The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and scoffing at him.
And he told them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight.
“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urgently invited to enter it.
But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to drop out.” (Luke 16:14-17)
I’ve always found this passage a little hard to put together.
But it strikes me that Jesus was basically saying this: God does urgently invite everyone to enter the Kingdom. That’s his heart toward us.
But at the same time, there’s one requirement: embrace our King and his values.
That’s what the Pharisees failed to do. They instead scoffed at their King and his values. Values coming from the Law and Prophets that they claimed to follow.
They scoffed at how Jesus saw money.
They certainly didn’t value marriage as Jesus did, often getting divorced so they could marry someone else. (Luke 16:18)
Nor did they value mercy, justice, and the love of God as Jesus did. (Matthew 12:7; Luke 11:42)
Instead they valued what was revolting in God’s sight.
And in the end, they crucified their King.
As a result, they found themselves outside the Kingdom they claimed they wanted to enter.
How about you?
Do you embrace your King?
And do you embrace his values?
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 