The Unjust Judge
READ Luke 18:1-8
How
does the widow perceive the judge?
Indifferent to her needs.
Who
is the unjust judge in this parable?
God.
Who
is the widow?
Mankind.
What
is this parable about?
How man perceives God.
Man judging God – we think He delays,
ignores or refuses us. He is indifferent
to our needs.
God teaching mankind a valuable lesson.
What
is Christ teaching us to do?
Persist in prayer.
Cry unto the Lord.
Pray with real intent. When you have real intent, you won't quit
praying until your prayer is answered.
How long will you have to pray before God grants you what you
desire? There is no set time. To be
successful, you have to be resigned to pray daily (really continually – in one
way or another) with real intent for as long as it takes, even for the rest of
your life. The Lord blesses those who persist in seeking him.
What
is the lesson we learn waiting for God to “avenge His elect”?
Bear in patience and become willing to
submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon you (see Mosiah
3:19).
Gain the humility required to submit to
and receive God’s will.
Gain the faith to lay your concerns
before the Lord then trust that He loves you, is already aware of your concerns
(and legitimate needs and deficiencies – which you may not even realize), wants
what’s best for you, and already knows the way to accomplish it all.
Would
you rather get from the Lord exactly what you want, when you want it or trust
Him to give you what He wants, when He wants to give it?
The wise person would trust the Lord to
know what is best for them and wait in patience for His timetable to see it
come about.
We should exercise the faith required to let
our concerns go and trust in Him – believe that He gives “bread, fish and eggs”
rather than evil gifts to those who seek Him (see Matthew 7:7-11; Luke 11:5-13;
3 Nephi 14:7-11).
Whose
characteristics is this parable about?
Ours – we are the widow.
God is not really an “unjust” judge, it
just seems like that to us if we are pressing Him for what WE want.
Actually, He is prepared (and hopes to
give us) much more than we actually deserve.
The Prayers of the Pharisee and the
Publican
READ Luke 18:9-14
What
is the difference between a tithe paying, fasting, just, chaste, honest man and
a sinner?
One is religious and the other is not.
One went down to his house “justified”
and the other did not.
From this much information, we don’t know
which one was justified and which was not – we need information regarding their
hearts.
What
does this parable teach us about worthiness?
It is not about outward standards or
demonstrable behaviors.
It is not about religious observance.
It is about penitent, humble repentance,
regardless of past sins.
Why
is the Pharisee at the Temple praying?
It is part of his weekly religious
devotional activity.
He is there to be seen of men.
He is praying to himself.
He is performing a self-affirmation,
comparing himself with those he sees around him who he judges to be less worthy
and righteous than he.
Why
is the Publican at the Temple praying?
He has gone to the House of the Lord to
be in His presence.
He is begging for mercy and forgiveness
for his many sins which he stands convicted of.
He has “come to himself” and seen the
vast gulf between his behavior and God’s perfection and holiness.
The
Publican would not lift his eyes to heaven – what will give him relief, hiding
from God’s presence or coming unto Christ and petitioning to be made clean?
Coming unto Christ and relying on His
mercy and grace.
Hiding will not take away the pain
because it comes from within us (see Mormon 9:3-5).
The Publican does not hide his sins from
God – there is no rationalization, no pretense.
But he hides his face because he realizes
his current state and God’s glory vis-à-vis his own.
As CS Lewis wrote regarding Aslan the
Lion, who was a direct Christ figure in his Chronicles of Narnia stories:
“Aslan is not a tame lion”; God’s glory is real and dangerous to those who
cannot abide it – not because He is like Zeus and might “zap” you if you
displease him but just because that is the way He is – a being of immense
glory.
What
does the phrase “would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven” imply about
how we should be praying?
That normally he would look to heaven, as
he was praying or speaking to a living God.
We should look to heaven when we pray - have
you ever spoken to someone without looking at them? Has anyone spoken to you if you would not
look at them?
The Parable of the Laborers
READ Matthew 20:1-16
Why
does the Lord reward them all the same amount - what does the penny symbolize?
Eternal life.
Why
did some remain idle all the day long and what does that mean?
No one came to them to invite them to
work.
They had not received an authorized
invitation to participate in the work of eternal life until late in the day.
Or, they were “come from behind victory”
laborers (i.e. the prodigal son vs. the “elder son”).
Why
do some have to work through the heat of the day and others just one hour to
get the same reward?
Each of them contracted for the same
reward – it is just or fair that they each get the reward they contracted for
with the Master in return for the contracted amount of work.
Eternal life is eternal life – there is
no “deluxe” version of “all the Father has”.
Some of us need to work through the “heat
of the day” for the Lord’s purposes for us in this life to be fulfilled – the
sacrifice of all earthly things and working as Saviors on Mount Zion on behalf
of others may be as much for our good as others – we have to work through the
karma we’ve brought with us.
What
is at the core of the morning laborers issue with the evening laborers getting
the same reward?
Pride – they don’t just want what was
contracted for; they just want more than those they feel they are better than
or worked harder than.
An incorrect idea of justice – they think
they earned more than the evening laborers because they worked longer.
They desire to sit in the “chief seats”
because of their relative righteousness.
What
can we imply about Christ’s comments that the “last shall be first and the
first shall be last” and “many are called but few are chosen”?
It is not the amount of labor performed
but the intercession (or lack thereof) of those who worked through the “heat of
the day” on behalf of those who only had the opportunity to work an hour, that
they (the last laborers) may too merit the same reward – not knowing the deal
that the Master had made with them.
If they (the first laborers) take upon
themselves the role of “accuser of their brethren” by pointing out that they
(the last laborers) were lazy and didn’t deserve much pay (especially not equal
pay), then those “first” will be “last” because they failed the true test,
which was not the willingness to labor or the productivity of their labors, but
their charity for their fellow laborers.
It is this kind of attitude of love that
would convince a saved being (Christ) to risk all to condescend to an earth to
save a wretch like me.
Zacchaeus the Publican
READ Luke 19:1-10
Why
was Zacchaeus unable to see Christ when He came to Jericho?
He was short.
There was a “press” or large, pushy crowd.
Why
did no one help Zacchaeus find a way up to the front of the crowd to see Jesus?
He was a despised publican.
He was not in the “in-crowd” in Jericho.
Why
did Christ choose to stay with Zacchaeus that day, of all the people in the
press?
Christ came to seek and save that which
was lost.
Zacchaeus was lost but had repented
(Publicans were hated because they were extortioners and bullies – but he now
gave to the poor and was honest in his tax collection duties).
As
an interesting side note, how could Zacchaeus see Christ in the crowd from the
tree?
Logically, this means that Christ had to
be taller than the “press” round about him or he wouldn’t have been discernible
or differentiated in the crowd, even from a tree.
Lazarus Raised from the Dead
READ John 11:1-7, 14-17
Why
did Christ wait two days after He’d been told Lazarus was sick?
So that the Son might be glorified.
So that Lazarus would die and be buried
for 4 days.
READ John 11:18-27
What
is Martha saying when she told Christ “if you had been here, Lazarus would not
have died?”
I had faith that you could have saved him
if you’d been here.
There is a hint of accusation: Where were
you?
We sent people to you – why did it take
you so long?
Why didn’t you just know He was sick? You
are the Messiah!
I thought you loved us. Don’t you love us? Why did you allow this to happen if you love
us?
Why
did Martha say, “even now, whatsoever you ask of God, God will give it thee”?
It is a cautious, begging moment – from
the depth of her sadness, there is still a glint of hope.
It’s a “Lord I believe, help thou mine
unbelief” moment.
Why
does she reply “I know he will rise in the resurrection” when Christ says “thy
brother shall rise again”?
She can’t quite believe it (that Christ
will raise him from the dead or maybe that He can raise him, as he’d been dead
4 days) – when it comes down to the moment.
He
has raised several people from the dead already, why is raising Lazarus so hard
for her to believe?
It’s been four days.
By Jewish tradition, the dead spirit leaves
the vicinity of the body after three days, never to return until the
resurrection.
What
does Christ mean when He says “I am the resurrection and the life”?
He resurrects and gives us all the gift
of resurrection.
He is about to attain unto the resurrection
– to live a perfect life that death would have no claim on, then to die a
sacrifice for man (unjustly), to have been given life in Himself by His father
(becoming a “Son of God”), and to raise Himself from the dead and by so doing,
turn death back on itself (submitting to death, who had no claim on Him, making
his death unjust and enabling Him to come back, because that is just), and
enabling Him to raise all others who are depending upon Him (because they have
not yet attained to the resurrection themselves).
What
does it mean that if we believe in Christ, even though we are dead, yet will we
live?
If Lazarus, dead and in the spirit world,
believes in Christ’s ability to bring Him back from the dead, he will live
again.
This probation doesn’t end at death – for
the great, great majority, it continues into the spirit world.
If we, who are not dead, believe in
Christ to such a degree that He can minister unto us (calling and election and
Second Comforter), we shall live eternally (see D&C 132:22-24).
What
does it mean that those who live and believe in Christ shall never die?
“Those who live” means those who are
“alive in Christ” due to their relationship with Christ because of Christ’s
ministration to them; they have received the Second Comforter and have been
promised and then sealed up to eternal life.
Some will be translated and raised up to
heaven to dwell in Zion.
Some will die in mortality but through
Christ’s resurrection, be raised up to life again as a resurrected being, to
never die (permanently) again – their immortal souls will continue to live
forever while others’ immortal souls will continue to die forever (see D&C
132:22-25).
READ John 11:28-37
What
did Mary and Martha have in mind Christ wanted to do by asking them “where have
you laid the body”?
They likely think Christ wants to pay His
respects and mourn Lazarus’ death.
Under the Law, touching the dead or even
being in close proximity could make one ceremoniously unclean.
As the group makes their way to the tomb,
the thoughts of the people would have been to mourn and remember Lazarus only.
READ John 11:38-39
Martha
and the crowd are horrified by Christ’s request to open the tomb; what are they
afraid of?
Zombie apocalypse?!
The body is already starting to decay.
The spirit has left the vicinity of the
body and has left for the spirit world – it is fruitless to try to heal him now.
Becoming ritually (and otherwise) unclean
by proximity to a dead body – this was taboo in their culture.
READ John 11:40-44
Imagine the scene: Lazarus would have
been bound tightly in burial bandages, with a napkin covering his face. He was buried in a cave with a stone laid
across the entrance. The cave tomb
behind the narrow door was pitch black.
Christ commands the dead man to come forth. After several seconds there is a movement in
the dark. Then a dark figure slowly
appears inching toward the light, feet bound together, arms bound to his sides,
head bound with a cloth. Finally, he
emerges into the light from the mouth of the tomb! Jesus commands them to quickly cut him loose
from his bands.
Why
did Christ pray before commanding Lazarus to rise from the dead?
For the benefit of those who were
listening.
Perhaps if they hear the prayer – Christ
asking for power to perform a miracle – that they will believe.
Christ did not have to ask for the power,
He already had it – but He submitted to the Father in all things and everything
He did was in the name of the Father so as to glorify the Father.
READ John 11:45-53
Why
did the Jewish religious leaders begin to plan Christ’s death in earnest after
Lazarus?
This was the biggest miracle yet –
raising a man from the dead after four days.
Word of this miracle spread like wild
fire across Israel.
Christ’s following would soon come to the
notice of the Romans and they would come down hard on the Jewish leadership, as
well as Israel in general – sending in more troops to control this new
religious, Messianic movement and killing many people in the process (this was
their rationale in killing Jesus to save the people).
What
was the real question that Lazarus’ miracle asked of the Jewish leaders?
Where is this power Christ clearly has, from
– God or the Devil?
How
does one tell the answer to this question?
By the fruits will you know where the
power comes from.
