Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of Luke Chapter 20
Metaphysically Interpreting Luke 20:1-8
20:1And it came to pass, on one of the days, as he was teaching the people in the temple, and preaching the gospel, there came upon him the chief priests and the scribes with the elders; 20:2and they spake, saying unto him, Tell us: By what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? 20:3And he answered and said unto them, I also will ask you a question; and tell me: 20:4The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men? 20:5And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why did ye not believe him? 20:6But if we shall say, From men; all the people will stone us: for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. 20:7And they answered, that they knew not whence it was. 20:8And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
March 2, 1941: Luke 20:1-8
Is the Christ Spirit an advantage or a disadvantage to a man in dealing with those who are in sense consciousness? It is an advantage in that it quickens his understanding and gives him insight into the hidden motives and character of those with whom he deals. Jesus was more than a match for the scribes and Pharisees who sought to entrap Him, because “he himself knew what was in man.”
Metaphysically Interpreting Luke 20:9-19
20:9And he began to speak unto the people this parable: A man planted a vineyard, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country for a long time.20:10And at the season he sent unto the husbandmen a servant, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. 20:11And he sent yet another servant: and him also they beat, and handled him shamefully, and sent him away empty. 20:12And he sent yet a third: and him also they wounded, and cast him forth. 20:13And the lord of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; it may be they will reverence him. 20:14But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned one with another, saying, This is the heir; let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. 20:15And they cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do unto them? 20:16He will come and destroy these husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid. 20:17But he looked upon them, and said, What then is this that is written,
The stone which the builders rejected,
The same was made the head of the corner?20:18Every one that falleth on that stone shall be broken to pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust. 20:19And the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him in that very hour; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he spake this parable against them.
March 8[?], 1941: Luke 20:9-20
What does the vineyard in this parable represent? Outwardly it represents the Jewish people. Metaphysically it represents the aggregation of religious ideas in the mind of man.
Who is the “man” that planted the vineyard? The “man” is God or Divine Mind.
What are the “servants” sent by the owner of the vineyard to collect his share of the fruits? They represent man’s desire to keep the law and maintain a just balance between his inner nature and his expression through the enlightened faculties.
What is represented by the husbandmen’s beating the servant and their sending him away empty? This part of the parable pictures man’s action in allowing his faculties to fall short of allegiance to his highest conception of Truth.
Who is the “beloved son”? This is the Christ or expression of perfect ideas in Divine Mind.
Why is the Christ likened to a cornerstone? Because the Christ consciousness is of as fundamental importance to man as a cornerstone is to a building.
The husbandmen killed the “beloved son.” How can the Christ be killed? The natural or sense man suppresses or “kills” the Son of Christ by refusing to give it recognition or expression.
Who or what are the “husbandmen” that God will destroy? These are the faculties that are given over to the dominance of the personal self.
How is the Christ rejected by man? By being put out of man’s thought life or by being regarded as an impractical ideal without application to the practical affairs of everyday life.
Metaphysically Interpreting Luke 20:20-26
20:20And they watched him, and sent forth spies, who feigned themselves to be righteous, that they might take hold of his speech, so as to deliver him up to the rule and to the authority of the governor. 20:21And they asked him, saying, Teacher, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, and acceptest not the person of any, but of a truth teachest the way of God: 20:22Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 20:23But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, 20:24Show me a denarius. Whose image and superscription hath it? And they said, Caesar's.20:25And he said unto them, Then render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. 20:26And they were not able to take hold of the saying before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.
March 4, 1923: Luke 20:19-26
Metaphysically, what do the scribes and the chief priests represent? The scribes and the chief priests represent thoughts that follow the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law.
What parable did Jesus speak against the scribes and the Pharisees, which prevented them from laying hands on him? In Luke 20:17, Jesus told the scribes and the Pharisees that the stone which they had rejected, “The same was made the head of the corner.” This stone refers to the indwelling Christ, which is the keystone of man's character.
What is our duty in fulfilling the manmade, or Caesar law, and what is its relation to the inner law of Spirit? To know the divine law and acknowledge its supremacy, and at the same time to acquiesce in the exactions of human customs and to pay the tax demanded by the ruling power, is Christian prudence and wisdom.
How are the laws fulfilled? In individual consciousness we learn to “Render . . . unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.”
August 19, 1951: Luke 20:19-26
What in us tends to discredit and quench the inspiration of the Christ (divine love and wisdom)? Our old, established religious thoughts and beliefs founded on intellectual acceptance of traditional faith (symbolized by the scribes and the chief priests). The latter are antagonistic toward Truth.
How is this skepticism toward Truth represented in the text? By the words “They watched him, and sent forth spies, who feigned themselves to be righteous, that they might take hold of his speech.” The higher self is under continual suspicion of the sense self, which challenges every altruistic motive as ulterior instead.
Who are “the people” that the scribes and the chief priests feared? The people represent the unenlightened thoughts that are seeking to [get?] help and understanding in the teachings of Truth. The common people always heard Jesus gladly, and multitudes followed Him in the hope of benefiting by His words and works.
How is hypocrisy best dealt with? Forthrightly, by blunt matter-of-factness. “Show me a denarius. Whose image and superscription hath it?” By this forthright question Jesus made the spies answer their own question.
Does every coin belong to the one whose image it bears? No. Each government pledges itself to redeem its own coinage, and in that sense alone money belongs to the government that issues it. Actually it belongs to those who have earned it or who hold it. The spies knew this, but “they were not able to take hold of the saying before the people.” They were outsmarted and could only keep silent.
Does this reply of Jesus' teach a needed truth despite its obvious sophistry? Yes, it teaches that we should recognize the demands of the external world in which we live, since we can transform it only by our life and example, which is a slow-moving force requiring time to become effectual. “After a long time the lord of those servants cometh.” After a long time life is seen in its true perspective. The inner life should always receive the substance of our true thought (“the things that are God's”).
Metaphysically Interpreting Luke 20:27-40
20:27And there came to him certain of the Sadducees, they that say that there is no resurrection; 20:28and they asked him, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, that if a man's brother die, having a wife, and he be childless, his brother should take the wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 20:29There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died childless; 20:30and the second: 20:31and the third took her; and likewise the seven also left no children, and died. 20:32Afterward the woman also died.20:33In the resurrection therefore whose wife of them shall she be? for the seven had her to wife.
20:34And Jesus said unto them, The sons of this world marry, and are given in marriage: 20:35but they that are accounted worthy to attain to that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 20:36for neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 20:37But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the place concerning the Bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 20:38Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. 20:39And certain of the scribes answering said, Teacher, thou hast well said. 20:40For they durst not any more ask him any question.
Metaphysically Interpreting Luke 20:41-44
20:41And he said unto them, How say they that the Christ is David's son? 20:42For David himself saith in the book of Psalms,
The Lord said unto my Lord,
Sit thou on my right hand,
20:43Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet.20:44David therefore calleth him Lord, and how is he his son?
Metaphysically Interpreting Luke 20:45-47
20:45And in the hearing of all the people he said unto his disciples, 20:46Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes, and love salutations in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues, and chief places at feasts; 20:47who devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater condemnation.
May 24, 1936: Luke 20:45-47
Is intelligent living possible to all? All who look to the Christ Spirit within them for light and who faithfully follow the inspiration they receive may live intelligently. “They that seek Jehovah understand all things.”
What do the scribes represent? The scribes represent those religious thoughts and beliefs of men which depend for their authority on their acceptance by leaders and masses. They also represent the trait that causes a man to crave and seek to gain the applause and esteem of others.
Why is hypocrisy so harmful to man? Until one is true, one cannot manifest the Spirit of truth in oneself or recognize it in those with whom one comes in contact. Pretense or dual-mindedness shuts one completely out of all knowledge of God, the Holy One.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 01-20-2014
