Walking with Jesus,

Walking everyday,

Walking all the way.

Walking with Jesus,

Walking with Jesus alone.

As we continue to read Luke each week, do you feel like you are walking with Jesus? I particularly love the gospel books for this reason: being able to walk with Him during the time He walked on earth, and trying to experience all that He experienced. I hope you enjoyed the journey with Him thus far.

Today, we shall read…

Bible Passage:  Luke 13-14

Jesus continued to teach His disciples many things, whether directly or through parables. Some of these parables include the parable of the fig tree which did not bear fruit. We are all quite familiar with this parable, which warns us to bear fruit while we are still in the period of grace, lest we be chopped down. Galatians 5:22 reminds us about bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Have we allowed the Holy Spirit to “dig around” our hearts and “fertilise” it?

Entry Denied

Jesus warned His disciples to strive to enter through the narrow gate, before this door of grace is shut (Luke 13:23-30). Of particular interest to me was the followers’ plea for the Master to open the door. They said,

“Lord, Lord, open for us.” (Luke 13:25)

and

“We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.” (Luke 13:26)

I think we are all too familiar with the verse “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). We know that we have to go beyond merely professing with our lips that Jesus is our Lord; we have to do the will of God too. As we continue to read Matthew 7:22, we become quite sure that these verses are meant more for people outside Church. After all, God is in the True Church. Surely He knows us.

But Luke 13:26 says that although we ate and drank in His presence, and although He taught in our streets, He still replied, “I do not know you” (Luke 13:25, 27). What was the reason for this?

Jesus in fact gave the reason: “Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.” (Luke 13:27). The truth is that, although God is truly in our midst in the true church, and we eat and drink in His presence, and even have Him personally teach us, the door of grace will also be shut to us if we continue to pursue unrighteousness.

Another thought I have regarding this incident is how the people failed to realise the wrong path they have taken until it is too late. They even thought they were on the right track and tried to reason with Jesus (Luke 13:26). I do not know how you feel when you read this, but personally, it scares me quite a bit. Will there be such a day when I come face-to-face with Jesus and have Him tell me, “Depart from Me, you evil-doer!” without me even realising that I have long gone on the wrong path?

I guess, sometimes, we ourselves cannot tell if we are walking right or wrong. Which is why two are better than one; if one falls, the other can pick him up (Ecc 4:9). The Bible also says that the first will be last, and the last will be first (Luke 13:30). In fact, we can never know or conclude if one is faithful to the Lord until perhaps the day he rest in the Lord. Which is why Hebrews 13:7 teaches us to consider the outcome of their conduct (the chinese translation goes like this: 留心看他们为人的结局).

It is the outcome that matters. It is he who endures to the end that can be saved. The conclusion is that we can never be sure of our faith in the Lord. Peter was so sure about his faith and loyalty, yet he still denied Christ three times. Let us also look at Moses, who was denied entry into Canaan because of one act of disobedience, and look at how he pleaded to God for him to enter, until God Himself said, “Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter” (Deuteronomy 3:26). What happened if the day comes for us to enter into heaven, and we are denied entry because of something we have done wrongly, yet we never realised that sin until it is too late?

It is a scary thought to me. The only way is to pray to God to keep us in the Truth and in His grace. Let us humble ourselves before the Lord and admit that we alone cannot keep ourselves on the right path, and have Him always guide us (Luke 14:11).

Discipleship

Yesterday’s hymnal service also spoke on being the disciple whom Jesus love. Here are given two definitions of being a disciple of Jesus:

“One who bears his cross and go after Him.” (Luke 14:27)

“One who forsake all that he has.” (Luke 14:33).

I especially like how Jesus used two concrete examples to teach His disciples the meaning of true discipleship (Luke 14:28-32). His point was that, just like before we build a tower, or fight a war, we first sit down and consider, likewise, we should do so before we commit ourselves to become disciples of the Lord, lest one “began to build and was not able to finish”. The end result would be shame as we have to ask for conditions of peace from our enemy.

The idea is not to consider and then decide against being a disciple of Jesus, but rather, it teaches us to recognise the high cost of being a disciple, and how we do not have the resources to follow through if we rely purely on ourselves. Therefore, the only thing we can do is to forsake all that we have, take up the cross, and humbly follow Him.

The emphasis to “sit down first” and to “count the cost” or to “consider” teaches us the need to ponder before the real test comes, else we be shamed when the day comes. “Counting the cost” reminds me of Hymn 138 “Have you counted the cost?” which sings of the cost one pays should one choose to lead a life of sin.

However, the cost that is mentioned in Luke 14 talks about the cost of discipleship. Perhaps our lives have been smooth-sailing thus far, and we cannot really identify with the idea that discipleship comes with a high cost. However, we know that the bible said “we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

Jesus also said that in this world, we will have tribulation (John 16:33). Therefore, let us take time to contemplate, whether we have what it takes to finish this race of faith, but most importantly, to recognise that it is only by denying oneself and humbly following after Jesus that we find ourselves able to walk to the end.

我要跟主祢, Cantonese Worship Song, I want to follow you Lord