CRITICAL NOTES
Luke 12:41. Then Peter said.—The high reward promised, rather than the duty enjoined, was in Peter’s thoughts, and involved a certain measure of danger against which Christ warns him. It is noticeable that his question is not answered directly, but by implication. “Jesus continues His teaching as if He took no account of Peter’s question; but in reality He gives such a turn to the warning which follows about watchfulness, that it includes the precise answer to the question” (Godet). Cf. chap. Luke 19:25-26; John 14:22-23, for a similar mode of answering questions. The reply of Christ is virtually that the larger the powers and opportunities entrusted to any servant, the greater is the degree of watchfulness which he needs to exercise, lest he should either neglect or abuse them.
Luke 12:42. Portion of meat.—Cf. the description of the duties of presbyters, or elders, in Acts 20:28.
Luke 12:44. Ruler over all.—Probably referring to the history of Joseph (Genesis 39:4).
Luke 12:46. Cut him in sunder.—I.e., put him to death in this manner. Cf. 1 Chronicles 20:3; Daniel 2:5. Unbelievers.— Matthew 24:51 has “hypocrites.”
Luke 12:47. Prepared not himself.—Rather, “made not ready”—i.e., the things required (R.V.).
Luke 12:48. But he that knew not.—The justice of the procedure is not quite so obvious in this case as in the preceding. “Such a servant cannot remain unpunished—not because he has not obeyed his Lord’s will (for that was unknown to him), but because he has done that for which he deserved to be punished” (Meyer). Ask the more.—I.e., than from others to whom less has been entrusted. Cf. with the teaching of this passage Romans 2:12-15, in which the principle it states is applied to the Gentile world.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Luke 12:41-49
Watching for the King.—There are many comings of the Son of Man before His coming in final judgment, and the nearer and smaller ones are themselves prophecies. So we do not need to settle the chronology of unfulfilled prophecy in order to get the full benefit of Christ’s teachings here. In its moral and spiritual effect on us, the uncertainty of the time of our going to Christ is nearly identical with the uncertainty of the time of His coming to us.
I. Watchfulness because of our ignorance of the time of His coming.—What is this watchfulness? It is, literally, wakefulness. We are beset by perpetual temptations to sleep, to spiritual drowsiness and torpor. Without continued effort our perception of the unseen realities, and our alertness for service, will be lulled to sleep. Christ bases His command on our ignorance of the time of His coming. It was His purpose that from generation to generation His servants should be kept in the attitude of expectation, as of an event that might come at any time, and must come at some time. The parallel uncertainty of the time of death, though not what is meant here, serves the same moral end, if rightly used, and is exposed to the same danger of being neglected, because of the very uncertainty, which ought to be one chief reason for keeping it ever in view. Any future event which combines these two things—absolute certainty that it will happen, and utter uncertainty when it will happen—ought to have power to insist on being remembered, at least till it is prepared for, and would have, if men were not so foolish. Christ’s coming would be often contemplated if it were more welcome. But what sort of servant is he who has no glow of gladness at the thought of meeting his lord? True Christians are “all them that have loved His appearing.”
II. The picture and reward of watchfulness.—It is to be observed that watchfulness is not mentioned in this portraiture of the watchful servant. It is pre-supposed as the basis and motive of his service. So we learn the double lesson, that the attitude of continual outlook for the Lord is needed if we are to discharge the tasks which He has set us, and that the true effect of watchfulness is to harness us to the car of duty. A Church or a soul which has ceased to be looking for Him will have let all its tasks drop from its drowsy hands, and will feel the power of other constraining motives of Christian service but faintly, as in a half-dream. On the other hand, true waiting for Him is best expressed in the quiet discharge of accustomed and appointed tasks. The right place for the servant to be found, when the Lord comes, is “so doing” as He commands, however secular the task may be. Observe, further, the interrogative form of the parable. The question is the sharp point which gives penetrating power, and suggests Christ’s high estimate of the worth and difficulty of such conduct, and sets us to ask for ourselves, “Lord, is it I?” The servant is “faithful,” inasmuch as he does his Lord’s will, and rightly uses the goods entrusted to him; and “wise,” inasmuch as he is “faithful.” For a single-hearted devotion to Christ is the parent of insight into duty, and the best guide to conduct; and whoever seeks only to be true to his lord in the use of his gifts and possessions, will not lack prudence to guide him in giving to each his food, and that in due season. Such faithfulness and wisdom (which are, at bottom, but two names for one course of conduct) find their motive in that watchfulness which works as ever in the great Taskmaster’s eye, and as ever keeping in view His coming, and its rendering account to Him. The reward is, that faithfulness in a narrower sphere leads to a wider. The reward for true work is more work, of nobler sort and on a grander scale. That is true for earth and for heaven. If we do His will here, we shall one day exchange the subordinate place of the steward for the authority of the ruler, and the toil of the servant for the joy of the Lord.
III. The picture and doom of the unwatchful servant.—This portrait presupposes that a long period will elapse before Christ comes. The dimming over of the expectation, and doubt of the firmness, of the promise is the natural product of the long time of apparent delay which the Church has had to encounter. It will cloud and depress the religion of later ages, unless there be constant effort to resist the tendency and to keep awake. It was an “evil” servant who said so in his heart. He was evil because he said it, and he said it because he was evil; for the yielding to sin and the withdrawal of love from Jesus dim the desire for His coming, and make the whisper that He delays a hope; while, on the other hand, the hope that He delays helps to open the sluices, and let sin flood the life. So an outburst of cruel masterfulness and of riotous sensuality is the consequence of the dimmed expectation. The corruptions of the Church, especially of its official members, are traced with sad and prescient hand in these foreboding words, which are none the less a prophecy because cast by His forbearing gentleness in the milder form of a supposition. The dreadful doom of the unwatchful servant is cast into a form of awful severity. The cruel punishment of sawing asunder is his. What concealed terror of retribution it signifies, we do not know. At all events, it shadows a dreadful retribution, which is not extinction, inasmuch as, in the next clause, we read that his portion—his lot, or that condition which belongs to him by virtue of his character—is with the unbelievers. That is not the punishment of unwatchfulness, but of what unwatchfulness leads to, if unawakened. Let these words of the King ring an alarm for us all, and rouse our sleepy souls to watch, as becomes the children of the day.—Maclaren.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luke 12:41-49
Luke 12:41. “Then Peter.”—This apostle was the one who afterwards most needed the admonition (Matthew 26:41), and in so sad a manner forgot it. Those who stand in most danger are often slowest to profit by words of warning.
Luke 12:42. “Faithful and wise.”—Faithful comes before wise, because the true wisdom of the heart comes from faithfulness. Motives to faithfulness:—
I. Love.—Which is sufficient of itself.
II. But where love is defective, considerations of prudence—a salutary fear, which Christ here commends to us.
The portion of steward in the kingdom of God is—
I. One of honour.
II. One of usefulness.
III. One of responsibility.
Luke 12:43. “Blessed.”—I. He is already blessed in his deed.
II. It is a new and increased blessedness so to be found of his lord.
III. He is promised a high promotion, from a few things to many things.
Luke 12:45-48. Punishment of evildoers is here represented—
I. As no mere affectionate chastisement for the moral reformation of the erring, but as just retribution.
II. As varying in degree according to the guilt incurred—according to the measure of knowledge the servants had of their Lord’s will, and the measure of their disobedience.
Luke 12:45-46. Carelessness:—
I. Trusting to a longer delay of the Master.
II. The ease with which carelessness leads to unbridled insolence and dissoluteness.
III. The severe punishment of such carelessness.
Luke 12:45. Negligence.—Negligence leads to two great sins:—
I. Hardness and caprice towards others.
II. Slothfulness and wantonness as respects the servant himself.
Luke 12:46. A Divided Heart.—The heart of the negligent sinner is divided between the duty he owes and the vicious indulgences he is determined to have; his punishment corresponds to his fault—“will cut him in sunder.”
Answer to Peter’s Question.—It is not difficult for Peter to draw from these two pictures of the faithful and the unfaithful steward the answer to his question. Yes, watchfulness, with the fidelity which results from it, is a sacred duty for all believers, but it is still more incumbent upon those of them who are honoured with the special confidence of their Master, and charged with the superintendence of their fellow-servants, as Peter and the other apostles were shortly to be. Their fidelity would receive a glorious recompense; but their neglect would be esteemed still more culpable than that of others, and would draw upon them a severer chastisement.—Godet.
Luke 12:47. A Warning to Rulers in the Church.—It ought to be remembered that those who are appointed to govern the Church do not err through ignorance, but basely and wickedly defraud their Master of His right.—Calvin.
Ignorance no Excuse.—Ignorance does not free from condemnation; for—
1. If we seek to know God’s will, we may discover it.
2. Ignorance is always accompanied by gross and shameful negligence.