The Parables of Luke 15

Still in Perea, as Jesus went back across the Jordan to minister before His death in Zion, the Pharisees’ grumbling outrage over Yeshua’s reception of sinners at this late stage in His ministry clearly showed how far from the truth they had strayed. The three parables Messiah told in reply were cleverly designed to demonstrate the evil unreasonableness of their hearts and to bring to light their hypocrisy once more for all to see.

All three parables in this chapter deal with God’s love for the sinner who repents. The first two parables, the Parable of the Lost Coin (Ht) and the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Hs), are brief and uncomplicated. Both parables are about finding what was lost. Both show the lengths to which people will go to find their lost valuables. And the central lesson of both parables is about the natural joy we all experience upon finding what was lost. The point, of course, was to show that the Pharisees’ and Torah-teachers’ resentment of Jesus was abnormal – corrupt, distorted, and wicked. Their public display of anger against Him was indisputable evidence that their own hearts were hopelessly immoral, and they had no idea what pleased ADONAI.

But it was the third parable, the Parable of the Lost Son and His Jealous Brother (Hu), which hit with the most force. The two previous parables portrayed great joy in heaven over sinners who repent. The prodigal son’s story also illustrates that heavenly joy – but then sets it against the background of the elder brother’s throwing a fit over his brother’s return and his father’s delight. The Rabbi from Galilee unmasks all that ugliness with probably the greatest short story ever written.¹⁰⁹⁴

A story parable in the key of F: Feeling footloose and frisky, a feather-brained fellow forced his fond father to fork over the farthings and flew to foreign fields and frittered his fortune, feasting fabulously with faithless friends.

Fleeced by his fellows in folly, he found himself a feed-flinger in a filthy farmyard. Fairly famishing, he fain would have filled his frame with foraged food from fodder fragments.

Facing misfortune he fained, “Fooey! My father’s flunkies fare far finer,” the frazzled fugitive finally faced facts. Frustrated by failure, filled with foreboding, he fled forthwith to his family. Falling at his father’s feet, he forlornly fumbled, “Father, I’ve flunked and fruitlessly forfeited family favor.”

The farsighted father, forestalling further flinching, frantically flagged the flunkies to fetch a fatling from the flock and fix a feast.

The fugitive’s faultfinding brother frowned folderol. But the faithful father figured, “Filial fidelity is fine, but the fugitive is found! What forbids fervent festivity? Let flags be unfurled. Let fanfares flare.”

And the father’s forgiveness formed the foundation for the former fugitive’s future fortitude.¹⁰⁹⁵

Jesus could have summarized all three parables like this, “Why are you Pharisees and Torah-teachers upset that My ministry brings salvation to the outcasts of society? Why don’t you rejoice that the lost sheep/coin/son are being found?”

The Cost of Being a Disciple
Luke 14: 25-35

The cost of being a disciple DIG: What does the Lord say to the large crowd about family? Why such tough talk from Jesus? What does He mean by “hate” in this context? Carrying a cross? How does each of the three examples in this passage relate to the necessity of giving our primary love and loyalty to Messiah? How is salt a good analogy for Yeshua’s final point about discipleship? What Kingdom values are taught?

REFLECT: When did you realize that following Jesus was costly? How so? Did you ever wonder since then if the cost was worth it? What would you die for? What is your relationship with Jesus Christ costing you today? What keeps you going?

After the parable of the great banquet (to see link click Hp – The Parable of the Great Banquet) there is a scene change to a large crowd traveling with Jesus. And a topic change from “becoming” a believer to “counting the costs” of being a disciple. The passage reflects a period in Jesus’ ministry when the shadow of the cross began to loom large. As no prudent person would build a tower or go to war without counting the costs, so no one should assume the responsibilities of discipleship lightly. Christ’s purpose is not to discourage the prospective disciple, but to awaken the half-hearted disciple to the disastrous consequences of this kind of discipleship.¹⁰⁸⁹

Every believer is a disciple. The Lord’s Great Commission was to go into all the world and make disciples . . . teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matthew 28:19-20). That means the mission of the Church, and the goal of evangelism, is to make disciples. Disciples are people who believe, those whose faith motivates them to obey all that the Living Word commanded. The word disciple is used consistently as a synonym for believer throughout the book of Acts (6:1-2 and 7; 11:26; 14:20 and 22; 15:10). Any distinction between the two words is purely artificial.¹⁰⁹⁰ But, make no mistake about it, the cost of becoming a disciple is not an easy road. The cost is high – more than most want to pay.

A disciple is not one who simply buys “fire insurance,” who signs up just to avoid an unpleasant afterlife. A believer is one whose faith expresses itself in submission and obedience. He or she is one who follows Messiah, one who is unquestionably committed to Christ as Lord and Savior, one who wants to please ADONAI. When disciples fail, they seek forgiveness and want to move forward to glorify Christ. This is their spirit and direction.

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus in Perea, on the eastern side of the Jordan River valley, and turning to them He said: If anyone comes to Me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even their own life – such a person cannot be My disciple. The word hate here is not an emotion, but rather the act of choosing or not choosing (Malachi 1:2-3). A better translation would be: Anyone who comes to Me but refuses to let go of parents, spouse, children, brothers and sisters – yes, even one’s own life! – such a person cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:25-26 The Message). The theme of this verse is not alienation from one’s family, but the cost of discipleship; nothing, not love for father or mother or even one’s own life, is to come before loyalty to ADONAI and His Meshiach.

Why is this language so severe? Why does Messiah use such offensive words here? Because He is eager to chase the uncommitted away and to draw true disciples to Himself. He does not want half-hearted people deceived into thinking they are in the kingdom of Heaven. Unless Jesus is the number one priority, He has not been given His rightful place.

And whoever does not carry their cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:27). One who is not willing to lose his or her life by becoming a disciple of the Savior of Sinners is not worthy of Him (Matthew 10:38-39). Jesus does not ask people to add Him to their “to do” list of daily chores. We have all heard devotional sermons spiritualize this passage to mean everything from a cranky boss to leaky roof. But that is not what the word cross meant to Yeshua’s first century audience. It did not remind them of long-term problems or difficult burdens. It did not even evoke thoughts of Calvary, since the Lord had not yet gone to the cross and they did not understand that He would. When Christ said carry your cross to them, they thought of a cruel instrument of torture and death. They thought of dying in the most agonizing way known to mankind. They thought of the poor, condemned criminals hanging on crosses by the roadside because they had undoubtedly seen many executed in that way. They understood He was calling them to die for Him.¹⁰⁹¹

The Bible does not teach salvation by martyrdom. Jesus was not advising His disciples to try to get themselves killed for Him. The Prince of Life was referring to a pattern of life. He simply says that genuine believers do not shrink back, even in the face of death.

Spiritual cost-benefit analysis is taught in the Mishna also. “Be thinking about the loss of a mitzvah (commandment) against its reward, and the reward of a transgression against its loss” (Avot 2:1). The sense is this: Compare the relatively small cost of observing the commandment with the great and eternal benefit obtained by fulfilling it; likewise, compare the fleeting reward gained by disobeying a command with its great and eternal cost.

The Bible states that if you believe in Yeshua you will have some finite costs, foregoing the fleeting pleasures of sin (Hebrews 11:25), but you will gain eternal life with ADONAI (see Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer), a benefit of infinite value. On the other hand, if you reject Jesus you will have some finite benefits (enjoying whatever happiness the world and the devil can offer). But you will go to hell and be separated forever from God and all goodness, an infinite cost. As Jim Elliott, who was martyred in his attempt to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador, wrote in his final days in 1956, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep . . . to gain what he cannot lose.”

So, why are so few rabbis (or officials of other religions) believers? One reason is that most have never heard the gospel presented from a Jewish perspective. But even if the gospel is understood as the Good News it is, and not as a Gentile religion or a pagan revision of Judaism, a second reason is the rabbis (and officials of other religions) are usually unwilling to pay the cost – which in their case would be exchanging the honor and privileges given them in the Jewish (or other religions) community for dishonor and shame, for the status of an outcast or meshummad, (apostate, literally, one who has been destroyed). A third reason is that they do not accurately perceive the benefits. Even apart from the heaven–hell questions, few can imagine the rewards of helping shape a new and true Judaism faithful to God, the Jewish Meshiach, the Jewish people and the rest of humanity. It is hard for them to envision the excitement of devoting their rabbinical training to uniting two great streams of world history (Ephesians 2:14) that for two thousand years have grown apart.

One rabbi that did catch this vision, and accordingly reevaluated the costs and benefits, was Sha’ul of Tarsus. He wrote: But the things that used to be advantages [benefits] for me, I have, because of the Messiah, come to consider a disadvantage [a cost, or at most a finite benefit] in comparison with the supreme value [infinite benefit] of knowing the Messiah Yeshua as my Lord. It was because of Him that I gave up everything and regard it all as garbage [at most a finite benefit, worthless by comparison], in order to gain the Messiah [infinite benefit] (Philippians 3:7-8 CJB).¹⁰⁹²

Then, using two illustrations, Jesus taught that discipleship must include planning and sacrifice. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and count the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, “This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish” (Luke 14:28-30). The builder did not begin until he had considered the cost.

Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. A king who planned war against an enemy carefully considered all that was involved and did not foolishly rush into the conflict without considering the cost. In the same way, but once the costs have been counted and a decision has been made to have faith in Christ, Yeshua said those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be My disciples (Luke 14:31-33).

With great skill the Master Teacher drove home the difficulty of discipleship by proclaiming: Salt is good only as long as it contains the characteristics of saltiness, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it has no value at all and is thrown out. The same is true of disciples. They must contain the characteristics of true disciples – planning and willing sacrifice – or they are ineffective. “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear” (Luke 14:34-35). This does not mean to lose one’s salvation. The salt the Jesus was talking about came from the Dead Sea, which could lose its saltiness if not used. Luke, under the inspiration of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, makes the analogy that we do not bear witness to His name, no matter what the cost, we can lose our effectiveness.

Faith is not an experiment, but a lifelong commitment. It means taking up the cross daily, giving all for Messiah each day with no reservations, no uncertainty, and no hesitation. It means nothing is knowingly held back, nothing purposely shielded from His lordship, and nothing stubbornly kept from His control. It calls for a painful severing of the tie with the world (First John 2:15-17), a sealing of the escape hatches, a ridding oneself of any kind of security to fall back on in case of failure. Genuine believers know they are going ahead with Christ until death. That is how it is when you sign up to follow Yeshua Ha’Meshiach. That is the stuff of true discipleship.¹⁰⁹³

The Parable of the Great Banquet
Matthew 22:1-14 and Luke 14:1-24

The parable of the great banquet DIG: What’s the situation here: The day? The host? The plant? The atmosphere? What does Yeshua do to heal the man and expose the Pharisees? What does their silence mean? Why do the guests’ actions attract Jesus’ attention? How does Yeshua’s view of honor vary from that held by others at the banquet? Why is this banquet held? What do you learn about those originally invited? What is so surprising about their response? Who did the king subsequently invite? Why? What is the problem with one guest (Matthew 22:11-12)? What does it mean to be in the king’s presence without the proper wedding clothes? Why is this ill-clad guest banished?

REFLECT: How do things like customs and status get in the way of your loving others in your family? Church? Workplace? Community? If you threw a party for the outcasts in your world, who would you invite? How might you do this? From your experience, why do so many say “No” to God’s great banquet? What might you say or do to help someone overcome their hesitation? When did Christ first call you to the banquet? How did you respond initially? How many other times did He invite you? With whom in this story do you identify with the most? Why?

The one main point to the parable of the great banquet is that the kingdom of God has arrived, and to reject Christ’s invitation of salvation means that other sinners, just as unworthy, will accept and take the place of those initially invited.

Still across the Jordan in Perea, once again, Jesus found Himself in the middle of controversy over healing on the Shabbat. The Pharisees’ reliance on the Oral Law (to see link click Ei – The Oral Law) led them to watch Yeshua very closely, looking for any opportunity to trip Him up so they could accuse Him before the Great Sanhedrin (see Lg – The Great Sanhedrin) and Pontius Pilate. For His part, Messiah took their scrutiny as a chance to teach them about the heart of the Torah, which consists of mercy and healing.¹⁰⁸¹ On the Sabbath He preached in the synagogue and afterward went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, although He knew He was being carefully watched (Luke 14:1). Visiting speakers were often invited to a Sabbath meal after the synagogue service. But here, the Lord’s opponents were seeking to find fault with Him.

There, in front of Messiah was a man suffering from dropsy, which caused an abnormal swelling of his body. The rabbis teach that dropsy was a venereal disease as a result of immorality. Normally diseased people would NEVER be allowed to attend the banquet of a Pharisee under ANY circumstances because they were viewed as sinners. So, we can only assume that His invitation to the banquet was more than a mere courtesy – it was a set up. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, asked the Pharisees and Torah-teachers: Does the Torah allow healing on Shabbat or not? But they said nothing, for they knew that the Torah did permit works of mercy to be on the Sabbath without violating it. So, taking hold of the man, the Great Physician healed him and sent him on his way (Luke 14:2-4 CJB). Although not explicitly stated, the atmosphere was probably very tense.

Then, knowing their thoughts, Christ asked them: If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out? The Greek assumes a positive answer, but again they had nothing to say (Luke 14:5-6). This method of argument followed a recognized rabbinical rule, but the apostate religious rulers had no answer for Him. No matter how His opponents tried to catch Him in His words or actions (Luke 11:54), Jesus was their Master (Luke 13:17 and 14:6).

Having given instruction concerning the true nature of Shabbat, Christ proceeded to give a lesson in humility. When Yeshua noticed the well-known Pharisaic practice of the guests vie for places of honor at the table (the closer to the host a guest sat, the more honored that guest was). So, in that teachable moment, He told them this parable: When someone invites you to a wedding banquet, do not recline in the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, “Give this person your seat.” Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, “Friend, move up to a better place.” Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests (Luke 14:7-10; Prov 25:6-7). Messiah said that when they arrive at a great banquet they should take the lowest place so that when the host arrived he might assign them a position of prominence. The person who honors oneself will not be honored, but the one whom the host (God) honors will be honored indeed.

The values of the Kingdom that Jesus came to establish were radically different than those of His day. The Pharisees and Torah-teachers clamored for the spotlight and sought the praise of the crowds. Many of us still do today. Our Savior taught the opposite of that. For at the last judgment all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Luke 14:11).

It seemed obvious that the Pharisee who had invited his friends could expect to be rewarded by an invitation to their homes. He was using this banquet, then, as a means of ingratiating himself to others who would then heap benefits on him in return for his hospitality. Then Jesus said to His host: When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends. The Lord did not prohibit inviting friends over for dinner. The Master Teacher’s words are better understood as reflecting the Semitic idiom “not so much (friends and rich neighbors) but rather (the needy).”

So, don’t invite your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, the outcasts of society, and you will be blessed (Luke 14:12-14a). Yeshua’s instruction to His host was to care for the poor and needy – not just those who would “pay him back” for his kindness. It’s easy to do nice things for those we care about or those who will repay us. But God wants us to reach out to the poor, the lame, and the blind – to people who could never repay our kindness.

Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous (Luke 14:14b). The resurrection of the righteous is clearly seen in both the TaNaKh (see my commentary on Revelation Fd – The Resurrection of the Righteous of the TaNaKh), and the New Covenant (see my commentary on Revelation Ff – Blessed and Holy Are Those who have Part in the First Resurrection).

Then the Master told His host and other Pharisees a second parable using a commonly understood event (a Jewish wedding) with something not so understood (the coming messianic Kingdom). Yeshua spoke to them again in parables, saying: The kingdom of Heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. God invites sinners to His salvation banquet. It was in the context of the wedding feast Yeshua described the king when He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come. All seemed to be going well until an unexpected twist – the guests refused to come (Matthew 22:1-3; Luke 14:15-17). They were not ready to make the sacrifices necessary, so they declined the invitation. Their rejection of the invitation revealed their utter contempt for the host.

According to Near Eastern etiquette of the time, guests to a banquet were invited in advance. Then, when the banquet was ready, a second notification was sent telling them that all was prepared. To refuse to attend at the time of the second invitation was considered extremely impolite. It would have been an even greater insult for the guests to use the excuses they did, pleading activities that could have been done at some other time.¹⁰⁸² This would have been totally unexpected and insulting, but the king came up with another plan.

When one of those at the table with Jesus heard this, he was reminded of the messianic Kingdom, and said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the banquet in the kingdom of God.” The ground of his hope was doubtless in being a Pharisee. When he heard Yeshua talk about the resurrection of the righteous, he didn’t realize the Kingdom had come and he was rejecting it. The Pharisees’ concept was that all of Isra’el would be included in that future Kingdom. But Christ pointed out in a parable that the Kingdom would not be determined by a physical relationship to Abraham, but rather by the response of individuals to the invitation extended by the One who provided the banquet.¹⁰⁸³

The response of the king is equally as shocking as the response of those who had previously been invited. Few monarchs were known for their humility and patience, especially in the face of an open insult. Then he sent some more servants and said: Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner, “My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready.” With an urgent plea, the servants were to appeal to his invited guests by crying out: Come to the wedding banquet now (Matthew 22:4). But He received a chorus of ridiculously transparent and insulting excuses. Refusing to be honest about it, they intentionally ignored the invitation and snickered at the host.

All at once they began to make excuses and paid no attention to him. The first said, “I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.” Another said, “I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.” Still another said, “I just got married, so I can’t come” (Mattityahu 22:5 and Luke 14:18-20). John the Baptist, and then Jesus Himself gave the initial invitation. That was followed up by two sets of servants, the servants of John the Immerser and the twelve apostles. But the apostate religious leaders always had reasons why they would not accept the initiation.

As before, the invited guests disregarded the call from the king, except that their refusal this time was even more crass and brutal. Many of the invitees were coldly indifferent, acting as if the wedding were of no consequence. They responded by carrying on business as usual. They were so selfishly preoccupied with personal concerns for profit that the invitation and the repeated calls of the king to stop work and attend his son’s wedding were altogether ignored. They willingly and purposely forfeited the beauty, grandeur and honor of the wedding for the sake of their everyday, mundane, self-serving endeavors. They were not concerned about the king’s honor but only about what they perceived as their own best interests.¹⁰⁸⁴

But unbelievably they continued to pay no attention and went off – one to his field, another to his business. Their apathy might have been understandable, but what happened next was truly alarming. They seized the king’s servants, mistreated them and killed them. Contempt for the king’s slaves demonstrated contempt for the king himself, and in mistreating and killing his slaves they committed a flagrant act of rebellion. The king was enraged and had reached the end of his patience about the situation, so much so that He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city (Matthew 22:5-7). As a result of the rejection of the offer of the messianic Kingdom, the fulfillment of this parable came true forty years later (see Mt – The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple on Tisha B’Av in 70 AD). God’s patience has a limit (Genesis 6:3).

Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servants, “The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come” (Matthew 22:8; Luke 14:21a). Their unworthiness was not because they personally lacked the required righteousness. Neither the original invitation nor the subsequent calls were based on merit but solely on the king’s gracious favor. Ironically and tragically, they were declared to be unworthy because they simply refused an invitation that was in no way based on worth. In fact, many unworthy (i.e. bad) people were also invited to the salvation banquet (Matthew 22:10a; Luke 14:21b). None of us are deserving: There is no one righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10). That which makes a person worthy of receiving salvation is not any sort of human goodness, religion or spiritual accomplishment but simply saying yes to God’s invitation to receive His Son, Jesus Christ, as Lord.¹⁰⁸⁵

The king said: Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite to the banquet anyone you find. This is precisely what Yeshua commanded in the Great Commission: Go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 29:19a). So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the outcasts of Isra’el, the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame, both the good and the bad (Matthew 22:9-10a; Luke 14:21b). The original guests had not been invited because of their moral or spiritual superiority, and neither were the newly invited guests. God has always extended His call for salvation to both good and the bad people because neither are righteous enough and both are equally in need of salvation. Many no doubt rejected Jesus and His claims, but many others (even rabbis like Nicodemus in John 3:1-21) gladly received the invitation. This is the heart of Messiah’s message and all the Scriptures.

“Sir,” the servant said, “what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.” Then the master told his servant, “Go out to the roads and country lanes (this was the extension of the invitation to the Gentiles) and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full” (see my commentary on Isaiah Ji – My Word That Goes Out from My Mouth Will Not Return to Me Empty). The intent is to persuade and overcome their feelings of unworthiness. The owner sent a servant, not a policeman. I tell you (Jesus’ audience), not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet (Luke 14:22-24). Finally, the wedding hall was filled with guests (Matthew 22:10b). The marriage feast is a symbol of the messianic Kingdom (see my commentary on Revelation Fg – Blessed Are Those who are Invited to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb). The point here is that those who were originally invited will not enter the Kingdom while others will live.

In times past Luke 14:23 was used to justify forcing Jews to be baptized against their will. Yet nowhere in the Bible does ADONAI say or suggest that He wants people to be forced to accept His love and kindness. From the outset, in the garden of Eden, where Adam could freely choose whether or not to obey God, there has been only one message, and it is a message of friendly persuasion: Turn from sin to God and trust in the Good News (Mark 1:15). In fact, it is impossible to force people to repent or believe, for these things are matters of the heart. Thus, “forced conversion” is a contradiction in terms, since true “conversion” means inwardly turning from sin to Ha’Shem through Jesus Christ, not outwardly transferring from one religious institution to another. In the same way, attempting to force “conversion” is not obeying God; quite the contrary, the coercion and cruelty involved constitute gross disobedience. But friendly persuasion that respects the hearer’s dignity is commanded and can produce good results.¹⁰⁸⁶

But there was one more surprise. When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing the proper wedding clothes. The Bible teaches us that the Lord never forgets those who have not soiled their clothes. Just like at Sodom, He was willing to save those who belonged to Him. The word soiled comes from the Greek word moluno, which means to stain, to smear or to pollute. The church at Sardis would understand what that meant because of the city’s wool dying industry. Their white clothes were a symbol of salvation (Isaiah 64:6; Jude 23). Christ specifically said: They will walk with Me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. Their names were still in the book of life (Revelation 3:4-5), their robes had been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14). Their worthiness was not in their own good deeds, which had been pronounced incomplete before God (Revelation 3:2), but in Yeshua, who alone is truly worthy (Revelation 4:11, 5:9 and 12). They would be included in the wedding feast of the Lamb (Rev 19:9), where the true Bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7, 21:9, 22:17) will be dressed in fine linen (Revelation 19:8).

The fact that all the other guests were wearing wedding clothes indicates that the king had made provision for such clothes. It would have been unethical for the king to invite the most wicked people in the land to come to the banquet and then exclude one poor fellow because he didn’t have the proper clothes to wear. No, he was fully accountable for being improperly dressed. But nevertheless, the gracious king gave him one last opportunity to justify himself, asking with undeserved respect: How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?” The man was speechless, unable to offer the king even the most feeble excuse.¹⁰⁸⁷ When the man could not provide an adequate answer the king told the attendants, “Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt 22:11-13).

It is a terrible thing to reject the invitation of our heavenly Father. Yet, so many today are doing just that! But if we accept His invitation, we will be able to say: I am so joyful in ADONAI! My soul rejoices in my God, for He has clothed me in salvation, dressed me with a robe of triumph, like a bridegroom wearing a festive turban, like a bride adorned with her Jewels (Isaiah 61:10a CJB).

Barukh Ha’Shem who has clothed in salvation those who sincerely desire to attend the wedding banquet. For many are invited, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14). This must have stung badly. The belief of the religious leaders is that they were the chosen ones. The rabbis taught that all Isra’el shared in the world to come (Sanhedrin 11:1), and the pious among the Gentiles will also have part in it. But only the perfectly just will enter at once into paradise. All others will pass through a period of purification and perfection, variously lasting up to one year. But notorious Torah-breakers, especially apostates from the Jewish faith and heretics, have no hope whatever, either in this world or the next.¹⁰⁸⁸

Then the chief priests, the Torah-teachers and the elders must have been infuriated when they finally realized Jesus was talking about them! They had already decided that Yeshua was powered by Satan himself (see Ek – It is only by Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons, that this Fellow Drives Out Demons), so from that time on looked for a way to arrest Him because they knew He had spoken the parables against them. Now the tables were turned. But they were afraid of the crowd because they considered Him a prophet; so they left Him and went away (Matthew 21:45-46; Mark 12:12; Luke 20:19). So in those final days of Christ’s life, the lines were drawn even more deeply.

Messiah’s love and mercy are so great that His invitation is without limitations. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). He also said: Here I AM! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me (Revelation 3:20). He yearns to have us attend His banquet that He told His servants to go out to the roads and country lanes and persuade them to come in, so that His house will be full (Luke 14:23).

Lord Yeshua, I want to be present at Your salvation banquet despite my sin and unworthiness. I am Yours. I believe that You are the Son of God, the Meshiach, the Expected One, and that You died on the cross for all my sins, past, present and future. I believe that You were buried, rose from the dead on the third day before ascending back to Your home in heaven. And I accept Your generous invitation to the heavenly banquet.

No Prophet Can Die Outside Jerusalem
Luke 13: 31-35

No prophet can die outside Jerusalem DIG: What does Yeshua reveal here about His intentions? Why was Herod Antipas a real threat? What does Christ’s response show about Him? Who controlled where and when Jesus would die? Why was Jerusalem’s fate already determined at this point? What strikes you about Yeshua’s prophecy? When did it find its fulfillment? Under what conditions will Messiah come back? When?

REFLECT: What concerns you about the spiritual condition of your nation? Your city? Your church? Your messianic synagogue? What would it mean for each to gather under His wings? How do you react to opposition when you are convinced that God has a purpose for your life? Have you ever had someone you loved with all your heart reject you? What do you imagine His return will be like with you standing there?

At that same time that Jesus was talking about entering through the narrow door, some Pharisees came to Him and said, “Leave this place (Perea, on the eastern side of the Jordan River valley) and go somewhere else” (Luke 13:31). Some interpreters believe that the Pharisees were trying to frighten Yeshua back into Judea so that the Great Sanhedrin (to see link click Lg – The Great Sanhedrin) would have control over Him. Compare the attempt of Amaziah, the priest of the golden calf at Bethel, to frighten the prophet Amos out of Isra’el into Judea. He also failed (Amos 7:10-17). But such devious motivation need not have been present in this instance, for not all Pharisees wanted to kill Messiah; these may have thought enough of the Lord to warn Him. In fact, some were not far from the kingdom of God (Mark 12:34) and some came to faith in Him and remained Pharisees (Acts 15:5), among them Sha’ul of Tarsus (Acts 21:13).

“Herod wants to kill you” (Luke 13:31). Jesus was not that far away from Machaerus, the very place where he had the Baptizer beheaded. The son of Herod the Great (see Av – The Visit of the Magi), Herod Antipas was a first-century ruler of Galilee and Perea who bore the title of tetrarch or ruler of a quarter. His threat was real. Although Herod wanted to see Messiah perform a miracle (see Lp – When Herod Saw Jesus He Was Greatly Pleased), he regarded the Lord as a dangerous leader like Yochanan the Immerser whom he had killed (see Fl – John the Baptist Beheaded). Christ’s answer, like that of Rabbi Sha’ul’s to Agav (Acts 21:13), is that threats will not discourage Him from following God’s plan.¹⁰⁷⁹

The Lord replied: Go tell that fox, “I go on My way (for a brief but definite period) today and tomorrow I AM driving out demons and healing people, and on the third day I will reach My goal” (Luke 13:32 CJB). Herod had been wily, deceptive, crafty and cruel in dealing with the Herald, disposing of John by beheading him secretly and defending his act on false grounds. Antipas wanted to dispose of Yeshua in the same way. But the renegade Rabbi was not going to be deterred, nor His plans changed because of the threats of Herod. In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day (a Semitic idiom for a short indefinite period followed by an imminent and certain event) for surely no prophet can die outside Yerushalayim (Luke 13:33)! God the Father had set the appointed time and place of His Son’s death. He was not saying that He would arrive in Tziyon in three days. The point was that Yeshua ha-Mashiach had a mission in mind and He would continue on His schedule He Himself had set. The goal was the Holy City of David where He would die. There, He must present Himself publicly to the Great Sanhedrin and to Pontius Pilate, and then be put to death.¹⁰⁸⁰

Jerusalem, Jerusalem. Jesus’ lament, like Jeremiah’s (see the book of Lamentations), bemoaned the fate of the Sacred City that refused to heed God’s Prophet from Nazareth (compare Psalm 137 for a similar lament). Yerushalayim’s rejection of the Son of God had already taken place (see Ek – It is only by Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons, that This Fellow Drives Out Demons). You who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you (First Samuel 30:6; First Kings 12:18, 21:13; Second Chronicles 24:21), how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, that is, tenderly and lovingly, even though the people were not willing (Luke 13:34). Consequently, since the nation, which had even killed the prophets that He had sent, and had rejected His words, they would now kill Him.

Look, your house (Zion and her people) is left to you desolate (Greek aphietai, meaning abandoned). This prophecy of doom was soon fulfilled by her complete destruction (see Mt – The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple on Tisha B’Av in 70 AD). Then the Supreme Commander of Life and Death quoted from Psalm 118:26: I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 13:35). The multitudes did quote this verse when He entered the Holy City in His Triumphal Entry, but their religious leaders disapproved. He would not come again until a believing remnant had been prepared who would beg Him to come back (see my commentary on Revelation Ev – The Basis For the Second Coming of Jesus Christ). In the far eschatological future this truth will be proclaimed when Jesus comes again and enters Tziyon as the millennial Ruler.

Enter Through the Narrow Door
Luke 13: 22-30

Enter through the narrow door DIG: How does Yeshua decide who will make it through the narrow door and who won’t? If God wants all kinds of people to know Him, why isn’t the door wider? In the context of Luke, who are the ones outside (Luke 11:23, 37-53, and 12:9, 21, 45-46, and 13:3)? Why isn’t eating and drinking with Messiah enough?

REFLECT: How do you know whether you are inside or outside the Kingdom? How do you get in (Luke 11:9, 12:31-32) ? Who are you praying for that isn’t in the Kingdom yet? Do you have a “Ten Most Wanted” prayer list? In the end, do you think only a few, many or all people will be saved? Why? What is your proof?

This section begins with a summary of Jesus’ journey to Tziyon. Then Christ went through the towns and villages, teaching as He made His way to Yerushalayim (Luke 13:22). The Rabbi from Galilee made several trips to Jerusalem, but Luke telescoped them to make his point that the Lord had to get to the Holy City of Tziyon to present Himself as the Messiah.¹⁰⁷⁶ The theme for what follows is given by a question. Someone in the crowd asked Him, “Sir, are only a few people going to be saved” (Luke 13:23)? Jesus’ earlier teachings have implied this (to see link click Dw – The Narrow and Wide Gates). In light of the Jewish context in which this question was asked, we must understand it to mean, “Lord, when Messiah’s Kingdom comes, will only a few people enter into it?” The Lord did not answer the question directly, but instead followed it with a series of warnings to the whole crowd.

He said to them: Make every effort to enter through the narrow door (of salvation), because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to force open the door. Using the analogy of a house being made secure for the night, Christ said that once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, “Sir, open the door for us.” But he will answer, “I don’t know you or where you come from.” The plea will be cut short by a brief and unreasoning reply. Then you will say, “We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.” There were probably many present in His audience who ate with Him and followed the preaching and teaching of the Prophet from Nazareth. But by rejecting His message of salvation, they would hear in the final day, the dreaded pronouncement: I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers (Luke 13:24-27)! Those who rejected Him will be excluded from His Kingdom. They will be condemned as evildoers, literally unrighteous.

Then Yeshua spoke directly, telling the crowd that judgment would come on those who refused His message. There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth (symbolizing the horrors of eternal judgment), because of the great remorse that they would experience. So, there will be a sense of hopelessness when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (symbolizing Isra’el) and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out, that is, not allowed to enter the Kingdom (Luke 13:28). These remarks were revolutionary to Christ’s hearers. They believed that since they were physically related to Abraham they would automatically enter into the promised Kingdom.

Jesus is trying to wake up people who think their own good works, or their Jewishness, will guarantee them entry into the ‘olam haba,’ or the world to come. Not only in messianic Judaism, but also in traditional Judaism, there is no hope for that theology. It is true that the Mishna says, “All Isra’el has a share in the ‘olam haba” or the world to come (Sanhedrin 10:1, quoted more fully in Romans 11:25-26). But in subsequent material, which names many categories of Israelites being excluded from the ‘olam haba,’ makes clear that the sense of this pronouncement is that although all Israelites have a special opportunity (as Paul puts it in Romans 3:1-1 and 9:4-5, an advantage), to share in the world to come, they can lose it by not living up to their calling. While neither kind of Judaism offers hope to those who expect ADONAI to overlook their sins without their trusting Him, only messianic Judaism offers the content of trust in Christ that solves the sin problem.¹⁰⁷⁷

Yeshua’s next words, however, were even more revolutionary, in fact devastating, to those who assumed only Jews would be involved in the messianic Kingdom. The Master explained that the Goyim (the Gentiles) would be added to the Kingdom. People will come from the four corners of the earth representing various ethnic groups. From the east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God (Luke 13:29). This teaching should not have surprised those listening to Messiah’s words because the prophets had often said the same thing. However, the Jews in Jesus’ day believed that Gentiles were inferior to them. When Jesus began His ministry in Nazareth, His teaching of Gentile inclusion had so infuriated the Jews that they picked up stones to kill Him (see Ch – The Spirit of the LORD is On Me).

The Jewish people considered themselves to be first in every way, but they would be last, that is, if they did not individually accept His teaching, they would be left out of the Kingdom. In contrast, some believing Gentiles, considered last by them, would be welcomed into the kingdom of God and would really be first in importance. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last (Luke 13:30).¹⁰⁷⁸

Instruction Concerning Entrance into the Kingdom

Even though some three-and-a-half months had to transpire before Yeshua’s appointed time would come, He continued to minister and His central message was to repent, for the kingdom of God was near. There were four drastic changes after His rejection by the Sanhedrin on the grounds of demon possession (to see link click En – Four Drastic Changes in Christ’s Ministry), and one change concerned His method of teaching. Before His rejection Christ taught the masses in language they could understand, but afterward, He would only teach in parables. Those of faith would be able to understand the spiritual truths of the parables, but those who rejected the Messiah would be blinded from the truth. During His Perean ministry He told many parables. The master Teacher also spoke about entering through the narrow door, about the need to be fully committed, to count the costs, and the need for faith as small as a mustard seed to enter the Kingdom. He healed lepers, restored sight to the blind, and raised the dead. Salvation came to the most unlikely of people, even to a diminutive tax collector named Zacchaeus.

Then Jesus Went Back Across the Jordan
John 10: 40-42

As Christ’s ministry progressed, the spiritual distance between His sheep – His own – and the unbelieving world grew wider. The truth He proclaimed about Himself and His mission was the Shepherd’s voice calling His sheep to follow: this truth not only identified His enemies, however, it also incited them to violence. Later, the Chief Shepherd would tell His talmidim that the purpose for His confronting the apostate religious authorities with the truth was to give an occasion for them to consummate their sin (John 15:22-25). As the feast of Dedication came to a close, Jesus retreated from the Holy City of David. He had important work to do across the Jordan. Christ continued His ministry, not in hopes of reversing the trend, but rather, to teach the Twelve concerning their ministry on His behalf. The division between non-believers grew steadily wider, though not yet to the point of breaking. That would happen soon enough.¹⁰⁷¹

For Jesus, time was running out, and He knew it. The great Galilean campaign was over, and the religious authorities in Jerusalem were looking for an opportunity to murder Him.¹⁰⁷² Herod Antipas had killed the forerunner (to see link click Fl – John the Baptist Beheaded), leaving his disciples without a leader. Unlike the religious leaders in the Sanhedrin, they compared the predictions of the forerunner to the works of Yeshua and responded in belief. Therefore, Yeshua would give Himself during His last months to an effort to evangelize Perea. The Savior of sinners was not running away; on the contrary, He was preparing Himself for the final contest.¹⁰⁷³ Once more the Jordan flowed between Jesus and His bitter enemies.

Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to Perea, the place where John the Baptizer had been baptizing in the early days. The place to which Jesus went is most significance. He went to the place where the Forerunner had baptized Him. It was there that the voice of God had come to Him and assured Him that He had made the right decision and was on the right path. It would often do our souls a world of good to make a pilgrimage to the place where we first found YHVH. When Jacob fled to Haran for his life because he thought Esau would kill him, God found him at Bethel (see Genesis Hd – Jacob Saw the Angels of God Ascending and Descending). And after the disastrous results of his disobedience at Shechem, Ya’akov went back to Bethel (see Genesis Ig – Jacob’s Spiritual Renewal at Bethel). When Jacob needed God, he went back to the place where the pre-incarnate Messiah had found him. Therefore, the Son of Righteousness, before the end, went back to the place where the beginning had happened.¹⁰⁷⁴

There He stayed, and many people poured in from the surrounding parts of this province and came to Him. John the Baptizer, even though dead, was still having influence in people’s lives as they remembered his witness.They said: Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man, Yeshua Ha’Meshiach, was true. And undisturbed by the evils of pharisaic Judaism, in that place many simple-minded, faithful followers believed in Jesus (John 10:40-42). These were the posthumous children of the Immerser. And so, all who are sown for Christ, who have labored in faith and gone to rest in hope, though they lie buried in the ground will at the trumpet of God, spring up and ripen to everlasting joy.¹⁰⁷⁵

The Preparation of the Apostles by King Messiah

The second portion of the Perean ministry lasted about three and one-half months , from the festival of Hanukkah in December 29 AD to His last journey to Jerusalem in the spring of 30 AD. Perea (“the country beyond” in Greek) was the portion of the kingdom of Herod the Great occupying the eastern side of the Jordan River valley (or the Transjordan), from about one third the way down from the Sea of Galilee to about one third the way down the eastern shore of the Dead Sea; it did not extend too far inland.

Jesus now found it necessary to leave Yerushalayim and Judea for a time. The campaign in Judea had profoundly moved the people. But the hatred of His enemies had also grown more vicious, culminating in the renewed attempt to stone Him to death at Hanukkah. All the doors to Christ’s ministry were now closed in Judea. For some time Galilee had also rejected His ministry. There was only one place left for Him to minister for the remaining few months before He faced the cross – Perea, “the country beyond” the Jordan.

There the Lord withdrew with His apostles, choosing Bethany as the center of His evangelistic activities. There, Jesus had been baptized by the Immerser. It was a place of sacred memories – where He had met and won His first talmidim. Messiah had success there, away from the poisoned atmosphere of the City of David. Many poured in from the surrounding countryside to witness His ministry. The good Shepherd ministered to them: preaching, teaching and healing. The report was the same everywhere. When they compared the ministry of Yeshua and Yochanan, as people will do, that John didn’t perform any miracles, but everything he said about the One who would come after him was true. The testimony of the Baptizer had prepared the soil for this last fruitful campaign of the Savior of sinners and many believed in Him.

While He was in Perea, Messiah would carry on a public ministry, but it was largely designed to prepare the Twelve for the ministry that would be entrusted to them following His death and resurrection. Having already been rejected by the Great Sanhedrin (to see link click Ek – It is only by Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons, that This Fellow Drives Out Demons), there was no expectation that He could begin His reign. Yeshua ben-David continued His ministry, however, not in hopes of reversing His rejection, but rather, to teach His apostles concerning the ministry on His behalf. Thus did the Prince of Peace spend the time until His appointed hour came when He must go to Tziyon and fulfill the will of the Father.¹⁰⁷⁰

Then Came Hanukkah at Jerusalem and It Was Winter
John 10: 22-39

Then came Hanukkah at Jerusalem and it was winter DIG: Given the meaning of Hanukkah, what feelings about Rome’s authority might surface among the masses during that holiday? Given these tensions, what might be the real intent of the Pharisees’question in verse 24? How does Yeshua push things even further? Why? How does He diagnose their problem? How do they interpret His claim to be one with God? How does Jesus sidetrack them? What evidence does He offer?

REFLECT: What has convinced you that Yeshua is the Messiah? What “old ways” of looking at Christ must you overcome by faith? What difference does it make that Jesus is YHVH and not merely a man? Would the promise of verse 28 mean so much otherwise? Do you look for security in physical places? Financial holdings? Temporal relationships? What does it mean to your faith to know that you are eternally secure?

Without Hanukkah there would be no Christmas.

The name of the holiday, Hanukkah, is based on the Hebrew root word meaning dedicate, because it commemorates the rededication of the Temple after its recapture of the Jews from the Greco-Syrians. But why did it need to be re-dedicated?

About 175 years before the birth of Jesus, the Syrian empire ruled over the land of Isra’el. The Syrian ruler, Antiochus IV, was a tyrant – a madman, a Hitler archetype. He became king and took the title “Epiphanes” meaning the illustrious one. His goal was to consolidate his power and take over all the territory conquered by Alexander the Great. He forced Greek customs upon his Jewish subjects. Thousands of Jews were killed. All Jewish worship was forbidden. The scrolls were confiscated and burned. Honoring the Sabbath, circumcision and the dietary laws were prohibited under penalty of death. Antiochus conspired to depose and later assassinate the righteous high priest, Yochanan. His henchmen ordered 90-year-old rabbi Eliezer to eat pork as an example to his followers. He refused and was put to death. In a plot to undermine the strength of the Jewish family and morality, Antiochus decreed that any Jewish maiden who was to be married had to first spend the night with the local governor or commander. Here is a time line of the history of Hanukkah.

175 BC Antiochus IV Epiphanes became king of Syria.

171 BC Onias III, the legitimate high priest was murdered and a pseudo-line of priests were installed. Thus, the Great Persecution of the Jews began. Massacres at Tziyon were common. The Syrians built Fort Antonia to guard the Temple.  Decrees were issued abolishing Jewish practices and establishing the cult of the Greek god Zeus in the Temple.

170 BC Antiochus plundered the Holy City of Yerushalayim.

167 BC On 25 Kislev (November-December), Levitical sacrifices in were forcibly stopped. Antiochus erected an altar to the Greek god Zeus in the Temple and pigs were slaughtered in the Most Holy Place. He required sacrifices to the Greek deities in every city and village.

In the village of Modi’in lived an elderly priest, Mattathias, and his five sons. Mattathias determined to kill the first Jews who approached to offer the pagan sacrifice in his town rather than bow to the pagan desecration. He and his sons fled to the hills, where they formed a band of rebels who fought Antiochus’ established army. Mattathias died shortly after, leaving authority to his son, Judah, who was named Maccabee (probably from the Aramaic word maqqabah or hammer). This nickname became applied to the entire band of rebels. The traditional Jewish explanation is the Maccabee is an acronym for the Torah verse that was the battle cry of the Maccabees: Michamocha ba’elim YHVH, or Who is like You among the gods, ADONAI (Exodus 15:11); as well as an acronym for Mattathias the Priest Son of John, or Mattityahu Kohen ben Yochanan.

164 BC Antiochus IV Epiphanes died during a military campaign in Modi’in.

164 BC After three years of fighting, the Maccabees defeated the army of Antiochus, recaptured Yerushalayim and rededicated the Temple on 25 Kislev, exactly three years after the Temple had been desecrated. It was the crowning moment of the Maccabean revolt, which essentially gave Isra’el its independence for a short time. The time for the eight-day feast was in the winter (John 10:22 CJB). The feast started on the 25^th of Kislev (November-December), and lasted for eight days. Each day the Hallel was sung, the people carried palm and other branches, and the Temple and of all private houses were illuminated. But when the golden candlestick in the Holy Place was to be lit (see my commentary on Exodus, to see link click Fn – The Lampstand in the Sanctuary – Christ, the Light of the World), only one container of clear (Hebrew: zach) oil, sealed with the signet of the high priest, was found to feed the lamps. The supply of oil was barely sufficient for one day.

It would take at least another week to make another batch of clear oil. So a debate ensued among the rabbis. Should they wait a week? No, it was decided to go ahead with the dedication even if the oil lasted only one day. Then ADONAI performed a miracle and the container of oil remained filled for eight days. Therefore, in memory of God’s provision, the Temple and homes were illuminated for the same amount of time.¹⁰⁵⁸

Consequently, this festival, like the feast of Booths, commemorated a divine victory when the Land was restored to Isra’el. Jewish resentment for Roman occupation ran especially high and it was a time that brought new aspirations of the messianic hope from the Jewish community.¹⁰⁵⁹ About two months had passed since Yeshua’s last confrontation with the Jewish religious leaders in October (see Go – Jesus Teaches at the Feast of Booths). He had been ministering throughout Perea. Then came Hanukkah at Jerusalem. The Feast of Dedication (or consecration) is usually called the Hanukkah today. You could say that Hanukkah and Christmas are connected because the Feast of Lights paved the way for the coming Messiah through Isra’el.

The message of Hanukkah for us today is one of dedication, a reminder that dedication is costly. The Maccabean revolt cost many lives, demonstrating determination to live for God, regardless of the price. Ultimately, for us and for the Maccabees, the outcome doesn’t depend on our effort. As we read the Haftarah for Hanukkah, “Not by force, and not by power, but by My Spirit,” says the LORD of heavens angelic armies (Zechariah 4:6).¹⁰⁶⁰

And being a cold day, Jesus sought a protected place for His teaching. So, He went to the Temple courts walked in Solomon’s Colonnade (Yochanan 10:23; also see Acts 3:11 and 5:12). This was the royal porch that ran along the eastern wall of the Temple Mount, and faced the Beautiful Gate that led into the Court of the Women.  The Colonnade was splendid, not merely consisting of a double row of columns, but a triple colonnade. The royal porch, where the ancient palace of Solomon once stood, consisted of a central enclosure 45 feet wide, with gigantic pillars 100 feet high.  This was the hall of judgment where the king would exercise his rulings. When Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple, he incorporated with it this site of the ancient royal palace.

The Jews gathered around Him. Actually they closed in (Greek: ekyklosan) on Him. The hostile leaders of the Great Sanhedrin were determined to pin Him down so they surrounded Him. Our Lord’s cryptic sayings plagued them, and they wanted Him to declare Himself on their terms. How long, they said to Him, will you keep us in suspense (literally: hold up our soul)? They insisted: If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly” (John 10:24). This was no honest question. They wanted to try to get the Living Word to say something that would be the basis of an accusation before the Sanhedrin (see Lg –The Great Sanhedrin), or the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. But His words and actions had already demonstrated that He was indeed the Meshiach. Actions speak louder than words. But the Sanhedrin wanted a Messiah who believed in the Oral Law (see Ei – The Oral Law) and participated in the making of new Oral Laws.

The Chief Shepherd’s reply was sincere but wise. He understood their motives; and therefore, did not repeat what He had said earlier: My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I too am working (John 5:17). Jesus made His earlier indictment plain again, saying: I did tell you, but you do not believe. Reverting to the allegory of the true Shepherd He had given them when He was in the Holy City of Tziyon three months before (see Gu – The Good Shepherd and His Sheep). The works I do in My Father’s name testify about Me. He declared that they do not believe because they were not His sheep (John 10:25-26). That was the problem . . . they were not His sheep.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life. Those who have it, have it eternally. They shall never perish. The security of the sheep is found in the ability of the Shepherd to defend and preserve His flock. This security does not depend on the ability of the frail sheep. No one will snatch them out of My hand (the Greek word snatch is harpasei, which is related to harpax meaning ravenous wolves, robbers (Yochanan 10:27-28).¹⁰⁶¹ This is one of the greatest security-of-the-believer sections in the entire Bible (see Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer). ADONAI gives His life to those who believe in His Son. Those who possess eternal life can no more perish than God Himself can perish. Who are the true sheep? The ones who follow. Who are the ones who follow? The ones who are given eternal life. The plain truth is simple: those who believe/trust/have faith in Messiah will never be lost from predestination to justification to sanctification to glorification. That is God’s unbroken and unbreakable chain of salvation.

Faith obeys . . . unbelief rebels. The fruit of one’s life reveals whether that person is a believer or an unbeliever. There is no middle ground. (That is not to say that believers can and do fall into sin. But even in the case of a sinning believer, the Holy Spirit will operate by producing conviction, hatred of sin and some kind of desire for obedience. The idea that a true believer can continue in continuous, unbroken disobedience from the moment of conversion, without ever producing any righteous fruit whatsoever, is foreign to Scripture).

Merely knowing about the gospel without obedience to the truth of the gospel is not believing in the biblical sense. Those who cling to the memory of a one-time decision of “faith” but lack any evidence that faith has continued to operate in their lives had better pay attention to the clear and solemn warning of the Bible: Whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them (Yochanan 3:36b).¹⁰⁶²

My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. The Father and I are One (John 10:29-30), an allusion to the chief doctrinal statement of the Jewish faith: ADONAI is one (Deuteronomy 6:4). They have the closest possible unity of purpose. Jesus’ will is identical to that of the Father. Therefore, the believer is doubly secure. As Ha’Shem and the Son are one, so the believer becomes one with the Father and the Son, and the believer’s life is just as eternal as that of the Father and the Son. This is one of the great security of the believer passages in the Scriptures. What does eternal mean? Could Yeshua have used another word here instead of eternal? Does eternal mean eternal? In asserting that the believer’s oneness with Him is the same as His oneness with the Father, Jesus was claiming to be deity. He had answered their question. He was the Messiah, but not their kind of Messiah.¹⁰⁶³

This statement enraged them. To the Jews this was a blasphemous claim and again they picked up stones to stone Him (Yochanan 10:31). They had heard the same blasphemy from Him before in the Temple (John 8:59) and they had attempted to stone Him then. The rabbis called this “death by the hand of God” but, ironically, it was actually in the hands of the people, who might administer “the rebels beating” on the spot without trial if anyone were caught openly defying some positive teaching, whether from the Torah or the Oral. The rebels beating was until death. What happened to Jesus in Nazareth is a microcosm of the nation of Isra’el as a whole; what happens locally will eventually happen nationally. It’s remarkable that when Messiah and His martyr Stephen were before the Sanhedrin, both were tried in direct contradiction to all of their own self-imposed “rules” (see Lh – The Laws of the Great Sanhedrin Regarding Trials).¹⁰⁶⁴

There were no stones in Solomon’s Colonnade. They would have had to run outside the northern wall of the Temple compound to find some building materials from which to stone Him. Christ could have slipped away. But Jesus remained calmly in His place until they had returned. They had probably expected Him to leave the Temple grounds and had to be in awe to find Him stand there. For a moment, their wicked purpose was checked. His voice sounded clear and resolute, while the worshipers around them stood in stunned silence. Then He said to His accusers: I have shown you many good works from the Father. A word is something about which people can argue; but a deed is something beyond argument. They remembered the healing of the man born blind, the healing of the man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years, and many others. For which of these do you stone Me? It was not lawful to stone someone for good works, only for crimes. At the very least, they had to cite at least one offense in the presence of the people before they carried out their wicked deed. “We are not stoning You for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because You, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:32-33). Earlier (Yochanan 5:18) they had come to the same conclusion when Jesus called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Now He claimed equal work and equal power with God. They were right in their accusation, but wrong in their conclusion that it was blasphemy.¹⁰⁶⁵ Because the Nazarene had rejected the Oral Law (see Ei – The Oral Law) in their minds, He could not possibly be the Meshiach.

Then Jesus appealed to the Scriptures: Is it not written in your (Hebrew: ketuvim) or writings: I have said you are “gods” (Psalm 82:6)? If he called them “gods,” to whom the word of God came – and Scripture cannot be set aside – what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse Me of blasphemy because I said, “I AM God’s Son” (Yochanan 10:34-36)? Here, Jesus defended His claim to be God (John 10:33). He does so by using the kind of biblical argument typically used by the rabbis. The words: I have said you are “gods” is a direct quote from Psalm 82:6 as translated by the Septuagint (The Greek translation of the TaNaKh). The psalmist refers to the judges of Isra’el as gods (Hebrew: elohim) because they were to be ADONAI’s representatives and administrators of His justice. They did the works of God. By doing His work they were called elohim or gods, because they were His representatives. If elohim sent Yeshua to the earth, how could it be blasphemy if Jesus claimed to be the Son of God since He received, not merely transmitted authority, but direct personal command to do the Father’s work? Moses was a god to Aaron in Exodus 4:16 and to Pharaoh in Exodus 7:1 because he brought God’s message to them. It was God who sent Moses to Aaron, so why wouldn’t Jesus be called the Son of God. Jesus, like Moshe, was God’s messenger, with God’s message. The children of Isra’el listened to Moses, why shouldn’t they listen to Christ because His work proved His claims. It’s as if Messiah was saying, “If the Scriptures call gods those who are no more than merely human, how much more would this title apply to Me, the one Ha’Shem has sanctified and sent!”¹⁰⁶⁶

Then the Lord invited His accusers to evaluate His irrefutable works, the quintessential proof of goodness according to Hebrew wisdom. He declared: Do not believe Me unless I do the works of my Father. Then He goes on to reaffirm His deity in a different way, by saying: But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I AM in the Father.” His continuous godly works were a testimony to who He really was. Again they tried to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp (John 10:37-39). Overawed and outwitted, they had let their stones fall from their hands to the ground. Yeshua had used their own rabbinic reasoning against them. However undeterred, they would continue to try and seize Him and drag Him before the Great Sanhedrin and/or Pilate. But His time had not yet come (John 2:4 and7:6), and He escaped their grasp. Just how, we do not know.

Twenty centuries after the first Hanukkah, ADONAI was still defending Isra’el in a miraculous way. After her formation after World War II and the holocaust, a military coalition of five Arab and Palestinian forces (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia) attacked Isra’el in 1948. She was not prepared.

David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister created a modest domestic war industry in which small arms such as submachine guns and hand grenades were manufactured. But the disadvantage with which the Jewish forces could muster to do battle was seen in the fact that the total number of weapons the Israel Defense Forces had at their disposal was 900 rifles, 700 light machine guns and 200 medium machine guns, with sufficient ammunition for only three days fighting. In fact, they could only arm two out of every three soldiers, and at that stage, heavy machine guns, anti-tank guns and artillery were but a dream. Not one existed in the entire Israeli army.¹⁰⁶⁷

To all outward appearances the deck was stacked.

And indeed it was.

In 1949 Israel and the Arab states reached an armistice agreement.

The armistice held until 1967.

Are you a part of the true Shepherd’s flock? At some point in your past you should be able to recall a time when you were convicted of your sin by the Ruach ha-Kodesh, repented and of it and acknowledged your utter helplessness to save yourself, and then received the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9) through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on your behalf. The Bible teaches that this decision is the beginning of a lifelong process of transformation called sanctification (see Kz – Your Word Is Truth). As the years pass, the sheep faithfully follow their Shepherd and become more and more like Him.

1. God’s sheep are sensitive to His leading (John 10:27a). If you were to travel the world and hold an informal conversation with believers in various countries and from different cultures, you would eventually hear them describe a common experience: the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit leading them to do certain things or go certain places. I’m amazed by the similarities in the descriptions of people living on opposite side of the world.

2. God’s sheep are eager to obey His commands (Yochanan 10:27b). Sheep follow their shepherd because sheep without a shepherd die; they fall prey to wild animals, they wander into danger, they fail to find food and water, and they succumb to the elements. Obedient sheep live. Genuine believers want to obey; they are motivated by love, not fear. Moreover, genuine believers soon learn that obedience allows them to enjoy life to its fullest.

3. God’s sheep are confident (John 10:28). Domestic sheep and sheep in the wild behave differently while grazing. Wild sheep remain ever vigilant against predators; they chew with their heads up, constantly scanning their surroundings for danger. Domestic sheep graze with their heads down, popping them up only when a noise draws their attention. When Sheep have a good shepherd, they feel secure and confident; they don’t live life in constant fear.

4. God’s sheep are secure (Yochanan 10:29). This is a fact, not a feeling. Regardless of how insensitive, how disobedient, or how fearful the sheep choose to be, their place in the flock is secure (see Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer). This is not to suggest the believer’s behavior is irrelevant or unimportant. People who willfully resist spiritual growth and who evidence no change in their values or behavior need to seriously question their spiritual condition. Eternal security, however – like salvation itself – is not based on the goodness of the believer. We are just as incapable of holding on to salvation as we were of earning it in the first place.¹⁰⁶⁸

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for my life in Christ. I know that my relationship with You is eternal. Teach me to see life from Your perspective. Open my eyes to the truth of my security in You so that I may see that I am safe in Your arms. Protect my heart and my mind from the evil one. I place my trust in You for all eternity, and I put no confidence in the flesh. In Messiah’s precious name I pray. Amen.¹⁰⁶⁹

Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath
Luke 13: 10-21

Jesus heals a crippled woman on the Sabbath DIG: How is this Sabbath-setting a problem for the woman? For Jesus? For the synagogue leader? How did the woman demonstrate her faith? Does Christ  still heal today? How? When? How did her healing point to Isra’el’s healing? When will all Isra‘el be saved? How does Yeshua expose the synagogue leader’s hypocrisy? How had the Oral Law infected his thinking? What is the proper response to the work of the Great Physician? What is the real intent of the Sabbath? What is the one main point about the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven?

REFLECT: What tensions between caring for people and keeping religious rules do you experience? What tends to win out? Why? When have you felt that your faith was too small to matter? What do these parables teach you about your significance?

Whereas the Rabbi from Galilee’s earlier teaching emphasized His authority over the Sabbath (to see link click Cw – Jesus Heals a Man With a Shriveled Hand), here the issue involves the meaning of Shabbat. This is the last recorded incident of Christ teaching in a synagogue. He concludes the teaching by repeating the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven. The result was that while the people were delighted in this display of God’s glory and power, the synagogue leader and all His opponents were humiliated.

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues. The drama begins, and a woman was there whom an evil spirit had crippled for eighteen years. Here individual need is emphasized. Since Isra’el was His personal possession, Jesus could take care of individual members (Zechariah 11). She had a curved spine and was bent over and could not straighten up at all. This woman graphically portrayed Israel’s condition in the sight of ADONAI. When Jesus saw her, He called her forward and said to her: Woman, you are set free from your infirmity (Luke 13:11-12). After His rejection by the Sanhedrin, the Lord’s ministry changed drastically (see En – Four Drastic Changes in Christ’s Ministry). He was no longer performing miracles for the purpose of authenticating His messiahship to the masses, but only healing individuals on the basis of faith. Here, this daughter of Abraham, not only by physical descent, but because she was a daughter in faith who responded to the Great Physician’s invitation to come to Him. When she came forward, as a demonstration of her faith, she was healed.

Then Jesus put His hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God (Luke 13:13). Christ still heals today, but He does so according to His own timetable and purposes (Google Joni Eareckson-Tada). This act of praising God is the proper response to the work of Christ (Luke 2:20, 5:25-26, 7:16, 17:15, 18:43, and 23:47). Yeshua had been calling the nation to Himself, just as He had been calling this woman to Himself. Although Isra’el had rejected Him, the nation’s condition was not hopeless. In the far eschatological future, Isra’el would respond to His invitation of salvation by faith, all Isra’el will be saved (Romans 11:26). This will happen at the end of the Great Tribulation as the antichrist and the armies of the world tighten the noose around the neck of Petra, the Jewish leaders will have a moment of spiritual clarity, realize their sin, recognize that Yeshua is indeed their long awaited Messiah, turn to Him in faith, and beg Him to come back (see my commentary Revelation Ev – The Basis for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ). He offered to make the nation whole again so that they could walk uprightly before God.¹⁰⁵⁵

While the woman glorified God because of the deliverance granted to her, the leader of the synagogue openly rejected Christ because He had performed this miracle on Shabbat. Indignant and angry because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader gruffly spoke to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath” (Luke 13:14). This man was more angry than wise. He acknowledged Messiah’s healing power, but did not dare to attack Him directly. He did not even try to silence the woman, who was praising God. He recognized that the majority of the people were in full sympathy with the miracle Jesus had performed on this poor, deformed woman. Having no other argument except the traditions of men (Mark 7:8; Colossians 2:8), He appealed to the Oral Law (see Ei – The Oral Law) and totally missed the point. This attitude supports what Jesus had already said about the religious leaders keeping others from entering the kingdom of God.¹⁰⁵⁶

The Lord answered him: You hypocrites! The word hypocrites is extremely important in the narrative. Earlier, He called the crowd and the religious leader’s hypocrites (12:56). Here, Christ repeats His charge. Messiah’s point was that having a pretense of godliness, they were anything but godly. They didn’t even really understand the meaning of Shabbat.

The Son of God pointed out that a person is much more valuable than an animal. Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? The Pharisees themselves didn’t deem this work was a violation, for they recognized that works of mercy and necessity were allowed on the Sabbath Day. They felt responsible for their animals and provided for their needs. Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her? So if animals could be made more comfortable on the Sabbath, why not people? Jesus tore off the mask of his hypocrisy. Is was obvious that Shabbat should be a blessing and not a burden. As a result, when He said this, all His opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things He was doing (Luke 13:15-17).

Here, Yeshua repeats the Parable of the Mustard Seed (see Ew), and the Parable of the Leaven (see Ex). Here, Luke combines the two, but in a different context. In Luke’s account, we see Messiah teaching on the Sabbath, and He had just healed a crippled woman and humiliated His opponents by exposing their hypocrisy regarding the Sabbath. So when He finally brings in the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven, He changes the metaphor. Jesus seems to be contrasting the kingdom of God with what it had become under pharisaic Judaism. The Pharisees and Torah-teachers had totally missed the point of the greatness of the Kingdom by being consumed over whether or not a crippled woman should be healed on the Sabbath or not.

Then Jesus asked: What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew abnormally large and became a tree, and the birds of the air came and perched in its branches (Luke 13:18-19; Matthew 13:31-32). There will be an abnormal external growth until it becomes a monstrosity and a resting place for birds. When the Bible uses symbolic language, it uses it consistently. The birds that are pictured here as pharisaic Judaism, would be like the birds in the Parables of the Soils (see Et). As he was scattering the seed of the Gospel, some fell along the path, it was trampled on, and the birds came and ate it up (Matthew 13:4; Mark 4:4; Luke 8:5b) before it took root. Again, when the Bible uses symbolic language, it uses it consistently. Leaven always pictures sin. Jesus asked: What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough (Luke 13:20-21).

The one main point of these two parables is that the sin of pharisaic Judaism would continue to grow and steal the truth of the Gospel from the nation of Isra’el.

An encounter with Jesus always brings great healing and dignity. That is because Yeshua does not see us as we ourselves or as others see us. In His eyes, we all have great value because we are loved by Him and made in His image (see my commentary on Genesis Ao – Let Us Make Man in Our Image, In Our Likeness). The woman whom Christ healed had been so stripped of her dignity that she was considered less important than a thirsty barnyard animal. At least they could be cared for on Shabbat! But Jesus saw this woman differently. He called her a daughter of Abraham, and a member of God’s chosen people. Hehealed her so that she could stand as a woman of dignity, no longer burdened by Satan.

Society places such importance on externals, on doing certain things certain ways. The synagogue leader thought little of this daughter of Abraham and little of Jesus. Blinded by his hypocrisy, he could not see what was happening before his very eyes. The kingdom of God had come with great power, calling him to the freedom of being a son of God. But he missed it because of his narrow view of how God would work. He wrongly believed that God would heal only during the “work week” and not on the official day of rest.

Perhaps our experience is like the woman’s. We may be deeply burdened by the Adversary. We may feel stripped of our dignity through painful experiences or debilitating illness. Perhaps we are like the synagogue leader, blinded by commands and duties and unable to perceive the priority of love. We may have become harsh and judgmental to the point that we don’t see how valuable we – and others – really are in God’s eyes.

Let us not feel so sure of how God will work that we don’t give Him the freedom to work outside the boundary lines we have set up for Him. Jesus can set us free from anything that binds or oppresses us, even physically if He so chooses. Let’s turn to Him now so that He can restore us to the dignity that each of us has, as beloved sons and daughters of God.

Lord Jesus, heal us of our illnesses, burdens and wounds. Set us free from the power of Satan and fill us with love for You so that, like this daughter of Abraham, we too might praise You for the dignity you have given us.¹⁰⁵⁷

Unless You Repent You Will Perish
Luke 13: 1-9

Unless you repent you will perish DIG: What idea about this news from Jerusalem did Jesus reject? How does He apply the new in a new way? In verses 6-9, what does the fig tree represent? Who does the owner represent? Who does the farmer represent? Why the urgency? Has Isra’el been replaced by the Church?

REFLECT: How would you compare your life to the fig tree? If you have one more year like the fig tree to turn your life around, what would you do? What fruit do you want to be producing by this time next year?

Now, is literally, at that very time. This word continued the theme of Luke 12:54-59 as Jesus challenged the crowds on the need to be reconciled to ADONAI. The Lord was confronted by some who denied His messiahship with a cleverly designed plot to trap Him. There were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices (Luke 13:1). Recognizing that the Nazarene came from Galilee they presumed that His sympathies would be with the Galileans, whom Pilate had put to death while they were offering sacrifices in the Temple, and Yeshua would, on the one hand, condemn the Roman procurator. This would then give them a basis for accusing Him before Pilate in hopes that he would put Christ to death as a seditionist against Rome. On the other hand, Jesus might express sympathy for the Galileans because the Jews believed that any unusual calamity was viewed as divine judgment against an individual because of some secret sin. So, to express sympathy for these Galileans would be to contradict the popular belief of the Jews about suffering as a sign of God’s displeasure and, in effect, blame God for the sinfulness of these men. They believed that any way Jesus answered they would have a basis for accusing Him. Check mate.

But Christ condemned neither the Galileans nor Pilate. He rejected the popular notion of any association between sin and suffering (Jn 9:3), declaring that they were neither less nor worse sinners than any other Israelite. Jesus answered: Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? Then Jesus made a pointed reply to His accusers, saying: I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish (Lk 13:2-3). This must have stung those who tried to trick Him because He said that they were just as guilty as those they judged as being guilty of God’s wrath.¹⁰⁴⁹

Yeshua then added another incident Himself to reinforce His exhortation to change their way of thinking. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem (Luke 13:4)? There were eighteen men who were crushed by the falling tower of Siloam, probably when Pilate was constructing the aqueduct, which he paid for by stealing money from the Temple treasury (Josephus Antiquities 2:9 and 4). The Jews felt these fellow Israelites sinned when they worked on Pilates’ project because they didn’t donate their wages back to the Temple treasury from which it was stolen. The Lord denied that those men were any worse than the rest of the people living in Jerusalem. Again, He warned them in prophetic language what would happen to them if they didn’t repent, saying: I tell you, no! But unless you repent you too will all perish as they did (Luke 13:5). This was literally fulfilled in the fall of Yerushalayim when it was violently destroyed by Titus the Roman general and multitudes perished beneath the falling walls of their City Zion and Temple (to see link click Mt – The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple on Tisha B’Av 70 AD).¹⁰⁵⁰

This word repent (Hebrew: mshuwabh (feminine noun), meaning faithless, unfaithful, apostasy, or shuwb (verb), meaning repent, turn,  forsaking all sin, or confessing the sin (for more detail see my commentary on Jeremiah Ac – The Book of Jeremiah From a Jewish Perspective: Key Word: shuwb) is one of His favorites. John used it repeatedly, as did Yeshua in His earlier preaching (Luke 5:23), and it would also be at the heart of the church’s preaching in Acts as well. The Lord said it was not only Galilean sinners or victims of tragedy in Jerusalem who needed to repent; all of Yeshua’s (and Luke’s) audience must repent lest they come under divine judgment.

The exclusion of most Jews from God’s Kingdom, a theme repeated continually in Acts 13:46-47, 18:6, and 28:26-30, would also be understood from this passage. Despite the reprieve from judgment, Isra’el brought forth no fruit in keeping with repentance (Luke 3:8). Jesus foresaw that His preaching, like Jeremiah’s, would also fall on deaf ears and cold hearts, so He grieved over Isra’el (Luke 13:34-35 and 21:24). The axe, already at the root (Luke 3:9), would be swung and the fallen tree thrown into the fire. Clearly, Luke understood the events of 70 AD as the fulfillment of this divine judgment. Yet Luke also wanted his readers to understand that what happened to Isra’el was also a warning to them. That means us. Yikes!¹⁰⁵¹

Christ then proceeded to explain through a parable why that generation was worthy of judgment. The whole nation was guilty of fruitlessness. Then he told this parable: A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the farmer, “For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. It took three years for a fig tree to attain maturity. For three years Jesus had been calling Isra’el to repentance, but she had not repented to bring forth the fruit of righteousness. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?” Now the man seeks to rid the vineyard of this worthless tree and plant something that will use the space more profitably. Messiah, the farmer, however, interceded to give the fig tree one last opportunity. If it does not bear fruit in the coming year after additional care and treatment, it will then be cut down. “Sir,” the man replied, “leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. The digging serves to loosen the soil in order to allow water to sink down to its roots so it has room to grow. If no fruit appears after that, it is clearly a bad tree. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down” (Luke 13:6-9).

The fig tree represents Isra’el (see my commentary on Isaiah Ba – The Song of the Vineyard; also see Jeremiah 8:13, 24:1-10; Hosea 9:10 and 16), and ADONAI is the owner of the vineyard. A fig tree is planted for only one purpose – to provide fruit. A fruitless fig tree is not only worthless itself, but it occupies ground that could be used by a tree that could bear fruit. The only sensible thing to do then, is to cut down the fruitless tree so that the land may be used by a tree that will bear fruit. The Son of Man had come to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. This was Israel’s last opportunity to repent before she would be subject to divine judgment. Sadly, she rejected her Meshiach. Isra’el was to be cut off, that is, brought under national judgment. As stated above, this judgment would come in 70 AD, when Titus would destroy the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. But this did not mean the termination of God’s program for Isra’el, but indicated that she would be set aside for a time. Through a new program God would produce fruit for His glory. Christ revealed this new program when He was in Caesarea Philippi (see Fx – On This Rock I Will Build My Church). Later, when in Yerushalayim He spoke again of the setting aside of Isra’el to institute a new program through which God would work in the present age (see Iy – By What Authority Are You Doing These Things).¹⁰⁵²

In these verses Jesus shows how patient ADONAI is with the nation of Isra’el. The fig tree metaphor is frequently used in the TaNaKh, and also in Mattityahu 21:18-22 to represent the Jewish people, who were expected to bear fruit by leading righteous lives and by communicating God’s truth to the other Gentile nations of the world (Isaiah 9:6). So, has the one more year passed? Are the Jewish people cut down or set aside by God and replaced by the Church? Certainly not (Jeremiah 31:33-36)! Heaven forbid (Romans 11:1-2 and 11-12)! Some Jews, having trusted in Yeshua ha-Mashiach, remain united with Him and bear fruit (Yochanan 15:1-8, in the vine metaphor); while Ha’Shem patiently preserves the Jewish people as a whole until all Isra’el (the believing remnant at the end of the Great Tribulation, see my commentary on Revelation Ev – The Basis for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ) will be saved (Romans 11:26).¹⁰⁵³

In His unending patience, God gives His people numerous opportunities to turn to Him in repentance and bear the fruit of His life within them. He never tires of welcoming us back to Him. He sees our potential to bear fruit and will help us if we would only repent. But, as Messiah’s parable illustrates, this is no excuse for delaying our response.

If we were “in charge,” we would probably be much quicker than Jesus to condemn those committing sins, especially sins that hurt us directly. How many times have we wished that a particularly unpleasant person would receive his or her due? However, if we treat others according to the demands of retribution, we would have to submit ourselves to the same form of justice – not a pleasant prospect. Sinners ourselves, we too would stand condemned.

Thankfully, God doesn’t work that way. While He knows that we deserve condemnation, He withholds judgment in the hope that we will accept His call. God is not the author of retribution and misfortune, and He does not rejoice in the destruction of the wicked. For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares Adonai ELOHIM. Repent and live (Ezeki’el 18:32). He only offers goodness and life. The prayer of David rings true: Bless Adonai, my soul, and forget none of his benefits! He forgives all your offenses, He heals all your diseases, He redeems your life from the pit, He surrounds you with grace and compassion (Psalm 103:2-4 CJB).

If God treats us with mercy and love, how should we treat others? Our willingness to serve others is a reliable measure of how fully we have embraced the love and mercy of our Father. Far from leaving us hopeless, He sent His own Son to preach the Good News, and if we repent from our sins and turn to Him as our Lord and Savior, fill us with His Spirit. Let us reach out to others with the same patience and love we have received from God. Let us also ask the Ruach ha-Kodesh to increase our ability to receive mercy from Him, and in return, show it to others.

Lord Jesus, we come to You with grateful hearts, for You provide the way back to our heavenly Father. Help us yield to Your Ruach as we reach out to others.¹⁰⁵⁴

Hypocrites! You Know How to Interpret the Weather,
But Not the Present Time
Luke 12: 54-59

Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the weather, but not the present time DIG: In what way are they hypocrites? What does the term present time mean? If their culture believed that it was the responsibility of the Great Sanhedrin to identify the Messiah, why would they still be held responsible for rejecting Jesus? What current practice at that time was used as an illustration to make peace with God before it was too late? What would it cost them if they refused to repent?

REFLECT: How can you tell if it is your faith that strains a relationship, or if it is the way you express your faith? What signs in your own life indicate how you’re doing? Using a weather map to describe your spiritual life, what does it forecast? What will it cost if you, a friend, or a loved one, doesn’t repent?

After Jesus spoke directly to His talmidim, He turned His attention to the crowd. Christ now gave those who were rejecting Him a tender, yet stern, warning of the danger that confronted them. The fire that Christ had come to bring on the earth (Luke 12:49) would involve judgment. Those who rejected Him would be brought under severe divine discipline. In view of impending judgment, Yeshua again urged the nation to seek reconciliation with the Judge in order to escape His judgment. The things He had spoken to His apostles had a wider application in Isra’el’s relationship to her Messiah.

Yeshua said to the crowd: When you see a cloud rising in the west (moisture-laden air coming from the Mediterranean Sea), immediately you say, “It’s going to rain,” and it does. And when the south wind blows (a sirocco blowing from the desert from the south-southwest), you say, “It’s going to be hot,” and it is (Luke 12:54-55). The people had learned to determine whether a day would be clear or rainy, or hot or cool, by studying the clouds and the wind. They were able to interpret the signs in the heavens to determine the course of the weather.

Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time (Luke 12:56)? The Greek word for time here is kairon, and in the New Covenant it frequently refers to a specific time appointed by ADONAI. The Kingdom of God had come and the Meshiach was offering salvation through faith. Although Jesus refused to perform signs and wonders for the crowds after His rejection by the Sanhedrin, His actions were nevertheless signs for those with open hearts. This was the same accusation that the Master had made against the religious leaders earlier (to see link click Fv – The Pharisees and Sadducees ask for a Sign).

The Lord held the nation responsible for that revelation. Even though their culture at that time believed that the decision to identify the true Messiah (there had been many false messiah’s over the years) was the responsibility of the Great Sanhedrin (see Lg – The Great Sanhedrin), neither the nation, nor individuals could escape the consequence of their actions. Ezeki’el had said: The one who sins is the one who will die (Ezeki’el 18:1-32). Their stubborn refusal to believe would not, could not, be overlooked.

Therefore, Yeshua urged His listeners to read these signs and act while there was still time to do so. He used the illustration of a court of law to drive home the point that they need to avoid being sentenced by a righteous Judge. An obviously guilty party in a legal dispute will settle out of court if he or she is wise. Likewise, a guilty man or woman approaching the inevitable judgment of ADONAI should settle account with the Creator. Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right (Luke 12:57)?

Luke was a Gentile and his intended audience was largely Gentiles. Therefore, he may have changed the illustration here from a Jewish setting, which could have been settled by a Torah-teacher (Luke 12:13-14), to a Hellenistic one, which would have been settled by a judge, in order to better reflect the kind of situation his readers might face.

As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer (Greek praktor, a technical term for the office of the Roman judicial system who was in charge of the debtor’s prison), and the officer throw you into debtor’s prison (Luke 12:58). When any adversary was led away to the magistrate, he would make every effort to come to an agreement with him before he was dragged before the judge for punishment.¹⁰⁴⁸ For without a proper sacrifice to offer for their sins, their debt would be far too great, and their putrid works far too insufficient.

God’s Kingdom has come! Make peace now with God, the Judge, while there is still time! In this way Christ urged them to be reconciled to Himself since He had been appointed by ADONAI as Judge (John 5:27). Judgment would fall on that generation unless they were reconciled to Him. When judgment came, it would be too late to seek reconciliation (see Mt – The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD). Therefore, Jesus warned the nation: I will tell you something, you won’t ever get out until you have paid the last penny, or leptos, the smallest Jewish copper coin used in Palestine (Luke 12:59). For the last penny in that judgment, as the next file will show (Luke 13:1-9), would be nothing less than their lives. They must repent!

Heavenly Father, in Your mercy You have redeemed us and opened heaven for us. By Your Spirit, help us recognize the signs of Your love and power. Show us how to respond to Your gracious invitation to life.

Not Peace, But Division
Luke 12: 49-53

Not peace, but division DIG: Of what fire is Jesus speaking? What baptism? What division? How does Jesus bring division? Who prophesied of this when Christ was a baby? When? Where? How does this relate to Luke 12:31-34? How do you reconcile this with the fact that He brings peace? How might these verses indicate how the crowd has “misread” Messiah?

REFLECT: What has Yeshua brought to your family and friends: division or peace? How have you personally suffered as a result of your faith in Messiah? Have you been divorced? Have you been ostracized from your family? Have you lost friends over your faith? Have you lost a job or been persecuted at work? How did you handle it? Do you think God’s name was glorified through your actions, or dragged through the mud?

Jesus further clarifies the nature of His messianic mission and warns His inner circle of apostles what to expect. Messiah explains to them that His teaching inevitably provokes opposition and that divisions will come. There were some who would believe in Him and some who would reject Him. This was not unexpected.

Christ emphasizes the fact that He came to bring the refining fire of holiness on the earth (Luke 12:49a). Fire is in the emphatic position in the Greek text; literally, fire I have come to bring. The fire of a burning, purifying, life-giving message, the fire of an unquenchable zeal in the hearts of His talmidim and other disciples, the fire of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, and the ultimate fire of judgment against sin on the earth (Isaiah 66:24; Malachi 3:2-3; First Corinthians 3:13-15; Revelation 19:20, 20:14-15).¹⁰⁴⁵ All judgment was committed into His hands. And the Father has given Him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man (John 5:27).

And how I wish that fire of the Holy Spirit was already ignited (Luke 12:49b)! The grammatical construction for a contrary-to-fact condition indicates that Yeshua longed for the completion of His mission, which was incomplete at that time. As Simeon had predicted years earlier (to see link click Au – Jesus Presented at the Temple), the Son of Righteousness was destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Isra’el, and to be a sign that will be spoken against (Luke 2:34). In the same way, the Second Coming will bring a reward for the faithful but also judgment for the unrepentant (see my commentary on Revelation Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment).

But I have a baptism to undergo (Luke 12:50a). The key for understanding this metaphor is found in a parallel passage in Mark 10:38-39, where the cup Jesus was to drink refers to His zeal to complete His mission and death: Can you drink the cup I drink of and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? This baptism involved Yeshua’s total identification with sinful mankind in which He bears our sins and our punishment. We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to their own way; yet ADONAI laid on Him the guilt of us all. Thus, He becomes a sacrifice for our sins, giving up His very life and immersing Himself into death, paying the death penalty we owe for our sins Like a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:6-7 CJB).¹⁰⁴⁶

I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I AM under a heavy burden until it is accomplished (Luke 12:50b NLT)! The Lord’s commitment to God’s will was total. He completely obsessed to complete His baptism, even though it meant suffering death in Jerusalem (Luke 13:32-33). The Son of Righteousness longed for His baptism despite what it entailed because only through its completion would the fire burst into flames. Messiah’s death is seen here not as a tragedy or a terrible twist of fate but as the fulfillment of the divine plan.

Some might conclude that because Christ did not unite the nation of Isra’el, He was not the Messiah. But the Lord’s answer would be: Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. Yeshua is not to rule in glory at His First Coming; He is not at that time to fulfill the Messianic prophecies of world peace: They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore (Isaiah 2:4). For this reason, He will bring division. Families, both Jewish and Gentile, have been divided and loyalties broken because of our Savior. Jewish believers are still ostracized from their families and friends if they believe Yeshua is Messiah. But to be His disciple we must count the costs.

Some will acknowledge Him as Meshiach, while others will not, so that families will be split down the middle over this issue (Matthew 10:34-39). From now on means that the division did not start after Jesus’ death and resurrection but had already begun, there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. Then Yeshua quotes from Micah 7:6, and gives specific examples of the coming division: They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law (Luke 12:51-53). There before the apostles was a period of work, waiting and trial.

The Master would prepare them for it.

Fire and division. Two powerful images packed into one brief passage of Scripture. Sometimes, it can be difficult not to question God’s compassion when He speaks to us through such dark images. Our Father clearly has an abundance of peace and unity to bring into our lives, but even as we stand firm in our faith, there are times when we may encounter strife and disagreement – even within our own families.

One day when Messiah preached a sermon on the mountainside (see Da – The Sermon on the Mount), Yeshua told His disciples to seek first the Kingdom of God, and the “the rest” will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33). But “the rest” is not always a life without problems. Given the state of our world, it is unrealistic to expect a totally carefree existence. What is it, then, that will be given to us as well? It is the promise made in Hebrews 12, a life of discipline and grace in Jesus Christ. No matter what our situation, we can trust that Jesus is always with us, helping us to work through the difficulties we face in this world: Don’t let your hearts be troubled . . . I have told you this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on this earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world (John 14:1, 16:33).

When He spoke of the fire that He wished were already burning Jesus was talking of the Holy Spirit who was to come after Him to fill the heart of every believer. The divisions He spoke of referred to people or ideologies opposing ADONAI, and how that which opposed God will be separated from His Kingdom. The message of faith challenges people and their relationships, even the strongest bonds of love found in our families.

In the face of these challenges, how should we respond to those who may not agree with the Word of God? We should never be reluctant to speak the truth of the gospel. We are called to be unafraid of the Lord’s purifying, unquenchable fire. Let us eagerly embrace His Word as well as the dividing sword of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh as He moves swiftly to separate the wheat from the chaff (Luke 3:17).

Lord Jesus, we dedicate ourselves to You right now. No matter what the cost, we want to follow Your way, not the way of this world. Amen. He is worthy.¹⁰⁴⁷

The Parable of the Watchful Servants
Luke 12: 35-48

The parable of the watchful servants DIG: What is the relationship between the watchfulness of this passage and the worry of Luke 12:22-34? What are the major concerns of these passages? Why does Peter ask the question in verse 41? Why does Yeshua answer as He does? Why does Christ say that they should be ready in verses 39-40? Who is the thief? What should be the attitude and actions of the faithful and wise manager in verses 42-43? What could tempt the manager to do wrong in verse 45? How does the Lord Himself summarize this passage in verse 48? How would the apostles have interpreted it?

REFLECT: About what dangers is Jesus warning you in these verses? Which danger is most likely to be a problem for you? What has God entrusted to you as His manager? If you knew that in 30 day’s time the Lord was returning, what would you do to get things ready for inspection?

In this section Messiah told two parables (verses 35-40 and 42-48) to His inner circle of apostles, which were joined by a question from Peter (verse 41). The second parable expands and explains the first. Although there is a sense in which these parables are quite applicable with respect to death, Luke’s main point involves the Second Coming. This is clear from the use of the well-known image of the thief coming in the middle of the night. On the day before His death, Yeshua reemphasized the issue of watchfulness to the Twelve (to see link click Jv – The Parable of the Faithful and Wicked Servants).

The one main point to the parable of the watchful servants is that we need to be in a constant state of watchfulness and readiness for the Lord’s return.

Instruction in Watchfulness: The Lord now gave His apostles an exhortation to watchfulness. He likened them to servants attending their master. They were to be ready to serve at any time. Thus Yeshua encouraged them to be dressed and to keep their lamps burning. Be dressed ready for service, literally stand, your waist having been belted. This image of a man who has tucked his long robe up under his belt in order to run is found frequently in the Bible. The use of the perfect participle, having your waist belted, portrays someone who, instead of waiting until the last moment, is always prepared to act. And keep your lamps burning (Luke 12:35).

To impress this on them, He used the imagery of a wedding feast. The time of the wedding feast was not determined. When it would begin, no one knew. So the master’s return time would be undetermined. The picture then, was of servants waiting for their master (Greek: kyrios) to return from a wedding feast. This wedding feast is not the wedding feast of the Lamb (see my commentary on Revelation Fg – Blessed Are Those who are Invited to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb), because here the master returns to his servants after the feast.

When he returned he would expect them to be ready to minister to him. So that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. If those servants were indifferent to their responsibilities, they would put out their lamps and go to bed. But it will be good, literally blessed, for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, literally amen, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table, referring to the wedding feast of the Lamb above, and will come and wait on them (Luke 12:36-37). On the night He was betrayed, Yeshua washed the feet of His talmidim (see Kh – Jesus Washes His Disciples Feet). Because this is a parable, the details cannot be pressed. So here Luke uses symbolic language to say that those who are found faithful when Jesus returns will be honored.

The night guards in the Temple in Jerusalem were placed in twenty-four stations about the gates and courts. Of those, twenty-one were occupied by Levites alone; the other innermost three jointly by priests and Levites (the watch at some of the gates seems at one time to have been hereditary to certain families). Each guard consisted of ten men; so that in all two hundred and forty Levites and thirty priests were on duty every night. The Temple guards were relieved more frequently by day, but not during the night. Hence, when Yeshua said: Whether he comes in the second watch, or even the third, and finds them awake, he will reward those who are ready (Luke 12:38 NASB), He was specifically referring to the second and third watches as those of deepest sleep.¹⁰⁴¹

Christ then gave a second illustration of watchfulness. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into, literally dug through. This suggests a mud brick Palestinian house. The thief’s coming was a common image in the early Church for the Second Coming (First  5:2-4; Second Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3 and 16:15). Then the Lord applied His teaching: You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him (Luke 12:39-40). This teaching was based on the fact that the Kingdom offered Isra’el had been rejected. Thus, it had to be postponed until a future time. Jesus’ servants would be found watching, waiting, and prepared in view that the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5) would return again.¹⁰⁴²

Instruction in Faithfulness: Yeshua did not answer Peter’s question directly. Instead these verses indicate that He was talking primarily about pharisaic Judaism of His day. The religious leaders were supposed to be managing the nation for God until He brought in the messianic Kingdom. The Lord answered:Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk (Luke 12:42-45).

However, they failed at their task. They were not looking expectantly toward the Kingdom. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. The degree of punishment will be determined by the privileges assigned to each person and the knowledge that has been revealed to him or her. In this parable the one who knew the master’s will and was faithless because of the postponement of the master’s return will be cut to pieces, literally cut in two, and assigned a place with the unbelievers. In Jeremiah 34:18 this was the punishment for those who had broken covenant with ADONAI by mistreating their Hebrew slaves. The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows (Luke 12:46-47). Since this was the most severe penalty, Christ must not have been speaking about believers who were not ready. He is referring to the nation’s leaders who will be present at the Great White Throne Judgment (see my commentary on Revelation Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment).¹⁰⁴³

But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. Privilege brings responsibility and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked (Lk 12:48). The degree of light or knowledge one has, determines the measure of responsibility and, thus, the degree of reward or punishment.

In anticipation of their master’s return from a wedding feast, the servants had dressed in proper attire, prepared food, cleaned the house, lit the lamps so that he could easily find his way home, and stationed themselves so that they could immediately respond to his needs. It was very late and they were tired, but none of them fell asleep or shirked their duties. Finally, the master knocked! Eager to care for him, they immediately opened the door and welcomed him in. And, for being prepared for his return he honored them.

How blessed those servants would feel! Their master had treated them with love and compassion, enabling them to love him in return. This parable reflects our lives as servants of the great Master, Yeshua Messiah. He has called each of us to serve Him in preparation for that great day when we will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the clouds (First Thessalonians 4:13-18).

As servants, will we indulge ourselves in our Master’s absence, or will we stand alert, ready to do His bidding? Jesus is eager to reward those who have labored in His absence and are awake and ready when He returns (see my commentary of Revelation Cc –For We Must All Appear Before the Judgment Seat of Christ). The Shield of our Salvation is a loving redeemer and protector unlike any earthly master we will ever know. King though He is, Yeshua performed the ultimate act of service: He laid down His life on the cross so that we could be united with Him forever.

Our Master’s return will be a glorious day for those who believe in Him and know Him as their Lord and Savior. On that day, He will acknowledge our faith and any good works on His behalf. He will embrace His faithful servants, saying, “Come, refresh your souls, partake in My wedding feast, and share in My joy. Sit down and I will wash the dirt of earthly trials, suffering, and hardship from your feet, anoint you with costly oil, and clothe you in My pure white garments of righteousness.”

Lord, help me to serve You faithfully so that on that last Day, I may receive the greatest of all rewards . . . the fullness of joy in Your presence.¹⁰⁴⁴

The Parable of the Rich Fool
Luke 12: 13-34

The parable of the rich fool DIG: In response to the man’s plea, Jesus tells a parable. What is the man’s problem? His solution? Why is he a fool? Why was Messiah’s response so harsh? Was the problem wealth? The Lord gave two examples from nature about trusting God: sparrows and the wild flowers. Can you think of any others? In His application, what does the Master teach about seeking the Kingdom?

REFLECT: Why should you trust YHVH instead of worrying? Explain how worry shows lack of faith? What are the rewards of seeking the kingdom of ADONAI, instead of personal gain? How do earthly riches differ from heavenly treasure? What is the secret of contentment? List some of the consequences of anxiety? What simple steps can believers take to avoid worry? What is the difference between planning ahead and worrying? How does this passage inspire you to trust the Lord with your needs? In what concrete ways can we demonstrate our trust in HaShem’s provision?

The one main point to the parable of the rich fool is that life does not consist in the abundance of material possessions but in a relationship with ADONAI.

The background to this parable starts in Luke 12:1, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus first began to speak to His apostles (to see link click Hc – Warnings and Encouragements To His Disciples) but, at some point, someone in the crowd said to the Prophet of Nazareth, “Rabbi, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Traditionally a rabbi was not a clergyman but a teacher of Jewish values and custom; and as such, the authoritative judge or arbitrator who decided points of the Torah and ethics central to people’s lives. Only since the secularly inspired Haskalah, meaning enlightenment, of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have rabbis in the West been viewed alongside Catholic priests and Protestant ministers as peripheral figures in a supposedly secular “real world.” The Lord replied: Man, who appointed Me a judge or an arbiter between you (Luke 12:13-14)? Alluding to Exodus 2:14, where Moshe appointed himself ruler and judge over his fellow Israelites, Yeshua rejects the role of arbitrator.¹⁰³³  Jesus did not come to reconcile such family disputes. On the contrary, His coming would at times divide families (see Hf – Not Peace, But Division). What this person needed was not some legal ruling by a religious teacher but a basic grasp of how possessions relate to the purpose of life. Who one is . . . is far more important than what one possesses.

The Preceding Wisdom Statement. Evidently, Messiah regarded the questioner’s attitude to be typical so He addressed His remarks to the whole crowd: Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions (Luke 12:15). Are you in prison? You are if you feel better when you have more and worse when you have less. You are if joy is one delivery away, one transfer away, one award away, or one makeover away. If your happiness comes from something you deposit, drive, drink, or digest, then face it – you’re in prison . . . the prison of want.

That’s the bad news. But, the good news is, you have a visitor. And your visitor has a message that can get you paroled. Make your way to the receiving room. Take your seat in the chair, and look across the table at the psalmist David. He motions for you to lean forward. “I have a secret to tell you,” he whispers, “the secret is satisfaction.” The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want (Psalm 23:1 NKJV). It’s as if David is saying, “What I have in ADONAI is greater than what I don’t have in life.” Can we say the same?¹⁰³⁴

The First Stanza: God Gives. When Yeshua addresses the crowd, He is teaching His talmidim and those who believe in Him and have spiritual ears to hear. And He told them this parable: The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest (Luke 12:16). Jesus was dealing with a theme already well known in the literature of His audience (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11; Job 31:24-28).

The Second Stanza: The Problem. He thought to himself, “What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops” (Luke 12:17). One of the more striking features of the traditional Near Easterner thought is his gregarious nature. Life is lived in tightly knit communities. The leading men of the village sit at the gate and spend literally years talking to one another. The slightest transaction is worthy of hours of discussion. The elder in the community makes up his mind in community. He does his thinking in a crowd. The text does not read: He said to himself. No, the rich man dialogues with himself. He obviously has no one else with whom to talk. He trusts no one and has no friends or confidants with whom he can exchange ideas. When he needs someone to talk to, he can talk only to himself. Therefore, we begin to get Jesus’ picture of the kind of prison that wealth can build. He has the money to buy a vacuum and live in it. Life in this vacuum creates its own realities, and out of this warped perspective we hear him announce his solution.

The Third Stanza: The Present Plan. The very climax in the third stanza is related to the beginning and the end of the parable. This is the turning point, for the rich man decides what he will do to solve his problem. Then he said, “This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build up bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain” (Luke 12:18). The language of tear down and build up is classical prophetic language that refers to the call of ministry of the prophet (Jeremiah 1:10). It speaks of the courageous acts in the name of YHVH that call for suffering in their fulfillment. Here this noble language is sadly cheapened by this self-indulgent rich man who is determined that he alone will consume God’s gifts. These gifts of surplus wealth have become “my grain and my goods.” Covetousness (see my commentary on Exodus Dt – You Shall Not Covet Anything That Belongs To Your Neighbor) arises from a false philosophy of life that says the greatest good in life is to acquire material possessions. Such a philosophy characterized the Pharisees, who interpreted material prosperity as a sign of divine blessing. They expressed their philosophy in the saying, “Whom God loves He makes rich.”¹⁰³⁵ It was in the barns that the tithes and offerings were set aside. The priests and Levites came to the barns to collect them. But our rich man has other things on his mind, as we see from his concluding speech.

The Fourth Stanza: The Future Plan. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry” (Luke 12:19). This speech is not necessarily sad, it’s just rather pitiful. This wealthy, self-confident man has arrived. He has made it. All that he has longed for has now been realized. He needs an audience for his arrival speech. But who is available? Family? Friends? Servants and their families? Village elders? Fellow landowners? Who will, “rejoice with me?” The father in the parable of the Prodigal son has a community ready at any moment to join him in a celebration of joy (Luke 15:22-24). The shepherd and the woman call their friends and neighbors to rejoice over the found sheep and coin (Luke 15:6 and 9). The gregarious Near Easterner always has a community around him. But this man? He can only talk to himself. The parable assumes a time lapse between stanzas four and five.

The Fifth Stanza: God Takes Away. The voice of YHVH thunders at him (presumably) after he has prepared his maximum security storage barns. Thus, after his arrival, he is confronted with the stark reality of the world he has created with his wealth. But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. The sting of the words lies, however, not in the announcement that he must die, but in the following question, which clearly shows the real poverty of his life. He is lonely and friendless in the midst of his vast wealth. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself (Luke 12:20)? The reader already knows this. Now we see that it takes the voice of YHVH Himself to penetrate the rich man’s self-created isolation and confront him with a chilling vision of himself. There is no accusing question, such as, “What have you done for others?” He has no doubt developed impenetrable armor for just such an attack. Rather, God thunders, “Look what you have done to yourself!” You plan alone, build alone, indulge alone, and now you must die alone!¹⁰³⁶

The Following Wisdom Statement. This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God (Luke 12:21). The phrase rich toward God is a synonym for treasures in heaven (see my commentary on Revelation Cc – For We Must All Appear Before the Bema Seat in Heaven). David said: The fool says in his heart, “There is not God” (Psalm 14:1), so, in effect, that’s what this rich man was saying. He had left God out of the picture.

The Application: Christ gave six reasons why they were not to worry about material possessions. First, turning to the Twelve, He no longer spoke in parables and said: So I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes (Luke 12:22-23). Sometimes we make life much harder than we need to make it. We rush around, working overtime to ensure that we have all the things we need and want. In a consumer-oriented society, Yeshua words about trusting ADONAI can easily be missed.¹⁰³⁷  But Jesus said He would meet our needs. Of all His words in the Bible, Christ had more to say about money than any other topic. This section offers a good summary of His attitude. He does not condemn possessions, but He warns against putting faith in money to secure the future. Money fails to solve life’s biggest problems.

Second, He emphasized that all of God’s creatures are under His care: Consider the ravens. In contrast to humans they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds (Luke 12:24)! He cares for them. Unlike the sparrows (Matthew 10:29-31), ravens were not sold because they are scavengers. There are other versions of this (add your favorite animal, fish or bird). Like, consider the bunnies, they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom of barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than bunnies (Luke 12:24 paraphrased)!

Third, the Lord reminded them that anxious care cannot change the situation. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? The assumed answer is, of course, no one. So it is ridiculous to worry. Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest (Luke 12:25-26)? Whereas the following reasons teach that the believer need not worry, the first three reasons teach that worrying is futile.

Fourth, Christ taught that people do not have the power to provide as wonderfully as God can. Again Jesus went to the natural realm to point out that God takes care of what belongs to Him. Consider how the wild flowers grow. Although the exact flower designated in the Greek is unclear, the meaning is not. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these (Luke 12:27: First Kings 10:4-7; Second Chronicles 9:3-6).

Fifth, if ADONAI takes care of the grass in the field, which has such a temporary existence, will He not take care of His own? If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire (better translated oven), how much more will he clothe you – you of little faith (Luke 12:28)! Wood was relatively scarce in Isra’el, and grass was used for fuel to bake bread. In addition, grass frequently is used in the TaNaKh as a symbol for the transitory nature of life.

Sixth, He reminded them that they have a Father who knows what they need and will provide. And do not set your heart on, literally, do not seek, what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them (Luke 12:29-30). Literally, this means the unbelieving Gentile nations, who do not know God (First Thessalonians 4:5).

As an alternative to worrying, the Lord exhorted them to faith. But seek His Kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well (Luke 12:31). Sometimes ADONAI is so touched by what He sees that He gives us what we need and not simply what we ask for. It’s a good deal for us because who would have ever thought to ask Messiah for what He gives? Which of us would have dared to say, “God, would you please hang Yourself on a tool of torture as a substitution for every sin I have ever committed?” And then have the nerve to say, “And after You’ve forgiven me, could You prepare for me a place to live in Your house forever?” Then, if that wasn’t enough, “And would You please live within me and protect me and guide me and bless me with more than I could ever deserve?” Seriously, would we ever have enough guts to ask for that? Yeshua already knows the cost of grace. He already knows the price of forgiveness. But He offers it anyway. Love burst His heart.¹⁰³⁸

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom. This is accomplished through doing tzedakah, literally doing righteousness, but understood as giving to charity. That is, by not being selfish and sharing your wealth.¹⁰³⁹  Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out. Purses is a metaphor for the contents in them. In other words, one should not even attempt to use one’s earthly money to lay up treasure in heaven. But by being generous with your money, you will store up a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. Jesus is not against having wealth but against making wealth the center of your life. Christ reminded them of the bondage of such slavery and asked them to put their faith in God so that they might become enslaved to Him. Yeshua added: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Lk 12:32-34). One cannot serve God and money (Lk 16:13), but one can serve God by the correct use of money.

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son,

“How was the trip?”

“It was great, Dad.”

“Did you see how poor people live,” the father asked.

“Oh yes,” said the son.

“So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they have four.”

“We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.”

“We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the whole horizon.”

“We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.”

“We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.”

“We buy our food, but they grow theirs.”

“We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

They boy’s father was speechless.

Then his son added, “Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are.”

Too many times, we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don’t have. What is one person’s worthless object is another’s prized possession. It is all based on one’s perspective. It makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for all that we have instead of worrying about wanting more.¹⁰⁴⁰

Jesus’ Warnings and Encouragements To His Disciples
Luke 12: 1-12

Jesus’ warnings and encouragements to His disciples DIG: Why does this crowd grow? What warnings (verses 1-3) does Yeshua issue the apostles? How does hypocrisy work like leaven? Why does Jesus encourage His talmidim to fear, yet be fearless (verses 4-7)? What does it mean to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit (verse 10)? How can believers be assured of not doing this? What does Messiah teach about the believer’s security facing human opposition? God’s judgment?

REFLECT: How do you feel knowing that everything done in secret will someday be revealed? When have you felt like you took a real risk and stood for Christ in public? What did you learn from that experience?

Meanwhile, a crowd of many thousands had gathered; there were so many that they were trampling on one another. Being totally honest, Jesus first began to speak to His apostles, saying: Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. When the word leaven is used symbolically in the Scriptures, it is always a symbol of sin, frequently the specific sin of false doctrine (to see link click Ex – The Parable of the Leaven). Jesus warned that it was foolish to be hypocritical because there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. So the talmidim should be open, not two-faced about the way they lived their lives. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs (Luke 12:1-3).

Messiah went on to teach the Twelve (My friends), not to be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But, He said: I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Gey-Hinnom, brought over into the Greek and English as Gehenna, is usually translated hell. Literally, valley of Hinnom (a personal name), is located both then and now just south of the Old City of Jerusalem. Rubbish fires (and unclaimed bodies) were always burning there hence its used as a metaphor for hell, with its burning fire of punishment for the unrighteous (Isaiah 66:24). Elsewhere in the TaNaKh Deuteronomy 32:22 talks about a burning hell; Second Samuel 22:6, Psalm 18:5 and Psalm 116:3 show that hell is a sorrowful place; Psalm 9:17 says that the wicked go to hell; and Job 26:6 shows that hell is a place of destruction. The Hebrew word in all these verses is sh’ol, which usually corresponds to the Greek ades (Hades). Thus, hell is not a novelty of the B’rit Chadashah.¹⁰²⁹

Yes, I tell you, fear Him (Luke 12:4-5; also see my commentary on Jude As – They are Autumn Trees Without Fruit, Wild Waves of the Sea Foaming Up Their Shame, Wandering Stars). It is important to recognize the finality of the coming judgment (see my on Revelation Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment). When the verdict is finally rendered, the wicked will be assigned to their final state. Nothing in Scripture indicates that there will be opportunity for salvation after a preliminary period of punishment.

Not only is the future judgment of unbelievers irreversible, but also their punishment is eternal. I do not merely reject the idea that all will be saved; I also reject the contention that none will be eternally punished. The school of thought known as annihilationism, on the one hand, maintains that although not everyone will be saved, there is only one category of future existence. Those who are saved will have an unending life, and those who are not saved will be eliminated or annihilated. They will simply cease to exist. While granting that not everyone deserves to be saved, to receive everlasting bliss, annihilationism maintains that no one deserves eternal suffering.

The problem with annihilationism is that it contradicts the teaching of the Bible. Both the TaNaKh and the B’rit Chadashah refer to unending or unquenchable fire. Isaiah 66:24, the very last verse in the book, reads: And they shall go forth and look on the dead bodies of the men that have rebelled against Me; for their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind. Jesus uses the same images to describe the punishment of sinners: And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands and go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, where their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched (Mark 9:43-48). These passages make it clear that the punishment is unending. It does not consume the one upon whom it is inflicted and thus simply come to an end.

In addition, there are several instances where words like everlasting, eternal, and forever are applied to nouns designating the future state of the wicked: fire or burning (Isaiah 33:14; Jeremiah 17:4; Matthew 18:8, 25:41; Jude 7), contempt (Dani’el 12:2), destruction (Second Thessalonians 1:9), chains (Jude 6), and torment (Revelation 14:11, 20:10). In particular, Matthew 25:46 says: Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. If the one (eternal life) is of unending duration, then the other (eternal punishment) must also be of unending duration.¹⁰³⁰

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies, literally, two assarions, or the two smallest Roman coins? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows (Luke 12:6-7). This example assures believers that as children of ADONAI, we are much more valuable to Him than sparrows. As a result, we should be assured that God knows and rules over every aspect of our lives. Yeshua was also telling His talmidim that He would take care of them in the midst of their persecution that would eventually come their way after He went back to His heavenly home to be with the Father (see Mr – The Ascension of Jesus).

The point Meshiach is making in Luke 12:8-10, is that the apostles must make a choice: I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges Me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. To acknowledge points to the fact that the Twelve recognized Jesus as the Messiah, and therefore had access to the way of salvation. Those who did not acknowledge Him were denying themselves the way of salvation. But whoever disowns Me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. Then Yeshua carried the logic one step further. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Earlier, the Lord had linked this activity with the Pharisees who were rejecting the work of Yeshua (see Em – Whoever Blasphemes Against the Holy Spirit Will Never Be Forgiven). Apparently the Ruach Ha’Kodesh had convicted the Pharisees that Jesus was indeed the Meshiach, but, they rejected His witness. The Pharisees could never be forgiven because they rejected God’s only means of salvation. In contrast to that, a number of Christ’s own brothers who initially rejected Him (John 7:5) later came to faith (Acts 1:14) and were forgiven even though they had spoken against the Son of Man.¹⁰³¹

The context of this warning to His talmidim was in the context of fear in the previous verses. Yeshua encouraged them not to be afraid to acknowledge their faith publicly. When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Ruach Ha’Kodesh will teach you at that time what you should say (Luke 12:11-12). Yeshua continues to comfort believers concerning fear: they need not be anxious about committing the unpardonable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit when under investigation by hostile synagogues, rulers and authorities because the Ruach Ha’Kodesh Himself will provide the words they need to glorify God in such dire moments.¹⁰³²

Jesus’ Instruction in View of His Rejection
Luke 12:1 to 13:21

Messiah first taught several truths to His inner circle of apostles:

1. Jesus’ Warnings and Encouragements to His Disciples (Hc) Luke 12:1-12

2. The Parable of the Rich Fool (to see link click Hd) Luke 12:13-34

3. The Parable of the Watchful Servants (He) Luke 12:35-48

4. Not Peace But Division (Hf) Luke 12:49-53

Then Yeshua taught several lessons to the multitudes:

5. Hypocrites! You Know How to Interpret the Weather,
but Don’t Know How to Interpret the Present Times (Hg) Luke 12:54-59

6. Unless You Repent, You Will Perish (Hh) Luke 13:1-9

7. Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath (Hi) Luke 13:10-21

Six Woes
Luke 11: 37-54

Six woes DIG: Where does Jesus go to dinner? What surprises the Pharisee? How does the Lord turn the tables on His host? What is the basic point in verses 39-41? In your own words, what is the meaning of the first three woes in verses 42-44? Given their view of tombs and the dead, what is the significance of the unmarked graves to the Pharisees in verse 44? What is the point of these criticisms? In your own words, what is the meaning of the last three woes in verses 46-52? In the sixth woe what does Yeshua mean by the key of knowledge? What is the main point of these accusations directed at the experts in the Torah? How does this dinner with a Pharisee compare with a previous one? What was the difference between the two?

REFLECT: Typically, Messiah is thought of as “meek and mild.” What is the significance of this passage’s presentation of Yeshua for you? Of the first three woes directed at the Pharisees, which one could the Lord be directing at you? Why? Of the last three woes directed at the experts in the Torah, which one might you be guilty of? Why? Is there any way you would like your life to change in light of what you have read here? Why or why not? What specifically would you like to see happen this week? Do you have someone who can tell you something very difficult that you need to hear?

When Christ had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited Him to eat with him. Once again (to see link click Ef – Jesus Anointed by a Woman Who Led a Sinful Life) we see a Pharisee inviting Yeshua to eat with him for the purpose of entrapping Him. So Messiah went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee was amazed when he noticed that Jesus did not follow the Oral Law (see Ei – The Oral Law) and first wash before the meal (Luke 11:37-38).

Then Yeshua condemned the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. They were overly concerned with external appearances. While keeping a kosher kitchen, they were quite careful. You clean the outside of the cup and dish. The word kosher itself implies cleanliness, both ritually and literally. This was so important that there is an entire tractate dedicated to utensils and dietary laws (Tractate Kelim). They kept a kosher kitchen, but, unkosher actions had crept inside their lives. But inside they were full of greed and wickedness. The obvious violations of the spirit of the Torah lead Christ to call the Pharisees foolish! They should have been just as concerned with cleansing the inside as well as the outside. Did not the One who made the outside make the inside also? But now as for what is inside you – be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you (Luke 11:39-41). One indication that they were clean on the inside would be their willingness to give materially to the poor. This didn’t mean that their giving would atone for their sins, but, that it would demonstrate a proper relationship with the Torah and to ADONAI.

Jesus then addressed Himself particularly to the Pharisees of the group by castigating them at first with three general woes. This initial grouping was concerned with the lesser demands of the Torah and not the greater demands that we see in the last grouping of three woes. For example, nothing was supposed to be eaten unless it was first tithed.

1. Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of even the smallest income from your herb gardens, thinking that by such an observance they were fulfilling the Torah. But Christ said: You deliberately neglect justice because you are indifferent to the poor and pass them by. Messiah revealed that the Torah demanded love for ADONAI and justice toward the poor. When the Pharisees concentrated on the Oral Law they did not recognize the LORD’s right to them and all they possessed (see the practice of declaring their possessions Corban in Fs – Why Do Your Disciples Break the Tradition of the Elders). Consequently, you also neglect the love for God. This made them hypocrites (Luke 12:1). You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone (Luke 11:42). Yeshua did not condemn the tithe, but approved of it; however, the sin of the Pharisees was in neglecting the weightier matters of the inward state of the heart.¹⁰²⁴

2. Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important semi-circular seats facing the congregation in the synagogues. Even at meals they observed how they were seated in the order of “worthiness” at the table (Mattityahu 23:6). And filled with pride, they wanted to be honored by men and even liked to be saluted in the market places as a sign of a respectful greeting (Luke 11:43). This was in sharp contrast to the character of Moshe, whom they professed to respect, and who was characterized by ADONAI as being more humble than anyone on earth (Numbers 12:3).¹⁰²⁵

3. Woe to you, because you are like unmarked tombs, which people walk over without knowing it (Luke 11:44). They defile without any warning because they are not white washed. Any Jew who came into contact with a dead body or tomb (Numbers 9:6-10, 19:16) would be defiled and would have to undergo an extensive threefold cleansing ritual. There would be a period of waiting where the defilement had stopped (Numbers 19:11-14); then a period of cleansing (Leviticus 15:1-33); and finally a sacrifice would be made (see my commentary on Exodus Fe – The Burnt Offering). Isra’el had three major pilgrim festivals (Shalosh Regalim) – Passover (Pesach), Weeks (Shavu’ot), and Booths (Sukkot). During the second Temple period all the raised tombs around the Holy City of Jerusalem would be carefully whitewashed on the outside to make sure no pilgrims would accidentally defile themselves by coming into contact with them and, as a result of the period of the seven day waiting period, be unable to join in the festival, including the offering of sacrifices. So here, Yeshua accused the Pharisees of defiling people spiritually because of their hypocrisy and false teaching of the Oral Law. The Pharisees feared defilement from ritual uncleanness, but Messiah pointed out that their greed, pride and wickedness defiled the entire nation.

It was at this point that Jesus was interrupted. One of the experts in the Torah broke in. Remembering in what contempt some of the learned held the ignorant bigotry of the Pharisees, we can understand that he might have listened with secret enjoyment to their rebuke . But, as he rightly remarked: Rabbi, when you say these things, you insult us also (Luke 11:45 CJB). By not merely attacking their practice, but also their principles, the whole system of the tradition of the elders (Mattityahu 15:2), which they represented, was condemned. And so the Lord assuredly meant it to be offensive.¹⁰²⁶

Tradition has not only led Judaism down the wrong path into false doctrine, it has done the same thing with Catholicism. By the time Christ was born, the tradition of the elders, or the Oral Law, had been declared of equal authority with the Torah by the Great Sanhedrin; and in the Catholic Church, the Counsel of Trent declared tradition of equal authority with the Bible in 1545.

Protestantism and Roman Catholicism agree that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. However, they differ widely in regard to the place that it is to have in the life of the Church. Protestantism holds that the Bible alone is the authoritative and sufficient rule of faith and practice. But Romanism holds that the Bible must be supplemented by a great body of tradition consisting of 14 or 15 apocryphal books or portions of books equivalent to about two-thirds the volume of the New Testament, the voluminous writings of the Greek and Latin church fathers, and a huge collection of church council pronouncements and papal decrees as of equal value and authority – a veritable library in itself.

It is very evident that this difference of opinion concerning the authoritative basis of the Church is bound to have radical and far-reaching effects. The age long controversy between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism comes to a head regarding the question of authority. This is the basic difference between the two. And it is in its use of tradition that both Judaism and Catholicism find the authority for its destructive doctrines.

We should not reject all custom, but rather, make careful use of it in so far as it relates to Scripture. We should, for example, treat with respect and study with care the confessions and council pronouncements of the various churches, particularly those of the ancient Church and of Reformation days. We should also give careful attention to the confessions and council decision of present day churches, scrutinizing most carefully, of course, those of the denomination to which we belong.

But, no church should have the right to formulate new doctrine or to make decisions contrary to the teaching of the sixty-six books of the Bible. The history of the universal Church shows all too clearly that church leaders and church councils can and do make mistakes, some of them monumental. Consequently, their decisions should have no authority except as they are based on Scripture.

In professing to interpret the Bible in light of tradition, the Roman Church in reality places tradition above the Bible (as Judaism and Mormonism does), so that the Roman Church is governed, not by the Bible, but by the church itself that sets up the traditions and says what they mean. Theoretically, the Roman Church accepts the Bible, but in practice she does not leave her members free to follow it.

Therefore, in the final analysis, Roman Catholic tradition nullifies the Word of God. She maintains that alongside the written Word of God there is also an unwritten word, an oral tradition if you will, that was handed down generation after generation by word of mouth (is this not eerily similar to the Jewish Oral Law?). It takes precedence over the written Word and interprets it. The pope, as God’s personal representative on the earth, can legislate for things outside of the Bible as new situations arise.

The Council of Trent, the most authoritative of all Roman councils, and the one of greatest historical significance, in the year 1546, declared that the Word of God is contained both in the Bible and in tradition. Thus, it declared that the two are of equal authority, and it is the duty of every Roman Catholic to give them equal worship and respect. Don’t get me wrong. I believe there are believers who are truly saved within the Catholic Church; however, they are saved in spite of her tradition, and not because of it.¹⁰²⁷

4. Woe to you, supposed experts in the Torah, because you load people down with burdens of the Oral Law (see Ei – The Oral Law) that they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them (Luke 11:46). This is the yoke of pharisaic Judaism of which Christ had spoken when He invited those who were weary and burdened to come to Him (Matthew 11:28). The 365 prohibitions and the 248 commandments that the Pharisees came up with was impossible enough, but then they added about 1,500 other Oral Laws for each and every one of the 613 prohibitions and commandments of the Torah. The Pharisees provided no assistance to bear that burden. It was an impossible, hopeless, crushing weight.

5. Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, God in his wisdom said, “I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute” (Luke 11:47-49). Their rejection of the prophets lead to the rejection of the Messiah. Everything the prophets had to say about Jesus had been said by that time. That particular generation would be required to pay for their rejection with their own blood in 70 AD with the destruction of the Temple by the Roman general Titus and his army. The rejection of Yeshua and the rejection of the prophets cannot be separated. That generation could not claim to affirm the prophets without affirming Jesus Christ.

Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah the high priest, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary (Second Chronicles 24:20-22). Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all (Luke 11:50-51). This generation had identified themselves with murderers and were under divine judgment. If any of them had argued that they were not identifying themselves with their fathers but were honoring those whom their fathers had wrongly put to death, they would have been asked why they did not observe all that the prophets commanded them to do. The prophets had also promised the coming of Messiah. By their rejecting Christ’s words, this generation had identified themselves with their forefathers who had murdered the prophets. They were just as guilty. Jesus will repeat this later (see Jd – Seven Woes on the Torah-teachers and Pharisees), with more woes at that time.¹⁰²⁸

6. Woe to you supposed experts in the Torah, because you have taken away the key that leads to knowledge, or the LORD’s plan of salvation. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering. In other words, they had hidden the truth from those who depended on them for knowledge (Luke 11:52). The Oral Law did not, and does not reveal ADONAI, nor the demands that God’s holiness makes on those who walk in fellowship with Him. Rather, they obscured Ha’Shem and His demands. Christ had come to offer light, but the Pharisees and Torah-teachers had bound the people in darkness.

When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Torah began to oppose Him fiercely and to besiege Him with questions, waiting to catch Him in something He might say (Luke 11:53-54). This expression is used in Acts 23:21 of people waiting in ambush to kill Rabbi Sha’ul. The apostate Jewish leaders lost themselves emotionally trying to get Him to say something that would violate either the Torah or the Oral Law so that they could bring a legal charge against Him. It was obvious that there could be no reconciliation between the Nazarene and pharisaic Judaism.

It may surprise you that Jesus accepted the Pharisee’s invitation to eat with Him. The Lord and the Pharisees always seemed to be in opposition to one another; disagreements and arguments were a regular part of their interaction. Messiah knew that the Pharisee invited Christ for the specific purpose of setting a theological trap, so he could discover some way that the Galilean Rabbi violated the Oral Law. So why would Yeshua accept such an invitation and walk into the lion’s den?

When Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount He said: You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you,“Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you” (see Dm – You Have Heard It Said: Love Your Neighbor). Christ cared enough about that man to confront him with his sin? Do you have someone like that in your life? Someone who cares enough about you to risk their friendship? Do you know what that person is called? That person is called a friend, and Jesus was a friend to prostitutes and sinners. Those Pharisees and Torah-teachers were sinners, and there was no one else in the whole world that could confront them with their sin like the Master. This might seem mean, or tough – too tough for your taste maybe – but, loving nonetheless.

If you are the parent of a teenager you understand what I am talking about. Sometime tough equals love, and letting someone sin up a storm without any accountability is . . . what? You fill in the blank. But, it isn’t love. Here, Jesus was practicing what He had been preaching. He was loving His enemy, and no doubt, praying for this hateful Pharisee who persecuted Him. In fact, the Son of Righteousness would soon be slaughtered like a lamb in the next few months.

Jesus Drives Out Another Mute Demon
Luke 11: 16-36

Jesus drives out another mute demon DIG: How does the crowd react to Messiah’s miracle? How does He show the foolishness of the claim that He drives out demons by Beelzebub? What does Yeshua’s ability to drive out demons say about the kingdom of God? What is Jesus’ point in verses 24-26? What do you think Mary thought when she learned what Christ had said? What was Messiah saying about His mother? How did He redefine motherhood and family? According to Jesus, what is a woman’s true and highest calling? Why? Why does Yeshua condemn this particular generation? What is the sign of Jonah? Who is the Queen of the South? Who condemns whom? What is His point in the analogy of verse 34? What do the eyes and body represent? How is this spiritual truth perceived?

REFLECT: If you had to compare your life right now to a fortress, what is it like: The Rock of Gibraltar, slowly eroding, or crumbling? Are you spiritually on the attack or under siege? How is the battle going? How does what Christ said about His mother impact you? Are the greatest blessings offered for women by Jesus, single or married, still fully within reach? Why or why not? What sign would it take for your generation to turn to God? What is the problem with relying on “signs” to change people’s motivations? How would your spiritual sight score: 20/20? 20/80? Colorblind? Why?

Jesus had already been rejected on the grounds of demon possession (to see link click Ek – It is only by Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons that This Fellow Drives out Demons), but that was in Galilee, this is in Judea. Here Yeshua drives out another mute demon, which of course was one of the three messianic miracles (see my commentary on Isaiah Gl – The Three Messianic Miracles). The Pharisees, who by this time hounded Him continually, knew how to antagonize His work. Before the crowds asked: Could this be the Son of David (Matthew 12:23). But now the masses that followed Him tested the Galilean Rabbi, asking for a sign.

The Charge: Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. The transition from the preceding account is abrupt. The imperfect tense of the verb, indicating continuous action, throws us immediately into the present story. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But some of them, parroting what the Pharisees had said earlier (Matthew 12:24), mocked Him, saying, “By Beelzebub (Hebrew: Ba’al-Zibbul), the prince of demons, He is driving out demons” (Luke 11:14-15). Messiah was attacked from two sides at the same time. From the one side He was attacked with brazen scorn saying His miracles were attributed to the deceiver, the prince of demons. Others, however, under the pretext of piety, tested Him by asking for a sign from heaven (Luke 11:16). However, there is never enough evidence for unbelief. They were beginning to accept the pharisaic explanation and mimic the members of the Sanhedrin (see Lg – The Great Sanhedrin).

The Defense: The Son of Righteousness refuted the false charge with three proofs. The first reason was that if He got His power from Satan and used that power against Satan, then Satan would be working against himself, and this would be inconceivable. Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub (Luke 11:17-18). But the Jewish religious leaders and a growing number of others were blinded by the god of this age (Second Corinthians 4:4). It was as if they were saying, “My mind is already made up . . . don’t confuse me with the facts.”

Secondly, Yeshua pointed out the double standard of those who were accusing Him. They themselves recognized that the gift of exorcism was from God. And if their followers drove out demons, they claimed it was done by the power of ADONAI. Therefore, they were inconsistent in their own theology. Since Christ cast out demons, it too must be by God’s finger, that is, by His power. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, or Satan, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you (Luke 11:19-20). This miracle would authenticate His message.

Thirdly, if Messiah can enter Satan’s house, it is evident that He has greater power than the evil one, who would have sought to resist Him. When a strong man (Satan), fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger (Christ) attacks and overpowers him, He takes away the armor in which the strong man trusted and divides up his plunder. This shows that He is stronger than Satan, not subservient to him. Christ then called on the people to make a decision, stating: Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters (Luke 11:21-23). It was impossible to remain neutral in the battle between Christ and the great dragon. The people who were watching had to make up their minds. It was now evident which side His enemies were on. They started out by accusing Jesus of being in league with the prince of demons, but wound up by finding themselves revealed to the people as allies of Satan.¹⁰¹⁹

The Condition of the Nation: Here, Messiah compares the nation to a person who once had an evil spirit. When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, “I will return to the house I left.” When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first (Luke 11:24-26).

By this story the Lord revealed His estimate of the nation. Isra’el was unclean and John the Baptist had carried on a ministry calling people to repentance (see Be – John the Baptist Prepares the Way). Multitudes had responded to the ministry of the Immerser, acknowledging their sin. These identified themselves with Yochanan by baptism, with the understanding that they would experience the forgiveness of sin when the Meshiach, whom they were anticipating, should come. Therefore, the nation was cleansed. But, in the interval, the nation had turned from John’s message of repentance and was now in the process of rejecting Christ. This meant that the good John had done in the nation was being thrown away. And with this progressive rejection of Jesus there was an accompanying spiritual decline and regression. So, when the nation finalized its decision to reject the Truth, the spiritual condition of the nation would be worse than it was before the Herald began his ministry. This was a serious accusation against the nation.¹⁰²⁰

As Yeshua was saying these things, a woman in the crowd, deeply moved by His teachings, desired to publicly honor Him by praising His mother. She called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you” (Luke 11:27). Such public tribute to Jesus’ mother was certainly fitting, for to produce such a wise and godly son was the crowning glory of a mother. This kind of remark would make any mother beam with pleasure. In a culture that measured a woman by the number of sons she bore, and especially in light of Messiah’s uncompromising teaching about honoring father and mother, you would expect the Nazarene to thunder a hearty, “Amen!” Instead, He dared to disagree.

He replied: Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey it (Luke 11:28). The Son of Righteousness zeroed in on two sacred institutions for women – motherhood and family – and redefined them both. According to the Living Word, a woman’s life is truly blessed not when she becomes a mother, but, when she hears and obeys the Word of God. The crowning glory for both men and women is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is our true identity and the only path to blessedness. To base our identity on anything else, children and family for women or career for men, is to build your house on sand. But nothing can ever take away our calling as disciples of the Meshiach.

Mary’s life wasn’t perfect. Gabriel’s message brought a sudden end to her hopes for a picture-perfect life when she was just barely starting out in life. Somewhere along the line Joseph died. The loss of a husband finishes off some women. Toward the end of her biblical story the cross loomed on the horizon. Miryam stood on the verge of the worst possible shame for a mother. When her son was crucified as a common criminal, no one cried out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” If Mary’s identity and meaning in life depended on motherhood and family, this would have destroyed her. But, Jesus came to save His mother too. And so He jarred her enough to free her from her identity as His Blessed Mother and gave her an identity durable enough to outlast the cross.

Messiah did all that without taking anything away from motherhood. He emphatically taught the importance of honoring one’s mother. But, he never limited women – His mother or any other woman – to the role of mother. Both the TaNaKh and New Covenant define women in terms broad enough to encompass every woman’s life, from start to finish. Women find their highest calling and deepest meaning in life when they hear the Word of God and obey it. From Miryam’s earliest days until the end of her life, she was called to be Yeshua’s disciple. Nothing could take that away from her.¹⁰²¹

The doctrine of “Mary, the Mother of God” as we know it today is a result of centuries of growth, often stimulated by pronouncements of Roman cardinals. And yet the full-fledged system of Mariolatry is a comparatively recent development in Roman Catholic dogma. As late as the fourth century there are no indications of any special veneration of Mary. The phrase “Mother of God” originated in the Council of Ephesus, in 431, and was not proclaimed “Mother of the Church” until 1965 by Pope Paul VI. Today she is the object of all religious affections, and the source where all the blessings of salvation are sought and expected.

The Bible calls Mary Jesus’ mother (John 2:1), but, gives her no other title. All the Roman Church has to substantiate for the worship of Mary is a bunch of traditions entirely outside the Bible telling of her appearances to certain monks, nuns, and other venerated as saints. At first glance the term “Mother of God” may seem comparatively harmless. But, the actual result is that through its use Roman Catholics come to look upon Mary as stronger, more mature, and more powerful than Christ. To them she becomes the source of His being and overshadows Him. So, they go to her – not to Him. “He came to us through Mary,” says Rome, “and we must go to Him through her.” Romanism elevates Mary to a position the Bible doesn’t support and God never intended.¹⁰²²

The Sign to the Nation: As the crowds increased, Jesus said to them: This is a wicked generation. The emphasis was on that particular generation. The common people are beginning to accept the pharisaic interpretation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation (Luke 11:29-30). Isra’el was to receive no more signs but the sign of Jonah, which was the sign of resurrection (see my commentary on Jonah As – The Sign of Jonah). This sign was to come to Isra’el three different times.

The first sign of Jonah was the resurrection of Lazarus (Ia), which was rejected when the Sanhedrin plotted to kill Jesus (Ib).

The second sign of Jonah was the resurrection of Christ (Mc), which was rejected when the Sanhedrin rejected the truth of the gospel and stoned Stephen in Acts 7:1-60.

The third sign of Jonah will be the resurrection of the Two Witnesses (see my commentary on Revelation Dm – The Resurrection of the Two Witnesses), which will be accepted and all Isra’el will be saved (see my commentary on Revelation Ev – The Basis for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ).

The Queen of the South (First Kings 10:1-15), will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them (see Ep – The Queen of the South Will Rise at the Judgment with This Generation and Condemn It), for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom and profited by it. Now this generation had heard the wisdom of One greater than Solomon but turned from His word. Therefore, the men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here (Luke 11:31-32). A greater preacher than Jonah and a wiser sage than Solomon was here, making their condemnation even greater for rejecting Him.

A Call to the Nation: Jesus concludes His discourse and uses the light and the dark motif. To accept Him was to walk in the light; to reject Him was to walk in the darkness. Christ likened His word to light. The light that Yeshua brought was knowledge of the Father. What He revealed about Himself and the Father was not revealed in secret. No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. What Messiah taught and did to reveal the Father was done before the nation. But, the nation was spiritually blind and rejected the light (Luke 11:33).

The reason for the rejection was not the light but, rather, in the eye of the beholder. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, the Greek here implies generous, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, the Greek here implies stingy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you (Luke 11:34-36). The reason Isra’el remained in darkness was not the fault of the Revealer, but the fault of the nation that refused the revelation. Jesus promised that if they would receive the revelation, they would have light. He invited them to Himself as the Light.¹⁰²³

Lord, Teach Us to Pray
Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-13

Lord, teach us to pray DIG: What motivates the talmidim to ask about prayer at this time? In Yeshua’s model prayer, what two concerns related to ADONAI come first? Why? What personal concerns then follow? How do prayer and forgiveness relate? In Jesus’ parable of the friend in need of bread, whom do the two friends represent? Why is persistence in prayer important? How do verses 9-10 relate to the parable? How might these verses be misunderstood? How do verses 11-13 clarify the intent of verses 9-10? What does this teach you about God’s Kingdom? His goodness?

REFLECT: In what way does this prayer serve as a model for us to follow? What are the dangers of reciting the same prayers over and over again? What steps can we take to keep our prayers honest and meaningful? In what circumstances is it tempting to give up praying? What can persistent prayer accomplish? In what ways does this passage change your attitude toward a long-term prayer request or need in your life?

The example that Dani’el set by praying three times a day (Dani’el 6:10) was religiously followed by the Pharisees. They used prayer as a means of demonstrating their piety before men (to see link click Ii – The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector). The disciples of John the Immerser had evidently realized that such prayer was unacceptable and had asked him to teach them how to pray. Therefore, Yochanan had sought to correct the perverted Pharisaic practices in prayer.¹⁰⁰⁷  One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of His talmidim said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John the Baptizer taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1).

In the days of the Messiah, each rabbi had his own unique style of praying. And, if that rabbi had any followers or disciples, he would teach them to pray in the same manner. So that when praying in public, someone overhearing a disciple of a certain rabbi praying out loud, he or she would be able to identify their rabbi. Consequently, Yeshua’s apostles wanted Him to teach them His unique style of praying.

Then we are given a beautiful example of prayer known as “The Lord’s Prayer,” because the Lord Jesus taught it, but, it could more accurately be described as “The Disciples Prayer.” How ironic it is that some groups have used this model prayer in the very way that Messiah warns against – vain repetition! It is not meant to be a magical mantra, but rather, a model for how to pray.¹⁰⁰⁸ This version of the Lord’s prayer is briefer than Matthew’s, but, it contains the same topics for prayer. I have included both for fuller understanding.

This, then, is how you should pray (Mattityahu 6:9a). All of its components may be found in the Judaism of Messiah’s day, and is revered for its beauty and economy of words. This, then, is a model for when we pray. It shows us the vital themes and principles desired for effective worship:

1. Our Father in heaven or Avinu shebaShamayim (Matthew 6:9b; Luke 11:2a), opens many Hebrew prayers. The concept of ADONAI being a loving Father is not a new concept in Judaism. Isra’el was called His firstborn son in Exodus 4:22, and Isaiah proclaimed to his generation: You are our Father (Isaiah 63:16). In addition, numerous prayers in the Siddur also address God as Avinu. Consequently, our prayer should be addressed to the Father, through the ministry of the Son, by the power of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh (Holy Spirit) (see Ephesians 2:18). Our Father, the God of Isra’el, is still to be the focus of our prayers. The next two lines in Matthew recall the first portion of the synagogue prayer known as the Kaddish.

2. Hallowed be Your name (Mattityahu 6:9c; Luke 11:2b). When reciting the well-known Kaddish in the synagogue, the leader begins with these words, “May His great name be magnified and sanctified” or yitgadal v’yitkadash. An entire tractate of the Talmud deals with the details of how to offer up prayers and blessings (Tractate Berakhot). The common formula continues today: Barukh Atah ADONAI (Blessed are You, LORD), reminding us to bless Ha’Shem before other prayers are offered. To honor God’s name is to honor Him. The Egyptians had many gods by many different names. Moses wanted to know His name so the Jewish people would know exactly who sent him to them (see my commentary on Exodus At – I AM Has Sent Me To You). ADONAI called Himself I AM, a name describing His eternal power and unchangeable character. His name is like His signature guarantee of His promises. In a world where values, morals, and laws change constantly, we can find stability and security in our unchanging God. The LORD who appeared to Moshe is the same God who can live in us today. Hebrews 13:8 says: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Because Ha’Shem’s nature is stable and trustworthy, we are free to follow and enjoy Him rather than spending our time trying to figure Him out.

3. Your Kingdom come (Luke 11:2c), Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Jesus instructs His disciples to focus on the coming messianic Kingdom. We are to pray that this same Kingdom will be established on earth during our lifetime. Continuing the Great Kaddish, the leader continues and says, “. . . in the world that He will create anew, when He will raise the dead, and give them eternal life, will rebuild the city of Jerusalem, and establish His Temple in the middle of it; and will uproot all pagan worship from the earth, and restore the worship of the true God.”¹⁰⁰⁹ The liturgy of the Torah service also elaborates on this and quotes First Chronicles 29:11-12 when it says, “The Kingdom is Yours, ADONAI.” All true believers desire for God’s Messianic Kingdom to come to this earth because that means that Yeshua Ha’Mashiach will have returned. When He rules and reigns from Jerusalem (see my commentary on Isaiah Jg – In Righteousness You Will Be Established, Terror Will Be Far Removed), His desire will be done on earth as it currently is in heaven.

4. Give us today our daily bread (Mattityahu 6:11; Luke 11:3). While it is essential for us to pray for the bigger picture of the messianic Kingdom, Christ also reminds us that the Father is also concerned about our daily needs. This reminds us that for forty years the Father took care of the practical needs of His children. The manna, for example, was edible only on the very day it was given. The Israelites learned to thank the LORD for their daily bread without worrying too much about the future. When we pray before a meal, we need to be reminded that we are not blessing the food, but are blessing ADONAI for providing our food!

5. Forgive us what we have done wrong, as we too have forgiven those who have wronged us (Matthew 6:12 CJB; Luke 11:4a). Christ’s prayer gives us a strong reason to seek forgiveness. Since we too have forgiven those who have wronged us, we can ask for the same kind of forgiveness. Sometimes it is necessary to forgive in order to be forgiven; sometimes it is necessary to forgive because we are already forgiven, and sometimes it is necessary to forgive as we are in the process of being forgiven by others.¹⁰¹⁰ These principles of giving and receiving forgiveness are common in Judaism.

Each Shabbat, those who love the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob recite the sixth blessing of the Amidah, the Standing Prayer, which is the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy.  It asks for forgiveness for all sins and praises God as being a God of forgiveness. This prayer, among others, is found in the Siddur for Messianic Jews (2009).¹⁰¹¹ As traditional Judaism’s central prayer, the Amidah is often designated simply as tefila, “prayer” in rabbinic literature.

The concept of forgiveness is the central theme of the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The Avinu Malkeinu prayer calls on us to forgive others as well as receiving forgiveness. We must remember that forgiveness is more than merely forgetting the things we have done wrong, or the fact that we have been wronged. The perfect example is Yeshua’s actions towards us. He does not forget our sins, but chooses not to dwell on them once we are adopted into His family (see Bw –What God Does For Us at the Moment of Faith). In the same way, as His child, our forgiveness of others cannot be conditional. This is demonstrated in a special ceremony that takes place on Rosh Hashanah (the first day of the Jewish New Year). Traditional Jews go down to a lake or the ocean and throw bread crumbs or stones into it. This ceremony is called Tashlikh, or you will throw, based on Micah 7:19 CJB, where the prophet says: You will throw all their sins into the depths of the sea. If God has buried our sins in the depths of the sea, we would do well to let them stay there and not go fishing!¹⁰¹²

The LORD forgives us instantly (Isaiah 55:7; First John 1:9). So how long should I feel guilty? Not very long! He forgives me repeatedly (Nehemiah 9:17; Hebrews 7:25). ADONAI forgives me freely (Romans 3:23-24; Ephesians 2:8-9). It is a gift. I can’t pay for it. God forgives me completely (Colossians 1:14, 2:13-14; Romans 3:25; Matthew 26:28). Psalm 51:1-19 was King David’s written confession to Ha’Shem after an especially sinful episode in his life. David was truly sorry for his adultery with Bathsheba and for murdering her husband Uriah to cover it up (Second Samuel 11:1-27). He knew that his actions had hurt many people. But because David repented of those sins, ADONAI mercifully forgave him. No sin, except the rejection of God the Holy Spirit Himself for salvation, is too great to be forgiven! Do you feel that you could never come close to the LORD because you have done something terrible? He can and will forgive you of any sin.

6. And lead us not into temptation (Matthew 6:13a; Luke 11:4b). There is no definite article before the word temptation. Even though the article is not necessary in a prepositional phrase to make the noun definite, its omission here is significant. This indicates that this term is used in a more general sense to refer to inward seductions.¹⁰¹³ Jesus said: In this world you will have trouble (Yochanan 16:33b), and there are many twists and turns. There is no doubt that we will be tested, yet it is appropriate for us to pray that the Father would not lead us into hard testing (the Greek for temptation can also mean testing). ADONAI does not tempt anyone into sin (James 1:13). That would be entirely contrary to His nature. And our willpower is overrated. Our sin nature will take us further than we want to go and cost us more than we want to pay. Yet, we are told to pray that we might not endure hard testing no matter what the source.

The prayer spoken of by Jesus transcended any that Jewish rabbi ever conceived. Forgive us what we have done wrong, and lead us not into temptation find no real counterparts in the prayers of the rabbis. In the Temple, the people never responded to the prayers with an “Amen,” but always with this blessing, “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His Kingdom forever!” The rabbis teach that it was traced all the way back to the patriarch Jacob on his deathbed. In regard to the Kingdom, whatever the rabbis understood by it, the feeling was so strong that it was said by them: Furthermore, the Rabbis teach that any prayer that makes no mention of the Kingdom, is not a prayer at all.¹⁰¹⁴

7. But keep us safe from the Evil One (Mattityahu 6:13b CJB). Besides our own flesh, Yeshua mentions another source of tempting, which is the Evil One or the devil, who is alive and well, seeking to devour any unsuspecting soul (Job 1:6-7; Zechariah 3:1; First Peter 5:8). In the midst of this great spiritual battle for our souls, this part of the prayer reminds us to pray that the LORD would keep us safe. The Father has not left us as orphans to fend for ourselves, but has provided powerful spiritual armor for our protection. As we walk through this life, the battle rages all around us. As a result, we must keep on the helmet of salvation, wear the breastplate of righteousness, and wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). There is no doubt that this battle is intense; however, we are promised victory because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (First John 4:4 CJB).

The oldest and most reliable manuscripts do not include the words, “for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever,” so I have not included them here. The plural phrasing . . . give us . . . forgive us . . . lead us . . . keep us . . . is characteristically Jewish, focusing on the group rather than the isolated individual.¹⁰¹⁵ What kind of protection does He offer us? King David said: ADONAI is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold (Psalm 18:2). The LORD’s protection of His people is limitless and can take many forms. He characterized God’s care with five military words. Ha’Shem is like (1) a rock that can’t be moved by any who would harm us; (2) a fortress or place of safety where the enemy can’t follow us; (3) a shield that comes between us so that no one can destroy us; (4) a horn of salvation, or a symbol of might and power; and (5) a stronghold high above our enemies. If you need protection, look to Jesus Christ.

Then Jesus said to them: Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight (Luke 11:5a). The need to travel by night because of the excessive heat in the Near East is common knowledge. But, in Palestine it is not necessary because there is a breeze from the sea along the coast. Therefore, the arrival of the guest at midnight would be unexpected. And say: Friend, lend me three loaves of bread (Luke 11:5b). During the meal, everyone has their own loaf of bread. They break off bite-sized pieces and dip it into the common dish, which is never defiled because they begin each bite with a fresh piece of bread.

It is important to understand that the guest is a guest of the whole community, not just of the individual. The guest must leave with a good feeling about the hospitality of the entire village. A friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him (Luke 11:6). Which really means, “I have nothing adequate to serve my guest so that the honor of the village will be upheld.” With this in mind, the next verse becomes quite clear. Verses 5 through 7 are together the extended question that expects an emphatic negative answer in the original Greek text. This understanding is crucial to the interpretation of this parable.

And suppose the one inside answers, “Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything” (Luke 11:7). It is as if Yeshua was asking, “Can you imagine going to a neighbor with the sacred request to help you entertain a friend and then he offers ridiculous excuses about sleeping children and a locked door?” The Oriental listener (or reader) would understand the communal responsibility for the guest and would respond, “No, I can’t imagine it.”

I tell you, even though the friend will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your chutzpah, meaning shameless audacity, boldness, gall, brazen nerve, persistence and just plain guts, and to keep from being shamed, he will surely get up and give you as much as you need (Luke 11:8). So [the borrower] keeps knocking on the door with chutzpah until the friend opens it. The friend knows that [the borrower] must gather up all the essentials for the meal from his various neighbors. If the friend refused the request of anything so humble as a loaf of bread [the borrower] would continue on his rounds looking for bread and cursing the stinginess of the friend who would not get up even to fulfill his duty to the village. The story would be all over the village by morning. The friend would be met with cries of “shame” everywhere he went. Because of his desire for “avoidance of shame” he will get up and give [the borrower] anything he wants.¹⁰¹⁶

The one main point of the parable of the Friend at Midnight is that to protect his honor, the friend will grant [the borrowers] request and much more. Thus, believers before ADONAI have much more reason to trust that their requests will be granted.

Christ then turned from parable to precept and applied the narrative. Jesus concluded His lesson on prayer with a threefold exhortation, a threefold promise, and a threefold illustration based upon experience. So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. And He coupled this exhortation with a threefold promise. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened (Luke 11:9-10).

Then a threefold illustration based upon experience. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? Messiah said that since a human father readily responds to the needs of his children, God the Father would respond to the needs of believers who present their prayers to Him. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:11-13)!

Ephesians 5:18 commands Yeshua’s followers to keep on being filled with the Spirit. The Ruach ha-Kodesh first came upon believers after they had been praying persistently (Acts 1:4-5 and 2:4), in response to Christ’s own promise (here, Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8). Those filled with (the Greek word ev has a wide semantic range and can be translated with, in, or by) the Holy Spirit may expect to receive gifts (Romans 12:6-8; First Corinthians 12:28-30; Ephesians 4:11-12), display fruits of righteousness (Galatians 5:22-23), and have the desire, love and power to communicate effectively the Good News of Yeshua by word and deed to those who have not yet believed (the entire book of Acts centers on this theme). Moreover, anyone who does not have the Spirit of Messiah doesn’t belong to Him (Romans 8:9 CJB).¹⁰¹⁷

Father, forgive us for giving up on prayer so easily. Forgive our insincerity and lack of interest. We thank you for remaining faithful to us, even when we are unfaithful. Teach us how to pray honestly, persistently, and faithfully. Most importantly, Father, help us to follow in the footsteps of your perfect Son, Jesus Christ.¹⁰¹⁸