The parable of unwilling children, Matthew 11:16-19.
(All Bible texts are from the King James Version 1611/1769, unless otherwise stated.)
This is another parable that is placed after an explanation of why John the Baptist acted as he did (verses 7-15), and woe to the cities that will not repent (verses 20-24). Here Jesus begins by saying: whereunto shall I liken … This is a common Jewish way of introducing a parable. In the previous verses, 7-15, Jesus directed the people’s thoughts to the nature and purpose of John the Baptist’s mission. In verses 16-24, Jesus turns the focus to the reception of His mission and compares it to the reception of John the Baptist.
Verse 16: But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
Verse 17: And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.
By the expression this generation, Jesus refers to the Jews who were living at the time He spoke, especially to all who had heard John the Baptist and later Jesus himself preach, and who had witnessed the mighty works that Jesus did. Most of those who heard John the Baptist preach did not understand his message correctly. And for the first time since the Garden of Eden, God’s people were blessed by the Creators presence, but most had a misunderstanding of the preaching that was given by Him. Only a few repented and accepted Jesus as their Savior. These saw John the Baptist as a prophet, and they listened to Jesus’ preaching with great joy.
What Jesus is rebuking are the religious leaders who should have had the knowledge to understand what John the Baptist preached so that they could rejoice in the coming and presence of the Savior. But they showed no joy when John the Baptist preached the first coming of Jesus, quite the opposite. They showed by their words and actions that they hated Jesus.
Jesus always used familiar images from everyday life in his parables, and here there are groups of children playing. The group playing the flutes clearly wanted to imitate a joyful event, such as a wedding, but the other group did not want to join in the joy with the first group. You have not danced. The other children refused to play, and did not respond to the suggestion of the first group.
When the second group would not join in the game where they were rejoicing, the first group turned it all on its head and began to mourn as if at a funeral. But the second group would not join in this either. The way Jesus uses the parable here is obvious. The children who would not be satisfied with anything represented the scribes and Pharisees, who criticized both John and Jesus, as we will see in verses 18 and 19.
Verse 18: For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
Verse 19: The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
Here Jesus comes to the point of the parable and tells the religious leaders that because John the Baptist did not attend feasts, without eating or drinking, they said he was possessed by a demon. For what man chooses to live as John the Baptist did without being possessed by a demon? Then Jesus goes on to say that He who lived like “normal” people was accused by the scribes of doing precisely what John the Baptist was accused of not doing, for they called Him both a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!
But what does it mean that wisdom is justified by its children? When the Jewish leaders criticized John the Baptist for one thing and Jesus for the opposite (see verses 18 and 19), they showed a complete lack of wisdom. The way they carried out their duties as leaders of the people was completely without God’s guidance. In contrast, both John the Baptist and Jesus had been guided by divine wisdom, which is clearly evident from the fruits of their work. Many people were converted because of John the Baptist’s preaching, and even more accepted Jesus as their Savior with joy when they heard His preaching.
The parable of the friend who was troublesome, Luke 11:5-8.
What Jesus wants to teach us through this parable is patience and perseverance in prayer, and that it is useful to pray. Even if we do not get the answer to our prayers right away, this parable gives us the assurance that the answer to our prayers will come. There is still a small burden in praying and receiving, and that is that our prayers must be according to God’s will. See Matthew 6:10 where it says: … … Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven.. It does us very little good to pray to pray for things for ourselves that we want and because our neighbour has this thing.
Verse 5: And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves.
Verse 6: For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
Here is a story of a man who is visited by a friend in the middle of the night, and he has nothing to offer him. How are we to understand this? This story is not about the literal understanding of the parable, for parables must always be read and understood in the same way as prophecies.
The fact that the man did not have so much as a loaf of bread to offer his visiting friend explains why he went to his neighbour and asked for help. It must therefore be the bread of life that is at stake, and the awareness that we can do nothing on our own, and that we are dependent on God for everything should lead us to the source of spiritual food. Those who truly live the gospel will nevertheless feel that they do not have what is necessary to satisfy the hunger of the one who comes to visit in the night. That is why this man asks his friend, who is the great Friend of all people, to give the bread of life to the needy.
As we see from the story, this man is not praying for himself, but for a friend in need of the most important thing we can help others with, to find the way to Jesus who is the bread of life. This man shows perseverance in prayer, and his prayer is according to God’s will and pleasure when he prays for another person.
Verse 7: And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
Verse 8: I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
To all who are sincere and humble and who pray in faith God will answer, but the answer may be no, because God sees the future and knows what will happen. Sometimes the answer we want comes right away, while at other times it may take time for the answer to come. The reason for delays may be that the one praying may have a hidden sin that is not settled with God, or it may lie with the one we are praying for, because that person does not wholeheartedly seek God.
The most important lesson, as already mentioned, is humility and perseverance in prayer, and praying according to God’s will and pleasure. He who is not persistent will not really have a «yes» in answer to his prayers.
The parable of the wicked husbandmen, Matthew 21:33-46.
In this parable we find many key words, and we will look at them as they appear in the story.
Verse 33: Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
The householder in this parable is God the Father. The vineyard is a picture of one of Israel’s national symbols, the vine, and consequently it is a symbol of Israel. At the entrance to the temple stood such a vine of gold and silver, (see Isaiah 5:1-7).
When it says that the landowner put a fence around the vineyard that is Israel, this was in the form of the Ten Commandments, and the tower symbolizes that God watched over his people. It also means that God blessed his people in every way and equipped them so that they would carry the gospel of salvation to all nations, peoples and tongues, in such a way that they could reveal God’s love.
When God had brought Israel out of captivity in Egypt, he put religious leaders over his people. These are the vineyard workers to whom the vineyard was let out to. The fact that the householder, God, went to a faraway land means that He was not physically present in his vineyard.
Verse 34: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
Verse 35: And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
Verse 36: Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
Gradually, God sent servants, that is, prophets, to his people to lead them on the right path so that they could bear fruit. Several of the prophets have their books in the Bible, while there are many who have left nothing written. That God raised up prophets was something He did again and again, but the people would not listen to them. They killed them instead.
Verse 37: But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
Verse 38: But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
Verse 39: And they caught him, and cast [him] out of the vineyard, and slew [him].
These three verses summarize the saddest part of the history of Israel and the Jews. The householder then sent his son, Jesus, to reap the fruit that His people should have borne, but when the religious leaders saw Jesus they understood that He was the Son of God, and they killed Him too. When the Jewish religious leaders said they had no king but Caesar, they renounced their birthright to be God’s people and emphasized this when they stoned Stephen three and a half years after Jesus was crucified.
Verse 40: When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
Verse 41: They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out [his] vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
Both parables and prophecies can jump back and forth on the timeline, and here we have a verse that clearly does this. There was a rather cruel punishment that awaited the vineyard workers when they killed the husbandman’s son. Here the story is listed in reverse order, because the vineyard was rented out to other vineyard workers in the year 34 when Stephen was stoned, and the gospel was given to the Gentile Christians along with the responsibility to preach the gospel. They did this in a very satisfactory way, and within a couple of decades the gospel had been preached in almost all of Europe, in parts of Africa, in Asia and as far east as India.
After the cross, it is not ethnicity that determines whether one belongs to the people of God. Although there were converts in Israel, these were in a small minority. Now after the cross, it is faith in Jesus Christ as saviour that determines who is the people of God, and everyone is invited regardless of ethnicity. It is only our relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ that determines this.
Verse 42: Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Verse 43: Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Verse 44: And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
Verse 45: And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke of them.
Verse 46: But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.
Here Jesus tells them bluntly that they will lose their privileged position as God’s chosen people because they 1) did not care to listen to the prophets, but killed them instead, and 2) rejected God by demanding that Jesus be crucified.
Verses 43 and 44 seem to say the same thing at first glance, but they are actually saying two different things. Verse 43 refers to those who submit to Jesus and accept the salvation He offers and align their lives with His word. This means that they die to the old life, are broken, and let Jesus live in them. This is exactly what the religious leaders in Judea would not do. Verse 44 shows that those who do not submit to Jesus Christ will be grinded to powder in the pending judgment, those on whom the stone falls, and it fell first on the Jewish leaders and the entire nation, then Jerusalem and was laid in ruins in the year 70. Later, after the Bar Kokhba revolt in the years 132-135, the Jews were expelled from Judea, and the judgment on the Jewish nation was complete.
The parable of the growing seed, Mark 4:26-29.
Verse 26: And he said, so is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground.
Verse 27: And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
Verse 28: For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
Verse 29: But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
This is a parable that not only teaches us a lesson, but it also comforts us. The lesson is that we must be patient when we preach the word of God. This is what it is all about. When we go out and evangelize, which is the same as evangelizing, we want to see the results of our work right away. Sometimes the seed we sow may come to full bloom while we are still working, but that is not always the case. Rather, our patience is tested because we may have to wait our whole lives without seeing the results.
It is a little mysterious how the kingdom of God grows. We have seen in several of the parables we have gone through just the marvellous way it all happens. We preach the word, which is the same as planting a seed in the ground. Once we have done that, we can only water the seed and leave it to God to let the plant sprout. After we have preached the word, we may not see the person again, but God will make sure that the seed is watered and the plant sprouts.
It is then that the kingdom of God sprouts and grows around us and in us, and what we sow will one day yield a good harvest. When the grain is ripe, it is time to reap the fruits of the work that has been done throughout time, and on the great day of the Lord, which is the return of Jesus, all that we have done will be visible.
Only Mark gives the parable of the growing seed. This parable illustrates the same truth that Jesus told Nicodemus about the work of the Holy Spirit (see John 3:8). In this parable, Christ says that if the seed of the kingdom is given just one chance in life, it will bear its harvest of good. People may not be able to explain how the process of Christian growth and character transformation takes place, but it nevertheless moves forward with the help of the Holy Spirit.
The parable of the two debtors, Luke 7,41-47.
Verse 41: There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
Verse 42: And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
Verse 43: Simon answered and said, I suppose that [he], to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, thou hast rightly judged.
Verse 44: And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears and wiped [them] with the hairs of her head.
Verse 45: Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
Verse 46: My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
Verse 47: Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, [the same] loveth little.
In this parable, Jesus explains the blessings of salvation and how it affects those who have been saved. In order to be saved, I must realize my complete helplessness before God and admit that I cannot do without God’s grace and help throughout my life.
We meet two different people in this parable, Simon and a woman who is most likely Mary Magdalene. According to Matthew 26:6, Simon had been healed of leprosy by Jesus and to show his gratitude to Jesus, Simon invited Jesus to his house to eat with him. However, it was not only because of physical leprosy that Jesus wanted to heal Simon, Jesus also wanted to heal him of his spiritual leprosy.
This woman, a prostitute, yes, she was spiritually leprous, also went to Simon’s house, and we read in verses 37 and 38 the following: And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that [Jesus] sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind [him] weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe [them] with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed [them] with the ointment. These two verses are really the background to the parable.
Even though Jesus had physically healed Simon, Simon had not accepted Jesus as his Savior. This is clear from verse 39 where Simon says to himself: This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman [this is] that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. But Jesus reads Simon’s thoughts and makes the following crushing judgment on him in verses 44, 45 and 46: And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears and wiped [them] with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. We understand that Simon invited Jesus out of common courtesy, not because Simon had been saved. The woman, on the other hand, had been forgiven of all her sins.
In John 8:3-11 we read about this woman who now anointed Jesus. It was the woman who had been caught in adultery, and whom the scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus to be judged. Anyone who has read this story in John 8 knows how it went. All the woman’s accusers went away ashamed, one by one, and finally it was only Jesus, and the woman left, and they had this little conversation: When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more, (John 8:10-11).
The woman had obviously asked for forgiveness and repented of her sins, for Jesus would not have forgiven the woman her sins if she had not repented and asked for forgiveness (see verse 47). She had been healed of her spiritual leprosy, and it is this woman who stands behind Jesus and weeps in gratitude for the salvation He had given her.
This is how we who have been saved by Christ should respond to the infinitely great gift that salvation really is. Jesus cleanses us from all sin we have committed and gives us the promise of eternal life with Him. Let us not be like Simon, who only invited Jesus out of politeness. Let us invite Jesus into our lives out of love because He loved us so much when we were sinners that He gave His life for us so that we could share in His life in the resurrection.
The parable of the rich man who was foolish, Luke 12:16-21.
Verse 16: And he spake a parable unto them, saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
Verse 17: And he thought within himself, saying, what shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
Verse 18: And he said, this will I do: I will pull down my barns and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
Verse 19: And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, [and] be merry.
Verse 20: But God said unto him, [thou] fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Verse 21: So, [is] he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
It is implicit in this parable that Jesus tells that the man in question had over time accumulated great wealth, which the man took credit for having built up. This is similar to what happened to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4, (please read the entire chapter). Nebuchadnezzar also took credit for having built Babylon to become the most magnificent and richest city in the world, and it was considered one of the greatest wonders of the world. We read in Daniel 4:30-31: The king spake, and said: Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word [was] in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, [saying], O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
Because Nebuchadnezzar took credit for Babylon’s greatness and did not give God the credit he should have, the kingdom was taken from him for seven years until he realized that it was God’s work that made Babylon the city it was.
In this parable, this man is doing the same thing as Nebuchadnezzar and took credit for his wealth, completely forgetting that all he had done was sow. Then a generous God watered and caused the seeds to sprout, grow, and produce a bountiful harvest. The parable also shows where this man’s heart was. In Matthew 6:19-20, Jesus says the following: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
This man had stored up such great treasures here on earth that he had to build bigger barns to store his treasures. That is why this man is called foolish by Jesus, and in verse 19 he says to himself: take thine ease, eat, drink, [and] be merry! This is not just a warning to those who lived in Jesus’ time, it is a direct warning to us in the end times. If you dare to open the window to the world, you will see exactly the same condition in our time. Most people are so well off financially that they do not think about God, even though He is the one who has blessed them with the wealth they have received.
Both this man, and people in general throughout all ages, have been blessed with great gifts from God, gifts that are meant to be shared with others generously and without measuring out what we give to others, but just like the man in the parable, we too live a carefree life of hustle and bustle, and we say to ourselves, take thine ease, eat, drink, [and] be merry!
But what is the wealth we accumulate in this life worth on the day we die? If we live like the man in the parable, it is not worth anything, because we cannot take our wealth with us to the grave. We must also remember that everything we accumulate in this life is a result of God’s blessings, and God expects us to pour out our abundance and share with people who have nothing. Because, if we share our wealth with others who are in need of help, in addition to having a very good life here on earth, we will accumulate treasure in heaven.
The parable of the lost piece of silver, Luke 15:8-10.
Verse 8: Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find [it]?
Verse 9: And when she hath found [it], she calleth [her] friends and [her] neighbours together, saying, rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
Verse 10: Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
This parable has many similarities to a couple of other parables, including the one about the lost sheep and also the one about the prodigal son. This silver coin was worth the same as a denarius, or a typical day’s wage for a labourer. For some reason, the woman loses one of her coins, and she doesn’t give up until she finds it.
This parable emphasizes the inherent value of a sinner, and the fact that a lost sinner has such great value in God’s eyes. This is how God searches for people who are living in sin and who don’t want to hear about God’s love. But on the day, those who have strayed from God are found again, there will be great joy in heaven. Not quite like the joy that the woman felt when she found the coin she had lost, but it will be a much stronger joy, a heavenly joy. This is a joy that the one who is found again can share, and not least feel deep in his heart. This is one of the mysteries of salvation.
The parable of the unrighteous steward, Luke 16:1-13.
Verse 1: And he said also unto his disciples, there was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
Verse 2: And he called him, and said unto him, how is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
Verse 3: Then the steward said within himself, what shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.
Verse 4: I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
Verse 5: So he called every one of his lord’s debtors [unto him], and said unto the first, how much owest thou unto my lord?
Verse 6: And he said, a hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
Verse 7: Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, a hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, take thy bill, and write fourscore.
Verse 8: And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
Verse 9: And I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
Verse 10: He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
Verse 11: If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true [riches]?
Verse 12: And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?
Verse 13: No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
This is a parable that is not quite like the other parables that Jesus told. In this parable, it seems as if Jesus is praising this dishonest steward for his resourcefulness. At the same time, this story contains both a rebuke and a warning, not only to his listeners but also to us.
A steward in those days had almost unlimited authority over his stewardess. It was not necessary for him to consult with the owner of what he managed in order to make transactions on his master’s behalf. But this steward was fundamentally dishonest, which we can understand from verse 1 where we read that the steward was accused of squandering his master’s property.
He then knows that he will lose his job, and that no one else will hire him because of his dishonesty. So he makes agreements with some of those who owed his master and tells them to change the amount of their debt (verses 5 and 6). The manager’s ulterior motive was that on the day he lost his job, those whose debts he had reduced would be in debt to him, and that way he would be able to survive without having to beg.
It was a rather cunning plan, and it is this cunning plan that Jesus praises, not the fact that he was dishonest. This manager knows how to secure his own future, and that is probably what Jesus wants to highlight in this parable.
The phrase no servant can serve two masters in verse 13 may need some explanation. This phrase refers to two different characters and interests. It is as impossible to “serve two masters” as it is to focus one’s eyes intently on two things at once or to concentrate one’s mind on more than one idea at a time. To attempt to serve God with a divided heart is to be unstable in all one’s ways (see James 1:8). The Christian cannot allow himself to be influenced or to follow two opposing directions. The influence of these two directions on the life of a person struggling with such a double influence will always cause him to feel conflicted with himself. A person who claims to be a Christian and is at the same time morbidly obsessed with money will always find himself in a tight spot, and as humans we all have the tendency to always choose the path of least resistance out of these types of problems if we are not fully and completely rooted in the word of God. Therefore he will allow one direction to become superior and ‘allowed’ to control all other influences, and bring his life into harmony with its principles.
As always, it is a matter of the choices we make in life. It actually comes from what Jesus says, you cannot serve both God and mammon. Whoever does not actively choose to follow God, chooses either actively or passively to follow Satan (mammon in this parable). No one can say that they are indifferent to this choice. Regardless of whether they like to hear it, everyone must choose a side, and there are only two choices. Either we choose God, or we choose not to choose God. It is impossible to serve (choose) both God and mammon because their demands are irreconcilable.
The moral of the parable is that one cannot belong to both God and be part of the world at the same time. Everyone must choose which path they want to follow in life.
The parable of the widow and the judge, Luke 18:1-8.
Verse 1: And he spake a parable unto them [to this end], that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
Verse 2: Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
Verse 3: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
Verse 4: And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man.
Verse 5: Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
Verse 6: And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
Verse 7: And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Verse 8: I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Once again, Jesus uses an event that was familiar to most people at the time, but we must remember that this is told in a parable. As always, we should be careful not to read into the text something that is not there, but Jesus always used familiar events or expressions in his parables to make them easier to understand for those who sought God with an honest heart.
Verse 1 establishes that this is a parable about always being persistent in prayer. This is the starting point of the parable. When we pray to God for ourselves or for others, we often want to receive answers to our prayers as we pray, but it is rare that we receive answers right away as we pray. Sometimes answers to prayers can come immediately, and I have been blessed with answers to my prayers while praying for a person who the doctors had given up on, and whom the doctors wanted to let die peacefully. This person, Antonio, had fallen and hit his head and ended up in a coma. When he had been in a coma for quite some time and was not responding to any form of treatment, the doctors decided to end the treatments. His family had a strong desire for us to pray for Antonio, and we agreed that we would pray the next day at 9:00 a.m. This prayer request went out to my international prayer group.
At 9:00 the next morning we started praying. 20 minutes later the phone rang, and it was Antonios mother-in-law who called. When I answered the call she asked me; Torgeir, do you know what? No, I answered, and she went on to say that Antonio had woken up. I got goosebumps all over my body. Then she asked if I knew what time he woke up, and I had to answer no again, how could I know. Antonio woke up at 9:05, she told me, just five minutes after we started praying. Coincidence? Hardly. It was a divine intervention that brought him out of the coma. He who the doctors said would not wake up, and for whom they ended the treatments, is today 100% healthy thanks to God. However, such quick answers are a rarity. Sometimes it takes time, many times it takes a long time, and in some cases we will not see the results of our prayers until we are home in heaven.
When we experience a wait before we receive an answer to our prayers, it is not that there is anything wrong with us, or with the person or people we are praying for. God always knows what each person needs and is in need of, and that before we even realize it. The fact that the answer from God is delayed may be to test our endurance.
In this parable, the judge says that the widow bothered him, and therefore he will let her have her right. If this human judge gives in to the widow’s trouble, how much more will the God of love answer his children in a positive way when they persevere in prayer. However, it is important to add that our prayers are not always answered the way we hope and believe. God has the ability to see the end from the beginning, while we barely see the tip of our own nose. God knows what is best for each person we pray for. That is something that we are not able to know. For my own part, I always add «Your will be done, God, and may my prayers be the same as Your will».
Another thing we must remember to do every time we receive answered prayers is to thank our God for the answers He gives us and use the answers to prayers as a testimony in meeting other people. But the most important thing God wants to teach us through this parable is to be persistent in prayer, and in everything that has to do with our Christian life. Just look at what God says through John in Revelation 14:12: Here is the patience of the saints … … …
The parable of the pharisee and the publican, Luke 18:9-14.
Verse 9: And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Verse 10: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Verse 11: The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men [are], extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Verse 12: I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Verse 13: And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as [his] eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Verse 14: I tell you this man went down to his house justified [rather] than the other: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
This parable concludes this section on Jesus’ parables. It is done on purpose because this parable is trying to teach us an important principle. As it says in verse 9, the parable was told to those who considered themselves righteous and who were proud of themselves and the position they had in society. This is true to at least an equal extent in our time, for never has humanity been more proud and self-righteous.
Here we have two people who are at either end of the social ladder. On the one hand we have a Pharisee – who was well regarded by the people, a person who commanded respect and was honoured by almost all the people. On the other hand a tax collector who works for the Romans, and who for this was despised by all and was considered a thief.
What was wrong with the Pharisee’s prayer? It is undoubtedly true that the Pharisee presented himself in a correct way, because he was certainly not a thief, an unjust, an adulterer or a tax collector working for the oppressive Roman power, he probably also fasted regularly and paid his tithe. Yet the Pharisee was rejected by Jesus. Why? He is rejected by Jesus because he presents himself in a light of external self-righteousness while at the same time looking down on and stigmatizing other people for what they are and do.
From the text we can read that the Pharisee was neither modest nor humble, and he positioned himself so that everyone who visited the temple with him would see and hear how magnificent he was. The tax collector, on the other hand, was the exact opposite of the Pharisee. He hardly dared to enter the temple and stood there with his head bowed, crushed under his sin, and humbled himself before his God and all who were in the temple, beat his breast and said: God be merciful to me a sinner!
How is it with us? Do we act like the tax collector and humbly come before God when we pray, or do we have the boldness of a Pharisee, a boldness that borders on impudence when we seek our Creator and God? Do we exalt ourselves because we are members of a special church?
No matter how it is with us, we should always humble ourselves before our Creator. Just look at what Jesus says in Matthew 11:29: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Also look at what some of the Bible writers write. The wise King Solomon writes in Proverbs the following: By humility [and] the fear of the LORD [are] riches, and honour, and life, (Proverbs 22:4). A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit, (Proverbs 29:23).
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, (Colossians 3:12). But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble, (James 4:6). Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, (1 Peter 5:6).
Are we willing to humble ourselves before the Lord, or are we proud and stiff-necked? Let us all seek God with humility like the despised tax collector, let us bow before our great God, and daily seek Him with a broken heart and ask for forgiveness for all the sins we commit.