Luke 12:1-12, Psalm 145
In a little while, we will remember the Lord through the bread and the cup and after this have a sharing time, where we all gather in a circle and anyone can share what the Lord has been showing and teaching them. First though, I would like to briefly say a few things about our passage for this week from Luke, chapter 12, verses 1 through 12. I then will have us read through Psalm 145 in preparation for remembering the Lord through the bread and the cup. Here is how Luke 12 begins:
Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to His disciples, saying: "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. – Luke 12:1-3
In the midst of a huge crowd, Jesus told His disciples to be on guard against the hypocrisy, or “yeast” of the Pharisees. If you want to describe something that spreads, that even the smallest amount can contaminate the whole thing, yeast is a perfect description. Yeast describes the effects of hypocrisy perfectly also; for one thing, think about how yeast, mixed with flour, is almost invisible. Also, what does it do? It puffs things up by producing bubbles. If you want your bread to be super airy with little substance to it, you use a lot of yeast. In the same way, if you add a lot of hypocrisy to your life, you end up being a person full of air, light and fluffy but with no real substance.
Extra yeast allows you to make bread with less of the actual ingredients that provide nourishment (the flour). Until you bite into it, you usually cannot tell how fluffy and airy it really is. So you could say that yeast hides your lack of substance to your bread. In the same way, hypocrisy hides a person’s lack of substance. But Jesus in this passage says that God will put an end to the practice of hiding stuff, of hypocrisy. What was hidden will be made known.
Human beings, all of us, from time to time willfully sin against God full well knowing that we are doing a sin. You could call it premeditated sinning. Why do we do this? What are we thinking? Do we think God won’t notice? I believe we display a kind of temporary insanity when we willfully sin. Do we really want God to shout out our sin from the rooftops?
I believe one reason we do this is that, for that moment, we hope that maybe God doesn’t exist so we can be our own master and do what we want. Perhaps you have some other reasons why we do this. Regardless, it is sin, and sin separates us from God. If it were not for Jesus’ love for us, for His dying on the cross for our sin, paying the penalty we deserve or our sin, it would separate us from God eternally. Praise God for sending Jesus to rescue us!
"I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. – Luke 12:4-7
There is quite a contrast between the first two verses and the last two here! Why does Jesus bring up the fear of death? Because He knows that what He has been sharing about hypocrisy has been so offensive to some of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law that they are beginning to plot ways to kill Jesus and perhaps, His closet disciples. Remember they are in a large crowd of people who have just been severely offended.
And when you think that God might allow you to suffer and die, what is the natural response? God, don’t You care? How can You let this happen to me? Am I worthless to You? And Jesus’ answer is, “Yes, you are worth a great deal to Me!” God even knows the trivial details of our lives, down to how many hairs are on our heads (perhaps not as big a deal in my case as it is with others ).
"I tell you, whoever acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns Me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. – Luke 12:8-10
Here Jesus challenges His followers to never stop sharing about Him, even in the face of persecution that might lead to death. But even though Jesus tells us not to deny Him, He also says that those who do will be shown grace. People like Peter, who denied the Lord three times, will be forgiven when they return to Him.
Now I am not exactly sure what blaspheming against the Holy Spirit means, but I do know that it is not something that believing Christians need to worry about. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit must involve a wholesale rejection of God and His plan for salvation, because, as it says in Romans 10:9, “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
"When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say." – Luke 12:11-12
Again, this verse is saying, “Do not fear.” I will refrain from saying more about this passage because I am eager to hear what you have been thinking about it during the sharing time. But first, we are going to remember the Lord in the way Jesus Himself instituted, through the bread and the cup. In order to prepare our hearts for this, I would like us to look at Psalm 145.
The first few words of the psalm note that it was written by David and is a psalm of praise. What I find so amazing about this psalm is that its fulfillment in Jesus is so clear, so vivid, that it is hard for me to even read it from the perspective of one who did not yet know of Christ.
This psalm is one of several passages that are alphabetic acrostics; that is, each verse starts with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. There is an incredible richness here, not just in these verses, but in the symbolism of the letters of the acrostic. In preparation for our time remembering the Lord, I want to highlight a few of these things. Consider it a crash course in Hebrew symbolism.
1 I will exalt You, my God the King; I will praise Your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise You and extol Your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom.
The first word in Hebrew is aronimkah, I will exalt. It starts with aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. I find it interesting that aleph is also the first letter of many first things, including God the Father (Av) the first Person in the Trinity, and God the supreme Being (Elohim), as well as Adam (Adam), the first man, and Abraham (Avraham), the father of the Jews. The divine Name “I am that I am” could be just as accurately rendered “I will be what I will be” (the future tense again), and the three words that make this name start with aleph, aleph, and aleph. In a sense, God the Father invades all future tense; He is the God who knows the future, and He is the God of the future.
The second line starts with b’kol yom, which literally means in all of the day. It starts with the second letter, bet, which means in. When referring to God, it is the God Who Enters In, which is a perfect description of our Lord Jesus Christ, who entered in to our world in human form with the purpose of rescuing us. The word for son is ben, which also starts with bet. Aleph stands for God the Father, and Bet stands for God the Son.
The third line starts with gadol, which means great, or majestic. It starts with the letter gimel. A key word that starts with gimel is galah, which means to reveal. We also have gavah, which means majesty, and gal, which means heap or billow. Together these words all relate to the concept of spirit, wind, and air, and together, these perfectly describe the Holy Spirit, which is like the air and reveals the greatness or glory of the Lord. Also, we have gamal, which means giver or gift or reward. Indeed, Jesus promises us the gift of the Holy Spirit.
I just find this astounding – like ABC, the Hebrew alphabet points to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And these three verses work together to praise the Lord, Father, Son, and Spirit.
4 One generation will commend Your works to another; they will tell of Your mighty acts.
5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and I will meditate on Your wonderful works.
6 They will tell of the power of Your awesome works, and I will proclaim Your great deeds.
7 They will celebrate Your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
This week John Farmer and I went to the middle of nowhere in Missouri to participate in a conference for pastors and other leaders sponsored by Great Commission Churches, a group of churches that we have partnered with. The theme of the conference was the Christian family, with an emphasis on raising children to love the Lord.
These verses tell us to pass on our knowledge of God to the next generation, our children. In preparation for communion today, I want to make sure we did this. If you are a part of this generation, the next few minutes are for you.
Do you know why we celebrate communion? What is the purpose? To remember the Lord’s sacrifice for us. What was that sacrifice? It was to choose to die on the cross and endure separation from His Father. Why did He do that? To save us. Our sin has separated us from God, because God is holy and cannot associate Himself with sin. When Jesus died on the cross, how did that help us? On the cross Jesus took our punishment. He was a substitutionary sacrifice in place of us. He was able to do this because He was without sin. He did not die for His own sins, but for ours. The juice in the communion reminds us that His blood was shed for us. The bread reminds us that His body was broken for us. By eating the bread and drinking the cup, we are reminded that it is only because of Jesus that we can be reconciled, brought back together, to God.
The essence of these verses is that we are to pass down from generation to generation God’s works, His majesty, His power, His goodness, His righteousness. All of these were fully displayed in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus lay down His life for us, His friends. Never has a greater love been shown than in this act.
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.
Do we really understand the Lord’s compassion towards us? What kind of compassion leads to giving up your own life for another? It is total compassion, compassion without reserve. For the joy set before Him Jesus went to the cross. The joy was joy in knowing that His actions would rescue those who were pitifully unable to rescue themselves. Understand that the bread and the cup are symbols of His compassion.
10 All You have made will praise You, O Lord; Your saints will extol You.
11 They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your might,
12 so that all men may know of Your mighty acts and the glorious of Your kingdom.
Do you see how sharing the gospel with others is what is implied by these verses? And we know that taking the bread and the cup is a way of extolling the Lord, a way of telling of God’s kingdom and His might. As it says in I Cor. 11:26, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.
Do you see the picture in the background? If I were to give it a title, I would call it, “Self Portrait.” I like this picture because it shows the person in it as nothing but a shadow. Spurgeon has said, “Men come and go like shadows on a wall, but God reigns eternally.” Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was once for all. It is payment in full for all of our sins now and forever. When we remember the Lord with the bread and cup, we remember truly the only thing we need to remember through all eternity.
One thing that is fascinating about this psalm is that there is no “next” verse for the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, nun. Many places in the traditional Hebrew literature suggest that nun is symbolic of the Hebrew word nephalim, a word that means “fallen.” The word is used to describe the fallen ones in Genesis, as well as Satan himself. Why is there no verse starting with a nun? There are many theories, but the one I like best is that there is nothing “fallen” about Christ. His ways are perfect. Note that to be fallen really means to be disobedient. Philippians 2 describes Jesus as a servant, completely obedient. It says “He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross!”
14 The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made.
Although nothing about God is fallen, we certainly are, and these verses encourage us to come to the Lord even though we are fallen or bent over with the weight of the world. Verse 16 makes me think about Jesus’ hands, pierced through to support Him on the cross. He truly did open His hands to satisfy the desires of every living thing, for His sacrifice satisfied our deepest desire, that for a restored, eternally growing relationship with our Lord.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever.
Do you really believe the Lord is near? Do you believe that He is listening to us right now? That He is eagerly waiting for us to share the bread and the cup in remembrance of Him? This is absolutely true! He hears our cries! He watches over us! And so, we should praise Him as we remember Him with the bread and the cup.
Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to His disciples, saying: "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. – Luke 12:1-3
In the midst of a huge crowd, Jesus told His disciples to be on guard against the hypocrisy, or “yeast” of the Pharisees. If you want to describe something that spreads, that even the smallest amount can contaminate the whole thing, yeast is a perfect description. Yeast describes the effects of hypocrisy perfectly also; for one thing, think about how yeast, mixed with flour, is almost invisible. Also, what does it do? It puffs things up by producing bubbles. If you want your bread to be super airy with little substance to it, you use a lot of yeast. In the same way, if you add a lot of hypocrisy to your life, you end up being a person full of air, light and fluffy but with no real substance.
Extra yeast allows you to make bread with less of the actual ingredients that provide nourishment (the flour). Until you bite into it, you usually cannot tell how fluffy and airy it really is. So you could say that yeast hides your lack of substance to your bread. In the same way, hypocrisy hides a person’s lack of substance. But Jesus in this passage says that God will put an end to the practice of hiding stuff, of hypocrisy. What was hidden will be made known.
Human beings, all of us, from time to time willfully sin against God full well knowing that we are doing a sin. You could call it premeditated sinning. Why do we do this? What are we thinking? Do we think God won’t notice? I believe we display a kind of temporary insanity when we willfully sin. Do we really want God to shout out our sin from the rooftops?
I believe one reason we do this is that, for that moment, we hope that maybe God doesn’t exist so we can be our own master and do what we want. Perhaps you have some other reasons why we do this. Regardless, it is sin, and sin separates us from God. If it were not for Jesus’ love for us, for His dying on the cross for our sin, paying the penalty we deserve or our sin, it would separate us from God eternally. Praise God for sending Jesus to rescue us!
"I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. – Luke 12:4-7
There is quite a contrast between the first two verses and the last two here! Why does Jesus bring up the fear of death? Because He knows that what He has been sharing about hypocrisy has been so offensive to some of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law that they are beginning to plot ways to kill Jesus and perhaps, His closet disciples. Remember they are in a large crowd of people who have just been severely offended.
And when you think that God might allow you to suffer and die, what is the natural response? God, don’t You care? How can You let this happen to me? Am I worthless to You? And Jesus’ answer is, “Yes, you are worth a great deal to Me!” God even knows the trivial details of our lives, down to how many hairs are on our heads (perhaps not as big a deal in my case as it is with others ).
"I tell you, whoever acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns Me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. – Luke 12:8-10
Here Jesus challenges His followers to never stop sharing about Him, even in the face of persecution that might lead to death. But even though Jesus tells us not to deny Him, He also says that those who do will be shown grace. People like Peter, who denied the Lord three times, will be forgiven when they return to Him.
Now I am not exactly sure what blaspheming against the Holy Spirit means, but I do know that it is not something that believing Christians need to worry about. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit must involve a wholesale rejection of God and His plan for salvation, because, as it says in Romans 10:9, “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
"When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say." – Luke 12:11-12
Again, this verse is saying, “Do not fear.” I will refrain from saying more about this passage because I am eager to hear what you have been thinking about it during the sharing time. But first, we are going to remember the Lord in the way Jesus Himself instituted, through the bread and the cup. In order to prepare our hearts for this, I would like us to look at Psalm 145.
The first few words of the psalm note that it was written by David and is a psalm of praise. What I find so amazing about this psalm is that its fulfillment in Jesus is so clear, so vivid, that it is hard for me to even read it from the perspective of one who did not yet know of Christ.
This psalm is one of several passages that are alphabetic acrostics; that is, each verse starts with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. There is an incredible richness here, not just in these verses, but in the symbolism of the letters of the acrostic. In preparation for our time remembering the Lord, I want to highlight a few of these things. Consider it a crash course in Hebrew symbolism.
1 I will exalt You, my God the King; I will praise Your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise You and extol Your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom.
The first word in Hebrew is aronimkah, I will exalt. It starts with aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. I find it interesting that aleph is also the first letter of many first things, including God the Father (Av) the first Person in the Trinity, and God the supreme Being (Elohim), as well as Adam (Adam), the first man, and Abraham (Avraham), the father of the Jews. The divine Name “I am that I am” could be just as accurately rendered “I will be what I will be” (the future tense again), and the three words that make this name start with aleph, aleph, and aleph. In a sense, God the Father invades all future tense; He is the God who knows the future, and He is the God of the future.
The second line starts with b’kol yom, which literally means in all of the day. It starts with the second letter, bet, which means in. When referring to God, it is the God Who Enters In, which is a perfect description of our Lord Jesus Christ, who entered in to our world in human form with the purpose of rescuing us. The word for son is ben, which also starts with bet. Aleph stands for God the Father, and Bet stands for God the Son.
The third line starts with gadol, which means great, or majestic. It starts with the letter gimel. A key word that starts with gimel is galah, which means to reveal. We also have gavah, which means majesty, and gal, which means heap or billow. Together these words all relate to the concept of spirit, wind, and air, and together, these perfectly describe the Holy Spirit, which is like the air and reveals the greatness or glory of the Lord. Also, we have gamal, which means giver or gift or reward. Indeed, Jesus promises us the gift of the Holy Spirit.
I just find this astounding – like ABC, the Hebrew alphabet points to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And these three verses work together to praise the Lord, Father, Son, and Spirit.
4 One generation will commend Your works to another; they will tell of Your mighty acts.
5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and I will meditate on Your wonderful works.
6 They will tell of the power of Your awesome works, and I will proclaim Your great deeds.
7 They will celebrate Your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
This week John Farmer and I went to the middle of nowhere in Missouri to participate in a conference for pastors and other leaders sponsored by Great Commission Churches, a group of churches that we have partnered with. The theme of the conference was the Christian family, with an emphasis on raising children to love the Lord.
These verses tell us to pass on our knowledge of God to the next generation, our children. In preparation for communion today, I want to make sure we did this. If you are a part of this generation, the next few minutes are for you.
Do you know why we celebrate communion? What is the purpose? To remember the Lord’s sacrifice for us. What was that sacrifice? It was to choose to die on the cross and endure separation from His Father. Why did He do that? To save us. Our sin has separated us from God, because God is holy and cannot associate Himself with sin. When Jesus died on the cross, how did that help us? On the cross Jesus took our punishment. He was a substitutionary sacrifice in place of us. He was able to do this because He was without sin. He did not die for His own sins, but for ours. The juice in the communion reminds us that His blood was shed for us. The bread reminds us that His body was broken for us. By eating the bread and drinking the cup, we are reminded that it is only because of Jesus that we can be reconciled, brought back together, to God.
The essence of these verses is that we are to pass down from generation to generation God’s works, His majesty, His power, His goodness, His righteousness. All of these were fully displayed in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus lay down His life for us, His friends. Never has a greater love been shown than in this act.
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.
Do we really understand the Lord’s compassion towards us? What kind of compassion leads to giving up your own life for another? It is total compassion, compassion without reserve. For the joy set before Him Jesus went to the cross. The joy was joy in knowing that His actions would rescue those who were pitifully unable to rescue themselves. Understand that the bread and the cup are symbols of His compassion.
10 All You have made will praise You, O Lord; Your saints will extol You.
11 They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your might,
12 so that all men may know of Your mighty acts and the glorious of Your kingdom.
Do you see how sharing the gospel with others is what is implied by these verses? And we know that taking the bread and the cup is a way of extolling the Lord, a way of telling of God’s kingdom and His might. As it says in I Cor. 11:26, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.
Do you see the picture in the background? If I were to give it a title, I would call it, “Self Portrait.” I like this picture because it shows the person in it as nothing but a shadow. Spurgeon has said, “Men come and go like shadows on a wall, but God reigns eternally.” Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was once for all. It is payment in full for all of our sins now and forever. When we remember the Lord with the bread and cup, we remember truly the only thing we need to remember through all eternity.
One thing that is fascinating about this psalm is that there is no “next” verse for the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, nun. Many places in the traditional Hebrew literature suggest that nun is symbolic of the Hebrew word nephalim, a word that means “fallen.” The word is used to describe the fallen ones in Genesis, as well as Satan himself. Why is there no verse starting with a nun? There are many theories, but the one I like best is that there is nothing “fallen” about Christ. His ways are perfect. Note that to be fallen really means to be disobedient. Philippians 2 describes Jesus as a servant, completely obedient. It says “He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross!”
14 The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made.
Although nothing about God is fallen, we certainly are, and these verses encourage us to come to the Lord even though we are fallen or bent over with the weight of the world. Verse 16 makes me think about Jesus’ hands, pierced through to support Him on the cross. He truly did open His hands to satisfy the desires of every living thing, for His sacrifice satisfied our deepest desire, that for a restored, eternally growing relationship with our Lord.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever.
Do you really believe the Lord is near? Do you believe that He is listening to us right now? That He is eagerly waiting for us to share the bread and the cup in remembrance of Him? This is absolutely true! He hears our cries! He watches over us! And so, we should praise Him as we remember Him with the bread and the cup.
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