Week 28
Monday, July 7
Luke
18:1-30
Commentary
Jesus
emphasizes that we must approach God in humility to receive his help. Jesus
tells a parable with a similar message to Luke 11:5-13 – we should continually
pray to God because even sinful men will eventually grant persistent requests.
God is infinitely more loving and more capable than even the best of men, so we
can surely bring our requests to him. We should thus continually pray to him
and seek his help. God’s people cry out to him for justice, and God will bring
it to the unrepentant when he returns.
People
begin to bring their babies to Jesus and the disciples rebuke them, but Jesus
welcomes them and remarks that God’s kingdom must be received like a child.
Salvation, as the parable before this illustrated, must be received humbly as a
gracious gift. We must recognize our sin and ask for God’s forgiveness, relying
fully on him. The ruler who asks Jesus about eternal life, however, wants to
earn salvation and thus asks what he must do. Jesus knows his heart –
despite his claims of obeying the law since childhood, Jesus knew the ruler
loved his money more than God. Jesus remarks that it is difficult for the
wealthy to enter the kingdom because wealth tends to puff us up and distract us
from God. Those who have nothing are much more likely to recognize their need
for God than those who think they have everything because of their wealth.
If it is this hard to give up our vanity and rely on God, then we
are all in trouble! Thankfully, God does not leave things up to us and our
sin-stained hearts. He overcomes our sinfulness and foolishness, bringing life
from death and truly doing the impossible. Even the ability to receive
salvation, this great gift from God, is a gift itself! Peter says the disciples
have left everything to follow Jesus, probably hoping for assurance that they
will enter the needle-eye-sized path to heaven. Jesus promises that all his
followers will receive God’s family and riches in his eternal kingdom.
Application/Discussion
1. How
does this passage make you think about your prayer life?
2.
How do you share Jesus with the kids in your life, whether at home, church,
work, family events, and so on? Do not neglect this great responsibility and
privilege!
Points
of Prayer
Adoration:
Praise God for his grace and wisdom in making his kingdom open for the humble
and repentant.
Confession:
Ask God to forgive you of any arrogance or negligence of duty.
Thanksgiving:
Thank God for Jesus’ laying down of his life to save our lives.
Supplication:
Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help to live for Christ in humble, sacrificial
service.
Tuesday,
July 8
Luke
18:31-19:10
Commentary
We
now see Jesus’ first explicit prediction of his death and resurrection in
Luke’s gospel. The disciples do not fully understand this very explicit
language until these events have already happened. The biblical authors are
honest about the flaws of the people they describe, even the very leaders who
carry God’s message. If you were starting a new religion, you would probably
make your leaders look much more discerning than this! If the disciples were
this clueless and the gospel is true, then they would naturally include their
flaws in their accounts so that God’s grace and wisdom would shine all the brighter.
As
Jesus is journeying, a blind man by the road calls out for Jesus’ mercy,
continuing to cry after others try to hush him and even calling Jesus the Son
of David, the promised Savior and heir to David’s throne. Ironically, the
disciples could not “see” Jesus clearly when he predicted his death, but the
blind man “sees” Jesus for who he is. Jesus heals this man because he placed
his faith in Jesus – faith is about the object, Christ, not the strength of our
focus or will.
Finally,
we see the familiar story of a wee little man, Zacchaeus. He is so determined
to see Jesus, he runs ahead of the path and climbs a tree to be sure he can see
Jesus when he passes. Notice that Jesus spots and calls out Zacchaeus – Jesus
was seeking him, even as he thought he was seeking Jesus himself. Like the
parable of the lost sheep, Jesus ignores the bustle of the crowd to call
Zacchaeus to receive and host him. Zacchaeus had genuine humility, faith, and
action when he met Jesus. While the crowd is mad at Jesus eating with a tax
collector, the tax collector is listening to Jesus and vowing to repay all that
he extorted. Jesus affirms his mission is to seek and save the lost, not coddle
sin, perform magic tricks, or reward arrogance.
Application/Discussion
1. Compare
the story of Zacchaeus to Luke 18:9-14. What are the parallels between the two
passages? Which character do you believe best represents you, and why?
2.
Have you been found and saved by Jesus, or are you still lost? Why do you
believe this? How should you respond to Christ in faith based on our reading
today?
3.
Do you encounter people who are lost and marginalized? How can you share Jesus
with them every time you see them? If you are not sure, ask your pastors or
another mature believer.
Points
of Prayer
Adoration:
Praise God for being the Almighty and all-worthy Creator and Ruler of the
universe.
Confession:
Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in loving and evangelizing the ignored and
downtrodden around you.
Thanksgiving:
Thank God for Jesus’ humble, obedient death and mighty, triumphant
Resurrection.
Supplication:
Pray for the Holy Spirit’s conviction and boldness for your church to reach out
to the lost in your community.
Wednesday,
July 9
Luke
19:11-48
Commentary
In our reading today, Jesus tells a
parable about stewardship and judgement. The point of the parable is that
whatever God entrusts to us, he expects us to use for good, out of thankfulness
and reverent obedience. God will bless us for being faithful stewards of what he
gives us, and he will punish those who refuse to submit to his lordship. Jesus
is like the noble in the parable; he is the providing and reigning Lord of all.
The next scene is Jesus’ entry to
Jerusalem at the beginning of Passover week. Despite being God Almighty
himself, Jesus enters the city quite humbly. He shows up on a borrowed donkey
with a makeshift saddle, walking over a makeshift red carpet, and is hailed not
by nobles and soldiers, but commoners. Yet Jesus’ entry is also quite royal –
he rides an unbroken animal, as the king’s steed would be reserved for only
him, he is called King by the crowd of his followers, and he adds that even the
stones would worship him.
Jesus predicts and mourns the
destruction of Jerusalem (AD 70). He then chases out all the opportunists who
sold animals for sacrifice at the temple at a great upcharge, even using the
Court of Gentiles to conduct their business. They made God’s sacred place of
worship into a place of price-gouging and exploitation. Jesus then teaches in
the temple with boldness and authority. The religious and social leaders plot
to kill Jesus. However, he is highly regarded by the commoners and does nothing
wrong. What ultimately leads to Jesus’ death is his own refusal to defend
himself at the rabid insistence of the crowds to crucify him. He willingly
subjected himself to this evil agony to make us, his enemies, into his brothers
and sisters in the kingdom of his Father.
Application/Discussion
1. The
people overflow with excitement when Jesus enters Jerusalem, but by the end of
the week, they call for Jesus’ death, flee out of fear, or stay silent as Jesus
is condemned. What is the difference between being excited about religious
matters externally and truly knowing God in the heart?
2.
What has God given you in terms of biblical knowledge, church family, skills
and passions, and so on? How are you using what God gave you for his glory?
Points
of Prayer
Adoration:
Praise God for how his glory is shown in creation and his church.
Confession:
Ask God’s forgiveness for desiring the praise of people more than his love.
Thanksgiving:
Thank God for Jesus’ sovereign rule as the victorious King and the certainty of
his return.
Supplication: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help for your church members to work in unity, exercise their gifts, and serve God with gladness.
Thursday,
July 10
Luke
20:1-18
Commentary
In this
passage, Jesus is confronted by the religious leaders, this time the scribes
(interpreters/enforcers of the Law) and the chief priests (leaders in the
temple). They ask him by what authority he does “these things,” most likely his
teaching since that was what Luke described at the end of the last chapter.
Jesus gives them a question they cannot answer without condemning themselves
and refuses to tell them the origin of his authority. They already know they
have no excuse not to listen to John; Jesus telling them his authority is from
God, or that he is the Christ or God incarnate, would only have expedited his
death. Like Abraham said in the Lazarus parable, if someone refuses to trust
God’s testimony in his Word, he will not be convinced by anything else.
Jesus
tells a parable that indicts the religious leaders as well as the hard-hearted,
faithless Israelites of the past. God is the master who sends servant after
servant, the prophets, to the vineyard, Israel, only to have them disregarded
and even killed by the vineyard workers, the Israelites. He sends his own Son,
Jesus, but they treat him even worse than those who came before him! Jesus
promises that the master will destroy these rebellious workers and give the
vineyard to others. The Jews, especially their leaders, largely rejected Jesus
in his day and the gospel was spread to and received by the Gentiles. Going
beyond the parable, Jesus also proclaims that the stone, himself, that the
builders, the Israelites, rejected will become the chief cornerstone and will
crush the builders. The church is built upon the work of Christ; no Jesus as
the atoning, victorious, reigning Savior means no Christianity. Build your life
upon Jesus, he is the only one who is worth everything you are and have.
Application/Discussion
1. Why
did the religious leaders, who knew the Scriptures better than anyone, reject
Jesus? How can familiarity with the Bible lead to ignoring God? Rely on God’s
help and trust in him alone to save you as you seek to understand and live out
his Word!
2. What
does it mean that the church is built on Jesus as the cornerstone? How can we
build our faith and practice on Jesus rather than our own thoughts, traditions,
or culture?
Points
of Prayer
Adoration:
Praise God for showing his glory by shaming the proud and exalting the humble.
Confession:
Ask for God to help you build your life upon Christ alone.
Thanksgiving:
Thank God for Jesus’ work as the cornerstone and Savior of the church.
Supplication:
Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in the hearts of unbelieving Jews and others
who are familiar with the Bible but refuse to believe.
Friday,
July 11
Luke
20:19-47
Commentary
In
today’s verses, Jesus’ opponents try to trap him with trick questions to get
him arrested, attacked, or at least hated by the people. First, the scribes and
chief priests try to get Jesus to say God’s people should not pay taxes and
thus incur Rome’s wrath against him. Jesus gives a simple reply: the money is
made by the government, when the government wants some of it back, give it,
just as we are to use God’s gifts to us for him. J. C. Ryle commented, “Honor,
love, obedience, faith, fear, prayer, spiritual worship, were payments to God
which they might daily make, and payments with which the Roman government did
not interfere… Let them see to it that they gave to God His dues in spiritual
things, as well as to Caesar his dues in temporal things.”[1]
Next
the Sadducees, a smaller group of Jewish religious elites, tried to get Jesus
to admit the idea of an afterlife was not consistent with what the Law says
about marriage. The Sadducees did not believe in heaven, but they knew the
Pharisees and the people did believe in heaven. They were probably hoping Jesus
would publicly reject the idea of heaven and lose the favor of the people.
Jesus tells them they do not understand God’s power or Word either one; they
are wrong from the start because they want to attack the Bible rather than
believe it.
Jesus
asks a question of his own, dealing with Psalm 110’s suggestion that the Son of
David, the great heir of David’s throne, would be greater than David himself.
Luke does not record how the religious leaders respond to Jesus’ question.
Instead, he presents Jesus’ disparagement of their hypocrisy and arrogance.
Rather than follow their example, we must follow the humble example of Christ.
Application/Discussion
1. When
you read the Bible, do you approach it with a desire to believe and submit to
it, or do you try to disprove it or find reasons to disobey it? How can you
grow in respect for the authority of God’s Word?
2. Why
should we pay our taxes and obey our leaders in other matters, as long as doing
so does not cause us to sin? How does the government mirror God’s authority?
How is God’s authority greater than any human institution?
Points
of Prayer
Adoration:
Praise God for his truthfulness, wisdom, and power.
Confession:
Ask God to forgive you for regarding other things as more worthy of your time
and love than his Word.
Thanksgiving:
Thank God for giving us his Son, his Spirit, and his Word to save and sanctify
us.
Supplication:
Pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance for your country’s leaders to be wise
stewards and to turn to Christ.
Saturday,
July 12
Luke
21:1-28
Commentary
In
contrast to Jesus’ description of the religious leaders as greedy, devouring
monsters at the end of the last chapter, Jesus highlights a poor widow who
humbly, trustingly gave every cent she had to the Lord at the temple. This
meek, reverent faith is what matters and will last. The opulence of Jerusalem’s
temple, intended to reflect God’s infinite worth and majesty, would be ruined,
but the faith of this poor widow will last eternally and she will be in God’s
heavenly temple forever.
Jesus
describes what seems to be both an impending destruction of Jerusalem and the
last days. I. Howard Marshall noted that “The way [the disciples] put their
question, and certainly the way in which Jesus answered it, shows that they
thought that the destruction of the temple would be one of the events
associated with the end of the age.”[2]
Jesus’ words are likely fulfilled in two stages: the destruction of the temple
in AD 70 and the last days, as neither event by itself perfectly accounts for
everything Jesus describes here. Whether in Jerusalem when it was raided and
sacked, in a car crash on the way home from work, or being a witness to the end
of the earth itself, we all must be prepared to face our Maker at any moment.
For
those who know Christ, the end of our time on earth should be exciting because
we will be brought home to glory. No matter what we face until our deaths or
the Lord’s return, God will strengthen and guide us, helping us to persevere
and be bold witnesses for him. For those who do not know Christ, the
description of the end times and the chaos of life in a sin-stained world until
then should be terrifying to the bone.
Application/Discussion
1. What
scares you most about death? What scares you most about the end times? How does
Jesus encourage us about these matters in today’s passage?
2. Are
you prepared to face God? What would you say for God to let you into heaven,
and do you think that would be enough? If you are not sure about your
salvation, talk to one of your pastors or a trusted Christian friend.
Points
of Prayer
Adoration:
Praise God for his infinite goodness, sovereign power, and perfect justice.
Confession:
Ask for God’s forgiveness for any ways you have fallen short today.
Thanksgiving:
Thank God for his promises to be with and protect his people.
Supplication:
Pray for the Holy Spirit’s conviction and enlightenment of a lost person you
know well and for the passion and boldness to share with that person.
Sunday,
July 13
Luke
21:29-22:13
Commentary
In
today’s reading, Jesus says that the events he described in the preceding
verses are signs that the end is near. Christian thinkers differ somewhat in
interpreting Jesus’ meaning. Will disasters and persecution be a normal part of
life from Jesus’ death to his return, or will they massively increase
immediately before his return? The time between Jesus’ first and second coming
is called the “last days” in the Bible (1 John 2:18) and Jesus’ return will be
unexpected and sudden (Mark 13:32, 2 Peter 3:8-12). Some of what Jesus
described happened in the attack on Jerusalem in AD 70, so I am more inclined
to think famines, earthquakes, persecutions, and the like are features of the
fallen world that indicate that Jesus may indeed return at any moment. Believers
in first-world countries or with easy lives often cry “Apocalypse!” the first
time a disaster affects them personally, but some places in the world have
never known consistent peace, safety, and provision. If the fall of Rome, the Black
Plague, World War II, and the centuries of oppression of Christians in the
Middle East have not meant Jesus’ immediate return, then a similar crisis in
our neck of the woods does not necessarily mean that Jesus is returning
tomorrow. What matters more than when Jesus will return, something we cannot
know, is whether we are prepared for his return, which we can know by putting
our faith in him.
After
Jesus’ teaching, Judas finds the means to betray Jesus while Jesus prepares to
take the Passover Supper with his disciples. The Passover and the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, celebrated God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian
captivity. It was typically celebrated by individual family units, but Jesus
instead celebrates the Passover with his disciples, as through his sacrifice
and salvation, all the faithful are brought into one family, God’s church. As
with the donkey he rode into town, Jesus mysteriously has the exact provision
for the Passover arranged in advance. Even more impressively, Jesus has the
exact provision for the ultimate, final Passover sacrifice arranged in the form
of his own death, as we will see in the coming days.
Application/Discussion
1. Are
you ready for your death or Jesus’ return? Why or why not? Do not waste another
moment in sin and stupidity, turn to Christ while you can!
2. How
has your desire to obey God and share the gospel grown as you have read more
about the end times throughout the New Testament this year?
Points
of Prayer
Adoration:
How can you praise God based on what you just read?
Confession:
Is there unconfessed sin in your heart today?
Thanksgiving:
How can you thank God based on what you just read?
Supplication: What can you ask for God’s help with based on what you just read?
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