2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope [...]
Many people want to be happy. They want to be around happy people. They want to be made happy by good news, moving stories, and the like. Perhaps this is why “feel good” movies tend to do well. We can also say that people generally speaking want to be to rich, full, and filled with [...]
Within the context of Luke, Jesus’ interaction with Zacchaeus, a tax collector, is an example of how God can do anything. Right before this story, Jesus has a conversation with a rich ruler and the conclusion was twofold. First, there is a tendency of the wealthy to trust in their wealth and forfeit trust in [...]
What can we learn from an unjust manager who only thinks of himself? According to Jesus’ words in Luke 16, there is, surprisingly, much. Since, the details of the parable are somewhat complicated, a short summary is a good place to start. A rich man has a manager who squanders his possessions. When the rich [...]
After the Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan River, he is driven into the wilderness. There he is tempted under the most challenging of circumstances. After not eating for forty days, he is tempted to turn stone into bread, worship Satan for the sake of worldly glory, and test God’s faithfulness. In each of these situations, [...]
In the past few years, there seems to be disaster after disaster – hurricane Katrina, the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the earthquakes in Haiti and the Sichuan province in China, and now the disaster in Japan. When we add into the picture the horrors of terrorism and all the unrest in the Middle East, [...]
Parables are hard to understand. This parable is one of the most difficult parables to understand. What are we to make of Jesus’ example of a manager who acts unjustly by lowering the debts of people owed his master in order to ingratiate himself to them, because he knew that he was going to be [...]
In this context, Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples to carry on his work. Jesus reminds them that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. In light of this, it is good that they go. When they return, they rejoice at the ministry that they were able to conduct. They even say, “even the [...]
a. Introduction This parable seeks to answer the question: “who is my neighbor?” The implicit presupposition of this parable is that people usually define neighbor too narrowly. Therefore, the goal of Jesus’ parable is to challenge our view of what it means to be a neighbor.
A. Introduction Out of all the parables, this one may be the most difficult to understand. Some commentators try to find a way out of Luke 16:8 by arguing that the manager probably cancelled the surcharge, which he was able to control. From this reading, the master looses nothing as the manager himself absorbs the [...]
A. Introduction One of the less popular areas of theology, at least in the West, is the teaching concerning the second coming of Jesus. Part of the reason for this is that many Christians in the West are worldly and have grown up in wealth. They are akin to a rich man who only thinks [...]
A. Introduction This parable is nested in Luke’s narrative of Jesus’ visitation to Simon’s house, a Pharisee. During dinner an unnamed “sinful” woman begins to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and hair. She even breaks a jar of costly perfume and puts it on Jesus’ feet. It was an extravagant act of devotion on [...]
A. Introduction A good rule of thumb is to read in context. When we do this for this parable, we realize that there are three consecutive parables that have the same theme – things or persons being lost and found. The story of the prodigal son is the third and final parable of a series [...]
Luke 15 – Prodigal Son
The parable of the prodigal son has been interpreted and preached over many times. For this reason this parable is well known. Furthermore, pastors, scholars, and students of scripture bring up many insightful points. There is so much grace when we mediate. As I was reading this parable again, what struck me what the words [...]