"How to Experience the Working of His Divine Presence in Our Lives"(Luke 20:1-8)

How to Experience the Working of His Divine Presence in Our Lives

Luke 20:1-8

Sometimes it is very easy to turn our church life into a meaningless ritual. When we gather as Christians, we need to ask ourselves what is it that God wants to speak into our lives.  Then we need to act on what God speaks to us. Ignoring these lessons or thinking that the lessons are for someone else.

The Pharisees encountered Jesus, but saw him as an adversary. When Jesus entered Jerusalem in Luke 19, we could see that the Pharisees were jealous of Jesus’ reputation with the people. They were more offended when Jesus went in and cleaned out the temple and thus claimed the temple was his. They certainly didn’t like Jesus preaching in the temple a different message from what the Pharisees advocated.

Jesus had gone beyond the traditions of the Jewish people in order to return to His father’s true message. Pharisees couldn’t accept Jesus’ challenge against the traditions. They even started to plot to destroy Jesus to protect the traditions. 

Are the Pharisees very different from modern day Christians? As Christians, we have our traditions and prejudices. Some of these traditions are keeping us from God. Sometimes we do things to benefit ourselves but not God or expand God’s kingdom.  We need Jesus to challenge our thinking, our traditions and our prejudices.

The Pharisees were not willing to let go of their traditions. We need to be willing to experience the working of God, so we may be able to let go of our traditions to move back to God. Jesus expects us to be willing only. If we are willing, then we can be changed supernaturally.

Faith is different from willingness in that willingness allows faith to exist. Willingness opens the door to faith whereas faith is set on an object.

What happens when we are unwilling to God?

1   1. Persisting in unwillingness will lead to God abandoning those who are unwilling (Luke 20:8). God examines our hearts and knows who is willing to submit and not. Pride can shut the door to be willing to listen to God. Because the Pharisees were very proud of their religion and their status, they would not listen.

2. Persisting in unwillingness will develop a resistance to things that are righteous. We end make making our own kingdom which is different from God’s kingdom. Then when we are confronted with righteous correction, we treat as an attack and not God trying to bring us back

3. Persisting in unwillingness will eventually start to spoil what little knowledge of God we have.  It will eventually blind us from the truth because we are so set on our own reality. The Pharisees could not see Jesus as who He really was.

God will not give up on those who are willing. But if we persist to resist God, He will give up on us. God will become insensitive to us. Jesus is challenging us to change. Let’s be willing to surrender to Jesus’ will.