http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+9/
Jesus gives the disciples power and authority over all demons and power and authority to cure all diseases. He then sends them out in all directions with instructions not to take anything, not even a change of clothes. When they reach a town, they are to stay in someone's house until they are ready to leave, but if they are not welcome in the town, they should leave, shaking the dust off the sandals as a warning. The disciples did what Jesus said and travelled around curing illnesses. We are called to go out with nothing but the clothes on our backs to teach the gospel, and if the Holy Spirit has blessed us with the ability, to cast out demons and cure illnesses where we see them. Keep in mind we are not all called to this, and we are not called to live like this always. The disciples do this for a short time. Often, when people go on mission trips, especially to poor countries, they come back with less stuff than they set out with because God breaks their hearts for those people. In this way, the people are similarly going with just the clothes on their backs.
Herod, the ruler over the region at the time, heard all sorts of rumors about Jesus from the people. Some said He was John the Baptist come back to life. Others said He was the prophet Elijah, and still others said He was one of the other old prophets come back to life. When Herod heard all of this, shortly after he beheaded John the Baptist, he wanted to know who Jesus really was. Even when people hear some of the story, God can use that to spark an interest to learn more. While Herod rejects Jesus and His message, some in his courts might have believed because what they originally heard, though inaccurate, sparked an interest and caused them to want to know more.
The next story is very well known and can be found in all four gospels. In this story, Jesus feeds five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. When He had tried to escape the crowds to be alone with His disciples, the people still found Him, so He taught them all day. As it got late, the disciples told Jesus that He should let them go to the nearest town to buy food. Jesus said the disciples will provide food for all the men. That must have been pretty scary for them to think about because there were five thousand men (no count on women and children), and the disciples had almost no money. They told Jesus all they had was five loaves of bread and two fish, so He took the food from them, blessed it through prayer, and began passing it around. I really wish I could see this in action because they kept passing and passing until every person had their fill of food. Then, they collected the leftovers and had twelve baskets of food. Imagine the sight! God will always provide for those who believe in Him. He will take care of all your needs (wants is a different story). I still hear stories today of people who thought they were in a bind because they couldn't get something they needed, but God came through for them.
Jesus prays with His disciples privately one day and asks them who the people say He is. They answer that some say He is John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the other prophets brought back to life. When He asks them who they think He is, Peter answers that He is the Messiah. He instructs them not to tell anyone. People need to discover who Jesus is on their own. Our job is to proclaim the wonders that He has done, but only Jesus can have people accept Him as their savior. Only He has that power.
Jesus foretells His own death. He says that the Son of Man will be rejected by the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders. They will execute HIm, but He will come back to life on the third day.
Next, Jesus tells the disciples that in order to follow Him, they must reject what they want, pick up their crosses every day, and follow Him. It is an interesting choice for Jesus to use the word cross here because He will later be killed on the cross. Jesus doesn't give much instruction about how to be with Him except that the must follow Him. Once people begin to follow Jesus, they begin to see the difference that He makes in lives. When Jesus talks about taking up our crosses, He means that we must metaphorically die to ourselves everyday because in those days, the cross had only one meaning, death. We, ourselves, have desire for only the evil and sinful things. You can point out people who are not Christian who do a lot of good, but if you were to look at their desires, it would probably be for you to look at them doing the good things they do. He talks about how people who want to save their lives will lose them, but those who lose their lives will save them. What He means is that, again, you have to relinquish who you are and take up who Jesus is. Some people say they want to be who Jesus wants them to be, and that's good, but who Jesus really wants you to be is the person that is as close to Him in thoughts and acts as possible. What good is gaining the whole world if you lose your life? If people are ashamed of Jesus, Jesus says that He is ashamed of them. Jesus speaks of eternal life when He tells the disciples that some of them will not die until they see the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a mountain where He goes to pray. The three disciples go to sleep, and Jesus prays. While He prays, His appearance changes, and His body begins to glow. Moses and Elijah appear, and the three of them discuss Jesus' coming death and the prophecies it will fulfill. The three disciples awaken while the others are talking, and Peter, not quite thinking clearly, says that he, James, and John will set up three tents: one for Jesus, one for Elijah, and one for Moses. He though this was a great opportunity to change some people's minds about Jesus, but he didn't understand that what he saw was for his benefit. A dark cloud comes over them, and a voice says, "This is my son whom I have chose. Listen to Him!" When the clouds lift, the three disciples see Jesus is standing alone.
The next story proves that their are some matters that only Jesus can take care of. As Jesus is coming down from the mountain, a man shouts to Him and begs Him to heal his son. A demon comes and makes the boy shriek, convulse, and foam at the mouth. The disciples have tried to heal him but can't. Jesus asks how long He must be with these unbelieving people. The boy comes towards Jesus, but the demon throws him to the ground. Jesus commands the demon to leave, and the boy is cured. All the people were amazed at the power of God.
Jesus tells the disciples that He will be betrayed and handed over to the people. He seems to be telling of His death in reverse order. The disciples do not know what He means because God has kept the meaning from them for the time being, and they are too afraid to ask Jesus what He means.
The disciples begin to bicker about who among them will be the greatest. Jesus know what they are talking about and takes a small child next to Him. He tells them that the one who welcomes the little child in Jesus' name will welcome in Jesus, and the one who welcomes in Jesus, welcomes God. Whoever is least among them, will become greatest. What He means is that whoever serves the case of those who are in need, in Jesus' day mainly children, the elderly, the crippled, etc., in Jesus' name welcome Jesus Himself because His heart goes out to those people. The last thing Jesus says means that the people who lower themselves in service, for example Mother Teresa, for Jesus will be greatest in Heaven because they are saving their reward for that time.
John tells Jesus that the disciples saw someone forcing demons out of people in Jesus' name, but the disciples tried to stop him because he was not one of the twelve. Jesus told them that whoever is not against them is for them. Jesus draws a very definite line. Either we are for Him or against Him. There is no middle ground.
Jesus decides He needs to go to Jerusalem before He dies, so as He and His disciples head that way, some of them go ahead to find a place for Jesus to stay, but the people reject Him because He is going to Jerusalem. The Samaritans and the Jews, who live mostly in Jerusalem, hated each other because of religious differences. When John and James heard this, they asked Jesus is He wanted them to call on fire to rain on the city. Jesus corrects them by saying that they don't know what spirit just overcame them. Jesus came to save lives, not destroy them. They then move on to another city.
This chapter ends with a story of three men who try to follow Jesus but don't have what it takes. The first asks to follow Him, and Jesus tells him foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest His head. Jesus asks a second man to follow Him, but he asks to go bury his father first, a common act of respect, but Jesus tells Him to let the dead take care of the dead. A third man says he will follow Jesus after he tells his family good bye. Jesus tells him that a person cannot begin the journey and look back.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
Luke 8
http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+8/
Jesus travels around with the twelve and many others. Among them, there are many women who Jesus has cured. Mary Magdalene; Joanna, the wife of Herod's manager, and Susanna, who has nothing else written about her. This is a big deal because women at the time had very low status, but everyone matters to Jesus because He looks first and foremost at the heart. Then, Jesus tells on of His parables. He talks of a farmer who throws seed. Some of it lands on the path where birds eat it, some of it lands in the rocks where it can't take root, some of it lands among weeds that choke it out, and some falls on good soil and reaps a hundred times what is sown. Jesus calls a lot of attention to this because He tells all who can hear with their ears to hear this. The disciples don't quite understand what Jesus is talking about in His parable, so He breaks it down for them. The seed is the word of God. The seed on the path represents those who hear the Word, but the devil comes and takes it away before they are saved. The seed in the rocks represents the people who hear the Word but take no root in Jesus , so when the testing comes, they fall away. The seed in the roots represents those who hear the Word and believe but let life's worries choke their faith away. The seed on the good soil represent those who hear the Word, retain it, and through perseverance produce a crop.
Jesus talks about putting a lamp on a stand to reveal what is hidden. He speaks of Judgement Day when everything will be revealed, no matter how well you hide it, Jesus knows where it is. We must be careful that our teaching are in the Truth. To have faith and neglect it is to lose it.
Jesus' mother and brothers come to see Him, but there is such a crowd around Jesus that they cannot see Him. Someone in the crowd tells Him, and He responds by saying anyone who takes His Word and puts it into practice is His mother or brother.
Jesus and His disciples cross a lake in a boat. Jesus falls asleep on the journey before a huge storm hits. The boat looks like it will be overtaken, and the disciples wake Jesus up because they are afraid. Jesus, and I like the wording Luke uses, rebukes the storm. Then, He turns to the disciples and asks where their faith is. They have seem to forgotten who they follow. Often times, we forget who we follow, and Jesus has to take control and ask us where our faith is. The disciples respond by asking each other who Jesus can be that even the winds obey Him. I think this is where they start to get the power of the one they serve. They seem to understand for the first time what all of Jesus' teachings apex to.
Jesus went to the town across the lake from Galilee. When He stepped out of the boat, a demon possessed man was waiting for Him. The man had not worn clothes or lived in a house for a long time. Instead, he lived in the tombs. His name as legion. The demons asked what Jesus, the Son of God, wanted with them. Even the demons know who Jesus is. Admitting who He is does not get you salvation. You have to place your sole faith in Him. Jesus commanded the demons to leave multiple times, but they seized the man, begging Jesus not to send them to the abyss. Sometimes, our sins or demons or habits resist Jesus, but He is stronger, and He has more power, so He will drive them away. They asked Him instead to go to the herd of pigs nearby. Jesus allowed them, and the herd ran into the lake and drowned. When the pig herders saw this, they told the towns people. The towns people found the formerly demon possessed man dressed and in his right mind sitting at Jesus' feet. The towns people feared Jesus because of this and sent Him away. So Jesus got in a boat and left. The people witnessed a miracle as demons were driven from a man, but instead of being pleased and finding hope in Jesus, they feared Him. There are times when some people fear change so much that they even reject the good change such as Jesus coming to heal them. The man wants to go a Ross the lake with Jesus, but Jesus sends him home to tell people about what God has done for him. God has a plan for how to use each of His followers, and sometimes His plan differs from ours.
A synagogue leader named Jairus came to Jesus and asked Him to heal his daughter. As Jesus was on His way to Jairus's house, the crowds pressed tight against Him. Here, we have a story within a story. The original story gets interrupted for a few verses. In this way, God causes interruptions in our lives to do big things. Also, we can never be so much of an interruption to Jesus that His will is not done or that He misses out on an opportunity to do a good work. There is a woman in the crowd who has suffered chronic bleeding for twelve years. She reached out and touched the edge of Jesus' cloak and was healed. Jesus stopped in the middle of all of this and demanded to know who touched Him. The woman eventually realized she could not hide and stepped forward. She told what happened to her. No doctors could heal this woman. She was a reject from society because anyone who touched her would become dirty. Yet when she touched Jesus, He was clean enough for both of them. She brought her issue to Jesus even though it had been going on for twelve years. He instantly cured it. He was aware of the change. He this story ends and we pick the Jairus story back up. A servant comes from his house to tell him the daughter is dead. Jesus goes on anyway. He tells the mourners outside the house not to mourn for the girl because she is only asleep. The people laugh at Him. When He goes inside, He only allows Peter, John, James, and the girl's parents inside. He touches her hand and tells her to wake up, and she does. Jesus goes after what seems like a hopeless cause and brings back the hope and life. When He talks to the mourners, they think He's crazy because what He tells the doesn't make sense to them. So often Jesus tells us He can make a difference in our lives and we write Him off before we give Him a chance, and more often then not, He'll prove us wrong.
Jesus travels around with the twelve and many others. Among them, there are many women who Jesus has cured. Mary Magdalene; Joanna, the wife of Herod's manager, and Susanna, who has nothing else written about her. This is a big deal because women at the time had very low status, but everyone matters to Jesus because He looks first and foremost at the heart. Then, Jesus tells on of His parables. He talks of a farmer who throws seed. Some of it lands on the path where birds eat it, some of it lands in the rocks where it can't take root, some of it lands among weeds that choke it out, and some falls on good soil and reaps a hundred times what is sown. Jesus calls a lot of attention to this because He tells all who can hear with their ears to hear this. The disciples don't quite understand what Jesus is talking about in His parable, so He breaks it down for them. The seed is the word of God. The seed on the path represents those who hear the Word, but the devil comes and takes it away before they are saved. The seed in the rocks represents the people who hear the Word but take no root in Jesus , so when the testing comes, they fall away. The seed in the roots represents those who hear the Word and believe but let life's worries choke their faith away. The seed on the good soil represent those who hear the Word, retain it, and through perseverance produce a crop.
Jesus talks about putting a lamp on a stand to reveal what is hidden. He speaks of Judgement Day when everything will be revealed, no matter how well you hide it, Jesus knows where it is. We must be careful that our teaching are in the Truth. To have faith and neglect it is to lose it.
Jesus' mother and brothers come to see Him, but there is such a crowd around Jesus that they cannot see Him. Someone in the crowd tells Him, and He responds by saying anyone who takes His Word and puts it into practice is His mother or brother.
Jesus and His disciples cross a lake in a boat. Jesus falls asleep on the journey before a huge storm hits. The boat looks like it will be overtaken, and the disciples wake Jesus up because they are afraid. Jesus, and I like the wording Luke uses, rebukes the storm. Then, He turns to the disciples and asks where their faith is. They have seem to forgotten who they follow. Often times, we forget who we follow, and Jesus has to take control and ask us where our faith is. The disciples respond by asking each other who Jesus can be that even the winds obey Him. I think this is where they start to get the power of the one they serve. They seem to understand for the first time what all of Jesus' teachings apex to.
Jesus went to the town across the lake from Galilee. When He stepped out of the boat, a demon possessed man was waiting for Him. The man had not worn clothes or lived in a house for a long time. Instead, he lived in the tombs. His name as legion. The demons asked what Jesus, the Son of God, wanted with them. Even the demons know who Jesus is. Admitting who He is does not get you salvation. You have to place your sole faith in Him. Jesus commanded the demons to leave multiple times, but they seized the man, begging Jesus not to send them to the abyss. Sometimes, our sins or demons or habits resist Jesus, but He is stronger, and He has more power, so He will drive them away. They asked Him instead to go to the herd of pigs nearby. Jesus allowed them, and the herd ran into the lake and drowned. When the pig herders saw this, they told the towns people. The towns people found the formerly demon possessed man dressed and in his right mind sitting at Jesus' feet. The towns people feared Jesus because of this and sent Him away. So Jesus got in a boat and left. The people witnessed a miracle as demons were driven from a man, but instead of being pleased and finding hope in Jesus, they feared Him. There are times when some people fear change so much that they even reject the good change such as Jesus coming to heal them. The man wants to go a Ross the lake with Jesus, but Jesus sends him home to tell people about what God has done for him. God has a plan for how to use each of His followers, and sometimes His plan differs from ours.
A synagogue leader named Jairus came to Jesus and asked Him to heal his daughter. As Jesus was on His way to Jairus's house, the crowds pressed tight against Him. Here, we have a story within a story. The original story gets interrupted for a few verses. In this way, God causes interruptions in our lives to do big things. Also, we can never be so much of an interruption to Jesus that His will is not done or that He misses out on an opportunity to do a good work. There is a woman in the crowd who has suffered chronic bleeding for twelve years. She reached out and touched the edge of Jesus' cloak and was healed. Jesus stopped in the middle of all of this and demanded to know who touched Him. The woman eventually realized she could not hide and stepped forward. She told what happened to her. No doctors could heal this woman. She was a reject from society because anyone who touched her would become dirty. Yet when she touched Jesus, He was clean enough for both of them. She brought her issue to Jesus even though it had been going on for twelve years. He instantly cured it. He was aware of the change. He this story ends and we pick the Jairus story back up. A servant comes from his house to tell him the daughter is dead. Jesus goes on anyway. He tells the mourners outside the house not to mourn for the girl because she is only asleep. The people laugh at Him. When He goes inside, He only allows Peter, John, James, and the girl's parents inside. He touches her hand and tells her to wake up, and she does. Jesus goes after what seems like a hopeless cause and brings back the hope and life. When He talks to the mourners, they think He's crazy because what He tells the doesn't make sense to them. So often Jesus tells us He can make a difference in our lives and we write Him off before we give Him a chance, and more often then not, He'll prove us wrong.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Luke 7
http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+7/
The next story is that of a centurion, whose favorite servant falls ill. He sends Jewish elders to Jesus to ask Him to save the man's life. They pleaded with Jesus because the man was wellcrespected in Israel. Jesus went back to the man's house, but before He got there, the man sent out more people. They delivered a message from the centurion saying that he is not worthy to have Jesus in His house. He is not even worthy to go to Him, which is why the centurion sent others to ask. The centurion says he also is under authority and commands soldiers. He tells them to come and go, and they listen. In the same way, the centurion knows that Jesus does not even need to go inside to heal the man. Jesus is amazed by the man's faith, and when He sends the others back to the centurion, they find the servant is well again. This man, who was not Jewish, knew that Jesus was Lord, and he knew he was undeserving of the Lord's healing, but he asked anyway because he had faith that Jesus would come through for him. Jesus was amazed by this faith and provided healing. None of us is worthy of the Lord's healing, but He heals us anyway if we just have faith enough in Him to ask.
As He was traveling with many followers, Jesus came across a funeral procession in which the only son of a widow had died. When Jesus saw this, He had compassion on her and stopped the procession to raise the boy to life and give him back to his mother. Sometimes, God does great miracles in our lives even without us asking. Most of the healing Jesus does is from people who ask Him, but this mother never asked. Jesus stopped this funeral procession already in motion to bring the boy back to life. Jesus does this all the time. People heading off to their graves already playing their funeral songs are interrupted by Jesus and brought back to life. And here again Jesus sets an example of compassion for us to follow. He has compassion and goes to the woman. He doesn't stay on the other side of the street. Compassion requires action. When we see someone, and our hearts go out to them, we need to take compassion through an action.
John the Baptist heard about all the thigs Jesus has done, so he sent to of his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the Messaiah. Jesus healed many people in their prescence and told the servants to tell John to report what they had seen. The blind see, deaf hear, lame walk, dead live, and good news proclaimed to the poor. After they had left, Jesus spoke about John the Baptist. He said that John is the greatest man who has ever lived, yet even the least in Heaven is greater than Him. Jesus says that John the Baptist is more than a prophet. He has been prophesied about as the messenger who comes before Jesus. Many people there believed in Jesus then because they had been baptized by John, but the Pharisees still maintained their unbelief because they had not been baptized by John. Jesus told them that John came neither eating nor drinking, and they called him possessed, and Jesus came eating and drinking and they called Him a glutton and a drunkard who hung out with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus compares them to children because God has offered them so much, and they have rejected it all.
Jesus goes to eat a a Pharisee's house. A sinful woman hears of this and takes her bottle of perfume to go see Him. She washes Jesus' feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair. Then, she pours the perfume on them. The Pharisee thinks to himself that Jesus would not be so pleased if He knew who the woman was and what she'd done. Jesus, knowing this, tells the Pharisee a story of a moneylender who had two men owe him money. One owed five hundred and the other fifty. The moneylender forgave both debts. Then Jesus asked the Phariseemwhich person loved the moneylender more. The Pharisee correctly guesses the one with the bigger debt. Jesus then says that the Phariseemgave Jesus no water for His feet, but the woman washed them with her tears and hair. He did not pour perfume on His head, but the woman poured it on His feet. The Pharisee did not kiss Jesus, but the woman repeatedly kissed His feet. Jesus tells the woman that because of her great love for Jesus, her sins are forgiven. The people are amazed and ask Amon themselves who Jesus could be to even forgive sins.
The next story is that of a centurion, whose favorite servant falls ill. He sends Jewish elders to Jesus to ask Him to save the man's life. They pleaded with Jesus because the man was wellcrespected in Israel. Jesus went back to the man's house, but before He got there, the man sent out more people. They delivered a message from the centurion saying that he is not worthy to have Jesus in His house. He is not even worthy to go to Him, which is why the centurion sent others to ask. The centurion says he also is under authority and commands soldiers. He tells them to come and go, and they listen. In the same way, the centurion knows that Jesus does not even need to go inside to heal the man. Jesus is amazed by the man's faith, and when He sends the others back to the centurion, they find the servant is well again. This man, who was not Jewish, knew that Jesus was Lord, and he knew he was undeserving of the Lord's healing, but he asked anyway because he had faith that Jesus would come through for him. Jesus was amazed by this faith and provided healing. None of us is worthy of the Lord's healing, but He heals us anyway if we just have faith enough in Him to ask.
As He was traveling with many followers, Jesus came across a funeral procession in which the only son of a widow had died. When Jesus saw this, He had compassion on her and stopped the procession to raise the boy to life and give him back to his mother. Sometimes, God does great miracles in our lives even without us asking. Most of the healing Jesus does is from people who ask Him, but this mother never asked. Jesus stopped this funeral procession already in motion to bring the boy back to life. Jesus does this all the time. People heading off to their graves already playing their funeral songs are interrupted by Jesus and brought back to life. And here again Jesus sets an example of compassion for us to follow. He has compassion and goes to the woman. He doesn't stay on the other side of the street. Compassion requires action. When we see someone, and our hearts go out to them, we need to take compassion through an action.
John the Baptist heard about all the thigs Jesus has done, so he sent to of his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the Messaiah. Jesus healed many people in their prescence and told the servants to tell John to report what they had seen. The blind see, deaf hear, lame walk, dead live, and good news proclaimed to the poor. After they had left, Jesus spoke about John the Baptist. He said that John is the greatest man who has ever lived, yet even the least in Heaven is greater than Him. Jesus says that John the Baptist is more than a prophet. He has been prophesied about as the messenger who comes before Jesus. Many people there believed in Jesus then because they had been baptized by John, but the Pharisees still maintained their unbelief because they had not been baptized by John. Jesus told them that John came neither eating nor drinking, and they called him possessed, and Jesus came eating and drinking and they called Him a glutton and a drunkard who hung out with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus compares them to children because God has offered them so much, and they have rejected it all.
Jesus goes to eat a a Pharisee's house. A sinful woman hears of this and takes her bottle of perfume to go see Him. She washes Jesus' feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair. Then, she pours the perfume on them. The Pharisee thinks to himself that Jesus would not be so pleased if He knew who the woman was and what she'd done. Jesus, knowing this, tells the Pharisee a story of a moneylender who had two men owe him money. One owed five hundred and the other fifty. The moneylender forgave both debts. Then Jesus asked the Phariseemwhich person loved the moneylender more. The Pharisee correctly guesses the one with the bigger debt. Jesus then says that the Phariseemgave Jesus no water for His feet, but the woman washed them with her tears and hair. He did not pour perfume on His head, but the woman poured it on His feet. The Pharisee did not kiss Jesus, but the woman repeatedly kissed His feet. Jesus tells the woman that because of her great love for Jesus, her sins are forgiven. The people are amazed and ask Amon themselves who Jesus could be to even forgive sins.
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