Reading Luke In Lent - Luke 19: 1-27

Today's podcast for 'Reading Luke in Lent' looks at Luke, Chapter 19: 1-27. In the last section we heard about tax collectors, the humble and the least, and the difficulty of the rich entering the kingdom. In this section we meet Zacchaeus, a rich tax collector, who is small and humble enough to climb a tree to see Jesus. He fulfills the demands that Jesus made of the rich ruler by giving away his wealth to the poor. Jesus announces that salvation has come to his house. It is possible for the camel to go through the eye of a needle. As Jesus approaches Jerusalem expectations are rising. The blind man near Jericho in the last section had acclaimed Jesus as king, ‘Son of David’. When Jesus reaches Jerusalem his disciples will acclaim him as king. The parable Jesus tells has two elements: a just king whom the people wish to reject and his servants who are to engage in the business of the kingdom. The parable is a warning for those who do not recognise the kingdom which Jesus is a sign of and which he will initiate at his second coming. 'Reading Luke in Lent' is a series of simple podcasts for the Lenten season offering a daily reading from St Luke - covering the Gospel from start to finish - from Ash Wednesday to the first week of Easter.