Bible 101 - Luke 10-11:36

Presented April 24, 2006 by Phyllis Gilbert

Luke 10: As Jesus has earlier sent out the 12, he now sends 72 additional ministers two by two into villages to prepare the way for him. He tells them "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." These 72 workers are the models, and Jesus' instructions are plain: go with nothing but a desire to tell others about the Kingdom of God. Towns that rejected these "bringers of good news" were to be left in the dust. Literally. And Jesus condemns Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum showing us an important truth: not all the crowds who were amazed at Jesus teaching and healing believed in him. Remember the parable of the soils? The crowds who listened to him included hearts that were ready and hearts that were hard. The 72 returned "with joy" at the work they accomplished in Jesus' name. Jesus makes a statement then that seems strange: "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven," revealing another truth: the devil, who'd wanted to defeat Jesus before he began his ministry, is being defeated by Jesus' ministry, and his final defeat will come at the cross. Jesus thanks God for their ministry, and for the hearts which have not only welcomed the good news, but have then put shoe leather to it, taking it to others.

Luke 10:23: Here's the first of several parables found only in Luke, and it's a familiar one - the Good Samaritan. Jesus from the beginning of his ministry has made it clear that he's doing a new work: new wine, new wineskins. He is not rejecting the law, but he's looking at it in a new light, the light of fulfillment. This parable puts all that into a nutshell: what you believe about God must be shown in your life. The parable comes in response to a question from an "expert in the law" - probably a scribe or Pharisee, but certainly someone who taught the Mosaic law - who asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him a question, "what does the law say?" and the man replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus commended him and said "do this and you will live." "Who is my neighbor?" the lawyer asked. And Jesus told him about a man going from Jerusalem to Jericho set upon and beaten up by thieves. Left bleeding by the side of the road, both a priest and a Levite move on by him, turning away from both the sight of the man and their responsibility to help him. The priest might have justified his action by thinking the man dead, and therefore beyond help. In addition, as a priest, he couldn't touch a dead body without becoming defiled or unclean, thereby rendering himself ineligible to participate in the rituals at the temple. The Levite, while not under as strict laws, might have decided that if the priest didn't help, he shouldn't either. And then a Samaritan stopped. This man not only performed first aid, but took the man to the nearest inn, paid for his care and, when leaving the next day, promised to return and settle any additional bills the man's care involved. "Which of these was neighbor to the wounded man?" Jesus asked the lawyer. And he replied "the one who had mercy." Jesus tells him to "go and do likewise." Jesus point is that our neighbors aren't just the people we choose to live near, or the people who are like us. Neighbors are those we may encounter anywhere who need help.

Luke 10:38: Martha, Mary and Lazarus lived in Bethany not far from Jerusalem. Jesus often visited their home, and we learn that while Martha saw to the feeding and hospitality of Jesus and the disciples, Mary sat and listened to Jesus teach. She was hungry for more than bread and soup; she wanted the bread of life. Martha complains to Jesus about having no help; Jesus tells her "Mary has chosen what is better." I can't see that Jesus is condemning food preparation or serving a dinner; it's just another case of having one's priorities straight. In the end, when Lazarus died and Jesus came to bring him back to life, it was Martha whose faith was strong (John 11). Perhaps at this earlier time, she'd needed Jesus' to say to her: "Let the dishes go for a little while, Martha; you come and listen, too."

Luke 11: In this chapter, Jesus is teaching. He's on his way to Jerusalem; he has much yet to say to his disciples, and he begins in prayer. His disciples, seeing him once again praying, ask him to teach them "as John taught his disciples." It would appear that the teachers of the day instructed their students in the law and in forms of worship. And so a shortened form of what we call "The Lord's Prayer" follows. First, the address: God is called Father or the familiar Abba. We are to be so close to God that we can talk to him as we would our own parents. But we are to recognize that he is holy for the next thing Jesus teaches is "hallowed be your name." God is not our buddy; he's not a human but he is the creator of the universe, the provider of all we have. This then is a form of worship: "Father, you alone are holy," we say. And we ask that God's kingdom come, and in this, we ask that he reign as king of our lives and of this world and the world to come. And after this praise and worship, we then offer requests: give us our daily bread, forgive us our sins. We are asking just for what we need physically (bread) and spiritually (forgiveness). What follows is our responsibility to forgive others; as we have been forgiven much (as the woman who anointed Jesus' feet with perfume), we are also to forgive others. As forgiven people, we forgive. The last request, "lead us not into temptation," is perhaps a desire for strength not to give in to temptation. God doesn't tempt us, James tells us (James 1:13), "but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed," James adds (1:14). God will give us strength to resist; it is also James who tells us "Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you." (James 4:7-8). As we know, in Matthew, Jesus adds: "and deliver us from the evil one," the source of temptation. The additional "for thine is the kingdom and the glory and the power forever, amen," appears in the KJV and in our prayer book, but it is not in either Matthew or Luke in the NIV. It is an appropriate doxology and as familiar to us as the rest of the prayer. In any event, Jesus teaches us to pray both for our daily needs of life (bread and forgiveness) and to remember the one of whom we are asking these things.

Luke 11:5: Jesus continues to teach that prayer is a matter of perseverance, and he does so by way of a parable. A man goes to his neighbor in the middle of the night to ask him to lend him bread to feed an unexpected guest. The neighbor says "we're all in bed; go away." But if the man who needs to feed his guest keeps asking, the neighbor will get up and give him what he asks for. Just so will God, Jesus says, because "if you ask it will be given, if you seek you will find and if you knock the door will be opened to you." God knows our needs, but he wants us to ask that he fulfill them. He is our father; we are his dependant children. When we go to him, we are reminding ourselves that he is our source. And the final parable in this section emphasizes God's goodness. Ordinary human fathers would not give a child asking for a fish a snake; and if a child asked for an egg, he wouldn't hand him a scorpion. So Jesus says, if humans can respond to their children with kindness, how much more will God respond to us? And he will, Jesus says, give us the Holy Spirit when we ask for his help. Here is the ultimate source of strength to do all the things Jesus is teaching: without the Holy Spirit to enable us, we can do little. Paul tells us in Gal. 5, "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." And he lists the "desires of the sinful nature" are, contrasting them with the fruit of the spirit which is: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control." By nature we do not love our enemies or express joy and patience in situations which frustrate us. But with the Spirit's help, we can do this and more.

Luke 11:14: Jesus heals a man made mute by a demon. Once Jesus drove out the evil spirit, the man could speak and the crowd was amazed. But then critics said "he drives out demons by Beelzebub," attributing Jesus' power to the devil. Others in the crowd wanted a sign from heaven. What a conflicting bunch surrounds Jesus! On the one hand, is the healed man and those who are in awe of such a healing; on the other is a group thinking his miracles are from the Devil, and a third wanting signs. Jesus answers them that a "house divided against itself cannot stand," and adds that it's illogical to think that Satan drives himself out. Then he asks his critics: "By whom do your followers drive them [demons] out?" If the Pharisees and priests claimed to drive out evil spirits, Jesus is asking, by what power do you do it? Jesus loves to turn questions back on those who ask them. And he then says "But if I drive out demons by he finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you." Here's the heavenly sign, Jesus seems to imply. But these critics don't see it; they are too intent on preserving their own established ways to admit anything new. Jesus adds another parable about a strong man who guards his possessions being overcome by a stronger man, "who takes away the armor in which the man trusted." Jesus is overcoming the devil (the strong man) and taking away the old armor (Satan's power) with God's power. The critics are wrong to suggest Jesus works for the devil. Jesus tells them: "He who is not with me is against me."

Luke 11:24: Jesus tells them that if an evil spirit is driven out, it seeks a place to live. And if the person from whom the spirit is driven doesn't replace the evil with good (repentance from sin and faith in God) the evil spirit will move back in with even more evil. Give up the old ways, Jesus is saying; repent and turn around as John advised. Show proof of your belief by the way you live. A woman shouts that Jesus' mother is blessed for having given birth to such a powerful teacher and man; Jesus tells her and the rest of the crowd, "blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." We aren't given salvation by association, but by belief, trust and obedience.

Luke 11:29: Jesus feels even more opposition now, and as he taught in the parable of the soils, not everyone who hears him believes. Not everyone who is healed physically, chooses to be healed spiritually. He answers now the group who earlier asked for a sign saying "this is a wicked generation which will get no sign except that of Jonah." Jonah, sent to a the wicked Assyrians, preached repentance and the whole city of Ninevah repented. But before Jonah obeyed God, he spent three days in a fish's stomach. Jesus will spend three days in a tomb but rise again. And this, says Jesus, will not turn hard hearts to God; in fact, those hard hearts are the one who will put Jesus in the tomb.

Luke 11:33: Jesus refers once again to light, but this time, says that the eye is the lamp of the body. If we allow light (the gospel) in, we will be filled with light (understanding). And the light of the world is Jesus (John 1, and 8:12). When we let him in, and allow him to clean house and fill us with the Spirit we are bound to do the good things that mark us as Christians - showing love, patience, goodness, etc. The opposite is true for those who reject this light; they remain in darkness.

Homework for those who want to go deeper:

Let's close in prayer.