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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
Focus Text: Luke 19.37-40
“Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.’” (Luke 19.37-40).
Sometimes Jesus' disciples needed rebuking. However, this was not one of those times; his disciples were doing nothing wrong. What we see in this picture are power-hungry Pharisees obviously outraged by the popularity of Jesus! Matthew recorded that men of this same sect were even more incensed a little bit later when children in the temple began to cry out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matthew 21.15). To see more of the attitude of the Pharisees, Matthew explained that they were “indignant” (see Matthew 21.24). So, it was not the disciples who needed rebuking; it was the Pharisees!
I doubt that it was original with Alabamians, but I used to hear folks say, “The bit dog barks first.” Maybe they heard it somewhere else, or maybe they paraphrased Shakespeare’s line, “Me thinks thou doest protest too much!” Whatever the case, the principle was certainly true with the Pharisees in today’s focus text. They lived in glass houses but were quick to throw stones, at least, quick to throw them at Jesus. They were so blinded by their own prejudices that they failed to look inward or consider their own ways. Herein lies a sure-fire recipe for failure and eternal condemnation.
Self-examination is always painful. It is like looking in a mirror when we don’t like the image we see. However, self-examination is the only way a mature person can grow spiritually. As children, others may tell us what we ought to do, but mature people make their own decisions and realize that they are accountable for those decisions. The bit dog barking is merely a way to divert attention from the real problem. Like Pharisees asking Jesus to rebuke His disciples, we sometimes talk about others or complain incessantly while attempting to hide our own weaknesses or flaws. This technique is as old as man himself, but it never works as we envision.
Self-examination is a Christian mandate. To put it another way, those who fail to examine themselves are not true to their Christian calling. In eating the Lord’s Supper, Paul instructed believers to examine themselves, and by implication, not others (1 Corinthians 11.28)! James implied that we ought to look into the mirror of God’s word for the purpose of ordering our lives (James 1.22-26). In yet another text, Paul said, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? ——unless indeed you are disqualified.” (2 Corinthians 13.5).
Don’t protest too much; rejoice over your afflictions. They can be a sign of faithfulness!
Questions:
1. What sect protested over Jesus’ royal treatment as He came in to Jerusalem? What kind of history did Jesus have with this group?
2. What group praised Jesus in the temple? How did the Pharisees take this?
3. Why would God have wanted us to examine ourselves while taking the Lord’s Supper?
4. How can we avoid complaining? What does excessive complaining frequently indicate?
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