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This week we are concluding our studies in Luke Chapter 12. Please read verses 49-59 every day this week and, if possible, use a different translation each day, asking God to open your eyes to fresh revelation from His Word.
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Luke 12:57-59 (Williams New Testament)
‘“Why do you not of yourselves decide what is right? For instance, when you are on the way to court with your opponent, take the utmost pains on the way to get entirely rid of him, so that he may not rush you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the sheriff, and the sheriff put you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out of it until you have paid the last penny!”’
In the film ‘A Few Good Men’, a lawyer, played by Tom Cruise, is famous for plea-bargaining every case. He always settles the charge against his client directly with his opposing lawyer. He basically tries all he can to reduce the charges to a bare minimum and then settles for whatever sentence is on offer. One case, however, forces him to reject all offers and he has to go to court to face a judge. In one scene, he turns to his co-counsel and says “So this is what the inside of a courtroom looks like”. He’d been a lawyer for years and had never set foot in a court of law.
Thankfully, I’ve never been to court either. I’ve not been charged with any crime and the only ‘blot’ on my so called copy book is one speeding fine incurred when I was much, much younger. I still profess my innocence to this day, but the police officer was adamant that I’d broken the law. He said that I could go to court and plead my case with the judge but stressed that it would be my word against his. I didn’t fancy my odds at winning that one so I took the punishment.
In the light of those stories, let me try to illustrate what Jesus is teaching us in these verses. Yesterday, we saw that Jesus was revealing that there was a window of opportunity, a moment in time that was unique, a precious time when the Son of God was on earth ushering in a New Covenant. He was coming to reconcile humanity with Almighty God. He was here to fulfil every detail of the law and was teaching that He was prepared to pay every spiritual debt that was against us. He was healing the sick, He was raising the dead, He was forgiving sin and setting captives free.
Into this context He says to them, “Why can’t you judge for yourselves what is right?” They were under pressure from the ruling leaders to conform and to follow a path that they’d always walked. Jesus is posing a very personal question and asking each person to make an individual decision about what to do with Him. Think for yourselves is the message.
He goes on to give an illustration that sheds more light on what’s expected. He tells a story about 2 people on the way to the judge. One is the accuser and the other is seemingly guilty of something. Jesus stresses that the guilty one should do all he can to settle the debt before meeting the judge. If not, you can guarantee that justice will be done.
I believe that Jesus is referring to a situation where each one of us is being ‘accused’ by God’s Word and His law. We are all guilty. Perhaps, like me in my story earlier, you’re trying to profess your innocence, but it really doesn’t matter, we’re all guilty. ‘We’ve all fallen short of God’s glory’ and ‘the wages of sin is death’. We’re all on the way to court to face God as judge and Jesus wants us to ‘settle out of court’. What does that mean? It means to make a personal decision to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour. He came to pay all of our debt. He died on the cross so that we don’t have to spiritually die. If you’ve not already done so, please take the time today to be reconciled with God. Hallelujah, the law of sin and death has no hold on us. We’ve been separated from that through the Cross of Christ.
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