Lesson 28

STUDY NOTES on previous study

An Invitation to Life Refused (Luke 18:18-43)

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The title o= f this lesson is “an invitation to life refused.” Next week’s lesson is entitl= ed “An invitation to life accepted!” Luke is a fascinating story of contrasts. Those we would expect to be knowledgeable of the kingdom donR= 17;t understand it; those who seemingly have no studied knowledge do understand it! The spiritual leaders (the scribes and the Pharisees) have no clue about the nature of God; the poor, sinful, and neglected seem to have keen insight into the heart of God. Toda= y we meet who is commonly called “the rich young ruler.” Here is the picture of worldly and spiritual success, at least by the standards of the day. Luke doesn’t give us all the information, but if we compare the story to the other synop= tic accounts, we know this man was young, rich, and powerful. What more could t= here be to life? Well, for all tha= t he had, he was not happy with his life. Otherwise, he would have never fallen = at Jesus’ feet (a carpenter rabbi not fully approved by the Jerusalem leaders, in fact, hated by ma= ny) to ask, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Before we consid= er Jesus’ answer, we must understand the nature of the question. The rul= er wasn’t asking about life after death – he was asking about life= in the end-time messianic kingdom. It was the life offered in the giving of the law. Note Deuteronomy 4-6. The promise of the Law was life! Do these things and live! But the ruler was apparently one w= ho had it all and was still very empty. He saw in Jesus that which he desperately wanted, so he began “Good Teacher.”

It seems th= at Jesus was just being too picky. Why did He challenge the phrase “good teacher?” After all, wasn’t Jesus good? Jesus wanted to make sure the youn= g man understood the only source of true goodness was God himself. Also, there is likely a bit of favor seeking with this title. = It was customary to greet someone from whom you expected a blessing with a friendly and even complementary greeting. By addressing Jesus as “good”,= the ruler likely expected a light and palatable answer to his question. Perhaps something like “Good man, you are already experiencing eternal life. = Keep up the good work.” Well= , if that’s what he was expecting, Jesus did not oblige.

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Addressing = goodness as coming from God, Jesus wanted the ruler to see kingdom life came from participating in that same goodness. He answers with the commandments, for indeed, if one would live by them, they would find life in its fullest expression. So as Jesus lists them, the ruler says, “I have lived by these teachings since my childhood.”= In other words, he was telling Jesus that his recipe for the good li= fe hadn’t worked in his experience. This was why he was so confused. In = his mind, he had done all that was asked of him by God, yet he was still strugg= ling with his own sense of purposeful living. The truth is,<= /span> the ruler had not kept the commands of the Law, for if he had, he would not= be asking the question. So what was the problem? Jesus shows it is a violation of t= he first commandment that kept the man from life. He had other gods he worship= ed before God.

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It is impor= tant that we understand Jesus’ answer, and, as you might imagine, much conjecture has been launched because of these verses. Do we, too, have to s= ell all that we have? The answer = is, “it depends.” You= see, what kept this young man from finding life was that he trusted in money ins= tead of God. He was pursuing wealth instead of God. Jesus told him what he neede= d to do. Get rid of that stuff that you are worshiping, give it to someone who n= eeds it, and then, if you want to find life, follow me. Use money for its intend= ed purpose – to supply what we need – and follow me and you will f= ind life.

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The man was= crushed by this answer. Maybe he knew it was coming. But his mind was fixed and unchangeable. He would not give up his false gods, so he walked away sorrow= ful, for he was a man of great wealth. We keep seeing it, don’t we? Wealth is written all over the pag= es of Luke’s gospel. And frankly, it doesn’t fare well at all. Jesus said, “How difficult it is for a rich person to walk with God in his kingdom. In fact, a large camel could fit through the eye of a needle easier than a rich man can walk with God in his kingdom.” Remember, Jesus is not talking abo= ut “heaven after death.” He is talking about the availability of the <= st1:PlaceType w:st=3D"on">kingdom of God now! We need to hear Jesus= 217; warning. Without the miraculous work

of God, we wi= ll not walk with Him. Why? Because we are all rich. And we learn, like the young = ruler, to place our trust in that which we accumulate.

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Jesus’ response to us, if we were to ask, “How do we experience life in the kingdom?” would be, “You know the commands. What is keeping you from following them? Money? G= et rid of it, and then follow me. Your career? Quit defining yourself by what you= do – leave it, and follow me.”&nb= sp; Whatever it is that we are pursuing rather than = Jesus is not worthy of our pursuit. If we would find life, we need to ask = God to break us of dependance on anything but him, = give it up, and follow Jesus.

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The apostle= s are just plain shocked. How could this be?&nbs= p; How could Jesus turn the ruler away? He was faithful to God, right? He was important, right? He was rich, for goodness sakes! He is the epitome of kingdom life, right? Wrong, very, very wron= g. The people of Jesus’ day equated wealth with God’s favor. Sometimes we do the same thing. Jesus said, “get<= /span> over it, wealth means nothing – accept for the fact that it might kee= p us from trusting God.

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What is kee= ping you from walking in a loving and trusting relationship with God?

Jesus then = predicts his death once again. He can tell his disciples are not tracking with Him on this subject of ultimate importance. He wants them to know ahead of time th= at nothing will happen that he doesn’t already know about. Even his mistreatment and agonizing death is part of the plan. In fact, all of this = has already been written by the prophets – and it will happen exactly according to God’s plan. But the disciples still don’t get it. = What kept them from seeing the truth – what kept the truth hidden? In the context, it seems Luke is wanting us to understand the hardness of their hear= ts to the message of God. It had been prophesied, it had been clearly taught by Jesus, but they could not see it because it did not fit their preconceived = idea of kingdom. Let this be a warning to us. God does not work at our behest. He will accomplish his will. It is not ours to try to conf= orm his plan to our benefit. Our call is to simply trust that God is at work in= all circumstances.

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The story o= f the blind beggar is another one of delicious irony. It is the blind man who sees Jesus, the crowds follow rather mindlessly. The Pharisees attack. Out of the confusion of the large entourage moving towards Jerusalem the shout, “Jesus, Son = of David, have mercy on me!” This is without doubt a messianic title. Those leading the procession tried to s= hut him up. They were embarrassed that one of such lowly estate would interrupt= the walk of the Master. But the blind man knows this is his chance. He believes= . He will not be deterred. And Jesus heard his voice. This had to be a tender moment. Jesus stops and asks that the man be brought to him. Can you imagine the blind man’s thoughts at this moment? He will get his hearing before the messiah! Who would have thought? Maybe this man knew = what Jesus had said way back in Naz= areth: “He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind.....” (Luke 4:18b). Jesus asks, “What do you want for me to do for you?” Here is a question that calls for faith. The answer is quick in coming, there is= no doubt in the man’s voice, he knows who Jes= us is. He says, “Lord, I want to see.” In a moment the darkness that had enveloped his life was gone.

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In stark co= ntrast to the rich ruler, the blind man immediately followed Jesus. He had nothing= to leave behind. He knew who Jesus was. So he followed Him.<= /p>

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Do you see?=

An Invitation to Life Accepted (Luke 19:1-2= 7)

After having read the attached study note= s, answer the following questions:

1. Summarize the ruler’s view of God and what he should receive f= rom Him.

2. What stands in the way of you totally submitting your life to God and following Jesus?

3. Who more closely resembles your walk with the Lord, the ruler, or the blind beggar?

4. What has happened in your life that you could not understand at the = time it occurred, but has since brought great spiritual blessings?

Read Luke 19:1-6

1. Describe Zacchaeus.

2. What did he do in order to see Jesus?

3. Why do you think Zacchaeus wanted to see= Jesus so badly?

4. What do you think Zacchaeus thought when Jesus called him by name?

Read Luke 19:7-10

1. What did Jesus do that upset “al= l the people”?

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2. What was Zacchaeu= s’ response to the Lord coming to his house?

3. What had the Lord told him that spurred such an incredible response?=

4. = What did Jesus say occurred because of Zacchaeu= s’ response?

5. = What do we need to do to allow that which Jesus declared to occur at= our homes?

Read Luke 19:11-14

1. What were the people thinking that spurred the telling of this parab= le?

2. Why was the man leaving town?

3. What is a “mina”?

4. = What does God give us to “put to work” until the Son returns?

Read Luke 19:15-27

1. What do think is the overall meaning of t= his parable?

2. What happened to those who put their master’s money to work?

3. Why did the fearful servant think of his master?

4. What did this fear cause him to do?= What was the result?

5. How do we apply the meaning of this parable to our lives?=

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