Commentary on Luke 12:32-40

One of the gifts of the lectionary is that it can introduce us to images or metaphors for God in Scripture that we tend to overlook or underemphasize. Of course, metaphorical language for God in Scripture and elsewhere must not be absolutized, since it tends to both highlight and hide aspects of the mystery of the triune God. Still, in today’s lectionary passage from the Gospel of Luke, we find at least three different ways God or Jesus is described that call the people of God to live so as to be attentive and alert to the priority of God’s reign.

In Luke’s narrative, the passage is part of a larger unit where Jesus is teaching his disciples amid a “crowd gathered by the thousands” (Luke 12:1). While connected to the broader narrative context, the lectionary reading can be roughly divided into three sections: verses 32–34, 35–38, 39–40. Preachers may find it helpful to consider one or more of the images of God in these sections and their implications for vigilant discipleship in our world today.

God as generous parent

“Do not be afraid, little flock,” Jesus says (12:32). These words follow Luke’s description of Jesus’ teaching on God’s care and provision in 12:22–31. The notion of the disciples as the flock of Jesus implies that he is the shepherd—a common description of God in the Christian Scriptures (see also Psalms 23; 78:52; 80:1; 100:3; Ezekiel 34:11–16; John 10:1–18). However, the more explicit image of God in this section comes at the end of verse 32. Jesus challenges his disciples to embrace life without fear because it is their heavenly “Father’s good pleasure to give [them] the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). In other words, God is a generous parent who deeply delights in inviting the children of God into the reign of God.

For Luke, the reign of God is offered and available now—even as it is anticipated in its fullness in the world to come (see also Luke 10:9). Preachers will want to note that the giving of this kingdom is not simply about self-fulfillment. Rather, God’s generosity leads us to participate in the subversive economy of the kingdom. For Luke, this involves selling possessions, giving alms, and storing treasure in heaven—which he later depicts among the early Christ-followers (12:33; Acts 2:44–45; 4:32–37). We need not worry about our treasures being stolen by a “thief” or sullied by a “moth” when they are secure in God’s reign (12:33). As a result, we can freely redistribute our material resources in alignment with the priority of the reign of God—a priority that Luke notes again and again includes acute attention to the poor and the oppressed (see also 4:18).

Amid the dominance of fear in our modern world, Jesus’ words can sound like an impossibility. However, recognizing the false narratives and unjust systems that often seek to perpetuate a belief in scarcity, preachers may challenge listeners to consider the cost of fear in their life. Howard Thurman suggests that while fear can serve as “a kind of protective mechanism” for the disinherited, ultimately, it can lead to “death for the self.”¹ Reflecting on Luke 12:32 alongside other passages, he suggests that rather than living in fear, we ought to live in the fundamental reality that each one of us is “a child of God, the God of life that sustains all of nature.”² Preachers may consider how trusting in the “Father’s good pleasure” as children of God liberates us to contribute to our own and others’ flourishing (12:32).

God as servant master

In Luke 12:35–38, the image shifts from God as a generous parent to God as the master or lord of a Roman household. As a descendant of enslaved African Americans, I often struggle with depictions of God as master—even as I recognize the differences between master-slave relationships in the antebellum period in the US and in the Roman society of the first century. While Jesus is not always meant to be understood as the subject of an analogy or comparison, it does seem to be the case in our text—though below, we’ll see that Jesus subverts social expectations as a master.

In the text, the servants—the disciples—are called to be ready as they await the return of the master—Jesus—from “a wedding banquet” (12:36). In the Hebrew Scriptures, wedding banquets often signal the eschatological hope of the people of God (see also Isaiah 25:6–8; 55:1–2; 65:13–14). In the New Testament, this hope is refigured around Jesus (Luke 5:34–35; Revelation 19:7–9). Something of this hope is present in this passage. The story of God is bigger than our present, and we are called to be people who engage in “active waiting” for Christ’s return.³ However, as this passage makes clear, Jesus’ coming is not an invitation into otherworldly retreat but into this-worldly readiness.

At least three images of readiness are offered in light of the master’s imminent return. First, the servants are to “be dressed for action” which translates as “let your waist be girded up” (12:35). While these words echo the Israelites’ preparation for deliverance in Exodus 12:11, in this context as in others, it likely simply signifies a call to be prepared.

The second image of readiness that is offered is “having your lamps lit” (12:35). Unlike our modern era, in the ancient world, to have light in a house involved work. For instance, oil needed to be replenished in a lamp for it to stay lit. This is a call to ongoing attentiveness.⁴

The final image of readiness offered in the passage is that of the servants standing by the door, awaiting their master’s return home. The text suggests that servants should be eagerly on the lookout so “they may open the door for [the master] as soon as he comes and knocks” (12:35). In our distracted age, preachers may want to draw attention to the fierce focus of discipleship to Jesus that is suggested in the passage. What practices can help us stay spiritually alert amid the many distractions around us?

There is a blessing for those servants whom “the master finds alert when he comes” (12:37). Rather than the servants serving the master, the master will “fasten his belt” in readiness and serve the servants (12:37). Luke’s Gospel is full of reversals (see Luke 1:46–56), and this is yet another. Jesus is the servant master who waits on his disciples (see also Luke 22:27). While Jesus worked within the social structures of his times, he also subversively challenged them. This parable offers a glimpse of his subversion. It may be helpful in a sermon to consider how this text invites us to consider the reordering of power as we await Christ’s return.

God as unexpected thief

The final portion of the lectionary passage, 12:38–40, includes a brief parable that calls for eschatological readiness. In this section, Luke introduces us to the owner of a house that is burglarized by a “thief” (12:39). Some scholars suggest that Jesus does not need to be identified as the burglar of the house for the parable to make sense.⁵ In some ways, I agree. Still, the text rather directly suggests that like an unanticipated thief, the “Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (12:40).

In the New Testament, among other things Jesus is often referred to as “the Son of Man” or “the Human One” (Common English Bible) in reference to his coming judgment (Luke 12:8–10; Matthew 24; see also Daniel 7:14). The coming of the Son of Man alters our life here and now. The disciples are called once again to be spiritually alert in the present as they anticipate Christ’s coming in the future.

However, unlike the thief introduced earlier, in 12:33, Jesus comes not to steal from us. Without pressing the metaphor too far, we might simply say that Jesus unexpectedly breaks into our lives. Preachers may invite the community to reflect on signs of God’s unexpected entry into their lives. How might we be receptive rather than resistant to Jesus’ coming into our life as we grow as vigilant disciples?

Notes

1. Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited (Beacon, 1949), 40.
2. Thurman, 49.
3. Diane G. Chen, Luke: A New Covenant Commentary (Cascade, 2017,) 186.
4. Justo L. González, Luke: A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox, 2010), 164.
5. See Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke (Eerdmans, 1997), 428.