Luke, Part 3 – Taking the Nations Back
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Transcript Below
Luke 15 – 19a
When Luke begins his letter, he says, “Many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us. It also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.” (Luke 1:1-4, HCSB)
Luke’s purpose for writing was to explain to Theophilus, presumably someone of high rank in the political culture, that Jesus was in fact who He said He was. And we’ve seen throughout our study that Luke strategically includes events in the life of Jesus to show that not only is He the long-awaited Messiah, but that He has come to take the nations back in a way that no one expected.
Luke tells Theophilus that he has created an “orderly sequence,” which means that he wrote an account of the events that took place in the life and mission of Jesus. Luke intentionally placed these events, one after another, in such a way that was to reveal themes in his narrative that support his purpose. So, this means that Luke (and other gospel writers) were less concerned with the chronological order of events, and more concerned with the big ideas. This means that when we’re reading through the gospel of Luke, or any other passage of Scripture, some good questions to ask ourselves are this:
Why did the biblical writer include this particular story?
Why did the biblical writer place this story here?
Questions like these will help us zero in on biblical truths that applied to the lives of the first century Christians, as well as us today.
In the previous episode we discussed that parables are fictitious stories that help to drive home a moral or spiritual point. They’re not meant to be thought of as actual events in history. In this section of Luke, chapters 15 – 19, he mostly includes parables. So, we will talk about these, some in more detail than others, and how they fit into Luke’s overall narrative. We’ll also talk about the moral or spiritual truths that Luke is bringing to light.
LUKE 15
Last time we ended with a discussion on the cost of following Jesus. Jesus says toward the end of chapter 14 that “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” The cost of following Jesus means that regardless of who we are and what we have, we need to make Jesus our first priority in life. He is to be the foundation and authority in which we serve as we live our lives following Him. This is not an easy thing to do. Jesus never promised that being His follower would bring us a comfortable, problem free, blessing filled life. However, He did promise that we would be free from the bondage of sin (John 8:31-38) and death (John 5:24).
Coming off of this topic, Luke includes three parables from Jesus to strengthen this point. Let’s compare the last verse of each parable:
The Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7)
“I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don’t need repentance” (verse 7).
The Lost Coin (Luke 15:8-10)
“I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents” (verse 10).
The Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32)
“But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (verse 32).
Notice that the theme in each of these parables revolves around the joy that heaven has over someone who has turned from their sin and come back to the Father in Heaven. Interestingly, the first parable deals with a man who lost a sheep, and the second parable deals with a woman who lost a coin. Both deal with lost material possessions and the joy that comes from finding them. But consider the joy of a Father whose rebellious son has finally come back to him.
This is an indescribable joy! It’s one that we can only fully appreciate if it happens to us. However, this is also the story of humanity. All of humanity is inherently lost until they are made alive through their faith in Jesus. Therefore, if we understand the fact that Yahweh God has been pursuing us from the beginning, then we can begin to grasp why there is “more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don’t need repentance” (Luke 15:7).
Alright, now that we have the gist of what’s going on, let’s ask a Bible study question: Why did Luke choose these three particular stories and then place them where he did in his letter to Theophilus? Here’s why:
Luke is saying that following Jesus is worth it! It’s not always going to be easy. We will mess up along the way. But it’s worth it. And when we do turn to Jesus, all of heaven rejoices.
Luke 16:1-18
The next parable is about a dishonest manager. Dr. John K. Goodrich of Moody Bible Institute says that “The parable of the unjust steward is widely considered the most puzzling of Jesus’ teachings (Voluntary Debt Remission, 547). He adds that “Luke 16:8 is even considered by some [scholars] to be ‘perhaps the most difficult verse in the entire Gospel [of Luke]” (548, my additions). Well, I would have to agree with those statements! Luke 16:8 says, “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light” (NIV).
To be honest, I came to this passage and had no idea what was going on and why Luke would have included this. It’s confusing! At times it even seems like sentences are randomly inserted. It’s accurate to say that biblical scholars are still wrestling with this one, but Dr. Goodrich offers some insight that I found helpful when thinking through this passage. However, there are a few things to consider before we put the pieces together.
The first is that the manager seems to be a poor one, at least at first. The first verse says that he was “squandering” his masters’ possessions. This is the same word in the previous parable where the son “squandered” his fathers’ estate. Squandering possessions has the sense of wasting them. Both the son and the manager were not being wise with what they were entrusted.
The second thing to consider is that the text does not specifically say how the manager was wasting his masters’ money. It just says that he was. This is probably a literary technique of Luke. Details like these don’t necessarily matter because it’s not a real scenario (although it was relatable to whom Jesus was talking!). Small details don’t always help to support the point of the story. In fact, if Jesus had been specific, that may have opened up all kinds of questions that diverted from the main point. Biblical writers do this intentionally as well. They purposefully omit certain details to guide your focus toward what really matters.
Our third consideration comes from Dr. Goodrich’s article. He says, “the instability of land tenancy during the early imperial period quite often required wealthy proprietors to reduce debts (rents and arrears) in order to enable and encourage their repayment, as well as to secure the longevity of their tenants and their own long-term profitability. Dept remission in antiquity, then, was advantageous both to landlords and tenants, an insight that has significant implications for the interpretation of our parable” (553).
Okay, just like today, people in the first century owned land. Sometimes these land owners would rent their land for farming, living, or whatever. So, if you were a renter, you were responsible to pay the rent [Midnight Oil anybody? I couldn’t help myself!]. But let’s say you made your money through farming. What if the weather wasn’t cooperating that year and you couldn’t afford to pay the rent? Well, there are recorded cases from this time period when landowners would voluntarily reduce the rent to a number that the renter could afford. Why would they do this? Well, it was beneficial to the renter because they could continue to live in their home, but it was also beneficial to the landlord because they could keep their tenant and continue to make an income. I have never owned property for the purpose of renting it, but I’ve been told that it can be difficult to find good tenants!
So how do these considerations help us understand the parable? We know that the manager was not doing a good job. When the master decided to fire the manager, the manager went into panic mode. What could he possibly do to save his job? That’s when he had the idea to lower the debts of the renters. While the master would get less money, at least he would get something! And, he would also keep his tenants rather than having to look for new ones.
Personally, I think the manager’s initial problem was greed. He was probably thinking, “Why lower the rent when you can simply force them to pay up!” Although, keep in mind that the characters in this parable aren’t real people. Nevertheless, we can relate to them. The manager seems greedy, and the master doesn’t want a manager to run his business that way.
Therefore, verse 8 says, “The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted astutely” (HCSB). I’m guessing that the manager was called unrighteous because of his greed, however, as I already noted, we don’t know his sin for sure. But we do know how the manager reacted when presented with the motivation of keeping his job! Translations say that he had acted astutely (“shrewdly” is a synonym), prudently, or wisely. All of these words accurately point to the fact that the managers actions showed care toward the future. It could be that the manager was only acting out of a self-interest, but regardless, these actions helped the master and the tenants. Essentially, the manager’s actions of lowering the rent in an effort to keep the tenants was the right thing to do, and is what the manager should have done in the first place.
But here’s where the parable takes a difficult turn. For starters, scholars have a difficult time agreeing where exactly the parable ends and Jesus’ teaching begins. The reason is because Luke includes odd lines like this:
“For the sons of this age are more astute than the sons of light in dealing with their own people. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of the unrighteous money so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings” (verses 8b-9).
Here’s what I think – The phrase “sons of this age” refers to the unrighteous people of this world. Consequently, the “sons of light” refers to people who are found to be righteous. Jesus says that the unrighteous people of this world are more concerned with acquiring money for their future than the righteous people. Why? Because the righteous people know the eternal hope of heaven. So, Jesus tells His disciples (because that’s who He was talking to) to make friends with the unrighteous, because when their money fails (not if, but when), the unrighteous may welcome the message the disciples have to offer because it leads to eternal life. Further support for this is found in verses 10 through 13; all of which talk about godly stewardship of money. When we allow greed to drive our actions, then, as Jesus says in verse 13, we are not serving God.
Now, in light of the overall story arc that Luke is painting, this parable fits in quite nicely. Remember, Chapter 14 ended with the cost of following Jesus. Chapter 15 tells us that following Jesus is worth it. Now the first part of chapter 16 tells us that we cannot follow Jesus and someone or something else at the same time. The unrighteous manager was valuing himself above others, which is the opposite of the gospel message of Jesus. We need to be willing to give up the things of this world so that we can serve Him more effectively through our actions and words. If we are going to follow Jesus, we need to be exclusively loyal to Him alone with our faith and trust.
This truth echoes an Old Testament passage:
“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14-15, ESV)
Some translations end the parable of the dishonest manager here but I think the language indicates that the scene continues. Remember that verse 1 indicated that Jesus was speaking to His disciples. Verse 14 indicates that a group of Pharisees were listening in on this conversation! It’s apparent for two reasons: 1. Luke says that the Pharisees were lovers of money, which is an obvious connection to the parables’ theme, and 2. Luke says that the Pharisees “heard all these things.” So, the scene continues…
When Jesus finished His parable, the Pharisees began “scoffing at Him” (v14). This means that they were mocking Jesus. But rather than turn the other cheek, Jesus looks at them and says, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight” (v15). Jesus was comparing the Pharisees to the unrighteous manager! He’s calling them out because their hearts were more concerned with selfish gain than helping others.
Following Jesus is a heart issue. We can justify our actions all we want, but God knows what is in the depths of our hearts. Jesus called them out saying that what they held in high regard, God found revolting! That’s a verbal slap in the face if I’ve ever heard one – which goes along with the overall theme of Jesus intentionally instigating His oppressors which would eventually lead to His death on the cross.
Jesus goes on to give a couple other teachings. They seem very out of place here in Luke’s narrative, but I think he is continuing the heart issue theme through summary statements. These statements can be found in other gospels as well, and sometimes with more detail.
Luke 16:19-31 – The Rich Man and Lazarus
Luke continues with the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man “lived in luxury every day” but Lazarus was a beggar who had health issues. Eventually both of them died. Angels carried the beggar to Abraham’s side. But the rich man ended up in Hades. Jesus said that the rich man “was in torment.”
“He looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, not can anyone cross over from there to us.’” (Luke 16:23b-26)
The rich man goes on to beg Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers about “this place of torment.” But Abraham basically says that’s not necessary because they are already without excuse.
Alrighty, so most bible scholars would agree that this is another parable. This is tricky because when we hear this story with the rich man in Hades and being in torment, we tend to assume that this is an accurate picture of the afterlife. The main reason we can know this is a parable and not an actual event in history is because at this point in time, the future final judgement of Revelation 20:11-15 has not yet happened. In ancient minds, Hades was the realm of the dead. It was not exactly equated with Hell, since Hades will one day be “thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14).
So, due to this story being a parable, it’s not something we should see as a primary text for our theology of the afterlife. Rather, Jesus is emphasizing a comparison between the Pharisees and the five brothers. Remember, the Pharisees are there hearing this story from Jesus. The rich man in the parable begs for Abraham to go and warn his brothers so that they do not “come into this place of torment” (Luke 16:28). But Abraham says that “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them” (Luke 16:29). In other words, they have the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament). They have the truth. It’s on them if they don’t read it and understand what it clearly teaches.
Abraham concludes by saying to the rich man, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead” (Luke 16:31). Jesus has constructed this story to reflect the hardness of the Pharisees’ hearts. They have the holy Scriptures. They are without excuse. Jesus is saying that if they don’t see the truth in the scriptures, then they won’t be convinced even if someone was raised from the dead – Jesus is alluding to His future resurrection, but the Pharisees would not have picked up on that.
Again, we really should not be looking at this parable and basing our afterlife theology on it. Luke placed this parable here to give an illustration of the religious leader’s hard hearts, which points back to verse 15 in the same chapter. The main point is that even if a miracle is clearly seen that points to Jesus being God, some people will refuse to believe due to their hardened hearts. The cost of following Jesus is too high for some people. It would be worth it for them to drop everything and follow Jesus, and all of heaven would rejoice for sure! But their issue is that while they think they worship God, they actually are worshiping the god of money. Their hearts are too hard for them to see their error. This applies to us today because if we allow anything to come between us and God, then we are worshiping that thing. Luke is making a clear case that the only way to be made right with God is through faith in Jesus, and Jesus alone. That’s what a believing loyalty in Jesus is all about.
Luke 17:1 – 19:27
This section has more teaching and parables. The key themes that you should notice are Salvation, Faith and the Kingdom of God. So, let’s dive in!
Luke 17:1-10
Luke begins chapter 17 with Jesus teaching His disciples about sin, faith and servanthood. The teaching on sin reminds me of something out of The Blacklist. Not only is sinning serious, but causing someone to sin is just as serious! Jesus said that it would be better for the one who causes someone to sin “to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck”! The reason for this is that sin is serious. Without the forgiveness that Jesus offers, sin has eternal effects. Drowning with a millstone around your neck is less serious than sin because the effect is temporary.
Jesus then talks about forgiveness. He makes the point that if someone sins against us, we need to call them out, and if they turn from that sin then we need to forgive them. This is interesting. The emphasis here is on calling out the sinner. In fact, when Jesus says to “rebuke” the sinner, He is commanding His disciples to do this. Why? I think it’s because of the seriousness of sin. As believers, we need to call other believers out so that we can keep each other in check. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that we should call other believers out in private when they sin against us (Matthew 18:15-17). Jesus isn’t giving us the go ahead to proclaim another person’s sins from the rooftops [even in the most extreme case it’s only disclosed to the local church body]. The point here is that we are to help each other to stay on the straight and narrow path, because when sin gets in the way, it gets in the way between us and our relationship with God.
The other thing is that we need to forgive those that sin against us. Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew that if we don’t forgive others, God won’t forgive us (Matthew 6:14-15). Forgiveness is just as serious as sin. It has eternal ramifications. In fact, it’s so important that when Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive someone, Jesus makes a statement that reinforces the idea that we always need to have an attitude of forgiveness. Paul echoes this in his letters to the first century churches as well. He says that believers need to bear with each other, and “if one has a complaint against another,” then we need to forgive them in the same way that Jesus forgave us (Colossians 3:13).
Forgiveness needs to be unconditional. It’s a matter of the heart, which as we’ve seen that’s what Jesus is all about. He wants our hearts.
In the same way that forgiveness should have no boundaries, our faith cannot be quantified. Jesus’ disciples asked Him to increase their faith, but Jesus said if they had “faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you” (Luke 17:5-6). The implication here is that faith can always increase. I’m reminded of when Paul talks about the love of Jesus. He says:
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17b-19)
God, being God, inherently is limitless. Therefore, His love for us has no boundaries. So, it only makes sense that when we put our faith in Jesus, that faith can continually grow ever deeper simply because of who He is. As we follow Jesus throughout our lives, our faith will naturally grow in Him if we continually seek to know Him more. If our faith is not growing, it could be that we are currently in a low time of our lives, which God will use to grow our faith (Romans 5:3-5, “glory in our sufferings”). It could also mean that we’ve become content in our faith. In other words, we’re good with the way things are and we’d like to keep it that way. The problem with this is that if we believe it, we’re kidding ourselves. Complacency is a weapon of the world and the enemy of the gospel. Christians are never called to live in complacency while following Jesus.
Jesus finishes this teaching block with the importance of servanthood. Ultimately, we serve Jesus. It is our duty to serve Him because of what He has done for us. We are not worthy of His forgiveness, but He gives it to us anyway when we place our faith in Him. So, while it is our duty to serve Jesus, it should be out of our love for Him and not mere duty. When our actions align with our faith, this is a sign that we are on the right track.
Luke 17:11-37
Moving closer to Jerusalem, Jesus passes between Samaria and Galilee. An event happens here that illustrates the kind of faith in Jesus that we’ve been talking about. Actually, I think this is why Luke places this story here. He wants to be clear about the kind of faith that Jesus seeks.
So, this is a real event that happened in history. It’s not a parable. Jesus entered a village and came upon ten lepers – people with some sort of skin disease. Typically, people with this kind of disease would yell to anyone approaching so that they would not come near. They were considered unclean and therefore were not to be touched. But Jesus turns the table on the cultural norm.
They called out to Jesus to have mercy on them. He told them to go and show themselves to the priests because He healed them. They were now considered clean. All of them left, but one turned back, “praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks” (Luke 17:15). This person was a Samaritan. Luke includes this detail because it was well known that Jews were not fond of Samaritans. Jesus asked where the others were and why they were not also praising God. He then tells the Samaritan that his faith has made him well. There it is! This guy displayed real faith through his thankfulness to God for his healing. This is yet another picture of the love of Jesus and the kind of reaction a real believer would have. If a person’s faith was stagnant, they would be less inclined to give thanks to the Lord for what He has done. Again, this is pointing toward a heart issue. It seems that the other nine former lepers had a heart issue because of their lack of thankfulness.
This begs the question of us – How thankful are we to God?
Luke concludes this section with an encounter Jesus had with some Pharisees. They asked when the Kingdom of God was going to come. Jesus basically says that it’s already here! It’s not something that you can just see – it’s all around us. And for us today, the Kingdom of God is shown through us! We are God’s representatives here on Earth. This is what it means to be made into His image. We are His imagers. Jesus said to the Pharisees that there will come a day when people will long for the days of the Son of Man. Well, that time is now. I would wonder how any Christian could watch the news and not long for the day that Jesus returns! Jesus tells the Pharisees that the day the Son of Man returns will be unexpected. People will be going about their business as usual, and all the sudden He will be revealed. The question is whether or not we will be ready. How will we know? Well, just check your heart. Has your heart been hardened over the years? Or is it softened in such a way that you can’t help but express your gratefulness for Jesus – so much so that you also can’t help but tell others about what Jesus has done for you? This is why Paul encourages us to test ourselves to see if we really are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Luke 18:1-14
Matters of the heart can be tough. Certain things that happen in our life can hurt us deeply. Typically, this is when it’s tempting for us to allow our hearts to be hardened. But as we’ve already seen, we need to be ready to forgive. Luke emphasizes this truth by placing another parable on the heels of all the teaching on matters of the heart. He gives us a heads up by telling us what the parable is about before we read the parable. He says that we should always pray and not lose heart. God gives us the strength to get through the tough times when we are obedient to Him through prayer. This directly relates to our faith in God. He hears the prayers of the righteous and He acts on them according to His will. However, this doesn’t necessarily apply to unbelievers. You know that kind of prayer – the hail Mary prayer of desperation – Where’s the heart in that kind of prayer? It typically focuses on the outcome that we want rather than what God would want. That’s not the kind of faith Jesus is looking for, and yet I would say it’s basically an epidemic among nominal Christians. I also think this is why Jesus asks whether or not He will find faith on earth when He comes back.
Again, Jesus is interested in our hearts. Do our hearts want what God wants? Do we actually love God enough to want what He wants?
If the message hasn’t been clear already, Luke includes another parable from Jesus that illustrates the importance of checking our hearts. There was a Pharisee (a religious leader) and a tax collector (despised in their culture). The Pharisee displayed a selfish heart. The tax collector displayed a heart that was totally dependent upon God. The Pharisee depended on himself, and the tax collector depended on God. Which one do you think God justified? This is why Jesus says that “the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14b). When we lay down our selfish desires and seek God’s desires, we will be lifted up – even in the toughest times of our life.
Luke 18:15-34
Moving on… There was another time when people were bringing their infant children to Him so that He might touch them. The disciples tried to stop them from bringing their children to Jesus, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of God.” Jesus already clued us in that the Kingdom of God is not necessarily a thing to be seen like a castle in the distance. Rather, the Kingdom of God was in their midst because Jesus was there. Jesus was God in human form! Before you say, “Yeah but Jesus never actually said He was God.” Well, that’s actually not true. We’ll talk about that when we get to the end of chapter 22 in Luke’s gospel.
Jesus says one more thing that helps to bring clarity. He says, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Luke 18:17). Jesus isn’t saying that we should accept Him with a 3rd grade Sunday School level of understanding. Jesus is referring to the kind of faith that children have. They don’t have all the things in their life that gets in the way of their belief like adults do.
I can remember a few years ago when my son asked me about Heaven. We were sitting on the sofa upstairs and I simply told him what I knew for sure. His eyes were wide as he listened. When I finished, he said, “Everything you just told me… is so amazing!” I was still getting to know him because we were in the process of adoption. I had never had children before so I hadn’t experienced this. It took me aback because he didn’t really have any skeptical questions. He just accepted it because for some reason, in his inner being, he knew what I was saying was all true. I knew his life experiences helped him believe, but still, his innocence and deep longing to know the Word of God was tangible … and if I can be completely transparent, it was challenging to me. I immediately thought of this passage where Jesus says the Kingdom of God belongs to children such as my son. In that moment, for the first time, I truly understood what Jesus was talking about – Pure faith.
The faith of a child is pure … or at least close to it. Part of me longed to go back to that kind of faith, but I know for me to follow Christ I couldn’t look back. Jesus shapes all of us as we follow Him throughout our lives.
Luke continues with the story of when Jesus was confronted by a rich ruler who asked Him what he must do to inherit eternal life (Luke 18:18-30). Considering the story we just talked about, it’s clear that Luke placed this here because it emphasizes how material wealth can stand in the way of us having a pure faith. As we’ve already seen, anything that stands in the way of our faith in God is an idol. It’s something or someone that we worship over God. Money and power are often major barriers that prevent followers of Jesus to be who they were truly made to be. In fact, there are many barriers of true faith, but when we submit ourselves to Jesus, He gives us the power to overcome.
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:1-5)
So how exactly do we have the power to overcome the world and all of its temptations? It’s only through what Jesus Christ did for us. And it’s here where Luke places the third account of when Jesus predicts His death and reveals the plan of Yahweh to His disciples. He says,
“And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.” (Luke 18:31-34)
This is highly significant. Why would Luke include this here? Remember, Luke is making his case for Christ to Theophilus. While these events happened in history, Luke carefully places them in the narrative to continually remind his readers of who exactly Jesus is, what He did for us, and why He did what He did. Notice that the disciples still did not understand that Jesus had to die. It was hidden from them. It was also hidden from everyone else because as I’ve noted before, if the spiritual forces of wickedness realized that Jesus could conquer death, they would never have killed Him (1 Corinthians 2:8).
Luke 18:35 – 19:27
Jesus and His disciples move on toward Jericho. As they were traveling, they were coming close to a blind man sitting by the side of the road. He was begging for money, which understandably would have been his means for survival. As the crowd of disciples passed by, the blind man asked what all the commotion was about. Someone told him that “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” The blind man cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Some of the disciples in the crowd told the blind man to be silent, but Jesus heard the man and commanded that he would be brought to Him.
Now, think about this. We just got done talking about numerous examples of the condition of the human heart and that Jesus wants all of our hearts. Do you think some of His disciples needed a heart check? I certainly think so! They tried to stop the children from coming to Jesus, and well, I guess they didn’t learn their lesson because now they’re trying to stop this beggar from talking to Jesus. Almost as if the beggar was an inconvenience…
Ouch. If you’re like me, then that just resonated with you. How many times have we been too busy to be inconvenienced by a divine appointment? We really need to always be alert – ready to allow Jesus to work through us in all kinds of situations. But the more complacent we become in our faith, the less sensitive we are to Kingdom work. Again, matters of the heart are extremely important to Jesus. That’s how we know whether or not we are truly followers of Him.
Jesus ended up healing the man’s blindness. He told the beggar that his faith has made him well. How do we know that the beggar had faith? Well, the beggar knew that Jesus could do what he asked of Him. Otherwise the beggar wouldn’t have asked! Secondly, the beggar called Jesus the “Son of David.” Everyone knew that this was a Messianic title that referred to the long-awaited Savior of the world that the Old Testament promised. The beggar had faith that Jesus was the Savior of the world, and it was due to that faith that God gave him his sight back. His faith was then evidenced by his actions because he not only began to follow Jesus, but he glorified God along the way.
Jesus and all who were following Him entered Jericho. There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector who was watching for Jesus. Unfortunately, Zacchaeus wasn’t a tall guy. So, he climbed up a tree to see Jesus and to be ready for when He passed by. Jesus saw him and asked him to come down. Then he kind of invited Himself over for dinner at Zacchaeus’ house. Zacchaeus didn’t mind. In fact, he was excited! But not everyone was so enthusiastic.
Luke tells us that, “when they saw it, they all grumbled.” Who is “they”? Luke isn’t super specific, but it seems that he is talking about the crowds of disciples that are following Jesus. These are the same individuals who weren’t happy about the children or the blind beggar! Now they’re upset because Jesus was going to eat with a sinner. Tax collectors were not well received back in this time because they were known for swindling people out of their money. Jesus addresses this issue and Zacchaeus said that he gave half of his possessions to the poor, and he promised that if he had deceived anyone of anything, he would restore it by four times as much. Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:9-10).
I’d like to point out a couple things in this story. Jesus says that Zacchaeus is a son of Abraham. This could mean that he was Jewish, but I think it’s more likely that Jesus was making a reference about the faith that Zacchaeus displayed. Remember, Abraham was made righteous due to his faith (Genesis 15:6). Also, considering the surrounding context is very much about faith, I think it’s safe to conclude that salvation came to Zacchaeus because of his faith in Jesus – which, Jesus says, is the reason He came to Earth in the first place. He came to seek and to save the lost.
He came to take the nations back!
Luke concludes this section with another parable that focuses on the condition of the human heart and how that relates to the Kingdom of God. It also strongly conveys the truth that there is no middle ground when it comes to Jesus. You are either for Him or against Him. He wants all of our hearts; all of our faith; all of our devotion. When we submit all of that to Jesus through a believing loyalty in Him, then we will be made right with God.
Paul sums all of this up in Romans 5:1-11, which says:
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
– End –
Well that’s all I have for ya for this part of our series. Next time we’ll follow along with Jesus as He enters into Jerusalem. It’s fitting that as I write this, we just came off of Palm Sunday, the day that Jesus finally entered Jerusalem. Things are building to a climax as Jesus now only has another week to live. His disciples still don’t understand what’s really going on, but they will! Luke Part 4 will conclude our study of Luke. So, until then, I hope you have a good time celebrating the resurrection of Jesus! See ya next time!