Day 40 : Mark 13:33-37
Keep watch
The 16th century German reformer, Martin Luther, was allegedly once asked, ‘What would you do if you knew that Christ was returning tomorrow?’
You might have expected him to answer in a similar way to the church stewards in the cartoon who on hearing that Jesus is returning run around the church shouting, ‘Jesus is coming! Look busy!’ But no. Luther is supposed to have reacted, ‘I would go out and plant a tree.’
There is something profound in this response which links us to the final section of Mark 13. Here the picture is of a household whose master is away from home. Whilst the master is away the servants continue with their daily business. The message seems to be simply, as disciples, whilst we wait for Christ’s return, we must continue to be about our daily business. This will include both things that build us up in faith (reading the Scriptures, praying, worshipping, and so on), and things that demonstrate faith in practice (loving our neighbour, sharing Good News, caring for creation, acting for justice etc). At the same time, a special role is assigned for the door keeper: keep awake; watch for the master’s return. As disciples we are to keep awake, alert to the signs of God’s presence and ultimate return.
You may also note here that one of the images used in this passage is of the master returning at any time, even at cock-crow hinting at what follows.
We are soon to meet examples of disciples struggling to stay awake whilst Jesus prays awaiting his arrest and of Peter disowning Jesus before the cock crows twice. Some of the warnings to disciples in chapter 13 about perseverance and keeping awake will be illustrated by their opposites in the remaining chapters.
