Rejoice in our future!
By Elizabeth Prata
This is a staggeringly incomprehensible verse, but it is true:
“Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.” (Luke 12:37)
I believe the Bible totally and completely. I believe every word is true. I have faith that the Lord will bring all things to completion just the way He said. I rejoice in the future of eternity and glad He gives us that hope of the future.
But to think of us being served by Him just leaves me no words! What a picture this verse creates. It reminds me of the time Jesus girded Himself and washed the feet of the disciples. He is always giving us a picture of humble service.
In this dark time of confusion and hate, chaos and uncertainty, let’s dwell on this future reality for a bit. We will see His face. We will be finally delivered from the presence of sin, ours and the world’s. We will reunite with loved ones. We will meet new brethren. We will see His glory! But this is true too: we will sit at His table and sup with Him!
Let’s examine what present and past theologians have had to say about this verse.
“He is going to light everything, He’s going to set a table, He’s going to sit you down and He’s going to feed you.” And there’s another picture of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb at which the bridegroom Himself will serve His bride. When He comes and takes us to heaven, He will sit us at His table and He will serve us. That’s one of the great pictures of the love of Christ for His redeemed church. I understand the part that we serve Him. This is over the top, that He serves us. When He comes back and finds us faithful, He will serve us.” John MacArthur
“But the remarkable thing in this story is that the master serves the servants! In Jewish weddings, the bride was treated like a queen and the groom like a king; so you would not expect the “king” to minister to his staff. Our King will minister to His faithful servants when He greets us at His return, and He will reward us for our faithfulness.” Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 222). Victor Books.
“Shall make them sit … – Shall place them at his table and feast them. This evidently means that if we are faithful to Christ, and are ready to meet him when he returns, he will receive us into heaven – will admit us to all its blessings, and make us happy there – as if “he” should serve us and minister to our wants. It will be as if a master, instead of sitting down at the table “himself,” should place his faithful “servants” there, and be himself the servant. This shows the exceeding kindness and condescension of our Lord. For “us,” poor and guilty sinners, he denied himself, took the form of a servant Philippians 2:7, and ministered to our wants. In our nature he has worked out salvation, and he has done it in one of the humblest conditions of the children of men. How should our bosoms burn with gratitude to him, and how should “we” be willing to serve one another!” Barnes’ Notes
Now that’s the thing that just absolutely is hard for me to really conceive. The Lord’s reward for His faithful servants who are girded, waiting for their Lord. Ready to open, watching for Him to come. What’s He going to do? He is going to gird Himself and serve them. The glorious marriage feast of the lamb. The Lord is going to be there and say, “I am going to be here to serve you.” Oh, my.” Smith’s Bible Commentary
The blessing that Jesus promised was that the Master would serve His servants. This was unthinkable in Jesus’ world (cf. John 13:3-8). However, Jesus enforced its certainty with a strong affirmation that Luke did not record Him using since Luke 4:24. The messianic banquet on earth at the beginning of the millennium is evidently in view here. “Eschatological fulfillment, and specifically sharing in God’s reign, is repeatedly pictured in terms of a festive meal in Luke. This association must be considered when interpreting the meal scenes and references to a future meal in the gospel, which have an unusually prominent place in Luke’s account of the ministry of Jesus.” Dr. Constable’s Expository Notes
For the bridegroom to wait upon his bride at table is not uncommon, but to wait upon his servants is not the manner of men; yet Jesus Christ was among his disciples as one that served, and did once, to show his condescension, gird himself, and serve them, when he washed their feet (John 13:4; John 13:5); it signified the joy with which they shall be received into the other world by the Lord Jesus, who is gone before, to prepare for them, and has told them that his Father will honour them, John 12:26. Matthew Henry.
The immediate context of the Luke 12:37 verse is the Lord’s warning for His servants to be ready. We do not know when He will return. Our lamps must be lit, we must be actively serving Him, working though the night even whether it is the second watch or the third. Our reward is promised to be great. Yet, though we know we are promised rewards for faithfulness and diligence, we don’t specifically work for those. We labor assiduously for our Lord out of love to Him, devotion, gratitude, and humility before His supreme worthiness. The question is: Are you ready for His return?
