|
|
The Gospel According to Luke.
The Gospel of Luke presents the Humanity of Jesus. It contrasts with John which presents the Divinity of Jesus.
Luke sees Jesus identifying himself with human suffering and sorrow.
He sees Him as a doctor like unto himself.
Luke presents Jesus as a man and so displays his Priestly character, for the primary characteristic of a priest is that he is one of the People. Therefore it is significant that it begins and ends in the temple
Luke 1:4-8 The first few verses;
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,
Luke 24:50-53; The last few verses.
And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.
And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:
And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
Notice how distinct are the beginnings and endings of each gospel. Here in Luke He gives them a priestly blessing, by raising his hands over them.
In Matthew the disciples are commanded to preach the gospel and pass on His commands. In Mark they are working for him and now in Luke they are all in the temple. The inspiration could not be more evident.
The primary essential of a priest is his humanity. For in representing the people, he must be one of the people. The opening chapters of the book of Hebrews explains more about the humanity and priestly ministry of Jesus. It is not strange therefore that Luke who was a gentile Doctor should see Jesus totally identified with man in all his suffering. He comes as a divine doctor among sin sick souls and disease sick bodies.
Key Chapter
In each gospel we have looked at one key passage. (each could be said to be the first after the introductory chapters)
In Matthew we pondered a while on the sermon on the Mount- the commands of the King.
In Mark we considered one day in the life of a servant of God.- The example pattern of Service.
Here in Like we are to consider the first sermon that Jesus preached recorded in Chapter 4.
“Physician Heal Yourself”
Luke chapter 4. reveals the divine diagnosis of man’s fatal disease. Jesus was reading the scriptures at his local synagogue, something to which he was accustomed, but this time it was special. He read from Isaiah, and he told his congregation that the prophecy he was reading was being fulfilled in their very midst.
(if you only read one of the new translations then you will be greatly enriched if for once you turn to the Authorised version. The new versions omit the reference to his ministry to the broken hearted, BUT YET it prints and includes the same in the very passage from Isaiah that Jesus was reading. Also, to be precise Jesus incorporated two passages from Isaiah as we know it)
The Spirit of the Lord was upon Jesus to;
1. Preach the gospel to the poor. (bankrupt)
2. Open the eyes of the blind
3. Bring deliverance to the captive (bound)
4. Heal the broken hearted
5. Bring relief to the bruised.
Here we see exactly what is wrong with mankind. He is poor, blind, captive, broken-hearted and bruised. Within this diagnosis we can see the symptoms of a disease called Sin. We also should be able to recognise that Sin has affected the whole of man, in Spirit, Soul and Body. From the rest of scripture this diagnosis is confirmed.
His Spirit is Poor
His Soul: His Mind -- Blind
His Heart -- Broken
His Will -- Bound
His Body is Bruised
The last symptom is that he is “bruised”. This denotes the outward evidence of an inward problem. For the most noticeable sign of sin in the human race is seen in how it has affected the body through sickness and disease and deformity. Sickness is not just a physical thing, for it has its source within, in the realm of the spirit, as indeed do all physical things on this earth.
Later we shall see how the great High Priest took the disease of Sin in His own body and produced a “medicinal anti-dote” to conquer it.
1. To preach the gospel to the poor
Poor in Spirit:
Man was created in the image of God. The father God is essentially a Spirit (John ch 4:24.)) The “Soul” or personality of God is revealed in the Holy Spirit, and the “body” of God is the Lord Jesus.
So essentially man is as much a spiritual being as the Creator himself. It is man’s spirit that enriches the soul, and originally the spirit in him was the Spirit of God. However, when man sinned, he died spiritually, in that the Spirit of God left him and instead a different spirit entered and that was the spirit of Satan, the father of lies.
When Jesus confronted the Jews who were steeped in blind religion, he made some very strong and remarkable statements to this effect.
John 8:40-45
40 “But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
41 “You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father— God.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
43 “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.
44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
45 “But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
The spirit of man is poor. He is Bankrupt. How poor, only God knows. He remembers well the spiritual riches he originally invested in Adam.
Adam was originally clothed in light, (aura). (Just like God- I love the hymn-writers description "Tis only the splendour of Light hideth thee"- they don't write stuff like that anymore)
When sin entered, the light in which he was clothed, went out. Man became aware of his nakedness. Various spirits of rebellion, unbelief, disobedience, restlessness, impurity, independence, etc. took control of his soul and body to such a degree that now, 6000 years later, he actually boasts of such characteristics, as his “personality” or “real self”. How blind can you be?
In contrast to these aforementioned spirits we read in scripture that the character of a child of God, is marked by spirits of “submission”,- faith, obedience, patience, holiness, trust, etc. The gospel is designed to bring man back to be filled with all these spiritual riches in Christ Jesus. Ephesians ch. 1 and Colossians ch. 1, tell us of our potential wealth in Christ.
He who was rich for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich.
2. To open the eyes of the Blind.
Man’s sinful spirit is the “life-force” to his personality, or Soul. A man’s soul consists of His Mind, his Heart and his Will. Sin has caused man to be blind in his mind, broken in heart. and bound in Will.
2 Cor. Ch 4 v 4 says, “The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel shine on them”.
Learned and educated people will often pride themselves on their library. It is to them their fount of knowledge, their mental gymnasium. Yet how often, you may find all the works and wisdom of Shakespeare, Keats, Bronte, Euclid, Tolstoy, etc., but precious little, if any concerning the one who said. “I am the light of the world, whoever follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life”. He also said. “I am the Truth”. It is surely a reflection of scriptures that prophesise that “in the last days, men shall be ever learning yet never coming to a knowledge of the truth”
Education is not truth, much of it contradicts God’s word. But anyone who wants to walk through this life, having “the light of life” to walk in, can never do so without coming to a knowledge of Jesus as their Saviour. For not until the sin is washed away will the light return to man’s mind. Till then he remains in darkness. That is why Jesus came primarily, to deal with sin, while also opening the physical eyes of the blind.
3. To heal the Broken- hearted.
Secondly, in terms of his soul, his Heart is broken, through his broken relationship with his one true father God. As a lost child, mankind yearns to find his true parent. Man’s fundamental need to know a loving relationship which is secure, is shown in life as teenagers rebel into delinquency as a reaction to rejection they have felt when their parent’s marriage broke up. Such “heart-breaks” do irreparable damage to the human soul. Therefore, if man is cut off from his own real spiritual father, he is truly broken- hearted almost from birth. Sadly men do not realise that their great search in life for love is but a substitute or a filler for the god-shaped gap in their own heart. Although man is born in that condition and therefore does not know any different, God certainly knows. He is able to see what is happening to man and knows what could have been, in terms of a true heart-fulfilment, had man not chosen to sin. Is it any wonder that man generally has a problem with trusting relationships, if subconsciously, deep in his soul he feels a broken heart? It is very difficult for people who have been hurt in love, to make deep relationships. So if man is born with such a spiritual defect, even though he is not aware of it, this spills over into his human relationships. So in effect all human relationships, even the best are marred. Though love will ever be man’s greatest sensation he has yet to know the true love, that was his experience before sin came. Our misconception of love, is evident in that we tend to love those people and things which give us pleasure. Consequently, Calvary remains a mystery and will always remain a mystery to us with our human mind, for that is indeed true love. Man cannot comprehend it.
The world is full of broken hearts, cracked vessels that will never be filled.
4. To bring deliverance to the captive,
Man is bound in his will. This is also very evident on the human level.
We all know and read about people whose lives become so bound by sinful or bad habits that they cannot break them,- smoking, drinking, gambling, sex, power, fame.
However from God’s point of view the bondage is far more profound than that seen from the obvious human viewpoint.
When man decided, in Adam, to rebel and “go his own way”, he never really took one step in the direction of his own way, for he was led and pushed along that path to hell which he would not have chosen in a million years. But He is born on that path and continues on it, not having known anything different. Like a bird, born in a cage, he has never known freedom.
He thinks it is a path of his own choosing, but if his eyes were not blinded and he could think properly he would “see” that the path leads to death. Who in his ``right mind’’ would choose death rather than life? The book of Proverbs states that “there is a way that seems right unto man but the end thereof is death”.
A young man once met a preacher of the gospel. The young man joked with the preacher because he happened to be married and the young man was not. He claimed that he was “free” and the preacher was “bound “. According to him, the preacher “had to go home to the wife and kids each night” but he was free to go anywhere he liked. So the preacher challenged him, by asking where he was planning to go that particular night. He said he was off to a fairground in the next town. “Well then” said the preacher “I challenge you, that if you are free, stay here in this town tonight.’’
The young man, somewhat surprised, replied that he didn’t want to. The preacher, not slow to see an opportunity to explain the gospel, suggested that He could not stay in his own town that night, but that there was some inner compulsion of dissatisfaction driving him to the next town. Whipping out his pocket bible he fired from the hip, the words found in Psalm 1. In it we read of the difference between the godly and the ungodly. The ungodly are like the chaff, and the godly are like the tree. It would appear that the chaff is free and the tree is bound. But in actual fact the chaff is not free for it has no life of its own, and is blown around by the wind. Whereas in contrast the tree, which appears to be bound, knows complete peace and satisfaction and remains free from any inner winds of dissatisfaction, being planted by a river and bearing its fruit, totally fulfilled in the purpose for which it was made.
There is a line of a hymn which says
“Make me a captive Lord, and then I shall be free’
Force me to render up my sword and a conqueror I will be’
Jesus came to set us free from the bondage of having to do the devil’s work and to bring us into His kingdom. Not as slaves but as sons, who work and do the father’s will, not because they have to, but because they want to, and love their father. Only the totally committed Christian knows real freedom from the devil. Those who think they are pleasing themselves are destined to much that is opposite to pleasure, namely, pain and suffering. They bring upon themselves much trouble and suffering simply because they fail to commit themselves totally to the Lord and his will.
In summary:
None would deny that the world is geared to these three pursuits. Love, Truth & Liberty. His soul thirsts! Heart, Mind & Will!
LOVE: (Heart)
The world is sex mad is it not. Almost every magazine, paper, book, film, show, advert, conversation, job, home, is geared to some cog of this great harvester of man’s freedom. All this to satisfy that broken heart. It is the devil’s substitute. What God ordained to bring joy, harmony and purpose, has been corrupted to such an evil that millions of lives are tainted in some way to bring pain, insecurity and disappointment.
TRUTH: (Mind
Man’s blindness is catered for in a mad search for truth in the form of knowledge or education. In the last days we are told that man shall be “ever learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.” The sooner men find out that education is not truth, the sooner they are ready to have their eyes opened by the Spirit of God to spiritual things. The scripture is keen to point out that the first disciples were unlearned and ignorant men, but they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
“The natural man receives (understands) not the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned’’ (1 Cor. Ch. 2 v 14.)
Some of the books written today as a result of educated theological training, which deny the inspiration of the scriptures, or even the factual truth of them. Probably those who wrote the scriptures, would not have been able even to read the verbose philosophies of such human minds, masquerading as Truth.
God has chosen the foolish to confound the wise. Romans Ch. 1 tells of the rebellion of man into his sinful way. While denying God and his existence they claim to be wise. There is literally all the evidence in the world for God’s existence yet they claim that because of their education they can deny such existence without their insanity
coming into question. Are the insane aware of their insanity?
LIBERTY:
From the youngest to the eldest, Liberty is treasured, fought for and desired. Almost every peer group today, claims they are in bondage, all seeking to be free from something or someone. Teenagers leave home, husbands leave wives, mothers leave children, all in the justifiable pursuit of liberty. Seldom do they think that the slave-driver is within them.
Wars are fought in the name of freedom, homes are split, lives wrecked because some person who claims to be “a person in their own right’’ leaves their commitments and dependants. Such great steps of rebellion are applauded in most areas of our society today. While all the time, the bondage is within, and has nothing to do with circumstances, jobs, houses, children, money, husbands, wives, or anything else. Thousands move house little knowing that hidden in the
furniture van is their ball and chain.
Thus we see how Satan has duped mankind into various hell bound paths in the search for these basic yearnings of the human soul. JESUS CAME TO MEET MAN’S NEED, to heal the broken hearted, to give sight to the blind and to set the captive free.
To bring liberty to the bruised;
The last part of this “diagnosis” is the “Bruised”.
If we can see that Jesus came to meet the need of man in his spirit and soul from our notes above, then to fill the picture we can recognise the need for something to be done about the effect of sin upon the body. This effect is described here as “bruising”, which is the outward showing of an inward problem. Man has taken a battering from sin over the centuries and sickness and disease in the body reveal and prove it. Jesus came to bring a gospel which heals the sick body, satisfies
the thirsty soul and enriches the bankrupt spirit. No governmental health service will ever eradicate sickness.
The Lord’s life on earth and his continued ministry to the sick of today, is to those who believe, a guarantee that when he comes to reign there will be no sickness, sorrow or tears. This is another sure proof that such things come from beneath. They are not from God.
We are told to pray "Thy Kingdom come, THY WILL be done on earth as it is in Heaven". The church has every right, when led by the Holy Spirit to denounce sickness and deliver those bound by it. In so doing they will be bringing the Kingdom of heaven, where there is no sickness and the will of God is done, to this earth. Did not Jesus tell his disciples that when they went out preaching the gospel and healing the sick that they should tell the people that “the Kingdom of Heaven is come amongst them". Far too often do we hear unbelief masked in words about the "will of God"- yes, we all know Romans ch 8 and being sheep for the slaughter like Job and David, but I have a sneaking feeling that we are far too inclined to accept sickness and look only to the medics for any hope of healing. It avoids any "embarrassing test of our faith".
One of the most amazing verse in scripture tells us that Jesus could not do any mighty work in Nazareth, the place where he had been brought up. That was because they lacked faith in someone who they knew and were very familiar with.
IDENTIFICATION:
In His death Jesus identified himself fully with the “sickness” of man.
He became spiritually BANKRUPT; He was cut off from God, crying “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
He was BLINDfolded by his mockers, and the sun ceased to give light.
He was BOUND by nails.
He was BROKEN HEARTED. It is medically very significant that when the spear was thrust into his side that blood AND WATER flowed out. This flow of water is medically explained by the fact that when a person undergoes tremendous emotional strain, such as in sorrow, then the sack around the heart, called the pericardium, fills with water.
It was this water, from his pierced, sorrow filled heart that flowed.
He was BRUISED as the soldiers beat him with the scourge.
He took the disease called SIN into his body; sin which inevitably brings death. The scriptures tell us that he descended into hell. He fought and overcame mankind's greatest enemy which is Death, down into the depths of hell and there, He defeated it. He rose victorious and offered his own blood as the antidote for SIN. All who apply it to their Soul are cured immediately.
Jesus took our sin in his own body, made his soul an offering for sin and surrendered his spirit to his father in heaven.
Our bodies are an outward expression of our souls.
Head, Hands and Feet express mind, heart and will. (see notes elsewhere) Jesus was pierced in these three places (crown of thorns and nails in hands and feet).) as he made his Soul an offering for sin. Maybe this video meditation might help us understand a little more;
Luke sees Jesus identifying himself with human suffering and sorrow.
He sees Him as a doctor like unto himself.
Luke presents Jesus as a man and so displays his Priestly character, for the primary characteristic of a priest is that he is one of the People. Therefore it is significant that it begins and ends in the temple
Luke 1:4-8 The first few verses;
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,
Luke 24:50-53; The last few verses.
And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.
And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:
And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
Notice how distinct are the beginnings and endings of each gospel. Here in Luke He gives them a priestly blessing, by raising his hands over them.
In Matthew the disciples are commanded to preach the gospel and pass on His commands. In Mark they are working for him and now in Luke they are all in the temple. The inspiration could not be more evident.
The primary essential of a priest is his humanity. For in representing the people, he must be one of the people. The opening chapters of the book of Hebrews explains more about the humanity and priestly ministry of Jesus. It is not strange therefore that Luke who was a gentile Doctor should see Jesus totally identified with man in all his suffering. He comes as a divine doctor among sin sick souls and disease sick bodies.
Key Chapter
In each gospel we have looked at one key passage. (each could be said to be the first after the introductory chapters)
In Matthew we pondered a while on the sermon on the Mount- the commands of the King.
In Mark we considered one day in the life of a servant of God.- The example pattern of Service.
Here in Like we are to consider the first sermon that Jesus preached recorded in Chapter 4.
“Physician Heal Yourself”
Luke chapter 4. reveals the divine diagnosis of man’s fatal disease. Jesus was reading the scriptures at his local synagogue, something to which he was accustomed, but this time it was special. He read from Isaiah, and he told his congregation that the prophecy he was reading was being fulfilled in their very midst.
(if you only read one of the new translations then you will be greatly enriched if for once you turn to the Authorised version. The new versions omit the reference to his ministry to the broken hearted, BUT YET it prints and includes the same in the very passage from Isaiah that Jesus was reading. Also, to be precise Jesus incorporated two passages from Isaiah as we know it)
The Spirit of the Lord was upon Jesus to;
1. Preach the gospel to the poor. (bankrupt)
2. Open the eyes of the blind
3. Bring deliverance to the captive (bound)
4. Heal the broken hearted
5. Bring relief to the bruised.
Here we see exactly what is wrong with mankind. He is poor, blind, captive, broken-hearted and bruised. Within this diagnosis we can see the symptoms of a disease called Sin. We also should be able to recognise that Sin has affected the whole of man, in Spirit, Soul and Body. From the rest of scripture this diagnosis is confirmed.
His Spirit is Poor
His Soul: His Mind -- Blind
His Heart -- Broken
His Will -- Bound
His Body is Bruised
The last symptom is that he is “bruised”. This denotes the outward evidence of an inward problem. For the most noticeable sign of sin in the human race is seen in how it has affected the body through sickness and disease and deformity. Sickness is not just a physical thing, for it has its source within, in the realm of the spirit, as indeed do all physical things on this earth.
Later we shall see how the great High Priest took the disease of Sin in His own body and produced a “medicinal anti-dote” to conquer it.
1. To preach the gospel to the poor
Poor in Spirit:
Man was created in the image of God. The father God is essentially a Spirit (John ch 4:24.)) The “Soul” or personality of God is revealed in the Holy Spirit, and the “body” of God is the Lord Jesus.
So essentially man is as much a spiritual being as the Creator himself. It is man’s spirit that enriches the soul, and originally the spirit in him was the Spirit of God. However, when man sinned, he died spiritually, in that the Spirit of God left him and instead a different spirit entered and that was the spirit of Satan, the father of lies.
When Jesus confronted the Jews who were steeped in blind religion, he made some very strong and remarkable statements to this effect.
John 8:40-45
40 “But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
41 “You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father— God.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
43 “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.
44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
45 “But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
The spirit of man is poor. He is Bankrupt. How poor, only God knows. He remembers well the spiritual riches he originally invested in Adam.
Adam was originally clothed in light, (aura). (Just like God- I love the hymn-writers description "Tis only the splendour of Light hideth thee"- they don't write stuff like that anymore)
When sin entered, the light in which he was clothed, went out. Man became aware of his nakedness. Various spirits of rebellion, unbelief, disobedience, restlessness, impurity, independence, etc. took control of his soul and body to such a degree that now, 6000 years later, he actually boasts of such characteristics, as his “personality” or “real self”. How blind can you be?
In contrast to these aforementioned spirits we read in scripture that the character of a child of God, is marked by spirits of “submission”,- faith, obedience, patience, holiness, trust, etc. The gospel is designed to bring man back to be filled with all these spiritual riches in Christ Jesus. Ephesians ch. 1 and Colossians ch. 1, tell us of our potential wealth in Christ.
He who was rich for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich.
2. To open the eyes of the Blind.
Man’s sinful spirit is the “life-force” to his personality, or Soul. A man’s soul consists of His Mind, his Heart and his Will. Sin has caused man to be blind in his mind, broken in heart. and bound in Will.
2 Cor. Ch 4 v 4 says, “The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel shine on them”.
Learned and educated people will often pride themselves on their library. It is to them their fount of knowledge, their mental gymnasium. Yet how often, you may find all the works and wisdom of Shakespeare, Keats, Bronte, Euclid, Tolstoy, etc., but precious little, if any concerning the one who said. “I am the light of the world, whoever follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life”. He also said. “I am the Truth”. It is surely a reflection of scriptures that prophesise that “in the last days, men shall be ever learning yet never coming to a knowledge of the truth”
Education is not truth, much of it contradicts God’s word. But anyone who wants to walk through this life, having “the light of life” to walk in, can never do so without coming to a knowledge of Jesus as their Saviour. For not until the sin is washed away will the light return to man’s mind. Till then he remains in darkness. That is why Jesus came primarily, to deal with sin, while also opening the physical eyes of the blind.
3. To heal the Broken- hearted.
Secondly, in terms of his soul, his Heart is broken, through his broken relationship with his one true father God. As a lost child, mankind yearns to find his true parent. Man’s fundamental need to know a loving relationship which is secure, is shown in life as teenagers rebel into delinquency as a reaction to rejection they have felt when their parent’s marriage broke up. Such “heart-breaks” do irreparable damage to the human soul. Therefore, if man is cut off from his own real spiritual father, he is truly broken- hearted almost from birth. Sadly men do not realise that their great search in life for love is but a substitute or a filler for the god-shaped gap in their own heart. Although man is born in that condition and therefore does not know any different, God certainly knows. He is able to see what is happening to man and knows what could have been, in terms of a true heart-fulfilment, had man not chosen to sin. Is it any wonder that man generally has a problem with trusting relationships, if subconsciously, deep in his soul he feels a broken heart? It is very difficult for people who have been hurt in love, to make deep relationships. So if man is born with such a spiritual defect, even though he is not aware of it, this spills over into his human relationships. So in effect all human relationships, even the best are marred. Though love will ever be man’s greatest sensation he has yet to know the true love, that was his experience before sin came. Our misconception of love, is evident in that we tend to love those people and things which give us pleasure. Consequently, Calvary remains a mystery and will always remain a mystery to us with our human mind, for that is indeed true love. Man cannot comprehend it.
The world is full of broken hearts, cracked vessels that will never be filled.
4. To bring deliverance to the captive,
Man is bound in his will. This is also very evident on the human level.
We all know and read about people whose lives become so bound by sinful or bad habits that they cannot break them,- smoking, drinking, gambling, sex, power, fame.
However from God’s point of view the bondage is far more profound than that seen from the obvious human viewpoint.
When man decided, in Adam, to rebel and “go his own way”, he never really took one step in the direction of his own way, for he was led and pushed along that path to hell which he would not have chosen in a million years. But He is born on that path and continues on it, not having known anything different. Like a bird, born in a cage, he has never known freedom.
He thinks it is a path of his own choosing, but if his eyes were not blinded and he could think properly he would “see” that the path leads to death. Who in his ``right mind’’ would choose death rather than life? The book of Proverbs states that “there is a way that seems right unto man but the end thereof is death”.
A young man once met a preacher of the gospel. The young man joked with the preacher because he happened to be married and the young man was not. He claimed that he was “free” and the preacher was “bound “. According to him, the preacher “had to go home to the wife and kids each night” but he was free to go anywhere he liked. So the preacher challenged him, by asking where he was planning to go that particular night. He said he was off to a fairground in the next town. “Well then” said the preacher “I challenge you, that if you are free, stay here in this town tonight.’’
The young man, somewhat surprised, replied that he didn’t want to. The preacher, not slow to see an opportunity to explain the gospel, suggested that He could not stay in his own town that night, but that there was some inner compulsion of dissatisfaction driving him to the next town. Whipping out his pocket bible he fired from the hip, the words found in Psalm 1. In it we read of the difference between the godly and the ungodly. The ungodly are like the chaff, and the godly are like the tree. It would appear that the chaff is free and the tree is bound. But in actual fact the chaff is not free for it has no life of its own, and is blown around by the wind. Whereas in contrast the tree, which appears to be bound, knows complete peace and satisfaction and remains free from any inner winds of dissatisfaction, being planted by a river and bearing its fruit, totally fulfilled in the purpose for which it was made.
There is a line of a hymn which says
“Make me a captive Lord, and then I shall be free’
Force me to render up my sword and a conqueror I will be’
Jesus came to set us free from the bondage of having to do the devil’s work and to bring us into His kingdom. Not as slaves but as sons, who work and do the father’s will, not because they have to, but because they want to, and love their father. Only the totally committed Christian knows real freedom from the devil. Those who think they are pleasing themselves are destined to much that is opposite to pleasure, namely, pain and suffering. They bring upon themselves much trouble and suffering simply because they fail to commit themselves totally to the Lord and his will.
In summary:
None would deny that the world is geared to these three pursuits. Love, Truth & Liberty. His soul thirsts! Heart, Mind & Will!
LOVE: (Heart)
The world is sex mad is it not. Almost every magazine, paper, book, film, show, advert, conversation, job, home, is geared to some cog of this great harvester of man’s freedom. All this to satisfy that broken heart. It is the devil’s substitute. What God ordained to bring joy, harmony and purpose, has been corrupted to such an evil that millions of lives are tainted in some way to bring pain, insecurity and disappointment.
TRUTH: (Mind
Man’s blindness is catered for in a mad search for truth in the form of knowledge or education. In the last days we are told that man shall be “ever learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.” The sooner men find out that education is not truth, the sooner they are ready to have their eyes opened by the Spirit of God to spiritual things. The scripture is keen to point out that the first disciples were unlearned and ignorant men, but they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
“The natural man receives (understands) not the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned’’ (1 Cor. Ch. 2 v 14.)
Some of the books written today as a result of educated theological training, which deny the inspiration of the scriptures, or even the factual truth of them. Probably those who wrote the scriptures, would not have been able even to read the verbose philosophies of such human minds, masquerading as Truth.
God has chosen the foolish to confound the wise. Romans Ch. 1 tells of the rebellion of man into his sinful way. While denying God and his existence they claim to be wise. There is literally all the evidence in the world for God’s existence yet they claim that because of their education they can deny such existence without their insanity
coming into question. Are the insane aware of their insanity?
LIBERTY:
From the youngest to the eldest, Liberty is treasured, fought for and desired. Almost every peer group today, claims they are in bondage, all seeking to be free from something or someone. Teenagers leave home, husbands leave wives, mothers leave children, all in the justifiable pursuit of liberty. Seldom do they think that the slave-driver is within them.
Wars are fought in the name of freedom, homes are split, lives wrecked because some person who claims to be “a person in their own right’’ leaves their commitments and dependants. Such great steps of rebellion are applauded in most areas of our society today. While all the time, the bondage is within, and has nothing to do with circumstances, jobs, houses, children, money, husbands, wives, or anything else. Thousands move house little knowing that hidden in the
furniture van is their ball and chain.
Thus we see how Satan has duped mankind into various hell bound paths in the search for these basic yearnings of the human soul. JESUS CAME TO MEET MAN’S NEED, to heal the broken hearted, to give sight to the blind and to set the captive free.
To bring liberty to the bruised;
The last part of this “diagnosis” is the “Bruised”.
If we can see that Jesus came to meet the need of man in his spirit and soul from our notes above, then to fill the picture we can recognise the need for something to be done about the effect of sin upon the body. This effect is described here as “bruising”, which is the outward showing of an inward problem. Man has taken a battering from sin over the centuries and sickness and disease in the body reveal and prove it. Jesus came to bring a gospel which heals the sick body, satisfies
the thirsty soul and enriches the bankrupt spirit. No governmental health service will ever eradicate sickness.
The Lord’s life on earth and his continued ministry to the sick of today, is to those who believe, a guarantee that when he comes to reign there will be no sickness, sorrow or tears. This is another sure proof that such things come from beneath. They are not from God.
We are told to pray "Thy Kingdom come, THY WILL be done on earth as it is in Heaven". The church has every right, when led by the Holy Spirit to denounce sickness and deliver those bound by it. In so doing they will be bringing the Kingdom of heaven, where there is no sickness and the will of God is done, to this earth. Did not Jesus tell his disciples that when they went out preaching the gospel and healing the sick that they should tell the people that “the Kingdom of Heaven is come amongst them". Far too often do we hear unbelief masked in words about the "will of God"- yes, we all know Romans ch 8 and being sheep for the slaughter like Job and David, but I have a sneaking feeling that we are far too inclined to accept sickness and look only to the medics for any hope of healing. It avoids any "embarrassing test of our faith".
One of the most amazing verse in scripture tells us that Jesus could not do any mighty work in Nazareth, the place where he had been brought up. That was because they lacked faith in someone who they knew and were very familiar with.
IDENTIFICATION:
In His death Jesus identified himself fully with the “sickness” of man.
He became spiritually BANKRUPT; He was cut off from God, crying “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
He was BLINDfolded by his mockers, and the sun ceased to give light.
He was BOUND by nails.
He was BROKEN HEARTED. It is medically very significant that when the spear was thrust into his side that blood AND WATER flowed out. This flow of water is medically explained by the fact that when a person undergoes tremendous emotional strain, such as in sorrow, then the sack around the heart, called the pericardium, fills with water.
It was this water, from his pierced, sorrow filled heart that flowed.
He was BRUISED as the soldiers beat him with the scourge.
He took the disease called SIN into his body; sin which inevitably brings death. The scriptures tell us that he descended into hell. He fought and overcame mankind's greatest enemy which is Death, down into the depths of hell and there, He defeated it. He rose victorious and offered his own blood as the antidote for SIN. All who apply it to their Soul are cured immediately.
Jesus took our sin in his own body, made his soul an offering for sin and surrendered his spirit to his father in heaven.
Our bodies are an outward expression of our souls.
Head, Hands and Feet express mind, heart and will. (see notes elsewhere) Jesus was pierced in these three places (crown of thorns and nails in hands and feet).) as he made his Soul an offering for sin. Maybe this video meditation might help us understand a little more;
“Who does he think he is?
Note how Jesus suspects that those who knew him and heard his “sermon” would have said “physician heal yourself”. If anyone appeared to be poor, it was the carpenter’s son. They all knew well that His history of suffering in family and home would qualify him amongst the broken hearted. His commitment to his mother and family, till such a late age would have marked him by his teenage peers as “bound”. Such was the Lord’s identification with man in his sorrows and suffering that the Doctor himself was considered by others to be a needy patient.
At first the people admired the gracious words of his first sermon, but by the time he had finished they were ready to kill him. It is said that sermons usually all have a happy ending because the congregation is always happy when it is finished. But there was no joy on the faces of his congregation when he finished this sermon. To them, He was fit only for death, by being thrown off a cliff. Why such a turn round in affections?
Jesus had reminded them of a truth they would rather have forgotten. They considered themselves as Jews to be the special people, for so they were intended to be. The Gentiles were regarded as “dogs”, outsiders and heathen. God, so they tried to believe, had no time for the Gentiles. However Jesus reminded them of the widow at Zeraphath and Naaman who were both Gentiles, received the blessing of God while the so-called “people of God” at that time, endured suffering of famine. It was this spiritual pride which came to its highest point in the synagogue, that stirred them to want to murder the preacher.
This sets the tone for much of the gospel for the writer is himself a Gentile and is well able from an objective point of view to see the poverty of the Jewish religion, while at the same time the Jews strutted about in obnoxious pride.
The comma that saved the world:
I f a friend promised to come round to your house sometime and cut the grass and paint the gate, it would not be expected for him to come round within a week and cut the grass, and then not return to paint the gate for fifty years or more.
However the prophecy from which Jesus read in Isaiah is something like that. It says that the Messiah would come to " proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord," and "the day of vengeance of God." However, that prophecy declares two things which the Messiah would do, but although He came 2000 years ago and has declared the “acceptable year of the Lord”, he has not yet proclaimed the “day of vengeance of God”. So it is significant that when Jesus read this prophecy, he stopped reading at a coma, and refrained from reading about the day of vengeance. After he had read, he said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” So we see He certainly knew why He had come, and He also understood that the day of vengeance was yet to come. Had the two events been as close as the writing in Isaiah seems to indicate, then the world would never have been saved, but that comma so far represents more than 2000 years of proclaiming the acceptable year. The Gospel is God’s message of acceptance to the sinners. One day He will reveal his wrath against all who have failed to respond to such an invitation of grace.
The Temple & Prayer
As we have said, Luke is the gospel of the temple. - It is also the gospel of prayer.
(Luke Chs. 11 & 18 are the classic scriptures on prayer.)
Luke18: 9-14
9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, `God, I thank You that I am not like other men— extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.
12 ‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’
13 “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, `God, be merciful to me a sinner!’
14 “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
This parable describes exactly what God thought of the Jews.
The cleansing of the temple, which should have been a house of prayer, is a significant inclusion in Luke’s account.
The gospel’s beginning, shows up the impoverished religion of the Jews. Once they had a Holy of Holies which contained the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat where God was pleased to dwell. They were then rich. After the exile in Babylon, they no longer had the ark, no mercy seat, no tablets of stone, no manna, no Aaron’s rod. - No presence of God. The Holy of Holies was EMPTY. How do we know this? We know it from secular history. The Roman ruler Pompeii, who conquered the Jews wanted to go into the Holiest of all in the temple. The Jews begged him not to go in. He argued that he had conquered the land and could go anywhere he so desired. In he went, only to come out and utter in amazement those memorable words, - “THERE’S NOTHING THERE”
It is arguable that the account in Luke chapter one is of the Day of Atonement, but the Jews no longer celebrated it as they were originally commanded. Lots were cast among the priests to take it in turn to burn incense. On such occasions instead of the high priest entering into the Holy of Holies with the blood of a lamb, the altar of incense was pushed into the Holy of Holies and instead he merely offered incense. In the Old Testament, the altar of incense was situated before the veil that separated the Holy place where the priests worked and the Holy of Holies where God dwelt. (see notes on Hebrews) After offering the incense, the priest was expected to come out and return with a blessing for the people. But there was no blessing.
This gospel begins with an unbelieving priest, unable to bless the people, having been struck dumb through unbelief. The gospel ends with Jesus blessing the disciples before he left and they continued in the temple praising and blessing God. The poverty of the Jewish religion is endorsed by the sight of this altar of incense being lit on a special occasion. For in the Old Testament the fire of the altar never went out and there ascended unto God, sweet smelling sacrifices of praise continually from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same. In contrast to Zachariah, at the end of the book (still under the Law), we have the Disciples in the temple and praising God “continually”. What a contrast! How that change came about is the message of the book.
PRAYER:
As we have said, Luke chaps 11 & 18 are the classic chapters on prayer.
Chapter 11, gives us what we know as “The Lord’s Prayer” and the need for perseverance in our prayers.
Prayer is defined as “Asking, Seeking and Knocking;”
“Asking “ is a simple request which is granted immediately.
“Seeking” is the prayer that takes time. It is a journey of faith, from darkness to light; a time of soul searching and God searching.
“Knocking”, refers to those prayers where we know we have been heard and so we just have to wait for God to open the door. Sometimes when we hear a knock at the door we will tidy up or set the room so that when the visitors do come in, it will be more hospitable to them. So we have to keep them waiting a little after they have knocked. Likewise, it is not always the right time for some prayers to be answered so we get the assurance that we have been heard and all we have to do is wait for the answer, whether that be a long wait or a short one. God’s timing is perfect.
Jesus also reminds us that definite prayers get definite answers. Be careful how you pray, and don’t accept an alternative to what your faith has caused you to ask for. On a lighter note it is as well to think of your words, for God is not without a sense of humour in these things. A young motor cycle enthusiast asked the Lord for a “Harley”, shortly after becoming a Christian. Two days later a man called at his digs asking for a room, his name was Harley. He stayed.
I remember when we needed some polystyrene to make a small visual aid for Sunday School class. We prayed for some. Within a week we had two black bin bags full of the stuff and (more by accident than design) all our path was covered in it like a fall of snow. He is an abundant God!
Luke Ch 18 tells of the widow who pestered a judge to have her petition granted.
It is a remarkable parable, for it seems to indicate that God is almost human in his weariness of the needs of men. But he is merely emphasising again the attitude necessary in prayer. It should be one of persistence, for if a human being, even the hardest of heart, can be made to answer a request, how much more will the persistent prayers of children to their heavenly father be answered. His delay should strengthen our faith.
We have already noted the two men who went to pray and the burning of incense being symbolic of prayer and praise. In the Old Testament the fire of the altar never went out. The incense rose continually from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same. The tabernacle stood as a testimony to other watching nations, as from it there rose continually the sweet smell of smoking incense, as praise to the name of the Lord.
The disciples “continually ” in the temple “praising” are the fulfilment of this prophetic picture. The Acts of the Apostles, also written by Luke, is really a continuation of Luke’s gospel. There we see the temples filled with the presence of God. “
“God no longer dwells in temples made with hands’’ (Acts 7:48) declared the apostle. God had come to live in the temples he first fashioned for his own. Bodies, Souls and Spirits, had all found healing from the cross of their Redeemer.
When is it Faith, and when is it Unbelief?
When Zachariah was told he would be having a son to his wife Elizabeth, he questioned Gabriel, “How can these things be?”. He did so on the grounds that He was well past the age of having children. Gabriel noted the unbelief, and emphasised again who He was, for He was no ordinary messenger, but one who “stood in the presence of God.” (What a phrase!) Because of his unbelief Zachariah was struck dumb.
On the other hand Mary, when confronted by the same angel with an even more amazing message from God, asked the same question as Zachariah, “How can these things be?”
She was not struck dumb and no unbelief was detected, for though she used the same words, she spoke in faith. Mary was questioning not the fact that a miracle was to happen, but was merely curious as to how God was going to carry out his promised intentions.
In daily Christian living such comparisons can also be seen. For example, supposing a preacher was travelling a few hundred miles to fulfil a preaching engagement, when suddenly fog came down. The preacher would be faced with two alternatives. Either he could continue in faith that God would grant him safe travel, or he could end his journey and pull over to the side of the road, in faith that God could provide another preacher for the meeting.
Conversely, he could go on in unbelief that God was not in control, or he could pull over to the side of the road in unbelief, afraid that something dreadful might happen in the fog. So you see it is not always evident by a person’s actions whether they are acting in faith or not, but it is God who sees the motives of the heart. It is as well for us not to judge.
In our studies we have honed in on various chapters, which seem to be themed by Luke . Discipleship seems to be the main theme in Luke Ch 7.
Chapter 5 is about people doing the will of God. Ch 15 is about the lost trio.
Note how Jesus suspects that those who knew him and heard his “sermon” would have said “physician heal yourself”. If anyone appeared to be poor, it was the carpenter’s son. They all knew well that His history of suffering in family and home would qualify him amongst the broken hearted. His commitment to his mother and family, till such a late age would have marked him by his teenage peers as “bound”. Such was the Lord’s identification with man in his sorrows and suffering that the Doctor himself was considered by others to be a needy patient.
At first the people admired the gracious words of his first sermon, but by the time he had finished they were ready to kill him. It is said that sermons usually all have a happy ending because the congregation is always happy when it is finished. But there was no joy on the faces of his congregation when he finished this sermon. To them, He was fit only for death, by being thrown off a cliff. Why such a turn round in affections?
Jesus had reminded them of a truth they would rather have forgotten. They considered themselves as Jews to be the special people, for so they were intended to be. The Gentiles were regarded as “dogs”, outsiders and heathen. God, so they tried to believe, had no time for the Gentiles. However Jesus reminded them of the widow at Zeraphath and Naaman who were both Gentiles, received the blessing of God while the so-called “people of God” at that time, endured suffering of famine. It was this spiritual pride which came to its highest point in the synagogue, that stirred them to want to murder the preacher.
This sets the tone for much of the gospel for the writer is himself a Gentile and is well able from an objective point of view to see the poverty of the Jewish religion, while at the same time the Jews strutted about in obnoxious pride.
The comma that saved the world:
I f a friend promised to come round to your house sometime and cut the grass and paint the gate, it would not be expected for him to come round within a week and cut the grass, and then not return to paint the gate for fifty years or more.
However the prophecy from which Jesus read in Isaiah is something like that. It says that the Messiah would come to " proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord," and "the day of vengeance of God." However, that prophecy declares two things which the Messiah would do, but although He came 2000 years ago and has declared the “acceptable year of the Lord”, he has not yet proclaimed the “day of vengeance of God”. So it is significant that when Jesus read this prophecy, he stopped reading at a coma, and refrained from reading about the day of vengeance. After he had read, he said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” So we see He certainly knew why He had come, and He also understood that the day of vengeance was yet to come. Had the two events been as close as the writing in Isaiah seems to indicate, then the world would never have been saved, but that comma so far represents more than 2000 years of proclaiming the acceptable year. The Gospel is God’s message of acceptance to the sinners. One day He will reveal his wrath against all who have failed to respond to such an invitation of grace.
The Temple & Prayer
As we have said, Luke is the gospel of the temple. - It is also the gospel of prayer.
(Luke Chs. 11 & 18 are the classic scriptures on prayer.)
Luke18: 9-14
9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, `God, I thank You that I am not like other men— extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.
12 ‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’
13 “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, `God, be merciful to me a sinner!’
14 “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
This parable describes exactly what God thought of the Jews.
The cleansing of the temple, which should have been a house of prayer, is a significant inclusion in Luke’s account.
The gospel’s beginning, shows up the impoverished religion of the Jews. Once they had a Holy of Holies which contained the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat where God was pleased to dwell. They were then rich. After the exile in Babylon, they no longer had the ark, no mercy seat, no tablets of stone, no manna, no Aaron’s rod. - No presence of God. The Holy of Holies was EMPTY. How do we know this? We know it from secular history. The Roman ruler Pompeii, who conquered the Jews wanted to go into the Holiest of all in the temple. The Jews begged him not to go in. He argued that he had conquered the land and could go anywhere he so desired. In he went, only to come out and utter in amazement those memorable words, - “THERE’S NOTHING THERE”
It is arguable that the account in Luke chapter one is of the Day of Atonement, but the Jews no longer celebrated it as they were originally commanded. Lots were cast among the priests to take it in turn to burn incense. On such occasions instead of the high priest entering into the Holy of Holies with the blood of a lamb, the altar of incense was pushed into the Holy of Holies and instead he merely offered incense. In the Old Testament, the altar of incense was situated before the veil that separated the Holy place where the priests worked and the Holy of Holies where God dwelt. (see notes on Hebrews) After offering the incense, the priest was expected to come out and return with a blessing for the people. But there was no blessing.
This gospel begins with an unbelieving priest, unable to bless the people, having been struck dumb through unbelief. The gospel ends with Jesus blessing the disciples before he left and they continued in the temple praising and blessing God. The poverty of the Jewish religion is endorsed by the sight of this altar of incense being lit on a special occasion. For in the Old Testament the fire of the altar never went out and there ascended unto God, sweet smelling sacrifices of praise continually from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same. In contrast to Zachariah, at the end of the book (still under the Law), we have the Disciples in the temple and praising God “continually”. What a contrast! How that change came about is the message of the book.
PRAYER:
As we have said, Luke chaps 11 & 18 are the classic chapters on prayer.
Chapter 11, gives us what we know as “The Lord’s Prayer” and the need for perseverance in our prayers.
Prayer is defined as “Asking, Seeking and Knocking;”
“Asking “ is a simple request which is granted immediately.
“Seeking” is the prayer that takes time. It is a journey of faith, from darkness to light; a time of soul searching and God searching.
“Knocking”, refers to those prayers where we know we have been heard and so we just have to wait for God to open the door. Sometimes when we hear a knock at the door we will tidy up or set the room so that when the visitors do come in, it will be more hospitable to them. So we have to keep them waiting a little after they have knocked. Likewise, it is not always the right time for some prayers to be answered so we get the assurance that we have been heard and all we have to do is wait for the answer, whether that be a long wait or a short one. God’s timing is perfect.
Jesus also reminds us that definite prayers get definite answers. Be careful how you pray, and don’t accept an alternative to what your faith has caused you to ask for. On a lighter note it is as well to think of your words, for God is not without a sense of humour in these things. A young motor cycle enthusiast asked the Lord for a “Harley”, shortly after becoming a Christian. Two days later a man called at his digs asking for a room, his name was Harley. He stayed.
I remember when we needed some polystyrene to make a small visual aid for Sunday School class. We prayed for some. Within a week we had two black bin bags full of the stuff and (more by accident than design) all our path was covered in it like a fall of snow. He is an abundant God!
Luke Ch 18 tells of the widow who pestered a judge to have her petition granted.
It is a remarkable parable, for it seems to indicate that God is almost human in his weariness of the needs of men. But he is merely emphasising again the attitude necessary in prayer. It should be one of persistence, for if a human being, even the hardest of heart, can be made to answer a request, how much more will the persistent prayers of children to their heavenly father be answered. His delay should strengthen our faith.
We have already noted the two men who went to pray and the burning of incense being symbolic of prayer and praise. In the Old Testament the fire of the altar never went out. The incense rose continually from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same. The tabernacle stood as a testimony to other watching nations, as from it there rose continually the sweet smell of smoking incense, as praise to the name of the Lord.
The disciples “continually ” in the temple “praising” are the fulfilment of this prophetic picture. The Acts of the Apostles, also written by Luke, is really a continuation of Luke’s gospel. There we see the temples filled with the presence of God. “
“God no longer dwells in temples made with hands’’ (Acts 7:48) declared the apostle. God had come to live in the temples he first fashioned for his own. Bodies, Souls and Spirits, had all found healing from the cross of their Redeemer.
When is it Faith, and when is it Unbelief?
When Zachariah was told he would be having a son to his wife Elizabeth, he questioned Gabriel, “How can these things be?”. He did so on the grounds that He was well past the age of having children. Gabriel noted the unbelief, and emphasised again who He was, for He was no ordinary messenger, but one who “stood in the presence of God.” (What a phrase!) Because of his unbelief Zachariah was struck dumb.
On the other hand Mary, when confronted by the same angel with an even more amazing message from God, asked the same question as Zachariah, “How can these things be?”
She was not struck dumb and no unbelief was detected, for though she used the same words, she spoke in faith. Mary was questioning not the fact that a miracle was to happen, but was merely curious as to how God was going to carry out his promised intentions.
In daily Christian living such comparisons can also be seen. For example, supposing a preacher was travelling a few hundred miles to fulfil a preaching engagement, when suddenly fog came down. The preacher would be faced with two alternatives. Either he could continue in faith that God would grant him safe travel, or he could end his journey and pull over to the side of the road, in faith that God could provide another preacher for the meeting.
Conversely, he could go on in unbelief that God was not in control, or he could pull over to the side of the road in unbelief, afraid that something dreadful might happen in the fog. So you see it is not always evident by a person’s actions whether they are acting in faith or not, but it is God who sees the motives of the heart. It is as well for us not to judge.
In our studies we have honed in on various chapters, which seem to be themed by Luke . Discipleship seems to be the main theme in Luke Ch 7.
Chapter 5 is about people doing the will of God. Ch 15 is about the lost trio.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The final chapter in Luke is an amazing chapter. Well worth reading many times. We will have to postpone the exposition of these slides till some future date but for now here are the remaining slides which deal with ch 24
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why not use these slides as a guide to writing your own account of Ch 24.
It would be a worthwhile exercise. |
|
|
|
To encourage you, I would be happy to print out your commentary and bind it into a tidy book which you could keep.
|