Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: LUKE #33 - 18:18-43)
F. 18:18-30 RELATION OF RICHES TO KINGDOM ENTRANCE
1. 18:18-27 RICHES A HINDRANCE TO KINGDOM ENTRANCE
a. 18:18 A SEARCHING QUESTION
Kai e-peROteSEN[1905]tis auTON ARchon, LEgon,
And a certain ruler asked him, saying,
DiDAska-le a-gaTHE, ti poiEsas zo-EN aiOni-on kle-ro-noMEso[2816]?
Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
b. 18:19 And :Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? none is good, save one, :God.
EIpen de auTO ho IeSOUS, TI me LEgeis a-gaTHON? ouDEIS a-gaTHOS, ei meheis, ho TheOS.
c. 18:20 THE REMINDER OF THE COMMANDMENTS
Tas en-toLAS [1785] OIdas, MemoiCHEUses [3431], Me phoNEUses [5407], Me KLEpses [2813],
You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Kill not, Steal not,
Mepseu-do-mar-tuREses [5577], TIma [5516]ton paTEra sou kai ten meTEra.
Bear no false witness, Honor your :father and :mother.
d. 18:21 And he said, All these have I observed from myyouth.
ho de EIpen, TAUta PANta ePHUla-xa [1442]ek neOte-tos [3503].
e. 18:22 JESUS' ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT
aKOUsas de ho IeSOUS, EIpen auTO, Eti HEN soi LEIpei [3007]:
And when :Jesus heard it, he said to him, One thingyou yet lack:
PANta HOsa Echeis POle-son [4453], kai diAdos [1239] ptoCHOIS [4434],
sell all that you have, and distribute to thepoor,
kai Exeis the-sauRON en tois ou-raNOIS, kai DEUro, a-koLOUthei [190] moi.
and you shall have treasure in the heavens, and come, follow me.
f. 18:23 But when he heard these things, he became exceeding sorrowful; for he was very rich.
ho de aKOUsas TAUta, peRIlu-pos [4036]e-geNEthe; en gar PLOUsi-os SPHOdra [4970].
g. 18:24 JESUS' DIFFICULT COMMENT
I-DON de auTON ho IeSOUS EIpen, Pos duSKOlos [1423] hoi ta CHREma-ta [5536] Echon-tes
And :Jesus seeing him said, How hardly shall they that have possessions
eis ten ba-siLEIan tou TheOU eis-poREUon-tai!
enter into the kingdom of :God!
h. 18:25 A SERIOUS ANALOGY
eu-koPOte-ron [2123] GAR es-tin KAme-lon [2575] diA TREma-tos beLOnes ei-selTHEIN,
For it is easier for a camel to enter in through a needle's eye,
ePLOUsi-on eis ten ba-siLEIan tou TheOU ei-selTHEIN.
than for a rich manto enter into the kingdom of :God.
i. 18:26 And they that heard itsaid, And who can be saved?
EIpan de hoi aKOUsan-tes, Kai tis DUna-tai soTHEnai?
j. 18:27 But he said, The thingsimpossible with men arepossible with :God.
ho de EIpen, Ta aDUna-ta paRA anTHROpois du-naTA paRA toTheOes-tin.
2. 18:28-30 REWARDS FOR FULL DEDICATION
a. 18:28 And :Peter said, Lo, we have left our :own, andfollowed you.
EIpen de ho PEtros, I-DOU, heMEIS aPHENtes ta Idi-a, e-ko-louTHEsaMEN [190]soi.
b. 18:29-30 THE PROMISE OF JESUS
ho de EIpen auTOIS, A-MEN LEgo huMIN
And he said to them, Amen I say unto you
HOti ouDEIS es-tin hos aPHEken oiKIan, e guNAIka, e a-delPHOUS,
that thereis none that has left house, or wife, or brethren,
egoNEIS, e TEKna, HEne-ken tes ba-siLEIas tou TheOU,
or parents, or children, for the kingdom of :God's sake,
hos ouCHI me LAbe pol-la-plaSIo-na [4179] en to kaiRO TOUto,
30who shall not receive manifold more in this :season,
kai en to aiOni to er-choMEno zo-EN aiOni-on.
and in the age to :come eternal life.
G. 18:31-34 JESUS AGAIN FORETELLS PASSION AND RESURRECTION
a. 18:31 JESUS FORETELLS HIS DESTINY
Pa-ra-laBON de tous DOde-ka, EIpen pros auTOUS, I-DOU,
And he took to himthe twelve, andsaid to them, Lo,
a-naBAIno-men eis Ie-rou-saLEM, kai te-lesTHEse-tai [5055] PANta
we go up to Jerusalem, and all the thingswritten through
ta ge-gramMEna diA ton pro-pheTON to huiO tou an-throPOU.
the prophets shall be accomplished to the Son of :man.
b. 18:32-33 HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION SPELLED OUT
pa-ra-doTHEse-tai [3860] gar tois ETHne-sin,
For he shall be delivered up to the nations,
kai em-paichTHEse-tai [1702], kai hu-brisTHEse-tai [5195], kai emp-tusTHEse-tai [1716]:
and shall be mocked, and shamefully treated, and spit upon:
kai ma-stiGOsan-tes [3146] a-pok-teNOUsin [615] auTON: kai te heMEra te TRIte a-naSTEse-tai [450].
33and they shall scourge andkill him: and the third :day he shall rise again.
c. 18:34 THE DARKNESS OF THE DISCIPLES
Kai auTOI ouDEN TOUton suNEkan [4920]; kai en to 'REma TOUto
And THEY understood none of these things; and this :saying
ke-krumMEnon [2928] ap' auTON, kai ouk eGIno-skon [1097] ta leGOme-na.
was hid from them, and they perceived not the thingssaid.
H. 18:35-43 PERSISTENCY OF FAITH HEALS A BLIND MAN
a. 18:35-36 QUESTION OF A BLIND MAN
E-GEne-to de, en to egGIzein auTON eis Ie-reiCHO, tuphLOS tis eKAthe-to paRA ten hoDON e-paiTON:
And it came to pass, as he :drew nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind mansat by the way sidebegging:
aKOUsas de OCHlou di-a-po-reu-oMEnou, e-punTHAne-to ti EIe TOUto.
36and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this be.
b. 18:37 And they reported to him, that :Jesus the Nazorean passes by.
aPEGgei-lan de auTO, HOti IeSOUS ho Na-zoRAIos paRERche-tai.
c. 18:38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, David's son, have mercy on me.
kai eBOe-sen [994], LEgon, IeSOU, huiE DauID, eLEeSON [1653]me.
d. 18:39 THE BLIND MAN REBUKED
kai hoi proAgon-tes e-peTImon [2008] auTO, HIna siGEse [4623]:
And they that went before rebuked him, that he should keep still:
auTOS de polLO MALlon Ekra-zen, HuiE DauID, eLEeSON me.
but he cried out all themore, David's son, have mercy on me.
e. 18:40-41a THE BLIND MAN ENCOURAGED BY JESUS
staTHEIS de IeSOUS, eKEleu-sen [2753] auTON achTHEnai [71] pros auTON:
And :Jesus stopped, andcommanded him to be brought unto him:
egGIsan-tos [1448] de auTOU, e-peROte-sen auTON, TI soi THEleis poiEso?
and when he approached, he asked him, 41a What will you I should do to you?
f. 18:41b And he said, Lord, that I look up. ho de EIpen, KUri-e, HIna a-naBLEpso[308].
g. 18:42 And :Jesus said to him, Look up: your :faith has made you whole.
kai ho IeSOUS EIpen auTO, A-NAble-pson: he PIstis sou SEsoKEN se.
h. 18:43 THE GLORIOUS RESULT
kai pa-raCHREma [3916] aNEble-psen, kai e-koLOUthei auTO, doXAzon [1392] ton TheON:
And immediately he looked up, and followed him, glorifying :God:
and all the people seeing it gave praise to :God.
NOTE: (2010-12-20) - 18:18-27 - When this rich young ruler sadly stumbled at Jesus' full conditions of discipleship - Jesus did notfollow after him to try and change his mind. What would we have done in Jesus' place? Oswald Chambers makes it crystal clear, that we must leave individuals in the hand of the Holy Spirit, when they refuse to go on - after hearing the full conditions of discipleship. Perhaps later on conditions changed for this young ruler, and he did the right thing. Perhaps not.
Then Jesus uses the analogy of a camel going through the eye of a needle to illustrate how riches can hinder a soul from fully going on in the Kingdom of God. The “eye of a needle” is an Eastern expression. At sun-down the gates of a city were closed in bible days. However there was a little gate for late comers called the “eye of a needle”. It required a camel to be unloaded first, and then practically pulled and pushed to get him through. It could be done, but it was very difficult.
18:28-30 - Again Peter spoke up for the other eleven. He informed Jesus that the 12 of them hadfulfilled the conditions for full discipleship. They awaited the response of Jesus. He pointed out that many, especially missionaries, had met these stringent conditions. Children had to leave parents to go to special schools. C.T. Studd found no mission board would send him to Africa - so his wife for 20 years stayed in England and served as his mission board. He saw her but once in 20 years. Difficult? Indeed! She visited him for 2 weeks in Africa, and when she set out to return, it was so painful that she couldn't look back at her ailing husband. His 4 lovely daughters stayed in England. Then Jesus reveals the tremendous rewards for such deniers of self for the Kingdom's sake.
18:31-34 - Repeatedly Jesus prepared and forewarned His disciples of His soon-coming Passion, and the horrors of it. He followed up each time with the good news of His resurrection on the third day. Not once did they understand what He was saying to them. After His death and resurrection - thenthey understood!
In the Gospel of John Jesus points out that prophecy is notgiven at the time for understanding. Rather, prophecy is given so that whenit comes to pass, then that Jesus had indeed came as Messiah and Son of God in the Name of Jehovah - they wouldbelieve. Prophecy is given for fuller understanding afterit has been fulfilled! This is true for the Book of Revelation. To try and understand every dotted “i” and crossed “t” now, is defeating God's purpose for giving prophecy. To glorify Him afterit has come to pass and then is fullyunderstood - is acceptable to God. Prophetic Conferences in the past that sought to explain in detail all of these things - missed the point! God on one occasion in my early Christian life asked me - “You are interested in the future things of the Book of Daniel and Revelation?” I acknowledged that I was. “How much,” He asked, “are you walking in the epistles of Paul and the other apostles?” Not too much, I again acknowledged.” “By the Holy Spirit inwardly helping you,” He said, “learn to come up to His level of living, and then I will show you more clearly the clarity of Daniel and Revelation!” I'm not sure that I have even now reached thatpoint!
18:35-43 - Here again we see the principle of importunity of the man of Luke 11; the woman of Luke 18; and Daniel in chapter 10. Persistence and Importunity go hand in hand. General Booth of the Salvation Army in Vision, learned the tremendous importance of this principle. George Muller also learned it thoroughly! Let us too follow in their train. J.A.W.