Chapter BY Chapter

You can see that Chorazin on this map is North of the Sea of Galilee, North of Capernaum, where Jesus and Peter lived.  Bethsaida is just to the East and North of the Sea of Galilee.  The area of these three cities is often called the evangelism triangle because Jesus spent most of his ministry time in that area.  You can see that there is now the Church of the apostles in Capernaum because that is where Jesus chose the 12 apostles.  You can see that the Mount of Beatitudes is nearby because that is where Jesus spoke the beatitudes.  You can see that there is now a Church of the Loaves and Fishes because that is where Jesus fed the 5,000, actually more like 25,000 people, from 5 loaves and 2 fish.  You can see on this map on the West side of the Sea of Galilee where the city of Tiberius is at where Jesus sent the apostles by boat to Capernaum, and somewhere in between there is where the apostles saw Jesus walking on the water.  You can see on the West side of the Sea of Galilee, North of Tiberius, where the city of Magdala is at, where Mary the Magdalene is from.  You can even see on this map between Magdala and Tiberius where now there is a Y.M.C.A..

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So, we know that many people followed Jesus from this area, and many people from this area believed in him.  So, why does Jesus say that it will be better for Sodom in the Day of Judgment than for them?  This area had more revelation from God with Jesus there than anywhere else.  Still, many did not believe in Jesus.  They will be held in judgment even more because they had more revelation from God than Sodom.  Jesus explains this when he says, “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”  What does Jesus mean when he says here, “him who sent me?”  He means God, the Father, doesn’t he?  Jesus is saying that he who rejects him, rejects God.  Is Jesus making himself equal with God here?  He certainly is.  Has any other prophet ever made this claim?  Well, there have been false prophets, but Jesus is the only one that has backed up this claim with a prolific amount of miracles that proved the attributes of God, and no one has predicted his own death and resurrection then actually saw that come to fruition.  Jesus has done that.

 

So, the seventy-two go out and they have a report about their experiences.

 

Verses 17-20,

 

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”  And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.  Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

 

So the 72 were astonished that even the demons are subject to them in the name of Jesus.  Why does Jesus say, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven?”  Did Satan actually fall from heaven at that time?  Is Jesus talking about seeing Satan fall from heaven before his incarnation?  Is Jesus using an expression to confirm their success?  I think that Jesus is using an expression to confirm their success.  Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 both refer to an angel that fell or was thrown down from heaven.  Jesus refers elsewhere to Satan as the Prince of this world.  So, knowing that Satan is already fallen from heaven, this would be an expression of confirmation of their success.

 

Jesus says that he has given them authority to tread on serpents and nothing shall hurt them.  Does this mean we can tread on serpents and be assured that nothing will hurt us?  We have to remember that this is a limited grant of authority.  Jesus gave this authority to the 72 for them to go into towns as he was on his way to Jerusalem.  This was a limited protection to a limited number of people, and to a limited time while they did this specific work.  There is nothing here to show that it extends to us in this time, so don’t go out treading on snakes.

 

What is the importance of these miracles that they were doing?  They were not really that important.  Jesus said that they should not rejoice because the spirits are subject to them, but that their names are written in heaven.  The miracles were there to point to Jesus and to affirm who he was.  The message of salvation was what was important.  A healing lasts for a while.  A lost person entering the kingdom of God lasts forever.  Some Christians in recent times have sensationalized healings to the point that they faked healings.  Jesus even told some of the people he healed not to tell anyone about the healing.  Why?  It was because it would distract from his main message – how to enter the kingdom of God.  That is something that lasts forever.

 

Now, I wonder if Jesus rejoiced in the work of the seventy-two.  Let’s see.

 

Verses 21-24,

 

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.  All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

 

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.”

 

Jesus is thankful that He has hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.  Hey wait a minute!  Is that an insult to all those that believe in Jesus?  What Jesus means here is that these things are hidden from those that lean to their own wisdom and understanding, that is, the self-righteous.  Those that have faith like a little child, are those that followed Jesus and developed a relationship based on trust.  That is what God’s will was.  The seventy-two trusted Jesus that when he told them that they were to cast out demons and heal people, that this would happen.

 

What does Jesus mean by saying, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father?”  Is this the same thing as what he said after the resurrection, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me?”  I think it is the same thing.  Is this a claim of equality with God?  I think so.

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What does Jesus mean by saying, “No one knows who the Son is except the Father?”  Isn’t Jesus saying that only God can reveal who his Son is.  So far, in the Gospel of Luke, how has God revealed who his Son is?

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1. The angel told Mary that he would be the Son of God (Luke 1:35).

2. At the Baptism of Jesus, He spoke from heaven saying, “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22)

3. The demons called Jesus the Son of God (Luke 4:41).

4. At the transfiguration of Jesus, God spoke from the cloud and said, “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.Listen to him.” (Luke 9:35)

5. All the miracles that Jesus performed.Even the wind and the waves obeyed him.The spirits and illnesses obeyed him even from afar.

 

Would it have been a legitimate testimony if only Jesus had said this about himself?  No.  What makes this a legitimate claim is that others said this about Jesus, especially God’s own voice out of heaven.

 

What does Jesus mean when he says, “Or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him?” 

 

Only Jesus fully knows the Father, that is God.  Only Jesus can correctly reveal God to people.  Is knowing God available to everyone?  No.  It is limited to those that Jesus chooses to reveal God to.  How does Jesus choose who to reveal God to?

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1. Does he have each person spin the wheel of fortune and if they land on the God tile, then they get to know God? Nope.

2. Does he have each person spin the Let’s Make a Deal Wheel and if they land on the God tile, then they get to know God?Not that way either.

3. Does he decide who’s been good and they get to know God, while others get coal in their stocking for Christmas?

 

So how does Jesus choose who gets to know God?  John 14:9 gives us a clue when Jesus says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”  So, Jesus makes the Father known by his very presence in the world.  At the same time that Jesus is making the Father known, the Father is making Jesus, His Son known.  Jesus emphasizes this revelation in verses 23-24, where he says:

 

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.”

 

An example of a prophet yearning this day is in Isaiah 9:1-2,

 

In the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

 

The people who walked in darkness

    have seen a great light;

those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,

    on them has light shone.

 

An example of a king yearning for the Messiah is in Psalm 22:22,

 

I will tell of your name to my brothers;

    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

 

There are many examples that can be found, as there are hundreds of Messianic passages.

 

There is also a deeper knowledge of God that Jesus reveals.  In John 14:20-21, Jesus said, “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.  Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”  In John 14:23, Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”  So, it is with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that God is fully made known to someone.

 

Now, wherever Jesus went, what was sure to follow?  Pharisees, teachers of the law, who were called lawyers.  And what do they do? 

 

They test Jesus.  So, let’s see what the next one says.

 

Verses 25-37,

 

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  He said to him, “What is written in the Law?  How do you read it?”  And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”  And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

 

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.  So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.  He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.  Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.  And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’  Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”  He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

 

Now, Jesus is asked by this man what he must do to inherit eternal life.  Jesus says he is right to think that to love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and love your neighbor as yourself will get you eternal life.  Does this mean that good works will get you eternal life?  As we shall see, the loving God completely will entail faith in God and acceptance of his gift of forgiveness that Jesus gave on the cross.  Now the lawyer sought to justify himself by asking, “Who is my neighbor?”  Why was the lawyer justifying himself by asking this?  Apparently, he had a restricted idea of who his neighbor was.  He was a strict Jew, who avoided Samaritans at all costs.  This is why Jesus tells the story the way he does.  The man that was robbed and beaten was going from Jerusalem to Jericho.  Both places are squarely in Judea – deep in Jew territory.  So, this man must have been a Jew.  The man is not helped by a priest, or by a Levite.  He is helped by a Samaritan, a man that is out of his territory and a stranger to the Jewish territory, who goes out of his way to help a Jew, even though the Jews would not help him.  Jesus defines the Samaritan as being a neighbor to the man who was robbed and then tells the lawyer to go and do likewise.  The lawyer would have to change his ways to obey Jesus.

 

So, Jesus uses the lawyer to teach a negative lesson.  Next he will use someone to teach a positive lesson.

 

Verses 38-42,

 

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.”

 

What is the lesson here?  Did you ever fail to help your mom with preparing a meal?  I remember that if my mom told me to take out the trash, I had to do it then and there without delay.  If I didn’t take out the trash immediately, I was in big trouble.  It would seem that Mary should help her sister serve the meal to people.  But Mary went right up to the feet of Jesus, got a front row seat to listen to Jesus’ teaching, and Jesus wasn’t going to stop her.  Jesus said that Martha was anxious about many things, but one thing was necessary.  What one thing was necessary?

 

The one thing that was necessary was Jesus’ teaching.  Serving food could have waited a while.  The message was more important.  Jesus said, “Mary has chosen the good portion.”  The word, “portion” is often used in reverence to servings of food.  Just like someone might take a turkey drumstick on Thanksgiving Day as their good portion, Mary took a front row seat to listen to Jesus for her good portion.  Mary was being fed.  Mary was living not on just food, but also the word of God.

 

Song: Find Me At The Feet Of Jesus by Christy Nockels