The Bible Recap - Day 301 (Luke 16-17) - Year 6

Episode Date: October 28, 2024

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Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. Jesus opens today by telling his disciples a parable, but apparently the Pharisees are still in the crowd listening. In my opinion, this is one of his most confusing parables, in part because of his use of irony. A rich man's household manager has slacked on collecting money people owe his boss. He gets fired, but his pride and entitlement motivate him to action. He hustles in a last-ditch effort to reclaim his job, and he manages to collect most of the money.

Being fair to the boss isn't his goal, but it all works out in his favor. Jesus calls him shrewd. Thord's shrewd in itself isn't good or bad, but the tone of the parable seems to convey that Jesus isn't on board with his methods. He uses this guy as an illustration, showing how the worldly are wiser in worldly matters than the disciples are in eternal matters. He wants them to wise up. And this is where Jesus inserts some irony.

In verse 9, it seems like he's saying, this guy is so concerned about being welcomed into people's homes that he's willing to be dishonest.' If you attempt that with My eternal dwelling place, you will fail. No amount of wealth or shrewdness can get you there." Jesus implores them to value true things, eternal things. True riches are eternal riches. Jesus reiterates the point by saying,

"'You can either be a slave to your bank account, or you can be a slave to God, but you can't be both. Money is a non-issue in the kingdom. Setting your hopes on it is an affront to God. Then Jesus says something else confusing in verse 16. It's confusing mainly because this sentence doesn't have a verb in it. English translations say,

the law and the prophets were until John. But in Greek, it says, the law and the prophets until John. Some people use the English rendering of this verse to argue that the law no longer applies. But if we keep reading, we see that can't be what it's saying, because the very next verse says,

it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot in the law to become void. So to be clear, verse 16 is not Jesus abolishing the law. It's more likely that he was saying the law and the prophets, which is his shorthand way of referencing the Old Testament, were proclaimed until J.T.B. came, or that they served as guides until then. The law is not being disparaged or discarded.

It's being honored and fulfilled by Jesus. The law is a blueprint, and Jesus builds the house. He tectons that thing perfectly, and we get to move in. That's why it's important that none of it can pass away. Otherwise, we end up missing a support beam or the glass pane for a window. Then the next thing you know, your kitchen has collapsed and birds have built a nest in your closet. We need the law. We need the blueprint.

The next story Jesus tells is often referred to as a parable, and maybe it is, but one reason some scholars think it isn't is because some of the people in this story have names. So if this is a parable, it's the only one that names people. It's a story about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus who also had a skin disease. After they both died, Lazarus was carried away and dropped down beside Abraham. Lazarus' proximity to Abraham is emphasized here not because Abraham is the end-all be-all, but because the Pharisees who are hearing this story definitely assume that Abraham, their patriarch, is in the best possible eternal destination. So the gist of it is that Lazarus goes to heaven. This would have been disgusting for the Pharisees. Not only that someone they

regard as a sinner is accepted into the kingdom at all, but also that Abraham himself has to be near the guy with the skin disease. I imagine the Pharisees listening to this with scrunched up faces recoiling in disgust. So Lazarus was with Abraham. The rich man, however, was being tormented in Hades. He saw Lazarus hanging out with Abraham and begged Abraham for a drop of water, but Abraham said, not possible, there is no path from here to there. Apparently, their eternal destinations are fixed. The text doesn't reference any kind of purgatory or second-chance option here. Then the rich man begged Abraham to send messengers to his family to warn them about the torment. And Abraham's response is as shocking as it is true.

He basically said, I hate to break it to you, but they have the law and the prophets. They have the Hebrew scriptures. If that's not enough to convince a person to repent and turn to God, then they wouldn't be convinced even if someone raised from the dead. For those of you who are with us in the Old Testament, you can probably attest to this. We saw sufficient evidence of who God is. We saw plenty of calls to repent and turn to Him. Some people did, but the vast majority ignored it and did their own thing. So here, Jesus references their hard hearts and emphasizes that if the Old Testament isn't

enough to prompt repentance, then His very death and resurrection won't be either. He knows it's not too far off. The hour is approaching, as he would say. In chapter 17, Luke gives a few illustrations about what kind of posture honors God. In the parable of the unworthy servant, Jesus encourages his disciples to be humble, not entitled, to remember that they are servants of the one true God. Then Jesus continues toward Jerusalem, heading toward his death, and he runs into a leper colony. All ten of them beg him for healing, and he sends them to see the priest. Two interesting

things are happening in this command. First, lepers aren't allowed to see a priest until after they're healed, so this is an act of faith on their parts. And they're healed on the way. Second, this serves as a reminder that Jesus is a law-abiding Jew. He's keeping God's purity laws by sending them to the priest. After they've all been healed, the only leper who returns to thank him is the foreigner, the Samaritan. Then the Pharisees asked Jesus about when the kingdom of God is going to be established. Lots of Jews in this day read the Hebrew scriptures and see the promise of a Messiah and an eternal kingdom and peace on earth and the elimination

of their enemies, and they expect God to set up a political or military leader to make all this happen. But Jesus says, nope, it's not going to be like that. Then he makes a statement in verse 21 that frequently gets taken out of context, misquoted, and misapplied. There's a solid chance that if you hear someone quote this verse, whatever follows is quite possibly inaccurate. The verse says, Behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. Some versions say, within you, and others say, among you. The Greek word can mean all those things,

but it's clear that within you communicates a very different idea than among you or in the midst of you. Jesus is saying, I am the kingdom of God. I'm right here in front of you, among you, in the midst of you. But what he's definitely not saying is, the kingdom of God is within you, because, A, he's talking to the Pharisees, whom he has previously called whitewashed tombs and children of Satan.

And B, even if he were talking to his disciples here, which he isn't, the Holy Spirit hasn't come to dwell in people yet. So in short, Jesus is saying, here's what the kingdom looks like. It's standing right in front of you. It me. My God shot was kind of all throughout the text today. I noticed how Jesus kept directing

different statements at different audiences. He switched back and forth between the Pharisees and His disciples and everyone, and He met each of them where they were. He met the Pharisees in their unbelief and pointed out how foolish it is. He met the disciples in their confusion and bewilderment, but to their dismay, he didn't always give them straight answers. This really hit home in the final paragraphs of chapter 17. I feel like he's so eager to make sure they have everything they need for when he dies and for when he ascends, like the first-time parent who's about to leave their newborn with a babysitter and just keeps going over the list and put my

number in your speed dial and when were you certified in CPR? Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's panicked in any sense. He knows the father is in control. I just think he's emotional about it all. He says some things to prepare them that don't make sense to them yet, of course. They still don't understand that he's going to die, be raised, ascend to heaven, then someday return. He says, you're going to want the kingdom to come soon, too. People will try to

convince you that it's about to happen, but they're liars. No one knows when it's going to happen. When the time comes, people will be living life as usual, just like in the days of Noah and Lot, having no idea what judgment awaits them. By the way, some say the final verses of chapter 17, about one person being taken and the other left, refer to God taking the righteous people into heaven while the pagans are left behind. Others believe these verses refer to God killing off the wicked, or taking them in death, and leaving the faithful alive to be united with Him in the new heavens and the new earth.

Regardless of which it is, or even if it's some other option we haven't thought of yet, Jesus gives these words to His disciples as a comfort and a promise. They're a reminder that He's coming back and we'll be united with Him. I for one cannot wait because He's where the joy is. Okay, Bible readers, it's time for our weekly check-in. I want to congratulate you on making it through some of the most challenging texts in the Gospels this week. You didn't throw in the towel.

You're still here. God is still drawing you in and meeting you here. When questions come up for you, write them down. Do some research. But I want to free you from the burden of reaching a firm conclusion until we finish the whole book. Be patient with yourself. He is.

Ask him to give you eyes and ears to see and hear the truth. Ask him to soften the soil of your heart. Ask him to show you more of who he is all the time.