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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Luke 19
Yesterday we read about a rich man who became extremely sad after meeting Jesus. Today we read about a rich man who welcomed Jesus joyfully. Jesus told the first man to sell all his possessions and give to the poor. However the man, who claimed to want eternal life, was unwilling to do as Jesus requested. Zacchaeus, on the other hand, willingly offered half his possessions to give to the poor as well as recompense for his past extortion from others. Jesus’ response to Zacchaeus was, “Today salvation has come to this house” (Lk. 18:9a).
Zacchaeus’ story confirms to me that Jesus’ request to the first man was not about selling his possessions. It was about revealing the man’s unrepentant heart. He wasn’t really looking for eternal life. What he really wanted was self-righteousness. And the idol of wealth he was unwilling to turn away from not only left him with sadness, but also kept him from life. What a dark contrast to the joy and salvation Jesus brought to Zacchaeus’ repentant heart!
Matt. 20
Jesus taught His disciples the contrary, upside-down ways of God’s kingdom. The first will be last and the last first. And those who want to be great must serve. He did all this while demonstrating not only these points, but also that we must surrender to those in authority over us, especially and ultimately to the authority of God. Not surprisingly, these are the same messages the apostles stressed over and over in their various letters. We love God and love others when we serve those under us and submit to those over us.
Matt. 21
Jesus’ statement, “Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him” (Mt. 21:44), got me to thinking. I suspect this statement is made with a typical literary style called parallelism, where two similar lines express the same thought. That is to say, I think both parts of Jesus’ statement are meant to say the same thing. The way the CSB translates it here, though, makes it sound like contrasting statements. It has an “if this then, but if that then” kind of format. Also, it uses the phrase “falls on” rather than something like “stumbles over”.
So when I read the first part of Jesus’ statement, the thought that comes to my mind is one of falling on Jesus in repentance and trust. When we do this, our rebellious hearts of stone break into pieces, opening the way for God’s changing grace. For we know, “…a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Ps. 51:17). Whoever doesn’t fall on Jesus, however, will meet their complete destruction on that final day.