Commentary - Matthew 24:42-51

Bird's-eye view

In this section of the Olivet Discourse, the Lord Jesus pivots from the prophetic signs of Jerusalem's coming destruction to the practical application for His disciples. Having laid out the "what" of the impending judgment, He now turns to the "so what." The central theme is readiness. This is not a floaty, ethereal readiness, but a grounded, practical, and diligent watchfulness. Jesus employs two sharp illustrations to drive the point home: the unexpected burglar and the contrasted slaves. The force of His argument is that the precise timing of His coming in judgment upon that generation is unknown, and this very uncertainty demands constant vigilance. He is not talking about us trying to guess the date of the Second Coming two millennia later; He is talking to His disciples then, about a historical judgment that was going to fall within their lifetimes. The faithful disciple is the one who is found simply doing his job when the master returns. The unfaithful disciple is the one who uses the master's apparent delay as an excuse for abuse and debauchery. The consequences are stark: the faithful are promoted to greater responsibility, while the unfaithful are met with catastrophic, final judgment.

This passage is therefore a potent warning against spiritual sloth and presumption. It defines faithfulness not as esoteric speculation about the future, but as steady, humble obedience in the present. The Lord is coming, and how we live in the meantime reveals who we truly are. The judgment He describes is not just a future event, but a present reality that sorts us into one of two camps: the wise slave or the wicked one.

Outline

Context In Matthew

This passage is embedded deep within the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25), Jesus' great sermon on the end of the age. But we must be careful to define our terms as He did. The "end of the age" He is primarily concerned with here is the end of the Old Covenant age, which was brought to a close with the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70. Jesus has just finished predicting the signs that would precede this event, culminating in the "coming of the Son of Man" in judgment against apostate Israel (Matt 24:30). He has stated plainly that "this generation will not pass away until all these things take place" (Matt 24:34). The section we are looking at now, beginning in verse 42, is the application of that prophecy. Because this great historical judgment is coming soon, but on an unknown day and hour, the disciples must live in a particular way. This sets the stage for the subsequent parables in chapter 25 (the ten virgins, the talents), all of which build on this central theme of watchfulness and faithfulness in light of the master's return.

Key Issues

Ready for What?

Before we dive in, we have to get our bearings. Modern evangelicals have been conditioned to read passages like this and immediately think of a yet-future, end-of-the-world Second Coming. But the context provided by Jesus Himself anchors this discussion firmly in the first century. The coming He is speaking of is His coming in judgment against the generation that rejected Him, a judgment executed by the Roman armies in A.D. 70. The disciples did not know the "day or hour," but they knew the generation. The uncertainty was a matter of months or years, not millennia.

So when Jesus commands them to "stay awake," He is not telling them to stare at the clouds or read newspaper headlines with an eschatological decoder ring. He is telling them to be spiritually alert and morally upright, because the entire world they knew was about to be turned upside down. The old covenant order was about to be dismantled in a catastrophic judgment, and they needed to be found faithful in the midst of it. This is a call to practical holiness, not prophetic speculation.

Verse by Verse Commentary

42 “Therefore stay awake, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.

The "therefore" links this command directly to what has just been said. Because the coming of the Son of Man will be sudden and decisive, like the flood in Noah's day, the only appropriate response is vigilance. To "stay awake" is a metaphor for spiritual alertness. It is the opposite of the spiritual stupor and carnal complacency that characterized the world before the flood, and that characterized first-century Jerusalem. They were going about their business, oblivious to the storm gathering on the horizon. The disciples are called to a different posture. Because they do not know the precise day of this visitation, they must be ready on every day.

43 But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

Jesus uses a common-sense illustration. No homeowner, if he knew a burglar was coming at 2 a.m., would go to bed at 1 a.m. He would be up, armed, and waiting. The point of the "thief" metaphor is not that Jesus is a criminal, but that His coming in judgment will be sudden, unwelcome, and disruptive to the world's business-as-usual. The surprise is the point. Since the disciples do not have the precise intelligence the homeowner in the story lacked, their only option is to be awake all the time. The world would be caught completely off guard by the judgment of A.D. 70. The disciples were not to be.

44 For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

He drives the point home. The application of the thief parable is direct: "you also must be ready." This readiness is a settled state of being, a constant preparedness of heart and life. And the reason for it is that the Son of Man's coming will not just be at an unknown hour, but at an unexpected one. It will arrive when people are thinking of other things, when the crisis seems to have passed, when complacency has set in. This is a direct warning against the kind of thinking that says, "Things have always been this way, so they will continue this way." History is not a straight line; it is punctuated by the judgments and salvations of God.

45 “Who then is the faithful and prudent slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?

Jesus now shifts to a second parable to illustrate what this "readiness" looks like in practice. He poses a question to frame the story. What does a good servant look like? He is described with two adjectives: "faithful" and "prudent." Faithful means he is trustworthy and reliable; he does what the master commanded. Prudent means he is wise and sensible; he knows how to get the job done effectively. His specific task is to manage the master's household and ensure the other servants are fed properly and on time. This is a picture of a church leader, an elder or a pastor, but by extension it applies to every Christian. We have all been given a stewardship, a set of responsibilities within the household of God. Faithfulness is simply doing that job.

46 Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.

Here is the heart of the matter. The blessing comes to the slave who is simply found doing his duty. He is not trying to guess the master's return date. He is not running around in a panic. He is just steadily and faithfully dispensing the food. The master's return finds him at his post, carrying out his assigned task. This is the biblical definition of being "ready." Readiness is faithfulness in your ordinary, God-given duties.

47 Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

The reward for faithfulness in a small stewardship is a greater stewardship. The one who proved trustworthy with the household is promoted to be in charge of everything the master owns. This is a fundamental principle of the kingdom. God tests us in small things, and our faithfulness there is the prerequisite for greater responsibility and blessing. The reward for work well done is more work, more authority, and greater intimacy with the master.

48-49 But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards;

Now we see the contrast. The root of the evil slave's sin is in his heart. He makes a calculation based on the master's apparent delay. This is presumption. Because the judgment is not immediate, he concludes it is not coming at all, or at least not for a long while. This corrupt belief immediately bears corrupt fruit. His stewardship turns to tyranny ("begins to beat his fellow slaves") and self-indulgence ("eat and drink with drunkards"). Instead of feeding the household, he abuses it. Instead of soberly managing the master's affairs, he squanders the resources on carousing. This was a precise description of the corrupt leadership of first-century Israel. They were abusive shepherds and lovers of worldly pleasure, all because they did not believe the Master was returning to call them to account.

50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,

The evil slave's calculation proves to be fatally wrong. The master's arrival is timed for maximum surprise, catching the slave red-handed in the midst of his rebellion. The very delay that the slave took as a license to sin becomes the setup for his sudden and inescapable judgment. The long-suffering of the master is not slackness; it is the opportunity for repentance, an opportunity this slave despised.

51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The judgment is terrifyingly severe. The phrase "cut him in pieces" refers to a total and catastrophic destruction. In the historical context of A.D. 70, this was the fate of the unfaithful leaders of Jerusalem. They were utterly destroyed by the Romans. He is then assigned a place "with the hypocrites." This is his true company. His outward profession of being a servant was a sham, and in judgment, he is placed with all the other religious pretenders. The final description, "weeping and gnashing of teeth," is a standard biblical image for the horrors of final judgment, a state of impotent rage, profound regret, and unending misery outside the master's house.

Application

The warning of this passage rings down through the centuries with undiminished force. While the primary application was to the disciples awaiting the A.D. 70 judgment, the principle is timeless. We too live in the "in-between" time. We live between Christ's first coming and His final, glorious return. And like the evil slave, we are tempted to look at the apparent delay and say in our hearts, "My master is not coming for a long time."

When we do this, the same sins follow. We become harsh and domineering with those under our care, in our families, churches, and workplaces. We stop feeding and start beating. And we give ourselves over to the spirit of the age, eating and drinking with the drunkards, adopting the world's priorities and pleasures as our own. We become practical atheists, living as though there is no final accounting.

The call of this passage is a call to robust, daily faithfulness. What has God given you to do today? Are you a husband? Love your wife. A father? Bring up your children in the Lord. An employee? Work heartily for your boss. A pastor? Feed the flock. Being ready for the Lord's return is not complicated. It means being found at your post, faithfully doing the work He assigned you, depending on His grace. The faithful slave is blessed not because he figured out the timing, but because he ignored the timing and simply got on with his job. May the Lord find us so doing when He comes.