588. Gospel of Luke - Chapter 10 (#3) - Jesus Declares the Two Great Commandments - July 3, 2024

[00:00:06] and Albeer Hills. In this podcast we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.

[00:00:41] Beginning in verse 1. My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands. For length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. Let not mercy and truth forsake you.

[00:00:59] By them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lay not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and apart from evil.

[00:01:28] It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones. Order the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your increase. So your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.

[00:01:46] My son, do not despise the chasening of the Lord nor detest his correction. For whom the Lord loves he corrects just as a father the son in whom he delights.

[00:02:01] Happy is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. For her proceeds are better than the prophets of silver and her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies and all the things you've made desire cannot compare with her.

[00:02:22] Length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand, riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her and happy are all who retain her.

[00:02:42] The Lord by wisdom founded the earth by understanding he established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths were broken up and clouds dropped down the dew.

[00:02:56] My son, let them not depart from your eyes, keep sound wisdom and discretion so they will be life to your soul and grace to your neck.

[00:03:09] Then you will walk safely in your way and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid. Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.

[00:03:23] Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in the power of your hand to do so.

[00:03:45] Do not say to your neighbor, go and come back and tomorrow I will give it when you have it with you. Do not devise evil against your neighbor for he dwells by you for safety's sake. Do not strive with a man without cause if he has done you know harm. Do not envy the oppressor and choose none of his ways.

[00:04:12] For the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord, but his secret council is with the upright. The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the just.

[00:04:29] Surely he scores the scornful that gives grace to the humble. The wise shall inherit glory, the shame shall be the legacy of fools. Friends, today I'd like to take a closer look at verses 28 and 29 and proper three verses 28 and 29 tell us this.

[00:04:56] Do not say to your neighbor, go and come back and tomorrow I will give it when you have it with you. Do not devise evil against your neighbor for he dwells by you for safety's sake.

[00:05:12] Friends today we will take a closer look at those two verses prior to closing, but what I'd like to do right now is continue our study in the gospel according to Luke.

[00:05:25] And I'd like to refresh our memories of what we ended Mondays podcast with and if you recall in Mondays podcast we were in chapter 10 of Luke. And the 70 disciples outside of the 12 disciples had come back and they were reporting to Jesus.

[00:05:47] And their report was a favorable one. They said even the demons are subject to us in your name. And Jesus replied this way, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven and I really like that one verse.

[00:06:07] I mentioned that on Mondays podcast and if you would like to take a look at Mondays podcast, I highly encourage you to do so.

[00:06:16] But we are going to pick up where we left off on Mondays podcast, so we are still in chapter 10 today. We are going to begin in verse 21.

[00:06:27] In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the spirit and said, I thank you Father Lord of heaven and earth that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.

[00:06:48] Now friends, the first point I would like to bring up today is Jesus thanks his father for revelation.

[00:06:58] Now I'm going to read this one more time. It says, I thank you Father Lord of heaven and earth that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.

[00:07:18] Now friends, what he's referring to is where we left off on Mondays podcast and Mondays podcast I will over again. Jesus left off with behold, I give you authority to trample on servants and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

[00:07:42] Now, for the less do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.

[00:07:54] So friends, I'm going to take a little bit of liberty here. In verse 21, I'm going to call this billology and I am not saying this is true.

[00:08:06] I'm not saying that you should believe this. I'm not saying that you should go and tell your friends you heard this on the podcast. This is simply my interpretation of what verse 21 says, it says,

[00:08:19] I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. So the first point I want everyone to get is that Jesus is thanking his father for this particular revelation.

[00:08:44] So I think this verse is telling us, is that there may be people in this world that have all kinds of initials after their name. In other words, they have two or three doctorates degree and they are well admired and respected in the world.

[00:09:09] I think that's what he's talking about people who are wise and prudent. So the world thinks that they are smart and revealed them to babes.

[00:09:24] I believe what he's talking about babes here are new Christians who have just heard the word for the first or second time and seem to be getting it. So they have this revelation and they've gotten it because their heart is in the right place like I said, this is my speculation.

[00:09:51] Anyway, let's go to verse 22. All things have been delivered to me by my father and no one knows who the sun is except the father and who the father is except the sun and the one to whom the sun wills to reveal him.

[00:10:12] I am reading out of the Nelson study Bible and I'd like to go over the commentary in my Bible for verse 22.

[00:10:22] All things have been delivered to me. This is Jesus' declaration of total authority as the sun of God. He makes a similar statement in Matthew's Gospel chapter 28 verse 18, except the father, except the sun.

[00:10:46] Jesus declares his unique relationship with God the father. The Lord reveals himself only through Jesus to no God, one must know his son Jesus and that is a very powerful point because there are many people in our world today who believe God they think God exists

[00:11:15] but they do not believe that Jesus is his son or that he came to earth and did what Jesus actually did.

[00:11:25] What I'd like to do here is go to this account for these two verses and go to Matthew's account of this. Now Matthew in chapter 11, the same two verses are almost identically written in Matthew's Gospel.

[00:11:45] But Matthew adds a few verses besides what I just read and I really like Matthew's account of this. So let's go to Matthew's Gospel chapter 11, beginning in verse 28.

[00:12:03] And most of you are familiar with these three verses. It says, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

[00:12:18] Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly and heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is life. So in Matthew's account of this story, it is entitled Jesus gives true rest.

[00:12:46] And friends, I would highly encourage any of you listening today if you have a piece of paper right down Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 through 30. Let me read them one more time.

[00:13:04] Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly and heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is life.

[00:13:28] Friends those three verses are is rich as almost any other verses in the Bible. I think you all should be familiar with those. Let's go to verse 23.

[00:13:43] Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, blessed are the eyes which see the things you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings have desire to see what you see and have not seen it and they hear what you hear and have not heard it.

[00:14:07] Let's go to our second point of the day and Jesus says blessed are the eyes that see what you see. Let's go to the commentary in my Bible for verse 24.

[00:14:22] Have not seen heard it. Jesus contrasted the old testament era of expectation in which people desired to see the Messiah but did not with the era in which the disciples were living.

[00:14:42] If they had the spiritual insight, they could witness the fulfillment in Jesus of many of God's promises. Let's go to verse 25 and behold a certain lawyer stood up and tested him saying, teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

[00:15:05] He sent to him what is written in the law, what is your reading of it. So he answered and said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.

[00:15:25] My friends, my third point today is Jesus declares the two great commandments. Let's look at the commentary for verse 27.

[00:15:38] You shall love the Lord and your neighbor. The lawyer responded to Jesus' questions by quoting, due to the Ronomy chapter 6 verse 5, a text that was recited twice a day by every faithful Jew.

[00:15:59] This text summarized the central ethical standard of the law. The lawyer also alluded to Leviticus chapter 19 verse 18, the basis of the man's response is an expression of allegiance and devotion that also can be seen as the natural expression of faith since the total person heart, soul, strength and mind

[00:16:28] is involved. Let's go to verse 28 and he said to him, you have answered rightly, do this and you will live. Listen to the commentary for verse 28.

[00:16:45] Jesus was not saying that righteousness is the result of works, rather he was saying that love for and obedience to God will be a natural result of placing one's faith in the Lord.

[00:17:03] Those who believe in Jesus and follow him will receive eternal rewards. Jesus states this principle to Peter in Matthew's gospel chapter 19, verses 27 through 30. Now listen to verse 29, but he wanting to justify himself said to Jesus and who is my neighbor. Listen to the commentary in verse 29.

[00:17:38] Luke makes it clear that the lawyer was trying to place himself in the position of satisfying the highest demands of the law. Who is my neighbor? Listen to this, this question was an attempt to limit the demands of the law by suggesting that some people are neighbors while others are not.

[00:18:07] The lawyer was looking for minimal obedience while Jesus was looking for absolute obedience. Now friends, I'm going to mention this. I will go back over this when we reconvene in our story on Monday's podcast.

[00:18:27] Now tomorrow is the 4th of July. So I'm going to have a special podcast tomorrow commemorating the birth of our country and the fact that we're celebrating a birthday of our country.

[00:18:40] So we will reconvene this on Monday. But I just want to mention this, this is where Matthew and Mark leave off in this story.

[00:18:53] The lawyer is asking what are the two great commandments and Jesus answers him. And he says, go and do these two commandments and you're going to be living the right way.

[00:19:06] But in Luke, we're going to hear the parable of the good Samaritan. And this is only found in Luke. So I would highly encourage you to mark your calendar for Monday and on Monday, we will hear the parable of the good Samaritan.

[00:19:29] Friends, let's go back to our proverb of the day and look at the verse that we talked about in proverb chapter three.

[00:19:38] And we looked at two today and we're both talking about neighbors. And I picked verses 28 and 29 because we just found out we are to love our neighbor. So let's look at proverb three verse 28, do not say to your neighbor go and come back and tomorrow I will give it when you have it with you.

[00:20:01] If your neighbor comes over and ask you for something and you say that to him, you're not showing love to him.

[00:20:11] Showing and demonstrating love to your neighbor is come on in. Sure, I can help you right now. I'll go get it right now. That is how we are to treat our neighbors.

[00:20:26] We are to give them what they need when they ask for it. Let's look at verse 29, do not devise evil against your neighbor. For he dwells by you for safety sake.

[00:20:41] Friends, your neighbors should be some of the closest people that you have in this world. You should know who your neighbors are. You should help each other out from time to time if you noticed they have a need go out and help them.

[00:20:57] That is what Christians do. That is what makes us different than the majority of people in this world. Now friends, my call to action today. What I'd like to do is just ask you this simple question. How do you treat your neighbors?

[00:21:16] I really want you to give that some thought. Do you know who your neighbors are on either side of you or across the street?

[00:21:26] May I suggest if you don't know who they are that you go across the street, you go to your neighbor to your right or left introduce yourself.

[00:21:35] Bring them a batch of cookies if you don't know them. Be different. Let them know that you are there and you'll be there if they have a need. Friends, I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

[00:21:56] If there is anyone listening today and you have never taken that step to invite Jesus into your heart today is your lucky day. I would repeat a simple prayer after me. Father God, thank you for sending your son Jesus to earth.

[00:22:15] Jesus, thank you that you came to earth and were willing to die on that cross in my place by dying on that cross.

[00:22:26] I've taken away all of my sins and all of the sins of everyone else listening to this podcast today, but Jesus, I still need your help. I ask you come into my heart. I ask that you lead me and guide me from this point forward in my life.

[00:22:45] I make you my Lord and Savior. Now, made a Lord bless you and keep you. Lord, make us face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord liftoff is countenance upon you and give you priests.

[00:23:02] Friends, tomorrow is July 4th. I am going to have a special podcast. I hope you will join me as we further explore wisdom today.