Today’s passage: Luke 6:37-45

Helpful thoughts:

• It is not wrong to have an understanding of what is right and wrong.  Otherwise, it would be impossible to say it is wrong to think you are better than everybody else. Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
  • Anyone who tries to use this verse (“Judge not, and you will not be judged”), to tell people to stop acknowledging right and wrong are violating the same principle.
  • There is a major difference between being judgmental and condemnatory versus being aware of right and wrong and loving your neighbor.
• Galatians 6:1-2 – “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
• A sinner who know he/she has been rescued by the grace and love of God will exemplify grace and love.

Questions to consider:

1. How would you describe a loving confrontation over sin versus a judgmental confrontation?  How would they be different?  What would be the differing goals of the one addressing the problem?
2. Why do we say the things we do?  Is it ever correct to say, “That wasn’t me” when we say something we regret?  Why or why not?
3. How does the Gospel help you to attack the problem and not the person when something is wrong?  How does God’s love for you through Christ give you the right frame of mind to help others?

Today’s passage: Luke 6:27-36

Helpful thoughts:

• Verse 31 is surrounded with commands that make this central command different from the way the world thinks about it.
  • This is not a command about doing good things to people in order to get treated well.
  • This is a command about treating others well, even if they are NOT treating you well.
  • Romans 5:8 – “…God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
• When I see how much mercy God has shown to me through Christ (The Gospel!), it enables and strengthens me to show mercy to others.

Questions to consider:

1. In what ways did Christ exemplify this unconditional love and kindness He has commanded us to pursue?
2. How does the command of verse 31 change if Christ had said, “Don’t do bad things to others if you don’t want them to do bad things to you”?  How does Jesus’ command display love as opposed to self-preservation?
3. Is there someone from whom you have been withholding kindness and love?  How could you exemplify Christ-like love today?

Today’s passage: Luke 6:20-26

Helpful thoughts:

• The poor are those who are entirely dependent on others (Or Another) to care for their needs.
• We hunger because we cannot be satisfied with our own righteousness.
• The one who weeps now is the one who recognizes their helpless condition before God.
• John 15:18 –  “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”

Questions to consider:

1. What kind of poverty or hunger is Jesus talking about in this passage? What is true of us because of our sin?
2. What are people not realizing if they think they are rich, full, and laughing (Happy) without Jesus?
3. How would Jesus’ words have been an encouragement to Stephen even during his persecution (Acts 7:51-60)?  What makes us rich?  What fills us and gives us joy?  How long will our joy last?

Today’s passage: Luke 6:12-19

Helpful thoughts:

• There was no try-out for becoming a disciple/apostle.  They were chosen.  (John 15:16)
  • The Apostles were specifically chosen for a specific task of representation and communication.  To proclaim Jesus.
• Before choosing the twelve, Jesus prayed all night long.
• Jesus compassionately and powerfully gave this crowd a taste of Heaven.
  • All demons were expelled.
  • There was no more sickness.
  • Truth was proclaimed.

Questions to consider:

1. In what way is your choosing similar in nature to the choosing of the Apostles?  (Not that you are an apostle…but what does God choosing you result in?)  Check out Ephesians 2:7.
2. How does drawing near to God and asking Him for wisdom help us in making biblical, godly decisions?
3. In what ways does the church gathered give us a taste of Heaven?  In what ways can every member contribute to this function of our heavenly kingdom embassy?

Today’s passage: Luke 6:1-11

Helpful thoughts:

• Jesus and the disciples were not breaking the Sabbath.  They were violating the man made explanation of the Sabbath.  (In short, the Jews had written a manual on how to keep the Sabbath which added new and greater restrictions.)
  • Matthew 11:28-30
    • This wonderful promise from Jesus makes a lot of sense when compared to the heavy burdens the religious leaders had placed on the people.
• Ahimelech the priest sacrificed what was rightfully his in order to bless others (Matthew 12:7).
  • In declaring Himself as the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus was showing these Pharisees how upside down their thinking was:
    • God gave the Sabbath to bless man.
    • Man used their extra Sabbath rules to condemn God.
• In the presence of truth, hearts are revealed.

Questions to consider:

1. Why didn’t the Pharisees answer Jesus’ question in verse 9?  What was their dilemma?
2. What had all of the legalism kept the Jewish people from being able to do?  Are there any rules/laws that we have written that keep us from knowing and loving people who need to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  Are there any ways we have made it “unlawful” to do good?
3. What made it so hard for these Pharisees and religious leaders to repent and follow Christ?  What was at stake for them and their history/heritage?  Why is it just as much of a miracle when “religious” people are saved?

Today’s passage: Luke 5:27-39

Helpful thoughts:

• You have to know people who are not saved in order to win people to Christ.  Not just know of them, not just know their name, know them.
• Fasting is not a law.  Fasting is not something you must do to stay spiritual enough to pass a test.  Fasting is something we can do when it’s appropriate.
• The legalism (Works based salvation) of the Pharisees could not handle the Gospel message (New wine in an old wine skin).  The Pharisees preferred their damning legalism to the Saviors gracious gift (“The old is good”).

Questions to consider:

1. Were the Pharisees actually “well”?  Did they really not have need of the Great Physician?  How did their view of themselves make them unable to receive help?  What should we learn from this?  When do we start to take the Gospel for granted?
2. What did repentance look like for Levi?  What did he do when Jesus called him?  Who did Levi introduce to Jesus after He began to follow Him?
3. What would be an appropriate reason to fast?  When would it seem logical to set aside time, other activities, your meal time, to seek the Lord?

Today’s passage: Luke 5:12-26

Helpful thoughts:

• When lepers touch normal people, they make them unclean.  When Jesus touches a leper, the leper becomes clean.
• Jesus, God the Son, withdrew to desolate places to pray.
• The formerly paralyzed man had two reasons to leap and glorify God.  One of them was far more significant than the other.

Questions to consider:

1. Even though the leper was physically healed, what was still true of him?  Did he obey Jesus afterward?  What did he need more than clean skin and social acceptance? (Hint: The next man definitely received it!)
2. Why do you think Jesus would want and need to spend time in prayer?  What was it that He rightly desired to have with the Father?  How can this encourage us to prayer?
3. What miraculous gift seemed to pique the interests of people the most?  What, however, was truly the most incredible thing that Jesus did in this passage?  What reason to all believers have to love God with all our hearts?

Today’s passage: Luke 4:42-5:11

Helpful thoughts:

• If you could have a man that can heal all diseases and cast out all demons, you might want him to stick around.  But that was not why Jesus came.  He had to go preach the good news!
• Crowds also pressed in on Him to hear Him preach the word of God (5:1).
• Jesus graciously chose and changed these men, they left everything and followed Him.

Questions to consider:

1. What was unique about Peter’s response to Jesus compared to many others who wanted to be close to Jesus?  What did Peter understand?
2. Why was Peter allowed to remain in Christ’s presence?  (Think back to a similar occurrence in Isaiah 6:1-7)  What brings you into relationship and what grants you access to fellowship with God?
3. Why did it make perfect sense for these fishermen to leave all their gear behind to become fishers of men at the command of Jesus?

Today’s passage: Luke 4:31-41

Helpful thoughts:

• Jesus exercises His own authority.
  • In His words/teaching
  • Over demons
  • Over sickness
• When Jesus healed people, they were healed immediately.  These people were not pre-selected.  They were not turned away.  This is not what the prosperity gospel faith-healer false teachers are doing today.
• Jesus did not allow the demons to bring Him any kind of popularity.

Questions to consider:

1. Why did this start in the synagogue?  What was Jesus’ primary objective, to heal, to exorcise demons or to teach? (Verse 43)
2. What was the demon afraid of?  What might he have thought Jesus had come to do at that time? (Revelation 20:7-10)
3. How would the demons’ proclamations of Jesus’ identity have caused confusion?  Why would it make sense for Jesus to command their silence?

Today’s passage: Luke 4:14-30

Helpful thoughts:

• Jesus read from Isaiah 61.  Whether they realized it or not, He had just announced Himself as the Messiah.
• When Jesus promised good, the people marveled and wondered how it could be that Joseph’s son could be this wonderful.  When Jesus spoke truth of sin and rejection, the people were filled with wrath and tried to kill Him.  Same people…only moments apart.
• Jesus came to a world that was spiritually impoverished, captive to their sin, blind to the truth, and oppressed under the curse.  He is the Savior of the world.

Questions to consider:

1. What kinds of messages and commitments were going to make these people happy?  Is that much different than people in general today?
2. What kinds of people did God help in the illustrations that Jesus used?  The strong or the weak?
3. What must a person come to realize before they can receive the good news of the Gospel?  If you are already “good to go” what do you think Jesus ought to do for you?  If you know you are hopeless and helpless on your own, what has Jesus done for you?