I think the great divide is the Scribes and Pharisees vs the followers of Jesus. Today that would be the people who think salvation is either unnecessary or non-existent and against those who still follow Jesus. Luke Chapters 19 and 20 show the great divide. The Triumphal Entry on one day and they crucify him on another. It began with grumbling in Luke 19:7. Then the tax collector wants to strike a deal. He will give half of what he owns to the poor and return four times what he has stolen. I don’t remember a response from Jesus to his offer. Do you attempt deals with God? “I won’t do that sin again if you will just,______”.
Jesus came looking for lost people – not people satisfied with sin then verse 11 becomes confusing, “And while they were listening to these things. He went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately”. Was Jesus teaching something that would give them patience or understanding? The parable is vs 12-27 with an unwanted leader who seems shrewd and cruel but good at accounting. We don’t know why his citizens hated him but by verse 21 we are reminded that fear keeps us from making good choices and we blame others for failure. I don’t know why he wanted his enemies killed in front of him. In verse 32 we learn that following and obeying Jesus will take you places. Verse 38 reads, “‘Blessed is the King Who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest”! Jesus, who is over time, knew in that triumphant moment that those same people cheering would soon put him on a cross. He still wept over them. By the end of Chapter 19, He has cleansed the temple, making it worthy of His daily teaching and, “they (religious spies) could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging upon His words”.
The big challenge for Chapter 20 has to do with His authority. It is like a competition for followers in a church competing with another for members. The last parable here is from vs 11-26 and deals a blow to the Scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees. They gave up on trying to trip Him up but how could they hate Him so much to plot murder? This is the hard part of the gospel and why I love Christmas so much. I like the sweet beginning but it goes downhill because of us.
