Jesus’ Frustration “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint (or distress) I am under until it is completed!” (Luke 12:49–50). (1) When I read today’s passage, Luke 12:49–50, my attention was drawn to Jesus’ words: “what constraint (or distress) I am under” (v. 50). So, I chose the title of today’s meditation as “Jesus’ Frustration.” (a) First, I became curious about the definition of the word “ frustration, ” so I looked it up online. It was broadly defined in three contexts, and among them I was particularly interested in the psychological/situational frustration: “a painful state in which one feels anxious or stifled because things do not go as one wishes, or because one’s feelings are not resolved” (Internet). (i) ...
The Unfaithful Steward “But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master’s will and did not prepare or act according to his will shall be beaten with many blows. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, shall be beaten with few blows. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been entrusted, from him even more will be demanded” (Luke 12:45–48). (1) As I meditated today on the passage from Luke 12:45–48, my attention was drawn to the phrase “the unfaithful” in verse 46, spoken by Jesus. (a) ...