Two Certain Men
January 2010 Bible Believers’ Bulletin
Throughout the Gospel of Luke, we find a unique characteristic not found in the other three Gospels in his usage of the number 2. The Lord consistently uses Luke to point out the contrasts between “two certain men.” In the Bible, the number 2 is associated with division, so it is instructive to pay attention to the way two certain men are continually divided.
The Lord Jesus Christ is a divider between two distinct choices. With Him, it is black and white (not gray), up or down (not on the fence), right or wrong (not situation ethics), and Heaven or Hell (not Purgatory).
The truth of the Bible is a divider between mother and daughter, father and son, sister and brother, etc. The modern Christian is aghast at this thought, since he has been programmed to believe that the God of the Bible is a great mixer who wants everyone to get together. A few examples from Dr. Luke prove otherwise.
- Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:
- For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.
- The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
In Luke 18:9–14, Jesus teaches a parable of “two certain men” who “went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican” (as in a crooked IRS man). The Pharisee goes up worthy in his own mind and thankful that he is “not as other men,” especially as this dirty publican. The publican sees himself too unworthy even to lift up his eyes to Heaven, but asks the Lord to be merciful to such a sinner. The Lord Jesus then points out that the publican goes “down to his house justified” by God rather than the Pharisee. This parable points out a clear dividing line between two sinners approaching God.
- ¶ And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
- Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
- The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
- I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
- And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
- I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
In Luke 7:41–50, Luke says, “a certain creditor . . . had two debtors.” One owed ten times as much as the other, but the creditor forgives them both of all debt. Jesus asks Simon the Pharisee (the owner of the house where the story takes place) which of the two would love most. Simon judges rightly: it is the one forgiven most. Jesus then points out the woman who has been weeping at His feet, washing them with tears and drying them with her hair. He then shows Simon the difference between himself (who offered none of these things to Christ) and this uninvited (vs. 37), unworthy (vs. 38), unashamed (vs. 38) woman who is now unchained (vs. 48) of her sins and forgiven. These “two debtors” are similar to the story of the publican and Pharisee when it comes to approach to God.
- ¶ And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.
- And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
- And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
- Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
- And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
- There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
- And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
- Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
- And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
- Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
- My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
- Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
- And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
- And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?
- And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
In Luke 15:11–32, Jesus relates the story of a certain man that had two sons. The younger says, “give me,” and takes off for the far country to waste “his substance with riotous living.” After coming to the end of himself and the consequences of his sins, this prodigal son returns to the Father’s house with an admission of guilt. There he finds the Father waiting to restore him and eagerly accepting his repentance.
- ¶ And he said, A certain man had two sons:
- And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
- And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
- And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
- And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
- And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
- And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
- I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
- And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
- And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
- And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
- But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
- And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
- For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
- Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
- And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
- And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
- And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
- And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
- But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
- And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
- It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
In the meantime, there is another certain son out in the field, not even thinking of, let alone praying, for his brother. This elder brother refuses to take part in the rejoicing over the return of the prodigal, and the reason is betrayed in his speech. Five times in one verse (vs. 29) his speech is punctuated with “I,” “me,” and “my.” His foolish talk is only outdone by the rich fool of Luke 12:16–21, who is able to rack up six in one verse (vs. 18).
- And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
- And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
- And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
- And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
- But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
- So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
Luke uses these two certain men to show how eager the Father is to restore fellowship with His sons, whether they be a prodigal or an elder, selfish brother.
In Luke 16:19–31, there is “a certain rich man” versus “a certain beggar named Lazarus.” One enjoyed the physical comforts and riches of this life without any indication of being rich toward God. Though we are given no indication he necessarily lived outright wickedly, it is implied he simply lived for self, without regard for the beggar or anyone else outside his gate. This “certain rich man” wakes up in Hell in torments, begging for relief. The “certain beggar” wakes up in “Abraham’s bosom,” comforted after trying to live this life with enough crumbs to subsist. Yet as a son of Abraham, he enters eternity divided forever from the rich man. The Bible clearly shows that once you step into eternity, there is a division between eternal life and eternal death that is irreversible after death.
- ¶ There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
- And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
- And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
- And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
- And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
- And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
- But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
- And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
- Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:
- For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
- Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
- And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
- And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Luke continues to use the number of division repeatedly. In chapter 23, we find two malefactors hanging on each side of Jesus Christ at Calvary (vs. 33). One turns in repentance and finds life; the other clings to his own ways and finds eternal death.
- ¶ And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.
- And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
- Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
- And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.
- And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,
- And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.
- And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
- And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
- But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
- And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
- And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
- And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
In chapter 17, we see “two men . . . in the field” at the return of Christ—one taken, “the other left”; two women grinding at the mill—one taken, “and the other left.” All of mankind is divided right this very minute: saved or lost, justified or condemned, a child of God or a child of the Devil (John 8:44).
- I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
- Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
- Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
- Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
One of these certain men rejected the Bible as “no more to be trusted than the sacred books of the Hindus or the beliefs of any barbarian.” He fought against the truth of the creation account in Genesis 1 almost his whole life, with so many doubts that he had to be goaded into publishing his theory against the Bible record. He once confided to a friend: “The human eye to this day gives me a cold shudder . . . to suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree.” But this certain man went forward against the dictates of his conscience and against the cold facts that disproved his fantasies and finally published Origin of the Species in 1859. Charles Darwin’s work has had a damning effect on real science that is incalculable. Only the Lord knows the effect this certain man’s work had on Hitler, Stalin, Einstein, Marx, et al. The reigning monarch of his day, Queen Victoria, refused to bestow knighthood on this certain man when it was brought to her, since she was a Bible reader who attributed England’s prosperity and power to “that Book” (KJV). Charlie has been buried beneath the floor of Westminster Abbey since 1882 and has been evolving back to the dust of the ground for the last 125 years.
The other “certain man,” buried only yards away from Darwin, held the chair of Mathematics at Cambridge for 33 years, was President of the Royal Society of Scientists, and author of the second greatest work on physics in the history of mankind (after the KJV), titled The Principia (1687). He also, as Darwin, read the Bible, except he believed it and authored commentaries on the prophecies of Daniel and the book of Revelation. During the last thirty years of this certain man’s life, he worked on Bible chronology, accepting the Bible record of 4,000 years from Adam to the birth of Jesus Christ. “Sir” Isaac Newton’s work was based on the Bible absolutes of time and space. In writing about his discovery of the force of gravity, he wrote, “Gravity may put the planets into motion, but without Divine power it could never put them into such a circulating motion as they have . . . .”
Modern scientists have lamented over the monumental waste of Newton’s time with the Bible, not understanding that Newton’s light came from that same Book. Long before Einstein’s bumbling to rid the world of absolute time, Newton had the sense to change the pendulum’s length for clocks near the equator to adjust for the differences in how the mechanism records time. Not Einstein! Instead, he dreamed of a pair of twins aging differently because a clock runs faster in gravity free space than it does on the surface of the earth. Newtonian physics has been rejected by today’s “scientists” in favor of relativity and, as a result, can never get off Einstein’s train headed for Hell. The Bible believer can clearly see through this fog and recognize the sandy foundation that goes back to the floor of Westminster Abbey in 1882.
Two certain men, both born in England. One “built his house upon the sand” (Matt. 7:26) and the rains came “and the winds blew, and beat upon his house . . . and great was the fall of it” (Matt. 7:27). The other certain man “built his house upon a rock” (Matt. 7:24), the rains came “and the winds blew . . . and it fell not” (Matt. 7:25).
- ¶ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
- Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
- And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
- Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
- And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
- And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
- And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.