CHRIST AS MODEL IN SUPERIORITY TO CIRCUMSTANCES
[p. 126] CHRIST AS MODEL IN SUPERIORITY TO CIRCUMSTANCES
Luke 10: 21; Luke 11: 1; Luke 21: 37; Luke 22: 39
The Lord’s position as in these verses is in the way of example. Matthew, in the same setting as we have in Luke 10, records the Lord’s words, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me” (Matthew 11: 29). He formally presents Himself there as a Model, calling attention to what He was — “meek and lowly in heart”.
I might have spoken from that passage, but I was minded to speak from Luke, so as to bring out from the Lord’s example that the saints should learn how to become accustomed to spiritual buoyancy. Luke presents the testimony — the Lord’s ministry — in this connection. Luke’s gospel is marked by it throughout, ending up, as you will recall, with our Lord extending His hands in blessing His disciples, and as in this attitude being “carried up into heaven”, or, as we are told elsewhere, “received up in glory”. The disciples, instead of being depressed or discouraged, returned to Jerusalem, the place of testimony, and were “continually in the temple, praising and blessing God”. That is how the gospel ends, as you will remember, and that is how it is presented to us. It is the testimony of the gospel in the saints as marked by a spirit of holy buoyancy, the spirit of victory indeed.
Hence you will find in the chapter that presents it supremely — chapter 15 of this gospel — that the Lord is seen as a Shepherd, losing one of His sheep and finding it; and He calls persons together to rejoice with Him for He has found His sheep. A great benefaction had accrued to the sheep, but the joy was with the Bestower, and others are called into it. Then again the woman who loses a piece of silver [p. 127] and finds it, also calls her friends and neighbours together and asks them to rejoice with her. All this reflects what was going on in heaven. The father of the prodigal does not call his friends and neighbours, what is in view there is more blessed even than that; nor is it presented as a figure of what is in heaven. The prodigal had spoken to himself of hired servants, and that he would be one, too, indicating how little he understood what was before him, and what the gospel proposed.
As he reached his father, there is no word about hired servants. The hireling flees, we are told, he does not belong to that holy place, that association, but the bondman does; the bondmen are called upon to serve, dear brethren. It is christianity that is in mind, when there are no hired servants, but bondmen. The idea of a bondman, in this sense, is one who loves. The Lord Jesus, indeed, is figured to us in the type of the Hebrew bondman, as you well know, as One who loves. One who was possessed of love; One that ascends, but who comes down in descending love, and horizontal love, and in ascending love, too.
These are the features, beloved brethren, that belong to christianity, and they decide the future of the prodigal. The father says — we all know the beautiful language — “Bring out the best robe, and clothe him in it, ... and bring the fatted calf and kill it; and let us eat and make merry”. The bondmen surely understood; they were not hired servants. Hired servants, today, mark the christian profession, but they are not the ones that are called upon to bring out things, these bondmen are persons who can go inside where the best things are kept, and bring them out. Then we have the father’s words, “let us eat and make merry”. The picture shows music and dancing inside; the bearing of Luke 15 is inward, it is not our relief. Divine [p. 128] Persons are working for Their own satisfaction, and bring others into it. The music and the dancing went on. The elder brother had no taste for that; the father did not honour him with the pronoun ‘we’. He justifies what is going on, that is the point today. “It was right to make merry and rejoice”, he said. How important is the word, “it was right”. That settles everything. It was right to make merry, not that ‘we should’, not that the elder brother should be in it. The father is justifying what is current; the state of spiritual merriment “was right”. It adds in verse 24, “And they began to make merry” — there is no end to that. There is instruction to follow up what has already begun on the divine side, “they began to make merry”. Why should I not be in that? If I do not have any part in it, I shall have very little effect in my testimony or preaching, for I do not rightly represent the position. The point is to represent the position that God has brought about.
Well, the Lord, in chapter 10, at a crucial hour, “rejoiced in spirit”. I apprehend that Luke has in mind to set out how the early christians, the apostles and others who were with the Lord, were formed according to what He was, not only by what He said, but by who He was, and what marked Him under certain circumstances. We are all brought, more or less, if we are in any way with God, into critical circumstances from time to time; it is the making of us spiritually to experience critical circumstances. The apostle Paul speaks of his “despair even of living”, such a terrible pressure came upon him. But through the experience he was the more qualified to write his second letter to the Corinthians; and what a letter it was! It was the letter of a man brought out of a crisis with God. He says, “God ... who has delivered us from so great a death, and does [p. 129] deliver; in whom we confide that he will also yet deliver” (2 Corinthians 1: 10).
These crises are the making of us, but let us go through them, dear brethren, in this way, confiding in God. As it says of David, he “strengthened himself in Jehovah his God” at a great and serious crisis when his men talked of stoning him, (1 Samuel 30: 6). Then he called for the ephod. So here the Lord rejoices in spirit. He had just been denouncing the cities where most of His mighty works were done, for they were rejecting Him. The greatest possible testimony had been presented to them, and they were rejecting it. Capernaum itself, which had been raised up to heaven, should be thrust down to hell, because they were rejecting His mighty works, and rejecting Him, but He rejoices in spirit. He says, “I praise thee, Father”. I am presenting that as a model for us in these days of pressure; that we may learn how to turn to God in holy buoyancy, in holy victory, as knowing Him. It says, “David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God:” and we see here, how Jesus, in keeping with this book, strengthened Himself, as we may say, supremely, as He “rejoiced in spirit” in that crisis. And what is the occasion of it? These disciples were recording their victory, and the thought had come into His mind that they were to be in heaven with Him; that their names were written there. Not simply that they were known, but they had names; every one in heaven will have distinction, and will be distinguished by a name. He calls the stars by name; infinite in number as they seem to be, and in variety, He calls them all by name. And He says, “your names”. Can I take that home — that my name is written in heaven? The thought of it causes joy of heart, dear brethren. He is going to have us there, He is going to have us in all the dignity that He has put upon us. What the work of God implies, as expressed in the name;
[p. 130] our names are there. I apprehend our names in heaven are potential, they represent what we shall be brought to, and what we shall be there. There will not be a single discrepancy between my name as it is there, and what I shall be there — and the Lord rejoiced in the thought!
Moreover, He says to His Father, “thou hast hid these things from wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes”. God is doing that today; the truth has been hidden; a sorrowful thing, for it is judicial; man has despised it, and God is resentful. He bears long, but He is resentful and He hides from certain ones and reveals to others. That is what He is doing every day. It shows what the public official christendom is losing, but, on the other hand, those who have things spiritually are being added to every day. “To him that hath shall be given”. That is going on, and is causing joy to Jesus. He says, God is doing that — “thou hast hid these things from wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes: yea, Father, for thus it has been well-pleasing in thy sight”. The history of the assembly here, however sorrowful and dark at times, always yields something to Christ, I am sure of that. There has always been something to cause Him joy, and I want to be in that, I want to cause joy to Christ. He is making known some things to me that He is hiding from others; that is going on, beloved brethren, and we want to be in it, for it brings joy to Christ. Our meetings of this kind remind us of what is going on.
Well now, as I said, David had recourse to the ephod in a time of severest pressure, (1 Samuel 30), and here, Luke 11, the Lord is praying “in a certain place”. Prayer and joy are concurrent; God indeed promises to make us joyful in His house of prayer, (Isaiah 56: 7). Prayer expresses dependence on God. The ephod is the priestly garment particularly,
[p. 131] and David had recourse to it, marking him off as truly a priest. That is the next thing we are to have in mind, the position calls for this, it calls for joy, as the apostle says, “Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4: 4). Without prayer there will be no continuance of this joy, and so the Lord is “in a certain place praying”. Now that word “place” reminds us of much. There is so much current today in certain places to cause sorrow. I have no doubt the word “place” alludes to the early part of chapter 10, and again to the end of the same chapter, where it speaks of “a certain village”, where there was a complaining sister, and a sister who is in accord with the spirit of the moment. This section of Luke includes the mount of transfiguration, and that mount implies that Jesus, according to the mind of heaven, is to be listened to. The Voice says, “Hear him”. Mary is occupied with that, she is in the spirit of the moment, a great matter! It is a spiritual thing. It is a great matter to be in the spirit of the moment, to be in accord with it. As surely as I am in accord with it, I shall be persecuted by someone, maybe my nearest relative; it was so in this case. The persecutor was not only persecuting her sister, but the Lord. She was accusing the Lord. It is a local matter, and I speak of it now, because of so many local difficulties. How are they to be met? Certainly not in a complaining, or discouraged, or depressed spirit, but in heavenly buoyancy, because I am victorious myself. If I am not, I cannot help in these circumstances; I can but add to the sorrow if I touch it. It is nearly certain that I shall get into the current of the enemy if I touch it, apart from being myself in victory.
This wholly relates to heaven, as we see in the beginning of chapter 11; there is the spirit of prayer, the Lord was praying in a certain place.
[p. 132] An important word there, because He is a Model here. In Luke 6: 12 He prayed all night, the length of His prayer is stressed, how burdened He was! But here, we are not told of its length, the passage centres on the word “ceased:” an important word in our meetings for prayer. I should have the end in mind and not meander on. The Lord ceased, and the disciples waited until He ceased. We have to wait until our brethren cease. 1 Corinthians 14 contemplates that while I am speaking, I become conscious that another should be speaking and I cease. It is very important to learn how to cease. The Lord ceased from prayer and the disciples saw Him. I should like to have seen the Lord in prayer. One of His disciples wanted the Lord to teach them to pray. He must have the pre-eminence in all things, and certainly in prayer. He immediately says, “When ye pray, say, Father”. That is to say, He puts the terms of relationship, involving liberty, into our mouths, and into our hearts, showing that prayer is not to be forced or legal, but in liberty. He tells them to say, “Father, thy name be hallowed”. The Lord’s formula here has in mind local conditions. The name of Father is to be hallowed; it is not to be used lightly; not to be profaned by light usage; it is a question of what is spiritual; we say “Father” by “the spirit of adoption” (Romans 8: 15). That is, we know how to pray. “Thy name be hallowed”. That implies the divine name is used with reverence. “Father, thy name be hallowed; thy kingdom come”. That is to say, let God’s power come in; there is no other power than the power of God to meet these matters, and it is available to us.
Well now, the passage in chapter 21: 37 alludes to a place of spiritual resort. The Lord sets the example in that. John alludes to this on one occasion only in his gospel, saying that others went to their own homes, “but Jesus went to the mount of Olives” (John 8: 1). The reflection is on those who had been with Him, “every one went to his home”. Luke does not mention that, but that the Lord was teaching during the day. Those of us who have any little part in the service know how onerous it is, not only physically, but in regard of our obtaining from the Lord what is needed and suitable to present to the saints. That causes the greatest labour. Now the Lord sets us the example here as to that, daily He taught in the temple. How untiring His work must have been! Ready to answer questions, ready for anything that came up to help men to take any opportunity for this! But then, what about the night? This is a searching matter as to where one spends one’s nights, in this sense. The night is distinguished from the day. The night is the special time of secret resource. It was the period of the Lord’s secret intercourse with heaven. Where is it? The mount of Olives. It is a matter, dear brethren, to be looked into. Indeed, I believe it is intended to suggest, to use a well-known term, an out-of-the-world state of things, not exactly heaven, but an out-of-the-world state of things. Jerusalem represents the world, the sphere of testimony and public toil; it is not the sphere in which one lives. There is another sphere for that, as I said, an out-of-the-world one. It involves the power of abstraction or withdrawal from what is seen and public, so that we draw upon what is invisible, which alone suffices for the public service; that is, that one draws from heaven. The mount of Olives was the place of heavenly resource; the Lord was accustomed to go there. It was not here like going to Bethany; we are told elsewhere, He went and spent a night at Bethany, but the point here is the mount of Olives, which has its own meaning in Scripture.
[p. 134] Matthew and Mark tell us that the Lord as having instituted His supper, instructed His disciples about the new covenant and the cup, and then they sang a hymn, and they went to the mount of Olives. No doubt the Lord did, too, but that is not the point there. The point is to bring in a moral state of things, so that there is united movement; that we might move together to that place, laying the basis for assembly service. The Lord here is leading the way. This, He says, is My place of resource; every night I am here. You see what a Person He is! His resources were all there, as a dependent Man He was out of view. You could not find Him in Jerusalem, nor anywhere save here. “By night ... he remained abroad on the mountain called the mount of Olives”. He was accustomed to be there. What times must have been spent there by the Lord alone! but He says, “I am not alone”. He speaks of being “alone; and yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me” (John 16: 32). He had always His Father to go to (the Father is the source of all), to receive of Him strength, as a Man, a dependent Man here. How essential that is for preaching! With what power He would come into the temple and preach!
In the next passage, chapter 22: 39, He goes there and His disciples follow Him. It is no doubt the same occasion, but not as Matthew and Mark record it. It is not here that they went there, but that He went there, it was His custom to go. Now it is a question of His sufferings, He is entering into them, not from Gethsemane, but from the heavenly side — and as to ourselves, how differently we enter them from the heavenly side. It is a question of the power of the Spirit of God, supporting us through suffering. So you will notice that His disciples follow Him here. The time had come for that, the time has come for that, and in view of the intensest suffering, as following Him, we have recourse to an out-of- [p. 135] the-world state of things: we follow. We shall go through the sufferings buoyantly in power with the Lord; feeling everything as it should be felt, but going through them in power — and therein lies the testimony. It is what one is in suffering, in persecution — that is the testimony; not the mere sufferings, but what one is in them.
That is what Luke presents to us, what Christ was in going through the sufferings, how supported He was. He went to the mount of Olives, not to Gethsemane here, as I said, and He finds spiritual support, and is in accord with heaven in the acutest sufferings. Hence the Lord as presented in Luke is evangelical on the cross, showing that I can be evangelical, and in spiritual buoyancy in the severest sufferings, as maintaining my touch with heaven, drawing my resources from the true spiritual source. Hence He evangelises on the cross, as I might say. The thief was saved there; and the Lord says to His Father, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23: 34). Beautiful words, denoting the Lord’s infinite superiority to the sufferings. Luke presents these examples in testimony, so that having to do with things that involve suffering and maybe call forth our natural resentment, we may have the Lord before us as Model. As soon as ever mere natural resentment shows itself, I have lost my power. It is what I am as going through the thing that is the victory, that is, as I am in a forgiving spirit.
How are all these sorrows that have come up and exist in different localities, to be met? They are to be met in this way. I am outside the thing myself, I do not get into the quagmire, therefore I can help others. “But others save with fear, snatching them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude 23). You snatch them out; you do not [p. 136] leave them there; it is a question of power; “hating even the garment spotted by the flesh”. Some are to be saved, Jude says, let us save them. Luke would teach us how to save them.
May God bless these thoughts to this end!