"Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects Him who sent me." (Luke 10:16)
What is Jesus talking about?
Here Jesus is summing up - as he instructs his 72 disciples before they go out and preach - the essence of representing the Supreme Being within the succession of spiritual teachers.Jesus is sending out his disciples to teach the same teachings that he himself was teaching - the same teachings that Jesus' teacher John the Baptist taught.
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Matthew 3:2)
From that time on [after John's imprisonment] Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Matt. 4:17)And Jesus instructed his 72 disciples:
"Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'" (Luke 10:9)This is evidence of a clear lineage of teachers and their teachings, which Jesus was a part of.
Furthermore, "Whoever listens to you listens to me" indicates that to hear the teachings coming from Jesus' disciples is to hear Jesus' teachings.
And "whoever rejects me rejects Him who sent me" indicates that to hear the teachings coming from Jesus and Jesus' disciples is to hear God's teachings.
This is because Jesus is representing the Supreme Being. He is God's representative.
This is not only clear from this statement, but Jesus stated this before with statements such as:
"For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken." (John 12:49)
"...everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15)
Was Jesus sent by God?
It is clear from this statement that Jesus was sent by the Supreme Being and is speaking on His behalf. But why? Why would Jesus speak on God's behalf? Can't God speak for Himself?The essential understanding is there exists a loving relationship between Jesus and the Supreme Being. The reason God lets His loving servants speak on His behalf is that they not only can communicate God's objectives and His instructions - but they can communicate and illustrate to others how to love the Supreme Being.
In other words, Jesus showed us both with his teachings and with his life just how to love the Supreme Being: How to give one's life to the Supreme Being.
This is why God lets His loving servants such as Jesus come to the earth to teach on His behalf.
And we can see in some of Jesus' statements the intimacy of the relationship between God and Jesus. These were illustrated in statements that many find confusing, such as:
"I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)
"On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." (John 14:20)While many have inaccurately taught this means Jesus is God, Jesus is actually speaking of the loving relationship between him and the Supreme Being. It is a relationship of love, wherein the lover is always trying to please his beloved.
Just consider what takes place between a husband and wife. There are two people, yet they are one when it comes to their dealings with others. They are a team. Why? Because they are committed to each other. Their marriage and their loving relationship (theoretically) means they have one will between them. There is a oneness between them.
The same oneness can be said of a relationship between God and His loving servant, in that the loving servant of God is always wanting to please the Supreme Being. Thus the loving servant essentially surrenders his will to the Supreme Being's will. This makes them effectively one because they have one will between them.
This means there is no difference between what they want. They both want the same thing. The Supreme Being's loving servant wants whatever the Supreme Being wants.
And because the Supreme Being loves us unconditionally, He always wants what will ultimately make us happy.
Because of Jesus' love for the Supreme Being, Jesus' teachings are God's teachings. And if Jesus' disciples are doing Jesus' will and passing on Jesus' teachings, they are also passing on God's teachings.
This is the process by which we come to know the Supreme Being. He sends those who have already committed themselves to Him to introduce us to Him.
Did Jesus introduce his students to God?
Yes. And now he wants them to introduce others.This introduction process is how we can also come to know the Supreme Being. But this introduction can only come from someone who knows God and loves the Supreme Being. It cannot come from a pretender. It doesn't matter how long a person's robes are, or what title others have given them.
Just consider if a stranger off the street came to us and said, "I know the president and I can introduce you personally to him." So we follow the stranger to the White House and they stand in front of the locked gate surrounding the perimeter and he proceeds to tell us the president's family history. Is the stranger really introducing us? No, he can't even get through the locked gate outside the White House, let alone introduce us personally to the president.
This is essentially what some teachers are doing. They claim to be introducing us to Jesus and God but they do not have a relationship with either. They might have learned a lot of Biblical history in seminary college. But they don't know Jesus and God personally. And this is why many of these teachers are confusing Jesus with God - because they don't know either of them.
Furthermore, we cannot trust these teachers who teach that we don't need a teacher because we can learn directly from Jesus "in the heart." This is hypocritical teaching. Why are they teaching us if we can reach Jesus directly? Why are they instructing us if we can turn to Jesus directly? Why not just get this from Jesus himself?
They are teaching nonsense because they are not empowered. We can see that John the Baptist was empowered to teach. And so was Jesus. And Jesus empowered his disciples to teach. And they went out to teach others. This illustrates clearly the process.
It is a practical process. There is no need for speculative imagination, trying to imagine Jesus within my heart so that I can "hear" him. This is a teaching from those who are not empowered. From those who are not passing on Jesus' teachings.
We can see here that Jesus' 72 disciples were committed to Jesus, and thus committed to the Supreme Being. They were passing on Jesus' instructions, after hearing and learning Jesus' teachings. They didn't need to imagine anything. It was very practical.
And Jesus' teachings were also very practical. What was Jesus' primary teaching?
" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27)