On Line Bible Study - For the Week December 27, 2010 - January 2, 2011

Lesson 472

Luke 12: ¹ Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ² There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. ³ What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

⁴ “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. ⁵ But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. ⁶ Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. ⁷ Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

⁸ “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. ⁹ But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. ¹⁰ And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

¹¹ “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, ¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

As Chapter 11 concluded Jesus was railing against Pharisees and Scribes. Now he turns his attention to his disciples, issuing warnings to them (and in public, no less!) with regard to their own behavior. He warns them against hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy .... what a dangerous sin that is. And it is so easy to fall into it. In fact, more times than not we willingly walk into it. Don't say one thing and do another. Just don't. The problem with so much hypocrisy is that it is two sins in one - it's the thing we are ashamed of or denying, and then it's the actual pretending that the thing doesn't exist.

Come clean sooner, because you are going to have to come clean sooner or later.

Stop worrying. That's the next lesson Jesus teaches in this text. As my friend Jon Zander once preached (using a clip from a Bob Newhart Show), just stop it! How could we have come into being if it weren't for some Mind (or Heart) that willed and wanted us to be here? Even the sparrows, as plentiful as they were in Jesus' day, require divine attention in order to exist. Our importance is more than equal to theirs. Stop worrying.

And finally, our life is completely and utterly dependent upon the Holy Spirit. To deny the Spirit (verse 10) is to self-suffocate, for the Spirit is our breath! (Verse 12.) Absent the Spirit we really don't have anything to say at all!

The passage begins by telling us that "thousands had gathered..." Darrell Bock asks the question: Does this suggest that the message of Jesus was taking root? Was he going to win the hearts and minds of the people? I wonder if Jesus was tempted by this popularity to tone things down a bit, to play to the crowds. I wonder if he thought there might be safety - and a special kind of power - in thousands of people listening to him and following him.

Jesus does not succumb to the temptation of popularity. He issues the warnings we need to hear. Just how popular is this message of his? Not so much in terms of "the crowds" ... but in terms of our own priorities - How popular is Jesus with you?