SITTING AT JESUS' FEET

 

As Jesus was going around to different villages, He came across to two ladies that we read about in:

 

Luke 10:38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.  39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.  40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me."  41 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  42 "But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

 

Martha is like many of us today. We are so busy with trying to conquer the world that we don’t take time out for important things like sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning from Him. As Jesus told Martha.

 

Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  42 "But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

 

Sometimes we need to examine how busy our lives are, and if we see that we are not taking time to sit a Jesus’ feet to learn about the Words of life, then we need to cut some of our activities, so that we can allow God’s Word to transforms our lives because no one can take that away from us. Jesus invites anyone who is wearied and burdened to come and learn from Him:

 

Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

 

Jesus will not ask us to do the impossible, but He will teach us great wisdom that we can follow. One reason we should want to learn from Him is so we can become more like Him because the more become like Him, the more pleasing we will be to our Father in heaven.

 

John 13:15 "For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.  16 "Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.  17 "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

 

Jesus is our master teacher, and we will never be greater than Him, and we will certainly never become wiser than Him, which means we can never get to point in our life where we can become to wise to sit our master’s feet and learn from Him. As Peter rightly said:

 

John 6:68 "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  69 "Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

 

Even though Jesus is not physically here on the earth where we can physically sit at His feet and listen to the words come out His mouth, God has made it possible for us to spiritually sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from His words and His example through the Scriptures. As Paul told Timothy:

 

2 Timothy 3:15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,  17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 

While those in the first century had the opportunity to see what Jesus looked like and were able touch Him and have Him speak, we have a great advantage over them today because we have the fully revealed Word of God. We can see all that God did to bring Christ into our world, and we can see what Jesus did throughout His ministry. We get to see His gentle carrying side as He healed the sick and lame, and we get to see His serious side as He rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees. 

 

Some during the first century would get to hear one of Jesus’ parables for the first time, but we get to read and study all of them. Some would get to witness firsthand Jesus performing a miracle, but we get to see many of His miracles as we read about them in Scripture. As Paul told Timothy, God’s Word has all the information we need to be complete, which is why we have an advantage over those in the first century even though that were able to see Jesus with their own eyes.

 

Some say they will not believe in Jesus unless they can see Him with their own eyes. Even one of Jesus’ disciples who was with  Him through ministry had this problem.

 

John 20:24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.  25 The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord." So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."  26 ¶ And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!"  27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing."  28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"  29 Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."  30 ¶ And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;  31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

 

There are many our world today that are like Thomas. They will not believe in what they cannot physically see even though there is ample evidence of Jesus’ existence and His resurrection. We cannot see the wind, but we know it is there because we can see what it does and how it feels. As you study the history of Jesus, and the logic of the Scriptures, if you have an honest heart, you will have everything you need to know to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

 

If you want to increase your faith in God, take more time to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn from Him. As Christians, it should bring us great joy to open our Bibles and absorb as much as we can about our Lord and master because the more we know about Him, the more we can become like Him.

 

With this in mind I want to suggest to that there are at least five things we need to consider when it comes opening our Bible and learning from our master.

 

The first thing we need to consider as we sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from His Word, is that we need to search the Scriptures. The word search means:

 

to attempt to learn something by careful investigation or searching - 'to try to learn, to search, to try to find out, to seek information. (Louw-Nida Lexicon).

 

One commentator commented on the word search in Jn. 5:39 said:

 

“The Greek word here rendered search signifies a strict, close, diligent, curious search, such as men make when they are seeking gold, or hunters when they are in earnest after game. We must not rest content with having given a superficial reading to a chapter or two, but with the candle of the Spirit we must deliberately seek out the hidden meaning of the word. Holy Scripture requires searching – much of it can only be learned by careful study” (Charles Spurgeon) 

 

To search the Scriptures does not mean a causal reading of them, but a through investigation of them. When we search the Scriptures, we will learn a lot more about God and what He expects from us. We have several examples of this kind of searching in Scripture.

 

For example, the prophets of old continued to search the Scriptures hoping to be able to figure out more about the coming Messiah:

 

1 Peter 1:10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,  11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.  12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven -- things which angels desire to look into.

 

They diligently searched the Scriptures about this, but we get to know all about it because Jesus revealed in the N.T. but we still have to search the Scriptures to fully understand the grace we received through Jesus and what we must do to embrace it.

 

Another great example of searching was the Bereans:

 

Acts 17:10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.  11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.  12 Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.

 

These Bereans did not believe what Paul said just because he said it, they searched out the truth from the Scriptures, When they discovered that the Scriptures agreed with what Paul was teaching, then they believed. It is important that we be like them today when it comes to comparing what is being taught. You should not rely on me or anyone else to tell what you should believe. Instead, search the Scriptures and prove that which is taught to you and if you discover what you are being taught is true, then you know that the truth is being taught.

 

The second thing we should consider as we sit at Jesus’ feet and learn more about God through His Word is that it takes mediating on His Word. The word meditate means:

 

as a subjective act of thought have in mind, ponder, think (about)(Friberg)

 

One man described meditating this way:

 

“Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God...It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God.” (Packer, J I: Knowing God)

 

One more:

 

"Meditation is the skeleton key that unlocks the greatest storeroom in the house of God's provisions for the Christian." (unknown).

 

Meditating involves spending time on a particular portion of God’s word: pondering and considering its teaching and absorbing it into the mind. Sometimes, we cannot grasp what God’s Word is trying to teach us until will mediate on it. The Scriptures teach us that there are benefits from meditating on God’s Word:

 

Joshua 1:8 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

 

Meditating on God’s Word will help us to observe it and keep it, which will cause to have good success. Since meditation on God’s Word draws us closer to Him, it should be our desire to mediate on it as David wrote:

 

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;  2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.

 

Finally meditating on God’s Word will give us a deeper understanding of it as:

 

Psalm 119:99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.

 

The third thing we should consider as we sit at Jesus’ feet is to do our best to memorize Scripture. For some, this easier to do, but we can memorize more Scripture if we try, and I don’t necessarily mean that we should know every the, and, and, but in each verse, but I thinks it important that we at least have a good idea of what different verses say and a general location of where they are located.

 

The Bible teaches us that we should do our best to hide God’s Word in our heart.

 

Psalm 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!

 

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

 

Memorizing the Word of God will help us to remain faithful to God and keep us from slipping down the wrong pathway:

 

Psalm 37:31 The law of his God is in his heart; None of his steps shall slide.

 

So do your best to memorize as much of God’s Word as you can.

 

The fourth thing we should consider as we sit at Jesus feet and learn from Him is to submit to what He teaches us. Just filling your head with Biblical knowledge will not change your life because you must first put it into practice. As Jesus said:

 

Luke 11:28  …blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"

 

If we do not submit to what we learn or make it part of our lives, then we are no better off than the demons:

 

James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe -- and tremble!  20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

 

James also said:

 

James 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.  22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

 

We need to understand that it is not enough to have knowledge of God or to simply believe in Jesus and call Him Lord, because we must have an obedient faith to be pleasing to God. As Jesus said:

 

Luke 6:46 " But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say?  47 "Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:  48 "He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.  49 "But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great."

 

If we love God, and we want to make it to heaven, then we must not be hearers only, and we need to practice what we study and what we preach.

 

The fifth thing we need to keep in mind as we learn God’s Word from sitting a master’s feet is that we need to share what we learn with others. The process of studying is not complete until it has been searched, meditated on, memorized, submitted to, and shared with others.

 

When we teach others what we have learned, not only does it benefit those around us, it helps us to have a deeper understand of what we have learned because whenever you have to teach, you learn so much more because you have think about how you are going to present the information you learned. Ask any Bible teacher in this congregation and they will all tell you the same thing; they learn twice as much by teaching what they have learned than by simply studying it by themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One man said:

 

“Those who keep the word imprisoned in their heart have learnt nothing” (Quotes & Things, Thoughts, D. Colllins). 

 

Jesus certainly does not want us to keep what we have learned from Him to ourselves. He told His disciples:

 

Matthew 10:27 " Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.

 

The Samaritan woman in John 4 is a good example of this because she learned that Jesus was the Son of God she was so excited that she left her water bucket behind and went told everyone in the village what she had learned about Jesus. This is the same excitement we should have when it comes to sharing what we have learned from sitting at Jesus’ feet.

 

I hope this lesson has encouraged you to examine your life and your priorities. If you have found that you more concerned about conquering the world than taking time to sit at Jesus’ feet, then I hope you change your ways and stop being like Martha so you can enjoy good part as Mary did, which was learning the words of life at Jesus’ feet.

 

In conclusion, we should study God’s Word so that we can become more like Christ. When we study His Word, we should keep five things in mind:

 

  1. We should Search the Scriptures.
  2. Meditate on the Scriptures.
  3. Memorize the Scriptures and keep them in our heart.
  4. Submit to what we learn by being doers of God’s Word.
  5. We must share what learn with others.

 

When we do these five things, it will help us to become better students of God’s Word. I want to close my lesson with the words of Paul:

 

Philippians 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,  10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,  11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

 

Adapted in part from “Sitting at the feet of Jesus” by David Cambridge