Luke 12:41 - Meaning and Application

Peter asked Jesus about the parable that had just been spoken: “Lord, are you speaking this parable to us, your regular followers, to us who are ministers, or to everyone who comes to hear you, and in them to all Christians?” Peter was often the spokesman for the disciples. We should thank God for people who can speak up clearly, but they must be careful not to grow proud.

Peter wanted Jesus to explain himself and point the warning where it belonged. He calls it a parable because it was more than a picture. It was weighty, solid, and full of instruction. Jesus later answers in a broad way, “What I say to you, I say to all” (Mark 13:37). Even so, this passage seems to show that the apostles were especially in view. We should all ask whether Christ’s words are meant for us: “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Does this word belong to me? Let it speak to my heart.

Christ’s answer was directed to Peter and the other disciples. If what he had said before applied to all believers, this part is especially aimed at ministers. They are the stewards in Christ’s house. A steward is a trusted manager who handles another person’s property. Here Jesus explains their duty and the trust given to them.

They are made rulers over God’s household under Christ, who owns the house. Ministers receive authority from Christ to preach the gospel, administer Christ’s ordinances, and apply the seals of the covenant of grace, that is, the signs that confirm God’s gracious promise. Their task is to give God’s children and servants their proper food, what belongs to each one. That includes warnings for some and comfort for others. They must rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). They must also give it in due season, at the right time and in the right way for the needs of those who hear it. In all this, they must be faithful and wise, faithful to their Master and to their fellow servants, and wise in using every chance to honor God and help the family.

Jesus also shows what their happiness will be if they prove faithful and wise (Luke 12:43). Blessed is the servant who is active, not idle or careless with his comfort. Even the rulers of the household must be working and serving others. He must be doing what he should, giving each person his proper portion, through public preaching and personal application. And he must be found doing so when his Lord returns, continuing to the end despite every hardship. His reward is pictured by the promotion of a steward who has served well in a smaller place. He will be put over all that his master has, as Joseph was raised up in Pharaoh’s court. Ministers who receive mercy to be faithful will receive further mercy and a rich reward on the day of the Lord.

But Jesus also warns what a fearful account unfaithful ministers will give (Luke 12:45-46). If a servant becomes harsh, corrupt, and careless, he will be called to account and punished severely. When people think Christ’s return is far away, they often become loose and sinful. They say in their hearts, “My master is delaying his coming.” Christ’s patience is often mistaken for delay, which weakens his people and emboldens his enemies.

Those who persecute God’s people are often given over to comfort and pleasure. They beat their fellow servants, then eat and drink with the drunken, with no concern for their own sin or their brothers’ suffering. They are like those who drink to drown out the cries of conscience. Death and judgment will be terrible for all wicked people, but especially for wicked ministers. They will be surprised, at an hour they do not expect. Then their sentence will be fixed in endless misery. They will be cut in pieces and given their place with the unbelievers.

This makes their sin and punishment even worse, because they knew their duty and did not do it (Luke 12:47-48). The servant who knew his master’s will and did not act on it will be beaten with many blows, meaning a harsher punishment. The servant who did not know will be beaten with fewer blows, and his punishment will be less severe. This seems to reflect the law, which made a difference between sins done in ignorance and sins done proudly and deliberately (Leviticus 5:15 and following; Numbers 15:29-30). It also reflects the law about punishment by stripes, which was to match the crime (Deuteronomy 25:2-3).

Ignorance of duty makes sin less serious, though it does not remove guilt. A man who did not know his master’s will, through neglect or lack of opportunity, and still did things worthy of punishment, will be beaten, because he might have known better, but with fewer blows. His ignorance excuses him only partly. In this way the Jews sinned in ignorance when they put Christ to death (Acts 3:17; 1 Corinthians 2:8), and Christ even prayed that their ignorance might be counted in their favor: “They do not know what they are doing.”

But knowledge of duty makes sin worse. The servant who knew his master’s will and still did his own will will be beaten with many blows. God will rightly punish him more, because he had the means of knowledge and used them poorly. Others would have made better use of those opportunities. Sinning against clear knowledge shows stubbornness and contempt. How much more severe will the punishment be, apart from the guilty conscience that will also strike them. “Son, remember.” This is a strong reason for the warning: to whom much is given, much will be required, especially when what is given is a trust that must be answered for.

Those who have greater mental ability than others, more knowledge and learning, and more familiarity with the Scriptures, have had more given to them, so their answer will be greater as well.

Jesus then speaks further about his own sufferings, which he expected, and about the sufferings of his followers, which he wanted them to expect too. In general, he says, “I have come to bring fire on the earth” (Luke 12:49). Some take this to mean the preaching of the gospel and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, a holy fire. Christ came with authority to refine the world, remove its impurities, burn up its waste, and that fire was already starting.

The gospel had begun to be preached, and there were early signs of the Spirit being poured out. Christ baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, and the Spirit came down in tongues like flames. But what comes next makes it more likely that Jesus means the fire of persecution. Christ is not the author of persecution as a sin committed by violent people, but he allows it, and even sends it as a refining fire to test his people.

This fire had already been lit in the hostility of the unbelieving Jews toward Christ and his followers. What happens next is as if he says, “What I have set in motion will quickly take hold. What you are doing, do quickly.” If the fire is already burning, there is no stopping it now. It must pass through him first, and then through all his people, and God will be honored through it.

First, Jesus himself must suffer many things. He must go through this fire that was already burning, and he says, “I have a baptism to be baptized with” (Luke 12:50). Trouble is compared both to fire and water (Psalm 66:12; Psalm 69:1-2), and Christ’s sufferings were both. He calls them a baptism, as when Israel was baptized in the cloud, and went through the sea, being so to speak dipped into it (1 Corinthians 10:2). He must be sprinkled with his own blood, and with the blood of his enemies (Isaiah 63:3).

Here we see Christ’s clear knowledge of his sufferings. He knew what he had to endure, and he knew it had to happen: “I am to be baptized with a baptism.” He uses a word that softens the weight of it. It is a baptism, not a flood. He must be dipped into it, not drowned by it. He also uses a word that makes it holy, because baptism is a sacred act. In his sufferings, Christ gave himself to his Father’s honor and set himself apart as a priest forever (Hebrews 7:27-28).

We also see Christ’s eagerness to go through these sufferings. “How distressed I am until it is completed!” He longed for the time when he would suffer and die, because he looked ahead to the glorious result of it. This is like a woman in labor, who feels pain to be delivered, yet welcomes the pain because it brings the child sooner and wishes the work to be finished. Christ’s sufferings were the labor pains of his soul, which he gladly endured, hoping that through them he would see his seed, his spiritual children (Isaiah 53:10-11). So deeply was his heart set on the redemption and salvation of people.

Jesus also tells those around him that they, too, must expect hardship and trouble (Luke 12:51). “Do you think that I came to bring peace on earth, to give you an easy life and outward success here?” He suggests that they were ready to think this way, and even to assume that the gospel would be welcomed everywhere. They may have hoped people would accept it all at once and that this would make the preachers honored and comfortable. They may also have drawn this idea from Old Testament passages that speak of the peace of the Messiah’s kingdom, which they were willing to take as outward peace.

But Jesus corrects them. “You will be mistaken. Events will prove otherwise, so do not fool yourselves with empty hopes.” The preaching of the gospel will bring division. This is not because the gospel itself is meant to divide. Its proper purpose is to unite people in holy love, and if everyone received it, that would be its result. But many will not receive it. Some will oppose it, and their evil hearts will be stirred up by it. So the gospel becomes, if not the cause, at least the occasion of division.

When the strong man was left in peace in the Gentile world, his goods were at peace too. Everything seemed calm, because everyone followed the same direction. The schools of philosophers got along well enough, and so did the worshipers of different gods. But when the gospel was preached, many were enlightened by it and turned from Satan’s power to God, and then disturbance began. There was noise and shaking (Ezekiel 37:7). Some marked themselves out by receiving the gospel, and others became angry because they did. Even among those who receive the gospel, there will be differences over lesser matters, and that will bring division. Christ allows this for holy purposes, so Christians may learn and practice patient forbearance with one another (1 Corinthians 11:18; Romans 14:1-2).

This division will even reach private families, and the preaching of the gospel will sometimes stir up conflict among the closest relatives (Luke 12:53). The father will be divided against the son, and the son against the father, when one becomes a Christian and the other does not. The one who turns to Christ will use both reason and affection to try to win the other too (1 Corinthians 7:16). As soon as Paul was converted, he began to argue and speak for the faith (Acts 9:29). The one who remains in unbelief will often be provoked and will hate and persecute the one whose faith and obedience expose his own unbelief and disobedience.

A spirit of stubborn religious pride and persecution can break through the strongest bonds of family love and natural affection. See (Matthew 10:35; Matthew 24:7). Even mothers and daughters may quarrel about religion, and unbelieving people can become so fierce that they are ready to hand over their believing relatives to cruel persecutors, even when those believers are otherwise very dear to them. In the Acts, wherever the gospel went, persecution was stirred up. It was spoken against everywhere, and there was always serious unrest because of it. So let Christ’s disciples not promise themselves peace on earth, for they are sent out like sheep among wolves.