Gird your loins and light your lamps 36 and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. 38 And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. 39 Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
Jesus calls for readiness in everyday life: a steady posture that treats each day like a stepping stone. To “gird your loins” and “light your lamps” means living prepared to act—praying before decisions, keeping a clear conscience through repentance, using possessions to serve rather than to hoard, forgiving quickly, and watching for the Lord’s quiet invitations in ordinary tasks (vv. 35-36; cf. Lk. 21:34-36). This readiness is not anxiety about timing; it is nearness to Jesus that makes us prompt to open when he knocks (v. 36; Rev. 3:20).
The promise is striking, and it is a clear picture of the kingdom. If the master finds them awake, he will “gird himself,” seat the servants at table, and serve them (v. 37). Jesus shows a royal reversal: the Lord Himself honors the faithful and shares His joy with them. This is the kingdom’s banquet, where fellowship with the Lord is gift, not wage (cf. Lk. 22:27, 30).
The timing is uncertain: “the second or third watch” (late night toward early morning) (v. 38), and elsewhere Jesus says that “no one knows the day or hour” except the Father (Mt. 24:36; Mk. 13:32). The point is not prediction but readiness—living prepared at any hour to welcome the Lord: to answer his quiet knock in ordinary duties (Rev. 3:20), to meet him at the hour of our death, and to stand before him at his coming (Lk. 12:40; Mt. 24:44; 1 Thess. 5:2).
Jesus adds a second image. If a householder knew when a thief would come, he would not be caught off guard (v. 39). The comparison is about surprise, not character. The Son of Man will come when we do not expect (v. 40). So disciples should guard the “house” of their lives by staying alert to God—prayerful, honest, and ready to answer when he knocks (cf. Rev. 3:20).
For us, vigilance looks like simple faithfulness—daily prayer, works of mercy, repentance when we fail, and hope that endures. We keep the lamp burning by staying near the Lord now, so that whenever he comes we will open to him at once—that is, with prompt, trusting obedience whenever he calls: today in conscience, in Scripture, and in the needs of others; at the hour of our death; and at his final coming (Rev. 3:20; Lk. 12:40; Mt. 25:10; cf. Mt. 25:1-13; 1 Thess. 5:2).
Lord Jesus, keep our hearts awake to you. Teach us to live ready—steady in faith, active in charity, and quick to open when you call. Amen.
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Sources and References:
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
- The Navarre Bible: Luke, Faculty of the University of Navarre (2008).
- The Paulist Biblical Commentary, ed. Chiu et al. (2018), commentary on Luke 12.
- The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, ed. Brown et al. (1990), “Luke.”
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