Daily Devotions
Luke
Luke 18:31-34 "WRITTEN BY THE PROPHETS CONCERNING THE SON OF MAN..." Luke 18:31"
Day 227 – Luke 18
Text: Luke 18:31-34
“WRITTEN BY THE PROPHETS CONCERNING THE SON OF MAN…” Luke 18:31
Jesus absolutely believed in the Old Testament Scriptures, sometime simply called “The Prophets”. His belief in the Scriptures as the infallible Word of God was very clear, never convoluted or contradictory.
Let’s take a look at how Jesus made references to the Word of God.
1. He cited the Scriptures and applied them to His life and ministry. When He spoke at the Synagogue at Nazareth, He turned to the Book of Isaiah (with great familiarity) and after having read the portion from Isaiah 61, He applied this portion of Scriptures to His personal life and ministry (Cf. Luke 4:16-22).
2. He spoke a parable about A Sower who went out to sow in the field. Jesus was that Sower who went out to sow the Word of God (Luke 8:11). Jesus taught God’s Word even as He walked and talked with the multitudes!
3. He spoke of the Word of God as something so permanent that “heaven and earth would pass away (first) before one tittle of the law failed” (Luke 16:17).
4. The Word of God had been given by the Lord, and men were meant to read it and be instructed by it. If men failed to heed God’s Word, he cannot pray and ask God to send someone from the dead to teach others about the reality of heaven and hell (Cf. Luke 16:31). If people ignored God’s Word, they do so at their own peril.
There is no question that Jesus firmly believed in the written Word of God. He made references to it. He lived by it. He taught it. He fulfilled all that was written in the Scriptures. He would always seek to fulfil and obey God’s Word, even if it meant suffering and death.
What a high regard Jesus had for the Word of God. What is our regard for the Lord’s Word? Have we taken His Word too much for granted with the passing of time? Have we become weary and tired of reading God’s Word all too soon?
“WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED…” Luke 18:31
Jesus did not adopt a fatalistic approach with reference to the fulfillment of the Scriptures. He was not saying that since God predestined Him to suffer, then He would be forced to comply.
The approach Jesus took was most dynamic. He fulfilled the Scriptures because He believed in the wisdom and will of God. He embraced the truth of God’s Word. He welcomed the veracity of the truth found in God’s Word.
When He spoke about the Word of God being accomplished in His life, including pain and suffering, He had the greatest sense of faith and trust in His Father, the Author of the Scriptures!
To accomplish or fulfil the Scriptures with faith and trust was a wonderful thing to do. Let us consider the steps Jesus must have taken before He could come to this stage of His life to speak about the Scriptures being fulfilled in His life.
1. He must first be taught God’s Word. In Isaiah, there was a prophetic Word that had direct reference to Jesus being taught by His Father.
“The Lord God has given Me
the tongue of the learned,
that I should know how to speak
a word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning
He awakens My ear to hear as the learned.
The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.”
Isaiah 50:4-6
How clearly this prophetic passage portrayed Jesus. He was taught by His Father. As He was taught, so He believed and embraced all that the Father had spoken to Him. This included pain and suffering!
2. Jesus must of course accept that the Scriptures must be fulfilled. Right from the beginning Jesus spoke about how He fulfilled the Scriptures.
“Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4:21
It is one thing to have Scriptural knowledge. It is another thing to embrace it and then live by it. This was something that Jesus did consistently. His main focus was always to fulfil the Scriptures, because He loved His Father and always desired to do His Will. The Scriptures were not just ancient words of wisdom. The Scriptures were God’s Word to Him. Not to embrace His Father’s Word was just unthinkable!
Jesus’ submission to the Word of God came out of a heart of love for His Father and faith in Him. His compliance to the prophetic Word of God displays the depth of His comprehension and faith in the reliability and infallibility of the Scriptures!
GOD’S WORD WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED ONE WAY OR ANOTHER
God’s Word is always accompanied by His authority and power. God’s Word will never return to Him void. Let us take time to read this Word from Isaiah,
“So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:11
Let us examine our personal regard for the Word of God. Is our regard for the Word of God correct and appropriate?