June 2024

June 26th, 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!

Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers – Luke 11:37-54

37 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”
53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

Why do you think the Pharisees were so bothered by Jesus not washing his hands before eating?
How did Jesus contrast what was “inside the cups” of the Pharisees with what should be inside them?
Where Jesus talks about the Pharisees tithing when it comes to herbs, it sounds like a very nitpicky sort of thing to be rule-following on while missing the point of the Law. What is an area where you’ve seen Christians similarly nitpicking?
What’s an area of nitpicking that you struggle with personally?
What do you think Jesus means when he compares them to unmarked graves?
What issue does Jesus seem to take with lawyers? He mentions them a couple times specifically.
Do you feel like we ever do something similar to what Jesus describes as building tombs for the prophets their ancestors killed?
Do you ever feel like as a Christian you are besieged with questions in order catch you in a mistake? If not in a mistake, maybe in something unpopular?

Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees – Luke 12:1-3

12 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

What is leaven? How does Jesus apply it to the Pharisees in this context?
What do you think Jesus is talking about when he says all will be revealed?

Acknowledge Christ Before Men – Luke 12:8-12

8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Why does Jesus day we should acknowledge him before others?
What do you think blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is and how does one engage in it?
What do you think it being an unforgiveable sin means? Is that a permanent state?
In practice, do you ever wait for the Holy Spirit to give you the words to defend yourself as Jesus says to? What is that like?

The Parable of the Rich Fool – Luke 12:13-21

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Why does Christ warn the man to guard against covetousness?
It’s easy to identify covetousness when it’s wanting someone else’s money, home, fame, etc. that we want but other forms of covetousness may be less obvious. Do you ever feel like you struggle with covetousness in ways that you might not initially consider covetousness?
How would you describe the foolishness of the Rich Fool in the parable?

Do Not Be Anxious – Luke 12:22-34

22 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[a] 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,[b] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his[c] kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

What personally makes you anxious? Is it one of the things Jesus mentions?
What are things that other people seem to have anxiety over that don’t seem to affect you the same way? Why is it different for you?
Jesus could have mentioned anyone from history when he compared clothing to the flowers. Why do you think he specifically mentioned Solomon?
Jesus seems to be making the point that anxiety and worry never help a situation. How can we strike a balance where we care about things but don’t let that care drift into anxiety and worry?

You Must Be Ready – Luke 12:35-48

35 “Stay dressed for action[a] and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants[b] whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he[c] would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
41 Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” 42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant[d] whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more

Who or what do you think Jesus is directing us to be dressed and ready for? Do you think it’s something one-time and specific or something ongoing?
Why do you think Peter asked who the parable was meant for?
What point do you think Jesus is driving at when he refers to the responsibilities of those who know their master’s will, those who have been given much and those entrusted with much?

Not Peace, but Division – Luke 12:49-53

49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

What do you think Jesus means when he refers to casting fire on the earth?
What “baptism” do you think Jesus is referring to and why is he distressed over it?
Jesus and his birth are frequently associated with peace, both in scripture and in popular culture. Why do you think he said he came not to bring peace but division?
In what situations and over what issues should there be division? Are there times when there should there not be divisions?

Interpreting the Time – Luke 12:54-56

54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Jesus describes first century meteorology as looking at where the clouds are and which way the wind is blowing. Is modern meteorology much different?
What do you think Jesus is talking about in terms of “interpreting the present time?”
Why do you think Jesus calls the crowds hypocrites for interpreting the weather but not the current time?

Settle with Your Accuser – Luke 12:57-59

57 “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. 59 I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

Why do you think Jesus encourages us to settle with our accusers rather than go before a judge?
Jesus doesn’t specify whether we are guilty in this scenario. Do you think it matters for the point he is making?
What point is Jesus making? Is he referring to literal civil disputes or is he making a larger more general point?