Archives for November 2018

OVERVIEW:

Jesus as the Saviour Who seeks the lost (19:1-10); Jesus as the Master Who rewards the faithful (19:11-27); Jesus as the King Who offers peace (19:28-48); a question concerning John the Baptist (20:1-19); a question concerning Caesar (20:20-26); a question concerning Moses (20:27-40); a question concerning David (20:41-44); a warning concerning the Scribes (20:45- 47); a teaching concerning giving (21:1-4); the revealing of the first half of the Tribulation (21:5-19); the revealing of the middle of the Tribulation (21:20-24); the revealing of the last half of the Tribulation (21:25-28); the closing admonitions (21:29-36).

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

As we move into chapter 19 in Luke’s Gospel, keep in mind that we are also moving into the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. He is getting closer and closer to Jerusalem where two groups of people passionately await His arrival. Some are passionately preparing to exalt a King, while others are passionately preparing to execute a fraud.

As Jesus comes into Jericho in chapter 19, Luke’s account centers around a man whose name is Zacchaeus. His name means, “righteous one.” Actually, he was anything but righteous! He was the top-dog tax-collector (“chief among the publicans” – 19:2) in Jericho, which in and of itself was bad enough. For a Jew to have sold out to the Romans to extract taxes from fellow-Jews was despicable in this culture. They were viewed as ruthless, heart-less, conniving, lying, traitors—and those would have been their good qualities!

Evidently, Zacchaeus had made quite a reputation for himself! (See 19:7) It seems apparent that Zacchaeus was a guy sporting a major “short-man complex”, and found he could be “taller”, not by beating up bigger guys, but by making them submit to him as he gouged them out of money through their taxes. But, oh the difference one day can make in a person’s life! Just like Zacchaeus, when I lifted my head up off my pillow to begin my day on September 24, 1972, I had no idea what would take place in my life by the time my head would hit the pillow again, but in that one day, I was turned:

• From darkness to light. (Colossians 1:13; Acts 16:18a)
• From the power of Satan to the power of God. (2^nd Timothy 2:26; Acts 26:18b)
• From guilt to forgiveness. (Acts 16:18c)
• From serving sin to serving righteousness. (Romans 6:17-18)
• From separation from God to a relationship with Him. (Ephesians 2:1; Galatians 4:5-7)
• From spiritual death to spiritual life. (Ephesians 2:1; Romans 8:2)

In this account in history, this was that one day that would forever change Zacchaeus’ life! He hears word that Jesus is coming to town, and desperately wants to lay his eyes on this One for whom there had been so much hype. He goes out to catch a glimpse, but because of his short stature, he can’t see Him. He decides to run ahead and climb a tree, so he can at least see Him, and much to his surprise, as Jesus passes under the tree, not only does He see him, and not only does He speak to him, but He invites Himself over to Zacchaeus’ house! Can you imagine? Zacchaeus was stoked! (19:6) He received Jesus into His home as a guest, and in just a matter of minutes, Jesus had become its Master! Zacchaeus acknowledged Christ’s lordship, and was saved! (19:9)

Do note, in verses 8 and 9, that Jesus wasn’t saying that Zacchaeus was saved because of his pledge to give to the poor and to make right the wrong he had done by gouging people of their money. His willingness to do those things was just the visible PROOF of his salvation. Anyone can talk a big talk about their salvation, but when God has a man’s finances, it’s usually a pretty good indicator that He has all of him (Matthew 6:21), and visa-versa. In this one afternoon, Jesus caused this “sinner” (19:9) to live up to his name (“righteous one”), as he became a true “son of Abraham” (19:9) by faith. (Romans 4:12; Galatians 3:7)

It might be interesting to note that in reality, like Zacchaeus, we all have a “short-man complex” that only Jesus can help us overcome: “For all have sinned, and come SHORT of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). In our lost state we tried to make ourselves not appear to be so “short” through our religiousness, our good works, and our external righteousness, but it only made us “shorter.” (Romans 10:3; Isaiah 64:6) The good news about Zacchaeus, is that not only did everybody else know he was a sinner (19:7), but he knew it too, and was willing to deal with it! HE is the only one in the story who received “salvation!” (19:9) There is a strong possibility that the self-righteous, religious crowd who got so upset in verse 7, about Jesus hanging out with Zacchaeus, ultimately went to Hell. That scenario continues to repeat itself right up to this present hour.

A few other comments about today’s reading:

19:10 – Zacchaeus ran up the road seeking to see Jesus, at the same time Jesus was walking up the road seeking to save Zacchaeus.

19:14-15 – Recognize that we are living right now in the very last hours in that time between verses 14 and 15, between the Master’s absence and His promise to return!

19:41-44 – This is only the second time that Jesus wept publicly. (John 11:35) Notice that, while the crowd is rejoicing (19:37), Jesus is weeping. Sounds a whole lot like Laodicea.

20:1-47 – Chapter 20 can be broken down by the four questions Jesus asks:

• A question concerning John the Baptist. (20:1-19)
• A question concerning Caesar. (20:20-26)
• A question concerning Moses. (20:27-40)
• A question concerning David. (20:41-44)

21:1-4 – Jesus isn’t impressed with the size of our gift, but the size of our sacrifice.

21:5-38 – The remainder of chapter 21 lines up with the things we covered in Matthew 24 and Mark 13.

OVERVIEW:

Jesus teaches about stewardship (16:1-13); Jesus teaches about covetousness (16:14-31); Jesus teaches about forgiveness (17:1-6); Jesus teaches about faithfulness (17:7-10); Jesus teaches about thankfulness (17:11-19); Jesus teaches about preparedness (17:20-37); a lesson to be learned from a persistent widow (18:1-8); a lesson to be learned from a proud Pharisee (18:9-17); a lesson to be learned from a deprioritized ruler (18:18-34); a lesson to be learned from a pressing beggar (18:35-43).

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

There is a tremendous amount of action and pertinent information in today’s reading—certainly more than there is space in this venue to comment sufficiently. Our thoughts today will center around key subjects that are addressed in these chapters that have particular and significant application for believers living in these last days.

Subject #1 – STEWARDSHIP. (16:1-13) Though the circumstances were somewhat different for the steward mentioned in this passage, each of us are quickly moving toward the ultimate accounting of our stewardship at the Judgment Seat of Christ. (2^nd Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:10, 12) Just as this steward in 16:2, we will “give an account of our stewardship.” The key determiner on that day will be the answer to the simple question, “What did we do with what He entrusted to us?” The New Testament is clear that we will give an account of our stewardship of:

• The LIFE of God. (Genesis 2:7; Romans 5:12; Colossians 1:26-27; 1^st John 5:11) We have been given the ability to LIVE RIGHTEOUSLY.
• The LOVE of God. (Romans 5:5; Mark 12:28-31; 1^st John 4:14-17, 19; 1^st Thessalonians 4:9) We have been given the ability to LOVE DIVINELY.
• The GOSPEL of God. (1^st Thessalonians 2:4; 1^st Timothy 1:11; 6:20) We have been given the ability to impact SOULS ETERNALLY.
• The GIFTS of God. (1^st Peter 4:10-11; 1^st Corinthians 3:10) We have been given the ability to be SERVE POWERFULLY.
• The RESOURCES of God. Money – Luke 16:11; Time – Ephesians 5:16; Colossians 4:5; Talents – Matthew 25:14-27; People – 2^nd Timothy 1:5; 3:15) We have been given the ability to manage RESOURCES WISELY.

Verse 11 of chapter 16 is a doozy. I am convinced that many Laodiceans never reach anybody with the gospel and are never truly able to minister effectively because God is unwilling to entrust to them what He truly treasures, simply because of their unfaithfulness to Him with money.

If verse 11 is a doozy, then verse 13 is a blockbuster for our generation of believers! We have convinced ourselves that this verse has been true for everybody but us, and that we somehow have the ability to love both God and money. What part of “CANNOT” do we not understand? When God looks at our lives, does He think we love Him and hate money, or does He think we hate Him and love money? Does He think we hold to Him and despise money, or hold money and despise Him? Many 21^st century Christians are attempting to love money and love God at the same time, but Jesus said it simply “CANNOT” be done!

Subject #2 – HELL. (16:19-31) It is clear that prior to Christ’s resurrection, believers who died were held in a place of paradise called Abraham’s bosom. It was obviously close to the place of punishment called Hell where all unbelievers were located, being separated by a great gulf, or gaping opening. (16:26) Notice that Hell is a real place, where real people go, and experience real suffering and torment. Notice that in Hell, the rich man had EYES and could SEE (16:23a); had a BODY and could FEEL (16:23b); had a TONGUE and experienced THIRST (16:24); had a MOUTH and could TALK (16:27); and evidently, had a MIND and could REASON (16:28).

The passage also teaches us that there are actually no unbelievers in Hell. Unbelief may have gotten them there, but as soon as they open their eyes in Hell, they become believers! Sadly, it is eternally too late. The passage also teaches that people in Hell have compassion for the lost (16:28). Would to God that believers would have the same passion and compassion for souls that this lost rich man had. Sometimes we think that if God would just do some miraculous thing, our lost family and friends would come to Christ. The passage teaches us that if they refuse to believe the Bible, they wouldn’t believe even if someone rose from the dead to speak to them. They already proved that by not believing in the resurrected Christ!

Subject #3 – FORGIVENESS. (17:1-6) In this passage the Lord teaches us about the importance of forgiveness. When someone offends us, immediately God’s grace kicks in to be more than sufficient to help us to bear it. (2^nd Corinthians 12:9; 1^st Corinthians 10:13) Hebrews 12:15 teaches us, however, that we have the ability to “fail the grace of God” (i.e. refuse to apply His grace). If we refuse to apply that grace, Hebrews 12:15 says that our unforgiving spirit will cause a “root of bitterness” to spring up in us and “trouble” us, and “defile many” people around us, even leading us into sexual sin! (Hebrews 12:16) Don’t ever underestimate the importance of forgiveness!

Subject #4 – THANKFULNESS. (17:11-19) As you read this story about these 10 lepers, recognize that, generally speaking, believers in our day are characterized by “the nine” rather than the “one”. Jesus’ question is a good one in the Laodicean Age, “Where are the nine?” (17:17) A few cross references to keep in mind:

• 2^nd Timothy 3:2 says that being “unthankful” is as characteristic of believers in our day as being “lovers of our own selves!”
• Romans 1:21 reveals that being “unthankful” is one of the first steps toward a “reprobate mind”. (Romans 1:28) Hey, this is serious stuff!
• 1^st Thessalonians 5:18 teaches us that it is impossible to be in the perfect will of God and not be thankful! Again, pretty serious stuff!

Subject #5 – RIGHTEOUSNESS. (18:9-14) Any way you slice it, we who hold to the fundamentals of Bible-believing Christianity run the greatest risk of becoming the modern-day Pharisees. Have you become Pharisaical? Verse 9 of chapter 18 lets us know that there are two tell-tale signs:

1. Trusting in your own righteousness. (i.e. Trusting what you “do” FOR Christ, rather than who you “are” IN Christ)
2. Thinking you’re more spiritual than others.

What do you trust as the true source of your righteousness? Paul talked about those who are “ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” (Romans 10:3) God’s righteousness could never (on either side of salvation!) be ACHIEVED! It can only be RECEIVED! Paul cried out in Philippians 3:9 the desire to “be found in him, NOT HAVING MINE OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is of the law (i.e. what I do for God), but that which is through the faith of Christ (i.e. what Christ does for me), the righteousness which is of God by faith.” What do you honestly think when you look at others? Do you secretly think that you are on a higher plane than they are because of what you do or do not do? It’s spooky, folks! We must be careful!