Introduction
Last week we spent our time on the first thirty-four verses of Luke 12 which were all about fear and worry. The Lord told the people who were listening to him not to be afraid of those who can kill the body, but who can do no more to us. In other words, don’t be afraid of those who might persecute us, because the worst they can do to us is to put us to death. But for the believer, death is the doorway into the presence of the Lord, which is better by far than anything else. As soon as we die, the souls of believers return to the Lord who made us and our souls are made perfect; and we await the resurrection of our bodies so that we will be with the Lord in body and soul for ever and for ever. And so, those who kill the body are not really hurting us, because all they’re doing is opening the door for us into the presence of our God. And so, we don’t need to fear them. Instead we should fear God, because he has the power to throw people into hell.
And if we’re afraid of men and women and what they might do to us, then we may be tempted to give up the faith and to renounce the Saviour in order to escape persecution. But what will that gain for us? It might gain for us a longer life in this world. But if we give up the faith, if we deny the Saviour, then there’s nothing for us in the life to come apart from God’s condemnation and eternal punishment away from the presence of God.
And then, while we go on living in the world, we don’t need to be worry about the things unbelievers worry about. They worry about what they’re going to eat and drink and wear. They are worried about making ends meet and paying their bills and making a living. But believers need not worry about these things, because we know we can trust our heavenly Father to take care of us. That doesn’t mean we should do nothing but pray. If we have the ability to do so, we should go out and work, because work is one of the ways God provides for us. He gives us the ability and the knowledge and the health we need to go out and work to earn a living. And if we’re unable to work, he provides for us in other ways. But the point is we don’t need to be worried and we don’t need to be anxious, because our loving heavenly Father knows what we need and he’ll take care of us.
And so, instead of spending our time worrying about what we need, we can spend our time thinking about how to serve Christ our King. Seek the kingdom. That is, seek to do the king’s will; and God will take care of the rest for us.
And since God will take care of us, we don’t need to be greedy. We don’t need to cling on to what we have. We can give away some of what we have for the good of others and for the glory of God.
Those are some of the things we were thinking about last week. Today we come to the passage which we read a moment ago. And what are these verses about? Well, take a look at the first part which runs from verse 35 to verse 48. And in verse 36 the Lord uses the phrase ‘when he comes’. He using the image of a master returning to his home and he’s saying the servants need to be ready ‘when he comes’. And the same phrase appears in verse 37: ‘when he comes’. Verse 38 includes the words ‘If he comes’. That is, if he comes at this time or that time. The servants don’t know when the master will come, but they need to be ready no matter when he comes. And then in verse 40, the Lord says that the Son of Man ‘will come’. So, the image of the master coming home is to illustrate what it will be like when the Son of Man comes. And, of course, the Lord is referring to himself. He’s the Son of Man.
In verse 43, the Lord says, ‘when he returns’ or ‘when he comes’. It’s the same phrase as before. And once again, the Lord is using the image of a master coming to his home. And in verse 46 he refers to the master who ‘will come’. So, the first part of today’s passage is about how the Lord will come again and how we must be ready for his return.
The second part of the passage is from verses 49 to 53. And the key phrase in this part is ‘I have come’ or ‘I came’. So, it’s in verse 49: ‘I have come to bring fire’. And it’s in verse 51: ‘Do you think I came to bring peace on earth?’ If the first part of the passage is about the Lord’s second coming, the second part is about his first coming. When the Lord came into the world the first time, what did he come to do?
And the third part of the passage — which is verses 1 to 9 of chapter 13 — is about how people need to repent. They need to repent because of what is going to happen in the future.
So, today’s passage is about the coming of the Lord: what his first coming means for the world; and how we need to be ready for his second coming.
Part 1
And so, let’s turn to the first part which is verses 35 to 48.
Remember: a large crowd has gathered around the Lord Jesus, but, according to verse 1, the Lord is speaking firstly to his disciples. That is, most of what he’s saying is directed to them. And he said to them in verse 35 that they need to be dressed so that they’re ready for service; and they need to keep their lamps burning. In other words, they need to be like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet. So, think of Downton Abbey or some big house like that with a master and the master’s family and then there are all the servants. And while the master is away, the servants are not to sit around, with their feet up, doing nothing. They’re to get ready for the master’s return. He’s gone away to a wedding and he’s going to come back late. And when he comes home and knocks on the door, the servants better be ready to open the door for him so that he’s not left standing on the doorstep. If they’re ready for him, then they’ll be able to open the door for him immediately. And for the servants in the illustration that means they have to be dressed. Don’t put on your pyjamas and go to bed, but stay dressed and ready for action. And don’t put out the lights, because you don’t want to be fumbling around in the dark when the master returns.
And look what the Lord says in verse 37. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. How will it be good for them? Because the master will dress himself in the right clothes to serve them! The master will ask them to recline at the table and he’ll wait on them while they eat.
This is a very unusual reaction, isn’t it? Normally, if the master is kind, he might thank his servants for staying up late. But it would be very unusual for any master to be willing to serve his servants. But, of course, the Lord isn’t really talking about masters and servants. He’s talking about himself and us. He’s the master. He’s the king. And when he returns, it will be wonderful for his faithful servants who were ready for his coming, because he will gather them together and he’ll seat them around the table to enjoy what the book of Revelation refers to as the wedding supper of the Lamb. God’s faithful people will feast together in the presence of our great God and Saviour. And remarkably, as the Lord says here, he will serve us, because he’s the host and we’re the invited guests.
And the Lord continues to use the image of the master and his servants in verse 38 to say that it will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. The Jews divided the night into three different watches or periods of time. And so, the Lord’s point is that the servants need to be ready no matter when he comes. Whether it’s earlier or later, they need to be ready. And it will go well for those servants who are ready. And we need to be ready for the Lord’s return whenever that might be.
The image changes in verse 39. The Lord isn’t thinking of a master and his servants now, but of the owner of a house and a thief who comes in the night. If the owner knew what time the thief was coming, he would make preparations to keep the thief out. But a thief doesn’t normally announce his arrival. He doesn’t let you know in advance when to expect him. So, how can you be ready for the thief? Only by keeping watch throughout the night. Only by being vigilant at all times. And isn’t that what happens today? Perhaps when there’s a special event taking place, members of the public are asked to be vigilant and to keep an eye out for anything unusual so they can report it to the police. And the Lord’s point is that we have to be vigilant for his return. We have to be ready at all times. As he says in verse 40, you must be ready, because he, the Son of Man, will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Since you don’t know when he will come, you need to be ready at all times.
And it’s worth pausing for a moment and noting that the Lord says he will come at an hour when you do not expect him. In other words, no one knows when he will return. That hasn’t stopped lots of people from trying to predict his coming and I think I’ve mentioned before a page on Wikipedia that has a long list of predictions of his return at the end of the world. The last predicted date which has now past was 2021. Future predictions include ‘sometimes after 2025’, 2028, 2029, by 2057 and 2060. No doubt there will be other predictions. But the Lord is clear that no one knows when he will return. We can’t predict his coming. We can’t say when it will take place. And since we can’t say when it will happen, then we have to be continually vigilant. We need to be ready.
After telling the parable about the thief, Peter asked the Lord in verse 41 whether he was telling the parable to ‘us’ or to everyone. That is to say, was he telling it to his disciples or to everyone in the crowd. And I think behind his question is the thought that the Lord was willing to explain things to his disciples when he did not explain to the others. He spoke in parables to the others to keep them from knowing the mysteries of the kingdom, but he revealed the mysteries to the disciples. And so, Peter is perhaps hoping that the Lord will take his disciples aside and let them know the date of Christ’s return. The date of his return may be kept from the others, but surely you’ll tell us, your disciples, the date of your return?
But he’s not going to give them the date of his coming. Instead he reminds them that they too must be ready for his return. And he does so by using a slightly different image. He now refers not to a regular servant, but to a manager or steward. So, this is someone the master of the house set over the rest of his household. This manager is given charge over the other servants. But the manager is not to abuse the other servants. On the contrary, he’s to look after them. He’s to ensure they all receive their food allowance at the proper time. So, he’s to make sure they all get enough food each day. After a hard day’s work in the fields, the servants come in and they’re expecting to be fed. And it’s the manager’s job to ensure that no one is neglected and no one misses out, but each one is well fed. And it will be good for that servant — the manager — whom the masters finds doing so when he returns. When the master returns, he’ll give the faithful and wise manager even more responsibility by giving him charge over more of his possessions.
But suppose the manager says to himself that the master has been away a long time. And suppose he thinks to himself that the master isn’t likely to return any time soon. And suppose he then begins to abuse the other servants. Suppose that happens. What do you think will happen when the master finally returns? He’ll come at a time when the manager is not expecting him and, when he sees how he has abused the other servants, he’ll cut him to pieces and will assign him a place with the unbelievers.
And since the Lord told that story in response to Peter’s question, then it’s likely that he’s using the image of the manager to represent the disciples themselves and every minister of the gospel who has been appointed after them. Christ the master has appointed them to feed his other servants by teaching them from his word. That was the task of the apostles and it’s the task of every other minister of the gospel. They have been called and appointed by Christ to preach and teach God’s word for the spiritual nourishment of God’s people. And the faithful and wise preacher is the one who does that. The faithless and foolish preacher will neglect his duties. He will not teach the people, but will busy himself with other things. Or if he teaches the people, he does not teach them God’s word, but something else which leads to spiritual malnourishment. Or perhaps he may be tempted to abuse Christ’s other servants. And sadly there are plenty of stories of ministers and pastors who are abusive towards their congregations and they become spiritual bullies. And so, to prevent the disciples and other gospel ministers from being tempted to neglect their duty, the Lord warns them of the possibility of being assigned a place with unbelievers.
And this part of the passage ends with the Lord saying that the servant who knows the master’s will, but who does not get ready for his return or who does not do his will will be beaten with many blows. But the one who doesn’t know the master’s will, and who does the wrong thing, will be beaten with fewer blows. However, both will be beaten. And so, the lesson both need to learn is that they should make sure that they’re ready for the master’s return.
And so, how do we prepare for Christ’s return? What’s the way to be ready? The way to be ready is simple. It’s to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s to trust in him for the forgivness of our sins and for the hope of everlasting life. There is no other way to get ready for his return that by believing in him as the only Saviour of the world. And those who believe in him can look forward to his coming, because when he comes, he’ll bring us into God’s presence to sit down at his table and to take part in the wedding supper of the Lord and to eat and drink and celebrate our Saviour’s victory over sin and death.
But then, those who believe in his name, we want to serve him, won’t they? They will want to serve him, not to earn salvation, because our salvation is a gift which we receive through faith. But we’ll want to serve him, because we love him and we’re grateful for what he has done for us and we want to honour him by being faithful servants. And from elsewhere in the Bible we learn that we way we serve him in the world is by using the gifts and talents and abilities he has given us to love and serve the people around us. I’ve said before that the Lord needs nothing from us. He doesn’t depend on us for anything. He doesn’t need us to bring him anything. And so, the way we serve him in the world is by serving the people around us. And by serving them, we’re in fact serving our Saviour.
Part 2
Let’s move on to the second part of today’s passage which is verses 49 to 59.
And this part begins in a surprising way. The Lord is talking about why he has come. So, he’s thinking about his first coming, when he came into the world as one of us and was born in Bethlehem and lived among us for a time. Why did he come? According to verse 49 he came to bring fire on the earth. The image of bringing fire normally refers to judgment, doesn’t it? James and John wanted to call down fire on a village because the people rejected the Lord. And so, here’s the Lord saying that he came to bring judgment. And that’s surprising, isn’t it?. It’s surprising because the angels announced to the shepherds that the Saviour’s birth meant peace on earth. But while his coming means peace for those who believe in him, his coming also means fire and judgment on those who do not believe.
He then refers in verse 50 to a baptism which he has to undergo. And now he’s referring to his death on the cross, when the judgment of God was poured out on him. When a person is baptised, the minister pours water over the peron’s head. And when the Lord was crucified, God poured his wrath over him. The judgment and punishment which we deserve for all that we have done wrong was poured out on Christ when he gave up his life on the cross.
And so, the Lord is referring in these two verses to two kinds of judgment: the judgment which will fall on those who do not believe in him; and the judgment which was poured out on him when he gave up his life for the salvation of his people. And because of that judgment which was poured out on him, all who trust in him as the only Saviour of the world are saved from the coming judgment on the world.
And then he asks the people whether they think he has come to bring peace on the earth. And he’s very clear, isn’t he? He’s very clear, because he tells us that he did not come to bring peace, but division. So, his coming divides the world. It divides the world into those who believe and those who don’t. And this division will appear in all kinds of places, so that even families will be divided because of Christ. There will be three against two and two against three.
We think of families as being united. The members of a family love one another and nothing much comes between them. But here’s something that will come between them and divide them: Christ will come between them. Father against son and son against father; and mother against daughter and daughter agains mother and so on. Parents and children are divided, because perhaps the children do not believe, while the parents do, and the children are constantly resisting the efforts of their parents to bring them to church and to bring them up in the instruction of the Lord. Or perhaps it’s the other way around and the children have come to a living faith and their parents don’t understand it and they disapprove of it. And so, the family is divided. Friendships are divided too, when one person is converted to faith in Christ and that person’s former friends cannot accept it. It’s always tragic when these divisions happen, but it’s not a surprise when it does happen, because the coming of the Lord brings division.
And the Lord then says about the people that they can interpret weather signs. So, they see a cloud rising in the west and it tells them it’s going to rain. When the wind blows, they knows it’s going to get hot. The Lord says they can interpret weather signs, but they can’t interpret the present time. Do you see that in verse 56? He’s referring to that time, when he was on the earth and he was going about as God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King, healing the sick and driving our demons and preaching the good news. By the things he said and did, he made clear to those with eyes to see that he was in fact God’s King and he had come to establish God’s kingdom on the earth. But so many of the people who saw him and he heard him didn’t understand or believe. They saw the signs, but they did not know how to interpret the signs or how to make sense of them. They saw the signs, but they did not realise what they meant.
What did the signs mean? The signs meant that the king had come to establish God’s kingdom. And those who enter his kingdom by faith will be saved. They receive forgiveness from God and can look forward to eternal life. But those who do not believe and who remain outside his kingdom and who remain enemies of his kingdom will be condemned and punished for ever.
And so, the Lord tells them about a man who is being taken to court. And while he’s being taken to court, he should try his best to settle the matter with his adversary and to make peace with him, because if he doesn’t, who knows what the judge may do to him? They judge may decide against him and hand him over to the officer who will throw him into prison. And the point of the Lord’s story is that the day of final judgment is coming. It’s not here yet. It hasn’t arrived yet. And so, while there’s still time for us to do something about it, we should all seek to be reconciled to God. We should seek peace with him. If we don’t, then one day we’ll face Christ in his role as judge. And he’ll condemn us for all that we have done wrong and we’ll be punished in body and soul for ever and for ever. And so, before that time comes, every one should seek peace with God. And the way to have peace with God is by trusting in Christ who died on the cross to make peace for us with God.
Part 3
And so, we come to the third and final part of today’s passage which is verses 1 to 9 of chapter 13.
Some who were there in the crowd told the Lord Jesus about some Galileans whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices. This is all we know about this incident, but Pilate was known for other acts of cruelty. Since Luke refers to their sacrifices, then presumably these Galileans were offering sacrifices to the Lord when Pilate had them killed.
Now, it’s not clear why the people in the crowd told the Lord about this atrocity. But the Lord makes clear that none of them should think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans. And the Lord mentions a tragedy in Jerusalem when a tower fell on eighteen people and they were all killed. But don’t think that the people who were killed were worse sinners than all the rest of the people in Jerusalem. In other words, don’t think that they suffered because they were wicked, while the others were spared because they were righteous. No, all the Galileans were sinners and all the people of Jerusalem were sinners and all of us are sinners. We’re all sinners who deserve to suffer for our sins and for all that we have done wrong. We don’t deserve good things from the Lord, but evil, because of all the evil things we have done. Every day we disobey the Lord and we fall short of doing his will in thought and word and deed. None of us is innocent.
But here’s the good news. By saying ‘unless you repent, you too will all perish’, the Lord is not only saying that we deserve to perish, but he’s also saying that there’s a way for us not to perish, and to have eternal life. The way to avoid perishing and to have eternal life is by repenting: by turning from our sin and by turning to Christ for salvation. Whoever repents by turning from their sins and by turning to Christ will have eternal life.
And the Lord is always patient with us. That’s the point of the parable of the fruitless fig tree. The fig tree had always been fruitless. And the owner of the fig tree was ready to give up and to destroy the tree. But the gardener wants to give it one more chance. So, wait one more year and we’ll see if it bears fruit next year. And the point of the parable is that the Lord is patient with the world. Yes, Christ is coming one day to judge the world and to punish all those who lives lack the fruit of repentance and faith. But he hasn’t come yet. And the reason he hasn’t come yet is because he’s being patient with the world. He’s been patient, giving people around the world time to repent and time to trust in him for salvation. And he’s been more than patient, because he also sends preachers around the world to tell people everywhere the good news of salvation and to tell them to repent and believe. And everyone who repents and believes will be saved, because whoever repents and believes is united by faith to Christ. And because they’re united by faith to Christ, God forgives their sins and he accept them as right in his sight And he gives them the free gift of eternal life.
And if you’re a believer today, if you’re trusting in Christ for salvation, then you should give thanks to God for his kindness to you in Christ Jesus. We mustn’t ever think that the reason God has given us salvation is because we’re better than anyone else. All of us are sinners. All of us have done wrong. All of us deserve to perish and to suffer God’s punishment in body and soul for ever and for ever. That’s what we all deserve. And if it were not for God’s kindness to us, you wouldn’t have been able to repent and believe. But because of God’s kindness to you in Christ Jesus, he enabled you to repent and to believe. He united you to Christ the Saviour. And because he united you to Christ by faith, you’re ready for Christ to return and you can even look forward to it. And while you wait for it, he wants you to serve him in your daily life and to use whatever gifts and abilities and talents you have to love and serve the people around you. And by doing that, you’re serving him and you’re bringing glory to his name and you won’t be ashamed when he comes again. And he’ll invite you to sit with him and to celebrate with him forever and forever.
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