Luke 12:35-48
The returning Master blesses watchful servants and judges unfaithful stewards.
35 “Let your waist be dressed and your lamps burning.
36 Be like men watching for their lord, when he returns from the wedding feast; that when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open to him.
37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord will find watching when he comes. Most certainly I tell you that he will dress himself, make them recline, and will come and serve them.
38 They will be blessed if he comes in the second or third watch, and finds them so.
39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not allowed his house to be broken into.
40 Therefore be ready also, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you don’t expect him.”
41 Peter said to him, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everybody?”
42 The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times?
43 Blessed is that servant whom his lord will find doing so when he comes.
44 Truly I tell you, that he will set him over all that he has.
45 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My lord delays his coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken,
46 then the lord of that servant will come in a day when he isn’t expecting him, and in an hour that he doesn’t know, and will cut him in two, and place his portion with the unfaithful.
47 That servant, who knew his lord’s will, and didn’t prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes,
48 but he who didn’t know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked.
The returning Master blesses watchful servants and judges unfaithful stewards.
Luke records Jesus calling his disciples to live in constant readiness for the master’s return, using servant, wedding banquet, thief, and household manager imagery to teach watchfulness, faithful stewardship, and sobering accountability, especially for those entrusted with greater knowledge and responsibility.
After teaching disciples not to worry but to seek the Father’s kingdom and treasure in heaven, Jesus now tells them to be dressed ready for service and to keep their lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet. If the master finds them watching, they are blessed, and astonishingly the master will dress himself to serve them at the table. Jesus also compares readiness to a homeowner who would stay awake if he knew when a thief was coming. Peter asks whether the parable is for the disciples or everyone. Jesus answers with another image: a faithful and wise manager appointed over servants to give food at the proper time. If found doing so, he is blessed and placed over all possessions. But if the servant says the master is delayed and begins abusing others and indulging himself, the master will come unexpectedly and punish him severely. Jesus concludes with accountability according to knowledge: the servant who knew the master’s will and disobeyed receives many blows, the one who did not know receives fewer, and much is required from those given much.
Fear God, Confess Christ, Seek the Kingdom, and Be Ready
Jesus calls His disciples to live without hypocrisy, fear, greed, anxiety, and delay, because the Father cares, the Son will come, the Spirit will help, and every life will be exposed before God.