We left off with Jesus celebrating the successful evangelical tour that He commissioned with 72 disciples. He had chosen them to preach the Gospel and empowered them to heal the sick. (See Messengers on the Golden Path).
Immediately afterwards, a Jewish lawyer approaches Him and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life.
Jesus perceives that the lawyer wants to test Him regarding His grasp of the Mosaic Law. He threw it right back into the lawyer’s lap by asking him what the Law requires. (Jesus is looking for the lawyer’scommand of God’s laws. Christ always aligns with His Father’s authority, because He is Jehovah’s living word.)
The lawyer answers by quoting the two ‘Great Commandments’ – to love God and to love your neighbor. Jesus says that he is correct. However, the lawyer is only trying to justify his own beliefs and to put his self-righteousness on display. Out of that, he has the temerity to goad Jesus by asking:
“And who is my neighbor?” Lk. 10:29 CSB
(‘Clear knowledge in the head, when accompanied by determined impenitence of the heart, is a most dangerous state of soul.’ J.C. Ryle)
The lawyer had his own interpretation and wanted Jesus to whittle it down to do the least amount of work required for him to satisfy his obligation. Instead, Jesus launches into the Parable of the Good Samaritan:
Christ describes a Jewish man, who while traveling along a road, is beset by thieves who rob and beat him, leaving him to die. A Temple priest comes upon the beaten man lying in the road, and crosses to the other side to avoid him. A Levite (one who works for the priests), did the same.
Finally, a Samaritan, (whom Jews held in derision over their mixed ancestry), took it upon himself to practice love and mercy without prejudice, tending to the needs of the man on the street.
Jesus told the lawyer to go and do likewise. He pulls no punches, nor does He credit him for his supposed piety…
The apostle James clearly elucidates the related behavior and attitude that we must practice with one another:
What is the benefit, my fellow believers, if someone claims to have faith but has no [good] works [as evidence]? Can that [kind of] faith save him? [No, a mere claim of faith is not sufficient—genuine faith produces good works.] If a brother or sister is without [adequate] clothing and lacks [enough] food for each day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace [with my blessing], [keep] warm and feed yourselves,” but he does not give them the necessities for the body, what good does that do? So too, faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective]. Jas. 2:14 – 17. AMP
Christ then went off to pray by Himself, but He was interrupted by an apostle, who asked Him to teach the apostles how to pray.
(Apparently, they didn’t listen very well when He taught them this very thing at the Sermon on the Mount.)[1]
He repeats the lesson and augments it with a parable. It tells of a man that receives an unexpected visit from a friend, but finds he has no food to offer him. He hurries to another friend’s house looking to get some food, but his ‘friend’ won’t answer the door. He persists in knocking on his friend’s door until the friend finally opens the door and gives him what he needed.
The meaning illustrated in the parable for the apostles, was when you pray, you must do so persistently. Jesus offers the ‘why’:
“For everyone who keeps on asking [persistently], receives; and he who keeps on seeking [persistently], finds; and to him who keeps on knocking [persistently], the door will be opened.
What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you, then, being evil [that is, sinful by nature], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!” Lk. 11:10 – 13. AMP
During His continued journey towards Jerusalem, Jesus was surrounded by a crowd watching Him successfully exorcise a demon from a man. The crown is amazed but some accuse Him of marshalling the power of Satan to do it. Furthermore, they demand that He perform a miracle to demonstrate His authority.[2]
Jesus responds:
He knew their thoughts, so he said, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. You say I am empowered by Satan. But if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive? And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said.
“But if I am casting out demons by the power of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. For when a strong man is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe— until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings.
“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.” Lk. 11:17 – 23. NLT
Christ is putting their logic to shame. He is the ‘strongman’ that has defeated the devil. Finally, He draws a line against His detractors.
Still, Jesus’ primary outcome is for one where He can bring salvation to as many as He can. So, He elaborates a little more:
“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.” Lk. 11:24 – 36. NLT
Jesus is saying that when one gets in ‘right standing’ with God, they must follow with a rigorous practice of living in a godly manner. Otherwise, the demonic spirits return with reinforcements to imprison the host with even greater strength.
While Jesus was speaking, a woman cried out to Him, asking a blessing of God over His mother for having birthed and nursed Him. He answers:
“But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” Lk. 11:28 NLT
At that point, the crowd pesters Him again for a ‘miraculous sign’ of His messiahship. He retorts:
“This [present] generation is a wicked generation; it seeks a sign (attesting miracle), but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah [the prophet]. For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man also be [a sign] to this generation.” Lk. 11:29, 30. AMP
The Queen of the South (the kingdom of Sheba) will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and look, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up [as witnesses] at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and look, something greater than Jonah is here. Lk. 11:31, 32. AMP
The Jews revered the prophet Jonah and his evangelism to the Ninevites which prompted their repentance from paganism, as well as King Solomon for his wisdom. Jesus is telling them that the very Son of Man is standing right in front of them – far exceeding the importance of the two stalwarts of the Old Testament.
Finally, Christ implores them to see the Light of God that is standing before them, to make sure they are properly prepared:
“No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.
“Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is unhealthy, your body is filled with darkness. Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.” Lk. 11:33 – 36. NLT
During Jesus’ discourse, a Pharisee asks Him to dine with him. However, he becomes irate because He won’t submit to their ritualistic hand washing as a public show of their piety. Christ clarifies the Pharisees’ hypocrisy and other evil ways:
“Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and plate [as required by tradition]; but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish ones [acting without reflection or intelligence]! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But give that which is within as charity [that is, acts of mercy and compassion, not as a public display, but as an expression of your faithfulness to God], and then indeed all things are clean for you.” Lk. 11:39 – 41. AMP
“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces. Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.” Lk. 11:42 – 44. NLT
A scribe (lawyer) was also present at this meal. He had the temerity to tell Christ that he felt insulted. Bad move. Jesus counters:
“Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago. But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you join in their crime by building the monuments! This is what God in his wisdom said about you: ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others.’
“As a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world— from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation.
“What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.” Lk. 11:46 – 52. NLT
Jesus was exposing religiosity at its worst; and He certainly did not create a fan club with the adherents. He is our pugilist for God. And we should take up a like mantle as well.
Goodnight and God bless.
[1] Mt. 6:5 – 13.
[2] Mt. 12:22-37; Lk. 11:14-16.
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