Luke
12:35–48 What
we will study tonight in Ready for the Second Coming …01. Be Ready (Luke 12:35-40);
02. Peter’s Question (Luke 12:41); and 03.
The Faithful and Foolish
Stewards (Luke 12:42-48). Here we
will see that Jesus continues talking to His disciples about moves from having
a proper attitude about possessions, where one allows their possessions to
possess them (Luke 12:22-34) to
being watchful for the coming of Christ. Here
Jesus gives His disciples two parables (Luke 12:35-40 and Luke 12:42-48) divided by a
question from Peter in Luke 12:41.
In the 66th
book of God’s Holy Word, we read in Revelation 19:11-21, John records for
us the Second Coming of Christ. There
are those who claim that the prophecies of the tribulation in Revelation 6-19
were fulfilled when Rome destroyed Jerusalem under General Titus in 70ad. Those who believe this are called preterists,
and the term preterism comes from the Latin praeter, which speaks
of something that is in the “past”. This
false teaching espoused by Christians states that the Second Coming of Christ,
the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:22-24; 1 Corinthians 15:53-54; Philippians 3:21;
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) and the Great White Throne judgment (Matthew 7:23; Revelation
20:11-15) all happened in the past, and are not future events. So that means the new heaven and the new
earth that Isaiah prophecy’s about (Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 66:22; cf. 2 Peter 3:13),
and is described in Revelation 21-22 is happening right now! These
preterists are like Hymenaeus and Philetus, whose “message will spread like
cancer… and …who have strayed concerning
the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the
faith of some.” (2 Timothy 2:17–18)
01. Be Ready
(Luke 12:35-40)
Luke
12:35
Luke
12:35 “Let” in the Greek is a command (G2077 ἔστωσαν ĕstōsan),
which sets the tone of this pericope on being ready for the Second Coming of
Jesus.
Luke
12:35 “be
girded” in the Greek is (G4024 περιεζωσμεναι) περιζώννυμι pĕrizōnnumi. At this time, both the men and women wore long flowing robes.
Anytime that they wanted to run, work, or any other physical activity, they
needed to gather the up the flowing robe and tie it with a sash or girdle. To
gird up one’s loins is to be ready for hasty departure.[1] The long garments of the
East are a fatal hindrance to activity. Comp. Luke 17:8; Acts 12:8; 1 Kings 18:46; 2 Kings 4:29;
2 Kings 9:1;
Job 38:3,
Job 40:7;
Jeremiah
1:17.[2] After defeating the prophets of Baal, Elijah “girded up his loins and
ran ahead of Ahab to
the entrance of Jezreel.” (1 Kings 18:46) As the
Jews prepared for their first Passover, the time of the independence from
Pharaoh and Egypt, YHWH gave Moses and Aaron specific instructions on how the
Israelites were to eat the Passover Lamb, “they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire,
with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it…11And thus you shall eat it: with
a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand.
So you shall eat it in haste. It is YHWH’s Passover.” (Exodus 12:8–11) In the Greek Septuagint (LXX), Exodus 12:11 is
translated as “with
your loins girded,” and it uses the same
Greek word (G4024 περιεζωσμεναι)
περιζώννυμι pĕrizōnnumi as here in Luke 12:35 for “be girded”. At the
Passover, the Israelites needed to be ready to leave quickly. Just as the blood
of the Passover Lamb was shed and used to mark the doorposts to have the Angel
of YHWH pass over their homes and spare the firstborn, so too are we today
marked with the blood of the Lamb of God waiting for the Lord’s return and
deliverance. In 1
Corinthians 5:7, Paul tells reminds us “Christ, our Passover, was
sacrificed for us.” As part of YHWH’s instructions on how to eat
the Passover, they were to eat “unleavened bread”
(Exodus 12:8), which
remind us that Jesus commanded
His disciples to Beware or put your
mind for yourselves and avoid[3] the leaven
or the teachings of the Pharisees, which is
hypocrisy. (Luke 12:1) Leaven in the Bible is always used to refer to something
that is evil (cf. Mark 8:15; 1 Corinthians 5:6–7). Paul instructed us in Ephesians 6:14 to “Stand therefore, having girded (G4024 περιζώννυμι pĕrizōnnumi) your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of
righteousness.”
Luke
12:35 “and your
lamps burning;” In the Greek it is a command that your lamps should already be
burning and they are to continuously burn. [4]
This is a condensed form of the
Parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew
25:1–13, where we see that the Ten Virgins are a picture of the Jews
during the Tribulation. Israel in
the Tribulation will know that Jesus’ coming is near, but not all will be
spiritually prepared for it. His coming will be sudden, when it is not expected
(Matthew 24:27; Matthew 24:39; Matthew 24:50).[5] We see this same urgency from Paul in his
epistle to the church at Rome, “And do
this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep;
for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
The night is far spent, the day is at hand.
Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of
light. Let us walk properly, as in the day,
not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and
envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:11–14) Jesus commanding His disciples to keep “your lamps burning” means that they
are to always be ready. This is similar to what He told
His disciples in Luke 8:16 and Luke 11:33
about sanctifying “the
Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to
everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and
fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those
who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.” (1 Peter 3:15–16) This again recalls the Passover,
for the Israelites were to make sure in the week leading up to Passover that
there was no leaven in the house (Exodus 12:14–20). In
the Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim, I,
2a, Mishnah, says: “On the evening of the
fourteenth [of Nisan] a search is made for leaven by the light of a lamp.”[6] Passover
took place at night, and the Israelites needed to keep their lamps burning
while they prepared and ate the Passover, and while they were doing that they
were to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice, for they were not told that
they would leave at a certain time during the night, but to just be prepared. They
were then to take the Passover lamb, and “kill it at twilight. And they shall
take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the
lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then
they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and
with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do
not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with
its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and
what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your
waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat
it in haste. It is YHWH’s Passover. ‘For
I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the
firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of
Egypt I will execute judgment: I am YHWH.” (Exodus 12:6–12)
The sort of alertness Jesus
counsels is not understood best as a set of activities but rather as a state of
mind and heart. Disciples are to be the kind of people who are always on the
alert,[7]
“To those who
eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for
salvation.” (Hebrews
9:28) “to
all who have loved His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8).
Luke
12:36
Luke
12:36 “who
wait” G4327 προσδέχομαι prŏsdĕchŏmai and it
means to await (with confidence or
patience),[8] to look forward to, wait for.[9]
Luke
12:36 “their
master” If you look ahead to Luke 12:40, we see that Jesus alludes to
the fact that the master
of the house is Himself, the Son of Man.
Luke
12:36 “when he
will return from the wedding” The verb return (G360
ἀναλυω analuō), is only used twice in the N. T. (here and Philippians
1:23). The figure is breaking up a camp or loosening the mooring of
a ship, to depart. Perhaps here the figure is from the standpoint of the
wedding feast, departing from there.[10]
Luke
12:36 “that
when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.” Jesus is
saying that the attitude of Hid disciples ought to be that of servants who are
expectantly awaiting the return of their master.
Luke
12:37-38
Luke
12:37 “Blessed”
or “O how happy!” because these servants are the privileged recipients of divine favor.[11]
Luke
12:37 “Assuredly, I say to you that he
will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve
them.” Now here we see the master so pleased with his servants still
girded and ready for his return though they knew not when, that Jesus says “he will gird himself and have them
sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.” Here
we see that the master puts the servants in the position of the master, and
treats them as his friends. Jesus did this, not out of
gratitude, but to give the apostles an object lesson in humility[12] in John 13:1–11. The humility of Jesus displayed
in John 13:1–11
was foretold in Mary’s Song in Luke 1:52.
Luke
12:38 “And if” in the original Greek means it is undetermined, but with
prospect of being determined.[13]
Luke
12:38 “he come in the second watch, or come
in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.” The Romans had four watches (6:00–9:00 p.m.; 9:00–12:00
midnight; 12:00 midnight–3:00 a.m.; and 3:00–6:00 a.m.), so that the third
watch would begin at midnight. The Jews had three watches (6:00–10:00 p.m.;
10:00 p.m.–2:00 a.m.; and 2:00–6:00 a.m.), with the third watch beginning at
2:00 a.m. In either case, the reference is to a period spanning the middle of the night; those who stay
awake are blessed.[14] The
disciples must always be ready for the master, no matter how late into the
night it seems, they are to be girded and their lamps burning (Luke 12:35) for the Son of Man can come
suddenly. And if they are watching (Luke 12:38) and ready (Luke 12:39),
the master, the Son of Man will serve them. Uncertainty ought to invite
readiness, so we ought to always be prepared! The disciples of Jesus are to be
tireless watchers, waiting with confidence and patience (Luke 12:36). They are
to have their waist girded and their lamps burning (Luke 12:35) for the Son of Man can come
suddenly. And if they are watching (Luke 12:37) and ready (Luke 12:38),
the master, the Son of Man will serve them (Luke 12:37).
Luke
12:39–40 Jesus
now makes an unexpected change in His parable, this time using the picture of
the master of the house being ready for when the thief will come so that his
house will not be broken into.
Luke
12:39 “to be
broken into.” In the Greek is (G1358
διορύσσω diŏrussō) to penetrate,[15] of a thief who digs
through the (sun-dried brick) wall of a house and gains entrance, break
through, break in.[16] The “thief in the night” is a proverb for unexpected events (Matthew 24:43;
1
Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3; Revelation
16:15).[17] The day of the Lord is a future period of time in which God will be at work in
world affairs more directly and dramatically than He has been since the earthly
ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a time referred to by many Old
Testament prophets (e.g., Isaiah 13:9–11; Joel 2:28–32; Zephaniah
1:14–18; Zephaniah 3:14–15). As these and other Old
Testament verses indicate, the day of the Lord will include both judgment and
blessing. That day begins immediately after the Rapture of the church and ends
with the conclusion of the Millennium. This day is a major theme of prophecy
with its fullest exposition in Revelation
6–19. This period of history will come as a surprise to those on the earth
at the time, like the visit of a thief to a sleeping homeowner (cf. Matthew 24:43–44; Luke 12:39–40). But the thief in the night illustration should not
be pressed too far. The point is that this day will come unexpectedly, not
necessarily that it will take place at night. Obviously it will be night in
some parts of the world and daytime in other parts.[18]
Luke
12:40
Luke
12:40 “be”
(G1096 γινεσθε [ginesthe]). Present middle imperative,
keep on becoming.[19] We see that Jesus suggests that
the master
of the house is Himself, the Son of Man, and that we are
to continually be ready for we do not know when He will come back. The
Pharisees were supposed to be prepared, having the loins girded for the
Messiah, yet they missed Him though He was standing right in front of them.
Jesus is commanding His disciples to not be like the Pharisees and think that
you are prepared when you really are not! Ezekiel, who was often called the
“son of man” dug through his house at night and escaped to be a sign of the
sudden exile that was about to befall the people (Ezekiel 12:1-16). Just as
Ezekiel was a sign for his people of the coming judgment, so too are we to be
reminded, “one’s life does not consist in the
abundance of the things he possesses.” (Luke 12:15) and not “entangles himself with the
affairs of this life.” (2 Timothy 2:4)
02. Peter’s
Question (Luke 12:41)
Luke
12:41 Peter
now speaks up and asks if Jesus is only talking to the Twelve, or to the
multitude as well. This is a valid question, for Jesus was talking to the crowd
in Luke 12:13-21. Plus, Jesus was
speaking in parables, and this was something that Jesus tended to only employ
while talking to the crowds (cf. Luke 8:10). On top of that, it would have been unusual
for a master to serve his faithful servants, and more than likely this was also
the cause of Peter’s question. We see this displayed again by Peter later when
Jesus came to wash his feet, “And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”” (John 13:6) This interruption by Peter is
similar to what he did on the Mount of Transfiguration (Luke 9:28–36).
03. The Faithful and Foolish Stewards
(Luke 12:42-48)
Luke
12:42–44 Peter’s
question (Luke
12:41) connects the two parables together, while this second parable
helps explain the first one. Matthew records for us this parable in Matthew
24:45–51. Jesus
answers Peter question with a rhetorical question of His own.
Luke
12:42 “Who
then” (τις ἀρα [tis ara]). Peter and
the Twelve, as well as anyone today who is a disciple of Jesus is this faithful and wise steward. The steward was essentially the house manager, much like
Joseph was in Potiphar’s house in Genesis 39:1-23 and for Pharaoh in Genesis 41:39-44.
Luke
12:42 “faithful
and wise steward” Faithfulness and wisdom are
needed in order to be a good steward. Part of the responsibilities of the house
steward was to give
the other servants their portion of food in due season. Joseph provided the food
needed for his family after he was reunited with them in Genesis 47:12
Luke
12:43–44 Jesus says that the servant who is found faithful will
be rewarded (cf. Matthew 25:21; Matthew 25:23). Now
Jesus contrasts the faithful and wise steward with that of an unfaithful,
foolish one.
Luke
12:45 Here
we see Jesus now talking about the religious leaders, for it was their
responsibility to make sure that the nation of Israel was spiritually fed and
in right relationship to God, yet they failed, for they were not looking
expectantly for the Kingdom of God. They are hypocrites because they call Him “My master” in “My master is delaying his coming”, and Jesus said “But why do you call Me ‘Lord,
Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) Because they don’t
think that the master will come soon, they begin to beat the male and female servants,
acting like that they are the masters while throwing off the role of a servant.
Paul confronted the church at Corinth about their drunkenness at the Lord’s
Supper in 1
Corinthians 11:17–22. Jesus
confronted the religious leaders of His day and rebuked them for their
hypocrisy and abuse of powers in Luke 11:46–47 and Matthew
23:13–15.
Luke
12:46 Jesus
describes the coming of the LORD as unexpected, “on a day when he (the steward) is not looking for him, and
at an hour when he is not aware.” When the Master finds him as an
unfaithful steward, the LORD will do to him as a covenant sacrifice, “and will cut him in two and
appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.” To “cut in two”
is speaking of the covenant that was made between at least two parties. A
covenant was “cut” when an animal was cut in two pieces and the parties making
the covenant passed through the middle of the cut piece to seal the covenant (Genesis 15:9–15). If
either of the parties who made the covenant broke the covenant, the guilty
party could be judged like the animal that was cut in two (Jeremiah 34:18–22). This unfaithful steward made a covenant with his Master, and
because he did not keep his part of the covenant, he was going to “cut in two”,
thus experiencing the violent death of “the unbelievers”, or it can be translated as the
unreliable, the untrustworthy.[20]
In the Gospel of Matthew, he records the words of Jesus here as: “and will cut him in two and
appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew
24:51)
Luke
12:47 Jesus
now warns those stewards who are given the knowledge of His heavenly gifts and
are not obedient will be under the stricter judgment. For they are like the
lawyers Jesus condemned, who “load men with burdens hard to
bear,” (Luke 11:46)
and “taken away the key of
knowledge” (Luke 11:52).
“For it would have
been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having
known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.”
(2 Peter 2:21)
Make no mistake; the warnings here are for the disciples of
Jesus, both then and now. When you allow “the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1-12) and have the wrong attitude about possessions
(Luke 12:13-24), which
can cause the disciple of Jesus to mismanage the stewardship of the Kingdom of
God that has been given to him. Greedy rich fools and hypocritical Pharisees
can rise amongst the disciples of Jesus, and we must be aware of those who slip
in unawares. Regarding false teachers, the Bible instructs us to mark or bring
to the attention of others (Romans 16:17-18), to call them out (Titus 1:10-16),
to name names (1
Timothy 1:20; 2 Timothy 2:16-18) to not allow them to teach
in the church and publicly rebuke them (Titus 1:10-16). The
Bible forbids Christians from listening to these false teachers (Titus 3:10-11) and instead we are to test or to scrutinize them
to see whether they are genuine or not, to see if they really are from God (1 John 4:1).
Luke
12:48 “But he
who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten
with few.” Now Jesus is speaking of those who “did not know” or only knew
partially; for some knowledge is presupposed both in the name “servant” of Christ,
and his being liable to punishment at all,[21] “yet committed things deserving of
stripes, shall be beaten with few.”
Luke
12:48 “For
everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom
much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” The way that this is written can be understood as this, “and to whom much has been
committed by God, of him they will ask the more” by God.
Both the foolish steward and The Greedy Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21)
were not prepared for what was to come. The foolish steward noticed that “master is delaying his coming”
and was caught unprepared in the same way that the greedy rich fool was not
prepared spiritually for his death, for God’s response to this man’s plans was
to call him a “Fool!”
because that night all his wealth and possessions could not save him (Luke 12:20).
Both the foolish steward and the greedy rich
fool decided to “eat, drink, and be
merry” (Luke 12:19) or become drunk (Luke 12:45). Possessions and power
cannot save you, that is why Jesus told His disciples to “But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things
shall be added to you.” (Luke 12:31) The wise stewards is
blessed when He feeds the servants of His master at the right time so that when
the Master returns, He will find His servants faithfully carrying out their
duties.
[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W.
(1985). Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament (p. 704). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
[2] Plummer, A. (1896). A critical and exegetical commentary on the Gospel according to S. Luke
(p. 330). London: T&T Clark International.
[3] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 12:1). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[4] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 12:35). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[5] Barbieri, L. A., Jr. (1985). Matthew. In J. F. Walvoord
& R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible
Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 80).
Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[7] Green, J. B. (1997). The Gospel of Luke (p. 501). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co.
[8] Strong, J. (2009). A
Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible
(Vol. 1, p. 61). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[9] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament
and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 877). Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
[10] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 12:36). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[11] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament
and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 611). Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
[12] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 12:37). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[13] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 12:38). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[14] Just, A. A., Jr. (1997). Luke 9:51–24:53 (p. 514). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
[15] Strong, J. (2009). A
Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible
(Vol. 1, p. 23). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[16] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament
and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 251). Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
[17] Plummer, A. (1896). A critical and exegetical commentary on the Gospel according to S. Luke
(p. 331). London: T&T Clark International.
[18] Constable, T. L. (1985). 1 Thessalonians. In J. F.
Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p.
705). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[19] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 12:40). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[20] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 12:46). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[21] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the
Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 112). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
