Luke 11:27-36
Few men have made the contribution to pastoral literature that was made by Charles Spurgeon. He produced 135 books; edited 28 more; and if one counts his shorter things, he topped the 200 mark!
But in spite of this vast output, he stated: “The quarry of the Holy Scripture is inexhaustible; I seem hardly to have begun to labor in it;...” (Tan, P. L. Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations, 1979, Garland TX: Bible Communications.)
As you know, I am a great admirer of Spurgeon. I have most of his sermons and writings in both hard and electronic form. He was truly a master of communicating biblical truth through preaching. But, in light of my, as well as many other's, admiration, please note what he said in the above quote. “The quarry of the Holy Scripture is inexhaustible;...” I love the word picture that he puts forth here. A quarry is another word for a mine, where perhaps wonderful diamonds and gold and other precious materials are found. And he states that the mine of the Bible is inexhaustible. I hope and pray that you are finding this to be true in your own life and experience with the Lord. The Bible is truly the greatest book ever written and we, if we are understanding God and His word, will affirm with the Psalmist that, “The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver (Ps. 119:72). In Hebrews 4:12 we learn that “...the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” And in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we are told that, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Based on these passages, which I am confident were instrumental in informing Spurgeon's attitudes and convictions about the Bible, it is right to ask ourselves this morning, “Do I view the Bible, God's Word, with appropriate reverence and value? Is the Word of God, to me, the inexhaustible treasure and quarry that God would have it be to me?” Can I say, again, with the Psalmist, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day (Ps. 119:97).
In the passage before us this morning, the Lord Jesus puts forth very strong admonitions to treasure the Word of God. And because Jesus Christ is God incarnate...God in the flesh...we do well to listen to Him. So this morning, from Luke 11:27-36, let us see how Jesus would have us respond to the Word.
Luke 11:27-36 ~ And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”
Because the Lord Jesus directs us to embrace the Word and gives a serious warning for rejecting it, we must respond to the Word with devotion and dedication.
Four Declarations of Jesus about Responding to the Word of God
1. A Statement of the Word's Priority ~ vv. 27-28
The first declaration that the Lord Jesus makes about responding to the Word of God is to emphasize the Word's priority. The context of these two verses is attached to the previous account where Jesus makes a very strong and clear declaration of the need to decide to follow Him. Recall from the last week that this is an “either or” situation...you are either with Jesus or against Him. There is no middle ground. These statements are made in confrontation with the religious leaders who are opposed to the Lord and declaring that He and Satan are working together. It is definitely a tense situation.
Into this tense, confrontational situation, a reverent, godly woman loudly declares the greatness of Jesus and the privilege and blessedness of being His mother. So into this confrontation, Jesus receives this outstanding and strong affirmation of His character as well as his mother's blessedness. These are great sentiments declared by this woman. Godly children were a clear sign of God's blessing on a family in that day, as it is in our day. She is thinking, “Would that my children were as this man!” And, as you parents are well aware and desirous of, would that all of our children would pursue Christ-likeness and holiness. Jesus states in the Beattitudes of Matthew 5, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,...” And how blessed is the mother and father whose children do so? Her statement is an honorable and good statement to make.
Not only that, but put yourself in Jesus' sandals here. He has just been experiencing rancor and disputation with this crowd. The accusations made against him are extreme and incendiary. And here a woman stands up in the face of such vitriol and praises the Lord and His family. The temptation would be to say, “Finally! Someone is supporting me!”
But this is not what the Lord does. Note that He doesn't outright reject her statement. He says, “More than that...”. Depending on your translation, the idea is one of rejection of her statement or one of placing it in proper priority. The NASB states “On the contrary”, clearing portraying that Jesus rejects her statement. The ESV says “rather”, again drawing a contrast between her statement and what He is about to say. In light of the fact that Luke does express the blessedness of Mary in two other places (1:42 and 1:48), I lean towards the KJV and NKJV rendering of “More than that...”. Jesus here doesn't deny the blessedness of Mary and, by extension, His family. But he puts such a blessing in its proper place. Mary is a sinner just like all men and women and she needed the Savior, as she herself declares in Luke 1:47. Most blessedly in her case, the Savior was her Son.
The statement of Jesus here entails a couple of implications: It is of a far greater blessing to know the Lord through His Word than it is to be personally related to Him. In fact, Jesus declares in another place that being part of His family isn't so much about genetic relationship but rather it is distinctly about knowing Him through His Word. In Luke 8:21, Jesus makes this proclamation, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” By extension, therefore, we today are in a much more privileged place because we have the completed canon of Scripture in our hands. Do you treasure this incredible blessing that God has given us in His Word?
In the face of being accused of working with Satan and, in refutation of that accusation, Jesus warns His listeners that it is an “either or” situation. Note that the next words out of Jesus' mouth are a declaration of needed devotion to the Word. The implication is very clear. How is one to practice devotion and dedication to the Lord as opposed to being in Satan's dominion and control? You are to hear the Word of God and keep it. And this is of far greater import than anything else. It is of far greater blessing than family and friends, activities and work, hobbies and likes. The greatest blessing you will ever have is to hear the Word of God and keep it. So doing will lead to absolute blessing in all aspects of your life from here on out and into eternity. If you are a Christian here this morning, you were saved by the hearing of the Word with God-gifted faith (Gal. 3:2 and Eph. 2:8-9). And if you are a Christian here this morning, your growth in the Lord and in holiness is dependent upon hearing the Word with God-gifted faith and then applying it to your life (Gal. 3:5). Do you have Jesus' attitude about the priority of the Word? Take on that attitude today and renew it day-by-day.
2. A Coming Validation of the Word ~ vv. 29-30
In verses 29-30, Jesus gives a very strong rebuke to the people who are gathering around Him to see His miracles and wonders. Again, one tends to be rather shocked by Jesus' methodology here. He isn't really engaged in pleasing the crowd, is He? In verse 16 of this chapter, the people want Jesus to give them a sign to prove that He is from God. In verse 29, Jesus responds to this request. He says quite clear that, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign,...” One is tempted to say, “Take it easy, Jesus! Lighten up a bit!”
I was once asked what was my goal in pastoring and preaching. My unbelieving friend stated that I must be really trying to encourage the people and build their self-esteem. And that is a question that I must ask myself continually. What is my goal as a preacher? I told my friend that my goal is to point people to Jesus and their abject need of forgiveness and eternal life. In many places in the Bible, this message is couched in very uplifting and comforting words. But in just as many places, this message is couched in very confrontational and convicting words.
This passage before us is one of those places where people's need of stern self-examination and repentance is clearly proclaimed by the Lord. Jesus states, “This is an evil generation.” My pastoral mentor Steve Cole makes the following observation, “Verse 29 makes it obvious that Jesus had not had the opportunity to attend a modern course on how to reach the unchurched by making your message user friendly! Clearly, He had not heard of the methods of How to Win Friends and Influence People. As the crowds were increasing, Jesus opened His sermon by saying, 'This generation is a wicked generation.' Then He proceeded to warn them about the judgment to come. That’s not how you keep the numbers increasing!”
As Jesus makes these bold, in-your-face statements, He is also being ironic. He states that “...no sign will given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.” The irony here is that Jesus has been giving these people signs upon signs. How many people has Jesus healed already? How many demons has Jesus cast out? Two people have been raised from the dead. Again, there has been sufficient manifestion of miracles to validate who He is and where He is from. He is clearly fulfilling the work of the Messiah as proclaimed in Isaiah and repeated by the Lord in Luke 4:18 and 19,“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Jesus uses similar words when John the Baptist is wondering if Jesus is the Christ (Luke 7:22). Clearly, the miracles and signs that Jesus has performed direct these people to know who He is. But they are rejecting this. And, as you can see, they are rejecting the Word, which is their primary problem.
Please note, dear friends, that signs and wonders are not that which convince a person of the reality of Christ and His work. Jesus relates the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 and clearly states that even if someone were to raise from the dead, if person rejects the Word of God, it doesn't matter (Luke 16:31). Jesus clearly proclaims that coming to Him in order to have felt needs met is indicative of evil and wickedness. If a person's primary motive for coming to Christ or church is selfishly driven by what they ultimately hope to get out it by way of entertainment or self-fulfillment or a better life and marriage, kids, whatnot...Jesus says here that this is ultimately wickedness. No, the chief need that you and I have, and all of mankind, isn't to be happy or pleasure-filled. The chief need is to be made right with God.
And this naturally leads to Jesus' next statement in verses 29-30. This generation will only by given the “sign of Jonah the prophet.” Again, this is an interesting statement because Jesus continues to heal people and perform other wonders. He is acknowledging that such signs won't save anyone. But there is one sign that will save all who believe. And that sign is His death, burial and resurrection. This is the “sign of Jonah”. In the parallel account in Matthew 12:39-40, we learn clearly what the sign of Jonah is, “But He answered and said to them, 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.'”
So, the ultimate sign of the nature and work of Christ is His death, burial and resurrection. And, dear friends, this event, this sign, is the apex of all eternity...it is the paramount event of all of history. The implications of what Christ is saying here are absolutely huge. Again, He states that no sign is going to be given except this one. Well, again, He does perform additional miracles before this event. So what Christ is saying here is that all these minor miracles of healing and casting out demons, etc., are nothing compared to the preeminence of the cross and resurrection.
What was happening at the cross and resurrection of Christ? This is a huge topic that will consume a life of thought and study. But lets consider just a few aspects of this event. God poured out His perfect and just wrath upon Christ for all our sins. Christ's death satisfied God's justice and righteousness and His anger toward our sin. Christ bore in His body our sins on the cross that we might not bear them ourselves. Man's utter and complete depravity and sin was clearly displayed in the rejection and mocking of Christ. Christ was separated from God and that, as we know, is Hell. He defeated Satan and his plans and rule. He provided for us all that is necessary to be made right with God. And then, to fulfill and prove all it, God raised Him from the dead.
Friends, that is a simplistic, truncated statement of the work of God and Christ on the cross and resurrection. But, again, this is the paramount event in history and you, along with everyone else, have to confront the claims of the cross and what was accomplished there. And you cannot do so without facing head-on God's holiness, yours and all of mankind's sin and wickedness, Christ's perfect sacrifice for our sins, and our need to embrace this truth through saving faith.
Christ proclaims to these people, and to us by extension, you're going to get a sign that will make all these other signs see very insignificant. That sign is the cross and you have to confront the claims of the cross and deal with them.
3. A Warning About Rejecting the Word ~ vv. 31-32
Next, the Lord Jesus issues a very strong warning about rejecting His Word. Again, we note that Jesus is not overly concerned about winning people to His side with non-confrontational messages. He speaks of judgment and condemnation. He warns the people to be exceedingly careful with how they listen and comprehend His ministry and work. The issues here are of extreme importance and these issues will have real and eternal consequences. It is vital that the people hear and heed the word.
Not only does the Lord aggressively and forcefully warn of condemnation, He even purposely offends the Jews by giving two examples of Gentiles who responded better to the preaching of the Word then they do. This is another cultural, contextual issue that we find difficult to understand. We are a very multi-cultural society, with different nationalities surrounding us all the time. I love the fact that we have a Hispanic church that meets here on Sunday evenings and I hope and pray that our church will grow and develop into a diverse group of people from different places and ways, all loving and giving glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.
But, in the day of Christ and in the culture of 1st century Israel, multi-culturalism was not looked favorably upon. In fact, it was rather disdained. Recall from our earlier looks at the interaction of the Jews with the Samaritans in Luke 9. These two groups of people literally hated each other, with the Jews viewing the Samaritans as half-breeds...impure, and wicked. Recall in the Parable of the Good Samaritan that, when asked by Jesus who demonstrated godly neighborliness to the injured man, the lawyer wouldn't even say “Samaritan.” There was very strong racist attitudes fostered within Israel toward outsiders. The Jews, generally, viewed themselves as superior both in genetic make-up as well as religion. They were God's chosen people and God loved them and hated everybody else. Thus, so did they.
So when Jesus states that the Queen of Sheba and the Ninevites are going to fare better in the judgment, please understand that these were highly offensive statements to the Jews who heard them. But as offensive as they are, these accounts are found in God's holy Word and the Jews listening to these words couldn't get around the fact that these two examples of gentiles did respond very humbly to God's proclamation to them through His people. The account of the Queen of Sheba is found in 1 Kings 10:1-13 and 2 Chronicles 9:1-12. She comes from Arabia, many hundreds of miles, to confirm reports of Solomon's wealth and wisdom. After seeing Solomon's kingdom and having discussions with him, she makes this statement in 1 Kings 10:6-9:
Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom!Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”
Note that Jesus, in the passage before us in Luke, states that she came, from the ends of the earth, to hear the wisdom of Solomon. He emphasizes her desire to learn and listen. Thus, when Jesus confronts the multitudes with this accusation, he is confronting their lack of desire to listen to the Word. He is confronting their lack of willingness to pursue, at great cost, wisdom from God's Word. Not only that, Jesus clearly states that the wisdom and Word that is available to them is of far greater value than that which Solomon taught to the Queen of Sheba. The Jews here, have in their very presence, the incarnate Word of God and they are not taking Him seriously.
O, dear friends, let it not be said of us that we don't desire to hear and see and observe the Word of God. Again, as I have emphasized in previous messages and in this one, our ability to engage the Word of God is even better than what these Jews had because we have the completed canon. Are you like the Queen of Sheba, with an attitude of joyful sacrifice to hear and see and observe the Word? Or are you like these Jews who, with the incarnate Word in their very presence, are just not too impressed? You have the very Word of God sitting on coffee table or on your bedstand day in and day out. Is that book simply a decoration, a coffee cup coaster to protect your furniture? Or do you long to be in it and observe it and reverence it with loving worship?
In the example of the Ninevites, Jesus is emphasizing their repentance. Note that Jesus states that the Ninevites “repented” at the preaching of Jonah. Most of you are familiar with the account, so we needn't go back and read it. But please recall that Jonah walks throughout the city and simply and boldly proclaims a message of coming doom and judgment from God. And that message causes all the people of that city to repent in sackcloth and ashes and not eat nor drink, from the King to the house cat.
O, dear friends, as with the Ninevites, we cannot genuinely go to the Word of God and not be confronted with our own wickedness. If we consistently read the Word and come away not shocked or disturbed by the content of our hearts, we need to question our saving faith in the Lord. Hebrews 4:12 states this, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” If this isn't your experience with the Word, if this doesn't make sense to you, then you need to spend some time in deep consideration of your own heart and spiritual state before the Lord.
Dear friends, hear what Jesus is stating in this passage. There is judgment coming. It will be fair and clear, leaving no stone unturned in your life. Jesus states in Matthew that every word you speak will be examined (Mt. 12:36). In regard to the Word, two areas of judgment will be considered. Do you desire to hear the Word and treasure what you have there? And do you desire the Word to have it's cleansing, reforming impact in your life? Do you repent when confronted by the Word?
4. A Declaration of the Need of the Word ~ vv. 33-36
In this last declaration, Jesus perhaps tones down the rhetoric a bit and makes a gracious appeal to His listeners. Using the example of a lamp, He refers to himself and the Word as a needed and glorious guide to life and God-honoring existence. The picture is very clear...why do people turn on a light? It is turned on so people can see. These are not profound, deep pictures and images here. What Jesus is stating is that He has come so that people can see. And this seeing isn't about being able to find your way around a room in the middle of the night. The seeing that is needed is insight into essential truth about God, Christ and ourselves. Christ has come to illuminate essential spiritual truth and to provide guidance to those who hear Him.
He gives another warning to self-examination in verse 34. Make sure your eye is good. If a man is blind, it doesn't matter what light is shining, he can't see. The implication is clear to Jesus' hearers. If what I am saying makes no sense to you or doesn't cause you to think deeply about God and yourself in light of who God is, then your are blind.
I took Calculus in college and it destroyed me. I passed the class barely. I got an F on one of the tests that was given and I distinctly remember looking at one of the derivatives and having no idea what to do with it. Upon the return of the graded test, my professor had written next to that problem, “What in the world are you doing?!” I had sat in that class five days a week for a semester and didn't get it. The professor was providing light on to Calculus, but my eye was bad. I know exactly what my problem was...the professor had stated clearly on the first day of class that if one would succeed in Calculus, one would need to devote at least two hours a day in study. I didn't believe that, and, my to my chagrin, she was right.
Calculus is one thing. But the issue of the gospel and the person and work of Christ is of far greater importance. Again, if the gospel is meaningless to you or Christ's call to devotion to the Word and application therein has little appeal to you, you are blind...your eye is bad. This is what Christ is saying to these multitudes. Many are there simply to see the show and watch the debate between Christ and those opposed to Him. If there is not deep reverence and thoughtful meditation upon God and His Word, the listener is blind to truth. Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” That is the status of one who doesn't take the light of Christ seriously. I pray that is not you this morning.
On the flip side, in verse 36, Christ declares the greatness and glory of reverently sitting under the Word and applying it to your life. You have guidance and peace and you bless others. God is glorified and exalted in this person's life. You are given direction and God's will is made known to you. As the Westminster Confession states, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” This occurs as we take in the Word of God and keep it. May each of us commit to doing so today and always.
Donald Whitney tells of a man in Kansas City who was severely injured in an explosion. His face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He had just become a Christian when the accident happened, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read Braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in Braille. But he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been too badly damaged to distinguish the characters. One day, as he brought one of the Braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. In a flash he thought, “I can read the Bible using my tongue.” At the time this incident was reported, the man had read completely through his Bible four times using his tongue! (in Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life NavPress 1991, p. 35).
Friends, do you treasure the Word of God. Is it life and light to you? Do you desire to have your consciences informed by the Word? If so, then this desire will manifest itself in numerous ways in your life.
· You will be marked by consistent time of personal reading of the Word. Daily you will find yourself desiring to read and learn and be taught by the Word. Young people, start this habit now. Start reading your Bible on a daily basis and take it in as you would your necessary food and drink. All of us, regardless of age, need the Word consistently. Imbibe deeply from this river of living water.
· The work of Christ on the cross will be a treasure to you and you will love thinking and rejoicing in that work. Gathering for the purpose of remembering the work of the cross in communion will be a great delight to you. You will view the whole of existence in light of the person and work of Christ and you will believe and say that you will boast in nothing but Christ and the cross. You will live a Cross-Centered, gospel-centered life.
· You will come to church with an attitude of humility and hunger as you sit under the taught and preached word of God. You will pray for such teachings and preachings and you will long to hear it.
· You will see Christ and His Word as your guidepost and light as you walk through this world. You will follow Christ through His Word and you will be actively directing others to do the same.
· You will be actively seeking to put off the flesh and put on Christ through developing Christ-like character and attitudes throughout your life.
This is what Christ admonishes us to pursue. Follow him with everything you are.
Because the Lord Jesus directs us to embrace the Word and gives a serious warning for rejecting it, we must respond to the Word with devotion and dedication.
Discussion Questions:
· Is hearing the Word of God and keeping it more important to you than anything else? What competes for your allegiance to God and His Word?
· What role should evidence (signs) play in your evangelism? How important are developing rational arguments for Christianity in evangelism?
· How would you deal with someone who stated that they would need to see a miracle in order to believe in God/Christ?
· How does the cross and resurrection impact your attitude toward the Word? How should it?
· In what ways to we have it better than the Ninevites, the Queen of Sheba and even those who heard the very words of Christ in this account?
· How can you determine the status of your “eye” (Luke 11:34)?
· What are some tangible ways that the Word has been a light to you (Ps. 119:105)?
No comments:
Post a Comment