My Message to God
God your full greatness is unimaginable to me; you are far greater than my finite imagination. I love you, Lord; your Words are precious to me. Your Word demands believers use it correctly; Your Word should never be misquoted out of context or used in an abusive manner. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος[1]. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God (John 1:1 NIV 2011).
Today’s Q&A
Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (NIV 2011).
Have you heard the ‘false’ sermon?
Tithe at the church until it hurts, and God will bless you with riches, so much so, that it will be poured into your lap, as much as you can give, God will measure to you… brothers and sisters testify!
The truth to understanding words is literary context, it’s so important, that it’s a primary key!
Today, we are looking into parallelism of a contrasting parable. What in the world is a parallelism of a contrasting parable you might ask? Jesus used many types of parables, there are many in fact (true parable, similitude, metaphor, epigram[2]), not just one thing called a parable, but Jesus used many types. Jesus also used a poetry structure called parallelism[3] and this just underscores that Jesus was a master of communication.
In this talk, we are not going to dig down into the weeds of the multiple parable structures I outlined above; think of my comments as making you aware that other structures exist. For today, we are going to call out the structures that can be identified in our portion of Scripture. Then we will use all of this information to reach the meaning of the message as intended by the writer and those who heard these words for the first time when Jesus shared them.
Proper literary context of Luke 6:38
If literary context is a primary key, then what is the literary context of Luke 6:38? It would appear that Bible translators and Bible commentators disagree on where the verse falls, and this is helpful for us to recognize. The Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece (New Testament in Greek) 28th Revised Edition Greek text makes no grouping distinctions in this portion of Luke. Grouping distinctions are optional preferences of what is believed to be the writers though flow on a specific topic to help readers. It appears that Bible commentators and Bible translators over time have group distinctions that differed, so we should take this information into consideration.
Bible commentators groupings
New International Greek Testament Commentary (1995)
The New International Commentary on the New Testament (2003)
Word Biblical Commentary (1998)
Bible translators groupings
The Greek New Testament Readers Edition (2014)
New International Version (2011)
English Standard Version (2016)
New American Bible -Revised Edition (2011)
Since some of these Bible commentaries are older and some of the same editors of the Bible commentaries are also on the translation boards of some of the translations listed above, I am going to recommend the proper literary context grouping should follow the translators and the most current research grouping distinctions.
Literary context for Luke 6:38
We will use the translators grouping distinction of Luke 6:37-42, if you haven’t done so, please read that entire partition of Scripture.
What does Luke 6:38 mean? “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (NIV 2011). We have to understand this verse in its literary context, so let’s examine the literary context.
Looking at these contrasting statements
A. Do not judge, B. and you will not be judged.
A. Do not condemn, B. and you will not be condemned.
A. Forgive, B. and you will be forgiven.
A. Give, B. and it will be given to you.
Do you see the contrast between the two A and B statements? Jesus goes on to say, Luke 6:38 “A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (NIV 2011).
This is a poem structure (called parallelism) being used for the A. and B. phrases, notice that it can be contrasted in a positive way (as above) or in a negative way. Consider the negative implications of this passage as there is both a positive and negative side to Jesus’ words.
Examples of negative contrasting
A. Judge others, B. and you will be judged.
A. Condemn others, B. and you will be condemned.
A. Hate others, B. and you will not be forgiven.
A. Steal from others, B. and it will be taken from you.
Luke 6:38 expressed in a negative manner: A [bad] measure, [loosely] pressed, [un-]shaken and [barely half full], [what little] will be [dripped] into your lap. For the [bad] measure you used will be measured upon you.
Authorship
We should recognize we have more than one author; we have Jesus himself, Luke who wrote an orderly account from ‘multiple sources’ and ‘eye witnesses.’ Luke also says, ‘many had undertaken to draw up an account of things’ (Luke 1:1-4). At a minimum we have three authors and an admission that many other written accounts were in existence when Luke started his book.
What are the original sources for what Luke recorded?
This starts the scholarly debates of the synoptic gospels (Luke, Mark and Matthew) who wrote what and who borrowed from whom and how the Holy Spirit helped in the transmission of Jesus words. Insert stereotype of well intentioned Biblical scholars arguing, where questions upon questions abound. Normally, I would not call attention to this; because I accept the Bible as the authoritative Word of God, even though there are well over a hundred valid questions raised that I cannot answer (real scholars are still trying to answer these questions without reaching a common consensus).
Why even mention this? 1) I want you to be aware that differing views exist concerning the synoptic gospels, even though I will not be covering them here, nor will I be offering answers or directing you in any specific direction. 2) The fact that scholars hold differing views does influence how scholars interpret this portion of Luke.
What are the differing views held for this portion of Luke?
An estimated 93% of the book of Mark is contained in both Luke and Matthew.[4] Bible commentators who have researched the synoptics deeply often hold positions and differing views. When they start looking at what is contained in Luke and contrasting Luke’s writing against the writings of Matthew and Mark, they use those other works to try and better understand what Luke is writing about, with the desired goal to more accurately understand Scripture.
Great, can we now understand what Luke 6:38 means? “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (NIV 2011). Not fully yet, keep reading.
What sort of conclusions can Bible commentators come to from differing views?
View 1: In Luke 6:36 “Be merciful…” the Greek word for ‘Be’ (Gineste) is imperative and has the same force as Matthew 5:48 “Be perfect…” where the Greek word for ‘Be’ is (eseste) which means disciples are commanded these things. So when Bible commentators look at Luke 6:37 ‘Do not judge…’ they tie it back their understanding of Luke 6:36 and Matthew 5:4; meaning Jesus commanded “Do not judge…”.[5]
View 2: “The location is probably pre-Lukan but has been disturbed in the Matthean sermon (Matthew 7:1-2) by the introduction of extra materials… [They suggest we understand Luke 6:37 ‘Do not Judge…’ as] The assumption is that none of us can survive God’s scrutiny according the strict justice. Expressed in a positive form the call is for the practice of forgiveness.”[6]
View 3: We should understand Luke 6:37 “…just as God is active graciously and creatively to bringing redemption – so should his children be merciful. Footnote 62: Luke may be echoing the Targum[7] on Leviticus 22:28 –‘My people, children of Israel, since our Father is merciful in heaven, so should you be merciful on earth.’”[8]
A natural question at this point, what is the intended meaning of Luke 6:37?
So the question becomes, what did the author(s) intend to be heard; a positive, a negative, or both positive and negative statements equally? Luke says something very helpful in verse 39, he says, “He also told them this parable…” which I am going to suggest, to gain the best understanding we should connect Jesus’ contrasted words in verses 36-38 with the parable that follows Luke 6:39-42.
We have to understand Luke 6:37 before we can accurate try to understand what Luke 6:38 means? “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (NIV 2011). Keep reading.
The nature of parables[9]
A quick comment about parables in a general sense, the purpose of most parables is to invoke a response from the hearers of it. Often parables contain humor and explaining a parable is like explaining a joke, which completely undermines the communication mechanism of the joke. So to understand parables we need to understand the reference points to get the author’s point. If you are reading this and you cannot think of any funny parables in the Bible you are missing out. Let us keep this in mind when we read the following parable.
Scholarly $5.00 word of the day
Epexegetic (Etymology: a Greek word derived from epexēgētikós) means = additional explanation or explanatory matter. Which when I read epexegetic, ‘an additional explanation’ was exactly what I needed to understand the very meaning of the word itself.
Notice Jesus use of more contrasting in Luke 6:39-42
A. Can the blind lead the blind? B. Will they not both fall into a pit? (I see Jesus humor here.)
What if Jesus worded this phrase like this: ‘Dude, Stop! You are blind and about to walk into a pit! Stop leading your other blind friend around! You’re a terrible, terrible guide man, what is wrong with you?’ If you laughed, you now understand Jesus statement with the correct and intended humor (this is what the disciples heard). Too often we read the words of Jesus in a non-derogatory sanctimonious tone of holiness (which He is and does do), but in doing so at all times when we read, we often miss a great deal of Jesus’ humor when we do this.
A. The student is not above the teacher,
B. but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher
A. Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye
B. but pay no attention to the plank in your own eye
The contrasting A. and B. statements continues and in a sense it’s the contrasting statements that seem to link the verses together in my mind. This doesn’t give us authors intended meaning, but in reading, it seems like we are following to a point that ties this all together.
…And hopefully we will finally understand what Luke 6:38 means! “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (NIV 2011). We need to cover more ground work.
Jesus concluding point
I am going to put verse 42 here by itself for reflection, then we will dig at some history and try and pull everything we have observed into the authors possible intended meaning.
Luke 6:42 “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (NIV 2011).
Historical backdrop of Luke
Scholars agree that the historical backdrop for Luke is the Greco-Roman time period (you will have to make your own determinations on what specific date you want to set for Luke). This time period can be described in a cursory way, as a large majority of the population could not read. Books as we know them today were not generally available and the majority of communication for the average person was via verbal discussions/plays in large groups, small groups or person to person. The vast majority of the populace lived an agrarian lifestyle.
Luke as a historian
Let’s read why Luke wrote this orderly account for Theophilus. “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:1-4 NIV 2011).
Luke is not a historian, Luke is a doctor (Colossians 4:14). It would be wrong for us to try and expect Luke to read as a rigorous historical analysis and expect that level of source verification. Think of the historical backdrop, Luke is collecting stories from eyewitnesses, stories that were passed down, using other written source material, and his connection with the Apostle Paul and other disciples and the Holy Spirit to document an “orderly account” to the best of his abilities.
Historical narrative of Luke
Luke is best understood in the proper context as a historical narrative, meaning these stories really did happen and these were the things people of the day were saying and had experienced. Luke records thirteen accounts of healing which many scholars believe this is due to the fact that Luke was a doctor and this is why they have such prominence in his book (4:31-37; 4:38-44; 5:12-16; 5:17-26; 7:1-10; 7:11-17; 7:21-23; 8:26-39; 8:40-56; 9:37-43; 13:10-17; 17:11-19; 18:35-43).
Pulling it all together
a. Identifying the reference points
b. What reactions would these words cause the hearers (the purpose of a parable)?
I. & II. – Judge & Condemn
Oh Lord, I would never judge or condemn someone in that manner; I will not do this.
III. & IV. – Forgive & Give
Oh Lord, I would gladly forgive and give to others in need; I will be able to do this.
VI & VII. – The Blind & The Student
Oh funny Lord, the blind being led by the blind. I will be a good disciple/student; I will be able to do this.
VIII. – The Teacher
Oh Lord, our great Teacher, I desire to be well trained and be like you; I will be able to do this.
IX & X – The Speck & The Plank
Oh Lord, the small and large things that block our vision; I will be able to do as you ask.
Hearer’s initial conclusion
I am good with all of your words Lord; I can do all of these things.
Are we really good with all of Jesus’ words? Is our reasoning as sound as we think?
Consider Jesus’ words here:
27 "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28 NIV 2011).
What we should learn from Jesus words
Judge & Condemn – In our very thoughts do we ever judge others and condemn them like we were gods in our very thoughts, text messages, social media posts, and conversations with others, because those people are evil and hate God? Do we have hard and unloving hearts; have we resigned evil people as unredeemable by God and we justify our god like judgments of others? Think deeply on Jesus’ words above, think lustful thoughts and you have sinned and committed adultery in your hearts. Are we equally judging and condemning with our thoughts as gods and therefore failing at Jesus commands?
Forgive & Give – In our very thoughts have we really forgiven those that hurt us? Have we completely divorced our resentment/bitterness/hurt/anger/sorrow/hate that we no longer speak ill of a situation? When we give to meet someone’s need, do we calculate the bare minimum or do we give beyond the request? As an illustration: a family needs a meal (while the wife recovers), would you provide only one meal? Was the meal the least amount of effort? Was the meal the cheapest thing you could find? We give within our means and that is ok, but what if you could have given much more? When you give of your time and resources, what is the quality and quantity of you’re giving? If Jesus was the recipient would your giving be different? Was it in the same manner as Jesus gives to us in abundance?
The Blind & The Student – We laugh at the silliness of a blind person leading another blind person into a pit. Did we ever ask these questions of ourselves ‘am I blind’ or ‘am I being led by another blind person’ or ‘is my blindness leading me into a pit?’ We want to be a good disciple/student and be well-trained like our teacher Jesus, but how well are we doing on that training (insert honest self-assessment here)?
The Speck & The Plank – At this point hopefully Jesus’ words are storming in like a freight train. When we look at our lives introspectively and our actions where do we stand with the speck and the plank? Do we have a tiny speck in our eye or has our vision been blocked by a huge log or plank? Are we quick to try and tell others how they misunderstand the Scriptures or have something Biblically wrong, yet we missed the very meaning of Jesus’ words from this portion of Scripture? Maybe we need more humbleness?
Practical application for today
I have three daughters who are young adults and they have a phrase they like to use, ‘Don’t judge me.’ I have always understood this in a humorous sense of ‘don’t think badly of me.’ However, I get a sense at times that applying critical thinking, discernment, or asking thoughtful questions is interpreted as being judging and that this is wrong in their view (but is it)?
I even asked one of my daughters on a scale of 1) not judgmental to 10) absolutely judgmental, where do I fall in her mind? Her answer to me: greater than a five. I then asked her on a scale of 1) not very discerning to 10) strongly discerning, where I fell in her mind? Her answer to me: greater than a five. Clearly, and honestly I need to improve this aspect of my life.
When we look at Jesus’ words “do not judge” and “do not condemn” he is not talking about being discerning, he is not talking about please don’t think badly of me sort of judging, he is not talking about not having a valid disagreement with someone else. He is absolutely talking about (in our very thoughts or our actions) do we ever judge others and condemn them as if we were gods passing judgment.
As Jesus disciples, we should not go here, leave that to God. We should recognize our failings and turn to Jesus and repent when we fail, and try to do better the next day. It is impossible for us to keep Jesus’ words without Jesus’ help!
My two cents: I struggle with this, because of the evil in the world. I want to stop the evil and see evil corrected; and in my over-zealousness, I error, because I go beyond my calling. So I turn to the Lord and repent, tomorrow is a new day, let’s hope each of us can do better.
When we look at Jesus words “forgive” and “give” every person I know has resentment, bitterness, hurt, anger, sorrow, and hate, such is the norm of living in a fallen world. If we hold onto these things, they have hold over us and they rob us of joy, love, and happiness. They hinder our walk with the Lord.
When we are calculating our giving we should question ourselves, why? What is it that we are in need of calculating, who gave us what we have, to whom does it all belong? When the Apostle Paul was talking about sexual immorality he wrote this, “19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV 2011). We should give richly and abundantly as God has given to us, after all we belong to God, is God unable to replenish what we give to others?
!! The answer you have been waiting for !!
Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (NIV 2011).
How does God give? The image above is that of a grain measurement; pour it all the way in until it is full. Then press it down to fill in the empty space, then shake it and make even more room, then fill it full again and when that is full, pour more on top until it overflows into someone’s lap. This verse is connected to the interactions we have with other people: “do not judge,” and “do not condemn,” and “forgive others,” and “give to others” this is the correct literary context. This verse has nothing to do with tithing and everything to do with our giving to one another and receiving from the Lord as humble, forgiven and loving servants of the most High God. In Fact, to claim that this verse supports tithing is using Scripture in an abusive manner and ignoring the literary context in which Jesus used it.
When we look at Jesus’ words “blind” and “student” we need to be aware and dare I say it, ‘looking’ to make sure we are not walking blindly. We should be looking inward and outward to those we allow to influence us, we should ask are we following a blind person, is a pit coming up or are we already in a pit? A good student looks to be well trained and they look to Jesus the master instructor daily and they allow the Holy Spirit to minister to them.
When we look at the “speck” and “plank” we should be humble, gentile, loving, genuine, forgiving and prayerful with those we seek to help or with those seeking to help us. Giving correction or receiving correction is not always fun or enjoyable, but when it is done it shows genuine love. It is amazing how our default response to correction is ‘they’re wrong’ or ‘how dare they’ or ‘who do they think they are’ or ‘where in the world do they get off.’
Correct brotherly action
You might want to stop your pity party and ‘woe you’ and try saying, ‘wait a minute, the Holy Spirit might be at work here. Let me activate my listening, and stop my looking for a reactionary response.’ In fact, listening to the correction and saying nothing in retort, thanking the person, and go away to spending time with the Lord and doing some soul searching, so to speak, it could be more beneficial than you realize. Jesus does not teach ignore your brothers, sisters and those that God puts in your life nor does Jesus teach and that you should never attempt to correct anyone, rather taking everything we have covered in mind:
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor [brothers, sisters and those God puts in your life] as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-38 NIV 2011). Be willing to be humble, gentile, loving, genuine, forgiving and prayerful when helping or correcting or being corrected by others. Never quench the Holy Spirit from working through you and never avoid necessary discussions, because they make you uncomfortable. Always remember they may not listen, they might ignore you, just leave the rest to God; He has it under control.
May God continue to help us do better today, tomorrow and every day with Jesus that follows…
_________________________________
[1] Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece (New Testament in Greek) 28th Revised Edition (Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012).
[2] Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read Bible for All its Worth, 4th ed. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2014), 156-157.
[3] William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg, Robert L. Hubbard, jr., Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 3ed ed. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2017), 380 (see footnote 68).
[4] B. F. Westcott, An Introduction to the Study of the Gospels, 7th ed. (London: Macmillan & Co., 1888) 191.
[5] I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke A commentary on the Greek Text (Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995) 265.
[6] John Nolland, Word Biblical Commentary (Texas:Word Books, 1998) 300-301.
[7] Comment: The Jewish Targum is translations of the Hebrew Bible into the Aramaic language.
[8] Joel B. Green, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Michigan: William E. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003) 275.
[9] Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read Bible for All its Worth, 4th ed. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2014), 157-160.
[10] Frederick William Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3rd Ed. (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2009) 568(b).
[11] IBID, 516.
[12] IBID, 118 (5).
[13] IBID, 1021 (b).
[14] IBID, 609 (1).
[15] IBID, 240 (2).
[16] IBID, 510.
[17] IBID, 256.
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