Sermon Outline, February 8

Sermon outline, Feb 8:

INTRODUCTION

As we saw last week, Luke 17:11 begins a new stage of Luke’s account of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, one that comes to an end in 19:48. This large section is divided into two subsections, 17:11-18:30 and 18:31-19:48. These two subsections are closely parallel to each other. Each begins with a reference to Jesus journeying to Jerusalem (17:11, 18:31). Each includes a miracle of healing, and the healing stories include a number of common elements (17:11-19; 18:35-43). Each includes prophecies about the coming judgment (17:22-37; 19:11-27). Both sections also include a story about a publican (18:9-14; 19:1-10).

THE TEXT
“Then Jesus spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying, ‘?There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man . . . .’” (Luke 18:1-43).

PRAYER, JUSTICE, AND JUSTIFICATION
The two parables in chapter 18, one told to the disciples and the other to the Pharisees (vv. 1, 9), have several themes in common. First, both of them are about God’s justice and the issue of justification. The widow appeals to the judge “for justice” (18:3). Doubtless, she is being oppressed by some unscrupulous opponent, who takes advantage of her vulnerability to prey on her (see 2 Kings 4:1-7). What she is seeking is a favorable verdict, vindication or justification before the judge. (In context, the widow represents the true Israel who pleads with God to intervene to judge in her favor and deliver her from the wicked. Like a widow, our husband is absent and we are attacked and persecuted from all sides.) Likewise, the parable of the Pharisee and publican is about the difference between “justifying oneself” (v. 9) and appealing to God’s mercy for justification (vv. 13-14).

Second, both of the parables are about prayer. The first is explicitly so (v. 1), and encourages Jesus’ disciples to persist in prayers for justice and vindication “day and night” (v. 7). The second parable is also about prayer. The Pharisee’s prayer is thanksgiving (v. 11), and yet Jesus condemns it because the Pharisee prays out of self-confidence and contempt for others (v. 9, 11). On the other hand, the publican’s prayer is acceptable because it arises from despair over himself and is a plea to God for mercy. The publican’s prayer is a prayer arising from faith, trust in God’s righteousness and His work.

Jesus’ point in the first parable is certainly not that God only answers prayer when he gets annoyed at our persistence. On the contrary, Jesus tells us that God is ready to act for His elect and will “speedily bring justice” (vv. 7-8). The God of Jesus is the God of Israel, who pays particular attention to orphans, widows, and the helpless (Deuteronomy 10:17-18; 24:17-22; 27:19; Psalm 10:12-18; 68:5-6; 146:8-10; Hosea 14:1-3). Only those who recognize that they are helpless as infants are able to enter the kingdom of God (vv. 15-17). God’s kindness and readiness to answer encourage us to “pray continuously” and “not give up” (v. 1).

INHERITING ETERNAL LIFE
In the context of these parables and sayings, the ruler’s attitude is highly ironic. Jesus has just said that only those who plea for mercy and don’t boast in their moral performance are justified, and here comes a ruler who boasts of his performance (v. 21). Jesus’ question unmasks that the man has deceived himself: He is unwilling to give up His wealth to follow Jesus, which shows that he has made an idol of his wealth and thereby broken the first and greatest commandment (vv. 22-23). Like the invited guests in Jesus’ parable (14:15-24) and like the greedy Pharisees that Jesus rebuked (16:14-15), this ruler is excluded from the kingdom by his love of money. (Note that Jesus’ list of five commandments places “do not steal” at the center, v. 20.) Wealth is such a powerful temptation that it is humanly impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus says that the ruler can gain treasure in heaven if he sells his goods and gives all to the poor. Jesus promises “treasure in heaven” (v. 22). This phrase does not refer mainly to treasure that we will receive at the time we die and go to heaven. Jews in Jesus’ day were hoping for a “new heavens and new earth” rather than simply “going to heaven.”

“Treasure in heaven” means blessings that are laid up in heaven, which will be fully enjoyed when the heavens and earth are joined in a new heavens and earth.

Peter points out to Jesus that he and the twelve have done exactly what Jesus demanded of the ruler: They have left their own and followed Jesus. Peter wonders what reward they can expect. Jesus does not tell him he has to wait until he goes to heaven, or wait until the eschaton before he enjoys these rewards. Even “at this time,” those who have abandoned family ties for the sake of Jesus will enter a much greater family, the church.

THE BLIND SEE
The Twelve are as dense in some ways as the Pharisees. Instead of catching Jesus’ point about the publican’s humility, they rebuke people who want to bring their infants to Jesus. They don’t recognize that the kingdom of God belongs only to those who recognize their helplessness (vv. 15-17). They also fail to understand Jesus’ teaching about the work of Christ. It is easier, Jesus has said, for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom. The reason is that Jesus blazes the pathway into the kingdom, and it is a pathway that leads through suffering, rejection, and the cross into the resurrection of the third day (vv. 32-33). The disciples’ confusion about this is so total that Luke has to use three different clauses to express it (v. 34; cf. 9:45).

The following miracle, restoring the sight of a blind man, gives hope for the disciples. Now, they do not understand, things are hidden, and they cannot comprehend (v. 34). But they have attached themselves to Jesus, and He can open the eyes of the blind.

CATECHISM FOR LITTLE SAINTS

How should we pray?
We should pray frequently and giving up, and we should pray humbly for God’s mercy.

What should we pray for?
We should pray that God would make things right, rescuing His people from the wicked.

How does one get “treasure in heaven”?
By being generous with everything we have, and by following Jesus.

FOR FURTHER STUDY

1. Literally, the Greek of Luke 18:5 reads, “I will do her justice, lest by continually coming to me she hit me under the eye.” What does that expression “hit me under the eye” mean? Look at Psalm 11:4,1 Kings 8:29, and other OT passages that use “see” and “eye” in a courtroom context.

2. Is the Pharisee’s prayer accurate? Check out Luke 11:39 and 16:14-15. Compare also Luke 7:29.