Parables of Jesus - Lesson 12

The Parables of Jesus

Lesson 12 

·         Background

o   Today’s Parable can be found in the Gospel of Luke.   This parable was told before Jesus made his way to Jerusalem and this parable was taught after the Parables of the ‘Prodigal Son’ and the ‘Shrewd Manager’.   Jesus was directing this parable to the Pharisees.

o   The Lazarus in this parable should not be confused with the Lazarus that Jesus raised from the dead.

o   This is the only place in the bible where we hear of someone’s actual thoughts, emotions, and words while being in hell.   

o   As a reminder with all the judgment parables, we need to focus on the spiritual condition of a person, not the earthly condition.  There will be both rich and poor people who will be in heaven as well as rich and poor people in hell.

·         Parable of Judgment.

o   The Rich Man and Lazarus. (Luke 16: 19 - 31)

§  The Pharisees considered wealth to be a proof of a person’s righteousness and they also considered the poor were cursed by God.   Jesus startled the Pharisees with this story of a diseased beggar being rewarded and the rich man punished.   The rich man did not go to Hell (Hades) because of his wealth but because he was selfish and he neglected to feed Lazarus, take him in, or care for him.   The rich man was blessed with much but he did not share with the needy when he saw them.   The amount of money we have is not important as to how we use our money.

§  The rich man thought that his 5 brothers would surely believe a messenger who had been raised from the dead.  Jesus said that if the 5 brothers did not believe Moses or the prophets who spoke about caring for the poor that not even a resurrection of the dead would convince them.   Notice the irony of this statement as Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to die.  Jesus was fully aware that even when he would be raised from the dead, most religious leaders of Israel would not accept him as the Messiah.

§  Purple was a costly dye during biblical times and it was often worn by kings, nobles, and even idol images.   It was found in a rare shellfish which would yield one drop per shellfish.  Fine linen was also made of flax and was a dazzling white color nnd worth twice its weight in gold.   The rich man was surrounded by loyal brethren and servants while Lazarus is a companion of the dogs.

§  Hades (Greek) or Sheol (Hebrew) was the name given to the adobe of the dead between death in the Old Testament and the Resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament.   The expression ‘Abraham’s Bossom’ is taken from the custom of reclining on couches at  a feast as we learned earlier.   As a guest leaned upon his left arm his neighbor might easily lean upon his bossom.   Such a position of respect to the Master of the House was one of special honor and indicated great intimacy

§  Physical Death is a certainty.

·         After physical death individuals continue to exist in a state of personal consciousness.  After Jesus’s return we will be reunited with a new body.   (Revelation 6: 9 -10)

·         After physical death an individual’s destiny is sealed (Verse 25 and 26 from the parable) (Revelation 20: 11 – 15)

·         Abraham’s Bossom was a place for the saved that was reserved until the time of their resurrection unto life.   This place was also referred to as Paradise (Luke 23: 39 -43).  Originally it was thought to be a partitioned section of Hades, but was moved to heaven after Christ’s resurrection.  The Apostle Paul speaks of being ‘caught up into Paradise’.   (II Corinthians 12: 1 - 4)

§  There will be no crossing between Hell and Heaven according to this parable.

§  Related readings

·         Deuteronomy 15:7-11, Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Leviticus 19:18, Ezekiel 16:49, Luke 6:21-25, John 5:45-47, Acts 15:21

·         Questions to Ponder/Life Lessons.

o   What is our attitude toward our money and possessions?  Do we hoard them selfishly or do we use them to help others?  We are stewards of everything that God has created and he has entrusted them to us.

o   What do you imagine heaven and hell will be like?  What do your friends and family think?  Do you believe hell is real?  2 excellent books to read are ‘Heaven is for Real’ and ’23 Minutes in Hell’

o   What things do we consider to have eternal value?  How can we focus on them instead of earthly riches?

o   What we often assume about Heaven   What the Bible says

§  Non-Earth                                           Earth

§  Unfamilar, Another World           Familiar, Earthly

§  Disembodied                                     Resurrected (Embodied)

§  Foreign                                                 Home

§  Leave things behind                       Retaining the Good, finding the best ahead

§  No time and space                          Time and space

§  Static                                                     Dynamic

§  Neither Old or New                        Both New and Old

§  Nothing to do                                    Serve and worship God

§  No learning or discovery               An eternity of learning and discovery

§  Boring                                                   Fascination

§  Loss of desire                                    Continuous fulfillment of desire

§  Absence of the terrible                 Presence of the wonderful

o   Notice how the rich man tried to reach out in prayer to late in his life, after his death, where he was destined to eternal life in hell.  If God has chosen us and reached out to us by offering his gift of grace through salvation, have we or our loved ones accepted that offer of grace?

Parables of Jesus - Lesson 11

The Parables of Jesus

Lesson 11 

·         Background

§  Both Parables continue our study about Judgment and both Parables can be found in the Gospel of Matthew.

§  Jesus had just taught on the Mount of Olives after arriving in Jerusalem, which would lead to his eventual death on the cross.   Jesus tells his followers about his future and his return.  Jesus also tells his followers about remaining watchful for the end of times as well.

·         Parables of Judgment

§  Unprofitable Servants   (Matthew 25: 14 – 30)   

§  The Master divided the money/talents to his servants based according to the servant’s abilities.  They did not receive more or less than what they could handle based upon there Master’s knowledge.   If the servant failed he could not blame it on the fact that he was overwhelmed, but that he was either lazy or he hated his master.   The talents in this parable represent any resources that God has gifted us with.   God gives us time, gifts, and resources according to our abilities and God does expect us to invest and use them wisely until he returns.   We are responsible for what God has given us.   The issue is not how much we have but how well we use what we have.

§  Jesus is coming back, which we know is true and mentioned in the bible.  Knowing this, we are to use our time, talents, and treasures diligently to serve God in whatever we do.   For a few people this might be a change in profession, but for most of us it involves doing our daily work out of love for our God.

§  The last man was only thinking of himself by hoping to play it safe with his master’s money to protect himself from his master, who he recognized as hard and shrewd.   The master judged this man based upon his self-centeredness.   Likewise we must not make excuses to avoid what God is calling us to do.   God is our master and we must obey him accordingly.   Our time, abilities, and money are not ours but are instead gifts from God.

§  This parable shows the consequences of two types of attitudes toward Jesus’s return.   The person who diligently prepares by investing their talents and time to serve God will be rewarded.   The person who has no heart for the work of God’s kingdom will be punished.   God does reward faithfulness.   Those who bear no fruit for God cannot expect the same rewards as those who are faithful.

§  Additional readings

·         Matthew 24:42-47, Mark 13:35-37, Luke 12:40, Luke 16:8-13.

§  Unprofitable Goats.   (Matthew 25: 31 - 46)

§  Jesus used the sheep and goats to picture the division between believes and no-believers.  Sheep and goats often grazed together during biblical times but they would be separated when it came time to have the sheep sheered.   (Ezekiel 34:17-24)

§  This parable describes acts of mercy that we all can do every day.   These acts do not depend upon wealth, ability, or intelligence.   They are but simple acts given freely and freely accepted.   We have no excuse to neglect those who have deep needs and we cannot hand this responsibility to the church or government.   The church and government does have a role to play, but when the opportunity comes to us, we need to help.  Jesus demands our personal involvement in caring for other’s needs (Isaiah 58:7).

§  Just in the parable of the “Good Samaritan” where the question is asked “Who is my neighbor”, the point of the parable is not who but what, the importance of serving where service is needed.   This parable is about loving every person and serving anyone we can.   Such love for others glorifies God by reflecting our love for God.

§  As in last week, eternal life and eternal punishment are absolute.  When Jesus warns us about unbelief he is trying to save us from agonizing punishment.   When Jesus repeats himself several times on a topic he wants our attention and to listen as it is something that is very important.

§  Additional Readings.

·         Matthew 10:40-42, Matthew 12:46-50, Matthew 7:13, Matthew 16:27, Malachi 3:18, Revelation 13:8, Job 31:29-32, Isaiah 58:7, Hebrews 13:2, James 2:26, Proverbs 19:17

·         Questions to Ponder/Lessons for Life.

§  We know that God blesses us and he offers us grace.  Once we accept God’s grace do we live our lives to glorify God’s name?   God created us to glorify his name.

§  What are your best traits or attributes?

§  Is it important to God on how much talent you have?   (2 Corinthians 8:10-12)

§  Where are you able to invest your talents and what people can benefit from your talents?

§  Did you notice the Master’s comments to the 2 faithful servants, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful with few things, I will put you in charge of many things”.

§  We never know when our time will be up and we know that eternity is real (2 Peter 3:18). 

§  What we do for others demonstrates what we really think about Jesus’s word to us – feed the hungry, give the homeless a place to stay, and look after the sick.  Where do our actions fit in this?

§  The Judgement parables that we have discussed, especially the ‘Sheep and Goats” may sound as Jesus is saying that he is going to judge us based upon our works or on our deeds.   We need to be mindful that we are surely saved by faith, not by our works (James 2:14-18).   Good works aren’t the reason we are saved, but instead they are our fruits and evidence that we are saved.

Parables of Jesus - Lesson 10

The Parables of Jesus

Lesson 10 

·         Background

o   Both Parables are about Judgment and both Parables can be found in the Gospel of Matthew.

o   The first parable is before Jesus arrives in Jerusalem and the second parable is after he has arrived.

o   Before these parables were given, we see the transfiguration of Jesus to Peter, James, and John.  Jesus had also healed a demon possessed man and he also predicts his death a second time.

·         Parables of Judgment

o   A Wretched Man’s Wretched Ending.   (Matthew 18:21-35    

§  In this Parable we find Jesus answering Peter’s question on how many times we must forgive our brother.   The Jewish rabbis taught that people should forgive others only 3 times if they were offended by someone.   Peter was thinking he was being generous by asking if 7 was enough (“7” is considered the perfect or complete number in the bible).  Jesus responds with 490 times (70 times 7), meaning we should not keep track of how many times we should forgive someone. 

§  During biblical times, serious consequences awaited those who could not pay their debts.   The lender could seize the borrower and his family and require them to work in order to pay off the debt.  The debtor could also be thrown into jail with the hope that his family would sell his possessions in order to pay off the debt, otherwise he would remain in prison for life.  The debtor’s family could also be sold off as slaves.

§  Ten thousand talents is equivalent to millions of dollars in modern time.    It was an amount the debtor could not pay back as the revenue in Galilee for a year’s wages was around 300 talents.

·         We cannot pay for our sins.

·         God is the King – all his servants owe a debt that cannot be paid

·         We should not be bitter or unloving toward others.

·         Love keeps no record of wrong.   (I Corinthians 13:4-6)

§  This parable teaches us that we should not hold back forgiveness of others because God does forgive all of our sins if we are repentant.   We need to be reminded at what Jesus Christ endured on the cross for our sins, his role as the sacrificial lamb, his willingness to take all of our sins to the cross and to die for us so that we can be freed from the bondage of sin.  Likewise we must forgive others as we have been forgiven as well.

§  Additional readings

·         Matthew 6:14-15, Luke 17:3-4, 2 Kings 4:1, James 2:12-13

o   The Wicked Trustee.   (Matthew 21:33-46)

§  In this parable we see God as the landowner, Israel is represented as the vineyard, the religious leaders are the tenants, the prophets and priests who remained loyal to God are represented by the servants to the landowner, Jesus is the landowner’s son, and the Gentiles are represented by the other tenants.

§  Jesus was directing this parable to the Jews and he was exposing the Pharisees plot to kill him

§  This parable is a reminder that God sent his one and only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to us out of his love.  Jesus’s perfect life, his words of truth, and his sacrifice of love should cause us to listen to him and follow him.  If we reject God’s gracious gift of his son, we reject God himself.

·         Our greatest privilege is to have the kingdom of God entrusted to us.   The greatest sin is to reject God.   The greatest doom is to be crushed by Jesus.

§  Jesus refers to himself as the “stone the builders rejected”.  Although most of the people of Israel rejected Jesus, he became the “cornerstone and capstone” of his new building of the church, which would now include the Gentiles.

§  Verse 44:   Jesus used this metaphor to show that one stone can affect people in different ways depending upon how they relate to that stone.  Some will build upon it, some will trip over it, and God’s enemy will be crushed by it at the end because of God’s judgment.   Jesus Christ is this stone as he offers mercy and forgiveness now, but he also does promise judgment at the end of times for those who reject him.

§  Additional Readings.

·         Isaiah 5:1-2, Jeremiah 2:21, Ezekiel 19:10-14, Psalm 80:8-10, Romans 5:9-11, Matthew 23:33-36, Acts 13:46-49, Acts 18:5-6, Acts 28:28, Psalm 118:22-24, Acts 4:8-12, I Peter 2:4-8, Luke 2:34-35.

·         Questions to ponder/Life Lessons.

o   The first parable makes 3 points.

§  Judgment is coming.

§  There is forgiveness shown to us by God through the death of Jesus on the cross.

§  The proof of a person’s having received God’s forgiveness through faith in Jesus is a transformed heart and a changed lifestyle

o   Is it really possible to forgive and forget?

o   How likely are we to forgive someone many times for the same offense?  Why is an unforgiving spirit deadly?

o   In what ways has God shown mercy in forgiving our sins?   If God is so willing to forgive us, why are we unwilling to forgive others?

o   What is the fate that awaits those who reject Jesus as the Messiah or the Son of God?