A stricter judgment

Luke 12:35-59 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Be in Readiness

“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?

⁵⁷ “And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? ⁵⁸ For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent.”

James 3:1 says:  Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.   In today’s text Jesus says:   “…that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes,  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.”  James 4:17 says:  To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin. To sin against God is not only that we do what is wrong. It is also sin to know what is right and not do it. According to what Jesus says, the greater sin lies with the one who knows. On the cross Jesus said: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)  Forgiveness for our sins is God’s grace given through Jesus sacrifice on the cross. Grace by definition is undeserved favor, but to continue in sin knowing the right thing to do is to presume on God’s grace as if it was deserved.  As believers, as those who know what Jesus said and what is right, it is vital that we do it.   In Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus says:   “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  As teachers and as disciples of Christ, who know what is right, we will be held to account if we relax the commandments of God and teach others who do not know them to do the same. In fact, according to Jesus we will be held to even a higher level of accountability.

In Matthew 7:1-4 Jesus says:  “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?”  The world will often use these verses against Christians, calling them hypocrites and perhaps sometimes they may have a valid point. But it is important that we recognize the fullness of the hypocrisy. In the next verses Jesus says:  “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”   Contrary to what the world says, we are to help others see clearly; to help them remove what blinds them to sin and we are not to continue to offer God’s holy grace to their sin. We see in the world that if we extend grace to sin and not only to sinners that they will turn and trample both us and grace under their feet. There is no end to the depravity of man. Regarding sin, the saying if you give an inch they will take a mile is surely applicable.

In today’s text Jesus says:  “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!  But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!  Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. 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.”  We should not be surprised then that there will be divisions between followers of Christ and those who choose not to accept God’s grace. Jesus says:  “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out.  And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way.  You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?”  The world may continue to call believers hypocrites, but surely it is better to be called a hypocrite by the world than by Jesus.  

Thank You heavenly Father for Your grace given in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. May I never presume on Your grace or teach others to do so. May I seek peace with others but always remain divided against sin. Thank You for giving me the Holy Spirit to enable me to walk with You.  Amen.