Luke 11:33-36 (3)
Notes
Transcript
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-If you would, please turn in your Bibles...
…back to Luke 11.
And, we’ve made our way down...
…to that enigmatic little paragraph...
…that begins in Verse 33.
And I think it would be helpful...
…for me to say, up front, that...
...it appears to be meant to drive home…
…the point of the previous section.
And, I think (after studying it out)...
…that the difficulties that many have had in interpreting it...
…most likely stem from a failure to...
…recognize that connection...
…as well as from a tendency to conflate it...
…with something else that Jesus taught...
…on another occasion...
…that uses a similar metaphor...
…but was meant to illustrate a different point.
So, we’ll try to work through all of that...
And (by God’s good grace)...
…come to a proper understanding of it...
And then (also by his grace)...
…respond appropriately to it.
-Alright, let’s read it together...
…and go to Him in prayer.
Luke 11:33–36 (ESV)
33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.
34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.
35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness.
36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
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Pray
-When we looked at a very similar passage to this one before (8:16)...
…I told you to try to imagine yourself...
…being in a dark room in the middle of the night...
…and fumbling around for a candle and a match...
Finding them
Getting the candle lit
And then quickly covering it with an old pot...
Snuffing out the light that it was providing...
…and that you were needing.
Do you remember that?
Well, that’s almost the same scene...
…as the one Jesus is describing here.
Let’s read Verse 33 again.
Luke 11:33 (ESV)
33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.
And if you’ll recall...
…the text in Chapter 8:16...
…had begun almost the exact same way.
And in both instances, Jesus was saying, that...
It would have been an absurd proposition
NO ONE would EVER do that on purpose.
Now, back in chapter 8…
(Which had come after the Parable of the Sower/Soils)
(elaborate)
…Jesus appeared to have been illustrating...
The Great Danger...
…of failing to properly respond to the Word of God.
-And, even though the illustration in our text...
…follows a different event than that one...
…It seems intended, to...
…provide a very similar warning.
(even though it does goes on to make...
…a somewhat different application)
-Let’s be reminded of the context:
Luke 11:29–32 (ESV)
29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
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Now, it may not seem (at a cursory reading)...
…that Verse 33 is connected with these statements, at all!
But, I think it is.
I think that, in one sense...
...it’s meant to serve...
…as a third illustration...
…given in addition to:
The Queen of the South
The people of Nineveh
Mike McKinley explains what I mean:
Jesus again addresses those who might want to delay making a commitment to him...
This is a direct rebuke to those who claim to need a sign before they can commit to Jesus.
He says, that…
…this is what it shows us in summary:
Their problem is not a lack of information, for Jesus has not hidden his light but shed it abroad.
Remember what Jesus said in:
John 8:12 (ESV)
12 . . . “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
The problem WASN’T, that...
God wasn’t adequately revealing Jesus to the world...
There was any insufficiency in Father’s testimony of the Son.
McKinley says:
Instead, the problem is with their eyesight, spiritually speaking. — Mike McKinley
And I think that...
…that is what the next few verses are talking about.
-Look at Verse 34 with me.
Luke 11:34 (ESV)
34 Your eye is the lamp of your body...
Now, let’s think about that for a minute.
What does a “lamp” do?
It provides light/illumination
Light by which a person can see the reality around them...
…and safely and effectively interact with it.
Well, Jesus is saying, that...
Your eye...
Serves that purpose for your body!
The sight that it provides...
…is essentially data/information...
…from the world around you...
…for your brain to process...
…and make the appropriate decisions...
…about how to best interact with it.
Ergo then, Jesus goes on to say...
Luke 11:34 (ESV)
34 ...When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light...
That makes sense, right?
If your eye is functioning properly...
So can the rest of your body:
Your brain is enabled to...
process data
give commands to the other members:
Your hands as they work...
Your feet as they walk, etc.
If the data coming in is accurately processed...
…you can function properly.
It’s a pretty simple concept, right?
-Now the Greek word translated as “healthy” is an interesting word.
And its usage here...
…reminds us that this is a spiritual metaphor:
The word only occurs, here...
…and in a parallel saying in Matthew 6:22...
And it carries with it...
…a moral connotation.
This Lexicon explains it for us:
Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (ἁπλότης, ἁπλοῦς)
In classical Greek, “haplous is the opposite of diplous, meaning simple or single rather than double … sometimes in the moral sense of straight, without turning aside.
That’s probably why the King James Translators...
…translated in the way that they did:
Luke 11:34 (KJV)
34 ...therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light...
Meaning, when it has a singularity of focus.
This appears to be the way...
…Matthew is applying the word, in...
Matthew 6:19–22 (ESV)
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth...
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven...
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,
You see, spiritually speaking...
…a healthy eye...
…is one whose gaze...
…is fixed upon Christ...
…and isn’t drawn away by lesser things.
I love what the JFB Commentary says here:
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Chapter 6)
As applied to the outward eye, this means general soundness; particularly, not looking two ways.
Here, as also in classical Greek, it is used figuratively to denote the simplicity of the mind’s eye, singleness of purpose, looking right at its object, as opposed to having two ends in view.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Chapter 6)
As with the bodily vision, the man who looks with a good, sound eye, walks in light, seeing every object clear;
so a simple and persistent purpose to serve and please God in everything will make the whole character consistent and bright.
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-Now, with that in mind...
...let’s remember the context of our passage:
The people were demanding “a sign from heaven” . . .
…as a prerequisite for their faith.
And, Jesus had said:
Luke 11:30 (ESV)
30 ...Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh...
And then later on:
Luke 11:32 (ESV)
32 ...something greater than Jonah is here.
And...
Luke 11:31 (ESV)
31 ...something greater than Solomon is here.
And he gave them this diagnosis...
And he gave them this daunting promise...
Luke 11:29–30 (ESV)
29 . . . “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
(Referring to his bodily Resurrection)
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-So, in light of all of that...
I believe that Jesus was telling them...
…that there wasn’t any problem...
...with the light that was being given...
That it wasn’t a problem with the Transmitter...
But that the problem was with the receiver!
The problem was with the eye!
And their eyes weren’t healthy.
They were diseased
They had spiritual cataracts!
The light of God was not getting through them.
It was as though He was...
…echoing the sentiments of the Prophet Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 5:21 (ESV)
21 “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.
How well is the rest of your body going to function...
When your eyes don’t see?
When your ears don’t hear?
What’s going to be the condition of your soul...
When the revelation of God...
…is not received?
-Well, look at the end of Verse 34:
Luke 11:34 (ESV)
34 ...When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.
Our old friend, Philip Ryken, says this:
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 (The Lamp of the Body)
This optical illustration is about spiritual perception. When the eyes of the soul are clear, we are able to see the light of Jesus Christ shining in the gospel.
...But when our spiritual eyes are bad—when they are covered with the cataract of unrepentant sin or blinded by the skeptical demand for more and more evidence—then we cannot see Jesus as our Savior.
The problem is not that we do not have enough light, as if God needed to give us a more brilliant sign.
No, God has given us enough light in his gospel.
The problem is that we cannot see it because our hearts are still in darkness.
This is what was wrong with the people who demanded that Jesus give them a sign.
Jesus was shining on them with a bright, clear light, but they could not see it.
-Now, watch the applicable warning, in...
Luke 11:35 (ESV)
35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness.
“be careful” = (present imperative)
calling for a constant watching!
-Think about this for a minute:
What was the light that their eyes had let in/received?
The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ?
The leaven of the Scribes and Pharisees?
It was a counterfeit light.
It was the light of fallen man...
...Standing in opposition to the light of God!
They would have done well...
…to heed the warnings of the prophet Isaiah:
Isaiah 5:20–21 (ESV)
20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!
That will keep you from seeing the light of truth...
Every.
Single.
Time.
-Look at the way Jesus...
…intensifies this warning, in...
Matthew 6:23 (ESV)
23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Jesus warned the Scribes and Pharisees:
John 9:39–41 (ESV)
39 . . .“For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.
The “light” in them, was darkness!
How Great was that Darkness?
Jesus also said, this:
John 12:35–43 (ESV)
35 . . . “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”
...When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.
37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him...
42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;
43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
Again… how great is that darkness?
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-Now, let me be clear about something:
There is a sense in which...
…this warning is applicable to us.
Is the light in us (what we receive and process):
The truth of God (given in His word)?
A competing worldview?
Which one are we receiving?
Which one is directing our actions and ideas?
We too, had better:
Luke 11:35 (ESV)
35 ...be careful lest the light in you be darkness.
-Alright, look at our final Verse.
It gives the positive antithesis:
Luke 11:36 (ESV)
36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
Notice the language of entirety and totality in that.
It invokes that same idea of...
Singularity
In fact, notice the way Jesus...
…makes application of these metaphors, in:
Matthew 6:24 (ESV)
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
-But, the object of the eye’s gaze in our text...
Isn’t money.
It’s Revelation
It’s Truth
So, how can we be:
“Wholly Bright?”
How can our “whole body” be...
Luke 11:36 (ESV)
36 ...full of light, having no part dark...
By casting our eyes fully upon Him!
By making him the all-consuming passion of our lives!
By submitting ourselves (wholly) to the authority of His word!
By committing our lives entirely to His Service!
I think that’s how!
(And, I don’t think there’s any alternative plan!)
-Can we do that?
Not in our own strength
Only with the strength that he supplies.
We need his grace!
We need him to give us healthy eyes!
Amen?
-I’ll leave you with Paul’s...
…applicable benediction to the Thessalonians.
After calling them to fidelity in all their human efforts...
He concluded like this:
1 Thessalonians 5:22–24 (ESV)
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
Amen!
So be it!
Let’s Pray