LK 24:2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.

LK 24:3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

They come bringing spices for the dead, but their spices would never be used for Jesus was not there!

LK 24:4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:

LK 24:5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

LK 24:6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

LK 24:7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

LK 24:8 And they remembered his words,

At first they were perplexed.  Where was the body of Jesus and why is the stone rolled away?  Then the angels tell them that He is risen!  They say, “Why seek ye the living among the dead”  Then they remind them that Jesus foretold that this would happen.  Jesus had told them that He must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.  They then remembered His words.  The wonderful truth of it broke down upon them.  And look at how they reacted. 

LK 24:9 And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.

They now had the greatest news the world has ever had.  There is a risen Saviour.  And what did they do?  How did they react to this news?  They told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.  They immediately went out and told others.  Not only to the eleven, but it says to all the rest. 

Should we not react the same way?  Is not the greatest news in the world worth sharing? 

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LK 23:19 (Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.)

LK 23:25 And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

At this time of year Pilate would release to the Jews a prisoner of their choice.  Pilate tried to get them to take Jesus.  To help make the choice go in Jesus’ favor the prisoner that Pilate offered was of the worst sort.  Most likely he was the worst prisoner that Pilate had at that time.  Verse 19 tells us that this man was put into prison for the crime of murder.  You could not get a greater contrast between these two.  A wicked vile murderer and the spotless, sinless, Son of God.  I think that Pilate thought that between the two surely they would pick Jesus for who would want the murderer.  He underestimated the wicked dark hearts of this crowd, and they chose the murderer over Jesus.  What a dark picture we see here of the dark heart that rejects Jesus.  A heart that will accept anything except Jesus.

But we also have something else pictured here.  A most wicked sinner was set free in exchange for Jesus.  Jesus was punished unto death.  A punishment that the murderer deserved.  But he was set free because of Jesus.  The just who should have been let free is punished unto death and the unjust is set free.  He gets a pardon.  We see here a picture of what was about to take place on the cross.  Wicked sinners were going to be set free and given a pardon because of Jesus dying for them on the cross.  Jesus died for you.  He took your punishment that you might go free.  Have you received your pardon?  Have you trusted in Jesus as your Saviour?

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LK 22:9 And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare?

LK 22:10 And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in.

LK 22:11 And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?

LK 22:12 And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.

LK 22:13 And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.

Jesus commanded something to be done.  He told them to go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.  The apostles ask where.  They had no place to go.  Jesus then tells them where to find the place.  And in verse 13 they accomplish what Jesus had commanded.  The apostles had no place, but a place was provided.  God had once again worked in circumstances and in the heart of a man to provide what was needed for His purpose.  And God’s plan was accomplished. 

We see a basic principal here.  What God ordains He provides for.  And He does it thru men.  God worked thru circumstances and in the heart of a man to accomplish His plan and God still works the same way today.  If God wants a church to build, He will work thru circumstances and thru the hearts of the people to provide what is needed.  God provided the circumstances and He was the one that worked on the man’s heart, and God had already blessed the man so that he would have what was needed. 

So what was required on the part of the apostles?  Well they had to have faith and act accordingly.  Jesus made it clear what He wanted done and they had to trust Him and go out and act upon it.  If they did not step out on faith, then the place would not have been found. 

We need to have patience and wait on the Lord.  He will show us thru circumstances and thru the hearts of the people, when the time to build is right.  When it becomes clear, then is the time to step out on faith and act accordingly.  Churches can get into trouble when they rush into some building project without God’s clear direction and provision.  I have seen church building projects stall out because they were undertook on man’s timing and not God’s. 

We need to have faith that God’s timing is perfect and not run ahead of God.  We also need to have the faith to step out when the time comes. 

What God ordains, He will provide for. 

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LK 20:23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me?

LK 20:24 Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar’s.

LK 20:25 And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.

LK 20:26 And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.

Some will question should Christians pay taxes.  Some will ask, if truth be known, out of greedy motives.  They would love it if they could find a way out of taxes. 

Others will ask for a more genuine reason.  It truly appalls them that their hard earned money goes for the killing of babies.  It makes their heart sickened that their hard earned money goes to pay for children to be indoctrinated into the atheistic state religion of evolution.  Or a multitude of other things that tax money goes to that is against Christian values.  It is true that Christians are to turn from every evil way and that we are to have no part with wickedness.  So it is a valid question.  Should Christians pay taxes when they know the money will be used for wickedness.  Well we find the answer here in our text. 

They came to Jesus and basically asked Him should we pay Caesar taxes.  Now if you study history, you know that Caesar’s government did plenty of godless wicked things with that tax money.  What we see today is nothing new.    And Jesus answered them, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s”  Jesus taught that we should pay our taxes.  We cannot control the use of the money.  Tax money will be misused today and tax money was misused in Caesar’s day.  The people in Caesar’s day had no say in how the money was used and Jesus taught them to pay taxes anyway.  So the answer is clearly yes Christians should pay their taxes. 

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The context of verse 41 is the coming judgment of Jerusalem. 

LK 19:42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

LK 19:43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,

LK 19:44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

This is a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.  The reason for the judgment is given in verse 44, “because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation”.  Their long awaited messiah had finally come and they refused to see it.  They rejected Jesus.  God was with them in the flesh and they did not accept Him.  Now because of their rejection judgment will come.  God is righteous and He is just and so justice must be meted out.  Some will say, see how hard and uncaring God is.  Look again at verse 41.  “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,”

God is just, but He is also love.  Jesus gave the pronouncement of judgment upon Jerusalem weeping.  The judgment was bathed in tears.  Their rejection of Jesus was wrong, it was a sin, and judgment must come.  But it did not come with a cold indifference.  It came with tears.  It broke the heart of God, and Jesus wept.   

Some will claim that a God of love can not throw people into hell.  Yes He can and He will.  He is just, righteous, and holy as well as love.  He will throw those who reject Him into hell.  But He does not do it with glee.  It does not bring God joy.  God hates the sin and will punish it, but He loves the sinner and will weep over them. 

God loves the sinner and has went to great lengths to keep men from going to hell.  Jesus left the glories of heaven and went to the cross to pay their sin penalty for the wages of sin is death.  God gave man His word in the scriptures and then God preserved them so man would have them.  God calls men to be preachers and missionaries.  God sends Christians out to the highways and hedges to witness.  God gave man a conscience and convicts men of their sin and their need for a Saviour.  The heavens declare His handy work to show man of His power and that He exists.  If a man rejects it all, he has in effect chosen to put himself in hell.  He goes their in opposition to the love of God that has pleaded with him to not go to hell but to repent, accept Jesus and go to heaven. 

God is love as well as just.   

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In verse one we have clearly stated what the purpose of this parable is.  A parable always has a purpose; a reason of why it was told.  A parable is a teaching tool.  In many parables, the explanation comes after the parable, but not here.  Here we are told up front that what this parable teaches is that men should keep praying.  Don’t give up.  Don’t quit.  Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.   

LK 18:2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:

LK 18:3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.

LK 18:4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;

LK 18:5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

LK 18:6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.

LK 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?

The unjust judge had no fear of God, and he also did not care what man thought.  Verse 4 says, “nor regard man”  This was a very wicked judge.  Because he did not fear God, his judgments would not be done based on righteousness.  And because he did not regard man, you could not get him to do what is right based on political pressure.  He would do what was right to impress someone no matter what the authority.  This unjust judge was only going to do what he wanted to do.  And in this case the judge did not want to right the wrong done to this widow.  Not wanting to help a widow shows a cold wicked heart.  The case looks hopeless.  The judge will not do it for God.  He will not do it for man.  What can possibly make him move? 

LK 18:5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

What did it was the widows relentless continual coming.  She would not give up.  She just kept asking.  She did not get an answer the first time so she asked again, and again.  The judge knew that she was not going to stop.  The judge did not care for doing what was right, and he in no way cared for this widow.  The unjust judge was swayed by her continual asking.

The application.  If an uncaring, unholy, unjust judge will grant a request because of continual asking, how MUCH MORE will a loving, Holy, Just, God who loves you dearly?  So don’t quit asking. 

LK 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?

Verse 7 says, “though he bear long with them”  God does have reasons for delaying answers, but the answer will come.  God’s wheel of justice sometimes seems to turn slow, but it never slips.  In His time justice will always be done.

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LK 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

The eyes of Israel was on the coming of the promised kingdom.  You see it many times in the New Testament.  They desperately wanted to get rid of Roman rule.  In verse 20 they demanded of Jesus when the kingdom of God should come.  They demanded to know.  It was a big deal to them.  And not just to the Pharisees.  One of the reasons that the disciples were so despondent after Jesus died is because they thought Jesus would bring in the kingdom right then.  It was only after Jesus rose again that they understood that there is a church age before the literal 1,000 year kingdom.

Jesus answered their question about the kingdom.  He said, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:”  The kingdom that Jesus is talking about cannot be seen with the eyes.  It is real and it is being built right now.  Where is this kingdom?  Jesus tells us, “the kingdom of God is within you.” 

He is building His kingdom right now.  He had been building it for thousands of years.  The kingdom of God is in the hearts of men.  Men are added when they get saved.  There will still be a literal kingdom on the earth.  Jesus will reign and those who are added to the kingdom today will reign and rule with Him then. His 1,000 year kingdom will come to pass one day.  He is building it right now.  Are you a part of it?   

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A lot can be said about this parable.  One thing that always stands out to me every time I read it is that the father saw the son coming when he was yet a great way off.  This clearly implies that the father was watching for the son to come.  The father had no advance warning that the son was coming.  He received no advanced notice.  No messenger was sent ahead of the son.  The father had no advance indication that the son was coming.  And yet the father saw him coming.  Clearly the father was looking constantly for the son to come.  The son was in great sin and yet the father still loved him and was longing for him to come home.  What a wonderful picture of the Heavenly Father watching and longing for sinners to come home. 

I know some preachers preach this text as a lost man who is lost in sin and his repentance and confession of it and his coming to the father is a picture of salvation.  Others will preach that he is a backslidden saved person who is coming home.  This entire chapter has the same context.  Verse 1 Jesus is sitting with lost people.  Verse 2 the Pharisees and scribe take issue with it.  Look at verse number 7.  It is talking about the lost.  There are other verses that would support the first view as well as the second.  So which is it?  Well the picture here is a sinner coming to the father.  Is not both true.  A lost person is a sinner and needs to repent and come to the father.   And a backslidden Christian is living in sin and needs to repent and come to the father.

The context of the chapter is that which is lost is found.  Fellowship that is  broken gets restored.  A man on his way to hell is lost and has no fellowship with the Father.  A Christian who is backslidden has lost his fellowship with the father.  He is still saved but fellowship is lost.  In both cases fellowship is restored.

And in either case our Heavenly Father is eagerly watching for the one in sin to come to Him.  And there is great rejoicing when he does. 

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Verse 27 we must bear our cross to be His disciple and follow Jesus.

Verse 28 thru30 we see that there is a cost involved in following Jesus.  He uses the illustration of building a tower.  The man who builds it is to first count the cost, and then he is to finish it.  Laying the foundation is not enough.  If he quits, then others will mock him.  The point here is to understand there is a cost involved, know that, get busy and then you are to finish what you start. In verses 31 and 32 Jesus gives another illustration on the same topic.

Verse 33 Jesus says, “So likewise”  So in the same manner as what is in the illustrations.  It takes commitment, and sacrifice, and dedication to finish building a tower for example.  And if you start it, then you should forsake other things if necessary to finish it.  Likewise we are to forsake all to be Jesus’ disciple.  Being His disciple must come first and we are to finish the course and not quit no matter what it takes. 

Still talking about the same subject Jesus then says:  

LK 14:34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

LK 14:35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Salt has a purpose and it is good.  But if it looses is savour, then it is worthless.  The context here is talking about followers of Jesus.  We have a purpose and we are not to quit.  If we quit doing what we are sup post to do, then we are like salt that has lost its savour. 

This is some pretty strong language from the Saviour.  Basically we are to understand that there is a price to be paid for really following Jesus, and we are to kept at the task no matter what.  When we stop then others will mock Christianity and the name of our Lord.

Don’t quit following Jesus.  Amen.

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LK 13:2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?

LK 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

LK 13:4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

LK 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Jesus is dealing with some people who have a wrong concept of sin, and a wrong concept of the punishment of sin.  Verses 1 and 2 mention some Galilaeans who Pilate killed.  They thought that because this  happened to them that it was proof that they sinned.  They had this idea that bad things happen to you because of sin, and the worse the sinner the more terrible the bad event that would happen to you.  This thinking lead to a false conclusion that if anything awful happens to you, then you must be a really bad sinner. 

In verse 4 Jesus mentions another group that they thought were sinners above all men in Jerusalem.  Why did they think this?  Because the tower in Siloam fell upon them. 

There are plenty of people today who have this same flawed reasoning.  I have seen Christians hurt by others for pronouncing judgment upon them only because something bad happened to them.  Talk about kicking someone  when they are down.   Yes God, as a loving heavenly Father, does chastise His children.  That is true.  But not everything that happens is chastisement.  We live in a sin stained world and bad things do happen to people who are living for the Lord.  God also allows some bad to come our way to build our faith, or our character, or so that He can use us later to help someone else thru a similar problem.  There are many many different reasons, and we cannot know why something is happening to someone else. 

Look at Jesus’ response to both of the examples that He brought up.

LK 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

He told them flat out, Nay.  He was clearly telling them that what they thought was not the case at all.  Then He tells them except ye repent.  He is basically telling them, you think those people are sinners, but I am telling you that you are a sinner.  Don’t worry about those other people who you think are great sinners.  You have plenty sin on your own, and if you don’t repent of it you will perish in hell. 

The teaching here is clear.  Not everything bad that happens to someone is punishment because of their sin.  We should never allow ourselves to fall into that corrupted way of thinking.

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