First, the Gospel of Luke says that the Son of Man came like a thief, and that no one knew it except the Father when He was incarnated. This also reminds us of the story of the ten virgins, we really want to be the wise five virgins, always ready to meet the unknown day! Second, be faithful and good stewards as the verse says, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”(1 Peter 4:10) We have also seen that God is fair. Thirdly, we have seen that it is not easy to follow Jesus to take up one’s own cross and gain that spiritual life, because the old self (flesh) is only worthy of death. Fourth, we really have to discern, not just the weather, and be not conformed to the world. Notice what the Bible says about not having bad thoughts and the importance of forgiving others.
1. The Son of Man Comes Like a Thief
This passage is very clear, “Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.””(Luke 12:35-40)
So until now, all the predictions from the human point of view of when Jesus will come are wrong, and it will be the same in the future, because the Bible makes it very clear that no one will know when He will come again, and be ready at any time. Indeed, the same thing is said in Matthew’s Gospel, “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason, you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”(Matthew 24:42-44)
The time of the incarnation is very special, because “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”(Matthew 24:36-39) Obviously, this also means that we must be ready at any time for the Son of Man who will come again without us knowing it. Except for this special time, the God of the Trinity are equally honored and honored because there is only one. We can try to understand a part of the Trinity. For example, “water” has three different states under atmospheric pressure due to different temperatures, namely water vapor, ice, and common water. They are the one “water.” This does not fully explain the Trinity, because it has three persons rather than three states. The Trinity is indeed a mystery to man, and it must be accepted with faith. There are some things we have to accept in faith, like we cannot experience a virgin pregnancy, we must believe in faith that Jesus was conceived and born by the Holy Spirit.
This also reminds us of the story of the ten virgins, “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”(Matthew 25:1-13) We really want to be the wise five virgins, always ready to meet the unknown day! By this way, we don’t have to meet that day when Jesus is saying, “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.”
2. A faithful and good steward
“Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”(Luke 12:41-48)
Apparently, everyone has to be a faithful steward, we just have different personal gifts and serve differently, so this parable should be for everyone. As the scriptures say, “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.”(1 Corinthians 4:1-2) and “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”(1 Peter 4:10) We have also seen that God is very fair, “…From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”(Luke 12:48)
3. The Conflict between Believers and Unbelievers
“I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, 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.”(Luke 12:49-53)
The Gospel of Matthew also has similar words, “For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.”(Matthew 10:35-36) Could it be that the purpose of His coming is to ensure that there will be no peace on earth? No, the Bible says clearly, Jesus appeared “…now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”(Hebrews 9:26) To put away sin is the purpose of His appearance. These verses are to say that believers and unbelievers are tit for tat. We can confirm it by looking at the verses before this in the book of Matthew: “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”(Matthew 10:32-33) The Bible also clearly says, “He who believes in Him (Jesus) is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”(John 3:18) If there is unbelief among relatives, there will be crosses at this time, especially when they are persecuted. At this time, you must know, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”(Matthew 10:37-39)
Absolutely not like what the philosophy of success says, everything will be smooth and successful after believing in the Lord. Christians will have a cross, and they will encounter suffering just like ordinary people, but Christians have God as their reliance, and believe that everything, including suffering, is arranged for their benefit, as the scriptures say, “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”(Matthew 10:29-30) and know that “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.”(1 Timothy 2:4-6) It is not easy for us to gain that spiritual life, because the old man (flesh) is only worthy to die. “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”(Romans 7:18) For example, no normal person likes to be angry, but even if we are determined not to be angry, we will still get angry. Just remember that the Bible doesn’t say never to be angry, but “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.”(Ephesians 4:26-27)
Finally, we look at what He said “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!”(Luke 12:50) What exactly does this mean? It means that He will die for us on the cross and take the penalty of sin (death) instead of us. On the Mount of Transformation, He already knew that this would happen (see Luke 9:28-31), but He did not escape, as the scriptures say, “When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem.”(Luke 9:51) “…Jesus …who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”(Hebrews 12:2) How eager He is to complete the plan of salvation!
4. Need to discern
“And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time? “And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent.””(Luke 12:54-59)
We really need to discern: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”(Romans 12:2) There are similar words in Matthew’s Gospel, “Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.”(Matthew 5:25-26) So according to this man’s judgment, he really did something wrong, and he really wanted to find a way to reconcile with his enemy.
It should be noted that before this, it said, “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”(Matthew 5:21-24) It is particularly emphasized that it is not necessary to truly commit a sin like in the Old Testament era, but in the New Testament era, it is important not to have even bad thoughts and to know the importance of forgiving others, as the scriptures say, “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”(Matthew 6:14-15) Do not take complaints against your brother to heart, but try to be reconciled with your brother.
(Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)
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