Tag Archives: Parables

Kings and Kingdoms

January 3, 2024 Tom Vander Well 2 Comments

As [Jesus] approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”
Luke 19:41-42 (NIV)

In yesterday’s chapter, I talked about the meaning that is hidden in plain sight, waiting to be found in the connection between the episodes in a given chapter. Once again this morning, I found spiritual treasure in connecting the dots.

Dr. Luke wrote back in chapter 9 that Jesus “resolutely” set out for Jerusalem. In today’s chapter, He finally arrives. But Dr. Luke adds two key episodes to give me, the reader, to put that arrival in context.

As He enters Jericho, Jesus sees a man who has climbed into a tree to get a better view of Him. This wasn’t just any man. His name was Zac, and he was a regional director for the Internal Revenue Service of that day. Just like every human system of government, the system in which Zac was an authority was filled with corruption. Zac profited from that corruption. He was part of the system that fed the evil Herod Administration and the occupational forces of Rome. He was ostracized and held with contempt by the fundamentalist religious system. Like Jesus’ disciple, Levi, Zac had chosen in to the corrupt system in order to get rich and live the good life. His own people despised him for it.

Jesus invites Himself to Zac’s house for dinner. In doing so, Jesus sets off a host of mean tweets from those who had chosen in to the fundamentalist religious system of that day in order to appear righteous and holier-than-thou. Ironically, Jesus found this system to be no less corrupt than the one to which Zac belonged. Jesus’ visit to Zac’s house ends with Zac repenting of his greed and making a decision to give away half his wealth while making restitution to those he wronged by paying them four times what he’d cheated out of them. Jesus celebrates this prodigal son who has found his way home to God’s kingdom affirming that Zac’s transformation is evidence of the kingdom He came to bring.

Jesus then tells a parable about a man of noble birth who goes to a distant land to be made king. The people despised and rejected this king. He leaves and puts people in charge of his wealth while he was away. Some invested the wealth, made a huge return, and were rewarded. One man did nothing and was stripped of what he’d been given and sacked.

First, Jesus goes to the house of a sinner so that he might find personal salvation that transforms his life and all those who know him. Jesus says, “This is what my kingdom is all about.”

Next, Jesus tells a parable about a king who goes to a distant land to be made king (much as He left heaven to bring His kingdom to earth) and leaves his followers in charge (much as He will, in about a week, leave His followers to care for the mission of His kingdom on earth). The king eventually returns and settles accounts (much as Jesus promises a Day that He will return to settle spiritual accounts).

Jerusalem is the epicenter of the Great Story. It is David’s capital city. It is where Solomon built the temple. It is where the prophets proclaimed God’s Message. But since banishment from the Garden in Genesis 3, the kingdoms of this world, under the dominion of the Prince of this World, always stand in opposition to the Kingdom of God. It happened in the wake of David’s kingdom, and Jesus knew it must happen again just as He had described in his parable earlier in the chapter: “his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’”

So the “King” enters Jerusalem as Jesus weeps for the larger spiritual tragedy that is unfolding, saying, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

With this statement, Jesus prophetically describes the very thing that will happen in 40 years when Rome lays siege to Jerusalem and destroys the city and the temple with it.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself reminded of an observation I’ve made along my spiritual journey. I find that humans, myself included, want God to be like us and the Kingdom of God to be like the earthly kingdoms we know. This is the fatal mistake that Jesus is calling out in the saving of a major sinner named Zac, in the parable of the King whose subjects hated and rejected, and in the prophetic proclamation of the city and the earthly kingdoms who were going to execute Him in a few days time.

As a disciple of Jesus, I’ve had to learn along the way that when my thoughts, words, actions, and worldview start looking like a kingdom of this world, then I’m out of sync with the Kingdom of God that Jesus invested in me, His disciple, just like the administrators in His parable. In the parable, the King’s subjects were given money to invest. In the case of Jesus, His disciples were given love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness to invest.

So, how does my investment portfolio look? What will be the return on those investments Jesus finds on the Day when He returns to settle accounts?

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Lost

December 26, 2023 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Luke 15:2 (NIV)

I woke up on Christmas morning before the rest of the household. Historically, this is a usual daily occurrence. As I mentioned in my last post, however, our kids and grandkids moved back from Scotland and in with us for the foreseeable future. They are still trying to adjust their biological clocks to Central Daylight Time. So, after a week of waking to grandkids fully awake and ready to party, a little quiet before the Christmas chaos was a welcome treat.

I unexpectedly found myself reading an article by a gentleman named Paul Kingsnorth published in The Free Press. An Irishman, Kingsnorth tells his story of growing up an avowed atheist and environmentalist whose path led him to Buddhism before becoming immersed in a Wiccan coven. Eventually, Kingsnorth found himself in the last place he ever thought he’d be: following Jesus in an Orthodox tradition. From the editor’s introduction:

“Here is how Paul describes himself: ‘I am an animist in an age of machines; a poet-of-sorts in a dictatorship of merchants; a believer in a culture of cynics. Either I’m mad, or the world is.’ He continues: ‘My most strongly-held belief is this: that our modern crisis is not economic, political, scientific or technological, and that no ‘answers’ to it will be found in those spheres. I believe that we are living through a deep spiritual crisis; perhaps even a spiritual war. My interest these days is what this means.’”

Kingsnorth’s story was an unexpected and meaningful start to my Christmas Day. This morning, I returned to the quiet (Keep sleeping, kiddos!) and today’s chapter. Dr. Luke begins by describing how Jesus made it a regular habit to hang out with “tax collectors and sinners.” He regularly accepted invitations to dine with wealthy tax collectors. I can’t help but think Matthew was well-networked in that particular community and helped make the introductions. This earned Jesus the judgemental critique of the good religious who self-righteously treated these “sinners” as social lepers who might sully their well-manicured and whitewashed religious facades.

Luke then records Jesus telling a trifecta of parables. The parables tell of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. The common theme of these three parables reveals the heart of God contrasted against the attitudes of the institutions of religion represented by Jesus’ most vehement critics. Christianity is routinely criticized, satirized, and dismissed for its judgemental, often hypocritical, condemnation of both sin and sinners. In many cases, I find it well deserved.

All the way back at the beginning of the Great Story, God creates the universe and everything in it. He looks at His creation and calls it “good.” Then God caps creation off with his most beloved and intimately crafted work, Adam and Eve. He looks at His creation including humanity and calls it “very good.”

Both Jesus’ words and actions reveal the heart of the Creator. The tax collectors and sinners He dined with were the very work of His hands, beautifully and wonderfully crafted. Jesus looks at the sinners, prostitutes, and greedy tax collectors sitting around the table with Him and His heart finds that His most beloved and intimately crafted works are spiritually lost.

As Jesus tells his trinity of lost parables, He repeatedly says that there is more rejoicing in heaven over one “lost” person who is “found” than in a whole church full of faithful followers who are already in the fold.

In the quiet, my mind wanders back to Paul Kingsnorth’s story. I wander back to my own story. One of the things you’ll commonly hear in the stories of those who find Jesus is that we know it was Jesus who found us. It was Jesus who sought and doggedly pursued our lost souls.

As a disciple of Jesus, I find in His stories and actions the example He wants me to follow. It lies at the foundation of Jesus’ teaching about loving my enemies and blessing those who hate me. If they are simply condemned sinners going to hell then I will find in them what I believe to be an exemption to Jesus’ command. I will believe that I have found a loophole in Jesus’ law of love. If, however, I see those condemned sinners as Jesus sees them, as His own lost creations whom He lovingly and intimately crafted, then I will see them, think of them, speak to them, and treat them differently. I must see them as my Master sees them. I must see them as I see my former self…

“I once was lost, but now I’m found,
was blind, but now I see.”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Three Stories, Three Questions

February 21, 2022 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:40 (NIV)

I’ve been experimenting this year with an organizational system based on the way monks operate. It asks me to prepare, act, and reflect on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis. I admit that I’m still trying to get into the swing of it, but the biggest takeaway so far has been the addition of a conscious and deliberate process of reflecting.

At the end of the day: How did today go? Did I accomplish what I set out to do? What was the highlight? For what am I grateful? How can I do better tomorow?

At the end of the week: How did this week go? Did I accomplish what I set out to do? What were the highlights? For what am I grateful? How can I do better next week?

At the end of the month…

At the end of the year…

What it’s teaching me is that reflection is a more powerful tool than I’ve ever understood. I’ve too often moved forward to the next day and thrown yesterday onto the scrap heap of days gone by without mining that day’s (or week’s, or month’s, or year’s) experience in a way that can inform my tomorrow.

This idea of reflection came to mind as I pondered today’s chapter, which is a continuation of the previous chapter, in which Jesus’ disciples asked Him about the end times and final chapters of the Great Story. Jesus said that He would someday return, but that the day and hour of His return were unknown. Nevertheless, there are three parables Jesus tells in succession to inform me regarding how I, as His follower, should conduct myself in light of His unknown yet imminent return.

The first parable is about virgins at a wedding awaiting the arrival of the Bridegroom. In Jesus’ time, all the eligible single girls would carry lamps and accompany the bridegroom and his bride at night to the wedding feast. The lamps illuminated the eligible single women for all the single men who were looking for wives. In Jesus’ parable, the Bridegroom is running late and half the virgins were unprepared, missing the opportunity. Jesus is telling me to always be mindful and prepared for His arrival.

In the second parable, Jesus tells of a man who went on a long journey. He leaves money with three servants. Two of them invest the money and grow the investment, the third does not. Jesus is telling me to invest the gifts and resources I’ve been given to advance God’s Kingdom on earth until my number’s up or He returns.

In the third parable, Jesus envisions Judgement Day. Those He welcomes into eternity are those who took care of Him by caring for the poor, the hungry, the sick, prisoners, and the needy. Jesus is telling me where to focus my investment of gifts and resources.

Every time my chapter-a-day journey brings me back to today’s chapter, it’s always a gut-check for me. It prompts introspection and self-evaluation. As a follower, Jesus asks me to consider three questions:

Today, am I living, speaking, thinking, and acting with an eternal perspective?

Today, am I investing my time, energy, gifts, and finances in the things of God?

Today, are the objects of my investment the poor, needy, sick, and/or outcast?

Good questions on which to reflect in the quiet this morning as I prepare to launch into another work week.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Mystery of Sowing and Reaping

March 27, 2017 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
Matthew 13:10-12 (NIV)

There is a particular mystery to life which I fully recognize but fail to fully understand. I wonder why two people can grow up in the same household with the same opportunities and advantages and end up at such opposite places in life. I wonder how the families of two brothers can look so very different. I wonder why things that are so clear to one can be so hidden from another.

In today’s chapter there is no doubt about Jesus’ teaching. The hearts of people respond and react differently to God’s Message. Some “get it” while others don’t. Two can hear the same Message with their ears, but one person’s heart will understand while the other’s will not. Hence, the mystery.

I have experienced the moment when the veil of person’s heart is lifted. I have watched people “see” with their spirit for the first time. It’s an amazing moment to both experience and witness. Everyone who has experienced it has their own story of when it occurred and the ways the Spirit brought them to that moment. It is a beautiful thing. Still, I wonder why some see and hear, and not others.

This morning I am thinking about Jesus’ example amidst this realization. He knew some of the multitudes would understand His parables and some would not. He did not judge those who didn’t get it. He didn’t turn away and isolate Himself from those whose spiritual eyes were dark and ears deaf. He didn’t look down on anyone. He continued to love, to teach, to reach out, to heal, to show mercy, and to have compassion. Jesus sowed the Word and allowed the mystery to unfold.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Luke 14

December 7, 2010 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

He went on to tell a story to the guests around the table. Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place of honor, he said, “When someone invites you to dinner, don’t take the place of honor. Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the host. Then he’ll come and call out in front of everybody, ‘You’re in the wrong place. The place of honor belongs to this man.’ Red-faced, you’ll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left. Luke 14:7-9 (MSG)

I consider stories, books, and films that seem timeless. There is a reason Shakespeare’s works are still staged for packed crowds around the world. There is something in them that resounds with our own core human experience and longing. Jesus was a great teacher because he spoke in stories, parables and spiritual lessons rooted in universal human experiences. He pointed us to eternal significance in everday occurrences.

Life lessons are all around us. They lurk in our daily conversations, in our every day relationships, and in the most mundane moments of our daily journey. God’s Spirit whispers to our spirit in a crowded shopping mall, in the quiet car ride home, and in the midst of our daily work.

For me, the crucial question is the one Jesus asked at the end of the chapter: “Are you listening to this? Really listening?”