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When Hearing Becomes Doing: The Wisdom of Obedience in Luke’s Gospel

  • Jon Swales
  • 1 day ago
  • 3 min read


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In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus invites us not just to hear his words but to embody them.

Not to admire his teaching from a safe distance,

but to let it take root—deep and disruptive—

until it changes how we live, love, and lose ourselves for the sake of the kingdom.


“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46)


Two builders.Two houses.Two foundations.


One listens and acts, building on rock.The other listens and does nothing, building on sand.And when the storm comes (as it always does),only one house still stands.


Wisdom, in the way of Jesus, is not found in intellect or eloquence.


It is found in obedience.It is found in the one who listens with the body, who turns hearing into doing, and words into flesh.


When the crowd tells Jesus that his mother and brothers are waiting outside,he replies with a sentence that reorders everything:“My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” (Luke 8:21)


Here, kinship is redrawn.

Not by bloodline but by faithfulness.

Not by heritage but by obedience.

The family of Jesus are those whose ears are open and whose lives echo what they hear.


Jesus tells another story.


A sower goes out to sow.

Seed scatters across the soil of human hearts.

Some hearts are hard,some shallow,some choked by worry, wealth, and want.

But some—open, patient, persevering—receive the word, hold it fast, and bear fruit.


The question comes quietly, insistently:

What kind of soil am I?

Do I merely hear, or do I allow the Word to root, grow, and bear fruit in my life?


For in Luke, faithfulness is fruitfulness.

And the fruit of obedience is love.


Jesus does not leave obedience undefined.

He speaks with clarity and courage.He gives shape to the life that pleases God.


Here are some of his words—the map for those who would hear and do:

  • Love your enemies (6:27–36)

    Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who harm you.Be merciful as your Father is merciful.

  • Do not judge or condemn (6:37–42)

    Forgive freely.Take the log from your own eye before you touch the splinter in another’s.

  • Build your life on obedience (6:46–49)

    Let hearing become doing.Let words become walls that stand in the storm.

  • Be rich toward God (12:13–21)

    Do not hoard.Your life is more than your possessions.

  • Do not worry (12:22–31)

    Trust the Father’s care.Seek the kingdom first.

  • Be ready and watchful (12:35–40)

    Stay awake to the movement of the Spirit,the nearness of the Son of Man.

  • Take up your cross daily (9:23–24)

    Lose your life, and find it.Follow the One who walks toward the world’s pain.

  • Welcome the poor and the broken (14:12–14)

    Make room at your table for those who cannot repay.

  • Be a neighbour to the wounded (10:25–37)

    Go and do likewise.Mercy is your calling card.

  • Forgive again and again (17:3–4)

    Seven times in a day if you must.Forgiveness is freedom.

  • Pray persistently and humbly (11:1–13; 18:1–14)

    Cry out. Trust the Father’s generosity.

  • Be faithful in small things (16:10–13)

    You cannot serve both God and money.Choose your master wisely.

  • Rejoice when the lost are found (15:1–32)

    The kingdom throws parties for prodigals.

  • Watch and pray (21:34–36)

    Stay awake.Live ready for the coming kingdom.


To hear is grace.


To do is love.


And to live this love is to build your life on rock, to be called family by Jesus himself,

to let the Word once more take flesh—in you.


This is wisdom in the way of Jesus:

to listen deeply,

to live courageously,

and to let obedience become worship.


'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!’”- Luke 11:28



 
 
 

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