Jesus Teaches the Crowd in Perea

Take Every Passage to Prayer - Volume 2, The Gospels
^{Thursday August 22, 2024}

Luke 12:1-13:9

Father, teach me. I want to be taught Your ways. I want to know Your will. I want to think like You. Please teach this disciple how to live for the Kingdom of God. Father, please protect me from being deceiv

Luke 12:1-13:9

Father, teach me. I want to be taught Your ways. I want to know Your will. I want to think like You. Please teach this disciple how to live for the Kingdom of God. Father, please protect me from being deceived by the gospel of works. It is not the true gospel. I cannot earn a good standing with You, no matter how hard I try. My hope for salvation is that Jesus has paid the penalty for my sin by His death on the cross, receiving the punishment I deserved. However, now that I am saved, help me to share my faith with others and give me the words to say. Help me to do the good works that give You honor and glory. Father, forgive me for being greedy and for worrying. I want to be generous with others. I also want to live a life of faith, certain that You will provide for me at just the right moment. Father, make me an effective worker in the Kingdom of God. Help me to be 100% committed. The clock is ticking, and I don't have time to waste. Help me to bear fruit for the Kingdom before I die. Amen.
Father, Jesus’ disciples had just witnessed the tense conversation that He had with religious leaders at Solomon’s Colonnade in Jerusalem. Jesus had said that the evidence that He is from the Father comes not by what He has said but by what He has done. Anyone can claim to be from God. Yet, the only one who has credibility is the One who does extraordinary miraculous works that could only be done with oneness with You.
Is Jesus saying our salvation is determined by works?  Not at all. As discussed in the book of James, while good works do not earn salvation for us, they do give evidence that we are saved. Jesus isn’t the Son of God because He does miracles (good works). He does miracles (good works) because He is the Son of God. Jesus wanted to make clear to His disciples that they should not listen to or follow the “salvation-by-works” message of the Pharisees. Jesus, who perhaps remained at Solomon’s Colonnade or who had traveled back across the Jordan River into Perea, began to teach His disciples while a crowd of people listened.
The text below describes His teachings:

• If the disciples entertain, even for a moment, another gospel, a gospel based on works and rigid adherence to the law, the deception will expand in their heart like yeast inside of bread. The legalism will consume them.
• The Pharisees are hypocrites themselves. Do not think of them as pure. Jesus knows what they do in the privacy of their homes. All of their secret sins will be exposed one day and shouted from the rooftops.
• Who are you going to choose? The Pharisees or Jesus?
• You may avoid being killed today by choosing the Pharisees. However, Jesus could send you to eternal damnation.
• You might be killed today by the Pharisees for choosing Jesus. However, He will:
• Give you eternal paradise. Fear Him because He controls your eternal destiny.
• Take care of you while you walk this earth, just like the Father cares for the insignificant sparrow that can be bought for cheap. The Father knows how many hairs you have on your head because He cares that much about the details of your life.
• Whoever disowns Jesus will also be disowned before the angels in heaven. If you disown Jesus, you are rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit, and that cannot be forgiven.
• Don’t worry about how to defend yourself against the Pharisees, the rulers, and the authorities in the synagogues when you choose Jesus. He will give you the Holy Spirit who will tell you what to say at that time.

Father, Your Word tells us that someone from the crowd gathered around Jesus shouted:
“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me (NIV).”
What can we conclude about this man based on their request?

• He does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God. If he did, he would fall on his knees in a spirit of worship. He would feel the weight of his sin and seek forgiveness and repentance. He would shout something like, “Father, forgive me for I am a sinner!”
• He is worldly. He is worried about the concerns of his life and not his future destiny. Matthew 13:22 describes this kind of person, who ignores the gospel because of the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth.
• He is greedy and envious. We can conclude that he has a greedy heart because that is what Jesus focuses upon in His response. He wants financial resources that are not his to have. He believes money is his security blanket and not the Creator of the universe (John 1:1-3). Therefore, we know that he is also a fool.
• He is adversarial. He is willing to take someone to court to get what he wants. In this case, he asks Jesus to be his attorney and judge and, obviously, to make a judgement in his favor.
• He is proud and self-assured. He has no problem speaking boldly in front of a large crowd and drawing attention to himself. In fact, he is so full of himself that he considers his petty issue more important than what Jesus is teaching His disciples.
• He may have known Jesus prior to this incident, and he didn’t think much of Him. I conclude this because the man seems to have a feeling of superiority over Jesus, such as could come from having previously taunted Jesus when He was a child growing up in Nazareth. He essentially told Jesus to stop what He was doing and to do what he wants Jesus to do. Doesn’t that sound like a bully?

Jesus responded by saying He is not a judge or an arbitrator. I believe Jesus was saying that His mission on earth is not to resolve civilian disputes. His mission on earth is to bring people into the Kingdom of God through His teaching and His atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world. Unfortunately, many of us do expect Jesus to take our side in rather petty matters of life. Instead of seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness, we want Him to give us victory in a divorce or in a dispute with a neighbor. By doing so, we convey that we don’t understand who He is and why He has come into this world. Jesus has already instructed us not to take our neighbor to court but to settle our differences through a spirit of love and humility. Had this man applied Jesus’ teaching, there would have been no need to interrupt Jesus with such a request.
Jesus penetrated deep into the man’s soul and got right to the truth of his character: he is greedy. He warned the man to:
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions (NIV).”
What can we learn from this statement by Jesus?

• Greed is extremely dangerous. It is as dangerous as standing in a lane of traffic on I-95. It is as dangerous as juggling chainsaws with the blades turning fast. Greed rips through our character and destroys it. Greed leads to us being admitted in grave condition into the ICU of the character hospital. We lie, cheat, steal, and murder for the sake of greed. Before we know it, we are stoned to death, imprisoned, or estranged from everyone because of the offenses we committed in pursuit of greed. Greed is not cute or harmless. It is as lethal as a cyanide pill.
• Greed is malicious in nature. It intends to destroy you. It appears to be your friend, giving you what you want. However, it is really your enemy, seeking your total destruction. Greed is Satanic.
• Greed takes many forms. One can be greedy pursuing wealth. One can also be greedy in pursuit of fame (seeking celebrity), power (working your way up in business), influence (building relationships with the rich and powerful) and pursuing pleasure (how you spend your time in luxury and satisfying desire).
• Greed is a big lie. It promises a good life from the abundance of possessions. However, our society is littered with millions of stories of rich people with miserable lives. Wealth does not give us peace, joy, and contentment. It is not the panacea for broken relationships. It does not give us the fulfillment that can only come from a deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Greed backs up the dump truck and unloads a pile of manure of anxiety, worry, and dissatisfaction into our souls. Greed is never satisfied with what it has. Greed doesn’t stop at acquiring $ 1 million. Greed wants $ 2 million. Greed wants $ 10 million. Greed wants $ 50 million and more. There is no retirement from greed. There is no, “I finally made it and I can relax now.” Greed is a relentless slave driver that beats your back, demanding more and more achievement from you even when you are exhausted.

Jesus shared a parable of a rich man whose harvest was so great that he decided to tear down his smaller barns and build bigger ones. In a land often visited by drought and famine, the man was hoarding a lifetime of “security” so that he would never need to fear running out of food. His heart was stained by pure selfishness, ignoring the plight of the poor who could not store grain as he was able to. The poor will starve without this man’s generosity. God took care of the injustice. He took the rich man’s life suddenly and unexpectedly and then shared his grain with the poor. However, had the rich man loved God and decided to share his grain with the poor, God certainly would have considered giving such a generous man more grain to share with more people. In such a case, the man’s ownership of big barns of grain could serve the Kingdom of God.
Jesus was able to identify a number of moral lessons from this parable (paraphrased):

• God provides for His people. Those of you who are poor don’t need to worry about storing grain in big barns as a hedge against famine. God will take care of you, just like He cares for the ravens. They don’t store grain in big barns. However, they are well fed. You are more important to God than birds. Live to please the God you love, and you can be confident that He will provide for your every need.
• Worrying accomplishes absolutely nothing. It does not and cannot change your circumstances. Worrying is powerless to provide for you, to protect you, or to deliver you from hardship.
• Worrying is what people do who lack faith in God’s goodness. Many people esteem worry, as if it is a sign of personal responsibility and good character. However, Jesus is describing it as a sign of bad character. A person who doubts that God is good, or that God has the ability to provide when conditions grow dim, is a person who has a rebellious heart.
• God gives a bounty of good gifts to His people. Consider the gift of beauty that He gives the wildflowers and the grasses in the field, even though they will be consumed by fire. Imagine the beautiful gifts He gives to His people.
• What you do with money reveals where your heart is. Will you sell your possessions and give to the poor? We will find out by watching what you do. It will reveal where you have placed your trust. If you trust in Me, you will not place your faith in “things” such as bank accounts. If you don’t trust in Me, you will live to secure more “things” to save you when times get hard. We will see how that works out for you. It didn’t work out for the rich man with the big barns.
• Sell your possessions and build the Kingdom of God. You worry about having “things” in this life. These “things” are stolen, and they decay and become corrupted. You worry about gaining and maintaining that which doesn’t last. However, if you live for the building of the Kingdom of God, you will reap a harvest of souls who grew in their faith in Jesus Christ because of you, and they will be your crown and joy throughout eternity. Sell all your possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. Your generosity will touch many lives. In gratefulness for your generosity, they will listen to the gospel message that you share, and many will come to faith.

The text tells us that Peter then asked Jesus if He was teaching the crowd or the disciples. Jesus responded by teaching about those who manage the affairs for a master. This is clear reference to the disciples who will now manage the ministry of their master, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
What is expected of the disciples since they are the managers who are tasked with the building of the Kingdom of God?

• The manager is to be 100% committed 24/7. There is never time off from building the Kingdom of God. The manager is to be in constant service to Jesus. The manager never knows when Jesus will show up (when it is least expected, such as in the middle of the night) and ask what is being done to build the Kingdom of God. The faithful servant is continuously at Jesus side, waiting to receive his next instruction.
  
• The manager’s performance will be evaluated.
• The servant who faithfully serves the King will be given ever increasing responsibility.
• However, the servant who brings shame to the Kingdom of God, such as through laziness (unwillingness to serve the Kingdom), drunkenness (living for pleasure in this life), or violence (pure selfishness), will be thrown into everlasting fire.
  
• The disciples now have a choice as to how they will be evaluated on Judgement Day. Jesus identifies two kinds of people on Judgement Day:
• Those who committed evil but didn’t realize that what they were doing was evil. God will show some lenience to those who did evil unknowingly.
• Those who committed evil and knew that it was evil when they were doing it. God will be harsh on those who deliberately and intentionally did evil. If you know it is evil to hoard money instead of building the Kingdom of God, but you went ahead anyway and hoarded money like this rich man, you too are inviting as a harsh a response from the Father as was dished out to the rich man. The text implies that the disciples will be judged harshly if they fail to do the work of the Kingdom because they can no longer claim ignorance of knowing the right thing to do.

What does it mean to be 100% committed to the Kingdom of God? It means relationship conflict.
If the typical person on the street in the 21st century is asked what Jesus’ core message was, the most common response would certainly be to “love one another.” Such love is defined by the world as “letting everyone do whatever they want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.” The world presumes that Jesus taught tolerance and acceptance of anyone’s lifestyle, no matter how wicked it might be. The world would tell us that Jesus would teach us the loving thing to do for a person addicted to pornography is leave them alone so that they can enjoy it.
Jesus crushes this belief in this text. Jesus is calling people to repentance, to turn from their sin and to obey His teachings and the will of the Father in heaven. He has come to bring fire on the earth that burns away sin and wickedness. Jesus wishes the fire were already raging, purifying the land of all rebellion from God. If He didn’t have a “baptism” to go through, that’s exactly what He would be doing with the armies of heaven – destroying all sin on earth through fire. However, Jesus is constrained from doing the work that He really wants to do – punishing all sin and rebellion NOW. Jesus is eagerly longing for the Judgement Day, the total destruction of all rebellion from God. It should be expected that even now, in the 21st century, Jesus is eager for Judgement Day to measure out the wrath of God against all who dared to sin against the Father. This is why evangelism is of the highest priority. Jesus not only wants as many to be saved from Judgement Day as possible, but He also wants them to be saved as soon as possible so He can get on with the cleansing of this world of all sin by fire.
Jesus understands that His work is going to divide families. A son will come to faith in Him and call his rebellious dad to repentance. His father won’t like it. A mother will come to faith in Him and call her rebellious daughter to repentance. The daughter won’t like it. Conversely, the daughter could come to faith in Him and call her rebellious mother to repentance. The mother won’t like it. A mother-in-law could come to faith in Him and call her rebellious daughter-in-law to repentance. The daughter-in-law won’t like it. The building of the Kingdom of God is about calling sinners to repentance, calling them to turn from their sin and to obey the Word of God. That will never be a popular message for anyone to preach in the 21st century. If you are doing the work of the Kingdom of God and sharing the message of forgiveness of sins and repentance, you can expect to alienate people, perhaps from your own family.
Do you understand that now is that time for salvation?
Jesus, when speaking to the gathered crowd, used the metaphor of predicting the weather to make the case that His ministry is evidence that the day of judgement has come.

Jesus said: “When the cloud rises in the west, you can be certain that it will rain. When the wind comes from the south, you can be certain that a heat wave will come. When I perform miracles in Palestine, proving that I am the Son of God and the promised Messiah, you can be certain that you will stand in judgement before Me. You people know how to predict the weather? Why can’t you predict the times? Don’t you know Old Testament prophecy? Can’t you see that I am the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy? Shouldn’t you know that you will all appear before Me and I will judge you? (Paraphrased)”
Jesus appears to give some random legal advice. However, He is warning people to make things right with Him NOW before it is too late.

Jesus had many in the crowd thinking about sudden death. “I could die today and then I will be judged, and I could be sent to hell.” When the message of “hell, fire, and brimstone” is preached, many respond with fear of eternal suffering. This fear leads many to come to faith in Jesus Christ. However, it leads many more to abandon a “religion” that frightens people about a destiny in hell.
Many in the crowd experienced the fear of Judgement Day and were thinking about their own sudden demise. They identified two ways of sudden death:

• Dying because someone intentionally kills you. They referred to Galileans who had been murdered by Pilate. This was apparently in the “news” at the time.
• Dying because of a catastrophic accident. They referred to a tragedy where the tower of Siloam fell, and eighteen people lost their lives. This was also “news” at the time.

During the discussion, someone must have suggested that the victims were killed because they were worse sinners than everyone else. Jesus refutes this claim, making it clear that the sins of the people in this crowd were equally as deserving of eternal destruction as the sins of the victims of these incidents. Jesus states:
“But unless you repent, you too will all perish (NIV).”
Sarcasm intended: However, many of us in the 21st century know better than Jesus. We know teaching repentance and hell does not lead people to Christ. We know preaching “hell, fire, and brimstone” is politically incorrect. Jesus simply didn’t understand what we now know to be true.
This long day is finally coming to an end. He has taught His disciples not to be like the Pharisees. He has preached to the crowd about greed and worry. He has taught about what kind of commitment is expected of a disciple. He has just taught about the judgement that each person is certain to face and that today is the day of salvation for we do not know how long we have to live.
God is patient with His people, eager for them to bear fruit. However…
He concludes His teaching with an inspiring parable. A man had a fig tree in his vineyard. He patiently waited three years for it to bear fruit. It never did. The owner determined it was time to cut down the tree and to plant something else in its place. However, the gardener asked the owner to wait one more year. The gardener will work hard to see to it that this tree will bear fruit. He will dig away the weeds and fertilize the soil around the tree. If, after all of this work, the tree still does not bear fruit, the owner can then cut it down.
What can we conclude for this parable?

• The Father desires each one of us to bear fruit for the Kingdom of Heaven.
• The Father patiently waits, often a long time, for us to bear fruit.
• If we do not bear fruit for the Kingdom of Heaven, there may be a moment when the Father decides to take our life and replace us with someone else who will bear fruit.
• However, Jesus steps in and says, “Father, I’m not done with this one. Give Me another year to work in His life. I will do everything I can to transform his heart and soul. Please check in with Me one year from now. If We decide he still stubbornly resists bearing fruit, You may take his life.”
• We can find encouragement that when the Father has grown weary of our stubborn refusal to bear fruit, Jesus doesn’t give up on us. He will work all the more to bear fruit in our life.
• If we stubbornly resist Jesus’ work in our life, there will come a day when we are cut down and replaced by someone else to touch the lives we failed to touch. On that day, we might be victims of the fall of the Tower of Siloam.

Amen.

ed by the gospel of works. It is not the true gospel. I cannot earn a good standing with You, no matter how hard I try. My hope for salvation is that Jesus has paid the penalty for my sin by His death on the cross, receiving the punishment I deserved. However, now that I am saved, help me to share my faith with others and give me the words to say. Help me to do the good works that give You honor and glory. Father, forgive me for being greedy and for worrying. I want to be generous with others. I also want to live a life of faith, certain that You will provide for me at just the right moment. Father, make me an effective worker in the Kingdom of God. Help me to be 100% committed. The clock is ticking, and I don't have time to waste. Help me to bear fruit for the Kingdom before I die. Amen.
Father, Jesus’ disciples had just witnessed the tense conversation that He had with religious leaders at Solomon’s Colonnade in Jerusalem. Jesus had said that the evidence that He is from the Father comes not by what He has said but by what He has done. Anyone can claim to be from God. Yet, the only one who has credibility is the One who does extraordinary miraculous works that could only be done with oneness with You.
Is Jesus saying our salvation is determined by works?  Not at all. As discussed in the book of James, while good works do not earn salvation for us, they do give evidence that we are saved. Jesus isn’t the Son of God because He does miracles (good works). He does miracles (good works) because He is the Son of God. Jesus wanted to make clear to His disciples that they should not listen to or follow the “salvation-by-works” message of the Pharisees. Jesus, who perhaps remained at Solomon’s Colonnade or who had traveled back across the Jordan River into Perea, began to teach His disciples while a crowd of people listened.
The text below describes His teachings:

• If the disciples entertain, even for a moment, another gospel, a gospel based on works and rigid adherence to the law, the deception will expand in their heart like yeast inside of bread. The legalism will consume them.
• The Pharisees are hypocrites themselves. Do not think of them as pure. Jesus knows what they do in the privacy of their homes. All of their secret sins will be exposed one day and shouted from the rooftops.
• Who are you going to choose? The Pharisees or Jesus?
• You may avoid being killed today by choosing the Pharisees. However, Jesus could send you to eternal damnation.
• You might be killed today by the Pharisees for choosing Jesus. However, He will:
• Give you eternal paradise. Fear Him because He controls your eternal destiny.
• Take care of you while you walk this earth, just like the Father cares for the insignificant sparrow that can be bought for cheap. The Father knows how many hairs you have on your head because He cares that much about the details of your life.
• Whoever disowns Jesus will also be disowned before the angels in heaven. If you disown Jesus, you are rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit, and that cannot be forgiven.
• Don’t worry about how to defend yourself against the Pharisees, the rulers, and the authorities in the synagogues when you choose Jesus. He will give you the Holy Spirit who will tell you what to say at that time.

Father, Your Word tells us that someone from the crowd gathered around Jesus shouted:
“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me (NIV).”
What can we conclude about this man based on their request?

• He does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God. If he did, he would fall on his knees in a spirit of worship. He would feel the weight of his sin and seek forgiveness and repentance. He would shout something like, “Father, forgive me for I am a sinner!”
• He is worldly. He is worried about the concerns of his life and not his future destiny. Matthew 13:22 describes this kind of person, who ignores the gospel because of the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth.
• He is greedy and envious. We can conclude that he has a greedy heart because that is what Jesus focuses upon in His response. He wants financial resources that are not his to have. He believes money is his security blanket and not the Creator of the universe (John 1:1-3). Therefore, we know that he is also a fool.
• He is adversarial. He is willing to take someone to court to get what he wants. In this case, he asks Jesus to be his attorney and judge and, obviously, to make a judgement in his favor.
• He is proud and self-assured. He has no problem speaking boldly in front of a large crowd and drawing attention to himself. In fact, he is so full of himself that he considers his petty issue more important than what Jesus is teaching His disciples.
• He may have known Jesus prior to this incident, and he didn’t think much of Him. I conclude this because the man seems to have a feeling of superiority over Jesus, such as could come from having previously taunted Jesus when He was a child growing up in Nazareth. He essentially told Jesus to stop what He was doing and to do what he wants Jesus to do. Doesn’t that sound like a bully?

Jesus responded by saying He is not a judge or an arbitrator. I believe Jesus was saying that His mission on earth is not to resolve civilian disputes. His mission on earth is to bring people into the Kingdom of God through His teaching and His atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world. Unfortunately, many of us do expect Jesus to take our side in rather petty matters of life. Instead of seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness, we want Him to give us victory in a divorce or in a dispute with a neighbor. By doing so, we convey that we don’t understand who He is and why He has come into this world. Jesus has already instructed us not to take our neighbor to court but to settle our differences through a spirit of love and humility. Had this man applied Jesus’ teaching, there would have been no need to interrupt Jesus with such a request.
Jesus penetrated deep into the man’s soul and got right to the truth of his character: he is greedy. He warned the man to:
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions (NIV).”
What can we learn from this statement by Jesus?

• Greed is extremely dangerous. It is as dangerous as standing in a lane of traffic on I-95. It is as dangerous as juggling chainsaws with the blades turning fast. Greed rips through our character and destroys it. Greed leads to us being admitted in grave condition into the ICU of the character hospital. We lie, cheat, steal, and murder for the sake of greed. Before we know it, we are stoned to death, imprisoned, or estranged from everyone because of the offenses we committed in pursuit of greed. Greed is not cute or harmless. It is as lethal as a cyanide pill.
• Greed is malicious in nature. It intends to destroy you. It appears to be your friend, giving you what you want. However, it is really your enemy, seeking your total destruction. Greed is Satanic.
• Greed takes many forms. One can be greedy pursuing wealth. One can also be greedy in pursuit of fame (seeking celebrity), power (working your way up in business), influence (building relationships with the rich and powerful) and pursuing pleasure (how you spend your time in luxury and satisfying desire).
• Greed is a big lie. It promises a good life from the abundance of possessions. However, our society is littered with millions of stories of rich people with miserable lives. Wealth does not give us peace, joy, and contentment. It is not the panacea for broken relationships. It does not give us the fulfillment that can only come from a deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Greed backs up the dump truck and unloads a pile of manure of anxiety, worry, and dissatisfaction into our souls. Greed is never satisfied with what it has. Greed doesn’t stop at acquiring $ 1 million. Greed wants $ 2 million. Greed wants $ 10 million. Greed wants $ 50 million and more. There is no retirement from greed. There is no, “I finally made it and I can relax now.” Greed is a relentless slave driver that beats your back, demanding more and more achievement from you even when you are exhausted.

Jesus shared a parable of a rich man whose harvest was so great that he decided to tear down his smaller barns and build bigger ones. In a land often visited by drought and famine, the man was hoarding a lifetime of “security” so that he would never need to fear running out of food. His heart was stained by pure selfishness, ignoring the plight of the poor who could not store grain as he was able to. The poor will starve without this man’s generosity. God took care of the injustice. He took the rich man’s life suddenly and unexpectedly and then shared his grain with the poor. However, had the rich man loved God and decided to share his grain with the poor, God certainly would have considered giving such a generous man more grain to share with more people. In such a case, the man’s ownership of big barns of grain could serve the Kingdom of God.
Jesus was able to identify a number of moral lessons from this parable (paraphrased):

• God provides for His people. Those of you who are poor don’t need to worry about storing grain in big barns as a hedge against famine. God will take care of you, just like He cares for the ravens. They don’t store grain in big barns. However, they are well fed. You are more important to God than birds. Live to please the God you love, and you can be confident that He will provide for your every need.
• Worrying accomplishes absolutely nothing. It does not and cannot change your circumstances. Worrying is powerless to provide for you, to protect you, or to deliver you from hardship.
• Worrying is what people do who lack faith in God’s goodness. Many people esteem worry, as if it is a sign of personal responsibility and good character. However, Jesus is describing it as a sign of bad character. A person who doubts that God is good, or that God has the ability to provide when conditions grow dim, is a person who has a rebellious heart.
• God gives a bounty of good gifts to His people. Consider the gift of beauty that He gives the wildflowers and the grasses in the field, even though they will be consumed by fire. Imagine the beautiful gifts He gives to His people.
• What you do with money reveals where your heart is. Will you sell your possessions and give to the poor? We will find out by watching what you do. It will reveal where you have placed your trust. If you trust in Me, you will not place your faith in “things” such as bank accounts. If you don’t trust in Me, you will live to secure more “things” to save you when times get hard. We will see how that works out for you. It didn’t work out for the rich man with the big barns.
• Sell your possessions and build the Kingdom of God. You worry about having “things” in this life. These “things” are stolen, and they decay and become corrupted. You worry about gaining and maintaining that which doesn’t last. However, if you live for the building of the Kingdom of God, you will reap a harvest of souls who grew in their faith in Jesus Christ because of you, and they will be your crown and joy throughout eternity. Sell all your possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. Your generosity will touch many lives. In gratefulness for your generosity, they will listen to the gospel message that you share, and many will come to faith.

The text tells us that Peter then asked Jesus if He was teaching the crowd or the disciples. Jesus responded by teaching about those who manage the affairs for a master. This is clear reference to the disciples who will now manage the ministry of their master, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
What is expected of the disciples since they are the managers who are tasked with the building of the Kingdom of God?

• The manager is to be 100% committed 24/7. There is never time off from building the Kingdom of God. The manager is to be in constant service to Jesus. The manager never knows when Jesus will show up (when it is least expected, such as in the middle of the night) and ask what is being done to build the Kingdom of God. The faithful servant is continuously at Jesus side, waiting to receive his next instruction.
  
• The manager’s performance will be evaluated.
• The servant who faithfully serves the King will be given ever increasing responsibility.
• However, the servant who brings shame to the Kingdom of God, such as through laziness (unwillingness to serve the Kingdom), drunkenness (living for pleasure in this life), or violence (pure selfishness), will be thrown into everlasting fire.
  
• The disciples now have a choice as to how they will be evaluated on Judgement Day. Jesus identifies two kinds of people on Judgement Day:
• Those who committed evil but didn’t realize that what they were doing was evil. God will show some lenience to those who did evil unknowingly.
• Those who committed evil and knew that it was evil when they were doing it. God will be harsh on those who deliberately and intentionally did evil. If you know it is evil to hoard money instead of building the Kingdom of God, but you went ahead anyway and hoarded money like this rich man, you too are inviting as a harsh a response from the Father as was dished out to the rich man. The text implies that the disciples will be judged harshly if they fail to do the work of the Kingdom because they can no longer claim ignorance of knowing the right thing to do.

What does it mean to be 100% committed to the Kingdom of God? It means relationship conflict.
If the typical person on the street in the 21st century is asked what Jesus’ core message was, the most common response would certainly be to “love one another.” Such love is defined by the world as “letting everyone do whatever they want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.” The world presumes that Jesus taught tolerance and acceptance of anyone’s lifestyle, no matter how wicked it might be. The world would tell us that Jesus would teach us the loving thing to do for a person addicted to pornography is leave them alone so that they can enjoy it.
Jesus crushes this belief in this text. Jesus is calling people to repentance, to turn from their sin and to obey His teachings and the will of the Father in heaven. He has come to bring fire on the earth that burns away sin and wickedness. Jesus wishes the fire were already raging, purifying the land of all rebellion from God. If He didn’t have a “baptism” to go through, that’s exactly what He would be doing with the armies of heaven – destroying all sin on earth through fire. However, Jesus is constrained from doing the work that He really wants to do – punishing all sin and rebellion NOW. Jesus is eagerly longing for the Judgement Day, the total destruction of all rebellion from God. It should be expected that even now, in the 21st century, Jesus is eager for Judgement Day to measure out the wrath of God against all who dared to sin against the Father. This is why evangelism is of the highest priority. Jesus not only wants as many to be saved from Judgement Day as possible, but He also wants them to be saved as soon as possible so He can get on with the cleansing of this world of all sin by fire.
Jesus understands that His work is going to divide families. A son will come to faith in Him and call his rebellious dad to repentance. His father won’t like it. A mother will come to faith in Him and call her rebellious daughter to repentance. The daughter won’t like it. Conversely, the daughter could come to faith in Him and call her rebellious mother to repentance. The mother won’t like it. A mother-in-law could come to faith in Him and call her rebellious daughter-in-law to repentance. The daughter-in-law won’t like it. The building of the Kingdom of God is about calling sinners to repentance, calling them to turn from their sin and to obey the Word of God. That will never be a popular message for anyone to preach in the 21st century. If you are doing the work of the Kingdom of God and sharing the message of forgiveness of sins and repentance, you can expect to alienate people, perhaps from your own family.
Do you understand that now is that time for salvation?
Jesus, when speaking to the gathered crowd, used the metaphor of predicting the weather to make the case that His ministry is evidence that the day of judgement has come.

Jesus said: “When the cloud rises in the west, you can be certain that it will rain. When the wind comes from the south, you can be certain that a heat wave will come. When I perform miracles in Palestine, proving that I am the Son of God and the promised Messiah, you can be certain that you will stand in judgement before Me. You people know how to predict the weather? Why can’t you predict the times? Don’t you know Old Testament prophecy? Can’t you see that I am the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy? Shouldn’t you know that you will all appear before Me and I will judge you? (Paraphrased)”
Jesus appears to give some random legal advice. However, He is warning people to make things right with Him NOW before it is too late.

Jesus had many in the crowd thinking about sudden death. “I could die today and then I will be judged, and I could be sent to hell.” When the message of “hell, fire, and brimstone” is preached, many respond with fear of eternal suffering. This fear leads many to come to faith in Jesus Christ. However, it leads many more to abandon a “religion” that frightens people about a destiny in hell.
Many in the crowd experienced the fear of Judgement Day and were thinking about their own sudden demise. They identified two ways of sudden death:

• Dying because someone intentionally kills you. They referred to Galileans who had been murdered by Pilate. This was apparently in the “news” at the time.
• Dying because of a catastrophic accident. They referred to a tragedy where the tower of Siloam fell, and eighteen people lost their lives. This was also “news” at the time.

During the discussion, someone must have suggested that the victims were killed because they were worse sinners than everyone else. Jesus refutes this claim, making it clear that the sins of the people in this crowd were equally as deserving of eternal destruction as the sins of the victims of these incidents. Jesus states:
“But unless you repent, you too will all perish (NIV).”
Sarcasm intended: However, many of us in the 21st century know better than Jesus. We know teaching repentance and hell does not lead people to Christ. We know preaching “hell, fire, and brimstone” is politically incorrect. Jesus simply didn’t understand what we now know to be true.
This long day is finally coming to an end. He has taught His disciples not to be like the Pharisees. He has preached to the crowd about greed and worry. He has taught about what kind of commitment is expected of a disciple. He has just taught about the judgement that each person is certain to face and that today is the day of salvation for we do not know how long we have to live.
God is patient with His people, eager for them to bear fruit. However…
He concludes His teaching with an inspiring parable. A man had a fig tree in his vineyard. He patiently waited three years for it to bear fruit. It never did. The owner determined it was time to cut down the tree and to plant something else in its place. However, the gardener asked the owner to wait one more year. The gardener will work hard to see to it that this tree will bear fruit. He will dig away the weeds and fertilize the soil around the tree. If, after all of this work, the tree still does not bear fruit, the owner can then cut it down.
What can we conclude for this parable?

• The Father desires each one of us to bear fruit for the Kingdom of Heaven.
• The Father patiently waits, often a long time, for us to bear fruit.
• If we do not bear fruit for the Kingdom of Heaven, there may be a moment when the Father decides to take our life and replace us with someone else who will bear fruit.
• However, Jesus steps in and says, “Father, I’m not done with this one. Give Me another year to work in His life. I will do everything I can to transform his heart and soul. Please check in with Me one year from now. If We decide he still stubbornly resists bearing fruit, You may take his life.”
• We can find encouragement that when the Father has grown weary of our stubborn refusal to bear fruit, Jesus doesn’t give up on us. He will work all the more to bear fruit in our life.
• If we stubbornly resist Jesus’ work in our life, there will come a day when we are cut down and replaced by someone else to touch the lives we failed to touch. On that day, we might be victims of the fall of the Tower of Siloam.

Amen.