In my experience throughout my walk with Jesus, a common theme that is traditionally taught regarding the final punishment of the wicked is that there will be differing degrees of penalty doled out upon those who are not found to be in Christ at the judgement. The basis for this conclusion comes from Luke 12:42-48. This is where Jesus talks about a master who has been away, who then returns to find his slaves either diligently working or being irresponsible. For the slave who was found doing their job… reward. But, for the slaves who were not doing their jobs… the blows that they would each receive from their master for not doing their job would then be consistent with the degree of irresponsibility which they each had demonstrated while their master was away. The thing is though, the “degrees of punishment” supposedly described in this specific reference has nothing to do with unbelievers. It has to do with believers.
Context
Prior to Luke 12:42-48, Jesus had been encouraging His disciples about how valuable they are to God, and that they should not have anxiety about what they should eat or drink. He tells them to not to be concerned about their life by pointing out how God cares for the ravens and the wildflowers. Therefore, if that’s how God cares for birds and plants…
Luke 12:28-33 (HCSB) – “…how much more will He do for you — you of little faith? Don’t keep striving for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don’t be anxious. For the Gentile world eagerly seeks all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be provided for you. Don’t be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom.”
You would think that His point was over, but it wasn’t. Jesus did not stop there, leaving the disciples feeling good about how valuable they were to God and also giving them advice to “seek His kingdom.” No, there was something else that they needed to understand, despite how important these two might be. They also needed to realize that as His disciples, they had a responsibility to Him, just as “slaves” have a responsibility to their “master.” Jesus went on…
Luke 12:33-40 (HCSB) – “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money-bags for yourselves that won’t grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Be ready for service and have your lamps lit. You must be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once. Those slaves the master will find alert when he comes will be blessed. I assure you: He will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them. If he comes in the middle of the night, or even near dawn, and finds them alert, those slaves are blessed. But know this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”
What seemed to be an encouragement was now suddenly turning into a warning? This gave Peter pause; enough for him to even ask Jesus for clarity…
Luke 12:41 (HCSB) – “Lord,” Peter asked, “are You telling this parable to us or to everyone?”
Jesus then responded with the illustration in view…
Luke 12:42-48 (HCSB) – The Lord said: “Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time? That slave whose master finds him working when he comes will be rewarded. I tell you the truth: He will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female slaves, and to eat and drink and get drunk, that slave’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. And that slave who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten. But the one who did not know and did things deserving of blows will be beaten lightly. Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.”
In order to teach His disciples about what is expected and not expected from them, Jesus offers a picture of slaves who were prepared and who were not prepared upon the return of their master. Again, reward was given to the prepared slaves, where those who had demonstrated various degrees of unpreparedness would then each be beaten according to how unprepared they individually had been while their master was away. In other words, the master’s slaves would all be praised or disciplined in a manner which was in accordance to how each one had done or not had done what they knew to be the right thing. It was an important lesson for them to grasp, and it is important for us as well. We believers (who are slaves to our Master… Jesus Christ) do sometimes succeed, but we also do sometimes fail. Yet God can use these failures to help us to become what He wants us to become.
Degrees of Discipline
How does God then deal with us when we fail?
Hebrews 12:3-14 (HCSB) – For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won’t grow weary and lose heart. In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or faint when you are reproved by Him, for the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives. Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline — which all receive — then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had natural fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but He does it for our benefit, so that we can share His holiness. No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead. Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness — without it no one will see the Lord.
This reference in Hebrews is completely consistent with what Jesus was illustrating to His disciples. His slaves (believers) are each corrected because…
…the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives.
We believers need to realize that being disciplined by God means that we are not only loved by Him, but that we are each also considered to be as a “son” to God. He will administer upon each of us individually the appropriate degrees of discipline when needed, in order to make each of us more like Himself… because He loves us. Peter was not quite catching the fact that Jesus had believers in view with this parable, not unbelievers. I think that the many of us who conclude that Luke 12:42-48 is about the varying degrees of punishment that God gives to unbelievers forever in hell are unfortunately also not quite catching it either.
Degrees of Death
So, if it is believers that are actually in view and not unbelievers, what then happens to the unbeliever at judgement?
Well, Jesus did touch upon this in His response to Peter…
Luke 12:42-48 (HCSB) – The Lord said: “Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time? That slave whose master finds him working when he comes will be rewarded. I tell you the truth: He will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female slaves, and to eat and drink and get drunk, that slave’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. And that slave who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten. But the one who did not know and did things deserving of blows will be beaten lightly. Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.”
He will cut him to pieces…
What happens to a person who is cut into pieces?
Death… they die.
Just as Paul says…
Romans 6:20-23 (HCSB) – For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness. So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification — and the end is eternal life! For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There are no degrees of death for the unbeliever. Their punishment is always the same. It has no degree or variation. You are either alive or dead. You either have life or you do not have life.
Back to Hebrews, and also Second Death
Hebrews 9:27-28 (HCSB) – …just as it is appointed for people to die once — and after this, judgment — so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.
We believers will all experience a “first death” (unless of course we happen to be alive when our Master returns) and then after this, judgement and salvation. But, for the unbeliever it is not salvation that awaits them as a result of the judgement. It is instead a “second death” that awaits them after judgement…
Revelation 21:5-8 (HCSB) – Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water as a gift to the thirsty from the spring of life. The victor will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars — their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Just as Peter was at least alert enough to realize that Jesus was not only being encouraging but that He was also giving a warning, we must also be alert as well. We must be diligent to read more carefully, not listening to tradition, but listening to what the Spirit says…
Revelation 2:11 (HCSB) – “Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The victor will never be harmed by the second death.”
Conclusion
What I see Jesus pointing out in Luke 42-48 is not degrees of punishment for the unbeliever. What I see are degrees of discipline for believers (to make them like Jesus) and to also show that how a person treats the master’s slaves (believers) is an indication that such a person might actually be an unbeliever, whose ultimate fate is death. The crazy thing is, the unbeliever in this illustration turns out to be a fellow slave. Just noodle on that for a while!
Godspeed, to the brethren!
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