Good Morning, Siblings!
Today’s Reading is Luke 10-11
Read today’s Bible readings at BibleGateway by clicking here.
Rabbit Trails
In the earlier gospels of Matthew and Mark (as well as Luke 9) we recall that Jesus sent the twelve apostles which of course just happens to be the same number of the original tribes of Israel (Our God is indeed a God of patterns). The sending of the seventy is new in Luke (no other reference in the other gospels). Some versions translate the number to seventy and others seventy two. That is a rabbit hole in itself. The seventy does seem to follow the pattern of Moses and what he did with the seventy elders. (Numbers 11:16-25, another rabbit trail.)
In Hebrew, 70 symbolizes the number of completion. Think of it as the equivalent in our time of someone saying “He gave 100%”. Also, when 70 is used to describe a number of family members, it can be used to mean that someone brought their entire family, as I believe is likely the case in Exodus 1:5.
Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. Luke 10:3-12
These instructions are essentially the same given in Luke 9:1-6. There are two things I want to stress in terms of their importance:
- Messiah said this. That means it is important. Take some time to turn them over in your mind, consider their application to their life today.
- Everyone makes a choice and they are responsible for that choice. HOWEVER, we are responsible for any behavior on our part that causes others to reject the Word of YHWH – and that realization should have a serious impact on our daily conduct, including how much time we spend in the Word.
At the start of Luke 10, we see Messiah send the 70 out, and in Luke 10:17 we see them return with joy at their success. I can’t help but wonder how much time must have passed between those verses.
In Luke 10:17-20 Messiah reminded the seventy not to rejoice in their power over the enemy, but to rejoice that their names are written in Heaven. I see this as a subtle reminder to keep eyes on the father.
Today we come upon the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. Most people take this at face value, not understanding what this meant in context of the culture.
I made a video last year a few years ago explaining the much deeper meaning behind this story.
•Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans John 4:8-9
•Messiah accused of being a Samaritan John 8:48
•Interfering with the temple rebuilding Neh 6:1-14
•The parable of the Good Samaritan: Luke 10:25-37
•Lawyer quotes Messiah: Luke 10:27
•Messiah quotes the Shema (this is what the lawyer quoted that summed up the Ten Commandments): Mark 12:29-332
•YHWH says the Shema for the first time: Deut 6:4-5
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42
Rabbis of the day would not allow women to study Torah or attend their schools. However, we see in Luke 10:38-42 that Messiah both accepts and blesses Mary’s desire to learn. To “sit at the feet” of a Rabbi meant that a person was a disciple of that teacher. We tend to read this is as a sweet gesture but in the context and culture of the time, it was nothing short of radical. Now go back and read Luke 8:1-3 and see if it has more meaning to you.
Tragically, the church has a history of looking more to out-of-context Paul on how to treat women than we do to our God and our Messiah. Of course, this manner of treatment of women is not without its cheerleaders. As recently as 2020 John MacArthur, when asked what he thought about Beth Moore, stated that she should go home. The crowd responded with laughter and applause as he went on to mock her. Historically, though, we must remember that support for slavery, racism, and even the mass murder of YHWH’s chosen people (as recent as within this last century) came from within the church, also to applause. It is vital that we take what other believers do with a grain of salt and order our own behavior, instead, after the word of YHWH.
Messiah teaches us how to pray
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say:
“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.” Luke 11:1-4
Luke’s telling of this prayer is a little shorter than Matthew’s telling of it in Matthew 6:9-13 but the differences are very minor and can certainly be understood as being one man’s memory compared to another.
Of course, since Messiah is saying this, every word is precious. However, I want to break it down to principles being taught here.
First and foremost, we are shown reverence and respect for YHWH. Notice that Messiah is praying to no one else. Nowhere in the Bible are we encouraged or even given permission to pray to anyone other than our Messiah and YHWH. In fact, praying to anyone else is unquestionably condemned by the Father. Again, many will excuse this by the intent of their own heart or that it seems right in their mind for whatever reason, but at the end of the day what we think does not govern what the Father thinks.
Next, it reminds us that we are relying on the Father for our daily portion in life. This is true whether it is any of our basic needs, our jobs, our families, etc. Our sustenance truly comes from the Father and our full reliance as well as gratitude should be directed at Him.
Third. We are sinners. We sin daily. We should repent daily and seek Him as we constantly work to become hearers and doers each and every day. Yup. I used the “w” word so I have to issue the disclaimer because we’ve been programmed to be triggered whenever we hear “work” to think “salvation by works! RUN!”. So please notice that I did not say we are saved by works.
However, if we do nothing other than say we believe in Messiah, with no fruit coming from that declaration, we are lowering the bar so much that all we can hope for is to hang out with the demons who also believe He is the Messiah. What is the root of our Salvation? Messiah. Belief. Repentance. Grace. What is the fruit of our salvation? Obedience, change, seeking Him daily through His word by not just reading it but living it. We’ve talked about this a lot and we’ll cover this more in James so I’ll leave it at that.
Fourth, If we expect to be forgiven for our sins, we have to first give that forgiveness to others – even if we don’t want to.
That “don’t want to” part is our flesh. The “want to” part that seeks the Father and desires His will over our own is the Holy Spirit within us. Following YHWH is about learning to give the Holy Spirit more time at the mic than we do the earthly flesh.
Lastly, we need to recognize that in order to grow, in order to be strengthened, we will pass through the Refiner’s fire. We won’t face a temptation that we cannot overcome if we are seeking, daily, to live within the spirit, but we do need to anticipate this and keep our sword sharpened. I believe this part of the prayer is asking Him to help us to cling to His hand when He is refining us and partly a plea for the Father to help us avoid things of this world that could lead us astray. Similar to David’s plea in Psalm 141:4 “Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deed in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies!”
So here is my summary:
-
-
- Reverence and respect for YHWH and His holiness.
- Our portion comes from the Father in all things.
- We are sinners and as such we must repent and seek him daily.
- If we seek Grace from the Father, we must be willing to give it to others.
- We are inclined to fall away and require the Father’s help to avoid doing so.
-
Y’all notice that I used the phrase “I believe that…” in my “Lastly” paragraph. I want to remind you that what I believe should bear little to no weight with you. We are each responsible for testing all things to His Word. His Word is the straight edge to which all else must line up, never the other way around.
Sign of Jonah Luke 11:29 – We’ve spoken at length on the importance of the sign of Jonah so I’ll simply state that it is vital we understand it in order to be found on the side of Messiah rather than on the side of errant synthetic doctrine.
As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say. Luke 11:53-54
This is important passage when it comes to understanding the response of culture to Messiah and the motivation behind much of what is taking place in His interactions as He goes about His ministry.
From Ricky (My husband):
There were two other verses that just really stood out to me.
“Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.””
Luke 10:23-24 ESV“But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!””
Luke 11:28 ESV
Our Father is so good to us. He provides so much for the world to see, yet so many do not see it.
Just think about what these men and women during Messiah’s time were able to see. It wasn’t just what they were seeing with their eyes. (Although some of that was quite spectacular.) It was the teaching from our savior AND the understanding of his teachings. And the whole time he was teaching, it was his father’s (our father’s) word that was being taught! How blessed are those who HEAR His word and keep it!
Thanks, Ricky!
There is so much meat on these bones as our story rapidly comes to a close. Be encouraged. The hand of YHWH is moving in our world, over our land, and in your life. Father, we come before you today and boldly ask that you remove all that does not honor you, including any remaining scales on our eyes. Burn out the desires of our flesh and replace them with the direction of your Holy Spirit so that we may bring glory to your name in every word and deed that comes from us. In Messiah Yeshua’s name we pray, amen!
Test everything, hold tight to what is good.~ 1 Thess 5:21
We are saved by Grace alone: Obedience is not the root of our salvation, it is the fruit!
May YHWH bless the reading of His Word!