Day 303 (Luke 18) - Year 6
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Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap.

Today, Jesus starts out by encouraging his disciples to pray about what's really on their hearts, to not give up asking. He tells a story about a wicked judge who finally caves to the persistent nagging of a local widow. I'm really glad Jesus is not drawing a direct parallel here. It's similar to the parable he told about the dishonest manager two days ago in Luke 16. With that parable, he was illustrating how a worldly person handles things and was saying the kingdom mentality in reality is better than that.

And we have that idea showing up again today. For instance, the judge in this parable doesn't fear God or man. So if even he will relent and hear the widow's cry, then how much more would a loving father hear and respond to the cries of his kids?

It's also helpful to back up a chapter and see where this falls in the overall narrative of what Jesus is saying here. The last thing he talked to them about in Luke 17 was the coming of his kingdom. He talked about times of judgment and persecution, times of loss and perseverance. So it's fitting that he would follow that kind of story with a reminder that God is always listening to their needs. Because when trials come, they need to remember where their hope is.

The promise that God hears their prayers is a far weightier promise than, say, getting them a promotion or finding them a spouse. He's definitely attentive to those things and encourages us to pray for things big, medium, and small. He doesn't discriminate when it comes to conversations with His kids.

This is just a promise that they can pray even bigger than they maybe thought possible. He knows they need to be reminded that God is attentive because it's the awareness of God's attention and love that will invite their own faithfulness. If they feel forgotten by God, they certainly won't walk closely with him. Which is why Jesus ends this parable with a question about his return. He says, "'When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?'

By the way, this is a question for them, not him. He knows the answer. Then he jumps into a parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector. From the heading alone, this one sounds like it's going to be a cage match. But it's got a much more melancholy tone, surprisingly.

Luke says Jesus is telling this parable to people who have completely missed square one, spiritual poverty. So we can expect that to be the point he's going to drive home here. So a Pharisee and a tax collector walk into a temple. The Pharisee thanks God for all the good works he's doing. And the Pharisee has found the right source to thank. I'll give him that. God is the source of all his good works.

There's technically nothing wrong with his prayer on the surface, but it seems to carry the tone of arrogance. It lands on us almost like a backhanded compliment, right? It almost feels like, thank you, God, for creating an amazing person like me. You should really be proud of yourself. I'm truly some of your very best work.

Meanwhile, the tax collector who has no good works to speak of is wailing off to the side, acknowledging his sin and begging God for mercy. And Jesus points to that man as the one God justifies, not the Pharisee. Once again, we see God's upside-down kingdom. The gospel is an inversion of religion.

In verse 18, we meet the rich ruler. This man has wealth and power, and he has also been on top of things as far as the law is concerned, at least on the surface. He asked Jesus how to have eternal life. Jesus has been talking about it a lot, and he's like, sounds good to me. Where do I sign up?

He's probably used to getting whatever he wants. So Jesus leans into the question and keeps pushing the guy to search his own heart to see what's really in there. He pushes him just a step at a time. He starts by telling him to keep the law, and the guy is like, check? First of all, we know that's a lie. We all fail, even just the Ten Commandments, not to mention the other 600-plus laws.

But this guy is pretty confident, so Jesus is like, you've kept the law? Awesome. Then you need to come be one of my followers. Why don't you go sell everything you own and be one of my disciples? And this invitation reveals the man's heart. Jesus gives this man an offer he doesn't give to anyone else in the gospel besides his disciples. Come follow me. This guy could have been the 13th apostle, but Jesus knew all along what was in his heart.

The problem was, the rich ruler didn't know what was in his own heart until he was faced with choosing between following Jesus and sticking with his wealth and power. To be clear, the command and invitation Jesus gives to the rich ruler isn't the path to eternal life. You probably know that already. Because nothing else we've read says, "Sell everything you own, that's how to know God." This is obviously Jesus meeting the rich ruler where he is, to reveal his own heart to him. Jesus exposes his priorities.

The man may think he wants to follow God, but he really prefers his own path. And the man went away sad. It's devastating to realize that you kind of want God, but that you want something else more than God.

One interesting thing to note here is that when Jesus starts quoting the Ten Commandments to the rich ruler, he only quotes five of the ten. The Ten Commandments are divided into two categories, five that pertain to our horizontal or man-to-man relationships, and five that pertain to our vertical or man-to-God relationship. Jesus only quotes the horizontal commandments, the man-to-man ones.

Some scholars think Jesus does this to emphasize that the rich ruler certainly seems to love people. He's kept all those commandments. But that's putting the cart before the horse. He doesn't actually love God, which is the first and greatest commandment. He loves himself more.

Then Jesus pulls his disciples aside and tells them for the third time that he's going to die soon. He's starting to get much more detailed in his words. Today, he does everything short of draw them a picture. He even includes the fact that people will spit on him. They still don't understand. God is still hiding it from them, even as he's telling them. They keep moving toward Jerusalem undeterred.

On the way there, their entourage passes Jericho. All the noise catches the attention of a blind beggar who we'll find out later is named Bartimaeus. Jesus heals him and he follows Jesus, heading toward Jerusalem. We don't know how long Bartimaeus stayed with him, but knowing what's about to happen up the road in Jerusalem, if one of the first things he saw with his new eyes was the crucifixion of Christ, I can't help but wonder if he was tempted to wish he'd never regained his sight at all.

But I'm sure knowing Christ superseded all of that regardless. Whether vision or crucifixion, Jesus is better than the best and worth all the worst. And that corresponds to my God shot for today too. In verses 29 through 30, Jesus says, "'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, who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age to come eternal life.'"

Abundant, eternal life in the kingdom won't look the same as life focused on the here and now, nor should it. Jesus promises there will be some necessary losses along the way, but he also promises that what you gain for following Christ will always trump what you lose. Even his taking is giving. He's always in the business of giving. Life, hope, peace, healing, freedom, justice, and joy, because he's where the joy is.

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