Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Luke 20 before reading the devotional below.
We are on our way to wrapping up our Luke series, and next we’ll hit some highlights from the book of Acts to take a look at what freedom looked like in the early church. Here in Luke 20, we see another series of debates between Jesus and the religious leaders.
As I read this chapter, I found myself bristling at the debate-style conversation that Jesus engages in. Sure, it’s fun when he puts the know-it-all’s in their place, but I recoil a little bit from the tone. It feels too harsh to me. I reminded myself of the fact that the Bible was not written in English and tone can be very hard to interpret in a story from another language, culture and historical time period. What was Jesus’ actual tone of voice like in these moments? How might I have reacted to him if he had talked in person directly to me?
Here’s your freedom for today: Jesus gives you what you need. The religious leaders were already engaging in theological debates, and Jesus joins right in. He meets them where they are and engages in intellectual arguments that would speak to them. To the crowd of onlookers, he tells stories of the underdog becoming the hero. They love him because for the first time, they matter. To women Jesus is inviting and gentle — a few times putting the men in their place for their negative treatment of women. Jesus knows how to talk to you, and through Scripture and his Spirit he will approach you with love and sensitivity to who he made you to be.