The Bad, the Bad, and the Atonement for Both, Luke 18.9-14

What was the real difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector of Luke 18? Was one a good guy and the other bad? Or are both bad and one simply recognizes his proper need for an atoning sacrifice before God? Father Jeremiah looks at the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector and considers what this parable teaches us to understand about ourselves.

Image: The Pharisee and the Publican, After Sir John Everett Millais, Engraved and printed by Dalziel Brothers. Public Domain. Image location: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/382281

Justice and the Widow, Luke 18.1-8, Genesis 32:22-30

The widow of Jesus’ parable in Luke 18 is unwilling to give up her cause before an unjust judge. The judge eventually gives in and does what is right. What does this tell us about prayer? What does it tell us about God? How are we to come to God then if we know that he is truly honorable toward his people? Father Jeremiah considers all of this and encourages us to prayer unceasingly to our God who has redeemed us in Jesus Christ.

Image: The Unjust Judge and the Importunate Widow, Brothers Dalziel, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Image location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Unjust_Judge_and_the_Importunate_Widow_(The_Parables_of_Our_Lord_and_Saviour_Jesus_Christ)_MET_DP835791.jpg

Repentance through Crushing, Jeremiah 14, Luke 18.9-14

As we wrestle with God telling Jeremiah that he will not listen to his people in Jeremiah 14, we hear the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. What is the relationship between these two accounts in the Bible? How does repentance relate to both? Where do we fall when it comes to the Pharisee and the tax collector? Here’s a hint: If you’re proud that you are a tax collector, you’re really a Pharisee.

image: Pharisee and the Tax Collector, posted by WELS MLP, (Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). Image Location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/49102781@N03/4500062279/in/photostream/

Dislocated by Prayer, Genesis 32.3-30, Luke 18.1-18

On the night before Jacob was to meet with Esau, a stranger started a wrestling match with him. In our Gospel lesson, Jesus tells a parable about a persistent widow. What do these two stories have to do with one another? What do we learn about prayer from these things? How does God change everything about us as we pray? Father Jeremiah works through this and helps us to see how prayer is meant to dislocate us and renew our faith in Jesus.

Image: Woodcut for "Die Bibel in Bildern", 1860 by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld [Public domain]. Image Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld_Bibel_in_Bildern_1860_036.png