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Sunday Jul 15, 2012
Sunday Jul 15, 2012
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!
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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 21st 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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Sunday Jun 17, 2012
Sunday Jun 17, 2012
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?
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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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Sunday Jun 10, 2012
Sunday Jun 10, 2012
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?
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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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Sunday Jun 03, 2012
Sunday Jun 03, 2012
Luke Looks Back Chapter 8
Luke 6:17 – 6: 26
The Way of Jesus: blessings and woes
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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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Sunday Apr 01, 2012
Sunday Apr 01, 2012
Luke Looks Back Chapter 7
Luke 5: 27 – 6: 16
The Way of Jesus: people and problems
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Sunday Mar 18, 2012
Sunday Mar 18, 2012
Luke Looks Back Chapter 6
Study 6 - Luke 4:31-5:26
The Authority of the Messiah
This passage has been carefully structured by Luke around the idea of authority. It starts off with 2 episodes in which Jesus shows his authority by first driving out an evil spirit and then healing many people. It ends with 2 episodes in which Jesus heals a man of leprosy, a symbol of evil, and heals a paralysed man. In between these 2 pairs of episodes Jesus shows his authority by proving that he, a carpenter, can catch more fish than the fishermen can. This middle story is the most important because it shows the authority Jesus had most clearly.
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First we read Luke 4: 31 - 44
Question 1: Twice in these episodes, when the man with an evil demon calls him 'the Holy One of God' and when the demons call him 'the Son of God', Jesus was more accurately identified by demonic powers than by ordinary people. Why was that? What are our modern day equivalents?
That is a hard question to answer. Perhaps the otherworldly powers were more sensitive to the power of Jesus than ordinary people were. Are we as sensitive to the things of the Lord as we should be?
Question 2: Why does Luke tell us that Simon's mother-in-law went straight back to the housework.
Luke tells us how complete and natural the healing was. Simon's mother-in-law was able to go back into the kitchen and work. In the ordinary way she would have needed time to recover from the fever. The healing by Jesus was very special. In the same way when he heals us of our problems, physical, mental or spiritual, he often heals us instantly.
The story of Luke 5: 1 - 11 is clearly the most important part of this passage. Fishing with nets in the Sea of Galilee was done when the fish rose to feed on the surface at night. There could only possibly have been a shoal near the surface in the daylight if a new fresh water spring had opened up in the seabed. (This is an area of volcanic activity). Jesus knew something nobody else did.
We read these verses now. 5: 1 - 11
Question 3: What might Simon and John have said to each other when they thought Jesus could not hear when he, a carpenter, told them to go fishing in broad daylight!
"Who does he think he is?" "Telling us where and when to fish indeed." "What does he know about it?" "He's only a carpenter." "Thinking because he is a prophet he knows where to fish. What rubbish!" And so on.
A boat of those days has been dug up. It was 8m long and 2m wide. So it would have needed a crew of rowers and would have held a lot of fish before it began to sink! So this was a very big catch meaning enough money for many weeks for the families concerned.
Question 4: What did Peter do which he must have done so that nobody else was able to share their good fortune (listen again to v 7)?
Signalling instead of shouting would have stopped other fisherman realising what had happened and joining in the big catch.
Question 5: What does this episode teach us about the relationship between money and spiritual commitment?
Practical rewards do sometimes follow devotion of time and energy to spiritual matters as they did in this case. But they do not always do so. We must be prepared to sacrifice things for the sake of the Kingdom.
Question 6: Peter wanted to distance himself from Jesus when he 'fell at Jesus' knees and said "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man"' because he thought the unclean contaminated the clean and he was unclean. How did Jesus view this? What is the implication for us?
Peter was following the teaching of the OT. Leviticus 10: 10 says, 'distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean'. These teachings were mainly about ceremonial cleanliness. Jesus ignored such things. He taught that the things that matter are love God and loving our neighbour. Ceremony is not important in the Kingdom of God.
Question 7: Peter recognised the authority of Jesus over him as a result of the events on the lake. How do we know Jesus has authority over us?
The disciples had seen a great miracle. But so do we when the Almighty God calls us to follow him and we respond. He then forgives our sins, promises us final salvation at the end of the ages and gives us his Holy Spirit to guide us until then. If we do not recognize his authority we are poor judges of what is good and great and what is of great advantage for us!
Read Luke 5: 12 - 26.
"Leprosy" in the Bible may not have been what we call leprosy these days but any of many skin diseases.
Question 8: Jesus said "I am willing" and touched the man. What does that tell us about Jesus?
Jesus entered fully into human life. He related easily to the outcast, leper man and touched him. That made him, Jesus, unclean under Jewish law but Jesus ignored that. He was interested in the realities of life not the details of religious practice.
Question 9: The paralysed man's sins were forgiven not because of his faith but of 'their faith'. Do you think one person's faith can work to heal someone else today?
If faith cannot work like that there is not much point in praying for anyone else - which we all do. It is lovely the way Jesus says 'I am willing' to heal someone and calls the guy on the stretcher 'friend' even although his friends have just made a mess of the roof of what was probably his, Jesus' , house.
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Sunday Mar 11, 2012
Sunday Mar 11, 2012
Luke Looks Back Chapter 5
Study 5 - Luke 4:14-30
The Announcement of the Messiah
(in his home town)
We start off this study with a question. Question 1: Where was your hometown? What was, or is, memorable about it?
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Read Luke:4:14 to 23.
Nazareth was the hometown of Jesus, where he grew up. It was a small village in the middle of the province of Galilee, mainly of Galileans but including some Jews from the far away province of Judea. The people of Galilee were often of mixed ancestry so there is likely to have been considerable antagonism between them and the purer blooded Judean Jews who regarded themselves as the only proper Jews. As a result Judean Jews of Nazareth, as the family of Jesus were, were most probably foreigners in their own community. The two slightly different peoples were probably not friendly to each other. That, not the best of places, was where Jesus spent most of his childhood days!
Luke uses the story of what happened when Jesus read from the OT book of Isaiah in the synagogue there, to start explaining how we are to understand the ministry of Jesus. Jesus had to deal with a strong expectation among ordinary people that the Messiah would behave in certain ways. He had a major job to change that expectation.
Jesus read just one and a half verses from Isaiah 6. We will read more verses to get the context of what he read. We may assume his listeners knew the passage well so that hearing the verses he read they would immediately remember the following verses. Listen carefully to the picture these verses give.
Isaiah 61: 1 - 7.
Question 2: What would those verses have made them think Jesus was going to do if he really was the Messiah? What would they have been expecting him to call on them to do?
Like many of the other passages in the Old Testament that talk about the Messiah these verses would have made them expect leadership in a successful military campaign against the Romans. Brothers, called the Maccabees, had led Israel against the Syrians 200 years earlier with great success. If he succeeded the men would expect to have to join his army. Of course, we know that such a venture would have been hopeless. The Roman armies were exceedingly difficult to beat. Only the most warlike of peoples in other parts of the Empire had any success against them, and then not for very long.
Question 3: The next half verse in Isaiah to the one Jesus read says 'and the day of vengeance of our God'. He stopped without reading that out. What would that have suggested to the people who listened to him?
I think they would have found it a great puzzle, which is why they listened to what he said next so carefully. He seemed to be promising that he would be a mighty spiritual leader but not a war leader. They would have thought of 'the day of vengeance' as the day when their God would bring the world they knew to an end with the defeat of the hated Romans.
Read Luke 4:24 - 30
Question 4: Jesus went on to remind them of the stories of the widow of Zarephath and Elijah (1 Kings 17: 2 - 10a the brook Kerith was east of Jericho, Zarephath was the other side of Israel near Sidon, a Phoenician city)) and of Naaman and Elisha (2 Kings 5: 1, Aram was another name for Syria ). Why did Jesus do that? What point was he making, apart from the obvious one of 'not in my hometown'?
All these places were outside Israel. He was saying that as they rejected him he was going to go to other people outside Israel. They did not like that idea at all. Quite why he did that is a bit of a mystery.
Question 5: If a politician, wanting to influence people and starting off an election campaign was nearly lynched - murdered by a mob - as Jesus was he would not be likely to get on very well. The story does not give a good impression of Jesus. Why does Luke tell us about this episode when he could so easily not have done so? What is it about the ministry of Jesus that Luke wants us to think about?
Luke is expecting what he writes to be read mainly by Gentiles - Romans. He has emphasised that the 2 great prophets Elijah and Elisha helped Gentiles. Christian faith is for all peoples, not any special nation or people group. Probably the fact that Jesus was rejected by the Jews like this made him sound better to a Roman, like Theophilus! But, above and beyond that, Luke will have chosen this episode because it gives such a clear picture of what Jesus was going to do in his ministry.
Question 6: It says, "Jesus walked right through the crowd and went on his way". What does that suggest?
It tells us that Jesus had an unusual air of authority about him. Perhaps too, that angels protected him.
Question 7: Looking now at the whole story - what 2 things is Jesus emphasising by what he says and does that are of fundamental importance in our understanding of God and of faith?
He has appealed to the Scriptures of the Old Testament to establish who he is. And the Scripture he read emphasised the work of the Spirit both for preaching and healing. These are the 2 fundamental sources for our understanding too - the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit - though we have, of course, the tremendous advantage of having the writings of the New Testament as well as those of the Old.
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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
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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?
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Sunday Feb 26, 2012
Sunday Feb 26, 2012
Luke Looks Back Chapter 3
Luke 3:1-18
Heralding the Messiah
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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!
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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
You can listen here by clicking the green triangle in the player above.
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). Read the rest of this entry »