Lungi

A lungi is a typical outfit for men in Southern India. My dad wears it even to this day. It is a long cloth, 2 to 3 feet long and 4 to 5 feet wide. They are worn like women’s shirts. Since they are long falling to one’s ankle, it isn't easy to run with them on. So, if a man is running, fighting, or working in the field, he would pick up the bottom, fold it, and tuck it in his waist again, giving his legs the freedom to run.

Ancient Hebrews wore stole and togas, which were similarly long and inconvenient for running or fighting in wars. As they engaged in such activities, they would pull up the stole or toga and tuck them in their waist, saying, “Gird up your loins” (e.g., 1 Peter 1:13).

The Lord Jesus used this phrase to alert his disciples to be ready.

“Your loins must be girded, and the lamps lit” (Luke 12:35)

These phrases were meant to challenge them to be alert and ready for action. He continued,

“In other words, you be like the men who wait for their master to return from weddings so that when he comes and knocks at the door, they can readily open it for them. Blessed are those servants whom the master, coming, finds awake. Amen, I tell you: gird up your loins and lie down so that when he comes, you can serve him; even if he comes in the second or third hour of the watch, he will find you alert. Such people are blessed. Know this: the house master alone now” (12:36–38)

This picture further asserted the importance of being ready. Sometimes, one’s master went to a wedding and returned at the second or third hour, i.e., between 3 and 6 am. Sure, it would be challenging to stay awake the entire night, but they could still get ready, gird up their loins, and wait for the master so they were prepared to let him in the minute he knocked at the door. That would please him.

The Lord gave one more analogy.

“Know this: if the steward of a house knows which hour the thief will come, will he not be alert and let the thief not break into his house?” (12:39)

Thieves could only succeed if they had the element of surprise, but if the head steward of the house knew the thieves’ arrival time, he would wait with other servants and defeat the thieves.

Having set these imageries of the need to be alert, the Lord Jesus explained why the disciples needed to be ready.

“Like these, you be ready because you do not know which hour the Son of Man will be coming.” (12:40)

The disciples were with a young Jesus, just 30 to 33 years old. They wouldn’t have expected his death (and resurrection) to happen so quickly within a few years of their acquaintance of him. As such, his departure (death) and coming(resurrection) wouldn’t be something they would have expected. They were very complacent every time he predicted his death, Peter even to the point of rebuking Jesus. But the Lord Jesus wanted them to be as ready as the servants who waited for their master to arrive, with their loins girded, and as if they were anxiously waiting to defeat the thieves whose arrival was evident.

The Lord Jesus’s exhortation to the disciples to eagerly await his death and resurrection still holds true, except we await his second coming. He might come any day!