Luke 12:36

36 And you, [be] like people who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that [when he] comes back and knocks, they can open [the door] for him immediately.

Luke 12:36 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 12:36

And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their
Lord
Who either was at a wedding, or was the bridegroom himself; so be ye in a readiness, waiting for the coming of Christ, the bridegroom of the church:

when he will return from the wedding,
The Syriac version renders it, "from the house of feasting"; from any entertainment, or from the marriage feast, or rather the marriage itself, to the bride chamber: so when Christ has, by the preaching of the Gospel, and the power of his grace, espoused all his elect, he will descend from heaven, and take them to himself; they shall then be called to the marriage supper of the Lamb, and enter with him into the nuptial chamber, and be for ever with him:

that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him
immediately;
and let him in without any delay, as soon as ever he comes to the door; and at the first knock, open it to him at once, having light, and being in a posture of readiness, and in constant expectation of him: so such who have believed in Christ, and have been faithful to his cause and interest, and have held fast the profession of their faith without wavering, when Christ shall either come and knock at their doors by death, or shall come to judgment, and sound the alarm of it, they shall be ready to obey the summons with the greatest cheerfulness, and meet him with the utmost pleasure.

Luke 12:36 In-Context

34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

35 "{You must be prepared for action} and [your] lamps burning.

36 And you, [be] like people who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that [when he] comes back and knocks, they can open [the door] for him immediately.

37 Blessed [are] those slaves whom the master will find on the alert [when he] returns! Truly I say to you that he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table and will come by [and] serve them.

38 Even if he should come back in the second or in the third watch of the night and find [them] like this, blessed are they!

Footnotes

• [a]. Or perhaps simply "feast"
• [b]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle ("comes back")
• [c]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation