STUDY
NOTES on previous study
Life’s True
Foundation (Luke
In the previous section Jesus completely
reversed the world’s view of wealth and poverty - the poor are called blessed,
the rich are warned. Now Jesus calls us
to a shockingly different kind of behavior.
Those who would embrace Jesus’ message are called to do things
previously thought to be impossible!
Basically, we are called to three actions: love our enemies, do good even in the face of evil, and give authentic
gifts. What are we to do with teachings
that call us to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, and give more than
one forcefully takes from us - and not ask for it back? If we only practice love, giving, and doing good in a reciprocal relationship, then how are we different
from anyone else? These teachings call
us to a whole new kind of behavior - behavior which indicates one abides in
God’s kingdom and not in the cultural context of this world.
The point is that we are called to a better
life. We are called to live in a context
of being concerned for “the other”, even if they are involved in wrongful
behavior. Why love one’s enemy? Why give to one who forcefully takes? Why do good to one
who is doing harm? The answer is found
in verse 36, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Sometimes these teachings are presented as
practical suggestions for “making life work”.
“Love your enemies”, one suggests, “and they will become your friends”
or “turn your other cheek and that will cause the one who is angry to be
ashamed” or “give more than asked and you will get more in return.” All of these responses could occur, I
suppose, but we do not do these things for these reasons. We do them because they are reflections of God’s
character. They are godly patterns of
behavior. When we love our enemies, we
imitate God, who, while we were still enemies, gave His only Son to die for us
(Romans 5 et. al.). When we give more
than asked, it reflects the unlimited giving of our God to us. And, how many times a day do we slap God with
our unworthy behavior and He just keeps loving us and turning the other
cheek? If God responded to our affronts
to Him as we respond to those who do not give us the honor we think we deserve,
surely we would all be dead!
These are difficult teachings. In order to actually do these things, we must
have a deep faith in who Jesus claimed to be.
If He is Son of God, the One through Whom all was created, then He knows
how we should live. This is His call in
verses 39-40, two of the most important verses in terms of “authentic
discipleship.” All of us are disciples
of someone - or more likely multiple people.
We have identified some as wise, or successful, or worthy of our
imitation. Are you like the blind man being led by the blind?
Have we not learned that only Jesus deserves our allegiance? And further, if we call ourselves His
disciples, do we not know that we show ourselves as such by being like
Him? I carry a small card given to me by
a friend with these words inscribed, “My only reason to live today is to live
as Jesus would if He were in my place.”
Luke
Just before this passage, we are given the well
known warning “judge not or you will be judged.” Along with this we are told to forgiven and
give abundantly. We are then told not to
try to remove a speck from our neighbor’s eye with a log in our own. What does all this mean? Dallas Willard, in his book Divine
Conspiracy presents a compelling view of these teachings. He suggests this is not referring to our
relationship with God, but with one another.
In other words, if we approach others with judgment, we should expect
them to hurl judgment back at us. If,
instead, we come to others with forgiveness and generous giving, we will
receive in kind. Willard goes on to
suggest the “log” in our eye is our spirit of condemnation and judgment which
keeps us from seeing the actual problem another might have.
However we view these passages, whether in
relationship to others or that our actions towards others affects our
relationship with God (which is certainly true), to point is to have the kind
of heart that forgives and gives rather than one which constantly judges and
attempts to correct others. Our behavior
is to be guided by “doing to others what we would want them to do to us.” If we were deeply involved in sin, how would
we want others to deal with us? We
likely would need no judgment or condemnation - most people I know who have
been living in sin have been well aware of their condition. They desperately wanted an understanding
heart and a helping hand. But instead,
so often, many of them found judgment and self-righteous exclusion from the
“spiritually sound.”
What a challenge - to be the kind of person
that demonstrates the gracious, loving nature of God! That kind of person is like a tree that
produces wonderful fruit. It is not about
trying to do good things that makes us this kind of a
person. It is not learning “how to bear
fruit”. It is the natural product of a
life deeply rooted in God. If good fruit
is not being produced by one’s life, it is an indication that life is rooted in
something other than God’s heart. “It is
out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.”
The seriousness of these teachings are highlighted in one final challenge. If we acknowledge Jesus as Lord, we must
submit to His teachings. They provide
the stabilizing foundation for a life that will be able to stand no matter what
circumstances might occur. We are being
challenged by Jesus to accept His words as the very foundation of our
life. It is impossible to overstate the
significance of this. In Christian education,
one of the hot topics of discussion is “faith informed learning.” The idea is to seriously address how we can
introduce faith into every learning environment, regardless of the discipline
of study. While I understand the
discussion, I believe it is misdirected.
It is not a matter of introducing faith into learning. It is rather a matter of introducing learning
into faith. Faith in Jesus as the Son of
God changes everything about our world.
It radically influences our whole approach to learning, to knowledge -
to life itself. If we believe Jesus is
the Son of God who came to show us how to live a life of faithful obedience, to
show us how to live in reverent fear of God, as Isaiah prophesied, “His delight
shall be in the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11: 3), then we must take seriously
His every teaching.
Love your
enemies, give even more to those who take, turn the other cheek, give without regard to what is given in return. Will we live this way? “Lord, give us the courage and the strength
to believe you are “the Way”, and to live the life to which you have called
us.” Will we pray that prayer?
The Key to Kingdom
Joy (Luke 7:1-50)
After having read the study notes from last
week, answer the following questions:
1. Ultimately,
to whom does Jesus’ teachings about life point? How so?
2. Why
is it so important to not just hear the words of Jesus, but to do them?
3. What
are the daily implications of being a dedicated disciple of Jesus? What should be the goal of every day?
1. Why
do you think the centurion sent Jewish elders to ask Jesus to heal his slave?
2. What
did the centurion mean when he said he, too, was a man of authority? What did that have to do with Jesus?
3. What
was unusual about the centurion’s request and why did Jesus marvel at it?
4. How
can we demonstrate this kind of faith in Jesus?
1. What
caused Jesus to respond to the widow in her sorrow?
2. After
Jesus raised the man from the dead, what does the text say He did with him?
3. How
did the people respond to what Jesus did?
4. What
insight do we gain about Jesus in this incident, and how can we become like Him
in this?
1. What
was John’s question? Why do you think he
asked this?
2. What
was Jesus’ appraisal of John and his work?
3. What
do you think Jesus meant with His comparison of the people of that generation
to children playing a game?
4. What
do you think is the relationship of John’s ministry with that of Jesus and how
should this affect us?
1. How
did Simon, the Pharisee, show Jesus He was not fully accepted?
2. What
do you find surprising about the behavior of the sinful woman?
3. Why
did Jesus tell the story of the differing debtors?
4. Do
you think there are really those who need to be forgiven less? What is the point of this story for us?