The Four gospels Book of Luke.
Luke 's focus: several themes dominate the gospel. Luke stresses the overarching plan of God in human history as revealed through Israel, Christ,and the church. He put special emphasis on "salvation." He is concerned with individuals (Zaccheus, Elisabeth, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary and Martha) shows the important of women,and calls special attention to children, the poor, and the disreputable.
The Bible never speaks of Mary as "the mother of God". While it is true that she is the mother of Jesus,and that Jesus is God,it is nevertheless a doctrinal absurdity to speak of God as having a mother. Jesus existed from all eternity whereas Mary was finite creature with a definite date when she began to exist. She would not be one who conferred blessing but one's who would be blessed. She speaks of God as her Savior, dispoving the idae that mary was sinless.
Elizabeth's appointed time, she gave birth to a son.Her relatives and friends were delighted. On the eigth day, when the child was circumcised, they thought it was a foregone conclusion that he would be named Zacharias, after his father. When his mother told them the child 's name would be John, they were surprised, because none of his realtaives had this name. For centuries, the world had lain indarkness. now through the tender mercy of our God,d awn was about to break.I twould come in the Person of Christ, shining on the Gentiles who were in darkness and the shadow of death,and guiding ISRAEL FEET INTO THE WAY OF PEACE. The chapter closes with a simple statement tht the child grew phsically and spiritutally, remaining in the deserts till the day of his public appearance to the nation of Israel.
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father,and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 's focus: several themes dominate the gospel. Luke stresses the overarching plan of God in human history as revealed through Israel, Christ,and the church. He put special emphasis on "salvation." He is concerned with individuals (Zaccheus, Elisabeth, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary and Martha) shows the important of women,and calls special attention to children, the poor, and the disreputable.
Chapter One
Zacharias means the Lord remembers was a priest belonging to the dividon of Abijah, one of the twenty-four shifts into which the Jewish priesthood had been divided by King David. Each shift was called on to serve at the temple in Jerusalem twice a year from Sabbath to Sababath. It is inspiring to notice that the Gospel opens with people praying at the temple and its closes with people praising God at the temple.Child (John) would be great in the sight of the Lord. First of all he would be great in his personal separation to God; he would drink neither wine nor strong drink. Second, he would be great in his spiritual endowment; he would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother womb.
His(John) preaching would turn the hearts of careless parents to a real spiritual concern for their children. Also he would bring back the hearts of disobedient, rebellous children to the "wisdom of the just."Both Zacharias and his wife were aged too old to become parents of a child. Messenger of God the arch angel Gabriel brings message from God to Zacharias. Because Zacharias had doubted, he would lose the power of speech until the child was born. Unbeliefs seals the lips,and they remain sealed until faith returns and bursts in praise and witness. Annuciation of the Son of Man's birth, in sixth month or after Elisabeth became pregnant, Gabriel reappeared-this time to a virgin named Mary who lived in the city of Nazareth, in the district of Galilee.
Two points should be noted here: The angel did not worship Mary or pray to her; he simply greeted her. He did not say that she was full of grace, but highly favored.
To Mary's problem of 'How" it seemed impossible to human reckoning-God's answer is the "Holy Spirit."Mary's Son would be God manifest in the flesh.. Angel broke the news to Mary that Elizabeth her relative,was in her sixth month of pregnancy-she who had been barren. In beautiful submission, Mary yielded herself to the Lord for the accomplishment of His wondrous purpose. We are not told why Mary visited Elizabeth. It may have been to avoid the scandal which would inevitably arise in Nazareth when her condition became known. As soon as Elizbeth heard Mary's voice, the babae leaped in her womb-a mysterious, involuntary response of the unborn forerunner to the arrival of the unborn Messiah. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, that is, He took control of her, guiding her speech and action. Three persons in chapter 1 are said to be filled the Holy Spirit: John the Baptist, Elizabeth and Zacharias.
The Bible never speaks of Mary as "the mother of God". While it is true that she is the mother of Jesus,and that Jesus is God,it is nevertheless a doctrinal absurdity to speak of God as having a mother. Jesus existed from all eternity whereas Mary was finite creature with a definite date when she began to exist. She would not be one who conferred blessing but one's who would be blessed. She speaks of God as her Savior, dispoving the idae that mary was sinless.
Elizabeth's appointed time, she gave birth to a son.Her relatives and friends were delighted. On the eigth day, when the child was circumcised, they thought it was a foregone conclusion that he would be named Zacharias, after his father. When his mother told them the child 's name would be John, they were surprised, because none of his realtaives had this name. For centuries, the world had lain indarkness. now through the tender mercy of our God,d awn was about to break.I twould come in the Person of Christ, shining on the Gentiles who were in darkness and the shadow of death,and guiding ISRAEL FEET INTO THE WAY OF PEACE. The chapter closes with a simple statement tht the child grew phsically and spiritutally, remaining in the deserts till the day of his public appearance to the nation of Israel.
Chapter Two
Birth of the Son of Man, from his standpoint, Caesar Augustus was demonstrating his supremacy over the Greco-Roman world. But from God' s standpoint, this Gentile emperor was merely a puppet to further the divine program. Decree of Augustus brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem at exactly the right time in order that the Messiash might be born there in fulfillment of prophecy. Bethlehem was crowded when they arrived from Galilee. The only place they could find to stay was the stable of an inn. That was an omen, a preview of how men would receive their Savior.
Mary brought forth her first born Son. Wrapping Him in swaddling clothes, she lovingly laid Him a manger. Thus did God visit our plant in the Person of a helpless Baby, and in the Poverty of an ill-smelling stable. The wonder of it! He began in a manger,and ended on the cross, and along the way had no where to lay his head.
Angel of the Lord came to the shepherds, and a bright light shone all around them. First, He is a Savior, which is expressed in His name,Jesus. Then he is Christ, the anointed of God, the Messiah of Israel. Finally,He is the Lord, God manifest in the flesh. The shepherds returned to their flocks, overjoyed at all they had heard and seen,and overflowing in their worship of God.
The circumcision and dedication of Jesus in the temple. It was a token of the covenant that God made with Abraham. On this same day, the child was named,according to Jewish custom. The angel had previously instructed Mary and Joseph to" call him Jesus." Simeon lives to see the Messiah. Simeon waas one of the godly remnant of Jews who was waiting for the coming of the Messiah. It was revealed to Him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before seeing the Lord's Christ or Anointed One. It so happened that he entered the temple area on the very day that Jesus's parent were presenting Him to God. Simeon was supernatural instructed that this child was the promised Messiah.
Here Luke's narrative skips silently over eighteen years which the Lord Jesus spent in Nazareth as the Son of a carpenter. These years teach us the importance of preparation and training, the need for patience,and the value of common work. They warn against the temptaion to jump from spiritual birth to public ministry. Those who do not have a normal spiritual childhood and adolescene court disaster in their later life and testimony.
Chapter Three
As for tax collectors, they should be strictly honest inall their dealing. Since as a class they were notoriouly crooked, this would be avey difinite evidence of reality. John explained that his baptism was outward amd physical, whereas Christ's would be inward and spiritul. He stated that he was not worhty to untie the Messisah's sandal strap. Christ's baptism would be with the Holy Spirit and fire. He would baptize believers with the Holy Spirit-a promise of what would take place on the Day of Pentecost when believers were baptized into the body of Christ. Secondly, He would baptize with fire.
Preparation by partaking of humanity. Luke pauses to give His geneology.If Jesus is truly human, then He must descend from Adam. Although it is not necessary to examine the genelogy in detail. This list shows that Mary was descended from David through Nathan. Jesus fulfilled that part of the covenant of God with David which promised him that his seed would sit upon his throne forever. It seems obvious that the Messiah line ended with the Lord Jesus. No one else can ever present valid legal claim to the throne of David.
Chapter Four
Preparation by testing. To be filled with the Holy Spirit means to be completely obedient to every Word of God. A person who is filled with Holy Spirit is emptied of known sin and of self and is richly indwelt by the Word of God. He was tempted forty days by the devil in which our Lord ate nothing. Actually they took place in three different places-the wilderness, a mountain, and the temple in Jerusalem, The true humanity of Jesus is reflected by the words he was hungry. The purpose of the temptation was not see if He would sin but to prove that he could not sin. Only a holy, sinless Man could be our Redeemer.
Preparation by teaching. He came to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord-the dawning of a new era for this world's sighing, sobbing multitudes. He presented Himself as the answer to all the ills that torment us. And it is true, whether you think of these ills in a physicl sense or in a spiritual sense. The purpose of His first coming was to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. This present age of grace is the acceptable time and the day of salvation, When He returns to earth the second time, it wil be to proclaim the day of vengence of our God.
The Lord replied by stating a deep-rooted principle in human affairs: great men are not appreciated in their own neighborhood. What He was saying was that old Testament history was about to repeat itself. In spite of His miracles,He would be rejected not only by the city of Nazareth but by the nation of Israel. He would then turn to the Gentiles,just as Elijah and Elisha had done.
Power over an unclean spirit. The reality of demon possession is seen in this passage. First there was a cry of terror-"let us alone.: Then the spirit showed clear knowledge that Jesus was the Holy One of God who would eventualy destroy the hosts of Satan.
Power over Simon Peter's wife' mother was sick with a fevers. As soon as the Lord rebuked the fever, it left her. The cure was not only immediate but complete,since she was able to get up and serve the household. Usually a great fever leaves a person weak and listless. Advocates of a celibate priesthood find little comfort in this passage Peter was a married man.
So from synagogue to synagogue, He went preaching the good news about the kingdom of God. Jesus Himself was the King. He desired to reign over them. But first they must repent. He would not reign over a people who clung to their sins. This was the obstacle. They wanted to be saved from political problems but not from their sins.
Chapter Five
Power through training others. The Lord used Peter's boat as a pulpit from which to teach the multitude. If we yield all our property and possesssions to the Savior, it is wonderful how He uses them,and reward us too. The omniscient Lord knows where the fish are running. Service carried on by our own wisdom and strength is futile. The secret of success in Christian work is to be guided by Him.
Power over leprosy to touch a leper was dangerous medically,defiling religiously, and degrading socially. But the Savior contracted no defilement. Instead there surged into the body of the leper a cascade of healing and health.It was not a gradual cure. Immediately the leprosy left him. Think what it must have meant to that hopeless, helpless, leper to be made completely whole in a moment of time!
In spite of the Lord's instruction not to publiciize the miracle, the news traveled quickly,and great multitudes came to Him for healing. Jesus often withdrew into the wilderness for a time of prayer.Our Savior was a Man of prayer.It is fitting that this Gospel,which presents Him as Son of Man, should have more to say about His prayer life than any other.
Jesus took notice of the faith that would go to such lengths to bring a needy case to His attention. When He saw the their faith, that is, the faith of the four plus the invalid, He said to the paralyzed man, man your sins are forgiven you. The point here seems to be that it is easier to say, your sins are forgiven you, The Pharisees could not see that the man's sin had been forgiven,so they would not believe which they could see to prove to them that He had truly forgiven the man's sins. He gave the paralytic the power to walk.
The call of Levi one day while Levi was at work, Jesus passed by and invited him to become is follower. With amazing promptness, Levi left all, rose up, and followed Him. Think of the tremendous consequences that flowed from that simple decision. Levi, or Matthew, became the writer of the First Gospel. It pays to hear Jesus call and follow him.
The Pharisees were not righteous. They needed to be saved as much as the tax collectors. But they were unwilling to confess their sins and acknowledge their guilt. And so they criticzed the Doctor for going to people who were serioulsy ill. And the followers of the Pharisees observed various cermonial fast. But Jesus disciple did not. The Lord answered in effect that there was no reason for His disciples to fast while He was still with them. Here He asocaiates fasting with sorrow and mourning. When He would be taken away from them, that is, violently, in death, they would fast as an expression of their grief.
In first parable, the old garment speaks of the legal system or dispensation, while the new garment pictures the era of grace. They are compatible. An attempt to mix law and grace results in a spoiling the new one, and does not much match the old one, either in appearnance or strength.Jesus would never compare Christianity to Judaism. Flesh and law go together, but grace and law, God's rightousness and man's will never mix.
Chapter Six
The Sabbath was intended by God for man's good. When rightly understood, it did not prohibit a work of necessity or a work of mercy.
The disciples were not all men of outstanding intelect or ability. They repsented a cross-section of humanity. He selected only twelve disciples.He was more interested in quality than quanitiy. Given the right caliber of men, Hecould send them out and by the process of spirital reproduction could evangelize the world.
Once the disciples were chosen, it was important that they should be thoroughly trained in the principles of the kingdom of God. In its deepest sense love is the perquisite of Chrisitanity. To feel toward enemies what others feel toward friends; to descend as rain and sunbeams on the unjust as well as the just; minister to those who are unprepossessing and repellent as ther minister to the attractive and win some; to be always the same, not subject to moods or fancies or whims; to suffer long; to take no account of evil; to rejoice with the truth; to bear, believe, hope,and endure all things, never to fail-this is love, and such love is the acheivement of the Holy Spirit. We cannot achieve it ourselves.
Chapter Seven
The humility and faith of the centurion is remarkeable. He did not consider himself worthy that Jesus should enter his house.But he had the faith to believe that Jesus could heal without being bodily present. A word from Him would drive out the sickness.
We must give up the idea of trying to please everyone. This impossible,and the attempt is mere waste of time. We must be content to walk in Christ's steps, and let the world say what it likes. Do what we will we shall never satisfy it, or silence its ill-natured remarks. It first found fault with John the Baptist and then with our blessed Master. And it will go on cavilling and finding fault with that Master's disciples so long as one of them is left upon earth.
Those who use such an argument would do well to remember our Lord's behavior on this occasion. He carried His Father's business with him to the Pharisee"s besetting sin. He explained to the Pharisee the nature of free forgiving of sins, and the secret of true love to Himself. He declared the saving nature of faith. If Christians who argue in favor of intimacy with unconverted people will visit their houses in the spirit of our Lord, and speak and behave as He did, let them by all means continue the practice. But do they speak and behave at the tables of their unconverted acquaintence as Jesus did at Simon's table? This is a question they would do well to answer.
Chapter Eight
The subject of the Lord's ministry was the good news of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God means the realm,visible or invisible, where God's rule as acknowledged. There are various stages of development of the kingdom in the New Testament. First of all, the kingdom was announced by John the Baptist as being at hand. Then the kingdom was actually present in the Person of the King (the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. Next we see the kingdom of God rejected by the nation of Israel.Today the kingdom is in the mystery form. Christ, the King, is temporarily absent but His rule is acknolwedged in the hearts of some people on earth.
Parable of the sower, the good ground represented true believers whose hearts were noble and good. They not only received the word but allowed it to mold their lives.They were teachable and obedient, developing true Christian character and producing fruit for God. First of all, they should not cover it with a vessel. The vessel is spoken of as a bushel. This of course is a measure used in the world of commerce. So hiding the lamp under a bushel could speak of allowing one's testimony to be obscured or crowded out n the rush of business life.It would better to put the lamp on top of the bushel, that is, practice Christianity in the marketplace and use one's business as a pulpit for propagating the gospel.
Secondly, the disciple should not hide the lamp under a bed. The bed speaks of rest, comfort, sloth,and indulgence. Jesus true mother and brother. The answer of the Lord was that real relationship with Him does not depend on natural ties, but on obedience to the word of God.The world beseeches Jesus to depart, desiring their own ease, which is more disturbed by the presence and power of God than by a legion of devils. He goes away. The man who was healed...would fain be with Him, but the Lord sends him back of which ....to be a witness of the grace and power of which had been the subject.
In an case,Jesus said to her little girl,arise." she arose immediately. After restoring her to her parents.Jesus told them not to publicize the miracles.He was not interested in notoriety, in fickle enthusiasm, idle curiosity. Thus ends the second year of Jesus public ministry.
Chapter Nine
The Lord not only had power and authority to perform miracles, but He conferred this power and authority on others. Power means strength or ability. Authority means the right to use it. The message of the disciples was confined by signs and wonder. Now the disciples would have an opportunity to practice the principles which the Lord had taught them. They were to trust Him for the supply of their material needs-no bag, food, or money. They were to live a very simple-no extra staff or extra tunic.
Herod tried to quell his anxiety by reminding others that he had beheaded the Baptizer. But the fear remained. Who was this anyway? He sought to see Him but He never did until just before the Savior's crucifixion. The power of a Spirit-fillled life! The Lord Jesus, the one secure Carpenter of Nazareth,caused Herod to tremble without ever having met Him. Never underestimate the influence of a person full of the Holy Spirit.
The five thousand represent lost humanity, starving for the bread of God. The disciples picture helpless Chritians, with seemingly limited resources, but unwilling to share what they have. He the Lord's command,"You give them something to eat is simply a restatement of the great commissison. The lesson is that if we give Jesus what we have, He can multiply it to feed the spiritually hungry multitude. That diamond ring, that insurance policy, that bank account, that sports equipment! These can be converted into literature, for instance,w hich in turn can result in the salvation of souls, who in turn will be worshippers of the Lamb of God throughout eternity.
Men look for a saber -rattling, enemy-destroyer leader. It must havebeen a shock to the disciples. But if, as they confessed,Jesus was indeed the Christ of God, then they had no reason for disillusionment or discoureagement. If He is the Anointed of God, then His cause can never fail. No matter what might happen to Him or them, they were on the winning side. Victory and vindication were inevitable.
If anyone desies to come after Me, mean that nobody is excused and nobody is excepted. The natural tendency is to save our lives by selfish,complacent, routine, petty existence. We must indulge our pleasures and appetites by basking in comfort, luxury,and ease, by living for the present. By trading our finest talents to the world in exchange for a few years of moch security.but in the very act, we lose our lives, that is, we miss the true purpose of life and te profound spiritual pleasure that should go with it!
Let it be noted tht the very same disciples who were here slept during a vision of glory were also found sleeping during agony in the garden of Gethsemane. Flesh and blood does indeed neeed to be changed before it can enter heaven. Our poor weak bodies can neither watch with Christ , during His times or trial we or to keep awake with Him in His glorification.Our physical constitution must be greatly altered before we could enjoy heaven.
Earnest Christians need to remember that when outsider do anything in Christ"s name, it must, on the whole, forward His cause...The Master's reply contained broad and far-reaching truth,. No earthly society, however holy, would be able exclusively to claim the Divine powers inseparably connected with a ttrue and faithful use of His name.
Our fitness for entering into the kingdom is in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus.It becomes ours through faith inHim. And so we have three cardinal hindereances to discipleship illustratied in the expeience of these men: Material comforts. A job or an occupation. Family and friends.Christ must reign inth heart without a rival. All other loves and all other loyalties must be secondary.
Chapter Ten
The seventy sent forth.This mission ws seemingly intended to prepare the way for the Lord in His journey from Caesarea Philippi in the north, through Galilee and Smaria, across the Jordan, south through Perea, then back across the Jordan to Jerusalem. Some of these principles may be summarized: he sent them out two by two. his suggest competent testimony. In the mouth of two or three witness every word shall be established. The Lord's servant should constantly pray that He will send out laborers into harvest field. The need is always greater than the supply o workers. In praying for laborers, we must be willing to go ourselves. The disciples of Jesus are sent forth into hostile environment. They are, to outward appearances, like defenseless lambs among wolves. Consideration of personal comfort are not to be permitted. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals. The money bag speaks of financial reserves. The knapsack suggests food reserves. The sandals may refer either to an extra pair, or to foot gear affording extra comfort.
Because these cities of Galilee were unmoved by Jesus works, their judgment would be more severe that that of Tyre and Sidon. Jesus closed His instruction to the seventy with a statement that they were His ambassadors. To reject them was to reject him, and to refuse Him was to refuse God, the Father. To reject an ambassador, or treat him with contempt,is an affront to the prince who commissioned and sent him, and whom he represents. The apostles and seventy disciples were the ambassadors and representatives of Christ; and they who rejected and despised them in fact rejected and despised him.
The seventy return. The fall of Satan is still future.He will be cast out of heaven by Micheal and his angels. This will take place during the Tribulation Period,and prior to Christ's Glorious Reign on earth. Jesus warns against pride just remember-pride is the parent of sin. IT was pride that resulted in the fall of Lucifer,and in his being cast out of heaven. See that you avoid this peril.
There are subtle dangers connected with the success in Christian service, whereas the fact that our names are written in heaven reminds us of our infinite debt to God and His Son.It is safe to rejoice in salvation. Rejected by the mass of the people,Jesus looked upon his humble followers and rejoiced in the Spirit, thanking the Father for HIS matchless wisdom. The seventy were not the wise and prudent men of the world.They were not the intellectuals or the scholars.They were babes!
No one knows who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son will to reveal Him. God too is above human understanding. The Son know Him perfectly, and the Son has revealed him to the weak, the base,and the despised people who has faith in Him. Those who have seen the Son have seen the Father. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of he Father has fully told forth the Father.
What did te law demand? It demanded the men love the Lord supremely,and his neighbor as himself. Jesus told him that if he did this, he would live. The purpose of the law is not to save from sin, but to produce the knowledge of sin, The function of the law is to show man what a guilty sinner he is. Eternal life is only for sinners who acknowledge their lost condition and who are saved by God's grace.
While the Master does appreciate all that we undertake for Him, He knows that our first need is to sit at his feet and learn His will; then in our tasKs we shall be calm and peaceful and kindly,and at last our service may attain the perfectness of that of Mary when in a later scene she poured upon the feet of Jesus the ointment, the perfume of which still fills the world.
Chapter Eleven
The disciples's prayer. It fits in with Luke's purpose in pressenting Christ as the Son of Man, ever dependent upon God His Father. The disciples sensed that prayer was a real and vital force in the life of Jesus. As they heard Him pray, it made them want ot pray.
Having sought first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, the petitioner is taught to make known his personal needs and desires. The ever-recurring need for food, both physical and spiritual, is introduced. We are to live in daily dependence upon Him, acknowledging Him as the source of every good gift. Next there is the prayer for the forgiveness of sins, based on the fact that we have shown a forgiving spirit to others. This forgiveness has to do with fellowship with God, rather than with relationship. Here the thought seems to be that we should constantly be aware of our own prone-ness to wander and fall into sin. We should ask the Lord to keep us from falling into sin, even if we ourselves might want to do it.
In applying this illustration we must be careful to avoid certain conclusions. It doesn't mean that God is annoyed by our persistent requests. And it doesn't suggest that the only way to get our prayers answered is to be persistent. It teaches that we should not grow weary or discouraged in our prayer life. Keep on asking...keep on seeking...keep on knocking. God always gives us what we ask or He gives us something better. A no answer means that He knows our request it would not be the best for us. His denial is then better than our petition. It is significant that the gift He selects as the one most needed,and the one He desires to give, is the Holy Spirit.
Jesus answer His critics if He was a tool of Satan in casting out demon, then Satan was fighting against his own underlings. The Lord reminded his critics that some of their own countrymen were at that very time casting out evil spirits. If He did it by the power of Satan, then it necessarily follows that they must be doing it by the same power. Of course, the Jews would never be willing to admit this. And yet how could they deny the force of the argument? If Jesus acted by the power of Satan, then the jewish exorcists depended upon the same power. To condemn Him was to condemn them also.
So we conclude that the finger of God is the same as the Spirit of God. The fact that Jesus was casting out demons by the Spirit of God was evidence indeed that the kingdom of God had come upon the people of that generation. The kingdom had come in the Person of the King Himself. The very fact that the Lord Jesus was there, performing such miracles, was proof positive that God's annointed Ruler had appeared upon the stage of history. The Lord Jesus was stronger than Satan, came upon him, overcame him, took all his armor from him, and divided his spoils. Not even His critics denied that evil spirits were being cast out by Jesus, This could holy mean that Satan had been conquered and that his victims were being liberated. That is the point of these verses.
Sign of Jonah unbelief today scoffs at the story of Jonah, assigning it to Hebrew legend.Jesus spoke of Jonah as an actual person of history, just as He spoke of Solomon. People who say they would believe if they could see a miracle are mistaken. Faith is not based on the evidence of the senses but on the living word of Go. If a man will not believe the word of God, he will not believe though one should rise from the dead. The attitude that demands a sign is not pleasing to God. That is not faith but sight.Unbelief says, let me see and then I will believe. Go says, believe and then you will see.
Parable of the lighted lamp, the application is this: God is the One who has lit the lamp. In the Person and work of the Lord Jesus,He proved a blaze of illumination for the world. If anyone doesn't see the Light, it isn't God fault. The eye is that which give light to the whole body.If the eye is healthy, then the person can see the light. But if the eye is diseased, that is, blind, then the light cannot get in. But if his motives are not pure, if he wants to cling to his greed, if he continues to fear what others will say,then he is blinded to the true worth of the Savior.
Though outwardly they professed loyalty to the Scriptures, yet they stubbornly refused to receive the One of whom the Scriptures spoke. And they hindered others from coming to Christ. They didn't want Him themselves,and they didn't want others to receive Him. They began to assail Him vehemently,and stepped up their efforts to trap him in His words. By every possible device, they sought to trick him into saying something for which they could condemn Him to death. In doing so, they only proved how accurately He had read their characters.
Chapter Twelve
Although an uncompromising attitude toward sin is not always popular, yet it does commend itself to the heart of man as being righteous. Truth is always self-verifying. Turning to His discipes,Jesus warned, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. He explained that leaven is symbol or picture of hypocrisy. A hypocrite is one who wears a mask, one whose outward appearance is utterly different from what he is inwardly.
Jesus warns His disciples not to be ashamed of this priceless friendship under any trials. Th worldwide proclaimation of the Christian message would bring persecution and death to the loyal disciples. But there was a limit. They should not fear, God would visit their persecutors with a far worse punishment, namely, eternal death in hell. And so the disciples were to fear God rather than man.
Whoever confess Him now will be confessed by Him before the angels of God. Here He speaking of all true believers. To confess Him is to receive Him as Lord and Savior. Those who deny Him before men will be denied before the angels of God. The primary refereances here seems to be the Pharisees, but of course the verse includes all who refuse Christ and are ashamed to acknowledge Him. in that day,He will say, I never knew you.
It is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit because Jesus performed all His miracles in the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it was, in effect, saying that the Holy Spirit of God is the devil, There is no forgiveness for this sin in this age or the age to come. What they should say, the Holy Spirit would put words in their mouths whenever it was necessary. This does not mean that servants of the Lord should not spend time in prayer and study before preaching the gospel or teaching the Word of God. It should not be used as an excuse for laziness.
Warning against greed. The Bible says the love of money is a root of all evil; but every man who quotes this saying puts a terrific emphasis on the word'love" only the love of it, that is such a prolific root. To look about, one would think a mans life did consist in the abundance of the things he possesse.Men think they become great just in proportion as they gather wealth. So it seems, too, for the world measures men by their bank account.Yet there never was a more fatal error. A man is really measured by what he is, and not by what he has. All his barns and silos were crammed to capacity. The bosom of the poor, the houses of widows, the mouth of cildren are the barns which last forever.
Parable of watchful servant they should be free from all earthly encumbrances,so that the moment the Lord knocks,according to the figure, they may open to Him immediately-without distraction or having to get ready. Their hearts are waiting for Him, for their Lord, they love Him, they are waiting for Him.He knocks and they open to Him immedaitely.
The lesson is that the time of Christ's coming is uncertain; no one knows the day or the hour when He will appear. When He does come, those believers who have laid up treasures on earth will lose them all, because as someone has said, a Christian either leaves his welath or goes to it. If we are really watching for Christ's return, we will see all that we have and lay up treasure in heaven where no thief can reach them.
Signs of the times the Son of God had come to earth,and was standing in their very midst.Heaven had never come so near before. But they did not know the time of their visitation, They had the intellectual capacity to know, but they did not have the will to know, and thus they were self-deluded. So Jesus was saying that they should discern the time in which they lived. Then they should get right with God by repenting of their sins and by commiting themselves to Him in full surrender.
Yours In Christ,
Andrew Blackman
