Luke 12:47–48: “That servant who knew his master’s will, but did not get ready or do what his master asked, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know his master’s will and did things worthy of punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be asked.”

Jesus is saying there are gradations here. One thing you know is that somebody “doesn’t know his master’s will.” That means you are already starting at a disadvantage. Not knowing the master’s will means, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” so the tendency for me to do the wrong thing is very high. But because of my ignorance, I will receive a light beating. Still, nobody wants to receive any beating.

He is saying that your exposure to light will determine how you will be judged when the Master comes back.

Your exposure to light. That means I should seek to be exposed to more light—but there are circumstances where some people just do not know. Based on the level of what they know, that does not make them less a servant of God than the person who supposedly “knows a lot.”

So rather than me beating on that servant who does not know much, I am supposed to focus on my own lane, because the Master who is going to judge us is calibrating the knowledge when He administers punishment. You are looking at people who have gone ahead of you and you say, “Wow, they did this, they did that.” God will look at how they have been faithful, and the things they did wrong, versus the light they had.

So my business is not to be preoccupied with criticizing that man of God, criticizing that person in history who probably did not have the light that I have. My business is to get more light and then to be faithful, because time is going. To be faithful and not be distracted by pointing the finger at the person who did not have as much light as I do—criticizing, beating the person up (figuratively), when the Master knows how He will deal with it. I should not be distracted by that.

But that is not all here. He says, “The servant who knew his master’s will…” So now we have knowledge. “…but did not get ready to do what his master asked.” That means the output does not match the light. He did not get ready. He did not receive the light as a call to more action. He did not see the light as a gift of God to do even more, to press on even more, to do more work. He did not see the light as a challenge.

The light you have is a challenge for you, and it is going to count when the Master marks us at the end. “He knows the master’s will”—this person has a lot of knowledge. And what did Paul say about knowledge? “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). So me, with a lot of knowledge but a lower dose of love, I am in trouble.

But the person who does not really have so much knowledge but has a lot of love—faithful love for the Master, faithful love for the neighbor, faithfulness to serve— the Master is going to judge us differently.

“The one who did not know his master’s will and did things worthy of punishment will receive a light beating. For everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be asked.”

You have been entrusted with more. That is another thing that will be calculated: what have you been entrusted with? What has been committed into your hand? That will be a measure of judgment. What kind of light and understanding do you have? That will be a measure also. And how are you preparing yourself so that your output matches that light? That is also a measure.

God bless you. See you later.