👨🏽 Luke – Chapters 17 and 18

🙏 Heavenly Father, we humbly bow down before Your instruction today, laying down the troubles and cares of this world.  In our time together, teach us what we do not know. Strengthen and guide us into what we are not. We are You children, forever grateful for your salvation and the life You give us. Let Your Word bring us new life today.   Amen.

Sin, Faith, Duty

17 Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. ² It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. ³ So watch yourselves.

“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. ⁴ Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

⁶ He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

⁷ “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? ⁸ Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? ⁹ Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

Points to Ponder: Jesus never promises this world would be free from trouble. On the contrary, He tells us trouble is bound to come.  And as we live, we can honestly agree. He warns us not to be the instigators and commands us to watch ourselves.  How we live, what we say, and what we do, matters.  As we accept our citizenship in His kingdom, we are also told how to live so others will accept this same invitation to His kingdom.  We can rebuke those who sin against us, but if they repent, we must forgive.  Even if they repeat their offense and repent again, we are to forgive.  The apostles voice what we ourselves think.  How can I do that when ‘they’ continue to offend?  ‘They’ are insincere… ‘they’ were just lying to me… ‘they’ are taking advantage of me… etc. The apostles ask for increased faith in order to comply with the command of forgiveness.

Jesus tells us it is not the size of our faith that matters, small faith is enough.  Faith in the Lord of this universe… Faith in the Savior who died for our multitude of repeated sins. Faith in His demonstrated act of unconditional love for our redemption… faith in understanding Who He is and what He has done for us is all that is needed to exercise this same faith in forgiving others.

We are in no position to expect anything in this world as a result of our obedience.  We are only humble servants of His eternal Kingdom while living out the remaining days of this life.  Each day, as we pray, ‘Thy Will Be Done’, we know we are being called to serve Him and do our duty each day.

Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy

¹¹ Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Points to Ponder: The ten lepers call out to Jesus, calling Him, ‘Master’, and asking for His compassion on their condition. He responds with the Law’s command to show themselves to the priest, which is required after healing!  😊 The one who noticed himself being healed, a Samaritan, returned in a posture of humility and gratitude.

Jesus remarks about the other nine, it a great illustration of how some people overlook the gracious gifts God has given them – accepted, but not in that posture of humility. This Samaritan saw the healing gift and made the choice to stop, return, praise God publicly, then humbly thank Jesus.

There is a common thread throughout Scripture reminding us that ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALLEN SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD. (Romans 3:23)  This same Scripture tells us that God’s redemption plan, through the sacrifice of Jesus, is not just because He loves us, but in order for us TO RETURN TO HIM!  (Isaiah 55:7)

The Coming of the Kingdom of God

²⁰ Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, ²¹ nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

²² Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. ²³ People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. ²⁴ For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. ²⁵ But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

²⁶ “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. ²⁷ People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸ “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. ²⁹ But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

³⁰ “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. ³² Remember Lot’s wife! ³³ Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. ³⁵ Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”

³⁷ “Where, Lord?” they asked.

He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

Points to Ponder: The Pharisees ask what people in every generation ask, ‘when will the kingdom of God come?’  They ask because they lack the spiritual sight that the kingdom of God is already there!  They are looking for some physical revelation according to their preconceived notions of what a ‘kingdom’ should look like.  They cannot accept Jesus as their Messiah, in spite of the miracles and healings and signs and wonders and teachings, because until they have faith in who Jesus is, they are spiritually dead.

Jesus tells His disciples not to run after those who claim to know the end times – Jesus’ return will be unmistakable. As His children, we will not be ‘left behind’!  We will not miss it.  We do not need to listen to those who think they know. And we certainly shouldn’t be looking around in this world to ‘see’ His kingdom.  We are already alive, spiritually, in that kingdom.  Until His return, we faithfully serve Him here, doing our duty to light the way for others to enter the kingdom.

Jesus reminds them of God’s judgment in the past.  In both the days of Noah and Lot, people were living their lives as they normally did before the destruction by flood, fire, and sulfur.  As servants of His kingdom, we serve Him each and every day.  If He returns while we are still drawing breath on this world, we just go to Him.  No turning back for anything of this world, we go to Him empty handed, with that deep longing fulfilled.  

Knowing that one will be taken and one will be left is a tough teaching.  When the disciples ask ‘Where, Lord?’ they still seem to be focused on a physical location.  But Jesus started this line of teaching addressing the spiritually dead Pharisees who couldn’t see the kingdom already in their midst.  Jesus told Pilot that His Kingdom was not of this world, so Christians, should not be looking for it physically.  Any ‘spiritual leader’ who professes to know the end times and places, is gathering the spiritually dead around him. Vultures, those that prey on the dead, will gladly feast among them. 😔

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Points to Ponder: Jesus tells us the reason for this parable – always pray and don’t give up. We know from the great teachings in Romans 8, specifically Romans 8:28 that we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Even when we don’t understand what God is doing, we still pray to Him and not give up.  Even when we think we know what is good, the Spirit intercedes on our behalf – knowing what is best for us.

As the judge in this parable is moved to work on the widow’s behalf to grant her justice – God is moved to answer our prayers for justice, for our good, and for His glory. So be patient, trust Him, and continue to pray.  It is our duty. 

In situations of injustice, we are never to take matters into our own hands but to trust Him.  How else could we grow to forgive others if we also think we have the right to judge and execute justice?  Our part is to forgive; God is the one who executes justice.  And until He does, we pray – and we remember how thankful we are that we were spared His judgment when we received His forgiveness. 

THIS is humility and service in action.  Spiritual growth is fostered through this ongoing practice.  When Christians fail to trust God for justice, we show others that there is no power in our faith.  So, Jesus asks… when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?   

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Points to Ponder: A nice transition from the command to pray. There is no humility, no mention of his own sin, by the Pharisee.  He is convinced of his own righteousness, not like those other people, and He gives evidence of how good he is… as if God needs any reminders!  (This is not a prayer at all.)  The tax collector recognizes himself as a sinner in need of God’s mercy.  The grace of God is declared over the tax collector, by Jesus, for his humble admission of his sinful condition. (This is prayer.)

The Little Children and Jesus

¹⁵ People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. ¹⁶ But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Points to Ponder: I was Christened as a baby; I don’t believe that qualified me for the kingdom. I chose to be baptized in 2018 at the age of 56.  I was about 4 years into my Christian journey – 4 years of recognizing that the way I was living all my life before Christ was wrong. The things I believed were a lie.  Pride in myself and my own abilities were the major sins in my life.  When I was converted, by His grace, into a life of faith in Jesus and what He’d done for me, I also realized what it meant to be born-again. (John 3:3)  I wanted His kingdom, but I couldn’t get there on my own. I had to be born-again – and like a child, completed dependent on others, I chose to submit to Him – the Father who created me.  I chose to listen to and obey Him. 

I so fondly remember the times of raising my own children – the first glimpse of unconditional love that I ever recognized.  Knowing that the Almighty Creator of the universe loves me like that?  It is almost too much to accept… as an adult.  Oh, but an innocent child expects it!  I embrace that love daily!

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

¹⁸ A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”

²¹ “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

²² When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²³ When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. ²⁴ Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

²⁷ Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

²⁸ Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”

²⁹ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God ³⁰ will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Points to Ponder: Our flattery of an almighty God is presumptuous, indeed!  This rich man of status approaches Jesus and calls Him ‘good’ as if this man had the right to make such a judgment and Jesus calls Him out on it.  This man asks what he must do to inherit eternal life.  The story comes after the teachings about faith, humility, and childlike trust and dependence.

Jesus reminds him about the commandments… the ones that relate to how we are to treat one another.  Notice that Jesus leaves out the commandments about how we are to relate to a ‘good’ and HOLY God. The omission is significant and the man responds that he has kept the commandments that Jesus mentioned.

But all the accomplishments that the man achieved in his life on his own were not enough.  He still lacked one thing.  Jesus knew the relationship that grew between this man and his money.  He called him to sell everything, give to the poor, and he would have treasure in heaven… then, he could follow Jesus. 

The man became sad because he was very wealthy.  His sadness is the revelation of his relationship to his wealth.  It became an idol that he was unwilling to separate from, thus preventing him from following Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t tell everyone to give away their wealth; He does tell them that following Him requires us to put Him first… before ourselves, before our families, before our friends. Oh, but the return on such a commitment will multiply in this life and into eternity.

Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time

³¹ Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. ³² He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; ³³ they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”

³⁴ The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

Points to Ponder: It is comforting to know that the disciples didn’t always understand the significance of what Jesus said to them when His Words expressed something other than their expectations.  They did not have the advantage of the Holy Spirit at this time nor did they have the New Testament books. 

We do. Yet we sometimes think we would be stronger in our faith if we were walking around with Jesus, listening to Him and watching His miracles.  Clearly this section reminds us that living in the time between His resurrection and His return is not a disadvantage to being faithful.

A Blind Beggar Receives His Sight

³⁵ As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶ When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. ³⁷ They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”

³⁸ He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

³⁹ Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁰ Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, ⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?”

“Lord, I want to see,” he replied.

⁴² Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” ⁴³ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.

Points to Ponder: Like the persistent widow that began this chapter, this blind man KNOWS who Jesus is – he calls Him, ‘Son of David’, twice.  Even after others tried to quiet him, he shouted out all the more.  And Jesus stops… orders others to bring the man to Him… then asks the man what he wanted Jesus to do for him. 

What an amazing picture of Jesus as the servant-king!

Not only does the man receive his sight, but the assurance in the kingdom of God. Jesus acknowledges the man’s faith when the man acknowledged Jesus’ authority – the promised Son of David. (2 Samuel 7:12-16)

Summary:  These chapters illustrate what is meant by ‘saving faith.’  Again, we see that many are fans of Jesus, but only some recognize Him as the authority in their life and become followers. Only some will fully trust Him and put Him first in their lives.  You only ‘follow’ what you put in front of you.

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🙏 Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word.  As we read these chapters, You call us to examine our faith and check for any idols that may be fighting for our attention.  Rebuke us when we don’t want to admit their influence.  Rebuke us when we respond with… “I can’t” when what we really mean is… “I won’t”. You have spoken to us clearly; soften our hearts and remove our pride so we can lead others to You for true, abundant life.  We pray this in the name of our Lord, Jesus.  Amen.