Week 5 summary:
More teaching from Jesus this week. Jesus continually teaches about being His
disciples. Maybe another way to say that
is that He teaches about being members of the Kingdom of God. (A kingdom implies there is a king. In this Kingdom, the King is Jesus. What do you do for a King? Obey him!)
Jesus is to the point in His teachings.
Even though He teaches in parables, there is no doubt what His
expectations are for His disciples.
Day 1: Luke 10-11; John 10:22-42
Luke 11:28 says that we should hear God's word and put it
into practice (or in other words, obey it).
Starting in Luke 11:37, there are several verses where Jesus
is confronting the beliefs of the Jewish leaders. The section heading in the Bibles I looked at
described this section of scripture these ways:
1) Jesus condemns Pharisees and the Legal Experts; 2) Woes on the Pharisees and Experts in the
Law; 3) Jesus Criticizes the Religious
Leaders. Depending on the translation of
the Bible you are using, you may find Jesus saying, “What sorrow awaits
you...,” or “How terrible for you...,” or “Woe to you...” Whichever translation you choose to use,
Jesus' language is pretty clear. The
people He was talking to were severely missing the boat related to how to obey
God's law.
Day 2: Luke 12-13
Luke 12:10 talks about an unpardonable sin, attributing the
works of the Holy Spirit to the devil, which denies the work of God. A person who commits this sin does not
recognize sin at all and is far from God.
(If you are worried you have committed this sin, your very concern shows
you have not.)
Because of Jesus' teachings about discipleship, He knows
that following Him will cause conflict between people, even within
families. (See Luke 12:51-53.)
Jesus again talks about the need to change our hearts and
lives – repent! (Repent means to turn
around 180 degrees and go in the other direction.) (See Luke 13:1-9.
All of Jesus' teachings point to disciples needing to go
through the “narrow gate” (Luke 13:24).
Disciples will take the narrow road/narrow gate and will follow by
obeying Him.
Day 3: Luke 14-15
There is a cost to discipleship – following Jesus. Disciples of Jesus sometimes will need to
make decisions that will cost them the friendship of family and friends (Luke
14:26-27). As we make that decision to
follow Jesus, we need to count the cost (knowing there is a cost and being
willing to accept the cost – Luke 14:28-33).
But the rewards are great!
When a disciple chooses to following Jesus (knowing the cost
and accepting the cost), there is great rejoicing in heaven because a person
that was lost is now found. (See the
parables in Luke 15:3-24.)
Day 4: Luke 16-17:10
In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus the poor man
(Luke 16:19-31), there are two points to make.
1)
First,
the rich man was not taken up to be with Abraham when he died because he was
rich. He ended up elsewhere because he
did not use his resources to take care of and love others.
2)
The
rich man was basically asking for a “sign” for his 5 brothers, Lazarus visiting
them after he was dead. This is similar
to other passages in the gospels where the religious leaders in particular are
always asking for another “sign” to show that Jesus is the Son of God. The parable basically says what Jesus says
elsewhere – you have had signs and whats more, Moses and the Prophets (what we
would call the Old Testament consisting of the Law (the 1st 5 books
of the Bible) and the Prophets) have already provided all of the information
that is needed.
Day 5: John 11
The entire chapter 11 of John details the story of Jesus
raising Lazarus from the grave. You may
be familiar with the story. Mary and
Martha and their brother Lazarus (this is a different Lazarus from the parable
of the rich man and the poor man Lazarus read yesterday) are good friends of
Jesus. Lazarus dies. Mary and Martha send for Jesus because they
know that Jesus can heal Lazarus. Before
Jesus gets there, Lazarus dies and has been in the grave 4 days. Jesus raises
Lazarus from the dead. But if we read
this story too fast, we miss some interesting parts of the story.
1)
After
hearing that Lazarus is ill, Jesus stays where He and His disciples are for 2 more days before heading to his
friends. We learn that the illness
Lazarus has won't lead to his death but will lead to glorifying God and the Son
of God. Later, we find out that Jesus
will raise Lazarus from the dead so that others will believe that God sent
Jesus.
2)
Lazarus
dies before Jesus gets there and Jesus seems to tell His disciples that He is
glad that He was not there to heal Lazarus so that they would believe in Jesus.
3)
Mary
and Martha both believe that there is life after death (at the end of times)
but they were not understanding that Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead
now.
4)
Jesus
was disturbed and saddened at what was taking place. He wept.
5)
As
Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave, many Jews believed in Him. However, because
many were believing in Jesus, the leaders from that day forward, plotted to
kill Jesus.
Day 6: Luke 17:11-18:14
People were interested and concerned about the coming of
God's Kingdom. But in Luke 17:21, Jesus
says that God's Kingdom is already among them.
Jesus ushered in the Kingdom.
Day 7: rest
