THREE MEN STANDING NEAR
[p. 248] THREE MEN STANDING NEAR
Luke 24:4 - 9; Genesis 18:1 - 8
JT The appearance of two men in this gospel of Luke I thought indicates what is in view in it — men in shining garments, shining raiment, reminding us of heaven. In the other passage we have three men. Three men were standing near to Abraham. The gospel of Luke begins by emphasising heavenly visitants to earth, the first named Gabriel, then an angel standing by the shepherds, then a multitude of the heavenly host — all to impress us with heaven and those who are there. The gospel ends with men in shining raiment, as if that is the thought to be reached — not angels in heaven, but men: “And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly”. 1 Corinthians 15:48. Luke would educate us by the heavenly visitants as to what heaven is, and then he would show us that we belong to it, that believers belong to it. The Lord said to the seventy that they were to rejoice that their names were written there. Thus the evangelist that specially emphasises the gospel for men, ends up with the suggestion that we are taken up for heaven. Genesis shows, I think, that God was at the outset educating believers with the thought that He would be with men, so we read three men came to Abraham. One of them is immediately discerned by Abraham as the Lord, but nevertheless they are said to be three men. The men of faith were thus taught at that early time something of God being with men in mutual relation, so the heavenly visitants to Abraham said, “So do, as thou hast said”. That was what I had on my mind. We might have it before us that God has taken us up for this exalted position, and is qualifying us for it.
RS [p. 249] That is the end or object of the shining garments.
JT That is the meaning, I think, of the men in shining raiment. No doubt they were angels, but the Holy Spirit means us to understand that that is what God has in His mind for us as men. He was thinking of us in this shining raiment.
HH-s Are they representatives in that way?
JT I think they are. They indicate what is in view in this gospel, even as the young man in Mark indicates what is in view in that gospel, and as the two angels in John indicate the dignity of Christ, sitting the one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. By these two men, in view of their being two, and their garments shining, attention is drawn to men and to heaven. In Matthew it is one angel sent down — an angel descending from heaven with his countenance like lightning. That conveys a very different thought, but Luke brings in men.
HH-s Are you helping us to get back to God’s primary thought in regard to God’s dwelling with men?
JT Well, that was before me. Solomon inquired, “Will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?” 1 Kings 8:27. But will He dwell with men in heaven? Luke would show that He will do this.
Rem Would you say that in Luke 9 the Lord is seen on the mount in this way? We read, His raiment became white and effulgent, and now it is continued in those who are here.
JT Yes, just so. He indicates that there is a change; the fashion of His countenance became different, and it was as He was praying. It is what He is up there.
Ques Would Hebrews 2 show the continuation of the same thing?
JT Yes. It says in Luke’s account of the transfiguration [p. 250] that as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance became different, and His raiment was white and effulgent. “As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly”. 1 Corinthians 15:48. The two men witnessed as to what was in the mind of God for us.
RS So that if God is going to carry out His original thought, it is a divine necessity that we should be formed after God.
JT That is so. “As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly”. 1 Corinthians 15:48,49. In that way we shall be fitted for the place.
RS So that He fits us here for the place.
JT That is what is going on. We are being made fit now for it. He that has wrought us for the self-same thing is God. Luke makes much of what is on high, of what is in heaven: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men”. Luke 2:14.
Ques Is God’s great thought that man should be for His pleasure eternally as man?
JT That is what He is working for in us. God will indeed dwell on the earth, as Solomon says, with men, but He will dwell on high with men. Luke prepares us for that; the Lord saying, Your names are written there indicates it, and we are already known there.
HH-s So that there is something to rejoice in, in that our names are written in heaven.
JT Yes.
HH-s Chapter 1 speaks of the dayspring from on high visiting us. Is that the way that God has taken in order to secure man for heaven?
JT Quite. In Gabriel you have a dignitary. It is important that we should start out with that — a dignitary on the right side of the altar of incense. The altar of incense refers to man’s approach to God in the fragrance of Christ. Gabriel was at the right [p. 251] of it, so that the best would be secured there, and then he says, “I am Gabriel, who stand before God”. Luke 1:19. Then it says of Zacharias that he did not believe. He questioned what Gabriel said and was made dumb until the thing should be accomplished that was promised. He will not do; a man who does not believe what a great dignitary from heaven says will not do; so he became dumb. It is better that a man like that should not speak. If a man does not believe, he should not speak. So he remains dumb until the thing is accomplished. But then Gabriel goes to Mary with his message to her, and she says to him, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word”. Luke 1:38. She represents the principle that runs through Luke — the principle of subjection, that is, the vessel in subjection. Here is a dignitary from heaven that should be believed, as representing God, representing heaven, and Mary, instead of questioning like Zacharias, occupies the ground as believing and being in subjection; so Elisabeth says to her, “Blessed is she that has believed”. Luke 1:45. She believed, and her faith is seen in her subjection: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word”. Luke 1:38.
Ques The feature that you refer to is seen in Stephen in the beginning of Acts, his face shone as an angel, would that be the heavenly character?
JT Well, that is what is in view. It was foreshadowing Paul’s ministry — the heavenly position of the saints. The great love of God sets us down there, raises us up together, and makes us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ. In Luke Mary is the starting-point in that sense. She believes, and she is subject. From that you get a variety of women in Luke, who exemplify the principle of subjection, and all culminates in the idea of two men in shining garments. You can never reach the heavenly apart from subjection; however much we may speak of it [p. 252] and know of it in the letter, apart from subjection we shall never reach it. The Lord really can do nothing with us unless we are subject. Among the women alluded to, who bring out the principle of subjection, we get first Mary and then Peter’s wife’s mother. The Lord stood over her, it says, and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and she arose and served them. She never had a man stand over her like that. It is the standing over. She would be impressed, not now by Gabriel, but by the Lord Himself. The next case is the woman with the issue, who was healed by touching Him. She wanted to have things in a hidden way; she would hide the thing, but virtue had gone out of Him, and that must not be hid, because it is a question of the body of Christ. What comes out of Him must be expressed; instead of being hidden it must be brought to light, and that is transparency. So she falls down before Him and declared the truth before all, and she is owned as a member of the family; Jesus calls her “Daughter”. And then there is the woman in chapter 7 in Simon’s house; she had to be called attention to, that is, something is being set out in her; the Lord would call attention to what she did to Him. Then follows Mary of Bethany in chapter 10, sitting at His feet listening to His word. All is in subjection, so that you have in her the attitude in which the word affects us, so that we are built up in His mind and purified as He purifies the assembly by “the washing of water by the word”. Ephesians 5:26. Then we come to the women who are brought to see these two men. They represent those who are so affected by the principle set out in the gospel, that they went after the two men spoke to them to the eleven, and to the rest, that is, to those who represent the Lord and His authority, and related the things to them.
RS So that the virtue from Him is not to be hid.
JT No. It has to be seen. The assembly really [p. 253] begins from this, from what comes out of Him — the virtue that comes out of Him.
RS And it is what is of Him that is yet going to be in this world for the pleasure of God.
JT Well, my body has to be for that now, and for that I must be transparent. I must not be in the habit of concealing things. “If therefore thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light”, Matthew 6:22 as when “the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light”. What I am now is because virtue has come into me from Christ.
RS And as that becomes living and operative in a soul, fragrance arises to God. It is a sweet savour of life.
JT Quite. The woman in chapter 7 represents love. She loved much, the Lord said, “Her sins which are many are forgiven: for she loved much” Luke 7:47; but in the woman in chapter 8 it is the virtue that comes out of Christ. It is not only that I am forgiven, but virtue comes to me out of Christ.
Rem That is something that belongs to heaven coming to us.
JT Well, it is what He is as in us; that is what it is, and it is not to be hid. It is to shine, and it will shine.
HH-s Does it shine out a little in chapter 8, where these women are ministering unto Him of their substance?
JT Well, I think these women follow on the woman in chapter 7 who loved much. They ministered to the Lord, and the Lord said of such in the Proverbs that He would fill their treasures, and they would inherit substance. He would cause those who love Him to inherit substance. These women had substance and they ministered to the Lord of it. Then the next woman is the woman with the issue, and she sets forth deriving from Him. He says, “Virtue is gone out of me”. Luke 8:46. He knew that, and He [p. 254] would follow it up. Virtue comes out — power; that is substance, as you may call it, coming out of Christ, and that must not be hidden; it is too valuable, it is to shine. These men here were in shining garments; it is what is heavenly coming out.
GT Must we be in the good of the kingdom before we can get impressions of what is heavenly?
JT I believe that subjection is the thing, the character of subjection beginning with Mary, the Lord’s mother. If we are subject to the Lord, He can work out the heavenly in us.
GT Did not Paul start in subjection right away?
JT Well, he did. He says, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ and later he says, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision”. He had a vision from heaven. Acts 26:19.
CL Is that why it is connected here with the body of the Lord Jesus?
JT The body of the Lord Jesus is that in which the will of God is carried out; and it is seen. It comes before us in His supper. The assembly is subjected to Christ, that is the mind of God for us. In 1 Corinthians 11 we have the order of God in creation; the head of Christ is God, and the head of the man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man. It is the order that God has established, and then we have the Lord’s supper, in regard of which the apostle says, “I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you” 1 Corinthians 11:23; that is, it is a question of receiving it from the Lord. The Corinthians were disregarding that fact — the authority of the Lord at the Supper, hence the need of subjection, and in subjection you get the Spirit and the anointing; chapter 12. There is thus the expression of Christ here in the body. “So also is the Christ”. 1 Corinthians 12:12. The anointed vessel is here.
WS Would you say that in 2 Corinthians the saints were coming into the good of subjection?
JT Yes, they were; and what Paul was aiming [p. 255] at was to bring them to it, “having in readiness to avenge all disobedience”. 2 Corinthians 10:6. All opposition to God will be dealt with when the obedience of the saints is accomplished. The work of God now is to bring about the obedience of the saints. I think these two men represent the thought, and the women, in accord, go to the eleven, who represented the authority of Christ, and they tell the eleven what the two men had communicated to them. The shining is what God has in His mind — two men in shining raiment, that which would reflect here what is in heaven. The assembly ultimately comes down from God out of heaven, having the glory of God. It brings down what is in heaven, it brings it out.
HH-s We are to appear as luminaries in that way, bringing in the heavenly line of things. That would be the divine things.
JT Yes, quite. We are to be as lights in the world.
WMcK Did the message convey the thought that He was no longer in death? The men say, “Why seek ye the living among the dead?”
JT Yes. “He is hot here, but is risen; remember how he spoke to you”. What comes out here, too, is that these women can remember. That is another feature of Luke. He brings in the memorial of Christ, so that it says, “Remember how he spoke to you, being yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered up into the hands of sinners, and be crucified, and rise the third day. And they remembered his words”.
Ques Would the subjection of which you spoke be the basis on which the testimony borne by these two men would be established? They gave witness here to His resurrection. Peter and John bear witness also to His resurrection; Acts 3. They had a heavenly character about them.
JT The shining is the thing. There is to be a [p. 256] heavenly touch about you, not only what you may know or say, but something undefinable; something there that is heavenly. There should be the garments shining.
WMcK Would the Lord’s supper contribute to this in coming into touch with One who is in heaven?
JT Yes, quite. It is taking on the character of the heavenly. “As is the heavenly, such are they who are heavenly”. 1 Corinthians 15:48.
FC Would you say that as coming into subjection to the Lord there would be Bethany conditions? At the end of this gospel He led them out as far as to Bethany.
JT Yes, I would. And note they could be led. Without subjection we cannot be led. It is another feature of this gospel, that He can lead them to a point, and they do not go beyond that; in that way we see the principle of leadership. The Lord had something in His mind in leading them to that point, and this should remind us of the importance of being subject, so that He can lead us, and that He can so order us that we can set out what is in His mind. Bethany is the place of the remnant in this gospel, whereas in the opening of the Acts, the Lord goes up from Olivet. Each has its own meaning. If we are subject, the Lord can lead us to any point, to any position in which He can set out something. He can lead us there. If I say, ‘I will go a-fishing’, I am out of it, but He led the disciples to Bethany. He had some reason for it. Bethany was the place of love. He was carried up into heaven. Now what did they do? As a testimony they go back to Jerusalem and are in the temple, praising and blessing God. They are full of joy, and, as I have said, are a testimony in the temple, whereas in the Acts His ascension is from Olivet, and instead of going to the temple, they go to the upper room. They know what to do. It all [p. 257] hinges on subjection.
AI In what way do we arrive at subjection?
JT It is a question of submitting to heavenly authority. What would you say if Gabriel were to come to you and say something you had to do? Would you say, ‘I will think over it’? Gabriel is a very true and a very great dignitary. He is one of the two angels whose names are given, and it takes us a long time to recognise dignity and authority. We should be tested if Gabriel were to come to us and say, ‘Now you do so-and-so’; and if we say, ‘I do not think I should do that’, we should disqualify ourselves at once, as Zacharias did. He did not believe, and Gabriel said, “Thou shalt be silent”, Luke 1:20. You see how ready we should be to take in, indeed how we must be subject; we should say, ‘That is Gabriel, I must listen to what he says’; he is a qualified representative of Christ or of heaven. And so in the end of Matthew we have an angel whose name is not given, but everything about him shows that he is a person of great authority — his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment was white. The keepers were as dead men before him. He sat on the stone that he rolled away. It says he descended from heaven. And the women came, and he speaks to them. He says, “Go quickly and say to his disciples ... he goes before you into Galilee .... Behold, I have told you”. Matthew 28:7. Now suppose they said, ‘Well, it is a long way to Galilee’, but he says, “Behold, I have told you”. Now what are you going to do with that? You see, there are those who would question that the authority is there, but whether it be in an angel or in anyone else, the authority is in this world — the authority of God. As the Lord said before He went away; He gave His bondmen the authority. So it is a question whether I can submit myself to it. If I do not, I am out of the testimony, I am disqualified.
HH-s That is interesting. In Acts 27 in the shipwreck, we read there stood by Paul the angel of God, who said, “Fear not, Paul”. Acts 27:24. There was no one at all lost. “Wherefore ... I believe God”. Acts 27:25. Is that the principle?
JT That is right. Now we see how Luke would fit us for this scene in Genesis, because the Old Testament is intended to illustrate what we get in the New; and it enforces it. Abraham was in the position for a visit, because it says he was in his tent door by the oaks of Mamre, which would mean that he had reached a point of stability. He was not carried about by every wind of teaching; he knew where he was, “And he sat at the tent-door in the heat of the day. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, three men standing near him”.
Rem He seemed to be quite ready for the visitation.
JT Yes. He was not taken at all by surprise. He was ready for it.
JB The great thing that marks Abraham is obedience, is it not?
JT Just so. You get that here later on, but how very blessed to be in such a position in one’s circumstances, that heaven draws near, for that is the meaning of the visitation — God in relation with men.
HH-s If we were more in subjection we should be more prepared for a heavenly visitant.
JT I think we should, and when the visit would take place we should not be surprised. We are ready for it. The three men were standing near. I think that is very beautiful, standing near him, as if God were to say, ‘I am come down here to you, Abraham, I want to be near to you’. Later on the word is, “Come near to me”. But God draws near to us first, in order that we might draw near to Him.
RS They saw that there were conditions with Abraham that they could come to.
JT Quite. That is the point. I am sure [p. 259] the circumstances that are mentioned allude to suitability.
Rem Sitting in the tent door would suggest that he was not resting on the couch. At that time of day I suppose everyone else would be resting, except the heavenly visitors.
JT Whereas Abraham is looking. He lifted up his eyes and saw. He is a worthy descendant of Shem — a very interesting thing is seen in him. We have spoken of it often in regard of the failure of Noah. Shem and Japheth go backward. They were looking in another direction. They were not occupied with their father’s shame, their eyes were in another direction. God says, ‘I will gratify those eyes’. “Blessed be Jehovah the God of Shem”. Genesis 9:26. And so in chapter 11, where Babel is being built, God scatters the people, dividing them up into nations over the whole earth, and then He brings in the generation of Shem. He had already brought it in in connection with the other two sons of Noah, but now He brings it in by itself, as if God said, ‘Now I am making room for the line of Shem, for the line of blessing’. The nations being divided up, room is made for that, and so as we come down the line, we arrive at Abraham, and then we are told, not by Moses, but by Stephen, who had a view of the glory, that “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham”. Acts 7:2. That is the continuation of Shem, whose eyes were in another direction. So here Abraham’s eyes are ready for the visitants, they are not impure with occupation with evil things of this world; they are holy, as we might say.
AG He would be very different from the woman in Luke 13.
JT Yes. Although she was a daughter of Abraham, yet Satan had bound her for eighteen years, as much as to say, ‘God will be deprived of this one, anyway’; but the Lord says she is a daughter [p. 260] of Abraham Do you think if the Lord had His place in one’s heart, one would always be looking up?
JT Well, you would be looking to God, expecting from Him to see things, for there are wonderful things to be seen.
AG The Lord says, “If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him”. John 14:23. It would depend on the word having effect.
JT Yes, to have our eyes looking in the right direction; we shall thus see the things that God has prepared for us.
JB Abraham looked for a city which hath foundations.
JT That is it. He looked. It is a question of what your eyes are occupied with, what you are looking for.
Rem Stephen looked stedfastly.
JT Just so.
HH-s So that in John 8:56, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad”.
JT Yes, that is good. Now it is a question of where our eyes are. “Lift up now thine eyes”, God said, “northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it”. So that Abraham became accustomed to look, to use his eyes.
H,H-s. When he was going to offer up Isaac it says that on the third day he lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. He had a good vision there, had he not?
JT Quite.
RS It is a question of where our eyes are now.
JT That is the practical thing, as to what we are occupied with, what we are looking at. Paul speaks of looking not at “the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen”. 2 Corinthians 4:18. I believe that if we have our eyes in the right direction we shall see things;
[p. 261] God will satisfy such eyes, and it begins, as I was saying, in those two men — Shem and Japheth — looking in another direction. They went backwards; they would not occupy themselves with the shame.
HH-s That is interesting in regard to Shem and Japheth, because Abraham seemed to take character from that. His eyes were in the right direction. He was seen looking in that way.
JT The line of Shem is the line of blessing, so that you have the idea appearing — “the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia”, Acts 7:2 indicating to him that there was much ahead of him. It was not the glory that appeared to him, but the God of glory; He would convey to Abraham that there was much to see.
AI Do you mean that if we are in proper conditions we should have heavenly visitants?
JT That seems to be what is taught here. Christianity is not merely a set of doctrines; it is a living thing characterised by Christ, so that the many different proofs that we get in the New Testament after the Lord rose are all to impress us with Christ as He is now.
HH-s So Abraham would detain these three men and entertain them.
JT That is the next thing to see. The three men standing by him is one thing, but how I behave on the great occasion is another thing.
RS He was not afraid of them.
JT Not at all, and he knew the One to whom to speak. He says, “Lord”. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent-door, and bowed himself to the earth, and said, “Lord, if now I have found favour in thine eyes, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant;” There is no delay now, nor hesitation. The starting-point is the tent-door.
FC What is the significance of the three?
JT It suggests that God came in company. He [p. 262] does not need to come in company now, because the company is here. It says of the Lord that He showed Himself alive after He suffered with many proofs, being assembled with the apostles; they were the company. Then Paul speaks about Him appearing to five hundred brethren at once. The company is there. God had called out one man, but now He has got many. “Look now toward heaven”, He said to Abraham, “and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them ... so shall thy seed be”. Luke, I think, brings in the stars, the heavenly seed of Abraham, the shining ones. Now that the Lord has got these He does not need to come in company. Of course He appeared to individuals, but the company is in view, existing on earth.
CL So that in Bethany He has three to whom He can give His company.
JT Exactly. The three were there. Those two men in Luke would show that that was the idea. There were two in shining garments. That is the idea of the company. All that follows in Luke 24 is to bring the brethren into accord with that idea, so that the Lord comes in among them.
Rem He did not commit Himself to the two on the way to Emmaus.
JT No. He did not stay with them, Their faces were in the wrong direction, but here He is ready to stay.
RS There were such conditions here that He was ready to stay.
JT Yes. He is open for an invitation. He places Himself near enough to Abraham for that. Now, what will Abraham do? It is God coming near, but the question is what will Abraham do? God came near in the garden; He walked in the garden, it says, in the cool of the day; He was there for Adam. He placed Himself near enough to Adam,
[p. 263] but he was not there. He had hid himself; he was not available.
HH-B Is it not a contrast to Luke 7? God placed Himself in touch with Simon, but he did not rise to the occasion. He did not bring the water, but Abraham brings the water to wash their feet.
JT Yes. That is what Abraham does. Now, what do you do, and what do I do, as we are thus privileged?
JB Is it not beautiful to see that Abraham had everything in readiness? All that was needed was at hand.
JT Quite. He says, “Lord, if now I have found favour in thine eyes, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant”. He would detain Him. “Let now a little water be fetched, that ye may wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will fetch a morsel of bread; and refresh yourselves; after that ye shall pass on; for therefore have ye passed on towards your servant”. “And they said, So do as thou hast said”, it was a mutual thing between them. Think of the greatness of this position! God the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, waiting on a believer, waiting on him to take a meal to Him. Does it not inspire confidence as to what God is? How He would set us at liberty in His presence that He can wait on us. Think of all God has in His hands, what He is occupied with, looking after everything, and yet He can wait for a believer to prepare for Him! It shows how He would inspire confidence in our hearts.
WMcK “So do as thou hast said” set Abraham at perfect rest.
JT Yes. They made no conditions, none at all. Whatever he said it was accepted. It shows us what we shall be in heaven; this prepares us for eternity, for God will set us down there in perfect ease. Here He is waiting as Abraham prepared to minister to Him.
HH-[p. 264] s It is really encouraging in that way. Abraham has all that is needed at his disposal, so that he can provide at this particular moment what he proposed to give them.
JT Yes. He has the things; he hastened into the tent to Sarah. That is the next thing: he brings Sarah into it; she is not to be left out, that is, if God comes in in company, whatever is there is to be brought into that; so Abraham goes into the tent to Sarah, and says, “Knead quickly three seahs of wheaten flour, and make cakes”. Then he ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the attendant, and he hastened to dress it, and he took and set it before them, “and he stood before them under the tree, and they ate”. It is the very essence of simplicity, and it is all intended to show how God would prepare believers for the coming day. They are not to be afraid of Him: “Perfect love casteth out fear”. 1 John 4:18.
JM So that the conditions were with Abraham.
JT Quite. The simplicity of the visit is what strikes you.
CL Is it not a great contrast to what we see in the next chapter, where moral distance from God marks it?
JT It is, indeed.
GT Your thoughts would help to set us free to minister substance to the Lord on Lord’s day morning.
JT Well, they would; whatever you have you would minister; but then Abraham had everything for refreshment at his command. He had a calf, tender and good, and wheat, and two kinds of milk, thick and sweet, the thick signifying what is carried over, the sweet what he has now fresh.
HH-s You have been pressing on us that God has given us of His very best. It is only fair that we should give Him our very best, and [p. 265] that is what Abraham does here.
JT Yes, That is exactly what Abraham does. He had the most excellent food for such a repast as this. The thick milk would be what is carried over; some things that are carried over are stale, but thick milk means milk that is good of its kind. It represents the experience that I have carried over. It is good of its kind, but then the fresh is better.
FC Is the experience of which you speak learned in the tent?
JT I think it is. Abraham is under the oaks, and then he calls attention to the tree that afforded shelter there. I suppose in the East trees are valuable in that way to shelter from the sun.
CL There is no hiding behind this tree!
JT No, indeed, it is for shade.
Ques Would Sarah suggest the subjective side, so that Abraham requests her to make cakes of the fine flour, on the meat-offering line of things?
JT Quite. Notice that he does not treat her as a servant. In the case of the calf it says, he gave it to the attendant, but he goes into the tent to Sarah. There is a certain respect due to her.
RS He brought his wife with him.
JT He carried her with him. He went into the tent to give her his charge.
RS They were in happy fellowship together.
JT Quite. She was quite subject. He said, “Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes”. The scene is beautiful. Everything is in order.
RS The heavenly visitants partook of it, and they did eat.
JT Yes. It says, “they ate”. They do exactly what Abraham says under the tree; so that in the light of this, we need not think that we shall be at any disadvantage in heaven. God will make us to be perfectly at rest, “Perfect love casteth out fear”. 1 John 4:18.
Rem “There no stranger-God shall greet thee”. (76:[p. 266] 10)
JT Quite. You begin here. Heaven begins down here, and I think that is what Luke means. He brings down the heavenly host, that is, the thing comes down in volume, so that you can see it, and prepare for it.
FC Why is there so much said in this chapter as to “making haste”, kneading quickly, and running?
JT Well, when the thing is clear that you should do, there should be no delay in doing it.
FC Does it suggest spiritual energy?
JT That is just what it does — intelligent energy. You know what to do, and when you know what to do you do it.
WF Abraham did not boast of what he had. He brought out much more than what he mentioned, “A little water ... a morsel of bread”. That was his own idea of what he had.
JT Yes. He did not want to make a show. Sometimes we say all that we know right away, but the thing is to measure it according to the occasion, and you do not want to make a show in serving. Mary had a pound of ointment; John 12:3.