KINGDOM CONTROVERSIES

This chapter began with bad news. The disciples had been watching CNN when they heard of terrorist attacks and building collapses and this brought up the question of why do some people suffer? Jesus took the opportunity to teach the necessity of repentance.

As we come to verses 10 and following, this passage appears to have nothing to do with the verses that have gone before. But closer examination reveals that this is not the case. The subject has not changed. It is still repentance in the light of the coming Kingdom.

When we hear preaching about repentance, we are inclined to evoke pictures of a drunkard or a murderer or a fellow who smokes, chews and runs around with girls who do. It was this kind of mental picture that made Peter ask, "Lord, are you preaching at us or at them?"

The problem isn’t that sinners are too bad to be saved. The problem is that religious people think that they are good enough not to need saving. That was seen in this first account.

We have already seen a number of different miracles wrought by Jesus. They were given as signs to point to His true identity. They were His credentials. But now that we have had such an extensive look at His bona vides, why does Luke tell us about still another miracle?

It is because of where and when this miracle took place. The setting for this miracle was in a synagogue. This is quite different from the Temple. There was only one Temple and it was located in Jerusalem; but there were many synagogues. Any town or village that had at least ten Jewish men could boast a synagogue. This was the place where the people would come together each Sabbath day to worship and to pray and to sing praises and to hear the Scriptures.

Jesus made it His practice to attend the synagogue on the Sabbath. Because He was known for His teaching and preaching ministry, He was asked to teach on this particular Sabbath. We do not know the subject of His sermon. We do not know what Jesus said/ What we do know is what Jesus did. There is a lesson here fore preachers and teachers. Your students are more likely to remember what you DO over what you SAY. This is a lesson for parents, too. Your children will recall a lot more of what you do than what you say to them.

In the midst of His teaching, Jesus noticed a woman who was suffering from an ailment. She was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. She had been suffering from it for a very long time -- 18 years. I do not know for certain that the number is especially significant, but I could not help but to notice that in the previous paragraph Jesus spoke of eighteen people upon whom a tower had fallen.

Jesus moves to intercede. He calls her over and He gives her a promise of healing and then He takes away the affliction. Notice the progression.

Do you see it? He said to her, "You are free from your sickness" BEFORE she actually stood up. At this point, she was still bent over. She had not straightened up. She was acting as though she was still afflicted, even though Jesus had said, "You are free."

We are like that. We walk around bent over with our troubles and our loads and our legalism, never realizing that we have been made free.

There is a contrast here between the woman who was delivered from her burdensome ailment versus the synagogue official who wished to maintain the burden of his legalism upon others.

The synagogue official’s comment that there are six days available for healing sounds very pious. But this woman had evidently been coming to the synagogue for 18 years and had found no relief there. She had found only the burdens of a hypocritical judgmentalism.

Notice that he does not address Jesus or the woman. He is speaking to the crowd. He is trying to turn public opinion away from Jesus and this healing.

But there was hypocrisy in their judgment, for their own code of conduct allowed them to take care of the needs of their animals. This isn’t merely a matter of kindness to animals. The issue is that they were more interested in caring for their personal possessions than they were in seeing a woman’s suffering come to an end.

Let’s face it; you fix your flat tire on the Sabbath. You call the donkey truck and have it towed out of a ditch on the Sabbath. Do you see the point? People are more important than donkeys.

Here is the principle. Legalism always wants to make rules for someone else to follow. How often do you hear someone say, "We need to pass this rule or this law so that I will stop doing something that I should not be doing"? Legalism always has its focus upon others. In this case, this man wanted his rules to limit the power and the grace of God.

The woman had glorified God at the healing. The multitude was now rejoicing over the glorious things that were happening. There was only one person who was not rejoicing – the synagogue official. Legalism is not known for its rejoicing. Legalism says, "Don’t have any fun; it’s time to be religious." But God delights in the laughter of the redeemed.

Jesus is going to say something about the kingdom. Luke sees fit to give us these statements upon the heels of the contrast we have just seen between the healed woman and the synagogue official. A principle is going to be derived from that narrative. It is going to be used to teach us something about the Kingdom.

Here are two riddles asked by Jesus. How is the Kingdom like a mustard seed? How is the Kingdom like leaven? The answer is the same in both cases. The Kingdom starts very small and then it grows very big and when it has fully grown it influences all with whom it comes into contact.

1. The Kingdom in like a Mustard Seed.

2. The Kingdom is like Leaven.

Small beginning leading to great growth and influence. That is the underlying message of these two parables.

The church started with twelve disciples minus one. Twelve little men. They were not mighty warriors. But they were placed on this planet as the foundation of the church. And it grew and it grew and it grew. If the Gospel of Luke is the record of the planting of the leaven, then the book of Acts is the record of its growing influence.

The disciples are with Jesus and they have been watching as the opposition against Him grows. They might be thinking, "This isn’t much of a kingdom. After all, there are only 12 of us." The book of Acts had not been written yet. The words of Jesus are a promise that it would be.

The Kingdom has inevitable growth. However, there is a danger here. It is that we try to hurry the growth of the Kingdom of God by manual means. The growth of the Kingdom is not as a result of organizational ability. It is not brought about on the basis of a good Sunday School program or the right kind of seeker service. God can and does use these things to His own ends. But real kingdom growth is the result of the Spirit of life that God’s Spirit brings.

Does this mean we should not evangelize? To the contrary, this should be an impetus for evangelism, for it guarantees the results of your evangelistic efforts.

Back in Luke 9:51 we saw that Jesus had resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem. But since that time, we have not heard much about Jerusalem. Jesus has been traveling from village to village, but there has been no mention of the exact itinerary. We might even be tempted to wonder whether Jesus had forgotten all about Jerusalem. This verse reminds us that it was still on His agenda. There is a cross on the horizon and everything that Jesus says and does is said and done in that shadow of that cross.

Do you see it? The man asks, "Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?" And Jesus answered, "Make certain that you are one of those few."

There are several points made throughout this passage.

• The door is narrow and not everyone enters (13:24).

• The door is only open for a short time and then it will be shut (13:25).

• The door will only be open to those who know Jesus and who are known by Him (13:26).

• There is time for you to know Him today, but tomorrow may be too late.

• The door will be opened to many rather than just a few (13:29-30). This was the original question. Now it is finally answered. But it is not answered in the way that the question anticipated.

Remember the context. Verse 22 says that they were going to Jerusalem. This is told for a specific reason. It has direct bearing upon our understanding of the rest of the passage. Jesus is headed to Jerusalem in order to die. There is a cross with His name on it waiting for Him there.

From a strictly human point of view, going to Jerusalem does not seem the smart thing to do. Jesus has seen a successful ministry everywhere else except in Jerusalem. It would seem as though He is throwing it all away by going there.

Jesus is going to His death. Instead of new converts, there will be a cross. And it is in this context that the question is asked, "Are there many that are being saved?" The question expects a negative answer, especially if Jesus continues upon this road. It does not look as though there are many that are being saved and it appears as though there shall be even fewer saved if He continues upon this path. But the reality is that there are many more to be saved than anyone can imagine.

It will not be merely the Jews who are saved as a result of Jesus going to Jerusalem. By His death, salvation shall come to men of all the nations.

I want you to notice that Jesus does not answer the question. Instead of answering the question, Jesus turns this man’s attention to the really important question.

Pagans always want to ask about the man in Africa. But the real question is what about the pagan that lives at your home address. The real question is what about you.

Who is the first and who is the last? The answer is found in the previous two verses. Those who are cast out of the Kingdom shall now be last. But they were originally the first. They were the first to hear the Law of God. They were the first to see Jesus. They were the first to have the gospel preached to them. They are the people of the nation of Israel. When Israel rejected her Messiah, the gospel would go out to the nations.

From this point on, the last shall be first. Those who formerly sat in darkness shall see a great light (Isaiah 9:2). The people who were not God’s people shall now be known as the people of God (Hosea 1:10).

Intimidation. After all, Herod Antipas has already put John the Baptist to death. Things might become dangerous for Jesus. But Jesus refuses to be intimidated. He has a cross-shaped goal and beyond that there will be an empty tomb.

You do, too. What is the worst thing that anyone can do to you. Kill you? That is not so bad, because you have the promise of God of a new life to come. When you know this, you can never again be intimidated.

Jesus is headed for Jerusalem. He knows what will happen there. It saddens Him, not so much for His own sake, but for the sake of the city and its people.

This entire chapter has served as a backdrop of Israel’s rejection of her Messiah. In Luke 13:5-9 Jesus told a parable of an unfruitful fig tree and how it would be cut down if it remained unfruitful. The very next thing we saw was a woman who was healed by Jesus (13:10-13). He was thereby demonstrating what it meant to be a fruitful fig tree. But He is contrasted over against the attitude of the synagogue official who was more interested in his Sabbath-observance than in the power of God (13:14-15). By his attitudes, he was showing himself to be an unfruitful fig tree who was only interested in his own leaves rather than in the bearing of kingdom fruit. Finally, there is a parable given of a mustard seed that is planted and which grows to become large enough to hold the birds of the air.

Do you see the point? Israel was initially called to be a fruitful tree that would grow from the seed of Abraham to be a light to the Gentiles so that the Gentiles would come and find refuge in her branches. But instead of being a fruitful tree, Israel turned in unto herself and would not reach out to the world with the gospel. That kind of attitude led to a spiritual blindness so that when Messiah finally came He was unrecognized.