Luke 12:8-12

Luke 12:8-12

“And I say to you, everyone who confesses in my name in the presence of mankind the Son of Man will also confess in him in the presence of the angels of God.  And the one who denies me in the presence of mankind will be denied in the presence of the angels of God.  And everyone who will speak words into the Son of Man, it will be forgiven to him. But into the one who blasphemes into the Holy Spirit it will not be forgiven.  And when they should bring you into synagogues and the rulers and authorities, you all should not be anxious as to how or what you should answer or what you should say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in this hour what is necessary to say.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus talks to us about the two positions that we can take with God.  The first position is to confess in Him in the presence of the world.  This is not just a position of belief.  After all, as James reminds us, even the demons believe!  This is a position of confessing our belief before others.  This is a proactive, not a reactive or silent, position.  This is a position of living and preaching our faith for others to see.

Are you proactive I your faith?  When does your belief in God shine before mankind?

Second Thought:

The second position about which Jesus speaks is the one who denies God.  Jesus reminds us that if we deny Him in the presence of mankind that we will be denied in the presence of angels.  This is a position of verbally denying our Lord.  But this is also a position of living in a way that God’s ways are denied as well.  When people look into our lives and see a denial of who God is, we are putting ourselves in a position of residing within this judgment.

Where in your life is God not visible?  What can you do about this?

Third Thought:

I love the way that Jesus ends this passage.  “Don’t worry when they drag you in front of the synagogue.  For you’ll know what to say.”  I love Jesus’ advice to tell us not to worry.  Nothing can prepare a person for that kind of rejection.  But at the same time, the reality is that God can protect us in those times.  After all, who in this world can truly harm us on an eternal level?  What good will worrying do?  Yet at the same time, I wrestle so much with this passage.  I am a person who loves to prepare.  What Jesus is asking us to do here is to trust.  That’s sometimes rather hard to do.  But it is worth trusting in god, because He can always deliver us.  Even when they drag us in front of people and accuse us publically.

When have you had to trust in God’s protection?  Have you ever known a time when you hadn’t prepared a response but yet you still had something meaningful to say?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 12:13-21