Luke 11:53-12:12 - Jesus: The Faithful Witness

The text for today’s sermon is Luke 11:53–12:12.

Before we read, it’s helpful to remember where we are in Luke. After teaching the disciples to pray and reminding them to ask the Father for the Spirit, Jesus then casts out a demon by the “finger of God”, the Holy Spirit. He was then accused by the religious leaders of doing it by Satan’s power. The conflict between Jesus and these leaders intensified as Jesus accused them of shutting people out of God’s kingdom and being condemned by Nineveh and the Queen of the South on the judgment day. This escalating tension is ultimately leading to His death in Jerusalem—His “Exodus” that He declared to Moses and Elijah.

This passage is meant to encourage the disciples and all those who will testify of Jesus and face persecution from these same opponents. They would be dragged before these religious leaders, forced to give an account of their faith, and pressured to recant. Naturally, like us, they did not like pain or conflict, so they would need deep grounding in God’s care and love—and help to withstand such suffering.

While we may not yet be dragged into courts, we do face forms of persecution and are called to give an account for our faith. And yet, we often rely on our own wisdom, or we avoid proclaiming Christ altogether, fearing what it will cost us.

The consequences are serious. Jesus tells us that if we do not acknowledge Him before men, He will not acknowledge us before the judgment throne of God. But what if instead of shrinking back in fear, we could:

• Confess Christ with joy
• Be guided by the Holy Spirit in the words we speak
• Know with assurance that we will be vindicated on judgment day?

Would you like to experience that kind of radical confidence in your Father’s care?

If so, listen closely as we read Luke 11:53–12:12.

Luke 11:53–12:12 ESV

As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say. In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And 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.”

This text shows us that…

We are called to be faithful witnesses to Christ in the Spirit’s power—no matter the opposition

Imagine a tense courtroom scene where you are the defendant, and the verdict determines whether you live or die. How would you feel?

The religious leaders in this passage want to play the role of prosecutor, jury, and judge against Jesus and later, His disciples.

We see their opposing, plotting, and provoking Jesus in verses 11:53-54. They want to send Him to a courtroom to be tried and executed. They are the rulers in Psalm 2 who sit around a table and plot how they can overthrow the Lord's anointed. But, as we see in 12:11-12, they won't be satisfied once He is dead, they will seek to destroy those who will witness of Him after His resurrection. These rulers are a type of all those who will oppose the disciples and all who give testimony of Christ.

In verses 12:3-5, 8, and 11, Jesus' disciples, and consequently all those who profess His name are called to fearless confession as a faithful witness. Whatever the religious leaders, disciples, or even we, say, eventually, the judge of all, God, will make known. There is nothing we can hide. Whether the religious leaders plotting to destroy Christ, the disciples bearing witness to Jesus' resurrection and vindication, or our faithful or unfaithful proclamation, the Day of Judgment will expose it for all to see.

This is critically important, for in verses 12:4-5, and 8-9, we see the consequences of denying Jesus. Maybe those who hate Christ might persecute, torture, or kill us, but God has the authority to not only kill us, but to cast us into gehenna, hell. Many debate the nature of hell, but one thing is certain, this place of torment, often equated with a place of waste and fire, is a real place. If not, why would Jesus say we should fear it? You see, denial of Jesus has horrible and eternal consequences.

Jesus also makes a sobering statement about the unforgivable sin: blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. What does this mean, and who does it? This is not a sin committed unknowingly. The Holy Spirit's primary work is to testify to Jesus's life, death, and resurrection, which He vindicated by raising Him from the dead. So, to blaspheme the Spirit is to do what the religious leaders in our passage did: to look at the work of Jesus, attribute it to Satan, and ultimately reject the Spirit's undeniable witness to Christ. Put simply, it is “all final unbelief”.

But those who trust in Christ and rest in Him, as verses 12:6-7 and 12 demonstrate, shouldn't feel alone and uncared for by God during persecution, nor do we have to bear the weight of being a faithful witness from our own power and through our own planning and eloquence. The Father values His people and will not only provide the Holy Spirit to enable us to be faithful witnesses in moments of persecutions, but will provide the comfort knowing God sees us and cares.

If you were to look down in your bathroom shower and see all the hairs you have lost, you might not think anything of it. You, well most of you, have more of it, and so you probably don't think they matter. But God has every one of them numbered and knows exactly when they will fall out. And Jesus' point is that if God knows and cares about this level of detail in our lives, how much more do you think He cares about you and me who He gave His Son for and who will be faithful witnesses to His Son.

You see, even if we are taken before a courtroom and put on the witness stand as the defendant by religious or political leaders who are trying to act as the prosecutor, jury, and judge, we must still be faithful witnesses to Christ and do so in the Spirit's power. And as verses 12:8-9 reveal, if we do, Christ Himself will acknowledge us before the angels of God, as we have acknowledged Him before the world, and when He does, He will vindicate us.

Jesus is not simply asking for a casual 'acknowledgment' of His existence, however. The original language shows that He is looking for is a public and courageous 'confession'—a declaration of allegiance to Him before the watching world. This is not just a passing thought; it's a profound stand we take that demonstrates a deep trust in His finished work on the cross.

But there is a very real problem…instead of fulfilling our calling of being faithful witnesses of Christ in the Spirit's power…

We fail to faithfully witness to Christ because we fear opposition and rely on our own strength instead of the Spirit

Like a defendant on the witness stand, we fear saying anything because of the ramifications of what those who hate Christ will be for us. And so, we shut our mouths in regards to confessing Christ because we are afraid of the consequences.

Why do we do this? Verses 12:4-5 give the explanation…we fear man and what pain these mortals can do to us. We remember what pain feels like, what emotional bullying feels like, what being ostracized feels like, what being alone feels like, and so we fear men. But we forget that God can not only cause all of these things, He has power over them, but God can also punish our soul in hell forever! Hell, that real place, that we all fear, that the world mocks and rejects, is that which God has power over and can cast us into. We often don't faithfully witness of Christ because we fear opposition. We forget that as the prophet Jeremiah says, "Man is but a breath."

And so, as verses 12:9-10 show, when we live in this fear of man, we fail to confess Christ. We deny that Jesus is the Savior of the world either implicitly or explicitly and even reject the Spirit's witness to us of Christ and His power.

In verses 12:6–7, 11–12, we see that if we aren't implicitly or explicitly denying Christ, we often fail to witness of Him because instead of trusting in God’s care and depending upon His Spirit, we often are anxious and try to ground our confession of Jesus in our own wisdom and power. Because we think it depends on us, we never truly feel adequate to witness to Christ, and so we simply don't do it.

But how does this practically work itself out? We believe the lies of…

• The world when it says…Jesus must be silenced unless He proves Himself to be who He says
• The flesh when it says…I don't want to be discomforted by my confession of Christ before the world
• The modern mind when it says…there is no hell, no judgment and no reason to fear God
• The religious heart when it says…I need to earn my way to God, Jesus' message is offensive to me
• The deeper lie when it says…I don't need to confess Jesus before the world

All of these lies are rooted in deep idols of the heart:

• Fear of man over God - That it is possible to be a disciple of Jesus without confessing Him before a watching and hostile world.
• A rebellious heart - That says there is no consequences for rebellion and rejection of Jesus and His salvation in this or the next life.
• Self-deception - That it is possible to be a part of His kingdom without living as citizens of His kingdom with complete loyalty to Him.
• Self-dependence - That it is possible to be a faithful witness to Him without Him empowering us by His Spirit.
• Unbelief in God's Fatherly care - That God does not care about the persecution that we will face.

All of these things ultimately lead to one terrible thing, being in the courtroom of God on Judgment Day, having no one to defend us, being found guilty and having a sentence declared…everlasting hell.

If we would be all alone standing before God on Judgment Day, we shoudl be terrified, but…

Jesus Christ, the Faithful Witness, bore our unfaithfulness on the cross so that we might be counted faithful in Him

Now, return with me to that tense courtroom scene…you are the defendant and the verdict of the judge will determine whether you live or die. The accusations have all been made by the prosecution, and they are all true, and now your lawyer stands up to give a defense…but to your surprise, the lawyer is the jury, judge, and the One who will carry out the sentence. And instead of declaring you guilty, He declares you innocent and perfect, because He already paid all your crimes for you in His own body. This man is none other than the Son of Man, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Jesus, the Faithful Witness to Himself as the Way to the Father, the Truth who is our Savior, and the Life who saves us by His death. He endured hostility, plotting, and rejection as seen in verses 11:53-54, doing all this for our sake, because we deserved it. Jesus bore witness by His own actions to the requirements to love God perfectly, obey Him flawlessly, and proclaim Him boldly. He did this in His life and in His death as the True and Perfect Witness whose death was not just courageous but the atoning act that secures salvation for all who trust Him.

Jesus, the Light of the world, as seen in verses 12:2-3, fearlessly proclaimed the kingdom of God and its fulfillment in Him, giving to us His fearless testimony in place of our fear and silence, our unfaithful witness. He spoke plainly of Himself as God and Savior of the world, the Son of the Father, the Lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world. It is because of not only His fearless proclamation, but His incredible sacrifice on the cross, drinking the cup of God's wrath for us, that He give us His righteousness and perfect faithful witness record.

As we see in verses 12:8-9, Jesus will stand before the Father and His angels and confess us, crediting us with His own faithful confession on the Day of Judgment, because He was crushed and brought to His knees by the load of the cross and the burden of our sins. He was smitten so we could be held in God's care and be beloved in His sight, welcomed to sit at the table of the Lord. Jesus bore our shame so that we could receive His honor.

And as we see in verses 12:10-12, Jesus didn't only bear our sin on the cross and die, but He rose again from the dead, and at His ascension into heaven, poured out His Holy Spirit upon us so that we might not only be credited for His faithful witness, but be empowered to be faithful witnesses before a hostile world. This promise to us echoes God’s words to Moses and Jeremiah (Exodus 4:12; Jeremiah 1:9), showing that just as He gave them the words to speak, He will give us the words we need.

But, if you are not living as a faithful witness to Jesus, I must warn you that the Day of Judgment is coming. The courtroom of heaven is waiting for you and me. You have a choice today, life or death. Choose life. Choose to confess Jesus as Lord and be His faithful witness in this corrupt world, and trust in His vindication in His resurrection from the dead. If you do, you can be utterly confident in the fact that Jesus will acknowledge you before the Father and the angels of God and you will enter into God's eternal joy.

But this wonderful reality of not being afraid of death isn't the only benefit of Christ's person and work, He gave us His Spirit so we can…

Depend on the Spirit of Jesus, so we are empowered to give a fearless and faithful witness to His power to save

You see, as we abide in Jesus, the True and Faithful Witness, the promise of radical confidence in our Father's care is now possible because we are united to Him. The Father who vindicated His Son will also vindicate us.

In view of the cross, we don't have to live in the old way of the flesh—we now get to live in the new way of the Spirit. As you abide in Jesus, you just might find yourself living as a completely different kind of faithful witness.

• Courage in Confession: In the past, you may have kept your faith quiet at school or work, afraid of what people might think. Now, trusting Jesus’s promise to acknowledge you before the Father, you can be glad if people know. The Spirit reminds you that Jesus is not ashamed to call you His brother, giving you courage to speak for Him in everyday moments—whether at the cafeteria table, the water cooler, or lunch with coworkers.
• Reliance in Conversation: You may have once tried to script every conversation about Jesus, afraid of saying the wrong thing. Now, you can simply pray and trust the Spirit to give you the words in the moment. He lives in you, and since Christ is both the Wisdom and Word of God, He always has what you need. Even a casual question at a coffee shop can become a Spirit-led opportunity.
• Rest in Persecution: When you were mocked or ridiculed for your faith, you may have wondered if God even noticed. Now, you can rest in His care—knowing you are worth more than many sparrows and that every hair on your head is numbered. The Spirit assures you that you are His child, even when family or coworkers shame you for standing with Christ.

And, in the past, you may have doubted if Jesus would really speak your name in heaven. Now you know your Defender—who bore your sin—will stand for you before the angels of God. The Spirit anchors you in this truth, so even when you lie awake at night wondering, “Am I really His?” your confidence is not in your feelings but in His finished work.

The courtroom verdict has already been decided: innocent. So this week, when you’re tempted to shrink back or stay silent, remember—your Advocate has already stood in the courtroom for you. The Spirit will give you the words. The Father will give you the courage. Speak His name to the glory of the Father, empowered by the Spirit.