Luke 19—the Parable of the Minas

 

In Luke 18:33-34, Jesus had been teaching His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, be sacrificed, and then resurrected. After the resurrection, He would go to Heaven to be with God the Father. Therefore there would be a delay in setting up the Kingdom of God. Theoretically, if everyone in Israel had received Jesus as the Messiah, Lord, and Savior, then He would have immediately set up the Kingdom. Jesus’ widespread rejection necessitated a delay theologians call “the inter-advent age”, or church age, which is the extended time period between Jesus’ first and second coming. Unfortunately, because of their presuppositions, His disciples “understood none of these things…and they did not comprehend the things He told them” (Luke 18:33-34). Then in Luke 19:1-10, Jesus saved a known sinner, Zaccheus which further blew their mind because they thought Jesus came to set up the kingdom, but Jesus told them “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost (sinners)”. The problem that provoked the Parable of the Minas was the incorrect Messianic expectations that He would set up the Kingdom immediately. In Luke 19:11, we are told they were near Jerusalem, and “they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately”. Jesus countered their expectations by telling them this parable which had a remarkable likeness to the well known historical story about Herod’s son receiving his kingdom. The parable explains the delay in the kingdom, rejection by Israel, Jesus’ investment in His followers, His return to be King, and the day of judgment. By way of application for us, we learn about what kind of stewardship Jesus expects of His disciples while He is gone.

The Historian Josephus

The great historian of the first century, Josephus, wrote that when king Herod the Great died, his will named his son Archelaus as king over Judea (the area in and around Jerusalem). This kingship would have to be approved by Rome, so Archelaus went to Rome to appeal to Caesar for his title. Amazingly, part of his own family and a contingent of 50 prominent Jews went to Rome to oppose Archelaus before Caesar. They were joined by 8,000 expatriate Jews living in Rome. In a public setting at the Temple of Apollo, the well publicized confrontation took place. After hearing both sides, Caesar gave the kingdom of Judea to Archelaus. When Archelaus got back to Israel, he rewarded his supporters and punished his enemies. Therefore back in Jerusalem, this scandal was well known by all the Jews. When Jesus told His Parable of the Minas about the king who left to receive a kingdom and then return, He was using a well known story as an attention grabber.

Delegation of Responsibility

In Luke 19:13, the nobleman who was leaving to receive a kingdom, met with ten of His servants to delegate stewardships to all of them while He was gone. He gave each a mina to do business with for His account while He was gone.

A mina was 100 denarii and thus was 3 months wages for the average worker. For our purposes, just consider it whatever you make in 3 months.

Use it or Lose it

While His loyal followers were supposed to be working on His behalf, the rest of the citizens (Israel) rejected and opposed Him saying “we do not want this man to reign over us”. In Luke 19:15, after an extended period of time, the nobleman returned as king. The first thing He did was call His servants in that He had given the money to in order to come see Him to give an accounting of what they had done in His absence. The first servant had gained an extra ten minas for his master, and the second servant had gained an extra five minas for his master. Both had been excellent stewards of what they were entrusted. They were very humble, taking no credit for themselves, they said “Sir your mina has earned ten minas more”, and the second servant repeated the same with five minas more.

Luke 15—Parables of the Lost and Found

Jesus was the master of teaching spiritual truth through parables. Parables are fictitious stories about common stuff His disciples understood to explain unknown spiritual truth they did not understand. But Jesus told most of His parables to the public crowd which included the religious leaders who had rejected Him. When asked why He was suddenly teaching in cryptic parables, He said that in order that believers would understand and unbelievers would not understand. At the time He said that (Matt. 13:11), the religious leaders had totally rejected Him, and they were just listening in order to find some way to disgrace or indict Him. Apparently, Jesus knew their heart, and He knew they would not respond positively to the truth He was teaching. On the other hand, His disciples would seek the important meaning of His teaching. This was illustrated when they would come to Him later in private for explanation and interpretation (Mark 4:34). Along with that, I think an excellent reason to tell important truth through parables is that they illustrated truth without any argument. Jesus could teach this way without the Pharisees contradicting and arguing with Him. A wise man once said, “Never argue with fools in public, people might not know who is who”. In Jesus’ case, He was refuting the established religious traditions, therefore there would have been a guarantee of argumentation.

In every parable of Christ, there was always a question or an issue that prompted the parable, and it is important to our interpretation to know what that is. In Luke 15:1-2, we read that the Pharisees were upset that Jesus made Himself available to the known sinners like the tax collectors, prostitutes, and other undesirables. The Pharisees asked why a great religious leader and a prophet would “receive sinners and eat with them”. This is something the Pharisees would never do, instead they ostracized sinners and banned them from the Temple and the synagogues. They did not understand Jesus’ purpose statement in passages like Luke 5:31-32, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous (self-righteous) but sinners to repentance”, or Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost”.

In order to answer the Pharisees’ grumbling complaints, Jesus told three parables in Luke 15 about something or someone who was lost and then found. The Pharisees obviously don’t believe that God loves sinners, and they don’t believe that they themselves are sinners. Jesus makes it obvious in the first two parables of Luke 15 that God loves sinners and there is rejoicing in heaven when even one sinner repents and is saved. If Jesus’ audience can connect the dots, they would realize that the youngest son in the third parable represents the known sinners, and the oldest self righteous son represents the Pharisees. The father clearly represents God, and we can see that He loves both the sons. Whether the religious leaders figure it out, we are not told, but we can see that all three parables refute the traditions and beliefs of the religious leaders. God loves sinners, and it’s a good thing because we are all sinners. Whether we are wild and rebellious like the younger son or self righteous and holier than thou like the older son, or somewhere in between, God loves us and desires an intimate relationship with us.

 Loss, Search, Recovery, and Great Joy

In Luke 15:3-10, Jesus told two short parables about a lost sheep and a lost coin. 99 sheep were already safe in the pasture, but one is in danger and needs to be found. This story makes it clear that God cares about each individual, God takes the initiative to search for each individual, and when he/she is found there is great rejoicing in heaven.

Luke 12:50-53;14:26, Mark 3:33-35—Division or Peace?

In Luke 12:49, Jesus said that He came to cast fire upon the earth. By this He meant that all those who did not believe in Him and refused His atoning work on the cross would be judged. Then He made another shocking statement in Luke 12:51 that He came to bring division and not peace. Wait a minute, I thought Jesus was all about peace. Then in Luke 12:52-53, He said families would be split up and be against each other. I believe what He meant was that Jesus would bring peace between God and all people who received Him as their Savior, but concerning Him there would be no peace between people. People must choose between Jesus and the world. Even in families there would be great division and strife over Jesus. The clearest example of this was first century Jerusalem. Right after Jesus’ resurrection, thousands of Jews believed in Jesus as their Savior and Lord, but many of their families were outraged (Acts 2:37-41). In Acts 8:1, there was a great persecution against Jewish believers in Christ, and believers were arrested and even killed—therefore Jesus’ prediction came true. Jesus did not come to tell people that all paths lead to God. He did not come to tell people that what you believe does not matter. He came to deliver a narrow restrictive truth that only Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to God the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). What was the greatest priority in Jesus’ view, their earthly family or their spiritual family?

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus uttered some controversial words when He asked a crowd, “Who are My mother and My brothers? And looking about on His disciples who were sitting around Him, He said, ‘Behold, My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”(Mark 3:33-35). Jesus was responding to a message that His mother and brothers were outside and wanted Him to come out and go home with them. A very important previous passage explains why they were there. In Mark 3:21, we learn that His family had come to take custody of Him because they thought He had lost His mind. Mary knew that Jesus’ birth was miraculous, and the angel had explained to her that Jesus was the promised Messiah. In John 2, at the beginning of His ministry she expected Him to do a miracle. Therefore, how is it possible that she could have thought He had lost His senses? Why would she try to inhibit His ministry?

All parents expect their son to work within the system. All parents want to protect their son from the danger of defying the government or the religious leadership. Every family tries to preserve the family reputation. At the same time that His family was there, the religious leaders were criticizing Jesus for His teaching, and His supposedly violating the Sabbath traditions in their law. After Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath in Mark 3:6, the Pharisees met with the Herodians to discuss how they might destroy Jesus. In Mark 3:22, the scribes were saying His miraculous works were done by the power of Satan. Clearly Jesus was operating outside the establishment, and He was severely opposed by the established authorities such that they were seeking to kill Him. Even though Mary knew He was the Messiah, she had some misconceptions about Jesus that would not be cleared up until after the resurrection. It is even clearer that His brothers were not believing in what Jesus was doing and saying. In John 7:5 it says, “For not even His brothers were believing in Him.” Jesus Himself said in Mark 6:4 after his four brothers are listed, “A prophet is not without honor except in his home town and among His own relatives and in His own household.”

In Mark 3:31-35, Jesus’ disciples expect Him to jump up and run out to see what His family wants, but Jesus knows that they want to inhibit His ministry. Jesus takes that opportunity to teach His disciples that His spiritual family that hears ...

 

Luke 6:20-49, the Sermon on the Level

 

This sermon is one of four lengthy sermons that Jesus taught that is recorded in the Gospels’ account of His life. It is easily the best known of His sermons and the most often taught sermon. It has always had a prominent place in Christian teachings, and provides a wealth of sermon material. The great theologian, Augustine, said it presents “a perfect standard of the Christian life”. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said the “Sermon on the Mount presents the cost of discipleship, the ideal”. John Donne wrote, “All the articles of our religion, all the body of divinity is in this one sermon.” Personally, I like best what author Kent Hughes said, “It is the antidote to the pretense and sham that plagues Christianity.” The Sermon on the Mount was Jesus’ first recorded major sermon, and was clearly at the beginning of His ministry.

Since Jesus was ushering in the New Covenant of Grace, He had to first deal with Israel’s previous system of institutional religion which taught that the people were saved by keeping the Mosaic Law. Since Jesus knew that none of them perfectly kept the Law, and that all fell short of God’s standard, Jesus had to first eliminate their illusions about their own self righteousness. Therefore, in Jesus’ first sermon He assaulted the self righteousness of the Jewish religious leaders by revealing the true attitudes and righteousness of those who will be in the kingdom. What will actually be the attitudes and actions of God’s people in the Kingdom of Heaven? This question is answered by Jesus in this sermon in such a way that it should cause all honest disciples to realize that they fall woefully short, and thus need Jesus in their lives to provide the true righteousness of the Kingdom. After all, who among us can say that they are “pure in heart”, that they were never “angry with their brother”, never looked upon a member of the opposite sex with lust, never told a lie, loved their enemy, etc.? I heard one preacher commenting on Matt.5:29-30 say, “If we were really supposed to “tear out your eye” if it makes you sin, and “cut off your hand” if it makes you stumble, then the church would be full of blind people without hands.” The sermon Jesus preached in Luke 6:20-49 is very similar to the Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 5, but His Luke 6 sermon was given on a “level place”. It was given at a different location to a different audience. After all, what preacher doesn’t preach his best sermon as often as he has a new audience that needs to hear it?

 

Beatitudes

 

The beatitudes is commonly the name given to the attitudes Jesus taught in Matt.5:3-11, and Luke 6:20-49. Somebody said this came from the idea to be of the attitude of poor in spirit, mourners, gentle, etc, but the term beatitude comes from the Latin adjective beatus which means happy or blissful. The teachings are given in eight blessings in Matt.5:3-11, and five blessings in Luke 6:20-23. Each one has a condition and a result which is derived from the Old Testament, but Jesus elevated them to a higher standard. Traditional Christianity has seen them as a new set of ideals peculiar to Christianity, and other religions have also bought into their concepts of love and humility instead of the world’s typical force and deception from personal ambition. Whatever anybody thinks of them, they have to admit that it is radical that in each of the beatitudes Jesus names a group of people normally thought to be downtrodden and unfortunate and then calls them “blessed”. In reality the word blessed is not a feeling of happiness like the ancient theologians who named them beatitudes thought. Jesus’ pronouncement of “blessed are” is an objective statement about what God thinks of them. God approves of them. I mean get real—how many people would be happy if they were poor, in mourning, hungry, in need of mercy, persecuted, etc? No,

The Day the Fish Jumped into the Boat

In Luke 5:1-11, the Bible has a wonderful story about a teaching miracle that Jesus did at the Lake of Gennesaret. Before we go any further, I dare you to look at a map and find this lake. Luke is the only N.T. author to give it that name. Matthew calls it the Sea of Galilee, and John calls it both the Sea of Galilee and the Sea of Tiberias. So what’s the deal? Gennesaret was a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee that was originally called Chinnereth in the Old Testament, but in the first century influence of Greek language and culture, it was changed to the Greek name of Gennesaret. People in that area often called the lake by the name of this town, and Luke being a Gentile writing to Greeks used that Greek name for the Sea of Galilee. No trace of this city remains today, so why are you looking at your map for it?

The Sea of Galilee is an interesting natural lake, I can’t think of anything like it that I have ever heard of. It is 682 feet below sea level with a depth that ranges from 80 feet to 200 ft. deep. It is 13 miles long and 4 to 7.5 miles wide, and surrounded by hills overlooking it. Its water supply comes from Mt. Hermon about 26-30 miles north of it. Mt. Hermon rises to a peak of 9230’ with plenty of snow collected on it. The runoff forms the Jordan River which flows into the Sea of Galilee on its north side and out of the lake on its south side. The current running through the lake along with the depth and temperature make for excellent fishing. This is also the main water supply of Israel from Mt. Hermon down through Galilee into the Jordan River flowing through the east side of Israel. Although Mt. Hermon straddles the border between Lebanon and Syria, Israel captured the southern side of it in the 1967 war. It produces the water supply of Israel, and also has the early warning system for Israel’s defense since it looks down on her neighbors.

The Catch, the Call, and the Commitment

Getting back to our story in Luke 5, we find Jesus at this lake teaching a large crowd the Word of God.

The enthusiastic crowd was pressing in on Him so He wisely took a fishing boat and anchored it just off shore to create some space so the whole crowd could see and hear Him. This was no doubt the first ever FLOATING PULPIT. The hill along the shore provided a natural amphitheater for the crowd. When He finished speaking He said to the owner of the boat, “Simon, put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch”. We know from John 1:40 that Simon and Andrew had been at Jesus’ baptism months earlier, and they identified Jesus then as the Messiah. Simon respectfully answered that they had worked hard all night, but caught nothing.

Commercial fishing was very hard labor done mostly at night when the fish came up to shallower water to feed. They used huge dragnets as long as 300’ with corks on the top and weights on the bottom. It was back breaking work to lift the nets up, row the boat, and throw the nets in the lake in a semi circle, then haul them in hand over hand, only to do so again and again all night. Simon had not slept and was physically spent, but more than that he was a professional fisherman and Jesus was a carpenter. Therefore it was only out of respect and faithfulness that Simon agreed to “let down the nets” after spending hours cleaning them.

Was Jesus concerned for their fishing business? No, this was a teaching opportunity for the disciples. What they really needed was a lesson in priorities and commitment. They had been “called” to service by Jesus months earlier at the Jordan River, but here they were back at their business. I take it they were just like us—they viewed service to the Lord as a good deed done by volunteers. After a little while, you go home and tend to your own business and family. They had not learned or experienced that Jesus requires us to turn over all of our life to Him.

Luke 3-4, the Baptism and Temptation of Christ

Before Jesus, baptisms were performed in local Synagogues for converts or proselytes. It was an initiation ceremony which identified a person with Judaism. When John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness—away from organized religion—he offered a different type of baptism, and predicted still another baptism by the Holy Spirit made possible by Jesus. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance according to the message he was preaching, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. His audience needed to have a change of mind that bore fruit in a changed life. John’s audience was looking for the Messiah to come and set up the kingdom. This is what John proclaimed as being “at hand”. John was baptizing them so they would be identified with this change of mind which involved confessing their sins and preparing for their Savior. They needed to be separated from the religious systems of that day. John also predicted in Matt.3:11 that “He who is coming after me is mightier than I…and He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”. This is the spiritual baptism taught by the N.T. authors that occurs at the time of your salvation. You didn’t necessarily know it or feel it, but when you first truly believed in Jesus as your Savior you were baptized(indwelt) by the Holy Spirit with all the ramifications that this includes(see 1 Cor.6:19; 12:13, Eph.1:13; 2:18; 1 Peter 4:10, Rom.8:26). All these baptisms are to be differentiated from the sacrament of baptism now practiced by the church. When Christians receive water baptism, we are primarily making an outward profession of an inward faith. The practice is based on Jesus’ command in Matt.28:19 and the practice of the early church in the book of Acts.

There was a baptism in Matt.3:15-16 that was a one time unique event never to be repeated by anyone. Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptist.

This surprised John as you might imagine, and he tried to prevent it saying, “I have need to be baptized by You”, meaning Jesus has no need to repent or confess or be identified with John’s ministry to sinners. Jesus is the sinless Son of God. I ask you the question then—WHY WAS JESUS BAPTIZED?

Jesus answered John saying, “Permit it at this time…to fulfill all righteousness”. After being baptized, the Spirit of God descended visibly and came upon Jesus, and God spoke from heaven confirming that “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”. Knowing that it is unwise to argue with God, it is certain that this was a necessary and very important event.

Keep in mind that this is the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry so first of all, Jesus is being introduced to the world as the Son of God. After an eternity of glory in heaven and some 30 years of living in obscurity on earth, the Messiah is revealed publicly for the world to see. Secondly this event has a purpose “to fulfill all righteousness” which is puzzling because the Law included no requirements about baptism. Therefore this must have something to do with John’s ministry, and Jesus’ purpose in coming into the world. Remember that baptism is all about identification. In each of the different baptisms the recipient was identified with something. If Christ were to provide righteousness for sinners, He must be identified with sinners. This baptism then was the willing, voluntary identification of the sinless Son of God with the sinful people He came to save; as Jesus would say, “I came to seek and to save the lost”, and “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners”.

Thirdly this baptism was His initiation to be the sin bearer. Jesus was being introduced as the person who would bear or take on our sins.

Therefore, Paul would write years later in 2 Cor.5:21—“God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”

In one more important event similar to His birth, His life,

Luke 2:21-38, the Witnesses to Christ Pile Up

The basic legal principle to the Mosaic Law required that a person’s testimony must be confirmed by at least two or three witnesses. During the birth narrative in the Gospel of Luke, the author testified that the baby Jesus was the promised Messiah and was also the Son of God. That awesome claim is backed up in Luke’s account by substantial verification by multiple credible eyewitnesses. Luke’s witnesses were all righteous people, and he repeated that many times for emphasis. Amazingly, the witnesses were not the powerful political or religious leaders, but God provided a righteous believing remnant that both saw and recognized Jesus as the long awaited Jewish Messiah and the unique Son of God. Zacharias, Elizabeth, Joseph, Mary, and the shepherds all received the good news from angels sent by God to announce the birth of the Christ, the anointed one of God who would save us from our sins. In Luke 2:21-38, God provided two additional witnesses who were dedicated to a life of seeking the Redeemer. Simeon and Anna were both elderly seekers who constantly came to the Temple in Jerusalem seeking “the Comforter and the Redeemer”. Both were divinely informed that they would not die until they personally saw the Messiah, so every day they woke up with the eager expectation of meeting God’s “anointed One” face to face.

So many of us are dedicated to achieving goals like properly raising children, building a business, and achieving financial security. Those are all good things, but Simeon and Anna had a greater hope, expectation, and goal—to seek the Lord and the Savior He was sending. To live was to seek Jesus, and having found Him, they were ready to pass on in peace.

The Southern Steps

When I periodically take groups to Israel, we always go to the southern steps of the Temple mount in Jerusalem. Many people say, “I want to walk in the exact place where Jesus walked. Today, are there any actual places that we can go to where we know Jesus walked? The answer is that the newly found and uncovered actual steps into the main entrance to the Temple that Jesus often visited have been uncovered and preserved. We can be certain that Jesus walked on these very steps as He approached to enter the Temple.

The Southern Wall of the Temple Mount built by Herod the Great just before the birth of Christ is about 922 feet in length. The enormous retaining wall that Herod built to level Mt. Moriah in order to build the Temple and all the surrounding courtyards and buildings on it, is built of huge blocks of cut stone. The blocks are so well fitted together that a knife blade can’t be inserted between the stones. It is so well built that it is the only building from that era that has survived the many earthquakes, invasions, and ravage of time. The southern wall and the steps to the main southern entrance were excavated after 1967 by an archeological team led by Benjamin Mazar. The Temple Mount was entered by walking up the southern steps to ascend to the Temple Mount through a double gate on the west side of the southern wall or through the triple gate on the east side of the southern wall. The steps that lead to the double gate are intact and in good condition while the stairs to the triple gate had to be rebuilt. These gates are generally called “The Huldah Gates”. The steps to the double gate are the actual steps that Jesus walked on to enter the Temple. The steps alternate from 12 inches deep to 35 inches deep so that those walking up would have to walk slowly and deliberately. Inside the Huldah Gates, the original staircases survive. Intricately carved patterns are still visible in the arched staircases. These grand staircases led up to the principal entrances to the Temple during the time of Christ.

In Luke 2:21-24, Joseph and Mary obeyed the Mosaic Law by circumcising Jesus when He was eight days old. Then after 40 days,

Matthew 21—the Parables of the Passion Week

On Monday of the Passion Week of

Christ, Jesus left Bethany where they were staying, and returned to Jerusalem from the east. Somewhere on the Mount of Olives, before they entered the city, they saw a fig tree from a distance, and they approached it to have some breakfast fruit for free. From a distance it had the appearance of being full of fruit, but when they got near, they realized it had leaves, but no fruit. At that point, Jesus did the only destructive miracle recorded in the Gospels by cursing the fig tree so that it withered. This miracle was recorded in Matthew 21:18-22 and Mark 11:12-14, and Mark connected this act to the cleansing of the Temple when Jesus went into the Temple and cast out those who were “buying and selling” in the Temple, and He overturned the tables of the moneychangers as well. In explanation of His righteous anger, Jesus said “My House shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a robber’s den”. Jesus’ disciples were amazed at all this, and the religious leaders were outraged, and wanted to know on what authority He had the right to do this. I think an important clue to the meaning and connection of the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the Temple can be found about a year earlier in Luke 13:6-9.

The Parable of the Fruit Tree Without Fruit

In Luke 13:6-9, about a year before the Passion Week, Jesus told a parable about a man who had a fig tree that he had planted, and he expected to find fruit on it. At the time, Jesus was teaching about the need for repentance, and this parable further illustrated that point. In the parable the landowner complained to the vineyard-keeper that he had been expecting fruit for three years but the tree still had none. Therefore the owner told the keeper to cut down the tree, but the keeper asked him to give it one more chance. He would pay special attention to it, water it and fertilize it, but if it bore no fruit the following year it would be cut down. The transferable concept here is that God had an investment in Israel, He had cared for it, and given it everything, but He also had the right to expect it to bear fruit. Israel is the fig tree planted in fertile soil, cultivated, watered, and fertilized, yet the result was a barren religion. We see the patience of God in waiting even another year, but at some point in time a tree without fruit must be taken down. We also see the intercession of Jesus to do additional gracious activities to give another chance, but Jesus is God’s final offer of an opportunity to repent. Then about a year later, Jesus acted out this parable by actually cursing the fig tree and destroying it in Matt.21:18-20.

In Mark’s parallel account he organizes these stories as fig tree/cleansing of temple/fig tree making it obvious that there is a connection between the two events. Jesus was passing judgment on Jerusalem figuratively through the cursing of the fig tree and explicitly on the religious leaders by cleansing the Temple. The religious leaders in Jerusalem had been practicing a superficial religion, and had rejected their Messiah sent by God, and Jesus was passing judgment on fruitless Israel.

The Parable of the Two Sons

In Matt. 21:28-32, Jesus taught another parable illustrating God’s relationship with Israel. This story flows directly out of the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders. Jesus was telling this parable in front of His disciples, but it was directed to the religious leaders who questioned His authority in Matt. 21:23. The boys in the parable have the same father, and the father’s commands to work went out in order to each boy. Initially the first son agreed to work, but failed to do so. The other son initially refused, but later did respond and went to work. It is easy to see in the context of Jesus’ condemnation of the religious leaders, that the first son who said he would but didn’t,

Luke 18:9-14, The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

In business, the super successful like Donald Trump are full of confidence and pride in their achievements. In professional athletics it would seem over confidence is a prerequisite. The unwashed masses loved Mohammed Ali, the boxer, for his constant “I am the greatest!” boasts. I once read a book entitled THE CULTURE OF NARCISSISM by Chris Lasch describing our current society, “We live for the moment…to live for yourself, to view everything only as it applies to you.” Self absorption is the climate of our society. Values are determined by such ideas as “loving yourself is the greatest love of all”. People are typically thinking they need to feel good about themselves, and they constantly are rationalizing selfish behavior by saying “I owe it to myself.” New Age philosophers tell us we can find “God within you” or “You can discover your inner divinity”. Psychologists and even preachers today tell us our problem is not sin, but a loss of self esteem. I am not down grading self esteem, but God’s way of giving value, meaning, and purpose is totally different than the world’s way. True meaning and purpose come to us only when life is God centered and not self centered.  One noted Christian Psychologist concludes that the most common error in people’s self image is not low self esteem, but rather self serving pride; not an inferiority complex but a superiority complex. In fact, from one degree to another, we are all characterized by pride, selfishness, and an attitude of self importance.

Spiritually, the human race tends to be just as over confident in their moral/ethical view of themselves and most “professing” Christians are confident in their goodness. Polls show that over half of professing Christians believe they will go to heaven based on their own obedience and good works. I remember that after Mother Theresa died, a poll showed that 70% of Americans believed that she was in heaven. Amazingly the next question was do you believe you will go to heaven, and 85% said yes. I would like to talk to that 15% that thinks they are better than Theresa, but it just reveals the religious over confidence that people have. Scripture reveals that such confidence is a dangerous delusion. This optimism about our goodness assigns to mankind nothing less than the task of being its own savior and redeemer. The problem is that the “self” has been placed on the throne where only God belongs. In the parable that Jesus taught in Luke 18:9-14, the villain is deeply religious, hard working, committed to upright behavior and good works. Naturally we wonder how Jesus could possibly criticize that, but He reveals that our assumptions about our goodness are opposed to the true nature of man and opposed to the grace of God.

Luke 18:9-14

The context of this parable is found in Luke 18:1-8 where Jesus teaches His disciples about prayer. He taught them to be persistent, bold, sincere, and faithful in their praying. Now in the follow-up parable beginning in v.9, Jesus will contrast two distinctly different prayers of two different people. Each prayer reveals the true convictions of the person praying. The Pharisee’s prayer is all about himself, reveals his pride, and his assumption of his salvation by his good works. The Pharisee has assigned to himself the task of being his own savior and redeemer. In contrast, the publican’s prayer is humble, contrite with an admission of sin, repentant, and his assumption is that he can only be saved by God’s mercy and grace. In this contrast, Jesus will confirm that all claims of personal self righteousness will be rejected by God. Entry into heaven is strictly on the basis of divine grace received by our faith.

The devout, pious, respected keepers of the religious Law in Jesus’ day were the Pharisees. The great historian Josephus wrote that they were “a body of Jews known for surpassing the others in the observance of piety and exact interp...

Luke 16:19, the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

During Jesus’ ministry, He was appealing to the humble downtrodden people who recognize their guilt and confess their sin, like the woman who came to Jesus in Luke 7:37-50. She was weeping and worshipping Jesus by cleaning His feet with her tears. It doesn’t get more humble than that. Therefore Jesus said to her “your sins are forgiven…your faith has saved you, go in peace.” This outraged the Pharisees because she was a known sinner, and Jesus had the audacity to say her sins were forgiven when only God can do that. For this reason the religious leaders were rejecting Jesus because they saw salvation as something they alone had earned. Their elitism and fierce pride would mean their doom. In 1Cor. 10, Paul gave the church the example of Israel in the wilderness after the Exodus as a warning to all who are prideful and unbelieving. Israel had seen many miracles done on their behalf, and they left Egypt showered in all the gold and riches of Egypt. God led them out and met their every need with manna from heaven, water, and leading them with the pillar of fire in the cloud. God gave them His Law and set them apart as a favored nation. Then God promised them a new home—a land flowing with milk and honey. But it all went to their head, and in their pride they disobeyed God so that He had to discipline them severely. Out of the millions who left Egypt only two humble believers got to go into the Promised Land. Paul then told the church at Corinth, “Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall”.

People may not admit it, but most have an entitlement problem, they think they deserve Gods favor. When people are successful and all is going well, they are in the biggest danger of presuming upon God. We tend to think that we are deserving, and like the theology of Israel we think our hard work and good life has given us our wealth and our blessings from God. My favorite scene from the movie “Patton” is when he is walking away at the end, and the voice over says, “After winning their great battles, the Romans had victory parades, but there was always one odd fellow standing next to the conqueror whispering ‘all glory is fleeting”. In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, found in Luke 16, the rich guy found out the hard way that this is true. He thought he had it made, and he had no regard for the poor needy Lazarus, but when they passed away there was a severe reversal of fortune.

Lifestyles of the Rich and the Desperate

Every parable Jesus taught was provoked by a question or a situation in which Jesus’ audience was clueless, and therefore Jesus explained a spiritual truth they didn’t understand by telling a story they could understand. The context of the parable can be found in Luke 16:13-14. The Pharisees were lovers of money meaning they had put money in the place of God, and they were “scoffing at Jesus” for teaching that sinners could be saved and faithful stewardship was expected by God. The Pharisees even taught that their position and wealth came to them because they were righteous. Jesus told them that they “justified themselves”, but God knows their hearts and the things esteemed by men are detestable to God. This begs the question about what is esteemed by men, but detestable to God. Success, wealth, power, social position, and self indulgence are all esteemed by the human race, but love of these things is detestable to God. All of these things are wonderful blessings to be enjoyed, unless people love them instead of God. Loving anything in the place of God is idolatry and a violation of the first commandment.

Therefore Jesus told the parable in Luke 16:19-31 in order to explain Gods view of the Pharisees love of money. The parable has two scenes–first the earthly circumstances of the two men,