Jesus has prophesied his passion, death and resurrection three times in Luke’s Gospel. Now the begins the realisation of the prophecy. There is a lot of details in these passages. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is steeped in images of kingship from the Old Testament.

In the last section we heard about tax collectors, the humble and the least, and the difficulty of the rich entering the kingdom. In this section we meet Zacchaeus, a rich tax collector, who is small and humble enough to climb a tree to see Jesus.

There are those who recognise Jesus for who he is and then there are also those who mistake him. In this passage the disciples, including Peter and the twelve get things wrong whereas a blind man and children respond to Jesus’s presence.

When Jesus was first asked to teach his disciples to pray he taught them to say ‘Your kingdom come’. Now he teaches the disciples to pray continually and not lose heart. To help them understand he gives a parable about a patient and persistent widow.

The worried apostles are reminded of their future duties in a short parable. They will plough the field so that the seed of God’s word can be sown; they will look after their flocks. They will be true servants, as Jesus has modelled, offering the Eucharist to eat and drink.

Is being rich a barrier to the kingdom of God? Luke in one of his ironic juxtapositions has Jesus saying ‘You cannot serve God and money’ followed by Luke saying ‘The Pharisees, who were lovers of money’.In this section we have two more of Jesus’ vivid parables: the dishonest manager and the rich man and Lazarus.

The audience for these three parables of mercy brings together the tax collectors and sinners, and the Pharisees and scribes. The three stories speak about the lost being found and that this is something to be rejoiced over.

Inviting Jesus to your house for a banquet is a risky business. In this section Luke mirrors the last chapter. There's a further healing on the Sabbath and then two parables which play out what it means for the last to be first.

The Sabbath is still principally thought about as refraining from work. Jesus reminds us it is about the appreciation of God’s creation; Jesus will usher in, on the Lord’s Day, the new creation. The Sabbath is also the day of Exodus from slavery and once again Jesus sees his mission as bringing liberty to captives.

Reading through Luke the opening sentences will remind us of John the Baptist and his promise of Baptism. They also look forward to Luke’s volume the Acts of the Apostles when the Apostles will be baptised in the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This looking back and forth emphasises the present moment.