Luke 13

Luke 13:1

Strong Resistance

What the Lord has said is not appreciated. The religious leaders, who have heard all this and have been in the beam of the spotlight, reject the light and revolt against the light. They attack Him fiercely and question Him closely on many subjects.

These people are not sincere. They want to hear all kinds of things from Him. However, they are not interested in knowing the truth, but in maintaining and justifying themselves and their system. Anything they ask of Him is meant to be a snare. How badly would they like something to come out of His mouth and catch Him. If only He would let something slip that they could use as a ground for an accusation.

Luke 13:3

Warning Against Hypocrisy

We do not know whether the very hostile attacks on the Lord attracted the thousands or whether it was on another occasion. In any case, Luke connects to the speech the Lord has just made against the Pharisees and lawyers by stating that “under these circumstances … thousands of people had gathered together“. By this connection he wants to show the link between what the Lord has said to the religious leaders and what He now has to say to His disciples.

The people in the crowd were stepping on one another. Everyone wants to be as close to Him as possible so that they don’t miss any of His words. Fortunately that this doesn’t work that way anymore. Whoever wants to hear Him can read His Word. This can be done in peace and quiet, without having to push others from their place.

The Lord addresses the word to His disciples. The word “first [of all]” indicates that the teaching that follows has the highest priority. After having turned the spotlight of truth on the religious leaders in the previous section, He now turns that same light on His disciples and the way they have to go. They will have to give their testimony in the midst of hypocrisy and opposition, whereby they may know they may rely on the power of the Holy Spirit.

In order to give their testimony, the Lord warns them first of all of what is so characteristic of the Pharisees: hypocrisy. Even the true disciple is in danger of keeping up a certain appearance, of wanting to appear something he is not. The disciple may also be inclined to external piety as the hallmark of true piety in order to obtain honor from people. Hypocrisy is acting differently than you really are. The word ‘hypocrite’ used to be used for an actor, who also plays someone else.

There is another aspect added with the Pharisees, and that is that they pretend to be what they are not in order to gain respect among people. Hypocrisy originates from a life lived before the eyes of men and not before the eyes of God.

The Lord compares hypocrisy to leaven. Leaven is always a picture of evil, and that in a form that is also dangerous for others. Leaven is an active evil that can infect others. It is a bloating, the appearance of being bigger and more devout than in reality. This is exactly what characterizes the Pharisees and for which the Lord warns His disciples, for they and we are in danger to behave in the same way.

As an extra warning, He adds that it makes no sense to degenerate to hypocrisy and covering or hiding things. There will certainly come a moment when what they have wanted to keep covered, will be discovered and will be revealed. What is hidden, what no one should know, will come to everyone’s knowledge. This concerns both the attitude and actions (Luke 12:2) of the disciple and the words he speaks (Luke 12:3).

The disciples must count on the fact that nothing of what they have said will remain in the darkness. It will be fully exposed. The hidden thoughts behind the words they have spoken will come to light. What they have just whispered to someone in the ear, in an inner room without anyone else being able to hear it, will be spoken loudly and clearly for each ear. This will happen before the judgment seat of Christ, where we will all be revealed (2 Corinthians 5:10). The Lord wants His disciples to speak clear language, without hidden meanings.

Luke 13:4

Warning Against Hypocrisy

We do not know whether the very hostile attacks on the Lord attracted the thousands or whether it was on another occasion. In any case, Luke connects to the speech the Lord has just made against the Pharisees and lawyers by stating that “under these circumstances … thousands of people had gathered together“. By this connection he wants to show the link between what the Lord has said to the religious leaders and what He now has to say to His disciples.

The people in the crowd were stepping on one another. Everyone wants to be as close to Him as possible so that they don’t miss any of His words. Fortunately that this doesn’t work that way anymore. Whoever wants to hear Him can read His Word. This can be done in peace and quiet, without having to push others from their place.

The Lord addresses the word to His disciples. The word “first [of all]” indicates that the teaching that follows has the highest priority. After having turned the spotlight of truth on the religious leaders in the previous section, He now turns that same light on His disciples and the way they have to go. They will have to give their testimony in the midst of hypocrisy and opposition, whereby they may know they may rely on the power of the Holy Spirit.

In order to give their testimony, the Lord warns them first of all of what is so characteristic of the Pharisees: hypocrisy. Even the true disciple is in danger of keeping up a certain appearance, of wanting to appear something he is not. The disciple may also be inclined to external piety as the hallmark of true piety in order to obtain honor from people. Hypocrisy is acting differently than you really are. The word ‘hypocrite’ used to be used for an actor, who also plays someone else.

There is another aspect added with the Pharisees, and that is that they pretend to be what they are not in order to gain respect among people. Hypocrisy originates from a life lived before the eyes of men and not before the eyes of God.

The Lord compares hypocrisy to leaven. Leaven is always a picture of evil, and that in a form that is also dangerous for others. Leaven is an active evil that can infect others. It is a bloating, the appearance of being bigger and more devout than in reality. This is exactly what characterizes the Pharisees and for which the Lord warns His disciples, for they and we are in danger to behave in the same way.

As an extra warning, He adds that it makes no sense to degenerate to hypocrisy and covering or hiding things. There will certainly come a moment when what they have wanted to keep covered, will be discovered and will be revealed. What is hidden, what no one should know, will come to everyone’s knowledge. This concerns both the attitude and actions (Luke 12:2) of the disciple and the words he speaks (Luke 12:3).

The disciples must count on the fact that nothing of what they have said will remain in the darkness. It will be fully exposed. The hidden thoughts behind the words they have spoken will come to light. What they have just whispered to someone in the ear, in an inner room without anyone else being able to hear it, will be spoken loudly and clearly for each ear. This will happen before the judgment seat of Christ, where we will all be revealed (2 Corinthians 5:10). The Lord wants His disciples to speak clear language, without hidden meanings.

Luke 13:5

Warning Against Hypocrisy

We do not know whether the very hostile attacks on the Lord attracted the thousands or whether it was on another occasion. In any case, Luke connects to the speech the Lord has just made against the Pharisees and lawyers by stating that “under these circumstances … thousands of people had gathered together“. By this connection he wants to show the link between what the Lord has said to the religious leaders and what He now has to say to His disciples.

The people in the crowd were stepping on one another. Everyone wants to be as close to Him as possible so that they don’t miss any of His words. Fortunately that this doesn’t work that way anymore. Whoever wants to hear Him can read His Word. This can be done in peace and quiet, without having to push others from their place.

The Lord addresses the word to His disciples. The word “first [of all]” indicates that the teaching that follows has the highest priority. After having turned the spotlight of truth on the religious leaders in the previous section, He now turns that same light on His disciples and the way they have to go. They will have to give their testimony in the midst of hypocrisy and opposition, whereby they may know they may rely on the power of the Holy Spirit.

In order to give their testimony, the Lord warns them first of all of what is so characteristic of the Pharisees: hypocrisy. Even the true disciple is in danger of keeping up a certain appearance, of wanting to appear something he is not. The disciple may also be inclined to external piety as the hallmark of true piety in order to obtain honor from people. Hypocrisy is acting differently than you really are. The word ‘hypocrite’ used to be used for an actor, who also plays someone else.

There is another aspect added with the Pharisees, and that is that they pretend to be what they are not in order to gain respect among people. Hypocrisy originates from a life lived before the eyes of men and not before the eyes of God.

The Lord compares hypocrisy to leaven. Leaven is always a picture of evil, and that in a form that is also dangerous for others. Leaven is an active evil that can infect others. It is a bloating, the appearance of being bigger and more devout than in reality. This is exactly what characterizes the Pharisees and for which the Lord warns His disciples, for they and we are in danger to behave in the same way.

As an extra warning, He adds that it makes no sense to degenerate to hypocrisy and covering or hiding things. There will certainly come a moment when what they have wanted to keep covered, will be discovered and will be revealed. What is hidden, what no one should know, will come to everyone’s knowledge. This concerns both the attitude and actions (Luke 12:2) of the disciple and the words he speaks (Luke 12:3).

The disciples must count on the fact that nothing of what they have said will remain in the darkness. It will be fully exposed. The hidden thoughts behind the words they have spoken will come to light. What they have just whispered to someone in the ear, in an inner room without anyone else being able to hear it, will be spoken loudly and clearly for each ear. This will happen before the judgment seat of Christ, where we will all be revealed (2 Corinthians 5:10). The Lord wants His disciples to speak clear language, without hidden meanings.

Luke 13:6

The Father’s Care

Disciples tend to hypocrite when they are under pressure (cf. Galatians 2:11-13). How often do we do or do not do something out of fear of what others will say about it? The second for which the Lord therefore warns is fear of man (Proverbs 29:25). He tells them that they will be persecuted and rejected by these hypocrites. If we do not join them, if we do not behave like a hypocrite, we are not loved. We will have to fear for our life. Yet the Lord says that we should not be afraid of them. They can kill the body, but they cannot reach the true life. After all, we do not stand before people, but before God. He points this out in the following verses.

How wonderful that He precedes this second warning with the beautiful form of address “My friends”. This must have been a great encouragement for His disciples and it may be for us. In the power of His friendship we can go through the world. He calls us His friends because He treats us with complete confidentiality. Nothing is hidden with Him, nothing mysterious, He holds back nothing from us, but shares everything with us (John 15:15). Then we will also be completely transparent to Him and not hide anything, right?

Instead of being afraid of people, we should fear God. People can only kill the body. Then it is over with the exercise of their terror. God, however, can not only kill the body, but also has authority to cast into hell. The Lord wants to impress upon them and us that God is holy and all-knowing, a God Whom you cannot deceive, Who looks through all hypocrisy. God has the authority to cast unbelievers into hell. If disciples keep that to mind, they will have awe of that God and be careful not to deceive Him and men by hypocrisy.

There is also another side of God and that is His caring love. God pays attention to the smallest birds which, even in trade, barely make any money. Each of these animals, which are insignificant to humans, is a continuous object of God’s care. He continues to take care of them, for each sparrow individually, no matter how often they are traded and change hands.

Here the Lord encourages them by pointing out the care of His Father. The hairs of their heads are not only counted, they are even numbered, which is the true meaning of the expression. This means that each separate hair has God’s attention. If God cares so much for us, would we be afraid of people? The value of a disciple goes beyond that of many sparrows.

Luke 13:7

The Father’s Care

Disciples tend to hypocrite when they are under pressure (cf. Galatians 2:11-13). How often do we do or do not do something out of fear of what others will say about it? The second for which the Lord therefore warns is fear of man (Proverbs 29:25). He tells them that they will be persecuted and rejected by these hypocrites. If we do not join them, if we do not behave like a hypocrite, we are not loved. We will have to fear for our life. Yet the Lord says that we should not be afraid of them. They can kill the body, but they cannot reach the true life. After all, we do not stand before people, but before God. He points this out in the following verses.

How wonderful that He precedes this second warning with the beautiful form of address “My friends”. This must have been a great encouragement for His disciples and it may be for us. In the power of His friendship we can go through the world. He calls us His friends because He treats us with complete confidentiality. Nothing is hidden with Him, nothing mysterious, He holds back nothing from us, but shares everything with us (John 15:15). Then we will also be completely transparent to Him and not hide anything, right?

Instead of being afraid of people, we should fear God. People can only kill the body. Then it is over with the exercise of their terror. God, however, can not only kill the body, but also has authority to cast into hell. The Lord wants to impress upon them and us that God is holy and all-knowing, a God Whom you cannot deceive, Who looks through all hypocrisy. God has the authority to cast unbelievers into hell. If disciples keep that to mind, they will have awe of that God and be careful not to deceive Him and men by hypocrisy.

There is also another side of God and that is His caring love. God pays attention to the smallest birds which, even in trade, barely make any money. Each of these animals, which are insignificant to humans, is a continuous object of God’s care. He continues to take care of them, for each sparrow individually, no matter how often they are traded and change hands.

Here the Lord encourages them by pointing out the care of His Father. The hairs of their heads are not only counted, they are even numbered, which is the true meaning of the expression. This means that each separate hair has God’s attention. If God cares so much for us, would we be afraid of people? The value of a disciple goes beyond that of many sparrows.

Luke 13:8

The Father’s Care

Disciples tend to hypocrite when they are under pressure (cf. Galatians 2:11-13). How often do we do or do not do something out of fear of what others will say about it? The second for which the Lord therefore warns is fear of man (Proverbs 29:25). He tells them that they will be persecuted and rejected by these hypocrites. If we do not join them, if we do not behave like a hypocrite, we are not loved. We will have to fear for our life. Yet the Lord says that we should not be afraid of them. They can kill the body, but they cannot reach the true life. After all, we do not stand before people, but before God. He points this out in the following verses.

How wonderful that He precedes this second warning with the beautiful form of address “My friends”. This must have been a great encouragement for His disciples and it may be for us. In the power of His friendship we can go through the world. He calls us His friends because He treats us with complete confidentiality. Nothing is hidden with Him, nothing mysterious, He holds back nothing from us, but shares everything with us (John 15:15). Then we will also be completely transparent to Him and not hide anything, right?

Instead of being afraid of people, we should fear God. People can only kill the body. Then it is over with the exercise of their terror. God, however, can not only kill the body, but also has authority to cast into hell. The Lord wants to impress upon them and us that God is holy and all-knowing, a God Whom you cannot deceive, Who looks through all hypocrisy. God has the authority to cast unbelievers into hell. If disciples keep that to mind, they will have awe of that God and be careful not to deceive Him and men by hypocrisy.

There is also another side of God and that is His caring love. God pays attention to the smallest birds which, even in trade, barely make any money. Each of these animals, which are insignificant to humans, is a continuous object of God’s care. He continues to take care of them, for each sparrow individually, no matter how often they are traded and change hands.

Here the Lord encourages them by pointing out the care of His Father. The hairs of their heads are not only counted, they are even numbered, which is the true meaning of the expression. This means that each separate hair has God’s attention. If God cares so much for us, would we be afraid of people? The value of a disciple goes beyond that of many sparrows.

Luke 13:9

The Father’s Care

Disciples tend to hypocrite when they are under pressure (cf. Galatians 2:11-13). How often do we do or do not do something out of fear of what others will say about it? The second for which the Lord therefore warns is fear of man (Proverbs 29:25). He tells them that they will be persecuted and rejected by these hypocrites. If we do not join them, if we do not behave like a hypocrite, we are not loved. We will have to fear for our life. Yet the Lord says that we should not be afraid of them. They can kill the body, but they cannot reach the true life. After all, we do not stand before people, but before God. He points this out in the following verses.

How wonderful that He precedes this second warning with the beautiful form of address “My friends”. This must have been a great encouragement for His disciples and it may be for us. In the power of His friendship we can go through the world. He calls us His friends because He treats us with complete confidentiality. Nothing is hidden with Him, nothing mysterious, He holds back nothing from us, but shares everything with us (John 15:15). Then we will also be completely transparent to Him and not hide anything, right?

Instead of being afraid of people, we should fear God. People can only kill the body. Then it is over with the exercise of their terror. God, however, can not only kill the body, but also has authority to cast into hell. The Lord wants to impress upon them and us that God is holy and all-knowing, a God Whom you cannot deceive, Who looks through all hypocrisy. God has the authority to cast unbelievers into hell. If disciples keep that to mind, they will have awe of that God and be careful not to deceive Him and men by hypocrisy.

There is also another side of God and that is His caring love. God pays attention to the smallest birds which, even in trade, barely make any money. Each of these animals, which are insignificant to humans, is a continuous object of God’s care. He continues to take care of them, for each sparrow individually, no matter how often they are traded and change hands.

Here the Lord encourages them by pointing out the care of His Father. The hairs of their heads are not only counted, they are even numbered, which is the true meaning of the expression. This means that each separate hair has God’s attention. If God cares so much for us, would we be afraid of people? The value of a disciple goes beyond that of many sparrows.

Luke 13:10

Fearless confession

The Lord has another great encouragement not to be afraid of men, but on the contrary to confess Him boldly before hostile people. This encouragement is that in that case He, as the Son of Man, as the One to Whom the Father has submitted all things, will confess us before the angels of God. He will appreciate every word we say in His favor. The Son of Man will tell the angels that we belong to Him and that we are true witnesses of Him. He will tell the angels that we are His, and that we behave worthy of Him.

Angels do immediately what God says. They are out to serve God’s interests. They also have great interest in everything that is done on earth for or against the Lord Jesus. They will wonder why He causes His witnesses to suffer so much. Then He will tell them that His disciples undergo the same that He also underwent.

However, if we deny Him before men, if we deny that we belong to Him, this will also be communicated to the angels of God. Angels are powerful beings. With them there is no fear of people. If they see that people deny the Lord Jesus, they will not understand. He will tell them that these people do not belong to Him either.

It is not about cases like Peter, who stumbled. He denied the Lord, but did so in weakness and not in rebellion, even though he did it three consecutive times. His deep repentance shows that it was a stumbling and not a hostile attitude toward his Lord.

In His great grace Christ forgives every man who has spoken a word against Him. A man may have expressed the meanest things and most slanderous language against Him and acted in the most rebellious spirit, but when he comes to repentance, it will be forgiven. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is a good example of this (1 Timothy 1:13). Who has spoken more against Him than he? He is an impressive proof and witness of forgiveness. So will it be with the people when they repent of their rebellion and rejection of Christ.

But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not receive forgiveness. That is the fate of “this generation”. ‘This generation’ has the Son of Man among them. Everything He does is through the Holy Spirit, but they attribute what He does to the ruler of the demons, to satan (Luke 11:15). Such an accusation is the culmination and low point of a series of rejections that has taken on ever stronger forms.

Their hatred against Him and their absolute unwillingness to believe cannot be clearer and more definitive than by denying the Holy Spirit. Anyone who attributes to satan the Lord’s many and always undeniable works of power is guilty of the sin that will not be forgiven. This generation, which is the generation in the midst of which the Lord Jesus is, and which has seen everything with its own eyes and heard it with its own ears, will show the undeniable proof of their hardening. They will do so if they reject the testimony of the Holy Spirit in Stephen after the ascension of the Lord (Acts 7:51).

The Lord doesn’t beat about the bush that His disciples will be persecuted. He encourages them not to worry about what to answer to the questions they are asked. And when they ask themselves whether they should say something, they also need not to worry about what they should say. They can count on the help of the Holy Spirit.

Here we find the third Person of the Deity Who helps us as disciples. We have seen the friendship of the Lord Jesus (Luke 12:4), the care of the Father (Luke 12:7) and now the teaching of the Spirit, and we have also seen the reward in Luke 12:8. Everything serves to our encouragement.

Luke 13:11

Fearless confession

The Lord has another great encouragement not to be afraid of men, but on the contrary to confess Him boldly before hostile people. This encouragement is that in that case He, as the Son of Man, as the One to Whom the Father has submitted all things, will confess us before the angels of God. He will appreciate every word we say in His favor. The Son of Man will tell the angels that we belong to Him and that we are true witnesses of Him. He will tell the angels that we are His, and that we behave worthy of Him.

Angels do immediately what God says. They are out to serve God’s interests. They also have great interest in everything that is done on earth for or against the Lord Jesus. They will wonder why He causes His witnesses to suffer so much. Then He will tell them that His disciples undergo the same that He also underwent.

However, if we deny Him before men, if we deny that we belong to Him, this will also be communicated to the angels of God. Angels are powerful beings. With them there is no fear of people. If they see that people deny the Lord Jesus, they will not understand. He will tell them that these people do not belong to Him either.

It is not about cases like Peter, who stumbled. He denied the Lord, but did so in weakness and not in rebellion, even though he did it three consecutive times. His deep repentance shows that it was a stumbling and not a hostile attitude toward his Lord.

In His great grace Christ forgives every man who has spoken a word against Him. A man may have expressed the meanest things and most slanderous language against Him and acted in the most rebellious spirit, but when he comes to repentance, it will be forgiven. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is a good example of this (1 Timothy 1:13). Who has spoken more against Him than he? He is an impressive proof and witness of forgiveness. So will it be with the people when they repent of their rebellion and rejection of Christ.

But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not receive forgiveness. That is the fate of “this generation”. ‘This generation’ has the Son of Man among them. Everything He does is through the Holy Spirit, but they attribute what He does to the ruler of the demons, to satan (Luke 11:15). Such an accusation is the culmination and low point of a series of rejections that has taken on ever stronger forms.

Their hatred against Him and their absolute unwillingness to believe cannot be clearer and more definitive than by denying the Holy Spirit. Anyone who attributes to satan the Lord’s many and always undeniable works of power is guilty of the sin that will not be forgiven. This generation, which is the generation in the midst of which the Lord Jesus is, and which has seen everything with its own eyes and heard it with its own ears, will show the undeniable proof of their hardening. They will do so if they reject the testimony of the Holy Spirit in Stephen after the ascension of the Lord (Acts 7:51).

The Lord doesn’t beat about the bush that His disciples will be persecuted. He encourages them not to worry about what to answer to the questions they are asked. And when they ask themselves whether they should say something, they also need not to worry about what they should say. They can count on the help of the Holy Spirit.

Here we find the third Person of the Deity Who helps us as disciples. We have seen the friendship of the Lord Jesus (Luke 12:4), the care of the Father (Luke 12:7) and now the teaching of the Spirit, and we have also seen the reward in Luke 12:8. Everything serves to our encouragement.

Luke 13:12

Fearless confession

The Lord has another great encouragement not to be afraid of men, but on the contrary to confess Him boldly before hostile people. This encouragement is that in that case He, as the Son of Man, as the One to Whom the Father has submitted all things, will confess us before the angels of God. He will appreciate every word we say in His favor. The Son of Man will tell the angels that we belong to Him and that we are true witnesses of Him. He will tell the angels that we are His, and that we behave worthy of Him.

Angels do immediately what God says. They are out to serve God’s interests. They also have great interest in everything that is done on earth for or against the Lord Jesus. They will wonder why He causes His witnesses to suffer so much. Then He will tell them that His disciples undergo the same that He also underwent.

However, if we deny Him before men, if we deny that we belong to Him, this will also be communicated to the angels of God. Angels are powerful beings. With them there is no fear of people. If they see that people deny the Lord Jesus, they will not understand. He will tell them that these people do not belong to Him either.

It is not about cases like Peter, who stumbled. He denied the Lord, but did so in weakness and not in rebellion, even though he did it three consecutive times. His deep repentance shows that it was a stumbling and not a hostile attitude toward his Lord.

In His great grace Christ forgives every man who has spoken a word against Him. A man may have expressed the meanest things and most slanderous language against Him and acted in the most rebellious spirit, but when he comes to repentance, it will be forgiven. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is a good example of this (1 Timothy 1:13). Who has spoken more against Him than he? He is an impressive proof and witness of forgiveness. So will it be with the people when they repent of their rebellion and rejection of Christ.

But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not receive forgiveness. That is the fate of “this generation”. ‘This generation’ has the Son of Man among them. Everything He does is through the Holy Spirit, but they attribute what He does to the ruler of the demons, to satan (Luke 11:15). Such an accusation is the culmination and low point of a series of rejections that has taken on ever stronger forms.

Their hatred against Him and their absolute unwillingness to believe cannot be clearer and more definitive than by denying the Holy Spirit. Anyone who attributes to satan the Lord’s many and always undeniable works of power is guilty of the sin that will not be forgiven. This generation, which is the generation in the midst of which the Lord Jesus is, and which has seen everything with its own eyes and heard it with its own ears, will show the undeniable proof of their hardening. They will do so if they reject the testimony of the Holy Spirit in Stephen after the ascension of the Lord (Acts 7:51).

The Lord doesn’t beat about the bush that His disciples will be persecuted. He encourages them not to worry about what to answer to the questions they are asked. And when they ask themselves whether they should say something, they also need not to worry about what they should say. They can count on the help of the Holy Spirit.

Here we find the third Person of the Deity Who helps us as disciples. We have seen the friendship of the Lord Jesus (Luke 12:4), the care of the Father (Luke 12:7) and now the teaching of the Spirit, and we have also seen the reward in Luke 12:8. Everything serves to our encouragement.

Luke 13:13

Fearless confession

The Lord has another great encouragement not to be afraid of men, but on the contrary to confess Him boldly before hostile people. This encouragement is that in that case He, as the Son of Man, as the One to Whom the Father has submitted all things, will confess us before the angels of God. He will appreciate every word we say in His favor. The Son of Man will tell the angels that we belong to Him and that we are true witnesses of Him. He will tell the angels that we are His, and that we behave worthy of Him.

Angels do immediately what God says. They are out to serve God’s interests. They also have great interest in everything that is done on earth for or against the Lord Jesus. They will wonder why He causes His witnesses to suffer so much. Then He will tell them that His disciples undergo the same that He also underwent.

However, if we deny Him before men, if we deny that we belong to Him, this will also be communicated to the angels of God. Angels are powerful beings. With them there is no fear of people. If they see that people deny the Lord Jesus, they will not understand. He will tell them that these people do not belong to Him either.

It is not about cases like Peter, who stumbled. He denied the Lord, but did so in weakness and not in rebellion, even though he did it three consecutive times. His deep repentance shows that it was a stumbling and not a hostile attitude toward his Lord.

In His great grace Christ forgives every man who has spoken a word against Him. A man may have expressed the meanest things and most slanderous language against Him and acted in the most rebellious spirit, but when he comes to repentance, it will be forgiven. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is a good example of this (1 Timothy 1:13). Who has spoken more against Him than he? He is an impressive proof and witness of forgiveness. So will it be with the people when they repent of their rebellion and rejection of Christ.

But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not receive forgiveness. That is the fate of “this generation”. ‘This generation’ has the Son of Man among them. Everything He does is through the Holy Spirit, but they attribute what He does to the ruler of the demons, to satan (Luke 11:15). Such an accusation is the culmination and low point of a series of rejections that has taken on ever stronger forms.

Their hatred against Him and their absolute unwillingness to believe cannot be clearer and more definitive than by denying the Holy Spirit. Anyone who attributes to satan the Lord’s many and always undeniable works of power is guilty of the sin that will not be forgiven. This generation, which is the generation in the midst of which the Lord Jesus is, and which has seen everything with its own eyes and heard it with its own ears, will show the undeniable proof of their hardening. They will do so if they reject the testimony of the Holy Spirit in Stephen after the ascension of the Lord (Acts 7:51).

The Lord doesn’t beat about the bush that His disciples will be persecuted. He encourages them not to worry about what to answer to the questions they are asked. And when they ask themselves whether they should say something, they also need not to worry about what they should say. They can count on the help of the Holy Spirit.

Here we find the third Person of the Deity Who helps us as disciples. We have seen the friendship of the Lord Jesus (Luke 12:4), the care of the Father (Luke 12:7) and now the teaching of the Spirit, and we have also seen the reward in Luke 12:8. Everything serves to our encouragement.

Luke 13:14

Fearless confession

The Lord has another great encouragement not to be afraid of men, but on the contrary to confess Him boldly before hostile people. This encouragement is that in that case He, as the Son of Man, as the One to Whom the Father has submitted all things, will confess us before the angels of God. He will appreciate every word we say in His favor. The Son of Man will tell the angels that we belong to Him and that we are true witnesses of Him. He will tell the angels that we are His, and that we behave worthy of Him.

Angels do immediately what God says. They are out to serve God’s interests. They also have great interest in everything that is done on earth for or against the Lord Jesus. They will wonder why He causes His witnesses to suffer so much. Then He will tell them that His disciples undergo the same that He also underwent.

However, if we deny Him before men, if we deny that we belong to Him, this will also be communicated to the angels of God. Angels are powerful beings. With them there is no fear of people. If they see that people deny the Lord Jesus, they will not understand. He will tell them that these people do not belong to Him either.

It is not about cases like Peter, who stumbled. He denied the Lord, but did so in weakness and not in rebellion, even though he did it three consecutive times. His deep repentance shows that it was a stumbling and not a hostile attitude toward his Lord.

In His great grace Christ forgives every man who has spoken a word against Him. A man may have expressed the meanest things and most slanderous language against Him and acted in the most rebellious spirit, but when he comes to repentance, it will be forgiven. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is a good example of this (1 Timothy 1:13). Who has spoken more against Him than he? He is an impressive proof and witness of forgiveness. So will it be with the people when they repent of their rebellion and rejection of Christ.

But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not receive forgiveness. That is the fate of “this generation”. ‘This generation’ has the Son of Man among them. Everything He does is through the Holy Spirit, but they attribute what He does to the ruler of the demons, to satan (Luke 11:15). Such an accusation is the culmination and low point of a series of rejections that has taken on ever stronger forms.

Their hatred against Him and their absolute unwillingness to believe cannot be clearer and more definitive than by denying the Holy Spirit. Anyone who attributes to satan the Lord’s many and always undeniable works of power is guilty of the sin that will not be forgiven. This generation, which is the generation in the midst of which the Lord Jesus is, and which has seen everything with its own eyes and heard it with its own ears, will show the undeniable proof of their hardening. They will do so if they reject the testimony of the Holy Spirit in Stephen after the ascension of the Lord (Acts 7:51).

The Lord doesn’t beat about the bush that His disciples will be persecuted. He encourages them not to worry about what to answer to the questions they are asked. And when they ask themselves whether they should say something, they also need not to worry about what they should say. They can count on the help of the Holy Spirit.

Here we find the third Person of the Deity Who helps us as disciples. We have seen the friendship of the Lord Jesus (Luke 12:4), the care of the Father (Luke 12:7) and now the teaching of the Spirit, and we have also seen the reward in Luke 12:8. Everything serves to our encouragement.

Luke 13:15

Be on Your Guard Against Greed

Someone in the crowd interjects the Lord with a question about an inheritance to be divided, of which he wants to have his share. Here another danger is seen. The previous section deals with the danger of persecution by legalists. Now we face the danger of money-seeking, materialism, which falls under the heading of greed.

While the Lord speaks serious words about the teachings of the Pharisees and the committing of an unforgivable sin and persecution of His disciples, one thinks that there are more important things, such as dividing an inheritance. The man has the idea that this Man can settle a dispute with his brother about an inheritance to be divided. It is actually not even a request, but more a command. His brother has run away with the inheritance and he is left behind with empty hands. With all he has heard of this Man, it seems to him the appropriate Person to act as a mediator in this case.

He acknowledges Him as his Superior by addressing Him as “Teacher”. The Lord addresses the questioner with “man”, in which a serious reproach resounds, in the sense of: “Man, are you bothering Me with this? You have no idea about what you are talking.” He asks the man how he can come to the conclusion that He would be a judge or arbitrator [divider, Darby Translation]. Who appointed Him to this end? In any case God has not.

Surely He is Judge and Divider, but not now. If He had now come as a Judge and acted as such, no one could have existed before Him. Also the time of dividing had not come. He did not come for earthly, but for heavenly purposes. If He had been accepted by men, yes, He would undoubtedly have divided inheritances here below. But as it is now, He is not judge or divider about the people or their affairs here below.

The Lord is not going to give rules for the dividing of earthly possessions, but uses the question to reveal the deeper cause of it: greed. He addresses the questioner personally. He knows that the question comes from greed, from wanting more than one possesses. The division of inheritances only reveals what is in the hearts. People in such situations are ruled by the fear that others will run off with something valuable that they have overlooked and that they come off second-best.

Greed is wanting to have more than is enough to live from. It is idolatry (Colossians 3:5-6), for it repels God and the Lord Jesus from the heart and plunges life into destruction. The Lord also points out that life is not one’s possession. People are not aware of that. You can still have so many possessions and have them at will, one’s life is a gift from God.

Luke 13:16

Be on Your Guard Against Greed

Someone in the crowd interjects the Lord with a question about an inheritance to be divided, of which he wants to have his share. Here another danger is seen. The previous section deals with the danger of persecution by legalists. Now we face the danger of money-seeking, materialism, which falls under the heading of greed.

While the Lord speaks serious words about the teachings of the Pharisees and the committing of an unforgivable sin and persecution of His disciples, one thinks that there are more important things, such as dividing an inheritance. The man has the idea that this Man can settle a dispute with his brother about an inheritance to be divided. It is actually not even a request, but more a command. His brother has run away with the inheritance and he is left behind with empty hands. With all he has heard of this Man, it seems to him the appropriate Person to act as a mediator in this case.

He acknowledges Him as his Superior by addressing Him as “Teacher”. The Lord addresses the questioner with “man”, in which a serious reproach resounds, in the sense of: “Man, are you bothering Me with this? You have no idea about what you are talking.” He asks the man how he can come to the conclusion that He would be a judge or arbitrator [divider, Darby Translation]. Who appointed Him to this end? In any case God has not.

Surely He is Judge and Divider, but not now. If He had now come as a Judge and acted as such, no one could have existed before Him. Also the time of dividing had not come. He did not come for earthly, but for heavenly purposes. If He had been accepted by men, yes, He would undoubtedly have divided inheritances here below. But as it is now, He is not judge or divider about the people or their affairs here below.

The Lord is not going to give rules for the dividing of earthly possessions, but uses the question to reveal the deeper cause of it: greed. He addresses the questioner personally. He knows that the question comes from greed, from wanting more than one possesses. The division of inheritances only reveals what is in the hearts. People in such situations are ruled by the fear that others will run off with something valuable that they have overlooked and that they come off second-best.

Greed is wanting to have more than is enough to live from. It is idolatry (Colossians 3:5-6), for it repels God and the Lord Jesus from the heart and plunges life into destruction. The Lord also points out that life is not one’s possession. People are not aware of that. You can still have so many possessions and have them at will, one’s life is a gift from God.

Luke 13:17

Be on Your Guard Against Greed

Someone in the crowd interjects the Lord with a question about an inheritance to be divided, of which he wants to have his share. Here another danger is seen. The previous section deals with the danger of persecution by legalists. Now we face the danger of money-seeking, materialism, which falls under the heading of greed.

While the Lord speaks serious words about the teachings of the Pharisees and the committing of an unforgivable sin and persecution of His disciples, one thinks that there are more important things, such as dividing an inheritance. The man has the idea that this Man can settle a dispute with his brother about an inheritance to be divided. It is actually not even a request, but more a command. His brother has run away with the inheritance and he is left behind with empty hands. With all he has heard of this Man, it seems to him the appropriate Person to act as a mediator in this case.

He acknowledges Him as his Superior by addressing Him as “Teacher”. The Lord addresses the questioner with “man”, in which a serious reproach resounds, in the sense of: “Man, are you bothering Me with this? You have no idea about what you are talking.” He asks the man how he can come to the conclusion that He would be a judge or arbitrator [divider, Darby Translation]. Who appointed Him to this end? In any case God has not.

Surely He is Judge and Divider, but not now. If He had now come as a Judge and acted as such, no one could have existed before Him. Also the time of dividing had not come. He did not come for earthly, but for heavenly purposes. If He had been accepted by men, yes, He would undoubtedly have divided inheritances here below. But as it is now, He is not judge or divider about the people or their affairs here below.

The Lord is not going to give rules for the dividing of earthly possessions, but uses the question to reveal the deeper cause of it: greed. He addresses the questioner personally. He knows that the question comes from greed, from wanting more than one possesses. The division of inheritances only reveals what is in the hearts. People in such situations are ruled by the fear that others will run off with something valuable that they have overlooked and that they come off second-best.

Greed is wanting to have more than is enough to live from. It is idolatry (Colossians 3:5-6), for it repels God and the Lord Jesus from the heart and plunges life into destruction. The Lord also points out that life is not one’s possession. People are not aware of that. You can still have so many possessions and have them at will, one’s life is a gift from God.

Luke 13:18

Parable of the Rich Fool

The Lord considers this such an important subject that He wants to give clear teaching about it through a parable. The danger of greed is clearly portrayed here. He presents a person who is already very rich. And that wealth is increasing all the time. His land always was very productive.

By the way, to a real Jew, this is a proof of God’s favor because of his faithfulness to God’s law. For it says that God connects His blessing to faithfulness to His law (Deuteronomy 28:1-6). Because of the unfaithfulness of God’s people, however, God no longer acts on the basis of the law with His people. Then it may happen that the faithful person suffers and that the unfaithful person receives blessing. That was the struggle of Asaf who also noticed that (Psalms 73:2-12). Asaf also got to know the solution of this problem. He learned this solution by entering into God’s sanctuary and from there looking at the end of the wicked (Psalms 73:16-20). The Lord Jesus also refers to this end in this parable.

There is extraordinary selfishness and folly in what people call wise policy and insight. This is because they take themselves as the source of wisdom. The rich man reasoned to himself, he does not consult with God. Everything revolves around himself and his own thoughts. This resonates throughout his deliberations. It is always ‘I’ll do this’ and ‘I’ll do that’. This kind of deliberation fits well with people who only live for this life. He wants to gather everything for himself, but he neglects to think of God’s riches. This is his foolishness.

Because he speaks only of “I”, he also speaks of “my barns … my grain and my goods”. Everything is “my”. He will do it all. This complete blindness to the awareness of being a dependent human being is called by James “boast in your arrogance“ (James 4:13-16). The rich fool is full of greed. He believes that all his goods will enable him to complete his program, a program of taking ease, eating, drinking and being merry. This is what the man of the world in general is looking for: richly ease, richly food and drink and richly joys and delights. He has no eye for the future outside this world. The life of this world is everything to him.

It is not the case that the rich fool makes improper use of what he possesses according to human standards. He does not live immorally, but all his actions go no further than satisfying his desire for ever greater abundance. The rich owner repeatedly breaks down his barns and builds larger ones, with the intention of securing all his fruits and expanding his possessions. His thoughts are exclusively and only focused on the present life which, he believes, will always continue like this. Unfortunately, many Christians are the same. They build houses and collect supplies of money as if they will live here for a thousand years.

Then suddenly a voice sounds to him in the middle of the night. What was he busy with then? He spent the last night of his life thinking up great plans for a future he would never see. He resembles Belshazzar who also spent the last night of his life with great parties (Daniel 5:1-4; 30).

So many people resemble him for whom life is one big party, while the day or the night comes that this life is suddenly cut off. God addresses him according to what he is, “fool”, and pronounces His judgment. He has not taken God into account and he has certainly not taken into account that God could quash all his calculations.

And what does the judgment consist of? God does not take away his wealth. He could have done that, but He does not. The fool first spoke of his possessions, and second of his soul. God speaks first of the soul of the fool and then of his possessions. God demands his soul, for in His “hand is the soul of every living thing“ (Job 12:9-10; Daniel 5:23b). The fool did not think of the fear mentioned in Luke 12:5.

God takes away his soul and asks the question: “And [now] who will own what you have prepared?” No answer to that question is given. That answer we must give because that question that comes to us as well. The fool had degraded his soul to nothing but slavery of the body, instead of controlling the body, so that the body would be the servant of the soul and God the Master of both.

To gather treasures for ourselves is the forced labor of one’s own self and of the unbelief that forms reserves. It is living in the dream of being able to enjoy it for a long time to come, a dream that is broken off by the Lord suddenly.

Luke 13:19

Parable of the Rich Fool

The Lord considers this such an important subject that He wants to give clear teaching about it through a parable. The danger of greed is clearly portrayed here. He presents a person who is already very rich. And that wealth is increasing all the time. His land always was very productive.

By the way, to a real Jew, this is a proof of God’s favor because of his faithfulness to God’s law. For it says that God connects His blessing to faithfulness to His law (Deuteronomy 28:1-6). Because of the unfaithfulness of God’s people, however, God no longer acts on the basis of the law with His people. Then it may happen that the faithful person suffers and that the unfaithful person receives blessing. That was the struggle of Asaf who also noticed that (Psalms 73:2-12). Asaf also got to know the solution of this problem. He learned this solution by entering into God’s sanctuary and from there looking at the end of the wicked (Psalms 73:16-20). The Lord Jesus also refers to this end in this parable.

There is extraordinary selfishness and folly in what people call wise policy and insight. This is because they take themselves as the source of wisdom. The rich man reasoned to himself, he does not consult with God. Everything revolves around himself and his own thoughts. This resonates throughout his deliberations. It is always ‘I’ll do this’ and ‘I’ll do that’. This kind of deliberation fits well with people who only live for this life. He wants to gather everything for himself, but he neglects to think of God’s riches. This is his foolishness.

Because he speaks only of “I”, he also speaks of “my barns … my grain and my goods”. Everything is “my”. He will do it all. This complete blindness to the awareness of being a dependent human being is called by James “boast in your arrogance“ (James 4:13-16). The rich fool is full of greed. He believes that all his goods will enable him to complete his program, a program of taking ease, eating, drinking and being merry. This is what the man of the world in general is looking for: richly ease, richly food and drink and richly joys and delights. He has no eye for the future outside this world. The life of this world is everything to him.

It is not the case that the rich fool makes improper use of what he possesses according to human standards. He does not live immorally, but all his actions go no further than satisfying his desire for ever greater abundance. The rich owner repeatedly breaks down his barns and builds larger ones, with the intention of securing all his fruits and expanding his possessions. His thoughts are exclusively and only focused on the present life which, he believes, will always continue like this. Unfortunately, many Christians are the same. They build houses and collect supplies of money as if they will live here for a thousand years.

Then suddenly a voice sounds to him in the middle of the night. What was he busy with then? He spent the last night of his life thinking up great plans for a future he would never see. He resembles Belshazzar who also spent the last night of his life with great parties (Daniel 5:1-4; 30).

So many people resemble him for whom life is one big party, while the day or the night comes that this life is suddenly cut off. God addresses him according to what he is, “fool”, and pronounces His judgment. He has not taken God into account and he has certainly not taken into account that God could quash all his calculations.

And what does the judgment consist of? God does not take away his wealth. He could have done that, but He does not. The fool first spoke of his possessions, and second of his soul. God speaks first of the soul of the fool and then of his possessions. God demands his soul, for in His “hand is the soul of every living thing“ (Job 12:9-10; Daniel 5:23b). The fool did not think of the fear mentioned in Luke 12:5.

God takes away his soul and asks the question: “And [now] who will own what you have prepared?” No answer to that question is given. That answer we must give because that question that comes to us as well. The fool had degraded his soul to nothing but slavery of the body, instead of controlling the body, so that the body would be the servant of the soul and God the Master of both.

To gather treasures for ourselves is the forced labor of one’s own self and of the unbelief that forms reserves. It is living in the dream of being able to enjoy it for a long time to come, a dream that is broken off by the Lord suddenly.

Luke 13:20

Parable of the Rich Fool

The Lord considers this such an important subject that He wants to give clear teaching about it through a parable. The danger of greed is clearly portrayed here. He presents a person who is already very rich. And that wealth is increasing all the time. His land always was very productive.

By the way, to a real Jew, this is a proof of God’s favor because of his faithfulness to God’s law. For it says that God connects His blessing to faithfulness to His law (Deuteronomy 28:1-6). Because of the unfaithfulness of God’s people, however, God no longer acts on the basis of the law with His people. Then it may happen that the faithful person suffers and that the unfaithful person receives blessing. That was the struggle of Asaf who also noticed that (Psalms 73:2-12). Asaf also got to know the solution of this problem. He learned this solution by entering into God’s sanctuary and from there looking at the end of the wicked (Psalms 73:16-20). The Lord Jesus also refers to this end in this parable.

There is extraordinary selfishness and folly in what people call wise policy and insight. This is because they take themselves as the source of wisdom. The rich man reasoned to himself, he does not consult with God. Everything revolves around himself and his own thoughts. This resonates throughout his deliberations. It is always ‘I’ll do this’ and ‘I’ll do that’. This kind of deliberation fits well with people who only live for this life. He wants to gather everything for himself, but he neglects to think of God’s riches. This is his foolishness.

Because he speaks only of “I”, he also speaks of “my barns … my grain and my goods”. Everything is “my”. He will do it all. This complete blindness to the awareness of being a dependent human being is called by James “boast in your arrogance“ (James 4:13-16). The rich fool is full of greed. He believes that all his goods will enable him to complete his program, a program of taking ease, eating, drinking and being merry. This is what the man of the world in general is looking for: richly ease, richly food and drink and richly joys and delights. He has no eye for the future outside this world. The life of this world is everything to him.

It is not the case that the rich fool makes improper use of what he possesses according to human standards. He does not live immorally, but all his actions go no further than satisfying his desire for ever greater abundance. The rich owner repeatedly breaks down his barns and builds larger ones, with the intention of securing all his fruits and expanding his possessions. His thoughts are exclusively and only focused on the present life which, he believes, will always continue like this. Unfortunately, many Christians are the same. They build houses and collect supplies of money as if they will live here for a thousand years.

Then suddenly a voice sounds to him in the middle of the night. What was he busy with then? He spent the last night of his life thinking up great plans for a future he would never see. He resembles Belshazzar who also spent the last night of his life with great parties (Daniel 5:1-4; 30).

So many people resemble him for whom life is one big party, while the day or the night comes that this life is suddenly cut off. God addresses him according to what he is, “fool”, and pronounces His judgment. He has not taken God into account and he has certainly not taken into account that God could quash all his calculations.

And what does the judgment consist of? God does not take away his wealth. He could have done that, but He does not. The fool first spoke of his possessions, and second of his soul. God speaks first of the soul of the fool and then of his possessions. God demands his soul, for in His “hand is the soul of every living thing“ (Job 12:9-10; Daniel 5:23b). The fool did not think of the fear mentioned in Luke 12:5.

God takes away his soul and asks the question: “And [now] who will own what you have prepared?” No answer to that question is given. That answer we must give because that question that comes to us as well. The fool had degraded his soul to nothing but slavery of the body, instead of controlling the body, so that the body would be the servant of the soul and God the Master of both.

To gather treasures for ourselves is the forced labor of one’s own self and of the unbelief that forms reserves. It is living in the dream of being able to enjoy it for a long time to come, a dream that is broken off by the Lord suddenly.

Luke 13:21

Parable of the Rich Fool

The Lord considers this such an important subject that He wants to give clear teaching about it through a parable. The danger of greed is clearly portrayed here. He presents a person who is already very rich. And that wealth is increasing all the time. His land always was very productive.

By the way, to a real Jew, this is a proof of God’s favor because of his faithfulness to God’s law. For it says that God connects His blessing to faithfulness to His law (Deuteronomy 28:1-6). Because of the unfaithfulness of God’s people, however, God no longer acts on the basis of the law with His people. Then it may happen that the faithful person suffers and that the unfaithful person receives blessing. That was the struggle of Asaf who also noticed that (Psalms 73:2-12). Asaf also got to know the solution of this problem. He learned this solution by entering into God’s sanctuary and from there looking at the end of the wicked (Psalms 73:16-20). The Lord Jesus also refers to this end in this parable.

There is extraordinary selfishness and folly in what people call wise policy and insight. This is because they take themselves as the source of wisdom. The rich man reasoned to himself, he does not consult with God. Everything revolves around himself and his own thoughts. This resonates throughout his deliberations. It is always ‘I’ll do this’ and ‘I’ll do that’. This kind of deliberation fits well with people who only live for this life. He wants to gather everything for himself, but he neglects to think of God’s riches. This is his foolishness.

Because he speaks only of “I”, he also speaks of “my barns … my grain and my goods”. Everything is “my”. He will do it all. This complete blindness to the awareness of being a dependent human being is called by James “boast in your arrogance“ (James 4:13-16). The rich fool is full of greed. He believes that all his goods will enable him to complete his program, a program of taking ease, eating, drinking and being merry. This is what the man of the world in general is looking for: richly ease, richly food and drink and richly joys and delights. He has no eye for the future outside this world. The life of this world is everything to him.

It is not the case that the rich fool makes improper use of what he possesses according to human standards. He does not live immorally, but all his actions go no further than satisfying his desire for ever greater abundance. The rich owner repeatedly breaks down his barns and builds larger ones, with the intention of securing all his fruits and expanding his possessions. His thoughts are exclusively and only focused on the present life which, he believes, will always continue like this. Unfortunately, many Christians are the same. They build houses and collect supplies of money as if they will live here for a thousand years.

Then suddenly a voice sounds to him in the middle of the night. What was he busy with then? He spent the last night of his life thinking up great plans for a future he would never see. He resembles Belshazzar who also spent the last night of his life with great parties (Daniel 5:1-4; 30).

So many people resemble him for whom life is one big party, while the day or the night comes that this life is suddenly cut off. God addresses him according to what he is, “fool”, and pronounces His judgment. He has not taken God into account and he has certainly not taken into account that God could quash all his calculations.

And what does the judgment consist of? God does not take away his wealth. He could have done that, but He does not. The fool first spoke of his possessions, and second of his soul. God speaks first of the soul of the fool and then of his possessions. God demands his soul, for in His “hand is the soul of every living thing“ (Job 12:9-10; Daniel 5:23b). The fool did not think of the fear mentioned in Luke 12:5.

God takes away his soul and asks the question: “And [now] who will own what you have prepared?” No answer to that question is given. That answer we must give because that question that comes to us as well. The fool had degraded his soul to nothing but slavery of the body, instead of controlling the body, so that the body would be the servant of the soul and God the Master of both.

To gather treasures for ourselves is the forced labor of one’s own self and of the unbelief that forms reserves. It is living in the dream of being able to enjoy it for a long time to come, a dream that is broken off by the Lord suddenly.

Luke 13:22

Parable of the Rich Fool

The Lord considers this such an important subject that He wants to give clear teaching about it through a parable. The danger of greed is clearly portrayed here. He presents a person who is already very rich. And that wealth is increasing all the time. His land always was very productive.

By the way, to a real Jew, this is a proof of God’s favor because of his faithfulness to God’s law. For it says that God connects His blessing to faithfulness to His law (Deuteronomy 28:1-6). Because of the unfaithfulness of God’s people, however, God no longer acts on the basis of the law with His people. Then it may happen that the faithful person suffers and that the unfaithful person receives blessing. That was the struggle of Asaf who also noticed that (Psalms 73:2-12). Asaf also got to know the solution of this problem. He learned this solution by entering into God’s sanctuary and from there looking at the end of the wicked (Psalms 73:16-20). The Lord Jesus also refers to this end in this parable.

There is extraordinary selfishness and folly in what people call wise policy and insight. This is because they take themselves as the source of wisdom. The rich man reasoned to himself, he does not consult with God. Everything revolves around himself and his own thoughts. This resonates throughout his deliberations. It is always ‘I’ll do this’ and ‘I’ll do that’. This kind of deliberation fits well with people who only live for this life. He wants to gather everything for himself, but he neglects to think of God’s riches. This is his foolishness.

Because he speaks only of “I”, he also speaks of “my barns … my grain and my goods”. Everything is “my”. He will do it all. This complete blindness to the awareness of being a dependent human being is called by James “boast in your arrogance“ (James 4:13-16). The rich fool is full of greed. He believes that all his goods will enable him to complete his program, a program of taking ease, eating, drinking and being merry. This is what the man of the world in general is looking for: richly ease, richly food and drink and richly joys and delights. He has no eye for the future outside this world. The life of this world is everything to him.

It is not the case that the rich fool makes improper use of what he possesses according to human standards. He does not live immorally, but all his actions go no further than satisfying his desire for ever greater abundance. The rich owner repeatedly breaks down his barns and builds larger ones, with the intention of securing all his fruits and expanding his possessions. His thoughts are exclusively and only focused on the present life which, he believes, will always continue like this. Unfortunately, many Christians are the same. They build houses and collect supplies of money as if they will live here for a thousand years.

Then suddenly a voice sounds to him in the middle of the night. What was he busy with then? He spent the last night of his life thinking up great plans for a future he would never see. He resembles Belshazzar who also spent the last night of his life with great parties (Daniel 5:1-4; 30).

So many people resemble him for whom life is one big party, while the day or the night comes that this life is suddenly cut off. God addresses him according to what he is, “fool”, and pronounces His judgment. He has not taken God into account and he has certainly not taken into account that God could quash all his calculations.

And what does the judgment consist of? God does not take away his wealth. He could have done that, but He does not. The fool first spoke of his possessions, and second of his soul. God speaks first of the soul of the fool and then of his possessions. God demands his soul, for in His “hand is the soul of every living thing“ (Job 12:9-10; Daniel 5:23b). The fool did not think of the fear mentioned in Luke 12:5.

God takes away his soul and asks the question: “And [now] who will own what you have prepared?” No answer to that question is given. That answer we must give because that question that comes to us as well. The fool had degraded his soul to nothing but slavery of the body, instead of controlling the body, so that the body would be the servant of the soul and God the Master of both.

To gather treasures for ourselves is the forced labor of one’s own self and of the unbelief that forms reserves. It is living in the dream of being able to enjoy it for a long time to come, a dream that is broken off by the Lord suddenly.

Luke 13:23

Parable of the Rich Fool

The Lord considers this such an important subject that He wants to give clear teaching about it through a parable. The danger of greed is clearly portrayed here. He presents a person who is already very rich. And that wealth is increasing all the time. His land always was very productive.

By the way, to a real Jew, this is a proof of God’s favor because of his faithfulness to God’s law. For it says that God connects His blessing to faithfulness to His law (Deuteronomy 28:1-6). Because of the unfaithfulness of God’s people, however, God no longer acts on the basis of the law with His people. Then it may happen that the faithful person suffers and that the unfaithful person receives blessing. That was the struggle of Asaf who also noticed that (Psalms 73:2-12). Asaf also got to know the solution of this problem. He learned this solution by entering into God’s sanctuary and from there looking at the end of the wicked (Psalms 73:16-20). The Lord Jesus also refers to this end in this parable.

There is extraordinary selfishness and folly in what people call wise policy and insight. This is because they take themselves as the source of wisdom. The rich man reasoned to himself, he does not consult with God. Everything revolves around himself and his own thoughts. This resonates throughout his deliberations. It is always ‘I’ll do this’ and ‘I’ll do that’. This kind of deliberation fits well with people who only live for this life. He wants to gather everything for himself, but he neglects to think of God’s riches. This is his foolishness.

Because he speaks only of “I”, he also speaks of “my barns … my grain and my goods”. Everything is “my”. He will do it all. This complete blindness to the awareness of being a dependent human being is called by James “boast in your arrogance“ (James 4:13-16). The rich fool is full of greed. He believes that all his goods will enable him to complete his program, a program of taking ease, eating, drinking and being merry. This is what the man of the world in general is looking for: richly ease, richly food and drink and richly joys and delights. He has no eye for the future outside this world. The life of this world is everything to him.

It is not the case that the rich fool makes improper use of what he possesses according to human standards. He does not live immorally, but all his actions go no further than satisfying his desire for ever greater abundance. The rich owner repeatedly breaks down his barns and builds larger ones, with the intention of securing all his fruits and expanding his possessions. His thoughts are exclusively and only focused on the present life which, he believes, will always continue like this. Unfortunately, many Christians are the same. They build houses and collect supplies of money as if they will live here for a thousand years.

Then suddenly a voice sounds to him in the middle of the night. What was he busy with then? He spent the last night of his life thinking up great plans for a future he would never see. He resembles Belshazzar who also spent the last night of his life with great parties (Daniel 5:1-4; 30).

So many people resemble him for whom life is one big party, while the day or the night comes that this life is suddenly cut off. God addresses him according to what he is, “fool”, and pronounces His judgment. He has not taken God into account and he has certainly not taken into account that God could quash all his calculations.

And what does the judgment consist of? God does not take away his wealth. He could have done that, but He does not. The fool first spoke of his possessions, and second of his soul. God speaks first of the soul of the fool and then of his possessions. God demands his soul, for in His “hand is the soul of every living thing“ (Job 12:9-10; Daniel 5:23b). The fool did not think of the fear mentioned in Luke 12:5.

God takes away his soul and asks the question: “And [now] who will own what you have prepared?” No answer to that question is given. That answer we must give because that question that comes to us as well. The fool had degraded his soul to nothing but slavery of the body, instead of controlling the body, so that the body would be the servant of the soul and God the Master of both.

To gather treasures for ourselves is the forced labor of one’s own self and of the unbelief that forms reserves. It is living in the dream of being able to enjoy it for a long time to come, a dream that is broken off by the Lord suddenly.

Luke 13:24

Worries

The man who asked the Lord to judge in a case of dividing an inheritance is silent. The Lord has not yet finished speaking. He adds to the parable of the rich fool a penetrating warning or, perhaps better, a great encouragement for His disciples.

With the words “for this reason” He clearly connects to the parable. Whoever is rich in God does not have to worry about earthly things. Life and the body are earthly realities that need maintenance and care, but they need not be objects of excessive care. Disciples are under God’s constant care. Someone to whom the kingdom is promised (Luke 12:32), which means whoever is truly rich in God, need not be greedy or even worried. Our degree of worry depends on the degree of our faith in God.

The Lord gives some examples that they can see in nature. Let them watch the birds in the air and the flowers in the field. The example of the ravens contains a disapproval to be concerned about our food. The lilies say the same with regard to our clothes. As a reason for not being worried, the Lord gives that it is not food and clothing that are the most important things of human existence, but his life and his body.

He points His disciples to the ravens. Do they not notice that God’s condescending care extends even to unclean birds like a raven (Psalms 147:9)? These birds do not have the habit, like the rich fool, of sowing and reaping and of creating storerooms or barns for the harvest. God feeds them, He makes sure they get food from the large garden of His creation. He prepares it for them. Those birds have to search for it themselves, they have to work to get it. The fact is that God has prepared it for them and that they don’t have to do anything about it on that side. Once they have found it, God can even use them to feed His servants (1 Kings 17:6).

Would God care less for His children than for the birds? In addition, being worried does not add anything to his height or his life’s span (cf. Psalms 39:5). There is therefore no point in worrying because that simply does not help in any way to improve the quality or quantity of life.

The Lord calls adding to the life’s span “a very little thing“ a man can do and says that he is not even capable of doing so. This is because man’s life is completely in God’s hand. He determines the size, the length, of it. That is why people should not worry about the rest either, because it is useless effort.

In questions and worries about food supply, the Lord has said that His disciples should pay attention to how the ravens get their food. Then they see how these birds always get their food from God without taking any care. That they don’t have to worry about their clothes either, they can learn from the lilies. With what great beauty God has clothed these flowers. Even Solomon could not match that in all his glory. And what material value do lilies have? They are like grass. Today it is still on the field, but tomorrow it will be used as fuel for the furnace.

If God cares so much for what has such a short existence, will He not care much more for His children? The Lord addresses His disciples at this point as “men of little faith”. This is significant. He knows us through and through and knows how much we worry about our clothes. For us, this is not even about the necessary covering against the cold, but much more about what we look like, whether it looks nice. Not that what we look like, may not play a role, but the wardrobes show that we are afraid that we do not have something suitable for every occasion.

Luke 13:25

Worries

The man who asked the Lord to judge in a case of dividing an inheritance is silent. The Lord has not yet finished speaking. He adds to the parable of the rich fool a penetrating warning or, perhaps better, a great encouragement for His disciples.

With the words “for this reason” He clearly connects to the parable. Whoever is rich in God does not have to worry about earthly things. Life and the body are earthly realities that need maintenance and care, but they need not be objects of excessive care. Disciples are under God’s constant care. Someone to whom the kingdom is promised (Luke 12:32), which means whoever is truly rich in God, need not be greedy or even worried. Our degree of worry depends on the degree of our faith in God.

The Lord gives some examples that they can see in nature. Let them watch the birds in the air and the flowers in the field. The example of the ravens contains a disapproval to be concerned about our food. The lilies say the same with regard to our clothes. As a reason for not being worried, the Lord gives that it is not food and clothing that are the most important things of human existence, but his life and his body.

He points His disciples to the ravens. Do they not notice that God’s condescending care extends even to unclean birds like a raven (Psalms 147:9)? These birds do not have the habit, like the rich fool, of sowing and reaping and of creating storerooms or barns for the harvest. God feeds them, He makes sure they get food from the large garden of His creation. He prepares it for them. Those birds have to search for it themselves, they have to work to get it. The fact is that God has prepared it for them and that they don’t have to do anything about it on that side. Once they have found it, God can even use them to feed His servants (1 Kings 17:6).

Would God care less for His children than for the birds? In addition, being worried does not add anything to his height or his life’s span (cf. Psalms 39:5). There is therefore no point in worrying because that simply does not help in any way to improve the quality or quantity of life.

The Lord calls adding to the life’s span “a very little thing“ a man can do and says that he is not even capable of doing so. This is because man’s life is completely in God’s hand. He determines the size, the length, of it. That is why people should not worry about the rest either, because it is useless effort.

In questions and worries about food supply, the Lord has said that His disciples should pay attention to how the ravens get their food. Then they see how these birds always get their food from God without taking any care. That they don’t have to worry about their clothes either, they can learn from the lilies. With what great beauty God has clothed these flowers. Even Solomon could not match that in all his glory. And what material value do lilies have? They are like grass. Today it is still on the field, but tomorrow it will be used as fuel for the furnace.

If God cares so much for what has such a short existence, will He not care much more for His children? The Lord addresses His disciples at this point as “men of little faith”. This is significant. He knows us through and through and knows how much we worry about our clothes. For us, this is not even about the necessary covering against the cold, but much more about what we look like, whether it looks nice. Not that what we look like, may not play a role, but the wardrobes show that we are afraid that we do not have something suitable for every occasion.

Luke 13:26

Worries

The man who asked the Lord to judge in a case of dividing an inheritance is silent. The Lord has not yet finished speaking. He adds to the parable of the rich fool a penetrating warning or, perhaps better, a great encouragement for His disciples.

With the words “for this reason” He clearly connects to the parable. Whoever is rich in God does not have to worry about earthly things. Life and the body are earthly realities that need maintenance and care, but they need not be objects of excessive care. Disciples are under God’s constant care. Someone to whom the kingdom is promised (Luke 12:32), which means whoever is truly rich in God, need not be greedy or even worried. Our degree of worry depends on the degree of our faith in God.

The Lord gives some examples that they can see in nature. Let them watch the birds in the air and the flowers in the field. The example of the ravens contains a disapproval to be concerned about our food. The lilies say the same with regard to our clothes. As a reason for not being worried, the Lord gives that it is not food and clothing that are the most important things of human existence, but his life and his body.

He points His disciples to the ravens. Do they not notice that God’s condescending care extends even to unclean birds like a raven (Psalms 147:9)? These birds do not have the habit, like the rich fool, of sowing and reaping and of creating storerooms or barns for the harvest. God feeds them, He makes sure they get food from the large garden of His creation. He prepares it for them. Those birds have to search for it themselves, they have to work to get it. The fact is that God has prepared it for them and that they don’t have to do anything about it on that side. Once they have found it, God can even use them to feed His servants (1 Kings 17:6).

Would God care less for His children than for the birds? In addition, being worried does not add anything to his height or his life’s span (cf. Psalms 39:5). There is therefore no point in worrying because that simply does not help in any way to improve the quality or quantity of life.

The Lord calls adding to the life’s span “a very little thing“ a man can do and says that he is not even capable of doing so. This is because man’s life is completely in God’s hand. He determines the size, the length, of it. That is why people should not worry about the rest either, because it is useless effort.

In questions and worries about food supply, the Lord has said that His disciples should pay attention to how the ravens get their food. Then they see how these birds always get their food from God without taking any care. That they don’t have to worry about their clothes either, they can learn from the lilies. With what great beauty God has clothed these flowers. Even Solomon could not match that in all his glory. And what material value do lilies have? They are like grass. Today it is still on the field, but tomorrow it will be used as fuel for the furnace.

If God cares so much for what has such a short existence, will He not care much more for His children? The Lord addresses His disciples at this point as “men of little faith”. This is significant. He knows us through and through and knows how much we worry about our clothes. For us, this is not even about the necessary covering against the cold, but much more about what we look like, whether it looks nice. Not that what we look like, may not play a role, but the wardrobes show that we are afraid that we do not have something suitable for every occasion.

Luke 13:27

Worries

The man who asked the Lord to judge in a case of dividing an inheritance is silent. The Lord has not yet finished speaking. He adds to the parable of the rich fool a penetrating warning or, perhaps better, a great encouragement for His disciples.

With the words “for this reason” He clearly connects to the parable. Whoever is rich in God does not have to worry about earthly things. Life and the body are earthly realities that need maintenance and care, but they need not be objects of excessive care. Disciples are under God’s constant care. Someone to whom the kingdom is promised (Luke 12:32), which means whoever is truly rich in God, need not be greedy or even worried. Our degree of worry depends on the degree of our faith in God.

The Lord gives some examples that they can see in nature. Let them watch the birds in the air and the flowers in the field. The example of the ravens contains a disapproval to be concerned about our food. The lilies say the same with regard to our clothes. As a reason for not being worried, the Lord gives that it is not food and clothing that are the most important things of human existence, but his life and his body.

He points His disciples to the ravens. Do they not notice that God’s condescending care extends even to unclean birds like a raven (Psalms 147:9)? These birds do not have the habit, like the rich fool, of sowing and reaping and of creating storerooms or barns for the harvest. God feeds them, He makes sure they get food from the large garden of His creation. He prepares it for them. Those birds have to search for it themselves, they have to work to get it. The fact is that God has prepared it for them and that they don’t have to do anything about it on that side. Once they have found it, God can even use them to feed His servants (1 Kings 17:6).

Would God care less for His children than for the birds? In addition, being worried does not add anything to his height or his life’s span (cf. Psalms 39:5). There is therefore no point in worrying because that simply does not help in any way to improve the quality or quantity of life.

The Lord calls adding to the life’s span “a very little thing“ a man can do and says that he is not even capable of doing so. This is because man’s life is completely in God’s hand. He determines the size, the length, of it. That is why people should not worry about the rest either, because it is useless effort.

In questions and worries about food supply, the Lord has said that His disciples should pay attention to how the ravens get their food. Then they see how these birds always get their food from God without taking any care. That they don’t have to worry about their clothes either, they can learn from the lilies. With what great beauty God has clothed these flowers. Even Solomon could not match that in all his glory. And what material value do lilies have? They are like grass. Today it is still on the field, but tomorrow it will be used as fuel for the furnace.

If God cares so much for what has such a short existence, will He not care much more for His children? The Lord addresses His disciples at this point as “men of little faith”. This is significant. He knows us through and through and knows how much we worry about our clothes. For us, this is not even about the necessary covering against the cold, but much more about what we look like, whether it looks nice. Not that what we look like, may not play a role, but the wardrobes show that we are afraid that we do not have something suitable for every occasion.

Luke 13:28

Worries

The man who asked the Lord to judge in a case of dividing an inheritance is silent. The Lord has not yet finished speaking. He adds to the parable of the rich fool a penetrating warning or, perhaps better, a great encouragement for His disciples.

With the words “for this reason” He clearly connects to the parable. Whoever is rich in God does not have to worry about earthly things. Life and the body are earthly realities that need maintenance and care, but they need not be objects of excessive care. Disciples are under God’s constant care. Someone to whom the kingdom is promised (Luke 12:32), which means whoever is truly rich in God, need not be greedy or even worried. Our degree of worry depends on the degree of our faith in God.

The Lord gives some examples that they can see in nature. Let them watch the birds in the air and the flowers in the field. The example of the ravens contains a disapproval to be concerned about our food. The lilies say the same with regard to our clothes. As a reason for not being worried, the Lord gives that it is not food and clothing that are the most important things of human existence, but his life and his body.

He points His disciples to the ravens. Do they not notice that God’s condescending care extends even to unclean birds like a raven (Psalms 147:9)? These birds do not have the habit, like the rich fool, of sowing and reaping and of creating storerooms or barns for the harvest. God feeds them, He makes sure they get food from the large garden of His creation. He prepares it for them. Those birds have to search for it themselves, they have to work to get it. The fact is that God has prepared it for them and that they don’t have to do anything about it on that side. Once they have found it, God can even use them to feed His servants (1 Kings 17:6).

Would God care less for His children than for the birds? In addition, being worried does not add anything to his height or his life’s span (cf. Psalms 39:5). There is therefore no point in worrying because that simply does not help in any way to improve the quality or quantity of life.

The Lord calls adding to the life’s span “a very little thing“ a man can do and says that he is not even capable of doing so. This is because man’s life is completely in God’s hand. He determines the size, the length, of it. That is why people should not worry about the rest either, because it is useless effort.

In questions and worries about food supply, the Lord has said that His disciples should pay attention to how the ravens get their food. Then they see how these birds always get their food from God without taking any care. That they don’t have to worry about their clothes either, they can learn from the lilies. With what great beauty God has clothed these flowers. Even Solomon could not match that in all his glory. And what material value do lilies have? They are like grass. Today it is still on the field, but tomorrow it will be used as fuel for the furnace.

If God cares so much for what has such a short existence, will He not care much more for His children? The Lord addresses His disciples at this point as “men of little faith”. This is significant. He knows us through and through and knows how much we worry about our clothes. For us, this is not even about the necessary covering against the cold, but much more about what we look like, whether it looks nice. Not that what we look like, may not play a role, but the wardrobes show that we are afraid that we do not have something suitable for every occasion.

Luke 13:29

Worries

The man who asked the Lord to judge in a case of dividing an inheritance is silent. The Lord has not yet finished speaking. He adds to the parable of the rich fool a penetrating warning or, perhaps better, a great encouragement for His disciples.

With the words “for this reason” He clearly connects to the parable. Whoever is rich in God does not have to worry about earthly things. Life and the body are earthly realities that need maintenance and care, but they need not be objects of excessive care. Disciples are under God’s constant care. Someone to whom the kingdom is promised (Luke 12:32), which means whoever is truly rich in God, need not be greedy or even worried. Our degree of worry depends on the degree of our faith in God.

The Lord gives some examples that they can see in nature. Let them watch the birds in the air and the flowers in the field. The example of the ravens contains a disapproval to be concerned about our food. The lilies say the same with regard to our clothes. As a reason for not being worried, the Lord gives that it is not food and clothing that are the most important things of human existence, but his life and his body.

He points His disciples to the ravens. Do they not notice that God’s condescending care extends even to unclean birds like a raven (Psalms 147:9)? These birds do not have the habit, like the rich fool, of sowing and reaping and of creating storerooms or barns for the harvest. God feeds them, He makes sure they get food from the large garden of His creation. He prepares it for them. Those birds have to search for it themselves, they have to work to get it. The fact is that God has prepared it for them and that they don’t have to do anything about it on that side. Once they have found it, God can even use them to feed His servants (1 Kings 17:6).

Would God care less for His children than for the birds? In addition, being worried does not add anything to his height or his life’s span (cf. Psalms 39:5). There is therefore no point in worrying because that simply does not help in any way to improve the quality or quantity of life.

The Lord calls adding to the life’s span “a very little thing“ a man can do and says that he is not even capable of doing so. This is because man’s life is completely in God’s hand. He determines the size, the length, of it. That is why people should not worry about the rest either, because it is useless effort.

In questions and worries about food supply, the Lord has said that His disciples should pay attention to how the ravens get their food. Then they see how these birds always get their food from God without taking any care. That they don’t have to worry about their clothes either, they can learn from the lilies. With what great beauty God has clothed these flowers. Even Solomon could not match that in all his glory. And what material value do lilies have? They are like grass. Today it is still on the field, but tomorrow it will be used as fuel for the furnace.

If God cares so much for what has such a short existence, will He not care much more for His children? The Lord addresses His disciples at this point as “men of little faith”. This is significant. He knows us through and through and knows how much we worry about our clothes. For us, this is not even about the necessary covering against the cold, but much more about what we look like, whether it looks nice. Not that what we look like, may not play a role, but the wardrobes show that we are afraid that we do not have something suitable for every occasion.

Luke 13:30

Worries

The man who asked the Lord to judge in a case of dividing an inheritance is silent. The Lord has not yet finished speaking. He adds to the parable of the rich fool a penetrating warning or, perhaps better, a great encouragement for His disciples.

With the words “for this reason” He clearly connects to the parable. Whoever is rich in God does not have to worry about earthly things. Life and the body are earthly realities that need maintenance and care, but they need not be objects of excessive care. Disciples are under God’s constant care. Someone to whom the kingdom is promised (Luke 12:32), which means whoever is truly rich in God, need not be greedy or even worried. Our degree of worry depends on the degree of our faith in God.

The Lord gives some examples that they can see in nature. Let them watch the birds in the air and the flowers in the field. The example of the ravens contains a disapproval to be concerned about our food. The lilies say the same with regard to our clothes. As a reason for not being worried, the Lord gives that it is not food and clothing that are the most important things of human existence, but his life and his body.

He points His disciples to the ravens. Do they not notice that God’s condescending care extends even to unclean birds like a raven (Psalms 147:9)? These birds do not have the habit, like the rich fool, of sowing and reaping and of creating storerooms or barns for the harvest. God feeds them, He makes sure they get food from the large garden of His creation. He prepares it for them. Those birds have to search for it themselves, they have to work to get it. The fact is that God has prepared it for them and that they don’t have to do anything about it on that side. Once they have found it, God can even use them to feed His servants (1 Kings 17:6).

Would God care less for His children than for the birds? In addition, being worried does not add anything to his height or his life’s span (cf. Psalms 39:5). There is therefore no point in worrying because that simply does not help in any way to improve the quality or quantity of life.

The Lord calls adding to the life’s span “a very little thing“ a man can do and says that he is not even capable of doing so. This is because man’s life is completely in God’s hand. He determines the size, the length, of it. That is why people should not worry about the rest either, because it is useless effort.

In questions and worries about food supply, the Lord has said that His disciples should pay attention to how the ravens get their food. Then they see how these birds always get their food from God without taking any care. That they don’t have to worry about their clothes either, they can learn from the lilies. With what great beauty God has clothed these flowers. Even Solomon could not match that in all his glory. And what material value do lilies have? They are like grass. Today it is still on the field, but tomorrow it will be used as fuel for the furnace.

If God cares so much for what has such a short existence, will He not care much more for His children? The Lord addresses His disciples at this point as “men of little faith”. This is significant. He knows us through and through and knows how much we worry about our clothes. For us, this is not even about the necessary covering against the cold, but much more about what we look like, whether it looks nice. Not that what we look like, may not play a role, but the wardrobes show that we are afraid that we do not have something suitable for every occasion.

Luke 13:31

The Good Pleasure of the Father

The Lord is concerned that we should not restlessly seek food or drink as if life were made up of them. We do not need keep worrying about that. We can really trust the Father to take care of it. When we worry about food, drinks and clothing, we are nothing better than the world, which is only concerned about them. The disciple, on the other hand, may live in the awareness that “your Father knows”.

Things are needed in the earthly realm, but there are two things the Father gives us. First of all, He gives us what we need every day. He knows about those things. Yet these are not the main gifts. These are the additional gifts. He “adds” them to us. To what? To what He will give us in the second place according to His good pleasure [Darby Translation], namely the kingdom.

The fact that He wants to give us the kingdom does not mean that we can sit with our arms crossed. We are called to seek for it, just like the ravens for whom the food is ready, but they have to seek for it. We must seek for it because the kingdom is not yet public. It is not in the things of this life, but in spiritual realities sought by those who are under God’s authority. To seek his kingdom means to acknowledge and live by His authority over all things in our life.

The Lord knows that the kingdom He calls upon to seek it, is a kingdom to be sought in faith. It is not (yet) public. What is public, is a kingdom ruled by satan, from which they have to expect great resistance, hostility and persecution in their seeking for the kingdom of God. But they do not have to fear a lack of earthly needs.

The Lord encourages His defenseless, little flock of sheep, all of whom are equally dear to Him and His Father, by reminding them of the Father’s good pleasure in giving them the kingdom. He does not promise them a place in the kingdom, but He promises them the kingdom itself. They receive a portion with the Lord Jesus. They get it because they have appreciated the things His heart goes out to. They will get it from the Father because He desires to give it to them.

Here it is no longer about the things the Father knows we need for our life on earth, but about something He gives just because He wants to give it out of His good pleasure. These are things that are connected with heaven, with the glory of the Lord Jesus there. This promise is in the perspective of giving away our possessions. Besides being afraid of persecution, we can also be afraid of giving something away, because then we will have less or even nothing left for ourselves, we think. But if we are heirs to the eternal kingdom, why should we be afraid to give away a few temporary possessions?

After hearing what should not characterize the disciples, we then hear what should characterize them. If the Lord has promised them the whole kingdom, it will have to determine their view of their present possessions. This also applies to us. He says that instead of collecting treasures on earth we should sell our possessions. The proceeds are not purposed to be used to enjoy them for a while without worries, but to give away to those who have nothing.

We may well ask ourselves how we deal with our prosperity. Do we really think of others and give away in the awareness that we will receive the kingdom? Giving away is investing in another treasure, in the heavens. That treasure is perfectly safe for devaluation or theft. It is a treasure that cannot even be calculated, so inexhaustible. Giving away earthly possessions produces the true riches, being rich in God.

Whoever has God the Father and the Lord Jesus as his treasure possesses an inexhaustible treasure. ‘He is not a fool who gives what he can’t keep, to get what he can’t lose’ (Jim Elliot). Our heart is connected to what we really care about. If our treasure is our property, then the automatic consequence is that our heart goes out to it, as with the man who wanted his share of the inheritance and the rich fool who got more and more possessions. If our treasure is the Lord Jesus and the kingdom of God, the automatic consequence is that our heart goes out to Him and God’s kingdom. Let’s live in faith, in the sure confidence that we have an enormous wealth that is not yet seen, but will soon be.

Luke 13:32

The Good Pleasure of the Father

The Lord is concerned that we should not restlessly seek food or drink as if life were made up of them. We do not need keep worrying about that. We can really trust the Father to take care of it. When we worry about food, drinks and clothing, we are nothing better than the world, which is only concerned about them. The disciple, on the other hand, may live in the awareness that “your Father knows”.

Things are needed in the earthly realm, but there are two things the Father gives us. First of all, He gives us what we need every day. He knows about those things. Yet these are not the main gifts. These are the additional gifts. He “adds” them to us. To what? To what He will give us in the second place according to His good pleasure [Darby Translation], namely the kingdom.

The fact that He wants to give us the kingdom does not mean that we can sit with our arms crossed. We are called to seek for it, just like the ravens for whom the food is ready, but they have to seek for it. We must seek for it because the kingdom is not yet public. It is not in the things of this life, but in spiritual realities sought by those who are under God’s authority. To seek his kingdom means to acknowledge and live by His authority over all things in our life.

The Lord knows that the kingdom He calls upon to seek it, is a kingdom to be sought in faith. It is not (yet) public. What is public, is a kingdom ruled by satan, from which they have to expect great resistance, hostility and persecution in their seeking for the kingdom of God. But they do not have to fear a lack of earthly needs.

The Lord encourages His defenseless, little flock of sheep, all of whom are equally dear to Him and His Father, by reminding them of the Father’s good pleasure in giving them the kingdom. He does not promise them a place in the kingdom, but He promises them the kingdom itself. They receive a portion with the Lord Jesus. They get it because they have appreciated the things His heart goes out to. They will get it from the Father because He desires to give it to them.

Here it is no longer about the things the Father knows we need for our life on earth, but about something He gives just because He wants to give it out of His good pleasure. These are things that are connected with heaven, with the glory of the Lord Jesus there. This promise is in the perspective of giving away our possessions. Besides being afraid of persecution, we can also be afraid of giving something away, because then we will have less or even nothing left for ourselves, we think. But if we are heirs to the eternal kingdom, why should we be afraid to give away a few temporary possessions?

After hearing what should not characterize the disciples, we then hear what should characterize them. If the Lord has promised them the whole kingdom, it will have to determine their view of their present possessions. This also applies to us. He says that instead of collecting treasures on earth we should sell our possessions. The proceeds are not purposed to be used to enjoy them for a while without worries, but to give away to those who have nothing.

We may well ask ourselves how we deal with our prosperity. Do we really think of others and give away in the awareness that we will receive the kingdom? Giving away is investing in another treasure, in the heavens. That treasure is perfectly safe for devaluation or theft. It is a treasure that cannot even be calculated, so inexhaustible. Giving away earthly possessions produces the true riches, being rich in God.

Whoever has God the Father and the Lord Jesus as his treasure possesses an inexhaustible treasure. ‘He is not a fool who gives what he can’t keep, to get what he can’t lose’ (Jim Elliot). Our heart is connected to what we really care about. If our treasure is our property, then the automatic consequence is that our heart goes out to it, as with the man who wanted his share of the inheritance and the rich fool who got more and more possessions. If our treasure is the Lord Jesus and the kingdom of God, the automatic consequence is that our heart goes out to Him and God’s kingdom. Let’s live in faith, in the sure confidence that we have an enormous wealth that is not yet seen, but will soon be.

Luke 13:33

The Good Pleasure of the Father

The Lord is concerned that we should not restlessly seek food or drink as if life were made up of them. We do not need keep worrying about that. We can really trust the Father to take care of it. When we worry about food, drinks and clothing, we are nothing better than the world, which is only concerned about them. The disciple, on the other hand, may live in the awareness that “your Father knows”.

Things are needed in the earthly realm, but there are two things the Father gives us. First of all, He gives us what we need every day. He knows about those things. Yet these are not the main gifts. These are the additional gifts. He “adds” them to us. To what? To what He will give us in the second place according to His good pleasure [Darby Translation], namely the kingdom.

The fact that He wants to give us the kingdom does not mean that we can sit with our arms crossed. We are called to seek for it, just like the ravens for whom the food is ready, but they have to seek for it. We must seek for it because the kingdom is not yet public. It is not in the things of this life, but in spiritual realities sought by those who are under God’s authority. To seek his kingdom means to acknowledge and live by His authority over all things in our life.

The Lord knows that the kingdom He calls upon to seek it, is a kingdom to be sought in faith. It is not (yet) public. What is public, is a kingdom ruled by satan, from which they have to expect great resistance, hostility and persecution in their seeking for the kingdom of God. But they do not have to fear a lack of earthly needs.

The Lord encourages His defenseless, little flock of sheep, all of whom are equally dear to Him and His Father, by reminding them of the Father’s good pleasure in giving them the kingdom. He does not promise them a place in the kingdom, but He promises them the kingdom itself. They receive a portion with the Lord Jesus. They get it because they have appreciated the things His heart goes out to. They will get it from the Father because He desires to give it to them.

Here it is no longer about the things the Father knows we need for our life on earth, but about something He gives just because He wants to give it out of His good pleasure. These are things that are connected with heaven, with the glory of the Lord Jesus there. This promise is in the perspective of giving away our possessions. Besides being afraid of persecution, we can also be afraid of giving something away, because then we will have less or even nothing left for ourselves, we think. But if we are heirs to the eternal kingdom, why should we be afraid to give away a few temporary possessions?

After hearing what should not characterize the disciples, we then hear what should characterize them. If the Lord has promised them the whole kingdom, it will have to determine their view of their present possessions. This also applies to us. He says that instead of collecting treasures on earth we should sell our possessions. The proceeds are not purposed to be used to enjoy them for a while without worries, but to give away to those who have nothing.

We may well ask ourselves how we deal with our prosperity. Do we really think of others and give away in the awareness that we will receive the kingdom? Giving away is investing in another treasure, in the heavens. That treasure is perfectly safe for devaluation or theft. It is a treasure that cannot even be calculated, so inexhaustible. Giving away earthly possessions produces the true riches, being rich in God.

Whoever has God the Father and the Lord Jesus as his treasure possesses an inexhaustible treasure. ‘He is not a fool who gives what he can’t keep, to get what he can’t lose’ (Jim Elliot). Our heart is connected to what we really care about. If our treasure is our property, then the automatic consequence is that our heart goes out to it, as with the man who wanted his share of the inheritance and the rich fool who got more and more possessions. If our treasure is the Lord Jesus and the kingdom of God, the automatic consequence is that our heart goes out to Him and God’s kingdom. Let’s live in faith, in the sure confidence that we have an enormous wealth that is not yet seen, but will soon be.

Luke 13:34

The Good Pleasure of the Father

The Lord is concerned that we should not restlessly seek food or drink as if life were made up of them. We do not need keep worrying about that. We can really trust the Father to take care of it. When we worry about food, drinks and clothing, we are nothing better than the world, which is only concerned about them. The disciple, on the other hand, may live in the awareness that “your Father knows”.

Things are needed in the earthly realm, but there are two things the Father gives us. First of all, He gives us what we need every day. He knows about those things. Yet these are not the main gifts. These are the additional gifts. He “adds” them to us. To what? To what He will give us in the second place according to His good pleasure [Darby Translation], namely the kingdom.

The fact that He wants to give us the kingdom does not mean that we can sit with our arms crossed. We are called to seek for it, just like the ravens for whom the food is ready, but they have to seek for it. We must seek for it because the kingdom is not yet public. It is not in the things of this life, but in spiritual realities sought by those who are under God’s authority. To seek his kingdom means to acknowledge and live by His authority over all things in our life.

The Lord knows that the kingdom He calls upon to seek it, is a kingdom to be sought in faith. It is not (yet) public. What is public, is a kingdom ruled by satan, from which they have to expect great resistance, hostility and persecution in their seeking for the kingdom of God. But they do not have to fear a lack of earthly needs.

The Lord encourages His defenseless, little flock of sheep, all of whom are equally dear to Him and His Father, by reminding them of the Father’s good pleasure in giving them the kingdom. He does not promise them a place in the kingdom, but He promises them the kingdom itself. They receive a portion with the Lord Jesus. They get it because they have appreciated the things His heart goes out to. They will get it from the Father because He desires to give it to them.

Here it is no longer about the things the Father knows we need for our life on earth, but about something He gives just because He wants to give it out of His good pleasure. These are things that are connected with heaven, with the glory of the Lord Jesus there. This promise is in the perspective of giving away our possessions. Besides being afraid of persecution, we can also be afraid of giving something away, because then we will have less or even nothing left for ourselves, we think. But if we are heirs to the eternal kingdom, why should we be afraid to give away a few temporary possessions?

After hearing what should not characterize the disciples, we then hear what should characterize them. If the Lord has promised them the whole kingdom, it will have to determine their view of their present possessions. This also applies to us. He says that instead of collecting treasures on earth we should sell our possessions. The proceeds are not purposed to be used to enjoy them for a while without worries, but to give away to those who have nothing.

We may well ask ourselves how we deal with our prosperity. Do we really think of others and give away in the awareness that we will receive the kingdom? Giving away is investing in another treasure, in the heavens. That treasure is perfectly safe for devaluation or theft. It is a treasure that cannot even be calculated, so inexhaustible. Giving away earthly possessions produces the true riches, being rich in God.

Whoever has God the Father and the Lord Jesus as his treasure possesses an inexhaustible treasure. ‘He is not a fool who gives what he can’t keep, to get what he can’t lose’ (Jim Elliot). Our heart is connected to what we really care about. If our treasure is our property, then the automatic consequence is that our heart goes out to it, as with the man who wanted his share of the inheritance and the rich fool who got more and more possessions. If our treasure is the Lord Jesus and the kingdom of God, the automatic consequence is that our heart goes out to Him and God’s kingdom. Let’s live in faith, in the sure confidence that we have an enormous wealth that is not yet seen, but will soon be.

Luke 13:35

The Good Pleasure of the Father

The Lord is concerned that we should not restlessly seek food or drink as if life were made up of them. We do not need keep worrying about that. We can really trust the Father to take care of it. When we worry about food, drinks and clothing, we are nothing better than the world, which is only concerned about them. The disciple, on the other hand, may live in the awareness that “your Father knows”.

Things are needed in the earthly realm, but there are two things the Father gives us. First of all, He gives us what we need every day. He knows about those things. Yet these are not the main gifts. These are the additional gifts. He “adds” them to us. To what? To what He will give us in the second place according to His good pleasure [Darby Translation], namely the kingdom.

The fact that He wants to give us the kingdom does not mean that we can sit with our arms crossed. We are called to seek for it, just like the ravens for whom the food is ready, but they have to seek for it. We must seek for it because the kingdom is not yet public. It is not in the things of this life, but in spiritual realities sought by those who are under God’s authority. To seek his kingdom means to acknowledge and live by His authority over all things in our life.

The Lord knows that the kingdom He calls upon to seek it, is a kingdom to be sought in faith. It is not (yet) public. What is public, is a kingdom ruled by satan, from which they have to expect great resistance, hostility and persecution in their seeking for the kingdom of God. But they do not have to fear a lack of earthly needs.

The Lord encourages His defenseless, little flock of sheep, all of whom are equally dear to Him and His Father, by reminding them of the Father’s good pleasure in giving them the kingdom. He does not promise them a place in the kingdom, but He promises them the kingdom itself. They receive a portion with the Lord Jesus. They get it because they have appreciated the things His heart goes out to. They will get it from the Father because He desires to give it to them.

Here it is no longer about the things the Father knows we need for our life on earth, but about something He gives just because He wants to give it out of His good pleasure. These are things that are connected with heaven, with the glory of the Lord Jesus there. This promise is in the perspective of giving away our possessions. Besides being afraid of persecution, we can also be afraid of giving something away, because then we will have less or even nothing left for ourselves, we think. But if we are heirs to the eternal kingdom, why should we be afraid to give away a few temporary possessions?

After hearing what should not characterize the disciples, we then hear what should characterize them. If the Lord has promised them the whole kingdom, it will have to determine their view of their present possessions. This also applies to us. He says that instead of collecting treasures on earth we should sell our possessions. The proceeds are not purposed to be used to enjoy them for a while without worries, but to give away to those who have nothing.

We may well ask ourselves how we deal with our prosperity. Do we really think of others and give away in the awareness that we will receive the kingdom? Giving away is investing in another treasure, in the heavens. That treasure is perfectly safe for devaluation or theft. It is a treasure that cannot even be calculated, so inexhaustible. Giving away earthly possessions produces the true riches, being rich in God.

Whoever has God the Father and the Lord Jesus as his treasure possesses an inexhaustible treasure. ‘He is not a fool who gives what he can’t keep, to get what he can’t lose’ (Jim Elliot). Our heart is connected to what we really care about. If our treasure is our property, then the automatic consequence is that our heart goes out to it, as with the man who wanted his share of the inheritance and the rich fool who got more and more possessions. If our treasure is the Lord Jesus and the kingdom of God, the automatic consequence is that our heart goes out to Him and God’s kingdom. Let’s live in faith, in the sure confidence that we have an enormous wealth that is not yet seen, but will soon be.