READ IT! - Introduction to Luke 14-20

Reading for this week:

Monday: Luke 14

Tuesday: Luke 15

Wednesday: Luke 16

Thursday: Luke 17

Friday: Luke 18

Saturday: Luke 19

Sunday: Luke 20

Introduction to Luke 14-20

Chapter 14

One Sabbath, Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, and he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy, i.e. abnormal swelling of his body. 

Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way. 

Then he asked them: "If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?" And they had nothing to say. Which is the greater commandment? Keep Sabbath? Or love neighbor? According to Jesus – love neighbor. 

Jesus also notices that the people at the meal have all tried to sit in the best seats possible, so he tells them that if they go to a wedding banquet they shouldn’t try to take the best seat because someone more important than them might show up and then they’ll have to move and take whatever seat is leftover. He says it’s better to sit in the worst seat in the house because you may get offered a better seat and be publicly honored, but if you try to take the best seat you may be publicly embarrassed. 

Then Jesus said to his host that it’s better to invite poor people to parties than the rich… because the poor can’t repay you and your reward will come in the resurrection.

Jesus then tells another parable about a man who invited many guests to a great banquet. But the guests made excuses not to come – I need to go see the new field I bought…I need to go try out my new oxen…I just got married… 

So the master of the feast quickly sent out his servant to the streets and alleys to bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. But there was still room, so the master sent his servants out to the roads and country lanes to bring in everyone they could. 

But the ones who were originally invited tasted no banquet.

Jesus says to the large crowds traveling with him that if any of them wants to be his disciple they must hate their own families and even their own life. They must pick up a cross if they want to follow Jesus. 

He tells two short parables to explain what he means: 

What if someone tries to build a tower but they don’t check to make sure they have the supplies to do so? They will start but not finish and become a laughing-stock. 

What if a king goes to war with another king and learns that the other king has twice the number of troops that he has? He will ask for peace instead of war. 

In other words, Jesus is asking if they have what it takes to follow him – are they willing to surrender everything? 

Chapter 15

Jesus then tells three parables about lost things.

A shepherd leaves his flock of ninety-nine sheep in order to find the one sheep who is lost. Jesus is the shepherd, thus identifying himself with the image of God as a shepherd searching for stray sheep in Ezekiel 34:11–16. 

The rejoicing of the shepherd with his friends represents God rejoicing with the angels. The image of God rejoicing at the recovery of lost sinners contrasts with the criticism of the religious leaders which prompted the parable. 

A woman with ten silver coins (Greek: drachmae) loses one. She then lights an oil lamp and sweeps her house until she finds it, rejoicing when she does.

Married women in the First Century wore ten coins on a chain, rather as women today wear a wedding ring. The coins were so important to a woman that they couldn’t be taken from her, even to pay a debt. The loss of a coin was not only a financial disaster, it would be deeply embarrassing that she failed to protect this symbol of her marriage. Imagine her husband coming home and asking how she could have lost the coin had she not taken the necklace off — and why take it off?! 

We then come to the parable of the Lost Son. The question behind this story is… “What is God like?”

The Jewish version of this well-known parable is very much the same as Jesus version, but at the end of the original version the father begins to cry, and says, “Son, when you left, you broke community. For the sake of community, you can never come home.” And he closes the door on his son. And the family gathered around the weeping old man, consoling him, and encouraging him for having done the righteous thing.

But Jesus changes the ending, saying that while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. And they threw a party.

But then Jesus adds more, saying, that the older brother gets mad that the sinful brother has been welcomed by his father back into the community. 

Jesus says that the folks he’s talking to are not like either the loving father or the sinful son, but they are the angry, jealous, unforgiving older brother. 

Chapter 16

Jesus tells a parable about how a steward who is about to be fired curries favor with his master's debtors by remitting some of their debts. Jesus explains that the dishonest steward had been wasting his master’s money up until this point; however, when he sees that his time is almost up in his current life, he uses his position to make friends with his master’s customers, so that when he gets the boot he will be taken in by them and won’t become a homeless beggar. He had been using the resources given him on himself, but by the end he realized that these resources would serve him better in the end if he used them for the needs of others. 

In the end, his master is impressed by what he has done even though he still fires him for dishonesty. Jesus’ point is that you should use what you have been given on others instead of just looking out for yourself, and in the end those you have helped will not forget you… but the love of money will lead to ruin. He says, “You cannot serve both God and money.” 

The Pharisees sneer at Jesus’ parable because they love money. He says to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.” 

Luke then gives us several additional teaching of Jesus that Matthew covers more thoroughly in his Gospel.

Jesus then tells another parable about a rich man who lived in luxury every day, and how, in front of the rich man’s house, lying by the gate – too weak to stand - was a beggar named Lazarus. The man was covered with sores and he longed to eat what fell from the rich man's table - even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar finally died. The angels carried Lazarus up to heaven where he met his ancestor Abraham. Eventually, the rich man also died and was buried. 

In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side, and he begged him to send Lazarus back to warn his brothers, but Abraham said that if his brothers would not listen to Moses and the prophets, then they wouldn't care if someone came back from the dead either (this is hinting at the peoples’ rejection of Jesus even after he had been raised from the dead).

So is that really what hell is like?

Well… not necessarily. This parable refers back to some intertestamental writings that attempted to describe what happened after death. In these beliefs, Sheol/Hades has different places, separated by a chasm or a river, where the wicked dead and righteous dead are kept until a day of judgment. So, the question becomes – did Jesus consider these works authoritative, or was he using them as common Jewish mythologies his audience would have been familiar with? Ultimately, this is a story of ethics, not one trying to teach about the cartography of hell. While we might make some guesses, we do not know if Jesus was teaching about a literal truth or a literary truth (a story familiar to his listeners).

Chapter 17

Jesus says to his disciples that things that cause people to sin are inevitable, but the person who causes others to sin is cursed and better off at the bottom of the sea with a millstone around his neck.

Jesus also tells his disciples that they should forgive the person who sins against them – even if that person sins and repents again seven times in one day.

The disciples want more faith, but Jesus tells them that even the smallest amount of faith – the size of a mustard seed – is enough to make a huge mulberry bush get up throw itself into the sea.

He then tells them a parable about servants who simply go about their daily business shouldn’t expect to receive a thank you. This parable suggests that "even the best of God's servants are still unworthy because they have only done their duty and no more." Nobody, "no matter how virtuous or hardworking, can ever put God in his or her debt."

Luke then reiterates the fact that Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem and proceeds to tell a story about Jesus healing ten lepers, with only the Samaritan leper coming back to thank Him. In this way, Luke again places the hated Samaritans in a favorable light. 

The Pharisees want to know when the Kingdom of God will come, so Jesus tells them that the Kingdom isn’t something that you need to wait for or go out looking for – the Kingdom is happening right here in front of you. 

Jesus then makes a distinction between “The Kingdom of God” and “The Day of the Son of Man” – which is what the Pharisees were actually interested in. He tells his disciples that one day they will long to see the Day of the Son of Man, but it won’t be for them to see. They’re not going to get to see the lightning show of the future, but instead will get to see the Son of Man suffering and rejected in the present. 

He says that the Day of the Son of Man will be a terrible day of judgment – just like Noah’s flood and Sodom’s destruction. No one should stick around and watch (like Lot’s wife did) – they should run for their lives.

Chapter 18

Jesus tells a parable about an atheistic and apathetic judge who is repeatedly approached by a poor widow, seeking justice. Initially rejecting her demands, he eventually honors her request so he will not be worn out by her persistence. This parable demonstrates the importance of persistence in prayer, never giving up. But Jesus ends the story with a question, wondering if when he comes back he’ll find anyone who still has any faith. 

Jesus then contrasts a Pharisee, obsessed by his own virtue, with a tax collector who humbly asks God for mercy. The Pharisee goes above and beyond, fasting more often than was required, and giving a tithe on all he receives, even in cases where the religious rules did not require it. Confident in his religiosity, the Pharisee asks God for nothing, and thus receives nothing. The parable does not condemn the tax collector’s questionable occupation, but describes him as one who "recognizes his state of unworthiness before God and confesses his need for reconciliation." Coming to God in humility, he receives the mercy and reconciliation he asks for. 

We then hear how Jesus allows parents to bring their children to him to be blessed, and a teaching about how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus then predicts his death a third time, and after this he heals a blind beggar. 

Chapter 19

Jesus arrives at Jericho, and a short man named Zacchaeus climbs up a sycamore fig tree so that he might be able to see Jesus because of the large crowd. When Jesus reached the spot he looked up into the branches, addressed Zacchaeus by name, and told him to come down, for he intended to visit his house. The crowd was shocked that Jesus, a Jew, would sully himself by being a guest of a tax collector. Moved by the audacity of Jesus' undeserved love and acceptance, Zacchaeus publicly repented acts of corruption and vowed to make restitution for them, and held a feast at his house. 

The parable the Minas tells of a prince who was leaving his home to be appointed king, and before going entrusted his property (10 minas) to his ten servants. But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after to protest his being made king. After having been made king and returning home, the master asks his servants for an accounting.

The first two servants explain that they have each put their money to work and have multiplied the value of the property they were entrusted with, and so they are each rewarded. Another servant, however, has merely hidden his mina in a cloth somewhere, and he is punished.

The master takes his mina back and gives to the first guy who had multiplied the value of his mina by ten. The others protest saying this isn’t fair because he already has ten and doesn’t need an eleventh. But the master says, “‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” Then he makes an example of the people who had protested his kingship and has them dragged in and killed. 

This parable mirrored actual events that occurred during the reign of Herod Archelaus. While he visited Rome in an attempt to gain more power in Israel, a group of Jews revolted and sent a delegation to protest Archelaus’ reign. When he returned from Rome, Archelaus brutally killed the rebels and their families. 

Before entering Jerusalem, Jesus was staying at Bethany and Bethphage, (John 12:1 states that he was in Bethany six days before Passover.) Jesus rides a donkey into Jerusalem, and as he approaches, he looks at the city and weeps over it, foretelling the suffering that awaits it. Jesus rides into the city, and the people there lay down their cloaks in front of him. The people sang part of Psalm 118: 25-26: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord… 

Jesus then clears the merchants out of the Temple.

Chapter 20

The religious leaders begin to call Jesus’ authority into question, and he tells them The Parable of the Tenants, where the master left his servants in charge while he was gone, but when he sent some messengers back to check up on them, they would beat the messengers. And the master eventually sends his son back to deal with his wicked servants, but they kill him. Ultimately, the master destroys his wicked servants.

While Jesus is at the Temple, the chief priests try several times to trap him. They send spies to him to ask him leading questions in order to try to get him in trouble with the Romans. The spies ask him, “Should we pay tribute to Caesar or not?” 

Jesus in turn traps them and says, “Who’s got a coin?” They produce a coin, and in doing so are admitting what they already think of this issue - because if they were truly religious they wouldn’t have brought a coin with Caesar’s image and with the inscription “the worshiped son of a worshiped God” on it around with them into the Temple. 

Jesus points to both the image and the inscription on the coin, asking to whom they belong. They respond, “To Caesar.” And he says, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give back to God what is God’s.” 

Then the Sadducees show up and tell Jesus a story about a woman was widowed seven times before she died. They ask him who she will be married to at the Resurrection… even though they themselves thought that the Resurrection was hokum. Jesus tells them that they don’t know what they’re talking about. People don’t bother with marriage after they’ve been resurrected. They are God’s children. 

Then he reminds them of their own scriptures, where God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, saying, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” He says, “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” So why would God claim to be worshiped by those long dead if there were no resurrection? And the Sadducees were dumbstruck. 

Jesus then comes back at his questioners with more of his own questions, such as: Whose son is the Messiah? And he cites confusing and paradoxical passages of Scripture that get them all muddled.

Jesus then warns his followers against the Teachers of the Law, because they do not truly love God. It’s all just a show. And that kind of life will destroy you.

Read Luke 14

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.

Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” And they had nothing to say.

When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’

“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

“‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”