A Parable about Prayer- Unjust Judge & Widow – Luke 18:1-8

Posted on May 12, 2025 by dkoop

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.  (vs. 1)

Luke tells us upfront what the point of this parable is!

TIPS FOR MY PRAYER LIFE

  • I should always pray

Is it possible to always pray?   What is meant is to be in the spirit of prayer or the habit of prayer, the dependency of prayer. Pray often, pray regularly, and pray habitually.

When the English were awaiting the attack of the Spanish Armada in the 1500’s those in the watchtowers were ready for the first sign of the enemy with signal fires to warn everyone.  The wood was piled, the wood was dry, the fire to light it was always lit, and everything was ready to blaze the warning signal at the appointed moment.  None of this “wait we need to build a fire!”  Prayer is spontaneous like lighting the fire, no pause to leave your business or unplug from the world, not time to go to your prayer closet, get on your knees, fold your hands, and close your eyes. There are times for that but sometimes prayers need to be sent quickly, silently, urgently. If your fixing to go over a cliff in your car, you don’t have time to get on your knees or fold your hands, its time to pray.  If someone asks you to pray for them why not do it right then. Either silently in your mind or right there with them.  That way you won’t lie and say you will and then forget.  God has dealt with me on this very thing in the past.  When people ask me to pray for them, I often pray for them right then or I may forget.  Always pray, anywhere, any time.

  • I should never give up.

The second, purpose is to teach not give up.  One of Winston Churchill’s speeches consisted of 5 words.  Never, Never, Never give up!

How many times have we asked of God and then we don’t get because we didn’t wait long enough.  We knock a time or two at God’s door and then go our way.  When I was in Junior high there was this devious prank some boys would play. (Ok I would play it too). We would knock at someone’s door or ring the doorbell and then we would run away thinking it was the funniest thing ever.  Too many of our prayers are that way.  We knock for a time or two and then run away.  We want the response on OUR SCHEDULE AND TIME TABLE.  We stop.  No persistence.  In our fast food, microwave, cable modem society we want it done yesterday.  When we say jump we want them asking how high on the way up.  God is not on our timetable.

WHAT DO I HAVE?  WHAT DO I NEED?

Niki’s likes to read fiction, he favorite author is Karen Kingsbury and she told me that Kingsbury has about 10 characters in each story, well unlike a John Gresham novel or Karen Kingsbury story that has a long list of characters to keep up with, this parable of Jesus has only two characters.  Short, simple and sweet: a judge and a widow.

He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.  (vs. 2)

The judge.  He is described by Jesus in verse 2 who “neither feared God nor cared about men“ Usually those two things go together. You have to be careful not to read too much into the story but you get the idea by this description we know he had no morals no scruples, took bribes. The judge was corrupt, unjust, devoid of all good character, the very opposite of God. He was as warm and loving as an ice cube.  When asked why he didn’t send his mother a birthday card he probably said, “Its not that I forgot its just that I didn’t care.”  Tell him about what Gods’ word says, he scoffs, tell him what is right and wrong he laughs.  In his eyes he didn’t serve the law the law served him.  Like Judge Roy Bean in the frontier days, this man was the law.

 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’  (vs. 3)

The Widow.  Widows show up a lot in Jesus teachings.  Jesus was moved by the plight of widows and taught against anyone who would take advantage of them.  Men dominated the world at that time.  A woman without a man’s support and protection was vulnerable.  If she was a widow she was at the mercy of others.  So very likely she was being bullied, taken advantage of many ways.

Why so persistent?  Since her husband died, he left her a little plot of land, all they had, but a cruel neighbor was looking with greedy eyes upon that little plot and has now taken it.  She is with out sufficient food for her little ones, they are crying for food.  Oh if their father were alive he would have never let this happen!  Now their creditors are about to come and take away her children and sell them into bondage in order to get their money.  It happened.  “No” she says, I have one chance! I can go to the judge and petition my case.  I know he could care less. I know I have nothing to offer him, nothing, no bribe, nothing.   But I have made up my mind I shall never rest until he hears me. He may throw me in jail.  He may have me killed but I have nowhere else to go.  I am reduced to the point of prison or death now anyway.  I have nothing to lose.

The widow had nothing but the judge, How about us?  What do we have?  Today we have other places to turn besides God and we may not pray hard because we have an ace in the hole, we have savings, we have lawyers, we have a bag a tricks. Often God will show us that we need him as well.  If not now then some point in your life you will have to depend on God.   Prayer is not a just a religious game it is a lifeline, a dependency.

  • When I depend on me I get what I can provide. When I depend on God I get what he can provide.
  • What am I depending on?

Often we have to depend on God when every other resource is tapped or empty, then we pray hard.  What is an area of your life that you feel you have absolutely no protection or support apart from God’s protection and support?  Every time I ride on an airplane, I pray because we are going fast and high, every time I go on a long trip in the car, I pray.  I pray for my kids because I can only give them so much and then they have to make their own decisions.  There will be times when I can’t always watch them, so I pray, I pray for their future, their spouses.  For many of us we have to pray for people’s spiritual condition.  Maybe you are praying for a spouse or family member to know Christ.

In talking about prayer I am not excusing us from doing the right things. I am not condoning laziness.  We must work and we must pray.  It is easy to get into extremes.  We work hard and leave God out, or we pray and leave work out and do nothing.  I love what one person has said,   “Work as if it all depends on you AND pray as if it all depends on God.”  This is biblical!  The widow did both, she worked hard and she depended on the judge.    *For our church to grow we must work hard: practice our music, print the bulletins, maintain our buildings and grounds, prepare the kids crafts, refreshments and lessons, plan ahead, mail out mailers, invite our friends, put out signs, maintain our website, do videos, If they don’t happen, we will stop growing  BUT, we must pray too, it’s both!  I must admit sometimes as a pastor I get caught up in work and I don’t pray as hard or as persistent as I should.   We encourage hard work, and we encourage prayer.

HOW TO PRAY EFFECTIVELY

Why was the widow successful?  It wasn’t her many words or her superior eloquence.  She only spoke 6 words.  “Grant me justice from my adversary.” No plea about her widowhood or about her children, lack of food and resources, just  “Grant me justice from my adversary.” Her success did not depend on the power of her rhetoric but her persistence.  The power of a prayer does Not rest on the eloquence of its words. Some people think that the more words the better, the longer the better.  I’m sure we have all been in places and someone prays and they go on and on and on.  And then we wonder what they said.

  • I don’t have to use MANY words

You see many words only impress those around you they don’t impress God.  God knows true sincerity and fancy talk.  Listen to what Jesus says

“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”  Matthew 6:7

Charles Haddon Spurgeon says that “verbiage is not better in prayer. Too many words are cumbersome to prayer.”  He says, “When you pray in public as a rule the shorter the better.”

  • I don’t have to use BEAUTIFUL words

Spurgeon compares words in prayer to feathers.  What will put wings to your prayers?  He says,

“The prayers that reach heaven are like the eagle’s feathers with strong, and intense desire behind them.  It is not the peacocks, although very beautiful and elaborate feathers, but that will get you nowhere.”  Charles Haddon Spurgeon

  • I do have to be PERSISTENT

Why was the widow successful.  Listen to the words of the judge.

“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men,       yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!'”  (vs. 4-5)

I think it’s easy to read over this to quickly and miss the point.  The judge’s words are strong.  This word bother means to cause trouble, to make him work, cause him labor with intense trouble.  She was a stack if bricks on his chest, a monkey on his back.  Not a small nuisance.  Niki tells me that growing up her younger brother would pester her and badger her to the point of driving her crazy, insanity. Niki’s brother Chad, he loves to tease and harass people.  She would tell her mom, “Mom Chad’s pestering me” and mom’s response was, “Just ignore him.”  Niki says trying to ignore Chad is like trying to ignore a broken leg. You can’t do it.  Chad cannot be ignored.  He doesn’t give up.  He is a youth minister now.  He is being repaid for his childhood either that or we should feel sorry for his kids.  If he prays the way he pesters, His prayers will be answered.  This widow was this way to the judge.  Nothing you could ignore.  I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!'” (NIV)

The Greek word here means literally to blacken the eyes.

(hupopiazo-) 1) physically to beat black and blue, to strike so as to cause bruises   2) metaphorically:  to give one intolerable annoyance; to wear one out  3) that part of the face that is under the eyes because of tiredness and weariness.  Do you see the picture?  This man who fears NO ONE, not God and no man, fears this woman.   She wore him out.  She got on his last nerve.  She caused him to turn gray or to turn bald as he pulls his last hair out.

Why was the widow successful?  It was her persistence.  We don’t know how long she pestered this judge.  2 week 2 months 2 years.  We don’t know if she bursts in court room 10 times a day, follows him home begging, knocks at his door at home, yells at him from his window at home. Camps on his lawn, follows him to work.  It could be, but the point is she is persistent to the point of wearing him out wearing him down. Do you persist in your prayers to the Lord?  Not that you wear out God or bother him but are you persistent?

  • Am I persistent in my prayers?

Do you remember something that you wanted as a child for a birthday or Christmas?  Do you remember asking and begging and pestering your parents for this?    I remember when I was of driving age; I thought I had to have a Camaro.  Every time possible for a year, I would say, I want a Camaro, I would tell my dad which ones I liked.  Every one I saw, which ones were for sale, showing him newspaper ads, auto trader.  Guess what, it worked.  Christmas my junior year, there was a Camaro in the driveway, my dad also got me a loan through the bank but I didn’t care, I had a Camaro.   My father loved me so he listened to what I asked for.

Our heavenly father will hear as well.

GOD WILL HEAR

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.

          And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?

          I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. (vs. 6-8)

This parable is in an IF –THEN form.

  • IF this judge who is unjust will hear the widow’s case (that he cares nothing about) only because of persistence, THEN how much more will God who is just and loving will hear his children (that he does care about) when they are persistent.  

I guess God is like us as parents.  When Kaleb and Noel were younger, they would often see something and want it.  We can’t give them everything they lay their eyes on, its not good for them for one and for two, 3 minutes later they forgot what they were asking for and are now asking for something else.  Have you ever bought something for your kids that they had to have only to find the next day they didn’t want it. Or never played with it again?  It’s frustrating because it seems they didn’t really what it.  We learn to listen to repeated requests.  If they see something they want, we’ll say when your birthday come or for Christmas.   If they keep asking for it then its something they really care about. If they never ask again, probably wasn’t that big of a deal.  AND when they get it at Christmas or Birthday and they had to wait for it, it means a lot more.  When we ask it shows how much we care.  If we ask once and then forget about it is it that important?  God wants to see some desire, some persistence.  Its shows us what is important to us and when we do get something we have been praying for for a while, it means more.

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A Parable about My Neighbor-The Good Samaritan- Luke 10

Posted on May 6, 2025 by dkoop

Who is my neighbor?  That’s a good question!  It was asked of Jesus by an expert in Old Testament law.  Unfortunately, this question and revealed the lawyer’s real motive (to test Jesus) and his profound ignorance about central issues of the faith—eternal life and the basic command to love one’s neighbor. 

10:25 This expert in religious law was a man who had made it his business to know and understand the details of the Jewish religion. He had studied the Scriptures (the Old Testament—the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets). He also knew all the traditions. The fact that this man wanted to test Jesus does not necessarily indicate hostility. He wanted to know what he had to do to receive eternal life.

10:26-28 This expert in the law obviously would have known the law of Moses. In his answer, he quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. He correctly understood that the law demanded total devotion to God and love for one’s neighbor. To love God in this way is to fulfill completely all the commandments regarding one’s “vertical” relationship. But another command from the law says to love your neighbor. This refers to “horizontal” relationships—among people. A person cannot maintain a good vertical relationship with God without also caring for his or her neighbor. The word “neighbor” refers to fellow human beings in general.

The expert in the law had it right. Jesus explained that people only needed to obey these commands; in doing so, they would fulfill all the rest of them. But with these abrupt words, Jesus was subtly making the point that no one can obey these commands. Do this and you will live sounds simple—in reality, however, those commands are impossible to keep in our human strength alone. This would be the lifestyle of Kingdom people—but they would not have to “do” it in order to be saved. Instead, they would be saved and then enabled by the Holy Spirit to obey these impossible demands. Jesus would show this to the man in the following story.

10:29 The expert in the law would not leave the encounter there. He wanted to justify his actions. It is unclear if he wanted to justify the question he had asked by asking the teacher to delve deeper into the topic, or whether he wanted Jesus to give an answer that he could then say he had fulfilled. He may have been attempting to pin down and limit the law’s demand, thereby limiting his responsibility. So he pressed Jesus further, “And who is my neighbor?”

10:30 Jesus answered this legal expert by telling a story. The rest of his listeners could easily picture this Jewish man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. The distance was about seventeen miles on a road that was notoriously dangerous because it curved through rocky and desolate terrain with many hiding places for bandits. As the listeners may have anticipated, the man in this story, who was traveling alone, was attacked and left half dead.

10:31-32 Jesus told a story about three different people, also traveling alone on this road. This priest served in the Temple and probably offered sacrifices. The Temple assistant also served in the Temple. Both of these servants of God saw the man lying there, but both passed by without helping. Perhaps it was concern over defilement, for a Jew would become “unclean” if he came into contact with a dead body. This would render him unable to worship. The man on the road may have appeared dead, so they did not want to risk defilement if there was nothing they could do. Either way, they deliberately refused to help.

10:33-35 The next person to come along was a despised Samaritan. Jews hated Samaritans, so when Jesus introduced this Samaritan man into the story, the Jewish listeners would not have expected him to help a Jewish man. But in great detail, Jesus described all that the Samaritan did for this man. This Samaritan is pictured as understanding what it meant to help someone in need, to be a neighbor, regardless of racial tensions.

LIFE APPLICATION – GENEROSITY

In this story, the Samaritan was extremely generous, and Jesus highlighted his helpful actions.  Generosity inspired by God does more than what’s expected.  Extend yourself. When you see a job to do, go overboard. Do it to show just an ounce of what God’s care for you is like. Do it with all the joy God has put in your heart.

10:36-37 Having finished the story, Jesus asked the expert in the law who had been a neighbor to the wounded man. The legal expert had no choice but to answer that the one who showed him mercy—the Samaritan—had been the true “neighbor.” The Samaritan traveler and the Jewish man were far apart in distance and spiritual heritage, but the Samaritan had loved his neighbor far better than the hurt man’s own religious leaders. Jesus said that the legal expert had answered correctly and should go and do the same. Jesus taught that love is shown by action, that it must not be limited by its object, and that at times it is costly.

What is Jesus Teaching us?

  • Scripture, says “Love my Neighbor as Myself”
  • My Neighbor Includes Those Different than Me.
  • Loving My Neighbor, will Cost Me.

I have found that I cannot love the way Jesus asks me to love without Him.  My love runs low and runs out.  I must depend on Jesus in my life to love.  The first fruit of the Spirit is  “love” Galatians 5:22.  With Christ in my life and yours, and with the Holy Spirit producing love as a by product of this relationship;  this is the only way to “love your neighbor as yourself”

 www.Upwards.Church

Message Audio/Video and Outline: https://upwards.church/leander-campus/watch-now-message-videos

Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church

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Read Along Daily Bible Reading: YouVersion (https://www.bible.com/organizations/370f8a6e-16bc-464f-8c43-0b7623fd2952)

Sources: Life Application Bible Commentary, Life Application Concise New Testament Commentary,  Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible – Commentary, Preaching the Word

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A Parable about Serving – Luke 19:11-27

Posted on April 27, 2025 by dkoop

In 4 BC when Herod the Great died, his territorial rule was divided between his three sons. Archelaus, one of Herod’s sons, was assumed to rule over Judea. Though Archelaus began to rule immediately upon his father’s death, his royal title could only be ratified by Augustus Caesar. So Archelaus made the long journey to Rome where he expected to be crowned as king. However, there was an active opposition to his rule by his subjects in Judea. A delegation of fifty Jewish leaders came from Jerusalem to Rome seeking an audience with Caesar claiming that Archelaus was unfit to govern because of his cruelty. The thousands of Jews who were living in Rome participated in the demonstration against the rule Archelaus. Caesar eventually allowed Archelaus the opportunity to prove himself worthy to rule Judea. When Archelaus returned to Judea he executed swift punishment against the men who rebelled against his rule.

Christ uses the Parable of the Ten Minas in Luke 19:11–27 to teach about the coming kingdom of God on earth. The occasion of the parable is Jesus’ final trip to Jerusalem. The reason this topic is important is because it is the last week of Jesus’ life.  Verse 1 tells us that Jesus is in Jericho as he tells this parable, a town on the way to Jerusalem where we saw the salvation of the Lord come to Zacchaeus.

Many people in the crowd along the road believed that He was going to Jerusalem in order to establish His earthly kingdom immediately. (Of course, He was going to Jerusalem in order to die, as He had stated in Luke 18:33.) Jesus used this parable to dispel any hopeful rumors that the time of the kingdom had arrived.

In the parable, a nobleman leaves for a foreign country in order to be made king. Before he left, he gave ten minas to ten of his servants (Luke 19:12–13). A mina was a good sum of money (about three months’ wages), and the future king said, “Put this money to work . . . until I come back” (verse 13).

However, the man’s subjects “hated him” and sent word to him that they refused to acknowledge his kingship (Luke 19:14). When the man was crowned king, he returned to his homeland and began to set things right. First, he called the ten servants to whom he had loaned the minas. They each gave an account for how they had used the money. The first servant showed that his mina had earned ten more. The king was pleased, saying, “‘Well done, good and faithful servant! . . . Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities” (verse 17). The next servant’s investment had yielded five additional minas, and that servant was rewarded with charge of five cities (verses 18–19).

Then came a servant who reported that he had done nothing with his mina except hide it in a cloth (Luke 19:20). His reason: “I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow” (verse 21). The king responded to the servant’s description of him as “hard” by showing hardness, calling him a “wicked servant” and commanding for his mina to be given to the one who had earned ten (verses 22 and 24). Some bystanders said, “Sir . . . he already has ten!” and the king replied, “I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away” (verses 25–26).

Finally, the king commanded that his enemies—those who had rebelled against his authority—be brought before him. Right there in the king’s presence, they were executed (Luke 19:27).

In this parable, Jesus teaches several things about the Millennial Kingdom and the time leading up to it. As Luke 19:11 indicates, Jesus’ most basic point is that the kingdom was not going to appear immediately. There would be a period of time, during which the king (Jesus) would be absent, before the kingdom would be set up.

The nobleman in the parable is Jesus, who left this world but who will return as King some day. The servants the king charges with a task represent followers of Jesus. The Lord has given us a valuable commission, and we must be faithful to serve Him until He returns. Upon His return, Jesus will ascertain the faithfulness of His own people (see Romans 14:10–12). There is work to be done (John 9:4), and we must use what God has given us for His glory. There are promised rewards for those who are faithful in their charge.

The enemies who rejected the king in the parable are representative of those who rejected Christ while He walked on earth—and everyone who still denies Him today. When Jesus returns to establish His kingdom, one of the first things He will do is utterly defeat His enemies (Revelation 19:11–15). It does not pay to fight against the King of kings.

The Parable of the Ten Minas is similar to the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14–30. Some people assume that they are the same parable, but there are enough differences to warrant a distinction: the parable of the minas was told on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem; the parable of the talents was told later on the Mount of Olives. The audience for the parable of the minas was a large crowd; the audience for the parable of the talents was the disciples by themselves. The parable of the minas deals with two classes of people: servants and enemies; the parable of the talents deals only with professed servants. In the parable of the minas, each servant receives the same amount; in the parable of the talents, each servant receives a different amount (and talents are worth far more than minas). Also, the return is different: in the parable of the minas, the servants report ten-fold and five-fold earnings; in the parable of the talents, all the good servants double their investment. In the former, the servants received identical gifts; in the latter, the good servants showed identical faithfulness.

What is the sin of the servant in verses? His sin is doing nothing. He took the mina given to him and did nothing. Now listen to the parable because this person is a servant. This is not talking about the unbelievers in the world. Do not apply this to them. Apply this to yourself. This parable is to be applied to people who believe they are the Lord’s servants. The condemnation is that you took the mina and did nothing. We have seen on a number of occasions throughout the study of Luke’s gospel that we will be held in account for what we did with our wealth and how we used our wealth for the kingdom of God. God has given us our wealth and we will be judged by what we did with it. But I would like to explore another area where God has given to us richly for which we will be called into account.

What have you done with the gospel? The gospel is the greatest gift that we have received. Our salvation is a gift from the Lord. So what are we doing with that gift? We have received the gospel and Jesus wants us to put that gospel to work in the world. The most important job we have been given is to be sowing the seed of the word of God. We cannot do nothing with the gospel. We cannot remain unconnected to the body of Christ. We cannot refuse to grow in the word of God, developing to a maturity of the faith and knowledge of our Lord. We cannot refuse to serve each other. We cannot refuse to teach. We cannot refuse to lead. Do you see the selfishness of this servant? I know what you gave me and I decided to do absolutely nothing with it. I was afraid of you. I was afraid of failure. So I did nothing.

I believe that the parable identifies one reason why we refuse to do something with the great gospel gift we have been given. Listen to the perception the servant has of the Lord. The servant describes his as a severe man. He is considered an unreasonably demanding master. He is pictured in his mind as a harsh, unjust taskmaster. You are too hard to obey! You are too demanding of me! You are requiring too much. Do you hear what the servant is doing? He is blaming God. He is saying that because his master is so demanding, he was afraid and did nothing. God is not demanding. If you think he is demanding, then you do not know our Lord at all and I would like to study the scriptures with you to show you the true character of God. But let’s suppose you are right and he is asking too much of us. How does disobedience make your point? If he is demanding so much of us, then how does our laziness and stubborn refusal fix the situation? If you are right, then you better obey because he is going to judge because he is the ruler and we are servants. We do not get to tell him how to rule and the kingdom is not entered on our terms. God has given you the mina of the gospel of grace. What are you doing with it? Are we hiding it? Are we sitting on it? Or are we putting it to work? Doing nothing is sin.

But there is another group of people in the story and another sin is identified. These are the citizens who hate the Lord and do not want him to rule over them. Their judgment is certain as it is described in verse 27. What is the difference between the citizens and the servant who did nothing with the mina? Nothing because they are both in rebellion to the king. One openly states that they do not want the king to rule and the other does not speak their rebellion, but their lives reflect the rebellion. Both are rejecting his authority. If you are in the group like these citizens. You are refusing the rule and reign of Jesus as king. He is going to come back in judgment. The scriptures clearly show that Jesus ascended to the Father in heaven and took his rightful place on the throne and has begun to rule. Now we are awaiting his return. When he returns, those who are his enemies will be judged to condemnation. This is why the gospel message call is to submit to the king before he returns. So often people seem to have a hard time with eternal punishment. But notice it is the choice of each person. These people do not want Jesus to rule over you. So Jesus will leave you in the kingdom of darkness, sin, and Satan rather than bringing you to the kingdom of life, as you requested. You are choosing what will happen when the king returns.

 The Moral of the Story:

 God has given each of us gifts (the gospel) to invest (multiply or make disciples)

God holds us accountable for how we invest (share the gospel, reach and serve people for Jesus)

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Message Audio/Video and Outline: https://upwards.church/leander-campus/watch-now-message-videos

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Sources:

https://www.gotquestions.org/parable-ten-minas.html

Luke 19:11-27, Accountability To The King

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The Road to Emmaus – Luke 24:13-31

Posted on April 21, 2025 by dkoop

The Washington Post conducted an experiment to find out if people are capable of recognizing beauty out of context. Unfortunately, their experiment proved that most people are oblivious to beauty that doesn’t fit into their routines, even a world-famous violinist playing a free concert in the subway.  It happened the first time in 2007, and again seven years later. The protagonist? World-famous violinist Joshua Bell.

The experiment involved Joshua Bell playing violin in a busy subway station in Washington, DC at rush hour. Bell decided to use his Stradivarius violin, an instrument with an estimated value of over three million dollars.  Three days before the experiment, Bell played a concert where the bad seats cost about 100 dollars.

The experiment was conducted on January 12, 2007, at 7:51 in the morning. Bell showed up at the subway station wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, jeans, and a baseball hat. He started playing a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach, followed by Shubert’s Ave Maria. He continued to play, one masterfully interpreted song after another. It became evident fairly quickly that people often look without really seeing and hear without really listening.

In the end, the world-renowned violin prodigy played for about 47 minutes. During that time, 1,097 people walked by him. To everyone’s surprise, only six people actually stopped to listen. In total, Bell earned $32.17 for his performance.  One of the interesting things if you watch the video, there was a booth set up nearby where he was playing where people could buy lottery tickets.  And there was actually a line of people, many of whom had their backs to him for thirty, forty minutes, and they never recognized him.  Joshua Bell, like Jesus Christ was exuding truth and beauty, but only one recognized him

In our scripture today, The Road to Emmaus, Jesus (Creator God, Savior, Perfect in every way) shows up and is not even noticed.

We learn some very important things about Scripture here.  Jesus has been crucified, He’s risen from the dead, and He appears to these two disciples on the road and then He eats with them.  But they don’t understand it.  They don’t get it.  They don’t recognize Him, even initially.  And so this is somewhat mysterious to them.

Let’s briefly just recap and give a little bit of context.  Jesus has died, He’s risen! He shows up on the road to Emmaus, this small town seven miles from Jerusalem.  One of the disciples was named Cleopas.  The other name is not given.  Some commentators believe that it was Cleopas and his wife but we don’t know.  And they’re walking along.  Jesus walks up to them, and “they were kept from recognizing him.” He says, “What are you talking about?”  And they say, “Where have You been? What’s everyone talking about?  We’re talking about Jesus of Nazareth.  We had hoped He was the Promised One but He died and now we don’t know what to do.”

These disciples, more than likely, would have been with Jesus for years, probably for three years; they’re not one of the twelve but they were most likely part of a larger group that followed Jesus and so they had been with Jesus, they served with Him, they believed Him.  And so they understand, you see, part of what Jesus did.  They have some of the pieces but they’re missing some.  As you see in verse 17, they’re sad.  Verse 21 they say, “We thought he would be the one to redeem Israel.”  In verses 22 and 24 they say that, “these women tell us he’s not in the tomb anymore.”  And so they have some of this information and they don’t know what to do.  Verse 16, for whatever reason they don’t recognize Jesus, and they travel these seven miles with Him.  But Jesus essentially is with these people who have invested time, they’ve invested energy, they’ve had their hopes and dreams seemingly dashed, and so Jesus is going to these people who are sad on the road and where does He direct them?  Jesus directs them to His Word.  He points them to the Bible and specifically to the Old Testament.

I’m going to use a superlative, but this one is accurate.  Jesus, on this road with these two men, this is the best small-group Bible study ever!  It says, Jesus right there on the road says, “You don’t understand the Scriptures.”  And beginning with Moses, that means in Genesis, and so He walks through the Garden of Eden, He walks through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, and then Exodus and Leviticus, He goes there, He goes to the Prophets, He goes to the Psalms, and He unpacks how all of it is about Him.  And so He explained to them what was said in the Scriptures, very important, verse 27, what was said in the Scriptures concerning Himself.  I mean this would be the definitive explanation of what we call the Old Testament.  This is the best Bible study ever.  All the promises, all the stories, all the images found their fulfillment in Him.  Everything is pointing to Him.  And that means that Jesus is the point of the Bible.  If you’re in sales you have an elevator speech.  You’re supposed to make a sale in thirty seconds.  “What is the Bible about?”  How would we answer that?  The Bible is about Jesus.  It’s not a reference book, it’s not a book of examples to live up to, it’s not a to-do list.  It’s about Jesus.  It’s a single, true story with a plotline.  The plotline is creation, fall, redemption, consummation.  It’s about grace.  It’s about rescue.  It’s about how Jesus saves His people.

And so we don’t know what Jesus here on the road to Emmaus cited, we don’t know what specific quotes, what specific passages in the Old Testament He goes to, which exact ones, we don’t know the examples that He used, we can’t replicate His explanation.  But I put in the last post, some information from the book by Sinclair Ferguson,  Preaching Christ from the Old Testament.

Jesus, The Lving Word, teaches them the written and revealed Word of God about Himself.   Why?

God Lovingly Writes Himself into His Own Story

Dorothy Sayers wrote a series of detective novels focused her fictional character Lord Peter Wimsey. Sayers’ creation Whimsey was an aristocrat detective from the 1930s who solved all kinds of crimes. She wrote a whole series of stories and novels about Lord Peter.

Then about halfway through her elven Wimsey detective series, a woman suddenly shows up in the novels. Sayers new character is named Harriet Vane, a female mystery writer and one of the very first women to get through Oxford. Harriet and Peter fall in love. Until that point in the series, Whimsey was an unhappy, broken bachelor, until Harriet Vane shows up and her love starts to heal his broken soul.

It’s interesting because Dorothy Sayers, like her fictional creation, was one of the first women to graduated from Oxford. Like Harriet Vane, Dorothy Sayers was a writer of mystery novels. Dorothy Sayers looked at her character, Lord Peter Wimsey, and saw that he needed someone to help him out. So who did she put in there? A detective novelist, a woman, and one of the first women to go through Oxford. Who was that? She put herself into her own stories. She looked into the world that she had created and she fell in love with the chief character, Peter Wimsey, and she wrote herself into that story so she could heal him.

Meaning:  God creates the world, we’ve turned away from him and become damaged by our sin. But God looks into this world and he loves us and he writes himself into his own story. Only he really writes himself in, he really puts himself in there in Jesus Christ, and he comes and he heals us and he takes us to be his bride.

Verse 28, “They drew near to the village to which they were going.  He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.’  So he went in to stay with them.”  And so just think about this.  Of all the places that Jesus could be after He’s resurrected from the dead, He’s in Emmaus, this nobody town, and He’s with these two disciples, one of whom is not even named.  And so of all the places Jesus could have been He’s with these two nobodies.  And they beg Him to stay and He stays with them.  And we read in verse 30 and 31, “When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.  And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.  And he vanished from their sight.” 

 And so what is Jesus doing?  He’s doing what He’s doing His entire ministry.  He is having meals with sinners.  They’re doubting; they’re confused sinners.  In fact, one of them, the ironic statement is when one of them looks at Jesus, Cleopas looks at Jesus and he says, “What are you talking about?  Where have you been?”  It’s so ironic because if anything, if anyone knew what happened in Jerusalem it was Jesus.  And he says, “Don’t you know what happened?” And it’s almost identical language towards the end of the passage there.  It’s almost identical language to Jesus feeding the five thousand, that He took bread and He broke it and He hands it to them and immediately they recognize Him. It’s interesting, it’s powerful.  Their eyes were opened, God opens their eyes but the moment that their eyes were opened is when they were at the table with Jesus.

A Meal with the Savior: A Journey from Sadness and Discouragement, to Hope and Joy

And so what you see in this passage is Jesus coming and taking these men from sadness and discouragement to a place of hope and joy.  And it’s an amazing passage where Jesus teaches us about the Bible.

In Luke 24, that even here you have a small story within the larger story of Scripture, that what you see here is what Jesus is doing throughout the story of Scripture.  He’s taking people that are unbelieving and sad and discouraged and rebellious sinners and He’s taking them from brokenness and discouragement to joy and hope.

God is moving in this world and He’s moving people from brokenness to joy and you see that here.  What we see in this passage we see it’s the grander story of Scripture.  We see Luke gives us a picture of Jesus coming to these two men who are sad and broken, they had expectations that haven’t been met, the passage even says that they’re sad, they’ve devoted years to following Jesus, they thought that He would be a political king, they thought that this would be a political redemption, and now you hear over and over and over again that they’re confused and they’re sad.  They have all this information but they don’t yet know how to put it together.  But Jesus is drawing near to people who are brokenhearted.

In verse 33 what’s happening at the end of the passage.  It’s amazing.  They, at the very end, they go to tell their friends because they’re so excited.  It finally comes together.  This Jesus, He’s risen indeed!  But what is the source?  The source of their sadness, the source of their grief, Jesus says, that they’re failing to believe the Word of God.  And what do you see as the remedy? The remedy was the truth of the Word of God.  It was the testimony of Jesus worked deep down into their hearts and deep down into their bones.

And so I think just by way of application it’s important for us to remember because if  you’re lacking hope, if you’re lacking joy, if you’re discouraged, if your circumstances are lacking, if you’re in very hard circumstances, what Jesus wants us to do is to go back to the Word.  It’s to attend to the Word, to have confidence in the Word, to understand the Word and believe what the Word says about Christ and have joy that’s complete.

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