Sabbath, May 17 – Luke 20, 21 – Additional reading: Acts of the Apostles, page 342; Great Controversy, pages 30, 31; Christ’s Object Lessons, pages 318, 319

1. What are your views on the religious leaders and their hesitation to acknowledge John the Baptist and their failure to recognize Jesus as the Messiah? (Luke 20:1–8; compare with John 1:19–27)

2. Luke 20:1 states that Jesus was preaching. Why didn’t their hearts burn within them at the hearing of His words? (Remember the disciples on the road to Emmaus?)

3. How would you explain Luke 20:17–18 to someone unfamiliar with this verse?

4. Amidst political uncertainties, the economy, and possible taxation or inflation, what principle can we learn/apply from Luke 20:25?

5. In Luke 21, Jesus speaks of the future and His second coming. Jesus does this after speaking of the offering given by a widow in the temple: “She has given everything she has!” (Luke 21:4). Have we given God all we have? Can we do more to spread His good news? Are we being beacons of hope in a world where darkness seems to flourish?

In Luke 20 and 21, we get a glimpse of the spiritual disconnect between the religious leaders and the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord. For generations, the elders, the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the entire nation of Israel (God’s chosen people) have taught, preached, and prophesied the impending arrival of the Messiah.

However, something happened along the way. Some lost sight of what was important (or rather, who was important). Some began to seek their own pleasures to fill a void within their hearts. Others began to “obey” their way into redemption. They didn’t need grace, redemption, or a Savior; they just needed to be rigid in obeying God’s law and, more importantly, their own created laws and traditions. Their self-reliance was so great that they failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

In chapter 20, the chief priests and the scribes begin by questioning the authority of Jesus. Jesus addresses their question of authority and tells a parable of the wicked vinedressers (a parable describing their present condition). Instead of recognizing that they were in the wrong, the chief priests and the scribes became more disconnected and sought to “lay hands” on Jesus (they only hesitated because they were afraid of the people; v. 19).

The Pharisees tried to trick Jesus by asking a question about taxes, while the Sadducees attempted to ridicule Jesus because they never believed in resurrection. Yet all this effort was to no avail. Jesus is Lord, and Jesus is Love! Jesus left His audience amazed by His responses. Instead of chastising them—because Jesus loves all of humanity—He continued to teach them and to extend grace.

Jesus provided admonishment (Luke 20:45–47), encouragement to give God your all (Luke 21:1–4), prophecies from the present/near future and through His second coming (Luke 21:5–28), a parable to help us recognize the nearness of His appearing, and a warning that we ought always to remain watchful.

Unfortunately, not everyone recognized Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Jesus was not what they expected. I want to encourage us to grow our relationship with Christ. Many things can take our focus away from Jesus or give us a misrepresentation of who God is.
We ought always to look heavenward!

Today, I pray that we may see Jesus and share Him with others while we wait for His glorious appearance. “For you [we] know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your [our] sakes He became poor, that you [we] through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Oh precious Father, please work in us, and through us, for the benefit of all. Help us commune with You daily until we see You face to face. Amen.