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Scripture Reading: Luke 20:1-47; 21:1-4
In Luke 20:1-38 the Man-Savior is examined by the chief priests, scribes, and elders (Luke 20:1-19), by the Pharisees and Herodians (Luke 20:20-26), and by the Sadducees (Luke 20:27-38). In Luke 20:39-44 the Lord muzzles all the examiners. The scribes answered and said, “Teacher, you have spoken well” (v. 39). We are told that “they no longer dared to question Him about anything” (v. 40). In Luke 20:41-44 the Lord went on to ask the examiners a question, a question concerning Christ.
In 20:1-38 the Lord was surrounded by the chief priests, elders, Pharisees, Herodians, and Sadducees, who tried to ensnare Him by asking insidious questions. First, the chief priests, scribes, and elders, representing the authority of the Jewish religion and the authority of the Jewish people, asked Him concerning His authority (v. 2). This was a question according to their religious concept. Second, the fundamental Pharisees and political Herodians asked Him a question related to politics. Third, the Sadducees questioned Him concerning the resurrection. After answering all their questions wisely, the Lord asked them a question concerning Christ. This is the question of questions. Their questions were related to religion, politics, and belief. His question was concerning Christ, who is the center of all things. They knew religion, politics, and belief, but they paid no attention to Christ.
In verses 41 through 44 the Lord said to His examiners, “How can they say that the Christ is David’s son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I place Your enemies as a footstool for Your feet. David therefore calls Him Lord, and how is He his son?” As God in His divinity, Christ is the Lord of David. As man in His humanity, He is the Son of David. His examiners had only half the scriptural knowledge concerning Christ’s Person, that He was the Son of David according to His humanity. They did not have the other half, concerning Christ’s divinity as the Son of God. The Lord’s intention in 20:41-44 was to help His examiners to see that the One they were questioning was actually the Lord.
We need to realize that the One being examined here was the God-man. Yes, in that situation the Man-Savior was a man, but He was also God. This means that as God He was surrounded by opposers who were examining Him. How blind, foolish, and ignorant they were! They did not realize that the One they were examining was God Himself.
If we have this understanding, we shall see what patience the God-man exercised when He was examined by the chief priests, scribes, elders, Pharisees, Herodians, and Sadducees. Although He was frank, straightforward, and wise, He was not angry with them. He was God, but He was willing to be examined by His creatures.
We need to be deeply impressed with the fact that the One being examined was the God-man. The very Creator of all was surrounded by His creatures and was examined by them in an insidious and insulting way. Nevertheless, He was patient and was not at all angry. He answered them properly and wisely.
In this chapter we have a clear picture of the highest standard of morality. This morality is expressed in the Lord’s human virtues with His divine attributes. Here we see the riches of the Man-Savior’s human virtues with His divine attributes. After being questioned by His examiners, He tried to help them, His creatures, to realize that He was both man and God, both a human son and the Lord God. His question concerning Christ silenced them.
In the type, the Passover lamb was examined for four days before it was killed (Exo. 12:3-6). The Man-Savior, as the real Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7), was also examined for four days before He was killed. He came to Bethany six days before the Passover (John 12:1; Mark 11:1). The next day He came into Jerusalem and went back to Bethany (John 12:12; Mark 11:11). The third day He came to Jerusalem again (Mark 11:12-15) and began to be examined by the leaders of the Jews according to the Jewish law (Mark 11:27—12:37; 14:53-65; John 18:13, 19-24), and by Pilate, the Roman governor, according to the Roman law (John 18:28—19:6) until the Passover day when He was crucified (Mark 14:12; John 18:28). This insidious and ensnaring examination from many angles took exactly four days. The Man-Savior passed this examination, proving that He was fully qualified to be the Lamb required by God for the accomplishment of His redemption so that God might pass over the sinners, both the Jews and the Gentiles.
In 20:46-47 the Lord warns His disciples concerning the scribes: “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces, and best seats in the synagogues, and places of honor at the dinners, who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense pray long prayers. These will receive even more judgment.” After muzzling the mouths of all His opposers, the Savior warned His disciples of the hypocrisy and evils of the scribes. This indicates that they were condemned by the One in whom they tried their best to find fault.
What would you have done if you had been one of the scribes? Would you have dared to show your face? I do not think the scribes knew what to say. In the words of Jude 19, they seemed to not have spirit, to be devoid of spirit.
In 21:1-4 we have the Man-Savior’s appraising of a poor widow. He saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and “He saw a certain needy widow putting in two small copper coins” (v. 2). The Greek word for “needy” is a stronger word than “poor” and indicates a penniless condition.
In verses 3 and 4 the Lord said, “Truly I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all these out of their abundance put in their gifts, but this woman out of her lack has put in all the livelihood which she had.” The Man-Savior was God living in humanity. As such, He was concerned to see how God’s people expressed their loyalty in their offering to Him. In this way He appraised the widow’s loyalty to God. The Man-Savior’s observation is more penetrating than man’s.
Luke 21:1-4 should not be separated from chapter twenty. In the warning against the scribes and in the appraising of the poor widow, Luke once again shows us a high standard of morality. The morality of the scribes was very low, but the morality of the poor widow was very high.
Why did Luke put these two instances immediately after the opposers’ examination of the Man-Savior? He did this because the governing principle of his Gospel is the highest standard of morality. This principle controls the writing of this book. Therefore, the first four verses of chapter twenty-one should be taken with chapter twenty so that we may have a clear view of the highest standard of morality. Those who examined the Lord had a low standard of morality. But as the One who behaved in the highest standard of morality, the Man-Savior appraised the poor widow, for she also lived according to a high standard of morality.
According to Exodus 12, each family was to take a lamb without blemish for the Passover (Exo. 12:3-5). We may say that the Lord Jesus was the Passover Lamb appointed to die for the family of mankind. In the Old Testament the lamb had to be examined to determine if it was without blemish. In Luke 20 the chief priests, scribes, elders, Pharisees, and Sadducees were examining the real Passover Lamb. But they did not realize that the One they were examining was the God-provided Lamb to die for them. This Lamb had the highest standard of morality. In the words of Exodus 12, He was without blemish; that is, He was altogether perfect, without defect, without spot. Therefore, the term “without blemish” is equal to the expression “the highest standard of morality.”
Consider who was the One examined in Luke 20. The One examined here was the God-man as the Passover Lamb. As such a One, the Lord had a triple status — the status of God, man, and the Passover Lamb. He was the Lamb ordained by God and provided by Him for both the Jewish family and the Gentile family. He was the unique Lamb ordained from the foundation of the world. Hence, He was examined not only by the Pharisees, the religious party, but also by the Herodians, the political party. This means that the Passover Lamb was examined by both Jews and Gentiles. Furthermore, before He died, He was tried not only by the Jewish Sanhedrin, but also by Pilate, the Roman governor, and by Herod, the king.
As the God-man, the Lord Jesus is unique. He has both the divine essence and the human essence. The divine essence is in His humanity. God is actually an essential element of the Lord’s being. Hence, as the Passover Lamb, He was composed essentially of two elements — the divine element and the human element. As the One who is both human and divine, He is the God-man.
This God-man was the unique, universal Lamb examined by the two great families of mankind, the Jewish family and the Gentile family. This examination proved that this Man had the highest standard of morality. It also exposed the subtlety, meanness, and insidiousness of those who tested Him. As His examiners were being exposed, the Lord was revealed in His wisdom, genuineness, and honesty. The examination recorded in the Gospel of Luke manifests the perfection of this unique Passover Lamb.
We have seen that the Lord Jesus unveiled His death and resurrection to His disciples three times (9:22; 9:44-45; 18:31-34). Why did the Savior reveal His death and resurrection to His disciples? The full answer to this question requires the fourteen Epistles of Paul.
The Lord’s death involves the termination of His followers. The followers of the Man-Savior were all in the old creation, and it was necessary for this old creation to be brought to the cross and terminated. After the termination of the cross, there is germination. For germination there is the need of resurrection. Therefore, it was necessary for the Lord to die and then to be resurrected. He died to bring His followers into termination, and He resurrected to bring them into a new life.
When the Lord unveiled His death and resurrection to His disciples, He seemed to be telling them, “If you remain in the old creation, you cannot enjoy the jubilee. In order to enjoy the jubilee you must be a new creation. You need to be re-created. For this, you first need to be terminated, and then you need to be germinated. In this way you will become a new creation. The jubilee is not for the old creation; it is for the new creation. If you would participate in the jubilee, you need to go with Me to the cross.”
In Mark we have the thought of universal replacement. But in Luke we have the thought of termination and germination. When we have the termination of the old creation and the germination of the redeemed ones to be a new creation, we shall be in the jubilee.
In the Gospel of Luke the Man-Savior emphasizes the dealing with riches and material possessions. We see this emphasis in the case of Zaccheus, who said to the Lord, “Behold, the half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusations, I restore four times as much” (19:8). Zaccheus could renounce riches and material things because he received the living Savior as his dynamic salvation. This indicates that it is not by our old creation that we can renounce material things. Even if we could do this by the old creation, this would not mean anything. The way to renounce earthly possessions is to receive the living Savior to be our dynamic salvation.
Zaccheus did not hear the Lord’s messages concerning money and material possessions. He was not present when the Lord spoke about this in chapters twelve, fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen. However, Zaccheus received the Man-Savior as his dynamic salvation. Therefore, automatically and spontaneously he could give half of his possessions to the poor.
Today sinners also need the Man-Savior to be infused into them as the all-inclusive Spirit. When the Lord is infused into people in this way, He becomes their dynamic salvation.
The case of Zaccheus is an illustration of the richness and all-inclusiveness of the Gospel of Luke. In these messages I can do little more than give you some hints how to study this book. I encourage you to spend more time to delve into the riches of this Gospel.
