UNFAITHFUL SERVANT
UNFAITHFUL SERVANT
(CP Lu 12:41-48). This teaches that those who profess to love God but are indifferent and careless about the things of God will forfeit their place in His eternal kingdom. They will be eternally damned along with unbelievers (CP V46 with Rev 21:8). They will also suffer worse torment in hell than those who never professed to love God (CP Lu 12:47-48 with Mt 10:14-15; 23:14; Lu 10:12-16; He 10:29; Jas 3:1). Just as there are degrees of rewards in heaven (CP 1Cor 3:13-15), so there are degrees of punishment in hell. This also teaches that ignorance of God's will is no excuse either. An ignorant person will receive less punishment than one who knows God's will, but they will both still be in hell.
BARREN FIG TREE
(CP Lu 13:6-9) This illustrates the fruitlessness of Israel (CP Isa 5:1-7). Jesus told the parable of the barren fig tree to enforce His declaration in Lu 13:1-5 that unless the Jews repented they would all perish (CP Lu 13:1-5). In the context of the calamities that overtook the Galileans and those on whom the tower of Siloam fell, Jesus teaches in the parable that God's patience eventuates in judgement if sinners do not repent. The owner of the vineyard is a figure of God, and the vinedresser, Jesus. The parable also teaches that just as the vinedresser was only prepared to give the tree another year to bear fruit, so too Jesus will not plead for sinners any longer once the day of grace has passed. But this is not only a warning to a fruitless nation or a fruitless sinner, it is also a warning to a fruitless church or a fruitless believer (CP Mt 3:7-10; 7:15-27; Lu 8:5-9, 11-15; Jn 15:1-6, 16; He 2:2-3). The barren fig tree in the parable should not be confused with the fig tree Jesus cursed in Mt 21:17-22 or Mk 11:12-14, 20-24. The lesson we learn from Jesus cursing that fig tree is a divine object lesson in faith. It is not about the fruitlessness of Israel (CP Mt 21:17-22). See also comments on Mt 21:17-22.
LOWEST SEAT AT THE FEAST
(CP Lu 14:7-11) Christ told this parable when He saw how the guests at the house He was visiting picked the places of high honour to sit in without waiting for their host to assign them the places. The point the parable illustrates is found in V11: those that exalt themselves in the present kingdom of heaven will be put to shame in the future kingdom. There is perfect harmony here with the parable of the labourers in the vineyard in Mt 20:1-16 which we have already studied. The expression "…whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" in this parable means the same as "...so the last shall be first, and the first last..." in the parable of the labourers in the vineyard. They are both lessons on humility which abound in scripture (CP Pr 25:6-7; 29:23; Mt 18:3-4; 19:27-30; 23:11-12; Lu 9:46-48; Jn 13:3-17; Ro 12:3,16; Php 2:5-9; Jas 4:6,10; 1Pe 5:5-6). The spiritual reality that Christ teaches in this parable is that true honour is not the honour that one claims for oneself, but rather it is the honour conferred on one by God (CP Job 22:29; Psa 18:27; Lu 1:52; 13:29-30; 18:9-14; Jn 5:44; 2Cor 10:18). Honour cannot be secured by self-assertiveness - it comes only through humility and servanthood. GREAT SUPPER
(CP Lu 14:16-24) Jesus told this parable in response to what one of the Pharisees who sat with Him at the meal table said in V15 (CP V15). Jesus uses the supper as a figure of the future eternal kingdom, and the guests who were invited first as a figure of the Jews. Jesus is illustrating by the parable His future rejection by the Jews, and as a result the kingdom being opened up to the gentiles. The servant being sent out to bring in guests for the supper is a figure of the evangelical church. Compel in V23 does not mean to use force, but rather to persuade (CP V23). This typifies sinners being persuaded to partake of the kingdom benefits by evangelical Christians. This teaching should not only be seen as a rebuke for the Jews, but also as a reminder for contemporary Christians to also "…go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in" (hedges here refers to the narrow ways among the vineyards). See also comments on Mt 20:16.
TOWER BUILDER, A KING GOING TO WAR, SAVOURLESS SALT
(CP Lu 14:26-35) .Jesus told three parables here to stress the importance of what He was teaching - the qualifications of discipleship. Jesus spoke these parables so that there would be no misunderstanding of what He said in V26-27 (CP V26-27). Jesus is quite clear here - these are the qualifications we must meet if we want to be saved. This teaches us that we are to love Jesus above all else, including our family and our own life. The word hateth in V26 does not mean that we are to literally hate our fathers and mothers, etc, but that we are to love them less than we love Jesus (CP Mt 10:37). Jesus demands that our love and our loyalty for Him be greater than any other attachment we may have, including even our attachment for our families, and He goes on then in the parable of the tower builder to warn all who would follow him to first count the cost of what it involves. This all highlights the radical nature of the discipleship to which Christ has called us. While the benefits of the gospel are solely on the basis of personal choice, complying with the conditions for appropriating those benefits are part of the cost of that choice. Salvation is a paradox - it is both free and costly. Free because Jesus has already paid for it with His life's blood, yet there is a cost in terms of its impact upon those who would follow after Jesus. Jesus demands that all that we have: material possessions, family, even our own life must be placed at the service of God. He also requires our total renunciation of all self-interests and ambitions and everything else that would take precedence in our life over the things of God (CP Mk 10:17-27).
This teaching can also be found in Mt 19:16-22 and Lu 18:18-23 but we will study Mark's version here because it really shows how anxious the rich young ruler was to be saved. In V17 it says he came running, and kneeled before Jesus, but he did not get saved - he failed the test of discipleship. He sincerely wanted to be saved, but on his terms, not the terms Jesus laid down. He was not prepared to forsake all for Jesus, which is one of the conditions of salvation laid down by Jesus. This does not teach that believers have to sell or dispose of all their possessions in order to be saved, but it does teach that believers must place all their wealth and possessions at the service of God once they are saved. There is a message for the church here, and that is that nobody can be saved by a gospel of easy believism. We must never represent salvation to anyone as something that requires no commitment on their part because Jesus has done it all for them and all they have to do is merely believe in Jesus to be saved.
In the parable of the tower builder Jesus illustrates the absurdity of seeking to follow after Him without first counting the cost (CP Lu 9:57-62). Here we have three more seemingly sincere candidates for salvation but they too, like the rich young ruler, also failed to measure up to the standards Jesus has set for His disciples. These passages teach above all else that anything less than total consecration to the service of God and complete surrender to the authority of Jesus eliminates one from the kingdom of heaven. The first incident teaches that an emotional enthusiasm that has not considered the cost of abandoning material security to follow Him is insufficient by Christ's standards. The second incident teaches that loyalty to Christ must take precedence over all other loyalties. Following after Jesus must be our highest priority. Jesus is not being insensitive to the propriety of funerals here, but is teaching against procrastinating - putting off doing the work of God. Followers of Christ have the urgent task of proclaiming the life that is in Him to them that are lost. This is more important than burying spiritually dead people who have died physically. Jesus said to let their own spiritually dead bury them. The third incident teaches that once we start in God's service we cannot turn away from it. Service to God commands our undivided attention and if we are not prepared to single-mindedly serve God, then we will forfeit our place in the future eternal kingdom (CP Ge 19:1,12-26). Lot's wife would not let go of Sodom where her treasures were. She disobeyed God's word, looked back on Sodom and forfeited her place in the kingdom - she was turned into a pillar of salt. There must be no confusion in our mind as to what all these scriptures teach. To be a true disciple of Jesus requires our total consecration to the service of God and complete surrender to the authority of Jesus. Anything less will cost us the kingdom.
In the parable of the king going to war Jesus illustrates the impossibility of being saved unless one forsakes all for Him (CP Lu 14:31-33). The word forsaketh means to place in order; to assign to different places; to farewell, dismiss, renounce. It carries the notion here of putting something aside to prevent it being a hindrance or gaining excessive control (CP V34-35). This is the parable of savourless salt. It teaches us that like salt that loses its saltiness has no value and is thrown out, so disciples who no longer contain the characteristics of discipleship - that of total consecration to the service of God and complete surrender to the authority of Jesus - are of no value either. This very clearly teaches that once saved does not mean always saved as a great many Christians believe. If it were not possible to forfeit salvation then this scripture and others which teach the same thing would not be in the Bible (CP Mt 5:13; Mk 9:49-50).
These seem to be harsh conditions, but Jesus has set the standard for discipleship and no one can come to Him on any other terms (CP Lu 9:23). To deny one's self is to put the interests of the kingdom above all else. It means that Christians are to completely disregard themselves and abstain from any self-indulgences. They have to renounce all self-interests and ambitions that are contrary to God's word, and subjugate all selfish desires and enjoyments. There can be no compromise, because the choice between denying ourselves and living for our own selfish desires has to be made daily, and that choice will determine our eternal destiny. We are to take up our cross daily also. Not periodically, or when it is convenient or popular, but daily. This means that we must be committed sacrificially continuously to the service of God (CP He 13:10-14). The cross is a symbol of suffering, ridicule, self-denial and rejection, and we must be prepared to suffer the reproach, hatred and ridicule of the world for Jesus' sake (CP Mt 10:38-39; Mk 8:34-37; Lu 9:23-25; Jn 12:24-26). These scriptures all teach that to be a disciple of Jesus we must be prepared to lose our life, not gain it. This means that making the achievement of happiness and pleasure our goal in life, instead of living in God's will and by His principles, will end in disappointment and loss. To renounce our ways and to live in fellowship with Jesus, basing our lives on His teachings is to find true life and joy, here and hereafter. This explains the paradox of discipleship which those scriptures all highlight - to lose life is to find it; to die is to live. Although Jn 12:24 is a prediction by Jesus of His death, the principle by which He illustrates it applies to us too. Unless we die to self we cannot bring forth any fruit fit for the kingdom.
To get the full impact of what Jesus is teaching in Lu 14:25-35 we need to read the literal English rendering from the Greek. This is what it says according to Kenneth Wuest's Expanded Translation of the Greek New Testament:
"Now many crowds were journeying along with Him. And having turned around, He said to them, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters in the event that they become hindrances to his supreme love for me, yes, moreover his own life in the same manner, he is not able to be my disciple. And whoever is not taking up and carrying his own cross and coming after me, is not able to be my disciple. For, who is there of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first, having seated himself, compute the expense, whether he has sufficient resources for its completion, lest perchance, having laid the foundation and not being able to complete it entirely, all who examine it with a view to carefully observing its details should begin to be mocking, saying, this man began building operations and did not have sufficient resources to complete it entirely? Or, what king on his way to an open encounter with another king in war, having seated himself, does not first take counsel with himself whether he is able with ten thousand to go to meet the one who is coming against him with twenty thousand? In the event that he does not think himself able to do so, while he is still a long way off, having sent an ambassador, he requests details looking toward peace. Therefore in the same manner every one of you who does not in self-renunciation bid farewell to all his possessions, is not able to be my disciple. Therefore the salt is excellent in its nature and characteristics, and therefore adapted to the purpose for which it is in existence. But if also the salt lose its strength and flavour, by what means shall it be restored to its original state? Neither for the land nor for the manure pile is it fit. They throw it outside. He who has ears to be hearing, let him be hearing!"
This helps us to better understand what those parables are really saying. Once again there must be no confusion in our minds as to what they really mean.