Luke 12:22 - Meaning and Application

Jesus is here teaching his disciples some needed lessons, ones he had already taught and would press on them again later. They needed repeated instruction, line after line, because many people are ruined by greed and by a selfish love of worldly wealth. So he says to them, his disciples, watch out for it. As Paul later says, “Flee these things,” both to the man of God and to the man of the world (1 Timothy 6:11).

First, he tells them not to wear themselves out with troubling, anxious care about life’s needs: “Do not worry about your life” (Luke 12:22). In the earlier parable, he warned against one form of greed, the one rich people are most tempted by, a deep pleasure in abundance and comfort. But the disciples might think they were safe from that, since they had little worldly wealth. So he warns them about another form of greed, one that people with little in this world are more likely to face, anxious worry about food and clothing, about what they will eat and wear.

This is the same warning he gave more fully in Matthew 6:25 and following, and the reasons are much the same. We should cast our cares on God, because that is the way to be freed from them. God has already done the greater thing for us: he gave us life and a body without any help from us. So we can trust him to provide the smaller things, food to support that life and clothing to protect that body. He who gives life can surely give what life needs.

We should also trust God because he cares for the lesser creatures. He feeds the ravens, which do not sow or reap and do not store up food ahead of time, and yet they are fed (Luke 12:24). We are much better than birds. He clothes the lilies, which do not labor or spin, and yet they are beautifully dressed (Luke 12:27-28). If God so clothes the flowers, which are brief and fading, will he not much more clothe you with what fits your nature and need? When God fed Israel with manna in the wilderness, he also cared for their clothing. Their clothes did not wear out on them (Deuteronomy 8:4). So he will care for his spiritual Israel as well, but they must not be people of little faith.

Our anxious cares often come from weak faith. If we truly believed, in a strong practical way, that God is fully able to provide, that he is our Father, and that his promises are sure for this life and the life to come, those worries would lose much of their power. Faith in God tears down the stronghold of restless and troubling thoughts.

Third, our worries are useless, empty, and foolish, so we should not give them room. They cannot give us what we want, so they should not steal our peace. Jesus asks, “Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” (Luke 12:25). If we cannot do even that small thing, if we cannot change our own height or length of life, why should we trouble ourselves over other matters that are just as much beyond our control? In our present condition, as in our size, wisdom means accepting what God has allowed and making the best of it. Fretting and complaining will not improve it.

Fourth, this kind of anxious chasing after worldly things, even necessary things, does not fit Christ’s disciples (Luke 12:29-30). Whatever other people do, his followers should not be consumed with what they will eat or drink. They should not wear themselves out with restless efforts or run here and there with worry, like David’s enemies wandering for food (Psalm 59:15), or like the eagle searching far off for prey (Job 39:29). Christ’s disciples should ask God for daily bread instead. They should not be people whose minds are unsettled and pulled around. They should not live in a constant state of suspense, tossed between hope and fear.

This kind of worry makes God’s children act like the children of this world. The nations of the world seek after these things, because they care only for the body and this life, and have no all-sufficient God to trust (Luke 12:30). But it does not fit those who have been called out of the world to live like the world. When such worries begin to rule us, we should ask ourselves, “Am I a Christian or a heathen? Baptized or not baptized? If I am a Christian, why am I taking my place with the Gentiles and joining their pursuits?”

It is also unnecessary for God’s children to torment themselves over life’s needs, because they have a Father in heaven who knows what they need and will provide for them. He sees their needs and will supply them according to his riches in glory. He is their Father, the one who brought them into these needs, and his compassion fits their condition. He sustains them, trains them, and plans an inheritance for them, so he will not let them lack anything truly good.

And they have something better to pursue. “Seek the kingdom of God” (Luke 12:31). This especially fits Christ’s disciples, who were to preach that kingdom. Their hearts should be on their work, on how to do it well. That will also keep them from anxious concern over the things of this world. And all who have souls to save should seek God’s kingdom, because only there can they be safe.

Seek entrance into the kingdom of grace, and seek to grow in it. Seek the kingdom of glory, where you will be princes, and then all these things will be given to you as well. Give careful attention to the things of your soul, and trust God with all your other concerns.

Christ also gives a better reason to lay aside anxious fear, “Fear not, little flock” (Luke 12:32). To stop worry, fear itself must be pushed back. When we alarm ourselves with imagined trouble, we work ourselves into a panic over how to escape it, even when the trouble may never come. So Christ says, “Fear not, little flock,” and rather hope to the end, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

This comforting word is not in Matthew. Christ’s flock in this world is a little flock, few in number and weak in strength. The church is like a vineyard or a garden, a small patch of ground compared with the wilderness of this world. Israel was like that too, like two small flocks of goats when the Syrians filled the land (1 Kings 20:27).

Even though it is a little flock, outnumbered and in danger from enemies, Christ does not want them to be afraid. He tells them to see themselves safe under the care and guidance of the great and good Shepherd, and to rest easy. God has a kingdom ready for all who belong to Christ’s little flock, a crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4), a throne of power (Revelation 3:21), and riches beyond measure, far greater than the hidden treasures of kings and provinces. The sheep on the right hand are called to come and inherit the kingdom. It is theirs forever, a kingdom for each one.

This kingdom is given according to the Father’s good pleasure. It is your Father’s good pleasure. It is given not as a wage earned, but by grace, free grace, sovereign grace, God’s right to give as he pleases. “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight.” The kingdom is his own, and he may do what he wills with what belongs to him. The hope of this kingdom should silence the fears of Christ’s little flock in this world. Do not fear trouble, for even if it comes, it will not come between you and the kingdom. That kingdom is certain and near. Do not fear any loss that is truly good for you, because if it pleases your Father to give you the kingdom, he will also carry your needs to that kingdom.

Christ next told them to make sure work for their souls by laying up treasure in heaven (Luke 12:33-34). Those who have done this can be calm about all the changes of this life. They must hold loosely to this world and all they possess in it. “Sell what you have, and give alms,” meaning, rather than lacking means to help those in real need, sell what is extra, all you can spare from supporting yourself and your family, and give it to the poor. Sell what you have if it gets in the way of serving Christ. Do not think you are ruined if fines, prison, or exile for Jesus’ sake force you to sell your property, even if it came from your fathers.

Do not sell just to store up money, or because you can earn more from it by lending. Sell and give alms instead, for what is given in mercy, in a right way, is put to the best use and on the best security. They must also set their hearts on the world to come and their hopes there. They are to provide bags that do not wear out and do not empty, not made of gold but of grace in the heart and good works in life. Those are the bags that last.

Grace will go with us into the next world, because it is woven into the soul. Our good works will also follow us, for God is not unjust to forget them. These are treasures in heaven that will enrich us forever. They will never run out, so we may spend from them forever without making them less. No thief can reach them, because what is stored in heaven is beyond the reach of enemies. They will not spoil with keeping, any more than they will wear out with use. The moth does not destroy them, as it destroys our clothes.

We know we have laid up treasure in heaven if our hearts are there while we are still here (Luke 12:34). We show this by thinking often of heaven, keeping our eyes on it, encouraging ourselves with its hope, and keeping ourselves in check with the fear of missing it. But if our hearts are fixed on earth and its things, then it is likely that our treasure and portion are there too, and that we are lost when we leave them.

Christ also charged them to be ready, and to stay ready, for his coming, when all who have laid up treasure in heaven will enter into its full enjoyment (Luke 12:35ff). Christ is our Master, and we are his servants, not only workers but waiting servants, servants who must honor him by waiting on him and watching for his movements. “If anyone serves me, he must follow me.” We follow the Lamb wherever he goes. But that is not all. We must also honor him by waiting for him and looking for his return. We are to be like people waiting for their lord, staying awake late while he is delayed, ready to welcome him.

Christ our Master, though he is now gone from us, will return. He will return from the wedding, from celebrating the marriage feast away from home, to complete it at home. His servants are now in a time of waiting, looking for his glorious appearing and doing everything with that in view. He will come to examine his servants, and that will be a serious day. On that day, each one will either stay with him or be put out, depending on how he is found. The time of his return is uncertain. It will be in the night, very late in the night, after he has delayed a long time and many have stopped expecting him, in the second watch, just before midnight, or in the third watch, after midnight (Luke 12:38). His coming to us at death is also uncertain, and for many it will be a great surprise, for the Son of Man comes at an hour you do not expect (Luke 12:40), without warning beforehand. This shows not only that the time is uncertain, but also that most people are careless and not paying attention to the warnings given to them. So whenever he comes, it is at an hour they do not expect.

What Jesus expects from his servants is that they be ready to open the door at once when he comes (Luke 12:36). That means they should be in the right condition to receive him, or better, to be received by him. They should be found acting like his servants, in the posture that fits them, with their belts fastened and their lamps burning. This picture comes from servants who are ready to go where their master sends them and do what he commands, with their long robes tucked up so they do not get in the way. Their burning lamps also show readiness to welcome their master into the house and lead him to his room.

Those servants will be happy who are found ready and in a good frame of heart when their Lord comes (Luke 12:37). Blessed are those servants who keep waiting patiently, even after a long delay, and stay awake for the first sign of his approach, the first knock at the door. Blessed are those servants, because that will be the time of their reward and honor (Luke 12:38). This is a rare kind of honor among people: he will have them sit down to eat, and he will serve them. It is common for a bridegroom to wait on his bride at the table, but it is not the way of people for a master to serve his servants. Yet Jesus Christ was among his disciples as one who serves, and once, to show his humble care, he girded himself and washed their feet (John 13:4-5). This points to the joy with which believers will be received into the next world by the Lord Jesus, who has gone ahead to prepare a place for them, and who said that his Father would honor them (John 12:26).

We are kept from knowing the exact time of his coming so that we may always be ready. No one deserves praise for being ready for an attack if he already knows the exact time it will happen. The owner of a house, if he had known what hour the thief would come, would have watched, even if he were a careless man, and would have driven the thief away (Luke 12:39). But we do not know when the alarm will come, so we must watch at all times and never let our guard down. This also exposes the sad condition of careless and unbelieving people in this great matter. If a householder had known that a thief would come on a certain night, he would have stayed awake and saved his house; yet we have been warned that the Lord will come like a thief in the night, bringing shame and ruin on all who live in false peace, and still we do not watch. If people will take such care to protect their houses, we should be even wiser for our souls. So be ready also, as ready as a householder would be if he knew what hour the thief would come.