Luke 10:21-23
21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
22 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus experienced a much-needed moment of joy and encouragement. He turned to His disciples and encouraged them too. They had seen such amazing things already. Jesus had
commanded them to fish, and they were shocked to see overloaded nets. They had looked on in wonder when Jesus woke up and told a storm to stop. Some of them had watched Jesus glow with heavenly radiance on the mountain. All of them saw Him cast out a demon after coming down. But Jesus wasn’t just encouraging them about what they had already witnessed. He was on His way to Jerusalem for the Passover. They were watching the lamb; they were listening to His words. He was on a great mission for His people.
This was a wonderful moment, but there had been tough moments too. When the storm came up on the lake, the disciples felt abandoned. Jesus was visibly frustrated with them, saying “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25 ). When Jesus came down from the mountain the disciples were reeling from failure. He turned to them and said, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you and put up with you?” (Luke 9:41). In fact, Jesus had harsh words for entire cities, in Luke 10:13 He said, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.”
Jesus knew it was vital for people to see what He was doing and to watch where He was going. It was so simple that a child could see it. Yet it could be easily missed by a busy adult. All of this leads to an illustrative moment that occured in the house of Mary and Martha.
Luke 10:38-41
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Kids have so much less to do. During summer break we have been sending our kids out for bike rides and giving them books to read. We are looking forward to fall sports, another school year and activities that will give them more to do. Even then, sometimes they zone out in front of the TV or complain about being bored. Martha was thinking like an adult. There were preparations to be made for company. Food to get ready, dishes to wash, walks to be swept. I’m sure the list was overwhelming. Mary was just sitting there listening to Jesus. She was acting like a little kid lingering at His feet when there were adult tasks waiting to be done. She needed to grow up!
Or did she?
Like Mary, the disciples had walked away from their jobs and were following Jesus fulltime.
What kind of career was that?
In fact, Jesus was treating the disciples like children. Telling these adult fishermen how to fish, confronting them over their fear of a storm and asking how long He must put up with them. They were running His errands, listening to His preaching, and going with Him to Jerusalem. This must have looked strange to Martha and many others. Entire cities like Chorazin and Bethsaida had seen and heard Jesus, yet all the people returned to work on Monday. They weren’t impacted by His presence, His preaching, or His miracles. They were too mature to come along.
Many great kings and prophets had wanted to see the Messiah. But only those who could clear their schedules and follow Him were there. They were going to be blessed.
Jesus was headed to Jerusalem to give His life as a ransom for many. He was headed to the Passover celebration to be the final sacrificial lamb. He wanted the disciples to watch Him more closely, listen to Him more attentively and learn from Him more fully. They needed to be wide eyed children soaking in every minute of the journey because they were going to be tasked with passing the faith along to us.
Who do you need to pass the faith along to?
Have you sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to Him with childlike wonder?
If you need to be encouraged, try sitting at the master’s feet.
If you were encouraged by this devotional, head over to our website and track along with our current series on discipleship. We are going through the Gospel of Luke for this series of six messages, each with a study guide available. Every week I will be posting a devotional here that relates to the topic we are covering.
This week: It’s important to spend time with Jesus. Do you make time for the Lord to speak to you?
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