1In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2For there is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, nor hidden that will not be known. 3Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. 4And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into Gehenna; yes, I say to you, Fear Him! 6Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 8Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God. 9But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. 11Now when they bring you to the synagogues and rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. 12For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. 13Then one from the crowd said to Him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. 14But He said to him, Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you? 15And He said to them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. 16Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, since I have nowhere to gather my fruits? 18So he said, I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger, and there I will gather all my fruits and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry. 20But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have prepared? 21So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. 22And He said to His disciples, Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. By how much do you surpass birds. 25And which of you by being anxious is able to add one cubit to his stature? 26If you then are not able to do even the least, why are you anxious about the rest? 27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more you, you of little faith? 29And do not seek what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor be agitated. 30For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things will be conveyed to you. 32Do not fear, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. 33Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in Heaven that does not fail, where a thief does not come near nor moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 35Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning; 36and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. 37Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Truly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. 38And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be dug through. 40Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 41Then Peter said to Him, Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to everyone? 42And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set over his servants, to give them their portion of food at the right time? 43Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44Truly, I say to you that he will set him over all that he has. 45But if that servant says in his heart, My master is delaying his coming, and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, 46the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not expecting him, and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him apart and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. 49I came to throw fire on the earth, and what will I if it is already kindled. 50But I have an immersion to be immersed with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished. 51Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. 52For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 54Then He also said to the multitudes, Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, A thunder storm is coming; and so it happens. 55And when you see the south wind blow, you say, There will be heat; and it comes to pass. 56Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time? 57Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? 58When you go with your adversary to the ruler, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59I tell you, you shall by no means depart from there till you have paid the very last mite.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 WARNING AGAINST HYPOCRISY. (
Luke 12:1-
Luke 12:12)
meantime--in close connection, probably, with the foregoing scene. Our Lord had been speaking out more plainly than ever before, as matters were coming to a head between Him and His enemies, and this seems to have suggested to His own mind the warning here. He had just Himself illustriously exemplified His own precepts.
his disciples first of all--afterwards to "the multitudes" (
Luke 12:54).
covered--from the view.
2 hid--from knowledge. "Tis no use concealing anything, for all will one day come out. Give free and fearless utterance then to all the truth." (Compare
1Cor 4:3,
1Cor 4:5).
4 I say, &c.--You will say, That may cost us our life. Be it so; but, "My friends, there their power ends." He calls them "my friends" here, not in any loose sense, but, as we think, from the feeling He then had that in this "killing of the body" He and they were going to be affectingly one with each other.
5 Fear Him . . . Fear Him--how striking the repetition here! Only the one fear would effectually expel the other.
after he hath killed, &c.--Learn here--(1) To play false with one's convictions to save one's life, may fail of its end after all, for God can inflict a violent death in some other and equally formidable way. (2) There is a hell, it seems, for the body as well as the soul; consequently, sufferings adapted to the one as well as the other. (3) Fear of hell is a divinely authorized and needed motive of action even to Christ's "friends." (4) As Christ's meekness and gentleness were not compromised by such harsh notes as these, so those servants of Christ lack their Master's spirit who soften down all such language to please ears "polite." (See on
Mark 9:43-
Mark 9:48).
6 five . . . for two farthings--In
Matt 10:29 it is "two for one farthing"; so if one took two farthings' worth, he got one in addition--of such small value were they.
than many sparrows--not "than millions of sparrows"; the charm and power of our Lord's teaching is very much in this simplicity.
8 confess . . . deny--The point lies in doing it "before men," because one has to do it "despising the shame." But when done, the Lord holds Himself bound to repay it in kind by confessing such "before the angels of God." For the rest, see on
Luke 9:26.
10 Son of man . . . Holy Ghost--(See on
Matt 12:31-
Matt 12:32).
13 COVETOUSNESS--WATCHFULNESS--SUPERIORITY TO EARTHLY TIES. (Luke 12:13-53)
Master, &c.--that is, "Great Preacher of righteousness, help; there is need of Thee in this rapacious world; here am I the victim of injustice, and that from my own brother, who withholds from me my rightful share of the inheritance that has fallen to us." In this most inopportune intrusion upon the solemnities of our Lord's teaching, there is a mixture of the absurd and the irreverent, the one, however, occasioning the other. The man had not the least idea that his case was not of as urgent a nature, and as worthy the attention of our Lord, as anything else He could deal with.
14 Man, &c.--Contrast this style of address with "my friends," (
Luke 12:4).
who, &c.--a question literally repudiating the office which Moses assumed (
Exod 2:14). The influence of religious teachers in the external relations of life has ever been immense, when only the INDIRECT effect of their teaching; but whenever they intermeddle DIRECTLY with secular and political matters, the spell of that influence is broken.
15 unto them--the multitude around Him (
Luke 12:1).
of covetousness--The best copies have "all," that is, "every kind of covetousness"; because as this was one of the more plausible forms of it, so He would strike at once at the root of the evil.
a man's life, &c.--a singularly weighty maxim, and not less so because its meaning and its truth are equally evident.
16 a certain rich man, &c.--Why is this man called a "fool?" (
Luke 12:20) (1) Because he deemed a life of secure and abundant earthly enjoyment the summit of human felicity. (2) Because, possessing the means of this, through prosperity in his calling, he flattered himself that he had a long lease of such enjoyment, and nothing to do but give himself up to it. Nothing else is laid to his charge.
20 this night, &c.--This sudden cutting short of his career is designed to express not only the folly of building securely upon the future, but of throwing one's whole soul into what may at any moment be gone. "Thy soul shall be required of thee" is put in opposition to his own treatment of it, "I will say to my soul, Soul," &c.
whose shall those things be, &c.--Compare
Ps 39:6, "He heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather them."
21 So is he, &c.--Such is a picture of his folly here, and of its awful issue.
and is not rich toward God--lives to amass and enjoy riches which terminate on self, but as to the riches of God's favor, which is life (
Ps 30:5), of "precious" faith (
2Pet 1:1;
Jas 2:5), of good works (
1Tim 6:18), of wisdom which is better than rubies (
Pro 8:11) --lives and dies a beggar!
22 (See on
Matt 6:25-
Matt 6:33).
25 which of you, &c.--Corroding solicitude will not bring you the least of the things ye fret about, though it may double the evil of wanting them. And if not the least, why vex yourselves about things of more consequence?
29 of doubtful, &c.--unsettled mind; put off your balance.
32 little flock, &c.--How sublime and touching a contrast between this tender and pitying appellation, "Little flock" (in the original a double diminutive, which in German can be expressed, but not in English)--and the "good pleasure" of the Father to give them the Kingdom; the one recalling the insignificance and helplessness of that then literal handful of disciples, the other holding up to their view the eternal love that encircled them, the everlasting arms that were underneath them, and the high inheritance awaiting them!--"the kingdom"; grand word; then why not "bread" (
Luke 12:31 [BENGEL]). Well might He say, "Fear not!"
33 Sell, &c.--This is but a more vivid expression of
Matt 6:19-
Matt 6:21 (see on
Matt 6:19-
Matt 6:21).
35 loins . . . girded--to fasten up the long outer garment, always done before travel and work (
2Kgs 4:29;
Acts 12:8). The meaning is, Be in readiness.
lights, &c.--(See on
Matt 25:1).
36 return from the wedding--not come to it, as in the parable of the virgins. Both have their spiritual significance; but preparedness for Christ's coming is the prominent idea.
37 gird himself, &c.--"a promise the most august of all: Thus will the Bridegroom entertain his friends (nay, servants) on the solemn Nuptial Day" [BENGEL].
38 second . . . third watch--To find them ready to receive Him at any hour of day or night, when one might least of all expect Him, is peculiarly blessed. A servant may be truly faithful, even though taken so far unawares that he has not everything in such order and readiness for his master's return as he thinks is due to him, and both could and would have had if he had had notice of the time of his coming, and so may not be willing to open to him "immediately," but fly to preparation, and let his master knock again ere he admit him, and even then not with full joy. A too common case this with Christians. But if the servant have himself and all under his charge in such a state that at any hour when his master knocks, he can open to him "immediately," and hail his "return"--that is the most enviable, "blessed" servant of all.
41 unto us or even to all?--us the Twelve, or all this vast audience?
42 Who then, &c.--answering the question indirectly by another question, from which they were left to gather what it would be:--To you certainly in the first instance, representing the "stewards" of the "household" I am about to collect, but generally to all "servants" in My house.
faithful and wise--Fidelity is the first requisite in a servant, wisdom (discretion and judgment in the exercise of his functions), the next.
steward--house steward, whose it was to distribute to the servants their allotted portion of food.
shall make--will deem fit to be made.
44 make him ruler over all he hath--will advance him to the highest post, referring to the world to come. (See
Matt 25:21,
Matt 25:23).
45 begin to beat, &c.--In the confidence that his Lord's return will not be speedy, he throws off the role of servant and plays the master, maltreating those faithful servants who refuse to join him, seizing on and revelling in the fulness of his master's board; intending, when he has got his fill, to resume the mask of fidelity ere his master appear.
46 cut him in sunder--a punishment not unknown in the East; compare
Heb 11:37, "sawn asunder" (
1Sam 15:33;
Dan 2:5).
the unbelievers--the unfaithful, those unworthy of trust (
Matt 24:51), "the hypocrites," falsely calling themselves "servants."
48 knew not--that is knew but partially; for some knowledge is presupposed both in the name "servant" of Christ, and his being liable to punishment at all.
many . . . few stripes--degrees of future punishment proportioned to the knowledge sinned against. Even heathens are not without knowledge enough for future judgment; but the reference here is not to such. It is a solemn truth, and though general, like all other revelations of the future world, discloses a tangible and momentous principle in its awards.
49 to send--cast.
fire--"the higher spiritual element of life which Jesus came to introduce into this earth (compare
Matt 3:11), with reference to its mighty effects in quickening all that is akin to it and destroying all that is opposed. To cause this element of life to take up its abode on earth, and wholly to pervade human hearts with its warmth, was the lofty destiny of the Redeemer" [OLSHAUSEN: so CALVIN, STIER, ALFORD, &c.].
what will I, &c.--an obscure expression, uttered under deep and half-smothered emotion. In its general import all are agreed; but the nearest to the precise meaning seems to be, "And what should I have to desire if it were once already kindled?" [BENGEL and BLOOMFIELD].
50 But . . . a baptism, &c.--clearly, His own bloody baptism, first to take place.
how . . . straitened--not, "how do I long for its accomplishment," as many understand it, thus making it but a repetition of
Luke 12:49; but "what a pressure of spirit is upon Me."
till it be accomplished--till it be over. Before a promiscuous audience, such obscure language was fit on a theme like this; but oh, what surges of mysterious emotion in the view of what was now so near at hand does it reveal!
51 peace . . . ? Nay, &c.--the reverse of peace, in the first instance. (See on
Matt 10:34-
Matt 10:36.) The connection of all this with the foregoing warnings about hypocrisy, covetousness, and watchfulness, is deeply solemn: "My conflict hasten apace; Mine over, yours begins; and then, let the servants tread in their Master's steps, uttering their testimony entire and fearless, neither loving nor dreading the world, anticipating awful wrenches of the dearest ties in life, but looking forward, as I do, to the completion of their testimony, when, reaching the haven after the tempest, they shall enter into the joy of their Lord."
54 NOT DISCERNING THE SIGNS OF THE TIME. (
Luke 12:54-
Luke 12:59)
to the people--"the multitude," a word of special warning to the thoughtless crowd, before dismissing them. (See on
Matt 16:2-
Matt 16:3).
56 how . . . not discern, &c.--unable to perceive what a critical period that was for the Jewish Church.
57 why even of yourselves, &c.--They might say, To do this requires more knowledge of Scripture and providence than we possess; but He sends them to their own conscience, as enough to show them who He was, and win them to immediate discipleship.
58 When thou goest, &c.--(See on
Matt 5:25-
Matt 5:26). The urgency of the case with them, and the necessity, for their own safety, of immediate decision, was the object of these striking words.
