3There was a widow in that city who kept coming to him, saying, ‘Please decide what is just in the dispute between me and the man who is opposing me in court!’
4For a long time the judge refused to help her. But later he thought to himself, ‘I do not revere God and I do not care about people,
5but this widow keeps bothering me! So I will make sure that she is treated justly. If I do not do that, she will exhaust me by continually coming to me!’”
6Then the Lord Jesus said, “ Even though the judge was not a righteous man, think carefully about what he said!
7Similarly, ◄God will certainly show that what you have done has been right!/will God not show that what you have done has been right?► RHQ He will do this for you whom he has chosen. He will do this for you who pray earnestly to him night and day, asking him to help you. He may delay helping you.
8But I tell you, some day he will show that what you did was right, and he will do it quickly. But when I, the one who came from heaven, return to earth, ◄there may not be many people who will still be trusting that I will vindicate them (OR, who will still be trusting in me)./will there be many people who will still be trusting that I will vindicate them (OR, who will still be trusting in me)?► RHQ”
9Jesus also told a parable to warn people who mistakenly thought that they were doing things that made them acceptable to God. Besides, they also despised other people.
10He said this: “Two men went up to the Temple in Jerusalem to pray. One was a Pharisee. The other was a tax collector.
11The Pharisee stood and prayed silently, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men. Some extort money from others; some treat others unjustly; some commit adultery. I do not do such things. And I am certainly not like this tax collector who cheats people!
12Our law says that we(exc) should ◄fast/abstain from food► once a week, but I do more than that. I fast twice a week! I give you ten percent of all that I earn!’
13But the tax collector stood far from the other people in the Temple courtyard because he felt very unworthy. He would not even look up toward heaven. Instead, he beat on his chest to show that he was sorry for his sin. He said, ‘God, I am a sinner; be merciful to me and forgive me!’”
14Then Jesus said, “I tell you (pl) that as the tax collector went home, the record of his sins was erased { God erased the record of his sins}, not that of the Pharisee. Remember this: Those who exalt themselves will be humbled { God will humble all those who exalt themselves}, but those who humble themselves will be exalted { he will exalt those who humble themselves}.”
15One day when many people were coming to Jesus, they were also bringing small children. They wanted him to put his hands on the children and bless them. When the disciples saw that, they rebuked those who were bringing those children.
16But Jesus called the children to come to him. He said to his disciples, “Let the children come to me! Do not stop them! It is people who are humble and trusting like they are who can experience God ruling their lives.
17Note this: Those who do not trust God and allow him to direct their lives, as children do, will not enter the MET place where God rules.”
18A Jewish leader asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what shall I do in order to have eternal life?”
19Jesus said to him, “Only God is good! No one else is good! ◄So you(sg) should consider carefully what you are implying by calling me good!/ Do you realize that you are implying that I am God by calling me good?► RHQ
20But to answer your question, you (sg) know the commandments that God gave Moses. He commanded such things as ‘do not commit adultery, do not commit murder, do not steal, do not testify falsely about what you have seen or heard, honor your father and mother.’”
21The man said, “I have obeyed all those commandments ever since I was young. So ◄ there must be something else I have not done./is that enough?►”
Luke 18
Luke 18:3-21