Reading: Luke 19-20, Psalm 119:65-96

The combined work of Luke the Evangelist make up over a quarter of the New Testament. As we have seen, he is a researcher, and so I imagine leaves less out than the other gospel writers. In one sense this is great, as it gives us information on things that we would have no other way of knowing. On the other hand, when you are trying to write a daily comment on it, the volume of material can be daunting and even annoying. I would really like to write on everything, but that is just not an option for this project. Maybe another time.

Today I want to look into two series of stories, one a contrast and the other an intensification. The first is the story of the rich young man from yesterday’s reading, as contrasted with another rich man we meet at the start of today’s. A tax collector named Zacchaeus. The second is two stories about a master entrusting his resources to his servants, both of which end poorly for at least some of the servants.

First lets review the story of the rich young man. Here is a guy who has it all together. He is wealthy at a young age, and yet it concerned enough with spiritual and eternal things that he goes to Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. We might note that the word “inherit” has greater meaning for one who has inherited his wealth- he understands that the way to gain eternal life is not to attain to it, but to gain it through a gift. Really, the rich young man seems to have gotten a lot of the message of Jesus. Which makes the outcome of his conversation with Jesus more difficult. Jesus challenges his identity as a rich man. Sell all you have and give to the poor, that you might have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me. When the man leaves, unwilling to do what Jesus has instructed, Jesus publicly mourns the event. How hard it is for those with wealth to enter the Kingdom of God! The disciples are nonplussed. It being rich is a disadvantage, what does an advantage look like? Jesus reassures them that leaving material wealth and status will result in great gain, both in this age and in the age to come. Of course, he does not exactly define what that gain looks like. We will see how that all plays out in the book of Acts.

Just a couple of paragraphs later Jesus runs into another rich man, but one with significantly less to recommend him. Zacchaeus is a tax collector, as so despised by his people. He is also very short. He literally cannot see past those around him. He offers nothing but his interest in seeing Jesus, for which he is willing to climb a tree. Jesus looks at him, proclaims I must stay at your house today, and something remarkable happens. Zacchaeus welcomes Jesus into his house, and then gives half his money to the poor, and repays any fraud he has committed four times over. Jesus says, Salvation has come to this house today- this is also a Son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. The stories of these two rich men again illustrate the great message we have seen in Luke. Those who have it together, who believe they are righteous, who have no need of radical change in their lives through a savior, cannot see the Kingdom of God right in front of them. Those who are desperate in their sin know full well what they need saving from.

Which brings us to the next series of stories. In the first, we have a ruler traveling to a far away land to be made King. In his absence he will entrust 10 of his servants with significant wealth. Not absurd wealth, but significant. Enough money to do some important things. He then gives them the charge engage in business until I come. They are to make the most of what they have been given. When he goes to the far away land, they do not want him to be king. He receives the Kingdom anyway. When he returns he gets report from three of the servants. One made a ten fold profit. One made a five fold profit. Both of these servants get additional responsibility. It is an open question at to how much of a reward this is. Success is followed by greater responsibility and greater work. But that is not the point. The final servant shows up and makes a complaint about the character of the King. I was afraid of you, because you are a sever man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow. He returns what he has been given untouched. Now, when I heard this story as a child, my understanding was that this servant was uninspired. Boring. Unintelligent. He simply didn’t have the drive to go make money like the other two servants. But that is not the story Jesus tells. This guy is quite aware of the situation. His master, now a King, suffers indictment from his words. He insults him to his face, claiming that he takes what is not rightfully his. So the King takes the responsibility of this servant and give it to the one who made the most of what he had. Then there is one little detail that often gets left out of the story in Sunday School. But as for these enemies of mine, bring them out and have them slaughtered before me. I don’t think this is a throwaway line. The third servant had a problem with the ruler’s authority. He complained that he took what was not rightfully his. The enemies who did not want the ruler to be King over them also had a problem with his authority. These rebellious people were eliminated. This might seem harsh, but it is the reality of any final authority- those who will not be ruled, cannot be in the Kingdom.

Immediately after this we have Jesus riding into Jerusalem like a king. I don’t think this is an accident either. He has charged his disciples to proclaim the message of the Kingdom of God, and now he is riding into Jerusalem to be proclaimed King. They will reject him. He will receive the Kingdom anyway. While he is away, his servants are to be doing business with what they have been given. And the King has not yet returned. The parable isn’t over yet.

Finally today we have the second parable of a master entrusting his servants with his resources. This story, about tenants given a vineyard, unfolds in a different way but has similar results. Here the tenants simply ignore the fact that the vineyard does not belong to them, and they brutalize and murder the messengers and finally the son of the owner. These are not simply unfaithful servants, but openly rebellious ones, who wholly reject the authority of the owner to the production of what belongs to him. In the end, they are killed and the vineyard given to better servants. This is the same story as the parable of the servants charged to engage in business told from the other side. The far away owner comes for what is his and destroys the rebellious servants. In both cases, the issue at hand is the authority of the master- do the servants act like servants? Do they take the proper place in the Kingdom and receive all the benefits of being in it. Or do they take their own ideas of good and bad and decide to rule themselves, in the process insulting the master who rightfully rules over them? It is the same old story, but with a new immediacy. The ruler is coming. He will be made King. He will take back the vineyard. Jesus isn’t telling these stories idly. He is issuing a warning. The old story will end, and when it does, there will be accountability for those who accept the authority of the King and those who do not.