October 20 Read Luke 10-12 (Luke 10) (10:1-24) This section is only in Luke. Note that these also get the same instructions given to the Twelve Apostles. They also get the same power since they are told to heal the sick and they say that demons were cast out. This means the Apostles are not some super Christians for even the ordinary Christians have these powers. The 70 here and the 12 Apostles includes almost all of His true followers. There are only 120 people in the Upper Room at Pentecost and by the time you add in His family who are there these 82 disciples cover just about all that are following Him. This means that you also have these powers as a Spirit filled Human. (10:25-37) The parable of the Good Samaritan is only in Luke. The question is to define neighbor and instead of telling who your neighbor is, Jesus tells how to be one to all men. The man is naked so the people going by have no way of telling what race/nationality he is. He might be dead and touching him might defile the priest and the Levite, but they are going “Down” and thus going off duty and they can be purified before their next time on duty. It would cost them something like a sheep to do it, but it is a simple ritual. They are not willing to pay the price to help. The Jewish scholars told a similar tale and the people listening probably thought He was going to tell that one. The Priest and the Levite walk on by, but a layperson comes by and helps. It must have been a shock when Jesus said the third person was a Samaritan. The man injured would have spit on him if he could. But he can’t so the Samaritan is willing to be a NEIGHBOR to him. Note the religion scholar knows the answer, but can’t bring himself to even mention the name. He says the neighbor was “the one who treated him kindly.” (The Message 10:37) (10:38-42) Another story only in Luke. This is a classic tale of sibling rivalry. Martha is probably much older and it is likely their father is dead so Mary is living with her sister and her family. Martha thinks the most important thing is to put food on the table and Mary thinks the most important thing is the words Jesus is saying. Is the physical or Spiritual world more important to you? Have you ever asked God to make someone do something? How did that work out? (Luke 11) (11:1-4) Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) is more familiar sounding than Luke probably but both say basically the same thing. The interesting thing to me is that the disciples ask Him to teach them to pray. I can find nowhere else where they ask Jesus to specifically teach them to do anything else. They don’t ask Him to teach them how to cast of demons. They don’t ask Him how to work miracles. They don’t ask Him how to feed thousands of people with a little bit of food. They do ask Him to teach them to pray. I think that they see this is the source of all the rest that He does. His contact with the Father allows Him to have power to do the rest and without it He could do nothing. They want to learn how to have that powerful connection. Do you? (111:5-13) He teaches them to pray and then He tells them the secret of all His power. It is in verse 13. The Holy Spirit. If you will live like Spirit filled Humans you too will have this power so ask the Father for him. The parable of the one who knocks at the door is in this context. I told you that extended families live and a large home together. Each family in the extended family had a room to themselves. This is where they slept. The rooms were narrow – about wide enough for a person to lay across them. At night the family would get into their room with mother and father sleeping against the wall furthest from the door and then the children stretched across the room moving towards the door. It is very dark (no lights outside or inside) so to get up and walk to the door would mean stepping on several kids in the process. Also note that since this person is a friend and not a kinsman he is standing outside the main door to the WHOLE compound and not at the door in the room they are sleeping in. He has to be very loud to be heard across the courtyard and into the room with the door closed. It is kind of like someone standing at your front door and hollering so loud you can hear them in the back bed room. Jesus is not teaching that God does not want to answer our prayers (as shown by the following verses) but He is saying if a human friend will get up if you bug him enough, then surely your Father will come running when you call. (11:14-28) – We have covered this pretty well in Matthew and Mark. There are two things Luke adds here that are noteworthy. First if you are not for Him you are against Him for there is no middle ground. You cannot just stand back and say I will not fight against Jesus and that will make it alright. You actually have to join Him or you are considered an enemy. Second note that when the demon comes back to the cleaned man, the man has not put anything else in the space so he moves right back in with a few friends. It is not enough just to clean your life out of bad habits. You must also make some good new habits to replace them or you will get into something even worse than what you kicked out. (11:29-36) In Luke when Jesus talks about the sign of Jonah He is talking about something different than in the other Gospels. In the other Gospels Jesus says the sign is that Jonah was 3 days in the belly of the fish and so Jesus will be three days in the earth. Luke says the sign of Jonah is the preaching that Jesus is doing. I don’t think they are mutually excludable since He could have used Jonah several different ways over 3 years and Luke just hears of a different usage than the others. (11:37-54) I doubt if Jesus will be invited back to dinner there! I think it is like John Wesley wrote often is his journals soon after his Aldersgate experience that changed his whole life, “I must have preached a good one there. They say I will never preach there again.” Jesus does not beg people to join Him and water down what He says to the audience to keep followers. He tells the truth even if it hurts. Instead of examining their souls to see if He might be right, they must get rid of the messenger so they will not have to listen to it. The world has not changed much in this respect. Luke 12) (12:1-12) – We often think we have been so skillful in our sins that we will never be found out. Jesus says that is self-deluding. In verse 4 the Message reads, “Don’t be bluffed into silence or insincerity by the threats of religious bullies. True, they can kill you, but then what can they do?” Most of us would probably think getting killed is a pretty big deal, but Jesus says that is not that big of a deal and then He will go to the cross to prove it. There are things worse than death He says – like living for eternity in Hell. (12:13-21) This parable appears only in Luke. Note that the farmer did have big enough barns. They were big enough for the average crop and the average crop had sustained him before. He could also store some of what he now had with the poor by feeding them. He then would be storing up both on earth and in heaven and it would not matter when he moved into his retirement home for eternity. What is your attitude when you get more than you had before? How do you act when you get a raise? Do you always find more needs, or do you find ways to give it away since you were doing just fine before the raise? (12:23-34) He continues on about relying on God to take care of you not the things of this earth. If you don’t rely on the things of this earth to care for you, then why do you have such a hard time giving them away? (12:25-48) This parable is only in Luke and is rather weird. What master is going to serve a servant just because he was watching when he got home? This is a hyperbole to show how much God loves a person who serves him well. How well is your task going in life? You have been given the Holy Spirit and God will hold you accountable for how you use this great gift. (12:49-59) This section of teaching is only in Luke. The first part of this section probably seems a little weird to you. You probably think of Him as the PRINCE OF PEACE and here He is shown as a “WAR MONGER”! But Jesus brings peace to our soul and war between those who follow Him and those who don’t. Be careful who you make peace with and weigh the cost before you do. There are some fights worth fighting. Pictures: 1. Good Samaritan Inn – There are some Historic sites in Israel and there are some traditional site. Traditional sites have no history behind them but someone thought it would be good to build something there to remember an event in Jesus’ life. This is one of the later. This is built over an old Arab Carvanasse (Inn) along the road between Jericho and Jerusalem, but the oldest remains here would date to a thousand years after Jesus. Also the story is fiction any way. 2. Mary and Martha – Mary is listening to Jesus. Thus she is acting like one of His disciples. Maybe Martha is jealous that Mary is getting more time with Jesus than she is. 3. Wilderness of Judea – This is the road between Jericho and Jerusalem in the time of Jesus. Although the story of the Good Samaritan is fiction, it is based on the fact that this road was known to be dangerous because of thieves. Till Tomorrow, Allen
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 10:05:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015