S
screwup
Guest
hey everyone,
i was wondering if any of you could make any criticisms on this exe/eiso-gesis of luke 12.41-48. some of the conclusions i come to may be very false, so please rebuke accordingly.
ive always been a little dubious about how God's justice is present in Gospel-deprived situations. when i say Gospel-deprived situations, i'm talking about situations such as abortive infant deaths, peoples in the world that have never heard the Gospel (ie, feudal Japan in the pre-Tokugawa era and past) and other numerous situations that have occurred and are occurring in the world where God's creation have never heard of the Gospel and are dying as we speak. i've wondered what happens to these people: do they go to hell? if they do, doesn't that demean God's supreme justice and righteousness? because thats really unfair if these people go to hell because they weren't even given a fair exposure to the Good News. the people i've asked regarding this dilemma have responded by saying, "look at God's justice and love throughout the Bible. i think you can safely assume that God would send those people to heaven" or "i would surely like to believe so considering the example of love and mercy he set through Jesus Christ." however, these were not the best responses for me because it didnt come directly from the Bible and were just speculations at best. but as i was reading Luke last night (and not even thinking about this subject at all), God led me to Luke 12.41-48:
41Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?" 42And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43Blessed is that servant[a] whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46the master of that servant 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 put him with the unfaithful. 47And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
when Christ is explaining his parable, we see that he is speaking in context of a 'master-and-servant' relationship.
Christ says "that servant" (in reference to the servant who squandered his time) in the beginning of verse 47 and then "the one" in verse 48. does he say this to distinguish between "servants" as in "believers of Christ" and "the one" as in "Gospel-deprived"? i looked at these two verses in 8 different translations and all of them except 2 (which were questionable translations) distinguished verse 47 as "the servant" and verse 48 as "the one." this is my first piece of evidence in support of the view that he is referencing to the Gospel-deprived in verse 48 and not the Gospel-exposed.
with this evidence in mind, the argument can be made that when Christ said "servant" in verse 47, he was referring to people who have heard the Gospel and proclaim to be believers because in verse 48, he says "but the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating" in reference to the Gospel-deprived because it would not make sense if he meant "the one" in reference to another type of servant. i could see why one could easily think Christ is referring to believers in verse 48, but i believe he isnt. because if you are a "servant" of the "master," it is unlikely you can be ignorant of what his will is since the nature of a servant is to know the will of his master. that is what makes the debauched and evil deeds of the "servant" that Christ is talking about in the parable so very wicked--because he KNOWS the master's will yet squanders his life. thus, "the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating" because "the one who did not know" is not a servant, which means someone who is Gospel-deprived.
what is the "master's will" exactly? in the parable, the servant did not carry out the master's will by not being a "faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time (v.42)" what does this mean? that God has set us over the lost, his "household", to share the Gospel, or to "give them their portion of food at the proper time." thus, Christ has to be talking about the Gospel-deprived when he says "the one" in verse 48 because otherwise that would mean "but the one [servant/follower of God] who did not know [that he was supposed to share the Gospel]..." everyone who believes in the Gospel knows that he is supposed to share it. thus, in verse 48, Christ is specifically talking about those that never heard the Gospel.
more supporting evidence of Christ's mercy on the Gospel-deprived argument is John 15.22.
something to note: Christ first mentions our responsibility to share the Gospel in verse 42. he then emphasizes this responsibility to share the Gospel in verse 44: "he will set him over all his possessions." He emphasizes this again in the last sentence of verse 48: "everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more." God's mercy is complete upon the Gospel-deprived but God emphasizes so much more in his parable our responsibility to share it. isn't that interesting?
the issue of beatings is what i believe to be Christ's propensity to use hyperboles. for example, when Christ says "i have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (luke 5.32)" he doesnt really mean THE righteous (the righteousness that comes from faith). he is referring to the people that think they're righteous or "look" righteous (the pharisees). i think Christ means the same thing when he says they will receive a "light beating." Christ means that the Gospel-deprived are spared. spared as in they go to heaven? i don't think i could be as emphatic about that. what is for sure is that God definitely has mercy on them, whatever that means in eternal terms.
my main struggle against this entire argument is reconciling it with Romans 1.18-20:
18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
I know infants who die early are exempt from this, but these verses doom Gospel-deprived peoples. so I like to think about John 15.22 because this is directly out of the mouth of Christ, which takes precedence over Paul. however, i know that this is insufficient and just a latching onto something that i wish was truly complete in my mind (Paul's word is just as good as God's, after all). So I realize the more important thing to see is that there is no way i can put God in a box. once i think ive got Christ figured out, he throws me another curveball and His will becomes mysterious again--which is where i should be. God says in Exodus 20.4 to not make ourselves a carved image because by doing so we limit His capacity and demeans the very nature of his Awesomeness, which can lead to my pride and my own glorification as every sinful part of me tries to do. even for an argument for something like this which tries to uplift God's mercy can be a confining of God's character, who is more than just merciful. He is God and i am not.
i was wondering if any of you could make any criticisms on this exe/eiso-gesis of luke 12.41-48. some of the conclusions i come to may be very false, so please rebuke accordingly.
ive always been a little dubious about how God's justice is present in Gospel-deprived situations. when i say Gospel-deprived situations, i'm talking about situations such as abortive infant deaths, peoples in the world that have never heard the Gospel (ie, feudal Japan in the pre-Tokugawa era and past) and other numerous situations that have occurred and are occurring in the world where God's creation have never heard of the Gospel and are dying as we speak. i've wondered what happens to these people: do they go to hell? if they do, doesn't that demean God's supreme justice and righteousness? because thats really unfair if these people go to hell because they weren't even given a fair exposure to the Good News. the people i've asked regarding this dilemma have responded by saying, "look at God's justice and love throughout the Bible. i think you can safely assume that God would send those people to heaven" or "i would surely like to believe so considering the example of love and mercy he set through Jesus Christ." however, these were not the best responses for me because it didnt come directly from the Bible and were just speculations at best. but as i was reading Luke last night (and not even thinking about this subject at all), God led me to Luke 12.41-48:
41Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?" 42And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43Blessed is that servant[a] whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46the master of that servant 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 put him with the unfaithful. 47And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
when Christ is explaining his parable, we see that he is speaking in context of a 'master-and-servant' relationship.
Christ says "that servant" (in reference to the servant who squandered his time) in the beginning of verse 47 and then "the one" in verse 48. does he say this to distinguish between "servants" as in "believers of Christ" and "the one" as in "Gospel-deprived"? i looked at these two verses in 8 different translations and all of them except 2 (which were questionable translations) distinguished verse 47 as "the servant" and verse 48 as "the one." this is my first piece of evidence in support of the view that he is referencing to the Gospel-deprived in verse 48 and not the Gospel-exposed.
with this evidence in mind, the argument can be made that when Christ said "servant" in verse 47, he was referring to people who have heard the Gospel and proclaim to be believers because in verse 48, he says "but the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating" in reference to the Gospel-deprived because it would not make sense if he meant "the one" in reference to another type of servant. i could see why one could easily think Christ is referring to believers in verse 48, but i believe he isnt. because if you are a "servant" of the "master," it is unlikely you can be ignorant of what his will is since the nature of a servant is to know the will of his master. that is what makes the debauched and evil deeds of the "servant" that Christ is talking about in the parable so very wicked--because he KNOWS the master's will yet squanders his life. thus, "the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating" because "the one who did not know" is not a servant, which means someone who is Gospel-deprived.
what is the "master's will" exactly? in the parable, the servant did not carry out the master's will by not being a "faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time (v.42)" what does this mean? that God has set us over the lost, his "household", to share the Gospel, or to "give them their portion of food at the proper time." thus, Christ has to be talking about the Gospel-deprived when he says "the one" in verse 48 because otherwise that would mean "but the one [servant/follower of God] who did not know [that he was supposed to share the Gospel]..." everyone who believes in the Gospel knows that he is supposed to share it. thus, in verse 48, Christ is specifically talking about those that never heard the Gospel.
more supporting evidence of Christ's mercy on the Gospel-deprived argument is John 15.22.
something to note: Christ first mentions our responsibility to share the Gospel in verse 42. he then emphasizes this responsibility to share the Gospel in verse 44: "he will set him over all his possessions." He emphasizes this again in the last sentence of verse 48: "everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more." God's mercy is complete upon the Gospel-deprived but God emphasizes so much more in his parable our responsibility to share it. isn't that interesting?
the issue of beatings is what i believe to be Christ's propensity to use hyperboles. for example, when Christ says "i have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (luke 5.32)" he doesnt really mean THE righteous (the righteousness that comes from faith). he is referring to the people that think they're righteous or "look" righteous (the pharisees). i think Christ means the same thing when he says they will receive a "light beating." Christ means that the Gospel-deprived are spared. spared as in they go to heaven? i don't think i could be as emphatic about that. what is for sure is that God definitely has mercy on them, whatever that means in eternal terms.
my main struggle against this entire argument is reconciling it with Romans 1.18-20:
18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
I know infants who die early are exempt from this, but these verses doom Gospel-deprived peoples. so I like to think about John 15.22 because this is directly out of the mouth of Christ, which takes precedence over Paul. however, i know that this is insufficient and just a latching onto something that i wish was truly complete in my mind (Paul's word is just as good as God's, after all). So I realize the more important thing to see is that there is no way i can put God in a box. once i think ive got Christ figured out, he throws me another curveball and His will becomes mysterious again--which is where i should be. God says in Exodus 20.4 to not make ourselves a carved image because by doing so we limit His capacity and demeans the very nature of his Awesomeness, which can lead to my pride and my own glorification as every sinful part of me tries to do. even for an argument for something like this which tries to uplift God's mercy can be a confining of God's character, who is more than just merciful. He is God and i am not.
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