Watchful Waiting

Watchful Waiting

The sentinel on the city wall at night had no news to go on — only the promise that the messenger was coming before dawn. He could not know the hour. He could only remain awake, alert, scanning the darkness. If he slept, he might miss the arriving message that the whole city was waiting for. Jesus' instruction to 'watch' in the Advent discourse of Mark 13 uses this image. The disciple who watches is not passive — they are actively alert, not distracted by the entertainments and anxieties that consume those without the expectation. Watchfulness is not anxiety about when; it is the posture of joyful readiness.

Mark 13:37's instruction is personal and universal simultaneously: 'What I say to you, I say to everyone.' This is not esoteric instruction for spiritual specialists; it is the universal instruction of Christ to the whole church for the entire interval between His first and second coming. Watch. The word (gregoreo) means to be awake and alert, the opposite of sleepiness and spiritual stupor. The disciples in Gethsemane could not watch one hour (Mark 14:37). The command to watch in chapter 13 is followed by the failure to watch in chapter 14 — a warning for the church. Advent is the season of renewed watching. Stay awake.