DIVINELY GIVEN UNDERSTANDING
[p. 349] DIVINELY GIVEN UNDERSTANDING
Luke 2:25 - 32; Luke 3:21 - 23; Luke 24:13-15; Luke 24:36-45
I wish to speak on the thought of divinely given understanding, and to show how it is worked out in this gospel; because it is in this gospel the Lord Jesus is seen as on man’s side. Luke would enlarge on the enrichment of the race by bringing in Christ as Man, accrediting Him, as he does, to the race, so that we are to be taught and enlightened by One who is on our side.
We have in the Scriptures the idea of understanding being received from the Father, as it is said,
“The Father of glory”. This expression involves the very highest conception, as one might say, of God. The apostle prayed “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give” the Ephesian saints, “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him, ... so that ye should know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe, ... in which he wrought in the Christ in raising him from among the dead”, Ephesians 1:17 - 20. The Father of glory imparts to us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Himself, in relation to these three great features: the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of His power in which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from among the dead.
Then we have the idea of understanding imparted divinely to us, connected with the Son. John says, “We know that the Son of God has come”. It is a great thing to be able to say, “We know”, spiritually. He says further, “And has given us an understanding”:
[p. 350] here you have the idea of understanding connected with the Son. He gives us an understanding, not simply opens the understanding, as in Luke 24. He gives us an understanding “That we should know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life”, 1 John 5:20.
Then we have the idea of understanding imparted to us by the Spirit. Paul tells us, in 1 Corinthians 2, that the Spirit, which is of God, has been given to us that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Thus the three Persons of the Godhead are severally interested in us, to the great end that we should have understanding: “Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man’s heart, which God has prepared for them that love him”, 1 Corinthians 2:9. They are revealed to us by the Spirit, “For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10). Think for a moment of possessing the blessed Spirit of God, who has access to all divine resources, who searches the very depths of God! Think of that expression, “The depths of God!” Not the depths of His creation, but the depths of God. The blessed Spirit has direct access to those depths and is in the believer in order that he should know the things that are freely given to him of God.
Well, now, having said so much in regard to this great subject of understanding, I will turn to Luke with the thought expressed that we may see our Lord Jesus Christ as on our side. Simeon represents our appropriation of Christ, as on our side, in humanity; he holds the Babe in his arms. He is filled with the infinite excellency of that Babe, as before God. Never before was there a priest, in the temple of God, so consecrated as was Simeon! He took the Child in his arms. What arms were they! Were they like the arms of those who malign our [p. 351] Lord Jesus Christ, attempting to reduce Him to the level of ordinary man? No, they were holy arms. There are those who deny His immaculate birth, and who refuse the atoning value of His death. These have unholy arms, but they shall never hold this Babe! To Mary it was said, “The holy thing also which shall be born shall be called Son of God”, Luke 1:35. How many there are in these days who put forth unholy hands to touch this precious, holy Thing, as the Spirit designated the holy Babe, the Lord Jesus Christ! The Spirit of God, anticipating such folly, says to the shepherds, by the angel of Jehovah, “Behold, I announce to you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people;” Luke 2:10 for, “To you”: let us think on that “To you”; it is to us: “For today a Saviour has been born to you in David’s city, who is Christ the Lord”. Not, ‘who shall be’, but “who is”, Christ the Lord. He was, at that time, Christ the Lord; and so Simeon, in keeping with the light conveyed by the angels to the shepherds, is in the temple, divinely prepared to receive such an One into his arms. It was revealed to him, by the Spirit, that he should not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ; hence, he went into the temple, “in the Spirit”. Of no one was this said heretofore. Simeon entered the temple in the Spirit. It was fitting to the occasion that such a priest should be there to receive Christ. Think of the dignity that attaches to us as having the Spirit! We are the true sons of Aaron; as Peter says, we are “A holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Christ Jesus”, 1 Peter 2:5. Now Simeon anticipated this; but nevertheless he was a man, and thus one of us. He was, as it were, the representative of the race. Not the race surely, in its filthiness and lawlessness, but the race that God had in mind, as seen in those who receive Christ. He received the Babe into his arms. How definite [p. 352] was his action! At the present time the whole race of man is held in reconciliation provisionally, because Christ has thus come in. We come in for all the benefits presented in Him, and God is lengthening out this wonderful day so that all men should participate in the blessings thus presented. He is on our side. If I, in faith, hold Christ in my arms, as Simeon did actually, I shall pray for all men: “I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made for all men; for kings and all that are in dignity”, 1 Timothy 2:1. I hold Christ in my arms, as it were, by the Spirit, as does every Christian who receives Him; and hold Him in relation, not only to myself, but to all men; and so I pray for all men. We are to intercede for all men, and give thanks on their behalf, for this is acceptable to God.
Such is the wonderful position at the present time; and God would have us understand our priestly function, in the way of intercession for all men, as the true sons of Aaron; and, as of the vessel of divine testimony, to present a Saviour God to all men; for God regards all men favourably. The Son of God having died and gone into heaven, as Man, on behalf of men, the attitude of heaven towards man is altogether different. It is a wonderful time! The world is said to be in reconciliation — a statement worth pondering over. So Simeon holds Him in his arms and blesses God, and says, “Lord, now thou let test thy bondman go, according to thy word, in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation”. Look at the bearing of this blessed Babe in the mind of the priest! He says, “A light for revelation of the Gentiles”. It is not exactly a light to enlighten the Gentiles, but for “revelation of the Gentiles”. Think of the scope of Simeon’s vision, as he held the precious Babe in his arms! He is enabled to look out upon the dark Gentile world, held as it was then in the [p. 353] darkness of idolatry. They were without hope and without God in the world; that was how matters stood: “Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise”. Ephesians 2:12. The Babe, who was to change the whole aspect of affairs in the Gentile world, is held in the consecrated arms of a man!
In chapter 3 you see that the Lord having become thirty years of age, He identifies Himself with repentant men. Simeon, in the faith of his soul, identifies Him with the Gentiles, and with Israel, God’s people, as their glory. You see that Simeon puts the Gentile before the Jew, for Luke ever supports the gospel of Paul. It is not here “To the Jew first”; it is vice-versa, for the Gentile is first; He is a light for the revelation of the Gentiles, and then the glory of God’s people, Israel. That is the order in which matters stand at the present time. In chapter 3 you see how the Lord, as entering on His responsible service, identifies Himself with a people who were baptised. He is not going to identify Himself with the race in its lawlessness. It is when men began to accept the divine judgment about themselves, and were baptised, that He identified Himself with them; as it says, “All the people having been baptised, and Jesus having been baptised”. He comes in last. He is here on behalf of men, and as they are baptised, He is baptised. The spectacle was delightful to heaven, for heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended. The Lord was praying as baptised. He is not here in His own name like the antichrist will be, but in relation to, and in dependence upon, God; and as such, He is praying. I often think of young people identifying themselves with the Lord’s people as delightful to heaven. If you wish to be delightful to heaven you must take the lowest place, which means that you are not self-reliant, but dependent upon God. You [p. 354] can be no acquisition to the people of God otherwise. You cannot help them unless you come in in a lowly spirit, and in dependence upon God. Thus God approves you. The heavens opened, we are told, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form as a dove upon Him; and then the Father’s voice says, “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight”. He is the Son of God and heaven announces it, but although He is thus announced, He is identified with the race; so that the Spirit of God immediately proceeds to give us His genealogy, right back to Adam, and from Adam to God. Is it not a wonderful thing to be a man? Governmental and climatic conditions have altered certain men’s estate, but they are nevertheless men, are thus in favour, for Christ is Head of every man. The Lord was always infinitely holy; and now is separated from sinners, and become higher than the heavens. Here He is greeted from heaven as God’s Son; yet by birth and genealogy He is connected with men.
I come now to chapter 24 and would say a word about the question of understanding: the Lord intends that we should be made spiritually intelligent. The colleges, universities and schools of this world have all ignored this. You say, That is sweeping. I do not think so. What room do they make in their institutions for the things of which I have spoken? How much room is made in them for “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of God” Ephesians 1:17; and for the understanding by which we “know the things which have been freely given to us of God”? 1 Corinthians 2:12. Alas, no room at all. Even the outward forms of divine instruction are now being gradually eliminated from such institutions. This, however, is to be expected; for it is a mark of the apostasy, and is as old as Babel. It is said by Paul, in Romans 1, of those Babel days, that “They did not think good to have God in their knowledge”, Romans 1:28 neither do they [p. 355] think it good now. God will allow them to try to do without Him to their utter and irretrievable ruin. Of old “God gave them up to a reprobate mind”, and this is happening now also; and results will follow, as they followed in Romans 1. To-day men are being given up to a reprobate mind; they are shutting God out in their knowledge; and hence the seriousness of bringing up children in such conditions. But the fact remains that we have One on our side, the Man Christ Jesus, who can open our understanding and this is of immense importance to every Christian. To Timothy Paul says, “Think of what I say, for the Lord will give thee understanding in all things” (2 Timothy 2:7); so that the believer is never at a loss as he considers what God presents to him, for the Lord gives him understanding in all things.
You find in this chapter that there were two outwardly insignificant disciples, with their backs on Jerusalem, and their faces, evidently, towards their domestic sphere, they were going to Emmaus. The place, it seems, denotes something insignificant. Then the name of one of them was Cleopas; he evidently was not one of the notables among the saints, but was a saint, nevertheless. However insignificant, he was of interest to Jesus. Cleopas and his companion went on a journey of sixty furlongs, and on the way they were conversing together about the things that had happened. Their converse was not very illuminating, I need not say. We may go over divine things without one ray of divine light in our conversation. How could they illuminate one another when they had their backs toward Jerusalem, which was then God’s centre? It was well, however, that they were conversing about the Lord; during which conversation, it says, “Jesus himself drawing nigh, went with them”. There are three now. He then enquired as to what they were speaking of, for the Lord in dealing with our souls will encourage us [p. 356] to tell Him what is in our hearts, and He is by our side to enlighten us. If you are in a similar position, and there is the slightest movement in your heart towards Him, He will draw near to you, and will encourage you to disclose your heart to Him, so that any darkness in which you may be might be dispelled, to the end that your eyes might be opened to know Himself. So He drew near and went with them. He was even ready to go further than they were going. He will go any distance in order to recover us. The parable says He went after the one sheep; Matthew 18: 12. There were two here, and He intended to have them both! He had died for each of them; as Paul said, “Who has loved me and given himself for me”, Galatians 2:20. Will He allow those that are precious to Him to be lost, for a journey of sixty furlongs? No, indeed! He is ready to walk sixty, or a thousand furlongs, if needs be, for two so precious; and He has the same valuation of each of us.
I cannot go into the details that follow, except to point out that they go back after He reveals Himself to them in the breaking of bread. He made as though He would have gone further, but they constrained Him. You see how available He is. He loves to be constrained, for He is here in the service of His people. If He has to be constrained, it is that you might give evidence that you want Him. Do you want Him? He has put Himself within your reach. He is even at your door. He has traversed the whole road to your doorstep, and now it is your turn to do something. They constrained Him to come in, and He went in, and sat down, and gave thanks for the bread. How delightful to have Him sitting at your board, taking the house-father’s place, and giving thanks for your meal! Having blessed, He broke the bread, giving it to them, and then vanished from them. You may not understand the vanishing, yet [p. 357] it was a most interesting part of the incident. It was to lead them to return to Jerusalem. “He was made known to them in the breaking of bread”. They returned to Jerusalem at the same hour of the night. What a wonderful and immediate result of the Lord’s gracious service! Upon arriving, “They found the eleven”, those that represented Him, and cared for His interests; and those with them, who said that the Lord is indeed risen and has appeared to Simon; another wanderer. Then the two told the rest how He was made known to them in the breaking of bread. Then Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them and says to them, “Peace be unto you”. They were frightened at His presence, but He says, “It is I myself”. He is again with them, but on a different platform now, as risen, but what the Spirit puts into that short sentence is full of sweet meaning to every lover of Christ. He says, “It is I myself”. He was none less than the Son of God, the Creator of all things, and yet He receives from their hands a piece of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb! This He eats before them, thus setting their troubled minds at rest as to who He was.
Then He refers to what He had spoken to them while with them, that all that is written concerning Him in the law of Moses and Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. These are the three divisions of the Old Testament. If anybody wishes to read the Scriptures aright he must read them according to this division. We are here in the presence of the great Teacher who divides the Scriptures for us in this order: Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. A young believer must not read the Psalms first; he has had little or no experience with God and would soon be discouraged. Moses represents God; and then coming on to the Prophets, they represent the patience of God; having read Moses, you will say, God needs to have patience with me,
[p. 358] for I am a slow learner. Having experience with God, you come to the Psalms; you will indeed have your own psalm. You have learnt from Moses and the Prophets, and now you have something that corresponds with the Psalms, and you are encouraged. Then it says, “He opened their understanding to understand the Scriptures”. He divides them for you, and then gives you understanding, so that you may read with spiritual intelligence. You may study the Scriptures much, but unless He opens your understanding you will not understand. But He does open your understanding; and how enriched we are as having our understanding opened by Christ to understand the Scriptures! What we find is that they testify of Him. Every scripture points to Christ. They are all verified in Christ risen from the dead. May we all be endued with the understanding which He gives!