Request your free, three-month trial to Tabletalk magazine. You’ll receive the print issue monthly and gain immediate digital access to decades of archives. This trial is risk-free. No credit card required.
Try Tabletalk NowAlready receive Tabletalk magazine every month?
Verify your email address to gain unlimited access.
Luke 12:8–12
“When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (vv. 11–12).
Jesus made it plain that those who follow Him will endure opposition and even persecution for the faith, and He exhorted them not to fear men but to fear God and to remain faithful (Luke 12:4–7). Today’s passage records further encouragement from Christ to stand firm in the faith and not give in to the pressure to deny Him.
Our Lord refers to Himself as the Son of Man several times in Luke 12:8–12. The title comes mainly from Daniel 7, which talks about the final judgment and God’s delivering to “one like a son of man” an everlasting kingdom and reign over all the earth. Thus, the title has strong eschatological connotations—that is, the title “Son of Man” refers especially to Jesus’ role in the last days as the Judge of all mankind.
On the last day, before angelic witnesses in the heavenly court, our Creator will pronounce the final destination of every person. In that court, Jesus will acknowledge—stand for and defend—all who confessed Him as Lord and believed in Him in their hearts (Rom. 10:9). He will plead their case based on the blood He shed for them and His perfect righteousness imputed to their account. God will then welcome them into His blessed presence. Those who did not acknowledge Him before men—did not exercise faith and repentance—will meet a different end. Jesus will not stand for them as their Advocate, and they will be sent to eternal punishment (Luke 12:8–12; Rev. 20:11–15).
In Luke 12:10, Jesus reinforces this point by saying that anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Based on parallel accounts of our Lord’s words here, blasphemy of the Spirit entails impenitently rejecting Jesus as the Savior even when one is certain of who He is (Matt. 12:22–32; Mark 3:22–30). Those who understand who Jesus is but reject Him anyway have no hope of forgiveness because they are too hardened in their sin to repent and trust Christ. Therefore, Jesus will not stand as their Advocate before the Father and their sin will remain eternally unforgiven. They will suffer God’s wrath forever.
Finally, Jesus tells believers not to fear when they stand before earthly authorities on account of their faith, for the Holy Spirit will give them the words to say (Luke 12:11–12). He means not that we should put no thought whatsoever into our words of witness but rather that the Spirit will be in control and will make sure that we will say what the earthly powers need to hear.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Let Matthew Henry’s comments remind us of the importance of acknowledging Christ: “Those who deny Christ, and treacherously depart from him, whatever they may save by it, though it were life itself, and whatever they may gain by it, though it were a kingdom, will be vast losers at last, for they shall be denied before the angels of God; Christ will not know them, will not own them, will not show them any favor, which will turn to their everlasting terror and contempt.”
for further study
- Psalm 43
- Matthew 10:32–33
- 2 Thessalonians 1:5–12
- 1 John 2:1–2
the bible in a year
- Nehemiah 12–13
- Acts 4:23–37