1And then He told them a parable, the point being that one needs to always pray and not lose heart, 2saying: “There was a judge in a certain town who did not fear God nor regard man. 3But there was a widow in that town, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4And for a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I don't fear God nor regard man, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will defend her, so that her endless coming doesn't wear me out!’ ”
6Then the Lord said: “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7And will not God get justice for His elect who are crying out to Him day and night, indeed being patient with them? 8I tell you that He will get justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of the Man comes, will He actually find the faith on the earth?”
Parable of a Pharisee and a publican
9Then He told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised the rest: 10“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood and started praying to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like all the rest—robbers, unjust, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week; I tithe all that I get.’ 13The tax collector, staying a good ways off, did not even venture to look up to heaven, but started beating on his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14I say to you that this one went back home justified rather than that one; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
You enter the Kingdom like a child does
15Then they even started bringing their babies to Him, that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus summoned them and said: “Allow the little children to come to me, and do not hinder them; because the Kingdom of God is of such. 17I tell you assuredly, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God the way a little child does will by no means enter it.”
An upright, rich ruler
18A certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19So Jesus said to him: “Why do you call me good? No one is good except one—God. 20You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and your mother.’ ” 21And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” 22Well upon hearing these things Jesus said to him, “You still lack one thing: sell all you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23But when he heard this he became very sad, because he was extremely rich.
Riches tend to keep people out of the Kingdom
24When Jesus saw that he became sad, He said: “How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter the Kingdom of God! 25It is actually easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God!” 26So the hearers said, “Who then can be saved?” 27And He said, “The things that are impossible with men are possible with God.”
28Then Peter said, “Notice that we have left all and followed you!” 29So He said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, 30who will not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Jesus declares His coming death and resurrection—third time
31Then He took the Twelve aside and said to them: “Take note, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of the Man will be fulfilled: 32He will be betrayed to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon, 33and they will scourge and kill Him. And on the third day He will rise again.” 34But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know what was being said.
A blind man near Jericho
35Then it happened, as He approached Jericho, that a certain blind man was sitting alongside the road begging. 36Hearing a crowd going by, he asked what it was. 37So they told him that Jesus the Natsorean was passing by. 38Well he shouted, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39Those who led the way started reproving him, to shut him up; but he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40So Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to Him. When he got close He asked him, saying, 41“What do you want me to do for you?” So he said, “Lord, that I may see again!” 42Then Jesus said to him: “See again! Your faith has made you well.” 43And immediately he did! and he followed Him, glorifying God. And all who witnessed it gave praise to God.
Notes
*18:8God's ‘quickly’ doesn't always seem that ‘quick’ to us.
†18:8The Text clearly has ‘the faith’, referring to the sum of Truth that makes up the biblical Faith. The Lord's question is precisely to the point. Aside from the generalized apostasy that characterizes ‘Christian’ churches today, how many ‘conservative’ pastors are genuinely committed to the objective authority of the biblical Text?
‡18:12This is the sort of ‘prayer’ that does not get past the ceiling, so he was just talking to himself.
§18:17To render ‘as a little child’ misses the point; obviously an adult can be saved. A little child believes literally and completely.
*18:19Jesus is not denying that He is good, but the man is not addressing Him as God. Had the man done so, there would have been no objection.
†18:22From the parallel account in Matthew 19:16-22 we learn that the man actually said more than is recorded here.
‡18:23The Lord had put His finger on the one he was not keeping; he was not loving his neighbor as himself.
§18:24The parallel passage in Mark (10:24) clarifies that it is those who trust in riches. How many rich people do you know who do not trust in their riches? (That clarification is omitted by less than half a percent of the extant Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, as in the eclectic text currently in vogue.)
*18:25Jesus refers to a literal camel and a literal needle, which of course is “impossible with men”, as He goes on to say in verse 27.
†18:33Referring to the time between Jesus' death and resurrection, Luke (and Matthew and Mark) has ‘(on) the third day’; but Mark also has ‘after three days’, while Matthew also has ‘three days and three nights’; John has ‘in three days’. Due to these seeming differences, there are those who insist that Jesus died on Thursday, not Friday, or even on Wednesday. There is general agreement that the resurrection happened on Sunday. Both ‘(on) the third day’ and ‘in three days’ allow for a Friday crucifixion, as the Church has generally understood. In John 20:26 we read, “after eight days” Jesus appeared to the disciples again, with Thomas present; this was the next Sunday, so only seven days had elapsed—Jews (and Brazilians) include the day at both ends. So ‘after three days’ also allows for a Friday crucifixion. I take it that ‘three days and three nights’ was an idiomatic expression synonymous with ‘after three days’. So Jesus died on a Friday.
§18:35Luke has Jesus approaching Jericho, while Matthew and Mark have Him leaving it. In Jesus' day there were two Jerichos, the old one that had been rebuilt, and a new one, about a kilometer away. What better place to beg than between the two towns? Jesus had left the old Jericho and was going toward the new one. For further discussion, please see the Appendix: “Entering or leaving Jericho?”.
*18:37That is correct, ‘Natsorean’, not Nazarene. The reference is to Isaiah 11:1—Jesus was the ‘Branch-man’, the Messiah, as the blind man clearly understood, since he addressed Him as ‘Son of David’. For further discussion, please see the Appendix: “ ‘Prophets’ in Matthew 2:23”.
†18:41The man had not been born blind. Do you find it to be curious that Jesus asked him what he wanted? Was it not obvious? God knows what we need before we ask, but we must ask!
God's ‘quickly’ doesn't always seem that ‘quick’ to us.
The Text clearly has ‘the faith’, referring to the sum of Truth that makes up the biblical Faith. The Lord's question is precisely to the point. Aside from the generalized apostasy that characterizes ‘Christian’ churches today, how many ‘conservative’ pastors are genuinely committed to the objective authority of the biblical Text?
This is the sort of ‘prayer’ that does not get past the ceiling, so he was just talking to himself.
To render ‘as a little child’ misses the point; obviously an adult can be saved. A little child believes literally and completely.
Jesus is not denying that He is good, but the man is not addressing Him as God. Had the man done so, there would have been no objection.
From the parallel account in Matthew 19:16-22 we learn that the man actually said more than is recorded here.
The Lord had put His finger on the one he was not keeping; he was not loving his neighbor as himself.
The parallel passage in Mark (10:24) clarifies that it is those who trust in riches. How many rich people do you know who do not trust in their riches? (That clarification is omitted by less than half a percent of the extant Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, as in the eclectic text currently in vogue.)
Jesus refers to a literal camel and a literal needle, which of course is “impossible with men”, as He goes on to say in verse 27.
Referring to the time between Jesus' death and resurrection, Luke (and Matthew and Mark) has ‘(on) the third day’; but Mark also has ‘after three days’, while Matthew also has ‘three days and three nights’; John has ‘in three days’. Due to these seeming differences, there are those who insist that Jesus died on Thursday, not Friday, or even on Wednesday. There is general agreement that the resurrection happened on Sunday. Both ‘(on) the third day’ and ‘in three days’ allow for a Friday crucifixion, as the Church has generally understood. In John 20:26 we read, “after eight days” Jesus appeared to the disciples again, with Thomas present; this was the next Sunday, so only seven days had elapsed—Jews (and Brazilians) include the day at both ends. So ‘after three days’ also allows for a Friday crucifixion. I take it that ‘three days and three nights’ was an idiomatic expression synonymous with ‘after three days’. So Jesus died on a Friday.
‘Hidden’ by whom?
Luke has Jesus approaching Jericho, while Matthew and Mark have Him leaving it. In Jesus' day there were two Jerichos, the old one that had been rebuilt, and a new one, about a kilometer away. What better place to beg than between the two towns? Jesus had left the old Jericho and was going toward the new one. For further discussion, please see the Appendix: “Entering or leaving Jericho?”.
That is correct, ‘Natsorean’, not Nazarene. The reference is to Isaiah 11:1—Jesus was the ‘Branch-man’, the Messiah, as the blind man clearly understood, since he addressed Him as ‘Son of David’. For further discussion, please see the Appendix: “ ‘Prophets’ in Matthew 2:23”.
The man had not been born blind. Do you find it to be curious that Jesus asked him what he wanted? Was it not obvious? God knows what we need before we ask, but we must ask!