LUKE 12:35-16:18

 

CHAPTER 12:

F. Parable and warnings connected with the second coming. V. 35-41

V. 35

1. Our Lord continues on the subject of covetousness, still addressing Himself primarily to His disciples.

2. "Let your loins be girded about" = during the time of Jesus they wore a long flowing robe as an outer garment; when they labored or walked or ran, it was necessary to gird or tie this up by a sash or girdle about the body that it might not impede their progress; this means to be ready, to be active, to be diligent.

3. "And your lights burning" = this expresses the same meaning; a wise servant will be ready for his Lord's return. (Mat. 25:1-13)

 

V. 36

1. Jesus speaks these words as a parable--a window through which to see truth.  The parable refers to a servant whose master is going away to attend a wedding.

2. It expresses for His disciples to be ready at all times to leave the world and to enter into rest, when the Lord shall call you.  Let every obstacle be out of the way; let every earthly care be removed, and be prepared to follow Him into His rest.  Servants were expected to be ready for their master's return whether it was day or night.  And we, who know not the hour when our Lord will call us, should be always ready to die or be transformed--raptured.

3. The point of the parable is the preparation for His return not the actual timing of the return.

V. 37

1. "Blessed" = spiritually prosperous; happy is this "servant"--a slave; one devoted to his master (lord--little "l") to the disregard of one's own interests.

2. "When he cometh shall find watching" = shown by the servant keeping his loins girded and his lamp (lights) burning expecting his master to return.

3. "Verily I say unto you" = used by Jesus to express His sense of the importance of what he is saying and the certainty that it is as He says; "verily" means truly, surely.

4. "That he shall gird himself" = shall take the place of the servant himself.

5. "And make them to sit down to meat" = shall place them at his table and feed them.

6. "And will come forth and serve them" = he places himself in position as a lowly servant; this is exactly what Jesus did. (Phil. 2:5-8; Luke 22:27)

 

V. 38

1. Jesus alludes to the parable again.

2. "And if he shall come in the second watch" = refers to the master of the servant returning in the "second watch" = in Jesus' day the Romans divided the night into four watches, three hours each, beginning at 6:00 PM, the beginning of the Jewish day; the second watch was 9:00 PM until midnight and was called the midnight watch.

3. "Or come in the third watch" = from midnight to 3:00 AM and was called the cock-crowing watch.

4. "And find them so" = find the servants watching.

5. "Blessed are those servants" = O happy is that man; spiritually prosperous.

 

V. 39

1. "And this know" = means to know by experience.

2. "Goodman of the house" = the master of the house.

3. "Had known" = to have absolute positive knowledge of the facts.

4. "Had known what hour the thief would come" = Jesus now changes the imagery from a master-slave relationship to that of a thief.

5. "He would have watched" = been alert, awake, and very cautious and would "not have suffered (allowed; permit) his house to be broken through" =  the houses in the east were usually made of clay hardened in the sun or of loose stones, thus it was easy for thieves to dig through the wall.

 

V. 40

1. "Be ye therefore ready also" = just as the goodman of the house was prepared because he knew a thief was coming so Jesus' disciples were to be ready--saved and faithful knowing the Lord is coming back,  not knowing when but He is certain to come again.

2. "The Son of man" = Jesus, the Messiah.

3. "Cometh at an hour when ye think not" = the time is again emphasized as being important only in the sense that we do not know when He will return.

4. The wording in verse 39-40 is not a parable but a simile--a comparison of two things which, however different in other respects, have some strong point or points of resemblance.  Jesus is not a thief, the comparison is concerning the time of His coming.  This is not claim to a secret rapture. (I Thess. 5:2-6)

 

V. 41

1. "Peter" = one of the Lord's 12 chosen apostles; the English spelling of the Greek word "petros" in John 1:42; name Jesus gave to Simon to show there had been a changed nature--saved, either in John 1:42 or at some point earlier when Simon believed in a coming Messiah and begin to look for Him; name really means "a piece of the rock" while Jesus is the Rock the church is built upon. (Mat. 16:18)

2. "Lord" = "him" = "thou" = master; a title of honor expressive of respect and reverence; He to whom a person belongs; this is Jesus, the Messiah.

3. "Speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?" = Peter's question refers to the parable Jesus spoke in verse 36-38.

 

    G. Parable of the steward and his servants. V. 42-48

V. 42

1. Now our Lord spoke another parable to make it clear to whom He was speaking--the disciples or the entire crowd--His disciples.

2. "Who then is that faithful and wise steward" = "steward" is the manager of a household or of household affairs; "who then is he?"--Peter must answer the question; Jesus intended to denote a faithful Christian.

3. "Whom his lord" = his master; the word here has no reference to God.

4. "Shall make ruler over his household" = to set or appoint one to be in charge of his household.

5. "To give them their portion of meat in due season" = as their need requires; "meat" means food of all kinds.

6. This was the office of a steward.  Among the ancients this office was often filled by slaves--one who had shown himself trusty and faithful.  The duty was to have a general superintendence over the affairs of the family--Joseph was an example. (Gen. 39:1-9)  Applied to Christian ministers, it means that they are to feed the flock of God--to minister to their needs. (Acts 20:28; I Cor. 4:1-2)

 

V. 43

1. "Blessed" = spiritually prosperous; O happy is the man.

2. "Servant" = a slave; one devoted to his master (lord--little "l") to the disregard of his own interest.

3. "Whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing" = refers to Christian ministers being faithful over their flock--church.

 

V. 44

1. "Of a truth" = equivalent to "verily" of verse 37 and means truly, certainly.

2. "That he will make him ruler over all that he hath" = refers to master making his servant ruler over his household; Jesus speaks double emphasis.

 

V. 45

1. "But" = reveals the contrast, or the other side of the coin; the unfaithful servant; Mat. 24:48 calls him an evil servant.

2. "Say in his heart" = secretly suppose.

3. "My lord delayeth his coming" = will not return in a long time; or does not return as soon as was expected.

4. "And shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken" = this is the conduct of the wicked servant, who supposing he would not be called to account, and abusing his authority, gave himself up to oppression, carousing, and debauchery; this is spoken to represent the conduct of ministers who are unfaithful and overbearing, and who abuse their trust in the church. (I Peter 5:1-3)

 

V. 46

1. "The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware" = due to the reason he was not expecting him and will be caught off guard; when applied to professing Christians, some are like Peter described. (II Peter 3:3-7)

2. "And will cut him in sunder" = refers to the cruel method of punishment used by the Hebrews and others of cutting one in two (II Sam. 12:29-31); perhaps this is not to be taken literally, but signifies that the wicked servant shall be severely punished: the Roman masters had power of life and death over their slaves; to mismanage an estate would have brought the death penalty.

3. "And will appoint him his portion with unbelievers" = Mat. 24:51 uses the word "hypocrites;" this expression implies that a terrible doom is surely reserved in the life to come for those who have so sadly misused their high opportunities and neglected their great responsibilities.

4. The image of the parable itself is blended with the reality which the parable signifies.  This thought of the human master who can punish his slaves with temporal death passes into that of the Divine Judge who can punish with spiritual death.  Judas is an example. (Acts 1:25)

 

V. 47

1. "And that servant which knew his lord's will" = "knew" = means to know by experience; the master had made it clear what he was to do while he was gone; applied, it refers to the saved knowing what God requires and commands.

2. "And prepared not himself, neither did according to his will" = refers to the servant not preparing his mind and soul to obey the Lord's will that he knows; the psalmist said "Teach me to do thy will" (Psa. 143:10); we know more than what we are doing.

3. That servant "shall be beaten with many stripes" = shall be severely and justly punished; they who have many privileges, who are often warned, who have the gospel, and do not repent and believe, shall be far more severely punished than others; they who are early taught in Sunday schools, or by pious parents, or in other ways, and who grow up in sin and impenitence, will have much more to answer for than those who have no such privileges.

 

V. 48

1. "But" = contrast between those who know and those who know not.

2. "He that knew not" = the one who had not been told by the master what he was to do while he was gone.

3. "And did commit things worthy of stripes" = they broke the laws of God unknowingly which called for punishment--stripes, but they did not know--"shall be beaten with few stripes" = a lesser punishment; the Jew never inflicted more than 40 stripes for one offense (Deut. 25:3); for smaller offences they inflicted only four, five, six, and etc. according to the nature of the crime.

4. "For unto whomsoever much is given" = refers to those who have much committed to their disposal, as stewards.

5. "Of him shall be much required" = those to whom God gives special knowledge and special opportunities also must realize they have greater responsibilities.

6. "And to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more" = this refers to those who have been endowed with a touch of God, more is expected from them; this is placing a double emphasis on this principle our Lord spoke of.

7. In this solemn passage it is notable that degrees or grades in punishment as well as degrees or grades in glory are distinctly spoken of.

 

    H. Christ a divider of men. V. 49-53

V. 49

1. "I" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "I am come to send fire on the earth" = "fire" here is an emblem of discord and contention; thus, the result of His first coming will be that there will be divisions and contentions on the earth.

3. "And what will I, if it be already kindled?" = this fire could not be kindled into a flame until something happened--the cross must be endured by Him; till then His work was not finished; He saw clearly that the cross would be a point of controversy and argument, and wished that His lifting up (John 12:32) had already been accomplished.

 

V. 50

1. "But I have a baptism to be baptized with" = Mark 10:38 speaks not only of Gethsemane but this baptism which refers to the suffering into which He would be plunged at the Cross and which would overwhelm His soul, wringing from His broken heart that desolate cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken Me?"

2. "And how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" = "straitened" refers to deep anguish; He knew it must all be gone through, to bring about the blessed result for which He left His home in heaven; but He looked on it, nevertheless, with terror and shrinking; even in the garden when facing our cup of iniquity He prayed "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." (Mat. 26:39)

 

V. 51

1. "Suppose" = to be of the opinion; to think.

2. "That I am come to give peace on earth?" = when the angel announced to the shepherds the birth of Jesus a heavenly host joined in and said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace good will toward men." (Luke 2:10-14); Jesus is called the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6)

3. "I tell you Nay; but rather division" = "nay" means by no means, not at all; "division" means a parting; Mat. 10:34 uses the word "sword;" this refers to the effects of His coming; one part of a family that was opposed to Him would set themselves against those who believed in Him, thus, division.

 

V. 52-53

1. These two verses reveal the division Jesus' ministry brought to families.

2. It was because Jesus revealed the thoughts of many hearts--the thoughts of scribes, Pharisees, and secular rulers--that Jesus caused division.  A person must either accept the peace that Jesus wants to offer, or he must resist and reject it.

3. When Jesus was brought to the temple after His birth, Simeon prophesied that Jesus was "set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel" and that a sword would pierce Mary's soul. The purpose of this division and this sword piercing was that "many hearts may be revealed." (Luke 2:34-35)

4. There was division and rejection even within Jesus' own family. (Luke 8:19-21) Jesus' mother, His brothers and sisters, all had to learn that obedience to Jesus and the  Word of God takes precedence even over family ties.

5. Jesus, because He was human, experienced family rejection for the sake of the kingdom of God.  This enables Him to fully comprehend the ordeals of Christians now who must face rejection at the hands of loved ones.

 

    I. Interpreting the time. V. 54-56

V. 54

1. "He" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "Said also to the people" = these words were addressed to the multitude which gathered around Him, not just to His disciples.

3. "When ye see a cloud rise out of the west" = to the west of Palestine lay the great Mediterranean Sea, from which come the rain that fell on the country.

2. "Straightway" = immediately.

3. "Ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is" = You are weather-wise enough and can tell from the appearance of the sky whether a storm is brewing or not.

 

V. 55

1. "And when ye see the south wind blow" = to the south, southeast, and southwest of Judea were situated Arabia, Egypt, and Ethiopia, all warm or hot regions; therefore, the air that came from these quarters were greatly heated and dry.

2. "Ye say, There will be heat, and it cometh to pass" = even though these people did not have modern weather equipment, they did have the ability to predict weather activities by observing conditions in the sky.

 

V. 56

1. "Hypocrites" = "ye" = a pretender; a stage-player who acted under a mask; one who assumes an identity and a character which he was not.

2. "Ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth" = these things had an interest for them; heat and drought, wind and rain, affected materially the prospect of their wheat harvest, vineyards, orchards, and olive yards; therefore, they gave their whole mind to the watching of the weather.

3. "But how is it that ye do not discern this time?" = you discern (have knowledge) about the weather but to the awful signs of the time in which they were living they were blind and deaf--they did not exercise the same kind of honest evaluation in determining who Jesus was and what His purpose might be.

 

    J. Settle with your accuser. V. 57-59

V. 57

1. Just as you discern (judge) the sky and know what the weather will be.

2. "Judge ye not what is right?" = they had enough revelation to be aware of what to expect of the Messianic Age; they should therefore do what their own conscience told them was right.

 

V. 58

1. Drawing on a purely human relationship, Jesus told the people that if a person is being taken to court and it is evident to him that the other person is in the right, the wise thing to do is to make peace with him quickly--"as thou art in the way" = on the way to court before the trial has taken place, it is your duty, if possible. to come to an agreement; it is wrong to carry the contention to a court of law. (I Cor. 6:6-7)

2. If he rejects the opportunity to settle out of court, the court itself will find him guilty and sentence him to prison--"lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison."

3. The application: the teaching is designed only as an illustration of the importance of getting one's life right with Jesus while there is time.

 

V. 59

1. This is a language taken from the courts of justice to illustrate the truth that God will punish according to justice for not being reconciled to Him.

2. This is not teaching the doctrine of purgatory--that after death condemnation would be followed by liberation, when a certain payment has been made by the guilty soul.  Also these words of our Lord utterly exclude any payment of the debt of the soul by others.  For the lost there is no second chance after death to escape that eternal separation. (Mat. 25:46)

3. "Mite" = about 1/5 of a cent.

 

CHAPTER 13:

    A. Repent or perish. V. 1-5

V. 1

1. "There were present at that season" = refers to some who were present, and who had heard His discourse recorded in the previous chapter.

2. "Some that told him" = there was probably a pause in His discourse, when they mentioned what had been done by Pilate to the Galileans; this event was doubtless an event of recent occurrence; the historian Josephus relates several incidents between the Romans and the Jews but not this one.

A. At one Passover he relates how 3,000 Jews were butchered, and the temple courts were filled with dead corpses.

B. At another of these feast 2,000 perished in like manner.

C. On another occasion disguised legionaries were sent by Pilate the governor with daggers among the Passover crowds.

3. "The Galilaeans" = people who lived in Galilee; they were not under the jurisdiction of Pilate, but of Herod; in the time of Christ they were wicked.

4. "Whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices" = they were sacrificing in Jerusalem when Pilate came suddenly upon them and slew them; their blood was mingled with the blood of the animals that they were slaying for sacrifice; it does not mean that Pilate offered their blood in sacrifice.

5. "Pilate" = the Roman governor of Judea; such action was entirely in keeping with Pilate's known character.

 

V. 2

1. "Suppose ye" = you are of the opinion "that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things" = any unusual calamity is often interpreted as a special judgment on those affected; in certain instances this is true--the flood and destruction of Sodom.

2. God is in control and He has a purpose for everything that happens. (John 9:1-3; Rom. 8:28; Mat. 5:45)

 

V. 3

1. "I" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "I tell you, Nay" =  Jesus assured them that it was not right to draw such a conclusion concerning these men; the fact that these men come to a sudden and violent death is not proof that they are peculiarly wicked.

3. "Except ye repent" = a change of mind, heart, and direction; a turning to God from one's self and taking up sides with God against yourself; this takes a completed work of Holy Ghost reproval. (John 16:8-11)

4. "Ye shall all likewise perish" = this is referring to more than just physical death but to spiritual death--separation from God forever in hell.

 

V. 4

1. "Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them" = Jesus adds another similar case, to warn them; this incident is not recorded anywhere else in the Bible.

2. "Think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?" = "think" is from the same Greek word as "suppose" in verse 3; see notes on verse 3.

 

V. 5

1. This verse is an exact quotation of verse 2.  See notes on verse 2.

2. This, no doubt, is prophetic of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem about 40 years later by the Roman, Titus in AD 70 where 1000s died physically.  Anyone who had not repented were condemned.  It does not matter if a person is the best moral man in the world or the worst reprobate, eternal death awaits if he does not turn to Christ.

3. The following parable is designed to illustrate the need for repentance.

 

    B. The parable of the barren fig tree. V. 6-9

V. 6

1. "He" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "He spake also this parable" = "parable" means to throw alongside; comparison of one thing to another; a window through which one can see truth; incidents taken from daily life by which He conveyed spiritual teaching.

3. "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard" = it was not an uncommon practice to plant fig trees in the corners of vineyards, thus utilizing every available spot of ground.

4. "And he came and sought fruit thereon and found none" = the owner of the fig tree had every right to expect fruit, and was justly disappointed when there was none.

5. The vineyard represents the world, and the fig tree represents the Jewish nation in context.  God is the owner of the vineyard, and He planted the fig tree in the vineyard.  The nation was not bearing the fruits of repentance.  Therefore, God determined to remove the unfruitful nation.

6. Application to us as sinners: the owner is the Lord; as sinners we are planted in God's earth--God the owner gave us breath, ability, strength, a mind, food, shelter, and clothing; He is good to us (Rom. 2:4); therefore, He has a right to seek fruit.

 

V. 7

1. "Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none" = "three years may refer to the time of the preaching of John and Jesus; the point is that the people of Jerusalem had had numerous opportunities to hear, believe, and obey the truth, but they had failed to do so.

2. "Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?" = it is an unproductive tree, and occupies the place where another fertile tree might grow; judgment was the only answer to fruitlessness; "cumbereth" means to be entirely idle; unprofitable; useless; vain; that which hinders or holds back; the word implies the hindering of other trees due to it sapping the ground of water that could have helped the other trees.

3. "Dresser" = caretaker of the vineyard.

4. "The owner came "seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none" = this was true of the nation Israel; there was a time when every person in this room had no fruit of repentance--no evidence because it was not there due to being lost.

5. What is the fruit of repentance? The fruit of the Spirit. (Gal. 5:22-23)

A. Love = God kind of love produced in the heart of the yielded believer by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5); even love those who do not love you.

B. Joy = gladness of heart. (I Peter 1:8)

C. Peace = tranquility of mind based on the consciousness of a right relationship  with God; peace is a person (Eph. 2:14) not the absence of trouble. (Rom. 5:1)

D. Longsuffering = speaks of a steadfastness of the soul under provocation; the idea is forbearance and patient endurance of wrong under ill treatment, without anger or thought of revenge; means you can suffer long with others even when being treated wrong.

E. Gentleness = refers to kindness; a quality that should penetrate the whole nature, mellowing in it all that is harsh and hard.

F. Goodness = refers to that quality in a man who is ruled by and aims at what is good.

G. Faith = refers to faithfulness and fidelity as produced in the life of the yielded Christian by the Holy Spirit.

H. Meekness = refers to the qualities of mildness, gentleness, and meekness in dealing with others; means to have a teachable spirit.

I. Temperance = possessing power and mastery over the flesh and habits in our lives by aid of the Holy Spirit. (I Cor. 9:27)

6. "And find none" = no evidence; oh, how many times I went to church and had no evidence; went to revivals--no evidence; went to camp meetings--no evidence; preached many messages and there was no fruit found--no evidence of genuine fruit of repentance because I was blinded and did not have ears to hear.

7. "Cut it down" = this is condemnation of the tree; the owner has a right to condemn for He is the owner.

 

V. 8

1. "He" = "I" = the dresser "answering said unto him" = the owner; we find the dresser interceded for the tree; represents the Holy Spirit interceding for the nation Israel in context; the application to us is the Holy Spirit is interceding for condemned sinners because He loves them. (Heb. 7:25; Eph. 2:4-5a)

2. "Lord" = master.

3. "Let it alone this year also" = the dresser is pleading for more time--grace period = unmerited favor.

3. "Till I shall dig about it, and dung it" = "dig" means to take a pick and break up the hard ground so the roots can grow deeper; digging involves taking away roots and chunks that hinder the production of fruit; "dung" is manure or fertilizer put in because that is necessary for the production of fruit.

4. Applied to us spiritually--the Word becomes the pick to break up our hard hearts. (Heb. 4:12) Our roots are all bound up by world, devil, and flesh. (Eph. 2:2-3)  Digging involves taking away that is necessary.

5. Dung is the heavenly ingredients that will produce fruit--godly sorrow (II Cor. 7:10) which is equal to conviction--undeserved treatment.

 

V. 9

1. After the dresser digs and dungs--"if it bear fruit, well" and if not, then there is nothing left to do but "cut it down."

2. Fruit is produced by response of the tree.  The Holy Ghost is the dresser and He used human instruments to dig and dung.

3. He needs you as a human instrument to stand between the sinner and God and intercede for those who have no fruit.  Some say you judge when you do that--no you just inspect fruit. (Mat. 7:17-20)

4. Some have leaves of profession but no fruit.  All saved bring forth fruit without exception. (Col. 1:6) It may be different degrees, but still fruit. (II Cor. 5:17)

 

    C. A woman with infirmity. V. 10-17

V. 10

1. Jesus' custom was to attend a synagogue on the sabbath day. (Luke 4:16)  We do not know which synagogue this was.  It seems He was asked to teach.  The time was in the later days of His ministry when the enmity against Jesus was on the rise.

2. "Synagogue" = the building where solemn Jewish assemblies were held; the place of worship other than the temple at Jerusalem where the Jews congregated for worship; the service consisted of prayer, praise, the reading of the Word of God, and an exposition by any rabbi or other competent person.

 

V. 11

1. "Behold" = direct or fix your mind upon this.

2. "There was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity" = "infirmity" refers to a curvature of the spine of a very grave character; this was caused or at least aggravated or made worse by Satan (verse 16); the devil can and does at times use a health issue to make matters worse.

2. "Eighteen years" = this condition had continued a long time; this shows that the miracle was real and the condition was not faked; though she was afflicted, yet it seems she was regular in attending the worship of God in the synagogue.

3. "And was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself" = the spinal condition caused her to walk with her head bowed very low and the devil made her condition worse.

 

V. 12

1. "When Jesus saw her" = "saw" means to know or have absolute knowledge of the facts; nothing escapes the all seeing eye of the Lord.

2. "He called her to him" = it seems the woman made no direct attempt to gain Jesus' favor or help; therefore, His action was unsolicited for He took the initiative; it seems the woman immediately came to Jesus.

3. "He said unto her" = He first addressed the woman, "Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity" = His words are unique since what happens here is both an exorcism and a healing.

4. "Loosed" = means set free; the woman was set free from the binding spirit and healed of her physical handicap.

 

V. 13

1. "He" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "Laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight" = having been bowed over for all those years the woman probably did not know how to begin to use her previously knotted muscles to straighten her back, but the touch of Jesus' hands were added encouragement, but even then it was not all her doing when she did straighten up--the Greek construction indicates the power of Christ did it for her.

3. "And glorified God" = the miracle was instantaneous and complete and she praised Him for His goodness and mercy; one would think that would be the reaction of all who were present, but:

 

V. 14

1. "The ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation" = refers to anger, mingled with contempt, disgust, or abhorrence; he did not attack the Master personally, but being no doubt influenced by members of the Pharisee party who were present, attempted to represent the great Physician as a deliberate scorner of the sacred Law "because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day" = he considered this violation of the Sabbath, doing work on the Sabbath.

2. So the ruler "said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day" = in a similar case in Luke 6:6-11 Jesus healed a man with a withered hand and He spoke to the Pharisees before He did it in verse 9.

3. If the ruler had reasoned right, he would have seen that He who could perform such a miracle could not be a violator of the law of God.

 

V. 15

1. "The Lord" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "Then answered him and said, Thou hypocrite" = a pretender; a stage-player who acted under a mask; one who assumes an identity and a character which he was not; Jesus did not speak to the crowd but directed His remarks to the ruler.

3. "Doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?" = the ruler's hypocrisy was exposed in that he did the same thing he accused Jesus of doing; Jesus did not tell him it was wrong to water his beasts on the Sabbath, because it was not wrong; but if it was right to do good for an ox or ass on the Sabbath, it is also right to do good for a human being on the Sabbath; therefore, He said:

 

V. 16

1. "And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham" = she was a descendant of Abraham; the Jewish leaders claimed to be especially concerned about the descendants of Abraham, the Jews; thus, the ruler had, by accusing Jesus of wrongdoing, shown his complete disregard for the Jewish woman.

2. "Whom Satan hath bound" = Satan is said to have bound this woman who was bent together by means of a demon, as his messenger, taking possession of the woman and preventing her from standing upright; God permitted Satan to bind this woman, similar to the way in which he was permitted to try Job. (Job 1:12)

3. Jesus said, "ought not this woman, bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?" = Jesus not only suggests that the healing was allowable but He asserted that it was necessary--He was obligated to perform this miracle.

 

V. 17

1. "And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed" = refers to the ruler and all that felt as he did were put to shame--to excite a consciousness of guilt.

2. "And all the people" = refers to the common people who made up the majority who attended the synagogue.

3. "Rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him" = "rejoice" means to be glad and is related to the Hebrew word which represents a young sheep or lamb skipping and frisking over the hills for joy; "glorious" means the manifestation of that which brings forth praise; this wording seems to indicate that Jesus performed other miracles that day which Luke did not record.

 

    D. Parable of the mustard seed. V. 18-19

V. 18

1. "Then" = after the last recorded discourse concerning Jesus healing on the sabbath day; some time could have elapsed.

2. "He" = Jesus, the Messiah "said."

3. "Unto what is the kingdom of God like?" = what can I compare it to?

4. Second question = "Whereunto shall I resemble it?" = also means compare it to--what?

 

V. 19

1. "It" = the kingdom of God; refers to the kingdom which belongs to God and is the place of God's rule, domain, and authority; it is both a present reality and a future event; at times it is synonymous with kingdom of heaven--the context will let you know; Mat. 13:31 used "the kingdom of heaven" and in that verse it is equivalent to "the kingdom of God."

2. "It is like a grain of mustard seed" = the kingdom of God is compared to a mustard seed--the smallest of all seed, when it is sown springs up and becomes greater than all herbs; Mark 4:31-32 states it becomes a tree; also refers to the progress of your faith. (Mat. 17:20)

3. "Which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it" = at first the kingdom of God was composed of Jesus and His few wavering followers; to the eye of sense it seemed impossible that this little movement could ever stir the world; at first a few, but grows to every tribe and nation. (Rev. 7:9)

 

V. 20

1. "And again" = may have immediately followed the parable of the mustard seed.

2. "He" = Jesus, the Messiah "said."

3. "Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God?" = same question as verse 18.

 

V. 21

1. "It" = the kingdom of God; see notes on verse 19.

2. "It is like leaven" = "leaven" is yeast which causes things to rise; it is an expanding agent; its nature is to grow; generally figurative of evil--sin in the human heart.

3. "Which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened" = in the parable the three measures of meal was leavened completely; the figure here concerns the silent and yet powerful growth of the kingdom among men; Jesus was not saying that the whole world would be converted but He did imply that it would be affected by the kingdom.

4. The "kingdom of God" can be referred to as the true church, not the professing church.

 

    F. Teachings on the way to Jerusalem. V. 22-30

V. 22

1. "He" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "Went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem" = this phrase returns to the theme of Luke 9:51--implies His determinate, fixed purpose; He plainly saw His coming death, yet He moved without hesitation toward the agonies of the cross; His reason for going was that He should taste death for every man, in order to bring many sons to glory (Heb. 2:9-10); this phrase is equivalent to the prophecy of Isaiah in Isa. 50:7.

3. This seems to be His last journey to Jerusalem.

 

V. 23

1. "Then" = as He was traveling with a group of disciples, and no doubt the religious crowd was looking on.

2. "Said one" = this was probably one of the group who was curious about being saved, not one of His disciples.

3. "Lord" = master; a title of honor expressive of respect and reverence; He to whom a person belongs.

4. "Are there few that be saved?" = we know that Jesus had taught in the sermon on the mount that few would find the narrow way which leads to life (Mat. 7:13-14); and we know not whether this one had heard that message or not; now Jesus did not answer his question but instead challenged the inquirer to confront his own personal spiritual condition--"And he said unto them" = one who asked the question, but the Lord spoke to the group that was with Him.

 

V. 24

1. "Strive" = to agonize; to strain ever fiber of your body; to endeavor with strenuous zeal; this word is taken from the Grecian games where they put forth all their powers to gain the victory; the Greek construction is an imperative (command) with continuous action; Luke 16:16 and Mat. 11:12 agree with this word strive.

2. "To enter in at the strait gate" = refers to a narrow restricted gate which is the birthing canal of salvation--no room for excess baggage; note: Mat. 7:14 states that few find the way that leads to this gate which is life--born again.

3. "For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in" = this is not a contradiction to Rom. 3:11 which is part of the character of a natural man--unawakened; thus for one to seek he must be awakened and then he must strive to enter; this is not works for salvation, but something the Lord commanded to do to be saved. (Isa. 55:6)

4. "And shall not be able" = refers to not being able to enter in the strait gate; this is not God's fault but the blame lies at the person's feet for several reasons.

A. Some want to enter on their own terms--the barrier faced by the religious teachers of Jesus' day.

B. Some will try to enter the Kingdom by their good works, not realizing that man's good works are nothing more than filthy rags in God's sight. (Isa. 64:6)

C. Some will miss out because they have a false view of the nature of God.  They believe God is love and He is (I John 4:8), but many also believe that since He is love, He will let everybody in--nobody will be sent to hell.

D. Some are not willing to pay the price--still looking back to what they had on the broad way and go back and the door is shut.

 

V. 25

1. "When once the master of the house is risen up" = refers to the housekeeper rising up to "shut the door" = the figure here is taken from the conduct of the housekeeper, who is willing to receive his friends, and at the proper time closes the door, when he will not receive any more into his house.

2. "And ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door" = no one is permitted to enter after that; the door to heaven is shut for an unsaved person when physical death occurs.

3. The illustration gives a physical application of one coming to a feast too late after the door has been shut "and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us" = this we see an example in Mat. 25:10-11 where the five foolish virgins were on the outside crying out to gain an entrance; no doubt this same thing occurred in Noah's day when God closed the door of the ark.

4. "And he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are" = (Mat. 25:12); at the end of time, the door of the Kingdom will be forever closed by God; the shut door denotes finality.

5. In this illustration, Jesus is saying there was a time and an opportunity when the door was open but now it is shut and no one can open it. (Rev. 3:7) You must strive while the door is open.

 

V. 26

1. "Then shall ye begin to say" = they will began to make excuses as to why they should be allowed to enter; the same will be true at the great white throne of judgment. (Mat. 7:22-23)

2. The excuses:

A. "We have eaten and drunk in thy presence" = we did this with thee--as one friend does with another.

B. "And thou hast taught in our streets" = Thou didst favor us, as though Thou didst love us; He did love these people. (Eph. 2:4-5a)

 

V. 27

1. "But" = reveals contrast.

2. "He" = "I" = "me" = Jesus, the Messiah.

3. "But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are" = you stated you were acquainted with Me in verse 26--they felt their association with Christ was enough to cause Him to grant them salvation but Christ said, "I know you not"--they were not saved.

4. "Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity" = same basic thing will be said at the great white throne of Judgment in Mat. 7:23; "workers of iniquity" means they had a continual practice of living in sin; they had never turned from their wicked way--had not had a work of repentance worked in them; they went along with Christ so far but then apostatized from truth (Heb. 6:4-6); they would not strive. (verse 24)

 

V. 28

1. "There shall be weeping" = there is no weeping like this weeping; it denotes the complete absence of happiness and

the absolute presence of despair; this despair, along with the rage of being consigned forever in a place of torment, will produce a literal and continual "gnashing of teeth" = means to grind the teeth; to bite with a loud noise; to grind the teeth together with a rasping sound in pain or rage; an expression of the bitterness and malignity of their feeling; refers to hell, the future woe.

2. "When ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God" = the torment is made worse by the ability to see all these OT saints enjoying the bliss of paradise; paradise in OT time was in Hades, not the burning compartment but the comforting compartment, called Abraham's bosom; the rich man (Luke 16) who died and went to hell--the burning compartment, saw Lazarus in Abraham's bosom; when Jesus arose He led captivity captive (Eph. 4:8) and emptied paradise out of the heart of the earth and placed it in the 3rd heaven (proof text: II Cor 12:1-4); in NT time they will see (I Thess. 4:16-17) these OT saints as saved witnesses at the great white throne where the lost will be judged and they will be cast into hell. (Rev. 20:15)

3. "And you yourselves thrust out" = referring to the religious Jews who may have been the one to ask the question in verse 23; means many of them were not saved, thus they will not enter in but have the door closed so they could not enter.

 

V. 29

1. This refers to many pagans (Gentiles) from around the world who would be converted to the gospel.  He seems to say, "If only few are saved, it will not be because the Jews are few and the Gentile nations many, but of the Jews and Gentiles, only a few really strive."

2. "Shall sit down in the kingdom of God" = shall recline as at a banquet; heaven's life is described as a banquet.

3. The gospel is provided for all but no man or nation will be forced by God against their will to receive that salvation. The number of the saved will be innumerable, (Rev. 7:9) but there will also be multitudes who will reject the grace of God which appears to all mankind (Titus 2:11)

 

V. 30

1. "Behold" = used to call special attention to what He was about to say.

2. "There are last which shall be first" = refers to the Gentiles who received the gospel after the Jews rejection and were saved.

3. "And there are first which shall be last" = refers to the Jews who were first to hear the message of salvation and rejected it. (John 1:11)

4. The fulfillment of these words began with the conversion of Cornelius (Acts 10), progressed throughout the world with the efforts of Paul and others in the early church, and continues to this present day.

 

    G. Jesus' lament over Jerusalem. V. 31-35

V. 31

1. "The same day" = Jesus had just been teaching a group of His disciples and Pharisees headed for Jerusalem (verse 22), yet still in Galilee, the region Herod ruled.

2. "There came certain of the Pharisees" = a religious sect of the Jews who hated Jesus.

3. "Saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee" = "depart hence" means to leave Galilee; it seems that Herod did not want to lay hands on Jesus for He had many followers in Galilee; Herod was afraid because of the memory of John the Baptist whom he had killed by cutting off his head, and he did not want to be forced into a repetition of the murder of John the Baptist; it is likely that the enemies of the Lord were now anxious for Jesus to go to Jerusalem where He would be under the power of the Sadducean hierarchy, and away from the protection of the Galilean multitudes, with whom Jesus' influence was still very great; it is possible that Herod might have sent the Pharisees to Jesus, for he wanted Him out of his territory; and the Pharisees willingly entered into this plan and under the mask of a pretended friendship they warned Jesus of Herod's intentions.

4. "Herod" = this was Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great; the tetrarch of Galilee (Luke 3:1), "tetrarch" came to be a general title, denoting one who reigned over any part--a third, a half, and etc.; in this case Herod had a third of the dominion of his father; it was this Herod who imprisoned John the Baptist and to whom our Lord was sent by Pilate when He was being tried.

 

V. 32

1. "He" = "I" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "Them" = "ye" = the Pharisees who had come to Jesus.

3. "Said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox" = "fox" is an emblem of slyness, of cunning, and an artful mischief; the Greek construction is in the feminine gender, thus, "she-fox"--which is perhaps the most contemptuous name ever given by our Lord to any son of man; it is possible this name was intended for Herodias--Herod's unlawful wife; whatever the reason Jesus used this term, He knew Herod was behind the Pharisees' coming pretending as friends to warn Jesus about Herod wanting to kill Him.

4. "Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow" = tell Herod that I still have a work to do here in Galilee before going to Jerusalem--a few more demons to cast out, a few more sick folks to heal--thus My work is not political; "to day and to morrow" is a term for a short time.

5. "And the third day I shall be perfected" = the Greek word for "perfected" became a recognized term for martyrdom; His perfecting had to do with the completion of His earthly ministry, a feat that was accomplished when He died to secure the salvation of mankind. (John 17:4; 19:30)

 

V. 33

1. "Nevertheless" = notwithstanding; no matter what is done or said, I will continue My work, "I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following" = I am going on as I began, no message, friendly or unfriendly, will turn Me from My purpose.

2. "For it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem" = Jerusalem is the place where prophets die, and where I am to die; the city that had rejected so many of the prophets through the years; it was in Jerusalem that the Sanhedrin conducted their sessions, and they were the only court of the land that had the right to try a person for blasphemy which is what they charged Jesus with. (Mat. 26:64-66)

 

V. 34

1. "O" = often used as an exclamation; there is a sense of weeping involved in this verse; Luke 19:41 says that Jesus wept over the city while Mat. 23:37 states what He said as He neared Jerusalem just before the cross; Mat. 23:37 is almost word for word as this verse but it seems this verse is stated on the way to Jerusalem while the other occasion was in Jerusalem.

2. "Jerusalem" = denotes the inhabitants of the city; used twice for double emphasis.

3. "Which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee" = He had just said that a prophet (Him) would die in Jerusalem; now He spoke of the habit of the city to reject the attempts of God to lead His people by killing those whom God had sent with His Word; Mat. 21:33-39 is a parable which shows the treatment given by those to whom He was sent.

4. "How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings" = a farmer who raises chickens can tell stories of how hens frantically call to the chicks in order to shelter them under their wings when they sense approaching storms or other dangers; how often in bygone days would the Almighty wings--indeed, had Israel only desired it--have been spread out over them as a sure shelter; Christ's lamentation over the city was prompted by His love and His foresight--He knew the troubles that would soon come upon Jerusalem.

5. "And ye would not" = this is emphatic--uttered with emphasis--to pronounce with a forcible stress of voice; our Lord was well aware of the fate that awaited in Jerusalem.

 

V. 35

1. "Behold" = used to call special attention to what He was about to say.

2. "Your house" = refers to the temple of God.

3. "Is left unto you desolate" = uninhabited; deserted; refers to the future--when Jesus would die on the cross, the veil would be rent and God's presence would no longer meet the priest in the holy of holies--it would be desolate, even though they repaired the rent and continued to offer sacrifices but God did not inhabit their temple; its purpose had been fulfilled.

4. "I" = "me" = Jesus, the Messiah.

5. "Verily" = truly.

6. "I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" = this refers to the far future, to the day of the penitence of Israel; this is what Zech. prophesied in Zech. 12:9-10; 13:6; "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" is a quotation from Psa. 118:26 which is applied to the Messiah.

7. Jesus identified himself with the nation's hope.

 

CHAPTER 14:

    A. Jesus heals on the sabbath. V. 1-6

V. 1

1. "And it came to pass" = Jesus is still on the same journey as Chapter 13; He was approaching gradually nearer Jerusalem.

2. "He went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees" = one of the Pharisees who was a ruler, or member of the great council of the Sanhedrin.

3. "To eat bread" = to dine; to partake of the hospitalities of his house.

4. "On the sabbath day" = the meal would have been prepared on Friday and was probably eaten after worship in the synagogue.

5. "As he went...they watched him" = they fixed their eyes on Him, to see if He did anything on which they could lay hold to accuse Him.

 

V. 2

1. "Behold" = to fix the eyes upon.

2. "There was a certain man before him which had the dropsy" = "dropsy" is a disease produced by the accumulation of water in various parts of the body, and it was very distressing, and commonly incurable; the man's pitiful condition would have been obvious to all; this man may have been unexpected or he may have been placed there by the Pharisees to see whether Jesus would heal him--for "they watched him"--refers to Jesus.

 

V. 3

1. "And Jesus answering spake" = Jesus answered a question that was not asked audibly; He read the hypocritical hearts of the lawyers and Pharisees present.

2. "Lawyers" = an expert in the Mosaic law not the law of the land; an interpreter and teacher of the Mosaic law; not used in NT as we know a lawyer to be today.

3. "Pharisees" = a Jewish religious sect which was organized during the period between Malachi and Matthew when there was no recorded revelation from God; they were bitter enemies of Jesus.

4. "Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?" = this question put them on the defensive; the law did not forbid healing on the Sabbath; it was their tradition and not the writings of Moses that forbade such activities; if the law forbade healing on the sabbath then Jesus would have been a sinner, thus would not have been qualified as our sin bearer.

 

V. 4

1. "And they held their peace" = they kept quiet; His calm question confused them.

2. "And he took him, and healed him" = Jesus took hold of the man or perhaps took him into another room, and restored his health;  "and let him go" = held him no longer.

 

V. 5

1. "And answered them" = again Jesus answered a question that was not asked audibly; He read their thoughts.

2. "Saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway (immediately) pull him out on the sabbath day?" = Jesus had used a similar argument for doing good on the sabbath just a few days earlier when He healed the woman with an infirmity (Luke 13:15-16); also He used an identical argument for doing good on the sabbath in Mat. 12:10-12 when He healed a man with a withered hand.

 

V. 6

1. "They" = the religious crowd around Him.

2. "Could not answer him again to these things" = the logic of the argument left His enemies speechless as in verse 4.

 

    B. The parable of the wedding feast. V. 7-11

V. 7

1. "He" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "Put forth" = to point out with words; to speak.

3. "Parable" = means to throw alongside; comparison of one thing to another; a window through which one can see truth; incidents taken from daily life by which He conveyed spiritual teaching.

4. "To those which were bidden" = refers to those invited by the Pharisee; it seems that he had invited his friends to dine with him on that day.

5. "When he marked" = refers to those Jesus observed or saw.

6. "How they chose out the chief rooms" = refers to the higher places at the table--those places that were nearest the head of the table and to him who had invited them; this was the common character of the scribes and Pharisees. (Mat. 23:2, 6)

7. "Saying unto them" = verse 8-11.

 

V. 8

1. "Art bidden" = are invited.

2. "Of any man to a wedding" = a wedding was commonly attended with a feast or banquet.

3. "Sit not down in the highest room" = the seat at the table nearest the head.

4. "Sit" = literally means to recline at the table.

5. "Lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him" = refers to a more aged man or a man of higher rank.

 

V. 9

1. "And he that bade thee" = refers to the host who had invited the guest who had chosen the chief seat.

2. "Him" = refers to the more honorable man.

3. Lest they both "come and say to thee, Give this man place" = give this more honorable your place at the table.

4. "And thou begin with shame to take the lowest room" = the only seats left by this time would be the very lowest seats, the ones farthest from the host; such a blow to his pride would be devastating to the one who had of his own accord chose a higher seat.

 

V. 10

1. "But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room" = to do so shows that you are not desirous of distinctions or greedy of honor which may properly belong to you.

2. "That when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher" = by showing his humility others will see to it that he receives whatever is his due.

3. "Then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee" = "worship" here means honor; therefore, to practice what Jesus said would cause that person to be honored instead of being ashamed.

 

V. 11

1. "Exalteth himself " = to raise with pride; to make undue pretensions to power, rank, or estimation; the tense refers to having a continuous lifestyle of exalting himself.

2. "Shall be abased" = to bring into a humble condition (Pro. 16:18); it is part of God's regular plan to abase the proud and to bring down the lofty.

3. "Humbleth" = of low degree; lowly in spirit; opposite of proud (James 4:6); the tense refers to having a continuous lifestyle of humility.

4. "Shall be exalted" = to be raised to dignity and honor; this is also part of God's regular plan--to raise up those who are bowed down, and show His favors to those who are poor and needy.

 

    C. The parable of the great supper. V. 12-24

V. 12

1. "Then said he also to him that bade him" = Jesus had just spoken a parable unto the invited guest and now He speaks to the host.

2. "When thou makest a dinner or a supper" = the words "dinner" and "supper" correspond to the observance of two meals normally eaten by the Jews in Jesus' day; "dinner" means breakfast or lunch served mid-morning and "supper" was the evening meal which was the main meal of the day.

3. "Call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors" = this is not to be understood as commanding us not to entertain our relatives and friends, but don't forget the poor. (verse 13)

4. "Lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee" = "recompense" means for the invitation paid back; lest they feel themselves bound to treat you with the same kindness, and in so doing, neither you nor they will show any kind spirit, or any disposition to do good beyond what is repaid; our Lord rebuked the selfish practice of entertaining to only those who can return the favor.

 

V. 13

1. "The poor" = those who are destitute of proper food.

2. "The maimed" = those who are deprived of any member of their body or who have not the use of their limbs (the lame and those that could not see) so that they can not labor for their own support; those of these groups could not return the favor of a feast.

3. Nehemiah gave a similar charge to the Jews of his day. (Neh. 8:10)  And Paul gave a similar charge to the Ephesian Gentiles in Act 20:35.

 

V. 14

1. "And thou shalt be blessed" = blessed in the act of doing good, which furnishes more happiness than riches can give.

2. "For they cannot recompense thee" = such as mentioned in verse 13 cannot repay the host in a monetary way, but the gratitude in their faces, the joy they experience, the encouragement they receive, becomes your reward.

3. "For thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just" = there is a reward that goes beyond the joy of knowing one has helped another; there is no doubt that Jesus is referring to the first resurrection which will consist of the just (saved) only (Rev. 20:6); only the saved will practice the humility that Jesus suggested.

4. The language used here supports the idea of a double resurrection, one for the righteous (just) and one for the wicked, separated by an interval of time.

 

V.15

1. "And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him" = this one who spoke to Jesus was probably a strict orthodox Jew, a Pharisee; he had seen the miracle Jesus performed, and he had heard the wise words that Jesus had spoken; he had heard the gentle rebuke Jesus gave the Pharisees, and he had noticed the Lord's remarks concerning the resurrection of the just; so now he breaks in with his own remark.

2. "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God" = the "kingdom of God" here means the kingdom which they believed the Messiah would set up for the Jews; they believed the Jews would be delivered from all their oppressions from the Roman hand, and that they would be the most distinguished and happy nation of the earth; to that period they looked forward to as one of great happiness.

3. Those notions the Lord corrects in the parable which follows.

 

V. 16

1. "He" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "Him" = the Pharisee who had just spoke up.

3. "A certain man" = refers to God the giver of the great supper.

4. "Made a great supper" = refers to the great supper as being the great blessing that salvation can be for those who accepts the invitation.

5. "And bade many" = invited many beforehand; refers to the invitation which He made to men, particularly to the Jews, of salvation.

6. This parable was given to show how God's offer of salvation is rejected by many who are invited.

 

V. 17

1. "And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden" = according to custom, the invitation was issued some days or weeks in advance but courtesy required that when the time came, a personal invitation should be extended by the call of a messenger--servant.

2. "Come; for all things are now ready" = the prophets had given the first invitation as they foretold the coming of the King and the Kingdom; then the servant, Jesus, came on the scene and began to give the second call when He declared the kingdom was at hand and invited guests to repent. (Mat. 4:17)

 

V. 18

1. "And they all with one consent began to make excuse" = the wording "one consent" almost implies a conspiracy was involved in rejecting the invitation.

2. "The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it" = this says it was a necessity to go and look over the land; the excuse was not a logical one, for no sane businessman would buy land that he had not already thoroughly looked over.

3. "I pray thee have me excused" = to beg pardon; let me decline your invitation; to refuse such an invitation was a high insult to the maker of the feast.

 

V. 19

1. "And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them" = "prove" means to test, examine, and scrutinize--to see if they were all they were supposed to be; again this is a flimsy excuse, for he would be a fool if he had not proved them before he said, "I will buy them."

2. "I pray thee have me excused" = let me decline your invitation.

 

V. 20

1. "And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come" = our Lord here intends to teach us that the love of earthly relatives and friends often take our affections away from God, and prevents our accepting the blessings which He would bestow on us. (Luke 14:26)

2. These excuses reveal that the affairs of the world are so pressing that they cannot find time to attend to their soul. (I John 2:15)  These three excuses are just representative for there are many more that are given from time to time.

 

V. 21

1. "So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things" = lord refers to the master of the house; the servant told his master of the excuses of those who had been invited.

2. "Then the master of the house being angry" = aroused to anger at those who had slighted his invitation--they had insulted him by neglecting his feast; it is no wonder that God is angry with the wicked every day. (Psa. 7:11)

3. "Said to his servant, Go out quickly" = there is an urgency in this statement; the feast is ready; there is no time to lose--they who partake of it must do it soon.

4. "Into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind" = those first invited were the rich, who dwelt at ease in their own houses; by these in the streets He is referring to the Gentiles.

4. "The poor" = those who are destitute of proper food; applies to those who are destitute in their souls.

5. "The maimed" = those who are deprived of any member of their body or who have not the use of the limbs--also halt and blind; this is just a representative list of all who are poor and needy.

6. Those with physical defects were cut off from the temple worship, even though they might have been in that condition from birth.  Jesus touched all of these people, and in the parable He showed that God would reach out to them through Him.

 

V. 22

1. "And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded" = the servant was faithful to do what the master had commanded.

2. "And yet there is room" = there is room for others to come to the great supper; what a glorious declaration is this in regard to the gospel; there is yet room; until Jesus comes again, there is hope for there is room for others to respond to His invitation of salvation.

 

V. 23

1. "And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges" = since enough had not been found in the lanes and streets, he commands the servant to go into the roads--the public highways out of the city, as well as to the streets in it--invite them also.

2. "Hedges" = is a inclosure around a field or vineyard, made of thorns, which were planted thick, and which kept the cattle out of the vineyard; those in the hedges were poor laborers employed in planting them and trimming them--men of the lowest class and of great poverty; this shows the earnestness with which God offers salvation to men, and His willingness that the most despised should come and live.

3. "And compel them to come in, that my house may be filled" = "compel" means to urge them, press them earnestly, one and all--do not hear their excuses on account of their poverty and low rank of life, but urge them so as to overcome their objections and lead them to the feast.

4. "That my house may be filled" = our God, with His desire for souls, will never bear to contemplate a half-empty heaven; He commands that His invitation be presented to the entire world (Mat. 28:18-20) and to every person. (Mark 16:15)

5. When Jesus was about to go to the cross, He told His disciples He was going to prepare a place. (John 14:1-3) When the last person needed to fill His house is saved, He will come for His children and there will not be any empty seats at the great supper in heaven.

 

V. 24

1. "I say unto you" = in parable context, this is the master of the house speaking to his servant; but these words can be considered as the words of Jesus, making application of the parable to the Pharisees before Him.

2. "That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper" = this does not mean that no Jew would be saved, but that none of those who had treated Him in the manner the parable brings out would be saved--none who had utterly rejected the offer of the gospel; but when it is rejected, and men turn willfully away from it, God leaves them to their chosen way, and they go to hell.

3. When the chosen guests for the kingdom of God refused to heed the call of the Messiah, He turned to others who normally would not have been invited--Gentiles.

4. How important, then, is it to embrace the gospel at once; to accept the gracious invitation, and enter without delay the path that conducts to heaven. (Heb. 3:7-8)

 

 

    D. The cost of discipleship. V. 25-33

V. 25

1. "And there went great multitudes with him" = after the feast with the Pharisee, Jesus continued His trip to Jerusalem; His popularity among the masses is seen in the great number of people who went with Him--some His friends and some His enemies.

2. "And he turned, and said unto them" = seems the multitudes were following Jesus as He and His disciples were going to Jerusalem (Luke 13:22) and He stopped and turned toward them and spoke to them.

 

V. 26

1. "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also" = "hate" does not mean we are to hold malice or bitterness or anger toward our families; often the word is used in the Bible to mean "love less;" Gen. 29:31 uses this word concerning Leah--he loved her less than he loved Rachel; Christ certainly was not commanding men to hate their families in the sense of bearing them ill will or malice; this is strong language to indicate that devotion to one's family must take second place to devotion to Christ.

2. "He cannot be my disciple" = this really means one cannot be saved until the Lord becomes first in our lives, and that takes a work of the Holy Spirit to bring one to that attitude--we must count the cost; Mat. 10:37 adds that such a person is not worthy of me--does not deserve the Lord; Paul counted the cost for three days as he lay blind in a house on the street called Straight. (Phil. 3:4-8)

 

V. 27

1. "And whosoever doth not bear his cross" = when persons were condemned to be crucified, a part of the sentence was that they should carry the cross on which they were to die to the place of execution; thus the cross was an instrument of death; carrying it was burdensome, disgraceful, and trying to the feelings; so to "bear his cross" is a figurative expression, denoting that we must endure whatever is burdensome, or is trying, or is considered disgraceful, in following Christ; this speaks of death to self which takes a completed work of Holy Ghost conviction. (Luke 9:23-24)

2. "And come after me" = to seek the Lord for salvation (Isa. 55:6; John 6:45); involves coming to Jesus--along the path of understanding which is the narrow way that leads to life.

3. "Cannot be my disciple" = this really means one cannot be saved till he is willing to bear his lot in life and head out to Jesus in whom is life (I John 5:12); this takes the power of God for one to be willing (Psa. 110:3); Mat. 10:38 adds "is not worthy of me"--does not deserve the Lord.

4. We must count the cost!

 

V. 28

1. Jesus then spoke a parable to illustrate the need of counting the cost.

2. "For which of you, intending to build a tower" = if you had a desire to build a tower--had the thought on your mind; "tower" was a kind of structure that was often built in vineyards, some reached the height of 50 or 60 feet and 20 to 30 feet square--not just some small storage shed.

3. "Sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost" = make a calculation how much it would cost to build it; if a person were going to build a tower, he would not just go out the minute the idea struck him and start digging a foundation before he calculated the cost = "sitteth not down first and counteth the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it" = make a calculation how much it would cost to build it and also check his funds to see if he had enough funds to build it.

 

V. 29

1. "Lest haply" = perhaps.

2. "After he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it" = due to his failure to count the cost he ran out of money and could not finish the tower.

3. "All that behold it begin to mock him" = those who saw the unfinished tower began to deride; to laugh at; to ridicule; to treat with scorn or contempt; they not only saw his unfinished tower, but they began to broadcast his failure.

 

V. 30

1. "Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish" = his unfinished tower would become a humiliating reminder that he was not able to finish what he had started, because he failed to count the cost.

2. This would apply to a professor who was a stony ground hearer. (Mat. 13:20-21) Such an attempt and failure injure the cause of God.  We must count the cost to be saved--to be His disciple. (Phil. 3:7-8)

 

V. 31

1. This second parable deals with a national leader who would engage another kingdom in warfare.  A smaller army can win a war against a much larger force, but it takes planning, training, motivation, and courage.  The king with the smaller army had better be sure he has all these factors in his favor.

2. Thus he "sitteth not down first, and consulteth" = considers, deliberates, decides; it does not mean consulting with someone else; the king must consider and decide the wise course of action--should his response be retaliation or conditions of peace.

 

V. 32

1. "Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage" = "ambassage" refers to a group of wise elder statesmen who have the king's authority to negotiate terms of peace.

2. "Desireth conditions of peace" = the best way to stop war is to make peace; Jesus was not advocating making a peace treaty with Satan.

3. What He was emphasizing is the need for a person who is going to follow Him to consider what is involved in going to war against Satan and the way of the world.  Count the cost of following Jesus!

 

V. 33

1. "So likewise" = in like manner; for the third time Jesus emphasized that the commitment He requires is not easy; verse 26--we must put Christ before our family and self; verse 27--we must carry our own cross; and now we must forsake all.

2. "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath" = "forsake" means to renounce, and cease depending on what we have; it may cost us our reputation, or possibly our lives and liberties, and all that is dear to us.

3. "He cannot be my disciple" = this really means one cannot be saved until he is willing in his heart to forsake all he has in whatever form it is--physical things or affection of our heart; one can only come to this place when there is a completed work of Holy Ghost conviction.

4. To come to and follow Jesus we must count the cost.  Jesus continually told those who came to Him for salvation to follow Him. Ex: the rich young man in Mat. 19:16-26.  When he counted the cost, he was not willing to pay the price, and he died and went to hell.  It took Paul three days of counting the cost to come to the place he was willing to forsake all. (Phil. 3:4-8)

 

    E. The parable of the savorless salt. V. 34-35

V. 34

1. "Salt is good" = it is useful and good to preserve life and health, and to keep from putrefaction; Mat. 5:13 uses salt symbolically to refer to believers who are a restraint upon the world's corruption--unbelievers are often kept from evil deeds because of a moral consciousness traceable to Christian influence. (Titus 2:12; Phil. 1:27)

2. "But if the salt have lost his savour" = refers to losing its saltiness, thus becoming tasteless; the ordinary salt of that time was of poor quality, and quickly lost its flavor when exposed to air; spiritually this applies to a professor of salvation who may seem genuine for few weeks but they come to a time their life is not an influence on others; when in a man, or in a nation, or in a church, that salt is savorless, then that spirit is dead.

3. "Wherewith shall it be seasoned?" = what can season it again; there is nothing greater than salt to which the salt itself could be subjected for seasoning effect.

 

V. 35

1. "It" = refers to salt that lost its savor.

2. "It is neither fit for the land" = for it will not bear fruit itself; you cannot sow it or plant on it.

3. "Nor yet for the dunghill" = it is not good for manure; it will not enrich the land.

4. "But men cast it out" = they throw it away as useless; the truth the Lord wanted us to see is that the mouth professors will be given to eternal lost in the final judgment.

5. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear" = Jesus used this phrase several times to emphasize the importance of His listeners not only hearing what He said, but also understanding and responding to it.

6. Jesus emphasized that there must be a total commitment to Him and obedience to His Word. (John 10:27)

 

CHAPTER 15:

    A. The parable of the lost sheep. V. 1-7

V. 1

1. "Him" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "Then drew near unto him" = a crowd was drawing near to Him; this was now, in the last stage of the final journey to Jerusalem, the usual state of things--people drawing near.

3. "All" = refers not to each and every publican and sinner everywhere, but all in the area which were many.

4. "Publicans" = tax collectors, noted for their undue exercise of power; a certain part of man's earnings were demanded for taxes but the publicans usually asked more, and enriched themselves by the difference; they were hated by the people who considered them traitors because they worked for Rome; they were considered the greatest of sinners.

5. "Sinners" = one devoted to sin; an habitual sinner; these, considered the great outside-class of mankind, came to hear Him--"for to hear him."

 

V. 2

1. "The Pharisees" = a Jewish sect which was organized during the period between Malachi and Matthew when there was no recorded revelation from God; they placed oral tradition equal to or above the Word of God; they were bitter enemies of Jesus.

2. "Scribes" = a copier of the law and other parts of the Scriptures (Jer. 8:8); they were also men learned in the Mosiac law and the sacred writings, also interpreters and teachers of the law; the problem was that the scribes quoted other rabbis and felt their purpose was to be expounders of the traditions which made a millstone around the necks of the people, and by so doing, they set aside the Word and will of God by their traditions and legalism. (Mark 7:9, 13)

3. "Murmured" = a complaint half expressed or uttered in a low muttering voice; to grumble; to complain.

4. "Saying, This man receiveth sinners" = receives them in a tender manner; treats them kindly; does not drive them from His presence.

5. "And eateth with them" = by eating with them He showed that He did not despise or overlook them.

6. In fact, sinners are the ones Jesus came to save. (Luke 19:10)

 

V. 3

1. "He" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "Spake this parable" = means to throw alongside; comparison of one thing to another; a window through which one can see truth; incidents taken from daily life by which He conveyed spiritual teaching; refers to all three parts--lost sheep, lost coin, lost son--as one parable.

 

V. 4

1. In this verse Jesus tells a story that is no doubt familiar to everyone in the crowd listening.  For all Israel whether sinner or Pharisee was familiar with the shepherd's life and duty.

2. If one of his sheep was lost, separated from the flock, he would do everything in his power to save his sheep, even to the extent of putting his life in danger.

3. "Wilderness" = an uninhabited place and an uncultivated region fit for pasture.

4. The shepherd would leave his fold and go after the lost sheep, however long it took to find it, "until he find it."

5. That is a picture of our Great Shepherd.  He left heaven, robed in flesh through a virgin's womb, and came seeking lost humanity for one purpose--to save mankind--lost sheep. (Luke 19:10)

 

V. 5

1. "And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders" = this shows the tender care of the shepherd when the lost sheep was found; He did not drive the sheep back to the flock, nor drag it back with a noose around its neck, nor did he throw it in a bag with a good scolding; instead, "he layeth it on his shoulders" draping his legs around his neck with its soft head nuzzling his ear.

2. His attitude was not one of reproach over the carelessness which resulted in separation but one of "rejoicing" = to rejoice exceedingly.

 

V. 6

1. His joy was so great that it must be shared, "when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me" = to take part in another's joy.

2. The reason of rejoicing, "for I have found my sheep which was lost."

 

V. 7

1. This verse gives us insight into what the parable is portraying.

2. "I" = Jesus, the Messiah.

3. "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth" = some say this is the saved who have died and their soul and spirit went to heaven (II Cor. 5:8)--they have joy; I do not know how much they know but if they knew they would be glad (have joy); but in this parable with three parts, it is the father who is rejoicing when his lost son was found (Luke 15:22-24); therefore, the Father has joy when a sinner is saved for the gift of His Son is not in vain.

4. "Repenteth" = reversed; to change one's mind, attitude, heart, and direction; it involves both a turning from sin and a turning to God; this is a work of God worked by godly sorrow (II Cor. 7:10); and is necessary for one to be saved. (Luke 13:3, 5)

5. "More than over ninety and nine just persons; which need no repentance" = He is referring to those who were already saved, had already repented, and were already just (righteous) or justified because they had already been saved.

 

    B. The parable of the lost coin. V. 8-10

V. 8

1. "Either" = or; introduced the second part of this same parable Jesus was speaking to the group around Him.

2. "What woman having ten pieces of silver" = the Greek word is "drachme" which is thought by some to be equal to 15 cents each, while others say it is a little larger value; either way it no doubt was all she had--ten coins.

2. "If she lose one piece" = one coin; no doubt the loss was severely felt; someone has said that in Jesus' time one of these coins could purchase a sheep and five coins could purchase an ox.

3. "Doth not light a candle" = a lamp; since most houses of that day did not have a window, a lamp was needed even in daytime in order to inspect the dark corners.

4. "And sweep the house" = the house may have had a packed dirt floor so she swept the loose dust in a pile hoping her coin would be swept up.

5. "And seek diligently till she find it" = she sought with a very careful effort to find the lost coin because it was precious to her.

 

V. 9

1. "And when she hath found it" = the diligent search was successful.

2. "She calleth her friends and her neighbours together" = these words in the Greek are feminine gender, indicating that the woman called together her women friends and neighbors for a party.

3. "Saying, rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost" = they rejoiced together because she had "found the piece which I had lost."

 

V. 10

1. "Likewise" = in the same manner as verse 7.

2. "I" = Jesus, the Messiah.

3. "I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth" = many use this verse to say that angels rejoice when one is saved; I Peter 1:10-12 stated the angels desire to look into the preached gospel--"to look into" means to bend forward near in order to look at anything more closely; part of this Greek verb indicates that the angels stand outside the work of redemption, in as much as it is not for them, but for man (Heb. 2:16); angels intently watch the plan of redemption unfold, but they cannot participate in it because "Christ died for the ungodly" (Rom. 5:6), not for angels; angels rejoice in Rev. 5:11-12 by giving glory to God but not joying over salvation; therefore, it is the Father who has joy over one sinner that repenteth--in this parable with three parts, it is the father who is rejoicing when his lost son was found. (Luke 15:22-24)

 

    C. The parable of the lost son. V. 11-32

        1. The departure. V. 11-13

V. 11

1. "He" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "A certain man had two sons" = this begins the third part of the parable Jesus spoke to those who had gathered around Him; the three parts--lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son.

3. "A certain man" = indicates that the framework of this story was most likely founded upon fact; the family of the father and the two sons no doubt had been personally known by Jesus.

 

V. 12

1. "The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me" = an heir was entitled to claim his share of the estate during his father's lifetime if he wished to do so.

2. "And he divided unto them his living" = it seems that the father not only gave his living (wealth; goods) to the younger son but also to the elder son (unto them); the eldest son--the first born--probably received two thirds or a double portion according to the custom of the firstborn and the younger son received one third of the father's wealth.

 

V. 13

1. "Not many days after" = it did not take long for the young son to pack up and leave his father.

2. "The younger son gathered all together" = collected his property; if he received flocks or grain, he probably sold them and converted them into money; and as soon as this arrangement had been made he left his father's house.

3. "And took his journey into a far country" = traveled to a country far off from his father's house; it is said that many young men of Jesus' time went to Rome or Antioch for the gay life of the city; he may have gone to trade and seek his fortune.

4. "And there wasted his substance" = spent his inheritance.

5. "With riotous living" = refers to his immoral manner; he lived extravagantly with wicked people; his older brother in verse 30 later identified this as consorting (keeping company) with harlots--we are not told whether this identification came from actual knowledge, or from suppositions based upon his familiarity with his brother's character, or if he based this upon what he would do if he was in his brother's place.

 

        2. The misery of the far country. V. 14-16

V. 14

1. "And when he had spent all" = this is true of many a soul in all times, but especially in that age of excessive luxury and splendor and of unbridled passions; when his money ran out so did his so-called friends.

2. "There arose a mighty famine in that land" = famines were common in Eastern nations; the Greek construction implies that the famine was widespread and included the whole territory where the boy was living.

3. "And he began to be in want" = the state of not having.

4. Such it is with the life of sin, for man does the drawing away, not God. (James 4:8)  There is always a famine in the heart when a person moves away from God.

 

V. 15

1. "And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country" = "joined" means to glue, to cleave; desperation forced him to attach himself to some prominent person for the sake of support (employment); this is a true picture of the state of such a lost soul, which in despair has yielded itself up to the evil one and his demons and their awful promptings and suggestions.

2. "And he sent him into his fields to feed swine" = this was the lowest possible humiliation for a Jew; swine were considered to be unclean animals and expressly forbidden in the Mosaic law. (Lev. 11:7; Deut. 14:8)

 

V. 16

1. "And he would fain" = he would gladly; he desired to do so.

2. "Have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat" = "husks"  according to our thinking refers to the outward covering of corn; but they are fleshy pods, somewhat like those of the locust tree, from six to ten inches long and one inch broad with beans inside; actually they are pods from the carob tree; used primarily to feed swine but were often part of the diet of poor people.

3. "And no man gave unto him" = he desired a portion of the swine's food, but that was not given to him; he did not go begging--his master was bound to provide for his wants; but the provision which he made for him was so poor that he would have preferred the food of the swine; but a certain quantity was measured out for the swine, and he was not at liberty to eat it himself.

 

        3. Repentance. V. 17-19

V. 17

1. "When he came to himself" = this is very expressive; it is commonly applied to one who has been deranged and when he recovers we say he has come to himself--he has come to his senses; in this place it denotes that the folly of the young man was a kind of derangement--that he was insane; so it is of every sinner; madness is in their hearts (Eccl. 9:3); they are estranged from God, and led by the influence of evil passions, contrary to their better judgment and the decisions of a sound mind.

2. "He said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare" = "hired servants" refers to those in a low condition of life--even they have bread enough and to spare--bread in abundance; and here he was hungry and suffering; in other words he said that his father's servants were better off than he was.

3. "And I perish with hunger" = if I stay here I am going to die.

 

V. 18

1. "I will arise and go to my father" = there was before him a long and weary journey to be undertaken, and he had to face it without means.

2. "And will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee" = "heaven" is used for God--ex: David in Psa 51:4; "before thee" means the same as against thee--the physical father.

3. The offenses had been committed mainly against God, but they were to be regarded, also, as sins against his father, in wasting property which had been given him, in neglecting his counsels, and in plunging himself into ruin.  He felt he had disgraced his father.

 

V. 19

1. "And am no more worthy to be called thy son" = I am not fit to be honored by being called a son of a man so kind and virtuous.

2. "Make me as one of thy hired servants" = this petition indicates a complete change in his attitude; when he left home he said, "give me" (verse 12); he left with selfish demand and now he returned with a humble prayer.

 

    4. The return to the father. V. 20-22

V. 20

1. And he arose, and came to his father" = he did not just talk about doing this, but he got up out of the hog pen and begin going back to his father.

2. "But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him" = the father was eagerly watching for the wayward boy, not just this day but probably ever since he had left; there is no indication of the son making haste but the father ran to meet him.

3. "Had compassion" = pitied him; had painful sympathy; means he saw his condition--his poverty and his wretched appearance--and was moved with compassion and love; this was demonstrated by:

4. "Fell on his neck" = threw his arms around his neck and embraced him.

5. And kissed him" = sign of affection; who could blame his father for receiving his repenting son.

6. The whole imagery of this part of the parable tells us how gladly the eternal Father welcomes the sorrowful penitent sinner.

 

V. 21

1. "And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight" = this is the confession of the wayward son; "heaven" is used for God--I have sinned against God and you; this is almost the same as he said he would do in the hog pen in verses 18-19.

2. "And am no more worthy to be called thy son" = I am not fit to be honored by being called your son.

 

V. 22

1. "But the father said to his servants" = not a word is spoken of reply to the confession; in fact it seems the Father interrupted the son's confession for he had also said in verse 19 that he would say, "Make me as one of thy hired servants;" in grave and solemn silence the story of the guilty past is received and forgiven in silence.

2. "His servants" = they could have been slaves; the word means devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interest; the son was willing to take this lowly position--shows his humility.

3. "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him" = implies do it quickly; the son was probably in rags; the joy of the father is expressed by clothing him in the best raiment--seems to be an outer garment--one reserved for festival occasions.

4. "And put a ring on his hand" = to wear a ring on the hand was one mark of wealth and authority; this was probably a signet ring, given so that the son could again act in the name of the father; it was a ring of trust and authority.

5. "And shoes on his feet" = refers to sandals--a sole fastened to the foot with thongs; servants usually did not wear shoes and the son probably returned without shoes; this act expressed the father's desire that the son should not be treated as a servant, but as a son.

6. The meaning of all these images in the parable is that God will treat those who come to Him with kindness and affection.

7. To dress up the son in this manner was proof of the father's affection--so will God bestow on sinners the marks of His confidence and regard when they come to Him God's way.

 

        5. The rejoicing. V. 23-24

V. 23

1. "And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it" = there was a custom in the large Palestinian farms that always a calf should be fattening, getting ready for festival occasions, that honored guest might be served quickly. (Gen. 18:7)

2. "Let us eat, and be merry" = these words have the connotation of a party--a feast with rejoicing; "us" refers to especially the father with his son home again, and those of the household and possibly neighbors and friends invited.

 

V. 24

1. "For this my son was dead, and is alive again" = the son was dead to the practice of morals--he was sunk in pleasure and vice; the word "dead" is used in the Bible this way (I Tim. 5:6; Rom. 6:13); therefore, when one is restored to morals he is restored again to life.

2. "He was lost, and is found" = he had wondered away from home, and we knew not where he was till he came home; the condition of "lostness" is to be equated with death; sinful men, alienated from God, are actually dead in God's eyes; "found" equals with being saved.

3. Thus, these are the reasons, "They began to be merry" = has the connotation of a party--a feast with rejoicing; "they" refers to especially the father with his son home again and those of the household and possibly neighbors and friends invited.

4. Spiritual application: The Father rejoiced over a lost soul found (saved). This parable refers to a lost man and not a backslider.  "Backslider" is used a lot in churches today to believe a man can go years in sin and still be saved when really they had just made a profession.  Backslider is not a NT doctrine but an OT doctrine.  It means apostasy or fallen away from truth.  A saved man can do anything a lost man can, but he can not get by with it for God chastens His children.

5. This parable--three parts, represent lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son and the word, "found" means he was saved when spiritually applied.  And the Father did the rejoicing in each of the three parts of this parable.

 

        6. The Pharisee. V. 25-32

V. 25

1. "Now his elder son was in the field" = the elder son was in the field at work when the younger son came home; Jesus is now getting to the main point of the parable--the attitude and action of the elder son which represented the Pharisees and scribes who had been criticizing Jesus (verse 2); he was the model heir, the one who was a companion to his father during the dark, lonely days while the younger son was away.

2. "And as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing" = as he came in from a hard day's work, he was startled to find a party in progress.

3. "Musick" = music.

4. "Dancing" = this is not sensual dancing; this was an expression of rejoicing for sacred or triumphal occasions; dancing of this type was not uncommon among the Hebrews; David danced before the ark when brought back (II Sam. 6:14); it was common at Jewish feast (Judges 21:19-21); it was common in public triumphs (Judges 11:34) and at seasons of mirth and rejoicing. (Psa. 30:11)

 

V. 26

1. "He" = the elder brother.

2. "He called one of the servants" = an attendant; one who ministered to him.

3. "And asked what these things meant" = he asked the servant to explain the unexpected merriment.

 

V. 27

1. "He" = the servant.

2. "Him" = the older brother.

3. He informed the older brother with two facts.

A. "Thy brother is come" = his wayward brother had returned home.

B. "And thy father hath killed the fatted calf" = the father had received his son with a feast and rejoicing.

4. "Because" = introduces the reason he had prepared a feast, because he (the father) hath received him (the son) safe and sound" = "safe and sound" is one word in the Greek which means to be in good health--he may have been hungry but his health was good.

 

V. 28

1. "He"= "his" = "him" = the older brother.

2. "He was angry" = furious and bitter over what he regarded as an injustice; the reaction of the older son was jealousy and disgust.

3. "And would not go in" = he refused to enter the house while the celebration was in progress.

4. "Therefore" = in view of the fact the older son would not go in--"came his father out, and intreated him" = kept urging, begging, and exhorting him to come to the feast.

 

V. 29

1. "He" = "his" = "I" = "my" = refers to the older son.

2. "And he answering said to his father" = rather than allowing his heart to be softened by his father's entreaties, the older brother snapped back an answer loaded with bitterness.

A. "Lo, these many years do I serve thee" = "Lo" is a word used to excite particular attention in a hearer to the subject of his discourse; could be stated, "See here! I have been slaving for you all these years;" he omitted any form of respectful address, which one would expect from a son addressing his father in the ancient world; his anger was not momentary anger but built up feelings that had accumulated for years--his father's treatment of the prodigal was the last straw.

B. "Neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment" = his justification of himself is proud and arrogant; these words remind me of the rich young ruler in Mat. 19:20 and of the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-12.

C. "And yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends" = his criticism of the father was not only for what he had done, but for what he had not done; he bitterly accused his father of having never rewarded him properly for his loyal obedience; "a kid" is a young goat--a far less costly animal than a fatted calf.

 

V. 30

1. "But as soon as this thy son was come" = the angry elder son would not even acknowledge the prodigal as his brother; this is an expression of great contempt for his younger brother.

2. "Which hath devoured thy living with harlots" = "thy living" refers to thy property--designed to irrate the father, and set him against his younger son; "harlots" refers to one who yields herself to defilement for the sake of gain; he was outraged that such irresponsible and immoral behavior was seemly rewarded with a fatted calf party--"thou hast killed for him the fatted calf."

 

V. 31

1. "He" = the father.

2. "And he said unto him, Son" = the father addressed the older son with affection, literally as "child."

3. "Thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine" = the father reminded the other son that he stood to inherit all of the father's possessions since the younger son had already received his inheritance.

 

V. 32

1. "It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad" = "meet" means it was necessary to make merry, to rejoice and be glad.

2. Reason for rejoicing: "for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost and is found" = "dead" means separation from father--spiritually dead; but now he is found, come home again, thus alive.

3. This son is not portrayed as a back-slider but as one lost and is found--pictures salvation--just as was the case in this three part parable--lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son--all three brought rejoicing of the father at least in the parable.

4. This parable was designed to vindicate the conduct of Jesus--to show that it is right to receive sinners (verse 1-2), and that the conduct of the Pharisees was unreasonable.  The elder son represents the Pharisees; the younger the returning sinner, whether Jew or Gentile; and the father, God, who is willing to receive them.

5. Mat. 21:45 points out that the Pharisees knew the parables were directed at them.

 

 

CHAPTER 16:

    A. Allegory of the unjust steward. V. 1-13

V. 1

1. "He" = "his" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "He said also unto his disciples" = this is not restricted to the 12 apostles or to the 70; refers to all the professed followers of the Lord who were present when it was delivered; after Jesus had shown the Pharisees in the preceding chapter, the correctness of His conduct, it is natural that He should turn and address His disciples; He is still on His way to Jerusalem.

3. "There was a certain rich man" = the use of "certain" meaning existing in fact and truth leads me to believe this is an allegory and not a parable as many label it in various Bibles; an allegory is a figurative sentence or discourse, in which the principle subject is described by another subject resembling it in its properties and circumstances; this is an incident our Lord was aware of.

4. "Rich man" = wealthy--abounding in material resources; sometimes refers to high rank, whose residence was at a distance from his estate.

5. "Which had a steward" = an estate manager--one who managed his master's household affairs.

6. "The same was accused unto him that he has wasted his goods" = a complaint was made unto the master that the steward had wasted the master's goods--had squandered or embezzled them; he had not been prudent and saving.

7. The rich man represents God while the steward refers to His professed followers whose chief danger arises from temptation to use what the Lord has intrusted us with  improperly--tithes, offering, time, talent, and etc.

 

V. 2

1. "He" = "I" = master of the household.

2. "Him" = "thee" = "thy" = "thou" = the steward.

3. "And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee?" = you have been accused of wasting my goods.

4. "Give an account of thy stewardship" = give a statement of your expenses and of your conduct while you have been steward--in other words bring the books up to date before you leave = "for thou mayest be no longer steward."

5. I Cor. 4:1-2 requires of us (saved) to be a faithful steward of both what we have and what we are in this life, for all we have comes from God and belongs to God.

 

V. 3

1. "Then the steward said within himself" = he thought or considered and devised a plan.

2. "What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship" = my master or employer is going to dismiss me from employment, what shall  I do?

3. "I cannot dig" = means to till the earth; to work at daily labor; this means that either he was not acquainted with agriculture or that he was unwilling to stoop daily for his support.

4. "To beg I am ashamed" = he was too proud to beg; there were only two ways he could make a living--either to work for it or to beg; it is proper for the sick, the lame, and the feeble to beg; but it is not right for an able bodied man to beg, nor is it right to aid them, except by giving them employment and compelling them to work for a living.

 

V. 4

1. "I" = the steward.

2. "Resolved" = to know by experience "what to do" = the Greek construction indicates the steward reacted to his crisis in an instant of time; he knew he must act quickly before his job was terminated--he made a decision that would effect the rest of his life.

3. "That, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses" = "they" and "their" refers to the debtors of his master who were involved in the steward's plan, which was strictly dishonest, but it was effective from the world point of view.

 

V. 5

1. "So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him" = as long as he was officially steward, he had the power to set the amount of rental payments (these debtors were probably tenants who had rented the land from the steward's master); and until he was discharged, his decisions must stand for even when the owner discharged him, he could not alter the decisions which the steward had made previously.

2. "And said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?" = the language implies that there were many debtors, but Jesus gave details for only two.

 

V. 6

1. First "he" = "him" = the debtor.

2. Second "he" = the steward.

3. "And he said, An hundred measures of oil"= about 850 gallons of olive oil which was much used for lamps, as an article of food, and anointing, as well as an article of commerce.

4. "And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty:"

A. "Bill" = a contract, obligation or lease; it was probably written as a promise by the debtor and signed by the steward, and thus became binding; the steward had power to alter it supposing the master would not detect it for it was in the hands of the steward.

B. "Quickly" = the steward supposed  that the master would soon remove him, and he was therefore in haste to have all things secure beforehand.

 

V. 7

1. The steward said to another debtor, "How much owest thou?"

2. "And he said, An hundred measures of wheat" = about 1000 bushels of wheat.

3. And the steward said, "Take thy bill, and write fourscore" = 80, a reduction of 200 bushels of wheat.

4. The amounts are not material to the understanding of the allegory.

 

V. 8

1. "And the lord commended the unjust steward" = "lord" refers to the master of the house in this allegory, not the Lord Jesus Christ; "commended" means to praise or express admiration at the unjust steward's wisdom = because he had done wisely concerning his own good; the master could no more approve of the unjust steward's conduct than he could the first act of his cheating him. (verse 1)

2. "The children of this world" = refers to those who are devoted to this world; those who live for this world only; those who are careful to provide for their temporal necessities.

3. "Are in their generation" = refers to the whole multitude of men living at the same time.

4. "Wiser" = prudent; intelligent; refers to the steward's ingenuity in escaping a potentially disastrous situation.

5. "The children of light" = phrase is used in Scripture of believers; a common Palestinian expression denoting those who belong to God's kingdom of light.

6. How different the world would be if all Christians were as anxious, diligent, and prudent in religious matters as others are in worldly things.

 

V. 9

 1. I say unto you" = Jesus speaking to His disciples giving His interpretation of the parable.

2. "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness:"

A. "Mammon" = an Aramaic word meaning money or property.

B. "Unrighteousness" = deceitful, false, not to be trusted; this stands opposed to true riches. (verse 11)

C. "Friend" = the steward had so managed his affairs as to secure future comfort for himself or so as to find friends that would take care of him after he was put out of office, he would not be destitute, or cast off, or without comfort when he was removed from office.

D. The Lord implied that earthly property and wealth can be used to help others, whose gratitude will ensure a welcome in eternity.

3. "That when you fail" = refers to when you die; refers to the discharge of the steward; applies to when death comes God discharges His people or took them from their stewardship and called them to account.

4. "They may receive you into everlasting habitation" = heaven, the eternal home of the righteous, where all our needs will be supplied and where there will be no more anxiety and no more removal from enjoyments. (II Cor. 5:1)

5. Our Lord seems to restate the principle of Mat. 6:19-21.

 

V. 10

1. This verse deals with the principle of faithfulness.

2. If man has been faithful in his administration of comparatively unimportant goods of earth, it is clear that he can be entrusted with the far more important things which belong to the world to come. (I Cor. 4:1-2)

3. "Unjust" = refers to one who deals fraudulently and deceitfully with what has been entrusted  to him; means to be unfaithful--if in the least will also be unfaithful in much.

4. Everything we possess has been entrusted to us by the Lord and we are to be a faithful steward of everything He has given us. (John 3:27; Psa. 50:10-11)

 

V. 11

1. "If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon" = the use of material wealth is a test of character to see if you will be faithful; Jesus is referring to living  on the worldly level of materialism.

2. "Who will commit to your trust the true riches" = refers to the graces of the gospel; the influence of the Spirit; eternal life; those who cannot use wisely what God has given them physically do not deserve to have spiritual responsibilities entrusted to them.

 

V. 12

1. "And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's" = here we have our earthly possessions plainly spoken of as goods of another--that is, of God, and of these goods we are but the temporary stewards (I Chron. 29:14); if we are not faithful--cannot be relied on, then:

2. "Who shall give you that which is your own?" = a magnificent promise; here we are but a steward for a time of property belonging to another, yet prospect is held out to us that, if we be found faithful in the trust while on earth, in the world to come something will be given to us really and truly our own; there will be no dismissal or death there.

 

V. 13

1. "No servant can serve two masters" = the language is strong--Jesus said it is not possible to slave for two masters; the master has exclusive possession of the slave; slavery is not a part-time relationship.

2. "For either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other" = the slave was obligated to serve his master at any and all time; likewise, the Christian must yield himself totally to the service of God--there is really no such a thing as part-time Christianity.

3. "Ye cannot serve God and mammon" = means you cannot serve the true God, and at the same time be supremely engaged in obtaining the riches of this world; the Christian does not serve self, but God, and therefore, any wealth he controls should be used for God's purposes. (Rom. 6:17-20)

 

    B. Jesus answers the Pharisees V. 14-17

V. 14

1. "And the Pharisees also who were covetous, heard all these things" = the Pharisees who had been gathered around Jesus as He taught, heard His teaching the allegory of the unjust steward; they despised the doctrine Jesus had laid down--"Ye cannot serve God and mammon" which was what they were attempting to do.

2. Luke wrote, "who were covetous" = refers to a desire for riches and all that riches purchase; a greedy desire to have more; seeking to grasp the things one has not.

3. Their being covetous was the reason, "they derided him" = to sneer; to scoff at; to turn up the noise; the Pharisees thought they were better than this Carpenter from Nazareth.

 

V. 15

1. "He" = Jesus, the Messiah.

2. "He said unto them" = Jesus spoke to the Pharisees telling them their problem even though they had not said anything to Him--He knew their heart.

3. "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men" = they made an attempt to appear just; their aim was to appear righteous in the sight of men, and did not regard the heart.

4. "But God knoweth your hearts" = "hearts" denote the center of all physical and spiritual life, and God knew their hypocrisy--a deceitful show of a good character in morals or religion; and Jesus had said in Mat. 5:20.

5. "For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God" = the Pharisees practiced praying, fasting, and almsgiving to be seen of men or to be thought highly of men, but God said it is an abomination--something disgusting; something which, being impure and unclean is especially abhorrent (extreme hated) in the sight of God.

 

V. 16

1. "The law and prophets" = refers to the OT era of time; "until John" = refers to John the Baptist and Jesus said that he marked the end of an era--a succession of years proceeding from Genesis until John the Baptist came on the scene "since that time the kingdom of God is preached" refers to the glad tidings of the coming kingdom of God, and of the salvation to be obtained in it through Christ, and of what relates to this salvation.

2. "The kingdom of God" = refers to the kingdom which belongs to God and is the place of God's rule, domain, and authority; it is both a present reality and a future event; at times it is synonymous with kingdom of heaven (Mat. 3:2; 4:17); the context will let you know--sometimes the kingdom of heaven refers to professing Christianity which includes tares and wheat; the kingdom of God is pure--no tares.

3. "And every man presseth into it" = this means to use force; to apply force; the Greek tense suggests forceful endeavor continuously; the same Greek word translated here "presseth" is translated "suffereth violence" in Mat. 11:12--Note: this verse used kingdom of heaven; this is similar to Luke 13:24 where it says "strive" = means to agonize; to strain ever fiber of your body; to endeavor with strenuous zeal; this word is taken from the Grecian games where they put forth all their powers to gain the victory; this is a continuous action, habitual lifestyle.

 

V. 17

1. This verse is the same as saying, everything else may change--the heaven and earth may change, but the law of God shall not be destroyed till its whole design has been accomplished.

2. Mat. 5:18 states, "One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled;" "jot" refers to the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet; "tittle" was a small projection or "hook" that distinguished one Hebrew letter from another similar to it.

3. Jesus was saying that, even down to its smallest point, the law would maintain its authority and certainty.

4. The law is holy, just, and good. (Rom. 7:12)  It is our schoolmaster (child leader) to bring us to Christ that we might be saved (Gal. 3:24), having no penalty hanging over us because Christ came to fulfill the law. (Mat. 5:17)

 

    C. Jesus and divorce. V. 18

V. 18

1. Jesus is still speaking to the Pharisees, to whom the law was given.  The law was changeless and while earth endured would never fail, yet they were tampering with the subject of divorce; it is recorded somewhere that one of the Rabbis taught that a man might divorce his wife if in cooking she bruned his dinner or even over-salted his soup; this Jesus states very plainly--changeless and while earth endured would never fail.

2. "Whosoever putteth away his wife" = refers to divorcing her; in Mat. 19:3-9 Jesus stated Moses allowed divorce for the cause of fornication (Deut. 24:1), but from the beginning this was not so; this fornication was spoken of being committed during the time of espousal when a virgin had been promised (betrothed) to a man, and when they came to the marriage altar and marriage bed and she was found to be unfaithful--Moses allowed that man to put her away but from the beginning that was not so; after the marriage altar and marriage bed the scripture does not allow divorce.

3. Therefore, any man who "putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery" = means he is having unlawful (God's law) relations with another woman; this in the Greek is a present tense verb which means continuous action lifestyle--He is an adulterer.

4. "And whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery" = Mat. 5:32 adds "causeth her to commit adultery" = means when he puts her away when she is young, she will have a desire to have children and will more than likely remarry thus becoming an adulteress.

5. This verse was placed here as Jesus was dealing with the Pharisees and it was to confront them of their misuse of the commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery."

6. Our Lord's words make permanent monogamous marriage the ideal for believers.  Marriage is a union between a man and a woman, not man with man nor woman with woman, for that is an abomination (disgusting) in the sight of God.

 

    LIST OF BOOKS AVAILABLE

Notes on I & II Thessalonians; Mark-Volume I, II, & III; Acts-Volume I, II, III, & IV; Romans-Volume I, II, III, IV, & V; I, II, & III John & Jude; Colossians-Volume I & II (Includes Philemon); Titus; John-Volume I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, & IX; Philippians-Volume I & II; Proverbs-Volume I & II; Ruth;  I Peter-Volume I & II; Galatians-Volume I & II; Haggai; Psalms-Volume I, II, III,& IV; II Timothy; Revelation-Volume I, II, & III; Genesis-Volume I, II, & III; Jonah-Nahum; Isaiah-Volume I; II Corinthians-Volume I; I Timothy-Volume I & II; II Peter; Ephesians-Volume I, II, & III; James; Luke-Volume I, II, III, IV, & V; Compiled by Edgar Lee Paschall (These books are a verse by verse study we use in our Sunday School)

STUDY GUIDE FOR DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH;  SPIRITUAL CRUTCHES; ARTICLES FROM THE PERSUADER VOLUME I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, & VIII; LADDER OF HAPPINESS; DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT; INOCULATED WITH THE GOSPEL (English & Spanish); JUST WHAT IS?  THE INTER-TESTAMENT PERIOD; By Edgar Lee Paschall

A NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST Testimony of Wilma Collins

FROM RELIGION TO REGENERATION Testimony of D. Timothy Rutherford

SAVED AFTER PREACHING FIFTEEN YEARS Testimony of Charles Shipman

VICTORY IN JESUS Testimony of Wanda Sheppard

HE LIVES Testimony of Linda Gipson

I WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE Testimony of Steven A. Johnson

WHY DO YOU NOT BELIEVE? By Andrew Murray

ADVICE FOR SEEKERS By C. H. Spurgeon

SPURGEON'S PERSONAL TESTIMONY By C. H. Spurgeon

THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN A SINNER By L. R. Shelton

IS IT LAWFUL TO PUT AWAY THY MATE? By Paul Ragland

MAKING SURE HEAVEN IS YOUR HOME By Rex Duff

THE SIN SICK SOUL AND THE GREAT PHYSICIAN By J. C. Philpot

THE MORTIFICATION OF SIN IN THE LIFE OF BELIEVERS By John Flavel

    CDS AVAILABLE FOR:

 

ROAD OF LIGHT for Seeking Sinners and Studying Saints, Correspondence