Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 12:1

In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trod one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Luk 12:1-12. The Duty of bold Sincerity and Trust in God.

1. when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people ] Rather, -when the myriads of the multitude had suddenly assembled. It is evident that the noise of this disgraceful attack on our Lord had been heard. This scene was as it were the watershed of our Lord’s ministry in Galilee. At this period He had excited intense opposition among the religious authorities, but was still beloved and revered by the people. They therefore flocked together for His protection, and their arrival hushed the unseemly and hostile vehemence of the Pharisees.

they trode one upon another ] Literally, “ trod one another down.”

he began to say ] The words seem to imply a specially solemn and important discourse.

unto his disciples first of all, Beware ] Rather, to His disciples, Beware first of all of, &c.

the leaven of the Pharisees ] See for comment Mat 16:12; Mar 8:15.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Luk 9:51 to Luk 18:31 . Rejected by the Samaritans. A lesson of Tolerance.

This section forms a great episode in St Luke, which may be called the departure for the final conflict, and is identical with the journey (probably to the Feast of the Dedication, Joh 10:22) which is partially Luk 9:51-56. And it came to pass, when the time was come that he touched upon in Mat 18:1 to Mat 20:16 and Mar 10:1-31. It contains many incidents recorded by this Evangelist alone, and though the recorded identifications of time and place are vague, yet they all point (Luk 9:51, Luk 13:22, Luk 17:11, Luk 10:38) to a slow, solemn, and public progress from Galilee to Jerusalem, of which the events themselves are often grouped by subjective considerations. So little certain is the order of the separate incidents, that one writer (Rev. W. Stewart) has made an ingenious attempt to shew that it is determined by the alphabetic arrangement of the leading Greek verbs ( , Luk 10:25-42; , Luk 11:1-5; Luk 11:8-13, &c.). Canon Westcott arranges the order thus: The Rejection of the Jews foreshewn; preparation, Luk 9:43 toLuk 11:13; Lessons of Warning, Luk 11:14 toLuk 13:9; Lessons of Progress, Luk 13:10 toLuk 14:24; Lessons of Discipleship, Luk 14:25 xvii. 10; the Coming End, Luk 17:10 toLuk 18:30.

The order of events after ‘the Galilaean spring’ of our Lord’s ministry on the plain of Gennesareth seems to have been this: After the period of flight among the heathen or in countries which were only semi-Jewish, of which almost the sole recorded incident is the healing of the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman (Mat 15:21-28 ). He returned to Peraea and fed the four thousand. He then sailed back to Gennesareth, but left it in deep sorrow on being met by the Pharisees with insolent demands for a sign from heaven. Turning His back once more on Galilee, He again travelled northwards; healed a blind man at Bethsaida Julias; received St Peter’s great confession on the way to Caesarea Philippi; was transfigured; healed the demoniac boy; rebuked the ambition of the disciples by the example of the little child; returned for a brief rest in Capernaum, during which occurred the incident of the Temple Tax; then journeyed to the Feast of Tabernacles, during which occurred the incidents so fully narrated by St John (Joh 7:1 to Joh 10:21). The events and teachings in this great section of St Luke seem to belong mainly, if not entirely, to the two months between the hasty return of Jesus to Galilee and His arrival in Jerusalem, two months afterwards, at the Feast of Dedication; a period respecting which St Luke must have had access to special sources of information.

For fuller discussion of the question I must refer to my Life of Christ, ii. 89-150.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

In the mean time – While he was discoursing with the scribes and Pharisees, as recorded in the last chapter.

An innumerable multitude – The original word is myriads, or ten thousands. It is used here to signify that there was a great crowd or collection of people, who were anxious to hear him. Multitudes were attracted to the Saviours ministry, and it is worthy of remark that he never had more to hear him than when he was most faithful and severe in his reproofs of sinners. Mens consciences are on the side of the faithful reprover of their sins; and though they deeply feel the reproof, yet they will still respect and hear him that reproves.

To his disciples first of all – This does not mean that his disciples were, before all others, to avoid hypocrisy, but that this was the first or chief thing of which they were to beware. The meaning is this: He said to his disciples, Above all things beware, etc.

The leaven – See the notes at Mat 16:6.

Which is hypocrisy – See the notes at Mat 7:5. Hypocrisy is like leaven or yeast, because:

1. It may exist without being immediately detected. Leaven mixed in flour is not known until it produces its effects.
2. It is insinuating. Leaven will soon pervade the whole mass. So hypocrisy will, if undetected and unremoved, soon pervade all our exercises and feelings.
3. It is swelling. It puffs us up, and fills us with pride and vanity. No man is more proud than the hypocrite, and none is more odious to God. When Jesus cautions them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, he means that they should be cautious about imbibing their spirit and becoming like them. The religion of Jesus is one of sincerity, of humility, of an entire want of disguise. The humblest man is the best Christian, and he who has the least disguise is most like his Master.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Luk 12:1

The leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy

Hypocrisy

I.

THE HYPOCRITES CHARACTER.

1. A hypocrite may be known by the fact that his speech and his actions are contrary to one another. As Jesus says, They say and they do not. Talk is easy, but walk is hard; speech any man may attain unto, but act is difficult. We must have grace within to make our life holy; but lip-piety needs no grace.

2. The next mark of a hypocrite is, that whenever he does right it is that he may be seen of men. To him virtue in the dark is almost a vice; he can never detect any beauty in virtue, unless she has a thousand eyes to look upon her, and then she is something indeed. The true Christian, like the nightingale, sings in the night; but the hypocrite has all his songs in the day, when he can be seen and heard of men.

3. Hypocrite, love titles, and honours, and respect from men. There was another evidence of an hypocrite which was equally good, namely, that he strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel. Always suspect yourself when you are more careful about little than about great things.

4. These people neglected all the inward part of religion, and only observed the outward. As our Saviour said, they made clean the outside of the cup and platter, but within they were full of extortion and excess. There are many books which are excellently bound, but there is nothing within them; and there are many persona that have a very fine spiritual exterior, but there is nothing whatever in the heart.

5. You may know a hypocrite by another sign. His religion depends upon the place, or upon the time of day. He rises at seven oclock perhaps, and you will find him religious for a quarter of an hour; for he is, as the boy said, saying his prayers to himself in the first part of the morning. Well, then you find him pretty pious for another half-hour, for there is family prayer; but when the business begins, and he is talking to his men, I wont guarantee that you will be able to admire him. If one of his servants has been doing something a little amiss, you will find him perhaps using angry and unworthy language. You will find him, too, if he gets a customer whom he thinks to be rather green, not quite pious, for he will be taking him in.

6. There is another sign of the hypocrite, and now the lash will fall on my own back, and on most of us too. Hypocrites, and other people besides hypocrites, are generally severe with others, and very lenient with themselves. Have you ever heard a hypocrite describe himself? I describe him thus–You are a mean, beggarly fellow. No, says he, I am not; I am economical. I say to him, You are dishonest, you are a thief. No, says he, I am only cute and sharp for the times. Well, but, I say to him, you are proud and conceited. Oh! says he, I have only a proper and manly respect. Ay, but you are a fawning, cringing fellow. No, says he, I am all things to all men. Somehow or other he will make vice look like a virtue in himself, but he will deal by the reverse rule with others. Show him a Christian who is really humble, and he says, I hate his fawning ways. Tell him there is one who is very courageous for Christ; Oh! he is impudent, says he. Show him one who is liberal, doing what he can for his Masters service, spending, and being spent for Him; Rash and imprudent, says he, extravagant; the man does not know what he is about. You may point out a virtue, and the hypocrite shall at once say it is a vice.

II. And now we are going to CAST UP THE HYPOCRITES ACCOUNT FOR HIM. Now, sir, bring us your ledger, and let us have a look at it. You are a hypocrite. Well, what is on the profit side? A good deal, I must confess. Here is, first of all, credit and honour. The next advantage is the ease which you enjoy. And, besides that, there are the honours you have received. That is the profit side of your account. Now turn to the other, and take note of what there is against you. In the first place, I see a black item down here. Home of the people of the world do not think quite as much of you as you imagine. The poor widow does not give you much of a character. You will have to be very careful, sir, or your base deeds will come out. The very first item I see down here is a fear that your hypocrisy will be discovered. It would take you only half as much trouble to be an honest man as it does to be a deceiver. A man who is in the habit of speaking truth need not mind how he opens his mouth, nor where; but a man who lies should be very careful, and have a very good memory, and recollect all he has ever said before, lest he should trip himself. But I see something worse than this; here is constant disquietude of conscience; hypocrites may seem as if they were at ease, but they cannot really be. The Christian who is true to God, and is really His child, can sometimes say, I know that Jesus has taken away my sin. Assurance, vouchsafed to him by the Spirit, calms his fears, and he can rest in Christ. But the highest presumption to which the hypocrite can attain brings no such calm as that which is breathed upon the Christian by the lips of assurance. He can go to his bed, nay, he can go to his tomb in peace, but the hypocrite is afraid of a shadow, and fleeth when no man pursueth. And last of all, Mr. Hypocrite, I see an item here which you usually forget; it is this–that, despite of your profession, God abhors you, and if there is one man more than another who stinks in the nostrils of Jehovah, it is such as thou art–thou miserable pretender. Death shall find thee out, and hell shall be thy doom, for the hope of the hypocrite is as the spiders web, soon swept away; and where is he when God taketh away his hope? This, then, is the casting up of the hypocrites account, and there is a deficit of an infinite amount.

III. Now for the matter of the CURE OF THE HYPOCRITE. The thought of a present Deity, if it were fully realized, would preserve us from sin; always looking on me, ever regarding me. We think we are doing many things in secret, but there is nothing concealed from Him with whom we have to do. And the day is coming when all the sins that we have committed shall be read and published. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

How is hypocrisy discoverable and curable?

The words naturally yield you this doctrine: Hypocrisy is a dangerous leaven, which ministers and people are chiefly and especially to beware of, and acquit themselves from. Hence you have a chapter of woes against it (Mat 23:1-39.). And it is represented as that which renders odious to the Lord, and defiles, His choicest ordinances, and our best duties, if it cleave to them (Isa 1:11-12; Isa 66:3); and puts God to sad complaints and exprobations of such a people (Hos 6:4).

I. WHAT HYPOCRISY IS. Much of the nature of a thing is many times discovered in its name; the name is a brief description. The word hypocrite properly signifies an actor or stage-player, a personator of other men in their speech, habit, and action. The Hebrew word signifieth both a wicked man and a deceiver. And it is observed that those whom David, the devoutest man, called wicked, Solomon, the wisest man, calls fools, and Job, the most upright man, calls hypocrites: all is but one and the same thing under divers names. Hypocrisy, then, is but a feigning of virtue and piety, which it seems to put on, and vice and impiety, which it conceals and would seem to put off. It is indeed vice in a vizor; the face is vice, but virtue is the vizor. The form and nature of it is imitation: the ends are vainglory, to be seen of men, or some gain or carnal respects.

II. How IS HYPOCRIST RESEMBLED BY LEAVEN? Briefly thus:

1. Leaven is hardly discerned from good dough by the sight. And as hardly is hypocrisy distinguished from piety.

2. Leaven is very spreading. And so hypocrisy does a great deal of mischief; it spreads over all the man, and all his duties, parts, performances: and leavens all.

3. Leaven is of a sour taste and ungrateful smell. So is hypocrisy to Gods man.

4. Leaven is of a swelling nature: it extends and puffs up the dough. So hypocrisy is all for the praise of men.

III. WHY IS IT CALLED THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES? Because they were leavened with it to purpose; they were exact and super-eminent in this devilish art of personating and counterfeiting to the life.

IV. WHEREIN IS THIS LEAVEN OF HYPOCRISY SO DANGEROUS THAT MINISTERS AND PEOPLE OUGHT FIRSTLY, CHIEFLY, TO BEWARE OF IT? There is great danger of it, and great danger by it.

1. There is great danger of it.

(1) For we have the ground of the matter in ourselves. Hearts deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know thy wickedness? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, &c. (Jer 17:9-10). As if none beside the Lord knew the bottomless depths and deceits of the heart!

(2) The devil watcheth night and day to set fire to this tow.

(3) And that we may not be secure, there are before our eyes and in our view dreadful examples. Balaam, a great prophet; Judas, an apostle familiar with Christ; Saul, Jehu, Herod, and Agrippa, famous kings.

2. And there is great danger by it.

(1) The loss of all that,, is done. Christ will say, as to that young man, Yet lackest thou one thing (Luk 18:22), sincerity: wouldest thou have heaven too? Why then didst thou all things for the praise of men? Thou hast thy reward, and art overpaid. Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity (Mat 7:23).

(2) Frustrating of hopes, great hopes, hopes of glory and heaven, and escaping eternal misery. All these hopes must perish to the hypocrite Job 8:13); perish like a ship at the very mouth of the haven; perish while they are crying, Lord, Lord; perish into everlasting horror and eternal despair.

(3) Full detection and manifesting of them in the sight and face of all the world.

(4) And in hell the hypocrite shall be beaten with many stripes. For he knew his Masters will, and pretended he was doing it, and yet did it not. (A. Bromhall.)

The leaven of hypocrisy

I. SOME WAYS IN WHICH THIS HYPOCRISY WORKS AND IS SHOWN.

1. Hypocrisy works in the bias of the mind. There is a secret end and aim with those in whom it works, apart from the glory of God. Self is always uppermost, even in religious acts and outward worship.

2. Hypocrisy shows itself in a resting in duties. Those in whom it thus works are satisfied to please self and others in them; they do not seek Christ in them; they go on in duties, but it is a bondage to them; their duties leave no savour on them; they are strict to a fault whilst engaged in them, and shame some gracious souls, who have not the self-command they show; but out of their duties they are light and frothy; there is nothing resting upon their spirits. View them at home, you see little or no difference between them and those who make no profession.

3. Hypocrisy shows itself in Weariness of religion. Many, with all their outward zeal, are secretly weary of religious duties; they get nothing in them; they go away as they came, unwatered and unrefreshed; their inward spring seems dried up; Christs yoke is often grievous to them. This is a far gone stage of the disease; it is the heart departing from the Lord. They slave and drudge on at duties, but are nothing bettered by them; they rather grow worse; their spiritual appetite seems departing. But for shame, many would give in at this stage, and walk no more as the open followers of Jesus.

4. Once more: hypocrisy works much in prayer, open and private. It regards choice of expression and fitting words mere than the workings of desires in the heart, though the utterances are unconnected and broken. It depends on mental help more than spiritual assistance,

II. THE KINDS OF CHRISTIANS WHO ARE MOST PRONE TO THIS SIN, AND WHO OUGHT, THEREFORE, TO BE MOST ON THEIR GUARD AGAINST IT.

1. Christians whose avocations bring them much into the world should guard against this sin.

2. Persons that are naturally crafty and subtle have great reason to watch against hypocrisy in their religious acts.

3. Those have great reason to guard against this sin who have been brought comfortably and calmly into peace with God, who have not been under great terrors of conscience, nor laid long, if at all, under a broken law–those who have come to Christ on the first motions of godly sorrow, and found peace with God. It too often happens that those who have been so gently dealt with do not value the blessing aright; they do not see what it cost the Son of God to procure.

4. Those who are naturally superstitious have need to be on the watch. It is a great advantage to Satan to meet with a superstitious person under the power of religion; he will improve his advantage, and try to work upon their superstition, to bring them into bondage, and to make them hypocrites in numberless ways. He will try to give them too high an esteem for externals, to deaden, if possible, the power of religion in their souls. He will give them needless torment about little matters which in themselves are of no consequence or value, but he will try and magnify them in their eyes, and seek to persuade them to believe that much depends on them. They will be often led to believe that a scrupulous conscience is a tender one, whereas the two things are totally different; and a man may have a very scrupulous conscience in religious matters that yet never hated sin or loved God.

III. THE DANGER OF GIVING WAY TO THIS SIN, AND LETTING IT GAIN GROUND. This will also lead me to say a few words by way of caution how to prevent this.

1. It is a hateful sin in the sight of God. All hypocrisy is deception; and God is a God of truth, and loves truth, and will have those who worship Him worship Him in spirit and in truth.

2. Hypocrisy is a very deceiving sin. Hypocrites go on in duties, because the most of their religion lies in duties. Thus their duties deceive them. They judge well of themselves, because of their duties: but God judges of them by the state of their hearts.

3. Hypocrisy is a very dangerous sin. It works, as the Saviour says, like leaven; it spreads over and taints, if unresisted and unchecked, all the healthy actings of the soul. It will, in the end, wear out all the sincere principles from which a professor once acted, and make him a confirmed hypocrite. There is danger of God giving up any who go on in this sin to a reprobate mind; not all at once, but little by little, their spiritual strength will wax less and less, till it dries up altogether. They may be given up secretly to some corruption which will eat as a canker. Their souls will wither, because by their sin they cut themselves off from Christ.

4. But now, not to discourage any, it is good to have hypocrisy discovered; the honest soul will be glad to know the worst, and never rest till he does. It is a bad sign to rest satisfied under uneasy feelings, hoping for a change, but without being stirred up to seek it. It is good to be severe with oneself, to sound our own hearts to the bottom, to beg of God and men to search and try us. It is only in this way–and that not now and then, or when pressed in conscience, but habitually–that hypocrisy will be kept under. (H. M. Baker.)

Different kinds of hypocrites

1. The worldly hypocrite, who professes godliness from worldly motives.

2. The legal hypocrite, who resigns his vicious practices to win heaven, but has no love to God.

3. The evangelical hypocrite, whose religion is an acknowledgment of sin, but with no desire to lead a godly life.

4. The enthusiastic hypocrite, who has an imaginary notion of the Saviour, and relies on impulses and feelings, and yet clings to vicious deeds. (Van Doren.)

Hypocrites in all ages

Cain in the first age; Canaan in the second; Ishmael in the third; Esau in the fourth; Saul among the prophets; Judas among the apostles; Nicholas among the deacons; Ananias among the early Christians. (Van Doren.)

Profession without possession

To profess a faith which you have net is to make yourself a deceptive trader, who pretends to be carrying on a very large business, while he has no stock, no capital, and is only obtaining credit on false pretences, and so is a thief. To make a profession, without having a possession, is to be a cloud without rain–a river-bed choked up with dry stones, but utterly without water; it is to be a mere play-actor, strutting about for an hour with the name and garments of a king, to be exchanged, behind the scenes, for the garb of poverty, and the character of shame; it is to be a rotten tree, green on the outside, but inwardly, as John Bunyan pithily puts it, only fit to be tinder for the devils tinder box. Be ye warned against fair pretensions where there is nothing to back them up. Above all things, eschew hypocrisy; stand aside from all mere pretence. Profess not to be what you are not, lest in that day when God comes to search the secrets of all hearts, you shall be condemned as reprobate silver, and consumed like dross. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Hypocrisy a common danger

An old English writer says:–The Emperor Frederick III., when one said unto him he would go and find some place where no hypocrite inhabited, told him he must travel, then, far enough beyond the Sauromatae or the frozen ocean; for yet, when he came there, he should find a hypocrite if he found himself there. And it is true that every man is a hypocrite. Hypocrisy is lesson that every man readily takes in. All are not fit for the wars; learning must have the picked and choicest wits; arts must have leisure and pains; but all sorts are apt enough, and thrive in the mystery of dissimulation.

Pharisaic hypocrisy

That which was the disease of the Pharisee was the disease of the time. Our Lord calls that disease hypocrisy. We have a reasonable horror of the name. We consider that it is applicable only to the worst men in the worst times. There is good excuse for that opinion; yet it may rob us of the force of our Lords warning–we may put it at a dangerous distance from ourselves. The hypocrite is the man who acts a part; there is no more evil significance in the word than that. And oh! how easy it is to be a hypocrite if that is his characteristic; how difficult it is not to be one! Do you not know with what terrible quickness a child becomes an actor or actress? Do you not know what we do to cultivate the acting talent, the acting habit in them? Do you not know what a number of social influences and contrivances are at work to convince men and women that it is their business to be masquers, that their skill is to be shown in the devising of masks? To strike at the root of this hypocrisy, to point out the remedy, this is the work which we ask from the King of men, from Him who knows what is in man. Jesus struck at the root of all social hypocrisy, of all personal hypocrisy, in Palestine, when He traced it to the religion which prevailed there. Then He pointed out the remedy in this sentence of everlasting might: For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither Lid that shall not be known. The religion of the Pharisees consisted in a series of attempts to please, flatter, and bribe the Ruler of the earth. If He could be persuaded not to look too curiously into the acts of His servants, not to probe the secrets of their hearts; if He could be induced to accept a compensation for this evil, on certain conditions to tolerate that; if His commandments could be shown to bear different constructions for different persons; if cases might be imagined to which they did not apply, or applied with various qualifications and mitigations; if the creature could succeed in keeping the Creator at a distance from him, so that his secrets should not be brought to the light; their religion had realized its highest objects. Such a religion was leavening the chosen people, as it was under other aspects, with the most dissimilar professions under heathen forms of worship, leavening the old Roman Empire. The priests and lawyers in Jerusalem, the Pontifiex and the Augur in Rome, were alike acting a part. They rehearsed their parts in private; they performed them in public. The Pharisees were at once the consummate practisers of the art and the most systematic instructors in it. But what if the Ruler of the earth could not be flattered or bribed? What if everything that is covered must be revealed, if everything that is hidden must be known? What if the very act of the Creator is to reveal, if He is bringing all things to light, if He hates darkness? There is the whole question. Is it a God of light you serve, or a God of darkness? Acting hypocrisy is an impossible kind of service with the first, the only suitable one with the second. (F. D. Maurice, M. A.)

Hypocrisy

Grace is the Christians new nature, and hypocrisy is the art that counterfeits it. The hypocrite affects the innocence of the dove to hide the cunning of the serpent. By the hypocrite good men are oft deceived, for Goodness thinks no ill where no ill seems. The hypocrite, like Judas, may salute Christ, but it is to betray Him. The hypocrites life is a falsehood to heaven and to earth. The hypocrite gives his tongue to virtue, but his heart to vice. If there be the head of gold, there are also the feet of miry clay. Hypocrisy is the homage which vice pays to virtue. The more plausible hypocrisy is before men, the more detestable it is to God. The

hypocrite serves Satan, and from Satan receives his reward. The religious hypocrite is at best a man of dark deeds, though clad in garments of light. He may approach the portals of heaven, but he does not enter. A hypocrite was discovered at a royal supper, but the king rejected him from the banquet. Man esteems him hateful, because he seems not what he is; and God hates him, because he is not what he seems. The Christians heart oft speaks without the tongue, but the hypocrites tongue always speaks without the heart. The hypocrite, like a bird of prey, although his course be towards heaven, yet is always looking and longing for something upon earth. The Christian gives to God the fruit of his labours; the hypocrite gives to God the fruit of his lips. The hypocrite is led by ostentation, and not by a sanctified conscience. Hypocrites may be Christians in the skin, but they are demons in the core; their rhetoric may be pretty, their logic witty, but their practice is naughty. Hypocrisy is insulting to the virtuous, and cruel to the poor and afflicted. For he who hides his vices by hypocrisy, suspects the virtues of others to be hypocrisy. And the poor and afflicted remain poor and afflicted, because the sin of the hypocrite closed the hand of charity, and in consequence thereof genuine sorrow is oft suspected in place of being relieved. An impostor who asks for alms is a hypocrite in the lower grade. Hypocrisy may prevail in morals as well as in creed. Some men are hypocritical in both. Hypocrisy shall be detected, as in the case of Saul (1Sa 15:14), Gehazi (2Ki 5:26), Judas Mat 26:50), Ananias (Act 5:3), Simon Magus (Act 8:20-21). Hypocrisy may be seen in the history of Jacob (Gen 27:20), Pharaoh (Exo 8:28-29), Balaam (Num 23:10), Absalom 2Sa 15:7), Hazael (2Ki 8:12-13). Samaritans (Ezr 4:2), Herod (Mat 2:8), High Priest (Mat 26:65), Pilate Mat 27:24). Let the hypocrite tremble lest he perish by his own hypocrisy, for God is the God of Truth, Christ is the Word of Truth, and the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Truth. The hope of the hypocrite shall be as the spiders web (Job 8:13-14). He is unwise who decries religion because some professing to be religious are hypocrites. None would take the pains to counterfeit pearls, if true ones were not of value. Men would not personate piety were it not of itself a noble quality. We best show our abhorrence of hypocrisy by holding the truth free from hypocrisy. (Van Doren.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER XII.

Christ preaches to his disciples against hypocrisy; and against

timidity in publishing the Gospel, 1-5.

Excites them to have confidence in Divine providence, 6, 7.

Warns them against denying him, or betraying his cause, 8, 9.

Of the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, 10.

Promises direction and support in persecution, 11, 12.

Warns the people against covetousness, 13-15.

Parable of the rich man who pulled down his granaries to build

greater, 16-21.

Cautions against carking cares and anxieties, 22-32.

The necessity of living to God, and in reference to eternity,

33-40.

At the request of Peter, he farther explains the preceding

discourse, 41-48.

The effects that should be produced by the preaching of the

Gospel, 49-53.

The signs of the times, 54-57.

The necessity of being prepared to appear before the judgment

seat of God, 58, 59.

NOTES ON CHAP. XII.

Verse 1. An innumerable multitude of people] , myriads of people. A myriad is ten thousand, and myriads must, at the very lowest, mean twenty thousand. But the word is often used to signify a crowd or multitude which cannot be readily numbered. There was doubtless a vast crowd assembled on this occasion, and many of them were deeply instructed by the very important discourse which our Lord delivered.

Leaven of the Pharisees] See Mt 16:1-12.

Which is hypocrisy.] These words are supposed by some to be an addition to the text, because it does not appear that it is their hypocrisy which Christ alludes to, but their false doctrines. They had, however, a large proportion of both.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

We read of such a caution given to the disciples, Mat 16:6. But that is not the same caution with this; there he compared their doctrine to leaven, for the aptness of it to infect others; here he compares their lives to the same thing, and for the same reason: this appeareth to be the same sense of our Saviour here, because he saith their leaven is hypocrisy. There are none so like to do mischief to the better sort of people, as those that, under a mask and exterior disguise of severity and strictness, indulge themselves in corrupt affections and vicious inclinations.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1-3. meantimein closeconnection, probably, with the foregoing scene. Our Lord had beenspeaking out more plainly than ever before, as matters werecoming to a head between Him and His enemies, and this seems to havesuggested to His own mind the warning here. He had just Himselfillustriously exemplified His own precepts.

his disciples first ofallafterwards to “the multitudes” (Lu12:54).

coveredfrom the view.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

In the mean time,…. While Christ was discoursing with the Pharisees, and they were using him in the vilest manner, throwing out their invectives against him in order to draw off the people from him:

when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people. There were “myriads” of them, as in the original text, and a myriad is ten thousand; the meaning is, that there were several thousands of them:

insomuch that they trod one upon another; striving to get near to Christ, either to see his person, or to hear his discourses; and particularly, what he would say to the Pharisees, who had fallen upon him in so violent a manner:

he began to say unto his disciples first of all; he directed his discourse not to the Pharisees, nor to the multitude, but to his disciples in the first place; at least, chiefly to them; for whom he had a regard, who were his dear friends, and were to be the preachers of his Gospel every where; and therefore it was proper that they should be aware of the dissembling arts of the Scribes and Pharisees, and have their minds fortified against approaching dangers, persecutions, and death itself: the last phrase, “first of all”, is omitted in the Vulgate Latin version; and by all the Oriental versions, it is joined to the next clause, and read thus, “especially”, or

before all things, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy; expressed both in their doctrines, and in their lives; which carried a great show of piety and holiness, but was in appearance only: very aptly is hypocrisy in doctrine and manners, compared to leaven; which at first is small and little, but gradually increases and spreads itself, and lies hid and covered, and is not easily discerned, nor its influence and effects observed; but in time, it infects and corrupts the whole of men’s principles and practices, and puffs and swells them up with a vain opinion of themselves; and when our Lord bids his disciples beware of it, his meaning not only is, that they take heed that they were not infected with it themselves, but that they were not imposed upon by the specious pretences of these artful and designing men.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Christ’s Charge to His Apostles.

      1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.   2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.   3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.   4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.   5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.   6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?   7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.   8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:   9 But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.   10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.   11 And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:   12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

      We find here, I. A vast auditory that was got together to hear Christ preach. The scribes and Pharisees sought to accuse him, and do him mischief; but the people, who were not under the bias of their prejudices and jealousies, still admired him, attended on him, and did him honour. In the mean time (v. 1), while he was in the Pharisee’s house, contending with them that sought to ensnare him, the people got together for an afternoon sermon, a sermon after dinner, after dinner with a Pharisee; and he would not disappoint them. Though in the morning sermon, when they were gathered thickly together (ch. xi. 29), he had severely reproved them, as an evil generation that seek a sign, yet they renewed their attendance on him; so much better could the people bear their reproofs than the Pharisees theirs. The more the Pharisees strove to drive the people from Christ, the more flocking there was to him. Here was an innumerable multitude of people gathered together, so that they trade one upon another, in labouring to get foremost, and to come within hearing. It is a good sight to see people thus forward to hear the word, and venture upon inconvenience and danger rather than miss an opportunity for their souls. Who are these that thus fly as the doves to their windows? Isa. lx. 8. When the net is cast where there is such a multitude of fish, it may be hoped that some will be enclosed.

      II. The instructions which he gave his followers, in the hearing of this auditory.

      1. He began with a caution against hypocrisy. This he said to his disciples first of all; either to the twelve, or to the seventy. These were his more peculiar charge, his family, his school, and therefore he particularly warned them as his beloved sons; they made more profession of religion than others and hypocrisy in that was the sin they were most in danger of. They were to preach to others; and, if they should prevaricate, corrupt the word, and deal deceitfully, hypocrisy would be worse in them than in others. Besides, there was a Judas among them, who was a hypocrite, and Christ knew it, and would hereby startle him, or leave him inexcusable. Christ’s disciples were, for aught we know, the best men then in the world, yet they needed to be cautioned against hypocrisy. Christ said this to the disciples, in the hearing of this great multitude, rather than privately when he had them by themselves, to add the greater weight to the caution, and to let the world know that he would not countenance hypocrisy, no, not in his own disciples. Now observe,

      (1.) The description of that sin which he warns them against: It is the leaven of the Pharisees. [1.] It is leaven; it is spreading as leaven, insinuates itself into the whole man, and all that he does; it is swelling and souring as leaven, for it puffs men up with pride, embitters them with malice, and makes their service unacceptable to God. [2.] It is the leaven of the Pharisees: “It is the sin they are most of them found in. Take heed of imitating them; be not you of their spirit; do not dissemble in Christianity as they do in Judaism; make not your religion a cloak of maliciousness, as they do theirs.”

      (2.) A good reason against it: “For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed,Luk 12:2; Luk 12:3. It is to no purpose to dissemble, for, sooner or later, truth will come out; and a lying tongue is but for a moment. If you speak in darkness that which is unbecoming you, and is inconsistent with your public professions, it shall be heard in the light; some way or other it shall be discovered, a bird of the air shall carry the voice (Eccl. x. 20), and your folly and falsehood will be made manifest.” The iniquity that is concealed with a show of piety will be discovered, perhaps in this world, as Judas’s was, and Simon Magus’s, at furthest in the great day, when the secrets of all hearts shall be made manifest,Ecc 12:14; Rom 2:16. If men’s religion prevail not to conquer and cure the wickedness of their hearts, it shall not always serve for a cloak. The day is coming when hypocrites will be stripped of their fig-leaves.

      2. To this he added a charge to them to be faithful to the trust reposed in them, and not to betray it, through cowardice or base fear. Some make Luk 12:2; Luk 12:3, to be a caution to them not to conceal those things which they had been instructed in, and were employed to publish to the world. “Whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear, tell them the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; what has been spoken to you, and you have talked of among yourselves, privately, and in corners, that do you preach publicly, whoever is offended; for, if you please men, you are not Christ’s servants, nor can you please him,” Gal. i. 10. But this was not the worst of it: it was likely to be a suffering cause, though never a sinking one: let them therefore arm themselves with courage; and divers arguments are furnished here to steel them with a holy resolution in their work. Consider,

      (1.) “The power of your enemies is a limited power (v. 4): I say unto you, my friends” (Christ’s disciples are his friends, he calls them friends, and gives them this friendly advice), “be not afraid, do not disquiet yourselves with tormenting fears of the power and rage of men.” Note, Those whom Christ owns for his friends need not be afraid of any enemies. “Be not afraid, no, not of them that kill the body, let it not be in the power of scoffers, not even of murderers, to drive you off from your work, for you that have learned to triumph over death may say, even of them, Let them do their worst, after that there is no more that they can do; the immortal soul lives, and is happy, and enjoys itself and its God, and sets them all at defiance.” Note, Those can do Christ’s disciples no real harm, and therefore ought not to be dreaded, who can but kill the body; for they only send that to its rest, and the soul to its joy, the sooner.

      (2.) God is to be feared more than the most powerful men: “I will forewarn you whom you shall fear (v. 5): that you may fear man less, fear God more. Moses conquers his fear of the wrath of the king, by having an eye to him that is invisible. By owning Christ you may incur the wrath of men, which can reach no further than to put you to death (and without God’s permission they cannot do that); but by denying Christ, and disowning him, you will incur the wrath of God, which has power to send you to hell, and there is no resisting it. Now of two evils the less is to be chosen, and the greater is to be dreaded, and therefore I say unto you, Fear him.” “It is true,” said that blessed martyr, Bishop Hooper, “life is sweet, and death bitter; but eternal life is more sweet, and eternal death more bitter.”

      (3.) The lives of good Christians and good ministers are the particular care of divine Providence, Luk 12:6; Luk 12:7. To encourage us in times of difficulty and danger, we must have recourse to our first principles, and build upon them. Now a firm belief of the doctrine of God’s universal providence, and the extent of it, will be satisfying to us when at any time we are in peril, and will encourage us to trust God in the way of duty. [1.] Providence takes cognizance of the meanest creatures, even of the sparrows. “Though they are of such small account that five of them are sold for two farthings, yet not one of them is forgotten of God, but is provided for, and notice is taken of its death. Now, you are of more value than many sparrows, and therefore you may be sure you are not forgotten, though imprisoned, though banished, though forgotten by your friends; much more precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of saints than the death of sparrows.” [2.] Providence takes cognizance of the meanest interest of the disciples of Christ: “Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered (v. 7); much more are your sighs and tears numbered, and the drops of your blood, which you shed for Christ’s name’s sake. An account is kept of all your losses, that they may be, and without doubt they shall be, recompensed unspeakably to your advantage.”

      (4.) “You will be owned or disowned by Christ, in the great day, according as you now own or disown him,” Luk 12:8; Luk 12:9. [1.] To engage us to confess Christ before men, whatever we may lose or suffer for our constancy to him, and how dear soever it may cost us, we are assured that they who confess Christ now shall be owned by him in the great day before the angels of God, to their everlasting comfort and honour. Jesus Christ will confess, not only that he suffered for them, and that they are to have the benefit of his sufferings, but that they suffered for him, and that his kingdom and interest on earth were advanced by their sufferings; and what greater honour can be done them? [2.] To deter us from denying Christ, and a cowardly deserting of his truths and ways, we are here assured that those who deny Christ, and treacherously depart from him, whatever they may save by it, though it were life itself, and whatever they may gain by it, though it were a kingdom, will be vast losers at last, for they shall be denied before the angels of God; Christ will not know them, will not own them, will not show them any favour, which will turn to their everlasting terror and contempt. By the stress here laid upon their being confessed or denied before the angels of God, it should seem to be a considerable part of the happiness of glorified saints that they will not only stand right, but stand high, in the esteem of the holy angels; they will love them, and honour them, and own them, if they be Christ’s servants; they are their fellow-servants, and they will take them for their companions. On the contrary, a considerable part of the misery of damned sinners will be that the holy angels will abandon them, and will be the pleased witnesses, not only of their disgrace, as here, but of their misery, for they shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels (Rev. xiv. 10), who will give them no relief.

      (5.) The errand they were shortly to be sent out upon was of the highest and last importance to the children of men, to whom they were sent, v. 10. Let them be bold in preaching the gospel, for a sorer and heavier doom would attend those that rejected them (after the Spirit was poured upon them, which was to be the last method of conviction) than those that now rejected Christ himself, and opposed him: “Greater works than those shall he do, and, consequently, greater will be the punishment of those that blaspheme the gifts and operations of the Holy Ghost in you. Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, shall stumble at the meanness of his appearance, and speak slightly and spitefully of him, it is capable of some excuse: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But unto him that blasphemes the Holy Ghost, that blasphemes the Christian doctrine, and maliciously opposes it, after the pouring out of the Spirit and his attestation of Christ’s being glorified (Act 2:33; Act 5:32), the privilege of the forgiveness of sins shall be denied; he shall have no benefit by Christ and his gospel. You may shake off the dust of your feet against those that do so, and give them over as incurable; they have forfeited that repentance and that remission which Christ was exalted to give, and which you are commissioned to preach.” The sin, no doubt, was the more daring, and consequently the case the more desperate, during the continuance of the extraordinary gifts and operations of the Spirit in the church, which were intended for a sign to them who believed not, 1 Cor. xiv. 22. There were hopes of those who, though not convinced by them at first, yet admired them, but those who blasphemed them were given over.

      (6.) Whatever trials they should be called out to, they should be sufficiently furnished for them, and honourably brought through them, Luk 12:11; Luk 12:12. The faithful martyr for Christ has not only sufferings to undergo, but a testimony to bear, a good confession to witness, and is concerned to do that well, so that the cause of Christ may not suffer, though he suffer for it; and, if this be his care, let him cast it upon God: “When they bring you into the synagogues, before church-rulers, before the Jewish courts, or before magistrates and powers, Gentile rulers, rulers in the state, to be examined about your doctrine, what it is, and what the proof of it, take no thought what ye shall answer,” [1.] “That you may save yourselves. Do not study by what art or rhetoric to mollify your judges, or by what tricks in law to bring yourselves off; if it be the will of God that you should come off, and your time is not yet come, he will bring it about effectually.” [2.] “That you may serve your Master; aim at this, but do not perplex yourselves about it, for the Holy Ghost, as a Spirit of wisdom, shall teach you what you ought to say, and how to say it, so that it may be for the honour of God and his cause.”

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

In the meantime ( ). It is a classic idiom to start a sentence or even a paragraph as here with a relative, “in which things or circumstances,” without any expressed antecedent other than the incidents in 11:53f. In 12:3 Luke actually begins the sentence with two relatives ‘ (wherefore whatsoever).

Many thousands (). Genitive absolute with (first aorist passive participle feminine plural because of ), a double compound late verb, , to gather together unto. The word “myriads” is probably hyperbolical as in Ac 21:20, but in the sense of ten thousand, as in Ac 19:19, it means a very large crowd apparently drawn together by the violent attacks of the rabbis against Jesus.

Insomuch that they trode one upon another ( ). The imagination must complete the picture of this jam.

Unto his disciples first of all ( ). This long discourse in Lu 12 is really a series of separate talks to various groups in the vast crowds around Jesus. This particular talk goes through verse 12.

Beware of ( ). Put your mind ( understood) for yourselves (dative) and avoid ( with the ablative).

The leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy ( ). In Mr 8:15 Jesus had coupled the lesson of the Pharisees with that of Herod, in Mt 16:6 with that of the Sadducees also. He had long ago called the Pharisees hypocrites (Matt 6:2; Matt 6:5; Matt 6:16). The occasion was ripe here for this crisp saying. In Mt 13:33 leaven does not have an evil sense as here, which see. See Mt 23:13 for hypocrites. Hypocrisy was the leading Pharisaic vice (Bruce) and was a mark of sanctity to hide an evil heart.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

An innumerable multitude [ ] . The word muriav strictly means a number of ten thousand. It is our word myriad. Hence, generally, of any countless number.

First of all. Many connect this with what follows : “first of all beware,” etc.

Leaven. See on Mt 13:33.

Which [] . Classifying the leaven : which belongs to the category of hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy. See on hypocrites, Mt 23:13.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

JESUS WARNED ABOUT LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES V. 1-15

1) “In the meantime,” (en hois) “in the meanwhile,” shortly after he pronounced woes on the leaders (false leaders) of the Jewish people of that day, Luk 11:39; Luk 11:42-43; Luk 11:46-47; Luk 11:52.

2) “When there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people,” (episumachthelson ton muriadon tou ochlou) “When the crowd of thousands had assembled or come closely together,” many thousands.

3) “Insomuch that they trode one upon another,” (hoste katapatein allelous) “So as to tread or step on one another,” because of shoving and pushing.

4) “He began to say to his disciples first of all,” (erksato legein pros tous mathetas autou proton) “He began to say directly to his disciples first in order,” or priority, as the flock of His new covenant fellowship, called His church, He turned to address the multitudes.

5) “Beware ye of the leaven,” (prosechete heautois apo tes zurnes) “Take heed (be cautious or careful) from (avoid) the leaven,” the putrefication or pollution, Mat 13:33; Mat 16:6; Mat 16:11-12. This leaven was a mask of sanctity worn by the Pharisees.

6) “Of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” (hetis estin hupokrisis ton Pharisaion) “Of the Pharisees which is (exists as or in the form of) hypocrisy,” Luk 11:39. Satan was the first hypocrite who came posing as a friend and helper, only to deceive, to entrap by ulterior motives, Gen 3:1-24. Hypocrisy is of two kinds, First, pretending to be what one is not, Gal 2:13; and Second, concealing what one really is within.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES

Luk. 12:1. An innumerable multitude of people.The many thousands of the multitude (R.V.); lit. the myriads of the multitude. The discourse in this chapter is evidently in continuation of what has just been recorded: the cardinal sin of the Pharisees is dealt with, and freedom of speech is commended, in spite of the dangers which it provoked. Unto His disciples first of all.Opinion is about equally divided as to whether the words should be thus rendered, or say unto His disciples, First of all, beware ye. The former is retained in the R.V. So far as internal evidence is concerned, Christs words seemed to be addressed to His disciples rather than to the multitude; and this distinction harmonises rather with the rendering of our version than with the other, which some editors prefer. The leaven of the Pharisees.Cf. Mat. 16:6-12. The characteristic spirit of the Pharisees, which issued in a general corruption of the characters of those influenced by it. Leaves is most frequently used in Scripture as a symbol of evil. Hypocrisy.The word hypocrite, in its original sense, means an actor; one who assumes a part and adopts a name, dress, and manner of speaking, in harmony with it. The appropriateness of the figure for those who assumed an austerity and goodness which were foreign to them, for the sake of imposing upon others, is obvious.

Luk. 12:2. For there is nothing covered.Hypocrisy is not only sinful, but useless: all secret words and sayings will one day be made public and open. The words have a different application in Mat. 10:26. There the reference is to the public proclamation of what the disciples have learned in secret from the Master.

Luk. 12:3. In closets.In the inner chambers (R.V.); in the store-rooms, the most secret part of the house. The same word is used in Mat. 6:6; Mat. 24:26. Upon the house-tops.So that all in the streets can hear. These sayings have a strong Syrian colour. The Syrian house-top presents an image which has no sense in Asia Minor, or Greece, or Italy, or even at Antioch. The flat roofs cease at the mouth of the Orontes; Antioch itself has inclined roofs (Renan).

Luk. 12:4. My friends.An unusual phrase. Cf. Joh. 15:13-15.

Luk. 12:5. I will forewarn you.Rather simply I will warn you (R.V.). Fear him, which after, etc. Who is the person here referred to? Strangely enough, the words have been interpreted both of God and of Satan. The opinion of the majority of commentators is that God is meant as the almighty dispenser of life and death, both temporal or eternal. But, on the other hand, Christ is here speaking of enemies; He warns His disciples not to fear those who can only hurt the body, and says there is reason to fear One who has power to cast into hell, or, as St. Matthew says, to destroy both body and soul in hell. If Satan is an enemy of the souls of men, and if those who yield to his solicitations share his punishment, there can be no difficulty in understanding this passage as alluding to him. Fear (or terror) of a spiritual enemy of real power and malignancy is evidently meant here. No such emotion is represented in the Scriptures as belonging to mans relations with God. Alford understands the words as referring to God, and endeavours to draw a distinction between the phrase used in Luk. 12:4 and that in Luk. 12:5 to denote fearin the one case the preposition (fear of something coming from such and such a quarter) being used, and in the other case the simple verband understands by the one, terror, and by the other the nobler fear of God so often commended to us in the Scriptures. But he does not support his argument by adducing any examples of the words being used to denote these varying ideas. Hath power.Or authority (R.V. margin). The word is appropriate for indicating authority which may be used in subordination to a higher rule, and so is in harmony with the above interpretation. Hell.Lit. Gehenna, the place of punishment, as distinguished from Hades, the abode of the dead. Gehenna means simply the Valley of Hinnom, outside Jerusalem, so called apparently from the name of the original inhabitants or owners of it (Jos. 15:8). It was polluted by the worship of Moloch (Jer. 7:31), and was afterwards used as a receptacle for the rubbish and filth of the city. Large fires were kept burning in it, to prevent pestilence.

Luk. 12:6. Are not five sparrows?St. Matthew speaks of two being sold for one farthing (Luk. 10:29). Evidently if four were bought at one time, a fifth was thrown in for nothing; yet not even one of these insignificant creatures is forgotten before God.

Luk. 12:7. Hairs of your head.Evidently a proverbial expression. Cf. 1Sa. 14:45; 1Ki. 1:52; Luk. 21:18; Act. 27:34.

Luk. 12:8. Before the angels of God.Allusion is here made to the last judgment, at which the angels of God are generally represented as present. The phrase in the parallel passage in St. Matthew is, Before My Father which is in heaven.

Luk. 12:10. It shall be forgiven.I.e., on repentance. Blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost.A wilful and deliberate state of sinning, against the clearest light and knowledge, which, from the very nature of things, must exclude from forgiveness. These words were spoken to encourage the disciples; they give assurance that God will be with them in their work, and that obstinate opposition to it would be severely condemned by Him.

Luk. 12:11. Synagogues.The officials in each local synagogue had certain judicial powers. Magistrates and powers.I.e., higher tribunals, either Jewish or Gentiles.

Luk. 12:12. For the Holy Ghost.This mention of the Holy Ghost as Paraclete, or Advocate, closely corresponds with Christs teaching as recorded in St. Johns Gospel, and is an interesting testimony to the historical character of the latter.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Luk. 12:1-12

The Disciples Encouraged.The hostility manifested towards Christ, as described in the closing paragraph of the preceding chapter, was calculated to intimidate weak and wavering disciples, and even to shake the courage of the bravest amongst them. For it is evident that a large proportion, at any rate, of the crowd now assembled sympathised with the attitude towards Jesus taken up by their leaders. Accordingly our Lord, in the very presence of His enemies, addresses His disciples and encourages them to steadfastness in their allegiance to Him and His cause. By various kinds of inducements Jesus would now lead them to banish their fears.

I. The promise of victory (Luk. 12:1-3).The first encouraging fact on which Jesus laid stress was that in due time the hypocrisy of their enemies would be unveiled and the triumph of the gospel be complete and final. At the present time the teaching of the Pharisees, and the rules of conduct laid down by them, had great weight in Jewish society. But the day would come when the mask would be torn away; the corruption hidden beneath a pretence of piety would be brought to light, and the authority of these present guides and rulers of public opinion would crumble away. On the other hand, the disciples of Jesus, who were now abashed in the presence of their enemies, and who, as it were, scarcely dared to whisper in secret the truth they had learned from Him, would become His heralds, and proclaim to a listening world the teaching which He had entrusted to them. This assurance of future victory was a timely word of encouragement to the followers of Jesus. Just as there is nothing more likely to damp enthusiasm and to diminish activity than a dread of defeat, so the anticipation of winning the day gives fresh spirit and strength to the soldier in the midst of the fight. The same ground of encouragement which Jesus then gave to His disciples, exists still. All who are endeavouring in His name to overcome the ignorance and sin and misery that afflict human society, have reason to believe that the time will come when their efforts will be crowned with complete success.

II. Assurance of Divine protection (Luk. 12:4-7).In the second place Jesus encourages His disciples by assuring them that they were the objects of Gods providential care. All the evil that man could do to them was, even at its worst, but trifling and insignificant. Man had power only to injure the body, and even that power could only be exercised within the limits fixed by the Divine decree. They should, therefore, be freed from all fear. The enemy, whom they had reason to dread, was one who might find an ally in their own hearts. The solicitations of the enemy of their souls to save their lives in the hour of danger, by renouncing their Saviour, were indeed to be dreaded. This was the only fear that they need entertain. Jesus, it is to be noticed, does not promise His disciples that in every time of danger their lives would be preserved. They might be called upon to forfeit life, but not without the consent of Him whom He taught them to regard as their heavenly Father. And in the most forcible terms He assures them that the providence of God extends to the minutest details of human life. The birds of the air are not forgotten by God; how much more will He care for His children! He numbers the hairs of their heads; how much more will He protect their highest interests! Let them banish all fears, therefore; they will not fall without Gods consent, and God will not consent to anything which is not to be for their good.

III. The reward of the faithful disciples; the punishment of the faithless (Luk. 12:8-10).Fidelity to the Saviour and to His cause may entail pains and sufferings upon earth: but if they persevere unto the end, a glorious reward will be bestowed upon them. Their glorified Master will recompense them for confessing Him to be their Lord by acknowledging them to be His own before the assembled hosts of heaven. But denial of Him must inevitably be followed by the loss of His love and favour in the day when all shall appear before Him for judgment. It is for them to decide, by their attitude towards Him, what is to be His attitude towards them. There will be nothing arbitrary or capricious in the rewards He will bestow or the punishments He will impose, but both will commend themselves as just to those who will receive them. For a moment Jesus turns from the disciples to the crowd that surrounds them, and speaks of a worse sin than cowardly denial of Him as Lord and Master, and of the heavier punishment which that sin entails. Faithlessness towards Him, or even misguided antipathy towards Him, are grave offences, but they may be forgiven; but deliberate resistance to the Holy Spirit is a sin that can never be forgiven. The sinner who resolutely banishes from himself the light-giving, sanctifying influences of that Spirit, and who hates goodness, shuts himself out from the possibility of salvation.

IV. The promised aid of the Holy Spirit (Luk. 12:11-12).Well might the disciples fear that they would not be able to bear worthy testimony to their Master when exposed to the dangers of which He now forewarned them. And therefore Jesus reassures them, and promises that in their hour of need they would be sustained by that Spirit whom their enemies blasphemed. Many and various would be the tribunals before which His followers would be called to stand; they would be confronted with the representatives of ecclesiastical and worldly power, but they would receive supernatural help to enable them to endure the trial. Let them not premeditate defence! Words would be given them to speak which their adversaries would not be able to gainsay or resist. They would be taught both what to say and how to say it, and not only to defend themselves, but also to render testimony in favour of their Lord. Thus it was with St. Peter and St. Stephen before the Sanhedrim, and with St. Paul before Felix and Festus; they not only maintained their own integrity, but also proclaimed the gospel of which Christ had appointed them ministers.

In all these ways, therefore, did Jesus seek to strengthen His disciples. He infused into their hearts the hope of victory; He confirmed their faith in the almighty power of their heavenly Father; He spoke of the glorious reward which those faithful to Him might anticipate receiving, and of the penalty which cowardice would draw upon itself; and, finally, gave assurance of a Divine aid which would enable the weakest and most timid to rise to heroism in the day of trial and persecution.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luk. 12:1-12

Luk. 12:1-2. Hypocrisy and Truth.

I. The doom of hypocrisy.Its triumph is short-lived, for the mask that conceals the true character of pretenders to godliness will be torn away.

II. The triumph of truth.The words now spoken by disciples in secret will resound through the whole world. Evil done in secret, and truth spoken in secret, will both come to light, and men will condemn the one and approve the other.

Luk. 12:1. Two Kinds of Hypocrisy.Hypocrisy is of two kinds:

I. Pretending to be what we are not.

II. Concealing what we are.Though these are so closely allied that the one runs into the other, it is the latter form of it against which our Lord here warns His disciples.Brown.

Self-Deception.Hypocrisy is not merely for a man to deceive others, knowing all the while that he is deceiving them, but to deceive himself and others at the same time; to aim at their praise by a religious profession, without perceiving that he loves their praise more than Gods, and that he is professing far more than he practises.Newman.

Luk. 12:2-3. The Place and Function of the Lamp.The disciples are to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, one element of whose hypocrisy it was to withhold from the common people the light of their own better knowledge; neither going into the kingdom of heaven themselves, nor suffering those who would have entered to go in. The disciples, unlike the Pharisees, are not to withhold any light which they possess; for God intends nothing to be concealed from any man. Whatever is covered is to be uncovered. Whatever is hidden from us is hidden, not by God, but by the limitations of our own faculty, and will be disclosed as we train our faculty of perception and outgrow its limitations. So far as we can see, we may see; and what we see not yet we shall see soon. Yes, and, as we are expressly taught here, so far as we can see we may speak, and must speak. For as it is the will of God that nothing should be covered except that it may be uncovered, so also it is the will of Christ that whatever He or His disciples have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; whatever they have spoken in the chamber shall be proclaimed from the house-top. The same rule is to govern their words which governed His words. What He had taught them privately, that they were to teach openly (Mat. 10:27); and now He adds that whatever they taught privately, that their successors were to teach openly. They were to have no mysteries, no economy, no truths reserved for the initiated.Cox.

Luk. 12:2. A Warning and a Promise.

I. A warning against the hypocrisy which comes from fear of man.

II. A promise and a consoling hope for the faithful.

Luk. 12:3. Shall be heard in the light.All that ye, on account of persecutions shall have taught in secret, will, at the victory of My cause, be proclaimed with the greatest publicity.Meyer.

The Course of the Gospel.St. Luke has described the course of the gospel from the closet of Mary in Nazareth to the house-tops of the city of Rome.

Luk. 12:4-9. Three Arguments against Fear.

I. That drawn from the impotence or limited power of the most malicious enemies.They can kill the body and can do no more.

II. That drawn from the providence of God, without whose will not even the slightest injury can befall us.

III. That drawn from the fact that in the day of judgment Christ will acknowledge as His those who have been faithful to Him, and deny those who have denied Him.

Luk. 12:4-6. A Mid-Course.The state of mind Christ here seeks to cultivate is midway between fear and implicit trust.

I. He urges them on to earnestness by pointing out spiritual dangers to which they are exposed.
II. He preserves them from faint-heartedness by speaking of God as their protector.

Luk. 12:4-5. The Place of Fear in the Gospel.There is a place for fear in the gospel. Some readers of the Bible, some preachers of the gospel, have thought that fear was a dangerous, even a forbidden principle, under the dispensation of the fulness of times. They have made this one of the chief points of difference between the law and the gospel. This is a hasty inference. Our Lord says, Fear Him, which, after He hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; says it to His disciplessays it to those whom, in the very same sentence, He calls His friends. Paul bids his Philippian converts work out their salvation with fear and trembling; Peter commends a chaste conversation coupled with fear; and even John, who speaks of perfect love casting out fear, yet uses this, in the Revelation, as a characteristic of the faithfulthem that fear Thy name. Fear has a place in the gospel, may we but find it. But it is not, as some would make it, the whole of religion. But there are three things the proper objects of gospel fear:

1. Sin and wickedness,
2. Our ghostly enemy.
3. Everlasting death.Vaughan.

Luk. 12:5. Whom ye shall fear.The Christian, though having Christ for his friend (Luk. 12:4), and God as His protector is not above all fear. The great enemy is still near, and his malice is deadly and unsleeping.

Luk. 12:6-7. Divine Providence.

I. Christ here teaches that Gods government of the world extends to the minutest detail in the lives of all His creatures.

II. That this is not rule of a blind law, but of a loving Father.Nothing is left to chance, and we have every encouragement to confidence in Him, and to commit ourselves in prayer to His protecting power.

Luk. 12:7. Safety while Work is Unfinished.The servant of Christ is immortal so long as his work is yet unfinished.

Luk. 12:8-9. Confession and Denial of Christ.The context shows plainly that it is a practical, consistent confession which is meant, and also a practical and enduring denial. The Lord will not confess the confessing Judas, nor deny the denying Peter; the traitor who denied Him in act is denied; the apostle who confessed Him, even to death, will be confessed (cf. 2Ti. 2:12).Alford.

I. Gentle allurement.

II. Grave menace.

Luk. 12:8. The Promise.

1. How base, then, to refuse our testimony to Christ, when on His part He offers His testimony to us by way of reward!
2. How much more Christ promises than that which He requires from us! The Threatening.

(1) Not only will the names of the cowardly be blotted out of the book of life, but
(2) He will bear testimony against them and take away all hope of their admission into the heavenly kingdom.

Luk. 12:10. The Sin against the Holy Ghost.St. Luke records the utterance to the disciples of that same dread sentence which St. Matthew and St. Mark give as addressed to the blaspheming Phariseesshowing conclusively that Christians are not out of reach of that danger which in open enemies is blasphemy, and in false friends is a doing despite. St. Luke connects this sin with that of denying Christ. His warning is addressed to disciples. They may deny Christ and be forgiven: to him that blasphemes against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. Thus he prepares us for later disclosures which shall show how a Christian may blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, and, so doing, sin beyond forgiveness.Vaughan.

Rejecting the Preaching of the Apostles.The history of Israel fully proves the truth of this word of warning. That nation did not perish because of the sin of having nailed the Son of man to the cross. Otherwise the day of the crucifixion would have been its day of judgment, and God would not have offered for forty years longer forgiveness of this act of rejection. It is the rejection of the preaching of the apostlesthe obstinate resistance offered to the Spirit of Pentecostthat filled up the measure of Jerusalems sin.Godet.

Sins Against the Spirit.Other forms of sin against the Holy Spirit are referred to in Scripture:

I. To resist the Spirit (Act. 7:51), or to vex the Spirit (Isa. 63:10). The action of those who refuse to turn from their evil ways.

II. To grieve the Spirit (Eph. 4:30)as believers do when they allow themselves to be carried away by sin. But to blaspheme is of ones own free will, with full knowledge to hate and withstand the Holy Spirit. The reason why this sin cannot be forgiven is not that the fountain of Gods pity is closed up, but that the fountain of penitence and faith is dried up in the sinners heart.

Luk. 12:11. Promised Help.The disciples are forewarned that they would be cited, not only before Jewish, but also before heathen tribunals, and are promised direct, immediate help from above for all cases in which they would need it. The promise is of a twofold nature.

I. Help would be given them to frame their defence.
II. They would be assisted to deliver their testimony on behalf of Christ. The Acts of the Apostles contains the record of many instances of the fulfilment of this promise.

Luk. 12:12. The Authority of the Apostles.Not unjustly is the Saviours promise of the assistance of the Holy Spirit regarded as one of the strongest grounds of the high authority in which the word and writings of the apostles stand. The manner of the Spirits working may be incomprehensible, but it is evident that we are to understand an entirely extraordinary immediate influence; for it was to be given them in that hour. The promise of this assistance extended as well to the substance as to the form of their language, and this help was to support them so mightily (cf. chap. Luk. 21:14-15) that it would be morally impossible for their enemies to persevere in offering them resistance.Van Oosterzee.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Butlers Comments

SECTION 1

Arguments for Alertness (Luk. 12:1-12)

12 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the multitude had gathered together that they trod upon one another, he began to say to his disciples first, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

4 I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear him! 6Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

8 And I tell you, every one who acknowledges me before men, the Son of man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; 9but he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10And every one who speaks a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say; 12for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.

Luk. 12:1-3 Deceptions: Having faced down the hostile opposition of many enemies, Jesus takes occasion to warn His disciples that they must be alert since they will face the same attacks upon their spirituality. Having just denounced the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and lawyers, He warns His own disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Months earlier He had warned of the same thing (cf. Mat. 16:4-12; Mar. 8:13-21). The Pharisaic way of life was especially deceptive. The seductive unbelief which appears outwardly to be religious, while hiding inner rebellion and wickedness is the leaven Jesus was talking about. Hypocritical self-deception is the most insidious form of evil. It works like leavenunseen by the one upon whom it is working, but permeating the whole lump (cf. 1Co. 5:6-8). Even disciples of Jesus may be leavened with hypocrisy if they do not remain spiritually alert!

Jesus warns the day would come when everyone would see that His evaluation of the Pharisees was correct. The day did come when the hidden hypocrisy of the Pharisaic religion was exposed. The judgment upon their way as false was plainly confirmed in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Furthermore, it was the fanatical hypocrisy of the Pharisees which agitated the Jewish rebellion against Rome and resulted in the destruction of Pharisaic Judaism. The whole world saw that happen and knew their hypocrisy caused it. On the other hand, what the disciples of Jesus had to learn from Him in the dark (whispered secretly in privacy) would be common knowledge (proclaimed upon housetops) throughout the world. Two thousand years of history since Jesus made this warning have confirmed His predictions time and again. Hypocrisy like that of the Pharisees continues to be exposed over and over (1Co. 1:20 . . . where is the scribe?). No man can long play-act at religion until he is found out. Truth cannot long be forced into hidingit will always have to come out into the open and be acknowledged. Truth will always win out! So, let the disciple of Jesus be spiritually alert and always on the side of truth.

Luk. 12:4-7 Dangers: The call to spiritual alertness is a serious matter. Jesus warns that the time will come when His disciples will be declaring the truth from the housetops and they will be threatened with death. The truth of Christs way forever exposes the hypocritical way of self-righteousness. This is precisely what happened to Christs disciples in the first century (cf. Act. 4:5-22; Act. 5:27-41, et al). Jesus warns His followers that even when they are threatened with their lives (as they shall surely be in every generation) they had better not pretend something they are not. No pressure is great enough that the Christian should cave in to fear and play the part of a hypocrite.

Enemies of the truth may kill human bodies, but they cannot kill the soul, the eternal person. So, be spiritually alert and remember that only God has the power to punish with eternal death. If the Christian is to fear, let him fear God! To fear God is spiritual watchfulness! The Greek word geennan is translated hell in the RSV, but it is really the name of a valley to the south of the city of Jerusalem (the Valley of Hinnom). It was in this valley the ancient Jews practiced the worship of Moloch (which involved human sacrifice). King Josiah expressed his abhorrence of idolatry by throwing corpses of dead idolaters into this valley. The valley also became a city dump (cf. 2Ki. 23:4 ff) where pagan idols and other paraphernalia were burned along with the bodies of dead people, It became such a good illustration of hell in the minds of the Jews that rabbinical tradition used it to symbolize the place of eternal punishment, Hobbs says, In Jesus day this valley was the garbage dump of the city. Into it were thrown the dead bodies of animals and of executed criminals whose bodies were unclaimed. Maggots worked ceaselessly in the garbage. To consume it, fires burned day and night. At night wild dogs snarled and gnashed their teeth as they ate edible portions of the garbage. Eternal hell will be infinitely worse than the valley of Hinnom, for there the smoke of mans torment will go up forever and ever (Rev. 14:9-11).

The persecuted disciple of Jesus might be tempted to think that the God who created such a vast universe would hardly have time to notice should he die a martyrs death. Furthermore a weak faith might see the soon-coming holocaust of paganism upon Christianity as evidence that God was unaware or indifferent. What is the death of one single Christian to a God who must be extremely busy running this infinitely huge and complicated universe? Christians were a minority religious group, swallowed up in a vast, powerful Roman empire where the major concern was politics. Temptation for Christians to view the Roman empire (the beast) as invincible was strong (Rev. 13:4). Some might anticipate obliteration of the church. But the Heavenly Father knows their danger; He is aware. Believers are to trust their souls to His care (1Pe. 2:25; 1Pe. 4:19). Jesus illustrates: While five sparrows are worth only two pennies in the eyes of man, God does not forget a one of them. In fact, God probably has each sparrow named, just as He does the stars (Psa. 147:4). Now if God is so intimately related to each sparrow, how much more intimately will He guard the crown of His creationman (cf. Mat. 6:26; Mat. 12:12)! God is interested and involved in every minute detail of mans existence. He has every hair of every human head numbered (cf. 1Sa. 14:45; 2Sa. 14:11; Luk. 21:18). The Greek word for numbered is arithemeo from which we get the English word, arithmetic. Jesus used an interesting Greek word for value here: the normal word for value is time, but Jesus used diapherete which literally means, carry through. God does more than simply place a price tag on manHe takes man up into His bosom to carry as a precious son, (cf. Isa. 46:3-4; Isa. 49:14-18; Hos. 11:3-4, etc.). So, when danger comes, let the believer give reverence to God and not man.

Luk. 12:8-12 Denials: Another argument Jesus has for spiritual alertness is the temptation to deny the historical fact of the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. Everyone who acknowledges Jesus as the incarnate God before men, the Son of man will acknowledge in the presence of God. The Greek word translated acknowledge is homologese which literally means, say the same as . . . Everyone who says the same as God and Jesus say about Jesus, will have Jesus say the same as the Father and Son say about believers. To say the same as God says about Jesus is to say He is the Messiah, the Son of God, God in the flesh and Lord of all. To say that Jesus is not God in the flesh is to be anti-Christ (cf. 1Jn. 2:22-25; 1Jn. 3:2-3). The Greek word for deny is arnesamenos, and means, to contradict, disown, renounce. Whoever contradicts what Jesus has said about Himself, or what the Word of God says about Him, will be disowned by Jesus in the presence of God and His angels.

Why does Jesus interject what appears to be such an ambiguous statement (Luk. 12:10) in the midst of this exhortation? Why would He warn against denying Him and then promise forgiveness to everyone who speaks a word against the Son of man? The earlier teaching of Jesus on this point must be studied here (cf. Mat. 12:22-32 and Mar. 3:22-30). Earlier Jesus said, . . . every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Apparently Jesus means to warn that the time would soon come when Gods redemptive plan would be so unquestionably validated and the deity of His Son so unequivocally confirmed, that to deliberately refuse Him would be to commit the unpardonable sin. While Jesus walked the earth in a human body the completed revelation of His deity had not been fully and undeniably demonstrated. That demonstration waited upon His resurrection. Before the resurrection, men might say a word against the Son of man and stumble at the idea of God dwelling in flesh. They might continue to have doubts about Jesus that would even lead many of them to crucify Him in their ignorance and unbelief (cf. Act. 3:17; Luk. 23:34; Act. 13:27; Act. 17:30). This would be forgiven if, after the Holy Spirit came in His ministry of validating testimony, they should believe and repent, But to sin against the Holy Spirits complete, final, unquestionable testimony is the sin that cannot be forgiven.

To sin against Gods Spirit is apparently a deliberate, willful, intentional perversion of truth. It is calling good evil and evil good (cf. Isa. 5:20). The Pharisees were apparently involving themselves in such calculated malice aforethought when they accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of the devil. To say that something which is unquestionably good and righteous is evil is to blaspheme the Spirit of Truth. Perverse, reckless, malicious rejection of the truth makes the intellectual and moral nature of a person entirely incapable of dealing honestly with any truth (cf. Isa. 30:9-11; Jer. 6:16). Men may intentionally and deliberately reject truth and choose to believe a lie (cf. Mic. 2:11; 2Th. 2:9-12; Rom. 1:22-28; Joh. 8:45; 2Pe. 3:5, etc.). Men may choose to reject the blood atonement of Christ in favor of another hope, but the Bible says that makes it impossible for them to repent (Heb. 6:1-8; Heb. 10:19-31) because God accepts repentance only through faith in Christ. To seek justification before God through any religious system other than New Testament Christianity is to call evil what God has demonstrated is the only good. It takes an unforgivably wicked heart to ascribe evil to the One whose work and teaching stand only on the side of righteousness and merciful helpfulness to sinful, suffering humanity. To reject the perfect goodness and righteousness God has offered in Christ, now that it is finally demonstrated in the Cross and the Resurrection, is to sin against the ultimate best the Holy Spirit of God offers to the world. This is the eternal sin (Mar. 3:29) and the sin unto death (1Jn. 5:16). To have stumbled at the Incarnation while the Son was still in the flesh was forgivable, but to contradict and deny the complete and perfect testimony of the Holy Spirit is unforgivable. Wm. Barclay wrote, If a man for long enough shuts his eyes and ears to Gods way . . . and takes his own way . . . He comes to a stage when his own evil seems good . . . and Gods good seems to him evil. Neither in this world (Jewish dispensation) nor in that to come (Christian dispensation) will that be forgiven (cf. Luk. 16:26; Heb. 3:13; Heb. 9:27; Gal. 6:7). Even Moses law distinguished between unintentional sin and deliberate (high-handed) sin (Num. 15:22-30; 1Sa. 2:25; 1Sa. 3:14; Isa. 22:14). Paul told Timothy that in the Christian age some would turn away from listening to the truth and . . . never be able to come to a knowledge of the truth (2Ti. 3:7; 2Ti. 4:3-4). Fowler writes of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: It becomes a deliberate insult to God for men to claim to be unable to distinguish His work from that vileness and rottenness produced by that vile, unclean spirit-being who is the antithesis of all that God stands for . . . (Matthew, Vol. II. College Press, pg. 681). Examples of such blasphemy are contemporary. Bertrand Russell, late philosopher and mathematician wrote in his book, Why I Am Not A Christian, pg. 24, speaking of religion and Christianity, I regard it as a disease born of fear and as a source of untold misery to the human race. A contemporary, self-appointed female leader of atheism in the United States said of God: A crutch like LSD, alcohol or marijuana; of the church of Christ: It has never contributed anything to anybody, and place, at any time; of the Bible: The . . . inconsistencies, wretched history, sordid sex, sadism in it . . . shocked me profoundly, This woman said in an interview on one of Americas campuses, Id rather go to hell!

Just as Jesus had been threatened and blasphemed by His evil opposers so His disciples would be brought before wicked rulers and threatened and hear the name of their Lord blasphemed. They may stand against these threats, however, and they will have the assistance of the Holy Spirit to do so. They need not fear; they must not deny Him. The Holy Spirit was promised as a miraculous Guide for the Apostles (Joh. 16:13-14; Joh. 20:30-31), but not for every believer. The Holy Spirit guided the Apostles infallibly into all the truth God wished man to know for salvation and the Apostles left this complete truth in a written record. Any believer now who faces falsehood, unbelief, temptations, and persecutions may know the truth and speak the truth by knowing and speaking what the New Testament says. Jesus promise (Luk. 12:11-12) was fulfilled a number of times in the first century (cf. Act. 4:8; Act. 4:13; Act. 4:19-20).

Appleburys Comments

The Leaven of the Pharisees
Scripture

Luk. 12:1-12 In the meantime, when the many thousands of the multitude were gathered together, insomuch that they trod one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 But there is nothing covered up, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. 3 Wherefore whatsoever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light; and what ye have spoken in the ear in the inner chambers shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. 4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do, 5 But I will warn you whom ye shall fear; Fear him, who after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pence? and not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God. 7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not: ye are of more value than many sparrows. 8 And I say unto you, Every one who shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: 9 but he that denieth me in the presence of men shall be denied in the presence of the angels of God. 10 And every one who shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues, and the rulers, and the authorities, be not anxious how or what ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: 12 for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that very hour what ye ought to say.

Comments

In the meantime.This warning followed the incident of the Pharisees and lawyers confronting Jesus as He came out of the house where He had been a guest of a Pharisee. His disciples could expect the same kind of treatment, for He had not called them to an easy task.

the many thousands.Many things had attracted the crowds to Jesus, but the thing that caused them to gather at this time seems to have been the open discussion that was going on between Jesus and the Pharisees. One wonders if they really saw through the hypocrisy of the Pharisees? Perhaps not. See Luk. 12:57.

he began to say unto his disciples first of all.The lessons recorded in this chapter were primarily directed to the disciples, but the multitudes overheard what He was saying. At the close of the lesson, Jesus directed a warning to the crowds about interpreting the times.

the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.Leaven is nearly always used in the Scriptures as a symbol of evil. At the time of the Passover, all leaven was excluded from the homes of the faithful people of Israel. Paul used this fact to teach that the whole Christian life was to be observed not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1Co. 5:7-8).

But leaven is also used in the parable of the Leaven to indicate the effective working of the gospel message. The reason it can be used in both ways is seen in the manner in which it works. It has the power to transform whatever it touches. To expose oneself to the hypocritical teaching of the Pharisee was to run the risk of becoming like the Pharisees. On the other hand, to come in contact with the message of Christ is to come under the transforming power of the Gospel with the hope of becoming like Him (2Co. 3:18).

nothing covered up.The leaven of the Pharisees, said Jesus, is hypocrisy. When they spoke, it was as if they were speaking from under a mask of pretense at speaking the truth. They spoke falsehood under the guise of truth. But there was nothing that they covered up that would not be uncovered. Jesus had unmasked the Pharisees and the lawyers at the luncheon when He pointed out what they really were. See Luk. 11:37-52. Just so, hypocrisy was to be unmasked whenever it was confronted with the truth of Christ.

Jesus own teaching was not intended to be made a secret thing, for it was to be shouted from the house tops that everyone might know what He taught (Mat. 10:26-27).

Be not afraid of them that kill the body.The conversation had arisen out of the attack of the enemies of Jesus who were trying desperately to find an excuse for killing Him. His disciple also would face persecution. But they were not to fear those who might kill the body, but rather fear God for He alone could punish the wicked by casting them into eternal punishment. That this is a reference to God and not the devil seems evident from the remarks that follow encouraging the disciples to remember Gods tender care for them. The devil, of course, can afflict the saints of God. He can bring trials upon them to prove their faith, but the genuine thing in their faith enables them to endure the trial (Jas. 1:2-3; Jas. 1:12). Jesus did two things to encourage at this point: (1) He called them friends and (2) He reminded them that God was watching over them.

five sparrows sold for two pence?On another occasion Jesus used the same thought and spoke of two sparrows that were sold for a penny (Mat. 10:29). Jesus repeated His lessons with variations from time to time. If we carefully note the context when such variations occur, it will avoid the supposition that mistakes were made in reporting the incidents of the teaching ministry of Jesus.

The point of the lesson is this: the disciples of Jesus are of much more value than many sparrows. Not a single sparrow is forgotten in Gods sight; He wont forget the friends of His Son.

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.This indicates the meticulous care exercised by the Father over the friends of Jesus. Why, then, should they fear those who would destroy the body?

Every one who shall confess me before men.If they were to be known as friends of Jesus, they would have to acknowledge their allegiance to Him in the face of threats from those who might even kill the body. In his second letter to Theophilus, Luke reports instances in which that very thing was done (Act. 4:19-21; Act. 5:33-42).

The disciples were to acknowledge Him as the Christ of God (Luk. 9:20). The Son of Man acknowledges them as His friends. But to disown Christ before men would mean that He will disown them before the angels of God. Did Peter remember this when he disowned Jesus at the trial? Did the remorseful Judas think of it as he was about to take his own life after he had betrayed his Friend into the hands of the enemy?

And every one who shall speak a word against the Son of man.Even the heinous sin of speaking against the Son of Man can be forgiven. But forgiveness involves repentance which is produced by responding to the Spirit-breathed Word of God. But there is one sin that cannot be forgiven.

blasphemeth against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven.Were the Pharisees and lawyers whom Jesus had just reproved guilty of this sin? Jesus spoke by the Spirit, a fact that cannot be overlooked without failing to see why He mentions blasphemy of the Spirit in connection with forgiving those who speak against the Son of Man. Forgiveness depends on hearing and obeying the words He spoke by the Spirit (Act. 1:3; Luk. 10:21-22). Rejecting this message constitutes an eternal sin when the rejection is final and complete. It is a sin that can be committed in this life, for Jesus said that it has no forgiveness in this life or in the life to come (Mar. 3:28-30; Mat. 12:31-32). The reason is plain: Forgiveness depends on faith and repentance that must issue in obedience to the Word. The mind can be closed to the truth about Christ; the will can reach the place where it can no longer respond to the appeal of Gods love. Such a person is past feeling. It is impossible to renew such a one to repentance. See Eph. 4:17-19; Heb. 6:4-6.

Since it was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit to attribute the miracles of Jesus to the power of the devil, some say that the sin cannot be committed today. But this overlooks the fact that the miracles He performed by the finger of God, that is, the Holy Spirit, were done to prove that He was speaking the truth of God. Rejecting this evidence was the fatal step. Jesus, of course, knew that these hardhearted men had completely and finally closed their minds to the truth.

when they bring you before the synagogues.Just as Jesus had been put on trial by His oppressors so His disciples were to be brought before the authorities in the synagogues. But they did not need to fear such experiences, for the Holy Spirit was to enable them to speak the necessary words of truth in that hour (Act. 4:8; Act. 4:13; Act. 4:19-20). This promise was made to the apostles and not to the people in general. The Holy Spirit did guide the apostles into all the truth and enable them to leave the written record of it in the Bible (Joh. 16:13-14; Joh. 20:30-31). When we face difficulties and trials, we can speak the truth by correctly using the message God gave us in the Bible.

To take this specific promise which Jesus made to the apostles and attempt to make it apply to believers in general is to disregard the fact that Jesus exercised special control over the apostles through the Holy Spirit. Jesus explained the function of the Holy Spirit to the apostles when He said, He shall not speak for himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak; and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall take of mine and shall declare it unto you (Joh. 16:13-14).

The Bible is the guidebook which we are expected to follow today (Rom. 2:16; 2Ti. 3:14-17).

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

XII.

(1) In the mean time.More literally, When the myriads of the multitude were gathered together. The words must be taken in immediate sequence with the close of the previous chapter. The dispute that had begun in the Pharisees house, and had been carried on by the lawyers and scribes as they followed Jesus from it, attracted notice. As on the occasion of the unwashed hands (Mat. 15:10), He appeals from the scribes to the people, or rather to His own disciples, scattered among the people. The scene may be compared, in the vividness of its description, with the picture of the crowd at Capernaum (Mar. 2:1-2).

Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees.This again was obviously an expression that had become almost proverbial in our Lords lips (Mat. 16:6). Here, however, the leaven is more definitely specified as hypocrisyi.e., unreality, the simulation, conscious or unconscious, of a holiness which we do not possess. It does not follow that the Pharisees were deliberate impostors of the Tartuffe type. With them, as with other forms of religionism, it was doubtless true that the worst hypocrisy was that which did not know itself to be hypocritical. (See Note on Mat. 6:2.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 12

THE CREED OF COURAGE AND OF TRUST ( Luk 12:1-12 )

12:1-12 In the meantime, when the people had been gathered together in their thousands, so that they trampled on each other, Jesus began to say first of all to his disciples, “Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing covered up which will not be unveiled, and there is nothing secret which shall not be known. All, therefore, that you have spoken in the dark shall be heard in the light; and what you have spoken into someone’s ear in the inner room will be proclaimed on the housetops. I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and who after that are not able to do anything further. I will warn you whom you are to fear–fear him who after he has killed you has authority to cast you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for 1/2 pence ? And yet not one of them is forgotten before God. But as for you–even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows. I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, him will the Son of Man acknowledge before the angels of God; but he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. If anyone speaks a word against the Son of Man it will be forgiven him; but he who speaks irreverently of the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you before synagogues and rulers and those set in authority, do not worry how you will defend yourself or about what defence you will make, or about what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what you ought to say.”

When we read this passage we are reminded again of the Jewish definition of preaching–charaz ( H2737) , which means stringing pearls. This passage, too, is a collection of pearls strung together without the close connection which modern preaching demands. But in it there are certain dominant ideas.

(i) It tells us of the forbidden sin, which is hypocrisy. The word hypocrite began by meaning someone who answers; and hypocrisy originally meant answering. First the words were used of the ordinary flow of question and answer in any talk or in any dialogue; then they began to be connected with question and answer in a play. From that they went on to be connected with acting apart. The hypocrite is never genuine; he is always play-acting. The basis of hypocrisy is insincerity. God would rather have a blunt, honest sinner, than someone who puts on an act of goodness.

(ii) It tells of the correct attitude to life, which is an attitude of fearlessness. There are two reasons for fearlessness.

(a) Man’s power over man is strictly limited to this life. A man can destroy another man’s life but not his soul. In the 1914-18 war Punch had a famous cartoon in which it showed the German Emperor saying to King Albert of Belgium, “So now you have lost everything”; and back came Albert’s answer, “But not my soul!” On the other hand, God’s power is such that it can blot out a man’s very soul. It is, therefore, only reasonable to fear God rather than to fear men. It was said of John Knox, as his body was being lowered into the grave, “Here lies one who feared God so much that he never feared the face of man.”

(b) God’s care is the most detailed of all. To God we are never lost in the crowd. Matthew says, “Are not two sparrows sold for 1/4 pence ?” ( Mat 10:29.) Here Luke says, “Are not five sparrows sold for 1/2 pence ?” If you were prepared to spend 1/2 pence you got not four, but five sparrows. One was flung into the bargain as having no value at all. Not even the sparrow on which men set not a 1/4 pence value is forgotten before God. The very hairs of our head are numbered. It has been computed that a blonde person has about 145,000 hairs; a dark-haired person, 120,000; and a person with red hair, 90,000! The Jews were so impressed with the individual care of God that they said that every blade of grass had its guardian angel. None of us needs to fear for each can say, “God cares for me.”

(iii) It tells us of the unforgivable sin, which is the sin against the Holy Spirit. Both Matthew and Mark record that Jesus spoke about this sin immediately after the scribes and Pharisees had attributed his cures to the prince of devils instead of to God ( Mat 12:31-32; Mar 3:28-29). These men could look at the very grace and power of God and call it the work of the devil. To understand this we must remember that Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit as the Jews understood that conception, not in the full Christian sense, about which his audience at that time obviously knew nothing.

To a Jew, God’s Spirit had two great functions. Through the Spirit he told his truth to men, and it was by the action of the Spirit in a man’s mind and heart that he could recognize and grasp God’s truth. Now, if a man for long enough refuses to use a faculty he will lose it. If we refuse to use any part of the body long enough it atrophies. Darwin tells how when he was a young man he loved poetry and music; but he so devoted himself to biology that he completely neglected them. The consequence was that in later life poetry meant nothing to him and music was only a noise, and he said that if he had his life to live over again he would see to it that he would read poetry and listen to music so that he would not lose the faculty of enjoying them.

Just so we can lose the faculty of recognizing God. By repeatedly refusing God’s word, by repeatedly taking our own way, by repeatedly shutting our eyes to God and closing our ears to him, we can come to a stage when we do not recognize him when we see him, when to us evil becomes good and good becomes evil. That is what happened to the scribes and Pharisees. They had so blinded and deafened themselves to God that when he came they called him the devil.

Why is that the unforgivable sin? Because in such a state repentance is impossible. If a man does not even realize that he is sinning, if goodness no longer makes any appeal to him, he cannot repent. God has not shut him out; by his repeated refusals he has shut himself out. That means that the one man who can never have committed the unforgivable sin is the man who fears that he has, for once a man has committed it, he is so dead to God that he is conscious of no sin at all.

(iv) It tells us of the rewarded loyalty. The reward of loyalty is no material thing. It is that in heaven Jesus will say of us, “This was my man. Well done!”

(v) It tells us of the help of the Holy Spirit. In the fourth Gospel the favourite title of the Holy Spirit is the Paraclete. Parakletos ( G3875) means someone who stands by to help. It can be used of a witness, or an advocate to plead our cause. In the day of trouble there need be no fear, for no less a person than the Holy Spirit of God stands by to help.

THE PLACE OF MATERIAL POSSESSIONS IN LIFE ( Luk 12:13-34 )

12:13-34 One of the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” He said to him, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” He said to them, “Watch and guard yourself against the spirit which is always wanting more; for even if a man has an abundance his life does not come from his possessions.” He spoke a parable to them. “The land,” he said, “of a rich man bore good crops. He kept thinking what he would do. ‘What will I do,’ he said, ‘because I have no room to gather in my crops?’ So he said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns and I will build bigger ones, and I will gather there all my corn and all my good things; and I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many good things laid up for many years. Take your rest, eat, drink and enjoy yourself.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is demanded from you; and, the things you prepared–who will get them all?’ So is he who heaps up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God.”

Jesus said to his disciples, “I therefore tell you, do not worry about your life–about what you are to eat; nor about your body–about what you are to wear. For your life is something more than food, and your body than clothing. Look at the ravens. See how they do not sow or reap; they have no storehouse or barn; but God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds? Which of you, by worrying about it, can add a few days to his span of life? If, then, you cannot do the littlest thing why worry about the other things? Look at the lilies. See how they grow. They do not work; they do not spin; but, I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. If God so clothe the grass in the field, which is there to-day and which to-morrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? Do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink; do not be tossed about in a storm of anxiety. The peoples of the world seek for all these things. Your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom and all these things will be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, because it is your Father’s will to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Make yourselves purses which never grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where a thief does not come near and a moth does not destroy. For where your treasure is there your heart will also be.”

It was not uncommon for people in Palestine to take their unsettled disputes to respected Rabbis; but Jesus refused to be mixed up in anyone’s disputes about money. But out of that request there came to Jesus an opportunity to lay down what his followers’ attitude to material things should be. He had something to say both to those who had an abundant supply of material possessions and to those who had not.

(i) To those who had an abundant supply of possessions Jesus spoke this parable of the Rich Fool. Two things stand out about this man.

(a) He never saw beyond himself. There is no parable which is so full of the words, I, me, my and mine. A schoolboy was once asked what parts of speech my and mine are. He answered, “Aggressive pronouns.” The rich fool was aggressively self-centred. It was said of a self-centred young lady, “Edith lived in a little world, bounded on the north, south, east and west by Edith.” The famous criticism was made of a self-centred person, “There is too much ego in his cosmos.” When this man had a superfluity of goods the one thing that never entered his head was to give any away. His whole attitude was the very reverse of Christianity. Instead of denying himself he aggressively affirmed himself; instead of finding his happiness in giving he tried to conserve it by keeping.

John Wesley’s rule of life was to save all he could and give all he could. When he was at Oxford he had an income of 30 British pounds a year. He lived on 28 pounds and gave 2 pounds away. When his income increased to 60 pounds, 90 pounds and 120 pounds per year, he still lived on 28 pounds and gave the balance away. The Accountant-General for Household Plate demanded a return from him. His reply was, “I have two silver tea spoons at London and two at Bristol. This is all the plate which I have at present; and I shall not buy any more, while so many around me want bread.”

The Romans had a proverb which said that money was like sea-water; the more a man drank the thirstier he became. And so long as a man’s attitude is that of the rich fool his desire will always be to get more–and that is the reverse of the Christian way.

(b) He never saw beyond this world. All his plans were made on the basis of life here. There is a story of a conversation between a young and ambitious lad and an older man who knew life. Said the young man, “I will learn my trade.” “And then?” said the older man. “I will set up in business.” “And then?” “I will make my fortune.” “And then?” “I suppose that I shall grow old and retire and live on my money.” “And then?” “Well, I suppose that some day I will die.” “And then?” came the last stabbing question.

The man who never remembers that there is another world is destined some day for the grimmest of grim shocks.

(ii) But Jesus had something to say to those who had few possessions. In all this passage the thought which Jesus forbids is anxious thought or worry. Jesus never ordered any man to live in a shiftless, thriftless, reckless way. What he did tell a man was to do his best and then leave the rest to God. The lilies Jesus spoke of were the scarlet anemones. After one of the infrequent showers of summer rain, the mountain side would be scarlet with them; they bloomed one day and died. Wood was scarce in Palestine, and it was the dried grasses and wild flowers that were used to feed the oven fire. “If,” said Jesus, “God looks after the birds and the flowers, how much more will he care for you?”

Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God.” We saw that God’s kingdom was a state on earth in which his will was as perfectly done as it is in heaven. So Jesus is saying, “Bend all your life to obeying God’s will and rest content with that. So many people give all their effort to heap up things which in their very nature cannot last. Work for the things which last forever, things which you need not leave behind when you leave this earth, but which you can take with you.”

In Palestine wealth was often in the form of costly raiment; the moths could get at the fine clothes and leave them ruined. But if a man clothes his soul with the garments of honour and purity and goodness, nothing on earth can injure them. If a man seeks the treasures of heaven, his heart will be fixed on heaven; but if he seeks the treasures of earth, his heart will be thirled to earth–and some day he must say good-bye to them, for, as the grim Spanish proverb has it, “There are no pockets in a shroud.”

BE PREPARED ( Luk 12:35-48 )

12:35-48 “Let your loins be girt and your lamps burning. Be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that, when he comes and knocks, they will open to him immediately. Happy are those servants whom the master will come and find awake. This is the truth that I tell you–he will gird himself; he will make them recline at table; and he will come and serve them. Happy are they if he finds them so, even if he comes in the second or third watch. Know this–that if the householder knew at what time the thief would come he would have been awake and he would not have allowed his home to be broken into. So you must show yourselves ready, for the Son of Man comes at an hour you do not expect.”

Peter said, “Lord are you speaking this parable to us or to everyone?” The Lord said, “Who, then, is the faithful and wise steward, whom the master will set over the administration of his house to give them their ration of food at the right time? Happy is that servant whom the master will come and find acting like this. I tell you truly that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and if he begins to beat the men servants and the maid servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will arrive on a day on which he is not expecting him and at an hour which he does not know, and he will cut him in pieces and he will place his part with the unfaithful. That servant who knew the will of his master, and who failed to have things ready, and to act in accordance with that will, will be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, even if he did things that deserved stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whom much is given, from him much will be required; and men will demand much from him to whom much was entrusted.”

This passage has two senses. In its narrower sense it refers to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ; in its wider sense it refers to the time when God’s summons enters a man’s life, a call to prepare to meet our God.

There is praise for the servant who is ready. The long flowing robes of the east were a hindrance to work; and when a man prepared to work he gathered up his robes under his girdle to leave himself free for activity. The eastern lamp was like a cotton wick floating in a sauce-boat of oil. Always the wick had to be kept trimmed and the lamp replenished or the light would go out.

No man can tell the day or the hour when eternity will invade time and summons will come. How, then, would we like God to find us?

(i) We would like him to find us with our work completed. Life for so many of us is filled with loose ends. There are things undone and things half done; things put off and things not even attempted. Great men have always the sense of a task that must be finished. Keats wrote,

“When I have fears that I may cease to be

Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain.”

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote,

“The morning drum-call on my eager ear

Thrills unforgotten yet; the morning dew

Lies yet undried along my field of noon.

But now I pause at whiles in what I do,

And count the bell, and tremble lest I hear

(My work untrimmed) the sunset gun too soon.”

Jesus himself said, “I have accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do” ( Joh 17:4). No man should ever lightly leave undone a task he ought to have finished, before night falls.

(ii) We would like God to find us at peace with our fellowmen. It would be a haunting thing to pass from this world at bitterness with a fellow. No man should let the sun go down on his anger ( Eph 4:26), least of all the last sun of all and he never knows which sun that will be.

(iii) We should like God to find us at peace with himself. It will make all the difference at the last whether we feel that we are going out to a stranger or an enemy, or going to fall asleep in the arms of God.

In the second section of this passage Jesus draws a picture of the wise and the unwise steward. In the east the steward had almost unlimited power. He was himself a slave, yet he had control of all the other slaves. A trusted steward ran his master’s house for him and administered his estate. The unwise steward made two mistakes.

(i) He said, I will do what I like while my master is away; he forgot that the day of reckoning must come. We have a habit of dividing life into compartments. There is a part in which we remember that God is present; and there is a part in which we never think of him at all. We tend to draw a line between sacred and secular; but if we really know what Christianity means we will know that there is no part of life when the master is away. We are working and living forever in our great task-master’s eye.

(ii) He said, I have plenty of time to put things right before the master comes; there is nothing so fatal as to feel that we have plenty of time. Jesus said, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night comes when no one can work” ( Joh 9:4). Denis Mackail tells how, when Sir James Barrie was old, he would never make arrangements or give invitations for a distant date. “Short notice now!” he would say. One of the most dangerous days in a man’s life is when he discovers the word “tomorrow.”

The passage finishes with the warning that knowledge and privilege always bring responsibility. Sin is doubly sinful to the man who knew better; failure is doubly blameworthy in the man who had every chance to do well.

THE COMING OF THE SWORD ( Luk 12:49-53 )

12:49-53 Jesus said, “I came to cast fire upon the earth. And what do I wish? Would that it were already kindled! There is an experience through which I must pass; and now I am under tension until it is accomplished! Do you think I came to give peace in the earth? Not that, I tell you, but division! From now on in one house there will be five people divided–three against two, and two against three. They will be divided, father against son, and son against father, mother against daughter, and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

To those who were learning to regard Jesus as the Messiah, the anointed one of God, these words would come as a bleak shock. They regarded the Messiah as conqueror and king, and the Messianic age as a golden time.

(i) In Jewish thought fire is almost always the symbol of judgment. So, then, Jesus regarded the coming of his kingdom as a time of judgment. The Jews firmly believed that God would judge other nations by one standard and themselves by another; that the very fact that a man was a Jew would be enough to absolve him. However much we may wish to eliminate the element of judgment from the message of Jesus it remains stubbornly and unalterably there.

(ii) The King James Version and the Revised Standard translate Luk 12:50. “I have a baptism to be baptised with.” The Greek verb baptizein ( G907) means to dip. In the passive it means to be submerged. Often it is used metaphorically. For instance, it is used of a ship sunk beneath the waves. It can be used of a man submerged in drink and therefore dead-drunk. It can be used of a scholar submerged (or sunk, as we say) by an examiner’s questions. Above all it is used of a man submerged in some grim and terrible experience–someone who can say, “All the waves and billows are gone over me.”

That is the way in which Jesus uses it here. “I have,” he said, “a terrible experience through which I must pass; and life is full of tension until I pass through it and emerge triumphantly from it.” The cross was ever before his eyes. How different from the Jewish idea of God’s King! Jesus came, not with avenging armies and flying banners, but to give his life a ransom for many.

There was a Knight of Bethlehem,

Whose wealth was tears and sorrows,

His men-at-arms were little lambs,

His trumpeters were sparrows.

His castle was a wooden Cross

On which he hung so high;

His helmet was a crown of thorns,

Whose crest did touch the sky.

(iii) His coming would inevitably mean division; in point of fact it did. That was one of the great reasons why the Romans hated Christianity–it tore families in two. Over and over again a man had to decide whether he loved better his kith and kin or Christ. The essence of Christianity is that loyalty to Christ has to take precedence over the dearest loyalties of this earth. A man must be prepared to count all things but loss for the excellence of Jesus Christ.

WHILE YET THERE IS TIME ( Luk 12:54-59 )

12:54-59 Jesus said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘Rain is coming.’ And so it happens. When you feel the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat.’ And so it happens. Hypocrites! you can read the signs of the face of the earth and the sky. How can you not read the signs of this time? Why do you not for yourselves judge what is right? When you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, make an effort to come to an agreement with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the officer, and the officer will throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not come out from there until you have paid the last farthing.”

The Jew’s of Palestine were weatherwise. When they saw the clouds forming in the west, over the Mediterranean Sea, they knew rain was on the way. When the south wind blew from the desert they knew the sirocco-like wind was coming. But those who were so wise to read the signs of the sky could not, or would not, read the signs of the times. If they had, they would have seen that the kingdom of God was on the way.

Jesus used a very vivid illustration. He said, “When you are threatened with a law-suit, come to an agreement with your adversary before the matter comes to court, for if you do not you will have imprisonment to endure and a fine to pay.” The assumption is that the defendant has a bad case which will inevitably go against him. “Every man,” Jesus implied, “has a bad case in the presence of God; and if he is wise, he will make his peace with God while yet there is time.”

Jesus and all his great servants have always been obsessed with the urgency of time. Andrew Marvell spoke of ever hearing “time’s winged chariot hurrying near.” There are some things a man cannot afford to put off; above all, making his peace with God.

We read in the last verse of paying to the last farthing. We have already come across several references to money; and it will be useful if we collect the information about Jewish coinage in the time of Jesus. In order of value the principal coins were as follows:

The Lepton; lepton ( G3016) means the thin one; it was the smallest coin, and was worth about one thirty-second of 1 pence. It was the widow’s mite ( Mar 12:42) and is the coin mentioned here.

The Quadrans ( G2835) was worth two lepta and therefore worth about one-sixteenth of 1 pence. It is mentioned in Mat 5:26.

The Assarion ( G787) was worth a little less than 1/2 pence. It is mentioned in Mat 10:29 and Luk 12:6.

The Denarius ( G1220) was worth about 3 pence. It was a day’s pay for a working man ( Mat 20:2); and was the coin that the Good Samaritan left with the innkeeper ( Luk 10:25).

The Drachma ( G1406) was a silver coin worth about 4 pence. It was the coin which the woman lost and searched for ( Luk 15:8).

The Didrachma ( G1323) or Half-shekel was worth about 7 pence. It was the amount of the Temple Tax which everyone had to pay. It was for thirty didrachmae–about 2 British pounds–that Judas betrayed Jesus.

The Shekel ( G4715) was worth about 15 pence, and was the coin found in the fish’s mouth ( Mat 17:27).

The Mina ( G3414) is the coin mentioned in the parable of the Pounds ( Luk 19:11-27). It was equal to 100 drachmae; and was, therefore, worth about 4 British pounds.

The Talent ( G5007) was not so much a coin but a weight of silver worth 240 British pounds. It is mentioned in Mat 18:24 and in the parable of the Talents ( Mat 25:14-30).

-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)

Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible

47 THE SERMON TO THE MYRIADS, Luk 12:1-59 .

Addressed partly to the disciples and partly to the multitudes, its subject is: The importance, as against the Pharisees, of deciding for Christ; which is urged especially in view of the judgment to come, at his SECOND ADVENT. It contains passages which had been previously delivered in Galilee, especially in his Sermon on the Mount; and passages resembling portions in the discourse on the Mount of Olives, Mat 24:5. This discourse may be considered as an intermediate between those two great discourses; and is scarce less important than either; being thus one of the three most important discourses recorded by the synoptical Evangelists.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

I. The warning against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees: the judgment day will expose Luk 2:1-3.

Unto his disciples first of all The discourse alternates (sometimes doubtfully to those who heard it) between the twelve and the multitudes. But even those parts which were ostensibly addressed to one, had a real application to the other, and were doubtless uttered in the hearing of both.

The leaven The deceitful and treacherous doctrines spreading and impregnating the lump, like leaven.

Of the Pharisees With whom the contest is now intense, and against whom, in their own persons, he had lately uttered a solemn denunciation at the close of the last chapter.

Hypocrisy In holding, from self-interest, to a system which they did not truly believe; in rejecting Christ contrary to their own conscience; in pretending to a ritual purity while indulging in all unrighteousness.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1. In the mean time The Greek signifies, At which times. It refers to the period succeeding the contest with and the denunciation of the Pharisees in the last chapter; but the plural number indicates that the connection is not immediate.

An innumerable multitude In the original , MYRIADS; that is, tens of thousands; so that, if taken literally, it must indicate at least twenty thousand.

Commentators do not seem to observe that this is an assemblage in PERAEA, scarce paralleled by anything in Galilee. And such an assemblage must have been called together only in expectation that a great discourse, probably as part of the contest with the hierarchy, was to be delivered. In allusion to the numbers said by the Evangelist to be present, we will call it

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘In the mean time, when the many thousands of the multitude were gathered together, insomuch that they trod one on another, he began to say to his disciples first of all, “Beware you of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” ’

Great crowds continued to gather (‘thousands of them’) so much so that they were treading on one another, but Jesus had now begun primarily to teach His disciples, although undoubtedly keeping the wider crowd in mind. He warned them to “Beware of the leaven (or ‘yeast’) of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Leaven was the old dough retained from bread-making which was allowed to ferment. It would then be put into the new dough to cause fermentation, so improving its structure and taste. Its effects would spread all the way through the new dough. It can therefore refer to any pervasive influence, whether good or bad, which can be introduced into something and then spread and spread.

In Luk 13:21; Mat 13:33 leaven refers to the pervasive influence of the message of the Kingly Rule of God which spreads and spreads until it has reached everywhere. In Mat 16:6; Mat 16:11-12; Mar 8:15 it refers to the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees, and of Herod, which could have a wrong pervasive influence, if His disciples were not wary. Indeed it could spoil their whole lives. In 1Co 5:6-7; Gal 5:9 it refers to sin’s pervasive influence in people’s lives. It will be seen from this that leaven refers to influence that spread and spreads, whether good or bad. Because the influence mentioned elsewhere is bad, some even see the leaven which is revealed as pervading the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 13:21) as being bad as well, and as reflecting those who have failed to take heed to His warning against the leaven of the Pharisees, but if so it is not apparent from the context.

Here, however, it refers to the danger of taking up the hypocritical ways of the Scribes and Pharisees as outlined in Luk 11:37-53. They must neither copy their ways, nor let a similar attitude affect the way that they live their own lives. They must ensure that they are always open, straight and honest, and genuinely concerned for the good of others, seeking to submit themselves to the Kingly Rule of God in all humility, and not posturing or seeking honour and flattery.

We should recognise that they had been brought up all their lives to give deep respect to the Scribes and Pharisees, who were looked on as the very heart of Israel’s spiritual life. Now they were to see their bad points, and not be too carried away by their ideas. They were to learn to discern. (They had no doubt already been greatly shocked to discover that these men did not see eye to eye with their Master).

‘Hypocrisy.’ The word signifies play-acting and indicates those who put on a show on the outside which does not conform to what they are like inside, or those who say one thing and do another.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Instruction To His Disciples About Living In The Light Of Eternity (12:1-12).

Approaching the detail of the section the first thing that Jesus wants to do is make His disciples think in the light of eternity. So He warns them to beware of the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees, as illustrated in the previous passage, and of becoming like them and thinking like them (like all Jews they had been brought up to respect and take heed to these ‘great men’), and then puts their whole situation in the light of the Judgment Day that is coming. They are to live in the light of that Day. In that Day all will be opened up and laid bare, and all hypocrisy will be seen for what it is. Thus His disciples must take heed to live in the light of that fact. And while those same Scribes and Pharisees might prove in the future to be their enemies they are not to fear, for they themselves are His ‘friends’ and God cares intimately for them.

Indeed God is the One Whom alone they should fear, because He alone is the One Who can punish after death. Yet though they should indeed fear Him, they are nevertheless to recognise that God is also on their side and is watching over them, and is with them in all that they do. For in their ‘reverent fear’ they should bear in mind that His care of Creation is such that He observes even the smallest bird and that therefore, because they are His, and in their case He is their Father, He knows all about them. He even knows the very number of the hairs of their head, so important are they to Him. (What other father counts the number of hairs on his son’s head?).

They must therefore be bold in confessing His Son before men, so that He, as the Son of Man portrayed in Dan 7:13-14, may confess them before the court of heaven. Meanwhile they can be sure that they need have no fear of mere earthly courts, for if they are called to give account in earthly courts, His Holy Spirit will Himself be there to guide their defence, and He will tell them what to say.

Thus if they are faithful to Him they need have no fear of either Heaven or earth. Before the heavenly court they will be defended by the Son of Man Himself, and before earthly courts by the Holy Spirit. People in such a favourable position have nothing to fear. (Note the transposition of ideas, ‘fear not men — fear Him — confessed before Him — defended before men’. All will be well for those who fear Him).

But in contrast those who deny Him before men, or who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, may be sure that their judgment will be swift and sure.

This whole passage is an interesting example of typical Jewish methods of teaching, the stringing together of connected ideas in order to produce the bigger picture, and it is essentially a unity. Note the magnificent series of contrasts, demonstrating both the positive and the negative sides of His message, and emphasising the choices that all men must face up to and make. His words were spoken to the professing people of God in order to distinguish those whose profession was real and those whose profession was false:

The Contrasts In The Light of Which They Should Live.

What is covered, will be revealed, what is hidden will be made known.

What is said in the dark, will be heard in the light, what is whispered in private rooms, will be proclaimed from the house tops.

Do not fear him who can kill the body — fear Him Who has power to cast into Gehenna.

He who confesses me before men I will confess— he who denies Me before men I will deny.

He who speaks a word against the Son of Man can be forgiven– he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven.

We must now consider the analysis of the passage.

Analysis.

a When the many thousands of the crowd were gathered together, insomuch that they trod one on another, he began to say to his disciples first of all, “Beware you of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luk 12:1).

b “But there is nothing covered up, that will not be revealed, and hid, that will not be known, wherefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in the inner chambers will be proclaimed on the housetops” (Luk 12:2-3).

c “And I say to you my friends, Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do” (Luk 12:4).

d “But I will warn you whom you shall fear. Fear him, who after he has killed has power to cast into hell. Yes, I say to you, Fear him” (Luk 12:5).

c “Are not five sparrows sold for two pence? and not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not. You are of more value than many sparrows” (Luk 12:6-7).

b “And I say to you, Every one who shall confess me before men, him will the Son of man also confess before the angels of God, but he who denies me in the presence of men will be denied in the presence of the angels of God, and every one who shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him, but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit it will not be forgiven” (Luk 12:8-10).

a “And when they bring you before the synagogues, and the rulers, and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you shall answer, or what you shall say, for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (Luk 12:11-12).

We note that in ‘a’ they are to beware of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who have authority over people’s religious lives and in the parallel they will be brought before the synagogues and authorities for judgment. Furthermore the hypocrisy of the Pharisees is set in contrast with the openness of the Holy Spirit. There will be no play-acting with Him. In ‘b’ everything which has been spoken is going to be revealed and in the parallel all men will be judged by their confession or otherwise of Him and by their blasphemies. In ‘c’ they are not to be afraid of those who kill the body, and in the parallel this is because they are not forgotten in the sight of God and the hairs of their head are all numbered. Central in ‘d’ is their need to reverently fear God.

The instructions now given follow a general theme, majoring on the fact of judgment to come, with the first verse connecting back to what Jesus had previously said to the Scribes and Pharisees at the end of Section 4. This warns against the danger of following them in their hypocrisy.

He points out that to do so would in fact be foolish in the light of the Judgment to come. For eventually everything is going to be revealed and made known, and then all hypocrisy will be laid bare. In the light of this they should therefore not be afraid of those who might seek to kill them (these same hypocrites), but are rather to fear the One Who determines what happens after death, and to remember that He in fact cares for them and has even numbered the hairs of their head. What could be more sure than that?

This, however, depends on them boldly confessing Him before men, for if they do then He will confess them before the angels of God. On the other hand those who deny Him will be denied before the angels of God. And finally He warns that those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will never find forgiveness. When the Judgment comes they will be without hope. On the other hand, those who hear the Holy Spirit, and who go before earthly courts for His sake, will find the Holy Spirit there inspiring them as their Great Defender (Joh 16:7-11).

This last arises because the thought of those who might kill their bodies, and of those who might seek to make them deny Him, has triggered the thought that those who do boldly confess Him may well be brought before the authorities and charged. So He wants them to know that if that happens they need not worry, because when it does the Holy Spirit will be with them and will teach them what to say. For whereas the Holy Spirit of God, God’s power revealed in decisive visible action, is against those who reject Christ to their eternal loss, He is very much on the side of those who confess Jesus Christ.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

SECTION 5 (12:1-14:35).

We commence here a new section of Luke. As we shall see this section centres around a mighty act of Jesus in delivering a woman bound by Satan, and thus doubled up and unable to straighten. By this He made clear why He had come. He had come to make the crooked straight (Luk 3:5). And here He did it openly on the Sabbath day. Indeed we are regularly told that Jesus saw the Sabbath as a day for ‘healing’ and ‘making straight’, for He had come to turn men from the power of Satan to God (Act 26:18). It may therefore be that He intended men to see by this that in Him God’s new rest had come (Heb 4:3-4; Heb 4:9). The whole of the section may therefore be seen as gaining its significance from this act of power, as He sought to make both His Apostles and those who followed Him ‘straight’.

The centrality of this incident in the section is revealed by the following analysis which indicates that the section is in the form of a chiasmus, with the incident of the straightening of the crooked woman central.

This next Section from Luk 12:1 to Luk 14:35 can be separated into its separate parts as follows:

a Instructions to disciples concerning facing up to eternity (Luk 12:1-12).

b An example is given of covetousness concerning an inheritance which is followed by the parable of the fool who decided to enjoy rich banquets, ignored the needs of the poor, and in the end suffered the unforeseen consequences of prematurely losing his wealth to others who benefited unexpectedly while the one expected to benefit lost out (Luk 12:13-21).

c We are to seek the Kingly Rule of God and not to be anxious about other things (Luk 12:22-34).

d We are to be like men serving the Lord in His house and awaiting His arrival from a wedding feast, being faithful in His service at whatever time He comes and meanwhile making use of all our time for His benefit (Luk 12:35-40).

e There are stewards both good and bad who will be called to account for He has come to send fire on earth which will cause great disruption (Luk 12:41-53).

f Men are to discern the times and not be like a debtor who realises too late that he should have compounded with the Great Creditor (Luk 12:54-59).

g Some present draw attention to the tower that fell on men. He points out that that was no proof of guilt, for all are sinful and will perish unless they repent. They would therefore be wise to repent while they can (Luk 13:1-5)

h The parable of the fig tree which is to be given its chance to bear fruit (Luk 13:6-9).

i The crooked woman is healed on the Sabbath for Jesus has come to release from Satan’s power (Luk 13:10-17).

h The parables of the grain of mustard seed which is to grow and reproduce, and of the leaven which spreads, both of which represent the growth of the Kingly Rule of God in both prospective ultimate size and method of expansion (Luk 13:18-21).

g Someone asks ‘are there few that are saved?’ The reply is that men must strive to enter the door while they can (Luk 13:22-23).

f We must not be like those who awake too late and find the door closed against them and wish they had befriended the Householder (Luk 13:24-28).

e We are to watch how we respond as His stewards for some will come from east, west, north and south, while others will awake too late, like Herod who seeks to kill Him and Jerusalem which is losing its opportunity and will be desolated and totally disrupted (Luk 13:29-35).

d Jesus is invited into the home of a Chief Pharisee. And there He eats with him at table, surrounded by many ‘fellow-servants’. There He sees a man with dropsy. As God’s Servant He knows what His responsibility is if He is to be a faithful and wise servant. It is to heal the man. For God’s works of compassion should be done at all times including the Sabbath and not just at times of man’s choosing. And yet He is surrounded by those waiting to catch Him out (Luk 14:1-6).

c None are to seek the higher place, for he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luk 14:7-11).

b An example is given of inviting the poor to dinner which is followed by the parable of a rich banquet, where those who made excuses were rejected, and the result was that due to unforeseen circumstances there a banquet for the poor, while those for whom it was intended lost out (Luk 14:12-24)

a Instructions are given to the disciples concerning facing up to the cost (Luk 14:25-35).

‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear’ (Luk 14:35).

Note that in ‘a’ the Section opens with instructions to the disciples, and in the parallel it closes with instructions to the disciples, both seeing things in the light of eternity. In ‘b’ we have a parable dealing with the use of riches, and in the parallel the use of wealth to help the poor is dealt with, in ‘c’ we are to seek the Kingly Rule of God and trust our Father over our daily living, and in the parallel we are not to seek the higher place on earth, for the one who humbles himself will be exalted. In ‘d’ we are to be like men awaiting in the Lord’s ‘house’, awaiting His arrival at whatever time He comes and meanwhile making use of all our time and serving Him faithfully, and in the parallel Jesus is in the Chief Pharisee’s house and is called on to perform an act of faithful service even though it is the Sabbath, an act which He does perform. It is an example of faithful service even in the face of difficulties, and a reminder to us that we are to use all our time, including the Sabbath, for doing God’s work. In ‘e’ there are stewards both good and bad who will be called to account, for He has come to ‘cast fire on the earth’, and in the parallel we are to watch how we respond as His stewards, for some will come into the Kingly Rule of God from east, west, north and south, while others will awake too late, like Herod who seeks to kill Him and Jerusalem which is losing its opportunity and will be desolated and will experience His ‘fire on earth’. In ‘f’ men are to discern the times, and in the parallel we are not to be like those who awake too late. In ‘g’ and its parallel the imminence of death and what our response should be to it is described. In ‘h’ the vine is to be allowed its opportunity of bearing fruit, and in the parallel the mustard seed will grow and bear fruit. Central in ‘i’ is the healing and making straight of one who is crooked, a picture of what He has come to do for Israel. This is the whole purpose of the Kingly Rule of God.

Resume.

Prior to looking at this section in detail we should remind ourselves of its context.

When Luke commences Acts he claims that in his earlier writing (this Gospel) he had dealt with ‘all that Jesus began to do and to teach’. That is an apt description of the Gospel, for its first half very much emphasises what Jesus had come to do, while the second half, commencing here, will concentrate very much on what He came to teach.

Not that it is quite as simple as that. In the first half He has certainly also given us a number of examples of the teaching of Jesus, for quite apart from the teaching which is connected with the various incidents, we find the sermon on the plain where He establishes the basis for the new Kingly Rule of God (Luk 6:20-49); the teaching concerning John, which emphasises the new situation brought about by the coming of the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 7:24-35); the parable of the sower, which stresses the coming and spreading of the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 8:4-18); and the detailed teaching concerning discipleship, which contains warning of the cost to His followers of coming under the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 9:21-27). Nevertheless on the whole the emphasis in the first part of the Gospel is on what He did.

In the second half of the Gospel the emphasis will be on what He taught. Again it is not a hard and fast rule. Luke tells us of the healing of the crooked woman and her deliverance from the power of Satan (Luk 13:10-14), the healing of a man with dropsy (Luk 14:1-4); the healing of ten lepers, the number indicating an increased abundance of healing (Luk 17:11-19 compare the one in Luk 5:12-14), and the healing of the blind man as He finally approached Jerusalem (Luk 18:35-42), and the impression is given that His healing work goes on continually, for He tells Herod, ‘I cast out demons and perform cures today, and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course’ (Luk 13:32). But the remainder of the space is then given over to teaching. Having first given the impression of Who Jesus was, emphasis is now to be placed on His words.

Also prominent from now on will be His emphasis on training His disciples by word. Prior to this He had been content to live out His life before them, teaching them by demonstration, until in the end they had recognised that He was ‘the Anointed of God’. As they went about with Him and had seen what He was and what He did, they had had clearly presented to them in some considerable depth something of His uniqueness, a presentation over which He had taken a great deal of trouble.

At the same time they had heard continually His message to the crowds, both those to whom He had taught in the synagogues, and to those who continually flocked around Him. In this they had been taught the attitude of sacrificial love that would be required of them as they established His Kingly Rule (Luk 6:20-49), even if they had not really grasped its full significance (Luk 9:54). That was in teaching given to all. And He had also given them special coaching when they sought it (Luk 8:9). They had further learned that what lay ahead of them may have a great cost in terms of turning their backs on themselves and even facing death for His sake (Luk 9:23-27). And they had been warned, with little sign of taking it in, that He must suffer. But overall this teaching had been additional to His revelation by His doings, and had not been the emphasis, and thus, while they now recognised in Jesus ‘the Messiah of God’, they were still very much imprisoned within their own ideas. For Jesus knew the importance of leading rather than forcing. He knew that simply to overwhelm them with new ideas would be fatal to their understanding. He did not want them just to learn by rote (although that was a useful beginning and many of His messages were designed to that end), but rather that His ideas might seep through gradually and take root in their hearts, until they then became a part of them.

Of course, they knew by now that they had been called to proclaim that the Kingly Rule of God was among them, and that men were now to respond to His Kingly Rule. That had been the message that they had proclaimed when they themselves went out preaching. But they had not really grasped what was involved in this Kingly Rule, and what was to be the final result of it. They still had the idea of a literal kingdom on earth in Palestine (Act 1:6). They still thought in terms of taking over the reins from the Romans in Palestine, ousting them once and for all, and then ruling in their place (as David had once done, followed by the Maccabees). They had still not realised that the Old Testament contained greater heavenly truths than were apparent on the surface, and that they themselves were involved in a greater and more exciting project than the transformation of Palestine. They were involved in something that would lead to the transformation and salvation of men and women throughout the world, through the word.

This lack of understanding comes out in a number of ways:

1). It is made quite apparent that they were still thinking in terms of which of them was to be the greatest, and which of them would hold the most important offices once the new independent kingdom was established. They would continue to jostle for, and argue about, such positions. This was something that they would continue to do right to the end until the coming of the Holy Spirit and the commands they would receive in Acts 1 changed their whole perspective (Luk 9:46; Luk 22:24-27).

2). They were still almost certainly thinking in terms of the need to raise a large number of supporters, and were seeing their future in terms of going forward with such an army when the time was ripe, in order to establish God’s Kingly Rule by this means. This was something that ‘Messianic’ claimants were constantly doing, thus raising the ire and retaliation of the Romans, and what they would continue to do once Jesus had died and risen again. Why then should they be any different? It was the popular conception (see Joh 6:15), and their thinking was little different from that of others. It was what they had been brought up to expect. And they were very much of the people. The only difference between them and the others was that they knew that their leader had extraordinary powers. He could do things that took the breath away.

This is no doubt why they were puzzled at the continuing fewness of their numbers and had to be reassured (Luk 12:32). They had seen the first increase in popularity as they moved around as preparation for what was to come, and had been encouraged. But they were puzzled as to why Jesus had not made the most of it, and why Jesus now appeared to have left the places where His influence was greatest, and was even talking morbidly about being seized by His enemies and being put to death. Was He not then concerned about the size of His army?

At first numbers had not appeared to be a problem. They had appeared to be growing rapidly, with Jesus at work training His leaders. But now many of those very leaders had dropped away (Joh 6:66) and things seemed to have come to rather a low ebb, and this in spite of the continuation of the large, but impermanent crowds which they discovered wherever they went (Luk 12:1). Jesus was still popular but why was He not turning it to advantage? As He Himself was aware they were no doubt more than a little puzzled (Luk 12:32). Yet it was clear to them that Jesus Himself did not seem to be worried. So their thoughts may well even have turned to the thought of Gideon and his few as an explanation (Jdg 7:4-8). God could save by many and by few. Perhaps it was all part of God’s plan to demonstrate His power once and for all.

But then had come the mission of the seventy. That had probably boosted all their hopes. At last He was getting everyone prepared for the coming of the Kingly Rule of God! They probably thought that by this Jesus was establishing a base in every city, with the confidence that when the time came for them to rise up, many would be there ready to rise with them. For they had still not fully taken in His teaching about loving their enemies, or the message of His lowly death, or, to the extent that they had, they saw in the promised resurrection the hope that He would arise with power from the grave to defeat all who stood in opposition to Him.

3). They were still thinking in terms of the position that was going to be theirs once they had finally firmly established God’s Kingly Rule (Mar 10:35). Now that was something to look forward to. They would enjoy positions of great prestige and authority and all would look up to them. They would enjoy being admired, and tell everyone what to do. We can see then why it was hard for them to throw aside all their old ideas and see in humble service the fulfilling of their dreams.

4). They were still thinking in terms of the future possessions that would be theirs once the good times came (Luk 18:28). At present there was hardship, but they had sufficient confidence in Jesus to be certain that there would be a golden tomorrow. And they were thinking of, and looking forward to, physical gold.

All this brings out that they did have faith in Jesus as the Messiah of God, but that their eyes were still very much on an earthly Kingdom. They were like many are today. They could not rise above the earthly.

That they were in fact wrong in what they anticipated we now know. And that was why it was now necessary for Jesus to begin His task of wooing them away from such conceptions in view of His forthcoming death. And because men’s minds, once formulated in a certain way from childhood, are very difficult to alter, and because men’s obstinacy of thought is what it is, it was inevitably going to be a slow process. It would be a matter of a slow seeping of information into their minds until in the end the truth would dawn on them (as the truth of His Messiahship had already dawned). This will be the aim of the next few chapters. They are to be times of reformulating all of their wrong ideas, until they begin to grasp more and more of the truth that what the world needed, and what they had been appointed for, was the spread of His word. In this regard no change is more marked than that between what the Apostles are now, and what they will be in Acts.

Jesus’ New Approach.

The whole process commences by His now turning their thoughts to eternity and the Judgment to come (Luk 12:1-11). The first thing that it is necessary for them to do is to begin to live in the light of eternity. So He now sets out to wake up to the fact that they must cease thinking altogether in terms of material possessions, or of prosperous living, or of what they can get out of life (Luk 12:13-31), and must recognise that all their concentration must be on establishing the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 12:31). And He wants to make them see that this will not be by means of a large army, well-armed, but that God will begin to establish His Kingly Rule through a few, with those few having no earthly resources at all (Luk 12:32-34), apart from the Holy Spirit (Luk 12:12 compare Luk 11:13).

Further He wants them to recognise that He will not be with them permanently. He will be going away from them (as He has already told them – Luk 9:21-22; Luk 9:26; Luk 9:44), but that when He is away they must live in readiness for when He returns (Luk 12:35-48), for they will have much to do, and after a while He will be coming back in order to reward them for faithful service. (He wanted them to recognise that, while they must be ready for His coming, they must not expect His return immediately).

He also wants them to know that all that is ahead is not going to be rosy (Luk 12:49-53). Let them not think that the world is soon to become a Paradise. Rather He is shortly going to cast fire down on it, something which would tie in with great suffering that He Himself would have to undergo. And as a result of this He would bring about great divisions in the world (Luk 12:52-53), and Jerusalem would be desolated and forsaken (Luk 13:34-35; Luk 21:6; Luk 21:20; Luk 21:24; compare Mat 23:37-39). So there was to be a revolution. But not quite of the kind that they were expecting. Rather than be a revolution which drives families together, it will be a revolution that splits households in two because of their attitudes towards Him and His word. These will be His next lessons. And they will not be quickly grasped.

But this new emphasis on teaching does not mean that nothing practical was now happening, for, as the chiasmus below reveals, the whole of this present section of concentrated teaching will centre around a practical demonstration of His power in the healing of a crooked woman and her deliverance from Satan’s power. Here was another powerful symbol revealing a picture of Israel in its need and how Jesus has come to meet that need. This woman was a symbol of what He had really come to do. He had come to make the crooked straight (Luk 3:5) and to deliver the oppressed (Luk 4:18). And all His teaching was to that end.

We note that Luke constructs his Gospel in such a way that this is to be the last mention of Satan and his minions in action (Luk 13:11; Luk 13:16) until we come to Jesus’ last days (Luk 22:3; Luk 22:31). And yet at the same time he makes it clear that this is not because that side of things has ceased, for in Luk 13:32 he depicts Jesus as testifying to the fact that his defeats of Satan’s forces will continue on, right up to ‘the third day’ when Jesus will finish His course and finally defeat them once and for all. Then through His crucifixion and resurrection they will become guerrillas on the run, and no longer possessors of the field. So the story of the crooked woman, coming in the middle of a whole host of teaching, is a reminder of the very real spiritual battle that is still going on, and would continue on right to the end. As we shall see, what follows is to be further teaching on the Kingly Rule of God, as He continues to reformulate their thinking, while His continuing activity towards that end is depicted by the deliverance of the crooked woman.

He does, of course, continue to preach to the crowds. That too would continue right up to the end. And yet at the same time it becomes clear that His disciples are now to go through their own intensive training course ready for the future, a future of which He is fully aware, even if they are not.

That is why from this point on attention will turn to life under the Kingly Rule of God, and we will find a series of parables which all look at the development of the Kingly Rule of God, the way life should be lived under His Kingly Rule, and the expected return of the King, all these sandwiched between instructions given by Jesus to His disciples in Luk 12:1-12 and Luk 14:25-35, and all centred around the fact of Jesus’ deliverance from Satan and the making straight of those who come to Him (Luk 13:10-17).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jesus Teaches Concerning Greed, Stewardship and the Need For Fruitfulness Under The Kingly Rule of God Centring on the Fact That He Will Make The Crooked Straight (12:1-14:35).

As we have seen we may analyse this next Section from Luk 12:1 to Luk 14:35 into its separate parts as follows:

a Instructions to disciples concerning facing up to eternity (Luk 12:1-12).

b An example is given of covetousness concerning an inheritance which is followed by the parable of the fool who decided to enjoy rich banquets, ignored the needs of the poor, and in the end suffered the unforeseen consequences of prematurely losing his wealth to others who benefited unexpectedly while the one expected to benefit lost out (Luk 12:13-21).

c We are to seek the Kingly Rule of God and not to be anxious about other things (Luk 12:22-34).

d We are to be like men serving the Lord in His house and awaiting His arrival from a wedding feast, being faithful in His service at whatever time He comes and meanwhile making use of all our time for His benefit (Luk 12:35-40).

e There are stewards both good and bad who will be called to account for He has come to send fire on earth which will cause great disruption (Luk 12:41-53).

f Men are to discern the times and not be like a debtor who realises too late that he should have compounded with the Great Creditor (Luk 12:54-59).

g Some present draw attention to the tower that fell on men. He points out that that was no proof of guilt, for all are sinful and will perish unless they repent. They would therefore be wise to repent (Luk 13:1-5)

h The parable of the fig tree which is to be given its chance to bear fruit (Luk 13:6-9).

i The crooked woman is healed on the Sabbath for Jesus has come to release from Satan’s power (Luk 13:10-17).

h The parables of the grain of mustard seed which is to grow and reproduce, and of the leaven which spreads, both of which represent the growth of the Kingly Rule of God in both prospective ultimate size and method of expansion (Luk 13:18-21).

g Someone asks ‘are there few that are saved?’ The reply is that men must strive to enter the door while they can (Luk 13:22-23).

f We must not be like those who awake too late and find the door closed against them and wish they had befriended the Householder (Luk 13:24-28).

e We are to watch how we respond as His stewards for some will come from east, west, north and south, while others will awake too late, like Herod who seeks to kill Him and Jerusalem which is losing its opportunity and will be desolated and totally disrupted (Luk 13:29-35).

d Jesus is invited into the home of a Chief Pharisee. And there He eats with him at table, surrounded by many ‘fellow-servants’. There He sees a man with dropsy. As God’s Servant He knows what His responsibility is if He is to be a faithful and wise servant. It is to heal the man. For God’s works of compassion should be done at all times including the Sabbath and not just at times of man’s choosing. And yet He is surrounded by those waiting to catch Him out (Luk 14:1-6).

c None are to seek the higher place, for he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luk 14:7-11).

b An example is given of inviting the poor to dinner which is followed by the parable of a rich banquet, where those who made excuses were rejected, and the result was that due to unforeseen circumstances there a banquet for the poor, while those for whom it was intended lost out (Luk 14:12-24)

a Instructions are given to the disciples concerning facing up to the cost (Luk 14:25-35).

‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear’ (Luk 14:35).

Note that in ‘a’ the Section opens with instructions to the disciples, and in the parallel it closes with instructions to the disciples, both seeing things in the light of eternity. In ‘b’ we have a parable dealing with the use of riches, and in the parallel the use of wealth to help the poor is dealt with, in ‘c’ we are to seek the Kingly Rule of God and trust our Father over our daily living, and in the parallel we are not to seek the higher place on earth, for the one who humbles himself will be exalted. In ‘d’ we are to be like men awaiting in the Lord’s ‘house’, awaiting His arrival at whatever time He comes and meanwhile making use of all our time and serving Him faithfully, and in the parallel Jesus is in the Chief Pharisee’s house and is called on to perform an act of faithful service even though it is the Sabbath, an act which He does perform. It is an example of faithful service even in the face of difficulties, and a reminder to us that we are to use all our time, including the Sabbath, for doing God’s work. In ‘e’ there are stewards both good and bad who will be called to account, for He has come to ‘cast fire on the earth’, and in the parallel we are to watch how we respond as His stewards, for some will come into the Kingly Rule of God from east, west, north and south, while others will awake too late, like Herod who seeks to kill Him and Jerusalem which is losing its opportunity and will be desolated and will experience His ‘fire on earth’. In ‘f’ men are to discern the times, and in the parallel we are not to be like those who awake too late. In ‘g’ and its parallel the imminence of death and what our response should be to it is described. In ‘h’ the vine is to be allowed its opportunity of bearing fruit, and in the parallel the mustard seed will grow and bear fruit. Central in ‘i’ is the healing and making straight of one who is crooked, a picture of what He has come to do for Israel. This is the whole purpose of the Kingly Rule of God.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jesus Instructs Disciples on Persecutions in Service ( Mat 10:19-20 ; Mat 10:28-33 ; Mat 12:32 ) Jesus Christ has now entered a phase in His life where persecutions will begin to challenge His public ministry. He will serve as our example of how to serve the Lord in the midst of persecutions. In Luk 12:1-12 Jesus first warns His disciples about hypocrisy (Luk 12:1-3) and then He exhorts them to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom without fearing man (Luk 12:4-12). He tells the disciples not to fear men, but to fear God who will give them the words to say by the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Luk 12:1 “he began to say unto his disciples first of all”- Comments The phrase “first of all” in Luk 12:2 implies that Jesus will later address the multitudes. Jesus will speak directly to His disciples in Luk 12:1-12; then, He addresses the multitudes about covetousness in Luk 12:13-21 when he responds to a person’s question. Jesus will speak directly again to His disciples in Luk 12:22-40, when He teaches them to avoid the cares of this world and seek first the Kingdom of God, being ready for His Second Coming. Peter then asks Jesus if He were addressing the disciples or the crowds (Luk 12:41). Jesus responds to Peter (Luk 12:42-53) then addresses the crowd again (Luk 12:54-59).

Luk 12:1 “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” Comments Jesus was careful not to come against the Mosaic Law. He did this by making a clear distinction between the Law and the traditions of the religious leaders, who had perverted the Law.

Luk 12:2 Comments Hypocrisy is the covering up of that which is real by covering it with something that is false. The Pharisees were covering up their wicked hearts by coving themselves with religious traditions.

Luk 12:4 Comments Hypocrisy among the religious sects was made up of a brotherhood of men attempting to pleas one another. Therefore, Jesus addresses the root of hypocrisy, which is fear of man. The only remedy for hypocrisy is the fear of God.

Luk 12:6 Comments God as Creator is watching over every aspect of His marvelous creation. However, He has given man dominion over the earth. This means God allows man to do on earth according to his own human will. God does intervene on occasions in order to accomplish His overall divine plan of redemption; but He does allow man to make his own decisions, which often harm much of earth’s natural beauties.

Luk 12:8 Comments Once a man overcomes the fear of his fellow man and stops trying to please them with a lifestyle of hypocrisy, he is now able to serve the Lord from a sincere heart. His fear of God compels him to divine service, but such service is often met with persecution from those who are still bound in hypocrisy and the fear of men. Against such adversity, Jesus now assures His disciples that God in Heaven is watching over every event in the lives of His servants and is concerned about him and will intervene in his daily affairs.

Luk 12:10 Comments The Jews had accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub (Luk 11:15). Therefore, He is explaining the consequences of blaspheming against the Holy Ghost, when the Jews committed in their accusations against Jesus.

Luk 11:15, “But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.”

Luk 12:12 Comments We may think that John 14-16 is the first time that Jesus taught His disciples about the office and ministry of the Holy Spirit. However, we find two instances in Luke’s Gospel where Jesus taught them about the work of the Spirit in their lives before His Passion.

Luk 11:13, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”

Luk 12:12, “For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Jesus Teaches on Faithfulness and Stewardship In Luk 12:1-12 Jesus instruct His disciples on how to deal with persecution in Christian service. He then corrects a person in the crowd who asks for part of his inheritance (Luk 12:13-21) by telling him a parable of the rich fool. He then turns to His disciples and exhorts them on this same issue (Luk 12:22-53). He finishes this subject by rebuking the people for not being able to judge the times that they were in during Jesus’ earthly ministry (Luk 12:54-59).

Outline – Here is a proposed outline:

1. Jesus Instructs Disciples on Persecutions in Service Luk 12:1-12

2. Jesus Corrects a Person over Covetousness Luk 12:13-21

3. Jesus Warns His Disciples About Covetousness Luk 12:22-53

4. Jesus Rebukes the People For Their Hypocrisy Luk 12:54-59

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Witnesses of Jesus Justifying Him as the Saviour of the World (God the Father’s Justification of Jesus) Luk 4:31 to Luk 21:38 contains the testimony of Jesus’ public ministry, as He justifies Himself as the Saviour of the world. In this major section Jesus demonstrates His divine authority over man, over the Law, and over creation itself, until finally He reveals Himself to His three close disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration as God manifested in the flesh. Jesus is the Saviour over every area of man’s life and over creation itself, a role that can only be identified with God Himself. This was the revelation that Peter had when he said that Jesus was Christ, the Son of the Living God. Luk 4:14 to Luk 9:50 begins with His rejection in His hometown of Nazareth and this section culminates in Luk 9:50 with Peter’s confession and testimony of Jesus as the Anointed One sent from God. In summary, this section of material is a collection of narratives that testifies to Jesus’ authority over every aspect of humanity to be called the Christ, or the Saviour of the world.

Luke presents Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world that was presently under the authority of Roman rule. He was writing to a Roman official who was able to exercise his authority over men. Thus, Luke was able to contrast Jesus’ divine authority and power to that of the Roman rule. Jesus rightfully held the title as the Saviour of the world because of the fact that He had authority over mankind as well as the rest of God’s creation. Someone who saves and delivers a person does it because he has the authority and power over that which oppresses the person.

In a similar way, Matthew portrays Jesus Christ as the Messiah who fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. Matthew’s presentation of Jesus as the King of the Jews supports His claim as the Messiah. John gives us the testimony of God the Father, who says that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. John uses the additional testimonies of John the Baptist, of His miracles, of the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and of Jesus Himself to support this claim. Mark testifies of the many miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ by emphasizing the preaching of the Gospel as the way in which these miracles take place.

This major section of the public ministry of Jesus Christ can be subdivided into His prophetic testimonies. In Luk 4:31 to Luk 6:49 Jesus testifies of true justification in the Kingdom of God. In Luk 7:1 to Luk 8:21 Jesus testifies of His doctrine. In Luk 8:22 to Luk 10:37 Jesus testifies of divine service in the Kingdom of God as He sets His face towards Jerusalem. In Luk 10:38 to Luk 17:10 Jesus testifies of perseverance in the Kingdom of God as He travels towards Jerusalem. Finally, in Luk 17:11 to Luk 21:38 Jesus teaches on glorification in the Kingdom of God.

The Two-Fold Structure in Luke of Doing/Teaching As Reflected in the Prologue to the Book of Acts – The prologue to the book of Acts serves as a brief summary and outline of the Gospel of Luke. In Act 1:1 the writer makes a clear reference to the Gospel of Luke, as a companion book to the book of Acts, by telling us that this “former treatise” was about “all that Jesus began to do and to teach.” If we examine the Gospel of Luke we can find two major divisions in the narrative material of Jesus’ earthly ministry leading up to His Passion. In Luk 4:14 to Luk 9:50 we have the testimony of His Galilean Ministry in which Jesus did many wonderful miracles to reveal His divine authority as the Christ, the Son of God. This passage emphasized the works that Jesus did to testify of Himself as the Saviour of the world. The emphasis then shifts beginning in Luk 9:51 to Luk 21:38 as it focuses upon Jesus teaching and preparing His disciples to do the work of the Kingdom of God. Thus, Luk 4:14 to Luk 21:38 can be divided into this two-fold emphasis of Jesus’ works and His teachings. [186]

[186] We can also see this two-fold aspect of doing and teaching in the Gospel of Matthew, as Jesus always demonstrated the work of the ministry before teaching it in one of His five major discourses. The narrative material preceding his discourses serves as a demonstration of what He then taught. For example, in Matthew 8:1 to 9:38, Jesus performed nine miracles before teaching His disciples in Matthew 10:1-42 and sending them out to perform these same types of miracles. In Matthew 11:1 to 12:50 this Gospel records examples of how people reacted to the preaching of the Gospel before Jesus teaches on this same subject in the parables of Matthew 13:1-52. We see examples of how Jesus handled offences in Matthew 13:53 to 17:27 before He teaches on this subject in Matthew 18:1-35. Jesus also prepares for His departure in Matthew 19:1 to 25:46 before teaching on His second coming in Matthew 24-25.

Jesus’ Public Ministry One observation that can be made about Jesus’ Galilean ministry and his lengthy travel narrative to Jerusalem is that He attempts to visit every city and village in Israel that will receive Him. He even sends out His disciples in order to reach them all. But why is such an effort made to preach the Gospel to all of Israel during Jesus’ earthly ministry? Part of the answer lies in the fact that Jesus wanted everyone to have the opportunity to hear and believe. For those who rejected Him, they now will stand before God on the great Judgment Day without an excuse for their sinful lifestyles. Jesus wanted everyone to have the opportunity to believe and be saved. This seemed to be His passion throughout His Public Ministry. Another aspect of the answer is the impending outpouring of the Holy Ghost and the sending out of the Twelve to the uttermost parts of the earth. Jesus understood the necessity to first preach the Gospel to all of Israel before sending out the apostles to other cities and nations.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Narrative: Jesus Demonstrates Perseverance (In a Village) In Luk 10:38 to Luk 13:21 Jesus Christ demonstrates perseverance. For example, He begins by teaching Martha to persevere in His Word as Mary, who sat at His feet (Luk 10:38-42). He then teaches the disciples to persevere in prayer (Luk 11:1 to Luk 13:21).

Outline: Note the proposed outline:

1. Corrects Martha on Priorities Luk 10:38-42

2. Instructs Disciples on Prayer Luk 11:1-13

3. Jesus Corrects People About the Kingdom of God Luk 11:14-36

a) Introduction Luk 11:14-16

b) The Kingdom of God vs. Satan Luk 11:17-28

c) The Request for a Sign Luk 11:29-32

d) Conclusion Luk 11:33-36

4. Jesus Rebukes Pharisees on Hypocrisy Luk 11:37-54

5. Jesus Teaches on Faithfulness & Stewardship Luk 12:1-59

a) Instructs Disciples on Persecutions in Service Luk 12:1-12

b) Corrects People on Covetousness Luk 12:13-21

c) Instructs Disciples on Faithfulness & Stewardship Luk 12:22-53

d) Rebukes People for not Judging Themselves Luk 12:54-59

6. Warns People on Eternal Judgment Luk 13:1-9

7. Heals & Rebukes Jewish Leader on Hypocrisy Luk 13:10-17

8. Teaches Parables on Growth of the Kingdom Luk 13:18-21

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Perseverance: Jesus Testifies of Striving to Enter Into Heaven In Luk 10:38 to Luk 17:10 Jesus testifies of striving to enter into Heaven through perseverance.

Outline: Note the proposed outline:

1. Narrative: Jesus Demonstrates Perseverance Luk 10:38 to Luk 13:21

2. Discourse: Jesus Teaches on Perseverance: Luk 13:22 to Luk 17:10

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Warning against Hypocrisy and Covetousness.

The leaven of the. Pharisees:

v. 1. In the meantime, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch, that they trod one upon another, He began to say unto His disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

v. 2. For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known.

v. 3. Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

While the assaults of the Pharisees and scribes were going on, while they were attempting everything in their power to discredit Jesus and find some ground for accusing Him, the people, on the whole, came together to Him in greater multitudes than ever before, by the thousands, the largest gathering that had ever assembled about Him. So violently did they surge forward to come near the Lord that they literally trod one another down. Jesus, after His custom, took this opportunity to address the people on some subjects which were needful to them. His remarks were addressed chiefly to His disciples, but could easily be understood as far as His voice reached. The first topic of His discourse was that of hypocrisy. Note: The fact that many sayings of this chapter resemble, or are identical with, some of those in the Sermon on the Mount need cause no uneasiness. Jesus undoubtedly said many things which He wanted the people to know again and again, in order to impress it upon their minds. Here He warns His hearers to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which He explains as hypocrisy, while at other times He refers to their false doctrine, Mat 16:11-12. Hypocrisy is like leaven; if it is given room in the heart, it begins to work and extend its influence, until finally the effects will show on the outside. A hypocrite may wear the mask of sanctity for some time and dissimulate before the eyes of men; but it will putrefy the heart and soul to such an extent that it may be revealed at a most unexpected time. For though a thing may be very carefully covered, it will come to light some time; and though it be hidden, it will be made known. The Lord now makes the application of the saying in a good sense. Instead of trying to cover up and hide their convictions, the believers in Christ should take note. They should not resort to whispering in secret, in darkness, in the inner chambers, with the object of keeping their Christian convictions from the knowledge of the people, for that is a species of hypocrisy, but should be open and fearless before all men about speaking the truth and proclaiming the Gospel. Note: The warning is needed also in our days, when church-members are going to the extent of hiding even their churchgoing from their neighbors and of removing every evidence of Christianity from their rooms, Bibles, prayer-books, religious pictures, and papers, lest some of their “friends” may smile in a pitying fashion over their time-worn superstitions! Such hypocrisy is tantamount to an open denial of Christ.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Luk 12:1-59

The Lord, after leaving the Pharisee‘s house, speaks at great length to a numerous crowd waiting for him, addressing his words principally to his own disciples. The foregoing scene (Luk 11:1-54.), when the Master addressed his bitter reproaches to the learned and cultivated of the great Pharisee party, took place in a private house belonging to an apparently wealthy member of this, the dominant class. The name of the large village or provincial town where all this happened is unknown. The crowd who had been listening to the great Teacher before he accepted the Pharisee’s invitation still lingered around the house. Many from the adjoining villages, hearing that Jesus was in this place and was publicly teaching, had arrived; so, when the Lord came out from the guest-chamber into the street or market-place, he found a vast crowdliterally, myriads of the multitudewaiting for him. The words descriptive of the crowd in ver. I indicate that a vast concourse was gathered together. His fame then was very great, though his popularity was on the wane.

Luk 12:1

Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. In dwelling on this and similar expressions used by our Lord in respect to the life and work of this famous section of the people who were generally so bitterly hostile to him and his teaching, we must not condemn their whole character with a condemnation more sweeping than the Master’s. Utterly mistaken in their views of life and in their estimate of God, whom they professed to know, our Lord here scarcely charges them with dell-berate hypocrisy. These mistaken men dreamed that they possessed a holiness which was never theirs; unconscious hypocrites they doubtless were, without possibly even suspecting it themselves.

Luk 12:2, Luk 12:3

For there is nothing covered, that shall not he revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light. The day would come when his estimate of this now popular teaching of the Pharisees would be found to have been correct. Its real nature, now hid, would be revealed and fully known and discredited; while, on the other hand, the words and teaching of his disciples, now listened to but by few, and those of seemingly little account, would become widely and generally known and listened to. Upon the housetops. These were flat, terrace-like roofs, and, the houses generally being low, one who spoke from them would easily be heard in the street beneath. “These words have a strong Syrian colouring. The Syrian house-top (in Mat 10:27 and here) presents an image which has no sense in Asia Minor, or Greece, or Italy, or even at Antioch. The fiat roofs cease at the mouth of the Orontes; Antioch itself has sloping roofs”.

Luk 12:4

And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. All this the Master knew was true and would shortly happen, His words were verified before fifty years had passed. The triumphant success of the great Christian preachers and the discredited condition of the old rabbinic schools is testified to by snell words as we find in St. Paul’s letters. “Where is the wise? where is the scribe?” (1Co 1:20). But this success the Master well knew would be accompanied with many a suffering on the part of the heralds of his message. Persecution in its many dreary forms would dog their footsteps; a death of agony and shame not unfrequently would be their guerdon. It was, for instance, we know, the earthly recognition of that devoted servant of the Lord (Paul) who, we believe, guided the pen of Luke here. This painful way, which his disciples must surely tread, had already been indicated in no obscure language by the Master (“some of them”my apostles”they shall slay and persecute,” Luk 11:49). A triumph, greater than any which had ever been given to the sons of men, would surely be theirs, but the Master would not conceal the earthly price which his chosen servants must pay for this splendid success. There was a point, however, beyond which human malice and enmity were utterly powerless; he would have his servants turn their thoughts on that serene region where men as men would have no power.

Luk 12:5

But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; literally, into Gehenna. This is simply Gee-hinnom, “valley of Hinnom,” translated into Greek letters This valley was situated in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, and originally was noted for the infamous rites practiced there in the worship of Moloch, in the times of the idolatrous kings of Judah. King Josiah, to mark his abhorrence of the idol-rites, defiled it with corpses; fires were subsequently kindled to consume the putrefying matter and prevent pestilence. The once fair valley, thus successively defiled with hideous corrupting rites, by putrefying corpses, and then with blazing fires lit to consume what would otherwise have occasioned pestilence, was taken by rabbinical writers as a symbol for the place of torment, and is used not unfrequently as a synonym for “hell.” The translators of the Authorized Version have done so here. The reminder is, after all, we need not fear men. When they have done their worst, they have only injured or tortured the perishable body. The One whom all have good reason to fear is God, whose power is not limited to this life, but extends through and beyond death. Some have strangely supposed, not God, but the devil, is intended here to be the real object of human fear. The devil can be no object of fear to the Master’s disciples.

Luk 12:6, Luk 12:7

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Though persecution and bitter suffering, even death, may be the guerdon of the Lord’s true servants here, none of these things can happen without the consent of God. This thought will surely give them courage to endure. Suffering undergone in God’s service, inflicted, too, with his entire consent, so that the suffering becomes part of the service,what an onlook is afforded to the brave, faithful servant by such a contemplation! Oh the welcome from God he is sure to meet with when such a death has been endured! These extreme instances of God’s universal carehis all-knowledge of everything, however little and insignificant, belonging to his creaturesare chosen to give point to the Master’s words. If he knows of the death of these little, almost valueless, birdsay, even of the falling of one of the many hairs of your headsurely you cannot doubt his knowledge of, his caring for, the life or death of one of his proved and gallant followers. These little sparrows were sold in the markets, strung together, or on skewers.

Luk 12:8

Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God. The great Teacher pursues the subject of the future of his disciples. It is by no means only to a wise fear of that God, whose hand stretches beyond this life, that he appeals as a mighty inducement for his servants utterly to disregard all dangers which may meet them in the course of their service; he tells them, too, of a splendid recompense, which will assuredly be the guerdon of all his true followers. Before that glorious throng of heavenly beings, whose existence was a part of the creed of every true Jew; before the mighty angels, the awful seraphim; before that countless crowd of winged and burning ones who assisted at the awful mysteries of Sinai, would they who witnessed for him, and suffered because of him, be acknowledged by him. Their sufferings in the service of the King of heaven, whom they knew on earth as the poor Galilee Teacher, would be recounted before the angels by the same King of heaven, when he returned to his home of grandeur and of peace in heaven.

Luk 12:9

But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. Splendid as would the recompense be to the faithful and the loyal, equally shameful would be the guerdon meted out to the cowardly and faint-hearted. Before the same glorious throng would the King detail the failure, through slavish fear, of those whom he had chosen for so royal a service. Such an announcement as this proclamation of glory and of shame before the holy angels, in which stupendous scene he, the poor Galilaean Rabbi, was to play the part of the Almighty Judge, could only have been made in the last weeks preceding his Passion. All reticence was then laid aside. Before friend and foe, in public and in private, in these last solemn weeks Jesus tore away the veil of reticence with which he had been pleased hitherto in great mea- sure to shroud his lofty claims, and the Master now declared before all that he was the King of kings, the Lord alike of angels and of men. In the face of such an announcement, his prosecution by the priests and the Pharisee party for blasphemy naturally follows. He was either a daring impostor or In the latter ease, to the poor Galilee Rabbi belonged the Name of names which no Jew dared to pronounce.

Luk 12:10

And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him. And yet even that offense, which consisted in playing the renegade and the coward; which refused to suffer for him here; which, out of slavish fear of man, consented to abandon his pure and righteous cause;that offense, which would be proclaimed before the angels of heaven, would in the end find forgiveness. Some commentators point, as an illustration of this, to the fact of the dying Lord praying on the cross for his murderers; but the offense alluded to here, which should in the end be blotted out, was of far deeper dye. He prayed on his cross for those Romans who sinned, but sinned in the face of little light. But this forgiveness was to be extended to men who, through fear of men and love of the world, should deny him whom they knew to be their Redeemer. This is one of the most hopeful passages which treats of sin eventually to be forgiven, in the whole New Testament. But even here there is no so-called universal redemption announced, for in the next sentence the Lord goes on to speak of a sin which he emphatically said shall never have forgiveness. But unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. What is this awful sin? We have only to speak of its connection in this place. Here there is no possibility of mistake; it was that determined hatred of holiness, that awful love of self, which had induced the Pharisee leaders to ascribe his beneficent and loving works to the spirit of evil and of darkness. The accusation was no chance one, the fruit of impulse or of passion. They who accused him knew better. They had beard him teach, not once, but often; they had seen his works; and yet, though they knew that the whole life and thoughts and aspirations were true, who were conscious that every word and work was holy, just, and pure, in order to compass their own selfish ends, simply because they felt his life and teaching would interfere with them, they dared to ascribe to the devil what their own hearts told them came direct from God. This sin, now as then, the merciful Savior tells us has no forgiveness.

Luk 12:11

And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer. The Master comes back again to his old calm, and continues his loving instructions to his disciples; and turning again to the little group of his friends, he says. to them.” When they bring you before hostile tribunals, special help, you will find, will be given you. Have no fear, then, that you will be wanting in wisdom or courage; the Holy Spirit of God will be your Advocate, and will whisper to you words for your defense.” The best example of this supernatural aid to the accused followers of Jesus which we possess is the grave and stately apology of Stephen before the Sanhedrin. Peter’s speech before the same tribunal, and Paul’s before Felix and Festus, are also fair instances.

Luk 12:13

And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. Apparently there was a pause here in the Lord’s teaching. The Master was about to enter on a new subject, and at this juncture one of the crowd, waiting for such a break in the Master’s discourse, came forward with a question. It was purely connected with his own selfish interests, He seems to have been a younger brother, discontented with the distribution of the family property, of which, most likely, in accordance with the usual Jewish practice, a double portion had been taken by the elder brother. This was likely enough the point which he submitted to the Lord. Such a reference to a scribe and rabbi of eminence was then not uncommon. Jesus, however, here, as on other occasions (see Joh 8:3-11), firmly refuses to interfere in secular matters. His work was of another and higher kind. The word he addresses to the questioner has in it a tinge of rebuke. The utter selfish worldliness of the man, who, after hearing the solemn and impressive words just spoken, could intrude such a question, comes strongly into view. Was not this poor unimpressionable Jew, so wrapped up in his own paltry concerns that he had no thought or care for loftier things, perhaps a specimen of most of the material upon whom the Lord had to work? Is he an unknown figure in our day and time?

Luk 12:15

And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. The older authorities read, “beware of every kind of covetousness.” No vice is more terribly illustrated in the Old Testament story than this. Prominent illustrations of ruin overtaking the covetous man, even in this life, are Balaam, Achan, and Gehazi. Has not this ever been one of the besetting sins of the chosen race, then as now, now as then? Jesus, as the Reader of hearts, saw what was at the bottom of the question: greed, rather than a fiery indignation at a wrong endured. “A man’s life.” His true life, would be a fair paraphrase of the Greek word used here. The Master’s own life, landless, homeless, penniless, illustrated nobly these words. That life, as far as earth was concerned, was his deliberate choice. The world, Christian as well as pagan, in each succeeding age, with a remarkable agreement, utterly declines to recognize the great Teacher’s view of life here. To make his meaning perfectly clear, the Lord told them the following parable-story, which reads like an experience or memory of something which had actually happened.

Luk 12:16

The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. The unhappy subject of the Lord’s story was a common figure in Palestine in an ordinarily prosperous time. We have the portrait of a landowner whose farms do not seem to have been acquired by any unjust means. This man, after years of successful industry, having acquired great wealth, wholly devotes himself to it and to its further increase. He does not give himself up to excess or profligacy, but simply, body and soul, becomes the slave of his wealth; utterly, hopelessly selfish, he forgets alike God and his neighbor.

Luk 12:17, Luk 12:18

And he thought within himself, saying, 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. “No place to bestow my fruits.” Well answers St. Ambrose,” Thou hast barnsthe bosoms of the needy, the houses of the widows, the mouths of orphans and of infants.” Some might argue, from the sequel of the story, that God looks with disfavour on riches as riches. St. Augustine replies to such a mistaken deduction, “God desires not that thou shouldest lose thy riches, but that thou shouldest change their place” (‘Serm.,’ 36.9). The Greek word rendered “barns” (whence our word “apothecary”) has a broader signification than merely barns; it signifies store or warehouses of all kinds, thus suggesting that the hero of the story was more than a mere wealthy farmerhe was probably also a trader. And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. As he grew richer, he grew more covetous. Absolutely no care or thought for anything save his loved possessions seems to have crossed the threshold of that poor mistaken heart of his. This strange hunger after riches for riches’ sake is, alas! a very usual form of soul-disease. Can it be cured? Alas! it is one of the most hopeless of soul-maladies. This unhappy love in countless cases becomes a passion, and twines itself round the heart, and so destroys all the affections and higher aspirations.

Luk 12:19

And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. “What folly!” writes St. Basil. “Had thy soul been a sty, what else couldst thou have promised to it? Art thou so ignorant of what really belongs to the soul, that thou offerest to it the foods of the body? And givest thou to thy soul the things which the draught receives?” Many years. How little did that poor fool, so wise in all matters of earthly business, suspect the awful doom was so close to him! He forgot Solomon’s words, “Boast not thyself of to-morrow” (Pro 27:1). Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. “Extremes meet,” suggests Dean Plumptre; “and the life of self-indulgence may spring either from an undue expectation of a lengthened life” (as was the ease here), “or from unduly dwelling on its shortness, without taking into account the judgment that comes after it. The latter, as in the ‘carpe diem’ of Horace (‘Odes,’ 1.11. 8), was the current language of popular epicureanism” (see St. Paul’s reproduction of this thought, 1Co 15:32); “the former seems to have been more characteristic of a corrupt Judaism.”

Luk 12:20

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. The literal rendering of the Greek here is more solemn and impressive in its awful vagueness: This night they require thy soul of thee. Who are meant by they? Most likely the angels: not necessarily “avenging,” as Trench would suggest; simply those angels whose special function it was to conduct the souls of the departed to their own place. So we read in the parable of Lazarus and Dives how angels carried the soul of Lazarus into Abraham’s bosom. On the words, “they require,” Theophylact writes, “For, like pitiless exactors of tribute, terrible angels shall require thy soul from thee unwilling, and through love of life resisting. For from the righteous his soul is not required, but he commits it to God and the Father of spirits, pleased and rejoicing; nor finds it hard to lay it down, for the body lies upon it as a light burden. But the sinner who has enfleshed his soul, and embodied it, and made it earthy, has so prepared it to render its divulsion from the body most hard; wherefore it is said to be required of him, as a disobedient debtor that is delivered to exactors.” Then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? Our Lord here reproduced the thought contained in passages with which no doubt he had been familiar from his boyhood. “Yea, I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool?” (Ecc 2:18, Ecc 2:19). “He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them” (Psa 39:6). The parallel in the apocryphal book, Ecclesiasticus 11:18, 19, is very close.

Luk 12:21

And is not rich toward God; better rendered, if he is not. And this slight change helps us, too, in drawing the right lesson. The being rich is never condemned by Jesus Christ; nor even the growing richer. Among the saints of God in both Testaments are many notable rich men, whose possessions seem to have helped rather than hindered their journey to the city of God. The lesson which lies on the forefront of this parable-story is the especial danger which riches ever bring of gradually deadening the heart and rendering it impervious to any feeling of love either for God or man.

The directions which immediately followed upon this parable were addressed to the inner circle of disciples. The general instruction, it will be seen, belongs to all who in any age wish to be “of his Church;” but several of the particular charges cannot he pressed as general commands, being addressed to men whose work and office were unique.

Luk 12:22

And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. A better rendering for “Take no thought” is Be not anxious about. This, too, suggests a more practical lesson. “What ye shall eat.” How repeatedly in the Master’s sermons do we find the reminder against the being careful about eating! We know from pagan writers in this age how gluttony, in its coarser and more refined forms, was among the more notorious evils of Roman society in Italy and in the provinces. This passion for the table more or less affected all classes in the empire.

Luk 12:24-27

Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them Consider the lilies 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. What a contrast between the life of the rich and prosperous landowner just related, whose whole heart and soul were concentrated on a toil which should procure him dainty food and costly raiment, and these fowls fed by God so abundantly, and those flowers clothed by God so royally! The ravens knew nothing of the anxious care and the restless toil of the rich man in the midst of which he died, and yet they lived. The lilies simply grew, and God’s hand painted the rich and gorgeous clothing for each golden-jewelled flower; Solomon, the splendid Jewish king, the example of all that was magnificent, was never arrayed, men knew, like one of these lilies. With such a God above them, who surely loved each one as he never loved a bird or flower, was it worth while to wear a life away in toiling for tess than what God simply gave to raven and to lily? Such was the Master’s argument, adorned, we may well conceive, with all the beauty and force of Eastern illustration. We possess, after all, but a scant resume of these Divine sermons. To apostle and chosen missionary his words had a peculiar interest. He bade them, in coming days of poverty and abandonment, never to lose heart. They would remember then their loved Teacher’s words that day when he spoke of the fate of one whose life had been wasted in filling his storehouses and his barns; would remember how he turned from the foolish, toiling rich man, and told them of the birds and flowers, and how God tenderly cared even for such soulless things. Did they think he would ever lose sight of them, his chosen servants? They might surely reckon on the loving care of that Master to whose cause they were giving their life-service. Yet have these and other like words of the great Teacher been often misunderstood; and St. Paul’s earnest and repeated exhortations to his convertsnot to neglect honest toil, but by it to win bread for themselves, and something withal to be generous with to those poorer than theywere his protest against taking the Masterwords in too literal a sense, and using them as a pretext for a dreamy and idle life. Paul’s teaching, and perhaps still more Paul’s lifethat life of brave, simple toil for himself and otherswere his comment upon this part of the Master’s sermon. The lilies. It is a little doubtful whether our Lord meant to speak of the red anemone, a very common but beautiful flower, with which the meadows throughout all Palestine are enamelled (Anemone coronaria), or the great white lily (Lilium candidum), or the exquisite red lily (Lilium rubrum); these latter are more rare. The Savior, probably, had each of these and other specimens of the flora of Palestine in his mind, when he spoke of the inimitable beauty and the matchless splendor of these flowers of God.

Luk 12:29

And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink. Again, after the moving, touching words we have been commenting on, does the Lord return to the pressing injunction with which he began his lessons to his disciples upon the parable of the “rich fool.” Trouble not yourselves about your eating and drinking. This repeated insistence of the Master upon this point in the future lives of his disciples has evidently a deeper significance than a mere injunction to cast all their care on him, and not to be over-anxious about their poor earthly maintenance. This was, of course, the first lesson they had to learn from these words; but beneath all this they could, and no doubt often in later days did, read in the words a clear expression of their dear Lord’s will in favor of the utmost simplicity in all matters of food and drink. His own must be marked men here, ever frugal and temperate even to abstemiousness. It is a grave question whether his Church has ever fully grasped the Master’s meaning here. Neither be ye of doubtful mind; literally, do not toss about like boats in the offing (so Dr. Farrar very happily). The word is not found elsewhere in New Testament writers, but it is known in classic writers. Its use here is one of the many signs of St. Luke’s high culture.

Luk 12:32

Fear not, little flock. Another term of tender endearment addressed to his own who were grouped near him. In the earlier part of this discourse (vet. 4) he had called them “my friends.” He had told them of the troublous life which awaited them, but at the same time wished to show them how dear they were to him. It was as though he said, “Endure the thought of these necessary trials for my sake; are you not my chosen friends, for whom so glorious a future, if ye endure to the end, is reserved?”

Luk 12:33

Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wan not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not. “Those of you who have riches, see, this is what I counsel you to do with them.” In considering these much-disputed words of the Master, we must remember

(1) to whom they were spoken: they were addressed to men and women who, if they would follow him, must set themselves free from all worldly possessions; they must literally forsake all to follow him.

(2) We must bear in mind

(a) that the only community which attempted, as a community, to obey this charge literally was the Church of Jerusalem, and the result was that for long years this Church was plunged into the deepest poverty, so that assistance had to be sent even from far-distant Churches to this deeply impoverished Jerusalem community. [This we learn from Paul, the real compiler of this very Gospel, where the charge is reported. See many passages in his letters, notably the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, passim.]

(b) The mendicant orders in the Middle Ages, with no little bravery and constancy, likewise attempted to carry out to the letter this direction. The impartial student of mediaeval history, while doing all justice to the aims and work of these often devoted men, can judge whether or no these mendicant orders can be reckoned among the permanently successful agencies of the cross. We conclude, then, that these words had a literal meaning only for those to whom they were specially addressed, viz. the disciples. While to the Church generally they convey this deep, far-reaching lesson, a lesson all would-be servants of Christ would do well to take to heartit is the Master’s will that his followers should sit loose to all earthly possessions, possessing them as though they possessed not. Thus living, the heart will be free from all inordinate care for earthly treasure, and will, in real earnest, turn to that serene region where its real and abiding riches indeed areeven to heaven.

Luk 12:35, Luk 12:36

Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. The Master goes on with his teaching on the subject of covetousness, still addressing himself primarily to the disciples. “There is another reason why my chosen followers should treat the amassing of earthly goods with indifference; no man knows when the end of this state of things may come; their hearts must be fixed on something else than perishable things. They must act as servants on the watch for the return of their lord. See now, my own,” Jesus proceeds to say; “your attitude in life must be that of servants, at once loyal and devoted, whom their employer has left in his house while he is absent at a great wedding-feast. The day of his absence passes into evening, and evening shades into night; and even the night wears slowly and tediously away, and still the master of the house comes not back from his festival.” But the faithful servants all this while never slumber, or even lie down to rest. All the time of his absence, with their loose flowing Eastern robes taken up, and the skirt fastened under the girdle, with their lamps all trimmed and burning, these watchers wait the coming of their lord, though he tarry long, that they may be ready to receive him and serve him the moment he arrives. All kinds of busy house service, too, carried on during the long night of watching, is implied by the girt-up robes and the lit lamps of the tireless watchers.

Luk 12:37

Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. The title “blessed,” when used by our Lord, is ever a very lofty one, and implies some rare and precious virtue in the one to whom this title to honor is given. It seems as though the house-master of the parable scarcely expected such true devotion from his servants; so he hastens to reward a rare virtue with equally rare blessedness and honor. He raises the slaves to a position of equality with their master. These true faithful ones are no longer his servants; they are his friends. He even deigns himself to minister to their wants. A similar lofty promise is made in less homely language. The final glorious gift to the faithful conqueror in the world’s hard battle appears in the last of the epistles to the seven Churches: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne” (Rev 3:21).

Luk 12:38

And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so. Among the Jews at the time of our Lord, the old division of the night into three watches had given place to the ordinary Roman division into four. They were reckoned thus: from six to nine, from nine to midnight, from midnight to three, and from three to six. In this parable the second and third watches are mentioned as necessary for the completeness of the picture; for the banquet would certainly not be over before the end of the first watch, and in the fourth the day would be breaking. The second and third watches, then, represent the still and weary hours of the night, when to watch is indeed a task of difficulty and painfulness; and here again the Lord repeats his high encomium on such devoted conduct in his second “blessed are those servants.” It is perfectly clear that in this parable the master’s return signifies the coming of Christ. The whole tone, then, is a grave reminder to us, to all impatient ones, that the great event may be long delayed, much longer than most Christian thinkers dream; but it tells us, too. that this long delay involves a test of their loyalty. “The parousia does not come so quickly as impatience, nor yet so late as carelessness, supposes” (Van Oosterzee).

Luk 12:39, Luk 12:40

And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. The Lord abruptly changes the scene of his parable imagery, and with another striking and vivid example enforces his teaching on the subject of the urgent necessity of his servants keeping a sleepless and diligent watch and ward against his coming again in judgment. Very deeply must this image of the Lord’s sudden return, as a thief breaks into the house in the still hours of the night, have impressed itself on the hearts of the awe-struck, listening disciples, for we find in the case of SS. Paul and Peter the very words and imagery, and in the ease of St. John the imagery again made use of (see 1Th 5:1, 1Th 5:2; 1Pe 3:10; Rev 3:3; Rev 16:15). The meaning of the simile is obvious. The disciples and all followers of Jesus would do well to remain always on the watch for the second advent of the Lord. The time of that awful return was unknown, never could be known; men, however, must not be deceived by the long tarrying; the clay of the Lord would surely come on the world as a thief in the night.

Luk 12:41

Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? Peter’s question here referred evidently to the longer and more important parable-story, where the reward which the faithful watchers were to receive is mentioned (Luk 12:37). The grandeur of that reward seems deeply to have impressed the impulsive apostle. Some true conception of the heaven-life had entered into Peter’s mind; we know, too, that now and again dimly Peter seemed to grasp the secret of his Master’s awful Divinity. What meant, then, thought the faithful, loving man, the figure in the parable of the lord? Who was that lordhimself serving his faithful followers? The same curious perplexity evidently passed through Peter’s mind when, on the evening before the death, in a symbol-act the Master repeated the words of the great promise made here, and washed his disciples’ feet. Then we read how Peter said to him, “Lord, dost thou wash my feet?” Were all who followed Jesus to share in that strange, mighty promise; or only a few, such as Peter and his companions, called for a special purpose?

Luk 12:42-44

And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. Jesus goes on with his discourse. Apparently he pays no heed to Peter’s question, but really he answers it fully, giving in fact more details on the subject of rewards to the faithful in the life to come than even Peter’s question required. “Who then,” asks the Lord, “is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler ever his household?” Who? Peter must answer the question. This steward should be Peter himself and each of Peter’s chosen companions. This high position of steward in the household of the Lord should be filled by those whom Jesus had specially chosen. If, when he came again, the Lord found these faithful to their solemn trust, then these should receive a still higher and grander recompense even than that inconceivably splendid reward (mentioned in Luk 12:37) which had so struck Peter; and the higher recompense which these, the faithful and wise stewards, should then receive would be the being made rulers over all that the Lord hath. The answer of the Master then told Peter that all his followers, if found true and loyal, should receive the reward promised (in Luk 12:37) to the watching servants, who in the world to come would be not the servants but the friends of God. While the few, the chosen apostles of the Lord, if they endured to the end, if they were found wise and faithful, to them would be given in the new life a yet more glorious recompense; they would be set in some special position of government and dominion in the glorious city of God. This teaches, too, indirectly, but with great clearness, that in the heaven-life all Christ’s redeemed will enjoy in the friendship of God a perfect blessedness. Still, in that perfect blessedness which will be the heritage of all the redeemed, there will still be degrees in glory.

Luk 12:45, Luk 12:46

But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware. “But,” continued the Master, “although certain of my servants have onlooks to higher degrees of glory than the great mass of their fellows, these seemingly favored ones have at the same time more perilous responsibilities; and only if in these graver responsibilities they are faithful to the end, will they receive their high and peculiar reward.” If, on the other hand, they fail in their perpetual watch for the coming of their Lord, and instead of the restless toil which the Master has assigned to these stewards, these servants, weighted with higher responsibilities, give themselves up to worldly pleasures and passions, terrible will be their doom. Again the excesses of the table are specially mentioned. If, instead of spending themselves in the cares of their high office, they make a profit out of that office, if they live as oppressors of the flock rather than as shepherds, then to these unfaithful stewards will the Lord suddenly come, as pictured in the parable imagery, a thief in the night. And will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. The terrible punishment here specified was not unknown among the ancients (see Herodotus, Luk 7:39; and Heb 11:37). Isaiah was said to have been sawn asunder. Bengel‘s comment is curious: “Qui cor divisum habet, dividetur.“ It has been suggested, to bring the punishment into harmony with the statement immediately following, which speaks of a definite and, perhaps, of an enduring position for the guilty one, a “portion with the unbelievers,” to understand the word as an equivalent for scourging; so in the Latin we find flagellis discindere, to scourge the back with the rod. There is, however, no known instance of the Greek word being used in this sense. The expression is, however, used as simply implying that a terrible doom is surely reserved in the life to come for those who have so sadly misused their high opportunities and neglected their great responsibilities. “The image of the parable itself is blended with the reality which the parable signifies; this thought of the human master who can punish his slaves with temporal death passes into that of the Divine Judge who can punish with spiritual death” (Dean Mansel).

Luk 12:47, Luk 12:48

And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required. These verses are easy to understand. They explain the broad principles upon which the foregoing statements, in parable and in direct teaching, are based. Rewards and punishments will be allotted in the coming world with strict justice. To some, great knowledge of the Divine will is given and splendid opportunities of work are afforded; to such, if only they are faithful and true, will indeed a high place in the city of God be allotted; but alas for them in the life to come if they fail, if they miss the splendid chance of being true toilers with and for God! Their portion will be the many stripes. To others a knowledge of the Divine will, scanty compared with these just spoken of, is given, and opportunities of doing high and noble work are here comparatively few; if these use the little knowledge and seize the few opportunities, they will, while occupying a lower grade in the hierarchy of heaven, still enjoy the perfect bliss of friendship with God. The punishment for failure here is designated by the few stripes. In this solemn passage it is notable that degrees or grades in punishment as well as degrees or grades in glory are distinctly spoken of.

Luk 12:49

I am come to send fire on the earth. It is still the same train of thought that the Master pursuesa train which had been only slightly diverted by Peter’s question. The text, so to speak, of the whole discourse was “the strange attraction which riches possess for men, and the palsying effect which this attraction, when yielded to, exercises over the whole life.” The Master’s argument was as follows: “Beware of covetousness; let your attachment to earthly possessions sit very lightly on you all; and as for you, my disciples, do you have nothing to do with these perishable goods.” And here, with an abrupt solemnity, probably the voice changing here, and ringing with an awful emotion, he enforces his charge to the disciples with the words, “I am come to send fire on the earth.” “My stern, sad work is to inaugurate a mighty struggle, to cast a firebrand on the earth. Lo, my presence will stir up menyou will see this in a way none now dream of; a vast convulsion will rend this people asunder. In the coming days of war and tumult, what have you, my disciples, who will be in the forefront of this movement,what have you to do with earthly goods? Toss them away from you as useless baggage. The pioneers of the army of the future, surely they must be unencumbered in the war, which is about to break out; for remember, ‘I am come to send fire on the earth.’” And what will I, if it be already kindled? better rendered, how I would that it had been already kindled! That is to say, “How I wish that this fire were already burning!” (so Olshausen, De Wette, Bleek, and Farrar). Through all the woe, however, the Redeemer could see, shining as it were through a dark cloud, the unspeakable glory and blessedness of his work. But this fire could not be kindled into a flame until something had happened. The cross must be endured by him; till then his work was not finished; and in his pure human natureit is with stammering tongue and trembling pen we speak or write herehe felt, we believe, the bitter stinging pain of dread expectation of what was coming. With this onlook he was weighed down, we know, at times; witness especially the Gethsemane agony. He goes on to say

Luk 12:50

But I have a baptism to he baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! The baptism he here speaks of was the baptism of pain and suffering and deathwhat we call the Passion of the Lord. He knew it must all be gone through, to bring about the blessed result for which he left his home in heaven; but he looked on to it, nevertheless, with terror and shrinking. “He is under pressure,” says Godet, “to enter into this suffering because he is in haste to get out of it, mournfully impatient to have done with a painful task.” This passage of the discourse of Jesus here has been called “a prelude of Gethsemane.”

Luk 12:51

Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division. But the Master quickly leaves himself and his own sad forebodings. He puts by for a season his own holy impatience and continues his warnings. “I have been dwelling on the troublous times quickly coming on. Do not deceive yourselves, my disciples; the great change about to be inaugurated will only be carried out in war and by divisions in the individual house as in the nation. I bring not peace, but a sword, remember.” And then follows a curious picture of a home torn asunder by the conflict of thought which would spring up as the result of the cross and of the preaching of the cross.

Luk 12:54

And he said also. A note of the compilers, SS. Luke and Paul, which seems to say, “Besides all the important sayings we have just written down, which were spoken on this occasion, the Master added as a conclusion the following words.” It is probable that the expressions used in the next seven verses were called out by the general apathy with which his announcement of the coming woes was received by the listening multitude. Possibly he had noticed a smile of incredulity on the faces of some of the nearer by-standers. The words had already been used on other occasions in a different connection. Here he used them as a last appeal, or rather as a remonstrance. He seems to say to the people, “O blind, blind to the awful sins of the times! You are weather-wise enough, and can tell from the appearance of the sky and the sighing of the wind whether a storm is brewing or no: why not use the same faculty of discernment in higher and more important matters? Ah! be wise; make your peace with God without delay; it will soon be too late; there is an awful judgment close at hand!” When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. To the west of Palestine lay the great Mediterranean Sea, from which, of course, came all the rains which fell on that country.

Luk 12:55

And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will he heat; and it cometh to pass. To the south of Palestine lay the desert; when the wind blew from that direction, it was usually a time of heat and drought.

Luk 12:56

Ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time? These things had an interest for them. Heat and drought, wind and rain, affected materially the prospect of their wheat-harvest and vintage, the fruitfulness of their orchards and oliveyards, therefore they gave their whole mind to the watching of the weather; but to the awful signs of the time in which they were living they were blind and deaf. What were these signs?

(1) The low state of morality among public men. Did none of them notice how utterly corrupt were priests and scribes and people, how hollow and meaningless their boasted religious rites, how far removed from them was the presence of the God of their fathers?

(2) Political situation. Did none of them notice the terribly strained relations between the Roman or Herodian, and the great national party? Were they blind to the bitter, irreconcilable hatred to mighty Rome which was seething scarcely beneath the surface of Jewish society? Were they deaf to the rumbling noises which too surely heralded a fierce and bloody war between little Palestine, split up into parties and sects, and the mighty world of Rome which had seized them in its own grip? What could be the result of such a war? Were they devoid of reason as well as blind and deaf?

(3) Heavenly warnings. What had they done with John the Baptist? Many in Israel knew that man was indeed a great prophet of the Lord. His burning words had penetrated far and wide; vast crowds had heard the awful sounds with breathless awe; but no one heeded, and the people watched him die. And nowthey had listened to him who was speaking to them. He had told them all; no sign of power was wanting to his ministry, and it was just over, and the people had not repented.

Luk 12:58, Luk 12:59

When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite. And then the Master passed into one of those parable illustrations with which his hearers were now familiar, and which in a homely way taught the crowd the same grave truth which he had been dwelling uponthe impending terrible judgment which was coming on the people. The lesson, “be reconciled to God while it is yet time,” is, of course, applicable to all lives, precarious and hanging seemingly on a thread as they all are, but it was especially spoken to that generation in view of the awful ruin which he knew was so soon to fall on every Jewish home. The genera] meaning of the parable illustration was obvious; no hearer could fail to understand the Lord’s meaning. It is before arriving at the judgment-seat that you must be reconciled, with the one who accuses you, otherwise it will be too late, and nothing would remain for the guilty accused but the eternal prison-house. At that moment, when the Master was speaking, individual or nation might have turned to the Lord and lived. There was no time, however, for hesitation. The sands in the hour-glass, which marked the duration of God’s longsuffering with Israel, were just running out. Theologians in different ages and of varied schools have made much of the concluding sentence (Luk 12:59). Roman Catholic divines see in it a strong argument in favor of the doctrine of purgatory, arguing that after death condemnation would be followed by liberation, when a certain payment had been made by the guilty soul; strange ways of paying this debt by means of others we know have been devised by the school of divines who teach this doctrine of purgatory. But the Lord’s words here are terribly plain, and utterly exclude any payment of the debt of the soul by others. The Master emphatically says, “till thou hast paid the very last mite.” The advocate who pleads for universal redemption, and shrinks from a punishment to the duration of which he can see no term, thinks that in the words, “till thou hast paid,” he can discern the germ at least of eternal hope. But the impenetrable veil which hangs between us and the endless hereafter prevents us, surely, from even suggesting that any suffering which the soul may endure in the unseen world will ever pay “the very last mite,” and so lead to pardon and peace.

HOMILETICS

Luk 12:1-12

An evil to be shunned, and a virtue to be cultivated.

Jesus had been partaking of the light forenoon meal with a Pharisee. In this Pharisee’s house he proclaimed war to the death with the bigots who had been dogging his steps. A small fire may kindle much wood. For some reason unknown to us, he had omitted the washing of hands before sitting down to meat. Instantly the whole company turned on him with scowl and sneer and shrug. And the action of the Truth incarnate, in reply to this, was the utterance of the six “woes”scathing thunderboltswhich St. Luke has recorded between verses 42 and 52 of the previous chapter. His utterance was the signal for something like a riot (verses 53, 54). Ah! thou Son of Mary, thou Meekest and Lowliest, the column has turned. Hitherto thy progress has been, not without contradiction of sinners, but for the most part one of sweet poetriesunbounded the wonder and generous the admiration of the people. Thine enemies have been kept back; they have been held in restraint by the lightning which has flashed from thee.
But now thou must enter on a new phase of thy ministry; henceforth the issues towards which thou hast been looking will be hastened.

“Ride on, ride on in majesty!
The winged squadrons of the sky
Look down with sad and wondering eyes
To see the approaching sacrifice.”

“In the mean time,” whilst the dinner with its tumultuous conversation is proceeding, the crowd has so accumulated that “many thousands are gathered together.” They are so eager to hear the Prophet that some persons are trodden down. To this seething mass Christ comes forth, his heart stirred by the controversy, vehement and provocative, which single-handed he had sustained. Most natural, in view of the circumstances related, is the discourse which follows, addressed immediately to his followers, but reaching the ear of “the many thousands.”

1. First, there is the word as to “the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy“ (verses 1-3). Hypocrisy was the evil which permeated and vitiated their action. What is meant by hypocrisy? The hypocrite is “the man who has to play a part, to maintain a reputation, to keep up a respectable position, to act consistently with the maxims of the party to which he is allied, or the profession to which he belongs.” As thus interpreted, is not the “beware! “of the afternoon long ago, a “beware!” for this day as well? “Pharisee” and “Sadducee” are words which no longer distinguish classes; but when the classes which they once designated are studied, it is found that, for what was most characteristic of each, there are correspondents among us. Let it not be supposed that the Pharisee was nothing else than a sanctimonious charlatan, a mere pretentious formalist. He was the representative of the more earnest religious spirit. The Sadducee was generally a wealthy man, one belonging to the ruling order. Content with easy and low standards, the worldly or rationalistic Jews belonged to the party comprehended by the name. The Pharisee disowned such a conception of religion. He would not have any fellowship with such latitudinarianism. To him the Law was the Law of God, and he was bent on keeping it to its minutest point. In over-zeal he even added, to the observances enjoined, observances which might be inferred or which had been added by rabbins. The traditions of the elders were, in his view, a supplement to the Law and the prophets. “It is needless,” as has well been observed, “to show that there was something in Pharisaism worthy of admiration, for this is implied in the charge brought against the Pharisees of our Lord’s time. They were accused of being hypocrites, of not being what they pretended to be; in which it is implied that, if they had really been what they seemed, they would have deserved the praise they claimed. And doubtless there were some whose goodness was more than outside show, both in the first original of the sect, and in those later times when Pharisaic culture prepared the soil on which the seeds of the gospel most readily flourished; for to this sect belonged the majority of the first converts, and the many thousands who believed are all described as ‘ zealous for the Law.'” Any one playing the hypocrite will prefer the Pharisee type. The scanty clothing of the Sadducee will not suit; the fitting dress is the long robe and the well-phylacteried garment of the Pharisee. The devil’s homage to truth, which hypocrisy has been declared to be, is more becomingly rendered in such a garb. A part-actor! Ah! we need to be reminded that this is a character still to be found in the religious world. Bunyan introduces us to persons who are not mere fictionsMy Lord Turn-about, my Lord Fair-speech, Mr. Smooth-man, Facing-both-ways, the parson Mr. Two-tongues; the points in which all agree being “that they never strive against wind and tide, and that they are always most zealous when religion goes in his silver slippers.” A part-actor! Almost unconsciously, we play a part which marks an excess of what we have ourselves verifieda part beyond, if not covering, the very thought of the soul. “Beware of the leaven!” Milton describes hypocrisy as “the only evil that walks invisible except to God alone.” To be real, not to be a Mr. Facing-both-ways, is one of the great lessons of the life of Christ. In any diagnosis of human nature, we must remember the mixture to be found in character. Few persons intend, deliberately and systemtically, to lie to God and man. The Pharisees whom our Lord condemned were notat least we may in charity so supposeintentionally false. If they prayed to be seen of men, we need not imagine that they secretly mocked at and disbelieved in the duty of prayer. The leaven was the endeavor to maintain a reputation with which they were credited; so much had this endeavor gained on them, that they were far more anxious about it than about their possession of truth in the inward parts. And thus they became part-actors. Now, so with regard to ourselves and our fellow-men. A person is observed doing, in some directions or at some times, what is inconsistent with his conduct at other times or in other directions And worldly minded people, always eager to scent blemishes, cry out, “Hypocrite!” This is a harsh, and may be a wrong, judgment. A lapse from the standard aimed at does not evidence insincerity. Nay, those who observe most closely the facts of life, can often trace what seems a twofoldness of self. The Apostle Paul in a most striking passage (Rom 7:1-25.) has described the struggle in his own heart, the contending laws, the spiritual and the carnal, the oppositions and thwartings of the sin that dwelt in himoppositions so fierce that it seemed as if he were sold under sin. “O wretched man that I am!” he cries. His hope, his triumph, is, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Looking up to Jesus Christ, he saw his right and higher self; looking down on the evil ever present with him, on the body of death in which he appeared to be enslaved, he saw the lower and the wrong self. “I myself with the mind serve the Law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” The one feature in this portrait is the determination of the will. That was God’s; the deflections from it were the signs of an alien force from which he wished to be free. So long as this feature is predominant, the sanctification may be imperfect, but the life is true. What constitutes hypocrisy is appearing to be what one is not; concealing the want of piety in the heart under the cloke of piety in the action; such a study of outward effect that the conduct gradually becomes a tissue of dishonesties. This posing to be something and this anxiety about the pose rather than the truth constitute the leaven of hypocrisy. “Be no part-actor,” says Christ (verses 2, 3); no whisperer in darkness, be no mutterer in the ear in inner chambers. Be not one thing in secret, and another thing in public. Keep clear of pretences of all sorts. Remember, concealment cannot avail. Walls have ears. The universe has its libraries on which all that is whispered is written. And there is an Eternal Truth to whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid.'”

2. Next, there is the word as to courage. Is it not the word which we might expect from him who had defied the most compact order in the land? Listen to the Christian’s “Fear not,” and the Christian’s “Fear” “Fear not man, having power only over the body” (verse 4). Have the courage of your convictions. Trust in God and do the right. Fear God (verse 5). Fear not to speak the truth; fear to tell the lie. “Yea, I say unto you, fear the Eternal Righteousness.’ The lesson is enforced by three considerations.

(1) The value to God of every true and honest life (verses 6, 7). Not one sparrow is forgotten, not one of the tiniest and least valued of God’s creatures is outside his care. Every hair on your head is numbered You are dear to God. He is waiting for you to work with him. The life of each of you is of value to him. Fear not.

(2) The danger of trifling with conviction (verses 8-10). Do not refuse, for some fear of man, to give effect to it. You may possibly, says the Lord, quench the Holy Spirit This was the sin of the Pharisees This is the unpardonable sin. A word against Jesus may be spoken “ignorantly in unbelief;” and the Redeemer says, “Father, forgive for they Know not what they do” But to shut the eye to the light, to refuse to see light as light, to sophisticate the voice of God’s Spirit speaking through reason and conscience, this is to destroy the possibility of spiritual health. Christ says to the disciples, “To confess me before men, no matter what the consequences to yourselves, is to deliver your souls, is to realize the confession in heaven; to deny me is to lose the fellowship of the holy angels, is to approach the confines of the sin which shall not be forgiven.”

(3) The support assured for all testimony to him (verses 11, 12). God is ever on the side of the true. Christ bids these who confess him dismiss anxiety when brought to “synagogues, magistrates, and powers” They are never alone. Mosesthe stammering, had his Aaron with him when he went in unto Pharaoh. A Mightier than Aaron is with the most timid and stammering of the confessors of the kingdom of God. “The Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.”

Luk 12:13-31

Worldliness.

To the earnest teacher nothing can be more irritating than a half-attentive attitude or a remark which indicates preoccupation of mind with other and inferior things. Think of Christ, towards the close of a day of controversy with the Pharisees, and in the midst of solemn speech as to the duty of a true man, invited on a sudden to decide in a family quarrel, to settle a dispute about some money or some acres of soil. We know nothing about the person who appealed to him (Luk 12:13)”one out of the multitude.” But it is evident that, while the discourse proceeded, he had been engrossed with the consideration of his own rights and interests; like many who may be in the multitude thronging around Jesus, but are secretly busied with their own concernsearth-grubs, intent only on getting all they can get from others for themselves. The abrupt reply (Luk 12:14) shows the displeasure of the Lord. It is a reply of reproof; it is a reply of instruction also. God has a great variety of spheres and ministries for men, and the Son of God will not contravene his Father’s ordering. The judge, the measurer, the arbiter as to property, is a Divine calling. Those who are entrusted with it are God’s servants. The State is no less sacred than the Church. Let each realize its own place, and each respect the otherthe State looking to the Church as the expounder of the eternal principles, the Church looking to the State as charged with government and the settlement of the issues between man and man. “My kingdom,” says the Christ, “is not of this world.” The incident gives a new direction to the teaching of Jesus. It is a disclosure of the mind against which he must warn his followers. And then follows one of the most solemn and beautiful of expositionsthat in which the Lord conveys his great lesson as to worldliness. Observe

(1) the more public instruction between Luk 12:15 and Luk 12:21; and

(2) the more private instruction,

specially addressed to the disciples, between Luk 12:21 and Luk 12:32. The more public is the admonition concerning covetousness; the more private is the admonition concerning carefulness. The two types of the one spiritworldliness.

I. The former instruction is enforced by a parable, by observing the point of which we discern THE MEANING WHICH CHRIST GIVES TO THE WORD “COVETOUSNESS,” AND THE PRINCIPLE IN RELATION TO IT WHICH HE LAYS DOWN. Notice, it is the most insinuating, therefore the most dangerous, form of the temptation which is presented. The ground (Luk 12:16) of a man already rich brings forth plentifully. There is no dishonesty charged; there is no financial finesse suggested; it is in the natural course of things. The money makes money, and good soil and good harvests aid, The covetousness is the greed of having rather than getting; it is manifest in the thought as to that which has been already got. The anxiety is to treasure up for self. Existing barns are insufficient (Luk 12:17, Luk 12:18). What is to be done? There never enters the thought of any stewardship of the substance with which the man is enriched; never the feeling, “What I have God has given me. The labor of others, too, has helped me to acquire it. I am the custodian of so much of a commonwealth. God wills that I enjoy richly, but not that I keep all to myself. I enjoy in the measure in which the use of the gifts unites me to the will of him who is the Giver.” Bengel remarks, “Not a word of the poor in all his self-communion.” It is simply a hard, selfish “greater barns.” Covetousness is not the desire to enjoy so much as the desire to have. First, the having of a great store; then, not until then (Luk 12:19), “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” Very delicate is the Master’s touch. The happiness in the wealth is a thing future, and the future never comes. Do we not often see abundance going about with a load of care on its backfear about losses, anxiety about investments, etc.? The wealthy are often prevented from getting the full good of their wealth. They are possessed by their money more than they are possessors of their money. “The increase serves not as water to quench, but as fuel to feed the fire; he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver.” Christ is not condemning wealth or denouncing abundance of things. “The filling of the barns with plenty, and the bursting out of the vats with new wine,” is represented (Pro 3:9, Pro 3:10) as the blessing prepared for those who honor the Lord with their substance. What he condemns is the vice which specially threatens the richthe tendency to identify the life with the possessions (Luk 12:15), to love the money, to hoard it, and regard it all as a treasure to be devoted to self. And truly the words of the Truth are most needful for our time. “The desire to accumulate is the source of all our greatness and of an our baseness.” The baseness begins when the barn, with its “much goods” is regarded as the soul’s portion; when that is the man’s main interest; and, looking on to some day when the pile will be complete, he says in himself, “Then eat, drink, and be merry.” Very striking the sentence (Luk 12:20). “God says, Thou fool!” Folly indeed! Thomas Adams quaintly says, “The competency of earthly things is a blessing; but what is this to abundance? Is not he as warm that goes in russet as another that rustles in silk? Has not the poor laborer as sound a sleep in his flock bed as the epicure on his down bed? Doth not quiet lie oftener in cottages than in glorious mansions? And, for a good appetite, we see the toiling servant feed savourly of one homely dish when his surfeited master looks loathingly on his far-fetched and dearly bought dainties. This gentleman envies the happiness of his poor hind, and would be content to change states with him on condition he might change stomachs. It is not the plenitude, but the competency of these things that affords even content; so that a man’s estate should be like his garment, rather fit than long.” Folly indeed! What stupidity to contemplate the many years! “This night thy soul shall be required.” Thy soul, thyself, without all the goods. “When I die, let my hands be outside my shroud,” said the emperor, “that all may see they are empty.” And what is to become of the “much goods”? Pass into the hands of others, possibly only to do them harm, neither the accumulator nor his kind made the better for all the gathering. “Fool, fool! this thou art, O man, who, without generosity of heart or liberality of hand, day by day scrapest the dust of earth to thy store, oblivious of the celestial crown above thy head, rich in man’s estimation, but (Luk 12:21) a pauper, a bankrupt towards God.”

II. THE MORE GENERAL INSTRUCTION SOUNDS THE WARNING, “Take heed, and keep yourselves. from all covetousness.” The more special and private instruction to the disciples is joined to the preceding parable by a “therefore” (Luk 12:22). It, too, is an admonition against worldliness. It presents that aspect of the worldly spirit which more immediately tempted the disciples of Jesus; it gives also the key-note for that higher life which, as those joined to the Lord, they are called to live. The two parts of the discourse illustrate the meaning of St. Paul’s saying as to “the new man created after God, in righteousness and true holiness [or, ‘holiness of truth’]” (Eph 4:24). The righteousness which is incumbent on all, from the very nature of their existence and their relation to God and men, is represented in the part already considered; “the holiness of truth”that plus which is because of our place in the body of Christ, and our relation to him as the Head of the bodyis represented in the beautiful words which are prefaced by the injunction, “Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.” With some variations, a part of the sermon from the mount is repeated (see homiletics on the sermon). One or two remarks will here suffice.

1. The life which marks the holiness of the new man created in Christ Jesus consists in a supreme preference (Luk 12:31). What distinguishes this life is that it has a “rather” or a “howbeit” at its heart. Its first concern is the kingdom of the Father; its second is (Luk 12:30) the things which the nations of the world seek after. “These things”eating, drinking, clothing, etc., have their value. But the mind is not in search of them. They are not its good or portion. Its sympathies and craving are towards the eternally right and true. To realize that in self, and aid its fulfillment everywhere, is the highest aim and object of the being. The property of the soul rich towards God is, indeed, a vast property; but it has heights as well as lengths; it is the threefold estate”all things are yours, and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” The things which the nations of the world seek after are given into the bargain, so to speak, as far as they are necessities, to all who seek the Father’s kingdom.

2. For those in whom this life is formed, a rule is laid down (Luk 12:22), “Be not anxious as to these things.” The rendering of the Greek word in the Authorized Version might mislead. Christ himself has taught us to take thought for our lifeto provide for the morrow. He bade his disciples gather up the fragments, that nothing might be lost. He had a bag, of which Judas was the bearer, from which things needful were purchased. It is a sign of the savage, not the civilized man, to live only for the present hour, wasting what he does not immediately consume. The teaching is that, living the true life, and preferring what is right to what is merely politic, we may reckon on God for the supply of all our need. As to eating and drinking, we will not ask the satiety of abundance, we will ask only sufficiency; and on this we may rely. He who feeds the ravens will not forget those who faithfully serve him (Luk 12:23, Luk 12:30). We are to labor constantly and diligently whilst we have strength, to sow and reap, to “provide things honest; “for labor is God’s appointed means of feeding and clothingas even the raven witnesses, which God feeds, but which yet is ever picking what it can find; as even the lily witnesses, which is faithful to the conditions of its growth. But we are to toil with a free heart, delivered from carking and worrying care, turning ever trustfully to the love of our Father in heaven. Matthew Henry puts it thus: “As in our stature, so in our state, it is our wisdom to take it as it is, and make the best of it; for fretting and vexing, carking and caring, will not mend it.” “Do not live in suspense; do not cherish the doubting, doubtful mind,” says the Lord to his followers. “Do not fear. A little flock you may seem; but the shepherding is perfect. Live generously, self-denyingly, self-sacrificingly (verse 31). The purses which hold good deeds never wax old. The treasure bestowed on that which is out of sight is laid up in the heavens (verse 33), and no thief can abstract it, and no moth can destroy it. Living in the unseen, in God’s kingdom of grace as its subjects, your heart (verse 34) will settle towards its treasure; you will be prepared and fitted to be the princes of your Father’s kingdom of glory.”

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON

Luk 12:2, Luk 12:3

Hidden things.

Our Lord’s affirmation implies that there is a great deal which has been long beneath the surface, and we naturally askDoes God hide? And the answer isYes, truly, “thou art a God that hidest thyself.” He hides his own glory, that we may not be dazzled thereby; he hides the bliss of the beatified, that we may not be discontented thereby. Like as a father hides from his children many things which they will better learn a little later on, or had better make out for themselves, so God hides many things from us for the very same reasons. But he has so hidden treasures of truth and wisdom from us, that we have every possible inducement to search for them, and fall capacity to find them.

I. THE PROVISION MADE FOR OUR TEMPORAL WELFARE. Did he not hide the coal, the copper, the iron, the lead, the silver, the gold, that we might discover, might raise, might refine, might shape them to our use? And the corn which he gives us to eat, the raiment to wear, the music to enjoy,these are only to be had by searching, by inquiry, by study, by endeavor. The powers of steam, of electricity, were long hidden from the knowledge of mankind, but they, with the other secrets of the world, are being known.

II. HIS SAVING AND SANCTIFYING TRUTH. Paul speaks much of “the mystery hidden from the generations,” i.e. God’s great purpose to redeem, not a nation from political bondage, but the whole human race from spiritual servitude and degradation; his purpose to accomplish this by coming to the world in the Person of his Son Jesus Christ. This was hidden in Old Testament promises, and in the Law given by Moses; it was there, undiscovered by any but a few discerning souls; and it was “not revealed unto the sons of men” until, enlightened by the Spirit of God, the apostles made known the riches of his grace. There are still some things in connection with Christian doctrine which may be said to be hidden, but which sooner or later will be revealed and known.

III. HUMAN CHARACTER AND HUMAN LIFE. There are depths of secrecy in these human hearts of ours. Evil thoughts may hide there unknown to any but to those that entertain them; nay, may lurk and work within the soul unsuspected even by that soul itself. For men are both better and worse than they know themselves to be. What purity and gentleness and self-sacrificing love may steal silently through life, and may pass and be forgotten! what deeds of truest heroism may be wrought which no pen records and no tongue recites] Yet the wrong shall be exposed, and the right be understood and honored; human character shall be read in the light of truth; the guilty shall be humbled and the upright be exalted “in that day.”

1. Our duty. It is that of:

(1) Exposure. Tear the mask from the hypocrite; let the covering be torn off the false man, the charlatan, the betrayer of the soul, with a firm and fearless hand; make him stand out before his fellows stripped of his pretences; make it true that “there is nothing covered,” etc.

(2) Disclosure. Live to teach, to enlighten, to enlarge. Let the secret of health, of wisdom, of usefulness, be published on every hand. Tell all you can reachthe children in the school, the sick by the bedside, the loiterers by the wayside, the congregation in the cottage, or the hall, or the churchthe secret of pure and lasting joy, of real and true success.

2. Our danger. Since God will cause the hidden things to be known, since he will “bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of all hearts,” since he “will judge the secrets of men,” well may the guilty shudder, well may we all askWho shall abide that solemn hour? But there is an alternative. “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin.” True penitence and genuine faith will secure for us such a covering that nothing shall be revealed. There is a Divine forgiveness which swallows up and hides for ever the wrong that we have done.

3. Our hope. “And then”at that day”shall every man have praise of God;” i.e. every man who is, in the true sense, praiseworthy; every man to whom Christ will be free to say, “I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; for inasmuch,” etc. He who does good “to be seen of men” has his reward now; his recompense is exhausted here. But he who works for Christ and for men in the spirit of his Master has not his reward now; he has only a foretaste of it. The best of it has yet to come. And it will come; for there is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed. Blessed is the quiet, humble life of unpretending goodness, which is like the silent spring that makes the meadows green; from such lives as these come deeds of loveliness and usefulness to be made mention of by the lips of the Lord himself, when the things that are covered now shall be revealed, and the things which man overlooks God will own and honor.C.

Luk 12:4, Luk 12:5

The power to hurt and bless.

We are admonished of

I. THE POWER WHICH MAN HAS TO HURT US.

1. He can wound our body. He can smite, can wound, can slay us. The sad story of human persecution contains only too many illustrations of this fact.

2. He can wound our spirit. This is a course he can, and still does very often take; he can mock, can sneer, can indulge in heartless ribaldry, can hold up our most sacred convictions to ridicule, and thus he can inflict on us a very deep wound. For words, though they may be the slightest, are yet the keenest of weapons, and “a wounded spirit who can bear?”

3. He can tempt us to evil. This is the worst thing he can do; he can make the evil suggestion, can give the perilous invitation, can make the guilty overture, which leads down to sin and to spiritual failure. There is no measure of pain he can inflict, or loss he can cause us to suffer, which equals in shamefulness this act of dark temptation. That is the deadly thing to do.

II. THE LIMITATION OF HIS POWER. Beyond these lines our worst enemies cannot go.

1. No man can follow us into the unseen realm. Beyond the veil we are safe from the questions of the inquisitor, the blows of the tyrant, the suggestions of the tempter. These may hunt us to very death, but “after that have no more that they can do.” Truly, if this life were the sum of our existence, that would be much indeedit would be everything. But since we know that it is not so, but only its first short term, only its initial stage, only its brief introduction, we may console our hearts with the thought that it is no great harm that the strongest potentate, with the sharpest sword, can do us.

2. No man can compel us to sin. A sinful deed includes the consent of the agent; and all the forces of iniquity and error can never compel a true and brave soul to assent to an evil act. The only great harm that can be done us is that which we do ourselves when we “consent to sin” when men tempt us to sin,after that there is no more that they can do; if more is done, it’ the line is crossed, it is of our own accord; the tempting is theirs, the sinning is ours.

III. THE ONLY ONE OF WHOM WE HAVE TO BE AFRAID. “Fear him,” etc.; i.e. shrink from the disfavour of that Divine Lord of the human spirit who can punish according to our desert. To shrink from the condemnation of God is not an unworthy act on our part. It is both right and wise; for his condemnation is that of the Righteous One, and of the Mighty One also. It is only the guilty that are lost to all sense of obligation, and the foolish that are dead to all sense of prudence, who will be indifferent to the anger of God. Fear God’s solemn displeasure, for if he rebukes it is certain that you are grievously in the wrong; fear it, for if he inflicts penalty there is none to deliver out of his hand, and, what is more, even death, that does deliver from the hand of man, is no shield from his power. Beyond the veil we are as much within his reach as we are on this side of it. There is every reason why we should seek and find his Divine favor, and live in the light of his countenance. We may go on in our thought, and be reminded by our Lord’s words of

IV. THE ONE WHOSE FRIENDSHIP WE SHOULD SEEN. “I say unto you, my friends.“ We do not simply want to escape the wrath of an offended Judge; we aspire to his favor and his love. Jesus Christ is offering us his friendship (see Joh 15:14, Joh 15:15). If we will cordially accept him for all that he desires to be to us, we shall find in him the Friend in whom we shall implicitly confide, whom we shall gladly and happily love, by whose side and in the shelter of whose guardian care we shall walk all the way till the gates of home are reached.C.

Luk 12:8, Luk 12:9

Confessing Christ.

From these solemn words we gather

I. THAT CHRISTIANITY CENTRES IN THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST. Our Lord taught us much concerning ourselvesthe inestimable value of our spiritual nature; the real source and spring of evil in our own souls; the true excellency of a human life; whom we should regard as our neighbor, etc. But he taught us still more of himselfof his relations with the Divine Father; of his essential superiority even to the greatest among mankind; of his sorrow and his death on behalf of the human race; of his mission to enlighten, to redeem, to satisfy the souls of men. And he not only affirmed, but frequently and emphatically urged, the doctrine that, if we would enter into life, we must come into the very closest personal relation with himselftrusting in him, loving him, abiding in him, following him, making him Refuge of the heart, Sovereign of the soul, Lord of the life. Not his truth, but himself, is the Source of our strength and our hope.

II. THAT JESUS CHRIST DEMANDS AN OPEN CONFESSION OF OUR FAITH IN HIM. More than once he insisted upon a clear recognition of his authority and regal position. He will have us “confess him before men.” How shall we do that?

1. In a heathen country, by avowing the Christian faith, renouncing Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, etc., and declaring before all that Jesus Christ is the one Teacher of truth and Lord of man.

2. In a Christian country, by making it clear that we have accepted him as the Lord whom we are living to serve. We shall probably think it right to do this by attaching ourselves to some particular Christian community; also by regular, public worship of Christ; but certainly, in all cases,

(1) by paying honor to his Name;

(2) by upholding against his enemies the truth and worth of his religion;

(3) by translating his will into active human life in all its departmentsdomestic, social, commercial, political, ecclesiastical.

III. THAT COMPLIANCE WITH HIS DEMAND WILL SOON PROVE TO BE AN ACT OF THE FIRST IMPORTANCE. The day draws on when we shall meet our Master: then will he tell us what he thinks of us. Then, if we have failed to honor him, he will refuse to honor us “before the angels of God.” What is involved in that denial? The worst of all exclusionsexclusion from the favor, from the home, of God. And then, if we have honored him, he will acknowledge us as his own. And what will that include?

1. Acceptance with the Judge of all.

2. The expression of his Divine approvalthe “well done” of the Lord.

3. Admission to the heavenly kingdom, with all its advancing glory, its deepening joy, its extending influence, its enlarging life.C.

Luk 12:15

A man’s life.

What is the worth of a man’s life? Clearly that does not depend merely on duration. For while to the insect the term of seventy years would seem a most noble expanse, on the other hand, compared with the age of a mountain or the duration of a star, it is an insignificant span. The truth is that the value of human life depends on what is done within its boundaries. Here quality is of the chief account. To the insensible stone all the ages are as nothing; to the dormant animal time is of no measurable value. To a thinking, sensitive spirit, with a great capacity for joy and sorrow, one half-hour may hold an inestimable measure of blessedness or of woe. There are three things it may include; we take them in the order of value, beginning at the least.

I. HAVING WHAT IS GOOD. “The things which a man possesseth” are of value to him. “Money is a defense,” and it is also an acquisition, for it stands for all those necessaries and comforts, all those physical, social and intellectual advantages which it will buy. But it is a miserable delusiona delusion which has slain the peace and prospects of many a thousand soulsthat the one way to secure the excellency of life is to gain amplitude of material resources.

1. Muchness of money does not even ensure human happiness. The wealth that lives in fine houses and sits down to sumptuous tables and moves in “good circles” is very often indeed carrying with it a heavy heart, a burdened spirit, an unsatisfied soul. This is not the imagination of envy; it is the confession of sorrowful experience, uttered by many voices, witnessed by many lives.

2. Muchness of money does not constitute the excellency of human life. In a country where “business” means as much as it does in England, we are under a strong temptation to think that to have grown very rich is, by so doing, to have succeeded. That is a part of some men’s success; but it does not constitute success in any man’s life. A man may be enormously rich, and yet he may be an utter and pitiable failure. “In every society, and especially in a country like our own, there are those who derive their chief characteristics from what they have; who are always spoken of in terms of revenue, and of whom you would not be likely to think much but for the large account that stands in the ledger in their name So completely do they paint the idea of their life on the imagination of all who knew them, that, when they die, it is the fate of the money, not of the man, of which we are apt to think. Having put vast prizes in the funds, but only unprofitable blanks in our affections, they leave behind nothing but their property, or, as it is expressly termed, their effects. Their human personality hangs as a mere label upon a mass of treasure”. A man‘s life should rise higher than that.

II. DOING WHAT IS JUST AND KIND. Far better is it to do the just and kind action than to have that which is pleasant and desirable. Life rises into real worth when it is spent in honorable and fruitful action. In sustaining right and useful relationships in the great world of business, carrying out our work on principles of righteousness and equity; in ruling the home firmly and kindly; in espousing the cause of the weak, the ignorant, the perishing; in striking some blows for national integrity and advancementin such a healthful, honorable, elevating action as this “a man’s life” is found. But this, in its turn, must rest on

III. BEING WHAT IS RIGHT. For “out of the heart are the issues of life.” Men may do a large number of good things, and yet be “nothing “in the sight of heavenly wisdom (see 1Co 13:1-3). The one true mainspring of a worthy human life is “the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” To love God, and therefore to love all that is good; to love God, and therefore to interest ourselves in and try to help all those who are so nearly related to him; to love God, and therefore to be moving on and up in an ever-ascending line toward Divine wisdom and worth;this is the one victorious and successful thing. Without this, “a man’s life” is a defeat and a failure, hold what it may; with it, it has the beginnings of a true successit is already, and will be more than it now is, eternal life.C.

Luk 12:20

Sudden death.

The parable which Jesus Christ delivered in rebuke of covetousness puts in striking and even startling form the facts on which God’s providence requires us to look. For we know

I. THAT SUDDEN DEATH IS AN EVENT WHICH MAY OCCUR TO ANY ONE OF US. Human science has done much for us; and much in the direction of preserving and prolonging life. It has given to us a considerable knowledge of disease, and therefore an increased sense of danger. But it has not materially diminished the fact of a sudden and unanticipated end of our mortal life. It is probable that with the advance of civilization and the growing intricacies, complications, and obligations of human life, diseases of the heart have increased, and it is quite open to doubt whether sudden death is less frequent than it was. Certainly it is an ordinary rather than an extraordinary event. It is probable that these two words will be found at the head of at least one paragraph in any newspaper we may chance to be reading. Little as we realize it, it is a stern fact that it is quite possible that any man, enjoying the most robust health and in the midst of the most pressing and weighty duties, may be dead within the day on which we speak to him; that to this possibility there is absolutely no exception. Just now life may be to us and to those related to us of the greatest value; there may be a thousand reasons why, as it seems to us and to them, our life should be spared; and yet it may be of us that the word is passed in that realm where there is none to hinder, “This night thy soul shall be required of thee.” It may be very trite, but it is most seriously true, that sudden death may come to any one of us.

II. THAT SOME SUDDENNESS IN DEATH IS AN EXPERIENCE WE ARE ALL LIKELY TO SHARE. Few remarks are more often made than that death was “sudden at the last.” Even the sick man thinks that he will live; that there are months, or at least weeks, before him. They who are clearly and even loudly admonished, either by serious illness or by advanced age, that their end is drawing on will think and talk of the days that are coming, of the things they will accomplish. It is usually with a start of surprise that the patient learns from his attendant that he must die. Such is our human nature that, even when death comes gradually and kindly, the Master’s words are applicable: “In such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.”

III. THAT AMIDST HUMAN UNCERTAINTIES WE MAY HOLD FAST SOME DIVINE AND EVER–LIVING TRUTHS.

1. That it matters little whether our life be long or short, if only it be given to the service of Christ. Our Lord died a young man, and the term of his active public life is counted by months rather than by years; but what did he achieve!

2. That temporal success is not the true or the wise aim to set before the soul. There are far higher things we can do, and therefore should do; besides, our material achievements and possessions may be taken from our grasp at any hour.

3. That the right and wise course to take is to be ready for death whenever it may come. Readiness for death will secure us a true peace when the hour of trial arrives; it will also give us calmness of spirit, and therefore capacity for service and for pure enjoyment in the midst of life.C.

Luk 12:21

“Rich toward God.”

Jesus Christ is here drawing a contrast between the inward and the abiding on the one hand, and the outward and the perishing on the other hand. When he disparages the act of “laying up treasure for ourselves,” he does not mean to say either

(1) that material wealth is not of God, for it is he who gives us “power to get wealth” (Deu 8:18); or

(2) that the spiritual treasure a man secures is not “for himself,”indeed, that is the only treasure he can make permanently his own; he that is wise is wise for himself (Pro 9:12), and he has “rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” But Christ would have us regard material acquisitions as of very small account indeed in comparison with the enrichment of the soul in God, with spiritual wealth. To be rich toward God may include

I. A WEALTH OF RIGHT FEELING TOWARD GOD. There are certain thoughts and feelings which every intelligent being ought to cherish toward his Creator, in the absence of which he himself is poor, and in the presence of which he is rich. The more we have in our hearts of reverence for God; of trust in his Word of promise; of gratitude for his goodness and faithfulness; of love for him, our Father and our Savior; of filial submission to his holy will; of consecration to his cause and interest in the advancement of his kingdom,the more “rich we are toward” him.

II. WEALTH IN QUALITIES WHICH ARE DIVINE, or being rich in the direction in which God himself is rich. We cannot, indeed, hope to be rich in some of his attributes in majesty, in power, in wisdom. But there are qualities in him in which we may have a real and a valuable share. As God is rich in righteousness, in truth and faithfulness, in goodness and kindness, in mercy and magnanimity, so may we hope, and so should we strive and pray, that we may be “partakers of the Divine nature” in these things also. Illumined by his truth, guided by his example, and inspired by his Spirit, we may have a goodly share in these great and noble qualities.

III. WEALTH IN GOD HIMSELF; in the enjoyment of his Divine favor and friendship; in the indwelling of his Holy Spirit in our souls, being thus enriched with his abiding presence and his gracious influence; in the enlarging and elevating contemplation of his character and worship of himself.

1. Have we any treasure at all in God.? As the Church at Laodicea imagined itself to be spiritually rich when it was miserably poor (Rev 3:17), so may any Christian society of our own time; so may any individual member of a Church of Christ. If, in a searching and devout examination, we find that we are poor, there is nothing for us but to go to Jesus Christ anew, in humblest penitence and simplest faith and whole-hearted surrender.

2. Are we rich toward God? There are many degrees between beggary and wealth. We may not be absolutely destitute, and yet we may be far from rich toward God. We should aspire to “abound,” to “be enlarged,” to have a good measure of those qualities which constitute spiritual wealth. We must “buy of Christ” (Rev 3:18), that we “may be rich;” we must abide in him, and so “bring forth much fruit” (Joh 15:5).

3. If we are rich toward God we may thankfully rejoice. The man who is “laying up treasure for himself” may be essentially and radically poor; he may be securing that which will give him no happiness, but only be a burden and a bane to him; he must part with it all soon. But he who is “rich toward God” has that which is wealth indeed; has a treasure which will gladden his heart and brighten his life; has a joy and an inheritance which are his for ever.C.

Luk 12:22-30

Anxiety or trustfulness?

We read of “care-encumbered men;” and truly we see more than we could wish of them. As we look into the faces of those we meet daily, we are saddened with the thought that a great weight of care rests on our race as a heavy burden. And when we see, as we do, a few faces that wear the look of a sweet serenity born of holy trust in God, we askIs it necessary that such an oppressive burden should be borne by the children of men? Jesus Christ answers this question in the negative. He says that anxiety is quite needless to the children of God; he says, “Trust and rest; believe in God, and be at peace; recognize the power and the love of your heavenly Father, and do not be ‘greatly moved’ by temporal necessities.” And he reasons with us on the subject; he desires to prove to us the needlessness of anxiety in the presence of such a God and Father as is he whom we worship. He argues this-

1. FROM GOD‘S GREATER KINDNESS TO OURSELVES. (Luk 12:23.) Any one of our friends who would do us a very great kindness would certainly be prepared to render us a very small favor. To one who has done us a valuable service we should look with perfect confidence to do some slight office for us. The love which is equal to the one will be more than equal to the other. Now, God has given us life, and has been sustaining us in being by his constant visitation; he has given us our wonderfully constituted body, and he has been preserving it in health and strength for years. Will he who has conferred these great boons upon us withhold from us blessings so simple and so slight as food and raiment? “Is not the life more than meat [food], and the body than raiment?” Will he who grants the greater refuse the less?

II. FROM GOD‘S CARE OF THINGS THAT ARE OF LESS ACCOUNT THAN WE ARE. (Luk 12:24, Luk 12:27, Luk 12:28.) “Consider the ravens”birds of the air, creatures that are interesting in their degree, but unintelligent, unaccountable, perishable: God feeds them. “Consider the lilies, how they grow;” they do nothing for their clothing; and not only are they unintelligent and irresponsible like the birds, but they are unconscious, insentient things; yet they are exquisitely fair: God clothes them. If he takes thought for such creatures and for such things as these; if he concerns himself with that which is so much lower in the scale than are we, his own beloved children, created in his image and formed to share his own immortality, how certain it is that he will provide for us! The Divine wisdom that expends so much upon the lower will not neglect the higher.

III. THE COMPLETENESS OF OUR DEPENDENCE ON GOD. (Luk 12:25.) So completely are we in the hands of our Creator that we cannot, by any amount of thinking, “add one cubit to our stature.” Do what we may, try what we can, we are still absolutely dependent on God. It rests with him to decide what shall be the length of our days, what shadow or sunshine shall fall on our path, whether our cup shall be sweet or bitter. We are in his Divine hands; let us be his servants; let us ask his guidance and blessing; and then let us trust ourselves to his power and his love. And this the more that we should remember

IV. THE UNWORTHINESS OF GREAT CONCERN FOR SUCH TEMPORALITIES. To be greatly troubled about what we shall eat, or what we shall wear, or in what house we shall live,this is pagan, but it is not Christian; leave that to “the nations of the world” (Luk 12:30).

V. THE RELATION IN WHICH GOD STANDS TO US. (Luk 12:30.) This is that of an all-wise Father. “Our Father knows.” We are in the power of One who is perfectly acquainted with our circumstances and with ourselves; he will not deny us anything are need because he is ignorant of our necessity.; he will not give us anything that would be hurtful, for his fatherly love will constrain him to withhold it. We are immeasurably safer in his hands than we should be in those of the kindest of our human friends, or than we should be if it rested with our own will to shape our path, to fill our cup.C.

Luk 12:31

Service and sufficiency.

It has been much debated whether God should be represented as the Sovereign or the Father of mankind. It has been but a foolish strife; it has been another case in which both disputants have been right and both wrong. God is the Sovereign of the world, and a great deal more than that; God is the Father of men, and a great deal beside. He is a royal Father, or a fatherly King. The Lord’s Prayer might have taught us this: “Our Father thy kingdom come.” God is to us all and much more than all both these human relationships represent, only that one presents him in one aspect and the other in another. Here Christ invites us to think of him as a Sovereign; and we look at

I. THE KINGDOM OF GOD, of which we may become citizens. “Seek ye [the citizenship of] the kingdom of God.” Jesus Christ launched a perfectly new idea when he spoke of this kingdom. In his mind that was nothing less than a universal spiritual empire; a kingdom of peace, righteousness, and joy, wide as the world and lasting as time; a kingdom to be established without forming a regiment, or shaping a sword, or fashioning crown; a kingdom of God, in which all men of every land and tongue should own him as their rightful Sovereign, should cheerfully obey his righteous laws, should dwell together in holiness and in love.

II. THE ALLEGIANCE WHICH IS OUR SACRED DUTY. Christ summons us to citizenship. He says imperatively, “Seek ye the kingdom;” and he bids us seek entrance into it “rather” than pursue any earthly objects, rather than be anxiously concerning ourselves about temporal supplies. He indicates that this is something which has the first claim on our thought and on our endeavor. And so, indeed, it has. For God is that King

(1) without the exercise of whose sovereign power there would be no other kingdom, no subjects, no liberties, no riches, no honors, in fact, no being;

(2) to be disloyal to whom is the lowest depth of ingratitude, is the deliberate abandonment of the most bounden duty, the guilty severance of the most sacred tie. Being what he is to all men, and having done what he has wrought for all men, he rightly demands of us, through Jesus Christ, our fealty, our loyal service. To respond to this summons of the Savior and to become citizens of the kingdom of God, we must offer him something more than the honor of the bended knee, or the tribute of the acclaiming voice, or the service of the dutiful hand; we must bring the homage of the reverent spirit, the affection of the loving heart, the submission of the acquiescent will. And out of this inward and spiritual loyalty will proceed the praises of the tongue and the obedience of the life. Seeking the kingdom means a real returning of soul unto God and a consequent devoting of the rest of our life to his service.

III. CHRIST‘S PROMISE OF SUFFICIENCY to all loyal subjects. “All these things shall be added unto you.” It is well for the world that there is not attached to the service of Christ any very valuable and attractive treasures which are of this earth. If there were, we should have the Church choked with insincere and worldly minded members, paying as little devotion as they thought necessary for as much enjoyment and prosperity as they could reap. Christ has mercifully saved us from this calamity; but he has not found it needful to leave us without a provision for our need.

1. He has made present happiness an attendant upon virtue, and virtue is an appanage of piety.

2. But he has given us a promise and a pledge in our text. He assures to those who enter his holy kingdom not, indeed, luxury, not a large measure of prosperity and enjoyment on an earthly ground, but sufficiency. They who yield themselves to him and who live in his service may be well assured that they will want “no good thing;” nothing that would really make for their well-being will he withhold. All resources are at his disposal, and he will see that his children are supplied.

(1) Let none be kept out of the kingdom because they dread social or pecuniary evils; God will shield and save them.

(2) Let none who are in the kingdom despond, though circumstances are against them; at the right moment God will appear on their behalf; “goodness and mercy will follow them all the days of their life,” and attend them right up to the gates of the heavenly city.C.

Luk 12:35-40

Death a Divine visitation.

To us the coming of the Son of mart means the hour of death; that is the practical view and therefore the wise view of the subject And we may well regard our departure from this world as a coming of God to us.

I. DEATH AS A DIVINE VISITATION.

1. At death God comes to us all in judgment. Death is the appointed penalty of sin. It is true that the burden of that penalty is spiritual rather than material, and that God grants us a kind reprieve before he executes it; but still, in conformity with it, the accidents of death have to occur to us; that ancient sentence has to be fulfilled; the shadows of the last hour must fall around us; and whenever and however that may happen, with whatever mitigations, God will come to us then in solemn penalty, saying, “My child, thou hast sinned, and thou must die.”

2. At death God comes to us in providence.

(1) God has given to us a perishable frame, one that is only constructed to last for a term of years, that after a certain point begins to waste and wane

(2) He suffers, if he does not send, the special circumstances which lead up to death; at the least, he withholds the interposing act or suggestion which would prolong the life that is taken Man never “goes to his long home” but we may say, “Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.” On each such occasion the Son of man comes and says, “Put off thy tabernacle, and come within the veil.”

3. At death Christ comes to us in sacred summons In life God’s voice should be daily heard saying, “Put out those powers; use those opportunities; cultivate that spiritual nature I have entrusted to thee; serve thy brethren; glorify my Name.” But at death Christ comes to us and summons us to his presence; then we hear him say, “Give account of thy stewardship;” “Reap what thou hast sown.”

II. READINESS FOR DEATH A PART OF HUMAN WISDOM. “Let your loins be girded about be like men that wait for their Lord the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.”

1. It is true that there is usually less suddenness than there seems in cases of sudden death; on inquiry, it is nearly always found that there were premonitory signs of danger, kindly warnings from the Author of our nature, that the end was not far off it. But it is also and equally true that death is unexpected when it does arrive

(1) So do we cling to life, that we are not willing to acknowledge concerning ourselves the fact which is obvious to every one else respecting us.

(2) It is our mental habit to expect continuance where we ought to look for severance and cessation. The oftener we have crossed the decaying and breaking bridge, the more confidently we do cross it, though we know well that it is nearer than ever to its fall. We may be almost sure that, in whatever form and at whatever hour the Son of man comes to us, we shall be surprised at his appearance.

3. It will be a terrible thing to be unready; to have to do, if we can, in a few brief hours that for which a long life is not a day too long.

4. It will be a blessed thing to be ready for this vision of our Lord; not merely, nor chiefly, because we shall thus be enabled to cross, with calm hopefulness, into the other country, but because we shall then be ready for those high services and celestial honors which our gracious and generous Master intends to confer upon us (Luk 12:37).C.

Luk 12:49, Luk 12:50

Spiritual strenuousness.

Our Lord’s life deepened and enlarged as it proceeded, like a great and fertilizing river. And as conflict became more frequent and severe, and as the last scenes drew on, his own feeling was quickened, his spirit was aflame with a more ardent and intense emotion. We look at the subject of spiritual strenuousness

I. IN VIEW OF OUR LORD‘S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. In these two verses we find him passing through some moments of very intense feeling; he was powerfully affected by two considerations.

1. A compassionate desire on behalf of the world. He came to the world to kindle a great fire which should be a light to illumine, a heat to cleanse, a flame to consume. Such would be the Divine truth of which he came to be the Author, especially as it was made operative by the Divine Spirit whose coming should be so intimately associated with and should immediately follow his life work (see Luk 3:16; Act 2:3). As he looked upon the gross and sad darkness which that light was so much needed to dissipate, upon the errors that heat was so much required to purify, upon the corruption that flame was so essential to extinguish, his holy and loving spirit yearned with a profound and vehement desire for the hour to come when these heavenly forces should be prepared and be freed to do their sacred and blessed work.

2. A human lounging to pass through the trial that awaited him. “But”there was not only an interval of time to elapse, there was a period of solemn struggle to be gone through, before that fire would be kindled. There was a baptism of sorrow and of conflict for himself to undergo, and how was he “straitened” in spirit until that was accomplished! Here was the feeling of a son of man, but it was the feeling of the noblest of the children of men. He did not desire that it should be postponed; he longed for it to come that it might be passed through, that the battle might be fought, that the anguish might be borne. Truly this is none other than a holy human spirit with whom we have to do; one like unto ourselves, in the depth of whose nature were these very hopes and fears, these same longings and yearnings which, in the face of a dread future, stir our own souls with strongest agitations. How solemn, how great, how fearful, must that future have been which so profoundly and powerfully affected his calm and reverent spirit!

II. IN VIEW OF OUR OWN SPIRITUAL STRUGGLES. We cannot do anything of very great account unless we know something of that spiritual strenuousness of which our Lord knew so much.

1. We should show this in our concern for the condition of the world. How much are we affected by the savagery, by the barbarism, by the idolatry, by the vice, by the godlessness, by the selfishness, which prevail on the right hand and on the left? How eagerly and earnestly do we desire that the enlightenment and the purification of Christian truth should be carried into the midst of it? Does our desire rise to a holy, Christ-like ardor? Does it manifest itself in becoming generosity, in appropriate service and sacrifice?

2. We may show this in our anxiety to pass through the trial-hour that awaits us. Whether it be the hour of approaching service, or sorrow, or persecution, or death, we may, like our Master, be straitened until it be come and gone. Let us see that, like him, we

(1) await it in calm trustfulness of spirit; and

(2) prepare for it by faithful witness and close communion with God in the hours that lead up to it.C.

Luk 12:57

Individual responsibility.

“Why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?” Those to whom our Lord was speaking were men of intelligence, education, religious privilege. They exercised their mental faculties with great keenness on some subjects (Luk 12:54, Luk 12:55): why could they not recognize the supreme fact of their time, viz. that the Messiah was before them (Luk 12:56)? why did they not employ their powers to discern between the false and the true, between the evil and the good?

I. THAT WE MAY NOT DEVOLVE OUR ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HOLDING THE TRUTH on any one or any body of men. It has not been merely “the right of private judgment” which has been in question, which some have striven so hard to withhold, and which others have suffered so much to obtain or to preserve. It has been the sacred duty of determining for ourselves what is the mind and the will of God, the solemn obligation to put into use the talents he has committed to our care. We are to discharge this duty under all circumstances and whoever may propose to relieve us of it. We may not delegate it:

1. To the State. The State may prescribe Islamism in one region, Confucianism in another, Catholicism in a third; but we are not at liberty to make our religious creed depend on the latitude and longitude where we reside.

2. To the Church; or Jesus Christ himself would have been criminal, for he entirely disregarded the decision of the “council,” and the Christian Church has, in its collective capacity, spoken differently in different times and places.

3. To society; that is frequently at fault.

4. To the parent. For a time this is necessary, right, becoming, praiseworthy; but the time comes when the son must no longer shield himself behind his filial obedience, he must think and must decide for himself. If we are possessed of ordinary human powers and privileges we must “of ourselves judge what is fight.” It is a solemn burden, a sacred duty, which our Creator has laid on each human spirit he has called into being.

II. THAT GOD HAS GIFTED US WITH A SPIRITUAL NATURE for this very purpose. He has endowed us with reason, or with that faculty which intuitively perceives the great and deep truths which are presented to it; with conscience, the faculty which commends and condemns, filling with inward joy or inward pain; with judgment, the faculty that compares and concludes, and arrives at just decisions as to the thing that should be done, the way that should be taken. It is, indeed, only too true that a long course of sin will warp and degrade this spiritual nature of ours; but where there is as much enlightenment as the Jews of our Lord’s time had, and as we ourselves possess, we ought to be able by its means “to judge what is right.”

III. THAT THE HEALTHFUL ACTION OF OUR SPIRITUAL NATURE IS ONE LARGE PART OF OUR PROBATION. If “the light that is in us be darkness,” if our conscience is misdirecting us, it is because we have been wrong, it is because we have not been true to ourselves. Sin has weakened or even distorted our faculty of spiritual discernment. But if we are true to ourselves, if we

(1) honestly seek to know what the will of God is concerning ourselves and others;

(2) faithfully endeavor to do what we believe to be his will;

(3) earnestly ask for Divine guidance in our pursuit of wisdom;we shall be “led into the truth.” We may not see everything in the light in which other truehearted people see it, but we shall recognize those great leading truths which bring us into right relation to God, which constrain us to take a right attitude toward our brethren, which light up our earthly path and conduct us to our home.

1. We may not refuse our responsibility under any plea, not even that of humility. It would be pleasant to say, “We will leave to others who can do it better the work of deciding what is true, which message is from God, which path leads heavenwards.” But we may not say this without declining the sacred duty our heavenly Father devolves on each one of his children.

2. Accepting our post as truth-seekers, we must do our work conscientiously, thoroughly, without prejudice.

3. We may be sure that Christ will grant us all the Divine aid we need if we honestly endeavor and devoutly pray.C.

Luk 12:58, Luk 12:59

The inexorable.

From the lips of such a parabolic teacher as Jesus Christ we expect to have some striking illustration of a general principle, our duty being to detect that principle and to make our own practical applications of it. Here the great Teacher adduces an illustration drawn from the legal practice of his time; the general truth underlying it is evidently thisthat law is a rigorous thing, a broken law a terribly exacting thing; that, if we are in any danger of coming under its power, we should refrain from so doing with the greatest carefulness; that, if we do not act thus prudently, we must be prepared to pay a very heavy penalty a little way on. The principle applies to

I. A BREACH OF THE LAW OF PEACE. We are here in this world to sustain toward one another interesting and important relationships. It is the will of God that, in all of these, we should be actuated by the spirit and be ruled by the law of love, of kindness, of charity, of peace. But in this world of sin the Divine Law is continually broken, and the broken Law exacts a terrible penalty. What wretched homes it makes! what lamentable feuds in families! what miserable ruptures of friendship! what deplorable contentions even in Christian Churches! what social dissensions! what national and international strife! The violated law of love exacts “the uttermost farthing” from those who break it. Christ’s word of wisdom is thisLook to it at once; do not lose a day; fill up that little crack; tear up that small root; let everything, even devotion itself (Mat 5:24), give place to the sacred work of reconciliation; do your best, your quickest, your utmost, to heal the breach before it widens into a gulf, or the slight difference, the small suspicion, the trivial offense will grow and deepen, and hearts that once were the home of trust and love will become the haunts of doubt and enmity. Therefore agree with thine adversary quickly. The same principle applies to

II. A BREACH OF THE LAW OF VIRTUE. We owe it to ourselves to be temperate, truthful, pure, industrious; we owe it to others to be just, fair, kind, considerate; we are under law to be all thisthe sacred Law of God. This Law we break, and it becomes our “adversary;” it arraigns us as its debtors, and it makes us pay the penalty that is due. And what a penalty! In the bodydisease, pain, weakness, shattered nerves, death; in circumstancesloss, poverty, beggary; in reputationhumiliation and disgrace; in heartcompunction, agony of soul; in characterdeterioration, baseness, ruin. Christ says, “Beware of the first step; if tempted to violate any law of virtue of any kind, consider what you will have to pay a little further on; think how that broken law will rise against you and condemn you, and you will not escape until the last farthing has been paid.” If there should be any breach, however minute it may be, hasten to repair it.

III. A BREACH OF THE LAW OF PRIVILEGE. Privilege and peril, opportunity and obligation go together, like substance and shadow; they cannot be dissociated. From those to whom much is given will much be required (see Luk 12:47, Luk 12:48). It is a constant law, and its violation will be rigorously attended with penalty. If we neglect our privilege, if we abuse our opportunity, we must expect “many stripes,” the uttermost farthing of condemnation and retribution. We are the firstborn children of privilege; ours is the dispensation, the period, the land, the home of privilege. Ill will it fare with us if we pass on to the last tribunal and stand before the great Judge, not having repaired this breach, not having sought and found forgiveness for this great transgression.C.

HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR

Luk 12:1-12

A call to courage.

The commotion between the scribes and Pharisees and our Lord seems to have increased his audiences, as we find “an innumerable multitude,” as the Authorized Version has it, or “the many thousands of the multitude,” as the Revised has it, treading on one another in eagerness to hear him. And his subject at this time is importanta denunciation of Pharisaic hypocrisy and a call to courage under their certain opposition. And here we have to notice

I. THE CURE FOR HYPOCRISY. (Luk 12:1-3.) Our Lord brings this out in a distinct revelation that everything is yet to be dragged into the light of day. These are his words: “There is nothing covered [‘covered up,’ Revised Version’], that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.” There is nothing in nature which would lead us to such a wonderful truth; it is a matter of distinct revelation. Everything, it appears, is constructed on the public principle. We are all living public lives if we only knew it. All attempts at secrecy are destined to prove failures; consequently, hypocrisy is a mistake. It can impose only for a time; sooner or later it will be exposed and despised. Hence our Lord recommends the people to speak, if they have to do so, in the darkness only what they are willing should be heard in the light, and to whisper in closets only such things as may be proclaimed on the housetops. By God’s arrangement secrecy is impossible, and publicity the inevitable destiny of all and of everything. It is consequently this persuasion of ultimate publicity which constitutes the Divine remedy for hypocrisy. All hypocrisy proceeds from forgetfulness or disbelief of this.

II. THE EXPULSIVE POWER OF GODLY FEAR. (Luk 12:4, Luk 12:5.) Our Lord wishes to guard the people from the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, and also from cowardly fear of Pharisaic opposition. Accordingly, he points out that the Pharisees could at the very most kill the body; they have, after that, “no more that they can do.” But there is another One who can cast into “Gehenna” after he hath killed, and him they should fear. We discard the idea suggested by Stier and others that this is the devil; especially as courage is not likely to be created by substituting, for fear of diabolical men, the fear of the devil himself. This would be a poor basis for the martyr-spirit. We believe that the fear of man is to be expelled and supplanted by the fear of God, who can consign the soul to Gehenna after death. And our Lord shows here that the fear of God begins in dread of his infinite power. No soul, we suppose, ever turns to God without passing through this stage, however brier’ may be the sojourn in it. God’s vaster power makes the hostile power of mere men appear trifling, and we wisely resolve to have men for our enemies rather than God. But once this sense of God’s great power has overcome our craven fear of man, we begin to realize that we may have all his power on our side. He will pardon us and take us under his protection, and enable us to fear no evil. Godly fear, consequently, gets modified in our experience, and passes from slavish fear and dread into reverential and filial/bar of God as an almighty Father.

III. GOD‘S MICROSCOPIC AND PRESENT PROVIDENCE. (Luk 12:6, Luk 12:7.) The sparrows may be cheap in man’s estimationfive for two farthingsbut “not one of them is forgotten before God.” He caters for them. His providence is minute enough to take them under his wings. Men ought, therefore, to take courage from the assurance that, in God’s sight, they “are of more value than many sparrows.” And God’s oversight is so microscopic that he counts the very hairs of our head. Hence the contest with their Pharisaic and worldly foes is to be conducted under the sweet assurance that greater is he who is for them than all who are against them, and that his care is so minute as to extend to the numbering of the hairs of their head. A great Being on our side, so minute and careful in his interest, is fit to inspire with dauntless courage every one who realizes his presence by faith and trusts him.

IV. THE IMPORTANCE OF CONFESSING CHRIST. (Luk 12:8, Luk 12:9.) Our Lord further shows how important it is to confess him; but in the other life there is to be another confessionthe confession before the angels of the courageous souls who have confessed Christ here. On the other hand, there is to be a denial of the cowards who denied Christ here. Out of the publicity of the future life, therefore, our Lord draws such considerations as are fitted to rally souls around him in courageous confession. And there can be no doubt that this great publicity which our Lord locates in the future life is a fountain-head of courage for souls struggling with opposition. The highest type of courage can undoubtedly be produced through the doctrine of a future life with its rewards and punishments.

V. THE DANGER OF BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. (Luk 12:10.) The introduction of the Holy Ghost in connection with the Pharisaic opposition seems to have been suggested in this way: the Pharisees, not content with libelling and defaming Christ, professed to trace his power over demons to its source. This, they asserted, was not the Holy Ghost, but Beelzebub within him. That is to say, they attributed spiritual results to a diabolic origin. In this way they blasphemed the Holy Ghost. Now, our Lord, in his meekness and lowliness of mind, declares that there is forgiveness for unfair words against him, but warns those who are misinterpreting the Spirit’s work, that blasphemy against him if continued cannot be forgiven. Now, this subject of the unpardonable sin has given rise to much discussion, but, perhaps, the best view is that adopted by such men as Stier, Tholuck, Olshausen, Hahn, Julius Muller, and Hoffmann”an internal state of the highest sinfulness which cannot be changed, and shows itself in speech or action, resisting or deliberately setting the soul against the influences of the Holy Ghost.” Its practical value is immense. It should lead every thoughtful soul to guard against all trifling with or grieving of the good Spirit whose agency within us alone secures the victory over evil. The Pharisees were treading on the confines of the terrible sin in their denunciation of Christ, and the multitude Christ was addressing and all who have the offer of spiritual help should guard against all offense offered to the all-important Spirit.

VI. THE INSPIRATIONS TO BE EXPECTED FROM THE GOOD SPIRIT, (Luk 12:11, Luk 12:12.) The calumniated Spirit would sustain the confessors of Christ before their enemies, so that all the tried men had got to do was to rely on his inspirations, and they would never fail them. The Holy Ghost would prompt such words and thoughts as would secure on their part a good confession. And a similar aid is to be expected by all Christ’s witnesses as they confront the world. If we but rely on his help, he will never fail us. Of course, this does not encourage idleness and want of preparation for the emergencies of life. The Spirit is more likely to inspire a studious, careful, prayerful man than a self-reliant idler. But reliance on the Spirit’s inspirations must never be rendered needless or doubtful by any prudent forethought we entertain. We are to be organs of the Spirit, and ought to act worthy of our high calling.R.M.E.

Luk 12:13-21

A warning against covetousness.

Amid the important teaching of our Lord there comes an interlude by reason of a brother, who had been wronged out of his share of the inheritance, appealing for redress to Christ. He wanted our Lord to play the part of a small attorney and get conveyed to him some share. This our Lord deliberately declines to do, indicating that he has come into the world for higher work than worldly arbitration. This aspect of the subject has been well handled by Robertson of Brighton, and, following him, by Bersier of Paris. But our Lord does far better for the poor brother than if he had become arbitrator for him. He warns him against covetousness, and indicates that “a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” To back up the lesson, he relates a parable about a certain rich man whose whole concern was to multiply his possessions, but who is surprised by death while doing so. He leaves his wealth behind him, and enters the other world utterly poor. If by this timely warning our Lord succeeds in leading the claimant to the possession of better riches, then all will be well. And here we notice

I. A MAN CAN FEVER BE SATISFIED WITH THINGS. (Luk 12:15.) This is the great mistake men are making. They imagine that things can satisfy their hearts; whereas we are so constituted, with our affections and emotions, that fellowship with persons is indispensable to any measure of satisfaction, and to full satisfaction with no less a Being than God himself. All the effort, consequently, to be satisfied with things, with gifts, when the Giver is left out, proves vain. No abundance can satisfy the craving of the heart. And the feverish desire for more and more wealth on the part of worldly men demonstrates simply that they are on the wrong track altogether, and that satisfaction can never be found in things. Covetousness, consequently, as the idolatry of things, is a total mistake. It misinterprets human nature, and is doomed to terrible disappointment.

II. SUCCESS MAY DOOM MEN TO LIFELONG WRONG. (Luk 12:16-18.) The rich fool, as the man in the parable has been generally called, is overwhelmed by success. It outgrows his calculations. His barns are too small; they must be pulled down to allow of bigger barns being built, so that years of anxious labor are provided out of his inordinate success. He gets steeped to the lips in care. His life becomes a ceaseless worry. His grasping only secures his misery. It is truly lamentable to witness the self-inflicted wrong which worldly minds experience as they try to garner more and more of this world’s goods to the neglect of better things. How well our great dramatist understood this! In his poems Shakespeare says

“The profit of excess
Is but to surfeit, and such griefs sustain,
That they prove bankrupt in this poor-rich gain.
The aim of all is but to nurse the life
With honor, wealth, and ease, in waning age;
And in this aim there is such thwarting strife,
That one for all, or all for one, we gage,
As life for honor in fell battle’s rage,
Honour for wealth; and oft that wealth doth cost
The death of all, and altogether lost.”

III. IN THE CAREER OF SUCCESS THERE IS ONLY A VAIN DESIRE FOR REST. (Luk 12:19.) The soliloquy betrays the utter weariness of the man. After his bigger barns are built, away down the fretful years he will reach, he hopes, a time when he will be in a position to say to his soul, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” He longs for rest, but it will be years yet before he can think of it. All the worry and the fret of the interval must be passed before rest can come. His idea is to win rest by wealth; to buy it up by a certain measure of success. And the experience of all men is that rest is never got on this line at all. It is something that cannot be purchased, but must be God-given. How often do we see men who have retired with a competency at a loss how to kill time, and as weary and restless as ever!

IV. DEATH CUTS THE SOUL OFF AT ONCE FROM HIS WORLDLY POSSESSIONS. (Luk 12:20, Luk 12:21.) We never hear of millionaires carrying their money-bags with them. A moment after death Croesus is no richer than the beggar. The things which were so anxiously amassed remain to be divided among the heirs, while the owner goes out into another world absolutely penniless. The state to which death reduces him is pitiful indeed. Having forgotten God the Giver through occupation with his gifts, he faces his Judge without a single feeling or aspiration which, in God’s sight, is valuable at all. A miserable and wretched soul receives dismissal from the gracious God whose bounty was ignored and whose Being was despised.

V. HOW ALL–IMPORTANT IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES TO ACCEPT OF CONTENTMENT AND REST AS THE SAVIOUR‘S OFFERED GIFT. If the young man had accepted of contentment in place of cherishing covetousness, he would have been at ease at once. Rest of spirit and growth of spirit would thus have been secured, and he would have been on not only equal terms with, but most probably superior terms to, his more grasping brother. It is thus that Jesus deals with us. He can give us a present rest from sin, from worry, from care of all kinds, and make us rich in the sight of God. With the riches of the soul in graces and gifts, we may hope to pass into the Divine presence and enjoy the Divine society and escape being castaways.R.M.E.

Luk 12:22-40

Lessons from the fowls and lilies

Our Lord, having related the parable against covetousness, or the selfish use of money, proceeds in the present section to show how foolish the anxious thought is about these temporal things. And here we have to

I. CONSIDER HOW POOR THE LIFE IS. WHICH LAKES EATING AND DRESSING THE CHIEF THOUGHT. (Luk 12:22, Luk 12:23.) A man’s life is intended to be much more assuredly than this; and yet are there not some who have no thought beyond this? The weight of anxiety is purely secular and physical. The devotees of the table and of the fashions make eating and dressing all. Now, the idea of the passage is that no one is so circumstanced as to be compelled to think only or chiefly of food and raiment. There is not a poor man but may feel that he was born for higher thoughts and things than to “keep the pot boiling” and to have something seemly to wear! He can think of the government of the world, and gain insight into it. He can rise into the thought of the government of God’s kingdom, and the noble ideas it embodies. He can make ends meet without being the slave of circumstances and the creature of a day. He can walk among the eternities like others of his kind Hence we must be on our guard against such a low view of life as this purely secular and temporal one.

II. CONSIDER THE LESSON ABOUT FOOD FURNISHED BY THE FOWLS (Luk 12:24-26.) The fowls of the air are not “gentlemen at large,” but most patient gatherers of their food. Life is not a sinecure with them, but a season of continual work. True, they do not become anxious farmers, sowing seed or reaping harvests, or building and stocking barns. They are spared a world of anxiety, but they accept the world of provision as God gives it to them That which he gives they on unwearied wing gather. “God feedeth them” in the wisest way, and they accept it as he sends it. Moreover, the feeding of themselves is not their whole labor. There is much more in the bird’s day than the quest of food. Whether they appreciate the beauty about them or no; whether their thoughts are like ours as from dizzy heights we see magnificent landscapes or stretches of sea, we cannot of course tell; but one thing seems certain, that the birds realize something more in the make-up of life than the mere satisfaction of their appetites. Their lesson is, therefore, one about a busy life, a thoughtful life, not always occupied with the satisfaction of the flesh. Let us trust God more in temporal matters, and think more of eternal things; and then life will be more thoughtful and more happy. No amount of thinking will add a cubit to our stature; and no amount of anxiety will deliver us from life’s burdens. It is better to let God reign, and accept the conditions which in his wisdom he assigns.

III. CONSIDER THE LESSON ABOUT RAIMENT FROM THE LILIES.

Now, the analysis of heathenism will show that at heart heathen are secular. There is no better way of seeing this than by looking into their prayers. As one has said, “Idolatrous nations have in all places and in all ages prayed with unanimous voice that their god would give them health and physical force, riches, honor, pleasure, success; for it is indeed for these the pagans pray.” This is what composed the life of paganism for the most part, and does so still. There is all the more reason why the Lord’s little flock should trust him about the kingdom he has promised, and give themselves fearlessly to the bringing in of the kingdom from above. If we seek God’s kingdom and glory first, we shall find a sufficient amount of food and raiment stored for us by no niggard and no pauperizing hand.

V. CONSIDER THE BENEFIT OF ALMSGIVING. (Luk 12:33, Luk 12:34.) Now, by almsgiving we are to understand enlightened and not lackadaisical charity. It is the investment of love, the expenditure of money for God’s sake and for his kingdom. It is truly wonderful how all may become almsgivers. Is this not proof positive that God is a bountiful Provider? How is it that there is hardly one in this hard world but could give if he only tried? And what a transference of the heart’s affections this will secure! The heart no longer grovels amid the secular and temporal, but passes outward to the spiritual and eternal. Then the people whom we have tried to help, on the principle of giving “the greatest amount of needful help with the smallest encouragement to undue reliance on it,” will form for us a bright and wholesome field for thought and hope, and the building up of God’s kingdom shall be the result.

VI. CONSIDER THE DUTY or WAITING FOR THE ADVENT. (Luk 12:35-40.) From almsgiving our Lord proceeds to the duty of diligence in expectation of his advent. He has gone to attend a wedding, and will return when the marriage is complete, This has surely an instructive bearing upon the advent as subsequent to the completed plan about the bride, the Church. But what we have to notice is his readiness to serve the servants who are found faithful and diligent in his work. He has had a sufficiency at the wedding-feast; he can consequently wait at the supper-table of the servants. And what an honor it will be to receive such attention from the Lord himself! Let us, then, be semper paratus, and then, whether his advent be soon or late, we shall be overtaken by no surprise! R.M.E.

Luk 12:41-59

The glories and responsibilities of the Christian ministry.

The previous parable attracts Peter by reason of its glorious promise, and he accordingly wonders if it can apply to all believers or to the apostles only. Having asked our Lord, he receives light upon the responsibilities and glories of the ministerial office. From our Lord’s words we learn

I. IT IS CHRIST‘S WILL THERE SHOULD BE STEWARDS IN HIS CHURCH, WHOSE DUTY IT IS TO GIVE HIS PEOPLE MEAT IN DUE SEASON. (Luk 12:42-44.) This is the great design of the ministryto feed the flock of God. All other duties are subsidiary to this.. For souls need to be as regularly fed with truth as the body with food. To this end the Christian ministry should, therefore, direct all its effects, that the people may be fed. And need it be said that the truth which nourishes men’s souls is the truth as it is in Jesus? When Jesus is presented in the glory of his Person and offices, then the famished souls are saved and satisfied. Now, our Lord declares that the ministry will continue for such a purpose until his advent. The household of God will always need the food furnished by the ministry. No time will come when the ministry shall be superseded. And the ministers who are diligently employed at their teaching and feeding of souls when our Lord comes will find themselves blessed

(1) in their own experience, and

(2) in the magnificent promotion awaiting them,

Christ promises the faithful minister no less than universal influence. He is to be ruler over all he has. Others may have some influence, but a faithful minister will, in the world made new, have universal sovereignty. Ministerial influence is often incomparably the grandest and widest exercised among men in this life: how much more in the life and order which will be ushered in by the advent!

II. OUR LORD AT HIS ADVENT WILL MAKE SHORT WORK OF SPIRITUAL DESPOTS. (Luk 12:45, Luk 12:46.) Some in the ministry, it would seem, instead of living in expectation of the advent, will live as if the long-delayed advent would never come. In such a case selfish tyranny over the people committed to them will soon manifest itself; and upon the self-indulgent despot our Lord shall come suddenly, to appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. A ministry that is not earnest, but self indulgent and tyrannical, has before it a terrible doom.

III. HE ALSO SHOWS THAT JUDGMENT IN THE WORLD TO COME SHALT, BE GRADUATED ACCORDING TO DESERT. (Luk 12:47, Luk 12:48.) The difficulties about the Divine judgment have been partly owing to the forgetfulness of the fact that sinners are not to be cast indiscriminately into some common receptacle, but subjected to a series of graduated punishments of the most carefully adjusted character. The rhapsodies which are so plentiful against any thoroughness in punishing the impenitent are based mainly upon the false assumption of indiscriminating punishment. According to a person’s opportunities will be his doom.

IV. OUR LORD DECLARES THAT HIS PRESENT ADVENT MUST GENERATE OPPOSITION. (Luk 12:49-53.) The fire which our Lord came to kindle is that of spiritual enthusiasm; such a fire as burned in the disciples’ hearts as he spoke to them on the way to Emmaus; such a fire as was promised in the baptism with the Holy Ghost. Such incendiarism is just the blessed commotion the world needs. But in the kindling of the holy flame our Lord will have to pass through a bloody baptism. He sees how inevitable this dread experience is, and yet he pants for the cross which is to crown his work and revolutionize the world. The cross of Christ is really the great divider of mankind; by its instrumentality families are divided into different camps, and the battle of the truth begun. But the division Christ creates is infinitely better than the unity without him. Better far that we should have to fight for truth than that we should live, like lotus-eaters, through indifference towards or ignorance of it. The battle for Christ is wholesome exercise, and the victory at last is assured.

V. HE CHARGES THEM WITH MISUNDERSTANDING THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, WHILE THEY CAN APPRECIATE THE SIGNS OF THE WEATHER. (Luk 12:54-56.) He is now speaking to the people, and not to the apostles. He points out how they can anticipate shower and heat by certain signs on the face of nature. People become “weather-wise,” and can often show wonderful predictive power. And yet the times were providentially more significant than the weather. And before their eyes were hung the signs of a great contest between good and evil, between Christ and the world; and yet their hypocritical hearts would not allow them to appreciate the signs or take the proper side. It is a curious fact that many will study the laws of physical nature with intense interest and success, and yet neglect utterly those laws of the Divine government which involve the mightiest of revolutions. The hypocrisy of the heart is, our Savior here says, the secret of such inconsistent apathy.

VI. HE DECLARES THE URGENCY OF RECONCILIATION WITH GOD. (Luk 12:57-59.) The adversary, magistrate, and officer, are three individuals needful for the initiation and execution of human judgment. But the context shows that Jesus here refers to the Divine judgment which these hypocrites are courting. In this caseas Godet, in loco, observesthe adversary, judge, and officer are united in the Person of God. He is the Adversary to charge us with our defaults; he is the Judge to decide our guilt; he is the Officer to execute due vengeance on us in case we incur it. Christ consequently urges reconciliation with God without delay upon these hypocrites. To secure this he appeals to their conscience. They can surely come to this conclusion themselves, that, in opposing and persecuting him, they are not doing right. Their own inward monitor must witness to the guilt of their present course. Let them see to it, then, that they are delivered from their doom. Only one way is open, and that is by throwing themselves upon his mercy manifested in Christ. In this appointed way our Lord leaves them without excuse. There is surely a hopeless air about the terms of this judgment. The payment of the last mite is surely impossible in the prison-house of eternity, and current remedial programmes about the future life are but “will-o’-the-wisps” to lure thoughtless minds onwards towards doom! May we calculate upon no post-mortem reformation, but enter upon the pardon and spiritual progress God offers to us now!R.M.E.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Luk 12:1. When there were gathered together an innumerable multitude Many thousands of people; ; literally, many myriads.

Perhaps this vast assemblage of people might be owing to an apprehension, either that Christ might meet with some ill usage among so many of his enemies, or that he would say or do something peculiarly remarkable on the occasion. It was in the hearing of this vast assembly, that he gave his disciples in general a charge and exhortation, similar to that which he had given to the twelve apostles after their election. The precept, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, with which he began this charge, is similar to that which in the charge to the twelve runs thus, Be ye wise as serpents, and harmless as doves: Mat 10:16. For though the apostles and the disciples were to be remarkably prudent in their behaviour, yet the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy or deceit, was not to enter into the composition of their prudence; because hypocrisy is only an expedient to serve a turn, the mask being always torn from hypocrites sooner or later. See the parallel places.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Luk 12:1 . During what was narrated in Luk 11:53-54 ( ), therefore while the scribes and Pharisees are pressing the Lord after He has left the house with captious questions, the crowd, without number, had gathered together ( .), and now at various intervals He holds the following discourse, primarily indeed addressing His disciples ( , Luk 12:22 ), yet turning at times expressly to the people (Luk 12:15 ff., Luk 12:54 ff.), and in general in such a manner (Luk 12:41 ) that the multitude also was intended to hear the whole, and in its more general reference to apply it to themselves. With the exception of the interlude, Luk 12:13-21 , the discourse is original only in this way, that very diverse, certainly in themselves original, fragments of the Logia are put together; but when the result is compared with the analogous procedure of Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew is found to be the more original of the two. Among the longer discourses in Luke none is so much of a mosaic as the present. Although the historical situation of Luk 12:1 is not invented, yet by the designed and plainly exaggerated bringing together of a great multitude of people it is confused. It would be too disproportioned an apparatus merely to illustrate the contents of Luk 12:2 f. (Weizscker).

] The article denotes the innumerable assembled mass of the people (very hyperbolically, comp. Act 21:20 ).

. .] , Theophylact.

] He began , pictorial style.

] before all , is to be taken with , comp. Luk 9:61 , Luk 10:5 ; Gersdorf, p. 107. It does not belong to what precedes (Luther, Bengel, Knapp, Schulz, Scholz, Paulus, Lachmann, Tischendorf), in connection with which it would be absolutely superfluous, although A C D , etc., do take it thus. Ewald well says, “As a first duty.”

] see on Mat 16:6 ; Mar 8:15 . Here also is not meant the vice of hypocrisy (the usual interpretation), because in that case the next clause would have (with the article); but it glances back to the subject of the previous conversation at the table, [152] and means: the pernicious doctrines and principles . Of these He says: their nature is hypocrisy ; therein lies what constitutes the reason of the warning ( , quippe quae ).

[152] Therefore not to be interpreted of the Judaizers of the apostolic times (Weizscker, p. 364); just as little is Luk 16:14 .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

4. For what the Disciple of the Saviour has, and for what he has not, to take care (Luk 12:1-34)

1In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude [lit., the myriads] of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which Isaiah 2 hypocrisy. For [But1] there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, 3that shall not be known. Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the house-tops. 4And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him [this one, ]. 6Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? 7But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. 8Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me [have confessed] before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: 9But he that denieth 10[hath denied] me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be, forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth [hath blasphemed] against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. 11And when they bring you unto [before] the synagogues, and unto [before] magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer [in your defence], or what ye shall say:2 12For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

13And one of the company said unto him, Master [Teacher], speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14And he said unto him, Man, who made [appointed] me a judge or a divider over you? 15And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of [all3] covetousness: for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground 17[estate; lit., place, ] of a certain rich man [had] brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow [deposit] my fruits [or, crops]? 18And 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. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required [lit., they require] of thee: then whose shall those things be, which 21thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

22And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought [Be not anxious] for your [the4] life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 23The life is more than meat [food], and the body is more than raiment [apparel]. 24Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls 25[birds]? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature [length of life, ] one cubit?5 26If ye then be not able to do [even] that thing which is least, why take ye thought [are ye anxious] for the rest? 27Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not [how they neither toil nor spin, V. O.6]; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28If then God so clothe the grass, which is to-day in the field,7 and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? 29And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or [and8] what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.9 30For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and [or, but] your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. 31But rather seek ye the kingdom of God [seek ye 32his kingdom10]; and all [om., all] these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags [purses] which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth 34[destroyeth]. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

GENERAL REMARKS

1. Although there is no lack of able attempts so to unite the different elements of discourse in Luke 12 that therein a logical connection shall become possible (Olshausen, Stier, Lange, a. o.), yet in our eyes the view is more probable that this whole chapter exhibits a chrestomathic character; in other words, that Luke here places together different admonitions and warnings of the Saviour which actually, according to the other Evangelists, were at least in part delivered on very different occasions. Without doubt the Saviour in this period of His life delivered a detailed discourse before the ears of a numerous multitude, in which He expressly warned against the Pharisaical leaven, Luk 12:1. Yet even Luk 12:3-9 remind us, as respects contents and course of thought, too strongly of Mat 10:26-33 for us to be able to find here anything else than a modified redaction of the sayings given by Matthew in the right place. Luk 12:10 stands here much less congruously than Mat 12:31-32. The promise, Luk 12:11-12, appears also in Luke, Luk 21:14-15, while we have met with it in a very fitting connection in Mat 10:19-20. If we, therefore, will not assume that the Saviour uttered it three times, we shall be obliged to suppose that it does not stand here, Luk 12:11-12, in its right place. We come thus almost to the view of De Wette, in reference to the words of Jesus contained in this chapter, when he, with it is true not wholly fitting expression, declares: mostly compiled, only Luk 12:13-21 peculiar. The parable of the Rich Fool belongs exclusively to Luke, and since he does not give an intimation that it was originally delivered in another historical connection, we are at full liberty to connect it with this course of thought. In reference to Luk 12:22-24, on the other hand, we cannot regard it as very probable that the Saviour should have twice adduced the very same example from the realm of nature, in warning His disciples against unprofitable care (comp. Mat 6:22-34), while besides this it appears that the thoughts in Matthew are rendered much more naturally and correctly than in Luke. Much more simple is the view that of such words of the Saviour more than one redaction has been preserved by the Evangelists, who certainly in the statement and transcription of His utterances were no more destitute of the guidance of the Holy Spirit than in the delineation of His deeds and destiny. Luk 12:32 again is to be found only in Luke, as well as alsoto speak here of the contents of the second half of this chapterLuk 12:35-38; Luk 12:47-48, in this form is only communicated by him. Luk 12:39-46 have again so manifest a coincidence with Mat 24:42-51 that in all probability it belongs originally to the last eschatological discourse of the Saviour. To a similar result do we come if we compare Luk 12:49-53 with Mat 10:34-36 (comp. Luke 20, 22), Luk 12:54-56 with Mat 16:2-3, and Luk 12:58-59 with Mat 5:25-26. It is certainly conceivable that the Saviour uttered all this twice or oftener before different hearers, and not impossible, if one places this hypothesis in the foreground, to find then the leading thread also which more or less closely joins together all these heterogeneous elements of discourse: but is it not much more simple to assume that the same saying of the Lord has been given by each of the different Evangelists under higher guidance in his own way, in which case it must be left to a discerning criticism in particular cases to investigate which form is most original? In each particular case so to decide the matter that not the least uncertainty shall remain, will perhaps, and probably, always remain impossible. In the lack of trustworthy historical data, subjective opinion always has more or less play, and dogmatics exercises even unconsciously its influence upon harmonistics. Commonly, however, at least as respects this our chief point, a consideration free of prejudice will lead to the conclusion that the most of the here-cited sayings are given by Matthew in a connection which has the greater probability for itself. This, however, does not hinder us from acknowledging that the way in which they are communicated and arranged by Luke, gives us sometimes a deeper view into the unspeakable riches of the words of the Eternal Word. Therefore, without every time inquiring as to the connection in which they have been preserved elsewhere, we take them up simply as Luke communicates them to us.

2. As respects now Luk 12:1-34 in particular, we will, in order to be able better to survey the rich matter contained in this portion of the discourse, divide it into three parts. In the first, Luk 12:1-12, the tone of warning predominates; in the second, Luk 12:13-21, we perceive a tone of instruction, while in the third, Luk 12:22-34, a tone of encouragement and comfort becomes evident.

a. Warning Against The Temper Of The Pharisees, And Commendation Of The Opposite Character (Luk 12:1-12)

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luk 12:1. In the mean time, .Manifestly we have so to conceive the matter that while the Pharisees were occupying themselves with ensnaring questions and plotting, the throng around the Saviour was increasing with every moment. There is no actual ground to consider even the mention of the myriads as hyperbolical (Meyer), although undoubtedly it was still farther from being a strictly arithmetical computation. Comp. Mat 4:23-25; Mar 3:20; Mar 4:1. We have here manifestly arrived at a point of the history in which the extremes of love and hatred towards the Saviour extensively and intensively have reached the highest pitch.

First of all.Thus does the Saviour begin to speak to His disciples, and exhibits hereby His forbearance and self-control, in that He at this moment, when the Pharisees are inflamed with blind rage against Him, does not turn Himself directly to the masses with His warning. not to be joined with . (Luther, Bengel, Knapp, a. o.), which would be partly obscure, partly purposeless, partly also without example; but with =Luk 9:61. After that which had just taken place, the Saviour has no warning so much at heart as just this.

Of the leaven.Comp. Mat 16:6. As appears from the conversation after the second miracle of the Loaves, the Saviour designated by the leaven of the Pharisees their doctrine, and this not in general, for then it would have contained also pure Mosaic elements, but so far as it had been disfigured by the spirit of their sect. It is thus probable, even a priori, that He, inasmuch as He was at a former time zealous against this , now also has this doctrine in mind. On this ground we must fully subscribe to the penetrating remark of Meyer: Here also it is not hypocrisy that is meant (as commonly explained), because otherwise afterward (with an article) would have to stand, but the pernicious doctrines and ordinances of the Pharisees upon which Jesus but just before had been debating at table. Of this He says: Their essence is hypocrisy, which gives an element of the warning with the ground on which it rests.

Luk 12:2. There is nothing covered.Comp. Mat 10:26. As hypocrisy in itself is not permitted, Luk 12:1, so is it besides fruitless, since the truth sooner or later comes to light.Concealedhidden (with entire generality of meaning), both from God and man. Nothing,Good as well as Evil; that which is greatest as well as that which is least.

Luk 12:3 : Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness.A singular statement, if we bring it exclusively into connection with the apostolic , for we read indeed of the Saviour that He preached to His disciples in the ear (Mat 10:27), but their preaching was from the beginning destined to the greatest publicity. Therefore the opinions (De Wette: an incongruous expression. Bengel: cum timore aliquo. Meyer: All that yeon account of persecutionsshall have taught in secret, willat the victory of My causebe proclaimed with the greatest publicity.). This whole antithesis of persecution and victory is, however, plainly gratuitous. But why, moreover, is it necessary to understand here so decidedly the apostolic ? It is much more simple if we understand in general all which, whether by the apostles or by the people, Luk 12:1, has been spoken in secret and is hereafter to be brought to the light. Luk 12:2, it is said of everything hidden that it shall come to the light; Luk 12:3, more definitely of the hidden words of each one. By this reminder hypocrisy is opposed in its deepest grounds, and even before the apostles could come into the temptation of concealing truth from the fear of man, it is indicated to them in Luk 12:4-5, whom they must not fear, and whom they must beyond question fear.

Luk 12:4. Be not afraid.Comp. Mat 10:28. We have here the question, who is meant by the name: , God or Satan? The majority of commentators have, in agreement with the exegetical tradition, decided in favor of the former view; some voices have been raised for the latter (Olshausen, Stier, Lange, L. J. ad loc., Besser, Arndt, Riechel, Van Oosterzee, L. J.). After the retractation of Lange, also, on Matthew ad loc., we cannot but assusme that the truth is on the side of the minority. Grounds: 1. Fear can only be here interpreted in one sense, in that of being afraid of, being on ones guard; for this certainly the word denotes in the first part of the admonition, and he whom man has to fear, , cannot be the Supreme Love, but must necessarily be Satan. It is true, there is a distinction in the construction. We have first: , …, then: , … Bengel already remarked: Plus est, timeo illum, quam timeo ab illo. But the Saviour uses in the connection of the parallel passage, Mat 10:26, with the accusative also in the sense of being afraid, and the (in Matthew) plainly intimates that here an increase of fear (of being afraid) unto yet much greater fear takes place; that the Saviour, therefore, does not give His disciples the admonition in order, instead of the first named feeling, to awaken another within them, but on the other hand to cherish the same fear in yet much higher degree.

2. Besides, Satan is the proper soul-murderer, even as men are murderers of the body: but of God it is never said that He destroys the soul. To the objection that the devil nowhere appears in Scripture as the one who damns to hell (Olshausen), we must answer that he appears here not as judge, but as executor of the retributive judgment of God, under His special permission. [Where in the New Testament is the medival notion of the devil as Gods bailiff, or executioner, countenanced?C. C. S.] The body he kills through men who are his instruments, Joh 8:40-41; the soul he destroys through the deadly destruction of sin. From among the many foes who could do them great harm, the Saviour brings one forward who was capable of inflicting the greatest of all upon them, and whom they accordingly must fear much more. Therefore He adds, according to Luke, with visible intensity: Yea, I say unto you, fear him. Whoever can think of the Heavenly Father, we understand not how his ear can hear. Stier.

3. Least of all does such a designation of the Father belong to a discourse in which the Saviour speaks to His friends, for their encouragement, of a special Providence, which has numbered even the hairs of their head. On all these grounds we here understand the fearful unnamed and yet well-known One, whose kingdom is hell, who here already beguiles the soul and there forever tortures body and soul. Besser. [Hell is described as the place of Satans punishment; where is it described as the place of his dominion?C. C. S.] The Saviour wishes to fill His disciples with holy fear: That the evil enemy may not beyond deliverance devour their soul to destruction. Lange, Bibl. Gedichte. Or, if any one, perchance, finds a difficulty in this that He addresses such a warning to His disciples, then may we remark with Chrysostom: ; . . , . , . , , , . Homil. VI. ad popul. Antioch., tom. vi., p. 560. Yet enough already to justify our doubt that here the friends of Jesus are required to fear God, who in the immediately following verse is, on the other hand, represented as the object of their child-like trust, Ab utraque parte saltem disputari potest.

[The following remarks on the parallel passage in Matthew appear to me to present in a clear light the inadmissibleness of the authors interpretation.C. C. S.
Stier designates it as the only passage of Scripture whose words may equally apply to God and the enemy of souls. He himself is strongly in favor of the latter interpretation, and defends it at much length; but I am quite unable to assent to his opinion. It seems to me at variance with the connection of the discourse, and with the universal tone of Scripture regarding Satan. If such a phrase as could be instanced as= ., or if it could be shown that anywhere power is attributed to Satan analogous to that indicated by . . . . ., I should then be open to the doubt whether he might not here be intended; but seeing that , indicating terror, is changed into , so usually followed by in a higher and holier sense (there is no such contrast in Luk 12:26, and therefore that verse cannot be cited as ruling the meaning of this), and that God Alone is throughout the Scripture the Almighty dispenser of life and death, both temporal and eternal, seeing also that Satan is ever represented as the condemned of God, not . , I must hold by the general interpretation, and believe that, both here and in Luk 12:3-7, our Heavenly Father is intended as the right object of our fear. As to this being inconsistent with the character in which He is brought before us in the next verse, the very change of construction in would lead the mind on out of the terror before spoken of, into that better kind of fear always indicated by that expression when applied to God, and so prepare the way for the next verse. Besides, this sense is excellently in keeping with Luk 12:29 in another way The parallel passage, Jam 4:12, even in the absence of other considerations, would be decisive. Full as his epistle is of our Lords words from this Gospel, it is hardly to be doubted that in , he has this very verse before him. This Stier endeavors to escape by saying that , barely, as the opposite to , is far from being = in a context like this. But as connected with , what meaning can bear except that of eternal destruction?Alford.]

Luk 12:6. Five sparrows.A beautiful version of the same saying, Mat 10:29. So insignificant is the worth of sparrows in daily life, that whoever buys them for twopence gets one into the bargain, and yet what is regarded among men as almost worthless is with God in heaven not forgotten. To the disciples it is left to calculate how far they excel such sparrows in value.

Luk 12:8. Also I say unto you.The repetition several times of this announcement is also to the attentive hearer a proof that here different sayings of the Saviour, originally belonging in an entirely different connection, are chrestomathically put together. With this also the anxious inquiry after the connection between this and the immediately preceding admonition falls away. Respecting the matter itself, the courageous confession of Christ, see the remark on Mat 10:32, and on Luk 9:26. Here it is especially the reward of a confession coram angelis; in the parallel passage in Matthew, on the other hand, that of a confession coram Patre.

Luk 12:10. But unto him that hath blasphemed against the Holy Ghost.Respecting the sin against the Holy Spirit, comp. Lange on Mat 12:31-32, and the authors there stated. As entirely inadequate we may consider the view that this sin is nothing else than the ascribing those miracles to the power of the devil which Christ wrought by the power of the Holy Spirit. Wesley. It must be placed entirely in one line with the sin which cannot be forgiven, and of which the Scriptures speak also in other places, Heb 10:26; 1Jn 5:16. Only then, however, can we speak of the sin against the Holy Spirit where a high measure of religious enlightenment and development exists; and in opposition to the not knowing of that which one does, Luk 23:34, we have here to understand fully conscious and stubborn hatred against God and that which is Divine as it exists in its highest development. The highest grace alone makes the deepest apostasy possible, and only he who has reached an important height can plunge into such a depth. Before his conversion Paul blasphemed the Son of Man and it was forgiven him; had he kicked against the pricks, suppressed with all his might the impression received, then would he have committed the sin which cannot be forgiven. Of Judas we might perhaps say that he committed this sin, and refer to the judgment which, Mat 26:24, is uttered concerning him.As respects the punishment for this sin, we have to bear in mind the word of Augustine (De Civit. Dei. xxi. 24): neque enim de quibusdam veraciter diceretur, quod eis non remittetur, neque in hoc sculo, neque in futuro, nisi essent, quibus, etsi non in isto, tamen remittatur in futuro. A brief but good description of the nature of this sin is given by Stier, ii. p. 44. Respecting the distinction between the Reformed and Lutheran expositors, of whom the former believe that no regenerate person, the latter that such alone, can fall into this sin, we cannot here speak. The grounds for the opinion of the latter are found in Stier and Olshausen; those of the opposite views in J. Muller, Christ. Lehre von der Snde, ii. p. 566.

Luk 12:11. Before the synagogues.One may not unjustly doubt whether the former warning against the sin against the Holy Spirit was wholly congruous for the faithful, devoted disciples of the Saviour; this promise, on the other hand, is very definitely given with reference to their future calling as preachers of the Gospel. The accumulation of expressions is especially adapted to indicate to them that they would be cited not only before Jewish but also before heathen tribunals, and the here-given promise of the Holy Spirit is of such a kind that it promises to them a direct immediate help from above for all cases in which they could need it. Although, however, this help is here limited to that which they should say in their defence, it is understood without doubt that this defence of the apostles was at the same time a testimony, , in the most exalted sense of the word, and that the assistance already promised them for the lesser should be far less still withheld for the higher. The Book of Acts is an uninterrupted and continuous exposition of the significance and force of this saying. Comp. especially the apologetic discourses of Peter and Paul. Therefore, with right, Bengel: aut quid dicatis etiam prter apologi necessitatem.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. It is by no means accidental that in one of the discourses of the Lord the warning against the , stands in the foreground. Hypocrisy is only one of the many sins which He rebukes and opposes in those called to His kingdom; but it is the sin which exceeds all others in meanness, and is in the most irreconcilable conflict with the fundamental law of the kingdom of truth. In the Christian sphere also the Old Testament declaration holds good, Deu 18:13; Psa 51:10.

2. It is well known how high a rank the mysteries occupy in the heathen religions of antiquity. Those initiated into them believed themselves to have attained a higher degree of piety; from the familiar they mounted up into the region of the unfamiliar, which no uninitiated foot ever dared tread, no indiscreet tongue betray. But in the Christian sphere precisely the opposite is the case. Here the is not the higher but the lower degree, and not into the chambers but upon the housetops are His followers directed; a proof at the same time of the fact that the restoration of the heathen mysteries in the bosom of the Catholic Church is in principle against the original spirit of Christianity, and that secret orders, that do not venture to come to the light with that which they actually profess or do, have to fear His veto who demanded publicity in the noblest sense of the word, and whose cause more than any other is worthy to face the brightest light.

3. There are words of the Saviour which are best understood and estimated when they are read in the light of a clear starry heaven. To this belongs also the saying of the sparrows and the hairs of the head. When I consider Thy heavens the work of Thy fingers, the moon and stars which Thou hast ordained: what is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou hast numbered the hairs of his head? In order, however, rightly to estimate the whole comfort of this doctrine of a providentia specialissima, we must never forget that the Saviour here speaks to His friends, who precisely as such were the objects of the special providence of God.

4. The immortality of the soul in the philosophical sense of the word is as far from being expressly taught and proved by the Saviour as the being and the unity of God; ordinarily He presupposes what indeed cannot be doubted. Not the purely negative conception of immortality, but the positive conception of resurrection and eternal life, stands in the Scriptures of the New Covenant in the foreground. But for this reason we may the less fail to notice that He at least once has in so many words declared that the soul, which is definitely distinguished from the body, can in no case be destroyed. The New Testament Demonology also receives by this saying an important degree of light, and the admonition which He gives to His disciples, that they should be perpetually on their guard against Satans craft and might, they in their turn hold up before their fellow-believers, Eph 6:10; 1Pe 5:8; Jam 4:7, et alibi.

5. The sin against the Holy Spirit may in no wise (as e.g. Colani does) be made equivalent to the sin against ones own conscience. Conscience speaks even in the breast of the rudest heathen; against the Holy Spirit, however, no one can sin who does not already possess more than usual knowledge and experience of the power of Christian truth.

6. Not unjustly is the Saviours promise of the assistance of the Holy Spirit regarded as one of the strongest grounds of the high authority in which the word and writings of the apostles stand. Especially according to the parallel in Mat 10:19-20, is that which this Spirit speaks in them definitely distinguished from the utterances of their own individual consciousness. The manner of the Spirits working may be incomprehensible; but so much we see at once, that we have here to understand an entirely extraordinary immediate influence; for it was to be given them . The promise of this assistance extended as well to the substance as to the form of their language ( ), and this help was to support them so mightily (comp. Luk 21:14-15) that it would be morally impossible for their enemies to persevere in offering them resistance. At the same time this help is promised them for everything which they had to say, not alone respecting their own persons, but also concerning the cause of their Lord. Their writings also, in which this apology of their faith is stated according to the varying necessities of the time, are entirely the faithful expression of that which the Spirit gave them in such moments to ponder, to speak, to write; and this whole promise, communicated by all the Synoptics, is only the brief summary of all that which the Saviour in His parting discourse in John has brought into view in greater detail in reference to the Paraclete.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The opposition in principle between Pharisaism and Christianity.How the hypocrite stands related to the Saviour and the Saviour to the hypocrite.Mysteries whose distinction it is to remain concealed to eternity, the kingdom of heaven does not contain.Secret speaking and acting must be an exception; sincerity and publicity must be the rule with the disciples of the Saviour.No fear before many enemies, but only before an adversary fearful beyond measure.The might of Satan: 1. Its extent; 2. its ground; 3. its limits.Watchfulness against the enemy of souls united with child-like confidence in the Father of spirits.The rule of God in little things.The arithmetic of the Saviours disciple.The least is great, the greatest is little before God.The life of the Christian is invaluable.The comfort which a look at sparrows and at the hair of the head can give to the disciple of Christ. How much higher do we stand as: 1. Rational beings; 2. as immortal beings; 3. as purchased by the blood of the Son of God; 4. as called to likeness with God. Therefore is it impossible that He who numbers the sparrows should forget the man, the Christian.The holy function of the Christian to confess his Lord. This function has: 1. A broad extent; 2. unquestionable right; 3. incomparable importance.According to that which we are here before the Lord can we already judge what hereafter to expect from Him.How far does even the disciple of the Saviour still need a warning like the Pharisees (Mat 12:31-32) against the sin against the Holy Spirit?The sin which cannot be forgiven: 1. There is only one sin which absolutely cannot be forgiven; 2. it is now as ever possible to commit this sin; 3. the judgment upon it is perfectly righteous; 4. the mention of it is now as ever fitting: a. in order to give a salutary disquiet to individuals; b. in order to give a settled composure to troubled souls.The Holy Spirit the best apologist of the threatened cause of the Saviour: 1. How far this promise regards exclusively the apostles and has been fulfilled in them; 2. how far it holds good of all believers and may be used also for their advantage.

Starke:Who does not teach aright, he also lives not aright; and who does not live aright, he also does not teach aright.Quesnel:The saints avoid not the light, and do nothing of which they must be ashamed before Gods judgment.Hedinger:Gods proclamation of grace is no secret of alchemy, but every one is to know and understand it.The marvellous simplicity which is found in the Gospel, Psa 19:9.Brentius:If servants and children of God have much of the suffering of Christ, they are also richly comforted through Christ.The soul has its own individual existence; therefore it may fare well or ill with it when it is separated from the body.Nova Bibl. Tub.:It is impossible that God should leave those that trust in Him.Everything, even the least of things, that happens to man is Gods ruling.It is not enough to believe with the heart on Jesus, but we must also resolutely and joy fully confess Him with the mouth before the world.There is a sin greater than others, and also worthy of heavier punishment.Majus:Every Christian must be ready to give account of his hope, 1Pe 3:15.The great ones of the earth have been from the beginning for the most part great enemies to Christ and His Gospel.The inner ministry of the Holy Ghost is very closely connected with the outer, and must not remain separated from it, 1Ti 6:3-5.

Palmer (on the parallel, Mat 10:26-33):The Lords might and mens impotency: 1. His work He accomplishes, and man cannot hinder it; 2. His faithful ones He protects, and man cannot hinder it; 3. the unfaithful He overthrows, and man cannot hinder it.Van Oosterzee:The government of God takes note of trifles. This is truth: 1. Too sure for doubt; 2. too glorious to be slighted; 3. too instructive to be forgotten.Beck:Whence comes true courage?

b. the parable of the rich fool (Luk 12:13-21)

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luk 12:14. And He said.Entirely without reason has the historicalness of the occasion for this parable of the Rich Fool been brought in doubt by De Wette; to us, on the other hand, this trait appears to be probable, and to have been taken from life. But certainly the speaker here appearing is no familiar friend of Jesus (Kuinoel), but a stranger, who perhaps among the myriads, Luk 12:1, had heard the Saviour for the first time, and while He was speaking of heavenly things had been brooding over earthly. Struck by the might of the personality of the Nazarene, he had considered within himself whether His influence might not perhaps best bring to a happy conclusion the existing family strife. At the same time, this instance shows in a peculiar manner how parties were continually defining themselves more and more sharply for and against the Saviour, inasmuch as in the very place where they had embittered even His meal (Luk 11:37), there is given Him a special proof, undoubtedly of strong cleaving to earthly things, but quite as much of personal confidence. From the warning against avarice which the Saviour, Luk 12:15, subjoins, we have not necessarily to draw the conclusion that the petitioner had in mind a thing in and of itself unrighteous.

Man.The answer exhibits no personal displeasure of the Saviour against the bearer of the unseemly request, but only shows that the Saviour was by no means minded to enter upon a sphere which could not possibly be His own. His answer involuntarily reminds us of the language which once an Egyptian uttered to Moses, Exo 2:14.

Luk 12:15. Take heed and beware of covetousness.Not only of covetousness which has just before appeared in the definite form of cleaving to a disputed inheritance, but of all exaggerated love of earthly possession. If the petitioner (Luk 12:13) still remained in the circle of the hearers, the Saviour here renders him a better service than if He had made him rich; He will heal him of his chief malady. To this end serves the parable of the Rich Fool, which Luke alone has preserved, and of which it is not unjustly affirmed, It is scarcely to be called a parable, so distinctly does it of itself and without any diversion of thought set forth the relation to God (Riggenbach).

For a mans life which he possesseth.A difficult sentence, in which however the reading of Tischendorf, , appears to deserve the preference above that of Lachmann, . The best construction, on the whole, appears to be this: (infinitive for the substantive) . is not here to be taken in the sense of the happiness of life but = , as Schott paraphrases: siquidem quando quis bonis abundat, tamen vita ejus a bonis minime pendet. Not from the possession of many goods, but from the will of God, who lengthens or shortens the thread of life, does it depend whether one remains long and quietly here in life or not. One may be preserved in life without possessing goods, and also remain in the possession of goods and unexpectedly lose life. That riches in and of themselves do not give happiness is undoubtedly true, yet not the chief thought of this parable.

Luk 12:17. The estate of a certain rich man.Probably a quite considerable space of ground, not , but . Not without intention does the Saviour choose as His example a man who gathers his riches in a customary, legitimate, apparently innocent way. Modus hic ditescendi innocentissimus et tamen periculosus. Bengel. The first thing which is lacking to this fortunate rich man is complete contentment.

What shall I do?With discontent is joined anxiety and perplexity, since he does not know how he shall manage with his treasures. A similar perplexity to that which is related, Mar 16:3, in which, however, God does not come into the midst and give help. That his increased prosperity offers him opportunity to do something for his poor brethren, does not even come into his mind; selfishness strikes the key-note, even in the four times recurring : , …

Luk 12:18. I will pull down my barns.By a forcible tearing down, therefore, he believes he shall open the way to his happiness. The were for the most part subterraneous dry vaults. It is possible that the Rich Fool is thinking of enlarging them, but also that he is of a mind to build up greater from the foundation. Here also there is not the least mention of the poor, but, on the other hand, an emphatic exaltation of his as his highest earthly .

Luk 12:19. Soul.To the continuing discontent and rising care of the rich man is added now the self-deceit of the falsest hope. Unconsciously he confesses that he has hitherto not yet found the long sighed-for rest, but expects it, and that for a long time, when the intended work shall have been entirely completed. Very finely, Meyer: to my soul, not exactly mihi, but to my soul, the seat of the sensibilities, here of the desire of enjoyment. Not only idleness, no, revelling, is the ideal that this fool mirrors to himself. The reference to the passage, Sir 11:17-19, is in this whole representation almost impossible to mistake.

Luk 12:20. Thou fool.The searching contrast between the soliloquy of the fool and the judgment of God, belongs to the greatest beauties of the parable. This beauty, however, is lost if we think here merely of a decretum Dei (Kuinoel) instead of the invisible King of Heaven appearing in speech and action, and suddenly causing him to feel that not even so many hours are allotted him as he had been dreaming of years. Who now is to fulfil this sentence? God Himself (Meyer); the death-angels to whom I have committed the power (Von Gerlach); robbers and murderers (Bornemann, Paulus)? The latter is perhaps the most agreeable to the concrete character of the parable; neither is there any ground whatever for understanding the verb impersonally. If we understand burglars demanding his life of him, the requirement has then double emphasis. There is thereby the image of terror held up before the rich man, to him especially in the highest degree frightful; and the question immediately following thereon, Whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? acquires still higher significance if we assume that the murderers, unknown to him and already approaching, shall be at the same time the robbers of his goods. Nor does Luk 12:21 offer any difficulty to this explanation if we only keep the tertium comparationis in mind.

Luk 12:21. So is he that.He dreams as illusively as this fool, in order sooner or later to awake in a similarly terrible manner. , in suum commodum, so that in his enjoyment consists the chief end which he in the augmentation of his treasures has in mind. To this restless and fruitless is opposed the still and abiding which is directed towards God and Divine things, and in another passage is called laying up treasures in heaven, Mat 6:20.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. That the Saviour does not meditate even an instant the composing of the controversy respecting the inheritance in any way whatever, is worthy of note. Had such a strife arisen among His own, He would then without doubt have composed it, so that undoubtedly the later precept of His apostle (1Co 6:1-6) was entirely in the spirit of the Master. But here, where it concerned a matter entirely foreign, standing in no relation to the kingdom of God, His answer could only be one of refusal, and accordingly He decidedly repels the temptation to enter upon a sphere which lay so far from that which the Father had appointed Him. Although he had appeared as Israels King, He mingles as little with the controversies of the Jews as with the political affairs of the Romans, but on the other hand remains faithful to His subsequently uttered principle (Joh 18:36). And as He gives in this relation also an example to all His disciples, who are to be no (1Pe 4:15), so is His conduct also of importance for the regulation of the principle of the relation of the Church to the State. Not without reason, at least, has the Augsburg Confession, in its 28th article, adduced this declaration of the Saviour (Luk 12:14) as a proof that the two jurisdictions, the spiritual and the secular, should not be confounded with one another.

2. Not as a judge concerning inheritances, but as a Redeemer from sins, and from avarice among them, not less than from hypocrisy, will the Saviour exhibit Himself on this occasion. Such a consideration is wholly in the spirit of the third, the Pauline Gospel (comp. 1Ti 6:6-10), and deserves the more to be laid to heart, inasmuch as avarice is not seldom especially the sin of the saints, who have already died to the lusts of the flesh, and are made free from the natural pride of the heart. As to the rest, the parable of the Rich Fool is also full of allusions to Old Testament utterances. See, e.g., Job 22:25; Psa 39:7; Psa 49:12 seq.; Jer 17:11; Psa 72:10-11.

3. If we consider that the parable of the Rich Fool was uttered in the presence of the disciples of Jesus, and also, therefore, of Judas, we find new occasion to admire the Saviours wisdom in teaching which so indirectly but powerfully attacks the darling sin of the future traitor.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Even under the preaching of Jesus there are unreceptive and inattentive listeners.Care for the earthly inheritance instead of the longing for the heavenly.The Saviour will not work with force, but renewingly and regeneratingly upon earthly relations.Avarice the root of all evil.Let every one abide in that whereunto he is called.How poor a rich man and how rich a poor man may be.If riches fall to any one, let him not set his heart thereon.Even earthly blessing may become a snare.Cares of earthly riches opposed to the holy unanxiousness of the children of God.The rich mans self-enjoyment of life in its full beggarliness.Augmenting disquiet with augmenting wealth.Delusive hope of rest in later years.Gods thoughts other than the thoughts of men.The unlooked-for death of the child of the world.The mournful fate of the man who gathers treasures to himself and is not rich toward God: 1. Painful discontent; 2. increasing anxiety; 3. delusive hope; 4. irreparable loss.Riches in God: 1. The only true; 2. the inalienable; 3. the universally accessible riches.
For homiletical treatment, either the 15th verse or the 21st verse offers the point of departure. For a harvest-sermon also this parable is especially adapted.

Starke:Quesnel:The goods of this world give often occasion for discord, disquiet, and offence.Canstein:It is not great wealth that preserves the temporal life of man, but Gods power and blessing.Gods blessing reaches even over the fields of the ungodly, Mat 5:45.They who receive the richest blessing are wont often to forget their benefactor.Nova Bibl. Tub.:Earthly souls have ever earthly thoughts and purposes.Majus:Epicurean men soon have their everlasting reward.The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men that they are vain.Bibl. Wirt.:The avaricious are unhappy in this world and that to come.Majus:Whoever is rich in God, like Abraham, David, and Solomon, whom earthly riches hurt not, he uses them according to the Lords will. [Grave exception may be taken to the last-named of these three examples.C. C. S.]

Heubner:Even the strictest bands of consanguinity do not protect selfish hearts against discord.How great is the self-love of the vain-minded?Cleaving to earthly good a folly.The poor Rich Fool comes before Gods judgment with a lost name, with a lost soul, with a lost world, with a lost heaven (Rieger).The true wealth of man.Comp. two homilies of Basil, Opp. ii. p. 43, Edit. Garner.Arndt:Fleshly security: 1. Its form; 2. Gods judgment upon it.Lisco:Concerning the misleading of many citizens of the kingdom by earthly wealth.Avarice considered as the destroyer of all the harvest-blessing.Krummacher:How faith keeps harvest-home and how unbelief. The two classes of men diverge essentially: 1. In their view of the Divine blessing received; 2. in the use that they make of the same; 3. in the relation of dependence in which they place themselves to the blessing.Gerok:The rich mana poor man; see how one can miscalculate.Couard:What is requisite if our earthly care is not to be a sinful one.Kliefoth:What shall we take with us through the gates of the grave?

c. The Freedom From Anxiety Of The Disciples Of The Saviour (Luk 12:22-34)

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luk 12:22. Therefore I say unto you.If we presuppose that this admonition to tranquil freedom from care was delivered on the same occasion (see however above, and comp. Mat 6:22-34), then it is not difficult to give the connection of this part of the Saviours discourse with the former one. The source of the avarice which He has just been combating is nothing else than the excessive anxiety and fear that we might in some way suffer lack, and this fear certainly becomes no one less than the disciple of the Saviour. Earthly care now is directed first of all to nourishment and clothing. Both forms the Saviour opposes, inasmuch as He points those that are anxious to what they see in the realm of nature, but above all to the truth that He who has already given the higher, will certainly not let them lack the lesser.

Luk 12:23. The life is more than food.You turn it exactly round; food is meant to serve life, but life forsooth serves food; clothes are to serve the body, but the body forsooth must serve the clothing, and so blind is the world that it sees not this. Luther. If God bestows the higher, He by that very fact already gives a pledge that He will not withhold the lesser. Rom 8:32.

Luk 12:24. Consider the ravens.Psa 147:9. Perhaps also an indirect reminiscence of the miraculous history of Elijah, 1Ki 17:6. By there is more meant than a superficial view, rather an observing and studying, of the ravens. Matthew, using more general terms, has only . Perhaps at this particular moment birds or lilies had in His immediate vicinity drawn the attention of the Saviour to this, and given Him occasion to this figurative mode of speech.

Luk 12:25. To his length of life.See Lange on Mat 6:27.

Luk 12:27. Consider the lilies.The plural designates the not necessarily as a mass but also as individuals. , …, an indirect question, whose more complete form is found in Matthew. See the notes on the text.

In all his glory.When he showed himself in his full royal magnificence. See 2Ch 9:15.

Luk 12:29. Neither be ye of doubtful mind, or, do not exalt yourselves, .The usage of this word is familiar, which echoes also in our Meteor. See the rich collection of examples in Kuinoel, ad loc. can signify nothing else than: To lift ones self so far on high that one shines like an aerial phenomenon, but must also share the fate of so many wandering lights. Comp. the familiar: Tolluntur in altum, ut lapsu graviore ruant. Especially does the high flight of fancy appear here to be meant, when one creates imagined necessities for himself, and for this reason is doubly ill-content with reality, and for this very reason allows himself so much the more to be seduced into unbelieving anxiety. The more modest the wishes, the more easily is the heart contented.

Luk 12:31. Seek ye His kingdom.There is no sufficient ground for transferring hither from Mat 6:33, the adverb . According to Luke it is the Saviours will that we should seek absolutely after Gods kingdom; in which case the precept is only apparently different from that given in Mat 6:33. The which is there enjoined is also a seeking that excludes every further anxiety. In the sense in which they are to seek the kingdom of God, the Saviours disciples have nothing more to strive after. See Lange on the passage in Matthew.

Luk 12:32. Fear not, little flock.In the first place, here, without doubt, allusion is made to the fear combated in the foregoing verses, but then also further, fear which might hinder them in the seeking of the kingdom of God. This seeking should in no case be fruitless: for it was the Fathers good pleasure to give them what they desired above everything.

Little flock.Perhaps the intentional contrast of the little circle of disciples with the myriads of the people, Luk 12:1. At the same time a word of the Good Shepherd. Comp. Mat 26:31; Joh 10:11.Your Fathers good pleasure.Eph 1:4-6. Not only a divinum arbitrium, cui stat pro ratione voluntas, but also a beneplacitum amoris divini.

Luk 12:33. Sell that ye have.A strengthening of the admonition which in Mat 6:19-21 appears in another form. Undoubtedly this precept may be applied in a very sound sense as addressed to every Christian: comp. Mat 19:21. Here, however, it is a definite command to the apostles, who, in order to live entirely for the kingdom of God, were to be fettered by no earthly care.

And give alms.This commandment also must, like several precepts of the Sermon on the Mount, not be interpreted but in the spirit of wisdom, which is quite as far from egoistic limitations as from communistic extravagances. In caring in this way for others they would make to themselves () purses that wax not old. To take with them this kind of was not forbidden, as it was to take the other sort, Luk 22:35; and in these purses they laid up for themselves a treasure that faileth not. This treasure in heaven, of which the Synoptics speak, is already laid up in this life, as also , according to John, begins even before death. Even because the treasure in heaven is of spiritual origin, of heavenly kind, it is also of absolutely imperishable duration.

Luk 12:34. For where your treasure is.A word of the deepest knowledge of men, and capable of the most manifold explication. The human heart little by little appropriates to itself the style and nature of the treasure to which its whole thought is directed. Whoever constitutes his god of gold, his heart becomes as cold and hard as metal; whoever takes flesh for his arm or makes it his idol, becomes more and more sensual, and takes on the properties of that which he loves above everything; but whoever has invisible treasures keeps spontaneously eye and heart directed upon the invisible world, and whoever has no higher good than God, accords to Him in his love also the first place. This is the key to the unspeakably rich patristic word: Domine, quia nos fecisti ad te, cor nostrum inquietum in nobis, donec requiescat in te..

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. See Exegetical and Critical.

2. In order to feel the high value of this instruction of the Saviour, we have only to place ourselves in the condition of the apostles, who for His sake left all. Not only were the Eleven by the force of this beyond doubt often preserved from discouragement and anxiety, but also in the soul of a Paul, who did not as yet sit here at the feet of the Saviour, echoes the tone of this encouraging word, which he without doubt afterwards heard. See Php 4:6-7, and comp. 1Pe 5:7.

8. The holy freedom from care which the Saviour here commenda to His disciples has nothing in common with the light-minded carelessness of those who do not think of the morrow; for there is also Christian care, which impels to prayer and also at the same time to labor. Only that anxiety docs the Saviour censure which acts as if all in the last resort was dependent on this care alone, instead of thinking on the admirable rule: Mit Sorgen und mit Grmen, Lasst Gott rich gar nichts nehmen, es will erbeten sein. [Anxiety procures nothing from God, but Only prayer]. Very justly does Luther distinguish: The care mat comes from love is bidden, but that which is separate from faith is forbidden.

4. This part also of the Saviours discourse affords the complete proof how He, the Friend of man, was at the same time the friend of glorious nature. Ravens and lilies does He make for His disciples preachers of the most consolatory truth. But if we will feel the whole power and beauty of this imagery, we must regard Him who used it with the eye of a John, and recognize in Him the Eternal Word without which nothing was made that is madethat has created also the ravens and lilies of the field. The symbols of the fatherly care of God to rhich He points are not only His own discovery, fe t what is more, are also His own creation.

5. The encouraging word to the little lock contains the rich germs of the Evangelical and especially of the Pauline doctrine of Predestinaticii At the same time we obtain here an important in mation in reference to the point of view from whidl this doctrine must, according to the will of the Saviour, be considered and represented, namely, as a consolation to troubled believers and not as an occas: in of idle questions. The comfort here given rem ins moreover the same, although the number of the disciples of Christ has enlarged itself to many millions. Still, as ever, contrasted with the majority of the unbelieving world, this number is a very small one, and of the friends of the Saviour it may still as ever be said, Behold I send you as sheep in the midst f wolves (Mat 10:16). But these little and defenceless ones have for themselves so much the surer pound of reckoning on the defence and help of the Heavenly Father.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

How far the disciple of the Saviour Iks to care for his temporal support and how far not.The distinction between the care of the blind heathen, the God-fearing Israelite, and the believing (Christian.The preaching of the ravens and lilies.Excessive anxiety for earthly things is: 1. In part needless; 2. in part fruitless; 3. in part injurious to higher interests.If thou wilt be raised above the care for the lesser good that is yet wanting to thee, look upon the higher that has already been bestowed upon thee.The impotency of all our caring to alter anything against the will of God in our on ward fate.God clothes: 1. Solomon with glory; 2. the lilies far more gloriously than Solomon; 3. the believer far more richly than Solomon and the lilies s together.Seek not for high things, but condescend to the humble, Rom 12:16.In quietness and confidence shall be your strength, Isa 30:15.Your Father knows that ye have need of all these things. 1. There is One who knows what we need; 2. this One is our Father; 3. to this Father Jesus leads us.Fear not, little flock, a word of comfort: 1. For the circle of apostles over against the unbelieving world; 2. for the evangelical church in the mids other numerous enemies; 3. for every believing ecclesiola over against a degenerate hierarchical church.Those that buy, that they be as though tl ij possessed not, 1Co 7:29-31.Christian con munism in opposition to its caricature in our century.The art of so giving that we become not poorer but richer.The security of the treasure that , is laid up in heaven.Where the treasure there the heart, either, 1. On earth, or 2. in heaven.

Starke:Between anxious care and over-negligence Christians must keep the middle path .Arhdt:Let us by all means study diligently the book of nature together with the Holy Scripture.Quesnel:The experience of our impotency even in lesser matters should serve to this, that we surrender ourselves wholly to God in the weightier.Canstein:Beautiful attire and boastful glory of other things are wholly vain and come not once near tthe beauty of a field-flower.Christ forbids not the labor of the body, but the disquiet and mistrustfulness of the soulChildren of princes and kings need not to torment themselves with anxious care, and Christians even much less.Canstein:As God means to give us Heaven, why plague we ourselves then anxiously on account of sustenance on earth?True believers have been at all times few compared with the great mass of the ungodly, Psa 12:1.

Cramer:To do good to the poor is every Christians duty, Isa 58:7.Whoever will be benevolent, let it be from his own means, not from other peoples.Nova Bibl. Tub.:No funds are better and more safely invested than alms.Examine thyself, O Soul, where is thy treasure and thy heart?

Heubner:The right precedence among cares.The miserable folly of earthly cares.The chief care of the Christian.Care not how long, but how thou livest.Couard:Concerning earthly care, how it, 1. Is unworthy of us; 2. most dangerous; 3. beyond measure foolish; 4. utterly profitless.Westermeyer:The care forbidden by God: 1. How far forbidden; 2. why.Claus Harms:A Harvest sermon in the Sommerpostille, 6th ed. p. 349.

Footnotes:

[1][Luk 12:2. rests only on the authority of D. Cod. Sin. omits even .C. C. S.]

[2][Luk 12:11.We find no sufficient grounds for the opinion that the words are taken from the parallel passage in Matthew.]

[3][Luk 12:15.The insertion of instead of is supported by convincing agreement of critics and manuscripts, including A., B., D., and Cod. Sin.C. C. S.]

[4][Luk 12:22.The decided weight of authority (including A., B., D., Cod. Sin.) is for the omission of .C. C. S.]

[5]Luk 12:25.The words and are not sufficiently well attested critically, to avoid the supposition that they are borrowed from Matthew. [ is read by Lachmann, Meyer, Tregelles with A., B., Cod. Sin., with 17 other uncials, and by Tischendorf also, with all the manuscripts. Van Oosterzee must have meant to say that was weakly supported, as it is omitted by B., D., Cod. Sin.C. C. S.]

[6]Luk 12:27.Rec.: . D., on the other hand, as also Versions and Clem.: . So Tischendorf. [Also Meyer, Alford.] Although the reading has no preponderance of external authorities, it is nevertheless internally more probable, as the Recepta, on the other hand, is taken from the parallel passage in Matthew.

[7][Luk 12:28.Lit.: If God so clothe in the field the grass which is to-day, and to-morrow, &c. , … B., L., Sin. The field is represented as the theatre of Gods activity.C. C. S.]

[8][Luk 12:29., B., L., Cod. Sin., 2 other uncials.C. C. S.]

[9][Luk 12:29.Van Oosterzee translates this: Erhebt [verfliegt] euch nicht in euren Wnschen. Be not too high-raised in your expectations. Vulgate: Nolite in sublime tolli. This meaning is defended by De Wette and Meyer, agrees with the more usual meaning of , but, as Bleek remarks, and Alford also, is much less congruous with the context than the signification: to fluctuate in doubt, which is also an undisputed sense of the word.C. C. S.]

[10]Luk 12:31. has the authority of B., D., [Cod. Sin.,] Copt., Sahid., th., and others, for itself, while, on the other hand, the Recepta, , has against it the suspicion of being transferred from Mat 6:33, as also, probably, the superfluous after .

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 1524
CAUTION AGAINST HYPOCRISY

Luk 12:1. In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his Disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

RARELY, if ever, can we find a greater instance of fidelity than in the history before us. Our Lord had been dining with a Pharisee, and, even whilst he was at dinner, he upbraided the whole sect of Pharisees, and accused them of the vilest hypocrisy. This might have been thought by some a breach of hospitality; but a sense of his duty to God was paramount to every other consideration. The Pharisee had begun with expressing his wonder that our Lord had not washed his hands before he sat down to meat; for among the Pharisees this ceremony had been magnified into a religious observance. This superstition our Lord had not chosen to sanction: and as among the Pharisees it was accompanied with a scandalous neglect of internal purity, he exposed the folly of it, and condemned in the severest terms all who substituted such a rite in the place of vital godliness. His reproofs, as might be expected, greatly irritated his indignant hearers: yet no sooner had an immense multitude assembled at the door, than he went out to them, and, in the presence of them all, enjoined his Disciples above all things to beware of that grand feature of the Pharisaic character, hypocrisy [Note: See chap. 11:37 to the end. in the text, seems better to be construed with ].

This caution, so boldly and so strongly given, deserves our attention, no less than that of the Disciples to whom it was spoken. We propose, therefore,

I.

To consider the evil against which our Lord cautioned them

The nature of hypocrisy is far from being generally understood. Many would suppose, that conduct which was notoriously evil, would, from its notoriety, be exempt from the charge of hypocrisy; and that there could be no hypocrisy, where the person was not conscious that he was deceiving others. But that term, according to the Scripture use of it, is very extensive: and under it may be included many different forms or degrees of hypocrisy.

1.

That which is known both to ourselves and others

[Hypocrisy consists in acting contrary to our professions: and this we may do in such an open and shameless way as to manifest clearly to others, no less than to ourselves, that we are dissemblers with God.
How is it with the great mass of those who disregard religion? Do they cast off the Christian name also? Do they not rather account themselves Christians; and would they not be highly offended if their claim to that title were disputed? Yet have they in reality as little of Christianity in their hearts and lives as the very heathen: and there is reason to believe, that they would have lived precisely as they have, if they had all the while known Christianity to be a fable; and that they would continue to live in the very same state, if now for the first time they should learn that our religion were founded in imposture. To them we may safely apply those words of the Apostle, They profess that they know God, but in works deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate [Note: Tit 1:16.].

It is precisely the same with many also who profess a high regard for religion. They are strenuous advocates for decorum, and are very observant of outward forms; but are as far from any thing like vital godliness as the most profane They may impose upon a few ignorant people, who have not an idea what religion is: but persons of the least education, who think at all for themselves, see that all those forms are a mere farce, if unaccompanied with the affections of the heart; and these formalists themselves know, and feel, and, amongst each other, will acknowledge them to be so. Of such persons St. Paul says, that they have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof; that, like Jannes and Jambres, (two great opposers of Moses,) they resist the truth, being men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith; and that their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was [Note: 2Ti 3:5-9.].

Thus is the hypocrisy of many covered with so thin a veil, that every one of the smallest penetration may discover it: and if their professions be treated with respect, it is merely from a desire which every one feels to make the way to heaven as easy as possible, and to lower the standard of religion to his own attainments.]

2.

That which, though hid from others, is known to ourselves

[It is no uncommon thing for persons to embrace certain religious principles, without ever attending to their sanctifying efficacy. Such were Judas, and Ananias, and Sapphira: these did actually impose on others; they were considered by all as sound converts: but could Judas be ignorant that he was a thief? or Ananias and Sapphira that they were liars? So it is then with many professors of religion, who pass for real Christians at this time: their exterior appearance is that of sanctity; but one is dishonest, another is addicted to falsehood, another gives way to lewd desires and practices, another is under the dominion of his evil tempers. Now, notwithstanding the esteem in which they may be held, must not these persons, to say the least, have many secret misgivings, or rather, if they consider at all, must they not know that their hearts are not right with God? We may see the character of such persons drawn to the life by the Apostle Paul: all their high professions and evil practices are exhibited in contrast with each other, and stand as a monument of the wickedness and deceit-fulness of the human heart [Note: Rom 2:17-23.].]

3.

That which, though hid from ourselves, is known to God.

[It is but too possible for persons to seem to be religious, and to think themselves so, at the very time that they are under the influence of some habitual evil, which proves that theydeceive their own selves, and that their religion is vain [Note: Jam 1:26.]. The characteristic mark of the true Christian is sincerity: he is an Israelite indeed, and without guile [Note: Joh 1:47.]; attending to all the commandments equally, without partiality, and without hypocrisy [Note: 1Ti 5:21. Jam 3:17.]. But the persons we refer to are partial in every part of their duty. Their repentance is partial: they mourn, not so much for sin, as for the consequences of their sin; nor yet for the consequences, as they respect God and his honour, but only as they respect themselves and their happiness. Even in relation to themselves, they are not grieved that sin has denied their consciences, and hardened their hearts, but only that it has injured their character, or brought guilt and misery upon their souls. Their faith also is partial: it has respect to Christ as a Priest to atone for them, but not as a King to rule over them: it receives Christ for righteousness, but not for sanctification. Moreover, whilst they profess to trust in God for spiritual blessings, they cannot stay themselves upon him for temporal things, but are as ready to sink under their trials, as if they knew not from whence they came, and to give way to despondency as if they had no God to flee unto. Their love too is partial: it is confined to those of their own sect and party, and knows little of that expansive benevolence which was so exemplified in the Lord Jesus, when he laid down his life for the whole world, not excepting even his bitterest enemies. Moreover, their zeal is also partial: it is ardent in some things; in one it is violent against superstition and forms of mans appointment; and in another it exclaims against schisms, and heresies, and divisions: but it finds no scope for exercise in things which would bear upon their own peculiar habits: it is active enough in things that gratify their feelings, and that tend to exalt their character, but slow to engage in any thing that appears humiliating and self-denying. In a word, the hypocrite is neither uniform nor unreserved in any part of his obedience; but betrays his insincerity, whenever his interests, his habits, or his passions are to be sacrificed to God.]

Seeing then that hypocrisy is so extensive an evil, and that our Lord judged it necessary to caution his own immediate Disciples against it, we proceed,

II.

To enforce his caution

But what words can be sufficient for this purpose? What arguments can we use to impress upon your minds the necessity of being ever on your guard against so great an evil? Consider,

1.

Its subtile nature

[We are told that Satan can transform himself into an angel of light, and his ministers appear as ministers of righteousness [Note: 2Co 11:13; 2Co 11:15.]: from whence we may infer, that there is no person in whom hypocrisy may not find an asylum, nor any act wherein it may not have scope for exercise. It is the continual aim of Satan to infuse it into us, and by means of it to defile our very best actions. The pretexts too under which it can hide itself are innumerable. There is not any form which it cannot assume: and sanctity itself is its appropriate garb. What need have we then to watch against a principle which finds so easy admission into the heart, yet is so hard to be detected, and so difficult to be expelled! Let not any of us imagine that we are out of its reach; nor be too confident that we are free from its influence. Surely we should have a godly jealousy over ourselves in relation to it, and not only search and try ourselves, but pray that God himself would search and try us, in order to see if there be any wicked way in us, and to lead us in the way everlasting [Note: Psa 139:23-24.]. Let us never forget thatthere is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, whilst yet they are not washed from their filthiness [Note: Pro 30:12.]; and that there are many who have a name to live, but are really dead before God [Note: Rev 3:1.].]

2.

Its defiling influence

[As leaven, a very small measure of it will soon leaven the whole lump. It not only debases the act with which it is more immediately connected, but renders the whole soul abominable in the sight of God. We may profess ourselves the Lords people [Note: Isa 48:1-2.] and take delight in his ways [Note: Eze 33:31-32.] and seem most exemplary in our conduct [Note: Isa 58:2-3.] and yet have it all rendered vain and worthless by means of this accursed principle. What a painful thought is this, that we may be apprehending ourselves most holy and most exemplary, and yet, after all, may be found to have deceived our own souls! But so it is:A man may think himself to be something, and yet in the sight of God be nothing but an hypocrite and self-deceiver [Note: Gal 6:3.]. Let us then spare no pains to purge out the old leaven, that we may be a new lump: and, as the Jews at their passover were indefatigable in their exertions to banish leaven from their houses, so let us, now that Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us, labour to banish it from our hearts, and to keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth [Note: 1Co 5:6-8.].]

3.

Its fatal effects

[Awful indeed are the denunciations of Gods wrath against hypocrites, insomuch that to have our portion with them is to be exposed to his heaviest indignation [Note: Mat 24:51.]. Nor is it gross hypocrisy only, such as is manifest to all, that so provokes his displeasure; but that also which is the most secret and refined: the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath, and that too whilst they are flattering themselves perhaps, and expecting an accumulated weight of glory [Note: Job 36:13.]. And oh how fearful will be their disappointment! How distressing too will it be to their more upright friends, to miss them in the regions of bliss, and to find that, after all their professions of godliness, they were not counted worthy of the kingdom of heaven [Note: Job 20:4-7.]! Consider these things beforehand. Consider that your state will be fixed by Him, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, who searcheth the heart, and trieth the reins, and who will give to every man according to his works: and know assuredly, that whatever be now thought of your state, you will then stand or fall, according to your real character [Note: 1Ti 5:24-25.].

If you are disposed to ask, What shall I do to avoid this doom, I would suggest to you a few words of]

Advice
1.

Be not too confident of your own integrity

[However unconscious we may be of our latent hypocrisy, it is well to be diffident of ourselves. Even Paul himself cultivated this kind of humility, choosing rather to cast himself on the mercy of his God, than to place too great a reliance on his own integrity [Note: 1Co 4:3-5.]. We say not, that you may not rejoice in the testimony of a good conscience; for this the Apostle did [Note: 2Co 1:12.]: but we recommend it to you to rejoice with trembling: for we are sure that such a frame of mind is most favourable to a discovery of our real principles, and most conducive to our ultimate salvation.]

2.

Commit yourselves to the care of your gracious God and Saviour

[To whom can you look for succour, but to that blessed Saviour, who has promised to keep the feet of his saints? He alone can put truth in your inward parts, and keep you sincere and without offence unto the day of Christ. Yet, however preserved by his grace, you will need to be washed continually in the fountain of his blood. Sprinkle yourselves then continually with his precious blood: from thence derive all your hope and peace; and doubt not but that he will both keep you from falling, and present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy [Note: Jude, ver. 24.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

CONTENTS

Jesus is here preaching to the People. A Man from the throng complains to him of his Brother. The Lord takes occasion therefrom to reprove Covetousness, and discourseth on several Subjects.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

(1) In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy: (2) For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. (3) Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness, shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets, shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. (4) And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. (5) But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. (6) Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? (7) But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered: fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. (8) Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: (9) But he that denieth me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God. (10) And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven. (11) And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say, (12) For the Holy Ghost shall teach you, in the same hour, what ye ought to say.

I cannot help remarking, upon the several discourses of Jesus, how very much his doctrine is directed against the Pharisees. Let any man gather, from the Gospels, the whole discourses of Jesus, and observe how large a part is spent in condemning that class of persons: and the reason is plain. No set of men whatever, no, not even the openly-profane, are as sworn foes to the full and finished salvation of Jesus as the Pharisees. For by setting up a righteousness of their own, or, what results from the same source, the unhumbled pride of human nature, in part they do, by so much lessen the vast importance of Christ and his redemption. Either the whole mass of men are dead in trespasses and sins, or they are not. If they are not, what need have they of a Savior? If they are, what an impudent attempt is it in the Pharisee, of any generation, to set himself up as a part-Savior! Pharisees, in the days of our Lord, were his most deadly foes; and Pharisees, in modern times, are the most deadly foes to his people. Our Lord’s discourse, in those verses, very plain and simple as it is, seems to have been founded on the prospect he saw in his Church, what opposition his chosen ones would meet with, all the way through, from that class of people. Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocricy.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Luk 12:1

The words follow an account of the Pharisees’ attempt to ensnare Jesus, and Weiss’s contention is that Jesus warns His disciples, not against the ‘simulatio’ of the Pharisees, who ‘cloaked their real disposition under the appearance of extreme piety, but simply against “dissimulatio” in the sense of Gal 2:13 , i.e. the temper which would hide its true convictions owing to the fear of man’. The man who practises of any kind plays a part. He is insincere. But his motives may vary. The real self which is kept in the background may be worse or better than the open actions and words in which the man seeks to come before the public. In one case, may be ‘the compliment paid by vice to goodness’; the man may pretend to possess beliefs higher than his real ones. In another case, it may be toll paid needlessly and hurtfully by goodness to expediency and false prudence. The latter case, Weiss holds, was in the mind of Jesus when he uttered this warning.

James Moffatt.

References. XII. 1. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v. No. 237. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 135. Expositor (7th Series), vol. v. p. 190. XII. 2. Ibid. (6th Series), vol. ii. p. 381. XII. 2-12. Ibid. (5th Series), vol. x. p. 344.

Luk 12:3

It is constantly whispered that it would be dangerous to divulge certain truths to the masses…. If a thing is true, let us all believe it, rich and poor, men, women, and children. If a thing is untrue, let us all disbelieve it, rich and poor, men, women, and children. Truth is a thing to be shouted from the housetops, not to be whispered over rose-water after dinner when the ladies are gone away.

Prof. W. K. Clifford.

References. XII. 4, 5. J. Bolton, Selected Sermons (2nd Series), p. 147. XII. 5. Expositor (4th Series), vol. ii. p. 208; ibid. vol. iii. p. 283. XII. 6. C. Bosanquet, Blossoms from the King’s Garden, p. 155.

Christ’s View of the Modern World

Luk 12:6-7

That is a simple saying, and yet how deep! Could any illustration be more homely, or humdrum, more inadequate, or commonplace? And yet Jesus Christ takes it for the purpose of expressing His conception of the substance and soul of our human life what its contents are; what is the infinite care that is over it and through it, over the whole of it, and through the whole of it, even to its minutest details! And then He shows, by the turn He gives it, to what mighty courage and patient devotion men may be inspired who accept His view of life.

I. What, then, is His interpretation of this complex and bewildering thing we call the world? It is, in brief, that human life is not a weltering chaos but a well-ordered family in a graciously ruled world. This Universe is a Home God is Father and Mother. We are the children of His family.

II. What, then, is it makes the Home? There are four responses that we can give to that inquiry. (1) First of all, the vital factor of the home is the parental. Jesus claims the home as the true type of our human life, and He gives new meaning to the word ‘God’ when He represents Him as Father and Mother of this Home. It is the glory of our Christianity that it has given us a new conception of the word ‘Father,’ and that it has authentically applied it to God. (2) What makes the Home? Lift the shutter and look through the window at the family, and you recognise at once that the spirit of the home is love, selfsacrifice, devotion on the part of mother and father to the care and welfare, the discipline and up-bringing of the children. The spirit that rules the life of man is the spirit of selfsacrifice; a Divine sacrifice for our redemption. (3) What makes the Home? Look into it again, and you see that the methods of the home contemplate and provide for the development of freedom. As of the home, so of all our life. He does not put us here as machines wound up to go in a certain prescribed way: He offers us the sovereignty of ourselves, and He Himself undertakes the task of training us in the use of such sovereignty; that is the meaning of temptation and difficulty, of desire and aspiration. Hegel says: ‘The history of the world is the gradual development of human free-will’. Slowly but surely God is educating His children in the right use of their divinest prerogative, their power of personal choice. (4) What makes the Home? My last answer to this question is, Service makes the home. We are made for service; and Jesus assures us that the quality of our service and the amount of it both depend upon the view which we take of our life.

J. Clifford, The Secret of Jesus, p. 35.

Luk 12:6-7

While this poor little heart was being bruised with a weight too heavy for it, Nature was holding on her calm, inexorable way, in unmoved and terrible beauty. The stars were rushing in their eternal courses; the tides swelled to the level of the last expectant weed; the sun was making brilliant day to busy nations on the other side of the swift earth. The stream of human thought and deed was hurrying and broadening onward. The astronomer was at his telescope; the great ships were labouring over the waves; the toiling eagerness of commerce, the fierce spirit of revolution, were only ebbing in brief rest; and sleepless statesmen were dreading the possible crisis of the morrow. What were our little Tina and her trouble in this mighty torrent, rushing from one awful unknown to another? Lighter than the smallest centre of quivering life in the water-drop, hidden and uncared for as the pulse of anguish in the breast of the tiniest bird that has fluttered down to its nest, with the long-sought food, and has found the nest torn and empty.

George Eliot, in Mr. Gilfil’s Love-Story.

Luk 12:8

Clough’s lines, entitled A Protest, describe such a confession of faith upon the part of a woman:

In act to speak she rose, but with the sense

Of all the eyes of that mixed company

Now suddenly turned upon her, some with age

Hardened and dulled, some cold and critical….

The mantling blood to her cheek

Rushed up and overflushed itself, blank night her soul

Made dark, and in her all her purpose swooned.

She stood as if for sinking. Yet anon,

With recollections clear, august, sublime,

Of God’s great truth, and right immutable,

Which, as obedient vassals, to her mind

Came summoned of her will, in self-negation

Quelling her troublous earthly consciousness,

She queened it o’er her weakness. At the spell

Back rolled the ruddy tide, and leaves her cheek

Paler than erst, and yet not ebbs so far

But that one pulse of one indignant thought

Might hurry it hither in flood. So as she stood

She spoke. God in her spoke and made her heard.

All varieties of formalism have one quality in common, that the strength they give to religion is not vital, it is only social and external. They have a weakening effect upon faith, even in the faithful. Formalism lowers the temperature, not on one side only, but all round it, like an iceberg floating in the sea. Its disapproval of dissent is accompanied by a chilling want of sympathy with religious earnestness and zeal. Formalism is to faith what etiquette is to affection; it is merely taste, and it is quite as much a violation of taste to have the motives of a really genuine, pious Christian, and avow them (in religious language, ‘to confess Christ before men’), as it is to abstain from customary ceremonies. In short, formalism is the world with its usages, substituting itself for Jesus and His teaching; it is ‘good form’ set up in the place of enthusiastic loyalty and uncalculating self-devotion.

P. G. Hamerton, French and English p. 177.

References. XII. 8. C. Perren, Revival Sermons in Outline, p. 174. XII. 8, 9. J. M. Whiton, Summer Sermons, p. 161. Bishop Gore, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lii. p. 379. XII. 10. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iii. p. 26.

His Brother’s Inheritance

Luk 12:13

I. Here is an instance of man’s strange tendency to avoid personal application of Christ’s teaching to themselves. It is his brother that he thinks about, not himself at all. The last thing a man thinks of is applying religious truth to himself. The same thing is true about all moral truth, about all maxims which have a bearing on life and conduct The Gospel message is essentially Individual.

II. Here is an instance of the operation of worldly cares in shutting out the Gospel. This man listens to Christ, and keeps on thinking his own thoughts all the time about the estate. Men are so absorbed in their worldly affairs that they pay no heed to the Divine message. While giving all honour to worldly occupation, it is not to be forgotten that (1) it tends to become absorbing and engrossing. (2) It blinds to all high and true thought (3) It specially blinds to Christ’s message.

III. Here is also an instance of a very common mistake as to what Christ has come to do. He thinks of Him as a Rabbi, and wants Him to speak to his brother and get him to do justly. He looks upon Christ as a moral teacher who restrains by His word social abuses. You find this view in many different forms. (1) That is often the politician’s view of Christianity. (2) That is the sentimental novelist’s view of Christianity. (3) That is the view held by all people who have not learned their own sin.

Now look at Christ’s answer. ‘Beware of covetousness.’ Christ’s first work is to the individual, then to society. He is Redeemer before moral Teacher. The hope of the world is in the Cross of Christ.

A. Maclaren.

References. XII. 13-15. E. Bersier, Sermons in Paris, p. 107. XII. 13-23. T. Heath, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. xix. p. 277. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke, p. 337.

Luk 12:14

Now for jurisdiction, this dear saint of the prelates, it will be best to consider, first, what it is: that sovereign Lord, who in the discharge of His holy anointment from God the Father, which made Him supreme bishop of our souls, was so humble as to say, ‘Who made Me a judge or a divider over ye?’ hath taught us that a churchman’s jurisdiction is no more but to watch over his flock in season and out of season, to deal by sweet and efficacious instruction, gentle admonitions, and sometimes rounder reproofs; against negligence or obstinacy will be required a rousing volley of pastoral threatenings…. In some, his jurisdiction is to see the thriving and prospering of that which he hath planted.’ So Milton, in his animadversion in the Remonstrant’s Defence, concluding with the definition: ‘True evangelical jurisdiction is no more than for a minister to see to the thriving and prospering of that which he hath planted’.

Reference. XII. 14. A. Shepherd, The Gospel and Social Questions, p. 3.

Self-centred Or Christ-centred?

Luk 12:15

I. How came our Lord to use these Words? They were spoken in answer to a man in the street There had been an interruption by one of the crowd, who called out, ‘Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me’. But our Lord refused to interfere in this domestic quarrel. Is it not strange that He should refuse to help a troubled soul like this one? I think I may say that our Lord’s reason was the same reason that He does not interfere in our own daily affairs. We read of disasters by land and sea, earthquakes in far-off lands, the poor out of work, the children’s cry for bread, and though we may not give utterance with our lips, yet in our hearts we wish that the Lord would come and put all things right. But He does not come. Instead, the voice from heaven says, ‘In your patience, possess ye your souls My time is not yet come’.

II. Whilst our Lord Refused to be a Judge and a Divider He did not Refuse His Help Altogether. He related a parable. And this is the picture that He painted. The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully, and because of this prosperity there followed perplexity, as he said, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to bestow all my fruits and my goods.’ How easy it would have been for him to have said, ‘I will give some of them to my brethren who have not any’. But what do we read that 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.’ Prosperity and perplexity. Selfishness and shortsightedness. These characteristics are painted very vividly by our Lord in this picture. If there is one thing in this world more despicable than another it is selfishness. Mark the selfishness in the remarks of this man in which the pronoun ‘I’ seems to predominate. 7 will pull down; this will I do; I will restore; I will build. Is there anything more despicable in the sight of God than a self-centred soul?

III. Self-Centred or Christ-Centred? You may ask what do I mean by a self-centred soul? One whose thoughts and actions are centred entirely upon himself. He will rise in the morning, and his first thoughts are, ‘What shall I put on? What am I going to have to eat? What am I likely to get in the way of work or play?’ And his whole day is spent in ‘getting’ for himself. But his soul is lost in misery. And what of the happy man who possesses a Christ-centred soul? He wakes in the morning, and before he leaves his bed his thoughts go up to God on high, and he thinks of Christ who died for him. In proportion to our holiness is our happiness. ‘A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.’ ‘This is life eternal, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom He hath sent.’ This alone will suffice on that day when He returns.

Luk 12:15

We rarely find Christ meddling with any of these plump commands, but it was to open them out, and lift his hearers from the letter to the Spirit…. And thus you find Christ giving various counsels to varying people, and often jealously careful to avoid definite precept. Is He asked, for example, to divide a heritage? He refuses: and the best advice that He will offer is but a paraphrase of that tenth commandment which figures so strongly among the rest. Take heed, and beware of covetousness.

R. L. Stevenson.

References. XII. 15. W. M. Sinclair, Difficulties of our Day, p. 96. F. B. Cowl, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. xviii. p. 94. J. Eames, Sermons to Boys and Girls, p. 95. H. M. Butler, Harrow School Sermons (2nd Series), p. 121. W. R. Inge, All Saint’s Sermons, 1905-7, p. 69. W. P. Balfern, Lessons from Jesus, p. 253. XII. 15-21. C. Perren, Outline Sermons, p. 248. J. M. Whiton, Summer Sermons, p. 89.

Rich and Yet Poor

Luk 12:16

Why is this man called a ‘fool’? The epithet is a strong one. It is one the use of which Christ discouraged. It falls hot from the lips of Christ Himself. What is there in the conduct of this man to justify the use of such an opprobrious term?

I. (1) This man is evidently what is known as a ‘successful man’; but surely it does not follow that his folly lay in his success? Presumably it is all due to his own forethought, diligence, and the prolific generosity of ‘mother earth’. There is nothing unworthy in any success that is well and wisely gained. (2) Nor can we detect anything like folly, but something very like common sense and prudence, in the man’s question, ‘What shall I do with my goods’? (3) Nor do we perceive any particular folly in what he determined to do ‘I will pull down my barns, and build greater’.

II. There is one thing that is very noticeable in this man’s mind and speech, and that is the utter absence of any idea of, or reference to, God. There is a popular saying, if it may be used here without vulgarity, ‘He reckoned without his host’. The picture is a common one. It is the picture of a man whom prosperity has made Godless. There are two things a man may never forget; at least, if he do, God will not be slow in reminding him of them the one is, that what he calls his own is not his, it has been lent him by God; and the other is, that what has been lent him by God is intended to be used for God.

III. This man has literally no sense of responsibility.

IV. But let no one go away, saying, ‘There is nothing here for me. I am none of your prosperous men, I have neither money nor goods laid up for “many years!”‘ Hear me Thou hast not this Thou has not that Thou hast a soul! and the night is upon us, and it might be required of thee and then?

J. Thew, Broken Ideals, p. 165.

Luk 12:18

Want is a growing giant, whom the Coat of Have was never large enough to cover.

Emerson.

References. XII. 18. Expositor (6th Series), vol. iv. p. 186. XII. 19. T. Arnold, Christian Life, Its Hopes, p. 75. Expositor (6th Series), vol. iv. p. 192. XII. 19, 20. W. H. Evans, Short Sermons for the Seasons, p. 50.

Our Lord’s Fool

Luk 12:20

The word for ‘fool’ here is the same which St. Paul employs in his argument about the Resurrection. It signifies one who does not perceive what is passing before his eyes. He stands in the midst of life like a senseless statue. And when Jesus terms the man in His parable a ‘fool,’ He means that he is one who misses the proper significance of life and has no perception of its real values. He does not see the true issues. He is blind, unperceiving.

Now look at the man and observe the justice of this characterisation of him.

I. And, first of all, you will notice that he was not in any sense a bad man. There was no wickedness, no depravity about him. On the contrary, he was a most estimable person. He was rich, but there was no harm in this. Of course there was none. Success is an excellent thing if it be rightly achieved, and it is the stupid or indolent man who cries out against it. It is, to my mind, a good omen when a lad is ambitious of getting on in the world, of fighting his life-battle and winning it.

‘I think,’ said an old gentleman toward the close of his busy and successful career, ‘there are three questions which will be put to us on the Day of Judgment: Did you make all you could? How did you make it? What use did you make of it?’ And which of these questions would have convicted the man in the parable? He would have passed the first with the utmost credit. He had made all he could; he had missed no chance. He was a clever farmer. He had skill in crops and herds and understood the ways of the market; and he had prospered amazingly in his harvesting and breeding and buying and selling. And it was all to his credit.

And as for the second question: ‘How did you make it? ‘he would have passed that too. It is not suggested, you observe, that he had been guilty of any dishonesty, any sharp practice, any unfair dealing in the conduct of his affairs.

But what use had he made of it? Ah! there he had failed. He had a fault, and it is one to which the successful man is ever prone. And it was this that he was so much taken up with his farm, his crops, his cattle, his buying and selling, that he had never a thought for the higher and more momentous interests of life He neglected the supreme concerns, made no account of them, never took them into his reckoning the supreme concerns: Death, Judgment, Eternity, God.

II. When a man sells his soul and he never means to sell it he not only pays the price but loses the purchase. And so it happened with the Rich Fool. He bartered his soul for the world; and he got the world, did he not? Yes, but he had no enjoyment of it while he had it, and he quickly found that he could not keep it.

There is a grim Italian saying that ‘our last robe is made without pockets’. And the supremely important question is what sort of things we are living for and setting our hearts upon things which need pockets, or the things which the heart carries. It is well for us to pause from time to time amid our worldly employments and consider what the years have brought us and whether it be gain or loss. And it is so easy to determine. Perhaps they have brought us broader lands and fuller barns; and these are goodly things if only we have wisdom to use them. But have they brought us also more love and gentleness and patience and courage and faith and hope, more spiritual-mindedness, a deeper knowledge of God, a closer intimacy with Christ and a fuller sympathy with His mind and will? Whatever of temporal success or failure they may have brought us, the changeful years have brought us nothing but good if the world be less to us than it used to be, and Christ more.

David Smith, Man’s Need of God, p. 125.

Luk 12:20

We rode by a fine seat: the owner of which (not much above fourscore years old) says he desires only to live thirty years longer; ten to hunt, ten to get money (having at present but twenty thousand pounds a year), and ten years to repent. O that God may not say unto him, ‘Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee’.

Wesley’s Journal.

References. XII. 20. D. Brook, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. v. p. 33. G. Campbell Morgan, ibid. vol. xviii. p. 154 H. P. Liddon, Sermons on Some Words of Christ, p. 160. XII. 21. D. O. F. Macdonald, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. p. 205.

Luk 12:21

The influence of ancient philosophies, and also that of Christianity (so far as it has been taken seriously), have both been hostile to money-making; but the influence of all visible realities is so constantly in its favour, that the word ‘success’ in the middle classes both of France and England means money and nothing else. The phrases, ‘ Il a russi; il est arriv ,’ and the expressions, ‘He has done well; He has risen in the world,’ do not mean that one has attained any ideal excellence, but simply that he has betted money; and in certain classes a man is considered a poor creature if he has not realised a fortune.

P. G. Hamerton, French and English, p. 377.

If thou turnest in towards thyself to live to thyself, to be happy in the workings of thine own will, to be rich in the sharpness and acuteness of thy own reason, thou choosest to be a weed, and canst only have such a life, spirit, and blessing from God, as a thistle has from the sun.

William Law.

References. XII. 22-31. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke, p. 342. XII. 24. J. J. Blunt, Plain Sermons (3rd Series), p. 213.

How the Lilies Grow

Luk 12:37

They grow: I. Slowly. So slowly that increase is only noticeable at considerable intervals. It is Nature’s usual method. In the stalactite caves of Cheddar though the pendants and pillars are evidently in constant process of formation, there has been no appreciable lengthening or heightening for half a century. And as it is in the realm of the natural, so it is in the realm of the spiritual, e.g. in our personal religious experience. So also in the work of the Church.

II. Mysteriously. ‘How they grow.’ But who knows how? So in all spiritual experiences and work. We must leave room for the mysterious and inscrutable.

III. Under certain conditions. Absence of sunlight and moisture, poverty of soil, or lack of gentle breezes, will cause the flower to droop and die. So in all spiritual matters; growth is conditional. Let the conditions be observed and strength with beauty of Christian character are secured. Under some conditions spiritual vigour is almost impossible. The Cashmir proverb says, ‘A fat man has no religion’. In that quaint fashion we have but a version of ‘How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God’.

H. Windross, The Preachers? Magazine, vol. vii. p. 323.

Luk 12:27

There are times when I cannot rest in the ethical, when I cannot find any satisfaction in historical facts. The very evangel satisfies me not. I cannot read my Bible, and I cannot pray. But I go out into my garden to consider the lilies how they grow. , they seem to preach: carking care, away!

Dr. John Duncan.

The highest voice ever heard on this earth said withal, ‘Consider the lilies of the field: they toil not, neither do they spin; yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these’. A glance, that, into the deepest deep of Beauty. ‘The lilies of the field ‘ dressed finer than earthly princes, springing up there in the humble furrow-field; a beautiful eye looking out on you from the great inner sea of Beauty! How could the rude earth make these, if her Essence, rugged as she looks and is, were not inwardly Beauty?

Carlyle, on Heroes (Lecture iii).

Beside the moist clods the slender flags arise, filled with the sweetness of the earth. Out of the darkness under that darkness which knows no day save when the ploughshare opens its chinks they have come to light… Yonder a steam-plough pants up the hill, groaning with its own strength, yet all that strength and might of wheels, and piston, and chains, cannot drag from the earth one single blade like these. Force cannot make it; it must grow an easy word to speak or write, in fact full of potency. It is this mystery of growth and life, of beauty and sweetness and colour, starting out of the clods, that gives the com its power over me.

Richard Jefferies.

To us this is a truism. In the first century it must have seemed a paradox of paradoxes…. Almost all Christ’s moral precepts might be paralleled or illustrated by something in Hebrew or Jewish literature. This praise of the beauty of flowers cannot, apparently, be so paralleled. And it helps Christians to approximate to a realisation of the spiritual altitude of Christ’s conception of beauty and glory in the moral world. Of all Christ’s sayings it is the most original.

E. A. Abbott, The Son of Man, pp. 714, 715.

Reference. XII. 28. Expositor (7th Series), vol. v. p. 184.

Luk 12:29

Wherever I have been I have charged myself with contentment and triumph.

Walt Whitman.

References. XII. 29. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. 1. No. 2871- A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke, p. 349.

Luk 12:31

Speaking of the idealist Chinese philosopher, Wan Yang Ming, Dr. Nitob, in his book on Bushido (p. 18), observes that, ‘Making allowance for the terms peculiar to either teaching, the passage, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you, conveys a thought which may be found on almost any page of Wan Yang Ming’.

Luk 12:31

If you do not happen to have the means to go to Brazil, set out travelling to heaven. It is a longer journey, and you will see more by the way. Nay, I would say to the wealthy, travel in your own township. Put off your fine clothes and go among the poor and oppressed; work at the bench with the carpenter’s son, and in the pit with the collier; go on the road with the tramp and lighten the way a little for his feet and you will hear things you never thought to have heard. You will see things that in all your grand tours you could never attain to see. Like other problems the problem of property is best solved indirectly. That is, not by seeking material wealth directly, but by seeking that of which material wealth is only the symbol. ‘Seek ye first the kingdom… and all these things shall be added unto you.’ Vaguely metaphysical as these words sound, yet I believe they express a literal fact…. Seeking ease we have found disease; scrambling for wealth, our civilisation has become poverty-stricken beyond all expression; prizing mere technical knowledge, we have forgotten the existence of wisdom; and setting up material property as our deity, we have dethroned the ruling power in our own natures. Not till this last is restored can we possibly attain to possession of the other things.

Carpenter, England’s Ideal, pp. 159, 160.

At a certain time of life certain things cease to interest: but about some things when we cease to care, what will be the use of life, sight, hearing?

Thackeray.

An aim in life is the only fortune worth the finding; and it is not to be found in foreign lands, but in the heart itself.

R. L. Stevenson.

The Gift of the Kingdom

Luk 12:32

I. The kingdom of God is the gift of God.

II. The gift of the kingdom includes all other gifts. The greater includes the less.

III. So the children of the kingdom ought to be brave and glad. (1) Keep the kingdom before you. Look far enough forward and you will not be afraid. (2) Interpret all life by it.

A. Maclaren.

References. XII. 32. W. J. Brock, Sermons, p. 173. H. Woodcock, Sermon Outlines (1st Series), p. 39. T. H. Barlow, Christian World Pulpit, vol. li. p. 392. Expositor (5th Series), vol. vii. p. 68; ibid. (6th Series), vol. viii. p. 35.

Luk 12:33-34

We listen in church with formal assent when the love of money is denounced as the root of all evil. But we hold practically that this language has ceased to be applicable to the conditions of modern society. Energetic men are ambitious, and desire to excel. The only road by which they can now rise to preeminence lies in the accumulation of riches. Success is measured even in literature and art by the money which can be made out of them.

Froude, Short Studies, vol. iii. p. 152.

Because a man has shop to mind

In time and place, since flesh must live,

Needs spirit lack all life behind,

All stray thoughts, fancies fugitive,

All loves except what trade can give?

But shop each day and all day long!

Friend, your good angel slept, your star

Suffered eclipse, fate did you wrong!

From where these sorts of treasures are,

There should our hearts be Christ, how far!

Browning.

‘I declare,’ said Wilberforce, during the anti-slavery crusade, ‘my greatest cause of difference with the democrats is their laying, and causing people to lay, so great a stress on the concerns of this world as to occupy their whole minds and hearts, and to leave a few scanty and lukewarm thoughts for the heavenly treasure.’

Can you have ownership of inorganic matter of the mere materials of life?… Can you say to the treasures in chest and closet which the moth and rust are duly and diligently all the while corrupting, Treasures, Treasures, you are all mine, mine, mine? Yes, you can say so; but in what sense exactly do you say so? It is merely in the legal sense that you rub your hands as you gaze bending over them, and say, ‘I can prevent any one else from using you’ or is it in a grander sense than this? And if so, in what sense?

Carpenter, England’s Ideal, pp. 144, 145.

Reference. XII. 33, 34. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 28.

Luk 12:35

Ursula Rovers was not one of those who serve their Lord with dancing and a shout. Yet she sang to herself, very sedately, as she broke off each bursting pod, amid the fiercer jubilations of the passion-drunk blackbirds and finches:

Stand then with girded loins, and see your lamps be burning;

What though the sun lies fair upon your paths today,

Who reads the evening sky? Who knows if winds be turning?

The night comes surely. Watch and pray.

Maarten Maartens, in My Lady Nobody.

Luk 12:35-37

This was the passage from which Principal Rainy preached his last sermon on board ship on his voyage to Australia In the course of the sermon, in speaking of the ‘watches’ in which it is said that the Lord may come, he remarked it is ‘perhaps not altogether fanciful’ to divide the life of man into ‘three watches’. The first is child-life, ‘when we have not yet begun to awake to the seriousness of life and only see the bright and joyous side,’ and the third is age, ‘when our experience is ripe, but when we feel the ties that have bound us to earth gradually but surely lessening their hold upon us and we are forced to look on to the great end’. ‘But,’ the preacher continued, ‘there is a second period of life let us call it the middle watch, though it may be the last,’ and it is ‘the time when we are in the greatest danger of forgetting watchfulness’. ‘When the cares of business, the pleasures of society, the greed of gain and the glamour of the world threaten most to choke out the good seed from our hearts, then it is we need to pull ourselves together, to strive to realise we are not living for this world alone, and to listen most intently, amid the confusing voices of earth, for the rustle of the angels’ wings.’

References. XII. 35. Expositor (6th Series), vol. x. p. 155. XII. 35, 36. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St Luke, p. 358. XII. 35-37. H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 1643, p. 185. XII. 35-38. R. Allen, The Words of Christ, p. 245. XII. 35-48. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iv. p. 52. XII. 36. J. Bolton, Selected Sermons (2nd Series), p. 308. J. Kelman, Ephemera Eternitatis, p. 325. XII. 37. C. Bradley, Faithful Teaching, p. 86. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke, p. 366. XII. 37, 38. J. Moffatt, The Second Things of Life, p. 117. XII. 37, 38. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxix. No. 2302. XII. 37, 43, 44. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke, p. 373. XII. 38. Expositor (4th Series), vol. vi. p. 336.

Luk 12:40

During the Scripture reading with the villagers at the Hall in the evening, he ( i.e. Joseph John Gurney, the great Quaker banker and philanthropist) spoke of the awful consequences of delaying preparation for a dying hour, alluding to two deaths which had just occurred, and ending with the words, Be ye also ready, for at such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. The very next day he became unwell; all that week he failed, and almost without suffering grew feebler till Saturday evening, when he said to his wife, ‘I think I feel a little joyful,’ and, with these words, fell into the sleep from which he never woke here.

Quoted in Mr, Hare’s Gurneys of Earlham, ii. pp. 220, 221.

References. XII. 40. F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. i. p. 1. W. H. Evans, Sermons for the Church’s Year, p. 121.

St. Peter’s Weakness and Strength

Luk 12:41

I suggest for our study the character-sketch of the failure of the very Apostle who spoke to our Lord the words of our text. In it I think we shall find it necessary to make very little allowance for the change in outward circumstances before we arrive at a living, bright lesson for ourselves in that wonderfully human narrative of St. Peter of his goodness, his weakness, his fall, his penitence, his forgiveness, his new start For nothing will help us more to make progress in the future than clearly to see the reason of our fall in previous encounters; then it is that holy penitence, leading up to God’s forgiveness, builds the bridge by which men pass from sin to righteousness. And while we cannot, of course, say that the study of St. Peter’s failure can exhibit to us the whole source of the failures of all men, seeing that the reasons of men’s sins are as numerous and varied as are men themselves, yet the story of St. Peter’s denials, if we read it with a little care, is beyond question very instructive and far-reaching, and we can, I think, see reflected in it the origin and the history of many at least of our own falls.

I. In thinking over the little drama, for such it almost is, we must not dwell on the fall of St. Peter as if it were just the natural sequel to a mere rash boast as if, I mean, St. Peter had been insincere from the beginning, as if from the beginning he had not been prepared to do or suffer for the Lord. Far from it: when the Lord was arrested in the garden, it is St. Peter who strikes a blow in His defence and thereby exposes himself to great danger, though the Lord’s last wrought miracle appears to have saved him from arrest; and when all the others, with the exception of St. John, forsook the Lord and fled, St. Peter more bravely follows to the high priest’s house, where his recent act of violence must have placed him in special danger in the company in which he found himself. Of his sincerity when he spoke and declared that, however unfaithful others might be, yet he would be true, of this we need not doubt; the bitter tears which he shed when it was all over tell the same story; it was because he really loved the Lord that he spoke as he did; it was because he really loved the Lord that he wept. The mistake he made was that he compared himself with others, and boasted of his love; for however great it might be, it could offer no reason for the disparagement of others. And then he made the further mistake of under-estimating the difficulty of that which he had taken upon himself; I say under-estimating advisedly, for the temptation to deny the Lord was all the greater because it came in such a comparatively contemptible way. If he had imagined anything clearly, perhaps he had pictured to himself some such scene as that in which he did boldly strike to defend the Lord. The question of a maid-servant and the greater difficulty of meeting that, he had not foreseen. And let me call attention to the fact that, as St. John describes the matter, in the first and second denial St. Peter merely follows the lead of his questioner. The question is so put as to show that it expected St. Peter to say that he was no friend of Jesus of Nazareth, and St. Peter only said what he felt he was expected to say. If the first question had come in a less trivial way, if it had been a formal inquiry, and St. Peter had felt that he was on his trial, the result would no doubt have been different. As it was, he was in rather a difficult position, the company was dangerous; it was a mistake, so he would feel, to contradict any one and begin a quarrel; he simply wished to escape observation, perhaps, with the very purpose of bravely dying for the Lord when the right moment should arrive when he could assist Him. And so with easy compliance, not thinking that there was yet anything to fight about, he simply assented to the lead of his questioner and avoided any unpleasantness.

II. All this is very true to our timid, self-saving nature. Can we not recall occasions when, really being at heart on the right side, we have allowed ourselves to appear to be on the wrong side because we have thought that the occasion was not big enough to call for a real declaration of our principles? Something wrong has been proposed and a young person, man or woman, assents, in the hope that after all it will not be done, and so all will end well, without anything disagreeable being caused by an outspoken protest. Something clever has been said about another, not by way of good-humoured character-study, but possessing its only point in its maliciousness and sting; some risky joke has been made, and Christ’s timid follower has not laughed outright, for he could not really approve, and he was not really in the least amused; but he has feebly smiled, enough, so he hoped, to save his conscience on the one hand, and not to make him singular or unpopular on the other. My firm conviction is that in many of the dangers of life the gravest harm will often have as its first step this easy half-pretended assent to the wrong spoken by others, and, on the other hand, Christ’s faithful follower will be saved from further attack of wrong if from the beginning he or she meets such remarks with the unspoken but unmistakable dissent of a self-respecting silence, or with just the look that simply and modestly bespeaks a different standard of thought, the look before which a meaner nature by instinct is cowed. And observe, while St. Peter, in his timid effort to avoid anything awkward, had begun to slip further and further away from his high resolve, St. John, who kept near to the Lord, and made no kind of compromise, was not even assailed. What a contrast! What a lesson! The place of faithfulness true, simple, and complete will always be the place of safety; when we keep nearest to Christ we have least to fear.

III. We know now that which St. Peter then did not know. Christ must die for Peter before Peter could die for Christ; such is an old comment on all this. But Christ did die for Peter, and in the end Peter was privileged to die for Christ. ‘Verily, verily,’ so, soon after, the Lord said to him, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands and another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake He signifying by what death he should glorify God.’ And some of us in a famous book, accurate and imaginative, have read details of the story of St. Peter’s death for Christ. But we need not travel outside the limits of Holy Scripture to recognise the change that came over St. Peter after Christ had died for him and the Holy Spirit had been sent His nature was not altered; God’s influence does not change men in that sense; He does not abolish and annihilate the disposition with which we are born; He chastens, and ennobles, and consecrates it. In the Epistle to the Galatians we read that St. Peter still had the same tendencies as ever. But in the Acts of the Apostles we read of his boldness and his defiance of the great authorities of Jerusalem; we read of his public speeches for Christ’s name; we read of his love for Christ made good in action; and those humble words of his involving no comparison of himself with others, and only claiming that he had a personal affection for Christ, ‘Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee,’ were justified by his life and by his death.

Bertram Pollock (Bishop of Norwich), The Guardian, 21st October, 1910.

References. XII. 42. Expositor (6th Series), vol. vi. p. 404. XII. 48. H. M. Butler, Harrow School Sermons, p. 332. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iv. p. 62.

The Fire Christ Flung on Earth

Luk 12:49

According to a word of His own, Christ came from the heavenly sphere to fling fire on earth. In language which from any other lips would have been called reckless, He said this and more that He sent not peace, but a sword. Into a world where already so many sharp swords were busy, He brought another keener than all the rest, that was to cut asunder the nearest and the dearest. Whatever may be involved in the symbol of fire, this, at least, is clear, it means assault and transformation of the existing state. So in the Christ’s thought His religion did not come to crown, with a final glory, a fair temple long in building and needing but that to complete it. A religion welcomed by men as sweetly reasonable, accommodated to their imaginings, disturbing but little the peace of their conditions, is not Christianity. To Christ the world as it was needed transformation; out of fervent heat the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, was to rise.

I. What can be easier than to fling fire? A child may throw the brand and raise a conflagration that will not cease till the great city lies a mass of charred and blackened ruins. Building is slow and difficult, but one needs no skill to destroy. The young reformer is flushed with brilliant anticipations. He doubts not that his own ardours will spread from heart to heart and change the face of things. Christ was wiser. His were the noblest and most kindling thoughts; they dropped from the height of the Divine nature, but they could not set the world ablaze. Though He came to send fire on earth, and longed to see it burning, He bethought Himself that first He must be baptised with the baptism of death, and was straitened till it was accomplished.

That Christ foresaw and meant His death is the key to the true understanding of His life.

II. Christ knew what we have each to discover, that the world is very hard to set on fire. He underrated neither the greatness nor the difficulty of the work He had to do. But He did not despair. It was possible, but possible only in one way. He must die, and so kindle the fire which would never be put out. He knew best, we may be sure. It is not His example that will save men, perfect though it is. We have all of us had examples enough to condemn us, though we had never seen Him. It is not His counsel and wisdom that will redeem a world that has almost been advised into hell. It is His death that absolves us, renews us, brings us back to God. If for the hour thought retreats from the central theme of Scripture, it must return to what St. Paul deemed the very triumph and crown of the Eternal Reason. If the Church begins to forget the death of Christ, her sinking fires will remind her of her loss. To use the old language of the burnt offering, it is the fire kept burning on the altar that burns day and night and shall never go out.

III. The great token and witness of Christ on earth is the life kindled by Him in the beginning and burning on steadily to the end. Perhaps none of us know what such Jives have been and are to us; how our faith and hope hang on them. They always burn on the altar of Christ’s death, and may we not say on an altar of their own selfsacrifice.

Christ came nearly two thousand years ago to set the world on fire has He done it? He has kindled a fire; that cannot be denied. The years are years of the Lord. But will it go out? Many hope that it will. They do their best to extinguish it. First put it out, some of them are telling us, and you will see what our science and politics will do for you. Many fear it. They give heed to despairing voices at home and abroad and see the fire languishing and dying. But it shall never go out. It is burning and it will spread till the whole world is caught and wrapped in its flames.

W. Robertson Nicoll, Ten Minute Sermons, p. 301.

References. XII. 49. W. L. Alexander, Sermons, p. 1. W. H. Hutchings, Sermon-Sketches, p. 128. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv. No. 854. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke, p. 381. XII. 60. J. Keble, Sermons for the Holy Week, p. 24. H. Bonar, Short Sermons for Family Beading, pp. 96, 102.

Luk 12:51 , with 2:14

True Christianity is both, and alternately a cement and a solvent.

Vinet.

References. XII. 54. Expositor (6th Series), vol. viii. p. 140. XII. 54-57. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix. No. 1135. XII. 56. J. G. Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. p. 235. XII. 57. T. Sadler, Sermons for Children, p. 77. T. Sadler, Sunday Thoughts, p. 39. XIII. 1. Expositor (5th Series), vol. i. p. 96. XIII. 1-3. J. A. Atkinson, The Cholera: Is it the Visitation of God? No. 1. XIII. 1-5. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii. No. 408. XIII. 1-9. Expositor (4th Series), vol. vii. p. 232.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

The Rich Fool

Luk 12:16-20

Let us find out where this man, called a “fool,” got wrong. There seem to be some points of common-sense in the man. One is, therefore, curious to know where he breaks away from good thinking into foolish planning, and where he proves himself to be an atheist.

“The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully” ( Luk 12:16 ).

There is nothing wrong in that. There is no harm in having good crops, fields beautiful with the produce of nature. You cannot stand beside a man’s farm, and say, “This must be a very bad person, because his fields bring forth so plentifully.” In Old Testament times abundance of harvest was considered a sign of the divine favour, and men regarded the increase of the ground as a token of God’s approbation. It is a practical fallacy to suppose that a man must be wrong because he has plenty. A man may be a very child of God, a saint, and a crowned one in the spiritual kingdom, and yet have an abundance on every hand. He may also be a very bad man, and yet be poor and destitute and homeless and friendless; and contrariwise, forasmuch as nothing depends upon the circumstances, but everything upon the spirit The rich man before us derived his property from the ground; and agriculture is of all professions the most honest, the most natural, and the most beautiful. Some of us would like to follow that pursuit above all others. What can be more simple and beautiful than to till the ground, and to get out of the kindly earth sustenance for our daily life? So far, therefore, we find nothing amiss. The man was rich, and his ground brought forth plentifully. Herein, there is no indictment against him. Let us, then, proceed:

“And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do?” (Luk 12:17 .)

“Because I have no room” ( Luk 12:17 ).

“Ah my fruits, and my goods” ( Luk 12:18 ).

There he is wrong again. My fruits, and my goods, and my soul, and my barns. That is all wrong. He has narrowed down things to a point. He has made himself the centre of reckoning; he has constituted his own individuality into the standard of life. But surely a man may say “my soul”? No. Only in a secondary sense, at least, may he say that. “For all souls are mine,” saith the Lord. The fundamental error in life is that a man should call himself his own. And until that deadly, fatal reasoning is driven out of him, he will never take hold of life by the right end. The discussion is not, “Is what I have in my hand my property or not?” Your hand itself is not your own. Why, then, be wasting your life in some little peddling debate about what you hold in your hand? No man can live wisely, deeply, truly, until he has got rid of the notion that he is his own property. Herein is the great mystery of the Christian faith: Ye are not your own; ye are bought, ye belong to another. Glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are God’s. I do not, therefore, follow a man into any debate when he says, “My barns, my fruits, my goods.” I let him chatter on; but when he says, “My soul,” I arrest him! He may fight all day long about his barns and his fruit and his goods, and no useful result would testify to our wordy debate. But if I can convince a man that his soul is not his own, except in a secondary sense: that it is God’s; that it is a bought soul; and that it must take its law and its way from the utterances of God, I shall have brought the man to the right point from which to start all the courses and all the discipline of his life. Is not selfishness at the root of all evil? Is not a man little in proportion as he debates everything in the light of his own personality? This man committed that great error. He spoke of nobody but himself; he seemed to imagine that creation was absorbed in his own little life; he was his own lawgiver, and he undertook to decide his own way. Let us read further, because we shall perhaps find that the man’s character more fully develops itself:

“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” ( Luk 12:19 ).

What had he laid up? Much goods. Truly! But had he the years laid up? Barn enough goods enough. But where are the stored years? Can a man lock up even one day, and say, “Thou art mine; I will come for thee”? He seemed to think that all things came within the range of his individual ownership; and yet there was a point when his poor little “my” dropped down dead, and had no longer any hold upon his property. My fruits, my barns, my goods, my soul; but not my years. No! God must, now and then, just put in a little claim of proprietorship, must he not? He says, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther; and thou shalt even go to this line only in a secondary sense. But when thou dost take into thy keeping the years, and make a covenant with time and mortgage the future, I must say, No; boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Ye must not say, We will go in to such and such a city, and tarry there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain. But ye ought to say, If the Lord will. There are unseen forces we have to consult; stubborn as we may be and self-resolved, there are great walls set round about us, that we cannot break through invisible walls, but there they are and he only is wise who, knowing the limit of his little power, and holding it as secondary, says, “Not my will, but thine, be done.” We can lay up the goods, but we cannot lay up the years. We can, in some sense, call the fruits ours, but no man can call tomorrow his. There are limits to proprietorship, there are boundaries to property, and ever and anon God comes down to us in some way, to say, “The earth is mine, and the fulness thereof.” No nation can live long in sweltering prosperity; sometimes, therefore, God comes down about harvest time, and scatters a blight upon the wheatfield, and people wonder. Why? “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” May he not do what he will with his own? Sometimes he says to the wind, “Blow,” and the poor little structures of human skill are toppled over. Sometimes he says to the flood, “You may go over the line to-night rush on!” and then men run away from the invading waters. Is it not right that now and then he should put in some kind of claim upon his own property? We hold it only as stewards; at best we have it but secondarily; it is his, and if it please him to shake the roots of the earth “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” And what shall we, even the mightiest, require? Just a handful of it at last, under which to hide our dead bones.

Let us read again. We may discover that the iniquity deepens:

“I will say to my soul, Soul, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry” ( Luk 12:19 ).

So much for the man’s own speech. Now we turn to another side:

“But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luk 12:20 .)

“But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee” ( Luk 12:20 ).

“Thou fool.” Why use this expression? The man was very wise, on one side of his nature. So many of us are clever in little points. So many people are prudent and sagacious and wise in one aspect of their nature, and are utter and irredeemable fools in others. If the light that is in us be darkness, how great is that darkness! Few men are foolish altogether. The man in the parable talked wisely up to a given moment, and from that time he went down into the utterest and worst imbecility. What does God say? “This night.” God sometimes gives but short notice to his tenants. Oftentimes the Most High cometh suddenly upon us. May he rightfully do so? Yes. Why? Because “the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof.” All souls are his. All lives are but throbs of his own heart. No man hath right or title of proprietorship in himself, nor can have evermore.

Does not Jesus Christ in this parable disclose the method of the divine government? God comes suddenly to men, so that not a man amongst us can surely say he will be living upon the earth tomorrow morning! Oh, that men were wise; that they understood these things; that they would consider their latter end I “Lord, so teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” “He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” Is there a man amongst us who knows of a certainty that he will reach his home again? Can the wisest of us say, with sureness, that he will live five minutes longer? This is the reality of affairs; this is the kind of thing we ought to look at and estimate in making up the scheme of our life. We are walking upon a very thin line. On the right hand there is an abyss, on the left hand there is a precipice. There is barely foothold between the two. “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.” As a mere matter of fact, we hold our life without a moment’s guarantee that we shall have it tomorrow. What becometh us, then, but diligence and watchfulness and prayerfulness; a spirit that makes the best of the passing hour; a disposition that cries to be taught what is best to be done within the brief space allotted to human life?

“This night.” The man had forgotten the nights! He talked about years in whole numbers; about the bright spaces called day, but did not think of those black lines called night. Between to-day and tomorrow there rolls the black night-river, and we may fall into it, and never step on the shore of the morning. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might”

“Then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luk 12:20 .)

Can the man not take them with him? Not one of them. But they are fruits of the earth? Yes, but not required in the other world. What, then, is it impossible for a man, after having been anxious and thoughtful, after having worried himself to death in the amassing of a little property, is it impossible for him to take it out into the next world? Yes, impossible! “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.” Make your ground bring forth plentifully; be the best farmers in the neighbourhood; be successful in every kind of business or profession; and, if you possibly can, rise to the very top of the line along which you are working. But all the while hold all these things loosely; hold them in a spirit of stewardship. Then you will hold them rightly, and when God says, “Let go!” it will be but a step into heaven. The only things we can carry out of this world are our thoughts, our feelings, our impulses, our desires, all the elements which make us spiritual men, and invest us with moral character. We take out of this world our moral and spiritual condition, and as the tree falleth, so must it lie! What, then, do I find wanting in the speech of the foolish man? I find no grateful heart in it all. The man never blessed his banquet in the name of God. Not a word do I hear to this effect: “God hath dealt bountifully with me: praise God from whom all blessings flow. He hath put all these things into my care; he hath entrusted me with all this large estate, that I may administer it in his name. Lord, teach me how to use it, so that not one crumb be wasted, but that the whole be so ordered and dispensed as to bring honour to thy name, and satisfaction and gladness to thy children that are round about me.” He doubles his enjoyment of worldly things who uses them gratefully; he drinks the best wine who drinks out of the goblet of thankfulness; he has most who gives most; and he grows most truly who, for Christ’s sake, expends himself for the good of others most fully.

How, then, are we to live wisely in the world? How, then, are we to be wise in the dispensing of the produce of the earth and the results of honest trading? We meet the whole thing only in one way. We come back at a bound to the old, old gospel. Only he who lives in Christ Jesus, and has Christ Jesus living in his heart, can use wisely and well the things of the present world. A great deal has to be learned by sheer force of thought, by mental diligence, by comparing notes one with another, by meeting in associations for the purpose of discussion; but under all, and over all, and including all, there must be a profoundly religious spirit that sees God in everything, that feels his presence, and that acknowledges his sovereignty and his right. Because, after we have made our ground do its best, and we have pulled down our barns and built on a larger scale; after we have stored up our goods, he may say to us suddenly, “To-night I shall want you!” And we cannot say him, No. You may say No to your best friend; you can refuse the invitation of your most importunate associate; but when God says, “I shall want you to-night,” you cannot write a note of excuse! When God says, “Thy soul shall be required of thee to-night,” you cannot say, “Lord, let it stand over for a week.” See, then, our weakness, as well as our strength; and know this, O man, as a matter of dead certainty, whatever our religious faith may be, though we are the vilest, vulgarest, and most stubborn atheists, that we cannot escape the final day the great deed the deed of death!

How, then, am I to become prepared for the last great scene? for I think it worth preparing for. As a wise man, I think I shall be doing right in turning this over in my mind, and making some reflections upon it; and thus have I resolved, by the strength and grace of God, to do: I will put my confidence in God in God as revealed in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ; in God as known to me through the Cross, as the one Saviour; God the Son, who loved me and gave himself for me. I will walk in the way of God’s commandments, and I will diligently study his precepts; I will make his Book the man of my counsel and the light of my way. All that I can do I shall do according to the strength he gives me, and I will praise him for the power with which he may invest my life. This I will do; and I think it is the right thing. I ask you who are hovering between two opinions to decide so; and I ask those of you who are already on the right side to pray without ceasing; and let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” The strongest of us is not stronger than his weakest point; and the very subtlest of temptation may even elude us, if our eyes be not anointed with the eye-salve that God himself alone can give.

Seeing, then, that there is to be a day of departure from this world, when I must leave my fields and my barns and my goods and my fruits and my present relationships, what shall I do? This. Live for eternity. Look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal.

Prayer

Almighty God, we bless thee that thou hast made us understand thy will in some degree. We glorify thee that we have heard of thy will through Jesus Christ thy Son, who was able to explain it and make it clear to our dull understanding. Now thou hast laid upon us a great responsibility: to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Verily thou hast done much for us: what can we do in return? Thou dost daily load us with benefits; we would that thy goodness might lead us to repentance, and not unto presumption and boastfulness; may the goodness of the Lord humble our souls, and open our eyes, and constrain us to walk in the paths of obedience; may thy mercies not be wasted upon us as rain is wasted upon the barren sand. Having received much at the hand of the Lord, may we be proportionately diligent, growing in grace, adding to virtues all the graces which thou hast named, bringing forth all the fruits of the Spirit, and justifying our communion with God by our kindness and love and service towards man. Thou knowest our life, its frailty, yet its immortality; thou knowest how abject is man, yet how almost divine. Thou dost lead us by strange ways, thou dost interpret thyself unto us by the events of life: take thine own course with us, O loving Father, gentle Saviour, and lead us at last to the open heavens, where the morning is, where the summer lingers, where the light continues; where there is nor death, nor pain, nor parting; the homeland, the place of gathering, made sacred and secure by the eternal presence of him who died that we might live. Amen.

Something for Everybody

Luk 12:42

Our Lord commends the faithful and wise steward who gives a portion of meat in due season to the household placed in his charge. A portion of meat to each; not necessarily the same meat, not necessarily the same quantity of food; but the faithful and wise steward looks at the whole situation, sees what is best to be done, and does it conscientiously and to the best of his ability. So far the faithful and wise steward may be taken as a type of the faithful and wise pastor, or minister of a congregation, or teacher of a household or school, whose business it is to study variety of character, and to adapt his communications of doctrine, or truth, or suggestion of any kind to the capacity and the training and the circumstances of those with whom he has to deal. The man who continues steadfastly upon one line may appear to be doing more good than the man who studies a large variety of human character, and zealously tries to adapt himself not to one class of hearer or people, but to all classes. His work is often too much diffused to be estimated and measured as would be the work of a man who toils only at one kind of labour. Our Lord, however, commends in various instances that steward who studies his peculiar circumstances; who recognises and develops his individual responsibility, and who thus endeavours to serve his day and generation. Consider the variety of a human assembly: no two men are precisely alike; what one man believes another heartily discredits and zealously repudiates; what is sacred to one conscience is looked upon by another as a fanaticism or a superstition, a piece of pedantry hardly to be excused a narrow, dwarfing, humiliating morality that ought to have been forgotten years ago. Yet the teacher must consider all these varieties, and see that by no lack of his shall any man leave his table over which he has been set by the lord of the house without having a portion of meat in due season. There should be mutual sympathy in the congregation; all exasperating and narrow individuality or personalism should be lost in a sacred and ennobling fusion of feeling, thought, desire, purpose, so that individualism shall be magnified into largeness and representativeness of humanity and aspiration.

Consider, for example, that in all assemblies you will find the slow-thinking, slow-minded hearer, untaught, unskilled, wanting much nursing and care and patience; he cannot be hastened; he has always moved at a certain pace, and his pace cannot be quickened. If you attempt to stimulate him you plunge him into confusion; if you urge him to the next sentence he completely forgets the one that has just been spoken. Yet side by side with him is a man who sees the end of a discourse in the very first word that too-quick, too-sharp man, who anticipates every speaker, and who knows the course of every argument before it has even been dimly outlined. What is to be done in such cases? Nothing can meet such exigencies but mutual sympathy; the quicker, keener, more penetrating the mind, the greater should be the patience, the more complete and noble the indulgence. Some credit, too, should be given to the speaker for knowing what he is about; when he is slow or diffuse, when he repeats himself in some degree, what if in his pastoral heart he be considering the untaught and slow-minded that needs his instruction a line at a time, sometimes a syllable, and a halt before the next syllable is uttered? If a man were really clever, quite a genius at hearing, able to swallow up a thousand preachers before they had opened their mouths, he ought to be as great in patience as he is brilliant in self-conceit. We cannot all travel at the same rate. Be patient with the slow one. You would not leave any behind; you will have a poor account to give at the end if you have only brought the strong, and the agile, and the audacious along with you, and have left all the little children, all the slow-footed, all the infirm how shall you tell the lord of the house that you have only brought those who were able to gallop your pace? It will be a poor account to render; it will bring to the Lord’s sweet face a flash of righteous anger.

Here is the strong, prosperous man, who wants everything done quickly; he reduces life to one philosophic motto namely, Get it over. He does not want any particulars, distinctions, analyses, fine traceries in colour, and new combinations of geometric outlines; he wants to take his gospel in large boluses and let them work their mystery within him as they like. Near to him is one who is weary and ill at ease; all life is entangled in knots and perplexities, and no sooner is one hand filled than the other is emptied, and no sooner is one step taken in advance than half a step is fallen backwards. The light is always beclouded, grey; June cannot bring full day to such eyes, summer must linger long to prove that it has ever come at all. What is to be done? The fat, prosperous, dominating man takes no heed of those who are weary and ill at ease, and by so much he does not deserve his prosperity. The great law of Nature will get hold of that man some day; he can only be taught through his flesh, you can only get any hint of theology into him through his purse: impoverish him, and he may begin to pray; strip him, and in his nakedness he may cry out for the gods. Honour him who is of faint heart and sad wounded spirit; be angry with the brother who is so strong and bold and urgent: let each have his portion of meat in due season. The mature Christian must have his doctrine, and the hardened sinner must be brought under the hammer of God’s love; before some must flame the law, a living, avenging Sinai, a mountain of fire paled by a crown of lightning. To another must be spoken poems, idyls, dreams, hints of things large and bright and ever-abiding. Yet one mind has to do all this. One mind can do it under the blessing of God if the congregation itself be intelligent, responsive, sympathetic.

No one hearer should expect the whole discourse to himself. He must be a wonderful man who needs a whole discourse; what can he do with it? No man wants the whole bill of fare. There are men who would swallow the menu, and think they had dined: why do they not swallow it? There is all the difference in the world between crumpling up the bill of fare and drinking it, and really enjoying some two or three of the viands indicated on the hospitable paper. Some men will find their refreshment in a sentence; that is enough for. them. Take your sentence, eat it, live upon it, and pray that others may be able to seize some little word, some flashing simile, some coloured parable, some hint of larger things and larger actions. Thus let there be established in a congregation the principle of mutual sympathy, so that the strong shall say, The pastor is now after the weak: God bless him; he has a great tender woman’s heart, and he will not stir one inch until he picks up the very frailest of those who want to follow him in his holy wandering. Sometimes the weak will have to say, The pastor is now struggling with the strong: he is a valiant soul, he has never been thrown yet, and in this contest by the power of Christ he will be conqueror again. God bless him! see how he tugs with the broad Hercules. Thus a discourse shall be a thousand sermons; every sentence a gospel; every appeal a new chance; every exposition a vision of the brightness and grandeur of life. Do not take your one sentence and run away. That would be selfishness. If any one would study selfishness let him be often at church. There are hearers that take just what they want, and then leave the preacher and his hearers to do what they can for themselves. Where is unity? Where is masonry? Where is the household spirit? Where the family genius? Oh! where that divine shepherdliness that carries the lambs in its bosom? Thus a congregation should be the co-pastor of the preacher. Some will pray whilst he wrestles with the hardened; some will thank God as he drops the honey of sacred promise upon those who are hungering for heavenly solace, and throughout the whole assembly there shall breathe a spirit of unity, and the discourse in its wholeness shall belong to everybody, because parts of it in their adaption belong to somebody. You may have had your portion in the prayer; when the portion of Scripture is read you may say, That is enough; I can go in the strength of that sweet word full forty days and more. So be it; now wait for the others. You are not other than part of humanity; subdue your selfishness; a little trial of patience may sometimes chasten you, and refine and enlarge your best education.

To whom shall we go for examples of all this doctrine but to Christ himself? He was the universal Preacher; he had no style of preaching he had all styles. Have you studied Christ as a minister, pastor, preacher, teacher? How infinite the variety! How humiliating to the miracles when they are set beside Christ’s teachings! In his doctrine he was greater than in his miracles. He spoke the beatitudes, whole philosophies in little sentences, life condensed to a point, a point that flashed, and that gleams in ever-brightening beauty as the ages come and go. Will he always speak beatitudes? Shall we always hear this Man in this key? Is he one line of music? Has he founded a school of style? No. When we hear him again he will pronounce no beatitudes, but there shall roll from his lips a torrent of overwhelming Woes! And yet if our ear be quick enough to hear inner music, minor tones, undertones, we shall hear in the malediction a voice of pity, a tone that says, I would it were otherwise; and if our eyes be quick to see all life’s mystery as pictured in the face, we shall see tears coming that would have prevented the Woes if they could. Does this Teacher exhaust himself in beatitude and malediction? No; the next time we hear him he will be speaking pictures; he will be uttering those wondrous parables that hold all the stories and romances that ever really took place in human consciousness and experience. Nothing ever happened in all true fiction that cannot be found in the parables of Christ. “True fiction ” is not that a contradiction in terms? No. No fiction is worth reading that is not true true to human nature, true to reason, true to the possibilities of life; however grand, eerie, wild it may be, the world will shake it off as a nuisance if it cannot lay hold by a thousand tentacles upon human recollection, human consciousness, human experience, the whole tragedy of human endurance and aspiration.

But besides all this Christ was a great painter of character. Perhaps we have not dwelt sufficiently upon this phase of the divine ministry. Jesus was always sketching some individual, always contributing some new picture to the gallery of human art. He did not always enjoy the advantage of being fully reported; we have to put things together in making up the ministry of Christ; we have to enter into his spirit and method of looking at things, and then, out of the fragments that are related in the evangelists, we can shape temple and poem and altar and picture as Christ meant them to be represented to the eye of the religious imagination. See how he struck off a character in a sentence. Who can forget the man in long robes? The description may be so read as really to have little suggestion in it; or it may be so read as to fill the eyes with pictures of hypocrisy and skill and partially successful deceit. Who could but remember the men standing in the marketplaces and praying to the empty clouds, as if God could stop to listen to voices without hearts? There they stand, mockers, actors, liars; and there they will stand until the end of the world’s tragedy. Then see how quickly he turns his eyes upon men who are seeking out the chief seats. Is it a synagogue? He watches the man who is urging his way to the uppermost place. Is it a feast? He says, Look at this fool who is urging himself to the top, only to be ordered down to the bottom again; watch him, see how the little comedy will end. Then he turns and paints, with wondrous ineffable skill, a heart, young, passionate, riotous, that lost its filial instinct and wandered away into far places, the habitations of dragons and the abodes of desolation and hunger. One man he described as simply well clothed, and faring sumptuously every day, and dropping into hell.

So we have justification for the various treatment of men in the example and in the authority of our blessed Lord and Master Jesus Christ. There should be great variety in Christian teaching. Society should provide texts for the preacher. The Bible is a book of seeds, germs, alphabetic hints; the newspaper should be as a bible to the reverent and eager reader; he should study the journal of the morning to know what God is doing amongst mankind. The journal will be what you make it: regard it as so much gossip, news, to be scanned and bandied about in frivolous conversation, and it will amount to nothing; regard it as indicating a providential action, a ministry of rulership, a ministry that seemingly delights in contradiction, controversy, conflict, paradox, and yet over all exercises a sovereignty which shapes things out to their best uses; then every incident will be as a pillar of cloud by day or a pillar of fire by night, or a whispered word indicating the continued presidency and the continued beneficence of God. He preaches Christ who denounces hypocrisy. The hypocrite will be the first to regard such preaching as wanting in evangelical sentiment. The hypocrite is very fond of a really juicy, savoury doctrine. It does him no harm; he can sleep through the most of the exposition; there will be no shot-mark upon his mask. Let a preacher arise amongst us who has the gift of denunciation, the genius of objurgatory speech, a man entrusted with thunderbolts and flashes of lightning, and the hypocrite will publish his name as one who is wanting in evangelical unction. The man must bear the penalty; it is his prize, it is his commendation. He preaches Christ who protects women and children. The cruel man will object to such preaching on the ground that it is a great departure from the lines that were taken by the unread Puritan divines. Abuse some other sin, and he will applaud you; lay your hand upon his cruelty, and he will be impracticable in his anger and madness. A man who shall stand up in the Christian pulpit and plead for women and children who are helpless; friendless, or cruelly used, is preaching the gospel, is uplifting the Cross of Christ. He, too, preaches the gospel who tells the worst that they may come back again. It would be unworthy preaching that omitted to take notice of those who have wandered far from light and truth and beauty, virtue, honour, and nobleness. We do not want stay-at-home shepherds who, being sure of the ninety-and-nine, care nothing for the one that is lost. They are not shepherds, they are hirelings; the true shepherd cannot sleep because one of the flock is missing; when he appears to lie down his mind is full of solicitude about the absent; what if he but watch for the first hint of dawn, that he may be away to seek that which is lost, only to return when he has found it? Blessed be that teacher, in church, in school, at home, who cannot be happy so long as there is one unhappy person over whom he can exercise some gracious influence. He preaches Christ who denounces censoriousness; he preaches the Sermon on the Mount over again. That is sadly wanting in evangelical sentiment; it will disappoint the man who lives either in cant or in sentiment.

What does your evangelicalism amount to if in five minutes you can blight fifty reputations? If you profess to be evangelical, and can so do, I will not be one of your number. Let me rather invite the charge of heterodoxy than sit down and pluck the flesh from the bones of better men than myself. He preaches Christ who proclaims pardon by the Cross. There is no other pardon. “This is the way; walk ye in it.” We are not called upon to invent some theory of pardon; the question is not put to us how to get back our yesterdays, and to purge and cleanse them from the infinite staining they have undergone at our profane hands. Can you get back your yesterdays? Can you go back five-and-twenty years and heal the heart you then wounded? Have you the stealthy foot that can go noiselessly back, and put in again the treasure that you stole? Can you drive a nail into polished wood, and take it out without leaving a wound? Can you shatter crystal and then put it together again so that no flaw can be detected? The question is not put to us, How shall a man be pardoned? We have not to answer an inquiry, but to accept a welcome. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved but the name of Jesus Christ. Yet this wonderful Son of God represents every aspect of humanity, looks in all directions. His was the fourfold ministry that had the face of a lion, the face of a cherub, the face of an eagle but oh! had it no other face? Yea, it had the face of a man. This is the ministry the age needs. If this ministry be not exercised in its four-foldness; if it be wanting in eagle, and lion, and cherub, and humanity, or in any one of these, it is not the ministry of Christ’s ideal. It is not a reproduction of the ministry of the Son of God who was also Son of man. Each man may find a portion of meat in every service if he will seek for it; only he is disappointed who will not search. It is impossible that God’s house can be opened, and God’s praise sung, and God’s Word read without a portion of meat being furnished to every man as he wants it; and there is no sermon, how poor soever in intellectual conception, in vocal utterance, that has not in it somewhere, if the preacher be faithful to Christ, a touch, a hint, a gleam, that can be used in life’s great warfare. In this respect, Seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. Say, Lord, which sentence was meant for me? and he will show you. Eat it, and live evermore.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

VIII

THE MODEL PRAYER REPEATED; A BLASPHEMOUS ACCUSATION; HOW TO BE CLEAN; AND A DISCOURSE ON HYPOCRISY, WORLDLY ANXIETIES, WATCHFULNESS, ETC.

Harmony, pages 112-118 and Luk 11:1-13 ; 59.

In section 83 of the Harmony (Luk 11:1-13 ) we have the model prayer repeated. It will be noted that the phraseology here is quite different from that found in section 42 (Mat 6:5-15 ), but the ideas are the same. Then follows immediately the parable of the friend at midnight, which teaches that importunate prayer overcomes the greatest difficulties, to which is added the promise of success to the one who asks, seeks, and knocks. In this same connection is also given the promise of the Holy Spirit to them who ask for him. This promise is emphasized by contrasting the willingness of earthly parents, though evil, in giving good gifts to their children, with the heavenly Father’s willingness to give the Holy Spirit.

In section 84 of the Harmony (Luk 11:14-36 ) we have the incident of casting out the demon which was dumb, and the blasphemous accusation that Jesus did this by the prince of demons. This incident and the teaching growing out of it needs to be considered more particularly.

When that question came up about the expulsion of that demon, Jesus met it substantially thus: Here is a fact. This man was occupied and Satan has been cast out. How do you account for it? The Pharisees reply: “You cast him out by the chief of demons.” “But that is absurd. A house divided against itself cannot stand, and if Satan cast out Satan, Satan’s kingdom ends. Moreover, you and your children profess to be able to cast out demons. Turn your logic there, and if I, by the prince of demons, cast out demons, do not your children? As you say of your children, then let them judge you in this accusation. If not then by Satan, then what follows? Here is a superhuman power that could not be expelled except by a stronger force. Man is no stronger force. This superhuman power has been overthrown. It is absurd to suppose that Satan did it himself. Hence it follows that I by the finger of God have cast him out. And then it follows that if I by the finger of God have cast him out, the kingdom of heaven is come to him. The kingdom of heaven is present whenever Satan is overthrown, for Satan will not overthrow himself, and it must be a power greater than Satan, and therefore it is the kingdom of heaven, and that kingdom of heaven is among you.” What a thought! See one who last year rejoiced in the fact that he was a sinner, that he did not go to church, that he reviled religion, that he mocked at its holy claims, that he laughed at its threatenings, that he invoked presumptuously a judgment this man that pitched his frail straws of opposition against the thick bosses of Jehovah’s buckler look, a change has come, and profanity has died on his lips and praises sit there, praises unto his God. A glorious change! Light has come into his eye, innocence into his face, joy and love into his heart, hope into his soul, consecration into his life, and it has been done by the finger of God, and it is a demonstration that the kingdom Of God has come. It is here. That is one thing it proves. What other thing? It proves the Judgment. “When the Holy Spirit is come he will convince the world of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” The Scriptures say that there shall appear a great white throne, and him that sitteth on it, before whom the heavens shall fade away, and before whom all nations shall be gathered, and that they shall be judged out of the things that are written in the book. One solid argument that judgment is coming is that the prince of this world is judged. Satan is judged and overthrown, and if the captain be judged and his power demolished, then we may rest assured that his subjects will be judged. That crisis on Calvary was the only crisis the world ever had after the fall of man in the garden of Eden, the only one. Just as sure as Satan is judged; just as sure as the finger of God delivers one here and there throughout the land; every time there is heard the voice of a newborn soul; every time there is an emergence from darkness into light; every time one lifts himself up through the power of God and shakes off the crushing bondage of the devil, it is another thunder-toned demonstration that the judgment is coming, and all who are of Satan shall go to Satan’s place, to the place prepared for the devil and his angels.

The strong man here then is Satan, but what is his trusted armor? I will name some pieces of it which show the ground of his confidence. First, “this subject of mine is lawfully condemned by the divine statute. There is the strength of my hold on him. There is the chief part of my armor even the righteous law of God. I could not have done anything with him if I had not made him transgress the law, and now, while God’s law stands and calls for a victim to satisfy its penal sanction, my hold on him is good.” What else? “When he sinned his nature became perverted. That which had loved God now hates God, and I trust in that aversion to his heart from God. I know that his mind is not subject to God’s law and cannot be made subject to God’s law. His inherited depravity, therefore, is a part of my armor. By it I shut the windows of the cup held out before him. If his bent be not in this direction, if he have a disposition that cannot be extravagant or spendthrift, then I lead him in the path of the miser, and fill his mind full of wise laws and maxims and apothegms about saving and holding on to what he gets, and that ‘if a man doth not provide for his own he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel’; and in the guise of economy I will make him so stingy and hard-hearted that the granite is softer than his soul. I trust to his habits.” These things constitute Satan’s armor. Evidently till some one stronger than Satan shall come, this usurped dominion over this world will be successfully maintained. And Just here I want to call attention to one of the most remarkable missionary sermons ever preached by man, by one of the profoundest thinkers that ever honored the American continent. It is Dr. Lyman Beecher’s great sermon on the “Resources of the Adversary and the Means of His Overthrow.”

The next question is, “How are these captives at peace in a state of captivity?” “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace his goods are at peace.” How can people be at peace who are in bondage, who are slaves, who have lost that liberty with which God originally endowed the moral agent? How is it that they are at peace? In a case of mesmerism so long as the subject is under the influence of the mesmerizer he is at peace; he reflects the mind of the one who has put the spell upon him. He voices the will of that one. He performs what the mesmerizer commands. No one can come in from the outside and break that spell, and so long as the spell obtains, that man, if one were to ask him the question, “Are you obeying this mesmerizer cheerfully?” “Yes.” “Are you doing this of your own will?” “Yes, I want to do just what he tells me to do.” That illustration may partly serve to introduce this scriptural thought, that when a strong delusion possesses the mind it assures the mind of its rightfulness, and there is perfect confidence on the part of the deluded one in the rightfulness of the position which he occupies. He is thinking another’s thought. A superior and imperious will is suggesting his thought and inditing his words and prompting his acts and filling his heart so that he becomes but the expression of another, doing the will of another, and while in that state he is at peace. What good would it do to argue with one who is mesmerized? What pictures would he see if we were to hold them up before him? What impression could we make on his mind that is occupied? His mind is preoccupied. His mind is filled full of another. Hence, before that man can be delivered we must overcome the one that holds him under the spell. Hence, this passage says that “when a strong man armed keepeth his palace his goods are at peace.” We have illustrations of this in people that we from our standpoint of regeneration, of redemption in Christ, know to be lost. We know them to be slaves. We know them to be doomed. And yet, they calmly look into our eyes and claim as complete a satisfaction with their state as we claim for our state. How many times have I heard one of the most deluded men repeat, putting his hand upon his heart, “I have perfect peace. I am at rest.”

The next question is, “How is the captor at peace?” He seems to be perfectly quiet, as long as his subject remains in subordination, as long as there is no effort to throw off the yoke of bondage, as long as there is no rebellion against his authority, the captor seems to be at peace; and we also notice in this passage that if that evil spirit be expelled from a man or voluntarily leaves him that then he, the captor, is at unrest: “But when the unclean spirit is gone out of the man he walketh through dry places seeking rest and finding none.” To dispossess him is to put him at unrest. Note this thought. We get at the nature of a mind by the surroundings it seeks. This evil spirit seeks dry places, waste places, desolate spots, volcanic shores, treeless countries. There is something in the brazen sky above, in the iron bound earth beneath, in the dust, in the barren rocks, in the lava beds and other tokens of volcanic eruptions; in other words, in the desolation and the absence and privation of life, there is something consonant with his feelings. If consonant with his feelings why does he not find the rest that he seeks in these places? This demon that has been cast out, when he comes to a desert where no rose blossoms and no water laughs, no birds sing and no flowers perfume the air, no luscious fruits hang from the trees; when he comes to a country that seems to be a land of ashes and despair, looking for rest in such surroundings, why does he not find it? Here is the answer:

It does not content a deathless mind to have an empire only over rock and soil. It does not content such a lost spirit to see a land burned up in drought or convulsed by volcanic eruptions. It does not content such a mind as that to see the lightning rive the vigorous oak and blast the surrounding trees about it. That does not content it. “I want to see desolation and despair come not only to rocks and trees, but I want to see it come to intelligence. I want to rule over minds. I want to rule over souls.” Hence, he is never at rest until he gets some soul in subjection. When the unclean spirit is gone out of the man he walketh through dry places seeking rest, and finding none he says, “I cannot stay out here. I will return unto my house, whence I came out. I want to inhabit a man’s body and dominate a man’s soul and make that a desert. I want to put that in ruin, so that when I look abroad on the prostrate image of God, on the understanding darkened, on the conscience seared, on the judgment deflected, on the affections perverted, on the brain collapsed, on great powers prostituted when I look on that I can then say, I am getting even with God.’ I am at rest, satisfied while I can hold such a possession as that. Take this away from me and I cannot content myself with fire and ashes and rock and drought.” And what is true of an expelled demon is true of one who is demon like. A man whose character is crystallized in evil would not be satisfied in the presence of purity. He seeks impurity. He is not satisfied simply to have the forces of nature subject to him. Not he. “I want to poison youth. I want to defile the minds of young men. I want to turn aside the right thoughts of young maidens. I want to dominate and hold in subjection, under bondage to my dictation, people who have immortal souls.” We sometimes wonder why these recruiting sergeants of the devil, these agents of evil, why they take such a delight and go so much out of their way, to cause another human being to fall. That is the reason. It is their unrest. They will not be content with a barren sway. They want to exercise power over intellect and over soul, and that is why they do this.

Who then is the stronger than Satan? On this point the Bible is clear as the sun. Immediately after Satan obtained his dominion by guile, God promised to put enmity between the woman and Satan, and that the seed of the woman should bruise his head the seed of the woman, not of the man. As by subtlety he overcame Eve, so through the seed of the woman shall a Deliverer come. When Cain was born Eve thought the promise was fulfilled and said, “I have gotten the man from the Lord,” but that was not the seed of the woman, nor was Abel. Not he. He saith, “And the seed” (not seeds), meaning one there should come one born of a woman that would overthrow Satan. How could he do it? Who could solve the problem? And yet at last a bright being winged his way from the heavenly mansion and came down to the lowly hut of a Jewish maiden and said, “Hail, Mary. Blessed art thou among women. I announce to thee that of thee shall be born the Holy One that shall overcome Satan.” And the power of the Highest overshadowed the virgin and the Holy One born of her was called the Son of God.

Here in this passage, are two releases spoken of: A release that simply expels Satan and then a release that expels Satan and puts Christ in: that release which simply drives out Satan and leaves the house empty is not a complete victory, for there may be a relapse. The mind is not occupied. Man’s mind, man’s soul, is derived, it is created. It is not a creator. Hence it must be in subjection, and simply to expel one master and not provide another is not to win a final victory, because when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, that does not mean that the Holy Spirit is gone into the man. And though that house be swept and garnished, yet if it is empty, no Spirit of God reigning in those chambers, that evil spirit may come back, and “the last state of that man is worse than the first.” And just here a capital mistake is often made. Some men suppose that it is conversion to have Satan expelled. How does the expulsion of Satan turn the carnal mind into amity? Now, if Satan had taken possession of innocent people, if Satan had taken violent possession, and not by guile and through their consent, the expulsion of Satan would have been sufficient. But since they are fallen in their nature the expulsion of Satan and the cessation of his direct domination, does not mean that a man is converted. We have seen people who had an experience similar to this in the abandonment of a bad habit, and they thought they were converted. “I was once a drunkard; I have quit; now am I not a Christian? I was once a swearer; I no longer swear; am I not now a Christian? I was once the slave of sensual desires; I now govern my passions; am I not now a Christian? I once was stingy; I now make large contributions to benevolent purposes. The evil spirit is gone out of me; am I not now a Christian?” Certainly not, unless another master has come in unless Christ, unless the Holy Spirit dwell in that heart, and have renewed that soul by regeneration we are simply delivered from the immediate domination of Satan, and our house is without a tenant. That is all without a tenant; but we may be assured the devil will get tired of ruling over dry rocks, and he will say, “I cannot find anything to sufficiently occupy my powers or satisfy my desires out here on mere material nature. I will go back to my old house. I remember, I remember how I dominated that intellect, that soul; how I prostituted it. I will go back.” And he goes back and he takes a look, looks into the window: “The house is swept; it is garnished. Nobody in that house; empty, empty! Jesus is not in there. The Holy Spirit is not in there. I went out, but nobody else has been put in, and now I go back in there, this time to stay, and so I will call to me other evil spirits, many in number, more evil than I am, and our name shall be legion, and we will re-enter that house and fortify again and hold that soul,” and the “last state of that man is worse than the first.” Sometimes a man, just by one of those little tricks of the devil, the cessation of an evil habit, perhaps imagines he in converted, joins the church and becomes a preacher, but the house being empty shall he escape Satan? Can Satan find him in the pastor’s study? Can Satan follow him into the pulpit? Can Satan enter into that pulpit and refill that unoccupied heart, and say, “Go thou and be my infidel! go thou and be the apostle of unbelief”? Unquestionably. And unquestionably the “last state of that man is worse than the first,” for it is hopeless.

I have never in my life heard of any man being saved who has apostatized from the pulpit mean who went into infidelity from the pulpit. I have never heard of a case; I have never read of a case. “The last state of that man is worse than the first.”

There are several other items of interest in section 84 (Luk 11:14-36 ) which call for special mention. First, a woman with true motherly instinct cried out from the multitude: “Blessed is your mother.” But Jesus referred her to the higher relation which is expressed in obedience to God. Second, he reproved that generation as evil because they were seeking a sign, but no sign would be given it but that of Jonah, typifying the Lord Jesus Christ in his resurrection. Third, he gives a principle of the judgment, as illustrated by the incident of the “queen of the south” and that also of the Ninevites. These show that the judgment will be conducted on the principle that the condemnation will be according to the amount of light that people have here in this world. Fourth, the illustration of the lighted lamp, which connects back with Mat 6:22-23 . There the dark side of the illustration is presented, but here the light side. The thought is expressed in Mat_6:36, which is a thrust at their stubborn and wilful darkness in the face of such light as they had in Jesus Christ.

We now take up section 85 (Luk 11:37-54 ) of the Harmony, the incident of Jesus break fasting with a Pharisee. The paragraph is Luk 11:37-54 . Now as he spake, a Pharisee asketh him to take breakfast with him, and he went in, and sat down to meat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not dipped himself before breakfast. And the Lord said unto him, replying to his thought, “Now do ye Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter; but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. Ye foolish ones, did not he that made the outside make the inside also? Howbeit, give for alms those things which are within; and behold, all things are clean unto you.” The King James Version reads: “But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.” But this reads: “Give for alms those things which are within and all things are clean unto you.” There is no doubt in anybody’s mind as to the word in the original Greek, enonta . This word was before the King James translators and the Canterbury revisers, but it can be grammatically derived from either one of two words, eni or eneimi. If from the former, it means “such things as ye have,” but if from the latter, it means, “those things that are within.” Where the grammatical construction favors one derivation as much as another, we must go to the context to determine the true word from which it is derived; and the context here unquestionably shows that the Canterbury revisers derived it from the right word. I recall many books which I have read and hundreds’ of things which I have heard, predicating an awfully false theology upon the King James rendering, “Give alms of such things as ye have and all things are clean unto you,” that is, if we are benevolent, if we are open-hearted, why, the Lord will forgive everything else; and the way to get to heaven, the way to inherit eternal life, is just to give alms. But that is far from the meaning of Jesus.

To resume the quotation: “But woe unto you Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and every herb, and pass over judgment and the love of God; but these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto you Pharisees! for ye love the chief seats in the synagogues and the salutations in the market places. Woe unto you! for ye are as the tombs which appear not, and the men that walk over them know it not. And one of the lawyers answering said unto him, Master, in saying this thou reproachest us also. And he said, Woe unto you lawyers also! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe unto you! for ye build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. So ye are witnesses and consent unto the works of your fathers; for they killed them, and ye build their tombs. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send unto them prophets and apostles; and some of them they shall kill and persecute; that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary: Yea, I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation” (Luk 11:42-50 ).

What an awful thing is God’s dealing with a nation or a race! Just as he deals with an individual, so with a nation the whole race. And how the long treasured wrath that has been massing up from the beginning of a nation’s history until its iniquity is full, bursts over the barriers, and on that last generation falls all of the accumulated woe.

Instance the French Revolution. Louis XVI was about the most moderate, the most amiable of all the Bourbon kings, and yet on him and in his day came the doom that the predecessors of his dynasty had gathered up. “Woe unto you lawyers! for ye took away the key of knowledge!” Not the key that unlocks knowledge, but the key, knowledge; knowledge itself is the key. “Ye took away the key.” What key? Knowledge. “Ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in, ye hindered.”

This passage shows that what that man in section 81 (Luk 10:25-37 ) did as an individual the Pharisees did as a class; that in order to obtain justification by the law they were sliding God’s law down on everything. How? Well, the law requires us to be clean, clean, clean. But they said that we will slide the law down so that it just means to be clean on the outside; that it only means to keep the outside of the cup and the platter clean. That is all. Inwardly full of rottenness and dead men’s bones. “Ye foolish ones! Did not he that made the outside make the inside also? Does not the law of God require truth in the inward part? Does it not say that the inward part shall know wisdom and righteousness? And now you will slide it down until it only means obedience in little things, but not the great things, tithing mint and rue and herbs and leaving undone love and judgment and mercy. Ye hypocrites! It says, ‘Honor thy father and thy mother,’ but you do not want to honor your father and your mother, so you slide that law down, so that it says, that if I take some of my property and write ‘Corban’ on it, and say, It is a gift,’ then I am under no obligation to take care of my old worn-out father; I am under no obligation to support, in her last days, my infirm mother. Thou hypocrite! sliding the law down, and it must be slided down to get any justification.”

How shall I be clean? How shall I keep clean? “Give alms of those things that are within and all things are clean unto you.” Here is a question of how to be clean and how to keep clean. Some say, “Wash externally”; Jesus says, “Wash inwardly, and let the soul be made clean.” What a man has on his hands, the little dirt on his hands that when he goes to eat may get into his mouth, that does not defile him, but defilement comes from within. “Out of the heart of man proceed murder and blasphemy and adultery and every foul and loathsome thing.” That is where defilement comes from.

In section 86 of the Harmony (Luk 12 ) we have a continued discourse of our Lord, interrupted here and there by a question from the audience. There are some things in this discourse which remind us of the Sermon on the Mount, and others which remind us of his great discourse on the second advent. These parts are Luk 12:21-34 and Luk 12:35-40 respectively. The first thought here presented by our Lord is the danger of the leaven of the Pharisees, which was hypocrisy. With this statement as a predicate he showed that all hidden things should be revealed, and exhorted them not to fear them who could kill the body and not hurt the soul, but to fear him who had power to cast into hell. Then follows the great passage on the providential care of God’s children; that God cares for the small birds, and the very hairs on our heads are numbered. All this was given to encourage them to be steadfast in their testimony of him in the most trying times of persecution. In this connection he refers to the sin against the Holy Spirit which I discussed at length in The Four Gospels, Volume I of this INTERPRETATION.

Just at this point our Lord was interrupted by a request from the audience, that he become a divider of an inheritance, to which he replied that he was not a judge nor a divider of inheritances. Then he issued a warning against covetousness, illustrating it by the parable of the rich fool, which shows the folly and danger of selfish wealth. Out of this incident also came forth his great teaching on God’s providential care for his children (Luk 12:21-34 ) so similar to his great teaching on the same subject in his Sermon on the Mount. In this she shows God’s pledge to care for those who make his kingdom paramount in their lives. Then he closes this paragraph by exhorting them to secure perennial purses by transmuting the money of this world into the money of heaven, where thieves and moths could not steal nor destroy. But the reason for it all is that the heart follows the treasure.

Our Lord follows this teaching with the parable of the watchful servant, which warns God’s people to be ready at all times to meet the coming Lord. He introduces this thought with the imagery of the parable of the ten virgins, viz.: the girded loins, the burning lamps, and the watchfulness of the five who were ready to go out to meet him, but the thought is different in that when they receive him as here described he makes a feast for them and serves them. The point of both, though, is readiness for his coming in view of the concealment of the time at which he shall come.

The next paragraph (Luk 12:41-48 ) enlarges the idea and teaching of the preceding parable. This was suggested by Peter’s question, “Speakest thou this parable unto us, or even unto all?” The Lord apparently ignores Peter’s question, but” shows by the application that he here included all, i.e., those who were his faithful servants, and that his dealing with all would be on the same principle of justice; that one principle is that the rewards and punishments at the judgment will be according to the amount of light people have here, but all disobedience will receive its just recompense of the reward.

The rest of this chapter consists of three parables. The first is the parable of fire, sword, and flood, which shows the divisive effect of the gospel. This has been illustrated in thousands of homes as here described. The second is the parable of the weather signs, which shows that, as the weather signs forecast the weather, so spiritual developments forecast themselves to the observing, just as the sons of Issachar were wise to discern what Israel ought to do. The third is the parable of the settlement with an adversary which warns against the delay in being reconciled with God.

QUESTIONS

1. What can you say of the model prayer given, here as compared with the one given in Mat 6:5-15 ?

2. What parable in this connection, what is its lesson, what promises growing out of it, and how is the latter one emphasized?

3. What blasphemous accusation did the Jews make against Jesus here, what was its occasion and how did Jesus meet it?

4. How does Jesus turn their logic against them?

5. If Christ cast out demons by finger of God, what followed from that fact?

6. How is the kingdom of heaven brought to a man? Illustrate.

7. How does this prove the judgment?

8. Who then is the strong man here and what is his trusted armor?

9. What sermon commended by the author in this connection?

10. How are these captives at peace?

11. When is the captor at peace and what causes his unrest?

12. Who then is the stronger than Satan?

13. What two releases here spoken of? Discuss and illustrate each.

14. What cry from the multitude in response to this teaching of Jesus, what was the reply of Jesus and what its meaning?

15. What reproof did Jesus here give the Jews? Explain?

16. What principle of judgment did he here announce & how did he illustrate?

17. What is the illustration of the lighted lamp and what does it illustrate?

18. Give an account of Jesus’ breakfasting with a Pharisee.

19. What is the difference in the rendering of Luk 11:41 in the King James Version and in the Canterbury Version?

20. Which is the true rendering and what is the proof?

21. What heresy based upon the King James rendering?

22. What was Jesus’ charge here against the Pharisees?

23. What was his charge against the lawyers?

24. How does Jesus here show God’s dealing with a nation? Illustrate.

25. What is the meaning & application “Ye took away the key of knowledge”?

26. How does this passage here show that the Pharisees as a class did just what the man described in section 81 (Luk 10:25-37 ) did as an individual? Discuss.

27. What are the two theories of cleanliness and which is scriptural?

28. In our Lord’s discourse in Luk 12 what do we find to remind us of the Sermon on the Mount and the discourse on the second advent?

29. What was our Lord’s warning respecting the Pharisees and what his teaching growing out of this warning?

30. What is the teaching here on the providence of God, and what was its occasion and what its purpose?

31. What reference here to the sin against the Holy Spirit?

32. What was our Lord’s teaching respecting wealth, what was the occasion of this teaching, how did he illustrate it, and what special teaching on the providence of God growing out of this incident?

33. What is the meaning of “purses perennial”?

34. What of the parable of the watchful servant; its imagery; the difference in the thought of this and that of the parables of the ten virgins?

35. How does the next paragraph (Luk 12:41-48 ) enlarge the idea and teaching of this parable and what is the teaching here in particular?

36. What three parables in Luk 12:49-59 , and what is the import of each? Illustrate.

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Ver. 1. Beware of the leaven ] Which our eyes cannot discern from dough by the colour, but only our palate, by the taste. Such is hypocrisy, which also, as leaven, is: 1. spreading; 2. swelling; 3. souring the meal; 4. impuring and defiling the house where it is, though it be but as much as a man’s fist.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

1 12. ] WARNING AGAINST HYPOCRISY. A discourse spoken immediately or very soon after the former, and in connexion with it; consisting for the most part of sayings repeated from other occasions, and found nearly verbatim in Matt. It is impossible that there should be any reasonable doubt of this view, when we remember that some of them have appeared before, or appear again, in this very Gospel.

While our Lord was in the house of the Pharisee, the multitudes appear to have assembled together again. If so, will mean, during which things, viz. those related above.

He comes forth to them (ch. Luk 11:53 ) in the spirit of the discourse which He has just completed, and cautions his disciples against that part of the character of the Pharisees which was most dangerous to them . The connexion of these twelve verses may be thus enunciated: Beware of hypocrisy ( Luk 12:1 ), for all shall be made evident in the end ( Luk 12:2 ), and ye are witnesses and sharers in this unfolding of the truth ( Luk 12:3 ). In this your work, ye need not fear men; for your Father has you in His keeping ( Luk 12:4-7 ) and the confession of my name is a glorious thing ( Luk 12:8 ), but the rejection of it ( Luk 12:9 ), and especially the ascription of my works to the evil one ( Luk 12:10 ), a fearful one. And in this confession ye shall be helped by the Holy Spirit in the hour of need ( Luk 12:11-12 ).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

1. ] I am not convinced by Olsh., De Wette, and Meyer, that this belongs to . Every instance which they quote of being thus used, is where some definite matter is subsequent to the thing said or done; e.g. Mat 6:33 . But here is no such matter: . would only mean, ‘ earnestly ,’ ‘ be sure that you ’ which meaning I do not think it bears. I have therefore coupled it with . ., as distinguishing this section from what follows spoken to the crowd , Luk 12:13 ff. On the rest, see on Mat 16:6 .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 12:1-12 . Exhortation to fearless utterance , addressed to the disciples ( cf. Mat 10:17-33 ). , in these circumstances, i.e. , while the assaults of the Pharisees and scribes on Jesus were going on (Luk 11:53 ). : a hyperbolical expression for an “innumerable multitude,” pointing, if the words are to be taken in earnest, to the largest crowd mentioned anywhere in the Gospels. Yet this immense gathering is not accounted for: it does not appear where or why it collected, but the suggests that the people had been drawn together by the encounter between Jesus and His foes. from its position naturally qualifies , implying that hypocrisy was the first topic of discourse (Meyer). But it may also be taken with , as implying that, while Jesus meant to speak to the crowd, He addressed Himself in the first place to His disciples (Schanz, J. Weiss, Holtzmann). Bornemann points out that while Mt. places after imperatives, Lk. places it also before, as in Luk 9:61 , Luk 10:5 . . .: this is the logion reported in Mat 16:6 and Mar 8:15 , connected there with the demand for a sign; here to be viewed in the light of the discourse in the Pharisee’s house (Luk 11:37 f.). In the two first Gospels the warning expresses rather Christ’s sense of the deadly character of the Pharisaic leaven; here it is a didactic utterance for the guidance of disciples as witnesses of the truth. : not in Mt. and Mk.; might be taken as an explanatory gloss, but probably to be viewed as part of the logion . Hypocrisy, the leading Pharisaic vice = wearing a mask of sanctity to hide an evil heart; but from what follows apparently here to be taken in a wider sense so as to include dissimulation, hiding conviction from fear of man as in Gal 2:13 (so J. Weiss in Meyer). In Lk.’s reports our Lord’s sayings assume a form adapted to the circumstances of the writer’s time. Hypocrisy in the sense of Gal 2:13 was the temptation of the apostolic age, when truth could not be spoken and acted without risk.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Luke Chapter 12

LUKE 12: 1-12 tid=57#bkm318-

Mat 10:26-33 , Mat 10:19-20 ; Mat 12:32 Mar 3:28 f.

We have seen the favoured nation set aside, and judgment awaiting “this generation,” not glory, and the woes upon those classes among them that stood highest in public estimation, who indeed were now the manifest adversaries of the Messiah. Our chapter opens with the Lord’s warning to the multitude who were crowding around Him, to beware of the leaventid=57#bkm319- of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Accordingly we find the Lord showing that a new testimony was to be formed, not governed by law, but by the light of God.” For there is nothing covered up which shall not be revealed, nor secret that shall not be known.” And this testimony, as it was in the light, so also it was to be spread abroad. There was to be nothing hidden, nothing kept silent now. With this entirely falls in the teaching of the Apostle Paul – that now, on the rejection of Israel, God has brought to light the “mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints.” (Col 1:26 .) The same thing is true morally. The heart is laid bare, nature is judged, all now is brought into the light of God. “Therefore, whatsoever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in chambers shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.”tid=57#bkm320-

This is of all-importance, and extremely solemn. Even now God is forming souls in the light; as that which puts them to the test. His own moral nature that detects everything inconsistent with itself. This shows us what a wonderful character Christianity has morally as well as doctrinally. Under the law it was not so; there were many things allowed because of the hardness of their hearts. The veil was not yet rent. God had not brought out His own absolute nature made relative in Christ to judge man by. There was no proper revelation of God Himself under the law, though many revelations from Him. There were commands, there were promises, there were prophecies when things failed; but Jesus is the manifestation of God. Even as He is the only-begotten Son, He is the true Light that now shines; and such also is the atmosphere which the Christian breathes. We walk in the light even as God is in the light. This was altogether new doctrine, especially for the Pharisees to hear. They were characterised by a fair appearance before men, which was hypocrisy in the sight of God. The multitude were warned that an end was coming to all this. Not only will the day of judgment make it manifest, but faith anticipates that day. And now faith is come. Christianity is not of law but of faith; and Christianity alone, both as a question of light and of love, goes forth energetically. Everywhere is the Gospel to be preached, to every creature. Christ’s Word is to be proclaimed to all nations – the law was given to Israel.

But there is another consideration also, that now it is not the intervention of present earthly judgments, but the fear of God, Whose eternal judgment is revealed for those who despise His Word. “I say unto you, my friends,tid=57#bkm321- Fear not those who kill the body, and after this have no more that they can do.” The law displayed earthly dealings: now wrath is revealed from Heaven, and this wrath has eternal consequences. It is not merely the setting aside of man’s wrath, nor the instructive lesson of all in a chosen nation on the earth, but the certainty that body and soul must be cast into hell. This will be proved true presently for those who are found alive in opposition to God and rejection of His final testimony; and it will be true also at the close of the Kingdom for those who had died in their sins since the world began. Then God will show how truly He is the One to be feared; for the hypocrisy of the Pharisees had its root in the fear of man. They did not fear God. They would stand well with men, especially in the way of religious reputation: is this the true fear of God? “Fear not those who kill the body, and after this have no more that they can do.” By redemption we are brought to God. Christianity essentially supposes the putting the soul in the presence of the unseen and eternal. “I will show you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, who after he hath killed hath power to cast into helltid=57#bkm322- ; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.”

But then the Lord brings in motives of comfort, as these were of warning. The present light of God and the future judgment of God were solemn considerations for any soul of man; but now comes in the comfort of His present care and future reward. “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings (assaria),tid=57#bkm323- and not one of them is forgotten before God?” What infinite care of God that can descend to the least thing, that man despises most! How much more, then, His care for those who are His witnesses! For now, on the setting aside of the Jewish nation, a fresh body of men to testify for Christ was to be formed, the very hairs of whose head would be numbered. There is nothing that more strengthens one who is bearing witness for the truth than the consciousness of God’s love, and that the least one or thing that pertains to him is of interest to God. “But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.tid=57#bkm324- Fear not therefore*: ye are better than many sparrows.”

*”Therefore”: so ADE, etc., 1, 33, 69, Syrr. Amiat. Edd. omit, after BLR, some Latt. Memph.

No present consciousness, however, of goodness would be sufficient to maintain a soul now in presence of evil. And God does not set aside the evil, but gives spiritual power to endure; He sends a testimony that utterly condemns the evil, and vouchsafes power to bear. Power is now in suffering for righteousness’ or Christ’s sake, not in reforming the world; it does not consist in judgment of the world’s evil. God alone is competent for this, and He will set aside and judge finally instead of reforming. But, besides all that, the soul needs the comfort of the time when it shall be completely taken out of the power of evil; and the future prospect is bright before us. “But I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, the Son of mantid=57#bkm325- will confess him also before the angels of God; but he that shall have denied me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.” Both faithfulness and unfaithfulness bear their consequences in the day of glory. “And whoever shall say a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but unto him that speaketh injuriously against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven.” This had been proved. Who spoke more against Him than Saul of Tarsus? Who was a more blessed proof and witness of forgiveness than he was? So it will he even with the nation. If “this generation” must suffer, are suffering them now, and are yet to suffer them, still the nation will be forgiven in the end. “But unto him that speaketh injuriously against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven.” Such is the fate of “this generation.” They would reject not only Christ Himself, but the further testimony which, we have seen, it is the object of the Spirit of God to bring before us in this chapter. Now we have a most important element in this new thing. Not only was there light and truthfulness, not only the energy that went out in proclamation and the preservative care of God now, with future reward by-and-by; but, besides all, there is the power of the Holy Ghost. This makes it unspeakably grave. “Unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven.” What an issue! On the other hand, to the believer what a gracious support! What earnestness also and exercise of love in giving their message must there be in realising that, in a certain sense, it is worse to reject the testimony now that the Holy Ghost is given than when even the Lord Himself was here below! For the Holy Ghost bears witness, not only of Christ, but of His accomplished redemption and His Cross. Then he who rejects the fullest mercy of God, when He has completely put away sin by the sacrifice of His Son, shows himself utterly insensible both to his sin and to God’s grace as well as to the glory of Christ. All this the Holy Ghost now brings out without a cloud. Hence to blaspheme Him is unpardonable. “Unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven.”tid=57#bkm326-

But the Holy Ghost does not merely act in thus putting so solemn a seal on the testimony; He is also a positive power for him who is engaged in the testimony. “But when they bring you before the synagogues,tid=57#bkm327- and rulers and the authorities, be not careful how or what ye shall answer, or what ye shall say; for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the hour itself what should be said.” For when the Spirit should be given, there would be no setting aside the evil in the world: this as we know becomes worse and worse. Accordingly, when they should be brought before the powers of the world, “Be not careful,” the Lord says unto them, “how or what ye shall answer, or what ye shall say.” The spirit of absolute dependence upon God is shown us here. “The Holy Spirit shall teach you in the hour itself what should be said.” This completes the first part of the chapter and shows us. the power of the testimony, and thus the danger of those who reject it, and the encouragement of those who are rendering it.

Luke 12: 13-21.tid=57#bkm328-

The rejection of Christ leads to an important change, both in His position and in what men would find in and from Him. A Jew would naturally have looked to the Messiah as the Judge of every vexed question. Even he who valued the Lord Jesus for His unblemished ways and holy conversation might well seek His aid. But it is here shown that His rejection by man changes everything. One cannot reason abstractedly therefore from what the Messiah was as such; we must take into account the fact of the state of man towards Him and God’s action thereon. The Cross of Christ, which was to be the fruit and measure of the rejection of the Lord, would have in its train consequences immense, and of all possible difference from what had gone before; and this not only on man’s part, but on God’s.

Hence, when one of the company said to Him, “Teacher, speak to my brother, to divide the inheritance with me,” the Lord answers, “Man, who established me [as] a judge or a dividertid=57#bkm329- over you?” He was not come to judge. The rejection of Christ leads into that infinite salvation He has wrought, in view of which He declines the settlement of human disputes, He was not come for earthly purposes, but for heavenly. Had He been received by men, He would undoubtedly have divided inheritances here below; but, as they were, He was no judge or divider over men or their affairs here below. But Luke, as is his manner and habit, presents the Lord immediately looking at the moral side of the matter, as indeed the rejection of Christ does lead into the deepest manifestation and understanding of the heart.

The Lord therefore addresses the company on a broader ground. “He said to them, Take heed and keep yourselves from all* covetousness, for [it is] not because a man is in abundance [that] his life is in his possessions.” This anxiety for Christ’s help to settle questions flows from the heart’s desire of something that one has not here below. Maintenance of position is here judged, eagerness after earthly righteousness is exposed – “beware of covetousness.” The rejection of Christ and the revelation of heavenly things led into the true path of faith, of confiding in God for whatever He gives, of trusting, not man but Him, for all difficulties, of contentedness with such things as we have. God arranges all to faith. Nor is this the whole matter. The heart has to be watched. “Keep yourselves from all covetousness, for it is not because a man is in abundance [that] his life is in his possessions.” “And this too He illustrates, as well as its awful end. There is exceeding selfishness, folly, and danger in what might seem to be earthly prudence. Hear the next words of the Lord. “He spoke a parable to them, saying, The land of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully; and he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, for I have not [a place] where I shall lay up my fruits?” Clearly this man counted that the prime good lay in the abundance of the things that he possessed. His desire was to employ what he had so as to get and keep more of present things.

*”All”: so Edd., following ABD, etc., 1, 33, 69, Syrr. Old Lat. Memph. EFG, etc., and most cursives omit.

Systematic selfishness was there, not the reckoning of faith either in its self-sacrifices of suffering or in its active and generous devotedness. There was no eye upon the future outside this world. All was in the present life. It is not that the rich fool made a bad use of what he had according to human judgment, not that he was immoral, but his action did not go beyond gratifying his desire of over-growing abundance. “He said, This will I do; I will take away my granaries, and build greater; and there I will lay up all my produce* and My tid=57#bkm330A- good things.”

*”Produce”: so Tisch. after AD and most later uncials. Other Edd. (W. H. “conflation”) adopt “corn,” following BLX, Sah. Memph. Aeth.

This conduct stands in marked contrast with what the Lord afterwards brings into prominence in Luk 16 , where is seen the sacrifice of the present for the future, and that such only are received into everlasting habitations. It is not the means of deliverance from hell, but the character of all who go to heaven. So far they resemble the steward in the parable, whom the lord commended, not for his injustice but for his wisdom. He sacrificed present interests, his master’s goods, in order to secure the future. The rich proprietor here, on the contrary, is ever casting down his barns and building greater, in order the better to secure all his fruits and increase his goods. His sole and entire thought was for this present life which, he assumed, would go on unchangeably. The steward looked out for the reverse that was at hand, and acted accordingly. May we feel ourselves stewards in what men would call our own, and act with no less prudence! It was not so with him who said to himself, “Soul, thou hast much good things laid up for many years; repose thyself; eat, drink, be merry.” There was both self-satisfaction in what he possessed, and withal the desire for a long enjoyment of present ease. It was the practical Sadduceeism of unbelief.tid=57#bkm331- “But God said unto him, Fool, this night thy soul shall be requiredtid=57#bkm332- of thee; and whose shall be what thou hast prepared?”

He never considered this. God was not in all his thoughts. He had reduced his soul to the merest slavery of the body, instead of keeping under the body, that it might be the servant of the soul, and God the master of both. But no: God was in none of his thoughts; yet God said to him, “Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; and whose shall be what thou hast prepared?” He had looked onward for an uninterrupted prosperity in the world. “This night!” Little did he think it. “This night thy soul shall be required of thee . . . Thus is he who layeth up treasure for himself, and is not richtid=57#bkm333- toward God.” Riches before God cannot be without what men short-sightedly count impoverishment of self, using what we have, not for ourselves, but for others. Only such are rich toward God, be their means great or small. If their means are small, they are nevertheless large enough to let them think of others in love and provide for wants greater than their own: if their means are great, their responsibilities are so much the greater. But in every case the gathering up is not for self, but for the service of grace; and this can only be by bringing God into the matter. Such only are rich toward God. Laying up treasure for oneself is the hard labour of self, and the unbelief that reserves for a long dream of enjoyment which the Lord suddenly interrupts.

Vv 12: 22-34.tid=57#bkm334-

Mat 6:25-33 .

Then the disciples are addressed, and the Lord accordingly rises in the character of His appeal. The other was a warning for men, but for the disciples there was a new path opening. “And he said to his disciples, For this cause I say unto you, Be not careful for life,* what ye shall eat; nor for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than food, and the body than raiment.” That is, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what put on. This was a great advance in the instruction given to souls – a guard against anxiety, which depends on faith in God. The Lord gives them an instance from the birds around them. “Consider the ravens, that they sow not nor reap; which have neither storehouse nor granary; and God feedeth them.” God’s care condescended to watch over even an unclean bird like a raven. “How much better are ye than the birds?”tid=57#bkm335-

*”For life”: so Edd. after ABD, etc., 1, Amiat. ED, etc., 33, 69. Sirrcu pesch sin Memph. add “Your.”

But we have more than this: the utter powerlessness of man, in what most nearly concerns him, is brought out with matchless beauty and truth. “Which of you, by being careful, can add to his stature one* cubit? If therefore ye cannot [do] even what is least, why are ye careful about the rest?” What concerns the body is least. “Why take ye thought for the rest” “Then we are given a still more graphic instance from the flowers of the field. “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin.” God’s care of the vegetable, no less than the animal, world affords striking and familiar proofs which cannot be gainsaid. “They neither toil nor spin.” The ravens might seem to do somewhat; but as to the lilies, what can they do? “They neither toil nor spin; but I say unto you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed as one of these.” This was not said as to the ravens. “But if God thus clothe the grass, which today is in the field, and tomorrow is cast into [the] oven” – the meanest thing as it were that He has made in the vegetable kingdom, that which is both common and transient – “how much rather you, O ye of little faith?” The one, therefore, the ravens, rebuked their care for their food, and the lilies their care for their clothing. “If God thus clothe the grass . . . how much rather you, O ye of little faith?” Hence they were to beware of resembling the nations of the world, which know not God. “Seek not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, and be not in anxiety.tid=57#bkm336- For all these things do the nations of the world seek after.” They were without God. “And your Father [not only God, but your Father] knoweth that ye have need of these things.” He advances now until He puts the disciples into the enjoyment of their own relationship with a Father Who cared perfectly for them, and could fail in nothing towards them. The God Who watched over the ravens and the lilies – their Father – would surely care for them. He knows that we have need of these things, and should be trusted by us.

*”One”: pmBD, Memph. omit (Edd..); corr AL, etc., with Syrsin insert.

“The grass, which today is in the f.”: so AE and most of the later uncials, besides cursives and Syrsin. Edd. (Revv.) adopt “If God so clothe the grass in [the] field,” after BL, etc.

The instruction previously given was rather negative – motives to avoid the ways and objects of the Gentiles, because of their confiding in their Father’s care. And now we have more directly positive instruction. “But seek His kingdom;*tid=57#bkm337- and [all] these things shall be added unto you.” As usual, Luke gives us the moral force of things. “The kingdom of God is not meat and drink,” as the apostle says, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Rom 14:17 .) They were to desire and pursue what God Himself was about to bring in, that which manifests His power in contrast with man’s weakness. And so seeking, all other things – all that is needed for this life – all the things that man makes to be so important, should be added unto them. God assuredly takes care of His own. If we seek His things, He does not forget ours; He could not, would not, overlook our need day by day.

*”His”: so Edd. following BDL, Memph. AE, etc., 1, 33, 69, Syrr. Amiat. have “kingdom of God.”

[“All”]: so AD, etc., 1, 33, 69, Amiat. Memph.; but Edd. reject after BQ, etc.

Cf. Mat 6:20 f.

Further (verse 32), they are not to fear, although a little flock. Their strength did not at all rest on numbers or resources of an earthly kind, but on a most simple and blessed principle it was their Father’s good pleasure to give them the kingdom. He had delight in it, it was His complacency. This could not fail: why should they fear? Far from it, they were told to sell what they had: “Sell that which ye possess, and give alms.” All that would manifest love flowing out to the needy became them. It was their Father’s way with them who were once poor indeed, and they were to keep up the family character. They might, it is true, provide bags; but they were to be such as waxed not old, such as heavenly treasure demands. They were not to be of an earthly kind, but rich toward God, “a treasure which doth not fail in the heavens, where thief doth not draw near, nor moth destroy.”tid=57#bkm338- There is nothing forgotten: “God is not unrighteous to forget your work of faith and labour of love”; and what is of importance, too, there is no disappointment with the treasure: no thief approaches it on the one hand, no moth corrupts on the other, “for where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” The object was, that their heart should be settled on things above, and it would be so if their treasure were there. A man is always determined by what he seeks, by his objects. If he sets his heart upon a degrading object, he is degraded; if upon that which is noble and generous, his character is morally elevated. If therefore he is attracted by Christ Who is at the right hand of God, if heavenly treasure is before his eyes, his heart follows his treasure, he is taken entirely above the power of present things, which cannot more drag him down.

Is it too much to say that there is nothing of such moment for the disciple? If he has Christ, it is of all consequence he should see Christ where He is, and the things of Christ, where He sits at the right hand of God. Only to look at Christ on earth would falsify a Christian. Assuredly He is and must be an infinitely blessed Object wherever He is, nor is it that there would be no worthy effect of thus looking at Christ. But we must bear in mind that Christ here below was under law, and connected with Judaism, with its temple, rites, and priesthood; that as yet the great question of redemption was not decided, sin was not judged, evil was not put away; that the world was not given up as hopelessly bad, nor, consequently, was man. Whoever therefore merely looks at Christ as He was here below, shuts himself out from the great truth that all these things are questions already decided; that the world is judged before God, the earth under sentence, heaven opened, redemption accomplished, and sin put away. The soul that only looks at Christ on earth is not merely shut out from all the distinctive truths of Christianity, but is plunged into a state of uncertainty; whereas all under the Gospel ought to be clearly seen and settled. The mighty work of redemption does not remain to be accomplished. This is one reason why the mass of Christians who look at Christ thus are necessarily of doubtful mind, and count assurance to be presumption. The spiritual character is formed accordingly. But our Lord Himself tells us to have “a treasure which doth not fail in the heavens,” “for where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” He wished to have them heavenly; and in practice there is no other way than seeing, and knowing, and possessing, in the true sense, our treasure in the heavens. If so, the heart is there also.

Luke 12: 35-48.tid=57#bkm339-

Matt. 14: 42-25: 13.

But there is another thing too. It is good to have before us the object that is before God. It is good to have an object, a true object, that calls one out into a state of patience and expectation. We cannot do without the power of hope; if we have not the true object, we shall have false ones. “Let your loins,” therefore, He says, “be girded about, and lamps burning; and ye like men who wait for their lord, whenever he may leave the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.” I do not take this expression about returning from the wedding as prophetic, but rather as moral, in accordance with the habitual style of Luke. It is certainly intended to present no aspect of judgment, but of joy, and it is therefore an allusion to the well-known facts constantly before their eyes, a figure taken from them. They were to be waiting for their Lord, not in a judicial sense, but as to One Who returns from a wedding, that when He comes and knocks they may open unto Him immediately. This is another grand point, not only that He is associated with joy, but that they should be free from all earthly encumbrance, so that the moment the Lord knocks, according to the figure, they may open to Him immediately – without distraction or having to get ready. Their hearts are waiting for Him, for their Lord; they love Him, they are waiting for Him. He knocks, and they open to Him immediately. Such is the normal position of the Christian, as waiting for Christ, the only true Object of hope. “Blessed are those bondmen whom the lord [on] coming shall find watching; verily, I say unto you that he will gird himself, and make them recline at table, and coming up will serve them.”tid=57#bkm340- Here their blessing as waiting for Him is shown. We shall find another blessing a little later on; but the blessing here is the watching – not so much working as watching. That is, it is not so much occupation with others as watching for Him, and assuredly this is of some importance to feel. Watching takes precedence even of working. There is no doubt that working has no small value, and that the Lord will remember it and reward it, but watching is far more bound up with His person and with His love. Hence it is said, “Blessed are those bondmen whom their lord on coming shall find watching; verily, I say unto you that he will gird himself, and make them recline at table, and coming up will serve them.” All the activity of His love is shown, and His gracious condescension. “And if he come in the second watch, and come in the third watch,* and find [them] thus, blessed are those [bondmen].” There is intentness therefore upon it. It is not vague; it is sustained; it is carried through the night. They are looking for Him from first to last Blessed are those [bondmen]. But this know, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be digged through. And ye, therefore, be ye ready;tid=57#bkm341- for in the hour in which ye do not think [it] the Son of man cometh.” It is not the Messiah taking the throne of His father David, but the rejected Son of man Who is. coming in glory; and blessed are those who are thus waiting and watching for Him. “And ye, therefore, be ye ready.”

*Edd. (Revv.) follow BL, etc., 33, “And if in the second and in the third watch, he come”: the “come” and “watch” each occur only once in these texts.

“Those [bondmen]”: so AE, etc., 1, 33, 69, Syrr. and Amiat. Tisch. after pm omits both words; other Edd. follow BDL, Syrsin, which have “those” but not “bondmen.”

“Would have watched”: Edd. questioning the words as from Matthew.

“Therefore”: so AE, etc., 1, 33, 69. Edd. omit, after BLQT, Old Lat. Memph.

Our Lord presented His coming as claiming the affections of the saints, and dealing with their moral state. Their loins were to be girded about, their lights burning, themselves like unto men waiting for their Lord. For, their treasure being in the heavens, their hearts would be there also. This connects itself, too, with immediate readiness in receiving Himself, that “when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.” It is the blessedness of watching for Christ, with its infinite joy in result. “Verily I say unto you, that he will gird himself, and make them recline at table, and coming up will serve them.”

If He does tarry, and the heart that loves Him finds it long and has need of patience, it is well worth waiting for Him, whatever the delay. “And if he come in the second watch, and come in the third watch, and find [them] thus, blessed are those [bondmen].” At the same time, it is important to add the aspect of His coming for the conscience. The return from the wedding does not present this. “But this know, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched,. and not have suffered his house to be digged through.” Present ease and unwatchfulness in such a world as this always make the return of the Lord to be more or less unwelcome. The only right attitude for love or conscience is the attitude of watching for Him. “And ye, therefore, be ye ready, for in the hour in which ye do not think [it] the Son of man cometh.””‘

“And Peter said to him,* Lord, sayest thou this parable unto us, or also to all? And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and prudent steward, whom his lord will set over his household to give the measure of corn in season?” Now here again appears another aspect. It is the position of one called to be faithful and wise as a steward. It is one whose duty it is, ruling over the master’s household, to give their meat in due season, a grave and honourable work. Still, it has not necessarily the intimacy of personal affection which the continual watching for Him supposes. Man, no doubt, thinks very differently; but we are hearing the Word of the Lord, and His Word ever judges, and was meant to judge, the thoughts of men. Accordingly there is a difference in the result. “Blessed is that bondman whom his lord [on] coming shall find doing thus. Verily I say unto you, that he will set him ruler over all that he possesseth” (verses 42-44).tid=57#bkm343- It is not the return of His love so much as the post of honour in His kingdom. “Blessed” indeed are both; but the heart ought to need little light to discern which is the better of the two. May we answer His love and be true to His trust, and know this two-fold blessedness as our portion when He comes again!

*”To him”: so Tisch. with APQT, Syrrsin cu. Other Edd. omit following BDLRX 33, Old Lat.

Undoubtedly much was left here, as elsewhere, to be filled up by the Spirit of God. Our Lord had many things to say, but His disciples could not bear them all then. The accomplishment of redemption, the fall of Israel definitively for the time, the call of the Gentiles, and above all, the revelation of “the mystery,” had an immense influence in giving development to the truth of the Lord’s return. Nevertheless, it is deeply interesting to notice how admirably the words of the Lord on this occasion present that truth in its two main aspects of grace and responsibility. On these, however, I do not dwell, because the Scripture before us does not enter into detail. It is enough to point out the general truth – a truth, be assured, of great importance to seize in its principles and in its practical consequences.

The Lord next looks at the vast scene of profession, and shows us in a few solemn words how it will be affected by His return. Christendom and man at large will assuredly be judged then, for we are not here looking at the judgment of the great white throne; it is the judgment of the quick, not yet of the dead – a judgment too much forgotten, not only by the careless but by those who exercise the largest influence in the religious world. Judaism always tended to swamp the final judgment by bringing into exclusive prominence the judgment of the world when the nations shall be put down, and Israel, humbled by grace, at length shall be exalted to their promised supremacy under Messiah and the new covenant. But Christendom forgets the judgment of the quick, and its forgetfulness of it is no small part of Satan’s device to ruin the testimony of Christ. Not only is the truth of His coming lost as a practical joy for the heart, and as a solemn test for the work, but the bare fact itself is disallowed by confounding that day with the judgment of the dead.

The unbelief of man, however, will not nullify but rather prove the value of the warning of the Lord: “But if that bondman should say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and to drink and to be drunken, the lord of that bondman shall come in a day when he doth not expect it, and in an hour he knoweth not of, and shall cut him in two, and appoint his portion with the unbelievers.tid=57#bkm344- But that bondman who knew his own lord’s will, and had not prepared [himself], nor done his will, shall be beaten with many [stripes]. But he who knew [it] not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. And to every one to whom much is given, much shall be required from him: and to whom [men] have committed much, they will ask from him the more (verses 45-48).

How exact the sketch, save, indeed, that the ruins of Christendom have brought out added horrors to those depicted here, no less than the epistles furnished the fuller display of the truth of Christ’s coming! And these horrors are given us at length in such Scriptures as 2 Thessalonians; 1 and 2 Timothy; Revelation 17, 19.

We see that Christendom, having taken the place of Christian privilege, will be judged accordingly. It is “that bondman.” Having no heart nor faith in Christ’s coming, men were willing that it should be deferred. The heart was rather relieved than made sick through a hope deferred that was no hope. They said in their heart, “My lord delayeth his coming.” The wish was parent to the thought; and in such a state of feeling circumstances will readily be found to justify it. But the moral consequences are soon seen. With Christ’s coming no longer before the eye, that servant ere long began “to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and to drink and to be drunken.” The spirit of haughty assumption and intolerance was developed on the one hand, and a demoralising intercourse with the world on the other. But “the lord of that bondman shall come in a day when he doth not expect it, and in an hour he knoweth not of. and shall cut him in two, and appoint his portion with the unbelievers.” Whatever its profession, the heart of Christendom in that day will be proved to be infidel. No disguises of creed or rite, no activity, nor zeal, will shield it from the just judgment of the Lord at His coming.tid=57#bkm344-

Nevertheless the Lord is always just, and in that day there will be a marked difference in His dealings with the quick, as He says here. For the servant who “knew his own lord’s will, and had not prepared [himself], nor done his will, shall be beaten with many [stripes]”; whereas he who knew it not yet was guilty, though he will not escape, will be beaten with few stripes. The less favoured heathen therefore will not fare so ill in that day as she who sits as a queen with a vain presumption that she will see no sorrow. “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day; death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God Who judgeth her.” (Rev 18:8 .) For it is a fixed thing with Him that where much has been given much shall be required, as even man’s conscience and practice confess every day. “To whom [men] have committed much, they will ask from him the more.”tid=57#bkm344B-

We have seen the Lord’s coming as the Object of their heart’s affection, and consequent expectation as the rewarder of service. As the judge of those who have wrought on earth He will deal righteously according to their respective privileges.

Luk 12:49 f.

Mat 20:22 .

But the Lord now speaks of the effect of His actual presence then: “I have come to cast a fire on the earth; and what will I, if already it hath been kindled?” This is in no way the purpose of His love, but the effect of His presence. He could not but deal as a Discoverer of man’s state. Fire is the constant symbol of Divine judgment, and this was morally true even then. He came to save; but, if rejected, it was really the kindling of a fire. This in no way contradicts the great truth of His intrinsic grace. He says, “But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened until shall have been accomplished!” He Himself was about to go through the deepest suffering, and this because of the necessary antagonism of God’s character to sin, which was not yet judged. It was about to be judged in the person of Christ, absolutely without sin, yet made sin by God on the cross. In devoted love, glorifying God, He would be a sacrifice for sin. This was the baptism with which He was to be baptized, and till this was done, the Lord, as He says here, was straitened. Whatever might be His love, it could not yet flow out in all its fullness. There were barriers among men, and there was beyond all these a hindrance on the side of God’s glory. His character, amply displayed for good during Christ’s life, had not yet been vindicated as to evil. But in and from His death we find no limits to the proclamation of Divine love. Before that it was more promise within the limits of Israel, not without hints of mercy beyond it. God would be true and faithful to His word, whatever the state of Israel, but He could not send out freely to the Samaritans, and to the world in general, before the Cross. After the Cross this is exactly what He does. The Lord therefore was straitened till this was accomplished.tid=57#bkm345-

Luk 12:51-53 .

Mat 10:34-36 .

Hence, again, they must not be surprised if, man being what he is, Christ’s presence produced conflict, opposition, if men were stirred up into jealousies and envies, hatred and enmity. All these things became manifest in those in whom it had not been seen before. People might have gone on quietly; but Jesus always puts the heart to the test; and if there be not faith, no man knows what he may not do whenever the Truth (as Jesus is) puts him to the proof. “Think ye that I have come to give peace in the earth?” Undoubtedly such will be the effect of His reign by and by, but it is far from being the case now, where good has to make its way and show itself in the midst of evil which is in power. We must always remember that this is an essential characteristic of the time when Jesus was on earth; and it is so still. As far as the world is concerned, evil is in power: good therefore has to maintain itself by faith in conflict with it and superiority over it. It is not that good loves conflict, but that evil will oppose what is good, and, consequently, suffering there must be. “Think ye that I have come to give peace in the earth? Nay, I say unto you; but rather division;tid=57#bkm346- for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided: three shall be divided against two, and two against three.”

This state of moral rupture is simply the result of Christ’s coming to the world, as it is man in a state of alienation and opposition, more particularly man with religious privileges, who cannot bear to have all his imaginary good sentenced to death. Therefore the Jews were ever more hostile than Gentiles. The latter could not but see their vanities judged by that which carried its own evidence of light and love along with it; but the Jews had what was really of God, only preparatory, however, and pointing onward to Him, Who was now come, and Whom they would not have, but rejected utterly. In that rejection the baptism spoken of was accomplished, and sin was judged, and God now can be righteous in justifying him who believes, and this solely on the ground of atonement for proved, convicted sin. This, alas! was the last thing a Jew was willing to admit. He would not own that he needed redemption as much as a Gentile, and that a Jew no less than a Gentile must enter the kingdom by being born again. Hence division in families, in no way because the grace of Christ in itself promotes discord, but because man’s evil fights against the truth which puts it in the light, and man’s hatred refuses the love of which it does not feel the need.

Hence, we come to yet fuller particulars: “the father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”tid=57#bkm347- The nearest relationships, sex, age, or youth, made no difference. As grace works freely according to the sovereign will of God, so man’s hatred is indiscriminate, and in the most unlikely quarters. The Lord is alluding to the prophecy of Micah, who describes in similar terms the worst evil of the last days (Mic 7:6 ). It is solemn to find, therefore, that, before the days spoken of by the prophet arrive, the evil was itself now come, and that the presence of Divine love in the person of Jesus provokes it. This could not be if men were not thoroughly bad; but Jesus is the Truth, and therefore brings all things to a head.

Luk 12:54-59 .

Mat 16:2 f.

In the next verses He appeals to the people, and convicts them of the greatest moral blindness: “He said also to the crowds, When ye see a* cloud rising out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and it happeneth so. And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat, and it happeneth. Hypocrites, ye know how to judge of the appearance of the earth and of the heaven; how [is it then that] ye do, not discern this time?” – Men were good enough judges of the signs of the weather; they were sufficiently shrewd in forming a judgment as to the present in what they saw; but they utterly failed in what most of all becomes a man – judgment of what is morally above him, judgment of what touches him most closely in his relationship to God, judgment in what concerns his eternal future. In these things they utterly failed, they were hypocrites. Their love of evil, cloaked with a veil of fair religious appearance, made them blind; their love of their own interests made them sharp in discerning and practised in the pursuit of present things. They utterly failed in conscience; and so the Lord goes on to reproach them. It was not only that they were blind as to the signs that God gave outside, themselves; but why did they not even of themselves, as it is said here, judge what was right? This is peculiar to Luke. Matthew speaks of the external signs God was pleased to give them, but they had no eyes for them. Luke alone speaks of the responsibility of judging from themselves, and not merely from what was vouchsafed outside them. The truth is that all was internally wrong with themselves: therefore they did not judge what was right.tid=57#bkm348-

*”A cloud”: so Edd. after ABL, etc., 1, 33, 69. DE, etc., have “the c.”

“Ye do not discern”: so AD, later uncials, most cursives and Old Lat. Syrr. Edd. (Revv.) adopt “ye do not know how to discern,” according to BL, 33, Sahid. Memph. Aeth.

Mat 5:25 f.

The Lord hence concludes this part of His discourse with a warning of their actual position: “For as thou goest with thine adversary before a magistrate, strive in the way to be reconciled with him; lest he drag thee away to the judge, and the judge shall deliver* thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison.tid=57#bkm349- I say unto thee, thou shalt in no wise come out thence, until thou hast paid the very last mite.”tid=57#bkm349- Israel were on their trial now, they were in the way. There was an opportunity of being delivered: would they refuse? Would they throw all away? They might depend upon it, if there was not diligence to avail themselves of what God was now granting them, in the presence of Jesus, justice must take its course; and if so, they must be dragged to the judge, and the judge most assuredly would deliver them to the officer, and the officer would cast them into prison. The result would be that they should in nowise depart thence till they had paid the very last mite. And such in point of fact has been the history of the Jews. They are in prison still, and out of this condition they will not be delivered until the whole debt is paid in the retributive dealings of God, when the Lord will say that Jerusalem has received from His hand double for all her sins. He will not allow her therefore to suffer more. (Isa 40:2 .) His mercy will undertake her cause in the last day, His hand accomplishing at length what His mouth promised from the first.

*”Shall deliver”: so Edd. after ABDT 69. ELX, etc., 1, 33, Syrsin Old Lat. have “(lost the j.) deliver.”

NOTES ON THE TWELFTH CHAPTER.

318 This chapter resembles Matt. 5-7 so far as regards its mosaic construction: of its fifty-nine verses of sayings the contents of no less than thirty-five were delivered on entirely different occasions (Burgon).

319 Luk 12:1 . – “In those (times),” “in which circumstances” ( ) as in Act 26:12 .

“Myriads”: cf. Act 21:20 .

“Leaven”: see note on Luk 13:21 .

“Hypocrisy.” The remarks of Boehmer, ad loc. (p. 201 ff.), are specially worthy of attention.

320 Luk 12:3 . – See Schor, p. 28.

321 Luk 12:4 . – “Friends,” in contrast with Luk 19:27 , “Mine enemies.” In other respects it is Johannine.

“Fear”: not Satan, who has to be resisted (Jas 4:7 ).

322 Luk 12:5 . – “Gehenna,” here alone in Luke, the valley of Hinnom: see Jos 18:6 in the LXX. The final a is that of the Aramaic ending am (Dalman). Jewish apocalyptic (e.g., Apoc. of Baruch, xlix. 10) regarded Gehenna as the place, not of the final but of the intermediate punishment of the wicked. See further note 418 below.

The essential immortality of the soul, of which the Bible nowhere offers proof, is here recognized.

323 Luk 12:6 . – Cf. Mat 10:29 . The “assarion” had two values (Kennedy art. “Money” in Hastings’ “Dict. of Bible,” 5), and allowance must be made for local differences; but the “two farthings” would be equal to about one penny of our money. In Matthew the emphasis is on the smallness of the coin for which two sparrows were bought; in Luke, on the number of birds obtained (Weiss, “Sources of Luke’s Gospel,” p. 80).

324 Luk 12:7 . – On the doctrine of special providence, see Abrahams, p. 48.

There is a sermon on the subject, from this verse, by John Wesley (“Works,” vi., p. 313).

325 Luk 12:8 f. – “The Son of man”; Matthew has “I” (10: 32). The introduction of the title in this connection (cf. 9: 26 of the same type) is peculiar to Luke; but in Mar 8:38 also the Lord has spoken of Himself as Judge in the character of Son of man. In the Synoptics He is described always as the Son of man; but in Joh 5:27 (as in Rev 1:13 , Rev 14:14 ) as Son of man without the article, where, as Westcott says, His judicial function attaches to His true humanity so emphasized, rather than His personality.

326 Luk 12:10 . – Here again is a logion in a connection different from that in Matthew (Mat 12:32 ).

Schmiedel has written: “Had Jesus possessed that exalted consciousness of his pre-existence and divine dignity which is attributed to Him in the Fourth Gospel, the declaration that blasphemy against Him was capable of forgiveness could never have been attributed to Him (art. in “Encycl. Bibl.,” col. 2541). See, however, 1Ti 1:13 , and note 171 on John (Joh 8:48 ff.).

As to such sin as does not admit of forgiveness, cf. 1Jn 5:16 . It is an insuperable difficulty for all who conceive that mercy ever will entirely swamp judgment. Such seek relief, but hopelessly, in the thought of annihilation.

327 Luk 12:11 . – The Synagogues were used as Courts of Law.

328 Luk 12:13-21 . – Cf. Sirach. ii. 17 f.

329 Luk 12:14 . – The Syrrsin and Syrrcu omit “or a divider.”

330 Luk 12:15 . – Cf. Exo 20:17 ; 1Th 2:5 . For the God-ward aspect of covetousness, cf. Col 3:5 .

“Life,” the Johannine . Cf. Pro 3:25 .

330a Luk 12:17 f. – For the repeated “my,” cf. 1Sa 25:11 ; Hos 2:5 (Stock, p. 190).

331 Luk 12:19 f. – “Soul.” See note on 1: 46. It is language of a depraved heart. Psa 14:1 . comparing Ecc 2:1 , Ecc 2:5 f., 24.

As to Buddhist denial of possession of Atman, the seat of personality, see Carus, “Buddhism and its Critics,” p. 84 ff. In these latter days, Nietzsche, an admirer of that system, has gloried in the shame of such an attitude as that described by our Lord’s words. “Remain faithful to the earth” spells his Gospel: see Prologue to his “Thus Spake Zarathustra.” Probably no one would be led away by such literature who had read Dr. Arnold’s sermon from this verse (“Christian Life,” p. 99).

332 Luk 12:20 . – As to omission of the subject in the Greek, see note on 6: 38.

333 Luk 12:21 . – “Is not,” “if he is not” ().

“Rich, etc.”: cf. verse 33; 1Ti 6:19 , and Ecelesiasticus 11: 18 f.

See also Latimer, “Dr. Baedeker in Russia,” p. 207.

334 Luk 12:22 ff. – Here come fragments of the sermon on the “plateau.”

“Be not anxious.” Such was the meaning of “take no thought” in the A.V., retained by the Revv. in 1Sa 9:5 .

335 Luk 12:24 f. – “God feedeth them”: cf. Ps. cxlvii. 9. For Luke’s , “consider,” Matthew has , “take a lesson.”

“Glory” (verse 27), that is, of his coronation.

336 Luk 12:29 . – “Be not in anxiety” (). Vulg.: “be not lifted up”; Weiss, explaining, “do not go to extremes in your demands.” So, Wellhausen, referring to Sirach xxxiii. 4. The Hebrew “lift up one’s soul” (Psa 24:4 ) was used with regard to vanity. The Roman Catholic joint writers Darby-Smith here follow the English Protestant version: “to be unsettled in mind” (as meteors).

337 Luk 12:31 – “Seek His Kingdom,” that of the Father, or heavenly department (Mat 13:45 ): see note on 11: 2. The seeking (“keep on seeking,” , continuous present), by prayer, response to which may lie in the words of verse 32. Cf. the lines of Bonar:

“The kingdom that I seek

Is Thine; so let the way

That leads to it be Thine,

Else I must surely stray.”

“Little flock.” Cf. “few chosen,” which does not apply to the Gospel of pure grace, let unbelievers say what they will.

“Give,” as sometimes used in Scripture, meaning award: cf. Gen 30:28 ; Exo 2:9 , etc., with the verse following here, and 2Ti 4:8 .

It is not to be supposed that, whilst the Lord says, according to Matthew, “Seek and ye shall find” (Mat 7:7 ) this is independently of God’s righteousness (ibid., 6: 33): Judas the traitor could lend an ear to the one, but the other was not to his liking. Just as with Eternal Life in the Fourth Gospel, so also for the Kingdom “life” of the Synoptics, election seems to operate: see 2Pe 1:10 f., noting Hort’s marginal reading ( A 69, Syrr., Vulg., etc.). “Give the more diligence through (your) good works,” some of these authorities omitting “your.” Cf. Eph 2:10 .

The apostle Paul, before he passed away, acquired personal assurance of this: 2Ti 4:6-8 , with which cf. Heb 6:10 f, as also Rom 8:24 , where the hope is that of the coming of our Lord (Tit 2:13 ). For His Kingdom and His appointment, see Luk 22:29 , which refers to the earthly department of the Kingdom to come, described in Mat 13:41 as “the kingdom of the Son of Man.”

German writers discuss the all-important point whether the Kingdom is a Gabe (gift) or an Aufgabe (something to be worked out). With H. Holtzmann (“New Testament Theology,” i., pp. 202-204) and Bousset (“Preaching of Jesus,” p. 101) it is a gift in the absolute sense as understood by them here; whilst Ritschl, in his “Instruction,” 5, emphasizes its character as something proposed for the soul’s attainment (a prize): see Col 3:24 ; Phi 2:12 (of the Messianic salvation), and Phi 3:14 . Bousset’s denial (loc. cit.) of this latter aspect is subversive of the Word of God, which exhibits both views, so that neither is exclusive of the other – one of many illustrations of the twofoldness of Divine truth, from neglect of which so many controversies have arisen and are still maintained.

Professor Denney has well remarked: “The Kingdom is not to be established” – as often asserted now – “by our energies at all. . . . We have to be ready for it, to make any sacrifice to secure our entrance into it” (“The Church and the Kingdom,” p. 87 f.).

338 With verse 33 compare 18: 22, and note there.

339 Luk 12:35 ff. – Here we have, as stated by Bruce, the germ of the Parable of the Virgins (Mat 25:1-13 ). Each passage emphasizes the looked-for coming of the Lord as the supremely practical tenet of the Church. Cf. J.H.Newman’s “Parochial Sermons,” vol. iv., under “Watching”: this, he said, is “a suitable test of a Christian. Many . . . want the tender and sensitive heart which hangs on the thought of Christ and lives in His love.” Cf. Luk 21:36 and note there, besides Mar 13:35 .

On the “lamps,” see Schor, p. 49.

340 Of such beatitudes as that in verse 37 f. Wernle rightly says that they are all promises (op. cit.); hence they are limited in their application.

341 Luk 12:40 ff. – “Be,” or “become”; and so “prove” ().

342 With this passage Neander connects 1Th 5:1 ff., observing that Paul had these words of our Lord in view (p. 350). Cf. 2Pe 3:10 ; Rev 3:3 , Rev 16:15 , and also Rev. 21: 34 below.

343 Luk 12:42-44 . – Cf. 1Co 4:1 f., and see also Luk 16:10 below.

344 Luk 12:45 ff. – “Shall come,” or “shall arrive” (). “Unbelievers,” , as in 1Co 14:23 . It is clearly for these here more a question of their conduct than of their creed: they may be ever so “orthodox.” The word is in contrast with , “faithful,” of the steward in verse 42 (cf. 1Ti 1:12 ); and so “unfaithful” as expressed by R.V. Observe Peter’s inquiry in verse 41, and that it is not merely an assumed position of which the Lord speaks in the verse following that. We have here a solemn Scripture for all who are engaged in His service, to whatever communion they may adhere. The words admit of no toning down. If the rendering “unbelievers” be maintained, the issue becomes yet more grave!

344a As to the Kingdom being the time of recompense or award, see note 370, below.

344b Luk 12:47 f. – The present chastisement of believers springs from love: Heb 12:6 ; Rev 3:19 ( . . . ). It is not this which is spoken of in verse 47 f. Tholuck in his “Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount” has spoken of the partial unblessedness which even they may inherit (p. 39) when the time of reckoning comes, from which none are exempt (2Co 5:10 f.). Cf. Mar 9:45 . Some will be saved “though as through fire” (1Co 3:15 ). And so 1Pe 4:18 .

For the “many” and the “few” stripes (verse 47 f.), cf. Mat 11:22 .

345 Luk 12:49 f. – “What will I,” etc. American Revv., “What do I desire,” with marg. “How would I that,” etc. The Evangelist supplies us here with a saying characteristic of this period of the ministry. Afford would refer it to Pentecost; but it is best taken hypothetically.

With verse 50 cf. Joh 19:30 (“it is finished”).

346 Luk 12:51 . – “To give”: “D” has , “to produce,” which Wellhausen seems disposed to take as equivalent to , although at Luk 15:22 he questions whether the two verbs can be used as equivalents.

In our Lord’s words here there is an illustration of the twofoldness of Divine truth: cf. Luk 2:14 .

“Division.” Cf. Mat 10:34 ; and the Vulgate here, “separation.” The cleavage is between those who stand with Christ and those who do not.

In 1Co 1:10 , Paul beseeches the brethren there addressed to repress “divisions.” asking, “is CHRIST divided?” The word (verse 13) is connected with here. When the come again before us in that letter, it is in Luk 11:18 , not in verse 19 as represented in a recent pamphlet entitled “There must be Divisions” (Melbourne, 1911). It is false that “truth has only been preserved by division.” It is not true that in the one verse is identical with (cf. Joh 7:43 ) in the other. “The cream lies on the top,” but one needs eyes with which to see it. It is a serious thing to trifle with Scripture. The “approved” in 1Co 11:19 are manifestly those who will not abet “divisions”; the disapproved, those by whom they are engineered. The “approved,” the simple and childlike, give heed to Rom 16:17 ; the disapproved, such as airily and sophistically explain away, not only the Apostle’s appeal, but the Lord’s prayer to the Father (Joh 17:21 ). Is it any wonder that the world does not believe?

347 Luk 12:53 . – Observe the different cases taken here by the preposition .

348 Luk 12:57 . – This bears on Calvin’s theory as to human depravity. He is silent in his “Commentary” about these words of our Lord, with which cf. Joh 8:46 .

349 Luk 12:58 f. – Cf. Mat 5:25 f., and for the question of Endless Punishment, note 42 on Mark; also recent pamphlet in Evangelical Alliance Series, entitled “Sin and its Consequences,” by Webb-Peploe.

350 Luk 12:59 . – The mite (lepton) was the smallest coin.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 12:1-3

1Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 3Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.

Luk 12:1 “after so many thousands of people had gathered together” The term “thousands” reflects an OT term “myriad” (cf. LXX Gen 24:60; Lev 26:8; Num 10:36; Deu 32:30), which usually denotes tens of thousands. Here it seems to mean a very large number. This continues the Synoptic Gospels’ emphasis on “the crowd.” Huge numbers of people came to hear Jesus.

1. the common people

2. the sick

3. the curious

4. disciples

5. the religious elite

One reason it is hard to interpret Jesus’ words is because modern interpreters are not sure to which group in the crowd Jesus is talking. Jesus’ teachings are received only by those with open ears and receptive hearts (i.e., the parable of the soils, cf. Luk 8:4-15).

“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees” This is a present active imperative (“be on your guard,” NJB) of a word used often in the Septuagint (e.g., Gen 24:6; Exo 10:28; Exo 34:12; Deu 4:9) and used only by Luke in the NT (cf. Luk 17:3; Luk 20:46; Luk 21:34; Act 5:35; Act 20:28). It seems to refer to an attitude of “nit-picking” legalism (cf. Luk 11:37-52) instead of the love and care for the poor and needy people in God’s name (cf. Luk 11:41; Luk 12:33; Luk 18:22).

The term “leaven” (zum) is used in two senses in both the OT and the NT:

1. a sense of corruption and, therefore, a symbol of evil

a. Exo 12:15; Exo 13:3; Exo 13:7; Exo 23:18; Exo 34:25; Lev 2:11; Lev 6:17; Deu 16:3

b. Mat 16:6; Mat 16:11; Mar 8:15; Luk 12:1; Gal 5:9; 1Co 5:6-8

2. a sense of permeation and, therefore, influence, not a symbol of evil

a. Lev 7:13; Lev 23:17; Amo 4:5

b. Mat 13:33; Luk 13:20-21

Only context can determine the meaning of this word (which is true of all words!).

“hypocrisy” This comes from two Greek words, “to judge” and “under” (cf. Luk 6:42; Luk 12:56; Luk 13:15). This was a theatrical term that speaks of “actors playing a part behind a mask” (cf. LXX 2Ma 5:25; 2Ma 6:21; 2Ma 6:24; 4Ma 6:15; 4Ma 6:17). The following context shows that the secrets of these religious leaders’ hearts will one day be clearly revealed (cf. Luk 12:2-3).

In the Matthew parallel (cf. Mat 16:12) the leaven refers to the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees, but here in Luke it is related to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Each inspired Gospel writer had the editorial right to select from Jesus’ words, sayings, and miracles and choose those that best communicated the gospel to his readers. They also had the editorial right to arrange Jesus’ sayings and miracles for theological (not chronological) purposes. They even had the limited right to modify or adapt His words and actions within certain boundaries. This accounts for the differences among the four Gospels. I do not believe they had the editorial right to invent words, actions, dialogs, or events! They all used various sources for their Gospel. These Gospels are not western histories or biographies, but evangelistic tracts targeting certain people-groups.

Luk 12:2 “covered up” This is a periphrastic perfect passive indicative. Sinful humans attempt to completely conceal their sins and bad attitudes, but they cannot.

The future passive indicative in Luk 12:2 (“will not be revealed. . .will not be known”) point toward an eschatological judgment (cf. Luk 12:40; Luk 12:45-47). Jesus knew the true motives and thoughts of the human heart and mind, and one day all will know! The divine judgment will reveal the true intents and thoughts of the unbelieving heart.

Luk 12:3 In context this may refer to the scheming and plotting of the Pharisees (cf. Luk 11:53-54) and the Sadducees (cf. Mat 16:6) against Jesus (and possibly also the Herodians, cf. Mar 8:15).

“proclaimed upon the housetop” In Palestine the houses had flat roofs that were used as places to eat, sleep, and socialize in hot weather. This then is a metaphor of people talking to their neighbors and the report spreading all over town.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

In. Greek. en. App-104.

trode one upon another = trampled one another down.

unto. Greek. pros. App-104. Not the same word as in Luk 12:11.

first. The Structure (“K “) on p. 1471 shows that this must be connected with “disciples “and not with what follows.

Beware ye = Take heed to yourselves. Compare Mat 16:6, spoken on another occasion. of. Greek. apo. App-104.

leaven. See note on Mat 13:33.

which. Denoting a class of things in the category of impiety.

hypocrisy. See note on “hypocrite” (Luk 11:44).

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

1-12.] WARNING AGAINST HYPOCRISY. A discourse spoken immediately or very soon after the former, and in connexion with it;-consisting for the most part of sayings repeated from other occasions, and found nearly verbatim in Matt. It is impossible that there should be any reasonable doubt of this view, when we remember that some of them have appeared before, or appear again, in this very Gospel.

While our Lord was in the house of the Pharisee, the multitudes appear to have assembled together again. If so, will mean, during which things, viz. those related above.

He comes forth to them (ch. Luk 11:53) in the spirit of the discourse which He has just completed, and cautions his disciples against that part of the character of the Pharisees which was most dangerous to them. The connexion of these twelve verses may be thus enunciated:-Beware of hypocrisy (Luk 12:1), for all shall be made evident in the end (Luk 12:2), and ye are witnesses and sharers in this unfolding of the truth (Luk 12:3). In this your work, ye need not fear men; for your Father has you in His keeping (Luk 12:4-7)-and the confession of my name is a glorious thing (Luk 12:8), but the rejection of it (Luk 12:9), and especially the ascription of my works to the evil one (Luk 12:10), a fearful one. And in this confession ye shall be helped by the Holy Spirit in the hour of need (Luk 12:11-12).

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Shall we turn in our Bibles to Luke’s gospel, chapter 12.

We are dealing with the final month in the ministry of Jesus. He has returned to Jerusalem. He will soon be leaving Jerusalem to go down to the area of the Jordan River beyond Jericho. Where He will sort of absent Himself from the authorities, until such a time as He comes back for the feast of the Passover, and makes His triumphant entry on the Sunday before the feast of the Passover. So just where, here in Luke’s account, does Jesus leave Jerusalem, is not declared by Luke. John tells us about this little time that He spent down at the Jordan River. It was while He was there at the Jordan River that He got the message from Mary and Martha concerning the death of Lazareth, which perpetrated His return. And then, of course, soon after that His triumphant entry, His trial, and crucifixion. Probably chapter 12, no doubt, still happened while He was in Jerusalem. And around chapter 13, as He is there in a synagogue, it could be that He has moved from the precinct of Jerusalem at that point.

So in the mean time, when they were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people ( Luk 12:1 ),

They beginning to really press upon Him, and thronged Him. So bad were the crowds,

that they were stumping on one another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy ( Luk 12:1 ).

Now leaven was that yeast, actually, that they used in the baking of their bread. And it caused the bread dough to rise by the process of fermentation. And so actually, it was a rotting of the leaven or of the yeast that causes it as it rots to release these little bubbles of air, which puff the bread up. And all you need is just a little bit of leaven within the lump of dough, and that little leaven will exercise its influence upon the whole lump of dough. The whole lump will be putrefied or fermented by just a little peace of leaven. So they had what they call their starters, like the sourdough. Where they put just a little bit of it into the new dough, and they always save a part of it to put in the batch that they would make tomorrow. And just a little leaven was all they needed to leaven the whole lump.

Paul warns about the leaven in the church. A little leaven leaventh the whole lump, therefore purge out the leaven. Jesus is here warning of the leaven of the Pharisees, which He said is hypocrisy. It’s amazing how hypocrisy can spread, just a little bit of it. It has that effect of rotting and spreading.

For there is nothing covered [Jesus said], that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which you have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon on the housetops ( Luk 12:2-3 ).

Now I don’t know that I appreciate that. There are some things that I have said in confidence that I really don’t want published abroad. But the Lord is really just telling us basically to keep yourself open and straight, don’t be hypocritical.

Somewhere a story was spread that we had received some tape recordings of some private evangelist in Israel. We had taken a tour over there. Of course, in Israel a lot of things are bugged. Your hotel rooms are, you never know. But somehow these evangelists got word that we received from our friends over there, who are involved in the Israeli government, that we had received from them some tapes that were made of some of the stories they were telling, and things that they were saying about the people that were on their tours. And they were quite upset, because according to the story that came to them, we were going to use these tapes to expose them. Very interesting, I don’t have any tapes. I never had any tapes. I am not interested in any tapes of private conversations.

But this thing of being one thing to a person’s face, “Oh, you precious little darlings.” And then when you get alone say, “Did you see them? Can you believe that?” That ‘s what Jesus said, this business of hypocrisy. How tragic that this is one of those evils that seems to permeate the religious systems of men.

Years and years and years ago, before many of you were born, when radio was still in it’s infant stages, there was an announcer on a children’s program that use to read the comic strips to the children. And oh, he was so gushing and all in his talking to the children, and so personable on his show. Well, it so happened that he thought that they had caught off his mic and they didn’t. And he began to express his true feelings concerning kids. And that was the end of his career.

Beware of hypocrisy.

“That which is spoken in secret,” Jesus said, “will be shouted from the housetops.”

I say unto you my friends, Don’t be afraid of those who can kill your body, and after that they have no more that they can do. I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: Fear him, which after he had killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings ( Luk 12:4-6 ),

Now two farthings equals about a penny, so sparrows aren’t worth much.

and not one of them is forgotten before God? ( Luk 12:6 )

Though they are so insignificant, yet your Father God is concerned. Not one of them is forgotten before God. God is very interested in you. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, none are forgotten before God.

But even [He said] the very hairs of your head are numbered. Fear not therefore: for you are of more value than many sparrows ( Luk 12:7 ).

And so He is comforting now the disciples with the fact that the Father knows our needs. The Father is concerned with us. The Father keeps interesting statistics about you. He is concerned with even insignificant things of your life.

Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denies me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemes against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven ( Luk 12:8-10 ).

Now these are things that we have studied in other gospels of the sayings of Jesus. Luke is just sort of grouping together. And Jesus probably is just grouping together a series of thoughts and principles that He has previously amplified upon. And so on another occasion Jesus amplified this subject of the sin against the Holy Spirit and the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. And in other places He amplified on the confessing Him and denying Him.

Now when they bring you into the synagogues, and unto the magistrates, and the authorities, take no thought how or what thing you are going to answer, or what you’re going to say: for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the same hour what you ought to say ( Luk 12:11-12 ).

And so this divine inspiration of the Spirit in the moment of peril.

One of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And Jesus said to him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? ( Luk 12:13-14 )

But he used the occasion to warn now against covetousness.

He said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things he possesses ( Luk 12:15 ).

This is an opposite of the popular conception of the world around you. As far as the world around you is concerned, a man’s life does consist in the abundance of things that he possesses, and thus, men are trying to amass more things to themselves. But Jesus is declaring that you’ve got to be careful of covetousness. Because a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses. What then does a man’s life consist of? It consists of relationships, which are more important then possessions. For what should it profit a man, if he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Your relationship with God is more important and more valuable than all of the possessions you could possibly amass to yourself. It is tragic that many people, in order to amass to themselves vast possessions, many men who have been caught up with this covetousness, because of their greed and covetousness, their drive to amass a fortune, they have alienated themselves from any meaningful relationships. How many families have been broken because the husband was so driven by that desire to get ahead, to amass for himself vast possessions, that he neglected his relationships at home. How many men have driven themselves until they had a heart attack. It’s a very common ailment among executives, men who drive themselves until they destroy their health. And covetousness is something that just can’t be satisfied. It will continue to drive you harder, harder, harder, until it destroys those things that are important. Those things of which life does consist, life’s consistent relationships, primarily your relationship with God, which then affects your relationship with others. And covetousness can destroy these things. So beware of covetousness.

And then to illustrate it, He gave them a parable.

He said, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room to bestow my fruits? And he said, I know what I’ll do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there I will bestow all my fruits and goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, [you’ve got it made] you’ve got a lot of goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee ( Luk 12:16-20 ):

Interesting, the man’s opinion of himself, and God’s opinion of him. His opinion of himself was: I’ve got it made. God’s opinion of him was: thou fool. Now notice this: this man was still in the dream state, not the fulfilled state. He had not yet built the bigger barns; these were only plans. “As soon as I have the bigger barns, as soon as I fill them, then I will be able to say: alright you’ve got it made, kick back, eat, drink, and be merry. Take it easy; you’ve got it made.” He never did arrive at that point.

I would dare say that when, if he had not died that night, and he had continued to live, and he went ahead and tore down his barns and build the bigger barns and filled them, that he still would not have been satisfied. And at that point could not have said, “Well, you’ve got it made, kick back.” Very few people ever arrive at that point in life. Where they can say, “Well, I have enough.” There is a proverb about those things that are never full. And one of these is that desire, never full, never satisfied.

The question then, of course, is propounded by the Lord: “Tonight your soul is required of you, so who is going to be able to enjoy all of the goods that you have amassed?”

whose shall these things be, which you have provided? So is he [the parable now is of that man] who lays up treasures for himself, and is not rich toward God ( Luk 12:20-21 ).

This is whom the parable is addressed to. Those people who have been so careful to lay up treasures for themselves, but are not rich towards God. Their relationship with God has suffered as a result or consequence.

And he said to his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, [don’t be covetous] Take no thought for your life, what you are going to eat; for your body, what you are going to put on ( Luk 12:22 ).

That is, take no anxious thought, or better translated, don’t be worried about what you are going to eat, or what you’re going to wear. For life doesn’t consist in things.

Life is more than meat, the body is more the clothes. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have store houses or barns; and God feeds them: how much more are you better than the fowls? And which of you [by worrying] taking anxious thought can add to his stature one cubit? ( Luk 12:23-25 )

Now if you happen to have a pituitary gland that hasn’t functioned at full capacity, and you happen to be short, and you’re so concerned because you can’t reach the top shelf in the cupboard, which of you by facing this kind of a problem, sitting down and just being so worried, and so concerned, about, “I am so short, oh, wish I weren’t so short.” And which of you by giving a lot of anxious thought of this can add eighteen inches to your height? That’s what Jesus is saying. You can’t even add one inch to your height, much less eighteen.

Now if you’re not able to do the simple things, then why are you worried about the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they don’t toil, nor do they spin ( Luk 12:26-27 );

And, of course, the idea is the woman at the spindle, making the yarn, and making the cloth and all. Using the spindle to make the threads to make to cloth, and the whole thing.

But look at the lilies how they grow. They don’t toil, they don’t work, they fingers aren’t toiling, and working at the spindle.

yet, Solomon in all of his glory [with all of his wealth, with all of his grandeur] wasn’t dressed as beautifully as one of these. Now if God so dresses the grass, which today in the field, and tomorrow is burned; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? ( Luk 12:27-28 )

And so really in this whole area, Jesus is talking about life, and He is talking about the Father’s concern and care for His children. Sparrows are almost worthless little animals in the sight of man. You can buy five of them for a penny from the little boys in the streets. Yet, there is not a sparrow that falls to the ground, but your Father doesn’t take note of it. Your Father takes account of these little animals. Now if your Father takes account of these little animals, how much more does He take account of you? He knows the number of hairs on your head. And so you don’t have to worry. You’re going to have problems, but don’t sit down and dream up your little speeches what you are going to say. The Holy Spirit will give you the words to say. The Father is going to take care of you in every situation. And beware of this thing of covetousness. You don’t have to worry about the material things.

Now here is the answer to the whole thing, in verse Luk 12:29 , or going on from there.

And seek not what you are going to eat, or what you are going to drink, or be of a worried mind. For all of these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knows that you have need of these things ( Luk 12:29-30 ).

I like that: your Father knows all about you. And He knows you have to eat. He knows that you got to wear clothes. He knows all about the issues in your life. Your Father knows all about these things.

So rather [than seeking these things as the primary issues of life] seek first the kingdom of God; and all of these things will be added to you. Don’t fear, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom ( Luk 12:31-32 ).

You don’t have to worry about these things. You just seek the kingdom of God, because it’s the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

So sell what you have, and give to the poor; and provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that fails not, where no thief can approach, neither can moth corrupt. But where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning ( Luk 12:33-35 );

This business of loins girded about is a phrase that was particular to their culture, for the men wore long robes. And to work in a long robe is cumbersome. To run is cumbersome. And so when a man was ready to go to work, he would pull his robe up and tie a sash around it. Making it knee length, or above the knee length, rather than down to his ankles. And this facilitated his ability to work or to run.

So Jesus is saying, “Prepare yourself for service, for work, gird up your loins. And let your lights be burning.”

And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord ( Luk 12:36 ),

Now here Jesus is giving to us a concept of life, which should be the concept of life of every child of God. A person’s concept of life is extremely important, because it determines his attitude and his actions. People express their concepts of life with various figures of speech. Life is a journey. Life is a race. Life is a war. Life is a party. A man expresses his concept of life. Jesus said your concept of life should be, “Life is like a servant waiting for his lord.” That ‘s what your life should be. Like a servant who is waiting for his lord, for his lord may appear unannounced at any time. Therefore, you should be living your life with the anticipation of our Lord coming at any moment. And if you do live your life with this expectation, it will markedly alter your actions and your attitudes. Especially towards the worldly things, of which Jesus is just been speaking.

What is my attitude towards material things? What if the Lord comes tonight, then what value are all of these material things going to be to me? If my Master comes for me tonight, all of these things that I’ve been worried about, all of these things that I’ve been giving so much time to, what value will they be to me at that point?

Now the way to maintain my proper attitude towards the material world is to be as a servant who is waiting for his Lord. If I am living with that concept of life, then I don’t have to worry about an improper attitude towards material things. I have the proper attitude, because I am not going to be caught up in the material things. Because I realize that they are not important. My relationship with God is all important. And I am like a servant who is waiting for his Lord. And when my Lord appears, I want to be ready for Him, and able to open the door immediately.

so that when the lord knocks, they may open to him immediately ( Luk 12:36 ).

Jesus said that’s the way you should be. Not a lot of unfinished business when the Lord comes. “Oh wait, oh I wasn’t ready, Lord. Oh, you caught me by surprise. Would you mind waiting for a few hours, while I get things cleaned up here?”

Now our Lord is coming at any moment. Every other concept of life has its goal in view. And you can pretty well ascertain when it will be achieved. Life is a race. If you are running a race, you know where the goal is. You know how many laps you have finish before you come to that finish line. Life is an education, you know how many more units you need to graduate. But I don’t know when the Lord is going to come. I don’t know what is the climax. The climax can take place at any moment. It can take place before I get home tonight. It can take place before I wake up in the morning. And when He comes there will be two sleeping in the bed. It could be that I be asleep in bed when the Lord comes knocking, and I want to be ready to just go immediately. Good thing to just clean the slate before you go to sleep at night. Take care of it. “Lord, I commit myself to you.” He may come before morning. And that’s the way the Lord wants you to live, because it creates a greater urgency to everything I do. Because this may be my last opportunity to do it. My last opportunity to share the love of Jesus Christ. My last opportunity to serve the Lord. My last opportunity to lay up treasures in heaven. And so your concept of life is as a servant waiting for his Lord. It has a lot to do with my life, as far as purity is concerned.

“For we are now the sons of God, but it doesn’t yet appear what we are going to be: but we know, when He appears, [at any moment, at any time] we are going to be like Him; for we will see Him as He is” ( 1Jn 3:2 ).

And he who lives by this concept, he who has this hope in him, purifies himself, even as He is pure. It is a purifying influence living this concept of life. I want to make sure that I am pure. I want to make sure that I am right. I want to make sure that I am ready to meet my Lord at any moment. So that when He comes, you may open immediately.

And blessed are those servants, who when the lord comes he will find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them ( Luk 12:37 ).

Now that’s the thing that just absolutely is hard for me to really conceive. The Lord’s reward for His faithful servants who are girded, waiting for their Lord. Ready to open, watching for Him to come. What’s He going to do? He is going to gird Himself and serve them. The glorious marriage feast of the lamb. The Lord is going to be there and say, “I am going to be here to serve you.” Oh, my.

Now if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch ( Luk 12:38 ),

And these are watches during the night, you don’t know what watch He is going to come, the second, or the third, but the thing is, be ready. So that whatever time the Lord may come, you will be ready.

and if he finds them girded [waiting for the Lord], blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and he would have not allowed his house to be broken in through. So therefore be ready also: for the Son of man is coming at an hour when you think not ( Luk 12:38-40 ).

Now how many of you believe that the Lord is coming in the next hour? Honestly, I don’t think any of us believe He is coming in the next hour; we probably wouldn’t be sitting here. There is a little bit of unfinished business I’d like to take care of, you know. A few calls I want to make. Watch out. The very fact that you don’t think He is coming in the next hour makes it a good candidate. For the Son of man is coming in an hour when you think not.

Then Peter said unto him, Lord, is this parable for us, or is it for everybody? And the Lord said, Who is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? ( Luk 12:41-42 )

Who is that faithful servant that the Lord is going to make a ruler in His household in the kingdom of God?

Blessed is that servant, whom the lord when he comes shall find him so doing ( Luk 12:43 ).

So doing what? Watching for the Lord. As a servant, girded, waiting for his Lord.

Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him the ruler over all that he has ( Luk 12:44 ).

Jesus said, “And in that day I will say unto them on the right hand, ‘Come, ye blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you from the foundations of the earth'” ( Mat 25:34 ).

As John is describing Jesus in the first chapter of Rev 1:1-20 , he said, “Unto Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us, who has made us on to our God a kingdom of priests, and we shall reign with Him, upon the earth.” He said, “I will make him the ruler over all that I have.”

But here is a warning:

If that servant says in his heart, [Oh,] My lord is going to delay his coming ( Luk 12:45 );

“The Lord isn’t going to come until after the revelation of the antichrist. He is going to delay His coming until the tribulation period, or until after the tribulation period. Or He is going to delay His coming until Russia moves, or whatever.” Hey, the Lord can come at any moment, and He wants you to be ready for Him to come at any moment.

Now there is always a danger of saying the Lord is delaying His coming. That is a dangerous and pernicious doctrine and thought. Because the effect of it is so often slothfulness. The Lord is delaying His coming; let’s have a big party.

and he begins to beat the menservants and the maidens, and he begins to drink, and be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he is not looking for him, at an hour when he is not ready, and he will cut him in two, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, which knew the lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, will be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. [And here is the key:] For unto whom much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom men have committed much, of them they will ask the more ( Luk 12:45-48 ).

God holds you responsible for your knowledge. Knowledge creates responsibility before God. And having the knowledge that you have, brings you into a greater responsibility before God. God holds you responsible.

Now there are oftentimes questions asked concerning that poor man in the jungles of New Guinea who has never heard the name of Jesus Christ. And who is killed in a battle with other men, and he is eaten by them, what happens to him? Is he lost forever because he didn’t believe in Jesus Christ? How could he believe in Jesus Christ when he never had a chance to hear? Is it fair that God would punish him with eternal punishment when he had never had a chance to hear? Jesus answers that for us here. Showing that all punishment is not going to be the same. Those who have heard have a greater responsibility, and thus, a more severe degree of punishment. Whereas those who did not hear, yet did things worthy of stripes, because they did not know, a lesser degree of punishment. They will be punished for the knowledge that they have. So you better quit worrying about that poor little man in New Guinea, and start worrying about yourself. Because you have heard, you do know, you are responsible for what you know. And having received the greater knowledge, if you do not act in accordance to that knowledge, then there shall come the greater degree of punishment.

I know there is a lot of issues in this you would like me to address myself to tonight, but I am not going to.

Jesus said:

I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it already is kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I might straitened until it is accomplished! ( Luk 12:49-50 )

He is talking about the fire of hell that was really burning against Him in the hearts of the people. It’s already kindled this fire, the fire of judgement. And He has a baptism, that baptism of death.

When the mother of James and John said, “Lord, I’d like a favor. Let my one son sit on one side, and the other on the other side of You when You are sitting there in the glory of Your kingdom.” And Jesus said, “Are they able to be baptized of the same baptism?” “Oh, yes, Lord,” the boys said, “you bet you. We can.” Jesus said, “Well, that may be, but to grant that request is the Father’s prerogative.” Talking about His death, His baptism. “And I am straitened until it’s accomplish, I am set towards it.”

Do you suppose that I’ve come to give peace on earth? I tell you, No; a division ( Luk 12:51 ):

The Gospel of Jesus Christ divides men. Those who are saved, and those who are lost. Those who believe, and those who do not believe. Those who have a hope in eternal life, those who have no hope of eternal life. The Gospel of Christ is a divider of men. Families are divided by it.

And so from now on there will be five in one house divided, three against two, two against three. The father divided against his son, the son against his father; the mother against the daughter, the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law ( Luk 12:52-53 ).

This division that the Gospel created, and especially so in the Jewish home, where so often to receive Jesus Christ wrought a complete ostracizing from the rest of the family. What a division their faith in Jesus Christ did create in an orthodox Jewish home. Where many times they would have a funeral for that child and considered them dead, because they dare to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the chosen one of God. The division.

Now He is talking to His disciples up to this point, now He turns to the crowd.

And he said to the people, When you see a cloud rise out of the west, immediately you say, Oh there is going to be a shower; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, Oh, it’s going to be a hot day today; and it comes to pass ( Luk 12:54-55 ).

Over there, of course, from the west would be coming from the Mediterranean Sea. So like here, when you got the clouds coming in from the ocean, you say, “Oh, oh, we are going to have a shower.” You get the Santa Ana winds blowing, you say, “Oh, oh, it’s going to be a hot one today.” So over there, much the same.

And Jesus said,

You hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that you can’t discern this time? ( Luk 12:56 )

In other words, you are able to tell by the signs in the heavens what kind of a day it’s going to be, rainy, or hot. Why is it that you haven’t been able to read the signs that God has placed for the time of the coming of the Messiah?

And He rebuked them, because they had not known the time of His coming. They should have.

Now I feel that the same is true for us today. The Lord has given ample evidence by prophesy, telling in advance the things that would exist at the time of the return of Jesus Christ. Having given us the signs of these things, He said, “Now when you see these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your head, for your redemption draweth nigh” ( Luk 21:28 ).

And yet, there are people who are able to make predictions of the stock market, or able to make weather predictions, or they can predict and forecast many things, but they are not aware of the fact that we are in the last days. And in the end of time. And the same kind of spiritual blindness over the return of Christ. And even many ministers will sort of mock the idea of the immanency of the return of Jesus Christ. How sad that people are just as ignorant of His second coming as they were His first.

He said,

Yes, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? ( Luk 12:57 )

Why can’t you yourself make a good judgment?

Now He said,

When you go with your adversary to the magistrate ( Luk 12:58 ),

You’ve got problems; you are being involved in a suit.

as you are in the way, give diligence that you may delivered from him ( Luk 12:58 );

Seek an out of court settlement is what the Lord is saying.

lest he hale you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, who cast you into prison. I tell you, you won’t get out, until you paid the very last mite [which is one eighth of a cent] ( Luk 12:58-59 ).

“

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

The teaching of our Lord, in this chapter, has very much to do with Christianity in connection with this present life, and its cares and troubles. God has nowhere promised us exemption from affliction and trial. Indeed, it has been said, with much truth, that the Old Testament promise was one of prosperity, but that the New Testament promise is one of tribulation. You may rest assured that, if it had been best for us to be taken away to heaven directly we were converted, the Lord would have done it, and that, as he has not done so, there are wise reasons why he keeps his people here for a while. The gold must go through the fire ere it has its place in the kings crown, and the wheat must be exposed to the winnowing fan ere it can be taken into the heavenly garner.

Luk 12:1. In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy, however, of a kind that was calculated to spread, like leaven. If you know that a man is a hypocrite, you do not feel inclined to imitate him; but the Pharisees were such well-made hypocrites, such excellent counterfeits, that many people were tempted to imitate them. Our Lord teaches us, however, that it is no use being a hypocrite,

Luk 12:2. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.

For many a day, the hypocrites true character may not be discovered but there is a day coming that will reveal all secrets; and woe unto the man whose sin is laid bare in that day!

Luk 12:3. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

It would be well if we all lived in such a fashion that we should not be ashamed to have everything we did placarded on the very sky. I have heard of one who said that he would like to have a window in his heart, so that everybody might see what was going on. I think that, if I had such a window in my heart, I should like to have shutters to it; and I question whether any man really could wish to have his heart open to the gaze of all mankind. But, at least, let our lives be such that we should not be ashamed for the universal eye to be fixed upon them. If thou art ashamed to have any one of thine actions known, be ashamed to do it. If thou wouldst be ashamed to hear again what thou was about to say, do not say it. Check thy tongue; be cautious and careful. Live ever as one who realizes Gods omniscience. While one of the ancient orators was speaking, on one occasion, all his hearers went away with the exception of Plato; but he continued to speak as eloquently as ever, for he said that Plato was a sufficient audience for any man. So, if there be no one but the eye of God looking upon thee, be just as careful as if thou were in the street, surrounded by thy fellow-creatures; nay, be more careful because thou art in the presence of thy Creator.

Luk 12:4-5. And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

And how brave we shall be if we fear God! It is well put in that psalm which we sometimes sing, Fear him, ye saints, and you will then Have nothing else to fear. This great filial fear will chase out all the little, mean, graven fears, for he who, in the scriptural sense, fears God, can never be a coward in dealing with men.

Luk 12:6-7. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God ? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

God does not forget the sparrows, but he regards you with far greater interest and care, for he counts the very hairs of your head. He not only knows that there is such a person, but he knows the minutest details of your life and being. It is always a great comfort to remember that our Heavenly Father knows us. A dying man, who had been for many years a believer, had a minister at his bedside who said to him, Dont you know Jesus? Yes, Sir, he replied, I do, but the ground of my comfort is that he knows me. And, surely, there is a great force in that truth. Your Heavenly Father knows you so completely that he has counted the hairs of your head: Fear not therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Luk 12:8-9. Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: but he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.

What courage this ought to give us! In company where the very name of Christ is kicked about like a football, where everything is respected except true religion, it is not always an easy thing to come forward, and say, I also am his disciple. But if you will do this, you have Christs pledge that he will own you before the angels of God. If you do not do so, but practically deny him by a shameful silence, you may reasonably expect that he also will deny you before the angels.

Luk 12:10. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.

This is one of the very difficult texts of Holy Scripture. We are told, in 1Jn 5:16, that there is a sin unto death, and I would have you very chary of ever daring to trifle with the Spirit of God, since sin against him is guarded with such special warnings. The flaming sword of divine vengeance seems to hang before the very name of the Holy Ghost; so, whatever you do, never trench upon his royal dignity, or blaspheme him in heart or by lip.

Luk 12:11. And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers,

That is to say, the persecutors, when they bring you there, to be tried for your lives, as many have been in past ages, and some still are,

Luk 12:11-12. Take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

I have often been amazed and delighted with the remarkable answers which were given to bishops and priests by poor humble men and women who were on trial for their lives. Perhaps you remember that Anne Askew was asked, in order to entangle her in her speech, What would become of a mouse if it ate the bread of the holy sacrament? She said that was too deep a question for a poor woman like her to answer, and she begged the learned bishop on the bench to tell her what would become of the mouse; to which his lordship answered that it would be damned. Now, what reply could be given to that but the one Anne Askew gave, Alack, poor mouse! I do not know that anything better could have been said; and, on other occasions, there have been answers which have been deeply theological, and there have been some which have been wisely evasive and, also some full of weight, and others full of grace and truth, for the Holy Ghost has helped his saints, in time of persecution, to answer well those who have accused them.

Luk 12:13-17. And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, beware of covetousness: for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?

There were empty cupboards in the houses of the poor, and there were hungry children to be filled; so this man need not have lacked room where he could bestow his fruits.

Luk 12:18-20. 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. But God said unto him, Thou fool,

Which was the last thing he thought, he imagined that he was a very wise man: But God said unto him, Thou fool,

Luk 12:20-21. This night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Here our Saviour shows us the frail nature of the tenure upon which we hold all earthly goods, and how it is not worth while to make these the chief things of our life; for, while they may leave us, we are quite sure by-and- by, to have to leave them.

Luk 12:22. And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought

No undue, anxious thought, for such is the meaning of the word used here:

Take no thought

Luk 12:22-30. For your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the like 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. If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.

So that, with the knowledge of his guarantees to you that you shall always have enough, what need have you to be careworn and anxious? I have often looked at birds in a cage, and thought of the happiness and carelessness of heart which they seem to exhibit; and yet, if you were to forget to give them water, or if you were to fail to give them seed, how soon they would die! Perhaps the little creature has not enough to last it more than one day, but it goes on singing its tune, and leaves; all anxiety about the morrow to those whose business it is to care for it. You would be ashamed to let your bird starve; and will your Heavenly Father let you, who are not his birds, but his children, starve? Oh, no! Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.

Luk 12:31-32. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

He does not give you all that you would like to have, but he is going to give you the kingdom. He gives the lesser gifts to others, but be is saving up the kingdom for you. Luther once said, All the empires of the earth are only so much meal for Gods swine; but the treasure is for his children. They may have less meal, but they shall have the eternal kingdom. Oh, how blessed are we if, by faith, we know that this is true concerning us: It is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdom!

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Luk 12:1. ) [in the meantime] during these things.-) of those who were wont to be present.-, myriads) Not merely the adjective , but this substantive , is wont to be used of a large indefinite number.- , unto His disciples) The rest were not yet able to comprehend this doctrine.-, first of all) To the disciples first: then, after one or two interruptions and questions, to the multitude of people also: Luk 12:54.-, hypocrisy) This charge is afterwards brought also in the case of the people: Luk 12:56. Hypocrisy, like a leaven, infects the whole man, and through the one man infects many. Hypocrisy is either when evil is covered over with a good veil by evil men, or when good is in an evil manner (improperly) covered by good men. This latter kind of hypocrisy is what is denoted in the present instance. Comp. the following verses.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Luk 12:1-12

9. A CHARGE TO HIS DISCIPLES

Luk 12:1-12

1 In the mean time, when the many thousands-“In the mean time” is a classic idiom to start a sentence, or even a paragraph; Luke has no expressed antecedent other than the incidents of Luk 11:53-54, and is frequently found in Luke’s writings. Some think that what Luke here presents is compiled from several discourses of our Lord spoken at different times and places. However, this seems to introduce the events which follow; Luke gives an accurate account of events without giving the chronological order of them. The report of the public attack upon Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees brought together “many thousands of the multitude,” and there were so many that, in their excitement and wonder, “they trod one upon another.” Jesus addressed himself to his disciples. What he relates now may be found in Mat 16:6 with respect to the Sadducees, and in Mar 8:15 what is said about the Pharisees. The occasion was opportune for what Jesus warned his disciples against the hypocrisy of the leading Pharisees;their hypocrisy was hidden by a professed sanctity of heart. The “leaven of the Pharisees” was their hypocrisy.

2 But there is nothing covered up,-We have a parallel of this in Mat 10:26-33. Jesus had warned them against the “leaven” or the hypocritical influence of these Pharisees; he now tells them that there is nothing covered up, whether false or true, that shall not be revealed. Jesus used here a proverbial saying which meant that hypocrisy would be unmasted, truth would be displayed and vindicated. The secret designs of his enemies would be made known, exposed to the light of truth, and condemned at the judgment. (1Co 4:5; Eph 5:13.)

3 Wherefore whatsoever ye have said-The thought in the preceding words is expanded here and applied to the words of the apostles. Whatever may be spoken privately, secretly, as in the darkness of night, or whispered as it were in the retired chambers, shall be made public. The roofs of their houses were flat and the people were accustomed to sitting on them in the evening and talking to each other in neighborly conversation. Hence whatever might be spoken in secret should be proclaimed from the housetop; this means that whatever may be told to them in secret or in the secret room should be proclaimed in public conversation on the top of their houses.

4, 5 And I say unto you my friends,-Jesus is here still addressing his disciples; he calls them “friends” in opposition to the scribes and Pharisees. “No longer do I call you servants,” but friends. (Joh 15:14-15.) The furiously angry attack of the Pharisees which had just been made seems to suggest the coming persecutions of his disciples. Jesus spoke comforting words to them; they were not to fear those who could only destroy the body; they were to fear only him who was able to destroy both body and soul. Socrates is reported as saying when they were about to kill him: “Slay me, they may; hurt, me, they cannot. The body is not the ‘me,’ not the `real being.’ ” The soul and body are together not said to be killed, but “cast into hell.” “Gehenna” is the place of future torment, which punishment is distinctly stated to be everlasting. (Mat 25:46.)

6, 7 Are not five sparrows sold for two pence?-Sparrows were very abundant in Palestine; there were many species of them. These birds were caught, strung together, and sold in the market at the exceedingly small price of five for two farthings, or about three cents in our money. Matthew says “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?” (Mat 10:29.) Luke says: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pence?” The variation in price depends upon the number purchased. They are not forgotten in the sight of God, though they are small and bring an insignificant price. In like manner the “very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Nothing is too small for God to take note of it; God made the small and insignificant things as well as the planets and satellites; hence one need not think that God overlooks the minutest details that affect his children. His care is so minute as to number every hair of our heads.

8, 9 And I say unto you, Every one who shall confess-This is similar to Mat 10:32; the time is at hand when disciples must take a stand; they must confess Christ or deny him. The time would come when confessing Christ would cost the confessor persecution and even death. To give courage to his disciples to make the confession in the presence of men, Jesus first reminds them of God’s minute care of his creatures, even of the almost worthless sparrows, and now adds the reward of such confession. If his disciples would confess him before men, he would confess them “before the angels of God.” On the other hand, if they should deny him “in the presence of men,” he would deny them “in the presence of the angels of God.” “In the presence of men” and before “the angels of God” are put in contrast. To confess Jesus was to own him as Lord and Master; it meant to place oneself as a servant under Christ as a Master.

10 And every one who shall speak a word against the Son -From the denial of Jesus, he passes to blasphemy; he brings the two classes of blasphemy into prominence-the blasphemy against the “Son of man” and the blasphemy “against the Holy Spirit.” There are gradations of blasphemy: to blaspheme primarily means “to speak evil of, to rail, or to slander.” Hence the word in scripture, when applied to God, took upon itself the strongest meaning; to blaspheme means to speak irreverently and impiously to God, or of God, or of sacred things. One can speak evil of or to a fellow man; this implies a malicious purpose, so blasphemy presupposes an impious intention to detract from the glory of man or God; it means to alienate the minds of others from the love and reverence of God. An idea of this sin may be seen in Lev 24:10-16; other instances are recorded in 2Ki 18:28-35; 2Ki 19:1-6, where Jehovah and his perfections are maliciously reviled.

What is it to blaspheme “against the Holy Spirit”? Some call it “unpardonable sin”; some call it the “sin unto death.” God spoke to man through the law of Moses; the time came when he next spoke to man through his Son. (Heb 1:1.) Some who heard Christ could and did blaspheme him; they spoke evil to him and of him; they even attributed the power that he used in casting out demons to Beelzebub; this was speaking evil against the “Son of man.” Jesus was crucified, buried, raised from the dead, and ascended back to the Father; he then sent the Holy Spirit. Jesus stated that his testimony was incomplete, and that he would send the Holy Spirit to complete or further perfect the testimony that God furnished. (Joh 16:7-8; Joh 16:13-14.) The Holy Spirit came and perfected the testimony by guiding the apostles into all truth, and inspiring those who wrote the New Testament. If one finally rejects the Holy Spirit and the teaching that he gave in the New Testament, there is no hope for that one. The Holy Spirit with his teachings is the last that God has to offer man. If one blasphemes the Holy Spirit by rejecting the words of the New Testament, there is no chance for forgiveness because no other agency from heaven will be given.

11, 12 And when they bring you before the synagogues,- The apostles, after Jesus ascended to heaven, would be brought before the rulers of the synagogue and before the Sanhedrin; in the hour of peril the Holy Spirit would be present with them to assist them in their confession of Jesus and defense of what they preached in his name. They should be brought before all kinds of tribunals, but they should not fear, as the Holy Spirit would be with them. (See Act 4:8-12.) They should be so completely under the influence of the Holy Spirit that they needed not to be anxious how or what they should say; the Holy Spirit would speak through them. Here is a promise that the Holy Spirit should be given to the apostles and should inspire them on occasions to speak for Jesus. (Mat 6:34; 1Co 7:34; Php 4:6.) The Holy Spirit is here promised to be the divine teacher and guide to the aposties. Paul was brought before Agrippa, but he spoke more of Jesus than he did of his own defense.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

Knowing that the enmity of the rulers against Him would proceed also against His disciples, He told them not to be afraid of those who kill the body, remembering ever their Father’s care, as revealed in the sparrows, and in the numbering of the hairs of their heads.

His address to His disciples was interrupted by one of the multitude. It was an appeal for action in the matter of the distribution of property. Refusing to arbitrate, He uttered the great parable of the rich fool, declaring unequivocally that “a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

This was followed by a description of the true attitude of the disciples of Jesus. For the moment let us take out from it certain revealing phrases, “Fear not,” “sell . . . and give,” ‘loins girded about,” ‘lamps burning,” “men looking for their Lord,” “be ye also ready,” “‘the Son of man cometh.” Answering a question of Peter, the Lord then gave another aspect of Christian life. It is watching and waiting for the Lord Himself, which must forever be that which prevents the abuse of trust and wrong relationship between fellow servants.

It was in this connection that our Lord broke out into the great soliloquy which Luke alone records, in which we see Him looking to the ultimate in His mission, the casting of fire, and recognizing that this can be realized only through the passion baptism to which He was moving.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

12. The greater part of the utterances of Christ which Lk. records in this chapter are also recorded in different parts of Mt., for the most part either in the Sermon on the Mount (5-7.), or in the Charge to the Twelve (10:5-42), or in the Prophecy of the Last Days (24:4-51). Here they are given in the main as a continuous discourse, but with marked breaks at vv. 13, 22, 54. Lk. evidently regards vv. 1-21 as spoken immediately after the commotion at the Pharisees house; and there is little doubt that vv. 22-53 are assigned by him to the same occasion. How much break there is between vv. 53 and 54 is left undetermined. The fact that many of Christs sayings were uttered more than once, and were differently arranged on different occasions, will partly explain the resemblances and differences between Lk. and Mt. here and elsewhere. But it is also probable that there has been some confusion in the traditions, and that words which one tradition placed in one connexion were by another tradition placed in another.

Luk 12:2-9 = Mat 10:26-33.Luk 12:51-53 = Mat 10:34-36.

22-32 = 6:25-34. 54-56 = [16:2, 3].

33, 34 = 6:19-21. 57-59 = 5:25, 26.

39-46 = 24:43-51.

1-12. Exhortation to Courageous Sincerity. This is closely connected with what precedes. The commotion inside and outside the Pharisees house had attracted an immense crowd, which was divided in its sympathy, some siding with the Pharisees, others disposed to support Christ. His addressing His words to His disciples rather than to the multitude indicates that the latter were in the main not friendly. But the appeal made to Him by one of them (ver. 13) respecting a purely private matter shows that is authority is recognized by many. The man would not have asked Him to give a decision in the face of a wholly hostile assembly. But this warning to His followers of the necessity far courageous testimony to the truth in the face of bitter opposition implies present hostility. The connexion with the preceding scene is proved by the opening words, , In the midst of which, in the meantime.

1. . Hyperbolical, as in Act 21:20. The article points to what is usual; the people in their myriads. Comp. (Psa 3:7).

. The gives a solemn emphasis to what follows: see on 4:21, and comp. 14:18 and Act 2:4. It may possibly refer to ; He began to address the disciples, and then turned to the people. The means that His wor were addressed primarily to the disciples, although the people were meant to hear them. After the interruption He addresses the people directly (ver. 15). It makes poor sense to take with , First of all beware (Tyn. Cr an. Gen.), for to beware of Pharisaic hypocrisy cannot be considered the first of all duties. For other amphibolous constructions see on 2:22.

. Take heed to yourselves and avoid; beware of. The warning phrase is peculiar to Lk. (17:3, 21:34; Act 5:35, Act 20:28); but in LXX is common (Gen 24:6; Exo 10:28, 34:12; Deu 4:9, etc.). For the reflexive see on 21:30.

. This constr. is common after verbs of avoiding, ceasing from, guarding against, and the like; , , , … Comp. (Tobit 4:12). The pronoun is often omitted 20:46; Mat 7:15, Mat 7:10:17, Mat 7:16:6, Mat 7:11; Deu 4:23 ?.

This warning seems to have been given more than once (Mar 8:15). Leaven in Scripture is generally a type of evil which corrupts and spreads, disturbing, puffing up and souring that which it influences. The parable of the Leaven (13:20, 21; Mat 13:33) is almost the only exception. Ignatius (Magnes. 10.) uses it in both a good and a bad sense. In profane literature its associations are commonly bad. The Flamen Dialis was not allowed to touch leaven or leaven bread (Aulus Genius, 10:15): comp. Juv. 3:188. The proverb , is used of pernicious influence (1Co 5:6; Gal 5:9). Fermentation is corruption.

If is rightly placed last (B L), it b epexegetic. Beware of the leaven which is hypocrisy,-I mean the Pharisees leaven. In Mat 16:12 the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees is interpreted as meaning their doctrine.

2. . But there is nothing covered up, which shall not, etc. Hypocrisy is useless, for one day there will be a merciless exposure. It is not only wicked, but senseless.

3. . This is commonly rendered wherefore, like , for this cause (Eph 5:31). But in 1:20, 19:44, Act 12:23 it = , ; and it may have the same meaning here. There is nothing hid, that shall not be known: because whatever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light,-quoniam qu in tenebris dixistis in lumine dicentur (Vulg.). Christ is continuing to insist that hypocrisy is folly, for it is always unmasked at last. There was a saying of Hillel, Think of nothing that it will not be easily heard, for in the end it must be heard See small print on 1:20. It is in wording that this is parallel to Mat 10:26, Mat 10:27: the application is very different.

. Store chambers are commonly inner chambers, secret rooms, especially in the East, where outer walls are so easily dug through: comp. Mat 6:6, Mat 6:24:26; Gen 43:30; Jdg 16:9; 1Ki 22:25. To this day proclamations are often made from the housetops: comp. (Isa 15:3; Jer 19:13, Jer 48:38). See D. B.2 i. p. 1407; Renan, Les Evangelis, p. 262 n.

The Latin Versions give a variety of renderings: in cellariis (i l r), in promptalibus (d), in promptuariis (e), in cubilibus (Vulg. (f); om, b q). Comp. ver. 24.

4. . My friends are not likely to be hypocrites, although persecution will tempt them to become such: comp. Joh 15:15.

. The use of here is analogous to that in ver. 1, of that which one turns away from. It is Hebraistic (Lev 19:30, Lev 19:26:2; Deu 1:29, Deu 1:3:22, Deu 1:20:1; Jos 11:6; 1Sa 7:7; Jer 1:8, Jer 1:17; Jer_1 Mac. 2:62, 8:12, etc.). It is not used of fearing God.

. The plural may refer to the details of a cruel death, or to different kinds of death. Not in Mat 10:28.

. Lk. is fond of this classical use of : ver. 50, 7:40, 42, 14:14; Act 14:14, Act 14:23:17, Act 14:18, Act 14:19, Act 14:25:26, Act 14:28:19. Here (Mat 10:28) has .

5. , … There is little doubt that this refers to God and not to the devil. The change of construction points to this. It is no longer , but , fear without trying to shun, which is the usual construction of fearing God. Moreover, we are not in Scripture told to fear Satan, but to resist him courageously (Jam 4:7; 1Pe 5:9); , is scriptural doctrine. Moreover, although the evil one tries to bring us to Gehenna, it is not he, who has authority to send us thither. This passage (with Mat 10:28), the king with twenty ousand (see on 14:33), and the Unjust Steward (see on 16:1), are perhaps the only passages in which the same words have been interpreted by some of Satan and by others of God.

. Excepting here and Jam 3:6, occurs only in Mt and Mk. in N.T. Not in LXX. The confusion caused in all English Versions prior to RV. by translating both and hell has been often pointed out. Lft. On Revision, Pp. 87, 88; Trench, On the AV. p. 21. is a transliteration of Ge-Hinnom, Valley of Hinnom, where children were thrown into the red-hot arms of Molech. When these abbominations were abolished by Josiah (2Ki 23:10), refuse of all kinds, including carcases of criminals, was thrown into this valley, and (according to late authorities) consumed by fire, which was ceaselessly burning. Hence it became a symbolical name for the place of punishment in the other world. D. B.2 Geharma, Hinnom, and Hell.

6. . Mt has . Both have , which is more expressive than , throwing the emphasis on : not even one of them, although five cost so little. Both and commonly mean sparrow, although sometimes used vaguely for bird or fowl: e.g. Psa 11:1, Psa 84:4. The Heb. tzippor, which it often represents, is still more commonly generic, and was applied to any variety of small passerine birds, which are specially numerous in Palestine, and were all allowed as food. Tristram, Nat. Hist, of B. P. 201. It is unfortunate that and its fourth part (Mat 5:26; Mar 12:42) should both be translated farthing, while , which was ten to sixteen times as much as an , is translated penny. Shilling for , penny for , and farthing for would give the ratios fairly correctly, although a shilling now will buy only a little of what a denarius would buy then.

. A Hebraism, very freq. in Lk. (1:19, 16:15; Act 4:19, Act 7:46: comp. Luk 1:6, Luk 1:15, Luk 1:75; Act 8:21, Act 10:4). It implies that each bird is individually present to the mind of God. Belief in the minuteness of the Divine care was strong among the Jews: Non est vel minima herbula in terra cui non prfectus sit aliquis in clo.

7. . But (little as you might expect it) even the hairs of your head. Comp. 21:18; Act 27:34; 1Sa 14:45; 2Sa 14:11; 1Ki 1:52; Dan 3:27.

. Cease to fear (pres. imper.) ye are different from, i.e. are superior to: Mat 6:26, Mat 6:12:12; 1Co 15:41; Gal 4:1. This use of is classical.

8. . The also of AV. (Also I say unto you) is impossible. The fear of men, which lies at the root of hypocrisy, as opposed to the fear of a loving God, appears to the connecting thought.

. Nom pend. placed first with much emphasis. For similar constructions comp. 21:6; Joh 6:39, Joh 7:38, Joh 17:2.

. The expression comes from the Syriac rather than the Hebrew, and occurs only here and Mat 10:32. The phrase (Mat 5:4-36) is not quite parallel. Here perhaps the second requires , and this leads to its being used with the first. That Christ will confess His disciples is not true in the same sense that they will confess Him: but they will make a confession in His case, and He will make a confession in theirs; their confession being that He is the Messiah, and His that they are His loyal disciples. As early as the Gnostic teacher Heracleon (C. a.d. 170-180), the first commentator on the N.T. of whom we have knowledge, this after attracted notice.1

9. . This expressive compound verb is used of Peters denial of Christ (22:34, 61; Mat 26:34, Mat 26:75, Mar 14:30, Mar 14:72). In Mt. we have . Note that Lk. has his favourite for (see on 1:15), and that he has the Angels of God where Mt. has My Father: comp. 15:10.

10. Comp. Mat 12:31, Mat 12:32 and Mar 3:28, Mar 3:29, in both which places this difficult saying is closely connected with the charge brought against our Lord of casting out demons through Beelzebub; a charge recorded by Lk. without this saying (11:15-20). We cannot doubt that Mt. and Mk. give the actual historical connexion, if these words were uttered only once.

. Here again Lk. has a favourite word (see on 7, 35): Mt has , and Mk. has . Also for Mt. has . For this use of After and the like comp. 22:65; Act 6:11; Heb 12:3. After it is the regular construction, 15:18, 21, 17:4; Act 25:8, etc. The Jewish law was, He that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death: all the congregation shall certainly stone him (Lev 24:16).

. See on 1:15.

. Constant and consummate opposition to the influence of the Holy Spirit, because of a deliberate preference of darkness to light, renders repentance, and therefore forgiveness, morally impossible. Grace, like bodily food, may be rejected until the power to receive it perishes. See on 1Jn 5:16 in Camb. Grk. Test., and comp. Heb 6:4-8, Heb 10:26-31. The identity of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit with the sin unto death is sometimes denied (D. B.2 i. P. 442); but a sin which will never be forgiven must be a sin unto death. Schaffs Herzog, i. p. 302. In each case there is no question of the efficacy of the Divine grace. The state of him who is guilty of this sin is such as to exclude its application (Wsctt. on Heb 6:1-8, p. 165). Blasphemy, like lying, may be acted as well as uttered: and it cannot safely be argued that blasphemy against the Spirit must be a sin of speech (Kurzg. Kom. N.T. i. P. 75). See Aug. on Mat 12:31, Mat 12:32; also Paschasius Radbertus, Migne, 120:470-472.

11, 12. Comp. 21:14, 15, which is parallel to both Mat 10:19, Mat 10:20 and Mar 13:11, but not so close to them in wording as these verses are. The connexion here is evident. There is no need to be afraid of committing this unpardonable blasphemy by illadvised language before a persecuting tribunal; for the Holy Spirit Himself will direct their words.

11. . In all four passages their being brought before synagogues is mentioned. The elders of the synagogue were responsible for discipline. They held courts, and could sentence to excommunication (6:22; Joh 9:22, Joh 12:42, Joh 16:2), or scourging (Mat 10:17), which was inflicted by the (see on 4:20). Schrer, Jewish People in the T. of J. C. ii. pp. 59-67 ; Derenbourg, Hist. de la Pal. pp. 86 ff. The and would include the Sanhedrin and Gentile tribunals.

. Neither the form nor the matter of the defence is to cause great anxiety beforehand. Sec on ver. 22 and 10:41 Excepting Rom 2:15 and 2Co 12:19, is peculiar to Lk. (21:14 and six times in Acts). Here Mt. and Mk. have .

D 157, a b c d e ff2i l q Syr-Cur. Syr-Sin. Aeth, omit , which may possibly come from Mat 10:19. If so, this is a Western non-interpolation. See note at the end of ch, 24. WH. bracket.

12. . In that very hour: see small print 10:7 and comp. Exo 4:12 and 2Ti 4:17. Renan points out the correspondence between this passage and Joh 14:26, Joh 15:26 (V. de J. P. 297, ed. 1863). Comp. Exo 4:22.

13-15. The Avaricious Brother rebuked. This incident forms historical introduction to the Parable of the Rich Fool (16-21), just as the lawyers questions (10:25-30) form the historical introduction to the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Comp. 14:15, 15:1-3. We are not told whether the man was making an unjust claim on his brother or not; probably not: but he was certainly making an unjust claim on Jesus, whose work did not include settling disputes about property. The man grasped at any means of obtaining what he desired, invading Christs time, and trying to impose upon his brother an extraneous authority. Facile ii; qui doctorem spiritualem admirantur, eo delabuntar, ut velint eo abuti ad domestica componenda (Beng.). Compare Christs treatment of the questions respecting the payment of the didrachma, the woman taken in adultery, and payment of tribute to Csar.

13. . He does not ask Jesus to arbitrate between him and his brother, but to give a decision against his brother. There is no evidence that the brother consented to arbitration.

14. . A severe form of address, rather implying disapprobation or a desire to stand aloof, 22:58, 60; Rom 2:1, Rom 9:20. Comp. Soph. Aj. 791, 1154. As in the case of the lepers whom He healed (5:14, 17:14), Jesus abstains from invading the office of constituted authorities. No one appointed Him () to any such office. Comp. ; (Exo 2:14), words which may have been fliar to this intruder. Comp. Joh 18:36.

. Here only in N.T. Not in LXX. There is no need to interpret it of the person who actually executes the, sentence of partition pronounced by the The who decides for partition is a . Syr-Sin. omits.

15. . The expression is classical (Xen. Hell. vii. 2, 10; Cyr. ii. 3, 9), but the only similar passage in N.T. is (1Jn 5:21): it is stronger than .

. Every form of covetousness: comp. , every kind of temptation (4:13); (Mat 12:31). On the greedy desire to have more, as a more comprehensive vice than , see Lft. Epp. p. 56 and on Col 3:5. He quotes (Test. 12. Patr. Jud 1:18.), and somewhat differs from Trench, Syn. xxiv. Jesus, knowing what is at the root of the brothers unreasonable request, takes the opportunity of warning the whole multitude ( ) against this prevalent and subtle sin.

. Not in the fact that a man has abundance is it the case that his life is the outcome of his possessions; i.e. it does not follow, because a man has abundance, that his life consists in wealth. Some render, For not because one has abundance, is his life part of his possessions, i.e. so that he can secure it. But the other is simpler. Life depends for its value upon the use which we make of , and for its prolongation upon the will of God. It is unlikely that here means or includes eternal life; but it includes the higher life as distinct from . Comp. , (Arist. Eth. Nic. x. 8, 9).

For the dat. after comp. 21:4 and Tobit 4:16, and for that after see on 8:3.

16-21. The Parable of the Rich Fool, which illustrates both points;-that the life that is worth living does not depend upon wealth, which may be a trouble and anxiety; and that even mere existence cannot be secured by wealth.

16. . Each separate combination is characteristic: , , and . See on 6:39, and comp. 15:3.

. Here only in bibl. Grk. Josephus uses it of Galilee as productive of oil (B. J. ii. 21, 2); but elsewhere it occurs in this sense in medical writers only (Hobart, p. 144): comp. (8:14).

. Comp. 21:21; Joh 4:35; Jam 5:4. There is no hint that the mans wealth was unjustly acquired; and this is some slight confirmation of the view that the brothers claim was not unjust (ver. 13). There is perhaps a reference to Ecclus. 11:18, 19 or to Psa 49:16-20.

17. ; Comp. Ecc 5:10.

. Quasi musquam essent quibus pascendis possent impendi (Grot.). Inopum sinus, viduarum domus, ora. infantum ist sunt apothec qu Maneant in ternum (Ambr.), Note the repetition of : my fruits, my barns, my goods, my soul. it is just here that there is some resemblance to the story of Nabal: Shall I take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers and give it unto men of whom I know not whence they be ? (1Sa 25:11): but it is too much to say that there is an evident reference to Nabal.

18. First with emphasis: he is eager to set to work. But pauperum nulla mentio (Beng.). Comp. , which is the true reading, Rev 22:19; and see Veitch, p. 25. Note the chiasumus between and .

The text of the words which follow is much confused, but (a c B L T X, Syr-Harcl. Boh. Sah. Aeth. Arm.) is probably correct, the after (a c X, Syr-Harcl.: Boh. sah. Aeth.). being rejected as an insertion.

WH. give the evidence in full (ii. p. 103), and regard it as a marked instance of conflation. Comp. 9:10, 11:51, 24:51 The main facts are these. The expression is very common in LXX for the fruits of the earth, arid the phrase Occurs Exo 23:10; Lev 25:20; Jer 8:13. The familiar was substituted in some documents for the unusual combination (* D), in others for (A Q A F G H etc.), in one for (346); yet another variation is caused by the substitution of (from ver. 17) for the whole of the unusual combination (39), omnes fructus meos (a c d e). Thus we have-

() [] .

() 1. .

2. .

() 1. .

2.

The common reading (. 1) is a conflation of , 1 and ,

19. . There is probably no irony in making him address, not his body, but his soul: the is here used as the seat of all joyous emotions. comp (ver. 22). Field quotes , , , (Charit. Aphrod. iii. 2); and Wetst. quotes (Libanius, D 6. P. 463). See Stallbaum on Plat. Repub. ii. 8, p. 365 A.

, , . These words are amitted, in D and some Latin authorities (a b c d e ff2). With comp. Jam 4:13-17; Pro 27:1; Ecclus. 29:12:, and with , comp. Tobit 7:10 and the remarkable parallel Ecclus. 11:19. The asyndeton marks the mans confidence and eagerness.

20. . This is a parable, not history. It is futile to ask how God spoke to him. For see on 9:40 and 24:5. The is placed first in emphatic contrast to the . See Schanz, pp, 347, 348.

. They are demanding thy soul of thee: the present tense is very impressive. They do not demand it for themselves, and so we have act. and not mid. Comp. 2Co 11:20; and see the parallel lesson Wisd. 15:8. For the impersonal plural comp. vv. 11, 48, 6:38, 16:9, 23:31. There is no need to think of (Job 33:23), or of (10:30).

, ; Vulg. Rhem. and RV. preserve the telling order: qu autem parasti cujus erunt? And the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? Comp. Psa 39:6, 49:6; Ecc 2:18-23; Job 27:17-22. When not even his is his own to dispose of, what will become of his ?

21. . Comp. Mat 6:19; 2Co 12:14; and for the before comp. 16:8. It is to be regretted that the is rendered differently in the two passages in both AV. (in, towards) and RV. (for, toward). Being rich toward God means being rich in those things which are pleasing to Him. Amassing wealth without reference to the God who bestows it is , and is .

The change from to , instead of , is intentional, and Juvenals dives tibi, pauper amicis (v. 113) is not quite parallel, nor at Hecato in Cic. De Off. iii. 15. 63: Neque enim solum nobis divites esse volumus, sed liberis, propinquis, amicis, maximeque rei public. The whole verse is omitted in D and a b d.

22-53. Gods Providential Care and the Duty of Trust in Him (22-34) and of Watchfulness for the Kingdom (35-48) which Christ came to found (49-53). The address to the people (vv. 15-21) being ended, Jesus once more turns specially to the disciples; and it should be noticed that in doing so He no longer speaks in parables. That what follows was spoken on the same occasion as what precedes seen, to be intended by Lk., but is not stated. The is included in the traditional report (see Mat 6:25), and proves nothing as to the original historical connexion. It is more to the point to notice that covetousness and hoarding are the result of want of trust in God (Heb 13:5), and that an exhortation to trust in Gods fatherly care follows naturally on a warning against covetousness. There is logical, but not necessarily chronological connexion. More convincing is the coincidence between details. The mention of sowing, reaping, store-chamber, and barn (ver. 24) may havedirect reference to the abundant harvests and insufficient barns in the parable (vv. 17, 18). But it does not follow, because this lesson was given immediately after the parable of the Rich Fool, that therefore it was not part of the Sermon on the Mount; any more than that, because it was delivered there, it cannot have been repeated here.

22. . Note both the and the and comp. ver. 16, 7:50, 9:13, 14, 59, 62, etc. Assuming a connexion with what precedes, will mean, Because life does not depend on riches.

. Be not anxious: comp. ver. 11 and 10:41. See Lft. On Revision, 2nd ed. p. 190; Trench, On the A.V. p. 39; T. L. O. Davies, Bible English, p. 100, for evidence that thought in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries meant distressing anxiety. Comp. 1Sa 9:5 with 10:2. S. Paul reiterates Christs teaching (1Co 7:32 ; Php 4:6).

. Not, in your soul, but, for your soul. Here again the reference to the parable (, ) seems to be direct. If so, the necessity for translating in the same way in both passages is all the stronger. The is the source of physical life and physical enjoyment.

23. . Is something greater than the food (comp. 11:31, 32). Therefore He who gave the greater will not fail to provide the less.

24. . A favourite verb: see on ver. 27, Mt. has ; and for he has . Ravens are mentioned nowhere else in N. T., but often in O. T. See especially (Job 38:41), and (Psa 147:9). The name (Heb. oreb) covers the whole of the crow tribe (including rooks and jackdaws) which is strongly represented in Palestine. Like the vulture, the raven acts as a scavenger: but it is a fable that it turns its young out of the nest, leaving them to feed themselves, and that this is the point of our Lords mention of them. The raven is very careful of its young; and God feeds both old and young. Tristram, Nat. Hist. of B. pp. 198-201.

Here Vulg. b f l have cellarium for , while d has promptuarium See on ver. 3.

. See on ver. 7. The birds are Gods creatures; but ye are Gods children: (Mt), not .

25. . See on 11:5.

. By being anxious can add a span to his age. That here means age (Heb 11:11; Joh 9:21, Joh 9:23), and not stature (19:3), is clear from the context. It was prolongation of life that the; anxiety of the rich fool failed to secure. Not many people give anxious, thought to the problem of adding to their stature; and the addition of a (the length of the forearm) would be monstrous, and would not be spoken of as . Many persons do give anxious thought to the prolongation of their allotted age, and that by any amount, great or small. Wetst. quotes Mimnermus, . See on 2:52, where probably means stature. For see D. B.1 iii. pp. 1736 ff.; and for the literature on Hebrew Weights and Measures, Schaffs Herzog, iv. P. 2486; Hastings, D.C.G.M ii. p. 818.

26. . These words have no equivalent Mt. and are omitted in D, which for the whole verse has simply . So also a b c d ff2 i l r: et de cteris quid solliciti estis. By are meant clothing (Mt.), food, and other bodily necessities.

For we might have expected . But = and the sentence conditional in form only. If (as is certain) ye cannot = Since ye cannot. Comp. Joh 3:12, Joh 3:5:47; 1Co 11:6; Heb 12:25. Win. lv. 2. a, pp 600 Or we may consider as belonging to , and not to the whole sentence If ye are unable. Simcox, Lang. of N.T. p. 183. But the former is better.

27. . Mt. adds . The word occurs nowhere else in N.T., but is be, in LXX, esp. in Cant. (2:16, 4:5, 5:13, 6:2, 3, etc.) : Heb. shushan or shoshannah. Some flower with a brilliant colour is evidently meant, and the colour is one to which human lips can be compared (Son 5:13). Either the scarlet Martagon (Lilium Chalcedonicum) or the scarlet anemone (anemone coronaria) may be the flower that is thus named. Like , however (ver. 7), may be generic; and to this day the Arabs call various kinds of flowers lilies. See D.B. art. Lily; and comp. Stanley, Sin. & Pal. pp. 139, 430. Note that, while Mt. has , Lk. has his favourite (ver. 24, 6:41, 20:23; Act 7:31, Act 7:32, Act 7:11:6, Act 7:27:39). For see on 5:5 : it covers the works of men that of women.

After D has , while d has quomodo neque neunt neque texunt, and a has quomodo non texunt neque neunt. Several other Lat. texts have texunt. Thus, quomodo crescunt non laborant neque neunt neque texunt (b l r) ; quomodo crescunt non next neque texunt (c); quomodo crescunt non laborant non neunt texunt (ff2); and, by a curious slip, quomodo non crescunt non laborant neque neunt neque texunt (i).

28. . First with emphasis. If in the field, where such care might seem to be superfluous. AV. wrongly takes with , following Vulg. quod hodie in agro est. Both here and in Mt. the right connexion is, which to-day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven. For , a portable oven, as distinct from , see D.B. The is often mentioned in LXX, generally as a simile for great heat (Psa 20:9; Hos 7:1, etc.); neither in LXX nor in N.T. Wood being scarce in Palestine, grass is commonly used as fuel. For , which is a late word (Job 29:14, Job 31:19), see Veitch.

29. . And do you cease to seek: comp Ver. 11, 6:30, 37, 7:13, 8:49, 50, 52, etc. Mt. has the aor. .

. In class. Grk. and in LXX (Psa 130:1; Psa_2 Mac, 5:17, 2 Mac, 7:34) this would probably mean, Be not lifted up, do not exalt yourselves, seek not high things. So the Vulg. nolite in sublime tolli. Old Latin texts differ: nolite solliciti esse; nec solliciti sitis (c); non abalienetis vos (d): and many omit the passage. Luth. fahret nicht hoch her. Tyn. Cov. and Cran. neither clyme ye up an high. But most commentators interpret it as a metaphor from ships tossing at sea: Waver not anxiously, not tossed about with cares. Comp. of a criminal expecting punishment (Jos. B. J. iv. 2, 5); and see S. Cox, who turns the word into a parable, Expositor, 1st series, 1. P. 249, 1875. Edersheim contends for the LXX meaning, be not uplifted (L. & T. 2. p. 217). The verb is one of the rarer which are common to N.T., Philo, and Plutarch.

30. . This is the right combination; not : hc enim omnia gentes mundi qurunt. The heathen seek anxiously after all these things, because they know nothing of Gods providential care. The phrase occurs nowhere else in N.T. or LXX, but represents an Aramaic expression common in Rabbinical writings.

The plural verb shows that the different nations are considered distributively; and the compound expresses the anxiety with which they seek. Each nation seeks laboriously after the sum-total of these things. On the difference between here and , Mat 6:32, see Win. lxi. 2, b, p. 686. In both places is the true reading, and a grammatical correction.

. But you, who know that you have such a Father, have no need to be disturbed about these wants.

31. Lk. alone has his favourite . See on 6:24. But (dismissing all this useless anxiety) continue to seek, etc. Mt. adds to .

Origen quotes , , (De Orat. 2). Comp. Clem. Alex. Strom. i. 24, P. 416, ed. Potter, and iv. 6, p. 579.

32. This verse has no parallel in Mt., and it is the only verse in this section which is entirely without equivalent in the Sermon on the Mount. The passage reads so well both with and without it, that it is difficult to see why it should have been either inserted or omitted without authority. In it the Good Shepherd assures His flock that, while the anxious seeking of the after god and raiment is vain, their seeking after the Kingdom of God will not be vain. He gives the Kingdom to those who seek it, and with it gives the necessaries of life. Whereas those who neglect the Kingdom that they may secure the necessaries, may lose both. , (Psa 23:1). The are the disciples as contrasted with the (ver. 1).

= , which is not a diminutive, and therefore is neither superfluous nor an epithet of affection, hut an expression of fact. On the nom. with the art. for the voc. see on 10:21; and for see Lft. on Col 1:19, and comp. Rom 15:26.

33. The first half of this verse (to ) has no parallel in Mt. As in 6:29, 30, we have a rule given, not that it may be kept literally, but that it may illustrate a principle. So far as attachment to our possessions is concerned, we must be ready to part with them (1Co 7:30). Our fondness for them is not our justification for keeping them. But there is no Ebionism here, no condemnation of possessions as sinful.1 As Bede points out, Christians are not commanded to retain nothing for their own use (for Christ Himself had a purse out of which He gave alms), but to take care that fear of poverty does not interfere with benevolence. Almsgiving is not to be a mere giving of what we can spare. Nor is it merely for the sake of the receiver. It is also for the good of the giver, that his heart may be freed from covetousness. The attempt to keep the letter of the rule here given (Act 2:44, Act 2:45) had disastrous effects on the Church of Jerusalem, which speedily became a Church of paupers, constantly in need of alms (Rom 15:25, Rom 15:26; 1Co 16:3; 2Co 8:4, 2Co 9:1). For see on 8:3; and for see on 10:4.

. Not elsewhere in N.T. or LXX. Comp. 16:9, 22:32; and, for the command, Mar 10:41. Heaven is not to be bought with money; but, by almsgiving, what would be a hindrance is made a help.2 In the reference perhaps is to costly garments, which are a favourite form of wealth in the East. The word occurs Isa 50:9, 51:8; Job 4:19, 27:18; Pro 14:30; but in N.T. only here and Mat 6:19.

34. Almost verbatim as Mat 6:21. S. Paul states a similar principle 1Co 7:32-34. Wealth stored up in this world has any enemies; that which is stored in heaven is safe from them all. The is specially to be noted. The reason why treasure must be stored in heaven is that the hearts of those who bestow it may be drawn heavenwards.

35-48. The Duty of Loyal Vigilance. From ver, 35 to ver. 38 this section has no parallel in Mt. The interpellation of Peter (ver. 41) is also peculiar to Lk. But vv. 39, 40 and 42-46 are parallel to Mat 24:43-51. The discourse once more takes a parabolic turn, watchfulness being inculcated by the parables of the Masters Return (35-38, 42-48) and of the Thiefs Attack (39, 40).

35. . The long garments of the East are a fatal hindrance to activity. Comp. 17:8; Act 12:8; 1Ki 18:46; 2Ki 4:29, 2Ki 4:9:1; Job 38:3, Job 38:40:7; Jer 1:17 Tristram, Eastern Customs in Bible Lands, p. 158. Note the emphatic position of and . Whatever others may do, this is to be your condition.

, … This is the parable of the Ten Virgins condensed (Mat 25:1).

36. . Expectantibus (Vulg.) cum desiderio et gaudio (Bang.): comp. 2:25, 38, 23:51.

. If the rendering when he shall return from, etc., is correct, this is the only place in N.T. in which the verb has this meaning: Comp. 2 Mac. 8:25, 13:7, 15:28; 3 Mac. 5:21; Wisd. 2:1. The more usual sense is break up (a feast, camp, etc.), depart: comp. Php 1:23; Judith 13:1; 2 Mac. 9:1: and this may be the meaning here. See instances in Wetst. So Luther, wenn er aufbrechen wird. The wedding is not his own, but that of a friend which he has been attending. In Esther (2:18, 9:22) is used of any banquet or festival: but the literal meaning is better here.1

For the plural of a single marriage feast comp. 14:8; Mat 22:2, Mat 25:10, and suee Win. 27:3, p. 219. For the constr. see Win. 30:11, p. 259, and comp. 15:20.

37. . Comp. Rev 3:20, Rev 3:21. Christ acted in this way when He washed the disciples feet: not, however, in gratitude for their faithful vigilance, but to teach them humility. Nevertheless, that was a type of what is promised here: comp. Rev 19:9. References to the Saturnalia, when Roman masters and slaves changed places in sport, are here quite out of place. The parable 17:7-10 sets forth the usual course between master and man.

38. . The first watch is not mentioned, because then the wedding-feast was going on. These are probably the two last of the three Jewish watches (Jdg 7:19), not the two middle watches of the Roman four (Mar 13:35; Act 12:4). See on 22:34 and D. B. art. Watches of Night. In D, Marcion, Irenus, and some other authorities, the first watch ( ) is inserted: WH. 2. App. p. 61.

39. . Probably indic. But Vulg. Luth. Beza, and all English Versions make it imperat. There is nothing strange in the sudden change of metaphor, especially in Oriental language. The thief in the night is a proverb for unexpected events (1Th 5:2; 2Pe 3:10; Rev 3:3, Rev 16:15). Comp. the changes of metaphor in the parallel passage Mat 24:40-44.

. Left his house (RV.). AV., makes no distinction between here and in Mat 24:43, rendering both suffered. But the RV. elsewhere renders by suffer (8:51, 18:16); and here cannot mean that he went out of the house, for he would have kept awake implies that he remained in it. If the distinction between and is to be marked, the latter might be translated allowed, a word which the Revisers nowhere use, except in the margin of Mar 4:29.

. To be dug through, the walls being made of mud. Wic. has to be myned here and to be undermynyde in Mt. for perfodiri of Vulg. Comp. (Job 24:16); (Exo 22:2); (Jer 2:34).

41. . This interruption should be compared with that in 9:33. Each of them connects the discourse in which it appears with a definite incident. It illustrates Peters impulsiveness and his taking the lead among the Twelve. Perhaps it was the magnificence of the promise in ver. 37 which specially moved him. He wants to know whether this high privilege is reserved for the Apostles. For see on 36, and for = in reference to comp. 18:1; Rom 10:21; Heb 1:7, Heb 1:8, Heb 1:11:18, and possibly Luk 19:9 and 20:19. Here comes first with emphasis.

. Peter is sure that it has reference to the Twelve: the question is whether others are included. The employment of parables would make him suppose that the multitude was being addressed, as in ver. 16; for Jesus did not commonly employ this kind of teaching with His permanent disciples. The spirit of the question resembles Joh 21:21, and the answer resembles Joh 21:22. In Mar 13:37 we have what looks like a direct answer to the question here askcd by S. Peter, What I say to you I say to all, Watch.

42. . Christ answers one question by another which does not tell the questioner exactly what he wishes to know, but what it concerns him to know. It is enough that each who hears recognizes that he is an with responsibilities. This was true in the highest sense of the Apostles. The here is a dispensator (Vulg.) or villicus (d), a superior slave left in charge of the household and estate (see on 16:1). Other names are ordinarius, actor, procurator, the meanings of which seem to have varied at different periods and on different estates. Becker, Gallus, Excursus 3. p. 204, Eng. tr. Hatch seems to assume that dispenstor and villicus were terms of fixed and invariable meaning (Bibl. Grk. p. 62). With comp. Num 12:7; 1Sa 22:14; and with comp. 16:8; Gen 41:39. With (abstr. for concr.) comp. (Gen 45:16). Contrast Luk 9:11.

. A measured portion of food, ration. These rations on Roman estates were served out daily, weekly, or monthly. The word occurs nowhere else, but is found (Gen 47:12, Gen 47:14). Comp. Hor. Ep. i. 14. 40. See instances in Wetst, and in Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 158.

44. . Here, as in 9:27 and 21:3 Lk. has , others have . See on 10:12. Comp. (11:52) where Mt. has (23:14), and his never using .

. See on 8:3. This passage and Mat 24:47 seem to be the only instances in N.T. of this use of . Elsewhere we have the gen. (ver. 42) or acc. (ver. 14), the former being more common (Mat 24:45, Mat 24:25:21, Mat 24:23).

45. . Comp. 2Pe 3:3, 2Pe 3:4; Ecc 8:11. The But and if of AV. is simply But if (RV.); and if being an if, a double conditional, which was common in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

. He begins to do this, but the arrival of his lord puts a stop to it: comp. 21, 13:25; Act 11:15. This has a large familia of slaves under him. Perhaps he makes merry on what he ought to have given them. For as a vernacular word for a female slave see Kennedy, Sources of N.T. Grk. p. 40. is to get drunk, as distiract. to be drunk (Act 2:15).

46. For the attraction in see on 3:19.

. To be understood literally; for his having his portion with the unfaithful servants does not imply that he still lives: their portion is a violent death. For the word comp. Exo 29:17; and for the punishment 2Sa 12:31; 1Ch 20:3; Susannah 59; Amo 1:3 (LXX); Heb 11:37. There is no example of the word being used of scourging or other severe treat ment. There is a gradation of punishments: for vile misconduct and tyranny, death; for deliberate neglect, many stripes; for unintentional neglect, few stripes. Herodotus uses : ii. 139, 2, 7:39, 5. Comp. Suet. Caligula, 27: multos honesti ordinis medios serra dissecuit.

. Will appoint his portion with the unfaithful servants, i.e. those guilty of a gross abuse of trust. Unbelievers here has no point. Mt. has , which means much the same as . This unfaithful steward expected to be able to play the part of a trusty agent at the time of his lords arrival. For we have in LXX, Isa 17:14; Jer 13:25.

Here the parallel with Mat 24:43-51 ends. What follows is preserved by Lk. alone.

47. . But that servant, Ille autem servus. Both AV. and RV. have and. The marks the contrast between this transgressor and the , for is a less serious offence than the outrages which are described in vv. 45, 46, and one which all servants may commit.

. Understand and comp. (Xen. Anab. v. 8. 12). In N.T. is never I flay, but always I beat. Comp. the vulgar hide, giving a hiding to. In LXX does not occur, except as v.l. in Lev 1:6; 2Ch 29:34, 2Ch 29:35:11; but in all three places the meaning is flay, and the true reading possibly . Comp. Mic 2:8, Mic 3:3. The doctrine of degrees of punishment hereafter is taught here still more plainly than in 10:12, 14. See Aug. De Civ. Dei, xxi. 16.

There are two classes not mentioned here: and (so far as that is possible) : see on Rom 2:14.

48. . Seeing that he is a servant, he might have known his masters will, had he been anxious to find it out. Nevertheless it is true that even he, who, in ignorance for which he is not responsible, commits , has to suffer. The natural consequences of excess or transgression must follow.

In the second half of the verse it is doubtful whether the two parallel statements mean exactly the same thing or not. Either, He who receives much is expected to exhibit much gratitude, and also readiness to make return; and is expected to do more than those who have received less: or, He who receives a gift (), must make a proportionate return: and be who receives a deposit (), must restore more than he has received. In the latter case the second half states the principle of the parables of the Talents and the Pounds Note the impersonal plurals, and comp. ver. 20.

49-58. The discourse seems to return to its starting-point (vv. 1-2). Christs teaching inevitably provokes opposition and a vision between those who accept it and those who reject it. There is no parallel in Mt. or Mk. to vv. 49, 50.

49. . First for emphasis. It is fire that I came to cast upon the earth. The context seems to show that the fire of division and strife is meant: or, comparing 3:16, we may understand the fire of holiness, which excites hostility and controversy. Ignis ille non est nativus terr (Beng.). (Joh 9:39: comp. 3:19).

; A passage of well-known difficulty, the translation of which remains doubtful. With this punctuation we may follow AV. and RV., What will I, if it be (is) already kindled? the meaning of which is not clear: comp. LXX of Jos 7:7. Or, with De Wette, Weiss, and many others, How I wish that it were already kindled! which does rather serious violence to the Greek. Or, with Origen, Meyer, etc., we may punctuate, ; . And what will I? Would that it were already kindled! (Win. 53:8. c, p. 562); which is rather abrupt and harsh: but comp. 19:42 and Joh 12:27. Perhaps the first is best, meaning, What more have I to desire, if it be already kindled. The next verse does not imply that it is not kindled; and the history of Christs ministry shows that it was not kindled, although not to the full extent. Comp. Psa 78:21. Christ came to set the world on fire, and the conflagration had already begun. Mal 3:2. Comp. the constr. in Ecclus. 23:14.

50. . Having used the metaphor of fire, Christ now uses the metaphor of water. The one sets forth the result of His owning as it affects the world, the other as it affects Himself. The world is lit up with flames, and Christ is bathed in blood: Mar 10:38. His passion is a flood in which He must be plunged. The metaphor is a common one in O.T. Psa 69:2, Psa 69:3, Psa 69:14, Psa 69:15, 42:7, 124:4, Psa 69:5, 144:7; Isa 43:2. Jordan in flood and mountain torrents in spate would suggest such figures. See on 9:22.

. How am I oppressed, afflictect until it be finished: comp. 8:37; Job 3:24. The prospect of His sufferings was a perpetual Gethsemane: comp. Joh 12:27. While He longed to accomplish His Fathers will, possibly His human will craved a shortening of the waiting. Comp. (Php 1:23). With comp. , Joh 19:28, Joh 19:30

51. With vv. 51. and 53 comp. Mat 10:34, Mat 10:35. It was the belief of the Jews that the Messiah would at once introduce a reign of peace and prosperity. Jesus does not wish His followers to live in a fools paradise. He is no enthusiast making wild and delusive promises. In this world they must expect tribulation.

. Except I but. Although the has no accent, it seems to represent rather than : I came not to send any other thing than division. Or there may be a mixture of and , : comp. 2Co 1:13; Job 6:5; Ecclus. 37:12, 44:10. The expression is common in class. Grk.; and in Hdt. i. 49. I, ix. 8, 3 the origin of it seems to be shown. See Stallbaum on Phdo, 81 B; Win. liii:7. n. 5, p. 552.

. Comp. Mic 7:12; Eze 48:29; here only in N. T. Again Christ prepares them for disappointment.

52. This verse has no parallel in Mat_10 Comp. Mic 7:6, on which what follows seems to be based. Godet says that there are five persons here and six in ver. 53 There are five in both cases, the mother and mother-in-law being the same person. Excepting 2Co 5:16, is peculiar to Lk. (1:48, 5:10, 22:18, 69; Act 18:6). It is not rare in LXX (Gen 46:30; Psa 112:2, 113:26, 120:8, Psa 124:2, Psa 130:3, Isa 9:7, etc.).

53. . The change from the dat. to the ace. possibly indicates that the hostility is more intense in the case of the women. But LXX of Mic 7:6 more probably was the cause of the change. There we home of the women, but of the men. In Mat 10:35 we have c. gen. in all three cases. Lk. omits A mans foes shall be those of his own household. Comp. Mal 4:6.

For = daughter-in-law comp. Mat 10:35; Gen 11:31, 38:11; Lev 18:15, etc.; Jos. Ant. v. 9, 1 In Joh 3:29; Rev 18:23, etc., it has the classical meaning of bride.

54-59. Ignorance of the Signs of the Times. Christ once more addresses the multitude (ver. 15), apparently on the same occasion; but it is by no means certain that Lk. means this. If so, this is a last solemn word by way of conclusion. The parallel passage Mat 16:2, Mat 16:3 is of very doubtful authority. It can hardly be derived from Lk., from which it differs almost entirely in wording, but perhaps comes from some independent tradition.

54. . The formula is suitable for introducing a final utterance of special point. Comp. 5:36, 9:23, 16:1, 18:1. For see on 11:29.

. In the West, and therefore from the Mediterranean Sea, which was a sign of rain (1Ki 18:44). Robinson, Res. in Psa_1. p. 429; D.B. art. Rain.

. Both the and the pres. point to the confidence with which the announcement is made: at once ye say, Rain is coming. Comp. . is heavy rain, a thunder-shower: Deu 32:2; Wisd. 16:16; Ecclus. 49:9; Jos. Ant. ii. 16, 3.

55. . Understand . One sees, that it is a south wind by the objects which it moves. Lk. alone uses of the south wind (Act 27:13, Act 28:13). Elsewhere it means the South, as frequently in LXX (11:31, 13:29; Mat 12:42; Rev 21:13; 1Sa 27:10, 30:1, 14, 27; 2Sa 24:7; 1Ki 7:25, 1Ki 7:39 [13, 25], etc.).

. Scorching heat: Mat 20:12; Jam 1:11; Isa 49:10; Ecclus. 18:16, 43:22. Perhaps nowhere in N.T. does mean the burning east wind (Job 27:21; Hos 12:1); but Jam 1:11 is doubtful.

56. . Comp. Mat 23:14 ff. They professed to be unable to interpret signs, such as the birth, preaching, and death of the Baptist, the preaching and miracles of Jesus. But their weather-wisdom proved that they could be intelligent enough where their worldly interests were concerned.

. To test. In and we have almost the only words that are common to this passage and Mat 16:2, Mat 16:3. With (tempus Messi) comp. 19:44.

57. . But why even of yourselves, out of your own hearts and consciences, without information from externals: comp. 21:30. Or possibly, Of yourselves also, as readily () as in the case of the weather. In either case comes first for emphasis. For see small print on 3:9.

58. . spe ponitur, ubi propositionem excipit tractatio. Here stands first with emphasis; no time is to be lost. And the Latinism , da operam, occurs here only. Wetst. quotes Heremogenes, De Inventione, iii. 5, 7. Excepting Eph 4:19, in N.T. is peculiar to Lk. (Act 16:16, Act 16:19, Act 16:19:24, Act 16:25). Hobart regards it as medical (p. 243), but it is very freq. in LXX. Note = when.

. To he quit of him by coming to terms with him. Christ is perhaps taking the the case of the two brothers (vv. 13, 14) as an illustration. The before the is omitted in B, but is certainly right Act 19:12. In class. Grk. both constructions are found, but the simple gen. is more common. Plat. Leg. 868 D; Xen. Mem. ii. 9, 6.

. Here only in N.T. and only once in LXX of ruining or demolishing: (Jer 49:10). In Lat. detraho is used of dragging into court. For examples see Wetst. Mt. has .

. Tradat te exactori et exactor mittat to in carcerem (Vulg.). For exactor Cod. Palat (e) has the strange word pignerarius. No where else in bibl. Grk. does occur. At Athens the magistrate who imposed a fine gave notice to the , who entered it as due from the person fined; but they did not enforce payment, if the fine was not paid. They merely kept the record. See D. of Ant.2 art. Practores. For Mt. has .

59. . He addresses each individual. Mt. has (comp. ver. 44), and for has . The ( = peeled, thin, small) was half a quadrans and the eighth of an as: see on ver. 6, and comp. 21:2; Mar 12:42. Can the payment be made ? The parable gives no answer to this question. But it teaches that the proper time for payment is before judgment is given, and that release is impossible until full payment is made. The Talmud says: The offences between man and God the Day of Atonement Both atone for. The offences between man and his neighbour the Day of Atonement atoneth for, only when he hath agreed with his neighbour. There is no need to interpret the details in the parable, and make the mean the law of God, and the God Himself, and the the Son of God.

Tyn. Tyndale.

Gen. Geneva.

B B. Cod. Vaticanus, sc. 4. In the Vatican Library certainly since 15331 (Batiffol, La Vaticane de Paul 3, etc., p. 86).

L L. Cod. Regius Parisiensis, sc. viii. National Library at Paris. Contains the whole Gospel.

Vulg. Vulgate.

D. B. Smiths Dictionary of the Bible, 2nd edition.

RV. Revised Version.

AV. Authorized Version.

1 The fragment of Heracleon, preserved by Clem. Alex. Strom. iv. 9, is translated by Westcott, Canon of N.T. P, 275, 3rd ed. syr-Sin. omits v. 9.

Wsctt. Westcott.

Aug. Augustine.

D D. Cod. Bezae, sc. vi. Given by Beza to the University Library at Cambridge 1581. Greek and Latin. Contains the whole Gospel.

Syr Syriac.

Cur. Curetonian.

Sin. Sinaitic.

WH. Westcott and Hort.

V. de J. Vie de Jsus.

Found in Luke alone.

Beng. Bengel.

Grot. Grotius.

Ambr. Ambrose.

a contemporary, or nearly so, and representing a second MS. of high value;

c attributed to the beginning of sc. 7. Two hands of about this date are sometimes distinguished as ca and cb

T T. Cod. Borgianus, sc. v. In the Library of the Propaganda at Rome. Greek and Egyptian. Contains 22:20-23:20.

X X. Cod. Monacensis, sc. ix. In the University Library at Munich. Contains 1:1-37, 2:19-3:38, 4:21-10:37, 11:1-18:43, 20:46-24:53.

Harcl. Harclean.

Boh. Bohairic.

Sah. Sahidic.

Aeth. Ethiopic.

Arm. Armenian.

Cod. Sinaiticus, sc. iv. Brought by Tischendorf from the Convent of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai; now at St. Petersburg. Contains the whole Gospel complete.

A A. Cod. Alexandrinus, sc. v. Once in the Patriarchal Library at Alexandria; sent by Cyril Lucar as a present to Charles 1. in 1628, and now in the British Museum. Complete.

F F. Cod. Boreeli, sc. ix. In the Public Library at Utrecht. Contains considerable portions of the Gospel.

G G. Cod. Harleianus, sc. ix. In the British Museum. Contains considerable portions.

Wetst. Wetstein.

Rhem. Rheims (or Douay).

Tristram, Tristram, Natural History of the Bible.

D. B. Smiths Dictionary of the Bible, 1st edition.

Win. Winer, Grammar of N.T. Greek (the page refers to Moultons edition).

Luth. Luther.

Cov. Coverdale.

Jos. Josephus.

L. & T. Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.

Clem. Alex. Clement of Alexandria.

1 On the alleged Ebionism of Lk. see Introd. 3. b, and also Alexander, Leading Ideas of flu Gospels, pp. 16b3-180, 2nd ed.

2 Margoliouth quotes from El-Ghazzalis Revival of the Religious Sciences many striking saying attributed to Christ by Mahometan writers: among them these. He that seeks after this world is like one that drinks sea-water. The more he drinks the thirstier he becomes, until it slay him (iii.161). There are three dangers in wealth. First, it may be taken from an unlawful source. And what if it be taken from a lawful source? they asked. He answered: may be given to an unworthy person. They asked, And what if it be given to a worthy person? He answered, The handling of it may divert its owner from God (iii. 178). See Hastings, D. B.2 1. p. 68.

1 Kimchi on Isa_65 mentions a saying of R. Johanan ban Zacchai, who invited his servants without fixing a time: sapientes se ornarunt, stolidi abierunl ad opera sua. Thus some went ornati and others sordidi, when the time came, and the latter were disgraced (Keim, Jes. of Nas. v. p. 256. Comp. Schoettgen, 1. p. 216).

Wic. Wiclif.

Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament

the Secret of Fearlessness

Luk 12:1-12

The program of this paragraph seems dark. The leaven of evil always at work; the body tortured and killed; confession difficult, denial easy; the trials before synagogues and rulers; the anxiety of witnessing a good confession. The Lord never hesitated in stating the heavy tribulation through which His disciples must come to the Kingdom.

But what infinite compensations! Not forgotten by God; our hairs numbered; confessed before the angels; taught how to speak; all sin forgiven! With such comforts, who of us need fear, except only the power of Satan! What infinite sympathy and care our Father has for us! He knows our sorrows, marks every lurch of the boat, and will supply His gracious comfort and help. Why should we flinch before a world in arms, so long as the Son of man stands for us, as He did for Stephen, at the right hand of God? The outward man may decay, but the inward man is renewed day by day.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

The Sin That Never Can Be Forgiven — Luk 12:1-12

In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, He began to say unto His disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. And I say unto you My friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God: but he that denieth Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. And-when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say- Luk 12:1-12.

Following the pronouncement of the woes upon the Pharisees and lawyers, we find, in the present chapter, Jesus looking forward to a day when He would be no longer here on earth, but His disciples would be here, and they would be the objects of bitter persecution by those who rejected their Lord and spurned the testimony which He gave. In Luk 12:1-3 He warns against unreality. That is something to which we are all prone. It is so easy to pretend to be more than we are. We may appear to be more devoted than we are and assume a profession of piety to which we have not actually attained. So we may well take these words of our Lord to heart. We are told that an innumerable multitude of people were gathered together. The common people loved to hear the Lord Jesus. Actually it was they who sought Him rather than the religious leaders. We are told elsewhere that the common people heard Him gladly. But it is one thing to hear Him; it is quite another thing to receive His words into the heart and turn to God in repentance. How many there were in this great group who truly received Christ as Saviour, recognizing their own sinful state and their need of a Deliverer, we have no way of knowing; doubtless many did. But the great majority were simply interested in hearing His message and seeing His works of power. There were so many, we are told, that they trode one upon another; and He began to say to His disciples, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. In the Old Testament the Jews were forbidden to have leaven in their homes at Passover time. Leaven is a type or symbol of evil. Throughout all Scripture this holds good. In the Gospels we have the Lord referring to leaven in three different ways. Here He warns His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and we are told definitely that it is hypocrisy. Elsewhere He warns His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Sadducees–that is materialism, or false doctrine. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, neither in angels nor in spirits. In another place He warns His disciples against the leaven of Herod, which is worldliness, political corruption: the failure to give God His rightful place in the government of the land. The Herodians courted the favor of the Romans and in order to obtain that favor they were untrue to the revelation which God had given them.

Leaven then is always a type of wickedness, a symbol of evil. Some think of the parable of the leaven, and say, Surely the leaven hidden in the meal is not a symbol of evil. Is this not the gospel that is gradually converting the whole world? But, surely the three measures of meal is not a picture of the world. It is the meal-offering, a type of the true and perfect humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that the woman hid the leaven in the three measures of meal indicates that she was doing something which she knew to be wrong. There was to be no leaven at all in the meal-offering. The parable is not a picture of the gospel working among men, but it is error working where truth has been made known, and giving men wrong ideas concerning the Person and work of our Lord Jesus. Leaven is always evil, never good, and so the disciples were to beware of it in any form. How we need this admonition today! As Christians we are to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness. Our lives should be as open books. We should be able to say with the saintly Fletcher of Madeley, I would that a mirror might be placed over my heart that men might be enabled to look in and see how true it beats toward God. Would that this were so of everyone of us, because there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed. We may think we are hiding something; we may think we are covering up something by making bold professions, but all is coming out some day and will be fully exposed. It is better to judge every evil way now, rather than wait and have it manifested at the judgment-seat of Christ. We are told that every mans work shall be manifested of what sort it is. Jesus says, Whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. If we would keep that in mind I think it would stop a great deal of gossip. If we realized that everything we whisper about another person, every unkind criticism and evil story which we spread abroad concerning others will at last be made known to them and to everyone else, would it not have a tendency to make us very much more careful as to the use of our tongues? It is all coming out some day for, Every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

In the second part of this discourse we have an exhortation for the comfort of the disciples because of what they will have to suffer. Soon He, the Master, after having been rejected and crucified, will rise from the dead and be received back into the glory. His people are to be left in the world to tell others of His grace. He said, I say unto you My friends. There is something very precious about this expression-My friends! He owns as His friends all who love Him and evidence their love by obedience to His Word. My friends! How much is involved in that term! When the Lord addresses His own as My friends it is because He has a deep personal interest in everyone of them, and there should be a ready response on our part as we claim Him as our Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

In the fifteenth chapter of John our Lord says, I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you. The master is not expected to open his heart to a servant and reveal all his secrets to him. But our Lord loves to do that very thing to those whom He calls My friends. Three times in Scripture Abraham is honored by being called the friend of God, for when He was about to bring judgment upon Sodom, God said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I am about to do? In His grace He condescended to commune with Abraham as to His purpose. To me it is really thrilling to think that I, who was once a poor sinner on my way to eternal judgment but now saved through infinite grace, am able to look up into the face of the Lord Jesus and say, Thou art my Friend.

He said unto them, My friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you. Fear Him. After the body is killed the spirit lives on, either in happiness or in misery. Materialists may refuse to believe this, but our Lord definitely affirms it. The soul cannot be destroyed when the body is killed. Matthew reports our Lord as saying, Fear not them which kill the body and after that are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. The word destroy is used in the sense of lost, elsewhere in the parables-to be lost in hell. Though men might kill the body they cannot touch the soul. When the body dies the soul of the believer departs from the body and is immediately present with the Lord. Who then would fear death with that glorious prospect in view? On the other hand, if one is not right with God he may well fear Him who, after the death of the body, has power to cast the soul into hell. Yea, says Jesus, I say unto you, Fear Him. There are men today who do not believe in a judgment-day, men who do not believe in hell and punishment after death. But all the arguments that they may bring against these truths cannot take them out of the Word of God. The Scriptures declare that, It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment. Our Lord had more to say about judgment after death than any other New Testament preacher.

In the next section of His address the Lord comforts His disciples concerning the experiences through which they may be called upon to pass while they live here on earth: Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Sparrows were very worthless. People trapped them, took them home and dressed them, and sold them on the market at two for a farthing, five for two farthings. They were bought by the poorest people who could afford no better food. Speaking of the five sparrows, Dr. James S. Brookes used to say, I think that must be how I got saved: four others were converted, and I was just thrown in for good measure. Jesus says not one of these sparrows are forgotten before God. Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Somebody has said God goes to every sparrows funeral! Jesus said not one falls to the ground without the Fathers knowledge. How much more is He interested in you who trust the Father and believe in His Son!

In Luk 12:8-9 He speaks of confessing or denying Him, and this is a very serious thing. Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God: but he that denieth Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. Observe, it is not a question of whether you believe that Christ is the Son of God, but it is a question of whether you have definitely confessed Him. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. There are many people who have heard the gospel story all their lives and possibly do not for a moment question its great truths, but they have received these truths as they accept any other historical facts, and have never trusted their own souls to Christ and confessed Him as their Saviour. Oh, that you might make that confession today! Put yourself on record by saying, Yes, I confess Jesus Christ the Son of God as my Saviour; I confess that henceforth I take my stand with Him. If you will so confess Him, then He says, I will confess you before the angels. I will say that you belong to Me, that you are Mine, that I have bought you with My precious blood. But on the other hand, no matter how much you may believe concerning Him, if you refuse to own Him as your Saviour, if you deny Him in this day of His rejection, He will refuse to own you; He will deny you in that day of His manifestation, for, He that denieth Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. If you want Him to confess you then, it is incumbent upon you to confess Him now. In Luk 12:10 we come to the solemn truth which suggested the heading for this section: The sin that never can be forgiven. Let us pause here for a moment. The Lord Jesus knew how many had spoken against Him; He knew the wicked things that had been said about Him, but still He declared that all would be forgiven if they would turn to God and put their trust in the One against whom they had sinned. All their sins and iniquities would be blotted out. But, He added, unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. While He was here on earth He cast out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit, thus attesting His Messiahship. Some attributed this power to Beelzebub-this is the sin against the Holy Ghost. It was because they were determined not to accept His miracles as evidencing the truth of His testimony that they attributed His work to the devil. For that sin Jesus said there was no forgiveness in that age nor in the age to come. To blaspheme against the Holy Ghost in that age was to refuse to accept the Holy Ghosts witness to the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the same today. The one sin that never can be forgiven is the final rejection of the Holy Ghosts testimony to the Lord Jesus. If you reject Christ there is nothing else for you but judgment. All sin-stealing, murder, drunkenness, evil-speaking, maliciousness, hatred-all these were atoned for on Calvarys cross, and the Holy Spirit came from heaven to bear testimony to this. But if men reject this testimony they deliberately sin against the Holy Ghost. There is no forgiveness for them. Oh, I beg of you, if unsaved, do not risk the continued rejection of Christ, lest you come to a place where for the last time the Holy Ghost will strive with you, and for you there shall be no forgiveness.

In the last two verses of this section our Lord tells His disciples that the same Holy Spirit would be the power by which they were to proclaim the gospel in the days to come: And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say; for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say. We have illustrations of this in the Book of Acts. When the apostle Peter was brought before the Sanhedrin he did not work out a great discourse which he was to deliver the next morning. The Holy Ghost gave him utterance. He stood before those men and preached Christ, and he did it with such power that they knew not how to reply to him. When Saul of Tarsus appeared before kings and governors, and high-priests, and rulers of Israel, it was no worked-up message that he gave; but in the power of the Holy Spirit he made his defence in an unanswerable way. The only real preaching today is preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit. We do not say that ministers of the gospel should not give much time to prayer, study, and to the Word that they may be prepared to give that Word when the time comes, but their dependence must be upon the power of the Holy Spirit of God who alone can make that Word fruitful.

Thus our Lord had shown His disciples where their strength was to be found in the days when they were to go forth in His name to proclaim His message to the world. How wonderfully He has honored that Word down through the centuries! And how we can thank Him that He has been pleased to use it so blessedly in the salvation of men and women everywhere, who have received it in faith and so made Christ Jesus their own Saviour and owned Him as their Lord!

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Luk 12:1

Profession without Practice.

I. That even decently conducted Christians are most extensively and fearfully ruled by the opinion of society about them, instead of living by faith in the unseen God, is proved to my mind by the following circumstance: that, according as their rank in life makes men independent of the judgment of others, so the profession of regularity and strictness is given up. The great mass of men are protected from gross sin by the forms of society. The received laws of propriety and decency, the prospect of a loss of character, stand as sentinels, giving the alarm, long before their Christian principles have time to act. The question is, whether, in spite of our greater apparent virtue, we should not fall like others, if the restraints of society were withdrawn i.e. whether we are not in the main hypocrites like the Pharisees, professing to honour God, while we honour Him only so far as men require it of us.

II. Another test of being like or unlike the Pharisees may be mentioned. Our Lord warns us against hypocrisy in three respects-in doing our alms, in praying, and in fasting. (1) Doubtless much of our charity must be public, but is much of our charity also private?-is it as much private as public? (2) Are we as regular in praying in our closet to our Father which is in secret as in public? (3) We have dropped the show of fasting, which it so happens the world at the present day derides. Are we quite sure that, if fasting were in honour, we should not begin to hold fasts as the Pharisees? Thus we seek the praise of men. We see, then, how seasonable is our Lord’s warning to us, His disciples, first of all to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy-professing without practising. He warns us against it as leaven, as a subtle, insinuating evil which will silently spread itself through the whole character, if we suffer it. He warns us that the pretence of religion never deceives beyond a little time, and that sooner or later, “whatsoever we have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light, and that which we have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.”

J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. i., p. 124.

References: Luk 12:1.-Parker, Christian Commonwealth, vol. vii., p. 287; D. Fraser, Metaphors of the Gospels, p. 135; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 271. Luk 12:1-3.-S. Cox, Expositor, 2nd series, vol. i., p. 372. Luk 12:1-5.-F. D. Maurice, The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, p. 187. Luk 12:2.-Homilist, vol. vi., p. 352. Luk 12:4, Luk 12:5.-G. E. L. Cotton. Sermons to English Congregations in India, p. 12. Luk 12:5.-G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 53; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v., No. 237; J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes, 3rd series, p. 90.

Luk 12:6-7

These words occur in a discourse of the Lord to His disciples, in which He is instructing and preparing them for their future work as the heralds and preachers of His kingdom. He tells them that He has no esoteric doctrine to be cherished by a favoured few, but on the contrary, doctrines of light to be proclaimed everywhere for the healing and salvation of men. “In preaching My words to men,” He says, “you will meet with dangers not a few, with enemies, some of whom will not stop short, if their power will reach so far, of deadly issues. But fear not; you are watched and protected at every step; and come life, come death, you are safe.” Hence here we have two things for thought-our human fears and the Divine dissuasive from them.

I. Our fears may be divided into two kinds: those which respect this world-the temporalities of life, as we call them-and those which respect the world to come and our spiritual state and relation to that. (1) Now as regards this world and its affairs, I think many of us know that a good deal depends upon a man’s temperament as to the way in which he will take things. You see that some go through life much more anxiously than others, as a matter of fact. The burden of life is to many not an easy one. They chafe and fret and groan under it, it is so heavy. (2) And then if we add to the fears about the temporalities of life, the deeper fears of the soul in regard to the spiritual state and the eternal prospect-you will see what ample scope there is for this Divine dissuasive, “Fear not.”

II. We now come to the second point-the Divine dissuasive of this passage-and we see how it is supported and commended by our blessed Lord by these several arguments or supportings, as, for instance: (1) The limited character of human power and of the power of circumstances. That, where it is vividly apprehended, is a great dissuasive from fear. Fear not, for although men can say and do a great deal which may be very unpleasant to you-that may be even injurious to you-yet you always come to the limits of their power “after that.” After that there is nothing more that they can do. Just so much unfriendliness or hostility or annoyances of any kind, and then, after that, there is no more that they can do. Exactly so you will find it with the things we call circumstances, although they may not be animated at all by any human feeling against you. They may arrange themselves in a malign manner, this or that way. They may vary, fluctuate, frown, threaten, sweep away property, bring in trouble; and after that there is no more that they can do. Other circumstances of a different kind will be sure to arise to soften, to assuage to improve. (2) “Fear not,” for again, with God is unlimited power-the unlimited power which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. The argument has in the heart of it this-that God is good-that God is unchangeably good, and that He will use all that infinite power that He possesses in so far as it is needed, to protect, to defend, to cherish, to save, His trusting, loving children. (3) The closing thought in the dissuasive is, that although, in one way, there is nothing great to God and nothing little, yet, in another sense, quite a true one, there is a gradation to God just as to us; for it is the doctrine of this passage-it is the teaching of our Lord here-that there is a special care, a higher care, about us. We are of more value than many sparrows. The argument is from the less to the greater. If God provides for the inferior creatures, will He be likely to neglect the superior-the unspeakably superior? That is the doctrine: “Ye are of more value than many sparrows.”

A. Raleigh, Penny Pulpit, new series, No. 844.

References: Luk 12:6, Luk 12:7.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ii., p. 189; Todd, Lectures to Children, p. 193. Luk 12:8.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 281. Luk 12:8, Luk 12:9.-Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxi., p. 340; E. Blencowe, Plain Sermons to a Country Congregation, vol. ii., p. 412. Luk 12:10.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. 207.

Luk 12:13-21

The folly of the rich fool appears:-

I. In the fact that he completely ignored his responsibility to God in the matter of his possessions. He speaks of “my fruits,” and “my goods,” and the Lord describes him as laying up treasure “for himself” Are we not all too sadly in the same condemnation with him? Are we not all too prone to take to ourselves the sole credit for any property we have acquired, or for any eminence we have reached? Yet it is just as true in every department of life, though perhaps not quite so apparent as it is in agriculture, that the chief factor of success in it is God. He gave the original aptitude and ability to the man; and it will commonly be found that the critical turning-points of life, which led directly to the results over which we felicitate ourselves, were due entirely to Him, and came altogether irrespective of our own arrangement.

II. In the fact that he ignored the claims of other men upon him for his help. He had no idea apparently that there was any other possible way of bestowing his goods than by storing them in his barns. As Augustine, quoted by Trench, has replied to his soliloquy, “Thou hast barns,-the bosoms of the needy, the houses of widows, the mouths of orphans and of infants;” these are the true storehouses for surplus wealth. It is right to provide for those who are dependent on us; it is prudent to lay up something in store against a possible evil day; but after that, the storehouse of wealth should be benevolence.

III. The folly of this man is seen in the fact that he imagined that material things were proper food for his soul. The mere animal life of the body may be supported by such goods as this man was about to lay up, but the soul needs something better than these. Its true food is God Himself; and hence Jesus, in the moral of the parable, calls the man who has that rich towards God.

IV. The folly of the rich man is apparent from the fact that he had entirely ignored the truth that his material possessions were not to be his for ever. Let these two things stand out in lurid distinctness on this subject; wealth cannot buy off death, and when we die we can take none of it with us, and then you will understand how supremely foolish it is for a man to live simply and only for its accumulation.

W. M. Taylor, The Parables of Our Saviour, p. 259.

References: Luk 12:13, Luk 12:14.-J. G. Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxx., p. 235. Luk 12:13-15.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 270; Homiletic Magazine, vol. xv., p. 37. Luk 12:13-21.-Ibid., vol. xiii., p. 16; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxv., p. 131.

Luk 12:15

Business-its Dangers and Safeguards.

I. There can be no doubt at all that the average business man’s temptation must chiefly lie in this direction: to exaggerate the relative value of the thing he deals with-that is money; and in consequence, to under-estimate whatever cannot be appraised by that conventional standard of the market. To be safe, therefore, the young man embarking on a commercial life is bound to keep this risk of his calling before his eyes. He must refuse to fall down and worship any plutocracy, keeping his reverence for the good rather than for the opulent or successful; in a word, he must save himself from coming to think or act as if a man’s life consisted in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

II. The safeguards. There are secondary safeguards, such as the pursuit of literature and the cultivation of a sympathising contact with men and women in other than mere business relationships. But the only primary and sufficient safeguard for any one of us is the religion of Jesus Christ. (1) Religion opens the widest, freest outlook for the mind into the eternal truth, enlarging a man’s range of spiritual sight, and enabling him to judge of all things in both worlds in their due proportion. (2) It supplies us for that reason with the only true and perfect standard by which to test the value of things, and so corrects the one-sided materialistic standard of business. (3) It transforms business itself from an ignoble to a noble calling, because it substitutes for the principle of mere profit the ideal of service.

J. Oswald Dykes, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiii., p. 209.

References: Luk 12:15.-J. W. Gleadall, Church Sermons, vol. i., p. 331; Burrows, Church of England Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 237; J. G. Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxix., p. 235. Luk 12:15-21.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. vii., p. 17. Luk 12:16.-Homilist, new series, vol. i., p. 620. Luk 12:16-20.-Ibid., vol. vi., p. 84; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 234. Luk 12:16-21.-H. W. Beecher, Sermons, 1870, p. 631; Ibid., Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiv., p. 218; Ibid., vol. xxi., p. 156; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 316; Ibid., vol. iii., p. 306; R. C. Trench, Notes on the Parables p., 337; R. Winterbotham, Sermons and Expositions, p. 180.

Luk 12:19

The Privileges of Youth.

I. The spirit of the boast contained in the text is nowhere more common than in the hearts of the young. They say to themselves, as much as persons at any age, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years.” If we consider a little we shall see what these goods are. (1) There is the great good of time. A young person thinks that he has this in plenty. (2) Another good, which youth feels no less sure of, is health and strength. (3) Belonging to these two feelings, and yet in some way to be distinguished from them, is the sense of having ample liberty; by which, I mean, that our time of heavy responsibility is not yet come; that there is, and ought to be, large allowance for what we do; that we may, in short, give the reins to ourselves, our fancies, and our inclinations, because we are not yet old enough to be serious.

II. If the rich man in the parable, whilst his riches were flowing in upon him so largely, had wished and resolved to be rich towards God also, what would have been his language to his soul then? Or if any of you, so rich in the good things of youth, were also to resolve with God’s grace to be rich towards God, what would be your language, the language of your hearts, whether it shapes itself into words or not? It would be a language which older men, I might almost say, would hear with envy. But, speaking more truly, it is not a sight for envy, but for the deepest joy and thankfulness, joy both of men and angels. We feel the charm of youth naturally, it cannot but awaken our interest even in itself; but when this natural interest is sanctioned by our soberest reason, when natural youth assumes, so to speak, the beauty of the spring of an eternal and a heavenly year, then it does fill us with the deepest joy; and this work of God’s Spirit, far more than all those natural works of creation, is, indeed, very good. There is no more beautiful, no more blessed, sight upon this earth than a youth that is rich toward God.

T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. v., p. 75.

References: Luk 12:20.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vi., p. 357; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 94; E. Blencowe, Sermons to a Country Congregation, vol. i., p. 328.

Luk 12:21

I. Consider the sinfulness of the rich man, as gathered from his address to his soul. The rich man addressed his soul when forming his plan for a long course of selfishness. “I will say to my soul, Soul thou has much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” And what had the soul to do with the indulgences and enjoyments which he thus thought that his riches would procure? Had he addressed his body, and thus seemed forgetful or ignorant of its being immortal, we must have wondered at him less, and have thought him less degraded; but to confess that he had a soul, and then to speak to that soul as though it were material, a mere animal thing, with fleshly appetites and passions, this marked him at the very outset as being at the lowest point of sensuality; as though he knew no higher use of faculties, which distinguished him from the brute, than to give a zest to gratifications which he had in common with the brute. But, nevertheless, there was truth in the address of the sensualist; he was not so mistaken as at first he might appear. True, indeed, the soul could not literally eat, the soul could not literally drink; but the soul might have no taste, no relish, for spiritual things, the whole man might be given up to carnal indulgences, and the soul might be in such subjection, such slavery to the flesh, as to think of nothing but how to multiply its gratifications or to increase their intenseness. The very essence of idolatry is discoverable in this address of the rich man to his soul. It may be justly said that the rich man substituted his stores for God, put them in the place of God, or looked to them to do for him what God alone could do. Do you wonder, then, that his conduct was especially offensive to God, as offensive as though, in spite of the very letter of the Second Commandment, he had fashioned an image and bowed down before it?

II. It ought to be received by us as a very impressive warning, that it was nothing but a practical forgetfulness of the uncertainty of life, which brought down a sudden judgment on the rich worldling whose history is before us. There is evidently a peculiar invasion as it were of the prerogatives of God whensoever a man calculates that death is yet distant. Every man who is not labouring earnestly to save the soul is reckoning on long life. And the fearful thing is, that this very reckoning upon life, which men would perhaps hardly think of counting amongst their sins, may be the most offensive part of their conduct in the eye of the Almighty, and draw upon them the abbreviation of that life, and thus the loss of the expected opportunities of repentance and amendment.

H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2,544.

References: Luk 12:21.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvi., p. 123. Luk 12:22-35.-Ibid., vol. xx., p. 372. Luk 12:22-40.-R. S. Candlish, Sermons, p. 139.

Luk 12:23-24

Man’s Future Destiny.

I. Since the Resurrection, since Jesus came out of the sepulchre with the same or like body with which He entered into it, with the same faculties and senses, the future has ceased to be a practical question to discuss; both because of what we know and of what we do not know. We know enough to know that the changes which death makes will not be so very considerable. As the man is at night, so shall he be in the morning, although when the sun set he was living in a mortal body, and when it rose he had left the mortal body, and was living in an immortal body. But the going out of a house gives no right of inference that the man who goes out is affected in the least by the act; and the body can seem to no one who discerns between flesh and spirit anything more than a house in which a man lives.

II. The annihilation of life is (1) against the analogies of the universe. There is no evidence, even, that the lowest grade of matter is perishable. But if the base and low cannot be destroyed, on what have you to build an inference that the high and noble shall perish? If matter holds itself secure against duration, what friction of continued existence shall touch the lofty permanence of the soul? (2) Against the affections of the universe. The universe is affectionate. All orders of existence are blood-relations one to another. The grief at death, based on the apprehension of a subtle relationship existent between all orders of life, is felt everywhere, and by all, and for all bright things. (3) Graveyards are not for spirits. God does not smother life in sepulchres. All creatures shall live because He loves them, loves them as a parent loves his own. All creatures shall live, because His heart requires their life. The parent’s joy is found in the possession of children, and who is to suggest that He, the Infinite Father, shall destroy His own felicity?

III. Upon the subject of the future life Jesus did not teach fully. Of the few things which He revealed plainly, these may be enumerated: (1) That men continue to live on; (2) that the moral natures they have in the mortal body they retain in the immortal boy; (3) that God alone has their destiny in charge. In His hands we may therefore reverently, prayerfully, hopefully, leave the destinies of our race.

W. H. Murray, The Fruits of the Spirit, p. 463.

References: Luk 12:24.-Sermons for Boys and Girls, p. 197. Luk 12:25, Luk 12:26.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 95. Luk 12:29.-Expositor, 1st series, vol. i., p. 249. Luk 12:31.-J. Irons, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 29.

Luk 12:32

The Kingdom for the Children.

It is to comfort and assure “the little flock” that our Lord means when He says these words. And you will observe that His argument is twofold-one in the nature of their Father, and the other in the character of the Father’s gift.

I. You cannot observe the workings of any mind without seeing that there is a strong tendency to treat God as if He were anything else rather than a Father, as if He were a God unwilling to love us and save us. Because we are-or at least, were once-unwilling to come to God, by a strange confusion of ideas we begin to speak and act as if God were the reluctant party. As if to meet and contradict that, Christ says, “It is your Father’s good pleasure.” You will never have got the secret of Christ’s teaching till you take more loving views of God the Father. In the original, this is a very full expression, “Your Father’s good pleasure.” It means this: He has considered it, He has approved it, and it is now His delight. All the forgiving and kind and fond thoughts that ever were in the world to sweeten life, they are only drops out of that deep spring of the Father’s breast. What must the Fountain be? Therefore, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

II. Turn next from the Giver to the gift. Our Saviour evidently intends it to be a reasoning from the whole to the part. Shall the heir of an empire, the child of a King, nurtured in his Father’s court, be anxious every day about little crumbs? What is the kingdom which the Father loves to give? That kingdom is inward. It lies in deep, secret places: it has no pageant. Its condition is humility; its gold, good works; its royalties, the chaste and simple services and sacraments of the Church; its diadem, love. It is “not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost”-righteousness its throne, peace its diadem, joy its dazzling crown. And that kingdom in a man’s heart is what it is, a kingdom, because self-government is begun. In the heart, which is a kingdom, feelings are in their proper place, affections are subordinated, there is a harmony. Christ is in His right place; His pleasure is at the top, and all things are in subjection and dominion to Him.

J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 7th series, p. 72.

References: Luk 12:32.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. v., p. 20; R. B. Isaac, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 227; J. Vaughan, Children’s Sermons (1875), p. 290; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ix., p. 122. Luk 12:35-37.-G. Macdonald, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxii., p. 149. Luk 12:35-38.-Expositor, 1st series, vol. viii., p. 44. Luk 12:35-40.-S. Greg, A Layman’s Legacy, p. 176.

Luk 12:40

What is the problem about Advent? You hear of the Son of Man coming. Sometimes you hear of His coming as a thief in the night: sometimes you hear of His returning as a bridegroom from the wedding. In the passage from which my text is taken both these forms of speech are combined. What do they signify; are they merely figures which point to the necessity of preparation for death?

I. The first coming of Christ in great humility imports a continual lordship of His over the being and faculties of man. His purpose, the Apostles teach us, was not accomplished till He rose from the dead, and ascended on high, till He had claimed the glory which He had had with His Father before the worlds were. That was the vindication of His title to be Lord. That was the beginning of a society which could be nothing but universal, because it stood in the Name of the Son of God and Son of Man. That was necessary that the promise might be thoroughly accomplished, “The Lord God shall dwell among you, and He shall be your Father, and ye shall be His children.” By this language we are able to understand that other language which refers to the coming, or to the appearing and unveiling of the Son of Man after His Ascension. We may very well admit that when our Lord says, “In such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh,” He gives us all and more than all the warning respecting the hour of death which preachers have ever drawn out of His words. Assuredly it is no contradiction of His other teaching to say that, though on earth we may fancy ourselves under a law of selfishness, though here we may act as if we had no ties and relationships to those who surround us, when we close our eyes on the things with which they have been familiar, we pass into a region where we shall know assuredly that the Son of Man is reigning, where it will be impossible any longer to think that we are out of His Presence, or to escape from that Divine law of love which binds man to man, which binds earth and heaven together. The lie upon which we have acted must then be laid bare, the whole scheme of our existence must be exposed and broken in pieces; we must confess Him who gave Himself for men to be the Lord of all.

II. If this be the idea of Christ’s coming, whether to the world or to individuals, which the New Testament sets before us, what is to make us ready for his coming? What is to save us from that sleep into which our Lord warns us that we may fall? What is to arouse us if it has overtaken us? Surely we must be reminded of His Presence with us. The natural notion that what is invisible is unreal; that He does not govern us because our eyes do not see Him; that He does not govern the world because the world fancies that it governs itself, this must be set at nought. We must have an assurance that the senses are as little judges of what is true in morals as they are in physics; that self, which appears to be the centre round which everything here revolves; is no more really the centre than our earth is the centre round which the heavenly bodies revolve. What shall give us this assurance? In the Eucharist we declare that our hope is in a Lamb of God which has taken away the sin of the world by the sacrifice of Himself: therefore, we ask that we may be ready when the Son of Man comes to claim us as sacrifices to God; and that we may not be found choosing another master for ourselves, and shutting ourselves up in a hell of selfishness and despair. In the Eucharist we give thanks for a death not for ourselves only, but for the whole world, therefore in it we look forward to a redemption, which shall be not for ourselves only, but for the world, when Christ shall appear without sin, unto salvation.

F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. i., p. 1.

References: Luk 12:40.-R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 2nd series, p. 110. Luk 12:41-48.-A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 340. Luk 12:42.-Parker, Christian Commonwealth, vol. viii., p. 3. Luk 12:43.-H. M. Gunn, Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 245. Luk 12:47, Luk 12:48.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 18. Luk 12:48.-H. M. Butler, Harrow Sermons, p. 332; Ibid., Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxv., p. 312; J. M. Neale, Sermons for Children, p. 214; H. Scott Holland, Church of England Pulpit, vol. v., p. 152.

Luk 12:49

There are three main elements, three ruling and inspiring convictions, at the root of missionary enthusiasm.

I. Of these, the first is a deep sense of the certainty and importance of the truths of the Gospel.

II. The second conviction is a sense of the need which man has of revealed truth.

III. The third conviction is a belief in the capacity of every man for the highest good-for salvation through Christ.

H. P. Liddon, Penny Pulpit, No. 630.

References: Luk 12:49.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv., No. 854; J. R. Woodford, The Anglican Pulpit of Today, p. 63; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 97.

Luk 12:50

I. Most persons know something of the feeling of suspens and anxious curiosity, when they are looking forward to anything very serious, anything which they think will greatly affect their happiness; especially when they have been a long time kept in expectation of it. The hours, days, months, years, of waiting appear to them more and more tedious; they are more and more alive and awake with curiosity to know what sort of a thing it will be when present, which now at a distance occupies their mind so much. Now, our Blessed Lord, as one of us in all things, sin only excepted, had His share of this feeling so far as it is natural and innocent; at least, so we may understand His saying in the text. Instead of shrinking from His death He was the more eager to begin; so high, so courageous was His love for us, and His zeal for His Father’s glory; so complete the condescension with which He entered into this and all other innocent feelings of ours.

II. Thus, as He in His merciful and infinite condescension, limited Himself as His creatures are limited-He who is the God of Eternity limited Himself to a certain time-so He set us an example, who are all of us so limited, which way our thoughts should tend. Men are apt to think they shall die contented when they have satisfied this or that wish, when they have done this or that work, when they have made so much money, when they have obtained such and such an advantage for those whom they leave behind them; and that favourite object, whatever it be, haunts them night and day, and colours in a manner almost all their thoughts and words. So were our blessed Master’s sayings tinged all over with the longing expectation of the Cross. And when the Cross itself came, His disciples, and we after them, might see the meaning of very many words and deeds which could not be understood at the first. As Christ was straitened, until His painful baptism of blood and sorrow was accomplished, so St. Paul, and all who resemble Him, are straitened, until they can find some way of giving themselves up more entirely, body and soul, life and death, to Him who thought nothing at all, not even heavenly and Divine glory, too dear to give up for them. Instead of planning restlessly and wearily what we have to do next, and what after that, in some pursuit which happens just now to be interesting, we shall be straitened and anxious, thinking how little we have done yet, and what we may and ought to do, for Christ and the Church’s sake.

Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times,” vol. vi., p. 66.

Christ’s Baptism of Suffering.

I. The whole structure of this sentence is in exact keeping with the common notion of baptism, seeing that a condition of greater freedom is evidently looked forward to by Christ as certain to result from those waves of fire through which He had to pass. He laboured under a species of bondage prior to His agony and death; and the consequence of the agony and death would, He knew, be deliverance from this bondage. There is, therefore, peculiar fitness in His describing that agony and death as a baptism with which He should be baptized. A change was to take place, and for the bringing about of that change immersion in a deep ocean of trouble was absolutely indispensable. Baptism denotes what is both temporary and refreshing. In respect to our blessed Saviour, both as to the time of endurance-for He was but plunged in the raging waters and then quickly withdrawn-and as to the undoubted change; for He went down with transgression and came up having made full expiation-in both particulars the imagery is most perfect.

II. “How am I straitened till it be accomplished!” (1) It was one consequence of our Saviour’s sufferings and death that the gift of the Holy Spirit should be poured forth on His disciples. Until, therefore, the baptism was accomplished there could be little or none of that preparation of heart on the part of His followers which was indispensable to the reception of the spiritual magnificence and majesty of the Gospel. Thus our Lord was brought into the position of a constant restraint, like a man charged with news that would gladden an empire, while the rocks were the only audience to which he could have access. (2) Although the Spirit was given without measure to the Saviour, He was nevertheless hemmed round by spiritual adversaries, and He had continually before Him a task overwhelming in its difficulties-the keeping our nature free from every taint of corruption, the contending therein against the assaults of the devil. Is not the contrast of the state which preceded, and that which succeeded, the baptism of agony sufficient in itself to account for expressions even more sternly descriptive of bondage than that of our text? (3) Christ had not yet won the headship over all things, and therefore He was straitened by being circumscribed in Himself, in place of expanding into myriads. These, with like reason, serve to explain, in a degree, the expression of our text; though we frankly confess that so awful and inscrutable is everything connected with the anguish of the Mediator that we can only be said to catch glimmerings of a fulness which would overwhelm us, we may suppose, with amazement and dread.

H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2,047.

In this awful utterance of our Substitute, as He looked forward to the Cross, we have,-

I. A longing for the baptism. He desired its accomplishment. He knew the results depending on it, and these were so Divinely glorious, so eternally blessed, that He could not but long for it-He could not but be straitened until it was accomplished.

II. The consciousness of fear and bitter anguish in contemplating it. He was truly man both in body and soul. As man He shrank from pain, He was weighed down with burdens, He was subject to sorrow; He looked on death as His enemy, and He made supplication with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death. His Divine nature did not relieve Him of one grief, or make His sufferings mere shadows.

III. The straitening in regard to its accomplishment. Like St. Paul, He was in a strait between things which pressed in opposite ways, and which must continue to press till the work was done. (1) He was straitened between the anticipated pain, and the thought of the result of that pain. (2) He was straitened between grace and righteousness. Between His love to the sinner and His love to the Father there was conflict; between His desire to save the former and His zeal to glorify the latter there was something wanting to produce harmony. He knew that this something was at hand, that His baptism of suffering was to be the reconciliation; and He pressed forward to the Cross as one that could not rest till the discordance were removed,-as one straitened in spirit till the great reconciliation should be effected. “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!”

H. Bonar, Short Sermons, p. 96.

I. What was the secret of the Saviour’s earnestness? (1) His belief in a Divine commission. (2) His belief in the solemnity of time.

II. If these convictions possessed our souls-(1) they would dispel the delusions of time; (2) they would overcome the hindrances to submission; (3) they would break down the impediments of fear.

E. L. Hull, Sermons, 3rd series, p. 70.

References: Luk 12:50.-J. Keble, Sermons for Holy Week, p. 24; G. Davis, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvii., p. 88. Luk 12:51.-Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times,” vol. iv., p. 217. Luk 12:52.-R. Thomas, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvi., p. 235. Luk 12:54-57.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix., No. 1135.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

CHAPTER 12

1. Warning Against Hypocrisy. (Luk 12:1-3)

2. Encouragements. (Luk 12:4-14)

3. Warning Against Covetousness. (Luk 12:15-21)

4. Warning Against Anxiety. (Luk 12:22-31)

5. The Disciples Comfort and Hope. (Luk 12:32-40)

6. The Parable of the Steward. (Luk 12:41-48)

7. The Purpose of God and the Resulting Division. (Luk 12:49-53)

8. Concerning signs. (Luk 12:54-57)

9. The Failure of Israel. (Luk 12:58-59.)

Luk 12:1-31

Nearly all of the entire twelfth chapter is not found in the other Gospels. Perhaps the largest multitude, which ever gathered to hear the Lord, is seen here. He speaks to His disciples first of all and warns of the leaven of the Pharisees. But the warning was also meant for all who heard Him. He declares a coming day, when the hidden things shall be uncovered. Then He gives encouragement to His friends, Be not afraid. What meaning these words have, coming from such lips! The entire first half of the chapter is taken up with warnings and encouragements to those who heed the warnings and are His friends.

Luk 12:32-48

He speaks of His own coming again. The little flock is assured of the kingdom. Everything else is uncertain, insecure and passing away. He is coming again and His return will bring the reward to His friends, who are obedient to His Word. They are to wait for Him. From the wedding is better rendered by because of the wedding. The wedding, the marriage-feast does not precede His return, but follows that event. He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. This is a wonderful statement. What service that will be, when He has His faithful people with Him! The Romans divided the night into four watches. The Lord speaks of the second and third watches, but does not mention the fourth. However in Mat 14:1-36 we read that He came to His toiling servants in the fourth watch.

He says nothing of the fourth, simply for the reason that the disciples, from that, should note that His return was by no means to be expected as late as possible; even as He does not name the first, because it would weaken the whole representation of the watchful servants. The Parousia does not come so quickly as impatience, nor yet so late as carelessness supposes, but in the very middle of the night, when the temptation to fall asleep is great and therefore must be most vigorously combated. It may even tarry longer than the servants think; but, grant that it should not take place even till the third, or should come even in the second watch of the night, whosoever perseveres faithfully at his post shall in no wise lose his reward.–Van Oosterzee.

He assures them that He will come at an hour when ye think not. The parable of the Steward is closely linked with all this. A solemn declaration is made, found only in Luke, concerning the penalties. (Luk 12:47-48.) The punishment is according to the knowledge of the Lords will. His rejection by Israel has brought for the world the results of which He speaks next.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Chapter 75

A Message For The Masters Friends

We have in this portion of Lukes Gospel a message to the Masters friends. While the scribes and Pharisees were laying wait for him, seeking some pretentious ground for hurling vile accusations at him (Luk 11:54), as literally thousands of people crowded to hear him, the Lord Jesus turned to his disciples, those men and women who followed him, and particularly to those men whom he had chosen and sent out to preach the gospel, and gave them the message contained in these verses. The message is simple, clear and forthright. I will give it to you in seven statements.

The Lord Jesus Christ Was An Exemplary Preacher

This first lesson I take not from our Masters words so much as from his behaviour. In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy (Luk 12:1).

Our Lord Jesus was constantly concerned for the welfare of his people. While the scribes and Pharisees were seeking his ruin, his heart and mind were occupied with his chosen. His every thought was focused on his disciples. He did nothing to defend or protect himself. He was concerned for his people.

What an example he is. I pray that he will make me such a preacher, a preacher and a pastor fully devoted to the welfare of Gods people, serving the souls of men, with no thought of self-interest!

Now, watch the Master. There were, as I said, literally thousands of people gathered around him. What would he say? How would he speak? Here is God who is love incarnate, the only man who ever loved men perfectly. How will he speak? Surely every preacher will be wise to emulate him.

Our Lord began his message with a severe, public denunciation of the most powerful, influential religious leaders and the religion they represented. Unsparingly, unflinchingly, without partiality, he denounced the scribes and Pharisees as utter hypocrites. How different things might be today if gospel preachers everywhere would follow his example! Our Master was more concerned for the glory of God than the approval of men. He was more concerned for the welfare of mens souls than their applause. He was more concerned for his people than for his own reputation, safety and comfort. Heres the second lesson:

We Must Constantly Guard Against Hypocrisy

He began to say unto his disciples first of all, notice that the Lord Jesus directed his message not to the Pharisees, nor to the multitude, but to his disciples. These were the men he had chosen to be the preachers of his gospel. It was, therefore, needful that they (and we) be made aware of the pretentious devices and arts of the scribes and Pharisees. He knew that we need to be warned and prepared for the devices of Satan and his messengers who come as wolves in sheeps clothing.

Before all things, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. This warning, he says, is to stand before us above all cautions, above all beacons, before all things. Ever beware of this leaven, which will ultimately ruin everything: HYPOCRISY!

In doctrine and in conduct, the whole of the Pharisees religion was nothing but an outward show of piety. The whole of their religion is outward, designed and practised for mans approval. It is all appearance only.

Our Lord compares it to leaven. Though, perhaps, very small at first, it gradually increases and spreads itself. Like leaven, it lies hidden and covered, and is not easily discerned. Its agenda and influence and effects are not open and above board. But given time, it infects and corrupts the whole of mens principles and practices. Religion without Christ puffs and swells men with pride like nothing else. Beware of every doctrine and religious practice that is obviously intended for show. Beware of everything that seems pretentious. Beware, above all else, of your own tendency to such things!

If we would avoid the danger of hypocrisy, the deadly plague of pretence, we must ever seek to be simple, sincere and open, honest with God, especially about ourselves (2Co 11:2-3).

Someday All Things Shall Be Revealed And Made Known

For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Our Lord repeated this fact so often that all who heard him must have thought it was a matter he intended for us to lay to heart (Mat 10:26; Mar 4:22; Luk 8:17). There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. What a warning this is for hypocrites! What a consolation it is for true believers! Both Job and the Apostle Paul considered it a matter of great joy that all things will be made manifest in that great day (Job 16:19; 1Co 4:3-4).

That which the Lord God has been pleased to reveal to us we must proclaim to the world (Luk 12:3).

Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. Has the Lord God revealed to us the gospel of his grace? Then let us proclaim it from the housetop.

So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith (Rom 1:15-17).

There Are People Whom The Son Of God Has Made To Be His Friends

Look at the opening line of Luk 12:4. And I say unto you my friends. Isnt that remarkable? Christ Jesus makes sinners his friends! He is the Friend of publicans and sinners. Rejoice! He is the Friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Give thanks! But here is something else. He has made us his friends.

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you (Joh 15:14-15).

Nothing Is So Destructive To Usefulness As Fear Of Man

And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

The fear of man is bondage. The only cure there is for the fear of man is the fear of God. If we fear God, there is no reason to fear anyone else. Life and death are in his hands alone; and none can harm us, except by the will and consent of our heavenly Father.

Learn this, too. Hell and everlasting judgment and wrath are real.

Gods Elect Have Nothing To Fear

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Nothing whatever, whether great or small, can happen to one of Gods elect, without Gods decree and direction.

The providential government of our great God over everything in this world is a truth which is clearly revealed and constantly taught in the Word of God. Just as the telescope and microscope show us that there is order and design in all the works of Gods hand, from the greatest star down to the least insect, so the Book of God teaches us that there is an infinite wisdom, divine order, and gracious design in all the events of our daily lives. There is no such thing as chance, luck, or accident in Gods creation or in our journey through this world. All is arranged and appointed by God, our heavenly Father. And all things work together for our good (Rom 8:28; Rom 11:33-36).

Let us seek to have an abiding sense of Gods hand in all our affairs. Our Fathers hand measures out our daily portion. All our steps are ordered by him who loves us with an everlasting love. Confidence in Gods wise and good providence is a mighty antidote against murmuring and discontent. In the day of trial and disappointment, as in the day of joy and happiness, all is right and all is well done. When we are laid on the bed of sickness, there is a needs be for it. Else, it would not come to pass. Because it comes to pass, the very fact that it comes to pass should assure us that it is for our souls advantage. Let us bow and be still, and bear all things patiently. Ours is an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure (2Sa 23:5). That which pleases our God ought to please us. Truly, he hath done all things well! And he will yet do all things well.

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

an: Luk 5:1, Luk 5:15, Luk 6:17, Act 21:20,*Gr.

trode: 2Ki 7:17

first: 1Co 15:3, Jam 3:17

Beware: Mat 16:6-12, Mar 8:15-21, 1Co 5:7, 1Co 5:8

which: Luk 12:56, Luk 11:44, Job 20:5, Job 27:8, Job 36:13, Isa 33:14, Jam 3:17, 1Pe 2:1

Reciprocal: Exo 12:15 – Seven Exo 30:33 – compoundeth Lev 2:11 – no leaven 2Sa 12:12 – secretly Job 8:13 – the hypocrite’s Psa 90:8 – our Pro 10:9 – but Ecc 12:14 – General Isa 29:15 – and their works Jer 16:17 – General Mic 7:3 – wrap Mal 1:14 – cursed Mat 5:20 – exceed Mat 6:1 – heed Mat 23:1 – General Mar 2:2 – straightway Mar 5:24 – and thronged Mar 7:14 – when Luk 11:29 – when Luk 13:15 – Thou hypocrite Luk 14:25 – General Luk 20:46 – Beware Luk 20:47 – for Joh 8:9 – being Joh 10:41 – many Act 5:13 – of 1Co 4:5 – who Gal 5:9 – General Eph 5:12 – in Rev 7:9 – no man

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

INSTEAD OF BEING provoked by the vehement opposition of the scribes and Pharisees, the Lord improved the occasion by calmly instructing His disciples in the presence of the enormous crowd, that the controversy had drawn together. He had just been fuming the searchlight of truth on the religious leaders: He now turned the same light on the disciples and their path.

In the first place He warned them against the hypocrisy, which He had just been unmasking in the Pharisees. It is indeed a leaven; that is, a type of evil which, if unjudged, ferments and grows. The hypocrite aims at having things covered from God in the first place, and then from the eyes of his fellows. Everything however is coming into the light, so that in the long run hypocrisy is futile. Still, while it exists, it is absolutely fatal to the soul having to do with God in any way. Hence from a moral point of view the warning against it must come in the first place. For the disciple of Christ there must be no covering of anything from the eyes of the Lord.

In the second place He warned them against the fear of man-verses Luk 12:4-11. He did not hide from them the fact that they were going to encounter rejection and persecution. If they were to be free of hypocrisy in a world which is so largely dominated by it, they could not expect to be popular. But, on the other hand, if they were to have nothing covered from the eyes of God, they would be able to stand forth with no cowardice in the presence of persecuting men. They who fear God much, fear men little.

The Lord did not merely exhort His disciples to have no fear of men, He also made known to them things which would prove great encouragements to that end. In verse Luk 12:4 He addressed them as, My friends. They knew that they were His disciples, His servants, but this must have set matters in a new and very cheering light. In the strength of His friendship they, and we, can face the worlds enmity. Then, in verses Luk 12:6-7, He set before them in a very touching way the care of God on their behalf. So intimate is it, that the very hairs of our head are not merely counted but numbered.

In verse Luk 12:12 He assures them that in their moments of emergency they could count upon the special teaching of the Holy Ghost. They would have no need to prepare an elaborate defence when arraigned before the authorities. The hatred and opposition of men was to lie as a liability upon them: but what marvellous assets are these-the friendship of Christ, the care of

God, the teaching of the Holy Ghost. And in addition to this, their confession of Christ before hostile men would be rewarded by His confession of them before holy angels.

At this point in His discourse the Lord was interrupted by a man who wished Him to interfere on his behalf in a matter of money. Had He been the social reformer or socialist, that some imagine Him to have been, here was the opportunity for Him to have laid down correct rules for the division of property. He did nothing of the kind: instead, He unmasked the covetousness which had led to mans request, and spoke the well-known parable concerning the rich fool. To reconstruct his barns, so as to conserve all the fruits given to him by the bounty of God, was just ordinary prudence. To lay all up for himself, and to neglect all the Divine riches for the soul, was the substance of his folly.

The rich fool was filled with covetousness, since he regarded all his goods as guaranteeing the fulfilment of his programme- take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. This is precisely the programme of the average man of the world today-plenty of leisure, plenty to eat and drink, plenty of fun and amusement.

Now the believer is rich toward God, as verse Luk 12:32 makes very plain. So, when the Lord resumed His discourse to His disciples, in verse Luk 12:22, He began to relieve their minds of all those cares which are so natural to us. Since we are enriched with the kingdom, no covetousness is to characterize us; and we are to be burdened with no care, since Gods care on our behalf is all-sufficient. His words were, Your Father knoweth. Thus He taught His disciples to know God as One who took a fatherly interest in them, and in all their needs as relating to this life.

But this He did, in order that they might be set free in spirit to pursue things that at the present moment lie outside this life. There is no contradiction between verses Luk 12:31-32. The kingdom is given to us and yet we are to seek it. We must seek it because it is not yet in manifestation; consequently it is not found in the things of this life, but lies in the spiritual and moral realities connected with the souls of those who are brought under the Divine authority. Nevertheless the kingdom is to be a manifested reality in this world, and the title-deeds of it are already sure to the people of God. As our thoughts and our lives today are filled with the things of God and the service of God, we seek the kingdom of God.

Hence the lives of the disciples were to run on lines diametrically opposed to those of the votaries of this world. Instead of laying up goods for an easy time of pleasure, the disciple is to be one who is a giver, one who lays up treasure in heaven, one whose loins are girded for activity and service, and whose light of testimony is shining. He is, in fact, to be like a man waiting for the return of his master. We have already noticed the things which are not to characterize us: here we have the things which are to characterize us.

As servants we are to be waiting for our Lord, and not only waiting but watching (verse Luk 12:37), ready (verse Luk 12:40), and doing (verse Luk 12:43)-doing that which is our allotted task. The time of reward will be when our Lord returns. Then the Lord will Himself undertake to minister to the full blessing of those who have watched for Him. This, which we find in verse Luk 12:37, indicates a reward of a general sort. Verse Luk 12:44 speaks of a reward of a more special sort to be given to those marked by faithful and diligent service in their Masters interests.

The Lords discourse to His disciples extends to the end of verse 53. A few salient points are these:

(1) Heaven is again set before the disciples. In Luk 10:1-42, as we noticed, they are instructed that their citizenship is to be in the heavens. Now they are taught so to act that their treasure may be in heaven, and consequently their heart there too. They are to live on principles altogether opposed to those governing the rich fool.

(2) The Lord assumes His rejection all through, and speaks of it yet more plainly towards the end-verses Luk 12:49-53. Fire is symbolic of that which searches and judges, and it had been already kindled by His rejection. By His baptism He indicated His death, and until that was accomplished He was straitened, that is, narrowed up, or restrained. Only when expiation had been accomplished could love and righteousness flow forth in full power. But then, the fire being kindled and the baptism accomplished, all would be brought to an issue, and the line of demarcation clearly drawn. He would become the test, and division take place even in the most intimate circles. In the anticipation of all this, the Lord assumes His absence, and consequently speaks freely of His second coming.

(3) To Peters question (verse Luk 12:41) the Lord did not give a direct answer. He did not definitely limit His remarks to the small circle of His disciples, nor enlarge the circle to embrace the thousands of Israel who were standing round. Instead He rested the whole weight of His words upon the responsibility of His hearers. If men were in the place of His senants-no matter how they got there-they would be recompensed according to their works, whether they proved to be faithful or evil. The evil servant does not desire the presence of the Lord, and consequently in his mind he defers His coming. Being thus wrong in relation to the Master, he becomes wrong in his relations with his fellow-servants, and wrong in his personal life. When the Lord comes his portion will be with the unbelievers, inasmuch as he has proved himself to be only an unbeliever. Verses Luk 12:47-48 clearly show that penalty as well as reward will be graduated with equity in keeping with the degree of responsibility.

(4) The marks of the true servant are that he devotes himself to his Masters interests while He is absent, and he waits for his reward until He returns. Three times in this discourse does the Lord refer to eating and drinking, as a figure of having a good time. The worldling has his good time of merriment (verse Luk 12:19), which ends in death. The false servant has his good time when he begins to eat and drink, and to be drunken (verse Luk 12:45), which ends in disaster at the coming of his Master. The worldling was not only merry; he was drunk, which is worse. As a matter of fact, when unconverted men take the place of being servants of God, they seem to fall more easily under the intoxicating influence of seductive religious and philosophic notions than anyone else. The true servant waits for his Master, who will make him to sit down to eat and drink and be the Servant of his joy (verse Luk 12:37). His good time will be then.

In verse Luk 12:54 the Lord turned from His disciples to the people with words of warning. They were in a most critical position and did not know it. They were well able to read the signs of the weather, but unable to read the signs of the time. By their rejection of the Lord they were forcing Him into the part of their adversary, that is, the opposing party in a law-suit. If they persisted in their attitude, and the case came before the Judge of all, they would find themselves altogether in the wrong and the penalty to the uttermost would come upon them. They would have to pay the very last mite.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

1

Trode one upon another indicates the extent of influence that Jesus was having through his teaching. On another occasion (Mat 16:6-12) Jesus warned his disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees, and afterward they had to have it explained. In this instance lie specifies that he means the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Thayer defines the original for leaven by the single word “leaven.” He then explains his application as follows: “It is applied to that which, though small in quantity, yet by its influence thoroughly pervades a thing; either in a good sense, . . . or in a bad sense.”

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

[When there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people.] There is no one would understand this in the very letter of it; as if the number of the people here present were at least twenty thousand, but a very great number. So Act 21:20; How many myriads of Jews which believe.

This probably denotes the mighty success of the seventy disciples preaching the gospel, who had so clearly and effectually taught concerning Christ, and told them of the place that he had determined to come to, that the people had flocked together in those vast numbers, ready upon all occasions to meet him, when they heard the Messias was making his approaches to this or that town.

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

THE words which begin this chapter are very striking when we consider its contents. We are told that “an innumerable multitude of people were gathered together, insomuch that they trode one upon another.” And what does our Lord do? In the hearing of this multitude He delivers warnings against false teachers, and denounces the sins of the times in which he lived unsparingly, unflinchingly, and without partiality. This was true charity. This was doing the work of a physician. This was the pattern which all His ministers were intended to follow. Well would it have been for the church and the world if the ministers of Christ had always spoken out as plainly and faithfully as their Master used to do! Their own lives might have been made more uncomfortable by such a course of action. But they would have saved far more souls.

The first thing that demands our attention in these verses is Christ’s warning against hypocrisy. He says to His disciples, “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”

This is a warning of which the importance can never be overrated. It was delivered by our Lord more than once, during His earthly ministry. It was intended to be a standing caution to His whole church in every age, and in every part of the world. It was meant to remind us that the principles of the Pharisees are deeply ingrained in human nature, and that Christians should be always on their guard against them. Pharisaism is a subtle leaven which the natural heart is always ready to receive. It is a leaven which once received into the heart infects the whole character of a man’s Christianity. Of this leaven, says our Lord, in words that should often ring in our ears,-of this leaven, beware!

Let us ever nail this caution in our memories, and bind it on our hearts. The plague is about us on every side. The danger is at all times. What is the essence of Romanism, and semi-Romanism, and formalism, and sacrament-worship and church-adorning, and ceremonialism? What is it all but the leaven of the Pharisees under one shape or another? The Pharisees are not extinct. Pharisaism lives still.

If we would not become Pharisees, let us cultivate a heart religion. Let us realize daily that the God with whom we have to do, looks far below the outward surface of our profession, and that He measures us by the state of our hearts. Let us be real and true in our Christianity. Let us abhor all part-acting, and affectation, and semblance of devotion, put on for public occasions, but not really felt within. It may deceive man, and get us the reputation of being very religious, but it cannot deceive God. “There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed.” Whatever we are in religion, let us never wear a cloak or a mask.

The second thing that demands our attention in these verses is Christ’s warning against the fear of man. “Be not afraid,” He says, “of them which kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.” But this is not all. He not only tells us whom we ought not to fear, but of whom we ought to be afraid. “Fear him,” He says, “which after he has killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, fear him.” The manner in which the lesson is conveyed is very striking and impressive. Twice over the exhortation is enforced. “Fear him,” says our Lord,-“yea, I say unto you, fear him.”

The fear of man is one of the greatest obstacles which stand between the soul and heaven.-“What will men say of me? What will they think of me? What will they do to me?”-How often these little questions have turned the balance against the soul, and kept men bound hand and foot by sin and the devil! Thousands would never hesitate a moment to storm a breach or face a lion, who dare not face the laughter of relatives, neighbors, and friends. Now if the fear of man has such influence in these times, how much greater must its influence have been in the days when our Lord was upon earth! If it be hard to follow Christ through ridicule and ill-natured words, how much harder must it have been to follow Him through prisons, beatings, scourgings, and violent deaths! All these things our Lord Jesus knew well. No wonder that He cries, “Be not afraid.”

But what is the best remedy against the fear of man? How are we to overcome this powerful feeling, and break the chains which it throws around us? There is no remedy like that which our Lord recommends. We must supplant the fear of man by a higher and more powerful principle,-the fear of God. We must look away from those who can only hurt the body to Him who has all dominion over the soul. We must turn our eyes from those who can only injure us in the life that now is, to Him who can condemn us to eternal misery in the life to come. Armed with this mighty principle, we shall not play the coward. Seeing Him that is invisible, we shall find the lesser fear melting away before the greater, and the weaker before the stronger. “I fear God,” said Colonel Gardiner, “and therefore there is no one else that I need fear.”-It was a noble saying of martyred Bishop Hooper, when a Roman Catholic urged him to save his life by recanting at the stake,-“Life is sweet and death is bitter. But eternal life is more sweet, and eternal death is more bitter.”

The last thing that demands our attention in these verses, is Christ’s encouragement to persecuted believers. He reminds them of God’s providential care over the least of His creatures:-“Not one sparrow is forgotten before God.” He goes on to assure them that the same Fatherly care is engaged on behalf of each one of themselves:-“The very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Nothing whatever, whether great or small, can happen to a believer, without God’s ordering and permission.

The providential government of God over everything in this world is a truth of which the Greek and Roman philosophers had no conception. It is a truth which is specially revealed to us in the word of God. Just as the telescope and microscope show us that there is order and design in all the works of God’s hand, from the greatest planet down to the least insect, so does the Bible teach us that there is wisdom, order, and design in all the events of our daily life. There is no such thing as “chance,” “luck,” or “accident” in the Christian’s journey through this world. All is arranged and appointed by God. And all things are “working together” for the believer’s good. (Rom 8:28.)

Let us seek to have an abiding sense of God’s hand in all that befalls us, if we profess to be believers in Jesus Christ. Let us strive to realize that a Father’s hand is measuring out our daily portion, and that our steps are ordered by Him. A daily practical faith of this kind, is one grand secret of happiness, and a mighty antidote against murmuring and discontent. We should try to feel in the day of trial and disappointment, that all is right and all is well done. We should try to feel on the bed of sickness that there must be a “needs be.” We should say to ourselves, “God could keep away from me these things if He thought fit. But He does not do so, and therefore they must be for my advantage. I will lie still, and bear them patiently. I have ‘an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure.’ (2Sa 23:5.) What pleases God shall please me.”

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Notes-

v1.-[An innumerable multitude.] The Greek word so translated means literally, “The myriads,” or tens of thousands of the people. Lightfoot thinks that these words are an evidence of the success of the seventy disciples.

[He began to say.] Let it be observed, that the discourse which follows these words is remarkable for the great number of sayings which it contains which were also said by our Lord upon other occasions. It is clear that our Lord repeated the same words in different places, and taught the same lessons on different occasions. All teachers and instructors repeat their lessons over and over again, in order to impress them on the minds of those they teach. It is absurd and unreasonable to suppose that our Lord Jesus Christ did not do so. To maintain, as some do, that Luke, in this chapter, is only stringing together, for convenience sake, sayings which our Lord used on many different occasions, appears to me a very irreverent mode of dealing with an inspired writing, and a very needless explanation of the repetitions which the chapter contains. The things repeated are things which it is especially important for Christians to know, and therefore our Lord repeats them, and Luke was inspired to write them.

Burgon remarks, “Of the fifty-nine verses which compose the present chapter, no less than thirty-five prove to have been delivered on quite distinct occasions; not in single verses only, but by seven, eight, and even ten verses at a time.”

An excessive desire to harmonize the various Gospel histories has led to many strange dealings with Scripture. “Harmonies,” however well meant, have done little good to the Church of Christ.

[Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees.] This is a warning which is given in another place, on a totally distinct occasion. It is a great standing caution to the Church against formality and hypocrisy. Few warnings have been so much needed and so much overlooked. “Leaven” is the word used to express false doctrine, because it works secretly and silently,-because its quantity is small compared to the whole mass of dough,-and because, once mingled, it alters the whole character of the bread. This is precisely the case with false doctrine. It seems “a little one.” It works stealthily and noiselessly. Insensibly it poisons the whole Gospel. If men will add to or take away from the great prescription for the cure of souls, the divine medicine is spoiled.

v2.-[Nothing covered…revealed.] This verse seems to admit of two interpretations. It is a general statement of the uselessness of hypocrisy. Everything shall appear in its true colours at last. It is an injunction to the disciples to reserve and keep back nothing in their teaching. They are to “declare all the counsel of God.” The distinction between interior and exterior doctrines, inward truths for the learned and outward truths for the unlearned, however approved by some philosophers, finds no countenance in the Gospel.

v3.-[Darkness…light…closets…housetops.] These expressions all seem to be proverbial. They all teach the duty of keeping nothing back in teaching the Gospel. To understand the “housetops,” we should remember that Eastern houses generally had flat roofs, which were much used by the inhabitants.

v4.-[Them that kill the body, &c.] The distinction between body and soul, and the separate existence of the soul after the body is dead, are clearly brought out in this passage. The use which martyrs have often made of this verse at the moment of death, is a striking and remarkable fact in Church history.

v5.-[Fear him…hath power…hell.] Some commentators think with Stier, that this means the devil. This however seems very unlikely. The power of life and death is not in the hands of the devil. Most think that it means God, who alone kills and makes alive, casts down and raises up. This view is fully and clearly set forth by Chemnitius.

The reality and fearfulness of hell stand out awfully on the face of this verse. There is a hell after death. The state of the wicked man after this life is not annihilation. There is a hell which ought to be feared. There is a just God who will finally cast into hell the obstinately impenitent and unbelieving.

Let us not fail to notice that “fear” is an argument that ought sometimes to be pressed on professing Christians. Christ Himself used it. Burkitt says, “It is good to raise a friends fear, when that fear is for his good.” To say as some ignorantly do, that love, and not fear, is the only argument which should be addressed to believers, is a modern and unscriptural notion.

v6.-[Not one of them is forgotten.] The providential care of God over all His creatures is strikingly taught in this and the following verse. Nothing was too little for God to create. Nothing is too little for God to preserve. Nothing that concerns God’s people is too little for Him to manage, or for them to bring before Him in prayer. Our least matters are in God’s hands. Major remarks, that this providence of God over the least things was a truth of which the heathen philosophers had no conception. The Epicureans, the Academics, the followers of Aristotle and others, maintained that the gods regarded the universe in general, but not particular persons and things.

Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

Luk 12:1. In the mean time. Literally: in which things, i.e., during those just related.

When many thousands, lit., the myriads, etc. Myriads is used indefinitely here.

First. May join this with what follows: first of all beware, but we prefer the usual connection with said, etc. He speaks to His disciples now, to the multitude afterwards (Luk 12:13 ff.).

Leaven of the Pharisees, i.e., their doctrine (Mat 16:12).

Which is hypocrisy. Not strictly that the leaven was hypocrisy, but that their leaven (doctrine) was of such a kind that its essence was hypocrisy. This is reason why they should beware of it.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

WARNINGS

This chapter, almost entirely original with Luke, consists of four warnings against hypocrisy (Luk 12:1-12), covetousness (Luk 12:13-24), carelessness (Luk 12:25-48), and ignorance (Luk 12:49-59).

HYPOCRISY (Luk 12:1-12)

Note the fearlessness of Christ (Luk 12:1), and in the same verse the typical use of leaven in the sense of evil, which is never used otherwise in the Bible. Hypocrisy will not avail in the day of judgment (Luk 12:2-3), and one of its causes, the fear of man (Luk 12:4), is supremely foolish in the light of responsibility to God (Luk 12:5), and in the light of His abounding care for us (Luk 12:6-7). The lesson is that of open acknowledgment of Jesus Christ in order to his acknowledgment of us, (Luk 12:8-10), even though it meant trail and suffering (Luk 12:11-12). The explanation of Luk 12:10 seems to be that one might speak against the Son of Man and do it ignorantly. But it is the office of the Holy Ghost to testify to Christ and make Him known; thus he who rejects that testimony puts himself outside of the pale of salvation and hence, forgiveness.

COVETOUSNESS (Luk 12:13-24)

There is a closer connection in thought between this and the foregoing than appears at first. The disciple might be called a fool who would act according to the foregoing, but the real fool is now brought into view. He is a covetous man (compare Eze 33:31) for that was the animus of him who made this request of Jesus (Luk 12:13-15). The latter was setting forth the heavenly calling, but his questioner thought only of his possessions in the present life. This explains the parable that follows (Luk 12:16-21), and in the light of it all the verses are to be interpreted down to 48, but especially to 34. Take no thought (Luk 12:22) means no anxious, worrying thought indicative of a lack of faith and knowledge of God in Christ. The birds of the air and the grass of the field might teach us lessons (Luk 12:24-28). Such a spirit belongs to the world, but not to the family of God (Luk 12:29-34).

CARELESSNESS (Luk 12:35-48)

CARELESSNESS (Luk 12:35-48) is connected with covetousness, for he who is absorbed in the things of earth is not getting prepared for those of heaven, which will be his when the Lord comes again. It is to be noted that He comes before daybreak (Luk 12:38) hence, the need of always watching, and working too (compare Luk 12:42-48 with 1Co 15:58). The unfaithful disciple, the merely professing Christian will have his portion with the unbelievers.

IGNORANCE (Luk 12:49-59)

IGNORANCE (Luk 12:49-59) is the cause of carelessness. In other words we are not to expect peace and worldly cooperation in the present age but unpopularity and divisions. Happy are we, if warned by our surroundings we take the right course (Luk 12:57) for judgment cometh (Luk 12:58-59). In the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord used similar language, but then as another says, He was pressing on His disciples the importance of reconciliation with an adversary. Here He is teaching the multitudes a similar lesson in view of the judgment, but in both instances we are reminded that there is no mercy for the guilty at the bar of God. Now is the accepted time, today is the day of salvation.

QUESTIONS

1. Name the four warnings of this chapter.

2. Analyze Luk 12:1-12.

3. Why is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost unpardonable?

4. Who is a fool?

5. Periodically considered, when may the Lord be expected?

6. Why should men accept Christ now?

Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary

In this chapter our blessed Saviour furnishes his diciples with many instructions for the worthy discharge of their function in preaching the gospel; particularly he recommends unto them two gracious qualifications, namely, uprightness and sincerity, verses 1,2,3. Secondly, courage and magnanimity, verses 4,5.

1. He recommends unto them the grace and virtue of sincerity: Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Learn hence, that hypocrisy is a dangerous leaven, which ministers and people are chiefly to beware of, and to preserve themselves from. Hypocrisy is a vice in vizor; the face is vice, the vizor is virtue: God is pretended, self intended: hupocrisy is resembled to leaven; partly for its sourness, partly for its diffusiveness. Leaven is a piece of sour dough, that diffuses itself into the whole mass or lump of bread with which it is mixed. Thus hypocrisy spreads over all the man; all his duties, parts and performances, are leavened with it.

Again, leaven is of a swelling, as well as of a spreading nature; it puffs up the dough, and so does hypocrisy the heart. The Pharisees were a sour and proud sort of people; they were all for pre-eminence, chief places, chief seats, chief titles, to be called Rabbi, Rabbi; In a word, as leaven is hardly discerned from good dough at first sight, so is hypocrisy hardly discerned and distinguished from sincerity. The Pharisees outwardly appeared righteous unto men, but within were full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Observe next, the argument which Christ uses to dissuade men from hypocrisy: There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed. As if he had said, the day is coming, when a rotten and corrupt heart shall no longer pass under the vizor and disguise of a demure look. In the day of judgment hypocritical sinners shall walk naked; God, angels and men, shall see their shame.

Learn hence, that God will certainly, however long, wash off all the varnish and paint which the hypocrite has put upon the face of his profession, and lay him open to the terror of himself, and the astonishment of the world.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Luk 12:1. When there were gathered together an innumerable multitude , literally, myriads (that is, tens of thousands, how many is not said) being gathered together. By this it appears, that though the scribes and Pharisees thought to accuse him, and bring him into disrepute, the people that were not under the influence of their prejudices and jealousies still admired him, attended on him, and did him honour. Nay, it seems the more these learned hypocrites strove to drive them from Christ, the more they flocked to him; which, doubtless, vexed them no little. It is not improbable, however, that this vast assemblage of people might be partly owing to an apprehension, either that Christ might meet with some ill usage among so many of his enemies, or that he would say or do something peculiarly remarkable on the occasion. Be this as it may, it is evident that the people could bear reproof better than the Pharisees; for though, in the morning, when they were gathered thick together, (Luk 11:29,) he had severely reproved them, as an evil generation that sought a sign, yet in the afternoon they renewed their attendance on him. It is pleasing to see people thus forward to hear the word of God, and venture upon inconvenience and danger, rather than miss an opportunity of being instructed in divine things. He began to say unto his disciples, Beware of the leaven, &c. The caution given in this and the two following verses, and the subsequent exhortations contained in this paragraph, are to the same purpose with others that we have had in Matthew and Mark, upon other the like occasions. See on Mat 16:6; Mat 10:26-32; Mar 8:15. For it is reasonable to suppose, that our blessed Lord preached the same doctrines, and pressed the same duties, at several times; and that some of his evangelists have recorded them as he delivered them at one time, and others as he taught them at another. It is here said, that he addressed his disciples first of all; for they were his peculiar charge, his family, his school, and therefore he particularly warned them as his beloved sons. They made a greater profession of religion than others, and hypocrisy therein was the sin of which they were most in danger. And as they were to preach to others, if they should prevaricate, corrupt the word of God, and deal deceitfully with it, and with the souls of men, their hypocrisy would be more criminal than that of others. Christs disciples, Judas excepted, were, we have reason to believe, the best men in the world, and yet we see they needed to be cautioned against hypocrisy. What need, then, have we to be jealous of ourselves lest we should fall into this sin! Christ gave this caution to his disciples in the hearing of this great multitude of people, rather than privately, to add the greater weight to it, and to let the world know that he would not countenance any sin, and especially hypocrisy, even in those he loved best.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

3 d. To the Disciples: Luk 12:1-12.

This violent scene had found its echo outside; a considerable crowd had flocked together. Excited by the animosity of their chiefs, the multitude showed a disposition hostile to Jesus and His disciples. Jesus feels the need of turning to His own, and giving them, in presence of all, those encouragements which their situation demands. Besides, He has uttered a word which must have gone to their inmost heart, some of you they will slay and persecute, and He feels the need of supplying some counterpoise. Thus is explained the exhortation which follows, and which has for its object to raise their courage and give them boldness in testifying. Must not one be very hard to please, to challenge, as Holtzmann does, the reality of a situation so simple?

Jesus encourages His apostles: 1 st. By the certainty of the success of their cause (Luk 12:1-3); 2 d. By the assurance which He gives them as to their persons (Luk 12:4-7); 3 d. By the promise of a glorious recompense, which He contrasts with the punishment of the timid, and of their adversaries (Luk 12:8-10); finally, By the assurance of powerful aid (Luk 12:11-12).

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

LII.

CONCERNING HYPOCRISY, WORLDLY ANXIETY,

WATCHFULNESS, AND HIS APPROACHING PASSION.

(Galilee.)

cLUKE XII. 1-59.

c1 In the meantime [that is, while these things were occurring in the Pharisee’s house], when the many thousands of the multitude were gathered together, insomuch that they trod one upon another [in their eagerness to get near enough to Jesus to see and hear], he began to say unto his disciples first of all [that is, as the first or most appropriate lesson], Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. [This admonition is the key to the understanding of the principal part of the sermon which follows. The spirit of Phariseeism was one which sought the honor of men, and feared men rather than God. It was a spirit which yielded to public opinion, and, though seemingly very religious, was really devoid of all true loyalty to God. There were trials and persecutions ahead of Christ’s followers in which no Pharisaic spirit could survive. The spirit of hypocrisy works in two ways: it causes the bad man to hide his badness for fear of the good man, and the good man to hide his goodness for fear of the bad man. It is this latter operation against which Jesus warns, and the folly of [316] which he shows.] 2 But there is nothing covered up, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. 3 Wherefore whatsoever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light; and what ye have spoken in the ear in the inner chambers shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. [Many fearing the storm of persecution which was soon to come upon the disciples would attempt to conceal their faith, but the attempt would be vain, for one could not even trust his own family ( Luk 12:51-53) to keep silent about what was said even in the inner chambers of the home. Bold speech would be best. The flat tops of Eastern houses were places from whence public proclamations were made.] 4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, who after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. [It would be a time of fear, but the fear of God must dominate the fear of man. The fear of God should cause them to speak out, though the fear of man bade them be silent– Act 4:18-21.] 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pence? and not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God? [The Roman as here rendered penny, was worth about four-fifths of a cent. Two sparrows were sold for a penny ( Mat 10:29). For two pennies, an extra one was thrown into the bargain, yet even it, so valueless, was not forgotten of God.] 7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not: ye are of more value than many sparrows. [These words assured them that whatever they might be called upon to undergo they would be at all times the objects of God’s special care and providence.] 8 Also I say unto you, Every one who shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: 9 but he that denieth me in the presence of men shall be denied in the presence of the angels of God. [These words were intended to strengthen those who loved honor or [317] feared disgrace. If the disgrace of being cast out of the synagogue tempted them to deny Christ, or the honors given by their fellow-men seemed too precious to be sanctified for Christ’s sake, they were to remember that the confession or denial of Jesus involved eternal honor or disgrace in the presence of the angelic host.] 10 And every one who shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven. [Persecution would urge them to blasphemy ( Act 26:11). In his hour of trial a disciple must remember the tender compassion of the Master against whom he is urged to speak, and the extreme danger of passing beyond the line of forgiveness in his blasphemy. For blasphemy against the Holy Spirit see Joh 14:15). If love toward Jesus did not move this brother to rightly divide the inheritance, the injured party must look to the state and not to Jesus for [318] assistance.] 15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness [Jesus made the incident the text for an admonition. Covetousness made one brother say, “Divide,” and the other one say, “No, I will not;” so Jesus warned against covetousness]: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. [A man’s goods are no part of his life, and so they can not preserve it. It is lengthened or shortened, blessed or cursed, at the decree of God. Covetousness is an inordinate desire for earthly possession. Though all ages have committed it, it is the besetting sin of our time. A clear view of the limitations of the power of property quenches covetousness; and Jesus gives such a view in the following parable.] 16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully [This man’s sin was not theft or extortion. His wealth came to him honestly as a blessing from God]: 17 and he reasoned within himself, saying [his words betray his sin–his covetousness], What shall I do, because I have not where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods [ Pro 1:32] laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry. [It is a short speech, but it reveals character. The man’s selfishness is shown in that he uses the pronoun “I” six times, and says nothing of anyone else. His covetous love of possessions is shown by the word “my,” which he uses five times. Compare his words with those of Nabal at 1Sa 25:11. In his speech to his soul he asserts his trust that his “abundance” is a guarantee of “many years” of happy life; but it did not guarantee one day. The Eastern barn is a pit or dry cistern built underground with an opening at the top. These the man proposed to enlarge by pulling down the walls or sides and extending them.] 20 But God said unto him [God may be represented as saying what he does], Thou foolish [319] one [His folly was shown in several ways: 1. He hoarded his goods instead of using them for his fellow-men; 2. Ownership of goods deceived him into thinking that he owned time also; 3. He thought to satisfy the hunger of the soul with the food of the body; 4. In commanding his soul in such a way as to show that he forgot that God could command it also], this night is thy soul required of thee [the man said “many years,” but God said “this night”]; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? [Death generally scatters possessions broadcast ( Psa 39:6, Ecc 2:18, Ecc 2:19). For an echo of these words see Jam 4:13-15.] 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. [To be rich in character is to be rich toward God. But we may be rich towards him by making him the repository of our hopes and expectations.] 22 And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. 23 For the life is more than the food, and the body than the raiment. 24 Consider the ravens, that they sow not, neither reap; which have no store-chamber nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more value are ye than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit unto the measure of his life? 26 If then ye are not able to do even that which is least, why are ye anxious concerning the rest? [If you can not add one little moment to your life, why should you be anxious about the smaller concerns of property?] 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; yet I saw unto you, Even Solomon in all his glory [ Sol 3:6-11] was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God doth so clothe the grass in the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more shall he clothe you, O ye of little faith? 29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, and what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. 30 For all these things do the nations of the [320] world seek after: but your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. 31 Yet seek ye his kingdom, and these things shall be added unto you. [This passage from Luk 12:22-31 (excepting verse 26) will be found almost verbatim at Mat 6:25-33. See Mat 6:20, Mat 6:21. See 1Co 7:36. Purses were bound to the girdles, so that if a hole wore in them, their contents were lost. Having discussed the folly of amassing and trusting in earthly riches, and the wisdom of trusting in God, and amassing heavenly riches, Jesus passes to a new theme; viz.: a watchful service and its rewards. He may have been led into this theme by some interruption, such as that given at Luk 12:13 or that at Luk 12:41, or it may have been suggested to him by his own words about the little flock and the kingdom. The kingdom was not to come in a day, and the little flock must watch patiently and serve faithfully before his coming– Luk 19:11-13.] 35 Let your loins be girded about [the long Oriental robe had to be lifted up and girded at the waist before the feet could step quickly– 1Ki 18:46], and your lamps burning [this was needful; for Oriental weddings take place at night]; 36 and be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord, when he will return from the marriage feast; that [321] when he cometh and knocketh, they may straightway open unto him. [Thus honoring him by a speedy welcome.] 37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them. [The apostles had a foretaste of this honor on the evening of the last Passover– Joh 13:4, Joh 13:5.] 38 And if he shall come in the second watch, and if in the third, and find them so, blessed are those servants. [Originally the Jews had three watches ( Lam 2:19, Jdg 7:19, 1Sa 11:11); but, following the Romans, they now had four watches. The second and third watches lasted from 9 P.M. to 3 A.M. The first watch is not mentioned because the marriage took place in it, and the fourth is not mentioned because in the latter part of it the day dawns and the virtue of watching was over– Luk 13:35.] 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not have left his house to be broken through. [Jesus here illustrates watchfulness by a second figure. To some the coming of Jesus will be like that of a master whom they have served more or less faithfully. To others his coming will seem like that of a plunderer who comes in suddenly and deprives them of all they have. The Oriental houses were mostly made of mud or sun-dried bricks. Hence it was so easy to dig a hole in the wall than that the thief preferred to enter that way rather than to break open the door.] 40 Be ye also ready: for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh. [These words of warning confront every generation.] 41 And Peter said, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even unto all? [Peter wished to know if the exhortation to watchfulness applied merely to the apostles or to all who heard.] 42 And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall set over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant, whom his [322] lord when he cometh shall find so doing. [The answer of Jesus shows that he especially addressed the disciples, for a steward is distinct from the household. On him the whole burden and care of the domestic establishment rested. Thus Jesus showed that he meant the disciples, yet did not exclude any who heard from profiting by his discourse. Fidelity is the first requisite in a steward, and wisdom is the second. All Christians are stewards; preachers, elders, Sunday-school teachers, etc., are stewards of place and office. Rich men, fathers, etc., are stewards of influence and possessions.] 44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath. [As Pharaoh exalted Joseph– Gen 39:4, Gen 41:39-41.] 45 But if that servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 46 the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the unfaithful. [Cutting asunder was a punishment prevalent among ancient nations ( 2Sa 12:31, Dan 2:5, Heb 11:37). The definite punishment is part of the drapery of the parable, and does not necessarily indicate the exact nature of the punishment which will be inflicted upon the wicked.] 47 And that servant, who knew his lord’s will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 but he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom they commit much, of him will they ask the more. [The greater the powers and opportunities entrusted to us, the larger the service which the Lord requires of us. Ignorance does not entirely excuse, for we are stewards, and it is the steward’s duty to know his master’s will. There is a guilt of ignorance as well as of transgression. The parable pointed to those who listened with delight to Jesus, but were careless about [323] knowing his meaning. With the Luk 12:49 Jesus passes on to set forth the severe tests to which the fidelity and vigilance of his disciples would be subjected in the times upon which they were about to enter.] 49 I came to cast fire [a firebrand] upon the earth; and what do I desire, if it is already kindled? [The object of Christ’s coming was to rouse men to spiritual conflict, to kindle a fire in the public mind which would purify the better part and destroy the worse. But the burning of this fire would excite men and stir up their passions and cause division and discord. The opposition of the Pharisees showed that this fire was already kindled. What therefore was left for Jesus to desire? His work as a teacher was practically accomplished. But there remained for him yet his duty as priest to offer himself as a sacrifice for the world’s sin. To this work, therefore, he glances briefly forward.] 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with [a flood of suffering; that is, the agony of the cross]; and how am I straitened [distressed, perplexed] till it be accomplished! [The language here is broken, indicating the strong emotion of him who spoke it.] 51 Think ye that I am come to give peace in the earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 52 for there shall be from henceforth five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. 53 They shall be divided, father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against her mother; mother in law against her daughter in law, and daughter in law against her mother in law. [Jesus here shows the hard plight of the disciple. If he were the young son he would find his father against him, and if he were the aged father he would be persecuted by the boy whom he had raised. Jesus came to conquer a peace by overcoming evil with good; a conflict in which the good must always suffer. His warfare was not, as the people supposed, a struggle against the heathen, but against the evil within them and around them. So long as evil abounded, these unhappy divisions would last.] 54 And he said to the [324] multitudes also, When ye see a cloud rising in the west [the Mediterranean Sea lay in that quarter, and rains came from thence], straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it cometh to pass. 55 And when ye see a south wind blowing, ye say, There will be a scorching heat; and it cometh to pass. [The south winds of Palestine blew from the equator, crossed the intervening deserts and wildernesses, and were distressingly hot.] 56 Ye hypocrites, ye know how to interpret the face of the earth and of the heaven; but how is it that ye know not how to interpret this time? [That is, this period which began with the ministry of John the Baptist. They could at once read the signs of nature so as to declare what kind of storm was coming. But with the political storm arising out of conflict with Rome impending over them, and with the spiritual storm which the teaching of Christ was bringing upon them, about to burst, they stood still in ignorant indifference, and made no provision for the times of trouble.] 57 And why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? [They had the warnings of both John and Jesus about matters and conditions which were so plain that they should have been able to see them without any warning whatever.] 58 For as thou art going with thine adversary before the magistrate, on the way, give diligence to be quit of him; lest haply he drag thee unto the judge, and the judge shall deliver thee to the officer, and the officer shall cast thee into prison. 59 I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the very last mite. [A mite (lepton,) was their smallest coin, being worth about two mills. For notes on this passage, see Matt. v. 25, 26, pages 239, 240. The passage here is an appeal to the people to avert the coming disasters. The Jewish rulers looked upon Jesus as their adversary. Accepting their valuation of him, Jesus counseled them to come to terms with him before it is too late.] [325]

[FFG 316-325]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

Luke Chapter 12

Chapter 12 puts the disciples into this place of testimony by the power of the Holy Ghost, and with the world opposed to them, after the Lords departure. It is the word and the Holy Ghost, instead of the Messiah on the earth. They were neither to fear opposition, nor to trust in themselves, but to fear God and trust to His help; and the Holy Ghost would teach them what to say. All things should be revealed. God reaches the soul: man can only touch the body. Here that which goes beyond present promises, the connection of the soul with God, is put forward. It is coming out from Judaism to be before God. Their calling was to manifest God in the world at all costs-to manifest Him to faith before all things were made manifest. It might cost them dear before men: Jesus would confess them before angels. It is bringing the disciples into the light as God is in it, and the fear of God by the word and faith when the power of evil was present; all that evil, however secret, would be brought to light.

Nor this only. Blasphemy against the witness given would, in their case, be worse than blaspheming Christ. This might be forgiven (it has been indeed, and will be at the end to the Jews as a nation); but whosoever spoke in blasphemy against the testimony of the disciples blasphemed against the Holy Ghost. It should not be forgiven. But the Lord deals with their heart as well as with their conscience. He encourages them by three things: 1st, the protection of Him who counted the hairs of their head, whatever might be the trials of their faith; 2nd, the fact that, in heaven and before the angels, their faithfulness to Christ in this painful mission should be acknowledged by Him; and 3rd, the importance of their mission, its rejection being more fatally condemning than the rejection of Christ Himself. God had taken a step, and a final step, in His grace and in His testimony. The bringing to light of all things, the care of God, their being confessed by Christ in heaven, the power of the Holy Ghost with them-these are the motives and the encouragements here given to the disciples for their mission after the Lords departure.

That which follows brings out yet more distinctly the position in which the disciples were placed, according to the counsels of God, by the rejection of Christ (Luk 12:13). The Lord formally refuses to execute justice in Israel. This was not His place. He deals with souls, and directs their attention to another life which outlasts the present; and, instead of dividing the inheritance between the brothers, He warns the multitude to beware of covetousness, instructing them by the parable of the rich man who was suddenly called hence in the midst of his projects. What became of his soul?

But, having established this general basis, He turns to His disciples and teaches them the great practical principles that were to guide their walk. They were not to think of the morrow, but to trust in God. Moreover they had no power over it Let them seek the kingdom of God, and all that they needed should be added. This was their position in the world that rejected Him. But besides the Fathers heart was interested in them: they were to fear nothing. It was the Fathers good pleasure to give them the kingdom. Strangers and pilgrims here, their treasure was to be in heaven; and thus their heart would be there also. [33] Besides this, they were to wait for the Lord. Three things were to influence their souls: the Father would give them the kingdom, their hearts treasure in heaven, and the expectation of the Lords return. Until the Lord should come, they were required to watch-to have their lamps burning; their whole position should manifest the effect of the continual expectation of the Lord-should express this expectation. They were to be as men who waited for Him with their loins girded; and in that case, when all should be according to the Lords own heart, re-established by His power, and they brought into His Fathers house, He would make them sit down, and, in His turn, gird Himself to serve them.

It is of all importance to fix the attention of the reader on the point, that what the Lord looks for here is not the holding, however clearly, the Lords coming at the end of the age, but that the Christian should be waiting for Him, in a full profession of Christ, and his heart in spiritual order. Such, the Lord will make to sit down as guests, but such for ever, in His Fathers house where He has brought them, and will Himself in love minister the blessing. This love will make the blessings ten thousand fold more precious, all received from His hand. Love likes to serve, selfishness to be served. But He did not come to be ministered to. This love He will never give up.

Nothing can be more exquisite than the grace expressed in these verses, Luk 12:35 and Luk 12:37. [34] On the inquiry of Peter, desirous of knowing to whom Jesus addressed these instructions, the Lord refers him to the responsibility of those to whom He committed duties during His absence. Thus we have the two things that characterise the disciples after the rejection of Christ-the expectation of His return, and service. The expectation, the vigilance that watches with girded loins to receive Him, finds its reward in rest, and in the feast (happiness ministered by Him) at which Jesus girds Himself to serve them; faithfulness in service, by having rule over all that belongs to the Lord of glory. We have seen, besides these special relationships between the walk of the disciples and their position in the world to come, the general truth of the renunciation of the world in which the Saviour had been rejected, and the possession of the kingdom by the gift of the Father.

In that which He says afterwards of the service of those who bear His name during His absence, the Lord also points out those who will be in this position, but unfaithful; thus characterising those who, while publicly exercising ministry in the church, should have their portion with the unbelievers. The secret of the evil that characterises their unbelief would be found in this, that their hearts would put off the return of Jesus, instead of desiring it and hastening it by their aspirations, and serving with humility in the desire of being found faithful. They will say, He is not coming immediately; and, in consequence, they will do their own will, accommodate themselves to the spirit of the world, and assume authority over their fellow-servants. What a picture of that which has taken place! But their Master (for He was so, although they had not truly served Him) would come at a moment whenthey did not expect Him, as a thief in the night; and, although professing to be His servants, they should have their portion with unbelievers. Nevertheless there would be a difference between the two; for the servant who knew his own Masters will and did not make ready for Him, as the fruit of his expectations, and did not perform his Masters will, should be severely punished; whilst he who had not the knowledge of His will should be punished less severely. I have added own to the word Master, according to the original, which signifies a recognised relationship with the Lord, and its consequent obligation. The other was ignorant of the explicit will of the Lord, but he committed the evil which in any case he ought not to have done. It is the history of true and false servants of Christ, of the professing church, and of the world in general. But there cannot be a more solemn testimony as to what brought unfaithfulness into the church, and led to its ruin and approaching judgment, namely, the giving up the present expectation of the Lords coming.

If it shall be required of persons according to their advantages, who will be so guilty as those that call themselves the ministers of the Lord, if they do not serve Him as in expectation of His return?

Nevertheless the Lord, thus rejected, was come to bring conflict and fire on the earth. His presence kindled it even before His rejection, in the baptism of death through which He was to pass, was accomplished. It was not, however, till after this that His love would have full liberty to develop itself in power. Thus His heart, which was love even according to the infinitude of the Godhead, was straitened until the atonement gave free course to it, and to the accomplishment of all the purposes of God, in which His power should be manifested according to that love, and to which this atonement was absolutely necessary as the basis of the reconciliation of all things in heaven and earth. [35] Luk 12:51-53. He shews in detail the divisions that would be the result of His mission. The world would no more endure faith in the Saviour than it did the Saviour Himself, who was its object and whom it confessed. It is well to note how the presence of the Saviour draws out the evil of the human heart. The state described here is in Micah, the description of the most dreadful state of evil conceivable (Mic 7:1-7).

He then addresses Himself to the people, to warn them of the existing signs of the times in which they lived. He puts this testimony on a twofold ground: the evident signs which God gave; and the moral proofs which, even without the signs, conscience ought to acknowledge, and which thus oblige them to receive the testimony.

Be they ever so blind, they are in the way to the judge. Once delivered up, they should not come out till the chastisement of God was fully executed upon them. [36] (compare Isa 40:2).

Footnotes for Luke Chapter 12

33: Observe here, that the heart follows the treasure. It is not, as men say, where your heart is, your treasure is-my heart is not in it; but where your treasure is, there win your heart be also.

34: Here we have the heavenly portion of those who wait for the Lord during His absence. It is the character of the we disciple in his heavenly aspect, as service in his place on earth. Observe also that the Lord was a servant down here. According to Joh 13:1-38 He becomes a servant on ascending to heaven, an Advocate, to wash our feet. In this place He makes Himself a servant for our blessing in heaven. In Exo 21:1-36, if the servant who had fulfilled his service did not wish to go out free, he was brought to the judges, and was fastened to the door by an awl which bored his ear in token of perpetual bondage. Jesus had perfectly accomplished His service to His Father at the end of His life on earth. In Psa 40:1-17 His ears were digged (that is, a body prepared, which is the position of obedience: compare Php 2:1-30). This is the incarnation. Now His service was finished in His life on earth as man, but He loved us too much-He loved His Father too much in the character of servant-to give it up; and at His death His ear, according to Exo 21:1-36, was bored, and He became servant for ever-a man for ever-now to wash our feet; hereafter in heaven, when He shall take us to Himself according to the passage we are considering. What a glorious picture of the love of Christ.

35: It is blessed to see here how, let evil in man be what it may, it after all leads to the accomplishment of the counsels of His grace. The unbelief of man drove back divine love into the heart of Christ, unweakened surely, but unable to flow forth and express itself; but its full effect on the cross made it flow forth unhindered, in grace that reigns through righteousness, to the vilest. It is a singularly interesting and blessed passage.

36: Let us here, in a note, sum up the contents of these two chapters, that we may better understand the instruction they contain. In the first (12) the Lord speaks, in order to detach the thoughts of all from this world-to the disciples, by directing them to Him who had power over the soul as well as the body, and encouraging them with the knowledge of their Fathers faithful care, and His purposes to give them the kingdom; meanwhile they were to be strangers and pilgrims, without anxiety as to all that happened around them-to the multitude, by shewing them that the most prosperous man could not secure one day of life. But He adds something positive. His disciples were to expect Him from day to day, constantly. Not only should heaven be their portion, but there they should possess all things. They shall sit at meat, and He Will Himself serve them. This is the heavenly portion of the church at the Lords return. In service until He comes-service that requires incessant watchfulness; it will then be His turn to serve them. We next have their inheritance, and the judgment of the professing church and of the world. His teaching produced division, instead of establishing the kingdom in power. But He must die. This leads to another subject-the present judgment of the Jews. They were on the road, with God, towards judgment (chap. 13). The government of God would not manifest itself by distinguishing the wicked in Israel through partial judgments. All should perish, unless they repented. The Lord was cultivating the fig-tree for the final year; if the people of God did not bring forth fruit, it spoilt His garden. To make a pretence of the law in opposition to a God present with them (even He who had given them the law) was hypocrisy. The kingdom was not to be established by the manifestation on earth of the Kings power. It should grow from a little seed until it became an immense system of power in the earth, and a doctrine which, as a system, should penetrate the whole mass. On inquiry being made whether the remnant was numerous, He insists upon entrance by the narrow gate of conversion, and of faith in Himself; for many would seek to enter into the kingdom and not be able: when once the Master of the house had risen up and shut the door (that is, Christ being rejected of Israel), in vain should they say that He had been in their cities. Workers of iniquity should not enter into the kingdom. The Lord is speaking here entirely of the Jews. They shall see the patriarchs, the prophets-Gentiles even from all parts-in the kingdom, and themselves outside. Nevertheless the accomplishment of the rejection of Christ did not depend on the will of man, of the false king who sought, by the Pharisees account, to get rid of Him. The purposes of God, and alas! the iniquity of man, were fulfilled together. Jerusalem was to fill up the measure of her iniquity. It could not be that a prophet should perish except at Jerusalem. But then the putting man to the proof in his responsibility closes in the rejection of Jesus. He speaks, in touching and magnificent language, as Jehovah Himself. How many times this God of goodness would have gathered the children of Zion under His wings, and they would not! As far as depended on the will of man, it was complete separation and desolation. And in fact it was so. All was over now for Israel with Jehovah, but not for Jehovah with Israel. It was the prophets part to reckon on the faithfulness of his God and-assured that this could not fail, and that, if judgments came, it would only be for a time-to say, How long? (Isa 6:11; Psa 79:5). Distress is complete when there is no faith, no one to say, How long? (Psa 74:9). But here the great Prophet Himself is rejected. Nevertheless asserting His rights of grace, as Jehovah, He declares to them, unasked, the end of their desolation. Ye shall not see me until ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. This sudden manifestation of the rights of His divinity, and of His divinity itself, in grace, when as to their responsibility all was lost in spite of His gracious culture, is surpassingly beautiful. It is God Himself who appears at the end of all His dealings. We see from this recapitulation that chapter 12 gives us the heavenly portion of the church, heaven, and the life to come; chapter 13 adding to it (with Luke 17:54-59) the government of Israel and of the earth, with the outward form of that which should replace it here below.

Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament

CHAPTER 25

LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES

Luk 12:1. Meanwhile myriads of the multitude, having come together, so that they were treading on one another, He began to speak first to His disciples, Take heed to yourselves from the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Leaven always means corruption, something superinducing fermentation, decomposition, and putrefaction. Here our Savior certifies that the leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy. Now, remember, the Pharisees were the most orthodox, strict, and zealous denomination of the Jewish Church. As hypocrisy means playing the part of an assumed character on the theatrical stage, hence it means playing religion; i.e., externally assuming and conforming to it, while destitute of the inward reality. These Pharisees were sincere and candid, believing that the rites, ceremonies, and external obedience constituted the essence of real and true religion. O how the present age is inundated with the leaven of hypocrisy, having the form without the power, and some even denying the power!

LODGERY

Luk 12:2. There is nothing which has been covered up which shall not be revealed, and hidden which shall not be made known. Therefore so many things as ye spoke in darkness, shall be heard in the light; and whatsoever ye talked about in the ear in secret chambers, shall be revealed upon the housetops. The connection here follows that all the hidden things of hypocrisy mentioned in the preceding verse shall erelong be brought to light and exposed. When the Lord sanctified me, thirty-one years ago, I was a Free Mason and an Odd Fellow. All those things spontaneously evanesced when the Prince of Glory moved in. From that day my heart and life have been open to the inspection of men, angels, and God, and I have had no secrets. The incoming of the Holy Ghost expels all darkness and reveals all secrets.

ALL SHOULD FEAR SATAN

Luk 12:4. But I say unto you, My friends, Be not afraid of them who kill the body, and after these things have no power to do anything more; but I will show you whom you should fear: you should fear him who, after he has killed, has the power to cast into hell. I say unto you, Fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? and one of them is not forgotten before God. But even the hairs of your head are numbered. Fear not, for you are more valuable than many sparrows. All the unregenerate are in Satans kingdom, destined, not only to perish, but to be cast into hell, as he has no other place to put them when they are forced to leave this world at the expiration of this fleeting probation. In connection with these momentous realities, we should here remember the Divine cognizance, taking notice of the smallest matters, even numbering the hairs of the head. Now what is the conclusion from all this? If you are in Satans kingdom, be sure you get out quickly as possible, and then be sure that you stay out, as you are liable any moment, soul and body, to be cast into hell.

CONFESSION

Luk 12:8. But I say unto you, That every one who may confess Me before men, the Son of man will truly confess him before the angels of God; but every one denying Me in the presence of men, shall be denied in the presence of the angels of God. Confess is homologeo, from homos,

like, and logos, speech. Hence it means to speak like God. The Holy Spirit speaks to the sinner, and tells him his awful condition. He should tell it right out, and cry for mercy. Then He speaks to the broken-hearted penitent, and tells him his sins, which were many, are all forgiven; he should tell it out with a free heart. Then He speaks to the regenerated soul, revealing the remains of the carnal mind; this he should confess, going down at the altar for a clean heart. Then He reveals to him the wonderful efficacy of the cleansing blood; this he should freely proclaim to the ends of the earth. Every soul in all the world either occupies the attitude of confession or denial, with the momentous issues pending, involving the destinies of eternity.

UNPARDONABLE BLASPHEMY OF THE SPIRIT

Luk 12:10. Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but to the one blaspheming against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven. Since the Holy Ghost is the Executive of the Trinity on the earth, the Successor of the risen and glorified Savior, administering light to the blind, conviction to the wicked, regeneration to the penitent, and sanctification to the believer, if we speak against Him, or treat His office with contempt, thus grieving Him away, we seal our doom for endless woe, having thus prematurely wound up our probation, and settled our destiny in the regions of rayless night. When they may lead you before synagogues, tribunals, and authorities, be not solicitous how or as to what you may defend yourselves, or what you may say; for the Holy Ghost will teach you in that hour what it behooves you to speak. Jesus saw a wicked world and a fallen Church rising up to persecute His followers, hence the pertinency of this consolatory admonition. We should all profit by it in every case of persecution for Christs sake. Let the Holy Ghost manage it in His own way, patiently and joyfully accepting results.

THE RICH FOOL

Luk 12:13-21. And a certain one of the crowd said to Him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. And He said to him, Man, who has made Me a judge or a divider over you? And He said to them, See and beware of covetousness, because his life is not in that which aboundeth to any one of the things belonging to him. This was a case of financial trouble between two brothers, disagreeing about the division of their patrimony. Hence our Lord turns His discourse to the exposition of avarice. And He spoke a parable to them, saying, The farm of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly. He reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no place where I shall store my fruits? And he said, I will do this: I will take down my barns and build greater, and I will gather there all my fruits and my goods, and will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast many good things laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry. God said to him, Thou fool, this night they shall require thy soul from thee; and to whom shall these things be which you have prepared? So is every one laying up treasure for himself, and not rich toward God. This parable is plain and practical, having myriads of verifications in all ages and nations. Would you see examples? Look around you. They are numerous on all sides, people living simply for this world, with no reference to eternity. Where E.V. says, Thy soul shall be required of thee this night, the correct reading is, They [i.e., the demons all around you] require thy soul of thee this night. All wicked people are encompassed, and even occupied, by these evil demons, whose determination is to precipitate them into hell. In the providence of God, the probation of that rich fool ran out at that time; so the demons, who had pursued him all his life, took him at once to the bottomless pit.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Luk 12:1. There were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people. The Greek is myriads, or ten thousands of people.

Luk 12:5. Power to cast into hell. The Greek is Gehenna, as on Isa 30:33. Mat 5:22.

Luk 12:6. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, two assarions. The assarion was the tenth of a denarion. A farthing, that is, the fourth of a penny, though correct in English, is quite erroneous when applied to the denarion, as in the Greek. Mat 22:19. Mar 12:15. These coins were introduced among the Jews by the Romans.

Luk 12:10. To him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven. Other sins might have apologies, but this sin of ascribing the miracles of Christ to the power of Satan, can have no excuse. Nor do we find from the visitations of God on the nation, that the sin of rejecting the Saviour was forgiven. Yet even in this case we must not limit the Holy One of Israel. Mat 12:31. Mar 3:28. These words are repeated, and it would seem, on another occasion.

Luk 12:13. Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. A just request, no doubt, but the griping brother, who had resisted all private and public application, it is likely, would have resisted the Saviour also, as the injurious Hebrew resisted Moses. The Lord however would not interfere with the civil authorities, in which he has taught ministers prudence in similar matters. But family robbers, who fall under the contempt of the public, can expect no inheritance in heaven, till repentance shall be attended with restitution.

Luk 12:15. Beware of covetousness, the foulest vice that can be fostered in the human breast. It enters deep into the heart, and grows and encreases with years. It fixes an evil eye, and extends a griping hand to that which justly belongs to our neighbour. The victim of this passion, whatever may be his pleasure when boasting against the prodigal, is haunted day and night with jealousies and fears, lest those about him should rob him of his hoards. The severest afflictions of his neighbour will not induce him to untie the strings of his gold; when a sovereign is taken from a thousand pounds, it is a thousand pounds no longer. He is severe with the labourers who have reaped his fields, and denies bread to the faithful pastor, who would resound in his ears, that the covetous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. For once however he does effectual good, and that is the day when he dies.

Luk 12:22. He said to his disciples take no thought, of a distrustful nature, for your life. Christ, after the case of the covetous man, resumes the thread of his discourse, as will be found with remarks, on Matthew 6, 7, 10.

Luk 12:31. Rather seek ye the kingdom of God. See on Mat 6:33.

Luk 12:32. Fear not, little flock. The twelve, and the seventy disciples, who were present, formed but a little flock; but countless multitudes stood behind. The Lord having fortified them against the fears of poverty and persecution, here super-adds the good pleasure of their Father, which is the fountain of grace and glory, and which will withhold no good thing from them that walk uprightly. In the gift of the kingdom of grace in the heart, of blessings in the church, and glory in heaven, all the minor blessings are included.

Luk 12:41. Peter said, Lord, speakest thou this parable to us, who are ministers, or even to all? In Indian eloquence, we have many instances in which the more attentive hearers will venture to ask the orator a question. Our judges take this liberty on proper occasions.

Luk 12:45-46. If that servant say in his heart, my lord delayeth his coming. The bad pastor carries in his breast a climax, a congregation of crimes. He hides from the eyes of omniscience, and disregards his Lords advent. He embroils himself with dogs in the quarrels and passions of life. He indulges in appetite and desire, and becomes revengeful to all who oppose his pleasure. Now, the Lord of the household will punish him strikingly according to his deserts. He shall be cut off by sudden death, when he is not aware; and being a hypocrite in his profession, the Judge shall consign him to the society of hypocrites. Yea, he shall change his cups and songs to weeping and gnashing of teeth; words indicative of anguish and despair, beyond the powers of language to deplore.

Luk 12:49. I am come to send fire on the earth. In Mat 10:34 he said, a sword. His gospel would shake the nations, and be preached amid winds, and storms, and wars, till its regenerating influences should cause wars to cease, persecutions to subside, and the wolf and the lamb to lie down together. This can be effectuated only by the fire of love, and all the graces of the Holy Spirit.

Luk 12:50. I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished. The Lord Jesus had just spoken of the sufferings of his saints in the narrow prejudices and embittered persecutions of the jews, transporting themselves to outrages beyond natural affection; and he now encourages them by the bloody baptism of death, which he was eager to meet.

REFLECTIONS.

We again follow the Redeemer, and hear his didactic words full of grace, and his discourses full of wisdom. All his sayings were pure, and needed neither touch nor polish from the hands of men. The talmud shows us the rabbins of this world, but the gospel is full of the glory of God. Children are sportive and unsettled in their affections and desires, they are fond of the glare of novelty and change. In old age the case is otherwise; men are then fixed in some habitual propensity, whether of piety and wisdom, or whether of drunkenness, covetousness, and other sins. This we find realized in the man whose lands produced an abundant crop; a sensual covetousness absorbed his soul. Now, let it be well observed, that no gross immorality is attached to his character. He defrauded no labourer of his hire, but shed the smiles of employment and labour on all his village. He was therefore applauded for his skill, and regarded as blessed of providence. But see how prosperity embarrassed him. When he saw the golden ear and the teeming crops, he exclaimed, what shall I do? Instead of having a soul as liberal as the gifts of the year, he was distracted with apprehensions of losing much of the gift.

This man totally lost sight of God, of the poor, and of a future world. He sung the sensual requiem, soul take thine ease. Ah, this ease is still the tradesmans fatal rock; whereas God is providing him punishment, not peace. How deplorable then is the condition of men who rest in the enjoyment of earthly comforts, and turn away their hearts from the Lord and giver of all. Their comforts are sensual, which clog and satiate. The soul is dissatisfied and disgusted with life; it is condemned every day to run the hopeless round, and to be resolved to wring a divine pleasure from sordid joys. Oh what a fatal task! Yet it is a task that mortals would not leave; and being confident of long life, they often leave their will unmade, and open the way for those they did not love to inherit all their wealth.

God is very indignant with men who forget him, neglect the poor, and hoard up riches for themselves. While all the world called this man wise, God called him a fool. Whilst he promised himself a paradise of carnal pleasure for half an age at least, the Lord said, This night shall thy soul be required of thee. How terrible is the arrest of death to a soul totally unprepared! It is dragging it away from the prison of the body, to regions of darkness, in fetters which shall never be loosed from their feet.

So is every one that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God. This then is not a solitary but a common case. Millions by a sensual covetousness, and wicked purposes of life, are preparing for themselves the sudden and unexpected vengeance of Almighty God.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Luke 12. A Collection of Sayings taken from Q and arranged in groups with more or less suitable introductions.

Luk 12:1-12. Jesus Encourages His Disciples.(For parallels in Mt. see below.) After a warning against Pharisaism, Jesus exhorts His followers fearlessly to acknowledge Him as their leader and to proclaim His teaching. This may bring trouble upon them, but perfect trust in God will cast out fear.

Luk 12:1. An attempt to connect what follows with ch. 11. Hence the reference to the Pharisees and their leaven (Mar 8:15, Mat 16:6*), which Luke takes to be hypocrisy.

Luk 12:2. Lk. only. Hypocrisy is not only wrong, but useless; a day is coming when all masks will be torn off. In accordance with this statement Lk. gives an altered version of Mat 10:27 (What I tell you in darkness, speak ye in the light, etc.). The early house instruction (Luk 9:4) is to give way to public preaching.

Luk 12:3-9. Cf. Mat 10:27-33*

Luk 12:4 f. The slight changes which Lk. makes are suggestive. Loisy thinks there is a trace here of the belief in judgment immediately after death as in Luk 16:22, Luk 23:43.

Luk 12:8 f. before men, i.e. magistrates.angels of God: Mt. My Father which is in heaven. In Lk. the angels are judges, before whom the Son of Man gives evidence. Does Lk. (cf. Luk 9:26, Mar 8:38) or Q think of the Son of Man as another than Jesus? If so, Mt.s I may be a correction to prevent such a misunderstanding.

Luk 12:10. The saying has a better context in Mar 3:28 f., Mat 12:32*, though Lk.s form is good, and it may be inserted here as encouragement to the disciples. J. Weiss thinks it may originally have come after Luk 12:12; he who blasphemes the Holy Spirit (speaking through the disciples) shall not be forgiven.

Luk 12:11 f. Mat 10:19 f.*. Lk.s form suggests Pauline experiences.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

THE PEOPLE WARNED AGAINST FALSE LEADERS

(vs.1-12)

At a time when the crowd was extremely large, the Lord addressed His disciples “first of all,” warning them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. We have seen that their meticulous formality was only a coverup of inward evil. Why? Because their object was to impress the crowd. How great a danger this is even for true disciples! We like the recognition of others and forget to seek only the approval of God. Let us not be influenced by numbers; but remember continually that God searches the motives of our hearts. All that is covered now will eventually be revealed, the Lord said (v.2), and what is hidden now will yet be known. Let us then keep always in view the day of manifestation, when Christ will be manifested and we also fully manifested before Him. Even what we say will be manifested. Sometimes people have spoken carelessly, not realizing a tape recorder was operating, and they have had to later face the embarrassing words they had spoken. How much more solemn when all shall give account to God for every idle word! Let us remember these things were spoken to disciples. Closely linked with this warning is the fear of man, which is another form of opposition to the grace of God. It is often because of fear that we act like hypocrites. but the limit of man’s persecution is the killing of the body. Believers have no right reason to fear men. God, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell. That power involves the raising of the unbeliever’s body and the judgment of the Great White Throne which results in the torment of the lake of fire. It is God who is really to be feared (v.5). Those who persecute others may think little of this, but how dreadful to think of God mocking when their fear comes (Pro 1:24-31)!

The believer is expected to maintain firm confidence in God, combined with wholesome fear, for this God of great glory numbers the very hairs of our head (v.7). Neither does He forget even the sparrow which has so little value to us. Therefore, He will certainly not forget His own people whose value is greater than many sparrows. Believers have therefore no cause of fear. He encouraged them to confess Him before others, saying that He, the Son of Man, will confess before the angels of God. those who confess Him before men. The term “Son of Man” involves His relationship with all mankind: He is in control over all of them. Blessed incentive for our courage of faith! On the other hand, denial of Him will bring denial of us before the angels. What a test of whether our motives are really for His glory! In confessing Him we make it clear that we are fully on His side.

This leads to another form of opposition to the grace of God, that is, the hatred of Christ by man. The Lord faced this squarely, and all true disciples will find it is true. But we still have no reason to fear, for the Lord is in control. The Son of Man would be spoken against (v.10), for man in the flesh is at enmity against Him. Yet with many who opposed Him there was still definite possibility of conversion and forgiveness. Let us remember this and pray for the conversion of those who act as enemies against us. But one who blasphemed against the Holy Spirit would never be forgiven. Mar 3:28-30 explains this clearly. The scribes had accused the Lord Jesus of casting out demons by satanic power (of which Luk 11:15 also speaks). One who openly and intentionally takes such a stand of callous hatred is blaspheming the Spirit -of God by whom Christ was actually casting out demons. This malicious evil, in the face of every witness to the contrary, would never be forgiven. Such people seal their own doom.

Those who hated Christ would hate believers too. But if believers were arrested to face the Jewish council or magistrates, they were told not to predetermine how they were to answer charges against them, or what they should say. The same Spirit of God who energized Christ would energize them and guide them in their words. For the grace of God is greater than the strongest opposition of hatred.

WARNING AS TO COVETOUSNESS

(vs.13-21)

We next meet with another form of opposition to the grace of the Lord Jesus — the greed of man. This new opposition was occasioned by a man urging the Lord to intercede his man’s brother that he might share an inheritance with him. Whether his brother had gotten it honestly or not we do not know, but this has nothing to do with the involvement of the Lord Jesus in the matter. He was not here as a judge or a dispenser of fair play among men. He was here to declare the truth of God and to save people from their sins.

The Lord addressed the whole company, which would include His disciples, telling them to pay serious attention to be watchful against covetousness (v.15), for true life is not to be measured by the amount a man possesses. Many are deceived by this, with tragic results; and though such results may not be reaped during one’s lifetime, the tragedy will be eternal if one does not turn to the Lord.

The parable the Lord presents in verses 16-20 is surely applicable to a great number of similar cases in our day. A rich man prospered greatly, with practically everything he touched turning to wealth. But rather than asking the Lord what to do with his great possessions, he consulted with himself, and received only a selfish answer. He decided to enlarge his storage facilities so he would have more than sufficient for many years to come. For all those many years he anticipated indulging in every pleasure he desired.

But suddenly, shockingly, his elaborate plans were interrupted the same night. God spoke and called the poor man (no longer rich) a fool, for that night his soul would be required. The unwelcome intrusion of death, for which he was not prepared, would divest him immediately of all his possessions. Whose then would they be? To whom would he be willing to relinquish them? Solemn question for a selfish man! Greed defeats its own ends, for in striving to gain we lose what we strive for. The man had concentrated on treasure for himself, with no conscience toward God, no concern for treasure in heaven. But one who leaves God out of his plans is a fool indeed. The grace of God had no attraction for him, and without this grace he was left destitute for all eternity!

THE DISEASE OF ANXIETY

(vs.22-34)

One may not be so greedy as to want to selfishly amass great riches, and yet may be a victim of worry and anxiety. This too is in reality opposition to the grace of God, yet even a believer often succumbs to it, for it is His disciples to whom the Lord spoke in verse 22. Parents must be concerned as to the needs of their family, and sometimes the future seems extremely bleak due to health problems, lack of employment, money shortage, lack of education etc., but the Lord encourages implicit faith rather than anxious worry. He cannot fail, though needs press heavily. The question is simply, Is the grace of God sufficient for the child of God? The Lord can be depended on to supply His saints with every necessity of life. For the life is more than the things that we think necessary to support it, and God is concerned for every aspect of life. Certainly we should work to support ourselves and our families (2Th 3:10), but worrying is not working.

Even the ravens, unclean birds, totally unadapted to work to store up for the future, are yet fed by God. They have no worry about providing for the future, but find provision as the need arises. It is God who provides for them. It is a pointed object lesson for us, that we should have likewise no anxiety, but simple, unfeigned faith in Him who cares for us with perfect love.

The Lord asked if we can add a cubit (18 inches) to our physical height by worrying. If our anxious thoughts cannot change even the small matters, what is the sense of anxiety in reference to anything? Worry only distresses us and often others too. It can change nothing. Why not then be calm and at peace in trusting the Lord? He has certainly always proven faithful.

As to clothing, the Lord used the example of the lilies, created without ability to work, yet clothed in beauty such as even Solomon with all his wealth was not able to equal. Since God so lavishly gives such beauty to grass, though it exists so briefly, how much more can He be depended on to clothe those whom He has given His Son to redeem!

As to our necessary food and drink for even the immediate future, there is no reason to be in anxious suspense, though we may not see where the provision may come from. In fact, whether our need is met or not, the anxiety will be of no help, though worry is characteristic of the world. Let us remember constantly that our Father knows we have need of all these things if they are necessities, and therefore calmly trust Him and depend on His grace.

More than this, if we seek first the kingdom of God (v.31), that is, the place of honest subjection to His authority, then He will take care of all the details of our needs. In being subject to His authority, we shall have utmost confidence such as will encourage the self-discipline that delights to obey Him. Certainly if we do delight to obey Him we shall not be lazy and forget our responsibility to work in subjection to Him, but we shall trust Him rather than worry.

How few will there be who respond to this call for implicit faith! He calls them a “little flock,” so helpless if left to themselves in a desolate land, and amid enemies. He encourages them, “Do not fear,” for His own hand was with them, and the kingdom is in true reality theirs, given them by the Father’s good pleasure.

The kingdom was not yet publicly manifested, but its inner reality was such as to enable its subjects to sell their property and give alms, for their time on earth was realized as brief, and the exercise of faith was to look forward to a treasure in the heavens. Therefore the disciples were not to hold on to things here, where all could easily be taken away anyway, whether by robbery or by aging and corruption, and for those Jews all was taken by the Romans 40 years later. The same principle holds today: are we using what the Lord has given us for Him or simply to fulfill our greed for the latest fashion, a fancier home, the latest car, etc.?

The heart will be where our treasure — what we count as valuable — is. The treasure in the heavens is certainly Christ, for whom we may wisely “suffer the loss of all things,” as Paul expressed it (Php 3:8). For what sensible person would not be willing to lose what he cannot hold anyway, in order to gain what cannot be lost for eternity?

SERVANTS: FAITHFUL OR UNFAITHFUL?

(vs.35-48)

To value a treasure in heaven encourages our expectation of the coming of the Lord. The waist girded speaks of being prepared for a journey, as Israel was commanded in coming out of Egypt (Exo 12:11), with no loose flowing ends to impede their feet. Eph 6:24 speaks of having our waists girded with truth. Thus it speaks of the truth keeping us in proper self control. The lamps burning pictures the brightness of our testimony before the world that it is Christ whom we serve and for whom we look.

Everything about us should show that we are expectant of the future. Because we wait for our Lord, our character and the actions of our lives should be consistent with the hope we have in Him. So that, “when He will return on occasion of the wedding” (Numerical Bible — F.W.Grant) we will be prepared to gladly welcome Him (v.36). It is not that Christ is coming after the wedding, but in view of the wedding. The marriage supper of the Lamb will take place after the Rapture (Rev 19:7-9). Luke is drawing attention to the moral character that is proper in view of the wedding. But when He knocks — when we have the first indication of His coming, rather than rushing first to make ourselves presentable, we may be fully ready to open immediately — fully prepared to greet Him.

The Lord pronounced a special blessing for those servants whom He finds watching at His coming. He then added that He will gird Himself, seat them at His table, and will come forth to serve them. They have served Him on earth: then He who is the Lord of glory will serve them. Marvelous grace indeed! But it surely emphasizes the noble dignity of true service, providing a blessed incentive for us also to gladly serve Him now.

Though Luke does not directly refer to the Rapture, yet it is evident that the Lord’s coming indicated in verse 38 will be at that time. There were four Roman watches, the evening, the midnight, the rooster-crowing, and the morning (Mar 13:35) But the Lord mentioned only the second and third here. For He will not come as early as impatience might desire; yet not as late as laxity might think. As to history, the midnight watch is now passed, as indicated in Mat 25:6, “And at midnight a cry was heard, ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet Him’.” For centuries believers practically “slept”, not expecting the Lord’s coming, but in the 19th century there was a great awakening to the prospect of that coming. It seems very decisive that this was the midnight cry. Thus we are now we are in the third watch, the rooster-crowing. Thus it appears that He will come for His own in this very watch! For in the fourth watch He will go forth to appear to the remnant of the nation Israel in the turbulence of the great tribulation, as Mat 14:24-25 illustrates. but the rapture will take place before that time, so we may at any moment expect our Lord to come for us.

However, verse 39 speaks differently. Instead of a servant, we read of the goodman of the house, the ruler, and the Lord’s coming is likened to the visit of a thief. He does not come as a thief to the Church, but to the world (1Th 5:2-4). The man here had lost his servant character, and was really part of an ungodly world, whatever his profession might have been. We know from other scriptures that this phase of the Lord’s coming is at least seven years after the Rapture (Dan 9:26-27), but Luke is not concerned with the time element, but with the reality of the Lord’s coming, whether to reward watchfulness or to judge the careless. What the Lord said in verse 40 is manifestly connected with verse 39. His coming as the Son of Man is His coming to the world in judgment, and it will be at an unexpected hour. Of course it is just as true that no-one knows when he will come for the Church, but that coming is not unexpected and we are to be watching!

Peter did not understand these distinctions, and inquired if the Lord spoke the above only for believers or for everyone. The Lord did not answer this directly, for the time had not come to reveal the truth of the Rapture, as it was revealed later to Paul (1Th 4:13-18), though in Joh 14:3 the Lord implied the Rapture but with no reference to the dead in Christ. Here the Lord again drew a line of clearest demarcation between a faithful and wise steward and an unfaithful servant. The first is one whom the Lord has appointed to serve the needs of those in his household. That servant who is faithful to such a charge, not giving up, but continuing till the Lord comes, will be blessed by being given rule over all that He has. “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him” (2Ti 2:12). “He who overcomes shall inherit all things” (Rev 21:7).

The contrary character is seen in verse 45. Though the man was in the place of a servant, he was not a servant at heart, for he has no heartfelt expectancy of the Lord’s coming. Because he was not born of God, he gave up any hope in Christ. He became an apostate. His attitude toward other servants became cruel and hateful, and lost all self-control.

But the Lord will come, and in the case of the faithless servant, judgment will be certain and solemn. We learn later that these two aspects of the Lord’s coming (that for believers and that in judgment of the ungodly) will be at least seven years apart (Dan 9:26-27), but the time is unimportant to Luke compared to the dreadfulness of the punishment of the ungodly, being cut in two and sharing the same awful fate as outright unbelievers who made no profession.

But more seriously still, while many unbelievers are ignorant of the Lord’s will and therefore will be beaten with few stripes, the servant who knew that will and ignored it, will be beaten with many stripes. The end in the Lake of Fire is the same for both, for neither have received the grace of God in Christ, but the measure of punishment will differ according to responsibility. The one who has been more privileged is more responsible and must answer for his irresponsibility. The unbeliever may not know the scriptures at all, but is generally responsible for not wanting or trying to know, for he does have the testimony of creation and of conscience for which he is responsible.

CHRIST’S PRESENCE BRINGING FIRE TO THE EARTH

(vs.49-53)

The coming of the Lord Jesus in incarnation was the bringing of fire on the earth. This is the fire of God’s holiness seen in discerning judgment, which indeed will be more publicly manifest in a coming day when the eyes of the Lord will be “as a flame of fire” (Rev 1:14). But the Lord’s own ministry discerned things that differed, and the fire was already kindled, either to burn into souls the self-judgment that was proper, or to give them the forewarning of the fire of God that would judge them.

The Lord would be exposed to judgment — the judgment of God for us — in the “baptism” that awaited Him — of the solitary agony of the death of the cross where He bore our sins (1Pe 2:14). For this purpose He had come, and was “distressed,” that is, strictly confined by limits that kept death always as the end in view so far as earth was concerned. He would bear a judgment such as no one else ever could — the judgment that was due to our sins.

Did people suppose that His coming was to bring peace on earth? (v.51). It was not so. Though angels had announced at His birth, “on earth peace” (Luk 2:14), yet this offered peace was refused by mankind in their rejection of Christ, and peace will not come now until the millennial kingdom. Meanwhile there is a sharp and solemn division between those who receive Him and those who do not. This division would be not only in nations or cities, but in families, with closest relatives divided against each other. We know this will continue through all this day of grace. This division should be expected if one servant is faithful and devoted and another one careless and irresponsible.

SIGNS TO BE DISCERNED

(vs.54-57)

Verses 54 to 57 show that the evidence of division was already present although not all had spiritual eyes to see. The crowds were proficient in discerning the signs of the weather; yet when the signs of more serious storms of the judgment of God were most evident, many people were blinded to this. The presence of the Lord Jesus had revealed both the grace and the truth of the heart of God, and the sin of mankind that opposed the truth of God. Certainly the solemn issues raised by such a confrontation would not just go away: the day of accounting and recompense must come. In fact, there was here a matter of simple righteousness which people’s consciences ought to have discerned and judged without difficulty, but instead they made the Son of God their adversary by opposing Him. If they were wise they would have had this matter between them and Him settled before He charged them with an accusation that would mean their eternal judgment.

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 1

In the mean time, when, &c., that is, at a time, when. The evangelists do not observe the same order in arranging the accounts which they give. The various instructions contained in this chapter are recorded by the other evangelists as having been given, respectively, on several different occasions.–Leaven; spirit.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

CHAPTER 12

Ver. 1.-In the mean time when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people. The Greek has “the myriads of the multitude.” A myriad contains exactly ten thousand, and is consequently taken for an innumerable multitude, as here.

Ver. 2.-Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees. Beware, says Bede, that you do not imitate the hypocrites, for the time will certainly come when both your virtue and their hypocrisy will be revealed to all. I have explained the remainder on Mat 10:26.

Ver. 13.-And one of the multitude said unto Him. My brother is injuring me, for he wishes to seize the whole of our father’s property, and he will give me no share of it. Command him therefore to do me justice, for Thou by Thy authority canst do this with a word, which I cannot effect by many suits and much litigation. For it is Thy office to defend the right and assist the oppressed, for Thou art the Lord of justice.

Ver. 14.-But He said unto him, Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you? The word “man” is a Hebraism for an unknown person, as in Luke 22:58, Peter said, “Man, I am not,” and Luk 22:60, “Man, I know not what thou sayest.” The meaning is, This is a matter of the courts which dispose of secular questions: it has no part in Me, who teach and dispense a heavenly heritage. Christ does not here deny that He has judicial power, for He was the King of kings and the Lord of lords; but He wished to use His power over a covetous man to cure him of his greed, and to teach him to prefer heavenly to earthly things, and to give way willingly to them, according to His own words, vi. 29, “From him that taketh away thy cloke withhold not thy coat also.” “He rightly sets aside earthly things,” says S. Ambrose, “who came down to us for heavenly ones. Hence this brother is rebuked not undeservedly, for he would fain have occupied the dispenser of heavenly things with those of earth.” At the same time He taught that ecclesiastics and spiritual persons ought not to meddle with secular things, but to employ themselves in divine ones, as S. Paul says, 2Ti 2:4, “No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life.” So S. Ambrose, Euthymius, Bede, and de Lyra from S. Augustine (serm. 196)-that is, unless the faithful have any suit; secular Bishops in former ages used to settle these, as S. Augustine says that he has done. Lib. de Opere Monachor, c. 29.

And He said to them, “as well to His disciples,” the Syriac says, “as to the multitude,” especially to him who had spoken about his brother dividing the property, Take heed. In this contention of brothers how much ill was caused by avarice. Whilst one from avarice refused to divide the inheritance, the other, with too much cupidity and out of all season, urged the division. Strife and dissention arose among them. Not only should we guard against the lust of seizing what is another’s, but also from too great cupidity to get possession of what is our own, for they who are too eager for earthly riches, neglect heavenly ones. S. Augustine, in his 28th Sermo. De diversis: “Not only is he avaricious who seizes what is another’s, but he also who covetously keeps his own.” The Arabic has, “See and beware of all evil-for avarice is the cause of all evil,” as in 1Ti 6:10, “The love of money is the root of all evil.”

For a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. That is, it is not because a man abounds in riches that his life is abundant, so as to be longer and happier on that account, for it is shortened and made unhappy from the anxiety and luxury which attend upon great wealth. The Syriac version has, “Life is not in the abundance of riches;” the Arabic, “Man has not abundance in his much wealth”-that is, abundance does not prolong our lives, but rather shortens them. Theophylact says, “The measure of life is not contained in its abundance. For he who has great possessions does not live longer for them, nor does length of life attend upon the multitude of his riches;” and Euthymius, “Not because a man abounds in riches, does his life abound from such abundance. The measure of his life does not depend upon this.” The meaning is, Thou, 0 man, who greedily seekest a heritage from thy brother, seekest it that thou mayest live long and comfortably. But thou errest; for the rich, from their cares and the gluttony they indulge in, often pass short and miserable lives. If thou wouldest live long and profitably, despise money, be poor in spirit, entrust thy hopes and wealth to God alone, for He is the only giver of length of life and happiness. To show this Christ adds the following parable. S. Augustine, On Abel and Cain, i. 5, at the end: “If thou seek treasures, choose the unseen and hidden, those which are to be found in the highest heavens, not sought in the veins of the earth. Be poor in spirit and thou shalt be rich by every reckoning; for the life of man consists not in the abundance of his wealth, but in virtue and faith. These riches make us rich indeed, if we be rich in God.”

Ver. 16.-And He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. The ground in the Greek () means a large extent of land, a number of fields.

And he reasoned with himself saying, What shall I do? &c. Behold the care, behold the poverty of this rich man-he who is overflowing with wealth and receptacles has need of some place in which to store his goods. He is in doubt and perplexity, says Euthymius, as if he were really poor, though he is in truth wealthy. And S. Basil, in his homily on these words of Christ: “The earth did not return fruits but lamentations; for this unhappy man is afflicted quite as much as they who are oppressed by want, and he cries out saying, ‘What shall I do?’ Does not he who is in straits from his poverty utter the same words? and he who has to beg?” From all the good things that flowed in upon him he derived no gratification. They rather annoyed his mind and troubled him.

Ver. 17.-My fruits. “Did he not,” says S. Basil, “collect his crops and incur the reputation of avarice when he called them his own?” For how many dangers are there before the harvest is gathered in. The hail often beats it down, and the heat snatches it out of the very grasp, and rains suddenly rush down from the mountains and sweep it away.

Ver. 18.-And he said, This will I do, I will pull down my barns, &c. All the harvests collected in past years. He took counsel of his cupidity, not of his charity, which would have said to him, “Spend them on the poor.” “Dost thou want barns? Thou hast them in the bellies of the poor,” says S. Basil; and S. Ambrose (Lib. de Naboth, cap. vii.), “Thou hast storehouses; the bosoms of the poor, the houses of widows and orphans, the mouths of infants. Let these be thy barns, and they will last thee for ever.” S. Basil again, in the homily above: “He is a despoiler who, when he receives what he ought to dispense, considers it as his own. The bread thou hast is the bread of the famishing, thy robe is the robe of the naked, thy silver that is buried in the ground is the silver of the indigent: wherefore dost thou wrong so many poor whom thou mightest support?” He adds, “And, when thou hast filled thy barns, what wilt thou do with the harvest of the following year? Wilt thou pull them down again and build new ones for ever? Thou wilt always be consuming thy substance and thy wealth in pulling down the old and building new, that the fruits which sprang from the earth may return to it again. Thou wilt not bestow them upon the poor, because thou enviest others the use of them, and thus, when earth restored them again to thee, thou deprivest all men of their benefit, nay even thyself; for as corn, falling into the ground, brings gain to the sower, so thy bread, if thou gavest it to the hungry, would bring thee much profit hereafter.”

And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. This rich man again errs and commits sin. First, in promising himself very many years, when he was to die that night. He who promised himself a long life did not see the following day,” says S. Gregory (22 Moral chap. 6). And S. Cyril, in the Catena, “Thou hast fruits in thy barns, 0 rich man, but whence hast thou many years?” Secondly, in giving himself up to gluttony and luxury, saying, “Eat, drink, and be merry like an Epicurean.” For after death is no enjoyment.

Take thine ease. To the plague of avarice is joined that of sloth, says the Gloss. “If you had the soul of a sow,” says S. Basil, “what else could you propose for yourself?-you are so brutish, so ignorant of the soul’s good, that you indulge it in carnal gratification.” Being wholly of the flesh, you make yourself a slave to its lusts. An appellation worthy of you, was bestowed upon you, “Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee.”

S. Ambrose (Lib. ii. de Interpell. in Job c. 5) says wisely, “A great incitement to fall away is an influx of prosperity. It makes us supine, puffs us up, causes forgetfulness of its author.”

Ver. 20.-But God said unto him. God said this, not in word but in deed, sending him a fever or some other mortal disease, and causing his conscience by this means to speak thus to him. “God said this to the rich man,” says Euthymius, “through his conscience, which, as he felt death coming upon him, said this to him.”

Thou fool. Because in thy plan, in which thou appearedst to thyself wise, thou now perceivest that thou wast a fool.

This night. “His soul, which would take no heed of light, and which was tending on to Gehenna, was taken in the night.” Gregory, Moral., lib. xv. xi. II.

Shall be required. (Repetunt, , Greek). They require: that is, God and His angels, who are His instruments, not by misfortune but by the just judgment of God, as if against His will.

Thy soul. “That thou mayest give account of all thy fruits and of the riches and other property which God has given to thee.” So Toletus. They seek it again, because thy soul does not die with the body, but is immortal; thy soul, too, is not thy own, but God’s, who breathed it into thee and entrusted it to thee as a sacred gift. Rightly, therefore, does He now seek it of thee again by a sudden death. Hear S. Jerome on the death that is imminent on all (Ep. iii. to Heliodorus): “Xerxes, that most mighty king, who overthrew mountains, who controlled seas, when he had viewed from a lofty place an infinite multitude of men and an immense army, is said to have wept, because after a hundred years none of those whom he then saw would be surviving. Oh, if we could ascend such a tower from which we could see the whole earth under our feet! I would show you the ruins of the world-nations in strife with nations-kings with kings-and, not the army of Xerxes alone, but the inhabitants of the entire globe, who are now alive, in a short space of time, passed away.”

And the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? “They shall not only not belong to thee,” says Euthymius, “they shall not be thine; but thou dost not know whose they will be-whether thy heir’s or a stranger’s, a friend’s or an enemy’s;-and this increases thy grief.” S. James says, “They shall eat your flesh as fire” (v. 3); and S. Ambrose, “The things that we cannot carry with us are not our own. Virtue alone is the companion of the dead. Mercy alone follows us-and mercy alone gains abodes for the departed.” S. Augustine: “The purse contains that which Christ receives not” (Hom. 48, inter. 50). Well says the wise man, “What fortune has lent let her take, what nature has changed let her seek again, what virtue has gained she will retain.” See what I have collected from the Fathers on vanity and the perniciousness of riches on Isaiah v. 9.

Ver. 21.-So is he that layeth up treasure for himself. Such an end and such a death did the rich covetous man meet who had not laid up treasure toward God. It will be asked, Who is rich towards God? I answer-He who has by alms and other good works many merits and safeguards hidden up as treasures before God, and who day by day hides more, as the apostle teaches at length, 1Ti 6:17 and following. See what is said thereon.

Secondly, “He is rich in God who studies to please God alone, who fixes all his hope and love on God, who rests wholly on Him, that he may be blessed by Him and made eternally happy.” “He is rich,” says the Gloss, “whose expectation is the Lord, and whose substance is with God.” “The rich in God,” says S. Augustine, “is poor in gold” (Serm. xxviii. de verb. Apostoli)-that is, poor in spirit, as St. Peter was when he said to the lame man, “Silver and gold have I none; but what I have, that I give thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk,” Act 3:6 On Ps. xl. he says, “When Christ was rich He became poor, that by His poverty He might make you rich. He enriches the truly poor, He brings the falsely rich to poverty. ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,'” Mat 5:3. “Let us endeavour,” says Theophylact, “to be made rich in God, that is, to have trust in Him, that He may have our wealth and the granary of it, and not call our goods our own but God’s, and if they are God’s, let us not deprive Him of His own. This is to be rich in God, to believe that if I give Him all things and empty myself, nothing that is needful for my good shall ever fail me. God is my storehouse, which I will open and take from it all of which I have need.”

Thirdly, He who is rich, that is liberal, in God, is charitable to the poor. For what is done to them God holds to be done to Himself and rewards it. “Let him,” says Bede, “who wishes to be rich in God, not lay up treasure to himself, but distribute his possessions among the poor.” The meaning is good, but it is not complete: for Christ is not speaking here exclusively of almsgiving, but of the true riches, which He declares to be not the fruits of the ground and the wealth of mines, but virtues and good works, for these procure us long life and blessing, as well in this world as in the world to come.

Fourthly, S. Augustine, in his 44th Discourse on the Temptation, teaches that “he is rich to God who is full of love and therefore of God.” “God is love and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him,” 1 John iv. 16. “If you have love you have God. What has the rich man if he have not love? If a poor man have love, what has he not? You think him rich perhaps whose chest is full of gold; and is he not so whose conscience is full of God? He is truly rich in whom God deigns to dwell.” S. Augustine.

Lastly, The rich man toward God is one who abounds in every virtue. So S. Ambrose explains at length (lib. iv. epis. 27), to Simplicianus, whose words I have cited on 1 Peter iii. 4, “That which is not corruptible, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”

In allegory. The rich toward God are the blessed who enjoy God and all His works. S. Augustine (Serm. 74 de Temp.) teaches that the blessed alone are happy, both because they possess God, and want nothing. “He,” he says, “is truly rich who wants nothing, but the blessed alone want nothing-the blessed alone are truly happy.” He says in the preface of Psalm xli., “Christ was rich to the Father, and poor to us-rich in heaven, poor on earth-rich as God, poor as man.”

S. Ambrose in his Epistle to Demetrias, wisely says, “By what price can the repose of this world be more fitly purchased than by the restoration to the world itself of all riches, all dignities, and all desires; and the purchase of Christian liberty by a holy and happy community by which the sons of God, from having been poor will be made rich, from patient will become brave, from humility be exalted?”

Ver. 29.-Neither be ye of doubtful mind. (The Greek and the Vulgate say, “Be ye not lifted up on high.”) Cornelius comments on this reading, this passage is explained in many different ways. S. Clement of Alexandria (Pd. lib. ii. 10) says, “Be not led away from the truth to wish for a higher wisdom than faith teaches.”

Secondly, S. Augustine (Lib. ii. Qust. 29, Evang. Qust.): “Be not puffed up with pride because you have much food and clothing. For to be proud of having abundance of provision, is like a wounded man boasting that he has many plasters at hand, when it would have been well for him not to have needed any.”

Euthymius: “Be not dragged down from lofty and heavenly concerns to earthly ones, so as to study and pursue not the former but the latter.” Theophylact: “Be not unstable, always imagining what is above you, as they do who are not content with the present but are always looking on to something greater.”

Fifthly and best: Be not anxious about the heavenly bodies over your head-the constellations of the stars and their courses-the shifting of the clouds-the breath of the winds, so as to judge from them of the future abundance or deficiency of your crops; as in Jer. x. 2, “Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them;” and Ecc 11:4, “He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.” So Toletus, Vatablus, &c. Vatablus says, “Be not uneasy, as one who turns his face askance to the heavens from anxiety.” Be not wavering in your minds as a pendulum in the air, looking to human assistance in different directions, and not anchoring on the providence of God.” The Arabic version says, “Be ye not anxious.” For all things point in this direction, that Christ will remove from us too great anxiety as to our support and clothing, and will impress on us a sure confidence in God by which to look with certainty to His Fatherly providence for all these things. The Greek word conveys the idea of one whose mind is in doubt and suspense and is unfixed, who will judge by the result, and is, as Gaza calls it, “wavering” (pensilis). Others render it, “Do not look out from afar off,” or as we commonly say, Do not make a long discursus, as though you would have no room for a Divine Providence, or as if you doubted of it. And F. Lucas: Be not over-anxious, as looking out with anxiety for what may happen in the far distant future, and taking thought long before for your future bodily needs, and looking forward in the distant times to come with solicitude about your food and clothing, as S. Matthew clearly explains it, ‘Be not therefore anxious for the morrow,'” Mat 6:34. All these words tend to the same point, forbidding us to show too great anxiety for the future, and directing us to resign it into the hands of Providence; to trust in it and securely rest upon it. Following this precept of Christ, S. Thomas wished and ordered all his brotherhood to live for the day and reserve nothing for the morrow, but to give what was over and above their day’s need to the poor; as being confident that God would provide for the morrow, as He did to Elijah and Paul the first hermit, sending them food daily by a raven; and as the children of Israel, who were certainly three millions, were fed daily in the desert with manna sufficient for their support, which was rained down upon them from heaven for forty years, while their clothes remained undamaged and perfect and even grew with the growing children.

Ver.32.-Fear not, little flock. Fear not lest your food and raiment fail you, and lest, if you lay aside all anxiety and sell your goods and give to the poor, these things should not be added to you; if you seek firstly the kingdom of God. “Little flock,”-little, because, firstly, the faithful were so few and these poor either in position and property, or in election and feeling, or in spirit; for they despised the riches of the world that they might strive after those of heaven, and therefore, they were little in the eyes of the world, they were of no account, and were despised. But now that the faith of Christ has so spread throughout the whole world, that kings and princes are subdued to it, it is no longer a little flock but a most ample and powerful church. Secondly, the flock of faithful men is little if compared with the angels who are without number, says Euthymius, according to the words, Dan 7:10, “Thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.”

Thirdly, The flock is little if compared with the immense multitude of unbelievers and wicked. Bede adds, “It is called a little flock either on account of its humility or in comparison with the greater number of the reprobate. Then all the faithful, from the example of Christ, will willingly reduce themselves to Christian humility and poverty, especially the apostles and disciples of Christ. Hence Christ says, ‘Sell that thou hast.'” It appears that “flock” (pusillus) is here put in the nominative instead of the vocative as is done in other passages. This nominative is more forcible and significant than the vocative would be. Wherefore, although we might explain it by adding something, e.g., Fear not, you who are a little flock, that the nominative might remain, yet the nominative is more tersely and strongly put for the vocative by adding nothing. Fear not then, 0 ye faithful, for although you are a little flock, God estimates you highly, and has a great and peculiar care of you, and Christ the Lord is your shepherd, who will feed you abundantly, according to the words, “I am the good Shepherd” (S. Joh 10:2), and the others (Psa 23:1-2), “The Lord is my shepherd, therefore can I lack nothing!-“He shall feed me in a green pasture, and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort.” S. Peter Chrysologus (serm. xxii.). “A small flock to the world is a large one to God;” and (xxiii.) “Humility has gained what pride lost, and the little flock has subdued entire and various savagenesses (nations) by its meekness; for the little flock conquered and destroyed as many kinds of beasts as it subdued nations to the yoke of Christ. It did this not by bearing but by suffering, not by fighting but by dying for Christ.”

It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. To you who are not slow, not idle, not presuming on the mere mercy of God, but who hear My words and truly obey them; who therefore bear your cross after Me, mortify your passions, and are continually zealous in good works. “To give,” not absolutely, but upon conditions-namely, that you persevere in My faith and love and in obedience even to death-for to Judas, who afterwards apostatised from Christ, the kingdom was not given. Christ gives the reason why the disciples, though a little flock and poor, should not fear lest needful things should be withheld from them, for He says, “Since God so loved you as to destine you for heavenly riches and the kingdom of God, He will assuredly not refuse you these worthless earthly riches, as far as they are necessary for your journey towards the kingdom of heaven, and that you may adorn it by your life and conversation.” So S. Cyril, in the Catena, “He who has given you gifts of such great price, how will He be not merciful to you but suffer you to perish of hunger?”

Ver. 33.-Sell what ye have, and give alms. This is a counsel, not a precept, as Pelagius would have it, who said that all Christians ought to be poor, from the precept of Christ. This is shewn by the words of Christ (Mat 19:21), “If thou wouldst be perfect, go sell that thou hast and give to the poor.” That you may study evangelical perfection, sell what you possess and give the price to the poor, that you may follow Me who am poor in spirit in a like poverty, and with me despise earthly riches, that so you may obtain heavenly ones. Do this with the end that you may show yourselves not anxious for food and raiment, but that you depend solely on God, and look to Him for all those needs of life which He Himself has promised to all who seek His kingdom. For this reason the first Christians, following the counsel of Christ, sold all that they had and laid the price at the feet of the apostles, that they might distribute them among the poor believers (Acts ii 3, 4). So Bede: “Fear not that you will lack the needful things of life, but rather sell what you possess for alms. This is done worthily when he who lives by the labour of his hands, despises all things, and gives alms.”

Provide yourselves bags which wax not old. Wax not old, and from which, therefore, the coin of spiritual alms cannot drop out and be lost, as the money of the world often falls from the old and worn-out purses of the rich. The purses that wax not old are the bosoms of the poor, and more especially the mind and memory of God, in which He keeps as in a purse your alms and good works, that He may return you the most ample rewards for them in the day of judgment. This He Himself explains, adding, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief draweth near, neither moth destroyeth. From this Chrysologus rightly concludes, “What have they to do with the earth who possess heaven-what with human affairs who have gained divine ones-unless, perhaps, they find pleasure in lamentations, choose labours, delight in dangers, love the most cruel deaths, and find the evil things that are brought upon them more pleasing than the good ones?”

Ver. 34.-For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. This is a conclusion from the former, showing why our Lord said, “Sell that ye have,” namely, that you may show that your heart is not in your money but in heaven. If, therefore, you place your treasure gained by alms-giving in heaven, you will show that your heart is fixed in heaven, not on earth-in God, not in gold. For a man’s treasure is that which he loves-holds dear-values at a great price, on which he rests his hopes. See Mat 6:20.

Verses 35, 36.-Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord when he will return from the wedding. The Syriac says, “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning.” So the Arabic, Egyptian, thiopic and Persian. Christ had said that it pleased the Father to give them the kingdom. Sell therefore what you possess, and give alms, that you may, by this means, purchase this kingdom. He now urges them diligently to prepare for it as being at hand, and girding their loins, and casting aside every care, to enter upon and take possession of it. That is, Be you prepared and furnished with all graces, and good works, and merits, especially almsgiving and contempt of riches, that when Christ our Lord from heaven, and His heavenly marriage and joys, returns to you in death to judge your souls, you may meet Him and be found worthy by Him of heaven, and be brought thither by Him. He alludes to the Eastern custom as among the Hebrews and Syrians, of wearing long robes, which they used to tuck up when travelling or at work, that they might not be in their way. (1Ki 18:46; Tobit 5:5.)

Mystically. We gird our loins when we restrain the luxury of the flesh by abstinence (continentiam), says S, Gregory (Hom. xiii.), and S. Augustine (Serm. xxxix. de Verb. Dom.), S. Basil on Isa xv., Bede, and others. Chrysologus (serm. xxiv.) says, “He commands us to gird our loins by the belt of purity, and to bind our whole body in the zone of virtue, that we may go forth quickly and expeditiously to meet our Lord at His coming.”

We may either unite the two verses 35 and 36 into one, with Maldonatus, making them contain one and the same parable, or we may disjoin them like Jansenius so as to make them contain two-one, the lamps burning; the other, the servants expecting their lord from the wedding.

Hence this sentence is differently explained by different persons, for those who gird themselves are divers-workmen, ministers, travellers, messengers, soldiers, porters, eremites, and their girdles are divers. Workmen are girt with the girdle of labour-ministers, of their ministry-travellers and messengers, of the road-soldiers, of warfare, whose is the girdle of hardness-porters, of constancy and patience-eremites, of abstinence, mortification, and penance.

Firstly, Of labourers girding their loins to their work, Theophylact speaks thus: “Be your loins girded;” that is, be ye ready in all ways for the work of your Lord, “and your lamps burning in your hands;”-that is, labour not in the dark and without judgment, but take the light of the word, which will show you what is and what is not to be done-for this world is night.” So Euthymius and Titus, meaning, “Be you ready to every good work.”

Secondly, Of those who minister to Christ and those who are poor through almsgiving (to which the words immediately preceding apply) some explain it as follows-Gird up your loins, that you may be swift and nimble to minister to Christ and His poor. On this subject there is related a notable vision in the life of John the almsgiver, who was always very ready to give to any one who asked aims of him (chap. xxix.), when a certain noble was slower than usual in giving a loan, he was taught by a vision of a hundred-fold remuneration to be quicker.

Thirdly, Of travellers girding up their loins for a journey. Some explain it thus: Gird up your loins, that you may be expeditious on your journey to heaven, from which the Word has gone before, for a grand way to it remains for you. S. Peter, Epist. 1, chap. I, 13-15, alludes to the exodus (hence called Pasch) of the Israelites. from Egypt into the promised land, which was a figure of the saints passing from earth into heaven. For God thus commanded and directed the Hebrews in the eating of the paschal lamb which was to be sacrificed for their happy journey. “Thus shall ye eat it, with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand” (as if girded to begin a journey), “and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover.” The same has to be done by Christians in mystery. See what I have said thereon.

Fourthly, Messengers and legates gird their loins that they may be the swifter in performing their office. The angels who are the messengers of God, are therefore painted with their loins girded to show that they are swift and nimble to perform the commandments of God; according to the words, “Who maketh His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire.” Heb 1:7. Christ therefore says, “0 ye apostles and disciples, gird ye your loins, that you may be my messengers throughout the whole world-proclaiming the faith of the Gospel to Greeks, Romans, Italians, Gauls, Spaniards, Indians, Brazilians, Japanese, Chinese, &c. Behold I send you: Go ye therefore, eagerly, swiftly, and ardently like angels,” as Isaiah, “Go ye swift messengers to a nation scattered and peeled ” Isa 18:2, and Isa 52:7, which S. Paul cites to the Rom 10:15, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace.”

Fifthly, Soldiers and athletes gird their loins that they may fight with more strength and courage. So do you also, 0 Christians, gird your loins with the girdle of strength and fortitude, that as ministers of Christ you may fight boldly against the devil, the flesh, and the world, and conquer and triumph, as S. Paul to the Ephesians, “Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness.” On which I have commented at length. David also: “Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle,” Ps. xviii 39 and Job, “Gird up now thy loins like a man” xxxviii. 3; and Ex. xii. II, “Your loins girded,” for they went armed as to take possession of the promised land. Hence Origen (Hom. ix. in lib. Judic.) thinks that allusion is here made to the army of Gideon who went up girded against the Midianites (Judg. vii.).

Sixthly, The porters, that they may be strong to carry heavy burthens, gird their loins. So, 0 ye faithful, do ye gird your loins with the girdle of patience that you may bear all adverse accidents with nobleness. So Cyril, in the Catena, “Be ye prompt to bear misfortunes.”

Seventhly, The continent, that they may overcome the flesh and resist with success all the wicked incitements of lust, gird themselves with the girdle of continence, that is of self-abnegation and mortification, by which they reject all the wicked desires that are continually arising from concupiscence-and refuse them, and mortify them, and cut them off. So Simeon the Stylite. He tortured himself to such a degree by a knotted cord that the head (prfectus) of his monastery undid it, and dismissed him from the monastery, lest the weaker brethren should endeavour to follow his example, and from their failure become a disgrace. We have this from his disciple S. Antony, and from Theodoret, in their lives of him.

And your lamps burning. Christ, commanded us to be ready, with loins girt, for good works, and for our passage to heaven. He now fitly requires our lamps to be burning, for these are needed by night whether for work or for taking a journey. For this, our life is a mystical night, and is full of ignorance, errors, and the darkness of concupiscence; so that we have need of light and lighted lamps, that we travel on in that night and perform our work. He alludes especially to the marriage feast, which was celebrated at night with torches. That is, as in the night-time the servants await their lord on his return from his marriage with lighted torches, and go before him, so do ye watch and await me as I return to you from heaven by death, and go before me with spiritual torches, for you know not the day and hour of your death and the coming of Christ to judgment. If you know this you will be prepared and expect Him every hour, for so the virgins with their lamps lighted await the bridegroom. Mat 25:1 This parable of Luke is mostly the same as that of Matthew.

If it be asked what the lighted lamps signify, Theophylact answers, “Firstly, they signify that we ought to have the light of reason and discretion to distinguish what we ought to do and how we ought to do it; and secondly, we should have faith, burning with love and fervour of spirit, for this will show us what to do and what to avoid, will urge us to lofty acts of virtue and incite us to teach others the way of faith and salvation, and inspire them with the love of God, and not suffer any to live in the darkness of ignorance and sin.” So S. Augustine (serm. xxxix.) on the words of the Lord; and so S. Jerome, or whoever is the author, on Jeremiah i., who says, “that to hold a lamp in the hand is the same as to preach the Gospel.”

Mystically. “These things” says Clestine, “have their own mysteries. For in the girding of the loins is shown purity: in the staff, pastoral rule; in the lighted lamps, the brightness of good works” (Epist. ii ad Episc. Gall.) S. Gregory also, in his 13th homily, understands by the shining lamps, good examples. We hold lighted lamps in our hands, he says, when by our good works we show examples of light to our neighbours. Two things are commanded us, to have our loins girded and our lamps lighted, as are innocence and purity of body, and the light of truth in our actions, for purity is of little value without a good life, or a good act without chastity.

S. Augustine again (Lib. ii. Qust. Evan.): “Girt loins means abstinence from secular affairs, lighted lamps, the doing of the same thing with a true object and right intention.” “The lighted lamps,” says S. Maximus, “are prayer, contemplation, and spiritual love.” Lastly, Origen (Hom. 9 on Judges) thinks that allusion is here made to the torches of the army of Gideon, and that as their sudden discovery terrified the Midianites, so the apostles and martyrs, when their bodies had been shattered and broken by martyrdom, began to shine forth by their miracles, by which the persecutors were put to flight, and thus their doctrine and holiness shone throughout the world. As is clearly explained by Bede in his questions on the book of Judges, and Gregory at length, 30 Moral. chap. xxxii, and following; see Judges vii.

In your hands. These words are not found in the Greek, Syriac, and Arabic; nor in the Greek Fathers, Origen, Clement, Cyril, Chrysostom, S. Basil, Titus; nor in the Latins, S. Ambrose, Cyprian, Hilary, and Augustine (Serm. xxxix.) But S. Gregory has them in his 13th Homily, Irenus (lib. iv. cap. 72), and S. Jerome, on Eph. xvi. and Jer. i., as also the codices of the Holy Scriptures, corrected at Rome. “In your hands,” therefore, means in your possession, that they may shed light on your works. Again, it means, that with their lamps in their hands they should go as His servants to meet Christ their Lord. From these words of Christ has arisen the custom of placing in the hands of the faithful, when in their last agony, lighted and blessed candles of wax, to show that they are going to meet Christ with faith and burning love and to excite them to it. So Amalarius, Rabanus and others who have written on Ecclesiastical Offices.

S. Cyril adds, in his fourth book on Worshipping in Spirit and in Truth, “Having your feet shod;” but no other has it, and therefore S. Cyril seems to have inadvertently copied it from S. Paul, Eph 6:15.

Ver. 36.-And be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord. This is the third precept of Christ, or rather the third part of the same precept. The first was to have their loins girt, the second to have their lights shining, the third to look for their lord. The first two are referred to this. The meaning is, Be you so prepared and ready as servants who expect their lord by night, that is, watchful, with loins girt and lamps burning. Hence Maldonatus thinks that this parable is one and identical, but consisting of three parts. Jansenius thinks that it is diverse; but it comes to the same thing, for, as I have said, this is another and the third part of the parable to which the other two tend and are directed. “They await their lord” says Toletus, “as those who, thinking themselves strangers, burn with the desire for Christ, and frequently, nay, continually think of Him-have their minds fixed on Him; for His love and hope bear adversity and all kinds of calamities with patience; fear to offend Him as having Him at length come to them, before their eyes; despise without difficulty whatever does not make for His coming; delight in whatever they know to be pleasing to Him; hold temporal things of small account because of their hope of eternal ones.”

Symbolically, The above words, “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord,” teach us (1.) That here we are as strangers journeying on to the heavenly kingdom. (2.) That we ought to outshine all others in virtue. (3.) That we should fix our hopes on the heavens, according to the words of 1 S. Peter ii. 11, 12, and 1 i. 13.

Again, S. Augustine (serm. 39 de Verbis Domini), asserts that these are the three subjects on which S. Paul exhorted Felix (Acts xxiv.) “Paul,” he says, “taught continence, justice, and eternal life, for in these is contained the sum of the evangelical life.” Secondly, in them are shown the three duties of the apostolic life: Firstly; the loins girded show that the Apostles were sent by Christ to preach the gospel through the whole world, and also to contend against all evil spirits, tyrannical rulers, unbelievers, and vices, according to the words of S. Luke, “I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.” Secondly, The burning lamps shew those who ought to illuminate the world by their doctrine and preaching, according to the words, “Ye are the light of the world,” Matt. v. 14. Thirdly, “Be like unto men looking for their lord.” This signifies those who ought to despise and tread under foot this present world and all things belonging to it, and to lead a heavenly and divine life, that their minds and hearts may be fixed on heaven, as in Phi 3:20, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” S. Paul adds the result, the fruit, and the reward: “From whence also we wait for a Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory.” That is, We despise earthly things, we seek for heavenly ones, because we look with a certain hope for Christ, who shall beautify and make us glorious for ever. So Toletus.

These three things the early Christians always kept rooted in their minds, who as strangers upon earth and citizens of heaven willingly poured out their wealth, their honours, their pleasures, their very present life itself for Christ, because they surely looked for the coming of the Lord Christ after this short life, and for a happy and eternal one to be given to them by Him, which indeed is true wisdom and prudence. We may see this in the Pontiffs, Virgins, Roman Martyrs for three hundred years, from S. Peter to Silvester, all of whom rejoiced in ceaseless persecutions, rejoiced to be spoiled of their goods, to be imprisoned, scourged, slain, burnt, that they might enjoy (possess) Christ in heaven. Eminent amongst others was S. Cecilia, who, when flourishing in youth, beauty, wealth, nobility, of her own will most gladly gave up all things for Christ and even her life itself, in the midst of wondering, pitying, and lamenting friends, and went joyfully and exultingly to the place of martyrdom, saying, “This is not to lose my youth but to change it; this is to give clay and receive in return gold; to give a vile and miserable hovel and receive a palace most spacious, lofty, and magnificent, built of precious stones and gold; to give a perishable thing and receive one that knows no end and is subject to no death:” and soon after, “Our Lord Jesus Christ does not give pound for pound, but what He gives as a simple sum He returns a hundredfold, and adds besides eternal life.” Thus is it in her Acts.

The life of a Christian then should be nothing but one looking for the coming of Christ, that He may deliver him from this life, which is so vile and miserable and subject to so many fears and perils, and bring him to His own kingdom in the heavens and to eternal life. And hence the prophets and Paul teach everywhere that the faithful ought to live in such holiness and contempt of the things of this world, as to look eagerly and with avidity to the coming of Christ. So the patriarch Jacob when dying and longing for the coming of Christ, “I have waited for Thy salvation, 0 Lord,” Gen 49:18; and Job. “All the days of my appointed time I will wait till my change come,” Job 14:14; and the Psalms, “I have waited patiently for the Lord,” Psa 40:1, and “Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart, wait, I say, on the Lord,” Psa 47:14 (Bib. version). Isa 8:17, “I will wait upon the Lord;” and Isa 25:9, “We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord, we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Jeremiah, Lam 3:24, “The Lord is my portion, therefore will I wait for Him;” Mic 8:7, “I will look unto the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation.” So Joseph of Arimatha, despising all fear of the Jews, buried Christ because he was looking, for the kingdom of God,” Luk 23:51. S. Paul to the Romans, “The earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God,” Rom 8:19; and Rom 8:23, “Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our redemption, to wit, the redemption of our body;” Gal 5:5, “We wait for the hope of righteousness;” Phi 3:20, “We wait for a Saviour;” Tit 2:12-13, “We should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world, looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God;” 2Peter 3:11, “Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be, in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God? ” and 2Peter 3:13-14, “But according to His promise we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for these things, give diligence that ye may be found in peace without spot and blameless in His sight.” Climacus (de gradu) says, “He is righteous who fears not death; he is holy and perfect who daily expects it.” So S. Francis expected the Lord when he recited, as he was dying, the words of the Psalm, “The righteous shall compass me about, for Thou shalt deal righteously with me” (Psa 142:7), and so died. And S. Bernard rejoiced- Desidero te millies, Mi jesu quando venies, Me ltum quando facies? Me de te quando saties?A thousand fold I long for Thee, When, Jesu, wilt Thou come to me? When shall I be, 0 Lord, set free? And with Thyself full sated be?

Memorable and dreadful is the description of S. Bridget in her Fourth Book of Revelations, chap. vii.: “In Purgatory there is a third and higher place where is no other punishment than the desire of coming to God and of His beatific vision. They are there tormented who, in this life, had not a perfect desire of coming to the presence of God and of enjoying the vision of Him.” Bede mentions a like place in Purgatory (Hist. v. 13), and S. Gregory (Dialogues iv. 36), and Dionysius the Carthusian in his (Dialogue de Judicio partic. artic. xxxi.), and Bellarmine (De Purg. ii. 6). For there is a sort of unworthy idea and undervaluing of the great vision and glory of God because it is not desired by the faithful and the saints with ardour. This is a sign that they did not sufficiently consider His riches and joys and weigh and ponder them as is to be expected.

Live then, 0 Christian, to thy Christ, not to the world; live to the Spirit, not to the flesh-live not to time but to eternity.

When He shall return from the marriage feast. This appears to be an addition to the parable, and not to be applied of necessity to what is signified by it. It may be applied thus. Christ in His Incarnation celebrated His espousals with the Church and all the faithful. When He went up into heaven He there consummated His marriage with the same Church, because by the glory of the beatific vision He is intimately and indivisibly united to all the Blessed through all eternity. When, then, He returns from the heavens to judgment, He appears to return from His heavenly marriage that He may introduce His new bride to it. His marriage then is the highest union and the highest joy that Christ has with the beatified in heaven. So S. Gregory, Bede, Theophylact, Euthymius, Toletus, and others.

That when He cometh and knocketh the they may straightway open unto Him. Christ here shows us that we ought to make our virtues ready in this life, that adorned by them in our death, we may go out with joy and rejoicing to meet Him, for there will be no time then for working, scarcely even for repentance; for the senses will be dulled and the mind oppressed by disease and scarcely able to think of its sins and its salvation. They, then, act with the utmost recklessness who, in this life, indulge in pleasures and say that they will repent on their deathbeds-for their repentance will then be forced and too late, and therefore will seldom be true, sincere, and earnest. “The Lord cometh,” says S. Gregory (Hom, xiii.) “when He hastens to judgment; but He knocks (at the door) when by the ills of disease He designs death to be near, and we open to Him at once if we receive Him with love. Whoever dreads his departure from the body is unwilling to open to the judge, and fears to see Him as his judge whom he knows that he has despised. But he who is secure as to his hope and works, immediately opens, for he receives the judge with joy, and when his death is at hand he grows glad in the glory of his reward.”

Ver. 37.-Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching. That is, with their loins girt and their lamps in their hands and expecting Him as He goes before, for He will give them their due reward, eternal blessedness, that they may enjoy the vision of God and all glory and joy for ever and ever. Hence the following explanation.

Verily, I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them. Christ renders like for like-to those of His who are girt in heaven, He will gird Himself in heaven-He will serve His own servants. Those who have laboured in His service He will make to rest, and be at ease, and sup, and to those who minister to Him, He Himself, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will minister with wonderful condescension.

Shall come. The attendants and sponsi used to go round the tables to see if any one needed anything, that he might be supplied. The above words, it is plain, are to be taken as parables not in the letter. For in heaven there are no girdles, nor persons girded, nor tables, nor sittings at meat, nor any who come or minister: Christ only intends to say, Firstly, that he who is pre-eminent before all other good masters, and immeasurably greater, will show honour to His faithful servants in heaven, so as to make them, from slaves, become as lords with whom He may share His marriage feast, that is, the happiness and glory of heaven. Secondly, That He will do it with an endless number of dishes, that is, pleasure and delights both of soul and body. Thirdly, He will see that no one wants anything: not necessaries merely, but even luxuries, and whatever he wants and wishes for. Everything wished for, nay, that can possibly be wished for, shall be supplied in superabundance according to the words “I shall be satisfied when I wake up with Thy likeness,” Psa 17:15; and “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house,” Ps. xxxvi 8. Fourthly, That He will give to each according to his merits this delicacy and that, for the words “He shall come” signify that there shall be a supper varied and most abundant according to the merits of each; and (those) “shall serve” (show) that it shall be most honourable, and the words “shall make them sit down,” says Toletus, “shows that it shall be eternal.”

He shall gird Himself. “God is girded,” says Theophylact, “not as giving us the outpouring of all good things, for He moderates them. For who is able to contain all that God is?” This is seen from the seraphim who cover their eyes because of the brightness of the Divine light.

And make them sit down to meat. S. Dionysius the Areopagite, Epistle 9 to Titus, says, “The sitting at meat we consider to be rest from many labours, a life of safety and a divine kind of existence in the light and country of the living, full of all kinds of holy pleasure, with an abundant supply of all kinds of good things by which we are supplied, with Jesus rejoicing over them and placing them at His table and ministering to them and giving them eternal life, fully bestowing upon them and pouring into them all things good.”

Symbolically, S. Gregory (Hom. 13) says, “He will gird Himself, that is, He will prepare for the recompense and make them sit down-or, be refreshed by everlasting rest. For to sit down is to rest in the kingdom. The Lord again says, “They shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” The Lord will come and minister, for He satiates us with the brightness of His light. “Come” is said of Him when He returns to His kingdom for the Judgment; for the Lord has certainly returned to us since the judgment, because from the form of His Humanity He has raised us to the contemplation of His Divinity, and He comes to lead us to the contemplation of His brightness, when Him whom we see in the judgment in His Humanity, we shall behold, after the judgment, in His Divinity.

Ver. 33.-And if He shall come in the second watch, and if in the third, and find them so, blessed are those servants. The first watch begins in the evening at the beginning of night, and lasts three hours. The second then begins and lasts till midnight. Then follows the third, which also lasts for three hours; then the fourth, which lasts till the dawn and the rising of the sun. Christ shows by these watches when we ought to watch and be prepared for the coming of the Lord; for the time of our death is uncertain, nor have we one day or even hour of our life of which we can be sure. The first watch is our childhood, the second our youth, the third our grown manhood, the fourth, our old age. So Titus and S. Gregory. “Christ does not,” says F. Lucas, “mention so much the fourth and first watches, because He does not often come from the marriage so early or so late. The marriages are generally concluded about the middle of the night when the bride is conducted to the marriage chamber. Meanwhile, it teaches us that we ought always to watch even in advanced age and decrepitude, and that it is not enough to watch only for a time, or in youth, or in manhood, but we must persevere as long as this life lasts, because the hour of our death is uncertain, and also the coming of our Lord, even though He be long waited for.” So S. Basil in his homily of not regarding secular affairs: “We ought to be prepared daily to depart from this life and to await the unchanged nod of God, that each, when the Lord comes and knocks, may immediately open to Him. Christ, besides, speaks only of the second and third watch, because sleep in them is deeper and more heavy, to show that He would come when men least expected Him; when they were sunk in profound thoughts and cares, and, as it were, were asleep; so that wise servants should then most especially watch and be prepared, that when they seem to themselves most healthful and prosperous they may look for a sudden and treacherous death.”

Toletus gives another reason. “Christ,” he says, “does not make mention of the fourth watch because there are very few, who, having put off good works till old age, are then found to be doing them; and He might have made them tardy if He had spoken of the matter.” From this S. Gregory concludes (Hom. 13), exhorting all men to holy lives, and saying, “Our Lord would not reveal the last hour to us, that it might always be looked for, and whilst we are not able to foresee it, that we should without cessation be prepared for it.” Because then the hours fly apace, be careful, 0 most dear brethren, to be occupied with the traffic of good works. Hear what wise Solomon said: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest.” Because then we know not the time of our death, and cannot work after it, we ought to seize the time allowed us before its arrival. Thus, by our being always in fear of it will death itself be vanquished.

Ver. 41.-And Peter said, Lord, speakest Thou this parable unto us or even unto all? To all men, especially the faithful, as well to those who are now living as to those who shall live hereafter. Peter doubted of this, because Christ was accustomed to give some doctrines to the Apostles alone, others to all the faithful, and He had here said some things which seemed fitted only to the Apostles and men of perfect lives, as verses 32-37. The rest about watching and waiting for the coming of the Lord seemed to apply to all the faithful.

Ver. 42.-And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his lord shall set over his household to give them their portion of food in due season? Christ replied to Peter that He spoke indeed to all the faithful, but especially to him and the Apostles. For upon them were incumbent greater watching and care, that they might save not only themselves but others of the faithful as well. And Peter was the steward whom Christ set over His household, that is, His Church, as also the other Apostles, according to the words of S. Paul, “Let a man so account of us as of ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.”

That he may give them their measure of wheat in due season. (The Vulgate has mensuram tritici, on which Cornelius comments). Our, Lord alludes to the custom of the ancients, with whom slavery was common and severe. For servants had in abundance many things that Christians have now need of. They put one of the slaves over the mancipii, to distribute, every month, a measure (hence called demensus) of provisions and corn, wheat perhaps, or barley, if they were of inferior degree, as I have shown on Hos 3:2.

Secondly, wheat (tritici) may refer to time. For it is the duty of a good steward, like Joseph, when it is the season of wheat harvest, to dispense it frugally by measure to each head of a family, that it may not be sold or expended on the poor, and so there be an insufficiency for the household. I have explained the rest on S. Mat 24:45.

Observe the words “steward” and “portion.” For a just steward does not give the same measure to all, but to each his own and according to his age, rank, and desert. It is the proper task of a steward to distribute what is appropriate to each. One kind and proportion of food is proper for an infant, and another for a youth, a third, for a full grown man, a fourth, for the aged-one for a man, another for a woman-one for a daughter, another for a servant-one for sons, another for slaves.

From this Christ moraliter, teaches, Bishops, Pastors, Confessors, Preachers, that they ought not to set forth the same food of doctrine to all the faithful, nor (in general) speak of virtues to all only in a general way, but in particular they should instil into them such as are fit and proper to their age and position. S. Paul, by his own example, taught the praxis of this parable and sentence when he gave one kind of monition and precept to sons, another to fathers, another to servants, Eph 6:1 and following, and when he wrote to Timothy, 1Ti 5:1-4; so to Tit 2:2, and following.

S. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Bishop of New Csarea, followed Christ and S. Paul, as Gregory of Nyssa writes in his life: “A mourner would bear from him what would comfort him; youth were corrected and taught moderation-medicine in fitting conversation was offered to the aged, servants were taught to be well affected to their masters, masters to be kind and gentle to those under their rule; the poor were taught to hold grace the only true riches, the possession of which was in the power of every one; he who boasted himself of his wealth was aptly reminded that he was the steward and not the lord of what he had. Profitable words were given to women, suitable ones to children, and befitting ones to fathers.” And S. Cyprian, as Pontius the deacon wrote in his life, used to urge maidens to a becoming rule of modesty and a manner of dress which was adapted to sanctity. He taught the lapsed penitence, heretics truth, schismatics unity, the sons of God peace and the law of evangelical prayer. He comforted Christians under the loss of their relatives with the hope of the future. He checked the bitterness of envy by the sweetness of befitting remedies. He incited martyrs by exhortation from the divine discourses. Confessors who were signed with the mark on their foreheads he animated by the incentive of the heavenly host. The same, especially, and before all others,

Fuente: Cornelius Lapide Commentary

12:1 In {1} the mean time, when there were gathered together {a} an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

(1) The faithful teachers of God’s word, who are appointed by him for his people, must both take good heed of those who corrupt the purity of doctrine with smooth speech, and also take pains through the help of God to set forth sincere doctrine, openly and without fear.

(a) Literally, “ten thousand of people”, a certain number which is given for an uncertain number.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

D. The instruction of the disciples in view of Jesus’ rejection 12:1-13:17

Teaching of the disciples continues as primary in this part of the third Gospel (Luk 9:51 to Luk 19:10). Jesus’ words to them at the beginning of the present section (Luk 12:1 to Luk 13:17) broadened to include the crowds toward the end.

"The coming judgment and the need for proper preparation are the threads that tie all of chapter 12 together." [Note: M. Bailey, p. 129.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

1. The importance of fearless confession 12:1-12 (cf. Matthew 10:19-20, 26-33)

Jesus used His condemnation of the Pharisees’ hypocrisy as an occasion to warn His disciples against being hypocritical. The context of this teaching in Matthew’s Gospel is Jesus’ instruction of the Twelve before He sent them on their mission. Luke recorded that He also taught His disciples the importance of fearless witness under persecution as they moved toward Jerusalem.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

The leaven of the Pharisees 12:1-3

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Luke set the scene for the following teaching by explaining that it happened when Pharisaic hostility had become intense (Luk 11:53-54). What Jesus proceeded to tell His disciples had opposition and persecution in view. In spite of this antagonism, Jesus had a very large following (Gr. myriadon, lit. ten thousand, but used here as a superlative, cf. Act 19:19; Act 21:20). Evidently its size kept increasing (cf. Luk 11:29). However the lesson that follows was for His disciples (cf. Luk 20:45).

Leaven or yeast (Gr. zymes) has a pervasive effect and therefore is a good illustration of the influence of hypocrisy. Elsewhere Jesus warned the disciples of the teaching of the Pharisees that He likened to leaven (Mat 16:6; Mat 16:12; Mar 8:15). Here he used leaven as an example of their hypocrisy. Leaven, as hypocrisy, starts small but expands and affects everything it touches.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)