Sermon Tone Analysis
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Intro
As we are continuing through this sermon, I know it is not an easy thing.
This is extremely difficult.
God speaks though very clearly and very forcibly to us through His word, both as individuals and as a church family.
I pray that we are paying attention to Jesus teaching here.
That we have ears to hear, that we would be good soil, receiving the word of God, allowing it to take deep roots.
And watering it that it may flourish.
Jesus in this sermon is describing, amongst other things, the characteristics of Christian discipleship,
answering for us the question, what should a follower of Jesus look like, sound like, be like?
How will a follower of Jesus treat those who are not like him or her?
How will a follower of Jesus respond to those who, frankly, despise them and say unkind things about them?
One thing that we must remember as we are going through these instructions from Jesus is that he did not only speak them, he lived them.
Even before they were his disciples, Jesus presence and actions demanded their attention.
Remember back with me to Peter’s call.
When Jesus here in verses 39-42 is talking about blind leading the blind, false teachers, and clearing your own eye, he is using himself as the example.
In addressing his disciples here Jesus is asking a few questions.
Who are you following?
Who is following you?
Are you addressing the sin in your own life, or seeking to address others to distract you from your own?
I learning from this passage I hope to help us ask the same questions of ourselves and followers of Jesus.
I hope these questions help us to examine our motives as Christ followers.
Jesus calls his disciples to know that why we do what we do is equally as important to how we do what we do.
Who are you following?
We begin by restating the intended audience once again.
He also told them a parable.
Who is them?
Remember back to verse 20
In this section remember Jesus is essentially laying the ground rules for what it means to be one of His followers.
He begins this next section of his teaching by giving a parable.
When we think of a parable, it is literally setting something beside another for the purpose of comparison and better understanding of the other.
Jesus begins here with the story of a blind man.
This parable reflects a problem that was all too familiar to the people of Jesus’ day.
Blindness was common in the ancient world, as it still is today in various parts of the world.
Dangers were everywhere for the blind, including unfenced quarries, crevices and precipices, and dry wells that had not been covered or filled in with dirt.
The truth that a blind man cannot guide a blind man is self-evident;
since a blind man cannot see where he himself is going he cannot safely or reliably lead another blind person.
It is only reasonable to expect that if a blind person were leading another blind person, they would both find themselves in some sort of peril.
The spiritual principle here is quite clear.
Be careful who you follow.
This is the question, who are you following?
Who do you listen to, what influences your day to day life?
Do you have a podcast, the evening news, radio dj, YouTube or other social media influencer.
They call them such for a reason.
The whole goal of a social media influencer to to get people to follow them so that they can earn revenue.
When money is at their root we can only expect the type of content that they seek to produce to get those followers.
Truth is often not the name of the game so much as entertainment.
Withing the spectrum of religion, this can be a wonderful tool also to spread the truth of God’s word.
We must learn though and remember that as Christians, as Christ followers, we are not blind.
We have the light, we have the truth.
There is great danger in listening to false teachers.
That is what Jesus is comparing teachers and hearers to here in proclaiming his new kingdom.
He is the light, he is the truth, but there are those who are blind, and they will call the blind to follow them.
We must be discerning in our intake of information which seems to get evermore increasingly difficult as the days go by.
So much, so fast.
But the danger is extreme.
Will they not both fall into a pit?
Jesus is using the word pit to symbolize destruction.
How do we discern who we are following?
How do we know if someone we are listening to is truthful and good?
We must be in our Bibles.
We must know God’s word.
I believer there is another helper though as well, that is the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever been listening to something and had that gut feeling that something may be wrong?
Don’t simply sit on that, take that feeling and use it, examine it through scripture,
perhaps it may be something that the Lord is seeking to convict you about,
or perhaps it is something that is being taught incorrectly, not following what is clear in scripture.
There is room in scripture for interpretation, we don’t have all the answers and must be willing to admit that, but there are also truths that cannot and will not change.
Truths that are checked and balanced by one another such of God’s love and God’s wrath against sin.
God’s grace and God’s justice.
He goes on to confirm the importance of His warning by declaring, that “the disciple is not above his master,” and the scholar cannot be expected to know more than his teacher.
If a person hears unsound, false instruction, can we expect them to become wise themself?
If we look at history, the amount of evil, the amount of damage that false teaching has caused is astounding.
A teacher who does not know the way to heaven himself, is not likely to lead his hearers to heaven.
The man who hears such a teacher runs a fearful risk himself of being lost eternally.
“If the blind lead the blind both must fall into the ditch.”
If we will escape this danger, this destruction, this pit as Jesus calls it.
We must prove teaching that we hear by God’s word.
We can do this when we get in our Bibles.
Don’t believe what a person says simply because they are a pastor, a christian influencer.
I encourage you, please do this with what I say.
I am not immune to mistakes, I desire to seek the Lord and his direction.
To not lead anyone astray.
So I beg of you, be careful whom you follow.
Some people, because of their age, experience, and track record, are wonderful guides and mentors.
They can lead the way because they have been there themselves, and they know the right paths to take.
They have learned from both their successes and their failures.
Other people merely repeat their mistakes over and over.
These people are “blind,” as Jesus said (Lk 6:39), and they lead others down the wrong road with them.
Do you have a mentor, someone who willingly shares his or her insights and experience with you?
The right role model or mentor can bring tremendous benefits to your life.
Warren Wiersbe, commentator and pastor wrote that Jesus "reminds us that we cannot lead others where we have not been ourselves, nor can we be all that our Master is.
In fact, the more we strive to be like Him, the more we realize how far short we fall.
This is a warning against pride, for nothing blinds a person like pride."
(Ibid)
Of course the best example to follow (even if you don't have an older person in real life to follow) is the life and conduct of JESUS.
If we spend time with Him in His Word, especially the Gospels, we will become like Him as His Spirit produces Christlikeness in our lives.
If we could actually live our lives in the manner that he is calling his disciples to do here in these verses.
That is why daily being in the Word is so critical, so the Word will get into us and the Spirit can use it to change us.
No intake of Word = no growth in salvation (no progressive sanctification)!
Verse 40 brings both a sense caution, but also a sense of hope.
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