READING IN LUKE 18,19
READING IN LUKE 18,19
These chapters refer to the conditions that existed consequent upon God breaking with Israel. Chapter 15 contemplates the entrance of the Gentiles, the elder brother being the Jew, and the subject is pursued in these chapters, verse 7. The reference to prayer has a moral application, and to circumstances possibly such as arose at the time of the death of Peter. The saints were under great pressure, and such a passage will probably be of great help in the future. Nothing is more practical than prayer; you do not abandon your petitions, faith continues, though God may not apparently intervene. The faith of the remnant is tested, even though God seems to linger in answer. He is sure to answer. The question, “when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” is interesting, suggesting the line of faith beginning in Abel, which continues right through the remnant up to the world to come. It may be a very thin line, but we find it.
In the parable of the Pharisee and publican the Pharisee is the Jew and the publican represents the attitude of the Gentile, a man with no religious status. The Lord intervenes to obliterate what is here, and a new order of things comes in. The principles are of practical application for the present moment, which is true of the word of God universally. Historical epistles may be referred to, but they are for the help of the people of God generally.
The bringing of the little children to Jesus suggests [p. 84] that the disciples needed teaching: they had to be instructed as to the kind of material of which the kingdom will be built. We greatly need instruction as to the spirit of the kingdom and the system with which we are connected. The Lord teaches that His principles were to be brought out in a new generation, and the disciples had to learn it in connection with the little children. They are those who in the absence of will are in the spirit to be taught of God. The little child is unsophisticated and free from what is of the world. God brings in the new generation. The instruction which the world affords cannot help you in this. It is a precious thought that the Lord touches the little children. Every system had an opportunity to form a generation; now the Lord puts His own stamp upon the generation He has to do with.
In Matthew 11 everything outwardly had gone, then the Father hid things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes, so that wisdom is justified in a new generation taking the impress of Christ, who is meek and lowly in heart. It encourages us to bring our children to the Lord, so that the Lord might put His stamp upon them. Your part is to bring them to Him, and in due time He will touch them. Every wise man brings his children to Christ. If you are not literally a little child, you must become as such. You must have the faith of the gospel, the gospel presents affection, and in growth you maintain the simplicity of the child. Thus the kingdom has to be received differently from the way in which men receive any other system. Children are the good seed of the kingdom. To receive as a little child is to receive it simply, not as a mere religious system. The kingdom of God is power available for you.
Through the question of the ruler the Lord brings out the difficulty besetting those who have riches.
[p. 85] The blind man illustrates one who valued the kingdom; the Lord was there. He saw the Lord and the Lord helped him.
Zacchaeus was searching for righteousness: he was affected by grace in righteousness. His riches did not prevent him from entering the kingdom. The Lord goes voluntarily to the house of Zacchaeus. He knew what He was doing. It was not only that Zacchaeus would get blessing, but his house would get blessing. There is no one from Abraham down in the line of faith who is not a child of Abraham, so Zacchaeus is designated as son of Abraham; he had no religious status, but the Lord puts him in the line of Abraham. It was a sign of earnest desire to be where he could see the Lord, that he could humiliate himself to climb up into the tree. His climbing the tree was really humbling himself morally. He was where the Lord could see him, and so he comes under the Lord’s protection. The Lord exercises no authority where there is no moral response to Him. The Lord says, Salvation has come to your house today, meaning that the kingdom was there.
Those waiting expected that the kingdom of God was about to be immediately manifested, but the Lord shows His going away and the ground to be occupied by His ten bondmen. It is a question of responsibility. The Lord’s absence puts us to the test to be faithful. The millennium is the end of responsibility, which is then in the hands of the Lord; all previous periods were in the hands of man. The mention of ten bondmen indicates the whole period of responsibility, so that we are included. It is not simply a question of the apostles, but covers the whole Christian period. The point of view in Matthew is the present activity of Christendom. While a great deal is being done the Lord’s character is not appreciated; He is referred to as an “austere man”, which is not like Christ. If there is to be [p. 86] service, it must present Christ in some way. It means something to the Lord if one has the Lord before him in service. The idea in the parable is that you are holding something for Him and you are thinking of Him. There may be many with more gift and light than they are using, but they have the Lord before them, and He takes account of that. The Lord has peculiar pleasure in taking account of people who have Him before them, even though they cannot be active. The whole teaching of the parable is trading in the light of the grace of the kingdom.
The ground of judgment was that the man misrepresented the character of the Lord. It is beautiful to see how the Lord keeps His coming before His servants. It is not “trade while I am away”, but “trade while I am coming”, verse 14, New Translation.