luke 19

Read Luke 19 at Bible Gateway.

Luk 19 outline:

Luk 19:1-10, Zacchaeus the tax collector saved when Jesus eats at his house
Luk 19:11-27, The parable of the minas/ faithfulness in little and much
Luk 19:28-40, Jesus enters Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey hailed as King
Luk 19:41-44, Jesus wept over Jerusalem, prophesied its destruction
Luk 19:45-46, Jesus cleansed the temple of merchants
Luk 19:47-48, Jesus taught daily in the Temple/ chief priests + elders sought to destroy Him

Luk 16:1-19:27 chiastic structure:

1a) Luk 16:1-31, Those who were not faithful in little because they were lovers of money;

1b) Luk 17:1-10, Forgive the one who has repented is the command of the master;

1c) Luk 17:11-19, Ten lepers cry for mercy from Jesus + He heals them + your faith has made you well;

1d) Luk 17:20-21, He was asked by the Pharisees of the coming of the kingdom of God;

1e) Luk 17:22-37, Whoever loses his life will preserve it on that Day;

central axis) Luk 18:1-17, Three who are humble and seeking the kingdom of God;

1) Luk 18:1-8, The humble widow before the unjust judge;
2) Luk 18:9-14, The humble sinner before the Temple;
3) Luk 18:15-17, The humble child before the kingdom of God;

2e) Luk 18:18-30, Inheriting eternal life: the rich young ruler and the twelve;

2d) Luk 18:31-34, Jesus prophesies His crucifixion and resurrection, but the disciples did not understand;

2c) Luk 18:35-43, A blind man cries for mercy from Jesus + He heals him + your faith has made you well;

2b) Luk 19:1-8, Zacchaeus and Jesus: a man who loved money, who repented and found forgiveness;

2a) Luk 19:11-27, The parable of the ten minas (because you were faithful in a very little).

The entire structure is a teaching on finding eternal life. Obedience to the Law is not discarded: those who love God will listen to Moses and the Prophets and repent (in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus). But it is not those who obey the Law who are saved; it is those who are humbled and repent, who are saved. You can be sure that if Jesus commands His disciples to forgive the one who has repented of their sin, then He also forgives the one who has repented of their sin, as illustrated by the salvation of Zacchaeus. Those who are saved are then shown to be saved, by their change of heart, in that they now love God instead of money, and now seek to obey God (as Zacchaeus now did, a fourfold restitution is a Torah commandment, Exo 22:1) instead of seeking to be justified in the sight of men.

The D pair is interesting: the Pharisees asking about the coming of the kingdom of God, paired with the prophecy of Jesus’ death and resurrection. In the Pharisees’ mind, the kingdom of God equaled the kingdom of David established on the earth: a natural kingdom. In God’s mind, the kingdom of God equals nothing less than the conversion and salvation from the heart of every nation (made possible by the death and resurrection of Messiah), so that each saved person, through his new heart and baptism by fire in the Holy Spirit, becomes a “little Christ,” (the meaning of the word, “Christian”) doing the works that Jesus did, and even greater works than these will he do. It is a supernatural kingdom, which will be capped by the natural kingdom of David at Yeshua’s return!