The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 319: Come, Follow Me (2022)

Episode Date: November 15, 2022

Fr, Mike compares the story of the rich young man to the story of Zacchaeus, highlighting the difference in their willingness to follow Christ with their whole hearts. Looking at the stories of these young men, Fr. Mike invites us to reflect on our willingness to follow Christ with all that we are and all that we have. Today we read Luke 17-19 and Proverbs 26:13-16. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 319. We're reading Luke chapters 17, 18, and 19. Also Proverbs chapter 26 verses 13 through 16. As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version,

Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe. If you do, you receive daily episodes and daily updates right to your podcast app. It is day 319. We're reading Luke chapter 17, 18, and 19, Proverbs chapter 26, verses 13 through 16. The Gospel According to Luke, chapter 17. Some sayings of Jesus.

And he said to his disciples, Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to him by whom they come. It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

And if he sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times and says, I repent, you must forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times and says, I repent, you must forgive him. The apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith. And the Lord said, if you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, be rooted up and be planted in the sea and it would obey you. Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, Come at once and sit down at table? Will he not rather say to him,

Prepare supper for me, and put on your apron, and serve me till I eat and drink, and afterward you shall eat and drink? Does he thank the servant because he did what he was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, We are unworthy servants. We have only done what was our duty. Jesus cleanses ten lepers.

On the way to Jerusalem, he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. When he saw them, he said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then said Jesus, Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found

to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? And he said to him, Rise and go your way. Your faith has made you well. The Coming of the Kingdom Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, Behold, here it is, or there. For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. And he said to the disciples, The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, Behold, there, or behold, here. Do not go, Do not follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other,

so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, as it was in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought,

they sold, they planted, they built. But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from heaven and destroyed them all. So will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let him who is on the housetop with his goods in the house not come down to take them away. And likewise, let him who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks

to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, in that night, there will be two men in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left. And they said to him, where, Lord? He said to them, where the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. Chapter 18, the parable of the widow

and the unrighteous Judge. And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, In a certain city there was a judge, who neither feared God nor regarded man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, Vindicate me against my adversary. For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming. And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God vindicate his elect who cry to him day and night?

Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven,

but beat his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. Jesus blesses the children. Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them.

And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. The rich ruler. And the ruler asked him, Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him,

Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother.

And he said, All these I have observed from my youth. And when Jesus heard it, he said to him, One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me. But when he heard this, he became sad for he was very rich.

Jesus, looking at him, said, How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Those who heard it said, Then who can be saved? But he said, What is impossible with men is possible with God.

And Peter said, Behold, we have left our homes and followed you. And he said to them, Truly, I say to you, there is no man who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive manifold more in this time, and in the age to come, eternal life. A third time Jesus foretells his death and resurrection. And taking the twelve, he said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written of the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. They will scourge him and kill him, and on the third day he will rise. But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they

did not grasp what was said. Jesus heals a blind beggar near Jericho. As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. And he cried, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought, but he cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stopped and

commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, What do you want me to do for you? He said, Lord, let me receive my sight. And Jesus said to him, Receive your sight. Your faith has made you well. And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God, and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. Chapter 19. Jesus and Zacchaeus. He entered Jericho and was passing through, and there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and rich, and he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was

to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for I must stay at your house today. So he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, he has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.

And Jesus said to him, today salvation has come to this house since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. The Parable of the Ten Pounds As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He said therefore, A nobleman went into a far country

to receive kingly power and then return. Calling 10 of his servants, he gave them 10 pounds and said to them, trade with these till I come. But his citizens hated him and sent an embassy after him saying, we do not want this man to reign over us. When he returned, having received the kingly power,

he commanded these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him that he might know what they had gained by trading. The first came before him, saying, Lord, your pound has made ten pounds more. And he said to him, Well done, good servant, because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, your pound has made five pounds. And he said to him, And you are to be over five cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, your pound has made five pounds. And he said to him, And you are to be over five cities. Then another came, saying, Lord, here is your pound, which I kept laid away in a napkin. For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man.

You take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow. He said to him, I will condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant. You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not put my money into the bank, and at my coming I should have collected it with interest? And he said to those who stood by, Take the pound from him, and give it to him who has the ten pounds. And they said to him, Lord, he has 10 pounds. I tell you that to everyone who has will more be given, but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them,

bring them here and slay them before me. Jesus's entry into Jerusalem. And when he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, Go into the village opposite, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it, and bring it here. If anyone asks you, Why are you untying it? You shall say this, The Lord has need of it.

So those who were sent went away and found it as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, why are you untying the colt? And they said, the Lord has need of it. And they brought it to Jesus. And throwing their garments on the colt, they set Jesus upon it. And as he rode along, they spread their garments on the colt, they set Jesus upon it. And as he rode along, they spread their garments on the road. As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of

Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, teacher, rebuke your disciples. He answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out. Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. And when he drew near and saw the city,

he wept over it saying, would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you and hem you in on every side and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time

of your visitation. Jesus cleanses the temple. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers. And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people sought to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people hung upon his words. The book of Proverbs, chapter 26, verses 13 through 16.

The sluggard says, There is a lion in the road, there is a lion in the streets. As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish. It wears him out to bring it back to his mouth. The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer discreetly. Father in heaven, we give you praise. Thank you so much. We give you honor and glory and we just praise you for your son, Jesus,

and the revelation of the gospel of Luke. Oh my goodness, Lord, thank you so much for Luke taking the time and taking all the effort. I can't even imagine, Lord, the effort that Luke put in to writing these words to be able to give us a picture of Jesus. Jesus and his teaching, Jesus and his righteous anger

against the scribes and Pharisees and those who were bought and sold in the temple, his righteous love and calling of people like Zacchaeus, people like the rich young man, people like us. So we thank you, Father. Thank you for loving us. And thank you for Luke. And above all, Lord, thank you for your Son and your Spirit, which are your gifts to us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Oh, gosh. So we just have three chapters in Luke, which are phenomenal. And we're getting, he walked into Jerusalem, right? So we're nowhere coming to the end. We only have two days left with

the Gospel of Luke. But there's something about this. I just want to highlight a couple points. You know, in chapter 17, very, very beginning, where it talks about if anyone should cause one of these little ones to sin. It always reminds me years ago when I was in seminary, there was a professor, his name is Dr. Chris Thompson. He taught us morality. And maybe I've said this before because it just stuck with me so much. And he said, gentlemen, he's talking to all the guys who would hopefully be ordained priests. He said, gentlemen, when it comes to your life, when it comes to sin, when it comes to leading others into sin, I have one word for you. And that word is millstones.

And it was just this, it was very convicting because he just spoke with authority. He was a husband and a father and just a really morally upstanding man, not only super intelligent, but also incredible teacher, probably the best teacher I've ever had in my life. And that conviction that had the millstones, man, you cannot, you may not lead others into sin. And that has, that just sat with me. Not only this in the gospel, it talks about a great millstone. And now our translation here, the RSV doesn't have the word great, but to imagine what a great millstone is. So you know what a millstone would do is it would go around this circle, right? Obviously. And you would have either a human being or an animal that would kind of pull it around this centrifugal point, right? So a center point

and the millstone was so big and so heavy that it would crush whatever's underneath it. So typically it would be, you know, grain, barley, that kind of thing. And we'd grind those, whatever was underneath the millstone, into a fine powder. It was that heavy, over 2,000 pounds at least. And so imagine having that great millstone, 2,000 pounds, placed around your neck and then thrown into the sea. You'd go down pretty fast. It would be pretty drastic. And that's the seriousness with which Jesus takes sin.

And that is so important for us. The seriousness with which Jesus takes sin. And that is so important for us, the seriousness with which Jesus takes sin. Now, moving on, in that same chapter, chapter 17, we have Jesus cleansing seven lepers. And we note this, you know, there's a number of times we have the parable before of the parable of the Good Samaritan. And we have here, there's Jesus passing through Samaria, or between Samaria and Galilee. And there's 10 lepers. All of them get healed. One comes back.

It was a Samaritan. We know about the Samaritans now because we've gone through the entire Old Testament. And we know that those Samaritans, they had been those who had intermarried, you know, because when the Babylonians or Assyrians came in, they had brought five nations with them and they intermarried with the Jews there and essentially corrupted their religion, corrupted their following of the Lord God. And so the Samaritans in many ways were even worse kind of, I don't say enemies, but even worse enemies than the enemies of the Jews, like the worse than the Assyrians, worse than the Romans,

worse than the Babylonians at some times, because of the fact that they would see themselves as brothers and yet they were living as estranged family members, right? And yet here is Jesus using them as good examples. Why? Well, we know that Jesus first came to save the members, right? And yet here is Jesus using them as good examples. Why? Well, we know that Jesus first came to save the Jews, right? He first came to fulfill the Old Testament covenant that the Lord God had made with the Jewish people. But we also know that Jesus had made it clear at various times he had to be pushed sometimes, not had to be pushed, but he allowed himself to be pushed in certain moments in the gospels to reveal that it is not one's pedigree, right?

It's not the birthright, not the fact that we're children of Abraham or sons of Abraham that enables us to experience the grace of Jesus Christ. It is the fact that we're lost, the fact that we're miserable and that his mercy comes to meet us in our misery. And so even if someone is a Samaritan, even if someone is a Syrophoenician woman, even if someone is far, far from the Lord, you know, in the Acts of the Apostles, we're going to get there in a couple of days from now, we have the Ethiopian eunuch. Nothing has nothing to do with Judaism, except for the fact that he seems to be a God-fearer.

And yet the gospel and the grace of God is for him and for you and for me, which is just incredible. So Jesus is highlighting these Samaritans as well. Now, keep moving on a little bit. One of the things I want to highlight is that these two men in chapters 18 and chapter 19. In chapter 18, there's the rich ruler. And whenever I describe the rich ruler, I describe him as a good kid. He's a church kid.

He's someone who, as he says, he's a rich young man. And he wants to know what he has to do to inherit eternal life. He's a good church kid. Jesus says, you know the commandments. Yep, you bet I do. Lord, I've been following them all since my youth. Now, not in Luke's gospel, but in another gospel, I think Mark's gospel, it says Jesus looking at him, loved him. And so here's this look of love between the Lord God and this rich young man, this good kid, this church kid. But when Jesus asks him, okay, you've given me stuff. You've done good things. That's great. That's wonderful. But now you have to give me your life. Now give me your heart. Give me what really matters. He goes away sad. Now remember

coming upon this once that it said that the term we just read here in chapter 18, that he went away sad, that actually this may be, I think this is accurate, that term for sad, grieved, is the same word that is used to describe the grief, the agony that Jesus went through in the garden of Gethsemane. So he goes away sad, not just kind of bummed out. He goes away grieved. He goes away wounded. He goes away grieved. He goes away wounded. He goes away almost crushed, you'd say, but he does go away. And that's the heart of this

for every single one of us. You might have been a good church kid, maybe not, but what Jesus is asking for is not just, hey, obey the commandments. He's saying, I invite you. What's one thing you lack? Okay, give away your riches. Give away what you're relying upon or trusting in, that wealth. But more importantly than anything, come follow me. And he went away sad because he asked, that was too much. It was a bridge too far for the rich young man. On the other hand, in chapter 19, we have this guy named Zacchaeus, who is not a church kid. He is not a good kid. He is the guy who would be the furthest person from a church or from a synagogue. In fact, he was a sinner and everyone knew he was a sinner. And yet what

happens? Jesus sees him in the tree and says, Zacchaeus, come down with haste and I must stay at your house today. And it says he made haste, meaning he moved fast. He moved quickly and came down, and this is the key, and received him joyfully. Because so often, right, the rich young man, he went away sad. He went away grieved. He went away crushed. And sometimes we think that, like, oh, gosh, if I gave the Lord everything, that's me. I would walk away grieved. It would be so hard.

It would be so sad. I'd have to, okay, fine, Lord, you can have everything in my life, and I'd just be miserable. But the opposite is true. The one who walked away was miserable. And the one who came down and met Jesus received him joyfully. Not only that, he literally, well, kind of figuratively, put his money where his mouth was. Behold, I have my goods I give to the poor. Jesus doesn't even tell him to do this. He just says, I'm going to do this. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything,

I restore it fourfold. Now, here's the little pro tip. Zacchaeus, he was a tax collector, chief tax collector. He would have defrauded some people. So he's paying people back right at this point. And yet here's the big dichotomy. The good kid, the church kid walks away miserable because he can't give the Lord his heart. He's not willing to give the Lord his heart. The bad kid, the kid who was lost, the kid who like everyone would have disqualified. He comes down and receives Jesus joyfully and gives him everything. And this is so key for every one of us. Now, whether you are a good church kid or not, whether you've been far away from the Lord or not, the call is the same. And the call is come and follow me. The call is come, give me your heart. What matters to you the most? What do you love the most? Come and follow me and entrust that, your heart, to me. And so that's what we're praying.

Because, you know, this isn't just about listening to the Bible. This is also about responding to the Bible. It's not just about hearing the word of God. It's about acting upon the word of God. And so to receive joy, let's say that. But today, this afternoon, whenever you're, I don't know when you're listening to this, wherever you are and whenever you are, to be able to say, I hear the Lord's voice, call your name and say, come down. I want to stay at your house today and come close to the Lord

and receive him joyfully saying, Lord, I give you everything I love and I give you what I love with. I give you my heart. I'm praying that that's what you're able to do today. Please pray for me that that's what I'm able to do today because we need for me that that's what I'm able to do today because we need our each other's prayers. That's why, as always, I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow.

God bless.