Who then is the faithful and sensible servant? (Luke 12; Jn. 21)

Digging into God’s Word and discovering its treasure brings me much joy. I love seeing something I haven’t seen before or often, if I am being honest, seeing something I’ve seen and forgotten only to uncover it again, a treasure unearthed. But new connections are the best! In digging in today in preparation for continuing through Luke with the ladies on Thursday evenings, I found a passage in Luke 12 that reminded me of Jesus speaking with Peter on the beach in John 21. 

In Luke 12, even though He’s in the midst of a great multitude of people, Jesus’ audience is His small group of disciples, these who will soon truly understand what it means to trust God to provide for them in all situations at any cost. He is teaching them to:

1. Beware of hypocrisy! All will eventually be known and revealed (v. 2-3); sooo . . .
2. Fear God who judges the soul and values His creation, rather than men who can only hurt their bodies (v. 4-7).
3. Boldly proclaim the name of Jesus before men lest they be denied in heaven before the angels because of denial and/or blasphemy (v. 8-10).
4. Worry about nothing, much less speaking before men about God because they would have the Holy Spirit to teach them what to say (v. 11-12).

At this point in Jesus' teaching, some person in the crowd interrupts Jesus’ conversation with His disciples. Instead of being angry or impatient at the disruption, Jesus simply turns it into an opportunity to continue teaching His disciples through a parable about a rich man who had too much and decided to build bigger barns and “eat, drink, and be merry” (v. 13-21). While it might sound a little off topic at first, Jesus is reinforcing His previous teaching and showing the disciples that they were not the substance of what they had—they were much more! This rich farmer who had too much valued nothing of heaven and paid for it with his soul, which was required of him even during his celebrations of his great wealth. The rich farmer (like the Pharisees) is the antithesis of the one who has nothing and worries about it. Both are extremes and neither trusts in God, and the disciples were to be like neither.

Jesus quickly turns the conversation back to where he left off in verse 12—anxiety or worry. Not only were they NOT to be anxious about what they would say or do when they spoke to men in the future about Jesus, but they were also not to worry about what they would eat or wear. Jesus cautions them against worry and encourages them instead to seek God first, to store up their treasures in heaven rather than on earth (as the rich farmer had failed to do in the parable), and to be ready (lamps lit) serving in anticipation of their master who would return and reward their readiness and preparation at that time by serving or waiting on them. 

Now, this is the part where I got really excited. I’ve read all this many times before, but never have I heard the refrain of Peter’s question like I did today. In verse 41, Peter asks Jesus, “LORD, are you addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?” In other words, “Jesus, does this really apply to me, too, or can I just tune out for a bit?”

Jesus answers Peter with another question: “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?” (v. 42). In other words, Peter, will YOU be the faithful and sensible steward and feed my servants?

I could almost hear Jesus speaking to Peter on the beach after He, the master, had returned and told him where to cast his empty nets to find and catch fish and Peter had eagerly thrown himself out of the boat in his impatience to get to Jesus. I could hear Jesus say, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” as He served Peter the fish. I could hear Jesus telling him, “Tend my lambs” (John 21:15), and again, “Shepherd My sheep” (v. 16). I could heard Peter’s grief when Jesus asked him a third time if Peter loved Him, and when he answered again in the affirmative, told Him, “Tend my sheep” (v. 17). 

I know there is much depth to these questions that goes beyond the feeble connection I am trying to make today, but what I saw was this: Jesus’ reply to Peter’s question about the relevance of His teaching to himself and the other disciples made me think about Jesus’ response to Peter on the beach. It is as if Jesus, in His omniscience, looks ahead and sees that this is going to be a really hard lesson for Peter to learn, and He prepares his heart to begin receiving the lesson. It’s as if He says, “Peter, YOU are to be the faithful and sensible servant giving people their rations at the proper time!” How many times does the Bible say the disciples didn't understand things at that time but looked back in understanding?

[I sometimes think I am so obtuse to not see these things from the first time through, but then I just think, “Thank you, Jesus, that I see anything at all!” and I have so much to look at and learn from . . . ]

Jesus tells Peter in John 21:15-17 to “tend” His lambs, “shepherd” His sheep, and “tend” His sheep. Peter did tend and shepherd and feed God’s lambs (little ones) AND His sheep (the grown-up ones). He loved people and boldly told the world about Jesus, this savior who had come to lay down His life for His sheep in order that they might live forever with Him in heaven. 

Reading this also made me hear Psalm 95:7 as a refrain: “For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.” And like the warning given not to harden our hearts in the verses that follow this, when Peter faced with Jesus’ questions on the beach truly understood, his heart was not hardened as it was before Jesus’ crucifixion when he denied Him three times. Peter’s heart was broken and contrite and soft before His LORD, and he made the choice to store up his treasure in heaven instead of in something so useless as a farmer’s new barn overflowing with good things at the cost of his own life and very soul. 

Peter heard Jesus. Peter believed. Peter acted on his belief (we have the results of his belief recorded in the Bible in not only his own writing about Jesus, but in other people’s writing about his actions that prove his belief followed close on the heels of his brokenness), and Peter died for his belief in the Great Shepherd, Jesus. 

So the question today for me is this: Will my Jesus find me faithfully serving His sheep when He returns after preparing a place for me I don’t deserve and couldn’t earn and doing so at the cost of His own life? Please, LORD, let it be so!