Thomas Aquinas Commentary Matthew 24:42-51

"Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through. Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath set over his household, to give them their food in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord tarrieth; and shall begin to beat his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth." — Matthew 24:42-51 (ASV)

After the Lord affirmed the uncertainty of the hour of His coming, He advises vigilance. This advice is twofold:

1. First, He advises all people to be vigilant.
2. Second, He advises prelates, where it says, Who, do you think, is a faithful and wise servant, etc.?

Concerning the first point (advising all people to be vigilant), He does three things:

1. He makes the admonition.
2. He makes a comparison.
3. He draws the conclusion.

The second part is where it says: But know this, etc.; and the third part is where it says: Therefore, you also be ready, etc.

He says, therefore: ‘So I say that the day is uncertain, and no one can rely upon his state of life, because one will be taken from whatever state and another will be left. Therefore, you ought to be diligent and solicitous.’

Watch therefore. As Jerome says, the Lord wished to leave the time of the end of the world uncertain so that people might always be watchful. For a person commits sins in three ways: because his senses are unoccupied; similarly, because he ceases to move; and again, because he lies down.

Therefore, watch, so that your senses may be elevated by contemplation: I sleep, and my heart watches (Song of Solomon 5:2). Likewise, watch, lest you become stiff in death, for a person watches who exercises himself with good works: Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). Similarly, watch, lest you lie down through negligence: How long will you sleep, O sluggard? (Proverbs 6:9).

But what does He say? Because you do not know what hour your Lord will come. He was saying this to the Apostles, and it is not found elsewhere that He so expressly calls Himself the Lord, as He does here, and as He says in John 13:13: You call me Master and Lord. And you say well: for so I am.

But someone might say that the Lord was speaking to the Apostles; however, the Apostles would not live until the end of the world. Therefore, why does He say: Watch, because you do not know what hour your Lord will come?

Augustine says that these words were indeed necessary for the Apostles, for those who were before us, and for us, because the Lord comes in two ways. At the end of the world, He will come to all people as a whole; likewise, He comes to each person at their end, that is to say, at death: I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you (John 14:18). Therefore, His coming is twofold: at the end of the world, and also at death, and He wished both times to be uncertain.

These comings are related to each other, because as a person will be found at His Second Coming, so they will be at His first. Augustine says: “The last day of the world will find him unprepared, whom the last day of his life finds unprepared.”

Similarly, this passage can be expounded as referring to another coming, namely, His invisible coming, when He comes to the mind: If he comes to me, I will not see him (Job 9:11). Hence, He comes invisibly to many, and they do not perceive Him; therefore: I stand at the gate and knock. If any man shall hear my voice and open to me the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him (Revelation 3:20).

But know this, that if the goodman of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly watch. But because he does not know at what hour he will come, he ought to watch the whole night. Who is this goodman? The house is the soul. In it a person ought to rest: “When I go into my house,” meaning into my conscience, “I shall repose myself with her” . The goodman is the mind: The king who sits on the throne scatters away all evil with his look (Proverbs 20:8).

Sometimes, a thief breaks open his house. A thief is some persuasion of a false doctrine or some temptation. And it is called a thief, as it says in John 10:1: He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, the same is a thief and a robber. Natural knowledge or the Natural Law is properly called a door. Therefore, whoever enters through the mind enters through the door; but he who enters through the gate of concupiscence, or of anger, or of similar things, is a thief.

Thieves usually come in the night. If thieves had gone in to you, if robbers by night, how would you have held your peace? (Obadiah 1:5). Hence, if they come in the daytime, they are not feared. So when a person is in the contemplation of divine things, temptation does not come then; but when a person behaves negligently, then temptation comes. Therefore, the Prophet David says well: When my strength shall fail, do not you forsake me (Psalms 70:9).

Hence, we ought to watch because we do not know when the Lord will come, namely, for judgment. Or we can refer this passage to the day of death: For when they shall say: Peace and security; then shall sudden destruction come upon them (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

Therefore, you also be ready, because at an hour you do not know, the Son of man will come. Chrysostom says that people solicitous about temporal things watch during the night. And if they watch for the sake of temporal things, much more ought one to watch for the sake of spiritual things: If you shall not watch, I will come to you as a thief (Revelation 3:3).

Who, do you think, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has appointed over his family? Here, He specially admonishes prelates to watch. He does this in two ways:

1. First, by attracting them with rewards.
2. Second, by frightening them with punishments.

Concerning the first (attracting them with rewards), He does three things:

1. He points out the qualifications of a good prelate.
2. He points out the duties of a prelate.
3. He points out the reward of a good prelate.

The qualifications of a good prelate are that he be faithful and prudent. In every good work two things are necessary: that one’s intention be fixed upon the proper end, and likewise, that one take the appropriate means to that end. Hence, in the duties of a prelate these things are necessary.

First, that he fix his intention upon the proper end. Some prelates focus on themselves, concerning whom it is said: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, that fed themselves (Ezekiel 34:2). For those who fix their intention on the right end do not intend what is useful for themselves, but for many, so that many may be saved. And they rightly do all this for God’s glory. But he who seeks what is his own does not act for God’s glory. Hence, it is necessary for him to be faithful: Now it is required among the stewards that a man be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2).

Likewise, he ought to be prudent, because it can be that someone is seeking God’s glory but not according to knowledge, for it belongs to a prelate to reprove vices. However, he might reprove in such a manner that he incites to sin. Therefore, it is necessary that he be prudent. Be therefore wise as serpents (Matthew 10:16).

And observe that He calls him a servant, because there is a difference between a free man and a servant: namely, that every action of a servant accrues to his master, but not those of a free man. So, every action of a prelate ought to be referred to God. In this way, Paul was calling himself a servant, when he said: And ourselves your servants through Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:5).

But why does He say: Who, do you think, is a faithful and wise servant? It is because few are faithful: For all seek the things that are their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ’s (Philippians 2:21); But who shall find a faithful man? (Proverbs 20:6). And if few are faithful, fewer are prudent; for that reason, the Lord says this, noting their scarcity.

Then He mentions their duties: Whom his lord has appointed over his family. And He does three things:

1. He treats of his appointment over his responsibilities, when He says: Whom his lord has appointed, not that he procures his appointment by gifts or prayers: Neither does any man take the honor to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was (Hebrews 5:4).
2. Then He mentions over what he has been appointed, namely, over his family, more precisely over His Church, not over temporal things, according to what the Apostle says: No man, being a soldier to God, entangles himself with secular businesses (2 Timothy 2:4). Likewise, it is necessary for him to be prudent so that he may watch over the Church, and not over things outside the Church: What have we to do concerning those things that are without? (1 Corinthians 5:12).
3. Similarly, He mentions the responsibilities of a prelate: To give them meat in season. A prelate is to give meat—namely, the meat of doctrine, good example, and temporal assistance. For that reason, the Lord says to Peter three times: Feed… Feed… Feed my sheep (John 21:15–17). Feed by word, feed by example, feed by temporal assistance; this is written in the last chapter, nevertheless, it is written. In season. All things have their season (Ecclesiastes 3:1). I have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now (John 16:12). For if you wish to speak words when it is not appropriate, you destroy.

He continues concerning their reward. First, He says what it is; and second, He says in what it consists. What is the reward? It is beatitude; hence, He says: Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come he shall find so doing, namely, administering, as it says, Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord (Psalms 118:1). And why are they blessed? Amen I say to you: he shall place him over all his goods.

This passage is expounded in three ways:

1. In one way, it is explained such that it is shown in what all beatitude consists. For beatitude consists in some good, but all things belong to God. Therefore, is not beatitude in some one of these? Beatitude is in that good which is above all other goods, for a person is not blessed except in that good which is God. Hence, he will place him over all his goods means he will be made blessed in that, namely God, which is above all goods.
2. In a second way, it can be explained that He says this to show the preeminence which good prelates will have. In Luke 12:37, it is stated that he will make them sit down; but here it is stated that he will place him over all his goods, because among all rewards the greatest is the reward of a good prelate: He that shall do and teach, he shall be called great (Matthew 5:19). But they that are learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity (Daniel 12:3). And this is over all his goods, meaning above all the rewards of the saints.
3. In a third way, it can be explained by the union with Christ. Because, just as in this world, one will not arrive at the state of perfection unless he follows Christ’s footsteps, so neither, in the life to come, will people arrive at the state of perfection unless they have been joined to Christ. And they will have dominion over all things, inasmuch as their will is conformed to the divine will: And I dispose to you, as my Father has disposed to me, a kingdom (Luke 22:29). And: He that shall overcome, I will give him the morning star (Revelation 2:26, 28).

But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, etc. After He attracted them with rewards so that they might be vigilant, here, He frightens them with punishments. This involves two aspects:

1. First, He points out the guilt of an evil servant.
2. Second, He points out the punishment, where it says: The lord shall come, etc.

In guilt there are two things: namely, the cause of guilt, and the guilt itself; and, nevertheless, both are guilt. The cause of guilt is despair of His coming: If he shall say: My lord is long in coming. Augustine says that a person can say this due to a very great desire, and the one who was saying the following words was demonstrating this: When shall I come and appear before the face of God? (Psalms 41:3). Sometimes, it is said on account of despair of His coming quickly: Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying: The days shall be prolonged, and every vision shall fail? (Ezekiel 12:22). The Lord does not delay his promise (2 Peter 3:9). Hence, this is the root of all guilt.

But what are the things that follow from this? One is the guilt of cruelty and another is the guilt of pleasure. As to the first, He says: And shall begin to strike his fellow servants, because he will deem others to be subject as servants to himself, contrary to what is written: But voluntarily, and not as lording it over the clergy (1 Peter 5:2–3). And this alone is not enough for him, but he also strikes and afflicts: You that build up Zion with blood (Micah 3:10). Or they strike their brothers, whom they consider to be their servants, by their bad example.

Likewise, this is not enough for them, but they turn themselves to pleasures: He shall eat and drink with drunkards, meaning he will associate with pleasure seekers if he is a pleasure seeker. And what follows from this? He describes the Judgment. This description has two parts:

1. First, He relates their judgment as being unexpected.
2. Second, He relates their punishment.

He says, The lord of that servant shall come in a day that he hopes not; because a person sometimes supposes that he is sure of having a long life and, nevertheless, suddenly dies: The day of the Lord shall come as a thief (1 Thessalonians 5:2); The destruction thereof shall come on a sudden, when it is not looked for (Isaiah 30:13). And what will happen as a result of this? Three punishments follow:

1. And he shall separate him, not, as Jerome says, that he will divide him with a sword, but from the company of the good: He shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:32). And this is the greatest punishment. Origen speaks as follows: ‘In a person there are three things: there is the soul, the body, and the spiritual gift. And these will not be divided in good prelates, but only in the bad prelates. The spiritual gift will be divided, because He will take the spiritual gift that He had given to them; the body and the soul, however, will be cast into fire.’
2. Likewise, there is another punishment that will be allotted to the wicked; hence, He says: He shall appoint his portion with the hypocrites. Hypocrites are pretenders who profess one thing and do another; hence, He will appoint His portion with such people. And so the following verse is understood: Brimstone, and storms of winds, shall be the portion of their cup (Psalms 10:7).
3. Likewise, these punishments will still not be sufficient, but there will be another punishment, for there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. They shall pass from the snow waters to excessive heat (Job 24:19). Hence, weeping is caused by smoke, and gnashing of teeth is caused by cold.

Origen says that from this we can consider that they speak incorrectly who say that bad prelates are not prelates.

Likewise, note the comparison which Augustine presents. Let us remove from view that servant about whom the exhortation is made, and let us consider three servants who love the Lord’s coming. One says: ‘My Lord will come quickly, and, therefore, I will watch.’ Another says: ‘The Lord will delay, but I want to watch.’ The last says: ‘I do not know when He will come, and, therefore, I will watch.’ Which of these speaks best? Augustine says the first is badly deceived, because if he thinks that He may come quickly, and later He delays, he is in danger of falling asleep out of weariness. The second can be deceived but he is not in danger. But the third does well, who out of uncertainty always waits. Therefore, it is bad to fix a specific time for His coming.