Mark 13:34-36 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… The parable in Mark 13:34-36 cannot be discharged of its meaning by a reference to the ordinary risks of human mortality. Its theme is not man's dying, but Christ's coming. I. THE SON OF MAN IS REPRESENTED AS A HOUSEHOLDER AWAY ON A JOURNEY (ver. 34). 1. It is not fair to look upon Jesus as a mere absentee lord of the soil. For. He made this world; He has suffered wonderfully to save souls; and He owns what He has purchased. 2. It must be remembered that He went away for a most gracious purpose. He would send the Comforter (John 16:7). He has gone to prepare a "place" for those whom He died to redeem (John 14:2, 3). 3. It is better to urge His coming back with eagerness of prayer. There is fitness in the passionate words of Richard Baxter: "Haste, O my Saviour, the time of Thy return: send forth Thy angels, let the last trumpet sound! Delay not, lest the living give up hope. Oh, hasten that great resurrection day when the seed Thou sowedst corruptible shall come forth incorruptible, and the graves that retain but dust shall return their glorious ones, Thy destined bride!" II. TO EVERYONE "OUR ABSENT LORD" HAS GIVEN HIS OWN WORK TO DO (ver. 35). 1. There is a work to be wrought on ourselves. Our bodies are to be exercised and skilled for service (Romans 12:1). Our minds are to be developed and embellished for God's praise. One of our Lord's parables spoken on this very occasion has actually added to our language the new word "talents," as signifying intellectual gifts (Matthew 25:15). Our souls are to be sanctified wholly (1 Thessalonians 5:23). 2. There is also a work to be wrought upon others and for others. The poor are to be succoured, the weak to be strengthened, the ignorant to be taught, the sorrowful to be comforted. 3. There is another work to be wrought for God's glory. "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." Our whole life is to be consecrated to this, even down to the particulars of eating and drinking (1 Corinthians 10:31). III. "OUR ABSENT LORD" IS SURELY COMING BACK AGAIN TO THIS WORLD (ver. 26). 1. He predicted His second advent (John 14:28). The language Jesus used in this remembered declaration is not at all figurative; it all goes together as a statement of fact. He said, literally, He would send the Comforter, and the Holy Spirit came in person on the Day of Pentecost. And just as literally did He say He would Himself return at the appointed time. 2. He asseverated the certainty and solemnity of His own promise, as if He foresaw some would deny or doubt it (ver. 31). This was endorsing the covenant engagement by a new oath; "because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself." 3. He left behind Him vivid descriptions of the momentous day on which He should arrive (vers. 24-26). In these, however, He does little more than repeat the vigorous language of the Old Testament prophet (Daniel 7:9-14). 4. He even sent back word from heaven by an angel (Acts 1:11). It should be "this same Jesus" who should come back, and He should come "in like manner" as they had seen Him depart. IV. THE EXACT HOUR IN WHICH "OUR ABSENT LORD" WILL ARRIVE IS NOT ANNOUNCED (Matthew 24:42). 1. Jesus asserted that He did not know it Himself (ver. 32). The disciples once asked Him about this (Matthew 24:3). He told them that God the Father had kept this one secret in His own solemn reserve (Acts 1:6, 7). 2. But our Saviour declares that His coming might be expected at any moment, morning or midnight, evening or cock crowing (ver. 35). It would assuredly be sudden. The figure is employed more than once in the Scriptures of "a thief in the night" (2 Peter 3:10). Peter in his Epistle only quotes our Lord's own language (Luke 12:39, 40). 3. Moreover, Christ told His disciples that there would be tokens of the nearness of this great day, by which it might be recognized when it should be close at hand (vers. 28, 29). These signs would be as clearly discerned as shoots on fig trees in the opening summer. He mentioned some of them explicitly (Luke 21:25-28). We may admit that "wars and rumours of wars," earthquakes, famines, falling stars, and pestilences (Matthew 24:6-8), together with "great signs in heaven and earth," are alarming disclosures; but will any one doubt that such phenomena are conspicuous at least? (Luke 17:24). 4. So Jesus insisted that men were bound to be wise in noting these signs, and be ready (Luke 12:54-56). V. THE GREATEST PERIL IS THAT, WHEN "OUR ABSENT LORD" COMES, MEN WILL BE TAKEN UNAWARES (ver. 36). 1. The instinctive tendency of the human heart is to procrastinate in the performance of religious work. 2. Time glides mysteriously on with no reference to daring delay. The grave, like the horseleach's daughter, cries "Give" (Proverbs 30:15, 16), and damnation slumbereth not (2 Peter 2:3), but men sleep clear up to the edge of divine judgment. They did in Noah's time, and in Lot's, when a less catastrophe was at hand; and so it will be when the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 18:26-30). 3. Christians ought to hold in memory the repeated admonitions they have received. Walter Scott wrote on his dial plate the two Greek words which mean "the night cometh," so that he might keep eternity in mind whenever he saw the hours of time flitting by. Evidently the Apostle Paul feels that he has the right to press peculiarly pertinent and solemn appeals upon those who had enjoyed the advantage of such long instruction (1 Thessalonians 5:1-7). 4. There is no second chance offered after the first is lost. When Christ comes, foolish virgins will have no time to run for oil to pour into their lightless lamps. A forfeited life cannot be allowed any opportunity for retrieval. Where the tree falls, north or south, there it must lie, whether the full fruit has been ripened upon its branches or not (Ecclesiastes 11:3). VI. THE FINAL COUNSEL LEFT BEHIND HIM BY "OUR ABSENT LORD" IS FOR ALL TO WATCH (ver. 37). 1. Christ's coming would seem to be the highest anticipation for true believers. When He appears, saints will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:4). This is the "blessed hope" of the Church along the ages (Titus 2:13). 2. It might clear an inquirer's experience to think of this coming of Jesus. Does one love to "watch" for Him? In the autobiography of Frances Ridley Havergal we are told of the years during which she sought sadly for peace at the cross. At last one of her teachers put this question to her: "Why cannot you trust yourself to your Saviour at once? Supposing that now, at this moment, Christ were to come in the clouds of heaven, and take up His redeemed, could you not trust Him? Would not His call, His promise, be enough for you? Could you not commit your soul to Him, to your Saviour, Jesus?" This lifted the cloud; she tells the story herself: "Then came a flash of hope across me, which made me feel literally breathless. I remember how my heart beat. 'I could surely,' was my response; and I left her suddenly and ran away upstairs to think it out. I flung myself on my knees in my room, and strove to realize the sudden hope. I was very happy at last. I could commit my soul to Jesus. I did not, and need not, fear His coming. I could trust Him with my all for eternity. It was so utterly new to have any bright thoughts about religion that I could hardly believe it could be so, that I had really gained such a step. Then and there, I committed my soul to the Saviour, I do not mean to say without any trembling or fear, but I did — and earth and heaven seemed bright from that moment — I did trust the Lord Jesus." (C. S. Robinson, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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