Gems from the Gospels Luke 18-John 3 - #52days

Gems from the Gospels

Luke 18-John 3

Luke 18 & 19 – Parable: Widow pestered a judge until shew worse him down, and he made sure she received justice. God will grant justice to His chosen people who cry out to Him day and night. HUMBLY PRAY WITH PERSISTENCE. Jesus painted a word picture for those who thought themselves righteous and looked down on others. A Pharisee and tax collector prayed in the Temple. The Pharisee thanked God he was better than others even listing the tax collector specifically. The tax collector bowed his head, beat his breast, and prayed for mercy acknowledging himself as a sinner. Jesus said the tax collector went away right with God. His lesson was “He who exalts himself will be humbles, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” HUMBLY PRAY, confessing your sin. Receive the Kingdom of God like a little child—humbly and wholeheartedly. A rich young ruler asked how to get eternal life. Jesus told him to keep the commandments to which he replied that he had done so since boyhood. Then Jesus shocked him by telling him to sell everything, give to the poor, and follow him. The man went away sad. Jesus said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven. When His disciples asked who could be saved if this were true, Jesus replied, “What is impossible humanly is possible with God.” HUMBLY PRAY about how God would have you use the resources He has given you. Jesus assured the disciples that those who had left all to follow Him would receive many times as much in the present life as well as in eternal life. Jesus foretold His death and resurrection to the twelve, but the meaning was hidden from them. Near Jericho, a blind beggar cried out, “Son of David, have pity on me!” Calling Jesus Son of David was a recognition of Him as Messiah. Jesus restored the man’s sight and told him that his faith had healed him. He followed Jesus, glorifying God which caused others to praise God as well. HUMBLY PRAY for healing. Zacchaeus, a vertically challenged tax collector climbed a tree to get a glimpse of Jesus. Jesus surprised him by looking up into the tree and telling him to come down because He needed to stay at his house. Susan says, “I’m surprised he didn’t fall out of the tree!” People judged that Jesus was going to the house of a sinner. Zacchaeus promised Jesus he would give half of his assets to the poor and back anyone he cheated four times the amount. Jesus replied that salvation had come to him. The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost. HUMBLY PRAY in repentance. Jesus told a parable about a nobleman who traveled to a country to be crowned king. He gave ten servants 10 minas (three months wages) to do business with while he was gone. When he returned and asked for an accounting, one man had earned 10 more, doubling the money. The master put him in charge of 10 towns Another earned 5 more and was put in charge of 5 towns. Those who are faithful in small amounts will be given more. The third hid it for fear of the consequences if he lost it. His was given to the one who had ten. There had been countrymen who hated the nobleman. He had those enemies who did not want him to be king executed. HUMBLY PRAY to be a faithful steward of the gifts God has given you. Jesus sent two disciples ahead to bring back a colt that had never been ridden. When they told the owner, “The Lord needs it,” per His instructions, he surrendered it to them. The disciples threw their robes on the donkey and Jesus sat on it. The people carpeted the road with clothing and palm branches. As He entered Jerusalem, His followers sang and loudly praised God say, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.” Pharisees told Him to rebuke His followers. Jesus replied, “If they keep quiet the stones will shout.” HUMBLY PRAY, giving all glory to God. Jesus wept over Jerusalem stating their enemies would destroy the city completely because they did not recognize the opportunity for true peace when God offered it. Jesus drove the vendors and money changers out of the Temple saying, “My house is to be a house of prayer, but you have made it into a den of robbers (Isaiah 56:7, Jeremiah 7:11). As He taught in the Temple daily, the religious leaders kept trying to find a way to put and end to Jesus, but the people were hanging on His words. HUMBLY PRAY the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to understand His words.

Luke 20 & 21 – The religious authorities asked Jesus what authority or ordination He had to teach and who gave it to Him. He countered by asking them whether John’s baptism was from God or men. If they said God, He could ask why they were not baptized. If they said from men, it would upset the many people who followed John. They said they did not know, so Jesus said He wouldn’t answer their question either. Next, Jesus told the parable of the tenants who refused to pay the owner of the vineyard His share. He sent servants to collect, and they beat or killed them. He sent his son thinking they would respect him, but they killed him as well. Jesus concluded that the owner would put an end to those tenants and give the vineyard to others. The leaders would recognize the tenants as themselves, the servants as the prophets, and Jesus as the Son. Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22, “The very rock which the builders rejects has become the cornerstone.” He spoke of people tripping on the stone and being broken—seeing their sin and repenting. Others would be crushed when the stone fell on them—those who did not repent. The chief priests and scribes knew all this was aimed at them, but did not arrest Him because they feared the crowd that followed Him. Their ATTENTION was on their worldly power rather than on the Kingdom of God. They kept looking for a chance to accuse Jesus and hand Him over to the governor. They asked Him whether Jews should pay taxes to Rome. He asked whose picture was on the coin used to pay them and was told it was Caesar. He answered, “Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar and God what belongs to God.” Some Sadducees who did not believe in resurrection asked Jesus a hypothetical question about a woman who had levirate marriages (Deut. 25:5) to seven brothers as each died but remained childless. They asked whose wife she would be in Heaven. Jesus replied that those resurrected from the dead do not marry. Jesus taught more about resurrection quoting Exodus 3:6 that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Since God is the God of the living, they must have life after death. The Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees focused their ATTENTION on trying to discredit Jesus rather than truly absorbing His message of grace and on worldly position and riches rather than storing up treasure in Heaven. Jesus watched people putting money in the Temple offering boxes He stated that a poor widow who only put in two small coins gave more than all those who put in a greater amount out of their riches because she gave all she had to live on. WHERE IS YOUR ATTENTION concerning money? Luke 21:5-19 is comparable to Matthew chapter 24. Jesus answers questions about the signs of the future destruction of Jerusalem and about His return in Glory. He tells them not to be fooled by false messiahs. He warns His disciples of persecution to come, but assures them the Holy Spirit will give them the right words when they are brought before rulers and kings. He promised that not a hair of their heads would be lost because He knew that those who trust in Him cannot be eternally extinguished. When Jesus returns, He will come in a cloud with tremendous power and glory. He said, when you see this, hold your head high—you are about to be liberated. He cautioned us to keep watch or our hearts will be dulled by carousing, drunkenness, and worries. The day of His return will happen suddenly, unexpectedly. Therefore, Jesus said, “Stay alert, always praying that you will have the strength to escape all the things that will happen and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man.” WHERE IS YOUR ATTENTION? Are you staying alert to the word of God or are distracted by the cares of this world?

Luke 22 – Judas went to the priests and Scribes and agreed to betray Jesus for money. Jesus gave explicit instructions to Peter and John on where to prepare the Passover Seder for Him and the Twelve. As Jesus share the third cup of the meal—the Cup of Redemption—He prayed a blessing and explained that it represented His blood poured out to redeem us. He broke the matzah (unleavened bread) and said it was His body broken for us. He encouraged them to continue this tradition in remembrance of Him. He told them His betrayer was at the table with them, and each of them wondered if he were the one. The Twelve argued over who was the greatest. Jesus told them not to lord authority over others but rather to be like Him, a servant leader. BE THE LEAST by serving others. When Jesus told them that they would all abandon Him, Peter stated he would follow Him to prison and even death. Then Jesus foretold that Peter would deny Him three times before the roster crowed twice. Jesus and the apostles went to the Mount of Olives to pray. He prayed intensely three times that the Father might spare Him from “drinking this cup” but concluded, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” Jesus chose to BE THE LEAST by submitting to the Father’s will. The three men He had urged to watch and pray— Peter, James, and John—had fallen asleep. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, and Peter cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant. Jesus put it back on perfectly. Jesus told His disciples to let Him do this. In essence saying, “Out of the way. Let me fulfill my purpose.” Peter followed at distance as Jesus was led to house of the High Priest. He joined soldiers around the fire. Three times Peter claimed he didn’t even know Jesus even calling down a curse on himself. Immediately, the rooster crowed. Jesus turned and looked straight at Peter. Peter remembered what Jesus had said and went out cried bitterly. The men holding Jesus insulted and beat Him. At daybreak, they led Jesus to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish supreme court. They point blank asked Him if He was the Messiah. He responded, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me . . . from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Most-High” (Psalm 110:1). To the question, “Are you the Son of God?” Jesus replied, “You say I am.” Then they found Him guilty of blasphemy because He had claimed to be God. Jesus set aside not only His glory but His power to save Himself in obedience to the Father’s will and plan. He submitted because He was serving those of us who would trust Him. BE THE LEAST – SERVE OTHERS.

Luke 23 – The Sanhedrin took Jesus to the Roman governor, Pilate. Their accusations against Him were subverting the nation of Israel, forbidding paying of taxes to Rome, and claiming to be the Messiah (a King) which would be treason against Caesar. Pilate questioned Jesus and found no basis for the charges, but when he heard that Jesus was from Galilee, he sent Him to King Herod. Herod was excited and hoped to see Jesus do a miracle. Jesus did not reply to any of Herod’s questions. Herod and his soldiers contemptuously made fun of Jesus and sent Him back to Pilate in an elegant robe. Pilate told the Jewish leaders he would have Jesus flogged and release him. They insisted he release Barabbas, an insurrectionist and murderer, instead. Pilate tried three times to change their minds, but they had incited the crowd to near riot stage. Pilate finally released Barabbas and sent Jesus to be crucified. Simon of Cyrene was made to carry the cross for Jesus. Women followed behind them weeping and wailing. Jesus told them not to cry for Him but for themselves and their children. There were two robbers crucified, one on His left and one on His right. Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them, they don’t understand what they are doing.” The soldiers gambled for His clothes as prophesied in Psalm 22:19. People, including one of the thieves, sneered at and ridiculed him. The other thief asked Jesus to remember him when He came as King. Jesus promised the man he would be with Him in Paradise that day. PARADISE IS COMING for those who believe and trust in Jesus. There was darkness from noon until 3:00 p.m. The veil in the Temple split down the middle—significant because that veil separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple. This is referenced in Hebrews 10:20, “By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh . . .” Man could now access God because of Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. Jesus cried out, placing His spirit in the hands of the Father (Psalm 22:8). Joseph of Arimathea, a good righteous man, and a member of the Sanhedrin who was not in agreement with their motives or actions, asked Pilate for Jesus’s body. This was a bold move, but the word says he “looked forward to the Kingdom of God.” Perhaps Joseph already understood that PARADISE IS COMING. He wrapped the body in linen and placed it in a new tomb. Some of Jesus’s female followers noted where He was laid to rest and went home to prepare burial spices and ointments. As evening fell, they obeyed the commandment to rest on the Sabbath. Jesus was laid in a tomb, but PARADISE IS COMING!

Luke 24 -  The women went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus early on Sunday morning. The stone had been rolled away and His body was gone. The women did not EXPECT HIM TO APPEAR. Two men in dazzling bright clothing appeared, and the women bowed face down in terror. The angels told them Jesus was risen and would wait for them in Galilee and that all this had happened as Jesus had told them it would. The women told the Eleven and others with them what the angels had told them. The apostles didn’t believe them and thought it was nonsense. The apostles didn’t believe they could EXPECT HIM TO APPEAR. Peter ran to the tomb to see for himself and went home wondering what happened. Even Peter didn’t EXPECT HIM TO APPEAR. The same day Jesus came up incognito and asked two disciples who were walking to Emmaus what they were discussing. Cleopas may have thought this man had just fallen off a turnip truck! They told Him all about Jesus being crucified, their hope that He would prove to be the Messiah, and that it was now the third day (the day He said He would be raised). Jesus took them on a verbal journey through the Old Testament prophecies concerning Himself, but they still did not recognize Him. They only half-heartedly EXPECTED HIM TO APPEAR. However, when He broke bread and bless it at their home, their eyes were opened to know Him. Immediately He disappeared, and they asked each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn inside us?” The walked back to Jerusalem to tell the Eleven and found that He had appeared to Simon Peter. While they were talking, Jesus suddenly showed up again. Even with all that had transpired, they were terrified and thought He was a ghost! They still did not EXPECT HIM TO APPEAR. Jesus invited them to touch His hands and feet, and He ate a piece of broiled fish in front of them to prove He was alive. Jesus opened up their minds to the fact that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day as He had foretold. They finally believed HE HAD APPEARED. Jesus told His disciples that repentance leading to forgiveness of sins must be proclaimed to all nations starting in Jerusalem. They were witnesses of His life, death, and resurrection. And would be equipped with power from above to preach the Kingdom of God. Jesus blessed them and ascended back into Heaven. The disciples bowed in worship and returned praising God in the Temple courts. Focus on Jesus and EXPECT HIM TO APPEAR in your daily life through the power of His Holy Spirit.

John 1 – The Word incarnate (Jesus) was with God in the beginning, was God, and spoke the world into being. He is life and light to mankind. Darkness (evil) cannot suppress His light. The Messiah was pre-existent and equal with God, and was not a created being. Jesus is our Creator and SUSTAINER. John the Baptist was sent from God. He was not the Light but bore witness to the Light (Jesus). Jesus’s own people did not receive Him. John 1:12-13 (CJB) “But to as many as did receive Him, to those who put their trust in His person and power, He gave the right to become children of God, not because of bloodline, physical impulse or human intention, but because of God.” The Word became a man and the disciples saw His glory. John the Baptist explained that Jesus ranked above him because he existed before him. OUR SUSTAINER became human to show us God’s glory and grace. John the Baptist was careful to point out that he was not the Messiah, Elijah, nor the Prophet promised by Moses. Priests from Jerusalem asked, “Then who are you?” John quoted Isaiah 40:3, “The voice of someone crying out: In the desert make the way of the Lord straight.” He said that he immersed people in water, but One was among them who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. The next day, John saw Jesus and said, “Look, God’s lamb to take away the sins of the world.” The lamb was the dominant sacrificial animal, especially for sin offerings. John explained that when Jesus was baptized, he saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove come down and rest on Jesus. He then made the clear statement, “This is the Son of God.” Jesus would soak people in the Holy Spirit. HE IS OUR SUSTAINER spiritually as well as physically. The next day, John told two of his disciples, “Look, God’s Lamb!” Those two tailed Jesus until He turned and talked to them. They asked where He was staying, and He invited them to come and see. They visited with him the rest of the day. One of them was Andrew the brother of Simon Peter and it is supposed that the other was the John, son of Zebedee. Andrew quickly found his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah.” He took Simon to meet Jesus who told him, “Simon Bar Jonah, you will be known as Peter (Rock).” The next day, Jesus called Philip to follow him. Philip found Nathanael (a.k.a. Bartholomew) and told him they had found the One, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael quipped, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” When Philip and Nathanael walked up to Jesus, He said, “Here’s a true son of Israel, nothing false in him.” Nathanael wondered how Jesus knew about him, and Jesus told him that He had seen him under the fig tree. Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God, the King of Israel.” Jesus told Philip that he would see much greater things that that. Hebrews 1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” THE SON OF MAN IS OUR SUSTAINER.

John 2 & 3 – Jesus, His mother, and His disciples attending a wedding at Cana. His mother told Him they had run out of wine. He asked her why that was His concern and told her His time had not come yet. Even so, Mary told the servant to do whatever Jesus told them. He had them fill six large water jars with water, draw some out, and take it to the man in charge of the banquet. That man went to groom amazed that he had saved the best wine for last when most people served the crummy stuff after everyone was tipsy. This was the first sign, first miracle, that Jesus performed. It caused His disciples to trust Him. After the wedding festivities, they all returned to Capernaum. It was almost time for Passover, and Jesus went to Jerusalem. He entered the Temple where the vendors were selling animals for sacrifice and the money exchange booths charged a fee to convert Roman coins to Temple currency. Jesus made a whip from cords and drove them all out saying, “How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market?” His disciples remembered the messianic prophecy of Psalm 9:10(a), “Zeal for your house will devour me.” The officials in the Temple asked Jesus to perform a sign to prove he had the right to clear the Temple in that way. He replied, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” They were incredulous and replied that it took forty-six years to build the temple. There was no way He could raise it back up in three days. They did not understand that He spoke of His body. His disciples would remember this after His resurrection, and their faith would increase. One night, Jesus had a clandestine meeting with a Pharisee named Nicodemus who was a revered teacher and a member of the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus acknowledged that Jesus must be from God because of the miracles He performed. Jesus told him that in order to enter the Kingdom of God, one must be born again. Nicodemus took this literally and questioned how a grown man could reenter his mother’s womb to be born a second time. Jesus explained that a person must be born of water and the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who draws people to believe and trust in Jesus. Nicodemus could not understand the process. Jesus told him that the religious elite of that day did not accept His evidence. Referring to Himself in messianic terminology, Jesus said, “Only the Son of Man has come down from Heaven.” He explained that as Moses lifted up the brass serpent and people were saved from venomous snakes (Numbers 21:6-9), He would be lifted up so that everyone who trusts in Him may have eternal life. He was referring to His eventual death on the cross. Most of us can quote John 3:16, but we particular liked it in the Complete Jewish Study Bible, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in Him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed.” Jesus offers salvation to all who trust in Him, and those who do not have brought about their own judgment. Jesus ended His discussion with Nicodemus by saying that people love darkness instead of the Light because light exposes their evil actions. But those who are true want their actions exposed by the light because they are accomplished through God. Jesus and His disciples spent some time baptizing in the countryside where John was baptizing as well. John’s disciples were concerned that Jesus was upstaging him. John explained that he had to take a backseat because he was just the groomsman, and the Bridegroom had arrived. John stated, “He must become more important while I become less important. I MUST DECREASE because all honor and glory belong to Jesus. To put it another way, I MUST DECREASE to the point that others see Jesus in me.