Matthew recorded much more of what Jesus taught the disciples following His statement in verse 32 than Mark or Luke did. They just included the essence of His exhortation to be vigilant.
13:33 For the fourth time, Jesus urged His disciples to take heed (Gr. blepete, vv. 5, 9, 23). He underlined this warning by adding, "Be vigilant"(Gr. agrypneite). Watchfulness is necessary because we do not know the exact time of Jesus' return.
In view of God's revelations concerning the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the Second Coming were Jesus' exhortations to remain watchful unnecessarily urgent? Christians who know their Bibles are aware that many events will precede the Second Coming. Is it realistic or necessary to live as though Jesus' return is imminent? Jesus' return was not less than seven years away from His departure from the earth because the Old Testament prophesied the Tribulation before the messianic kingdom (Dan. 9:24-27). Therefore the 12 disciples to whom Jesus gave this discourse could have been only a few years away from His return. They needed to be vigilant. That generation of disciples and all succeeding generations of disciples learned later that Jesus would return for His own at the Rapture before He comes at the Second Coming (1 Cor. 15:51-58; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). Thus while His second coming is at least seven years away, His return at the Rapture will be sooner. Pretribulationists believe it could be at any moment. Therefore all that Jesus said about the importance of being vigilant anticipating His return is applicable to and relevant for us.
13:34-36 Jesus told another parable about a doorkeeper. Mark is the only evangelist who recorded it. It is similar to the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30) and the parable of the minas (Luke 19:12-27) though much shorter.
In this parable the doorkeeper is the focus of attention. A doorkeeper or porter was responsible to guard the entrance to his master's house. Entrusted with his master's goods this doorkeeper did not know when his master would return. However whenever the master returned the doorkeeper would have to be ready to admit him to a well-managed house. Evening, midnight, rooster crowing, and dawn were the names that the Romans gave the four watches of the night.326The porter had to remain watchful (Gr. gregore) at night, when the Light of the World was absent from His estate. The opposite of watchfulness is insensibility, lethargy, and inactivity pictured here as sleep (cf. Rom. 13:11; 1 Thess. 5:1-11).
Likewise it is necessary for Jesus' disciples to remain watchful (Gr. gregoreite, v. 35).
"The element of surprise is ineradicable from the parousia expectation."327
13:37 Jesus concluded this discourse as He began it with a final call to watchfulness (Gr. gregoreite, vv. 34, 35). "You"may refer to the four disciples who asked Jesus the initial question (vv. 3-4), or it may refer to all the Twelve who sat before Him. "All"could refer to all the disciples present or to all disciples including those not present. In any case, the point is clear. What Jesus taught here is something every disciple of His needs to apply. We all need to be alert in view of the Lord's return, as the doorkeeper in Jesus' parable (vv. 34-36).
The outstanding emphasis in Mark's account of this discourse is clear. Disciples need to take heed (Gr. blepo, to be aware, to observe, to discern; vv. 5, 9, 23, 33), to be vigilant (Gr. agrupneo, to be awake, to watch; v. 33), and to be watchful (Gr. gregoreo, to be awake, attentive, vigilant, and circumspect; vv. 33, 35, 37).
