Luke 12:35-12:48

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PREFACE BY JOE FOCHT:

Jesus continues his discourse on eternity and now turns to an exhortation for people to always be ready for His return. As a bride waiting for a groom, there is a purifying effect in our lives if we live as if He could come back today and a warning to those who don’t.

Be in Readiness

³⁵ “^[a](A)Be dressed in ^(B)readiness, and keep your lamps lit. ³⁶ 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. ³⁷ Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find ^(C)on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that ^(D)he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. ^38 (E)Whether he comes in the ^[b]second watch, or even in the ^[c]third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹ “^(F)But ^[d]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 ^[e](G)broken into. ^40 (H)You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not ^[f]expect.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or ^(I)to everyone else as well?” ⁴² And ^(J)the Lord said, “^(K)Who then is the faithful and sensible ^(L)steward, whom his master will put in charge of his ^[g]servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that ^(M)slave whom his ^[h]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master ^[i]will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; ⁴⁶ the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷ And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will ^(N)receive many lashes, ⁴⁸ but the one who did not ^(O)know it, and committed deeds worthy of ^[j]a flogging, will receive but few. ^(P)From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

NOTES TYPED FROM JOE’S TEACHING:

So far Jesus has warned of hypocrisy, covetousness, anxiety…now we are warned to be ready. Instead of worrying about the present be watchful for the future.  If your treasure is in heaven you should be always aware of and working to wards that treasure. Second coming of christ is the broadest subject in the new testament. 7 verses in new testament talking about new birth. 20 verses about repentance and faith.  Between 70-80 that address baptism (spirit and water). Over 300 that talk about the second coming. One in ten verses.  Great story by Joe about his being away during 9/11. Fits the theme of the second coming as being the things dearest to our Lord’s heart.

Here Jesus gives us parables and exhortations towards this end.  We prepare for vacations, graduations, birthdays, weather but do we prepare for the Lord’s coming?  Date setters do damage. This has tarnished the idea of the second coming.  They also take away imminency.  If you have a date you ca become the servant who beat his fellow servants.  Or in the Reformed tradition make Israel not Israel anymore. The church is Israel and because of this you have to allegorize so much of scripture to get rid of Israel.  This also takes away our expectancy.  Here Jesus tells us what he wants our life to be like.  Jesus says: “Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast”. Be girded up…have your long robe that can impede your progress tied up around. Your waist.   Live your lives unencumbered by hypocrisy, covetousness and anxiety.  Be concerned with waiting for the Lord instead. If you are waiting, also be watching.   We will be blessed if we are watching. Life is linear. Because there is a creator there is a beginning. Because there is a redeemer there is an end.

Then he says, verily, verily, truly, truly, Blessed are those servants who are found watching. If you are girded up and watching then when he comes he will gird himself up to serve you. As the groom when he comes to get his bride he will sit down and minister to her.  If he finds us watching no matter what the time seems to be, we will be blessed.

Our hope is not political reform. Our hope is a king and a kingdom that is coming. The system we are living in is in its death throes.

Now Peter asks “is this for us or everyone?” Jesus gives him another question with a description.  Who is the servant who is serving others according to the position God has given them.  Family, job, wife, husband, grandparents, leader…are you healthy? You have a stewardship. Married? That’s a stewardship. Wives have a stewardship towards husbands and husbands towards wives.

What is Jesus looking for in the faithful and wise steward?  It’s not based on success or size or type of ministry. It is based on faithfulness.   “Who is that faithful and wise steward?”  This steward is appointed to give food to the household.  Other peoples’ lives should be benefited by our stewardship.

The wicked servant says…well, Jesus isn’t coming soon and he begins to neglect his stewardship. He beats fellow servants and becomes worldly. In that condition the Lord will come in an hour that is not expected. The message of the immanency of our Lords return is repeated constantly in scripture.

“The day is at hand…”

James: Be also patiend establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord has drawn near and stands at hand.

Peter: The end of all things is at hand (is present). Be sober, watch and pray.

John: Little children it is the last time…it is the last time.

If they say that and Jesus exhorts us to be ready then we need to sit up and take notice.

The belief that the Lord “delays his coming” produces BAD FRUIT.

The servant that knows his Lord’s will and doesn’t do it will be beaten with many stripes. The one who did not know and did not do will be beaten with few stripes.

Much has been entrusted to us. The Nicene creed announces Christ’s return. Charles Wesley wrote songs about it. When queen Elizabeth was crowned she was given the crown until the “one to whom it rightly belongs” returns.

QUESTION: What can we do when we grow weary of waiting?  What do you think of to remind or motivate yourself to persevere? Is there a scripture passage? A verse? A devotional? A book? A person? Share briefly what keeps you going…What keeps you “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”?