Saturday, January 26, 2019

Luke 9:37-50 comments: he that is least among you all, the same shall be great


9:37 ¶  And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met him. 38  And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child. 39  And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him. 40  And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not. 41  And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither. 42  And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father.

    9:43 ¶  And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples, 44  Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men. 45  But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying. 46  Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. 47  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him, 48  And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. 49  And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. 50  And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.

The day after they came down from the mountain where they saw Jesus transfigured, glorified, a man cried out to Jesus to deliver his only child from an evil spirit. We have a hard time today believing that there is an evil spirit or mind behind some of the most self-destructive behavior people express seeing that we have reduced everything to a purely physical process. Whatever is wrong must be some disease and, of course, our not being able to treat it successfully is handled by a careful display of statistics; a third will be cured by a psychiatrist, a third will be helped, and a third will never recover or something along those lines. We do not accept nor realize that in some cases there may be something behind the behavior that is a conscious, living entity. Movies are made and stories are written about such things but they overplay and dramatize the suffering to a point where it is so unreal as to be easily dismissed once the credits roll.

The people here are amazed at God’s power because they recognize that these possessions and oppressions are not all that uncommon. They were amazed at the things Jesus was doing, pretty remarkable stuff in alleviating suffering. Then, Jesus declares again that He must be delivered into the hands of His executioners but the disciples do not understand it. This underscores the fact that, unlike what many preachers says, the Jews were not looking forward to the Cross. They repeatedly did not understand what was in store for their Messiah. They could not understand it. The gospel writers all repeat the ignorance of the disciples of Jesus in understanding His coming murder at the hands of men.

Luke 18:31 ¶  Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32  For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33  And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 34  And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.

Matthew 16:21 ¶  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.22  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Mark 9:10  And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.

Even at the empty tomb they still did not understand.

John 20:1 ¶  The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. 2  Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them,
They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. 3  Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. 4  So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. 5  And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. 6  Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, 7  And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 8  Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. 9  For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. 10  Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.

Apparently, the death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah was not taught or understood.

Read Psalm 22, the Psalm whose first line Jesus quoted from the Cross to direct us to it. Then, notice;

Psalm 16:10  For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Then, see this verse on a physical resurrection from Job, written between 1500 to 2000BC.

Job 19:25  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

And a thousand years later see this verse on a physical resurrection from Isaiah.

Isaiah 26:19  Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

And then, a few hundred years later, as Daniel writes under the reigns of the last Babylonian emperors and the first Persian.

Daniel 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Keeping this understanding of the ancient Jew and Gentile before the Jew came into being (Job) read the “dry bones” prophesy in Ezekiel 37.

Ezekiel 37:12  Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

Then, in this context read about the Messiah again in Isaiah 52:13 through 53:12 and notice this verse;

Isaiah 53:10 ¶  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

(Modern Jews claim that the suffering servant in Isaiah is the Jewish people rather than the Messiah but that interpretation didn’t become popular until the rabbi, Rashi, in the 11th century. The passage is clearly about an individual.)

The Messiah after His execution will see his seed. Go back to Psalm 22 and see His seed mentioned, those who become born again.

Psalm 22:30  A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

Could this ignorance the disciples had have been the cause of the false teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees whom John the Baptist called vipers? A viper isn’t just a snake, but it is a snake that injects venom into its victim. False teachers are condemned in 2Peter 2 and Jeremiah 23. Jesus Himself condemns them. Look at the link with dogs and swine between the following and 2Peter2. The following verse might just be referring to new converts being destroyed with bad doctrine.

Matthew 7:6  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Jesus is often critical about false teaching of the religious elite. He likened their doctrine to leaven.

Matthew 16:5 ¶  And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6  Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 7  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken
no bread. 8  Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 9  Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10  Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 11  How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12  Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

He condemned them for their teachings.

Mark 7:1 ¶  Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. 2  And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. 3  For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. 4  And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. 5  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? 6  He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 10  For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: 11  But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. 12  And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; 13  Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

He regarded the way the elite created proselytes or new converts, what some sources say they referred to as, “new creatures,” as unconscionable.

Matthew 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

So it is with American Protestant fundamentalism today. Twisting the Bible to support an agenda is as common today as it was then. Clearly, the elite was not teaching the truth about the Messiah to come because the people did not know what was to happen. They were more concerned with Israel regaining preeminence in that part of the world than scriptural truth. They would have achieved their desire if they had emphasized doctrinal truth. God could have honored Israel for their faithfulness to the mysteries of God (1Corinthians 4:1). But, they would reject their Messiah.

Humans are always about status and who is number one. The disciples are no different. They argue among themselves about who shall be the greatest among them. This will be an issue again later in Luke 22. Jesus presents a child to them as an example of who is the greatest for who receives the child in His name receives Him and the least of them shall be the greatest. Those people with the lowest status or perceived value, like a child, are regarded in God’s kingdom as the highest. It is virtually the opposite of human-centered importance. In God’s view children, women, slaves, and the poor have a higher value placed on them than those who are in power, in control, on earth. We would do better to live our lives in simple humility and obedience to Christ rather than in restless ambition and a quest for status from which flows temptations that harm our faith. I am not saying not to be the best you can be but to set your affections on things above, not on things of this earth. And, remember, the Jews were thinking of an earthly and very political kingdom of God, a recreation of Israel’s ancient glory. It is sort of like a fundamentalist musing about which celebrity pastor will be in charge of America during the millennial reign of Christ or, as I heard one celebrity preacher/television personality say once, that God would need qualified technicians to run water treatment facilities in the millennium.

Finally, in this passage we have a similar scene to one during Moses’ time.

Numbers 11:27  And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. 28  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. 29  And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!

We must remember that there are many who do not worship as we do but who do exalt the name of Christ. I once heard a great sermon on the authority of Christ from a so-called faith-healer whom I regarded as a fake. That is, until I heard that sermon I didn’t realize he was capable of sound doctrine. God used him in that moment, in that sermon, and who am I to condemn someone preaching the truth?

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