Luke Looks Back
Luke Looks Back
Sunday Mar 04, 2012
Luke Looks Back 04
Sunday Mar 04, 2012
Sunday Mar 04, 2012
Luke Looks Back Chapter 4
Luke 3:19-4:13
The Preparation of the Messiah: his baptism
Luke rather oddly records the imprisonment of John (3: 19, 20) before the baptism of Jesus by John. He does this because only Jesus is really important in the rest of the story.
Right mouse click here to download as a PDF
Right mouse click here to download as an audio mp3
You can listen here by clicking the green triangle in the player above. Podcast Powered By Podbean
He continues his account of the preparation of Jesus for his ministry with first his baptism and then his temptation.
1) Ice breaker. What was the most memorable part of your baptism (if you were old enough to remember it) or confirmation?
2) Matthew tells us why Jesus was baptised (Matt 3: 15). Luke is only concerned with what happened when he was (v 21 - 23). Which major Christian teachings are important in what happened? Why is it important for us to hear about these before we hear about Jesus starting his ministry?
Genealogies were important in those days to show who someone was. Why this one is considerably different from the one that Matthew gives is not clear. Both are carefully structured around (different) multiples of seven. Probably Luke is most interested in his last line: Jesus was the son of God.
The main purpose of the three temptations is to teach us things about Jesus. Things like the order of the temptations, different in different Gospels, are not important. We will explore five emphases of the temptations in the following questions:
3) The temptations make clear the nature of Jesus' work as the Son of God. In which verses in this story is Jesus called the Son of God? What sort of Messiah will the people have been expecting from texts like: Gen 49: 10; Num 24: 17 - 19; 1 Sam 21: 11 (an example of how a Davidic king was supposed to be); Ps 2: 6 - 12; Is 11: 1,4,10 - 14; Dan 7: 13, 14, 27; Zec 9: 9 - 17? How do the temptations show that what they were getting was very different from what they expected? Which were fulfilled then and which are still to be fulfilled?
4) Share something of how your own understanding of Jesus has changed during your Christian life as you have learned more about him.
5) The temptations of Jesus are very like some of the great events of Israel's history. Read Ex 16: 2 -4; 17: 1 - 7; 32: 1 - 4; and 1 Cor 10: 1 - 7. Which story in Exodus is like each one of the 3 temptations? What is the fundamental difference between each pair of experiences?
6) The temptations demonstrate the antagonism of Satan to the Kingdom of God. In some churches Satan is never mentioned; some talk too much about him, blaming him for every thing that goes wrong even when it is a very human fault. How would you rate our emphasis on Satan: too much, too little or just right? How does it compare with the emphasis in Luke's story?
7) The temptations emphasise that Jesus' ministry is the fulfilment of scripture. Identify how they do this. This emphasis is particularly important in the end of Luke's Gospel at Lk 24: 32. What do you find the hardest part of reading and learning from scripture? What tips can you give other people to ease the problem?
8) The temptations show Jesus' followers a way to resist temptations. The basic ideas behind the three temptations are 1) using your faith for personal gain; 2) using it to make yourself look good before other people; 3) putting God to the test in practical ways. Look at each temptation and decide whether those are the right descriptions of them. If not, what is? In what ways, often trying to hide their real motives, do people sometimes try to put God to the test? Which of these temptations do you experience most?
9) The devil left Jesus 'until an opportune time' (v 13). When, or under what circumstance, does he get a good opportunity to go after us? What can we do to discourage him?
Right mouse click here to download as a PDF
Right mouse click here to download as an audio mp3
If you would like to donate to Partakers,
please click the PayPal image below. Thank you!
Click on the appropriate link to subscribe to this website
Subscribe via iTunes
Sunday Feb 26, 2012
Luke Looks Back 03
Sunday Feb 26, 2012
Sunday Feb 26, 2012
Luke Looks Back Chapter 3
Luke 3:1-18
Heralding the Messiah
Right mouse click here to download as a PDF
Right mouse click here to download as an audio mp3
You can listen here by clicking the green triangle in the player above.
Podcast Powered By Podbean
Luke continues with his careful introduction to Jesus' ministry. He tells us all about John because John came before, and announced, Jesus. One thing he is going to make very clear throughout his book is that while John was a prophet Jesus was more than a prophet.
First we read Luke 3: 1-9
Luke in 3: 4 - 6 uses Isaiah's great picture of hope in Isaiah 40: 3 - 5, which prophesies the return of the Lord and his people to Jerusalem after the exile, as a picture of the coming of the Lord Jesus to the people of God. John is the voice. Jesus is the Lord.
An obvious first question to make you think, although it does not come directly from this passage is this:
What is your hope? How far does your hope change the way you live from day to day? Where should our hope be placed?
Pause.
Obviously the first part of that question has an individual answer, not an only right one. Our hope should be placed on being with Jesus in his heavenly kingdom and then after our resurrection on being part of his kingdom when heaven and earth meet to form the new heaven and new earth that is our ultimate destination.
Second question: the basic message that John preached was 'a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins'. How does this compare with the messages you hear preached these days? Are the differences only because John was preaching before the life and death of Jesus and the preaching you hear is from long after? Or are there differences there ought not to be?
Pause.
Again the answer to that question depends on your situation.
The last verse we read: ' the axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.' Is harsh.
Third question: in what ways can we see that happening in our day and in our society?
Pause.
Yet another question where the answer depends on who we are and where we are. When you look at the world today and see what a mess it is in because of men's greed and lust for power it hasn't improved much since John's day.
Part B
Read Luke 3: 10 - 18
When the people asked him how they were to live to show they had truly repented John gave them 4 practical examples in this passage. Two ways they were to look after the poor: giving tem clothes and food. Two ways they were not to be corrupt and to be good and honest in all things: the examples of the tax collectors and the soldiers.
Fourth question: if he had been talking to us what examples would he have given? Were his examples, particularly the first two, really practical? (It would not be long before they ran out of spare clothes and food.) How realistic are the examples you think he might have given to you? How well can we follow these examples when we have to live in the real world we find ourselves in?
Pause.
Yet again the answers will all depend on who and where you are.
John talked about 3 things: a prophetic warning of coming judgement (flee from the wrath to come... the axe at the root of the trees ...); calling for justice and compassion in our dealings with others (sharing clothes and food ... honesty in all things ... ); and a right attitude to the coming Messiah (accepting the baptism of the Holy Spirit ).
Question 5: Different churches major on one or other of the present day equivalents of these.' Which do our churches make the most of? On which do we fall short?
Pause.
Like all the questions on this passage we have to ask ourselves how they apply to us. And I cannot tell you what your answers should be!
Right mouse click here to download as an audio mp3
Right mouse click here to download as a PDF
If you would like to donate to Partakers,
please click the PayPal image below. Thank you!
Click on the appropriate link to subscribe to this website
Subscribe via iTunes
Sunday Feb 19, 2012
Luke Looks Back 02
Sunday Feb 19, 2012
Sunday Feb 19, 2012
Luke Looks Back
Chapter 2
Not all the stories commonly believed about the birth of Jesus are true to the actual facts. He was born before Herod died in 4 BC ,in Bethlehem, which was not his parent's home village, probably in an ordinary house (the word translated 'inn' can mean a guest room or just the sleeping area in a house; the manger would be between the family area and the livestock area).
Right mouse click here to download as a PDF
Right mouse click here to download as an audio mp3
You can listen here by clicking the green triangle in the player above.
Podcast Powered By Podbean
Not all the stories commonly believed about the birth of Jesus are true to the actual facts. He was born before Herod died in 4 BC ,in Bethlehem, which was not his parent's home village, probably in an ordinary house (the word translated 'inn' can mean a guest room or just the sleeping area in a house; the manger would be between the family area and the livestock area).
Sunday Feb 12, 2012
Luke Looks Back 01
Sunday Feb 12, 2012
Sunday Feb 12, 2012
Luke Looks Back
Chapter 1
Right mouse click here to download as a PDF
Right mouse click here to download as an audio mp3
You can listen here by clicking the green triangle in the player above.
Podcast Powered By Podbean
Introduction
Luke 1: 1 - 80
Preparations for the Advent of the Messiah
This is the first of a set of studies of the life of Jesus written by a man called Luke. The studies are in the form of sets of questions for a group, or an individual, to think over and discuss.
In his first 4 verses written in different, better Greek than the rest of the book, Luke announces what he is going to do.
Luke makes it clear he is writing history by emphasising the way in which he has researched the life of Jesus and the surrounding events. The other three Gospel writers write life stories more narrowly focused on Jesus. Luke was writing to a man called Theophilus who, judging by the formal way Luke addresses him, must have been someone rather important.
Sunday Feb 05, 2012
Luke Looks Back - Introduction
Sunday Feb 05, 2012
Sunday Feb 05, 2012
Luke Looks Back
Right mouse click here to download as a PDF
G'day! Today we start a new weekly Sunday spot. It is Luke Looks Back and is recorded for us by friends of mine, Roger & Margaret Kirby.
It is primarily a set of bible studies looking at the Early Life and Galilean Ministry of Jesus as recorded by in Luke 1 - 9.
Each of the studies has a mixture of notes and questions. The aim of these questions is to give those taking part some real knowledge and spiritual understanding as a result of discussing the answers to them. While they are designed for a small group, they would also be valuable as a weekly devotional.
They were first written for use in a group in England. In putting them on the Internet I know they may be used in very different cultures from ours and not all the questions will make good sense in every culture. So feel free to down load the studies, modify them as much as you like and translate them into your language if you wish. With translation in mind they have been written in simpler English that will hopefully make that task easier for whoever does it - may you be blessed in that work.
The questions are a mixture of the easy to answer (study 1, question 2) and some that are more difficult (study 1, question 5). Some are deliberately unexpected in what they ask (study 1, question 6), hoping to make people think. Included are some questions on the way Luke wrote and the structure of his writing in order to identify what Luke saw as the main points he wanted to make, believing these are therefore the points the Holy Spirit would wish us to understand as the most important (1 Pet 1: 10 - 12; 2 Pet 1: 20,21). The ancient texts did not have headings, paragraphs, sentences or even spaces between words so the only way of conveying structure was in the actual words.
The English version of the Bible used in writing these notes was the NIV. They include 'icebreakers'. These are to get everybody talking and help folk to know more about each other in a non-threatening way.
A study covers a section of the gospel rather than a single session of discussion. Many of them will take two or more sessions to complete.
Each study will print on an A4 page as two A5 pages. Printing on both sides of the paper and then cutting down the middle will give two convenient A5 double-sided copies.
These will be available in Adobe PDF format and standard mp3 audio files. Thank you.
Bibliography. The following (English) books would be helpful for discussion leaders where available:
Saviour of the World: Message of Luke (The Bible speaks today) by Michael Wilcock
According to Luke by David Gooding
Luke for Everyone by Tom Wright
Luke by Darrell Bock (NIV Application Commentary)
Luke by R Alan Culpepper in the New Interpreter's Bible (unfortunately only available as half volume IX)
Jesus from a Middle Eastern Perspective by Kenneth Bailey (This new book written by an American who has spent both his childhood and most of his working life in the Middle East is highly recommended. It explores questions of structure and brings a new and very interesting and informative perspective to the culture of the gospels. Many comparisons with life in the developing world are possible.)
Right mouse click here to download as a PDF
If you would like to donate to Partakers,
please click the PayPal image below. Thank you!
Click on the appropriate link to subscribe to this website
Subscribe via iTunes