<p>12:40 <i>You also- be ready- </i>The Lord was initially speaking to the disciples, the future elders of the church. The elders, represented by &quot;the goodman of the house&quot;, have a special responsibility in this watching, so that the Lord's return is not thief-like to the 'house' of their ecclesia (Mt. 24:43).&nbsp; They &quot;watch for your souls&quot; (Heb. 13:17). But in a sense, the duty of watching falls to each of us: we're all elders (Lk. 12:41-46). All believers are called to watch, and that watching involves watching for others. The connection with 1 Thess. 5:2,6 therefore suggests that one of the reasons for the unworthy experiencing the second coming &quot;as a thief&quot; will be the lack of awareness by their elders concerning the spiritual trials of the last days. The reverse is also true.&nbsp;A good latter-day elder will have to give his very soul to the work of watching over the flock, fully aware of the many dangers they face in the last days.&nbsp;&nbsp; It is difficult to see how this vital role can be filled by those who have sold their souls to demanding employers. This work can&rsquo;t be simply left to others. This passage teaches that the servant who must feed the household with appropriate food represents each of us; he must watch for the Lord's return and be diligent in feeding the household; yet (it must be stressed), this parable is intended for each of us (cp. Mk. 13:37). If he doesn't do this, he is rejected. We are set a high standard here. Christ is &quot;the goodman of the house&quot; (Mt. 20:11), but here &quot;the goodman of the house&quot; represents each of us (Mt. 24:43; Lk. 12:39,40). We are in Him, and therefore we must try to share his level of concern for his household. He carried his cross for us, for our salvation. And he asks us to share His cross, i.e. His devotion to the body of believers, even unto death. If we are in Him, we too must devote ourselves to the saving of the body.</p><p>The very same word and idea for &quot;ready&quot; is repeated in Mt. 25:10. Those who were &quot;ready&quot; and responded immediately to the news of the Lord's return were accepted. The 'readiness' is in being constantly ready to leave all and go to&nbsp;be with the Lord. We shouldn't be so surprised, therefore, that life in this world is so unbearable for the believers; for we are being led to a point where we will be ready and eager to leave all for the sake of being with the Lord.</p><p><i>For in the hour you do not expect- the Son of Man comes</i>- The fact we do not know the date of the Lord's return is what makes us live in a spirit of constant readiness for His coming. The point is that we should be &ldquo;ready&rdquo; even when we &ldquo;think not&rdquo; that the Lord&rsquo;s coming is near. The contrast is being drawn between on one hand our &lsquo;readiness&rsquo;, and on the other, our &lsquo;thinking&rsquo;, our computing, our calculations, the seeming to us, that the return of Christ is near. &quot;The Son of Man comes&quot; uses the present tense, whereas &ldquo;Be&hellip; ready&rdquo; would properly require the future tense. There may be here a hint that the future coming of the Son of Man in essence is ongoing in the life of the believer.</p>