August 9, 2025 • 43 mins
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Luke 12: 32-48 - 'You too must stand ready.'
Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:
- 764 (in 'The Church - instituted by Jesus Christ') - "This Kingdom shines out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ." To welcome Jesus' word is to welcome "the Kingdom itself." The seed and beginning of the Kingdom are the "little flock" of those whom Jesus came to gather around him, the flock whose shepherd he is. They form Jesus' true family. To those whom he thus gathered around him, he taught a new "way of acting" and a prayer of their own.
- 2849 (in 'And lead us not into temptation') - The Holy Spirit constantly seeks to awaken us to keep watch. Finally, this petition takes on all its dramatic meaning in relation to the last temptation of our earthly battle; it asks for final perseverance. "Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake" (abbreviated).
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:10):
Hi everyone, welcome back to thepodcast where we take an
in-depth. Look at the gospel readings from
today's Catholic mass, and we'regoing to do a deep dive today
into Luke chapter 12. It's quite a long reading so
let's get straight into it. Luke chapter 12 verses 32 to 48.
Jesus said, to his disciples. There is no need to be afraid
(00:32):
Little Flock for it, has pleased, your father to give you
the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give
arms get yourselves purses. That do not wear out treasure.
That will not fail you in heaven, where no, Thief can
reach it and no moth, destroy itfor where your treasure is.
(00:53):
There will your heart be also. Say that you addressed for
action and have your lamps lit. Be like men, waiting for their
Master to return from the wedding Feast, ready to open the
door as soon as he comes and knocks happy those servants whom
the master finds awake when he comes.
I tell you, solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down
(01:16):
at table and wait on them. It may be in the second watch,
he comes or in the third, but happy those servants.
If he finds them ready, You may be quite sure of this, that if
the householder had known at what hour, the burglar would
come. He would not have.
Let anyone break through the wall of his house.
(01:36):
You two must stand ready. Because the son of man is coming
at an hour, you do not expect Peter said, Lord, do you mean
this Parable for us or for everyone the Lord replied what
sort of Steward then is faithfuland wise enough for the master
to place him over his household to give them their allowance of
(01:59):
food at the proper time, happy that servant, if his master's
arrival finds him at his employment.
I tell you truly, he will place him over everything, he owns.
But as for the servant who says to himself my master, He's
taking his time coming and sets about beating the men servants
and the maids and eating and drinking and getting drunk.
(02:21):
His master will come on a day. He does not expect and at an
hour, he does not know the master will cut him off and send
him to the same fate as the unfaithful.
The servant, who knows what his master wants but has not even
started to carry out. Those wishes were received, very
many strokes of the Lush, the one who did not know but
(02:45):
deserves to be beaten for what he has done will receive fewer
Strokes when a man has had a great deal, given him a great
deal will be demanded of him. When a man has had a great deal,
given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.
So that's how long reading from Luke chapter 12 and it's
(03:07):
possibly one. You haven't heard all that
often. There's some really interesting
teachings here of Jesus that areoften not talked about
particularly, these last ones about the master returning and
giving giving punishments to different groups of people.
So, we're going to look at this reading.
It will be a longer episode today.
Let's get straight into it. What's the context Jesus is
(03:29):
moving From Galilee to Judea forthe Final Phase of his ministry?
So he's actually getting pretty close to the end of his
ministry. His just started doing a long
sermon to his disciples and in the previous section he's had a
particular focus on not worryingabout Earthly Goods but instead
focusing on the Kingdom. So you can hear that previous
section. So, that's verses 22 to 34 as
(03:51):
bonus episodes of the podcast. Which you can access through the
patreon page. So we get to verse 32 now, Jesus
said to his disciples. Now, this second notice who it's
for this section of the speech is only for those who were
disciples those who were alreadyhis followers fear.
Not, or you can translate that there is no need to be afraid.
(04:12):
And that's kind of comforting words from Jesus fear.
Not, now, in the context. Jesus here, means something like
this, don't stress about gettinginto the kingdom.
If you God's will he will grant you, the kingdom.
That's sort of what he's saying,and then he calls them little
flock. So really tender words here, you
can sort of see Jesus as the Good Shepherd coming out,
(04:34):
calling his disciples, his little flock.
So here he speaking to his smallBeginning Church, as God's
people that he cares for under God, daily cares, for fear, not
little flock for it. Has, please your father to give
you the kingdom. Another translation there is for
it is your father's, good. Pleasure to give you the
kingdom. Kingdom notice that Jesus says
(04:56):
to the disciples, God is your father, it is, please your
father. So this is an intimate knowledge
between the disciples and the father God desires earnestly to
give good gifts to his children.And in particular, he wants his
children to have access to the kingdom of God, and to receive
all the blessings of the Kingdom.
Now, that would include both this life and the next.
(05:17):
And so Jesus, here is really saying to his disciples don't
stress. If you follow God's, will he
will give you the kingdom. But now Jesus is going to put
some conditions on what is required to enter the Kingdom.
So it's always in the context ofif you follow God's will, you
will enter the kingdom and now he's going to spell out what
that involves verse 33. Sell your possessions and give
(05:39):
arms. So that's Jesus commandment to
his disciples, sell your possessions and give arms.
Now, in this case, the purpose of selling the possessions is
not just to get rid of money andto get rid of attachments, to
money. But that is obviously a part of
it. But primarily so that they then
have money to give to the poor. Sell your possessions and give
(05:59):
arms. So giving to the poor, it's a
key requirement of entering the kingdom, even for us today as
Christians, and it's something Jesus constantly emphasizes
obviously selling your possessions also severs
attachments to worldly wealth and Jesus here, is he saying to
his followers? They're not to have Earthly
Treasures as their priority which of course is a genuine
(06:21):
Temptation in their society. And in our Society today.
So Jesus here is very much continuing his early theme of
not being attached to possessions which is what he's
been saying in the verses leading up to this, then he says
get yourselves purses that do not wear out.
So in that culture, treasures and persons would eventually
(06:42):
wear away, Motz would eat away cloth and rust would eat away at
metal. So whether it was expensive
clothes or money, eventually, those things would fade and so
Jesus says, Rather than focusingon those get yourself Treasures
that, don't wear out treasure, that will not fail you in
heaven, where no, Thief can reach it and no moth destroy it.
(07:05):
So, in that culture, a person who had possessions would often
try to hide his treasure somewhere in the house, but
then, a thief could come in and break, break in and steal it.
So, Jesus Point here, is those Earthly Treasures will fade or
they'll be stolen, so instead, they need to focus on other.
Treasure Earthly treasure might seem valuable, but it's
Temporary and it's perishable. Whereas he's telling them to
(07:28):
store up Treasures in Heaven, which will not be destroyed.
Now, this is in contrast to the rich fool.
The Jesus mentioned in verse 21 of this chapter who specific
specifically said to have storedup treasure for himself and he's
described as a fool. Jesus says don't store up,
treasure for yourself on Earth. Focus on storing up, treasure in
heaven. So he's saying that Christians
(07:49):
priority in life. Should be to ensure that they
make it to the kingdom of God. Where the true treasure is the
treasure, which awaits the faithful disciple in heaven,
will never corrupt. Its Eternal.
So, there is a an idea of an eternal reward being in view
here for those who reach the Kingdom.
So this idea of arms giving storing up, treasure in heaven.
(08:11):
Might seem a bit strange to us, but it's very much an Old
Testament idea, and in particular Jesus might have in
mind here to deuterocanonical books from the wisdom
literature. So going to quote, here from two
books that a lot of Christian's don't have in their Bibles, but
it is part of the Catholic Canon.
So sirach 29:12 says, store up arms, giving in your Treasury,
(08:33):
and it will save you from every evil.
So you can hear the Echoes theirof Jesus teaching.
And then similarly, in tobert Chapter 4, verses 7 to 10, give
arms from your possessions, you will be storing up.
A good lie, treasure for yourself against the day of
adversity, for arms, giving delivers from death, So there we
(08:54):
have two quotes from a couple ofbooks of the Bible that you
don't often hear from. But as Catholics, we believe
that the scripture and certainly, Jesus is continuing
to Echo those similar themes arms, giving help store up
treasure. Now, does this verse imply that
there will be actual treasure orrewards in heaven, which come in
different amounts? Is it saying that some people
will get lots of treasure? And some people will get a
(09:16):
little bit of treasure dependingon what they do.
In this life it could be not necessarily maybe he's just
speaking about treasure in the In a general sense to mean
something like reaching the kingdom of God, but I think the
context would suggest that Jesusis thinking of heavenly rewards
for righteous Deeds. Which is what he's been talking
about in the previous section and certainly there's other New
(09:38):
Testament verses which point in the direction of you get certain
rewards in heaven, in proportionto the good actions that you've
done for the kingdom of God. So that's something we've talked
about elsewhere in the podcast. Verse 34.
Jesus says this famous line for where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also. So, this is a very important
(10:00):
theological and psychological principle.
The catechism actually unpacks. This quite a bit now, to
understand this, where your treasure is there, your heart
will be. Also, the first thing to say is
that heart doesn't mean place ofemotions.
That actually means something like will in the Bible, your
heart is the place where the decisions are made.
So it encompasses attentions a And commitments.
(10:23):
So, therefore, this phrase whereyour treasure is there, your
heart will be. Also, basically means something
like this, whatever you value, will tend to become your master.
So Jesus is saying those who have Earthly materials as their
first priority, can't really serve the kingdom of God,
because they're eventually goingto be enslaved psychologically,
to Earthly possessions. On the other hand, those who
(10:45):
value, the kingdom of God, aboveeverything else will have their
wills and commitment directed toit.
So this is roughly parallel to something else Jesus says, which
is you cannot serve, both God and money.
It's just the bait. Same basic teaching here.
So we get to verse 35 today. Jesus is now continuing the same
(11:06):
theme of living. Your life directed towards
heaven and he's going to focus particularly on telling his
disciples to be ready for his coming at the final judgment.
The cultural context is going tobe important here because he's
going to jump straight into talking about.
Things. Now, in that culture weddings
were very important and they were quite elaborate.
There was a lot of processes associated with doing a wedding
(11:29):
correctly, one of the aspects ofit.
And obviously, Jesus talks aboutother aspects during his
ministry. He loves to talk about weddings
as he often incorporates that into his Parables.
But here he's talking about whathappens after the wedding.
So in that culture, after a wedding ceremony and the feast
the groom would return home often at night time.
(11:49):
And the ID here seems Be that when the groom returned home at
night time, there would be servants waiting for him to
return, and they had lamps. So he could see his way and
probably his, his bride would bewith him as well.
So Servants of their with a lampso they can see their way.
And then when he gets into the house, they would serve him.
(12:11):
The servants would prepare food for him and wait on him.
Now, the servants in that culture on the wedding night,
they would typically have a rough idea of when the groom was
returning. So they would know approximately
When the wedding was going to finish, but they didn't know
exactly when the wedding was going to be finished.
So they had to wait for the groom to return at any moment
that should sound familiar to you verse 35.
(12:33):
Jesus says to them, see that youaren't dressed for action and
have your lamps lit or more, literally let your girl loins be
girded and your lamps burning. So just like wedding servants
have to stay alert with their lamps, burning for the imminent,
arrival of their Master, the ID here and the OJ's is drawing.
Is that the Christians disciple should always be doing?
(12:55):
Good works and prepared for the return of Jesus, the Messiah.
They have to be ready all the time and Jesus, he says, good,
your loins interesting phrase, it's an Old Testament phrase and
basically in that culture, that's literally what they would
have to do to get ready for action.
They would gather up their anklelength, robes, and they would
tuck it in at the waist with a belt and that was called good in
(13:17):
your loins so that you are readyfor service or travel.
So it was So, you get your clothes out of the way, or
you're long clothes out of the way so that you can actually do
something. So, it's an Old Testament image
for being ready. Gird, your loins.
Now, some Scholars think there might be a connection here with
Passover. Jesus might be subtly alluding
to Passover, and this would certainly fit with the way.
(13:38):
Luke does things, Luke doesn't come right out and do explicit
quotes from the Old Testament, like Matthew does, Luke seems to
include sayings of Jesus that are a little more subtle.
So, in the Passover on the nightof the first Passover, when they
came out of Egypt, the Israelites were told to eat the
Passover with their loins Girt, and they had to be ready to
(13:59):
leave at any moment. You can check that out.
In Exodus chapter 12 verse 11. Now the wedding the image we get
here in Jesus parable or mini Parable is that the wedding is
happening at nighttime. Well, the original Passover
happened at night time too, so the fact that they both occur at
night and that Jesus says, gird your loins in both.
Well, God says that the Exodus and Jesus says it here, that
(14:21):
might be suggesting a connectionbetween the Passover.
The first one and Jesus return as kind of like a new Passover.
And there's a further clue laterin the passage.
That will look at to Jesus goes on verse 36.
Be like men waiting for their Master to return from the
wedding Feast, ready to open thedoor as soon as he comes back
(14:41):
and Knocks. So just like the groom, could
return it pretty much anytime inthe night, Jesus can return it
anytime. That's what he's teaching.
His disciples and the true Christian.
The true disciple will be prepared to welcome him at any
time. Once again, we see this theme
Here of being ready or living your life, according to Heaven,
focusing on Heaven, not on worldly things because in the
(15:03):
end it's only Heaven, that counts.
Jesus now makes a transition, the imagery now changes to the
meal inside the house. So now the groom is inside the
house and the fact that there's now a mention of a meal, Jesus
might be referring to the Messianic banquet, that was a
common Jewish image for heaven. You can see that in Luke 13, so,
(15:23):
in the next chapter, Jesus describes The day of judgment
and those who enter Heaven as reclining at table in the
kingdom of God. So the mention here of the groom
sitting down for a meal, might have that same idea of a
Messianic banquet in mind as well.
That was a common Jewish way of describing Heaven.
Verse 37 happy. Are those servants whom the
(15:45):
master finds awake when he comesthat happy can be translated
blessed blessed those servants whom the master finds awake when
he comes, they can be translatedfavorite as well.
Favored or fortunate. So just as the groom will be
pleased with those who are actually awake and ready for
him. When he arrives home, Jesus will
be pleased with the Christians. He finds doing God's will when
(16:08):
he returns Jesus wants Christians to do God's will.
That's what he expects. They will be the favored ones on
Judgment Day. Jesus goes on, I tell you,
solemnly, or you can have that as truly, truly, I say to you,
which means Jesus is signaling his about to say something
important, he will put on an apron.
(16:29):
Now, Jesus is talking here aboutthe master.
So, the master, when he finds the servants doing good, when he
arrives, the master will put on an apron and literally it says
the gird himself. Now Jesus is reversing the
expectations. The master is good and himself
to serve the servants. Instead of the servants serving
the master, that would be the typical way that.
(16:49):
It works in that culture, the servants, get ready to serve the
master. But here, Jesus teaches that he
himself the Messiah on Judgment Day.
Will serve those who have been faithful disciples, interesting
image, isn't it? He goes on, he says the master
will sit them down at table and wait on them.
You can translate that as serve them, the master will serve the
(17:11):
servants. So for the faithful disciples,
who do God's will in their lives, At the Judgment Day, or
when Jesus returns, They will receive a reward.
They will get into the kingdom of heaven and a way of looking
at this, according to Jesus, is that Jesus the Messiah will
serve them. Imagine how shocking this would
be for his hearers, that's not the way.
(17:32):
It was done in that culture, servants, waited on Masters, not
the other way around, but that'swhat Jesus says, he will do for
his Faithful Servants on Judgment Day.
Now he's literally see Jesus through this later in his life
at the Last Supper. Literally washes the disciples
feet. You can see that in John chapter
13 verses 4 and 5. Now, in fact, even later in
(17:54):
Luke's gospel in chapter 22, Jesus says to his disciples.
I am among you as the one who serves.
So Jesus himself is the servant of his faithful disciples.
He says that verse 38 Jesus finishes the parable.
By saying it may be in the second what she comes or in the
third. Now, when's the second and third
(18:17):
watch. So the second watch according to
the Jewish Reckoning would be from 10:00 p.m. till 2 a.m.
And the Third Watch was from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. so the groom
could return from their wedding at any time in the night.
And the point Jesus is making isthat he could even return quite
late. It might even be in the second,
or third, watch of the night, and it's not entirely certain
(18:39):
when the master will return. But of course, the servants know
he's going to return at some stage in the night.
They just Exactly win and it's entirely possible.
He could come quite late in the night.
Likewise Jesus as the Messiah could return on at his second
coming at any time in the New Covenant age, and that is
(19:00):
certain that he will come, but it's not entirely clear when it
could actually take quite a longtime.
And from the perspective of his first century audience, it has
taken quite a long time for Jesus to return.
And that's why Jesus says, you don't know.
When it's going to happen, you need to be prepared at any
moment. And, of course, this fits in
with lots of other things. Jesus says, Interestingly, some
(19:21):
Jewish traditions of the time ofJesus believed that the Messiah
would come during the meal on Passover night.
So, the Jews celebrate Passover every year and there was a
Jewish tradition that the Messiah would arrive on a
Passover night. So there's another link with
Passover interesting, isn't it? That's not in the Bible though?
So that might just be a Jewish thought at the time, that might
(19:42):
not be correct. Jesus, finishes by saying to his
disciples happy those servants if he finds them ready, okay?
That's the message. He wants his disciples to have
Christian disciples need to be prepared for Jesus return at any
time. By this point, many people who
had come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
(20:03):
They probably expected the coming of the kingdom of God,
and the final judgment all to happen very soon.
That was part of the Jewish belief, when the Messiah comes,
he will bring in the Kingdom straight away.
If we can keep that in mind, that will help set context for
what Jesus is about to say, because what he's going to say
here is that really? There's no way to know when the
master is returning to do, the final judgment, Jesus is going
(20:25):
to say that rather than the focus should be on.
Repaired all the time because wedon't know when the master will
come and in fact, the master could take a long time indeed.
Jesus hasn't even returned yet. At the time, we record this
podcast verse 39. Jesus said to his disciples
notice the audience here. He says, no this or you may be
quite sure of this now, that's in contrast to what they're not
(20:50):
sure about. Which is, they don't know, the
day, the Lord is coming. They don't know the a, the day
or the hour, but here Jesus says, no, this you may be quite
sure of this that If the householder had known at what
hour, the burglar would come. Now we've got a bit of a mini
Parable here. So Jesus is saying that in that
culture, if you knew what our you were going to be robbed in
the night and in fact, some manuscripts at this point add he
(21:12):
would have been awake. So if the household I had known
at what hour, the burglar would come, he would have been awake
and he would not have, let anyone break through the wall of
his house. And in that culture burglars,
would quietly break a hole in the wall, in order to get in
while everyone was sleeping, Would break a hole in the wall
steal things and then go out that same hole and obviously you
(21:33):
would want to prevent that from happening.
If you knew what time the burglar was coming, you would be
awake and not let him do that. Verse 40, Jesus says you two
must stand ready because the sonof man is coming at an hour, you
do not expect notice here. Jesus calls himself, the son of
man and previously has been talking about the master, but
now it transitions to the son ofman and that's himself.
(21:56):
Jesus is both the master and TheLord is what he's called In this
passage as well. And he's also the son of man,
he's all of those things. So, Jesus is giving an analogy
here to make his point clearer. He says, if you knew when in the
night, a burglar would be coming.
You would be ready for him in the same way Christian disciples
can't slack off. Because the reality is that, the
(22:18):
son of man could come at any time, therefore, they need to be
ready at any time. The disciples cannot fall
asleep, they need to be ready all the time when the king
returns. His kingdom that would be Jesus,
he's going to judge his servants.
So they need to be ready for hisreturn at any time.
Just as we do today, we need to be ready for Jesus return at any
time. Now, some people find it a bit
(22:40):
disturbing here, that Jesus would compare himself to a
burglar even though Paul does use a similar expression in 1
Thessalonians, 5:2. He says, the same thing that
Jesus is kind of like a thief inthe night.
We shouldn't be too disturbed bythis.
We need to be careful when dealing with analogies Jesus is
not saying That he and the burglar the same in every
(23:01):
respect, he's not saying that he's just saying they're the
same in one respect, which use he and a burglar both come at a
time that they're not expected. That's the point he's making So,
Jesus gives that many Parable and now Peter says, something
really interesting. And this is actually only
mentioned in Luke's gospel, it'sof really interesting lines.
So Peter speaks up here on behalf of all the apostles,
(23:22):
probably he says, Lord, do you mean this Parable for us or for
everyone? It's a fascinating question and
it's going to have an even more fascinating answer.
So Jesus has just told this manyparable about the burglar
breaking into the house and Peter is wondering, do you mean
this Parable for us or for everyone?
(23:42):
Now firstly the question he askswe can learn several things.
From the fact that he asks the question firstly, Jesus gives
some teachings that are only forhis disciples, not for the
crowds in general. Peter recognizes that.
And that's why he asked. The question is his wandering,
Jesus, is this one of these teachings that only makes sense
to us, or is it for the whole crowd?
Often, that's what his Parables alike.
(24:04):
So, the disciples recognize thatJesus gives them different
instructions compared to the crowds.
And also we learned from this, The Parables generally are given
to the crowds as they are early in Jesus ministry in Galilee, he
speaks Parables to the crowds, typically Jesus doesn't speak
Parables to the disciples, he just speaks very plainly to
them. Maybe that's why Peters confused
(24:26):
here. Because Jesus has just given a
parable, that sounds like it's only for Christian Believers.
And yet Jesus doesn't typically use Parables.
When he's speaking plainly to Christians, maybe Peters
thinking here when he thinks about the parable may be paid at
his thinking. Surely we the apostles are your
Faithful Servants and you won't judge us.
When you return you're going to run, you're going to judge the
(24:49):
unbelievers, right? Maybe that's his thinking.
He's a bit worried by the soundsof Jesus many Parable here at
sounds like Christians are goingto be judged when they're when
Jesus returns and maybe Pete is a bit worried about that as
well. See Jesus is going to respond to
Peters question by giving another Parable and this Parable
is the parable of the Unfaithfulslave Jesus.
(25:12):
And started Peters question is going to be answered in the
parable. And it's going to be something
like this. Judgment day is coming for
everyone, but people will be judged individually based on
what they knew. And obviously this is a very
Catholic principal as well. So Peters question was, do you
mean this Parable for us or for everyone?
(25:32):
And Jesus basic answer is both but people are going to be
judged individually based on what they knew.
So Jesus starts the parable of the Unfaithful slave verse 42.
To what sort of Steward then is faithful and wise enough for the
master to place him over his household, to give them their
allowance of food. At the proper time.
(25:52):
What's Jesus talking about here?He's setting up the parable and
in that culture. Royal courts is as well as some
rich people. They would have many personal
servants often the master would go away and they would appoint a
head servant or a manager to be in charge of the other servants
and that manager was entrusted with doing things like feeding
the other. Evans and looking after them
(26:13):
Joseph in the Old Testament is agood example of a head servant.
He became the specifically he's called the head servant in
Genesis 39 and he had the job ofDistributing the food allowance
to the other servants at the proper time.
What's Jesus mean, at this pointin the parable, who does the
head servant represented? Who are the servants, the
manager, the head servant is probably supposed to represent
(26:36):
the apostles in particular. Jesus, clearly has given them
charge over the other. Christians in the church.
So he's given them charge over the household of God, and he
knows that they are going to distribute the word and the
sacraments. So they're literally going to be
the managers of the Kingdom. They have leadership positions
over restored, Israel. And Jesus.
(26:57):
Here is saying that because they're faithful, they're going
to be the leaders of the church and he's expecting that they
exercise, their leadership Faithfully on his behalf.
He's the master who's going to go away for a while back to
heaven and he's left. Is in charge of his church that
will be the apostles verse 43, happy that servant if his
(27:17):
master's arrival finds him at this employment.
Now the word therefore happy canbe translated blessed or
fortunate. So the teaching here is that if
the master returns and finds themanager doing what the master
asked him to do, the master willbe pleased and that makes sense,
verse 44. I tell you truly, he will place
(27:37):
him over everything, he owns. So the master would often, Often
leave part of his inheritance, for his most Faithful Servants.
That's actually what they were doing that culture.
So similarly Jesus is saying that Jesus appointed leaders,
the apostles, if they do their job well and if he finds them
doing their job. Well, when he returns, they are
going to receive great rewards in the kingdom.
(28:00):
And obviously, this is somethingJesus teaches, various places in
the gospels. Notice what Jesus is saying here
about what counts as doing the work that he either master.
Preparedness for the Masters return, it doesn't involve
sitting at the window peering for the first glimpse of the
master, or looking at the signs of the times.
(28:22):
That's not really the preparedness that Jesus has in
mind here being prepared for theMasters return is doing the
works that he wants them to do doing the things that he's set.
He's given them to do verse 45. Jesus is now going to flip it
around, but as for the servant who says to himself, my master
is taking his time coming. Or you can translate that my
(28:43):
master is delayed in coming. Now already, there we have this
hint. That Jesus is going to be away
for a while because in the parable the the servant thinks
the master has already been awayfor a little while.
So the servant says to himself, my master is delaying and he
sets about beating the men servants and the made and eating
(29:04):
and drinking and getting drunk. So this manager Is an example of
someone who's slacking off. He's not doing the works at his
master expects. In fact, he's beating the other
servants and he's getting drunk.So it seems that he's decided he
doesn't really want to do the job.
The master has appointed him to do, he could be taking advantage
of the position. Maybe the you could say the
(29:25):
benefits without the responsibilities.
Maybe he's doing that or maybe he's at the point where his sick
of it maybe it's hard tiresome work doing the work that he's
appointed him to do and so he figures that given the master
has been away for a while. The master can't be coming back
anytime soon, so he takes the opportunity to do whatever he
wants, which of course, is goingto be his downfall.
(29:46):
This would be a sober warning tothe apostles for two specific
reasons. Firstly, this would serve as a
warning because it's telling them to, they need to resist the
temptation, to Lord, it over other Christians out of Pride.
And also, it's a warning for them, not to fall back into sin.
So really Jesus is telling his Apostles is giving them a pretty
strict warning. Don't abuse your freedom as Gym
(30:08):
Leaders, while the master is away, you must do the task that
is assigned for you. Verse 46, his master will come
on a day. He does not expect and at an
hour he does not know. Now, often in that culture
Masters would return without warning to check on their
property while there was no telephones or internet in that
culture. So you wouldn't actually know
(30:29):
when the master is coming. He would just show up one day
here, Jesus, again, affirms thathe the master will return one
day. That's affirmed all the way
through here. But again the teaching is that
his followers, even, the apostles will not know the
specific date or our. In fact, the teaching here is
that some disciples will be completely caught off guard when
he returns. We don't want to be in that
(30:50):
category. We want to be rich prepared for
his return. Jesus says that when the master
returns and comes at an hour, hedoes not know the master will
cut him off now. An translation has softened that
a bit, the lectionary says cut him off, but literally in Greek,
it says the master will. Cut him in pieces, it's fairly
graphic so it must be that in that culture.
(31:13):
Some Masters would literally kill their managers particularly
ones that were abusing their servants in this way.
So, perhaps, there's a referencehere to literal death.
And that kind of makes sense here.
Because this particular manager is clearly neglecting his role
very seriously. So it's a parallel to mortal
sin. Basically, it's someone who's
(31:34):
very seriously going against God's Will and So Jesus says
here, that he, the master will cut him in pieces because his
serious neglected, hit the role that Jesus has given them.
Now, we might be tempted to think that, that might be
stretching the parable a bit, too far that maybe Jesus isn't
particularly identifying, with that aspect of the parable.
He's not saying that Jesus himself is going to treat people
(31:57):
in this harsh way. Maybe it's just part of the
parable where it's, you know, the Master's in that culture in
general, would do quite severe things to their Unfaithful
managers. So we could For this to mean
that Jesus isn't going to literally cut anyone in pieces.
It's just a way of saying we need to take the responsibility
seriously because Jesus is our Master wants us to do the right
(32:20):
thing and he won't be happy if we don't do the right thing that
would make sense. But the next verse does make it
seem like Jesus is being quite literal that he will literally
punish people who don't do what he expects him to do in his
kingdom. Here's what he says in the next
phrase he will send Send him to the same fate as the Unfaithful
(32:41):
now, Matthews version rather than Unfaithful says Hypocrites.
So, here we have a clear teaching that those who believe
in Jesus and who are faithful for a while, particularly to
their task of shepherding God's people.
So particularly thinking of the Apostles here, those who do a
good job at that at the start, but who later get tired of it
and they stop doing God's. Will they will experience the
(33:02):
same Eternal fate as those who are Unfaithful, those who are
hypocrites Who does this primarily refer to who is Jesus
thinking of as Hypocrites? Or those who are supposed to be
doing the right thing and they don't do the right thing.
According to God, there's two main views of this, it could be
the Jesus is thinking of the Jewish leadership at the time
they were supposed to Shepherd God's people.
(33:24):
But what did they do? They literally killed the
prophets, they beat the apostlesand then God sends judgment on
them by destroying Jerusalem. So in that case it literally is
fulfilled. Jesus is the master who comes
back. Destroys the Jewish leadership
because they're not doing a goodjob and that would fit Matthews
version of how he tells this Parable, and the context of the
(33:46):
other Parables surrounding this in Matthews version.
So it could be referring to the Jewish leadership.
We could also say that here, when Jesus talks about
punishing, those who are Unfaithful and cutting them in
pieces, maybe it's a sober warning to Jesus or in Apostles
and the other leading disciples,basically, he's telling them,
they must not abuse. The flock, now that would fit,
(34:08):
well, With the context of what he has.
Literally just said about the burglar and the householder,
because the burglar in the householder was about those who know
the master is returning. And so, perhaps he's thinking of
Christians Christians who know the master, he's coming back,
they're negligent. Maybe it refers to both, maybe
refers to anyone who has given aleadership position in God's
(34:29):
Kingdom in some form and they abused their position.
Now again, we might be tempted to think that it's not referring
to hell, it's not referring to Eternal punishment, but Abstruse
this general idea that Jesus won't be happy with people, but
Matthews version of this, we can't get out of it.
Because Matthews version says that when the master finds the
servant being unfaithful he willreturn, He will send him to the
(34:52):
same fate as the Unfaithful. And then Matthews version says,
there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, so it has to
be a reference to help that's typically a reference to hell
now. So far Jesus has given this
Parable to his disciples and basically the main point is that
there's two different Kinds of servants for the kingdom and on
Judgment Day. The good servants will be sorted
(35:13):
from the bad servants and we have it here, a very sobering
warning, Christians need to always be ready for the return
of their Master, Jesus. Jesus is going to return one day
on Judgment Day, in a sudden andunexpected way.
And when he does a Christian, does not want to be caught doing
the opposite of what Jesus wants.
Otherwise, they're in danger of being cast into hell, that's
(35:34):
clearly the teaching here. And at a, minimum, it applies to
the Possible. Certainly a Hap's, it applies to
all Christians. In general, certainly, those who
are given responsibility over his flock, they cannot be
negligent with that. So one could say that.
What's the basic lesson here forus?
Never do anything that you will be ashamed of if Jesus caught
(35:54):
you in the act of doing it at his second coming as Christians,
we should never do that. Jesus has more to say here
though. It gets more interesting.
Verse 47, the servant, who knowswhat his master wants?
What it literally says, there isthe servant who knows his
master's will? So who's he thinking of his
thinking of Jesus disciples, those who know what God's expect
(36:15):
God's expectations are for the kingdom but has not even started
to carry out those wishes. And again, a better translation,
there would be, but they did notmake ready or act according to
his will, who would this refer to?
This would refer to Jesus His disciples, who know what they're
supposed to do, but they continually sin and they turn
away from God, after they followed him for a little while
(36:38):
so it's like they followed him around during his ministry.
Maybe at least for a little while, but they don't actually
follow his teachings after he's gone.
Jesus expected them to follow his teachings.
But they didn't and this matchespretty well with what Jesus says
in Matthew about. Not everyone who says to me,
Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom, but only those who do
the will who don't do, the will of my father who sent me.
(36:59):
Me. He says, Jesus, he says that of
these people those who know whatthe master wants, but do not
make ready or act, according to his will will receive many
strokes of the Lash and more literally.
There it says shall receive a severe beating.
Now, this group is probably parallel to the Unfaithful
(37:20):
manager. It's probably talking about the
same group of people and we knowthe Unfaithful manager ends up
in hell. And so, perhaps the meaning here
is shall receive a severe beating means to go to help
since the apostles were in a position of responsibility to
look after God's people. And perhaps, some of them have
been selfish about it and they have abused their position.
(37:42):
The teaching here is that those people will receive a harsh
condemnation on Judgment day andit could be referring to.
He'll certainly the context suggest that some people think
it's referring to Purgatory. It's referring to Christians who
should have done the right thingand they stayed in good
relationship with God. But they didn't do.
Really they didn't live the lifethat they were supposed to live
(38:02):
as Christian. That is certainly possible.
And there are some Scholars who think that that's what Jesus is
talking about when he says, they'll receive a severe
beating. It means they'll spend a lot of
time in purgatory so you will encounter that view.
I personally don't think that that's the case.
I think it's referring to hell because there's no indication
here that they're in God's friendship, still.
It seems like they're falling out of God's friendship.
(38:24):
But certainly the teaching here that we want to take away from
this as Catholics is that those who know what God wants but They
don't do it. They're going to be punished in
proportion to culpability. They are more culpable because
they knew the Master's will but they didn't do it.
So they're going to receive a harsher punishment.
That's the teaching here. Now, verse 48, Jesus is the one
who did not know now, who's thisgoing to refer to its those who
(38:48):
refer to the crowds in general, those who don't really
understand God's will, they not really privy to the mysteries of
the Kingdom? They just they don't fully
understand. So Jesus here is talking about a
group of people who did not know, but they deserve to be
beaten for what they have done or more.
Literally what they did deserveda beating.
So they're doing sinful actions.Basically, Jesus says that for
(39:10):
these people. Is who do sinful things but they
don't realize that they're sinful Things.
They will receive fewer Strokes or Thou shalt receive a light
beating. So this group of people receives
a less harsh punishment on Judgment Day.
Jesus goes on, when a man has a great, has had a great deal,
given him a great deal will be demanded of him and you can
(39:32):
translate that as everyone to whom much is, given much will be
required. This is one of Jesus favorite
phrases and he uses it in different contexts.
Hear it. Means that those who are given
leadership responsibilities in God's, people are God's church
and they abuse it, they will receive a harsher judgment than
those who didn't really know what God's will was but they
send anyway, a lot of Christiansmiss this, I don't like to talk
(39:55):
about this verse because they assume that all Sin is Sin and
every sin is equally bad. God's going to judge everyone
the exact same. If they commit the same sin
here, Jesus says that that's notthe case and element involved
in. God's judgment is, how much did
the person know where they All for this sin and this is
something that plays out even inhuman Law Courts, doesn't it?
(40:17):
People get less punishment if they were considered to not have
knowledge that they were doing the wrong thing.
God seems to work in the same way according to Jesus and then
Jesus adds an additional phrase here, when a man has had a great
deal, given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.
So the idea here seems to be intensified in this.
(40:38):
Last phrase, It's along the lines of this, those who have
been entrusted with a specific responsibility will receive an
even greater punishment. So, the warning here is to Jesus
disciples. He's answering Peters question
about, does this apply to us or to the crowds Jesus answering.
This last phrase is it applies doubly, so to you because you've
been given entrusted with a specific Authority, so you'll be
(41:01):
more culpable than the others. So Jesus has now answered Peters
question of who is this Parable for the basic answer to Peter's
question is it's for everyone but not everyone will be judged
by the same measure this. Verse teaches us that some will
receive more punishment than others on Judgement Day.
Even if they committed the same actions because one of the
(41:22):
things God will factor in is howmuch they knew.
So people will be punished on Judgement Day according to their
culpability and obviously this links in quite well with
Catholic teaching about salvation, Catholics believe.
That it's possible to go to heaven and to be saved if you
weren't a question or you weren't a Catholic and you
didn't know that you should be. And obviously, the teaching is a
(41:42):
bit more nuanced than that but this is one of the text which
informs that understanding god holds people accountable for
what they knew, not what they didn't know.
So that's the end of today's passage and you can hear this
next little section verses 49 to53.
You can hear that next Sunday. So, for the 20th, Sunday in
ordinary time in years, It's also read in week, 29 of
(42:06):
ordinary time as a weekday reading.
So let's finish today's episode with a couple of paragraphs from
the catechism. So this is the summary of the
church's teaching. So how does it link into what
we've heard today? Two paragraphs.
So, paragraph 764, this is aboutthe church, this Kingdom shines
hour before men in the word in the works and in the presence of
Christ to welcome. Jesus word is to welcome the
(42:29):
kingdom itself, the seed and beginning of the kingdom are the
little Flock Of Those whom Jesuscame together around him.
The flock who shepherd He is, they form Jesus true family to
Those whom, he thus gathered around him.
He taught a new way of acting and a prayer of their own.
So can hear the reference there to Little Flock.
It's a way of describing the Beginning Church paragraph 2849.
(42:53):
This is a commentary on the linefrom the Our Father lead us, not
into temptation, the Holy Spirit.
Constantly seeks to awaken us tokeep watch.
Finally this. Shouldn't takes on all its
dramatic meaning in relation to the Last Temptation of our
Earthly battle. It asks for final perseverance
low. I am coming like a thief
(43:13):
blessed. Is he?
Who is awake? So, that's a good place to
finish the podcast today. I hope you've learned something
new. It's been a longer one, and
we've looked at a part of the gospels, that's often not talked
about. So, if you've enjoyed today's
episode, if you've learnt something new, please share it
with someone else. We'll see you again tomorrow.
Hi everyone, welcome back to thepodcast where we take an
in-depth. Look at the gospel readings from
today's Catholic mass, and we'regoing to do a deep dive today
into Luke chapter 12. It's quite a long reading so
let's get straight into it. Luke chapter 12 verses 32 to 48.
Jesus said, to his disciples. There is no need to be afraid
(00:32):
Little Flock for it, has pleased, your father to give you
the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give
arms get yourselves purses. That do not wear out treasure.
That will not fail you in heaven, where no, Thief can
reach it and no moth, destroy itfor where your treasure is.
(00:53):
There will your heart be also. Say that you addressed for
action and have your lamps lit. Be like men, waiting for their
Master to return from the wedding Feast, ready to open the
door as soon as he comes and knocks happy those servants whom
the master finds awake when he comes.
I tell you, solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down
(01:16):
at table and wait on them. It may be in the second watch,
he comes or in the third, but happy those servants.
If he finds them ready, You may be quite sure of this, that if
the householder had known at what hour, the burglar would
come. He would not have.
Let anyone break through the wall of his house.
(01:36):
You two must stand ready. Because the son of man is coming
at an hour, you do not expect Peter said, Lord, do you mean
this Parable for us or for everyone the Lord replied what
sort of Steward then is faithfuland wise enough for the master
to place him over his household to give them their allowance of
(01:59):
food at the proper time, happy that servant, if his master's
arrival finds him at his employment.
I tell you truly, he will place him over everything, he owns.
But as for the servant who says to himself my master, He's
taking his time coming and sets about beating the men servants
and the maids and eating and drinking and getting drunk.
(02:21):
His master will come on a day. He does not expect and at an
hour, he does not know the master will cut him off and send
him to the same fate as the unfaithful.
The servant, who knows what his master wants but has not even
started to carry out. Those wishes were received, very
many strokes of the Lush, the one who did not know but
(02:45):
deserves to be beaten for what he has done will receive fewer
Strokes when a man has had a great deal, given him a great
deal will be demanded of him. When a man has had a great deal,
given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.
So that's how long reading from Luke chapter 12 and it's
(03:07):
possibly one. You haven't heard all that
often. There's some really interesting
teachings here of Jesus that areoften not talked about
particularly, these last ones about the master returning and
giving giving punishments to different groups of people.
So, we're going to look at this reading.
It will be a longer episode today.
Let's get straight into it. What's the context Jesus is
(03:29):
moving From Galilee to Judea forthe Final Phase of his ministry?
So he's actually getting pretty close to the end of his
ministry. His just started doing a long
sermon to his disciples and in the previous section he's had a
particular focus on not worryingabout Earthly Goods but instead
focusing on the Kingdom. So you can hear that previous
section. So, that's verses 22 to 34 as
(03:51):
bonus episodes of the podcast. Which you can access through the
patreon page. So we get to verse 32 now, Jesus
said to his disciples. Now, this second notice who it's
for this section of the speech is only for those who were
disciples those who were alreadyhis followers fear.
Not, or you can translate that there is no need to be afraid.
(04:12):
And that's kind of comforting words from Jesus fear.
Not, now, in the context. Jesus here, means something like
this, don't stress about gettinginto the kingdom.
If you God's will he will grant you, the kingdom.
That's sort of what he's saying,and then he calls them little
flock. So really tender words here, you
can sort of see Jesus as the Good Shepherd coming out,
(04:34):
calling his disciples, his little flock.
So here he speaking to his smallBeginning Church, as God's
people that he cares for under God, daily cares, for fear, not
little flock for it. Has, please your father to give
you the kingdom. Another translation there is for
it is your father's, good. Pleasure to give you the
kingdom. Kingdom notice that Jesus says
(04:56):
to the disciples, God is your father, it is, please your
father. So this is an intimate knowledge
between the disciples and the father God desires earnestly to
give good gifts to his children.And in particular, he wants his
children to have access to the kingdom of God, and to receive
all the blessings of the Kingdom.
Now, that would include both this life and the next.
(05:17):
And so Jesus, here is really saying to his disciples don't
stress. If you follow God's, will he
will give you the kingdom. But now Jesus is going to put
some conditions on what is required to enter the Kingdom.
So it's always in the context ofif you follow God's will, you
will enter the kingdom and now he's going to spell out what
that involves verse 33. Sell your possessions and give
(05:39):
arms. So that's Jesus commandment to
his disciples, sell your possessions and give arms.
Now, in this case, the purpose of selling the possessions is
not just to get rid of money andto get rid of attachments, to
money. But that is obviously a part of
it. But primarily so that they then
have money to give to the poor. Sell your possessions and give
(05:59):
arms. So giving to the poor, it's a
key requirement of entering the kingdom, even for us today as
Christians, and it's something Jesus constantly emphasizes
obviously selling your possessions also severs
attachments to worldly wealth and Jesus here, is he saying to
his followers? They're not to have Earthly
Treasures as their priority which of course is a genuine
(06:21):
Temptation in their society. And in our Society today.
So Jesus here is very much continuing his early theme of
not being attached to possessions which is what he's
been saying in the verses leading up to this, then he says
get yourselves purses that do not wear out.
So in that culture, treasures and persons would eventually
(06:42):
wear away, Motz would eat away cloth and rust would eat away at
metal. So whether it was expensive
clothes or money, eventually, those things would fade and so
Jesus says, Rather than focusingon those get yourself Treasures
that, don't wear out treasure, that will not fail you in
heaven, where no, Thief can reach it and no moth destroy it.
(07:05):
So, in that culture, a person who had possessions would often
try to hide his treasure somewhere in the house, but
then, a thief could come in and break, break in and steal it.
So, Jesus Point here, is those Earthly Treasures will fade or
they'll be stolen, so instead, they need to focus on other.
Treasure Earthly treasure might seem valuable, but it's
Temporary and it's perishable. Whereas he's telling them to
(07:28):
store up Treasures in Heaven, which will not be destroyed.
Now, this is in contrast to the rich fool.
The Jesus mentioned in verse 21 of this chapter who specific
specifically said to have storedup treasure for himself and he's
described as a fool. Jesus says don't store up,
treasure for yourself on Earth. Focus on storing up, treasure in
heaven. So he's saying that Christians
(07:49):
priority in life. Should be to ensure that they
make it to the kingdom of God. Where the true treasure is the
treasure, which awaits the faithful disciple in heaven,
will never corrupt. Its Eternal.
So, there is a an idea of an eternal reward being in view
here for those who reach the Kingdom.
So this idea of arms giving storing up, treasure in heaven.
(08:11):
Might seem a bit strange to us, but it's very much an Old
Testament idea, and in particular Jesus might have in
mind here to deuterocanonical books from the wisdom
literature. So going to quote, here from two
books that a lot of Christian's don't have in their Bibles, but
it is part of the Catholic Canon.
So sirach 29:12 says, store up arms, giving in your Treasury,
(08:33):
and it will save you from every evil.
So you can hear the Echoes theirof Jesus teaching.
And then similarly, in tobert Chapter 4, verses 7 to 10, give
arms from your possessions, you will be storing up.
A good lie, treasure for yourself against the day of
adversity, for arms, giving delivers from death, So there we
(08:54):
have two quotes from a couple ofbooks of the Bible that you
don't often hear from. But as Catholics, we believe
that the scripture and certainly, Jesus is continuing
to Echo those similar themes arms, giving help store up
treasure. Now, does this verse imply that
there will be actual treasure orrewards in heaven, which come in
different amounts? Is it saying that some people
will get lots of treasure? And some people will get a
(09:16):
little bit of treasure dependingon what they do.
In this life it could be not necessarily maybe he's just
speaking about treasure in the In a general sense to mean
something like reaching the kingdom of God, but I think the
context would suggest that Jesusis thinking of heavenly rewards
for righteous Deeds. Which is what he's been talking
about in the previous section and certainly there's other New
(09:38):
Testament verses which point in the direction of you get certain
rewards in heaven, in proportionto the good actions that you've
done for the kingdom of God. So that's something we've talked
about elsewhere in the podcast. Verse 34.
Jesus says this famous line for where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also. So, this is a very important
(10:00):
theological and psychological principle.
The catechism actually unpacks. This quite a bit now, to
understand this, where your treasure is there, your heart
will be. Also, the first thing to say is
that heart doesn't mean place ofemotions.
That actually means something like will in the Bible, your
heart is the place where the decisions are made.
So it encompasses attentions a And commitments.
(10:23):
So, therefore, this phrase whereyour treasure is there, your
heart will be. Also, basically means something
like this, whatever you value, will tend to become your master.
So Jesus is saying those who have Earthly materials as their
first priority, can't really serve the kingdom of God,
because they're eventually goingto be enslaved psychologically,
to Earthly possessions. On the other hand, those who
(10:45):
value, the kingdom of God, aboveeverything else will have their
wills and commitment directed toit.
So this is roughly parallel to something else Jesus says, which
is you cannot serve, both God and money.
It's just the bait. Same basic teaching here.
So we get to verse 35 today. Jesus is now continuing the same
(11:06):
theme of living. Your life directed towards
heaven and he's going to focus particularly on telling his
disciples to be ready for his coming at the final judgment.
The cultural context is going tobe important here because he's
going to jump straight into talking about.
Things. Now, in that culture weddings
were very important and they were quite elaborate.
There was a lot of processes associated with doing a wedding
(11:29):
correctly, one of the aspects ofit.
And obviously, Jesus talks aboutother aspects during his
ministry. He loves to talk about weddings
as he often incorporates that into his Parables.
But here he's talking about whathappens after the wedding.
So in that culture, after a wedding ceremony and the feast
the groom would return home often at night time.
(11:49):
And the ID here seems Be that when the groom returned home at
night time, there would be servants waiting for him to
return, and they had lamps. So he could see his way and
probably his, his bride would bewith him as well.
So Servants of their with a lampso they can see their way.
And then when he gets into the house, they would serve him.
(12:11):
The servants would prepare food for him and wait on him.
Now, the servants in that culture on the wedding night,
they would typically have a rough idea of when the groom was
returning. So they would know approximately
When the wedding was going to finish, but they didn't know
exactly when the wedding was going to be finished.
So they had to wait for the groom to return at any moment
that should sound familiar to you verse 35.
(12:33):
Jesus says to them, see that youaren't dressed for action and
have your lamps lit or more, literally let your girl loins be
girded and your lamps burning. So just like wedding servants
have to stay alert with their lamps, burning for the imminent,
arrival of their Master, the ID here and the OJ's is drawing.
Is that the Christians disciple should always be doing?
(12:55):
Good works and prepared for the return of Jesus, the Messiah.
They have to be ready all the time and Jesus, he says, good,
your loins interesting phrase, it's an Old Testament phrase and
basically in that culture, that's literally what they would
have to do to get ready for action.
They would gather up their anklelength, robes, and they would
tuck it in at the waist with a belt and that was called good in
(13:17):
your loins so that you are readyfor service or travel.
So it was So, you get your clothes out of the way, or
you're long clothes out of the way so that you can actually do
something. So, it's an Old Testament image
for being ready. Gird, your loins.
Now, some Scholars think there might be a connection here with
Passover. Jesus might be subtly alluding
to Passover, and this would certainly fit with the way.
(13:38):
Luke does things, Luke doesn't come right out and do explicit
quotes from the Old Testament, like Matthew does, Luke seems to
include sayings of Jesus that are a little more subtle.
So, in the Passover on the nightof the first Passover, when they
came out of Egypt, the Israelites were told to eat the
Passover with their loins Girt, and they had to be ready to
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leave at any moment. You can check that out.
In Exodus chapter 12 verse 11. Now the wedding the image we get
here in Jesus parable or mini Parable is that the wedding is
happening at nighttime. Well, the original Passover
happened at night time too, so the fact that they both occur at
night and that Jesus says, gird your loins in both.
Well, God says that the Exodus and Jesus says it here, that
(14:21):
might be suggesting a connectionbetween the Passover.
The first one and Jesus return as kind of like a new Passover.
And there's a further clue laterin the passage.
That will look at to Jesus goes on verse 36.
Be like men waiting for their Master to return from the
wedding Feast, ready to open thedoor as soon as he comes back
(14:41):
and Knocks. So just like the groom, could
return it pretty much anytime inthe night, Jesus can return it
anytime. That's what he's teaching.
His disciples and the true Christian.
The true disciple will be prepared to welcome him at any
time. Once again, we see this theme
Here of being ready or living your life, according to Heaven,
focusing on Heaven, not on worldly things because in the
(15:03):
end it's only Heaven, that counts.
Jesus now makes a transition, the imagery now changes to the
meal inside the house. So now the groom is inside the
house and the fact that there's now a mention of a meal, Jesus
might be referring to the Messianic banquet, that was a
common Jewish image for heaven. You can see that in Luke 13, so,
(15:23):
in the next chapter, Jesus describes The day of judgment
and those who enter Heaven as reclining at table in the
kingdom of God. So the mention here of the groom
sitting down for a meal, might have that same idea of a
Messianic banquet in mind as well.
That was a common Jewish way of describing Heaven.
Verse 37 happy. Are those servants whom the
(15:45):
master finds awake when he comesthat happy can be translated
blessed blessed those servants whom the master finds awake when
he comes, they can be translatedfavorite as well.
Favored or fortunate. So just as the groom will be
pleased with those who are actually awake and ready for
him. When he arrives home, Jesus will
be pleased with the Christians. He finds doing God's will when
(16:08):
he returns Jesus wants Christians to do God's will.
That's what he expects. They will be the favored ones on
Judgment Day. Jesus goes on, I tell you,
solemnly, or you can have that as truly, truly, I say to you,
which means Jesus is signaling his about to say something
important, he will put on an apron.
(16:29):
Now, Jesus is talking here aboutthe master.
So, the master, when he finds the servants doing good, when he
arrives, the master will put on an apron and literally it says
the gird himself. Now Jesus is reversing the
expectations. The master is good and himself
to serve the servants. Instead of the servants serving
the master, that would be the typical way that.
(16:49):
It works in that culture, the servants, get ready to serve the
master. But here, Jesus teaches that he
himself the Messiah on Judgment Day.
Will serve those who have been faithful disciples, interesting
image, isn't it? He goes on, he says the master
will sit them down at table and wait on them.
You can translate that as serve them, the master will serve the
(17:11):
servants. So for the faithful disciples,
who do God's will in their lives, At the Judgment Day, or
when Jesus returns, They will receive a reward.
They will get into the kingdom of heaven and a way of looking
at this, according to Jesus, is that Jesus the Messiah will
serve them. Imagine how shocking this would
be for his hearers, that's not the way.
(17:32):
It was done in that culture, servants, waited on Masters, not
the other way around, but that'swhat Jesus says, he will do for
his Faithful Servants on Judgment Day.
Now he's literally see Jesus through this later in his life
at the Last Supper. Literally washes the disciples
feet. You can see that in John chapter
13 verses 4 and 5. Now, in fact, even later in
(17:54):
Luke's gospel in chapter 22, Jesus says to his disciples.
I am among you as the one who serves.
So Jesus himself is the servant of his faithful disciples.
He says that verse 38 Jesus finishes the parable.
By saying it may be in the second what she comes or in the
third. Now, when's the second and third
(18:17):
watch. So the second watch according to
the Jewish Reckoning would be from 10:00 p.m. till 2 a.m.
And the Third Watch was from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. so the groom
could return from their wedding at any time in the night.
And the point Jesus is making isthat he could even return quite
late. It might even be in the second,
or third, watch of the night, and it's not entirely certain
(18:39):
when the master will return. But of course, the servants know
he's going to return at some stage in the night.
They just Exactly win and it's entirely possible.
He could come quite late in the night.
Likewise Jesus as the Messiah could return on at his second
coming at any time in the New Covenant age, and that is
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certain that he will come, but it's not entirely clear when it
could actually take quite a longtime.
And from the perspective of his first century audience, it has
taken quite a long time for Jesus to return.
And that's why Jesus says, you don't know.
When it's going to happen, you need to be prepared at any
moment. And, of course, this fits in
with lots of other things. Jesus says, Interestingly, some
(19:21):
Jewish traditions of the time ofJesus believed that the Messiah
would come during the meal on Passover night.
So, the Jews celebrate Passover every year and there was a
Jewish tradition that the Messiah would arrive on a
Passover night. So there's another link with
Passover interesting, isn't it? That's not in the Bible though?
So that might just be a Jewish thought at the time, that might
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not be correct. Jesus, finishes by saying to his
disciples happy those servants if he finds them ready, okay?
That's the message. He wants his disciples to have
Christian disciples need to be prepared for Jesus return at any
time. By this point, many people who
had come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
(20:03):
They probably expected the coming of the kingdom of God,
and the final judgment all to happen very soon.
That was part of the Jewish belief, when the Messiah comes,
he will bring in the Kingdom straight away.
If we can keep that in mind, that will help set context for
what Jesus is about to say, because what he's going to say
here is that really? There's no way to know when the
master is returning to do, the final judgment, Jesus is going
(20:25):
to say that rather than the focus should be on.
Repaired all the time because wedon't know when the master will
come and in fact, the master could take a long time indeed.
Jesus hasn't even returned yet. At the time, we record this
podcast verse 39. Jesus said to his disciples
notice the audience here. He says, no this or you may be
quite sure of this now, that's in contrast to what they're not
(20:50):
sure about. Which is, they don't know, the
day, the Lord is coming. They don't know the a, the day
or the hour, but here Jesus says, no, this you may be quite
sure of this that If the householder had known at what
hour, the burglar would come. Now we've got a bit of a mini
Parable here. So Jesus is saying that in that
culture, if you knew what our you were going to be robbed in
the night and in fact, some manuscripts at this point add he
(21:12):
would have been awake. So if the household I had known
at what hour, the burglar would come, he would have been awake
and he would not have, let anyone break through the wall of
his house. And in that culture burglars,
would quietly break a hole in the wall, in order to get in
while everyone was sleeping, Would break a hole in the wall
steal things and then go out that same hole and obviously you
(21:33):
would want to prevent that from happening.
If you knew what time the burglar was coming, you would be
awake and not let him do that. Verse 40, Jesus says you two
must stand ready because the sonof man is coming at an hour, you
do not expect notice here. Jesus calls himself, the son of
man and previously has been talking about the master, but
now it transitions to the son ofman and that's himself.
(21:56):
Jesus is both the master and TheLord is what he's called In this
passage as well. And he's also the son of man,
he's all of those things. So, Jesus is giving an analogy
here to make his point clearer. He says, if you knew when in the
night, a burglar would be coming.
You would be ready for him in the same way Christian disciples
can't slack off. Because the reality is that, the
(22:18):
son of man could come at any time, therefore, they need to be
ready at any time. The disciples cannot fall
asleep, they need to be ready all the time when the king
returns. His kingdom that would be Jesus,
he's going to judge his servants.
So they need to be ready for hisreturn at any time.
Just as we do today, we need to be ready for Jesus return at any
time. Now, some people find it a bit
(22:40):
disturbing here, that Jesus would compare himself to a
burglar even though Paul does use a similar expression in 1
Thessalonians, 5:2. He says, the same thing that
Jesus is kind of like a thief inthe night.
We shouldn't be too disturbed bythis.
We need to be careful when dealing with analogies Jesus is
not saying That he and the burglar the same in every
(23:01):
respect, he's not saying that he's just saying they're the
same in one respect, which use he and a burglar both come at a
time that they're not expected. That's the point he's making So,
Jesus gives that many Parable and now Peter says, something
really interesting. And this is actually only
mentioned in Luke's gospel, it'sof really interesting lines.
So Peter speaks up here on behalf of all the apostles,
(23:22):
probably he says, Lord, do you mean this Parable for us or for
everyone? It's a fascinating question and
it's going to have an even more fascinating answer.
So Jesus has just told this manyparable about the burglar
breaking into the house and Peter is wondering, do you mean
this Parable for us or for everyone?
(23:42):
Now firstly the question he askswe can learn several things.
From the fact that he asks the question firstly, Jesus gives
some teachings that are only forhis disciples, not for the
crowds in general. Peter recognizes that.
And that's why he asked. The question is his wandering,
Jesus, is this one of these teachings that only makes sense
to us, or is it for the whole crowd?
Often, that's what his Parables alike.
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So, the disciples recognize thatJesus gives them different
instructions compared to the crowds.
And also we learned from this, The Parables generally are given
to the crowds as they are early in Jesus ministry in Galilee, he
speaks Parables to the crowds, typically Jesus doesn't speak
Parables to the disciples, he just speaks very plainly to
them. Maybe that's why Peters confused
(24:26):
here. Because Jesus has just given a
parable, that sounds like it's only for Christian Believers.
And yet Jesus doesn't typically use Parables.
When he's speaking plainly to Christians, maybe Peters
thinking here when he thinks about the parable may be paid at
his thinking. Surely we the apostles are your
Faithful Servants and you won't judge us.
When you return you're going to run, you're going to judge the
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unbelievers, right? Maybe that's his thinking.
He's a bit worried by the soundsof Jesus many Parable here at
sounds like Christians are goingto be judged when they're when
Jesus returns and maybe Pete is a bit worried about that as
well. See Jesus is going to respond to
Peters question by giving another Parable and this Parable
is the parable of the Unfaithfulslave Jesus.
(25:12):
And started Peters question is going to be answered in the
parable. And it's going to be something
like this. Judgment day is coming for
everyone, but people will be judged individually based on
what they knew. And obviously this is a very
Catholic principal as well. So Peters question was, do you
mean this Parable for us or for everyone?
(25:32):
And Jesus basic answer is both but people are going to be
judged individually based on what they knew.
So Jesus starts the parable of the Unfaithful slave verse 42.
To what sort of Steward then is faithful and wise enough for the
master to place him over his household, to give them their
allowance of food. At the proper time.
(25:52):
What's Jesus talking about here?He's setting up the parable and
in that culture. Royal courts is as well as some
rich people. They would have many personal
servants often the master would go away and they would appoint a
head servant or a manager to be in charge of the other servants
and that manager was entrusted with doing things like feeding
the other. Evans and looking after them
(26:13):
Joseph in the Old Testament is agood example of a head servant.
He became the specifically he's called the head servant in
Genesis 39 and he had the job ofDistributing the food allowance
to the other servants at the proper time.
What's Jesus mean, at this pointin the parable, who does the
head servant represented? Who are the servants, the
manager, the head servant is probably supposed to represent
(26:36):
the apostles in particular. Jesus, clearly has given them
charge over the other. Christians in the church.
So he's given them charge over the household of God, and he
knows that they are going to distribute the word and the
sacraments. So they're literally going to be
the managers of the Kingdom. They have leadership positions
over restored, Israel. And Jesus.
(26:57):
Here is saying that because they're faithful, they're going
to be the leaders of the church and he's expecting that they
exercise, their leadership Faithfully on his behalf.
He's the master who's going to go away for a while back to
heaven and he's left. Is in charge of his church that
will be the apostles verse 43, happy that servant if his
(27:17):
master's arrival finds him at this employment.
Now the word therefore happy canbe translated blessed or
fortunate. So the teaching here is that if
the master returns and finds themanager doing what the master
asked him to do, the master willbe pleased and that makes sense,
verse 44. I tell you truly, he will place
(27:37):
him over everything, he owns. So the master would often, Often
leave part of his inheritance, for his most Faithful Servants.
That's actually what they were doing that culture.
So similarly Jesus is saying that Jesus appointed leaders,
the apostles, if they do their job well and if he finds them
doing their job. Well, when he returns, they are
going to receive great rewards in the kingdom.
(28:00):
And obviously, this is somethingJesus teaches, various places in
the gospels. Notice what Jesus is saying here
about what counts as doing the work that he either master.
Preparedness for the Masters return, it doesn't involve
sitting at the window peering for the first glimpse of the
master, or looking at the signs of the times.
(28:22):
That's not really the preparedness that Jesus has in
mind here being prepared for theMasters return is doing the
works that he wants them to do doing the things that he's set.
He's given them to do verse 45. Jesus is now going to flip it
around, but as for the servant who says to himself, my master
is taking his time coming. Or you can translate that my
(28:43):
master is delayed in coming. Now already, there we have this
hint. That Jesus is going to be away
for a while because in the parable the the servant thinks
the master has already been awayfor a little while.
So the servant says to himself, my master is delaying and he
sets about beating the men servants and the made and eating
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and drinking and getting drunk. So this manager Is an example of
someone who's slacking off. He's not doing the works at his
master expects. In fact, he's beating the other
servants and he's getting drunk.So it seems that he's decided he
doesn't really want to do the job.
The master has appointed him to do, he could be taking advantage
of the position. Maybe the you could say the
(29:25):
benefits without the responsibilities.
Maybe he's doing that or maybe he's at the point where his sick
of it maybe it's hard tiresome work doing the work that he's
appointed him to do and so he figures that given the master
has been away for a while. The master can't be coming back
anytime soon, so he takes the opportunity to do whatever he
wants, which of course, is goingto be his downfall.
(29:46):
This would be a sober warning tothe apostles for two specific
reasons. Firstly, this would serve as a
warning because it's telling them to, they need to resist the
temptation, to Lord, it over other Christians out of Pride.
And also, it's a warning for them, not to fall back into sin.
So really Jesus is telling his Apostles is giving them a pretty
strict warning. Don't abuse your freedom as Gym
(30:08):
Leaders, while the master is away, you must do the task that
is assigned for you. Verse 46, his master will come
on a day. He does not expect and at an
hour he does not know. Now, often in that culture
Masters would return without warning to check on their
property while there was no telephones or internet in that
culture. So you wouldn't actually know
(30:29):
when the master is coming. He would just show up one day
here, Jesus, again, affirms thathe the master will return one
day. That's affirmed all the way
through here. But again the teaching is that
his followers, even, the apostles will not know the
specific date or our. In fact, the teaching here is
that some disciples will be completely caught off guard when
he returns. We don't want to be in that
(30:50):
category. We want to be rich prepared for
his return. Jesus says that when the master
returns and comes at an hour, hedoes not know the master will
cut him off now. An translation has softened that
a bit, the lectionary says cut him off, but literally in Greek,
it says the master will. Cut him in pieces, it's fairly
graphic so it must be that in that culture.
(31:13):
Some Masters would literally kill their managers particularly
ones that were abusing their servants in this way.
So, perhaps, there's a referencehere to literal death.
And that kind of makes sense here.
Because this particular manager is clearly neglecting his role
very seriously. So it's a parallel to mortal
sin. Basically, it's someone who's
(31:34):
very seriously going against God's Will and So Jesus says
here, that he, the master will cut him in pieces because his
serious neglected, hit the role that Jesus has given them.
Now, we might be tempted to think that, that might be
stretching the parable a bit, too far that maybe Jesus isn't
particularly identifying, with that aspect of the parable.
He's not saying that Jesus himself is going to treat people
(31:57):
in this harsh way. Maybe it's just part of the
parable where it's, you know, the Master's in that culture in
general, would do quite severe things to their Unfaithful
managers. So we could For this to mean
that Jesus isn't going to literally cut anyone in pieces.
It's just a way of saying we need to take the responsibility
seriously because Jesus is our Master wants us to do the right
(32:20):
thing and he won't be happy if we don't do the right thing that
would make sense. But the next verse does make it
seem like Jesus is being quite literal that he will literally
punish people who don't do what he expects him to do in his
kingdom. Here's what he says in the next
phrase he will send Send him to the same fate as the Unfaithful
(32:41):
now, Matthews version rather than Unfaithful says Hypocrites.
So, here we have a clear teaching that those who believe
in Jesus and who are faithful for a while, particularly to
their task of shepherding God's people.
So particularly thinking of the Apostles here, those who do a
good job at that at the start, but who later get tired of it
and they stop doing God's. Will they will experience the
(33:02):
same Eternal fate as those who are Unfaithful, those who are
hypocrites Who does this primarily refer to who is Jesus
thinking of as Hypocrites? Or those who are supposed to be
doing the right thing and they don't do the right thing.
According to God, there's two main views of this, it could be
the Jesus is thinking of the Jewish leadership at the time
they were supposed to Shepherd God's people.
(33:24):
But what did they do? They literally killed the
prophets, they beat the apostlesand then God sends judgment on
them by destroying Jerusalem. So in that case it literally is
fulfilled. Jesus is the master who comes
back. Destroys the Jewish leadership
because they're not doing a goodjob and that would fit Matthews
version of how he tells this Parable, and the context of the
(33:46):
other Parables surrounding this in Matthews version.
So it could be referring to the Jewish leadership.
We could also say that here, when Jesus talks about
punishing, those who are Unfaithful and cutting them in
pieces, maybe it's a sober warning to Jesus or in Apostles
and the other leading disciples,basically, he's telling them,
they must not abuse. The flock, now that would fit,
(34:08):
well, With the context of what he has.
Literally just said about the burglar and the householder,
because the burglar in the householder was about those who know
the master is returning. And so, perhaps he's thinking of
Christians Christians who know the master, he's coming back,
they're negligent. Maybe it refers to both, maybe
refers to anyone who has given aleadership position in God's
(34:29):
Kingdom in some form and they abused their position.
Now again, we might be tempted to think that it's not referring
to hell, it's not referring to Eternal punishment, but Abstruse
this general idea that Jesus won't be happy with people, but
Matthews version of this, we can't get out of it.
Because Matthews version says that when the master finds the
servant being unfaithful he willreturn, He will send him to the
(34:52):
same fate as the Unfaithful. And then Matthews version says,
there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, so it has to
be a reference to help that's typically a reference to hell
now. So far Jesus has given this
Parable to his disciples and basically the main point is that
there's two different Kinds of servants for the kingdom and on
Judgment Day. The good servants will be sorted
(35:13):
from the bad servants and we have it here, a very sobering
warning, Christians need to always be ready for the return
of their Master, Jesus. Jesus is going to return one day
on Judgment Day, in a sudden andunexpected way.
And when he does a Christian, does not want to be caught doing
the opposite of what Jesus wants.
Otherwise, they're in danger of being cast into hell, that's
(35:34):
clearly the teaching here. And at a, minimum, it applies to
the Possible. Certainly a Hap's, it applies to
all Christians. In general, certainly, those who
are given responsibility over his flock, they cannot be
negligent with that. So one could say that.
What's the basic lesson here forus?
Never do anything that you will be ashamed of if Jesus caught
(35:54):
you in the act of doing it at his second coming as Christians,
we should never do that. Jesus has more to say here
though. It gets more interesting.
Verse 47, the servant, who knowswhat his master wants?
What it literally says, there isthe servant who knows his
master's will? So who's he thinking of his
thinking of Jesus disciples, those who know what God's expect
(36:15):
God's expectations are for the kingdom but has not even started
to carry out those wishes. And again, a better translation,
there would be, but they did notmake ready or act according to
his will, who would this refer to?
This would refer to Jesus His disciples, who know what they're
supposed to do, but they continually sin and they turn
away from God, after they followed him for a little while
(36:38):
so it's like they followed him around during his ministry.
Maybe at least for a little while, but they don't actually
follow his teachings after he's gone.
Jesus expected them to follow his teachings.
But they didn't and this matchespretty well with what Jesus says
in Matthew about. Not everyone who says to me,
Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom, but only those who do
the will who don't do, the will of my father who sent me.
(36:59):
Me. He says, Jesus, he says that of
these people those who know whatthe master wants, but do not
make ready or act, according to his will will receive many
strokes of the Lash and more literally.
There it says shall receive a severe beating.
Now, this group is probably parallel to the Unfaithful
(37:20):
manager. It's probably talking about the
same group of people and we knowthe Unfaithful manager ends up
in hell. And so, perhaps the meaning here
is shall receive a severe beating means to go to help
since the apostles were in a position of responsibility to
look after God's people. And perhaps, some of them have
been selfish about it and they have abused their position.
(37:42):
The teaching here is that those people will receive a harsh
condemnation on Judgment day andit could be referring to.
He'll certainly the context suggest that some people think
it's referring to Purgatory. It's referring to Christians who
should have done the right thingand they stayed in good
relationship with God. But they didn't do.
Really they didn't live the lifethat they were supposed to live
(38:02):
as Christian. That is certainly possible.
And there are some Scholars who think that that's what Jesus is
talking about when he says, they'll receive a severe
beating. It means they'll spend a lot of
time in purgatory so you will encounter that view.
I personally don't think that that's the case.
I think it's referring to hell because there's no indication
here that they're in God's friendship, still.
It seems like they're falling out of God's friendship.
(38:24):
But certainly the teaching here that we want to take away from
this as Catholics is that those who know what God wants but They
don't do it. They're going to be punished in
proportion to culpability. They are more culpable because
they knew the Master's will but they didn't do it.
So they're going to receive a harsher punishment.
That's the teaching here. Now, verse 48, Jesus is the one
who did not know now, who's thisgoing to refer to its those who
(38:48):
refer to the crowds in general, those who don't really
understand God's will, they not really privy to the mysteries of
the Kingdom? They just they don't fully
understand. So Jesus here is talking about a
group of people who did not know, but they deserve to be
beaten for what they have done or more.
Literally what they did deserveda beating.
So they're doing sinful actions.Basically, Jesus says that for
(39:10):
these people. Is who do sinful things but they
don't realize that they're sinful Things.
They will receive fewer Strokes or Thou shalt receive a light
beating. So this group of people receives
a less harsh punishment on Judgment Day.
Jesus goes on, when a man has a great, has had a great deal,
given him a great deal will be demanded of him and you can
(39:32):
translate that as everyone to whom much is, given much will be
required. This is one of Jesus favorite
phrases and he uses it in different contexts.
Hear it. Means that those who are given
leadership responsibilities in God's, people are God's church
and they abuse it, they will receive a harsher judgment than
those who didn't really know what God's will was but they
send anyway, a lot of Christiansmiss this, I don't like to talk
(39:55):
about this verse because they assume that all Sin is Sin and
every sin is equally bad. God's going to judge everyone
the exact same. If they commit the same sin
here, Jesus says that that's notthe case and element involved
in. God's judgment is, how much did
the person know where they All for this sin and this is
something that plays out even inhuman Law Courts, doesn't it?
(40:17):
People get less punishment if they were considered to not have
knowledge that they were doing the wrong thing.
God seems to work in the same way according to Jesus and then
Jesus adds an additional phrase here, when a man has had a great
deal, given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.
So the idea here seems to be intensified in this.
(40:38):
Last phrase, It's along the lines of this, those who have
been entrusted with a specific responsibility will receive an
even greater punishment. So, the warning here is to Jesus
disciples. He's answering Peters question
about, does this apply to us or to the crowds Jesus answering.
This last phrase is it applies doubly, so to you because you've
been given entrusted with a specific Authority, so you'll be
(41:01):
more culpable than the others. So Jesus has now answered Peters
question of who is this Parable for the basic answer to Peter's
question is it's for everyone but not everyone will be judged
by the same measure this. Verse teaches us that some will
receive more punishment than others on Judgement Day.
Even if they committed the same actions because one of the
(41:22):
things God will factor in is howmuch they knew.
So people will be punished on Judgement Day according to their
culpability and obviously this links in quite well with
Catholic teaching about salvation, Catholics believe.
That it's possible to go to heaven and to be saved if you
weren't a question or you weren't a Catholic and you
didn't know that you should be. And obviously, the teaching is a
(41:42):
bit more nuanced than that but this is one of the text which
informs that understanding god holds people accountable for
what they knew, not what they didn't know.
So that's the end of today's passage and you can hear this
next little section verses 49 to53.
You can hear that next Sunday. So, for the 20th, Sunday in
ordinary time in years, It's also read in week, 29 of
(42:06):
ordinary time as a weekday reading.
So let's finish today's episode with a couple of paragraphs from
the catechism. So this is the summary of the
church's teaching. So how does it link into what
we've heard today? Two paragraphs.
So, paragraph 764, this is aboutthe church, this Kingdom shines
hour before men in the word in the works and in the presence of
Christ to welcome. Jesus word is to welcome the
(42:29):
kingdom itself, the seed and beginning of the kingdom are the
little Flock Of Those whom Jesuscame together around him.
The flock who shepherd He is, they form Jesus true family to
Those whom, he thus gathered around him.
He taught a new way of acting and a prayer of their own.
So can hear the reference there to Little Flock.
It's a way of describing the Beginning Church paragraph 2849.
(42:53):
This is a commentary on the linefrom the Our Father lead us, not
into temptation, the Holy Spirit.
Constantly seeks to awaken us tokeep watch.
Finally this. Shouldn't takes on all its
dramatic meaning in relation to the Last Temptation of our
Earthly battle. It asks for final perseverance
low. I am coming like a thief
(43:13):
blessed. Is he?
Who is awake? So, that's a good place to
finish the podcast today. I hope you've learned something
new. It's been a longer one, and
we've looked at a part of the gospels, that's often not talked
about. So, if you've enjoyed today's
episode, if you've learnt something new, please share it
with someone else. We'll see you again tomorrow.
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