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The watchful servants

Luke 12:35–40 · Journey to Jerusalem

Scripture

Luke 12:35–40

et your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 36And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. 37Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. 38And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. 40Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

King James Version · public domain

Lluka 12:35–40

etë jenë mezetë t’uaj ngjeshurë, edhe kandiletë ndezurë; 36Edhe ju jini gati posi njerës që presënë të zon’ e tyre, kur dotë kthenetë nga dasma, që, kur të vinj’ e të trokëllinjë, për-një-here t’i hapnjënë. 37Lum ata shërbëtorë, të-cilëtë, kur të vinj’ i zoti, dot’i gjenjë sgjuarë; vërtet po u them juve, se dotë ngjishetë, e dot’i vërë të rrinë ndë mësallët, edhe dotë vinjë përanë e dot’u shërbenjë atyre. 38Edhe nd’arthtë ndë të-dytënë ruajtje, edhe ndë të-tretënë ruajtje ndë arthtë, edhe t’i gjenjë kështu, të-lumurë jan’ ata shërbëtorë. 39Edhe këtë e dini, se, po t’e dinte i zot’ i shtëpisë, mbë ç’orë vjen kursari, dotë rrinte sgjuarë, edhe nukë dotë linte t’i çponej shtëpia. 40Edhe ju pra bëhi gati; sepse i bir’ i njeriut vjen nd’atë orë që nuk’ e mendoni.

Kristoforidhi, Dhiata e Re Toskërisht 1879 · zotërim publik

Summary

"Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning." The Fathers read this as a summons to constant vigilance for the Master's return at an hour we cannot know. They hear the words concretely. To gird the loins is to restrain the body and its desires, binding up the passions so the mind is free to act; this they connect with chastity and self-control. The burning lamp is the light of good works and a watchful, illumined intellect, fed by the oil of mercy and prayer so that it does not go out before the Bridegroom comes. The servant who waits is not idle but ready, dressed for labor and holding light, the whole person ordered toward the one who is awaited.

The hour we cannot know the tradition takes in two senses at once: the Lord's coming in glory at the end, and the coming of death to each soul, our own last hour. Either may arrive in any of the watches of the night, and so vigilance must be unbroken. The image of the thief who breaks in (v. 39) underscores this suddenness: no one is given the hour beforehand, precisely so that all may watch always.

The surprising reward, that the master himself girds himself and serves the watchful servants, the Fathers take as a glimpse of the Kingdom's great reversal, where Christ ministers to those who waited for Him. The one who came not to be served but to serve, and who girded Himself to wash His disciples' feet, will gird Himself again to feast His faithful, giving Himself as their reward and their food. So the parable joins watchfulness here to communion there: the lamp kept burning through the night is answered by the Master's own hand at the table of the Kingdom.

The Parable of the Watchful Servants (Luke 12:35–40)

Public-Domain Patristic Commentary

"Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding." The servants who are found watching are blessed, and the Lord does the unthinkable: "he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them." Whether he comes in the second or the third watch, blessed are those servants. And since the goodman of the house would have watched had he known the hour of the thief, "Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not."

This call to watchfulness drew comment from many of the Fathers, East and West. They are gathered below as preserved in the Catena Aurea (St. Thomas Aquinas, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841) on Luke. All texts are quoted verbatim from public-domain translations.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain.

On the meaning of the girded loins and the burning lamp, and the Lord who serves those He finds ready:

Or, to be girded, signifies activity and readiness to undergo evils from regard to Divine love. But the burning of the lamp signifies that we should not suffer any to live in the darkness of ignorance. ... Now consider that He comes from the wedding as from a festival, which God is ever keeping; for nothing can cause sadness to the Incorruptible Nature. ... When then our Lord coming shall find us awake and girded, having our hearts enlightened, He will then pronounce us blessed, for it follows, "Verily I say to you, that he shall gird himself," from which we perceive that He will recompense us in like manner, seeing that He will gird Himself with those that are girded. ... He will then make them to sit down as a refreshment to the weary, setting before them spiritual enjoyments, and ordering a sumptuous table of His gifts.

Theophylact of Ohrid (c. 1050–c. 1107)

From his Explanation of the Gospel of Luke, as preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the girded loins as the active life and the burning lamps as the gift of discernment, and why action precedes reflection:

Our Lord having taught His disciples moderation, taking from them all care and conceit of this life, now leads them on to serve and obey, saying, Let your loins be girded, that is, always ready to do the work of your Lord, and your lamps burning, that is, do not lead a life in darkness, but have with you the light of reason, showing you what to do and what to avoid. For this world is the night, but they have their loins girded, who follow a practical or active life. For such is the condition of servants who must have with them also lamps burning; that is, the gift of discernment, that the active man may be able to distinguish not only what he ought to do, but in what way; otherwise men rush down the precipice of pride. But we must observe, that He first orders our loins to be girded, secondly, our lamps to be burning. For first indeed comes action, then reflection, which is an enlightening of the mind. Let us then strive to exercise the virtues, that we may have two lamps burning, that is, the conception of the mind ever shining forth in the soul, by which we are ourselves enlightened, and learning, whereby we enlighten others.

On the heavenly betrothal of the souls of the Saints, and the Lord's return at the end and at each one's death:

Daily also in the heavens He betroths the souls of the Saints, whom Paul or another offers to Him, as a chaste virgin. But He returns from the celebration of the heavenly marriage, perhaps to all at the end of the whole world, when He shall come from heaven in the glory of the Father; perhaps also every hour standing suddenly present at the death of each individual.

On why the Lord girds Himself, and the perfect rest of the Saints in their immortal bodies:

Or, He will gird Himself, in that He imparts not the whole fullness of blessings, but confines it within a certain measure. For who can comprehend God how great He is? Therefore are the Seraphims said to veil their countenance, because of the excellence of the Divine brightness. It follows, and will make them to sit down; for as a man sitting down causes his whole body to rest, so in the future coming the Saints will have complete rest; for here they have not rest for the body, but there together with their souls their spiritual bodies partaking of immortality will rejoice in perfect rest.

St. Maximus the Confessor (c. 580–662)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On keeping the lamps burning through prayer, contemplation, and love:

Or, he teaches us to keep our lamps burning, by prayer and contemplation and spiritual love.

St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–c. 395)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain.

On the angels who keep watch for the King's return, and the wakefulness of chastity and a pure conscience:

Or else, when the wedding was celebrated and the Church received into the secret bridal chamber, the angels were expecting the return of the King to His own natural blessedness. And after their example we order our life, that as they, living together without evil, are prepared to welcome their Lord's return, so we also, keeping watch at the door, should make ourselves ready to obey Him when He comes knocking ... For the sake then of keeping watch, our Lord advised above that our loins should be girded, and our lamps burning, for light when placed before the eyes drives away sleep. The loins also when tied with a girdle, make the body incapable of sleep. For he who is girt about with chastity, and illuminated by a pure conscience, continues wakeful.

St. Dionysius the Areopagite

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the "sitting down" as perpetual rest and the abundant outpouring of every gift:

The "sitting down" is taken to be the repose from many labors, a life without annoyance, the divine conversation of those that dwell in the region of light enriched with all holy affections, and an abundant pouring forth of all gifts, whereby they are filled with joy. For the reason why Jesus makes them to sit down, is that He might give them perpetual rest, and distribute to them blessings without number.

St. Gregory the Great (c. 540–604)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain.

On the two things asked of us, continence and good works, and on the Lord's coming and knocking:

Or else, we gird our loins when by continence we control the lusts of the flesh ... But because it is a small thing not to do evil, unless also men strive to labor in good works, it is added, "And your lamps burning in your hands;" for we hold burning lamps in our hands, when by good works we show forth bright examples to our neighbors. ... But if a man has both of these, whosoever he be, nothing remains for him but that he should place his whole expectation on the coming of the Redeemer ... For our Lord went to the wedding when, ascending up into heaven as the Bridegroom, He joined to Himself the heavenly multitude of angels. ... For He comes when He hastens to judgment, but He knocks, when already by the pain of sickness He denotes that death is at hand.

On the three watches as the ages of life, and the thief who breaks in while the spirit sleeps:

The first watch then is the earliest time of our life, that is, childhood, the second youth and manhood, but the third represents old age. He then who is unwilling to watch in the first, let him keep even the second. And he who is unwilling in the second, let him not lose the remedies of the third watch, that he who has neglected conversion in childhood, may at least in the time of youth or old age recover himself. ... Or else; unknown to the master the thief breaks into the house, because while the spirit sleeps instead of guarding itself; death comes unexpectedly, and breaks into the dwelling place of our flesh. ... But the last hour our Lord wishes to be unknown to us, in order as we cannot foresee it, we may be unceasingly preparing for it.

Blessed Augustine of Hippo (354–430)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain.

On girding the loins with a right intention:

Or, He teaches us also to gird our loins for the sake of keeping ourselves from the love of the things of this world, and to have our lamps burning, that this thing may be done with a true end and right intention.

Note on sources and other Fathers

The Fathers read the two commands together: the girded loins are self-restraint, and the burning lamps are good works, the one guarding against evil and the other pressing toward the good. Theophylact reads the loins as the active life and the lamps as "the gift of discernment," noting that "first indeed comes action, then reflection," and that the Lord "will gird Himself" because He "imparts not the whole fullness of blessings, but confines it within a certain measure." Maximus the Confessor adds that the lamps are kept burning "by prayer and contemplation and spiritual love." Cyril dwells on the astonishing reversal, that the Lord "will gird Himself with those that are girded" and serve them at "a sumptuous table of His gifts," while Dionysius the Areopagite reads the "sitting down" as "perpetual rest" and "an abundant pouring forth of all gifts." Gregory of Nyssa sets the watching servants beside the angels who awaited the King, and grounds wakefulness in "chastity" and "a pure conscience." Gregory the Great reads the wedding as the Ascension, when the Lord "as the Bridegroom" joined to Himself the angels, the three watches as the ages of life, and the knocking as the approach of death "by the pain of sickness." Augustine adds that all of this must be done "with a true end and right intention."

The Catena gathers still other voices on this passage, among them Origen, who notes that the Lord "will be girded about His loins with righteousness." This passage was among the most widely cited in the early Church: it is echoed in the Didache, in Clement of Alexandria, in Irenaeus, in Cyprian, in Methodius, and in many others, all reading "let your loins be girded" as the watchword of a Christian life lived ready.

Patristic sources