Blessed are the servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival for they will be invited to recline at table with the master. Jesus’ teaching on faithful preparedness about which we hear in today’s Gospel reading reflects the widespread and perhaps increasingly popular belief in the  parousia (the coming of the Son of Man, or the second coming of Christ as we have come to know it today) that characterized the period following the ascension of Jesus. However, unlike in Gospels according to Matthew and Mark in which the instruction is given in the context of the imminent end that Jesus was facing (cf. Matthew 24:45ff, Mk 13:35ff), in Luke, it appears much earlier on in Jesus’ ministry. And while this does not in any way do away with the teaching’s  parousial leanings, it nonetheless gives it a broader perspective. By having the teaching appear alongside other  ordinary teachings, Luke makes the teaching on preparedness to sound less graphic but still relevant to discipleship.
The  three instructions that immediately precede the one on preparedness (  Saying against Greed, Parable of the Rich Fool, and Dependence on God) certainly provides us with the context for understanding this teaching. While there was no doubt that the  parousia was certain to take place, it is a knowledge that is privy only to the Father (cf. Mark 13:32: “ But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it but the Father”). This surprise nature of the  parousia demands that a disciple be on guard at all times lest he/she is found unprepared. The only preparation that a disciple has to make is ensuring that he/she remains in right relationship with God and his/her fellow creatures (righteousness). Being in right relationship requires humility and subjection, qualities that are not compatible with greed and claiming independence from God. Such preparedness thus becomes part of being not only a disciple of Jesus but also of remaining a child of God.