Luke 21:5-36 Jesus' Eschatology

As in Luke 17, Jesus gives His account of the end times, which is markedly different from what is bandied about today, looking for signs. Jesus talks about signs, but they are substantially different from modern end-times mania. There seem to be two parts:

Verses  6-24 deal with the time leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem

·        The temple will be torn down (this happened in 70 AD)

·        There will be false messiahs and people will say the end is near. Do not believe them.

·        Wars and disturbances will take place, but the end will not come immediately. Wars are polemous (battles), straightforwardly, and disturbances are akatastasias, which is a compound of not and standing, denotes a state of disorder, disturbance, confusion, tumult, revolution, anarchy. Note: the end will not come immediately. There will be wars, earthquakes, plagues, famine, terror, signs from heaven.

·        His people will be persecuted. Certainly that has been the norm throughout all of church history. If outsiders did not persecute the church, it would divide internally and persecute people that the group in power disagreed with.

·        His people will be hated by all people, including family members.

·        In these trials, persevering faith will enable His people to win their own souls.

·        Jerusalem is appointed for a sign. Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies - flee for your lives and don't look back. The mention that Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled (21:24) suggests that this refers to the time of Titus. If Jesus is speaking chronologically, then all of the preceding is past, because it happened before 70AD.

The second part is contained in verses 25-36, which deal with the time of His return

·        The signs of the return of the Son of Man 

o   Signs (semeia - indications,tokens) in the sun, moon and starts

o   Dismay among nations

o   Perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves

o   Men fainting from fear

o   The powers of heaven being shaken 

o   The fig tree putting forth leaves

·        Heaven and earth will pass away, but not His words

·        Do not be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and the concerns of life

·        This day will come upon the whole earth (not just Jerusalem!)

·        Stay alert and pray that you may be accounted worthy to escape these things and stand before Him

The warnings Jesus gives are straightforward. There are many signs, and all will come to pass before He returns. This gives us pause because we see some, but not all. And there is a key sign mentioned in Matt 24:14 and Mark 13:10 that Luke does not mention until Acts 1:7-8. Jesus told His disciples that the gospel must be preached to all nations before the end will come. In Acts, He tells them that the kingdom will not be restored to Israel at this time, but that they will be witnesses to Him unto the uttermost parts of the earth.

          The bottom line on all this is that signs are indeed foretold by Jesus, but the key motivating factor is not to be fearful of His immediate return, that we are not to fear the shaking of the nations or of the heavens. Foremost, we are to look for advancing the preaching of His gospel to the remotest parts of the earth, to every tribe and tongue and nation and people. (Rev 5:9, 7:9, 11:9, 13:7, 14:6). The disciples were still fixated on restoring the kingdom to Israel. Jesus was still working on getting them to understand that the gospel was for all people. That was more important than the signs of His immanence. 

Luke 21:1-4 The God of the destitute

Luke 21:1-4 The widow's mite. Parallel story in Mark 12:41-44. This goes beyond proportional giving. Moses had commanded the Israelites to tithe, (Lev 27:30, Deut 12:6, 14:22,28 26:12 ) and on occasion to give beyond the ten percent, but generally it was in proportion to how God had blessed them. And even in the case of freeing a slave, as in Deut 15:14, they were to give to that freed slave abundantly, in accordance with how God had blessed them. And we see the principle of proportional giving in Acts 11:29. But Jesus commented that the widow had put in all she had to live on.

          There is an element of experiential faith present in the lives of those at the very bottom of the economic ladder that is not present in the lives of those of us who have good jobs and steady income.   Working at a ministry that deals with the homeless is instructive in this regard. People who know The Lord but are destitute are forced to depend on Him for the daily necessities of life. And when they describe how The Lord walks with them, we begin to realize that He never misses a beat. He is always faithful. And so Jesus praises this widow's faith because she has learned this through experience. She is willing to put in all her monetary offering because she knows that God cares for and defends the widows, the orphans, and the alien. 

Luke 20:27-47 Marriage in heaven?

Luke 20:27-40 Marriage in the resurrection. (Matt 22:23-33, Mark 12:18-27). The Sadducees were a peculiar sect that apparently supported the Jewish priesthood and were fellow-travelers with the Pharisees, but taught that there is no resurrection. So they attempted to trap Jesus into admitting that His teaching of the resurrection would force people into morally ambiguous situations. That is, God required a man to marry his brother's widow to raise up children in his name (Deut 25:5-10), but if all are resurrected, how could she avoid polygamy? Doesn't this make resurrection absurd? Jesus' answer is straightforward - that they didn't have a clue about the spiritual reality of resurrection. As we see in the case of Jesus' resurrection, His glorified body was not subject to normal human limitations. Now we might cut a bit of slack to the Sadducees, because there had previously been a few resurrections (not clear if this was before or after Lazarus was raised, but Jesus had raised a number of children from the dead), and after those resurrections, it would appear that the person who had come back from the dead was normal.

          But Jesus' answer is nonetheless instructive. In the resurrection there is no marriage, but the resurrected are like the angels of God. We don't know exactly what this means, but it appears that the transcendent relationship directly with God in the glorified post-resurrection body provides that consummation of a relationship that marriage is only a picture of. Marriage and sexuality are used repeatedly in both Old and New Testaments as a picture of the relationship between Christ and the believer, or God and Israel, or Christ and the church. This includes the Song of Solomon, the book of Hosea, Jesus' parables about marriage, Paul's explanation of marriage in Ephesians 5, and the description of the New Jerusalem in Rev 21:2.

Luke 20:41-44 Jesus poses a question to the Sadducees by quoting Psalm 110:1. The point of this question is that even in the Old Testament, there are hints about how spiritual realities cannot be explained by natural logic. Why would David call his son, or future descendant, Lord? Of course, we know that David was looking forward to that day when the very Son of God would be incarnate in the flesh that was descended from David. But by rejecting supernatural intervention in nature, the Sadducees could not answer Jesus' question.

Luke 20:45-47 Jesus' warning to His disciples about the scribes seems almost superfluous at this point. Perhaps this is just a recap of the situation with Jesus adding that He had seriously engaged the Sadducees because, even though they rejected spiritual things, they were seriously asking questions and genuinely trying to understand God, while the scribes were simply using God as a means to feather their own nest. Perhaps a closeout to an extended visit to the temple that had started in Luke 19 when He had driven the money changers out.

Luke 20:19-26 Render unto Caesar

Luke 20:19-26 Paying tribute to Caesar. (Mark 12:13-17) Note that in Luke 23:2 they falsely accused Jesus of telling people not to pay taxes, even though in this passage He clearly says to pay Caesar his due. We cannot pay worldly governments in the coin of God's kingdom, but we should give them their own specie. This is re-iterated by Paul in Romans 13:1-7 and Peter in I Peter 2:13.

          It might be possible to interpret this passage as saying that Jesus is teaching a fundamental dualism. We live in the world and do what the world requires, and in God's kingdom we do as God tells us. And unfortunately this is often the way we live, without thinking about it in these terms. Our religious life is completely separated from our life in the world. It seems unlikely that this was Jesus' message. More likely, He was saying, as do Paul and Peter later that governments do serve a purpose in God's economy that needs to be supported by legitimate taxes. We don't need to have a Christian army or a Christian police force, but we need these things from time to time and God has ordained that governments provide them. But this does not extend beyond this point. At times, it may be necessary to disobey governments when they cross the line and attempt to prevent God's purposes (Acts 5:29). And our life in this world should still conform to the standard of living in the power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, when Peter was asked if Jesus paid the temple tax, Jesus had Peter procure it in what certainly seems supernatural provision. (Matt 17:24-27).

          Perhaps the question was asked because the Jewish people felt that the Roman army was an occupying force, and that a deliverer like Judas Maccabeus would arise to free them. If it was not God's plan for the Roman Empire to dominate the Jewish nation, it would be wrong to support that occupation by paying taxes. But as Jesus made clear, His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36). 

Luke 20:1-18 The cornerstone of the vineyard

Luke 20:1-8 Jesus' authority as a teacher is questioned. This passage is pretty much straightforward. If people want to question Jesus' credentials, then they have opened the door to an across-the-board philosophical debate of who has credentials. The chief priests claimed authority derived from the Mosaic law. But they had departed so far from what God had in mind, even though they held to the outward religious form, that Jesus took them down a different road. He had already tried to reason with them from the Scriptures. So He put them on the spot with John's baptism. And they had no answer.

Luke 20:9-18 Parable of the vineyard owner seems to be a continuation of this thought. Parallel versions in Matthew 21:33-44 and Mark 12:1-12.  Jesus recapitulates one of the Prophets' stories. (Isaiah 5:1-7) However, in Jesus' version, the failure is not in the vineyard itself (representing the house of Israel in Isaiah's version) but in the people who were hired to run the vineyard. In Jesus' story, the stewards of the vineyard want to take over, so they kill the owner's son. He is clearly pointing to the Priests, scribes, Levites, and Pharisees as the stewards of the vineyard, and Himself as the son. Foretelling His own death, He then goes on to talk about the consequences of their actions. After the temple was destroyed in 70AD there was no longer any approved location for the sacrifice for sin for the people. In modern times, there does not appear to be a caste of priests, Levites, or scribes. The Pharisees as a sect do not seem to be around any longer. The Jewish faith is largely led by rabbis, who teach in synagogues.

          In one sense, the entire Old Testament sacrificial system had been created to point to the coming of Christ, in faith, and that once He had offered Himself for the sins of all people, the Old Testament system had served its purpose and was dispensed with. But Jesus is putting the onus on the leaders of that system. God's purposes would now be accomplished through the church, those who would receive Jesus gladly and serve Him and walk with Him. The Priests and their helpers were in a sense like Pharaoh - raised up to serve God's purposes - but in another sense, also like Pharaoh - people who had made choices in rebellion against God and would ultimately receive the consequences of that rejection.

          To make the point clear, Jesus quotes from Psalm 118:22. From a purely human viewpoint, this has nothing to do with the parable about the vineyard. However, when we look at other New Testament passages, we realize that Jesus is again talking about religious structures. The Temple in the Old Testament was a foreshadowing of the Church. I Peter 2:4-8 explains that individual believers are living stones, and that we are built upon the chief cornerstone that Jesus mentions here. And Paul explains that we are, individually and collectively, the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Cor 3:16-17, 6:19). Jesus is trying to convey, through symbolism of the Temple, that He is the one upon whom the entire plan of God is built and that those who come to Him will be broken but ultimately placed into this ecclesiastical body, the church, of which He is also the cornerstone. Just as He is the heir of the vineyard, Israel, that the keepers of the vineyard would kill in a vain attempt to get ownership of it for themselves.

Luke 19:41-48 Jesus' last week

Luke 19:41-44 Jesus weeps over Jerusalem's coming destruction. This is recapitulated in Luke 23:28-31 and Luke 13:34-35 and Matthew 23:37-39. The point is much clearer there. God had chosen Jerusalem as the seat of His presence on earth. Yet the people of Jerusalem had rejected his presence. So Jesus is reflecting God the Father's feelings about this. Because the result of rejecting God's presence would be that Jerusalem would be vulnerable to the world, deprived of God's protection, and the outcome would be very bad.

Luke 19:45-46 Jesus drives the money-changers from the Temple. This is recorded in several places (Matt 21: 12-13, Mark 11:15-16, John 2:14-15) but curiously seems to have happened at least twice - once near the beginning of His ministry (as recorded by John) and once during the passion week as recorded by the others. This suggests that this practice really infuriated Jesus.

          Why was Jesus so incensed at this practice? His stated objection quoted from Isaiah 56:7 and 2 Chronicles 7:12. The reference to a den of thieves suggests that it wasn't just that the money changers were facilitating the offerings by enabling Jews from various locations to exchange their money for the correct specie to make the designated offering. It suggests that these money changers were in fact fleecing the flock, making usurious profits at the expense of believing and practicing pious common people. And in fact that the Temple leadership (the Pharisees, the priests, the Levites) were colluding in this practice. In other words, they were making money dishonestly, and using God's name as part of their scam.

          In modern times, the use of God's name for private gain takes slightly different forms. But Jesus' ire is likely the same. Whether it is televangelists soliciting donations on TV to live ostentatiously and build their own kingdom, or ministers that abuse positions of trust to exploit children entrusted to them by their parents, one suspects that if Jesus were present in the flesh, He would turn over their tables and use a scourge of cords to drive them out of their supposed ministry. But lest we judge others too harshly, we should look to ourselves, lest we have some of the same spirit in our own life.

Luke 19:47-48 Jesus teaches daily in the Temple. The scribes and Pharisees were looking for something He might say that they could use to discredit Him with the people, but they found nothing. This would be a bit like skeptics looking for something in the Bible to discredit the faith of believers. It's not going to happen.

Luke 19:28-40 The triumphant entry - Psalm 118

Luke 19:28-40 The triumphal entry into Jerusalem. All four gospels record this event, in very similar terms. Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, John 12:12-19.

          Here we find the disciples borrowing a colt for Jesus to ride on. Not exactly a war horse that a king would be expected to ride on, but Jesus is a humble king. Rev 19:11-16 records His second coming, on a much mightier steed.

          Matt 21:8 records them also cutting branches from the trees, which is an expression of celebration going back to Leviticus 23:40, on the first day of the feast of booths. It was fitting on this date because they were celebrating God tabernacling among men, as Jesus was God in the flesh. The waving of palm branches on Palm Sunday continues this celebration to our day.

          Luke records that the disciples began to praise God by quoting Psalm 118:26, which is the same verse that the angels sang, quoted in Luke 2:14. We often sing the word hosanna, which is an English transliteration of the Greek word hosanna, which is itself a transliteration of two Hebrew words which mean "O save". So this was a cry for deliverance and also a recognition that Jesus had come to save His people from their sins. (Matt 1:21).  In this larger context, we find a fulfillment of a significant part of Psalm 118.

•   Psalm 118:19-21 is fulfilled in Luke 19:35-37, in a reference to the gate through which Jesus entered Jerusalem, the eastern gate, which was sealed up a short time after this and never re-opened, even to this day. (Ezekiel 44:1-3).

•   Psalm 118:22 is fulfilled in Luke 20:17, in which Jesus refers to Himself as the cornerstone, rejected by the builders (the Pharisees) but become the chief cornerstone of God's church.

•   Psalm 118:25 fulfillment is recorded in Matthew 21:9, where they cried Hosanna.

•   Psalm 118:26 is fulfilled in Luke 19:38 where they said blessed is the one who comes in the name of The Lord. Or, blessed is the One who comes in the name of The Lord.

•   Psalm 118:27 in Luke 23:33, in which Jesus, the sacrifice lamb, is nailed to the cross.

          Matthew 21:5 quotes Zechariah 9:9, not that the disciples were quoting it, but as a commentary that this fulfilled the prophecy that Zion's king would come with salvation, riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey, and that Zion was to rejoice over this. So when Jesus told the Pharisees that if His disciples were quiet the rocks would cry out, it was because this was the day, on a date fixed in prophecy (Daniel 9:25), prepared from eternity, in which He would come to Jerusalem, Zion, the city of God, and be recognized. Jesus knew that Daniel 9:26 foretold His death, as He had already tried to explain to His uncomprehending disciples. But on this day, He came as foretold.

Luke 19:11-27 The Faithful Slaves

Luke 19:11-27 Parallel passage Matthew 25:14-30. Parable of the master who commissioned his slaves. A difficult story. The master gives his slaves different amounts of money to manage while he goes on a long trip. Two of the slaves invest wisely and double the asset. The third hides it in a safe place. When the master returns he rewards the two enterprising slaves but punishes the one who wanted to play it safe. He gives the money that was kept in a safe place to the slave who was the most industrious. And there is an added, seemingly irrelevant annex about the citizens who sent a messenger to the master to tell him that they did not want him to rule over them. These he commanded to be brought before him and slain in his presence.

          As a parable of the kingdom of God, parts of this are easier to interpret than others. The slaves are in the master's employ, and it doesn't say that he kicked out the slave he called worthless (ponere- wicked). The ones who reject His rule will be destroyed in the lake of fire. (Rev 20:15).

          The reward of the faithful slaves in heaven is consistent with other passages. (Matt 5:12, 6:4-6, 6:18, 10:40-42, Mark 9:41, Luke 6:23 & 35, I Cor 3:8, 9:17-18, Heb 11:6 & 26, Rev 22:12) The taking away of the single talent from the fearful slave is accompanied by  an odd statement. The slave feared the master and the master confirmed the slave's fears - that he was a hard master, reaping where he did not sow and taking up what he did not lay down. And so the slave's own fears became the basis for his judgment. And then asking the slave why he did not at least put the money in the bank so he could collect interest. It does not appear that the slave was affected by covetousness of other slaves' endowments. It was simply a missing of the master's heart. He saw the master's actions, but did not understand something. Here is the point where our understanding of how God works enters in. God stands behind His people and empowers them, and blesses their Holy Spirit-empowered efforts with fruit. He seeks to use them. To not do anything is to miss out that God is inviting His servants to become co-laborers with Him, to enter into His joy as they enter into His work, and recognize that the fruit He seeks, He also enables and produces. To do nothing is to quench the Holy Spirit. The slave with a single talent may not have been able to produce as much return as the other slaves, but if he had done something - even the minimum of taking the money to the bank to earn interest - he would have gotten a minimal return, rather than nothing.

Luke 19:1-10 The Tax Collector of Jericho

 Luke 19:1-10 Zacchaeus was a tax collector, like Matthew who was one of the twelve disciples (Matt 9:9) although Zacchaeus was very rich, which was never said of Matthew. This was in Jericho, which might be noteworthy for a few reasons, one being that the parable of the Good Samaritan is set on the road to Jericho (Luke 10:30), although nothing suggests that the tax collector was cut from the same cloth as the robbers along the road. The other is that Jericho as a city had been destroyed by the Israelites, burning everything, and a curse placed on the person who rebuilt it (Joshua 6:26). And when it was rebuilt, the curse came on that man who rebuilt it. (I Kings 6:34) This does not imply that there was a curse on the city at the time of Jesus, only that it had that history. Was there any significance to this in Jewish culture?

          There are several stories of Jesus eating with tax collectors and in every one of them, the grumbling of the Pharisees or their fellow-travelers is noted. (Matthew 9:11, Mark 2:16, Luke 5:30, 7:34, 15:2) Tax collectors are probably never popular with their fellow citizens, and possibly it is reflected in the kinds of people who took this job in Jesus' day - people who wanted the good income that such a job provides enough to live with the social ostracism that came with it. But Zacchaeus evidently either had a conscience or was being drawn by the Holy Spirit, since he said he would restore fourfold anyone he had cheated. This suggests that even though he had become rich through collecting taxes, he did so without defrauding those he taxed, or that he felt enough need to clear his conscience that he would pay restitution exorbitantly.  Giving half his wealth to the poor suggests Jesus had talked to him along the same lines as the rich young ruler mentioned in Luke 18:18-30, except that perhaps He had only told Zacchaeus to give up half his wealth.

          Jesus said that on that day, salvation had come to that house because he (Zacchaeus) was also a son of Abraham. Not something He said about the rich young ruler. It would be difficult to make a case on this passage alone as to whether Zacchaeus was saved because he gave away most of his wealth, or giving away his wealth was the fruit of him being saved. In any event, it does suggest that there were outward signs of Zacchaeus' change of heart. Luke does not record Zacchaeus saying anything about what he believed about Jesus. Only that he received Jesus gladly, and his promise about giving and restoring.

Luke 18:31-43 Blindness and sight

Luke 18:31-34 Jesus tells the twelve that He will be killed in Jerusalem. Jesus was prophetically explaining the coming events to His disciples. Why were they unable to understand what He told them? Perhaps this is the reason for the following story.

Luke 8:35-43 Jesus heals blind man. Parallel passage Mark 10:46-52. Mark gives his name as Bartimaeus, although Luke does not name him. The essence of the story is that the blind man hears the crowd surrounding Jesus and asks what is going on. When he finds out that Jesus is passing by, he pleads with Him to restore his sight. Jesus heals him. All the people began to glorify God because of this healing.

          Perhaps this is a metaphor for the disciples' spiritual blindness. Jesus told them that all things written by the prophets concerning Him would be fulfilled. He will be

·        Handed over to the gentiles

·        Mocked, mistreated, and scourged

·        Killed

·        Raised from the dead on the third day

·        These are each individually things that the prophets had indeed foretold.

·        Psalm 22:12-13 speaks of Him being surrounded by strong bulls of Bashan; Psalm 22:16 mentions dogs surrounding Him; both as a reference to the gentiles

·        Psalm 22:14-15  speak of His torture. Isaiah 53:5 speaks specifically of His scourging

·        Isaiah 53:8-9 speak of His death, that He was cut off (not dying a natural death, but killed)

·        Psalm 16:10 says that God will not abandon the soul of His Holy One to the grave or allow His body to undergo decay

The purpose of God's plan was even explained by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 53:8 says that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of God's people to whom this was due. Isaiah 53:11 says that the result of His anguish, He will justify many and bear their iniquities.  Isaiah 53:12 says that He bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors.

          But the disciples were unable to comprehend all this, as though they were having a mental block. Perhaps there was a spiritual component (i.e. Satanic opposition) to their blindness. So the healing of blind Bartimaeus could have been a metaphor for God's ability to eventually open their eyes to the truth. It didn't happen then, but will eventually (after the fact) become clear to them. (Luke 24:31-35)

Luke 18:18-30 The rich young ruler

Parallel passages Matthew 19:16-26 and Mark 10:17-27. Contrast this discussion with Jesus' answer to the lawyer who had asked the same question (Luke 10:25). The lawyer had quoted Leviticus 19:18 and Deuteronomy 6:5 about loving God and loving one's neighbor. When the lawyer asked who was his neighbor, Jesus gave the parable of the Good Samaritan. Here Jesus quoted Exodus 20:12-16, five of the Ten Commandments dealing with moral law. The young man claimed to have followed this his entire life. So Jesus put him to the ultimate test, Exodus 20:3. The young man went away sad because he was not ready to give up all of his wealth to follow Jesus. Perhaps this recapitulates Elisha's calling as a prophet when Elijah threw his mantle on him. (I Kings 19:19-21). Elisha must have been in a rich family since he was plowing with twelve pair of oxen. When he quibbled once, Elijah basically said to forget it, so Elisha sacrificed the pair of oxen on the spot and gave them to the people to eat, and followed Elijah. Unfortunately, this rich young ruler went away sad when Jesus told him to sell all and give to the poor, and then follow Him.

          How hard would it be for any of us to give up everything we have to follow Jesus? Some are called to do this, but is everyone? Jesus' comment in Luke 18:24-25 is how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. The disciples sense the same challenge and ask Jesus who can be saved, if this is the price? Jesus' response, that things that are impossible with men are possible with God, suggests that God is able to overcome even our attachment to worldly things, in order to save us. God's sovereign will and desire to save us will, in an act of grace, deliver us from our devotion to things to a devotion to Him. But Jesus did not say under what conditions this would happen. Most likely it is unique to each person, as God begins to deal with us as individuals, and we respond as He moves. How we respond to His initiative would seem to determine whether we end up following Him or not. Jesus did not discuss this with the disciples at this time. Instead, Peter said that they (the twelve) had left their own stuff to follow Him and Jesus responded that they would receive many times over in return, and also eternal life.

          The challenge of worldly riches is one of several enduring and pervasive issues that we face in following Christ. If there was a hard and fast rule that we all had to take vows of poverty in order to be Christians, then so be it. But that does not seem to be the case. This particular challenge is in living in a world owning material things but not letting them own us. Which mean not letting them get hold of our heart, and being willing to let go of them at His word. Perhaps He periodically tests us by asking us to give some part of them to a worthy cause - a needy relative or even a complete stranger. Some are called to the ministry and take a vow of perpetual poverty. Certain orders take vows of poverty and chastity, which of course addresses the second challenge to our following Christ, the lusts of the flesh. But Jesus did not address that here, and it has the same challenge of balancing legitimate sexual satisfaction (in the context of marriage, in the expression of love) with serving God and keeping Him foremost in our heart. But there is a difference. We know that we will not starve to death if we abstain from sex. But if we give up all of our worldly possessions, then we have to trust God completely for food to eat. In a recurrent theme, He has promised He would feed His own, but to really believe that we might be called to live it. The disciples had seen it in action as they had left their homes and so far they had not starved to death, nor apparently had their families.

          In Revelation 3:17-18 Jesus speaks to the Laodicean church on this issue. They thought that because they were rich in worldly goods, they were set, but Jesus advised them that they did not understand the true spiritual reality and that they needed to seek spiritual riches, because in the spiritual realm they were destitute. A very strong rebuke. Because regardless of how much we may or may not give up of earthly wealth, God's kingdom is spiritual and earthly wealth can only be used to acquire spiritual treasure when we give it away (cf. Matthew 6:19-21).

Luke 18:15-17 Becoming like little children?

Luke 18:15-17 Receiving the kingdom of God like children. Jesus rebuked the disciples for trying to keep the children away from Him. I can think of no stronger evidence that refutes the doctrine of infant damnation, or original sin. The question that we need to try to understand is what are the characteristics of children that Jesus says make them in effect the picture of God's kingdom, and becoming like them is a condition for entering it?

          There is relatively little Biblical guidance on what attributes of childlikeness are those that make children a picture of God's kingdom. It seems to be implicit that we will recognize them or understand what this means. One theory is that until they reach a certain point - the age of accountability - children are innocent even though they may sin. This is alleged to be because they are incapable of understanding what right and wrong are, and of forming the intention to deliberately choose to do wrong. Therefore this theory asserts they are morally innocent. The problem with this theory in my estimation is that anyone who has raised children understands that they are self-centered and stubborn, and want their way even before they are a year old. There would have to be an almost indiscernible line in which such self-centeredness crosses the line from being innocent to being morally culpable as to impute sin. A second theory is that children are open and receptive to things of God until they reach a certain point where worldly desires and temptations overwhelm that innate spirituality. If that is the case, then it would be a fascinating case study to follow carefully the development of children who are raised in Christian homes and those who are raised in completely pagan environments, to try to correlate this kind of conceptual and spiritual development. A third possibility is that children see the world as a magical place where they know they are not in charge and that adults provide anything and everything without them (the children) having to worry about if or how something will happen. Transferring this wonder to God is, in this view, what we need to enter the kingdom of God. 

Luke 18:1-14 Parables on prayer

Luke 18:1-8 Two Parables on Prayer. In this first parable, Jesus contrasts God with an unrighteous judge. Not that this would happen in our day, but even though this judge admittedly did not fear or respect either God or man, he would respond to the widow's plea for justice because her persistence was wearing him out. And God, who is perfectly righteous, will not delay as long as that judge did, when His people cry out to Him day and night. Verse 8 then ties this story back to the discussion of the second coming in the previous chapter. Jesus questions His disciples - when He returns, will He find the faith (faithful people) on earth?

Luke 18:9-14 The second parable on prayer - the Pharisee and the publican. Jesus contrasts the self-righteousness of the Pharisee who thought he had earned God's favor by his works to the humility of the publican who acknowledged his sinfulness and pleaded for mercy. God inverts human ways of doing things. The one who is humble will be lifted up, and the one who exalts himself will be humiliated. Same concept as conveyed in the story of banquet seating (Luke 14:7-11).

          There is not a formula for prayer here, but a call for a heart that is hungry for God (verses 1-8) and also humble before God (verses 9-14). If we see our true condition and respond, we would see our need for God's intervention in our lives to deliver us from all of the guilt, the circumstances, and the consequences of sin. And if we see things truly, and realize how desperate our condition is, we would pray fervently, day and night, wearing out God with our pleading, so that He will free us from sin's power to enslave us, and grant us legal protection from it.

Luke 17:22-37 The day of the Son of Man

Luke 17:22-37 Jesus talks to His disciples about His second coming. There are four lengthy passages in which Jesus talks about the end times: Matthew 24:3-25:46; Mark 13:4-37; Luke 17:22-37; and Luke 21:7-36. These passages have many common points, which are often overlooked in discussions that focus on the book of Revelation. Jesus' words are very clear and not veiled with symbolism or mysterious descriptions of heavenly or spiritual events. Unfortunately, most contemporary eschatology seems to focus on predicting the Second Coming based on world events, such as the existence of Israel as a nation, the persecution of Christians around the world, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, imminent economic collapse of the world system, etc. However, Jesus was fairly specific. Not all of the conditions are contained in this passage so we will revisit this topic in Luke 21. However, in this section He identifies the following.

•   When He returns it will be visible to all so don't be misled by people claiming private visitations.

•   People will be busy with the affairs of daily life, but completely oblivious to the things of God, except for those who, like Noah, paid attention.

•   When that day comes don't look back, like Lot's wife, for the things of this world.

•   If we seek to preserve our soul-life, our life in this world, we will lose out on eternal life; but if we give up our lives in this we world, we will preserve our eternal life.

•   We cannot judge the condition of peoples' hearts; two people will be living and working and sleeping side by side, yet in that day He will separate them and take one based on their readiness to be with Him.

Luke 17:37 is enigmatic. The ones who are taken - the disciples ask where they are taken to. Jesus' response is that where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered. Obviously, in the natural, vultures gather to pick the carcass of a body, wherever it lies. But Jesus is answering a question about where people are taken to in the previous few verses. Verse 31 indicates that it is the righteous that are called away, and verses 34-36 simply amplify that they are taken from their daily pursuits. So the disciples question is where they are taken to? Why would He use a figure of speech relating to death, a body, a carcass? What is the significance of the vultures? There is an alternative reading to the greek word "aetoi" which could also be translated eagles. However, this does not necessarily help. Why would eagles gather around a body? In this case, the word "soma" for body does not seem to imply a corpse or carcass, which would be appropriate if Jesus were referring to vultures. So if Jesus is referring to a living body, then figuratively He would be saying that body of the church, is where the eagles will be gathered. (Vultures don't normally gather around living people). One of the faces of the cherub described in Ezekiel 10:14 and Revelation 4:7 is an eagle.  There does not appear to be any other place in Scripture (other than here) where believers are symbolized as eagles, so we could only take it from the context, that Jesus was answering the disciples' question. This interpretation would suggest that Jesus is saying that the people who are taken by God, to be taken out of the world because of their faith, are taken to be with the body of believers, presumably in heaven. But this is largely speculative. Other possibilities: The eagle was the standard of the Roman legions, so there could potentially be a link here to the legions of Rome, but this seems incongruous with the clear symbolism in Daniel that suggests that the antichrist himself will arise from the Roman Empire. In Rev 12:14 an eagle carries the woman symbolizing Israel into the wilderness to be protected from the savagery of the antichrist. Perhaps this indicates divided loyalties in the forces of the antichrist's coalition. 

Luke 17:11-21 Cleansed and in God's kingdom

Luke 17:11-19 Ten Lepers cleansed. Earlier Jesus had healed a single leper (Luke 5:12-14), and apparently word had gotten around, so ten showed up. All ten were cleansed when they were in the process of following His instructions to go (by faith, it seems) to show themselves to the priest. But one came back to thank Jesus and glorified God loudly. The one who came back was a gentile, a Samaritan, which Jesus made a point of.... why did only a non-Jew come back to give God glory? It is unclear what happened to the nine who did not return. Jesus didn't say they lost their healing, or that they were also healed, although earlier it says they were cleansed as they went.  Perhaps there is a difference between being cleansed (verse 14) and being made well (verse 19). Taking leprosy as a type of sin, perhaps this story is saying that all are cleansed from the guilt of sin when they come to God in obedience to Jesus' command, but only the one who glorifies God, and has a personal interaction with Jesus, is delivered from the affliction of sin.

Luke 17:20-21 Jesus talks to the Pharisees about the coming/already present kingdom of God. As a prelude to His discussion of the end times, when the kingdom of God will be manifested visibly in the world, Jesus first wants the disciples to understand that the kingdom of God cannot be seen with physical eyes. It will be in their midst even while people are looking for it. Luke 9:27 suggests that the disciples saw it during the transfiguration on the mount. Luke 10:9&11 implies that it is present when the disciples go to a city and pronounce peace. Luke 11:20 implies it is present when demons are cast out by the power of God. Luke 13:20-21 compares it to leaven that is hidden in a flour that causes it to rise through a hidden mechanism. Luke 18:16-17 says that its essence is childlikeness. So we are left with a dual description. The kingdom of God consists of the people who follow Jesus, and is manifested in their lives when they do things through the power of the Holy Spirit. This happens now. The kingdom of God will come to the earth in power at the end times, which is the subject of the next section.

Luke 17:1-10 Increase our Faith

 Jesus gives instructions to His disciples. This appears to be another eclectic collection of advice. First of all He talks about stumbling blocks. It is inevitable but those who are stumbling blocks will face metaphorical judgment of being cast into the sea tied to a millstone. But His followers have instructions that if their brother (presumably in the faith) sins, they should be rebuked, and forgiven if they repent. So that they do not become a stumbling block deserving of walking the plank. Matthew 18:15-17 gives a lengthier explanation of this same process. In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asked a follow up question that Luke did not record, as to how far a follower of Jesus should go in order to reconcile with a sinning brother. The answer then (490 times) is slightly different from Luke 17:4 (seven times a day). Jesus seems to be saying, in effect, it is not a count, it is a matter of forgiving the offending brother if he repents, regardless of how many times it is.

           The second part of this advice is response to the disciples' request that Jesus increase their faith. Whether this is a response to Jesus' previous comments is hard to tell for certain. Perhaps the disciples were saying that they needed more faith to forgive the offending brother as much as Jesus was telling them to. In any event, Jesus says that the path to faith is to have a tiny bit of genuine faith, but a lot of obedience. Hence, mustard-seed sized faith is enough, if it is coupled with the servant's heart described in the parable in verses 6-10. When God tells us to do something, and we actually obey (not that common, in my experience), we shouldn't expect thanks or praise from God; instead we should say that we have done what we ought to have done. We might receive the servant's accolade recorded in Luke 19:17.

          The train of thought Jesus seems to be following is that if we start with a tiny bit of faith, and then obey God when He tells us to do something, then our faith will grow to the point where we can forgive our brother who offends us seven times a day when he repents. There seem to be no limits on what God might ask us to do - clearly forgiving a sinning brother is one of them, or feeding the poor who are lying outside our gate, or handling others' money honestly and with integrity. But these are just examples, not a list.

Luke 16:19-31 Lazarus and the rich man

The point of this parable is summarized in the last few verses. The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers of the consequences of the lifestyle, which was characterized by dressing well and living in joyous splendor, and ignoring Lazarus who lay on the ground outside his gate starving and covered with sores. Abraham says that if they (his brothers) do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then they won't listen even if someone returns from the dead. This was fulfilled in John 11:43-53 when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and the Pharisees began making plans to have Him killed. Prophetically, Jesus seems to be saying that faith that is translated into action, if it is based on God's revelation in the Old Testament, is essentially the same faith that will result from responding to His resurrection. Not doctrinally, but in terms of how one responds to God's revelation. People who are sold out to, or caught up in, worldly lifestyles will ignore the actions that faith would drive them to, regardless of whether they are presented with the Law of Moses and the warnings of the Old Testament prophets, or with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This echoes again Jesus' words to the Pharisees in John 8:39-40, mentioned above. Response to God is cut from the fabric of our life. We do or we don't do what He says. We cannot earn our salvation by feeding and caring for the poor, but we also cannot be God's people if we ignore the poor, or whatever people He has placed in our path to minister to. Jesus did not in this place say that the rich man should have given away all of his goods to the poor as He did in Luke 18:22. But it seems that He did expect him to have helped Lazarus who was laying outside his gate starving and ill. See also I John 3:17.

Luke 16:15-18 The Law and the Ways of God

Luke 16:15-18 Jesus talks to the Pharisees about the Law. This seems to be a collection of statements, and a unifying theme is hard to discern. Verse 15 talks about the Pharisees justifying themselves before men, but excoriates them because God knows the heart, and He detests the things than men value. Verse 16 is difficult because it says that since John the Baptist had proclaimed the good news of the kingdom, people were somehow forcing their way into it. Verse 17 says that not one iota of the law will fail. Verse 18 gives Jesus' teaching on divorce and adultery, paralleled in Matthew 5:32 & 19:9 and Mark 10:11-12.

          Possibly the common element of these four verses is that things in God's kingdom are simply different from things in the world. God detests the things that men value. John preached the kingdom, but men didn't understand what he was saying and thought they could get in by force, rather than by obedience to God, because the Law will not fail. We cannot understand how the law works because it is spiritual and we are fleshly. (Romans 7:14). In another place (Mark 10:2-9), before Jesus explained that to divorce one's wife was to force her to commit adultery, He went back to the roots of marriage and quoted from Genesis 1:27 and 2:24, in response to the Pharisees' quoting Deuteronomy 24:1. Jesus consistently seems to try to convey to His listeners that the ways of God are simply not comprehended by the natural man. Of course, the Pharisees had built their lives and careers on understanding and explaining the law and the ways of God, so Jesus is basically saying they got it all wrong.

          Where does this put us? We try to understand the Bible, and try to draw close to the presence of God through prayer and worship and other disciplines. Is this all futile? I think it should depend on how we approach these things. In John 8:39-40, Jesus said, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life." In Jesus, we have eternal life, and through His enablement, we can understand the spiritual truths that God has laid before us. We still have the temptation and risk of falling into to fleshly understanding of spiritual things, just as the Pharisees did. If nothing else, this shows us our continual and continuing need for and dependence on the Holy Spirit.

Luke 16:1-14 The shrewd investor

Luke 16:1-14 Parable of the unrighteous steward. The first eight verses are the story, which is a bit difficult to understand. The steward decides that since the master is most likely going to fire him for poor management, he will get some bad loans off the books, hoping to curry favor with other debtors (rather than taking them to court and having them thrown into debtors' prison). The odd part about this story is that the master praised this steward for his shrewd actions, because the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own generation than the sons of light. Perhaps Jesus is saying in verse 8 that the master recognized the steward's managerial savvy that he had not previously shown. Verses 9-13 are more puzzling. Verse 13 parallels Matthew 6:24 and presumably sums up Jesus' teaching on this parable: No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. He seems to be saying that worldly possessions are a test, and how we manage things on earth will affect how much God will entrust true (i.e. spiritual) riches to us. Matthew 6:24 is preceded by Matthew 6:19-21 in which Jesus advised His listeners not to lay up treasures on earth, where they will decay or could be stolen, but to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven, where there is no rust and where there are no thieves. In that passage, He seems to be saying that we should focus on doing things with spiritual payoffs. In this passage, He seems to be saying that faithfulness in the use of earthly riches will be rewarded with being entrusted with heavenly riches, and the converse is also true. If we are unfaithful in the use of earthly riches, we will not be rewarded nor entrusted with heavenly riches. Taken together, these suggest that God is judging how we use the earthly wealth He has put under our care. If we use it on ourselves, He won't give us heavenly riches. If we use it to advance His kingdom faithfully, He will reward that use with spiritual blessings. The only problem with this interpretation is that it is hard to draw this from verses 1-8. The only connection is the concept of shrewdness - a worldly steward is shrewd with respect to his ultimate goals, so a son of light (i.e. of the kingdom of God) should be shrewd with respect to his ultimate goals, which are completely different than those of the worldly steward. Nevertheless, the  shrewdness of the son of light would lead him to manage his earthly riches in such a way as to advance God's purposes.

          Verse 14 indicates that the Pharisees either didn't understand the message, or else they loved money so much that they rejected the lesson.

Luke 15:1-32 Rejoicing over finding what is lost

Luke 15:1-2 Jesus receives sinners and eats with them. This complaint by the Pharisees and scribes is repeated several places. (Matt 9:11, 11:19; Mark 2:16, Luke 5:30, Luke 7:34) They do not understand God's heart for the lost. Jesus tries with three metaphors to explain it to them.

Luke 15:3-7 Parable of the lost sheep. Even though the odds are nowhere near 99:1 of righteous to sinners in this life, that is not the point. There is great joy in heaven when even one sinner repents. More so than over those who do not need to repent. The lost sheep has been found. This is scarcely the only place where God's people are compared to sheep, and this point should not be glossed over. We use goat-rope as a metaphor for trying to catch something that is elusive and actively tries to avoid being brought into control. But sheep are dumber than goats. They stumble into trouble because they don't know what they are getting into. Innocence is too strong a word, but clearly there is less culpability on the lost sheep's part - it just wandered off. And so the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-16) goes in search and brings it back to the flock. And He rejoices when He has done so, and all the angels with Him.

Luke 15:8-10 Parable of the lost coin. A woman loses a day's wages - one drachma. That might not be her entire cash reserve - not enough to retire on, but enough to sustain life. And when she finds it, she calls her neighbors to celebrate. This parable is for the materially minded, to whom losing money is the paramount disaster. The point is the same.

Luke 15:11-32 Parable of the lost son. One of the most famous of Jesus' parables, this deals with broken relationships. The Father's heart for the lost is most clearly shown here. The father in the parable saw the return of the lost son from a long way off and ran to meet him and welcome him home. There is no talk of his having learned his lesson, and the father brushes off the son's request to become a slave because he is unworthy to be a son. But the older son thought about these things. It was unfair that this younger brother should get away with it - no word of reproach, no process of earning his way back into his father's love. But that is the way God handles it. His love is sooooo strong that He welcomes back the repentant sinner without reproach. He may not be able to undo the damage that years of sin have done, just as the father in the parable could not bring back all of the wasted wealth that the younger son blew. But the relationship was restored, just as God receives back sinners and restores their relationship with Him. And the Pharisees could not have missed the point, because it confirmed what they complained about at the beginning of chapter 15. And Jesus wants them to understand that He heard their complaints, and they had correctly assessed the situation. But they did not understand God.

          Do we understand God's heart for the lost? More importantly, do we share it? How hard do we pray, and work, to reach out to those outside the grace of God? Outside His family of those who know Him and walk with Him? Let us pray that we are not like the older brother who believe that we can or have earned God's favor.