Luke 20 Questions! Questions!

I’ve been putting my sermons on to different blogs for quite some years now.  When I do a particular series I put it into a single blog.  So when I preached through Acts we were thinking a lot about church and how to be church and that’s what Acts is all about – it’s also has all those journeys of St Paul best followed using a map … and so I gave my blog the overall title:  Mapping the Church of Tomorrow, a 21^st Century reading of Acts.

Turning back to the earlier volume by Luke that tells the story of Jesus, the Gospel of St Luke, I decided to put the sermons on Luke into a blog too and gave it a name that for me somehow captures something at the heart of Jesus’s teaching – the way he continually teaches by asking questions.  So the title of my blog on Luke is “Questioning Jesus – a 21^st Century Reading of Luke’s Gospel.

But … there are questions and there are questions!

There are questions that are asked in a genuine spirit of enquiry in a quest for the truth … and there are questions that are asked in a hostile spirit of animosity designed to trip you up.

Just after Jesus had started on his journey to Jerusalem a lawyer, an expert in the law, stood up to test Jesus.  (Luke 10:25).  Some translations suggest he was out to trick Jesus.  I read that passage differently.  It seems to me it was a genuine question, asked in a spirit of enquiry.  Jesus treats the question seriously, and engages with the questioner.   He asks questions in return that are designed to get the questioner thinking for himself.  It’s a wonderful glimpse of the classic Jewish approach to education – asking questions in a spirit of genuine enquiry.

The Lawyer’s question is not as so many often think what must I do to get to heaven?

It is the much more telling question, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

What must I do to inherit from all those who have gone before that life that can be lived to the full here and now, that life that is not bounded to death but is to eternity?

Jesus wants him to think it through for himself and so asks two questions in return.

 ‘What is written in the law?

What do you read there?’ 

The expert in the law replies like a shot –

Love God, Love your neighbour.

Jesus, the great teacher, knows he’s got it.

‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’ – you will have life in all its fullness here and now, that rich life that is not bounded by death but is to eternity.

The answer is so clear, so rooted in the Scriptures the expert in the law knew so well, I guess he feels a touch embarrassed … and so he asks one more question to justify himself.

 ‘And who is my neighbour?’ 

A classic Jewish way of interpreting the Bible is to tell a story that throws light on the meaning of a text.  Such a story is called a midrash.   The biblical text for Jesus’s midrash, is the whole of the Torah, all of the first five books of the Bible, and the story is the wonderful story of the Good Samaritan.

Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” 

The story over, Jesus returns to the question the expert in the Torah, the expert in the Law, had asked and once again Jesus asks a question to get him thinking so that he really owns the teaching and takes it inside himself.

Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ 

The expert in the law draws his response from a classic theme that runs through the Prophets – and says,

‘The one who showed him mercy.’

Then Jesus comes in with the punch line.  And it is one that has resonated down through the ages ever since every time the parable of the Good Samaritan is re-told.

Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’

That’s one of the most wonderful glimpses of one of the most wonderful teachers teaching in the most wonderful of ways.  It goes to the heart of what teaching and learning is all about – and it’s all about asking questions in a genuine spirit of enquiry.

But not all questions are asked in that way.

Jesus knew full well that there were people out to get him.  And the people out to get him were those who wielded power.  And the place they wielded that power most was Jerusalem.  Fifty years and more before King Herod the Great had seized power and cemented his hold on power by playing the Romans off against the Jews. He had virtually demolished the temple that had stood on the highest hill in Jerusalem and had set about re-building it.

Fifty years on the scaffolding was still up. The building wouldn’t be finished for another thirty years.  The comparatively humble, prayerful temple that had been re-built after the exile had been replaced with an architectural tour de force that Herod’s successors still had to fund by exorbitant rates of tax.  It had become emblematic of the ugly power of the Herodian dynasty.

Among those unhappy with that regime were the Pharisees: they wanted to take the Torah seriously again.  As Jesus’ journey took Jesus closer to Jerusalem some Pharisees came and said to him,

‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ 

Jesus could not contain his anger.

He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me, 

“Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. ³³Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.”

Jesus knew he had a prophetic role to play.  And that would have to play out in Jerusalem itself.  And he knew the authorities would not take kindly to that.

How that filled him with sadness as he lamented,

 ³⁴Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ³⁵See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” ’

Now, in Luke 19, the time had come.  Jesus entered the city riding on a donkey, and the people did indeed cry out, not just Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, but

Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.

Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!

This was it.

A different kind of kingdom.

The culmination of all that teaching.

As Jesus came near, over the Mount of Olives and saw that ancient city with the temple clad in what looked like gold shining in the sun, with the fortress built specially by Herod to house the Roman garrison in Jerusalem towering over the temple courtyard, Jesus wept over the city, saying

“If you, even you had only recognised the things that make for peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes!”

Jesus could see that the way the powers that be had established their hold over the people could not last 

“Indeed, he said, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’

Make no mistake about it.  While Jesus could at times be meek and mild, when anger was called for he could be angry.

Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said,

 ‘It is written,

“My house shall be a house of prayer”;
   but you have made it a den of robbers.’

What an indictment.

And he had not finished yet.

He had come to Jerusalem to bring that teaching all about such a very different Kingdom of God home to the place where power lay.

47 Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him;⁴⁸but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.

 Notice who it is who are out to get him – the chief priests, the scribes, the leaders of the people.  These are the people of power who had initially been placed there by the Herodian dynasty.  But something had happened, Herod’s son Archelaus, had not been up to the task and so the Romans had replaced him with their own Procurator.  And it was the Procurator who appointed the chief priests, the scribes and the leaders of the people.  No wonder they were out to kill Jesus.

Something now happens.

They are the ones: the chief priests, the scribes and the elders who start asking a very different set of questions.  Not genuine questions asked in a spirit of enquiry.  But trick questions designed to catch Jesus out.

And the first of those questions goes to the heart of all that Jesus had stood for, all that he had been about.

The voice of the prophets had been silent until John the Baptist came on the scene.  In the first chapters of Luke John plays a prominent part.  We learn about his birth as a cousin of Jesus’ we catch a glimpe of his preaching.  And we see that he has re-kindled the spirit of the prophets and declares in a forth right way the Word of the Lord to the powers that be.  They don’t like it.  And the one who likes it least of all is the powerful King Herod who rules in Galilee.  When John is arrested and Herod thinks he has silenced that prophetic voice Jesus takes on the mantle of John and the prophets and maps out the Kingdom of God that he is bringing in.  When he had is that John the Baptist is executed in the most gruesome of ways as he is beheaded.

Luke 20:1-8

One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and telling the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders and said to him, ‘Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?’ He answered them, ‘I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ They discussed it with one another, saying, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say, “Why did you not believe him?” But if we say, “Of human origin”, all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet.’ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’

These are not questions asked in a genuine spirit of enquiry in a quest for the truth: these are questions that are asked in a hostile spirit of animosity designed to catch Jesus out and trip him up.

And Jesus deals with the question in a powerful way.  They cannot say John’s authority is from heaven, because Jesus knows they are the cronies of Herod Antipas and so he will simply turn round and ask them Why they didn’t believe in him?  And they cannot say, Of human origin, because they know that John had indeed been recognised by so many people as one of that ancient line of prophets.

So Jesus keeps mum too!

Then comes that most ominous of parables.  It’s not just a good story. It deliberately echoes one of the great themes of the prophets of old, the theme we encountered in the first of our readings from Isaiah 5.

Let me sing for my beloved

My love-song concerning his vineyard.

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,

And the people of Judah are his pleasant planting…

He expected justice, but saw bloodshed,

Righteousness, but heard a cry!

As then, so now.

As Jesus tells the story of the owner of the vineyard who sends slaves to tend it, the powers that be must have squirmed for they too had sent the messengers of God away – this is what happened to the prophets, right down to John the Baptist.

There’s something ominous as in Jesus story the owner of the vineyard finally sends a son … but he too is rejected, indeed he is killed.

Luke 20:9-19

He began to tell the people this parable: ‘A man planted a vineyard, and leased it to tenants, and went to another country for a long time. When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants in order that they might give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Next he sent another slave; that one also they beat and insulted and sent away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third; this one also they wounded and threw out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, “What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.” But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, “This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours.” So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.’ When they heard this, they said, ‘Heaven forbid!’ 

But he looked at them and said,

‘What then does this text mean:

“The stone that the builders rejected
   has become the cornerstone”? 

Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’ 

When the scribes and chief priests realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people.

How right they were!  They knew the story was aimed at them.

And still the questions came, questions asked in a hostile spirit of animosity designed to catch Jesus out and trip him up, questions about paying taxes, about the resurrection.

How much better those questions that are asked in a genuine spirit of enquiry in a quest for the truth … heed the insights of Jesus, Love God, Love your neighbour, remember the story of the one who showed mercy … and then Go and do likewise!