35 “Be dressed, ready for service, and have your lamps shining. 36 Be like servants who are waiting for their master to come home from a wedding party. When he comes and knocks, the servants immediately open the door for him. 37 They will be blessed when their master comes home, because he sees that they were watching for him. I tell you the truth, the master will dress himself to serve and tell the servants to sit at the table, and he will serve them. 38 Those servants will be blessed when he comes in and finds them still waiting, even if it is midnight or later.
39 “Remember this: If the owner of the house knew what time a thief was coming, he would not allow the thief to enter his house. 40 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at a time when you don’t expect him!”
41 Peter said, “Lord, did you tell this story to us or to all people?”
42 The Lord said, “Who is the wise and trusted servant that the master trusts to give the other servants their food at the right time? 43 When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be blessed. 44 I tell you the truth, the master will choose that servant to take care of everything he owns. 45 But suppose the servant thinks to himself, ‘My master will not come back soon,’ and he begins to beat the other servants, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master will come when that servant is not ready and is not expecting him. Then the master will cut him in pieces and send him away to be with the others who don’t obey.
47 “The servant who knows what his master wants but is not ready, or who does not do what the master wants, will be beaten with many blows! 48 But the servant who does not know what his master wants and does things that should be punished will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. And from the one trusted with much, much more will be expected.
49 “I came to set fire to the world, and I wish it were already burning! 50 I have a baptism to suffer through, and I feel very troubled until it is over. 51 Do you think I came to give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, I came to divide it. 52 From now on, a family with five people will be divided, three against two, and two against three. 53 They will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
54 Then Jesus said to the people, “When you see clouds coming up in the west, you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it happens. 55 When you feel the wind begin to blow from the south, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it happens. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to understand the appearance of the earth and sky. Why don’t you understand what is happening now?
57 “Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right? 58 If your enemy is taking you to court, try hard to settle it on the way. If you don’t, your enemy might take you to the judge, and the judge might turn you over to the officer, and the officer might throw you into jail. 59 I tell you, you will not get out of there until you have paid everything you owe.”
Read Luke 12:35-59 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Part way through Jesus’ ministry as He is teaching those who are following Him, He asks those present a rhetorical question, and then backs up the question with an illustration. When reading this, I often miss the question in favor of focusing on the illustration. I imagine many of us can understand the illustration easier than the question Jesus asked immediately before it.
Near the end of Luke’s description of Jesus sermon that started by focus on being good servants, He describes Jesus asking those present, “Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right? If your enemy is taking you to court, try hard to settle it on the way. If you don’t, your enemy might take you to the judge, and the judge might turn you over to the officer, and the officer might throw you into jail. I tell you, you will not get out of there until you have paid everything you owe.” (v. 57-59)
When reading this, I can completely understand the motivation to settle a dispute before it reaches court, because courtrooms have clear winners and clear losers – and the losers in a courtroom setting can face big fines, go to prison, or even face both of these.
But when I read this in the context of Jesus’ rhetorical question, it makes a little less sense. Should we understand Jesus to be telling those present that truth is subjective to the people having the discussion?
In my own mind, I don’t think Jesus describes this, but instead I believe He is challenging His followers, both those present at that time as well as everyone living afterwards, to be intentional about communicating with one another. When we turn off communication in a relationship, the relationship ceases to exist. A relationship isn’t much of a relationship when there is no communication involved. Lack of communication will kill a relationship faster than great distance.
When challenging those present to decide for themselves what is right, I think Jesus is also challenging these people, as well as everyone who ever lived after this point, that they must make a decision regarding who they believe Him to be. There is no room to be on the fence when it comes to deciding who Jesus is, and once we have made the decision, if it is to side with Jesus, we must be intentional about keeping communication with Him strong. This is done through prayer, Bible study, and regular time spent resting with Him.
When faced with sin, and the realization that Satan is eager to accuse, condemn, and sentence us, it would be wise for us to choose Jesus, and decide for ourselves to place our hope, faith, trust, and belief in Him, because Jesus has offered us His life as a replacement for our own. Jesus’ life was perfect, and with Jesus’ life standing in place of our own, we will be saved for eternity!
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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