Luke 18-21
Will You Be
Considered Worthy?

The psalmist pants for God's commandments because he sees how wonderful they are. They give guidance, understanding, victory over sin and oppressors. They open the door to God's mercy and presence. In verse 132, “always do” is the Hebrew noun for “judgment” or “ordinance” another reference to God's word. It is sometimes translated “custom.” The point is that God's custom or judgment is to have mercy on those who love His name. Those who don't, miss out.

As he thinks of the loss of those who don't learn and do things God's way, he actually cries.

Those who stubbornly reject rebuke will suffer more than a temporary stiff neck, but will experience sudden destruction.

The righteous and wise cause rejoicing for those around them. A lack of those qualities causes regret.

This is another parable whose point is frequently missed. It's not about badgering God (like you're going to wear Him out by adding a few extra requests to the billions that barrage Him every day?), but about expressing faith and confidence in God's character. It ends with Jesus wondering if the Son of Man will find faith on the earth when He comes. (Hey, another argument that the Kingdom isn't within the hearts of the Pharisees, since the coming of the King is still future.) Jesus contrasts the unrighteous judge with God, the just avenger. If the unjust judge would answer, how much more would the righteous God, who loves to help His people, come to their aid (although sometimes He waits patiently until just the right time)? Believers should not faint from their afflictions (note that this understanding of faint is in accord with other NT usages of the word; it's not about badgering or not giving up asking), but we should always (as in on all occasions, cf 1 Corinthians 1:4) pray for God's justice to be executed. Note it's not continually demanding “Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz” but about getting avenged/justice (relief from oppression).

It's appropriate to thank God for His work in your life in giving you victory over sin, for that glorifies Him. The Pharisee was praising himself (like he's going to impress God) and putting others down to make himself look good to himself. The tax collector humbled himself and confessed the truth (1 John 1:9). He's the kind of person God forgives, and cleanses from all unrighteousness, so he can have fellowship with Himself and others. The exaltation that the Pharisee sought wasn't found in self-promotion, but in self-denial.

The key to this parable is to understand what aspect of a little child Jesus had in mind. Perhaps the previous parable of the proud Pharisee has the clue.

See comments on Matthew 19 and Mark 10 (especially under Digging Deeper there) and Study Guide to Rewards on Truthbase.net to get an accurate understanding of this subject. Note that Jesus corrects the misconception about good, but not about the ruler's goodness. He lacked only one thing (and it wasn't faith in the substitutionary atonement). The man is seeking an inheritance/possessions in the Kingdom; Jesus says self-denial and following as His disciple will give him that, explained as treasure in heaven, saved (as in glorification), and in the world to come (the Kingdom) life/dominion of the Age (see Study Guide for elaboration). The disciples, who had left all to follow Jesus, understood this as a promise of reward. Jesus extends the promise of blessing to all who exchange the temporal for the eternal, but adds a bonus: one also gets back in this live what they've sacrificed to follow Him. This is not about getting sins forgiven.

The disciples were probably giddy with the prospect of their future good fortune, so when Jesus explains His prophesied rejection, they couldn't see it (like the blind guy in the next verses). Their experience with Jesus was such that He could do or escape anything, so how could He be captured and killed? This is a great passage to see that truth is based upon revelation, not experience. The revealed will of God supersedes experience, regardless of how real it is. Remember, reality is but one part of understanding truth, revelation and reason must also coincide. The solution was to shift their paradigm to the promises being future, after the pain. As in Mark, Jesus teaches that the route to the prophesied glory was via the prophesied suffering.

The blind man hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by, and calls out to the Son of David for mercy. Jesus asks what he wants Him to do, and he asks for sight. Jesus heals Him with a word, and adds that his faith has healed/saved him. This meaning of the word for saved is, according to the context, referring to being healed. The man uses his freedom to follow Jesus, glorifying Him. All the people who witnessed the miracle praised God. This is the final major miracle that Jesus does before His resurrection, highlighting the importance of having one's eyes open the realities of truth. (He does heal an ear in the Garden.)

Zacchaeus was a wee little man who did what was necessary to see Jesus. Jesus sees him, and invites Himself to his house. Zach obeys the summons, and vows to give half his goods to the poor and make fourfold restitution (as the law required - Exodus 22:1) for any money wrongfully extracted (the first-class condition assumes this to be a true state of affairs). This is not what the rich young ruler did in the previous chapter, and indicates that what is impossible from a human perspective is indeed possible with God. The Son of Man responds that “salvation” has come to Zach's house, and that He is a son of Abraham. As a tax collector, He would have been kicked out of the synagogue and denied the son of Abraham status by the other Jews. This is not “forgiveness salvation” (justification by faith in Jesus' vicarious death), but that of glorification, which results from sanctification and righteous living. The following parable of the minas reinforces this interpretation. God rewards those who repent and live for their reward in the Kingdom, exchanging what they have in this life for an eternal blessing. Verse 10 is a good summary statement of the theme of Luke. God, in Christ, seeks and saves the lost.

Jesus tells the next parable to show that the Kingdom coming from God, promised in the OT, was not yet here, nor would be revealed immediately. The approach of the King to His throne in Jerusalem would lead many to expect that Jesus would now occupy David's throne and fulfill the OT promises. See comments on the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. Jesus is the noblemen who goes away to heaven to have the kingdom conferred upon Him and then return. All the Jewish kings at the time had to go to Rome to have the right to rule Jerusalem conferred upon them. (Herod Archelaus had a delegation oppose his confirmation).

When the nobleman returns to set up the kingdom, he will demand an accounting of his servants. Each servant was given the same amount from the lord's treasury, and told to conduct business (a common word for trading). They needed to take what the lord had given them and gain a profit with it. The first servant increased his one mina 10 times (1000%) and received a commendation for his faithfulness, as well as authority/rulership over ten cities. The second was rewarded proportionately to what he had gained. Five cities was less than ten, and the commendation was missing. The last servant, the wicked servant, did nothing with what he was given and thus when judged, had what he was given taken from him. In Matthew 25:39 the unprofitable servant is tossed into outer darkness, excluded from Kingdom blessings (see comments there). Note that in verse 27 the unprofitable servant is distinguished from the enemies, and does not share their fate. As a servant, entrusted with his master's goods, he would have been represented in Jesus' audience by a forgiven, but unfaithful, Jew whose sins were covered by participation in the Day of Atonement. The enemies would have been those with no relationship with God, nor access to the Levitical sacrificial system.

Although one wants to avoid making a parable walk on all fours (every item has a point of contact with reality), there is a question that arises and an answer worth pondering. What was given to the servants? So let's put on our deerstalkers (Sherlock hats) and observe what was written, and then scratch under our hats and see what makes the most sense.
The talents/minas:

• were the original possession of the lord;
• were given to servants, those who had a relationship with the nobleman;
• were given equally to all;
• were given before his departure to receive His kingdom, ie, before it was set up;
• could be used/traded/exchange to get more benefit;
• could be hidden/repressed or one could refrain from using it;
• could be invested and earn a return;
• could be removed from one and given to another, and be valuable to them;
• would have value in the kingdom;
• were translated into authority/power to rule cities;

So what do you think they represent? A couple of cross references might apply (Acts 1:8; Psalm 51:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:19). We'll see that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of glory, is the power source for doing God's will (Philippians 2:13), and that believers have been given the first installment of the HS (Ephesians 1:13) implying that there is more to come. Being stripped of glory, or deposed from ruling, was a common fate of unfaithful vassals in Biblical times. Would an infinitely just God give glory to those who rebel and disobey (hint: see Genesis 3:7 and 2 Corinthians 5:3)? We'll see this theme again, so keep thinking about it; you might need to rearrange a paradigm or two.

See Matthew 21 for the triumphal entry observations. Note that the praise is for the things they had seen Jesus do. Where were these people when Pilate offered to free Jesus or Barabbas?

Like Jeremiah, Jesus laments over the destruction of the city which failed to recognize what would bring the promised Messianic blessing of peace.

This chapter matches Matthew 21 (please see comments there) very closely, except for the passage below.

These verses have some unique and important information.
The word "age" (aion, Strongs #165) is the same as that in verse 34. This is the word frequently and incorrectly translated "eternal," yet here it obviously refers to a distinct period of time (as it was used by all classical authors; Plato would also use it for an indefinite period). Here aion refers to the Messianic age as a distinct period of time, meaning the Millennial Kingdom.

The second point to notice is that "worthy" (Strongs #2661) also used only in 21:36 and two other suffering for reward passages (Acts 5:41; 2 Thessalonians 1:5), is a requirement for resurrection and participation in that Kingdom. In the next chapter worthiness is a function of being on prayerful guard against temptation (Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38), with the result of standing (rather than being destroyed in judgment) before the Son of Man, for receiving blessing (Psalm 1:5).

Luke 21:36 "Watch therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy <2661> to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."

"Attain" is used of "hitting the mark" a conceptual opposite of one of the words for sin, which is "missing the mark." God's desire is to display His glory in rewarding (sharing His glory with) faithful believers (we'll see this in the epistles, eg, 1 Peter 1), and He prepared them for this goal. He provides the resources for hitting the goal, which are accessed by prayer and implemented by watchfulness. Worthiness is not an automatic result of justification, otherwise prayer and watchfulness in overcoming temptation wouldn't be necessary (nor would enduring to the end).

See comments on Mark 12:41 for the widow's giving, which led to comments on the destruction of the temple.

The disciples ask “when” and “what”. Jesus warns them not to be deceived and led astray, and list the things which must occur before He returns, which are still future. See the comments on Jesus' discourse on the Mount of Olives in Matthew 24, and Mark 13 for comments. Luke expands a little more on the magnitude of the geopolitical changes.

These paradoxical statements need to be reconciled. How can someone be betrayed and put do death, yet have not a hair of their head perish? The word for “perish” is translated “lost” in the parables of the lost sheep, coin, and son in chapter 15. In 9:24 and 17:33 Jesus said a disciple had to “lose” his life/soul in order to save it, in the sense of exchanging it for eternal reward. That sense fits this context, and verse 20. They might die, but the hair on their head (put for all of their life) would be saved through resurrection and reward. By their faithful endurance or perseverance under persecution, they would acquire or save their souls. “He who endures to the end will be saved” is how Mark 13:13 expresses the same concept in the same context.

This is a comment unique to Luke, the Gentile gospel. The “times of the Gentiles” will occur when they rule over Jerusalem, and the Jews are scattered among all nations. Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's 2:34-35, 44-45 speak to such a time.

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, redemption draws near. This is not individual redemption which is a present possession of those who trust In Christ's atoning sacrifice as payment for their sins (Rom 3:24; Col 1:14), and probably not that of the body in glorification/adoption (Rom 8:23), but more likely that of the nation. See Ephesians 1:7 & 14 for the individual and corporate senses of redemption.

The “generation” could refer to those listening to Jesus, in which case Jesus' teaching was false and not fulfilled. Some think it refers to those who are alive when the events start happeing. A legitimate meaning that takes into account all the data in the chapter is that of “the common descendants” or the Jewish nation, to whom the Kingdom was promised. See comments on Matthew 24:34.

Jesus gives the escape plan to avoid the Tribulation that is coming (see Application below).