LUKE 12: 1-34

Reading to verse 34 today; so much to think about in another relatively long chapter.

“Leaven” comes up so often in the Bible, as it was such an easy substance to make for good teaching. As one makes bread, he adds just a small amount of yeast, or leaven, and then little else is needed to allow it to work. Simple kneading will allow the yeast to work its way through all the dough. Very active, very powerful. Jesus says the same of hypocrisy, much in play with the Pharisees. And He uses the example when they are around thousands of people. Great object lesson from the master Teacher, and He explains how that hypocrisy will become evident for what it is.

We should all watch out for those who harm the soul. Like the Pharisees, those teaching and following blind “religion” can do nothing but harm the soul. And harming the soul is an eternal issue. “Hell” here, as Luke uses it, is Gehenna, a refuse dump outside of town where fires were burning nonstop. Was Jesus warning about avoiding those who could cast your body and soul there? No, not literally, but rather he gave a great description of a place where a lost soul will end up. Gehenna was known to be a dismal place that nobody enjoyed.

**Take note: when Jesus says “I tell you”, or even “verily, verily, I say unto you”, it is intended to give added attention to a teaching or a command.

Jesus uses sparrows and the hairs on your head to illustrate God’s omniscience as well as easing concern and worry. People are more valuable to God than animals, and the reader is to take comfort in that knowledge.

A sometimes controversial passage is the next paragraph, where we are told that speaking against the Son will be forgiven, but blaspheming the Holy Spirit will not. If we back up to the beginning of the paragraph, Jesus says that we are to confess Him before men. This “confessing” implies so much. Not only are we to be Christians, but we are literally to live out our lives as though we belong to Christ. Could God look down and see into our thought lives, and look at what we do, and hear what we say, and then say we belong to Him? He should be able to do just that! For the one who is not a Christian, there can be no confessing Christ.

So then, to speak against the Son of Man here applies to followers, professing belief, who refuse to deny themselves, and thus disown Jesus. And God in His divinity will forgive, once true repentance is shown.

Speaking against or blaspheming the Holy Spirit, however, is reflective of a hardened heart/attitude toward God and the work of the Spirit. Specifically, the work of the Spirit is to lead people to faith, to point people to the work of Christ. So, to deny this work, to reject this work is unforgivable, as it demonstrates a person who has never accepted Christ by faith. For that, there can be no forgiveness, not from a righteous and just God.

Jesus spends the rest of this section speaking on worldly vs heavenly issues. He did not come to settle trivial matters such as legal inheritance of land. He did not come to encourage people to store up more and more treasure here. For any of the readers, and for us, for that matter, our number of days here is very short, relative to eternity, and every day could very well be our last. So spend the time keeping here and eternity in proper perspective; that is Jesus’ point.

In light of all that, don’t worry so much! God will feed and clothe you. Animals like ravens that do not even “sow and reap” are cared for. Worry will not prolong life. Have faith, God will provide. Seek His kingdom, seek to live for Him. All the rest will be taken care of. Besides, God is giving us the kingdom. That sort of makes it worth the effort here and now!

SO WHAT…?

So, even among Christians, hypocrisy is a killer. It spreads so fast and efficiently. I must strive to be ever so genuine in my faith, checking my heart first, and making a conscious effort to live for Christ.

So, I don’t know exactly how it works; I just need to keep planting, keep watering, and watch the Spirit work, realizing that those rejecting that work are rejecting Christ. So, too, must I pray for those who are rejecting the Spirit.

So, do I really trust God completely for all things, or do I try to provide for myself in my own way, feeling that God is not concerned about the trivial? He is! I need to remember that, and talk to Him about that.

So…where is my treasure? ‘Cause that’s where my heart is!