THE GOODMAN OF THE HOUSE … THE THIEF

The Lord once again employs a teaching method, as He did in yesterday’s study, which uses an illustration in a way that differs from how He more commonly uses it elsewhere. In the previous portion, we saw the fig tree as representing the signs of His com­ing, not as it is predominantly used, as a symbol of the nation. Here, ‘the goodman of the house’ does not portray the Lord, as he does in other scriptures, cf. Mark 13. 35; Luke 13. 25, but those who should be watchful regarding His coming.

This means, therefore, that the Lord in this context is pic­tured by the thief. We should not be aghast at this as the Lord speaks of himself in this way a number of times, cf. Rev. 3. 3; 16. 15. We should be clear, however, that the metaphor is never used to commend criminality! Rather, the emphasis is upon the sudden, unexpected and unannounced nature of His coming.

In its setting, this lesson relates to those of a coming day, after the church has been raptured, who will await the Lord’s return to the earth to reign. They are exhorted to ‘watch’ for the signs the Lord said would indicate His coming. There are no such pre­cursors to His coming to the air for us. Notwithstanding, we can benefit from an application of these same principles.

Watchfulness is not limited to a looking for indicators. It is also a state of conduct that is affected by that which we antici­pate. Similarly, our lives should be conditioned by our expectations, cf. 1 John 3. 3. The Lord says two things of these people. Firstly, they ‘know not’ when He will return. This is true of us also. What is more, He will not signal His coming for us as He will before His return to earth. That makes the prospect to be imminent. Secondly, they would ‘think not’ that His return could be ‘in such an hour’. We should guard against thinking that the Lord will not possibly come any time now.

The purpose of the thief is to remove that which is counted precious. Let us not be taken up with our earthly possessions to the extent that we neglect to expect our Lord’s return. As Peter says in his First Epistle, chapter 2 verse 7, ‘Unto you therefore which believe he is precious’.