The Importance of Eschatology
The topic of the end times, what theologians call eschatology, often provokes two responses among Christians. One response is a hyper-fascination with charts and graphs and timelines and explanations of how current events are explained by biblical prophecies. Another response is ambivalence, a throwing up of the hands in the air and saying, “No one can know for sure what’s going to happen in the end, so it’s best if we just don’t bother with it.”
The end times can lead to arguments or to ambivalence. And both are unfortunate responses! Behind the message of salvation in Christ, the second coming of Christ is the most talked about topic in the New Testament. Ambivalence is therefore an unwarranted posture. If God talks about it a lot, maybe we should talk about it more.
But endless, and often divisive, debates about the end times is not the way. If all we do is debate dates and prophecies and positions, then no wonder no one wants to talk about the end times!
The way forward is to engage, not avoid, the topic. And the best way to engage is to let the emphasis of the Scriptures be our emphasis. And the emphasis of the New Testament regarding the return of Christ is not on the when but on how then should we live. Dates aren’t important. What’s important is being ready.
Discussions about the end times should lead to resolve and readiness. Knowing Jesus will return should make us ready to see him and make us resolved to live for and like him.
The main point of our text today (Lk. 12:35-48) is that we should be ready for Jesus’ return by being faithful to Jesus. The call to be ready is in verses 35-40 and the call to be faithful is in verses 41-48. In this text, we learn that the Master is coming and that the servants should be ready by being faithful.
Be Ready
First, in verses 35-40, Jesus challenges his followers to be ready for his return. He begins with the classic image of readiness for Jewish people, being “dressed for action” (v. 35). This image points back to the exodus when the Israelites were instructed to eat the Passover meal dressed and ready to depart at a moment’s notice (Ex. 12:11).
In the same way, Jesus’ followers needed to be dressed and ready for action. They need to have their “sleeves rolled up” as we would say, ready to get going quickly.
Could Jesus Come at Any Moment?
Does Jesus’ call for us to “be ready” for his coming (v. 40) mean that he could return at any moment? The end of Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 seems to say so, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (v. 13). Is Jesus basically saying, “You don’t know when I’m coming, it could be any moment, so get ready”?
I don’t think so, mostly because I don’t think the New Testament teaches that Jesus could come back at any moment. The main reason for this is because there are things that must happen first before he comes. Specifically, I have in mind what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, “Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day (ie., “the day of the Lord” mentioned in v. 2) will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.”
Lots could be said here, but briefly I’ll suggest that, because Paul says that the appearance of this “man of lawlessness” will be discernible (vv. 4, 9-10), and because his appearance will be quickly followed by his destruction (v. 8), and because neither of these things have happened, then Jesus will not return at any moment.
However, in his book on Jesus’ second coming, Come, Lord Jesus, John Piper argues that Jesus’ coming is never more than a few years away. He says,
“Combining how short the time may be from any given moment in history until the emergence of the man of lawlessness (possibly months, not years), with how short his dominance will be before the Lord destroys him by his coming, I conclude that at no time do we ever have warrant to say with confidence that the Lord is more than a very few years away, say five or six years. And it could be much shorter…Be sure you understand what I am not saying, as well as what I am saying. I am not saying that the Lord will come within five or six years. We do not know. I am saying, no one can legitimately say with confidence that he cannot or is not coming in such a short time, or even shorter.”[1]
What Does It Mean to “Be Ready”?
So if Jesus isn’t coming at any moment, what does his command to “be ready” mean? What does Jesus mean that we should “watch and wait” for his return if his return isn’t imminent?
He means that we should be spiritually ready, spiritually alert and awake to our responsibilities as his followers. He means that we shouldn’t be oblivious to the evil one’s deceptiveness or the world’s foolishness. We should be morally and spiritually alert, clearheaded and discerning.
Why is this so important? Because there will be no time to course-correct once Jesus returns. We won’t be able to repent of longstanding patterns of living for the world when he comes back. Even if we were able to change our ways when he comes, it wouldn’t be because of spiritual life in our hearts but because of fear. When Jesus returns, you’re either ready or you’re not.
And if you presume that Jesus’ delay in returning means you can fall asleep spiritually, you’re setting yourself up to be deceived by the man of lawlessness if he comes in your lifetime. Paul says about him, “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2 Thess. 2:9-10). This man of lawlessness will use satanic power to capture sleepy souls. So it’s a deadly mistake to think that Jesus’ delay means we can live carelessly. Rather, we must “stay awake” and “be ready.”
Be Faithful
This understanding of what it means to “be ready” is confirmed by Jesus’ parable of the faithful and unfaithful servant in the next section. Here in verses 41-48 we see that being ready for Jesus’ return means being faithful to Jesus.
This parable is about Jesus’ return to heaven after his resurrection and how his disciples carry out the ministry he’s given them while they wait for his return. He probably has leaders in the church and ministers of the word primarily in view because he says the “master will set (them) over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time” (v. 42). But the principle applies to all Christians.
The servant who is faithfully doing the work his master gave him is blessed (v. 43). He was asked to feed the household and he faithfully caries out his duties. So he has nothing to fear at an unexpected return of the Master because he’s doing what he was asked to do.
But then, in verses 45-46, Jesus says if the manager chooses to take advantage of the master’s absence by hurting other servants and living carelessly, the master will come and judge him severely.
The first manager is an example of faithfulness. He’s an obedient servant who honors others and serves the master. The second manager is an example of unfaithfulness. He’s a disobedient servant who hurts others and lives for himself.
The foolish manager is spiritually drunk, using his master’s delay as an excuse to live however he wants. His spiritual stupor is why he’ll be shocked when his master suddenly returns.
His choice isn’t just foolish, it’s evil. His choice was made out of a heart that didn’t want to honor the master and that did want to exalt himself. And his choice makes a mess of the master’s house. This is why his consequence is one of the harshest condemnations of Jesus. Upon his return, the master “will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful” (v. 46).
The word used for “cut him in pieces” is only used here in the New Testament. The violent dismemberment of the unfaithful manager serves as a “gripping hyperbole” of what happens to those who don’t serve the master faithfully while he’s away.[2] Him being “cut in two” reflects his divided loyalties. His heart was torn between serving his master and serving himself. And it cost him severely in the end.
A Basic Law in God’s World
Then Jesus adds a thought or two on one of the most basic laws in his world in verses 47-48. The basic principle is that Jesus’ servants will be judged based on the knowledge they have. Culpability is in proportion to knowledge.
In Jesus’ household, those with more responsibility have a higher accountability. The servants with greater gifts are to use them to serve, not hurt, other servants. And God will demand an accounting for all the gifts he gives.
Christian Ethics Grounded in the Eschaton
Discussions about the end times often major in the minors. Debating the when isn’t nearly as important as knowing the “so what?” The purpose of the New Testament’s teaching on the end times is to “give warning, to give hope, and to teach people how to live in the present.”[3] Or to say it another way, “Christian ethics are eschatologically driven. The attitudes and behaviors expected of Christians (such as self-giving love) are grounded in a theology of the kingdom present and coming. Without such grounding in the future, the ethic is truly irrational.”[4]
In other words, if Jesus isn’t coming back, if there is no judgment day, then we really should do whatever we want. But if he is coming back, then we should conform our lives accordingly. As I said earlier, we should be ready for Jesus’ return by being faithful to Jesus.
What Does Faithfulness Look Like?
What then does faithfulness to Jesus look like? Using our text as a guide, let me offer five ways we’re called to be faithful to Jesus while waiting on Jesus to return.
First, we’re called to let the future shape the present. Remember that this passage is connected back to the passages on anxiety about material things and the parable of the rich fool. Possessions and the power connected to them are a habitual hazard for disciples of Jesus. One of the ways we guard against their hazardous sway is by regularly remembering that Jesus will return and we will stand before the Son of Man.
Second, we’re called to be spiritually awake and alert. We must not be lulled to sleep by the cares of the world. Rather, we’re to eagerly wait and watch for Jesus’ return. The world is trying to hypnotize you to not think about God. We must fight the hypnosis by pressing into the ordinary means of grace, namely, the word, prayer, and the church. Novel approaches to spirituality are widely endorsed today. But the way to stay awake for Jesus is to stay close to him through listening to his word, communing with him in prayer, and consistently being with other believers. These three things will grow and sustain your faith like no other.
Third, live to serve other servants. The wise servant in Jesus’ parable served other servants (v. 42). The foolish servant used and abused other servants (v. 45). Serving others is one way we get our eyes off ourselves and prepare to see the Servant of Servants.
Fourth, steward the gifts and opportunities God gives you. Those who’re given much will be expected to give much (v. 48). How can you use your time, money, house, apartment, Saturdays, Sunday afternoons, job, skills, education, and connections to bless others and point others to Jesus? When the Master returns, we’ll give a report on how we cared for what he entrusted to us.
And fifth, we eagerly wait for the Master to come back to serve the servants (v. 37). Jesus was (22:27) and will be among his people as one who serves. When he returns and finds his servants faithfully waiting on him, he’ll be so full of joy that he’ll start serving them! He’ll be so delighted in his servants that he’ll tell them to sit down and he’ll get to work feeding them! This will be the fulfillment of Psalm 23:5-6, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” In contrast to the rich fool (12:20), Jesus’ followers will rejoice at the Lord’s return.
The reality of Jesus coming back to serve his servants keeps us on our tiptoes, looking with eager anticipation and deep longing for that day. The joy of that day flows back down into these days and gives us strength to live for the Master who serves his servants.
And of course no where else do we see the glory of our Master’s service than when he hung on the cross, giving his life as a ransom for our sins (Mk. 10:45). His death for us compels us to live faithfully for him. And this is really what your life must be about, as one writer says:
“The focus on faithfulness reminds us again that Christian faith is not about believing certain ideas but about living out convictions over the long haul. The church is often impressed with claims to faith. Claims and short-lived faith suffice for nothing. What counts is faithfulness to the end.”[5]
[1]John Piper, Come, Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Second Coming of Christ (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2023), 244-5.
[2]Klyne R. Snodgrass, Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018), 503.
[3]Ibid., 504.
[4]Ibid.
[5]Ibid., 504-5.