The Demands of Discipleship (Luke 8:16–21) | The Gospel of Luke (Part 58)

Transcript

JRNT 109
5/31/2026
The Gospel of Luke (Part 58)
The Demands of Discipleship
Luke 8:16-21
Jesse Randolph

Now, in the days of Jesus’ ministry here on earth, in the 1st century, in the regions of Galilee and Judea and the towns of Capernaum and Jerusalem and Nazareth and Bethsaida. There was a term for those who would have called themselves “followers of Jesus” and that term was “disciple.” Those who follow Jesus, those who learn from Jesus. Those who were His pupils and His students, the term would have been “disciple.” Those who were following Jesus, those who were walking behind Him, sitting, literally at His feet, clinging to His every word, they would have been called His “disciples.” And when Jesus, having been raised from the dead, but before ascending back to the Father gave those disciples His great commission. He told His disciples that they were to replicate themselves and make more of themselves. To make more disciples. That’s the language of Matthew 28:19-20, where Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holly Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

If you’re here this morning, as a follower of Jesus Christ, one of the reasons you are here, as a child of God, is that someone you know, someone in your life, took those words of Jesus seriously. Someone, whoever that was, loved you enough to open their mouths. They knew that you were lost. They knew that you were dead in your sin. They knew that you faced the wrath and the judgment of Almighty God on account of the sin you had committed against Him. They knew that Christ had come to pay the penalty for sin, and to forgive sin and they showed love to you. They showed their love for you, by sharing the Gospel with you. They took seriously Christ’s charge and His command to make disciples, when they shared the Gospel with you. They could have taken the easy way out. They could have said, someone else will get to him, or someone else will share with her. But they didn’t. They did the hard thing. They did something. They shared. See, if you’ve been a Christian for any amount of time, I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, that Christ lays certain demands upon His followers. Yes, His yolk is easy and yes, His burden is light. Especially when compared to the weight of sin that we once were under. But we’re still wearing a yolk. We still are carrying a burden of sorts. You know, Jesus still does expect His followers, His disciples, those who were truly His to act in a certain manner and to live in a certain way. To do certain things. You know, it’s graduation season and we see people moving their tassels on their mortarboards from right to left in various ceremonies. Well, as Christians, we don’t move the tassel on the mortarboard and then sort of put it on cruise-control, once we become a Christ-follower. You know, it’s not always fun and games when it comes to following Christ. It’s not all cartwheels and confetti. No, there’s certain burdens associated with following Jesus. There are certain pressures. There are certain stressors. There are certain hurts and trials and fractures. Ultimately, demands that He places on those who claim His name.

Today, we’re back in Luke’s Gospel, in Luke 8. I’d invite you to turn there, if you’re not there already. To Luke 8, and we’re going to work our way through verses 16-21. Luke 8:16-21 – God’s Word reads, “Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it with a container or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. So, beware how you listen, for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has, shall be taken away from him. And his mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. And it was reported to Him, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You’ But He answered and said to them, ‘My mother and my brothers are these who hear the Word of God and do it.’”

What we’re going to see in our text this morning, are three ways that Jesus demands something of His disciples. First, in verses 16-17, we’re going to learn of The Demand of Unhindered Light-Bearing. In verse 18, we’re going to see The Demand of Undistracted Listening. Then, in verses 19-21, we’ll look at The Demand of Undivided Loyalty. Let’s start with the first one:

The Demand of Unhindered Light-Bearing
Verse 16 says, “Now no one [this is picking up the words of Jesus here] after lighting a lamp covers it with a container or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Now, it’s been a few weeks since we’ve been in the Gospel of Luke. So, I’ll remind you that the last time we were in this Gospel, we had just made our way through Jesus’ parable of the soil. Which is that account that Jesus gave of the Word of God going out, as it scattered like seed, on to these four different types of individuals, represented by these four different types of soils. In fact, you can look up the page with me, to the parable of the soil, which begins, really, in verse 4. But in verse 5, we learn of the first soil. This is Luke 8:5, and that’s described as seed falling on a dirt path where it’s either trampled underfoot, or it’s plucked up by the birds. The interpretation of that first soil is given down in verse 12 where Jesus says, “Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.” In verse 6, we get the second soil. This would be the rocky soil, and it says, “And as soon as it grew up, [once that seed fell on the rock] it withered away, because it had no moisture.” Then the interpretation of that soil is given in verse 13, where Jesus says, “Those on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.” Verse 7, we learn of the third soil. This would be the thorny soil, where it says, “Other seed fell among the thorns, and when the thorns grew up with it, they choked it out.” The interpretation is given in verse 14, where Jesus says, “The ones who have heard, and as they go on their way, they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of life, and do not bear ripe fruit.”

So, with these first three types of soils, what we have here are these three types of individuals who are represented. Where the Word is thrown their way but ultimately, it never takes permanent, lasting root within them. The faith that they say they have, the faith that they once thought they had turns out not to be “faith” at all. You know, putting it in our modern context: these are those individuals who walked the aisle, or who prayed the prayer, or who wrote that date inside their Bible, or who experienced a “campfire conversion.” Or, even as we heard in the testimonies of baptism just now, good timing ladies, that they were going to church all this time, and thought that they were “in Christ” when they weren’t. For these folks to represent these three soils, they end up walking away. Proving not that God somehow lost His grip on them, as though He could but proving not that they backslid, a popular term that’s out there in the world. But proving, rather, that they never had true saving faith to begin with. So, those are the first three soils. Then comes the fourth soil, that’s mentioned in verse 8 and says, “And other seed fell into the good soil; and growing up, it produced a crop one hundred times as great. And then Jesus gives the interpretation in verse 15 of this fourth soil, and He says, “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.” Putting it very simply, this fourth soil represents the saved. Those who have actually been granted eternal life. Those who have truly had their sins forgiven. Those who surely will one day enter Christ’s coming kingdom. As we saw, when we studied that parable a few weeks ago, those who are in this category of the “good soil”, they not only receive the word, as they “hear the word in as honest and good heart” but they do the word. Look at verse 15 again, where Jesus says, that they “hold it fast” and they “bear fruit with perseverance.”

Now, a common question that I’ve heard when these “four soils” sermons are preached, including my own a few weeks ago is “how?” Tell us how? How are we to hold fast to the word? What does Jesus mean when He says that? How are we to “bear fruit with perseverance” Well, in our text for today, Jesus is going to fill in some of those gaps. In what really is an extension of the Parable of the Soils in this text, Jesus paints this clear picture of how those who are the “good soil”, will actually live.

Look at verses 16-17 again, “Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it with a container or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” Now, moments earlier, Jesus is speaking to His disciples, and as He’s doing so, He’s taking them visually and verbally out into this field somewhere, where seed is being scattered all around. But now He changes the illustration and transitions into a different account here as He’s taking the disciples now, into this bedroom scene. A bedroom that’s being illuminated by some sort of first-century oil driven flame. So, what’s the connection between these two texts? The Parable of the Soils, in our text for today about a lampstand and light? What’s the connection? Well, the connection is Jesus Himself.

In the Parable of the Soils, Jesus, as He is depicting seed being scattered on those four different types of soils, He is the Sower. Jesus is the One scattering the seed. It is His Word. It is His message that is landing on these four different types of soils or these four different types of hearts.
Similarly, in our text Jesus is the lamp. He’s the One who came to bring light into the darkness. That’s what we saw in our scripture reading this morning, John 1:4, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.” Jesus came to bring light into the darkness. Jesus came to flood this sin-cursed and sin-darkened world with light and truth. Jesus came to do so; so that He would cause all who would follow Him, those whose foolish hearts were once darkened, Romans 1, to now walk in light. To now walk in obedience to Him. Indeed, those are Jesus’ own words in John 8:12 where He says, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the Light of life.” Jesus is the Light. The question that we must wrestle with, as we consider His demands for disciples, is whether we are light-bearers. Whether we are sharing His light. Whether we are distributing His light. Jesus came to bring the light to shine in the darkness. So, the question for you is are you shining it?

Let’s say you’re driving late one night on one of these back roads outside of town let’s call it 148th, a couple of miles east of here, it’s 1:30 in the morning it’s just you, the moon and the open road. Let’s say that all of a sudden, out in the distance, you see a car pulled over on the side of the road. You get closer, and you realize, oh that’s a 2014 dark silverish Camry. You get even closer and as your headlights are piercing through the night sky you realize that there’s something wrong with this Toyota Camry. Not only is steam belching out from under the hood but there’s a man under the car only his legs are protruding, because he’s fiddling with it in the pitch-black darkness. You walk up to the car; you talk to the legs that are coming out from under the car, and you say, “Sir, can I help you?” The man pulls himself out from under the car and it turns out it’s me under the car, fiddling, pretending like I know what I’m doing, at 1:30 in the morning, on 148th. You say to me, “Pastor Jesse, is that you?” “What’s going on?” “What are you doing out here?” “Can I help?” You say, “Hang on a second, my flashlight light isn’t working, but I’ve got an old kerosene lamp in my trunk.” Because you’re one of those types who carries antiques and flammable liquids in your trunk. Well, you head back to the trunk of your car. You take that kerosene lamp out. You light it. You walk back to my car. At that point, I say to you “Thank you so much so-and-so, that’s so kind of you.” “I promise to return it. I’ll see you at church on Sunday, lantern in hand.” And I slide back under my car. Now, I’ve got a lantern nearby. Now I can go back to pretending like I knew what I was doing. Well, it’s at that very moment that you reach down you’ve just given me the lantern, it’s sitting next to me by the car. You reach down and you turn that lantern into the “off” position you blow out the flame you take a greasy rag to cover up the lantern you throw it on top of that lamp you jump in your Subaru, and you drive home.

Now, would you say you helped me in that situation? No. You pulled up on me. You engaged with me. You identified that I had a problem. You even brought me a lamp. But ultimately, you left me fumbling in the dark. You left me in no better position than I was before. I still have a car what won’t start. I’m still stranded. I’m still under that car, in the dark. In our passage this morning, Jesus was relaying to His disciples to followers like you and me, that we are to shine His light. Verse 16 again, “Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it with a container or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.”

Back in the day, at least in California, I’m not sure that they had these ads out here, but there was an old radio jingle for Motel 6, and the guy would come on in this really folksy voice, I think his name was Tom Bodett and he would say, “We’ll leave the light on for you.” Maybe they had that here? Well, that’s what Jesus demands of His followers. That’s what Jesus expects of His disciples; both then – and now. That we’ll “leave the light on”, so-to-speak. That we’ll let our lights shine for Him as we proclaim His message, His Gospel message, which, at its root, is all about light having come into the world.

This world we live in is dark and it’s declining. I mean, church doors are closing all over this land. But bars and liquor stores and casinos and racetracks and dispensaries are booming businesses. Divorce and single-parent homes and children out-of-wedlock are becoming more normative while God’s design for an intact marriage between one man and one woman truly till death do them part, is becoming more and more abnormal. Pornography and violence are becoming normalized at alarming rates. Desensitizing an entire generation to the worth and integrity of the human body simply sitting with a book and reading. Sitting down to watch and enjoy a sunset. Sitting down on your back porch to watch your children play. Sitting face to face with a human and having human contact and human interaction. All of these experiences are becoming more and more rare and washed out with a generation that’s becoming glued to the digital fix.

What all this is creating in this very dark and declining world we live in is this spiraling sense of hopelessness and despair. There’s a reason that suicide rates are soaring. There’s a reason that psychotropic drug use continues to skyrocket. That’s because we live in a world in which there are a lot of despairing people who, after a few trips around the sun, they get tired of this carousel ride known as life and they simply want to get off. It’s a sad and dark world. It’s a sad and dark outlook for those who are still in the darkness.

The point for us, getting back to our text is that as Christ’s followers we are called by our Lord to do something about that. You know, as those who have been made alive by the Spirit. As those who know Jesus, personally the Light of the world. We’ve been called by our Captain to go into this dark world and proclaim His message to shine the light. In fact, Jesus said something similar over in the Sermon on the Mount. Turn with me to Matthew 5. You’ve heard me say that Luke 6, which we studied a few months ago, is the Sermon on the Plain, a distinct sermon from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. But in Matthew 5:14, we have this language in the earlier part of the Sermon of the Mount. Matthew 5:14, Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. [and then, look at this, verse 16] Let you light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Christ’s followers, in other words the Christian, the one who says they’re following the Lord we’re called, not only to not obstruct the light of the Gospel from going out that would be the greasy rag on the lantern on 148th street as followers, but we’re also positively commanded to let our light shine. To let our light shine with the message of the hope of the Gospel.

We let our light shine, by first opening our mouths by sharing with the people that God has sovereignly placed in our life. We share with them how they might be reconciled to the God they’ve sinned against. But you also let your light shine by refusing to live an unholy life which muddies and confuses your presentation of the Gospel. By refusing to cloud or distort or obscure your presentation of the Gospel by living a life that it is completely at odds with the Savior your claim to represent. Because you have been charged to preach a Gospel that really saves on behalf of a Savior who is truly worthy, you’re called to let your light shine. You are called in doing so, to live obediently to the Lord. You’re called to live in obedience to the One who you claim to represent and be an ambassador of. You just about guarantee that the person you’re sharing with, whoever that is, if it’s “your one” from a few years ago or your family member or the stranger on the street. They’re going to have questions about whether your walk matches your talk. They’re going to have questions about whether you practice what you preach. You know, you can play scenario after scenario, where you’re sharing with somebody and they’re saying – “You want me to give my life to Christ, and yet you talk to your wife that way?” “You’re saying that I need to repent of my sin, but I know for a fact, that you show up hungover to church every third Sunday?” “Give me a break, no thanks. I’ll go about my life just as I please.” The charge is to “Let your light shine before men.”

And make no mistake this charge to serve as lights for Christ as beacons of hope, as lighthouses of truth, as we proclaim that message of salvation that carries over into our day today. We carry that same responsibility as Jesus’ first century disciples did. Turn with me, if you would, to Philippians the Letter to the Philippians in Philippians 2 specifically. Here we have the Apostle Paul, laying out for the church at Philippi, some really profound incredible truths. Starting in Philippians 2:5, we have this profound statement of what Christ did through His humbling of Himself in His incarnation and the example of humility that He set for His followers. Philippians 2:5, “Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men.”

Then, down the page, in verses 12 and 13, we have this critical passage on Christian sanctification. We’re told, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Then we have these words in verse 14, this is where I want us to lock in, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, so that you will be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.” Now, get this: “Among whom you shine as lights in the world.” There we have it again. As followers of Christ, we’re called to “shine as lights in the world.” Not shining spotlights on ourselves but instead, placing the spotlight on Him as we proclaim His saving message of light and truth and hope. Not restraining His light, not covering His light but sharing his light.

J.C. Ryle, the late 19th century Anglican Bishop he’s writing in properly Victorian language here. He says: “No candle which God lights was ever meant to burn for itself.” Ryle was right. May it never be said of us, that we were candles who only burned for ourselves. You can picture that visual, right? You’re holding the candle, the wax is melting down to your hand, as you’re gripping that candle. But you never reach out and extend the flame. You never reach out and pass along the light to anyone else in proximity. May that never be said of us. Instead, may we be a people who are known for sharing regularly the light that we’ve been given and shining brightly with the light of the Gospel.

Back to our text here in chapter 8 of Luke. After saying to His disciples in verse 16, “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a container or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see this light.” Jesus next, says this in verse 17, “For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” What these words are pointing to very simply, is the urgency of the mission of every single follower of Christ. Jesus said something similar in Luke 12:2, He said, “There is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.”


Now, in both settings, what I just read from Luke 12 and our passage in Luke 8:17, Jesus is alluding to the fact that Judgment is coming to this world. Now, for His followers, it’s going to be a sifting sort of judgment. Where they will either be assigned eternal rewards or they will lose eternal rewards depending on their faithfulness as followers of Christ. That’s laid out in II Corinthians 5. But for those who never put their faith in Christ in this life they face a different type of judgment. Not only will they die once, as we all will as a result of the fall of Adam and the curse on the human race. But they’ll die twice. They’ll face the “second death”, which is how it’s described in Revelation 21. Revelation 21:5, and speaking of this second death, it says, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life.” And if no one has but their faith in Jesus Christ, they’re name won’t be there. It continues, “. . . he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Intense, scary stuff. The point here, in verse 17 of our passage is that Jesus is calling on His disciples to shine His light both, so that they – His disciples, the light bearers will not lose rewards for being unfaithful in answering His call to be a light-bearer. But also, so that the ones to whom they are called to shine that light those otherwise hell-deserving and hell-bound sinners might have an opportunity to be spared. “Shine My light,” Jesus is saying here. Because “nothing is hidden that will not become evident.” “Shine My light,” He is saying. Because there is nothing “secret that will not be known and come to light.”

Remember that as He exists today as Jesus exists today in His resurrected, ascended, glorified state. The way that the Apostle John experienced Him when he had that vision on the isle of Patmos in Revelation 1:14. He’s described there as having these eyes that are “like a flame of fire.” Meaning, He is all-seeing. He’s all-knowing. He’s omniscient. He sees everything that goes on in this world, under His sovereign Lordship. And with that very penetrating gaze of His in His state today He sees everything. Hebrews 4:13 says, “There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we have an account to give.” That’s the idea here in verse 17, that the Lord Jesus, yes, He sees all of the wickedness, and He sees all of the rebellion that exists in the world today. He knows, by the way, that tomorrow’s June 1st, and the world is going to celebrate a certain type of sin for 30 straight days. His bow is bent and His sword is drawn and He stands ready to execute His perfect Justice on all who reject His loving and merciful Gospel offer.

But that’s not all He sees. No. When we, as His light-bearers, fail to share His light when we fail to distribute His light both through our word and through our witness, He sees that, too. A day is coming when our own neglect and our own failure is going to be exposed. A day is coming when our own hiding of His truth is going to be revealed, it is all going to come to light. That’s the meaning of these words in verse 17, where He says, “For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” Nothing is going to be concealed on judgment day. Everything will be revealed. So, in the meantime, as God’s children, through faith in Christ, we’re called to be obedient to Him, as we let our light shine.

So that’s the first demand of discipleship given in our passage this morning The Demand of Unhindered Light-bearing.
Now, as we turn to verse 18, we’re going to see the second of Jesus’ demand, which is: “The Demand of Undistracted Listening. Look at verse 18, He says, “So, beware how you listen, for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.” Now, remember, context matters. The text we’ve been looking at this morning follows right on the heels, as we’ve looked at, of Jesus’ Parable of the Soils. As we saw a few weeks ago, when we studied that Parable that Parable is ultimately about the type of soil we are what type of hearts we have as we consider where the seed of the Word of God is landing.

Before the Word lands upon our hearts, it travels through what? Our ears. It makes its way into these things that God has placed on either side of our head. We can only rightly receive the Word and can rightly be transformed by the Word if we rightly hear the Word. Look up the page, back to the Parable of the Soils, where we see this emphasis on hearing laid out.
Luke 8:12, “those beside the road are those who have heard.”
Verse 13, “those on the rock are those who, when they hear.”
Verse 14, “those are the ones who have heard.”
Verse 15, “the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart.”

I bring that up, these references to “hearing” because surely, in verse 18 Jesus is emphasis on hearing in the Parable of the Soils is now leaking out into and spilling over into what He’s saying here in verse 18, when He says, “So, beware how you listen.” It’s the same word, by the way, the word “hear” in the Parable of the Soils, and the word “listen” here is the same Greek verb. The point is, He is calling on His disciples to be careful listeners intentional listeners undistracted listeners. That’s one of His demands of discipleship, that His followers be undistracted in the manner in which they hear the Word. That they be undistracted in the manner in which they hear the Word so that they can ultimately heed the Word, obey the Word and do the Word. Bear fruit with repentance. “Bear fruit with perseverance.”

Then the Lord gives this double-edged statement, still in verse 18, after saying “beware how you listen” He says, “For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.” Now, what does that mean? Well, that language, as you read it, you can sense it has a certain “rich get richer, while the poor get poorer” kind of feel to it. That is exactly what Jesus is saying here. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, but He’s not talking about financial means or material wealth or possession He’s talking, rather, about the Word of God. The Lord is saying here, to the person who listens carefully to God’s Word. They’re going to understand it more clearly. So much so, that “more” will be “given” to them. Not more revelation, but more insight into what God has already revealed in the Word. But for the person who isn’t attentive to God’s Word, the one who fails to pay attention to what’s in God’s Word. They’re going to lose whatever it is they thought they had. So, careful hearing leads to understanding of God’s revealed Word and more insights into it. While careless hearing leads to the loss of what one thought or did hear.

It’s really a simple concept. You know, if you’re snoring in science class and that pool of drool is beneath you on the desk, as you do so, right? What you might think you have a deep profound knowledge of science; you actually don’t have. It is actually going to slip away. It’s going to go away on judgment day, when the science exam is passed before you. Right? But if you’re attentive, if you’re locked in, more will be given to you. Maybe not more science homework, unless you’re in Mr. Kooly’s class. I hear about science tests in that class. But you’ll be given greater insight into the subject. You’ll be given a greater facility with the subject. A greater ability to pick up and absorb what you’re being taught. So, it is with the Word of God. If you’re attentive to it if you’re reading it if you’re studying, it if you’re hearing it proclaimed. If you’re on top of that, as we’re all called to do in Colossians 3:16, “Let[ing] the word of Christ dwell in [us] richly.” More will be given. More insight will be given into God’s Word. Things will start clicking. Recall will be a little bit easier. You’ll be making more connections between different passages of scripture. You’ll be equipped, most importantly to live out the Word of God more faithfully. We’ll be not only hearers of the Word but doers of the Word in that case. You’ll be like that one described in Psalm 1:3 who is “Like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.”
Because of our commitment to be undistracted listening of the Word. It’s that second command of discipleship here. We’ll experience growth and blessings and joy. To use the words of Jesus here – “For whoever has, more shall be given.”

But not so if we’re distracted listeners. Not so if we’re inattentive listeners. For the one who gives, you know, mere scant attention to the Word. The one who is listless and lazy in their reception of the Word. For the one who it is in one ear and out the other, it’s a different story. Those who snooze on the Word ultimately lose the Word. They might have a copy in their hands. They might lay a copy of the Word on their laps. They might tote a copy of the Word around church for show. But if the Word isn’t abiding richly within them. If the Word is dry as dust to them. If the Word is a bore and a chore to them it’s a big problem. Sure, they’ll go to church. But while the Word is being preached, they’re yawning or checking their phone or daydreaming, or scanning the crowd or waiting for those magic two words that stand between sitting in that chair and going to lunch, when the Pastor says – “let’s pray.” Well, to that crowd, Jesus is saying here, verse 18, “beware how you listen.” “Beware” because the biblical knowledge that you thought you had is actually a lot shallower than you thought. “Beware” because you are stagnant. “Beware” because without an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ, which only comes from through the careful reading and study of His Word, you aren’t growing. “Beware” because as this warning is given in Hebrews 5 you should by now be able to process meaty, biblical truths, but you’re still on milk. You might have been a Christian for five years or fifty-five years, but you’re still a bottle-fed believer and that’s problematic.

So, the question for each of us to consider in connection with the words of Jeus here in verse 18, is whether we are being mindful of how we take in the Word. Do you find dedicated, undistracted pockets of time in your day, in your week to take in, to ingest the Word? Do you block that time off intentionally and strategically? I can’t give you specific application points, but I can give you principles and some guardrails. Do you shut the door, wherever that might be? So, you can focus on your time with the Lord, in the Word. Do you let your loved ones know? I can’t do that right now, I do need some time with the Lord. Do you turn off the phone? Do you set your laptop or computer to – do not disturb? Do you pray for understanding and ask the Spirit to illuminate what He’s laid before you on these pages? Are you diligent and intentional about the way that you interact with the Lord through the pages of His Word? If you are, that’s wonderful. Then you’re surely seeing growth in your life, spiritual growth incremental though it may be.

But if you’re not being mindful about your intake of God’s Word. Then I’ve got to say no wonder you’re in that perpetual state of spiritual fog that you find yourself. No wonder that those verses that you’re always seeking to recall never come to mind. No wonder that the spiritual counsel that you give other believers in this church or elsewhere always seems to be really spiritually shallow. No wonder you keep losing the battels to sin. You haven’t heeded Jesus’ warning in verse 18 to “beware how you listen” and you’re paying for it. Well, I’m here to tell you that as long as you have breath there is time to turn that around. As long as you’re breathing God’s air right now even as a new creation in Christ, there is time to grow. There is still time to mature and grow in sanctification, including how you intake and relate to Him, through His Word. There’s still time to develop new practices and habits and schedules and routines that will allow you to develop a rich, undistracted practice of intaking the very Words of the living God. So, start somewhere. Do something. You know the old adage is the way you eat an elephant, is by taking a bite at a time. So, it is with growing in grace, as you learn and hear from God, through His Word.

That takes us to our third and final point this morning. Where we see this third demand of discipleship. Which is: The Demand of Undivided Loyalty. Look at verses 19-21. Now, Luke is the one speaking, and he says, “And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. And it was reported to Him, ‘Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘My mother and My brothers are these who hear the Word of God and do it.’” So, Luke now is reporting on this scene, which is unfolding before Jesus, which involved Jesus’ family. Yes, Jesus had a family. Verse 19 says it plainly, “His mother and His brothers came to Him.” In His humanity, the Lord had a “mother” Mary through whose womb He having been conceived by the Holy Spirit entered the world. But note, also, that Jesus had “brothers.” We saw this and worked through this in more depth, when we studied Luke 1, and we saw the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary. We remember that Mary was a virgin at the time the angel Gabriel visited her. Which is why she was in such awe to begin with that God was going to cause a child to be conceived through her virgin womb. But Mary didn’t remain a virgin. She is not, and was not, as the Roman Catholic Church would teach a perpetual virgin. That is an unbiblical teaching. One of the reasons we know this, that she did not perpetually remain a virgin is that we have a text like this, and other texts which tell us that Jesus had “brothers”, half-brothers, to be precise, the offspring of the union between Mary and who would become her husband, Joseph.

So, Jesus, in His humanity, had not only a “mother”, but He had “brothers.” Here in this scene in Luke’s Gospel His family members, as we put ourselves here, his family members are having a hard time getting to him. They’re having a hard time reaching Him, getting close to Him. That is because He’s soaring in popularity. People are following Him everywhere. They are surrounding Him and we see that come out in verse 9, it says, “They were unable to get to Him because of the crowd.” Well, then it’s relayed to the Lord that His family is trying to get to Him. Look at verse 20, it says, “And it was reported to Him, ‘Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.’” Now, the fact that His “mother” and “brothers” were “standing outside.” Indicates that Jesus had moved His teaching somewhere inside. Where it was. Who’s house it was in. Which synagogue it was in, we’re not sure. But His family is outside, He’s inside.

And now, look at Jesus’ answer to those who are saying Your mother and brothers want to see You. Verse 21 “But He answered and said to them, ‘My mother and My brothers are these who hear the Word of God and do it.’” Now, we need to take a moment, a few moments, to appreciate how profound a statement that is. At least for me, I think I tend to naturally think about things like what must it have been like to be Jesus’ actual family member. That would be pretty cool. I mean, we know from the scriptures that Mary was blessed among women for the privilege of being Jesus’ mother. That’s how Elizabeth says it to her in Luke 1:42, that she had this blessed privilege of carrying the Christ child in her womb. That’s beyond cool, that’s amazing. But I also sometimes think what a privilege it would have been to be His brother. You know, to be James, the Lord’s half-brother. To have been around Jesus during His childhood. To have played with Jesus. To have roughhoused with Jesus. But James, you sin when you roughhouse, and Jesus doesn’t sin when He roughhouses. To have shared meals with Him, all the way through childhood. To have shared life with Him. How amazing would that have been?

But, like everything, we have to correct our thoughts and align our thoughts with what the Bible actually reveals. What the Bible teaches. Let me say it this way there’s nowhere in scripture that indicates that any of Jesus’ siblings were saved in those early years. That they truly put their faith in Him. In fact, the very opposite is said. Mark 3:20, we’re told that “He came home, [Jesus came home] and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat a meal. And when His own people heard this [meaning, not just His fellow Nazarenes, but His family, His kin, the text continues and says] they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, ‘He has lost His senses.’ So, the perception by Jesus’ family, of Him, was that He was a crazy person, that needed to be confined. John 7:5 says it even more plainly, “not even His brothers were believing in Him.” Now, that gives us some context into the words of our Lord here in verse 21 of Luke 8 where He said, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the Word of God and do it.” Now, Jesus wasn’t renouncing His blood relatives here. He wasn’t cutting off family ties. Not at all.

But what He was describing was an ordering a taxonomy of relationships, as it relates to being in a relationship with Him. What He’s is saying here, is that those who not only hear the Word of God but do it they have a closer affiliation with Him, then He does with His own family members; and they have a closer affiliation with Him than they do with their own family members.

I mean, James was blood related to Jesus and yet he knew, by the time he wrote those words that we’re all familiar with around here, James 1:22, that we’re to “Become doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” He knew that it wasn’t his mere blood relationship that drew him closest to Jesus, but rather, it was his commitment to hearing and doing the Word of God.

What’s the lesson for us from James? What’s the takeaway? Well, it’s really simple. I mean, if Jesus was saying that His closest bonds, on earth, were not with His mother and not with His brothers but instead, with those who hear and do the Word of God. So ought it be with us. If you’re a child of God. If you’re purchased by the blood of Christ. If you’ve been saved by grace through faith your closest relationships are not always going to be and sometimes, they ought not be with those who share your last name. They’re not always going to be with those with whom you share the same two parents, the same linage, the same family tree. Those closest relationships aren’t always going to be with those with whom you share a page in a family scrapbook, or a photo album. No. Your closest relationships are going to be or at least they ought to be with you true blood brothers. Your brothers and sisters in the Lord. Your brothers and sisters in Christ. Those who hear the Word, to use Jesus’ words here and do it. Those who tremble at His Word. Those who receive His Word with meekness. Those who obey the Word by seeking to apply it to their lives. Now, sometimes, and I know this from firsthand experience in our church by God’s grace, those two spheres intersect where the Lord graciously and sovereignly grant salvation to every member of a human family. That’s unbelievable and incredible what a grace of God. But, more often than not that’s not the case. More often than not, that is not how it happens and that’s when we have some hard choices to make. And we have, sometimes, some hard lines to draw. That might be where you have to ask yourself:
“Is my allegiance to the ones who have known me since the days of my childhood?” “Or is my allegiance to the One who has known me since before the foundation of the world? “Is my allegiance to the household in which I was raised?” “Or instead, is my allegiance to the One who, Galatians 6:10, has placed me into the household of faith?

A lot to consider. A lot to weigh. We’ll have much more to consider on that matter of family loyalty and family allegiance, in light of what it looks like to follow Christ. We’ll get there in Luke 9. We’ll get there in Luke 14. But what we’ve seen today, in this passage, are these three demands of discipleship. Again: The Demand of Unhindered Light-Bearing. The Demand of Undistracted Listening. The Demand of Undivided Loyalty.

As we get ready to part ways and say hello and encourage the baptizes. Just two questions for you all to think about in your 84th Street conversations whether it’s home or to Don and Millies. Or whether it’s in your quiet time with the Lord this week.

First, is this: Am I a true child of God? Like the three young women who have made their profession of faith and allegiance to Christ known. Have I put my hope and my trust in what Jesus did for me, by dying for me, and rising for me? Does my entire hope lie in what He has done? That’s the first question.

Second, is this: If I have put my faith in Jesus Christ. Am I following Him faithfully? Is it showing in my light-bearing? Is it showing in my undistracted listening? Is it showing in my undivided loyalty to Him?