Commentaries and Podcasts

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 21 part 2 - 11-30-2012

20 “But when you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, then you know that her desolation has come near. 21 Then those in Judaea must flee into the mountains, and those in her midst must leave the land, and those in the countryside must not enter into her!

Two weeks ago, in our presentation of the first half of Luke chapter 21, we saw how these words recorded by Luke were perfectly fulfilled in history just as they were recorded. Jerusalem was surrounded by armies during the siege of Cestius Gallus in 66 AD, and then Cestius withdrew from the city for no apparent reason. A couple of years later the Roman armies under Titus besieged and destroyed the city. In the interim, as Josephus attests, many of the better people fled the city for good. Josephus also attests to the vile nature of all those who remained behind, who were for the most part destroyed by Titus' armies. Now we shall present the second half of Luke chapter 21, where we left off discussing verses 22 through 24 and had introduced the parable of the good and the bad figs from Jeremiah chapter 24.

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 21 - Christogenea on Talkshoe 11-16-2012

1 Then looking up He saw those casting the gifts of their riches into the treasury. 2 And He saw a certain needy widow casting two lepta there.

Lepta (singular λεπτόν, 3016) are very small coins. The Codex Bezae (D) inserts the explanatory phrase “which is a quadrans” (κοδράντης, 2835) into this verse. That manuscript also substituted κοδράντης for λεπτόν at Luke 12:59, where we see an example of a liberality taken in the copying of manuscripts in order to satisfy a difference in the vernacular, whether of the region or period. Evidently another copyist of the scrolls which led to the Codex Bezae meant to clarify lepton here by adding a note rather than changing the word. Marginal notes have often been known to eventually find their way into the texts, and here that process is evident.

3 And He said “Truthfully I say to you that this poor widow has cast more than all! 4 For all of them from their abundance have cast in the gifts, but she from her want has cast in all the substance she had!”

The Codices Alexandrinus (A), Bezae (D), Washingtonensis (W), and the Majority Text have “the gifts of God”; the text of the Christogenea New Testament follows the Codices Sinaiticus (א) and Vaticanus (B).

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 20 - Christogenea on Talkshoe 11-09-2012

1 And it came to pass on one of the days of His teaching the people in the temple and announcing the good message, there appeared the high priests and the scribes with the elders 2 and they spoke, saying to Him “Tell us, by what sort of authority do You do these things? Or who is it who has given to You that authority?”

The Codices Alexandrinus (A), Washingtonensis (W) and the Majority Text have merely priests, rather than high priests. The text follows the Codices Sinaiticus (>א), Vaticanus (B), Ephraemi Syri (C) and Bezae (D).

3 But replying He said to them “I also shall ask you a question, and you must tell Me:

The word λόγος (3056) is rendered as question here, but it most literally means a word.

4 The immersion of Iohannes, was it from of heaven or from of men?”

The Pharisees had not gone to John because they thought of being baptized by him. They really went to see what he was doing, and why he thought he had such license to baptize. In Luke chapter 7, after Christ explains to the people that John was indeed a prophet, we see these words: “29 And all the people heard, and the tax-collectors deemed Yahweh just, being immersed in the immersion of Iohannes. 30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of Yahweh in regard to themselves, not being immersed by him.” Here Christ challenges them concerning this, which is also recorded in Matthew chapter 21and Mark chapter 11. From here we can also see that it is not improper to answer a question with a question in return, a rhetorical device eschewed by many today.

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 19 - Christogenea on Talkshoe 11-02-2012

1 Then entering in He passed through Iericho, 2 and behold, a man by name called Zakchaios, and he was chief tax-collector and he was wealthy. 3 And he sought to see Yahshua, who He is, and was not able because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. 4 Yet running ahead to the front he went up into a mulberry tree that he may see Him, since He was about to pass through there. 5 And as He came by the place, Yahshua looking up said to him: “Zakchaios! Hurry, you must come down! For today it is necessary for Me to stay at your house!” 6 Then hurrying he came down and welcomed Him rejoicing. 7 And all those seeing it murmured, saying that “With a sinful man He has entered in to lodge!” 8 Then stopping Zakchaios said to the Prince: “Behold, half of my property, Prince, I give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything of anyone, I return it fourfold!” 9 And Yahshua said to him that “Today has preservation come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham! 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which has been lost!”

This account of Zakchaios the tax-collector only appears in Luke. Note the exclamation of Yahshua in verse 9, “Today has preservation [or salvation] come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham!” We are not told whether Zakchaios is an Israelite, however he must be, for he is already a son of Abraham, and that is why salvation came to his house. Salvation did not come to the house of Zakchaios because he was repentant. Salvation did not come to the house of Zakchaios because he offered to give away his property. Rather, Christ is salvation, and Christ chose to come to the house of Zakchaios because Zakchaios is a son of Abraham!

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 18 - 10-19-2012

1 Then He spoke to them a parable, in reference to the necessity for them always to pray and not to falter, 2 saying: “There was a certain judge in some city who feared not Yahweh and respected not man. 3 And there was a widow in that city and she began saying to him ‘Exact vengeance for me from my opponent.’

The verb ἄρχω (756, 757) is merely “to begin” here. Used with the Participle “saying”, it implies that the woman “began and continued”, which Liddell & Scott explain in their definition of the word at ἄρχω I., 5.

4 Yet for a time he desired it not. But afterwards he said to himself, ‘Even if I do not fear Yahweh, nor do I respect man, 5 indeed on account of this widow causing me trouble I shall avenge her, lest in result of her coming she wears me out.’”

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 17 - 10-12-2012

In Luke chapter 16, Christ is recorded as having given a lengthy discourse concerning wealth and the love of mammon, or riches. Beginning with a parable which warns concerning the behavior of the “sons of light” as opposed to the “sons of this age”, He continued with a warning about those forcing their way into the Kingdom of God, and then presented another parable in an example of a wealthy man who had failed to extend assistance to the poor man, Lazarus. All of this actually presents diverse parts of a consistent moral lesson concerning the behavior of the “sons of light”. That they should not act as the “sons of this age” in pursuit of unrighteous riches, wealth obtained through unjust means, that they should be wary of those outsiders forcing their way into the Kingdom of God, and that if they were to become wealthy, they risk losing their own reward in the Kingdom in the event they forsake their brethren as the rich man had not considered the needs of Lazarus.

Studying the history of Christian Europe one should recognize that many from the noble classes thought that it was beneficial to have the anti-Christ jewish usurers around for the sake of commerce. Kings used these jews in the hopes of they themselves profiting from jewish vice and usury. In the meantime the jews acquired great wealth, having the business of usury and capital exclusively to themselves since Christians were barred from such practices. If Christians had only heeded the words of Christ in Luke chapter 16, they may have recognized the connection between the pursuit of wealth and the infiltration and corruption of the Kingdom of God, which has led to the very situation which we suffer today.

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 16 - 10-05-2012

Two weeks ago, following the presentation of Luke chapter 15, I had given an outline of the reasons for the translation of Luke chapter 16 verses 8 and 9 as they appear in the Christogenea New Testament. Here we will summarize the explanation of the Parable of the Unrighteous Steward once more, and begin by reading the verses in question: “8 And the master praised the unrighteous steward because he did wisely, because the sons of this age are wiser than the sons of light are towards their own race. 9 And I say to you, shall you make for yourselves friends from the riches of unrighteousness, that when you should fail they may receive you into eternal dwellings?”

In summary, in verse 8 of the chapter there are two Greek words which practically all, if not all, of the popular translations of Luke fail to render properly. These are αἰών, which here is rendered as age, and γενεά, which is rendered as race. The Greek word αἰών is the word from which we have the English eon. It represents a period of time, and not of space. Therefore it cannot be properly translated as world the way in which we generally understand the word world as it is used today.