Partakers Christian Podcasts

Bible Thought Luke Looks Back - Part 16

Study 16 - Luke 11:14 – 12:12

Controversies

As they moved towards Jerusalem antagonism to all that Jesus represented grew. There is no clear pattern in this passage. Problem piled on problem; attack followed attack.

Question 1: According to the experts those of us who live in the Western world live in a Christianised, but now post-Christian society and therefore in a situation much less clearly defined than it was in New Testament days. Then they knew who the enemy was. We can be much less sure. Apathy, rather than antagonism is our main enemy. Do you agree? If so, give examples of where this can be seen.

Our world is clearly Christianized by its historical background. But there is a steady movement to a more secularized society in most of the Western world, showing in slightly different ways in different countries. In the UK this shows in strong arguments in the media that ‘religion’ is to have no role at all in politics or civic life. The adviser to one former Prime Minister announced that ‘we do not do God’. What is called ‘multiculturalism’ is appealed to to prevent any idea that Christianity has a special role in society in spite of it having been dominant for more than 1000 years. It is important for you, as it is for us, to think through how the culture of the society in which we live interacts with our Christian faith. Read Luke 11: 14 – 28. Jesus clearly divides the world he lived in into two warring parts: the Kingdom of Satan and the Kingdom of God (11: 18, 20). (By using a word about war I do not mean that there is any place for physically aggressive fighting in our faith. Defence may be another matter.)

Question 2: Can we divide our world the same way? What are the implications of doing so?

We need to be very careful here. It is all too easy to think where we are is the Kingdom of God and what opposes us is the kingdom of Satan. It may be but it may be just our arrogantly self-centred view of the world. Yet Satan is an all too real force in the world; indeed it is easy to argue that he has been more active than usual in the last 100 years in all the wars, massacres and famines that have plagued the human race.. We ignore him at our peril.

Question 3: When Jesus talks in terms of warfare (Luke 11: 21 – 23) he distinguishes between those who are with him and those who are against him. Where is the front line today between those he describes as ‘with me’ and those ‘against me’?

The answer to this one will vary according to where you live. As a general statement perhaps it is best to say that those, and only those, who are prepared to say “Jesus is Lord” are those who are with us.

Question 4: Luke 11:24–26 suggests that turning over a new leaf is counter- productive. Can you illustrate this from your own experience by citing the case of someone who tried to turn over a new leaf without a spiritual dimension to it and slipped back into their old ways, or worse? Question 5: In what way does 11: 28 take 10: 39 forward another stage?

Mary was commended for listening. This verse says we must not only hear the word of God – we must do it. And, remember, Jesus means by ‘doing’ action in the world, in loving other people and acting in their support, not just sitting in church and attending worship or praying regularly. There are plenty of other religions in the world which are all about doing the right religious things; none others which are so focussed on our behaviour towards other people. We read Luke 11:29–36. The emphasis in Luke 11:16 and Luke 11:29–32 is on the absence of any sign except the presence of Jesus. But at least they looked for a sign. If our generation does not do so, the likely judgement on them (or should that be ‘us’) sounds as though it will be grim. We read Luke 11:37–54. If you belong to an ordinary small Protestant church, as we do, our religiosity may appear to an outsider very vague and unfocussed compared with that of most overtly religious people (high Church of England, RC, Muslim, Mormons, Hindu etc.). We have no liturgy, no splendid ceremonies and ceremonial wear, no prescribed level of contribution, no required standards of behaviour. So we escape the accusations of Jesus in 11: 39 – 52. Yet we are not blameless!

Question 6: For each of the 7 Woes (counting 39 – 41 as the first) think of how they might be reworded to attack our weaknesses (mostly the exact opposite of theirs).

Would the Lord say ‘woe’ to us? I don’t need to tell you what I think the answer to that question would be! Finally we read Luke 12: 1 – 12. These verses are about is about a demand for a total commitment that is quite frightening. We can (do?) often slide sideways from these statements in a smoke screen of words.

Question 7: Which statement in these verses, Luke 12: 1 – 12,

• do you find most difficult?
• do you most encouraging?

Of course the answer to that one is up to you. For me the most difficult is the idea that those who do not follow Jesus will be thrown into hell; and the most encouraging is the fact that God knows all about all the sparrows that squabble in our back garden thinking they are singing when they are making the most awful noise. There is great hope for you and me in that statement.

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Bible Thought - Luke Looks Back Part 15

Study 15 - Luke 11:1-13

Praying to the Father

A disciple asks a question about prayer and although he gets a model prayer he also gets much more.

First the prayer. We read 11: 1 – 4. This is a shorter version of the prayer than Matthew’s. Matthew starts off with ‘our Father in heaven’ instead of just ‘Father’. Matthew introduces the prayer after warning his disciples against showing off in praying, long words and many words. I doubt whether he would want us to keep on repeating this particular set of words either. He wants honest heart prayers in our ordinary every day language. One good idea is to pray along the pattern he has given us but rewording it as we go. So we might start off: ‘Dear Lord and Father I am so amazed that you have asked me to address you like this’ or ‘may I call you Father this morning even if you seem rather far away just at the moment’ or ‘ you are in heaven and I am stuck here on earth but please hear what I have to say’.

Question 1: Think up 2 other ways you might start your prayer. Something like:’ I want to honour your name and who you are this evening as I pray – help me to do it by your spirit, please’ and an infinite number of other possibilities. ‘each day’ (11: 3 NIV) is a rare word in the Greek which may mean ‘today’ ‘tomorrow’ or ‘enough for the day’.

Question 2: To which OT incident is it likely to refer? A cynic might ask whether this prayer is necessary in the day of the supermarket (at least in the world’s better off countries). The giving of manna and quail in Exodus 16 is being referred to. The owners of the supermarket probably think they filled the shelves but a greater than them, the Lord, organised the natural world for them to plunder!

Question 3: Praying for the coming of the Kingdom could be dangerous. Why? What effect should praying like that have on us? What might it look like if it came and was openly apparent, as it is not now? It might come and where would we be then? If we have placed our trust in Jesus we shall enjoy the fruits of his faithfulness, but if not, not. If we ask for the coming of the kingdom we must live in kingdom style now, or else we are hypocrites. No one knows what it will look like with any certainty; all we do know is that it will surpass our wildest dreams.

Question 4: Is it necessary to forgive every one who sins against us before we receive forgiveness from the Father? No. To say that would contradict every other place where forgiveness is mentioned in the Bible. What it means is that if we expect to be forgiven we need to live in the world of forgiveness. In the same way if we want to be loved by God we need to live in the world of love, which is what John meant when he said: Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

We read 11: 5 – 13. There is a problem in 11: 8. The NIV has ‘the man’s boldness’ but that is probably not as good as the TNIV ‘your (the person knocking’s) shameless audacity’ and even that is probably not right. The root meaning of the word being translated is ‘ avoidance of shame’ but in the original it is not ‘the man’s’ or ‘your’ but ‘by him’, which can refer to the person knocking or the one in the house being woken up.

So it may mean that the person getting up has to do so in order not to lose honour and be shamed. It is amazing that Jesus used a parable in which the Lord God is shamed but that is the most likely meaning of this passage. Our experience of answers to prayer is probably not the same as is expressed in this passage.

For something slightly different I will read out 10 statements we might make, or hear other people make, about prayer. I will pause very briefly after each and you can say ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘maybe’ after each. Then my comment will follow. Keep in mind what we have just read that Jesus said.

1) If we nag the Lord we will get whatever we want. Paul didn’t think so when he only prayed 3 times for his thorn in the flesh to be taken away. No, then. (2 Cor 12: 8!)

2) If we don’t get what we want it is because of our lack of faith. No it isn’t according to Jesus (Lk 13: 1 – 5). 3) All night prayer meetings are always more effective than one hour ones. Not according to Jesus in Matthew 6, but yes according to him in this passage. So it must depend on circumstances and attitudes.

4) Jesus was only making a point to antagonists in these verses – note that he calls his hearers evil in v 13. There may be some truth in this but it is a series of promises even if we find it difficult to see how they actually work out in our every day lives. Maybe, then.

5) Prayer is about learning to align ourselves with the will of God. If we do so successfully we shall ask and receive. This is the gift of discernment. Yes. Definitely true.

6) Prayer is always answered but God in his wise providence often gives us the opposite of what we ask for. Possibly true but it can be the way some people try to get past the fact that they feel they don’t always get answers to prayer at all. So, maybe.

7) Saying ‘if it is your will’ is a simplistic cop-out. Well, yes, it often is.

8) The struggle of prayer is not a struggle with God (like Jacob at the brook Jabbok, as often asserted) but with ourselves (as even Jesus experienced in the garden of Gethsemane) bending our wills to obedience. Yes. Very, yes.

9) Some people with wonderful tales of answered prayer may be adept at only seeing what they want to see. Unfortunately that does often seem to be the case.

10) We may expect our prayers to be answered only if we have a deeper sense of the Fatherhood of God than of our own need. No! In his abundant grace and goodness the Lord will often answer prayers from even his frailest servants, like you and me.

I think passages like this are very difficult, particularly for those of us who live in the cynical, Western world. My questions probably reflect the fact that this is where I live. Those of you who live in a more spiritually open society may wonder why I appear to be so negative. If so, just treasure what you have got and pray for those of us who are not so well off spiritually.

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Bible Thought - Luke Looks Back Part 14

Study 14 - Luke 10:25-42

Loving God and Neighbour

The parable of the Good Samaritan is usually considered by itself. It should not be! It is part of a pair with the story of Mary and Martha. The two go together because in the original Greek the stories are about 'a certain lawyer' (v 25) and 'a certain woman' (v 38).

The two sayings of Jesus that conclude the stories are: in 37b 'Go and do likewise' and in 42b 'Mary has chosen what is better'.

 

Question 1.  Which saying is the more important in popular thinking and preaching? Which does the words Jesus used suggest is the more important?

There is a great deal more interest in the story of the good Samaritan because of its simple brilliance as a story and the way it can be taken as an example by anybody, Christian or not. Everybody recognizes that they should help other people; not everybody is prepared to listen to Jesus as Mary did. Yet the words that Jesus used strongly suggest that the latter is the more important.

Before we read the verses let's think about the structure a bit. The famous parable is set within two short dialogues, the first in 25 - 28 and the second in 29, 36 and 37. Both dialogues have the same, quite natural, formats: 1) a question from the lawyer; 2) a challenging question in reply from Jesus; 2') an answer to Jesus from the lawyer; 1') an answer to the lawyer from Jesus. The well-known parable is inserted before the question of Jesus in the second dialogue.

We read the first dialogue: Luke 10:25 - 28.

Did you get the pattern?

And the second dialogue: Luke 10:29, the story, 36, 37.

What a wonderful teacher Jesus was! Wouldn't it be good if all teachers were as good as he was at getting people to answer their own questions!

Question 2. In the first dialogue the answer of Jesus in v 28 does not exactly answer the lawyer's question in v 25. What significance can you see in the discrepancy? What does this tell us about the nature of eternal life?

The lawyer asked about eternal life. Jesus answered about life, a good life maybe but still only about life. What the Gospel's call 'eternal life' Jesus says starts in the here and now with a good life lived in this present world. That good life is a life of following him.

It is time to read the famous parable. Luke 10:30 - 35 and the conclusions Jesus draws in 36, 37.

 

Some things usually missed:

a) The lawyer's question in the first dialogue (v 25) is deeply flawed: one can do nothing to inherit.

b) The parable does not answer the lawyer's question in the second dialogue (v 29) but a slightly different one: 'Which of these three became a neighbour'.

c) The priest would have been rich, therefore on horseback contrasting the Samaritan's donkey.

d) The Samaritan would have risked his life taking a wounded Jew into a Jewish town, where the inn would necessarily have been. The men in the street might well have thought he was responsible for wounding the man and started to attack him before finding out what really happened.

 

Question 3.  Who is the Samaritan portraying? How does this relate to the point about the danger to the Samaritan going into a Jewish town?

Jesus is the Good Samaritan. All others aiming to copy the story are simply following his example. This is another point about the story often missed. In coming into this world Jesus fully accepted all the danger that was to him. He died on the Cross to rescue those who are wounded: physically, spiritually, morally.

Moving on to the second story: to put this story of Mary and Martha in context: the Jewish Rabbis said 'let thy house be a meeting place for the Sages and sit amidst the dust of their feet and drink in their words with thirst ... but talk not much with womankind.'

We read Luke 10:38 - 42.

In that culture a teacher sat to teach and a student, necessarily male, stood to recite and sat to learn.

 

Question 4.  How does Luke indicate that things were not as they would have expected them to be?

Mary was sitting and listening. We can only imagine what the reaction of the men who wanted to be around Jesus might have been. Horror, shock, disgust, amusement - perhaps just a few of them would praise her for what she did.

We are dominantly either doers or hearers: the Samaritan or Mary. By putting these two stories together Luke, and Jesus, are presumably saying that we ought to be both.

 

Question 5.  How can the doers learn to listen better? How can the hearers learn to be more practically active?

These things are a matter of intent and will. Doers can always say 'I'm too busy' and hearers can say 'Ill do it tomorrow when I have finished listening'. Only if we are prepared to listen to what the Word of God is saying to us will we be all that we should be.

 

Question 6.  How does verse 42a provide a complete answer to the lawyer's original question in verse 25?

If we truly follow Jesus all the rest will fall into place. We are never told whether the lawyer did set out to follow Jesus. We know that Jesus told him what he needed to do. Some of us need the same advice: 'go and do likewise'.  Some of us need to copy the example of Mary more closely.

Which category do you fall into: more action or more meditation?

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Bible Thought - Luke Looks Back Part 13

Study 13 - Luke 9:51 – 10:24

Mission!

From Luke 9:51–19:27, Luke has Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. Luke has put together many incidents within this journey story because after 8 chapters, at 17: 11, they are only just leaving Galilee! There is no clearly discernable structure to this part of the gospel. It contains some 8 major parables and many minor ones, most of them only found in this gospel.

Please read 9:51–55.

James and John got it badly wrong in this first story from Samaria. People are always tempted to use strong-arm methods. They may be violent, use their superior status, use financial pressures, try psychology, and so on. James and John reckon Jesus has power. The people in the village are not friendly so they think he should zap them.

Question 1: Which strong arm method are we most likely to be tempted to use when the gospel is rejected? Jesus totally repudiates using any such. How can we counter the tendency in ourselves?

Your answer will depend very much on where you live. In some countries of the world it is very dangerous to try and force other people to do what is wanted. We have to be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves as Jesus said. Only by making a determined effort to grow more like Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit can we have any hope of overcoming our natural tendencies in things like this.

Please read 9:57–62.

Here Luke brings together 3 statements about the conditions for following Jesus. The first concerns comfort; the other two are about how we are to live in family relationships. All three appear rather harsh. But except for a few naturally nomadic souls most of us operate better from a secure base of stable home, family and friends.

Question 2. How much do such things mean to you? How do you square the ‘no holes, no nest’ challenge with how you actually live?

This is a tough one. Few in ministry or on the mission field put the kingdom totally before family. To do so is probably to experience destructive hostility. Perhaps what Jesus said is one of the overstatements, called Semitic hyperbole, like when he said ‘If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.’ Or ‘it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’

These saying may sound strange to us but they are the ones we find easy to remember! In the last four episodes Luke has told us about welcoming little children, who was for or against Jesus, James and John’s attitude and the conditions for following Jesus. In all of these the disciples have misunderstood Jesus in one way or another.

Question 3. What do they tell us about Jesus?

There are many answers to this question, among them:

• the essential humility of Jesus,
• his conviction that, in spite of that humility, he was the Messiah, outranking all previous prophets,
• he had unique insight into what the people around him were thinking,
• he organised things ahead of time very carefully,
• he exercised complete authority over the disciples,
• he sometimes struggled with the task that he had (when he said he had nowhere to lay his head),
• and, he had total conviction about what he was doing (when he talked about looking back–you cannot plough straight if you look back).

Please read 10:1–23.

This is a difficult passage in many ways- but none the less interesting! We will ignore what nearly duplicates what happened when he sent the 12 out–in the previous chapter. Some of these verses copy statements in Matthew 11 into a different context. One verse sounds as though it has escaped from John’s gospel!

Question 4. The 70, or 72 (equally likely) of 10:1 is probably a symbolic number reflecting the 70, or 72 (equally likely!) nations listed in Genesis 10. If so, what does this suggest?

The way they used numbers in those days this is probably a deliberate repetition of the number to indicate that the mission was to be to all the world. One writer identifies 10 principles for mission in 10:1–11. Identify what they are and give them titles from the following clues. This is easy to do if you have a Bible in front of you; much more difficult without.

• plentiful harvest
• ask
• go
• wolves
• do not greet
• eat
• near kingdom
• not welcome
• wipe dust
• the kingdom.

Question 5. Jesus relates his vision of the fall of Satan (10:18) to the success of the disciples work and describes their triumph over evil forces in metaphorical terms. What does that mean for us? What popular misconceptions does it not mean?

It is exciting to realize that we can gain victories over Satan as we surely can. But we need to be very careful who we listen to. Some people will make great claims of triumphing over Satan here, there, and everywhere, and performing all sorts of different miracles whenever they like. A very few people can do these things, but they are usually not the ones that make the great claims.

Question 6. If we take what Jesus says in v 19 as applying to us nothing will harm those on mission. What we experience in these days seems rather different. How do we cope with the discrepancy, if it is one? From which of the verses between 18 and 23 do you take most comfort?

There is no evidence that the Lord protects even his best servants from the troubles of life. Even those working hardest for the Kingdom can get cancers or die in car crashes. Remember, he did not protect his Son, and that fact should be sufficient to protect us from falling victim of wrong attitudes to the disasters of life (as we see them to be). We finish this study by echoing Luke 10:2 - Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

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Bible Thought Luke Looks Back Part 12

Study 12 - Luke 9: 1 - 50

The end of the ministry in Galilee

This is an important chapter for at least 3 reasons:

1. it contains the important question ‘who is this’ 9: 9
2. the even more important answers ‘the Messiah’ (v 20) and ‘the Son of God’ (v 35). That Jesus calls himself ‘the Son of Man’ (v 22) is also important.
3. it ends the second and long section of Luke’s Gospel Chapters 3 to 9: 50. Telling us that Jesus sets out for Jerusalem in verse 51 indicates the end. This whole section is about Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee.

Read verses 1 to 9.

Jesus gives surprisingly detailed instructions about how the apostles were to go on the very first mission in the first 6 verses. Of course the culture in which they were to operate was very different from today’s – anywhere in the world. We might wonder if he sent us on mission what Jesus would forbid today. Would it be car, mobile phone, ipod, radio, credit card, bottle of spring water? Would we survive without these things?

Question 1 - Under what circumstances should we ‘shake the dust off our feet’ as Jesus told his disciples to do if they were not welcomed?

This is a tricky one to answer. Perhaps Paul did this in Philippi. It says ‘they went to Lydia’s house. Then they left.’ The locals could not be said to have welcomed him. It says ‘the crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas’. But there are stories in the history of the church where people have worked and ministered in a new area for a very long time before anyone has come to faith. When that has finally happened there has often been a real movement of the Spirit. It is hard to say the workers should not have waited.

The next story is of the feeding of 5000 people. We read that in v 10 - 17.

The account of the feeding of the 5000+ (v 10 – 17) is written so as to remind us of the last supper. It includes the words: taking bread – giving thanks – broke – gave to.

Question 2 - What do the statements ‘Jesus said “you give them something to eat” ‘ and ‘the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over’ mean as comments on the Lord’s Supper?

We meet at the table of our Lord to receive grace and renewal from him as we remember the most significant event in history. Yet we bring food to the table – we have a part to play in the ceremony. Such is the grace of God that we have much left over afterwards. For all the wonder of the simple ceremony we have a part to play.

By the order Luke puts things in he suggests that in the eating of bread they recognized the Messiah. In the eating of bread on the way to Emmaus they recognized the Lord (24: 30, 31 which says: When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

Question 3 - How does that thought, whether taken from this story of the feeding of the 5000 or the event on the Emmaus road, translate into our communion service?

It is his ceremony, not ours. We are to see, beyond the bread and the cup that he is there and blesses us.

Read verses 18 – 27.

Herod asked ‘who is this’ earlier in the chapter. Peter answers here, as Jesus prayed and talked to his disciples in a way that was completely meaningful in that culture.

Question 4 - Peter said that he was the Christ or the Messiah of God. What is the best and most accurate way to answer the question ‘who is this’ in your culture?

The answer will depend on where you are. To many people to say he is the Christ is only to give him a name, so that is not very meaningful. The Son of God is one possibility, but that can be misunderstood in some cultures. The Saviour is another possibility.

The title Jesus used of himself ‘Son of Man’ is difficult and puzzling, which is perhaps why Jesus used it. It meant no more than ‘a male human being’ but is used almost as a title in Dan 7: 13 of a person who seems to represent the people of God (Dan 7: 22, 27). Jesus may have used it as a clean sheet of paper on which he was able to write a meaning himself.

The question ‘who is this’ receives a further answer in what we call the transfiguration, that is the event when the whole appearance of Jesus was radically changed.

Read verses 28 – 36.

Question 5 - We must try to think of what this would have meant to the 3 disciples who witnessed what happened. What will their first reaction have been to the presence of the 3 figures? What will the brightness of Jesus’ clothes have meant to them? And then what will they have thought when they heard the voice from heaven?

There are really 3 questions there. Seeing the 3 figures they will have thought Jesus was of the same importance as Moses and Elijah. Then seeing how changed he was in appearance they will have decided he was the most important of the three. Finally the voice will have said to them that he was fundamentally different and important in a completely different way than Moses and Elijah, who represented the Law and the Prophets and therefore the whole of the OT and Judaism. The voice that told them to ‘listen to him’ also tells us ‘to listen to him’.

Finally we read verses 36 – 50. We will stop there and not at the end of the chapter because the next verse says ‘Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem’ and there are many statements that he was ‘on his way’ in the next 11 chapters. Luke has written a journey documentary in those chapters. This is the end of his ministry in Galilee, the northern province of that area, and the furthest from Jerusalem.

These 2 episodes both remind us that the Christian way is not one of human strength and power. Not only are the disciples unable to heal the boy with the evil spirit and required to start acting in a more childlike and less assertive way but Jesus is going to be betrayed and killed as we read further back in the chapter. This has been well summarized in the phrase ‘the way up is down’.

Question 6 - when we kneel before Jesus and confess our sins we say we are down. He will then lift us up. That is the Christian way. Have you set out on that way for yourself? Only yourself and the Lord know the answer to that question. I hope it is the right one! May the Lord be with you.

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Bible Thought - Luke Looks Back Part 11

 

Study 11 - Luke 8: 1 - 56

Faith and faithfulness Part 2

What experience have you ever had of what were clearly demonic powers?

It is thought that the Joanna of 8: 3 and the Junia of Rom 16: 7 may be different versions of the name of the same person. (It should be Junia, a woman’s name; Junias is a man’s name and a mistranslation) If so, we may presume Joanna/Junia was an apostle because she fulfilled the requirements of Acts 1: 21, 22, even though being a woman meant she could not be one of the twelve. Luke is careful not to forget the women! Neither should we!

We noted in the last study that one word in the Greek means both ‘faith’ and ‘faithfulness’.

1) How do we use these words? What is the difference in meaning in our common usage of them?

2) The central passage of these chapters is the familiar parable of the sower (8:1–8). Which meaning, faith or faithfulness, is it encouraging us to think of as the most important?

A parable is designed to be about one most important point but while doing so usually teaches several other theological ideas.

3) Which parts of this parable imply the following things: the Kingdom comes:

a) slowly, it is not a noisy in-breaking event;

b) as a work of grace;

c) necessarily including fruit bearing;

d) with the promise of hope.

4) This parable is usually called ‘The Parable of the Sower’. What else could it be called? What was Jesus really emphasising? What should the title be?

5) What are the present day meanings or examples of: taken by the devil / no root / choked by life / producing a crop?

6) Suppose some seed fell in a stream, floated away, landed, and grew where the farmer could not harvest them? What would the meaning of that be today?

7) Why are the secrets of the Kingdom of God so hard to understand (8: 10)? What did Jesus mean by talking about hearing as though that is difficult? Did he really teach in parables so that people would not understand what he said (8: 10)? What did he mean by saying we have to be careful how we listen (8: 18)? See also 8: 21.

8) We cannot easily make ourselves have ‘noble and good hearts’ (8: 15). What – in very practical terms - does Jesus expect us to do in the light of this parable?

The next two short stories highlight contrasting attitudes of acceptance and rejection to Jesus, as did the story of Simon the Pharisee and the unnamed woman (7: 36 – 50). Faith(fulness) is weak in those who should be strong (8: 22 – 25) and rejected in those who had the opportunity to have it (8: 34 – 37).

9) Over the centuries many believers must have prayed frantically when faced with death by drowning. Many will still have drowned. These did not drown(8: 24, 25). Why?

10)The people of Gerasa thought about what it would mean for them in money terms if Jesus was around and decided they would be better off without him (8: 36, 37). How very 21^st century! What was Jesus’ response? What does that say to us?

We noted the final dual healing of a woman and a man’s daughter (8 : 40 – 56) reflects that of a man and a woman’s son in the first two episodes in this section (7: 1 – 17).

11)What does this dual healing tell us about faith? How strong does faith have to be in order to be answered? How far is it true to say it is always answered? Or when is it not answered?

12)Why did Jesus tell the demon-possessed man to go and tell (8: 39) and Jairus and his wife to keep quiet (8: 56)?

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Bible Thought - Luke Looks Back Part 10

Luke 7:1–50 & 8:40-56

Faith and faithfulness Part 1

The whole of chapters 7 and 8 make up one section of Luke’s narrative so we will read them together though we will only look at chapter 7 in detail in this study. Not least because of the striking similarities and differences in the people involved between the first and last passages 7:1–17 and 8:40–56.

1. Jesus Restores Health and Life! (Luke7:1–17 and 8:40–56)

Question 1.What is the second passage about? How does it differ from the first passage?

The second passage is about healing of a woman and the bringing back to life of a man’s daughter. Remember: the first was about the healing of a man and the bringing back to life of a woman’s son. Luke has obviously put these particular stories at the beginning and end of this section very deliberately. He has carefully constructed the whole section. The important question is why has he done this–apart from the fact that this was the way that they wrote things in the Roman world of those days? When we look at the two chapters together we will see that he has built them so that the stories of the second part reflect the first part. The first part has two healings, 7:1–17; an account of the doubts of John the Baptist. 7:18–35 and then tells us about contrasting attitudes to Jesus, 7:36–50. The second part reverses that order telling us about contrasting attitudes to Jesus, 8:19–33, 38, 39; then the doubts and rejection by the Gerasenes, 8:34–37 and finally the two healings we have already looked at in 8:40–56. In the middle is a parable about the man who sowed some seed, getting different reactions from the different types of soil.

We can think of this as a reflection because the second half is the mirror image of the first half. There are many of these reflections in the Bible. One very obvious example is in Amos 5: 4b–6a, although unlike most of the Biblical reflections that one does not have an important middle. In most of them the middle is important to explain why the second half is different from the first. In our example here in Luke the middle, the parable, is clearly very important, though it does not alter the second part significantly.

Luke wants us to see that the whole section is about faith and faithfulness. One Greek word has both meanings whereas we split the two apart in English. By ‘faith’ we mean mainly mental agreement with the teachings of a religion–‘faith’ goes on in our heads. By ‘faithfulness’ we mean living in a way that follows the teachings of that religion–‘faithfulness’ goes on mainly in our actions. We will look at that more in the next study.

2. Jesus and the Centurion (Luke7:1–17)

Not for the last time Luke has a story about a centurion. He wants Theophilus (and us) to understand that Christian faith was acceptable to these significant people in the Roman world.

Question 2.We are told many good things about the centurion (7:2–5). We are told nothing about the widow of Nain. What can we learn from that?

There will have been plenty of people around with a vague faith in God who kept the religious laws, but this Gentile Centurion recognized that God was at work in Jesus and was prepared to act accordingly by trusting Jesus. Are we prepared to turn a vague faith into action when God works? Just possibly Luke knew the centurion because he joined the early church, but the widow of Nain did not, so he did not know her.

3. Doubts of John the Baptist (Luke 7:18–35)

Question 3. John expected the Messiah to act like his idea of what a Messiah would do. Jesus quotes Isaiah 35: 5,6 and 61: 1,2 to tell him he is wrong. In what ways was John wrong? What did they expect the Messiah to do? What was Jesus doing that was unexpected?

John evidently shared the general expectation of what the Messiah would do. John will have understood himself to be the messenger of Malachi 3: 1 –3; 4: 1–3 and therefore that all that those verses suggested would happen. Particularly if you live in a hostile society it is important, and encouraging, to remember how hostile the society in which Jesus and the early church lived and worked was.

4. Jesus and Debts! (Luke 7:36-50)

Question 4.What does Jesus mean when he talks about debts (7:39–43)? Do we have big or small debts to be cancelled? (We probably think we have only small debts to pay (v 41,42) but big or small counts the same!) Do we show as much love as we should for Jesus who cancelled our debts?

Jesus was talking about the way in which those who followed him and were members of the people of God needed to remember that they were in debt to God. We, living later, know that we rely on Jesus dying for us to cancel the things in our lives, which stop us, being accepted by God. Since ‘all have sinned’ it does not matter whether our sins are big or small they still stop us being accepted by the Lord. Only in Christ can we have acceptance by God.

5. Jesus, the Pharisee and the woman! (Luke 7:36-50)

Question 5. The Pharisee in the final episode of this chapter (v 36–50) is clearly much more concerned with things and ideas. The woman is only concerned with people. What can we learn from these two stories?

It is important to remember that some people are very concerned with people but some (a smaller number), find their interest is taken more by ideas and things than people. Both sorts of people are necessary in a healthy church and a healthy society.

Conclusion

Question 6. In what ways has this chapter stressed faithfulness?

Nearly all this chapter (and the next) is about people acting out their faith as a result of what they saw Jesus do. They were in a very positive way following him, not just thinking about him. That is faithfulness. The message to us must be that we have to follow Jesus, not just go to church on Sunday.

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Bible Thought - Luke Looks Back Part 9

Luke 6: 27-49

The New Way of Jesus

Part 2. Kingdom Ethics

Luke’s Sermon on the Plain continues. We read together Luke 6: 27-49

This is a shorter version of Matthew’s sermon but it still contains no less than 22 separate points! We will look at them in groups.

1. Love your enemies v27, 28

It is easy to miss some of the practical implications of these statements. They mean, for instance, that a Christian will never refuse to speak to someone, whatever they may have said or done. And it will affect our behaviour towards someone who wants the same job as we do.

Question 1: What effect will it have on us if we force ourselves to speak kindly in those sorts of situation? Where else can you think of where obeying Jesus might have some positive results in our everyday and family life?

Pause.

Even if we have to force ourselves to speak well in that sort of situation doing so will have a good effect on our underlying attitudes towards that person. If we fall out with someone at work we must be careful to greet them in exactly our usual cheerful way the next morning. They will find it very hard to respond in anything other than the same way. It is hard to obey Jesus when the inevitable problems of family life occur. Are you the person who is always the first to try and mend a damaged relationship?

2. Not standing up for our rights v29-31

Is it really possible to act like this in the real world? What happens if someone takes my bicycle? Do I give them my motorbike? Perhaps Jesus is making one of his outrageously impossible statements (camels through needles; plucking out eyes etc.) so that we remember better the principle behind what he said. Total obedience to what Jesus taught here would rapidly lead to us having no money at all!

Question 2: What should we do in the practical things of every day to put the principle behind these statements into practice?

Pause.

I think the only possible answer to this is to say we have to be careful not to put ourselves first in what we do but put others in front of ourselves. It is, of course, a great deal easier to say that than to actually do it in the real world we live in. It is also, of course, a great deal easier to hear it said and mentally agree than to go out and do it!

3. Doing better than expected v32–35a

Probably ‘lending’ in that culture, as in many, was a nice way of talking about giving somebody something.

Question 3: Should we ever lend like that without expectation of a return? Shouldn’t we call it what it is from the beginning if that is what we intend, rather than using such double talk?

Pause.

Not all the things our culture wants us to do are necessarily what we should do as followers of Jesus. In some cultures it is more important to say something that pleases the person we are talking to than to tell the truth. Jesus said he was “the way, the truth, and the life”. That means we must be in all things as truthful as we can possibly be even if that is against our culture and traditions.

4. The results of this behaviour v35b, 36

We will probably see that we will have all sorts of problems in living up to what Jesus said. It is so difficult to obey what he said and still live life in the real world. Perhaps it is impossible. But Jesus was probably doing this deliberately to make us see that we can never in ourselves be good enough to appear before the Lord God. We can only rely on his mercy and goodness consequent on the self-sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross for our acceptance.

Question 4: Why does Jesus call us sons, or children, in this context (v36b)?

Pause.

This is to emphasize that we are in a personal relationship with the Father God. And that again can only be through the acceptance that Jesus obtained for us by his death on the Cross. When we call God our Father that means we accept all our fellow Christians as our brothers and sisters.

5. What we give will be what we get v37, 38

The first sentence in v37 is sometimes used to suggest we should never judge anything or anybody at all. But, of course, we do! If we didn’t, how could we ever correct anyone and life in and out of the church would be impossibly difficult.

Question 5: How should we understand v37 in such a way as to be realistic and yet follow Jesus properly?

Pause.

Matthew adds ‘in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’ (Matt 7: 2). If we are prepared to face the truth and be judged by it we may make other people face the truth. If not, not!

Verses 37b and 38 could be taken to mean simply the better you are the better your life will be. Life is never as easy as that (Ps 73: 1-5, 13, 14).

Question 6: How, then, do we understand what Jesus meant?

Pause.

Some people teach a false gospel which promises obvious material blessing to the believer. This is clearly not the way the Kingdom in the world works as Ps 73: 2, 13, 14 points out. The book of Job and Luke 13: 1 –5 say much the same. What we are promised is reward for faithfulness in the day of the Lord when the world comes to an end. We are to look to our own reward and not make judgments on what should happen to other people.

6. How to live for the Kingdom v39–45

The parables of the blind, the student and the plank all, in different ways, emphasize that we need to be walking in the Way of Jesus if we want to be good and do things that matter in the kingdom of the Spirit. We need to be able to see, to be properly trained and not be blinded by things that should not be there. Then the parable of the good tree emphasizes that we need to be the right sort of tree. Being a better thorn bush will not lead to fruit, just bigger thorns!

Question 7: How can we tell whether someone, or ourselves, is the right sort of tree?

Pause.

When we set out to follow Jesus we are told that we shall be saved at the final day. But we are also told that account will be taken of the whole of our lives as followers (Rom 14: 10, 12; 2 Cor 5: 10). It is hard to see how these two teachings fit together. It is best to take them both as the Lord’s word to us and strive to live in the light of both of them.

7. The Summary v46-49

Luke’s version of this story is slightly different from Matthew’s perhaps more familiar one. It is often called ‘the parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders’. That is a good title for the parable in Matthew, not so good for this one of Luke’s!

Question 8: What title would more accurately summarize this parable? Pause.

The word ‘foundation’ is the most important one in this parable. It ties this parable to many other Biblical verses. Perhaps the most significant is Isaiah 28: 16 which refers to the temple but is used by Peter (1 Pet 2: 6) of Jesus. In Peter’s little picture Jesus is the all important foundation. Peter, like Jesus, emphasises that we are to do the building.

 

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Bible Thought - Luke Looks Back Part 8

Luke Looks Back Chapter 8 (Luke 6:17 – 6: 26)

The Way of Jesus: blessings and woes

Luke wrote his own version of Matthew's more famous Sermon on the Mount. It is much shorter and was preached in 'a level place'. Probably Jesus, like any travelling preacher, used much the same material many times and these are two slightly different reports of what he said.

Please do read Luke 6: 17 - 26

The biggest differences occur in the list of blessings and the woes that Luke, but not Matthew, has after them. Luke has only 4 Blessings and 4 matching Woes. Understanding them can be tricky!

Blessing 1 (v 20).

Question 1: Say which of the following statements are true or false comments about this Blessing? And why? a. All poor people are already in the Kingdom because they are poor and therefore can be sure they will be saved when they die. b. All the poor people who met King Jesus as he walked round Galilee were in the Kingdom because they had met the King and therefore would be saved. c. Jesus was only talking about those who were, and are, spiritually poor - they would be in the Kingdom (Matt 5: 3). d. Jesus didn't say anybody is 'in' the Kingdom he told them who it belongs to. That means it is wide open for the poor but they still have to set out to follow Jesus whole heartedly to be 'in' the Kingdom.

 

It is certainly true that Jesus had a special feeling for the poor people he met and got on better with them than rich people but just poverty by itself does not let anyone into the Kingdom so the first 3 are all false.  To "follow Jesus" is the all important way into the Kingdom which is about what the fourth statement said.

That first blessing was about something that was happening then (present tense). The next 2 blessings 2 and 3 are about the future (future tense).

Blessing 2 (v 21a):

Jesus was talking to a big crowd. In those days many people did not get enough to eat and would be hungry. Matthew interprets this as being about hunger and thirst for righteousness and we should probably understand this that way. The difficult word righteousness is about establishing a relationship (the basic meaning of the word translated righteousness) between the Lord and his people. Which can only be done by making a person good and holy before God, which, fortunately, God by his grace will do for us, for we could never be good enough ourselves.

 

Question 2: Are you hungry, in this spiritual sense, now? Are you prepared to wait to be satisfied later? When will 'later' be? Or are you in too much of a hurry?

 

The Bible consistently teaches that the final justice of God at the judgement day will right all wrongs, particularly for the poor and the hungry who trust him now. But of course most of the answer to this question is something you are going to have to meditate on yourself.

Blessing 3 (v 21b):

Someone has said "those who wish to serve him best are conscious most of sin within".

Question 3: Is it worth weeping over our sins now for the promise of laughing later? Have you any advice for yourself and others as to how to think more about the future and make that a more important factor in the way you live?

Blessing 4 (v 22, 23)

The most important point about all the Blessings only comes in this last one.

Question 4: What is the great condition of this Blessing and all the others (here it is again)? Are the problems of this Blessing certain to happen for the true follower of Jesus?

 

Our joy depends on following the Son of Man, as Jesus called himself. Whether we will be hated, despised, insulted and rejected depends on where we have to live in this world. Some of us have it easy, others do not.

4 Woes. v24 - 26.

Jesus does seem to have a rather poor view of life. He seems to think being rich, well fed, cheerful and well thought of are all bad things. Most of us probably disagree and would defend our right to disagree. What then can we make of these sayings? Perhaps we can start this way - you probably know somebody who is rich, fat, always cheerful and in the middle of a group of people and yet you would not at all like to be that person. Why is that?

Question 5: What are the bad things about being rich, fat, always in the middle of a group of people? Why then did Jesus make these his woes?

You will need to think hard about this one. People like this all too often are what they are because they are careless of other people. They think only of themselves and what they can get out of life, regardless of how many people they hurt and offend on the way. But they have a sort of life force that seems to push them through life successfully. The Psalmist in psalm 73 grumbles about these sort of people and comforted himself saying "God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever".

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Bible Thought - Luke Looks Back Part 7

Luke Looks Back Chapter 7

Luke 5: 27 – 6: 16

The Way of Jesus: people and problems

This passage is a mix of good things about people and some problems Jesus has for us to consider before we start on his positive teaching in the next passage.

The Call of Levi

First there is the story of the call of Levi and a strong suggestion that what he did was good. Then two more stories in which Jesus was challenged over the things he did that people thought he should not do:

• Luke 5:27 - 32   Eating with those with whom one should not eat!
• Luke 5:33 - 39   Eating when one should not eat!
• Luke 6:1 - 11     Doing what one should not do!

Finally Luke gives us the complete list of the Apostles.

First Jesus was eating with those with whom one should not eat - according to those we will call 'the serious' because they were serious about their religion. We read Luke 5:27-32: eating with those with whom one should not eat!

Levi seems to be the same person called Matthew in the other gospels and therefore the person who wrote what we call Matthew's Gospel.

Question 1: What Jesus said to Levi was extremely brief. Just two words: "follow me". How does that differ from what one would expect a religious teacher to say to a possible disciple?

This is not a call to follow a system, a philosophy, or a religion. It is a straight call to follow one person: Jesus. The true call to discipleship is just the same today. There are many half-hearted Christians in the world today. A good question for them is "do you follow Jesus?".

Question 2: Meals are particularly important in Luke's Gospel. Only Luke calls this one a "great banquet" and says the serious people "complained" about who was there. Why does Luke emphasise what happened here so much?

Luke recognises that, for Jesus, life and faith were all about including people in as much as possible rather than turning them away as not good enough, not learned enough, not old enough - anything else for which people are 'not enough'. Doing that still upsets people who consider themselves serious in matters of religion!

Jesus and rules!

In the next story Jesus did not argue against the principles of the Law of Moses but against all the many little rules that people had added to it. He knew that if people are given many rules they will forget the greater principles they should be thinking about. So concern for all these detailed rules would hide the new things he was teaching, particularly those relating to the work of the Spirit. The challenge to us is to identify which of our rules, written or unwritten, get in the way of what we should really be doing. All too often we continue to do the things that our parents and grandparents decided were the right things to do when they were young. But the world we are living in is changing all the time, perhaps faster than it has ever done before. The things that are not part of the necessary centre of our faith may need to be changed. Jesus explains that in some very vivid and exciting short sayings.

Read Luke 5: 33 - 39  : eating when one should not eat!

Question 3: What would you identify as your problems - as a group or as an individual? What are your 'old wine skins' that need to be changed? How? In what way?

The answers to both this and the next question are going to depend very much on your circumstances.

Jesus said "the old wine is better". He is being sarcastic. He knows many think old things are better than new things as old wine is better than new wine but he is challenging his followers to new and better things.

Question 4: What are the things that tend to prevent you, together or individually, moving on to the new and better things of faith? Remember Paul said "if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

The last two stories Luke 6: 1 - 5 and Luke 6:6-11 are both about Sabbath keeping. The Sabbath was the Saturday religious day of the Jews. The early Christians changed their day of celebration to Sunday, the first day of the week, in memory of the resurrection of Jesus. This was one of the three things (keeping the food laws, Sabbath keeping, circumcision) Jews of that time did to show that they really were the people of God.

We read Luke 6: 1 - 11: doing what one should not do!

Question 5: What do Christians in your culture do to show that they are Christians? In particular, what things do they do that are really just a matter of custom and tradition and not really necessary to show they are Christians? Are those things good things of themselves or do they really hinder other people becoming Christians?

Question 6: What did Jesus think about Sabbath keeping? What did Jesus think was more important than rules like that? What would Jesus think about the rules you have identified in your world?

Micah, an Old Testament prophet said "what does the Lord desire of you? To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" and said that the Lord did not want offerings and sacrifices. Although Jesus never actually quoted those words he often alluded to them.

Jesus chooses and appoints his disciples.

Read Luke 6: 12 - 16.

Of those 12 men only one, John, is certainly known to have died of old age. Peter was crucified upside down (because he did not want to be crucified the same way up as Jesus) in Rome, Thomas probably got the furthest and was killed in south India, the rest died here and there in the ancient world as they proclaimed the good message of Jesus.

Question 7: In calling the Twelve Jesus commissioned them not only to action on his behalf but imitation of him in both life and work. So it is today. Which part of the Christian way do you find most difficult?

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