That in all Things, He Might have the Preeminence
Luke
9:51-10:42
Tom J.
Nettles
I
Christ’s Purpose to Save 9:51-56
A
Jesus was on his way to die for Sinners who despise and
reject him 51-53
·
Jesus had been revealing to his disciples a condensed
version of the series of events that would eventuate in his death at the hands
of the religious leaders of
·
He was going to die in the place where he would command that
the gospel be preached first [Acts 1:8
B
The Disciples want to destroy a village that will not receive
him 54 [This continues their misunderstanding of 43-50 and shows their
infatuation with power]
C
Jesus mission was to save not destroy
II
How to follow Jesus [57-62]
A
Be ready for absolute humiliation, for his purpose has no
approval from the world, nor are any comforts from the world included in the
promises (57, 58) [cf53 for the irony of one promising to follow Jesus at the
moment that he has set his face toward Jerusalem where he will die and where
his present followers will all forsake him, one by betrayal unto death, one by
denial under pressure, and the rest by scattering when the feel the fear of
hostility.]
B
Be ready for immediate service that transcends all earthly loyalty 59-60; When
Christ gives a specific call to gospel service, one cannot point to the
intertwining obstacles of earthly relationship as sufficient reason to delay or
deny the call. Others that have no commitments or call beyond the temporal will
fill the gap. Jesus called his first disciples from the seashore and they left
their nets, left their father in the boat and went and followed Jesus.
C
Be ready to lay aside all distractions for the superiority
of the kingdom 61-62
III
Christ sends out the Seventy
10:1-16
A
Detailed instructions
1-11 [cf. 9:1-6]
1
Notice again the emphasis on the
2
These are places where Jesus himself intended to go 1
3
Where welcomed and supported they were to stay; where
rejected they sounded an alarm of judgment
B
Severe Judgment for High Privilege 12-16
1
Points of comparison are
2
By far, a greater sin than the commission of moral evil,
even the grotesque immorality of
3
Jesus’ honor and the glory of his person is
bound up n the message about him. Sinner that do not hear the gospel will
nevertheless be punished justly for their sins; but those that hear and do not
receive have not only their unforgiven sins to deal
with before a justly vengeful God, but also the aggravation of such sins by
having heard the word of forgiveness and turned from it. [16 cf. Hebrews 2:1-4]
IV
The Fountain of true Blessedness 17-24
A
When the 72 returned, They
expressed joy in the power of their ministry.
B
Jesus warns about spiritual pride as manifest in Satan.
Satan had been given amazingly advanced beauty, intelligence, shrewdness, and
strength but he allowed it to puff him up in pride and rebellion against the
one that had so blessed him. His natural advantages, given him by another, led
to his fall and Jesus saw him fall from heaven. 18
C
To clarify his point, Jesus compares the value of two sorts
of gifts
1
External operations of the Spirit in power for ministry 19;
Jesus had granted them, temporarily, amazing authority and power even over the
fallen Satan and the angels that followed him. These gifts, though great, are nor of a different sort than Satan had had in his unfallen purity. There is something, therefore, that is far
better, for it is unalterable and everlasting.
2
The subjection of satanic spirits to them is nothing
compared to the blessing of having their names written in heaven [See
Revelation 13:8] Vast superiority of God’s eternal favor 20 [1 Cor. 9:24-27;
13:1-3]
D
Divine sovereignty in bestowing His favor
1
The grace of salvation does not come by worldly
qualifications of intelligence and accomplishment 21
·
Jesus shows gratitude for the sovereign choice of the Father
in hiding the blessings of eternal life from the wise of this world
·
Salvation will be embraced only by those who receive divine
enlightenment 21b
·
Those that grasp the reality of salvation in Christ are
considered “little children” in the eyes of the world.
·
All of this accords with the Father’s gracious will [See 1
Corinthians 1:20-31]
2
Absolute consent between Father and Son in the granting of
salvation 22
·
Jesus reveals what he prayed in John 17:2, and asserted in
Matthew 28:18, that the Father has granted all authority to him. The
demonstration of this authority had been one of the consistent features of his
ministry up to this point.
·
Only the Father knows with an intrinsic and intimate
knowledge the Son in his essence and glory, for the Son is the express image of
the Father’s attributes and the radiance of his glory.
·
Even so, none knows the Father in that way except the Son,
for he is the image of the invisible God and in Him the fullness of God was
pleased to dwell. The Son as it were, is, in fact, the eternal expression of
the infinite overflow of love and pleasure that the Father has in his own
perfections and the personification of his perfect joy in and knowledge of
those immutable perfections.
·
And, in perfect agreement with the Father, and just as the
Father manifests his prerogative of hiding and
revealing, so the Son alone has authority to give a true knowledge, a saving
knowledge, of the Father. See John 17:3-6]
3
Divine sovereignty in the historical culmination of the
redemptive decree 24 – Does this also refer to the hearing and seeing of Luke
8:10?
V
Jesus and the Great Commandments 25-42
A
The Question posed
25-29 [compare Matt 22:35-ff]
1. The question the lawyer asked
concerned the inheritance of eternal life. At this point, the conclusion to be
drawn from revealed truth is that those that live according to the Law will
find life in that obedience.
2. Jesus calls upon the questioner,
who, as one that paid particular attention to the Law, should already have in
mind a knowledge of its contents. [26]
3.
He answered with a conflation of two passages, one from Deuteronomy 6:5
and the other from Leviticus 19:18. These two epitomes of truth from the Old
Testament summarized the meaning of the entire moral code, the Ten Commandments
in particular. These two commandments covered the entire coded n the first
statement about loving God, burt
particularly the first four commandments. Commandments 5-10 are summarized in
Love your Neighbor as yourself.
When the Lawyer had answered correctly,
Jesus had nothing to add or correct. But said, “You have
answered correctly.” Then he added the conclusion that had been involved
in the question about eternal life, “Do this and you will live.”
B
Illustrating the second commandment 30-37 – The Compassionate Samaritan
1. The lawyer responded to Jesus by
asking a follow-up question concerning the second of the commandments, “Who is
my neighbor?”
2. Jesus answered with an elaborate and
poignant story
·
An unnamed man comes into great need through a violent crime
perpetrated against him. So needy is he that he is unable even to ask for help.
He is unconscious, and as for his ability to rouse himself to aid himself, he
is as good as dead.
·
Two religious leaders, who know the Law, much as the man
that had asked the question, saw the man, and simply passed by. Jesus does not
elaborate about why they passed by, or whether they had pressing duties
elsewhere, because all of that is irrelevant in the face of such pressing need.
·
A Samaritan, came by. Jesus Himself
told a Samaritan that “You worship what you do not know.” Clearly they were
deficient in their knowledge of the requirements of the Law. In addition they
had been refused participation with Jews in their worship since Ezra 4:1-3
·
The Samaritan took care of the immediate needs on the road
to stop the man from dying, and the took him to a
place where he could be cared for until completely recovered.
·
When the Samaritan left, he arranged for care to assure his
restoration, and promised to return to pay any overage that might accumulate in
the mean time.
·
In application, Jesus gave a surprise reversal to the point
some one might draw, that any man in need is our neighbor. Instead, he framed
the “neighbor” question in a more active way by asking “Who proved to be a
neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
·
The point, therefore, is not How do we discern who out
neighbor is, but, “To whom are we willing to be
neighbor?’ [36}
·
Posing the issue in this manner shows that the command is
broad indeed, and we must consider all men as our neighbors and seek to do good to all, even those that are considered from a natural
standpoint, our enemies.
·
Only obedience to the Law constitutes the righteousness by
which eternal life is attained. This points to Jesus
righteousness as the only source of eternal life. God will accept us on no
other basis than a perfect obedience and only Christ gained such.
C
Illustrating the greatest commandment 38-42 – Mary’s
undivided devotion
1. Luke has seemingly followed up the
story of the compassionate Samaritan with this event. Giving no illustration of
the Greatest commandment when such an extended one was
given about the second greatest would seem an inexplicable omission.
2. Mary had both insight and affection
for the teaching of Christ that she laid everything else aside to hear him.
This is precisely what the command on the mount of transfiguration had said,
“Listen to him.” IT is vain, of course to hear his words and not do them
{6:46-49], but prior to doing them we must have such an affection for Christ
and his words that they are sweeter than any earthly wisdom.
3. Martha, wanting to be a good
hostess, hurried about and even sought a reprimand of Martha from the mouth of
Jesus. Instead of the words of eternal life, Martha thought Jesus should share
in her own harried impatience about the necessity of the immediate moment.
4. With tender treatment but a
forthright analysis, Jesus sought to bring some perspective to the situation,
settle Martha down, and show that he approved of this unbroken devotion to him.
VI
Applications
A
The
B
No earthly power, privilege, or possession can transcend in
importance an immediate response to a kingdom call, either to salvation or to
service
C
The blessings of the kingdom are bestowed solely according
to the gracious prerogative of the Father through the work of the Son
D
Citizens of the kingdom see the beauty of the law’s requirements
and seek heart obedience.