Fear not, little flock, for it has been the good pleasure of your Father to give you the kingdom.
Jesus has just told His disciples to stop worrying and to seek the kingdom. Now He tells them what the Father plans to give, and the gift is far larger than the worry it answers.
The Lord repeats this command through Scripture, always to people with a real reason to fear. Here the danger is not a storm or a shipwreck but wolves, and the flock has no defence of its own.
"Fear not," said Jesus to the sinner who throws himself at His feet, rebuked in his conscience in the presence of His mighty grace (Luke 5:10). It is the first word of our history. "Fear not," He said to His disciples when the storm rose up, threatening to swallow them (Matt. 14:27). "Fear not," when shipwreck is certain (Acts 27:24). "Fear not," He says to the little defenceless flock surrounded by wolves who have the power to kill the sheep (Luke 12:32; Matt. 10:28; Rev. 2:10).
Believers have always been outnumbered. That fact says nothing about how the Father regards them.
The word "little" does not necessarily mean that it is insignificant. The Christian testimony has always been small compared with the huge number of people who do not believe. Here the Lord calls them a "little flock" — yet the Father's good pleasure is connected with them.
Some read the promise as a prediction that the flock will grow until it wins the world. The wording points the other way: what changes is not the size of the flock but the arrival of its Lord.
The faithful are called a little flock, and at the Lord's return they will receive the kingdom. This is the character of Christ's people until His return. It does not say, "Fear not, little flock, for the people of the earth will soon be converted to you." It does not say, "Fear not, little flock, for all the wolves around you will soon become sheep."
The previous verse tells them to seek. This one drops the command and states a gift.
There is an exhortation to seek in the previous verse; now it is all grace. He wants to establish the hearts of His people in the grace of the Father. It is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom; that brings in relationship. It is His delight as the Father to do it… The whole force of the scripture lies in that word "give"; it is the grace of the Father.
The name of the Giver carries its own comfort. Knowing the Father takes away the fear of going without:
He says to them, "Fear not, little flock." Why? "It is your Father's good pleasure" to be a Father to you — for that is the meaning of "to give you the kingdom." That is what takes the fear out of one's heart. I am not afraid of want or care. Why? Because I have my Father, and more than that, my Father knows.
If the Father gives the kingdom, no smaller need is in doubt.
Beloved, if He has good pleasure in giving you the kingdom, do you think He would begrudge you a loaf of bread? Look at the kingdom. It is all that goes with the glory of Christ. It is the scene where the Father's love is known, and where everything will speak of Christ. It is all that belongs to the heavenly place Christ now has, and which He shares with His people.
This promise also changes what they do with what they own.
The Lord now takes higher ground for them… So instead they were to get rid of what they had as men. They were to provide the things the Father gives to the heirs of the kingdom. They were to act the part of kings, called to a higher inheritance and possessing it. The heart follows the treasure. Let them provide a treasure in the heavens, and their heart will be there too.
- Fear — He speaks to a flock with no defence of its own, as in every other "Fear not" He gives to people in real danger.
- Little — small in number, never small in value. The flock does not grow into a crowd; it waits for its Lord.
- Father — the Giver is your Father, and that is what takes the fear out of the heart.
- Given — the kingdom comes as grace, not as a wage. If He gives that, He will not begrudge a loaf of bread.
- Kingdom — all that belongs to the glory Christ now has and shares. Heirs of it can let go here and store their treasure in heaven.
Sell what ye possess and give alms; make to yourselves purses which do not grow old, a treasure which does not fail in the heavens, where thief does not draw near nor moth destroy.
Jesus has just called His followers a little flock and promised them the kingdom. Now He tells them what to do with what they own. Is this meant word for word? And how does anyone hold property that lightly?
The command follows a promise. One writer says that order is what makes it possible.
In Luke 12 we find a similar passage. He first brings in God's care for His people: "Your Father knows that you need them." Only when He has won the heart's loyalty for God does He say, "Sell your possessions." For only now can they afford to do so.
Why give at all? Because a believer is meant to display the God he knows.
If I am established in grace, then I have to become a representative of grace to those around me… Unless I am in the truth of grace I cannot express grace. It is a principle in Scripture that the believer in any age is to reveal God as He is known in that age… He is a giving God; "giving" characterises the day of grace, and we are to be givers too, and so express the heart of God in our contact with people as we pass through this world.
Jesus does not forbid saving. He tells them what kind of bag to use — one no thief and no moth can empty.
He told them to sell what they had… Everything that showed love flowing out to the needy suited them. It was their Father's way with them who were once poor indeed, and they were to keep up the family character. They could provide bags, it is true. But the bags had to be ones that do not wear out, the kind heavenly treasure demands… Nothing is forgotten: "God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name." And, what matters too, there is no disappointment with the treasure. No thief approaches it on the one hand, no moth corrupts it on the other.
Nobody makes this exchange unless he already has something better.
He becomes in practice a pilgrim and a stranger. He can part with things here, for he has a treasure in heaven… The world's motto is "Slave, and gather." The Lord's instruction to His own is "Sell, and give." What a difference! But the saint will never do this until he has a treasure in heaven — even Jesus Himself… Moth, rust, and thieves sooner or later sweep away everything we set our hearts on here.
But how does a heart already tied to its things let go? Not by effort, one writer says, but by replacement.
If I have treasure on earth, no matter in what form, my heart will be there also, and I shall be a thoroughly worldly man. How shall I most effectively empty my heart of the world? By getting it filled with Christ… The world has its "barns" and its "bags," where it hoards its "goods." But its barns will fall and its bags will wear out. What will become of the treasure then?
Commentators differ on whether to obey this to the letter. One looks back to the earliest days of the church:
The Lord states the principle of it in Luke 12:33… On the day of Pentecost the believers gave up everything and laid it at the apostles' feet, to be shared equally among all. This did not continue in the later times of the church. But the principle surely remains, and so 1 Timothy 6 urges the rich to do good, to be rich in good works, ready to share, willing to give.
Another warns about those who give away everything at once and then live on other people's support:
Instead of distributing their income as the Lord's stewards, and as He might call for it, they have handed it over to others and taken the place of dependence themselves. The first way is certainly much easier than the second. But which is right? To hold property for Christ and His service in this world, and to give it out as a steward according to His mind — that is a Christian service. And it needs much waiting on the Master.
Why sell at all? One writer points to the Lord's return.
The faithful are called a little flock, and at His return the Lord will give them the kingdom… So they were to get rid of all unnecessary treasure and lay it up in heaven. Their path in this present period was that of a stranger and a pilgrim. The disciple was to stay ready and expectant.
- Given first. The Father promises the kingdom and His care before He asks for anything.
- Given through. God gives, so the believer gives too — and shows others what God is like.
- Given upward. Giving is not loss but transfer. It moves treasure into bags that never wear out, where no thief and no moth can reach it, and where God forgets no work of love.
- Given inward. The heart follows its treasure. Fill it with Christ and the world loses its grip.
- Given back. The little flock travels light. Their Lord is coming back to hand them the kingdom.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
Jesus has just told His followers to sell what they have, give to the needy, and store up treasure in heaven that no thief or moth can touch. Then He gives the reason, and the reason is the heart.
The words describe how people work. Whatever we set our sights on shapes us.
The aim was that their heart should be settled on things above, and it would be so if their treasure were there. A man is always determined by what he seeks, by his objects. If he sets his heart on a degrading object, he is degraded; if on what is noble and generous, his character is raised. So if Christ at the right hand of God attracts him, if heavenly treasure is before his eyes, his heart follows his treasure. He is taken entirely above the power of present things, and they can no longer drag him down.
Notice the exact wording. It closes a door on an excuse many of us keep half-open.
Let us note well that the Lord says, "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." He does not say, "ought to be," but "will." We cannot escape with the easy claim that our hearts are not tied to what we work hard to pile up. Why, then, accumulate it? We would say of a man heaping up sticks and straws and rubbish that he was a maniac. But to him the worthless pile is valuable, and the surest proof of that is that he keeps piling it up.
The same writer turns this into an opportunity. Swapping worthless paper for good security is what we are free to do. Treasure in heaven keeps the heart there, and draws the feet after it.
The verse never says what the treasure is. Commentators name a Person.
The heart must follow the object of its affection. And Christ, the treasure of the Christian, was not of the earth. He comes from above, from heaven, and above all.
Another writer names the same treasure, then does the arithmetic:
The treasure in the heavens is certainly Christ, and for Him we may wisely "suffer the loss of all things," as Paul put it (Philippians 3:8). For what sensible person would not be willing to lose what he cannot hold anyway, to gain what cannot be lost for eternity?
Some people turn the saying around: my treasure is wherever my heart is. One writer allows a grain of truth in that, then asks what such a treasure is worth.
I know men often say, "Where my heart is, that is where my treasure is." In a certain sense that is true. But even then the treasure is worthless, because it lasts only for a time. Sometimes you find people who have let their hearts go after earthly treasures. What do you find soon after? The treasure is gone, and the heart is left desolate. They have not had a treasure in the heavens.
Since the heart follows the treasure, trying to force affection is working from the wrong end. The way forward is to occupy yourself with the One who is worth loving.
The prayer is often heard, and perhaps offered by ourselves, that our hearts may be set on Christ. But He Himself said, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:21). So if our hearts are not occupied with Him, it is because we do not treasure Him enough. If, then, we would have our hearts detached from this scene and its objects, we must begin with Christ. We must trace out His many perfections, His varied beauties, His indescribable grace and unchanging love. Then our hearts will be drawn towards Him.
The very next thing Jesus says is about belts fastened and lamps burning (verse 35). The order is not accidental.
There is a clear connection between that statement and what follows… Let me say at once that if your treasure is on earth, your belt will not be fastened and your lamp will not be burning. It is impossible. You absolutely must have your treasure in heaven if you want to be found waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Treasure first. The heart does not lead; it follows. Whatever you value most has already decided where your heart lives.
- "Will," not "ought." Jesus states a fact, not an ideal. What you keep piling up proves what you prize, whatever you tell yourself.
- Christ is the treasure. The heavenly treasure is a Person at God's right hand. Losing what you cannot keep, to gain what cannot be lost, is plain good sense.
- Move the treasure, not the heart. You cannot command affection into existence. Occupy yourself with Christ's grace and love, and the heart follows on its own.
- Then you can watch. Belts fastened and lamps burning are impossible while the treasure is here. Heavenly treasure is what makes a person ready for the Lord's return.
Let your loins be girded about, and lamps burning;
The picture is a household at night: servants dressed for work, lamps lit, ready for their master's return. Jesus has just spoken about treasure in heaven. Now He shows what a heart set there looks like after dark.
Commentators tie the command to the verses just before it, where the only safe wealth is wealth kept out of reach.
In Luke 12 this truth is put more broadly: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." It is tied not only to the warning that nothing is safe except a treasure in the heavens, but also to the Lord's coming as a hope close at hand. It would be hard to imagine words more clearly showing the call to be constantly looking out for Him.
The image comes from clothing. Long robes were tied up out of the way when a person meant to move.
The opening words point back to their ancestors at the first Passover, who ate with belts fastened and staff in hand — a people shielded from God's judgment, leaving the house of slavery in haste. The Lord used the same picture here, along with others, to impress on His disciples that they were travellers passing through, waiting for His coming. They were not to take their ease. They were to be constantly ready to do His will earnestly. That is what their loins being girded means. When hard work was needed, people tucked their garments up instead of letting them hang loose, so nothing got in the way. So He would have our hearts engaged now, with no wandering affections and no distraction of mind.
Loose garments have an inward counterpart, and holding them in costs something.
You must not let your garments hang loose. That is, you must not let your thoughts and affections spread abroad. This is not rest, for it is an exceedingly tiring thing to sit up and watch through a long dark night. But in the spirit of service the heart, affections, thoughts, feelings, and desires must all be tied up. And this takes real effort, so that the flesh does not go its own way. It is sometimes a great comfort to let it, even for a moment — but if we do, we shall surely fall asleep like the virgins in Jesus' story.
You only need a lamp in the dark. So the lamp here tells us what time it is.
The lights burning show that it is night — the night of the Lord's absence. At night the tendency is to loosen your belt and go to sleep. Spiritually we must not do that. The girded loins and the burning light mean readiness to move at the word of the Lord. There must be no scrambling and scurrying when He comes.
The lamp is not the believer's own brightness. Others trace it back to its source, and to the order in which it works.
The "lights" in this verse and elsewhere in Scripture always mean Christ. They mean Christ shining out through the life of the believer, in the power of the Holy Spirit. When He was in this scene Christ was the light of the world; and in His absence believers take that same place. But they only answer to it so far as Christ shows in their walk and ways. We must have Christ inside before He can show through us. The light must be within before it can shine out into the darkness around us.
Everyone in the story agreed the master was returning. What the Lord asks for is something more.
The coming of the Lord is not just one special doctrine. It is what ought to mark the Christian, and it did mark him at the start. It is not just the fact that He will come again; every person who calls himself a Christian believes that. It is the present expectation of the Lord that marks the Christian. The same happened with the virgins: they all fell asleep. They had not given up the truth, but it stopped being a present expectation.
Elsewhere in Luke the Lord gives events to watch for. Here He gives none.
It is not prophecy, but character and position. In Luke 17 and 21 there are signs and events in history for people on earth. Here there are none; here there is heavenly separation from the earth. They were therefore left in uncertainty, and so the church, when formed, was left. The church is always to wait for Christ, having no set time: every moment is its time in desire and in duty.
The verse asks servants to be dressed and ready. Two verses later the roles reverse, and one writer insists this is not the language of wages.
What is this? Reward under God's government? Not in the least. It is grace and nothing else. The Lord coming forth to serve us! Have we any claim to this? We? Certainly not. It is a deeper blessedness. People like us have the Lord, the Son of God, serving them in the fullness of His grace.
- Treasure — the belt follows the treasure. A heart stored in heaven keeps the eyes open for Him.
- Belt — girding means tucking up loose robes for work. Inside, it means holding in thoughts and affections instead of letting them wander.
- Lamp — the lamp proves it is night, the night of His absence. The light itself is Christ, shining out through a life that has Him.
- Watch — believing He will return is not the same as expecting Him now. The virgins never denied the truth. They just stopped looking.
- Reversal — the servant watches through the night. In the end the Master serves him. That is grace, not payment.
and *ye* like men who wait their own lord whenever he may leave the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately.
Here the Lord tells His disciples how to live while they wait for Him. He pictures household servants inside the door at night, listening for their master's knock. What does that waiting look like?
Believing that Christ will return is not the same as looking for Him. This hope does not depend on a timetable:
Look at Luke 12:35-36. The Christian hope is quite independent of times and seasons. It is Christ coming in person, and it is exactly the same now as when the first disciples waited for Him from heaven. Prophecy may confirm our hope, but it is quite different in its nature. So a Christian who knows nothing of prophecy might be overflowing with hope by the power of the Spirit. He waits for Christ as a true servant waits for his master's return, ready to open the door the moment he hears the knock.
What the Lord asks for is affection fixed on a person, and the test of it is simple.
But the Lord wants us to be like men who wait for their Lord. Are our hearts really waiting for God's Son from heaven? I am not talking about understanding the prophecies — very blessed in their place — but the Morning Star is what belongs to us, a heavenly Christ who has given His life for us. The character that belongs to the Christian is that of watching. It is not understanding prophecy; it is attachment to Christ, having received the promise that He is coming, so that we are waiting for Him. Such people have found Christ precious to them, and they say, "Oh, that He would come!"
The force of the verse lies in two words: at once. A servant who must first get ready was not waiting.
Think of servants who do not know when their master will come back from the wedding. They stand waiting inside the house, with their hand as it were on the door, ready to throw it open at the first sign of his approach. In the same way, believers should keep up the constant expectation of their Lord's coming, while also taking care that they are morally ready.
The two commands of the previous verse are what make instant opening possible. The girded loins clear away what would trip a servant up; the lit lamp declares whose servant he is.
This is another grand point. He is linked with joy, and they are to be free from every earthly hindrance. So the moment the Lord knocks, in the terms of the figure, they can open to Him at once — with no distraction, and with nothing to get ready. Their hearts are waiting for Him, for their Lord; they love Him, they are waiting for Him. He knocks, and they open to Him at once.
Readers often ask whether this wedding points to some future event:
The return from the wedding in verse 36 does not apply to our Lord. It is only an illustration. The comparison shows the fitting attitude for those who are waiting for Christ to return for His people. So the figure of the wedding is not teaching us anything about future events. The passage presses one point only: be ready for the Lord's return, and keep expecting it.
The figure still does real work. It sets the mood of the waiting:
The return from the wedding feast was the best possible figure the Lord could use. It is a shared occasion of festive joy, yet the night may be more or less spent. As a figure it expresses a duty that suits His loving fellowship. It is filled with bright joy, and it shuts out every association of judgment and sadness. What could be more fitting? What could so well draw out the warm affections of the servants to their own Lord?
One change of heart undoes all of this:
They did not know when He would come, but they still waited for Him. What has ruined the church morally is this: she stopped looking for the Lord and said, "My master is delayed."
- Waiting — the verse asks for more than believing Christ will come. It asks for hearts set on His return tonight.
- Free — a heart free from every earthly hindrance has nothing left to arrange when the knock comes.
- At once — the servant's hand is already on the door. Readiness that still needs time is not readiness.
- Joy — the master comes home from a wedding. The scene is one of welcome, not dread or judgment.
- Delay — once the heart says "my master is delayed," the watching stops. Keeping the expectation alive keeps the servant faithful.
Blessed are those bondmen whom the lord [on] coming shall find watching; verily I say unto you, that he will gird himself and make them recline at table, and coming up will serve them.
A master comes home late from a wedding feast. The servants who stayed awake get his blessing. Then the picture turns over: the master serves them. Two questions follow. What does this watching involve? And how can the Master serve those who serve Him?
The blessing does not rest on knowing the doctrine. It rests on a heart that is looking for Him.
The blessing is not in holding the doctrine of the Lord's coming: it rests on those who are watching. They must be girded and have their lights bright while He is away, and watch for His return. Then He makes them sit down to eat, and girds Himself, and comes out and serves them. Now they must be girded and watch; our rest is not here. But, says the Lord, when I have things all My own way, you shall sit down to eat, and I will gird Myself and come out and serve you. I will make you enjoy all the best that I have in heaven, and I will minister it to you: only be found watching.
Being ready and being expectant are not the same thing.
Both have their place, but watching means expectancy — the heart is engaged. A servant might be quite ready for his master's return, just obeying a command. But if he is watching, it shows that his master's return is filling his thoughts. With the Christian the two must go together. If the heart is not right towards the Lord, the belt will come loose and the light will grow dim.
Which matters more to the Lord — busy service, or waiting for Him?
The blessing here is the watching — not so much working as watching, not so much occupation with others as watching for Him. Watching comes even before working. There is no doubt that working has real value, and the Lord will remember it and reward it. But watching is far more bound up with His person and with His love.
Does the wedding in this picture point to a set future event? One commentator says no.
I do not take this mention of returning from the wedding as prophecy. I take it as moral teaching, in keeping with Luke's usual style. It is meant to present no aspect of judgment, but of joy... They were to be free from everything on earth that ties them down. Then the moment the Lord knocks, in the terms of the picture, they can open to Him at once — without distraction or having to get ready.
Now the roles switch. The servants sit down, and the Master serves them.
Christ will serve us in the kingdom. He will serve us forever. His ministry overlaps our entire history. It reaches down to the very deepest depths of our need as sinners, and up to the very highest heights of the glory. He loves to serve us. And He gives us this assurance: the very moment He enters on the glory of His own kingdom, He will gratify His loving heart by making us sit down in the very brightness of that glory. There He will serve us in the same love that has marked His service from the very first.
The table and the seating are read as imagery, and the imagery carries a promise about what will never end.
He spreads the table for them in heaven, and then He sets them down at it. He spreads it with the best things of heaven; and not only that, He comes Himself and ministers to them... Of course, it is only a figure, to show us that He will never cease to minister the fullest blessedness to His own.
The act of girding is a sign, and it reaches back to a servant in Exodus 21.
The girdle is the sign of service... He took the form of a bondservant when He became man, and He will never lay it aside. He was not only the untiring servant of all in the days of His humiliation. Like the Hebrew servant of Exodus 21, He had purposed to be a servant forever. So He ministers on our behalf in the heavenly sanctuary while we travel here on earth. And Luke 12:37 tells us this: when He gets His waiting ones home, it will be His joy to gird Himself, seat them at the table, and come and serve them.
A few verses later comes a second blessing, given to a faithful steward. The two are not the same.
It is the position of one called to be faithful and wise as a steward... Still, it does not have to carry the closeness of personal affection that continual watching for Him implies... "Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions." That is not the return of His love so much as the post of honour in His kingdom. Both are "blessed"; but the heart ought to need little light to see which of the two is better.
- Watch, don't just agree. The blessing rests on those looking for Him, not on those who only know the truth of His coming.
- Watching is affection. Readiness obeys an order; watching shows the Master fills the servant's thoughts — and it comes even before working.
- The wedding is joy. The scene points to joy, not judgment, and calls for hearts free enough to open the door at once.
- The Master serves. His ministry spans our whole history, from our deepest need as sinners to the heights of glory.
- He is Servant forever. He took the servant's place when He became man, like the Hebrew servant of Exodus 21, and He will never lay it aside.
And if he come in the second watch, and come in the third watch, and find [them] thus, blessed are those [bondmen].
Jesus has just told His followers to stay dressed for action with their lamps burning. Now He names the middle watches of the night, and raises the question every generation faces: what happens to watchfulness when the wait drags on?
The night ran in four fixed periods of guard duty. One explanation looks at why the Lord names the middle two and skips the first and the last:
Van Oosterzee says: "The Romans divided the night into four night-watches, and the Jews had taken this division from them... He says nothing of the fourth watch, for one reason only. The disciples were to learn from that that they must not expect His return as late as possible. He does not name the first watch either, because that would weaken the whole picture of the watchful servants. The coming does not happen as fast as impatience expects, nor as late as carelessness supposes. It comes in the very middle of the night, when the temptation to fall asleep is great and so must be fought hardest."
The same blessing covers two different watches. One writer takes that as advance warning that the wait may be long:
In the parable of the servants waiting for their Lord's return from the wedding, the parable teaches the same general lesson of watchfulness. But it adds another element of great importance: a caution about the uncertainty and possible distance of the time... What is this but a hint that while the watch ought to be constant it might be drawn out? ... this parable warns us against letting our watchfulness slip, or growing careless because the expected coming has not yet taken place... In the Letter of James, those who suffer are told to look for the Lord's coming, but also that the watch may require "long patience." So it is here; but the blessing of faithfulness is all the greater. The warning against careless watching is just as strong in the third watch as in the first, and so is the promise of reward for diligence.
If both watches bring the same blessing, no one can fix the hour. That is the point:
Think what a joy it is that this apostolic hope is ours today, just as much as the apostolic faith and fellowship, if anyone has ears to hear. "If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!" It is clear then that expecting the Lord at a distant and fixed moment is not what He presses on us. The object is that His servants should always be on the watch.
One writer holds two motives together: love, which makes the delay worth bearing, and conscience, which the same coming reaches:
If He does tarry, and the heart that loves Him finds it long and has need of patience, it is well worth waiting for Him, whatever the delay... At the same time, it is important to add the aspect of His coming for the conscience. The return from the wedding does not present this... Present ease and unwatchfulness in such a world as this always make the return of the Lord more or less unwelcome. The only right attitude for love or conscience is the attitude of watching for Him.
The opposite of watching is the settled assumption that there is time to spare. One writer traces the church's decline to exactly that:
Christ had marked the Church's unfaithfulness by the servants saying, "My lord delays his coming." Paul did not fall into this. The Lord at the same time prophetically declared that, while the bridegroom tarried (no one knew how long), the virgins would slumber and sleep. He has tarried, and the early expectation of the Church has been lost. It went to sleep. Its worldliness and corruption and the loss of this expectation went on together.
Waiting, watching and working are not the same thing. One writer separates them:
To be waiting indicates readiness. To be watching shows expectation. To be working is a sign of faithfulness to a charge. And the servants of the Lord are to be ready, expectant, and faithful in view of His coming again.
That call is not limited to the first hearers.
May we hear His voice to us in these encouraging words, and not only wait for Him, but watch; for He said, "What I say to you I say to all: Stay awake." (Mark 13:37)
- Watch — the night ran in guard shifts. Naming the middle two shows He comes neither as fast as impatience wants nor as late as carelessness assumes.
- Wait — the second watch and the third carry the same blessing, so a long delay takes nothing from the reward; faithfulness through it counts all the more.
- Watch on — no hour is fixed, so the task is not working out a date but standing ready, expectant and faithful at every hour.
- Wake — love makes the wait worth it, and the same coming wakes a conscience grown comfortable in an easy world.
- Sleep — the one ruin to fear is the heart that says the master is delayed. Worldliness and lost expectation came in with it.
But this know, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be dug through.
The Lord has just described a master coming home from a wedding, met by servants who open the door at once. Now He pictures a thief breaking into a house — the same arrival, a very different welcome, and everything turns on one thing nobody has: the hour.
The verse turns on something that never happened. Nobody gets warning of a break-in.
The Lord has a word on the other side, where the servant has somehow become "the master of the house," and the coming of the Son of Man is like the unwelcome visit of a thief. Such a person needs to remember that the thief does not come at an expected hour, or perhaps the house would not have been dug through. "If he had known" only presses the fact that he does not know.
Older translations read "dug through" where the ESV has "broken into."
Commentators read the shift from "servant" to "master of the house" as deliberate. The man is no longer waiting for someone; he is settled at home, defending his own property.
Verse 39 speaks differently. Instead of a servant, we read of the master of the house, the ruler, and the Lord's coming is likened to the visit of a thief. He does not come as a thief to the Church, but to the world (1 Thess. 5:2-4). The man here had lost his servant character, and was really part of an ungodly world, whatever his profession might have been… Luke is not concerned with the time element, but with the reality of the Lord's coming, whether to reward watchfulness or to judge the careless.
The wedding picture speaks to the heart that loves Him. This one speaks to the conscience.
If He does tarry, and the heart that loves Him finds it long and has need of patience, it is well worth waiting for Him, whatever the delay… At the same time, it is important to add the aspect of His coming for the conscience. The return from the wedding does not present this… Present ease and unwatchfulness in such a world as this always make the return of the Lord to be more or less unwelcome. The only right attitude for love or conscience is the attitude of watching for Him.
The same thief picture turns up in 1 Thessalonians, where the apostle rules it out for believers. His reason is not that they watch better. It is that they belong to the day.
The words "they" and "you" make it still clearer that the day of the Lord is for the world. He does not say "When you shall say, Peace and safety" but when "they shall say." The apostle excludes the believer completely from that day when sudden destruction falls, for he says, "you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness"… therefore belonging to that coming day to be with the Lord when He comes to judge, it cannot overtake them as a thief.
Still, the warning is not wasted on believers. One writer shows what this picture does for the watcher: it starts low, then lifts higher.
Look at Matthew 24:43, and you will see how well the mind of Christ trains the soul in watching for His coming. How graciously He begins! At first He gives our watching a very low character. The master of the house watches against the coming of "a thief in the night." This shows the duty in its very lowest form. It pictures us watching for His return as though it were something against us, an object of dread and worry. The mind of Christ meets us here on very low ground, but it does not leave us here; it trains our hearts to reach a much higher level, raises our watching to a finer character, and gives higher beauty to the same features.
The break-in is not the end of the story. When the Son of Man arrives, He deals with the intruder — and the faithful servant meanwhile has one limited job.
Therefore not only watch, for you do not know the hour your Lord comes, but also be ready, for in the hour you do not think the Son of Man comes — to destroy the thief and restore His house. Meanwhile all the faithful servant can do is to give the household food in season. He cannot repair the damage to the house.
- Unknown — nobody knows the hour. "If he had known" only presses the point that he does not know.
- Unwatched — the owner is robbed because he is at ease. Present ease and unwatchfulness make the Lord's return unwelcome.
- Unwelcome — the thief picture fits a man who has lost his servant character and belongs to the world. To children of the day His coming is no break-in.
- Unfinished — the servant cannot repair the house. He feeds the household in season and leaves the restoring to his Lord.
- Upward — Christ starts our watching at its lowest form, dread, and then trains it into something finer.
And ye therefore, be *ye* ready, for in the hour in which ye do not think [it], the Son of man comes.
Jesus has just pictured a householder who would have stayed awake if he had known when the thief was coming. Then He turns the picture on His hearers. The command is not to calculate the hour but to live in a condition where any hour would be fine.
The verse gives its own reason for readiness: no one can time the arrival. Men mishandle that fact in two opposite ways.
That uncertainty was arranged to keep men always expecting. It is remarkable that men have taken it and used it as a reason for not expecting at all.
The opposite error is trying to pin down the date. One writer answers it from the Lord's own words to His closest followers.
Setting dates for the coming of the Lord is a harmful thing, and those who do it are presumptuous people... The apostles gave us the Word of God by the Holy Spirit's inspiration. Yet the Lord said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority" (Acts 1). The Father in His wisdom kept this knowledge from them. So where is there any hint in the Word that He would reveal it to us?
Jesus names Himself here as "the Son of Man." Commentators tie that title to His coming in judgment on the world, not to His coming for the Church.
He does not come as a thief to the Church, but to the world (1 Thess. 5:2-4)... What the Lord said in verse 40 is clearly connected with verse 39. His coming as the Son of Man is His coming to the world in judgment, and it will be at an unexpected hour. Of course, no one knows when He will come for the Church either. But that coming is not unexpected, and we are to be watching!
One writer watched two passengers reach the same harbour on the same ship. The arrival meant opposite things to them.
For the bride, the end of the voyage meant hopes realised: a husband, gladness and home. For the criminal, it meant a judge, conviction, and punishment to follow.
"Be ready" raises the obvious question: ready how? One writer says it covers two things, resting on two different works.
First, we must be "ready" in title; and secondly, we must be ready in our moral state — ready in conscience, and ready in heart. The one is founded on the work of Christ for us; the other is connected with the work of the Spirit in us. Suppose we are simply resting by faith on the finished work of Christ. Suppose we are leaning only on what He has done and what He is. Then we are ready in title indeed, and we may be sure of being with Him when He comes.
The same writer answers a common plea: that outward things do not matter.
Some may say — and some have said — "As long as we have Christ in our hearts, it doesn't matter what we have on our heads or in our hands." We reply: if we really have Christ in our hearts, it will regulate what we put on our heads and take into our hands. Yes, it will have a visible influence on our whole behaviour and character.
Readiness is measurable by a simple test: would today be a good day for Him to arrive? One writer put that question to a dinner guest.
"Would you like the Lord Jesus to return today?" "No," she said, "I would not." "And why not?" "Well," she said, "I have many things to settle up first; there are many things I would not like Him to see. I would rather He did not come today." Well, the Lord says, "You also must be ready." That means everything settled up. It means living as real pilgrims and strangers, passing through this world with nothing to hold us here. And why? Because our hearts are on Him where He is now.
How a person feels about His return exposes how that person has been living.
Ease and lack of watching in a world like this always make the Lord's return more or less unwelcome. The only right attitude, whether for love or for conscience, is the attitude of watching for Him.
- Hidden by design. The unknown hour keeps believers expecting. It is no excuse for drifting, and no invitation to set dates.
- Ready in title. Rest on the finished work of Christ alone. That settles your standing before He comes.
- Ready in state. What is in the heart shows up in the hands, the habits and the whole character.
- Ready means settled. Nothing you would rather He did not see; a pilgrim with nothing holding him here.
- Ready is love's posture. When love is real, conscience agrees. Watching becomes natural, not a strain.
And Peter said to him, Lord, sayest thou this parable to us, or also to all?
Peter interrupts the Lord's teaching about the returning master. He wants to know the scope. Is this for the disciples only, or for everyone listening? His reply, and what He leaves out of it, sets how far the warning reaches.
Just before this, the Lord spoke of a master who returns and finds his servants ready. One writer draws out the two lines in that teaching, and the reward given to each.
Watching and working are to fill the believer's time until the Lord returns. Watching is by far the more important of the two. A person might work in His service from all sorts of motives. But you can only watch if your heart is truly set on Him. The reward for watching is loving service from the Lord when He gets us home (v. 37). The reward for working is a stewardship in His kingdom (v. 44). It was in connection with all this priceless instruction that Peter asked his question.
Luke's Gospel is full of these interruptions. One writer sees a purpose in them, and a change of places in the reply.
While He was speaking like this, Peter interrupts Him. In this Gospel people interrupt Him again and again, because the Lord is here drawing out the human mind, to give the passions of the heart their answer. He lets man expose himself. So Peter says, "Are you telling this parable for us?" The Lord answers, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set over his household?" Again He changes places. If I only wait for Him in heart, He will gird Himself; but if I go out and serve Him with hand and foot, He will make me ruler.
The Lord says neither "you" nor "all." He answers with a question of His own.
To Peter's question (verse 41) the Lord did not give a direct answer. He did not directly limit His remarks to the small circle of His disciples. Nor did He widen the circle to take in the thousands of Israel standing round. Instead He rested the whole weight of His words on the responsibility of His hearers. Suppose men were in the place of His servants, no matter how they got there. He would then repay them according to their works, whether they proved faithful or evil.
Because the reply turns on the place a man occupies, it catches everyone who claims the name of servant.
Peter was unsure how far it applied. So he says, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?" … Responsibility is the point here, and it is tied to profession. It plainly takes in all who profess the name of the Lord. Whether they are true or false is not the question here, though the outcome for the false is sad in the extreme.
That principle has teeth. It also removes a common excuse.
People will be judged, not according to the power they have, but according to the PLACE they have taken. They cannot say, "I have taken the place, but I do not have the power, so you ought not to judge me." But you have taken the place. So you are responsible for the power — or you should not have taken the place.
The reply brings in a steward — some translations say manager. He stands on different ground from the servant who watches at the door.
Now here another aspect appears. It is the position of one called to be faithful and wise as a steward … a serious and honourable work. Still, it need not carry the intimacy of personal affection that always watching for Him implies … It is not the return of His love so much as the post of honour in His kingdom. Both are "blessed" indeed; but the heart ought to need little light to tell which of the two is better.
Peter asked who the parable was about. The reply hands the question back to him.
Who is the faithful and wise steward now? That is a question I have to ask myself. Am I a faithful servant? Am I a wise steward? It is not a question of success. The Lord never tells me to be successful. No. The point is, am I wise, and am I faithful? … Many servants have stopped short of the truth because they were afraid it might spoil their success.
- Place. The Lord answers neither "us" nor "all." He rests it all on the place a person takes. That place covers anyone who stands as His servant, however he got there.
- Profession. A person takes that place by profession. Claiming to serve Him is what brings him under this word.
- Power. No one can plead lack of ability. Judgment follows the place you take, not the power you have.
- Portion. He answers watching with His own loving service. He answers working with rule over all He has. Both are blessed, but not equally.
- Person. Do not work out who the parable describes. Ask instead: am I faithful and wise? The test is faithfulness, not success.
And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and prudent steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give the measure of corn in season?
Peter asks who the parable is for. The Lord answers with a question about a manager set over a household — older translations call him a "steward." Everything turns on two words, "faithful and wise," and on one task: giving people their food at the right time.
Peter wanted to know whether the warning applied to the small circle around Jesus or to the wider crowd. The reply narrows nothing and excuses no one.
To Peter's question (verse 41) the Lord did not give a direct answer. He did not limit His words to the small circle of His disciples. Nor did He widen the circle to take in the thousands of Israel standing round. Instead He laid the whole weight of His words on the responsibility of His hearers. If men were in the place of His servants — however they got there — He would repay them according to their works, whether they turned out to be faithful or evil.
The Lord names no one. Anyone can step into the description, and one writer says that is the point.
We sometimes refer to such passages as abstract. The value of these abstract statements is that we can all put ourselves into them, and no doubt this is what our Lord intended. The word "steward" here means a household servant, in contrast to a worker in the vineyard, and it may point to our service to God's people in the church. Where does such service show itself? In the local gathering we belong to.
Two things stand in the verse: who put the steward there, and what he is there for.
Here, then, we have at once the source and object of all ministry in the house of God. "Whom his master will set over his household." This is the source. "To give them their portion of food at the proper time." This is the object.
Two words describe the servant the Lord looks for. Each one means something different.
The servant who is "faithful" to his lord's interests is reliable and worthy of trust. The servant who is "wise" is obedient and intelligent. These are surely the two qualities most looked for in a servant.
The same writer shows what those two qualities secure for the Master.
Where there are faithfulness and wisdom, the Master can count on His will being carried out exactly. He can count on the household getting its portion of food, and getting it at the proper time. When faithfulness and wisdom are properly blended together, the work is not only done, but done well.
The Master supplies the food. The steward only hands it out, and keeping it back is a serious matter.
He cares for His household. He has provided plenty of food for their spiritual health and strength, and He has entrusted that food to His stewards. No servant of His could commit a greater sin than keeping this food back from those who need it. And no servant could give the Lord greater service than handing it out diligently.
Only two things make a servant like this, and both are matters of the heart.
Faith and love alone make anyone faithful and wise. They tie the heart to the household through devotion to the Lord. Loving Him leads out to feeding His sheep and His lambs. That is how the Lord put it to Peter, whom He had restored after his fall — a fall which, by grace, would only make him more gentle and thoughtful towards others.
This is honourable work, and it carries its own reward. But that reward differs from the one promised to servants who watch for their Lord.
It is the position of one called to be faithful and wise as a steward. His duty is to rule over the master's household and give them their portion of food at the proper time. It is serious and honourable work. Still, it does not necessarily carry the close personal affection that constant watching for Him implies… It is not the return of His love so much as the post of honour in His kingdom. "Blessed" indeed are both.
Another writer says which of the two the Lord values more.
So we have two things: "watching" and "doing." Which does Christ value most? Watching, without question — the higher reward attached to it proves that. To have Christ serving us in the glory is far beyond any position He may in His goodness give us.
- Trust — his lord puts the steward in place. He never seizes the post, and the food he hands out belongs to his Master.
- Faithful — reliable and worthy of trust with his master's interests; this is what the Lord looks for.
- Wise — obedient and understanding, so the food reaches the household at the right time, not just at some time.
- Household — the steward measures the portion out to real people; love for the Master carries him out to feed His sheep.
- Reward — the faithful steward gains a post of honour in the kingdom; the watching heart gains more still, for Christ Himself will serve His own in glory.
Blessed is that bondman whom his lord [on] coming shall find doing thus;
The verse does not describe a servant doing something impressive. It describes one still doing the ordinary thing he was given to do — handing out food to the household at the right time — when the master walks in.
The Lord looks for faithful and wise stewardship from the one He has put in charge of His household while He is away. When He comes, He will deal with this responsibility. Did the servant hand out food at the right time? "Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes." ... He had already assured His own sheep that if they enter by Him they will be saved, enjoy freedom, and find pasture. That last point is where this servant's responsibility lies, and it would test him. ... Only faith and love make anyone faithful and wise. They attach the heart to the household through devotedness to the Lord. Loving Him leads out to feeding His sheep and His lambs.
The verse just before this one names two marks of the steward. They are not the same quality.
Two things mark such a servant — "faithful and wise." "Faithful" shows a sense of responsibility to the Lord. "Wise" suggests the ability to know what to minister, and when. This concerns all of us, because we all have some measure of ability. How good it is when we use the ability the Lord has given us to further His interests among His people.
Earlier in the chapter the Lord blesses servants found watching; here He blesses one found doing. Commentators read these as two different pictures with two different rewards.
Here it is working, as distinct from waiting or watching. It is doing Him service, not the eyes of the heart fixed on His coming. A servant may care for His interests with zeal, and do His work faithfully and with understanding. He may seek sinners earnestly so that they may be saved, and love and tend the saints because they are precious to Him. The Lord does not forget such service, and God is not unrighteous to forget the work. That servant will share in the display of his Lord's glory, if he serves faithfully now, in the day when men slight Him.
Commentators weigh the two by the reward attached to each.
So we have two things: "watching" and "doing." Which does Christ value most? The first, without question — the higher reward attached to it proves this. To have Christ serving us in the glory is far beyond any position He may in His goodness give us.
The blessedness announced in this verse is spelled out in the next one, and it is a share in the Master's authority.
The Lord will reward faithful service today when He administers the world to come. We see this in the parable of the pounds, "Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities," Luke 19:17. As in that parable, so here, the Lord offers rule in the world to come as the reward.
The rewards in these parables fit the service they answer.
Where the heart watches for the Lord's return, the reward is the joy of His communion, the blessed society of the Father's house. ... Where servants watch carefully over the Lord's interests, the fitting response is to make them rulers in the kingdom.
Some read this verse and conclude they have nothing worth being found at.
In Luke 12 the Lord Himself makes a difference between a "waiting" servant (Luke 12:37) and a "working" servant (Luke 12:43). He serves the first and rewards the second, but both alike are servants. ... A heart set free from itself can "weep with those who weep." Done in fellowship with the Master's mind, that is a service very welcome and acceptable to His heart.
The blessing rests on what He finds us doing. His arrival, not our own planning, ends the work.
This service is to go on until the coming of the Lord. ... it seems that some servants will still be serving when the Lord comes. It may be our privilege to be here when that moment arrives. If so, how happy to be found "so doing" at the very moment when He comes to take us to be with Himself! When He comes for us, all opportunities for service here will cease.
- Doing — he is blessed for still handing out the household's food at the right time. The work is ordinary care of the Lord's people, not display.
- Faithful and wise — faithfulness is a sense of responsibility to the Lord. Wisdom is knowing what to give, and when.
- Watching first — working is blessed. But Christ values most the heart fixed on His return, and the higher reward proves it.
- Any measure — the waiting servant and the working servant are both servants. Even weeping with those who weep, in fellowship with His mind, is welcome service.
- Found — the blessing hangs on the moment He arrives. Serve on until then. When He comes, the chance to serve closes and rule with Him begins.
verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he has.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
But if that bondman should say in his heart, My lord delays to come, and begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and to drink and to be drunken,
The Lord has just described a faithful and wise manager put in charge of the household (v. 42). Now He fills the same post with a man who has given up on his master's return. One silent thought in the heart does all the damage that follows.
The verse names two crimes: cruelty to the other servants, and drunken indulgence. Neither is where the trouble began. Both are symptoms of something already settled within.
What is the poison in his wrong? What stamped him as "that evil servant"? His conduct certainly shows two fatal flaws. He beats his fellow servants. He eats and drinks with those who are drunk. He proudly lifts himself above those the Lord has put on the same level as himself. He also keeps company and shares fellowship with the world. But what marked the looseness and waywardness of his soul? That which was within led to these outbreaks of evil; for evil never begins in external conduct of any kind. The mischief is always within first.
A man may hold correct views about the Lord's return and still be this servant. What the Lord exposes is not a miscalculation but an unwelcome hope.
This is not a doctrinal mistake. That would be no small thing, since God's word and Spirit are given to direct us rightly. But the wandering of the "heart" is far more serious, and it comes too easily even where the doctrine is held. How sad is the state of a soul that does not want Christ's coming! That servant then does whatever his heart likes. In this way the hope loses its separating power, and its attraction to the One who is coming and to His word.
Love changes how long a wait feels. Jacob's seven years of service for his wife show it.
To say in the heart that the Lord delays His coming is a plain declaration, though a silent one. It says His coming is not wanted. It is not what rules the heart. The seven years Jacob served for his wife "seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her" (Gen. 29:20). His heart was in it, and the years fled as days. Love annihilated time... It is very clear that no such object governed the heart of the evil servant. He did not love his Lord, nor did he care for His coming.
Once the master drops out of view, the servant fills the empty place himself. Then he looks elsewhere for company.
Having no heart nor faith in Christ's coming, men were willing that it should be put off... The wish gave birth to the thought. In that state of feeling, people easily find circumstances to justify it. But the moral consequences are soon seen. With Christ's coming no longer before the eye, that servant before long began "to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk." On one side he developed a spirit of proud assumption and intolerance. On the other, a corrupting familiarity with the world.
Peter had asked who this parable was meant for (v. 41). The warning belongs to anyone who takes the place of a servant. The next verse decides what this man really is.
The word "unbelievers" here is the same one used in 1 Cor. 14:23. It is more a question of their conduct than of their creed: they may be ever so "orthodox." The word stands in contrast with the word "faithful," used of the steward in verse 42. So the Revised Version renders it "unfaithful." Notice Peter's question in verse 41. Notice too that the Lord is not speaking of a merely assumed position in the verse that follows. We have here a solemn Scripture for all who are engaged in His service, whatever group they belong to. The words admit of no softening.
Both servants eat and drink. The difference is when.
The false servant has his good time when he begins "to eat and drink and get drunk" (verse 45). It ends in disaster when his Master comes... The true servant waits for his Master, who will make him sit down to eat and drink and will be the Servant of his joy (verse 37). His good time will be then.
- Heart — The ruin starts with a silent thought. Nothing in the outward conduct came first.
- Hope — To call the Master late is to admit you do not want Him. Where love rules, waiting feels short.
- Harm — Once the hope goes, the servant turns on the other servants. He also grows at home with the world.
- Hollow — The failure is one of conduct, not creed. A man may be fully orthodox and still be this servant.
- Hereafter — Both servants get their feast. One takes it now and loses everything; the other waits, and the Master Himself serves him.
the lord of that bondman shall come in a day when he does not expect it, and in an hour he knows not of, and shall cut him in two and appoint his portion with the unbelievers.
Just before this, the Lord praised the servant who feeds the household while his master is away. Now He turns to the servant who told himself there was time to spare. The sentence falls on a man who still carried the name of servant. Why does the master arrive when he is not expected? And who are the "unfaithful" he ends up with?
The surprise in this verse is not an accident of timing. It grows out of the servant's own heart. He had already decided that his master's return was far off and unwelcome.
The trouble is not a doctrinal mistake, though that is no small thing where God's word and Spirit are meant to guide us. It is the far more serious wandering of the "heart," which comes all too easily where this teaching may be held. How sad the state of a soul where Christ's coming is unwelcome, and the servant does whatever his heart likes! In this way the hope loses its separating power, and its pull toward the One who is coming and toward His word. He turns violent against his fellow servants. They annoy him, while the world and its pleasures make pleasant company.
The servant cannot plead that he only held the position and never had the reality behind it. That plea is what condemns him.
People will be judged, not according to the power they have, but according to the PLACE they have taken. They cannot say, I have taken the place, but do not have the power, so you ought not to judge me. But you have taken the place. So you are responsible for the power. Otherwise you should not have taken the place. If a servant comes into your house and ruins all your goods, you judge him according to the place he has taken. So the professing church, or Christendom, has taken the place of Christianity without the power, and it is responsible for that. How can there be power where there is no life?
The servant in view had a job: handing out food at the right time. That makes the warning land first on those who stand up to teach others.
He speaks first of those who have accepted the duty of giving His household their portion of food at the right time (vv. 42-46). Anyone who does this faithfully and wisely, from pulpit or platform or anywhere else, is called "Blessed." His reward is so great. But suppose someone charged with such service says in his heart, "My Lord delays His coming." Suppose he then gives himself up to self-indulgence. His Lord will come upon him when he is not aware, and will assign him his eternal portion with unbelievers. An awful possibility for some who in our day stand forward as the public teachers of the flock of God!
To be cut in pieces and put with the unfaithful is more than punishment. The sentence shows what the man really was under the name he carried.
Whatever it professes, the heart of Christendom in that day will prove unbelieving. No disguises of creed or ritual, no activity, no zeal, will shield it from the just judgment of the Lord at His coming.
The word translated "unfaithful" is worth a pause. It names a lack, not a loud denial.
The Greek word is apistos, "not believing," and so an "unbeliever." … So the scriptural use of the term does not imply the denial of the truth of Christianity, in the way the word is commonly understood today.
Some read this verse as a Christian losing a place in the coming kingdom. Commentators reject that reading. They argue it from the sentence itself.
The matching parable in Matthew 24:48 shows that this is no case of a believer shut out. It is the case of an "evil" servant, a hypocrite. We need not even go beyond the rest of Luke's words to reach the same fact. Luke says his lord cuts him in two and appoints his portion with the faithless (apiston). Will the Lord deal so with anyone born of God? This is a far different lot from missing the reign while still blessed for eternity. No scripture assigns such a portion to a single Christian.
- Heart first. The collapse starts inside, with "My master is delayed." Only then does it show as cruelty to fellow servants and comfort with the world.
- Hope lost. Once a servant stops expecting Christ's return, the hope loses its separating power over his life.
- Place binds. Judgment follows the position a man has taken, not the power he claims he never had.
- Mask removed. Creed, ritual, zeal and activity shield no one. His coming exposes what the heart really was: unbelieving.
- Portion assigned. The end is not a believer losing reward. It is a false servant put with the faithless, where he always belonged.
But that bondman who knew his own lord's will, and had not prepared [himself] nor done his will, shall be beaten with many [stripes];
Older translations render this sentence as "beaten with many stripes," and the next verse sets a second servant beside him who did not know his master's will. So how does God weigh guilt when one man has the light and another does not?
Commentators read this servant as a picture of Christian profession, not of the world at large.
Christendom has taken the place of Christian privilege, so God will judge it on that ground. It is "that servant." Men had no heart or faith for Christ's coming, so they were glad to think it was put off… They said in their heart, "My master is delaying his coming." The wish gave birth to the thought, and once men feel like that they easily find reasons to justify it.
The heart of the verse is not ignorance but light refused.
First comes the case of the servant who knew his master's will, did not get himself ready, and did not act according to that will. He will be beaten with many stripes. The greater the light, the greater the responsibility. Where a man has the light, he has no excuse at all for disobedience. In fact, not doing the will that has been made known is a refusal to obey. In other words, it is rebellion.
Failing to "get ready" does not mean general laziness. It points back to the coming spoken of earlier in the chapter, and it separates this servant from the one in the next verse.
That servant — the Lord means the one He has just spoken of — knew his Lord's will and did not prepare himself, that is, for his Lord who was coming, and did not act according to His will. He will be beaten with many stripes. Of the other man it is not said that he failed to prepare himself, because he was never in that position at all. It says he "committed things worthy of stripes." He acted wickedly out of his natural heart, as a pagan might, and will be beaten with few stripes.
Writers take "many" and "few" as real measurement, not just a figure of speech.
God will not judge the Gentile on the same ground as the Jew, nor the Jew on the same ground as the Christian in name only. He will deal with each on his own distinct ground, according to his light and privilege. There will be the few stripes and the many stripes, as in Luke 12… The Judge of all the earth will do right, but man is responsible, and his responsibility matches the light and advantage given to him. The distinctions are exact, and no one will ever be condemned for despising and refusing advantages that were never within his reach.
The difference lies in severity, not in final outcome. One writer presses that on readers who have an open Bible:
The place and the length of punishment do not vary for any of the lost. Eternity in the lake of fire is the portion of all who die in their sins. Yet the Saviour speaks of "few stripes" and "many stripes," which shows degrees of severity in what God inflicts. No people on earth carry heavier responsibility than those who live in Great Britain.
Kelly notes that a later idea turned the plain sense of these words upside down.
Being baptized, and calling on the Lord's name in outward profession, will not lighten the burden of the hypocrites in the day of judgment. On the contrary, it will bring far more severity on them… An idea spread, perhaps everywhere after the first century or two, that although all who died in sin would be judged, the baptized would have a far better place in hell than the unbaptized. That was the teaching of the early church writers. Scripture is flatly against it.
One writer sets the verse alongside the Lord's words to His friends.
He does not want the cold service of the apprentice or the slave. He wants the loving heart-service of His chosen friends… And here, dear friends, shall we not say that our self-willed hearts need the warning of Luke 12:47?
The same two things — knowing God's will, and stripes — meet in one Person.
God's ways of grace are not as our ways. In righteousness, the servant who knew his master's will, but did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. In grace, the Lord Jesus, Who knew the will of God, and did it to the full, received in Himself the stroke of God's wrath — and by His stripes we are healed.
- Light — the servant's offence is knowledge without action; where he knows his master's will, disobedience has no excuse and is rebellion.
- Waiting — he did not get ready for a master who was coming, because he told himself the coming was delayed.
- Measure — "many" and "few" stripes show real degrees; no one is condemned for refusing advantages beyond his reach.
- Profession — outward Christian standing raises the reckoning instead of easing it.
- Grace — the Servant who knew God's will and did it fully took the stripes Himself, so that obedience now flows from love, not dread.
but he who knew [it] not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. And to every one to whom much has been given, much shall be required from him; and to whom [men] have committed much, they will ask from him the more.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.