Hanging On His Words

“All the people hung on his words.”  Luke 19:48

 

Ever picked up a book you found hard to put down?  What made pausing the pages so difficult?  An intriguing plot?  An enticing story?  Fascinating facts?  Appealing expressions?  Most often a mixture of many features.  Somehow the author arranges information in a way that seizes our imaginations, emotions, and interests, and we find ourselves hanging onto every word.  

The phrase itself paints a captivating picture.  We hang onto something out of either desire or desperation and sometimes a bunch of both.  Such was the case with those who heard Jesus during the last week of His earthly life.  When He spoke, they listened.  Some marveled.  Some were mad.  All were amazed.

Jesus claimed to own the Temple.  “My house will be called a house of prayer”(Lk 19:46).  He refused to answer the Pharisees. “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things”(Lk 20:8).  He silenced those who tried to trap Him. “He said to them, ‘Give to Caesar’s what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’ And astonished by his answer, they became silent”(Lk 20:26). He challenged folks to think. “If David calls the Christ, ‘Lord,’ how can He be his son?”(Lk 20:44).  He set priorities straight. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’”(Matt 22:38-39).  He set rulers straight. “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God”(Matt 22:20).  He set the record straight. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”(Matt 24:35). 

Jesus spoke with authority and without fear, and His combination of truth and conviction captivated the crowd.  The religious leaders wanted to shut Him up permanently, “yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words”(Lk 19:48).  Bible translators employ various phrases to describe such an absorbed audience—fervently occupied, eager to hear, riveted, very attentive, awestruck, catching every word that dropped from His lips.

What Jesus said and how He said it were so compelling that those who heard couldn’t wait for next syllable. They were excited, delighted, and intrigued. They desired certainty and were desperate for substance, and Jesus’ words were both. 

He still speaks, so let your desire and desperation drive you to His Word.  The more you look and listen, the more you read and remember, and the more you memorize and meditate on what He has said from Genesis through Revelation, the more captivated, absorbed, intrigued, comforted, confident, motivated, excited, and delighted you will be.  

To hang on God’s words you have to hear them first.

Pick up His book and never put it down.