October 6, 2025 • 16 mins
What if waiting wasn’t wasted but the exact place where faith grows roots? We open Luke 18 and follow a vivid path—from a widow who won’t quit, to a Pharisee and a tax collector whose prayers reveal their hearts, to children welcomed with open arms. Along the way, a wealthy ruler meets his roadblock, Jesus clears up the myth of buying your way into the kingdom, and we hear a passion prediction so clear it confronts our expectations of victory.
We share why the story of the persistent widow isn’t about pestering God but trusting His character, and how humility—not spiritual résumé—opens the door to grace. The moment with the children reframes access to the kingdom as receptive, simple, and dependent. Then we sit with the rich ruler’s question and Jesus’ surgical answer about surrender, wealth, and the “eye of a needle,” pushing past popular misconceptions to the core truth: salvation is miracle, not transaction. We also explore the possibility that the rich man may have been Joseph of Arimathea, a reminder that grace keeps pursuing even the hesitant.
As Jesus predicts His suffering and resurrection, we name the gap between our expectations and His mission. And on the road, a blind beggar’s desperate cry—“Son of David, have mercy on me”—becomes a model of clear-eyed faith. He asks for sight; Jesus restores it; praise ripples through the crowd. Through each scene, one theme holds: Jesus knows. He knows our motives, our fears, our attachments, and our needs—and He keeps inviting us to pray longer, bow lower, release what binds us, and see more clearly.
If this journey through Luke 18 stirred something in you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review. What part challenged you most—the waiting, the humility, the surrender, or the seeing?
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast.
Every day, we take one chapterof the Bible, dig deeper, and
discover that the more we dig,the more we find.
You can find out more at theBiblebreakdown.com.
Now let's grow in God's wordtogether.
Hello and welcome back to yourtour through the Gospel of Luke.
Today, Luke chapter 18.
(00:20):
This is a really, really goodchapter because we're going to
get to see both on one end Jesustelling some parables to help us
understand some complexspiritual principles, but then
he's also going to have aconversation with someone that
there's kind of some interestingtradition behind who this may
very well be.
And so we're going to jump intothis, and we want to always
remember that this is the firstcentury equivalent of
(00:43):
investigative journalism.
Don't forget that Luke wastrained as a doctor, yet he has
been commissioned by a guy namedTheopolis, a high-ranking Roman
government official, to go intothe Judean countryside and to
inspect and investigate all thethings that Jesus or the claims
that have made about Jesus, andhe comes back and he says, He's
real, everything is real.
Here's the receipts to prove it.
(01:03):
And I wonder in this chapter whoLuke might have been talking to.
Maybe he was talking to theparents of the children that
Jesus blesses in a moment, orjust maybe, and I can't help but
wonder, if he was either talkingto the rich young man that we're
going to hear about in a minute,or a blind beggar that was
actually healed along the way.
So let's jump into this and thenwe're gonna go through this and
(01:25):
talk about some of these ideas.
And once again, this this ideawe just want to break down the
Bible to its lowest commondenominator, the pieces of the
Bible, so that we can build backup a strong faith in who God is.
Because I'm gonna tell you, themore we dig, the more we find.
So let's jump into thistogether.
Luke chapter 18, verse 1 saysthis.
One day Jesus told his disciplesa story to show that they should
(01:48):
always pray and never give up.
There was a judge in a certaincity, he said, who neither
feared God nor cared aboutpeople.
A widow of that city came to himrepeatedly, saying, Give me
justice in this dispute with myenemy.
The judge ignored her for awhile, but finally he said to
himself, I don't fear God orcare about people, but this
(02:09):
woman is driving me crazy.
I'm going to see that she getsjustice because she is wearing
me out with all her constantrequests.
Then the Lord said, Learn thelesson from this unjust judge.
Even he rendered a just decisionin the end.
So don't you think that God willsurely give justice to his
chosen people who cry out to himday and night?
(02:30):
Will he keep putting them off?
I tell you, he will grantjustice to them quickly.
But when the Son of Man returns,how many will he find on the
earth who have faith?
Now, the idea behind this isthat there is this judge who is
not just at all, but yet he doesthe right thing for a lady
because basically she won'tleave him alone.
She just keeps after him, keepsafter him, keeps after him.
(02:52):
And for his own sake, he bringsher justice.
And what Jesus is saying is ifthat's what an evil person does,
how much more will a wholly goodfather do good things for his
children?
So it's not an idea that weshould pester God.
And there's nothing wrong withcontinually being persistent in
prayer, and I think that theBible teaches us to do that.
(03:12):
But if you think that's all thisis, you're kind of missing the
point that if bad people dothings for, you know, their
selfish motivation, how muchmore will a holy good God do
things out of a selflessmotivation?
So it's really not a matter ofif God will answer your prayer,
it is how many of us will stayfaithful until the answer comes.
(03:34):
Because the idea is that Godalways answers every single
prayer you ever pray.
It's either a yes, a no, or await.
But the thing is, is that weonly seem to count the yeses.
But often God doesn't say no.
He does say wait because he ismany times doing things we don't
see at the moment.
And that's what Jesus is sayingis he says, How many will stay
(03:56):
faithful or have faith when Godsays wait?
Alright, the next parable Jesusis going to tell is the contrast
between two different conditionsof the heart.
He says this in verse 9.
Then Jesus told this story tosome who had great confidence in
their own righteousness andscorned everyone else.
Two men went to the temple topray.
(04:17):
One was a Pharisee and the otherwas a despised tax collector.
Now pause for remember.
Remember that a tax collectorwas considered to be the most
terrible individual in theculture at the time.
Like I don't know what you wouldconsider to be like the worst
person, like other than catowners, whatever you whoever you
would think would be like theworst, like lowest person in
(04:40):
your world, you know, and nooffense to cat owners, that was
a joke.
But whoever that is, that is atax collector.
Because you think about it for amoment.
A tax collector partnered withthe people that had come in and
destroyed your country.
Like the Romans had come in,destroyed the country, they had
taken over everything, and nowuh people who were part of your
community was now partneringwith the enemy to come and take
(05:02):
your money away.
These are the worst people, andso Jesus is using this contrast
between the Pharisees, who aresupposed to be the most
righteous among us, within thelowest people among us.
Okay, so now you got these twocontrasting things.
Let's read it again.
Two men went to the temple topray.
One, a Pharisee, the best of us,and the other was a despised tax
(05:23):
collector, the worst of us.
The Pharisee stood by himselfand prayed this prayer.
I thank God that I am not likeother people, kind of
side-eyeing, you know, everybodyelse, cheaters, sinners,
adulterers.
I am certainly not like that taxcollector.
I fast twice a week, and I giveyou a tenth of my income.
(05:43):
But the tax collector stood at adistance and dared not even lift
his eyes to heaven as he prayed.
Instead, he beat his chest insorrow, saying, Oh God, be
merciful to me, for I am asinner.
I tell you, this sinner, not thePharisee, returned home
justified before God.
For those who exalt themselveswill be humbled, but those who
humble themselves will beexhausted, exalted, almost said
(06:06):
exhausted.
But the the idea behind this ison the Day of Atonement,
everyone was required to go tothe temple, and they actually
would have to spend time, orthey were told to spend time
thinking about their life.
Had they sinned in any area, hadthey come short.
That's what sin is, it's comingshort of the mark of perfection
that God requires.
And so they were required to sitand to think on it and to think
(06:29):
on it and then confess their sinto the Lord.
And so Jesus is saying that thePharisee came in and he just
confessed his awesomeness.
God, I really am thankful thatI'm I really am that awesome.
Thank you, God, for making me soawesome.
But the tax collector said, God,I know I'm messing up.
I know I'm getting it wrong, butI want to get it right.
And what Jesus said is, you knowwho the one I like?
(06:50):
The one who admits he's notgetting it right, but wants to.
And that's a wonderful lessonfor us, is to make sure that we
always keep that humble heart ofsaying, God, I want to be
pliable, I want to be usable inyour sight.
Verse 15 says, One day someparents brought their little
children to Jesus so he couldtouch and bless them.
But when the disciples saw this,they scolded the parents for
bothering them.
And then Jesus called thechildren to the and said to the
(07:12):
disciples, Let the children cometo me and don't stop them.
For the kingdom of God belongsto those who are like these
children.
I tell you the truth.
Anyone who doesn't receive thekingdom of God like a child will
never enter it.
And then once again a religiousleader asked Jesus this
question, Good teacher, whatshall I do to inherit eternal
(07:33):
life?
Why do you call me good?
He said, Only God is good.
Pause.
I wonder, Jesus is almost kindof like tongue in cheek saying,
you know, you're telling me thatI'm good, but you do know only
God is good.
So it's almost like Jesus kindof wink wink, are you saying I'm
God?
So he's kind of putting this uhthis rich man in kind of a
position that only only God istruly good.
(07:54):
Verse 20.
But to answer your question, youknow the commandments.
You must not murder, you mustnot commit adultery, you must
not steal, you must not testifyfalsely, honor your father and
your mother.
Then the man replied, Ah, I'veobeyed all these commandments
since I was young.
But then Jesus answered him andsaid, There's still one thing
you haven't done.
(08:14):
Sell all your possessions andgive your money to the poor, and
you will have treasure inheaven.
Then come, follow me.
But when the man heard this, hebecame very sad, for he was very
rich.
And when Jesus saw this, hesaid, How hard it is for a rich
for the rich to enter thekingdom of God.
In fact, it is easier for acamel to go through the eye of a
(08:36):
needle than for a rich person toenter the kingdom of God.
For those who heard this said,Then who in the world can be
saved?
Jesus replied, What isimpossible with people is
possible with God.
Peter said, Hey, hey, hey, we'veleft our homes to follow you.
Yes, Jesus replied, and I assureyou that everyone who has given
(08:57):
up house or wife or brothers orparents or children for the sake
of the kingdom of God will berepaid many times over in this
life, an eternal life, uh inthis life and an eternal life in
the world to come.
I'm sorry, I'm I'm I wasdistracted because of the idea
that for a long time I believedthat Jesus was talking about a
literal place when he says theeye of a needle and the camel.
(09:20):
There was some um idea that theeye of a needle was a place, an
entrance into the city ofJerusalem.
And so there was actually atheology that was out there that
Jesus was actually talking abouthow it's possible, but what you
had to do with the camel is youactually had to put the camel
down on its knees so it couldget under this low overpass.
(09:40):
And so Jesus was actually sayingit's possible for the rich to
enter the kingdom of heaven, butthey have to stay humble.
Isn't that a beautiful thing?
Problem is it doesn't exist.
Hey man, I'm gonna tell you thetruth.
It doesn't actually exist.
What Jesus is actually saying isno, no, no, it is impossible for
anyone to enter the kingdom ofheaven by paying their way.
You can't be generous enough toenter the kingdom of heaven, you
(10:02):
can't be good enough to enterthe kingdom of heaven.
You can only enter the kingdomof heaven through Jesus, because
Jesus is the way, the truth, andthe life.
Notice that's why the discipleswere saying, Is it then
impossible to enter the kingdomof heaven?
And that's when Jesus said, Yes,you know, with man, things are
impossible.
But with God, all things arepossible.
(10:24):
And there's a little bit of sometradition here that says, we
don't know exactly who this was,but there's some tradition that
says that this might have beenJoseph of Arimathea.
We're going to learn about him alittle bit later because he
actually had the courage thatwhen all the disciples left
Jesus, other than John, John wasat the foot of the cross when
Jesus was dying, but all theother disciples left Jesus.
(10:46):
But a guy named Joseph ofArimathea actually went to
Pilate and asked for the body ofJesus, which was a risk because
not only could he have been justput out of the local community
by the Pharisees, but he couldhave been listed as one of
Jesus' followers and put todeath himself.
So it took a great cost for himto do this.
But the reason why Joseph ofArimathea could have gotten away
(11:07):
with it is because traditionsays Joseph was one of the most
rich people in the entire city.
He would have been worth uhprobably close to a billion
dollars in today's currency,like like several, several,
several, several milliondollars.
Well, there is some traditionthat says that the rich man in
this story might have beenJoseph of Arimathea.
And so he would have walked awayat the time, saying, No, I can't
(11:30):
do that, but later would havebecome a follower of Jesus
anyway.
And so it's amazing to realizethat even if we walk away in
that moment, Jesus never givesup on us.
Let's finish reading and finishthis today.
The Bible says in Luke 18, verse31, taking the twelve disciples
aside, Jesus said, Listen, we'regoing to Jerusalem where all the
(11:50):
predictions of the prophetsconcerning the Son of Man will
come true.
He will be handed over to theRomans, and he will be mocked,
treated shamefully, and spitupon.
They will flog him with a whipand kill him.
But on the third day he willrise again.
But they didn't understand anyof this.
The significance of the wordswere hidden from them, and they
failed to grasp what he wastalking about.
Now pause one more time, becauseit sounds extremely
(12:12):
straightforward.
Jesus just said, Hey, thesejokers are going to arrest me,
they're going to beat the soupout of me, and then they're
going to kill me.
And I'm going to rise again.
And it's so it's odd, right,that they would say that Luke
would write, they didn't have aclue what he was talking about.
Well, I mean, were youlistening?
Here's the reason why.
It's because during the time,they were certain that the
(12:33):
Messiah was going to be apolitical ruler that was
actually going to take over theRoman Empire.
It was going to set them freefrom Roman oppression and take
over the world.
So they had no idea that Jesuswas actually going to be
crucified.
And it was so far from theirmind that even when Jesus
continually told them, I'm goingto go to Jerusalem.
Listen to me, boys, listen tome.
(12:55):
They're going to arrest me.
I mean, he just says itstraightforward, but they're so
focused on what they think Jesusis supposed to do that it blows
their mind when Jesus isarrested, crucified, and put in
a tomb.
Now he's going to be he's goingto rise again, and he tells that
as well, but they are just sofocused on something else.
But can I can I say this?
(13:15):
It was so amazing.
Jesus knew exactly what wasgoing to happen, and he went
anyway.
It would be one thing if he wassurprised, but he knew every
step of the way was leading himto a terrible death, and he
never stopped walking.
I think that's amazing.
Let's finish this up, verse 35.
As Jesus approached Jerusalem, ablind beggar was sitting beside
(13:37):
the road.
When he heard the noise of acrowd going past, he asked what
was happening.
They told him, Jesus of theNazarene was going by.
And when he began to shout,Jesus, son of David, have mercy
on me.
Be quiet, the people in frontyelled at him.
But he shouted even louder, Sonof David, have mercy on me.
(13:57):
When Jesus heard him, he stoppedand ordered that the man be
brought to him.
And as the man came near, Jesusasked him, What do you want me
to do for you?
Lord, he said, I want to see.
And Jesus said, All right,receive your sight.
Your faith has healed you.
Instantly the man could see, andhe followed Jesus, praising God.
And all who saw it praised Godtoo.
(14:19):
I love that we end with, eventhough we're going back and
forth, all these differentthings, it ends with Jesus.
He even on the way to thiscertain fate, he stops to bring
healing to everyone around him.
And if I were to give thischapter an overall principle, it
would be that Jesus really knowswhat's going on.
Jesus knows.
We got to see the first part ofit that Jesus knows the hearts
(14:41):
of those two men in the temple.
That Jesus really knew what wasthe sticking point for the rich
man.
Jesus knew that he was on hisway to a certain death.
And then Jesus knew the heart ofthis blind man.
And the wonderful grace aboutthis is Jesus knows me and he
knows you.
And even though maybe that maymake you a little bit nervous,
here's the thing (14:59):
he knows all your worst attributes and he
loves you anyway.
He's not ashamed of you.
And he wants to be your foreverfriend.
He wants to walk with youthrough every stage of life.
I think that's amazing.
So I want to pray for us.
We're going to end our timetogether, and I just can't wait
to get into the next partbecause we're getting into just
some of the my favorite parts ofthe entire gospel.
So let me pray for you.
Father, thank you for yourgoodness, your kindness, your
(15:20):
mercy.
Thank you that you lead us andthat you know us in all areas of
life.
I pray you'll open our eyes tosee you more clearly, and that
Lord, today we will apply thisto our life so that we can walk
closer to you in all things.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
All right, God bless you.
I'll see you next time for Lukechapter 19.
Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast.
Every day, we take one chapterof the Bible, dig deeper, and
discover that the more we dig,the more we find.
You can find out more at theBiblebreakdown.com.
Now let's grow in God's wordtogether.
Hello and welcome back to yourtour through the Gospel of Luke.
Today, Luke chapter 18.
(00:20):
This is a really, really goodchapter because we're going to
get to see both on one end Jesustelling some parables to help us
understand some complexspiritual principles, but then
he's also going to have aconversation with someone that
there's kind of some interestingtradition behind who this may
very well be.
And so we're going to jump intothis, and we want to always
remember that this is the firstcentury equivalent of
(00:43):
investigative journalism.
Don't forget that Luke wastrained as a doctor, yet he has
been commissioned by a guy namedTheopolis, a high-ranking Roman
government official, to go intothe Judean countryside and to
inspect and investigate all thethings that Jesus or the claims
that have made about Jesus, andhe comes back and he says, He's
real, everything is real.
Here's the receipts to prove it.
(01:03):
And I wonder in this chapter whoLuke might have been talking to.
Maybe he was talking to theparents of the children that
Jesus blesses in a moment, orjust maybe, and I can't help but
wonder, if he was either talkingto the rich young man that we're
going to hear about in a minute,or a blind beggar that was
actually healed along the way.
So let's jump into this and thenwe're gonna go through this and
(01:25):
talk about some of these ideas.
And once again, this this ideawe just want to break down the
Bible to its lowest commondenominator, the pieces of the
Bible, so that we can build backup a strong faith in who God is.
Because I'm gonna tell you, themore we dig, the more we find.
So let's jump into thistogether.
Luke chapter 18, verse 1 saysthis.
One day Jesus told his disciplesa story to show that they should
(01:48):
always pray and never give up.
There was a judge in a certaincity, he said, who neither
feared God nor cared aboutpeople.
A widow of that city came to himrepeatedly, saying, Give me
justice in this dispute with myenemy.
The judge ignored her for awhile, but finally he said to
himself, I don't fear God orcare about people, but this
(02:09):
woman is driving me crazy.
I'm going to see that she getsjustice because she is wearing
me out with all her constantrequests.
Then the Lord said, Learn thelesson from this unjust judge.
Even he rendered a just decisionin the end.
So don't you think that God willsurely give justice to his
chosen people who cry out to himday and night?
(02:30):
Will he keep putting them off?
I tell you, he will grantjustice to them quickly.
But when the Son of Man returns,how many will he find on the
earth who have faith?
Now, the idea behind this isthat there is this judge who is
not just at all, but yet he doesthe right thing for a lady
because basically she won'tleave him alone.
She just keeps after him, keepsafter him, keeps after him.
(02:52):
And for his own sake, he bringsher justice.
And what Jesus is saying is ifthat's what an evil person does,
how much more will a wholly goodfather do good things for his
children?
So it's not an idea that weshould pester God.
And there's nothing wrong withcontinually being persistent in
prayer, and I think that theBible teaches us to do that.
(03:12):
But if you think that's all thisis, you're kind of missing the
point that if bad people dothings for, you know, their
selfish motivation, how muchmore will a holy good God do
things out of a selflessmotivation?
So it's really not a matter ofif God will answer your prayer,
it is how many of us will stayfaithful until the answer comes.
(03:34):
Because the idea is that Godalways answers every single
prayer you ever pray.
It's either a yes, a no, or await.
But the thing is, is that weonly seem to count the yeses.
But often God doesn't say no.
He does say wait because he ismany times doing things we don't
see at the moment.
And that's what Jesus is sayingis he says, How many will stay
(03:56):
faithful or have faith when Godsays wait?
Alright, the next parable Jesusis going to tell is the contrast
between two different conditionsof the heart.
He says this in verse 9.
Then Jesus told this story tosome who had great confidence in
their own righteousness andscorned everyone else.
Two men went to the temple topray.
(04:17):
One was a Pharisee and the otherwas a despised tax collector.
Now pause for remember.
Remember that a tax collectorwas considered to be the most
terrible individual in theculture at the time.
Like I don't know what you wouldconsider to be like the worst
person, like other than catowners, whatever you whoever you
would think would be like theworst, like lowest person in
(04:40):
your world, you know, and nooffense to cat owners, that was
a joke.
But whoever that is, that is atax collector.
Because you think about it for amoment.
A tax collector partnered withthe people that had come in and
destroyed your country.
Like the Romans had come in,destroyed the country, they had
taken over everything, and nowuh people who were part of your
community was now partneringwith the enemy to come and take
(05:02):
your money away.
These are the worst people, andso Jesus is using this contrast
between the Pharisees, who aresupposed to be the most
righteous among us, within thelowest people among us.
Okay, so now you got these twocontrasting things.
Let's read it again.
Two men went to the temple topray.
One, a Pharisee, the best of us,and the other was a despised tax
(05:23):
collector, the worst of us.
The Pharisee stood by himselfand prayed this prayer.
I thank God that I am not likeother people, kind of
side-eyeing, you know, everybodyelse, cheaters, sinners,
adulterers.
I am certainly not like that taxcollector.
I fast twice a week, and I giveyou a tenth of my income.
(05:43):
But the tax collector stood at adistance and dared not even lift
his eyes to heaven as he prayed.
Instead, he beat his chest insorrow, saying, Oh God, be
merciful to me, for I am asinner.
I tell you, this sinner, not thePharisee, returned home
justified before God.
For those who exalt themselveswill be humbled, but those who
humble themselves will beexhausted, exalted, almost said
(06:06):
exhausted.
But the the idea behind this ison the Day of Atonement,
everyone was required to go tothe temple, and they actually
would have to spend time, orthey were told to spend time
thinking about their life.
Had they sinned in any area, hadthey come short.
That's what sin is, it's comingshort of the mark of perfection
that God requires.
And so they were required to sitand to think on it and to think
(06:29):
on it and then confess their sinto the Lord.
And so Jesus is saying that thePharisee came in and he just
confessed his awesomeness.
God, I really am thankful thatI'm I really am that awesome.
Thank you, God, for making me soawesome.
But the tax collector said, God,I know I'm messing up.
I know I'm getting it wrong, butI want to get it right.
And what Jesus said is, you knowwho the one I like?
(06:50):
The one who admits he's notgetting it right, but wants to.
And that's a wonderful lessonfor us, is to make sure that we
always keep that humble heart ofsaying, God, I want to be
pliable, I want to be usable inyour sight.
Verse 15 says, One day someparents brought their little
children to Jesus so he couldtouch and bless them.
But when the disciples saw this,they scolded the parents for
bothering them.
And then Jesus called thechildren to the and said to the
(07:12):
disciples, Let the children cometo me and don't stop them.
For the kingdom of God belongsto those who are like these
children.
I tell you the truth.
Anyone who doesn't receive thekingdom of God like a child will
never enter it.
And then once again a religiousleader asked Jesus this
question, Good teacher, whatshall I do to inherit eternal
(07:33):
life?
Why do you call me good?
He said, Only God is good.
Pause.
I wonder, Jesus is almost kindof like tongue in cheek saying,
you know, you're telling me thatI'm good, but you do know only
God is good.
So it's almost like Jesus kindof wink wink, are you saying I'm
God?
So he's kind of putting this uhthis rich man in kind of a
position that only only God istruly good.
(07:54):
Verse 20.
But to answer your question, youknow the commandments.
You must not murder, you mustnot commit adultery, you must
not steal, you must not testifyfalsely, honor your father and
your mother.
Then the man replied, Ah, I'veobeyed all these commandments
since I was young.
But then Jesus answered him andsaid, There's still one thing
you haven't done.
(08:14):
Sell all your possessions andgive your money to the poor, and
you will have treasure inheaven.
Then come, follow me.
But when the man heard this, hebecame very sad, for he was very
rich.
And when Jesus saw this, hesaid, How hard it is for a rich
for the rich to enter thekingdom of God.
In fact, it is easier for acamel to go through the eye of a
(08:36):
needle than for a rich person toenter the kingdom of God.
For those who heard this said,Then who in the world can be
saved?
Jesus replied, What isimpossible with people is
possible with God.
Peter said, Hey, hey, hey, we'veleft our homes to follow you.
Yes, Jesus replied, and I assureyou that everyone who has given
(08:57):
up house or wife or brothers orparents or children for the sake
of the kingdom of God will berepaid many times over in this
life, an eternal life, uh inthis life and an eternal life in
the world to come.
I'm sorry, I'm I'm I wasdistracted because of the idea
that for a long time I believedthat Jesus was talking about a
literal place when he says theeye of a needle and the camel.
(09:20):
There was some um idea that theeye of a needle was a place, an
entrance into the city ofJerusalem.
And so there was actually atheology that was out there that
Jesus was actually talking abouthow it's possible, but what you
had to do with the camel is youactually had to put the camel
down on its knees so it couldget under this low overpass.
(09:40):
And so Jesus was actually sayingit's possible for the rich to
enter the kingdom of heaven, butthey have to stay humble.
Isn't that a beautiful thing?
Problem is it doesn't exist.
Hey man, I'm gonna tell you thetruth.
It doesn't actually exist.
What Jesus is actually saying isno, no, no, it is impossible for
anyone to enter the kingdom ofheaven by paying their way.
You can't be generous enough toenter the kingdom of heaven, you
(10:02):
can't be good enough to enterthe kingdom of heaven.
You can only enter the kingdomof heaven through Jesus, because
Jesus is the way, the truth, andthe life.
Notice that's why the discipleswere saying, Is it then
impossible to enter the kingdomof heaven?
And that's when Jesus said, Yes,you know, with man, things are
impossible.
But with God, all things arepossible.
(10:24):
And there's a little bit of sometradition here that says, we
don't know exactly who this was,but there's some tradition that
says that this might have beenJoseph of Arimathea.
We're going to learn about him alittle bit later because he
actually had the courage thatwhen all the disciples left
Jesus, other than John, John wasat the foot of the cross when
Jesus was dying, but all theother disciples left Jesus.
(10:46):
But a guy named Joseph ofArimathea actually went to
Pilate and asked for the body ofJesus, which was a risk because
not only could he have been justput out of the local community
by the Pharisees, but he couldhave been listed as one of
Jesus' followers and put todeath himself.
So it took a great cost for himto do this.
But the reason why Joseph ofArimathea could have gotten away
(11:07):
with it is because traditionsays Joseph was one of the most
rich people in the entire city.
He would have been worth uhprobably close to a billion
dollars in today's currency,like like several, several,
several, several milliondollars.
Well, there is some traditionthat says that the rich man in
this story might have beenJoseph of Arimathea.
And so he would have walked awayat the time, saying, No, I can't
(11:30):
do that, but later would havebecome a follower of Jesus
anyway.
And so it's amazing to realizethat even if we walk away in
that moment, Jesus never givesup on us.
Let's finish reading and finishthis today.
The Bible says in Luke 18, verse31, taking the twelve disciples
aside, Jesus said, Listen, we'regoing to Jerusalem where all the
(11:50):
predictions of the prophetsconcerning the Son of Man will
come true.
He will be handed over to theRomans, and he will be mocked,
treated shamefully, and spitupon.
They will flog him with a whipand kill him.
But on the third day he willrise again.
But they didn't understand anyof this.
The significance of the wordswere hidden from them, and they
failed to grasp what he wastalking about.
Now pause one more time, becauseit sounds extremely
(12:12):
straightforward.
Jesus just said, Hey, thesejokers are going to arrest me,
they're going to beat the soupout of me, and then they're
going to kill me.
And I'm going to rise again.
And it's so it's odd, right,that they would say that Luke
would write, they didn't have aclue what he was talking about.
Well, I mean, were youlistening?
Here's the reason why.
It's because during the time,they were certain that the
(12:33):
Messiah was going to be apolitical ruler that was
actually going to take over theRoman Empire.
It was going to set them freefrom Roman oppression and take
over the world.
So they had no idea that Jesuswas actually going to be
crucified.
And it was so far from theirmind that even when Jesus
continually told them, I'm goingto go to Jerusalem.
Listen to me, boys, listen tome.
(12:55):
They're going to arrest me.
I mean, he just says itstraightforward, but they're so
focused on what they think Jesusis supposed to do that it blows
their mind when Jesus isarrested, crucified, and put in
a tomb.
Now he's going to be he's goingto rise again, and he tells that
as well, but they are just sofocused on something else.
But can I can I say this?
(13:15):
It was so amazing.
Jesus knew exactly what wasgoing to happen, and he went
anyway.
It would be one thing if he wassurprised, but he knew every
step of the way was leading himto a terrible death, and he
never stopped walking.
I think that's amazing.
Let's finish this up, verse 35.
As Jesus approached Jerusalem, ablind beggar was sitting beside
(13:37):
the road.
When he heard the noise of acrowd going past, he asked what
was happening.
They told him, Jesus of theNazarene was going by.
And when he began to shout,Jesus, son of David, have mercy
on me.
Be quiet, the people in frontyelled at him.
But he shouted even louder, Sonof David, have mercy on me.
(13:57):
When Jesus heard him, he stoppedand ordered that the man be
brought to him.
And as the man came near, Jesusasked him, What do you want me
to do for you?
Lord, he said, I want to see.
And Jesus said, All right,receive your sight.
Your faith has healed you.
Instantly the man could see, andhe followed Jesus, praising God.
And all who saw it praised Godtoo.
(14:19):
I love that we end with, eventhough we're going back and
forth, all these differentthings, it ends with Jesus.
He even on the way to thiscertain fate, he stops to bring
healing to everyone around him.
And if I were to give thischapter an overall principle, it
would be that Jesus really knowswhat's going on.
Jesus knows.
We got to see the first part ofit that Jesus knows the hearts
(14:41):
of those two men in the temple.
That Jesus really knew what wasthe sticking point for the rich
man.
Jesus knew that he was on hisway to a certain death.
And then Jesus knew the heart ofthis blind man.
And the wonderful grace aboutthis is Jesus knows me and he
knows you.
And even though maybe that maymake you a little bit nervous,
here's the thing (14:59):
he knows all your worst attributes and he
loves you anyway.
He's not ashamed of you.
And he wants to be your foreverfriend.
He wants to walk with youthrough every stage of life.
I think that's amazing.
So I want to pray for us.
We're going to end our timetogether, and I just can't wait
to get into the next partbecause we're getting into just
some of the my favorite parts ofthe entire gospel.
So let me pray for you.
Father, thank you for yourgoodness, your kindness, your
(15:20):
mercy.
Thank you that you lead us andthat you know us in all areas of
life.
I pray you'll open our eyes tosee you more clearly, and that
Lord, today we will apply thisto our life so that we can walk
closer to you in all things.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
All right, God bless you.
I'll see you next time for Lukechapter 19.
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