Luke 12:41-53 Faithful slaves and a divided house

Luke 12:41-48 The parable of the faithful and unfaithful slaves. This continues the same theme, closing with Jesus' words: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more." There is of course a natural principle relating to stewardship of earthly goods, but Jesus' meaning seems clear. In verse 41 Peter had asked if this parable (12:35-40) was for everyone else or if it was for the disciples as well. Jesus seems clearly to be saying that the disciples are the ones to whom much has been entrusted, and this means He will be asking all the more from them. (see also Luke 10:23-24).

         When we receive spiritual blessings from God, whether it is gifts of the Spirit, or revelation of truth, or a sense of His presence with us, it seems that this passage says that some commensurate spiritual output will be required. It is not at all clear what this might be, but often it would be in the form of tangible action - for example sharing this blessing with those around us or those whose spiritual formation we have some cognizance over. But it could just as easily be showing mercy to the poor (in earthly terms) or the poor in spirit (those who are in spiritual desolation or caught in some sin). The important thing from this story is that we who are blessed by Jesus are not to be spiritually slothful (acedia), or worse yet abuse a position of authority and trust when we think we can get away with it. The responsibility of a position of trust is to carry out His will, which means dealing with those around us from a heart of love, showing compassion, nurturing and encouraging them in faith and in relationship to Christ. Although Jesus does not invoke the concept of poetic justice here, we should seriously consider the thought of what it would be like if God treats us the same way we treat others over whom we have authority.

Luke 12:49-53 Jesus talks about division that faith in Him will bring. This is a rather puzzling passage, in view of what is recorded in Luke 11:17. Here, Jesus says "... for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three."  In Luke 11:17 He said, "a house divided against itself falls." If that principle was true in explaining why He could not be using Beelzebub to cast out demons, then why would it not also apply to households that are divided because some choose to follow Him and some refuse? I can find no easy answer to this question. Perhaps He was just reflecting on the difficulty that would ensue from following Him, and that in fact the household might collapse on account of some members being devoted to Him and others not. Perhaps this cost of following Him is a prelude to the next passage, the cost of not following Him.