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Luke 12:35-48
Luke records some teachings of Jesus that
parallel what He taught during the final week before the crucifixion. It
might be that Jesus taught the same information on more than one occasion,
or that Luke simply records the same information but without any
chronological context as does Matthew. One such example is found at Luke
12:42-48, which is also recorded at Matthew 24:45-51. However, within the
same context as what is given by the other Synoptics (The Synoptic gospels
are Matthew, Mark and Luke), Luke often adds additional teachings not
included by those others. We see this in the Parable of the Watchful
Servants, which is found at Luke 12:35-41. But even though this parable is
not recorded by Matthew or Mark, it directly correlates with the other
parables of the second coming found in each of the synoptics.
Luke 12:35
"Be dressed in readiness, and {keep} your lamps alight.
This is addressed to those who will be living between Christ's departure
from this earth (ascension) and His second coming.
But it is focused on those who will be alive at the specific time of
Christ's return, and not the last judgment.
The issue is preparation through salvation relationship with God, which is
acquired through trust in Jesus as the Messiah/Savior. Those who are thus
prepared will be rescued from the affliction of those who are persecuting
them, just as Paul taught at 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10.
Luke 12:36
And be like men who are waiting for their master
when he returns from the wedding feast,
so that they may immediately open {the door} to him
when he comes and knocks.
The servants are members of the human race. It pictures mankind in general.
Every person is responsible for the two mandates from God.
Ec. 12:13, Reverence God and keep his commandments.
Reverence for God is the primary mandate. And true reverence refers to
accepting His policy for salvation.
The two go hand in hand.
And that's Belief and trust in the Messianic promise.
The secondary mandate refers to how a believer is to live after salvation.
Basically, His commandments comprise the moral standards that God designed
for all people and instilled in the soul of everyone.
Ec. 7:29, God created people morally upright.
Rom. 2:14-15
For when Gentiles who do not have the Law instinctively perform the
requirements of the Law, these, though not having the Law, are a law to
themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their
hearts, their conscience testifying and their thoughts alternately accusing
or else defending them.
These moral standards are to be taught and amplified through family and
society in order to promote freedom and stability even among unbelievers.
For the believer after salvation, Paul gave a brief summary at Rom. 13:8-10.
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for the one who loves his
neighbor has fulfilled the Law.
For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall
not steal, You shall not covet,”
and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the
Law.
This is the subject of all of Christ's teachings as detailed in the sermon
on the mount that is recorded at Mat 5-7.
It is summarized at Mat. 6:33 and includes the proclamation of the gospel.
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Those who are waiting for the master are ones who have followed the first
mandate and in reverence to God have accepted His policy for a salvation
relationship with Him.
They have trusted in Christ as Savior. THEY ARE READY.
The wedding feast is simply a part of the parable and has no spiritual
correlation with the wedding of the church to Christ. Remember that a
parable relates a normal situation in life in order to communicate one or
two basic spiritual truths, and one should not take every detail of the
parable and try to find a spiritual counterpart with some aspect of revealed
truth. The return of the master from the wedding feast communicates the
second coming of Christ, which is viewed here as being unexpected and
without warning. That unexpectedness is explained at verse 40 as having no
knowledge of the day, but does not preclude knowing the general season of
the Master's return. Matthew records it at verse 24:50, as not knowing
either the day OR the hour.
Luke 12:37
Happy are those servants whom the master shall find on the alert when he
comes; truly I say to you,
that he will gird himself {to serve,} and have them recline {at the table,}
and will come up and wait on them.
Those of humanity who have trusted in Christ will be honored by Him. The
language of mutual fellowship suggests the gathering of these believers to
Himself when He comes in the clouds of the sky (Matthew 24:31; 1
Thessalonians 4:14-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1).
The happiness that is mentioned comes from the adjective, makarios which
means happy. It occurs 50 times. The verb occurs 2 times, and the noun
occurs 3 times.
It should always be translated as referring to happiness.
To translate it as "blessed" or "blessing" is misleading because that word
implies some kind of bestowment.
The actual meaning of the word refers to the experience of inner happiness
that is based on following God's standards.
And that includes Luke 1:48 where Mary is to be recognized as extremely
happy because she has recognized and followed God's plan for her.
Luke 1:45, "happy is she who believed."
At Luke 1:42, "blessed (highly honored) among women are you and highly
honored is the fruit of your womb."
Here the word is NOT makarios. It is eulogeo, which means to be highly
honored.
Luke 12:38
Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds {them}
so, happy are those {servants.}
Both Matthew (Matthew 14:25) and Mark (Mark 13:35), divide the night hours
into four watches, using the Roman system of measurement, and there is no
reason to think that Luke would use the Jewish system, which divides those
hours into three watches. The second watch thus, refers to the hours of 9 PM
to 12 AM, and the third watch, from 12 AM to 3 AM.
No one should claim from this that Jesus will return at night because what
is night in one part of the world is day in another part. It is simply used
to indicate what has already been stated as unexpectedness.
At Luke 12:39, Jesus gave another parabolic example for being prepared for
His return.
And be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour
the thief was coming,
he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
This reference to moral responsibility to one's home and household, gives
divine support for the right of self defense in a burglar situation. It is
not consistent for Jesus to use such an illustration if He did not approve
of the moral principle that the illustration revolves around.
This parable further illustrates the need and benefit of preparation for
Christ's return.
It is quite interesting that all throughout the teachings of Jesus, He often
gave us various moral guidelines that are designed to promote human freedom
and security.
He did that here and earlier at Luke 11:21.
When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are
secure. But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him,
that man takes away his armor on which he had relied and distributes his
plunder.
Now, although physical self defense in situations of personal and family
safety is fully supported in the Bible and condoned by God, the use of
physical force when persecuted for your faith is not supported.
See Topic: Self defense
Luke 12:40
You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming
at an hour that you do not expect.
Once again, this is addressed to all members of the human race and exhorts
preparation for Christ's return. Being ready refers to having a salvation
relationship with God through personal trust in Jesus as one's Savior.
And those who are not ready will symbolically be at the mercy of the thief.
Just as Paul taught at 1Thes. 5:2-3.
For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just
like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then
sudden ruin will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and
they will not escape.
Luke 12:41
And Peter said, "Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone
{else} as well?"
Peter recognizes the general application of Jesus' teaching here, so asks
for clarification. Does this exhortation apply to all people or just to the
disciples? Jesus answers this by giving another parable (Verses 42-46), in
which it is clearly stated that the consequence for not being prepared is
total rejection and dismissal to the place of the unfaithful.
This parable is also mentioned at Matthew 24:45-51, but Luke adds some
factors that amplify the spiritual truths illustrated. The main spiritual
lesson of this parable is that at the return of Jesus, there will be some
who are prepared and some who are not. There will be some who are accepted
and some who are rejected.
It also presents two categories of those who are rejected.
At Christ's return there will be the initial experiential judgment of simply
being left behind. All of these - both categories - will express the fear
and sadness that is symbolically portrayed at the 6th seal. Rev. 6:15-17,
"hide us from the wrath."
1Thes. 5:2-3, "For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is
coming just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, “Peace and
safety!” then sudden ruin will come upon them like labor pains upon a
pregnant woman, and they will not escape."
That sudden ruin will start with the DOL wrath of God through the trumpet
judgments of Rev. 8-9.
This is represented by the SYMBOL of scourging, and after that, an existence
in the place of the unbeliever for all eternity, which is stated directly as
the place of the unbeliever.
Of course, that only applies to the person who remains an unbeliever during
the time period between his "scourging" and Armageddon.
The other servant represents the unbeliever who did not hear the gospel.
But according to Romans 1:18ff, such a one is still without excuse and will
also be rejected.
Both will appear before the last judgment and end up in the lake of fire.
The ultimate destiny is represented by the phrase, "assign to them a place
with the unbelievers where there is no difference in location or experience.
There are some who think that this parable should be applied to believers
only, and that the faithful servant is the believer in fellowship, and the
unfaithful servant, the believer out of fellowship. The obvious focus in
this parable is rejection of the unfaithful servant when Jesus returns. The
believer, no matter whether he is in or out of fellowship with God will be
gathered unto the Lord at His return, and the language of total rejection
that occurs in this parable, cannot refer to any believer at that time. Part
of the total rejection language in this parable is an assignment to the
place of the hypocrite (Matthew 24:51) and the unfaithful (Luke 12:46), and
the placement of the believer anywhere but "My Father's house (John
14:1-3)," at Christ's return is contrary to Scripture.
To summarize the doctrine of salvation security. It is impossible for a
person who has been saved by God and is being held in God's grasp to ever
lose his salvation. The unprepared servant here is clearly one who has not
trusted in Jesus as the Messiah/Savior, has no relationship with God, and
will be totally rejected at the return of Jesus for His elect.
See Topic: Salvation security
and
Partial rapture theory
Luke 12:42
And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his
master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the
proper time?
The illustration pictures mankind in general, all of whom have creature
responsibility to the Creator and are accountable to Him first, for the
first mandate.
The servant who is faithful is one who has reverence for God and has
accepted His policy for a salvation relationship with Him. He has trusted in
Jesus Christ as the Messiah/Savior.
Luke 12:43-44, Here we are shown the first scenario.
Happy is that servant whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I
say to you, that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
The language in the parable is symbolic of what happens when Jesus returns.
It refers to the blessing of being with Christ, and should not be taken as
some kind of literal assignment of responsibility either in the earthly
kingdom or in heaven. When Jesus returns, all who have trusted in Him will
be gathered out of the earth, taken to heaven, and enter into eternal peace
and joy.
The faithful ONES all get the same reward.
At Luke 12:45, we are shown another scenario.
But if that servant says in his heart,
"My master will be a long time in coming,"
and begins to beat the servants, {both} men and women, and to eat and drink
and get drunk;
This refers to a person, who in creature arrogance, ignores the first
mandate: the primary of the everlasting gospel. Reverence God, give Him
glory and worship Him.
But instead, lives in the self-centeredness of his sin nature, indulging his
pleasure lusts and oppressing others.
Just as Paul described at Eph. 2:3. Unbelievers in general live in the lusts
of the flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and are by
nature children of wrath.
This is the wrath that Jesus proclaimed at John 3:36
The one who believes in the Son has everlasting life; but the one who does
not obey the Son so as to trust in Him,
will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
The unbeliever does not pay attention to the warnings from God's word.
In his heart he rejects the declaration that God is coming and uses human
viewpoint rationale, such as at 2 Peter 3:3-4.
Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with {their}
mocking, following after their own lusts,
and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For {ever} since the
fathers fell asleep,
all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."
And of course, these will all be caught off guard - unprepared - and again,
symbolically be at the mercy of the thief.
At verse 46a and Mat. 24:50, we see the symbolism for the coming of the
Lord.
The master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect, and at
an hour he does not know.
Once again we see the unknown factor that places the urgency on preparation.
This parable further states what Jesus taught at Mat. 24:36, of that day and
hour no one knows
not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
By the way, there is often misunderstanding about this statement by Jesus.
It is at the time of speaking - in the sphere of His human limitations -
that Jesus did not know the timing of His return.
Later, after the resurrection, He will have full awareness of every detail
of the plan of the Godhead.
Now - in connection with this, it is important for us to keep in mind, and I
repeat it for emphasis -
We can know the SEASON.
As Jesus said, when you see these things, these events of the tribulation,
know that He is near;
and that your redemption is at hand, that is, the resurrection phase of the
kingdom of God is near.
SUMMARY OF ACTIONS
When Jesus comes back to this earth at the Day of the Lord, He will come as
a thief in the night (1 Thes. 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10; Rev. 3:3; 16:15),
unexpectedly (suddenly) and without warning to the unbelieving world (1 Thes.
5:3; Luke 21:34).
For that matter, it is even possible for believers to be unprepared through
carnality and be caught of guard (1 Thes. 5:4-11; Luke 21:34-36).
However, all believers will be taken out, and only the unbelievers will
remain to undergo the Day of the Lord judgments, and ultimately end up in
the lake of fire unless they change their mind and believe in Christ during
the period between the rapture and Armageddon.
Paul mentions both aspects of judgment at 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9. At verse 6,
"repay with affliction" refers to the Day of the Lord judgments (the wrath
of God) administered to the unbelievers on the earth. At verse 9, "the
penalty of eternal ruin," refers to the last judgment which assigns the
unbelievers to the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). When Jesus returns
the unbeliever will be rejected by Him and remain on the earth.
This rejection is communicated in the parable symbolically by the phrase,
cut him in pieces.
At Luke 12:46 and Mat. 24:51 the judgment on the unbeliever is shown to be
two-fold.
"and will cut him in pieces,
and assign him a place with the unbelievers."
First: he will cut him in pieces.
This is a difficult statement. The Greek MEANS to cut something into two
parts, however, based on context here, it seems to be idiomatic for
scourging. Cut into two pieces would imply physical death, and if that were
the case, then for this servant (in this normal human context), the fact
that he would then be assigned to the place of the unbeliever (hypocrite at
Matthew 24:51), would be quite meaningless. In addition, in the Luke
passage, the fact that we have this category of disobedient servant divided
into two types, who each receive different lashes from the whip, would
indicate that the idea of "cut him in pieces" refers to a scourging rather
than physical death. We do not have 3 different categories of faithless
humanity here. We have only two and both will be "cut in pieces" when the
master returns. However, if upon or after being cut in pieces, they are then
assigned LASHES based on their respective awareness of God's demands upon
them, then the idea of death associated with "cut in pieces," is not valid.
Thus, it seems more reasonable that the term refers to the idea of scourging
that really CUTS into the skin and peels it away from the body.
The immediate problem with this is that we have no other place where the
term is used in our literature (except at Exodus 29:17 in the LXX), and it
is used quite consistently in secular literature for the practice of using
sword or saw to cut someone in half. But I think that the context is
stronger and I will interpret the phrase, "cut him in pieces," as the idea
of a serious scourging.
This is what happens.
The master returns.
There are two types of unfaithful servant.
Both will be cut in pieces; that is both will be scourged.
One will receive many lashes and one will receive less.
Then after being scourged, both servants will be kicked out and sent to the
place for the unbelievers.
But at this point Jesus leaves the symbolism of the parable and speaks
directly to the everlasting judgment for all unbelievers.
The word apistos can be translated as unfaithful ones or unbelievers.
But in this context the word specifically refers to the unbelievers.
Actually, according to Matthew, Jesus used the word, hypocrites to refer to
the religious unbelievers of Israel who claimed to be the representatives of
Moses and of God, but who rejected the true spirit of the law and of God's
love.
It refers to someone who claims to have some kind of relationship with God
or A god, but who doesn't trust in the Messianic promise.
This one might or might not live contrary to the moral mandate.
Luke, through the Spirit, properly interprets it to mean the unbelievers who
do not reverence God and do not believe in the Messianic promise.
At Mat. 24:51 Jesus used the phrase, There will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.
This phrase only occurs 7 times in the Bible and always in connection with
the final disposition of the wicked when cast into the gehenna of fire.
This image simply communicates the extreme sorrow, anger and frustration of
the person's experience in this place of judgment. It is described at Rev.
14:11, and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they
have no rest perpetually (day and night).
And in the actual experience of this last judgment there is no basis for
finding differences or degrees in the torment.
So in this parable, the judgment on the unbelievers is FIRST a statement of
rejection at Christ's return.
At the second coming all unbelievers will be left behind on the earth to
experience the judgments from God's end-times wrath.
After being rejected by Jesus at His return, the unbeliever is assigned to
the place of the unfaithful hypocrite, (Matthew). He does not go immediately
to that place, but is simply assigned to it. The final placement in the lake
of fire will not occur until the last judgment.
In verses 47-48, we have an amplification of the punishment of being "cut in
pieces" (scourging) based on personal knowledge of one's responsibility to
God.
This passage has been used to teach that there are degrees of punishment in
hell, and on the surface, this seems to suggest that.
However, the key is to recognize that the PRIMARY theme or lesson of this
parable is that of acceptance or rejection by the Messiah at the Day of the
Lord, and that eternal destiny is not even in view.
Even though there are two different sets of lashes given at the time of
Christ's return, those lashes do not refer to one's eternal destiny.
There is only ONE ultimate and everlasting destiny that is assigned to both.
They both go to the place of the unbeliever where there is weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
See Topic: degrees of punishment
At the same time, we must recognize the significance of these two very clear
distinctions in punishment, that cannot be dismissed from the parable as an
insignificant embellishment.
What then is the significance of two degrees of scourging in the parable?
We cannot advance much upon being rejected and left behind at the rapture.
What then would be the significance of more lashes vs. fewer?
There will in fact, be two types of unbeliever left behind at the day of the
Lord return of Jesus. (1) The one who was aware of what God expected of him,
and (2) the one who did not know what God expected of him.
Luke 12:47
"And that servant who knew his master's will
and did not get ready or act in accord with his will,
shall receive many lashes,
This clearly indicates the administration of a more severe punishment upon
the one who is blatantly rebellious against God. But these different degrees
of punishment take place at the return of the Lord rather than at some time
subsequent to that return.
The puzzle is, that one cannot advance much upon being left behind at the
rapture. What then would be the significance of more lashes vs. fewer
lashes?
The reason for this difference is stated at verse 48b as the principle of
greater accountability. That is, the person who knows more of God's will for
their life, is more accountable to God for failure, than is the one who
knows less. I suggest that in this parable, the principle revolves around
the gospel message. The doctrine of evangelism teaches that God reveals
himself through the physical creation so that people can become aware of His
existence; His eternal power and divinity (Romans 1:19-20).
This can be called, the point of God consciousness. That is, the point at
which someone becomes aware of the existence of God.
This is God's way to prepare everyone to follow the primary mandate.
See Topic: God Consciousness
The one who accepts this NATURAL revelation about God and begins to seek for
Him will be given the specific gospel information about the Messiah's
salvation provision. John 7:17.
“If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether
it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.
This person will be held accountable for accepting or rejecting God's
primary mandate; the specific gospel message of "believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and you shall be saved" (Acts 16:31). However, if at the point of God
consciousness, a person rejects the NATURAL revelation about God as seen in
the physical universe, then God will have no obligation to give to that
person the specifics of the gospel message. This person will be held
accountable for his rejection.
According to Rom. 1:20, he is without excuse so this one will still be
judged as an unbeliever.
This revelation about God from the created universe is the MUCH that is
given to everyone.
The issue of God-consciousness is not a MAYBE situation. This will happen
for everyone who is not hindered by a mental disability. Such as these will
not be held accountable.
But anyone who rejected the Messianic promise as it was revealed in the OT -
and
anyone who rejects the gospel of salvation as it has been revealed in the NT
-
All these will appear at the great white throne judgment for a formal
judicial rebuke of their unbelief.
And all will be sent to the lake of fire.
Luke 12:48b, And from everyone who has been given much shall much be
required;
and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.
These statements explain further what He just said about the two types of
unbeliever.
The one who has not heard the gospel has been given much.
He has been given the abundance of divine revelation provided through the
created universe.
And he is responsible for the proper response to that truth.
And so, as an unbeliever, at the return of Jesus, such a one will still be
rejected.
He is portrayed as one who will receive fewer lashes.
And the one who has heard the gospel is responsible for that truth that was
specifically entrusted to him.
Such a one as this will also be rejected at the return of Jesus. He is
portrayed as receiving more lashes.
But BOTH will then be assigned to the ultimate destiny of the unbeliever in
the lake of fire.
The issue of more vs less lashes is pertinent ONLY within the context of the
human illustration.
In the human context, the master will punish his servants differently. But
at the return of Jesus, there will be no difference.
There will indeed be two types of unbeliever alive on the earth at that
time.
Both will be left behind. And ultimately, both will be cast into the lake of
fire.
At this point Luke jumps to a different occasion and a different
conversation.
It is crucial for us to recognize that Luke did not record things in the
same chronological order as Matthew or John.
Matthew recorded the messages about Christ's second coming in the
chronological order that was brought to his memory through the ministry of
the Holy Spirit. John 14:26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He
will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to
you.
Luke recorded the teachings of Jesus according to an order and arrangement
dictated by the Spirit.
Luke has preserved contemporary political data that is crucial to localizing
and timing the first advent presence of Jesus, as stated at verses 1:1-4,
but it was not the intent of God or of Luke to insist on chronological
precision for the CONTENT of what Jesus taught.
The chronology is different but the accuracy is dependable.
Luke also recorded some things that are not found in the other gospels.
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