In this part of Luke’s gospel we see how Jesus began to get into trouble with the religious leaders. Chapter 5 tells us how he touches a leper and later announces to a man that his sins are forgiven, then he demonstrates his authority to forgive by healing the man. He doesn’t fast like he’s expected to, and he even goes to share a meal with a bunch of sinners, tax collectors and the like. He preaches about change from old to new. He confronts the religious leaders instead of supporting their way. His interpretation of the Sabbath law goes beyond anything they can imagine. He says that the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath! They can’t believe it! So they set him up. Sabbath comes and they watch him to see what he will do about a man with a withered hand.
Jesus openly challenges them. He asks, “Is it right to do good or to do evil on the Sabbath?” They didn’t answer so he healed the man. When they saw this they realized that he had basically made them accomplices to this healing by giving them a chance to refute him. Since there was no objection, Jesus said, “Stretch out your hand.” And the healing was done. They were furious. What do you do with such a man!
Luke now tells us that Jesus spent the night in prayer and then selected 12 men as apostles. Immediately he begins their training with instructions about lifestyles and relationships.
I want to go through this with you before we come back and focus on one part for our lesson.
He groups things in sets of 3 or 4 with balance and comments. Notice: Poor, hungry, weeping, and those spoken against for his sake are all blessed. Rich, filled, laughing, well spoken of are cursed with woes.
Notice how Jesus says to deal with enemies: love them, do good to them, bless them, pray for them. What do the enemies do? They strike you, steal from you, beg from you.
You are to love, do good, and lend without judging. Be merciful like God is. Don’t judge or condemn, but forgive and give. Giving is richly rewarded.
He tells a parable about a blind man leading a blind man. “Both will fall into a pit,” says Jesus. Then Jesus makes the statement that we will return to shortly: a student fully trained becomes like his or her teacher. We will explore this in a minute.
Jesus concludes this lesson with more instruction about how to judge properly and ends by a wise man/ foolish man illustration of builders to demonstrate what happens to those that follow his instruction and those that do not.
Now this is a brief summary of this chapter. I have selected something that seems to be a core matter and also a very timely message for us today. Jesus, in this chapter is the teacher. He makes an insightful point in verses 39-40 that underscores what it means to be a Christian. Jesus saves those that follow him. He teaches us. We become like him.
Listen to Jesus words again: And He also spoke a parable to them: "A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?
"A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.
Is this really true?
Grant Hill was on public radio this past Thursday interviewing about a hobby he has. It is more than a hobby; he is serious about it. What do you think he does? Grant Hill, the famous basketball player collects paintings. His collection is extensive and is at present on display. He looks for and buys important pieces of art. Why? His dad did. He said that growing up, his dad would drag him to museums and places to see famous works of art and talk to him about them. His dad collected art too. After he was grown, Grant said that somehow what his dad loved and did rubbed off.
His dad was his teacher… and Grant became like him.
God’s word tells us: train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 Whatever direction we are trained into, we tend to keep going in. But Jesus is teaching us an even deeper truth. We not only follow the instruction of a teacher, we become like the teacher who instructs us.
Think about what this implies parents. What happens to your children if they learn math from an atheistic math teacher. What else do they learn besides numbers? Our government recognizes the potential of this and they have set up a barrier called separation of church and state. You sent your child into biology class to learn biology! Not Christian biology! Right? Well, if that teacher is a Christian, it will effect the way they teach and it will also effect the student who learns under them. But what if that teacher has a vendetta against Christian principles? Can you imagine what your child learns? Do you want your child to be like their teachers?
What happens when the teachers are pro abortion, or pro gay, or against Christian values and principles? What shape do your kids take on? What do they become like? Is Jesus wrong or are your children in danger in such an environment? We want good educations for our children, but we may not want them to turn out like some of the teachers they are taught by. We need to pray for our schools and get more Christian teachers in there so that kids can be under the influence of godly and Christ centered instructors. I thank God for every one of our Christian teachers. May God bless you and grant that more and more Christians will see the mission field of the minds of children in our schools. You can be sure that the homosexuals, and those with left wing causes see it. You can be just as sure that Satan sees it. Unless Jesus is wrong here, and he is not, it is vital that we face this and deal with it.
Here is the ultimate question: who is your teacher? Who are you allowing to shape your heart and mind? Is Jesus Christ your teacher? If he isn’t, someone else is and you are following a blind man and headed for a pit of eternal destruction.
I said it to the youth this past Wednesday night and to our men’s group this Thursday morning: if you look out in a field and see a cow and tell a 1 year old that this is a horse, that 1 year old might just believe you. But if you tell that to a 5 year old he will laugh at you. You see the one year old hasn’t built a discerning filter to tell what is a lie and what is true about this. He or she may not have been taught otherwise, so the 1 year old is vulnerable to lies.
Folks. Satan is a liar. His chief weapon is deception. Take a typical Christian youth out of high school and put him or her in a college class where a clever and convincing PhD who has an agenda against Christians challenges the Bible and/or biblical values. What happens? Hey, this is happening not just at college but in high schools and even elementary schools where kids are taught that homosexuality is an acceptable alternate lifestyle. In some places the arguments are carefully and convincingly presented. The deception is sly. Who is going to guard the hearts and minds of our youth? Church Bible class isn’t going to be enough! We can’t undo in less than two hours a week what they face daily with friends and at school. If we as parents don’t open the Bible with our kids and pray with and for them daily, we might just lose them to the enemy. If we don’t who will? You don’t have to have all the answers. You just need to follow the one who does. Jesus Christ is the master teacher. I don’t want my kids to be like me, accept that part of me that is like Jesus Christ. I want them to follow Jesus and let him be their teacher. And yes, I want to be an example for them. I want to be a person that models Christ because I follow Christ. Let us let Jesus be our teacher so that we may be like him! Give him full access to your mind and heart! His ways are perfect and his power is awesome! He is the truth. He is the light of the world. Follow him even if it means poverty, hunger, sadness, and persecution! Follow him even if enemies rise up against you. Follow him even if it costs you your very life. Follow him.
Woe to anyone who exchanges riches, feasting, laughter, or popularity for the way of Jesus Christ! Those will miss the kingdom of God. Those will miss the glory of eternal joy and rejoicing. Those will miss the celebration of the wedding feast of the Lamb of God. Do not trade the everlasting treasures of heaven for the temporal pleasures of this world. Jesus said it best:
46 "And why do you call Me, ’Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
47 "Everyone who comes to Me, and hears My words, and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like:
48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood rose, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
49 "But the one who has heard, and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."
