Today’s passage: Luke 14:1-24

Helpful thoughts:

• When the Pharisees ate together in these settings, they would only invite their equals or people who would elevate their status.  There was a reason for Jesus and a man with “dropsy” to be invited on this particular day, and it wasn’t benevolence.
  • “They were watching him carefully” because they they wanted to catch Jesus touching the unclean man and healing on the Sabbath.
• Jesus “took” the man and healed him.  Jesus left no doubt in his compassion.  He didn’t secretly touch the man on the shoulder or heal from a distance (Which he surely could have done).  He grabbed the man up with vigor and lovingly healed him as the Pharisees watched in silence in order to protect their own selves.
  • The unclean man didn’t make Jesus unclean.  Jesus made this man clean.
• When one of the Pharisees declared, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”, he was actively disagreeing with Jesus and defending the honor of the Pharisees’ way of life.
  • Jesus’ response makes clear that if the Pharisees lived for the honor they were receiving in their banquets and among men, it was all the honor they would ever receive.

Questions to consider:

1. What should the church look like?  What “kinds” of people should we be excited to serve and to see coming?  How might our varying levels of excitement be an indicator of our own struggle to be respecters of persons?
2. In a culture where helping “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” can enhance our reputation, how can we know we are growing in the application of Jesus’ teaching?
3. When the invitees chose not to come to the banquet, who was the master upset with?  What role did the servant play?  What was the servant responsible to do?  Who was to be held responsible for the response to the invitation?  How should this inform our evangelism still today in the “highways and hedges”?

Today’s passage: Luke 13:22-35

Helpful thoughts:

• The question asked in verse 23 was a good one.  The disciples were seeing many people who cheered the miracles, but not as many who were being converted and therefore being saved from the wrath of God.
  • The door is narrow. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6
• Many of these Jews believed they were already “in” simply because they were Jews.  Jesus tells them something very different.  Many of them would be outside looking in with despair, while others from the rest of the world would enter.
• Jesus was not in Judea when the Pharisees came to “warn” Him.  They were trying to get Him to go back to Judea, where they had jurisdiction.  It wasn’t Herod who was trying to kill Jesus…
• In verse 35, Jesus is referring to the second coming (“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”).

Questions to consider:

1. Is everyone going to Heaven?  What does it mean to enter through the narrow door? How does a person become “saved”? (twowaystolive.com)
2. What does it mean when we call someone a “good person”?  What must I realize about myself before I see the gospel as truly wonderful news? (Verse 27)
3. Even though Israel as a nation had continually rejected God, how did He view them? (Verse 34)  What things do we learn about God in this passage?

Today’s passage: Luke 13:1-21

Helpful thoughts:

• Jesus told the Jews that judgment was coming.  They responded by pointing their fingers at others.
  • Jesus’ response, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
  • It is easy to be shocked by the sin of others while turning the blind eye to our own.
  • The parable of the fig tree is an illustration for this teaching.  Israel had been cared for and were receiving this gift of the ministry of Jesus Christ.  Whoever does not repent and bear the fruit that comes with salvation, they would come under judgment.
• The ruler of the synagogue did not refute the miracle.  He believed the woman was healed miraculously.  Miracles do not create faith.
  • The ruler was not courageous enough to rebuke Jesus, so he rebuked the woman instead.  He told everyone to come be healed on other days…not the sabbath.
  • Once again, Jesus did not break the law, he broke the extra rules that had been laid down by the legalists.
  • The mustard seed and leaven are the illustrations for this teaching.  The kingdom of God had not come in the way that these Jews

Questions to consider:

1. When people ask why God allows disasters to happen or why certain people perish in them, who are they pointing their fingers toward?  What does God want us to remember ultimately?  Who must we pay attention to first?
2. If miracles didn’t convert people, why did Jesus perform them?  What do miracles (Or the truth of God’s Word) reveal from people’s hearts?  Should we refrain from sharing the gospel when we think people won’t respond positively?
3. What might I be treating like a mustard seed or leaven?  Is there something (e.g. Prayer) that God has said is a big deal that I treat as though it is insignificant?

Today’s passage: Luke 12:49-59

Helpful thoughts:

• The Jews thought the Messiah would come to bring judgment on all the Gentiles.  Instead, they were under judgment as well…all who reject Jesus as the Christ are under judgment.  But, the final judgment would not come before Jesus Himself was “baptized” with the judgment we deserve!
  • 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 – We hear the truth and by God’s grace find it wonderful!  Others hear the truth about Christ and find it terrible…these are under judgment.
• See Matthew 12:46-50.  The church is our family.  When our physical family is also our spiritual family, it is a great blessing.  But, even when your physical family shuns you because of your faith, you have an eternal family in the church and you are forever God’s child.
• The Pharisees, scribes and lawyers were “experts” in the Law and the Prophets (Old Testament), but they didn’t know God and they didn’t know God the Son was in their presence or what He had come to do (Isaiah 53!).
• Hebrews 9:27 – And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.

Questions to consider:

1. How does this passage compare/contrast with John 3:16-18?  How did Jesus’ life and death bring life to some and promise judgment to others?  Why are some condemned already and others (Believers) promised that there is now no condemnation?
2. When you have to choose whether to follow Jesus or follow your earthly family, who do you follow?  How does baptism provide the means of displaying the fruit of conversion and allegiance to the King?
3. How must the church (Our church) interact with and welcome people in when their earthly family is not in the family of God?  Why is it so important for us not to take it for granted when our parents, siblings or children are believers?  What kinds of things would make you feel like you were a welcomed member of the family?

Today’s passage: Luke 12:35-48

Helpful thoughts:

• Jesus is coming back!
  • We don’t know when, but we are to live as though it could be today.
  • Being ready = Seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.  If I am busy loving and serving God and others and pursuing righteousness when Jesus returns, I will be found “awake” (Verse 38).
• Peter’s question in verse 41 brought up a set of expectations for church leaders.
  • The pastor’s job as described by Jesus Himself: Give them their portion of food.
    • John 21:15-17 – “Feed my sheep”
    • Pastors are responsible before God to feed the Word to God’s church!
    • When a pastor thinks that church growth has to do with anything other than the Spirit of God, using the Word of God to win and then feed the children of God, he thinks too highly of himself, he thinks too lowly of God, and he also disrespects the people of God.
• No one is going to be cut in pieces or beaten in Heaven.  These servants/slaves represent false teachers who will suffer in Hell according to how much truth they were exposed to, were aware of, and then rejected or abused to manipulate people for their own personal gain.
  • “To whom much is given, much is required” is not a verse about how much a genuine Christian should serve Jesus.  It is a verse about how much people will suffer if they had greater knowledge of God’s Word and then rejected and abused it.

Questions to consider:

1. Are you ready for Jesus to come back?  In what ways might you need to wake up?
2. Who will do the serving when the master arrives (Verse 37)?  How great and kind is our God?!?  How does this promised service charge you up to serve Jesus all the more?
3. How must our pastor preach/teach?  If he changes the message because getting people in seats has become more important than accurate exposition of the Word of God, what category will your pastor have just entered into in this passage?  Whose intellect and power will he be trusting in?  What would the actual result of that exchange truly be?  Will he see the people of the church as God’s people or as his own accomplishment?

Today’s passage: Luke 12:22-34

Helpful thoughts:

• Jesus spoke this to his disciples in contrast to the foolish man who desired and kept everything for himself.
• Anxiety, as defined in this passage, is not something that happens to us.  It’s something we bring on ourselves, and Jesus has commanded us not to do it.
• The causes of anxiety are a combination of:
  • Misplaced valuations – What is most important? (Or, Who is most important?)
  • Misplaced trust – Who is responsible and able to provide?
    • If you think about it, anxiety is a worship issue.

Questions to consider:

1. How do our values and trust get misplaced and confused?  How much does the world value the things Jesus used to illustrate this still today (Our bodies, clothing, food, health, etc.)?
2. What things give you the greatest anxieties?  Could you be seeing those things like the man who wanted to keep his things safe in his own storehouses (“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”)?
3. What has Jesus asked you to do in this passage?  What does seeking first the kingdom of God look like?  How long will the rewards last?

Today’s passage: Luke 12:13-21

Helpful thoughts:

• This man just interrupted Jesus’ teaching to demand money from his brother.  Evidently, Jesus’ teaching wasn’t meeting his personal felt need.
  • The man called Jesus “teacher” which would make sense in that rabbis often arbitrated among family issues such as this.  However, the man should have had a relationship with a Rabbi and a synagogue to go to for such issues.
• Jesus did not come to allocate possessions.  Jesus came to bring life to man and bring man to God.
• There are rich and poor people in this world who are “rich” toward God.  There are rich and poor people in this world who are “poor” toward God. (Verse 21)

Questions to consider:

1. What does a passage like this do to the ideas of the “prosperity gospel”, “church shopping”, and even “seeker oriented ministry”?  What does it really mean to be rich toward God?
2. When a person comes to hear the Word of God (Bible reading, church services, etc.), should they come ready to hear whatever God has to say or should they come with a shopping list?  What did this man in verse 13 come to Jesus with?
3. How many times did the rich man use the words, “I” and “my” in verses 17-19?  In what situations are you prone to start using many personal pronouns?  What items might be on your shopping list?

Today’s passage: Luke 12:1-12

Helpful thoughts:

• In an environment where people were being physically trampled, the greatest danger was still false teaching and what it produces.
• There are four specific commands communicated in this passage:
  • Beware the leaven of the Pharisees (Watch out for false teachers). Verse 1
  • Do not fear those who can kill the body…fear not.  Verses 4 & 7
  • Fear God (Him who…has authority to cast into hell).  Verse 5
  • Do not be anxious about how you would defend yourself or what you should say.  Verse 11
• The Holy Spirit exalts Jesus Christ (John 15:26).  To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  If you go to your grave having rejected Him you have also blasphemed the Holy Spirit, and you will not be forgiven.

Questions to consider:

1. In a room where ten hostile people hate Christ and His followers and only one loves Christ and loves his neighbor as himself, who has the upper hand?  Why?  Who is with the Christian and actively involved in times of persecution?
2. How could we apply this passage today in our current culture?  What part does faith in God’s presence and promises play when we are faced with choosing to share Christ with a friend and risk their disapproval?
3. What would be easier, affirming your faith in Christ before a firing squad or sharing the Gospel with friends who might stop calling you?  (This isn’t a gotcha question…  The answer might be more complicated than we think.)  Ultimately, why is it only right to be willing and obedient to do both?

Today’s passage: Luke 11:37-54

Helpful thoughts:

• As was always the case, the astonishment of the Pharisees(s) toward Jesus had nothing to do with any breaking of the actual OT law.  Jesus had simply not followed their own extra-biblical rules.
• The Jews were considered “unclean” when they walked over the grave of a corpse.  In verse 44, He is telling the Pharisees that they are corrupting the people of Israel, rendering everyone they influence “unclean”.
• After these pointed and passionate rebukes from the Son of God, the Lawyers (“Experts” in the law) only felt insulted, and the Scribes and Pharisees were driven to find fault in Jesus!  Their anger and blind rejection of Jesus’ rebuke didn’t make it wrong (Or a failure) for Jesus to speak up.

Questions to consider:

1. What motivated the “cleanliness” of the outside of the cup for the Pharisees?  Why did they do what they did?  Given the motivation they had, what did their efforts result in for themselves and for others who were taught by them? (Note: Jesus termed their motivations as “greed” and “wickedness/malice”.)
2. Who would be the “Pharisees”, “scribes” and “lawyers” of our day? (Hint: It’s not atheistic college professors!)  What does God think of pastors, Bible teachers, etc. who teach false doctrine and manipulate people (Whether they realize it or not) for their own personal gain?  How would Jesus speak to them?  (The Pharisees, scribes and lawyers were dead in their sins and therefore blind.  They didn’t believe they were doing wrong.  Many false teachers will not believe they are a false teacher!)
3. I am not sure I have seen the “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelet applied to passages like this one… However, a better question for us is, “What Would Jesus Command Me to Do?”.  How would 2 John 9-10 and 2 Peter 3:17-18 help us to answer that important question?

Today’s passage: Luke 11:27-36

Helpful thoughts:

• Signs are just signs.  The greater power is in the message, the truth presented.  Love the Word of God!
  • Jonah being vomited onto land by a big fish isn’t the best part of the narrative.  Jonah speaking the command of the Lord to pagan Gentiles is the amazing part!
  • Solomon’s wealth and fame are not the best part of his life story.  A powerful woman coming from a foreign land to hear about God is the best part!
• Christ, the light of the world, was speaking right in front of this crowd, but their spiritual “eyes” wouldn’t let the light in.  Therefore what they thought was light in them, was actually darkness.
  • It is possible to believe yourself to be full of light, and to instead be full of darkness.
  • When the light is truly in you, you will shine.

Questions to consider:

1. Why did Mary live a blessed life?  Why is she in Heaven today?
2. If a person considers themselves more spiritual because they claim to see and believe God is doing signs, miracles and wonders today because of their great faith yet they don’t rightly divide the Word of God, and they are even unrepentant, what is happening there?  Who is orchestrating that kind of “spirituality”?  Should we be impressed or cautious and concerned?  Is that person gathering or scattering (Verse 23)?
3. How does the light of Christ get into us (Through our “lamps”)?  What needs to happen in us to make the Word of God become delightful and appealing?