Last week, we looked at the parable of a struggling fig tree assumed to be useless that was rescued by the one who has not given up on that tree’s future. Cue the story of Jesus healing a woman on whom society had given up.
Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, and a woman was there who had been disabled by a crippling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely. When Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said, “Dear woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” Then he placed his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work should be done! So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.”
Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall, and lead it to water? Then shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?”
We are still talking about the hypocritical nature of the Pharisees, as we have been for several weeks. This is all variations on a theme.
Chapter 12: they could read the physical/earthly seasons but not the spiritual/heavenly seasons.
Chapter 13: they were worried about physical death but not about their own spiritual death.
Now, they would loose their donkeys on the Sabbath to get water but not loose a ‘daughter of Abraham’ from the power of Satan.[1] (Look for Abraham to get a shout out again shortly.) The spiritual leaders of the people have not been giving their people the spiritual food or moral leadership they need.
When he said this all his adversaries were humiliated, but the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.[2]
Being a follower of Jesus does not always mean trouble and persecution. It also includes the rejoicing of those around us as the goodness and provision of the Kingdom of God spills over into the world. Jesus, his disciples, and the early church experienced both of these realities. Generally speaking, the average person seems to have been attracted to this loving, generous, transformed new Kingdom community. It’s why the church grew at a near miraculous rate. Generally speaking,those in the halls of power hated them. The loving, generous provision of those with servant’s hearts committed to a spiritual Kingdom with God as their King undermined the power and coercion of the Empire. Something to watch for:
When people in the halls of power love us followers of Jesus, we should consider that perhaps we aren’t spiritually subversive enough when we offer a biblical, counter-cultural way of life.
When our neighbors hate us instead of rejoicing that we are near, we should consider that perhaps we aren’t being ‘the hands and feet of Jesus’ in a way that reveals the heart of Jesus.
It turns out that people like to know they are worth caring about. One thing that strikes me in Jesus’ ministry as how he led with care that matched the situation: practical, emotional, spiritual. Someone once gave me a sign to put up in my office that read, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Point taken. The Pharisees mockingly called Jesus a “friend of sinners” because He spent so much time with them - even having meals with them (which was a huge gesture of the honor and friendship). May we all earn the same label they gave Jesus.
Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”
Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
In both cases the beginning is small. The mustard seed was considered ‘the smallest seed you plant in the ground’ (Mark 4:31). The yeast is only a tiny part of the dough. Both of them grew: the seed developed into a tree in which birds could take refuge (the Gentiles? The citizens of the Kingdom?). The yeast will double the size of the dough. #justaguess
This is how the Kingdom works: small beginnings, a few disciples, one life changed at a time. But, as Zechariah 4:19 says, “Who dares despise the day of small things?” From this has grown the global Kingdom of God of which millions and millions have participated.
Don’t despise the small prayer. Don’t despise the small act of service. Don’t despise small times of devotions. Don’t despise the small act of kindness. Don’t despise small steps forward. Don't despise small victories in yourself or others.
You want to get ripped? One day at a time. Even small workouts. Get smart? The small moments of each day are filled with opportunity. Play an instrument? The small moments of practice matter. Strengthen friendships? Small acts of connection. Go deeper in Scripture? Any act of study is good. Have a stronger prayer life? Small prayers are fine. Fix your eyes on what Paul calls the “prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus,” and then take one right step at a time.
Then Jesus traveled throughout towns and villages, teaching and making his way toward Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?”
Okay, Jesus has just talked about the Kingdom of Heaven as small. This tracks with Jewish belief.[3] Jewish people expected a banquet for the righteous few in the next age of God’s kingdom (Isaiah 25:6). Meanwhile, guess who that righteous few were? With a few exceptions, it was all the Jewish people. Jesus is about to upend this notion. The Gentiles will participate in the blessings of the kingdom even as some of the Jews do not.
So he said to them, “Exert every effort to enter through the narrow door (straight gate), because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, then you will stand outside and start to knock on the door and beg him, ‘Lord, let us in!’ But he will answer you, ‘I don’t know where you come from.’
Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know where you come from! Go away from me, all you evildoers!’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves thrown out.
Then people will come from east and west, and from north and south,[4] and take their places at the banquet table in the kingdom of God. But indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
I think the first key to understanding this parable occurs here: “when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.” Jesus is talking specifically to the descendants of Abraham, the Jewish people, who assumed they would enter the kingdom. I suspect he is even more pointedly talking to the Pharisees, the ‘first’ part of group that was the ‘first’ (and perhaps the exclusive) recipients of the Kingdom.
Jesus shows them knocking at the door of the kingdom (they can see it: they are so close!) but they can’t access the Kingdom even though they (literally) ate and drank together with Jesus[5], and he literally talked in their streets.
It turns out that it will be those assumed to be unwanted or rejected who have really understood and responded to who Jesus is. #thewomanatthestartofthispassagewhopraisedGod
I think the second key is to ask when and where the Kingdom is. In just a couple chapters, Luke records Jesus making it very clear:
Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:21)
The Kingdom had already started. The feasting had already begun.[6] And…oof…the Pharisees are missing out.
* * * * *
There are three other passages in which Jesus uses some of the same language and imagery.
In Matthew 7, Jesus used a similar analogy about a narrow path/door; in the context, it’s the path of humility, repentance and grace filled with people who will “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (7:12)
In Matthew 8, after a Gentile Roman centurion’s profession of Jesus’ authority and power when Jesus healed his son, we see familiar language. Jesus remarks on the centurion’s faith and says,
Many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.[7] But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:10-12)
Matthew 19:27-20:16 uses familiar language and includes a whole parable. After the Rich Young Ruler refuses to follow Jesus because he loved his money, Jesus gave a teaching to his disciples on the dangers of wealth. He assures them there is a reward for following God (eternal life!), and then warns them that wanting to be ‘first’ – the best, the most favored, the elite – is going to mean they will be the last to appreciate the good gifts of life in the Kingdom. At both the beginning and the end he reminds them, ”The last will be first, and the first will be last.[8]
In Matthew 7, the narrow gate/road is something chosen now. Missing the Kingdom now means missing out on the riches of the kingdom: salvation, repentance (and forgiveness), grace, truth, real communion with God. Plus, a community of humble and generous people, who are committed to love, whose lives are defined by the Golden Rule. #lifemoreabundant
In Matthew 8, kingdom life is now (the faith of the centurion and the healing of his son) and later (“many will come”) - the “now and not yet” aspect of the Kingdom. In this situation, the frustration and anger felt by the religious leaders seems to be the fact that they can see people living in the Kingdom of God right in front of them, but they can’t seem to experience it themselves.
In Matthew 19, it’s about something later, a future kingdom reality.
So, the “not yet” part of the Kingdom of Heaven is - obviously - yet to come, but the feasting had already begun. It’s happening now. Remember what Jesus told his disciples last week: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”
After a short interlude in which Jesus is warned that Herod is looking for him, he gives what seems to be his closing thoughts on the previous several chapters of material.
(Luke 13:34-35; Matthew 23:37-39)
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!
Look, your house is forsaken and left to you desolate![9] [The Shekinah – the glory of the Lord - has vanished from you now.[10]] For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ “[11]
May I point out the hope in today’s passage? It’s not just for those of who are like the woman whose story opened this section. It’s for us Pharisees.
In the Matthew 19 parable, Jesus called them all ‘friends’ even as he warned the grumbling ‘firsts’ that they would be the last to enjoy the goodness of the Kingdom. Today’s parable didn’t say, “The first don’t stand a chance.” It implies they will enter, but they will be the last ones to enter, perhaps “as those saved through the fire.”[12] Pride, power and hypocrisy are a tough combination to give up and replace with humility, servanthood, and integrity.
But remember last week when we talked about the farming analogy of Israel being grafted back into the Kingdom even after it had been cut off? Romans 11 again:
“Branches… were removed because they did not believe… If those branches that have been cut from the tree do not stay in unbelief, then God will carefully graft them back onto the tree because He has the power to do that...”
Hope remains. The people may be forsaken and desolate, but Jesus - the blessed one who comes in thename of the Lord - will not leave them forsaken and desolate. Just because it’s their history doesn’t mean it’s their destiny. One day they will have the opportunity to say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Some commentators suggest he’s just pointing toward the moment when he enters Jerusalem to the Jewish people saying that line. Maybe, but I agree with the commentators who suggest this is primarily about the moment when people genuinely see who Jesus is, and recognize the goodness of salvation and life in the Kingdom offered on the other side of the cross and the empty tomb.[13]
God intends for His Kingdom to come, and His will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven. It begins now with our repentance, God’s forgiveness, and the resulting salvation as we are delivered from spiritual death and from chains of sins and given the freedom of life in Jesus with the family of God, the community of the church.
How does God intend that to look? Love. Care. Provision. Hope. Joy. Peace. Patience. Gentleness. Goodness. Kindness. Self-control. (You might be recognizing the fruit of the Spirit.) Being in a community of brothers and sisters united by Jesus who are committed to loving each other.
I invite you today to enter the Kingdom of God if you haven’t. Give your heart, soul, mind and strength to Jesus, and embrace the Kingdom of God in its life-changing beauty.
It is here, now.
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[1] The verb for “set free” concerning the woman is the same word used for untying the donkey (luō). (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)
[2] The next chapter in Luke has a very similar story. (Luke 14:1-6) “Now one Sabbath when Jesus went to dine at the house of a leader of the Pharisees, they were watching him closely. There right in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. So Jesus asked the experts in religious law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him away. Then he said to them, “Which of you, if you have a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” But they could not reply to this.”
[3] “The Most High made this world for the sake of many, but the world to come for the sake of only a few... . Many have been created, but only a few shall be saved.” (2 Esdras 8:1–3)
[4] “They shall come from the east, and from the west” points to Isaiah 49:12; Isaiah 14:6.
[5] See my earlier footnote on Luke 14:1-6.
[6] “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” Luke 12:32
[7] Remember: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”
[8] “That would be more similar to a saying found in the rabbinic literature: “Some obtain and enter the kingdom in an hour, while others reach it only after an lifetime” (b. ʻAbod. Zar. 17a).” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)
[9] The language of being forsaken and desolate seems to refer Jeremiah 12.
[10] The Cambridge Bible For Schools and Colleges likes that as the translation.
[11] A quote from Psalm 118.
[12] 1 Corinthians 315
[13] “It is a most frivolous interpretation of these words to make them merely refer to the Hosannas of Palm Sunday (Luke 19:38)…They clearly refer to the future and final penitence of Israel. Hosea 3:4-5; Psalm 118:26 (Cambridge Bible For Schools and Colleges)
Bengel’s Gnomen sees his triumphal arrival in Jerusalem as “not the full and exhaustive fulfillment…the time is yet future when the Jews, according to Psalm 118:22; Psalm 118:26, Zechariah 4:7; Zechariah 12:10, shall recognize Him...”
“The promise… can only refer to the far future, to the day of the penitence of Israel…when the people shall look on him whom they pierced, and shall mourn. But that mourning will be turned speedily into joy.” (Pulpit Commentary)