Watch and Wait
Otherwise, he may arrive without notice and find you sleeping. Mark 13:36 · Berean Standard Bible
If the master shows up unexpectedly and finds you sleeping — that's the worst-case scenario. Don't let it happen.
In just a few hours, Jesus' own disciples will fall asleep when He asks them to watch and pray. This warning was more personal than they realized.
Jesus warns about the danger of spiritual sleep.
Sleeping on the job when the boss is away is one thing. Being asleep when He walks through the door is something else entirely.
The warning against being found sleeping (Greek: katheudontas) carries moral force: spiritual drowsiness when the master arrives results in being caught unprepared and unfaithful.
This warning will gain dramatic irony when the disciples literally fall asleep in Gethsemane (Mark 14:37-40), despite Jesus' command to watch.
Jesus warns about the consequences of spiritual negligence.
The possibility of the master arriving 'suddenly' (exaiphnes) and finding sleeping servants creates urgency and foreshadows the disciples' own failure in Gethsemane.
34It is like a man going on a journey who left his house, put each servant in charge of his own task, and instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch.
35Therefore keep watch, because you do not know when the master of the house will return—whether in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or in the morning.
36Otherwise, he may arrive without notice and find you sleeping.
37And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Keep watch!”
Read all of Mark 13 — Jesus sits on the Mount of Olives and describes the end of the age. His final command is simple and relentless: stay alert.
This page covers one. BibleKey does all 31,102 — tap any verse for its meaning, any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, and keep reading without leaving the chapter.
Not just the famous ones. BibleKey is free on iPhone and iPad.
Download on the App StoreFree on iPhone & iPad