Category: Book of Luke

The Thief and Us

On By BrianIn Book of Luke, Holidays

The thief on the cross gives us a good look at the cross and at ourselves.

His Crime and Ours (v32) – Luke calls him a criminal or lawbreaker.  In Matthew, he is called thief or rebel.  His crime is ours.  We too are all lawbreakers – breaking the law of God.  We are thieves.  God created us to live for his glory and we live for our own – stealing God of the glory he deserves in our lives.  We are rebels against our Creator.  This is our crime.

His Sight and Ours (v33) – The thief is hung on a cross next to Jesus.  If the thief turned his head he could see the suffering of Jesus.  He could see Jesus’ back ripped open from the lashings.  He could see Jesus’ head pierced by the thorns.  He could see Jesus’ agony as he hung on the cross striving for breath.  May his sight be ours.  It is good for us to stop and see the suffering of our Savior, to remember what he endured for us.  May this be our sight.

His Need and Ours (v34) – The thief hears the words of Jesus as he asks the Father to forgive those who hung him there.  This was the thief’s need too – to be forgiven of his sins.  To be forgiven of his crimes, his law-breaking, his thievery, his rebellion.  His need is ours.  We too need to be forgiven for our disobedience and rebellion.  We too need to have our sin and guilt washed away.  This is our need.

His Mocking and Ours (v35-38) – The thief hears the rulers and soldiers mocking Jesus.  In Matthew 27, we read that both criminals joined in the mocking.  Before he repented, this thief ridiculed Jesus like all the others.  Perhaps his mockery was yours.  At one time you mocked, you ridiculed, you scoffed at Jesus being your Savior.  Was this your mockery?

His Change and Ours (v39-40) – As they hang there the on those crosses, the other thief continues to mock, but something happens to the thief we are considering.  He has an incredible change of heart.  He stops ridiculing Jesus and starts rebuking the other thief.  What brought such a change?  Grace.  God graciously changed his heart.  His change is ours.  We too were changed by God’s grace.  This is our change.

His Sentence and Ours (v40) – The thief was under a sentence of condemnation.  He was dying for what he had done.  His sentence was ours.  We too were under a sentence of condemnation for our sins.  The wrath of God laid heavy upon us – we too deserved to die.  This was our sentence.

His Confession and Ours (v41) – The thief confesses that he is a criminal, a sinner.  He confesses that he deserves the punishment he is receiving.  His confession is ours.  We too confess that we are sinners deserving God’s punishment.  This is our confession.

His Cry and Ours (v42) – The thief cries out for Jesus to remember him.  This is a cry of faith.  He can do nothing to save himself, and so he looks to Jesus.  He puts his trust in Jesus.  His cry is ours.  We too cry out to God in faith, trusting in him alone to save us.  This is our cry.

His Hope and Ours (v43) – Finally the thief hears the promise of Jesus that gives him hope.  Jesus promises that the thief will be with him in paradise that very day.  His hope is ours.  In the midst of trials and in the face of death, our hope is that we will one day be with Jesus in paradise with no more suffering or pain or death.  This is our hope.

In the thief we see ourselves.  We see our crime, our mocking, our sentence, and our need of forgiveness.  We see our Savior’s suffering, our change by grace, our confession, our cry of faith, and our hope that comes through the cross of Jesus.

Consider His Compassionate Promise

On By BrianIn Book of Luke

In Luke 23:39-43, one of the thieves on the cross joins the soldiers and rulers in mocking Jesus.  But the other thief rebukes him.  He acknowledges his sin, and expresses faith in Jesus.  And Jesus makes him an incredible compassionate promise: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”  Truly.  No doubts, no questions – it is certain.  And today.  The moment the thief dies, he will be in Paradise with Jesus.

And when we acknowledge our sin and believe in Jesus, he makes that compassionate promise to us.  We need not fear death.  Yes, death is horrible – just ask Jesus.  Yes, death is a result of the Fall.  But on the other side of death is Paradise.  That word has the idea of a garden, which brings our minds back to Eden, and forward to the new earth which is a new Eden.  It speaks of a perfect place of peace and harmony and love.  It speaks of a place with no more pain or sickness or death or sin.  And we will one day be there with Jesus forever.

And he calls us to share this compassionate promise with others.  Others need to hear it.  They need to know that judgment is coming for their sins.  They need to know that Jesus died to pay for their sins and take them to paradise if they will simply trust in him.  How can we keep this to ourselves?

Consider His Compassionate Forgiveness

On By BrianIn Book of Luke

They have beaten him.  Whipped him.  Falsely condemned him.  Now in Luke 23:32-38, they hang him on the cross.  The rulers scoff at him.  The soldiers mock him.  And Jesus responds with…forgiveness.  Forgiveness!  That he would ask the Father to forgive them speaks of his own heart of forgiveness.  No bitterness.  No wrath.  No anger.  No reviling.  No malice. No hate.  Just kindness.  Compassion.  Forgiveness.

And he shows that compassionate forgiveness to us.  He hung on that cross for my sin and your sin.  He hung there for our rebellion, our rejection.  He hung there for all the times we fail to love and serve our Creator.  He hung there for all the times we become so self-absorbed and fail to love those around us.  He hung on that cross so we might be forgiven of all of our sins.

And he calls us to show compassionate forgiveness to others.  When someone hurts us, our tendency is lash out or run away.  But Jesus calls us to forgive.  To forgive as we have been forgiven.  To put away all bitterness, wrath, anger, reviling, malice, and hate.  To rather show kindness, compassion, forgiveness (Ephesians 4:31-32).  Jesus told us to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who hurt us (Luke 6:27-28).  And in this most extreme situation on the cross, Jesus lives out these instructions, and calls us to follow in doing so too.  What a challenge!  We can’t do this on our own.  We need to stay so close to Jesus.  And how convicting!  How easily we fail, and need to run back to the cross to find his compassionate forgiveness again.

Consider His Compassionate Care

On By BrianIn Book of Luke2 Comments

In Luke 23:26-31, Jesus is on the road to the cross.  He is bleeding from the lashes and the thorns.  He is bruised from the beatings.  He is exhausted from the torture and lack of sleep.  Every step is utter pain.  And he is too weak to carry his own cross, so the soldiers grap Simon from the crowd to do it for him. 

Here then we see the depths of his compassion, as he looks not to his own great needs but to the needs of others.  He stops to show compassionate care to a group of weeping women.  He cares enough to warn them of the coming judgment.

And does he not show this compassionate care to us?  Does he not comfort us in our weeping?  Did he not warn us of coming judgment and call us to himself?  And as we came, did he not forgive us, embrace us, and celebrate over us?  Did he not endure the cross for us?

And he calls us to follow in his steps.  He calls us to show compassionate care to others.  To comfort the weeping.  To warn the sinner.  Even in the midst of our own suffering.  In our trials, we can become so self-focused that we see only our needs.  We disolve into self-pity.  We expect others to minister to us.  And certainly we need care in our suffering.  But Jesus shows us that we can care for others even in the midst of our own suffering.  What a challenge!  And how convicting.  How often we fail in this and must run back to the one whose compassionate care provided a way to be saved at such great expense to himself.

While We Wait

On By BrianIn Book of Luke

In Luke 21, Jesus tells us about the coming destruction of Jerusalem (which happened in AD 70) and his coming again (sometime yet in the future).  Several responses flow for us while we wait for his return:

Do not be led astray (v8).  People will claim to be the Christ.  They will claim to know when Christ is coming back.  We see this today.  Don’t go after them.  Don’t be led astray.

Do not be afraid (v9).  There will be wars, famines, earthquakes, and all kinds of disasters.  We see these things today.  But the world is not spinning out of control.  We don’t have to fear because God has a plan.  These things must happen, but Christ is coming back.  We may see rough times, but paradise is on the horizon.  Don’t fear.

Bear witness (v13).  Christians will be arrested, persecuted, hated, even killed.  We see this around the world today.  But this will provide opportunities to bear witness.  We must continue to tell others about Jesus.

Remember our hope (v18-19).  Though persecuted and even killed, not a hair on our heads will be harmed and we will gain our lives.  My interpretation is that Jesus is pointing to our resurrection bodies.  Things may get rough here, but remember your hope of the resurrection.

Endure (v19).  Persevere.  Press on.  Stand firm.  Be patient in affliction.  Be steadfast in your faith.  Don’t give up.  Don’t turn away.  Don’t lose your faith.  Endure through the trials looking toward the reward.

Believe (v20-24).  Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, and it happened just as he said it would.  This is a faith-booster for us.  If his first prophecy came true, we have every reason to believe that his second prophecy will come true too.  We can believe that Christ is coming back just as he said he would.

Rejoice in your hope (v28).  When we see the signs of his coming, Jesus tells us to “straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”  We don’t need to freak out like the rest of the world.  Rather we should rejoice – Christ is coming soon!

Be alert (v34-36).  Don’t let your heart be weighed down with sin our worries.  Don’t lose sight of your hope!  Stay awake.  Pray!  Keep looking to Christ.  One day we will stand before him.  Stay alert!

Jesus is coming soon!  Let’s live each day in light of his coming.

Cleaning His House

On By BrianIn Book of Luke1 Comment

And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold.
 – Luke 19:45

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,
whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.
So glorify God in your body.  
 – 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Jesus came to his temple and found what should not have been there,
so he began to drive those things out.

You are his temple today. 
When he comes to his temple, does he find what should not be there?
Are there common sins he wants to drive out?
Are there idols he wants to drive out?
Are there wrong priorities he wants to drive out?
Will you cooperate with him in driving those things out?

God Loves You

On By BrianIn Book of Luke

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ – Luke 15:4-6

You were that lost sheep.  You had lost your way, were wandering without hope, living in sin, easy prey for the devil.

But God loves you, and he looked for you.  He didn’t leave you lost, he came looking for you.  Maybe it was through a friend or your parents, maybe through VBS, Camp, Sunday School, a sermon, a tract, or some other way.  However he did it, God didn’t leave you lost.  He came looking for you.

And when he found you, he carried you home.  You were too weak to go home, too sinful to go home.  It was not by your own effort or works that you came home.  It was not your own goodness that led you home.  On your own you wouldn’t have made it.  You would still be lost, wandering, hopeless.  But he carried you home.   It was the work of Christ that brought you home.  It was the goodness of Jesus that brought you home.  It was the power of the Spirit that brought you home.  God carried you home.

And then, he rejoiced over you.  When you got saved, there was a celebration in heaven, a party in paradise.  God was excited, thrilled, rejoicing over you.  Have you ever lost something?  Maybe your keys, the remote, or something else.  You looked for it and when you found it, you rejoiced.  In a greater way, God rejoiced over you.  You were lost, but now you are found, and God threw a party.

Why would God come looking for people like us?  Why would he care to carry us home?  Why would he rejoice over the likes of us?  Because somehow, someway, in his incredible mercy and grace, God loves us.  He loves you.  There is a love we can rest in.

Two Ways To Live

On By BrianIn Book of Luke, Heart

In the Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6, Jesus gives us two ways to live. 

One way is to live for self.  We can chase after riches, fullness, laughter, and popularity.  We can live to gain for ourselves, as though the world revolved around self.  This is our tendency even from our youngest years – consider the toddler throwing a tantrum because he doesn’t get what he wants.  To those who live this way, Jesus says:  “Woe to you.”

But Jesus calls us to another way of life.  He calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him.  Instead of living for self, we should live for Christ.  We should be willing to give up all the world chases after and become poor, hungry, weeping, hated, rejected, and ridiculed for the sake of Christ.  When we live for Christ instead of ourselves, Jesus says:  “Blessed are you.”  But that is not all.  Jesus then goes on to tell us to live for others – even those who hate us, ridicule us, and reject us.  He tells us to love our enemies.  We are to do good, bless, pray for, and be merciful to others.  Rather than judge and condemn others, we should forgive and give generously.  Live for Christ and others.  Love God and people.  Live with a passion for God and compassion for people.

Two ways to live.  We can live for self or we can live for Christ and others.  Jesus closes his sermon with four applications:

First, choose your teachers carefully.  Those blind to the truth follow those blind to the truth, and they both fall into a pit.  But if you are in Christ, you are no longer blind, so don’t follow those who are.  When we are fully trained we will be like our teacher.  If we make the lies of our culture our teacher, we will be like our culture – we will live for self.  If we make Christ our teacher, we will be like Christ, willing to give of ourselves for others.  So who are we listening to?  What does our favorite music, movies, books, magazines, and websites teach us?  What do our closest friends teach us?  To live for self or for Christ?  Have we chosen our teachers carefully?  Do we need to make some changes? 

Of course, our culture is everywhere, and we cannot help but hear the lies, but we can minimize our exposure.  And when we do hear the lies, we can reject them rather than let them shape us.  We must continually ask ourselves the question as we traverse this world:  “Is this true?”  And we must saturate ourselves with the truth of God’s Word so we can know the truth and see the lies. 

Second, Jesus calls us to apply the truth to ourselves first.  We may agree with Jesus that we should live for him instead of ourselves, but we have this tendency too often to apply the truth to someone else.  We think: “He really needs to hear this message.  I hope so-and-so is listening.  I should send this post to her….”  Though we may have a plank in our own eyes, we want to take the speck out of another’s eyes.  Jesus calls us to look to ourselves first, to apply the message to our own lives.

Third, we need to focus on the heart.  The tree determines the fruit.  Our heart determines our words and actions.  It would be easy to hear Jesus’ message to love others, and attempt to tinker with our words and actions.  But Jesus says we need to go deeper, we need to address our hearts. 

We are all born with hearts bent toward sin, bent toward self.  So our first need is to get a new heart bent toward God.  We need to be born again.  We need Christ to come into our lives and change us if we have any hope of living for Christ and others. 

Assuming we have received Jesus as our Savior and have received a new heart, we must guard our hearts.  Our new heart believes the best thing is to live for Jesus.  It desires to live for Jesus.  With that believe and desire, we will live for Jesus.  But we have been living for self for a long time.  And our culture calls us constantly to live for ourselves.  And so we must guard our hearts from the lies of the culture we once believed.  We must guard our hearts from the sinful desires of our culture we once desired.  When we don’t, lies mix with truth, sinful desires mix with desires for Christ, and we sin.  That is why we still sin.  Sometimes we believe the lies, desire what the lies promise, and live out the lie.  What we believe is what we will desire, and what we desire is what we will do.  Our heart leads to our words and actions.

And so we must also examine our hearts.  We need God’s Word to discern the thoughts and intents of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12) to reveal the lies and sinful desires.  We need to pray with the Psalmist:  “Search me, O God, and know my heart (Psalm 139).  We can’t just tinker with our words and actions.  We must examine our hearts.

Finally, we must live the truth.  We shouldn’t claim Jesus is our Lord if we don’t obey him.  We can’t simply listen to the truth, we must live it out.  If we do, we are like the man who builds on a firm foundation, whose house stands.  If we don’t, we are like a man who builds without a foundation, and great is the ruin.

Jesus calls us to stop living for ourselves, and to start living for Christ and others.  If we are to do that, we must choose our teachers carefully.  We must apply this truth to ourselves first.  We must focus on the heart – we need a new heart, we must guard our heart, and we must examine our heart.  We must live out the truth. 

So how do you need to respond to Jesus’ message?  As you respond and live for Christ and others, you will hear our Lord say to you: “Blessed are you!”

Make Space for God

On By BrianIn Book of Luke

In Luke 10:38-42, we have seen the danger of being distracted like Martha, and the priority of listening like Mary.  But how can we apply this to our lives today?  We must make space for God.  We must make time to sit and listen to Jesus.  We need to make space each day to spend time with God.  We need to make space each week to gather with God’s people to spend time together with God.  Let me share three pointers that I am learning when it comes to making space for God:

First, we have to address our busyness, our distractions.  Some things may need to go in order to make space for God each day, and each week.  Each of us needs to evaluate our lives from time to time to see if we have become too busy, to consider ways to simplify, to make sure we are making space for God.

Second, we need to make enough space for God.  Hurry kills relationship; it kills listening.  If you spend five minutes racing through a passage of Scripture and throwing up a quick prayer and wonder why you have a distant relationship with God and get little out of your time with God, then the answer is found one word: hurry.  Let me say it again: hurry kills relationship; it kills listening.  We need to make enough space to spend time to listen to God by meditating on his Word.  To meditate is to ponder, consider, think about.  It means reading and thinking until you get a good idea of what God is saying, and how it relates to you, and how you need to respond.  We need to make enough space to meditate and respond in prayer without constantly checking the clock, without rushing, without hurry.  And we need to make enough space on Sundays that we can meditate along with the pastor during the sermon without constantly checking our watches hoping the pastor will hurry.

Third, we need to protect our space with God.  In our daily time with God, we must not allow intrusions or distractions.  Pick a good time.  Find a quiet place.  Ignore the phone (is the person calling more important than the one you are already talking with?).  Don’t schedule other things during that time.  Yes, I know we must at times, and emergencies do come up, but these should be exceptions rather than the rule.  On Sundays too we need to protect our space with God.  Family and friends get-togethers really can wait until after church (and far enough after that you aren’t rushing – see point 2 above).  Do your best not to have to work.  Don’t allow others things to take priority.  Remember, our first priority is listening to Jesus.   Protect your space.

If we are going to listen to Jesus and not live distracted lives, we must make space for God.  That includes addressing our busyness, making enough space to meditate on God’s Word, and protecting our space.  How foolish for us to let other things take priority over God.  He is the priority.  Father, help us to make space for you….

Priority

On By BrianIn Book of Luke2 Comments

In Luke 1o:38-42, while Martha is distracted, Jesus says there is only one thing or few things necessary.  Mary has chosen it.  She is sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to him.  That is the one thing.  Sit and listen.  Stop all of the busyness and listen.  Be still and know that he is God.  Listen to him.  Hear him.  Enjoy time with God.  That is the one thing.  That is the priority.

Part of me rebels.  Sit and listen?  I don’t have time.  I have too much to do.  I can’t just sit and not accomplish anything.  I am so addicted to doing and accomplishing that I am tempted to think sitting and listening is a waste of time.  I need to be doing something! 

Another part of me tries to turn this listening into accomplishing.  I have to read so many verses.  I have to accomplish my devotional plan.  My focus moves from God to another accomplishment.  There is nothing wrong with a plan unless it takes over the focus.

Yet another part of me cries out to sit at his feet and listen like Mary did.  I want to know God like the Psalmist.  I want to thirst for God and find my satisfaction in him (Psalm 63).  I just want to sit and listen. 

Jesus says Mary has chosen the good portion.  That word – portion –  brings us back to Israel entering the Promised Land.  Each tribe was given a portion of the land as an inheritance.  Each tribe, except Levi.  God was Levi’s portion.  The Psalmists take off on this idea, seeking God as their portion.  The Lord is my chosen portion (Psalm 16:5).  God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Psalm 73:26).  The Lord is my portion (Psalm 119:57).  You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living (Psalm 142:5).  I want Jesus to be my portion.  I want to sit and listen.

Does this mean that we check out of daily life and just sit and listen.  Emphatically no.  It means that listening to Jesus is our first priority.  Why?  Because listening is foundational to the rest of our lives. 

Jesus gives us the perfect pattern.  He often went away to spend time with his Father.  Then he would come back to serve.  Listen, then serve.  Spend time with God to gain wisdom and strength for the day, and then go forth into the day.  Listening is a priority because it helps us live life well for the Lord.

And yet, listening is a priority not just because it helps me live my day better.  Listening is a priority simply because of who I am listening to.  I need to listen to God simply because he is God.  He deserves my attention.  Listening to Jesus is the one thing necessary, the priority, simply because God is the priority.

Father, help us to listen….