Luke 12, Part One

Fear Him! (vs. 1-7)--Jesus' denunciation of the Pharisees brought together "an innumerable multitude of people" (v. 1). His message, however, was "first of all" to His disciples. He warned them of the "leaven" (hypocrisy) of the Pharisees. Nothing can be hidden from God, and some day, it will be manifest to all (vs. 2-3). Yet, "My friends," don't fear men; all they can do is "kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do" (v. 4). The One to fear is He who can cast both body and soul in hell (v. 5). It is tempting in this world--and natural--to desire to protect our physical bodies from harm and pain. But Jesus' point is that such only lasts a short time. Hell is for eternity and our real nature, the spiritual one, will abide there forever if we deny Him to save our skin. Yet, God knows and sees. Sparrows are cheap (v. 6), but God doesn't forget them. Certainly He sees us for "you are of more value than many sparrows" (v. 7).

Don't deny Him (vs. 8-12)--And while, again, there was a whole multitude gathered at that time and His message is for all of His disciples, there was a special sense in which Jesus was talking to His apostles because, as His chief ambassadors, they would bear the brunt of men's hatred and opposition to the new religion. So He tells them (and, by extension, us), that if we will be faithful to Him before men, He will be faithful to us before "the angels of God"--the numberless host that will be around the throne on the Day of Judgment (vs. 8-9). Yet, denial of Him here will mean denial of us then. Jesus mentions in verse 10 the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit in a context of denying the Lord and His word. Since the Holy Spirit is the One who directly inspired God's message, to reject that message is to "blaspheme" Him Who gave it (see further comments on this subject in Matthew 12). The Spirit would give the apostles their message when they needed it (vs. 11-12); the apostles did have the freedom of choice to reject that message themselves and not preach it. That would constitute the "blasphemy" Jesus speaks of here. And also helps us understand His warning against denying Him before men.

It is extremely important to realize that this context is for the apostles only! We are not given such miraculous aid today; otherwise, we would be as inspired as they were. They did not have the completed, written word of God, thus the message had to be given them directly. However, we do have the completed revelation, thus extra-spiritual help is not needed. It would be nice, but that isn't the way it works. God wants to see how faithfully we will handle His word; He has entrusted it us to (I Thess. 2:4), and we better not be found wanting.

Beware of covetousness (vs. 13-21)--Some people never pay attention to the preacher, or are so absorbed in their own petty problems that what is truly important slides right past them unnoticed. Jesus had been delivering some important spiritual truths, but there is a man in the audience who can think of nothing but money. "Then one from the crowd said to Him, 'Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me'" (v. 13). Jesus appeared to have been irked by the request: "'Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?'" (v. 14). Jesus did not come to settle judicial disputes. He then warns against covetousness: "one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses" (v. 15). The spiritual, not the physical, is what's important, and Jesus them emphasizes that with a parable of a suddenly-rich man who made plans to enjoy his wealth for the rest of his life (vs. 16-19). "But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’” (v. 20). Be rich towards God; lay up treasures in heaven, for some day--maybe this day--our soul will appear before God.

Have faith in God (vs. 22-34)--Rather than trust in "uncertain riches" (I Tim. 6:17), place your faith in God. This is Jesus' next message. Don't worry about the things of this life (vs. 22-24). There are more important matters than food or clothing (v. 23). God feed the ravens, even though "they neither sow nor reap" (v. 24), and He clothes the lilies, yet "they neither toil nor spin" (v. 27). "If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?" (v. 28). God knows that our flesh worries about providing for itself; but that's part of faith. The same God Who provides grace for our souls provides food for our flesh, and He wants us to trust Him for both. We trust Him to provide for us the most important blessing and save us, do we not? Then, why do we not trust Him for the lesser? The world pursues earthly things (v. 30); God's people are to be better than that. If we live like the world, how are we any better than they? How is our religion of any value if we do not show confidence in God in all matters? Our job is to "seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you" (v. 31). God wants to provide us His kingdom (v. 32), and that is far, far more valuable than this world. He will take care of what we need in this world so that we can concentrate on making proper preparations and application for the next one. If we are too distracted by the mundane, then it will interfere with our spiritual pursuits. God knows that, and thus counsels trust in material things, and priority to spiritual ones. Our heart will be where our treasure is (v. 34). Why would we be so foolish as to place confidence in that which we will someday lose?