29 October

Bible in 365 Days

Luke 12-13

Luke 12

Knowing that the enmity of the rulers against Him would proceed also against His disciples, He told them not to be afraid of those who kill the body, remembering ever their Father's care, as revealed in the sparrows, and in the numbering of the hairs of their heads.

His address to His disciples was interrupted by one of the multitude. It was an appeal for action in the matter of the distribution of property. Refusing to arbitrate, He uttered the great parable of the rich fool, declaring unequivocally that "a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."

This was followed by a description of the true attitude of the disciples of Jesus. For the moment let us take out from it certain revealing phrases, "Fear not," "sell . . . and give," 'loins girded about," 'lamps burning," "men looking for their Lord," "be ye also ready," "'the Son of man cometh." Answering a question of Peter, the Lord then gave another aspect of Christian life. It is watching and waiting for the Lord Himself, which must forever be that which prevents the abuse of trust and wrong relationship between fellow servants.

It was in this connection that our Lord broke out into the great soliloquy which Luke alone records, in which we see Him looking to the ultimate in His mission, the casting of fire, and recognizing that this can be realized only through the passion baptism to which He was moving.

Luke 13

Someone brought to our Lord an account of a happening which seemed to suggest that those who suffered catastrophe are proved to be "sinners above all." He directly contradicted that view, and in that connection uttered the great parable of the fig tree, revealing the true principles of life.

There follow three full-length portraits: of Jesus, in His attitude toward this woman; of the ruler, and his objection; of the woman herself, a daughter of Abraham under the power of evil.

Luke links two parables of the Kingdom with the rejoicing of the multitude for all the glorious things that were done by Him. The first, the parable of the tree, teaches the growth of the Kingdom into a great power; and the second, the parable of the leaven, its corruption.

Passing on His way our Lord shaved that there are limits to the divine mercy, that there will be those who will not be able to enter in. They will be such as are workers of iniquity. It is only against such that the door is shut.

That truth is emphasized by His lamentation over Jerusalem.