Three parables on vigilance
The three parables on the subject of vigilance (the parable of the vigilant servants , the parable of the householder and the thief, and the parable of the wise and the wicked servant ) are a complex of parables of Jesus , which have been handed down in different versions and textual versions , in the face of waiting for Second Coming, underline the need for vigilance through example narratives of servants, a homeowner, and various administrators. The parables are handed down in the Gospels according to Matthew ( Mt 24.42-51 EU ), Mark ( Mk 13.33-37 EU ) and Luke ( Lk 12.35-48 EU ).
Classification, structure and wording
Exhortations to be vigilant, developed like a parable, are handed down in a similar form in all three synoptic Gospels . Pope Francis speaks of "three short parables on the subject of vigilance": the parable of the servants who await the return of their master at night; the image of the watchful master of the house, whom the thief cannot surprise at night; and the parable of the steward of a house who abuses his authority after the departure of the Lord and is caught and cruelly punished when he unexpectedly returns. According to his counter-image, the steward who works faithfully according to the will of the owner, who provides the workers with everything and is richly rewarded by the master on his return, the last parable - mostly in the form of Lk 12.42ff. - in the Lutheran tradition also called parable of the faithful steward .
Markus
- Parable of the watchful servants
The call to vigilance in Mark's gospel is illustrated by the example of servants awaiting the return of their master from a journey. The text reads in the Luther translation ( Luther Bible 2017):
“Be careful, watch! Because you don't know when the time will come. It is like a man who went across the country and left his house and gave authority to his servants, to each his work, and told the doorkeeper to watch: So watch now; for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening or at midnight or at the crowing of the cock or in the morning, so that he does not find you asleep when he suddenly comes. But what I tell you, I say to everyone: Watch! "
Luke
- Parable of the watchful servants and parable of the master of the house and the thief
The form handed down by Luke comprises two parts: the actual parable and a subsequent conversation between Jesus and his disciples. The first part of the speech itself is divided into two parts and names as examples of vigilance on the one hand servants who are waiting for their master to return from a wedding at an uncertain hour at night, and on the other hand a householder who has to protect himself from burglars through constant vigilance. The entire passage is headed in the Luther Bible with "Waiting for the Coming of Christ", the text reads there (revised version from 1984):
“Let your loins be girded and your lights burned and be like the people who wait for their Lord, when he will leave the wedding, so that when he comes and knocks, they will open them to him immediately. Blessed are the servants whom the master finds watching when he comes. Verily, I say to you, he will wear his clothes and ask them to sit and come and serve them. And if he comes in the second or third watch and finds it like this: blessed are they. But you should know that if a householder knew what time the thief was coming, he would not let his house be broken into. Are you ready too! For the Son of Man comes at an hour when you don't mean it. "
- Parable of the wise and the wicked servant (= parable of the faithful steward)
After a question from Peter , Jesus tells a third parable on the subject of vigilance, about a vicious steward who gets drunk in the absence of the Lord and beats the workers. He is faced with a good steward who is rewarded by the returning gentleman. In addition, servants are named who act imprudently or negligently out of negligence or ignorance and are therefore less severely punished than the wicked servant (text: Lutherbibel 1984):
“But Peter said, Lord, do you speak this parable to us or also to all? And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and wise steward whom the Lord puts over his people, that he may give them what is due to them at the right time? Blessed is the servant whom his master sees doing when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says in his heart: My master is far from coming, and begins to beat the servants and maidservants, also to eat and drink and to drink himself, then the master of this servant will come one day, when he does not expect it, and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him to pieces and give him his share with the unbelievers. But the servant who knows the will of his master, but has neither prepared nor done according to his will, will have to suffer many blows. But those who do not know him and who have done what deserves blows will not suffer much blows. For whoever has been given much, one will search a lot; and if a lot is entrusted to you, you will ask all the more. "
Matthew
- Parable of the householder and the thief, and parable of the wise and the wicked servant
The Gospel of Matthew also underlines in Jesus' end-time speech on the Mount of Olives the admonition to be vigilant ( Mt 24:42 EU ) through a subsequent parable speech consisting of two example stories: In the first place there is the parable of the householder who does not know the time of a break-in into his house knows in advance (version of the 2016 standard translation):
“Consider this: if the master of the house knew what hour of the night the thief was coming, he would stay awake and not allow his house to be broken into. So be ready too! For the Son of Man comes at an hour when you do not expect it. "
This is followed by an exemplary comparison of a faithful and a bad servant, who differ in that the one treats the servants well in the absence of the master and is rewarded for it when the master returns, while the second uses the absence to hit his subordinates abuse, whereby he is surprised by the returning gentleman and punished accordingly (version of the Elberfeld Bible ):
“Who is then the faithful and wise servant whom his master has set over his servants to give them food at the right time? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find doing such a thing! Verily, I tell you, he will put him over all his possessions. But if that one, as an evil servant, says in his heart: My master is a long time coming, and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunk, then the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not awaits, and in an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in two and fix his part with the hypocrites; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. "
interpretation
The parables of the watchful servant and the watchful master of the house deal with waiting for Christ to come. The present is marked as a difficult time of Jesus' absence, the end of which is not in sight and which therefore requires special vigilance in order to prove oneself in fidelity to the Lord. The life of the disciples of Jesus should always be directed towards the onset of the rule of God, which they must reckon with at all times. The final coming of the rulership of God takes place with the return of Jesus Christ, during which he will reveal himself as Lord.
According to popular belief, this situation of the disciples is compared in its basic form from the source of the Logia Q with that of servants who are waiting for their master at a very advanced hour (the third night watch is the last). The attention that the loyal servants are to receive upon his arrival by far exceeds anything that a servant can normally expect as a reward.
In the parable of the faithful steward or his counter-image, the bad and evil steward, the 'social' aspect of the administration of the kingdom of God comes to the fore in the form of giving and distributing benefits, especially because the steward's core task is in the absence of the Lord the giving of wages and food is explicitly represented. Prudence and vigilance consist in not mistreating the other servants and maidservants and heeding the will of the landlord, who is directed to their well-being, even in his absence. This thrust of the parable, which can easily be related to the role of apostles , bishops and priests , is taken up in particular by Augustine of Hippo , who connects the donation metaphor with the priestly " distribution of bread " .
reception
In 1695 the lawyer and song writer Johann Burchard Freystein (1671–1718) made the parable the basis of his ten-stanza chorale Make yourself, my spirit, ready , which is reproduced in the EG (387) with six stanzas. The special offensive of the break-in is underlined by verse 4, which has remained unprinted here:
“ Watch! that Satan's cunning / not to meet you in your sleep / because he is otherwise agile / that he barks at you: / for God gives, / whom he loves, / often in his punishments, / when they sleep safely. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ Armin Schwibach: Three parables and vigilance. In: Kath.net , August 7, 2016, accessed October 2018.
- ↑ Bernhard Kaiser : Faithful Housekeeper (Luke 12, 42–48; Eternity Sunday III) (PDF; 36.6 kB). Online publication (sermon), Institute for Reformation Theology, Reiskirchen, November 20, 2011.
- ↑ a b Hildegund Müller: Dispenso, dispensator, dispensatio in Augustine's work. In: Wiener Studien Vol. 108 (1994/95, FS Hans Schwabl ), pp. 495-521 (here: p. 502).
- ↑ a b c Karl Löning : The history of Luke. Volume 2: The way of Jesus. W. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-17-013122-4 , p. 99.
- ↑ Stuttgart Explanatory Bible. ISBN 3-438-01121-2 , 2nd edition 1992, German Bible Society Stuttgart, pp. 1249f. and 1293.
- ↑ Bach, JS: Cantata No. 115 “Prepare yourself, my spirit,”. In: Capriccio Kulturforum , November 4, 2014, accessed October 2018.