Глава 12

1–12. Exhortations to the open profession of faith. – 13–21. Parable of the Crazy Rich Man. – 22–34. About collecting earthly treasures. – 35–48. About vigilance and fidelity. – 49–53. About the struggle that followers of Christ will have to endure. – 54–59. About the signs of the times. Luke 12:1. Meanwhile, when thousands of people had gathered so that they crowded each other, He began to say first to His disciples: Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. In the next section (up to the 13th verse), the Evangelist Luke adheres to the Gospel of Matthew or that source that was close to this Gospel (cf. Matthew 10:17-33). “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees” (see Matt. 16:6). “Which is hypocrisy,” i.e. Beware because this leaven that permeates the entire nature of the Pharisee is hypocrisy (cf. Matt. 6:2). Luke 12:2. There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not be known. How does the speech relate to the previous verse? Undoubtedly, the Lord is now pointing out the uselessness of hypocrisy: anyway, the truth will certainly come out over time (see Matthew 10:26–27). Luke 12:3. Therefore, what you said in the darkness will be heard in the light; and what was spoken in the ear within the house will be proclaimed on the housetops. Some interpret this as applied to the preaching of the apostles, first hidden, and then, with the victory of Christianity, proclaimed openly. But it is simpler and more natural to see here a continuation of the speech about the uselessness of hypocrisy: no matter how much the hypocrite hides his state of mind, it will eventually be revealed clearly to everyone. "In the light", i.e. in daylight. Luke 12:4. I say to you, My friends: do not be afraid of those who kill the body and then are unable to do anything more; Luke 12:5. but I will tell you whom to fear: fear Him Who, after being killed, can throw you into Gehenna: I tell you, fear Him. Luke 12:6. Are not five small birds sold for two assars? and not one of them is forgotten by God. Luke 12:7. And even the hairs on your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid: you are worth more than many small birds. Until now, the Lord spoke about hypocrites, but now He turns to His friends. From them He expects not hypocritical devotion, but open and honest, fearless service. Luke 12:8. But I say to you: everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess it before the angels of God; Luke 12:9. but whoever denies Me before men will be rejected before the angels of God. The Lord here convinces the disciples to firmly confess their faith and points to the reward awaiting them for this. "Before the Angels of God". Evangelist Luke speaks of “Angels” as servants surrounding the throne of the Heavenly King. Evangelist Matthew speaks directly about the Heavenly Father, before Whom Christ recognizes His faithful confessors. Luke 12:10. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; and whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. From the confessors of Christ the speech moves on to those who do not believe in Christ, who will speak against the Son of Man, and from these to the blasphemers of the Holy Spirit. Luke 12:11. But when they bring you before the synagogues, before the principalities and powers, do not worry how or what to answer, or what to say. Luke 12:12. for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what you should say. According to the Evangelist Luke, the principalities and powers who will not recognize the disciples of Christ as messengers of God speaking under the influence of the Holy Spirit should be recognized as blasphemers of the Holy Spirit (see Matthew 10:17–20). Luke 12:13. One of the people said to Him: Teacher! tell my brother to share the inheritance with me. Luke 12:14. He said to the man, “Who made Me a judge or a divider between you?” This remarkable event is celebrated only by the evangelist Luke. One of Christ’s listeners—at least not a disciple of Christ, because a disciple would hardly have dared to approach Christ with such a question in front of the people—someone, obviously extremely busy with his work, interrupted Christ with a question or request: “Teacher! tell your brother..." It is obvious that his brother incorrectly appropriated the entire inheritance after his father, and he wanted the Great Teacher of the People to stand up for him. Perhaps, he thought, his brother would listen to the Teacher. But the Lord briefly answered him that He was not assigned to the task of dividing property. "Human!" (this is how the appeal of Christ should be translated here ἄνθρωπε). “Who set...” The Lord calls the one who turned to Him “a man” - a name showing some disapproval of the request itself (cf. Rom. 2:1, 9:20). Then the Lord clearly withdraws from participation in matters of a purely civil nature. He came to proclaim the Gospel, and once the Gospel is established in the hearts of people, it itself will transform and change the entire structure of social life. On the basis of the Gospel, completely fair Christian legislation could develop - internal renewal should also lead to external, civil renewal (see about this: Rozanov N.P. Socio-economic life and the Gospel, pp. 1–5). Luke 12:15. At the same time he said to them: look out, beware of covetousness, for a person’s life does not depend on the abundance of his possessions. The Lord points out that the motivation for the request expressed by the “man” was covetousness - greed, and at the same time convinces us to be afraid of this feeling. "For life". What life? Ordinary physical life or eternal life? From verse 20 it is clear that only the first can be meant here - simple existence, the duration of which does not depend on how much wealth one has managed to accumulate for himself: God unexpectedly puts an end to the life of a rich man and continues the life of a poor man. Luke 12:16. And he told them a parable: A certain rich man had a good harvest in his field; Luke 12:17. and he reasoned with himself: what should I do? I have nowhere to gather my fruits? Luke 12:18. And he said, “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will gather all my grain and all my goods, Luke 12:19. and I will say to my soul: soul! you have a lot of good things lying around for many years: rest, eat, drink, be merry. Luke 12:20. But God said to him: crazy! this night your soul will be taken from you; who will get what you have prepared? Luke 12:21. This is what happens to those who store up treasures for themselves and do not become rich in God. The parable of the crazy rich man perfectly confirms the idea of ​​verse 15 - about the unreliability of wealth for lengthening human life. “I have nowhere to gather my fruits.” The rich man, of course, had thousands of needy people in sight, to whom he should have given the excess harvest, but he seemed to not at all consider himself obligated to help his neighbors and was thinking only about himself, so that he could feel calm about the future, when, perhaps, there would be no harvest. “I will tell my soul.” The soul here is taken as the “seat of feelings”: it will feel the pleasure that wealth will give a person (“soul” in Greek ψυχή - precisely the lower side of mental life, in contrast to pneama - the highest side of this life). "God told him". When and how is not said; these omissions are generally characteristic of the parable (Blessed Theophylact). "They'll take it." Again, it is not said who. You can, of course, see Angels here - “Angels of death who will pluck out the soul of a resisting life-lover” (Blessed Theophylact; cf. Luke 16:22). “Grows rich in God” (εἰς θεὸν πλουτῶν) - this does not mean: collect wealth in order to use it for the glory of God, because in this case the previous expression would be retained: “gathers treasures” (θησαυρίζειν), and the opposite would be if only in the difference in the goals of enrichment, whereas, undoubtedly, the Lord contrasts “enrichment in general” with complete indifference to the collection of property. There can be no talk here of collecting undecaying riches - the blessings of the Messianic Kingdom, because this will still be the accumulation of treasures “for oneself,” although these are treasures of a different kind. Therefore, there is nothing left to do but accept the interpretation of B. Weiss, according to which “to be rich in God” means to be rich in goods that God Himself recognizes as goods (cf. the expression of verse 31: “seek especially the Kingdom of God”). Luke 12:22. And He said to His disciples: Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will wear: Luke 12:23. the soul is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Luke 12:24. Look at the ravens: they neither sow nor reap; They have neither storehouses nor granaries, and God feeds them; How much better are you than the birds? Luke 12:25. And which of you, by caring, can add even one cubit to his height? Luke 12:26. So, if you can’t do even the slightest thing, why are you worrying about the rest? Luke 12:27. Look at the lilies, how they grow: they do not toil, they do not spin; but I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory did not dress like any of them. Luke 12:28. If God clothes the grass in the field, which is there today and thrown into the oven tomorrow, then how much more so than you, you of little faith! Luke 12:29. So, do not look for what you should eat or what you should drink, and do not worry, Luke 12:30. because all this is what the people of this world are looking for; but your Father knows that you have need; Luke 12:31. Seek above all else the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. These sayings, which reveal the thoughts of the parable of the crazy rich man, are placed in the Gospel of Matthew in the Conversation on the Mount (see Matthew 6:25–33). “And do not worry” (verse 29, μὴ μετεωρίζεσθε) - more correctly “do not be too arrogant” in your demands for life in general. Luke 12:32. Fear not, little flock! for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom. Luke 12:33. Sell ​​your property and give alms. Prepare for yourselves sheaths that do not wear out, a never-failing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys, Luke 12:34. for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "Do not be afraid, little flock." These words are found only in the Evangelist Luke. Here the Lord gives assurance to His disciples that their desire for the Kingdom of God (verse 31) will achieve its goal. And they could be afraid precisely because they, perhaps, would not have to enter this Kingdom, because they, in any case, represented only an extremely small circle (“small flock”), whereas in the Old Testament, according to the general understanding of that time, the Kingdom of the Messiah was intended for the chosen people as a whole. “What are we really? - the apostles might have thought. “What kind of “Kingdom” will it be, in which there will only be us and a few other followers of Christ?” But the Lord dispels all their doubts by indicating the “favor” of God: the Kingdom will open before you (cf. Luke 22:29 et seq.) - of course, the glorious Heavenly Kingdom of the Messiah. "Sell your estates". This goal is so important that you must sacrifice your earthly possessions for it. This, of course, applies not only to the apostles, but also to all followers of Christ (see Matthew 6:19–21). "Cook for yourself." You will give your earthly acquisitions to others, but take care of yourself - try to acquire heavenly treasure for yourself, i.e. entrance into the glorious Kingdom of Christ. However, one cannot think that this will be achieved by simply distributing one’s property to the poor or by giving alms alone. Almsgiving and distribution of one's property will only free a person from the obstacle that wealth is for a person who strives to acquire the Kingdom of Heaven, but besides this, the seeker of such a Kingdom must apply all his strength to achieve his goal. “Vaginas do not decay”, i.e. such repositories of heavenly treasures that never wear out and from which nothing spills. Luke 12:35. Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning. Luke 12:36. And you be like people who wait for their master to return from marriage, so that when he comes and knocks, they will immediately open the door for him. Luke 12:37. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, finds awake; Truly I tell you, he will gird himself and make them sit down, and he will come and serve them. Luke 12:38. And if he comes in the second watch, and in the third watch, and finds them like this, then blessed are those servants. Luke 12:39. You know that if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief would come, he would have been awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. Luke 12:40. Be ready, too, for at an hour you do not think, the Son of Man will come. Closely connected with the speech about the future glorious Kingdom of the Messiah is the speech where Christ convinces the apostles to be especially vigilant in anticipation of the opening of this Kingdom. “Let there be loins...”. Those. be fully prepared to meet the coming Messiah. Servants had to walk quickly while serving their master, and therefore they had to belt their clothes so that they would not get tangled around their legs. In the same way, when meeting their master at night, they had to hold lamps in their hands. The gentleman is depicted as coming “from a marriage” - not from his own, but simply from someone’s wedding. “Blessed are those servants...”. With this tributary saying, the Lord wants to point out the certainty of the righteous reward that all His faithful servants will receive at the opening of the glorious Kingdom of the Messiah: the master himself will show such slaves as much attention as they give him, and so the Messiah will worthily reward His watchful servants. "In the second watch, and in the third watch." In the first watch, i.e. at the beginning of the night, several slaves might already be awake, cleaning up some things around the house. But not sleeping during the second and third watch meant staying awake on purpose. Here the Evangelist Luke adheres to the ancient Jewish division of the night into three parts, or watches, Mark in Mark 13:35 adheres to the later, Roman division of the night into four watches. “You know that if he had known...” (see Matthew 24:43–44). Luke 12:41. Then Peter said to Him: Lord! Are you speaking this parable to us, or to everyone? Luke 12:42. The Lord said: Who is the faithful and prudent steward, whom the master appointed over his servants to distribute to them a measure of bread in due season? Luke 12:43. Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, finds doing this. Luke 12:44. Truly I say to you, he will put him over all his possessions. Luke 12:45. If that servant says in his heart: My master will not come soon, and begins to beat the servants and maidservants, eat and drink and get drunk, - Luke 12:46. then the master of that servant will come on a day on which he does not expect, and at an hour on which he does not think, and will cut him in pieces, and subject him to the same fate as the infidels. Luke 12:47. The servant who knew the will of his master, and was not ready, and did not do according to his will, will be beaten a lot; Luke 12:48. but whoever did not know and did something worthy of punishment will receive less punishment. And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and to whom much has been entrusted, from him will be required more. Only one evangelist, Luke, reports about the question of the Apostle Peter. Peter is perplexed about the parable of the servants waiting for the master - whether it applies to only the apostles or to all believers. In response to Peter, the Lord speaks a parable, which is also given in Matthew (Matthew 24:45–51). If Matthew mentions a “slave,” and here a “steward,” then, obviously, this is not a contradiction, since in the East, stewards were mostly taken from slaves. Then in verse 46, the Evangelist Luke says that the fate of the slave will be the same as that of unfaithful people in general, and Matthew (Matthew 24:51) uses “hypocrites” instead of the word “unfaithful.” Verses 47-48 are an addition made by the evangelist Luke. A slave who knew everything his master wanted and yet did not prepare what was needed will be severely punished. He who did not know the will of the master will not be punished in the same way in case of failure to fulfill this will, but will still be punished for having “done something worthy of punishment” (and what exactly the Lord does not say). “And from everyone to whom much has been given...” (verse 48). For an explanation, see the comments on Matthew 25:14 et seq. The sum of money should not lie idle with the one to whom it is given: it was given, obviously, to increase it through trade transactions, and therefore, when returning it, the giver will need to give back the increase to it along with it. In a figurative sense, here, of course, we mean those followers of Christ who have received any special spiritual or external advantages with which they should serve for the return of the Church (Eph. 4:11–13). Luke 12:49. I came to bring down fire to the earth, and how I wish it would already be kindled! Luke 12:50. I must be baptized with baptism; and how I languish until this is accomplished! Luke 12:51. Do you think that I came to give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but division; Luke 12:52. for from now on five in one house will be divided, three against two, and two against three: Luke 12:53. the father will be against the son, and the son against the father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. The Lord has just said that His faithful servants need to watch continually. He now justifies this admonition by indicating the action that His appearance in humanity should lead to: with His coming there must come a time of difficult struggle that will occur between people when deciding whether to take the side of Christ or go against Him. “I have come to bring down fire on the earth.” By this “fire” one cannot understand neither the Holy Spirit (ancient church interpretation), nor the Word of God with its cleansing power, nor the fire of persecution testing believers, nor the inflammation of the Spirit that appeared in some people under the influence of Christ’s teaching, nor the discord depicted further (verse 51 et seq.) as an all-consuming element. In all these interpretations, the very essence of fire is not taken into sufficient account, and the latter interpretation is contradicted by the fact that discord is further presented not as consuming, but as dividing people. The essence of fire is that it destroys things and destroys everything that can be destroyed, and the indestructible, not susceptible to its destructive action, cleanses from all impurities that adhere to it. Defining more closely the meaning of fire, as it is understood here, we must see in it a spiritual force that destroys the real structure of the world, destroys everything corruptible and anti-divine in it, and thereby purifies the essence of this world and transforms it into a new one, capable of eternal existence. “And how I wish it would already catch fire!” More precisely: “and how much I desire...” (καὶ τί θέλω). “I must be baptized with baptism.” This fire will ignite only when Christ completes His ministry for which He came to earth... Here, of course, we mean baptism through suffering, so to speak, immersion (βάπτισμα) into suffering (cf. Mark 10:38). “And how I languish...” To languish (συνέχεσθαι) means to have constant anxiety and melancholy in the soul (cf. Luke 21:25; 2 Cor. 2:4). Here Christ expresses a purely human feeling of depression of spirit at the thought of impending suffering (cf. John 12:27; Matthew 26:37). If in this way Christ says that He came to “throw” (in Russian - “bring down” - a weaker expression) a fire on the earth and wants this fire to already be kindled, and then continues that He needs to be baptized with suffering, the thought of which leads His soul to languor, then by this He makes it clear not only that His suffering will precede the kindling of that fire, but also that it is necessary for this, that without His suffering the fire will not ignite. From this we can draw the conclusion that by the fire that would ignite only after His suffering and death, the Lord had in mind the preaching of the cross, which was a temptation for those who were perishing, and for those who were being saved - by the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18) and which was really supposed to cleanse the world like fire from all sin. The flame of this sermon will burn until sinners are finally consumed in the final fire of God’s judgment and until a new heaven and a new earth appear in which righteousness dwells (2 Pet. 3:7, 12–13). Just as Christ, through baptism, which He accepted at the very beginning of His messianic ministry, took upon Himself the guilt of all humanity, so in baptism of suffering He bore responsibility for this guilt and restored humanity in its righteousness, since by taking over His merits by faith, we truly become righteous before God... This is the causal connection between the suffering and death of Christ, on the one hand, and the kindling of fire, on the other. To explain this figurative speech, the Lord further (verse 51 et seq.) tells the disciples that He came to earth not to bring “peace”, but “separation.” For an explanation, see the comments on Matthew 10:34-36, where this saying has the meaning of exhorting the disciples to the most extreme self-sacrifice, while here it is given as containing an exhortation to watchfulness in view of the expected coming of Christ to open His Kingdom. Luke 12:54. He also said to the people: when you see a cloud rising from the west, immediately say: it will rain, and so it happens; Luke 12:55. and when the south wind blows, say: there will be heat, and it does happen. Luke 12:56. Hypocrites! You know how to recognize the face of the earth and the sky, how can you not recognize this time? Luke 12:57. Why don’t you judge for yourself what should happen? Luke 12:58. When you go with your rival to the authorities, then try to free yourself from him on the road, so that he does not bring you to the judge, and the judge does not hand you over to the torturer, and the torturer does not throw you into prison. Luke 12:59. I tell you: you won’t leave there until you give back your last half. The cause of those discords, the occurrence of which Christ had just predicted, if we take into account first of all the listeners of Christ - the Jews, lay in the Jewish people themselves. These people did not want to admit that with the coming of Christ the long-awaited messianic time had come. Therefore, the Lord reproaches the people for this unwillingness to understand the great meaning of the events taking place before them - the deeds of Christ. Christ denounces the people with the same words with which He once addressed the Pharisees (see Matthew 16:1–4). “Cloud... from the west”, i.e. from the Mediterranean Sea, a cloud full of moisture. "Hypocrites". That, in all fairness, should have been the name of the people, because the people had not yet lost common sense, they just did not want to delve into the meaning of what Christ was doing before their eyes. “Why don’t you judge by yourself?” Here the power of thought lies in the word ἀφ´ ἑαυτῶν, inaccurately translated in the Russian text by the expression “by ourselves.” The Lord reproaches the people for not wanting to understand the signs of the times they are experiencing on their own, “on their own,” without being guided by the harmful suggestions of the Pharisees. "When You Walk". The Lord reinforces the idea of ​​the need to take advantage of the signs of the times that are taking place now with a parable, the content of which is taken from everyday life. He does well who, without bringing the matter to trial, rushes to make peace with his enemy or creditor, because the court will not have mercy on the non-paying debtor and will hand him over to the torturer (πράκτωρ), whose duties among the Greeks were the collection of all debts. So the Lord advises His listeners with this parable to quickly do what is required of them by the present state of affairs, i.e. to quickly repent of their stubbornness, with which they had hitherto refused to recognize the God-sent Messiah in Christ and thereby get rid of the judgment of God that threatened them (the same instruction is found in Matthew 5:25–26, but here it is more in place than there). However, the Lord leaves it to the people themselves to apply this parable to themselves. It was not difficult to do this, because the time in which these people lived was indeed similar to a business relationship between debtor and creditor. Already John the Baptist preached repentance and foreshadowed the coming of the Lord to judgment, and then Christ Himself testified to the people as the Redeemer from sin and inspired the idea of ​​strict liability to which all those who disobey His admonitions would be subjected. If the people now neglect all the means offered to them in order to free themselves from their guilt before God, then God will deal with them as with the debtor from the parable. You might be interested in: