Luke 16:14-18
According to this passage, Jesus was always clashing with the Pharisees. I think it is reasonable to state that truth will always clash with error. Truth opposes error. Truth also shines the light on falsehood and error. As the Pharisees heard Jesus speak, Luke informs his readers that they derided him (v14). Not being able to receive and digest the truth, they took to jeering, mocking, and withstanding Jesus.
Consequently, it was difficult for Jesus to survive in such an anti-God, anti-truth environment. It must also be pointed out that Jesus couldn’t survive in this twenty-first century either. In fact, He may have stood a better chance then than now. Instead of our world becoming more enlightened morally, it has retrogressed, with “evil men and seducers waxing worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Tim 3:14). So many deliberately continue to turn away their ears from the truth, believing lies and fables instead (2 Tim 4:3). May the good Lord help us in these last days to be faithful proclaimers and genuine apostles of the truth, despite all our adversaries and detractors.
More and more we come to the realization that the church cannot form unholy alliances with this world. The church cannot in any way, form or fashion cower to the world and compromise that which is absolute truth, even in a post-modern society, just to try to fit in and be accepted. We must always keep in mind that, as Jesus was counter-cultural, so must the church be. Today, more than ever, we must continue speaking truth to power.
The Church, as His body, cannot be bought or bribed. We stand on the declared revelation of righteous truth as contained in the Bible – the book of books. It is not lost on us that the church, the real church, stands out like a sore thumb, as Jesus did. Where the Word speaks, we want also to speak, where it is silent, we too desire to be silent. The church is never at liberty to devise her own truths. We must always declare, “Thus saith the Lord…” The fact that there are those who will deride us, makes very little difference to us. Our consolation is, so did they to the Master. He cautioned us that as they responded to Him, so shall they respond to us. The servant is not greater than His Lord (John 15:20).
All I am saying to us in these last and trying times is – Let us continue to preach and present the truth as our Lord and Savior Jesus proclaimed it without fear or favor, standing always on the premise that truth will make us free. It put us into right relationship with God. It must never be overlooked, that the church is a truth bearer, and it remains the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim 3:15).
May we never stop preaching conversion and transformation through the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. May we never stop preaching the deeper-life experiences of sanctification and the Spirit-filled life. May we always see the need of living holy and consecrated lives, believing, and practicing the whole Bible rightly divided. According to the context of this passage, Jesus powerfully took a strong stance against covetousness and dishonesty, and may His church in like manner always do the same.
Being derided for the truth never stopped Jesus. It only propelled Him to speak and defend the truth with more vigor, determination, and passion! As we follow in His footsteps, may we recover that same passion always to speak and live out the truth!
Leroy V. Greenaway
Presiding Bishop – Northeast Region
