Daily Bible Readings
Today’s Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)
Luke 20 is a literal gold mine of theological doctrine and understanding. Pretty much any time Jesus speaks we should be dropping whatever we’re doing and paying attention, but there are some very critical understandings that he gives us here that have been “a little confused” (to put it politely) by the modern church. Starting out in Luke 20:1-2, “And it came to pass on one of the days he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the experts in the law, along with the elders, approached him, and they spoke, saying to him, “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things. Who is the one who gave you this authority?” ”
That right there, that last question, is extremely deep and it’s a very easy question to answer if you are going by scripture alone because almost every prophecy of the Old Testament and every gospel in the New Testament is predicated at and dedicated to the explanation that Yeshua (Jesus) is Ha’Messhiach, the Messiah, the Christ: the man anointed by God to be King and Heir, a Jewish man descended from the line of David, granted a large portion of the holy spirit by God which allowed him to perform miracles, sent by God and also subservient and obedient to the God who sent him*. So is Jesus doing this on his own authority? Is Jesus equal to God? Not according to Jesus**. God has granted him this authority.
Jesus himself reiterates and explains this in today’s reading of Luke 20. In this evil age, many have confused who “The Christ” is, and what it means to be the Christ, but it simply means “the anointed one”: that’s it. To be an anointed one (an anointee) it’s simple logic that there must also be a higher authority who initiates that anointing (an anointer). It’s all over scripture, and especially in today’s reading of Luke 20.
In the “Parable of the Greedy Farmers” that takes place in Luke 20:9-19, we see Jesus telling us who he is and why he’s come. He also tells us who he is not. Just listen to the story.
A man buys a vineyard, rented it out to some farmers, and went away (God made the earth, placed humans on it, and left them to their devices). Harvest time came and the man sent his servants, over and over, to collect his portion and the greedy farmers beat them up and sent them away empty handed (God sent us the prophets repeatedly to get his deserved portion, our devotion and love, and we ignored and beat them). The man sent his own beloved son next, and instead of honoring the agreement, the greedy farmers killed the son, the heir, thinking that then they could claim the vineyard. (God sent Jesus to reconcile mankind to himself, and he was killed). Jesus says in the parable, “Now, what then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?”.
Jesus never claims to be the owner of the vineyard, but does rightfully claim to be the son, the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah that God (the owner of the vineyard) sent. How can that in any way be confused? That is dramatically different than what is taught in most churches. “Oh, but that’s just a parable”…ok, granted. Let’s read on.
In Luke 20:41-44 Jesus asks these “religious authorities” of the time “And he said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is David’s son? For David himself says in the scroll of Psalms, The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.’ David therefore calls him Lord, and so how is he his son?”. Well, Jesus, that’s a great question: how can the Christ be David’s son? How can one who came later have preeminence?
To the testimony, and to the law! (Isaiah 8:20). When we look at the original verse in Hebrew that Jesus is quoting here, it’s a little easier to understand, and removes some of the confusion that later scribal bias*** has placed there by no longer writing the holy name of God. Flipping back over to Psalms 110 we see (in v1): “Yahweh’s declaration to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” That’s YHWH God, the Father and creator of the universe, who is stating to David’s lord (authority, ruler, King) “sit at my right hand”. David’s descendant will be the Christ, the Messiah, granting him preeminence over his ancestor David…but still placing him under the authority of Yahweh, who grants him permission and authority to come and sit at His right hand.
When we read just a tiny bit further down in Psalm 110:4-5, we see “Yahweh has sworn and he will not change his mind; ‘You are a priest forever in the pattern of Melchizedek.’ O Lord, at your right hand is he who will shatter kings in the day of his wrath.” It’s pretty clear that God is the authority who has invited the Christ to sit at his right hand. Can we be sure that it is Jesus who is the Christ though? Absolutely, the entirety of the New Testament confirms this and makes a point to show repeatedly that all of the prophecies of the Old Testament about the Messiah have been fulfilled by the man Jesus, God’s anointed.
Is that really important though? Isn’t that something that the preacher should worry about, and not me? Well, if you are calling yourself a Christian, then you should probably listen to the person we’re supposed to be following, Jesus, the Christ. When asked in Mark 12:29 and following what the greatest commandment is, he quotes the Shema (Deut 6:4-5): “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh alone! Therefore you are to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Jesus tells us that most importantly: Yahweh alone is our God, and that we should love God. Secondly, that we should love our neighbor as much as we do ourselves. So, how are we doing?
Are we loving YHWH God (who is God alone) more than anything else, more than our desires, our greed, our lusts? Are we loving our neighbor as much as we do ourselves, and thinking of them as equal to or greater than ourselves? Do you fall short on these as often as I do?
Isn’t it a little ironic that within the world’s largest current religion, the majority of it’s adherents to a large degree disregard the words of it’s founder? Even if you have understanding, even if you have faith and believe, we know from James that faith without works is dead. With that in mind, consider the following reflection questions:
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
What are some physical steps that we could take to show our love for God?
What are some actions we could perform to exhibit that we love our neighbor as much as ourself?
Do you think doing these physical actions above will help your inner spiritual love as well? Why or why not?
PRAYER
Father God, thank you. Thank you for sending your servants over and over, and then for sending us your son. Please grant us understanding and wisdom when we are studying your word, plant your spirit within our hearts and give us the strength to listen and obey your will instead of our own, like Jesus did. Have mercy on us and reconcile us to you. In Jesus name, Amen.
* Acts 2:22-36, 10:38, Matt 26:39, John 3:34, to name just a very, very few.
** John 5:30, 7:16, 12:49, 14:28, 20:17, to name just a very, very few.
*** It should be stated that everyone has some form of bias, to be fair. I pray that my own personal biases are based more upon scripture than tradition.
