Gospel Meditation

Luke 19:1–10

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         The old city of Jericho had been replaced, mostly through Herod the Great, who died about four years before the birth of Jesus, and it was a magnificent built. Only 14 miles away from Jerusalem, the road to it was well travelled and at Jericho would be a taxing booth or table.

2.         A wealthy and chief tax collector was one Zacchaeus, a Jewish man, who would have been greatly despised by most others. He must have heard about Jesus, and when learning that He was passing through the town, wanted badly to see Him.

3.         Being small of stature, he climbed upon a sycamore tree (a fig mulberry tree, branches low to the ground) because he could see over the crowds lining the path Jesus and His disciples were walking on.

4.         Jesus spotted Zacchaeus, called him to come down and invited Himself and His disciples to come to Zacchaeus’ house. When the locals saw this, Luke tells us “they all grumbled” because being a tax collector, he would he hated.

5.         Zacchaeus, a terrible sinner in the opinion of others, announced that he would give half his goods to the poor and promised to give back fourfold to anyone he had cheated.

6.         Jesus thereupon announced that salvation had come to Zacchaeus’ house, and He affirmed that he was a “son of Abraham.”

7.         Jesus then said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Zacchaeus was one of these.

Luke 18:31–43

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         On His way to Jerusalem with His disciples, along with throngs of others going up to the city for Passover, Jesus, and for the third time, says that He will be given over to the Gentiles who will mistreat Him and also kill Him. Not only that, but that He will also rise from the dead. But they did not understand Him.

2.         Crossing over the Jordan River, they come to the city of Jericho. (There were two sites for the city, the old one built by the Jews and also a newer city built by Romans.)

3.         Now a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, which was common, and there were likely many more doing this hoping for offerings from the pilgrims headed toward Jerusalem. (Matthew speaks of two beggars.)

4.         The beggar, upon hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me,” a messianic term used by Jews in that era. Jesus stopped and had the blind man brought to Him.

5.         The man pleaded for Jesus to heal him, and Jesus did so and said to him, “your faith has made you well.” And that faith would be that not only could Jesus heal him but that He was the promised Messiah.

6.         The man now became a follower of Jesus and those who witnessed it gave glory to God.

Gospel Meditation

Luke 18:15–30

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         Likely numbers of times parents brought their children to Jesus so that He might bless them (with a touch). In that era, children were often a burden to parents.

2.         Jesus invites children to come to Him, and such is the way we must come into the

kingdom of God.

3.         Then a rich ruler sought Jesus out. Maybe the head of a synagogue or even a member of the Sanhedrin (70 of them ruled over by the high priest).

4.         It seems that he desired to have eternal life and must have thought Jesus could show him the way.

5.         Jesus lists 5 commandments, these called the Second Table of the Law, and the ruler says he is completely obedient and observant of these laws. (see Exodus 20)

6.         Jesus then tells him to sell all he has and give it to the poor, and then become His follower.

7.         The ruler declines however, too high a price to pay for him, and Jesus states how difficult it is for those who are wealthy. Using hyperbole, to help make His point, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.

8.         Those who heard Jesus’ words wondered who then could be saved. Jesus says only God can do this saving work.

9.         Those who leave all worldly goods behind–perhaps referring to forgives and peace–will receive much more here on the planet, and then even eternal life.

Luke 18:1–14

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Say or sing the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         The opening parable, about a persistent widow, is intended by Jesus that His followers make prayer a central part of their lives and thus not give up to despair.

2.         In the parable there was a judge who was essentially an atheist and uncaring. There was a widow, obviously poor and powerless, who continually approached the judge and asked his help. The judge refused at first, but after a while, due to the constancy of the widow, he grants her request.

3.         The intent of the parable is that for Jesus’ followers (His elect), they are to continue in prayer and God will give them justice, answering their prayers.

4.         Secondly, a Pharisee and a tax collector, are at the Temple praying. The Pharisee does not really pray but boasts of how superior he is in comparison with a despised tax collector, who is obviously Jewish.

5.         The self-righteous religious Pharisee boasts of how wonderful he is while noting the despised tax collector. With five “I’s” the Pharisee lets God know how different he is from the tax collector.

6.         This man, standing a good distance from the Pharisee, beats on his chest in his misery, and asks for forgiveness identifying himself as a “sinner.”

7.         That “bad” man went home “justified,” that is, forgiven of his sin. Not so the Pharisee.  

Gospel Meditation

Luke 17:20–37

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         Pharisees ask Jesus as to when the kingdom or reign of the Messiah would begin, and Jesus says that it will come but without it being seen.

2.         Instead, the kingdom of God was already present, and indeed, was right in front of them.

3.         Then to His own disciples, Jesus says that they will desire to see the Son of Man, meaning Himself, but they will not see Him, thus referring to the ascension, His return to heaven.

4.         But others will come claiming to be the Christ; these are to be rejected. A day is coming however when they will see Him. Yet, before that time, He will be rejected, meaning the cross.

5.         In fact, life will go on as normal, but as in the days of Noah and Lot, speaking of the great flood and Sodom being destroyed, He will return or be revealed as the Messiah.

6.         People will seek to preserve their lives meanwhile, but they will lose them, yet those who will lose their lives, by means of following Jesus as the Christ, these will live. Here is an allusion to the reality of heaven and hell.

7.         Indeed, life on the planet will continue, and it will be clear and plain when the Kingdom of God does in fact appear.                                 

Gospel Meditation

Luke 17:11–19

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         It is thought that Jesus, with His disciples, were on the Galilean border with Samaria and Jesus, instead of traveling south through Samaria, headed east to cross the Jordan and proceed south along the Jordan River on the way to Jerusalem.

2.         In an un-named village, 10 lepers, standing at a safe distance from Jesus and companions, loudly called out to Jesus to have mercy on them.

3.         Leprosy, very contagious and without a means to treat it, meant a slow miserable and painful dying. Lepers were not allowed to mix with the general population and were forced to live apart, usually in caves and forests.

4.         Jesus, without seemingly coming near them, told them to show themselves to the priests. There was a procedure conducted by the priests to declare a formerly ill person with leprosy to be able to enter back into his or her community. We find these arrangements in Leviticus 14.

5.         Though all were healed of their leprosy on their way to find the priests, only one returned to thank Jesus and this was a Samaritan. By the way, it would be quite unusual for a Samaritan to be with Jews.

6.         Jesus told the now cured former leper to rise, go his way, because his faith had made him well.

7.         Our key point is that the leper did what Jesus said to do, and then came back giving thanks to the Healer.

Gospel Meditation

Luke 17:1–10

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.

1.         These three stories may or may not be connected.

2.         In the first, “temptations to sin,” was spoken to Jesus’ disciples, likely more than just the Twelve. He warns them that they will be tempted to sin, and it is awfully wrong to tempt another person to sin.

3.         There will be wrongdoing and sinning, and when this happens, the sinner must be spoken to, and just as important, forgiveness is to be given, and repeatedly.

4.         Then the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith, they must have felt that the faith they had could not be sufficient. Jesus then, using a parable says that even if their faith seems small or weak, even then still that faith is powerful, and this taught by using what is termed “oriental hyperbole,” meaning reference to a tiny little mustard seed and the uprooting of a tree that was known for its strong roots.

5.         Now a separate story, Jesus speaks of a servant whose master does not invite that servant to dinner when the servant has completed a task. And does the master even thank the servant for his work? No is the answer, and the lesson is that as His servants His disciples are to consider themselves to be unworthy, as the labor they engage in was only their duty.

Luke 16:19–31

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         Whether Jesus is stating an actual event or delivering another parable is unknown. We note that this is the only story of Jesus’ where a person is named, and here Lazarus, a name based on Hebrew meaning “God is his help.”

2.         A rich man (In the KJV is the word Dives), whether a Pharisee or a Sadducee is unknown, but he was very wealthy wearing a costly linen under garment and over it a highly costly purple robe. And he lived the high life.

3.         Lazarus, likely unable to walk, covered with nasty sores (not a leper), and perhaps near naked, was deposited every day by some unknowns, could barely keep himself alive. His only relief was death, and when he did die, this resulted in his arriving in heaven, here known as Abraham’s side, or bosom.

4.         Most commentators state our account is a parable what with someone in hades being able to speak to someone in heaven, but the rich man wants relief by means of Lazarus, but the “great chasm” prevents this.

5.         Again, the rich man wants Father Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers so they would not end up in eternal torment. Here he is, still wanting Lazarus to help him despite the fact that he never lifted a finger to relieve Lazarus misery when he easily could have.

6.         Jesus says that due to the fact the five brothers did not listen to Moses and the Prophets, even a resurrection would fail.

The Gospel Meditation

Luke 16:1–17

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         The parable has been variously understood by Biblical scholars down through the centuries. For instance, was the manager trying to cover his dishonesty, or was he cheating his boss and hoping that those whom he reduced their debt would help him when he ran out of money?

2.         Also, it is thought that perhaps Jesus was teaching His disciples about dealing with money and possessions. He wanted them to live honestly and to be generous with money.

3.         A great lesson is stated in verse 10: “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much.” And then in verse 13 is a statement that goes directly to the point, “You cannot serve God and money.” And Paul echoes this in 1 Timothy 6:10 when he states that the love of money is the root of all evil.

4.         Here is the call to integrity, to being faithful with other people’s money and as well with one’s own.

5.         The follower of Jesus is called to live an open and honest life thereby not having to struggle with a guilty conscience and having to lie and cheat.

6.         Jesus, in the second section, knew that the religious leaders, the Pharisees in particular, were “lovers of money.” And hearing what Jesus said, they “ridiculed Him.” But the God who knew their hearts would one day bring them into judgment.