SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT FOR TODAY

 

Passage: Luke 10:22 (NKJV)

“All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

Memory Verse Luke 10:22 (NLT)

“MY FATHER HAS ENTRUSTED EVERYTHING TO ME. NO ONE TRULY KNOWS THE SON EXCEPT THE FATHER, AND NO ONE TRULY KNOWS THE FATHER EXCEPT THE SON AND TO THOSE TO WHOM THE SON CHOOSES TO REVEAL HIM.”

In an other edition of Spiritual Nourishment for Today we learnt something very important from Luke 10:21. We learnt that God reveals important mysteries to those who humble themselves to the Master by trusting and obeying him in all things. This was taken from the first part of Jesus’ prayer as found in Luke 10:21-22. We made the point that those who humble themselves before Jesus become wiser than those who do not. In this edition we want to concentrate on Luke 10: 22 and learn some important spiritual truths.

In the very first sentence of Luke 10:22, Jesus makes a very important statement to teach us something more about himself. According to Jesus the Father has entrusted everything to him. This implies that everything the Father owns and controls has been put in the hands of the Son. Apart from showing how mighty Jesus is because of what the Father has entrusted unto him, it also confirms the kind of relationship existing between the Son and the Father. It shows that the Father has so much confidence in the Son that he delegated everything under his control to him.

The question one needs to ask is what exactly has the Father entrusted to the Son and what are the implications for us?

The statement means that the Father has entrusted the keys of all that he has created in both heaven and earth to the Son. It also means that the Son has assumed the authority of the Father in the world as the Sovereign Lord and judge over all things. He has been given power and control over all things. He has been given authority over all powers including Satan. He does not have any co-equal. He has the power to make and unmake. He has the power to create and destroy. Jesus has the power to kill and to give life. He also has the power to forgive sins and to save. He has power over all creation, being a Creator himself. It shows that Jesus is not just an ordinary man but the God who took on human nature. Jesus said that to help us know more about him.

Apart from revealing that the Father has entrusted everything to him, Jesus also showed the special and mysterious relationship between him and the Father. According to him no one knows the Father except the Son, just as no one knows the Son except the Father.

This shows the special love between the Father and the Son which makes it impossible for anyone to know them better than themselves. Indeed no one would have known who God is if He had not revealed himself through the Son. This means that through the Son, we have gained knowledge of the Father. In the same way, our knowledge about the Son stems from the fact that the Father decided to send him into the world which the Son voluntarily accepted to come in order to save mankind.

The understanding is that the human knowledge about both the Son and the Father are so limited that only those Jesus chooses to reveal to can know the Father and the Son. It is true that no one can fully comprehend the nature and attributes of God apart from Christ. In the same way no one can understand the nature and attributes of Christ and his incarnation apart from the Father. This shows that full comprehension of the Triune God belongs to God alone. It stands to reason that no matter how hard men try to understand God we can never fully understand Him until He decides to make Himself known to us. It is therefore not surprising that many ‘wise’ people in this world do not know God. They will never know Him until He chooses to reveal Himself to them.

Jesus’ last statement in the verse shows that no one can know God unless the Son chooses to reveal to him or her. This is what makes knowing Christ a great privilege. Many great people lack knowledge about God and His Son because they have not humbled themselves to accept the Son. They have turned down several invitations to come to Jesus. As a result of their pride they have failed to know God.

Yet those who have been granted the grace by the Father to have their sins forgiven and justified through the work of Christ on the cross have come to know Christ and His Father. This is because God has revealed to the believer the mysterious of this world which even the scientist and philosophers of this world are still trying to unravel. This is a great privilege granted to believers. This makes it imperative for all those seeking knowledge about the universe and life in general to seek Jesus because without him they can have no knowledge (John 15:5; James 1:5).

Christ is the custodian of all knowledge about everything from Archaeology to Zoology. Apart from him we can know nothing. Let me take this opportunity to encourage all and sundry wishing to understand anything about this life and universe to seek Jesus first. If you bypass Jesus you will get lost. Those who have been privileged to know God through Jesus Christ must not underrate this wonderful privilege!

Part 2

In this part of Spiritual Nourishment for Today we want to throw more light about what Jesus said in Luke 10:23-24.

“Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.””

After receiving the report of the disciples he had sent out and helping them to set their priorities right, Jesus thanked the Father. Sometime after that period, Jesus turned to his disciples and reminded them of how privileged they were, to be part of his disciples. He started by declaring them ‘blessed’ which also means ‘happy’.

According to Jesus’ statement the disciples were blessed because of what was revealed to them about the Son. Let us not forget that the report of the disciples manifested the kind of power and authority inherent in the Son which was previously unknown to them. They had also been told that they had known the Father by virtue of the fact they had come to know the Son.

Jesus had also told them that the Father has entrusted everything to him. All these were mysteries unknown to those who were far from Jesus. He was therefore emphasizing to them that if they have been granted the opportunity to see what they were seeing they should be happy and count themselves highly privileged.

Jesus said that probably because the disciples had taken Jesus for granted for many months. They had not come to appreciate the person they were following. Therefore they did not know how blessed they were to be called the disciples of Jesus Christ. This is similar to the attitude of many believers of today. There are many Christians in our time who place little value on their relationship with Jesus. Some even perceive knowing Jesus and joining the body of the saints as a means of socializing. It is not surprising that many Christians are not seeing the glory of God in their lives.

Your perception towards Jesus determines your attitude towards him which also influences what you receive from him. If you place value on your relationship with Christ, he will grant you his Shalom in everything you do. Thanks be to God for giving us his Son Jesus Christ!

Jesus buttressed his statement with the verse 24 that even many kings and prophets of the Old Testament had wished to see and hear what they had seen and heard but were not given that privilege. Remember how Simeon rejoiced when he saw the baby Jesus according to Luke 2:29-32 which reads:

“SOVEREIGN LORD, NOW LET YOUR SERVANT DIE IN PEACE, AS YOU HAVE PROMISED. I HAVE SEEN YOUR SALVATION, WHICH YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ALL PEOPLE. HE IS A LIGHT TO REVEAL GOD TO THE NATIONS, AND HE IS THE GLORY OF YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL” (NLT).

The above shows how delighted Simeon was to have seen even the child Jesus. Men of God in the Old Testament such as King David and Isaiah made great predictions about Jesus which were fulfilled by Jesus. They would have loved to see the fulfillment of those God-inspired predictions but were not as privileged as the disciples of Jesus. The disciples were privileged because they were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ ministry. They had the opportunity of eating with him; praying with him; listening to him; traveling with him; speaking with him; seeing his miracles among others.

He reminded them to count themselves happy because many would have wished to experience what they experienced but never had the chance. By his statement Jesus also put a responsibility upon the disciples. It implies that because the disciples were privileged to know Jesus that much, much was expected of them. This gives credence to his own statement: “To whom much is given, much is expected” (Luke 12:48, paraphrased).

The disciples were with the Lord Jesus Christ, saw and learned a lot from him within a period of about three years. They did not have the compiled scriptures such as we have today. They did not get the opportunity of reading everything other disciples did after the ascension of Jesus. If they were privileged then we are much more privileged in the sense that we have read what happened before Jesus came; what happened during his time on earth and what happened after his ascension.

We are privileged to have over 2,000 years of church history. The Bible has been translated into hundreds of languages and still the bestselling book of all time. We read and hear God’s word through his ministers every moment of our lives via the radio, television, music, and social media among others. Above all, we have been saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. Are we not much more privileged?

We should not forget that privilege comes with responsibility. Because we are privileged to know much more about Christ, we must be careful to follow and obey him always. Remember that to whom much is given, much is expected.

May the LORD help us to accept the responsibilities which accompany the privilege of knowing Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior!

THE WORD OF THE LORD!

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Pastor Nana Kobina Baisie
Teacher/Pastor at Nadrim Mission International School, Busan, Korea.