(avg. read time: 4–8 mins.)
Now that I have looked at each version of the Olivet Discourse individually, there is one aspect I would like to collate and expand upon of that whole analysis. Specifically, I want to talk about what it is that Jesus is calling for his disciples to watch for. The way this language of Jesus’s is appropriated in popular discourse assumes that we ought to keep watch in terms of looking for signs that certain things are about to happen. But in the Olivet Discourse and beyond, Jesus’s instruction to watch—which could also be translated as “keep alert” or “stay awake”—is about vigilance in our conduct, keeping alert in how we live in light of the time that is coming. This may have originally applied to the time surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem, but, as I have noted in my analyses of the versions of the Olivet Discourse, there is reason to think that we are dealing with expanding horizons of applying this instruction. What is common to both settings of application—the more immediate one and the more enduring one—is that it is not signs one is watching for, but one’s conduct. To show this, we will proceed through the instructions from Matthew, Mark, and Luke in canonical order.
Matthew
The problem one immediately runs into when encountering Jesus’s instruction to watch is the fact that, no matter what, people will not know the day or the hour according to Jesus’s teaching. Indeed, among scholars the fact that people are caught unaware in the version of Jesus’s instruction in Matt 24 is often taken as evidence that a different time is being referred to, one that is without signs. One problem with such a reading is that “signs” per se were not the object of watching in the teaching to this point anyway. The only times the language of “signs” appear are in the disciples’ question about the sign of Jesus’s παρουσία, the signs and wonders of the deceivers, and the sign of the Son of Man, which is the Son of Man himself. The other events are never designated as signs. Besides the abomination of desolation, which is not referred to as a sign, all of the other events have no direct action attached to them for the disciples’ instruction. These other events are not an indication of the time being near, even if they are often read that way. At no point are the disciples actually told to look for signs.
In fact, it is only after all of these things that Jesus first instructs his disciples to “keep watch” (γρηγορεῖτε) in 24:42. The word is related to a common word for resurrection—ἐγείρω—since both terms are related to being awake. They are not told to keep watch for signs. In none of the parables connected to this teaching are the subjects actively watching for someone’s coming. In fact, both the wise and foolish virgins fall asleep before the cry rings out about the coming of the bridegroom (25:5–7). Rather, the “watching” comes in remaining vigilant in one’s conduct, being wise, faithful, and obedient, as are the positive subjects in these parables.
When we take this characteristic of Jesus’s teaching into account and recognize the judgment on Jerusalem as an advance sign of the final judgment, especially in light of the christological significance of this judgment, it is easy to see how this instruction shades into instruction about the Second Coming. The applicability of this teaching for the Second Coming is something that Paul recognized from early on, as seen in 1 Thess 5, but there it is clearer that he is talking about the Second Coming. How the disciples were to act in anticipation of this event of judgment is also how they are to act in anticipation of the final judgment. Hence, the parables about vigilance in conduct eventually lead into a teaching on the final judgment in 25:31–46.
Mark
In case one thinks, as people often think with Matthew, that Mark 13:33–37 apply strictly to the Second Coming because of the unknown time, presumably in contradistinction with vv. 28–29, it is important to remember that this instruction is capable of multivalent reading because of the connection between the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Coming. This connection does not have to do with their temporal proximity, but with other theological issues, such as the relationship of the Son of Man with the events in question, and the need for watchfulness in both cases. As in Matthew, what one watches for is not “signs” per se, as they were not the object of watching in the teaching to this point. The abomination of desolation is implicitly indicated to be the sign the disciples were asking for, but it is not explicitly designated as such. Besides the abomination of desolation, all of the other events have no direct action attached to them for the disciples’ instruction. These other events are not an indication of the time being near, even if they are often read that way. At no point are the disciples actually told to look for signs, even if they are told what to do when they happen to see the abomination of desolation.
In fact, it is only after all of these things that Jesus first instructs his disciples to “keep watch” (γρηγορεῖτε) in 13:34–35, 37, as in Matthew. This instruction is further supported by instructions to “watch” (βλέπετε) and “keep alert” (ἀγρυπνεῖτε) that were not present in the Matthean equivalent. The disciples are not told to keep watch for signs here or in the previous teaching (so there is no need for contrast). In the short parable connected to this teaching, no one, not even the doorkeeper, is said to actively watch for the master’s coming. Rather, the “watching” comes in remaining vigilant in one’s conduct, being wise, faithful, and obedient, doing what the master gave one the command to do.
When we take this characteristic of Jesus’s teaching into account and recognize the judgment on Jerusalem as an advance sign of the final judgment, especially in light of the christological significance of this judgment, it is easy to see how this instruction shades into instruction about the Second Coming. The applicability of this teaching for the Second Coming is something that Paul recognized from early on, as seen in 1 Thess 5, but there it is clearer that he is talking about the Second Coming. How the disciples were to act in anticipation of this event of judgment is also how they are to act in anticipation of the final judgment.
Luke
In the case of Luke, the primary instruction on watching is outside of the Olivet Discourse. Luke 12:35–48 is part of a context that is not as clearly connected to major events of judgment like the texts from Matthew and Mark. There certainly is judgment language in this text and after it, and the ethical imperative is further upheld by the teaching that precedes on seeking the kingdom and storing up riches in heaven. The faithful servant is the one who the master finds at work when he arrives and he will in turn receive exaltation, receiving authority over more of what is the master’s. The unfaithful servant is the one who ignores his obligations and mistreats others, thinking he can get away with such in the master’s absence, but when the master arrives, he is cut in half (literally, “dichotomized”) or cut off and put with the others who are unfaithful. This is reminiscent of the use of the imagery in Matt 24 and both cases clearly point to judgment. There is also more to the version in Luke in that there are different degrees of punishment, so that the one who knew and did not do is given a more severe punishment than the one who did not know and acted wrongly. This illustrates the point that the one to whom much is given, much is required, and so the judgment of misusing what has been entrusted is more severe than for the one who was entrusted with little by comparison. It is noteworthy that when Jesus declares this teaching, he does not directly answer Peter’s question about whether the previous teaching on vigilance—again, defined in terms of faithfulness—in 12:35–40 is addressed to the disciples or to everyone. It seems that with these final notes Jesus is including everyone in the scope of this teaching, but it is most especially directed as a warning to Jesus’s disciples, his servants. They are to be watchful, not in the sense of paying attention to the signs of the master’s arrival, since that is nowhere stated as an expectation. In fact, Jesus says the Son of Man is coming at a time when they do not expect him (12:39–40). What they are to be watchful for, as Jesus illustrates, is in how they conduct themselves, remaining alert and obedient, not “falling asleep on the job” as it were.
Beyond this text, the only use of terminology associated in Matthew or Mark with vigilance appears in Luke 21:36 (ἀγρυπνέω). This is part of Jesus’s briefest instruction on watchfulness in 21:34–36, and it is the most succinctly clear indication of all that Jesus is not calling for attentiveness to signs. The teaching to the disciples leads into this point first with the more general terminology of paying attention or taking care that their hearts are not overcome with dissipation, drunkenness, and the anxieties of everyday life. That is, one is not to grow lax in one’s conduct and forget one’s obligations to obedience in the face of the pressures of life. That is what it means to be alert and “stay on watch” as it were.