The Lord has Need of It

Luke 19:28-40[i]

Jesus came to the final week of His ministry here on earth.  John chapter one introduces Him with the words, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  He lived and ministered among the Jewish people for 33 years.  He spent His earthly life in Palestine.  He walked the hills of Judea and the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  He taught in synagogues and along the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  He wore sandals, slept on the ground and ate kosher.

 

At the beginning of His ministry Luke 4: 16-21 tells us:

¹⁶When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures.  ¹⁷The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him.  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

¹⁸“The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, ¹⁹and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.”  ²⁰He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down.  All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently.  ²¹Then he began to speak to them.  “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

²²Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips.  “How can this be?” they asked.  “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

This was the beginning of His ministry.  For three years, He ministered in the power of the Spirit, preaching Good News to the poor.  He proclaimed release for captives and freedom for the oppressed.  He demonstrated the power of His message by healing the blind and causing the lame to walk.  He healed lepers and fed huge crowds with small lunches.

Now, He was at the end of His earthly ministry.  Luke 19:11 says, “The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said.  And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away.” 

Pay special attention to the phrase, “to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away.”  The crowd was under the impression that the kingdom of God would begin right away.  For three years, Jesus ministered in the power of the Spirit, preaching the Good News and proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was at hand, but even His closest followers, the Apostles, had trouble grasping the significance of all that Jesus taught.

For example, when Jesus spoke clearly about the fact that He would be killed in Jerusalem, Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him saying, “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said.  “This will never happen to you!”  (Matthew 16:22, NLT)

Jesus, for His part, reprimanded Peter saying, “Get away from me, Satan!  You are a dangerous trap to me.  You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”  (Matthew 16:23, NLT) 

Here is a lesson for us.  We are always in danger of seeing things from a merely human point of view.  Even Jesus said, “You are a dangerous trap to me,” pointing out that seeing things from a merely human point of view was a temptation even for Him.  This is why the Psalmist in Psalm 1 speaks of meditating on the Word of God both day and night.  How are we to see with eyes of faith?  Romans 10:17 tells us, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”  (ESV)[ii]  Meditating on the Word of God is one step toward seeing with eyes of faith.

Jesus’s followers knew that the Kingdom of God was at hand.  However, they did not understand the full extent of what this meant.  The Gospel writers tell us that Jesus spoke clearly to His disciples about the events that were about to transpire, the crucifixion and the resurrection.

In Luke 19:12-27, Jesus tells a story to clarify what is about to happen.  The story goes like this:

¹²He said, “A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return.  ¹³Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’  ¹⁴But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want him to be our king.’”

¹⁵“After he was crowned king, he returned and called in the servants to whom he had given the money.  He wanted to find out what their profits were.  ¹⁶The first servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made ten times the original amount!’”

¹⁷“Well done!” the king exclaimed.  “You are a good servant.  You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.”

¹⁸“The next servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made five times the original amount.’”

¹⁹“Well done!” the king said.  “You will be governor over five cities.”

²⁰“But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it safe.  ²¹I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’”

²²“You wicked servant!” the king roared.  “Your own words condemn you.  If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant, ²³why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank?  At least I could have gotten some interest on it.”

²⁴“Then, turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who has ten pounds.’”

²⁵“But, master,” they said, “he already has ten pounds!”

²⁶“Yes,” the king replied, “and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given.  But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.  ²⁷And as for these enemies of mine who didn’t want me to be their king—bring them in and execute them right here in front of me.”

From this story, we understand:

1.    Jesus is going away.

2.    He is leaving servants in charge while he is gone.

3.    He is coming back.

4.    He is a king.

5.    His own people do not want Him to be King.

6.    He will punish those who do not want Him to be King.

After telling this story to make the upcoming events clear, Jesus sent two disciples ahead of Him to get a young donkey.  He said, ³⁰“Go into that village over there,” he told them.  “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden.  Untie it and bring it here.  ³¹If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”  (Luke 19:30-31, NLT)

Other translations say, “The Lord has need of it.”  The donkey is a lowly, simple creature.  It is not a symbol of strength or power.  Rather, it is a symbol of simpler things, common things.  Why would the Lord have need of such an animal?

First, He needed to fulfill prophecy.  Zechariah 9:9 says, “Rejoice, O people of Zion!  Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem!  Look, your king is coming to you.  He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey--riding on a donkey's colt.” 

Second, He needed to make a statement or an announcement.  He was the King they were looking for.  He is the Messiah, the Anointed One.  He needed to make this clear to them one last time.  His three-year ministry proclaimed the Kingdom of God is at hand.  By riding a donkey and fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah, Jesus was making an announcement.

The crowd praised God, recognizing the significance of the announcement.  They said, “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the LORD!  Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”  (Luke 19:38, NLT)  They recognized He was the King.  However, as Hosannas rang out, there were those who were not happy.  Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!”  (Luke 19:39, NLT)  These Pharisees correspond to those in the story who did not want the King to be their king.

Jesus replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”  (Luke 19:40, NLT)

The Lord had need of the donkey to fulfill prophecy and to make an announcement.  In the same way, it was necessary for the crowd to offer up praises.  It was appropriate because of who Jesus was and is.  It was necessary for the sake of all present so that they would know that the King was entering into His city.

These events and circumstances show God’s sovereignty.  Old Testament prophets had foretold the timing hundreds of years before and Jesus fulfilled them down to the day.  For example, Daniel 9:25 says, “Now listen and understand!  Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler--the Anointed One--comes.”  (Daniel 9:25, NLT)  The timing of Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem fits the timing suggested by the prophecy.  Jesus also demonstrates His sovereignty in being able to tell His disciples in advance what would happen, where they would find the donkey and what would be said.

The events that followed this are instructive.  As Jesus approached Jerusalem, He wept.  He foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, and said:

⁴²“How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace.  But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.  ⁴³Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side.  ⁴⁴They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you.  Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not accept your opportunity for salvation.”

Jesus weeps because they did not accept their opportunity for salvation.  He used the donkey.  He accepted the praises of the crowd.  But this was not enough for those whose hearts had been hardened by continually rejecting the truth over the three years of Jesus’s ministry.  Jesus was giving them one last chance.

For us today, there are two more lessons we can take away from these events.

First, God is sovereign.  We cannot see all the details but we can trust Him.  If we own a donkey or are in a place where the Lord has need of us, I pray that we are willing to be used.  Learn to pray for God’s will to be done.

Second, do not harden your heart to God’s continued pleadings.  Jesus was not subtle with His announcement or His approach.  There were those who accepted Him and followed, and there were those who decided it was best to crucify Him. Which side do you fall on?

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[i] Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation.  Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Steam, Illinois 60188.  All rights reserved.

[ii] Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

Prodigal

Luke 15:11-32[i]

“We had to celebrate this happy day.  For your brother was dead and has come back to life!  He was lost, but now he is found!’”  (Luke 15:32)

Who has Jesus come to save?

Is it the well that need a physician?  Is it not the unrighteous that need a Savior?

Will you be good enough to get into heaven? 

If your good works are put on a scale and balanced against your bad works, which one would weigh more?

How will we be judged anyway?  Will our good works be weighed against our bad works? 

Are you one of those who are hoping you are good enough to get into heaven?

Jesus uses the story of “The Prodigal Son” to teach us how the Father views His children who have gone astray.  This story helps us understand the nature of our relationship with God the Father.

Luke 15 starts with this story.

¹Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.  ²This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!  (Luke 15:1-2)

The word translated “complain” here in this passage literally means to, “constantly, intensely murmur (grumble, complain).”[ii]  The Pharisees and teachers of religious law were intensely murmuring and grumbling that Jesus would associate with such sinners.  Jesus addressed this situation with the story of the Prodigal Son.  This is what verse 11 is talking about when it says, “To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story.”  The point he is illustrating is given twice, first in verse 7 and then in verse 10 of Luke 15.  Verse 10 says, “There is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” 

The people gathered to hear Jesus represent two extremes. 

First, there were tax collectors and what are called notorious sinners.  Tax collectors were considered the worst sinners.  They are representatives of the group summed up as notorious sinners.  This group included prostitutes, homosexuals, drunkards and drug addicts.  They are what we would consider bad people.  Their presence made the Pharisees and the teachers of religious law uncomfortable.

Next, there were the Pharisees and teachers of religious law.  These were the ones who were complaining.  Pharisees were the strictest and purest sect of the Jews.  They strove for perfection in keeping the Law of Moses.  The teachers of religious law were their counterparts.  These were the experts and authorities on what the Hebrew Scriptures said and taught.  The Pharisees and teachers of religious law represented the extreme opposite of the tax collectors and notorious sinners.  They are what we would consider good people.

In telling His story, Jesus built in both extremes. 

The younger brother is like the tax collectors and notorious sinners.  His behavior is shocking and unthinkable.  Given the culture that surrounds the story, this young man’s behavior would have been unforgivable and beyond redemption.  He represents those who the rest of the world would look at and say, “There is no hope for their salvation.” It is this kind of sinner that has no good works to put in a scale to balance against their evil deeds.

The older brother is like the Pharisees and teachers of religious law.  He does everything right – until the end of the story.  He keeps all the rules and plays the part of a good son.  He represents those who the rest of the world looks at and thinks they are as close as one can get to being perfect.  Surely, they have a mountain of good works to offset any evil deeds they might have.

Then, of course, there is the father.  He represents our Father, God.  Both of his sons have a broken relationship with the father during this story.  The younger son rejects his father, claims his inheritance and leaves.  Although the father was under no obligation to give in to such an outlandish request, he does.  He gives the younger son his inheritance and lets him go.

This is how God is.  He gives us the ability to choose.  This is the reason for all the evil in the world today.  It is because we all like sheep have gone astray and turned to our own way.  (Isaiah 53:6)  Even the best of us have some of the younger son in us.  We have rebelled and chosen to go our own way rather than God’s.  And, God in His grace lets us.

When the Father welcomes home the brother who had gone away, the older brother shows us his broken relationship with the Father.  He refuses to celebrate the return of his brother.  He refuses to go into the feast that his father has prepared.  This is just like the Pharisees who were criticizing Jesus for teaching sinners.  They refused to accept Jesus because he was opening the Kingdom of God to sinners.  They murmured and grumbled intensely at such an action.  How could such sinners be accepted?

We are all represented in the two extremes of the younger and the older brother.  We all fall somewhere on the spectrum between these two extremes, the self-righteous or the outright sinner.  The difference is that the outright sinner, like the tax collector, recognizes he or she has done wrong.  The self-righteous does not.  In our humanity, we look at the good and bad deeds of people and judge whether the person is good or bad.  We hold a scale and try to determine the uprightness or evilness of a person.

However, Jesus paints a different picture with this story. 

The father in Jesus’s story is not weighing good deeds against bad deeds.  He is a father who loves his sons.  When the younger son comes to his senses and decides to come home, the father runs to meet him.  This father’s behavior is almost as unthinkable as the son’s.  This son has disgraced the family, insulted the father and wasted the father’s money.  The father does not mention any of this.  What is more, the father runs, which for an elderly patriarch was unthinkable and undignified. He runs to his son, embraces him and kisses him.

The father calls for a celebration and spares no expense in the preparations.  There is no mention of the son having to pay back what he wasted, make up for the wrong he has done or earn his way back into the family.  With great compassion, the father welcomes his son home.

Meanwhile, the older son is out in the fields working.  When he comes home for the evening, he hears the sounds of celebration and asks one of the servants what is going on.  The servant tells him that his brother is back and that they are celebrating.  The older son is angry and refuses to go in.  Again, the father does the unthinkable, goes out and pleads with his son to come in.

This son is angry.  He is angry that his wayward brother should be celebrated, when he, the good one, was not being celebrated.  His complaint about never being offered a young goat for a feast is petty.  It is the kind of self-centered reasoning that comes up when we consider ourselves better than someone else.  The older son has been stacking his good works up in a scale and he is way out in front of his younger brother when it comes to good works.

The father’s answer shows us where God’s heart is in all of this.  The father says, “We had to celebrate this happy day.  For your brother was dead and has come back to life!  He was lost, but now he is found!”  (Luke 15:32)

We see two things about God in the close of this story.  First, in pleading with the older brother, Jesus illustrates God’s attitude toward those who think they are better than everybody else.  He pleads with them to come in and celebrate the salvation of the lost.  Second, in accepting the younger son, Jesus illustrates the Father’s provision of salvation no matter what the cost.

There are no scales.  None of us is good enough to be admitted into heaven by our own righteousness.  Instead, “God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”  (2 Corinthians 5:21)

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[i] Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation.  Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Steam, Illinois 60188.  All rights reserved.

[ii]  Helps Word Studies copyright © 1987, 2011 by Helps Ministries, Inc.

Fruit

Luke 6:43-45

There is a saying, “The devil made me do it.”

Of course, this is said in jest, and yet there is an element involved in it that is hard to understand.  Namely, it is that we do not always understand what we do.  In Romans 7 the Apostle Paul says, “I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it.  Instead, I do what I hate.”  (Romans 7:15)[i] 

Have you ever heard, “I didn’t mean it?”  How can a person say something they did not mean?  It is like the jumbled up mess that the Apostle Paul is expressing when he says he ends up doing what he hates.

Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?  (ESV)[ii]

We do not always understand what we do.  We do not always understand even our own heart.  On top of this, the heart is desperately sick. 

Our hearts can be so deceitful that we can talk ourselves into believing we are saved when we are not.  In 2 Corinthians 13:5, the Apostle Paul says, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.  Test yourselves.  Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”  (ESV)

When Jesus was with the disciples, He was often surprised at their unbelief or lack of faith.  When I examine my heart, I, too, am often surprised at my unbelief or lack of faith. 

There is a need for us to examine our hearts and lives to be sure we are in the faith. 

We must examine ourselves. 

In Luke 6:43-45, Jesus gives us three principles that will help us to examine ourselves.

If we follow these principles and examine our own hearts, we can gain much in assurance, confidence and peace in our relationship with God.

Jesus teaches these principles by using trees as an object lesson.  I love this.  Trees represent strength, endurance and fruitfulness.  They have roots that go deep into the earth and provide a solid foundation.  They weather storms and seasons.  Many varieties of trees thrive and produce fruit through many lifetimes of men.  If I am to be compared to a tree, I want to be a good and strong tree.

Trees cannot choose what kind of tree they are.  They grow up according to the seed planted.  However, you and I have a choice.  By God’s grace, we have an invitation to be a good tree.  Today, as we look at the principles that Jesus teaches, we will look at how we can choose to grow into a good and strong tree.

The first principle Jesus teaches is, “Good trees produce good fruit.”

This principle deals with the problem of priorities in our lives.  As we examine our lives against this principle we can ask ourselves, “What kind of a foundation am I laying?”  “What am I putting my roots down into?”

The issue that Jesus raises is quality.  Jesus says, “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.”  (Luke 6:43) 

Some trees bear no fruit.  Jesus told of a tree planted in a vineyard.  After the expected time, the tree produced no fruit.  The owner instructed the workers to dig up around the roots and fertilize the tree.  When the tree still did not produce fruit, it was ordered cut down and burned.  It was a bad tree.  It produced no fruit.  (Luke 13:6-8)

Some trees produce undersized fruit.  Some trees produce sour fruit.

I was always impressed with how the Japanese could coax the biggest, juiciest apples from their trees.  In Nagano prefecture, where Jeretta and I went to language school, they grew fruit.  I was amazed to see apples on the tree, each one bagged for protection.  I do not think it an exaggeration to say they raised the best apples I have ever seen or eaten.  They were the best.  The quality was amazing.  The man-hours, work and care also must have been amazing, each tree pruned with care and precision and each apple bagged at the appropriate time.

Will our lives bear fruit?  What will be the quality of the fruit?

This is all about our priorities.  Where do we spend our time?  What do we read?  What work do we do?  Do we share Christ with our neighbors and friends?  Do we worship and pray daily?  Do we spend time with our spouse and children?  Do we love with the compassion that God gives?  All these are the fertilizers, root feeders and fruit tending that make or break the quality of our fruit.

Examine your life.  Can you see the fruit you are producing?

Good trees produce good fruit.  This principle addresses our priorities.  We choose every day whether we will grow strong and good when we set our priorities.

The second principle is, “Trees produce fruit according to kind.”  Brambles produce no fruit.  Grapes vines do not produce figs.

This principle addresses our principles.  Principles are our main beliefs.  “Principles” is defined: “a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.”[iii] 

Do we believe the truth?  Have we been deceived by a lie?  What do we believe?  What is truth?  Where do we find it?

Jesus said, “A tree is identified by its fruit.  Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes.”  (Luke 6:44)

Trees produce fruit according to kind.  Apple trees produce apples.  Peach trees produce peaches.  Thornbushes produce thorns, not fruit. 

The Apostle Paul tells us: 

¹⁹Now the works [fruit] of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.  I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  ²⁴And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  (Galatians 5:19-24, ESV)

We must examine ourselves against this list. 

Look at the stern warning given.  “I warn you . . . that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”  This list of fruit of the flesh or of the Spirit is meant to help us examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith.  What we believe is key to this.  This is not about a list of things to do and not to do.  This is about what kind of a tree we are.

We all start out as a tree of flesh.  But, if any person is in Christ Jesus, he or she is made a new creature [tree].  (2 Corinthians 5:17)  This is a gift.  It is a work done by God.  We are saved through faith.  (Ephesians 2:8)  If we do not have the Spirit of God, we cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit.  By nature, we must produce the fruit of the flesh.

This is a one-time choice.  The choice of priorities is every day.  The choice of principles is one time.  John 1:12 tells us, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”  A person chooses to believe and accept Jesus and that person becomes a child of God, a completely new tree.  This happens only one time.  This is not a question of quality.  This is a question of kind.

What kind are you?  What is the fruit you are producing telling you?

There is yet another principle.  Jesus brings it up, but he does not allude to fruit or trees.  He goes directly to the heart.

This principle is, “The mouth speaks from what is in the heart.”

This principle addresses our purity.

My daughter Hilary had a teacher in fourth grade that used to say, “What’s down in the well comes up in the bucket.”  How true this is. 

The excuse, “The devil made me do it” does not work, because we speak and act from what is in our heart.  This is also why religious practices such as washing, bowing, kneeling and such can never purify us.  Cleaning off the outside or changing the posture of the outside can never change what is in the heart.

Once when Jesus was criticized for not making His disciples wash their hands before eating, He made this statement:

¹⁸But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.  ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.  ²⁰These are what defile a person.  But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”  (Matthew 15:18-20, ESV)

What does what comes out of your mouth tell you about what is in your heart? 

James warns us:

⁶And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.  The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.  ⁷For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ⁸but no human being can tame the tongue.  It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  ⁹With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.  ¹⁰From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be so.  (James 3:6-10, ESV)

Our tongues give us opportunity every day to confess our impure thoughts, motives and attitudes, and to ask God to purify us.   The important thing is not to guard our lips.  The important thing is to guard our hearts.

What do your lips teach you about your heart?  This is a question of purity.

We must examine ourselves against these three principles and check our priorities, our principles and our purity.

What kind of tree are you?  The choice is yours.

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[i]  Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation.  Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Steam, Illinois 60188.  All rights reserved.

[ii]  Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

[iii] https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=principles%20definition

Compassion

Read Luke 6:27-36[i]

The first and greatest commandment, according to the Lord Jesus, is to love the Lord your God with all your heart.  The second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. 

Luke 6:20-26 paints a picture of what it looks like to love God.  Luke 6:27-36 paints a picture of what it looks like to love your neighbor.

The key word is compassion.  Verse 36 uses the word compassion.  Luke 6:36 says, “You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.”  “Help Word-studies” defines the word used for compassion in this verse as: “compassionate, experiencing deep pity (lamentation) as God has for people who look to Him for help in their difficult situations.”[ii]  The word visceral also describes the response of this kind of compassion.  This points to a deep-down, gut-level response.  In order to have this kind of response, we must identify closely with the circumstances and conditions of another person.  Luke 6:27-36 shows us how we can do this.

Luke 6:27-36 shows us how to love like God loves.

This is only possible in the power of the Holy Spirit.  In our own strength we will fail, and we all do fail in many ways.  It is my prayer that by looking at this scripture we will all be strengthened with grace and empowered to love fully as we are loved.  We will look at three things we can do to help.  These three are taken from the Luke and are:  1) understand, 2) use and 3) undergird.  We will look at each in turn.

First, I must talk more about this being possible in the power of the Holy Spirit.  When Jesus turned to the crowd and opened this subject, He said, “But to you who are willing to listen . . .”  This teaching is not acceptable to everyone.  Just like the gospel, it is foolishness to the person without the Spirit of God. 

1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction!”  Jesus used a parable about seeds to explain how some are not willing to receive the truth.  He told how seed that is scattered can fall on hard soil and never even take root.  (This parable of Jesus is found in Luke 8.)  By starting with the invitation “to you who are willing to listen,” Jesus draws attention to the fact that the spiritual truth He is about to share is not an easy one for us as men and women.  It goes against our natural reactions and thinking.

To us who are likely to hold grudges and seek revenge he says, “Love your enemies.” (Luke 6:27)  This teaching divides into three subjects.  The first of which can be classified as understanding.  This is found in verses 27 through 31, and is summarized for us in verse 31. 

I say, love your enemies!  Do good to those who hate you.  ²⁸Bless those who curse you.  Pray for those who hurt you.  ²⁹If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also.  If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also.  ³⁰Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back.  ³¹Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

In order to “do to others as you would like them to do to you,” one must first understand.  All of the commands listed here assume that we are taking a posture of understanding the other person.  The Apostle Paul says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”  (Philippians 2:3-4, NIV)[iii] 

Think of others first.  This is contrary to our human tendency to think of our interests and ourselves.  Looking out for the interests of others is the first step in doing to others as we would like them to do to us.  This requires understanding, understanding what they need, desire or are motivated by.  We cannot assume that what we desire is the same as what another desires.  We cannot assume that what motivates us motivates another.  The first thing we would have others to do for us is to understand.  When Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek when someone slaps us, He shows us how far our understanding of the other person should go.

When we seek to understand and love our neighbor as ourselves, we have a unique opportunity.  This is why I call the second thing Jesus shows us “use.”

Yes, I am suggesting we use others.  Love does not look out for its own interests, and yet look at what Jesus says in Luke 6:35, “Then your reward from heaven will be very great.” This serves as a summary of this second part of loving our neighbor as ourselves found in verses 32 through 34.  These verses say:

³²“If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that?  Even sinners love those who love them!  ³³And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit?  Even sinners do that much!  ³⁴And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit?  Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

Three times Jesus asks, “Why should you get credit.”  The emphasis in this part of the teaching seems to be on this “credit” that Jesus is talking about.  So translations say, “What benefit is that to you?”  The actual word Jesus used is normally translated “grace.”

Grace is favor or a gift.  When we do something good for another we feel good about ourselves.  Therefore, there is benefit.  The world practices this.  Parents can and should do good for their children.  However, this does not go beyond what is natural.  Jesus says, “even sinners do this.”  Jesus gives a call to go beyond what is natural.  Jesus said, “Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.” (Luke 6:35)  Acting like the Most High is going beyond the natural.  In addition, Jesus gives a reason for doing this.  That reason is “storing up treasures in heaven.”  In addition to pointing our thoughts toward credit, Jesus points out a great reward in heaven.

When we look out for our own interests, it is usually in relation to the things of this world.  Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:20-21, “²⁰Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.  ²¹Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”

Other people represent our opportunity to store up treasures in heaven.  Actually, I know of no other way.  There is a strange bit of irony here.  The more selfless I am with others here, the more treasures I store up in heaven.  This is why I called this “using others.”  While there may be no reward, thanks or benefit for doing good to our enemies in this life, Jesus says there is great benefit in heaven.  Along with the thought of “using others” to store up treasures in heaven, we should be aware of the temptation that accompanies this.  Jesus said, “Watch out!  Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 6:1)

When we do our good deeds for a reward here on earth, we get all the reward we are going to get right here on earth.  The Lord, who knows our hearts, knows when our hearts are set on heavenly values.  The only way to do this is to love God with all our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves.

We have said we should seek to understand and use the opportunity to store up heavenly treasures.  The third thing we can do is undergird. 

By undergird, I mean support.

The natural thing to do when another hurts us is to seek to hurt that person in return.  Let’s read what Jesus says in Luke 6:35-36:

 ³⁵“Love your enemies!  Do good to them.  Lend to them without expecting to be repaid.  Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.  ³⁶You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

Lending without expecting anything in return is doing good.  It is also supporting others in their efforts.  It shows us what “doing unto others as we would have done to ourselves” looks like.

Throughout this passage, Jesus talks about doing good to our enemies.  We are to bless those that curse us.  We are to pray for those who hurt us.  This is not just passively accepting abuse.  It is actively working for the good of someone else.  Jesus gives God as our example.  He says, “You will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.”

God pours out the blessings of food, rain, joy and life on all humanity, even on His enemies.  He invites all humanity to come to Him and enjoy eternal life.  However, there is need for clarification.  He does not leave the guilty unpunished.  If they do not pay for their crimes in this life, they will in the next.  The only way to escape punishment is to come to Jesus and accept the price that He paid.

Seeking the good and undergirding the efforts of others does not mean enabling them or supporting sin and evil.  Leviticus 19:17 says, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.”  (ESV)[iv]  We can see from this that we can show hatred by allowing another to continue to sin.  It is not supportive to lend money to people so that they can continue with destructive patterns.  This is where understanding comes in.  The idea is to seek the other person’s good.

Jesus called for us to be compassionate like God is compassionate.  God causes everything to work together for our good.  Love is exemplified in working for the good of those who have hurt us.  The undergirding is the foundation.  There is no need to support the rotten part of the building, but there is a need to avoid the temptation of pulling the rug out from under those who have hurt us.

Compassion grows with the ability to put ourselves in another’s place.  Think of the mercy and compassion God has shown to us. 

Let us pray that in the power of the Holy Spirt we will be strengthened with grace to love fully as we are loved.  Let us seek to understand others and use every opportunity to store up treasures in heaven and undergird the good in others.

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[i] Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation.  Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Steam, Illinois 60188.  All rights reserved.

[ii] http://biblehub.com/greek/3629.htm

[iii] Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

[iv] Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.