Chapter 12
2022 - Last year and this I was reading the OT/NT combination reading plan, and in this plan, 12 comes right after 11. So, forgetting the chronological Bible for now, Chapter 11 ended with the Pharisees and scribes intensifying their "entrapment" plans. They are hunting him as they would an animal, their only purpose being to harm him, discredit him, kill him if at all possible. So this year, let's look at Luke 12 against that background.
Luke 10 was yesterday. We skip over 11 since it was covered almost two full weeks ago. It was a full chapter. This seems to be about harmony with the chronology and not about anything else. It starts this way:
1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. [Luk 12:1 ESV] This was a lot of people trying to get to Jesus. But how many just wanted healing or help instead of life. Miracles instead of insight? 2020 - These people seemed interested in Jesus, but they were really only interested in what they might get from him. A free meal was probably quite high on their lists. At least some free food...
As this is going on, he tells his disciples to beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Jesus didn't like hypocrisy either. He warned that everything was going to be revealed some day, as if shouted right out loud. 2020 - Jesus is again stressing that it is our hearts he is interested in. He doesn't care if you follow him all the way to Jerusalem and into Pilate's judgement hall, if you just do so because you are curious, just to cover all your bases, just because you don't want to miss something "historically important". And he knows that when you are sitting around with friends, that is how you describe him. This will come out. Our true position on Christ will be revealed by the evidence of our own mouths. By the contradictions between what we say and what we do.
2023 - Thinking about hypocrisy as the leaven of the Pharisees. Leaven makes the dough rise. Perhaps this is one of the ways that we can "test" our religious leaders and know whether they are genuine. If they teach us to do one thing while they do another, if they apply one set of rules to themselves (or no rules at all) and a different set of rules to us, that is leaven. That is the small but significant part of the recipe that makes them what they are. Further, it is quite obvious if the dough has been leavened. In the same way, the presence of hypocrisy will be obvious. We ought to be able to easily spot this, even from a distance. A good test to remember!
2022 - Vss 1-3 are about hypocrisy. The Pharisees reek of hypocrisy, but it is not confined to them. Note this wording; "...he began to say to his disciples first...". Jesus seems to be "sorting out" his disciples. He is letting those closest to him know that he knows some of them are insincere, they are hypocrites, and some are probably spies for the Pharisees. Jesus knows which is which and is letting them know they are not fooling anyone. I think that is the main thought here. There is certainly an allusion here to a judgment - there is a picture of an accused standing before his accusers and all his thoughts, his words, his deeds being read out for everyone to hear. I think that scene is a part of this, without this being about bema or sheep and goat. This connects back to 11, and the Pharisees, and is Jesus putting his followers on notice that the truth of their commitment will be exposed...so be sure about yourself.
2024 - These verses:
2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. [Luk 12:2-3 ESV]. I have heard this used very many times about final judgment, to say that all our sins of all kinds, however secret, will be revealed. In context though, there is no mention of judgment. Because look where we go in verse 4...Don't be afraid of those with earthly power who might, or who certainly will, find out that you are a follower of Jesus and put you to death on that account. Fear God more than you fear any man, because man can kill you, but God can send you to hell. Surely this applies to the mark at the end of time, and to a lesser extent the persecution that would follow Jesus' ascension. Then vs 8 talks about an earthly trial where we can deny and live or profess and die, on earth, at the hands of men. But at the judgment, LATER, Jesus will speak for those who die for their open belief in him. And surely 11 leaves no further doubt. This was a warning of what was to come to the ones Jesus was addressing, and of any people in any time who faced severe persecution. Speak in Jesus' name, like a missionary in Mecca, and someone is absolutely going to find out and make it widely known what you are saying. If you preach in these circumstances, expect to be found out. There is no promise of divine protection here. And when they come and get you, preach more, rather than deny, because all they can do is kill you. This is a very hard, a very difficult lesson for us to get our heads around, especially in this country. And it is a lesson rarely preached, rarely taught.
Possible FB post but so long....
2022 - Vss 4-5 seem to go better with 1-3 than with 6-7 as they are arranged in TCR. They seem more to underscore a reason for the hypocrites to fear, and a motivation for the to repent from, their actions against Jesus. Surely some sitting there near him had been threatened by the Pharisees, bribed maybe, and so on. Blackmailed is also a very likely motivation for those spying on behalf of the Pharisees. And Jesus is saying that their fear of the Pharisees is trivial compared to the one they ought to fear. They are putting the comforts of this life ahead of their fate for eternity. And then 6, 7 drive it home...there are no "nobody's" in God's eyes. There is no working for the Pharisees but staying under the radar. God is aware of and considering the actions of even the "least" of the Pharisee's spies. This year, that's what I think this is all about.
(2020 - So look at how this goes..
Beware hypocrisy. Be committed all the way or not at all, because He will know, and will show the uncommitted to be hypocrites. Those who are uncommitted truly know that they are uncommitted. So much for the "did we not...in your name" crowd. They knew they were trying to earn it. Then, fear the one who has power to send you to hell. This power is exercised AFTER we are dead, when men can no longer harm us. Again, what we've done in this life doesn't carry on into the next. What carries on is our attitude, our hypocrisy or our faith. These last. Next, five sparrows for a penny, we are worth many sparrows. No matter how poor you are, how "low" you are in this world, God knows, preserves, makes a place for us. Diminish the value of what the world offers, and focus on the next world. Then another test of hypocrisy. The truly committed confess Christ at their own risk. They risk what they have (very much so in that day), their business connections, their promotability, and in some places at some times, their very lives to confess Christ. This is not hypocrisy. Jesus will turn his back on the hearts that are not his. This is the difference between Peter's denials and others. Peter was pierced to the heart by what he did. His denial was false. Make sure you know the difference.
Then blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is in here...I still need to work on this one...And then last the injunction about not preparing your remarks before the "inquisitors". I looked, and have a note pointing to Lk 21:14, 15. Almost the same injunction is used there, and that passage corresponds to Matthew 24. Isn't this twice that we have seen "end times" advice given well before end times, and in a context that doesn't seem to be about the end times? Who was it before, just recently, that pulled another end times thing in? I sure wish I could find it. See if this is something Luke does, or if it was one of the other gospel writers that did it? I think it is important because it might be that this "end times" advice given here is not really about end times, but about more immediate events. And if it is about "now" in Luke 12, it may also be talking about "now" in Luke 21, which may not be about end times but about 70 AD and the persecutions that follow. Remember how this section opened in verse one: "...he began to say to his disciples first..." This wasn't addressed to everyone, but to the disciples gathered around him...)
2021 - This verse:
10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. [Luk 12:10 ESV]
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, in at least one other gospel. comes after Jesus is accused of casting out demons by the power of Satan, when it is the Holy Spirit that does it. Here in Luke, we don't have that other context. Luke puts a LOT of things in Chapter 12. This is a chapter of instructions to his close disciples, and comes right after the scribes and Pharisees have really intensified their attacks on Jesus. In the face of that increasing scrutiny and direct attack, Jesus tells his people how to live in a world where the powerful are arrayed against them. If looked at that way, the first point, back in vss 1b-3, is make sure you understand that God will know what is in your heart. This might ought to be looked at more as an assurance that God looks after his own in all circumstances, including persecution, than it is a warning to the unsaved. Hmmm...that makes good sense. He is speaking directly to his disciples - to his close followers, his nearest supporters. And he says first that nothing is hidden. You cannot pretend and get into heaven. But...it really does read more as a warning to pretenders than an assurance to the faithful.
Second, in vs 4, he does seem to be speaking to the faithful, telling them that even earthly death is less to be feared than the judgement of the One that comes after. All men can do is destroy your tent. God can destroy the spirit inside. And for the faithful, no matter how insignificant in this world, are known by God, by name. Indeed, God's attention to detail goes far beyond just people.
And third, in 8-12, we have the "speak up and be recognized" if you want Christ to do the same for you. And blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. And how to behave in the coming persecution.
I don't know...I thought I had a thread figured out, but now I'm not so sure.
Jesus says he will deny before angels those who deny him before men. And vice versa. In connection with this, Jesus says not to plan their defense before the rulers of the synagogue because the Holy Spirit will tell them what to say once they are there. Jesus is not talking about day to day study, not about giving a reason of the hope that is in you, but of times when we are caught by surprise, accused without knowing the charges, and so on. 2021 - I think this is about 70 AD. The wording corresponds to wording in Matt 24.
2023 - This paragraph is incorrect. There is nothing in Matt 24 about Jesus denying before angels, there is nothing about not preparing what you will say. It just isn't there in Mt 24. See below...2022, 8-12.
2022 - Vss 8-12. This seems to be a synopsis. It seems to combine three different, but not really related, ideas. We get a summary of the sheep and goat judgment, a warning against blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and instruction on what to do if you are arrested. Jesus has told them that they are going to be judged, that all will come out, and now he tells them that it is he himself who will be counsel for the defense. If they are thinking that they can spy for the Pharisees, stay under the radar, or perhaps get a "good lawyer" when time comes for judging, and so get away with spying on this "man", Jesus tells them here that he is in fact their only possible defender. He has systematically demolished all possible rationalizations for the "pretend disciples". If they continue as they are, they have little on which to depend. This denial before the angels of God is surely tied to the fact that at the second coming, he will come with his holy angels, and there will be a judgment. God will be that judge - Theos - and Jesus will stand by and defend or deny before God. If we read it this way, and make this the pre-Millennial sheep and goat judgment, this will be a judgment of t/gt survivors. Of the living. So for Jesus' words to apply to anyone listening in reality back then, only the lost sitting there would ever be subject to the sheep and goat, because the saved will first be raptured out. So. At what judgment does Jesus stand and advocate for his own? Bema? Well all at the bema seat will be saved already. GWT? The saved who see the end of the Millennial will be there, and the lost of all time will be there. And maybe...those saved but not "in Christ"? Could this be what it means? I just don't know today...Jesus is talking about a time when he either advocates for his own - for those who confess him - or he denies them, and so they are condemned. I don't think this is a scene where Jesus is acting as judge. God is the judge here, and Jesus a sort of combination defender/prosecutor/witness. As Jesus says, so will the judgment go. But he is not judge. That almost has to mean GWT, because I believe Jesus WILL judge at the sheep and goat, and I believe Theos will judge at the bema. And only the saved will be judged at the bema, so these spies and hypocrites sitting around Jesus that day won't be at the bema. Has to be GWT. SO, the important thing then is we need to specify the "path" of these sitting before Jesus who won't be judged until the GWT? Ahh. Easy. These are lost. They will die, go on to hell, and be resurrected for judgment at the GWT, and then sent back to hell forever. They will get to stand for judgment that one last time, and Jesus can either say yes or no about them.
2023 - Reinterpreting the paragraph above...Vss 8-12 are indeed a synopsis. They are not intended as a chronological prophecy. What it says is that the behavior of the disciples in the coming persecutions - in the backlash from Jesus' crucifixion, will be the basis on which they are judged - it will make clear who is a hypocrite and who is faithful. Those who remain faithful and who profess Christ in the face of this coming persecution will do well at the bema - will be rewarded there, and vice versa. Because we have to believe that the faithful will be raptured out and judged at the bema, they WILL NOT be alive and walking around at the pre-Millennial judgment. This is a big deal. It makes it very very clear that the rapture and the second coming are NOT simultaneous. They are separate events. AND, Jesus' advice to his disciples is pre-rapture advice. That is, he is not telling them what to do between the rapture and the second coming, but what to do up until the rapture. So, much as we would like it to be definitive as to time, the injunction about not planning what you will say is most definitely pre-rapture, but there is nothing here in Luke that makes it pre-70 AD, as I think it is from other passages. BUT, it is NOT from Matt 24 either, that I get this pre-70 AD idea. Matt 24:1-15 is pre-70 AD, and from 16-31 we are between the appearance of the AoD and the rapture. Given all this 2023 stuff, the best way to interpret Lk 8-12 is as a reference to pre-70 AD events, BUT this is inferred, not nailed down by any specific phrasing in Lk 12.
2025 - It still seems like an odd instruction not to prepare what you will say in your defense. Why would that be? Does it not imply that this is about a time of persecution that God will use to spread his message - some message - in the halls of the persecutors? When would it be that Christians are not supposed to get some good lawyers and prepare a strong defense before those who would kill them, for surely vs 4 says that death is something they need not worry about? Christians arrested and tried "in synagogues, before rulers and the authorities". The second two have always been with us, but trials of Christians in synagogues sounds like Paul's day, like early persecutions. Was that still happening after 70 AD? And what would the message have been during this time? That the double punishment is coming in 70AD? That would be a message to the synagogues, but not to rulers and authorities. If one is arrested today in Mecca or Jedda, would these verses apply? Are they about religious authority or civil authority? Hard to know what time period this is about. "When they bring" is present active subjunctive. Not aorist. Though the planning what one will say is aorist. We might interpret this as meaning that Jesus was talking about the present - when he was here - and about the immediate future. Not about two millennia in the future with this instruction.
2022 - That is only 13 verses of study, after today's post. I am worn out. Reading through the rest.
The parable of the rich man who built bigger barns, thinking he could take it easy the rest of his life. Jesus calls him a fool. Is that not what I did for most of my life? Plan for the time when I wouldn't have to work any more because I already had enough to last for decades? Only "out" I see is that this man planned to eat, drink, and be merry. There was no provision in his future plans for extra study, extra worship, extra giving. Possibly no time for church. I don't think that's me. I hope I'm reading this one right...MSB goes right by it without any comment on the deeper meaning. 2020 - This is still about priorities. Being rich wasn't his problem. Bigger barns were not his problems. His attitude - to spend his life in dissipation and waste - was the problem. Life is short. Redeem the time.
2022 - Is this also saying that if we have so very much excess, rather than store it away we ought to use it for the good of others? Rather than keeping and hoarding and easing our own motivation, ought we to give away the excess? Is it saying that too much security in our own assets is a presumption against God? And also, doesn't it anchor is this world, rather than spur us toward earnings in the coming kingdom? Kind of begs the question of when enough is too much? The "don't worry" verses are next, and they do sort of proceed right on from the "hoarding" parable don't they. I suspect this is indeed the point here. AND...look at vss 32-34 below! Don't they say that in so many words? Sell your possessions and give it to the needy! You do not need excess, you need to depend on God to supply your needs, on a daily basis. I so very much do NOT do this!
2021 - Maybe this verse is the key to this whole chapter:
23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. [Luk 12:23 ESV]
This whole chapter - at least so far - has been contrasting life in this world with life in the next, and emphasizing repeatedly that this life is short, fleeting, and the biggest thing we have to fear is mortal man. In the next world, we will be judged for our foundational beliefs and for our priorities, whether we are truly faithful and whether we were motivated by earthly rewards or heavenly. This verse is sort of a statement of the "Theme" of chapter 12. So 12 may or may not be chronological, it may be more of anthology of things Jesus said about how to be eternity-minded instead of worldly-minded. This is such a densely packed chapter!
2022 - This little verse:
26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? [Luk 12:26 ESV]. The thought is that if we cannot really do even the tiniest thing with worry, why do we waste time worrying about big things? Our worry won't make the light turn green. Why then should we worry about the bigger things? Like....what? What is a bigger thing we worry about? Our next promotion? Interest rates? Inflation?
This might be a good FB post.
Then Jesus turns to his disciples and tells them not to be anxious about the basics - about eating and about clothing. His reason is that anxiety is not at all productive. We can worry about such things, but it is not worrying that adds an hour to our lives. This seems to be about consuming worry that pushes out all dependence on God. This is about priorities, and making the kingdom of God our goal, not the storing up of food and clothing. Our priorities should not be about the trivialities of basic necessity but about the important things of our relationship with God. The only way this makes sense to me is if I make the passage about the degree of concern we have about worldly things rather than being concerned at all. I know we are supposed to work, As mentioned the first time, if we don't work we don't eat. It's not about that. But we should eat so we can study, to make time for study, to make time for serving. The things of the kingdom are the things we should be anxious about provisioning for ourselves. It is the logistics of these things that we should concern ourselves with. I think. MSB refers back to the note on vs 11. I don't think they are the same. 2020 - We are still talking about how to live our lives. Focused on gain, worrying about the next thing, or worrying about God. We have so much trouble understanding this in the US today. We have so much, we cannot comprehend worrying about the next meal. But some certainly do. And if your circumstances are so dire that you really don't know if you will have anything to eat today, Jesus says, live in His will, remain focused on his kingdom, and you will be alright. Even if things are so very precarious for your life, God knows the situation. His provision may be to bring us home - we may die hungry, freezing in the street - but what awaits in heaven, if we remain faithful, will make this life fade to a smudge. I think this is what this really means, but the faith required to maintain this attitude in the face of starvation...that's a lot of faith.
2022 - I checked the Harmony to see what other gospels have this discourse. It shows Luke 12 standing alone, at least from a chronological perspective. But what about Matt 6? Vss 25-34 are very very similar to these words from Luke. Maybe we get into that "sermon on the mt vs sermon on the hill". That would be worth looking into I think. Maybe this section corresponds to that second time Jesus gave a very similar discourse, much of it corresponding to Matt 5, 6.
2021 - 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? [Luk 12:25-26 ESV] A small thing for God, to add an hour to our lives. And we can't do it. Supplements, exercise, meditation, and on and on. None of these work to extend life. If they did, this verse would not be true. So again, keep these things in perspective. Exercise in this life will not in any way make you stronger in the next!
I do think the body is a temple, and should be treated as such - kept healthy rather than constantly abused, but this says going beyond that isn't worth very much. So if you run a 5k, do it because you enjoy running, not because it will extend your life. Be healthy to better serve God, not to spend more time in this "lesser" place.
And about those birds...The point is that birds never ever worry about where their next meal is coming from. They live in the now. They look for food when they get hungry. And birds are everywhere. God has set the world in order so that birds can find food without having to worry about food. If they survive without needing to worry, then man, who is much more than birds, has surely been provided for. This is so very difficult to understand for those who've never been hungry.
2020 - Reading straight on through from here. Next year, focus on 13.
2023 - This verse:
33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. [Luk 12:33 ESV]. We don't see this emphasized very much. But Jesus is the one speaking here, it's all in red. Sell and give. To the needy...but whether they deserve it or not isn't mentioned. Took a look at the phrase "give to the needy" in BLB. It is a very long Greek word, phonetically "eleemosenyn". KJV translates it quite differently, and much more in parallel with the definition of the word in BLB. KJV says "and give alms". Give to the poor, give to charity, and give to the needy are other mainstream translations. None of these really fit the definition:
mercy, pity
esp. as exhibited in giving alms, charity
the benefaction itself, a donation to the poor, alms
KJV translated this word as alms 13 of the 14 times it is used.
...OK, the more I look at this injunction the more involved, complex, and deep it gets. This translation in ESV is far to simplistic for what is really being stated here. I looked at the word for possessions, and I don't see how it can EVER be translated possessions! KJV says "sell that ye have". They couldn't even find a word that would work here, so they just defaulted to "that". Here is the "outline of biblical usage" from BLB:
to begin below, to make a beginning
to begin
to come forth, hence to be there, be ready, be at hand
to be
To begin below? to make a beginning?
At this point, I read this verse as "make a new start by devaluing the things of this world and devoting yourself to charity, to benevolence, to being a good person. It is NOT about possessions but about goals and focus and purpose. I can see where this would be a hugely difficult verse to translate, but I think this is pretty close to the idea that it has.
2023 - Based on the above word study, vss 35-40 also fit well. First, make a new start on how you look at things, and place value on the eternal and not the immediate. Be diligent then, from that point on, and continue to work on these things. Don't get lazy in the second watch or the third watch. Don't give Satan - a thief - any downtime of which he can take advantage. Don't fall back, don't "let things go". Keep working right up until the master gets here. Go to bed tired every night, from the good that you have done, not from the money you have earned.
2023 - This doesn't go here, but I'm putting it here for continuity with the two summaries above. In vss 41-48, Peter asked whether Jesus intends these instructions just for the 12 or for all. Perhaps Peter is asking if it is just meant for the disciples who travel with Jesus or for all who are faithful in all the towns through which they travel. Either way, the question is whether the instruction of this parable is for the "elite" or for the "masses". And in the answer, I FINALLY understand what it means when Jesus says "to whom much is given, much is required". Jesus answers with another parable, about a sort of "servant supervisor" that a master leaves in charge when he goes away. If this one, to whom responsibility and authority were given in great measure, fails in his duties, he will be greatly punished. He will receive a "severe" beating. But to the rest, to the servants who were not put "in charge" of much of anything, or just of minor things, if they fail to do these little things, then they will only get a light beating. There will be a price to pay for unfaithfulness at any level. But the price is not death for either of them. This must be about the bema seat, and not the pre-Millennial judgment. All the saved have things to do. Back to vs 23. All need to start fresh in how we live our lives. All need to be diligent in the things that God sends our way to perform. Diligent, faithful, 24/7 when required. For some, the job is huge, for others, let's call it maintenance tasks. Do what you are given to do, faithfully, and the bema will go well. And don't be a hypocrite about it!
This verse:
37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. [Luk 12:37 ESV]
Our lives should be consistent about serving God. Not run always hot and cold, like mine has. I think we have to stay in the word, study it, read it constantly before the layers can be peeled back. I think the Bible, God's ways, and the wisdom that Proverbs talks about, are all about changing our very thinking process, seeing the world as God sees it, and trying to think as He thinks. The world teaches us a way to think, and the way it teaches is fundamentally opposed to God's thinking. There are many examples of this. Certainly the Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers of Jesus' day were thinking as the world thinks, of position, power, and wealth, acquisition of which guided their every thought and action. Jesus is saying that their goals are useless, and should instead focus on serving their master - God. They are busy being the top of the food chain, when they should be busy preparing for their master. This is fundamentally opposed to our culture also. We are not about generosity but acquisition.
We are to be ready, to be prepared, be as "on guard" as if we were protecting our homes from thieves. We must have the same vigilance about Christ's return and judgement as we would have if we knew a break in were coming tonight. Peter asks who this saying is about - is Jesus talking about the crowd or about his own disciples? Jesus makes it clear that he means it about everyone, but by degree. This rather long verse:
48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. [Luk 12:48 ESV]
We only hear the last part of this verse quoted. But the first part ties in with Jesus' teaching in parables, so that those who reject without knowing what they reject will receive lesser punishment than those who are fully informed about rejecting him. Those chosen to lead God's people are like servants in charge of servants. They are still subject to the master's standards. If these servants abuse their position, take advantage of those they have charge of, live riotously themselves while judging those lesser servants, then their punishment will be far more severe than those who make the same mistakes but only do so for themselves. They will still be judged, but the punishment will be less severe.
If we are in a position to be an example, and we are a bad example, our beating will be more severe than one who is just a "peon" looked up to by no one, who does exactly the same things we do. This weighs heavily on fathers towards their children, towards a spouse. I have been far too "happy go lucky" in my life, never accepting responsibility for any behavior but my own. I pray it is not too late to make it up.
39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. [Luk 12:39 ESV]
This verse absolutely says it is ok to protect your own house. That is what anyone would do if they knew trouble was coming.
2022 - Vss 47, 48. I do not understand. I am too tired, mentally, to understand today. NEXT TIME, focus on this! Such a chapter!
This verse also:
49 "I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! [Luk 12:49 ESV]
Jesus is judge. He is saying the world needed judgement badly when he came the first time. How much more does it need judgement now? He goes on to say first things first. He must suffer and die, and judgement will be after this.
Jesus says that after his coming, houses will be divided internally - those who accept him, those who do not, and that the decision about him will be the source of division. This happens, whether we want it to happen or not, and in spite of all that we might do to avoid it - on either side!
2025 - Oh my! Look at this verse:
57 "And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? [Luk 12:57 ESV]. We ARE TO JUDGE! How can we not, if we want to do right ourselves? How can we keep ourselves pure if we do not judge impurity? How can we spread the gospel to unbelievers if we do not judge who is and who is not a believer?