Paul continues today with his previous theme of the Gentiles’ inclusion into God’s kingdom, first by making reference to the divine source of his revelation (3:3-4). The Gentile inclusion had previously been a mystery, but not because it was never foretold in the Old Testament, but because the Old Testament clues had not been sufficiently pieced together by anyone. But the Holy Spirit had assembled the puzzle quite sufficiently, not only to Paul, but to other “holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit” (3:5). It was not Paul’s unique revelation. Remember that Peter, James and John had all endorsed Paul’s gospel to the Gentiles (Gal. 2:9).

Paul was adamant about it: “Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (3:6). And this had been God’s eternal purpose (3:11). Again, the only reason that Paul would be emphasizing this theme is because his old antagonists, the Jewish legalists, must have also been a threat in Ephesus.

I cannot resist mentioning at this point that we once again see that the epistles often addressed church issues of Paul’s day that today are not issues at all. How many of us have ever found ourselves debating with a Jew who was trying to persuade us that we need to be circumcised and keep the Mosaic Law in order to be saved?

Paul reminded his readers that he possessed a specific calling to serve the Gentiles with his gospel (3:2-4, 7-8). He obviously had no hidden motive, as he was a literal prisoner due to pursuing his call (3:1, 13). And lest anyone think that he was boasting about his special calling, he made sure his readers understood that he knew that his ministry had been granted to him purely due to God’s grace, bestowed upon “the least of all the saints” (3:8). All true ministers who understand their calling can identify with Paul. They know they are nothing special. Proud servants are deceived servants.

I must confess that it is a mystery to me why God would even care to display His manifold wisdom “through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” (3:10), which can only be a reference to the hierarchy of evil spirits who rule the kingdom of darkness under Satan. Perhaps Paul was not saying that God had any such desire, but only that His wisdom being displayed before evil spirits was simply a consequence of His redemption accomplished through Christ. And perhaps Paul wrote about this primarily to assure his Gentile and formerly-pagan readership that they were now serving a very superior God compared to their old gods, who were nothing more than doomed demons.

Paul mentions that he bowed his knees “before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name” (3:14). This seems to be another shot in the arm for Gentiles. As God has created all the world’s families and He is the ultimate Father, Paul bowed his knee to the God of all the Gentile families, and not just the God of the Jews. Paul similarly wrote in his letter to the Romans, “Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also?” (Rom. 3:29).

Thus Paul rightfully prays for Gentiles to enjoy every blessing that has been provided for them through Christ. It seems to me for two reasons that his prayer in 3:16-19 is not for Gentiles who had already received the Lord Jesus Christ, but for those who were still unregenerate. First, note that Paul requested that they would “be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ would dwell in your hearts through faith” (3:16-17). Christ is in all who believe (2 Cor. 13:5). Second, Paul also prayed that Gentiles would “know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge” that they might “be filled up to all the fullness of God” (3:19). Paul had already written in 1:23 that Jesus, in His body, the church, is “the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

It is sometimes argued that, because Paul wrote that we were formerly “dead in our trespasses and sins” (2:1), his statement somehow proves that it would have been impossible for us, even under the drawing of the Spirit, to repent and believe in Jesus. “Dead people can’t believe,” it is said, thus if they are to believe, it requires a sovereign act of God, and so those who are saved must be those whom God has selected, not those who have selected God by means of their God-given free will.

Isn’t it also true, however, that dead people can’t eat, breathe or think? So if being “dead in our trespasses and sins” somehow proves that we were unable to believe in Jesus since “dead people can’t believe,” then it also must be true that we were unable to eat, breathe or think. This exposes the absurdity of such reasoning.

Indeed, unregenerate people are spiritually dead, are under the influence of Satan, “the prince of the power of the air” (2:2), and they “indulge the desires of the flesh” (2:3), but this condition does not make it impossible for them to resist temptation, make moral choices, or repent and believe in Christ under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. This is what Scripture continually affirms. And once we have repented and believed, the Holy Spirit continues His gracious work, regenerating our spirits, what is nothing less than a spiritual resurrection (2:7).

Our response to the Holy Spirit’s conviction does not diminish the grace of God in salvation, any more than my accepting a gift from anyone diminishes the grace in their act of kindness. No one has ever accused me of “taking credit for” or “earning” the birthday gifts I’ve received, just because I actually believed that my friends wanted to give me gifts and I accepted them. Any person of average intelligence can understand this simple truth.

We are saved “by grace through faith” and “not as a result of works” (2:8, 10), but not so that we could then sin with impunity. Rather, the same grace that saves us also transforms us. We are “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (2:19). Workless “Christianity” is worthless Christianity, of which there is no shortage today.

Ever-vigilant against the Jewish teachers who were infiltrating Christian churches and persuading Gentile believers to be circumcised and keep the Mosaic Law, in the second half of today’s chapter, Paul fortifies his mostly Gentile readers from being seduced. If they believed what Paul wrote, it would have stopped the Jewish legalists from making any inroads in Ephesus. Although the Gentile believers were not circumcised, Paul reminds them that circumcision is “performed in the flesh by human hands” (2:12), which is of no comparison to the work that the Spirit had performed in their spirits. Thus, they should not be intimidated by the condescending looks of proud Jews. And although they were previously alienated from God and His covenant with Israel, that was no longer true because of Christ, who brought them near through His cross.

Paul is quite forthright in declaring that Jesus abolished “the Law of commandments contained in ordinances” (2:15). He could have only been speaking of the Mosaic Law. The old covenant had been fulfilled by the new covenant, the benefits of which are now available to everyone who will believe, circumcised or uncircumcised. Thus, there is no division between Jews and Gentiles who believe in Christ. They are now one body, or one “holy temple” in Christ (2:21).

Rather than be upset with this, Jews should be thrilled, as the Mosaic Law was “the enmity” that Jesus “put to death” (2:16). The Law did not save them, but only condemned them as they broke its requirements. In light of all that we’ve read in the New Testament about the end of the Mosaic Law, it is surprising that new covenant Gentiles in our day sometimes put themselves under its curse. We are free from the Mosaic Law, and obligated now to follow the commandments of Christ.

We’re back into our chronological study, now around AD 61, the time when Paul penned his letter to the Ephesian believers while he was incarcerated in Rome (or perhaps Caesarea). Along with Colossians, Philippians and Philemon, the book of Ephesians is one of Paul’s so-called “prison epistles,” a designation which I consider to be slightly misleading. They are better described as Paul’s “house arrest” letters (Acts 28:30-31).

You will recall that Paul was God’s human instrument to plant His church in Ephesus, and his Spirit-empowered ministry caused quite a stir during his three-year sojourn there, culminating with a riot of thousands of Ephesians chanting for two hours in the city amphitheater, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:1-41). Paul wrote this letter about seven years after that event.

This first chapter begins with lots of good information about what God has done for us through Jesus. Take note how many times you can find expressions such as, “in Christ,” “in Him, “through Jesus Christ,” “in the beloved,” and “through His blood.” There are quite a few. They are all connected to many “spiritual blessings” that are ours through Jesus.

Those spiritual blessings started long ago. Paul wrote that we were chosen (in Christ) “before the foundation of the world” (1:4). As I have written before in this daily devotional when we’ve come across scriptures about our being chosen, God’s choosing was not arbitrary or “unconditional,” but conditional. He chose people based on their faith in Christ. Obviously, possessing foreknowledge, that is something God could do even before we were born. Most importantly, however, notice that God’s great intention from before the foundation of the world was that “we would be holy and blameless before Him” (1:4). Paul was surely speaking, not of some kind of alleged “legal” holiness and blamelessness that would be bestowed on us by virtue of Jesus’ sacrifice, but rather of a genuine and practical holiness and blamelessness that would characterize our lifestyles, all because of Christ.

Not only were we chosen before the world was created, but we were also predestined to be adopted as God’s children through Jesus (1:5-6). Jesus’ sacrifice is what made possible our redemption (1:7), a word that speaks of a ransom being paid for the release of a prisoner, and also the forgiveness of our sins (1:8). Every future plan that God has for heaven and earth revolves around Jesus, who will one day rule the whole world, His inheritance, and with whom we will rule and reign, as He shares His inheritance with us (1:9-11)! Finally, through Jesus, God sealed us with the Holy Spirit, His mark upon us, who is not only our helper, but also a down payment from God of our future inheritance (1:14).

Obviously, the church Paul founded in Ephesus had continued to grow numerically over the years, and there would have been many believers in Ephesus who would have never seen his face. Paul, of course, kept abreast of the ongoing revival in Ephesus through his extensive network (1:15), and he continually thanked God for what was happening there, and also prayed that He would grant the believers “a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ” (1:17). Paul lists in 1:18-19 three specific prayer requests that he offered to that end. Those are three good prayers to pray for yourself as well as other believers. Note that they all revolved around knowing Jesus better, prayers that are a definite step above, “God please give me a better-paying job so I can afford the payments on my new hot tub!”

In keeping with those prayers for the Ephesian believers to know Jesus better, Paul reminds them of some facts about Jesus to help them know what is most important about Him, namely that He is absolute Lord. Jesus is at God’s right hand, “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come” (1:21). Everything is under His feet, and He is head of the church (1:22). This describes, not American Jesus, but Bible Jesus, Lord Jesus!

Wow. What an inspiring story! We’ve read and heard it so many times that we often don’t appreciate our privilege of knowing it. Billions of people living on earth have never heard it once. May the Lord help us to change that.

Had Jesus’ body not been buried by Joseph of Arimathea, it most likely would have been discarded in a garbage dump along with the bodies of the thieves who had been crucified with Him. In order, however, for His resurrection to be all the more convincing, God arranged that Jesus’ body be buried securely in a specific tomb for a specific length of time. If Jesus had been resurrected from a garbage heap, our faith would have to rest on the testimony of His followers who saw Him after His resurrection, a testimony that could be doubted by reason of the potential bias of Jesus’ followers. But as it turned out, we have the testimony of the Roman soldiers who stood guard at His tomb and the religious leaders who bribed them to lie, not to mention the fact that a large stone had been moved and Jesus’ empty grave clothes were inside. The greatest proof that Jesus is alive, however, is your transformation, the result of His living in you!

I would love to have been there when Jesus gave His Bible lesson to those two disciples on the road to Emmaus, during which he pointed out all the Old Testament scriptures that spoke of Himself. He no doubt referenced Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53, as well as a host of other messianic passages. He may have even pointed out how Jonah’s experience of being three days and nights in the fish’s belly prefigured the Messiah’s three days and nights in the heart of the earth.

Later that day, as Jesus began to break bread with those same two disciples “their eyes were opened” (24:31), while previously “their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him” (24:16). Similarly, later that same evening, when Jesus appeared to the eleven, we read that “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (24:45). Obviously, God can make us perceptive or imperceptive, understanding or ignorant, which is a good reason to humbly pray, “Lord, open my eyes.”

Even though Jesus now has a resurrected and glorified body that apparently can walk through walls and digest fish, He still has nail prints on His hands and feet. Thomas, who was not present the first time Jesus appeared to His disciples, declared, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). About a week later, Jesus appeared to him and said, “Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving but believing” (John 20:27). It has been rightly said, “The only works of man in heaven are the marks of the cross on Jesus’ body.”

I’ve mentioned it several times before, but today we read what I’ve so often quoted. Just before His ascension, Jesus said to the eleven, “Repentance for forgiveness of sins [should] be proclaimed in [My] name to all the nations” (24:47). Repentance for forgiveness of sins was a familiar theme to the eleven. It is the message they heard Jesus preach from the outset of His ministry, and the message He had instructed them to preach when He had sent them out by twos (Mark 1:15; 6:12). What ever happened to that commission and that message?

This commission, however, was different from the former in one respect. Previously, Jesus sent them to preach throughout the villages and towns of Israel. This time, He was sending them to “all the nations,” or more literally, “all the ethnic groups of the world,” of which there are thousands. For this reason, more than ever, we should pray, as Jesus instructed, for “the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2). Christians who don’t care about those who have not heard the gospel are not Christians.

If there ever was an example of someone serving mammon over God, Judas’ betrayal of Jesus is it. Note that Judas took the initiative to secretly visit the chief priests, and “they agreed to give him money” (22:5). He offered them his services for pay, and they ultimately agreed on 30 pieces of silver. That may not sound like very much money, but it was enough to buy a field (Matt. 27:7). Incidentally, if Jesus and His apostles were so wealthy, as is so often claimed by modern prosperity preachers, one would have to wonder why Judas would betray the One who was helping him to get rich in hopes of gaining enough money to buy a field.

Beware of the love of money! Even one who literally lives with Jesus for three years, who witnesses miracles, and who serves in supernatural ministry, is not beyond its lure. Judas had already seared his conscience by pilfering funds from the ministry money box, effectively stealing from Jesus, His disciples, and the poor (Jn. 12:6). Selling Christ Himself was the final step in his downward fall. The one who opens the door to greed opens the door to Satan, just as Judas did. When we disobey Christ to give money primacy, we betray Christ as Judas did, only to a lesser degree. Choose serving Christ or serving money! Both cannot be master!

The church’s first Lord’s Supper was Jesus’ last Passover meal, and so we see that both were full meals. That is how the Lord’s Supper was practiced by the early church, which is why it is referred to as the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:20) rather than the Lord’s Snack, which is what it has become in modern Christendom. Jesus made it clear that He Himself was the fulfillment of what had been annually practiced by millions of Israelites for centuries. As we chew the bread of the Lord’s Supper, it should remind us that Jesus was “crushed for our iniquities” (Is. 53:5), and as we swallow that bread we should remember that the Living Bread had come down from heaven to live inside us (Jn. 6:51)!

Today we read something that is not found in Matthew or Mark’s Gospels. Jesus told Peter that Satan had demanded (or, “obtained by asking”) permission to sift him like wheat. This reminds us of the story of Job. Satan “obtained by asking” permission to bring trouble into Job’s life.

What was Peter’s sifting? From the context, it seems it was his experience of denying the Lord three times after publicly declaring his loyalty. Imagine how Peter felt when the cock crowed a third time and his eyes met Jesus’ eyes. The Lord had no need to lip the words, “I told you so.” The tough fisherman from Galilee wept bitter tears over his failure, and it no doubt continued to trouble him deeply even after the Lord’s resurrection. But as He foretold Peter of his betrayal, Jesus also foretold him of his restoration. Peter would “turn again” and be able to “strengthen his brothers” (22:32). Amazing grace!

Luke is the only Gospel-writer who mentions that Jesus’ “sweat became like drops of blood, falling upon the ground” (22:44) in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke was likely describing a rare condition known as hematidrosis, when, under extreme emotional stress, tiny blood vessels rupture in a person’s sweat glands, producing a mixture of blood and sweat. Jesus was not only anticipating being scourged and crucified, but bearing God’s wrath for the sins of the world. No wonder He prayed to escape what He was about to suffer if it were possible. There was no other way, however, to save you and me.

I almost wish that the high priest’s slave wouldn’t have ducked when he saw Peter’s sword swinging in his direction. Had he not, Peter may have cut off his head (as he apparently intended), and Jesus would have performed a greater miracle than just healing a severed ear! What a testimony that man would have had: “I was decapitated by a preacher, but Jesus put my head back on!”

The Sanhedrins’ charge against Jesus was blasphemy. They found God guilty of claiming to be divine. But their powers were limited by the occupying Roman government, which did not allow them the right of capital punishment. Needing to persuade governor Pilate that Jesus was worthy of death, they accused Him of treason. Pilate tried to pass the responsibility to Herod Antipas, murderer of John the Baptist, but to no avail. Now consider this: eventually all those people—the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod, the soldiers who mocked Him, and the crowd who cried for His crucifixion—would all be judged before Jesus’ throne.

How is it that the people who cried, “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday were crying, “Crucify Him!” on Good Friday? We shouldn’t conclude that they were the same crowds. Those who called for Jesus’ crucifixion were primarily the chief priests and religious leaders according to 23:13. Wanting to avoid a Jewish riot during Passover in Jerusalem, Pilate acquiesced to their request even after declaring Christ’s innocence three times.

During Passover, Jews from many nations converged on Jerusalem to celebrate the feast. Simon of Cyrene, who had journeyed as many as 800 miles from Libya, became involved with a Passover Lamb on a grander scale than he ever imagined—as he carried Jesus’ cross. Some commentators suggest that Simon later became a Christian. Mark’s Gospel identifies him as “the father of Alexander and Rufus” (Mark 15:21), two men whom Mark assumed his readers would know. And Paul once sent greetings to a Christian named Rufus in Rome (Rom. 16:13), and so perhaps Simon and his sons did become followers of Christ. What an honor it would have been to have helped Jesus carry His cross!

While anyone else who found themselves in similar circumstances would have been consumed with their own troubles, Jesus amazingly was more concerned for the weeping women along His route to Golgatha than He was for Himself. Their sympathy for Him would not prevent the holocaust that would ultimately befall Jerusalem within forty years. Jesus’ quotation from Hosea (23:30) reveals that He also had the earth’s final judgment in mind, something that was only foreshadowed by Jerusalem’s destruction in AD 70. God takes no delight in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 33:11), which is one reason He forestalls His judgment. Jesus’ amazing love shines so brightly in today’s reading as it is contrasted with the cruelty of the mocking religious leaders and Roman soldiers.

The repentant thief who hung beside Jesus is a beautiful example of a person who was saved by grace through faith, but through a living faith made evident by works. What were those works? First, he openly confessed that he was a sinner, which is the first step toward salvation (23:40-41). Second, he stated his belief that Jesus was innocent and unworthy of death, defending Him before the other thief (23:40-41). Third, without shame he looked to Jesus as the source of salvation and, before a hostile crowd, publicly asked Him for it. His faith was genuine, and Jesus responded to it with an affirmation: “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (23:43).

I wonder, however, how Jesus would have responded if that thief had whispered, “Pssst….Jesus! Keep looking straight ahead. Act like we’re not talking right now. Hey, I want to tell You that I accept You into my life right now. I’ve heard that if I do that, things will begin to get better in my life. Now that I’ve accepted You, I’m expecting my situation to change!”

Jesus hung on the cross for six hours. It was during the second three hours that “darkness fell over the whole land” (23:44). When astronomers attempt to establish the exact date of Jesus’ crucifixion by means of past solar eclipses, they run into one problem. That is, Jesus was obviously crucified during the Passover, which always occurs at the time of a full moon, which makes a solar eclipse an impossibility. The darkness that day was a special supernatural sign from God. The Son of God, clothed in flesh, was dying for the sins of the world, the most significant day in all of history.

Isn’t it interesting that the common folks in Jesus’ day were more spiritually in tune with God than were the Jewish religious leaders—the chief priests, scribes and elders? While the common folks held to the belief that John the Baptist was a prophet sent from God (20:6), the guys who had “studied at seminary for years” did not. That was a sad phenomenon that certainly has its counterpart in modern Christendom. Multitudes of so-called “lay people,” who simply read and believe Scripture, are miles ahead of seminary-trained spiritual leaders. The reason for this tragic reality is the same as it was in Jesus’ time: the spiritual leaders are not motivated by love of God or others, but love for themselves (20:46-47). Many of them, rather than being called of God, pursue ministry as a career. They love the respectful greetings. They, just like the Pharisees, will “receive greater condemnation” in hell (20:47).

The parable of the vine growers, of which the interpretation is quite obvious (yet missed entirely by the scribes and chief priests), provides another good example of the danger of assigning spiritual significance to every detail of a parable. Consider what the owner of the vineyard (who represents God) said after his servants (who represents God’s prophets) had been beaten or killed by the vine-growers (who represent the nation Israel): “What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.” Obviously we should not conclude from reading those words that God did not know how His Son would be received when He came to the earth. So the rule when reading the parables is to make sure we assign spiritual significance only to those details that are obviously intended to have spiritual significance. How do we know which details those are? That answer is found in 1 David 21:7: “The Lord Thy God hath given thee a brain.”

Those “smart” and “tricky” religious leaders really hoped to force Jesus to make a public statement against Caesar that could be used to incriminate Him (20:20-22). But it isn’t easy to trick God! He’s been around the block a few times! And the God who exalted Caesar to His position as Emperor of the Roman Empire, and who could easily (and did) remove Caesar from his throne, was not afraid of what Caesar might do to Him.

We also learn from Jesus’ reply to their loaded question (“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”), that we should be subject to the ruling authorities. Of course, if the ruling authorities dictate that we should disobey God, then, and only then, is civil disobedience acceptable, and in fact, our duty. Paying taxes, however, is not contrary to God’s law. God established human government, and it takes taxes to run a government. Paul wrote to the Roman Christians, “For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due to them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor” (Rom. 13:6-7).

In a republic or democracy, all citizens have the opportunity to help determine the law of the land to some degree, thus Christians have the responsibility to participate in the process. Since true believers are often the minority, however, and because the majority rule, injustice and ungodly policies often win over what would be in line with the will of God. Still, the godly should not remain silent. We are only endorsing what everyone knows to be true within their own consciences.

For all the church folks who think Christians are obligated to obey the Law of Moses, I wonder how many are committed to obeying Deuteronomy 25:5, mentioned in today’s reading:

If a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should marry the wife and raise up children to his brother.

A good reason to pray that your brother’s wife has a child soon after they are married, and a good reason to send your brother vitamin supplements to keep him healthy until his first child is born!

The little story of the widow who gave her two small copper coins contains a big challenge to us. God measures our sacrifices, not by how much we give, but by how much we still possess after we have given. And by that measure, many who give very little are, in God’s eyes, very big givers. That poor widow who gave her two copper coins gave her food money. She would find herself with much more treasure in heaven than all the rich folks who made much larger contributions. This is a truth worthy of our meditation.

Keep in mind, as I have told you in the past, if you make $30,000 per year in 2009, you are in the top 7% of the world’s wage earners. If you earn $50,000 per year, you are in the top 1%. Most of us reading this are quite wealthy by the world’s standards.

Both Matthew and Mark also recorded Jesus’ Olivet discourse. Remember that, according to Matthew, the disciples’ questions were not only about the temple’s future destruction, but also about the signs of Jesus’ coming and the end of the age (Matt. 24:3). They probably didn’t imagine that those events would be separated by at least 2,000 years, and what Jesus said didn’t help them to imagine such a scenario. In any case, part of what Jesus said in His response obviously applied to the events leading to the temple’s destruction, and part of what He said obviously applied to the events leading to His return. The challenge is to sort all of that out (assuming that there is no overlap), and that challenge has given rise to varying interpretations.

In my humble opinion, Luke first focuses on Jesus’ response to the disciples’ question about the signs preceding His return and the end of the age (21:8-11). He then moves backward in time to focus on the more immediate future beginning in 21:12, starting with the words, “But before all these things…” He then proceeds to inform them of what they can expect over the next few decades. They would be persecuted and delivered to synagogues and prisons. Remember that before the close of Acts 6, all twelve apostles had spent a night in jail and stood trial before the Sanhedrin. Peter and John spent two nights in jail and had been on trial twice. In both cases, just as Jesus promised, the apostles received supernatural utterance and wisdom that none of their opponents could resist or refute (21:15).

Also just as Jesus promised, almost all of the twelve were martyred for their faith. In some cases, they were apparently betrayed by their own friends or families (21:16). All were hated during their ministries (21:17).

In verse 20, Jesus foretells of Jerusalem’s siege and destruction. It was in A.D. 66 that Rome sent a general named Cestius to crush a Jewish revolt. He surrounded Jerusalem for six months of siege, and then withdrew for an unknown reason. After Cestius’ withdrawal, all the believers, following Jesus’ instructions we’ve just read, fled from Jerusalem and Judea. It was a brief window of opportunity to escape. When Jerusalem fell to Roman general Titus in A.D. 70, no one who obeyed Jesus’ instructions in 21:21 perished in the ensuing holocaust, having been forewarned forty years before.

Once Jerusalem fell, just as Jesus foretold, the survivors were “led captive into all the nations” and Jerusalem has been “trampled under foot by the Gentiles” (21:24). Jesus said that would occur “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (21:24.) Although many consider Israel’s 1947 statehood and its 1967 recapture of Jerusalem’s old city as signs that the “times of the Gentiles” are now fulfilled, we should remember that there is still further Gentile trampling of Jerusalem to come when the anti-christ rises to power.

I am persuaded that beginning in 21:25, Jesus then began revealing signs that would occur prior to His return, which would all happen at an undetermined time after the fall of Jerusalem. And in my humble opinion, the generation that will see the “signs in the sun and moon and stars” (21:25) and so on, will see Jesus return (21:32).

Did you notice Jesus didn’t ask Zaccheus if He could stay at his house? God doesn’t need to ask to visit anyone’s house. He’s God! Here’s one more proof of Jesus’ deity. If He wasn’t God, He was arrogant and intrusive.

Zaccheus may possibly have liquidated all of his wealth if he kept his word to Jesus. Half he was going to give to the poor, leaving a half, or four-eighths. And if he paid back anyone whom he had defrauded four times as much, and if he had gained one-eighth of his income by defrauding people (something for which tax collectors were notorious), that would have left him with nothing. He was unlike the rich, young ruler in this regard, who was unwilling to liquidate his wealth to benefit the poor.

Notice that Jesus did not say to Zaccheus, “Oh no! You don’t need to do all that to be saved! That would be salvation by works, not faith! So just accept me as your personal Savior and everything will be alright!” Rather, He commended Zaccheus for repenting of two damning sins: greed and thievery. Previously, he hadn’t cared for the poor, and he had gained his wealth, at least in part, by dishonesty in his business of collecting taxes. Because of his public repentance, Jesus said salvation had come to his house. In light of such clear scriptures, it is incredible that anyone within Christendom thinks that he or she can gain eternal life while being dishonest in money matters and ignoring the plight of the poor, especially of poor believers. And why did Zaccheus repent? Because he believed in the Lord Jesus.

Those traveling with Jesus towards Jerusalem naturally thought He was about to establish the long-awaited kingdom of God. He had already told His apostles that He would be scourged and crucified, but His statements were incomprehensible to them. So He told another parable to give them some idea what to expect of Him, and what He expected of them in His absence. Specifically, He expected them, just as He expects us, to be fruitful, making a profit on what He has to entrusted us for His kingdom.

Everyone who produces a spiritual profit will receive a reward, perhaps in the form of being entrusted with some greater responsibility in His future kingdom. Anyone who does not will be considered a “worthless slave” (19:22). In a similar parable that we read in Matthew 25:14-30, the parable of the talents, the unprofitable servant was “cast out…into the outer darkness” where there was “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 25:30). All unprofitable servants of Christ will be cast into hell, because even though they professed to be servants of Christ, their unfruitfulness will prove their profession to be bogus.

The Mount of Olives sits directly beside Jerusalem. It was probably from there, looking across the Kidron Valley, that Jesus wept over the city. Picture, for a moment, Jesus sitting on a stationary donkey, weeping over Jerusalem. That will give you a little deeper revelation of the Lord’s character. While weeping, Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, fulfilled 37 years later by a Roman army. God would use the Romans as a tool of His divine judgment.

I’ve read the ancient historian Josephus’ eyewitness account of Jerusalem’s fall. The city was besieged by Titus with 8,000 Roman troops during Passover, when Jews were gathered from all over Israel. The siege lasted for months, so that no one could get in or out of the city. Thousands died of starvation while hoping for a messiah to come and rescue them. Jews who went out of the city at night to gather food were caught by the hundreds, and were whipped, tortured and crucified near the city walls. So many were crucified that there weren’t enough crosses, so several at a time would be crucified on one cross. Some who deserted the city to surrender to the Roman camp were discovered to have swallowed gold, and consequently thousands of deserters were killed and dissected for the potential find of gold in their stomachs. By the time Jerusalem fell, more than one million Jews had died. No wonder Jesus wept.

As always, it is important to consider context when we interpret Jesus’ parable of the unjust judge. Remember that in Luke 17, Jesus was talking about the end times and His return to judge the earth, a time of great persecution for His followers. They will be longing then for His coming, and wondering why He doesn’t return immediately to save them from the injustices that they are suffering. So Jesus told His disciples a parable “to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart” (18:1).

The parable He told is a perfect illustration of the importance of not assigning spiritual significance to every detail of every parable. The unjust judge is by no means a representation of God, except in the sense that God is a Judge. Unlike the unrighteous judge, however, who granted the persistent widow justice just so he wouldn’t be bothered any longer, God is a perfectly righteous judge. He dearly loves His children, and He will “bring about justice for them quickly” (18:8) as they “cry to Him day and night” during those difficult days.

Take note that Jesus was not talking about praying to be saved, baptized with the Holy Spirit, healed, or to have one’s temporal needs met. Those requests and others like them do not require continual and multiple requests. This parable does not teach us that we need to bombard heaven with our prayers so that a reluctant God will become weary of them and thus ultimately grant us our requests!

We must also consider context in the next parable, that of the Pharisee and the tax-collector. It was targeted at those “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt” (18:9). It is no surprise that Jesus used a Pharisee as His example of one who fit that description. The proud Pharisee wrongly thought that he had no need for repentance and God’s mercy, believing salvation was something he had earned by his own efforts. Contrasted with him was the sinful tax collector, who realized his need for mercy, asked for it, and received it. The Pharisee was proud, the tax collector was humble. The Pharisee would be humbled in the end and the tax collector would be exalted, having been declared just in heaven’s court. Amazing grace!

It is an inescapable fact that Jesus required the rich, young ruler to give up his possessions to inherit eternal life. What Christ said to him was not a unique requirement given only to him, as is often claimed. Jesus did not say, “How hard it is for that one guy to enter the kingdom of God!” Rather, He said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God” (18:24). The reason it is so hard for them is because they, like the rich, young ruler, love their money, and will not repent and follow Jesus, who commands them to live more simply and lay up treasure in heaven as they love their neighbors as themselves. They foolishly cling to what they must ultimately relinquish anyway, when they could have transferred all of it to heaven!

Finally, we read another story about someone who was healed, and Jesus again credited his faith (18:42). This story also illustrates a flaw in Calvinistic theology. (You are no doubt surprised to read me commenting about Calvinism!) Calvinists claim that whatever God wants, He gets, because He is sovereign. So, they say, if He desires that someone be saved, that person will be saved. To say otherwise, they claim, is to say that the unsaved person whom God desires to be saved is more powerful than God. This is absurd reasoning. God, who is sovereign, obviously permits people to do many things He desires that they not do. That does not diminish His sovereignty. Had Bartimaeus had no faith, he would not have been healed, even though it was clearly God’s will for him to be healed. He could have circumvented God’s will by unbelief. Indeed, unbelief is what circumvents God’s will that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4).