Listen Carefully

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

LISTEN CAREFULLY

Luke 9:43-45

While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, 44 "Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men."  45 But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

NIV

Although it is true that people flock to see miracles, the words of Jesus have a greater meaning. Just as in the days Jesus walked among the people, today, people, especially if not exclusively, Christians flock to a meeting where someone claims to have the gift of healing, or miracles. Perhaps their gift is genuine but the point is people come in droves to see these great signs of God. Some of these individuals are not genuine, but still hordes of people crowd into auditoriums to marvel at the show. We too could focus our attention on all the true miracles of Jesus, living a life of always expecting to see miracles, focused on that portion of his ministry only. But it is his words which have such extreme content that we should be focused on them. Here he tells his disciples and us to listen carefully to what he is about to tell them and us. The original word Jesus used was to let it sink down into your ears. This implies to be very clear in want we hear, ponder deeply on what he is about to say. Do not overlook the significance of his words. Do not gloss over them, let them sink deep into our mind and heart. Of course in this particular case he was letting them know he would be betrayed into the hands of men. As a historical fact, we know that was true, but at the time, his disciples did not really have a handle on exactly what that might have meant, or the significance of it to their redemption or salvation. In hind sight we have full knowledge of this saying, but still we should take extreme care in rightly dividing the word of God, listening carefully to it, allowing the Spirit to guide us into the truth within. Although in most cases we should not always be about trying to find some esoteric meaning, but rather take the word of God for the plan and open truth it is, there are times when we need to ponder carefully with the guidance of the Spirit to find the significance of the truth for our lives. This truth Jesus spoke to them was in fact hidden from them, even though he told them to let his words sink into their ears. They did not understand but yet they were afraid to ask him to explain further. Here too lies a life lesson. When we are not sure about the truth of God, are we afraid to have it explained? Did they just pretend to understand what he meant? Do we just pretend to understand all the truth of God because as Christians we are supposed to? We need to study the word, search it out, ponder, pray and ponder more seeking the guidance of the Spirit so that we hear, and understand the truth within, being careful to not allow the thoughts of men to distract us from the voice of the Spirit. Listen carefully.