Luke 18:9-27: Enough with trust in our righteousness and other stuff!

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There are several questions posed in Luke 18 on faith, which as we’ve seen in verses 1–8 is better translated as trust. Do we trust in God’s justice or our own vengeance? Do we trust in God’s righteousness or in our own righteousness?

The text we are going over today starts off with two faulty heart conditions: trusting in one’s own righteousness before God and assuming that everyone else is more wicked and sinful in God’s eyes than they are. 

This issue of trust in self versus trust in God is part of a running discussion that started at the beginning of Luke 15. In Luke 16:13-17, Yeshua attacks those who trust in their own acquired and aspired wealth. They “justified themselves in the sight of men” but Yeshua warned that God sees through them and “that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.” 

The good news is that God wants to call those who are considered worthless, such as the tax collectors, harlots and sinners to Himself. He was also calling those who want to trust in Him to emulate children, with their simple faith. 

When God makes a promise, He keeps it, but many believe that God has changed His law, so even though they claim to believe in God’s trustworthiness, they often interpret the Bible in such a way that negates large portions of scripture as no longer having relevance to our lives. This is dangerous. 

Acts 15, in common Christian interpretation, is the only standard of conduct for Christian believers. It’s the high bar rather than the low bar, but when read in context, we see that the Jerusalem Council assumed these standards were a starting point of further learning, not one’s final destination in regard to the practice of discipleship in Yeshua. 

Paul addresses this problem of self-righteous contempt for another believer in Romans 14, a passage that troubles a number of people who believe God’s instructions through Moshe are for us today. 

Those who were “eating vegetables only” were not doing so in a vacuum. If you read some of the literature of first century Judaism, you will see how difficult it was to find kosher butchers. You did not know if a particular butcher shop was attached to a temple. You didn’t know if the animal was slaughtered properly or not. You didn’t know if it was dedicated to a pagan deity before slaughter or not. Many conscientious believers decided not to bother and adopted a vegetarian diet. 

Israel was not awesome; God made them awesome. That is why people were “forcing their way” into God’s family and this is very good news. But God doesn’t bring people in by lowering Himself or His Torah but by raising us up. We have to be cautious concerning “judging” other people. We are called to look upon others as better than ourselves. Developing our righteousness is God’s work, not ours. 

Things to note about Romans 14

1. The topics of his passage are trusting in God, pursing peace and the strengthening of fellow believers. 
2. This trust in God is demonstrated in practice though eating, as seen in Rom. 14:2-6. 
3. The first food topic is eating “all things.” Someone who knows he can eat “all things” scoffs at the lack of trust in God by the one who eats only vegetables. Does this directive from Paul that he is “convinced in the Lord Yeshua” that the clean-unclean distinction of Leveticus 11 is abolished? In Matt. 5:17-20, Yeshua said he would not do that “until Heaven and Earth pass away.”

Paul is not blessing ham sandwiches here. Paul says earlier in Rom 3:31:

“Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the law.”

Therefore, the “all things” Paul is referring to are within the parameters of Leviticus 11. To insist otherwise would challenge the credibility of Paul or Yeshua.

The second food topic in Romans 14 is one “regards one day above another, and the other regards every day alike.” People think this is about the Sabbath and/or the other appointed times of Leviticus 23 vs. “the Christian Sabbath,” i.e., Sunday, but it’s not. It’s a continuation of Paul’s conversation about food.

As seen in Luke 18:12, the Didache, a late first-century writing by a Torah-observant believer and in rabbinical writings (see b.Ta’anit 10a), the P’rushim (Pharisees) fasted on the second and fifth days of the week. The Didache establishes a different tradition:

“Do no fast with the hypocrites, for they fast on the second and fifth day of the week; but you should fast on the fourth day and the preparation day [sixth day].” (Didache 8:1)

So, both Christians and Jews fasted twice a week. This was a common regimen, and fasting is a good thing. The only day that one is required to “humble” one’s self in fasting is Yom haKippurim, the Day of Atonement. Any other fasts are not commanded. If you chose to fast, that is between you and God.  

The issue here is not the appointed times of God such as the weekly Shabbat, monthly Rosh Chodesh (New Moon) or the annual festivals. Rather, the issue is additional man-made practices that might be meditatively helpful but are not in Torah.

We can’t forget who Paul was and who Paul’s teacher was, Gamali’el. If anyone had reason to boast about how smart he was, it was Paul, yet he called us to walk with humility. Yeshua, the Son of God, Who was the commander of angels, humbled Himself and called us to exercise trust in God, like a child should trust his parents.

Speaker: Jeff. Summary: Tammy.