Key:
Eating / Drinking / Dining
Tax Collectors / Sinners / judgementalism – Pharisees system
Rich toward God / God’s Kingdom / heavenly system
The Law, God’s principles, Word of God
Mammon / Money / Greed
Other interesting verses
And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
And they said to Him, “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink.”
And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.'”
Luke 5:29-39
“For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
Now one of the Pharisee was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”
And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.”
“A money lender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?”
Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly. Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”
Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”
And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 7:33-50
Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table. When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal. But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you. But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places. Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”
Luke 11:37-44
Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”
But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you? Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said,’This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come;take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!
Luke 12:13-24
It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely. And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy. And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away.
And He said to them, “Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” And they could make no reply to this. And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honour at the table, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honour, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honour in the sight of all who are at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him,”Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But He said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’ Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’
And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave,’Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’
Luke 14:1-24
Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.“
So He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
And He said, “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”‘
So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’And they began to celebrate.
“Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’
“But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
“And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.'”
Luke 15:1-32
Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ The manager said to himself,’ What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me?I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.
“And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other . You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him. And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail. Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.
“Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendour every day. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.
“Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’
“But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’
“And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house — for I have five brothers–in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
“But Abraham *said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’
“But he said,’No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’
“But he said to him,’If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'”
Luke 16:1-31
Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the Kingdom of God
Blessed are you who hunger now for you will be satisfied
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh
Blessed are you when men hate you When they exclude you and insult you And reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy Because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
But woe to you who are rich for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now for you will go hungry.Woe to you who laugh now for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
Luke 6:20-26
Key:
- Eating / Drinking / Dining
- Tax Collectors / Sinners / judgementalism – Pharisees’ system
- Rich toward God / God’s Kingdom / heavenly system
- The Law, God’s principles, Word of God
- Mammon / Money / Greed
- Other interesting verses
Note how many times the Pharisees challenge Jesus about dining or being a friend to sinners and tax collectors (Luke 5:30, 7:34, 15:2), or invite Him to lunch in the presence of a “sinner”. (Luke 14:2, 16:1, 16:20) As we have seen, this is according to the Pharisees definition. In their terms, anyone who is poor or who is sick, ailing or infirmed in some way, is a sinner. It is clear isn’t it. If God allowed bad things to happen to you, then you must be a sinner. You must have deserved it. That is what the Pharisees believed. Simply by virtue of the fact that people were sick or poor, they were sinners. There were another group of sinners under their classification and rules. Those who didn’t obey the law to the nth degree or follow all the rules the Pharisees and the experts in the Law added.
As we have seen over the last days (in going back to what I wrote about Luke 6:20-26), Jesus was encouraging the disciples related to their new life as His disciples. This is just after being accused by the Pharisees for plucking grain from the fields on the Sabbath and the fact that Jesus dared to heal someone on the Sabbath. This predictably draws the criticism of the Pharisees and basically sets the scene for the following chapters all the way to Chapter 16, where we are now. These chapters are about the escalating opposition and criticism of the Pharisees. But we have seen from the analysis of the themes, that it is always about the same thing. Who they regard as sinners. As I suggested, Jesus is at first encouraging the disciples in their new found situation of being needy. This of course is diametrically opposed to what the Pharisees teach concerning the blessing of God. How could this man’s disciples possibly be poor if He is a prophet of God, much less the Messiah? God’s favour would rest upon them. It is inconceivable that Jesus disciples should have to take grain from the fields.
Having given up material blessing for the blessing of the Kingdom of God, you are indeed blessed. “Guys, you are blessed and all heavenly blessings are yours in the Kingdom. You are blessed when men hate, insult and exclude you because of Me.” Then Jesus switches focus to the Pharisees when He adds the Woes. Only Luke includes these Woes in his account. But it is not Luke who has come up with them. It’s Jesus. “This is how their fathers treated the prophets. . .” This is a reference to those who hate, exclude, insult and reject you. Then, as we saw in Gem 1086, the focus of “you” switches from the disciples to those who do these things – namely the Pharisees. If you are focused on riches in this life, then at your death you will have received all you are going to receive. Woe to you who are well fed now. If your focus is the comforts of this temporal life, including dining sumptuously and having all you can eat to the point of being stuffed with good things, without a thought for those who don’t have the same opportunities, then you will go hungry later. You are sowing into the present life and not taking care of your future life in the Life of the Age to Come. You can laugh and make merry now, but later you will weep. Take note of how many times the stories and parables Jesus tells in this series, have to do with those who focus on the idea of eating, drinking and making merry.
Note too, the two occurrences of the refrain, “What shall I do?” / “I know what I will do.” This is used in both the story of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:17-18) and in the story of the Unjust Manager (Luke 16:3-4). Is this coincidence? Just a mere literary form like an introduction to the man’s thoughts? No, I don’t think so. This refrain is showing us the nature of human thought, devoid of the understanding of God’s ways. The first of these is set in the context of the foolishness of the rich fool who wants to horde things for himself so he is at ease all his life. Me, me, me, me – or as we say, me, myself and I. He is totally and utterly focused on HIS creature comforts all life long. The second of them (in the mouth of the Unjust Manager) indicates that there has been a change of heart. This man is starting to see that the principles of God ought to apply here. He catches a glimpse of the way out of the predicament he is in. Oh, he hasn’t completely repented or asked for forgiveness for the things he has done. But he sees that he ought to put things right and at least in a rudimentary way, follow God’s principles.
These stories build the truth layer by layer, in the order in which Jesus tells them. We will return in a later Gems to analyze them more fully but at this point, it is suffice to note that the stories build the principle of God’s truth layer by layer, starting from that first banquet at Levi’s house (Luke 5). Each opportunity to dine or be confronted with “sinners” according to the Pharisees plan, reveals God’s truth layer by layer, in contrast to what the Pharisees teach. It is a masterful string of stories or parables. Take note of the way each builds truth which adds to the whole picture.
I am sure the answers to some of those early questions you asked are clear to you now.
- Do we indeed have a road map of the afterlife here or not?
- Is there a chasm between paradise and hell?
- Can you see people in either place from the other side?
- Can you see through the flames and make out the faces of people who are in torment?
- What happened to the rich man’s soul?
- What is the connection between this Lazarus and Lazarus of Bethany? Are they one and the same?
- Is the after-death life layered in some way?
- Will the holiest person be seated at the top of it?
- Did this really happen or is it a fable?
- What is the point of this story for us readers today?
- Is the point of this parable that things will be turned around for us in the after life? (So the poor will be rich and the rich will be poor – a reversal of fortunes.)
- What is the sequence of the events of end times?
- What’s the meaning of being “asleep” in Christ?
- What’s the “waiting place”? Is that what this is in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man?
- Who did Jesus preach to just prior to his resurrection?
- Are ideas linked here and Luke or Jesus is developing a theme through the whole Gospel?
Can you answer most of these questions now?
The more you grapple with these passages the more Truth comes out. That is the nature of God’s Word. Remember the saying of the rabbis, each verse has 70 facets. If that is the case, we will need a number of lifetimes.
Jealousy doesn’t show how much you love someone, it shows how insecure you are.
Anon
When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.
Francois de la Rochefoucaula
As long as we think we own anything, that thing owns us. As soon as we know that we own nothing, then God owns us.
A W Tozer
Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can.
Anon
You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.
Sam Levenson