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Luke 16:14-18
We are going to have another look at the Pharisees today. But the hanging question within the passage today is, "What are you serving?" Are you serving God's interests or your own interests. Jesus says that you can only love one of them and that by the fact of that choice you will hate the other. Now that really is a heavy thought. And, yet we see Jesus speaking so as to push us off the fence. We must choose one way or another whether we will love God or the desires of our flesh.
In verses 14 and 15 there began to be some open hostility and scoffing from the religious leaders towards the teaching of Jesus on wealth and possessions. Jesus taught for us to use our wealth to bless others and bring people into the kingdom of God. Now to be a disciple of Jesus is to say that you are going to follow him and his way of living. Yet, his teachings are filled with obstacles to the way we tend to think. At every step we are tripped up and made to choose once again whether to follow Jesus or choose our own fleshly desires.
So the obstacle for these religious leaders was money. They loved money and the power it gave more than they loved Truth. But enough about them. What about me? Do I love money and its power more than I love the Truth that Jesus is speaking in this passage and others? In verse 13 Jesus warned that you can't serve money and God. Instead we can use money and wealth in order to serve God's purposes and please Him. If push comes to shove we would have to crucify its hold on our life by selling it all and giving it to the poor in order to follow Him. The looming shadow of a day of accounting in which the true nature of our heart will be laid bare should be enough to cause even the religiously calloused person to have a moment's hesitation. Yet, the Pharisees completely rejected these teachings and derided him. Literally they turned up their nose at him and scoffed at what he was saying. Regardless of how they justified their twisted views on money and wealth they pursued riches rather than pursuing the truth of God. They were content to prop up a false God in order to continue their pursuit of their true God: money. We should stop and ask the question if anything is ruling us. Money is the issue in this passage, but it could be anything. Maybe your need for acceptance by others is ruling you. Maybe your need to be in control is ruling you. If it is anything but a love for God then you will come to hate Jesus and his way. Sometimes people tell themselves that they are pursuing money so that they can do more work for God. Be careful. Wealth is a viper whose venom gets in the blood stream and affects our thinking. Yes, you can use wealth to do things for God. But you can also use God in order to justify your pursuit of wealth. Which is your true target? This is an obstacle that has taken out many a person.
The next obstacle we see here is that of self-justification. Jesus says that the Pharisees were those who justified themselves before men. There are two problems here. First is that we are the one doing the justifying. I can always make a good case for myself. But not all cases win in court. Thus the second problem is that we try to put people on the judgment seat because they are easier to fool. If I can get you to accept my case or justification then I can smuggly pat myself on the back. Yet, the day a person challenges our justification we will kick them out of the judgment seat and get someone else to take their place. In other words, we are playing a game. They aren't really the one on the judgment seat; we are. The truth is that God is the real judge and self-justification of any form will not stand before Him. He knows the secret motivations of our heart and no matter how sophisticated our arguments they will each be stripped bare before him until we alone are left guilty. Jesus warns that God detests what man esteems. It is an abomination to Him. It is also true that men tend to detest what God esteems. We tend to run from what He honors and towards what He detests. Are you willing to bet your eternal future on the case that you have made for yourself and has been accepted only by your friends?
Jesus switches gears in verses 16-18. He begins to point out that this is a new day and the religious leaders and anyone like them will not be able to continue doing "business as usual." When God restored Israel back to His land from Babylon, He spoke to them and enabled them to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the temple of the Lord. But within 100 years they had walked away from the Truth and embraced their own idea of righteousness. Thus God became silent. The next 400 years became known as the years of silence. Now please notice that if God is being silent in our life it is because He has already told us what we need to know. In fact, it might be a red flag that I am not listening to what He has already said. Many people will ignore God's Word of yesterday in order to get a "fresh" word from God today. Beware that you don't walk in rebellion. However, when John the Baptist came out of the wilderness a new day had begun. God was not just talking again, but He would soon send His greatest prophet yet, His very own Son would shine a brilliant light upon Israel and the whole world. Life would never be the same in Israel.
One of the things the Light does is it exposes the barriers that have kept people out of the Kingdom of God. The pronouncements and actions of the religious leaders had become obstacles to people putting their faith in God. The obstacle either caused people to quit trying and walk away or it caused people to join ranks among them and become a part of the obstacle itself. They refused to listen to the Truth of God's Word and thereby enter the Kingdom of God. Rather they set themselves up in the door to the Kingdom like a rabid dog and refused to let anyone go by them. The valiant stand and rebukes that Jesus made exposed this age-old problem.
Thus Jesus says that in this new day people were pressing into the Kingdom of God. Matthew 11:12, says it this way, "And from the days of John the baptist until now the kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." Don't misread the words "violent" and "violence" here. Jesus is using these terms to describe how the people who were hearing him were overcoming the opposition of the religious leaders. They were climbing over the barriers and entering into the Kingdom of God. Like shopping at Wal-mart on Christmas day it was a frenzied environment both in the natural and in the spiritual. Those who had been told they had no chance and should go away, now were pressing over such lies and grasping the hem of the garment of Jesus in order to find the touch of God. Jesus is the way and the door into the Kingdom of God. No one enters but through Him. Today the same religious arguments are raised and even new ones. Often in the name of Jesus obstacles are thrown up by people who refuse to hear the truth of God's Word. But the blazing light of the teaching of His Son strips these arguments bare and reveals them for what they are. Still today the "unlearned" often enter ahead of the learned.
In verses 17-18 Jesus points the Pharisees back to the Law that they pretended to obey. He says that none of it will fall or fail. It is going to be upheld against those who persist in self-righteousness, like they were doing. But to those who recognize their sin, yield to God, and follow Jesus a new law is given. It is the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. Thus ask yourself the question. Will I be judged by the law of Moses or by the Law of the Spirit? In Romans 8:1-2, Paul places two concepts against each other. On one side is walking according to the flesh and being under the Law of sin and death. On the other side is walking according to the Spirit and being under Freedom (the law of the Spirit). James picks up on this very same thing in his letter (2:12-13). He warns his hearers that if they cling to self-righteousness over the top of sin they will be judged by the law of sin and death. Yet, if we hear the Spirit point out our sin and repent of it, we will be judged by the law of liberty. The follower of Jesus is to speak and live as one who will be received into heaven because of great mercy, not by his own righteousness. Your righteousness or Christ's righteousness, we must all chose. You can't hold on to both. Let us choose Jesus!