'Behold I stand at the door and Knock. You too, be ready"...

Luke 12:35-56 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link available on links page)

Be in Readiness

³⁵ “Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. ³⁶ Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. ³⁷ Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. ³⁸ Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹ “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”

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

Christ Divides Men

⁴⁹ “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! ⁵¹ Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; ⁵² for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴ And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. ⁵⁵ And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?

 From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. Perhaps the word of God should come with a warning lable instructing the reader of this level of accountability. The more understanding we have, the deeper the revelation of Christ in our lives the more we are accountable to live accordingly. There is of course no escape clause listed under ignorance is bliss. Paul clearly covers that in Romans 1:18-20 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.   Since we are without excuse we should be thankful for and continue to seek a fuller revelation of Christ in our lives.

In our text today Jesus is teaching about man's natural tendency to either procrastinate, putting things off until a later time, or misprioritize, getting caught up in other activities and neglecting the important things before us. In Verses 35-38 Jesus describes what He says in Revelation 3:20-22, to the Luke warm church of Laodicia.  Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. ²¹ He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. ²² He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” 

How differently would we live our lives today and each day if we truly believed Jesus was coming back? Would we lay aside some of the petty and trivial things we have held against others? Would we do less to satisfy ourselves and more to serve the Master? Would we love and serve our fellow servants more? Jesus says in the Revelation text:  Behold, I stand at the door and knock. He doesn't say that He will do this at some future time. We need to understand that while Revelation speaks of a time in the future when Jesus will return to establish His eternal earthly kingdom, the truths and principles of that kingdom are eternal and not finite. Hebrews 13:8 says:  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.    He is standing at the door and knocking. Jesus said in Matthew 12:28: if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.  The future is now. We need to live every day in the anticipation that Jesus is coming because in truth, He is and He has.

Our text today closes with Jesus saying:  You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time? Jesus is telling them and us that the time is now. He also speaks of another condition we can certainly see in our present time and culture. He says:  Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; ⁵² for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”     The truth of God's word and His kingdom principles will not sit well with everyone. We see in our society and culture today that it is more acceptable, more politically correct, to promote almost any thing other than Biblical values taught and held by Jesus our Lord and savior. Our adherance to these Biblical values and truths may cause some division even with our own family members. Jesus does divide men. Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.     That statement, that truth, will cause some division.

We can not argue, debate or  convince other people that Jesus is the way.  He stands at the door and knocks. The best we can do is to answer Jesus knock at our door today and every day, to open to Him and welcome Him into our lives. We should walk each day, each moment of each day with Him, recognizing and fulfilling what Jesus says in  Matthew 5:14-16. 

 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. 

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, He who was and is and will be, Holy Spirit, Thank You that You have revealed Yourself to me. Forgive me for allowing the business of the things of this world and this life to get in the way of loving and serving You. Thank You that You are faithful to continue to stand at my door and knock, day after day, minute by minute. Holy Spirit I pray that You would fill me, empower me and guide me to be a faithful servant and witness of Jesus to the world. I choose to open to You today Lord and desire to walk with You throughout my day.   Amen