Our study for March is to daily read and study Luke chapters 19, 20 and 21.
Our study for March is to daily read and study Luke chapters 19, 20 and 21.
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Jesus teaches us to always pray and not give up. He taught this by giving an example of a widow who was wronged and who repeatedly demanded justice from a judge who neither feared God nor cared about people. Finally, the judge declared she was driving him crazy because of her constant demands of him. He said he would be sure she received justice.
(I wondered about all the things we repeatedly go to the Lord with. Maybe we want a car, home, new job or such and I wondered if such requests were also including in this teaching. I tend to not think so. As we see here, her request was for justice and "that" request was what was honored. She was not begging for new shoes so her requests were not for stuff. She begged for justice and that is what she received.) Jesus taught, surely they could expect God to give justice to His chosen people who continually cried out to Him (I believe He is referring to the Jews who cried out for justice while under Roman rule) for justice just as the woman. She never gave up pleading for justice and even received justice from an uncaring, godless judge. How much more could they expect from a caring and loving God? Persistence, in both cases, is an expression of faith that justice will someday be given. The woman kept going to the judge filled with faith expecting justice. The people of His time also cried out for justice and their persistence would be an expression of their faith. Even we at this time want justice and Jesus closed this teaching with this thought. (vs8) "I tell you, He will grant justice to them quickly! (those who have faith). But when the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on this earth who have faith?" (At time of Jesus return, how many will He find who have cried out in faith for justice such as this?) Jesus presented the teaching of a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee publicly seen as a righteous and religious man and a tax collector seen as a sinner and one who cheated and stole from the people. They both came to the temple to pray. The Pharisee thanked God he was not a sinner like everyone else, for he did all the right things. He didn't cheat, he didn't sin, he didn't commit adultery and certainly wasn't like the tax collector. He even fasted twice a week and gave a tenth of his income. On the other hand, the tax collector could not even lift his eyes toward heaven while he prayed. He beat his chest in sorrow asking God to be merciful, admitting he was a sinner. Jesus teaching was this, (vs14) "I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted." Whenever I see teachings such as this, they take me back to Romans 12:3. " Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don't think you are better that you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us." Sometimes, because of our religious practices and place in the church, we can be tempted to think we are better than those around us. We may be critical of those who sit home on Sundays while we "sacrifice" our time and go to church. We may appear to be righteous to ourselves and others when compared to those who don't even attend or serve. While they may sit home, their hearts may be better aligned with this story and they may be more righteous than we. Jesus was teaching in verse 17; "I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it." How would a child act? What is a child's relationship with his/her father like? A child would look to their father for everything. For protection, needs, care, love, compassion forgiveness, instruction, help and so on. A child would love, respect, treasure and be submissive to their father. (To name a few but you get the idea) We must come to our Father with hearts as those of a child. Our Father must be everything to us and be the one we recognize as the giver of all goods things. We must rest in our Father and allow Him to guide and direct our lives while loving Him and revering Him. (Also, to name a few but you get the idea) A man asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him he must obey the commandments. The man answered He had done that since he was young. Jesus then told him to sell all he had and give the money to the poor and that doing such he would have treasure in heaven. Then he should leave home and follow Him. The man became sad for he was very rich. (To me, this was not a matter of doing an act but a matter of the heart. All must have a heart that is in tune with Christ in such a way that they would be willing to give all they had to help others. This was Christ's example for He gave all He had, even His life, to help mankind.) Jesus commented on how very hard it is for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. Those who heard this encounter with the rich man asked then who in the world could be saved. (vs27) "He replied, "what is impossible for people is possible with God." Salvation at the hand of man or by any act of man is impossible. Salvation is only possible only by, with and through God. Jesus again spoke to the disciples of His death. He told them all the predictions of the prophets would soon come true. He would be turned over to the Romans who will mock, treat Him shamefully, spit on Him, flog Him, whip Him and kill Him but on the third day He would rise again. The disciples didn't understand any of what Jesus told them nor the significance of His words for understanding was hidden from them. ( I had wondered about this. If understanding was hidden from them, who hid it? Would God have kept them in the dark? Living in an evil world and being human, I think the evil one may have been the one who robbed them of any understanding. He was keeping them blinded by the thoughts that Jesus would destroy the Romans and return them to a life of freedom, just as the rest of the people believed. They all believed in a savior that would overthrow Roma and set them free. None of them could any thought that Jesus would die and not destroy Rome. As Jesus continued to Jerusalem, a bling beggar in the crowd, cried out to Him. Even though people told him to shut up, he cried out. Finally, Jesus had the man brought to Him and asked him what he wanted. The beggar told Jesus he wanted to see. Jesus said, "All right, recieve your sight! Your faith has healed you." Instantly theman was healed znd he fiollowed Jesus praising God. And all who witnessed this, praised God too. Such teachings touch my heart and cause me to reflect on me and my relationship to Christ and my recognition of all the good things in my life because of Christ's love for me. Do I praise Him for all He does and has done? Am i at all like the blind beggar in my gratitude? Sadly, no I am not. I take far too many things for granted. Far too many things pass me by with little or no recognition of the Giver. Does my recognition and praise of God cause others who see what He is doing in my life? Does my praise cause others to also praise God? Again, Sadly, no. This is a great lesson regarding our relationship with God and about our hearts, Are our hearts filled with praise and gratitude? A point to ponder. - With the very first verse of this chapter, Jesus presented something that I believe most of us give no thought to. (vs 1) "There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! It would be better to be thrown into the4 sea with a millstone hung around your neck that to cause these little ones to fall into sin. So watch yourselves!"
We know of temptation. We experience it regularly and often fall to it but do we ever consider the repercussions of us being the one who does the tempting? Sorrow awaits the person who seduces another persons spouse leading them to commit adultery. Sorrow awaits those who publish all the pornography in print or on line causing others to sin. Sorrow awaits the one who entices another to steal of cheat. Those are direct actions but there are also indirect things we can do. What if we dress in a way that causes another to lust after us? What if we regularly sin causing another to think it is okay to do what we are doing? This scripture gives us an opportunity to stop and look at how we live and evaluate if we cause others to sin. Jesus taught us to rebuke another believer if he/she is sinning. We are also to forgive that person if there is repentance, even if they sin over andover but continually ask forgiveness, we must forgive. He taught us to not think highly of ourselves when we do what we should be doing. He gave the example of a servant coming in from plowing a field. Does that master invite him to join him for supper? No. The master expects him to continue with what his tasks are. He should prepare the masters meal and serve him. Then the servant could eat. Jesus asked, should the servant expect a thank you and expect to be praised for doing what he is charged with doing? No. It is what is expected of him and for that, he should not expect praise. Jesus continued by teaching it is the same for us. When we obey Him and do as we are told and taught we should say, "We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty." (vs10). We should do what we are here to do and not think we are special and expect praises. On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus encountered ten lepers who cried out to Jesus to have mercy on them. Jesus told them to show themselves to the priests. (He told them to take action) and they obeyed, heading off to see the priests. As they traveled, they were cleansed of their leprosy. One ran back to Jesus shouting "Praise God!" He fell at Jesus feet thanking Him for healing him. That man was not a Jew, he was a Samaritan. (as we know Samaritans were thought of as low class people worth very little. The Jews despised them) However, the one who was considered to be scum expressed his gratitude with thanksgiving while the other nine (perhaps all Jews who should know enough to respond the same way) went on their merry way, thankless. We can again use this teaching as a mirror to look at ourselves. Do we cry out for the mercy of the Lord but go on our way after receiving blessings from the Lord or do we return to Him filled with thanksgiving and gratitude? Jesus response was (vs17-19) "Didn't I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" And Jesus said to this man, "Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you." We are taught to praise God for our blessings as the one did. I can't help but wonder if the nine lost their healing as these verses imply. Perhaps they kept their healing but received no further blessings. The rest of this chapter speaks to the coming Kingdom of God. The Pharisees asked Him when the Kingdom of God would come. Jesus taught them the Kingdom of God couldn't be detected by visible signs for it is already among them. No one could point it out and say it is over there or over here. Jesus then addressed His disciples saying, they would long for the day when the Son of Man (Him) returns but they wouldn't see it. People will tell them He is over here or over there but warned them to not follow such things. He taught, just as bold as lightening lights up the entire sky, so it will be when He returns. His return will be announce boldly and clearly so that all will know He has come. First, He must suffer greatly and be rejected by the people of that time. When He returns it will be like the time of Noah. People ignored the warnings and went on with life as normal. The people did not heed Noah's warning and the floods came and destroyed them all. He also likened His return to the time of Lot. People were carrying on and living life as always. Buying, selling, eating drinking and living life as normal. Until one morning, Lot left Sodom and heaven rained burning sulfur on the town and destroyed them all. So it will be when He comes. People will be carrying on as usual with no concern for His coming and many will perish. Such are the warning signs of the end coming near just as circling vultures are the sign of a carcass below them. |
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