Mark 13:34 Commentary and Bible Study

The Lord Jesus has told the Pharisees (John 7:33) that he is going away. He will give further instructions to the disciples about this during this last week (John 13:33, 36; 14:2; 16:5; 17:11), and other parables given in these closing days of his ministry employ the same image of an absent owner (Luke 19:12; Matthew 25:14).A wealthy man has to go on a journey for some reason, and has interests which he must leave behind. He is not abandoning them, but he intends to come back. In this case he has a house and it will need to continue to function, and it is obviously a great house with a considerable household and lands attached. There are servants in the house whose livelihood depends on continuing in service and receiving food and lodging for their labour. The owner does not wish to turn them all out with nowhere to live. The house itself needs upkeep and must be kept in good repair, and the grounds must not be neglected so that they become overgrown. There are perhaps orchards and vegetable plots around the house, and the owner knows from experience that this all takes planning and organisation to look after. He must therefore find someone to look after it all for him. What he decides to do is to put it in the care of his servants who already work for him. They are going to be given an elevated responsibility for a while. This was not something they ever expected or could count on, and it is a great privilege. Their master has trusted them enough to ask them to care for what is his own. No doubt they will be well rewarded for their labours, but what really matters is the character of the servants. Are they people who have their master’s interests at heart, or will they see this simply as an opportunity to advantage themselves? Will they continue to remember what they are when he has gone – lowly servants who have been given a remarkable opportunity – or will they get grand ideas so that their position starts to go to their heads? Do they really care about their master’s concerns, or will they act unscrupulously and in effect take what does not belong to them and use it as their own?In order to set up this arrangement, the master has to appoint certain servants to be over the other servants. There has to be some command structure, or else order in the house will collapse. The owner gives specific tasks to different servants and he goes away content that he has left in place a working solution, provided that the servants in authority continue to act in good faith. Once he has gone away he will no longer be there to oversee them, and the only thing that will hold them is their continuing loyalty, and their belief that he is coming back. In particular the porter, the doorkeeper, is commanded to watch. There is that word again, and it is key to this miniature parable. What is he to watch for? He is to watch for his master’s return and to make sure everything is waiting for him on his return. He is never to forget that this house is his master’s.