Inside and Out

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

INSIDE AND OUT

 

Luke 11:37-41

37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised. 39 Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give what is inside [the dish] to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

NIV

It is interesting the difference between Luke’s account and Matthew's of this exchange between Jesus and this Pharisee. Of course, Matthew’s account is within the seven woes, while Luke records this happening when Jesus accepts the invite to the Pharisee’s home for dinner. It is also interesting that Jesus, when referring to the cup and dish in Matthew’s account Jesus talked about how the Pharisee cleans the outside, but the inside is full of greed and self-indulgence. Luke records  this reference to the cup and dish as pretty much the same way, except he adds the fact that God made our outside, that we were created in the image of God, but that also means that God made our inside, the inner man, who we truly are which makes us in the image of God, body soul and Spirit, three in one. What good does it for us to just appear as a “Good Christian” when we have greed hiding on the inside, or some level of self-indulgence, or some other secret sin that we have not confessed, and repented of? Then, there is this whole idea of accepting and even engaging in the cultural oppression of how the outside looks. The cosmetic industry is over a billion-dollar business monthly while little time and money is spent on our inner selves. Jesus just said that the eyes are the window into the soul, in some sense, using the eyes that are full of light, because the whole body is full of light. The true beauty of a person’s outside comes from the light, the beauty that is within. As we take the time to clean the inside, accepting the light of Christ within, we reflect his glory, our eyes will shine with his radiance and true beauty will be reflected in our eyes. But, the inside must be clean. Because Jesus has washed us in his blood, He did not wash our outside, we do that ourselves, but He has washed our inside, our inner person, cleansing us and making us holy and blameless in the sight of God. Let us not get so distracted by the outside that we forget to live as we are meant to on the inside. Then we will be clean on the inside and out. 

Let it Shine

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

LET IT SHINE

Luke 11:33-36

33 "No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you." 

NIV

The key or the central point that Jesus makes here, is when he says, “See to it”.  We know that Jesus is the light of the world which means we have a choice. We can see to it that we refuse to allow His light within us, or we can accept His light. Those who do not want His light will live in darkness and their eyes will be filled with darkness. However, because we have light, our eyes shine because we are full of light. However, that does require that we, “See to it” that the light with us is not darkness, nor that any part of our body has any darkness. This means we must be full to the brim with light. Now, if we are completely full of the light of Christ, we cannot hide it. Jesus tells us to let our light shine and shine it openly so that everyone who comes near us can see that light. This would include our eyes, which Jesus says are a window of our light. Perhaps our nickname should be, ‘bright eyes’. We do wonder if any attitude, such as jealousy, envy, greed, bitterness, unforgiveness, pridefulness, or some other negative attitude could work against the shininess of our light. We also wonder if any condition our body experiences, such as simple aches and pains because of aging or having some physical condition that hampers our daily life could affect the way our light shines. Jesus says that we should put our light on a stand for all to be able to see. That means if we are a born-again, Spirit-filled follower of Jesus, and we have the light of Jesus within us, we must let it shine, no matter what. This is not even something we can make a priority, such as we can do regarding serving in the church, doing good deeds, or trying to follow the rules and regulations we see as being Christian. The light is the light of Jesus, and if it shines within us, it simply should be shining through us or out of us so that everyone can see the light of Jesus, as Paul puts it, we are reflecting the glory of God in every increasing glory. 

The Sign

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THE SIGN

Luke 11:29-36

29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. 33 "No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you." 

NIV

It is straightforward that Jonah was in the belly of that large fish for three days and then resurrected, as it were, on the shore. We know that Jonah prayed in the fish for three days and three nights, using the term Sheol. This was the sign to the people that Jesus would be in the grave for three days and three nights, as he said he would also be a sign to this generation. And a sign of the resurrection he was. Although through the cross, the shed blood of Jesus our sins our swept away, forgiven once and for all, it is the resurrection that gives us the assurance that we too will rise from the grave and live in a new gloried body forever and ever. Then, Jesus gave us that other sign in his ascension for not only will we be resurrected from the grave, but we will ascend into heaven. We do have the whole of scripture as a way to know the character of God, to be able to grasp His majesty and holiness and how he deals with his creation with justice, or truth and grace. Yet, the people of Nineveh are also a sign to this wicked generation, whom we were a member of before our repentance and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The sign of Nineveh is repentance. In the Hebrew, it says they turned from their evil ways, changed the way they were thinking, and turned to God. This is the Greek word meaning repent as in change the way of thinking. Once we thought of only satisfying our evil desires, but now we have repented, changed the way we think, and now we want to satisfy the desires of God. Do we miss that mark? Yes, but it is not our desire. We just have not and will not be able to attain the absolute perfection and holiness of God while in this corruptible and perishable body, no matter how much effort we put toward fulfilling the desire of God. However, He is able, for He is the one who started this great work within us, and He is the one who will complete this work in us, as one day we will raise glorified, in an incorruptible and imperishable body in all the perfection God desires us to be. Why some cannot see the sign of Jonah and the sign of Jesus is beyond our comprehension, but then we have seen the Light. 

A Wicked Generation

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

A WICKED GENERATION

Luke 11:29-36

29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. 33 "No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you." 

NIV

We could have broken this up into segments to deal with one at a time, but it is good to see the whole of his words, and then spend some time on each of the truths Jesus speaks about. First, let us understand what Jesus meant by that generation being wicked. His consideration of what a wicked generation is they ask for miraculous signs. This goes back to when Jesus was driving out a demon. Two types of people responded. Some charged him of driving out demons by Beelzebub, the others tested him wanting for a sign from heaven. The problem with both those groups, or this wicked generation is that did not believe, in faith, in Jesus as the Christ, the anointed one of God, the Messiah, the Savior of mankind. They either totally disbelieved and wanted to discredit him or wanted proof. This brings us to this generation. Understanding where we have come in our lifetime, we see so many lifestyles that require they discredit Jesus completely, along with anything that is associated with Jesus, such as the bible because it affronts their way of life. Then some argue against the truth and even the existence of God, pure evolutionists, who believe humans were once something else and crawled out of that premortal soup, the pure atheists who don’t believe there is a god, and the agnostics who don’t believe it’s possible to know for sure that a god exists. That is the people who wanted a sign from heaven, they wanted proof that God exists. All of those people are part of this wicked generation today. But what about those who confess they are Christians? Do some of us want a sign from heaven? This may not be like those who tested Jesus, who wanted a miraculous sign, but wanted every one of our prayers to be answered the way we want them to, sort of wanted this sign, so we could truly believe. Which means, if we never get any answer to any prayer, do we think maybe something is wrong, or our faith weakens to the point of almost disbelief? If we never see any physical evidence, are we still people of faith, which is defined as the substance of things hoped for but not seen. If we never see any physical evidence at all, never have a practical reason for proof, an answered prayer, healing, or anything else that would justify our belief in God, are we truly people of faith? Are we just putting up a front, a false façade of faith, trying to look like a Christian, behave in a manner we think Christians should, but still are not full of faith. Are we truly a people of faith? If not, then we might just be part of this wicked generation. We say, no, we are full of faith, although we might still struggle with sin, we are not part of this wicked generation. 

Blessed

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

BLESSED

Luke 11:27-28

27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." 28 He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." 

NIV

There is no doubt that Mary, who was visited by an angel and was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, who conceived in her womb, was the mother of the Son of God, and a special woman. She did give birth to Jesus who came to earth in the form of man. Although Jesus is not disrespecting Mary in any way by his response to this woman in the crowd who calls out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you”. Surely this woman did not know that it was Jesus who gave himself birth in a woman, at least in the sense that God is three persons in one, so as the Holy Spirit conceived Jesus within Mary, it was all God giving birth to himself in the form of man, and not of the will of man. Nevertheless, the response of Jesus brings us to this one truth. Our position in life bears no meaning when it comes to being blessed. It does not matter what title we hold, how much education we have, or what our financial picture looks like. There is only one condition that Jesus described as being blessed. Once again, this Greek word, makarios, means to be happy. In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he uses this word connected to the name of God. Jesus used it throughout what we call the Beatitudes. The sense of this being blessed is to be happy, content, fulfilled, satisfied, and connected to God, being his child. This is what Jesus is saying here that we are among the blessed because we have and continue to hear the word of God and make every effort to obey it. Do we fail? Of course, but it is the desire of our heart to follow Jesus, obeying the word of God. Now, this obeying could be seen simply as the act of repentance, changing the way we think, and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. That we have done completely in obedience to the word of God. As this woman thought Mary gave birth to Jesus and nursed him, Jesus has given us new birth, new life, everlasting life, and He nurses us, each and every day bringing us from being a new infant in Christ to being a full-grown mature believer who follows the way of God. We are always growing, as we have never, and will never attain the fullness of God until we are resurrected in glory. But we are still growing, always being built up by God's word. 

Empty or Full

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

EMPTY OR FULL

Luke 11:24-26

24 "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first." 

NIV

These words are still in response to either the challenge of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebub or wanting a sign to prove he is the Messiah. The thought was commonly believed that evil spirits dwelled in the parched places of Israel, and that is what Jesus speaks about. However, the truth is regarding those Jews who were living by the law, and began to believe in Him, being set free from their harsh laws they expanded into over six hundred rules and regulations, then did not stay with their thinking about Jesus being the Messiah, and could not overcome their need for the law, returned to their former beliefs and thus were worse off then before they ever believed. But how does this apply to our lives? Surely, we were once controlled by evil spirits, even those who were born into a Christian home, for they did not exit the womb saved from their sins because they trusted in Jesus Christ and accepted him as their Lord and Savior. For we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, there is none righteous, no not one. What we wonder is because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, first, to convict us of our sins and need for repentance, then after we have changed the way we think, turn from our wicked ways, being under the rule of Satan, and accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have been swept clean, but if we do not also accept the Holy Spirit, then perhaps we would still be swept clean. Then, if we are only swept clean, but not filled with the Spirit, is it possible we might return to our old way of thinking and be worse off than before we ever accepted Jesus. We know we use the phrase; we have Jesus in our hearts, but that is not possible for Jesus is in heaven. Maybe we are simply saying that the attitude of our hearts and minds is bent toward Jesus.  However, we can have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, for Jesus sent Him to us. It is the Spirit who leads us, who directs us into all truth, leading us away from the untruth we once lived under. But if we do not accept His leading, then perhaps we might be in danger of returning to our former thinking, that we have our own truth, like what Jesus was saying about those Jews who could return to their truth of the law. Would knowing Jesus but not understanding the truth because we did not accept the baptism of the Spirit, but continued to think from our own way of thinking would cause us to be worse off than before ever knowing Jesus? Maybe we would become so invested in trying to follow rules and regulations that we have devised from what we think the bible says, that we are truly not set free, but actually worse off because we are looking at the law instead of Jesus. Just a thought, can’t be sure if that fits or not, but could it be true? Being swept clean is great, but then being filled with the Spirit finalizes our changed thinking, warding off any attempts of evil to return. Therefore, we should never be empty, but full. 

With or Against

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

WITH OR AGAINST

 

Luke 11:23

23 "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.

NIV

This is still in response to the charge that he cast out the evil spirit by the power of Satan, rather than by the finger of God. However, as with all of what Jesus said here, there are truths that we need to consider and how this can apply to our lives. There are only two kingdoms that exist. One is the kingdom of this dark world; the other is the kingdom of God. We could see that as the kingdom of good and the kingdom of evil. The question is whether being a Christian means we are with Jesus. Again, as we have thought many times before the title Christian is palatable to the world, and, in fact, many call themselves Christians who have no idea what being born again or Spirit-filled or following Jesus truly means. So then, what does Jesus mean when he said if we are not with Him we are against him. Then he uses a parallel about gathering or scattering. Of course, we are not suggesting some who call themselves Christians are in reality with Satan and thus against Jesus. However, the facts are clear, we have to serve somebody, either we are going to serve Jesus, or serve Satan, but we are going to serve somebody, to sort of quote that song by Bob Dylan. What then does it mean to be with Jesus and to be a gatherer? That implies that being with Jesus is to follow him and do what he does, gathering by shedding light into this dark world preaching the good news about the kingdom of God. We think about what Jesus said about his coming not for the righteous, but for the sick. We wonder if we have gotten into that attitude of  "Us four and no more", meaning we simply come to church once or maybe twice a week and spend time with other Christians, trying to be nice to each other, but have failed to gather with Jesus, by going outside the church and sharing the good news of the kingdom of God. We also wonder if we don’t do some scattering, even within the church when we think of how much damage is done by gossip, being critical, judgmental, or being prideful or boastful. Over the years we have seen people leave the church because of unresolved conflicts. How is that gathering and thus how is that being with Jesus? This also takes us back to the man who wanted to justify himself by asking Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”, as we ponder on loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. If we love others, both inside and outside the church, then we would not want them to live in the kingdom of Satan but would want to tell them about the good news of the kingdom of God, and thus be a gatherer and being with Jesus. We also understand that those who live in the kingdom of Satan have generated this idea of not being offensive by talking about the kingdom of God, or about Jesus. However, because we love them, we need to get past being offensive and meet them where they are, telling them about the good news of the kingdom of God. If we can do that, we will be gathering with Jesus. Then we can answer the question of whether we are with or against. That sounds harsh, but is it true?