“The Just Shall Live By Faith”

New King James Version                          Written by: David Hicks

 

Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Galatians 3:11 “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

“Articles of Faith"

An Orderly Account Of The Greatest Story Ever Told

(A Study in Luke)

Chapter 19:41-48:

In our last lesson, the Lord entered Jerusalem with multitudes of His disciples giving Him praise. They shouted "Hosanna" and quoted from - Psalms 118:26. All of this was done to fulfill scripture (Zechariah 9:9).

In the moment that the Lord would be King for a day, we also see the rejection of Him as King by the religious leaders. This was something the Lord taught would be their attitude (Luke 19:11-27).

At a different occasion, the people tried to take Him by force to make Him King, He did not allow this and departed to the mountain alone (John 6:15). His kingdom was not to be an earthly one (John 18:36); however, He allowed this moment of adulation because it fulfilled prophecy and it established a humble entrance into the capital (unlike a victorious king, that would enter in pomp and circumstance).

Now as He begins to enter the city, the Lord is going to express a great deal of emotion for Jerusalem in her ignorant and renegade state.

Text #1:

Luke 19:41-44 "Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

See also: Matthew 23:37-39.

He Saw The City: The Mount of Olivet was 200 feet higher than the nearest part of Jerusalem . As He would pause to look out over the city before He enters (see: Vs.37 ), He would have an excellent view.

He Wept Over It: The moment of joy that began this journey to the city has now been replaced with the bitter sorrow of the pending judgment to come on the great city for her ignorance towards God and His Messiah. In Matthew's account there is a recognition that this is not the only time this attitude of ignorance and state of rebellion reigned with the people of Jerusalem , but that it has been prevalent for as long as God had sent prophets to her, note:

Matthew 23:37  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"

It is not the city, as in the buildings, but as in the inhabitants that have chosen to be dull of hearing; just as Isaiah had spoken of the inhabitants over 700 years earlier, and Jesus would reapply to these, note:

Isaiah 6:9-10 "And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘ Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' 10 “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.”

The Lord would quote this passage as applying to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and surrounding Israel as He came to them (Mathew 13:14-15; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; John 12:40-41).

As the Lord's heart broke over the state of this people, even as He wished they would still come to Him; He would be forced to reveal that her judgment has come. Because they had ignored the peace that could have been theirs, the Lord illustrates that her enemies would come and those days were set. We will talk more of the specifics of the pending judgment on Jerusalem in chapter 21. Suffice it to say for now, that the Lord is describing a siege and utter destruction.

Visitation: The term visitation used here is a direct reference to the promise of the coming of the Messiah. This was recognized by Zacharias in prophecy (John the Baptist's father), note:

Luke 1:68-70 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,

For He has visited and redeemed His people, 69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, 70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began,"

We learn from this that if men close their eyes to the instruction of God (Vs.42), especially through His son, whom is the medium by which He speaks to us now (Hebrews 1:2), sure judgment is reserved (Mark 16:15-16).

Text #2:

Luke 19:45-48 "Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.' ”
47 And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, 48 and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him."

See also: Mathew 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19.

In John's Gospel, he would record an earlier occasion (some 3 years earlier), when Jesus would come to Jerusalem for the Passover and cleansed the temple from the same kind of perversion that He would find in this occasion (John 2:13-22). At that time He would state that they had made His Father's house a house of merchandise (John 2:16).

As the Lord drives out those who bought and sold (these were those that provided items for sacrifice at a price, effectively taking advantage of those coming to the temple for the services of the priests), He would quote from Isaiah 56:7; which stated that the temple was to be a house of prayer (a spiritual house of God), and from Jeremiah 7:11; which He used to state that they had made it a den of thieves (as Jeremiah called for complete repentance, he stated that the people of God had not only made the temple a den of thieves, but oppressed the helpless among them as well).

In Mark's account, the Lord not only drove out these money changers, but also stopped the people from using the wide space of the temple as a thoroughfare or short cut to carry vessels (from the Greek, 'skeuos' which means 'goods') to other locations in the city (Mark 11:16).

In verse 47, He stayed and taught daily in the temple. Along with all those who would come to be attentive to His words; Matthew's account states that the blind and lame came to Him to be healed (Matthew 21:14).

The chief priests, scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him. Matthew's account says that they were "indignant" (incensed to anger) at the attention He received while He taught in the temple (Matthew 21:15).

Even though they would not be able to stop Him at this time due to the multitudes, they would not stop trying; by their lies and treachery, to steal away His popular favor in order to destroy Him (this had been and on-going effort - John 7:32-36; 45-52; 10:31-39; 11:45-57).

Next: "Jesus Authority is Questioned"