Canonical Reading Plan for Oct 30, Luk 14-16

Today's readings are Luk 14-16.

The middle chapters of Luke should be read together as they have a common thread that binds them into a mini-volume. This recurrent theme centers on the self-righteous and overly pious action and attitudes of the religious leaders, the lawyers, scribes, Pharisees, priests, etc. This level of self-destructive behavior on behalf of those who reject Christ is nowhere more demonstrative than in Luk 14-15. 

Luk 14:1-6 relates the tale of a man healed of dropsy (abnormal and painful swelling) on the Sabbath. Jesus seems to be making a point of healing on the Sabbath. As usual, the lawyers and Pharisees take exception.

To expose the pride and arrogance of the lawyers and Pharisees, Jesus begins a series of teaching and parables. The first one has to do with a wedding feast (Luk 14:7-11) in which Jesus cautions them not to assume a place of honor but to humble themselves. 

Christ follows this with the parable of a great banquet (Luk 14:15-24). In this parable, a man invites his closest friends to a huge feast, and they agree to attend. When it comes time for the banquet, his friends make lame excuses and refuse to participate. The man, in anger, invites undesirable and unwanted people who are grateful to attend. The obvious parallel is between the ungrateful friends in the parable who end up being excluded from the banquet and the religious leaders of the Jews who will end up being excluded from the coming kingdom. Instead, those people the leaders deem unworthy will be invited into the kingdom just as the unworthy are invited to the banquet. 

Jesus emphasizes the difference between those who humbly receive the kingdom and those who arrogantly assume the kingdom is already theirs by counting the cost of following Him in Luk 14:25-33. Rather than seeking status and demanding special treatment as the religious leaders do, a disciple of Christ must be willing to lose everything for the sake of following Him.

Jesus uses salt to describe the leaders (Luk 14:34-35). Salt was precious and valuable in the 1st century, frequently used as a type of currency. As such, some dishonest merchants and traders tainted salt with unwanted materials. The resultant mixture would look like salt but was useless. It would neither retain the flavor of salt nor would it be capable of preserving food. The tainted mix would, in the long run, prove to be of no value. It was to be discarded. The accusation Jesus levels is that the lawyers and Pharisees would prove to be of no value in the long run. They look holy but are not really holy. 

Luk 15 can only be fully understood in the context of Luk 14’s indictment against the religious leaders who were opposing Jesus. It begins with the Pharisees and scribes lamenting the fact that Jesus pays more attention to sinners than them (Luk 15:1-2). They feel superior to the sinners. They feel they have more value to the kingdom than sinners have. Jesus sets them straight with three parables that explain who truly has value in the kingdom. 

The parable of the lost sheep shows the value of one lost sheep (Luk 15:3-7). The good shepherd will go after the lost sheep even though it seems to have little value compared to the entire flock. This is not about people wandering away from the church as has been taught by some. It's about one lost person who repents compared to ninety-nine who feel they have no need to repent (Luk 15:7). Heaven rejoices over the one who repents. The implication is that heaven has no joy over the prideful people who think they are already holy. This is yet another indictment against the lawyers and Pharisees who feel they are already holy. Jesus will recognize sinners who have no value in the eyes of the Pharisees, and turn away from those who reject Him. 

The parable of the lost coin is similar (Luk 15:8-10). The woman rejoices over finding one coin when it would seem to pale in value to the other nine. Once again we see heaven rejoicing over one sinner who repents (Luk 15:10). The nine coins are the Pharisees, who feel that heaven should rejoice over them. Yet, we see the joy of heaven expressed over the one of presumed lesser value. 

The parable of the prodigal (Luk 15:11-32) is the same lesson again. This time, the Pharisees are compared to the older brother. Instead of rejoicing over the return of the younger brother, the older brother is more concerned with his presumed inheritance. He is so upset that he never enters the party. The clear message is that the Pharisees and scribes feel entitled to the kingdom and are offended by having to share it with those considered unworthy. The great irony in this is that the unworthy ones end up in the party (the kingdom) while those who feel they are worthy (the Pharisees and scribes) are left standing outside. Their own stubbornness and selfishness have excluded them from what they desired most.

The parable of the dishonest manager (Luk 16:1-9) is a challenge to comprehend. There are many ways to interpret the details, but it may be wiser to stick to the main point of the parable rather than get mired in the less crucial matters.  While the manager is clearly guilty and loses his job, he remains wise enough to see that he will have a need in the immediate future and prepares for that need. As a result, the manager earns the commendation of the master for looking ahead and acknowledging his need (Luk 16:8). Keep in mind that this is a parable intended to teach a specific lesson, not necessarily an example of moral virtue. What the parable teaches is for us to recognize our need for security in the future and make pragmatic moves toward meeting it. Our need for material security is real enough and should be carefully planned for. But our need for eternal security, the spiritual need symbolized in the parable, should be acknowledged as well.

To emphasize this point, the thrust of Luk 16:9 seems to be an admonishment to the disciples to use whatever money they come by, the text calls this “unrighteous wealth,” not for their material need, but to minister to the spiritual needs of those around them. In other words, they should give their money away to bless others materially. They are to do this so that when others see their example and commitment, the gospel will have credibility and be welcomed. 

The overall lesson is clarified in Luk 16:10-13 where the disciples are cautioned to avoid making the accumulation of money and worldly goods a goal. They are to be faithful in how they use the currency and material possessions of the world (unrighteous wealth). 

This begins to make even more sense as Jesus rolls into a teaching about the Pharisees and their love of money (Luk 16:14-16). God sees and knows their hearts. They exalt power, prestige and worldly goods above all else. God sees this as an abomination. They have no foresight for their own eternal spiritual need like the manager had for his own worldly material need. 

This entire passage (Luk 16:1-31) is brought to a summary teaching in the parable about the rich man and Lazarus (Luk 16:19-31). We don't want to make too much of "Abraham's side" (some versions translate this as "Abraham's bosom") in Luk 16:22. The text is notoriously unclear as to what the phrase means, and it would be a mistake to build a doctrine around it. The main point of the parable is to emphasize the fate of one man who enjoyed worldly possessions in life and ends up in hell for not making God his priority. He sees a poor man, a man he looked down upon in life, in heaven and asks for help. The poor man is unable to help the rich man. It is too late.

The parable ends with the ominous note (Luk 16:29-31) that even man returning from the dead will not convince some people to set aside worldly security and material gain to embrace the eternal security of believing in Jesus Christ.