Luke 7:36-8:3

Good morning, RTB’ers!

Today begins a week+ of travel for Carol and me, so my regular morning posts may be a little off.

I asked you a few days ago that it’s a good practice for us to “put ourselves into the story”. Today there are two main actors, the Pharisee and the woman. (NOTE: I never put myself into Jesus’ place!) Putting yourself into either of those characters will open up the meaning of this incident for us. I encourage you to close your computer, your phone, your book and do just that. Close your eyes and just for a few minutes become one of those two people.

Blessings!

Luke 7:18-35

Good morning, RTB’ers!

John the Baptist, again. An item concerning John the Baptist… In a sermon not long ago (correct me if I’m wrong) I recall that Ben referred to John the Baptist as “John the Baptizer”. And Ben’s different title for John is not the first time that I’ve heard John the Baptist referred to as “the Baptizer”. So, what’s your take on this change? Is this a denominational thing, other Christian denominations not wanting to give the Baptists an edge in their ministry? It’s true that the Baptists have a major concern with baptisms, as a personal witness of a new believer’s commitment to Jesus. So, John was baptizing, the Baptists are baptizing, so appropriately, John the Baptist? (I’m playing a bit here. 😊)

Jesus asking the people, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?” (v. 24b) “What then did you go out to see?” (v. 25a) “What then did you go out to see?” (v. 26a) Jesus then answered, “A reed shaken by the wind… A man dressed in soft clothing…” (vv. 24b, 25b)

Jesus asking us, “What did you come to St. Andrew’s to see? Music that fits your style…? What then did you come to St. Andrew’s to see? A dynamic, eloquent preacher…? What then did you come to St. Andrew’s to see? Coffee hour and fellowship with your friends…?” What did we come to St. Andrew’s to see? Why St. Andrew’s?

Blessings!

Luke 7:1-17

Good morning, RTB’ers!

A couple of days ago we saw the scribes and Pharisees challenging Jesus. Today we see a different Synagogue group, “elders of the Jews” (v. 3) who were members of the Synagogue (v. 5), but clearly not a group wanting to challenge Jesus. Instead, they come to Him with a request from a local centurion, seeking healing from Jesus. What a contrast between these elders and the previous scribes and Pharisees! NOTE: In Matthew’s gospel the centurion himself comes directly to Jesus and makes his request. (Matthew 8:5-13)

When I was growing up with my Catholic roots the centurion’s words were turned into a Communion song:

O Lord, I am not worthy
That Thou should’st come to me,
But speak the words of comfort,
My spirit healed shall be.

O Lord, Thou are all holy,
The angels Thee adore.
How ought I then sincerely
My wrongs and sins deplore.

And humbly I’ll receive Thee,
The bridegroom of my soul,
No more my sin to grieve Thee,
Nor fly Thy sweet control.

I may not be exact on the words and I believe that there are more verses, but memory fails me and the Internet only gave me some modern renditions of this song.

There are two other cases in the gospels where Jesus raises someone from the dead. What are they? Go and find them and look at contrasts between those incidents and what Luke reports in today’s reading.

Blessings!

Luke 6:37-49

Good morning, RTB’ers!

Continuing Luke’s “Sermon on the Plain”. Mathew’s “Sermon on the Mount” is three chapters long – Mt. 5-7. Here, in Luke we have Jesus speaking only twenty verses (Luke 6:20-39). However, Luke has more of what Matthew includes in other passages. (See Luke 11:2-4; 12:22-31, 33-34). The suggestion is that Jesus spoke this message or parts thereof in many locations during His ministry.

Jesus’ words on judgment and condemnation are personal to me; I have long had a problem with judging others. Part of that is probably due to my many years in the classroom – more specifically grading papers and exams and assigning grades. Judgment is absolutely necessary there! But that teaching profession is less about judging and more about lifting all students to know more and to be better citizens. Humility is a lot more effective in the classroom than arrogance! Likewise, when a judgmental situation arises in my head, more often I’ve learned to pray for that person or situation instead of letting judgment reign. And I honestly feel a real sense of relief when I do that.

Blessings!

Luke 6:12-36 

Good morning, RTB’ers!

Jesus choosing the twelve; the “Sermon on the Mount/Plain”. My Study Bible suggested a plateau in the hills, which would satisfy both the “mount” in Matthew and the “level place” in Luke (Matthew 5:1, Luke 6:17).

Thus far in Luke we have seen Jesus calling Peter and Andrew, James and John, and Levi/Matthew. Then in John 1 we also know of Jesus choosing Philip and Nathanael. Now we see Jesus choosing another five apostles from among the crowd of disciples gathered around Him, including Judas Iscariot. This Judas (the traitor) was the only apostle who was not a Galilean; presumably he was one of the hundreds of Jesus’ followers who had come far north from Judea to see and “to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases” (v. 18).

Today’s second STS question has a sentence beginning, “Putting yourself in the place of the disciples…”. I have often asked this question of readers in previous RTB years. It’s a good exercise, to “put yourself into the story”, into whatever person you choose to be. Today you could be one of those seven whom we know were earlier explicitly chosen by Jesus; or you could be one of the five newly chosen (were you surprised at Jesus naming you?); or you could be just “one of the crowd”, either a local or an Israelite from Jerusalem/Judea: or you could have been one of those Gentiles from Tyre and Sidon, some 30-50 miles to the northwest from Capernaum (v. 17). So, choose one!

It’s scary for me (us) when I see myself (ourselves) as rich, full, happy, “honored” (vv. 24-25), when I read of woes heaped upon me (us). Am I doing something wrong? Am I running with the wrong crowd? Help me, Lord to understand who You want me to be!

Blessings!

Luke 5:27-6:11

Good morning, RTB’ers!

Calling Levi/Matthew; clashes with the scribes and the Pharisees. The scribes and Pharisees speaking: “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”(5:30b); “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink.” (5:33); “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”(6:2); and Now the scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse Him. (6:7). Our first question in STS refers to the scribes and the Pharisees and their opposition to Jesus. It is interesting to put their objections together, seeing only their comments and behaviors and leaving out Jesus’ responses. I mentioned yesterday that the scribes and Pharisees had good reason to search Jesus out – they didn’t want the people to be following a false Messiah. But they go overboard with their challenges. BTW, God gave the Ten Commandments and other rules and regulations to the Israelites back in Exodus and Leviticus, but the scribes and Pharisees had their own interpretations of these various laws and imposed their interpretations on their followers.

In Luke 6:4 where Jesus speaks of David and his men eating the “bread of the Presence” (or “consecrated bread” in the NASB), He is referring back to an incident in I Samuel 21:1-6, where David is fleeing from Saul. Jesus acknowledges that the act of David and his men eating the consecrated bread was “not lawful”, yet they did it anyway and Jesus seems to side with them. How do you feel about that?

Blessings!

Luke 5:12-26

Good morning, RTB’ers!

Faith and healings. Today’s STS asks a good question, comparing the faith of the individuals involved in each of today’s healings. It’s a good question to ponder – and then to ask ourselves about our own faith when we pray for healings.

Ben has announced a St. Andrew’s healing service for January 20. These would be good scriptures for background for that service. I would encourage you to attend that service and to re-read today’s passage as preparation before you go.

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… Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem (verse 17). We have already seen that Jesus’ fame was spreading throughout Galilee. Now we have Pharisees and scribes coming all the way from Jerusalem (~80 miles) and even farther from locations throughout Judea. Clearly Jesus’ fame was spreading! Carol had pointed out to me a few years back that the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem were always on the lookout for anyone claiming to be the Messiah or someone who was healing or teaching or recruiting followers. So the Pharisees and Scribes may have been there to check Jesus out – and probably with an eye to discredit Him. Unfortunately for them, Jesus was up to the task and the Pharisees and Scribes got more than they bargained for!

Blessings!

Luke 5:1-11

Good morning, RTB’ers!

In today’s first verse Luke refers to the Lake of Gennesaret. This lake is also known as the Sea of Galilee in Matthew’s and Mark’s gospels and as the Sea of Tiberius in John’s gospel. It is a prominent feature on the map that I posted yesterday and is referred to quite often in the gospels, as in Jesus calming the storm (Matthew 8:26, Mark 4:39, and Luke 8:24); Jesus walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:16-21); and Jesus crossing “over to the other side” (Mark 4:35).

As I mentioned yesterday, cross-referencing the other gospels is helpful for a better understanding of Jesus’ ministry. For today’s reading, if you only read Luke’s gospel, you might have some sense that this is the first time that Jesus met these three men. But in John 1:40-42 we see Andrew as Jesus’ first follower, and then Andrew bringing his brother, Simon Peter to Jesus (John 1:40-42). It is also quite possible that the other man with Andrew who was following Jesus in John 1:37, 40 was either James or John (v. 10 in today’s reading). Finally, later in John’s first chapter we see Jesus also calling Philip and Nathanael (John 1:43-50). (See also Mark 1:16-20 and Matthew 4:18-22 for other records of Jesus calling His first disciples.)

If you are reading this post and following along in Search the Scriptures, it’s likely that you have also been called. So, when was that? When were you called? What was the occasion? Who was there with you at that time? What was your response? It’s good for us to ask ourselves those questions occasionally, to regularly recall Jesus’ and His Holy Spirit’s ministry into our lives. More Sunday discussion!!

Blessings!

Luke 4:31-44

Good morning, RTB’ers!

Today we see Jesus leaving Nazareth and going “down” (in elevation) to Capernaum, some 40 miles to the northeast. I’ve imbedded a map below showing much of the Galilee region. (BTW, Galilee is a Jewish region between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, bordering Samaria on the south and Lebanon on the north.) The dark lines show a route between Cana (where Jesus turned water into wine, John 2:1-12) and Nazareth (Jesus’ hometown), and then from Nazareth to Capernaum. We will find Capernaum to be a major city in Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. Peter was from Capernaum, along with his brother Andrew and another set of brothers, James and John. They were all fishermen, fishing in the Sea of Galilee. Eleven of Jesus’ twelve apostles were from Galilee, the exception being Judas, who was from a small town south of Jerusalem.

The demons that Jesus cast out in today’s reading referred to Him as the “Holy One of God” (v. 34) and the “Son of God” (v. 41). He silenced them both, not wanting them to broadcast to onlookers as to Who He was. Mark’s gospel makes a big deal of Jesus’ “Messianic Secret”, so we see a bit of that here in Luke. Another phrase that we see for the first time today is the “kingdom of God” (v. 43). My Study Bible noted that this phrase occurs more than 30 times in Luke’s gospel. We might ask ourselves what exactly is the “kingdom of God”? Is it some “heaven” place, from where Jesus had come to be born, where the Father “resides”? Is it some future heaven or Earth, which will be Jesus’ Kingdom when He returns? Or is it some “location” or “presence” wherever Jesus is, in His earthly person? What exactly does Jesus mean by the “kingdom of God”? Another good question for discussion on the 14^th!

Blessings!

Luke 4:14-30

Good morning, RTB’ers! Sorry for that delay. A hard, windy night slows things down in the morning here in the country.

Verse 23b is confusing. Jesus is suggesting that the synagogue crowd was thinking, “…What we have heard You did at Capernaum, do here in Your hometown as well.” We have no record here in Luke’s gospel of what He had done in Capernaum. In verse 14 we have the Spirit directing Jesus away from His wilderness experience and back to his home area in Galilee. But there is nothing said in Luke about what Jesus might have done in Judea or Galilee before returning to his hometown of Nazareth (v. 16), except that He was preaching in Galilean synagogues (v. 15). John’s gospel records a number of incidents soon after Jesus’ baptism – His calling His disciples, the wedding at Cana, Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well. We simply have to go along with Luke’s verse 15 comment, “And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.” Then the next verse has Him back in Nazareth. So there must have been a good deal of time lapse between verse 13 and verse 16.

Computer problems remain, especially with Chrome, which I use extensively in posting these comments. So if this note sends, I’m going to leave it with you to work through this Nazareth synagogue experience yourselves. Another good discussion item for the 14^th!

Blessings!