BiblicalMastery Buddy's bible blog

Lesson 29

Focus of One’s Love

Luke 10:25-37

It is said confession is good for the soul. Many of you do not know that I am an introvert by nature.  I have a tendency to be satisfied with surrounding myself with books or other literature and just losing myself in what I happen to be reading at the time.  This often prevents me from getting close to others.  Sadly, this also has prevented me from participating in serving others. For so long I have been hesitant to get involved in groups that would require me to spend a lot a time away from home. 

This is not to say that I do not care for people.  I just show it in a different way.  Most of those around me do not know the extent to which I long for them to understand God’s word and His plan for each of our lives.  I guess that is part of how God has wired me.  To me the most important thing is for each of us to know and love God.  If God has given me the gift of teaching I would be remiss in doing everything I can to open His Word to touch lives. 

Fortunately not everyone is not like me.  God has equipped the church with those who have a variety of gifts.  There are many who have the gifts of giving, serving and mercy.  As we look around it is obvious who God has so gifted in that way to serve not only Him but their neighbors in the way He has shaped them.  We can love our neighbors in many different ways.  The source of that love is the love we have for Him.

If a church is not impacting the community around it, the question becomes whether we are showing that we love God by touching the lives for whom Christ died.  We can remain within the walls of the church and not reach out to anyone.  We can serve only those who we have determined are worthy of our love.  It is dangerous to establish who God wants to reach with His love.

Luke 10:25

A lawyer or scribe who had a thorough knowledge of the Jewish Law approached Jesus.  He was attempting to trap Him into saying something that would be in violation of the Law.  He asked the same question that had been put to Him by the Rich Young Ruler.  He wanted to know what he needed to do to “inherit eternal life.”  Unwittingly he asked the right question.  He wanted to know how eternal life, something he could not earn, might be his as a gift of grace.  Of course this was not the usual understanding of the Jewish religion which was based on works.

1. Why would a lawyer approach Jesus? (He was hoping to trap Jesus into saying something that was in violation of the law.)
2. What indicated the mindset of the Jews concerning salvation in his question? (They believed to keep the Law would get them into heaven?
3. Who else had asked the question? (The Rich Young Ruler.)
4. In what way did he unwittingly ask the right question? (Inheritance is something given that cannot be earned or possibly deserved.)
5. In what ways have you asked the same question?
6. In what ways have you tried to put God to the test?
7. When have been times when you may have tried to bargain with God?
8. If so how would your words be the same as the lawyer’s? (Both of you were trying to justify your position.)

Luke 10:26

Rather than answering the lawyer directly, Jesus turned the tables on him.  Jesus saw what he was trying to do and knew what the man thought about salvation for the Jew.  Surely, the man would be able to find the answer in the Scriptures he knew so well.  Therefore, Jesus let the lawyer answer his own question.  He asked him what he had found and understood from the Law that would give him what he supposedly was seeking.

1. Why did Jesus not answer the man’s question directly? (He knew that the answer He would give would not satisfy the lawyer in the same way that it did not help the Rich Young Ruler.  His story will come in Luke 18.)
2. Why did Jesus point the man to the Law for the answer? (He was well versed in all of the law.)
3. When you have questions about life where do you go to look?
4. How many times have you been disappointed with the solution to a problem because you did not look to see how God’s Word addresses the issue?
5. How would you feel if someone asked you what the Bible said about eternal life?

Luke 10:27

Without one moment of hesitation he quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5.  That passage spells the criteria for finding salvation.  Man is to love God with his total being which includes:

• The heart which is the center of man’s being.  From it come the desires, emotions of man and is the place that indicates the presence of Christ in one’s life.
• The soul which makes a man what he is as a living creature.  It is that part of man which will never die.
• In his strength or might man is to love God with all the energy that he has.
• The mind is added here and in Matthew.  The love of God is not all emotion and feeling but also of the intellect.  Man with his ability to think and discern may choose to love or reject God.  It is in the mind that man matures in his relationship with God.

 

While he was sharing with Jesus he quoted Leviticus 19:18 which said that a Jew was to love his neighbor as himself.  Both of these verses were ingrained in the life of every Jewish religious leader and were put into the phylactery worn by them.

1. Why did the man give the different dimensions of one’s love for God? (It encompassed all that man is.)
2. What did each of those criteria represent?
3. Which of them represent the love you have for God?
4. Why did the lawyer couple the love of neighbor with the love of God? (The law was explicit about loving both.)
5. Why did the priest carry a copy of these two passages around with them all the time in the phylactery?
6. Where are we supposed to carry these teachings?

Luke 10:28

Jesus commended the lawyer for being able to recite those two verses.  He at least knew in principle what they were.  Jesus wanted to make sure that they had been imbedded themselves into his very life.  The command that the lawyer was given was if you truly want to receive the eternal life that you asked about then go and live out loving God with your total being and your neighbor in the same way you love yourself. The latter will flow out of the former.

1. Why did Jesus commend the lawyer? (He at least knew the Law.)
2. What was more important than be able to recite the Law?
3. What does God want to happen in our lives from reading and studying His Word?
4. What benefit would the man gain by following the Word he had just quoted? (He would inherit the eternal life he sought.)
5. What is the danger in just knowing what is in the Bible? (We may fail to follow its teaching?

Luke 10:29

The lawyer questioned Jesus further wanting to know whom Jesus considered to be one’s neighbor.  The man would have definitely come at the subject from a Jewish perspective.  Whether he was sincere or not he wanted to make sure that according to the law who were those individuals with whom he may associate.  For him anyone who was not a Jew was not considered to be worthy of friendship. 

1. What was in the mind of the lawyer when he asked Jesus to identify who was a neighbor?
2. Whom did the Jews consider to be potential candidates? (Other Jews only.)
3. Why would he even bother to ask that question at all? (He may have known of Jesus’ association with the Gentiles.)
4. Who do you consider as people with whom you might associate?
5. Who are those you may want to exclude?
6. Why is the answer to the lawyer’s question important to us? (We must see the world through the eyes of Jesus.)

Luke 10:30-35

Once again Jesus did not answer the man’s question directly.  Instead, He told the story of the Good Samaritan.  The story has several components to it. 

• Man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho along a very dangerous road was attacked, robbed and left for dead.   
• Travelling probably in the opposite direction a priest approached the man.  Seeing the man he concluded that he was dead.  He therefore made sure that he got as far away from him as possible by going down the other side of the road. As a priest and maybe on the way to Jerusalem to fulfill a religious obligation and did not want to become defiled by    touching a dead person. His religious duty was more important to him than the well-being of the man.
• Following the priest a Levite came along who would have been in charge with the management and taking care of the articles of worship in the temple.  He also saw the man decided not to help him.  He passed by on the other side of the road.
• A third man approached the place where the man lay, suffering from his wounds.  He was a Samaritan taking a journey.  There were no religious traditions and rules that hindered him from helping the injured man.  He took the time to go over to the man and check on him.  When the Samaritan discovered that he was still alive he provided first aid on the spot.  He then placed him on the beast he had been riding and took him to an inn and continued to nurse him back to health.  When it came time for the Samaritan to leave he gave the inn keeper enough money to take care of the man’s needs.  He also promised to pay the inn keeper any additional expenses the man might incur.

 

1. What do you think of the actions of the three men?
2. What was the problem with the first two? (They lacked compassion and were insensitive to the needs of others.)
3. In what ways can we get so caught up in “church” work that we neglect the world around us?
4. Why did Jesus have the Samaritan as one of the characters?  (The lawyer would not have considered that a Samaritan would be the one to help.)
5. How do we keep from being like the priest and the Levite?

Luke 10:36

At that point in the conversation, Jesus gives the lawyer the opportunity to answer his own question.  Jesus wanted to know from the lawyer which person he would consider to be a good neighbor.  He wanted to make sure that the man had no wiggle room so he clearly identified the man helped as the one who had fallen into the hands of the robbers.  The only one who stopped to help that particular man was the Samaritan.  Jesus then waited for the answer from the Scribe.  One can almost imagine the difficulty he would have had identifying the neighbor. 

1. Why did Jesus ask the lawyer to answer the question concerning the neighborly action taken by the Samaritan?
2. Why did Jesus ask the question with specific detail of the victim?
3. Why didn’t Jesus just tell him the lesson to be learned from the parable? (The lawyer needed to find answers for himself.)
4. Why would it have been difficult for the lawyer to answer?
5. If the one giving aid and comfort is a member of society that you do not admire, how difficult would it be for you to admit that anyone in that group could do anything good?

Luke 10:37

Notice, the lawyer would not even give credit to the Samaritan for doing good to the man. His answer was evasive.  He would only say, “The one who showed mercy toward him.”  He was not going to go any further, so Jesus commanded him to act in the same way that the Samaritan had acted by treating all men compassionately with discrimination.

1. Why would the lawyer not admit that a Samaritan could be a good neighbor? (The Jews would not have anything to do with the Samaritans.)
2. How did he respond to the question from Jesus?
3. What did Jesus understand from the answer He received from the lawyer? (The heart of the man had not changed.)
4. Why did Jesus command him to go and be like the Samaritan?  (Only by doing so would he show that he loved God with his total being and had the right heart attitude to receive eternal life.)
5. What do you need to change in your life that may be hindering you from being a good neighbor? 
6. How does the attitude that needs to be changed affect your relationship with the Father?

 

• Prayerful think about the word Luke used to describe our love for God.   
• As you follow Christ make every effort to return the love for God in the way He has loved us.
• Try to understand who might be your neighbor.
• Treat your neighbor with the same kind of love which you would have for your brother.
• Be careful that your Christian faith does not isolate you from those in need.
• Be you doers of the word and not hearers only.

 

The church is to be the place where those who love God congregate.  We are to be followers not in word only but our actions.  One way to show that we are truly His is to have a brotherly love for those who come into the church.  The Greek word for this kind of love is phileo. No one should be beyond the reach of this kind of love.  We must never forget that the reason that God established the Church was to serve others.  Even Jesus said that He did not come to be served but to serve. (Matthew 20:28)  Let us follow His example as we try to impact the world with His love.  

 

 

 

Lesson 28

What is Really Important?

Luke 10:17-24

All of us will leave a legacy of one kind or another.  For those who have achieved a great deal what is said about a person may be very positive.  If one has not done much with his/her life then what is said will be less than complementary.  Adding to that thought everyone has accomplished something in life. As I look back on my life I can say that is true of me also.  I will give just a couple of examples.  My work career has been primarily with three rather large organizations.  In each of them I was able to gain experience to be able to go on to the next one.  While I worked for two industrial plants I was able to complete my college education with the help of company reimbursements.  Having a degree provided the inroad into my third and last full time employment.  Notice how many times that the pronoun I was used above. 

There have been many opportunities presented to me over the years that at the beginning of my career would seemed improbable to ever occur.  Almost everything that I have dreamed of doing, I have at some point done it at least one time.  I never expected to go overseas is one but one example of what I am talking about.  Four times in the early 2000’s I travelled to two different countries.

Why I am saying all of this?  What I have discovered is that no matter of what has been accomplished there is one thing that is more important than any of them.  It is being a follower of Jesus Christ.  Anything we do may get or may not get us accolades from others.  But all of that praise or criticism is meaningless when compared to all that God has for us.  To have one’s name written in His heavenly ledger is truly all that counts.

Churches can get caught up in the same trap of looking at what it has accomplished or even is doing.  What is the trap about which I am speaking? We have a tendency to equate success in pleasing God with all of the programs and events that take place within the walls of the church.  Numbers of members, budgets and number of people attending all too often are the measuring rod by which we determine how we are doing.  We have to be very careful to evaluate everything by God’s standard.  Is what we are trying to accomplish furthering the reach of God’s kingdom in the world? Even more importantly do we even stop to ask how what we are doing changing and transforming individual lives?  If we cannot answer either of those with a clear cut assurance that they are taking place then we need to see how to turn things around.

In the passage for today Jesus made a clear statement of what He considered important.  Let’s look at His view of success.

Luke 10:17

In last week’s lesson seventy men were sent out to minister in the name and under the authority of Jesus.  They have returned and began to report all the things that had taken place during their journey. The one thing that they wanted to talk about was the fact that even the demons had to obey them because they spoke to them in the Name of Jesus.  There was no mention of healings or the results of the blessings given on the homes where they stayed.  They were excited by those activities that brought instant and visible results.  It would take a while to see if God truly blessed a household or if lives were changed by their words.  There was no time to wait around to see if those things took place.

1. What was the one thing that all of the men seemed to want to talk about?
2. Why was this so important to them? (Instantaneous and obvious results occurred.)
3. What did they not mention? (Results of the blessing and teaching that took place because they are more long term and not as obvious.)
4. What are the things that we talk about that occur in church?
5. In what ways is their evidence that a life is changed?
6. Why do we not include it in our conversations? (We are not involved with people enough to see if God is really working in their lives)
7. What is the one thing that we do to make sure that transformation takes place that will become evident to others? (Disciple them which takes building relationships, time and commitment.)

Luke 10:18

There are three possibilities to what Jesus was saying.  He may have been referring to

• Eternity past when satan warred against God and was kicked out of heaven along with the angels that chose to follow him.
• The future defeat and ultimate punishment that he will receive.
• Or it could mean that based on the description given to Him by the seventy that He saw that the devil never again would have the power to dominate people again.  He saw satan fall from his position and had met defeat.

 

1. What are the three possible ways this verse may be understood?
2. Why is this verse important to you and me?
3. How could the actions of the seventy be seen as a defeat of satan? (In Jesus name satan can no longer dominate, control and destroy man.)
4. Why is it important that whatever we do it all be done in the name of Jesus? (In our own strength we are unable to defeat satan.)

Luke 10:19-20

Their exuberance was to be understood.  Jesus then shared with them what their future would look like. He was going to provide them with the authority to deal with the evil forces of this world.  This included protection from all the devil and his forces would try to throw at them. It is interesting that He spoke of the fact that nothing would injure them.  He surely could not have been speaking about physical harm because it would not be long before James, John’s brother, was martyred.  Even before that event Stephen was also killed by the Jews. The disciples were imprisoned and beaten and many other followers were persecuted by Saul. So what did He mean?  Surely, He was talking about the eternal life they would have that no one could take away from them.

All of the disciples might have taken pride in His words to them.  They were to be thankful that He had allowed them to be part of His work.  Such power could very easy turn to pride.  To make sure that did not happen, Jesus then turned to what was really important.  The thing they were to rejoice about was having the security of salvation.  He expressed it by speaking about having their names recorded in heaven.  The one place that each person who has ever lived should hope that his/her name is found is in the Book of Life. 

1. What Jesus did mean by saying that the disciples would be protected from the snakes and scorpions?
2. What are the snakes and scorpions we face today?
3. How are we protected from them?
4. How could Jesus say that none of them would be injured when so many would either be martyred or persecuted? (His words did not mean protection from physical problems.) 
5. What was the danger of having the power of Jesus flow through them? (Pride might set in.)
6. What is the most important promise for each of them and us? (The fact we have our name written in the Book of Life.) 
7. If you do not have this assurance what do you need to do?  (Pray to receive Christ.)

Luke 10:21-22

Jesus after speaking to the disciples and hearing all they had accomplished began to rejoice.  The focus of that rejoicing was the Father to whom He gave all the credit for what has happened.  His words were echoed by Paul later in chapter one of his first letter to Corinthians.  These verses would coincide with Jesus’ words about being like the little children who found favor with God.  He praises God that it is not the proud, the intellectual ones or those wise in their own eyes that understood what God was doing but those who were helpless and dependent like infants.  This is the way God had worked from the very beginning of time.

The second part of His prayer emphasized His role in God’s plan.  God had handed everything over to Him.  There was a progression in the relationship that man has with God.  It flows through Jesus.  Jesus said,

• The only one who can truly understand and know the Son intimately is His Father.      
• The only person who can truly know the Father is the one who is the closest to Him, His Son.

Thankfully, for mankind Jesus did not stop with those two statements.  He continued on with the statement that gives every hope.  The Son has chosen to reveal His Father and therefore Himself to the world.

1. What words would you use to describe what Jesus is looking for in His followers? (Humility, childlike nature, and dependence on Him are just a few.)
2. What had the Father done for His Son? (Given Him all authority.)
3. Why can we not know the Son without the Father?
4. Why can we not know the Father without the Son?
5. How is there any hope for us? (The Son has chosen to show what His Father is like.)

Luke 10:23-24

He then had a word especially for the twelve.  He wanted to know what a blessing had been given to them.  There are a number of places that speak of the fact that the identity and time of the coming of the Messiah had been hidden from all those born prior to that day.  They had been given the privilege to experience firsthand the One who was the fulfillment of all the prophecies written about Him. Even the angels in heaven were not privy to this information. (See 1 Peter 1:10-12 and Colossians 1:26 for examples)

1. Why were the disciples truly blessed?
2. Why was the message hidden from other generations? (The time was not right for a number of reasons for the Messiah to come.)
3. In what way are we beneficiaries of that blessing given to the disciples? (We live in the age of grace.)
4. What was important about the message given in all of the prophecies?  (Prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah.)

 

• Whenever you have had success in a ministry in which you have been involved remember that it has only succeeded by the authority you have received from Jesus.
• Look at your own life and evaluate your relationship with God.  
• Ask yourself honestly, are you sure that your name is recorded in heaven.
• It is important to understand that God is not looking for the proud or those wise in their own eyes but the humble and those dependent on Him.  They are truly the ones that will receive the good news He has for them.
• Understand that you can never know Jesus until you know God the Father.  
• Understand that the only way to know the Father is looking at Jesus. What He is like can only be found in the gospel.

Recently, I read a book titled “The Trellis and the Vine” by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne. They describe the vine as that which living in the church today.  It is the ministries carried on by all of the body not just a few people.  The trellis is the structure that allows the ministries to take place.  Sadly, many churches have forgotten that it is not the structure that makes the kingdom grow but what gets most of our attention.  Jesus shared with the few among the many who had followed Him what is the most important thing we do.  It is to make sure that we do all according His name to make sure that everyone within the sound of our voice and the sphere of our influence have their names recorded in heaven.  Everything else we do is peripheral to that one thing.  The gospel must be shared that the devil can be defeated and Christ will reign.

 

Lesson 27

Workers to the Harvest

Luke 10:1-16

In all the years that I have attended church there has been one thing that has stood out in the life of the church.  There has always been a shortage of workers.  In fact that is actually how I began to serve.  I was approached by someone, I do not even remember who, and asked if I would fill in as teacher for a man who had been called to active duty and sent, I think to Alabama.  He had been teaching a group of eleven year old boys.  The fact that it was to be temporary was probably the only reason I agreed.  I had not been back in church very long and was enjoying my Sunday School class.  That temporary assignment has turned into more that forty years of teaching different age groups in two different churches.  By the way, I would not trade all those years for anything.

There are a whole lot of me’s in every church.  They would rather someone else do the work while they benefit from what the other person or persons is doing.  Statistically it has been proven over and over that eighty percent of the service in any body of believers is actually accomplished by twenty percent of the people.  With so few people working we have to wonder how all the needs of a church’s ministry can be met.  While many sit on the sideline there are those who fill multiple positions.  Sadly, at some point those individuals get tired, frustrated or burned out. Each believer has been gifted in at least one area of ministry. God expects those gifts to be used so that the church can benefit from what each person has to offer.  Our church is probably no different.  Give thought and prayer how each of can be an answer to the problem and not the problem itself.

Luke 10:1

Jesus again sent out teams to carry out ministry throughout the region.  Rather than just sending out the twelve He chose seventy men to go before Him.  In all likelihood the twelve disciples were not part of that contingent of men. 

One commentator stated that the thirty-six cities were those through which Jesus would travel on His way to Jerusalem.  Another indicated that the cities would be those reached following His resurrection.  To try to go to all of them immediately would delay His journey and take Him out of His way.

1. Why did Jesus send out another group of men to go to the different cities? (The good news would spread faster.)
2. What was the importance of sending out seventy people? (Cover more territory.)
3. Why do you think the twelve disciples would have not been a part of that group?
4. If He did not intend to go to all of the cities why were they mentioned? (Possibly He was referring to the cities that would be reached after His resurrection.)
5. Why would He not go to thirty-six cities? (It would have delayed His journey.)

Luke 10:2

Seventy men compared to the enormous task ahead caused Jesus to declare that there were so few works to get the job done.  He beseeched those there with Him to pray that God, in the coming days, would provide more workers to bring in the harvest.  It was possible that He said those words because at that point His popularity was beginning to wane.  Many of those who had followed Him in the early years had now deserted Him. (See John 6:66)

1. What has not changed in the two thousand years since Jesus spoke those words to the seventy men and His disciples? (The fields that were ready for harvest seem to have grown even larger than in the day of Jesus.)
2. Why did He believe that the workers were few? (Just look at the number of men available to send out before Him.)
3. Why was Jesus having trouble getting those to serve with Him at that point? (The popularity He had once experienced was in decline.)
4. How much did the demands made by Jesus on the lifestyle of disciples play a part in fewer workers? (It was not an easy road to travel as a disciple.)
5. What is our responsibility today? (To continue to go and make disciples.)

Luke 10:3

It is always dangerous to go out as a representative of Jesus. There are many in the world who are enemies of Christianity and do not want to see it have success.  Because of the very nature of a follower of Christ it is easy to get devoured by those who oppose the church.

1. In what ways is it somewhat dangerous to be a follower of Christ even in this country?
2. What are some examples you can give to prove this point?
3. Who are the wolves to which Jesus was referring?
4. In what ways can they be devastating to the church?
5. What will give you the strength to face such opposition?
6. Why is the church failing to prepare believers to face such enemies?

Luke 10:4

His instructions to the seventy were along the lines of those given to the twelve before in chapter 9:3-5.  The whole idea as was stated before was to not take anything with them which would hinder their work.  They were to depend totally on the provision of God the hospitality of the people with whom they were staying.  Self-sufficiency will often get in the way of the ministry to which God has called a person. One other command was given to given to them.  They were not to allow themselves to be slowed down by carrying on frivolous conversations.  This last statement showed the urgency of their mission.

1. Why were the seventy to leave what we might consider those things essential at home? (They were to carry nothing that would hinder the ministry.)
2. How would you feel if you were going on a trip and someone said not to carry anything with you except the clothes on your back?
3. What are some things that have kept you from carrying out God’s mission in your life?
4. What would you consider frivolous conversations?
5. Why are they, in a way, dangerous diversions to the task given to us?
6. What is the important message that we have?

Luke 10:5-9

Jesus went on to say that the seventy could expect two different types of people.  The world, then as now, is made of up those who accept Christ and receive those He has sent with the message of the gospel and those who reject Him and His followers.  He first gave instructions concerning the former.  The seventy were told to:

• Issue a blessing of peace on the house into which they enter.  That blessing would only have meaning if a man of peace lived there. To bless a man and his family would be asking for God to look over the family with a watchful eye to bring joy and peace to them.)
• Stay in one house and not move from place to place. (One thing it would be disrupted to the mission and dishonoring to the family with whom they were staying.)
• Eat and drink what was provided for them.  In that culture and many others around the world the host would usually bring out the very best he had for his guests.  It was a way of honoring those who had chosen to stay with him and his family.
• Heal those who needed healing.

It was important for the citizens of each town to understand what all the work of the seventy meant.  They were to tell them very clearly it was proof that the kingdom had indeed come near to them.

1. What are the two basic groups of people around the world? (Those who accept Christ and those who reject Him and His followers.)
2. What did the blessing of peace entail?
3. Why were they to be satisfied with the meals provided for them?
4. What example does this set for us when we are in some ones home as a guest?
5. What was the only other instruction He gave? (To heal the sick.)
6. What did He mean when He told them to say the kingdom has been near you?

Luke 10:10-11

Some would find themselves in cities that would not receive them or their message.  The action they were to take in those cities was to

• Verbally share they were going to shake off the dust off their feet as a sign of protest against them.
•  God was going to reject them.
• Let them know that they had missed a great opportunity to have the message of the kingdom proclaimed to them.

 

1. Why were those of the seventy who found some cities inhospitable to be out in the open? (To let the people know what opportunity they had missed)
2. What was the message to those towns?
3. What opportunity had the people missed?
4. In what ways do we miss the same opportunities to know that God was to be near to us?
5. Why did Jesus go to such lengths to instruct the seventy as to what they might expect? (They needed to be prepared to be able to give an answer to the reason they were there.)

Luke 10:13-15

Jesus then gave them examples of cities where He had gone that had not understood the purpose for which He had come.  In some of them His whole message had been rejected.  Those who had followed Him had done for what they could gain from Him.  He used as an example some of cities that would fare better than the places where He had ministered to the people and shared the good news. One of those was Sodom which had been destroyed by God because of its total depravity. 

He then compared Tyre and Sidon which had been also destroyed because of immorality and pagan worship.  Chorazin and Bethsaida had seen, heard and experienced His words and still had not accepted Him as the Messiah. Tyre and Sidon given the same opportunity would have gone into great mourning and repenting by putting on sackcloth and sitting in ashes as evidence of their change of heart.

Finally He turned to speak about the city of Capernaum.  It was the city to which He had moved after leaving Nazareth, as He began His ministry.  They expected because He had worked there and spoken there that it should be considered as better than other cities.  Jesus indicated that it is not the His presence but acceptance of Him that would bring about salvation.  The people of that city were lost because they totally missed who Jesus was.  They did realize that only in Christ is there life.     

1. How could Jesus say that cities that had been destroyed because of immorality and worship of false gods fare better than cities where He had taught and healed so many?
2. Why did He select the particular cities for condemnation?  (Most of His work had been done there with little results.)
3. What cities might we name that might receive the same kind of condemnation?
4. How can we make sure that Jesus will never speak such harsh words to us?
5. Which cities exemplify the power of God? (Tyre and Sidon in particular)
6. How could God work in the lives of those people?

Luke 10:16

The last point that Jesus wanted to make before sending the men out was who was responsible for the results that would come from their mission.  He wanted to make it very clear that the journey was not about them but Him and His Father.  The old saying, “The buck stops here” was true for them.

He let them know that they were the messengers proclaiming the truth about Him.  They needed to understand all that He had been saying came down to the fact that:

• Whoever listened to what each of them had to say was listening ultimately to the words of Jesus.
• They were not to take on the burden of being rejected upon themselves.  The rejection was not them but of Jesus.
• Finally to reject Jesus was to reject the Father that the Jews claimed to know.
• It was the Father who had sent the Son into the world to reconcile the world to Himself.

 

1. Why did Jesus believe it was necessary to make this last statement? (They needed to understand that their mission was to point people to Jesus and not themselves.)
2. How do you feel when someone will not listen when you trying to witness to them? Why?
3. How does the saying, “The buck stops here,” relate to the words of Jesus?’
4. Why is rejection of the Son rejection of the Father?
5. What was the purpose of the coming of Jesus? (To glorify His Father and to bring about reconciliation between God the Father and all of us.)

 

• Prepare for the call to serve for you never when it may come.
• Once you have prepared respond when asked to serve according to your gifts and abilities.
• Search your heart to see if there is any doubt that might cause you to reject the gospel.
• Show hospitality to those who are our guests on Sunday Morning.
• Do everything in your power to make them feel welcome.
• Understand that you are not responsible for saving anyone.  You are to be a witness of what Christ has done and then leave the results to the working of the Holy Spirit in the person’s life.

Although I have not looked at them in a long time the number of unchurched people in Chesterfield has probably decreased.  The last statistic I saw hovered around eighty percent. Jesus had a remedy for just such a situation.  He said the workers are few.  Then we who are involved are to seek to bring others into opportunities to serve by praying that God will touch the hearts of those whom He has equipped.  Then like the in the lesson today we are to ask them to be a part of what God is doing.  Once again we can turn back to what has been learned over the last number of years in recruiting new people in leadership.  Broad statements will not get results.  When a person is asked personally by those involved in a ministry there is a great possibility of a positive response.  We have great news to share with the world.  Let us not miss out on that opportunity by failing to involve all we can in the work.  Remember the harvest is plentiful. We dare not negligent in including all who want to see God’s kingdom grow.