Easter PreThoughts #2

Maybe the Sunday before Palm Sunday:

If a Sunday the week before Palm Sunday, then the previous day would have been a Sabbath.  It is possible that Jesus attended the synagogue in Capernaum where He had often attended before.

Most likely that Sunday Jesus joined the throngs moving to cross the Jordan River to then turn south following the main road between Galilee and Jerusalem.  There He was challenged by Pharisees who were looking for Him in places where they could still be “clean” (not in Samaria).  Again they challenged both His message and His works.  Consider…

Luke 17:20-21, Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

The Pharisees were mocking Jesus – He claimed to be a king so they shout out, “What about this kingdom you claim?”

Jesus responded:

Luke 17:24-30, For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.  But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.  And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:  They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.  Likewise, as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed  them all.  Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

Jesus told His foes that His return would be highly visible and even spectacular AFTER He suffered at the hands of the current generation (speaking of His looming death at their hands).  He further declared that when He returned, life would be routine as was the case when Noah entered the ark and when Lot left Sodom.  People would be about daily affairs and not interested or looking for His coming.  He concluded stating, “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it” (17:33).  And then stated that at His return, those who had not given their lives to Him, would be removed from the earth.

Jesus then told two parables to give hope and wisdom to those who loved Him.

The first (Luke 18:1-8) was about a persistent widow seeking relief from an adversary.  She was constant in her cry for help.  Jesus stated (Luke 18:1), Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart…and…And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

The help for those looking for His return: the cries of God’s people do not go unnoticed and their faith brings answers.  Such faith will be sorely lacking in the end times.

A second parable for followers was about a Pharisee and a tax collector both showing their beliefs about God (Luke 18:9-14).  To those who trusted in themselves and looked down on others – they will be humbled – brought low.  To those who confess their sins and ask for mercy, they will be exalted.  Both parables had messages to the Pharisees (and to us), don’t be as Pharisees and oppress, deny, and reject others and don’t think you are better than a tax collector (someone greatly despised by the general population).