LUKE 6:43-49
We are resuming the sermon and bible study on Luke 6:43-49.
It is helpful to note that the parallel passage is in Matt. 7:15-20. Matthew’s Gospel has its emphasis on Jewish believers whilst Luke was concentrating on the Gentile Christians, but in these two passages, certain important teachings come through from the Lord Jesus. Also both passages in Matthew and Luke have a wider context; Matthew 7 has a wider context in the Sermon on the Mount; Luke’s wider context is the Sermon on the Plain.
In Matthew 7, Jesus is communicating how to differentiate the genuine from the dangerous – this is a threat which believers must beware. In vv. 15 -17, the Lord warns the disciples of this threat and in verses 21-23, He warns of the fate of those who mistakenly thought they knew Jesus.
Jesus seems to address those who attached themselves to Him in some way who appear to be inside the camp (with Jesus) but are not. In order to state their real spiritual state in relation to the Lord Jesus, a disciple need only to check their fruit. A sound tree yields good fruit, just as a bad tree bears evil fruit. A good tree will not bear evil fruit, nor will a bad tree give good fruit. False disciples can be identified by their fruit.
In the passage in Luke, fruit reveals a tree’s quality. So figs do not come from thorns,not grapes from a bramble bush. Following these remarks, Luke has a note that the good person produces good,while the evil person produces evil. In both the good and evil cases, it is from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks
Notice that in both passages from Matthew and Luke, reference was made to the calling out “Lord, Lord”. In Matthew, the response from the Lord to those who have claimed to minister (serve) in His name indicates the warning that He is the judge at the final judgment and the emotional double address of Jesus as Lord,Lord, is not a mantra that guarantees entry into His kingdom. Rather, entry comes from doing the will of the Father who is in heaven. Many will claim to have done the Father’s work in the name of the Lord Jesus, but the truth they expect may come as a shock. Claiming to know the One who has authority over judgment is not what counts; actually knowing Him is. The Lord’s statement, “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers” are words of exclusion for those who claim association with Him and are even active in His name but do not know Him.
In the case of Luke, there is the rebuke about invoking the name of the Lord and not doing what He says. The teaching of the Lord is not an option to be lightly regarded; it is to be embraced.
In both Matthew and Luke, Jesus’s sermon closes with the same basic illustrations – the construction of two kinds of houses. One has its foundation on rock, while the other is set precariously on sand. When the storm comes, the house of the wicked will be overthrown while that of the righteous is established forever (cf. Proverbs 10:25; Isa. 28:16-17). Judgment pictured as a flood from a storm is common in the Old Testament. The one who hears but does nothing is a fool whose house has no base to survive the torrent.
In Luke, the fool builds his house without a foundation – he did not dig deep enough. Both accounts from Matthew and Luke stress the tragedy of failing to heed Jesus’ teaching through the collapsing houses of a foolish person.
In both Matthew and Luke, Jesus is saying that a transformed heart relating in a healthy way to God (and as a result, to others) is what yields an approved righteousness. It is not the self-attained keeping of works that earns salvation; it is a humble and responsive heart that seeks what God provides. Jesus offers the power of God’s presence and an enablement that yields a knowledge of God that changes a person’s direction and heart – this internal change comes by God’s grace through the power of God in the Gospel. The result of a positive response to the Gospel (in repentance and faith) is a filial allegiance to God that brings the effective presence of God’s Spirit and an ability to respond to God that previously were lacking. Those who know God are drawn to Him and HIs
ways.
Pause and consider the ‘fruit’ in our Christian lives. Soberly reflect on whether our ‘house’ will stand in the face of the spiritual storms of life. Does Jesus really know us or are we depending on our association with Him and our activities in His name??
THE ‘FRUIT’ OF GENUINE CHRISTIANS
In our previous sharing on Luke 6:43-49, we noted that the Lord Jesus shared how we can differentiate false teachers from good teachers, and how we can distinguish genuine disciples from false ones: The tree is known by its fruit. A good tree produces good fruit, and a tree cannot produce something that is not its proper fruit (eg. an apple tree cannot produce grapes).
But what is this ‘fruit’ for the true spiritual teachers and genuine believers? We saw in John 15 that the Lord taught that we are like branches attached to Him (the vine) and, unless we are abiding in Him and ‘connected’, and related to Him, we will not produce the fruit of the vine. Like branches not connected to the vine, spiritually we would ‘dry up’ and ‘die’ and certainly, we cannot expect any fruit from the vine. (Incidentally, the Vinedresser ‘prunes’ the vine and branches in order for it to be more fruitful and the spiritual Vinedresser is the heavenly Father who allows ‘pruning’ in our lives to cause us to be fruitful spiritually).
So the Lord Jesus is telling us that we can identify false teachers (like the Pharisees) and false brethren (the tares) by looking and recognising their ‘fruit’. Note that the fruit is not just the apparent ”spiritual spectacular deeds” claimed by certain individuals (In a parallel passage in Matthew 7, we are told that there are those who claimed to belong to Jesus by calling Him “Lord, Lord” and cited deeds like casting out demons etc.), yet the Lord dismissed them and told them that He did not know them.
Note firstly that we are saved unto good works. In Ephesians 2, we are told that it is by grace we have been saved, through faith……not by works, so that no one can boast. However, we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works….(Eph. 2:8-10). Put differently, salvation is through faith, but faith works through love, resulting in good works (Gal.5:6).
It may be needful to crystallise certain truths:
Justification is God’s judicial verdict, declaring a sinner righteous; sanctification is His moral activity, making a sinner righteous.
God justifies sinners through the death of His Son, but sanctifies them through the regeneration and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Justification is instantaneous. It takes place immediately God pronounces the sinner righteous. Sanctification, however, is gradual. It begins the moment we are justified, but then it grows as the Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18).
Justification is complete. It has no degrees, We shall not be more justified on the day of our death than we were on the day of our conversion. Sanctification, however, is incomplete. Although it begins when we are converted and regenerated, it continues throughout our life on earth and will be complete when Christ appears. Only then ‘we shall be like Him, for we shall see HIm as He is’ (1John 3:2).
Justification is by faith only without works. It is entirely the work of Christ. But sanctification is by faith and works. In addition to trusting God, we are told to watch and pray, to sanctify and purify ourselves.
The process of sanctification and purification (which includes mortification i.e. putting to death whatever is evil and negative in God’s sight in our lives) will result increasingly in “good works” and “holiness” in the lives of believers as well as Christian teachers and leaders. The “fruit” of the true teachers and genuine believers is ‘holiness’ and ‘good works’ in their lives to different degrees. Their character will increasingly be like Christ.If this is absent, then the ‘tree’ is not a ‘good’ tree from God’s point of view. It is a ‘bad’ tree that produces bad fruit and needs to be chopped down – so we know the nature of the tree by looking and examining its fruit.
Christ who is the final judge on the day of judgment would judge accordingly and the bad and wrong tree cannot expect to ‘stand’ on the day of judgment. Like the house built on the wrong foundation, it will be destroyed by the storm.
Becoming and being a Christian involves a change so radical that no imagery can do it justice but death and resurrection with Christ, namely dying to the old life of self-indulgence and self-will, and rising to a new life of self-control and self-giving in which the world has been crucified to us and we have been crucified to the world. We glory in the cross for our discipleship.
We human beings are born boasters. There seems to be something in our inherited constitution which inclines us to boasting. We seem to need to glory in something in order to inflate our ego. In consequence, we boast of our education, our possessions, our success, our reputation, even our piety (like the Pharisees and current false teachers).
In the last resort there is only one alternative before us. Either we glory in ourselves and in our own achievements (even ‘spiritual’ ones), or we glory in Christ and in His achievements on the cross. There is no possibility of compromise – we glory only in the cross – or we end up with a wrong ‘fruit’ in our Christian life and we face the judgment of God!!
THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP
Some personal meditations on John 10
Following the study on Luke 6:43-49 and the parallel passage in Matthew 7, as I read John 10 in my morning devotion, I was ministered to, as I pondered over what the Lord said regarding ‘the good shepherd and his sheep’.
We will recall that Jesus told those who claimed to know Him and did many ‘things’ (including casting out demons) in His name that He did not know them, and also dismissed them, even though they addressed Him as ‘Lord, Lord’. Also, in Luke, the Lord told those who acknowledged Him as Lord to do what He taught them and not just be hearers only.
Note the following verses in John 10:
“..the sheep listen to his voice. He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out” (10:3b – referring to Himself as the shepherd).
“…and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice” (10:4b-5).
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (10:11).
“I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep” (10:14-15).
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I gave them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” (10:27-28).
Take note that the Lord Jesus affirmed and reiterated that His sheep know HIm; they listen to His voice, and they know His voice. Not only do His sheep know Him, but He also knows His sheep. Surely this speaks of an intimate relationship – one that has both parties knowing each other, and that both parties have a relationship of ‘the shepherd and his sheep’, ‘the Master and HIs followers’.
Those who claim to know the Lord Jesus are not necessarily ‘His sheep’. They may claim ‘conversion’ when they uttered ‘the sinner’s prayer’; they may weigh the gospel message and conclude that they had nothing to lose by accepting Jesus. But a conversion that is assumed because of their calculated self-centered choice may not be the same as ‘being born again’ (See the conversation between Nicodemus and the Lord in John 3). There ought to be repentance and faith, a crying out to God as one recognises the wretchedness of one’s life and understands that one cannot save himself or herself, and it is only Jesus and what He has accomplished, offered to the enquirer by His grace, love, and mercy that can save him; then what follows is ‘regeneration’ through the Holy Spirit and a ‘UNION’ with Christ such that what belongs to Christ now belongs to the new believer, and what Christ went through is also what the believer goes through with Him, in union with Him spiritually (the reality of ‘Christ in him’ and ‘he in Christ’ takes place).Then follows ‘ADOPTION’ as children of the living God.
One truly ‘born again’ through the Spirit would know his Master, and the Master has accepted him and knows him. Such a one does not recognise the voice of a stranger, and he knows well enough to stay away from the stranger and not listen to him.
The true Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep; He loves them; He protects them; He sacrifices for them and He gives them their need, their joy, their peace ‘in green pastures” He also guides them, even through the valley of death. No wonder the genuine sheep love Him and will continue to trust Him even when there are ‘wolves around’, even wolves in sheep’s clothing, and even when all seems lost, they continue to hear His voice and hears His staff’s leading and guiding them through the ‘darkest night’.
The assurance of the Good Shepherd: “I give them (the sheep) eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand”. What an assurance! What a shepherd! What a love! Praise the Lord!!
THE SUBJECT MATTER OF LUKE 7:1-17
Before focusing on Luke 7, it is helpful to see what has come before in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus has come with the priority of proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom (4:14-44); He has come to summon sinners into His Kingdom. His kingdom needs fresh structures (‘new wine’ into ‘new wineskins’) and the leaders of the old order (the Pharisees and teachers of the law) detest this (5:1-32; 5:33-6:11). The people of His kingdom are His disciples. These disciples are a people led by the twelve Apostles (appointed by Jesus) through their teaching (6:12-16); the true people of God are ‘blessed’ even as they are reviled and opposed on account of the Son of Man (6:20-26); His people are a radically counter-cultural people who reflect the profile and likeness of the heavenly Father (i.e. the essence of the Father’s character of generosity, goodness, and love – a love shown to the ungrateful and the evil – simply because He is merciful).
In the previous study on Luke 6, we note that Jesus warned His disciples to choose their teachers with an eye on their fruit; He exhorted them to build their house with an eye on the future (and final judgment). Those who listen to blind guides and false teachers are as much the target audience of these warnings as the false teachers themselves – Jesus sought to wean His disciples away from the phoney religious leaders, helping them to recognise the fruit they produce and as the same time He was helping them to recognise what it looks like to be a true child of the Father and a son of the Most high. True discipleship is not simply a matter of hearing Jesus’ words, but of acting upon them – listening to HIs words and acting upon them is tantamount to establishing their lives on solid foundations (and thus having a true living relationship with Him). The flood is not just referring to present, everyday crises but it also points to the ultimate and final judgment.
From Luke 7 to 8, the principal subject is Salvation, which begins and ends with miracles of salvation: the centurion’s servant is healed, the widow’s son is raised from the dead, the storm is calmed, the demoniac is restored,and Jairus’ daughter and the woman with bleeding are saved. When John the Baptist questions Jesus’ identity, Jesus responds by quoting Isaiah 35:6,7. According to Isaiah, the great Saviour of God’s people will bring release from all that spoils this sin-wrecked world, suffering as it does under the deserved wrath of God. Jesus views His miracles as eschatological thunderbolts, providing evidence for His glorious salvation and also a foretaste of it.
For this sharing, we focus just on Luke 7:1-17. Here in chapter 7, in these two miracles, Jesus explains who He is and also why some are responding negatively to HIm. The evidence for His ministry is consistent, and yet there are those who rejected Him through hardness of heart – they refused to repent.
Specifically in verse 1-17, the centurion,though a Gentile, recognised Jesus’ authority to save. The great crowd at Nain acknowledged that God had ‘visited his people!’ Jesus was demonstrating that He is the one who will rescue God’s people from this fallen world and lead them on the highway of salvation. HIs rescue will involve, ultimately salvation from disease and death. Gentiles were to benefit from Jesus’ saving work; there is no lack of evidence, nor an absence of God’s word. Jesus’ miracles spoke for themselves,and no one could deny that. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law would not accept Jesus because they would not recognise themselves as sinners, and so repent. Their hardheartedness manifested itself in a contrary hypocritical treatment of the evidence.
Jesus’ salvation is available to the Gentiles (like the centurion) and to the dispossessed (like the widow). Not only does He have compassion on the lost, He has the power to do something about it. These miracles show Jesus’ salvation to be far bigger and more far-reaching than it is often presented as being. Jesus has not come simply to ‘make my life a bit better’, to be my ‘special friend’, or to provide ‘wish-fulfilment’ for His disciples. He has come to overthrow the horrendous effects of the Fall, to redeem His people, and to lead them on the highway of salvation towards His New Creation. Not only does he claim to have come for this purpose, He has demonstrated that He has the power to deliver.
The eg. of the centurion who demonstrated humility and recognition of who Jesus is and what His authority amounts to points to the need for faith and repentance (in the face of the Son of Man) and an acknowledgment of who He really is. The entrance to God’s kingdom is rejected by many not because there is lack of sufficient evidence or a lack of proof, but basically because of a refusal to repent which results in a refusal to take the evidence seriously and instead hide behind a variety of excuses. Jesus can see through their contrary hypocrisy. The issue is not intellectual, but moral! Even for believers, when we turn away from Jesus to follow our own fleshly desires, know that the problem and issue is one of a moral kind, not one that is based on our intellectual reasoning – it is a problem of having a ‘wrong heart’ or ‘an evil heart’!
Luke 7:18-35
This is an interesting narrative: Here we have John the Baptist sending someone to ask Jesus whether he is “the one to come” or should they look for someone else; and also Jesus’ witness about John and his comparison between John and the least in the kingdom.
vv.18-23
We may be wondering why John seemed to have ‘doubts’ about the person and mission of Jesus – was he the true Messiah?
Before we ‘put John down’, realise that John might have some reasons to send someone to query Jesus. Jesus’s style and his lack of a powerful political dimension appear to have raised questions in John’s mind about Jesus. John anticipated that the Messiah would bring judgment. John’s own arrest and confinement may have added to the uncertainty on his part. Some of the circumstances of suffering make this time look unlike the anticipated messianic era, so John asks if another is to come.
Contrary to what might be expected, Jesus does not directly affirm or deny who he is. Rather, he simply describes his activity to John -the blind receive sight, lame walk, lepers are cleansed, deaf hear, dead are raised,and good news is preached to the poor. This comes from (Isaiah 29:18-19; 35:5;42:18; 26:19;61:1). In effect, Jesus is answering positively by describing his activity as evidence that the expected era is present, as the language of Scripture shows. Jesus is indicating that to understand who he is, one must consider what he is doing and refer to Scripture in its prophecies and fulfilment. Jesus’ work explains his messianic identity. Even for John, his perplexity indicates how unprepared people were and how people today are for the type of messianic activity that Jesus brought.
Even for a messenger like John the Baptist, and for ourselves, the circumstances one is in may cause one to raise doubts about the Lord in one’s life; perhaps the thought that arises may be along the line that if God is Lord of one’s life, then how does one explain the dire situation one is in, despite doing God’s will? And why is it that the Lord did not deliver one from the difficult situation? Also, one may also be having the wrong perceptions of the revelation of Scripture – for instance, John and the Jews expected the Messiah to execute judgment when he arrives on the scene, perhaps on the enemy of God’s people; but the fact is: judgment would come in the future (related to the second advent) whereas the first event has to do with executing the first part of God’s salvation plan. Also, Jesus’ answer to John’s query affirmed that the miracles Jesus performed were a confirmation of who he is, and the confirmation of his messiahship, rather than the conclusion of many believers today that Jesus came just to heal, and to conduct miracles per se (which was not, and is not, his main objective and activity in his first advent).
vv. 24-35
John’s question prompted Jesus to talk to the crowds about the Baptist. They did not go out to see a weak man, who could be bent by the wind. Nor did they go out to see a man finely dressed. What they saw in John was a prophet, a messenger of God, one with a special task – an end-time messenger of God.
John represents the greatest person ever born in the old era. He is the culmination of that era, pointing the way to the new era that Jesus brings. But what is interesting is that Jesus pointed out that the difference between the two eras is so great that the least person in the new era is greater than John. How can this be? How can the lowest participant in the kingdom be greater than an end-time prophet of the old era?
The benefits of the new era, such as full provision of forgiveness, total acceptance as God’s children, and the enablement of the indwelling Spirit, make participating in this era a far greater position.
John came in “the spirit and power of Elijah.” John did not perform miracles as Elijah did, so the reference is to his preaching and the warning that Israel must turn and prepare for God or else face judgment.
John’s ministry was the dividing point between the old age and the new one.
Following this Jesus tells a parable: the generation is complaining that John and Jesus do not meet their expectations and follow their ways. The complaints are that John was too ascetic and strange; and Jesus was not separatistic or pious enough, even branding him as a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.
Jesus pointed out that the generation was like a bunch of complaining brats and nothing ‘satisfies’ them. They were actually giving a bunch of excuses in order not to believe or to respond to God’s messengers – they were not willing ‘to dance to any tune’, as it were. Like the unbelievers today, they continue to give excuses as a front for not believing.
The distinction between the old age and new age in John’s ministry is significant – it highlights Jesus’ coming as bringing in a new age and era. Jesus is the second Adam, the second man, leading a new creation and humanity as its head when he completed his mission.
We, as believers, should treasure our great privilege to belong to this new age in Christ – we are not only forgiven, we are adopted as God’s children, with a new inheritance and glorious eternal future, given the indwelling Spirit and the process of transformation into the image of Christ. These privileges make the least of us greater than John the Baptist (in this sense) even though John was the greatest end-time prophet of the old era.
LUKE 7: 36-50
The setting of these verses is a meal laid on for Jesus by Simon the Pharisee.The Pharisee had invited Jesus into his social circle. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. She stood behind the Lord Jesus at His feet, weeping,and she began to wet His feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on theml
Simon the Pharisee, on seeing this, said to himself,”If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is – that she is a sinner.” Then followed the questions and ‘conversation’ between the Lord and Simon that brings out very pertinent lessons not only for Simon and his guests, but also for those around, and also for us today.
Notice firstly the woman: For a woman to show her hair in public was considered by the religious to be improper and immodest. The most devout did not even let down their hair in front of their family. The sinful woman’s action in verse 38 broke all social conventions and would have shocked the religious Simon and his guests. An ‘alabaster flask of ointment or perfume’ was a commodity of considerable value – probably a heirloom. Luke repeats his note that Jesus had been invited by the Pharisee to his house (v.39). The Pharisee takes exception to Jesus’ toleration of this sinful woman and, like the Pharisee we find in Luke 4:14-6:49, he uses Jesus’ acceptance of the ‘sinner’ to question Jesus’ identity.
Focus now on Simon: Although Simon was host to Jesus, he had failed even in the most basic social niceties of the day. It was customary in polite Jewish society to wash a visitor’s feet. People walked either barefoot or in open-toed sandals in those days; the streets were filled with filth, dirt, and hence feet needed washing. Guests usually were to be greeted with an embrace and with oil for the anointing of the head. Simon had provided none of these; his failure was, at least, a snub to his guest Jesus. The offence was multiplied in proportion to the significance of his guest; he had opened his home to a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord (2:11). Jesus was a major religious figure at that point of time and had been identified by John the Baptist, and also by the crowds who followed him.
It seems that Simon’s invitation to Jesus was yet another attempt by the Pharisees to ensnare Him (see 6:7) and had been extended with grudging reluctance. Contrast this with the sinful woman and her actions: She had provided in abundance at every point where Simon had failed. She had caast social custo to the wind and, in an uninhibited display of gratitude, had embraced and anointed Jesus’ dirty feet. Vs 47 explains Jesus’ point that it is not her display of devotion that had earned her forgiveness, but that gratitude for her forgiveness had prompted this display of devotion.
The contrast between the Pharisee, who saw no need for repentance and forgiveness of sin (5:32;7:30), and the sinful woman could not have been more marked. The Pharisee was apparently out to trap Jesus and sought to snub Him even as he hypocritically welcomed Him into his home. The woman expressed unrestrained thanksgiving – regardless of the opinion of others!
Simon’s response to Jesus demonstrates his heart – he is a self-righteous hypocrite. On the other hand, the sinful woman’s attitude to Jesus is an accurate reflection of her heart. She is a notorious sinner and she knows it. Her self-awareness results in her placing the highest value on Jesus’ offer of forgiveness. She is saved by grace, through faith in Christ.
Simon’s guests recognise the significance of Jesus’ pronouncement to the woman,”Your sins are forgiven”. The guests’ question echoes the Pharisees’ complaint in 5:21. Only God can forgive sins – so who is this who dares to pronounce such words? Jesus’ words to the woman take us to the very heart of of His offer of salvation: Salvation is to come through faith alone – hence the statement by Him, “Your faith has saved you.’ Salvation is to come through Jesus – He is at the centre of the whole incident. Salvation is on the basis of grace – the woman had no works of her own. Salvation is ‘peace’ with God. The peace promised by Jesus is not a promise of an immediate end to political unrest (which the Jews and possibly even John the Baptist expected). The peace is an offer of a restored relationship (reconciliation) with God the Father, which comes as a result of forgiveness of sins (Luke 1:76-79).
Salvation comes through faith in Christ and faith is the means by which an individual steps onto the ‘highway of holiness’ which we have seen is the road of salvation. Such an individual is assured, ultimately, of a place in the New Creation which Jesus has come to bring.
Some applications: Salvation is an offer to any sinner who is prepared to hear Jesus’ summons to repent and believe. Awareness of the magnitude of personal sin, and the extent of the salvation Jesus offers, will produce in us unadulterated gratitude, and a deepening love for Jesus which is marked by sacrifice, a deep devotion, and a preparedness for suffering and animosity from those who reject Jesus and His calling.
Conversely when people are convinced of their own personal righteousness they will not respond to Jesus. In fact, the example of Simon and his response is a warning against legalism – Simon, a typical Pharisee, was careful to keep all the externalities and rules of religion, but his heart is filled with self-righteousness and contempt for those whom he regarded as sinful and below his dignity to even relate with. Such attitudes among believers in the church cannot augur well – they prevent various ones from truly loving one another, according to the command of Jesus; and in fact they prevent us from being truly grateful to the Triune God, Such ones also will not realise their unworthiness before a holy transcendent God, and surely devotion to God and His ways and commands is far from being seen and nurtured in their lives and hearts.
This reminds me of the last written words of Martin Luther: “We are all beggars. That is true. Two days later, he died. He was right. If we think of ourselves as achievers, creators, reformers, innovators, movers and shakers, healers, educators, benefactors of society in any way at all, we are at the deepest level kidding ourselves. We have nothing and have never had anything that we have not received, nor have we done anything good apart fromGod who did it through us. In ourselves we are destitute, bankrupt, and impotent, totally dependent on God in every aspect. This is true with regard to the pardon of our sins and the justification of our persons. And it is equally true of life, health, food, clothing, a job, a home, a family, a bank balance in the black, and every other good thing that comes our way.
So before God’s throne,we are all beggars, and begging good gifts from God is the posture of dependence on Him and the spirit of meekness and humility! God is the provider; we are the receivers. He is the master of the universe; we are small and insignificant. And though, from our own standpoint, we are important and truly valued by God as HIs image-bearers, yet from another standpoint we are quite unimportant and subjects within his universe. God is the maker of all things; we are completely dependent on what He gives. Could God get on without us? Yes. Does this fact make his actual generosity to us more and marvelous to contemplate? Yes again.
PARABLE OF THE SOWER (LUKE 8:4-15)
Many, including non-believers may be familiar with the parable of the sower. Jesus often teaches in parables and uses agricultural imagery which was so familiar to those during those times.
Prior to the introduction of machinery, the seed was carried in a shoulder bag and scattered by hand, Inevitably there would be considerable wastage as seed fell on unprepared soil, poor land, or untended parts of the field. Scavenging birds accounted for the loss of some seed, shallow soil and rocky outcrops for more, and unkempt patches at the margin of the field for still more. However, seed falling on good soil yielded a bumper harvest. This parable, told to the crowd, came with a command: listen!
Jesus’ explanation of His parable was only provided for His disciples. The parables contain truth from God, but Jesus’ presentation of the truth was deliberately oblique. God obscured the meaning for those who had rejected Him, while at the same time making it plain to others.
The disciples should expect a mixed response to the proclamation of the gospel, depending on the soil of human hearts into which God’s word is being planted. His word is the seed (v.11), which is scattered far and wide. One aspect of the mixed response to the gospel is that Satan, the scavenger, snatches away the word from the heart of some (v.12).
The mixed response will also mean that some people appear to show signs of early growth. These people will receive the word with joy (v.13). However, not all who receive the word with joy will endure. Another group, in this manner of response, proves to be fruitless on account of anxiety, wealth, and pleasure-seeking in this world. The last group in the parable represents the seed that falls on good ground. Luke alone includes the phrase “hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience” (this parable also recorded by Matthew and Mark).
Luke’s inclusion suggests a specific emphasis on integrity and endurance: simply hearing is not enough; hearing needs to be honest, with the patient bearing of fruit being the result.
What mattered most to Jesus was an obedient response to His word from the listeners. His teaching was performing a dual function: bringing salvation, but also bringing judgment to those who did not have ears to hear. Simply hearing, or being there to witness the miracles, were not adequate responses to Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God.To be a true disciple meant responding to the challenge, to be the ‘good soil’. Those who responded rightly to the great salvation that Jesus had come to bring would be those who kept the seed of the word – it had not been snatched from them. They would continue to believe,even in times of testing. They would not be distracted from acting upon Jesus’ teaching by the worries of everyday life, the pursuit of wealth, or distracting entertainment. Those who responded to His word in this way would not only believe and be saved (v.12), but also bear fruit. Their fruit-bearing faith would result in two blessings – more revelation from God and deep intimacy with Jesus as family members in His kingdom.
Application to us now: These verses perform the vital function of setting out what a right response to Jesus’ great salvation looks like. Simply being in a place where God’s word is taught, or experiencing great spiritual ‘highs’, or being close to others who know God are not enough to make one a member of God’s family. What Jesus seeks is persistent attention to His word, and careful attentive obedience. The person who responds in this manner is the person who is saved (v.12). It is therefore possible to have been part of the vast crowd who are attracted to Jesus by His words and works, and yet never to have been saved by Him. Here is a sober warning to those who think they are believers just because they associate with those who believe.
We must be warned by the three types of soil described in Luke 8:13-14. For many, Satan will snatch the seed from their hearts. Others will appear to have received the word of salvation with joy, but the trials of which Jesus spoke in Luke 6:212-23, will show them not to have been good soil. Yet others will never bear genuine fruit, due to personal worries about many things in life -family, career, health, wage etc.The desire for wealth, advancements in jobs, enhanced reputation in the world, endless holidays and such will divert others. Still more will become fruitless disciples because of the distractions of the world and the pursuit of pleasurable experiences and entertainment of various kinds which the evil one and the world can offer.
What is sought is a response of integrity in the heart to the word of Jesus. Such a response will be rewarded with yet more revelation of the truth, for God is committed to making His truth known, and He will entrust more and more truth to those who use it responsibly. Those who hear the words of Jesus rightly will be blessed not only with more revelation, but also with the most intimate relationship possible with Jesus.