Ben Zornes

Living and Dying to Show the Preciousness of Christ

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Luke

Reading the Story

Reading the Story

There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Luke 13:1-5 KJV

This passage is quite instructive on a number of levels. First, we see that Jesus was not indifferent to current events. When the issue of the controversy with Pilate is raised for discussion, Jesus doesn’t say, “I do not care about these earthly matters, I’m far too heavenly minded for such things.” We see that he notes that the Galileans had indeed suffered, acknowledging the tragedy as such. He is not caught up in current events, in the same way that a teenage girl might follow the gossip columns on BuzzFeed. But He is not ignorant of the goings on.

The second thing we learn is that Jesus wants us to read the story correctly. The problem with those who were raising the issue is that they were reading history the wrong way. They looked at the tragedy and thought, apparently, that those Galileans must have really had it coming to them, otherwise something this bad wouldn’t have happened to them. But Jesus answers them by correcting their “spin” on the news story. 

Which leads to a third thing we learn, which is the real pith of this passage. It is that when tragedy strikes a people, city, or nation, it is a warning. It is a prophetic sign, signaling the coming final judgement. In this way, every death, every tragedy, every hurricane, earthquake, etc. warns the unrepentant that this is their doom should they refuse to turn. The promise, however, nestled in this is that those who do repent “shall not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).”

We as humans cannot help but try to read history. Every religion and culture seeks to do this. We instinctively know that history is pregnant with meaning. The problem is that we try to read history by filling in the margins with our own sinful bias. One sentence out of a book on the history of the Czars of Russia isn’t sufficient to make conclusions about Russia’s future. What we need is to read history as Jesus demonstrates for us here in this text. God’s redemptive purpose is the reference point for everything. 

The Prodigal’s Grumbling Brother

The Prodigal’s Grumbling Brother

In the famous parable of the prodigal son, we often forget that the primary audience which Jesus aims this story at is grumbling Pharisees and Scribes. “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them (Luk 15:1-2).” Jesus flies to the defense of his ministry to the worst of sinners, by telling three parables, ending in the prodigal son’s story.

A few things are profound in the story. First, the son, in demanding his inheritance is essentially demanding that his relationship with his father be as if his father were dead. He not only desires a dead relationship with his father, but he also flees to a far country (Lk. 15:13), as far from his father & family as can be. The second remarkable thing is the fact that this jewish boy ends up eating the slop of the unclean pigs, and it is in this position of the lowest point that he remembers that even the servants in his father’s household were better off than he was.

The third thing to remark upon is that in his return to the father, his father reinstates him to the household. A robe, a ring, shoes, a celebration feast all accompany the prodigal son’s return. But it is this lavish display of restoration to the household that causes the elder brother to grumble. The father’s entreaty to the older son is that everything the father has was his (Lk. 15:31)! The Israelites were, in fact, the people of God in this earth, and technically speaking, the earth was theirs. They ought to have rejoiced to see the Messiah come and restore the prodigal nations into the family of God.

But the pride of being comparatively more righteous, grows quickly in the wreckage and ashes of the younger brothers sins. As a result, the older brother was very much in danger of missing the celebration, and insisted on staying outside the house (Lk. 15:28). Yes, Jesus gives this parable as comfort to the worst of sinners that they are welcomed back into the family of God through repentance. But it is primarily aimed at the self-righteous, who are aghast that God would not only forgive sinners, but not hold their sins against them, restoring them to their former estate of sons.

Ben Zornes