3 _d. To the Disciples: Luke 12:1-12_. This violent scene had found its echo outside; a considerable crowd had flocked together. Excited by the animosity of their chiefs, the multitude showed a disposition hostile to Jesus and His disciples. Jesus feels the need of turning to His own, and giving th... [ Continue Reading ]
: _The assured Success of their Ministry, and the Fall of their Adversaries._ “ _In the meantime, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, He began to say unto His disciples first of all: Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees... [ Continue Reading ]
_Personal Security._ “ _And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do._ 5. _But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear; fear Him which, after He hath killed, hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say unto you, fear Him._ 6. _Are... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Recompense of faithful Disciples, contrasted with the Punishment of the Cowardly, and with that of Adversaries._ “ _Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God._ 9. _But he that denieth me before men, shall be denied... [ Continue Reading ]
VERS. 11 AND 12. _The Aid._ “ _When they bring you unto the synagogues, and before magistrates and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:_ 12. _For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say._ ” Jesus seems to take pleasure in en... [ Continue Reading ]
1 _st. The Occasion: Luke 12:13-14_. A man in the crowd profits by a moment of silence to submit a matter to Jesus which lies heavily on his heart, and which probably brought him to the Lord's presence. According to the civil law of the Jews, the eldest brother received a double portion of the inher... [ Continue Reading ]
2 _d. To the People: Luke 12:15-21_. _The Rich Fool._ Πρὸς αὐτούς (“He said _unto them_ ”), Luke 12:15, stands in opposition to _His disciples_, Luke 12:22. This slight detail confirms the exactness of Luke, for faith is nowhere supposed in those to whom the warning, Luke 12:15-21, is addressed. The... [ Continue Reading ]
Disengagement as resulting from confidence in the omnipotence and fatherly goodness of God. “ _And He said unto His disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on._ 23. _The life is more than meat, and the body is mor... [ Continue Reading ]
3 _d. To the Disciples: Luke 12:22-40_. Disengagement from earthly goods. The following exhortations suppose faith. The believer should renounce the pursuit of earthly goods: 1. From a feeling of entire confidence as to this life in his heavenly Father (Luke 12:22-34); 2. From his preoccupation with... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Which of you, with taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit?_ 26. _If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?_ 27. _Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Application._ “ _And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind._ 30. _For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things._ 31. _But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these th... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Parable of the Master returning to his House._ “ _Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;_ 36. _And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately._ 37. _Blessed a... [ Continue Reading ]
VERS. 39 AND 40. _Parable of the Thief._ “ _And this ye know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through._ 40. _Be ye therefore ready also; for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think n... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Parable of the Two Stewards._ The magnificence of the promise, Luke 12:37, has struck Peter; he asks himself if such a recompense is intended for all the subjects of the Messiah, or ought not rather to be restricted to those who shall play the chief part in His kingdom. If that is the meaning o... [ Continue Reading ]
4 _th. To the Apostles: Luke 12:41-53_. Up till now, Jesus had been speaking to all believers; from this point, on occasion of a question put by Peter, He addresses the apostles in particular, and reminds them of the special responsibility which attaches to them in the prospect of their Master's re... [ Continue Reading ]
VERS. 45, 46 represent an apostle or an unfaithful minister under the image of an unprincipled steward. The condition of fidelity being the constant watching for the master's return, this servant, to set himself more at his ease in his unfaithfulness, puts the thought of that moment far off. So the... [ Continue Reading ]
VERS. 47 AND 48. _The Principle._ “ _And that servant which knew his lord's will, and prepared nothing, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes._ 48. _But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever muc... [ Continue Reading ]
After having thus followed the natural course of the conversation, Jesus returns to the thought from which it had started, the vanity of earthly goods. He shows how this truth directly applies to the present situation (Luke 12:49-53). VERS. 49 AND 50. _The Character of the immediate Future._ “ _I am... [ Continue Reading ]
5 _th. To the Multitudes: Luke 12:54-59_. After having announced and described the rending, the first symptoms of which He already discerns, Jesus returns anew to the multitude whom He sees plunged in security and impenitence; He points out to those men, so thoroughly earthly and self-satisfied, th... [ Continue Reading ]