<p>12:37 <i>Blessed are those servants, whom the master when he comes shall find awake- </i>Passover night was to be &quot;a night of watching&quot; (Ex. 12:42 RV mg.), strongly suggesting&nbsp;&quot;watching in prayer&quot; (Eph. 6:18; 1 Pet. 4:7; 2 Cor. 11:27). Similarly those who are found &quot;watching&quot; at the Lord's midnight coming (cp. that of the Passover angel) will be found acceptable. The picture of Israel in their family units huddled together around the Lamb, desperately focusing their attention on that saving blood, watching and praying, examining themselves- this is us, right now. For there can be no serious doubt that the second coming is almost upon our generation.</p><p>Our attitude to the second coming decides whether we will be in the Kingdom. In this sense we are judging ourselves, right now; we are formulating the outcome of the judgment seat by our attitude now towards the second coming.&nbsp; The proof for this lies in a group of passages which suggest that everyone who truly loves the return of his Lord will be in the Kingdom. Of course, a true love of His coming is only possible if we hold correct doctrine, and if our faith and behaviour is mature enough to be able to look with quiet joy and confidence towards that day. Thus our Lord said that all those whom He finds <i>watching</i> will be welcomed into the marriage feast. And 2 Tim. 4:8 is plain enough: &quot;All them also that love his appearing&quot; will be rewarded along with Paul. Paul's own confidence in salvation was because he knew the earnestness of his desire to be &quot;present with the Lord&quot; Jesus (2 Cor. 5:8), such was the closeness of his relationship with Him. Is this really our attitude too? Can we feel like Simeon, that we are quite happy to die after we have just seen our Lord with our own eyes (Lk. 2:29)? Is there really much <i>love</i> between us and our Lord?</p><p>The foolish virgins knock on the door, i.e. ask for acceptance. At the second coming, the Lord knocked on their door, and they didn't answer immediately. They had decided their own fate by their dilatory response.</p><p><i>Truly I say to you, that he shall dress himself for service and make them sit down to eat, and shall come and serve them</i>- The Lord&rsquo;s self-crucifixion spirit was seen not only in His life and then finally in His death and subsequent life; but who He was in His mortal life, He will <i>eternally</i> be. He is the same yesterday as today and as for ever. He will dress Himself to serve us, as a servant, in His future Kingdom, reminiscent of how at the last supper and on the cross He in principle did the same (Phil. 2:7). Thus the spirit of the cross must be a way of life, and this feature of our characters will be seen in the Kingdom too.</p><p>The Lord&rsquo;s exalted view of the disciples is reflected in how He washed their feet. To wash the feet of guests was more menial than we might imagine. It was normal to provide water for the guest to wash his own feet. The Midrash <i>Mekhilta</i> on Ex. 21:2 taught that a Jewish slave should never be required to wash his Master&rsquo;s feet. But as a sign of extreme devotion and respect, some disciples of the most respected rabbis would wash their feet. Yet the Lord Jesus, having reminded them that He was indeed their Lord and Master, does this to them. And according to Lk. 12:37, He will do this again to us in His Kingdom, in that He will then tie a cloth around Him and come forth and serve us. It would seem the Lord was referring back to this prophecy when He tied a cloth around Him and washed the disciples&rsquo; feet. This was how highly He thought of them; and that incident was an enacted prophecy of the attitude He will have to <i>us</i>, whom the 12 symbolize, even in the glory of His Kingdom. He surely totally redefined the nature of Lordship and respect. &nbsp;</p><p>The Master is so delighted that his servants are watching for Him that He immediately sits down and gets a meal ready for them, doing the serving Himself. There is an arresting element of unreality here. Would a Master really do this, at such an unlikely time at night, would he really serve himself, and would he really be so glad that the servants were waiting up for him? But these elements of unreality serve to teach the lessons: that the Lord will have unspeakable joy at His return because of our expectancy of the second coming, and He will surprise us by His glee and enthusiasm for us. See on 2 Tim. 4:8.</p><p>The master makes the servants &quot;recline at table&quot;; they are made to feel like the Master, by the Master Himself This is what it means to be &quot;in Christ&quot;. There's a kind of out of scale inappropriacy about the idea that if the Master comes and finds the servants awake, then He will gird Himself and serve them. Of course they ought to be awake But it's as if He is so especially impressed by this fact. And we who live awaiting His return need to take note. And the idea of the master serving is of course the idea behind the description of the cross in Phil. 2:6,7. We should have the same awkward sense of wonder at the cross as we have when we recline at the breaking of bread. This implies that those who serve the emblems are in fact manifesting the Lord Jesus, and are actually of far greater significance than the president or the speaker. See on Lk. 13:7.</p><p>Ps. 36:8 says that God will &quot;make us&quot; partake of the blessings of the Kingdom of God. It reminds us of how the Lord Jesus said that in his Kingdom, he will &quot;make us&quot; sit down at a table, and he will come and serve us, knowing full well that he who sits at meat is greater than he who serves (Lk. 22:27). It isn't so difficult to imagine this scene: the Lord of glory wanting us to sit down to a meal, and then <i>He</i> comes and serves us. He <i>will</i> have to &quot;make us&quot; sit down and let ourselves be served. Perhaps &quot;<i>Come</i>, you blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom&quot; (Mt. 25:34) likewise suggests a hesitancy of the faithful to enter the Kingdom. And perhaps the way the Lord had to 'make' the healed blind man look up and use his new sight was some kind of foretaste of this. There is even the suggestion in Rev. 7:15 that after the judgment process, the Lord will come down off His throne and mix with us, after the pattern of Joseph. See on Lk. 18:17.</p><p>The Lord Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. It is wrong to think that the Lord was only humble in His ministry, but will return with almost bitter indignation. This is not so. He girded Himself and served His men in the days of His flesh (Jn. 13:4); and He will do <i>exactly</i> the same again, in the glory of His Kingdom (Lk. 12:37). That same essential humility of God and Jesus will be with Him; He won't have changed. It is His fundamental, eternal characteristic. The fear of God lest Israel would not attain the promised land (&quot;lest peradventure...&quot;, Ex. 13:17) shows His humility, in being so concerned for the salvation of petty man; and that characteristic likewise will be His, right up to and through and beyond the day of judgment.&nbsp;<br />The Lord who will judge us knows us each individually. The question arises, &lsquo;Why would <i>all</i> the servants stay awake in order to open the door (Lk. 12:37)? Why not just the night watchman? The answer is that there is a totally unique and special personal relationship between this Master and <i>all</i> His servants.</p>