Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Reflections on Luke 19


    Luke 19 (Contemporary English Version)
  1. Jesus was going through Jericho,
  2. where a man named Zacchaeus lived. He was in charge of collecting taxes and was very rich.
  3. Jesus was heading his way, and Zacchaeus wanted to see what he was like. But Zacchaeus was a short man and could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree.
  4. (SEE 19:3)
  5. When Jesus got there, he looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry down! I want to stay with you today."
  6. Zacchaeus hurried down and gladly welcomed Jesus.
  7. Everyone who saw this started grumbling, "This man Zacchaeus is a sinner! And Jesus is going home to eat with him."
  8. Later that day Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "I will give half of my property to the poor. And I will now pay back four times as much to everyone I have ever cheated."
  9. Jesus said to Zacchaeus, "Today you and your family have been saved, because you are a true son of Abraham.
  10. The Son of Man came to look for and to save people who are lost."
  11. The crowd was still listening to Jesus as he was getting close to Jerusalem. Many of them thought that God's kingdom would soon appear,
  12. and Jesus told them this story: A prince once went to a foreign country to be crowned king and then to return.
  13. But before leaving, he called in ten servants and gave each of them some money. He told them, "Use this to earn more money until I get back."
  14. But the people of his country hated him, and they sent messengers to the foreign country to say, "We don't want this man to be our king."
  15. After the prince had been made king, he returned and called in his servants. He asked them how much they had earned with the money they had been given.
  16. The first servant came and said, "Sir, with the money you gave me I have earned ten times as much."
  17. "That's fine, my good servant!" the king said. "Since you have shown that you can be trusted with a small amount, you will be given ten cities to rule."
  18. The second one came and said, "Sir, with the money you gave me, I have earned five times as much."
  19. The king said, "You will be given five cities."
  20. Another servant came and said, "Sir, here is your money. I kept it safe in a handkerchief.
  21. You are a hard man, and I was afraid of you. You take what isn't yours, and you harvest crops you didn't plant."
  22. "You worthless servant!" the king told him. "You have condemned yourself by what you have just said. You knew that I am a hard man, taking what isn't mine and harvesting what I've not planted.
  23. Why didn't you put my money in the bank? On my return, I could have had the money together with interest."
  24. Then he said to some other servants standing there, "Take the money away from him and give it to the servant who earned ten times as much."
  25. But they said, "Sir, he already has ten times as much!"
  26. The king replied, "Those who have something will be given more. But everything will be taken away from those who don't have anything.
  27. Now bring me the enemies who didn't want me to be their king. Kill them while I watch!"
  28. When Jesus had finished saying all this, he went on toward Jerusalem.
  29. As he was getting near Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples on ahead.
  30. He told them, "Go into the next village, where you will find a young donkey that has never been ridden. Untie the donkey and bring it here.
  31. If anyone asks why you are doing that, just say, 'The Lord needs it.' "
  32. They went off and found everything just as Jesus had said.
  33. While they were untying the donkey, its owners asked, "Why are you doing that?"
  34. They answered, "The Lord needs it."
  35. Then they led the donkey to Jesus. They put some of their clothes on its back and helped Jesus get on.
  36. And as he rode along, the people spread clothes on the road in front of him.
  37. When Jesus was starting down the Mount of Olives, his large crowd of disciples were happy and praised God because of all the miracles they had seen.
  38. They shouted, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory to God."
  39. Some Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, make your disciples stop shouting!"
  40. But Jesus answered, "If they keep quiet, these stones will start shouting."
  41. When Jesus came closer and could see Jerusalem, he cried
  42. and said: It is too bad that today your people don't know what will bring them peace! Now it is hidden from them.
  43. Jerusalem, the time will come when your enemies will build walls around you to attack you. Armies will surround you and close in on you from every side.
  44. They will level you to the ground and kill your people. Not one stone in your buildings will be left on top of another. This will happen because you did not see that God had come to save you.
  45. When Jesus entered the temple, he started chasing out the people who were selling things.
  46. He told them, "The Scriptures say, 'My house should be a place of worship.' But you have made it a place where robbers hide!"
  47. Each day, Jesus kept on teaching in the temple. So the chief priests, the teachers of the Law of Moses, and some other important people tried to have him killed.
  48. But they could not find a way to do it, because everyone else was eager to listen to him.

    Chapter 19 concludes events leading to this point in which Jesus taught of the coming kingdom of God. Then it transitions to a new set of events which involved His presentation of Himself in Jerusalem as the Messiah. These events forced the hand of the religious leaders to accept Him as Messiah or rid themselves of Him.

    The account of Zaccheus in the first ten verses of the chapter serves as a commentary on Jesus' encounter with the rich young ruler told about in 18:18-27. Whereas the rich ruler turned away from Jesus because of his dependence on his wealth, Zaccheus willingly gave up much of his wealth, choosing to follow Jesus. Jesus concluded His encounter with the rich ruler by telling His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." (18:24-25) When asked by His disciples "who can be saved?" He told them, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." When Zaccheus announced His desire to give half his wealth to the poor, doing what the rich ruler would not, Jesus proclaimed that, "Today salvation has come to this house." (19:9)  God had done the impossible with Zaccheus.

    The Pharisees had protested Jesus' willingness to "lodge with a sinful man!" (19:7), so Jesus told a parable which portrayed God's kingdom and the role the Pharisees would play in it as well as Jesus' role and that of people like Zaccheus. In the parable, Jesus was the nobleman who went to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king. Jesus' disciples and those such as Zaccheus were the slaves to whom were entrusted money with which to "engage in business" until the return of the nobleman. The religious leaders fell into the category of those subjects of the nobleman who "hated him and sent a delegation saying, "We don't want this man to rule over us."

    The slaves who invested the money wisely that was entrusted to them showed their belief that the nobleman would return and require of them an accounting of what was entrusted to them. The one that did nothing with what was entrusted to him showed his belief that the nobelman would not return. Those, too, who protested his rule over them demonstrated their belief that he would not return and judge them for their actions. All of this portrays people's responses to the coming of God's kingdom. Many do not believe Jesus to be the Messiah who will bring in the kingdom and rule over it and therefore are like the slave who did nothing. Others are actually hostile toward Jesus and protest His rule. And then there are those who do believe in His return and rule over God's kingdom and are faithful with what is entrusted to them until His return. They know there will be an accounting at that time which will involve rewards and destruction.

    Following these events, Jesus set the stage for His entry into Jerusalem as the Messiah. To this point He had not made a public Messianic claim, but now He was doing so very publicly. In addition to His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey to the joyful proclaimation of His followers, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord," Jesus also went into the temple complex and threw out those who were selling animals for sacrifice and exchanging money, referring to the scene as "a den of thieves." Then He returned to the temple every day to teach. He was forcing the hand of the religious leaders. We, too, must choose what we will do with Jesus.

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