Luke 12:39

The Second Parable - The Thief Breaking In (12:39).

“But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not have left his house to be broken through.”

The second illustration is of the arrival of a thief. No one knows when it will happen, for if they did they would be in readiness and it would not happen. ‘Broken through.' The thief would enter a house by breaking through the mud walls of a typical Palestinian house. Again the point is that the only hope of avoiding it is to be in constant readiness. But here there is the added thought that for this man who was not in readiness, the Son of Man's arrival will have the same unpleasantness as that which is experienced by the advent of a thief. The man has been caught out and the results will not be pleasant. He is one who has not been keeping in mind the Lord's coming at all.

This parable gives us the warning that we must not read too much into every detail of parables. We are hardly to see a thief as a picture of Jesus in any other way than because he comes unexpectedly, and because his coming is unpleasant for the householder involved because he is not ready.