New Thoughts (8/7/06-8/9/06)
Given the setting of this passage, it seems clear that Jesus is addressing such fears and anxieties as His instructions may have awakened in the hearts of His Apostles. The preceding portion of the message has addressed the fact – not the prediction, the fact – that they would face persecution on this mission. The subsequent portion speaks of those who can kill the body. The whole of the message, then, is to do with the physical risks that must be accepted in the service of the spiritual kingdom. At the same time, it is tempting to find a second message being delivered to His students in verse 26, but let me address that in its place, and I’ll begin at the beginning.
Jesus begins this portion with a doublet, an approach common in the Jewish way of transmitting wisdom. In differing words, He speaks the same truth twice, that by the comparison of the two examples, understanding may be made more complete. So, He tells them the disciple is not above the teacher. This is a matter of rank and importance. It would also be a matter of which His disciples were well aware, even before they were disciples. One had only to visit the synagogue to see this truth being played out. Here were the scribes, the rabbis and at their feet, those students they had accepted into their tutelage. Acceptance as a student was by no means a given. The rabbis were selective, both in terms of ability to pay for their services and ability to lay hold of their teaching. Jesus’ ministry stood in stark contrast to their ways, for He would gladly teach with masses of non-paying listeners surrounding Him. In the current context, though, the thing to be observed is that the students were always deferential in their dealings with their rabbi. His was the place of honor, theirs the place of humility. It was not far different amongst the Greeks, for all that. There, too, the teacher was held in great esteem, at least by his own students. The teacher had pride of place, and no disciple, even should he become a teacher in his own right, was deemed greater than his teacher. Those rabbis who graduated from the school of Gamaliel would remain disciples of Gamaliel all their days.
In parallel to this, Jesus presents the slave and his master. The point is the same. Nobody would ever give the slave the right to command his master. Nobody would ever honor that slave instead of his master. Whatever honor the slave might experience would be because of his master’s worth. If he was well treated, it was because his master was well respected. Now, the parallel should make the relationship of disciple and teacher more clear to us. The disciple is to his teacher as a slave is to his master. Note that the particular form of servitude Jesus is comparing to here is a lifetime servitude. It is no temporary subjugation, but a permanent condition. Notice this, too, about the meaning of being a slave of this sort. It means that the slave’s will is totally given up to the will of his master. This, too, should be the case with the disciple. His will is to be totally given up to the will of the teacher. That is the level of dedication called for in those who would follow Jesus and call Him Master.
Let us understand this, then. No disciple will ever be deserving of reverence. The best of teachers in all the history of Christendom remain disciples of Jesus. As such, they can never be given the same status as Jesus. They remain ever and always at a lower rank than the Teacher. The teacher that seeks his own reverence, his own honor, is no disciple of Christ. Now, hear what is added to this point in Luke 6:40. Every student that is fully trained will be like his teacher. There is the goal of Christianity in a nutshell – to be like Jesus. That is the whole purpose of the Church, to train up believers in the image of God. In light of that, let me turn back to the concept of the slave, for there is not a one amongst the Apostles who did not understand himself a bondslave, a life-long servant of the Christ of God. This was a matter of humility on their part, an understanding of the great truth of this very passage. On the other hand, it was also a matter of pride, for to be a slave to Jesus is to be a king’s attendant. If there is a slavery to be proud of, surely this is it!
As I noted, the immediate context of the passage drives home the point Jesus is making. Just as the servant is treated honorably because his master is held in respect, so too the opposite. If the master is reviled and despised, even the servant of his household can expect nothing but abuse and insult. If the teacher is seen as a heretic or a devil, then those who have submitted themselves to his teaching will be seen as sons of the devil. It may be unfair, it may be untrue, but the association will have been made. Further, since discipleship is a choice, as was the choice of servitude in many cases, the association will most often be well deserved. Whether their opinion of the master is accurate is a wholly different issue.
Fear can have another meaning. The same word can indicate a certain reverence or deferential view. It is in this sense that we are taught to fear God. It is not a quivering, shaking, abject sort of fear, but a reverential awe. It is respect in the extreme. Some of those rabbis that were extent in Israel at the time cultivated such an extreme of respect for themselves. They would hardly claim to be seeking that their students would treat them as gods, yet this is really what their pride desired. Is there any of this sense of the word in what Jesus is telling His own disciples? I think there is. I think so particularly because of the reason He gives them for refusing to fear.
The reason He offers them is that there is no hidden knowledge that they shall not know. Furthermore, they shall know it not simply as some clever theory or possibility. They shall know it for having experienced it personally. The connection lies in the fact that the whole school of the scribes was given over to the seeking out of hidden meanings in Scripture. Not unlike the Da Vinci Code nonsense of our day, or those who still seek out some sort of numerical, acrostic sort of hidden message in the pages of Scripture, they thought to find hidden messages from God there in the pages. They used their purported ability to discern these secret messages as a tool to bolster their own prestige. They were the purveyors of the hidden knowledge, the ‘revelation’ knowledge. Part of maintaining their prestige and position was by holding their supposed secrets close, by making it difficult for the novice to attain to their high and lofty position. Think of it! The term of apprenticeship for the aspiring scribe was long and arduous. The ways of thinking must be trained up in them. They must come to terms with the whole of scribal history, to understand how this or that predecessor had found his own meaning in the text. The trouble with such approaches is that in the end that is exactly the meaning one finds in the Scriptures by these means: one’s own meaning. It is no longer what God means, it’s what the reader wishes to find there, and Truth gets lost in the shuffle.
The plague of such purveyors of ‘revelation knowledge’ has been with the Church as long as there was a Church. Even as the Gospels were being written, these miners of secret meaning had invaded the True faith. They were known as the Gnostics and like the scribes before them, they established all manner of elaborate rites and methods by which the initiate might aspire to learn the secret, hidden meanings of the plain and obvious words of Scripture. Like the scribes before them, their motivation had little or nothing to do with real Truth, and quite a bit to do with prestige and power.
Let it be understood that I am not about to reject the prophetic viewpoint in saying this. Neither am I going to reject the idea that there is a rhema word by which God often speaks to a particular believer in his particular point of need. These things are a reality and, being a reality, are subjected to all manner of counterfeit. It is, I suppose, human nature to push the real to such extremes as to make it unreal. There is a fine line between the prophetic and the Gnostic, between holy illumination of the scriptures and vain imaginings. It is one thing when God suddenly opens our understanding of a particular text, whatever means He may choose to accomplish this. Think of Philip and the Ethiopian. Think of the disciples on the Emmaus Road. It becomes clear that God will gladly move upon the understanding, that He will, as the song says, open the eyes of our heart. However, I must note that in none of these cases do we find God pointing to some hidden pattern amongst the words, there is no pursuit of some kabbalistic interpretation. The meaning of words remain the plain meaning of words. It is more a matter of making the application understood.
It is the difference between finding the application of the meaning of the text and forcing a chosen meaning onto the text. The hidden things of the kabbalist and the Gnostic are but the imposition of imagination upon the expression of Truth. The real voice of the prophetic, the real illumination of Scripture by the Holy Spirit, are an expression of the Truth into the reality of our situation. As I said, the line between the two is thin indeed, because it is drawn upon the minds of fallen men. It is dangerously easy to slip from honest illumination into the lie of opinion disguised as revelation.
To be fair in the manner of full disclosure, I have to admit that in our own church there is often a claim made to things revealed in the moment. As much as the wording bothers me, for it smacks of Gnosticism, I also understand that it is used in the sense of illumination. Our pastorate is not of the highly educated, seminary sort. It is a pastorate well-versed in Scripture and clearly under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit. In this particular branch of Christian, much is made of ‘revelation’ knowledge, but for the most part, what is meant is illumination. One could long for greater theological precision, but so long as the pursuit is of God’s Truth, I can accept that lack of precision.
On the other hand, there are always those in these charismatic / Pentecostal regions who really do broadcast their own opinions and pet theories as divine revelation. Such are to be rejected out of hand, quite frankly. They have slipped over into Gnostic heresy, and as such, fall under John’s instructions. “Do not even greet such a one” (2Jn 10)! To greet and welcome such a false teacher is to participate in his sin (2Jn 11). This, we would never do willingly. Yet, how often do we do it by our willingness to accept any message that comes? God calls us to listen with discernment, particularly to things prophetic. We are not called to rubber stamp every message that comes, only to accept and acknowledge that which lines up with what God has revealed.
With all that, here I am saying there is this second meaning tucked away in this passage. Is it real or is it my own vain imagining? Is it Truth or is it Gnosticism. It’s a fine line, and I cannot afford to ignore its presence. Indeed, whenever I feel there is something I can add from my store of studies, I need to check my motivation, for to my mind motivation remains one of the most telling indicators as to which side of the line I am on. If I speak in hopes of hearing the appreciative response of my hearers I am but a Pharisee. If I teach with no thought given to actually applying the lesson, if I have no interest in seeing those I teach changed by the teaching, then I am not a teacher, just a braggart. If I find reason to be proud in this position, then I am unfit for the position. Were this not a danger I have known, and that I know can arise again, I should have no reason to be addressing it here. The fact is that I can quickly slip from serving in the position God placed me into serving my own ego. This ought not to be and yet it is.
I am at greatest risk, truth be told, when I hear that what I am teaching really is changing those I teach. They come with reports of how the things I have brought out have had this great impact on their life and thought, and there’s pride come rising out of his seat to take the applause. Well, sir Pride, understand this: The only reason there has been an impact is because of my own Teacher. It is only as I insist on teaching as He is teaching me, only as I stick to passing on His own lessons, that I have any positive impact at all. If I have wisdom, it is His wisdom. If I have anything important to teach, it is His lesson. The disciples of the important rabbis were always known as disciples of this one or that. The student of a great teacher remains a student or follower of that teacher however fine a teacher he may become in his own right. The Apostles would never supercede the Master, however important they were to the Church, nor would they wish to. We are but bond-servants of the Lord Jesus, the Christ of God. That is the unanimous declaration of God’s co-laborers. Never was there an apostle who wished to be raised up in the sight of the Church. Never was there an apostle who labored for preeminence. The preeminent position is forever given to Him Whom we serve, whether apostle or deacon or simply believer.
Whatever we may be doing for Christ, it is incumbent upon us to remember that we are never more important than Him. Our ministry is never more important than the God for Whom we minister. Our wisdom and understanding can never exceed that of our Head. It’s time we stopped acting as if it could. It’s time we stop trying to devise our plans and approaches to ministry, stopped trying to inform the Church by the world, and started pursuing His plan so that we can once more inform the world by the Church.
As to secondary meanings, I must note that there is a parallel of sorts to the final verse of this section which Luke provides. Here, Jesus stresses the matter of what He has said in private, rather hidden circumstances. As yet, we’ve not seen a lot of this in His ministry, but it comes. The parables by which He teaches the masses are only explained in this more private setting. Likewise, the explanations of what must come about are reserved for this small group setting. So, as Jesus addresses the matter of secret meanings, He tells His own students to proclaim loudly and publicly those truths that He is entrusting to them quietly and in private. However, the same sort of expression is used on another occasion to warn against undo secrecy and slyness.
Luke has just been relaying the story of Jesus explaining to His disciples the reason for parables, and the reason for these private explanations. He moves on to explain that the light they have been given – the light of understanding – is not given to be hidden away. The wisdom God imparts is not intended to be horded for our own personal use any more than the abundant provision He imparts is intended to be used for our own gratification alone. With that, Jesus adds the point that nothing hidden shall remain so. Nothing secreted away will not be brought to the light and made known (Lk 8:17). Curiously, He follows this with “So take care how you listen” (Lk 8:18). Well, it would seem that Jesus is letting His disciples know that He will always explain the parables to them, that the hidden meaning will always be given to them to know. Returning to the present context, we can add that it will be given to them not only to know, but to proclaim.
When I connect this message of hidden things revealed with Paul’s writing, though, another point emerges. Paul tells the Corinthians not to rush to judgment in their opinions of him. He declares that though he may submit to their questionings, it is the Lord’s own examination that exonerates him. So, he writes, don’t rush to judgment. Wait for the Lord to shed light on these hidden things. Wait for Him to make the motives of the heart clear. Then, let each man’s praise come from God (1Co 4:5). Truly, no hidden thing will remain so. Surely, there is none but the Lord who can accurately assess the heart’s motives. We are not even fit to judge our own motives half the time, yet we are in such a rush to pass our sentence on others! Wait. There is nothing hidden which shall not be revealed.
This is one of the great passages of parenting, after all. There is nothing the child may seek to hide from us that God will not cause to be revealed. I must say, though, that the reverse is equally true. There is nothing in our own lives and ways that we can successfully hide from our children. They can smell out hypocrisy at a mile’s distance. We can pretend to a piety that we don’t really have, but they will know it; and knowing it, they will be discouraged from pursuing the purity and truth we would have them pursue. Woe to those who so discourage these little ones.
In sum, I think I ought to change my sense of the key verse from this section. Nothing remains hidden. That is the key message. If nothing remains hidden, there’s no great sense in trying to hide it. This applies as much to faith as to sin. We cannot hide our sins. God will cause them to be revealed for our own good, that we might come to repentance and be healed of that disease. Likewise, our faith cannot be hidden. We cannot really be stealth Christians, however much we may try. We may be quiet about our faith, no bold proclaimers, us. Yet, the Truth will out. People will know. We may as well be open and honest about it, then. At the same time, we may as well be just as honest about our shortcomings. Everybody knows about them anyway.
Lord, the call is for transparency and openness. In this age of privacy and caution, let this transparency mark me as Yours. Let me pretend no righteousness but what I truly have. Let me not deny the faith that is mine, nor make it out to be greater than it is. Let me be a clear vessel holding Your Truth for all to see, not holding back in any way the very real glory and magnificence of my God and King.
