Book of Luke - Ch. 9, Vs. 40-51 (07/27/2003)

Luke 9:40-45 and the Timing of Spiritual Understanding

But I may want to relate some of that to today's lesson. So let's start with Luke chapter nine, verse 40. And I besought thy disciples to cast him out, and they could not. And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and suffer you?

Bring thy son hither. And as he was yet coming, the devil threw him down and tear him. Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the child and delivered him again to his father. And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God.

But while they wondered everyone at all the things which Jesus did, he said to his disciples, let these sayings sink down into your ears for the son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men. I think the timing of that statement is so interesting.

Let me take you to a parallel passage in Matthew 17, verse 19. It adds a little bit of information to this. Then came, this is Matthew 17, 19. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said, why could not we cast him out?

And Jesus said unto them, because of your unbelief, for verily I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say into this mountain, remove hence to yonder place and it shall remove and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

How be it this kind goeth not out, but by prayer and fasting. That's a little part that's not in the Luke passage, the prayer and fasting part. And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said to them, the son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men.

Isn't it interesting that in this passage, he adds that in to this. At the same timing, he makes that statement. And to us, it doesn't seem to relate. Why would he just say that when we're talking about this demon that's been cast out and their lack of faith?

And then all of a sudden, the healing takes place. And then he just seemingly out of nowhere says, the son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men and they shall kill him. And the third day he shall rise again.

And they were exceeding sorry. Very similar to the passage in Luke. So let's go back to Luke chapter nine. Then when we get to Luke 9, 45, it kind of concludes the little passage this way, but they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them that they perceived it not.

Now, what saying is it talking about? It's the part about they will kill him and the third day he shall rise again. That part or in the Luke passage, let this sink down into your ears. The son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.

And they understood this not and it was hid from them that they perceived it not. So it didn't sink down into their ears because when Jesus says sink down in your ears, he's not talking about the physical ear.

He's talking about the ear of hearing, the mental ability to understand something. Well, it's interesting that that verse says it was hid from them, they perceived it not, and they feared to ask him any more about it, but they knew they didn't understand it.

Now, my question to you is this, and I want you to give me an answer. Why did Jesus say these things to his children that he knew they would not understand, and yet he told them, let it sink down into your hearing.

So he says, listen and understand, but he knew they wouldn't understand at that moment, but why did he speak these words to them, even knowing they wouldn't understand it at that moment? Right, so wouldn't you agree that that certainly relates to everything that's written in this book that we have?

Because he has spoken it and he has exhorted us, hear this, but we only hear it when it's the right time. And he knows when it's the right time, and there are times when we're not able to even endure the truth that we might have learned, let alone use it or for God to use it in our life.

So it's so fascinating how that teaches, this passage teaches that principle, that even though it's written in a sense, we call this the revelation of God, this is really the written word of God, and it's revealed to us at different times, even us individually at different times.

Sometimes we get things collectively together sort of at the same time, but it seems that way, but really it's individual revelation. When God knows that we need it and when he wants us to have it, that's when we understand it.

The ear is opened at that moment, and yet the word was spoken 2 ,000 years ago in our time, from our reference point, and it's been right there in front of us the whole time, and God has said it to us, but we just didn't have the ear to hear it yet.

But isn't it encouraging to understand that the disciples later did understand this? They did come to know what it meant after he died on the cross. With hindsight, they understood this. So we will understand things in the future that we don't understand right this minute from the word of God, from very passages that you've read and studied already.

It makes it wonderful because there's always something new for us individually. It never means that someone 200 years ago didn't already understand it from the same word of God, or then there may be things they didn't understand because God had not really opened it to anyone yet.

I think a lot of the things concerning the end times are that way. I believe that so many of the textbooks that have been written were written 50 years ago or more, and look what's happened just in the Middle East in that 50 years that could change your interpretation because you understand a little bit more about what's going on in the world around us, understanding that God has two books of revelation, the word of God, but also the world we're in, nature and so forth.

And so circumstances certainly can change things. There was a time when they believed the world was flat. Do you suppose that they thought God was wrong when he talked about the circle of the earth? Suppose they debated that verse and the liberal science of incorrect word, it should have been this word, but really it was correct.

So little by little, God reveals to us as he desires and when he desires. Within verse 46, then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be the greatest? Now let me go back and start with verse 44.

Let these sayings, here you've had a demoniac come into their very presence. Jesus casts out a spirit being and heals this person. And then he says, get your focus off of that for a moment and focus on this fact, I am going to die for your sins and be delivered into the hands of men.

Let this sink down into your ears. He's saying what? Pay attention to what I'm saying. Pay attention to the fact that I'm saying something about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. And it says, they understood not this saying and it was hidden from them, they perceived it not and they were afraid to ask him anymore about it.

And then the very next breath, there arose a reasoning among them, which should be the greatest. Were they paying attention or were they thinking about something else? They were already thinking about themselves.

Were they thinking about Jesus and he was saying, I want you to listen to this, think about, focus on me a minute, I'm going to die. Who were they focusing on? Themselves. While he's saying, focus on me, they're saying, well, am I going to be next to him when he goes into his kingdom?

I'm not hearing this thing about dying, there's not going to be any death, he's going to be on the throne in just a few days and he's going to rule not only us, but the Roman Empire too, he'll be the ruler of that.

I'm going to at least be in one of the 12 seats right around him. I'm at least going to be a congressman. If I can't be the dictator, at least I'll be in the assembly, in his inner circle. But will I get to sit right next to you on the right hand or will I be on the left hand or which one of us will be there?

Were they hearing what he was saying? He's saying, I'm going to die. And they're saying, you're not going to die, you're going to live and I'm going to be, am I going to sit by your right hand or your left hand?

And that is really an amazing passage of scripture to see how they are dealing with their Messiah, but also with themselves and their own human desires and their own motivations and their aspirations, I guess.

Verse 47, Jesus perceiving the thought of their heart. Now let me say this, if this were you or me, would we be this, what would we do? If we're telling them, look, I want you to listen to me. I want to talk to you about the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, all those implications and I want you to understand it.

And they say, well, am I going to be on your right hand or your left hand? I'm better than him, aren't I? How would you deal with that? And even worse, if they weren't really saying it, but they were just thinking it, but you could read their minds.

Wouldn't you jump right on them? Some of our children could probably answer that about us. What does dad do when he gets just a little agitated? Does he act fairly quickly or how does he act? Does his voice raise a little bit?

Does he take care of it fairly quickly? Well, I just told my story, didn't I? Anyway, but look how Jesus responds to this. This is amazing. And I guess the fact is he doesn't respond to anything. So we act by response and he's in control all the time.

But he perceives the thought of their heart and he takes a little child and he puts him on his lap or sits him down right beside him and he says unto them, whosoever shall receive this child in my name receives me.

And whosoever shall receive me receives him that sent me. For he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. He addresses their question. Even though it's not the direction he was taking them to listen to, he went with what they were, their teachable moment had nothing to do with the death, burial and resurrection.

They were not into that. They didn't care. They weren't even listening. They wanted to know who's going to be the greatest. So he went to that issue and taught them something because their mind was open to that.

Now there's a lot to be learned there for us as parents and as teachers. You cannot force anything into a human's mind that they're not open to ever. Now that's hard. I know that and I still violate it but it's a psychological principle.

And the principle we learn is this. I saw a great quote this week in a business magazine I read and I believe it was, let me think which president they were quoting, who was right after Roosevelt? Hoover?

Truman. Truman, it was Truman. Truman said this, they asked him a question about how do you get your children to listen to you? And his answer was this. Well, I found out what they want to do and then I tell them to do it.

Think about that. He's talking about as they're becoming adults. He didn't mean little children. But when they're about to go out of the nest and be married and they're gonna go out into life, he said how do you, they were trying to get him to say well I can get him to do this this way and he didn't answer it that way.

He said I find out what's in their heart to do and I encourage them. And the principle is that from a psychological viewpoint if the person is not interested in the subject, you're not gonna teach them a thing.

If it's not what they're ready to learn. If they're not ready and open to discuss it and they're desiring to know something about it, you're not gonna teach them a thing. Now that's not to say you shouldn't warn people.

Sometimes you should warn people. Jesus obviously demonstrated that when he told them listen to this, let it sink into your ears, I'm gonna die. He knew that's not what they wanted to hear because he's already reading their thoughts.

And at the time he said that, they were thinking well this is gonna be greater I wonder. And he knew. He could hear all that going on and he made the statement listen to this, I'm gonna die. He knew they wouldn't hear it.

He knew that's not what they wanna know but he made the statement. So there are times when you do quote teach somebody something and you know they're not gonna get it and you know they're not gonna do it.

And you know it probably won't change them but it's appropriate for them to hear it. That's okay. But if your goal is to change somebody, realize you can't really change anybody only if they're open to being changed and they're asking you could you tell me what I might do and they're seeking it.

And so Jesus as he knew what they were thinking he did shift then into the thing they were interested in at the very moment. And you know what? They were just like little children weren't they? And so we're all that way.

And one of the things he points out to them is you are like little children in my eyes. In God's eyes you are little children. And he places the little child in his lap as an object lesson and when he says whosoever receives one of these receives me he is not talking about physical literal children.

He's talking about God's children. He's not talking about if you cast one of these little ones into the sea it'd be better if you had a millstone around your net and you were casting to the sea. I mean if you make one of these little ones stumble he's not really talking about children specifically.

He's using children as an object lesson to teach us how he feels about his children which is us. So with that in mind if you make an adult child of God stumble it would be better if a millstone were wrapped around your neck and you were casting to the sea Jesus said.

Now obviously that would apply to little children who are Christians too but it's not just them. It's talking about all of God's children. So this passage speaks of all of God's children as well and he uses it to teach them that as you see this little child if a person receives one of my children he's receiving me.

And if he receives me he's receiving the father the one who sent me. For he that is least among you all shall the same shall be great. And then he answered the question they were really more interested in.

Their mind was open to learning out how to be the greatest. That's what they were wondering. How am I gonna be great? And by that they meant I get to be closest to Jesus. When we set up our kingdom and we rule the Roman government I'll be on his right hand.

How do I do that? And he answered it. It is not what they wanted to hear but it was the true answer. And so the one that is the servant the greatest servant's heart is the one that'll be the greatest in that day.

And in this world the opposite is true. I observe it, you observe it. We all understand that in this world the one who's humble, the one who absolutely refuses to promote himself, who refuses to put self first we think of as a weak person.

This person will never make it in the business world. They won't make it. You know, they're not gonna be a leader. They're just kind of out there. Why do we perceive it that way? Because from our viewpoint everybody runs over them.

The truth is they're just a servant to everybody. They give their life so that the other person be more comfortable. The other person will have what they need. The other person has their emotional needs met.

Dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. And Jesus says that is the person who'll be great in the kingdom of heaven. Whereas here it's the opposite. That person is a nothing here. We don't even know their name. Never will know their name because they're not promoting self.

Unity, Authority, and the Boundaries of Fellowship

So, what a teaching. Verse 49, and John answered and said, "'Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name "'and we forbade him because he followeth not with us.'". Jesus, here's an answer we would not understand today in the religious realms.

In fact, you know, this kind of relates to some of the things we were discussing in the hall a minute ago. They're not in our group. Okay, they're not, you know, they're not whatever. I don't even know what we are anymore.

We're not in a bandage, you know. But they're not in our group. They don't agree with us on every issue. And they said, so, they came to Jesus and said, you know, they were doing your work, using your name, but they're not in our group.

Should we forbid him? And Jesus answered, it's a bit surprising. "'Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is for us.'". Let me tell you when that will become very, very evident. When the Islamists come and start to slaughter Christians on our streets, we will be friends with the Charismatics.

We'll be friends even with some Church of Christ people. We'll be buddies with some of the Methodists. Now I say some, why am I saying some? Because the ones that aren't born again, you know, we won't ever be close to them.

But saved people in the different groups will come together when we face an enemy like that. So, and that's coming. So, I think Jesus taught them something that they, certainly being Jews, they find it hard to believe, because the Jewish mindset is, you know, if you're not part of our group, you're a dog.

And so they still carry that into Christianity as they became Christians. They said, well, you know, they're not really of us, but they're over there doing your work. Should we stop them? And Jesus surprisingly said, no, because if they're not fighting against us, then they're for us.

If they're not trying to kill us, then they're for us. Interesting answer in the light of today's religious environment. I had a question I was gonna ask you, but it's too late. But I just said, is this logic true today?

If it's true that Jesus said that, then should it not be true today? That we should probably get along a little bit better with those who are different than we are in certain beliefs? Especially if they are doing what they do in the name of Jesus Christ.

I tell you, an interesting person to study is Spurgeon. If you read Spurgeon's writings, some of his sermons, but just some of his writings, you will find that he would not pick a fight with even an Armenian.

Now, he was a Calvinist. But he would not pick a fight with an Armenian. I will say this, he would not allow them to come to his college, though, because he didn't want them debating that issue. He wanted them to learn the word of God, and he knew how that fight, you know, it was just like those two just, all you're gonna do is sit around and fight that fight, and he didn't want that.

So he forbade Armenians to come to his college. But he did not say John Wesley wasn't saved. And he didn't try to pick a fight with him. In fact, one man came up and asked Spurgeon, how do you reconcile the sovereignty of God and the will of man, the responsibility of man?

And he said, I don't have to reconcile friends. Isn't that a wise answer? And the reason they're friends is because they're both taught the Bible. So rather, the man wanted to hear him argue his side so he could come back and hit him with his argument.

Spurgeon refused to go there. So there's a lot to be learned, and I think that the basis for Spurgeon's wisdom and his modus operandi is this verse. Jesus said, forbid him not, for he that is not against us is for us.

Don't pick fights with people that name the name of Christ and claim to be true Christians. Now, we know that there are false professors, but there are in our group too, right? How many vote for that?

And our people believe like we are, there are false professors. So every group has those, and we're not talking about buddying up with them or with lost people, but with born-again people from different groups, we're really, we don't need to pick fights with those people.

It's hard to do because we like our doctrines. And a lot of times they open us up to it like the man that asks Spurgeon, how do you reconcile your belief in the sovereignty of God with the responsibility of man?

Man, you know, if we don't think about that, we're just gonna say, well, well, because God is sovereign, boom, and you just go right into it. And sometimes it's not appropriate. Sometimes you just don't go there.

Satan can use doctrine to separate true brothers, I think, and this was Jesus's point. That's all, that's as far as I went in this study, so let's mark verse, oh, I did do 51, let me read it. And it came to pass when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.

And the reason I included that verse with verse 50 is because he had bigger things on his mind than debating with the group that wasn't just part of his group. You see what the teaching is? They were wanting him to say no since they're off over there, they're not following with everything we say, should we go over there and stop them and force everyone into our way of belief, right here into our box.

And Jesus said, no, don't do that. He that's not against us is for us, but it shows where his mind and heart was in the very next verse. It was above that, it was beyond that, it was a bigger cause. And he said, I'm steadfast going to Jerusalem because I'm gonna be received up into glory.

Wow. So God, we should pray that the Lord would help us to live on that higher plane and not get down into unnecessary debates. I think obviously there are necessary debates. Jesus spent a good amount of time debating the Pharisees and he won every time.

And so it is not wrong. So how do we know? Be you filled with the Holy Spirit. The Lord will direct you when it's time to debate, he'll direct you when it's time to be above that or beyond that. And a good thing is check your blood pressure.

When you feel it kind of going, that adrenaline going from the feet up to the head, it'd probably be best to back off and just say, well, he's probably not against me. So I'm not gonna debate with you right this minute.

But if you don't feel that and you feel the Holy Spirit whispering that, I wanna use you as a tool in my hand to correct his doctrine, correct it. But do it in love and do it in the spirit, not in adrenaline rush.

So that's one way you can check it, I think. But that's what I think that passage teaches us. So let's put a mark there after verse 51, we'll start, Brother Otis, we'll start with verse 52 next time. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for your word. Thank you for the direction you give us. Thank you for the great lessons you have taught and already put down in your word. And then thank you for the moments that you bring us to where you can see fit to reveal the truth to us in our own personal lives.

Maybe we don't have ears to hear it when you said it, but there may be a time later when you'll bring it to our memory and it will sink down deep into our ears. And also, Lord, thank you for teaching us the principles for how we should deal with others in this passage, how to know when their mind is open to teaching, how to know when even sometimes when it's not, we should go ahead and speak the truth anyway, how to know when we need to debate over theology and when not to.

Lord, we can only depend on you and your spirit. So lead us and guide us and Lord, work in us during this coming week. And we ask it for Jesus' sake, amen.