ST LUKE
CHAPTER 12
Jesus teaches: Beware of hypocrisy; lay up treasures in heaven, rather than on earth; prepare for the coming of the Lord; where much is given, much is required; preaching the gospel causes division.
1 IN the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the son of man [ Title for Christ - The "son of God" and the "son of Man" are synonymous... In the pure Adamic language, the name Elohim, the Father, is "Man of Holiness" (signifying that God is a Holy Man), and the name of Christ, the son, is short for "son of Man of Holiness" (Mormon Doctine p671; Moses 6:57. ] also confess before the angels of God:
10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the son of man, [ Title for Christ - The "son of God" and the "son of Man" are synonymous... In the pure Adamic language, the name Elohim, the Father, is "Man of Holiness" (signifying that God is a Holy Man), and the name of Christ, the son, is short for "son of Man of Holiness" (Mormon Doctine p671; Moses 6:57. ] it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.
11 And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:
13 ¶ And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
22 ¶ And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; [ It was not that the Lord needed this man's money to take care of the poor. The Lord could feed and care for the poor in many various ways. The Lord however was concerned for the welfare of this man. He knew that as long as he had his wealth he would be more focused on not loosing his wealth. So If his wealth was gone then he would or could focus on more important things. ] provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
35 Let your loins be girded about, [ So if you were to get a knock on your door at night what are the first things that you will most likely do? Put on your pants and then turn on the lights. Loins girded means pulling your clothing around you tight so you are ready to run or work (The common clothing was very open like a dress, so they pulled it up like a diper when they were going to work.). ] and your lights burning;
36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait [ The are ready and waiting. ] for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. [ Not later, I need to do a few things but no, right now they are ready to go. What is stopping you from being ready to go immediately? ]
37 Blessed are those servants, whom [ Those who are ready. ] the lord when he cometh shall find watching: [ Are ready and waiting for the Lord. Notice what he is going to do for/with them. ] verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, [ He is going to pull up his clothes tight around himself and go to work. ] and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. [ So if we are waiting and ready when he comes he is going to serve us as well, he will feed us, he will wait on us. Why? Because we are ready to help him immediately, think how big that is to him. Similar to what the Lord does when he washes the disciples feet at the last supper. ]
38 And if he shall come in the second watch, [ 9 pm - midnight. ] or come in the third watch, [ Midnight til 3 am. ] and find them so, [ So it does not matter what time he does come, but if when he does come if he finds those ready, then blessed are they. ] blessed are those servants.
39 And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.
40 Be ye therefore ready [ Or you should always be ready, for you never know when. ] also: for the son of man [ A title for Christ - The "son of God" and the "son of Man" are synonymous... In the pure Adamic language, the name Elohim, the Father, is "Man of Holiness" (signifying that God is a Holy Man), and the name of Christ, the son, is short for "son of Man of Holiness" (Mormon Doctine p671; Moses 6:57). ] cometh at an hour when ye think not.
41 ¶ Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, [ See JST Luke 12:41-57. Is this message just meant for us, your disciples, or is it for everyone? Or is this second coming some sort of private event that you are going to just come to us, so we are the ones who need to be ready? Or is this global or universal event? Peter is asking who is the target audience here? ] , or even to all?
42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, [ Those that are ready will need to fulfill the positions of leadership. After all being ready allows them to help lead and lift those who are not ready. ] to give them their portion of meat in due season?
44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
[ Why? Well I suppose it is because they have earned his trust, he needs them to bring this work forward and so who is he most likely to bestow the blessings of heaven on? Those who are faithful, those who are prepared. ]
45 But and if that servant [ The JST clarifies what kind of servant this is. JST Luke 12:54 "But the evil servant is he who is not found watching. And if that servant is not found watching, [ He is un-prepared. ] he will say in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants, and the maidens, and to eat, and drink, and to be drunken." ] say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; [ Or well yes he is coming sometime, but it is certainly not tomorrow. So I will not worry about it. ] and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, [ He beats his fellow servants instead of helping them to prepare. ] and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; [ He really does waste what time he does have. He does all of this instead of setting the table for the marriage feast of the lamb. ]
46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, [ Will cut him off from the rest of the people, this is the man who came into the wedding feast without wearing the proper garments and was cast off into outer darkness. ] and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. [ The unbelievers do not prepare at all because they do not believe they need to, they don't believe he will ever come. This servant who does believe that Christ is coming, but just not right now, so he does nothing about it as a result he is punished the same as the unbelievers. Well why not- this is how he is acting. See what Peter has to say about this group in 2 Pet 3:3-4. ]
47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, [ JST "for his Lord's coming." ] neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48 But he that knew not, [ JST "his Lord's will". ] and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. [ There will still be punishment, but they will be far less than the servant who knew the Lord's will and did not prepare. ] For unto whomsoever much is given, [ Those who are his servants, those that know better need to be doing everything that they to further the preparation of this work along. That is what is expected of us - to warn our neighbors, to help our friends prepare. ] of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
49 ¶ I am come to send fire on the earth; [ That cleansing fire, the purifying fire, and this same fire will be the all consuming fire for those who are not righteous. ] and what will I, if it be already kindled? [ Jesus asks what am I to do if the things are in motion, it the fire has already started, there really is no stopping it, it has started to spread, the plan is in play and there is no going back now. ]
50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; [ The shedding of his blood on the cross. Jesus sees and knows that the cross is looming in the background. ] and how am I straitened [ A strait is a tiny little sliver of ocean that is being crushed between two land masses. Jesus is using it as a reference of how he feels. Greek for straitened means stressed. ] till it be accomplished!
51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? [ He did not come to bring peace but rather continue the contention of the children of God, He came to offset the influence and power of Satan. Yes there will be peace one day but that will not be until the millenium until then God is on the opposing side of Satan. ] I tell you, Nay; but rather division: [ Continue the war that was started in heaven. ]
52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. [ Notice these are both odd divisions, so you cannot just say hald of one house is for and half is against. Doing so further creates anxiety in the division. ]
53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; [ He suggests this so that we become aware that it is just not some male thing, but it goes in all directions. There are no lines that the division will not cross. ] the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. [ It will even extend to extended family. ]
54 ¶ And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, [ What is west of Jerusalem? The Mediterranean Sea. So the clouds are most likely gathering moisture. ] straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.
55 And when ye see the south wind blow, [ What is south of Jerusalem? The Arabian desert. ] ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.
56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky [ You can tel weather patterns. ] and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time? [ The second coming of Jesus Christ. ]
57 Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not [ Are you going to be on the Lord's side or the adversaries side? You need to decide and prepare. ] what is right?
58 ¶ When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered [ Give diligence to God and your neighbor because the end is near. ] from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, [ The time when you have to pay up, and either you are prepared to do so or not. If not then you face the judgement. In the second coming context it is too late then to become one with God. ] and the officer cast thee into prison.