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Day 234

Luke 19 : 11-27 "DOCTRINES THAT WERE POORLY COMPREHENDED"

Day 234 – Luke 19

Text: Luke 19 : 11-27

DOCTRINES THAT WERE POORLY COMPREHENDED

As we study the Gospel of Luke, we begin to realize that many of the doctrines Jesus taught were not well understood by the multitudes. In fact, it may even be said that there were few things that were well understood. Hence, Luke would take up similar themes in the writing of his Gospel.

Among the things that were not well understood would be the following:-

1. The Doctrine of Discipleship

Few realized that true faith must lead to the practice of that faith in life. One of the finest expressions of true faith in Jesus was discipleship! The calling of people to follow Jesus was not just for the sake of training Disciples to take up leadership positions. It was to demonstrate the practical reality of what it means to have faith in the Lord.

2. The Doctrine of Prayer

The Jews were people trained to pray to God from an early age. Yet for all that, few truly understood the meaning of prayer. Thus Jesus had to teach His Disciples what it really meant to cry out to God in prayer. He gave them a model for praying meaningfully and then went on to demonstrate that there were many more aspects to prayer, through His own personal practice of communing with His Father in prayer!

3. The Doctrine of Sabbath

Another vital doctrine that was not fully understood and appreciated was the Doctrine of the Sabbath. In the days of Jesus, the observance of the Sabbath was no more than the keeping of legalistic rules established and enforced by the Pharisees. The true spirit of the keeping of the Sabbath was all but lost till Jesus championed and practised the true meaning of Sabbath. It was meant to be a day of rest from the labours of life. It was a day set aside for worship of God. It was also a day that should be used for doing good deeds!

4. The Doctrine of Salvation

One of the most vital doctrines that Jesus taught was on salvation. He phrased the idea of salvation in many different ways. This was His way of trying to make it simpler to understand.

One of the ways in which Jesus spoke of salvation was to introduce the concept of “The Kingdom of God”. He compared salvation to entering into the Kingdom of God. However, the multitude somehow failed to understand what Jesus meant.

In today’s reading, Luke described how Jesus had to deal with a problem related to the Kingdom of God. The doctrine of the Kingdom of God understandably had many aspects to it. Unfortunately, there was so much confusion of this doctrine. This time round, the people confused the idea of the Kingdom of God as something that Jesus would soon bring about, as He drew near to Jerusalem. It was important that Jesus spent time to clear up this misunderstanding concerning the Kingdom of God.

“BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THE KINGDOM OF GOD WOULD APPEAR IMMEDIATELY” Luke 19:11

A doctrine usually has many facets of truth attached. Sometimes, these aspects are confused, perhaps because the different aspects are not understood clearly.

1. The Kingdom of God was a special way of introducing the subject of salvation to the multitudes (Cf. Luke 4:43-44; 5:31; 9:11)

a) In this particular sense, Jesus preached that repentance must first be experienced .
b) Confession must be made as well.
c) And of course, the fruit of true repentance must be well evidenced.

2. Belonging to the Kingdom of God was a special privilege that should never be taken for granted.

a) One must be prepared to follow Jesus through Discipleship, or he is not fit for the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:62)

b) The Kingdom of God was near at hand. The Lord Jesus and His Disciples through their preaching and the special powers they displayed well portrayed the majesty and glory of God’s kingdom (Luke 10:9, 11).

c) The multitudes were challenged to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Luke 12:31). They would find that it was the Father’s pleasure to give them His Kingdom in the first place (Luke 12:32).

3. What was the Kingdom of God like? The Kingdom of God as a doctrine was not exhausted when the above was thoroughly expounded. There were many more aspects to the Kingdom of God than most appreciated.

a) When one becomes a member of the Kingdom of God, there must be growth. To this end Jesus spoke the parable of the mustard seed (Luke 13:18,19).
b) When one truly understands the doctrine of the Kingdom of God, its impact begins to make itself felt in other aspects of life, like leaven when mixed with dough. It permeates every aspect of life (Luke 13:20).
c) How does one find the entrance to the Kingdom of God? The entrance is through a “narrow door” (Luke 13:23,24). The path that Jesus trod on, the doctrines that Jesus taught all pointed to the need of having faith in Him as the Messiah-Saviour. This was the “narrow door” that many would reject!

4. When would the Kingdom of God come? This was a question on everyone’s mind, including the unbelieving Pharisees (Cf. Luke 17:20).

a) Jesus in reply said that the Kingdom of God was already among the people. He Himself represented the entrance into the Kingdom of God (Luke 17:21)
b) Jesus knew that the people were really concerned about the eschatological aspect of the Kingdom of God. He referred to the eschatological aspect as “The Day when the Son of Man would be revealed” (Luke 17:30).
c) But would the people really understand the eschatological aspect of the Kingdom of God without fully appreciating the salvation aspect of the Kingdom? How we too must check our understanding of the salvation aspect of the Kingdom of God!