Sometimes, a bible verse seems to prove a certain aspect of our Christian Faith but falls short when presented to a non-believer. What is the purpose of these verses, and how can we use them to strengthen our own faith? Karlo Broussard discusses Luke 12:42 and how it relates to Peter being the leader of the Church.
Transcript:
In regards to Luke 1242.
And I kind of wonder why Catholics don’t use that more in regards to the primacy of the Pope.
All right, yeah, so let me share some thoughts and then we’ll get your response, okay? So hang tight here. So let’s first of all help our listeners out, Kevin. What is Luke 1242 talking about? Well that’s where Jesus, Peter’s, he’s actually responding to Peter’s question when he says, “Lord, are you telling us this parable for us or for all?” So Jesus says, he starts talking about a faithful and wise servant whom his master will set over his household. And so there, Kevin, you are right to think that this steward over the household is mapping on with the chief royal steward of the house of David within the Davidic kingdom. And so there it is true that Jesus is employing this imagery here in this parable of the faithful steward, which our Lord says, “Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find him doing.” That is to give, our Lord says, that steward giving the portion of food at the proper time to those over whom he is ministering. And then our Lord says, “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find when he comes and doing so.” And our Lord says, “Truly I tell you, he will set him the steward over all his possessions. The master will set the steward over all his possessions.” Okay, so your question is, why don’t we appeal to this passage in conversations about the papacy? Because we believe that Peter is given the role as the chief royal steward, the steward over the house of Jesus, leading with the church here on earth. And here’s my answer, Kevin.
I don’t think that we have enough evidence in the text itself that Jesus is specifying for us that Peter is this steward over the household to whom is given all possessions, a faithful steward that Jesus is talking about. Because somebody who doesn’t buy into the Catholic understanding of the papacy can just as easily read this passage and say, “Well, Jesus is just using the imagery of the chief royal steward or the steward over the household in order to teach his apostles a lesson about being ready when our Lord comes. And if you’re faithful, you’re going to receive rewards. And if you ain’t, you ain’t going to receive rewards if you’re not faithful.” And that’s all Jesus is communicating to us. And like he does elsewhere, just drawing from real life experiences among the Jewish people.
Now, so notice the only way, Kevin, that we could read this in a petrine way, like with a papal sort of coloring or interpretation, is if we assume that Peter is the royal steward, the steward over the household of Jesus Christ. And so if we appeal to this passage as evidence for the papacy, we would be begging the question. We would be assuming what we’re trying to prove in our conclusion. So apologetically speaking, I don’t think this would be a good text to substantiate or justify our understanding of the papacy and Peter being the first pope. However, I will say this, given that we have independent reasons to think that Peter is, in fact, the steward put in charge over the household of Jesus, which is the kingdom of Jesus, which is the church, we can come to this passage with that background understanding for which we have independent reasons to assent to and embrace and see in the parable that perhaps this faithful steward who is giving the members of the household the portions of food at the proper time and the master finding him doing so and giving him possession, all, you know, set him over all his possessions in the household. That could be an implicit reference to Peter as being the first pope. But again, that’s only going to be if we first have in place independent reasons for thinking that Peter is the steward over the household of Jesus, which is the church.
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