Luke 11:35 (ESV)
Therefore be careful lest the
light in you be darkness.
Jesus is using the parable of
lighting a light. No one lights a light or lamp and then hides it. In Matthew
the force of this parable is testimony. We are to be lights to the world. In
Luke the force of the parable is hypocrisy. Verse 35 is the central idea Jesus
is making, “Be careful lest the light in you be darkness.” He had just warned
about the severity of judgment against the crowds surrounding him. He will then
announce woes against the Pharisees. In between is this short parable about
light concluding, “Be careful lest the light in you be darkness.”
It is a warning to all of us to hold
a position of humility. There are certain gospel truths upon which we stand and
do not move, but there is much that we must hold loosely as well. We may strongly
hold views about the End Times, for example, but a view of eschatology is not essential
to the gospel. We may strongly hold views on church government, but ecclesiology
is not central to the gospel. We may strongly hold a position on sign gifts in
the church, but the validity or non-validity of speaking in tongues and healing
ministries is not central to the gospel. I could go on.
The Pharisees had an expectation
of what the coming Messiah would look like, sound like, and act like. Jesus was
not it, therefore he could not be Messiah. They were wrong, but their sense of
theological superiority kept them from seeing where God was at work. May that
never be true of us as believers in Jesus Christ, but I fear that it often is.
We need to heed Jesus’ warning, “Be careful lest the light in you be darkness.”
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