Luke 18:9
“He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others . . .”
The chief trait of this Pharisee was the idea that he did not need God. A modern equivalent would be the person who, with his imagination and personal experience, has fabricated both a god and a religious system by which he is acceptable to his god. The Pharisees did just that. They picked out certain verses from Scripture to form what they thought God was like, then based upon that, they established behaviors they believed He would accept. The result was a group of self-righteous men who looked down upon others and rejected Christ. In contrast, we find a man who has lived a compromising life. While externally he seems to be the one whom God would reject, he is accepted because he came to God, not on his own terms, but on God’s.
The lesson is very clear. It will be those who humble themselves, confess their sin, and come to God through Christ, who will be accepted by Him.
Don’t be like the Pharisees who rejected Him because they thought they were good enough.
Pastor Jim
Questions for Luke 18
- What is the next parable about?
- In the next parable, who were the two people that Jesus contrasted?
- What is the difference between the two individuals in this parable?
- Who did the disciples rebuke?
- What did Jesus ask the rich young ruler to do?
- What was Peter’s response to these things?
- What was Jesus response to Peter?
- Reflect on what Jesus explained to the twelve disciples.
- What is similar about the attitude of the tax collector in the beginning of the chapter and the blind beggar at the end of the chapter?
- Notice the response of the beggar and the people in verse 43 after the beggar received his sight. Take a moment to praise God and glorify Him for all that He has done in your life.
Old Testament:
Numbers 5- Marriage Problems
Numbers 6- Blessing
Lot and his family represent the Christian. Jesus tells us, if we want to save our lives, we must lose them. In other words, life, true life, abundant life, will not be found in holding things back from the Lord, but by giving up all to follow the Lord. Matthew modeled that idea when he left his tax table, Peter and John when they left the fishing business, and you and I when we leave behind our past life, and seek to live for Christ. Unfortunately, even after we determine to follow Christ, we face temptation to return to the things from which we were saved. Satan even has a way of making the sin life which we used to live, look better than it really was. Knowing this, Paul exhorts us,
Between man and God there is a great gulf of separation. This gap is caused by sin, and makes it impossible for us to have fellowship with God. This is precisely the reason Jesus came. He bled and died on Calvary’s cross to bridge the gap; to make it possible for us to know God now, and spend eternity with Him. This life will come to an end, and when it does, only what we have done with Christ will really matter. In this story, the rich man reveals what happens to those who refuse Christ. Not only do they live separated from God, but they die that way.
I imagine what the scene must have been like in the Synagogue that day. The crowd had gathered like they did every Sabbath. For some it was no more than a religious duty, for others, it was how they expressed their devotion to God. The scene suddenly shifts from the normal activities of prayer and Bible reading to a woman with a serious medical condition. She had been suffering for eighteen years and nothing could be done for her. Without hesitation Jesus called her to Himself, and when she responded to the call, He healed her. Imagine being there! Imagine the joy that would fill her, perhaps like the lame man in Acts 3, she leaped with joy, celebrating what Jesus had done for her. I would expect to read that the service changed that morning, as the people broke out in unrestrained praise. Sadly however, rather than hearing praise, we hear the sound of objection.
Jesus tells the story of a rich man who believed true life was found in great possessions. He worked hard and was very successful. His success caused him to evaluate his life. His conclusion, he needed to work harder so he might acquire more, and be able to retire in comfort. He began to increase his efforts, acquire more, build larger storehouses for all his possessions. All the while, hoping for that time when he would be able to live at ease and enjoy it all. Sadly and expectedly, he died and all of his riches were of no use to him as he stepped into eternity.”
There seems to be some striking differences between the Church in the book of Acts and the church today. The impact they were having on their world was tremendous; we read of the sick being healed, the dead being raised, and most importantly, multitudes of people believing in the resurrected Lord, and their lives being transformed. How is it that they, with so little, were able to do so much? We know they did not have the completed Bible, much money, or the technological resources we have today, yet they were turning their world upside down. The secret to their success was the filling of the Holy Spirit. It is clear, what they did not have was overshadowed by what they did have; that is, power from on High!
Sadly, the world has no shortage of those who are in need of Christ. Our population has reached the seven billion mark. Seven billion souls walking this planet, many of whom do not yet know Christ. We recognize certain places in the world as being unreached. Places where many, or even most, of the citizens are yet to hear the good news of salvation, through faith in Christ. We need to pray, send, and provide for those who go to the uttermost parts of the earth with the Good News of Christ. However, we cannot neglect to remember the many unreached souls in our own backyard. Here, in Luke 10, as Jesus sends the seventy, we have some practical instruction on how to reach the lost.
When the Lord calls us to serve Him, there seems to be a universal response. Our hearts cry out, “I can’t.” This was the same response of Moses, Saul and Gideon. We feel this way because the Lord always seems to call us to do what is beyond our capacities. A young woman with small children senses a call to teach in children’s church, or a retired couple hears the call to the mission field, or a young man has a burning in his heart to become a pastor, and the voice in our head cries out “I can’t.” I think there is something encouraging here as Jesus calls the twelve. He is sending them out to serve Him. They will encounter many with needs beyond their capabilities to handle. They will cross paths with the sick, who will look to them for the answer, the demoniacs, who are held under by the powers of the devil, and some will will oppose the work of God. For their journey they are told to take nothing; no money, no provisions, no extra stuff. These things will not equip them for the ministry. Jesus wants them to understand that those are not the things that enable them, nor will a lack of those things restrict them. Instead, Jesus provides everything that is necessary. We read, “He gave them power and authority” All of their objections, and ours, should be silenced by these six words. Whatever reasons they had for objecting to the call, whatever lack they may have felt, must be silenced when Jesus declares, “I have given you power and authority.” Just as their objections are silenced by His promise, so must ours be silenced. Whatever objections you have to the call of God on your life, understand what He calls us to, He equips us for. As He said to Gideon, He says to you “Mighty man of valor… Go in this might of yours”(Judges 6:14). Will you go?
I love a good mystery; as a child I had a book titled “2 Minute Mysteries.” It was a book of short stories, in which a crime would be described and the reader was left to guess who the guilty party was. The trick was, the answer was hidden. There was always something tucked away that was hard to find, almost like a secret, that revealed the answer. I would try so hard to guess correctly, but most often, when I flipped to the back of the book for the answer I found my guess was wrong. When Jesus speaks of the “Mysteries of the Kingdom,” He is not speaking of a secret truth that only a few can understand by reading their Bibles with a special code. Jesus is telling His disciples that everything we need to know about the Kingdom of God can be found by those who are part of it.
The event which occurs in the house of Simon the Pharisee stands out to me as one of the most fascinating in the New Testament. No miraculous healing takes place: the deaf do not hear, the blind do not see, nor are the dead raised. Yet this story is both priceless and timeless in the truth it reveals. It is the story of two people and their view of Jesus. Simon was a religious man that showed interest in Jesus. He valued Jesus more than many of his contemporaries.
