Luke 12:8-10 - Whoever disowns me

12:8,9

Jesus now makes clear the cosmic and eternal significance of our being faithful witnesses to Him. If we acknowledge Jesus before men He will acknowledge us before the Father.  But if we deny Him He will deny us. Now we need to be careful here, for Peter denied Jesus three times, but was reinstated, and then went on to boldly proclaim the gospel, and eventually to die for Jesus. These words of Jesus are not a “how to get into heaven” instruction. Rather they are for our instruction and encouragement when facing serious opposition. We need to have a clear view of what is really going, and an eternal perspective on things. For the opposition will seek to get us to focus on the here and now, usually by some threat (which may well be carried out) affecting us in the here and now.

12:10

Now this verse has caused no end of trouble. The same phrase crops up in Matthew 12:31 and Mark 3:29. It is sometimes taken as meaning attributing to the devil what is the work of the Holy Spirit. Now although we about a chapter away from the similar incident in Luke. In Mark and Matthew Jesus is addressing the teachers of the Law, here He is speaking to His disciples. Another possibility is that it means a persistent rejection of the work of the Spirit in our lives. Ie this is not going to apply for a “one-off” offence.

However, in Matthew and Mark the words are applied to the teachers of the Law who were flagrantly rebelling against the Holy Spirit. Not just in the immediate context of saying Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Satan, but in their whole way of life. They were working directly against the Holy Spirit, so were indeed blaspheming Him.

Now if we look at the next two verses Jesus is going to talk about what happens if we are hauled up in front of human powers and authorities, assuring us that the Holy Spirit will speak through us. So if men continue to reject us, they are actually rejecting the Holy Spirit. So maybe this verse is an encouragement to the disciples! Now we don’t like this sort of encouragement because Christians are supposed to be nice, aren’t they? Well no, there is a time for niceness to go out of the window. We are in a deadly serious battle, and one with eternal consequences. We need to appreciate the eternal significance of life.

Just to bring back some hope if you think I am being too nasty! Paul violently opposed the gospel, and he got saved! So these words do not mean anyone is beyond hope.