Thoughts on Luke – Part 1
After 400 years of silence God once again is speaking to man. There were 400 years where God sent no prophet, sent no new scripture, sent no angels to give messages to man. Nothing but silence was heard for 400 years.
Then Zacharias while serving in the temple talks with an angel.
God gives Zacharias and his wife who is past child bearing (she is well stricken in years) a son. This is a miracle.
Then God strikes Zacharias dumb until his son is born.
Then after 400 years without a prophet, Zacharias prophesied. Once again God is no longer silent.
After 400 years God is again moving in a spectacular way.
It is no wonder then that the people had the reaction that they did.
LK 1:65 And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea.
Fear came upon them and they spread the word of what happened abroad. This was exciting and worth talking about. God was once again moving.
Today we have something exciting to talk about. The fact that Jesus came and paid for our sins. That salvation is available as a free gift to all who will believe. This is the most exciting news that the world has ever known. We need to spread the good news of the gospel abroad.
LK 1:7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth did not have any children and now they are too old to have children. The Bible says they are now well stricken in years. It was frowned upon in that society to not have children. They had wanted children and prayed for children. But they are too old now.
It comes Zacharias’ turn to serve in the Temple and offer incense. Burning incense was a picture of prayer. The people were outside praying as He was at the altar of incense. And all the sudden an angel comes to Zacharias.
LK 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
The angel tells Zacharias that his prayer is heard and that they are going to have a son. We know that Zacharias was not praying for a son at this time because of his reaction.
LK 1:18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
LK 1:19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
LK 1:20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
Zacharias doubted. He did not believe the words of the angel. He was then unable to speak until his son was named John. So if Zacharias was not praying for a son when the angel came, then what prayer was the angel talking about? The answer should be obvious. The angel is referring to a prayer made many years before. A prayer that was prayed long ago when they were still young enough to have children. A prayer that was no longer fresh in the mind of an old man. God heard and remembered that prayer from years ago. And God answered it.
Sometimes God will say yes to a prayer but the right time for the answer is down the road a ways. As in this case many years. God in His wisdom knows the exact time that is the perfect time for the answer. He will never answer too early or too late.
Zacharias thought the answer to his prayer was no, but that was not the case. It was just not time yet for the answer. What can we learn from this? We need to be patient and trust in God. Do not get discouraged. Do not get impatient. Keep on praying and trust the Lord to answer in His time which will always be the perfect time.
LK 1:1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
LK 1:2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
LK 1:3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
LK 1:4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
Scriptures tell us why they were given. What is the purpose; what is the main goal. Some people will say that the Bible is a puzzle to confound man. Others will claim that you can’t understand it. Still others will say that only a select few can really dig out it’s truths. All those teachings are not of God at all. The Holy Word of God makes it clear on why the Bible was given. “That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.”
The Bible was given so that you might know, and know with certainty. It is not a puzzle. God wants you to know. Verse one says, “taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us”. God wants man to know. He does not want man to be in the dark. So God clearly declared His Word to us in the Bible.
What does God want us to know? He wants us to know a great many things. Top of the list is He wants us to know how to be saved. That Jesus died for our sins. He wants us to know how to live, what is right and wrong, how to treat others, how to handle money, social situations, a good work ethic, how problems should be handled, how the church should be run, and on and on the list goes. Everything we really need to know has been declared in God’s Word.
God wants you to know things with certainty. He clearly declared His Word. Never listen to those who claim that the Bible is a great hidden mystery, or those who say that you cannot understand it.
The people of the town had no room for Jesus. But what a wonderful contrast are the shepherds.
When told by the angel about Jesus, they went with haste to see Him. And after they seen Jesus they made it known abroad. They meet Jesus and then went and told others.
What a picture of the way that we should act after we get saved, after we let Jesus into our hearts, like the shepherds we should tell others.
And also like the shepherds we should glorify and praise God for all the things that we have heard and seen.
LK 2:48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
LK 2:49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?
LK 2:50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
LK 2:51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
The Bible commands us to honor our parents. Sometimes people will ask is there a line. Do I have to do everything my parents say no matter what? What if they tell me to do something ungodly? If my parents go into some heresy do I have to follow them into it. What if my parents need rebuked for some evil. These are all valid questions.
In this chapter we see that Jesus stays at the Temple while His mother and her husband are traveling home. They wanted Jesus to come home with them right then. That is obvious from their reaction. When they find out that Jesus is not traveling with the group, they return and when they found Him, Mary rebuked Him. Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
Jesus responded that He must be about His Father’s business. The principal that we see here is that what God wants must come before what the parents want. Whenever there is a conflict between God and parents, God needs to come first.
After Jesus had finished His Father’s business, then He went home and was subject unto them.
We are to Love the Lord more than anyone else. Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment.
LK 2:34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
LK 2:35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
When Jesus was 8 days old they took Him to the temple as the Jewish O.T. law demanded. And while they were there God send a man named Simeon to bless them and tell them some prophetic things about Jesus. Some might wonder why not just use the priests at the temple to deliver this message? Well you need to remember that at that time the priests and the religious establishment was corrupt. It was the priests, scribes, and the religious leaders that stirred up the people to crucify Christ. They had on the whole departed far from God. But God always keeps a remnant. A faithful devout few that He can use.
LK 2:25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
LK 2:26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
God let Simeon know that He was not yet done using Him. The Holy Ghost let him know that he would not die until he had seen Christ. He had another job to do and God was going to keep this old man alive until then. He was going to get the privilege to bless the child Jesus at the Temple. What a wonderful joyful day it was for this old man to serve His God in this way.
God also used an 84 year old widow that day. And we see that she was also very dedicated to the Lord. Verse 37 says, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.”
In these verses we see that God noticed the faithfulness of these two elderly devout people. They were not put on a shelf. God was still using them. And they were serving and truly devout at a time when most were not. The reason that they were used was because they had the right heart. They were devout and genuine in their faith and devotion to God. They are both shining examples to us today.
They are both spoken well of in the Bible, and they were both used in a special way. Old age is NO excuse to not serve God. He can and does use people of all ages. Age is not a qualifier for service. O, but the right heart is!
John the Baptist was a true biblical preacher. He preached the Word of God. He was not a cotton candy preacher like those that are popular today. He preached, “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
John preached on hell. John preached on repentance. John preached, “every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
John preached on giving in verse 11. John preached against lying in verse 14. John preached against sin.
John preached on the chaff being burned with fire unquenchable in verse 17.
And verse 18 tells us that, “many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.” John preached with exhortation on many things.
John would most likely get kicked out of most churches today. Most churches have itching ears today and they have no toleration for real biblical preaching.
Most churches today would have no place for John. But Jesus held John in high regard. Jesus called John the greatest born among women.
People often cry about how bad things are today. Both in politics and in the spiritual condition around us. A preacher might lament on how he wished he could have preached in better times, but times are not as bad as they have been. Just look at the political and spiritual conditions when John the Baptist preached.
LK 3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
Tiberius had succeeded Augustus in the Roman empire and he was famous as being a scourge to the Roman people. Herod the Great had killed all the male children under two years old because he was trying to kill Jesus. He left his kingdom to 3 sons. They were all wicked men. The Herod in verse one took his brother’s wife.
LK 3:19 But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done,
LK 3:20 Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.
John told him the truth from the Word of God. Not only about taking his brother’s wife but also “for all the evils which Herod had done”. This ruler was openly wicked and vile and did many evils. Herod did not like hearing the truth and put John into prison and later has his head chopped off. Because of the political situation it was not even safe to preach the Word of God.
Politics were in bad shape and religion was not much better. But John put God’s Word and God’s will first and preached anyway. Amen and Amen.
LK 3:2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
If you know much about the Old Testament you know that there was to be only one High Priest. This is because the High Priest was to be a picture, a foreshadowing, a type of the true High Priest to come. He was to be a picture of the only true intercessor to come. Having only one High Priest was typifying that there is only one mediator between God and man.
1Ti 2:5 For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The religious world was in such a mess that they could not even get such a simple thing right as having only one High Priest. They had two. They had departed from what the Word of God clearly taught. Not only in the issue of having only one High Priest, but also in many other areas. They obviously thought that they knew better, and that they had a better way to do things.
And it was into this political and spiritual mess that God sent John to preach.
LK 3:3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
LK 3:4 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
John did not preach to be popular. John did not accept this nonsense of we have to be like the world to reach the world. He did not accept the false teachings of the religious leaders of the day. He called them a generation of vipers.
John was the voice of one crying in the wilderness. He was not one of 500. He was out there all alone. He was preaching the truth no matter what people said or did. He did not preach a health and wealth don’t offend anyone watered down message surrounded by entertainment the devils rock music and light shows. John preached in one of the worst political and religious environments and he preached hard and he preached that people need to get right with God.
There needs to be more concern today about telling people what they need to hear and not what they want to hear.
LK 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
John had become popular. Multitudes came to hear him and to be baptized by him. Most were coming for the wrong reason. They came because they wanted to be a part of the movement or they did not want to be left out. Some no doubt came for the excitement. Others came out of curiosity. Whatever the reason was, for most is was not for the right reason. The right reason to come would be to hear the preaching, repent, and get right with God. John saw thru it all. He called them, “O generation of vipers” That is pretty strong language isn’t it. He did not pull any punches. They needed to be shook up a bit. They were self-righteous and thought that they were in good standing with God because they were children of Abraham.
John addresses that in verse 8, and John asked that they bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. He was not saying that repentance is doing good works. No, he was teaching that true repentance of the heart will produce fruit. Repentance is a change of mind that will result in a change of action. When someone says that they changed their mind, but they keep on doing the same things, then they really did not change their mind at all. They are either flat out lying or they are deceiving themselves.
John did not accept an empty hypocritical false profession. He knew that real repentance equals real change. Don’t talk the talk without walking the walk.
After John asks to see fruit, he tells them that those who bring no good fruit are cast into the fire. He uses an illustration of a tree to make the point that if you don’t repent and therefore bring forth good fruit as a result that you will be thrown into hell. That is the application of his illustration in verse 9.
LK 3:9 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
John stood up and hit them with some very powerful straight forward, no beating around the bush preaching. I don’t think that he did it in anger. He did not do it to be mean. This is what these people needed and he knew it. And look at their reaction.
LK 3:10 And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?
They listened and asked what shall we do. John gives them some examples, and in verse 18 we learn that his preaching went on a while.
LK 3:18 And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.
John’s entire sermon is not recorded for us in scripture. But we see that the people were listening and considering what he preached. John got them to thinking and we know that not all of them repented. But some of them really did come to true repentance. They got the real truth about what their condition before God was. They were told the danger of being thrown into the fire, and that God demands real repentance. They were told that real repentance will bring forth good fruit. They had the opportunity to examine their own lives. Conviction came upon some and lives were eternally changed. We need more honest straight forward preaching today. Preaching that aims straight to the heart and the truth of the matter.
It is not enough to know who Jesus is. Something else must be required because the devils know who Jesus is.
LK 4:41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.
These devils believed that Jesus was the Christ the Son of God and Jesus cast them out.
Not only must you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but there also must me a receiving.
Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:
It takes more than just a head knowledge. Jesus must be received as your personal savior. It truly is a heart matter. Notice the role of the heart in Romans 10:9-10.
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
To be saved you must believe in Jesus, you must call out to Him to save you. You have to receive him in your heart. Just call out to Him to save you and you have His promise that He will.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
LK 4:14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
LK 4:15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
LK 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
LK 4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
LK 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
LK 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
LK 4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Jesus read from the book of Isaiah chapter 61:1-2. If you never bothered to look up and compare these verses, then you have missed something important.
Here is Isa. 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
If you notice Jesus stopped reading and closed the book mid-sentence. He did not read the rest of the verse. On purpose He left out, “and the day of vengeance of our God;”
Why? The answer is found in verse 21.
LK 4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Jesus only read the part of Isaiah’s prophecy that was being fulfilled right then. The last part of Isaiah 61:2 is talking about when Jesus is coming back to set up His 1,000 year reign. The day of vengeance happens at the end of the tribulation.
There are thousands of years between the first part of Isaiah 61:2 and the last part.
One of the reasons that the Jews thought that Jesus was going to set up His kingdom right then was that they saw prophecies like Isaiah 61:2 as one event. They foresaw the kingdom but they did not foresee the cross.
This account in Luke is just one of the many places that Jesus was teaching that He did not come to set up His kingdom when He came the first time. The kingdom is still in the future and must wait until He comes back in His glory.
LK 4:32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.
This does not mean that Jesus screamed or yelled everything. Some mistake power for volume. Jesus taught as one who had authority. There was no gray area with what He said. He taught and preached the truth as it was the only truth. No debate allowed. These are the facts and you need to accept them. Jesus taught out of Love but at the same time He taught the truth with authority. No backing down. The truth is the truth period.
Now make no mistake about it preaching and teaching without compromise and in power will bring conviction. And this can cause trouble. It is one of the reasons that many soft pedal the truth and take a more politically correct approach. Look at this reaction to the teaching of Jesus.
LK 4:28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
LK 4:29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
When conviction comes, a man he has two choices. He can get mad or get right. These men chose to get mad. They were going to kill the preacher! But notice their anger did not stop the work of the Lord.
LK 4:30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
When you are witnessing to others about your faith. Do it with power in that you teach them the truth as it is in fact the only truth. Do it with love but do it with conviction. We have to let God be true.
Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
Jesus shows once again that He is God manifested in the flesh.
LK 5:21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?
The scribes and the Pharisees reasoning in this aspect was sound. Only God can forgive sins. So either Jesus was God manifested in the flesh or Jesus was guilty of blasphemy.
Jesus then demonstrates attributes that only God has.
LK 5:22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
Jesus demonstrated the all-knowing attribute of God (Omniscience). Jesus knew their thoughts. They had only been reasoning in their heart. They had not spoken out loud.
And then Jesus demonstrated the attribute of God of being all powerful (Omnipotent) by performing a miracle.
LK 5:24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
Jesus said in verse 24 that the reason He was going to heal this man was so they could know that He had the power to forgive sins. This is a power that only God has.
LK 5:25 And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.
Over and over again in the gospels Jesus demonstrated that He was God manifested in the flesh.
We should praise Jesus for who He is.
LK 5:1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
LK 5:2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
LK 5:3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
This event happened before the religious leaders were after Jesus. They had not yet taken very many steps to draw the people away from Jesus’ ministry. They were not yet calling for His death. That all comes later.
Multitudes came to Jesus at this time. And notice what they came for. “the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God,” Later in His ministry many would come just to see the show. They wanted to see Him perform some miracle. Others would come to try to discredit Jesus.
However, this crowd was different. They did not come to try to discredit Jesus. They did not come to watch a miracle. They did not come to please their flesh. They did not come to be entertained. They came to hear the Word of God.
They came to listen to Jesus, and He did not disappoint. He got into a ship and had it go out a little ways and he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
We are not told in this account what Jesus preached. But rest assured it was a great message. It would have been the perfect message for this crowd. Jesus knew the hearts of men. He would not have wondered what message to bring. And we can be sure that they got something out of the message. Why? Because they came with the right attitude. They came with a purpose. They came to hear the Word of God. They came because they were interested in the Word of God.
This is the way that we should go to church. Too many people go to satisfy their conscience or because they think that it is a good thing to do. Some go to see a show, some go to get entertained, and some go out of routine. Some go because their friends will be there, and some even go to try to discredit the preacher; to catch him in some mistake. Instead we need to be like the people in Luke 5:1. We need to go to hear the Word of God. If your attitude is right, you will be amazed how much more you will get out of the preaching
LK 5:16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
Jesus went into the wilderness to pray. What was in the wilderness that made it a good place to pray? Well, it was not so much what was there as it was what was NOT there. There were no people. It says, he withdrew himself. It was a place to get alone with His Father. A place with no distractions, no interruptions, and none of the noise of life. It was a good place to go where you could set aside the hustle and bustle of the day, quite your thoughts and really spend quality time in prayer. If Jesus had a need for this kind of prayer, how much more do we?
All too often we can pray with our eye on the clock. I have just a few minutes before I have to be in such and such a place or before I have to do this or that. Other times our prayers will be shortened by someone coming in the room, or the phone ringing or a multitude of other things. And still other times our minds can be so full of the day’s activities that we don’t concentrate on our praying like we should. We need to do what Jesus did. We need to go to the wilderness to pray. Now I don’t mean that we need to literally get in a car and drive to the wilderness. What I mean is that we set aside serious time alone with God for prayer. We need to arrange it so that there will be no interruptions. Find a quiet place where we can really spend some time in prayer. We need it far more than we realize.
In this Chapter Jesus asked the following question?
LK 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
The context of this verse is how your actions reveal your heart. Jesus talks about how every tree is known by his own fruit. And how a good man out of the treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good. And how an evil man bringeth forth that which is evil.
Then Jesus asks His question. And the implication is clear. Those who are His are to do what He says.
You know a man’s heart not by his words but by his actions.
LK 6:26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
LK 6:27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
LK 6:28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
After praying all night in verse 12 Jesus calls out the 12 apostles in verse 13. That same morning Jesus preaches a sermon. In that sermon Jesus tells them, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”
Albert Barnes has a good comment on this verse. “The men of the world will not praise or applaud my doctrine; they are opposed to it, and therefore, if they speak well of you and of your teaching, it is proof that you do not teach the true doctrine. If you do not do this, then there will be woe upon you. If men teach false doctrines for true; if they declare that God has spoken that which he has not spoken, and if they oppose what he has delivered, then heavy punishments will await them.”
The context of verse 28 is false teachers. Jesus then brings up the fact of how the Israelites spoke well of the false prophets. And I am sure that you know how they often hated, persecuted, and even killed the true prophets of God.
Jesus was teaching that there will be men that do not speak well of you if you teach the truth. Opposition is what should be expected.
After setting down this principal Jesus then tells how you are to react to them. 1) Love your enemies. (Love would include telling them the truth). 2) Do good to them. 3) Bless them. Other scripture makes it clear that we are not to bless their false teaching so this is talking about blessing them in other ways. 4) Pray for them.
This is not easy to do. It goes against our fleshly sin nature. So how is it possible to behave this way to your enemies? There really is only one way and that is thru His power and His Spirit. He does supply the grace to be able to do what He wants us to do. We first need to realize that, and then second we need to ask Him to help us.
LK 6:6 And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.
LK 6:7 And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him.
Notice they were not there to learn. They were not there to rejoice in good being done and a man being healed. They were not there to learn from Jesus or to even consider that Jesus was the one the scripture said would come. They were there to find an accusation against Jesus. They were sure that if Jesus healed on the Sabbath that they would have their accusation. They thought that victory would soon be theirs.
LK 6:8 But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.
LK 6:9 Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?
Believe it or not Jesus hit them with an argument that they had not considered. Maybe it was too simple for their legal minds. Maybe it was too good, and honorable of an idea to enter into their wicked heads. But you can tell that they were not prepared for Jesus’ simple straight forward question.
LK 6:10 And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
Jesus then heals the man on the Sabbath. And He did it right in front of His accusers. He did not hide it, and He did not do it in secret, but right out in the open. (As a side note, that is the way that Christians should handle things, right out in the open) And notice their reaction to the healing of Jesus.
LK 6:11 And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
They were filled with madness. They were not just a little upset. They were in a rage. So much so that it says that they were filled with madness. They were filled with it. They should have seen the decency in what Jesus did and they should have seen the logic of His question. Of course it is lawful to do good and not evil regardless of the day of the week.
I am sure that it stung them more than a little to have Jesus destroy their argument before they could even speak it. The ease with which Jesus did it was even more evidence of who Jesus was. No one was ever going to get one over on Jesus. Verse 8 says, But he knew their thoughts. He knew exactly what they were thinking. Every dirty, wicked, backstabbing, unrighteous thought. And He put a stop to it before they uttered one word.
You know it is the same with us. We can fool ourselves. We can fool others, and come up with excuses for all kinds of things. However, NONE of them will ever fly with Jesus. When we stand before Him, all of our plotting, our reasoning, all our blaming others, and our excuses for things will dissolve before we ever utter one word.
What we need most is to come to Jesus to learn. We need to come with open hearts and let Him have His way with us. We need to come to Jesus with a totally opposite attitude than the people in our text.
LK 7:13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
Over and over in the gospels we read of the compassion of Jesus. Jesus knows all about our hurts. Verse 13 says he saw her. Whatever your hurt is Jesus sees it. And He is not unfeeling about it. After He saw her He had compassion. Jesus cares. And then He gave her comfort. He said weep not.
It is the same with us. Jesus sees our hurts. Jesus has compassion on us, and Jesus wants to give us comfort.
But we must first come to Him. Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Jesus will give you rest, but you must first come to Him.
Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:
LK 7:2 And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.
LK 7:3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.
LK 7:4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:
LK 7:5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.
LK 7:6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:
LK 7:7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.
LK 7:8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
LK 7:9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
LK 7:10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.
The Centurion understood authority. He had many people under him. To get something done all he would have to do is speak. If the Centurion told a soldier to go, then he would go. And if he told one to come, then he would come. If he told a servant to do something, then he did it. There were no questions asked. There was no wondering if the soldier would come. The Centurion had authority.
The Centurion sends word to Jesus and tells Him that there is no need to come all the way to his house. All that is required is that you “say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.” The Centurion understood who Jesus really was. He knew that Jesus was not just a good man or a great teacher. He knew that Jesus’ authority was over more than just a few apostles and disciples. He knew that Jesus had authority over his servants’ body. Jesus had authority over sickness and life itself.
The Centurion also knew that Jesus’ authority was not lessened in any way by distance. Jesus did not need to be present. After all distance means nothing to God manifested in the flesh.
This understanding of Jesus’ authority and who Jesus really is gave this man great faith. When Jesus heard the word that the Centurion sent He said, “I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
The Centurion had great faith in who Jesus is. He had great faith in Jesus’ authority. He had great faith in Jesus’ power. He had great faith that Jesus was on the throne no matter where Jesus was. He had great faith that distance did not matter.
May our faith be more like the Centurion’s.
See more lessons from the Gospels