Awaiting the Master of the House

One could even read this as a kind of sketch of other full parables, where the master not only leaves his property to his servants, but returns, asking for their report.

Jesus Christ: His Life and Teaching, Vol.4 - The Parables of Jesus, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev

Mark 13: 34 It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.

That’s it. It is preceded by the caution that only the Father in Heaven knows the day or hour. So, watch and pray. Then follows the interpretation:

35 Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— 36 lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

This short parable introduces the idea of a doorkeeper – a night watchman, standing guard while others sleep. This idea of a doorkeeper was known in Jesus’s time, with the safety of the house dependent on his vigilance.

An interesting aside: tradition holds that Mark’s gospel is written to the Romans. In the division of hours during the night, Mark records four division – as the Romans did at the time. For the Jews, the night had three divisions, as seen elsewhere in the gospels.

Does this parable offer a clue, that the second coming will happen at night? Metropolitan Hilarion believes not. Instead, he sees night as a metaphor for earthly life.

The image of the porter, or doorkeeper, is not apparent in the apostolic epistles. However, Metropolitan Hilarion offers that the image does appear in Eastern Church teaching – concerning sobriety as spiritual vigilance.

The verbs agrpneō and grēgoreō, used in the parable, are both translated as “to watch,” but in Christian ascetic literature, these verbs received a much fuller meaning. These are the verbs that indicate the specific practice of prayer during the night vigil.

Though not referenced by Metropolitan Hilarion, I include the following passage in full:

Matthew 26: 36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.

44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”

This idea of watchful, vigilant prayer came hard, even for those who would become the greatest servants for the Christ and His Church. So, maybe there is some hope for me!

Conclusion

This idea of prayerful vigilance is found often in the monastic traditions of both the east and west.

Yet this call is not directed to monastics alone: “And what I say to unto you I say to all: watch.” This challenge is universal, retaining its relevance for all times and for all Christians.

Epilogue

This concludes my study of Metropolitan Hilarion’s work on parables. He offers a short concluding summary:

[These parables] are all united by a call to spiritual vigilance and expectation of his second coming. These parables revealed to us a series of images, analogies, and metaphors, all of which are called to represent the reality of the spiritual world, using earthly concepts and symbols.

Patriarch Kyrill would write: “Hearing or reading these wise parables of the Gospel, one is amazed at the marvelous exactness, simplicity, and beauty of the images Jesus chooses.” Pope Benedict XVI writes: “There is no doubt that the parables constitute the heart of Jesus’ teaching.”

Jesus told the parables in a specific historical context, but their significance goes far beyond that limit.

Through these parables, we can better understand God, we are taught about Jesus, we learn something of the kingdom, and we learn something of how we are to relate to other human beings.

These are all good things to learn.