Another Bible Commentary: Luke

Luke was a physician who was born a Gentile. He was an associate of Paul. This gospel and Acts are one history book sometimes referred to as “Luke/Acts”. He could have named it for one of the major themes: “What the Holy Spirit Did”. There is a special focus on outsiders like tax collectors, soldiers, and notorious sinners (Luke 3:12-14, Luke 5:27-30, Luke 7:2-10, Luke 15:1, Luke 18:9-14, etc.). The gospels were originally regional: this one was popular in Greece, so Jesus is presented as less emotional than in Mark, He doesn’t call any Syrophoenician women “dogs”, etc. There have been some radically materialistic interpretations of Luke. Luke’s concern for historical accuracy means that concepts like “poor in spirit” (Matthew is more thought-for-thought) aren’t explained when words like “poor” are quoted, but there are rich people presented as good in Luke/Acts. Doctors were in the slave class back then, and the “poor” were the powerless. Mutually beneficial free exchange among people associating voluntarily as a path to wealth didn’t gain a lot of traction until many centuries later, so in Bible times, getting rich usually involved someone else getting poor or dying. Earning honestly, inheriting, being blessed, etc., was fine (Sirach 13:24). For the condemned “rich”, think of the Job 22:6-9 oppressors and the obscenely wealthy Temple Establishment who prohibited access to God to people they considered scum instead of lost sheep (Luke 11:52); Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4, 1 John 5:19) and his fallen angels (Ephesians 6:12) who presently act as if they run the world also come to mind.

Luke admits to using other gospels. The amount of Mark material makes that a logical source. Traveling with Paul would have given Luke the opportunity to interview Mary and other eyewitnesses, as we’ll discuss in Acts. “Theophilus” means “lover of God” so this book could be written to any Christian; Theophilus could also have been Luke’s literary patron, so “Hey, specific rich guy! Welcome to the movement!” is another valid option.

1:1-2 Luke admitted a lack of firsthand knowledge.

1:3 “everything” People that say Matthew was written first, though they likely don’t mean to, imply that Luke found some of what Matthew reported to be too outlandish to repeat; “orderly” Nice dig at Mark, Luke. I’m kidding; he may have been speaking of his other sources. Another hypothesis is that Luke prepared an “ordered” account: a gospel designed to be read in portions along with the parashah (Hebrew lectionary or calendar of which Old Testament passages would be read each week in the synagogues where the early church still met). Whatever guiding principle was at work, Luke essentially produced an expanded edition of Mark with two big blocks of teachings/parables inserted. (Some people think there’s a Sayings of Jesus document called “Q” from “source” in German that consists of the things Matthew and Luke agree that Jesus said; it appears that the later Gnostic-forged Gospel of Thomas copied its alleged “Q” material from Luke.) Also, you can see the “most excellent” title applied to a specific rich guy in Acts 23:26 by the same author, if Theophilus being a specific human is of interest to you.

1:5 Note the similarities to Samuel’s life in this story. John the Baptist was a prophet from priestly heritage. See also Jeremiah 1:4-8.

1:6 Don’t confuse “blameless” with Christlike sinlessness; they tried their best, they stayed caught up on their sacrifices, and they didn’t have outstanding issues with other people.

1:7 like Genesis 18:13-14.

1:15 Only volunteer Numbers 6 (usually temporary) Nazirites were obligated to take all of the vows. Lifelong Nazirites from birth given a mission by God like Samson (“no razor”), and John the Baptist (“no alcohol”) had specific instructions. Receiving the Holy Spirit permanently was on the other side of the Cross, so it was per the Old Testament rules of being filled for a time and for a task, in this case being a Jesus detector in verse 41 and later in John 1:29-34. We have the Holy Spirit forever (John 14:16-17).

1:17 “Elijah” See Isaiah 40:3-5 and Malachi 4:5-6; “parents…children” Luke 12:53 looks different than this because birth families provided peer pressure to stay with the Temple system and the synagogues instead of leaving all of that for Jesus; honoring parents and loving each other was always part of God’s plan.

1:18 like Abe in Genesis 17:17.

1:19 as in Daniel 8 and Daniel 9.

1:20 like Ezekiel’s muteness (Ezekiel 3:26).

1:22 They expected to hear the Numbers 6:24-26 blessing, which was next to the Nazirite material you just looked up.

1:25 like Genesis 30:23.

1:26 This is about the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, but fittingly in the sixth Hebrew month Elul (~September now) the Sun appears to be in the womb of the constellation Virgo. See Revelation 12.

1:27 Let’s address some cultural background information that may make some people queasy. Mary was between twelve and fifteen years old. Women married shortly after puberty (Song of Songs/Solomon 8:8-10, Ezekiel 16:7-8). If God wanted them to marry later, He could have scheduled the age of childbearing whenever He wanted to. Men married later than that (age 30 wasn’t abnormal) because of the time needed to accumulate a bride price, especially if they had a widowed mother to care for, etc. Eighteen being the age of maturity in the United States is a semi-recent (post-US Civil War) invention that was intended to curb prostitution. Obey your government (Romans 13); I’m just saying that the characters in the Bible lived in a very different world, Joseph’s case is not unusual, and that what is legal and what is natural are different questions.

1:28 “highly favored” Before this gets out of hand, Jesus said that those who hear and obey the Word (John 1) are even more blessed (Luke 11:27-28), which would be believers (John 6:28-29). Ephesians 1:6 says we’re in Jesus and He is Beloved by the Father. Mary seems to have been a normal, non-sinless human while down here (Luke 1:46-47); it seems as likely that she was just picked for this job as having earned it, but she responded to the call admirably. Eve disobeyed, but Mary came through for us.

1:33 like 1 Chronicles 17:14.

1:34 This is a similarly Abe-like fertility question to Zechariah’s earlier in this chapter.

1:35 Every Person in the Trinity is in this verse. (Throughout my writing, comments like that are usually aimed at a specific heresy; if they seem obvious to you, then congratulations for not being affected.)

1:37 like Isaiah 40:8 and Genesis 18:14.

1:38 See Psalm 116:16, then notice the repeated hints at resurrection in the rest of Psalm 116.

1:41 “leaped” like David near the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:14). Even if Elizabeth may have told John about his cousin the Messiah, John did not recognize Him as such until Jesus came to begin His High Priest/Perfect Sacrifice mission (John 1:31-33).

The Most Holy Place (Hebrews 9:4) contained the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s staff that budded (live almonds from dead wood), and manna. Mary the Mother of God (verse 43), the Theotokos or “God-Bearer”, while she was pregnant with Jesus contained the Word of God (John 1), the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), and the Bread of Life (John 6:35). She is sometimes called the first Christian since she had Jesus living inside her before we did. Of course, we have Him living in us now; we are the new Temple (1 Corinthians 3:16). See Mark 3:33-35 and Luke 8:21. I’m not putting Mary down, but there are people who claim to be Christians that basically worship her, and we who believe in Christ are just as saved as she is.

1:42 “loud voice” like 2 Samuel 6:15.

1:43 “why” like 2 Samuel 6:9.

1:45 “Blessed” like 2 Samuel 6:11. Notice Mary is blessed for being “she who has believed”. And then, Mary burst into song like in Exodus 15. Note the similarities to Hannah’s prayer (1 Samuel 2) and the Beatitudes (Matthew 5).

1:46-47 “my Savior” Mary needed a Savior, too, just like us.

1:48-49 “humble” Lowly; recognizing our need for a Savior; “blessed” He did great things for her, and He does great things for us. She is blessed, and we are blessed.

1:50 “fear” Remember, Jesus taught us in Matthew 4:10 that fear of God is more like worshipful awe.

1:51-52 The religious leaders (Luke 11:52, Luke 20:19) were like Zechariah 10:3 bad shepherds. Regarding “brought down…lifted”, see Luke 22:25-26, Ezekiel 21:25-26, Isaiah 26:5-6 (which includes “the poor”), and Sirach 10:14. This does/will include the devil’s fallen angel Watchers/spirit princes/angels of the nations (Ephesians 6:12, Genesis 6:2 note and Genesis 11:8 note).

1:53 The “hungry” in context are the poor in spirit. Leviticus 23:22 and Ephesians 2:12 lumps Gentiles in with the poor. See also Deuteronomy 10:18-20. The rich Temple Establishment ended up with nothing (Ezekiel 7:19).

1:54 However, in Luke, sometimes Gentiles get the miracles instead.

1:55 Including promises of a New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

1:56 “three months” like 2 Samuel 6:11.

1:66 John the Baptist was about six months older than Jesus. The younger was greater than the older again, like we’ve seen since Genesis. The New Covenant is superior to the Old.

1:73 Specifically, Genesis 12:1-3. We Gentiles are among the “all peoples” blessed by Jesus.

1:78 like Numbers 24:17

1:79 “shadow of death” like Psalm 23; “peace” See Romans 5:1.

1:80 like Isaiah 40:3.

Since Luke appealed to an audience familiar with Greek philosophy, let’s consider that there are similarities between an itinerant rabbi in a desert hospitality culture and one of the Cynics. They were philosophers that thought anything a human does that a dog doesn’t do (i.e. most civilized and cultured behavior) is pretentious and of only imaginary worth. They were voluntarily poor, they begged, they shunned family ties, they lived free of worldly cares, they were into public nudity like some of the Old Testament prophets, and they criticized the rich. There were plenty of Cynic philosophers to listen to within a day’s walk of Nazareth. There have been attempts to present Jesus’ teachings as a Cynic’s commentary on Sirach. You know better after our odyssey through the Law of Moses that what Jesus said was all there all along.

2:1 Caesar Augustus was called “Savior” and “Lord” by the Romans.

2:2 “This census took place before” Quirinius was governor in 6 AD; Herod died in 4 BC.

2:4 Rachel died giving birth on the way to Bethlehem (Genesis 35:19).

2:7 Merry Christmas, whether it coincided with a popular pagan gift-giving festival or not. God came to us in a human body; under the New Covenant, God lives within us. The facts that Jesus’ divinity and our humanity are compatible and that He came here to save us are certainly worth celebrating. Making formerly unholy things (like us) holy is what Christianity is all about. The “manger” is an Isaiah 1:3 reference. The feed trough for grain held the Bread of Life (John 6:35).

I’m writing this on Christmas Day. Arriving at this point in the commentary now feels nice, like I’m right where I’m meant to be doing what I’m meant to be doing. Life’s not always like that. Life’s frequently not like that. It wasn’t Christmas when I was covering the similar parts of Matthew, after all. This is a great opportunity to snap out of it and remember Ecclesiastes 9:11-12. Why? Because attaching too much significance to good coincidences leads to overthinking the mishaps of life. Remember what we learned from Job. The fallen world, demonic opposition, misguided people, etc., come at you, but God works in you and it all ends well (Psalm 34:19).

2:8 The Good Shepherd is the Lamb because God became Man. The shepherds in the field were looked down upon by the Pharisees for failing to do all their imaginary hand washing rituals, etc.

2:9-11 As famous theologian Gladys Herdman remarked in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, “HEY! UNTO YOU A CHILD IS BORN!” The great joy for all the people is also rightfully yours, personally. If you were the only person on Earth, Jesus would have had to save you, and He would still save you. Shazam!

2:14 Peace on Earth to those on whom His favor rests. Mercifully, that’s everyone right now (2 Peter 3:9), but that will only be believers when time runs out (John 3:36). For “peace off Earth”, see Revelation 6:3-4. God’s character has been consistent throughout the Bible; the wonderful kindness believers in Christ enjoy now and forever can be comprehended as “Same God; New Covenant”.

2:21 “eighth day” as in Leviticus 12:3. Jesus is Greek for Joshua, which means “the LORD is salvation”. Baby Jesus fulfilled circumcision for us, so read Galatians before you think of cutting anything off of anyone.

2:22 Some people try to make Luke and Matthew disagree. There was a 33 day wait (Leviticus 12:4) for verse 22 after verse 21. Celebrating Epiphany on the twelfth day of Christmas is just traditional; the wise men came about two years later. There is no conflict. Happy Candlemas whenever February 2 comes around again.

2:24 in Leviticus 12:8. Jesus was not born into a rich human family.

2:31-32 See Isaiah 42:6, Isaiah 49:6, and Isaiah 60:1-3.

2:35 “sword” Seeing your own Son tortured to death, even if you were totally convinced He would get better, is rough. The “soul” is the Greek psyche from which we derive psychology; it is our thoughts, feelings, mind, will, emotions, personality, etc.

2:36 “Asher” Even though Assyria destroyed Israel in 722 BC, there are individual members of “lost” tribes (whose ancestors moved to Judah earlier around 2 Chronicles 11:13-17) that still pop up.

2:40 See Philippians 2:6-7. During His “first coming”, Jesus accepted human limitations and subjected Himself to human development. Jesus learned things (Hebrews 5:8) while growing up among us. He was neither less holy nor less perfect at any point in the process. An acorn becomes a sapling which becomes a tree, but it is an oak through it all.

2:43-44 Mary and Joseph were not bad parents. These pilgrimages were large family affairs; they assumed good little Jesus was traveling with the rest of the children.

2:46 Jesus being out of contact for three days in Jerusalem foreshadowed His time in the tomb.

2:48 like Mark 1:37. Joseph is referred to as Jesus’ father. Joseph’s adoption of Jesus is as binding as our adoption by God the Father.

2:49 Jews say “our Father” but the Messiah says “my Father” (Psalm 2:7, John 5:17-18). See John 4:34; He was enthusiastic enough for His mission that one might say that He lived for this stuff.

2:52 like 1 Samuel 2:26.

Luke 3 – See Leviticus 14:8, Isaiah 1:16, Zechariah 13:1, and Ezekiel 36:25. See also the Leviticus 15 notes. The prophets performed many symbolic actions. John the Baptist offered a baptism/immersion of repentance analogous to the Essenes’ which was a public declaration of a commitment to follow God’s rules. Jesus hadn’t died on the Cross yet (Hebrews 9:15-22), so we’re still talking about the Old Covenant. Jesus also preached Law to those under the Law; see Galatians 4:4-7. New priests got washed (Exodus 29:4, Leviticus 8:6), and so an attempt to reboot Israel as a priestly nation (Exodus 19:6) involved a symbol of new birth (moist as a womb evictee). Jesus required no repentance, but “fulfilled all righteousness” by undergoing John’s baptism to be consecrated as our High Priest and washed as our sacrifice. Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11). The Holy Spirit is received by believing what you heard about Jesus’ death and resurrection (John 17:20-23; Romans 10:9; Galatians 3:2,5). Believers are placed into Christ by virtue of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20-23. The spiritual “dunk” is the one that matters, regardless of what method, outfit, location, age (the old Christening/Confirmation two-step), etc. a person was moistened (1 Corinthians 12:13 like Colossians 2:11). Gentiles in Acts 10:44-48 received the Holy Spirit and therefore salvation (Ephesians 4:30) while still dry. “Do you have Jesus Christ living in you?” is the test (2 Corinthians 13:5, Romans 8:16).

3:1 “In the fifteenth year of the reign” here is a nice way of saying, “three years after Emperor Tiberius chose to move to his sex island and wait things out.” His henchman Sejanus exercised power in his stead. Palace plots, treachery, killings, executions, and more killings resulted. Two years after this verse, after Sejanus was killed for alleged treachery, Tiberius ordered Sejanus’ children to be executed as well to prevent a future coup. Junilla, Sejanus’ daughter, age 11, was raped first as Roman law was fuzzy about hanging virgins. I mention these things to emphasize that God’s ax to grind is not just a semantic problem with the emperors calling themselves gods; the bad shepherds have it coming. “Worldliness” is partnering with that sort of world; by the days of the Epistles, “the world” was shorthand for “pagan, Christian-killing Rome”. A gospel or evangelion is the good news of a new King and a new Kingdom.

3:2 High Priest Caiaphas was the son-in-law of “retired” High Priest Annas. It was a lifetime position, but Rome preferred appointing someone to the position. Therefore, many still recognized the authority of the “former” leader. The family of Caiaphas and Annas was very wealthy and powerful.

3:4-6 See Isaiah 40:3-5. The nation was defiled (Leviticus 18:25, Haggai 2:14), so a man that reminded people of Elijah lived away from it (Exodus 33:7, 1 Kings 17) in the wilderness (Isaiah 32:16, Isaiah 40:3, Hosea 2:14) similar to the Essene approach. John the Baptist prepared the way (Isaiah 35, particularly verse 8); the earliest Christians were known as “the Way”.

3:7 “to the crowds” Matthew clarified that this rant was to the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 3:7).

3:8 See Romans 4:11.

3:9 He shares His fruit with us. He is the Vine, and we are but branches (John 15). He saves us – see 1 Thessalonians 1:10.

3:10 Luke and Acts are one history book, and Acts mirrors Luke. This verse corresponds with Acts 2:37.

3:11 Sharing is not donating everything.

3:12-13 Tax collectors paid Rome up front for the right to collect taxes for a region under Roman occupation and kept the difference. The “required” amount implicitly includes a living wage per Deuteronomy 25:4; they were being instructed not to extort the populace unduly. See Romans 13:6. Even John the Baptist, a real stickler for the rules, basically said here that working honestly for a viceroy of Satan was okay.

3:14 There are people that think that John the Baptist and Jesus were offering the teachings of the Essenes to everyone, but that breaks down here. This is God’s “way” in the desert that is distinct from the Essenes; not only would the Essenes have loathed collaborating with the Romans, but they were pacifists. John didn’t say to stop killing people or to quit the devil’s Roman army.

3:16 “but” Notice that water baptism is distinct from Spirit baptism. It’s not a two-step process. As we covered in the introductory notes for this chapter, it will be clear by the end of Acts and in the Epistles that the spiritual “dunk” is the one that matters – the water ceremony is a symbol and celebration of a real inner change. For the “fire”, see Isaiah 4:4 and Acts 2.

3:17 “winnowing fork” See Jeremiah 15:7; “threshing floor” The Temple sat on the site of a former threshing floor (1 Chronicles 21:28 through 1 Chronicles 22:1), so this was a threat of Temple destruction; “unquenchable fire” See Isaiah 66:24.

3:19-20 See Leviticus 18:16 and Leviticus 20:21. This is not chronological; John the Baptist couldn’t have baptized Jesus in the next few verses if he were already locked up.

The name John is the same as Jonah, which means “Dove”. A dove flying over water told Noah that the wrath was over; the Spirit says the same thing in this incident.

It is said that Jesus’ baptism affirmed John’s ministry, provided an occasion for God to show off, demonstrated Jesus identifying with us by entering the same water, depicted dying and rising, sanctified water to instate the sacrament of baptism, tied together several Old Testament types like the Flood and the Red Sea, and opened Heaven so sinners could see. It was like a Leviticus 16:4 Day of Atonement High Priest wash. Priests started their ministry at age 30. Jesus’ baptism was at the site of the passing of the torch/encounter with Heaven from 2 Kings 2:8-15. It’s also like when the Nazirite Samuel anointed David. Why didn’t John the Baptist just join Jesus like the twelve disciples? See John 1:36. He stayed at his post preaching Christ like any pastor.

3:21-22 like Isaiah 11:2. We’ve got the Spirit over water again with God talking; this is another Genesis 1 reference to a new beginning. See Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1. The Father loves the Son and loves you enough to give up the Son for you. Now, we are united with Them (John 17:23); feel free to insert yourself into Luke 3:22 because you are His child whom He loves. He is pleased with you..

3:23 “thirty years old” See 2 Samuel 5:4 and Numbers 4. “Joseph” See Matthew 1:16; some people try to claim that one of these genealogies is Mary’s instead (granted, her list is likely similar per Numbers 36:3), but that’s not what the text says.

Back in Matthew 1:8-9 we saw that genealogies can vary depending on whom the writer deems plot-relevant. The number of generations since David differs here. Even more interestingly, Nathan is the ancestor in verse 31 instead of Solomon. Levirate marriage has been offered as an explanation for the differences in names between the two genealogies. See 1 Timothy 1:4 and don’t linger here too long.

3:38 This verse at the top of the family tree emphasizes that Jesus is related to us all. See 1 Corinthians 15:45.

4:1-2 Remember how God “saw that it was good” back at the beginning? It’s time for a test to demonstrate that the new One-Man Israel’s up to code. The Exodus generation failed in the desert, but Jesus passed the test that Israel failed by complaining in Exodus 16:3.

4:3-4 Since we live on the Word of God (Deuteronomy 8:3, Jeremiah 15:16, John 1) Jesus is your bread (John 6:35), not the stone tablets of the Law (2 Corinthians 3:7, Galatians 5:4). Jesus quotes the wilderness book Deuteronomy in the wilderness scene. The devil wanted Jesus to focus on His own comfort (or call for help or be King a different way as we’ll see in the next verses – See 1 John 2:16-17) to get Him to skip His calling (1 Corinthians 2:8).

4:5-6 See Romans 13:1, 2 Corinthians 4:4, and 1 John 5:19..

4:7 See Psalm 2:8 and Matthew 28:18. The devil didn’t offer Him anything that wasn’t already His.

4:8 Jesus made it clear that the Old Testament “fear” is New Testament “worship” (Deuteronomy 6:13). It's being in awe of His greatness and other-ness. His perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18), so in Christ you can approach Father boldly. He's happy to see you (Ephesians 3:12). In the wilderness, Jesus passed the test that Israel had failed in Exodus 32 and Numbers 25.

4:10-11 This is a bit of comedy. Psalm 91 is traditionally used by Jews for protection from demons, and the devil quoted it.

4:12 Trusting God is different from testing God. Deuteronomy 6:16 was about the incident in Exodus 17:2-7 in which Christ was the Rock (1 Corinthians 10:4) that was struck like in verse Matthew 4:6. Again, Jesus passed a test Israel had failed.

4:17 He read Isaiah 61:1-2 and stopped before the vengeance since it’s not time for that yet.

4:18 “anointed” Isaiah 61:1 is one of the Messiah or Anointed One origin verses. See Psalm 45:1-8. The “poor” are the humble, powerless people that lack the things of God. The “prisoners” include people possessed by demons and the woman trapped in a bent-over body in Luke 13. The “blind” can refer to physically or spiritually. He “set the oppressed free” from sin (John 8:34-36), death (Romans 8:2), and the Law (Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 4:3-7).

4:19 “the year of the Lord’s favor” This is like a Jubilee year. All debts to God can be forgiven, and all slaves to sin can be freed. Jesus is King. Ancient kings/pharaohs called themselves gods and sons of gods. Kings canceled debts at the start of their reigns to unseat nobles that could oppose them and to curry favor with the populace. See Jeremiah 34:8. Having the Kingdom at hand meant forgiveness was available.

4:23 “Capernaum” in Matthew 4:13, since Luke hasn’t mentioned Him there yet. The Pharisees and Zealots moved north to Galilee to distance themselves from Hellenistic corruption, so Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum were three of the most “holy roller” towns.

4:25-26 In 1 Kings 17, the Gentile got the miracle.

4:27 In 2 Kings 5, the Gentile got the miracle.

4:28 “furious” They were fine back in verse 22. They wanted to kill Him for claiming to be a Messiah that was not here to destroy Rome immediately.

4:30 “through the crowd” invites several impressive ways to imagine this. It’s okay to avoid martyrdom when it isn’t time for it.

4:34-35 See Acts 16:18.

4:38 John fills in the blanks. Simon Peter knew Jesus already because he had been introduced by his brother Andrew.

4:40 after the Sabbath ended (verse 31).

4:41 He already publicly proclaimed Himself the Messiah, so this is some more Luke 4:35 and Acts 16:18 silencing annoying demons.

4:43 Meaning, to proclaim Luke 4:18-21 to everyone. If He were only here to preach, He could have ascended before dying (Galatians 2:21). The Good News, the impossibility of Law-based righteousness, and the need for new life are all connected.

5:3 These inconvenienced fishermen who had worked all night and been conscripted for a boat sermon were to be repaid with more than a week’s catch.

5:4 He drew the magi with a star, the taxmen with Levi, the fishermen with fish, and certain nerds (like this author) with books and radio programs. He meets you where you are.

5:5 That “sea” is a big freshwater lake. The fish can better see/avoid nets in daylight, and the men don’t see any fish at the moment.

5:8 like Isaiah 6:5. Regarding Pete’s curious command to “go away”, holiness can be dangerous (1 Kings 17:18).

5:12-13 Jesus’ miracles are greater than those of Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 5).

5:14 for his own safety (John 12:9-11). See Leviticus 14 if you want.

5:18-19 This is my favorite healing. The friends’ audacity is not reprimanded. There is neither repentance nor plea from the ill man; it’s just free. The tiles are a detail for the Greek audience.

5:20 He saw the friends’ faith in bringing the sick man to Him; faith is credited as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), and the prayer of the righteous was heard (Psalm 34:15, James 5:16). Jews understood disease to be a result of sin, so healing involved forgiveness (2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 41:4, Psalm 103:3, Jeremiah 17:14, Matthew 9:6). I don’t think these men were theologians who reasoned out who the Messiah was from carefully studying religious texts; faith in His ability to save is enough faith.

5:24 See Daniel 7:13-14.

5:27-28 Levi/Matthew will sit on one of the twelve thrones because of his special mission. Leaving everything just meant quitting his day job temporarily to study and spread the Good News. He still had a house and could afford to throw dinner parties (Matthew 9:10). Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and John the Baptist all stayed put where they were. Chasing someone down the street in an attempt to give them the pants you are wearing is a modern misinterpretation by outsiders trying to make Christianity seem more difficult to those considering it and by political groups attempting to align parts of Jesus’ teachings with their own agenda to make it more palatable.

5:30 These are lost sheep, not scum. Pharisees saw sinners as the reason God hadn’t kicked the Romans out yet.

5:31-32 There are none righteous (Psalm 14:3, Ecclesiastes 7:20) so He calls everyone (John 12:32). “Quit your sinning and He’ll start being nice” was not new, and the old news was not the good news by default. They already had Ezekiel 18, Zechariah 1:4, Joel 2:12-14, Isaiah 55:7, Isaiah 1:10-20, etc. Therefore, “repent” can also mean to change their minds (like in Hebrews 7:21) or turn toward belief in Jesus Christ as Messiah; to believe Luke 4:18-21. See Galatians 2:21.

5:33 John’s disciples mourned because he was in jail. The Pharisees fasted twice a week for bonus points (see our discussion of Zechariah 7).

5:34-35 “bridegroom” as in Hosea 2:19. The only required fast under the Old Covenant was the Day of Atonement. Even during other fasts, the Jews ate during Sabbaths and festivals as described here. I’m sure the disciples probably lost their appetite while Jesus was in the tomb, but He is with us all the time now (Matthew 28:20, Hebrews 13:5). Fasting may help some believers focus on praying sometimes, and I’m not throwing stones at it (Colossians 2:16), but you are free to celebrate Him always.

5:36-39 Don’t mix the Old Covenant with the New Covenant (which is actually older and better – Galatians 3:17).

6:1-2 According to the Pharisee rules, the disciples had committed four crimes: reaping on the Sabbath, threshing on the Sabbath, winnowing on the Sabbath, and preparing food on the Sabbath. Deuteronomy 23:25 says taking the grain was fine, at least. Jesus’ yoke was demonstrably lighter even for His students under the Law.

6:3-4 See Leviticus 24:9, 1 Samuel 21:1-6, and 1 Kings 15:5. Uzziah got leprosy for trying to blend the duties of king and priest, and David was a prototypical prophet/priest/king, but David’s men were none of the above. Jesus set a fine precedent for cherry-picking a Law that we’re not even under. How is this Jesus, the consistent eye-healer, the proponent of the eye-gouging levels of Torah observance in the Sermon on the Mount, you ask? His intent in the Sermon must have been to teach the truth of Romans 3:19-20 and Mark 10:18 just like Paul would have (1 Corinthians 11:1).

6:5 Doing His work was never prohibited. Marching around Jericho for seven days was fine at His command (Joshua 6). Believers are “royal priests” (1 Peter 2:9) and the Temple (1 Corinthians 3:16) now, and Jesus is our Sabbath (Hebrews 4), not that I’m telling you what to do with your time (Colossians 2:16).

6:6 See 1 Kings 13:4-6.

6:7-11. See Proverbs 3:27. Waiting would have diminished this man’s life.

6:12 The Prophet Like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15) acted like Exodus 33:7-11. Jesus is greater than Moses, so these were back-and-forth face-to-face chats with God the Father.

6:14-16 Simon is a version of the name Simeon. Peter means “Rock”. James is a version of the name Jacob and was a very common name. John is a version of the name Jonah. Andrew and Philip are Hellenized names. Bartholomew or “Son of Talmai (derived from Ptolemy)” likely refers to Nathaniel as seen in other lists of the apostles. Matthew “gift of YHWH” is called Levi in other lists. Thaddeus in other lists is Judas son of James here. Saying that Simon the Zealot was one of the apostles would read in today’s news as, “Jesus was a known associate of Simon the Terrorist.” Judas Iscariot, like many boys, was likely named in honor of Judas Maccabeus (the Romanized name of Judah Maccabee, the national hero we covered after the Old Testament books). Throw in Mary Magdalene and we see twelve “sons” and a “daughter”, like Jacob and Ishmael both had. Given the friction between the factions with which they identified, the disciples all getting along with no recorded stabbings among them is miraculous.

6:17 The Sermon on the Plain has a lot in common with the Sermon on the Mount; Jesus didn’t have a television show, so He used the same talking points from town to town. He said things like treat everyone fairly, pray for everyone, don’t take revenge, be kind to the unkind, etc. Before we dive into the Law of Moses again, let me point out that Luke and Acts are two parts of one history book and Acts 13:39 says that faith in Christ alone is what saves people, especially Gentiles. This Best Torah Interpreter Ever content is further proof that He is the Messiah (Isaiah 51:4); Christians are dead to the Law (Romans 7:4, Romans 10:4, Titus 3:9).

6:20 See Matthew 5:3, Isaiah 26:5-6, and Luke 5:30-31. We’ve seen the “poor in spirit” concept frequently along with God’s care for the materially deficient (Psalm 34:18, Psalm 51:17, Psalm 69:33-36, Psalm 86:1-5, Isaiah 11:4, Isaiah 50:10-11, Isaiah 57:15 which includes the New Covenant new heart and new spirit, Isaiah 61:1-3, Isaiah 66:2, etc.) Matthew took Luke’s “blessed are the poor'' (Luke 6:20) and explained the idea in the context the original hearers would have taken that to mean (and if Luke “improved” Matthew by removing the subtlety by making it only about being financially poor, that would be weird). Think of everyone God financially blessed in the Old Testament like Abraham, Joseph, David, Solomon, etc. If the poor get blessed and the rich get cursed, then serving God would be a trap. Look at what Jesus did in Philippians 2:1-11 to see how this verse actually got fulfilled. He rules, and we’re in Him.

6:21 “hunger” See Matthew 5:6, Psalm 107:9, Isaiah 25:6, and Isaiah 55:1-2. The Law makes us realize we lack righteousness. Only His righteousness will do, and it’s a free gift (2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 5:17, Romans 6:23). The word “now” comes back around a little later. Regarding “weep”: The Law causes despair or hypocrisy. Do the 613 requirements have you down? He’s got you (Psalm 147:3). You can say goodbye to that initial sadness at salvation. We are free to be happy when He’s around (Matthew 9:15), and He’s always with you (Matthew 28:20). The Holy Spirit inside you radiates joy (Galatians 5:22). That’s not a requirement to be “fake happy” all the time, either. See Isaiah 61:2-3 and Isaiah 65:18-19.

6:22-23 See Matthew 5:11, Isaiah 66:5, and Isaiah 51:7-8.

6:24-26 See Leviticus 19:15; if richness alone were contemptible, that verse would read differently. Therefore, who was wrongly rich, well fed, laughing, and well spoken of at the time Jesus spoke of “now” (verse 21)? The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Temple Establishment, etc., that acted like the bad shepherds of Zechariah 10:3, Ezekiel 34, and Amos 6:1-7 and were the targets of Luke 11:52. Please compare Luke 6:26 with Luke 11:47; how they treated the prophets is a big clue to their identity that ties these passages together. Then, back up and see Luke 11:37-52. Pronouncing woe is like calling for the band to cue up a funeral march. Their doom came in 70 AD, just as Jesus predicted. Being “rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9), “well fed” (John 6:35), joyful (Galatians 5:22, 1 Thessalonians 5:16), and of good repute (1 Timothy 3:7, Titus 2:2, Proverbs 22:1) aren’t bad – they’re for Christians and not for the guys that ended up crucifying us (Galatians 2:20) along with Jesus.

6:27 “love” In Hebrew, “love” or hesed is less about fuzzy feelings than loyal actions like helping each other, not cheating each other, not speaking ill of each other, etc. Being the bigger person by refusing to retaliate is love whether you can stand to be around them at the moment or not. Think about how God is so good at not retaliating that some people doubt His existence.

6:28-29 The blessing might come back like a boomerang (Luke 10:5-6). A slap was culturally an insult rather than a physical assault meant to cause lasting harm. Slaps were given with the presumed dominant right hand, and a backhanded strike was for someone beneath you. Look at both cheeks. Being willing to accept a second insult without escalating came with a side of “strike me like an equal”, but I smell cultural hyperbole. Under the Law, defense from real physical threats was okay (1 Samuel 30, Luke 22:36) but revenge was not (Deuteronomy 32:35 says revenge is His and Leviticus 19:18 literally starts with “do not seek revenge”); Jesus said to get naked in court (Luke 6:29) before thinking of revenge, and I smell more cultural hyperbole. We can trust God to pay everything back; He’s known for paying double for trouble, so don’t get in His way. Jesus said in essence that when Zechariah 14:1 went down, they could Lamentations 3:30 because Isaiah 51:7-8.

6:30 is Deuteronomy 15:7-11 and in essence Leviticus 19:18; yet, this somehow did not automatically extend to believers freeing their slaves in 1 Timothy, Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, etc. Fully keeping Deuteronomy 15:7-11 under Roman oppression would have bankrupted anyone under the Law. God used the Law to teach us what we were like (Romans 3:19), dead without Christ (Ephesians 2:5). It’s an impossible standard (Acts 15:10) to end the lie of achieved righteousness that began in Eden (Genesis 3:5). However, a great mystery of our faith is that God came to us as a Man under the Law (Galatians 4:4-5) and yet is always the same forever (Hebrews 13:8). Thus, when He tells us to give to whoever asks, it’s less a test for us to fail (we will) but a promise that He grants salvation to whomever asks Him. Jesus loves me, this I know, for my Bible tells me so in Leviticus 19:18 that He fulfills (Matthew 5:17) because He is sinless (John 8:46), and the Cross is the biggest hint.

6:31-35 See Leviticus 19:18. This is like a positive version of “an eye for an eye”. Children of God take after Him; consistency (Zechariah 10:1 and Joel 2:23) and slowness to anger are some of His attributes. Our respect for God overflows into respect for those He made in His Image. Jesus holds love for your neighbor as one of the top two commandments in the Law (as a part of a discussion of how to rank what to obey and when, as we saw with pikuach nefesh) in Matthew 22:39. “Love” is more like “behave loyally toward” than a fuzzy emotion here. Don’t cheat people; help them if you can (like you would want if you were in their shoes). Apart from not hating people, revenge belongs to God (Deuteronomy 32:35, Obadiah 15). Regarding the question of slavery in the ancient world and its treatment in the New Testament, this becomes “do to others as you would have them do to you if the shoe were on the other foot while in your respective roles in a world in which hierarchy exists apart from your value as a person that God made”; it’s being the boss you wish you had rather than a total disruption of the status quo.

6:36 See Leviticus 19:1-2,37. Deuteronomy 10:12 said to walk in all His ways, which is a cultural expression of what a child of His would do. Luke 6:36 says to be as merciful as God, which is an already impossibly high bar that reveals our need for Christ’s grace (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:23, Psalm 14). Jesus did this for us (Hebrews 10:14, Hebrews 7:25-26).

It’s time for a grace break. Remind yourself of Romans 4:4-5 and Hebrews 10:14.

6:37-38 This prevents breaking Leviticus 19:15-16. See also Matthew 6:15 and 2 Chronicles 28:10. To “judge” here means to “condemn”. We are to love our brothers and sisters in Christ (1 John 5:1), and discernment is valid (Matthew 18:15-17, 1 Corinthians 5:11-12, Revelation 2:2) as long as we don’t lose sight of the fact that we need grace, too. The measure for measure stuff is under Law; under Grace, we inherit the universe with Jesus (Galatians 4:4-7).

6:39-40 Therefore, Jesus’ audience fared better than the students of the guys in Luke 6:24-26.

6:41-42 A plank in the eye is cultural hyperbole.

6:43-44 See 1 Samuel 24:12-13. Here’s another place Christians look at their own imperfect performance (James 3:2) and freak out. Unbelievers have no good fruit (Isaiah 64:6); their “good” deeds all tainted and fall short of Matthew 5:48. Believers have no bad fruit because Jesus took it all away (John 1:29, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 10:14). God is trustworthy, and He promised to remember our sins no more (Hebrews 8:12). Jesus made salvation a group project in John 17, and we’re carrying His resumé (2 Corinthians 5:21) of good fruit. Moreover, anything God likes (Matthew 10:42) is evidence that Jesus is at work within us (Philippians 2:13) and is worth celebrating forever.

6:45 Jesus pointed out that you can’t be clean with dirty insides. No amount of rule-keeping helps someone who is still dead to God. Jesus gave you a new heart, a new human spirit, and the ever-present Holy Spirit at salvation (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

6:46 Why can’t we do what He says? Because we’re sheep, and He is God; He did for us what we could not do for ourselves (Luke 7:42, Luke 18:27, Romans 3:20). Thankfully, He asks little (John 6:28-29).

6:47-49 How do you put these words of His into practice? Know Him; humbly ask for His help (like in the healing that follows the Sermon on the Plain) since we’re poor, hungry, and have cause to weep with regard to anything of eternal value if that were contingent on our own capabilities. He keeps Luke 6:36, and we cannot; He keeps Luke 6:30, so salvation is free for the asking. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Jesus has the authority to forgive (Luke 5:24). The language about water sweeping their dwelling away looks back to Isaiah 28:2,17; Jesus implied Isaiah 29 as well along with this reference. The bad shepherds lacked faith in the Good Shepherd so Rome knocked their Temple down (just like what happened after Isaiah spoke). See Proverbs 10:25 and Proverbs 14:11. The bigger point about His teachings about the Law of Moses is that we can’t save ourselves (Luke 18:26-27). Also, Gentiles weren’t/aren’t under the Law (Acts 15:10 and Acts 21:20,25). Still worried about your “house”? See John 14:1-3 and Galatians 4:7; we’ll be sharing His place.

Remember, the Sermon is not part of the New Covenant because the New replaces the Old (Hebrews 10:9), and the New did not take effect until the death of Jesus (Hebrews 9:17).

7:1-8 If Jesus went because the man deserved it, He would have been calling Luke 6:33 into question. Therefore, He went because they pleaded earnestly according to Luke 6:30. The image of God responding to this request to help a Gentile because Jews asked Him to is very Psalm 34:15-17. Matthew, for brevity and clarity of motives, left the intermediaries out. Jews assumed Gentiles had idols in their houses, so entering a Gentile home caused ritual uncleanliness. A few good deeds do not amount to the whole Torah or the Sermon. Just because he was on good terms with the locals and built a synagogue doesn’t necessarily mean he was exclusively a God-fearer.

7:9 foreshadows Gentile acceptance of Christ. The centurion believed Jesus was capable of Psalm 107-level healing by speech.

7:12 She had no financial support left. See 1 Kings 17.

7:14-15 Exodus 29:37-level holiness can touch unholy things and make them holy. Numbers 19:16 and other exposures to uncleanliness are irrelevant to Jesus. Being unclean wasn’t sinful, as it generally could be remedied with washing and waiting; bringing uncleanliness to the Temple was (Leviticus 22:3), but that Temple is gone (Hebrews 8:13).

7:18-20 John wanted a jailbreak (Isaiah 61:1).

7:21-22 See Isaiah 29:18-19, Isaiah 35:5-6, and Isaiah 61:1 for starters.

7:23 Once you choose correctly with regard to Jesus, your stumbling problem is over (Jude 24).

7:24 John the Baptist was the type of prophet with integrity that didn’t bend.

7:25 Jesus was talking about the Sadducees and other elite class members.

7:27 See Malachi 3:1, Isaiah 40:3, and Exodus 23:20 (for the pattern).

7:28 John the Baptist had the Old Covenant relationship with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:15-17) and seems to have done as well with Matthew 5:19 as any normal human. Notice the options being presented here “born of women” and “in the kingdom of Heaven” can be simplified to flesh vs. Spirit. John 3:5-6 has this dichotomy, with “water” referring to the womb (“My water broke!”). Being born of the Spirit became an option after Pentecost. Hebrews 11:39-40 says your situation/relationship with God is better than that of any human in the Old Testament.

7:29-33 God figuratively said “Red Rover”, and they did not come over.

7:34 The Son of God partied enough before the Cross to be considered “a glutton and a drunkard” by His critics, which is reminiscent of Deuteronomy 21:20 about a son to be executed. Judges 9:13 says wine cheers God and man. Jesus was invited to many dinners with many sinners. Depending on how Hellenized the hosts were, attending Greek symposia could get you a reputation as a glutton and a drunkard. Entertainment like dancers wouldn’t have been out of the question at gatherings in that culture back then either, as we saw in Matthew 14.

7:36-38 Anointing honored guests was a tradition in that time and place. The Messiah or the Christ means The Anointed One. Rulers smelled royal and rich (Psalm 45:7-8). The holy anointing oil was used for new beginnings like commissioning a prophet (1 Kings 19:16), priest (Leviticus 4:3), or king (1 Samuel 10:1, 1 Samuel 16:13). David was recorded as anointed three times (as future king in 1 Samuel 16:13, King of Judah in 2 Samuel 2:4, and King of all Israel in 2 Samuel 5:3). Likewise, Jesus was anointed three times; there is no need to reconcile these accounts into one event. Jesus’ head (Matthew, Mark) or feet (Luke, John) were anointed by an unknown sinful woman up in Galilee (Luke 7) at a Pharisee’s house, another sinful woman in Bethany at Simon the leper’s house (Matthew 26, Mark 14), and Mary (John 12) at Lazarus’ house. For the smart alecks that remember that “feet” can be a polite euphemism for genitals in the Bible (Isaiah 7:20, Deuteronomy 28:57, Ruth 3), the woman in her own way accomplished in verse 38 what the Pharisee was culturally expected to provide in verse 44, and cleaning his guests’ junk was not one of their traditions.

7:41-43 The Pharisee’s debt was not smaller than the woman’s. We all routinely mess up (James 3:2), and breaking any law is breaking them all (James 2:10). I (like every other human being) got God’s Son tortured to death, and He forgave me. His grace increases faster than our sins (Romans 5:20). The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break (Romans 4:15), so He put me in an environment of completely undeserved favor instead (Romans 6:14). God is a joy to know, and His love and grace make us want to live better (Titus 2:12-14).

7:44 We can similarly express thanks to Jesus through kindness to other people. See John 13.

7:47-48 She didn’t earn forgiveness. The forgiveness caused the loving behavior. See verses 42 and 43.

7:50 Faith in Jesus as Messiah was evidenced by her anointing the Anointed One. Notice that faith “has saved” her. It’s done (1 John 5:13); there is no wondering, wishing, hoping, worrying, etc., required for believers.

8:2 “women” The level of egalitarianism in early Christianity exceeded the comfort zone of the dominant culture.

8:3 Notice the rich non-damned people donating some but not all.

8:5 The Parable of the Sower uses imagery familiar to the audience similar to Sirach 40:15-17, Jeremiah 4:3, and Hosea 10:12. The seed is the word of God as in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9. See Jeremiah 17:7-8 and the associated notes. Jesus explains this parable (about understanding parables) Himself in this chapter. See Hebrews 11:6 while we’re at it.

8:8 See Isaiah 55:10-11. This is a Genesis 26:12-sized crop of knowledge.

8:9 He taught openly (John 18:20), whether they understood Him or not. Jesus is the King and the Kingdom (Luke 17:21, Romans 14:17).

8:10 See Isaiah 6:9-10. The Righteous King fixes that in Isaiah 32:1-5. See Romans 11:7,11,25. This obfuscation is for your benefit.

8:12 Those resisting the Spirit can miss the truth they need to be saved. This verse pairs belief and salvation in a straightforward manner.

8:13-14 There are many obstacles to Christian maturity in this world. For the first hearers, persecution and fear of unemployment connected to being kicked out of the synagogue were the big obstacles to confessing Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9-11, Matthew 10:32) and to continuing to live out their faith publicly. Even among the saved, it is easy to forget that this world is temporary.

8:15 Great things happen if you know who He is, know who you are because of what He did for you, and refuse to be distracted by the myriad of things that want you to forget about that (because our enemies will settle for being saved-but-ineffective if they have to). Keep listening to Him instead. He is the Vine, and we are merely branches (John 15:5, Galatians 5:22-23).

8:16 In Matthew 5, this concept was applied to hallowing God’s name through good behavior. Here, it shows that God wants to be understood; the light is available for a purpose. See James 1:5 and Hebrews 11:6.

8:17 See Ecclesiastes 12:14.

8:18 “more” knowledge of the Kingdom of Heaven, as in verse 11; “abundance” like in verse 8. If you have Him (the Kingdom), you have everything. Those that lack Him will lose everything. Again, see James 1:5 and Hebrews 11:6. God gives wisdom to those who ask Him and rewards those who seek Him diligently. If you show up with a large capacity to receive from Him, that’s what you’ll get (2 Kings 4:1-7). As to understanding being taken, review Luke 8:11-15.

8:21 This is another verse that discourages Mary worship. See John 6:28-29; we’re asked to believe in Jesus.

8:23 The storm is like the one in Psalm 107.

8:25 See Psalm 89:8-9. Even the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) must obey Him.

8:26 The “Decapolis” (“Ten Cities”) was a region originally settled by Ptolemy and Seleucid soldiers later occupied by the Romans. This included Damascus, Philadelphia (modern Amman, Jordan), Gedara, Gerasa, etc. The Decapolis was figuratively thought of as Canaanite; Pharisees thought you could become ritually unclean by speaking of it.

8:27 “tombs” hint at Isaiah 65:4 evil activities. John the Baptist was a good strange man in the wilderness; this is like a dark version of that. This story is set near the Jabbok, as seen in Genesis 32 where Jacob had his wrestling match, so it’s time for a fight scene. David contended with a demon in 1 Samuel 16:14-23, and the first century Jews did exorcisms (Luke 11:19), so naturally the Messiah got to perform the “Goliath”/”Final Boss” of Exorcisms (an event like Judges 3:31, Judges 15:15, or 2 Samuel 23:8, if you will).

8:28 See Matthew 13:40-43 for why torture was on the menu.

8:29 “had commanded” Matthew omitted this lingering for brevity or clarity regarding Jesus’ power. Jesus had been driven into the wilderness by the Spirit and passed His tests (Luke 4). This guy’s more like every pre-salvation human.

8:30 “Legion” like a legion of Roman soldiers. Why are there so many demons here? Between the pagan soldiers’ false gods (1 Corinthians 10:20), the idolatry of the old kingdoms (throughout history, but especially after 1 Kings 12), and the resettlement of the area in 2 Kings 17 with even more imported idolaters, this region was ideal for Jesus to be seen as Messiah defeating all false gods and fulfilling the spirit of Exodus 34:13 and Deuteronomy 12:2-3 all at once (before His final victory at the Cross, that is).

8:31 “Abyss” See Revelation 9:1. The non-canonical Book of Jubilees proposes that ninety percent of the fallen angels under Satan’s command were imprisoned in response to a prayer by Noah.

8:32 Geographically (Mark 5:20 – near the Decapolis), the pigs might have been supplies for the Roman army, making this similar to Exodus 9:6 (plague against livestock) and/or a political reference to Exodus 15:1 (drowning the Egyptian army). Mark 9:22 and John 10:10 suggest that the demons would have killed the men, too, if allowed.

8:33 Innocent animals died, and the guilty lived to hear the Gospel. That sounds like the Old Covenant sacrificial system.

8:35 Nudity (from verse 27) can signify God’s Image, beauty, prophetic performance art (Saul, Isaiah, Micah, etc.), pre-Fall humanity, etc., or merely animal (not bad but not us), demonic, fallen (plus or minus shame is a clue), etc. You are capable of deciding its context (1 Corinthians 6:2). This incident looks like Colossians 3:10. In Isaiah 6, the hem of His robe pointed to His Name, which we take as His Bride.

8:37 He crossed a lake to help this man (reminiscent of an Aghori and/or Cynic), and He will meet you where you are.

8:38-39 As seen in Mark 5:19-20, a cleansed former demoniac Gentile that knew no Sermon on the Mount, no Torah, and none of Jesus’ teachings about ethics was sent to tell others what Jesus had done for him. This is why we are all qualified to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ as His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:17-21) because it’s all about what He did for us. In the Gentile Greek cities, there was no worry of the former demoniac being killed by the Pharisees for evangelism (John 12:9-11), being kept out of the synagogue, spoiling any Mark-like “Messianic Secret”, etc.

I sometimes hear Christians worried about being possessed by demons, but we have the best Exorcist ever living inside us, and He’s not interested in having demons as roommates (1 John 5:18).

8:40-42 Jesus already resurrected a dead person in Luke 7:12. Matthew 9:18 says the girl is already dead. Mark 5 and Luke 8 say she was dying. We discussed the ramifications of this in the Mark 5:23 note.

8:43-48 See Malachi 4:2 note for why she was expecting to be healed; grabbing the hem was a sign of submission (Zechariah 8:23). Jesus is Exodus 29:37 holy. She was an unclean spreader of uncleanliness; run to Jesus regardless of your recent behavior. There are a few ways to look at this story. As a standalone bit in the middle of another miracle narrative, she can remind us of Haggai 2:14 and show us Jesus, cleanser of Israel. However, think of Amos 5:2 in relation to the dying/dead girl’s age in verse 42. The number 12 is frequently associated with Israel (12 tribes, etc.). Faced with “no one to lift her up”, Jesus accepted the challenge. (Any delay caused by this interlude is not a problem for a dead girl, but the audience might take issue with it for a dying girl. This is Jesus’ 1 Kings 17:17-24 moment, since this gospel is showing Him to be greater than Moses and the rest of the prophets.) Like we Gentiles, the woman was unclean until He fixed us. Like Israel, the girl is dead until He quickens them. Gentiles had been unclean as long as Israel had existed by definition. The girl was raised after the woman was healed, and Romans 11:25-26 shows us what this object lesson taught. Paul’s argument in Romans 9 through Romans 11 explains many things. Also, sometimes faith is needed to heal, and other times He takes the initiative like in Luke 7:11-16. A lack of healing does not necessarily mean that your faith is inadequate or that sin is preventing it; see 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 and 1 Timothy 5:23.

8:52 Believers in Christ are, like Him, done dying (Galatians 2:20, Hebrews 7:25, Hebrews 9:27, Luke 20:36); Paul compares the dead in Christ to sleeping people (1 Thessalonians 4:13-15).

8:56 See John 12:9-11. The Pharisees wanted to kill the similarly raised Lazarus, so silence was golden.

9:1-2 Yes, even Judas was empowered with this Old Testament-style Holy Spirit “on” him in order to perform these tasks during this season despite being an unbeliever (John 6:64), although how he still wasn’t on board after this is mind-boggling. Being born again with the Holy Spirit within believers was only possible after Pentecost.

9:3 See Matthew 10:10 and Mark 6:8. Maybe some of these items were also “no extra” sandals, etc.

9:6 Matthew 10:5-6 made it clear that this was a mission to the lost sheep of Israel only.

The Feeding of the Five Thousand is in all four of our gospels: Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9, and John 6.

9:12-13 “Since we’re in a remote place, why don’t you feed them some manna?” We can’t. Jesus can. He is God (Exodus 16), and I am not. John 6:9 specifies that this was one boy’s lunch: some rolls and dried fish. The price of a combo meal is a fine donation when offered to Him in faith. See 2 Corinthians 8 through 2 Corinthians 9 to read about how Christians are free to give what they want to as led by the Spirit. The feeding of the five thousand is another installment in the continuing story of Jesus is Better Than the Earlier Prophets. See 1 Kings 17:8-16 and 2 Kings 4:42-44.

9:16 Jesus’ prayer of thanks may have resembled the traditional “Blessed art Thou, Lord God, King of the Universe, Who brings bread forth from the earth.”

9:17 God is a more-than-enough God.

9:21 See John 18:9, which in this instance flows logically from John 12:9-11.

9:22 Prediction #1.

9:23 The word “daily” is not in half of the old manuscripts. Our co-crucifixion with Jesus happened at salvation (Romans 6:3-9, Galatians 2:20). We took up our cross and followed Him to the place of execution. Your old self died. You now share his indestructible life (Colossians 3:4). There’s a brand of Christianity out there that tries to “die to self” (unbiblical) and “die daily” (an out of context quote about the dangers Paul faced in Ephesus), but God is about building up the new self, not killing you off (Romans 6:8-9). You denied yourself when you disavowed self-righteousness. If “daily” is intended, then carrying your cross daily is like being mocked and shamed on the way to your death (hence, every day of your earthly life) by an unbelieving world that hates us and enduring attacks from the Accuser that are not problems experienced by the lost.

9:24 Have you realized that Jesus died the death that sin deserves, even yours (Luke 23:41-43), and asked Him to save you? If you have, you have done this. See Galatians 2:20. We already followed Him to our execution. Mark 8:35 explains the colloquialism for a Gentile audience: if you try to save your own life (if you try to be your own savior), you will fail. Remember the slow march to the grave and increasing debilitation showcased in Ecclesiastes 12? There are people that seem to skip that. There are people that the world thinks have life figured out. It looks good until they die, but everybody dies. Jesus’ life is eternal; eternal life has no beginning and no end. You need His life (Colossians 3:4, John 14:6, John 11:25-26).

9:25 like Psalm 49:7.

9:27 Everyone but Judas was around for Acts 2:33. Peter, James, and John even got to see Him in His Son of Man form in the next story.

9:28 Peter (2 Peter 1:16-18), James, and John got a mountaintop experience with God like Moses in Exodus 24 and Elijah in 1 Kings 19.

9:29 This brief description doesn’t sound as otherworldly as He looks in Daniel 7:9 and Revelation 1. This is reminiscent of Moses’ glow in Exodus 34:29-35.

9:30 Yay Moe! Moses finally set foot in the Promised Land, and law-keeping didn’t get him there. Stick with Jesus.

9:33 Don’t equate Him with human religious leaders. Pete just said stuff sometimes (Mark 9:6). I’m kidding (a little); Pete knew the Torah. Moses’s glow was in Exodus 34, and the building materials for the Tabernacle are in Exodus 35. However, the New is not a rehash of the Old. Our brother Pete and the Jerusalem Church held onto a deep reverence for the Law of Moses to the extent that Paul had to dial him back (Galatians 2:11-16).

9:35 See Exodus 40:34-38 and Deuteronomy 18:15.

9:36 Symbolically, out of the Law, the Prophets, and Jesus, Jesus remains (Luke 16:16).

9:40 His subordinates were given authority, but He is better (like in 2 Kings 4:31-37).

9:41 See Deuteronomy 32:5 (which references Exodus 32:9) about when Moses came down the mountain like Jesus just did. Moses’ death prediction followed that. Jesus’ next death prediction follows this.

9:42 just like when Jesus will give the universe back to God the Father after all the unpleasantness is over (1 Corinthians 15:24).

9:44 Prediction #2.

9:49-50 These people were not opposed to Jesus, they were just not with the official group signified by the “us”. See Numbers 11:26-29. The Pharisees in Matthew 12:30 and Luke 11:23 were opposed to Jesus; these verses are not contradictory. You will likely disagree with your brothers and sisters in Christ about many things (pet doctrines, worship styles, etc.); accepting them with “they’re a little confused, but they have the Spirit” is better than the factionalism of Galatians 5:20. Faith in Christ is paramount.

9:52 “a Samaritan village” with the emphasis on “a”; John 4:39-42 was earlier in His ministry.

9:53 “there” This is about one specific village that didn’t believe in Him.

9:54 James and John were looking up to Elijah (2 Kings 1) much like Pete was in Luke 9:33. This is why they were the “sons of thunder”. Look to Jesus instead. John outlived the rest of the Twelve; due to the Holy Spirit’s work in his life, his later writings were mostly about love.

9:56 There were success stories in Samaria, too (John 4:22, Acts 8:15).

9:57-58 Luke’s orderly account puts this bit into context; Jesus was already on His way back to Heaven because He was going to Jerusalem to die (Luke 9:51).

9:59-60 According to Jewish custom, the man might not have been dead yet or this may have taken place in the year between death and the placement of the bones in an ossuary. Jesus’ cryptic statement is a hint that Christianity would not be about making bad people good through another list of rules like every religion men invented; Christianity is about making spiritually dead people (and later, physically dead people) alive (John 10:10).

9:61-62 Remember how Elisha’s calling was likely a death sentence (1 Kings 19:20-21)? Joining the Twelve was even more hazardous. No one is fit for service in the kingdom; the disciples all ran away before the Crucifixion. Again, only He can do it (Mark 10:45, Matthew 20:28), and He succeeded (John 17:4, John 19:30, Hebrews 10:14).

10:1 Seventy or seventy-two, depending on the manuscript: The origins of a rebooted Israel (Deuteronomy 10:22), Moses’ elders (Exodus 24:1), and the various “nations” composing humanity (Genesis 10) are all possible intended symbolisms for this group. Even simpler, the only meaning may be two witnesses per tour stop on His itinerary.

10:4 “do not greet” conveys urgency like 2 Kings 4:29.

10:5-6 Bless your enemies (Luke 6:27-28); it might come right back to you.

10:12 Sodom was notoriously inhospitable to visitors.

10:18 Isaiah 14:12, a separate occurrence like Exodus 15:7, and past/future fulfillment of Revelation 12:9 have been offered historically as explanations.

10:19 The “plot armor” was limited to the mission. Once the Gospel gained momentum, most of Jesus’ earthly associates got martyred. In the grand scheme, you cannot truly harm or kill a Christian; God can give back whatever was taken or replace it with something even better.

10:20 His word does not change (Isaiah 40:8, Matthew 24:35). Revelation 13:8 pertains to those who have not been written; He doesn’t blot people out (Revelation 3:5).

10:21 See Matthew 21:31 about the religious leaders missing the boat and then follow Paul’s argument in Romans 9 through Romans 11 about how partially hardening the chosen people for a time is all part of God’s plan to open salvation to anyone in the world who comes to belief in Christ.

10:22 “to Me” instead of the bad shepherds who had been making a mess of things. “No one” gets in without His invitation (John 6:44). Congratulations, you’re invited (John 12:32).

10:23-24 Pete looked back to this in 1 Peter 1:12.

10:25-27 This expert in the Law of Moses was a follower of the teachings of Rabbi Hillel. Hillel said these were the two “weightiest” commandments in the Law. Hillel even had a version of the Golden Rule already: “That which is hateful unto you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole of the Torah; the rest is commentary.” Jesus endorsed the Hillelite position on the greatest commandments; Jesus’ innovation was in considering even the hated Samaritans (2 Kings 17:29-39) to be neighbors. This exchange happened earlier in Jesus’ ministry than when Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 22 and Mark 12 (after going to Jerusalem).

10:28 Only Jesus has, and only Jesus can.

10:29 The legal expert wisely sensed his own inadequacy. Jesus answered him with a parable based on 2 Chronicles 28:1-5, a true story that Jesus’ listeners had been made to memorize ever since they had learned to talk. The location, the clothing, the healing balm, and the donkey are all there. The prophet Oded’s message on that day amounted to “love your neighbor who is as bad as yourself, because you need grace.”

10:30 Jericho is in 2 Chronicles 28:15. Going from a holy place (Jerusalem) to an unholy place (Jericho), nudity, and becoming half “dead” resembles Adam’s tale.

10:31-33 This resembles a running gag in parables of the time and place: a priest would mess something up, a Levite would do no better, but then a Pharisee would get it right at the end of the story. They probably did a spit take when He said “Samaritan” where they expected to hear “Pharisee”. The priest might have had to take a week off from work if he had helped (Numbers 19:11-13). The broader application of Deuteronomy 21:23 was understood to require same-day burial for any corpse as a duty for anyone who found it even if it necessitated later purification. Isaiah 58 already said that helping people is better than religious rituals and the like.

10:34 “oil and wine” were considered to have medicinal value. Details like this, 1 Timothy 5:23 (Paul didn’t tell Timothy to believe harder or declare victory over his illnesses), and Luke being a physician let us know that using health care is fine for a Christian.

10:35 God repays our efforts, too (2 Corinthians 9:6-11).

10:37 See Micah 6:8. Enemies can be neighbors, too. If Exodus 23:4-5 requires helping their donkey, then Jesus’ heal-on-the-Sabbath-because-you-can-circumcise-on-the-Sabbath line of “lesser to greater” argument says to save their lives if possible and give them access to the Gospel. Remember that the meaning of pikuach nefesh is roughly “preserving lives”.

10:38 See John 11.

10:39-41 Works don’t work.

10:42 “only one” See John 6:28-29. Believe in Him (Luke 8:21), and works will follow naturally (Luke 8:15). Trust what He did for you. Ephesians 2:8-9 leads to Ephesians 2:10.

11:1 This prayer summarizes what was already prayed three times daily in the synagogues. The Jewish version became known as the “Amidah” or “18 Blessings”, and a “19th” was added later in response to Christian “heretics”. Jesus summarized this proto-Amidah for what you may know as the Lord’s Prayer. The element that He added to it was the part about conditional forgiveness that was already discussed in Judaism back then (Sirach 28:2).

11:2 Saying “Father” does not make this a Christian prayer (Deuteronomy 32:6); Jesus was still teaching Law to those born under it (Galatians 4:4-7) because that was part of the Messiah’s job (Isaiah 51:4 note). God as Father was already a familiar element within Judaism (Exodus 4:22, Psalm 103, Isaiah 63:16, Isaiah 64:8, Jeremiah 3:19, etc.). Asking that His Name be hallowed is wishing He were respected by everyone as God should be. The audience had been exhorted to do good works and avoid sin their whole lives in hopes that they would not make Him look bad as His chosen representatives (Exodus 19:6, Ezekiel 36:20-23).

11:3 The notion of daily bread looks back to Proverbs 30:8-9 and being sustained in the wilderness learning Deuteronomy 8:3. The Word (John 1) is also the Bread (John 6:35), so believers in Christ are taken care of once for all.

11:4 “for we also forgive everyone” Adding the command to love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:17-18) to God’s exclusive right to vengeance (Deuteronomy 32:35, Leviticus 19:18) gets us to the idea (Sirach 28:2) that they could expect the same quantity and quality of mercy from God that they had given to those made in His Image. Ouch. Imagine all the people that have a hard time forgiving, like those who have been molested or abused. Then, realize that only Jesus forgives perfectly, so only He merits anything under the Law. Then, you can back up and re-realize that Jesus forgives you perfectly (Isaiah 53:5, Luke 23:34), and you can breathe a sigh of relief. (He even forgave a guy because of his friends’ faith in Matthew 9, Mark 2, and Luke 5.) Regarding “lead us not into temptation”, God tempts no one (James 1:13), but if the old heart (Jeremiah 17:9) gets near temptation, it will succumb to it. Therefore, they asked to be led elsewhere (Sirach 23:1-6). Verse 13 suggests a temporary Old Testament-style Holy Spirit power-up as a defense against sinning. For us, see 1 Corinthians 10:13. The evil one cannot touch you (1 John 5:18), only lie to you about what you actually want to do (Romans 6, Romans 7).

11:5-6 Even at midnight, the culturally hospitable audience expected the answer to that request to be: “My house is your house”.

11:7 The hypothetical kids were already awakened at this point. The only excuse the audience would have accepted was a lack of bread to give. God doesn’t sleep, either (Psalm 121:3-4).

11:8 This is another “how much more” lesson. God is way better than a bad friend, hospitality code violator, etc. If even a bad friend will still fulfill a request because of persistence, how much more will our good God?

11:9-10 God answers believers’ prayers that are within His will (1 John 5:14) and that are requested in faith (James 1:6). He has been known to be extremely generous (Ephesians 3:20). Be patient with opposition in the unseen realm (Ephesians 6:12) like we saw in Daniel 10:12-13. There are times that faith changes circumstances, and there are times faith sustains you and allows you to outlast the opposition while still honoring God as the saint you are. There will come a time when unbelievers’ calls won’t be answered (Luke 13:25); that’s a different matter.

11:11-12 Therefore, if you ask Him to save you, He will. Eternity is what matters; all this temporary stuff will get rectified eventually.

11:13 Before Pentecost, this would have meant a temporary Old Testament-style Holy Spirit temptation resistance blessing. The believers in Acts 1:14 saw the fulfillment of John 14:16 in Acts 2. Now, Christians always have the Holy Spirit.

11:19 There were people performing miracles that still denied Jesus. They are in Matthew 7:22, and Christians are not.

11:20 “finger of God” is a reference to Exodus 8:19. Their hearts were hard like Pharaoh’s in the face of miracles.

11:21-22 See Isaiah 49:24-25, 2 Corinthians 4:4, and 1 John 5:19.

11:23 See Luke 9:49-50 note. He is the Way (John 14:6), and there is no other.

11:24-25 Cleaning up their lives with Phariseeism (verse 19) was not enough. Having the best Exorcist ever living inside you is what you need (1 John 5:18).

11:26 Matthew 12:45 clarified this. While 2 Peter 2:22 is worth looking at, Jesus was speaking of that “generation”. There had been a popular but ultimately shallow response to the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus which was destined to end with a crucified Messiah. The years leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple were marked by infighting, murder, theft, rape and other sex crimes, etc., per Josephus’ “The War of the Jews” (or The Jewish War, depending on your public domain text source) Book 4, Chapter 9, Section 10. Notice that there’s not a big emphasis on exorcisms after Pentecost in the Bible because if you can bring someone to faith in Christ, the best Exorcist ever cleans house and moves in forever (1 John 5:18).

11:27 like Genesis 49:25.

11:28 “rather” another knock against Mary worship (verse 27); “the word” is Jesus (John 1) and to obey him is to believe in Him (John 6:28-29).

11:29-30 Three days in the tomb vs. three days in a fish.

11:31 See 1 Kings 10. Wacky Gentiles like us understand who He is (See Romans 9 through Romans 11 if you’re not sick of those three chapters yet).

11:32 The New Covenant is greater than the Old Covenant. Turn-or-burn was the Ezekiel 18:21-32 repentance deal the Gentiles in Nineveh tried briefly between Jonah and Nahum; the once-for-all forgiveness He gives us is just one way Jesus is greater than Jonah. The Ninevites didn’t even see the fish; the preaching was enough (John 20:29).

11:33-35 This is the begrudging “evil eye” versus the generous “good eye” again.

11:36 “whole body…no part” The new heart and new spirit of the New Covenant is required (John 3:3); just changing behavior like a Pharisee won’t cut it (Matthew 23:27-28).

11:37-40 Jesus used an existing debate among Pharisees about whether to clean the possibly-touched-an-unclean-Gentile dust from the inside or outside of a cup first to teach them that they needed new hearts under the New Covenant.

11:41-42 See the Matthew 23:23 note. See also Isaiah 1:21-23 and Amos 5:21-24. At first glance Jesus seems to be talking about an alms-based righteousness that was familiar to them as part of the Old Covenant. As a refresher, see Deuteronomy 15:4,7-11, Job 31:16-23, and Matthew 25:35-40. Based on Isaiah 58:7-10, Ezekiel 18:7,22, the offer to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:27, Psalm 112:9, Proverbs 10:2, and Proverbs 11:4-8 regarding “righteousness” (tzedakah, charity, gifts for the poor), we see alms righteousness or “treasure in Heaven” further developed in Tobit 4 and Sirach 29 on its way to Jesus’ teachings about the Law. Properly keeping Deuteronomy 15:7-11 amidst the poverty they experienced under occupation (Isaiah 58:10’s “spending themselves”) would have taken everything they had. Only Jesus gave enough (2 Corinthians 8:9), and only Jesus had anything worth giving; we rely on Christ’s righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). In context, the poor that the Pharisees were being stingy with were the lost sheep they were denying access to God (Luke 5:30, Luke 15:2).

11:43-44 This refers to contracting ritual uncleanness from corpses. Piety is all for show without a matching new heart.

11:45-46 Remember the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain? That’s an impossible load (Acts 15:10), but at least Jesus died and rose again to give us new life and a light yoke (Matthew 11:28-30). The religious leaders just added thousands of made up rules to the already impossible Law of Moses.

11:49 This is similar to a line in the first chapter of the non-canonical Book of Jubilees. Jesus said “I” sent the prophets, etc., instead of “the Wisdom of God” in Matthew 23:34’s account of this episode.

11:50-51 God patiently waited for the Amorites to get it together, too (Genesis 15:16). See Isaiah 65:6-7 and Luke 13:4-5. Because the Jews organized the Old Testament with Chronicles at the rear, Abel and Zechariah (2 Chronicles 24:20-22) were the first and last martyrs in the book as well as alphabetically.

11:52 See John 10:9. They preached against Jesus as Messiah.

Matthew 6:19-21 seems to summarize Luke’s three money lessons in the next section.

11:53-12:1 Jesus spoke to His disciples (Law students), but He spoke so the religious leaders would hear Him.

12:4 like Satan (Hebrews 2:14).

12:5 Keep going through at least verse 7 to see that this means we can be fearless children of a fearsome Father (1 John 4:15-19).

12:6-7 See 1 Peter 5:7; if something matters to you, it matters to Him.

12:8 See Romans 10:9. Jesus is trustworthy, so “whoever” means whoever.

12:9 Paul was a notorious enemy of the faith before conversion and Peter came back after repeatedly denying Jesus. This verse is about an entire life rather than some regrettable seasons.

12:10 Jesus is very patient with people like Saul, Peter, and myself. However, remember the unbelievers in Luke 11:15 who attributed His miracles to Satan (Isaiah 5:20). See 1 John 5:6 and John 16:8-14; the Spirit lets unbelievers know that they are sinners in need of a Savior and believers that they are righteous because of what He did (so act like it). You won’t listen to what “good” is telling you if you think good is evil. Successfully talking yourself out of what the Holy Spirit tells you about Jesus, the only option for salvation, for your whole life does not end well. If you’ve already accepted Christ, you are incapable of committing the unforgivable sin. See 2 Timothy 2:13.

12:11-12 like in Acts 4:8-12 and Acts 5:29-32.

12:13 Since Jesus looked like a new Moses, this is like Exodus 18:13-16.

12:14 Jesus said this in jest, as He already identified Himself as the Son of Man, ruler of the world, in Luke 12:8.

12:15 Money doesn’t buy another minute of life. Jesus was about to teach a parable about a rich fool. See Psalm 14:1 and the entirety of Psalm 49 with special emphasis on Psalm 49:13 to grasp what a “rich fool” is. The rich fool resembles Herod Agrippa in Acts 12:20-23.

12:16 “ground” The English words “country” or “region” connote the many fields this signified.

12:17 What shall he do? Thank God, for starters. Herod controlled a nation’s food supply (Acts 12:20) like Joseph in Genesis 41:46-57.

12:18 See James 4:13-16. Death is when all earthly barns come down and others inherit what was held.

12:19 The rich fool remembered Ecclesiastes 8:15 but forgot all the God stuff, because fools are by definition godless.

12:20 See Acts 12:23. Also, to generalize the parable beyond Herod, much of Jesus’ audience’s materialism came to naught in 70 AD when Rome destroyed Jerusalem.

12:21 See Psalm 49:13. The trick to this is that only what God does lasts (Ecclesiastes 3:14). We come to Him as open-handed children and receive what Jesus freely shares (Galatians 3:29, Romans 8:17, Romans 8:32).

12:22 He counsels against anxiety, not against prudence. Both the Old and New Testaments say to be diligent. Remember Joseph’s savings in preparation for the famine. Paul had a job as a tentmaker, and he told believers in Thessaloniki that became bums waiting for the end of the world to get back to work (2 Thessalonians 3). See Proverbs 6:6, Proverbs 27:23, Proverbs 30:25, and Psalm 104. We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know Who holds tomorrow. Avoiding the inordinate love of money, not worrying about tomorrow, and trusting God financially are all ways of saying things like "use honest weights" and "don't stand by the blood of your brother" from the Old Covenant. Working an honest job honestly (doing it His way) was commended, even if it benefitted immoral men; in other conversations John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, etc., didn't say “quit working for the Romans”.

12:27 See 1 Kings 3:13.

12:31 like Psalm 37:4.

12:32 Many Christians spend their lives afraid of a God that withholds rewards unless they produce enough religious works. Don’t be afraid. He’s your Father. He wants to give you everything. Giving you everything makes Him happy. Do you see any earning or looking over your shoulder in this verse?

12:33-34 See Proverbs 19:17. Since the poetic language of verse 35 is not understood by the majority of Christians to be a ban on bathing and pajamas, verses 33-34 are still about not worrying about stuff that verse 32 gives you. Otherwise, you’d sell all your stuff and give it to a poor person who would then have to get rid of it, too. There would be a big game of financial hot potato, with everyone trying not to be holding the bag when Christ returned. Plus, what about the poor sucker in this scenario that bought your stuff? What about them? Additionally, Jesus hadn’t died on the Cross yet (Hebrews 9:15-22), so we’re still talking about the Old Covenant. Jesus preached Law to those under the Law; see Galatians 4:4-7. Christians are still generous (Ephesians 4:28, 1 Timothy 6:17-19) but lack pressure or percentages (2 Corinthians 8 and 2 Corinthians 9). Christians give from the heart out of their abundance as the Spirit leads to meet pressing needs. However, God is motivating it (Philippians 2:13), and only what He does lasts (Ecclesiastes 3:14). From the second book by the same author, salvation due to faith alone is seen in Acts 13:39.

12:35-36 In other words, “be ready” instead of literally never sleeping, never changing clothes, etc.

12:37 See Luke 22:27 and John 13:1-17.

12:38 In Isaiah 42, we saw that there was a captive servant (Israel) and a Servant; the wise and foolish servant theme seen repeatedly in the parables is in part Jesus (and us, as the Body of Christ) vs. Israel. Believers are ready (John 6:28-29).

12:39 See Isaiah 49:24-25, 2 Corinthians 4:4, and 1 John 5:19.

12:40 This has been traditionally used to frighten/intimidate/motivate Christians. Your explanation has to account for believers being already perfected (Colossians 1:22, Hebrews 10:10,14), always safe in His hands (John 6:37, Hebrews 7:25), and awaiting no punishment (1 John 4:18) because our sins are all gone and forgotten (John 1:29, Hebrews 8:12). We are His sheep, and the King of kings will conduct a performance review (Zechariah 10:3, Ezekiel 34) of the bad shepherds. Remember, He was saying all this within earshot of the political and religious leadership of the first century Jews. The rulers of the earth can also be seen through the lens of Ephesians 2:2, Ephesians 6:12, 2 Corinthians 4:4, and 1 John 5:19 about Satan and the Watchers (Genesis 11:8 note).

12:41 The bad shepherds (Luke 11:53-54) were still listening.

12:42-44 The most faithful (Revelation 19:11) and wise (1 Corinthians 1:24,30) Servant (Ezekiel 34:23, Isaiah 42:1-7) whom the Master has put in charge (Matthew 28:18) of the servants (Romans 13:1) and is the best at feeding people (John 6:35) is Jesus.

12:45 like Matthew 21:33-45 (especially Matthew 21:45) and Mark 12:1-12 (especially Mark 12:12). See the Isaiah 5 notes again about religious and political leaders that ripped off their flock so they could stay drunk all day. Remember, teetotallers, Luke 13:24-30 is just one passage that lets us know Jesus partied with the sinners.

12:46 We know He is coming back. These unbelievers (John 3:36) had/have a surprise coming. The Jesus we know from Matthew 10:32 and Matthew 11:28-30 didn’t suddenly turn on us. We rule with Christ; these are promises to us about the bad shepherds we suffer under now and not threats to us. We’re ready for His return (1 John 4:17, Ephesians 3:12) because He’s already here with us (Matthew 28:20, 1 Corinthians 6:17, 2 John 2). You will be as safe as Jesus on Judgment Day (Hebrews 7:25).

12:47-48 This came from He who also said Luke 23:34. See Romans 2:12-16; those given the Law of Moses know more than those only under the Noahide Laws, the Gentile conscience, etc. The bad shepherds who temporarily have control (Romans 13:1) have been given much and much is expected from them (Matthew 25:45). Believers have done the Master’s will (John 6:28-29) and are fine (1 John 4:15-18); we have been entrusted with Jesus, and only He will suffice. See Luke 10:10-16; Tyre and Sidon will be better off than Chorazin and Bethsaida because of the latter’s lack of response to the Jesus they were offered. Feel like you’re not able to provide the “much more” that is asked? Jesus provides that too (Philippians 4:19, 1 John 2:1-2, Hebrews 7:25).

12:49-53 See Micah 7:6. Luke 1:17 looks different than this because birth families provided peer pressure to stay with the Temple system and the synagogues instead of leaving all of that for Jesus; honoring parents and loving each other was always part of God’s plan.

12:54-57 As we have seen in the gospels, the people saw more than enough hints that the Messiah was among them. That entails many things, including the chance for forgiveness. Some people were smart enough to seek mercy (Luke 7:48-50).

12:58-59 See 2 Corinthians 5:18-20. Jesus made an evangelistic appeal for the crowd to take the deal and recognize the Messiah.

13:1 This means that Pilate killed some likely Zealot-affiliated pilgrims in Jerusalem, probably for reasons similar to the insurrection mentioned in Luke 23:19.

13:2,4 We live in a fallen world. We read the Book of Job at some point. Judging is God’s job, so we lack legal standing to claim that specific misfortunes are laser-guided karma for a specific sin by a specific sinner. The precise punishments of Luke 12:47-48 await God settling all scores.

13:3,5 In the eternal sense, everyone should repent (change their minds from unbelief to belief in Christ). In the immediate sense for Jesus’ listeners, they didn’t follow Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount with regard to the Romans (or likely even Jeremiah 29:7), so the events of 70 AD happened.

13:6 See Hosea 9:10, Jeremiah 8:13, and Micah 7.

13:7 “three years” This was about the length of Jesus’ ministry before the Cross, as we’ll see in the Gospel of John.

13:8-9 John the Baptist told them the ax was there (Matthew 3:10), but Jesus wasn’t in a hurry. There was one biblical generation between Jesus’ warnings and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD.

13:10-11 He primed us to think about the number eighteen in verse 4. She had been in bondage to her ailment as long as the Israelites in Judges 3:12-14 and Judges 10:6-8.

13:12-13 Here, Jesus saved someone made in the Image of God from a life-limiting and perhaps life-shortening disease on the Sabbath, obeying Proverbs 3:27. As a refresher, the principle of pikuach nefesh can be summarized as “save lives” and therefore “lives are greater than laws” (with a few exceptions that cause death or national exile—murder, idolatry, and sexual immorality). Leviticus 18:5 states “Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them.” The religious leaders reasoned that if the point of keeping the Law was to live, then laws could safely (or even had to) be broken if lives were in jeopardy. No one but Jesus ever kept the Law of Moses. Some of the 613 commands contradicted each other at times. There was much discussion of which commandments "weighed" more than others, or how to prioritize what to obey when. It’s less about picking which command to break than upholding the Law by picking the right command to keep. You can see this in Jesus' discussion of priests circumcising on the Sabbath, in His mention of David and his men eating the showbread, Jesus admonishing the tithing Pharisees about neglecting the weightier matters (justice, mercy, and faithfulness), and in the questions of which commands were the greatest (Love of God and neighbor). You can see traces of pikuach nefesh in passages like Ezekiel 33:26 "Murderers! Idolaters! Adulterers! Should the land belong to you?" This is why the God who says that liars go in the fire rewards Rahab, the midwives who didn’t kill Hebrew boys, etc., for their falsehoods.

13:14-17 In Deuteronomy 5:12-15, the Sabbath commemorates release from captivity in Egypt. They “untied” their animals and relieved their suffering with water, so Jesus “set free” the “bound” woman. Jesus is better at lesser-to-greater arguments than those who were supposed to be experts at Torah interpretation, just like they expected the Messiah to be.

13:18-19 See Ezekiel 17:23. This is a Messiah claim. Compare Ezekiel 31:6 and Daniel 4:20-22. The greatest world empire began with one temporarily dead carpenter. We Christians are a weed (from their point of view; we say John 15:5) that the world doesn’t want and cannot kill. Focusing on whether the birds are evil based on their role in the Parable of the Sower might be taking it too far. For what planting the mustard seed means at the individual level, see John 12:24, John 11:25, Galatians 2:20, and 1 Corinthians 15:35-58. He is the Resurrection and the Life.

13:20-21 This is the other part of Galatians 2:20. His eternal life is in us. A little yeast (like a little mustard seed) goes a long way: this is the same amount of flour as in the Genesis 18:6 feast. That’s enough to feed a village; the Kingdom invites everyone. You may have seen Lucille Ball’s sitcom character use too much yeast and get attacked by a giant loaf of bread; Jesus is the Bread of Life (John 6:35) who feeds us forever. Culturally, it is unexpected to see yeast (traditionally a symbol of uncleanliness/fermentation/decay and therefore death) used positively in this parable; the key to that is that our new life comes from His death (and ours with him – Galatians 2:20).

13:24 “Make every effort” to enter the relaxation and freedom from religious anxiety that is prepared for you through just believing in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:1,3,11). The narrow gate is exactly the width of one Jesus (John 10:9). If you ask Him to save you, He will (Luke 11:9-10). Only a few people find Jesus, so we point Him out. Many other religions “try to enter” Heaven by many different ways, but He is the Way (John 14:6).

13:25 “you” Remember that Jesus is addressing a pre-Cross Jewish audience; see Romans 11:13-14.

13:26 This further proves whom He was speaking to in verse 25.

13:27 Therefore, this verse is not for believers in Christ. Also, He references Psalm 6:8.

13:28-30 The “last” (we stinky, stinky, basically-talking-animals-by-their-reckoning Gentiles) received Him before the “first” (Romans 11:25-26).

13:31-32 “fox” Lions are regal (1 Kings 10:18-20, Revelation 5:5), so this took Herod down to size. The “third day” is a bit of foreshadowing.

13:33-34 See 2 Chronicles 24:20-22, Jeremiah 26:20-23, Acts 7:52, and Psalm 91:4.

13:35 from Psalm 118:26. See Romans 11:25-26.

14:5-6 Exodus 23 and Deuteronomy 22 say to take care of the animals of neighbors and even enemies; it was understood that they would take care of their own. Proverbs 3:27 says not to delay in doing good.

14:7 See Mark 12:38-40.

14:8-10 See Proverbs 25:6-7.

14:11 This theme keeps coming around (Luke 1:51, Luke 18:14).

14:12-14 This was not a new teaching (Deuteronomy 16:11, Proverbs 19:17). They couldn’t play Martha Stewart at dinner parties if Luke 14:33 literally meant voluntary poverty, either, and we’ll get to that momentarily. Also, they had been told their whole lives with regard to alms that God pays for those who cannot. The Cross is the ultimate example of that.

14:15 Jesus was about to teach a lesson. There are great people in the world that live simply to support others that need help to simply live. There is a subset of those people that judge everyone not doing that as too worldly. If God didn’t approve of large amounts of tasty food, Jesus would have used a different story here.

14:16-17 The part where they said they were coming in response to the invitation is understood from cultural context.

14:18 This is a comically bad sitcom excuse. You inspect before you buy. There was nothing about that transaction sufficiently unpredictable or time-sensitive to miss a meal over.

14:19 Again, test-driving the new farm animals could have waited.

14:20 This is an overly literal application of Deuteronomy 24:5 and frankly a bit of a ribald punchline after the two previous setups with testing out the field and the oxen. A dinner invitation is being treated like being drafted to war (Deuteronomy 20:7). The point is, they accepted an invitation, but now that the money, time, and effort of preparing the feast has been wasted, they would say anything to get out of going. There is another story elsewhere about a tax collector named Bar Majan who was treated similarly who then gave his feast to the poor.

14:21-24 Good news, Gentiles (Ephesians 2:12), it’s Deuteronomy 32:21 time, and Jesus has already done everything for you. See Luke 13:28-30 and Isaiah 61:1.

14:25 Large crowds of Jewish people still under the Old Covenant were following Him to learn Judaism. He was about to give them fair warning of the persecution that would be endured by the early Church (John 16:1-4). On this side of the Cross and the Resurrection, Acts 13:39 says that believers have it all taken care of thanks to Him.

14:26 Matthew 10:37 explains the meaning of the Hebraic expression “hate” (i.e. not prefer) as seen here. Matthew 19:19 still affirms honoring parents, but Jesus is God and is above all. This verse is about defying the pressure to stay in the Temple and synagogue system from family, peers, and career (Luke 12:52) rather than confessing Jesus as Messiah.

14:27 If you have realized that Jesus died the death that sin deserves, even yours (Luke 23:41-43), and asked Him to save you, you have already lost your life for His sake and therefore found it. See Galatians 2:20. We already followed Him to our execution.

14:28 “enough money to complete it” In case anyone skipped our extended study of the Law of Moses, I can’t cover the bill, and neither can anyone but Jesus (Acts 15:10, Romans 3:19-20). See the Luke 14:33 note.

14:29 See Proverbs 20:25. Also, with the talk of money, building things, and battling, Proverbs 24:3-6 may have been in that week’s study material for them.

14:30 Jesus is a carpenter that works for free (Romans 4:4-5).

14:31 “is able…to oppose” Again, I’ve seen the Law, and I cannot fight the Accuser and his henchmen alone. Notice Jesus didn’t say that war is always bad or forbidden, either.

14:32 “ask for terms of peace” As long as Christ hasn’t returned yet, today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2), and everyone needs to take the deal.

14:33 “give up everything” People take this verse out of context to push voluntary poverty, but let’s look at it next to the rest of the paragraph. “Give up”, fold, quit, surrender, and figure out that any Tower to Heaven (Genesis 11) you might try to build wouldn’t reach it. Stop relying on your own works, and trust Him instead (Luke 18:27). Come to Him humbly; we have nothing of value to offer (Matthew 18:4). As for being His “disciples”, disciples follow their Teacher, and we have followed Him to our deaths already (Galatians 2:20), which is another way to look at giving up everything. For those insisting on a financial message, Paul’s approach is valid, and we can listen to the Spirit. Money can be saved up to buy your way out of the rat race (1 Corinthians 7:21) and used to keep a spouse happy (among the many possibilities in 1 Corinthians 7:29-40). 2 Corinthians 8 and 2 Corinthians 9 describe how now Christians give from the heart out of their abundance as the Spirit leads to meet pressing needs without pressure or percentages. Human effort is futile (John 6:63). God owns everything already. Abe was willing to sacrifice Isaac, but God shut that down; feel free to put a fleece in the yard like Gideon to verify that He’s actually asking you for what you think He is. But, back on the grace train, we give up everything like Paul said in Philippians 3:4-9. He had many attributes that some people would have said made him already ready for Heaven, but he trusted Jesus instead, considering everything but Him of no value for gaining Heaven. He didn’t even lose most of the attributes; he just didn’t trust them for salvation anymore.

14:34-35 See Hebrews 8:1-13 and Romans 4:4-5. He said to “give up everything”, and the Old Covenant is included. Salt is a preservative and was also used to enrich fertilizer; ineffective and obsolete attempts to please God with our ability to keep rules cannot save nor build us up.

15:1 Of course they were, based on the glimmer of the New Covenant that He just offered.

15:2-3 God’s not mad at the sheep (Psalm 23, Ezekiel 34:11). The sheep don’t have to find the Shepherd, either (Luke 19:10, John 12:32); Jesus came here to save us. (Matthew 18 kept the sheep parable, but treated the son parable and the coin parable as redundant.) Of the sheep, the coin, and the son, remember that none of them earned their forgiveness.

15:4-7 This does not mean 99% of humanity is righteous. See Ecclesiastes 7:20. This is another “how much more” argument. Jesus values you more than a rancher values 1% of a big flock, so of course He came to save you.

15:8-10 That coin did not shine itself up to be found. Go directly to Jesus; do not wait until you clean up your act, etc. This is another “how much more” argument.

15:11 This is popularly called the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Despite how it’s often used now, “prodigal” refers to recklessly extravagant spending. This is really the Parable of the Loving Father. The loving father happens to be wealthy, and Jesus would have told a different story if that were bad. Deuteronomy 4:26-31 sounds like this parable. See also Exodus 4:22, Jeremiah 3:11-25, Jeremiah 31:9,20, and Hosea 11:1-4. The child in this parable, despite his errors, was still always considered a son by his father.

15:12 Asking for an inheritance early is like saying, “I wish you were dead already so I could have your stuff.” Instead of mediating and trying to talk them out of it as would be expected of a good firstborn co-steering a family with his father, the “good” son seems to have quietly taken his two-thirds. See Proverbs 20:21 (and Sirach 33:20-24 for bonus points).

15:13 “squandered” Hence, prodigal.

15:17 The motivation to return was entirely selfish. Still, as in Luke 14:28-35, he realized that what he was doing was not working for him and he gave up.

15:20 Jesus’ original hearers in that cultural context were not expecting this amount of compassion as seen in what they would have considered the indignity of the father running out to the son.

15:21 The father didn’t even let the son finish his big, calculated speech (Luke 15:18-19), let alone change his status as a son.

15:22-23 If cool outfits and parties with their associated amusements were bad, why would He have told this story? Denominations that are opposed to dancing need to sit down and steady their nerves before we get to verse 25.

15:24 like Luke 15:6-7 and Luke 15:9-10.

15:25 “music” See Zephaniah 3:17; “dancing” They were not Baptists.

15:29 Sadly, the older brother only related to his father as an earner. Feel comfortable approaching Father at all times (Ephesians 3:12, 1 John 5:18, Hebrews 4:16). The attitude of gratitude is a must: both sons were meant to enjoy what they were blessed with along with the father they were blessed with, not take it and run off or stay and sulk.

15:30 “son of yours” denies a relationship with the younger brother. The older brother considers this the Parable of the Prodigal Father.

15:31 Read this verse a few times, and then see Romans 8:32.

15:32 “brother of yours” reaffirms the relationship between the brothers and invites comparison of the tragedy of both of them basing their relationship with their father on what he could do for them financially.

16:1 “wasting” Parables tend to come in pairs or groups with a similar theme or elements. It makes them easier to remember and hammers related points home. Two witnesses are better than one.

16:4 The shrewd manager knew it was over and that he needed somewhere to go. We’re all dying, and we all need to get the afterlife sorted out.

16:5-7 Some interpreters say he had been overcharging the debtors and that he sought favor with them by eliminating his overcharge, but the text just says he was accused of wasting his master’s assets. Writing off debts would have been a very efficient way to waste his master’s assets. Parallels are frequently drawn to the lesson about forgiving others to be forgiven (under the Law) as seen in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21-35), but these debts were not owed to the shrewd manager.

16:8 This is like tipping a cap to a well-played poker bluff. The actions of the embezzler aren’t morally instructive, but the thinking ahead and looking for a way out are. The “people of the light” or “sons of light” is a phrase the Essenes used for those who would inherit the world to come. If this scamp of a manager can plan ahead, “how much more” ought God’s children score tzedakah points? The alms righteousness and treasure in Heaven concepts are back here because they hadn’t left yet; Jesus was still teaching the Old Covenant to those under it because He hadn’t died yet (Hebrews 9:16-22). The loving Father in the prior parable represented God to people still under the Old Covenant; we have it even better now thanks to what Jesus did for us.

16:9 “worldly wealth” or “mammon of unrighteousness” is another Essene phrase. If an outsider joined the Essenes, the sect took all of their accumulated wealth. Jesus preferred almsgiving to enriching a religious group. This verse was the germination of the Wesleyan idea: “earn all you can, save all you can, and give all you can.” Everything we have belongs to God, and while we should be good stewards of it, let’s turn up our light bulbs to see at least what Paul saw. God owns everything already (Psalm 50:8-13), and is not served by human hands (Acts 17:25) as if He needed anything; the Law (including Deuteronomy 15:7-11) was a test that we consistently fail (Romans 3:19-20). We’re under God’s grace now (Romans 6:14). Remember when Jesus spoke to the rich young man in terms of what it would mean for us to earn salvation like co-Jesuses? Only Jesus had anything worth giving, and only Jesus gave enough (Philippians 2:6-8). It worked (Philippians 2:9-11). We rely on Christ’s righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). God hears the righteous (Psalm 34:15), and Jesus prayed for us to be united with Him (John 17); treasure in heaven is credit with God (Proverbs 19:17), Jesus gave His life for us (who had nothing of any real value), God gave it back, and we share His eternal resurrection life (Colossians 3:4) and eternity with Him (John 14:1-3).

16:11-13 Both God and money cannot be top priority. He has specific preferences regarding false weights, theft, etc., that close roads that money-worshipers go down. Be trustworthy.

16:14 “The Pharisees, who loved money, heard…” Punctuation is a choice for the translation teams; manuscripts don’t even have spaces between the letters. I humbly suggest that since Pharisees as a group were historically middle class and shunned extravagance that we remove the commas. A subset of that group would be “the Pharisees who loved money” with all the accompanying 2 Timothy 3:1-9 nastiness; these would be the members of the Pharisee party like those among Jesus’ foes in the Sanhedrin that ended up crucifying Him to protect their political power.

16:15 “what people value highly” that God has a problem with is the shrewd unscrupulousness (verse 8) that the parable is based on.

16:16-18 “were proclaimed until” Jesus came to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17), and He did it. The Law is still there, but Christians have died to the Law (Romans 7:4). These sentences are placed here for a reason. No wonder the Pharisees in verse 14 had taken exception because Jesus considered their modifications of the Law such as Hillelite divorce “for any reason” (addressed again in verse 18) equivalent to what the shrewd manager did in verses 5 through 7.

16:19 Based on how verse 1 is translated (“Jesus told this story to His disciples”), this might just be an educational story that Jesus taught instead of a historical anecdote, and that is just fine. Different gospel writers had different audiences and intentions: Matthew skipped the story of the rich man and Lazarus and included positive portrayals of rich wise men, etc.

16:20 The name Lazarus means “whom God helps” like Eliezar. It doesn’t have to be Mary and Martha’s brother (John 11).

16:22 “Abraham” was justified by faith according to Romans 4, which can be easy to forget in these works-focused stories.

16:23 “Hades” The Hebrew idea of where people went after they died was Sheol (the grave), a shadowy place. The Greeks had a similar notion for a place named for Hades, their god of the underworld, so the Jewish authors of the time used the Greeks’ word to communicate when they wrote in Greek. The Greeks spoke of Tartarus, where the bad were punished, and the Elysian Fields which was a special paradise for heroes. The Jews thought the desirable part of Sheol was the Bosom of Abraham. Hell proper, or the Lake of Fire, shows up later in the Bible at the Last Judgment and Sheol/Hades is thrown into it when the place is no longer needed.

16:24 He knew Lazarus’ name. The neglect in Luke 16:21 was intentional, and he still views Lazarus as an inferior that could be ordered to serve him. See Isaiah 33:14 and Psalm 123. God is sometimes accused of acting like the rich man did toward Lazarus until Lazarus died. See Psalm 115:16 and Psalm 116:15; if life is a game, the level plays out and God makes all things right eventually. Don’t be embittered if help doesn’t come according to your schedule.

16:25 I will assert shortly that the rich man was part of the religious establishment that withheld the good things of God from people that they considered scum (Luke 5:30).

16:26 That chasm seems to rule out praying to saints. You don’t need an intermediary (Ephesians 3:12).

16:27-28 Who was a rich man that wore purple and fine linen, lived in luxury, and would have been immediately identifiable to Jesus’ audience based on the detail of five brothers? Caiaphas (John 11:45-53). One of them, Ananus ben Ananus, later went on to be the high priest that ordered the execution of Jesus’ brother (Joseph’s son) James.

16:29-31 The high priestly family were Sadducees and therefore did not believe in an afterlife. When the Lazarus of John 11 rose from the dead (which sounds a lot like the rich man’s request in verses 27 and 28), they plotted to kill Jesus instead of believing in Him.

17:1-2 Why are these verses here? The word “stumble” is a clue. See Malachi 2:8, then back up and read Malachi 2:1-9. Jesus wasn’t done rebuking the priestly class of Annas, Caiaphas, and their ilk yet. Notice that Luke didn’t include the Jewish cultural hyperbole about hand or eye self-mutilation from Mark 9:42-48 for a Greek audience.

17:3-4 Jesus taught the practical application of Leviticus 19:17-18 to those still under the Law of Moses. Jesus forgave us, for He “must” as the unchanging fulfiller of the Law (Matthew 5:17, Hebrews 7:25).

17:5-6 If they had faith, it would be reckoned to them as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), which gets prayers heard (Psalm 34:15). We all have some faith naturally. I sat down to type this sentence while trusting that the chair would hold me up and not suddenly disappear. You don’t have to sit around trying to grow your faith to the size of a golf ball and rearrange the universe. Where (to Whom) the faith/trust is directed is the key. This also looks like an application of Psalm 115:16. Jesus used a mulberry tree here instead of a mountain (as seen repeatedly in the other gospels) because teachers repeat lessons and rabbis use examples they can point to in the moment. Even Paul didn’t have “mountain moving” faith (1 Corinthians 13:1-3), but everyone has “get saved” faith if they give it to Jesus.

17:7-9 Servants don’t get credit for doing what they are supposed to do or for doing their jobs. If man in relation to God has dominion over this world (Psalm 115:16), it should be a simple matter for mulberry trees and mountains to obey us, right? And yet, we have let Satan and his regime usurp us (2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 6:12). It all belongs to Jesus (Matthew 28:18), and He’s being mercifully patient before coming back to rule openly (2 Peter 3:15).

17:10 This servant stuff is still Old Covenant. We’re His children (1 John 3:1) and His friends (John 15:15)

17:11-19 This is Isaiah 52:15 coming true demonstrated in the context of Leviticus 14:7. This is also a reminder to thank God for the good things in your life (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

17:20-21 Jesus is the King; Jesus is the Kingdom, and we’re in Him.

17:23-24 His return will be sudden and obvious (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 2 Thessalonians 2:8).

17:26-27 People were oblivious to the danger in Genesis 6.

17:28-29 People were oblivious to the danger in Genesis 19. They were wealthy and cruel (Genesis 13:10, Ezekiel 16:49-50), but Abraham was wealthy, so that part wasn’t the problem.

17:30-31 See the notes for Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14. When this song is sung in Matthew 24 and Mark 13, this lyric is about the “abomination that causes desolation” like Daniel predicted Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” would do that Jesus used for comparison. Luke 21:20 simplifies it to armies surrounding Jerusalem. While the mention of the Son of Man may send you to Daniel, another prophet that used the phrase “son of man” frequently was Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 8:2, someone that looks a lot like Jesus in Revelation 1 appeared. In Ezekiel 8 and Ezekiel 9, He showed Ezekiel corruption in the Temple and those coming to destroy Jerusalem as a consequence. The Son of Man being “revealed” is very much like Ezekiel 6:13’s “And they will know that I am the LORD”; Jesus’ claims of being the Son of Man were vindicated when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed just as He said in 70 AD.

17:32 in Genesis 19:17-26.

17:33 Jesus frequently used this saying. We’ve talked about admitting that the Law would justifiably kill us and that we need a Savior (Luke 23:41-43). Here, He used it for a practical matter. I highly doubt anyone’s Rapture or their chance to ride with the heavenly armies at Christ’s return would be jeopardized by a decision to go find the family photo album (verse 31) because I don’t think there’s a decision involved in those scenarios other than choosing Christ beforehand. However, I do think that waiting too long to flee to Pella when the Romans were coming would have resulted in undesirable earthly outcomes.

17:37 See the historical material before Matthew in this commentary if you need a refresher. When a Roman legion had been killed, four more (carrying metal bird symbols) showed up to surround and sack Jerusalem. The body might also refer to Jesus’ death according to some commentators.

18:1 Faith and tenacious persistence are similar.

18:2 The greatest two commandments in the Law of Moses were love of God and neighbor.

18:3 See Deuteronomy 27:19. Then, see that God is way better than this guy in Exodus 22:22-24 and Psalm 68:5.

18:4-8 This is another “how much more” comparison; if even this unjust judge caved due to repeated requests, then keep praying to our Father.

18:9 See Proverbs 30:11-14 and Ecclesiastes 7:20.

18:13-14 Here’s a fine example of justification by faith, free for the asking. See Luke 1:51 and Luke 14:11. Notice that here humility demonstrably trumped morality, fasting, and tithing (verse 12) even under the Old Covenant. This is the verse that explains why the Orthodox pray “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner” a lot. There was probably no way that this tax collector was going to be able to track down everyone he had ever ripped off (I’m assuming, unless the sinning mentioned here was unrelated to how he did his job) to give them restitution let alone pay an additional twenty percent and give guilt offerings (Leviticus 6:5).

18:15 This was like the blessings in Genesis 48. Jesus is not creepy. The disciples forgot Luke 9:46-48.

18:16-17 “such as these” Our discussion of humility continues. See Psalm 131.

18:18 Based on his attributes in Matthew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18, this man is often called the Rich Young Ruler. Notice the wording: “teacher” like a human you can study to be like, “what must I do” puts the onus on the asker to produce, “to inherit eternal life” which was already anticipated in Judaism (Daniel 12:2) even before Christianity. Psalm 49:8-9 already said you cannot buy eternal life. Works don’t work (Isaiah 57:12, Isaiah 64:6). Maxing out Daniel 4:27 is not enough. It’s like the man saw Jesus as a person who was going to Heaven and wanted to emulate Him as if he could walk through the pearly gates on his own merit like a co-Jesus, which smells a lot like the “thank you for forgiving my past sins, but now I have to keep short accounts with God and crank out corporal works of mercy with my own strength” crowd now. If he had asked “How do I get eternal life?” the answer would have been more like John 6:28-29, Romans 10:9, Acts 16:31, etc. See Romans 10:1-4.

18:19 See Romans 3:19-20, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Psalm 14, and Psalm 53.

18:20-22 While his wealth is also pointed out, the man was rich in good works. Jesus loved him enough to spare him the delusion that his efforts could ever be adequate (Isaiah 57:12). Some Pharisees even applied some priest rules to themselves for bonus points, but Deuteronomy 10:9 called their bluff. Based on Isaiah 58:7-10, Ezekiel 18:7,22, the offer to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:27, Psalm 112:9, Proverbs 10:2, and Proverbs 11:4-8 regarding “righteousness” (tzedakah, charity, gifts for the poor) we see alms righteousness or “treasure in Heaven” further developed in Tobit 4 and Sirach 29 on its way to Jesus’ teachings about the Law. Properly keeping Deuteronomy 15:7-11 amidst the poverty they experienced under occupation (Isaiah 58:10’s “spending themselves”) would have taken everything they had. Paul dismissed this performance-based approach entirely in Philippians 3:4-9. God does this for us (Romans 8:32). Only Jesus gave enough (Philippians 2:6-8), and only Jesus had anything worth giving; we rely on Christ’s righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). You don’t get an inheritance by working; you get it because Someone died. Also, any works He likes, He did through you (Ecclesiastes 3:14). However, even the commandment to “sell your possessions” seen here is nuanced. Even the apostles’ calling was just an issue of focus: they still had houses to throw dinner parties in (Matthew 9:10), fishing businesses to resume (John 21:3), etc. No one actually gave up everything but Jesus (2 Corinthians 8:9). There are people that insist they are followers of Jesus Christ, but being carried by Him is the only way to go.

Since a Jewish “ruler” interested in eternal life would have logically been a Pharisee member of the Sanhedrin, I propose that this was not the end of this man’s story. A disciple of Jesus fitting this profile appears abruptly in the story in Luke 23:50-51: Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph gave his grave to Jesus, as do all Christians (John 11:25-26, Romans 5:6-8) in a way.

18:23 There is nothing we can do (Ephesians 2:8-9). Be like the small child in Mark 10:14-15. See 1 Peter 5:6.

18:24-26 People were accustomed to thinking of the rich as righteous since God had chosen to bless them. That’s why the disciples asked who can be saved instead of assuming that the poor could.

18:27 Jesus admitted that following Him is impossible. Instead, trust Him (Romans 4:5) to save you. The only way to Heaven is attached to Him (John 17:20-23). Nothing is too hard for Him (Genesis 18:14).

18:28-30 Birth families provided peer pressure to stay with the Temple system and the synagogues instead of leaving all of that for Jesus. See Daniel 7:18 and Revelation 21:14. Even a cup of water (Matthew 10:42) gets rewarded, after all. But again, instead of hundreds of cups of water, it’s just simplified to co-owning the universe with Jesus (Galatians 4:7).

18:31-34 See Daniel 7:13, Psalm 22, Isaiah 50:6, and Isaiah 53 for context. He keeps predicting things, but they don’t see. Surely, a blind person will be healed in the next story.

18:35-43 Faith and tenacious persistence are similar.

19:1-2 See the Luke 3:12-13 note. Being a wealthy tax collector meant extorting far more money than necessary from your territory. Comedically, the name Zaccheus means “innocent” or “pure one”.

19:5-7 Accepting food and donations from a wealthy tax collector would have looked like receiving stolen goods to some people.

19:8 This is still just an Old Covenant turnaround (Ezekiel 18:21-23, Ezekiel 33:15-16). Also, notice that he didn’t give the “everything” some people say Luke 14:33 means. The fourfold restitution from Exodus 22 suggests he took payment in livestock. Even if he went with the twenty percent from Leviticus 6:5, there was probably no way that this tax collector was going to be able to track down everyone he had ever ripped off. The point is Jesus came to save the lost (Luke 19:10) and the religious leaders that weren’t doing that were bad shepherds (Ezekiel 34).

19:9 Jesus affirmed that Zaccheus was valuable enough to save. Galatians 3:7 says all believers are Abraham’s children. Instead of sin and uncleanness being contagious, Jesus’ righteousness is contagious.

19:10 This is what a Shepherd does (Psalm 23, Isaiah 40, Ezekiel 34).

19:12-15,27 mirrors how Archelaus, son of Herod, went to Rome to have his succession confirmed while a delegation of his subjects expressed their objections. If Archelaus was to be obeyed, “how much more” ought God? The parable is also reminiscent of 2 Kings 22 in which contractor honesty (Jesus is a carpenter) needed no accounting but priests did have to give accounts. 2 Kings 22 includes a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem.

19:13 See Matthew 13:52. The king gave them the money to invest (like the manager in Luke 16 was supposed to). Obedience or disobedience to their charge is more important than the math in this parable. Investments are fine, or Jesus would have told the story differently. The Torah prohibited interest on personal loans to fellow Jews, the helpless, etc., but creative minds have invented many scenarios that involve absorbing risk for a premium among business entities. Investments aren’t just surplus to be given as tzedakah; rather, they are opportunities to buy into businesses to help you get free (1 Corinthians 7:21). Energetic retirees are great food bank volunteers, evangelists, etc. Also, lumping seed and crop into a nebulous concept of “money” has led to some brothers and sisters in Christ attempting to give percentages far in excess of what was required under the Old Covenant you’re not under. Finally, it’s all a ship at sea until it’s realized spendable/disposable income.

19:14-15 See 1 Samuel 8:6-7 and Luke 23:2-3.

19:16 The king only ended up talking to three of the ten servants in this story. It sounds like this one went looking for lost coins like in Luke 15, unlike the religious leaders that did not pursue Zaccheus in the story before this.

19:20 See Luke 11:52 and John 5:37-40. He disobeyed what the king told him in verse 13. Worse yet, the religious leaders tried to cover up the truth about Jesus Christ (Luke 11:52, Matthew 28:12-15).

19:21 It seems like he wasn’t too afraid of him or he wouldn’t have disobeyed. Maybe he thought he wasn’t coming back (verse 14).

19:22 Christians, while reigning with Him now in spirit, will inherit the universe like an amped-up Deuteronomy 6:10-11 scenario. He won’t call any believer a wicked servant because Christians are His friends instead of His servants (John 15:15) and more than this, His family (John 1:12, Hebrews 2:11). Still not convinced? Are being wicked, being lazy, dereliction of duty, etc., sins with punishment waiting at the end of this parable? Did Jesus not do a good enough job taking away your sins? Was God lying when He said He would not remember your sins anymore?

19:24-26 Human effort accomplishes nothing (John 6:63). See Romans 4:4-5. Like in Matthew 13:12 and Mark 4:25, understanding Him is the key. If you have Him, you have everything. See Luke 13:24-30.

19:27 Again, this sounds like a reference to Archelaus. The people that didn’t want Jesus to be king got killed similarly in 70 AD, but it’s not like He was happy about it (Matthew 23:37, Luke 19:41) or didn’t warn them. See also Isaiah 66:24.

19:28-29 Regarding the Mount of Olives, David followed this route when he left Jerusalem in 2 Samuel 15:23-30. See also Ezekiel 11:23 and Zechariah 14:4. Jesus ascended to Heaven from it in Luke and Acts. He’s coming back to it when He returns (Acts 1:9-12).

19:30-31 like in Zechariah 9:9.

19:36 like in 2 Kings 9:13. The people saw part of Zechariah 9 being fulfilled, so they expected to see judgment exercised upon their enemies soon.

19:38 like Psalm 118:26.

19:40 like Joshua 24:27 and Habakkuk 2:11.

19:41 like 2 Kings 8:11.

19:42 like Isaiah 59:8.

19:43 like Isaiah 29:3. Titus (the Roman military leader who later became an emperor, not the Bishop of Crete that Paul wrote a letter to) did this.

19:44 He was standing right there talking to them.

19:45 See Zechariah 14:21.

19:46 See Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11. Luke (oddly) and Matthew remove the “for all nations” from Isaiah 56:7. Mark kept the Gentiles in. I don’t think Matthew was written first, but there are people that do. Matthew lacking that bit and Mark adding it sounds plausible, but Luke looking at both of them and removing it again in a gospel written in Greek to a man named Theophilus does not.

20:1-2 Rabbis could only re-interpret Scripture with the support of sponsoring rabbis that had been granted that authority themselves.

20:3-8 Jesus beat them at their own game.

20:9 For context, please read Isaiah 5. Yes, all of it. It’s short. The first seven verses said that the events of 586 BC were coming, and the rest of it explained why. The events of 70 AD rhymed with the events of 586 BC. Also, if landlording was evil by default, Jesus would have picked a different example.

20:10-12 See Luke 11:47-51.

20:13-15 Jesus was crucified outside the city (Hebrews 13:11-13).

20:17 See Psalm 118:22-23.

20:18 See Isaiah 8:14-15 and Daniel 2:34-35,44.

20:24 The coin had “Son of the Divine Augustus” on it along with the graven image of Caesar (Exodus 20:23).

20:25 The coin looked like Caesar, but Caesar (like all humanity) was made in the Image of God (Genesis 1:27), to Whom we owe everything (1 Corinthians 4:7). He already owns everything (Exodus 19:5, Deuteronomy 10:14), so we have nothing to give Him except gratitude (Hebrews 13:15-16) and living unto Him (Romans 12:1), which is the only fulfilling way of life for a saint anyway.

20:27 See 1 Corinthians 15; eternal life is not just more of the same. There were hints at the afterlife throughout the Old Testament: Daniel 12:2-3, Isaiah 26:19, Ezekiel 37, Psalm 16:10-11, Psalm 6:5, Psalm 115:17, Job 19:25-27…

20:28 in Deuteronomy 25:5.

20:29-33 This resembles the plot of Tobit. They were well-educated; they just didn’t believe.

20:34-36 “no longer die…like the angels” The immortality is the sense in which we will resemble the angels. Marriage is a promise to remain together until death. There is no death in Heaven. Since it seems that angels are capable of sexual activity (remember Genesis 6), I’ll let you speculate about what being like the angels is like. After all, the problem in Genesis 6 was “strange flesh” or going outside the proper category, much like the prohibition of bestiality. Then again, we’ll all be siblings as God’s children. Then again, we’re all siblings as God’s children as Christians now and marrying within the faith is encouraged rather than incestuous. (Husbands and wives being “brothers” and “sisters” within the early church got us accused of incest by the Romans.)

20:37-38 They claimed that only the first five books of the Bible were canonical, so He used an example (Exodus 3:6) from those books to instruct them. He meets us where we are. Saying “I am the God…” is like saying that “I am still the God…” as opposed to “I was the God…”. Jesus spoke of Jacob rather than Israel; He’s our God before we get our act together, too. For another deuterocanonical text these Sadducees might have been familiar with, see 4 Maccabees 7:19 and 4 Maccabees 16:25.

20:42-43 in Psalm 110:1.

20:44 By being fully God and fully human born as a descendant of David. See Psalm 16:10, Psalm 110:1, Isaiah 9:6, 2 Samuel 7:16, Isaiah 11:1, and Jeremiah 23:5. Knowing that Jesus is God and Jesus is a fully human descendant of David defeats the heresies we’ll see addressed tangentially in the Epistles. Adoptionism denied the pre-existence of Christ; it said that Jesus was born merely human but was later "adopted" or chosen by God to become the Son of God at some point in his life, usually during his baptism. That is false, because He wouldn’t have been around for David to call Him Lord. Docetism taught that Jesus only appeared to be human rather than wear filthy flesh and that his physical body was an illusion. Docetism was a precursor to Gnosticism and is a logical result of Platonism’s spirit-good-matter-bad outlook. Why would a hologram of a descendant of David be different from any other phantom? Real Jesus (that has really existed since before the universe we live in was created) really bled real blood and really died for a few days. See Isaiah 53:5-6, 1 John 1:1, Leviticus 17:11, and Hebrews 9:22.

20:46 Not even the king was to think of himself as of greater worth than anyone (Deuteronomy 17:19-20). See Proverbs 30:11-14

20:47 God warned them repeatedly against ripping off widows. See Luke 21:4-6.

21:1-4 Plenty of pastors will tell you how admirable the widow was for putting all she had to live on into the Temple treasury. Notice that this story happened right after Jesus condemned those who take widow’s houses and right before Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple. If someone wearing the equivalent of a Rolex asks you for money for their ministry, do not give them your rent money.

21:5-6 The Western or Wailing Wall is just part of the platform the Temple stood on. This threat was always on the table (Leviticus 26:31-32). This is a continuation of Luke 21:47. See the entirety of Jeremiah 7.

21:7 All of Jesus’ remarks here are pointed at the two questions “when” and “what” as they are phrased in Mark 13 (compared to Matthew 24), in case apparent differences with accounts in the other gospels are of interest to you.

21:8 There were many Jewish insurrections against the Romans, and more than a few involved Messiah claimants (Acts 5:36-38). About a hundred years after Jesus said this, a man that rabbis claimed was the Messiah named Simon bar Kokhba led a failed revolt against the Roman Empire. Jews were banished from Jerusalem, and the region was renamed for their ancestral enemies the Philistines: “Palestine”. The early Church had maintained a closer relationship with Judaism to utilize their exemption from worshiping the emperor, but Christianity started forgetting its roots after the Bar Kokhba revolt; distance from Judaism became politically expedient.

21:9-10 See Jeremiah 51:46 and Ezekiel 7:26. The “end” could be the end of the Temple age in an early fulfillment in 70 AD; multiple fulfillments of a verse are always possible, etc. If Paul ever saw the amount of vitriol traded by self-professed Christians over the Internet about different interpretations of prophecy, Paul’s Letter to the People With Fancy, Conflicting Wall Charts and Apocalypse Bunkers Full of Beef Jerky might have made it into the Book (possibly right after the letters to the Thessalonians).

21:11 “pestilences” like a plague in the Roman Empire in 65 AD; “signs from heaven” like Halley’s Comet in 66 AD resembling a big sword in the sky.

21:12-15 This summarizes a lot of the Book of Acts. See Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 for an example of the promised extemporaneous speeches.

21:16-17 This is still going on in parts of the world today, but there was also the Roman persecution of 64 AD under Nero (likely when Peter was crucified and Paul was beheaded). Some people panicked and ratted out other Christians.

21:18 You cannot really harm or kill a Christian. We are eternal beings. He can give us back whatever was taken or something even better.

21:19 In Matthew 10:22-23, standing firm to the end involved fleeing persecution. No one doubts the faith of martyrs, but other people might need reassurance after panicking and running away.

21:20 Compare this verse with Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 and the accompanying notes. Also, the historical material we covered right before Matthew might be helpful if you need a refresher as to why the armies were coming to Jerusalem.

21:21-24 He told them to flee (like Jeremiah 51:45) to the mountains (Ezekiel 7:16) because Rome had the other ways blocked. Merely saying this many things that sounded like the prophets that predicted the events of 586 BC would have been a big hint that something similar was coming. People that believed what Jesus said bugged out to Pella in 66 AD before the internecine infighting, siege, and eventual destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Remember that in the gospels, Jesus was addressing a first century Jewish audience. “Christians” didn’t exist until after Pentecost (and that name for us came a little later). The crowds who were interested in His teachings and healings before the Crucifixion who went back to their normal lives and didn’t bug out for Pella with the Church would have needed the instructions to flee the most, and the disciples repeating His practical guidance regarding prophecy being fulfilled before their eyes was really convincing.

21:25-26 Compare this bit from the Olivet Discourse to the apocalyptic imagery of Isaiah 24:1, Jeremiah 4:23-28, Micah 7:13, and Zephaniah 1. Isaiah’s word for “earth” can be “land” or “territory”, because otherwise the scattered inhabitants from Isaiah 24:1 would be astronauts. Jeremiah 4 uses images of the end of the world and of creation being unmade in reverse to describe Babylon attacking Judah. Likewise, Zephaniah 1 parallels Jeremiah 4.

21:27-28 See Daniel 7:13-14. Since the Son of Man coming with the clouds refers to His enthronement in Heaven again which happened before Pentecost (Acts 2:33), when they “see” they realize that He was telling the truth about Himself when the things He predicted like the Temple’s destruction in 70 AD happened.

21:32 “this generation” sounds like His hearers in the early thirties AD would see all of this fulfilled somehow within their earthly lifespans. Jesus told them Rome would wreck everything just like in Jeremiah’s warnings about the Babylonians. Within one biblical generation, 40 years, it happened. Jesus prophesied what Josephus called The Jewish Wars with Rome culminating with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and He did so during an unprecedented period of stability, the “Pax Romana”.

21:34 In other words, “don’t let the events of 70 AD catch you by surprise.” As for “drunkenness”, remember that Jesus partied enough with enough sinners to be accused of being a glutton and a drunkard (Matthew 11:19) and that His first miracle was providing at least 120 gallons of wine to people that were already drunk (John 2). Biblical drunkenness is accidentally-fathering-your-own-grandchildren drunk.

21:35 “whole earth” If you have access to a concordance, look at the entry for “earth” in this verse. It’s a word with many meanings, like “land”. The land where your crops are planted and on which you stand, the country you are in, and the planet are among the possible meanings; the “whole earth” in context seems to be the Land of Judah/Judea. Yes, the end of the world is coming for everyone as is death, the end of an individual’s world, so let’s all be ready by accepting Christ.

21:36 “always on the watch” Sleeping is allowed; Jesus slept (Luke 8:23). Now, apply this appreciation for Jewish cultural hyperbole to every absolute you find (like we discussed about Luke 14:33’s “everything”) in the text. About “stand before the Son of Man”, that’s the same “stand before” in Daniel 7:10. The Son of Man gets authority from the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7:14. He told first century Jews to pray for this; much like the things we talked about in the Sermons on the Mount and Plain that are already ours, Christians already have this. See Jude 24, Romans 14:4, Romans 8:31-33, Hebrews 13:20-21, Philippians 1:6, Philippians 2:13, and Hebrews 7:25.

21:37-38 “all the people” If you weren’t already convinced that much of what He’s been saying has been evangelistic appeals to outsiders (instead of fear mongering for Christians who were told to fear not, and that our sins are remembered no more), here’s another fine place to get on board the grace train.

22:1 The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread are described in Exodus 12:12-28. Sometimes, these get lumped together and called “Passover”. Numbers 28:16-24 and Luke 22:1 are examples. This is how Jesus and His disciples ate “Passover” (or eretz Peshach, depending on whom you ask) together, and yet Jesus died as the Passover lambs were being slain (John 19:14-16) and the Jewish leaders were anxious about being able to eat the Passover (John 18:28). The old feast in remembrance of past deliverance became the occasion to introduce a new one, Communion/Lord’s Supper/Eucharist…

22:3 Judas wasn’t a believer (John 6:64), and born-again Christians only began to exist after Pentecost. The evil one cannot touch you (1 John 5:18) let alone possess you. Jesus, living inside you, is the best Exorcist ever, and He’s not interested in demonic roommates.

22:7 “had to be sacrificed” Read Isaiah 52:13 through Isaiah 53:12 again.

22:15 “eagerly desired” Here is another instance of that Greek word “epithumeo” (roughly, to set the heart upon) that obscures the differences between strong desire, lust, inordinate lust, and coveting when looking at Hebrew ideas in Greek.

22:17 In Luke, the order is cup, then bread, then cup again. We eat and drink to commemorate the salvation that was accomplished once for all time by Jesus on our behalf. It is not a magic ritual to force God to forgive us little by little because we performed the symbolic actions in the correct order and said the right words.

22:18 See Isaiah 25:6. Given Jesus’ habits so far and the timing of this statement, this is more of another death prediction than an impromptu Nazirite vow. He is with us (Matthew 18:20) as well as united with us, and we are raised and seated in Heaven with Him even now (Ephesians 2:6), so you may have had a few drinks with Him at Communion or otherwise already.

22:19 He’s not dying again and again (Hebrews 9:24-28), so we’re just remembering what He did for us.

22:20 See Exodus 24:3-8.

22:21 See Psalm 41:9.

22:24 They were arguing about their ranks even here. I guess it was logical if they finally understood that He would be absent in body.

22:27 See John 13.

22:30 “judging” in the sense of ruling, like the Book of Judges. See Psalm 2, Daniel 7:14, and Isaiah 53:12.

22:31-33 Peter denying his Master to the point of even taking false oaths in God’s Name would have been seen by a first century audience as betrayals of Jesus rivaling Judas’. Here’s a reminder that they all fled despite swearing not to as seen in Matthew 26:35. While we can encourage each other as believers, ultimately it is Jesus that carries us to completion (Philippians 1:6).

22:36-38 God's people were never called to complete pacifism. Remember, we discussed God's exclusive right to vengeance, the “resist” vs. “vexed by” distinction, and the difference between an insult and attacks on the Image of God back in the Sermon on the Mount. The principle of preserving human lives because we are made in the image of God extended to protecting ourselves and others from attacks. Killing an attempted murderer to stop him was not questioned because if he were successful, Genesis 9:6 would have demanded his death anyway. (It is this same principle at work in the treatment of ectopic pregnancies. As for the broader topic of abortion, another author summed up most other cases as a human sacrifice to the god of convenience featuring the most helpless and innocent victim by human standards being killed by his or her own mother and a doctor who has sworn to do no harm, and it is hard to think of something that would excite the Accuser more.) Being martyred for a greater love of God and sacrificing your life to save a neighbor’s are exceptions derived from the two greatest commands in the Law; the default position has always been closer to the times God helped Abraham (Genesis 14) and David (1 Samuel 30) go kill kidnappers to get their people back, which is a historical justification for the concept of a “just war”. Jesus told his disciples that they would need swords as they spread the word. When He said "That's enough" it can be read as "That's enough talk" rather than "That's enough swords". He was already going to be numbered with the transgressors when the religious leaders said His Messianic claims were an affront to Rome; He didn’t need his entourage to carry two swords to set Him up as a revolutionary. He even denied it in verse 52. The legitimate use of force by governments and militaries is upheld in Romans 13. John the Baptist didn’t disarm Roman soldiers. The armies that oppose Christ die violently when He returns in Revelation 19, and we’ll be riding with Him. He’s the Prince of Peace in our hearts, and peace in the world will happen under the iron rod of His hegemony (Psalm 2:9); there is no contradiction, because the Bible is very informative about how kind and how severe God can be (Romans 11:22). Finally, would Paul have chosen the sermon examples of the Armor of God and the Sword of the Spirit if fighting were forbidden in all contexts? A modern pastor hopefully wouldn’t tell you to drive the Truck of Brotherhood packed with the Coffee Grounds of Good Will to smuggle the Uncut Cocaine of the Grace of God to a lost and hurting world, would he? If you choose to be a responsible gun owner as allowed by your government (Romans 13), be safe, don't harm anyone outside the scenarios God's traditional character allows, don't scandalize anyone with your behavior, and don't get into heated arguments with believers that think differently.

22:39 See 1 Kings 11:7. The Son of God’s betrayal happened at the old child sacrifice site.

22:42 He drank the cup of God’s wrath for us, similar to the one in Isaiah 51:17-23.

22:44 This extreme display of emotion stands out against the more-palatable-to-Stoics presentation of Jesus usually seen in Luke. The weather was not warm, either (Luke 22:55, John 18:18).

22:46 “temptation” to break their promise to stay with Him (Matthew 26:35). He prayed for them (Luke 22:31-32) and intercedes for us (Hebrews 7:25 and 1 John 2:1).

22:48 like betrayal with a kiss in 2 Samuel 20:9-10 and identification of a king in 1 Samuel 10:1.

22:51 Jesus got Pete off the hook for attacking that guy, too. Since Jesus is one with the Father (John 10:30) and therefore shares the Old Testament God’s stance on violence, this exhortation amounts to “Don’t block the Cross, Pete!”

22:70 Perhaps you have heard “You said it” or “Word!” expressed in agreement with something before?

23:3-4 See Luke 22:70 note. John 18:36 explains why Pilate saw nothing wrong with this.

23:7 Herod was in town for Passover.

23:9-10 like Isaiah 53:7.

23:11 The fancy robe you saw the soldiers put on Him in the other gospels arrived in the story here.

23:19,25 “Barabbas” means “son of the father”; he was charged with participating in an insurrection (Mark 15:7) similar to what Jesus’ accusers pinned on Him (John 19:12). Jesus died for my sins, and I walk free.

23:26 This would have been after Jesus, fully human, was too exhausted to carry it anymore. Tiring the convict out so they were easier to nail down was part of the punishment. The Romans (and other cultures before them they had learned from) crucified thousands of people, sometimes lining major roads with victims. They were proficient at the procedure by then. Simon from Cyrene’s son (Mark 15:21) Rufus gets a shout-out in Romans 16:13.

23:28-29 “you…” This sounds very much like “this generation”.

23:30 See Hosea 10:8.

23:31 like the cursed fig tree in Matthew 21 and Mark 11. The years leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple were marked by infighting among various factions, murder, theft, rape and other sex crimes, etc., per Josephus’ “The War of the Jews” (or The Jewish War, depending on your public domain text source) Book 4, Chapter 9, Section 10. Subsequently, Rome intervened to restore order. Passover pilgrims and Zealots/refugees from Galilee got stuck in Jerusalem during the siege (like Ezekiel 22:19-22) resulting in an even higher death toll.

23:32-33 See Isaiah 53:12; He was numbered with the transgressors. Luke’s account of the Crucifixion skips Matthew and Mark’s references to Psalm 22.

23:34 See Isaiah 53:12; He intercedes for transgressors. See 2 Chronicles 24:22; rather than asking for justice, He forgives. These people didn’t even ask Him for forgiveness. We are among the killers He forgave, because killed Him with our sins (Isaiah 53:5). Only Jesus forgives perfectly; only Jesus fulfilled the Law including Leviticus 19:18. He stands in the gap for us (Ezekiel 22:30, Hebrews 7:25) even better than Abe’s bargaining in Genesis 18 and Moses’ in Deuteronomy 9. (You can also see the Father’s heart in hints that He wants to be talked out of punishing people, like in Deuteronomy 9:14).

23:35 See Psalm 22:7-8.

23:36 See Psalm 69:21.

23:39 “criminals” These guys are frequently called “thieves”, but they were violent revolutionaries. Robbing and killing Romans and Roman sympathizers, robbing to live, or robbing to support the cause was just part of the lifestyle. We were once God’s enemies and rebellious against His rule, too (Romans 5:10).

23:40 The criminal repented of Mark 15:32.

23:41 The criminal admitted his own sinfulness and Jesus’ righteousness…

23:42 …and recognized Him as the Messiah. Therefore…

23:43 Therefore, the criminal was saved. We are saved by grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone. Believers are placed into Christ by virtue of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20-23. The criminal was never baptized, never ate Communion, never attended a Christian church service, never read the New Testament, and never performed any religious works or good deeds subsequent to his conversion that “fruit inspectors” would see as proof of salvation. Also, notice that Jesus said that he would be in Paradise with Him “today”. Our experience of time leads Paul to say that Christians who die “sleep” until the last trumpet but also that we are eternal beings seated in Heaven with Christ now. Christians that are absent from their body are present with the Lord immediately. They are not stuck in a waiting room, or in Purgatory, etc. It seems like when you “die” and leave the concept of time, you immediately experience getting your new body at the last trumpet. Moreover, it looks like Jesus didn’t say that He would leave him waiting in Paradise while He went to Hell for three days, either.

23:44 See Jeremiah 33:20-21; Levites were no longer part of the deal.

23:45 See Isaiah 25:7. The curtain kept humanity’s unholiness away from God; after Jesus finished His work (John 1:29, John 19:30) there was no need for it. Also, fathers would tear their garments upon hearing of the deaths of their children (Job 1:20). In Matthew and Mark, the curtain was torn after He died. Here, the “And…” suggests it was more or less simultaneous, and quibbling over words unnecessarily isn’t good (2 Timothy 2:14).

23:46 See Psalm 31:5 and Hebrews 9:16-28. The same word was used for “will”, “testament, and “covenant”. The Old Covenant began with animal sacrifices and sprinkling blood on the people. The New Covenant began at Jesus’ death. The fancy mostly-blank piece of paper saying “The New Testament” belongs at this point in the story in all four gospels.

23:47 The Gentile believed more easily than His own people.

23:50-53 A wealthy saved Pharisee with the ability to approach Pilate and get what he asks for appears suddenly in the story. Rather than viewing him as a cynical attempt by the author to fulfill Isaiah 53:9, I think he was the rich young ruler that received a lesson about salvation being impossible for humans. He didn’t give everything, but he gave Jesus his own grave like all Christians do because He died for us. See Deuteronomy 21:22-23 and Galatians 3:13. Emphasizing the “new” tomb means the one known occupant of that tomb rose from the dead and there wasn’t a switcheroo with Joseph’s grandpa or something.

23:54-56 Since Passover includes extra Sabbaths (Numbers 28:18,25), various timelines have been offered. Whether you’re into Good Friday or Holy Wednesday, you have verses like Hosea 6:2 or Exodus 19:10-11’s reckoning of what the “third day” means to support you. He got back up; let’s all get along.

24:1-12 Matthew 28 includes a few more details about how this happened with the earthquake and the angel. It seems that Mary Magdalene ran to Peter between verses two and three (John 20:2), and the word “they” signifies the rest of the women. The women meet Jesus at some point relative to this in Matthew 28, and Mary Magdalene is emphasized in John 20. In Luke, Pete’s meeting with the risen Christ has happened by verse 34. 1 Corinthians 15:5-8 summarizes these and more post-Resurrection appearances by Jesus.

24:4 Two angels reminiscent of the two angels on top of the Ark of the Covenant, or that guarded the Holy of Holies, or that investigated Sodom, etc. Their “clothes that gleamed” are also translated “dazzling robes”, and I can’t help but think of Ric Flair. Israel’s identity was formed through wrestling (Genesis 32).

24:15-16 Our resurrection bodies won't necessarily be covered with eyes like some depictions of angels or always glow like metal in a forge; we will likely resemble (or have the ability to resemble) normal humans. Mary Magdalene mistook Jesus for a gardener in John 20. Whatever touches Jesus is healed. His divinity and our humanity are compatible; He sanctified our grubby little lives. For us, sin, suffering, and death are defeated. A cut flower in a glass of water can still bloom for a while, but it is dead. At our bodily resurrection, our victory will be visible and permanent, and it’s only a matter of time. See 1 Corinthians 15:20-58.

24:18 This may have been the husband of a witness to the Crucifixion (John 19:25).

24:25-27 There were so many hints and predictions. For starters: Genesis 3, Genesis 12, Genesis 22, Joseph’s story, Genesis 49, Numbers 24:17, Deuteronomy 18:15-19, 2 Samuel 7, 1 Chronicles 17, Psalm 2, Psalm 16, Psalm 22, Psalm 103, Psalm 110, Psalm 118, Isaiah 9, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 49, Isaiah 53, Zechariah 9, Zechariah 14…

24:30-31,35 There’s a reason that the miracle of feeding five thousand men and their families is in all of the gospels.

24:32 “hearts burning” like John Wesley’s “strange warming” of the heart that he experienced while listening to Luther’s writings about the Book of Romans. He learned about the new heart God gives us when we believe in Christ, he learned to trust Christ alone for salvation, and he had the assurance that salvation had been given to him as a result of what Christ had done. He preached some sermons about salvation by faith and about God’s grace. Then, instead of joining the Lutherans or something (not that any “-ism” is entirely biblical), he went on to inspire a few more works-obsessed and “progressive sanctification”-flavored (allegedly getting cleaner little by little despite many verses to the contrary) spinoffs of the Church of England. You don’t graduate from grace. At the time of this writing, United Methodism is birthing new denominations through infighting. The dissidents on both sides of the main issue have other existing denominations that already agree with their positions they could go join, but making up new slightly different churches is probably the most Methodist thing to do. I only bring this up because it’s related to the verse, it’s a good introduction to Paul’s struggle to maintain unity in the early church, and I’m more familiar with this material than the unbiblical stuff going on in other denominations.

24:36-37 They were conditioned to think of ghosts as demonic trickery (Luke 16:26).

24:38-43 Details like this are emphasized since one of the proto-Gnostic heresies within the early Church was that Jesus didn’t really come here as a lowly human being (2 John 7).

24:46 like Hosea 6:2.

24:47 Gentile inclusion was always part of the plan (Deuteronomy 32:21, Isaiah 66:18). “Quit your sinning, and He’ll start being nice” was not new, and the old news was not the good news by default. They already had Ezekiel 18, Zechariah 1:4, Joel 2:12-14, Isaiah 55:7, Isaiah 1:10-20, etc. Therefore, “repent” or metanoia also means to change their minds (like in Hebrews 7:21) or turn toward belief in Jesus Christ as Messiah; to believe Luke 4:18-21. Gentile repentance away from idols and from sins against the Noahide Laws is also accomplished by turning toward Christ. He doesn’t lead us into that stuff (Hebrews 13:20-21). There is unconditional forgiveness for all who turn to Him (John 3:16-17).

24:48-49 The Holy Spirit arrived early in the sequel to this book, which is the Book of Acts.

24:50-53 Bethany is on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives. This ascension is not in some of the manuscripts and seems to have been added to make Luke a standalone book apart from Acts, which tells us about the forty days of additional New Covenant teachings Jesus gave them.

One more gospel to go: are you ready for another trip back to the Old Covenant? Don’t give up yet. I feel like I’ve been covering the same ground over and over again because I have. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are similar. John is different. John 14:26 says that the Spirit would remind the disciples of what Jesus said, and John had time to listen for the things you don’t see in the other gospels.

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