The Parable of the Alert Servant Made Simple (Mark 13:33-37)
By Matthew Payne
Jan 11, 2012
Mark 13:33-37 reads:
"Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going out to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming--in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning-- lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to you all: Watch!"
Throughout the New Testament, Jesus shared all about the signs of the time. He had been sharing that there will be false Christs and there will be tribulation. The stars of Heaven will fall and all sorts of things will happen before the coming of the end of days.
Jesus is much more than a wonderful person. While reading or listening to these parables, I hope you will fully understand who He is and what is really going on. Today, Jesus has in fact gone to a far country. This is no longer a parable. While it is true that when Jesus was on earth, this was a parable with a funny significance, He had not yet gone to that far country but now Jesus has gone away. It says just before this, concerning the day of his second coming, of that day no one knows, not even the angels in Heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.
I have heard many recent accounts of people who have met Jesus in Heaven, and
never be fully aware of the intentions of others around you. It feels almost as if he is warning us that as individuals, we
He warns of what could happen if we stop expressing ourselves and our ideas, and we let people confiscate away our books, and thoughts. He notices what has been going on at home and
The Servant by James C. Hunter lays a foundation of required strategies that are commonly learned throughout life. The concepts that are laid out in this book are quite interesting and similar to the laws of love. There is an unfortunate amount of successful and unsuccessful people who acquire the “I know best” leadership style that John portrays. Having the “I know it all” mentality can be a person’s biggest downfall. Within this story, you can see the consequences of that mentality as John is losing his grounds in all leadership roles within his life. These strategies are not difficult or new but understanding the foundation of these strategies may be quite challenging for some. When reading this book I recognized to become an efficient leader
The humans live in time but our Enemy destines them to eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to tow things, to eternity itself, and to that point of
The Servant was written by James C. Hunter. The focus of this book is servant leadership. Hunter uses a retreat set up at a monastery called John of the Cross to explain the importance of servant leadership and how one can apply it to one’s life. Hunter uses a businessman, principal, college basketball coach, pastor, drill sergeant, and a head nurse to bring different personalities and views on leadership. The group meets together with a monk at the monastery twice a day to discuss different areas that lead to a servant leader. The three most thought-provoking topics for me discussed in The Servant were the definitions, the old paradigm, and the word love.
You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time—we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God’s grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it. (Miller 87)
“Dear god, hear me! Yesterday you came to my house, you told me to ship out on the misty sea and learn if father, gone so long, is every coming home. . . Look how my countrymen- the suitors most of all, the pernicious bullies- foil each move I make.”(II: 293-99).
A big part of the end of the world in the Christian faith is something called the rapture. The rapture is when Jesus returns to take all those who believe in Him up to heaven and away from the earth. Those left on the earth are the people that rejected God and/or are part of different religions. When the rapture occurs, the Holy Spirit, God’s believed spirit that resides on the earth, will leave the earth and there will be nothing holding back evil. The time at which the rapture will occur is a subject of conflict among the Christian churches. The first and most popular theory is the “Pre-Tribulation” theory; the people in this group believe the rapture to occur right before the Tribulation. In this theory the rapture itself is sort of the “starting pistol” for the Tribulation. Next is the “Mid-Tribulation” theory, these people believe that Christians will have to suffer three-and-a-half years or halfway through the Tribulation. They believe that Christians are exempt from the wrath of God but are not exempt from the sufferings of the Tribulation. Similar is the “Post-Tribulation” theory; in this belief Christians are not raptured until the end of the Tribulation for much the same reasons as the “Mid-Trib” theory. Some also believe that even though Christians’ sins have been atoned for they still have to be punished with suffering in the Tribulation. The last and least commonly heard of theory is the “Pre-Wrath” theory. This group
" Often, awakening suddenly at midnight, he shrank from the bosom of Faith, and at morning or eventide, when the family knelt down at prayer, he
This prophecy got concerned and when Jesus was alone with the disciples on the Mount of Olives in verse 3, they asked him, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" What follows in Matthew 24–25 refers to the future, seven-year tribulation period and the second coming of Christ at the end of the tribulation. During that time, God will complete His chastisement and purification of Israel and after the judgment of the whole world (Daniel 9:24-27; Revelation 6–19).
I suppose the verse could find a still further fulfilment on a world-wide scale, but I seems clear that the sudden rise of Trump in tandem with what is happening politically in this country and even around the world, is just one more “coincidence” that seems choreographed by something greater than ourselves. If what has recently happened is the fulfilment of these two prophecies, than the tribulation could start at any moment. A dark time approaches.
During Jesus’ life he was teaching in many different ways one of them was telling the parables. Parable is an earthly story with the heavenly meaning. That means that Jesus was making up a story in which there would be a real people, working of doing something that was common at that times. Sometimes he used the values whether material or spiritual, that were valuable in old times. So he was making everything to make the story look more realistic. But under the close of the poor man or woman and under the animal or a subject there was always something mach more complicated, something about his father, himself, and the people that were following the God or not.
From researching the resurrection the evidence is overwhelming; however the proof is the disciples, telling the story of how each one of them saw Jesus alive and recorded what they had seen before His death and after His death except. However, Thomas was not there.
Jesus’ use of parables was to fulfill Old Testament prophecy; Psalm 78:2, “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old-” (NIV). Additionally, Jesus used parables to teach the truth, basic moral, and spiritual principles using simple down to earth stories to reveal the message of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven was the heartbeat of Jesus teachings; often his parables began with: the kingdom of God is like…. Jesus used parables to teach not of an earthly kingdom of God but of a spiritual kingdom, and those who chose to accept God’s kingdom would inherit eternal life. It is important to remember, that Jesus used parables not to replace to doctrine but to illustrate and confirm doctrine teachings.
Privately, Jesus warns the disciples three times that not everything will happen the way they expect: "the Son of Man will be betrayed and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up" (Matthew 17:22-23).