The One Year Bible Club with Teaching
Commentary by Nick Boork
April 7
Luke 12:8-34
Commentary by Nick Boork
April 7
Luke 12:8-34
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April 7 - Luke 12:8-34
“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. 9 But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 “And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. 11 “Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. 12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? 25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 26 If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?
29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. 32 “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
OKAY, HERE'S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
A man came to Jesus asking him to intervene between himself and his brother because they were in strife over dividing the inheritance from their father. Jesus discerned the motive of this man. It was greed or covetousness. Jesus answered him by saying it was not his job to be an arbitrator over these kinds of disputes. Furthermore, he went on to warn of being covetousness. The 10th commandment forbids covetousness.
Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
So what does Jesus do? He tells a parable in order to teach about covetousness. He said that a certain man prospered greatly having so many crops that his barns could not store them all. The man decided to tear down his current barns and build larger barns with the goal of being able to live a life of self-gratification. This man thought to himself; once I've got enough crops stored or you could say once I have enough money saved I will be able to just eat and drink and be merry. The Lord said this was totally foolish because his soul was going to be required of God that very night. He couldn't take his material goods with him out of this life and they would belong to somebody else after he died.
What was Jesus teaching? That we need to be careful that our priorities are in order. Remember, God made man for a relationship with Him. What happens is people get their priorities all messed up and live for the wrong purposes. Instead of living first to know God and do His will people get their focus on self-preservation and becoming rich with money, material goods and all the worldly pleasures money can buy. In other words, people begin to worship the creation rather than the Creator and this inevitably leads to a depraved mind and a backslidden lifestyle away from God. This is what the apostle Paul wrote about concerning the fall of humanity in Romans chapter one.
On the other hand, I don't think Jesus was teaching against having money or even being rich. The Bible has plenty of examples of servants of God that were very wealthy. Just to name a few the Bible says that Job was the wealthiest man in his time. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all blessed of God and prospered greatly materially. The Bible says that a person can be blessed of God with riches that do not cause sorrow and this is the only kind of blessing you want as a Christian. Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.
So what's the difference of having riches with blessing from God compared to just having riches? Our priorities! If you desire or covet to be rich to the point that riches and material goods take the place of God in your life then money replaces God and becomes an idol. This is why Jesus went on to teach in this chapter to seek first the kingdom of God and material things that we need will be added to us by our Father in Heaven. Jesus also said to not be of an anxious mind. Why? Because our Father God knows what we have need of and will take care of us and supply all of our needs if we put Him first in our lives.
What's the bottom line?
1) The warning of Jesus to beware of covetousness needs to be taken seriously.
2) As Christians we need to live with an eternal perspective that we could leave this world at any moment and be in the presence of Jesus Christ.
3) It's okay to have money and even be wealthy but material goods should never take the priority in our lives.
4) The only kind of prosperity that a Christian should desire is the kind that comes with God's blessing because that kind of increase will not bring sorrow into our lives.
5) Guard your heart and mind about being anxious and worrying about material goods.
6) Always put God and His purposes first in your life and He will supply all of your needs.
“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. 9 But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 “And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. 11 “Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. 12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? 25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 26 If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?
29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. 32 “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
OKAY, HERE'S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
A man came to Jesus asking him to intervene between himself and his brother because they were in strife over dividing the inheritance from their father. Jesus discerned the motive of this man. It was greed or covetousness. Jesus answered him by saying it was not his job to be an arbitrator over these kinds of disputes. Furthermore, he went on to warn of being covetousness. The 10th commandment forbids covetousness.
Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
So what does Jesus do? He tells a parable in order to teach about covetousness. He said that a certain man prospered greatly having so many crops that his barns could not store them all. The man decided to tear down his current barns and build larger barns with the goal of being able to live a life of self-gratification. This man thought to himself; once I've got enough crops stored or you could say once I have enough money saved I will be able to just eat and drink and be merry. The Lord said this was totally foolish because his soul was going to be required of God that very night. He couldn't take his material goods with him out of this life and they would belong to somebody else after he died.
What was Jesus teaching? That we need to be careful that our priorities are in order. Remember, God made man for a relationship with Him. What happens is people get their priorities all messed up and live for the wrong purposes. Instead of living first to know God and do His will people get their focus on self-preservation and becoming rich with money, material goods and all the worldly pleasures money can buy. In other words, people begin to worship the creation rather than the Creator and this inevitably leads to a depraved mind and a backslidden lifestyle away from God. This is what the apostle Paul wrote about concerning the fall of humanity in Romans chapter one.
On the other hand, I don't think Jesus was teaching against having money or even being rich. The Bible has plenty of examples of servants of God that were very wealthy. Just to name a few the Bible says that Job was the wealthiest man in his time. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all blessed of God and prospered greatly materially. The Bible says that a person can be blessed of God with riches that do not cause sorrow and this is the only kind of blessing you want as a Christian. Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.
So what's the difference of having riches with blessing from God compared to just having riches? Our priorities! If you desire or covet to be rich to the point that riches and material goods take the place of God in your life then money replaces God and becomes an idol. This is why Jesus went on to teach in this chapter to seek first the kingdom of God and material things that we need will be added to us by our Father in Heaven. Jesus also said to not be of an anxious mind. Why? Because our Father God knows what we have need of and will take care of us and supply all of our needs if we put Him first in our lives.
What's the bottom line?
1) The warning of Jesus to beware of covetousness needs to be taken seriously.
2) As Christians we need to live with an eternal perspective that we could leave this world at any moment and be in the presence of Jesus Christ.
3) It's okay to have money and even be wealthy but material goods should never take the priority in our lives.
4) The only kind of prosperity that a Christian should desire is the kind that comes with God's blessing because that kind of increase will not bring sorrow into our lives.
5) Guard your heart and mind about being anxious and worrying about material goods.
6) Always put God and His purposes first in your life and He will supply all of your needs.
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll