THE FAITHFUL AND WISE MANAGER
Luke 12:35-53
Key Verse: 12:42
“The Lord answered, ‘Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time?’”
Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem to give His life as a ransom for many in Luke Ch9. Since then, Jesus’ teachings have been focused on his disciples, yet in a public context, surrounded by crowds. Jesus wanted to raise them as God’s servants who could shepherd people. So, he sent them out two by two to preach and teach the kingdom of God (ch10); he taught God’s mercy through the parable of the Good Samaritan (ch10b); how to pray (ch11); fear God who is the ultimate authority; Not to be greed; Not to worry about their future security; but to seek God first.(Ch12) At times, we may lose sight of the fundamental purpose of our bible study and mission life. It is not about becoming religious. Instead, it’s about knowing Jesus and learning Jesus; It’s about learning his heart, compassion, humility, love, spirit of mission, obedience, so that we may become more like Him. When we forget this, our life of faith can be so dry and become mere religious routines. In his teachings on the way to Jerusalem, we can learn what Jesus earnestly hoped for the disciples and also for us. It is to become shepherds who can take care of one sheep with compassion. In this fall, as we study Luke’s gospel, we may come to know Jesus more; our relationship with him become deeper; and we may resemble Jesus, our good shepherd.
In today’s passage, Jesus teaches us to be wise and faithful managers until he comes again. Though he was the Son of God, he had come in a manger. He made himself fully human in every way in order to serve sinners and to give himself as the atonement for the sins of the world. In fact, now in ch12 he is on the way to Jerusalem to be the Lamb of God. However, this Jesus will come again. When he comes again, he will come as the final righteous judge for the living and dead. He will bless the faithful and wise servants to share his joy and glory in the kingdom of God. But he will condemn the unfaithful and wicked servants into the hell. Through this passage, let’s learn how to be faithful and wise managers, so that we may be ready for his coming.
First, be ready (35-40).
In this passage, the word “ready” is repeated 3 times. To be ready for something actually requires much hard works and preparations. As students, it is good to be ready for exams or quizzes through hours of study. As a single, it is good to be ready for marriage by faith. Then, for what and how can we be ready? Here Jesus uses tow metaphors to help us understand this.
The first one is of servants waiting for his master to return from a wedding banquet.
In this case, not knowing when their master would return, the servants need to stay alert and ready to open a door and welcome him and serve him as soon as he knocks on the door, by watching and waiting with their lamps burning. When the master finds them watching in this way, what happens? The master is so pleased that he serves his servants out of joy. What pleases the master so much? It is their readiness goes beyond duty. It demonstrates their genuine devotion, loyalty and love for the master.
The second metaphor is of a theft breaking into a house. Thieves do not make appointments. They come at an hour when the servants do not expect him. In Highland Park, I had had my bicycles stolen 3 times. After my first bicycle was stolen, I watched over my new bicycle carefully for over 3 months. Nothing happened. So, I thought that thief would not come. Then, a thief came and took the bicycle. After I lost 3 bicycles, I learned that the only way to protect my bicycle from thieves is to be ready all the time. Likewise, Jesus’ coming will be sudden and unexpected. So, Jesus said, “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”(40) Jesus said, “You also must be ready!” Through two metaphors, Jesus teaches us the attitude of the believers who are waiting for Jesus’ coming. Then, how can we be ready for Jesus’ coming?
First of all, we should believe that Jesus is coming again. When we do not believe his coming, we will not wait for him. Jesus came to take away all our sins through his suffering and death on a cross. With his blood on a cross, Jesus brought us the forgiveness of sins and made us righteous before God. We come to have true peace with God. Not only that, Jesus was raised from the dead. Through his resurrection, we also come to have the living hope in the kingdom of God. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus opened a new and living for us to enter the Most Holy Place, the kingdom of God. Then, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. (Mk16:19) Most believers are familiar with Jesus’ death and resurrection. However, many are unfamiliar or even not believe in the Second coming of Jesus Christ. If anyone does so, he knows nothing about the Bible because the Second coming of Jesus Christ is the key point of the Bible. Jesus’ death and resurrection opens the way to the kingdom of God. And, Jesus will come again to call all believers and take them into the kingdom of God. Mark 13:26-27 says “At that time people will see Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.” In Revelation 22, Jesus said to John in the vision, “Look, I am coming soon. My reward is with me and I will give to each person according to what they had done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Jesus will come as a conquering king who comes to judge the world. Just as he came, suffered, died, rose from the death, and ascended into heaven to prepare the place for us, he will come again to give us the eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
Christians are people who live with the great expectation of His coming with excitement each day. So, we do not put our hope in the things of the world, but in the kingdom of God, eagerly waiting for Jesus’ coming. Because of this hope, we live a life of faith in this sinful and adulterous generation. Because of this living hope, we live as holy pilgrims. Our life of faith is the life of pilgrimage. We do not believe that this world is permanent; nor can things of this world give us eternal life. Our true hope in Jesus is the kingdom of God. So, we early wait for Jesus to come. Paul testified in Phi (1:20, 3:20) “we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” John also cried out, “Come, Lord Jesus.” Believe Jesus Christ who died and raised from the dead is coming.
Second of all, we should be ready to serve the Master, Jesus. Sinful man is naturally self-centered and ready to serve himself. In order to be ready to serve Jesus, our mindset should be changed from self-centered to Christ-centered. In fact, it is attitude to seek first His kingdom and his righteousness. This can happen by the grace of God when a sinner is born again by the power of the Holy Spirit and grow in the mind of Christ. It can happen when we love God wholeheartedly. Always we can find hundred of reasons not to serve the work of God when we love ourselves, serve ourselves and think ourselves first. With such self-centered mindset, no one can ever be ready to serve God. He will always be busy with his own business; his heart will be always occupied with so very precious and important things – friends, study, carriers, money and so on. That is why the law of God commands sinners as of the first importance, to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Dt6:5) When we love God, we are always ready to serve God. It is because we live not according to our schedule, but God’s schedule; not according to our desires, but God’s will. We are willing to serve his will first because we love God first.
Third of all, we also need to keep our lamps burning. Here the lamps refer our love for Christ, our faith in God, and also our prayer. As we need oil to keep our lamps burning, we need to meditate the word of God to keep our faith burning; to keep our love for Christ burning. In this sense, weekly bible study and writing personal testimony and gathering daily bread are very important. When there is no more oil – the word of God, we become easily influenced by the world, become powerless, and lose direction in darkness. As long as the word of God is living and active in our hearts, we can overcome the world and be ready for Jesus’ coming.
Let us remember how to be ready. – Believer in the coming of Jesus; Ready to serve him by love him, and keeping our lamps burning by having the word of God.
Second, be faithful and wise managers (41-53).
Look at verse 41. “Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”
Perhaps he thought that Jesus’ glorious reward should only be given to the most loyal and sacrificial people like him. How did Jesus answer? Jesus did not answer directly. Instead, Jesus invites anyone to receive his glorious reward by becoming a faithful and wise manager. In verse 42, Jesus said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time?”
Here “manger” is not just a servant, but the servant with given authority and responsibility to take care of the master’s property, his other servants and even his children. In Jesus’ time, this refers to the steward of a house hold. Here we learn that Jesus wants to promote us from laborers to managers. To be a manager, you need to have much experiences and also BS, Master, even DR degree. But Jesus wants people who are faithful and wise, regardless of their human conditions or backgrounds.
Then, why faithful and wise person? When we consider what their responsibility is, we can understand why Jesus Look for faithful and wise servants. It is to distribute food allowance at the proper time. “Food allowance” refers to weekly or bi-weekly pay-check. What if you do not get next paycheck? Right away, we will call our manager or supervisor and complain. This job should be done faithfully. Otherwise, other servants and even their family would go hungry or even starve to death. A faithful person is trustworthy and reliable; he commits himself to serve his master with single-hearted devotion. Whether the master is watching or not, he does his best. The master can depend on him to carry out his duty consistently, without fail. Under the faithful servant, no one left hungry for he looked after all the servants one by one at every meal time. Even when there is not enough resources, he will distribute food from his own pocket. To fulfill his task, he is ready to sacrifice his food, time, and even life. That is what it means to be faithful.
Peter might have hard time to accept Jesus’ word. He was strong and passionate, but not faithful. However, Peter became faithful shepherd for God’s flock by Jesus’ faithful love. In John 21, even after Peter utterly failed denying Jesus 3 times, the risen Christ appeared to Peter, and reinstated him as a shepherd for God’s flock. “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?…Feed my lamb.” “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?… Take care of my sheep.” “Simon son of John, do you love me?… Feed my sheep.” In Act2, when the proper time came, Peter delivered the gospel message without hesitation even risking his own life before the religious leaders. About 3000 were repented of their sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness sins. They received the words of eternal life. Later, in 1 Peter5, Peter reminded all believers of their Spiritual responsibilities until the Lord return, saying. “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them… as God wants you to be…And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” (1Peter5:2-4) What wonderful change in Jesus.
Just a year ago, God appointed this sinner to be a shepherd for God’s flock based on 1Peter5:2 “Be shepherds of God’s flock.” Humanly I have many weaknesses. Sometimes I use them as excuses not to take any responsibility. I wonder why God called a sinner like me to be a shepherd. What does he want from me? It is not skill nor degree or knowledge. Jesus requires faithfulness first and foremost. 1 Cor4:2 says, “Now it is requires that those who have been give a trust must prove faithful.” Thank God for Jesus who taught me faithfulness. Because of his faithful love, I have been saved and grow to be faithful manager. Jesus never gave up on this sinner, but served me until he gave his life on a cross. Jesus has fed me with the word of God without failure. I could be faithful to the Lord not because I was naturally faithful, but because Jesus had been faithful to me. His faithfulness moved me and empowered to be faithful. When we trust this faithful God, we can all grow in the faithfulness of God. Let us put our trust in God and grow in faithfulness of God
Faithfulness is indeed a fundamental quality. But it is not enough for a good manager. We also need to be wise. How can we become wise? Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…” This wisdom comes from God. We can have this wisdom when we fear God, learn from him, and pray to him. (Jam 1:5). As a shepherd, we should feed sheep with the word of God. It requires God’s faithfulness and wisdom and stewardship. Without God’s unyielding faithfulness, without wisdom from God, without stewardship, nobody can be the faithful and wise manager for God’s flock. We are praying for 12 new bible students. It might be like loving 12 mountains. To feed one sheep with proper word of God at the proper time, we should depend on the wisdom of God in our prayers. God’s servant often rebuked me for I did not know what or what words of God I should feed God’s flock. It was because I did not pray for God’s flock, especially one sheep. Wisdom to feed God’s flock comes from God through prayer. Let us pray wholeheartedly to give us the words of God to feed God’s flock under our care.
Also, we need to sharpen the sword the word of God through practicing and teaching the word of God again and again. Then when the time comes, the word of God we preach will cut the hearts of students and lead them to repent of their sins. Look at verses 43-44. When the master returned and saw this, he joyfully promotes the servant to be in charge of all his possessions. Our reward does not come from Bible Students, but from God.
Look at verses 45. It tells us about unfaithful and wicked servants. He says to himself, “My master is taking a long time to coming.” These servants assume that the master’s return will take a long time. Then, they indulged in fleshly pleasures and abuse the other servant. In the course of indulging himself, they came to believe that their maser will not return. Eventually, they lived as if the master would never come back; as if they were their own master. But look at verse 46. “The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.” The master comes suddenly, and punishes them severely. “Cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.” It is a symbol of hell. What an awful destiny of unfaithful and wicked servants. We must know that Jesus rewards the faithful and wise servant, but he punishes the unfaithful and wicked servant. The consequences are life and death, eternal blessing or eternal judgment.
Jesus concludes this teaching in verses 47-48. “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know what does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who had been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” No one can avoid punishment for unfaithfulness. We cannot make excuse saying, “I did not know that.” There will be few blows. We cannot make excuse, saying “I was too busy to feed sheep.” There will be many blows.
Here we can learn how to be ready for Jesus’ coming. Being ready is more than a state of mind, but Being ready is actually about doing what the mater wants us to do –“Feed my sheep” “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Why does God bless us and our 2Generation with much talents and blessings? I believe it is because God wants them to be powerful servants of God for this generation. Let’s us prayer for them to be ready for God’s calling for this generation.
III. Jesus came to bring fire on the dearth. (49-53)
Let’s read verses 49-51. “I have come to bring fire on 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 completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.” Jesus did not mean that he came to set fire to the world or divide families. It means that Jesus came to bring God’s justice. And this will bring fundamental divisions in the world, even among the family. To those who put their faith in Jesus, God’s justice brings them salvation, but to those who reject Jesus, it bring God’s judgment. In this world, the family ties such as father and son or mother and daughter are the strongest bond. However even such strong family bond will be divided on the most fundamental issue of how they see Jesus. It is really heart breaking. But true peace will come as we stand firm in the gospel and our family members come to salvation through faith in Jesus. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.” (Act16:31)
In conclusion, Jesus is coming again. Let us be Ready by carrying out God’s will for us! “Feed my sheep!” “Go and make disciples of all nations!” “Be Shepherd of God’s flock.” Let us be faithful and wise mangers for this campus, teaching the word of God faithfully.
The Word of God is the Word of Eternal Life.