May 2024

May 21st, 2024
by Rollie Hawk

As Drew mentioned during his recent sermon, there is a ton of material in Luke and we can’t possibly cover all of it in our sermons. So one of the things we would like to start doing is encouraging all of you to engage with the text on your own time, with your families, during small groups, and so on.

So we want to point to some of the passages in Luke that we don’t get to during the sermon series. We’re going to try to encourage this in a number of ways. But mostly, we want to encourage you to dig into the text and answer some of the questions we present. Some may have specific answers but a lot of them we don’t know for sure and are just to make you think.
We’d also love to hear back from you. Did you read anything that particularly interested you? Did anything hit you in a way you didn’t expect? Did you end up in a discussion that was particularly applicable within your own life? Please, let us know!

All of us in the leadership firmly believe that there is no substitute for consistent, intentional
engagement with the Bible and we hope that this is an opportunity to make that a habit in your life!

Woe to Unrepentant Cities (Luke 10:13-16)

13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.
16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

There are a lot of city names you’ll see in the scripture frequently but these might not be familiar to you. You may need to do some research to find out what was going on in these cities around the time of Jesus.

Was there anything particularly significant happening in the cities of Chorazin, Bethsadida and Capernaum during Jesus’ time that it was mentioned by name?
Does the text offer any clues?
Why do you think Tyre and Sidon were mentioned? Can you find anything significant about those cities in the Old Testament?
When Jesus says “anyone who listens to you, listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me,” how does that make you feel about representing Christ?
Does that make you feel empowered?
Does it make you feel a greater weight of responsibility?

The Return of the Seventy-Two (Luke 10:17-20)

17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Is there anything significant about the number 72 in the Bible? It’s there in a lot of places, and some might not be obvious.
Do you have any idea what sending out 72 disciples might have signified if it wasn’t just a random number? This is a tough one. Hint: look at the all the way back at Genesis 10 and 11 around the time of the Tower of Babel. It’s mentioned earlier in Luke that Jesus sent the 72 in pairs. Why do you think he did that?
Any thoughts as to why he didn’t send them in larger groups?
Why do you think it’s at that moment that Jesus mentioned seeing Satan falling like lightning from Heaven?

Jesus Rejoices in the Father's Will (Luke 10:21-24)

21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Who was Jesus referring to as “little children?”
What do you think Jesus means about nobody knowing who the Father is and who the Son is?
How do you think the disciples felts knowing that they were learning things that many kings and prophets would have wanted to know?

Good Gifts (Luke 11:5-13)

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence[a] he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for[b] a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

How often in life do we go without things we want because we don’t ask? Not just of God but of our friends, neighbors, bosses, coworkers, etc.?
What’s something you wish you would have asked for?
What point do you think Jesus is trying to make when he says how we as evil people still know how to give our children good gifts?

True Blessedness (Luke 11:27-28)

27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

What do you think moved the woman who spoke up to say what she did?
Why do you think Jesus turned the focus from his mother to those hearing the word of God?
When Jesus said, “hear the word of God and keep it,” what do you think “keep it” meant?

The Sign of Jonah (Luke 11:29-32)

29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

Why do you think Jesus described that generation as evil?
What was the sign of the Prophet Jonah and why was it not the sign they were seeking?
What is the significance of the city of Nineveh?
Who was the “Queen of the South?”