Category: Gospels
From mourning to dancing!
Scripture reading for March 26th: Luke 7:11-35
God’s heart is for widows and orphans! Jesus came to show the heart of His Father to us and He used miracles to emphasize the Father’s love. In today’s reading, Jesus ministers to a widow who has lost her only son. As Jesus was visiting Nain, He came upon a funeral procession with many people mourning. This loss would be especially hard on this widow because her son represented someone who would carry on the family name and could provide for her as she got older.
“When He (Jesus) saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, “Don’t cry.” Then He went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.” They were all filled with awe and praised God.” (Luke 7:13-16a) Jesus was moved with compassion for this widow and mother. He understood all the pain and future consequences of this untimely death. His first instruction to her was to stop crying. His second command was to the dead son encouraging him to get up. Can you imagine how shocked the pall-bearers were when the dead body they were carrying sat up and began to talk!
The response to this miracle brought praise to God and great awe of God’s power and questions about Jesus Christ. Was He a great prophet, sent by God to help His people? Was He the Messiah promised by the Holy Scriptures? Even John the Baptist’s disciples were sent by John to question who Jesus really was. Jesus used the miracles and even the raising of this widow’s son as a testimony of who He was!
This miracle turned the mourning of the widowed mother and the crowd of mourners into joy and dancing! This miracle is a picture of the resurrection of all who believe. There is a time coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and arise to eternal life! (John 5:24-29) There will be great joy in heaven, with no more crying, mourning or death! (Revelation 21:3-5) We will be united with our loved ones who have believed and life eternally with our Lord in Glory! Have you responded to His call to eternal life?
Of specks and planks!
Scripture reading for March 25th: Luke 6:39-7:10
It is always easy to see the faults in others and to miss your own. We tend to be willfully blind to any problems we may have. It is not easy to change ourselves and impossible unless we acknowledge that there is a problem. This first step is hard because of pride. Admitting weakness or sin makes us feel ashamed or worthless. Often we really don’t want to change either. We may use our weakness or our sin as a crutch to help us get by or give us an excuse as to why we are like we are.
Jesus told the people a parable to help them see their trouble. “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above His teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like His teacher. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Luke 6:39-42)
The Pharisees had been deriding Jesus and His disciples for various small issues. They didn’t like them eating with ‘sinners and tax collectors’ whom they considered ‘unclean’. This was a ‘speck’ they were trying to remove from Jesus’ eye while Jesus was showing them the plank in their eye! He had come to save ‘sinners’, not those who were righteous! (Luke 5:31) The Pharisees condemned Jesus for healing the man with the shriveled hand on the Sabbath, thus doing work on a day of rest. Jesus tried to help them with their ‘plank’–missing the mercy and love of God towards hurting people, even on the Sabbath. (Luke 6:9-11)
Christians must guard against the ‘planks’ that come to block our vision and cause us to judge others. With the judgment we give, it will be measured back to us! (Luke 6:37-28) What ‘planks’ are sticking out of your eye today? “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)
Kingdom generosity!
Scripture reading for March 24th: Luke 6:12-38
God, Himself, is a lavish giver. Stop and think about each day that you experience! God supplies all the air you can breathe and more than enough for the other 6.3 billion humans as well as countless animals and birds! God supplies food for all His creatures as well, and renews the supply on a regular basis around the earth. God supplies sunshine to keep our temperatures warm enough to grow and to supply energy for plants to convert to something edible or usable for us. (Oil, wood, food, etc.) God has set up the earth to be just the right place for humans and animals to live and thrive.
Not only that, but God has been lavish with His other blessings too. He loves all men, who are made in His image. He even loves His enemies and gives lavishly to them their basic needs in spite of their ingratitude and even mocking of His Name. (Luke 6:36) He is lavish in forgiveness for all who will call upon Him. Jesus was lavish with healing and driving out evil spirits. (Luke 6:17-19)
Jesus taught His disciples about the lavish love and mercy of His Father as He healed the sick and cast out evil spirits. He told them of their blessedness in poverty, hunger, persecution, and weeping! (Luke 6:20-22) Theirs would be the kingdom of heaven and all their needs would be totally met in God Himself!
Because of this flow of generosity from God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we who follow Jesus Christ can be generous too! In fact, we must learn to be extravagantly generous like our Father! We are to love our enemies and pray for those who would mistreat us! (Luke 6:27-30) We are to turn the other cheek to those who would hit us. We are to give to those who ask for help, doing to others as God has done to you! We are to be lavish in mercy and forgiveness and careful not to judge or condemn!
Jesus concluded this instruction with a powerful verse: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38) How is the flow of blessing in your life? Are you giving it out?
The old seems better!
Scripture reading for March 23rd: Luke 5:29-6:11
Jesus was eating at the house of Levi (Matthew) with a large group of tax collectors and people considered by the religious establishment to be ‘sinners’. These Pharisees complained to Jesus’ disciples about their Master’s conduct. Jesus heard them and answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous , but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31) Jesus made it plain that He was eating at this banquet with a purpose in mind. The Pharisees judged Him as doing something that would make Himself unclean in their estimation. They were always concerned with the externals and not with the true mission of God.
Jesus spoke a parable to them to try and help them understand and have a change of heart. “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, “the old is better.” (Luke 5:36-39)
This parable speaks of the need to change our way of thinking. When we use Old Testament laws to define righteousness, it will not work! We cannot keep the law anyway. The new way of faith and grace is like having a new wineskin. The new wine of the Holy Spirit needs a new wineskin to allow it to bring necessary changes without damaging the vessel. Trying to put the Holy Spirit into the old legalism of the law will cause the skins to burst and be ruined!
The most interesting statement is the last verse–those drinking the old wine will not like the new. They will feel that the old is better. Change is difficult for human beings. We resist change and find it hard to adapt to new revelations. Following the Holy Spirit takes faith and requires constant attention to His leading. It is easier to put God in a box of rules. Are you resisting change from the Holy Spirit today? Pray for a flexible new wineskin!
Jesus, Man of Prayer
Scripture reading for March 22nd: Luke 5:12-28
Luke is interested in prayer and makes many notes of Jesus praying. “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:16) Jesus felt it necessary that He get away from people, even His disciples, and spend time with His Father. He would go to a ‘lonely place’ where He could be alone and unhindered by noise and demands from others. It is not that people are bad, but what is most important must be prioritized. In order for Jesus to be effective and follow Father’s instruction, He must have confidence that He knew what the Father wanted to do with each person and in each situation. This confidence came through a relationship of prayer.
One prior encounter involved a leper who came trembling before Jesus begging for Him to make him clean. The man wondered out loud if Jesus was willing to heal him. Jesus knew the Father’s heart through prayer and relationship and could respond to this need in the affirmative. “Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” Immediately the Leprosy left him.” (Luke 5:13)
The rule for religious leaders was that they could not touch anything ‘unclean’ or they would be defiled themselves. Jesus did not operate with the religious rules of the day, but rather was free to respond as His Father directed. The results spoke for themselves to those willing to listen. These miracles caused quite a stir and drew crowds of people with needs to hear Jesus as He preached the good news!
A second occasion is also recorded by Luke of a man who was paralyzed being let down through a roof for Jesus to heal him. Luke records that the power of the Lord to heal the sick was present. (Luke 5:17) Jesus, seeing the friend’s faith, spoke a word, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 5:20) The man was healed and restored in front of a crowd of people. This was the result of prayer in the lonely place!
Could it be that we aren’t being used for the miraculous because we are not spending enough time in the ‘lonely place’, alone with our Lord? Is faith present to bring people to Jesus for healing prayer? God wants to do so much more to bring people to wholeness! Lord, may I be a man (or woman) of prayer!
Fishermen, Fishing for Men!
Scripture reading for March 21st: Luke 4:31-5:11
I like to fish when the fish are biting! I hate fishing when all I do is set there and wait with no results! It seems like a waste of time! I have gone fishing numbers of times and caught nothing! I must be God’s gift to fish! However, there is another kind of fishing that never gets boring! This kind of fishing involves the biggest catch of all! Jesus recruited three of His original disciples from the ranks of fishermen to become fishers of men!
In today’s reading, Luke tells the story of Jesus using Simon Peter’s fishing boat as a platform to preach and teach from. The fishermen had toiled all night and were washing their nets as Jesus asked to use their boat. When Jesus was finished teaching, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4-9) These seasoned fishermen did not think that Jesus knew what He was talking about because they had worked all night and caught nothing! But because He asked them to, they obeyed and were overwhelmed with a net-bursting catch! They filled both boats so full that they began to sink!
When Peter saw the miraculous catch, he fell at Jesus’ feet and was apologetic for his unbelief! “Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”” (Luke 5:10b-11) The three fishermen dropped everything and left it all to follow Jesus!
Jesus had a plan to catch men for the kingdom of Heaven. He would find men and women who would be willing to follow Him by faith and learn of Him. His ways were different from the world. He took a simple fishing boat and made it a place to preach from. He took simple fishermen and taught them to fish for men! They must be willing to leave their ways and work and follow Him in His way and work! He calls, and they must decide to follow!
Have you heard the call of the Master Fisher of Men? Have you given Him your ‘boat’ to use? Have you come humbly to Him and confessed your sinfulness? Are you willing to leave all to follow Him and learn how to fish for men? The path to the biggest catch of your life will be determined by your response!
The Spirit is on Me!
Scripture reading for March 20th: Luke 4:1-30
The Holy Spirit that came on Jesus at His baptism by John immediately led Him to the desert for a time of testing. Jesus withstood each test over the forty days by quoting Scripture. “Man does not live by bread alone” was Jesus’ word to the Devil. (Deuteronomy 8:3) Jesus returned from the testing in the desert by Satan in the power of the Holy Spirit. (Luke 4:14)
Jesus then went to his home town of Nazareth and went to the synagogue on the Sabbath. He stood up to read and the scroll of Isaiah the Prophet. He unrolled it to find the Scripture He wanted to share with them. “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19)
The Holy Spirit in a person brings power to witness to God’s love and grace. Jesus announced in His home town the focus of His life as He was now empowered by the Spirit. The Spirit anoints a person, just like oil poured over a king brings empowerment to do the work called of them, the Spirit empowers. The Spirit would empower Jesus to preach the ‘Good News’ to those lost and bound by sin, sickness and disease. He would open eyes that were blind and enable them to see. Because of the Spirit, prisoners would be set free in glorious liberty.
The best news was the ‘acceptable year of the Lord’. This spoke of the year of Jubilee that God had proclaimed in the Law for every fiftieth year. On the year of Jubilee, land was to be restored to original owners, slaves were to be set free, and debts were to be forgiven. Each person would receive a new start! It was a little picture of God’s restoration process in action. (Leviticus 25:8-54) Jesus proclaimed that in the Holy Spirit’s anointing, He announced the ‘acceptable year of the Lord’.
This ‘good news’ is something to get in on for yourself. Jesus is our ‘Jubilee’! In Him we are set free, healed, and delivered from bondage. In Him we have an eternal inheritance that cannot be stolen or lost! The Holy Spirit is the down-payment!
The Son of Man (Adam)
Scripture reading for March 19th: Luke 3:23-38, Psalms 62:1-12, Proverbs 11:18-19
To most people, Bible genealogy is boring reading. But Luke was careful to include a genealogy for Jesus through Joseph that went all the way back to Adam. He wanted to show that Jesus was the Son of Man as well as the Son of God. And this genealogy has some interesting insights for us that will help us with our faith and give us encouragement.
The Bible contains lots of names and often the names have great significance. For starters, God knows our name! He deals with us as individuals and not as a number among billions. God also has a record of offspring and has kept that record for us to show us that Jesus, the second Adam, can be traced to the original Adam! (Roman 5:18-19) As the first Adam brought sin to all men through his disobedience, so through the obedience of Jesus Christ, righteousness was brought to all who would believe! God had a plan that He brought forth through succeeding generations that culminated with the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ!
Another interesting observation about the genealogy in Luke is the flow of the story of Jesus through promises made and recorded. Noah obeyed God and built an ark that carried him and his three sons and their families to safety. (Genesis 6:18-22) Through them the promised redeemer would come since all others on earth were destroyed! Abraham was told that through his son, Isaac, all families of the earth would be blessed! (Genesis 12:3) This promise was repeated to Isaac’s son Jacob in the next generation and recorded for us! (Genesis 28:14) God’s developing story line is captured here in the flow of individuals through the stage of history as recorded by the Bible.
Jesus was of the tribe of Judah, a son of Jacob. This line brought forth the second king of Israel, David. God told David that from him would come a king that would rule forever! (2nd Samuel 7:12-13) One of David’s offspring several generations later was Zerubbabel, the governor of Jerusalem, who helped rebuild the temple. (Zechariah 4:6-10)
God’s plan is again confirmed as we look at this special list of names. The question for us is this: Is our name written in God’s book? We must be born again by faith in the Son of Man to be in the Book of Life!
Fruit of repentance!
Scripture reading for March 18th: Luke 3:1-22, Psalms 61:1-8, Proverbs 11:16-17
John the Baptist was a preacher who spoke plainly to those he was sent to prepare for the coming of the Lord. He knew that repentance was more than just a prayer or being immersed in water. There must be a change inside of the heart that was reflected in how one lived. He especially tried to reach those who were caught in the trap of religion.
“John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”” (Luke 3:7-9) John called them a ‘brood of vipers’. Vipers were poisonous snakes that bit the children of Israel in the desert as they wandered there and complained. Poisonous snakes were associated with evil and the evil one, Satan.
John further warned them to produce fruit in keeping with repentance and not trust in the fact that Abraham was their father. The Jews had come to simply rely on the promises of God to Abraham and assumed because they had his blood in their veins, God would bless them. They asked John what they should do to bring this fruit of repentance out of their lives. They seemed clueless to this command.
John gave them some examples. If one had two coats, he should share with someone who had none. If one had food, they should share with one who had no food. If they happened to be a tax collector, notorious for taking lots of extra fees for themselves, they should only collect what was required. To those who were soldiers, John instructed them not to extort money or accuse people falsely to get more for themselves. They should be content with their pay. (Luke 3:10-14)
Real repentance is immediate change from breaking God’s laws to simple obedience. It is showing love, rather than selfish indulgence. It is centered on doing God’s will instead of my will. Examine your life–do you have the fruit of repentance?
Anna’s testimony!
Scripture reading for March 17th: Luke 2:36-52, Psalms 60:1-12, Proverbs 11:15
The Bible tells us that by the mouth of two witnesses shall every fact be established. Luke took the testimony of the devout Simeon as one witness in the temple as Jesus was dedicated. He also made note of a devout woman who was led to the temple to see the Christ.
“There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the Child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:36-38)
Women play a prominent part in Luke’s record of the story of Jesus Christ. God is no respecter of persons nor does he discriminate between men or women. God cares about all, and especially tender towards those who may be hurting, lonely, or rejected.
Anna was a widow for many years. There is no record of whether or not she had children in her seven years of marriage. From the record that we have here in Luke, it appears that she spent her lifetime following marriage in prayer and fasting. She was know as a prophetess who was faithful to the temple. She prayed there day and night in a place mainly known for the Levites and priests. Anna was of the tribe of Asher, not even a Levite woman! Anna was quick to recognize Jesus as the One who would redeem Jerusalem and told others prophetically about this Child! Luke gives record of her faithful testimony, adding to the story of Jesus Christ’s supernatural entrance into the realm of men.
The story of Anna should bring encouragement. God appreciates those who are faithful and cling to a relationship with Him. He reveals Himself and His will to these faithful believers. He gives them honor and allows them insight into His plans! “Let love and faithfulness never leave you, bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.” (Proverbs 3:3-4)