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Luke 10:25-11:54
We are in the Christ Stream reading from the New Living Translation.
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Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis
Lord, we want to hear and know, hear and obey, hear and practice what you have to laid out for us. May our lives and deeds and words be pleasing in your sight. Amen
10:25 ff – The question they ask of Jesus is jaded because they don’t really want answers. Maybe this is too harsh but they give themselves away in their reply to Jesus’ assertion “love your neighbor…” And who is my neighbor? Hmmm… My husband and I have many children and we’ve heard some doozy questions, let me tell you. We could always ALWAYS tell whether it was a real question or they were stalling to create more dawdle-time. Well this question of Jesus was a staller-for-time. The story Jesus replies with; The Good Samaritan, has created more charities and ministries since he told it, than can be counted. Some extranneous “Bible Scholars” have created a pile of parallels in hopes to symbolize the story to death. But the moral of the story is simple: care, meet needs, act like Christ, reach out, help people ‘get home’, be loving.
The Mary/Martha debate is easily settled by a sermon given years ago: “The Joy of Cooking [together]”. People need to eat. And cooks/mothers aren’t carnal and shallow and worldly for fixing meals. But when Jesus is talking –> stop and listen. Martha should have done that. Then after Jesus declares he needs a bite, then they can all go fix something together. Sit together, go cook together, then eat together. That was easy, huh?
11 – Notice that this version of Jesus teaching them to pray is abbreviated from the Matthew version. Reverence for God / provision / protection covered matters sufficiently for Luke. Jesus teaching them persistence in prayer was very necessary. Prayer like anything in life requires practice. It’s frustrating and befuddling the way so many quit in prayer and in their prayer life because what they thought they were asking for and wanting didn’t happen like a genie-poof-magic-carpet routine. God wants to give us so much more than silly wishes on a whim. We learn what we really want by being with God as a life commitment v.s. blurting out drive-thru-requests. God is telling us “sit down, stay awhile, be transformed…”! Next Jesus tackles the jealousy from those who were frustrated by Jesus’ casting out demons so readily and effortlessly. It proved who He was. But they attribute His ability as to being in alliance with Satan. Talk about foolishly walking into a “mine-field”! Jesus’ reply sets things straight as an arrow. This is powerful ministry training from Jesus that anyone who wishes to minister in this way must ingest. The removing of evil and immediately replacing it with good is life and death material. Jesus left them in awe – again!
The sign of Jonah is appropriate beings we read the first half of that amazing event yesterday. The wanting of a sign, while in fact many were doubting Jesus person and power, is sinful in that Jesus called people to follow Him and be transformed for service. Too many wanted some amusement, and to leave when they were bored, or hungry, or distracted, or didn’t like the teaching anymore.
Jesus wanted people to live according to the Light, walk in the Light, let the Light guide them, fill them, permeate everything about them. Jesus, in John 8, asserts that He is the Light of the World. Interesting that “Light” is the first noun that God ever said [in our galaxy].
Next Jesus lets loose a host of accusations upon the religious leaders of the day who were so critical and selfish and sinful. They spent their whole lives securing a luxuries for themselves instead of guiding people to God. Jesus was disgusted with the whole lot of them. He called them filthy and hypocritical, wicked, unjust, greedy, phony, arrogant, self-important, murderers (dead-men who acted alive!) AND accomplice’ to murder(s), and ones who blocked others from finding God, … it’s a bad day when the Son of God, whom you claim to represent, tells you “a thing or two” about what God thinks of your terrible soul and villainous character!
