Some thoughts on the warnings of Jesus...

As Christmas approaches, I am looking for a "tie in" to our passages in Luke 12 amongst the many lights on the platform and the props of the manger scene.  Sometimes it is tough when you are surrounded by poinsettias and stuffed sheep.  So let's look at the passage for Sunday, the 9th, and the development of this "mini" sermon of Luke chapter 12 and verses 1 through 3.  It reads,...

v.1 - Meanwhile, a crowd of many thousands came together, so that they were trampling on one another.  He began to say to His disciples first, "Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

v.2 - There is nothing covered that won't be uncovered, nothing hidden that won't be made known.

v.3 - Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops."

We have went from Jesus the baby to being much bigger.  He has started His ministry and the crowds are gathering for His miracles and messages.  The words given here to describe the crowd size (thousands) is the largest number given in the Greek language and then it magnified by an adjective (many).  So we have thousands upon thousands that are surrounding Jesus and so much so that they are stepping upon each other to get a little closer to the Teacher.  Could a picture of this be some of those crowd shots of something like Woodstock?  

Jesus is very popular but His focus doesn't leave those who He is teaching on a deeper level, His disciples, who are students and learners.  Others would hear His words but the ones who were there for Jesus' teaching beyond seeing His next tremendous feat are the ones Jesus zeros in on.  He had just finished a stern talk to the religious leaders (Pharisees) of the day about their hypocrisy and now He says to His disciples, "Don't be like them."  "Don't let their practices (leaven) permeate into your life."

Jesus then uses a common phrase found in Scripture.  The covered will be uncovered and the hidden will be made known.  This phrase can be used in the negative or in the positive.  The negative is used here in relationship to the Pharisees.  The way that they are living in an ungodly way will be uncovered and made known even though great pains and laws have been created to perpetuate the great cover up.

This negative context is magnified in the last verse (3) with the images of dark places and private rooms.  To protect ourselves we will say this under the cover of darkness and then we will go a step further to whisper it right into another's ear and make sure we are in a private room with the door closed.  The measures that are taken to hide the evil are deliberate and intense but will they work?  Jesus says to His disciples an emphatic "No!"  Even though all these steps are taken it will be brought into the light and even proclaimed on the housetops.

This is the warning from Jesus to His disciples about what will happen to the Pharisees and to them if they let the sinful ways of the Pharisees into their lives like the yeast growing that is added to the dough.  Psalm 1:1 gives us some addition instruction on this matter.

How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers!

The Psalm goes to make the resolve in verse 2 of what we should do and gives us the positive side of this phrase given by Jesus.

Instead, his delight is in the LORD's instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.

So back to Christmas and our passage.  Someone has been covered that will be uncovered.   Someone has been hidden that will be made known.  Someone is the Light.  Someone will be proclaimed from the housetops.  Christmas is about the Someone named Jesus.  Our lives should be characterized as those who help others uncover Jesus and also be people who make Him known.  Our Christmas celebrations should be very "heavy" on telling the story not in a whisper in the ear in a private room but from the housetops like the shepherds who after they had visited the manger "returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told."

1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 5 is another example of this phrase with an emphasis on not just the negative but the positive.

So don't judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts.  And then praise will come to each one from God.

We have a "both/and" statement.  Two things are going to happen, a negative and a positive, and both are essential.  We need to have brought to light our sin and the true intentions of our hearts so that repentance, confession, and submission is seen as needed.  The result is the praise of God to us through His Son's salvation provided by the cross.  

Christmastime is one of our times to shout this from the housetops.  May we sing the songs of the Savior's birth from every street corner and well decorated shop.  May our homes don manger scenes and may our Christmas cards contain verses from the Bible about the prophecies of His birth.  May we look for those opportunities to delight in telling others about what we have been meditating on as we prepare for church and family gatherings.  Christmas instruction in Luke 12.

Adam