The Gospel According To LukeSample

On the Way to Jerusalem: Conflict with Jewish Leaders: Luke 11:14-15:32

During this part of his journey, Jesus purposefully antagonized the Jewish leadership for at least three reasons. First, he wanted to rebuke their poor leadership of God’s people. Second, he wanted to call people into his own kingdom. And third, he wanted them to crucify him in Jerusalem, so that he could render saving atonement for the sins of his people, and be rewarded with kingship over them. 

For instance, in Luke 11:14-28, the Jews claimed that Jesus was the “prince of demons.” And Jesus responded in verses 29-53 by condemning their wickedness and pronouncing woes on them.

In Luke 12:1-3, Jesus warned the crowds not to be hypocrites like the Pharisees. In verses 4-21, he attacked the practices of the Jewish synagogues, rulers and authorities. In verses 22-32, he stressed that God would meet the needs of everyone that sought the kingdom of God, so that they didn’t need to pursue worldly wealth like the Jewish leadership. And in verses 33-59, Jesus warned that his followers would certainly come into conflict with those who did not embrace God’s kingdom. 

In Luke 13:1-9, Jesus continued to antagonize the Jewish leadership by calling all Israel to repent of their sins. Then in verses 10-17, he increased the conflict by healing a crippled woman on the Sabbath, which greatly angered the ruler of the synagogue. And in verses 18-30, Jesus taught that the kingdom of God would not be entered by many who thought they would be admitted, clearly condemning the mainstream Jewish leadership and their followers. Finally, in verses 31-35, Luke reported that tensions were mounting between Jesus and the Jewish king Herod, who was now planning to kill him.

In Luke 14, Jesus provoked the Jewish leadership even further. In verses 1-24, he healed a man on the Sabbath, and then criticized the worldly values of the Jewish leaders — even suggesting that not one of them would inherit the kingdom of God. Then in verses 25-34, Jesus warned his followers that they might lose everything in this life as a result of the conflict they would encounter from those who opposed him.

After an introduction in 15:1-2, Jesus again pursued conflict with the Jewish leaders through his parables about things that were lost: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. In each story Jesus called on his people to reject the hypocritical exclusiveness of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, and to rejoice when God finds his children among the lost sinners of the world.