Our Gospel reading for this week, which started the Christian season of Lent, continues in the Book of Luke, where Jesus gave several brief, short parables to teach us the importance of integrity, self-examination, and to live according to His teachings. Let’s look into each of these short parable teachings that Jesus gave us.
The first brief parable was how one blind person cannot safely lead another blind person in an unfamiliar area (vs. 39-40). As Jesus pointed out, two physically blind people cannot safely lead each other in an unfamiliar area, as they will get hurt. Jesus wasn’t just talking about physically blind people in this parable. He was also referring to spiritual blindness. If one spiritually blind person (an unsaved person) is seeking to find the truth and the way to God, he cannot expect to find the way by going to someone else who is just as spiritually lost. There are many who claim to have all of the spiritual answers, they claim to have the truth, some even in the pulpits of so-called “Christian” churches, but they are completely blind and lost. They are unable to ever lead someone to heaven, and like the two blind men, they will both end up in the spiritual ditch for eternity. The only way to find the correct way is through the truth of God’s Word and those whose eyes have been opened by the Holy Spirit when they accepted Jesus as Savior.
The next parable describes someone who is trying to remove a speck out of someone else’s eye, even though they have a plank in their own eye (vs. 41-42). Jesus meant for this to seem ridiculous. How can anyone who would have something big in their own eyes be able to see well enough to remove a speck from someone else’s eyes? Yet how often do we do that when we criticize or attempt to correct someone for a fault when we have plenty of faults of our own? Jesus did not say that we should never help our brother get the speck out of their eye. However, we need to take care of ourself first. First get the known and willful sins out of our own life, and then we will be able to help our brother while showing proper humility and love.
As we proceed further into our Scripture passage, Jesus gave the parable of the good tree and the bad tree (vs. 43-45). A good, healthy tree will produce good fruit, whereas an unhealthy tree will bear bad fruit or none at all. He also reminded us that you can tell what type of tree it is by what type of fruit it gives. Apple trees bear apples, cherry trees bear cherries. If you want cherries, you don’t go to an apple tree.
In the same way, a good and godly person bears good fruit in their life, while a sinful person will not. Someone might think that the sinful, unsaved person might be able to bring something spiritually good. What they teach might seem and look so on the outside, but one bite will quickly show that it is bad fruit. People are known by what they produce. On the outside everything can look good, but inside it is rotten. True faith produces good fruit in us. Our actions reflect the true condition of our hearts. A good tree produces good fruit, just as a righteous person exhibits godly behavior. Faith founded on strong roots in God, His promises, His Word, and in prayer can’t help but produce good and godly spiritual fruit.
The final parable that Jesus told His followers in this Scripture passage was about the wise and foolish builders (vs. 46-49). The wise builder built his house upon a rock, a good solid foundation, whereas the foolish built his upon sand. When storms came, one stood strong while the other collapsed. Here in the U.S. over the years I have seen news reports with video of houses built on the edge of cliffs, right on top of plain soil. The views may have been great, but with no solid foundation and a season of heavy rains, the whole structure crashes down the side of the cliff!
Likewise, what are we building our spiritual life upon? Is it the philosophies of the world, those that modern society says are so important in our world today? Or are we building it upon the Lord Jesus and His Word, the Bible? We can find peace knowing that as we listen to and obey Jesus, He forms a strong foundation for our lives. It is important to not only hear Jesus’ words, but also put them into practice.
When the storms of life come upon us, and then when we face our final day with eternity upon us, will our spiritual house stand strong or come crashing down? If we built upon the sand of what the world said was right, everything will crash down quicker than a California mountainside house! However if we built upon the strong and sure foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word, we can trust that our foundation is solid!
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