Tag: Expository Thoughts on Luke by J.C. Ryle

There are five remarkable points in these verses which deserve the attention of all who wish to be well-instructed Christians. Let us take each of the five in order.

We should observe, in the first place, the one instance on record of our Lord Jesus Christ rejoicing. We read, that in that hour ”Jesus rejoiced in spirit.” Three times we are told in the Gospels that our Lord Jesus Christ wept. Once only we are told that He rejoiced.

And what was the cause of our Lord’s joy? It was the conversion of souls. It was the reception of the Gospel by the weak and lowly among the Jews, when the “wise and prudent” on every side were rejecting it. Our blessed Lord no doubt saw much in this world to grieve Him. He saw the obstinate blindness and unbelief of the vast majority of those among whom He ministered. But when He saw a few poor men and women receiving the glad tidings of salvation, even His heart was refreshed. He saw it and was glad.

We learn, from this passage, how ready Christians are to be puffed up with success. It is written, that the seventy returned from their first mission with joy, “saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.” There was much false fire in that joy. There was evidently self-satisfaction in that report of achievements. The whole tenor of the passage leads us to this conclusion. The remarkable expression which our Lord uses about Satan’s fall from heaven, was most probably meant to be a caution. He read the hearts of the young and inexperienced soldiers before Him. He saw how much they were lifted up by their first victory. He wisely checks them in their undue exultation. He warns there against pride.

These verses comprise the second part of our Lord Jesus Christ’s charge to the seventy disciples. Its lessons, like those of the first part, have a special reference to ministers and teachers of the Gospel. But they contain truths which deserve the serious attention of all members of the Church of Christ.

The first point we should notice in these verses is the simplicity of the tidings which our Lord commanded some of His first messengers to proclaim. We read that they were commissioned to say, “The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.”

The verses before us relate a circumstance which is not recorded by any Gospel writer except Luke. That circumstance is our Lord’s appointment of seventy disciples to go before Him, in addition to the twelve apostles. We do not know the names of any of these disciples. Their subsequent history has not been revealed to us. But the instructions with which they are sent forth are deeply interesting, and deserve the close attention of all ministers and teachers of the Gospel.

The first point in our Lord’s charge to the seventy disciples is the importance of prayer and intercession. This is the leading thought with which our Lord opens His address. Before He tells His ambassadors what to do, He first bids them to pray. “Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth labourers into His harvest.”

The passage of Scripture we have just read is a very remarkable one. It contains three short sayings of peculiar solemnity, addressed by our Lord Jesus Christ to three different persons. We know nothing of the names of those persons. We know nothing of the effect which our Lord’s words produced upon them. But we need not doubt that each was addressed in the way which his character required, and we may be sure that the passage is specially intended to promote self-inquiry.

The first of these sayings was addressed to one who offered to be a disciple unconditionally, and of his own accord. “Lord,” said this man, “I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.”–That offer sounded well. It was a step in advance of many. Thousands of people heard our Lord’s sermons who never thought of saying what this man said. Yet he who made this offer was evidently speaking without thought. He had never considered what belonged to discipleship. He had never counted the cost. And hence he needed the grave reply which his offer called forth:–“Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head.”–He must weigh well what he was taking in hand. He must not suppose that Christ’s service was all pleasure and smooth sailing. Was he prepared for this? Was he ready to “endure hardness?” (2 Tim. 2:3) If not, he had better withdraw his application to be a disciple.

Let us notice in these verses, the steady determination with which our Lord Jesus Christ regarded His own crucifixion and death. We read that “when the time was come that He should be received up, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” He knew full well what was before Him. The betrayal, the unjust trial, the mockery, the scourging, the crown of thorns, the spitting, the nails, the spear, the agony on the cross,–all, all were doubtless spread before His mind’s eye, like a picture. But He never flinched for a moment from the work that He had undertaken. His heart was set on paying the price of our redemption, and going even to the prison of the grave, as our surety. He was full of tender love towards sinners. It was the desire of His whole soul to procure for them salvation. And so, “for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame.” (Heb. 12:2)

The verses we have now read contain two most important warnings. They are directed against two of the commonest evils which are to be found in the Church of Christ. He who gave them knew well what was in the heart of man. Well would it have been for the Church of Christ, if His words in this passage had received more attention!

In the first place, the Lord Jesus gives us a warning against pride and self-conceit. We are told that “there arose a reasoning among the disciples which of them should be the greatest.” Astonishing as it may seem, this little company of fishermen and publicans was not beyond the plague of a self-seeking and ambitious spirit. Filled with the vain notion that our Lord’s kingdom was to appear immediately, they were ready to wrangle about their place and precedency in it. Each thought his own claim the strongest. Each thought his own deserts and right to honour most unquestionable. Each thought that, whatever place was assigned to his brethren, a principal place ought to be assigned to himself. And all this happened in the company of Christ Himself, and under the noon-tide blaze of His teaching. Such is the heart of man!

The event described in these verses took place immediately after the transfiguration. The Lord Jesus, we should remark, did not tarry long on the Mount of Olives. His communion with Moses and Elias was very short. He soon returned to His accustomed work of doing good to a sin-stricken world. In His life on earth, to receive honour and have visions of glory was the exception. To minister to others, to heal all who were oppressed by the devil, to do acts of mercy to sinners, was the rule. Happy are those Christians who have learned of Jesus to live for others more than for themselves, and who understand that it is “more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)

The event described in these verses, commonly called “the transfiguration,” is one of the most remarkable in the history of our Lord’s earthly ministry. It is one of those passages which we should always read with peculiar thankfulness. It lifts a corner of the veil which hangs over the world to come, and throws light on some of the deepest truths of our religion.

In the first place, this passage shows us something of the glory which Christ will have at His second coming. We read that “the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistering,” and that the disciples who were with Him “saw His glory.”

These words of our Lord Jesus Christ contain three great lessons for all Christians. They apply to all ranks and classes without exception. They are intended for every age and time, and for every branch of the visible church.

We learn, for one thing, the absolute necessity of daily self-denial. We ought every day to crucify the flesh, to overcome the world, and to resist the devil. We ought to keep under our bodies, and bring them into subjection. We ought to be on our guard, like soldiers in an enemy’s country. We ought to fight a daily battle, and war a daily warfare. The command of our Master is clear and plain: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”