Written ~ 03-15-2024
Read Luke Chapter Eleven
Luke 11
Yesterday our Bible Study was from the tenth chapter of Luke, today I want to go back to the last few verses of chapter ten and look at a brief interaction between Jesus and two sisters, Martha and Mary, to discover a lesson all of us need to learn.
Luke 10:38-42,
38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what He taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Too many times the worry of our day comes before our worship of the Lord. We busy ourselves with schedules that have us frazzled by the end of the day and the result can be a weariness that doesn’t allow us to sit in awe at the feet of Jesus and listen to His voice. Martha was so concerned about making sure everything was flawless, the meal needed to be perfect, the house tidy and well managed – those things may seem ok at first… But what happened was that her busyness kept her distracted from what Jesus wanted her to do. Does your lifestyle keep you so distracted that you don’t have time to read the Word of God or to be still enough to hear the voice of the Lord? Martha was actually getting quite angry with Mary for not getting up and busying herself with the household chores. Look what Martha says to Jesus, “…It’s unfair…tell her to come and help me…” What do you think Martha was expecting Jesus to say, “OK Mary, it’s time for you to get up from listening to Me and go do the dishes or help Martha sweep the floor.” Sounds a little ridiculous when it’s put that way, don’t you think? Instead of asking Mary to stop what she was doing, Jesus’ response was filled with compassion to Martha’s feelings when He said, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” In this passage, it doesn’t say how Martha reacted to Jesus’ response. Did she stop what she was doing and sit at His feet to listen to His voice and worship Him? Or did she turn around in a huff, grumbling that she would have to do everything by herself? How would you react if you were frazzled and frustrated that you had no help and expected a different response from the Lord? Well, I am going to just leave that question right there, let you ponder how you think you would respond.
Anyway, let’s move on to our chapter reading for today, Luke chapter 11…
This chapter starts off with the disciples asking Jesus how to pray, so Jesus gives them a model prayer, it’s known as the Lord’s Prayer. This prayer is also found in Matthew 6:9-13.
Next we see Jesus accused of being “the prince of demons” after He cast a demon out of a man who could not speak. Jesus goes on to explain how a kingdom cannot go on if it is divided. Evil would not cast out evil, no, only a much stronger power would be able to do that (see verses 11:14-28).
In verses 11:33-36 Jesus talks about how light affects our whole body and how “no one would light a lamp and hide it or put it under a basket.”
Also in this chapter we see Jesus criticizing the religious leaders (for a more in depth Bible Study on this subject, please see Matthew chapter 23 from 01/31/2024).
All these things that Jesus says and does is remarkable isn’t it? He knows how to respond to each question, He knows the hearts of those who ask reasonable questions or those who ask questions to try and accuse Him, so He responds in a way that is understandable, but does not bring any kind of condemnation on Himself. The religious leaders were always looking for ways to trap Him. So, we are going to look at verses 11:29-32, this set of verses has Jesus’ response to the pressing requests for Him show “them” miraculous signs.
29 As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, He said, “This evil generation keeps asking Me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of Jonah. 30 What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that He was sent by God.
31 “The queen of Sheba will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen. 32 The people of Nineveh will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.”
If you aren’t familiar with the story of Jonah, take time to read the Old Testament Book of Jonah. In a nutshell, God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh, his mission was to tell the people there that they needed to repent of their sins and turn to God. But, because of how evil and perverted the people of Nineveh were, Jonah said no, he did not want to go, so he ignored the Word of God. Since he would not obey, Jonah was swallowed up by a large fish and remained in the belly of that fish for three days. After he was vomited back on dry ground, Jonah went to Nineveh and through his preaching the people heeded his warnings and repented. Jonah’s story is symbolically linked to the story of Jesus since He would remain in a tomb for three days before rising from the dead.
Jesus is speaking to an “evil generation,” this would be anyone then or even now who refuses to believe and accept who He is. Because of that rebellion and the deep seeded evil in a person’s heart which causes a turning away from the Lord, there will be condemnation for this generation on judgement day. Verse 11:31 says the Queen of Sheba will be there on judgement day to condemn this evil generation (read her story in 1 Kings 10:1-13). Verse 11:32 says the people of Nineveh who were once evil, but have now repented, will also be there on judgement day to condemn the rebellious heart.
When Jesus spoke to the religious leaders (the evil generation), they would have known the stories of Queen Sheba, Solomon and Jonah, so they would know to whom Jesus was comparing Himself.
Jesus said,
“…Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen… Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent…”
After Jesus was done speaking the crowd it says in verses 11:53-54,
53 “As Jesus was leaving, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees became hostile and tried to provoke Him with many questions. 54 They wanted to trap Him into saying something they could use against Him.”
Jesus had said all He needed to say. They weren’t going to listen anyway and they definitely weren’t going to repent. So, He got up and left.
Let’s test our hearts, minds and souls regularly to make sure we do not let that rebellious spirit creep in on us like it had in the hearts of the religious leaders.
You ought to realize by now that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is the Messiah, and He is worthy of our praise and worship, especially if you have been studying the Word of God for any length of time. If doubt or disbelief ever rears its ugly head, repent and turn away from that behavior. Let’s have confidence in our Salvation that we could stand right alongside the Queen of Sheba and the people of Nineveh on judgement day and condemn those who would not listen or repent. We have a message of Salvation! We should preach like Jonah and try to get through to this rebellious generation before it’s too late.
I will forever give all honor, all glory, all praise to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!!
~AMEN~