Hello all,

since I did not post yesterday, I’m going to write on both Luke 22 and 23 today!

Ok, let’s go.

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Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed

Luke 22:7

Why does Luke tell us it’s the Passover? Does it matter?

Luke does not seem to make the effort to specifically point it why it matters aside from this verse, but in John’s gospel, he makes it a bit more obvious for readers:

For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”

John 19:36

What scripture does this refer to?

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

    but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

He keeps all his bones;

    not one of them is broken.

Psalm 34:19-20

Okay, so what does have to do with the Passover?

Even though this verse does imply Luke is saying Jesus is righteous, I can’t say I know how it exactly relates to the Passover either.

BUT there is another important verse in Exodus which talks about unbroken bones and Passover:

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.

Exodus 12:43-45

What is this talking about? It’s talking about the Passover lamb.

What did the Passover lamb do?

Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:7-13

The blood of the (Passover) lamb protected God’s people from death.

Sound familiar?

Well, let’s see if Paul has anything to say about this.

Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

1 Corinthians 5:7

So does it matter that it’s the Passover?

A bit.

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So an argument arises among the disciples asking who the greatest is, and Jesus asks his disciples this question:

For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table?

Luke 22:27a

It’s interesting because the way he asks it leads us to assume that yes, indeed, it is the one who reclines at the table who’s greatest. Yet what does he say?

But I am among you as the one who serves.

Luke 22:27b

How does he respond?

Look at me, and you’ll find the answer.

Nice.

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This one is kind of minor but I thought it was interesting!

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.

Luke 22:39

This verse has Mount of Olives but earlier in Luke, we see him preferring to use Mount Olivet

When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples

Luke 19:29

And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet.

Luke 21:37

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Something a bit more significant:

And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.

Luke 22:40

and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Luke 22:46

Whenever I read those lines about not falling to temptation (even in the other gospels), I always thought the “temptation” he spoke of was falling asleep.

But in verse 46, there seems to be some kind of implication that there is a temptation that is still yet to come and they should be preparing for it through prayer.

But, maybe I’m wrong and it is about sleep.

Or maybe it has a double meaning.

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This verse is something that always kind of stands out for me:

saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

Luke 22:42

Here, we have Jesus asking God to take this trial away from him (if possible).

Which I think is great because I think for some people, there’s this idea that we should not pray for God to take away our trials and we should only pray for God to let us be content in every situation (cue the 2 Cor 12 and Phil 4 references).

Well, no. Because Jesus clearly does the former here.

If anything, doesn’t it require much more faith to pray for God to change the world than for God to change us?

I think so.

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But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.

Luke 22:69

Sounds like a reference to me:

“I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven
    there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
    and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
    and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
    should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
    which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
    that shall not be destroyed.

Daniel 7:13-14

Sounds like a pretty big claim for someone to be the “son of man.”

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And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”

Luke 23:2

Lol, the first part of this is literally a lie.

So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Luke 20:21-25

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Okay, probably going to be my last point for this post

Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

Luke 23:46

This is cool because someone actually pointed out to me it’s a reference to Psalm 31:5. What is the theme of Psalm 31 you may ask? Well read for yourself (the first 5 verses):

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;
    in your righteousness deliver me!
Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me!

For you are my rock and my fortress;
    and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
    for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

Psalm 31:1-5

If you continue to read, it stays pretty consistent. It’s a Psalm in which David asks for deliverance and affirms his trust in God that he will be delivered.

Imagine having that kind of mindset while literally dying on a cross.

Hey, I’m literally dying on a cross right now but I trust that God is faithful and will deliver me.

Pretty cool stuff.

Thanks for reading.

Stay cool,

Jason

Hey all,

Sorry for not posting for a while but the other day, I realize posting every single day was a lot of work and I’m not sure anyone checks everyday anyway so I took a bit of a break.

But I am now back and writing this as I eat ice cream as my first meal of the day as my lunch.

Okay, first off, I will look at the story of Zacchaeus at the beginning of Luke 19. The story itself is very strange. Here’s how it kind of goes:

• Jesus comes to Jericho
• Zacchaeus climbs up a tree to try to get a glimpse of Jesus
• Jesus walks over and tells him to come down and says he’s gonna eat at his house
• Zacchaeus rejoices
• Crowd grumbles about Jesus eating at a house of a sinner
• Zacchaeus repents and vows to give half his goods to the poor and fourfold to the ones he stole

If you don’t believe me, you can read it for yourself:

He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”

Luke 19:1-8

Wait, hold up. So what you’re saying is Jesus literally did nothing except invite himself to Zacchaeus’ house and he repents? Well. Yeah.

I don’t like making a lot of assumptions in terms of “oh, maybe someone said ‘blank’ but it just wasn’t written.” On the other end, you could very well just as easily say “If God wanted that in his bible, he’d have put it there by now.” So I’m not going to go down that route.

Instead, I’m only going to look at the actual information provided in the text and use those clues to see if we can figure something out.

First off, when we have a story like this, it’s helpful to look at the other gospels to see if there’s a similar story because more often than not, there is.

Unfortunately, for this one though, there is not.

What DO we have though?

• Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and a rich one at that
• Jesus invites himself to his house
• The crowd grumbles at the sight of Jesus going in to “be the guest of a man who is a sinner”

Judging from bullet points 1 & 3, Zacchaeus was probably not the best dude. To be a tax collector was a despised profession and to be a Jewish one was looked down upon and almost a betrayal against your people. Judging from how the Pharisees talked about them when Jesus spent time with them, I’d even go as far to say they were probably outcasts in their communities considering how highly respected the Pharisees were.

One example of this happens even earlier in Luke:

And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Luke 5:29-32

So what’s so unique about Jesus’ interaction with Zacchaeus? The very fact that a rabbi, a teacher, someone who was very well respected by the people would dare to speak to someone like him, let alone eat with him. We are told in verse 7 that this man’s very townspeople looked down on him. Yet, when he met Jesus, Zacchaeus knew that this man was different.

The second part of Luke 19 I’m going to write about today is Luke 19:46.

saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

Luke 19:46

This verse really stands out to me because the first time I kind of heard someone explain this to me, I thought it was absolute astounding so I kind of want to share it here as well.

One small pet peeve I have is sometimes when we read something in the Bible and struggle to understand it, our first instinct is to kind of to “guess and figure it out” when the whole time, the answer is just there in the text and we have to put a bit of effort into looking.

One quick (and one of my favorite) examples: Elijah and the rain.

Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 

1 Kings 17:1

You’re probably reading this and wondering, “why is Elijah stopping the rain?” (partly, this may due me providing absolutely no context and thus, you not being sure what the story is about). But, before we start making guesses, maybe, just maybe, there’s an answer in the text!

Well, just so happens there is. It appears twice in Deuteronomy and Leviticus when God talks about curses for disobedience.

and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.

Leviticus 26:19

And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron.The Lord will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

Deuteronomy 28:23-24

I guess you could make a point that the Leviticus reference isn’t that clear but the Deuteronomy one seems to be talking about the same event and I’d say it’s fair to say that making “the rain of your land powder” is somewhat synonymous to no rain.

Now about the Luke 19:46, I’m just going to restate it since I’ve gotten really off track:

saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

Luke 19:46

OK, before we go on guessing, let’s see if there’s any similar phrases in the text…

these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

Isaiah 56:7

Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 7:11

Hey, those verses sound kind of familiar.

What is the context of those verses though?

In Isaiah’s case, it’s essentially about God’s salvation being available to the outcast and the foreigner:

Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
    “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
    “Behold, I am a dry tree.”
For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
    who choose the things that please me
    and hold fast my covenant,
I will give in my house and within my walls
    a monument and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
    that shall not be cut off.

“And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
    to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
    and holds fast my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain,
    and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
    for all peoples.”
The Lord God,
    who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
“I will gather yet others to him
    besides those already gathered.”

Isaiah 56:3-8

What about the Jeremiah one?

“Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?

Jeremiah 7:8-10

It talks about people declaring they are delivered, only to go on doing evil deeds.

Putting this all together, what do we have? Why is Jesus critical of the temple?

• It has not been a “house of prayer for all nations” – gentiles are not being welcomed into this family of God
• It has become a “den of robbers” – a place where people come to declare their deliverance only to do evil deeds

Are those things we see happening when we read the gospels?

Well, In Luke 4:24-29, we see the Jew’s hostility against Jesus’ mentioning God working among two gentiles.

Then, In Luke 11:37-52, Jesus speaks of the woes of the Pharisees and teachers of the law.

Onto Luke 20.

As you read Luke 20, you’ll realize that most of the stuff in this and the next few chapters are very similar to the stuff that happens around the end of Matthew and Mark. So much so that *Parable of the wicked Tenants in Luke 20 is almost identical to the *Parable of the Tenants as told in Matthew 21

(* – as titled in the ESV, also I haven’t stated this anywhere but if you’re wondering which version I am using for all these references, it’s all ESV unless explicitly stated otherwise)

And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Luke 20:9-18

“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Matthew 21:33-44

I don’t want to go in depth into dissecting the parable but what seems to be the roles in the parable:

• Master of the house – God
• Vineyard – Israel
• Tenants – Religious Leaders
• Servants – Prophets
• Son – Jesus

Hopefully you can figure out the parallels there.

Funnily enough, the “scribes and chief priests” actually recognize he’s talking about them too.

The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.

Luke 20:19

The next few sections are the parts the REALLY stood out to me as I read them first in Matthew and now here:

There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. And the second In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.” Afterward the woman also died. And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.”

Luke 20:27-38

So here’s how the conversation kinda goes:

Sadducees: “How can there be a resurrection if ‘blank’ is a problem”

Jesus: Well first of all, ‘blank’ is not a problem. And how do we know there is a resurrection? Well. first off, Moses called God “the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” in the present tense, over all these dead people. But, we know that “he is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

Basically, he asks the question “how can God be a God of the living, if he’s God over all these dead people?”

In Matthew the proposal is a bit more clear with:

But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

Matthew 22:29-32

And obviously, the scribes are left speechless:

Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” For they no longer dared to ask him any question.

Luke 20:39-40

Another really cool one is in Luke 20:41-44 where Jesus leaves the scribes with a dilemma:

For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, But he said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is David’s son? until I make your enemies your footstool.”‘ David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?”

Luke 20:41-44

He doesn’t directly quote this passage but it is implied it so I’ll put it here for context:

When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

2 Samuel 7:12-13

So what’s the first thing we know about the Christ to come? Well, he’s gonna be an offspring of David.

What else do we know?

The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

Psalm 110:1

Well, David calls that offspring “Lord.”

Hey, wait a second. Why in the world David calling his offspring “Lord?” Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

The answer is most definitely so.

So what does Jesus do here? He offers an almost unimaginable answer to a then unanswerable question.

Luke 21 is interesting, Jesus talks about the destruction of the temple aaaand seemingly the end times? It’s kind of funny because when we read these next few passages in Matthew, Mark, or Luke, there’s an assumptions that a lot of these lines talk about the end times but when we take a closer look, it’s actually a bit more vague than we give credit for.

Matthew 24 has:

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Matthew 24:3

While Luke is devoid of it, only having:

And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?”

Luke 21:7

And at the very same time, you could make the point that when he’s talking about the “end of the age,” he could very well be talking about the age they’re in right now at the time of it’s writing.

So I’m not going to get too caught up on when/where/why/how/etc it applies.

BUT, that does not devoid the chapter of lots of interesting things.

Let’s read Luke 21:12-13

But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

Luke 21:12-15

Hey, didn’t we already read something like this?

And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Luke 12:11-12

Hey, that looks kind of similar.

Something else interesting: Luke 21:21

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it

Luke 21:21

Sounds kind of familiar to the end of Luke 17 where we had:

On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back.

Luke 17:31

OK. Next. Luke 21:24

They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Luke 21:24

There’s some Romans 11 vibes in that passage:

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in

Romans 11:25

Hey, didn’t we literally talk about Romans 11 just earlier in Luke?

Indeed

Maybe it’s all connected? Crazy thought.

I think that’s all for today.

Thanks for reading!

Jason

Wow guys, Luke 18 has so much good stuff! I cannot wait to share it!!!

The chapter starts off with a parable. And the text even makes sure to take note on the purpose of the parable, starting off with:

“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”

Luke 18:1

The parable is itself interesting, as we have a judge whom we are told “neither feared God nor respected man.” The passage makes a great deal in reminding the audience of that as well, having it first mentioned in verse 2 and again in verse 4.

Unlike in the parable of the dishonest manager (in Luke 16) though, we are not asked to be like the judge but rather a widow whom we are told would continuously ask the judge for justice against her adversary:

And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

Luke 18:3

How does the judge respond? We are told that her persistence basically annoys him into giving in:

yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.

Luke 18:5

How are we to make sense of this? Well Jesus tells us in the next few lines:

And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Luke 18:6-8

If this unrighteous judge, who “neither feared God nor respected man,” was willing to give justice to the widow, how much more will God answer our prayers for justice when we cry to him day and night?

But it doesn’t end there. Jesus then asks, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” As in, yes, God will answer our prayers but will we be the ones to have enough faith to ask in persistence when the time comes?

What else does the bible say about asking in faith?

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 1:5-8

Wow, this faith thing seems pretty important. Luckily for us, the Hebrews writer goes out of his way to explain what it is for us:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Verses 10-13 of Luke 18 also has another parable (wow, there’s been a lot of parables lately) about a self-exalting Pharisee and a humbled tax collector. You can read the parable for yourself but the eye-catching part (for me) happens in verse 14 in the conclusion of the parable where Jesus says:

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 18:14

Now, if you’ve been following along in Luke, an almost exact same phrase shows up in Luke 14 at the end of the parable of the wedding feast which goes like this:

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 14:11

Guess this must be a pretty important point for Luke. 🤔

In verses 18-23, we have the story of the rich young ruler

And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.

Luke 18:18-23

First off, we have the classic “no one is good except God alone.” Great phrase to rebuke your friends by whenever you ask them how their day has been going and they say “it’s good.”

Secondly, when the man claims to have kept all the commandments, Jesus doesn’t seem to correct him. Why doesn’t Jesus just quote Romans 3:23 and tell him that all have fallen short of the glory of God and that’s the problem??? Well, several reasons but other than the epistle to the Romans not existing yet is that correcting him about that is probably not the point of the story.

What does Jesus tell him to do? “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Okay, okay, hear me out.

Usually, we focus on the “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven” part of it. BUT what if the part we’re meant to focus on is the second part of “come, follow me.”

Is selling all his stuff and giving it to the poor going to give him eternal life? No way. There’s only one way to eternal life:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2c4XkbPtEE&feature=youtu.be&t=20

But what just happens to look like following Jesus? Well, we are just happen to be told in Luke 14! (it’s all connected!!)

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:33

Even more so, this appears to be a very example of someone who has “counted the cost” and decided it’s too much:

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

Luke 14:27-32

Want another parallel of Luke 14 and 18?

Well, in Luke 18:29, he talks about giving up family for the sake of the kingdom of God:

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God

Luke 18:29

Hey, wait a second…didn’t we read something about choosing between family and God already…

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:26

Wow, this guy sure loves repeating stuff.

One more thing I wanted to point out before we end it for today. It happens in the final story of Luke 18 where Jesus heals a blind beggar. But before he does so, he asks him this:

“What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.”

Luke 18:41

Which if you really think about it, it’s kind of weird. Why does Jesus need to ask this dude what he wants? He’s blind. Isn’t it pretty obvious what he wants. Funnily enough, there is another story sort of similar to this in John 5:

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda,which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

John 5:1-9

Why does Jesus ask if the guy wants to be healed? Isn’t it pretty obvious what sick people want? To be well? Don’t all sick people desired to be healed?

Something to think about I guess.

Thanks for reading!

Stay cool,

Jason

Hi friends, hope it is going well.

Today, I will go through Luke 17 !!!

The chapter starts off with this:

And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

Luke 17:1-2

If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering “hey, what’s a millstone?” Well, a millstone is large round wheel-like rock used to used to grind grains and wheat. They were supposedly pretty important to the average Jew’s life. So much so that to take a pledge for it was to break Torah.

No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.

Deuteronomy 24:6

It would be as to “take a life in pledge.” So yeah. Probably pretty important for their daily living.

What does it look like? Here is a picture of one in a recreation of Nazareth that I stole off the internet. It’s pretty large piece of rock.

So if this were to hang around your neck and you were to be cast into the sea, it’d be pretty bad.

Using my logical reasoning that being thrown in the sea with this around your neck is pretty bad, I think it’s safe to conclude that causing people to sin is pretty bad. The “woe to the one through whom they come!” may have been a pretty big giveaway as well but now we know for sure!

In the next part of the chapter, the apostles ask Jesus for more faith. What’s interesting is his response:

And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Luke 17:6

All it takes is for us to have faith like a grain of mustard seed and Jesus says we will be able to command around a mulberry tree??? What else can a faith like that do?

Apparently it can also move mountains!

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Matthew 17:20

Jesus says if we have enough faith then “nothing will be impossible ” Sounds pretty cool. Some things still seem pretty impossible to me though. Maybe I just don’t have faith like a grain of mustard seed??

While I read reading through Luke 17, this section was definitely the highlight of the chapter for me. Listen to this (well technically, it’s read this):

“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

Luke 17:7-10

Two big things stand out from this passage for me:

1. We are unworthy servants
2. This servant hood appears to be a pretty thankless job

The first point is pretty standard: we are unworthy servants of God. He’s perfect, we aren’t and so to be offered a place, any place at his table and to be given an opportunity to be able to take part in his mission and purpose is a pretty big blessing. etc. etc.

The second point though is a pretty hard teaching. The servant goes out, he does his job, and what does he get in exchange for a hard day’s work?

Nothing.

There’s no “why don’t you take a break,” no “come recline at the table,” not even a simple “thank you.” Instead, we are told he is expected to continue working.

It’s a hard calling to be expected to be a servant yet be told that while you are in service, it’s going to be a thankless job. Does God promise riches? Yes. But not in this life. We are told to store our treasures in heaven.

There are countless stories of people going overseas committing their lives to do missionary work for years on end only to see one, two, or sometimes even no people turn to Christ.

To live as a servant of God isn’t easy. It’s a thankless job. And for the most part, we aren’t even guaranteed to see the fruits of our labor. Sometimes we will labor to what seems to be no avail. The question is if it’s worth it.

As I write this, I kind of recognize this is sort of slowing slipping away from the topic of Luke 17 so I’ll just end off this section sharing a verse I find is really encouraging that helps remind me why it’s worth it:

You make known to me the path of life;

    in your presence there is fullness of joy;

    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11

Next, the story of the ten lepers. The story itself is pretty straightforward. Jesus heals 10 people and only one of them comes back to thank him. What is significant about this one guy though?

and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

Luke 17:16-18

He was a Samaritan. I’ve mentioned here before how Jews and Samaritans didn’t get along and yet, of all the people that decide to come back and thank Jesus, it’s this guy. Jesus acknowledges this even saying “Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

Let us remind ourselves that although we are heirs according the promise, we do not forget to give thanks and praise him for the work that he does in our lives lest we be like the other 9 lepers.

The end of the chapter has Jesus talking about what seems to be a day of judgement of sorts. He references two stories from Torah: Noah & the ark, and the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah.

What does he say about them?

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

Luke 17:26-30

He says that just like in the days of Noah and the days of Lot, that while people were doing their regularly scheduled activities, judgement came. And unexpectedly.

And in the same way, on “the day when the Son of Man is revealed,” we should expect something similar. What else does he say?

On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back.

Luke 17:31

What is referring to? Still the two stories above.

When we see the waters rise after we have heard warnings of a flood, let us not try to go back down into our houses to retrieve our belongings. In the same way, if we are in the fields and see the fire and brimstone raining down on Sodom and Gomorrah, let us not be foolish as look back but rather let us flee from that destruction.

And how shall we remind ourselves of these?

Remember Lot’s wife.

Luke 17:32

By remembering those before us who chose to not to do them.

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it

Luke 17:33

So let us not be concerned with what has been left behind in our houses as we see the flood and the fire and the brimstone. But rather, let us be concerned with what God is concerned with, knowing that we are nothing more than his unworthy servants. Willing to give everything for his glory, reminding ourselves that even though it’s often thankless and difficult and seems to be of no avail that God is worth it.

Stay cool,

Jason

Hello friends,

So Luke 16 has a pretty interesting Parable. In it, Jesus actually uses an example of a dishonest manager and says we should be like him.

What? Turns out there are even things to learn from ungodly people! Who would’ve thought?!

He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

Luke 16:1-8

In the parable, we are told the manager cheats out the rich man by making friends with the rich man’s debtors by relieving some of their debt. We are told the rich man commends the dishonest manager’s shrewdness.

We are then told to follow his example:

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.’

Luke 16:9

Is he telling us to cheat out our superiors to our advantage? Probably not. But this parable does have a lesson for us:

‘”One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?’

Luke 16:10-12

Wow, sigh of relief. Thankfully, Jesus interprets the parable for us so we don’t have to accidentally resort to heresy.

What is the lesson of the parable? Well, we can just read verses 10-12 again.

‘”One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?’

Luke 16:10-12

What does that look like? Well, we can just take a look at the parable he’s given us to dissect!

The character of the dishonest manager is polarizing. On one hand, his dishonest acts are something we clearly don’t want to emulate. On the other hand, he exemplifies what the parable is meant to embody.

He shows “faithfulness” in his unrighteous wealth by being shrewd with it, trading away something in which he cannot keep for something he can.

In the same way, we can apply that principle in our lives. We can be faithful by being shrewd with what we have been given. We can trade away the things which we cannot keep for “true riches.”

In fact, as Jim Elliot would say:

“he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

Verses 11-12 expand on the idea even further, for if we are not faithful in the things we have now, which are temporary and belong to God, how are we to be trusted with the the eternal riches in heaven that will be given to us?

The end of the chapter has another parable about an unnamed rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. I’m not going to go through the entire parable but here were some interesting verses that caught my attention:

who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

Luke 16:21

Desiring to be fed from what fell from the table? Sound familiar?

And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Matthew 15:21-28

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Mark 7:24-30

Another eye-popping verse that shows up:

and he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’

Luke 16:24

We kind of skim over this one but let’s look carefully at what he asks for, “send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue.” Imagine just how humiliating it is for someone to do that for you, much less for the rich man to have Lazarus do it for him.

At the end, the rich man asks for Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers that they may not end up in torment as him. And what does Abraham reply?

But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them. And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Luke 16:29-31

Wow. Oof. Cold.

But also interesting. He talks about how for some people, that even if the dead rise, they would remain unconvinced. Hm…I wonder if that’s a foreshadow to something.

That is all for today,

Stay cool,

Jason

Wow, I just got home at like 6:30 PM after being out since leaving my house at 9:15 AM, what a long day.

Some people skip their Bible reading on Sunday since you technically read the Bible at church and to be totally fair, I do that sometimes too but not today!

Today, I read Luke 15!

Luke 15 has three wonderful parables: the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the prodigal son.

What to note:

1. All three have a LOST thing

• “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? (Luke 15:4)
• “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?  (Luke 15:8)
• For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:24)

2. All three LOST things are found and there is CELEBRATION

• And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ (Luke 15:5-6)
• And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ (Luke 15:9)
• It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” (Luke 15:32)

3. All three have heaven rejoicing over one sinner that repents

• Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15:7)
• Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10)

The parable of the prodigal’s son does not explicitly say this but at the same time, has an act of repentance followed by celebration:

• And the so And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. (Luke 15:21-23)

which makes sense if we buy into the idea that God is often the “king, master of the household, etc” or in this case, the father, in these parables.

Now, let’s go through some of the individual parables; first, the parable of the lost sheep. something that was kind of interesting that I read it was there is the way he asks the question about the lost sheep:

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?

Luke 15:4

What’s interesting about it? Well, he uses a similar type of rhetorical question when he asks about healing on the Sabbath just one chapter earlier:

Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?”

Luke 14:5

In the Luke 14 example, the reaction of the pharisees make it seem pretty obvious that yes, you will indeed do that even on Sabbath day. So why don’t we apply the same logic to the question he asks in Luke 15:4? That for a man to leave his 99 sheep to find the one is obviously the correct thing to do?

Need more convincing? In the very next parable of the lost coin, he asks a similar question that also has a seemingly obvious answer:

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?

Luke 15:8

It’s almost implied that the woman would go out of her way to attempt to look for the coin.

Yet for some reason, the idea that God would “leave the 99 to find the lost one” is so foreign to us that some would dare to call it reckless. Because from these couple of verses, to do so seems like exactly the most logical thing to do.

And how does this story end? We are told that:

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Luke 15:7

Wow. That’s a whole lot of joy.

Now for the parable of the prodigal son. I don’t want to get too much into who’s who in the text as in the father is God, the prodigal son is Israel, etc and although I do think those make sense, I just want to focus on the sheer amount of grace and mercy that the prodigal son is offered.

What does the prodigal son do?

Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.

Luke 15:13

But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’

Luke 15:30

Oh by the way, this is after he asks for the father’s inheritance, something that was usually split up AFTER the father dies.

And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.

Luke 15:12

And how does the father respond to his return?

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

Luke 15:20

But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.

Luke 15:22-23

COMPLETELY undeserved. he did NOTHING to earn his father’s compassion or forgiveness or love yet it was still given.

Yet, what is one person’s response to the kindness of the father?

“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 

Luke 15:25-30

Remind you of another story where one person is so concerned about kindness being shown to another that they forget the amount of grace that has been extended to them?

Well, maybe you thought of the story of the sinful woman in Luke 7 but I was referring to a parable in Matthew:

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?

Matthew 20:1-15

Let us not be like the complaining laborers or the older son and instead of shunning others for their past shortcomings, let us rejoice with the heavens for the one sinner that repents! Understanding that the grace extended to us is no more deserved than the grace extended to any other child of the most high.

Stay cool,

Jason

Hi friends,

due to me not being smart enough to understand these parables (mainly the great banquet one), I had to look them up on google but I got back some insightful results!

First things first though, I would like to look at v.27-33 about “The cost of discipleship” (as the ESV has subtitled).

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:27-33

So, I think it’s pretty obvious from this passage that following Jesus has a cost. It’s a pretty big one too, he demands us to “bear our cross” and to “renounce all that we have.”

A slightly more interesting observation is that in both the parables, there seems to be a choice in the matter. To build or not to build the tower? To go to war or to ask for terms of peace? Similarly, could we draw a “to follow Christ or to not?” I wonder how much parallels exactly can we draw from the two parables without missing the point of them.

What about the guy who built his tower halfway and was unable to finish it, could we use this as analogy for someone who decides to follow Christ, realizes the cost of it was a lot more than they expected and decides to no longer?

Second, (this one might get me a few concerning glances of heresy but for real though), is salvation free if following Jesus has a cost? Is that still considered free? Well, can we be saved apart from following Jesus? No? Then isn’t there a cost that comes with this “free gift?” (If you have thoughts on this, please let me know. Super curious!)

Onto to the Parable of the great banquet,

But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. or I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

Luke 14:16-24

The first thing that you should notice is that the people who did not come had some really bad excuses.

Both of the first two people claim to have bought something and can’t come because they need to check up on the thing they already bought. Wait a second, aren’t you supposed to check the thing before you buy it? Yeah...

Something that is also really interesting to note is that the “poor and crippled and blind and lame” were probably not originally invited to the banquet. They were able to take part because of all the people that were invited and chose not to come. Sound familiar? Well the commentaries that I read sure think so:

So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.

Romans 11:11

I’ll leave it at that.

Stay cool,

Jason

Hey, so technically this is my second post even though it’s actually the first post because the technical first post was more of an introductory post but let’s not get into that.

Welcome to my first post!

Since this is actually my first time doing this, this post is going to be extra long since it’s going to cover about 13 chapters worth of highlights.

I’m mostly going to be looking at individual passages/verses and provide some short commentary on some thoughts I had on them and why I thought they were interesting! I’ll try to not use too much interpretation but inevitably there’s going to be some sprinkled throughout.

I’m not going to put ALL my highlights for this post because then something similar to John 21:25 would happen and I would never publish this so let’s just get started

Enjoy the ride!

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for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry

Luke 4:2

I think it’s those small details that we overlook that I find absolutely eye opening! In western thought, numbers are something we overlook but in Jewish thought, numbers have emphasis and this number right here? 40? This number has a LOT of emphasis. Just think for a second…40…years in the desert…days on Mt. Sinai with God…day journey to Mt. Horeb. Coincidence? (I’m gonna let you answer that)

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And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

Luke 4:24-27

Right after 27, we read about how the people in the synagogue are enraged at what he says (lol) here and try to end his ministry right there. But why were they so angry? Well, I guess partly is that he claims to be the messiah prophesied in Isaiah

What’s so significant about these people he’s listed though? Here’s a thought: the widow of Zarephath and Namaan, the leper; they’re both gentiles. Of the 39 books and countless stories in Tanakh that Jesus has to choose from, the two stories he chooses are stories of God working among the gentiles. Interesting. And probably almost insulting to his Jewish audience.

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While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him

Luke 5:12-13

It’s the small details. . .

It seems almost insignificant that Jesus “touched him” BUT if we have Levitical law in mind…

and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean

Leviticus 13:3

or if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean wild animal or a carcass of unclean livestock or a carcass of unclean swarming things, and it is hidden from him and he has become unclean, and he realizes his guilt; or if he touches human uncleanness, of whatever sort the uncleanness may be with which one becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and realizes his guilt

Leviticus 5:2-3

So Jesus CHOSE to be unclean to heal this guy. Wow. That’s love.

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But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Luke 6:2-4

Pharisees: Stop picking food to eat on the Sabbath

Jesus: takes it even further and references some obscure story of David, one of Israel’s heroes, eating holy bread meant for the priests on Sabbath

So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.

1 Samuel 21:6

And no, David was not “supposed” to eat this bread. It was meant for the priests.

“You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf. And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord. Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the Lord regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord’s food offerings, a perpetual due.”

Leviticus 24:5-9

So what has been a 2-3 line rebuttal to the Pharisee’s “strict enforcing” of the law has turned into a profound teaching about the Pharisees missing the point of Sabbath. Jesus says (lol) YES, Sabbath is important but if we go so far as to let people starve for the sake of “not working” then we’ve undoubtedly missed the point.

Oh, and he also calls himself “Lord of the Sabbath.” Bold claim.

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And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

Luke 6:20-26

Hey, it’s the beatitudes…or is it? Interestingly, in this Luke’s gospel,

• The beatitudes are cut in half. We only get 4 instead of the full 8
• The 4 that are listed are also cut off/changed…Matthew has “poor in spirit, hunger and thirst for righteousness, and has mourn instead of weep
• Instead we get 4 woes that contrast the 4 beatitudes: poor & rich, hungry & full, weep & laugh, and hate you & speak well of you

Probably just a coincidence.

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Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Luke 6:36

Luke 6 again? You bet.

This’ll be a short one though. This comes right after a teaching on loving your enemies. Know where else a similar phrasing statement comes after Jesus’ teaching on loving your enemies? Hm….

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:48

Could it be Jesus is not implying a need for perfection? Because it sounds awfully similar to something else…Hm…..

For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

Leviticus 11:45

This might be a bit too much interpretation for y’all so if you’re not a fan, I guess you can skip this thought.

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When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant.And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, or he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.”

Luke 7:3-5

Reading this in context is almost strange…Wait a second… A (likely) gentile centurion asking Jewish elders for help?…and them agreeing…and asking Jesus? I thought Jesus and Jewish leaders didn’t get along ??

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I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Luke 7:28

Hey wait a second, “among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Okay, one more time. “among those born of women NONE is greater than John. Yet the one who is LEAST in the Kingdom of God is GREATER than he.”

Okay, WOW. We are done here. Speechless.

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“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.

Luke 7:41-47

Wow I loved this one.

Who do we see ourselves as in this parable? It’s easy to say we are the debtor that owes fifty denarii. But is that true? Or even if it is, do we want to be like the one that owes fifty? Because that debtor is clearly a reference to Simon (the pharisee) while the other is a reference to the sinful woman.

Because with the understanding that the grace extended to me is completely undeserved and completely unwarranted but has been freely given to me out of God’s kindness, how can I not relate to the sinful woman? Or the debtor that owed five-hundred denarii?

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”

Ephesians 2:8

In fact, you could go as far as to say we don’t owe God five-hundred denarii even, we owe him way way way way way more than we could ever imagine. We owe him like infinite denarii (lol). And to know this and to read about this woman and read how she acts so radically in her faith knowing how undeserving she is of God’s grace should push us to have that same level of radicalism as we serve and follow God.

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And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.

Luke 8:13

I thought if you believed, it meant you could no longer not believe unless you never believed in the first place? Hey wait a second…

Oh and yes it is the same word used in John 3:16 for believe which is “pisteuō.”

Checkmate Calvinists. #Controversial

Jk, please do not e-mail me asking for a theological debate on whether I think TULIP is biblical or not. But I definitely think it’s some good food for thought.

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Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Luke 7:11-17

While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler’s house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.” But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.

Luke 8:49-56

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

John 11:38-44

I’m just going to put this all here because I forgot to talk about this in Luke 7 but also want to talk about this as a whole.

So, resurrecting people, Bible, who we got?

• Elijah raising the Widow of Zarephath’s son (1 Kings 17:17-24)
• Elisha raising the Shunammite’s (2 Kings 4:18-37) Son and some random guy that touched Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:20-21)
• Jesus raising widow of Nain’s son, Jairus’ daughter, and Lazarus

Hey look. One, two, three.

Also might be the reason everyone thinks he’s Elijah (Luke 9:19)

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On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” And they did so, and had them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Luke 9:10-17

Wow. Someone mentioned to me that the only miracle that occurs in all four gospels so I looked up a comparison between them:

http://www.dabhand.org/Essays/NT511%20Feeding.htm

Not to say I’m on board with all the interpretations but a lot of really good stuff in there! One thing that stuck out:

“The first is really given to us by Mark 6:34 when he notes that the multitude are like sheep without a shepherd. Then he informs us in verse 39 that they are made to sit on green grass. In fact the word Mark uses for ‘sit’ is anaklino which really means to recline. This would appear to be an allusion to Ps 23:1-2 where David states the Lord is his shepherd that makes him lay down in green pastures.”

It’s not Luke but still, it’s some super interesting stuff!

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When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”But he turned and rebuked them.

Luke 9:51-55

LOL

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“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.

Luke 10:13-15

WOE to you, for it will be more bearable in the judgement of this gentile region than for you.

WHOA is right.

Where is Tyre and Sidon? Some great stories to look at: Matthew 15:21-28, 1 Kings 17:17-24 (hey didn’t we just see this passage reference? Yes we did).

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But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Luke 10:29-37

Wow. So good.

Layers on layers on layers.

Layer 1: You should show compassion to strangers and the Samaritan sets a good example in this parable.

Layer 2: Samaritans and Jews did NOT get along. Jews would literally spend extra couple of days just to not have to walk through Samaritan lands. For a Samaritan to help out a Jewish person like this is grace upon grace because there is no way the Jewish person would do this back for the Samaritan.

Layer 3: If we know Levitical law, which if you did not before, you will now know as I quote from it:

“The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. He shall not go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother.

Leviticus 21:10-11

priests are not supposed to touch dead bodies. So for the levite and the priest who passed by the seemingly dead guy on the road? They were just following levitical code. They are just doing exactly what God commanded when he told them to abstain from touching dead bodies. And when they decided that it was more important to be unclean then help a man near the point of death? They missed. the. point.

Unsurprisingly, in the very next chapter. Jesus goes through the woes of the Pharisees and Lawyers and he criticizes them for “neglecting justice and the love of God” (v. 42). In the Matthew 23 equivalent, it’s even more specific, saying they neglect “justice, mercy, and faithfulness” (v. 23). What does Jesus want us to learn from this parable?

Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 9:13

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And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

Luke 11:5-8

Other versions (NKJV, NASB) have “persistence” rather than impudence. But oh! To have such faith that we are not afraid to ask like this and still expect to receive.

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What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Luke 11:11-13

LOL #dadjokes in the time of Jesus.

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In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Luke 12:1

Interestingly, Matthew has Jesus saying the “Leaven of the Pharisees” to be their teaching rather than hypocrisy.

Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Matthew 16:12

Which I guess in a sense is the same thing.

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And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, or the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Luke 12:10-11

For context, right before this, it’s talking about acknowledging Jesus before men so here it’s talking about acknowledging him even amidst authority and the such.

But wow. When we need a defense and we don’t know what to say in that kind of position, the Holy Spirit is gonna help us out and teach us? Pretty cool.

Let us then not be afraid of acknowledging Christ before men!

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But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

Luke 12:14

I wonder if this is supposed to remind us of when Moses acted as a judge for Israel in the desert and answered all the people’s questions.

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And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully,and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Luke 12:16-21

Wow, such rich parables.

Layer 1: We have a rich man who stores up all this earthly goods and possessions until he gets to a point where he has “enough” only to find he dies that very night. All the treasures he has gathered are now in vain and all his goods and possessions are now of no use to him.

Layer 2: In verse 19, Jesus says “relax, eat, drink, and be merry.” which is a clear reference to Ecclesiastes:

And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8:15

So in Jesus’ story about the vain storing up of treasures of a rich man aside from God, he quotes Ecclesiastes, a book about the vain nature of the world aside from God.

He uses this reference almost as a “proof text” of his parable but rather than using a passage, he just quotes a line and seems to refers to the entire book, drawing from the theme of the entire book rather than the specifics of that passage in particular.

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But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”

Luke 13:14-16

Oh hey look.

It’s Sabbath and missing the point again.

Seems like a big theme for Luke.

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I guess congratulations if you’ve made it this far. I expected it to be a long post but not sure I expected it to be this long.

It took me about 3 hours to write so I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Until next time,

Jason

Hi friends, my name is Jason and I’m a second-year student at the University of Toronto St. George! If you haven’t read my “About” section yet or don’t care to do so, I’m starting this blog because I love reading the bible!!

It’s full of so many profound and almost shocking things in which I’d read and say “WOW, I can’t believe it actually says (hehe) that in there.” And to be totally honest, I probably wouldn’t even believe you if you said those things unless you showed me the verse reference.

Some examples just from John 14 (I am the way, truth, and the life):

• “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father (John 14:12)
• Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it (John 14:13-14)

Did Jesus actually just say to his disciples (and us) that whoever believes in him will do EVEN greater works than him? The same Jesus who is the “prophet greater than Moses” and the one whom David calls “Lord?” The same Jesus who turned water into wine, opened the eyes of the blind, and fed 5000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish? The same Jesus who claimed to be the son of God and allowed himself to die on the cross for man’s forgiveness of sin only to rise again on the third day to show his authority and dominion over death? Wow. That’s a big calling.

Oh, and he also mentions that he will do ANYTHING that we ask in his name. Not to say he’ll grant any request (like there’s a bunch of technicalities and blah but we’re not going to go through that). But wow. The son of God will grant ANY request we have. And it’s not just this one verse. He reiterates it twice in the next chapter:

• If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you (John 15:8)
• You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you (John 15:16)

Guess it must be a pretty big deal eh?

I don’t want to make this post too long so I’ll end it here and immediately decide to write my second blog post about the highlights of the first 13 chapters of Luke I’ve read so far.

Stay cool,

Jason