Luke 12:41-48 — Into the Spider-verse

READ THIS: Luke 12:41-48

41 Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”

42 The 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? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The 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 “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But 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.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

Peter asks Jesus about the parable from yesterday, and then Jesus basically repeats the whole parable in slightly different words. If verses 42-46 are confusing to you, look at the explanation from yesterday! But, in short, both times Jesus repeats the parable is simply to say that we need to be ready for when He returns. But, we don't know when He will, partly because it takes a lot more faith and dedication to be ready at an unknown time than a known time (look at verse 45...after a time of waiting, the servant's true colors shined through). I think Jesus repeats this parable in response to Peter because Peter and the other disciples are the servants left in charge of all the other servants (verse 42). They are servants just the same as anyone else, but they have added responsibility. 

Verses 47-48 hammer home the responsibility the disciples have. They KNOW what Jesus wants. They walked for years by His side. If they know so much about Jesus and His will, and they still aren't ready when Jesus comes back, that is far worse than someone just not knowing about Jesus. The disciples were given a lot of time with Jesus, a lot of lessons, and a lot of cool powers, but alongside that came a lot of responsibility. 

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. Do you think you have any extra responsibility when it comes to Jesus'His mission in comparison to some other people? Why or why not?

2. Peter's question can almost be phrased as: "are you talking about me?" Have you ever heard a lesson and thought to yourself "is the pastor/teaching talking about me/does that apply to me?" What makes you ask that question?

TRY THIS:

"With great power comes great responsibility."

Your challenge this week is to listen to a different Peter...Peter Parker. Watch Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse (particularly if you haven't seen it) and think about which of those Spidermen used their power responsibly. 

If your power is Jesus...how can you use that power responsibly?