The unscrupulous judge and the importunate widow - Luke 18:1-8 - N. T. -
Then Jesus told them a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart. 'There was a judge in a certain town' he said 'who had neither fear of God nor respect for man. In the same town there was a widow who kept on coming to him and saying, "I want justice from you against my enemy!" For a long time he refused, but at last he said to himself, "Maybe I have neither fear of God nor respect for man, but since she keeps pestering me I must give this widow her just rights, or she will persist in coming and worry me to death".'
And the Lord said, 'You notice what the unjust judge has to say? Now will not God see justice done to his chosen who cry to him day and night even when he delays to help them? I promise you, he will see justice done to them, and done speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?'
Cf. - Luke 11:9 -
Cf. - Proverbs 25:15; 11:5-8 - O. T. - With patience a judge may be cajoled: a soft tongue breaks bones. The virtues of the blameless man smooth the way before him, the wicked man founders in his own wickedness. Their virtuous conducts sets honest men free, treacherous men are imprisoned by their own desires. The hope of the wicked perishes with death, the expectation of the godless is frustrated.
Cf. - Revelation 6:9-11 - N. T. - When he broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of all the people who had been killed on account of the word of God, for witnessing to it. They shouted aloud, 'Holy, faithful Master, how much longer will you wait before you pass sentence and take vengeance for our death on the inhabitants of the earth? Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to be patient a little longer, until the roll was complete and their fellow servants and brothers had been killed just as they had been.
Cf. - Matthew 8:5-13 - N. T. - When Jesus went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him. 'Sir,' he said 'my servant is lying at home paralysed, and in great pain.' 'I will come myself and cure him' said Jesus. The centurion replied, 'Sir, I am not worthy to have under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.'
When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, 'I tell you solemnly, nowhere in Israel have I found faith like this. And I tell you that many will come from east and west to take their places with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven; but the subjects of the kingdom will be turned out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.' And to the centurion Jesus said, 'Go back, then; you have believed, so let this be done for you'. And the servant was cured at that moment.
Cf. - Matthew 24:11-13 - N. T. - Many false prophets will arise; they will deceive many, and with the increase of lawlessness, love in most men will grow cold; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved.
The Pharisee and the publican - Luke 18:9-14 - N. T. -
Jesus spoke the following parable to some people who prided themselves on being virtuous and despised everyone else, 'Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself, "I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like the rest of mankind, and particularly that I am not like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all I get."
The tax collector stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beats his breast and said, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner". This man, I tell you, went home again at rights with God; the other did not. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted.'
Cf. - Luke 16:15 -
Cf. - Proverbs 21:2; 28:13 - O. T. - A man's conduct may strike him as upright, Yahweh, however, weighs the heart. He who conceals his faults will not prosper, he who confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
Cf. - Matthew 6:1-2 - N. T. - Be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice; by doing this you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven.
Cf. - Matthew 21:28-32 - N. T. - 'What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, "My boy, you go and work in the vineyard today". He answered, "I will not go", but afterwards thought better of it and went. The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, "Certainly, sir", but did not go. Which of the two did the father's will?' 'The first' they said. Jesus said to them, 'I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you, a pattern of true righteousness, but you did not believe him, and yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did. Even after seeing that, you refused to think better of it and believe in him.
Cf. - Matthew 23:27-28 - N. T. - Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who are like whitewashed tombs that look handsome on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of corruption. In the same way you appear to people from the outside like good honest men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Cf. - Romans 2:17-24 - N. T. - If you call yourself a Jew, if you really trust in the Law and are proud of your God, if you know God's will through the Law and can tell what is right, if you are convinced you can guide the blind and be beacon to those in the dark, if you can teach the ignorant and instruct the unlearned because your Law embodies all knowledge and truth, then why not teach yourself as well as the others?
You preach against stealing, yet you steal; you forbid adultery, yet you commit adultery; you despise idols, yet you rob their temples. By boasting about the Law and then disobeying it, you bring God into contempt. As scripture says: It is your faults that the name of God is blasphemed among the pagans.
Cf. - Matthew 23:12, Luke 14:11 - N. T. - Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted. - PAGE 57 -
Jesus and the children
People even brought little children to Jesus... - PAGE 58 -
The Lord Jesus Christ, promised to us that our mission on this earth is really and utmost important for our own salvation.
"Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He is like a man who when he built his house dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built.
But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man who built his house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 -
Hence, these two books (The Gospel According To Apostle/Saint Luke & The Acts Of The Apostles) of the New Testament were closely associated, and being call 'a history of the rise of Christianity'. Therefore, I faithfully believe that it is utmost importance for us; all human beings to comprehend these two books, [ All the others Old Testament and New Testament books are equally importance, but as for now, we will start studying and read these two books first, that is, being call 'a history of the rise of Christianity', before continuing the other books.] to the best of our knowledge and enabling our spirit to acknowledges: "Who is God, and how, and in what ways, that is, God is with us." Amen!
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