October 12 – Luke 11: Keep on Keepin’ on
Today’s Tasting: Luke 11
Luke 11 is full of Jesus’ teachings. It opens with the disciples asking Jesus to teach them how to pray, which he does by telling them to pray what we now call the Lord’s Prayer. He goes on to encourage them to pray without ceasing as their prayers will be heard and answered.
Luke tells us about Jesus casting demons out of a man who couldn’t speak and the people who witnessed this accused Jesus of getting his powers from Satan. Jesus explains to them that if he were truly on Satan’s side, he would not be casting out the demons as that would divide Satan’s kingdom. He tells them that he cast out the demons by the power of God to show them that the Kingdom of God was among them.
Jesus goes on to tell them how evil they are and reminds them of the Jonah story and the people of Nineveh who repented because they saw what had happened to Jonah as a sign from God. He tells them that “what happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God” (11:30). He condemns this generation and says that even the Queen of Sheba will stand against them for she traveled far to hear the wisdom of Solomon and they have someone among them who is greater than he and yet they don’t listen. Jesus tells them to make sure they are filled with light and not darkness and that if they are, then their “whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light” (Luke 11:36).
Luke closes this chapter with a conversation between Jesus and Pharisees. They were amazed that Jesus did not follow the Jewish hand washing custom prior to sitting down to eat. Jesus chastised them for being so eager to follow the letter of the law that they were missing the spirit of the law.
Today’s Nourishment:
Today I want to focus on verses 33-36 where Jesus talks about receiving the light. He begins by telling us that “no one lights a lamp and then hides it…” (11:33). As Christians, we are pretty good about wanting to share our light with others. What I want to talk about is the next part where Jesus warns us about making sure our whole body is filled with light and that there aren’t any dark corners. He tells us that our eyes are the lamp that provides light for our body and that if our eyes are healthy, our whole body will be filled with light. However, he warns that we need to “make sure the light you think you have is not actually darkness” (11:35).
So what does this mean? I did a little digging in the Believer’s Bible Commentary and here’s what the author had to say:
God is the One who has lit the lamp. In the Person and work of the Lord Jesus, He provided a blaze of illumination for the world. If anyone doesn’t see the Light, it isn’t God’s fault. In 11:33 He is exposing the unbelief of His sign-seeking critics as caused by their covetousness and fear of shame. Their unbelief was a result of their impure motives.
In the physical realm, the eye is that which gives light to the whole body. If the eye is healthy, then the person can see the light. But if the eye is diseased, that is, blind, then the light cannot get in.
It is the same in the spiritual realm. If a person is sincere in his desire to know whether Jesus is the Christ of God, then God will reveal it to him. But if his motives are not pure, if he wants to cling to his greed, if he continues to fear what others will say, then he is blinded to the true worth of the Savior. (Believer’s Bible Commentary by William MacDonald)
We all have dark corners, after all we are only human. I want to encourage you to ask God for help. If you ask him to show you your corners of darkness…He will! If you ask him to help you fill those corners with light…He will! Jesus tells us in verse 9 to “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking and you will find”.
Tomorrow’s Delight: Matthew 13; Luke 8
Hugs & Blessings,
Monica
Thanks for the post, Monica. The Lord really will show us the dark corners of our lives when we ask. And for our own good. When those areas are exposed to the light, healing comes and we may reflect His glory and character in those areas.