4 August 2013
I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to Luke 13:10-21
Luke 13:10-21 (NIV)
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,
11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.
12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity."
13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath."
15 The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?
16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"
17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
18 Then Jesus asked, "What is the
19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches."
20 Again he asked, "What shall I compare the
21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."
-- in 1998
wildlife biologists started to get really worried about something they didn't
understand -- you see, there were several ponds in Great Britain that had
healthy frog populations -- they were growing bigger and bigger and everyone
thought everything was going just fine -- but then one day the biologists got a
call from a concerned landowner -- he had gone out to check on the ponds, and
all the frogs were gone -- disappeared -- vanished without a trace
-- the
biologists were perplexed -- they had never seen anything like this happen
before -- and then they got reports of other ponds where frogs had been doing
good -- the populations were growing -- but all of a sudden, there were no more
frogs-- so they started investigating and doing studies to try to find out what might be happening to their frogs -- what was causing the frogs in these ponds to just suddenly disappear?
-- after several years of study, they found the culprit -- it turns out that some people in Britain had visited the United States and really taken a liking to our American bullfrog -- so, when they got back to Britain, they ordered some tadpoles for their kids so their kids could watch the tadpoles grow and change into adult frogs -- eventually, the kids got tired of the frogs and so the family took the frogs and turned them loose in the local pond
-- the only
problem was that these frogs from America were harboring an invisible enemy --
a disease that did not occur naturally in Britain -- so when these bullfrogs
were released at the pond, things went on pretty much like normal for some time
-- it looked like everything was fine -- the frog population was growing -- and
with the addition of these bullfrogs there were more frogs being added to the
pond every day -- the frogs were still going about doing their job of eating
insects and reproducing and calling out to each other every night -- for all
intents and purposes, these were the perfect ponds
-- but
while all of this was going on, their invisible enemy was hard at work -- this exotic
disease was quietly infecting the native frogs -- and one day it struck without
notice, and within two weeks, all the frogs were dead, along with a large
number of other amphibians and fish
-- so why
am I telling you a story about frogs this morning? -- it's because that's
exactly what this passage from Luke is all about -- not frogs, per se -- but
invisible enemies who wreak havoc without warning
-- maybe it
would be easier to understand if I was to take my story about the frogs and change
it into a modern-day parable about the church in
-- there
was once this church that was doing quite well -- it had started a few years
ago with a handful of members, but over time it began attracting new people --
the church started to grow and its membership rolls expanded -- the people in
the church responded to God's call to ministry and were quite active in the
community -- reaching out and serving people and sharing with them the love of
Christ in tangible ways
-- and as
the church continued to impact their community, more and more people were drawn
to join them -- eventually, the church began to fill their sanctuary and it
became obvious that they needed a new place to worship -- and so the church
moved to a bigger building while continuing to minister for the Lord -- again the church grew and grew until it became obvious they needed a new place again -- but this time, as discussions began about building a larger church, disagreements started -- arguments began -- and tempers began to flare
-- people took sides, with some wanting to stay where they were -- with others wanting to move out into the suburbs -- and still others arguing about the size of the new building -- the arguments got worse and worse -- the ministry suffered -- the church could no longer reach out to the community and serve them the way they used to because their attention was divided -- their focus was internal rather than external
--
eventually, the arguments reached the point where people turned on one another
-- and groups left the church in anger, splintering off and vowing to start
another church, a better church -- when these people left, they took their
resources and their support -- the remaining members were not able to pay for
the building they now owned -- they couldn't fund the original ministries and
outreach -- they couldn't pay the salaries of their pastor and his staff -- so
one night at a board meeting, the decision was made to close the church -- and
the next Sunday, a visitor showed up to find the sanctuary empty and a
"For Sale" sign on the front lawn
-- this, in
a nutshell, is the theme of this chapter of Luke -- Luke 13 is a warning to the
church of Christ to be on our guard against the enemies of the church -- not
the enemies outside the church -- but the enemies inside the church -- and
that's what we're going to talk about today
-- but
before I begin, I have to tell you, I struggled with this passage this week --
I just don't understand how it applies to our little church and what we are
about -- I wrestled with God about this all week -- I tried to change the
message -- I tried to go to another passage of Scripture -- but God kept
leading me back to this passage-- and, as His word says, His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways -- so who am I to argue with God?
-- perhaps
He has led us here in preparation -- perhaps He is getting ready to grow our
church, and He wants us to be prepared and to be aware of the dangers in growth
-- I don't know -- so let's turn to the Scriptures now and let's ask Him to
speak to us -- to show us His message -- to give us wisdom and understanding
and insight -- so we might get out of this exactly what it is He wants us to
see and that we might be like the sons of Issachar, that we might understand
the times and know what needs to be done
-- so if
you would, let's pray again -- let's a take a moment before we get into the
meat of this passage just to ask God for guidance [pray]
II. Scripture Lesson (Luke
13:10-21)
-- verse
10-13
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,
11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit
for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity."
13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
-- as Luke
opens up this passage for us, we read that on a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in
one of the many synagogues in Israel -- and I want to stop there to just make a
point -- notice that Luke says it was "a" Sabbath -- it wasn't a
special day -- it wasn't a special time in the Jewish calendar -- there was
nothing to make this particular Sabbath stand out from any other -- it was just
another ordinary Sabbath day, but something extraordinary is about to happen
for one lady in that place
-- what
this tells me is that Jesus shows up in the ordinary -- He makes the ordinary
extraordinary -- what started out as just another Sabbath day out of the 18
years of ordinary Sabbath days this woman had experienced since the onset of
her affliction would be the day her life was changed-- God can do the same in our lives, too -- He doesn't wait for special occasions -- for dates on the calendar -- for anniversaries of special events -- God shows up in the midst of an ordinary day and changes lives forever -- how did you approach this morning? -- as just another Sunday or as the day Jesus might show up?
-- we read
this woman had been afflicted with a crippling spirit for eighteen years --
from the text we are led to understand this was a supernatural condition --
this woman had been afflicted by an evil spirit and had been unable to stand up
straight for eighteen years -- she was bound by Satan -- not all sicknesses and
not all ailments are caused by evil spirits, but this passage reminds us that
some can be -- especially sickness in the body of Christ
-- as Jesus
was teaching, He saw this woman -- He saw her need -- and He called her to Him
-- He laid His hands on her and proclaimed, "Woman, you are set free"
-- the King James version says, "Woman, thou art loosed" -- this is
another indication this was a supernatural affliction and not merely a physical
ailment -- Jesus didn't speak healing to this woman -- He set her free from
satanic bondage-- as she was freed from this afflicting spirit and found herself able to stand for the first time in eighteen years, the woman raised up and praised God for her deliverance
-- can you imagine the commotion in that place? -- a miracle has just been wrought in their presence -- Satan's chains had been broken and he had been cast out -- I'm sure all were excited and amazed at what had just happened -- well, at least most of them were
-- verse 14
14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the
synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come
and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath."
-- you
would have expected the synagogue leader to be excited about a miracle of God
occurring in the midst of just another ordinary Sabbath day -- but instead, we
read the synagogue owner was indignant -- angry -- displeased -- at what just
happened
-- instead
of rejoicing with this woman and praising God with the others, the synagogue
ruler stands up and says, "Don't come for a healing on the Sabbath --
that's not why we're here -- you've got six other days -- come on one of those
if you want to be healed"-- you know what the problem was? -- this miracle wasn't on the bulletin -- it messed up the order of service -- and he was probably worried that others were going to come up and ask Jesus to heal them, too, and that would just make things even worse -- "you can't do that -- we don't have that on the schedule for this morning -- you'll make us late for Sunday dinner at the restaurant"
-- what's more important? -- freeing a woman from a spiritual affliction or making sure you follow the rules and regulations of the Sabbath worship at the synagogue? -- Jesus didn't follow the rules, and that made the synagogue ruler angry
-- what if this woman had come back the next day to be healed? -- would this synagogue ruler have been able to heal her? -- the text leads us to understand she had been coming to worship at the synagogue for the past eighteen years and she hadn't been healed in all that time -- why rebuke her for coming to Jesus in the moment of her need?
-- the point is obvious here -- people -- even church people -- are often opposed to good being done because it is not done in their way and in their timing and because they don't get the credit
-- look at
how Jesus responded -- verse 15-17
15 The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?
16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"
17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
-- Jesus
called them hypocrites -- people who say one thing and do another -- people who
profess to be Christians and then oppose the work of Christ -- they were
considering the trappings of religion -- their forms and tradition and laws --
more important than the needs of the people -- they were burdening the people
with rules and laws and were binding them just as securely as Satan had bound
this woman
-- they had
rules to allow people to take care of animals on the Sabbath without that being
a breaking of the law, but they complained when God's chosen people were healed
on the Sabbath -- what was more important? -- what was the purpose of the
church in the first place if not to meet the needs of the people? -- Jesus'
point is obvious -- the church is to be a hospital for the saints -- not a
court of judgment or a prison of rules-- I think it's telling that Luke says Jesus' opponents were humiliated -- Jesus was "opposed" -- there were those within the church and religious structure who actively fought against Jesus and His ministry -- who took a stand against what He was doing and what He was saying
-- this is a danger inherent in the church -- we are warned about this throughout Scripture -- not everyone who sits in the pews is a believer -- our pews are sometimes filled with pretenders -- with those who oppose the true work of God
-- we have to be on our guard against there are those who are more concerned about propriety and authority and power -- who put more stock in religion and the form of religion than on seeing God move in their midst through physical and spiritual healing
-- as the old saying goes, "not all that glitters is gold," and not all who proclaim the name of Christ are Christians
-- let me give you a principle that I have tried to follow since I was called into pastoral ministry -- always err on the side of Jesus -- put Jesus above any rule or law or tradition that man has put in place
-- vs.
18-21
18 Then Jesus asked, "What
is the kingdom of
God
19 It is like a
mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a
tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches." 20 Again he asked, "What shall I compare the
21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."
--
immediately after Jesus' rebuke of the synagogue ruler and those who stood in
opposition to His ministry and His message, Jesus gave two parables
-- these
are very familiar parables -- you've heard them before -- but know this -- these
parables are usually given out of context, which leads to an erroneous understanding
of what Jesus was actually saying when He shared these parables in the
synagogue that day-- as Dave Guzik points out, "the standard interpretation of these parables is that they describe the growth and spreading influence of the church" -- that's how we know these parables -- that's the way they have been taught to us
-- but think about the context of these parables -- don't look at them alone -- look at them in the context and setting in which they were given
-- what
just happened? -- Jesus has freed a woman from a spiritual affliction and been
rebuked by the leaders of the synagogue for healing on the Sabbath
-- Jesus
immediately turns to them and proclaims them hypocrites -- liars -- people who
were opposed to God's work -- who were in the church but not of the church --
who proclaimed to be representing God but who actively were opposing God -- and
then He gives these two parables-- looking at these parables in that setting and in that context and knowing they were given as an indictment against these hypocritical leaders in the church, you have to understand these parables are not about the growth and spreading influence of the church but instead about the corruption of the church by false religion and by an unseen evil within
-- Jesus is warning the people, and us, to be on our guard against those who proclaim to be Christians on one hand while actively opposing His work and promoting their own interests on the other hand and He is warning us to be careful we don't do the same
-- so let's look at these parables in that light and with that understanding
Parable of the Mustard Seed
-- the
first parable is the parable of the mustard seed -- look back at verse 19
19 It is like a
mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a
tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches."
-- now as I
was preparing for this message, I read a lot of commentaries -- I read a lot of
sermons -- and I've got tell you something -- every single one of them was
wrong
-- these
commentaries like to tell you that the mustard seed is the smallest seed in the
garden, which is true -- and then they tell you that this plant grows so large
that birds roost in its branches -- this represents the kingdom of God, they
say -- it starts off small like a mustard seed and grows so big that birds can
roost on its branches-- I grew up farming -- we used to grow mustard -- and mustard plants do not grow into trees, despite what the commentaries tell you and despite what you might have heard from other preachers -- mustard plants do not grow big enough for birds to roost in their branches
-- this is an unnatural plant -- a plant that has grown into something it should not be -- this is not a parable about God's kingdom growing bigger and bigger, but a parable about what happens when hypocrites take root in the kingdom -- it's a parable about how evil corrupts and expands even within the church
-- another
point about this -- think about the birds that Jesus says roosts in the
branches of this unnatural plant -- when birds are mentioned in Scripture, they
are generally symbolic of evil -- they are representatives of Satan's activity
-- think of the birds who took the seed sown by the farmer in Jesus' other
parable -- Jesus said the birds were the evil one who took away the word of God
from the people who desired it
-- He also
points out these are the birds of the air -- in Ephesians 2:2, we are told that
Satan is the prince of the power of the air -- these are unnatural birds on an
unnatural plant -- as Adrian Rogers said, "these are Satan's dirty
birds"-- what Jesus is describing here is what happens when evil goes unchecked in the house of God -- it becomes a roosting place for evil
Parable of the Yeast
-- let's
look at the next parable -- the parable of the yeast -- verse 20-21
20 Again he asked,
"What shall I compare the kingdom
of God
21 It is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all
through the dough."
-- we find yeast
referred to 98 times in the Bible, and every time it is used, it represents sin
or evil -- I find it hard to believe that in this case, Jesus is using yeast in
a good way to represent His desire for the church -- I believe He is using
yeast to symbolize evil just as it is used the other 97 times throughout scripture
-- along
those lines, Jesus makes the point that it is a woman who took the yeast and
put it in the dough -- many times in scripture we see false religion portrayed
as a woman -- as some commentators have pointed out, the feminine in Hebrew
writing is used to symbolize false religion or false prophets -- and we see
Jezebel named in Revelation 2:20 as a false prophetess
-- this is
not a parable about God's word permeating all of the culture but a parable
warning against the yeast of sin and evil -- the yeast of the Pharisees and
hypocrites -- the yeast of false religion -- permeating the kingdom of God-- just because someone is in the church doesn't mean they have God's interests in mind -- just because someone claims the name of Christ doesn't mean they are Christians -- and just like one bad apple spoils a barrel, one bad Christian spoils a church
-- we have
to be on our guard against those who oppose Jesus, just as the synagogue ruler
did -- we have to be on our guard against those who actively work to halt
Jesus' ministry and the Kingdom of God through their rules and their action (or
inaction)
-- Jesus'
point here is that if we don't root out the evil and false religion in our
midst, it will grow and influence the whole church, much as the synagogue ruler
was doing in this location
III. Closing
-- Jesus
knew what He was talking about -- not only because He was God -- but because
was experiencing it in His own ministry -- think about Jesus' first followers
-- the twelve disciples -- those He named His apostles -- out of the twelve,
one was not real -- out of the twelve, one was a hidden evil -- out of the
twelve, one would betray Him to the Jewish leaders-- Jesus' point throughout this whole passage -- actually all of Chapter 13 -- is that there are those in the church who are not of God -- people who claim to know Him, but who do not -- people who are motivated by religion and religious rules rather than Christian love
-- I read a
story one time about a seminary class studying the story of the good Samaritan
-- at the end of the class, they were supposed to give an oral presentation
about what they learned that would count for over 50% of their grade for the
course
-- each
student was given an appointment to come and present their report to the
professor -- but what they didn't know was the whole thing was a set up --
outside the building where they students were supposed to go, the professor
hired an actor to sit in a doorway in an adjacent alley and moan and cough as
they passed by -- he wanted to see how the students would respond -- would they
stop to help the man, even though they would miss their appointment and
potentially fail the class, or would they continue on to their appointment?-- over half of the students hurried past the man without stopping to help -- several had to literally step over him in order to get into the building -- and these were seminary students who had been studying Jesus' command to minister to our neighbors in need
-- any of
us can become hindrances to God's ministry in the same way if we are not
careful -- any of us can become so self-concerned we lose our concern for
others -- any of us can become the yeast that permeates the dough
-- as Jesus
pointed out to His listeners in the synagogue that day, we must always be on
our guard against the evil within -- but, at the same time, we must always stop
and check our own motives -- we have to ask ourselves if we are allowing
ourselves to be used by Satan to stop the work of Christ
-- this
passage forces us to ask and answer some important questions:
-- do we
really know Jesus ourselves?-- are we working for the kingdom or against it?
-- do we support God or do we oppose God?
-- are we concerned for the needs of others or would we let "religion" get in the way?
-- I don't
know why God gave us this message today -- I don't know where He is leading us
-- but we need to hear His word and we need to act on His word and we need to
ask for His wisdom and guidance as we seek to be His church in this place
-- let us
pray
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