In Luke 22 we find a short exchange between the Lord Jesus and His disciples. This short exchange gives us something important to learn as we walk with Him. In this article we'll talk about that.
When God commands us to do something
In Luke 22:35 we find the Lord talking with His disciples:
"And He said to them, "When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?"
So they said, "Nothing.""
In this verse, Jesus was merely asking His disciples to remember what happened when He commanded them a time ago, and what happened when they obeyed.
Earlier, Jesus sent His disciples out to do the work preaching the kingdom of God and healing the sick. He told them not to bring anything but themselves. They were not to bring any resources, pocket money, extra clothing, or whatever they thought they would need.
What's more, the Lord Jesus gave them this command not just once, but twice. Luke 9:1-3 tells us that He first gave this command to the twelve disciples:
"Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece."
In Luke 10:1-4, He also gave this command to seventy other followers:
"After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road."
When we obey God
And so now we arrive at Luke 22:35 where Jesus asks His disciples if they experienced any lack because they obeyed His command not to bring anything they might have thought of needing in the trip. Here's where we get our lessons.
1) When God commands, we should obey
The Lord Jesus commanded His followers with the same command twice. His disciples understood that in order for them to be able to do what He wanted them to do, they had to obey Him. Simple, right?
Many of us today, however, tend to focus on the wrong or unnecessary things. Jesus told them not to bring anything that might just take their focus off of what they were supposed to do, and they obeyed. Do we?
2) When we obey God's commands, we see His intended results
When the disciples obeyed Christ's commands, they saw the results He intended for them. They obeyed His command not to bring any pocket money or extra clothing, but they had no lack - and they can attest to that. They were free to focus on preaching and healing the sick.
Obedience to Christ's commands will always allow us to see His intended results.
3) We should not put our trust in earthly provisions but in His faithfulness
While Luke 22:36-38 tells us that Jesus now told His disciples to bring their supplies for the road, we understand that with those first to commands He told them not to trust in earthly riches, not to be weighed down by worrying where to get their provisions, and not to get distracted by earthly possessions or wealth as they sought to obey Him. These things will prevent them from fully pursuing His commands.
In the same way, His words teach us that we must not allow our focus to be taken away from Him, either by food, shelter, money, clothing, and even public appreciation and opinion (thus the "greet no one along the road" command).
We ought to fix our eyes on Jesus and His commands all the time.
