Lord’s Day Meditation – A Bosom Full
Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.
Lk. 6:38
Luke chapter 6 repeats some of the teaching found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7). And this promise is a picture of the Lord’s abundant blessing. In those days, both men and women wore long robes, tied at the waist by a cord or sash. The “bosom,” was the full gather of the robe above the sash. It was used to carry children (Num. 11:12), lambs (II Sam. 12:3) and other things (cf. II Kgs. 4:39; Prov. 17:23; 21:14). If a quantity of grain was purchased in the marketplace, it could be poured into the bosom to be transported home.
Here, the portion is delightfully generous. More than was expected. The principle is that we can never out-give the Lord. Whatever of time, talents and treasures we invest in His service will reap blessing and reward many times over. And it is humbling to realize the goodness of God in the face of our frequent ingratitude–or our careless misuse of His gifts. In the context, Jesus says:
Love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful (vs. 35).
“Hoping for [expecting] nothing in return.” What a high standard! Mercy and grace, even to those who may well deserve just the opposite! But that is how the Lord treats us. And to live in this way–since it is characteristic of God Himself–can be seen as a result of being made in His image. Treating those well who do the same to us is hardly a demonstration of grace. It is common in the unsaved world (vs. 34). But the child of God is to live by a higher standard.
And a brief note on the expression “You will be sons of the Most High.” This is not speaking of how to earn eternal salvation. That is, the Lord is not saying, “Do good, and your good works will get you into heaven.” That would be totally at odds with the Bible’s emphasis on salvation by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9).
Rather, the expression should be seen in the context of the Jewish culture of that day. To them, “son of” often meant the person showed characteristics of his family relationship. Jesus means that those who live as He describes demonstrate that they are members of His family because they reflect their Father’s character. Contrast this with Jesus’ stinging rebuke of the Pharisees: “You are of your father the devil” (Jn. 8:44).
In our kindness toward the undeserving and our love of the loveless, we are to be like the Lord Jesus. In the words of James Rowe’s 1911 gospel song:
Earthly pleasures vainly call me;
I would be like Jesus;
Nothing worldly shall enthrall me;
I would be like Jesus.
Be like Jesus, this my song,
In the home and in the throng;
Be like Jesus, all day long!
I would be like Jesus.