Luke 12:45 (DRB)

Passage

But if that servant shall say in his heart: My Lord is long a coming; and shall begin to strike the men-servants and maid-servants, and to eat and to drink and be drunk:

Nearby Context

Luke 12:43 Blessed is that servant whom, when his lord shall come, he shall find so doing.

Luke 12:44 Verily I say to you, he will set him over all that he possesseth.

Luke 12:45 But if that servant shall say in his heart: My Lord is long a coming; and shall begin to strike the men-servants and maid-servants, and to eat and to drink and be drunk:

Luke 12:46 The lord of that servant will come in the day that he hopeth not, and at the hour that he knoweth not: and shall separate him and shall appoint him his portion with unbelievers.

Luke 12:47 And that servant, who knew the will of his lord and prepared not himself and did not according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "servant", "shall", "heart", "lord", "long", "coming", and "begin". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "servant" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 44's "Verily I say to you he will..." into verse 46's "The lord of that servant will come...", so "servant" and "shall" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "servant" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.