Luke 12:35-48
Watchfulness, Be Ready
35"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. 39But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
41Peter asked, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?"
42The Lord answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45But suppose the servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
47"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
We must be ready (for God) because the Son of Man will return at an hour when you and me do not expect it...God will send Him unannounced... Jesus teaches us that we need to be ready and prepared for God, when this happens...
The only way to prepare and be ready for anything is to practice for it...Practice and preparation teaches that we must go over, understand what that subject, game, or thing we are trying to learn...To be prepared, as we know it, means repeating our action or actions to get better at the subject we want to get better (at)...This repetition or repeating helps us to get better on the idea or practice we are repeating...
Jesus tells them the parable of the good servant...The good servant waits and watches for their Master to return...The Good Master has been gone a very long time...The good servant is still dressed to serve Him...The table is ready, as it can be, for the Good Master's return...It will be good for the good servant even if his Master returns late evening or even in the middle of the night...But we must be reminded, if we knew when the evil thief comes, we would be ready and the thief would not be able to break into our home...We like the good servant (and the one who knows when the thief comes), we must be prepared for the second coming of the LORD, even though we have no idea, and when to expect Him...
St. Peter asks the question, is He telling this parable to His Twelve disciples or to everyone?...Jesus answers Peter with another parable... Who is faithful and wise, when the Good Master puts in charge a servant of their food allowance?...The good servant does not stop and take a break, or breaks and eat the food and his food allowance he was given in advance...The servant will keep doing his job and take care of the Master's friends, when they come over, and he will remember and continue to do the work of his Good Master...The Good Master is happy when He sees the servant working and only eating their food at the proper time, at meal time...After seeing this, the Good Master puts the good servant in charge of all His possessions...All the things around the servant are now his to take care of while he is the servant of the Good Master...But suppose the Good Master takes months and months and years and years to return home...Let us say, the servant is mean and mean to the servants under him...Let us also say, he has some of them beaten, while the Good Master is gone and long in coming...The servant after his long wait, begins to eat and drink and gets drunk...The Good Master then comes on a day and an hour in the future, no one, not even His servant, was expecting...The Good Master will cut the mean servant into pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers...
As for a more direct answer to Peter, Jesus says that the servant who knows His Master's will (which the disciples do) and still does not get ready will be beaten with many blows...Part of God's will is believing in Jesus Christ...Also the servant who has been working for the Good Master and does not do what His Master's wants, will also be beaten with many blows...But the one who does not know the Master's will or does not know what His Master wants will only be beaten with a few blows...From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the servant who has been entrusted much, much more will be expected...The Twelve disciples knew what Jesus taught and knew what He expected more than anyone...Much is expected from His disciples...The unbelieving ignorant sinner will have a lesser punishment (beaten with only a few blows)...
Even the unbeliever is talked about here...The one with few blows might be the one who has gone about their life and not gotten or taken the time to develop their faith...Our Father may see them as the young babe, who has just started crawling...The young one has just learned how to stand, then they take the first step...The young babe's father is so happy to see their first crawl, their first time they stand, and their first step...But the father, like our Father knows this is not enough...In life there is so much more..We must search to find the Father and the Son...The search is not always easy...And when we do seek and our faith grows, we must always be prepared for the second coming of His Son...
Our practice and our preparedness will increase the Father's expectation of us...Knowledge of the Father and Son will increase our beating and our blows, not lessen them...We are imperfect...Man is flawed...Jesus did not come for perfect people, He came for sinners...And one must add, after finding the Father, and the One He sent, we are much happier and we find a peace that only He can give...