Luke 15:1-28

Men Must Live In The Light Of The Coming Of The Son of Man In His Glory (15:1-19:28).

Having established in Section 1 that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the city of David where He was proclaimed ‘Saviour' and ‘Lord Messiah'; and in Section 2 that as ‘the Son of God' Jesus had faced His temptations as to what His Messiahship would involve and defeated the Tempter; and that in Section 3 He had proclaimed in parables the secrets of ‘the Kingly Rule of God'; and had in Section 4 taught His Disciples the Lord's Prayer for the establishment of that Kingly Rule and for their deliverance from the trial to come; and having in Section 5 seen in the healing of the crooked woman on the Sabbath a picture of the deliverance of God's people from Satan's power; this section now centres on His coming revelation in glory as the glorious Son of Man (compare Daniel 7:13).

(For the evidence that these points are central to the narrative see Introduction).

Section 6 follows the chiastic pattern that we have already seen abounds in Luke. It may be analysed in detail as follows:

a Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Him (Luke 15:1).

b The parables concerning the seeking Shepherd who goes out into the wilderness, the woman with the coins, and the three, the father and the two young men, who each make their choice as to what they will do, and Heaven's rejoicing when tax collectors and sinners repent (Luke 15:2).

c The steward who used his lord's wealth wisely, and thoughts on using money wisely in preparation for the eternal future in the everlasting dwellings (Luke 16:1).

d The Pharisees are blind to the truth about Jesus and cavil at His teaching, but all who see the truth press into the Kingly Rule of God (Luke 16:14).

e The story of the rich man, and the beggar Lazarus, is a pointer to the wrong use of wealth in the light of the eternal future and to the unwillingness of many even solid Jews to truly listen to the Law of God, which will result in their being lost for ever (Luke 16:19).

f The danger of putting stumblingblocks in the way of others, especially of children, in the light of the eternal future (Luke 17:1).

g The servant who only does his duty in the expansion of the Kingly Rule of God does not expect a reward, for that is his duty (Luke 17:6).

h Ten lepers come seeking deliverance and are healed - but there is only one, a Samaritan, who afterwards seeks out Jesus with gratitude so as to give thanks. Among the many the one stands out. He alone finally seeks Jesus in faith and is abundantly vindicated. Jesus asks, ‘where there not ten cleansed, where are the nine?' and stresses his faith (Luke 17:11).

i The Kingly Rule of God does not come with signs (Luke 17:20)

j After first being rejected the Son of Man, when He comes, will come in His glory (Luke 17:22), men must therefore beware of false Messiahs. After this we have a cluster of Son of Man sayings (Luke 17:26; Luke 17:30; Luke 18:8; Luke 18:31; Luke 19:10).

i The coming of the Son of Man will be unexpected (and thus without signs) (Luke 17:25).

h In parable there is an unrighteous judge, (who represents God), and he is faced by one who comes to him seeking for vindication, a picture of God's elect seeking vindication. God's elect must persevere in prayer and seek Him with faith that they too might find vindication. Among the many, the few stand out. Jesus asks, ‘when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?' (Luke 18:1).

g The Pharisee who thinks he does his duty and expects thanks for it, is contrasted with the one who comes humbly and is justified (Luke 18:9).

f The Kingly Rule of God must be received as a little child (Luke 18:15).

e The approach of the rich young ruler and the difficulty of entering under the Kingly Rule of God, stressing the wise use of wealth for the sake of the Kingly Rule of God (Luke 18:18).

d While the Apostles remain partially blind to the truth about Jesus, (the fact that what is written about the Son of Man must be accomplished), the blind man at Jericho recognises Him as the Son of David and insists on being brought to Jesus and his eyes are opened, He insistently presses into the Kingly Rule of God (Luke 18:31).

c The chief tax collector Zacchaeus uses his wealth wisely and yields it to the Lord, demonstrating that the Son of Man has successfully come to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:1).

b The king goes to a far country to receive Kingly Rule, he gives coins to his servants to trade with, and his three servants have each to make their choice (Luke 19:11).

a ‘And when He had said thus He went on before, going up to Jerusalem' (Luke 19:28).

Note how in ‘a' the section opens with the tax collectors and sinners drawing near ‘to hear Him', and ends with Him ‘concluding His words' before moving on towards His death in Jerusalem. In ‘b' the shepherd goes into the wilderness, the woman looks after her coins, and a father and his two sons make their choices, while in the parallel a king goes into a far country, he dispenses coins to be looked after, and three servants make their choices. In ‘c' the steward uses money wisely and in the parallel Zacchaeus uses his money wisely. In ‘d' The Pharisees are ‘blind' to the truth about Jesus and cavil at His teaching, while those who see the truth press into the Kingly Rule of God, and in the parallel the disciples are ‘blind' to Jesus' teaching, while the blind man presses insistently into seeing Jesus. In ‘e' we have the rich man who used his wealth wrongly and in the parallel the rich young ruler who refused to use his wealth rightly. In ‘f' we are told of the danger of putting stumblingblocks in the way of others, especially of children, while in the parallel the Kingly Rule of God must be received as a little child. In ‘g' the servant who only does his duty does not expect a reward, while in the parallel the Pharisee is confident that he has done his duty and boasts about it, but is seen as lacking. In ‘h' ten men cry out for deliverance, but one man stands out as seeking Jesus and is commended and his faith alone is emphasised, in the parallel one woman seeks to a judge (God) and His elect are to seek out God for deliverance and are commended but lack of faith on earth is feared. In ‘i' the Kingly Rule of God does not come with signs, and in the parallel His coming will be unexpected (and thus without signs). In ‘j', and centrally, the rejected Son of Man is to come in His glory and false Messiahs are to be avoided (Luke 17:22).