A Heart For That Which Is Lost-Part II

Luke 15:11-32

Last week we saw two quick parables about God’s heart for those who are lost from Him.  The images then were a lost sheep and a lost coin.  Today our image is going to be a son who is often called the prodigal son, which refers to the fact that he “wastes” his inheritance.  But in reality this parable should be called the parable of the lost son because the emphasis of all three of these parables is that something is lost and needs to be found. 

If you are skeptical of Christianity and the message of the Bible, I would ask you to at least hear out this one message.  In this story Jesus gives us a glimpse into God’s heart for all of mankind.

A Son Is Lost

In verses 11-16 we see the story of a young man who is tired of being in his father’s house.  It is a common story for a young man to chafe under the roof of his parents, and even m ore common is man’s chafing under the administration of God, our Father in heaven.  Throughout this story the actions are illustrating spiritual realities between God and man.

In the story the young man commits a series of very insulting actions toward his father.  First, he asks for his inheritance early.  This action would come across as wishing that your father were dead.  I would rather have the stuff my father is going to give me than to have him.  Now it is not uncommon for an inheritance to be divvied out early, but it would always be at the direction of the father.  Thus the second insult is regarding the father’s wisdom as to when the inheritance should be handed out.  So how is it that we take hold of our inheritance from God before the proper time in order to do with it as we wish?  When we ignore God’s instructions regarding what we have (our body, wealth, time, health, etc…) and then do with it whatever we wish, we are doing the same thing to God that this young man did to his father.

So the young man liquidates his inheritance and goes off to a far country.  This is the third insult.  The son separates himself as far as he can from his father and family.  All by itself it would not be an insult.  But in the context of the actions of the young man it becomes another expression of rejection.  There had already been a separation between the father and son emotionally, but now a large distance is put between them as a barrier to ever fixing this relational problem.  This is true of us with God as well.  We not only neglect relationship with God, but we often put up large barriers that keep God at a distance.  The places and people we hang out and the places we never go, often become shackles that keep us from ever connecting with God.

Although the son doesn’t realize it, the maturity of the Father’s life and decisions is part of what bothers him.  The son wants to live life more.  He doesn’t want to be restricted in his activities and unhampered by the boring things that his father has given him to do.  However, the very inheritance that he takes is the product of his father’s wisdom and maturity.  It is the blood, sweat, and tears of his father put in monetary form.  In the spiritual sense, the temptations of this life call us to cast off the boundaries that God has placed on us and to “enjoy life.”  We want to eat, drink, and be merry at the expense of the work that God has given us to do.  This is an immature mentality that does not produce good things.  Rather it squanders good things.  This lost son is known as the prodigal son because his immature decision making wastes every good thing that he ever had in his life starting with his father and family.  Those who take this path walk away from God and yet take all that he ever supplied for them.  Instead of walking in wisdom they squander all the good that God has given until it is both wasted and ruined.  You will eventually squander all that you have: money, body, mind; and you will be left with nothing to show for it in the end, nothing but spiritual emptiness that is. So the young man became penniless through living the fast and furious, high-life.

Of course this would be the exact wrong time for a severe famine to strike the area, but that is exactly what happens.  Although we often pray for God to help us escape difficult times and difficult things, they have often been the very grace of God to bring people to the point where they can see their need of Him.  As long as he had money and was spending it, the young man never lacked for people to party with him.  But now that he is broke and difficult, economic times have struck, he is alone and in great need.  The young man is so desperate that he takes a job that every Jew hearing this story would have cringed at: feeding pigs.  Spiritually, we can often let desperate times push us into worse and worse decisions, until we end up in a mess that is near impossible for us to fix.  It appears to me that Satan uses these things to herd lost people into prisons of their own making.  Even if they get to a point where they would want to return to their father, they have burnt so many bridges behind them that they won’t be able to make it back.

Perhaps the saddest line of this whole parable is this, “and no one gave him anything.”  Of course they didn’t owe him anything and times were difficult for everyone.  But when a person is in dire need and has nothing to eat, it is easy for those who have no connections to them to ignore it.  And, those who may have partied for you in the past tend to separate from you.   You might wonder why they do it, in that moment.  But it is the kind of decision that immaturity makes.  The destitute person has nothing to offer.  Only a mature and wise person will help such a one, and this young man had separated himself from such people.  It is here that the real truth hammers into the head of this lost son.  He had embraced the cold decision to separate from his father for the fires of passion in a far country.  But now that he has burned out in rapid form he is on the receiving end of others doing the same to him.  They too embrace the cold decision to leave him destitute for the sake of warming and feeding themselves.  Without God this world quickly becomes a cold hard place where people tend to connect with you only as long as they are getting something out of you.  Yet, in the end their care for you does not go beneath the surface.  Many have taken the path of the immediate decision for their own passions, only to find that no one cares for them in this place they have ended up.

A Son Repents

In verses 17-19 the story takes another turn.  The son repents of what he has done.  Now the word repent in this passage literally means to change your mind.  It is also associated with another word that means to regret something after the fact.  Thus repentance is not just an intellectual change of mind, but an emotional one as well.  Another concept that comes out is that of turning.  The young man has been going in a direction that is taking him farther, and farther away from his father.  But here we see him sorrowfully changing his mind.  Filled with remorse and regret he begins to turn away from those previous decisions and actions and begins to turn back towards his father.  He no longer sees hope further down the road of his way, but rather looks back to his father as the only hope for him now.  Have you reached that point regarding your Father in heaven?  This is true repentance on display for us to see.  When we truly repent we turn away from our decisions and actions in disgust and turn towards God in hope.

It is at this point that the young man comes to his senses, or as the passage says, “he came to himself.”  Until now he couldn’t see himself for what he really was.  He was blinded by his desire and his ignorance.  But now he sees his true condition.  But, the truth can set us free, if we will recognize it and embrace it.  It is not easy to embrace truth.  Much like embracing a cactus, it pierces our skin and causes pain.  Yet, unlike embracing a cactus, the truth can lead us in the direction of hope, wisdom, freedom and especially love.  The rebukes of life are those effects of our poor choices and the added problem of adverse circumstances that we didn’t cause.  This perfect storm mixes together and binds us to a miserable state.  But the question is, do we really see ourselves in that moment, or do we ignore it and press on the same old way?  Like a person banging their head against the wall, we can persist in the same direction in the face of evidence that it is destroying us.  Only the Spirit of God can truly help a lost person to come to their senses and mercifully He works on each person.  However, even then, when those glimpses come, we can choose to ignore it.  The Bible calls this hardening your heart.  When does a heart become so hard that nothing, not even Truth, can break through?  This is something that cannot be answered, but must be recognized.

In this moment of seeing the truth, the young man recognizes that the only path out is to humble himself and return to his father.  This is a plan born out of desperation and yet also the understanding that his father is different than those who surround him now.  Perhaps I can go back and be a slave in my father’s house.  He knows he doesn’t deserve even that, yet, it is worth a shot.  The worst that can happen is that he will be rejected and in the same condition he is in now.  These two key points are necessary to true repentance: humbling and returning.  When we can strip ourselves of all the ways of thinking, reasons, philosophies, and lusts that led us away from God in the first place, then we are able to come back to Him for help.

The young man also comes back without demand and with an attitude of unworthiness.  If we approach God with demands then we are not truly repentant.  The person who repents takes full responsibility for their choices and the effects of them.  They are asking for help rather than demanding it.  At times they are hoping against hope for help, that’s how desperate they are.  Do not be so quick to pump up the self-esteem of a person who is coming to Christ.  Yes, God loves them and yes, He will definitely restore them to the status of a son.  But it will have been over the top of my sin.  When we diminish our sin we are at the same time diminishing the greatness of God’s love and mercy towards us.  If my sin was no big deal then God’s grace is not a big deal.  If I only owe a penny to my friend, it is no big deal when he says to forget about paying it back.  But if I owed him $100,000 and he forgave the loan, I would be indebted to him immensely.

A Father And Son Are Reunited

In verses 20-32 we have the fun part of the story.  The son goes back and is received by his father.  It is interesting that the father runs out to meet his son.  It is as if to say that if we will take steps back towards God, He will come out to meet us and bring us all the way back home.  God is looking for any movement in our life back towards Him.  He isn’t waiting for us to prove ourselves.  Rather, He runs to us quickly in order to help us come all the way.

It is also important to notice the compassion of the father.  God has a great deal of compassion for sinners who repent and turn back towards Him.  Of course, He had compassion before, but it was internal.  The lost person’s heart is separated from God and wants nothing from Him.  But, when the lost heart turns back towards God, His compassion can now flow towards them.  Now that the son’s heart has changed, God can act in a way that would not have been received before.  If the father had showed up while the son was partying he would not have been received.  If he had shown up too soon, when the son was working as a feeder of pigs, the son might have willfully stayed there eating pig slop.  But at just the right time, the father runs out to his son.  This is God’s way with us.

Next the Father throws a celebration for his son.  God doesn’t just bring us back into the home.  He celebrates.  We cannot fathom the heights to which the heart of God ascends when a sinner repents, or I should say when we repent.  We should ponder long the reality of what is being shown here.  God does not just require repentance; He throws a party when we do it.

The father also blesses his son as if he was a favorite son.  He gives him the best robe, a ring, and sandals (and most likely a bath).  This is a picture of the lavish love that God pours out upon those who turn to Him.  He will not hear of us serving only as a slave.  He will not leave us in our filthy stained condition.  But, rather, He will lavish upon us those things that we do not deserve.  Believers have the privilege to delight in the robe of the righteousness of Christ, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  We can walk in the authority of His favored Son, Jesus.  We also have a future with the Father that we had thrown away.

It is at this moment that the beautiful story hits a snag.  The older brother is offended.  He hears what is going on and refuses to go into the celebration.  He begins to separate himself from the path of his father’s choice.  Up to now he has followed his father’s wisdom, but this is too much.  At that moment, he too becomes a son who is in jeopardy of becoming a lost son.  Whether he goes off to a far country or not, he does not want to join with his father.  His complaint that he never got to celebrate with his friends is flimsy.  First of all the lost brother most likely doesn’t have any “friends” at the celebration, only the father and his servants.  Second of all, the celebration is offset by the grieving that went on before.  Imagine that the celebration is like 100 happy points all in one day.  The older son can only see that he never got 100 happy points all in one day.  This isn’t fair is it?  The reality is that the day the younger son left the father experienced something like a 1,000,000 sad points.  Every day since his leaving the father had grieved with sadness over the loss of his son.  Now the 100 happy points seem small.  Now let’s continue with these happy points.  Imagine that one normal day with his elder son was like 10 happy points.  How many days had they dwelt together with no real sad points to think of and 10 happy points racking up: 10 per day, 70 per week, 300 per month, 3,652 per year.  It is so easy to discount the happiness of “normal.”   It may not be a festival celebration, but the simple meals that we have together, day after day, are not a drudgery when we love each other.

Ultimately being lost is a matter of the heart.  We have all been lost children of God.  His heart yearned for the return of each of us.  He has planned a great celebration and feast for those who return to Him.  In all of this we see God’s heart for each person who has been found and for those who are still out there squandering their inheritance.  When you first get saved you are the younger brother.  But over time our hearts can become entitled and we can become derisive towards those who turn back to God after us.  Beware of such a heart because it is a lost heart as well.

The Lost Son audio

Have You Counted the Cost?

Today we will look at Luke 14:25-35.

At this point in Luke 14, Jesus has left the home of the leading Pharisee with whom he had a Sabbath meal.  Although multitudes are following him, Jesus takes time to make it clear what it really takes to become his disciple.  Just being in the crowd was not enough to make someone a disciple.  Jesus was headed somewhere that their flesh would not want to go.  Only a strong submission to the leadership of Jesus could carry a person through the challenging times ahead.  The same is true today.  Have you sat down and figured out what it may cost you to remain faithful to Jesus and who He truly is?

Our Primary Relationship

Who is the most important person in your life?  It can change depending upon your age and experience.  However, Jesus puts the challenge to those following him.  If you want to be my disciple then I must be the primary relationship of your life.  You see, up to now Jesus has been a bit of a novelty.  People would go out to see him because it was interesting.  Others went out because the hoped to be healed.  But no one understood that to follow him would require them to put their life on the line.  The discipleship of these people would not last past the cross if Jesus doesn’t begin to open their eyes to what it means to follow him.

Thus, Jesus walks through those most important relationships that we tend to have: parents, a spouse, children, siblings, and even our self.  No matter how we prioritize those relationships in our life, Jesus must now move to the top- that is if we think about it in authoritarian terms.  If we think about it in foundational terms then he must become the foundational relationship of our life.  Now, lest we protest to greatly, it is good to notice that following Jesus will enable us to love each of these relationships in truth.  Without Christ we find difficulty in sacrificially loving one another.  But with Christ, our relationship with Him is threatened when we do not lay our life down for each other.  Staying with Christ becomes more important than getting what we want out of our relationships.

Yet, Jesus uses the word “hate.”  How can this be that we should hate our parents?  Elsewhere he tells them to love their enemies.  Now, we can write Jesus off as a teacher of contradictions, or we can lean in and try to understand what he is talking about.  Clearly there is some shock value to this statement.  The crowd is following Jesus without thought to what it will cost to follow Him absolutely.  Thus he shocks them out of their lethargy. 

However, Jesus is not using hate in the sense of anger, detest, and desire to tear down.  There is a cultural usage of this term that we do not have here in the United States of America.  When hate is used in the context of choosing one thing over another, it rarely means the kind of hate that we think of.  Let’s go to an example that is found in Genesis 29:31.  Here Jacob has been tricked into marrying Leah and her sister Rachel.  Jacob only wanted to marry Rachel, but her father manipulated him into marrying Leah too.  The Bible tells us that, “When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb.”  Most modern translations will moderate this word to “unloved.”  Now it is clear that Jacob didn’t hate Leah in any active way.  In fact they would have children.  We would not have used the word “hate” in this context.  But, if someone followed Jesus at the expense of their family, many would be left shaking their head wondering what the person was thinking.  Perhaps to best understand this use is to see it from the view point of the person not being picked.  When you are not chosen, you don’t simply feel unloved.  In a sense, you feel rejected and hated.  Jesus is not calling his disciples to quit loving their friends and families.  But if they had to choose between a relationship with Jesus or with anyone on that list, they must choose Jesus.

Jesus then brings up the image of the cross.  The disciples of Jesus must follow him by carrying a cross.  This image is intended to point out our readiness and determination to die in order to follow Jesus.  The cross represents all the things I am going to have to die to in order to be a disciple of Jesus.  Jesus himself had a choice.  He could follow the plan of the people to make him king and conquer the Romans.  Or, he could follow the plan of his Father.  He had a choice to make.  To many of the Jews, his choice was a rejection of them.  But in reality Jesus loved them and wanted them to all become his disciples.  However, he could not reject his Father.  Thus we will find ourselves in situations where Jesus wants us to do one thing, but our family may want us to do another.  We must be willing to sacrifice everything in order to have Jesus.  This may sound hard, but it is the teaching of Jesus.

Now, we do not all lose the same things in following Jesus.  In fact, many families have been saved and have had long traditions of serving Jesus.  Thus there was never a choice to be made between Jesus and family.  However, some have had to.  When it comes to relationships, the disciple of Jesus is to love everyone, even his enemies.  Yet, sometimes those we are in relationship do not like our relationship with Jesus.  If they ever lay down an ultimatum and require us to choose then we must choose Jesus.  We see this with the apostles in the book of Acts.  They were pulled in before the authorities and told to stop preaching about Jesus.  These guys were not trying to be rebels against the government, but they were trying to follow Jesus.  Thus they say, “You must judge whether in God’s eyes it is right to listen to you and not to God.  We cannot promise to stop proclaiming what we have seen and heard.”  Jesus had commanded them to preach the good news about what he had done and accomplished.  But the legal authorities were commanding them to disobey Jesus.  Thus the response is that they will not make such a promise.  However, later when they are apprehended they submit to the persecution and even loss of their lives because these are the very things Jesus promised them would be.  So it is not that I will have to choose between relationships, but I must have decided already in my heart that Jesus is Lord and Master.  Jesus doesn’t want to rid you of any relationships with people.  But he does want to rid us of our relationship with sin in our life.  Thus the disciple is a person who allows the Lord to prune their life in order to become more fruitful for God.

We Must Count The Cost

Starting in verse 28 Jesus gives two illustrations of counting the cost.  Following Jesus is costly and a wise man will sit down and think it through first.  Can I pay such a price?  The first illustration is building a tower.  To begin such a project and then fall short would cost a person financially and socially.  I would be wiped out financially and people would mock me and lack any trust in my future endeavors.  Now this is a good illustration because God wants to build in us the character and person of Jesus Christ.  He wants to make us be like Jesus.  That kind of work will cost us in a lot of different ways.

Likewise, he uses the illustration of going to war.  It would be foolish to persist in a war that you cannot win.  Rather, you would stop and seek terms of surrender.  This is also a good illustration because we are in a battle.  The devil does not want anyone becoming like Jesus.  He works day and night to trap people in bondages that keep them from seeing Christ and especially becoming like him.  So here Jesus puts his terms on the table.  He will not settle for anything but the primary place in your life.  He will not share your allegiance with the devil.

It is possible that you could lose everything in this world to follow Christ.  Of course the odds go up or down depending on where you live.  At this point in America the odds are not very high that you will lose everything.  But, they are increasing every day.  In fact, this has been the normal in many countries of the world.  Even historically it was the norm in Europe.  That is why our ancestors left Europe seeking the New World.  They were fleeing tyranny in order to be free to serve Jesus.  They had to be willing to let go of their denominations, their relatives, even their nation in order to have Jesus.  Yet, today the New World has become the Old World once again.  To where will we flee?  At some point it is time to stop running and simply stand no matter what comes.  Jesus and I must stand as one regardless of the ultimatums the world may hurl at us.

To Become Like Him

Jesus ends this section with the imagery of salt.  His disciples would be the salt of the world.  Salt affects whatever it touches because of its nature.  If we follow Jesus he intends to change our nature to where we will affect the world around us.  Like salt, our commitment to living out the godly life of Jesus will slow down the moral decay of the world around us.  Also like salt, our faith in Jesus makes us desirable to God.  In and of ourselves we are like bland food that few want to eat.  But with Jesus we become tastier, not just to God, but some people in life are drawn by the “flavor” of a person following Jesus- the sacrificial life.

Jesus lays down the gauntlet with this crowd.  You either move forward and become like Jesus, or you shrink back and fall away as salt that has lost its saltiness.  I doubt you have ever bought salt from the store only to find it useless.  But this was not rare in the days of Jesus.  Such salt is useless and thrown away.  When the Spirit of God takes up residence within us and makes us over to be like Jesus, we become spiritually “salty.”  Many people like the idea of following Jesus, but the reality causes them to shrink back.  At this point some completely fall away.  However, others simply redefine Jesus to fit what they now believe.  Later they may step further back away from the True Jesus and yet redefine him again.  All along they tell themselves that they are disciples of Jesus, yet they have never died to anything in order to follow him.  How about it, have you counted the cost?  Do so today and choose to follow Jesus no matter what.

counted cost audio

Faults of the Evil Generation III

Today we are in Luke 11:45-54.  We have been looking at a section where Jesus reveals several things that were problems in his day.  Yet, he classified his generation as an evil one.  Previously we looked at two things that Jesus rebuked them for: their spiritual eyesight had been damaged, and their sin had caused them to focus on their outward life to the expense of their inner life.

These two rebukes set up a situation in which a lawyer, who is offended at what Jesus said, receives 4 more rapid fire rebukes from our Lord.  In each of these rebukes we need to be faithful to compare ourselves to the actions described and ask God to reveal to us if we have similar things we are neglecting, or how we can deal with those things better.

Offended by Correction

Although Jesus does not say this, it is important to see that the lawyer begins at a place of being insulted by the rebukes of Jesus.  Now we wouldn’t be human if we didn’t bristle at correction.  No one likes to be told they are wrong and need to change.  This tendency rears its head early on in our lives and, if not dealt with, will continue to control our reactions on into our adult life.  Those who are given over to wickedness especially do not like correction.  Even God himself is unable to correct them without them getting their feelings hurt.  This is an important point.  No one loves you more than God.  If He corrects you, He does so with the best intentions and purest motivations.  He is trying to save you from the bad results of your choices.  If we should accept hard things from anyone then God should be at the top of the list.  In Christ, God Himself had come down to correct His people because they were destroying themselves individually and as a nation.

Yet, the leaders and the people as a whole were offended or insulted by Jesus.  The word “reproach” in verse 45 (NKJV) literally means an injury or public insult.  Our attachment to our sin will take what is intended to help us and is offered in sincere love as an insult.  In other words it is received as an action of hate.  Was Jesus a hater?  Of course not, but he is received so by those who hate what he has to say.  Yet, if you desire to put to death the wicked deeds of your heart (as true godly people desire) you will make good use of rebukes that even come from those of ill-will.  Think of David when he was fleeing Jerusalem because one of his sons was leading a coup against him.  David was the true king and it is truly evil for his son to usurp the throne from him.  However, David knew that he had his own sins too.  He had committed adultery with Bathsheba and created tensions between the families of his wives.  As he leaves Jerusalem there is a man named Shimei who was a relative of the previous King, Saul.  Shimei was running along the road cursing David and saying that God was paying David back for usurping the throne from Saul.  This, of course, was a pack of lies.  The man is speaking out of the bitterness and jealousy of his own heart.  Yet, David receives what he says and “spits out the bones.”  David knew that even though the man was not right in what he said, God really was rebuking David for his true sins.  Thus the wicked will receive rebukes from no one.  But a righteous man is able to hear the voice of the Lord even through the voice of the wicked.  Lord help us to be careful how we respond to rebuke.

Ultimately this man is trying to justify himself.  Thus, he deflects his own wickedness and accuses Jesus of wrong.  This technique is abundantly practiced in our society.  Whether in politics or religion, we use the failings and sins of the other person to justify ourselves.  We will even use the appearance of sin and accuse others of ulterior motives so that we can discount their message and promote our own.  The godly do not do such things.  The godly person trusts in God as their justifier.  They do not need to hide their faults, nor do they argue with others through character assassination.  Without arrogance and in repentance, we must stand before God and trust in his justification whether society accepts it or not.

They Enforce Duties Hypocritically

In verse 46 Jesus points out that the Lawyers were not as innocent as this man wanted to believe.  Now, there needs to be leaders and people who are able to instruct us in what our duties to society are.  But how this is done is critical.  These guys not only loaded up the people with a huge amount of regulations, but also enforced them hypocritically.  Now a heavy amount of duties is bad enough.  The picture here is like that of loading up a donkey or some such animal.  Each animal has a maximum that they can carry without detriment to the animal.  These lawyers tended to load up people with a heavy amount of laws and regulations.  Take note that God gave Israel laws.  But the rabbis and lawyers had added a great amount of added regulations.  Now it is bad enough to have a heavy load to carry.  But, it would be easier to take if the person who is doing the loading is also carrying the same size load.  Yet, these lawyers, when they made the case against others were very strict.  But when it comes to them, they don’t even lift up one finger to do the regulations.  This hypocrisy makes the heavy weight even heavier. 

God did not do this.  In fact, in Christ, God comes down and carries the burden for us and even takes upon himself most of the burden.  To the point that he could say, “Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest…My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  We see this same dynamic among our own leaders.  They pass all manner of laws to lay upon the citizens, but don’t have to lift a finger to carry the same burden.  They use all manner of loopholes, justifications, and flat out exemptions only for themselves.  This hypocritical enforcement causes the nation as a whole to groan under the weight of such heavy regulations.  If they break the law there is generally much mercy and grace.  But if an average person breaks the law, they are legalistically and harshly penalized.

Of course this is used as a means of control and manipulation by those in power.  When people are harassed and fearful of punishment, they are more easily subdued to tasks they did not ask for and directions in which they do not want to go.  God’s purpose in giving mankind commands and knowledge about life is not to imprison and control.  Rather, He only gives commands that will set us free from the prison of our own sinful flesh, and the tyranny of our own sinful desires.

They Reject the Prophets God Sends

In verses 47-51 Jesus points out their rejection of the prophets.  This is not just a problem that Israel had.  It has been a problem throughout every generation that we tend to hate those whom God uses to call us to account.  The majority rejects the narrow path of God’s Way and embraces the wide path of destruction.  Sure in some nations at some points in time a majority may choose God.  But these times are few and far between when compared to all the other nations and points in time.

Jesus points out that their tendency to make great shrines to the prophets was itself evidence that they rejected them.  How?  The problem is not so much the graves.  But think of it this way.  The only prophets they honored were dead ones.  Do you see the hypocrisy in that?  A dead prophet is not around to point out your sin and neither can he point out your twisting of his words.  Thus it is always safe to honor a prophet after he is dead.  But their fathers put those prophets to death, they hated them so bad.  Why turn the grave into a shrine?  They would honor a prophet by dressing up his tomb and yet not give honor to the message he stood for by living out its corrections.  Even now they were rejecting Jesus who was the Prophet of prophets, and the exact image of God.  His message was without error and the perfect brilliance of God’s Truth.  There could be no excuse to reject Him and still claim it was for God’s sake.  In fact all the prophets who were killed before were pointing to Jesus.  Thus the tombs themselves become a hypocritical cover and self-justification.

Yet, Jesus states that God will call their bluff.  They claim to love the prophets, yet God will send them prophets and apostles.  They will not only reject Jesus, but also the apostles and prophets that are sent to them by Jesus.  It is a mercy of God that He always calls our bluff.  He loves us too much to let us deceive ourselves and not call us out.  Just as God called their bluff, so he will call ours.  If we refuse to receive the Truth when it comes then the very thing that was sent to help us will become irrefutable evidence against us.  Thus we demonstrate what side we are on (the godly or the wicked) by our actions.

There is an ancient tradition of those who stand for God’s ways and those who rebel against them.  Even in the first family we find Cain being filled with hatred for his brother simply because God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and not his.  Cain kills Abel.  Jesus uses this first jealous murder and the death of the prophet Zechariah as book-ends to a long history of godly men being put to death by wicked ones.  This Zechariah seems to be the prophet referred to in 2 Chronicles 24.  Joash had become king at a young age.  So the High Priest Jehoida had taken him under his wing and taught him all the ways of God.  The Bible says that Joash was a good king all the days of Jehoida.  But then one day Jehoida died.  Then Joash’s heart was turned away from the ways of God and idol worship became prevalent in the land once again.  Zechariah was the son of Jehoida.  He stood up and confronted the king and the people with their sin.  Joash commanded the son of his mentor to be put to death.  How tragic for a man to be so good for so long and then in the end choose the side of wickedness.  We might ask ourselves which side we are on?  God has been faithful to send his prophets and ministers throughout the land.  Where you attend church says a lot about which side you are on.  The prophets were always killed by self-righteous religious people and that will be true in the future as well.  Be careful how quick you are to reject those who come in the name of the Lord.  Take time to compare it to what the Bible says.  Pray for God to cleanse your heart and reveal those things you need to deal with.

They Obstruct the Way of God

In verses 52-54, Jesus points out their tendency to block people from the truth.  It is bad enough to refuse the truth of God.  However, such people often attempt to obstruct those who are trying to follow God.  Thus Jesus uses the picture of a key.  A key is necessary to open a locked door.  Now there are two ways to take this word picture.  First, Jesus could be talking about the key that opens our ability to receive knowledge or enter into it.  According to Solomon, the fear of the Lord is the beginning (key) of wisdom.  Without it we will never enter into God’s wisdom and knowledge.  Humility, repentance, and a desire to change will open for us the door to wisdom and knowledge from God.  When I know that, on my own, I am the fool and God is the wise sage, I am then enabled to hear Him.

Another way to take this picture is to see knowledge itself as the key.  In Matthew 25 Jesus accuses the Lawyers of shutting up the way to heaven.  Thus the knowledge which God gives opens the door to heaven (dwelling with God).  Yet, the rabbis and lawyers had corrupted the knowledge of God by misrepresenting it and misinterpreting it to the people.  They had twisted the key of knowledge so badly that it people were hampered in getting close to God.  In fact, most people will abandon a key that does not fit or turn a lock anymore.  Our own sins lock us out of relationship with God.  But in His Word He has given us the knowledge to unlock that barrier.  Ultimately Jesus and what he has done is the key that removes that barrier.  Yet, we must believe on him and can only do that through understanding all God said to point us to Jesus.

The religious leaders had become like a mad dog that stands on the porch and won’t let anyone go through the door.  They wouldn’t go in and stood in the way of others getting in.  Yet in his mercy God sent prophets and lastly Jesus so that those who were being blocked could get around such dogs.  Well the last verses point out that the lawyers could not receive these rebukes either.  They are angered and began to verbally attack Jesus and when the opportune time had come they physically attacked him and killed him; offended by correction.  God help us to not follow such outwardly religious and inwardly wicked people.  Take care how you listen and to whom you give most of your time.  You will be accountable before God for the choices you make.  For even though wicked men may have stood in your way, God in His mercy has been faithful to offer you the Truth in many irrefutable ways.  So get into God’s Word for yourself and honestly seek what He is saying.

Faults of the Evil Generation II

Today we are looking at Luke 11:37-44.

We have been looking at the things Jesus pointed out about his generation which evidenced their wickedness.  Their unbelief always wanted more signs.  Also their ability to see spiritually had been lost.  Today we will see how sin had caused them to give greater attention to superficial things over the top of the deeper and more important issues of their hearts.  Such a superficial existence not only fails to do good things, but actually causes us to do evil.  In this passage our favorite bad guys (the Pharisees and the Lawyers) are on the whipping post.  However, we need to ask ourselves today this question.  How am I like this?  Or, at least, how have I been dealing with this reality in my life?

They Focus on Image over the Inside

Now in this passage there is a Pharisee that asks Jesus to come to his house and eat with him.  During this situation Jesus recognizes something that is going on inside of this man.  There is no indication that the man had said anything openly.  Yet, Jesus is not content to have image without an accompanying inner reality.  That which looks good on the outside but is poisonous on the inside is more dangerous than that which looks bad on the outside.  People will be tempted to accept something into their life that looks good on the outside but can hurt them, whereas something that looks bad is generally rejected outright. 

So why was Jesus invited to dinner?  We do not know the man’s motivation.  More than likely he hopes to find reasons to discount Jesus and thus move up in the ranks of his religious group.  Thus pretended favors always lead to real attacks.  Yet, maybe this man simply wants to have the attention of one who had Jesus at his house.  Jesus was widely popular and to be associated with him in anyway would reflect upon the Pharisee.  Or, perhaps the man is interested in Jesus and wants a closer look.  No matter which of these is the truth, remember this one thing.  When you invite Jesus into your house, he is not going to content himself with only looking good.  Jesus is going to point out those hidden issues of our heart that need to be dealt with.

Now something happens before dinner.  Jesus neglects the traditional washing that the religious did before eating.  Now this washing wasn’t about hygiene.  It was a symbolic washing that represented being spiritually clean from sin.  It seems impossible that Jesus simply forgot.  Even if he didn’t normally observe this washing, Jesus knew the teachings and practices of the Pharisees all too well.  Thus it seems that Jesus purposely neglected washing because he knew it would provide a situation in which he can speak to the heart of this Pharisee’s life.  Although we are talking about the faults of an evil generation, we need to recognize that Jesus is also pointing out precisely where they needed to change in order to be saved.  It is like a surgeon.  Yes, cutting a person is bad.  But if a surgeon cuts a person precisely where they need to be cut then it is actually a good thing.  When God points out our sin it is not in order to condemn us, but in order for us truly to be set free.

Now when the Pharisee sees that Jesus does not do the traditional washing, he “marveled.”  Instead of seeing the heart of Christ he was stuck on this outward act or lack thereof.  We must understand that focusing on the outward without working on the inside is utter foolishness.  Jesus uses the metaphor of a cup to illustrate this.  Have you ever opened the dishwasher to pull out a cup or bowl that looked clean but when you turned it up there was some crud still left in the bowl?  Someone didn’t rinse it well enough for the machine to clean.  Although it looks good on the outside, you are not going to eat from it.  This is how God saw the Pharisees.  On the outside they looked like good followers of God and He should be happy to have them and use them for His glory.  But the problem was that they were full of sinful things.  Jesus points out that God had made mankind both material and spirit, or with outer and inner parts of their being.  Would God be satisfied for his people to clean only the outward?  The Pharisees were right that God was concerned with man’s need to be cleansed of sin.  But they focused only on the outward things.  In fact in this case the washings were merely symbolic.

In Matthew 15:11 Jesus makes the case that we are not defiled by outer things.  Rather we are defiled by what flows out of our heart into our material life.  Thus a person can make their life look good, but if their heart is wicked, it is not only unacceptable, but is even a worse evil.  Are we not a generation that fights against the reality that our inner man is more important than our outer man?  Do we not focus far more on image and material things than on truth, reality, and inner things?  It is an evil thing to focus on the outward and ignore the inner.

In vs. 41 Jesus tells him to give alms of what he has and then he won’t have to worry about washing his hands before dinner.  That is he will truly be clean spiritually.  Notice that it is possible to use external actions to wash internal sins.  This man was guilty of greed and wickedness (vs.39).  He focused solely on the symbolic act of washing, but never actually did anything about the greed and wickedness in his heart.  Did he not know he was greedy?   That is unlikely.  By his actions he was testifying that he would rather live in shadows and hide from the Truth than walk in the light of God.  Not all who come to Christ and go to Church seek His light and life.  Many are merely looking for shadowy places in which to hide themselves.  But where Jesus is there will always be a confrontation which such wickedness.  We must wash our hearts by actions that crucify those inner sins.  Are you proud?  Then take a humble position and seek no credit for it.  Become a servant of others and in so doing crucify the pride in your heart.  Such a person will be seen as clean by God.

They Focus on Trivial Matters over Heavier Things

Similar to focusing on the external is this problem of focusing on trifles over the top of heavier issues.  In another place Jesus used the picture of straining out a gnat, but then swallowing a camel.  The inability to truly face and deal with the inner issues affects how one prioritizes outward actions.  This imagery has to do with light and heavy objects.  Do you remember in the old cartoons how the character would be weight lifting and the two round weights would have 1,000 painted on them?  Yet, later you would find out that they were just black balloons.  This helps us to see several issues.  So keep this metaphor in mind.

Now Jesus had counseled the man to give alms because he knew the man gave precious little that didn’t somehow benefit him.  The Pharisees had developed a meticulous system of rules about tithing (giving a tenth of your income).  Within this system of rules they were able to look like they were lifting a lot of weight spiritually, but in reality they were not lifting anything at all.  Here Jesus points out that they would make a big deal about tithing to the point that they would even give a tenth of the herbs in their herb gardens.  This scrutiny on a trivial area of “income,” became a mark of great piety; as if they had lifted such a great weight.  In another passage Jesus shines a light on some of the things that they were doing.  Under the Law an adult child was responsible to take care of their parents in their old age.   However, a tradition had developed that said if a person had already made a vow to give their extra money to the Temple then they could be excused from having to care from their parents.  Now which is the heavier weight that needed lifting; caring for elderly parents, or donating to the temple?  More importantly which was the greater responsibility for the shirker; caring for their parents or caring for the temple?  Clearly caring for the parents is the primary responsibility.  So why would they do such a thing?  They would do it because they would get more honor and prestige out of giving a great sum to the Temple than out of “merely” caring for their parents.  This is how upside down their priorities were.  God is more concerned that you care for your immediate family than he is to get 10% of your income.  He is concerned that we be clean on the inside, and money /wealth is one of the biggest defilers of man.  Now you may think I just made a case for why poor people don’t have to give.  You couldn’t be more incorrect.  Do poor people have the need to be cleaned from greed and materialism?  Of course they do.  Our greed will always tell us that we don’t make enough to give to God, whether at a Church or directly to others in need.  A person who gives in to such greed will not be condemned because they failed to give enough.  They will be condemned because they embraced greed and nurtured it with false logic.  The Pharisees had trivialized tithing.  It was intended to be a means that broke the back of greed in their life, taught them how to live within their means, and helped those that were hurting.  These are the big weights that God wanted them to lift.  But they turned it into a means of stroking their pride.

In vs. 42 Jesus gives us two “heavy things” God wanted them to work on: Justice towards their fellow man and Love towards God.  The whole time they were coming up with rules and loopholes in the area of tithing they did not lift a finger towards justice for their fellow man and truly loving the heart of God and His ways.  Micah pointed this out in his book (6:6-8), “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God?  Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil?  Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?  He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”  Today social justice has become a code word for big government programs.  This movement has co-opted the biblical language for its own political gain.  They two are defiled by the lust for power and greed for money.  We do need to care for one another in our society.  But God’s plan has always been for individuals to freely choose to either serve Him or not.  Only then can they truly cleanse their hearts.  But the modern system of turning all compassion over to the State is not only hurting the poor, but defiling all of our hearts.  Ask yourself, what is due my fellow man, and do I love God and His ways more than the things of this world?  You will be cleaned or defiled by how you deal with those questions.

In verse 43 Jesus points out the vain things that they loved.  They wanted the best seats in the Synagogue (those that had the most social prestige) rather than being content with the place God would give them.  They wanted the kudos of their fellow Pharisees rather than the kudos of God.  They wanted people to notice them when they walked through the marketplace rather than to be noticed by God.  Respect, position, and power are not necessarily bad things.  But the love of these things causes much sin and defiles many.  These things are empty if they are sought over the top of God and a clean heart.

Lastly, Jesus points out how our neglected sins defile us and others.  What is the big deal?  Inner sins don’t just stay inside.  They grow and their defilement infects us and spreads into society.  We will end up defiling others by our sinful actions.  Jesus uses the picture of an unmarked grave.  To touch a dead body or grave made a person defiled under the Law.  This is something the Pharisees would have meticulously focused on.  Yet, here Jesus says they are like a person who made a grave but didn’t mark it (through negligence or purposefully).  People who interacted with them thought they were clean, but in fact they were being defiled unknowingly by them.  O friend, are you pretending to be all righteous and clean when in fact you are defiling everyone around you?  Take this to heart.  Begin to clean the inside of your heart in the fear of the Lord for He is the one that you will stand before and give account one day.

Faults II audio