Luke 6:39-42
The Gospel of Luke • Sermon • Submitted
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Well, we’ve come to Luke 6:39
I Invite you to follow along.
-Now, it may not seem like it, when you first read today’s verses...
…but they are, in fact, a continuance of the theme...
…that we’ve been looking at for the past two weeks...
…in verses 37 and 38.
-And, if you’ll remember...
...my premise was, that...
…Jesus was painting a picture of discipleship...
…that was intended to be the very opposite...
…of the heart and spirit that possessed the typical 1st Century Pharisee.
-Today, we’re going to read Verses 39-42...
But please do bear in mind the context...
...of the previous two verses as we read them.
Luke 6:39–42 (ESV)
39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
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Verse 39:
-Verse 39 isn’t what we typically think of...
…when we hear the word “parable.”
We tend to think of a parable as...
A short, fictional story...
That illustrates to us, a religious or moral truth.
(And, a parable is definitely that!)
But in it’s most basic sense...
…the word Luke uses here, is a compound word which simply means to:
“throw” “beside”
The connotation is:
Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Figure)
“a . . . placing side by side” . . . with a view to comparison... — Vine’s
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And THAT, is exactly what Jesus is doing in verse 39.
He’s giving an illustration....
…that shows the futility of the Pharisee-ism...
…that He had forbidden in the previous two verses.
-Now, at first glance, it may not appear that verse 39...
Is connected to the previous verses at all
Is even connected to verse 40!
But, I think you’ll see once we’ve fleshed it out, that...
…verses 37-42 actually work together quite nicely...
…and work toward a common goal...
…and/or illustrate a common theme.
-Let’s read the parable He gives again:
Luke 6:39 (ESV)
39 . . . “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
In and of itself, this is pretty simple, right?
Can someone who can’t see where they’re going...
Lead someone else...
…who also, can’t see where they’re going?
Now, the syntax in the original...
…makes it very clear that the question is rhetorical...
…and that the implied answer is a resounding “NO!”
But, this illustration (like the one in verses 41-42)...
…is so absurd, that NO ONE...
In any culture...
During any period of human history...
…would ever have considered responding to it affirmatively!
Of course, the answer is “NO!”
But, what is his point?
Well, I believe that this is where Jesus makes the indictment...
Against the Pharisees...
Against the Pharisaical Heart...
…that we’ve only been inferring for the last 2 weeks...
…Now, become abundantly clear!
Let me show you what I mean.
-What’s one of our cardinal rules for biblical interpretation?
That the best interpreter of Scripture...
…Is Scripture itself!
Well, this same analogy is employed many times throughout scripture.
In the Old Testament, it was often used as a metaphor for Divine Judgment:
Isaiah 59 begins with this indictment:
Isaiah 59:1–2 (ESV)
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
A few verses later he says this:
Isaiah 59:9–10 (ESV)
9 Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 We grope for the wall like the blind; we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men.
Notice the futility of their desire to receive from the Lord’s Hand...
Justice,
Righteousness...
…because of their iniquity!
-In the prophecy of Zephaniah, the indictment is issued more broadly.
Remember the context:
Zephaniah 1:14–17 (ESV)
14 The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter...
15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom...
17 I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord...
-This imagery comes from the language...
…of the Covenant Curse that was promised...
...to the Covenant Breaker, in Deuteronomy 28.
Notice the judicial hardening, and the resultant futility:
Deuteronomy 28:28–29 (ESV)
28 The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind,
29 and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways...
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Now, what’s interesting, is...
…that when you get to the New Testament...
…Jesus appears to make this particular indictment...
…upon only one group of people:
The Jewish Religious leaders (in general)
The Scribes and Pharisees (in particular)
What’s the irony in that?
They were the LEADERS of the people!
They were supposed:
To be the light!
Lead others to the Light!
And they were confident that they were doing both!
But, Jesus tells us in Matthew 15 that they were not.
Matthew 15:11–20 (ESV)
11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.
14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” . . .
17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?
18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.
19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”
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Do you see the connection to Verse 37?
They were obsessed with external conformity...
…and quick to condemn its absence.
But, they weren’t concerned about the health...
…of the inner man,
…of the heart!
Jesus also used the same metaphor of judgment to describe them...
…in that long pronouncement of “Woe’s” in Matthew 23.
Matthew 23:16–22 (ESV)
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?
18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’
19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
Do you see how it’s the exact same problem?
Their value system is totally misplaced.
They are obsessed with the material.
And because of this, they “will not prosper” (as Deut 28 says)
Paul spells out their hypocrisy in Romans 2.
Romans 2:17–29 (ESV)
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God
18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law;
19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?
22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.
24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.
26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.
28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.
29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
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This is how verse 39 connects back to verse 37.
The Pharisees were (typically):
Critical Spirited
Judgmental
Censorious
Self-Righteous.
They professed to lead people in the light of God’s Word...
…But what they really emitted was darkness.
Later on in Matthew 23 (The “Woe Chapter”)...
…Jesus tells them this:
Matthew 23:33 (ESV)
33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
-This is what Jesus telling us in verse 39.
Not to follow these men...
Not to act like them...
…lest we too end up sharing in the consequences of their iniquity!
John Peter Lange draw this conclusion from it:
Whoever himself is blind for the light of truth cannot possibly serve another as leader, but draws him with him into destruction which reaches its fearful culmination in Gehenna.
This was plainly manifest by the example of the Pharisees, comp. Matthew 15:14, from which the disciples could see what leaders they should not be. — Lange’s Commentary
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-Now, as I said before...
…it’s easy to see verse 40 as out of place in this discussion.
Jesus often used such language to warn his followers...
…that they could expect to be persecuted.
But here, He’s actually elaborating upon...
…the effects of bad leadership.
Luke 6:40 (ESV)
40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
The Point here is, (as the Reformation Study Bible puts it) that:
a faulty teacher can only produce faulty disciples in his own image — R.S.B.
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-This was the way of...
Discipleship,
Religious cultivation and development...
…at that time.
You followed a Master:
Learning from him:
Through his teaching...
Through his actions.
To “graduate” or to become “Fully Trained,” . . .
…would be for you to become like your master.
We see this in a positive sense, in Jesus’ words in:
Matthew 10:24–25 (ESV)
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master...
We see what that implies for a disciple in:
John 13:13–17 (ESV)
13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
But, Verse 40, in our text, isn’t promising a blessing for imitation...
…it’s warning that imitation is inevitable.
Why is that a problem?
Because of who was leading the people at the time:
Jesus told them this, yet again:
Matthew 23:15 (ESV)
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
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This is the danger that Jesus is warning HIS disciples about.
He’s telling them to:
Be careful WHO you follow
Be careful HOW you lead.
-Now, Verses 41-42 bring it around full circle.
They sort of complete the first two admonitions in Verse 37.
And, They also provide us with:
A humorous illustration of what Pharisee-ism is actually like,
Another antidote/remedy for it.
Here is what a judgmental, Pharisaical heart does:
Luke 6:41 (ESV)
41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Luke 6:42 (ESV)
42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite...
That’s what it does!
It produces hypocrisy (define)
Think about the imagery.
A “speck” would be equivalent to:
A piece of sawdust,
A small splinter of wood.
Now, is that a problem when it’s in your eye?
Yeah!
A BIG problem!
Is it an insurmountable problem?
Can it be pretty easily remedied?
-Now, a “log” would be equivalent to:
A massive timber
A ridge beam.
Now, if that’s stuck in your eye, how big is your problem?
It is Insurmountable!
Which one is a more obvious problem to recognize?
A piece of sawdust?
An Ridge Beam?
But, a Pharisaical Heart will hone in on his brother’s speck of sawdust...
…and be totally oblivious to his own 2x12.
Want me to show you how pervasive this is?
Don’t answer out loud, but who have you been thinking of this whole time?
- Yourself?
- Someone Else?
Don’t you see, brethren, that this comes as natural to us as breathing.
But, Christ calls us into a “Super — Natural” Kingdom.
He calls us to be Jews “Inwardly”
And by His grace...
He, as our Covenant Head...
Commissions the circumcision of our hearts!
The citizens of His Kingdom MUST undergo an inward transformation!
In Contrast, Jesus said this about the Citizenship of the Pharisees:
Matthew 23:25–28 (ESV)
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Oh, my friends, this is our greatest need as well!
But how do you do it?
You Can’t!
But He can!
You need to start by:
Luke 6:42 (ESV)
42 ...first take the log out of your own eye...
How do you do that?
-Seeing yourself for who you really are...
…in light of Who God Is!
-Confessing that before Him...
-Relinquishing any hope you have in your own goodness/righteousness...
-Then looking to Christ to provide that righteousness for you.
-Resting your hope in what He has already done!
If you’ve done that...
Really
Truly
…in the deepest recesses of your heart...
…Then, that is evidence that it has been cleansed from within!
THEN… And ONLY THEN...
Will you be qualified for Citizenship in His Kingdom
Will you be able to:
See the True Light for yourself
Lead others to it!
It is only THEN that:
Luke 6:42 (ESV)
42 ...you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
This precept is true for our Justification...
And it is true throughout the process of our sanctification as well!
Let’s pray that this “Super-Natural” Grace...
...would be poured out upon us this morning.