This Generation & The Pharisee and the Tax Collector Matthew 11:16-19 & Luke 18:9-14

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 7

This Generation & The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Matthew 11:16-19 & Luke 18:9-14

  1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
  2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
  3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
  4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
  5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
  6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
  7. Matthew 11:16-19 may or may not be genuine parable but some do, and those who do designate it “This Generation.”
  8. It has to do with a children’s game of imitation a wedding event and a funeral. The traditional wedding music is played and a funeral dirge is sung but there is not dancing or mourning.
  9. Jesus is referring to John the Baptist who came point to Jesus as the Messiah, and Jesus revealed who He was yet both messages were ignored and rejected. Jesus’ conclusion is, “wisdom is justified by her deeds” a phrase variously understood, but likely means that the future would reveal the truth.
  10. A tax collector, or publican, was a Jew who collected taxes for the Romans and demanded more than required and pocketed that. These were highly despised. The Pharisee, regular in this prayers, fastings (Mondays and Thursdays), and tithing. Oddly, many a Pharisee was despised by the people as well. In the parable, both arrive at the same time at the temple.
  11. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” is the prayer of the tax collector. The contrast could not be greater. One depends on good deeds the other, having none, pleads for mercy.
  12. The crowd listening to the parable would have been shocked to hear of a tax collector being declared justified, meaning his sin in total was erased and forgiven. Jesus turns the parable to be a lesson on humility. The tax collector’s prayer became the oldest prayer in church history.

 

GOSPEL MEDITATION #6 The Parable of the Tenants Mark 12:1-12

GOSPEL MEDITATION #6

The Parable of the Tenants

Mark 12:1-12

(Read Psalm 118 and Isaiah 5)

  1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
  2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
  3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
  4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
  5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
  6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
  7. “A man planted a vineyard,” Jesus says, as He begins to present a parable. This man does all that should be done: plants the best plants, builds a fence, a winepress, and a tower, leases it out to tenants, then goes away (Luke says for a long time. See Luke 20:9-18)
  8. At harvest time, the owner sends servants to collect the “fruit,” but the tenants beat some servants and kill others. When the owner finally sends his own “beloved son,” whom the owner is sure will be honored, they kill him outside the vineyard.
  9. The “vineyard” is a reference to Israel itself. Isaiah 5 would have been well known to the religious leaders, and there the vineyard is destroyed because it failed to yield the fruit of righteousness and justice. This parable is different but with similar themes.
  10. Psalm 118 was known as a Messianic Psalm for centuries before the days of Jesus. There the “cornerstone” or Messianic Stone that had been rejected, nevertheless becomes the chief stone, the cornerstone of a new structure.
  11. The primary point of the parable is that judgment is coming to those whom at first had been given charge of the vineyard. They rejected the owner’s rights for their own gain. The owner will give the vineyard to others.
  12. The religious leaders know the parable is about them but fear acting against Jesus because of his popularity with the people.

 

The Parables of Jesus # 5 Hidden Treasure, Pearl of Great Price, the Net & New and Old Treasures-Matthew 13:44-52

GOSPEL MEDITATION

The Parables of Jesus # 5

Hidden Treasure, Pearl of Great Price, the Net

& New and Old Treasures-Matthew 13:44-52

  1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
  2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
  3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or chant the Jesus Prayer.
  4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
  5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
  6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
  7. The lessons of the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price are similar.
  8. A man found a treasure in a field, concealed it, and did what it took to raise the money in order to buy the field.
  9. A man discovered a very valuable pearl and did all he could to obtain it. (In Greek pearl is transliterated margarita.)
  10. The central meaning of the two parables is that the kingdom of heaven is so very valuable that all else may be given up.
  11. The parable of the net is the third, and last, parable Jesus explains, and the explanation is extremely brief in comparison to that of the sower and the weeds.
  12. The point of the net parable is similar to that of the weeds. The weeds are not to be pulled up by the farmer. They are to be left until harvest time.
  13. At the harvest, angels will do the work of separating, not the farmer/sower. (We are reminded of Revelation 14:14-20)
  14. Jesus, it seems, wants to prevent the sowers from going further as they are likely to cause harm. They are not to act as the great Judge at the final judgment—is a way to interpret the parable.
  15. The old and new treasure parable has been variously understood. A major view is that it has to do with those highly trained in the ways of God as found in Scripture; those wise enough to teach what is both old and new.
  16. The “new” is best understood and appreciated by knowing that which is “old.” These two are complementary.

 

Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven—Matthew 13:31-35

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 4

The Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven,

and Prophecy and Parables

Matthew 13:31-35

  1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
  2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
  3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
  4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
  5. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture.
  6. Reread them. From memory, determine the central points.
  7. These two parables may have their background in the Hebrew Bible as we find similar themes in Ez. 17:22-24.
  8. A mustard seed had the reputation of being the smallest of seeds, yet when fully grown would average between 8 and 12 feet high and strong enough birds built nests there.
  9. Then, as a companion parable, Jesus speaks of leaven, or yeast, that is worked into dough and causes that dough to rise and expand.
  10. Jesus commonly used parables when speaking to crowds, for reasons not stated in Scripture. We assume that He intended for the parables to be more easily recalled than if He simply lectured as was the common manner of teaching.
  11. Matthew then quotes a passage from Psalm 78, verse 2, that helps explain why Jesus spoke in parables. We note that Matthew quotes from the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, the LXX and not from the Hebrew version.
  12. As in the case of the parables of the sower, the weeds, and the net, where Jesus gives an interpretation of His parables, for most of them however, He does not give one. At least the Gospel writers do not give interpretations if in fact Jesus did do so.
  13. The primary point of the parables, historically and contemporaneously, is that Jesus is giving assurance to His disciples that despite appearances, the kingdom of God will grow. Take heart, He is saying, keep sowing the Word.