Us Too?

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Peter asked, “Lord, is that illustration just for us or for everyone?”  And the Lord replied, “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them.  If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward.  I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns.  But what if the servant thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk?  The master will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant in pieces and banish him with the unfaithful.  “And a servant who knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions, will be severely punished.  But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.  Luke 12:41-48

Jesus was telling the disciples about responsibility in being his follower.  If you choose to respond and follow Jesus, the reward will be reconciled with the faithfulness of your service.  In true teaching mode, Jesus had to go over the main points a few times before even the sharpest disciple got it…there is no inside group…it’s the same instructions for everybody. 

It's much more popular (for obvious reasons) to dwell on the loving, inclusiveness of Jesus, than to even mention the possibility of judgment.  However, if you check the Gospel accounts closely, or even scan them quickly, we find that Jesus regularly taught about the reality of judgment.  His parables all consistently contrasted reward and punishment.  In fact, there is much more about Hell in Scripture than Heaven.  Consider these:

·       In Matthew’s Gospel there are foolish virgins who let their oil run out, a lazy manager who abuses his power, faithful and unfaithful servants who face an accounting on judgment day.  They are the goats separated from the sheep in final reward and remorse.  (Matthew 25)

·       In just two chapters of Luke’s Gospel (Luke 16, 17) there is the judgment of a lazy manager who abused his power, religious leaders who loved money more than the God they were supposed to be serving, serial wife-changing power people, and a rich man in Hell, begging a poor man in Heaven to bring him a drink.

·       In the Old Testament account of Esther, Haman, a proud official, second only to King Xerxes, plotted against the Jews, and particularly Esther’s uncle Mordecai.  Haman’s plan was to kill all the Jews, and impale Mordecai on a 75-foot high sharpened pole, to highlight his power.  But, in the final chapter, this is how Haman’s plan turned out:

Then King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “I have given Esther the property of Haman, and he has been impaled on a pole because he tried to destroy the Jews.  Esther 8:7

For You Today

Punishment and Reward are as understandable (to even a child), as is the simple fact that keeping your fingers out of the fire will be better than not. 

It may be more popular to dwell on a loving God who forgives us.  But to ignore the righteousness of God who judges those who will not obey His Word, is to walk on the edge of a cliff overlooking the eternal abyss.  Be wise!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these:  Meet You at the Woodshed and When You Have a King for a Friend      

[1] Images:  Wickimedia Commons     Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©