BiblicalMastery Buddy's bible blog

Lesson 46

Where Is Integrity?

Luke 16:1-18

There was a story on the news today of a teacher who has been charged with fraud and theft.  Who were her victims?  They were the children entrusted to her care in the classroom.  She is accused of stealing books and supplies over a period of time.  This kind of incident shakes our trust in mankind.  Over the last year there has been charges that the governor our state has received gifts and money from a man who hoped to receive favors for his company from their close friendship.  Both he and his wife have been indicted by the Federal government.  The president according to the polls has lost the trust of the people because of making false statements about one of his primary pieces of legislation. The question then becomes is there anyone who has integrity?  It seems that our political system has been compromised.  This is symptomatic of the lack of the moral fiber that once permeated our society.  It would be great if we could once again have leaders who rise out of a culture that view  honesty as a way of life.  Men like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln grew up in that kind of environment and went on to lead this country during very difficult times.

The church is certainly not exempt from this problem.  All we have to do is look at the scandals that have been reported over the years.  Because of the immoral actions of some leaders in the church people have lost their trust in them. Then there are the cults who present all kinds of false teaching in order to enhance their hold on those who do not take the time to study God’s Word for themselves and take time to discern the accuracies of the teaching they hear.  This is not a new phenomenon. The writers of the New Testament wrote about this issue over and over again. Jesus in our lesson today also had to make it clear how He felt about such behavior.

Luke 16:1

Jesus had directed His previous conversation toward the religious leaders.  He then turned to His disciples to share the next parable. The scene was set for them.  The parable began with the description of two primary characters.  There was the rich man who may have been an absentee owner who had turned over the management of his assets to a man who may have been a slave.    

1. Why did Jesus sometimes turn exclusively to His disciples? (It was something He specifically wanted to teach the disciples.)
2. Why would He exclude the religious leaders? (They would not listen to what Jesus had to say.)
3. How might this tie in with the previous parables? (Remember how Jesus left the elder son? (The jury was still out whether those men would respond to the teaching of Jesus.)
4. Why would this situation have been familiar to the disciples and all of the people? (This was a common practice in Israel and had been spoken about in other parables.)

Luke 16:2

The owner received some disturbing news about the manager.  Evidently he had been mismanaging the possessions under his care.  This is the very thing of which the prodigal son was guilty.  The slave had wasted the assets of the rich man.  He may have made some bad investments or even used them for his own personal gain.  There is even the possibility of fraud in which he directed funds into his own personal accounts.

1. Why did the owner have to hear from others what the manager was doing? (He may have been absent during the time the activity was going on.)
2. What did it mean for him to accuse the manager of squandering his property?
3. How may the man been mismanaging his master’s assets and have not been caught previously? (Those defraud others do it in small amounts so it will not be missed.)
4. What would indicate that he had been doing something illegal as to oppose to just being incompetent? (The owner may have forgiven him for lack of business savvy but not criminal activity.)

Luke 16:3

The response of the manager shows a total lack of regard of his master. Of course, when he was misusing what was not his he had never considered that his actions would result in his dismissal from his position.  The only thing that bothered him was the uncertainty he faced concerning his future.  He immediately determined that he was too weak to dig and to proud to beg. His life of ease had ill prepared him to do any physical work. 

1. How did he view his master? (As a means to and end.  There was no respect for him.)
2. What was the last thing he thought would happen to him?
3. How did his attitude match that of so many today? (There are no consequences to our actions.)
4. What did he really mean by being too weak to dig and ashamed to beg? (There was a lack of humility in those words.  Those tasks were beneath someone of his stature.)
5. How would you describe those who have the same attitude today?
6. In what ways are so many ill prepared to face the challenges of today?
7. What happens to a society that has lost the will to work or the humility to take any job to provide for themselves?
8. What are some positions that you would refuse to do?

Luke 16:4-7

The unscrupulous manager came up with a plan to ensure his future.  He contacted all of those who worked his master’s land and owed him rent.  Rent on land in that day was paid by giving a certain amount of the harvest as payment.  Possibly unknown to the owner of the land the manager continued to handle some of the accounts. Being in charge of the accounts the manager called all of those who owed the master to him.  He then made a deal that would make them grateful to him and active participants in his scheme. Later when he might need help he could be assured that they would help him.  Because they agreed to the arrangement he could blackmail those who did not cooperate with him.  They were allowed to pay only a portion of their debt and he wrote off the rest and considered the debt paid in full. He set the following payment plan. To the one who owed:

• One hundred measures of oil he only had to pay fifty
• One hundred measures of wheat he paid eighty

Their actions meant they were just as much a thief as the manager.

1. What do you think of the actions of the manager?
2. How was he able to continue to working on the accounts? (He must have been very familiar with those who owed money so he was able to go behind his master’s back in carrying out his plan.)
3. What do you think of the men who owed the money?
4. What were the possible consequences of their decision to defraud the owner of what was rightfully his?
5. What are the consequences of actions that you have done that are like what the men did?

Luke 16:8

Surprisingly the master praised the manager for his actions. He seemed to admire how shrewd the man was in carrying out his plan.  His reaction shows that the owner himself was also a man of the world. Jesus’s lesson was that the men and women who operate according to the standards of this world have a much greater passion to achieve their goals than those who claim to be godly individuals are at seeking those things that benefit themselves and others.  The world seeks the temporal with great diligence.  The church falls short of striving for those things of eternal value. 

1. What does the attitude of the owner say about him? (He was also a man of the world and admires the methods of anyone who can make money even if done illegally.)
2. What was the lesson Jesus was trying to teach? (Men of the world have more passion trying to obtain their goals than those of the church.)
3. Why do church members lack the passion for the teachings and ways of Jesus? (We have possibly become too much a product of the world.)
4. What should we take away from the words of Jesus?
5. What are the long lasting consequences of taking the two different roads described in this verse?

Luke 16:9

This is a description of those, who like the prodigal son and the manager who try to obtain friends by the use of the wealth he has.  In the case of the manager he prepared for the future by making sure that there was those who would take him in after he lost his job.  It must be understood that unless treasure is saved up in heaven then a person will reap the results of an ungodly life and spend eternity in hell.  It is a choice that every person has to make, either life or death.

1. What is the major activity of much of the world? (To secure a place in the world.)
2. How do you use the things God has given you?
3. What kind of people are there who can be bought?
4. What was the difference between the prodigal son and the manager? (One squandered his money the other use someone’s else’s wealth to provide security for himself in the future.)
5. What was the end result of the actions taken by both men? (the young man found salvation while the manager gained the world and lost his soul. Both were going to spend eternity somewhere as a result of the life lived on earth.)

Luke 16:10-13

Jesus then got to the point of the parable.  It was the lesson He wanted His disciples to understand and the Pharisees to hear.  The whole idea of wealth was about to be turned on its head.  The Jews believed that the accumulation of wealth was proof that a man was righteous. Jesus pointed back to both the wealthy man and the manager who looked at the wealth from the perspective of the world and were not good stewards of the possession with which they had been entrusted.  Jesus says that if a person cannot handle whatever is of this world in a righteous way why would God entrust him with His eternal treasures.  It was very clear that one who is controlled by the desire to achieve worldly fame and fortune has as his master those things.  Those who seek those things from above is truly serving God.  Man cannot no matter how hard he tries can serve both equally.  Jesus even goes so far as to use the characteristics of devotion and despising to describe the relationship.  

The wealth about which Jesus spoke was not just tangible physical goods, but something just as important.  Each person has been given certain gifts and abilities by God.  To squander those is the lack of being faithful in small things.  Those gifts and abilities will be taken away if not used for God’s kingdom.  As one matures them God will provide greater and greater opportunities for him to share them with others for mutual benefit.

1. What was the point of Jesus’s parable? (He was speaking of being faithful with what He has provided.)
2. How does this fit the idea of integrity? (To misuse what He has given is dishonest.)
3. How do we fail in being faithful in little things?
4. What are the riches God has provided? (Gifts and abilities and in some cases material wealth.)
5. How does He want us to use those things?

Luke 16:14-15

The words of Jesus struck at the core of the Pharisees belief system. As mentioned above the Jews equated wealth with righteousness.  The Pharisees considered themselves to be righteous men so they felt that wealth they had acquired had been given to them because of their goodness.  When Jesus began to undermine that perception the Scriptures said that they derided him which literally meant to turn their noses at Him.  He had put them on the defensive and the only way to justify themselves was to attack the teaching of Jesus.

What Jesus said to them next in a way might be a variation of the old saying that a person can be fooled by the actions of those like the Pharisees for a while but God can never be duped.  God knows what is in the heart of every man. The very things that man substitutes for God are the very things that God will detest. He will not have anything come between Him and man.

1. Why did the words of Jesus make the Pharisees so angry? (They believed wealth and goodness went hand in hand and who was more righteous than they were?)
2. In what ways do we sometimes get trapped in thinking the same way?
3. What did they do to show contempt for the teaching of Jesus?
4. How did Jesus respond?
5. How does God feel about anything that man puts before Him?
6. What are some of the things in your life that you may have put before God?
7. How did God bring you to the point when you realized to do so was wrong?

Luke 16:16-18

From the time of Moses the Law had been the authority in the lives of the Jewish people.  Over the years the Scribes and Pharisees had significantly changed the law by incorporating into the oral and written traditions which was their interpretation of what the Law meant. With the arrival of Jesus He began preaching and teaching about the kingdom of God.  Although facing opposition from the religious leaders those who viewed as law breakers were greatly attracted to what Jesus said.  Jesus indicated to all parties that the provisions of the law were still in effect for all people.  

To make a point he spoke about one of the Ten Commandments that was only to be followed in a very watered down way. There were so many divorces taking place during that time that many women were refusing. Jesus meant by His words that the breaking of that commandment meant that the law was meaningless.  He did not come to eliminate the law but raise the standards of living as He had done in the beatitudes. 

1. What did Jesus mean by the Law and the Prophets? (The written word and the oral tradition that had been established from the time of Moses.)
2. What had the Scribes and Pharisees done to the Law over the years? (They had put their own interpretation on it making it oppressive for the people.  It had become almost impossible for them to be followed.)
3. What was different about what Jesus did when He came onto the scene? (He began to speak of the kingdom of God.)
4. What was His position on the law? (It was still be to upheld and not changed in any way.  The law could stand on its own without all of the oral traditions that had been added to it.)
5. What did Jesus’ teaching on the commandments do? (It raised the bar on how they should be followed.  It was the spirit of the law not the letter that was to be a guide for the way people were to live.
6. What had the religious leaders done to the law dealing with, not committing adultery? (Marriage in the Jewish culture could be ended for any reason.  A silly example could be a divorce could be granted if a wife were to burn the toast.  That would be what was considered a just cause and a writ of divorce could be given to the wife.)
7. How do you view the Ten Commandments today?

    

• Remember that the teachings of the Bible are meant for everyday living.
• Work at every task you are given as if it is being done for the Lord.
• Make sure that all you do is done with integrity
• Remember that part of the riches that can either be wasted or used properly are the gifts and abilities that God has given you.
• Do not look at any task as insignificant for God may be looking to see if by handling it you can handle greater responsibilities.
• Keep the spirit of God’s commandments and not just the letter of the law.  Your attitude is the foundation of serving God with joy.

As stewards of the greatest gift has given we are to be trustworthy in our presentation of it.  The gift of course is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Depending on our words and actions the outside world will either be drawn to the church or repulsed.  They are looking at us with a critical eye expecting us to fail as do all other entities with which they are familiar.  All we have to do is look at polls to see how few trust organizations of all types.  We need to make sure that we do everything in our power to make Christ attractive to a hurting world.  Without hope there is chaos. With hope and trust lives can be transformed.  It should be our goal to be received into the fellowship of our Father because of our desire to serve Him with all of our hearts.

The world seems to admire those who have achieved important positions, material success, and power and influence.  Sadly those who have reached the pinnacle of world recognition are quite often without peace and happiness.  All they have to offer is a temporary fix for an eternal problem.  We in the church have the good news that will provide them with salvation that is greater than all this world has to offer.

Lesson 45

Celebration of Homecoming

Luke 15:20b-32

The greatest times of satisfaction have been when I have found myself in the company of God’s people. I look forward each week to participating with others in discipleship and worship.  For me that joy and security of was never clearer than when I was studying to be confirmed in the Episcopal Church.  Learning about the church I was about to join made me feel as if I was part of something much bigger than I.  What I was doing was very important in my mind.  There was a security in knowing that there were those around me who were encouraging me in my growth as a young follower of Christ.  Who knew that being accepted and guided as I was would lead to the opportunities that God has given me over these years.  If I had been rejected or marginalized in those early days one has to wonder if I would still be in church today.  That thought certainly does not minimize the work of the Holy Spirit but I know that He uses people to help us along the way.

Because I believe that I belong to a much larger family than even Bethany Place Baptist I can celebrate fellowship anywhere followers of Christ are found.  I must however understand that my joy is not totally dependent on a congregation as loving and friendly as it may be.  It is God who was and is seeking me to wrap His loving arms around me and tells me that He is glad I am His son.  He is the reason for celebration because He took a young boy and gave him purpose for life.  Has everything always gone smoothly in His earthly body?  Have I always felt a part of different groups? The answer to both of those questions is no.  That however is not as important as knowing that I am part of His forever family.

It should come as no surprise to any of us how diverse the church is.  It is amazing that God can bring together people that are so different and mold them in unified body to further the His kingdom. That statement itself is somewhat simplistic because not every church truly represents Christ as God would have it happen.  The great thing about any one given body there is a real likelihood that there are those who are like both the younger and older brother.  God however loves us in spite of our differences.  One of the tasks He has given us is to make sure we do not fall into the trap of consistently being like the younger brother.  We also all certainly struggle with not becoming like the older one.  How do we go about making sure that the body at Bethany Place becomes like Christ?  

Luke 15:20

In Luke 15:19 was seen a father waiting for a son who had rebelled against him in a way that would be devastating to any parent.  The young man had wanted his father dead yet he never lost hope that the young man would come to his senses and return home.

Now his hope and faith has been fulfilled.  As he looks down the road here comes his son.  He could not know for sure why the boy had returned but it made no difference.  The prodigal child with a confession on his lips was coming.  The very fact that he was returning would indicate that something dramatically had taken place. Maybe his very demeanor let the father know that he was a changed man.  Why else would he risk the humiliation of having to come home as a failure.

What he found instead of incrimination was the welcoming arms of a loving father. He received a kiss from father and much more.

1. Why did the father continually look down the road? (He had faith that the son would return.)
2. What would indicate that something had changed in his life? (He was willing to face the humiliation of returning home as a failure.
3. Has there ever been a time when you let pride get in the way of being reconciled to another person? Would you like to share what happened?
4. Instead of incrimination and condemnation what did he experience?
5. Why did the father respond as he did? (He could sense or just knew by the very fact the young man was returning that something had happened to change him.)

Luke 15:21-22

Even though the son tried to confess as he had determined to do. Then, as if he had not heard him, the father then issued some commands of his own to the very servants of whom the son had stated he would become one. They were told to do three which would symbolize that the son was to be reinstated into the family. The father ordered them to:

• Bring the best robe which would have been one worn by the father and put it on the son.
• Put the ring of authority on his finger.
• Put scandals on his feet that the children of slaves did not wear.

As far as the father was concerned everything done in the past was forgotten.  The man who returned was not the person who had rejected the restraints he felt were hindering who he wanted to be.  He was a different man who had been changed by the experiences that led him to repent of his ways.

1. Why did the father ignore what the son was trying to say? (He had already forgiven him before he arrived.)
2. What did the father do that showed that the son had been reinstated as a family member?
3. What did each of those things indicate about him?
4. How would you have felt if you had been that son?
5. How do you feel since God has done the same thing for you?
6. How do you think the Scribes and Pharisees would have responded at this point? (They would have had trouble with the fact that God forgave such a vile sinner represented by the son.)

Luke 15:23-24

The father did not stop there.  He did something that would have indicated that the return was a special occasion.  He had a fatten calf killed to celebrate.  Meat was not usually serve at a meal.  That day would have been one of those special events, for a son who had been lost and considered dead was alive and found. The father therefore celebrated the event with the very best he had to offer.  Like the two parables that proceeded this one many were invited to the feast by the father to be part of welcoming the wayward son back into the community.

1. What did the father do that showed his gratitude for the safe return of his son?
2. Who would have been invited?
3. Why was it important for others in the community to be present? (Evidence of the father’s forgiveness and acceptance of his son?
4. What are the things we need to celebrate in church?
5. What does those celebrations show about us?

Luke 15:25-27

While the celebration for the youngest son was going on the oldest son had been out in the fields taking care of running the business.  As he approached the house he heard the music and saw the people dancing.  He then turned to one of the servants to learn what was happening.  The servant informed him of his brother’s return. What triggered the brother’s response was the description by the servant of what the father had done for his son.  He told him that:

• The brother had returned.
• The father had killed the fattened calf.
• The youngest son had been received into the family safe and sound.

This was more than the older brother could take and was unwilling to join the party.  He would not accept his brother back under any circumstances.  There was no forgiveness on his part for the one who had returned from sinful living.

1. Where was the brother while the younger brother was being received back into the family?
2. Why did he not go to the father to find out what was going on? (Probably upset because a party was taking place while he was hard at work in the fields.)
3. What upset him about the servant’s description of the events taking place?
4. How do we respond when others make a great fuss over someone who is new in the church family?
5. Why are we not just willing to join into the celebrations?
6. Even at this point what does it say about the older brother? (He is willing to miss out on the celebration because of pride.)

Luke 15:28 

Once again the father reached out to one of his sons in a loving way.  He did not want him to miss out on the time of sweet fellowship.  He should be glad that his brother has come back to be a part of the family.  Because of his attitude he could not understand what had happened in his brother’s life. His younger had changed.  There seemed to be little love for the younger brother because the older one did not even want to be in his presence. 

1. Why did the father come out to the elder son?
2. What did he want the older brother to experience?
3. What did his refusal to attend the party say about his attitude towards his father? (Disrespect)
4. What did his refusal show about his attitude toward his younger brother?
5. What could he not know about him by staying outside?
6. What does it take for us to get to know what has happened in a person’s life?
7. What does our refusal say about us?

Luke 15:29-30

The answer of the older brother to the father’s invitation paints a picture of one who had served his father out of a sense of duty.  Through his tirade recounting all the short-comings of his brother he was using the opportunity of lashing out at his father.  He was no more grateful for what he had than the attitude the younger brother had possessed before he became a changed man.  Where the younger brother now understood what it meant to have the father’s love and forgiveness the older brother who had it all was a bitter and insecure man.  As far as he was concerned there was no place in the family for his brother because of all he had done. He had no more respect or love for his father than the younger brother but only remained looking forward to the day his father died and he would receive the inheritance.  He also knew that with the return of younger brother that his portion of the inheritance would be less because now his brother had stepped back into the picture with full rights as a son to his father. 

1. What was going on in the heart of the older brother?
2. What was his attitude toward his father?
3. Why did he not want his brother to become part of the family again? (It would cost him part of his inheritance and the love of his father.)
4. How do sometimes try to hurt someone by accusing them of treating others than you have them?
5. What did he not want the brother back home? (Everything was going fine until he showed up.)
6. How would a changed younger brother affect the older? (He would be constant reminder of his prideful and unforgiving nature?

Luke 15:31-32

The father listened to the older brother patiently as he vented,  Then he with all tenderness explained to him how fortunate he had been to share in everything the father had been doing throughout his life.  His son needed to understand how much the father had actually given to him.  The final words in this parable Jesus, through the father, called on the son to rejoice with him that the younger man had been lost but found a new life.  

The parable closes with one main question unanswered.  What did the future look like for the older brother?  At the beginning of the parable it was obvious that it was the younger brother who was lost.  He represented the tax collectors and sinners the Scribes and Pharisees had grumbled about.  Jesus openly declared that there was a place for them in God’s kingdom.  To prove His point He showed how a man who was a total reprobate could be transformed by confessing and repenting of his actions. But what can be said about the older brother.  In a way he was no different than his brother.  Although he stayed put he hated his father in the same way that the younger brother did.  He had accepted all the inheritance of his father was willing to give him.  He had it all except for the fact that he his heart was not in what he was doing. He was totally alienated from his father and did not want to celebrate with him over the return of the lost.  The hardness of heart and pride in his position would not allow him to forgive and accept the fact that   people can change. The Scribes and Pharisees and the older brother were all lost because they did not want to have a relationship with the father.

1. How did the father feel about each of his sons?
2. How could he love them equally? (Both of them had begun the story alienated from him.  He was beckoning them both to be a part of his family again.)
3. At the end of the story who was saved?
4. How do we know?
5. Who did the younger brother represent?
6. Who were those who came to Jesus with an open heart willing to listen to all Jesus had to say?
7. Who did the old brother represent?
8. How did Jesus leave him at the end of the story?
9. What does this said of those who have an attitude like that of the Scribes and Pharisees?

    

• Work on developing a heart of the father who was willing to forgive one who had caused him deep hurt.
• Learn to recognize those who have deep needs that come into the church.
• Search your heart to see if you are like the younger son full of misguided ideas of how to live life.
• Repent of any characteristics that keep you from enjoying true fellowship with the father.
• Be careful that you do not become self-righteous like the Scribes and Pharisees who set themselves above others and lack the ability to forgive those who fell short of their standards.
• Celebrate with those who have been lost and have now found Christ.

We have a unique opportunity in a godless world to continue look for those who find themselves separated from Christ.  We are to realize that at one point in our lives we were like the younger son.  We were rebellious and self-centered.  It took life experiences to help us come to the point when we could say that we had sinned against our fellow man and God.  At that point we found God waiting for us.  He then wrapped his arms around us and invited to become part of his family.

Over the years some of us have forgotten what it was like to find that peace and joy that came from making a decision to be a follower of Christ.  We begin to think that we have all the answers for all the people who are not part of our church.  It is easy to become Pharisaic in our attitudes and actions.  God loves us even then but He continually invites back to the place where we can celebrate with Him in humility and love for others.  This is the task of the church.  We are to become disciples with a tender heart who are willing to help others become disciples also.  All who come through the doors of Bethany Place are to be welcomed with open arms whether they are those who are lost and know it.  There are others who are lost and are so self-sufficient they do not believe they have no problems.  Both are lost and both need Christ.  Let us never leave anyone with the story unfinished.

Lesson 44

The Long Way Home?

Luke 15:11-20a

One of the recurring dreams I have had over the years is going back to the house in which my grandparents lived outside of Wilmington, NC.  I do not know why I find myself there.  Looking at Google Maps the only house that is still standing in that whole block that would recognize is their house.  All of the other homes have been torn down and replaced with what looks like apartment buildings.  Although I picture it as it was back when I lived there, there is no way that the time or place can truly be recreated.  As Snoopy once said, “They have built a parking lot all over my memories.” 

Even if I could return to that period in my life, I am not sure I would even seize the opportunity.  Although there were good memories it was also time of dramatic change in my family. My father left my mother during those years which impacted us economically and socially. Other than my mother the one foundation that was available to me was the church.  As I look back I realize how much the minister and the people of that church impacted my life.  A number of years ago I went back because of funeral of an uncle. The church in which I spent so many memorable times was not there.  Oh the building was there but everything was different. It had become almost Catholic like in its services. What was once a church where everyone would have felt welcomed seemed to have taken on the culture of a high church. 

What I discovered was that nothing ever remains the same except in our minds. The very thing that seemed so permanent had disappeared to be replace by something unfamiliar. To me this means that I cannot hold onto the past.  Thankfully, I have a future that is guaranteed not to change.  I do not have to attempt to go back home to the what was once familiar, but am able to look forward to what God has prepared for all followers of His Son.

Sometimes in the church we have a tendency to try to hold onto the past as if there is something sacred about the place from which we have come.  We forget that although it is important to remember those who have been the foundation of the church that has gone on before us that God has greater things for us if we just look to Him. What we try to be quite often collides with what God expects the church to be.  In all of our activities we will discover that we want everything that we can get from God but approach it from two different perspectives.  We either just want God to leave us alone and let us do church our way or we try to work very hard at pleasing Him so He will see how good we are and bless us accordingly.  The problem is that neither one works.  Operating this way will not joy no matter how successful we might be.  Both forget that church is all about grace that is neither to be squandered nor used for our own glory. 

Our narrative today is about two young men, not one, who needed to learn some important life lessons.  May we each see our place in this passage and what God wants us to become.

Luke 15:11

Jesus finishes the trilogy of parables directed toward the Scribes and Pharisees with the story which has been improperly titled the Prodigal Son. The beginning words of Jesus denotes that there was a man who “had two sons.” This fact is not extraordinary in itself but does give the framework for the story. It lays out the main characters who will play a major part in what is to follow.

1. Why were all three of the parables directed to the religious leaders? (They were the ones who lacked the qualities described in the each of the stories.)
2. What picture has been painted for us up to this point in the first two parables that contrasted the shepherd and the woman with the Scribes and Pharisees?
3. Why would Luke mention two sons if the story was about only one son? (It truly is a family story with all three of those mentioned playing a major role.)
4. Why would whoever put the title for this section of Scripture call it the Prodigal Son? (He was the most obvious sinner of the three.)

Luke 15:12

The actions of the younger son would have been unheard of in that culture.  There was tremendous respect for the patriarchs of the family, in this case the father of the two sons.  What the younger son was implying by his approach to his father was he wished that his father was already dead.  Usually the inheritance was distributed at the time of death.  The younger son showed a total lack of regard for his father and certainly violated the mores of the culture of that time. 

Rather than disown the son or berate him in any way he actually did what the son demanded.  The father actually went one step further by and divided his wealth, which would have consisted of primarily land and livestock, with both of his sons.  The older brother would have received two thirds of all of his father’s possessions according to the custom of the time.  This precedent was established by God at the time of Moses. (See Deut. 21:17)

1. What do you think of the younger son’s demand?
2. What did it show about his relationship with his father?
3. How would you have reacted under the circumstances?
4. In what ways have you made the same kind of demands of God?
5. What characteristics did the father show in contrast to his son?
6. What did the father do that was unprecendented? (He distributed his property while he was still alive and evidently still capable of managing his affairs.)
7. Why did the oldest son get twice as much?
8. Why was the law found in Deuteronomy 21:17 put into place?

Luke 15:13

Almost immediately he broke away from the restraints he must have felt in his father’s household and went as far away as he could possibly get from the situation.  It is obvious that he wanted to be on his own to make his own decisions in regard to his new found wealth.  The description of what he did with his money is the background for the idea of the prodigal son.  According to Merriam-Webster dictionary a prodigal is one who carelessly and foolishly spends money, time etc. It further describes him as:

• Characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure: lavish
• Recklessly spendthrift

Luke said of him that “he squandered his estate with loose living.”  In other words he spent all of his money living a completely immoral life. This kind of living can only have a tragic ending.

1. For what was the young man searching is shown by his actions? (He wanted complete freedom from all the restraints he felt living in his father’s house.)
2. For the young people. Why do you look for the day that you can get out from under the authority of your parents?
3. How well equipped was the young man to handle the new world in which he found himself?
4. What are you doing to equip yourselves for facing the dangerous and evil world that awaits you?
5. What does it mean to be a prodigal son?
6. In what ways may it be possible for others to describe us in this manner?
7. What was the end result for the young man so ill prepared to live out in a culture totally unlike the one from which he had to come?
8. What does complete freedom sometimes bring to a person’s life?

Luke 15:14

There came a time when all of his possessions were gone.  Along with his wealth the fair weather friends that he would have made disappeared also.  To make matters worse there was a complete economic collapse brought on by a famine which meant there was no one to help or any way to earn support for himself. Those like the young man find that when the evitable challenges and dark days come into one’s life that they are ill prepared to deal with them. The prodigal son had lost everything including his way.

1. What happens to those who are your friends only during the good times?
2. Why was it inevitable that this would happen? (There are those in this world who are takers and only care about you as long as you have something to give.)
3. Since Jesus was telling this parable why did He include the famine? (To show how desolate the situation was for the young man.)
4. How have you prepared for the challenges and difficult times that each person with surely face?
5. From whom do you seek direction for your life? Why?

Luke 15:15-16

For the Jew this man had reached the bottom.  A Jew was not to have anything to do with swine. They were one of the animals declared unclean in the Mosaic Law.  The son who once had all that he needed from his father now had to go to work for a hog farmer.  The only job the man had to offer was the lowly position of feeding pigs.  What made it even worse, in the mind of the prodigal son the hogs were being fed better than he was.  He was at the point of eating what the pigs left over.  Oh how sad how far the young man had fallen.  There is one other point that Jesus made.  All of those who had benefited from the lavish spending were not around to offer him any assistance. They either were in the same condition in which he found himself or they just chose to ignore him since he was now poor.

1. How do we know that the man had reached the very bottom in his life?
2. What was Jesus trying to show about the man’s condition?
3. How do we know when a person is a true friend?
4. How would the Pharisees now view that man? (As the lowest of sinners.)

Luke 15:17-19

Luke wrote that there reached a point when the young man understood what he had done and the predicament in which he now found himself.  He realized that things at home had not been as bad as he thought.  He concluded that the servants that worked for his father were better off than he was at that point.  Not believing that his father would forgive him for his actions he decided the best plan was to see if his father would be willing to hire him.  Before he even left for home he thought out what he would say when he arrived there. 

He would confess the horrible mess he had made of things.  At best he hoped that his father would forgive him enough to give him a job. He did not even feel worthy of being called a son or having the rights of son-ship.  Although his confession was to start with sinning against God it had to begin with the way he had treated the one who loved him, his father.  As John said in 1 John that unless you love the person who you can see, there is no place in your heart to love for the heavenly Father.

1. What does it mean to come to one’s senses?
2. What did the prodigal son understand about his situation?
3. Why did he not think that his father would not restore him to the relationship as son?
4. Has there ever been a time in your life that you did not know whether someone would be willing to forgive you? What were the circumstances?
5. Why was it important for him to come to the decision that he needed to confess his sins to his father? (There can be no restoration without confession and forgiveness.
6. What was the best result he could hope would come out of his confession? (To be forgiven enough to be hired.)

Luke 15:20a

The son put his thoughts into action.  He started the trip home.  Of course he did not know what he might face but he knew that nothing good was going to come out of the situation in which he found himself.  If nothing else he knew in his heart that he no longer wanted to be separated from his father even if it meant that he would be there as a hired servant.

1. Why was it important to start out on the trip back to where his father lived?
2. How often have you made a statement or promise and not followed through with any actions?
3. What were the consequences in your life?
4. What did the young man now understand about his father?
5. When may been a time in your life that you were unwilling to start the journey back to God because you did not believe He could truly love someone like you?

Luke 15:20b

While the son was probably full of anxiety, his father had been waiting with anticipation of the time his son would return.  Because he continued to look down the road on which his son departed it would appear that he had no doubt that one day that he would return the same way.  On the particular day about which Jesus spoke, the father’s faith became reality as he saw, in the distance his lost son approaching.  The man then did some that would have been out of character for the patriarch of the family.  He pulled up the garment, as Peter and others did, so that it would not impede his progress and he ran to his son and embraced him out of compassion.

There are those who have written that the son appeared before his father with the smell of the pig pen on him.  The father would have totally ignored the filth and odor because of his great love for his son.

Another possibility might be that along the way the son had cleaned himself up to appear before his father clean.  He would not want his father to be distracted by his appearance.  In that condition he would have been more acceptable to him.

Both are possible pictures of the human condition.  Man may approach God with the full awareness of his sinfulness and be surprised that God forgives him and accepts him into His family.

To view it another way is to see man’s attempt to pretend that he has in his own power cleaned himself up to the extent that he believes that God will accept him based on his own merit.  This will not work because no one can ever cleanse himself own his own from his sinful ways.

At this point in the parable the Scribes and Pharisees would have congratulated themselves on not being like the younger son.  They saw that the tax collectors and sinners matched their idea of those outside the will of God.

Continuing next week a different story will emerge as Jesus continues the parable.  He will deal with both the younger and older brother in light of their relationship with the father.

1. Why would the son be anxious about the impending reunion with his father?
2. Why would the father continue to look for the errant son? (He believed that one day he would return home.)
3. What did the son plan to do when he returned to the father?
4. What did the words he planned to use say about his spiritual condition?
5. In what way was it an acknowledgement of his sinful nature?
6. What were the two ways he may have prepared for the moment he met his father? (See what was written about either remaining like he was at the time he fed the pigs or cleaning himself to be more presentable.)
7. Of the two which are the ways you have approached God?
8. How would put your approach in modern terms?
9. Did either address the issue of sin? Why or why not?

    

• Take time to consider whether there are material possessions that get in the way of loving God.
• Think about your relationships with your family and ask if there is any thing standing between you and them.  If so seek to be reconciled with them.  Life is too short for the things of this world to cause friction and division among you.
• Look at your life to see if your actions have caused hurt to anyone.
• Confess and repent of your part in any family division.
• Seek to be reconciled to those who have been injured by your words or deeds.
• Understand that it may take a long time to heal old wounds so do not expect that everything will be as it once was for a while.
• Confess your sins to the Father who ultimately the One who you have disappointed.  Seek His forgiveness and restoration.

One of the things that we need to continue address in our churches is how we can be unified in Christ.  As has been said before this not mean uniformity.  What it does mean that we are to look to Jesus as the Head of the Church and we are part of the body.  To injure someone or to want to have our own agenda succeed at the expense of others is to show the kind of disrespect the younger son had for his father.  He forgot that to waste his life as he did seeking his own way splintered the relationship of his family.  If we always look at our own actions in light of how Jesus would have us live we can overcome many obstacles that are put in our path.  Let us make sure that the fruit of the Spirit is evident in our fellowship.  By doing so we will put aside the fruits of the flesh and be the Church God has called us to be. 

Next week we will look at the father’s relationship with both of his sons. Will he accept the seemingly wayward son and what will it mean for the older brother who has not been mentioned much up to this point.

Lesson 43

Luke 15:1-10

That Which Was Lost

One of the most frustrating things for me is to lose something.  I can remember as a child not be able to find a hat that someone had given me.  It was an old flight hat like the pilots we see in old war movies wore.  To me it was a treasure then one day it disappeared.  I searched and searched the place where I had kept it to no avail.  It was gone.  To this day I think that one of my parents threw it away afraid I might catch something from it.  There is another instance that sticks in my mind the sixty some years later.  I had sent off for a badge that had a secret compartment in it.  It could be gotten when a number of box tops were sent in to the cereal company along with postage of course.  I was quite proud of that trinket.  One day I took it to school and made the mistake of leaving it in my coat pocket.  Yep, you guessed it someone helped themselves to it while I was in the class room.  No amount of searching in the pockets of that jacket could restore what I had lost.

Thankfully there is the one thing that cannot be lost.  It is my relationship with Jesus.  Somehow He found me and restored me to a place in His forever family.  There are many others that need what was given to me.  When I do not share the good news I deprive them of the blessing that was extended to me by someone else along the path of my life.  I have benefited from their faithfulness. Unlike them I have often not witnessed to others even when presented the chance because for no other reason than being a timid believer.  Paul told us in 2 Timothy 1:7 that, “God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”

Timidity is one of the real foes of sharing one’s faith and ministering to others.  I remember back when our church was involved in the FAITH evangelistic strategy that I would rather facilitate the training than to actually go out on visitation.  I have never been what people called a confrontational Christian.  There are those, of which I am not one, who can seem to strike up a conversation anywhere anytime and have the lost come to faith in Christ.  Even after receiving the training I never was comfortable going up to a stranger’s home and expecting them to be welcoming to the message the FAITH team had to share.  I do find enjoyable and meaningful those times when I have the opportunity to talk about the Bible with those who are open to hearing the message contained in its pages.  This does not mean that I am indifferent to those who need to know Christ.  I would want everyone to be saved.  Sadly, if it is left up those like me not many will be saved.  I do pray for opportunities to share God’s word in the way He has equipped me.  Each of us have different gifts and abilities.  God can have us reach out in many ways.  The one excuse I do not have is to keep what God has shown me to myself.

A whole church can become apathetic to the dire condition of the lost.  Even back when we were doing FAITH the percentage of people who actually participated was a small in comparison to the total    membership of the church.  It was a time of great opportunity to witness to our friends and neighbors.  Rather than reaching out beyond our four walls we were content with what we had available for us inside the church.  Sadly, we are seeing in our society the results of this attitude, as the number of people not attending any church and identifying themselves in that way is increasing while many denominations find themselves in a declining mode.  One thing is sure.  People will only respond to those things that they believe are important.  Because we have not done the job very well, we as the total body of Christ are beginning to reap the results.

Luke 15:1

In the Jewish culture the most hated individuals, outside the Romans themselves, were the tax collectors.  These men were usually corrupt in their dealings with their own people.  Because they were given license to collect as much tax as they wanted as long as Roman got its share.  This made many of them very rich, but unhappy.  Those men as well as every other kind of sinner who was unable to keep the law were the very ones coming to hear the message that Jesus was preaching.

1. Why were the tax collectors so despised by the populace?
2. What did the Roman government allow them to do?
3. Why would these men come to hear Jesus? (All their wealth they were lonely, unhappy miserable men.)
4. How did the Romans feel about those men? (They were only tools to accomplish the dirty job of taxing the people)
5. To whom was Luke referring when he spoke of sinners? (They were those individuals who were unable to keep the law as the religious leaders laid it out before them.)
6. Why did they also come to hear Jesus? (In His message they saw hope for themselves.)
7. In which of the two groups did you see yourself at one point?
8. Which of them committed sins of commission and which sins of omission?

Luke 15:2

The religious leaders took a dim view of Jesus associating with the undesirables of society.  They did not keep their views to themselves but grumbled out loud.  It was another way for them to demean the character of Jesus. It is almost like the saying that is used today, that a person is known by the company they keep.  How much better it would have been for them to have spoken words of encouragement to those trapped in sin rather than continually trying to criticize and berate them.  They had said nothing or done nothing to lead those people into a relationship with the loving God.

1. Why did the religious leaders complain about Jesus’s association with tax collectors and sinners?
2. Why did they feel they had to discredit Jesus? (He was popular with the very people who should be praising and following them.)
3. How could they have encouraged the people?
4. How do you encourage or discourage the people with whom you come in contact?
5. What opportunities have you missed because of your view of other people?

Luke 15:3-6

In response to the religious leaders and specifically speaking to the coldness of their hearts, Jesus told a parable.  He began with a rhetorical question.  If any man was a shepherd of a flock of a hundred sheep and one went missing what would the shepherd do?  Of course he would go and look for it until it was found.  The sheep is then carried on the strong shoulders of the shepherd and brought home to safety. Then he throws a party because of one sheep. In John 10:1-18 Jesus paints a picture of the good shepherd, Himself. Here again he contrasts Himself with the self-serving religious leaders who would take care of sheep but were totally unconcerned about those who did not adhere to their interpretation of the Law.

1. To whom was the parable addressed?
2. Why did Jesus use the shepherd as an example of compassion in this parable?
3. Why would the Pharisees be more concerned about sheep than men?
4. In what ways do we write people off?
5. What is the difference between compassion and the law?

Luke 15:7

In no way did Jesus mean that God cared little for those who already love Him and have given their lives to Him.  When a person who was called in the throes of sin and death was rescued from that condition there was great rejoicing in heaven.  He or she was no longer under the power of satan but had begun eternal life.

1. In what ways is the love of God equal with all of His children?
2. In what ways does this parable say there is a difference? (Every time a person comes to Christ there is a renewed rejoicing.)
3. What should be our attitude when a person comes to Christ?
4. Why should we celebrate?
5. What should be our pattern of celebration? (Just as it is done in heaven.  What pleases God’s heart should cause us to rejoice.)

Luke 15:8-9

The coin in question meant a great deal to the woman.  There were two or three reasons the coin was so important.  It could have been:

• The amount of money needed to sustain her family for that day.  In that society the people depended on the daily wage to even survive.  When Jesus spoke of daily bread in the model prayer the people would have understood exactly what He meant.
• Part of her dowry given to her at the time of her wedding.  It was the material wealth she would have brought to the marriage.
• One of the ten silver coins that were attached to the bridal headdress by a silver chain.  Not only would it be valuable in a material way but would have been precious for sentimental reasons.

Somehow the coin had been lost on the dirt floor in a dimly lit house.  She became frantic and did everything in her power to recover it.  The floor would have reeds on it making it more difficult to see the very small coin.  To help in her search she brought in what was no more than a wick floating in oil.  She was determined that the coin would not remain lost.  When she found it she called her friends in to rejoice with her.  God turns His light on through the Holy Spirit to look into the dark world in which the lost live.  He searches the four corners of the earth locating those who need to receive His love. He never gives up until the lost is found.

1. Why was the coin so important to the woman?
2. In what way does the coin represent the condition of man?
3. Why is it sometimes so difficult for God to reach into the heart of man?
4. What does it take for the revelation of God to occur? (The light of the Holy Spirit comes to shine in the dark places of man’s heart.)
5. In what way does our attitude need to be like that of the woman’s?
6. In what ways do our actions show that we take salvation for granted?

Luke 15:10

There is no lack of joy in heaven over the salvation of each and every sinner.  He or she is more precious in the sight of God than all of the silver coins that have ever existed.  The sheep was lost by wandering off from the rest of the flock and out of the range of its shepherd’s voice.  By doing so found itself in a hostile environment that could be fatal in not found.  The coin was thrust into a situation not of its own doing but separated from its owner.  In both cases there was someone who cared enough to bring them back into the place they needed to be.  Christ the ultimate shepherd and the one who does not give up on any man brings them home.

1. What is the condition in heaven over a found coin rescued from a dark and dirty world?
2. In our own lives who is responsible for the places in which we find ourselves?
3. How do we get into the predicaments that we do?
4. Who is always there to rescue us?
5. In what way does Jesus use different methods to find and save us? Why?
6. What lesson can we learn from these two parables? (How precious each of us is in the eyes of God.)

    

• Make a list of those who you know are lost with whom you need to share the gospel.
• Avail yourself of some type of evangelistic training if possible.
• Understand that those who God brings into your path need to hear what He has done in your life.
• Work at getting over the fear of sharing the good news with others.  What do you have to lose? Nothing. What do you have to gain? A new brother or sister in Christ.
• Spend time every day in learning to understand God’s word.  By doing so you can refute the shallow arguments that non-believers make against the Bible.

If there is one theme that runs through the New Testament from the lips of Jesus to the writers of the epistles it is that sinners are lost and it is our responsibility to search for them and bring them to the Master.  That responsibility is really two pronged.  It is bringing people to Christ but just as important is the making them into disciples. Jesus never left anyone who was willing to listen in the condition in which He found them.  We must be willing to do the same. Let us get over the attitude that seems to say by our actions that it really does not matter if the lost stay lost.  Jesus told us that every time that a lost sheep or lost coin is returned to its rightful place in the flock or on the headband, there is great rejoicing.  Just think how much more important every person is than those sheep or coins.  Let us do what God called the church to be, His witnesses.  Just think what a difference that will make in our own lives and those we touch with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Lesson 42

What is Discipleship Anyway?

Luke 25-35

The question that arises every time I see the word disciple is does that describe who I am.  Several years ago a video was given to me as I prepared to lead a small group.  It was produced by Focus on the Family.  The title was “In the dust of the rabbi.”  Ray Vander Laan, a historian and teacher hosted the series.  He led a guided tour through a number of sites where many of the events of the Bible took place.  The question that haunts me from that video is, do I have what it takes to be a disciple.  Many of us have attended church from a young age and have been even been baptized.  That however does not make a person a disciple in the truest form of its meaning.  I will leave the explanation as we get into the text itself.  Sadly for me I did not understand discipleship beyond being a good church member.  I certainly did not grow as I should have for many years and still am working out my salvation with fear and trembling.

Churches all over the country are full of people who have no clue what it means to truly follow Christ. All we have to do look at the biblical illiteracy that is so pervasive throughout the church. It is difficult to know what it means to be a disciple if we do not even have the discipline to study His word.  Any organization that does not know what they are to be doing or how to produce the product that they are selling will soon fail. Churches no longer impact society because we have compromised with the world and watered down the basic doctrine of the faith.  Peter called us to be able to give the reason we are Christians.  It is obvious by the small number of people who are being drawn to Christ that we are falling short even in this area.  One other thing that stands out is our inability to disciple and help to maturity those who are new believers. 

In the following verses Jesus gave a clear picture of the beginning of the process toward becoming a true disciple.  What He has to say should shake every one of us to the core of our being.

Luke 14:25

At this point in His ministry Jesus was still very popular with the people.  As the possession moved toward Jerusalem many probably believed that He was on His way to claim His kingdom and dispose of the hated Romans.  Like citizens of today there was not such loyalty to Him as to a hope to be freed to live their lives in peace.  As He was going along He paused and turned them as He had so many times before to share some teaching with them.  In what follows He was not speaking to the religious leaders in particular or His disciples who had already committed their lives to Him but to everyone who was present. 

1. Why was Jesus still popular with the people? (He was still doing what He had been doing, healing and teaching.)
2. What was the hope that each of them had?
3. What did they hope would happen when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem?
4. In what ways were they like us? (We look to religious and political leaders to make the world a better place in which to live.  This means being able to live in peace and happiness with no one to bother us.)
5. Why did Jesus need to deal with this misconception? (He needed to head off the chaos that might occur once the caravan reached Jerusalem which could lead to open conflict with and defeat at the hands of the Romans.

Luke 14:26

His words to crowd must have startled them.  Many of the things He had said were about others like the religious leaders, tax collectors etc. Now He brought close to home what it meant to be a disciple.  He said that anything or anyone, including members of one’s own family came before Him would disqualify a person from being a disciple.

Ray Vander Laan, mentioned before, gives an insightful description of a disciple.  The Hebrew word is talmid.  In the Jewish religion a talmid who was one who had been to the synagogue school but had a desire to go further in his study of the Scriptures.  He would approach a rabbi who he admired and asked for the privilege of learning from him.  He wanted to be exactly his rabbi. For the next several years he would devote his entire life to the rabbi until he had learned all that the man could teach at that point he himself would become a rabbi.

The difference between the Jews and the process Jesus used to achieve the same goal was the method by which a man became a disciple.  Where the a young man asked the rabbi if he would allow him to be his talmid, Jesus was the One who chose those He believed had the potential to be entrusted with His work after He was resurrection.  Jesus saw them a passion of men that would be men who would be willing to spend every hour of every day with Him to learn from Him.

1. Why would the crowd be startled by what Jesus said?
2. What was the challenge presented to the people?
3. What is the challenge that His words would have for us today?
4. What is meant by the word talmid?
5. What are the things in your life that would indicate that you either are or are not a talmid?
6. How do you want to be just like Jesus?

Luke 14:27

The next challenge Jesus placed before the people called for identification with His most difficult event of His life.  The cross was the most humiliating thing that could happen to anyone.  It meant public disgrace and the most horrific death imaginable.  The events of Passion Week will be covered in more detail when we study those chapters in Luke.  Jesus was calling the people to be willing to identify with Him even it meant they must face the same things that He did.  Many would be martyred for His sake.  If one was not willing to identify with His death on the cross then they could not be His disciple.  This verse has been abused by many.  It does not mean suffering because of sickness or problems brought on by living in this world.  It is all about Christ and man’s willingness to suffer alongside Him.

1. What did Jesus mean by a person taking up his own cross?
2. What does it mean to identify with the cross of Jesus?
3. In what ways do you believe that you have identified with this idea?
4. How have we sometimes misinterpreted this verse?
5. Why do illnesses or problems not have anything to do with the cross?

Luke 14:28-30

Jesus followed with two examples that would point out using the mind in one’s approach to discipleship. The first is a picture of a man who needed to make sure he could complete a tower that would sit in his vineyard.  To fail would bring disgrace to him as others would see that he had not planned well.

1. What is Jesus saying with this example? (Discipleship is not just an emotional exercise but must be thought though carefully.)
2. What can bring failure to a person who does not approach a commitment carefully?
3. Why is the decision to follow Jesus more than emotional?
4. What are examples that we today have not counted the cost of what a commitment to Jesus mans?
5. In is the damage that can come from failing to following through on a decision?

Luke 14:31-32

The second instance points out the fact that one should understand the cost of doing battle for the Lord. One who is not strong enough to remain committed is better off not claiming that he is a disciple.  The world is going to be a difficult place for a true disciple.  To pretend to be what one is not will bring shame to the church.

1. In what way is this like the first example? (It is all about commitment.)
2. Why is it important for a man to weigh the odds before getting involved in the fray?
3. How does this second example also hurt the church?
4. How have you weighed the decision to enter into God’s service?

Luke 14:33

Jesus summarizes what He said and emphasized how He had be first place in each person’s life.  He had just spoken of that what was most dear to a person, his family. Finally He said if there is anything that a person is not willing to give up for the sake of following Him cannot be His disciple. 

1. Why does He leave this admonishment to the end? (Ultimately, it usually what we possess that trips us up. Jobs, position, things can become our gods.)
2. What are the things that you may not be willing to give up?
3. How can we make sure that things do not take the place of Jesus?
4. How can we use what we have to glorify God?

Luke 14:34-35a

Salt was a very important ingredient in the days of Jesus.  With no refrigeration it was the one way that a family could preserve foods over a period of time.  The other thing that salt does is to provide flavor to what is eaten.  Salt cannot really lose the ability to do either.  Jesus used it as a metaphor for the life of those who might follow Him.  If man loses the commitment to influence the world and point out those things that are in opposition to God it is no longer carrying out the purpose for which it was established.  Each man is to bring a quality to his environment that displays the love of God for all people.  To become self-centered defeats what God is trying to accomplish.  If a church fails in either of these attributes it may as well close its doors.

1. What does salt do?
2. How is it a picture of what the church is called to be?
3. What is the danger of losing these qualities?
4. In what ways have you seen this happen?
5. How can we become self-centered?
6. What does it imply? (We are not truly disciples.)

Luke 14:35b

There would be those there that day who would be willing truly become His talmid.  They were those who listened with a discerning mind.  John MacArthur in his book “The Truth War” spoke of those individuals as having the skills of spiritual discernment.  Those skills are “careful thought, keen interest, thorough analysis, close observation, alertness, attentiveness, thoughtfulness and above all a love of truth.” (pg. 213) Others would hear and realize that kind of life was not for them.  There would have also been those who would totally reject the words of Jesus and turn away from Him.  They may have been some who would a short time later call for His crucifixion.

1. What did Jesus mean by having ears to hear? (An openness to what He called them to be.)
2. Which of the people mentioned are found in churches today?
3. What would be the characteristics of each of them?
4. What is the danger to the church of those who may even be members who are willing to become disciples?
5. What are the qualities are those who had ears to hear?

    

• Think about the place Christ has in your heart.
• Consider all the things that may be in the way of your love for Christ and decide if you are willing to put them aside.
• Decide if your heart is passionate enough to be a true disciple of Christ.
• Count the cost of what it takes to be a disciple.
• Open your heart and mind to what Christ has said in His word.
• Look at the qualities mentioned by John MacArthur as to one who has spiritual discernment.
• Ask yourself if you are willing to put forth the effort to truly follow Christ in the manner of a Jewish talmid.

In order for the church to begin to change the lives it must head the words of Christ concerning the characteristics of a true disciple.  We have for too long allowed ourselves to drift away from an earnest search for the truth and commit ourselves to following it.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote of easy Christianity in his book “Cost of Discipleship.” Recently Christian leaders have become concerned with our lack of understanding of the gospel narrative. We are now facing a crucial time in which we need to no longer do church as usual but commit ourselves to serving Him with our total being.  Let us listen to the call He has issued to us to put Him first in every area of our lives.

Lesson 41

Dinner Guests

Luke 14:1-24

As far as I can remember I have never sat at the head table for any event.  That place has always been designated for those who were putting on the affair or honored guests.  I have to my previous statement back.  One time when I was in high school I along with some other students sat at the head table.  Although as not as well-known now the Kiwanis Clubs were a pretty important organization.  Every year they selected a number of students to be members of the key club.  Those who were chosen were nominated by the school because of grades.  Whether I truly deserved it or not somehow I managed to become a member and attended a banquet in our honor.  We had to wear a suit and tie.  The only thing I remember about the whole affair was the delicious rolls they served.  Other than that one occasion I have always sat with everyone else wondering what I would be like to be up from of all those people.  Maybe I will never know but in a way the most important thing is to know that I am going to be part of the Lamb’s wedding feast.

James wrote of a situation in which the wrong motive was given for honoring someone.  If someone was to come to church who had great possession, prestige, power and position they were invited to sit in the best seats while the less fortunate were relegated to the back seats. (See James 2:1-4) There is a real danger that we neglect the very ones for whom Jesus came to save because we are too conscious of the physical trappings of some people.  Those are those who need healing that we might choose to ignore.  There are others who we need to help to learn some humility.  Jesus has given us the answers to every one of these issues.

Luke 14:1

How Jesus happened to be in the home of the Pharisee is unknown.  It is obvious from what Luke wrote that He was not an honored guest.  If He had been invited by the man it was for one reason only.  He was being watched very closely by the religious leaders with the hope they much catch Him in some act by which they could bring accusations against Him.  Most likely they wanted to do something which in their eyes would be a violation of the Law.

1. Why would the Pharisee invite Jesus into His home?
2. What was the significance about the fact they were eating on the Sabbath Day? (Any other day the Pharisees would have disregarded Him.)
3. What did they hope He would do?
4. How do you treat new people?
5. What do you want to find about them?

Luke 14:2-3

They did not have to wait long for something to occur.  There was a man who was suffering from a swelling of the body due to the accumulation of serum in the body.  The term used in Luke was dropsy.  The modern medical term is edema.  As has been seen before why would the Pharisee who was obvious unfit to even worship in the Temple into his home? One possible reason was to trap Jesus into healing the man on the Sabbath. Jesus did not immediately healed the man.  He began by asking them a simple yes or no question.  Was it permissible or proper for a person to be healed on the Sabbath Day?  Their answer would be a true indication of how they viewed the Jewish religion i.e. the law.  Did they care more for God’s children or their precious law? 

1. Why did Jesus delay in healing the man? (He wanted to use it as a teachable moment for the religious leaders.)
2. Why was His question so revealing of the Jewish religion?
3. How could they possibly answer the question and still have control of the situation?
4. If the man was a plant how did Jesus turn the situation into a defining moment for the Jews?

Luke 14:4

Were they refusing to answer because they did want Jesus to have any credibility with the people? It was pretty much a no win situation for them. Once He determined they were not going response, He turned His attention to the man.  The man whom the Pharisees would not touch was held in the grasp of Jesus.  He healed the man and sent him away.  No longer would he be a distraction.

1. Why did the Jews refuse to response to Jesus?
2. What did their refusal say about them?
3. Why did Jesus heal the man knowing what the consequences might be? (In spite of them He had come to earth to heal mankind of physical and spiritual conditions.)
4. Why did Jesus send the man away after healing him? (He needed to give His full attention to the Jews and did not need the distraction that would come with such a healing.)
5. What answer are we to give when Jesus calls us to a specific ministry of providing for others?

Luke 14:5-6

Once again He turned His attention back to the religious leaders.  He asked His host and the others there what they would do for the animals they owned on the Sabbath.  The implication was there that they would provide for the basic needs of their possessions.  In this verse He formed into a rhetorical question.  In Luke 13:15 He put the same scenario before the religious leaders after healing the woman.  In both cases they could not answer because to do so would show them as uncaring and unfeeling men.

1. Why did He again ask the question about giving the animals nourishment? (He wanted them to face the importance of caring more for those who were Abraham’s children than the animals even it was done on the Sabbath.)
2. From their silence what can we conclude about the men? (They did not want to admit that Jesus was right.)
3. How would their answer incriminate them?
4. What questions might Jesus put to us regarding those who have tried to become a part of the church but were not encouraged by others?
5. What are the basic needs we are to meet of those who come into the church?

The following parables are all directed at the religious leaders.  Everything they did was to promote themselves.  In the book of Esther Haman displayed the same kind of attitude.  As will be seen there are always consequences for the actions taken by any individual.

Luke 14:7-10

As has been seen many times before Jesus was a keen observer of people.  Their actions conveyed their lifestyles.  He noticed that certain people were jockeying for the best seats at the wedding feast.  These were people who thought very highly of themselves and believed that others should also understand how important they were.  Jesus turned that whole practice on its head.  Rather than taking the best seats and possibly being humiliated when someone of greater stature arrived and having to give up the place of honor start in the back of the room.  If the host then should move that person into a better seat everyone would notice.

This was the problem with the Pharisees. Everything they did was for show and to receive the adulation of the people.  They prayed out loud on the street corners.  Fasted in a way that it was obvious that they were being contrite.  Even in the giving of alms they made sure everyone observed that they were doing.  This was the kind of performance Jesus condemned over and over.  In last week’s lesson He spoke of those who were last on the social register would be welcomed into God’s kingdom while those who thought they were saved would find themselves as outsiders in the kingdom.

It is interesting that this was not the first time that in Scripture that this issue was addressed. In Proverbs 25:6-7 Solomon admonished the people to take care how they behaved in the presence of the king.

1. To whom was Jesus directing the parable?
2. What did He notice about the guests at the event He was attending?
3. In what ways have you observed this kind of attitude in the church?
4. How have you handled be honored?
5. What is the consequences of false pride?
6. In what way did Jesus turn the practice on its head?
7. What can you do to keep this kind of thing happening in your life?
8. Who is the one who truly gives honor to each of us?
9. In what ways does He do it?
10. Why would Solomon deal with the same situation as is found in Proverbs 25:6-7? (The nature of man had not changed in approximately nine hundred years.)

Luke 14:11

Only Jesus could have made the statement about the consequences of one who promotes himself.  He was the total opposite of those who exalted themselves.  Here was God’s own Son who had given up His place beside His Father for a while as Creator of the whole universe to become like man. (See Philippians 2)  In Matthew 20:28 Jesus shares His feelings of why He came to earth.  He said that He came to serve not to be served.  Those who exalt themselves have the attitude of being worthy of being served by others and that they know what is best for all others. Jesus very strongly states that the men are doomed to failure.  The pages of history are full of those who were once great but ended in dismal defeat.  A whole study could be made on the men and women of the Bible who were humiliated because of their actions.  Jesus had hope for some of mankind.  His words were comforting to those who understood the true nature of God and man’s position before Him.  He said, “He who humbles himself will be exalted.”  The man or woman who thinks more of God and others will receive the praise of the Father.

1. What are the words of judgment are to be found in this verse?
2. What examples come to mind that affirm these words?
3. How you be sure that you will receive praise from the Father?
4. What is the danger for us in this verse?
5. What are examples of false humility that would negate the meaning of these words?
6. What is true humility?
7. Why does God like a humble person so much?

Luke 14:12-14

Jesus spoke of true hospitality.  To show that one truly cares about others he should not just have gatherings with those who could reciprocate in kind.  He should invite those who would be considered unfit to be a part of upper class receptions.  By doing so he would truly be blessed.  It is almost like giving Christmas gifts to family and friends.  Gifts of like value are passed back and forth.  A good example is the exchange of gift cards.  Jesus said to give to those who cannot do the same.  Rather than receiving a repayment for your actions in the present age it will be placed in your account where the treasures cannot be destroyed.

1. Who are the people you normally invite to your parties or other events?
2. Why do you invite those particular people?
3. How can we do what Jesus instructed His host to do?
4. Who are those you know that cannot reciprocate when you do something special for them?

Luke 14:15

There was at least one person at the meal that understood what Jesus was saying.  He saw that it was not what one receives now that is important but being a part of God’s kingdom in the future.

1. How does one receive the kind of blessing the man spoke about?
2. What have you done to make sure you are part of God’s kingdom in the future?

Luke 14:16-17

This is the third of three pictures Jesus painted about the relationships of different groups of people with the Father. Each one is built around a dinner of some type or another.  In this case the host, God, gave a big dinner.  He invited many to the feast.  One after another came up with some excuse for missing out on the meal. It was important to note that all of those invited well ahead of time that the date for the dinner had been set.  Each excuse given showed a disregard and disrespect for the host giving the party.  They said:

• Land had been bought which needed to be checked out.
• Yoke of oxen had been bought and needed to be inspected.
• I just gotten married and cannot come.

Those invited represented the Jews who had for most of their history had rejected the host and disobeyed the Father. The response of the host to those who had turned their back was to close the door on the opportunity to be part of what He was offering.

1. Why did Jesus use the picture of the dinner? (It is a time of joy, fellowship and fulfillment.)
2. What do you think about the excuses of the men who had been invited?
3. How did Jews reflect the attitudes of the invitees?
4. Why do we not have any excuse for not responding to God?  (The message has been available for as long as man has been on earth.)
5. What will those who reject the message find at the end of their lives? (That God is real and they were mistaken.)

Luke 14:21-23

Although the Jews have rejected the opportunity to become part of God’s kingdom through His Son for whom the dinner was given, He did not cancel the feast.  He had His servants, the prophets and apostles to issue an invitation to those who had been denied access to Him by the Jews.  The door of opportunity to hear the gospel was given to the Gentiles who had been waiting to hear it.  Even with all who have entered into the kingdom there is always room for more. 

The host then sent others out to encourage those who did not believe they were worthy to be a part of God’s family to come into the feast. They are to be found in all of the out the way places of the world.  Many in third world countries believe they have been completely forgotten by God.  He was telling the slaves that no one should be considered beyond His reach.

1. What opportunity did the rejection by the Jews of the gospel give to the rest of us?
2. Who were the slaves that He sent out?
3. What does His command to the prophets and apostles of every generation say about God?
4. Who has God forgotten?
5. If a person does not come to the part who is to blame? Why?
6. Who are those that God still wants us to tell about Him?
7. Who is beyond His reach?

Luke 14:24

The last statement by Jesus at the end of the trilogy pointed out how devastating for the Jews that they rejected the invitation of God. They would find their seats at the table taken by those that they had considered not to be fit to be part of their idea of God’s kingdom.

1. Why was this statement so devastating to the Jewish mindset? (They thought that they could anyway they desired and still be part of God’s family.)
2. What has been their fate throughout history?
3. What was their attitude to those who are now part of God’s family?
4. Why is it important that you do not live as you have exclusive rights to God?

    

• Consider all those who come into the church who have needs of different kinds.  For each of them be part of the healing they need and not a hindrance.
• Although it is difficult for man, learn that those who have true humility can serve in the way that Christ did.
• Understand that everyone that God brings into our presence is important to Him and needs to be treated with kindness and great interest.
• Never make excuses when ask to be part of God’s kingdom, serving Him when He calls.
• Consider your life.  Have you made the decision to make sure you are included in God’s kingdom?

In the church there are all types of individuals.  In this trilogy we have just studied there are Pharisees and the physically sick.  We need to do everything possible to minimize the influence of those who are self-centered who do not care for the needs of others. God intends for the church to be a place of healing.  In the parable wanted us to develop a spirit of humility. We are to be thankful for the position in His kingdom He has provided for us.  He is the One who opens the doors of opportunity to be leaders and servants in the church. We do not need to promote ourselves only to be servants.  Finally, we have been invited to participate in the feast at which Jesus is the host. We dare not miss out on finding ourselves at the table.  To reject the invitation will cause us to miss out on the eternal life He offers to each of us.  Chapter 13 started out with the narrow gate and ended with a dinner that can only be attended by those chosen by the host to be there.  Like the church it will include a very diverse group of people.  Thankfully, He has invited us to be a part.

Lesson 40

Focus on the Narrow Way

Luke 13:22-35

Probably one of the most difficult things that I do is to focus on any one task for a very long time.  That is one reason I find myself reading three or four books at one time. Even magazine articles are usually longer than I would like.  To stick with anything very long I almost have to make a conscious decision to follow through until whatever I am doing is complete.  As you would expect this sometimes leaves projects half done because I move on to something else.  Variety is kind of the name of the game with me.

There is one area of my life that cannot be treated in this way.  It is my daily walk with the Lord.  Paul said it best in Philippians as he spoke of the relationship that each of must maintain with Christ. He wrote that we are to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phil. 2:12)  This relationship is not to be treated haphazardly but with all seriousness and every fiber of our being.  This is difficult but the reward in the future is certainly worth it.

Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger wrote a book some time ago called the “Simple Church.” The theme of the book was to point out how bogged down churches can become by trying to be everything to all people.  They concluded that it is impossible to accomplish that task.  What happens over a period of time is a church starts and never stops programs trying to satisfy the needs of those in attendance or those it is trying to attract. Eventually, it no longer has a clear idea of the reason it even exists because everyone is too busy trying to maintain the organization it has created.  It loses the focus of sharing and living out the gospel in a world that is chaotic at best and lost at the worse.  Rainer gave a clear picture of how to address the issue.  They were to:

• Clarify the vision
• Move everyone along the path to accomplish sharing the gospel
• Align everything it does to carry out the vision
• Focus on the ministries that fulfill the vision of the church.  Add only those ministries which allow for this to occur and eliminate those programs that become barriers to serving God.

The danger for the church is that even trying to remain as a Simple Church may cause to expending all of our energy on doing so and still miss the reason God started the church in the first place.  We can become so busy doing our works that we forget that what is truly important is the salvation that God has given to us through the work of His Son.  Unless everything we do is to glorify Him and now bring attention to ourselves we are wasting time.  The church is all about the gospel, the event of Christ’s birth, life, death and resurrection.  This is the narrative that the world so desperately needs to hear.

Luke 13:22

Jesus was making His way to Jerusalem for the last time.  As He had done ever since He began His ministry He continued to teach as He passed through each city and village along the way.

1. Why was this time so important to Jesus? (He was heading towards Jerusalem and His crucifixion.)
2. Why did He not just go straight there? (People still needed to hear the message He had to share?
3. Who was audience? (Both those in the city and village.)
4. How would His message vary?  (Those in the different environments would have different needs.)

Luke 13:23a

Luke does not give the nationality of the individual who approached Jesus.  In all likelihood it was a Jew.  On the surface his question would appear to be from one concerned about his own salvation.  What he was really asking was there going to be any others saved besides Jews and their proselytes. The few to which he was referring were of course Jews. They were not sure that any Gentile would have the opportunity to be saved.

1. Why did it make any difference who the man was who approached Jesus? (The Jews held and an exclusive attitude about salvation.)
2. How much was his question life what we might have asked Jesus? (At that point the only salvation that was available was the one to come at the end of time for the Jews.)
3. What would have been his attitude about Gentiles? (Gentiles were not candidates for salvation.)
4. Who are those we might view as being like the Gentiles?
5. Why was the man’s approach completely different than that of Jesus?

Luke 12:23b-24

The answer Jesus gave him would have been totally unexpected. It was not the clear response that would have affirmed the man’s understanding of salvation.  It was not just a matter of belonging to a particular people that guaranteed eternal life. If fact even went way beyond any idea that the man may have had.  First, Jesus indicated who would be found in His kingdom.  It was those who agonized over the decision to follow Him.  Each man must come to the place where he understands that the narrow way is a metaphor for Jesus, Himself.  He truly is the only way to salvation.  In John 14:6 He told His disciples, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life and no one come to the Father but through Me.”  In or to enter each person Jew or Gentile would have faced the reality of his sinful life and the need for forgiveness.  From Jesus’ answer it is clear He was not talking about a onetime event but a continuing growing in the faith.

Secondly. There are those who think they have salvation who have never been saved.  They have done all the right things and may even have been members of a church for a long time but have never made the decision to follow Christ. Jesus was talking specifically about the Jews and Jewish leaders who kept all of the laws externally but who had never had a change of heart. 

1. What answer did the man expect?
2. How did the answer of Jesus shatter any false security the man may have had? (Salvation comes only by the act of repentance and willingness to follow Jesus in a new relationship.)
3. What did Jesus mean when He stated that to find salvation one must strive for it?
4. What did the metaphor of the narrow door mean?
5. In what way was the answer the man received different than he expected?
6. What did Jesus mean by striving to enter the narrow gate? (It is agonizing over your sinful life and making the decision to follow Him.)
7. How have we watered down what Jesus was saying?  (Many do not wrestle with the decision as He was calling man to do.)
8. How have we weakened this idea of the struggle it takes to come into a relationship with Jesus? (Because our lives do not often reflect the momentous decision of coming to Jesus on His terms.)
9. What are the characteristics of those who think they are saved but are not?

Luke 13:25

There is going to come a time when man will no longer have the opportunity to find salvation. For many it will be the day when the church is raptured.  For others it will be the second coming of Christ.  Jesus was saying that man must make the decision to follow Him while there is still time. His next words should have struck fear into the hearts of those who heard them.  Those who choose to reject Him will be treated as complete strangers.

1. What is the importance of not waiting to make a decision to follow Jesus?
2. What happens when the door of opportunity is shut?
3. When is the door closed on those who have not become followers of Christ? (One’s death, the rapture, the second coming of Christ and the final day of judgment.)
4. What have you done to be assured that you are not found on the outside of the door looking in?
5. Why was Jesus giving the warning? (He wants all to be saved)
6. How will Jesus view those who reject Him?
7. How does that statement make you feel?

Luke 13:26

With His next words Jesus anticipates that the people will try to justify why they are worthy of salvation.  He indicated that all of His teaching had not changed their lives at all.  They heard what He had to say and was in His presence during times of celebrating the fact that He was in their towns. It may seem like a play on words, but they knew of Him but did not truly know Jesus and why He came into their lives.  He may have taught what they needed to hear but their hearts were still wrapped up in the fact that they did not need what He taught because they had the Law of Moses as the directive for their lives. 

1. How did cut off any argument they might have in response to His words? (He told them what they were thinking before they had a chance to argue with Him.)
2. What was at the core of the way they would have answered Jesus? (They did not need to follow His teachings because they had the law.)
3. Why was that type of reasoning not good enough? (Salvation is based on grace and not works.)
4. How was it possible for the people to think they knew Jesus when they really did not? (It is easy to know facts about someone but never really know the person.)
5. How can we be in church or around true followers of Christ and miss the heart of the gospel?
6. Why do so many who attend church miss the heart of the gospel message?
7. In what ways can we get caught up in the belief that we are good enough to be saved or are self-sufficient?

Luke 13:27

There is but one verdict to be issued against those who reject Jesus.  He sends them away from Him.  Even though they thought they were righteous because of their status as Jews, Jesus condemned them as evil doers.  Their fate rather than the paradise they expected was to be in place of eternal separation and punishment.  Many today that death brings the end to consciousness.  Jesus however indicates that all who suffer the judgment He described will be aware of those righteous men like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in their rightful place in God’s kingdom.  The acute awareness of their own failings will cause weeping and gnashing of teeth.  They will realize that there is no place in God’s kingdom for them and they will be thrown out.

1. What is the verdict that will be handed down to those who reject Jesus?
2. Why did Jesus proclaim those Jews to be evil doers?  (The law cannot justify any man.)
3. What did Jesus make clear about what will occur in the future for evil doers?
4. What do you say to those who think that death will bring about the end of consciousness?
5. What does it say about eternity? (Each person will spend eternity either in heaven or hell.)
6. What will be the worse punishment for those who reject Jesus? (They will be aware of what they missed.)
7. What examples did Jesus give of those who are enjoying the fruits of God’s Kingdom?
8. What does it say to us today? (God is the Father of the living both past and present.)

Luke 13:28

The very people that the Jews thought would be fuel for the fires of hell will be those who will be welcomed into God’s kingdom.  Of course He was speaking of the Gentiles who would be from every land and every people.  They will enjoy the fellowship with Him for eternity.  Jesus spoke of two categories.

• The Gentile who were originally excluded from God’s kingdom will find a rightful place there. (See Ephesians 2)
• The Jews who were given every opportunity but because of their rebellion and disobedience found themselves on the outside looking in. (See Romans 11) 

1. Who were those who were last but would find themselves first?
2. Who were those who were first but would become those who found themselves last?
3. What is your place in the kingdom of God?
4. What has provided you with possibility of finding yourself there?
5. What kind of attitude would move you to the back of the line?
6. In what ways were the Jews to be excluded?

Luke 13:31

It is almost as if Jesus had hardly gotten the words out of His mouth condemning the Jews when some Pharisees brought a warning to Jesus.  Luke wanted his readers to understand that even before the resurrection there were some of the religious leaders who had accepted His teachings. John affirms this truth in chapter 12:42 when he spoke of a number of the Pharisees believing in Him. In contrast Herod expressed the sentiments of most of the other leaders with his threat to kill Jesus.

1. What does the response of the Pharisees tell us about the power of the teaching of Jesus?
2. How did their feelings contrast with others like Herod?
3. Why would Herod desire to have Jesus killed? (He may have seen Him as a threat to his own power and to please the Jews.)
4. How did
5.  John 12:42 affirm what we have seen here in Luke?

Luke 13:32

Jesus had some strong words for Herod. He called him a fox. William Barclay wrote in his exposition on Luke that the word fox carried with it three ideas, all of them negative.  He said that one with those characteristics was:

• Sly
• Destructive
• Worthless and insignificant

This man with his threats would not deter Jesus from completing His mission.  His goal was to arrive in Jerusalem and be crucified as He and His Father had planned from before creation.  Like those who had gone before Him He must be perish in the vicinity.  Until that moment he would continue to cast out demons and heal those in need.

1. By going to Jerusalem what did it show about the character of Jesus?
2. What was Jesus’s feeling about Herod?
3. What characteristics defined Herod Antipas?
4. Why was it important for Him to travel to Jerusalem? (A prophet must be killed in Jerusalem.)
5. What did Jesus plan to do until His crucifixion?
6. In what ways have you shown courage in the face of adversity?

Luke 13:34-35

This lesson started with a man asking about eternal life.  Jesus gave a clear picture of those who would be saved and those who would spend eternity separated from Him.  Most of the Jews had chosen to hold on to the idea that only they were worthy of salvation because of their status as the chosen people of God.  It had to be pointed out to them that to reject Jesus would bring the judgment they did not expect to receive.  Luke finishes with Jesus lamenting over the fact that the Jews as represented by Jerusalem had killed prophets and stoned those sent with a message of warning from God.  Now the Son of Man was there and they were about to do the same to Him.  Rather than gathering themselves under His care they were rejecting the One who had come to give them Life. 

Their future, because they rejected God’s Son would be filled with desolation and exile.  About forty years after Jesus spoke those words His prophecy came true.  In 70 A.D. the Romans came to Jerusalem and destroyed it.  Most of the Jews were dispersed throughout the known world.  They would not return in great numbers until 1948 when the present state of Israel was established.  Jesus did, however, as Paul had in Romans, ended with a promise for the people.  When Jesus would return they would acknowledge Him and proclaim, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.  Godly is not through with His people.  They will in the end times once again fulfill their role as God’s chosen people and become the priests He originally intended them to be. 

1. What was Jesus’ final words concerning the Jews as represented by Jerusalem?
2. What do you see that what was really in the heart of Jesus as He prophesied about Jerusalem?  (There was a deep sadness in His heart.)
3. What would Jesus say if He were to stand outside of Chesterfield County?
4. Even closer to home what would He say about our relationship to Him?
5. How have we carried out the mandate He gave in the Great Commission?
6. What kind of judgment will He pronounce against the church today?
7. How about every level of society? 

• Look at Scriptures that speak of the ongoing battle in which you find yourself against the domain of the devil?
• What do you understand about the word striving to enter the narrow door?  Have you experience that kind of wrestling in your personal walk with Christ?
• Pray that you will not be one on the outside looking in when the Day of Judgment comes.
• Understand that Christ has called you to witness to all types of people.
• Read about the history of the Jews to see how God has dealt with those who have rejected His Son.

The church is both inclusive and exclusive.  We have a mandate to reach the lost so that they will be included in God’s kingdom.  The exclusion comes when people try to say they are Christians without truly believing in Jesus Christ as the only way to eternal life.  We hear false teachings that have deceived people into a false sense of security.  Jesus said that those individuals will be left outside of His kingdom.  Sadly, many today believe that the person ends at death and is no more.  The Scripture is clear that each of us will spend eternity somewhere.  Life is a struggle against an evil and perverse world.  Jesus said He is the only way to life and victory over evil.  Let us work at understanding what salvation means for each of us and work at it with fear and trembling as Paul wrote in Philippians.  Thankfully we are not in the battle alone.  For greater is He who is with us than he who is in the world.

Lesson 39

A Call to Repentance

Luke 13:1-20

In my life there are many thing for which I have asked forgiveness.  This lesson would be way to long for me to mention many of them.  The one example I would like to share happened fifty some years ago. There was a young Episcopal minister of whom I was very fond.  I have spoken of him before and the admiration I had for him.  A couple who did not attend our church said they saw him drinking and they did not feel that was right.  I agreed with them and probably said things that I should have left unsaid.  If he knew about what I had said he never spoke about it to my knowledge.  He would have had every right to condemn me for my conversation.  To me his behavior reflected the grace that Jesus extends to all of us. It certainly was not my place to judge him.  Even though just a teenager there were things I had done for which I was not proud.

Just before my mother, brother and I moved from North Carolina to Richmond he called me to his house.  I do not remember what was said but both of us were sorry to part ways.  Then he gave me a gift which I still have to this day.  It was the Celtic cross that he wore each Sunday on the outside of his vestments.

There are two regrets that I have. The first is that I did not the opportunity to ask his forgiveness.  The second is that I did not keep in touch with him after I moved away.  I guess that fifteen year old boys do not think to do that type of thing.  Over the years I have wondered where he might be.  Facebook and other tools have not brought me any success.  At this point all I can say is I will see him in heaven.  Thank you Mr. Smith for all the compassion and love you showed to a teenager who needed them.

One of the obvious characteristics of a church in need of repentance is its attitude toward guest who attend services.  There are many churches who have been studied over the years who have thought they were the friendliest one around.  They may give all appearance of being welcoming, when in reality they are only care about those who are already attending.  It is hard to break into that kind of body because they are quite satisfied with what they have.  Unless the church is willing to change and be accepting of others it will eventually dry up and die.  Christ welcomed all kinds of people into His kingdom.  He called each of them to repentance.  If we do not have the attitude of Christ we are in need of confessing how we have fallen short of living for Him.  No church is perfect, but everyone can be one full of forgiven people who want to show the way to forgiveness through repentance.

Luke 13:1

It was brought to the attention that Pilate’s had killed a number of Jews as they offered a sacrifice at the Temple. In light of the answer Jesus gave to those who shared the information that they possibly thought they deserved what they had gotten.  Quite often riots took place during feasts in Jerusalem.  The men killed may have been zealots who hated and were hated by the Romans.  The soldiers would use any reason to punish the Jews.  There is another factor that might have come into play.  The Judeans may have looked down on the Galileans as an inferior people who had been killed because they were evil men.

1. Why did the Jews bring the killing of the Galileans to the attention of Jesus?  (To justify their position as superior to the Galileans.)
2. Why would Pilate have the Roman soldiers attack the people? (He hated the Jews and would use every opportunity to punish them.)
3. Why would the Galileans protest against the Romans? (They hated the Romans as much as the Romans hated them.)
4. Why did those from Judea believe that the death of the men was justified?  (They believed God punished the wicked.)

Luke 13: 2-3

Jesus put His answer in the form of a question as He often did.  He wanted to know if those particular men were any worse than all others who lived in Galilee.  The Jews were included in His call to the people to repent.  Also included but unsaid was the fact that all men Jew or Gentile must repent or suffer eternal separation from God.

1. Why did He put his answer into the form of a question? (He wanted them to see clearly their own position before God.)
2. What did the Jews believe happened to one who sinned? (They might meet the fate of the Galileans.)
3. What did this say about the attitude of the Jews which was completely bogus? (They were not punished as those Galileans were because they were God’s chosen people.)
4. How can we get trapped into this same kind of mindset?
5. What did Jesus’ answer say about us? (We all stand in the need of repentance.)

Luke 13:4-5

The table was then turned on the Jews.  Jesus told of another episode that included the death of eighteen people when the tower of Siloam fell on them.  He wanted to hear from them if they thought those Jews who were killed were any worse that all of the others who not killed.  Again He included every man when He told them that the Jews needed to repent in order to keep from perishing.

1. Why did Jesus then speak of the event which included the death of some Jews?
2. Were they guilty of sin that brought about their death?
3. What would both events say about God if He had  purposely caused the death of those people in that way? (He was an arbitrary and capricious who discriminated against men at will.)
4. What do we know about God and His Son?

Luke 13:6-9

The parable of the fig tree was a picture of Israel and its history and future because it had refused to repent and obey God.  The comparisons are:

• The fig tree was Israel who God had chosen to be His people.  Their tasks were to obey God and to be His witnesses throughout the world.
• The fertile soil of course was the land of Israel itself. The people were planted in the Promised Land.  It was described as a land full of milk and honey. That depiction was verified when the spies reported back in the book of Number it was a fertile land.
• The lack of fruit pictures an apostate people who continually disobeyed God and were not fruitful.  Sadly, they often took up space in a land that was supposed to produce much.
• The three years represents the years that God tried to draw His people to Him by sending those prophets who called the people to repentance.
• The vineyard keeper is Jesus who came on the scene for a final call to the Jews to repent and turn back to the Father.
• To reject Him would bring about dire consequences as the history of the Jews proves.  It was less than forty years when the Romans came and destroyed the city in A.D. 70.  The Jews have yet to fully recover from those days.  Even today the nation is very secular in its thinking.  It will take the tribulation to awaken the people to the need to repent of their sins and turn to Christ.  Thankfully their greatest achievements still lay in the future when God will redeem His people.

   

1. What was the problem that Jesus was addressing in this parable? (The continual rebellion and apostasy of the people.)
2. How much are we like Israel today?
3. What is in our future if we continue down the path we are travelling?
4. How can it be turned around?
5. What is God calling us to be today?

Luke 13:10-13

At that point the popularity of Jesus was still great with the people.  Being a rabbi he had been invited to speak in one of the synagogues in Perea, which was beyond the Jordan.  As He was speaking He saw a woman in need of healing. The healing of the woman in the synagogue may not seem to have any connection to the judgments expressed in the previous chapters.  There is a definite tie in as will soon be seen. Once again Jesus violated the traditions of the Sabbath by healing the woman who had been doubled over for eighteen years.  He called to the woman to come to Him before all those in attendance and said, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” She began glorifying God for what He had done in her life.

1. Why was Jesus still popular with the people?  (They were not caught up in all of the controversies but were there to hear Jesus and receive healing?
2. Why did Jesus once again violate the traditions of the Jewish religious leaders? (Compassion for people was more important than rules and regulations.)
3. Why was Jesus able to heal the woman? (She was willing to come to Him in all humility and trust.)
4. From what have you been freed?
5. Why do you know that this has occurred?
6. How do you identify with the woman both in her coming to Him and glorifying of God?

Luke 13:14

As would be expected there was a totally different response from the synagogue leader.  There was no gratitude or compassion on his part for the fact that a fellow human being had been healed by Jesus.   He became quite indignant that the healing had occurred under his watch and on a Sabbath Day in particular.  Jesus was informed in no uncertain terms that He had to do miracles on a time schedule which did not include such activities taking place on the Sabbath. His attitude reflected the heart of Israel found in the parable of the fig tree.  They were in bondage to their traditions and rules and missed Jesus and what He came to do for them.

1. How did the synagogue leader respond to what Jesus had done?
2. What did his response show about him?
3. In what ways do we sometimes display the same kind of attitude?
4. What should be our primary concern in the church? (The genuine needs of the people both physically and spiritually.)
5. In what ways do our own traditions sometimes get in the way of what God calls us to do?

Luke 13:15-17

Quickly, Jesus addressed the heart of the issue.  He called those with the same attitude “hypocrites.” He then gave them a practical example of their hypocrisy.  They felt a need to feed and water their livestock on the Sabbath but had no compassion for the woman who had suffered so greatly.  After hearing the message of Jesus and seeing His works they were unwilling to turn from their false practices and beliefs.  Calling them to hopefully see things differently He called attention to the woman once again.  He pointed out that unlike the animals for which they had such concern she was a person made in the image of God and part of His chosen people through Abraham.  Surely, she deserved to be released from bondage more than animals needed to fed and watered.  “His opponents were being humiliated” but definitely did not have a change of heart.  Meanwhile the people rejoiced over all they had just witnessed.

1. Why did Jesus call the religious leaders hypocrites? (They did not live what they preached.)
2. Why did Jesus use the example of the livestock to make His point? (It suited them to take care of what belonged to them.)
3. How was the woman different? (Made in the image of God and a daughter of Abraham.)
4. How does the description of the religious leaders sometimes fit the way we act?
5. How, from what is about to occur in the not too distant future, did being humiliated affect the religious leaders in Judea and Jerusalem?
6. What other results would have been preferable?
7. Why do we need our faults pointed out to us?
8. How do you hope this will be done?
9. What should be our attitude?

Luke 13:18-20

As He concluded His time in the synagogue, Jesus told two additional parables both of which carried the same theme.  Something small and insignificant as a little mustard seed grows into a bush large enough to provide resting place for the birds of the air. His second example is the effect that leaven has on the dough in which it has been hidden.  Small acts done in the name of God impact the world and changes the environment in which a person lives the domain of God’s control and influence. Care must be taken that the influence be from God and not men like the religious leaders who sought followers for their way of life away from true commitment to Jesus.

1. What are some of the things that we consider insignificant that have greatly influenced your life?
2. What did Jesus mean by those things that were viewed as unimportant?
3. What did Jesus mean by talking of the kingdom of God?
4. In what ways have you given your complete life to Jesus so His kingdom can be a lived in you?
5. What the things that influence your life?
6. Who has impacted your life?
7. In what ways have that influence been beneficial or destructive?

    

• As you meditate on God’s word this week think particular about those things in your life for which you need to repent.
• Do not allow time to pass before making amends with someone whom you may have hurt by your actions or words before you no longer have that opportunity.
• Approach Jesus with a humility that allows Him to free you from whatever is binding you.
• Be discerning when considering the influence things or people may have in your life.
• Allow God’s kingdom to so permeate your life that you want to live for Him only in His kingdom

The last several lesson have carried in them both warnings and promises for the church.  We are to take great care in following the words written in God’s word.  Paul spoke in Acts of those  within the body who seek our destruction through false teachings.  We must be on guard against those who teach one thing and live a completely different lifestyle.  Christ condemned such behavior and we should do the same.

It is important for us to impact the world in the same as the small mustard seed and leaven did.  Everyone one us start out as infants in the faith but are called to grow and mature.  The first step is to repent of those things in our lives that keep us separated from Him.  It is fitting that He finished this time with that call. With all the strength within us we are to be the kind of church where anyone can see the kingdom of God present.

Lesson 38

Where Is It All Leading?

Luke 12:49-59

Where it is all leading is a good question to ask ourselves. There was a point in time when my whole life lay ahead.  I had no idea how it would all turn out and many ways still do not.  As I look back there was a pivotal point that changed my perspective.  It is what I like to call a turning point.  It is those moments when I sensed a new direction in my spiritual walk with God.  Until many years later I could not have given it a name.  I just knew it had occurred. 

For some reason I was led to make a study of the turning points in the lives of those in the Bible.  I discovered as I searched God’s word, that even though there was one major event in the lives of each of them, there were many crossroads that determined the path they would travel.  What happened to them still has an effect on me down to this day.  As was true for them the choices I make still lead me in one direction or another.  They also impact the lives of those who mean a great deal to me.  I have to be careful to understand that what I do may also cause someone I do not know well to either be drawn to Christ or to turn away from Him.  My words or deeds might be the catalyst to bring a person to his or her own turning point. 

The future of the church is determined by its own turning points.  Each time a new Teaching Elder comes or leadership changes the church is confronted with what kind of body it will become. There are some things that are more difficult to change, even with a shift in those who are providing direction to the church.  At some point a culture developed that takes a long time to be altered.  It would take a generation or two to make it happen. 

One of the greatest dangers for a congregation is to ignore the opportunities that God presents to us. Recently we have seen an influx of new families who are attending. How they view what we are providing for the whole family in the way of ministries will determine their commitment to the church meeting where we are located.  Without realizing their decisions are a turning point for them and for the church as well.  New people should open our eyes to see if what we have been doing is still effective in making disciples who make disciples.

Luke 12:49-50

Even before Jesus’ earthly began in earnest John the Baptist spoke of fire.  He stated that Jesus would “baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Matthew 3:11.  The events that were going to occur in the coming days could only be described as fire. When an object is set ablaze it brings about a number of results.  (See Matthew 3:10, 12)  It may provide warmth, purify objects or completely destroy anything in its path.  Anything it touches will be completely altered. 

Jesus used that metaphor in His discourse with His disciples.  Through the suffering on the cross and the events to follow, He was going to turn all of previous history on its head.  No longer would the Jews depend on the Law. He was about to usher in a new age, the age of grace. The world and men’s lives would be forever changed by what He was about to accomplish by His death on the cross and resurrection.

Just as important is the idea expressed in Matthew that with His death the Holy Spiritual come on the scene to radically affect mankind from the day of Pentecost forward.  In Acts 2:3 is the picture of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit appearing as tongues of fire and resting on all of the people in the upper room.

Jesus was anxious for this event to occur.  He knew however that for the fire to come that would change men He had to go through the crucifixion which He described as baptism.  The church today celebrates baptism to signify that man has died and has been become new in Christ. Because of His death and man’s new relationship the Holy Spirit now indwells and empowers him to live a Christ like life.

1. What are some of the attributes of fire?
2. What does it accomplish?
3. What did Jesus mean by using the idea of fire to describe what was to occur? (A radical alteration was about occur to the way man would have a relationship with God.  No longer would it be according to the law but grace. Look back at the passages mentioned in Matthew.)
4. What did Jesus mean by speaking of His own baptism which He was about to undergo? (He would have to pass through death to live again.)
5. What actions have you taken to show that your life has been changed?

Some of the commentators alluded to fact that Jesus was also speaking of the final judgment against sin that would occur out in the future.  The final act of judgment will be the casting of the devil into the lake of fire to be punished forever.  One fact is clear that the whole world will be altered from its present state.  Revelation speaks of the New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven.  It is to be the new home of believers.

Luke 12: 51-53

The new reality that was to come would forever alter relationships between people.  For over fourteen hundred years the Jews lived by the Law of Moses.  Even though they may not have followed it they all believed that it was the guide for life and their relationship with the Father.  Jesus was about to change all of that.  Now man would have to choose between the following the Law or Jesus.  That choice would break down the peace they all had experience.  There would now be division even in families as some held on to their Jewish beliefs while others believed that Jesus was now the way to salvation through His death on the cross. 

1. What did Jesus mean that He came to bring division rather than peace?
2. In what ways was the peace the Jews practiced false? (Everyone followed the Law.)
3. In your life has your decision to become a follower of Christ affected your relationships with others?
4. When have you experience outright hostility?
5. Why is opposition or apathy among family members the hardest to endure?

Luke 12:54-56

Jesus turned from the disciples to the crowds to level His next criticism of the way men viewed Him.  Once again He used an example that each of them would have understood.  Depending on the direction from which the weather was coming the people could describe the type of day it would be.  Rain came from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea.  If the wind was coming from the dry desert area to the south of Judea the people would know they could expect a hot day. Today forecasters speak of high and low pressure systems etc. to indicate what kind of weather is to be expected.

The people were called hypocrites.  They had chosen to ignore all of the signs that pointed to Jesus as the coming Messiah.  For fourteen hundred years the prophets had provided the prophecies that pointed to Jesus which they chose to ignore.  There are over three hundred prophecies in the Old Testament that speak of the Messiah.  All they would needed to do was to look at them to realize that the man before them had already filled many of them.  They pretended to keep the Scriptures and missed the One about whom the entire Old Testament had been written.

1. Why did Jesus use nature to describe the spiritual condition of the people? (They could discern the physical but miss what God was doing?
2. In what ways do we act the same as did the Jews?
3. Why did Jesus once again call them hypocrites? (They acted spiritual but missed all of the signs of the truly Spiritual One?
4. What evidence is presented to us that we dare not miss?
5. What does it make us if we decide to ignore the evidence of God’s grace given to us? (Hypocrites because we say we believe but do not act like Christ’s followers.)
6. How does this passage give us a picture of those who have been gifted by God but refuse to recognize or use those gifts?
7. How can we be in church all of our lives and miss the One about whom the whole Bible speaks to man?

Luke 12:57-59

These verses may be viewed from two different perspectives.  Jesus could have been speaking to the Jews and also those who would form the early church.

The nation of Israel had been given ample time to turn from their wicked ways. Because they refused to recognize Jesus as the coming Messiah they would continually face judgment for their rebellion. From the time of Christ until their dispersion they were instrumental in much of the early persecution of the church.  They did everything in their power to disassociate themselves from Christianity.  They did so to protect themselves from getting into trouble with the Romans. In 70 AD the Romans came and destroyed the city and sent many of the Jews into exile.  Sixty years later they began following false messiahs. At that point it was too late to repent from their corporate sin. God used the Romans once again to bring about His judgment on the rebellious nation. Their actions led to a complete exile from their homeland.  It would be over nineteen hundred years before they were allowed to return to their homeland.  The Jews are to face one more time of extreme persecution because of their infidelity.  In the book of Revelation John tells of the three and one half years in which the anti-christ will do all he can to eliminate the Jewish nation and those who will finally become followers of Christ.

1. Why have the Jews faced times of judgment throughout the ages?
2. What was the example of their greatest disobedience?
3. Who is the ultimate judge of those who rebel against Jesus?
4. What are you to do to make sure that you are not cast into the prison about which Jesus spoke?

Paul wrote about the way that followers of Christ are to handle conflict.  See 1 Corinthians 6:1-7.  The believer is repent of his sins before facing the Judge at the end of times.  Those who believe have already passed from the death sentence each man deserves to into life eternal.  As Jesus spoke earlier, he no longer fears the one who rules the world but lives in awe and reverence of the One who determines where he will spend eternity.

1. Why did Paul admonish Christians to handle their own conflicts?  (We belong to the arbiter of all problems in the body.)
2. Where is the prison from which the rebellious cannot escape?
3. How do we make sure that we do not find ourselves there? (Repent of our sins and believe in the giver of a release from bondage.)
4. Who is man to fear?
5. Why is this kind of fear healthy?
6. What are some examples of the ways you have made amends before arriving at the Day of Judgment?

    

• Take a look at your own life to see what event was your turning point.
• Determine what impact it had on your life.
• Jesus has called you to radical devotion to Him.
• Do not fail in being fully devoted to Him.
• Live in such a way that you will never face the judgment of God.
• If you live or work in an environment among non-believers maintain a heart of peace.

The church must understand its place in the world around it. Jesus called His followers to be radically different than those who have chosen to live according to the world’s standards.  We must realize to do so are going to put us odds with many of them.  This opposition may even come from those in one’s own families.  Only by serving Christ with all our heart can we impact how others view us.  If we live like the world we will be judged accordingly.  If we will live in accordance to the standard set before us by Jesus the world may try to marginalize.  God however does not judge those who are obedient to Him.  The way we follow His Son is by understanding what His word says to us about the kind of life we are to live.

I do not think that we want to face God because of our disobedience.  Let us not be like the nation of Israel which from its beginning continually turn its back of God and suffered exile and persecution. They were to be God’s witness to the world.  We as the church are to succeed where the Israelites failed.  Let us continue to be the witness and complete the work Jesus has given to us. It is not an easy road because we live in a world where it is more difficult to share the gospel.  Our efforts should not depend on what others say who want to thwart God’s work.  We are to be faithful to the end.

Lesson 37

Alert and Waiting

Luke 12:35-48

There are certain things I do not like.  I have told my wife many times that I would enjoy driving if it were not for traffic, stoplights and stop signs. The last two of these are necessary because there is so much of the first.  Even though we must have them they sure makes any trip take longer which is the reason I do not care for them.  I know that patience is not only a virtue but also is among the list of fruit listed in Galatians 5. 

Patience, the ability for things to come in its own time is one of the qualities that is needed in today’s world.  As I long for the Second Coming of Christ in my mind I have to wonder if I am really ready for Him to show up.  The signs are all around us that it could be soon, but what if He really came today.  It has been so long since He returned to His Father with a promise to return.  After so long a time it becomes harder to stay awake and alert spiritually until that day comes. 

I need to be patient and remain vigilant in my walk with the Lord.  What He has called me to do with my life should be all I need as I wait for Him to come.  I may not live to see the Second Coming but even if it does not come in my life time He commands that I wait patiently.

Sometimes in the church we have a tendency to take matters in our own hands.  Rather than waiting on the perfect time of the Lord we make decisions that come back to plague us for years.  It may be building a new building or starting a new program.  We act like the kingdom work depend on us.  Although the lesson today refers to the coming of Christ and how we should wait for Him there is a message to the church about total dependence on God before making decisions. Preparation for the future through prayer and faithfulness in the things we are doing now are signs being in tune for what God has planned for us.  It is better to do what we have been commanded to do than take matters in own hands as if there was no tomorrow.

Luke 12:35-36

It almost appears as if Jesus is completely going on to a new discussion in these two verses.  In reality it is a continuation of understanding what is truly important.  He does turn to what is going to happen in the future and how man is to be prepared for receiving that treasure stored up in heaven. He gives three commands concerning the preparation. The first is about man’s mindset and actions.  The follower of Christ is to always be ready to welcome Jesus who is to come for His people at a moment’s notice. The Jews would have understood what He meant by those words. 

To be dressed in readiness or being alert would indicate that the person would have pulled up his robe and tucked it into his belt.  By doing so he would not be slowed down or hindered in accomplishing the task ahead of him like soldiers going into battle.  Secondly He told them to keep their lamps lit.  

The second command was the image carried over from the idea of keeping the lamps lit in the tabernacle.  The lamp needed constant attention because the fire was produced by a wick floating in a pool of oil.  The burned part had to be trimmed away to allow the fire to continue burning. Both of these examples portray a continued vigilance to the possibility of the imminent return of the master. To let the lamp to go out would put the person in the dark. It would make it impossible for the guest to make his way to the master’s home.

His third command was to make everything ready for the coming of the bridegroom.  They are to be waiting with such anticipation that they immediately open the door for him.

1. Why did Jesus use the images of being dressed in readiness and keeping lamps lit? (The Jews would have recognized both practices.)
2. What modern terms would be used if Jesus were to speak today? (Carry a flashlight or turn on the front porch light.)
3. How can we be prepared for the return of Jesus?
4. Why is it important to remain ready for His return?  (Do not want to do anything to miss that day. We also do not know when He will return.)

Luke 12:37-38

Surprisingly Jesus turned the standard practice of the day on its head.  Usually when the bridegroom or master would return home the slaves would immediately set out to serve him.  He told them that rather than be served the master would begin to serve them. Those servants would be treated with such kindness because no matter what time he returned they would be faithfully waiting.  Those servants would be full of joy at the realization that they were sitting at the table in the presence of a master that loved them enough to serve them. It is a picture of what will happen in heaven at the end of time.

1. How did Jesus turn the normal practice on its head?
2. What does what he said say about leadership in the church today?
3. What does the promise in these words make you feel?
4.  What did Jesus mean by using the word blessed?

Luke 12:39-40

Once again Jesus emphasized the fact that no one knew or even today knows when He will return. If one did he might live a life away from God only to become a believer at the last moment.  In these verses He used the metaphor of a thief who might break into a home when the owner might least expect him.  If the owner knew he would make preparations for that event.  He may have gone for years not doing anything to keep the thief out of his home.  Man is not to wait until the last moment to be ready for the coming of Christ but always keep his house in order.

1. What is the problem with the way a thief operates? (He breaks in when one least expects him.)
2. How is this an image of the way Christ will appear? (He will come suddenly like a thief in the night.)
3. How can we be prepared for the thief in our own lives?
4. In what ways do many act as if Jesus will never return?
5. What is the danger in living in this way?

Luke 12:41

Peter understood that Jesus had been again using a parable to teach a lesson.  He was not sure for whom the parable had been shared.  It would have been difficult for anyone to understand what was out in the future.  Peter wanted to understand what it all meant.

1. Why did Peter ask the question? (He was not sure what all of the words meant.)
2. Why did Jesus share the parable? (To prepare the people for what would happen in the future.)
3. How could they understand? (The events are still out in the future even for us.)
4. How can we relate to Peter’s question?  (See below for the answer.)

Luke 12:42-44

Jesus did as He had many times before. He did not directly answer Peter’s question. His answer would have been in a way another riddle.  He talked of faith. The person of faith is one who the master could put in charge of providing for the other servants while the he was away. That servant would receive the praise and blessing of his master for doing such a good job while he was gone.  Jesus expected Peter and the others to be that faithful servant.  This can be seen in the command that Peter was given in John 21 to care for the followers of Christ.

1. Why did Jesus not answer Peter’s question directly?  (Peter’s did not need to know the time of Jesus’ return but what his task was to be until the end of his life.)
2. What was the important lesson for Peter to learn? (What a faithful servant is to be like.)
3. In what ways are we an example of the faithful servant?
4. How can we follow in the footsteps of Peter?
5. In what way did Jesus finally answer Peter’s question in John 21?

Luke 12:45-46

There was another kind of slave about which Jesus spoke.  He was completely different than the first example.  He first of all did not believe the master was going to return for long time so he could act in any manner he wished. He mistreated the slaves left in his care.  Rather than taking care of the slaves he spent his time in eating and getting drunk.  To his surprise the master came home unexpectantly. Rather than receiving a commendation he received a death penalty and was cast into hell.

1. How different was the second slave than the first?
2. Why did he act as he did?
3. In what ways do some of us act like the slave?
4. What can we expect if we continue to reject the teachings of Jesus?
5. Why did Jesus pronounce such a horrible demise of the slave?

Luke 12:47

There is a second group of servants.  They knew what their master expected of them.  These people, although they knew, did not act according to the master’s will.  Their punishment was not as severe or immediate as the first servant but would be judged in accordance to their actions.

1. Who would the second group represent? (Those who have tasted of the things of the Lord and drifted away?
2. Why would they receive a judgment different than the first slave?  (Their actions were not as flagrant as the first.  His sin was intentional theirs were more slipping away from the way of life called for by the master.)
3. What are some actions that represent the actions of those slaves?
4. Why were they not judged immediately? (They might respond to the punishment given to them and return to faith.)

Luke 12:48a

Finally there was those who had not heard the words of the master.  These might represent all of those in places in which the word of God has not come.  They were unlike those spoken about in Romans 2:14-15 who kept the law unto themselves even though they had never been exposed to it. These particular slaves committed acts that deserved punishment. God will be the ultimate judge who will deal with those who are completely ignorant of the words of God.

1. Who are the third group? (Those who have not heard the instructions of God.)
2. What are actions of those who have not heard?
3. Why will God deal less harshly with this group than the other two?
4. Which of the three groups represent you at one time?
5. How do we keep from being guilty of the actions of the three different groups?

Luke 12:48b

A tremendous responsibility falls on everyone who has received much from the Lord.  Every follower of Christ has received at least one gift and many abilities to be used in service to Him.  The greatest gift of course is eternal life.  There are those who use what God has provided for them to take care of the sheep.  God expects a great deal from each of them.

1. Why does God expect more from those to whom He has given much?
2. What are the gifts God has given to you?
3. What does He expect of each of us? Why?
4. Why does He give certain people certain gifts and abilities?
5. What is the danger of not using the gifts God gives us?
6. In what way does the service we give Him differ from the three different groups?

    

• From Scripture understand that God is not delaying the return of Christ but is working out all things in its time.
• Do not let the events of this present age disturb you God is fully aware that all of these things must come to pass before the second coming of Christ.
• Live every moment as if Christ could come any moment.
• Realizing that Christ could come at any time you are to be about the business of serving Him passionately and sharing the gospel at every opportunity.

For two thousand years the church has been on the alert in preparation of Christ’s return.  Today more than ever we can see events unfolding that should lead us to sense a greater urgency to present the gospel to the unbelievers.  We are to be the faithful servants that Jesus will find if He would come today.  The way we go about being the church should reflect our desire to please Him and to ready for Him to come for His bride.  Our focus is not to be on His coming but the task He has given us to accomplish while we are here on earth. 

We are the only organization that has the good news that God loves us, has given us eternal life and is coming again for us to be with Him.  How important that message is will determine the eagerness we have of taking care of those He has brought together in His church.  We should with joyful hearts look forward to the day when He says to each of us in His body, Well done good and faithful servant.