Luke 12:35-53 | The Return of the Servant King

Now let's turn in our Bibles to Luke 12.

We're reading from verses 35- 53.

So that's Luke 12:es 35 to 53.

Be dressed ready for service and keep

your lamps burning like servants waiting

for their master to return from a

wedding banquet. so that when he comes

and knocks, they can immediately open

the door for him. It will be good for

those servants whose master finds them

watching when he comes.

Truly, I tell you, he will dress himself

to serve, and he will make them recline

at the table and will come and wait on

them.

It will be good for those servants whose

master finds them ready, even if he

comes in the middle of the night or

towards daybreak. But understand this,

if the owner of the house had known at

what hour the thief was coming, he would

not have let his house be broken into.

You must also be ready because the son

of man will come at an hour when you do

not expect him."

Peter asked, "Lord, are you telling us

telling the parable to us or to

everyone?"

The Lord answered, "Who then is the

faithful and wise manager whom puts the

master in charge of his servants to give

them their food allowance at the proper

time? It will be good for that servant

whom the master finds doing so when he

returns. Truly, I tell you, he will put

him in charge of all his possessions."

But suppose the servant says to himself,

"My master is taking a long time in

coming." and then begins to beat the

other servants, both men and women, and

to eat and drink and get drunk.

The master of that servant will come on

a day when he does not expect him, and

in an hour he's not aware of. He will

cut him to pieces and assign him a place

with the unbelievers.

The servant who knows the master's will

and does not get ready or does not do

what the master wants will be beaten

with many blows. But the one who does

not know and does things deserving of

punishment will be beaten with few

blows.

From everyone who has been given much,

much will be demanded. And from the one

who has been entrusted with much, much

more will be asked.

I have come to bring fire on the earth,

and how I wish it were already kindled,

but I have a baptism to undergo. And

what constraint I am under until it is

completed. Do you think that I came to

bring peace on earth? No, I tell you,

but division.

From now on, there will be five in one

family, divided against each other,

three against two, and two against

three. They will be divided. Father

against son and son against father,

mother against daughter and daughter

against mother. Mother-in-law against

daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law

against mother-in-law.

>> [snorts]

>> Thank you, Rachel, for reading that.

I just want to say parents, here is a

book that is about this parable. So, if

you'd like to teach your children this

parable, well, it's the first part, not

once it turns dark in the second half,

Jesus and the very big surprise. I would

just encourage you. This is a great book

to read your children to teach them

about Jesus and his imminent return. So,

just thought I would show you that it's

a book about this very parable. And yes,

I checked the book as I was preparing to

make sure I was saying the right thing.

Let's pray now and ask for the Lord's

help as we look at this passage.

Father, we as we look at your word, we

pray what Moses prayed in Exodus 33 when

he said to you, "Show me your glory."

That is what we need more than anything

else. Whether we know that or not, we

need for you to show us your glory. And

so we pray that you would do that for us

now as we look at your word. Amen.

It's too early to talk about Christmas,

but I'm going to do it anyway.

Christmas always comes before you are

ready. The thing is, we know that it's

coming. We even know when it happens on

the 25th of December every year. Not

like Easter. I have no idea when Easter

happens. I don't understand how that

works. You get lots of warning for

Easter coming. I was in the range this

week. It already has some decorations up

for Christmas, which I feel like is a

crime against humanity, but it's already

there. And yet somehow, despite all of

the preparation and despite the fact

that I know what happens on the 25th of

December, I'm never adequately prepared.

And I don't think that you are either.

I'm always shopping for gifts at the

last minute. I'm checking if Amazon

Prime is going to get them here on time.

And then I have the complication of

family overseas and how can I actually

make sure that Amazon Prime gets to them

in time and all these problems. And then

we have the carol service and the basic

Christmas party and the ladies craft

night and all these things and they

always come before we are ever ready. We

know Christmas is coming. We even know

when it is coming. There is no element

of surprise. And yet we still struggle

to be ready, don't we?

Well, in this passage, Jesus is speaking

about readiness, but not for Christmas,

his first coming,

readiness for his second coming, his

return.

And he's addressing the temptation that

all of us have to be sleepy as we wait,

to stop waiting, to stop watching

instead of being faithful and ready at

any moment for him to return. Here in

this passage, Jesus challenges us with a

very simple question.

Are you ready?

All of us need to ask ourselves as we go

through this passage this morning. Am I

ready? Kids sitting here, youth, you

need to ask yourselves this question.

Are you ready for Jesus to come back?

And if you don't know what it means to

be ready, listen. Jesus will tell us as

we go through this parable what it means

to be ready. [clears throat]

Now, when I first started looking at

this passage this week, it felt to me a

little bit unexpected in the flow of

Luke 12. Last week, we're looking at

money and anxiety and then bam, the next

minute, get ready because I'm coming.

and it it just felt like it came a

little bit out of nowhere.

But it's actually not unrelated to the

context that we've been looking at.

Let's just think about this here for a

minute. Remember the theme of this whole

section from chapter 10 to chapter 19 of

the Gospel of Luke. Do you remember what

the theme of this section is?

Disciplehip, right? What does it look

like to live as a follower of Jesus?

And here in chapter 12, we've already

Jesus has already been leaning us

forward towards the future.

In verses 1-2, the part that Rio covered

a couple weeks ago, he talked about

fear. Don't fear people, but what? Fear

him. Verse 5, who after death has the

authority to throw you in hell.

That's the future, isn't it?

Then last week, Bryce brought us through

the section on greed and worry. But how

did Jesus land that section? Provide for

yourselves treasure in heaven that will

never fail.

So, we're already in this chapter

thinking about a future kingdom. We're

thinking about hell. We're thinking

about heaven. He's used both of those

terms explicitly.

We're thinking about how do those

things, hell and heaven, prepare us to

live faithfully today.

And now Jesus is going to expand on that

for us and answer the question, well,

when is that future kingdom going to

come?

He's going to answer by telling us, you

don't know, but you need to be ready.

Jesus is helping us to know that when we

think about his coming kingdom, what

what should we feel?

And what we should feel is this

anticipation

and fear.

Anticipation because there's wonderful

promises.

Fear because there are powerful

warnings.

But the goal of all of this, I want you

to see before we ever start, is our

happiness. Now, the NIV obscured that a

little bit in the translation, but those

three times where it says, "It will be

good." Literally, it just says, "Happy

will those servants be."

So, being ready is how to be happy on

that day. And this passage is all about

our happiness. For those who are ready,

the day of Jesus return will be the

happiest of all days. For those who are

not ready, it will be the most fearful

of all days. This is deadly serious

stuff this morning. Not a topic to take

lightly.

So, let's look at this in three

sections. First, Jesus says to us, be

ready, not sleepy. Then, he says, be

responsible, not self-s serving. Then,

be a realistic, not surprised. Okay? So

let's start out first. He says, "Be

ready, not sleepy." And to make that

point, Jesus tells this parable about

these servants who are waiting for their

master. There in verse 35, he says, "Be

dressed ready for service. Keep your

lamps burning like servants waiting for

their master to return from a wedding

banquet." Now, that phrase there, be

dressed ready for service, is that

glorious biblical phrase, let your loins

be gerted. We don't use that language

anymore. I think we should bring it

back. That's a great phrase. Let your

loins be girded. Now, that language

comes from Exodus 12. You remember as

they are eating the Passover, preparing

for their deliverance, Moses says to

them, "Here's how you must eat it. Let

your loins be gerted, sandals on your

feet, ready to move at any moment." And

I think Jesus is now drawing on that

same language and saying, "Be prepared.

Don't go to bed. Keep your lamps

burning, watching." Today, we might say,

"Be dressed. H have a plate of food

ready. Keep the front door unlocked.

Be ready at any moment for my return."

I remember as a kid when my friends were

coming over, I'd be so excited. Maybe I

knew they were coming over at 2:00 p.m.

or something like that. And I'd be at

the window watching, eager, waiting for

their car to show up. Now, when my

friends come over, I'm just running

around the house with Christine, trying

to make the house look presentable.

But that's the readiness idea at the

window watching to see when they will

come.

The imagery of this is even stronger

when we realize that a wedding in this

time could last up to a week. [snorts]

So, we're not just talking about one

night. They need to be ready at any

moment for when will this master come

back. And they need to be ready so that

you see there in verse 36, so that when

he comes and knocks, they can

immediately open the door for him. The

point is being immediately ready to

serve. That's what they need to be ready

for. Now, that sounds tiring, doesn't

it? It's much easier to get into your

pajamas and fall asleep. So why look at

verse 37?

It will be good. Now again this is the

word happy. Just like in the biatitudes

that word that says blessed but really

it should be translated today in the way

that we use language happy. This is that

same word happy will be those servants

whose master finds them watching when he

comes. Now that should catch our

attention.

Who doesn't want to be happy?

No one. Everyone wants to be happy.

Who will be happy when Jesus comes?

Those he finds watching. Or literally

the word here is awake. Those who are

awake, watching, present, aware when he

comes back. [snorts] Then in verse 38,

he repeats that same language. Happy are

those servants whose master finds them

ready. And it says even if he comes in

the middle of the night or toward

daybreak, the the literal language there

in the second watch or in the third

watch. The idea here was that in Roman

times there were three watches for the

soldiers in the night. The first watch,

then the middle watch, and then the last

watch. Some of you who have newborns

know what that's like. You take

different watches of the night to be

with a child, right? It's hard to stay

awake in the third watch when it's

coming towards morning 3:00 a.m. 4:00

a.m. 5:00 a.m. But Jesus is saying even

if you're waiting for 4 or 6 or 8 hours

or 2,000 years,

be awake.

Are you awake

after all this time? Are you still

awake?

Then Jesus shifts the image in verse 39.

Understand this. If the owner of the

house had known at what hour the thief

was coming, he would not have let his

house be broken into. Now, this is a bit

odd because here it's picturing Jesus as

a thief, which in my children's

categories is a bad guy, right? Jesus is

not a bad guy, but the point is the

element of surprise, right? A thief

doesn't send you a note, you know, slip

it in your post box. I'm coming at 2:00

a.m., so don't be ready for when I come.

Right? That's not how thieves work. They

come when you are not expecting. And

that's what Jesus is saying about

himself. If the owner of a house knows,

he's going to prepare. If he gets a tip

off, right, he'll prepare for that.

Think of our friend Kevin in Home Alone.

He knows the thieves are coming, so he

sets all the traps to catch them when

they come, right? If the owner of the

house knows, he's going to prepare. And

that's the point. The coming of Jesus

will be a surprise. Look at verse 40.

You also must be ready because the son

of man will come in an hour when you do

not expect him. Let's get this straight.

Whatever hour you think he's coming, he

is not coming at that time. Are you

straight on that?

So, let's make a clear application.

The next minute, next time you hear

somebody online say, "Listen, I've read

Revelation. I've read Daniel. I've

figured it out. I know the day." Or if

they're a little more humble, I know the

month. I know the year that Jesus is

coming. Here's your response. No, you

don't.

No, you don't.

No one does.

That's not the point of Revelation. It's

not the point of any prophecy. That's

not how it works. We don't know. We

don't know when he's coming back. His

coming is, as one author puts it, I

think this is so helpful, expected

yet unpredictable.

That's great, isn't it? It's expected.

We know he's coming, but it's

unpredictable. We don't know when.

So, how should we respond to that? Well,

be ready, not sleepy.

Are you ready?

Now, you might have noticed I skipped a

verse in the middle.

Right in the middle of the parable, we

have a shocking, unexpected twist in

this story. We have these servants who

are waiting. They've gerted up their

loins. Their lamps are lit. They are

ready to serve. And in verse 37,

happy are those servants whose master

finds them watching when he comes.

Truly, I tell you, when he comes, he

will recline at the table, and they will

come and wait on him. No. Did I read

that wrong? That's what you're

expecting, right?

No. What does it say? He will gird up

his loins.

He will dress himself to serve, will

have them, the servants, recline at the

table, and will come and wait on them.

Can you believe that?

Did you see that coming? Do you think

the disciples saw that coming? Do you

think the servants who were waiting saw

that coming in this parable?

What kind of a master serves his

servants?

What kind of Lord when he returns says,

"Let me get you some food. Let me serve

you."

The word that is used here is he will

deacon them.

What kind of God comes as a deacon?

Jesus does.

10 chapters from now in Luke 22, Jesus

will say, "I am among you as one who

deacons, one who serves. I the Lord of

heaven and earth am going to return to

be your deacon to be your servant.

Our God is unlike any other god. The go

the gods in the cultures of the old

testament time that they created people

because there was too much work for them

to do. So they needed some slaves to

help them out. Or you think of the gods

of the Romans at the time of Jesus. They

were adulterers, murderers, and

selfserving scoundrels.

But Jesus, who is the image of the

invisible God, is an overflowing

fountain of service toward his

creatures.

We've already seen in Luke how often

Jesus quotes passages about himself from

Isaiah.

[snorts] And what is Jesus primary title

in Isaiah? What is it? The servant.

The servant of Yahweh.

This is who Jesus is in his heart, in

his core. He is your servant.

Let me talk to our deacons for a minute.

Brothers and sister, we are so thankful

for your willing service.

You joyfully give your time, your energy

to be lead servants among us.

But you know something amazing deacons

when Jesus comes back he will say why

don't you sit down so I can serve you.

No matter how much you serve, how much

time, how much energy you give, you will

never outserve Jesus because Jesus is

the servant.

Same for all of you, brothers and

sisters, in all the many different ways

that you serve. Thank you.

Know that you will never outserve Jesus.

Every chair that you put here, every

song that you play, every microphone

that you turn on, every lesson that you

prepare or youth night that you organize

or meal that you cook for a brother or

sister, you will never outserve Jesus

because Jesus is returning to serve you.

We serve the servant king. Do you

believe that?

We are so undeserving of a gracious God

like our God.

So be ready, not sleepy. Readiness will

lead to happiness. If you are ready,

your Lord will return to serve you. Are

you ready?

Now, at this point, you might be asking,

"Well, what does being ready look like?

Does it mean just sitting looking up? Is

that is that how we're ready?" Well, now

Jesus is going to shift and explain what

readiness means. Here's what it means.

Be responsible,

not self-s serving.

At this point in the story, our friend

no filter Peter pops in again. Verse 41,

Peter asked, "Lord, are you telling this

parable to us or to everyone?" Now, to

be fair, let's give Peter some grace in

this moment. I kind of get him as asking

this question. [snorts] This is the

first time Jesus has spoken so openly

about his return. And Peter's going,

"Uh, master, you're here. So, how are

you going to come back? You're here

right now. Are are you talking to these

crowds in this town so that you're

talking about when you go away and then

you're going to come back to them? Is

that what you're talking about? Or are

you talking to us? Cuz that doesn't make

sense. we're always with you. Right? It

makes sense that Peter's confused in

this moment. He's definitely hoping for

option B, right? He's talking to the

crowds. He's he's not talking to us. As

usual, Jesus does not respond directly.

Instead, he gives episode two of our

parable.

But the point of this parable is yes,

Peter, this is for you [snorts]

and for all my people who are going to

wait until my return.

Jesus now is going to explain that there

is going to be a delay between his

enthronement as king which happens at

his resurrection

and his return to judge the world which

happens at his second coming. There's a

distance between the first coming and

the second coming. He's hinting that the

kingdom is here but not yet fully.

Remember sometimes we talk about how to

understand the New Testament, you need

to understand already, not yet. The

kingdom is already here, but it's not

yet here fully. And that's what Jesus is

now explaining. Here's episode two. Look

at verse 42.

The Lord answered, "Who then is the

faithful and wise manager whom the

master puts in charge of his servants to

give them their food allowance at the

proper time?" Now notice here that he

says manager. This is not master. This

is not owner. We're talking not talking

about the homeowner. We're talking about

a servant here. One who is put in

charge, he says, of giving timely care

and provision for the master's other

servants. We're talking about a servant

who has a position of authority like

Peter, like the other apostles.

Perhaps today this is most relevant for

those who have a position of authority

in God's house. Elders, pastors.

We're not masters of God's house as

elders. We are fellow servants who are

responsible for the timely care and

provision in God's house, the local

church. So this is particularly

relevant, I think, in this moment to

elders, but it does say something to all

of us as well.

Jesus is looking, he says in verse 42,

for his servants to be faithful and

wise.

And if they will be, he says in verse

43, "Happy will be that servant whom the

master finds doing so when he returns."

The ma the servant who is faithful, who

is wise, happy will they be when he

returns. Verse 44, truly I tell you, he

will put them in charge of all his

possessions. The point here is to take

faithful, wise responsibility in this

life over what God has entrusted to each

of us.

Now, at this moment, the parable takes a

very severe turn, doesn't

[clears throat] it? Look at verse 45.

Suppose the servant says to himself, "My

master's taking a long time in coming."

And he then begins to beat the other

servants, both men and women, and to eat

and drink and get drunk.

This is the opposite of what he just

described in the first part of the

parable. Someone who is awake, who is

providing for the house.

Now, this person is selfserving.

Verse 46, the master of that servant

will come on a day when he does not

expect him, and at an hour he is not

aware of. There's that element of

surprise again,

he will cut him to pieces and assign him

a place for the unbelievers.

But Jesus still isn't done. Then in

verses 47 and 48, he says, "The servant

who knows the master's will and does not

get ready, does not do the master's

will, will be beaten with many

[clears throat] blows.

The one who does know and does things

deserving punishment will be beaten with

few blows."

What is going on here?

Is Jesus teaching salvation by works?

You better work hard to be faithful or

he will beat you and throw you in hell

when he returns. Is that what he's

saying? [clears throat]

What about there being no condemnation

for Christians?

Is Jesus going to beat us on judgment

day?

Should we fear judgment day?

The answer to that last question is

absolutely yes. We should fear judgment

day. We should always fear God.

If your thought of the day of judgment

is, I'll be fine. I was baptized or I

accepted Jesus as a child or I'm saved

by grace. I have nothing to fear. You do

not fear God. If that's your response,

if we have any idea of God's blazing

righteousness and our sin,

we rightly fear the day of judgment,

don't we?

But should someone who's trusting in

Jesus be afraid of punishment, of

beatings?

No.

We don't want to push the imagery of

this parable beyond what Jesus intends.

Jesus is using imagery that people in

his day would understand. They

understood that masters beat their

unfaithful servants. Right? That's what

happened in the time in that time. It's

a warning that he's giving us that we

need to be responsible, not selfserving

in the way that we conduct ourselves as

his people. And remember Bryce said to

us last week that often in parables, the

sting comes in the tale, right? It's in

the tale of the parable that it explains

it. So look at the sting in this tale.

Verse 48, the second half. From everyone

who has been given much, much will be

demanded. And from the one who has been

entrusted with much, much more will be

asked. That is the point of this

parable. Okay? You are responsible for

what God has entrusted to you as a

servant in his house. You're

responsible.

I think Jesus is helping us to see

there are some who claim to be servants

in his house, but their actions show

that they are false and unfaithful. And

when he returns, he will sort out the

true from the false. That's exactly what

he says in other places, right? Think of

Matthew 7. What about all the people?

Lord, Lord, did we not do all this? And

he says, I never knew you. I think this

is the same category we're talking about

here. People who say, "I'm go I'm God's

servant. and I'm God's servant. I never

knew you. Go to part to be with the

unfaithful.

True servants,

they know the master's will and they do

it.

They get ready.

So, let me just say clearly, brothers

and sisters, we are saved by free grace.

We don't earn anything. We need not fear

condemnation when Jesus returns. But

let's be very clear. Grace is not

opposed to effort.

Grace is opposed to earning, but it is

not opposed to effort. Just think of

what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15. By

the grace of God, I am what I am, but

his grace to me was not without effect.

No, I worked harder than all of them.

Yet not I, but the grace of God in me.

Do you see that? That dance between

grace and effort. He says, "It's all

God's grace, so I worked harder than

anyone."

Or you think of Titus 2. He says, "The

grace of God has appeared that offers

salvation to all people, teaching us to

say no to ungodliness, to live

self-controlled, upright, and godly

lives eager to do to do what is good."

Grace is not opposed to effort. The more

we are given freely,

the more eager effort it should produce

in our hearts. Our Lord and Master is a

self-sacrificing

others serving deacon who gave himself

for us. How could we be anything less?

How much more as we look on all he has

done for us should we say,"I want to be

faithful and wise in knowing and doing

the will of my master by the grace of

God that is working in me." Not to repay

him. We never can.

But out of loving thankfulness to him.

And the more we've been given, the more

we've been entrusted with, the more we

know of our master's will, the more he

expects of us.

All of us here have been entrusted

differently,

but we've all been given much.

We have different opportunities,

different abilities. We've all received

teaching. We all have different

finances, knowledge of God's will,

training, relationships, influence,

authority. We've all been given much.

And particularly for those of us who are

members of this church, who are

responsible for some segment of God's

house here, whether it's Club 252 or the

youth or us as elders over this whole

church, Jesus calls on us to give timely

care and provision to that part of his

house to know our master's will and to

do it.

Now, you might say, "Well, what is his

will?" Let me remind you of my favorite

end times passage. I've said this

before. 1 Peter 4. The end of all things

is near. Jesus is coming back. So what

does Peter say? Pray. Love each other

deeply. Be hospitable. And use the gifts

you've received to serve others. Just be

faithful in your church. That's how you

be faithful. Ready for Jesus.

Be responsible,

not self- serving. Are you ready?

Now, what we just heard is strong and

uncomfortable.

Not the picture of Jesus we're used to

hearing, is it? At least when we think

about his first coming.

And I think that Jesus anticipates that

his disciples, including us, would be

feeling some surprise, some discomfort,

some confusion. So now we move to the

next section where he essentially says,

"Be realistic, not surprised."

We need to have a full realistic picture

of Jesus and his character and his work

and the effect of his work in this world

so we will not be surprised when he says

things like this.

This as we sang this morning is another

important piece of our Lord's character

and work. He is not only the servant

king but the righteous judge of the

whole earth. Look what he says in verse

49.

I have come

to bring fire on the earth.

And how I wish it were already kindled.

This is not the verse most people

memorize when they're memorizing some of

Jesus redletter words.

There's no question what this fire

means. Throughout the Bible, fire

always, almost always, is a picture of

judgment.

As Jesus, the perfect man, the perfect

judge, thinks about these wicked,

abusive, unfaithful, false servants who

have rejected and misused and

misrepresented him and his people. As he

surveys his sinick world, he says, "I

wish judgment was already kindled."

Stunning.

The disciples shouldn't be surprised at

this and neither should we. The last

prophet to speak before Jesus coming was

Malachi. And do you remember what he

said the coming of the Lord would be

like? Malachi 3. Then suddenly the Lord

you are seeking will come to his temple.

There's that surprise again. But who can

endure the day of his coming?

Who can stand when he appears? He will

be like a refiner's fire.

The coming of the Messiah was to be a

day of judgment. That was expected.

What is unexpected is that Jesus didn't

bring the judgment at his first coming.

That's what's unexpected. He delayed it

till his second coming.

And he did that because he has a first

priority. Look at verse 50.

But I have a baptism to undergo and what

constraint I am under until it is

completed.

Jesus is waiting. He says he's not yet

kindling the fires of judgment because

he's constrained first by something

else. This word constrained, it means to

press in on something, to surround

something, like a crowd or like enemies.

Paul in Acts 18, he uses this word to

say that he is constrained to preach the

word in Macedonia. So it's this picture

of a priority that presses in on you and

holds you in a particular place or

activity.

What is constraining Jesus from kindling

the fires of his judgment?

He needs to complete his baptism first.

Now we're like, wait, didn't he already

get baptized?

Yes, he's speaking here about his death.

Death or baptism is a picture of death,

burial, right? We know that from Romans

6. The judge of all the earth is waiting

to kindle his righteous judgment because

first he will step into the furnace

himself for his people.

What is the task of this servant of the

Lord?

How is this servant going to serve?

[snorts]

We know at his first coming, he would

take the judgment that we deserved for

our sins on himself. Just listen again

to those words from Isaiah 53.

He was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities. The

punishment that brought us peace was on

him. And by his wounds we are healed.

We all like sheep have gone astray. Each

of us has turned to our own way. And the

Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us

all.

After he has suffered, he will see the

light of life and be satisfied. and by

his knowledge my righteous servant will

justify many

and he will bear their iniquities.

The servant of the Lord served by being

baptized in the fires of judgment for

our sin so that we could walk away

justified.

No longer any judgment for us to face.

And this priority is constraining him

until he finishes it first.

Do you see the mercy of our judge who is

also our savior?

That sight of his mercy should help us

to rejoice in seeing him as our judge.

But let me just say a few things about

Jesus being our judge. I know this is

something we don't talk about often

enough. It's very unpopular in our

culture. It's not something that we

think of and rejoice. And yet, think

back to Psalm 96 that Michaela read this

morning. A call for all of creation to

clap its hands. Why? Because the Lord

comes to judge the earth. We're meant to

be happy. So, let me just say a few

things.

First, if Jesus did not judge, he would

not be righteous.

You will hear people saying, you know, I

love the mercy aspects of Jesus. I love

his forgiveness. I don't like the

judgment and hell stuff. But judgment is

tied to his perfect character. If Jesus

did not judge, he would not be

righteous. You know, sometimes we hear

in the news about a judge who let

someone who committed a gross crime walk

away for free and were outraged. How

much more God who sees and knows all and

against whom every single sin is

committed. God is good and right to

judge.

Second,

remember that all of the aspects of

God's character always go together.

Remember, we talked a few weeks ago, God

is simple, meaning you can't take pieces

of him away. He's just one unified

whole. So, that means that while Jesus

exercises judgment, he also exercises

mercy and kindness and goodness. All of

those things always are together

perfectly. That's unlike us. We judge

with favoritism, with selfish motives.

Jesus doesn't. He judges perfectly.

Tied to that one third. Jesus always

judges rightly because he knows the

heart.

He sees us. He tests us. He weighs us.

He sifts us perfectly.

We make mistakes in our judgment because

we can't see into the hearts of other

people. We look at a sticky situation

and when we're actually being humble

enough, we say, "I don't really know

what's going on. How do I judge this

situation?" But Jesus never makes

mistakes. He knows the secrets of the

hearts of men, including yours, better

than you do.

Knowing this, that Jesus will judge all

people justly is the only way to live in

peace without vengeance. We don't have

to take things into our own hands

because vengeance belongs to Jesus and

he will repay. He will repay it all.

As Jesus looks at pastors in China and

India who were imprisoned this week, as

he looks at 22 people murdered while

hiding in a church in Haiti this week,

as he looks at the wrongs and abuses

that you experience,

he prepares to kindle his fire.

You should take comfort in that. The

judge of all the earth will repay with

vengeance all that is right.

Last thing, if you're still struggling

with Jesus as judge, consider his mercy.

He could have kindled that fire at his

first coming rightly.

But instead, he stepped into the fire

himself, took our judgment on himself,

suffered and died in our place, and

delayed his punishment, his judgment

till his second coming, so that all who

receive him by faith can be reconciled

with God. That's mercy.

The judgment of Jesus is part of the

good news of the gospel, but it's hard

good news. It's good news that many

people reject.

And Jesus wants us to be realistic and

not surprised about that as well. Look

at verse 51.

Do you think I came to bring peace on

earth? We're like, um, yeah, that's what

the angel said in Luke 2. Peace on

earth, right? No, says Jesus.

I came to bring division. Now Jesus

isn't disagreeing with the angels,

right? He did come to bring peace. We

can now be reconciled to God and with

one another because of what he's done.

But the message of Jesus brings

division. That's what he's saying.

[snorts and clears throat] Even into the

most intimate of relationships. And

that's the point of verses 52 and 53.

It's two against three in a family. It's

[snorts] mother against daughter. It's

father against son.

Jesus is telling us no matter how

clearly or winsomely or gently we

present the gospel, it does not mean

people will accept it or like us or like

Jesus.

Particularly when we teach on sin and

responsibility and accountability and

judgment and hell.

Everyone loves Jesus as a great teacher,

but they don't love accountability

before God. They don't love

acknowledging their sin. They don't love

a need for a savior. and they don't love

repentance.

This message brings division.

And some of you are experiencing that

right now. Even in your own homes,

division in your own most intimate

relationships because of your commitment

to Jesus.

Know that Jesus understands.

He came to bring peace. He is the prince

of peace. But his word brings division.

So, let's not be surprised.

It's a powerful passage, isn't it? A

passage of warning,

pressing us towards readiness, towards

responsibility.

But let's not lose sight of the other

emphasis of the passage.

Happiness.

Jesus wants us to be happy when he

returns.

And do you know that there's no reason

that anyone sitting here should not be

happy on that day?

There's no reason that anyone here

shouldn't be ready because you've heard

enough even this morning to be ready.

You've heard that you are a sinner who's

unable to stand before Jesus on the day

of judgment.

But you've also heard that the servant

king has come. He came to live the life

that we should have lived and die the

death we should have died. He now offers

life to all who call on his name.

Everyone who will repent and believe.

Call now O sinner on the coming judge to

be here even now as your savior.

Jiper writing on this. He says as judge

Jesus is the law but as savior he is the

gospel.

Run from him now and you will meet him

as judge then without hope.

Seek him now and you will find him.

If you come to Jesus now in faith and

repentance, you are ready and you'll be

happy on the day he returns.

Believers, brothers and sisters,

let's be ready, not sleepy.

Let's be responsible, not self-s

serving. Let's be realistic, not

surprised. Our servant king is coming.

So let's be faithful, wise stewards of

all he has given to us as we eagerly

await with happiness his returning.

Are you ready? Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, we pray that you would make

us ready.

Keep us awake for your coming return.

Amen.