Keep the Flame Burning
/
Luke 12:35 – 48
“Be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps alight. And be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns...”
In the verses before our text Jesus told them about a man who was concerned with his earthly goods and wanted to build bigger barns to hold all his “stuff.” He calls him a fool because he has the wealth of the world but is not rich toward God. He tells them not to be anxious about such things, but to seek God’s kingdom and all they needed would be provided.
In verse 35 Jesus speaks of being “dressed in readiness.” Ready for what? The answer follows when He tells us to be like men waiting for their master’s return.
The Jewish ritual of betrothal is rich with the symbolism of Christ’s return. There was a ceremony where the bride and groom met with friends and family as witnesses and they pledged themselves to one another. The bridegroom paid a price for the bride...and then they all went home, the bride to her family’s house and the bridegroom to his father’s. The bridegroom would spend the next months preparing a place in his father’s house for his bride and waiting for his father to say the time had come to go and take her for his wife. The bride had been making herself ready and waiting with her bridal clothes and her attendants, making sure that their lamps were kept burning so they would be ready for the sound of the trumpet. Yes, there was a trumpet sounded when the father declared it was time for his son to go get his bride.
In John 14:2-4 Jesus tells His disciples “...I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” That is a PROMISE. Forty days after Jesus rose from the grave, angels confirmed this promise as He ascended into heaven. “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking at the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
Mark 13:32 & 33 tells us that “...of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Take heed, therefore, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is.”
Waiting is difficult, but Jesus loves us so much, He tells us exactly how we should wait. First, we are to be “dressed in readiness.” This doesn’t mean we are to array ourselves in fancy clothes and adornments, but rather we must allow the Savior to clothe us.
Isaiah 61: 10 says “For he has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.” Ephesians tells us to “keep our feet shod with the readiness of the gospel.” Colossians 3:12 instructs God’s dearly loved chosen people to “clothe themselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” In the garden, Adam and Eve tried to hide their nakedness and sin with fig leaves, but God’s redemptive love wraps us in His own righteousness.
Jesus also tells them to keep their lamps lit and burning. In scripture, a burning lamp signifies God’s active, holy presence, and the oil represents the Holy Spirit. The Jews were commanded to never let the fire go out upon the altar. (Leviticus 6:3) God admonishes us to be spiritually alert, actively serving Him and prepared for His return.
He also tells us not to be afraid, not to be anxious, to let your treasure be heavenly things. This earthly life is not all there is for us. We have a wonderful promise from Jesus that He is coming back for us. He will be coming for those clothed in the righteousness of salvation for which He paid a great price. He will be coming for those living in the light of His holy presence. He will be coming for those who are pursuing the Master’s work. He wants us to be with Him where He is. In Luke 12:32 Jesus says, “For your Father has chosen gladly to give you the Kingdom.” How great a love the Lord has for those who belong to Him.”
There is a wonderful Greek word, prosdechomai, used in Luke 2 of Simeon who recognized Jesus as the Messiah when He was just 40 days old. It means to wait eagerly, conveying the idea of welcoming someone with an eager or expectant heart. It is also used in Titus 2:12 & 13 as it says “...live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
“Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.” Isaiah 49:23
Waiting for Jesus,
Jo