Luke 12

1 At that time, when thousands of the people had come together, in such numbers that they were crushing one another, he said first to his disciples, Have nothing to do with the leaven of the Pharisees, which is deceit.

2 But nothing is covered up, which will not come to light, or secret, which will not be made clear.

3 So, whatever you have said in the dark, will come to men's hearing in the light, and what you have said secretly inside the house, will be made public from the house-tops.

4 And I say to you, my friends, Have no fear of those who may put the body to death, and are able to do no more than that.

5 But I will make clear to you of whom you are to be in fear: of him who after death has power to send you to hell; yes, truly I say, Have fear of him.

6 Are not five sparrows given in exchange for two farthings? and God has every one of them in mind.

7 But even the hairs of your head are numbered. Have no fear: you are of more value than a flock of sparrows.

8 And I say to you that to everyone who gives witness to me before men, the Son of man will give witness before the angels of God.

9 But if anyone says before men that he has no knowledge of me, I will say that I have no knowledge of him before the angels of God.

10 And if anyone says a word against the Son of man, he will have forgiveness: but for him who says evil words against the Holy Spirit, there will be no forgiveness.

11 And when they take you before the Synagogues and the authorities and the rulers, take no thought about what answers you will give, or what you will say:

12 For the Holy Spirit will make clear to you in that very hour what to say.

13 And one of the people said to him, Master, give an order to my brother to make division of the heritage with me.

14 But he said, Man, who made me a judge or a maker of decisions for you?

15 And he said to them, Take care to keep yourselves free from the desire for property; for a man's life is not made up of the number of things which he has.

16 And he said to them, in a story, The land of a certain man of great wealth was very fertile:

17 And he said to himself, What is to be done? for I have no place in which to put all my fruit.

18 And he said, This I will do: I will take down my store-houses and make greater ones, and there I will put all my grain and my goods.

19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have a great amount of goods in store, enough for a number of years; be at rest, take food and wine and be happy.

20 But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together?

21 So that is what comes to the man who gets wealth for himself, and has not wealth in the eyes of God.

22 And he said to his disciples, For this reason I say to you, Take no thought for your life, about what food you will take, or for your body, how it may be clothed.

23 Is not life more than food, and the body than its clothing?

24 Give thought to the ravens; they do not put seeds into the earth, or get together grain; they have no store-houses or buildings; and God gives them their food: of how much greater value are you than the birds!

25 And which of you by taking thought is able to make himself any taller?

26 If, then, you are not able to do even that which is least, why are you troubled about the rest?

27 Give thought to the flowers: they do no work, they make no thread; and still I say to you, Even Solomon, in all his glory, was not clothed like one of these.

28 But if God gives such clothing to the grass in the field, which today is living, and tomorrow will be burned in the oven, how much more will he give clothing to you, O men of little faith?

29 And do not give overmuch thought to your food and drink, and let not your mind be full of doubts.

30 For the nations of the world go in search of all these things: but your Father has knowledge that you have need of them.

31 But let your chief care be for his kingdom, and these other things will be given to you in addition.

32 Have no fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

33 Give what property you have in exchange for money, and give the money to the poor; make for yourselves money-bags which will not get old, wealth stored up in heaven which will be yours for ever, where thieves will not come nor worms put it to destruction.

34 For where your wealth is, there will your heart be.

35 Be ready, dressed as for a journey, with your lights burning.

36 And be like men who are looking for their lord, when he comes back from the bride-feast; so that when he comes to the door, it will be open to him quickly.

37 Happy are those servants who are watching when the lord comes; truly I say to you, he will make himself their servant and, placing them at the table, he will come out and give them food.

38 And if he comes in the second division of the night or in the third, and they are watching for him, happy are those servants.

39 But be certain of this, that if the master of the house had had knowledge of the time when the thief was coming, he would have been watching, and would not have let his house be broken into.

40 So be ready: for the Son of man is coming at a time when you are not looking for him.

41 And Peter said to him, Lord, are these words said to us only, or to all men?

42 And the Lord said, Who then is the wise and responsible servant whom his lord will put in control of his family, to give them their food at the right time?

43 Happy is that servant who, when his lord comes, is doing so.

44 Truly I say to you, he will put him in control of all his goods.

45 But if that servant says to himself, My lord is a long time coming; and goes about giving blows to the men-servants and the women-servants, feasting and taking overmuch wine;

46 The lord of that servant will come at a time when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not ready for him, and he will have him cut in two and will give him his part in the fate of those who have no faith;

47 And the servant who had knowledge of his lord's desires and was not ready for him and did not do as he was ordered, will be given a great number of blows;

48 But he who, without knowledge, did things for which punishment is given, will get only a small number of blows. The man to whom much is given, will have to give much; if much is given into his care, of him more will be requested.

49 I came to send a fire on the earth, and it may even now have been lighted.

50 But there is a baptism which I have to undergo; and how am I kept back till it is complete!

51 Is it your opinion that I have come to give peace on earth? I say to you, No, but division:

52 For from this time, a family of five in one house will be on opposite sides, three against two and two against three.

53 They will be at war, the father against his son, and the son against his father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.

54 Then he said to the people, When you see a cloud coming up in the west, straight away you say, There will be rain; and so it is.

55 And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, There will be heat; and so it is.

56 O false ones! the face of the earth and the heaven is clear to you; how is it that the signs of these times are not as clear to you?

57 And why are you, in your hearts, unable to be judges of what is right?

58 For if anyone has a cause at law against you, and you are going with him before the ruler, make an attempt, on the way, to come to an agreement with him, for if you do not, he may take you before the judge and the judge will give you up to the police, and they will put you in prison.

59 I say to you, You will not come out of it till you have made payment to the very last farthing.

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Luke 12 Commentary

Chapter 12

Christ reproves the interpreters of the law. (1-12) A caution against covetousness The parable of the rich man. (13-21) Worldly care reproved. (22-40) Watchfulness enforced. (41-53) A warning to be reconciled to God. (54-59)

Verses 1-12 A firm belief of the doctrine of God's universal providence, and the extent of it, would satisfy us when in peril, and encourage us to trust God in the way of duty. Providence takes notice of the meanest creatures, even of the sparrows, and therefore of the smallest interests of the disciples of Christ. Those who confess Christ now, shall be owned by him in the great day, before the angels of God. To deter us from denying Christ, and deserting his truths and ways, we are here assured that those who deny Christ, though they may thus save life itself, and though they may gain a kingdom by it, will be great losers at last; for Christ will not know them, will not own them, nor show them favour. But let no trembling, penitent backslider doubt of obtaining forgiveness. This is far different from the determined enmity that is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall never be forgiven, because it will never be repented of.

Verses 13-21 Christ's kingdom is spiritual, and not of this world. Christianity does not meddle with politics; it obliges all to do justly, but wordly dominion is not founded in grace. It does not encourage expectations of worldly advantages by religion. The rewards of Christ's disciples are of another nature. Covetousness is a sin we need constantly to be warned against; for happiness and comfort do not depend on the wealth of this world. The things of the world will not satisfy the desires of a soul. Here is a parable, which shows the folly of carnal worldling while they live, and their misery when they die. The character drawn is exactly that of a prudent, worldly man, who has no grateful regard to the providence of God, nor any right thought of the uncertainty of human affairs, the worth of his soul, or the importance of eternity. How many, even among professed Christians, point out similar characters as models for imitation, and proper persons to form connexions with! We mistake if we think that thoughts are hid, and thoughts are free. When he saw a great crop upon his ground, instead of thanking God for it, or rejoicing to be able to do more good, he afflicts himself. What shall I do now? The poorest beggar in the country could not have said a more anxious word. The more men have, the more perplexity they have with it. It was folly for him to think of making no other use of his plenty, than to indulge the flesh and gratify the sensual appetites, without any thought of doing good to others. Carnal worldlings are fools; and the day is coming when God will call them by their own name, and they will call themselves so. The death of such persons is miserable in itself, and terrible to them. Thy soul shall be required. He is loth to part with it; but God shall require it, shall require an account of it, require it as a guilty soul to be punished without delay. It is the folly of most men, to mind and pursue that which is for the body and for time only, more than that for the soul and eternity.

Verses 22-40 Christ largely insisted upon this caution not to give way to disquieting, perplexing cares, ( Matthew 6:25-34 ) . The arguments here used are for our encouragement to cast our care upon God, which is the right way to get ease. As in our stature, so in our state, it is our wisdom to take it as it is. An eager, anxious pursuit of the things of this world, even necessary things, ill becomes the disciples of Christ. Fears must not prevail; when we frighten ourselves with thoughts of evil to come, and put ourselves upon needless cares how to avoid it. If we value the beauty of holiness, we shall not crave the luxuries of life. Let us then examine whether we belong to this little flock. Christ is our Master, and we are his servants; not only working servants, but waiting servants. We must be as men that wait for their lord, that sit up while he stays out late, to be ready to receive him. In this Christ alluded to his own ascension to heaven, his coming to call his people to him by death, and his return to judge the world. We are uncertain as to the time of his coming to us, we should therefore be always ready. If men thus take care of their houses, let us be thus wise for our souls. Be ye therefore ready also; as ready as the good man of the house would be, if he knew at what hour the thief would come.

Verses 41-53 All are to take to themselves what Christ says in his word, and to inquire concerning it. No one is left so ignorant as not to know many things to be wrong which he does, and many things to be right which he neglects; therefore all are without excuse in their sin. The bringing in the gospel dispensation would occasion desolations. Not that this would be the tendency of Christ's religion, which is pure, peaceable, and loving; but the effect of its being contrary to men's pride and lusts. There was to be a wide publication of the gospel. But before that took place, Christ had a baptism to be baptized with, far different from that of water and the Holy Spirit. He must endure sufferings and death. It agreed not with his plan to preach the gospel more widely, till this baptism was completed. We should be zealous in making known the truth, for though divisions will be stirred up, and a man's own household may be his foes, yet sinners will be converted, and God will be glorified.

Verses 54-59 Christ would have the people to be as wise in the concerns of their souls as they are in outward affairs. Let them hasten to obtain peace with God before it is too late. If any man has found that God has set himself against him concerning his sins, let him apply to him as God in Christ reconciling the world to himself. While we are alive, we are in the way, and now is our time.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)