CHAPTER 18

(A.D. 33)

PERSEVERING PRAYER

¹And He spoke a Parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray (without a proper prayer life, Faith cannot be truly exercised, irrespective to how much it is claimed) and not to faint (dont lose heart; believe and keep praying);

²Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man (but yet, a poor widow woman, without influence, was able to bend him to her will):

³And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of my adversary (do me justice).

⁴And he would not for a while (at the beginning, he paid her no mind): but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;

⁵Yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me (means that every time the judge looked up she was there, and he gave her that for which she asked!).

⁶And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge says (if such a judge will in the end listen to the petition of a supplicant for whom he cares nothing, will not God surely listen to the repeated prayer of someone whom He loves with a deep, enduring love?).

⁷And shall not God avenge His Own elect (especially considering that God is not unjust, as was that judge), which cry day and night unto Him (keep on praying), though He bear long with them? (Even though the judge delayed for selfish indifference, God at times delays for an all-wise purpose, depending on what is asked, or whether one has Faith or not.)

⁸I tell you that He will avenge them speedily (is the assurance that God will answer prayer, and in comparison to man, He will answer speedily). Nevertheless when the Son of Man comes, shall He find faith on the Earth? (Considering that the Church has been taken out of the world, at the Second Coming there wont be very much Faith in the world; nevertheless, this will not stop or hinder the Second Coming.)

THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN

⁹And He spoke this Parable unto certain which trusted in themselves (self-righteousness) that they were righteous, and despised others (the twin curse of self-righteousness):

¹⁰Two men went up into the Temple to pray (only one would be heard by God, who would probably be the very opposite of the one most men would choose); the one a Pharisee (a fundamentalist, who claimed to believe all the Bible), and the other a Publican (a tax-collector, referred to by Israel as traitors and, thereby, beyond Salvation).

¹¹The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself (meaning that his prayer got no further than himself; even though it was directed toward God, it was not heard by God), God, I thank You, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican (he put himself on a much higher plane than the Publican; he actually asked the Lord for nothing, and thats exactly what he received; as far as he was concerned, he had everything, have need of nothing [Rev. 3:17]).

¹²I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess (Verse 11 portrays relative righteousness and this Verse portrays works righteousness, both rejected by the Lord).

¹³And the Publican, standing afar off (means he did not feel free to come close to the Temple appointments as had the Pharisee), would not lift up so much as his eyes unto Heaven (refers to him realizing and admitting just how unclean he actually was), but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner (brought instant results because the plea was based upon Atonement and not on self-righteousness; every afternoon at 3 oclock the evening Lamb was offered up as a propitiation for the sins of that day; the Publican pleaded forgiveness and acceptance because of the merit of that atoning blood; it foreshadowed the Atoning Death of the Lamb of God, Who was Himself the Propitiation, i.e., the Mercy-Seat).

¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his house justified (declared a righteous man; there are no degrees in Justification; one is either justified totally, or not justified at all!) rather than the other (the Pharisee who depended on his self-righteousness was not justified and, therefore, lost): for every one who exalts himself shall be abased (rejected); and he who humbles himself shall be exalted (proclaims the basis for acceptance by God).

LITTLE CHILDREN

¹⁵And they brought unto Him also infants, that He would touch them: but when His Disciples saw it, they rebuked them (erroneously thinking that Jesus should not be bothered with such).

¹⁶But Jesus called them unto Him (called the parents with their infants), and said, Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the Kingdom of God (Jesus is presenting an object lesson; a little child is completely dependent on its parents or guardians; likewise, we are to be totally dependent in the same manner on the Lord).

¹⁷Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein (the greatest hindrance to entering the Kingdom of God is the refusal of many to humble themselves before God; it is the pride factor, which is the opposite of little children).

THE RICH YOUNG RULER

¹⁸And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? (Inasmuch as this is detailed three times [Mat. 19:16; Mk. 10:17; Lk. 18:18] tells us that the Holy Spirit strongly desires that the message be heeded. In the first place, Eternal Life cannot be inherited, it being a free gift from God upon Faith in Christ and His Atoning Work.)

¹⁹And Jesus said unto him, Why do you call Me good? (He really did not conclude Jesus to be the Messiah, which is what the word good denotes.) none is good, save One, that is, God (this destroyed the entire myth of his belief; actually he thought of himself as good).

²⁰You know the Commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour your father and your mother (why did Jesus take this tact, knowing that no one could keep all the Commandments all the time? only Christ did that! Jesus addressed him in this fashion in order to show him that his ground for Salvation was faulty; if these things had Saved him, why was he still unsure?).

²¹And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up (he was serving as his own judge, which is always a sure sign of self-righteousness; and yet, Jesus, as recorded by Mark, loved him, denoting a feeling beyond the normal love that God has for all men).

²²Now when Jesus heard these things, He said unto him, Yet you lack one thing (Jesus will now hit at the heart of the matter): sell all that you have, and distribute unto the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven: and come, follow Me (this statement by Christ is not meant to institute a charity program for the poor; as needful as they may be, they are not the subjects of this conversation; this mans material possessions stood in-between him and obeying the Lord; consequently they proved a hindrance, and whatever they may have been had to be laid aside; that is, if he was to have Eternal Life).

²³And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich (proclaims the heart attitude of multiple millions; they want the Lord, but they do not desire to pay the price the Lord demands; that price is the forsaking of all else in favor of Christ).

WARNING

²⁴And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they who have riches enter into the Kingdom of God! (This was a shock to His Disciples, because the Jews of Jesus day thought that riches signified the favor of God.)

²⁵For it is easier for a camel to go through a needles eye (means a literal needle), than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God (riches arent necessarily wrong; its the dependence on these things that constitutes the wrong).

²⁶And they who heard it said, Who then can be saved? (This question proclaims the fact that their idea of Salvation was totally confused, even as it is presently.)

²⁷And He said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God (Salvation in any case is impossible with man; however, it is possible with God, and Jesus is that Salvation).

CONSECRATION

²⁸Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed You (the statement as given by Peter seems to indicate that when they first set out to follow Christ, they thought it would lead to great earthly riches; they are now seeing that they misunderstood many things).

²⁹And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man who has left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the Kingdom of Gods sake (God will owe no man anything),

³⁰Who shall not receive manifold more (many times more) in this present time (before Heaven), and in the world to come life everlasting (serving God is the greatest thing a person could ever do).

DEATH AND RESURRECTION

³¹Then He took unto Him the Twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem (which will bring Him to the end of His earthly Ministry), and all things that are written by the Prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished (pertaining to many things, but mostly the Crucifixion).

³²For He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles (that which would be done would have to be done by Rome, since the Jews had no authority to crucify anyone), and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spit on (how is it possible that they could hate Him?):

³³And they shall scourge Him (beat Him), and put Him to death (the Crucifixion): and the third day He shall rise again (His Resurrection).

³⁴And they understood none of these things (His Words fell upon deaf ears): and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken (the reason for this was that they had a Plan of God worked out in their minds, which was contrary to the Word of God).

A BLIND BEGGAR

³⁵And it came to pass, that as He was come near unto Jericho (Matthew and Mark speak of Jesus going out of Jericho when this healing took place; however, there is no discrepancy or contradiction; Luke is simply saying that as Jesus was coming into Jericho, at that particular time a blind man was sitting by the side of the highway begging, on the other side of Jericho), a certain blind man sat by the way side begging (Jesus will eventually get to him):

³⁶And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant (refers to a later time after Jesus had already entered the city, and was now actually departing).

³⁷And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passes by (this would be the greatest news that had ever fallen upon his ears).

³⁸And he cried, saying (points to his desperation and determination), Jesus, Thou Son of David (is a Messianic salutation, which means that irrespective as to what others might have said, Bartimaeus believed Jesus Christ was the Messiah), have mercy on me (seems to be a request he had studiously thought out; if Jesus did come his way, this is what he would say; in fact, this is the first recorded occasion of Jesus going to Jericho).

³⁹And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace (in other words, they told him to shut up): but he cried so much the more (he doubled his efforts), Thou Son of David, have mercy on me (it was a request that Christ would not deny).

⁴⁰And Jesus stood (stood still), and commanded him to be brought unto Him (proclaims Jesus answering Faith): and when he was come near, He asked him,

⁴¹Saying, What will you that I shall do unto you? (What a question!) And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight (one of the versions says, That our eyes might be opened and we might see you, for Matthew said there were two blind men [Mat. 20:29-34]).

⁴²And Jesus said unto him, Receive your sight: your faith has saved you (means that he was not only healed, but Saved as well).

⁴³And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God (tradition says that He followed Christ to Jerusalem, and was a staunch Believer in the Early Church; and no wonder!): and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God (incidentally, this man was not only Saved and healed, he was no longer a beggar, but rather a Child of God).