either it is not a fit time for speaking, or it is an economy of not acting. But if God is said then to have known that Abraham loved Him, when He did not hide that His knowledge from Abraham, it follows, that the Father is said to know the day, because He did not hide it from the Son. (Gen. 22:12) If therefore the Son knew not the day, it is a Sacrament of His being silent, as on the contrary the Father alone is said to know, because He is not silent. But God forbid that any new and bodily changes should be ascribed to the Father or the Son. Lastly, lest He should be said to be ignorant from weakness, He has immediately added, Take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is.
Augustine of Hippo (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 430
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(Epist. 199, 3) For He not only speaks to those in whose hearing He then spake, but even to all who came after them, before our time, and even to us, and to all after us, even to His last coming. But shall that day find all living, or will any man say that He speaks also to the dead, when He says, Watch, lest when he cometh he find you sleeping? Why then does He say to all, what only belongs to those who shall then be alive, if it be not that it belongs to all, as I have said? For that day comes to each man when his day comes for departing from this life such as he is to be, when judged in that day, and for this reason every Christian ought to watch, lest the Advent of the Lord find him unprepared; but that day shall find him unprepared, whom the last day of his life shall find unprepared.
Gregory the Dialogist (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 604
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(Hom. in Evan. 9) For the earth is properly the place for the flesh, which was as it were carried away to a far country, when it was placed by our Redeemer in the heavens. And he gave his servants power over every work, when, by giving to His faithful ones the grace of the Holy Ghost, He gave them the power of serving every good work. He has also ordered the porter to watch, because He commanded the order of pastors to have a care over the Church committed to them. Not only, however, those of us who rule over Churches, but all are required to watch the doors of their hearts, lest the evil suggestions of the devil enter into them, and lest our Lord find us sleeping. Wherefore concluding this parable He adds, Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning: lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
Bede (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 735
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(ubi sup.) The man who taking a far journey left his house is Christ, who ascending as a conqueror to His Father after the resurrection, left His Church, as to His bodily presence, but has never deprived her of the safeguard of His Divine presence.
Theophylact of Ohrid (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 1107
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
The Lord wishing to prevent His disciples from asking about that day and hour, says, But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. For if He had said, I know, but I will not reveal it to you, He would have saddened them not a little; but He acted more wisely, and prevents their asking such a question, lest they should importune Him, by saying, neither the Angels nor I.
But He teaches us two things, watching and prayer; for many of us watch, but watch only to pass the night in wickedness; He now follows this up with a parable, saying, For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave his servants power over every work, and commanded the porter to watch.
See again that He has not said, I know not when the time will be, but, Ye know not. For the reason why He concealed it was that it was better for us; for if, now that we know not the end, we are careless, what should we do if we knew it? We should keep on our wickednesses even unto the end. Let us therefore attend to His words; for the end comes at even, when a man dies in old age; at midnight, when he dies in the midst of his youth; and at cockcrow, when our reason is perfect within us; for when a child begins to live according to his reason, then the cock cries loud within him, rousing him from the sleep of sense; but the age of childhood is the morning. Now all these ages must look out for the end; for even a child must be watched, lest he die unbaptized.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Mark 13:36 delivers a succinct and potent warning from Jesus within His Olivet Discourse, emphasizing the critical and continuous necessity for spiritual vigilance. This verse serves as the concluding exhortation in a series of commands to "watch," highlighting the unexpected and uncertain timing of the Master's return, and the dire consequence of being found spiritually unprepared or "sleeping." It underscores that true discipleship involves an active, ongoing state of readiness for the Lord's coming.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Mark 13:36 employs several potent literary devices to convey its urgent message. The most prominent is Metaphor, where "sleeping" (katheúdō) is used not in its literal sense of physical slumber, but as a powerful representation of spiritual apathy, negligence, and unreadiness for the Lord's return. This metaphor contrasts sharply with the repeated command to "watch" (grēgoreō) throughout the Olivet Discourse, creating a clear binary between desired vigilance and condemned complacency. The verse also functions as a Warning or Admonition, indicated by the particle "Lest" (mḗ), which introduces a negative purpose clause. This grammatical structure highlights the dire consequences of failing to heed the preceding instructions to remain alert. Furthermore, the phrase "coming suddenly" introduces Anticipation and Urgency, emphasizing the unpredictable nature of the Master's return and thereby intensifying the call for immediate and continuous preparedness. The entire verse serves as a concise Summary Statement of the practical implications of the Olivet Discourse's eschatological teachings.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Mark 13:36 is a cornerstone of New Testament eschatology, emphasizing not the precise timing of Christ's return, but the posture of His followers in light of its certainty and suddenness. Theologically, it underscores the importance of an active, living faith that translates into constant spiritual vigilance and faithful stewardship. It teaches that the Christian life is one of expectant waiting, where every day is lived in light of the Lord's imminent return. This readiness is not born of fear, but of love and devotion, recognizing that our lives are a stewardship entrusted to us by the returning Master. The "sleeping" state represents a failure to live out the implications of Christ's Lordship and the future hope, leading to spiritual unreadiness and potential judgment. The warning calls believers to a lifestyle of continuous spiritual alertness, marked by prayer, obedience, and diligent service, ensuring that they are found faithful when Christ appears.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Mark 13:36 is a timeless and deeply personal call to spiritual readiness. It urges believers to cultivate a lifestyle of active faith, rather than passive waiting. To be found "sleeping" is to be caught in a state of spiritual negligence, indifference, or preoccupation with worldly concerns that overshadow the eternal. This verse challenges us to consider how we are living in the interim between Christ's first and second comings. Are we diligently stewarding the gifts, time, and resources He has entrusted to us? Are we actively pursuing holiness, engaging in prayer, studying His Word, and serving others, or have we allowed spiritual lethargy to set in? The call to vigilance is not about predicting the future, but about living faithfully in the present, recognizing that every moment is an opportunity to honor God and prepare for His glorious return. It encourages us to live with a sense of purpose and urgency, ensuring that our lives reflect our expectation of the King.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does "sleeping" metaphorically mean in Mark 13:36?
Answer: In Mark 13:36, "sleeping" (Greek: katheúdō) is a powerful metaphor for spiritual indifference, apathy, or negligence. It does not refer to physical sleep, but to a state of spiritual unreadiness, idleness, or a lack of vigilance concerning the Lord's return and the duties He has entrusted to His followers. It stands in direct opposition to the command to "watch" (Greek: grēgoreō) found throughout Mark chapter 13, signifying a failure to be spiritually alert, prepared, and actively living out one's faith in anticipation of Christ's unexpected coming. This spiritual slumber implies a failure to fulfill one's responsibilities as a steward of God's kingdom.
Why is the timing of Christ's return emphasized as "suddenly" and unknown?
Answer: The emphasis on Christ's return being "suddenly" (Greek: exaíphnēs) and at an unknown time serves a crucial theological and practical purpose. As Jesus states in Mark 13:32, "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." This intentional withholding of the exact timing prevents complacency and discourages speculative calculations. Instead, it compels constant vigilance and readiness. If the timing were known, there would be a temptation to delay spiritual preparedness until the last moment. By making it sudden and unknown, Jesus ensures that His followers live in a perpetual state of readiness, actively pursuing righteousness and fulfilling their mission, as if He could return at any moment. This aligns with other New Testament teachings that describe His coming "like a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2).
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Mark 13:36, while a warning about the future, finds its profound Christ-centered fulfillment in the ongoing reality of Jesus' Lordship and His redemptive work. The "Master" who is "coming suddenly" is none other than Jesus Christ, the one who first came in humility to inaugurate God's kingdom (Mark 1:15). His first advent established the foundation for the future, calling humanity to repentance and faith. The call to "watch" and not be found "sleeping" is a call to live in light of the completed work of Christ on the cross and His resurrection, which secured our salvation and His victory over sin and death (Colossians 2:13-15). Our vigilance is empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit, whom Christ sent to guide and enable believers to live faithfully until His return (John 14:26). The ultimate hope of the watchful believer is not merely to avoid shame, but to behold Christ in His glory and be transformed into His likeness (1 John 3:2). Thus, Mark 13:36 points to the necessity of a life lived in active communion with the risen Christ, empowered by His Spirit, and eagerly anticipating His glorious second coming, when He will fully consummate His kingdom and gather His faithful ones to Himself (Philippians 3:20-21).