I noticed some things that never occurred to me before in Luke 12. I thought I’d share some of them.
“1Meanwhile, 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. 2There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3What 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.”
I’d always thought this was Jesus sharing little pieces of happiness and joy with us. And as always, he partially is. If we are saying things we should be proud of in private, we can look foreward to these coming true.
But there’s a different spin to all this. I don’t think it’s an accident that Luke observes that the crowd begins to trample on one another. And then the first thing out of Jesus mouth? Call it encouragement, call it a warning, whatever. But it’s a promise that who we really are on the inside will be known.
If we’re the sort-of person who behaves himself even in the annyonomity of a crowd: it’ll be known.
If we’re the sort-of person who jostles and tramples others: that too, will be known.
It seems to me that there couldn’t be a more direct paralell to that thing so many of us (myself included) wrestle with, where we leave the church, and we’re not even out of the parking lot, and we’re already starting to struggle with acting Christ-like.
It’s like Jesus says “Today, you can hide behind your tinted windows. But some day everybody will know.”
I’d always taken these verses to indicate that the docrtinal statements we hold in our quiet little meetings will someday be broadcast to the world. The more I read, pray, and understand, though, the more I see this pattern.
We have this tendency to presume or project that the important thing is head knowledge. We emphasize the content of our thoughts. Over and over again, it seems to me that Jesus’ real intent and meaning was about heart knowledge. There’s probably a whole lot in this realization about the modern/post-modern split, but that, I suppose, is another post.
3 responses so far ↓
Just D // May 13, 2008 at 10:51 pm |
mm-hmmm! (said in a great big black southern woman voice)
garret // May 14, 2008 at 11:38 am |
hey Jeff,
True Colors.
i read the rest of Luke 12 after i read your post. i don’t know if you stopped and pondered after the first few verses, but there’s a tremendous amount of revelation in this chapter – many hard truths. “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (v 34) is one of my faves. So is v9-10 which suggest a profound distinction between the relationship of Christ with man and the HS with man – much to ponder indeed.
This is what i love about Scripture; the reader can’t honestly walk away from it and say, “I’m okay”. One is forced to say either that Jesus is full of crap, or they are. Sometimes i grow weary of being the one full of it, but hey, it’s a small price to pay.
jeffsdeepthoughts // May 14, 2008 at 2:44 pm |
It’s funny you mention the rest of Luke 12. I’ve got half a post written around the idea that I’d always viewed Jesus’ various statements in it in isolation from each other. But there actually is a flow, especially if you begin with the premise that Jesus is criticizing his listeners. (His listeners, as well, including us.)
I think you’re absolutely right to notice that there are lots of hard truths in here. I’ll look foreward to your insight.