Tag Archives: Luke

Luke 17:7-10: The Unworthy Servant

Calvinism, Church Bulletin, Doctrine, Luke, Salvation, ,

Truth comes in all sizes in Scripture. Some truths are pleasant and enjoyable while others are terrifying. It is true that the righteous will live eternally in heaven; that is a pleasant truth. Likewise, eternal damnation is a truth most horrifying. Consider the truth of Luke 17:7-10:

“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’?  Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?  So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”

Even on our best day, when we have done as commanded, we are unworthy. Let us unpack this short passage and draw out the lessons.

There is a difference between the master and the servants. The servants do the work given them by the master. Here, they tend fields and flocks, they serve the master and standby while he eats and drinks. Only then do they enjoy their meal.

The Christian has a marvelous relationship with Jesus. He calls us brothers (Hebrews 2:11) and friends (John 15:15). But he also asserts authority over us. Jesus is our instructor (Matthew 23:10). A prudent man will always remember his place before the Lord.

Next, there are commands to be obeyed. It is remarkable that some today affirm salvation apart from any obedience. The Bible has examples of both obedience and disobedience coupled with the requisite curses and blessings. Adam and Eve disobeyed and were cursed. Noah was blessed because he did as instructed. Jesus says “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:14). In our text, the servants are expected to obey commandments. Today, you and I must be obedient. We do not decide what is right or wrong. We obey.

The last sentence is the one that is most sobering: “We are unworthy servants.” Even after completing everything commanded by the master, we remain unworthy. We have earned nothing more. There are no promotions, no accolades. We are not worthy. We only did our job. This passage is a death knell to those who believe in earning salvation. We cannot. It was always the sweet grace of the Lord that brought salvation.

But obedience is required. The passage assumes we have “done all that you were commanded.” Christians are to obey their master (Acts 5:29, 32; Romans 6:16; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Hebrews 5:9,  et al). Within the many verses teaching obedience are those passages which specifically note that we “obey the gospel.” How curious! The pendulum wildly swings from those that earn salvation to those that do nothing (except giving mental assent of Jesus) for salvation. The truth lies in the middle. We cannot craft our path to salvation. But we can follow or obey the path set before us. Those who deny the necessity of obedience should carefully consider 1 Thessalonians 1:8 and the warning that Jesus will take vengeance on those who “do not obey the gospel.”

Out of God’s immense love for me, I can be saved. My Lord has handed me the route through the fires of life to the glories of heaven. A million lifetimes could never discover the way of truth. But now, revealed in Holy Writ, I have a path to follow. I will be saved by obeying the gospel!

 

3 Lessons from Fish

Church Bulletin, Evangelism, Luke, ,

BD-fishermenPeter, James and John fished for a living. They knew when to fish and where to fish but on this day the fish were not cooperating. When Jesus tells them to let down the nets they reply that they have worked all night and caught nothing. But, at Jesus’ words, they dropped the nets and caught so many fish their nets began to break. Peter is overwhelmed at the presence of the Lord and falls at his feet. The Lord tells them that from now on, they will be catching men, not fish (Luke 5:1-11). Consider these three thoughts:

Man’s Work is Futile

Peter, James and John toiled all night for nothing. Not a fish was caught. Certainly they were doing their best and using the best techniques they knew. Their lives and the lives of their family depended upon their work. Yet, they came up empty handed.

When we depend on our own knowledge and abilities in evangelism, we will also come up short. Man does not have the ability to save souls. We create programs and ministries and we design training programs to teach people how to spread the gospel. In some places even the very worship of God has been changed so as to draw more into the kingdom of Christ yet we are failing to change lives. Apart from Jesus, Peter, James and John caught no fish. And apart from Jesus we will save no souls.

The Fish May Not Be Where You Expect Them to Be

The Bible says the fishers were “astonished” at the catch (Luke 5:9). I wonder if they had fished in the same spot before or if they had overlooked it. In any case, they were stunned at the unexpected results.

Sometimes, people who need and desire the gospel are not where we expect them to be. Sometimes they do not look like us and do not talk like us. They may even have some rough edges on them. How many times have we failed to evangelize because a neighbor seemed uninterested or because a neighborhood seemed a little tough?

We must not filter out prospects for the gospel. Our job is to teach (Matthew 28:18-19) and God’s job is to save.

It is the Lord Who Gives the Increase

Jesus is the sole path to God (John 14:6). He alone is the “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). From Luke 5:3 that Jesus was in the boat with the fishermen. He was there when the net-breaking catch was hauled aboard. The men did nothing different than what they had been doing all night. But with Jesus onboard everything was different.

Paul supports our thinking here in 1 Corinthians 2:1-2:

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

Paul had little interest in evangelism based upon the wisdom of the world. He simply preached Jesus and him crucified. When we labor in the way God desires, he will give the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

There are great lessons in this short story from the banks of the Galilee. Trust God and he will bless us with a great bounty for the kingdom. Our nets (buildings) will be filled to overflowing with a multitude of fish (people) if we will trust Jesus!

 Bryant Evans may be reached at bryant at bryantevans.com. You can follow Bryant on Twitter @jbevans.

Who Is Theophilus?

Acts, Bible General, Luke, ,

So who is Theophilus in the book of Acts? The identity of Theophilus is a mystery to Bible students. The name appears only two times in Scripture and both times in the writings of Luke (Luke 1:3, Acts 1:1). It is uncertain what role in the early church he played but he is noteworthy in the thinking of Luke for he directs both the Gospel account and the Acts account to Theophilus.

Various suggestions have been offered as to the identity of Theophilus. It is suggested that he is an actual person, perhaps a patron, of Luke and his work. Some have wondered if Luke was commissioned by Theophilus to prepare a record of both Jesus and the beginnings of the church that bears Christ’s name (Romans 16:16). Cadbury notes that Theophilus was a common name for Jews and dates to at least the third century BC. ((via Pöllmann in Balz, H. R., & Schneider, G. (1990-). Exegetical dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans.)) So it is unlikely we can determine much from the name itself.

There was a Jewish High Priest named Theophilus who served from 37-41 AD. He was the son of Annas and the brother-in-law of Caiaphas before whom Jesus was tried.  The date of service was likely completed before Luke’s writings and therefore he probably should be discounted as the intended recipient.

Another High Priest named Mattathias ben Theophilus served from 65-66 AD and was overthrown in the time immediately before the destruction of Jerusalem. In his case, Theophilus is actually the name of his father, the aforementioned priest. His service also appears to come too late to have been the recipient.

Theophilus may have been a name given to the earliest believers in Jesus. The name is actually a joining of two Greek words, theos and phileo, which mean God and love respectively. Thus the combination would be Theophilus or “lover of God.” If this is true it could refer to either an individual or a group of people who loved God.

This seems an unsatisfactory conclusion for such naming conventions are generally foreign to the New Testament. But perhaps even more difficult is the context of Luke 1:3 where the reference is to “most excellent Theophilus.”  In every other New Testament usage, the phrase, excellent or most excellent, is used toward an individual. ((Claudius Lysias to Felix (Acts 23:26, Tertullius to Felix (Acts 24:2) and Paul to Festus (Acts 26:5) )).

Bock ((Darrell L. Bock, Luke, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, vol. 1 (Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI), pg. 64)) suggests that Theophilus was actually a Gentile. He reasons that his apparent high station in life and the degree to which Luke defends the Gentile mentioned in Acts suggest that he was not Jewish. As with other suggestions, it is little more than speculation.

In the end, almost all we can say about Theophilus is skillful speculation. But we do know  that Theophilus was at least curious about Jesus and his followers. It would seem unlikely that Luke would address two manuscripts to Theophilus if there were not some interest. We may perhaps add that Theophilus was probably not hostile to the gospel message. At least for that, Theophilus could be commended.

Who is Theophilus? He was an individual interested in the gospel. His importance lies in the fact that he was the original recipient of two magnificent pieces of inspired literature. How poor would we be without Luke and Acts!