The Perfect Man: Bible Talks On Luke

Read the title of this book in the Bible and you will see it is “The Gospel according to St. Luke.” The word “gospel” means “glad tidings” and is a history of the life and words of the Lord Jesus written by a man named Luke.

It is not now known where Luke lived, but he had learned of Jesus from the disciples or others who were “eye witnesses” of His great works, and who “ministered,” or told, His words to others.

Written With Order

There was another man, named Theophilus, who had heard about the Lord Jesus, but not as directly as Luke. Since this man had a Greek name, and Luke addressed him as “most excellent,” it is thought that he was a Greek official who probably lived a long distance from Israel where the Lord Jesus lived.

Luke wanted that man to know that the things which he had been told about the Lord were true, so he wrote this account of the life of Jesus for him very carefully, and in good “order.”

He wrote the facts of the birth and early life of Jesus, not told by the other writers, to show that Jesus was the holy Child, promised by God long before (Isaiah 9:6), and to show that He was the Son of God who came to earth taking the form of a man, but pure, without sin, perfect in all His ways.

Precise Detail

Luke wrote the names of the rulers in Israel that the exact time of the events he told could be known. He wrote several very interesting stories told by Jesus, not given in the other gospels. Later Luke wrote another long account for him, of the work of the men who went to tell people the glad tidings of the Lord Jesus. That writing is called “The Acts of the Apostles.” When he used the word, “we”, Luke was with Paul, going with him to cities of Greece and Asia, to Jerusalem, and last of all to Rome, telling the same gospel everywhere.

When Paul afterward wrote to those they had visited, he greeted them for Luke, and then we learn that Luke was a physician. But his great work seems to have been the work of Christ (see Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11).

Luke and the other men writing the New Testament did not use the word, “Saint” (St.), as a title; that has been given by men in later years. All who believe in the Lord Jesus are called saints, because they are set apart by God for His very own, “the household of God,” a very wonderful place, which only God can give (Ephesians 1:1; Ephesians 2:19; Colossians 1:12; Acts 9:13; Psalm 37:28).

Luke began his gospel by writing of the coming of the prophet who was promised to come before the Lord. From the Gospel by Luke may we all learn “the certainty of those things, wherein” we have “been instructed” (Luke 1:4). God has surely kept these writings that all who will read, may be certain, as those men were.

Further Meditation

1. What other book of the Bible did Luke write?

2. If you hear a person lie even once what does that do to your belief in them? Why is it essential that there are no errors even in geography or history found in the Bible?

3. You may find it helpful to read The Man of Sorrows by J. N. Darby. It’s one of the simplest and sweetest of his writings.

Messages of an Angel: Luke 1:5-80

Only certain men, called priests, could offer the offerings in the temple of God, and each man’s son was to take the work after him. One man, Zacharias, was a faithful priest who honored God, but he had no son.

One day while Zacharias was in an inner room of the temple, an angel came there and spoke to him, telling him that he should have a son, who would teach the people God’s ways, so that they would turn from sin, and be ready for the Lord. This son should be named John, which means the gift of God.

Zacharias knew such a prophet had been promised (Malachi 3:1), yet he did not fully believe the angel, and asked how he could know this promise would come true. Because he had not believed the message, the angel told Zacharias that he should not be able to speak again until the promise was fulfilled.

When Zacharias went from the room to the people, he could not speak, but by his motions to them, they understood he had seen a vision.

The Son of the Highest

Not long after this, the same angel was sent from God to a young woman named Mary, whose home was in the town of Nazareth in the northern part of Israel, and who was soon to become the wife of a man named Joseph. The angel’s message to Mary was that she should have a son, but one different from all others who ever lived, a holy child, without sin.

The angel said this holy child would be “The Son of the Highest,” “The Son of God” and that He should be named Jesus, which means Saviour. He would be greater than any prophet—both Saviour and the Holy King.

Mary believed this message, not doubting, as Zacharias had; such a holy child had been promised in their scriptures, and she believed God’s words (Luke 1:38; Isaiah 7:14). She then went from Nazareth to “the hill country ... of Juda” (south of Jerusalem), to visit the wife of Zacharias, who was her cousin. They talked together of the messages of the angel, and believed God’s promises would come true.

Zacharias Restored

Not long after, the message told in the temple was fulfilled: a son was born to Zacharias and his wife, but Zacharias was not yet able to talk. When the child was eight days old, and to be named, the relatives said he should be named for his father. The mother said, “No”; she knew the name told by the angel. The father was asked: he could not speak, but wrote on a paper, “His name is John.”

After that, Zacharias could speak and he praised God to all present. He said the time told “by ... the prophets ... since the world began,” had come, that God would “[visit] and [redeem His] people,” and that there should be “a horn of salvation.” The word “horn” meant power, as an animal’s horns are its power; the One to come had power to fulfill all promises.

Zacharias said to his child that he should be the prophet to go before this Great and Holy One, to teach the people. The friends who heard these things believed God was to bless Israel and told others. And it is written that Mary returned to her home.

Further Meditation

1. What is the meaning of the name “Jesus”?

2. Sometimes God has to speak very loudly for us to hear. The way we respond to His voice is very important. What did Zacharias do that showed he had accepted God’s working in his life.

3. It would be wonderful to always give thanks and praise to God. You may be encouraged in doing that by reading His Praise Shall Continually Be in My Mouth by J. N. Darby.

The Promised Holy Child: Luke 2:1-7

It was written that the Holy One to come to earth would come out of Bethlehem, but Mary, to whom the angel had come to say she should be the mother of that child, lived in Nazareth, quite far north of there. An order was sent at that time by one of the Caesars who then ruled the entire world that every man must go to his family city to be taxed.

The husband of Mary, Joseph, belonged to the family of King David, so he must go to Bethlehem, where David had lived. So Joseph and Mary made the journey there. When they reached Bethlehem many others had also come, and there was “no room for them in the inn,” or lodging house; the only place they could find to sleep was in a place used for animals.

That night the son promised to Mary by the angel was born, and she wrapped Him in the cloth bands, then used for newborn babies, called “swaddling clothes” and laid Him in a manger. This may have been soft clean hay or straw, yet we could not call it a good bed for a little baby. He was the Holy Child, the Son of God, in a body like other little ones, but with a nature without sin.

What God Promised

In Isaiah 9:6 this Child was written about as so sure to come, it was as though He was already with the people, “Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” All these titles show His greatness, although He came as a poor baby. “Thou, Bethlehem ... though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).

Those last words teach us that this Ruler to come, who was Christ, (or the Messiah, in that language) had always lived before, “from everlasting.” We do not fully grasp all these words, yet we can understand that they are God’s words and believe them.

What We Know Exactly

God has recorded the exact place of Christ’s birth that all may better realize that Jesus, the Holy One, was a child on earth; that it is not an uncertain story, but a great fact, and fully true.

We cannot now tell the exact date that Jesus was born, but the year is quite surely known. Luke wrote the names of the three rulers over the land at that time (Luke 1:5; Luke 2:1) and people for many years after, had the records of those men, to know the year of Jesus’ birth.

Later, men in power believed the birth of Jesus to be so great an event, that they made the calendar to be calculated from the year they figured He was born. It was later found that the time was set four years later than it should have been, but the mistake was not changed, and we use that same calendar, with the birth of Jesus as the center of all events of the world, past and present.

Events before Christ, are said to be so many years B.C.; events since, A. D., which is for Latin words meaning, “Year of Our Lord.” So now it is over 2,000 years since Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

Further Meditation

1. Where had God told His people that the Messiah would be born?

2. We find it hard to even guess what the weather will be like in about a week with any consistent accuracy. How many prophecies can you find that describe in detail something about the Lord Jesus that were made centuries before He was born?

3. You may find the chart, Old Testament Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus the Messiah a fascinating accompaniment to your study of one of the themes in this chapter.

What Shepherds Heard: Luke 2:8-21

The night Jesus was born and laid to sleep in a manger in Bethlehem, there were shepherds in the country not far away, watching their flocks, when a very great event took place: “Lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. . . .And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’”

Shepherds and Angels

This was the most wonderful message ever told to men: a Saviour had come! All had sinned, and had no right to God’s blessing, but because of this Saviour, God had good will toward all, and offered peace to all. The angel’s messages to Zacharias, to Mary, and to Joseph, told of blessing, not for one nation only, but this was for all. The shepherds were meant to tell others.

If only the one angel had come, it would have been a wondrous sight, but “a multitude” came, as though not only for men to have the message, but in praise to God for His gift to men, and in praise to the One Who had come, as it is written, “Let all the angels of God worship Him” (Hebrews 1:6).

The shepherds did not wait until some other day to go to see the Saviour who had come to earth: they went “with haste” to the village of Bethlehem to see that little Baby, which the angel told them would be in a manger. They found the place where Joseph and Mary were, and the Baby lying in a manger. Then they told others the message of the angel, and that they had seen the Child, born to be the Saviour, Who was Christ the Lord.

Seeing for Ourselves

The people of that land who believed the writings of the prophets in their scriptures, expected the Messiah, or the Christ, to come, but many looked for Him to come as a Great King, but they thought much about what the shepherds told them, and no doubt many went to see the newborn child.

God had sent His Son at first as a poor humble child; it is not told that there was a circle of light about His head as shown in many pictures, yet the shepherds were not disappointed. They were certain they had seen the Christ. They returned to the flocks “glorifying and praising God for all ... they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”

The message brought from God by the angels that night with its offer of peace to men, has never been withdrawn. He will give peace to all who believe in His Son. We know He is not now in the manger, but we can be “in haste to go and see” for ourselves, as the shepherds did, that God’s message is true.

The name Jesus, given the Holy Child, is like the message told by the angels, for Jesus means, Saviour, (Matthew 1:21).

Further Meditation

1. How did the Lord receive praise at His birth?

2. We often doubt what we are told until we have checked it out for ourselves. What did the shepherds do that showed they had accepted what God had to say to them? Why did God invite shepherds to worship the newly born Messiah?

3. If you’ve been thinking about the faith of those who truly believed that the Messiah had come you might find Faith: Bible Questions and Answers by H. P. Barker as a nice way to continue your meditations and learn more about this important subject.

In the Temple: Luke 2:22-39

When God saved the oldest sons of the families of Israel in Egypt, He said every firstborn son belonged to Him, and was to be “presented” to Him (Exodus 22:29, Numbers 3:13). Joseph and Mary obeyed God’s words, and when the baby Jesus was a few weeks old brought Him to the temple in Jerusalem.

The words said by the priest are not given, but in this act all acknowledged that the first son belonged to God.

Testimony to Who Jesus Was

While they were in the temple, a man named Simeon came in. The Spirit of God had shown this man that before his death he would see the promised Christ. When he saw the Baby Jesus he knew He was the Holy One promised. He took Him in his arms, and thanked God, and said, “Mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of Thy people Israel.”

A woman named Anna who was known by all to believe the promises of God, also thanked God that His promise was fulfilled, and told others of this Holy Child.

Joseph and Mary “marveled” at the words said about the baby Jesus. They had believed the messages of the angel that this Child would save Israel (Matthew 1:21, Luke 1:32), but they had not seemed to understand He would be so great, as to be the Saviour for all people, as the shepherds and Simeon said. Mary must have wondered, that He would “be spoken against” and that sorrow, as “a sword” would come to her heart. But we know those words came true when that Holy One, Jesus, was refused.

Who Mary Really Was

You may hear Mary spoken of as “the Queen of Heaven,” and other such titles, but those were not given in the Bible, and it is not written that she should be worshipped. Very little was written of Mary, except to show she fully believed God’s words; she spoke of herself as from a humble home, “low estate” (Luke 1:48); for her sacrifice in the Temple, she had two doves or pigeons, as were brought by poor people of Israel, instead of a lamb (Leviticus 12:8).

Mary knew she had sins and needed a Saviour, for she said, “My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (Luke 1:47).

When she heard the message to the shepherds of a Saviour, she thought much about those words, she “pondered them in her heart.” She did not forget them. She must have loved the baby Jesus as a good mother, and learned to love Him more as her Saviour.

From the temple Joseph and Mary must have gone again to Bethlehem (about six miles), for the wise men visited them there, and after they had gone, God warned Joseph to take the baby Jesus in haste to Egypt. From there they went to Nazareth to live.

Further Meditation

1. How did Joseph and Mary respond when they heard the words said about the Lord Jesus?

2. The Spirit of God is very careful to show the huge differences between the Lord Jesus and His mother Mary. Why was it so important to show the difference clearly and what are some of the ways that God did it?

3. When you meditate on the Lord Jesus Christ as a true man you no doubt will want to continually learn more. One good place to start is to read The Holy Humanity of Our Lord Jesus Christ by W. Kelly. You’ll find it challenging but worth your time.

The Boy Jesus: Luke 2:40-52

Nazareth had been the home of Joseph and Mary before they went to Bethlehem, and they returned there after the stay in Egypt, because Joseph feared the ruler of Judea might harm the Child Jesus. And that was why Jesus’ home was quite far from the city of David in Judea, where the King was expected to live (John 7:42).

There is still a town of Nazareth, built on the slope of a hill, and the view of the country about and of the mountains is very beautiful. The Sea of Galilee is not far away.

Only a few words are written of Jesus as a child: that He “grew and waxed (became) strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him.”

The One Story of Jesus As a Boy

There is only one event told of Jesus when a boy, that is the visit to Jerusalem for the Passover feast with Joseph and Mary. It is not told how they traveled, perhaps on mules, or they may have walked. The distance is over sixty miles direct, and must have been much more by roads, for there are mountains and streams between, and they would be several days on the journey. Others went also to the feast from the towns along the way.

The feast lasted seven days, and after that, Joseph and Mary with many others, started home. They supposed Jesus was with some of the relatives or friends in the company. But when evening came they found He was not with them; He had stayed in Jerusalem.

Joseph and Mary turned back to the city, but it was not till the third day that they found Him. Perhaps most boys would have been seeing the markets or shops of the city; that was not where He was found, as you may know, but in the temple of God, listening to the most learned men, called “doctors,” and also asking them questions.

All who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers, and no doubt asked who He was.

Jesus’ Father and His Work

Mary told Him they had been very anxious about Him, and asked why He had stayed. He then asked if they did not know that He must be about His Father’s business which was the most necessary thing. The work of His Father which was before Him, was greater, of course, than anyone else ever could do. He was the God-Man.

Jesus then went home with Joseph and Mary, and did as they wished, “He ... was subject unto them.” And it is again told that He “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” “Wisdom” is said first, and that was shown by all His words and acts which were told later.

Joseph was a carpenter, and Jesus was called “a carpenter” by people of Nazareth (Mark 6:3). So He knew work on earth, and was honest, truthful and patient. This may comfort those now who wish to honor Him.

Further Meditation

1. How did the people react to the Lord’s answers to questions when He was a boy?

2. Do the Scriptures ever refer to Joseph as the father of the Lord Jesus? How often do the Scriptures refer to God as His Father or to Him as God’s Son? How is this different than a Christian being a son of God?

3. If you are enjoying meditating on the book of Luke then you may find the devotional commentary Notes of Meditations on the Gospel of Luke by J. G. Bellett to be helpful.

John the Prophet: Luke 3:1-21

John was the son told of by the angel to the priest Zacharias, and said he should be “a prophet ... [to] go before ... the Lord and to prepare His ways.” But John did not teach the people in the Temple, or serve in its duties as his father, which was the usual work for priests’ sons.

The high priest at that time, and others of the temple, were unfaithful to God and He could not bless them. John did not receive his teaching from them; no doubt his parents, who believed God’s words, taught him, and perhaps others, but he is spoken of, when young, as in the deserts. So no doubt he was alone a lot where he learned from God what to tell the people (Luke 1:80).

John’s Public Service

John knew the time to begin telling the people to prepare: “The word of the Lord came unto [him] in the wilderness.” He went to the country about the Jordan River. There were towns and people there and John taught them outdoors away from Jerusalem and the temple.

How were the people to prepare for the Lord? by decorating their buildings, streets, and garments? No. He told them only one way, to repent of their sins, to confess them to God, and turn away from them.

People came from all parts of the land as they heard of John’s preaching, and he spoke so plainly and earnestly that many were truly sorry for their sins, and as a sign of this were baptized by John in the water of Jordan.

The word “baptize” teaches of death. The Jordan reminded especially of death, because it flows steadily downward from high mountains into the Dead Sea, in whose heavy salt water no plant or fish can live.

Some of the people thought John might be the promised Christ. But John told them the One to come was far mightier than he. We would call John a good man and faithful to God, yet he said he was not worthy to loosen the shoes of that One to come.

The Baptism of Jesus

One day Jesus came to be baptized. John knew that Jesus was from God. He, in grace, would take His place with repentant Israel, looking forward to the millennial kingdom. John would know the words of the angels, about the Saviour, and knew His perfect life, so he said to Him, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?”

But Jesus said it should be done, although He had no sin to confess, or to deserve death.

Sometime after this, John was kept from preaching to the people because he had reproved the ruler of Galilee for evil things. He is mentioned again later. He had fulfilled the words that he would turn many to God and many of those followed Jesus.

Further Meditation

1. Who is the only person baptized by John whose name is given in the Bible?

2. There are several different baptisms given in Scripture. What are they? What is at least one reason why the Bible uses being immersed in water as the method for Christian baptism?

3. If you would like to read more about baptism you can search for it at BibleTruthLibrary.org.

The Anointed One: Luke 3:21-22

It is told in the Old Testament that when God chose a man to do great work for Israel, a prophet anointed his head with a special oil, in the presence of others. This was a sign to the people that the man was chosen by God, and had authority from Him for His work, as Aaron for high priest, and David for king (Leviticus 8:12; 1 Samuel 16:13).

It was also written that the Holy Person to come to earth to fulfil all God’s work, would be an anointed One, called “The Messiah,” a Hebrew word meaning, “The Anointed” (Daniel 9:25; Psalm 2:2).

Jesus Is Anointed

Before Jesus began His work, greater than that of all others, this is what we read: “Jesus also being baptized and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost [Spirit] descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from Heaven, which said, ‘Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased.’” Later we read: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power” (Acts 10:38).

So we learn that Jesus was anointed for His wonderful works on earth, not by a prophet, but by God the Father, and not with oil, but with the Holy Spirit. By that, God gave authority and power, and His Voice declared Jesus to be His Son, with approval, as God could give no other. It is said that the words given in our language. “In Thee I am well pleased,” really meant, “all delight”: in Jesus only, God found delight. Other men chosen had not always done God’s work; they all sinned, but He could delight in Jesus.

By going into the water in baptism, Jesus had shown His willingness to do His greatest work—to bear God’s judgment against sins by His own death—and shown his trust that God would raise Him from death; baptism being a symbol to teach of death (Romans 6:3-4). The trust and dependence of Jesus were also shown in that He was praying.

It is not told if others besides the prophet John saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus, but John told the people, and God wanted them to believe His prophet who spoke to them for Him (John 1:31-34).

An Important Event

So the baptism and anointing of Jesus was a very important event of His life on earth, and written about in Matthew 3 and Mark 1 as well. It was then near the year written for the Messiah by Daniel, and the people were in “expectation” of His coming and thought the prophet John might be He (Luke 3:15).

All should have believed John that Jesus was the promised Messiah and the Son of God. His holy ways and wondrous miracles later fully proved Him to many, but few understood that the Messiah must die, although that was shown in the Psalms (Psalm 22 and Psalm 69; Isaiah 53:8-10; Lamentations 1:12; Daniel 9:25).

Further Meditation

1. Why might the people have been expecting the coming of the Messiah?

2. We often miss seeing what is “right under our nose.” One reason might be that we are looking for a big blue book when the one we want is really a little blue book. We may have most of the description right and miss an important detail that keeps us from our goal. How did the Jewish people miss the fact that the Lord Jesus was the true Messiah?

3. You can find some wonderful words for your heart on the gospel of Luke in The Evangelists by J. G. Bellett.

A Long List of Names: Luke 3:23-38

There is a list of names in this chapter which could have been traced when Luke wrote them and known to be correct. They are not all as plain to us now, yet show that Jesus was truly a man on earth, and the time He “was supposed” and called the son of Joseph. Joseph believed the angel, that the Babe to be born to Mary was the promised holy Child from God, and named Him Jesus, which means Saviour. Joseph cared for Jesus as a loved son, taking the hard journey to Egypt to save Him when a baby, and later, when a boy, made the trip back to Jerusalem to find Him (Matthew 1:25; Matthew 2:14).

The Lord’s Genealogy As Man

It was from Joseph that Jesus had a legal right to the throne of the king of Israel, for Joseph was a descendant of David’s son Solomon, shown in the list of names given in Matthew 1.

This list of names by Luke is believed to be the genealogy of Mary, and Heli (Luke 3:23), the father of Mary; so as a man, Jesus was “of Heli,” who was traced back to another son of King David, Nathan. Then the names are given back to Abraham, the same as in the list of Joseph; but then traced to Adam, the first man.

Luke wrote just before this list, that God spoke from Heaven to Jesus: “Thou art My beloved Son,” then this list shows, as other scriptures, that the Son of God had become a man on earth. This is a mystery, and a great wonder we cannot understand, nor any writer explain; we can only reverence Him and believe God’s words.

A Reason the Lord Became a Man

Do you know the reason given that the Son of God took a body like ours? It was so that He could die for our sins. He did not become an angel, for an angel has not a body the same as men, and does not die (Luke 20:36; Luke 24:39). “Jesus ... was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. ... For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham” (Hebrews 2:9, 16).

“Christ Jesus ... who being in the form of God ... was made in the likeness of men ... became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:5-8). “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman ... to redeem them” (Galatians 4:4-5).

Jesus most often spoke of Himself as the Son of Man; you can find these words many times in His talks to the people. It is a much more lowly title than the Son of God, but it was as Son of Man that He could die to save His people.

Adam, the first man, lost his right to God’s blessings by sin and so did all others. But Jesus was holy and perfect in all His life on earth, and fulfilled God’s law and work; a son is the heir, so, as the Son of Man, Jesus is heir of all blessings from God, which will someday be known to all.

Further Meditation

1. The genealogy in Luke is traced back to what person?

2. There are many reasons the Lord Jesus became a man including the essential one given in this chapter. Who do you trust more, someone who has never been “in your shoes” or someone who’s been there and understands what you’re going through? In what ways has the Lord Jesus been “in our shoes?”

3. If you’ve been thinking on the Lord Jesus as the one who can sympathize you might enjoying listening to the audio CD Christ’s Intercession as High Priest and as Advocate by R. Thonney.

"It Is Written": Luke 4:1-14

After the Holy Spirit had come upon the Lord Jesus, it is told that Satan spoke to tempt Jesus to obey him.

It was in the lonely land near the Jordan river, and Jesus had eaten no food there, and was hungry. Satan said to Him, “If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.”

God had spoken from heaven to say that Jesus was His beloved Son, but Satan tried to cause doubt about those words. Yet Jesus did not do a miracle to prove who He was, or for food; this was His answer: “It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4 quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3).

Those words were from the Old Testament, and it was from those scriptures He answered each time.

Satan Defeated

Satan could not deny Jesus’ answer, and he tried another way to persuade Jesus to obey him; he said all the nations of the world were his, and he would give their glory and rule to Jesus, if He would worship him.

That also was encouraging doubt that Jesus was the Son of God who should be worshipped; and the nations were not Satan’s to promise. Jesus answered him again with words of God, “It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Luke 4:8; Deuteronomy 6:13).

Satan tried once more to cause Jesus to obey him, and said that “if” Jesus were the Son of God, He should throw Himself down from a high point of the Temple, because it was written that God would give His angels charge over Him, to keep Him, lest He dash His foot against a stone.

Those words were from Psalm 91, so Satan knew scripture, but used it in an evil way; for the words were not given that the Holy One should do as Satan wanted. The answer of Jesus was, as before, from God’s written words to men: “It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Luke 4:12; Deuteronomy 6:16).

Satan then went away when he found he could not tempt Jesus to do his way. He showed his awful pride and hatred that he would try to tempt the One he knew to be the Son of God to obey him; his promises were false; he knew the written words of God, and used them for evil to try to bring harm to Jesus. Yet his fear was shown, for he went away.

Why Jesus Didn’t Use a Miracle

In all the tempting, Jesus did no miracle, but showed His trust in God as a humble, perfect man; He showed that God was the authority over all, and proved the power of His words in the scriptures.

Some persons try to believe there is no Satan, yet he is written of in many parts of the Bible as a most wicked being, or spirit, not seen by men, but able to suggest to the mind what is evil and false, especially to have them doubt that God’s words are true.

Yet God’s words are “the weapon,” or power, the Christian has to resist Satan’s doubts and evil, as the Lord Jesus resisted him, and it is told he will be fully conquered by the Lord (Romans 16:20; 1 John 3:8; Revelation 20:10).

Further Meditation

1. What did the Lord use each time Satan tempted Him?

2. Notice where each Scripture that the Lord quoted came from in the Old Testament. How long would it take you to read these chapters? What does that say about the importance of reading God’s Word each morning?

3. If you want to spend more time meditating on resisting Satan then you might find Satan’s Operations on the Lord’s People: Ten Tactics the Devil Uses to Overthrow Our Lives Exposed by the Word of God written by B. Anstey.

At Nazareth: Luke 4:14-23

Nazareth was the home of Jesus from a child, and He returned there after His baptism and the trial by Satan. On the way He taught the people of other towns, and began to do miracles, so they told of Him through all the country, and honored Him; some spoke of Him as the Messiah (John 1:41).

We would expect the people of Nazareth would honor Jesus most of all, but they did not. He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day to teach them, as that was the time they met to hear the scriptures read and to praise God. They had the Old Testament in Hebrew — not all in one book, but written on separate rolls.

Jesus stood up to read, and the roll of the prophet Esaias (Isaiah) was handed to Him. He turned to the last part of the writing and read these words aloud to the people: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (See Isaiah 61:1-2).

Jesus closed the roll and returned it to the man in charge, and sat down. Then He spoke to the people, and said, “This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” That meant Jesus was Himself the One anointed by God to bring them all blessings, that He was their Messiah. He had not proclaimed this of Himself, but in words written of Him long before.

Why Jesus Stopped Reading

“To preach (or proclaim) the acceptable year of the Lord” meant that the time of God’s favor, long promised, had come. The people were in great trouble because of their sins, from which no one could free them, only the One sent from God. All they needed to do was to believe and welcome Him, and all the blessings would follow.

If we read those words which Jesus read, in the book of Isaiah, we find that Jesus stopped reading in the middle of a sentence: when He had read of the time of God’s favor, He closed the roll. If He had finished the sentence, He would have read, “and the day of vengeance of our God,” which meant the time when God will punish all sin.

We learn from Jesus’ stopping before those words, and from other scriptures, that He did not then come for judgment, but to show God’s favor, or love, most of all by giving His life to save all who will believe from judgment. It is still the time of God’s favor, but the words, “the day of vengeance of our God,” must also be fulfilled, as these words tell, “The Lord ... is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come” (2 Peter 3:9-10).

The people in the synagogue at Nazareth listened intently to Jesus, and wondered at His kind words: they were glad to hear of good news to the poor, that the blind would see, and of all the blessings to come. But others did not believe in Him.

Further Meditation

1. What did the Lord Jesus mean when He said, “This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears”?

2. We benefit greatly by the Lord’s long patience with us while we are learning HIs lessons. How is He showing you patience at the moment? In what ways did He show His long patience with Israel? Will that day of vengeance ever come?

3. There are many wonderful prophecies about the Lord in the book of Isaiah. You would find your time very well spent if you were to read The Prophecies of Isaiah Expounded: God’s Purpose to Bless Israel and the Nations Under the Reign of Jesus Christ, the Messiah written by B. Anstey.

Refused at Nazareth: Luke 4:24-30

Jesus made it known to the people in the synagogue that He was the One anointed by God to bring them all blessings, but they did not believe Him. These people were of the nation of Israel, and knew the history of their nation, and Jesus spoke to them about others like them, who had not believed God’s words told by His prophets.

He spoke of a time of famine when God sent His prophet to a poor woman of another land for food; her handful of meal and a little oil were made to last until the famine was over, because she had believed the words God told the prophet, and the people in Israel had not.

Blessings for the Neighbors

Then Jesus spoke also of Naaman, the captain of the army of Syria, who was a leper, and came to the prophet of God, and was cured, because he did as the prophet told him. Jesus said that there were many lepers in Israel at that time, but none of them were cured; they did not believe what God told the prophet, or ask to be healed. The land of Syria is just north of Galilee, and the home of the poor woman in Sidon was also near, and the people of Nazareth who were listening to Jesus did not like to be reminded of the blessings to their neighbors, when their own people did not believe God. It was because they wanted to keep on in sinful ways that they did not believe, and the people of Nazareth did not want Jesus to save them.

Unbelief Close to Home

They became so angry with Jesus that they took hold of Him and put Him out of the synagogue, and led Him to the top of the hill above the town, intending to push Him down the steep cliff. But Jesus passed through the angry crowd away from them, without their knowing, and went to another place.

How sad and awful for the people of His own town to so treat the One who came to save them from their troubles! It is said the view of the mountains and country from the hill of Nazareth is very beautiful, but those people did not understand that they were refusing the Maker of all things about them, as also their Messiah.

We read that Jesus marvelled at their unbelief, and could do no mighty miracles there (Mark 6:5-6). There must have been many boys and girls in the synagogue, who that day heard the wonderful voice of Jesus, but the unbelief of the parents kept Him away from them. There are people now who do not believe Jesus was God, and different from all others; they also do not believe God’s words, or that they need One to save them from their sins. Yet He will bless any who will let Him, as He did a few sick ones there, who must have been willing for Him to lay His hands in mercy upon them. So let us all listen to His words in the Bible and be certain for ourselves that He is our Saviour.

Notice that Elias is here used for Elijah, and Eliseus for Elisha, as written in the Old Testament.

Further Meditation

1. How did the people of Nazareth react to the Lord’s announcement reminder of blessing for their neighbors?

2. How do we react when others we think are “inferior” to us receive blessing from God? What other cases are there in the book of Luke of Gentiles (non-Jews) being blessed by the Lord?

3. It often helps to look at a good atlas when trying to understand a portion of Scripture. For example it would be helpful in this chapter in understanding the relationship between Syria, Sidon and Galilee. You might find The Moody Atlas of Bible Lands by B. Beitzel or a similar work to be a big help in your meditations.

Captives Freed: Luke 4:31-44

After Jesus was so hated and ill treated at His own town of Nazareth (Luke 4:24), He went to Capernaum, a town not far away on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. He had been there before and had done great miracles (Luke 4:23), and seems from this time to have made it His home, returning there from His journeys.

He taught them each Sabbath when they met in the synagogue, and they were astonished at the power of His words. “He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:29). It must have indeed been wonderful to hear their scriptures taught by the one who knew so well God’s wish to bless them.

Setting People Free

One day He showed His power in another way. A man came into the synagogue who had an evil spirit, called “unclean” as whatever was not fit to be used for God was called, and he should not have been allowed inside. Wicked spirits, living within persons, seem to have been common in that land where many people had for years turned from belief of God and worshipped idols. The spirit was not seen, but had control of the person to cause him to harm himself, never to do him good, and he was a helpless captive, and no one could help him.

Jesus had told the people that He had come to set captives free (Luke 4:18), and this He did for the poor man, commanding the spirit to leave him. The people, who well knew the dreadful condition of the man, were more than ever amazed at the authority Jesus had—that the wicked spirit obeyed Him. This was told everywhere, and He later freed many others from evil spirits. All the people should have known that Jesus was the promised Messiah who could do such blessings for them, as no prophet ever had.

The evil spirits were servants of Satan and knew, as he did, who Jesus was: they spoke loudly that He was the Holy One from God, not to honor Him but with contempt, saying, “Let us alone. What have we to do with Thee?” They called Him the Holy One of God, yet in a scornful way.

Jesus commanded them to be silent. He did not want their witness to who He was although He is pleased when people who believe on Him say He is Lord and Christ. The wicked spirits are always against Him; they know God’s power, but do not want His way; “the devils also believe and tremble” (James 2:19).

All would at last be the captives of Satan, except the Lord Jesus had come to free them, which He did by taking the punishment for sins by His death (Hebrews 2:14). But any sin which we do not repent of and leave, makes the doer captive to it in this world. Maybe the young know how hard it is to stop some habit, such as wrong words or untrue reading. But surely since the Lord Jesus freed those helpless captives to evil, He can now free His people if we trust Him.

Further Meditation

1. How did the people respond to the Lord’s teaching in the synagogue?

2. We are often trapped by temptation into repeatedly sinning against the Lord. What are some of the resources that God has given us that can set us free from that bondage?

3. We all would benefit from considering the subject of resisting temptation and being set free from sin. You might find the Audio CD How Can the Tyranny of Sin Dwelling in the Body Be Overcome? Practical Deliverance, Romans 5-8 by C. Crain to be a wonderful help in your spiritual growth.

When the Net Broke: Luke 5:1-11

After Jesus taught the people in the towns, many were eager to hear more, and followed Him as He walked to other places. One day they came along the shore of the lake and there were two fishing boats not being used, as the men were washing their nets.

Jesus stepped into one boat, which belonged to Simon Peter and asked him to push it a little way into the water, and He taught the people from there, so all could hear. It is not told here what He then said, but of a great miracle afterward. He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.”

A draught meant what we might call a “haul”, or a “catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the net.”

A True Miracle

The net was let down. Then those men who had worked all night and caught no fish, had a very great surprise; so many fish came into the net that it broke, and they called for the other men to come with their boat to help, and they filled both boats with fish. The boats began to sink with the weight, but they brought them to the land.

Some have thought that because it is a lake of many fish that the net happened to take in what is called a “school” of fish. But Simon who knew the waters well, knew it was a miracle. He knew that the fish had come by the word of the Lord, the same as by His word He had cured disease and done other wonders. The other men, who also were fishermen, knew it was a miracle, and were greatly astonished.

The net was not strong enough to hold, but the supply of God was most abundant; if Simon had better followed Jesus’ words, “Let down your nets” instead of only one net, perhaps no net would have broken; at least the Lord did not fail His part in giving.

Simon at once realized that the One who could bring those fish into the net was far greater than a teacher, or “Master,” as he called Him; he knew He was the Lord from Heaven.

The Effect on Simon Peter

Do you know what Simon then thought about? His sins. He may not have been what we might call a great sinner, but he at once felt that he was not fit to be near this mighty Holy One. He fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

He knew he deserved that the Lord should go from him, yet he wanted to be near, and seemed to feel that He would show him mercy. And notice the kind answer of Jesus, “Fear not.”

Then Jesus told him, “From henceforth thou shalt catch men.” We know Jesus meant by that for Simon to tell others of Him.

We will feel as Simon Peter did about our sins, when we realize in our hearts that the Lord Jesus is the Mighty Holy One, whose word has such power. We must confess Him as our Lord, as Simon did, to know His answer, “Fear not.”

Further Meditation

1. Why did the one net the disciples used break?

2. All of us have been “half-obedient” at one time or another. We have grudgingly done part of what we were told to do. What were the results? What other people in the Bible “half-followed” the Lord? What does the Lord tell us happened with them?

3. When thinking about this chapter you may find Following Christ by A. Barry to be a great encouragement to wholly follow the Lord.

A Leper Made Well: Luke 5:12-17

In one city a man who was a leper came to Jesus. Sometimes that disease is only a few spots on the skin, but this man was “full” of the dreadful sores and no one could help him. If the law of the people had been kept, he could not have come near anyone, it said, “The leper ... shall put a covering upon his upper lip and shall cry, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ ... he shall dwell alone” (Leviticus 13:45-46).

So the leper was to warn people not to touch him, but this man knew Jesus cured disease and he was certain He could cure him. He believed Jesus was greater than a prophet; he believed He was the Lord, and he fell on his face, knowing he was not fit to be near, and said, “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.”

Jesus did not fear or hesitate to touch the poor leper; He put forth His hand and touched him, and said, “I will: be thou clean.”

What Cleansing a Leper Means

Jesus then told the man to go to the priest for the cleansing required for one healed of leprosy.

In Leviticus 14 we are told just what must be done to cleanse such a one: first, the priest must carefully inspect, to be certain the disease was over; then take two live birds, and kill one and dip the other in the blood, and let it loose to fly away. The man was sprinkled seven times with the blood of the dead bird; later he was to take two lambs, and flour and oil to the priests to be offered to God for him. If he were poor he could bring two pigeons instead of one of the lambs.

When the priests at the temple had all those offerings to make, and the blood and the oil to be sprinkled, as told, they surely would inquire how the leper had been cured, wouldn’t they? It is not likely they had any lepers cured, to cleanse, as Jesus said there were many lepers in Israel, but none of them was cured (Luke 4:27).

All that careful cleansing of the leper taught those people that God was holy, and they must be made fit as He directed. But they did not understand, as we do now, that the little bird killed, and its blood sprinkled on the leper, taught of One (Christ), to come from Heaven whose blood was shed for sinners. Or that the other little bird, with its feathers dipped in the blood was to teach of that One, raised from death, and going back to Heaven. The lamb offered, also taught of Him; He is now our High Priest in glory, occupied with us.

When we hear of the power of the Lord Jesus, we may “come” to Him, though unworthy as the leper, and confess Him our Lord. The leper was not sure it would be the Lord’s will to cure him, but we know it is His will to save sinners. His words many times invite them to come to Him. Almost the last message of the Bible is, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17). Christ is Himself that “Water of Life.”

Further Meditation

1. What did the priest need to do when a healed leper came to him?

2. Why does all the careful cleansing of the leper teach people that God is holy? What does it mean that we ought to be holy if we are to enjoy common thoughts with our Lord and Saviour? How does God make us holy? What keeps us holy?

3. You’ll find The Law of the Leper by G. C. Willis to be a wonderful and very simple exposition of the Old Testament portion describing what happened to a leper when they had been cleansed of their leprosy.

Sins Forgiven: Luke 5:14-26

The Lord Jesus healed many more sick persons than could be written of, for “great multitudes came ... to hear, and to be healed by Him.” These all told others, and people came from all parts of the land to see and hear this great physician.

One day the house where Jesus was teaching was filled with people, and a crowd stood outside who could not get in. Some men came carrying a helpless cripple on his bed, but could not get to the door. Those men might have said they should wait until another time, but they did not do that; they were so certain Jesus could cure their friend, and so eager for Him to do it, that they took the man on his blankets, or bed, up unto the roof of the house, made an opening, and let him down into the room where Jesus was.

Sins Forgiven and a Body Healed

Jesus was pleased to see such trust, and He rewarded them more than they expected. He said. “Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.” To know his sins would not shut him from God was better even than to have illness cured.

But some of the men in the room did not think Jesus had the right to forgive sins. They were leaders of the nation, scribes and lawyers, some called “doctors,” meaning learned men; they taught the people and made decisions; the most strict were called Pharisees. These men seem to have said to each other that Jesus spoke “blasphemy,” words against God; they said, “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”

Jesus knew their thoughts: He said to them. “Whether is easier, to say, ‘Thy sins be forgiven thee!’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’?”

It might seem easier to cure disease than to forgive sins, yet sickness came into the world because of sin. So it needed the same power to cure the sickness, as to forgive sins. Then Jesus said to the man, “I say unto thee, arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.”

The man stood up, lifted his bed, and walked away; he knew it was by the power of God he was able to walk, and he “glorified God,” praised Him.

The Response to Christ’s Work

But the wise teachers did not believe that Jesus was from God, although John, the prophet of God, had told them that Jesus was the Son of God, which meant He was equal with God the Father. They had seen His great power to heal; He had known their own thoughts. They knew that even the greatest of their prophets had not healed all diseases; instead, they had healed only a few, so they should have thought He must be the promised Messiah. But they did not like Him to speak of sins, and after this always tried to accuse Him of wrong.

Many of the people thought much of this One who forgave sins; they gave glory to God, and were “filled with fear,” meaning reverence and awe. Later in Scripture we read: “Through this Man (the Lord Jesus) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39).

Further Meditation

1. What was even better than having the illness cured?

2. We love the natural mercies like good health that God gives to us. It is a wonderful thing to enjoy His spiritual gifts as well. What spiritual gifts does the Word of God say have been given to us?

3. Forgiveness of sins is an immense gift. You would probably enjoy reading more about it in The Forgiveness of Sins by H. P. Barker.

In the House of Levi: Luke 5:27-39

In all the large towns of Israel there were men at the gates or in the market places to collect the customs (tax) for the Roman government, which then ruled the land. These men were called publicans; they were Jews, but were despised by the leaders of their nation, who felt they were helping the Romans.

As Jesus walked through a town He came to the place where a publican, named Levi sat. This man had no doubt heard Jesus’ words, as He had taught in all places, and believed He was from God, and although he was despised by his nation, Jesus gave him the privilege to go with Him, saying, “Follow Me.”

Levi seems not to have hesitated to leave the work for the Roman ruler, although it meant losing his income; “he left all ... and followed Him.” Then he wanted to honor Jesus and to have others hear His words, so he made a feast at his house and invited many to come, and Jesus and the disciples were there.

Fault Finding

The scribes and Pharisees thought it was wrong to eat and be friends with publicans, and found fault with the disciples. This was Jesus’ answer to their objection, “They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.”

That meant Jesus was as a physician to those who knew they were sinners, and not fit for God, but those who thought they were “whole,” or fit for God, did not know they needed Him to save or “cure” them.

The Pharisees also found fault that Jesus’ disciples did not fast often, and make public prayers. To go without food was a sign of sorrow; Jesus showed them His disciples were not then in sorrow, for He, as a Bridegroom, was with them. He said the time would come when “the Bridegroom” would be gone; then His followers would “fast” with sorrow.

It is often told that Jesus prayed, and His disciples must have prayed, but not repeating long prayers in public as these men expected.

Joy and the Bridegroom

Perhaps if you think of what Jesus said, that the “children”, or family, of the Bridegroom would “fast’’ when He was gone, it will help you to understand why Christians do not try all the pleasures of those who do not believe the Lord. While He is gone is not the time of great pleasure to them, although they joy in His love and care; their great joy will be in Heaven. When He comes to reign over the earth, all here will rejoice, as the Psalms tell (see Psalm 150).

“No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old ... and no man putteth new wine into old bottles.”

The law was the old torn garment, but the Lord Jesus was teaching them the new ways of grace and truth, which were to trust the person of the Son of God.

“The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

Wine spoke of joy, but the joys in Christ could not be put back in the “old bottles” of the law, for that could not hold the wonderful new joy in Him.

Further Meditation

1. What does it mean that some thought they were “whole”?

2. We live in a world that feeds on instant gratification. We all want what we want when we want it. We are promised the right color clothing, in the right style with the right features at a sale price. Where is the true joy of a Christian found and how do we focus on it?

3. If you’ve been meditating on the subject of joy for a Christian then you might find, The Secret to a Happy Fruitful Christian Life: Part 1 Where True Joy Is Found and How it Is Sustained by B. Anstey to be a real encouragement to your soul and a simple article to read.

Two Sabbath Days: Luke 6:1-12

The Sabbath day was the seventh day of the week, which we call Saturday.

One sabbath day Jesus and the disciples walked by a field of ripe grain; the grain is here called “corn,” but that word long ago meant any grain. It may have been wheat or barley, as the disciples picked some and rubbed it in their hands to take off the chaff, and ate them as you may have done in a harvest time.

The people then were free to pick a small amount from their neighbor’s fields, but the Pharisees saw what the disciples did and said they were wrong to do that on the sabbath day. The law of God to Israel was that no work should be done on the sabbath, and the leaders had made their own laws as to what was work

What David’s Story Teaches

Jesus answered them with a story from the Scriptures of what David once did: the men thought highly of David, and Jesus asked them,

“Have ye not read ... what David did, when ... ahungered ... how he went into the house of God, and did take and eat of the showbread, and gave also to them that were with him?” (See 1 Samuel 21:6).

The “showbread” was the bread put in the house of God, fresh each sabbath, and the old bread could be eaten by the priests, but by no one else (Leviticus 24:5-9). So it was not lawful for David to take the bread. But David was anointed of God to be king. King Saul was trying to kill him, so when he and his men were hungry they were kept alive by the holy bread.

Jesus was the Anointed by God, greater than David;all belonged to Him, yet people did not provide for Him and those with Him. If the Anointed One was not honored, the laws had no force or use. He told the men that He was Lord, or Master, also of the sabbath, so His disciples could take the grain for food on that day.

Good on the Sabbath

Another sabbath day Jesus was teaching the people in the synagogue, and there was a man with his right hand so withered that all could notice it, and the Pharisees, who said the disciples were wrong to take the grain on the sabbath, began to watch to see if Jesus would heal the man’s hand, so they could accuse Him of breaking the sabbath.

Jesus knew their thoughts against Him, and He told the man with the withered hand to stand up before the people where all could see his need, then He asked the question, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil ? to save life, or to destroy it?”

Jesus then told the man to stretch forth his hand; and as the man did so, his deformed hand became perfect as his other hand.

To see the Lord Jesus do this miracle by the power of His word, should have shown those men Who He was. But they still thought more of the law of the sabbath day, than of the power of God, which could do so wonderful a cure.

Further Meditation

1. How did God allow his showbread to be used in the time of David?

2. How do we react when the Lord Jesus teaches us something we don’t want to hear? The Pharisees were so pleased with their goodness in keeping the Sabbath in an outward way that they wouldn’t accept the one who came to do good on that day. What would have been an appropriate way for the Pharisees to react?

3. A comparison of the Sabbath for the Jew and the Lord’s Day for Christians can be enjoyed in The Sabbath and the Lord’s Day by C. Stanley.

Twelve Men: Luke 6:13-16

Here are the names of twelve men whom the Lord Jesus chose from among the men who had believed His teachings, that He could teach them more, that they could better tell others of Him: Simon Peter, James, Philip, Matthew, James, Judas, Andrew, John, Bartholomew, Thomas, Simon, and Judas Iscariot.

We notice there were two Simons, two James, and two named Judas. We have already read how Jesus called the two brothers, Simon and Andrew to follow Him, and also the brothers James and John, who were all fishermen, and they left their work to go with Him. Then He called Levi, the publican, also named Matthew, to come with Him, and He said the same words, “Follow Me” to Philip (Matthew 4:18-22; Matthew 9:9; John 1:43).

Following the Lord Jesus

These men were not to follow certain laws but a Holy Person, the Lord Jesus. All who believed His teachings were His disciples and they all told others of Him, but these twelve He called apostles, which means “sent ones.” While He was on earth, He often sent them ahead in that land to tell of Him as the Messiah, and after His return to heaven they were sent to all the world to tell of Him as Saviour and Lord. But they are not often called apostles until after His return to heaven. They are called “His Disciples” or “the twelve.”

They were in Galilee when Jesus chose them, and seem to have lived in the towns there, unless Judas Iscariot was from Judea, as there was a town of that name there, and persons were sometimes known by the name of their town. They were all Jewish men, and must have been taught to read, as were all boys of their nation. But the leaders of Jerusalem looked upon the people of Galilee as unlearned, because they were not taught as they, and later spoke of them as “ignorant men” (Acts 4:13).

But these men of Galilee had heard the books of Moses and the prophets read in the synagogues, and the words of John the Baptist, but best of all they learned from the highest Teacher, the Lord Jesus.

And all these men, except Judas Iscariot, the traitor, loved and truly “followed” the Lord Jesus, even though they suffered prison and death because of the learned men of Jerusalem, and are named again in Acts 1:13. And two wrote the life of Jesus—Matthew and John—so how much we learn from them!

You may wonder when you read Simon Peter called Cephas which was the name for stone in the language spoken in Galilee, but in the writings of the gospels and epistles, the name Peter was used most, as it was the Greek word for stone, so Peter and Cephas mean the same.

Further Meditation

1. What does the word “apostle” mean?

2. We all need to be taught by others in our lives. What determines whose teaching we listen to? How can we listen to and “follow” the Lord Jesus today?

3. You might find the little booklet Following Christ by A. M. Barry a very helpful encouragement in your own discipleship.

Words of Wisdom: Luke 6:17-38

Many of the talks of the Lord Jesus were to the people out of doors; such multitudes came from all parts of the country that there would not have been room in a building. Many came to be cured, and “He healed them all” but He taught them also, and we read His words now.

The people then did not know they listened to the One Who had created the earth and all things; how wonderful to hear Him away from the disturbances of the towns! We can see what wisdom there was in all He said, and how well He knew the lives of the people and their thoughts, just as He knows ours also.

Some of His words seem meant for the disciples who believed Him, yet all should believe, and they heard His plain words. He explained that if they were poor, hungry, weeping, and hated by men for the sake of the Son of Man, they would most surely be blessed.

The Lord’s “New Way”

The law told that one who hurt another should be equally punished by him, but here Jesus gave “new ways” as He had before told there would be.

“But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”

This is not the natural way of man, but it is the way for those who follow the Lord Jesus, and the way of the kingdom or rule of God, “He is kind unto the unthankful and ... . evil.” “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”

All this showed that there would be wrongs and evils to suffer, but that the Lord would be a just judge, who would see all, and reward. He is the one who gives “good measure” of blessing for all done for Him; He told the people “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over shall men give into your bosom” (Luke 6:38).

The law said they were to have just standards of weights and measure; Then each man in his work or business was to use such exact and just measure, not to carry with him smaller measures, for profit to himself. Those who follow the Lord, would do even better than the “just” measure, they would “give,” which means something not expected to be paid for. Men might never return the gift, or good measure, but the Lord will and His return will be “running over.” Even in this world His blessings of added peace joyfully repay all done for Him.

Read of the just weights (Leviticus 19:35-36; Deuteronomy 25:13-15).

So the words of the Lord Jesus are higher and fuller than the law of Moses: they show He may be honored in the everyday life of those who want to follow Him. He did not promise lives free from trials, but that the reward of God would be sure. Many boys and girls must have been in the great company listening to the Lord, and understood His teaching, which is true for us today.

Further Meditation

1. What is meant by a just standard of weights and measures?

2. Should a Christian only worry about being fair when they do business with others? How does the thought of “giving” enter into our interactions with others?

3. A more challenging pamphlet on the topic of giving can be found in Christian Giving: Its Character and Objects by A. P. Cecil and others. You might find it helpful in studying this under-appreciated topic.

Questions of the Lord Jesus: Luke 6:39-49

Sometimes we understand a subject best by a question. Now notice the questions of the Lord Jesus: “Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?” He did not explain the questions, but they are said to be “a parable,” so there was a lesson hidden in them for the people to learn, and for us too. We know if a blind man lead another, he might go too near the edge of the road, and stumble into the ditch, causing the other to fall too.

There were leaders among the people who would not believe that the Great Teacher was the holy Son of God, because they did not want to think of their sins. And they did not look at, or “see” God’s words, so they were “blind” to the wondrous Person who had come, and were leading others their way, and must all “fall into a ditch,” or into trouble.

Blindness

It is the same now. There are people who do not believe that the Son of God came to earth; they do not listen to God’s words, or think they need the Saviour, and they try to lead others to think the same. Jesus’ questions were a warning not to be led by the “blind.”

This is another question He asked: “Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is thine own eye?”

A mote is a very tiny particle, as dust; a beam is a piece of wood. If you had a large substance in your eye, you could not see to remove even a tiny bit of dust for another, could you? But what lesson can this teach? Both the mote and the beam hinder good sight, so they teach of wrong things which we say or do, that keep us from seeing God’s way. So first we must “take out” the wrong in us; to do that, we first realize and say, “I was wrong,” then, “I am sorry,” and cease from the wrong; then we will be able to help another to be rid of his wrong.

Building on the Rock

The last words of the Lord’s talk we can easily understand. He said, “Whosoever cometh to Me, and heareth My sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built a house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it; for it was founded upon a rock.”

Those who hear the Lord’s words and believe Him, have a safe place on the “Rock,” which we know is the Lord Himself.

“But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation, built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”

When we hear the Lord’s words but do not believe, we are the same as the man who built his house on the sand, and not on the “Rock,” Christ. We will have no safe place, and the storm of judgment from God will overwhelm us.

Further Meditation

1. What keeps us from seeing God’s way?

2. No sensible person would build their house on a foundation of earth instead of rock. How do we practically build on Christ the Rock in our lives?

3. You might find the booklet From Blindness to Worship by E. P. Corrin based on the story of the blind man in John 9 to be a helpful if challenging meditation on how we receive our spiritual eyesight.

A Captain's Faith: Luke 7:1-10

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, the Roman nation ruled Israel and kept soldiers in many towns to enforce the laws. A captain over one hundred of those soldiers was called a centurion. One of these men lived in a city where Jesus did so many miracles. He was a kind man who had done much for the Jewish inhabitants, and seems to have heard of Jesus from them. So when one of his servants was very sick, and dying, he sent men to ask Jesus to come to heal him.

Jesus started toward the centurion’s house, but before He reached it, men came with a message from the centurion, saying, “Lord, trouble not Thyself, for I am not worthy that Thou shouldest enter under my roof ... neither thought I myself worthy to come unto Thee; but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.”

It seems the centurion had never seen Jesus, but, because of the wonderful things He had done, he knew Jesus was the Lord from Heaven, and had all power and authority, and he felt himself unworthy for His holy presence. Yet he must have longed to see Jesus, and soon came himself to Him. For we read that Jesus said to him, “Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee” (Matthew 8:13).

That Roman officer was not mistaken as to the power and authority of the word of the Lord Jesus; “in the selfsame hour” the servant was healed.

It pleased the Lord Jesus that this man, who had not always known the promises of the Holy One to come, (as the people of the land had), believed He was the Lord. Jesus said He had “not found so great faith” in Israel.

The centurion must later have known of the death of Jesus and learned that it was by His death that those who trust Him are made worthy to be in His presence.

What of the sick servant so suddenly made well? It is not told about him, yet we would think he surely must have wanted to see Jesus.

True Faith

You often hear the word “faith” spoken of, but perhaps you do not understand what it means. This story of the centurion explains it, as Jesus said he had great faith: he had not seen Jesus, yet he believed Him to be the Lord, because of the things Jesus had done which no other could do.

So you see this captain’s faith was not in anything he himself had done or could do, although he held a trusted position; his faith was all in what Jesus had done.

We now have all heard of Jesus’ mighty deeds and of His words, and how, in spite of His power, He allowed men to nail Him on a cross, that He should die for our sins. If we believe Him as our Lord and Saviour, and all our trust is in Him, that is faith.

Jesus once told the people that they should believe Him for the works which He did, (John 10:38), and He also said these words, “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

Further Meditation

1. What made the centurian’s faith in the Lord extra special?

2. Have you ever had someone doubt what you said to them? What makes it special when they believe what you have to say?

3. You might find the simple and encouraging leaflet The Work of Faith by J. N. Darby a help to you as you study the subject of faith in the Scriptures.

A Great Change: Luke 7:11-17

There was a city of Galilee, called Nain, which means beauty, or pleasant. It was built on the hillside, with a lovely view of the mountains, and we might expect all to be very happy there.

But many were sad the day Jesus and the disciples walked up the hill, for death had come in that pleasant city. And when Jesus and those with Him came near the gates, a funeral procession was coming out on the way to the tombs. People did not then use carriages, but walked, and men carried the dead person on what is called a bier, or stretcher.

The person who had died was not old, but a young man, the only son of a widow. This mother was weeping, and the many friends with her could not comfort her, or take the place of her dear son. She did not know that there was One near who could change her sorrow to joy.

Jesus came to her and said, “Weep not.” Then He stepped to the bier and touched it. The men carrying it seemed to feel His authority and stood still. Then Jesus spoke to the lifeless body, “Young man, I say unto thee. Arise” The young man sat up and began to speak; what he said is not told, but what a change from a dead body, so soon to have been laid in the tomb! And what instant power came by the voice of the Lord Jesus!

The young man’s mother or his friends could have called ever so loudly and he would not have heard, but the voice of the Lord at once brought him to life. Wonder and joy must have filled his mother’s heart, and “fear,” or awe and great reverence, came to all the people beside that road. They said “A great prophet is risen up among us.” Later they would learn that Jesus was more than a prophet— that He was the Son of God.

Resurrection

This account is given only by Luke: the story of the raising of the ruler’s daughter is given later (Luke 8). So this young man may have been the first person the Lord Jesus raised from death. His sorrow for that mother and His words, “Weep not,” can still comfort those who mourn, and His power to raise that one, assures us that He will do so for all, as He later said. And it will be His own voice which will call the dead of all ages, for He said, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice (the voice of the Son of Man), and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28-29).

In the Bible, “the good” or “the just,” are those who believe God’s words; “the evil” or “the unjust” are those who do not believe God. So these words tell that those who believe God will be raised for blessing: those who do not believe Him, will be raised later for judgment (in Revelation 20:5 a time is named between the resurrections). These are solemn words; how important to believe God and the Son of God, whom He sent!

“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces” (Isaiah 25:8; Revelation 21:4).

Further Meditation

1. What does it mean that fear came on the people who saw the widow’s son raised from the dead?

2. What is it that makes the death of a loved one such a painful moment? Why does the power of God to raise the dead cause both great joy and intense fear?

3. You might the short pamphlet Death, the Intermediate State, Resurrection, and Final Destiny by B. Anstey to be very informative as you think about what happens after death.

A Question and the Answer: Luke 7:18-35

The wicked ruler Herod had put the prophet John in prison. Even there John heard of the wonderful miracles done by Jesus, and he sent men to ask Him this question: “Art Thou He that should come, or look we for another?”

John had been certain that Jesus was the promised One to come from God, but being in prison was hard, and no doubt he supposed the Messiah would free him.

It seems Jesus did not answer the question right away; He kept on curing all the sick people about Him, casting out evil spirits, and giving sight to the blind. Afterward, He said to the men, “Go your way, tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.”

If those men did not see the dead raised, they could have the witness of many who had seen, even perhaps of the ones raised. All the wondrous things they saw, fulfilled the words of the prophets about the good to be done by the promised Messiah to come.

So Jesus’ answer taught John, and the men sent, that they could judge from the scriptures, which they knew, that Jesus was indeed “the One to come.” Even in prison John was to trust God’s words and believe Christ.

The promises of the Messiah’s freeing God’s people from all evil, was as true as the other good things, but the rulers did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. So the time did not then come for all evil to be stopped, and John was not freed from prison, and suffered a most unjust death.

What Jesus Taught the Crowd

Jesus told the people that John was the prophet written of long before: “Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee.” (See also Malachi 3:1).

John came to announce the Lord Himself, so was the greatest of all prophets, yet many did not believe his words, and did not believe Jesus. They did not like John to live apart from them, and speak against their sins; neither did they like Jesus to live among the people, ready to forgive their sins. Jesus said, “They are like unto children sitting in the market place, and calling one to another ... We have piped unto you and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.”

Jesus showed that the men, who were leaders of the people and should have been wise to believe, were like foolish, contrary people.

John the Baptist called them to mourn; they had no heart for it. Then came the Lord Jesus, calling them, as it were, to rejoice at the glad tidings of great joy, but they heeded Him not. John was too strict, and the Lord Jesus was too gracious. They could not accept either, and in fact, man dislikes God. Whatever they might plead in the way of abuse of John or Jesus, “Wisdom is justified of all her children.”

The children of wisdom (those in whom the wisdom of God worked) gave glory to it and its ways.

Further Meditation

1. What did Jesus’ answer teach John?

2. We are very conscious of rejection and suffering. What would it have been like for John to expect a great response to his preaching and then find himself in jail? How are we taught that the world as a whole will respond to the gospel?

3. If you’ve been thinking about suffering you might find the pamphlet The Meaning of Suffering, by R. Elliott to be a real encouragement and help in forming a Biblical view of the subject.

At a Supper: Luke 7:36-50

A man named Simon invited Jesus to come to his house for a meal. While they were eating, a woman came in and stood behind Jesus weeping.

The woman had not been invited, but had heard that Jesus was there, and she wanted so much to come to Him, that she seems not to have thought she was intruding, or of anything but of Him. Her tears fell on His feet and she wiped them with her hair and put on the ointment she had brought.

Why did she weep? It seems to have been because she was so grateful for something Jesus had done for her. And when she had heard He was there, she brought the best she could to honor Him.

A Lowly Servant

It was a custom in that land, because of the warm, dusty streets, to remove the sandals at the door, and to bathe a guest’s feet, sometimes oil was then put on, and it was a mark of special honor to put oil on the head of a guest, also for the host to give a kiss of friendship.

Simon had not done any of those favors for Jesus, but the woman did much more, she wiped the dust from His feet with her own hair, and kissed His feet and put the oil on them. It was as though she did not feel worthy to place the oil on His head. It must have been the best ointment she could procure, as it was in an alabaster box, or flask, which are said to have come from Egypt, being used for expensive oil and perfumes.

But all she did was as a lowly servant, grateful to Jesus, and He was honored. But Simon was not so pleased; he thought to himself that if Jesus were a prophet He would have known this woman was a sinner, not fit to touch anyone.

Simon had heard Jesus talk to the people, and no doubt knew of His great miracles, yet he doubted He was even great as a prophet. But Jesus knew Simon’s thoughts, and answered him, which should have made him realize that Jesus was even greater than any prophet. Jesus knew that the woman had sinned, for He said her sins were “many,” but He also knew she wept because of them, and notice also that He said, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven.”

She had come humbly to the One who could forgive her all her sins. She loved and honored Him, and how His words before all must have comforted her! She had not even waited for what others might think a suitable time, she had come at once when she knew where Jesus was.

Some have thought this is the same woman who had anointed Jesus a few days before His death, written of in Matthew 26, Mark 14, John 12, and both anointings were in the house of men named Simon, but this Simon is called, “a Pharisee,” and lived in Galilee.

That Simon is spoken of only as a leper, and lived in Bethany of Judea. This woman is not named; that woman was Mary of Bethany. The Lord said to Simon, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven.”

Further Meditation

1. How did Simon treat his guest?

2. How did the woman show her value and appreciation for the Lord Jesus? In what practical way can we do the same thing every day of our lives?

3. Some of the details of this chapter are easier to understand if we have a good grasp of the culture in Bible times. One helpful resource in studying subjects like feet washing is Manners and Customs of the Bible by J. H. Freeman.

Three Grateful Women: Luke 8:1-3

When Jesus went to every city and town around Galilee to tell people God’s words and to teach them, many women went with Him and His disciples.

The women followed Him to hear more of His words and see the good He did for others, because they were so grateful for what He had done for them. Each one of them had been healed of some disease, or freed of evil spirits.

Three of these women are named: first Mary Magdalene, who may have had the most to be grateful for, since Jesus had freed her of seven evil spirits. We may not understand these, but they were common in that land, where for many years the people had turned from God, and worshipped idols. The wicked spirits never did good, but distressed or hurt the person, so the condition of this woman would have been dreadful, and her heart was filled with gratitude to Jesus.

The next woman named is Joanna; her trouble is not told, but she was another one that Jesus had cured, and she was truly grateful. Her husband was a steward, or treasurer for Herod, the ruler of Galilee; that would be called a good position, yet Joanna thought more of hearing the Lord’s words and followed Him with the others. She must have walked over hilly, dusty roads.

The last woman named here was Susanna; no special thing was written of her, but she was another so grateful for the Lord’s goodness to her, that she also followed Him, and we may be sure these women all spoke to others of the good Jesus had done for them.

Giving to the Lord Jesus

There is something else told of these women: they “ministered unto Him of their substance.” That means they willingly gave to Jesus of what they had, not because they were told to, or asked, but of their own wish; they served Him with food or with money or clothing, happy to do all for Him.

When Jesus made His last visit to Jerusalem, many women of Galilee were in the company with Him, still serving Him in ways they could. Mary Magdalene is named as one of them, and no doubt Joanna was also, as both are named as being at His tomb, where they found He had risen. They had deepest joy then, and later Jesus Himself spoke to them (Matthew 27:55-56; Luke 23:55; Luke 24:10; Matthew 28:9).

These women did not weary of hearing the words of Jesus, or of working for Him. Others must have been helped by their trust, and the Lord Himself was honored. The women were not sent to preach the glad tidings, as the apostles were, yet this shows they helped with needed things, and it was written that women now, even the younger ones, will know that the Lord is pleased with whatever is done from love to Him, because of the great good He has already done.

“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all ... especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).

“God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have showed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Hebrews 6:10).

Further Meditation

1. How did these women give to the Lord Jesus?

2. It’s hard for us to work hard when others aren’t watching, but most of what these three women did would have been “behind the scenes.” What gave them the motivation to work and give willingly? How can the same motivation be at work in our own lives?

3. You may find real blessing for your soul in listening to Bible Teaching while you work. You might find Women in Scripture, Perseverance, and Various Themes by C. H. Brown to be quite helpful. It is a very inexpensive collection of teaching on an MP3 Audio CD which includes a message on women in the Scriptures among its 49 Bible messages.

The Parable of the Sower: Luke 8:4-21

“And when much people were gathered together, and were come to Him (Jesus), out of every city, He spake by a parable: A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and chocked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold.”

We have read this parable in the books of Matthew and Mark, but it was a most important one, told also by Luke. And, since the Lord told it when such a great crowd of people were present “out of every city” of that district, He must have wanted everyone to think of it carefully. After He told it, He spoke loudly, saying, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Lord’s Explanation of the Parable

What could be plainer than that? We are all to be sure we think of and believe these words. Even small children can understand about planting seed.

We know a parable has a lesson hidden in the story, but we cannot mistake the lesson in this parable, because Jesus Himself explained it. He said, “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.”

His next words explained that, “the ground” where the “seed” could “grow” was the minds and hearts of people who heard God’s word.

And “the good ground,” Jesus said, “are they, which in an honest and a good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”

An “honest heart” knows it is not fit for God, and a “good heart” believes God’s words. That is what God wants of us, to be honest about ourselves, and to believe His words. Then His words take root and grow.

One who hears God’s words, but decides they are not true or are not needed, is like the wayside where the seed is trodden on, or the birds or Satan snatches it away, and it can never take root. Satan is afraid they will believe the Word and be saved.

One who hears God’s Word and thinks about it some, but when friends tempt or ridicule, gives it up is like the plants which wither away on stony ground.

Others who hear God’s Word, but think more of their work, or their pleasures, or something they have, are like the ground where the thorns choked out the good seed. They are utterly indifferent to God’s words.

Let us each ask ourselves, which kind of ground is my heart? Do I let the good “seed” of God’s Word take root and grow in my heart?

First be honest and confess to God that you could not save your soul, and then believe His promise of the One to save—the Lord Jesus.

Further Meditation

1. What is the good seed in the parable?

2. What would stop God’s good seed from growing in our hearts? How can we be good ground for God’s Word to work in our hearts?

3. One of the ways that ground is prepared for planting is by plowing it up. In the Bible repentance is sometimes represented by plowing up the ground to receive seed. You can learn more about this vital topic in the simple pamphlet Repentence by H. P. Barker.

In a Storm: Luke 8:22-40

“Now it came to pass on certain day, that He (Jesus) went into a ship with His disciples: and He said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.

“But as they sailed, He fell asleep and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy [danger]. And they came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, Master, Master, we perish. Then He arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water; and they ceased, and there was a calm.”

The men had seen the power of Jesus to cure the sick and raise the dead, yet they greatly wondered that He could quiet a storm. They said to one another, “What manner of man is this! for He commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey Him.” (See also Mark 4:35-41).

The disciples did not then realize that Jesus was the Son of God, One with God the Father when the seas and land were made, “All things were made by Him” (John 1:3).

By their danger He taught them more of who He was, and showed them they had little trust. When He had said, “Let us go to the other side,” would they not surely reach there? Was He not with them?

His word was sure; they would not sink under the stormy waves.

What We Can Learn About Our God Today

But Jesus’ words, “Let us go over unto the other side” are for us too. He said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20).

We cannot see Him as the disciples did, yet He is still with His own in spirit and is teaching them by the troubles to trust Him more.

“The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm” (Nahum 1:3).

No storm of trouble is too big for Him to give peace. We shall surely reach “the other side,” which for us is heaven, for He also said, “They shall never perish” (John 10:28).

The Man Among the Tombs

That day when Jesus and the disciples landed on the shore, they saw a man living among the tombs, and he was very fierce, because of wicked spirits living within him. He had been bound with chains, but broke them.

In spite of his dreadful condition, the Lord Jesus had power to free him, and commanded the evil spirits to leave him. They did so, but went into a herd of pigs feeding nearby, and the whole herd ran violently down the steep hill into the lake and drowned.

What happened to the man who had been so tormented? He sat down quietly at Jesus’ feet, thankful for what Jesus had done for him, and wanting to be with Him. But the saddest part of this story is that, when the men who kept the pigs ran to tell the owners what had happened, they, with many other people of the town, came to Jesus and begged Him to leave their lands. They were afraid more of their animals would be lost, and that meant more to them than that Jesus should save people from such awful misery as that man had been in. So Jesus went away.

Further Meditation

1. What did the disciples not understand about the Lord Jesus when they were with Him on the lake?

2. We often measure the size of our troubles by our ability to counteract them in our own strength. How might we learn to be calm in the middle of very difficult circumstances? What does the Lord do to remind us of His power and ability to save?

3. A real encouragement in meeting the storms of life can be found in The Lord Hath His Way by R. Elliott.

The Ruler's Daughter: Luke 8:41-56

In one city where Jesus came, the daughter of the leader, or ruler, in the synagogue was dying. Her father had no doubt heard Jesus teach, and knew the miracles He had done for so many, and he hurried to Jesus, asking Him to come to his house and heal his little girl.

But before they reached the home, messengers came to say the girl had died. They said, “Trouble not the Master.” They thought it was too late for Jesus to help, But the Lord knew differently: He told the father, “Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.”

They went on to the home, and found the friends and relatives weeping and bewailing the girl’s death. These people cried aloud when there was a death, because they knew death had come into the pleasant earth God had made, because God was disobeyed. Now, people decorate the room, and the dead person, to hide that death is a sad thing.

Power Over Death

Then by the law of God whoever touched a dead person was “defiled,” or “unclean” not fit to enter the temple or worship God, until cleansed as the law required, (Numbers 19:1-13). But even the animal, without spot, or blemish, slain for their cleansing, was a symbol of Christ. He would by His own death deliver them from fear of death and cleanse them from the sin which caused death (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Even then Jesus had power over death, and did not hesitate to go near or touch the dead. He was holy and could not be defiled (Hebrews 7:26). So that day He went into the room, and took the little girl by the hand, and said to her, “Arise.” Her spirit came again to her body; and she arose to the great joy of her father and mother.

The Lord did not want this great act told, perhaps so that people would not follow Him merely to see a miracle. But He brought great comfort to the father and mother who believed Him.

Jesus spoke of the girl as “asleep.” In our day those who die trusting Christ, their bodies are said to be “asleep” in Him; and their spirits already “present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Before He comes to call His people to meet Him in the air, there are still needy ones to save, as that day He and the anxious father could not pass quickly on the way, because of the crowd, and He stopped to speak to one poor woman.

Power Over Disease

This woman had had a serious sickness a long time, and no doctor could help her. She had heard of Jesus, and she thought if she could only touch His clothes, His power would heal her. So she pressed close behind Him in the crowd and touched the hem of His garment. Her great trust was rewarded; she was healed immediately.

But Jesus knew He had been touched by one who was needy, and He asked who had done it. The woman feared He was displeased, and trembled as she knelt before Him and told Him. But Jesus spoke most kindly to her: “Daughter (a friendly name), be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.”

Further Meditation

1. Under the law what happened to someone who touched a dead person?

2. The power of disease and death are all around us in our world. How should we respond when one or the other touches our own family? What resources has God given to us to face these big problems?

3. One particularly difficult circumstance in life is when a very young child dies. If you or a loved one have experienced it, you might find Your Little One Is in Heaven by J. B. Marchbanks to be a real help.

Food in a Desert: Luke 9:1-22

Jesus sent His disciples to the towns around to tell people about the time of God’s kingdom or rule on earth. This time was written of in the Scriptures, and the prophet John had told them to confess and leave their sinful ways to be ready for God’s time of blessing.

In that time all must be done righteously; there would be none poor or in pain or trouble, and Jesus gave the disciples power to do great miracles to show the people the power of God’s kingdom. He said the people should receive them to their homes and treat them as God’s messengers.

We do not learn in this chapter how they were treated by people where they went, but we know that they told HIM all when they returned. After that, Jesus had them go with Him to a wilderness for a time of quiet. But people heard where they had gone and many followed them.

Jesus taught them again and healed all who needed healing. When it came near evening, the disciples thought the people should start for their homes. But Jesus did not like them to go without food, as no doubt it was a long distance to walk, and He said for the disciples to give them food.

The Great Provider

The men said the food was only five loaves of bread and two fish; that would feed only a few of the many people. Yet Jesus said to have them all sit down. Perhaps you know the rest of this wonderful event, how Jesus gave thanks to God for what they had, then broke it in pieces, and the pieces became many, for there was plenty for all.

Do you know how many thousand men were fed that meal, from the five loaves and two fish? And there were twelve baskets of pieces left. We do not know the size of the loaves, perhaps quite small, as a boy had them (John 6:9), but we know it was a great miracle that many were fed.

This showed the people how surely they would be provided for by Jesus as their Messiah; all were cared for alike and there was enough for all. They had all heard how God had sent the small flakes from heaven, called manna, to provide food for their nation for forty years in desert lands, and this would teach them it was the same care and power of God acting that day. It was a promise of God’s rule that Christ would satisfy the poor with bread (Psa. 132:15).

The Christ of God

The people wondered which one of the great prophets Jesus was; his disciples were certain He was greater than any prophet. He asked them,

“Whom say ye that I am?”

“The Christ of God,” Peter answered.

There was no doubt to Peter that Jesus was the Christ, or The Messiah, (which means the same), the Anointed One from God.

Jesus did not tell them that He would soon take the throne as Israel’s King, as they expected Him to do. Instead, He told them sad words, that He would suffer many things from the “elders and chief priests and scribes,” who were the leaders of the people. Jesus told His disciples plainly that He would die, but that He would rise the third day. He knew that He was to be rejected as the Messiah.

Further Meditation

1. Why do we believe the loaves the Lord broke were small?

2. We are sometimes in a situation where we have very limited resources and a very large need. How does the Lord turn our little into His great abundance in our day?

3. Sometimes its nice to have a full treatment of a topic. If you would like an in-depth exposition of this gospel to use as a reference then you might find An Exposition of the Gospel of Luke by W. Kelly to be a nice addition to your Bible study.

A Glimpse of Glory: Luke 9:23-36

The Lord Jesus knew that He would not be accepted as the promised Messiah, or King of Israel, and that He would suffer death. He knew His disciples would suffer for His sake, but as a comfort to them, He spoke of that time of glory which would certainly come. He said some of them should see that glory before their death.

Not long after that He took three of the disciples with Him up on a mountain away from all others. While Jesus prayed the disciples fell asleep; when they awoke they saw the appearance of Jesus was changed, and His garments were white and shining, and glory was about Him.

Moses and Elijah

Two men were talking with Him. They were Moses and Elias (Elijah), who had taught God’s words to Israel long, long before. They had believed God would send One to rule on earth, but that was not what they talked of. Instead, we read, they talked with the Lord Jesus of His “decease,” which means His death.

The disciples seem to have known who Moses and Elijah were, though their appearance is not described for us. Peter felt such honor was due these great prophets that he spoke to the Lord Jesus that three monuments should be made there on the mountain, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. At that instant a cloud came over them, and a Voice spoke to them from the cloud, saying,

“This is My beloved Son: hear Him.”

The Glory of Jesus

The Voice from heaven and the brightness made the disciples fear, but they learned by those words that Jesus, the holy Son of God, was far greater than the most useful prophets, and the way to honor Him was not by a monument, or a high place on earth, but by listening to His words. They were to “hear Him,” believe Him.

This glory of Jesus had not been shown before, and He had lived among them as a humble man, so this event is called His transfiguration, which means change of form or appearance. But He did not then stay in that form of glory, but came down the mountain with the disciples to continue His work for all. When Peter later wrote of this time of glory, he said, We “were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Pet. 1:16-18).

And it is wonderful to read that the One who lived so humbly here will appear at last with the glory due Him. But only those who accept Him as the sacrifice for their sins can rejoice in His glory.

“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood ... to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever” (Revelation 1:5-6).

Further Meditation

1. What does transfiguration mean?

2. It sure isn’t normal for someone to hide their excellence and glory. Not everyone brags openly about it, but most don’t mind others finding out. Why would the Lord Jesus only show this part of His glory to a select few disciples? How can we see His glory today?

3. You might find reading the pamphlet (or listening to the audio CD) The Glories of the Mount by H. Smith to be a wonderful way to deepen your study of the Lord’s glory as displayed in this chapter.

Children Who Saw Jesus: Luke 9:37-62

When the Lord Jesus returned to the people after His time of glory on the mountain, the first one He is told of helping was a child. The boy was in dreadful distress, worse than any we have known. The father grieved to see his boy suffer, and had brought him to the disciples, but they could not help him.

When the man saw Jesus, he begged Him to help; Jesus said, “Bring thy son hither.” And at the word of Jesus, the boy was made well. The father could take him home, which must have been a happy time for that family.

Many people of that land had followed the ways of Satan, who has always been a cruel master, and even caused children to suffer, and only the power of Jesus could change that. There is to be a time when He will show His power over all sin and suffering (see Romans 8:22-23).

Little Children and Humility

Another child is told of here, not a sick child, but a little one, perhaps playing near where Jesus was. He took it and set it by Him, and said to the disciples, “Whosoever shall receive this child in My name receiveth Me ... for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.”

The little child was not great or important, but Jesus loved it, and He wanted the disciples to be humble as a little child, and care for even the weakest ones for His sake. He wanted them not to think of their own honor or high positions, as He knew they were thinking.

How wonderful it was for that child to stand beside the Lord Jesus, and to know that He cared for him! Children now do not see the Lord on earth, but He loves all, and calls them to Him by His words, “Come unto Me,” so they can love Him. One of the disciples afterward wrote to those who did not see Jesus when He was on earth, and said,

“Whom having not seen, ye love” (1 Peter 1:8).

The disciples learned to be very humble, and gave their lives for the Lord Jesus, without high positions on earth.

No Home in a World of Sin

There was one man who asked to follow Jesus, whom Jesus told that He had no home. It is not written if the man followed anyway, but Jesus’ words were: “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.”

A fox is a small animal and we might say of no use, except for its fur, but it has the instinct to dig a hole for itself, and the birds can make nests. Yet the Lord Jesus, who was Creator of all things, had no home on earth.

To have a home means to settle, or rest, and the Lord could not do that because of sin everywhere. He gave the people the great privilege of knowing that He would stay with them. In one village the people did not want Jesus to lodge there even for one night, and the disciples asked if they should not be destroyed, but Jesus answered,

“The Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:56).

Further Meditation

1. What did the Lord Jesus teach His disciples about the little child?

2. Our old nature loves to receive honor from others. What does it mean that we are to be “the least”? In what ways do we become “less” in our own eyes?

3. Humility has great value to our God. You might benefit by considering the subject in the small pamphlet The Beauty of Humility by G. V. Wigram.

Cities Which Refused Jesus: Luke 10:1-22

People used to walk long distances, lodging at night on the way. When Jesus was to make His last journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, He sent men ahead to tell the people on the way that He would soon come to them.

This was to be done promptly, so they were not to stop or talk to friends by the way; they were not to carry supplies, because the people should receive them as God’s messengers, and they were to do the people great good, for the Lord gave them power to cure the sick and to cast out evil spirits.

Jesus knew all would not welcome them, and He told of cities which had already refused Him as Messiah. He spoke of Capernaum, where He had done the greatest miracles, cured the lepers, the sick, the lame and blind and raised the dead: He said the people had been “exalted to heaven,” in their pride, yet the city would be “thrust” from its high honor, because the people did not believe Him.

Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum were later destroyed by armies which came through the land.

Perhaps if we had lived in those cities we would not have found the people more wicked than in cities now; their great sin was they did not want Jesus to be their Messiah or King.

The Harvest Field

Yet the Lord wanted to have every one told of Him; He likened the people to a harvest field, needing workers, saying, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth laborers into His harvest.”

It is not easy to work the long hours in a harvest field, cutting or carrying grain, and the Lord knew it would not be easy to go to people with His words, for many would not believe, even though they were words of blessing.

All the world is now as a “harvest field” in which men tell others of the Lord Jesus, not now as King, but as their Saviour. It is not easy, for there is still unbelief, but we can pray God to send out workers.

When the men whom Jesus had sent returned, they were very happy because they had cast out wicked spirits by His name. But Jesus said not to rejoice for that, but “rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”

What do you think that meant? Names are written so that there will be no mistake, so we know the Lord meant the men could be certain there was a place for them in heaven. He did not say, would be written when they died, but He said, “are written.”

Those men believed in the Lord Jesus. Can the same promise be for those now who believe Him? Yes, for He said,

“My sheep hear My voice (believe Him), and I give unto them eternal life” (John 10:27-28).

“The Lord knoweth them that are His” (2 Tim. 2:19).

Further Meditation

1. What is the harvest field for the Christian?

2. It’s sometimes pretty difficult to continue working month after month without seeing any positive results. How do we know that the Lord understands and has provided for this difficulty in His Word?

3. You might find strength for your soul to work faithfully for your Master by reading The Blessedness of Patient Faith: Meditations on Psalms 40 and 41 by G. V. Wigram.

The Lawyer's Question: Luke 10:23-29

Many years before the Lord Jesus came to earth, God gave laws to Moses which were written in the Scriptures for the people of Israel to know the right ways to live on earth. Men who taught those laws were called lawyers.

But many of those men did not study the scriptures, or believe God’s words, and when Jesus came, they did not believe Him, although they called Him Master, or Teacher, and tried to puzzle Him with hard questions. One said to Him, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

To “inherit” is to have some claim upon: eternal life is life which has no end, and God gives it, but none earn it. Jesus knew this lawyer did not believe God’s words, but He wanted him to think of them, and asked what he read in the law.

No One Can Work for Eternal Life

The man answered with words which Moses repeated to Israel before they went into their land: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind ... and thy neighbor as thyself” (See Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18). God had said, “Which if a man do, he shall live in them” (Lev. 18:5).

The people of Israel did not keep it, for they are all dead, and thus proved they did not keep the law.

No one has ever kept the law, except the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus He glorified God. He has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.

No one can inherit eternal life for all have sinned, and deserve God’s judgment.

No one can work for eternal life, for it is God’s gift to all who will accept the Lord Jesus as his or her Saviour.

“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

The Purpose of the Law

Before God gave the law, He gave the promise of One who would come to bless. He had also shown them of sacrifice, and with the law He gave many words of sacrifice for sins, which all taught of One to take their place. Those who had believed God’s words believed Jesus.

God gave the just and good laws to Israel so the people would see that they did not live pleasing to Him and would want One to come to save them. If we have a wooden ruler and break it, we know how much shorter it is by holding it beside a perfect ruler.

So if the people compared what they did by God’s perfect laws, they could realize how wrong they were. The law is called “a schoolmaster ... unto Christ” (See Galatians 3:19-26; Rom. 3:20).

If that lawyer had been honest he would have said to Jesus, “O Master, I have not kept God’s laws; I am a sinful man.”

Then the Lord Jesus could have shown him, as He did others, that all who believed Him were given eternal life (John 3:15).

Instead, this lawyer tried to “justify,” or excuse, himself.As though God had not made His laws plain, he asked,

“Who is my neighbor?”

To answer that question, Jesus told him a very interesting story, which we will read another time.

Further Meditation

1. What is one reason that God gave His people the law?

2. Admitting we come short of a standard, any standard, is pretty difficult. Why? What does our God do to bring us to repent and accept His standards as perfect?

3. The pamphlet The Law and the Gospel written by C. H. Mackintosh about this very portion of Scripture might be a real help to you as you study further the implications of what the Lord was teaching His listeners.

The Kind Stranger: Luke 10:30-37

This is the story which the Lord Jesus told the wise lawyer, who asked Him, “Who is my neighbor?” “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said ... Take care of him: and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.”

Powerless Pride and Powerful Compassion

The men who did not help the poor man, were from his city, Jerusalem, but the man who helped him, was from another country, Samaria, and altogether a stranger to him. Jesus asked the lawyer which of the three men he thought was neighbor to the man who fell among the thieves.

“He that showed mercy on him,” the lawyer said. That was a right answer, and our neighbor, also, is whoever needs our help.

But the Lord seems to have been teaching something more than about his neighbor. You know the lawyer thought he kept the laws of God, but he had not; he had sinned, and really was as helpless to do anything for God, as the poor hurt man by the road, who had gone away from the city of God, to go to Jericho, the city of the curse (Joshua 6:26).

The priest could not go to the man, because, if he were dead, the law forbade him to touch him; if the Levite touched what was unclean or dead, he was unfit for the work with the holy things of the temple (Leviticus 21:1; Deuteronomy 10:8; Numbers 19:11).

But the Samaritan was not under the law, and he could go to the man, and was very sorry for him. The lawyer and all the people had left God’s way, and been robbed by sin; the law had no power to help them.

But there was One like the kind stranger, who was very sorry for the people; that was Jesus, who came “where he was,” showing love and kindness to all; doing even more than the good Samaritan. He gave His own life to heal the wounds made by sin. Sin has robbed us all of strength to do for God; no priest or work we or others could do, could fit us for heaven. How good of the Lord Jesus to come to do all for us! The hurt man would be eager to see the kind traveler when he returned, and how happy we will be to see the Lord when He comes again!

“When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).

Further Meditation

1. Who was the true neighbor?

2. What are some of the reasons why the Lord Jesus can help the helpless when no one else can? How did this lesson highlight the difference between the law and the gospel of God’s grace?

3. The simply written book All of Grace by C. H. Spurgeon goes a long way toward helping believers become established in the rich grace of our Saviour God.

Two Sisters: Luke 10:38-42

There was one village on the way to Jerusalem, where Jesus was made welcome, at least in one home, and that was the home of two sisters, Martha and Mary. They had a brother named Lazarus, and Jesus may have been at their home before, on His way to the feasts.

When so many refused Him, it must have been a joy to Him that these welcomed Him. In those times guests might have sat or reclined on couches, and others might sit on low stools or on the floor like Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet so she could listen to all His words.

Martha was worried about serving the meal to this guest and thought Mary should come to help her. No doubt she wanted to serve a nice meal, and it seemed necessary to her that her sister help her. She did not consider how important it was to hear each word of the Lord Jesus, the most wonderful Teacher there could be. She went to Jesus and said, “Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.”

Mary Chooses

Jesus answered Martha kindly, but showed she had not chosen the most important thing as she thought. He said, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

What had Mary chosen? To listen to the words of Jesus, the Son of God. The meal served would soon be over, but the words Mary heard were for always. Perhaps Martha could have come and listened too, except she planned a great meal, for it says, she “was cumbered (burdened) about much serving,” and was “careful and troubled about many things.”

If Martha had followed the example of the meals Jesus served, it would have been simple. Twice He had served the people a meal of bread and fish, and after He was risen from the dead, He served another meal of bread and fish (John 21:9, 13).

Martha and Mary Learn

Martha seems to have learned from the Lord’s answer, because later it is written that she served Him and others, and no complaint about “much serving” is recorded (John 12:2). His answer also shows that He would rather wait for Himself to be served, than to have them miss His words.

When Mary listened so intently to Jesus, she understood what no one else did, not even the disciples; He was to die as the sacrifice for her and others, and because of that, later she brought precious oil to anoint Him, which honored Him so greatly. He said it should always be remembered (John 12:3, 7).

It is right to share the tasks of a home and to do for others for His sake, but first it is of importance to learn more of the Lord Jesus. Even work for Him is not so needed as that. Do we not often, like Martha, miss listening to the Lord’s words because of work we feel we must do?

Further Meditation

1. How could Martha have made her service simpler so that she’d have had more time to listen to the Lord?

2. It’s often easier to be busy doing and being seen doing good things than it is to sit quietly and listen. Why? How has the Lord shown us from His own life as a man the importance of both quiet listening and steady working?

3. Having the right motive is essential to our work and service as believers. You will find excellent help on the subject from the easy-to-read pamphlet Christian Service by W. J. Prost.

Prayer: Luke 11:1-28

The disciples wanted to honor God and to pray to Him in a right way and asked the Lord Jesus to tell them how. He told them these words:

“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”

Perhaps you have said these words many times without thinking of the meaning; that cannot honor God. Jesus’ words taught them first that God is holy. His name is holy and must not be said carelessly but always with the greatest respect. But they were to pray to Him simply, speaking to Him as a loving Father who cared for them.

The disciples had been taught of the time of God’s rule or kingdom and then prayed for that time to come, when Christ will be honored and men will be obedient. But not long after these words were said, Jesus was refused as King and died as man’s Saviour.

So now those who believe Him, pray often for others to believe in Him now, before that time when all that is wrong will be punished. The people then, like the disciples, will have great trials, and will pray words like this prayer earnestly, as shown in the psalms and prophets.

Even now we are to trust God for our food and all we have. He can send storms, drought, or disease to spoil all. We also need to forgive any who have done us wrong, for we have many wrongs to be forgiven by God.

Real Words Reach a Listening Ear and Heart

Small boys and girls can thank God for His care and learn to pray. When older it is not the repeating of words, or “saying prayers” that pleases God, but telling Him what you feel in your heart.

Jesus said God will surely hear, and do for those who ask Him. He said, if a friend came in the night to ask for bread, because a traveler had come, even though it might be inconvenient, the bread would be given as needed. And God would not do less for those who ask Him to supply their need.

Jesus reminded them that one of them would not give his child a stone if he asked for bread, so God would give good gifts. He told them of the Holy Spirit to be given those who believe God, and told them that the Spirit would teach them all things, and they should ask God the Father in Jesus’ Name (John 16:13, 24).

So Jesus taught how simply but earnestly those who believe His words can pray and that God will provide for them. But they will not be praying just for what will please themselves, but for what will honor the Lord Jesus who has done so much for them.

What are the promises of Luke 11:9-10?

Further Meditation

1. How were the disciples to pray to the Lord?

2. Sometimes we doubt God’s goodness and feel we need to beg Him for good things. How does His Word assure us of His love and perfect power to supply all of our true need?

3. A more challenging pamphlet on this subject might be a help in studying it. Try The Lord’s Prayer by W. Kelly.

The Greatest One: Luke 11:29-54

You remember the story of Jonah, whose name in the New Testament is written Jonas. He was a prophet who lived long before the Lord Jesus was on earth, but the people Jesus talked to knew how Jonah was sent by God to the eastern city of Nineveh to warn the people that their city would be destroyed because of their awful sins.

The king and people of the city believed the words of Jonah, and sorrowed greatly for their sins, so God did not then destroy their city.

Jesus told the people who stood about Him that they were not wise as those who heard Jonah. They were listening to a far greater Prophet than Jonah, yet they did not believe His words of judgment to come, and were not sorry for their sins.

Then Jesus spoke of King Solomon who had lived in that land and was still highly honored by the people for his wisdom. Jesus reminded them of the queen who came on a long, hard journey from the south to see Solomon because she had heard of his wisdom.

Yet, when the Son of God, by whom Solomon was given his wisdom, came to that same land, and they could hear His wonderful words so easily, many did not want to listen. It was because they were not sorry for their sins, as the people of the wicked city of Nineveh were.

The Lord Jesus was greater than any prophet or king, and the people would have believed Him if they had not let their hearts be hard from sins.

Clean Hands and Dirty Hearts

One man invited Jesus to a meal at his home, but he seemed only looking to find fault with Him. Jesus went to his home and sat down to the table without first washing His hands.

The man thought that was a great sin, for he and others were very careful about washing, and had many rules just how it should be done. Jesus did not mean that it is wrong to wash soiled hands, but He knew how careful these men were of their laws of clean hands and dishes, while they were careless of the pride and sins in their hearts, which made them unclean before God. He took this way to show them their wrong. He said they “made clean the outside of the cup and the platter” but within was “wickedness.”

They made laws for the people, which they did not keep. They were proud of having a high seat in the synagogue, and to have the people greet or bow to them in the marketplace, yet they did not believe God’s words.

The laws of the nation of Israel were for all to give a portion of their crops or herds or wealth for the work of the temple and the men there. This portion was called a tithe. Jesus said these men were very careful to weigh or measure a tithe of such small things as mint, or other herbs they had, but did not consider the great things of God’s love or His judgment of sins. (See Leviticus 27:30).

Jesus knew the men’s hearts and the wrong they were doing and spoke plainly to show them. There is a lesson for us also to think of: no matter how well we wash our hands and faces, God sees into our hearts and knows if we believe His words.

Further Meditation

1. Why were the people that Jesus spoke to not as wise as the men that Jonah prophesied to?

2. What are some examples today of paying attention to the small details of Christianity and missing its heart?

3. A wonderful and simple meditation on the heart can be found in the leaflet The Submissive Heart by E. Dennett.

A Rich Farmer: Luke 12:1-21

Many people crowded about the Lord Jesus as He walked through the streets, so many that they pushed one another; they all wanted to see Him, or hear His words, or see a miracle done. Some wanted to ask something of Him.

One man asked Jesus to have his brother divide some property with him. It is not told that Jesus did that. He told the man not to covet (to wish for what another has). If the brothers were honest and not selfish, they could decide themselves what part each should have. If they coveted, wishing for more, they would not be satisfied, even if Jesus divided for them.

Jesus then told this story: “The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.”

No Thanks to God

You see this man was already rich, with plenty for himself, and when a new crop was harvested he had no room to keep it. The word “fruit” as used here, meant what grew on his land, probably grain, which could be stored in dry buildings and kept a long time.

The man thought he would not need to work any more, and he would just have a good time. You notice he did not speak of thanking God for his good crop. Since he had so much, would it not have been kind and right for him to find out if his neighbors and those who worked for him had enough food? But he did not do that; he thought only of himself, and not that all belonged to God, even his own breath.

Jesus told what God said to that man; it was, “Thou fool [one who is not wise to believe God], this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?”

The man was to die that night; could he take any of his grain or supplies with him? No, none at all. He should have used them to honor God and to help others. The Lord Jesus said that all who save or use only for themselves, with no love for God, are like that rich farmer.

One of the things Jesus told the people was that all people say or do, even when they think no one hears or knows, is known to God and will be shown (see Luke 12:2-3). This story shows that God also knew the man’s thoughts. These are words of Jesus,

“Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God” (Luke 12:8).

Further Meditation

1. Who did the rich man credit for his wonderful crop?

2. A spirit of thanksgiving and recognition of God’s mercies is a wonderful one to cultivate. What are some of the mercies and blessings which God has revealed to us in His Word?

3. Praise to God is a wonderful daily habit. You will be encouraged in it by the short booklet His Praise Shall Continually Be in My Mouth by J. N. Darby.

The Ravens and the Lilies: Luke 12:22-34

The Lord Jesus said that God had provided for the food of even the least valued of the birds, the ravens, which are wild, roving birds, always seeming to be hungry: “They neither sow nor reap; which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them.”

God has given the ravens strong wings to fly far and find plenty of food. It is only God who can supply food enough for people, and strength to get or eat it. Jesus asked the disciples,

“How much more are ye better than the fowls? Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

We know the lilies and other flowers grow wild in fields and by the roadside, often in desert places. They cannot work for their beautiful petals, some red, some white, yellow, or other colors; they simply grow from the substances God has placed in the ground and water.

Yet the robes of the rich king, Solomon, made with great labor, were not as lovely as the flowers. Jesus said for the disciples not to be anxious about what they will have to eat or to wear, because God knows they have need of such things. He said, “The life is more than meat [food], and the body is more than raiment [clothing].”

Sharing Real Treasure

After Jesus was gone, the men and women who believed Him, worked to help each other, but their most important work and thoughts were not for food or clothes, but to tell people of Jesus as the Saviour. Sometimes men who did not believe in Him put them in prison and took away their food and clothes. But God knew their need, and that they suffered for love to the Lord Jesus, and He rewarded them with joy in Him, which they found far better.

Jesus said to give “alms,” which means what is freely given to help the sick, or anyone in need of necessary things. And He said, instead of working just to have nice things on earth, those who loved Him were to “provide yourselves bags, which wax (grow) not old, a treasure in the heavens.”

Men used strong bags to carry money or to hide it in, but those could wear out or be spoiled by a little moth, or be stolen. But what sort of a bag could be put in heaven? Jesus meant whatever money or things anyone used for others, because they loved Him, God would know, and reward them with the better blessings of heaven, and no thief could take that reward, nor moth spoil it.

Do you think boys and girls can put “bags of treasure” in heaven? Do you ever have money and go in a hurry to buy a treat for yourself? Suppose instead, you said, “There are many boys and girls who have not heard of Jesus’ love. I will give this money to help send someone to tell them, or to buy a Testament for one.” God would see your gift and would reward you, It would be like “a bag of treasure in heaven.”

Further Meditation

1. Which was more beautiful, Solomon’s robes or God’s flowers?

2. Being truly unselfish with our possessions is something only the life that Christ gives can do. How do the gospels show that unselfishness in the life of the Lord Jesus?

3. A simple and very short contrast between the natural heart of selfishness and God’s giving heart of love can be enjoyed in Man’s Selfishness and God’s Love by G. Cutting.

Servants for Christ: Luke 12:35-39

The Lord Jesus knew that He would be rejected and put to death by the hatred of the rulers and that He would return to God the Father in heaven. He knew that many would not want to hear His name and would try to harm those who loved Him. It would be hard for them to tell people of Him as the One who died for sinners.

So He said the disciples would be “servants” for Him while He would be away. He said they were to “gird” themselves. In those times men wore loose garments, which they girded, or held firm by a belt or sash while working (see Ephesians 6:14).

His servants would prepare for His work by learning and keeping God’s words, which would keep their ways right. Jesus also said they were to have their “lights burning.” The streets in cities were not lighted as now, and on dark nights every man carried his own lamp or torch.

God’s words would be the “light” to guide these “servants,” so they would know the right path and also could show others, for their work would be to tell those who did not know God or His son Jesus.

Serving the Saviour

Jesus would be a good Master, and would know all His “servants” would do for Him and would fully reward them. But He knew how some of their own friends or families would not want to hear them and that it would be hard to be faithful.

The comfort Jesus gave the disciples was that they should look for Him to return and wait for that time of joy. One loving promise was that “their Lord” or Master, would serve them. Was that not a wonderful promise? (Luke 12:37).

Sometimes people speak of serving Christ to receive eternal life with Him, but God’s Word teaches such life can be given only because of Christ’s death to bear the punishment of sins. His true servants want to serve Him because they know Him as their Saviour.

Clear Evidence and Closed Eyes

All the people of that land should have known that Jesus was their promised Messiah, for the Scriptures told that He would give sight to the blind, and heal their diseases. So when Jesus did all those wonders, as no other could, they should have known who He was. The things He did and His words should have been as signs for them.

Jesus said they could tell what the weather would be by the clouds and the wind, but they did not recognize the time promised by the Lord.

All the disciples later went everywhere to tell of the Lord Jesus, excepting Judas who was not honest or true. There must have been many boys and girls who heard Jesus’ words who did not forget Him and became servants for Him, too, telling others of Him.

Further Meditation

1. How did the Lord comfort His disciples?

2. God has given us the light of His Word. What makes it necessary? Where does God refer to His Word as light?

3. Nice simple meditations on light from God’s Word can be found in Seekers for Light by W. T. P. Wolston.

A Crippled Woman: Luke 13:1-35

One day when the Lord Jesus was teaching the people in a synagogue, a woman came in all bent over, and she could not straighten up. That might not be so dreadful for a little while, but this woman had been that way for a very long time.

As soon as Jesus saw her, He called her to Him, and said to her, “Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.” Then He put His hands on her, and she became straight.

The woman was very thankful and spoke in honor to God, and all the people were thankful that such a great cure was done. But the leader of the synagogue was not pleased; he called it work that should not be done because it was the Sabbath day.

God had given the law for the people of Israel to do no work on the Sabbath, so that they should remember that He had freed them from being slaves, and they were to honor Him (Deuteronomy 5:15). But they did not honor God, and had their own rules for what they called work, and cared more for their rules than for God.

The man should have known that One who had such power to cure and knew the right time to do it. Jesus asked him if he did not unfasten his animals from the stalls and lead them to water on the Sabbath. So should not the poor woman be made free of her trouble? He called her “a daughter of Abraham” which meant she believed God, as Abraham had; she was also of the same race.

Fearless and Loving

Then some of the men seemed to want to frighten Jesus so that He would go away from the city and told Him that Herod, the ruler, would try to kill Him.

Jesus did not fear Herod and said He must keep on doing His work, and called Herod deceitful as a fox, which slips up on other animals in the dark. But He asked the men of Jerusalem if it could be that a prophet would perish there. They should protect a prophet, because it was the city God had chosen for His Temple, and where they knew His words.

A prophet is one who tells God’s words, and Jesus was the Great Prophet whom Moses said would come (See Deuteronomy 18:15). But the leaders in that city did not believe He was from God. Jesus was very sad that they would not believe Him. Another place speaks of His weeping over it. He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ... how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings.”

You know when it begins to be night, or a storm is coming, a hen clucks to her little chicks, and they come close and she covers them with her wings to protect them.

Jesus meant He would so carefully have sheltered the people of Jerusalem, if they would have let Him, But He said the sad words, “Ye would not.” He is just as willing now to save all who will believe Him from the punishment of their sins, and it must just as deeply grieve Him, if any will not believe or come.

Further Meditation

1. Why did some people become angry that the Lord Jesus had healed the crippled woman?

2. Some people delight in getting vengeance on their enemies but we know that the Lord doesn’t. How does He show us and tell us that He finds no personal delight in vengeance?

3. The Jewish historian Josephus gives a detailed account of the destruction of Jerusalem. The sad history of some of the judgment that has already fallen on that rebellious and beloved city can be found in Josephus: The Essential Writings translated by P. L. Maier.

The Great Supper: Luke 14:1-24

“A certain man made a great supper and invited many; and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all began ... to make excuse.”

It seems in that land the guests were first invited, then when all was ready, word was sent for them to come; such feasts were most often an evening meal.

But the men invited to this feast all had excuses not to come: one said he had bought a piece of ground and must go to see it; another said he had bought five yoke of oxen and was going to try them; all had plans they thought were more important. This was very disrespectful to the man who had the feast prepared for them when they had nothing to pay or to do for it, only to come.

The man was very disappointed to have no guests, and he told his servant to go into the streets and lanes of the city and bring the persons he found there, the poor, the lame, and blind, to eat his supper. The servant went and those people came, yet there was room for more.

The Great Open Invitation

So the man sent the servant outside the city to the highways and to the hedges, where the workers of the fields and orchards would be, to call them to the feast, for the man wanted all his seats filled; he wanted to share his good things with all who would come. Jesus was showing that God has good things He wants to share with people, which He called “a great supper.”

But many who knew God’s invitation thought their own ways and things were more important and would not go with Christ, God’s servant. Many poor and helpless ones accepted Him, and yet there was room for many more in God’s house, and all people were invited.

We might say this story was not really finished, for you notice that it is not told of the house being full, so we know God’s feast is still waiting for more guests. The invitation to come to Christ and enjoy God’s love and all He provides, may still be accepted, even by ones poor and unworthy, which all really are.

And notice too, that the ones who were careless of the invitation were not forced to come; those who came felt their need of the supper, and the kindness of the invitation compelled them.

So now God does not force any to come to His feast but has sent the great invitation telling of Jesus as Saviour, and that all who receive Him shall be with Him: “Whosoever will” may come (Revelation 22:17).

Sometimes boys and girls and older persons say they will wait a while to think of this, and that there is plenty of time. But the Lord Jesus did not say that in the story; the message was, “Come; for all things are now ready.”

Jesus said of those who refused that they should not taste of that supper.

Further Meditation

1. Why did many refuse the invitation to the great supper?

2. How does God’s Word show us how much He wants people to come today to sit down and enjoy His goodness? In what ways can we share that heart of His?

3. You might consider distributing the gospel tract based on this wonderful story called The Great Supper.

Following Jesus: Luke 14:25-35

Great crowds of people followed the Lord Jesus when He and the disciples passed through the villages on the way to Jerusalem. All must have known of the miracles Jesus had done and of His wisdom, so wished to see and hear this great Teacher.

You know that when there is a special event, people gather crowding one upon another, and so it was then. Men think of that as an honor, but Jesus knew many were not in earnest to know Him but were curious to see some wonder. He knew He was soon to be rejected as their King and that few believed Him to be God’s Son.

He knew all who believed in Him would also be despised and often harmed, so it would not be easy for them to say they were His followers or to tell people of Him.

That was the reason He told the people that if they wished to be true followers, they must think more of Him than of all others. He deserves that all should give Him their love above even their family, for all first belong to Him.

You may think it strange the Lord used the word “hate” about their families, because He had before said to “love” even an enemy, Matthew 5:43. But it seems to mean they might have to be against their friends or relatives who did not believe in Jesus, and give up all to be true to Him.

Counting the Cost

Jesus said all who followed His ways should be like a man who wants to build a tower, so he first sits down and counts how much it would cost. If he started to build and did not have money to finish, others would laugh at him.

People who believe God are called His building, in Ephesians 2:22, and all who tell others of Christ help build that building. It may cost them the favor of friends or loved ones.

Jesus also asked those about Him if a king were going to fight against a stronger king’s army, would he not first consider if it were possible to win? There is a very strong king, Satan, for Christians to fight, but they can remember that God is with His weak people, and so they are able to win. He will also give the strength to build for Christ.

The Lord Jesus wanted those who started to follow His teachings to be in earnest and to know it would not be easy. There were many disciples afterward who gave up their homes and comforts to tell people of Christ as Saviour.

It is still not easy to be a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus, but this chapter shows how well He knew this. Those who obey His words, “Follow thou Me,” shall receive a great reward. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27).

He spoke of salt losing its savor, or taste, and then it is useless; so are we useless as followers, if we lose our desire and earnestness to be true to Himself.

Further Meditation

1. What might be the cost of following Christ?

2. Our God is no man’s debtor. What did the disciples enjoy that no one else in their day did? What did they lose out on that others received?

3. If you’ve been meditating on the subject of discipleship, you might find Discipleship — Its Terms, Tests and Rewards: Seven Things That Characterize a Disciple Indeed by B. Anstey to be an easy way to continue digging into the subject.

The Lost Sheep: Luke 15:1-10

Perhaps you know that if a sheep strays away, it does not find its way back as other animals will, so the shepherd must go after it; often it keeps on until it is among bushes or rocks where it is hard to find it. The Lord Jesus once told about a lost sheep. He said: “What man of you having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

“And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them. Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.”

If you had a little pet lamb, which wandered away, you would not rest until you found it and had it safe home, would you? Perhaps you could not lift the lamb on your shoulders and carry it, but that is what a strong shepherd can do.

The Tender Shepherd

We can understand that the Lord Jesus really wanted to teach what is of far greater value than sheep; He wanted to show them about people who are lost to God, because of sins, for He said the shepherd’s joy over finding the sheep is like the joy in heaven over one sinner that repents of his sins.

Jesus Himself was like the kind shepherd. He came to earth to find and save men, women, boys and girls who all go their own way and are far from God’s way. It was not easy for Him to save people lost in sin—to do that He gave His own life.

But notice how He told of the tender care of a shepherd, taking the tired sheep on his shoulders and carrying it back, and rejoicing over it. So is His care for every one who repents, or is sorry and ashamed of his sins. If you would like the Lord Jesus to save you, all you can do is to tell Him about your sins, and trust Him as your Saviour, and He will take you safe to heaven.

Perhaps you do not think you are lost from God, but think about these words: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

The Lost Coin

Jesus told also how sorry a woman would be to lose one piece of silver. It is said that silver pieces were often a marriage gift and so were greatly prized, and if a woman lost one, she would search carefully for it. When she found it, she would be happy and would tell her friends.

And Jesus said so would there be joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repenteth.

It is very wonderful to know that there can be joy in heaven when one boy or girl or man or woman is sorry for his sins and trusts the Lord Jesus to save him.

Further Meditation

1. What does a shepherd do when his sheep is lost?

2. What does our Good Shepherd do after He has found us, the lost sheep? What examples from God’s Word can you give for the tender care that He shows for His sheep?

3. The Lord Is My Shepherd and Other Papers by H. Smith is very easy to read and quite encouraging for believers who have a deep sense of their need for the Shepherd’s care.

The Lost Son: Luke 15:11-32

Once a young man who had a good home did not want to stay there; he wanted to go away where he could do just as he pleased. So he asked his father for his share of money, which the father gave him, and he soon went to a far country.

There he spent his money in foolish, wicked ways, until a time of famine came, and he had no money left to buy food, and no one gave him any. Then he went to work for a man, taking care of pigs. But no good food was provided for him, and he was so hungry he wished he could eat the husks the pigs ate.

Then this young man began to think how foolish he had been to leave his father’s good home, where all had plenty, while he would soon die without food. He decided to return to his father and ask for a servant’s place, for he knew he did not deserve to be treated as a son; he felt ashamed of all the wrong things he had done.

So he started for his father’s house. He must have been a long time on the way, since he had no money for travel. But while he was still far from the house, his father saw him and hurried to meet him.

The Father’s Response

Did the father scold his son who had left so proudly to have his own way, and came back weary, hungry, and without money or suitable clothes? No, he was sorry for him and put his arms around him and kissed him.

The son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son,” But he did not ask to be made a servant, for his kind father greeted him as a son and called for the servants to bring him good clothes, even the best robe and to put a ring on his finger, which was a gift of love, also a sign of a member of a certain family. The servants were told to prepare a feast, that all should rejoice over this son’s return.

The Brother’s Response

There was an older brother who was not kind and forgiving as the father; he was angry that this brother should be well treated and would not come in to feast with the rest, even though his father came to urge him. The father said, “It was meet [or, right] that we should make merry and be glad: for this thy brother ... was lost and is found.”

It was not that the son deserved to be well treated; it was only because the father was loving and kind towards him.

The Lord Jesus told this story to men who thought He should not show kindness to those they called sinners. They were like the older son in the story; those who were ashamed and sorry for their sins, were like the younger son.

Have we not all been like that young man, wanting our own way, and not valuing God’s blessings, until we realize, as he did, that we will starve and die in our way? We do not deserve to have God forgive us, but what the Lord Jesus seemed to want all to know by this story was the wonderful forgiveness of God, the Father, to one who will come to Him and say, I have sinned.

Further Meditation

1. How did the Father receive his returning son?

2. What does God give to a repentant sinner? On what basis does He give His gifts?

3. An excellent, if challenging, booklet on this subject is The Father and the Prodigal by J. N. Darby.

Looking Ahead: Luke 16:1-18

The Lord Jesus told of a man who was in charge of another man’s property; he was called a steward. His master found he was not honest and said he could no longer be his steward and must hand in his accounts.

When the dishonest steward heard that, he planned another way to provide for himself, for he said he could not work, and was ashamed to beg. He hurriedly sent for the men who owed his master; one owed for oil, another for grain, and told them to write a much smaller amount for their debts.

That, too, was dishonest to his master, who would lose that part of his debts, and the men were wrong to agree to do so. But that was his plan to induce the men to favor him, and he thought they would give him a home in return.

What the Steward Did Wisely

The Lord Jesus did not commend the steward for his dishonest acts, but He said he was wiser to think and plan ahead than the “children of light” (those who believed God). The people of God know they cannot be in this world long, yet often they do not think ahead about heaven, and use the things of this world only for their own comfort or pleasure.

Instead of that, the Lord said to make friends with the “mammon” (the money, or gain, on earth), and they would be received into the everlasting home. That meant that if they used the money and things here for good, there would be rewards waiting for them in heaven.

One Master

The Lord also said, “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

The dishonest steward was trying to serve two persons, his master and himself, and he served himself much better. Some of the men who heard the words of the Lord Jesus had been using the things of God all for themselves, and wanting more. We read here that they “derided” Jesus, or spoke against Him, which is very sad.

People who know God now are to be stewards, for the things on earth all belong to God, and should be used in honor to Him. We are dishonest stewards if we use our homes, money, or other things only to suit ourselves.

Even boys and girls are “stewards.” They have strength, time, and perhaps sometimes money, to use. If all is used for “good times” and not to please the Lord or to tell others of Him, they are like the steward who served himself but not his master.

Jesus spoke very plainly that all God’s words given before should prove true. He said, “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass [away], than [for] one tittle of the law to fail.”

Further Meditation

1. What does it mean to make friends with “mammon” or money?

2. We have the privilege of using all of our time for the Lord. Does that mean that we only spend our time reading our Bibles, handing out gospel tracts, and doing other obviously Christian activities? Can we eat to God’s glory? How was the Lord Jesus a good steward of His time?

3. If you’re thinking about finding out how the Lord wants you to use what He’s given you for Him, then reading the pamphlet How to Know the Will of God for Your Life: Part 2, Four Ways God Guides by B. Anstey might be a great help.

Beggar: Luke 16:19-31

This is another lesson told by the Lord Jesus: “There was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously [feasted]every day: and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.”

The rich man had the very best food and clothing; purple was then worn only by the very wealthy, because of the expense of the dye, and he wore purple. He must often have seen the sick, helpless man lying at his gate waiting for any scraps of food thrown away. But he never seems to have helped him, for the poor man was so uncared for that dogs were allowed to bother him.

The Soul After Death

After a time the sick beggar died, but notice who knew where he was lying; he “was carried by the angels” to a place of rest. Someone buried his body, but his soul, which does not die, was taken to be with those who believed God, as Abraham did (Genesis 15:6).

The rich man also died, and was buried, no doubt in a very grand tomb. But his soul was not at rest, for Jesus said, “He lifted up his eyes ... in torments.” He had not believed God on earth or he would have been with Abraham. But he could see Abraham afar off and Lazarus with him, and he cried to Abraham, “Have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip his finger in water, and cool my tongue.”

When the sick man lay at his gate, he had not helped him; after death the rich man was the one to beg for help. But Lazarus could not be sent. Abraham said that between them was a great gulf, or chasm, which none could cross.

Next the man asked for Lazarus to be sent to tell his brothers on earth, “lest they also come into this place of torment.” Abraham answered that they had the words of Moses and the prophets to tell them. Yet the man begged that if they heard from one risen from the dead, they would believe. But Abraham said, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”

Those are the last words of this lesson in which the Lord Jesus taught so plainly the necessity of believing the words of God while on earth. There was no hope of peace after death for one who had not believed those words on earth.

And their souls were not asleep, as some say, but conscious. The poor man who had believed, had comfort; the rich man who had not believed, had torment. Those “flames” were not as fire on earth, which can be put out, and show continuous suffering.

The words of God refresh the soul as water refreshes one who is feverish, but none of God’s words could be given to the man who had not cared for them on earth. The Scriptures written by Moses and the prophets told the need of One to save from their sins and gave promise of His coming; this the rich man neglected.

Further Meditation

1. Who knew where the beggar’s dead body was?

2. What does a soul experience after death?
What Scriptures describe what is happening?

3. A challenging but helpful booklet on this subject is The State of the Soul After Death by J. N. Darby.

Warnings of the Lord Jesus: Luke 17:1-4

The Lord Jesus was exceedingly kind, so people wondered at His words of grace (Luke 4:22). When He spoke of “woe,” or punishment and sorrow for them, it was to warn them that they should remember His words and not do or say wrong things.

He said that offences (wrongs to others) would be done, for He knew they had hearts ready to sin. But He said “Woe” to the one who did wrong, speaking especially of wrong to a child, one innocent and helpless to keep itself from harm. He said, “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.”

Wrongs Against Little Ones

Millstones were large flat stones, used one upon another, to grind grain for their bread. Such a heavy stone fastened to a man would, of course, cause him to sink and drown in the sea. So the Lord meant it was better for a man to die, than to do wrong to a little child.

This is such a serious warning, it seems meant for ones who know their acts to be wrong. But it warns us all against every wrong act or wrong word to little ones and shows how much the Lord cares how they are treated. Their little minds are ready to believe what is told them, and they do not yet know right from wrong; that is why it is so serious to do them a wrong.

One of the great wrongs to children is to tell them what is not true. Sometimes older brothers and sisters make promises or tell false words to younger ones, thinking “it does not matter” what they say to them, because they do not understand: sometimes they frighten them by saying what is not true at all, and say, “It was just for fun.”

Some little ones are taught to say God’s name without respect, and are kept from hearing of His love or of His words in the Bible, and they grow up without trust in God or in Christ, who died for them.

Forgiveness

Jesus knew that even the disciples who had seen His kind ways would sometimes do or speak wrong things to each other, and He said, “Take heed to yourselves,” which meant to be careful how they treated each other: He called them “brothers,” as though they were one family:

“If thy brother trespass [do a wrong] against thee, rebuke him (tell him the wrong): and if he repent [is sorry], forgive him.”

To forgive means to pardon the wrong, not to hold it in the heart against the other. We might think once in a day enough to forgive, but Jesus said, “If he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.”

So the Lord meant we are to forgive over and over.

Do you suppose these words were only for the disciples, or do we all now need to forgive and to be forgiven? It is not too hard to say, “I repent,” or “I forgive” if we think of the Lord’s words.

Further Meditation

1. What are some the wrongs done against little ones?

2. Forgiving can bring us into fellowship with our forgiving God. Give some examples of people in the Bible who did not forgive and those who did. How does Scripture present the difference in their lives?

3. You would probably be helped by reading The Blessedness of Forgiveness: A Meditation on Psalm 32 by G. V. Wigram.

To Move a Tree Luke: Luke 17:5-10

While Jesus was talking with the disciples, they seem to have been near a sycamine tree, a fruit tree which grows in warm lands, and sometimes is a large tree.

The disciples had seen many acts showing the power of God but seem to have felt they had little faith to trust what He could do for them. They said to Jesus, “Lord, increase our faith.” His answer to their request was, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”

For a tree to come up from the roots and plant itself in the sea, by their speaking to it, was impossible for them to do of themselves; they could not move even a small bush by speaking to it.

Believing God’s Power

Jesus was teaching them by this that they did not need great faith. God would do for them if they had only a little faith. A mustard seed is a very tiny seed, and however little faith they had, God would do for them what was impossible for them to do by themselves. It was not their faith that would do great things, but God.

They would not ask for great and impossible things to see miracles, but whatever their need, and however impossible for them to do anything, they could trust God’s wisdom, and they were to ask for what would be for His praise, not simply to please themselves.

It is not told that the disciples ever asked God for a tree to be moved, but many things are written of what He did for them, as impossible for them to have done themselves as to move a tree into the sea.

Not very long after this, when the Lord Jesus had returned to heaven, one of the disciples, Peter, told a man who had never walked in all his life to rise up and walk, and the man rose and walked. It was not because of Peter’s power, but because he believed in God’s power.

There was another man who had been paralyzed and could not move from his bed for eight years; Peter told him to rise and he rose up.

One day Peter was called to come to a house where a woman had died and was ready for burial. Peter said to her, “Arise” and took her hand, and she arose and stood among her friends again.

Once God sent an angel to open the prison doors and let Peter and other disciples go free. Another time Peter had been put in the inner room of a prison, his hands chained to two soldiers, so he could do nothing for himself. But the others in the city who believed God prayed for Peter, and God sent an angel to that inner prison cell, who told Peter to rise; the chains fell off his hands, and he followed the angel out of the prison, being free again to tell people of the Lord.

Many, many things have been done since for those who trusted God, more than we could tell, or know now. His people may never have much faith, yet He does impossible things for them, not always seen or known by others.

See Acts 3:1-10; Acts 4:22; 5:19; 9:34, 40; 12:7.

Further Meditation

1. What were the disciples to ask for in prayer?

2. How do we react in our lives when we measure a problem by our perceived ability to meet it rather than God’s power? How did David respond to the challenges he faced with Goliath, Saul, and Absalom?

3. If you haven’t already read Faith by H. P. Barker, then you are likely to find it a wonderful, simple introduction to the essential subject of faith.

The Lepers Cured: Luke 17:11-19

While the Lord Jesus was on His way through a village some lepers saw Him; they did not come close, for it is so dreadful a disease, that persons who have it must live and keep away from others. But these lepers had heard of Jesus’ power to cure, and they called to Him, “Master, have mercy on us.”

Jesus’ answer was to go show themselves to the priests. To do that, they had to go to the temple in Jerusalem, and they may have been quite a distance from it. The men obeyed the command of Jesus, evidently expecting to be cured there, as it was no use to go to the priests unless they had hope of a cure first.

But the priests could not cure, though it was their duty by the law of Israel to examine one who had any spots of leprosy, and if they found him cured, to make special offerings.

All at once as the lepers went, they found they were already cured; the word of the Lord Jesus had made them well. One of the men, realizing he was cured, turned back and spoke loudly in praise to God; then he came back to Jesus and threw himself down at His feet in wonder and gratitude for this sudden blessing.

We would suppose all the men would return to thank the Lord Jesus; they could not doubt the great miracle, since leprosy is a disease of the skin and flesh, and all could see the others were healed. Yet only one man came to thank the Lord Jesus; the rest went on.

The man who came back was from the country of Samaria, where the people did not truly honor God, nor worship Him at Jerusalem as He had said. Yet the Lord Jesus healed him the same as the others, and he was the most grateful.

The Live and Sacrificed Birds

If the other men went on to Jerusalem, the priests would examine them in an outside place, and finding them cured, would sacrifice as the law directed. Two live birds, which could be sparrows, must be brought for each man: one bird to be held over a dish of water and killed, the other bird to be dipped in the blood of the dead bird. Then the priest would sprinkle some of the blood seven times on the man, and declare him clean of the leprosy. Then the live bird was let free to fly away.

This awful disease which spread and which none could cure, teaches us of what is worse than this disease—sin. Sin grows worse and affects others as well as ourselves, and we cannot stop it or cure it.

The little bird killed, taught of One to come from heaven to die for sinners. He arose and returned to heaven, as the little bird which had been dipped in the blood of death was let go to fly away.

While on earth that One, the Lord Jesus, cured the lepers by His word, but He must shed His blood in death to make sinners fit for God. He had power to make many lepers well as quickly as that one, so He has power now to save all sinners who come in their need to Him.

Further Meditation

1. How many came back to thank the Lord for their cleansing?

2. We can be very insensitive to sin even though it has a very deadly effect. Why is leprosy such a good illustration of sin?

3. An excellent, short, and simple book on what the Scriptures teach about the cleansing of lepers can be found in The Law of the Leper by G. C. Willis.

Like the Days of Noah: Luke 17:20-27

The men who talked with the Lord Jesus knew the writings, now called the New Testament, which tell of a time for Christ’s rule to be over the whole earth. But many did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah and King, although He had spoken the words of wisdom and done the miracles told of the Holy One in places such as Zechariah 14:9 and Isaiah 61:1.

Yet those men wanted Jesus to tell them the time for His rule to begin. He told them God’s kingdom would not be with marvelous display, as they expected, and they need not be looking for the King. He said, “Behold, the kingdom of God is within you,” within their midst, for He, the King, stood with them. Still they did not believe Him.

Warnings of Judgment

Afterwards, Jesus told the disciples that when He, “the Son of man,” came to rule, His coming would be “as lightning,” which goes instantly across the whole sky and is seen by all. His words show that His coming will be a time of judgment for all who do not believe God. And the people who will live then will be like the people long ago who did not believe God would send the flood over the earth. Jesus said, “As it was in the days of Noe [Noah], so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man: they did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.”

Noah was the only man not doing wickedly when God said He must send the flood on the earth. God told him to prepare the great ship, called the ark, because the ark means a safe place. Noah did not doubt God’s words, but began to build the big ship, which was large enough to hold many people, and he told them of the flood.

People of that time lived many years longer than now, and they had a long time to decide. But they did not believe God’s words about a flood, and kept on with their plans the same as before, and did not prepare to go into the ark.

But on the day God had set, the rain began and the springs were opened, and soon the dry land was covered. Then people knew the flood had come. But it was too late to enter the safe place, for Noah could not let them in. God had shut the door.

Some now say the flood is “just a story,” but the disciples did not doubt it was a real event. Peter wrote that Noah “was a preacher of righteousness”, what was right for God; and he wrote that God was “long suffering, waiting” for those people to believe (1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5).

The Lord Jesus knew the flood was true. He said, “The flood came, and destroyed them all.” He is now the ark of safety from God’s judgment, which must someday punish all wickedness.

God is “long suffering” now, waiting for people to believe His word and be safe in Christ; He is “not willing, [does not desire], that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

“He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31).

Further Meditation

1. How does the Lord describe His coming when He comes to rule?

2. What makes people say that something is “just a story”? Why would someone be motivated to deny that God is ready to judge wickedness? Who else in the Bible failed to see that judgment was coming despite warning?

3. A bit more challenging, but beautiful, book The Patriarchs by J. G. Bellett has a very nice section on the life of Noah and the judgment that came in his day. The book goes far beyond the subject of this chapter but is very worthwhile.

Like the Days of Lot: Luke 17:28-37

Lot was a man who lived several hundred years after the great flood, in a city near the Jordon River. That valley was well watered and beautiful, so no doubt the city was pleasant. But the people had become as wicked as the people before the flood.

Lot believed God, but had chosen to live in the wicked city to be near good lands for his cattle (Genesis 13:10, 13). God saw the awful evil of the people and knew the city must be destroyed. He seems not to have given a long warning, like as was given to the people before the flood. But the night before, two angels came and told Lot to bring all his family out of the city, because God had sent them to destroy it.

Lot told his sons-in-law, but they did not believe him, and took it as “mocking” or what would now be called, “a joke.” Even Lot did not hurry to leave, and the angels had to lead him and his wife and two daughters outside the city, and told them to flee to a safe place.

God did not destroy the city by water, but by fire, and it was known by all the people of the countries near as a terrible disaster. Moses and several of the prophets wrote of it, and the ruin and ashes left were a warning against evil deeds (Deuteronomy 29:23; Amos 4:11).

Jesus spoke of this several times to people; here His words are: “As it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.”

The plans of those people for houses and business did not change or stop the judgment of God. Several other wicked places near also were destroyed, there was no escape. Brimstone is sulphur, or like it, and its fumes suffocate people.

Our Just, Not Angry, God

It is written that God “does not afflict willingly,” and to send punishment is His “strange work,” not natural or pleasing to Him, as His to show mercy. He does so only when people know His words and refuse Him, (Lamentations 3:33; Isaiah 28:21; Joshua 10:8-14).

Even in the time of Lot, it is told that God first sent to Sodom to know if the people were as wicked as had been reported (Genesis 18:21).

But when people will not repent of sin, they become worse and worse and lead their children and others with them, as all the people from every part of Sodom, both young and old followed the leaders in wickedness (Genesis 19:4).

Some now think people would not be as wicked as in those days, but the Lord Jesus knew the future time, as He did the past, and He said, “Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”

He, the Son of Man, has not been seen on earth for many, many years, but He is to be “revealed,” or seen. People will then be doing things as they please, some sleeping, some working, and those who have not believed God will be taken in judgment. There will be no mistake even in two so close as in the same bed, one will be taken, (Luke 17:34), the other left alive for Christ’s peaceful reign on the earth for 1,000 years which is yet to come.

Further Meditation

1. What is brimstone?

2. Today people like to think of themselves as more sophisticated, intelligent, knowledgeable, and progressive than the men of Lot’s day. In what ways are we very similar in moral character to the men and women of that day?

3. A solemn but necessary booklet on the history of Sodom and its parallels with our day can be found in The Last Night of Sodom and of Christendom by C. E. Lunden.

Prayer in Trouble: Luke 18:1-14

Jesus wanted to teach the disciples always to pray to God when in trouble; if their prayers were not soon answered, they might think it would be no use to pray more. But He wanted them to know that God would surely answer the prayers of His people, and He told them this story, or parable: There was a widow in a city, to whom someone did a wrong, and she went to the judge to ask him to avenge her—punish the person.

The duty of a judge is to hear all cases and decide justly, and enforce the right, especially for one like the widow with no one to protect her. But the judge of that city was not a just man: he did not care for the people or for God. At first he paid no attention to the woman’s request, but it seems she came again to ask. Then he decided to take care of her, not because it was right, but because he liked to be at ease, and he thought she would keep coming to bother him.

Jesus told the disciples how different God is from the selfish, unjust judge. He will most surely care for His people in trouble; “His elect,” believers of Israel, will be in deep trouble from those who despise them, and God will avenge them.

People now who love God and believe in His Son, the Lord Jesus, do not ask God to avenge them of their enemies, because now is God’s time to bless, not to punish. He wants to show mercy to all who will trust in His Son.

Yet these words, “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint” are surely meant for all who believe God and for every time of trouble. And He has given many promises that He will hear and do: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me” (Psalm 50:15). “The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth” (Psalm 145:18).

Pride and Humility

The Lord Jesus told another parable to teach that God answers only true and earnest prayer. He said two men came into the temple to pray; one man seemed to want others to hear him pray. He thought himself very good, and not a sinner like the other man. Jesus said, He prayed “with himself.” His prayer was not really to God.

The other man stood in a far part of the room, bowed his head low, and struck himself on his breast, which was a sign that he felt he deserved to be punished. All he could say was to ask God to have mercy on him: he knew he had done what was wrong, and that God was holy.

Jesus said that man was “justified” or forgiven by God but not the man who thought himself to be good. So we must be honest in prayer. God knows all we do and wants to bless us if we confess our wrongs. “The poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:6).

Further Meditation

1. What words did the second man say?

2. Who is told to pray in James 5:13? What is our proper attitude when we pray? How is it possible to be proud of being humble?

3. Prayer by H. P. Barker gives a nice and very simple introduction to the essential subject of speaking to God.

Calling for Children: Luke 18:15-17

While the Lord Jesus was in one place, some parents, or mothers, came with their infants to ask Him to put His hands on their heads and bless them. You may wonder what “to bless” means: it is to ask God to do good to one, and the one who blessed, put his hand on the head to show that the good was to be for that certain one. The mothers who brought those little ones to Jesus believed that He had come from God, and that what good He asked, would surely come true.

But the disciples seem to have thought those little ones too young for the Lord to care for, and they rebuked the parents, said they were wrong to bring them, and would have sent them away. How good that Jesus saw them, and called them to bring them to Him, and took them in His arms, put His hands on their heads, and blessed them.

The words Jesus spoke, in blessing those children, are not written, but His words, “Suffer [let] little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not,” are words we like to say over and over. For they show that the weakest or youngest is dear to Him, and He wants it near Him that He may bless it.

Jesus told them that even older people must be humble and trusting as little children, to be blessed, for all are “lost” from God because of sin. The people then did not know that Jesus must die, for God to do them good, but later those children would be told that Jesus died to give them the best blessings—forgiveness of sins, and a place with Him in heaven.

Forbid Them Not

Some people now say to wait to tell the children about the Lord until they are old enough to decide all matters for themselves, yet His words, “forbid them not,” tell us that idea is wrong. He was not pleased that the disciples tried to keep those little ones from coming to Him, so He cannot be pleased now if children are not told of His love.

Once a mother wanted her little boy to learn of the Lord, and she took him to a place called the tabernacle, or house of God. It was very plain on the outside like a large tent, but the inside was all gold with much to teach the people that God was holy, but also of His mercy.

The boy stayed there and helped the priest. One duty he had was to open the doors, or curtains, each morning, which would not be hard, but pleasant. But he learned most from God’s words to him, and he “let none of His words fall to the ground,” which meant he did not forget them, but kept thinking of them.

Do you know the boy’s name? It was Samuel, and when he was older he taught the people and told them the promise of the Saviour to come. So the Lord has always been glad to have children taught of Him.

So now when your parents wish you to listen to His Word, the Bible, or to go where it is taught, that is right. For it is by His words He calls each to come to Him. Whosoever, He has said, and that means each of us, and He will surely bless.

Further Meditation

1. What do the words “let little children come to Me” show us?

2. Our attitude toward the weak, defenseless, and lacking in aptitude shows whether the flesh or our new life in Christ is operating in us. Besides this chapter, where else in Luke are we shown the Lord’s treatment of the weak and helpless and His attitude toward them?

3. If you have the responsibility of the training and care of children, you might find How Should a Child Be Trained? by J. C. Ryle to be an excellent resource.

A Ruler and a Beggar: Luke 18:18-43

Two men wanted to ask something of Jesus when He was passing near. One man was a ruler of a city and very rich; the other was very poor, begging for his food, as he was blind. The ruler was a young man, and the beggar may have been also, for his father’s name is told in Mark 10:46.

Both of these men had heard of Jesus and His miracles and wisdom, but the ruler did not think Jesus was sent of God, for he called Him only, “good Master,” which meant, teacher. The blind man thought that One who could do so great things, was the promised Messiah, for he called Jesus, “Son of David” which meant, the Messiah King.

The ruler came to ask Jesus what he could do that would be rewarded with eternal life. He said he had always done all as written in God’s law. Jesus told him something to do to prove how he kept those words: to go sell the riches he had, and give to the poor, and to come follow Him.

The young ruler did not want to do that, so he really did not keep the law, which said to love the Lord with all his heart and his neighbor as himself. He wanted his wealth for himself, not to help a poor neighbor; if he had loved God, he would have believed His promises of the Holy One to come, and he would have followed Jesus.

The Poor, Blind Man

The poor blind man knew he was helpless, but he believed from what he had heard that Jesus had power to make him see, and when he learned He was near, he cried out for mercy. When those around him tried to keep him still, he called out more for mercy. That meant he knew he did not deserve anything, but he believed Jesus was kind.

When Jesus called for him to be brought to Him, and the blind man heard His voice, he seemed to know Him to be greater than King; he called Him, “Lord.” How kind and willing the Lord Jesus was to do for the poor man; at once He asked him, “What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?” And He spoke the word so that the blind man could see.

The answer of the Lord made the rich ruler sad, for he wanted eternal life, but he wanted his wealth more, and returned to it, and did not follow Jesus, nor praise God.

The answer of the Lord made the poor man very happy. He did not return to his ways, but followed Jesus and praised God.

Is there anyone who can do such good deeds that he could earn endless life with God? No, it can be had only as a gift to those who believe God’s Son. So it is best to feel ourselves helpless, like the poor, blind man, and ask the Lord for mercy. He believed the Lord Jesus, obeyed and followed Him and was happy.

Suffering Ahead

Jesus and those with Him were then nearing the city of Jerusalem, and He told the twelve disciples the wicked, cruel way He would be treated there: He said He would be “delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked and spitefully treated, and spitted on, and they shall scourge [whip] Him and put Him to death.” Yet the Lord Jesus kept on His journey to suffer for us all.

Further Meditation

1. How do we know the young ruler wanted the wealth for himself?

2. The Lord often puts simple little tests like irritable people, thoughtless guests, or demanding friends in our way to bring out something in our hearts. What are some examples of people in the gospels who responded well or poorly to these challenges?

3. If you’re meditating on the way the Lord is using trials in your life, you might find In the Potter’s Hands: Pressures, Trial and Fire in the Path of Faith by D. Nicolet a simple and practical help.

A Man in a Tree: Luke 19:1-10

There was one man who wanted very much to see Jesus when he heard He was passing through the streets of his city. But great crowds of people were walking close to the Lord Jesus, and the man could not see over them as he was a short man.

Then he thought of a way to do it: he ran ahead of the crowd, and climbed into a sycamore tree by the roadside: that is a tree with low, spreading branches, and from there he would see Jesus as He walked by.

When Jesus came to the tree, He stopped and looked up. Although the little man had never seen Jesus, the Lord Jesus knew him and what he wanted, and He called him by name, telling him to come down and He would go to his house.

That was a happy surprise for this man who had heard so much of Jesus that he wanted to see Him who He was. When he saw Him, heard His voice, and realized Jesus knew his thoughts, he seems to have believed Him to be the promised One and called Him “Lord.” He came down from the tree quickly to take Jesus to his home.

Salvation for a Sinner

But people in the crowd thought the man was not worthy to have Jesus at his house; they said he was a “sinner.” He was chief of the publicans, who were the men to collect the taxes for the Roman nation which then ruled over that land. The Jewish people did not like to have that rule and thought it wrong to collect the tax; some of the men were not honest, and all were disliked.

This man was rich, but he thought of the poor, and if he had taken more tax than he should, when he saw the Lord Jesus he wanted to do right and said, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man [wrongfully], I restore him fourfold.”

Jesus said, “This day is salvation come to this house,” not because the man gave to the poor and wanted to be honest, but because he was “a son of Abraham,” which meant he believed God’s words as Abraham had. The Lord Jesus was Himself the salvation, the One to save the man and his family, because they were lost from God by sins, as all others. Jesus had come to earth to “seek and to save that which was lost.” He looked up into that tree to “seek” the man who wanted to know Him, and would save him and his family.

Some men would have thought it just was not proper to run ahead of the crowd and climb into a tree, and they would have missed seeing the Lord Jesus. There are people now who do not like others to think they want to know the Lord and do not try to come near Him. How much better to be anxious, like the little man, and be made joyful, for the Lord will surely let all know Him who want to.

Further Meditation

1. How did the little man show he had believed in Jesus for who He was?

2. Sometimes fear of what others may think holds us back from eagerly coming to the Lord. Fearing the Lord and fearing man are two radically different things. What does the Bible say about the fear of the Lord or the fear of God?

3. In understanding cultural details such as who the publicans were it would be helpful to have handy a book like Manners and Customs of Bible Lands by F. H. Wight.

A Certain Nobleman: Luke 19:11-27

The people with Jesus on His last journey to Jerusalem knew the words of the Old Testament about God’s holy rule over the earth. They believed Jesus the promised King, so they expected when the city was reached He would take the place of King.

They did not understand the writings of David and others that the Holy One must suffer and be rejected as King (Psalm 2:2; Psalm 22:7; Psalm 69:4; Isaiah 53:3). Jesus also told them He must die, yet they were hoping for His reign as King to begin. So, when near the city, He told a parable to teach that He would be gone for a time, and they must wait for His reign: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. He called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds [money], and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him and sent this message after him, We will not have this man to reign over us.”

Our Nobleman

It is plain to us now that the “nobleman” was the Lord Jesus, the “far country” heaven, and the “citizens” who hated him and sent the wicked message, were the leaders of the nation, who said plainly as a written message, “Away with Him, crucify Him” (John 19:5). The servants were those who knew His words and should serve Him.

The parable told what will happen when “the nobleman” returns as King: he will call the servants to give account of the money he gave them. Each had the same amount: the first used his pound so well, it earned ten times as much and the King said because he had been faithful with a little, he should rule ten cities. The next earned five times the pound, and he was given rule over five cities. All we are not told of, but one came with the pound wrapped in a napkin, never used at all, because he feared the King was not just. But the King was very just and gave that pound to the servant who had been most faithful in working for him.

That “nobleman,” the Lord Jesus, has been gone a long time; the parable gave no time, only those certain words, “he ... returned.” The people who heard Jesus’ words were His first servants; now many more have heard His words in the Bible, and each has the same Word to use for Him.

Some people love the Lord, and think of His words and tell them to others; so much is gained for His honor. Others hear His Word but do not love Him, so they do not use His words and are not true servants.

Do you suppose we who have heard His words and love Him, do not often also keep that Word tied “in a napkin”? We do not read it, or think of it, or tell it to others, and must lose His reward. The pound in their money was not a large amount, so even in small ways the Lord looks for faithfulness, as in trying to follow His words and being patient and humble. Christ will be the just judge.

“We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (Romans 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10).

Those who despise Christ will be punished, and that also will be just (Acts 17:31).

Further Meditation

1. Does the Lord only look for faithfulness in big things?

2. What has the Lord entrusted to our care to use for Him? How did Barzillai use what God had given him for God’s glory?

3. The whole subject of our responsible service to God is covered in a very accessible way in The Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy: Individual Responsibility in Service in a Time of Collective Failure by B. Anstey.

Entering Jerusalem: Luke 19:28-40

The city of Jerusalem was built on the tops of two mountains, which are close together — Mount Zion and Mount Moriah, and the Mount of Olives is on the east. When Jesus and the disciples came to the foot of the Mount of Olives, He sent two disciples to a village where He said they would find a colt tied, which they were to untie and bring to Him. If any asked why they did this, they were to say, “The Lord hath need of him.”

Was it because it was hard to walk up the long, rough roads into the city that Jesus needed the colt to ride? No, it was because it was written in the Scriptures that the people of Jerusalem should see their King coming, riding on such a colt, or what we call a donkey. And the Lord Jesus knew the time had come for Him to offer Himself to the people as their promised Holy King (See Zechariah 9:9).

We would expect a great King to ride on a horse, but that was for war, and the King of Israel was to bring peace, not war, and to help them in trouble as a servant to God, not as a conqueror (1 Kings 1:38-40).

The disciples found the colt as Jesus said and brought it to Him. It is told, in Matthew 21, that the colt’s mother was also brought, showing the Lord’s kindness to have them together. The disciples put their cloaks on the colt, as a blanket, and Jesus rode upon him up the road to the city, showing His power over an animal, as a colt, “whereon yet never man sat” would not have been obedient to a stranger.

The Reception From the Crowd

Crowds of people followed Jesus and the disciples; it was a time when many were going to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. Many had come from Galilee and other parts who had seen Jesus’ power; many had been healed by Him, and all believed Him to be the promised Messiah and King, and they all began to sing psalms of praise to God.

Some went ahead and cut the flat branches of palm trees to lay over the rough road, others laid down their own cloaks, and palm branches were waved as they sang, for those things were the customary way of showing honor and joy. As they came nearer the city, people who believed Jesus to be the Messiah came out to meet them, also singing and shouting words of the Psalms: “Hosanna,” [Lord, save!], and “Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 118:26; John 12:13).

It was a great procession, not as a wild celebration, but in true joy and thanks that the long-looked-for King had come, and they fulfilled the words: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter [people] of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy King cometh unto thee: He is just and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass” (Zechariah 9:9).

So they went through the city up to the temple singing praise there. All their words were from God’s Word, yet the chief of the priests and the scribes, who had the writings of the prophets and should have known they were then fulfilled, wanted Jesus to silence the people. They were the men to proclaim Jesus to be the king, but they did not.

Further Meditation

1. How would an unbroken colt normally behave for a stranger?

2. How could the people switch from the shouts of “Hosanna!” to “Crucify Him!” so quickly? There are several other examples of this happening in Scripture. Can you name them? What causes us to do the same thing?

3. A great way to “see” the city in this chapter would be with the large chart Jerusalem at the Time of Jesus Map by H. Claycombe.

Peace Refused: Luke 19:41-48

The name “Jerusalem” means “city of peace.” On one high part was Mount Zion, with the king’s house; on the other high part, Mount Moriah, was the temple, where God was to be honored. All was for the people’s good and for peace. Yet, because of their sins, they had wars and trouble, the opposite of peace.

Many years they had no ruler of their own, but were ruled by cruel kings of other lands. But it was promised in the Scriptures that God would give them a holy King, or ruler, to bring peace. It was written of that One as first a child, “Unto us a child is born,” who would grow then older, “Unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder.” One of His names was to be “Prince [ruler] of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

When Jesus was born in the town near Jerusalem, the angel said, “Peace on earth”; He was the One to bring peace, and when older, He did the good written of that One.

Perfect Prophecy

It was written that the holy King would be just and lowly, and how He would ride into Jerusalem, (Zechariah 9:9). The year this holy Ruler would be born a child was not foretold, but the exact year He should be there as “Prince,” or Ruler, was written, He being also called “Messiah,” which meant the One anointed and chosen by God.

The Israelites were captives many years in another country; then God told Cyrus, who ruled over them, to send them back to build up Jerusalem, (Ezra 1:1-5). An angel told the prophet Daniel that from the time of that command “unto Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks,” or 69 “weeks” (Daniel 9:25).

A week to us means seven days, but then a “week” also meant seven years (as shown in Genesis 29:27-28), and it was entirely plain to the people then, that 69 “weeks” meant 483 years. They knew well the year of command to restore their city, so they could count the 483 years from then to know the year the holy King would be there.

All the people who knew the writings should have been expecting Him, and that was the year the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem. But the men of the temple, who had the writings, did not want the holy King.

Jesus knew they would refuse Him, yet He mourned that they would have no peace. He looked down on the city, perhaps from the Mount of Olives where He stayed at night, and wept, and spoke as though to the city itself, “If thou hadst known ... the things which belong unto thy peace!” He was the One to bring peace and deliver them from their enemies, if they had welcomed Him. But instead of peace, Jesus said that an army would surround the city and fight against them until all would be broken down and the people destroyed. Because they knew “not the time of their visitation,” meant that they did not believe the coming of the holy King.

Although refused by Israel, the Lord Jesus, by His death on the cross, made peace, which God offers now, not to one city only, but to every person who will accept Him.

“We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

Further Meditation

1. Where had the Lord’s coming as Messiah been prophesied?

2. How are man’s predictions different from God’s prophesies? What does fulfilled prophecy tell us about God’s knowledge of the future? What other reasons do we have for being confident that God knows best how to direct our lives?

3. If you would benefit from a richer understanding of the prophecy referred to in Daniel 9, you can find it in the pamphlet The Seventy Weeks of Daniel’s Prophecy by W. Kelly.

Vineyard Keepers: Luke 20:1-19

The men who had charge of all in the temple were more than ever angry at the Lord Jesus when He sent away those who were selling things there. They asked Him who gave Him authority, or the right, to do so.

Jesus knew their hatred for Him, and what they would soon do to Him, and He answered them by this parable: “A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen [keepers], and went to a far country for a long time. At the season he sent a servant ... that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then said the Lord [owner] of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him.”

The Meaning of the Parable

The meaning of this parable was very plain, was it not? We all know that vineyards are planted so that fruit will grow. A large vineyard needs many keepers, and it would be right for the owner to have a share of the fruit.

The people of Jerusalem and all that land were like a vineyard to God. He had brought them there from Egypt, and done every good for them: should He not have “fruit,” or praise from them?

The priest and scribes and rulers were to be as “husbandmen” to care for the people and to teach them to praise God. Some of them did honor God, but many did not. God told His wishes to men who believed Him, and they told His words to the leaders and to the people. Such men were the “servants” sent, called prophets. Yet they were not liked; even Moses was spoken against and some were put in prison and some were stoned.

After many years God sent His own beloved Son to the land, just as the owner of the vineyard sent his son. Did the men of the temple, who were the “keepers” of the people, give respect to God’s Son, the Lord Jesus, or praise God for Him? No, they were at that very time planning to “cast Him out” and do what the keepers said, “Come, let us kill him.”

Those men had not believed the words of the prophet John, nor turned from their sins as he told them, and they did not believe the Lord Jesus. They were selfish and dishonest, as were the vineyard keepers; they wanted to use all things for themselves.

The parable was a plain answer to their question, “Who is He that gave Thee authority?” It was God who sent His Son and gave Him authority. This is for us to think of too: although the Lord Jesus took a humble place on earth, He was and is the Son of God and has every right over all.

Further Meditation

1. Who were the “husbandmen” in this parable?

2. Why was Moses hated by his contemporaries and revered by future generations? How can this happen with people in our day? What instruction has God given us that helps to prevent this?

3. A nice overview of the different parables can be found in The Parables of Our Lord and What They Teach.

The Lord's Wise Answer: L:uke 20:20-26

Men of Jerusalem tried every day to find cause against the Lord Jesus that He should be punished. They knew if they could tempt Him to speak against the ruler or the tax required, the governor would imprison or punish Him.

This nation had not always paid tax, or tribute, to another country: God had given them that land to be free. But, when they disobeyed His words year after year, He let other nations conquer them. At that time the Roman power was over them and the ruler was one of the Caesars.

The men thought Jesus would say they should be free, and so speak against Caesar: they asked Him, “Is it lawful [right] for us to give tribute to Caesar, or no?”

Our Lord’s Perfect Answer

Jesus said for them to show Him a penny, which was a Roman coin of more value than our penny, having the name and face of the ruler engraved on it, as money often has now. The men showed Him a penny, and He asked them whose name and face were on it. They answered, “Caesar’s.”

Then He said to them, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s.”

Jesus knew that their sins had brought them under the tax, and until they repented to God for the sins, they must be under other rule and should pay the tax. He did not speak against Caesar or the tax, so they found no cause to report Him, as they hoped to.

But there were other words Jesus said to them: they were to give to “God the things which be God’s.” All things belong to God, for we are told, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof,” even “they that dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1).

The metal that penny was made from had been placed in the earth in creation and was meant for men to use for good. Money was not what God wanted, but thankfulness and obedience to His words.

The men who came to tempt Jesus knew they had not obeyed God’s words, and they saw that Jesus understood their plan to try to have Him speak against the ruler. They “marveled” at His wise answer, yet they were not sorry for their sin.

Jesus’ answer shows how perfect He was in all His words: many wrongs could be found in our words, but none in His. Do you remember when Peter was asked if His Master, Jesus, paid the tax? Jesus did not want those who did not know who He was to think He was doing wrong. Surely He should have been free, since “all things were made by Him” (John 1:3). He had taken the place of a very poor man on earth; it would seem He had no money, but He knew where to send Peter to obtain a coin, which was enough for both His and Peter’s tax.

Several years after Jesus lived on earth, some of the people who believed in Him were living in Rome, the capital of that same power which required tribute. We might think, there, they could ask to be free of paying, but they also were told, “Pay ye tribute ... .render therefore to all their dues” (Romans 13:6-7).

Further Meditation

1. What was the Lord looking for instead of money?

2. Our obedience and devotion to the Lord are deeply valued. In what ways did the Lord Jesus set the perfect example in His submission to His Father?

3. A more challenging treatment of the Lord Jesus acting as a perfect man can be found in The Holy Humanity of Our Lord Jesus Christ by W. Kelly.

A Wrong Question: Luke 20:27-39

Some of the men who came to the Lord Jesus had very wrong thoughts. They denied God’s power to raise from death. They knew Jesus taught the dead would be raised and they must have known also that He had raised to life again people who were dead. Yet they thought they could ridicule, or make fun of such power, and they came with this story to Him.

They said there were seven brothers and when the oldest died, the next brother took his brother’s widow for his wife, as the law of God to Moses directed, Deuteronomy 25:5. Then that brother also died and the next brother married the wife. At last all had died and the woman died, and these men asked Jesus whose wife would the woman be when the dead were raised?

Their story may not have been true but they thought their question too hard for Him to answer. They should have known that the law to Moses was for life on earth, not for after death. Jesus told them they were altogether wrong. He told them that in this world people marry, but in that world, there will be no marriage or family as here, and He said, “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.”

All will be the same in God’s family. But Jesus said they will be those who are “accounted worthy to obtain that world.” How can any be counted “worthy” of that wonderful world where none die? It is written, “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10).

Yet because the Lord Jesus gave His life for sinners, God counts righteous, or “worthy,” those who believe Him, and has said He will raise them from death unto life, and they will die no more. But Jesus also taught the people that there would be a time when dead ones will be raised for judgment, not to live with God. Perhaps that was why the men did not want to believe the dead could be raised.

Resurrection Shown in the O. T.

They had spoken of the writing of Moses, and Jesus told them that Moses showed that those who believed God would be raised, when he wrote the words God said to him: I am the “God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Those men were not then living on earth, yet God said He was their God, and Jesus told the men that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, so they lived unto Him. Their words for “I am” made this plainer to them than to us, as it meant “the ever-existing, or living One,” which shows His power.

There are persons now who are like those men and deny that God will raise the dead, although still more is written of this in the New Testament. It is very sad and wicked not to believe God’s promises. We do not understand His power but we can believe His words (see 1 Corinthians 15:12-13).

“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of [judgment]” (John 5:28-29).

Further Meditation

1. What makes us “worthy” in God’s eyes?

2. It’s a pretty common thing for people to mock the resurrection. Why would they do so? What can we learn from the Lord’s way of responding to these mockers?

3. A good tract that presents the resurrection to some who would be inclined to unbelief can be found in Jesus Christ’s Resurrection: How Much Proof Do We Need?

"The Son of David": Luke 20:40-47

You remember that the people and children called out to the Lord Jesus as He rode up the streets to the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David.”

The children who shouted those words, knew the meaning better than we: they had been told such a great King would come, and they knew the promises of Him in the writings God had given. The words they said were from a psalm, which they sang as we do hymns: “Hosanna” meant, “Save ... O Lord, I beseech” (Psalm 118:25).

They knew David had been a great king of their nation, and that God had sent a prophet to tell him one from his family, called his “seed,” meaning heir or descendent, should be King forever (2 Samuel 7:12,16-17).

The Promised Son of David

“My covenant [agreement] will I not break ... once have I sworn [solemn, sure promise] by My holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun” (Psa. 89:34-36).

Again later a prophet wrote: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign” (Jeremiah 23:5). That was why the people called their great King to come, “Son of David.”

It was written that this One should come as a child (Isaiah 9:6), so when Jesus was born where David had lived, and his mother was of a family of the descendants of David, and the angel declared Him to be the chosen One, the “Christ” (Luke 2:11), those who knew the promise, believed the Holy One had come.

Later when Jesus was a man and did the good that had been promised (as Isaiah 61:1), and the people felt the power of His holy person, many were happy.

More Than David’s Son

There were men who wanted to prove Him false, and He asked them of the promise to David, so that they would think of what had been written. He said, “How say they that Christ [the expected King] is David’s son?”

“The Lord [Jehovah] said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand” (Psalm 110:1).

“David therefore calleth Him Lord, how is He then his son?”

The men could not answer the question Jesus asked. If they had read the scriptures with interest to learn, they would have known that David fully believed the promise that an heir of his should be King forever, but One far different from all others, that He would be holy and would be his Lord.

They would have seen this King was also said to be the Son of God: “Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion ... The Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son” (Psalm 2:6-7).

This teaches us the greatness of the Lord Jesus, whom we do not now speak often of as “Son of David,” but as our Lord and Saviour, because He is waiting for people to trust Him, and be saved from their sins. But it is good for us to know those promises which were fulfilled in Him, so we know that all will come true, and He will someday as surely rule; then all the earth will give Him honor.

Further Meditation

1. What’s at least one promise that the Messiah would be of “the seed” of David?

2. The Lord didn’t prove His claims by blinding flashes of visible glory but by turning hearts to the Word of God. How did the apostles present Christ in the book of the Acts? What did they use when speaking to the multitude?

3. Old Testament Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus, the Messiah lists 50 specific prophecies from the Old Testament that were fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ. Any one who hasn’t studied the subject would greatly benefit by seeing God’s spotlight shining on His Son throughout history.

The Smallest Gift: Luke 21:1-4

He (Jesus) looked up and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury (in the temple). “And He saw also a poor widow casting in thither two mites.”

A mite was their smallest piece of money and the two were not of as much value as one cent of our money. So we would think that a very small gift for a grown person to put in. But Jesus did not call it small.

This was at a feast time when the people of that nation came to the temple in Jerusalem from every part of the land, and those also who lived in other countries, and they were all to bring gifts there. They were not told a certain amount to bring, for each was “to give as he was able.” They were called “freewill offerings” (see Deuteronomy 16:10).

No doubt many pieces of money were put in the temple chest, or treasury, that day, yet this is what Jesus said of the woman’s gift: “Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all.”

The smallest gift was the largest! And Jesus told the disciples why that small gift, was the most: “For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury [poverty] hath cast in all the living that she had.”

When the others had put in their money they still had plenty left for all their needs, but the woman had no more; she must do without what the two mites would have bought. Since there was not a rule for the gifts, she could easily have kept one mite for herself, but she gave both.

What the Lord Sees in the Gift

The story of the poor widow will always remind us that the Lord sees everything given for Him, and also that He knows how much each one has left for himself. It is really the love of the heart He values, and that is the first gift to give Him.

Those who love the Lord, are also to help one another in need, and to do good to all (Galatians 6:10; 2 Corinthians 9:7).

Jesus called the gifts, “offerings of God,” or for God, and that was why the woman gave all, she meant it for God’s honor. The great temple, or House of God, was then the special place where God was to be most praised, and the gifts were to be used to keep it all clean and beautiful.

All things of earth belong to God, so to give is only to return a part to Him, to show our thankfulness to Him (see 1 Chronicles 29:16).

The people who love Jesus give money to send copies of the Scriptures to people in other countries who do not have them, and they help men to go to all people to tell them of the love of God and of the death of the Lord Jesus. There are also many other ways of giving to Him.

Further Meditation

1. What made the widow’s small gift such a big one?

2. God places a deep value on the motive of our hearts when we give and only He can properly assess that motive. How can we keep our heart focused on giving the way Christ gave?

3. You may find Christian Giving: Its Character and Objects by A. P. Cecil and others to be a challenging but instructive pamphlet on the neglected subject of giving.

A Grand Building: Luke 21:5-10

The disciples spoke to Jesus of the beauty of the temple stones, which must have been very splendid to see, although not the same or perhaps as perfect as those in the first temple, for which King David prepared the most costly and durable material.

This temple was built on the same foundation, and had taken many years to complete, and was greatly admired by all people. All its strength and beauty were to teach the greatness of God, whose wisdom and power had first placed the rock, the gold, silver, and copper in the earth.

Those solid rocks reminded the people that the One who had formed them, was their strength and refuge, and for them to trust Him. The high shining pillars taught of His holiness and glory, as also all the ornamenting of gold and silver and very costly precious stones, such as are used in jewelry. More gold and silver were on the inside.

The golden ark, a beautiful chest made of wood covered with gold both outside and inside, and with a pure gold piece on the top on which were the wonderful carved figures, called “cherubim,” seems to have been lost when the first temple was spoiled. But copies of the words of God to all the prophets were still kept, and from those, the people could learn still more than from the temple itself.

Beautiful Building but Ugly Heart

But the men who had charge in the temple did not believe the words of God, or think of His glory and holiness. They taught their own laws to the people instead of God’s (Matthew 15:9), and were dishonest, making money for themselves and taking from the poor (Luke 19:46). They gave no honor to Jesus, the Son of God, whom they should have crowned as King and worshipped.

Because of such wickedness, Jesus could not admire the beauty of the building. He knew all must be destroyed, and He said to the disciples, “As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down.”

Those were very sad words to those men who valued the temple so much, but they knew Jesus told them what was true, and they asked Him when that would happen. It is not written that He told them the time, only that He said, “When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.”

God gave them time to repent, but at last He let armies surround Jerusalem, and break down the great temple, as Jesus said.

Since Christ was rejected in that temple, God has not told anyone to build Him a grand building, yet He has a “House,” but His is very different. It is made of all the people in the world who believe in His Son; they are called a “living stone,” are “chosen of God and precious.” By the Holy Spirit they are to give Him praise, that more may know His love and power than could by that temple (Acts 17:24; 1 Peter 2:4-5).

Read 1 Chronicles 29:1-10; Exodus 29:10-22; 2 Chronicles 36:14-20. Time of last temple: John 2:20.

Further Meditation

1. How were those in charge of the temple misbehaving?

2. Some Christian work looks good on the outside but does not truly honor God. How does the Scripture show us that everything the Lord Jesus did was done perfectly for the honor of God the Father?

3. As you grow in your desire to honor the Lord you will want to do the Father’s will. An encouragement in that can be found in the How to Know the Will of the Father Audio CD by J. N. Darby and read by G. Whitaker.

A City "Trodden Down": Luke 21:20-24

The Lord Jesus came to give joy to Jerusalem and that land, but the leaders refused Him, and kept on in sins: they rebelled still more against the Roman ruler over them till the army came and surrounded the city, just as Jesus said would happen (see also Luke 19:43-44).

No more is told in the Bible of that time, but world history describes it as most dreadful. The walls and towers were strong and the men fought hard, but the soldiers kept all help and food from being taken in and many died from want of food, and the men became too weak to resist. When the soldiers got inside the city, they killed ever so many; the rest they took away captives, as Jesus said. Only those who had believed the warning and fled before, escaped.

This happened in the year 70 A. D., which was about 37 years after Jesus told the disciples about it. After that the Jewish people have lived in all parts of the world, not having a country of their own and often badly treated. They wished for Jerusalem and that land, which belonged to their race so many hundreds of years, and which God said should be theirs if they would obey His words.

Jerusalem Trodden Down

Jerusalem was rebuilt by the Romans but for years no Jewish persons were allowed to come there. Later other nations ruled it; they also were against the Jews. Then for several hundred years the Arabian people ruled, and were not friendly to Jews, although they were permitted to live there and have their businesses, homes, and schools. To this day the Jews have no temple.

So that city has been oppressed or kept down ever since that army came to it, just as Jesus said: “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).

Since early times all people not of Israel were called Gentiles, and have been the great powers to rule. Israel had power in the time of King Solomon and the nations near paid him tribute. The people, who returned to Jerusalem and the land of Israel after their captivity, paid tribute to other nations. They have since been called Jews. Since then all the nations to rule in the world have been Gentiles.

The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles

In all the years since Jesus was refused, crucified, and returned to heaven, God has sent the word for all to believe in Him, whether Jews or Gentiles. He has said that there is no difference between them; “Both Jew and Gentiles, that they all are under sin ... .All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:9, 23).

“Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks [Gentiles] repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Further Meditation

1. When was the temple destroyed?

2. The Gentiles won’t rule the world forever. What will bring an end to their reign? Who will reign in place of them?

3. If you are getting started in your study of prophecy and would like an excellent overview of the subject you would no doubt benefit from Outline of Prophetic Events by B. Anstey.

Power and Great Glory: Luke 21:25-38

We like to see beautiful clouds. There is a “cloud of glory” mentioned in the Bible, which was different from all other clouds. A cloud was over the people of Israel all the way of their journey across the Red Sea and for forty years in the deserts, but it was called a cloud of “glory,” only when the glory filled the tabernacle, (Exodus 20:20-22; Exodus 40:34-38).

When God spoke to Moses on Mt. Sinai the cloud of glory abode upon the mountain six days. When the great temple, or house of God, was finished in Jerusalem, the cloud of glory filled it (2 Chronicles 5:13-14).

When three disciples were with Jesus on the mountain and God spoke to them, “a bright cloud overshadowed them” (Matthew 17:5).

There is an event to come, and a cloud and glory, so great it cannot be described. We can only give the Lord Jesus’ words: “And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

Christ’s Appearing in Glory

The Lord’s coming in glory will be unexpected to people, as a snare is sudden to a bird or animal. More is written of how sudden: “As lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:27; Luke 17:24).

More also is told of the troubles before, for those who believe God, and of the judgments to those who do not believe. But it is important to notice that for this no time is given, only that when Christ comes, He will be seen of all, and there can be no mistake.

Then none can reject the Lord Jesus and after that His promised righteous rule will begin, for He said, “Know ye that the kingdom of God is at hand” (Luke 21:31).

Later these words were told the disciple John to write, “Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him” (Revelation 1:7).

It was written of the cloud of glory over Mount Sinai; “The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire ... in the sight of the children of Israel” (Exodus 24:16-17).

How much greater the cloud of glory will be when Christ comes and all on earth shall see!

Christ’s Coming for His Own

About the same time Jesus told of that great coming, He told those men who believed and loved Him that He would “come again, and receive you unto Myself” (John 14:3). And it was written to the early Christians that all who believe shall be called into the clouds to meet the Lord, who is their hope, before His coming in power and glory to judge the earth (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). This also will be quickly and no time is set.

The Lord is now waiting for all who will trust in Him as their Saviour, and confess His name now.

Further Meditation

1. Will people be expecting the Lord’s return to the earth? How do you know?

2. Why has God shared with us so many details about what will happen during a few short years in the future? What makes that time so important for the earth?

3. The booklet, Keys to Prophecy, gives a concise introduction to coming events showing that what is due to Christ is central to all of prophecy.

A Very Old Feast: Luke 22:1-2

“Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.”

That feast was meant to be a very special and happy time. It was kept in the middle of the first month of their year, about the time of the month April to us. The first day at sunset they were to eat a supper of roast lamb, and for seven days do no work — only what was necessary for their meals and to meet together to sacrifice and to praise God.

All this was to be done each year to remember the night when the Lord sent death through the land of Egypt but passed over the houses where the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the door posts. So the life of the oldest son of each family of Israel was spared. But in the houses of the other people every oldest child was dead (Exodus 11:4-7).

The Lord’s Passover

The Lord had told them to sprinkle the blood and it was called the Lord’s Passover. The people ate roasted lamb that evening, and left that land in a hurry to be free of the cruel king there, and to be God’s people. They had to carry their bread dough with them and baked it before it was raised: such bread is called “unleavened.” When the feast was kept they used only unleavened bread (Exodus 12:34).

That was when those people first became a nation to go to a land of their own, instead of being slaves as they were in Egypt. This was all so great a change for them that God wanted their children after them to know of that night and celebrate it each year at that same time, (Exodus 12:14).

They could not keep this feast every place, but only where God had chosen for His name to be praised, which for a very long time was Jerusalem, (Deuteronomy 16:5-8; Psalm 102:21).

The men and boys were always to go, and all the family seems to have gone if it were not too far. If a man who could go to the feast would not go, or if one at that time ate bread with leaven, he was “cut off” from all the rest in the blessing (Numbers 9:13; Exodus 12:15).

Another reason this feast was so important was that it was to teach them that God must judge all, as He did in Egypt. They could not be safe unless they were sheltered by the blood of one slain for them. They would know how God valued that blood. There are other lessons to learn by the bread and herbs, but all would show they should be very grateful to the Lord.

No Joy for the Chief Priests

The chief priests and the scribes should have read God’s words, the writings of Moses, David, and all the prophets, in the temple and tell the people of One promised to come to bless them, and all sing psalms of praise to God. But those men did not believe the words of God, and they had no joy in their hearts to keep a feast to Him. They were full of hate to the Lord Jesus, the One who had come to bless them: “They sought how they might kill Him.”

They knew many people believed Jesus to be from God and would not let them harm Him. But we read how they found a way to do their most awful wish, and turned the feast time of joy to the deepest sorrow.

“Even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Further Meditation

1. Where had God chosen the Passover to be celebrated?

2. The Passover was celebrated by the chief priests without any room for Christ the Passover in their hearts. Is it possible to act out the breaking of bread without doing it from the heart? Why does the Lord give us some outward things to do such as break bread or be baptized when we worship the Father in spirit and in truth?

3. A lot more about the Passover and what it teaches can be found in the easy-to-read book The Seven Feasts of Jehovah by G. C. Willis.

To Gain Money: Luke 22:3-6

When the twelve disciples went about the country with the Lord Jesus, the money for their food and lodgings was kept in one bag that all should share alike. The disciple who carried the bag and had charge of the money was Judas. But he did not want to share the same as Jesus and the others; he wanted more for himself.

When the costly oil was put on the head and feet of Jesus to honor Him, Judas said it should have been sold and the money given to the poor. What he said about giving to the poor was deceit; he wanted the oil sold, then he could have the price of it in the bag, and steal a part for himself (John 12). So Judas was willing to do wrong, and to say what was not true to gain money.

Betrayal

It was known that the priests and chief men of Jerusalem hated Jesus so much that they wanted Him taken and put to death, but did not dare have Him arrested when the crowds of people would see it, because they knew the people believed Jesus to be the Messiah, and would not let Him be mistreated. The wicked thought came to Judas that he could lead the priests to Jesus secretly, and that they would pay him money to do so.

Judas did not refuse the wicked thought, and one more wicked than all urged him on: “Satan entered into” Judas, and he went to the priests and asked them if they would pay him money to bring Jesus to them when the people would not see or know it.

The priests were “glad” to promise money, and they agreed on a plan, which was soon carried out at night and outside the city where the people could not see their wicked deed.

To give a friend to his enemy to harm is to betray, a most dishonorable act; how dreadful for Judas to plan to do this to the Lord Jesus, who, he knew, had done good to all. Judas knew the Lord’s power to cure every sickness, and twice he had seen that Jesus could supply bread for several thousand people without money to buy it; he should have thought how much greater His power was than money.

Christ Not Money

Also all the words of the Lord taught Judas right and true ways; He had told them, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (money). But Judas made the awful choice. He wanted money more than he wanted the Lord. He may have seemed interested at first as all the disciples, but he never loved Jesus or he would not have been willing for Him to be mistreated.

Judas’ life shows it is not enough to know the greatness of the Lord and to hear His words; we must choose Him above all else and know our need of Him.

The wicked spirit, Satan, has always wanted harm to come to the Lord Jesus, (Luke 4:12). It would seem he knew the wrong things Judas had already done for money and that he would do worse, when he helped him on in the evil plan. Satan is never for what is good, always for evil, (James 4:7).

Further Meditation

1. How much money did the men agree to pay Judas? (Matt. 26:14-16).

2. Did the Lord Jesus know what Judas would do? Why did He allow Judas to act like he did? Why does He allow us to “do our own thing” sometimes?

3. A good tract to share with people who have money as their God might be Happiness: Where Is It? The gospel tract discusses the emptiness of money, fame, power and more.

The Passover Feast Kept: Luke 22:7-18

The Passover feast was to be kept in Jerusalem, but the supper was not eaten at the temple, but by the families or groups in the homes, as it had been in the houses that night in Egypt.

Jesus and the disciples had no homes in Jerusalem and stayed nights outside on the Mount of Olives. When Passover day came, Jesus told John and Peter to go and prepare the Passover. They asked Him where they should prepare, and He said, “Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with My disciples? And he shall show you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.’”

Jesus knew where to send them, and they went, and found all just as He said, and prepared for the supper. That evening Jesus and the twelve disciples came there to eat the Passover meal.

Desire and Betrayal

The Lord Jesus may have kept the Passover feast with the disciples other years, but He especially wished to eat this one with them (Luke 22:15). This supper was meant to show that each one eating shared in the mercy of God. He had saved their nation because of the lamb killed. Jesus valued their thanks to God and also that they had shared His life on earth (Luke 22:28). Their love seemed a comfort to Him, when He knew He would soon die for them.

But there was one disciple who did not love the Lord. That was Judas, and Jesus knew just what he was to do, and said, “Behold, the hand of him that betrayeth Me is with Me on the table ... woe [judgment] to that man by whom He is betrayed.”

When Judas heard that, he should have realized that the Lord knew the secret plan, and believed His warning, but he did not. And he again showed his deceit: when the others asked “Is it I?”, he said “Master, is it I?”, as though he had no such plan. He then went away from the house to meet the men who wanted to take Jesus (See Matthew 26:25; John 13:21-30).

The Last True Passover

That Passover supper was the last one to be rightfully kept, because the next day Jesus fulfilled by His death all that the feast meant and much more. He became the “Lamb of God,” sacrificed to bear God’s judgment against sin, and it is written, “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

The blood of the Passover lamb saved the oldest son of each family of Israel from death for one night, but the blood of Jesus was given to save all from any nation who trust in Him from eternal death.

However there are very many lessons for us now to learn from what is written of the Passover feast: how the bitter herbs teach of sorrow for sins, and the bread without leaven, of keeping sin from our ways; how all was to be done just as God directed and that all was for their blessing.

But the Lord Jesus gave a new supper to be kept in memory of His death, which we will read more of next time (Luke 22:19-20).

Further Meditation

1. What made this Passover feast for the Lord with His disciples so special?

2. The Lord finds fellowship with Himself in the day of His rejection to be specially sweet. What other indications are there in the gospels that He valued the faithfulness of the disciples when the multitude had no interest in Him?

3. You might find The Servant’s Path in the Day of Rejection by J. J. Penstone an uplifiting way to meditate on this subject.

"What Mean Ye": Luke 22:19-20

The Passover supper was eaten once each year, and the children knew it was different from other meals, and they asked, “What mean ye by this service?” (Exodus 12:26).

Boys and girls who now see the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the cup, called the Lord’s supper, may rightly ask the same question.

The Lord Jesus Himself said to do this, and showed its meaning the night before His death. After He and the disciples had eaten the Passover supper in the upper room: “He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you.”

The Reminder

It is very plain that this is to be done to remind those who love the Lord Jesus of His death for them, in which He bore the judgment of God against sin and was bruised of God for sin. The drink in the cup, called “fruit of the vine” (Luke 22:18 ), was made from the juice of grapes, and is used by the Lord to remind us of His blood poured out, or shed, when the soldier pierced His side.

It was God’s way that sins could not be put away except by blood, since all have sinned. No one could make himself fit to live with God, or erase even one sin from his record. Only One who had no sin could save others. Because Jesus, the Holy Son of God, was without sin, His shed blood was of value to save everyone in all the world who should put his trust in Him. Think of the wonder of these words, “God ... hath ... spoken ... by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds: who being the brightness of His glory ... upholding all things by the word of His power ... by Himself purged (put away) our sins” (Hebrews 1:1-3).

There could be no work greater than that of the Son of God in His death on the cross. On the night before His death He spoke of it as though it were already done.

Costly statues are made to remember the great deeds of men. Jesus asked only for those who love Him to remember His death, that greatest of all deeds, by eating the simple supper together, giving thanks to God.

In eating together they show they shared the sins which caused Him to die, but also share the blessings brought by His “body ... given” and His “blood ... shed.” They did not go to a great fixed place like the temple, but to an upper room loaned for the time.

That night Jesus told them that after He was gone the Holy Spirit would come to guide them with His words (John 16:13). Later, they did His wishes as the Spirit led, and they met in plain places to give Him praise and think of His death for them.

Further Meditation

1. What does the “fruit of the vine” remind us of?

2. What are some of the contrasts between how the Lord’s supper is to be celebrated and the celebration of the Passover?

3. You might find The Lord’s Supper, a booklet by C. H. Mackintosh, quite helpful in meditating further on this very important subject.

All Known Before: Luke 21:21-46

How perfectly the Lord Jesus knew ahead of time all that was to be done to Him, and even what would be said! Before they came to Jerusalem He told the disciples that He must suffer. At the Passover supper He said, “Truly the Son of Man goeth, as it was determined” (Luke 22:22).

He had told Judas that he would betray Him; He also told Peter that he would speak against Him to deny Him. But we notice here especially His words: “For I say unto you, that this that is written of Me must, yet be accomplished in Me, He was reckoned among the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).

Those words were written several hundred years before by the prophet, about the holy Servant who was to come to earth. It is plain that Jesus was that holy One; He knew He would be put on trial as one who disobeyed God’s laws, a transgressor, and be said to be guilty. Yet in Him was no sin.

He knew the disciples would be badly treated because they believed in Him, and He gave them many words of comfort. More of His words are written by John (John 14-17). But He spoke plainly that He would yet rule in His kingdom, (Luke 22:30), which also was written by the prophets (Zechariah 14:9).

The Events on the Mount of Olives

We are not told what time Jesus and the eleven disciples left the house where they ate the Passover, but it was night. Judas had already gone to lead the soldiers who were to take the Lord Jesus. Although Jesus knew that, He did not change to a different location. He went to the same place outside of the city on the side of the Mount of Olives.

That place is called a garden, but perhaps it is more what we would call an orchard, as many fruit trees grew on these slopes. It was early spring, but in that climate people could wrap in their cloaks and sleep on the ground. The disciples did not realize what was to happen, though they were sad because Jesus had said He would suffer, but they were sleepy and laid down and slept.

Jesus went a short distance from them and knelt down in prayer to God His Father. He knew fully the cruelty He would soon suffer from the soldiers and the priests and more terribly what He must suffer to take the punishment for sin from God. That we cannot in any way understand.

He spoke of it as taking “a cup.” We dread to take bitter medicine; sometimes children cry to see one spoonful of what they do not like. The sorrow was real to the Lord as a most bitter cup. Yet His prayer to God was, “Not My will, but Thine, be done.”

Great sorrow causes a person to become weak. Jesus prayed so earnestly in deepest sorrow, or agony, that an angel came from heaven to give Him strength. Yet when He rose from prayer, He went to the disciples, thinking of how they would feel when He would be taken from them.

Jesus had said that the things written of Him had an end, and the next words and chapter show how quickly all happened and was fulfilled.

As we read how fully the Lord Jesus knew all that was to happen, yet how firmly He kept on to suffer, our hearts must thank Him and trust Him for all He has said is yet to come.

Further Meditation

1. Where can we find the Lord’s words of comfort to His disciples?

2. We read of the Lord being in agony but never of Him being afraid? Why? What does He tell us in His Word about fear?

3. Any believer would be strengthened by the lessons found in the pamphlet Fear Not by H. H. Snell.

Betrayed in the Night: Luke 22:47-53

Judas had at other times stayed with the Lord and the other disciples at night on the Mount of the Olives, just outside the city of Jerusalem, so he knew well where to lead the soldiers to take Jesus, without the people in the city knowing. It was still night when they came to the place, and they had lanterns, torches and weapons. It was a large band of men. The priests came also with their servants, to see that all their wicked plan was done. No doubt they were afraid of the power of Jesus and feared that He would escape, which is why they brought so many to help. They perhaps thought to surprise Jesus and the disciples sleeping, but He knew the moment to expect them, and stepped forward to meet them.

Judas Carries Out His Plan

The soldiers did not know Jesus from the disciples, so Judas had agreed to give them a sign; the person he would kiss was the one for them to take. A kiss was a common greeting among friends in that land, and Judas spoke to the Lord and kissed Him. How deceitful to act as a friend to the one he was betraying to His enemies! But Jesus was not deceived. He said, “Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?”

When the other disciples saw that the soldiers had come to capture Jesus, they asked Him if they should fight, and one of them at once struck a man with a sword, cutting off his ear. It was not the Lord’s way that they should fight, and He restored the man’s ear, healing him. That man surely learned the power and kindness of the Lord. Jesus could have instantly sent the soldiers away, and it is told by John that when He spoke they went backward and fell to the ground. But He allowed them to take Him so that He should give His life, that even they could be forgiven, if they would believe on Him.

The soldiers, with the priests and servants, led Jesus into the city to the house of their leader. So Judas succeeded in his evil plan to deliver Jesus to those who hated Him, when the people in the city would not see it.

The Price of Betrayal

No doubt the men paid Judas the thirty pieces of silver agreed to, that same night. He may have expected Jesus to use His power to free Himself, and yet he would still have the money. Anyway, the money which was gained so wickedly did Judas no good, and was not used by him. When he saw that Jesus was not freed, he went to the priests to return the money, as though that would excuse him of his sin.

But the priests were satisfied with the result of their bargain, and would not take the money. Then Judas threw the thirty pieces of silver on the floor of the temple before them and went away and hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-5).

It was written long before of harm to be done to the holy One by a “friend ... which did eat of My bread, hath lifted up his heel against Me.” Those words meant, to do harm to. It was also written what price would be paid for Him: “So they weighed for My price thirty pieces of silver.”

That was the value for a slave by the law given to Moses (Exodus 21:32; Zechariah 11:12; Psalm 41:9).

Further Meditation

1. How did one of the disciples try to defend the Lord Jesus?

2. How long did the wicked Judas have to enjoy the money he earned? Scripture indicates that the pleasures of sin last for a “season.” When in Luke 15 does the Bible say the merry making in the Father’s house will end?

3. If you haven’t already read The Evangelists: Meditations on the Four Gospels by J. G. Bellett, you are in for a treat. It doesn’t give verse-by-verse details but it does provide a very heartwarming presentation of Christ in the gospels included in this book of Luke.

In the High Priest's House: Luke 22:54-71

After Jesus was made a prisoner, He was taken into the city to the house of the high priest, the leader of the temple. He should have led the people for God, and have been the first to know that Jesus was their promised Messiah. But, instead, the high priest did not believe God’s words written in the Scriptures, and had been very angry when He taught in the temple, because His words showed that he and the other leaders were doing wrong things.

Others who hated Jesus were waiting with the high priest, and when He stood before them bound, all mocked and spoke against Him. They allowed the soldiers to blindfold Him, then strike Him on His face and ask Him to say who had done it. Could He not have told the name of each person? Yes, we know He could, but He did not answer or defend Himself (Mark 14:61).

Peter’s Denial

Two of the disciples had followed after the soldiers to the high priest’s house to know what would be done with the Lord, though at first they had fled away. One of these is not named but the other was Peter, and while Jesus was mocked and questioned, he sat with the crowd of servants and officers, but he did not want them to know that he was Jesus’ disciple.

The servant girl who kept the door told some that Peter was with Jesus, but Peter denied, saying he did not know Him. Later another said the same, but Peter again declared he did not know Jesus. After a time another servant said to him that he had been with Jesus, and for the third time Peter denied that he knew Jesus.

All this had been done in the night, but the dawn was just beginning, and a cock, or rooster, crowed, as is usual before daylight. Before the soldiers came to take the Lord, He had said to Peter, “The cock shalt not crow this day, before that thou shall thrice deny that thou knowest Me.”

It had happened, just as Jesus said; Peter had three times said he did not know Him. It would seem they were in the same large room, or in a hall close, where Jesus stood bound, and when the rooster crowed, Jesus turned and looked at Peter. Although He was in that sad place of spite and mocking, He did not forget Peter, and His look must have been kind, for at once Peter felt how wrong he had been to say he did not know Him, and he went outside to weep.

Peter loved the Lord and was a true disciple, but he had been so sure he would do better than the others, that he forgot the Lord’s words, to watch and pray.

The High Priest’s Anger

As soon as it was day the men took Jesus to their council room, for all the scribes and leaders to question Him and decide what charge to tell the governor. But there also all spoke falsely. At last the high priest asked Him, “Art thou the Son of God?” And He told him that it was true. That made the high priest most angry, and he declared Him to be worthy of death.

“They that hate Me without a cause are more than the hairs of Mine head: they that would destroy Me ... are mighty” (Psalm 69:4: also Micah 5:1; Isaiah 50:6).

Further Meditation

1. How many times did Peter deny the Lord?

2. Where should our confidence be placed if we don’t want to sin? What resources has the Lord given to us to keep us from failure?

3. Simon Peter: His Life and Letters by W. T. P. Wolston gives an excellent, simple and lengthy discussion of Peter in his service for the Lord as well as the teaching in his epistles.

Jesus Before Pilate: Luke 23:1-26

It was in the year 33 A.D. that the Lord Jesus was taken by the Jewish leaders. At that time the Romans were the most powerful of all nations, with one of the Caesars being the emperor. They ruled the countries around them by a governor in each area. The governor in Judea, of which Jerusalem was the chief city, was a man named Pilate, and he made the final decisions in all important matters.

So it was to Pilate at the judgment hall, or what we would call a court house, that Jesus was brought and stood before him bound, to be tried. The priests told Pilate that they had found Him speaking against the Roman rule and forbidding the people to pay Caesar tribute, which was all false. They said He claimed to be their king, but Jesus had come from God as the One to be King, if they had received Him.

He did not make answer to the untrue words against Him, but when Pilate asked, “Art Thou the king of the Jews?” He answered, “Thou sayest,” meaning that was true.

Sent to Herod

Soon Pilate learned from the priests that Jesus had come from Galilee, and he said He should be tried by Herod, the ruler of that country. Herod was then in Jerusalem and Pilate sent Jesus to him. The priests went also, speaking the same charges against Jesus.

Herod knew the great miracles Jesus had done and was curious about Him, and asked many things, but found no wrong He had done. So he and his soldiers made a mockery about His being a king, and put a fancy robe on Him in ridicule, and sent Him back to Pilate.

Injustice

At last Pilate told the priests that neither he nor Herod had found any fault in Jesus of what they accused Him, and that He had done “nothing worthy of death,” as they had charged.

They were so loud in their cries against Jesus that Pilate let them have their way, and sentenced Him to be crucified, as they demanded, which was the most shameful of any death. The soldiers were then given orders to lead Jesus away to the place of death.

The Lord Jesus had been tried by the highest courts of the time, but all unjustly. The Jewish leaders had the just laws given by God to Moses, but they had acted entirely falsely, and the Roman judge, Pilate, had sentenced to death a person he knew to be innocent.

Jesus did not in any way ask for mercy or defend Himself, knowing it was God the Father’s way that He should suffer on the cross to bear the punishment of sins which men deserved. And the men showed how wicked the heart can be to hate or be careless of the only perfect Man, so they could keep on with their sins.

Because of this, God has given Christ to be the Great Judge of all who refuse Him on earth. How different from the wicked trial that day! (Acts 17:31; Revelation 20:11-15).

Further Meditation

1. How did Herod treat the Lord Jesus?

2. How many different injustices can you name from these last two days of the Lord’s life?

3. The Lord as a judge is infinitely better than the wicked men who accused and tried the Lord. You can thoroughly enjoy one aspect of that fairness in The Judgment Seat of Christ: Reviewing, Rewarding and Rejoicing by B. Anstey.

On the Hill Calvary: Luke 23:27-56

A great company of people followed when the soldiers took Jesus from the judgment hall to a bare hill outside the city of Jerusalem where the cross was to be set up. The men who hated Jesus had said not to take Him on the feast day “lest there be an uproar of the people;” and they hurried through the trial in the night and went to Pilate very early in the morning that the crowd of people would not know.

Yet it was witnessed by those of Galilee, Jerusalem, and many other places, for, after all, it was a feast day, the first day of unleavened bread when all the Jewish people were to meet in the temple to praise God (Leviticus 23:6-7). But there could have been no rejoicing, for it was the saddest day of all time, when the One who came to do good to all was nailed on a cross to die. Pilate made it very plain who it was that hung on the center cross that day. He had a board or scroll fastened above with the name “Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.” It was written in Hebrew for the Jews to read, in Latin for the Romans, and in Greek for those of that language.

The men who had wanted Jesus put to death stood about His cross to ridicule Him as He suffered. They said, “He saved others; let Him save Himself.” The soldiers also ridiculed that He was a king and said, “If Thou be the king of the Jews, save Thyself.”

Two Others

There were two men, who had done wrong, crucified the same time, each on a cross beside Jesus. Even one of those men spoke angrily to Him to save Himself and them, if He were the Christ (Messiah). But the other man said that was wrong, that they deserved to die, but that Jesus had “done nothing amiss.”

That man must have known the promise of a King from God. By the words and presence of Jesus that day, he believed Him to be the Holy One who would yet rule, and he said, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.”

Jesus answered him, “Verily, I say unto you, [meaning, what is to be told is with authority and sure], Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.”

That was far more than the man asked. His soul would that day be with the Lord in the place of joy, not to wait for His kingdom on earth, for Jesus was more than the King. He was the Saviour of mens’ souls, and the Lord of glory.

A Life Yielded

The last three hours that Jesus was on the cross there was darkness over all the land; then He called with a loud voice, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.”

Jesus had given up His life Himself when His work of suffering for men’s sins was finished. That work no one could see, but was the perfect sacrifice known to God. We can believe the Lord’s words as the thief and others did that day, and wonder at His love that gave Him to be crucified for us.

There was one man named Joseph who was in the council, but who believed Jesus to be the Messiah; he went to Pilate and obtained permission to take down the body of Jesus and, wrapping it with linen, placed Him in a new tomb.

Further Meditation

1. Why was the inscription above the cross written in more than one language?

2. How many different testimonies to the Lord’s innocence can you find in Luke 22 and 23?

3. The sufferings of the Lord are a deep and essential subject. If you are up for a challenging and deep introduction to this vast topic you might read the pamphlet The Sufferings of Christ by J. N. Darby.

He Is Risen: Luke 24:1-12

Several women followed to the tomb of Jesus, and they watched how the body of Jesus was laid. As they returned home they bought spices and ointment and prepared them, as this was a custom to put around the body of a loved one. The next day was the Sabbath, when none were to work or travel (Exodus 16:29), but they came early the morning after.

The great stone had been rolled from the entrance, and they went inside, but the body of Jesus was not there. They were greatly troubled. Where it could be?

Suddenly two angels in shining garments were beside them, who said, “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.”

Witnesses of the Resurrection

The angels reminded them that Jesus had told them He would rise the third day, and they said for them to go tell His disciples. The women went and told them, but the men did not believe them, though two ran to the tomb and found it empty (John 20:3-8).

Soon the Lord Himself appeared to those women and talked to them (Matthew 28:9-10). Later all those who loved Him had sure proof that He was alive, for He came to them and talked to them.

Notice that it was on the first day of the week that the Lord Jesus arose, as given also in Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1-2, and John 20:1. People then did not name the days of the week, but numbered them, 1st, 2nd, etc., except the 7th day was named Sabbath (rest). The day before was called the “preparation” day (Luke 23:54); that was the day Jesus was crucified and laid in the tomb. So He was there on the Sabbath.

The next day began a new week and that morning they found He had risen. Afterward those who loved Him met on the first day of the week to honor Him, and it was called “the Lord’s day.” (See Acts 20:7; Revelation 1:10).

Witnesses to the Resurrection

Although the disciples were slow to believe that morning that Jesus was risen, afterward they spoke much of that wonderful event. Peter said that God raised Him “because it was not possible” He should be held by death because He was “the Prince of life.” He said David meant Christ when he wrote, Thou will not “suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption [decay]” (Acts 2:24-28; Acts 3:15; Psalm 16:10-11).

He had come to earth to bear, while on the cross, the punishment from God that man’s sin deserved. That He was raised out of death is proof that His work was accomplished.

God now offers to justify, or count righteous, everyone who trusts in the work of His Son. That is why the message, “He is risen,” is as blessed for us, as for those people who trusted Him then (Romans 4:25).

“Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion [rule or power] over Him” (Romans 6:9).

Next we read of the appearings of the Lord to those who loved Him.

Further Meditation

1. Why is the first day of the week called the Lord’s day?

2. The wonder of Christ’s resurrection is as fresh today as it was then. What are some of the reasons it is so wonderful that we have a risen Saviour in heaven?

3. The Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ by A. J. Pollock presents some of the wonderful proofs that God has given us of the real, physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the tomb.

A Talk on the Highway: Luke 24:13-35

The day the Lord Jesus arose from the tomb, two people started from Jerusalem to walk to a village several miles away. As they walked along, they talked of the death of Jesus and were very sad.

Suddenly another person was walking with them, whom they thought to be a stranger. He asked them why they were sad, and they said, “Art Thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?”

He asked them, “What things?”

They said, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty in deed and word ... and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and have crucified Him.”

They said they had expected He was the One to save the nation of Israel. They told of the women going to the tomb that morning who had astonished them with their story of the angels who said Jesus lived; they said that some of the men had gone to the tomb and found it empty. They had wondered, but had not believed.

The person whom they thought was a stranger, then told them that they were slow to believe the words written in the Scriptures of the Holy One to come. He said, “Ought not Christ [the anointed One, or Messiah]to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?”

Then He explained to them what the prophets had written of that One.

By that time they reached the village and the house to which they were going, and He started to walk on, but they urged Him to come in and stay with them, because it was near night, and He went in.

Recognition

When food was served, He took bread and blessed it, and broke and gave to them. At that instant they realized who their Guest was — the Lord Jesus!

No one else could give thanks or would give to them as He had, and it made them know Him, but He then vanished from them. They wondered that they had not known Him before, and said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?”

This meant they felt love and reverence for His holy presence, though they had not realized who He was. They were so happy that Jesus was alive, that they did not wait to rest, but started at once on the long walk back to the city to tell the others who loved Him.

The village was a distance of threescore (60) furlongs, about seven miles, no doubt over hills.

When the two reached the room in Jerusalem where the disciples and others were, they found they also knew He was alive, for they said to them at once, “The Lord is risen indeed!”

Further Meditation

1. When did the two discover who their companion was?

2. Sorrow drains us where hope, love and joy fill us to overflowing. How were the disciples affected by their discovery of the risen Lord? What other examples are we given in the Scriptures of hope, love and joy leading to energetic service?

3. The blessed hope of the Lord’s return for us, the first time we will see Him risen, has a huge practical effect on the believer. A stimulating leaflet on the subject is The Rapture: Its Daily and Practical Effect on the Christian Life by D. Spurbeck.

"Jesus Himself": Luke 24:36-49

While the disciples and others who loved the Lord Jesus were in a house in Jerusalem, and those who had seen Him alive that day were telling the rest of them about Him, suddenly He stood among them.

He said, “Peace be unto you!” Yet they were very frightened; those who had seen Him that day could not have been afraid as the others, who thought Him to be a spirit.

He asked them, “Why are ye troubled? ... Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I myself; handle Me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have.”

He showed them His hands and His feet where the nails had been so cruelly put through (Psalm 22:16; John 20:25, 27). Yet they did not think He was real. Then He asked for food, and ate before them.

A Real but New Body

By those plain ways they learned He was the One they loved: by His voice, by seeing His wounds, by touching Him, talking to Him, seeing Him eat, and by His same tender care for them.

His body was a real body. He spoke of His “flesh and bones,” not flesh and blood, as people say of a living person. He had been flesh and blood (Hebrews 2:14), but His blood flowed out when the soldier thrust the spear into His side.

God had said when an animal was offered in sacrifice for sins, the blood was to be poured out on the altar (Deuteronomy 12:27). That showed the life had been taken, as natural life is in the blood. So Christ, the holy sacrifice for sinners, gave His blood, His life. But He had a far greater life though different: He appeared without opening the door and could vanish from them, yet He said, “It is I Myself.”

We do not understand this, but we can wonder and believe and joy as those people then did in the great fact that the Lord Jesus rose. He was not to stay long on earth, but to have those who had known Him before be certain that He was alive again.

He showed them that evening, the same as He did the two on the walk to the village that all these things had been written of Him in the Scriptures. He said, “Thus it is written, and thus it behooved (necessary and right for) Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day.”

Told to Wait

We might think angels would be sent to tell of the One who came to die for men, but the Lord told His disciples who had believed and loved Him, had seen Him die, then seen Him alive again, to “preach” (tell forth) this story to all nations. They did go to all people, and some of them also wrote all these things, so now when anyone tells the story of Christ they speak from the Word of God through those men.

Further Meditation

1. What was different about the Lord’s resurrection body?

2. Who was “the promise of My Father” for whom the disciples were to wait? and where were they to wait? (Luke 24:49 and John 15:26).

3. We, too, can spread the wonderful news of salvation offered to men by a risen Christ. For encouragement on this topic listen to The Great Commission by C. H. Mackintosh.

Words Written and Fulfilled: Luke 24:27-44

The Lord Jesus said that Moses and the other prophets wrote of Him. Those men wrote ever so long before He came to earth, but we, too, may read their words and see how plainly they told of the Holy One to come.

Moses wrote: “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren” [that means from their nation] (Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:22; Acts 7:37).

Isaiah wrote that One was to come as a child: “A virgin shall ... bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (God with us),” “Unto us a Son is given ... unto us a Child is born” (Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6).

Micah wrote where He was to be born: “Thou, Bethlehem ... out of thee shall He come forth unto Me, that is to be ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth have been ... from everlasting.” (To be born on earth, yet had always lived).

Zechariah wrote of a humble King: “Behold thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass” (Zechariah 9:9).

David and Isaiah wrote of His rejection: “The kings of the earth set themselves against the Lord and His anointed” (Psalm 2:2; Acts 4:25-26). “He is despised and rejected of men.” (Isaiah 53:3). David wrote events of the cross: “They pierced My hands and My Feet.” “They ... cast lots upon My vesture.” “They laugh Me to scorn” (Psalm 22:7, 16, 18). “They gave Me vinegar” (Psalm 69:21).

Jeremiah wrote of His sufferings: “Behold, and see if there is any sorrow like unto My sorrow, which is done unto Me” (Lamentations 1:12).

Isaiah wrote the Holy One would be “cut off” (die) for sinners; “He was cut off out of the land of the living.” “He hath poured out His soul unto death.” “He bare the sin of many” (Isaiah 53:8, 12).

Daniel wrote that He should be “cut off,” which was plainly understood by people then; he said “Messiah” should “be cut off, but not for Himself” (Daniel 9:26).

Not only the prophets but the laws and sacrifices for the people taught of a Perfect One to come to take the sinner’s place — and there was also much told of life, joy, and glory for that One after the sufferings. So as surely as the words of His life on earth have been fulfilled, so surely will the words of His joy and glory (see Psalm 16:11; Psalm 24; Isaiah 53:11; Isaiah 60).

Many titles were used to teach both the work and glory of the Holy One to come, such as:

“Messiah,” the anointed by God, and the Christ meant the same (John 1:41).

“My Shepherd,” the One to care for the people and to give His life for the flock (Zechariah 13:7).

“My Servant,” the One to do all God’s will (Isaiah 42:1-7; Isaiah 52:13-15; and Isaiah 53).

Although this One was to come to earth, it was also made plain He had lived forever “from everlasting,” and was “the Son” and Lord (see Psalm 2:7; Proverbs 8:23; Isaiah 9:6; Jeremiah 23:6; Malachi 3:1).

Further Meditation

1. What is one prophecy that Zechariah made about the Messiah?

2. People make predictions, but God’s prophesies are completely different. What makes God’s prophecy unique and wonderful?

3. If you haven’t yet read the booklet 33 Prophecies Fulfilled in One Day you will no doubt find it very thrilling to your soul.

"Received up Into Glory": Luke 24:50-53

After the Lord Jesus arose from the tomb He appeared to the eleven disciples in different places and to many others who loved Him. He walked and talked with them, giving them “many infallible proofs,” (unmistakable proofs) that He was alive (Acts 1:3).

Then, after many days, He led the disciples out of the city of Jerusalem as far as Bethany on the mountain ridge, Olivet, and from there He went up from them into heaven while they watched and worshipped Him, a cloud receiving and hiding Him from their sight.

“While they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel” who gave them words of great comfort (Acts 1:10). It is written that the Lord went to “the right hand” of God the Father, which means the exalted and highest place.

“He (God) raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:20).

It was written long before that God would give Him that place. David wrote, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand” (Psalm 110:1; Acts 2:34; Heb. 1:3).

The Feast of Firstfruits

A type, or picture, of Christ’s work finished, and of Him raised, was the first sheaf of the ripe grain harvest which was to be waved “before the Lord.” When Christ was raised, He was “the Firstfruits unto God.” His people are as the harvest for God. Because He was raised, His people may know they also will be raised, for it is written, “Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Corinthians 15:23).

“He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [make alive] your mortal [dying] bodies” (Romans 8:9).

It was “on the morrow after the Sabbath,” or the first day of the new week, that the ripe sheaf was to be waved. And it was on the first day of the week, “when the sabbath was past,” that Christ arose (Leviticus 23:10-11; Mark 16:1, 6).

All was as known and planned long before as He had told His disciples (Luke 18:33).

People then who believed and loved the Lord, met on the first day of every week to give honor to God and to His Son for the blessings brought by that death and resurrection. We now may meet to give our thanks that it was for our sins He died, and honor Him who is now alive in Heaven.

Further Meditation

1. How many days was the Lord on earth after He arose? (Acts 1:3).

2. To how many did He appear at one time? (1 Corinthians 15:6). What did He last do for the disciples? (Luke 24:50).

3. You can read more about the Feast of Firstfruits in the very instructive pamphlet Three Sevens of Scripture: An Outline of the Moral and Dispensational Ways of God by D. K. Graham.

A True Record: a Review of the Gospel of Luke

Luke said he was writing to let the man named Theophilus know the order and certainty of the things he had heard, which were about the Lord Jesus. An account of an event is of no real value unless accurate as to time, persons, and places. The life of Jesus was the most important of all events of the world, and now that we have read through the account by Luke, we can see how carefully he wrote.

First, the names of the rulers connected with Judea and Galilee where these great events took place were written, and the leaders in the temple of God in Jerusalem, which was the center for the nation, are told (Luke 1:5; Luke 3:1-2).

The story of the birth of the prophet John is fully told to show he was the messenger God sent before the Messiah, to tell of Him, as was foretold (Malachi 3:1).

The shepherds who heard the angels’ message that Christ was born were the first witnesses to see Him and “made known abroad” the great news.

Simeon and Anna were well known and just persons of the temple who knew God’s promise of a holy Child to come. When they saw the Baby Jesus they said, by the Spirit, that He was the One to come, and were true witnesses to many.

The age of Jesus as a boy when He astonished the wise teachers in the temple is given, and would be remembered by many. His age when He began to go about the land teaching God’s words, is written (Luke 2:42-48; Luke 3:23).

The twelve men who went with Him, heard His words, and saw all His miracles, were certain He was the Messiah; they all loved Him (except Judas). There were also seventy other disciples who knew Him and His power (Luke 10).

Towns and places in all the land are named where Jesus went and the people heard Him teach of God in the synagogues, on the streets, and by the sea. Hundreds were cured of every sort of disease, and thousands twice ate of the bread He supplied. Crowds in Jerusalem saw Him enter as the lowly King. Many people and priests saw and heard Him speaking in the temple. Some well-known people who believed Him to be the Christ are named: Jairus, leader of a synagogue of Galilee; a centurion (captain of Roman soldiers); several women of Galilee are named, one being Joanna, whose husband was the governor’s steward (Luke 7:1-10; Luke 8:3, 41).

So there were many persons whom Theophilus could ask if these events were true, for he seems not to have lived in that land. Do you think any of those who had been healed or had eaten of the food Christ gave them in the desert, would not say that he was different from all others?

The governor Pilate and Herod of Galilee who were the judges at the trial of Jesus, had not seen Him before, yet they believed Him to be innocent, and the captain of the soldiers who guarded Him said, “Certainly this was a righteous man.”

Further Meditation

1. How old was the Lord Jesus when he astonished the teachers in the temple for the first time?

2. What made the Lord’s life so remarkable was its perfection in every way. There will never be another life like it. What does 1 Peter 2 tell us to do when we look at His life?

3. If you’ve enjoyed reading Bible Talks on Luke you might find some of the other Bible Talks titles helpful as well. There are Bible Talks available on all the gospels and more.

The Perfect Man: Bible Talks On Luke

Table of Contents

The Book of Luke: Luke 1:1-4

Messages of an Angel: Luke 1:5-80

The Promised Holy Child: Luke 2:1-7

What Shepherds Heard: Luke 2:8-21

In the Temple: Luke 2:22-39

The Boy Jesus: Luke 2:40-52

John the Prophet: Luke 3:1-21

The Anointed One: Luke 3:21-22

A Long List of Names: Luke 3:23-38

"It Is Written": Luke 4:1-14

At Nazareth: Luke 4:14-23

Refused at Nazareth: Luke 4:24-30

Captives Freed: Luke 4:31-44

When the Net Broke: Luke 5:1-11

A Leper Made Well: Luke 5:12-17

Sins Forgiven: Luke 5:14-26

In the House of Levi: Luke 5:27-39

Two Sabbath Days: Luke 6:1-12

Twelve Men: Luke 6:13-16

Words of Wisdom: Luke 6:17-38

Questions of the Lord Jesus: Luke 6:39-49

A Captain's Faith: Luke 7:1-10

A Great Change: Luke 7:11-17

A Question and the Answer: Luke 7:18-35

At a Supper: Luke 7:36-50

Three Grateful Women: Luke 8:1-3

The Parable of the Sower: Luke 8:4-21

In a Storm: Luke 8:22-40

The Ruler's Daughter: Luke 8:41-56

Food in a Desert: Luke 9:1-22

A Glimpse of Glory: Luke 9:23-36

Children Who Saw Jesus: Luke 9:37-62

Cities Which Refused Jesus: Luke 10:1-22

The Lawyer's Question: Luke 10:23-29

The Kind Stranger: Luke 10:30-37

Two Sisters: Luke 10:38-42

Prayer: Luke 11:1-28

The Greatest One: Luke 11:29-54

A Rich Farmer: Luke 12:1-21

The Ravens and the Lilies: Luke 12:22-34

Servants for Christ: Luke 12:35-39

A Crippled Woman: Luke 13:1-35

The Great Supper: Luke 14:1-24

Following Jesus: Luke 14:25-35

The Lost Sheep: Luke 15:1-10

The Lost Son: Luke 15:11-32

Looking Ahead: Luke 16:1-18

Beggar: Luke 16:19-31

Warnings of the Lord Jesus: Luke 17:1-4

To Move a Tree Luke: Luke 17:5-10

The Lepers Cured: Luke 17:11-19

Like the Days of Noah: Luke 17:20-27

Like the Days of Lot: Luke 17:28-37

Prayer in Trouble: Luke 18:1-14

Calling for Children: Luke 18:15-17

A Ruler and a Beggar: Luke 18:18-43

A Man in a Tree: Luke 19:1-10

A Certain Nobleman: Luke 19:11-27

Entering Jerusalem: Luke 19:28-40

Peace Refused: Luke 19:41-48

Vineyard Keepers: Luke 20:1-19

The Lord's Wise Answer: L:uke 20:20-26

A Wrong Question: Luke 20:27-39

"The Son of David": Luke 20:40-47

The Smallest Gift: Luke 21:1-4

A Grand Building: Luke 21:5-10

A City "Trodden Down": Luke 21:20-24

Power and Great Glory: Luke 21:25-38

A Very Old Feast: Luke 22:1-2

To Gain Money: Luke 22:3-6

The Passover Feast Kept: Luke 22:7-18

"What Mean Ye": Luke 22:19-20

All Known Before: Luke 21:21-46

Betrayed in the Night: Luke 22:47-53

In the High Priest's House: Luke 22:54-71

Jesus Before Pilate: Luke 23:1-26

On the Hill Calvary: Luke 23:27-56

He Is Risen: Luke 24:1-12