He Is God of the Living
Brothers and sisters in Christ, there are indeed beautiful things about this life. But we need not deny the blessings of God today to fix our hearts on the pleasures of heaven. This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it (Ps. 118:24). And we rejoice and are…
The Things That Belong to God
Our passage today answers this question, at least in part: “The scribes and the chief priests . . . perceived that [Jesus] had told this parable against them” (20:19). Notice, they are not confused about what Jesus has said. They understand that he is speaking about them. But like the tenants in the parable, rather…
The Son Rejected for Our Salvation
Such a sobering truth requires a question of us all: What will we do with the Son? God has been patient with sinners and sent his beloved Son in love. And though men rejected him, cast him out, and crucified him, God raised him from the dead and made him the cornerstone of his kingdom.…
When Heaven Has Spoken
There are questions asked that want an answer and questions asked because the answer already received wasn’t liked. I think this distinction is pertinent to our passage today. The chief priests, scribes, and elders approach Jesus with what appears to be a reasonable question: “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who…
When the King Draws Near
Let us not mistake nearness to the things of Christ for receiving Christ himself. The King draws near to us in the gospel, in the preaching of his Word, in the sacraments, in the gathered worship of his Church. These are great covenant privileges. But the question remains: What will you do when the King…
Faithful to the Word
Our great need is not a new word for a new age. God has spoken; the Word we have received is God-breathed. The Word we must preach is sufficient. And the Word to which we must remain faithful is the Word of grace that makes sinners wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Therefore,…
Behold, Your King Comes
There are passages of Scripture so closely associated with a particular day on the church calendar that we struggle to hear them outside that setting. Our text is one of them. We hear of Jesus riding toward Jerusalem, the disciples spreading their cloaks, and the multitude praising God, and immediately we think of Palm Sunday.…
Until the King Returns
Today, we consider the Parable of the Ten Minas, perhaps less familiar than its counterpart in Matthew’s Gospel, the Parable of the Talents. The two parables are similar in principle but differ in important details. Most significantly, Luke tells us why Jesus spoke this parable: “because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed…
Today, Salvation Has Come
And it is this truth that helps us better understand our passage today, in which we encounter another rich man. But rather than a rich ruler, he was a tax collector. He was not respected but despised. He didn’t come asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. He simply wanted to see Jesus…
What the Blind Man Saw
We often use the language of sight to describe understanding. When something finally becomes clear, we say, “Now I see.” Conversely, we may have perfectly healthy eyes and still fail to perceive what is directly before us. Such is the irony of our passage: a blind man sees what many with sight cannot.
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