34 lines
1.6 KiB
Markdown
34 lines
1.6 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Luke 16:14–18"
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date = "2023-01-04"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Lk16.14-18)
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I am struck by the absurdity of the Pharisees ridiculing Jesus for His teaching
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about money. (_v. 14_) I can understand disagreement, because they were
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self-righteous enough to think that they had nothing wrong with how they viewed
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money. But I can't figure out even on what angle they would take to make fun of
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Him. Jesus, of course, rebukes them for this as well. They may be able to fool
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men with their justifications, but God is not fooled. Furthermore, the things
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that sin-cursed people promote is the exact things that God will need to
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destroy.
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As a counterpoint to this, Jesus brings up the perpetuity of the Scriptures.
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God's Word stands forever, even over the seemingly unshakable universe. Verse
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16 is apparently difficult to translate, and I am not a New Testatement Greek
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scholar, but taken with verse 17 it sounds like "everyone forces his way into
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it" is meant to describe how evil men try to assault the kingdom of God.
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However, these efforts are ultimately futile.
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Verse 18 seems to come out of left field. Maybe it does, but we have to deal
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with God's Word as it really is. Possibly, the laws concerning divorce were
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those the Pharisees were making more lax, despite being stricter everywhere
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else. At that time, Jewish men could divorce their wives fairly easily, without
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much cause. In contrast, Jesus reaffirms the marriage covenant as being between
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one man and one woman for one lifetime.
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* * *
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Let us exalt what pleases You instead of what the world thinks is right.
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