*Luke 12:22-48
Jesus urges his disciples not to worry but to trust in God’s provision and faithfulness.
- Encouragement Not to Worry:
- Jesus instructs his followers not to be anxious about their basic needs such as food or clothing.
- He emphasizes that life is more than material provisions, drawing attention to how God provides for birds and flowers.
- Instead of focusing on worries, Jesus encourages them to seek God’s kingdom, assuring them that their needs will be met.
- Seek God’s Kingdom First:
- Jesus assures them that God desires to give them His kingdom.
- He advises them to sell their possessions and give to the needy, creating spiritual treasures that can’t be destroyed.
- He reminds them that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
- Be Prepared for Christ’s Return:
- Jesus illustrates the importance of being prepared through the parable of servants waiting for their master’s return.
- He emphasizes the uncertainty of the timing of His return, comparing it to a thief coming in the night.
- The message is clear: be alert and ready.
- Faithful and Unfaithful Servants:
- Peter asks whether the teachings are for everyone or just the disciples.
- Jesus tells a parable about a faithful servant who manages his master’s household well and receives a reward upon the master’s return.
- Conversely, an unfaithful servant abuses his authority, thinking the master’s return is delayed, and is punished for his behavior.
- Jesus underscores the principle that greater knowledge and responsibility come with greater accountability.
Luke 12:22-48 teaches us to trust God instead of worrying about the future. Jesus reminds us that just as God cares for the birds and flowers, He will also take care of us. Instead of chasing after material things, we should focus on living for God and helping others. He also calls us to be faithful and ready, always doing what is right because we don’t know when He will return. This passage encourages us to live with trust, generosity, and a heart that seeks God’s kingdom above all else.
Luke 12:22-48 (WEB)
12:22 He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they don’t sow, they don’t reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds! 25 Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height? 26 If then you aren’t able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?29 “Don’t seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious. 30 For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek God’s Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you.32 “Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. 33 Sell what you have and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which don’t grow old, a treasure in the heavens that doesn’t fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.35 “Let your waist be dressed and your lamps burning. 36 Be like men watching for their lord when he returns from the wedding feast, that when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open to him. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the lord will find watching when he comes. Most certainly I tell you that he will dress himself, make them recline, and will come and serve them. 38 They will be blessed if he comes in the second or third watch and finds them so. 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 40 Therefore be ready also, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you don’t expect him.”41 Peter said to him, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everybody?”42 The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his lord will find doing so when he comes. 44 Truly I tell you that he will set him over all that he has. 45 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My lord delays his coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and to be drunken, 46 then the lord of that servant will come in a day when he isn’t expecting him and in an hour that he doesn’t know, and will cut him in two, and place his portion with the unfaithful. 47 That servant who knew his lord’s will, and didn’t prepare nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes, 48 but he who didn’t know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked.