Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required.
Wednesday, October 21 2026
Luke 12:39-48
Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required.
One of the biggest criticisms of English philosophy is also one of its greatest strengths: that, compared to its more florid continental counterparts, English philosophy is rustic and homely. While the French may rise to the mysticism of an existential freak-out, or the German may turn everything into a well-oiled machine as if it were one of their cars or railway networks, the English thinker thinks like a farmer, or a tradesman, or an inner-city gangster. And so one of the greatest gifts of English philosophy I have found is the idea that once you learn something, you can’t forget it. A thought cannot be un-thought; a lesson cannot be un-learned. Once something gets in your brain, it usually sticks there. It is high philosophy that I think we can all understand and relate to.
If we have something in our head, then it is not enough that it just sits there. We have to do something with it. Our Lord is teaching this very thing with this story of two servants. One of them knew what he was supposed to do, but didn’t do it. He instead “says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk”. His master therefore came and “cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.” If you know what you are supposed to do, then you should do it; you cannot claim ignorance.
This is all about what you know, and what you don’t know. If you know what God wants you to do, then you ought to do it; you cannot un-know your knowledge of what God wants you to do.
Now, this is very tough teaching from Jesus. I am sure we all have something we know we ought not to do, and yet we do it; or something we ought to be doing, and we don’t do it. So how can we make sure we are not sent along with the wicked servant, who was cut in pieces and put with the unfaithful?
Here is another piece of information that should stick in your head: God has both the desire and the capability to change your will. What is it about you that you know should change? Ask God to change it. It is a wonderful truth about God that he is full of mercy, and this is what mercy means. Mercy is about forgiveness, yes, but it is also so much more: it is a positive influence. When we ask God for mercy, we are asking him to grant us his grace, his help, his free gift of divine power to transform us into the person he wants us to be.
And so I would encourage you to be confident in seeking to know more about God. Because while it does expose us to greater condemnation if we go against that knowledge, it also opens us up for greater mercy and grace from God, since we will know what to ask for, and he will be happy to give it. Jesus concluded his lesson by saying that “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” We should be brave and seek to be the one to whom much was given, since the much that will be required comes directly from God, not our own feeble efforts. We should seek to be one to whom is entrusted much, even though more will be demanded of us, because the more that is demanded will be supplied to us by our gracious and merciful God.