Good vs. Best

One ministry lesson I began learning many years ago, and continue to learn in its fullness, is that much of ministry and church life is an issue of good verses best. Rarely do we face decisions between good and bad or right and wrong. They happen, but they aren't nearly as frequent and they are pretty easy to make. However, the decisions that cause deep anxiety and require abundant prayer (as if anything doesn't require that!) are the ones that offer two really good choices.

As my ministry schedule quickly evolves and several important projects rise up to the surface needing time and attention, I have been faced with a good v. best decision regarding writing the Bible study previews each week. I greatly enjoy writing these previews and know they are used, but unfortunately, this is the "good" not the "best" use of several hours of my ministry week. So, I will be taking a hiatus from writing these previews at least for a while. If you aren't familiar with LifeWay's supplemental teacher prep tools, I encourage you to see if they might be helpful to you.

http://www.lifeway.com/article/extra-sunday-school-explore-the-bible

Thank you for your ministry to the church and community by extension by teaching God's Word with conviction, preparation, passion, and Spirit-guidance.

April 22 Bible Study Preview

Christianity 104: Be Good Neighbors

Luke 10:25-37

Last week, our groups looked at the necessity of meeting the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of others around us. This week’s study serves as an exclamation point by providing a benchmark for the lengths to which we should be willing to go to do this.

Most likely, your entire group will already know the Parable of the Good Samaritan. This gives you an advantage of being able to facilitate meaningful discussion because the group’s familiarity will give them confidence, but it can also be disadvantageous in that with familiarity often comes contempt. It may be challenging for some of the group members to engage with this study because they feel they already know the story and there isn’t anything else to learn. In light of this, you may want to plan on asking several thought-provoking applicational questions to elicit discussion.

The passage is surprisingly difficult to divide into sections because it flows together so tightly. A natural and helpful break exists between verses 29 and 30, but a second is more challenging. For this outline, I have created a third section consisting of only one verse (not ideal), but in doing so, you may have the opportunity to really hit application of this passage hard. I normally rebel against alliteration because it is overdone, often forced, and, as in this case, not true alliteration. But, this outline begs for the following alliterating sections: The Issue, The Illustration, and The Imperative.

I.) The Issue (25-29)

One day a lawyer stood up and put Jesus to the test in an attempt to find fault with Jesus. When we read about lawyers in the New Testament, don’t think about modern lawyers. These were scribes (and generally Pharisees) who were experts on the Mosaic Law who taught it and often served as judges concerning it in the Sanhedrin. Clearly this lawyer believed he had an angle with which he could attack Jesus when he asked, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” We can only guess at what the lawyer anticipated Jesus’ answer would be and how he would use His answer to trap Him, but it is most assuredly safe to assume he had a definitive plan of attack.

Jesus responds to the lawyer’s question by asking him two questions: “What is written in the Law?” and “How does it read to you?”At this point, the lawyer provides an amazingly proper answer, one which Jesus Himself gave in Matthew 22:37-40, and quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18: love the Lord your God and love your neighbor. This deserves a slight detour in the conversation to once again reaffirm the primacy of these two instructions and may warrant a trip to Matthew 22:37-40 where Jesus filters all of scripture through this two-fold lens. All that God wants from, and commands of, us can be reduced to these two straight-forward principles: love God and love people. It is implicit also in the Ten Commandments where the first four commandments concern love of God, the fifth has a duel concern of love for God and love for people, and the last five commandments concern love for people. We tend to complicate things greatly and this two-fold lens can greatly help your group to comprehend God’s plan for their lives.

Jesus, of course, responds that the answer is correct and quotes Leviticus 18:5, “Do this and you will live.” In other words, there is your answer. This is where things go south for the lawyer. The passages says that at this point, wishing to justify himself, the lawyer asks a follow-up question of Jesus. This is an interesting aspect of the account. Apparently, the lawyer was twinged with guilt realizing that he failed the second part of this two-fold litmus test. His love for people was lacking.

Don’t miss the loaded nature of his question, “Who is my neighbor?” It assumes that some people are his neighbor, thus requiring his love, but others are not his neighbor, thus being exempt from his love. Surely, he must have thought, the Samaritans were not his neighbor. No need to love them. And surely, the Gentiles were not his neighbor. Again, no need for love there. But what about the Sadducees, who were often at odds with the Pharisees? Were they neighbors? What about the Galileans, mostly blue-collar, uneducated “hicks”? What about sinners such as tax collectors and prostitutes? At this point, I would strongly suggest that you play-up the arrogance and the spiritual naiveté of the lawyer. In doing so, your group will most likely “pile on” because it is seemingly safe to point out the flaw in this unnamed lawyer. Then, turn the question toward you and your group and ask how Christians today can often think the same thing. We won’t say it out loud, but surely we are culpable of similar selectivity when it comes to our love. Do we really need to love the foul-smelling homeless woman who always begs for money on the corner? The drug addict? The brash atheist we work with? The Islamic terrorist? The child molester? The ex-wife? The person of a different ethnicity? The list goes on and on. If we fail to put ourselves in this account at this point, the power of Jesus’ parable will be negated.

II.) The Illustration (30-36)

Jesus responds with one of His most famous parables: the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The account is pretty straight-forward and, again, most people will already be familiar with it, so I will offer a few contextual and parenthetical comments that might be helpful instead of walking through it.

Notice that the man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. You will always see biblical references of people going up to Jerusalem and down from it. These refer to topography, not compass points. Jerusalem was on a hill, so one always went up to it and down from it. This particular road descended steeply (3,300 feet over 17 miles) through rocky terrain and was notorious for robbers to hide along and pounce on travelers.

Jesus first speaks of a priest and then a Levite passing by the injured man. The priests were of the line of Aaron and performed sacrifices and led in other ceremonial worship. The Levites were not of the line of Aaron but assisted the priests in the work of the temple. Jesus surely chose these two individuals on purpose to provide tension in the story. These were religious leaders. They were supposedly in close relationship with God and were the public face of Judaism. But notice how these men responded to the injured man. They each passed by on the other side of the road.

Perhaps they were concerned for their own safety and believed their lives were too important to risk. Perhaps they were concerned that if the man was dead or died, they would become ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person. Perhaps they were concerned that helping the man would take too much time. While their motivation is not mentioned by Jesus, the main point is that they failed to help the injured traveler.

Then Jesus through a curveball in the parable when He positions a Samaritan as the hero. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews, perhaps more than the Gentiles. Samaritans were a half-Jewish and half-Gentile people who were products of the Assyrian captivity. As the Assyrians hauled off most of the Jewish population into captivity, they left some of the commoners in the region and infused a population of Assyrians into the region to repopulate it. The Jews who were left intermarried with these Gentiles and the result was the Samaritan people. In essence, the Samaritans were a people of compromised ethnicity and compromised worship. For these reasons, they were hated by the Jews of Jesus’ day.

Unlike the pious priest and Levite, this Samaritan saw the wounded man and felt compassion to the extent that it prompted action. There is a good teaching point here. How many times do we claim to be compassionate or concerned about someone or something, but we fail to act? The question then is this: did we truly feel compassion then? True compassion must result in action. This is a critical truth that must be reinforced often. If we truly love people and care about them, we must act!

Also notice the degree to which the Samaritan goes to help the injured man. He doesn’t just bandage his wounds. He doesn’t just deviate from his travel plans and take the man to an inn where he could heal. He didn’t just give the inn keeper two days’ wages to care for him. He also signed a “blank check” for his care. This man was certainly extravagant when it came to his care for this stranger. In telling this story, Jesus gives us quite a challenging bar to meet. We have a choice as individual followers of Christ. Will we be extravagant in our ministry to others, or will we be selective and frugal? We have the same decision as churches. Will we follow Christ’s example and live this way in our communities or not?

Jesus sets-up the lawyer with His final question. Who is the man’s neighbor? At this point, I can only imagine the lawyer’s uncomfortable squirming. He surely knows the answer but is surely quite reluctant to share it, because in doing so, he condemns himself as well.

III.) The Imperative (37)

To his credit, the lawyer answers honestly and correctly. The neighbor is the one who showed mercy toward him. I find it interesting that the lawyer didn’t offer the more direct answer of “the Samaritan.” It might be a danger to read too much into this, but I have to wonder if he couldn’t bring himself to say it outright.

Jesus’ last recorded statement in the account is important. Go and do the same. Go and extend mercy toward others. Go and show extravagant mercy toward others. Go and show extravagant mercy toward others even when you don’t like them. Let’s be clear. This is not an option for following Christ. He doesn’t offer a suggestion here. This is an imperative. It’s a command. And don’t forget the context: this, in part, defines a genuine Christian. If we fail to live this way, what does that imply about our spiritual condition?

This is where I would encourage you to be ready to enter into a fascinating and incredibly important discussion of how we are doing in this regard as individuals, as a group, as a local church, and as the global church today. It would be of great value to honestly share reasons we fail to live such lives of mercy and how we can overcome obstacles to do so. Don’t miss the opportunity to bring this parable to life. Capitalize on a passage you can teach fairly quickly and engage in meaningful application of this vital component of living out the gospel.  

April 15 Bible Study Preview

Christianity 103: Meet Needs

Luke 9:10-17, 37-43a

When many people think of the book of James, they immediately think of James 2:17, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” Unfortunately, many misinterpret this profoundly important verse to suggest that one must perform some form of work to acquire saving faith. We know that this is not the case because the Bible clearly teaches salvation by faith alone in plenty of passages. So what does James, don’t forget inspired by the Holy Spirit, mean? Rewinding to verse 14 tells us:

14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,

16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

When we examine the context preceding verse 17, we see James’ argument. He is speaking against a supposed faith that does not result in action. Instead, genuine faith, James would say, is proven by practical action in meeting the physical needs of others, in addition to meeting their spiritual needs. One does not have genuine saving faith if it does not result in works after. This is in complete agreement with Ephesians 2:8-10. Works follow faith. It’s that simple.

This week we examine Luke 9 to see the importance of meeting practical needs as part of spreading the gospel. It is not enough, as James says, to simply verbalize the gospel. We must also seek to meet physical needs (and emotional ones as well) as best we can in tandem with meeting spiritual needs. This is increasingly critical in post-modern society where people want to see the truthfulness of a claim, not just hear it. As God’s people, we must balance showing and speaking the gospel message of Jesus Christ. It is insufficient to tell it without showing it and it is just as insufficient to show it without telling it. If we just pattern our personal and church-wide evangelism strategy of kindergarten “Show and Tell,” we will do well. (If your group needs further biblical support of this, I would recommend showing them how Jesus met physical and emotional needs in conjunction with spiritual needs in Matthew 9:35-38.)

Usually, I frown on jumping around in a chapter, and while I am not thrilled about it, it seems to work in this week’s study. I would, however, encourage you to include vs. 43b-45 at the tail end of your study to bring a very important point to bear. I personally, break the study into three sections. The first concerns our heart and motivation for meeting needs. The second concerns how we are to meet needs. The third concerns how we should prepare for seeing people respond to having their needs met.

I.) Develop Practical Compassion (10-17)

In the beginning of Luke 9, Jesus sends the disciples on a mission trip through the region. When they returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. If you have ever been on a mission trip, you can imagine what that time was like! I imagine the twelve returned on a substantial spiritual high, ready to charge mountains. But, Jesus, knowing the need for spiritual rest as an integral part of ministry, took them with Him and withdrew to a city called Bethsaida. There is a vital application to this alone. We cannot forget our consistent and constant need of God to conduct ministry. We’ll come back to this in the next section, so you might want to allude to it here and then refer back to it when you start the next section.

Although Jesus’ intention was to get away from people to be with His Father, the crowds were aware of this and followed Him. Notice how Jesus responded to this “inconvenience.” Welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing. This is another critical teaching point. How do we view others? Truly. If we had to lay our hearts bare, what would others see? A genuine, growing love for people, apathy, or perhaps disdain? I love how Jesus welcomed the crowds and shared the gospel with them and met their needs, even if this was potentially inconvenient for Him. Let us strive to do the same.

We also see the coupling of words and deeds in this section. Jesus didn’t merely teach. Neither did He just meet physical needs. He addressed both in balance and harmony. Do you find it interesting that Jesus, knowing He had a limited 3 ½ years of ministry, spent time addressing temporary physical needs? Think about it. Everyone He healed died eventually. Everyone He fed grew hungry again a mere hours later. Why would He “waste” time meeting these temporary needs? Two reasons. First, His compassion drove Him to do so. His genuine love for people prompted His actions. That is the point James makes in his epistle. Second, He knew that His actions strengthened His message. Healing and meeting needs gave Him a platform from which to be heard. We should strive to meet needs through the exact same two-fold lens. We should love people enough to want to meet needs and we should recognize that doing so earns us a right to be heard. 

As the day drew to a close, the twelve, came to Jesus and advised Him to send the people away to go eat and find lodging. If you looked out at a crowd of over 5,000 men (probably 15,000 people total including women and children), and saw them growing tired and hungry but not wanting to leave Jesus, what might you whisper in His ear? I would probably would have done the same thing.

But Jesus said something quite shocking in reply. “You give them something to eat!” I have to think, depending on the temperament of each of the twelve, that this was either found to be quite funny or irritating. The exasperation of the twelve is recorded in their response to this command, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”

At this point, we need to review what had happened on the mission trip from which the twelve had just emerged. In verses 3 through 5, Jesus had given the disciples explicit instructions to take nothing with them. Why? So they would see God supernaturally provide! They took no food, yet God provided food for them.

Now, just a short time later, they are in another position to see God provide. Would they trust Him? Apparently not. Perhaps they had short memories. Perhaps they thought that God providing for one or two on a mission trip was possible, but God feeding around 15,000 people was impossible. Whatever the case, the twelve failed this test administered by Jesus.

Jesus has the twelve sit the people down in groups of fifty each. Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people. Interestingly, the verb tense here indicates that Jesus stood there that day continuously breaking and giving the supernaturally multiplying fish and bread. I wonder at what point the twelve figured out what was happening. I wonder how they responded.

Everyone ate and was satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers, proving that everyone truly was filled and that God loves to go above and beyond in His provisions.

In summary, we saw Jesus extending practical compassion in this section, giving us a pattern to emulate in our lives of ministry. Meeting with people, healing them, and feeding them were not distractions from His ministry; they were essential aspects of His ministry. While we cannot supernaturally heal or feed people, we can extend compassion and meet the various needs of others as God enables us.  

II.) Meet Needs in God’s Power (37-42)

Much happens between the feeding of the 5,000+ and the account of Luke 9:37-42.

• Peter extends his confession of Jesus being the Christ
• Jesus shares about His future rejection, crucifixion, and resurrection for the first time
• Jesus is transfigured
• Coming off the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus is questioned about Elijah’s return and He reveals that John the Baptist fulfilled this prophecy

This is the context of Luke’s timestamp in verse 37 that on the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. Again we see that early in His ministry, Jesus could only get away for so long before the crowds found Him. At the mid-point of His ministry, things change when Jesus starts teaching difficult things and the crowds leave, but for now He is immensely popular.

A man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only boy, and a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.” As a father, this tugs at my heart. I can only imagine the pain and anguish of this father as he helplessly watched what he described to Jesus day-in and day-out. It is no wonder that this man caught Jesus’ attention.

While it is not stated by Luke in his account, Mark records that the reason the disciples could not cast out the demon was because they did not pray (Mark 9:28-29). This is apparently what prompted Jesus’ seemingly harsh response in verse 41. Jesus’ frustration seems to be primarily targeted toward His disciples who should have known better and perhaps the fickle crowd that continued to chase the miracles but not the Miracle Worker. Despite whatever frustration Jesus felt, notice that He rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.

In this section we are again reminded of our need to extend compassion toward others, but we also encounter our need to remember the source of our compassionate deeds: the power of God. There is a great danger in the American church that we can do much on our own power. The American church has amazingly plentiful resources and talent. And that’s dangerous because the Bible repeatedly charges us to forsake our own talent and abilities and rely instead on the power of God. This is why Gideon was forced to whittle down his army. God wanted to show that He was the One who brings victory, not the army of Israel. The contemporary church has to remember this principle and strive to meet needs in God’s power, not our own.

How does this play-out in real life? First, from where does the compassion and love for others come? It has to come from God. We cannot love others as much as they deserve apart from the love of Christ indwelling our hearts and minds. When we see people, we must see them through divinely cleansed and focused eyes.

At the same time, when we meet needs, we must do so from resources and abilities that we clearly understand are God’s. We give God’s money to meet needs, not our own. We invest God’s time to care for others, not our own. We speak God’s words of life and healing to others, not our own.

The greatest danger of the church is found in self-sufficiency. The greatest opportunity of the church is found in complete reliance on God.

III.) Anticipate Various Responses (43-45)

Notice the response of the crowd immediately after witnessing the demon being cast out of the boy. They were all amazed at the greatness of God. This is what Jesus came for, right? This is the perfect time for Jesus to celebrate, right? Wrong. Notice what Jesus does.

While everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” Seems like a strange time to share this, doesn’t it? Why on earth would Jesus say this to His disciples at that moment? That seems like something He would tell them in the middle of the Pharisees attacking Him, doesn’t it?

Actually, this was the ideal and necessary time for such a word of warning. Because a warning is exactly what it was. Jesus knew that the crowd was fickle and following Him for the wrong reasons. He knew that they were only enamored by what Jesus could do for them, not by who He is. Furthermore, He knew that the vast majority of the crowd that day would soon turn from Him and some would even shout, “Crucify Him!” later on. So in the moment, Jesus warns His disciples not to be swept away by it all and to understand that superficial words of praise are not lasting.

There is an important word of warning for us today as well. As we meet the needs of others, we have to be prepared for a plurality of responses. Surely, some will respond to our acts of compassion by being open to learning about Jesus and prayerfully turning their lives over to Him. But others will not. Some will be content to simply take from us what we give and then turn their backs on us and find someone else willing to give to them. Others will trick us and try to use us for their own gain.

Are you prepared to handle these negative responses with the same love and compassion that drove you to meet a need in the first place? Or will you become hardened in heart and begin to slide down the slippery slope of utilitarian ministry (I will only do for you if you do for me by coming to my church or reading a Bible, etc.)? Genuine love will command us to meet needs with no strings attached. That is the power of the gospel because it pictures grace! Whenever we attach conditions to our acts of love, we end up cheapening the gospel. We reduce it to a contractual agreement. Let us be careful as we allow God to use us to meet the needs of others, lest we fall into this trap. Remember, Jesus knew exactly how people would respond to Him, yet He healed the bodies of those who would call for the beating of His. He fed the mouths of those who would use their mouths to curse Him. He loved those who did not love Him. That’s the gospel. That’s our calling.  

April 8 Bible Study Preview

Be Confident of the Resurrection

Luke 24:15, 18-27, 30-35

Because this is Easter Sunday, we jump ahead to the last chapter of Luke in our study of the book. While many might be surprised that Luke 24:1-12 is not the passage being studied this week, I believe that you will see that the focal passage is indeed fitting for an Easter study. It does us no good to study the facts of the resurrected Jesus if we fail to understand and challenge ourselves and others to follow Him as our Lord and Savior.

Luke 24:13-35 (I suggest you examine the entire section and not skip verses) provides a common formula for how people come to have a relationship with the resurrected Christ. Now to be clear, not every relationship with Jesus begins in this way, but it is easy to see that many, if not most, people have an experience that resembles this outline in some way:

1. The person has an encounter with Christ in some form. This could be a crisis or trial. It could be attending a church. It could be a friend sharing about Christ. However it happens, Jesus gets on this person’s radar.
2. The person experiences emotional turmoil as he or she begins to be drawn to Christ but is reluctant to yield his or her life to Him.
3. The person hears a full and accurate explanation of the gospel.
4. The person responds to the gospel and the hunger to know Jesus increases.
5. The person begins to hunger to be in community with other believers.

You should be able to move through the material at a comfortable pace this week and have a fun and meaningful discussion of each section as you do so.

I.) A Miraculous Encounter (13-16)

During Passover, the population of Jerusalem swelled way past its normal level. Now on Sunday, with the Passover completed, the crowds began to quickly drain out of Jerusalem returning the city to its usual population.

Most likely about late-morning or early-afternoon, two disciples of Jesus joined the vacating crowds and began their journey to a village named Emmaus which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. Emmaus was probably home for the two, although we cannot be sure. We also cannot be sure of exactly where Emmaus was, although thankfully Luke, the detailed historian, gave us an approximate distance from Jerusalem. Neither can we be sure of who the two traveling disciples were. Later, in verse 18, we are told that one is named Cleopas, but the other is anonymous. Some believe that the second traveler was Cleopas’ wife because of the intimate expression of verse 32. If that is the case, and if others rightly associate Cleopas with Clopas mentioned in John 19:25, the wife would have been named Mary.  

Whatever the case, we know that the disciples were not part of the inner core of disciples we most often associate with that term but they were indeed followers of Jesus to some degree. They clearly had communication with the inner core of disciples as their retelling of the resurrection facts requires.

As the two traveled toward Emmaus that Sunday, they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. It’s not surprising that the two would be rehearsing the amazing events of the past week. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. This is not the first time Jesus’ identity had been hidden from someone. Earlier in the garden we saw that He was hidden from Mary Magdalene (John 20:14). While Mary may not have known it was Jesus because of the early morning sun shining in her eyes, here on the road to Emmaus we clearly see that Jesus is supernaturally hiding Himself from the two. This affirms that the two were acquainted with Jesus on some level, and was necessary so that Jesus would have the opportunity to challenge their thinking.

 While the two travelers had a miraculous encounter with Jesus, we have to be careful to devalue the encounter we first had with Jesus. I have often heard people lament their “unspectacular” story of faith. The thinking is that since they cannot tell some amazing tale of overcoming a major sin or adverse situation, their story is rather “mild.” The problem with that, and devaluing our first encounter with Jesus, is that ANY encounter with the God-Man is supernatural! Think about it. Can anyone rightly say that coming face-to-face with the living God is mundane? Of course not. Let’s strive to always be in a state of deep awe and reverence when we think of the first time we encountered Jesus.  

II.) A Rollercoaster of Emotion (17-24)

At some point, seemingly soon after catching up to the pair, Jesus, no doubt stifling a huge smile, asked “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” Don’t miss their physical response. The next phrase indicates that they stood still, looking sad. Apparently that question brought their travel to a grinding halt! You’ve probably experienced a moment like that. Someone shares news with you or asks you a question that forces you to come to a complete stop as you process it. I wonder if their stop and their sad countenance was a result of their realization that they would have to explain all the gory and painful details of the last week to this stranger. Remember, the wounds were still fresh for these two. It’s not fun to share painful news, especially when it is still fresh.

At this point, Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” Or, according to my paraphrase, “Have you been living under a rock?”

Undeterred, Jesus presses on and asks “What things?” Again, in my mind’s eye I see Jesus biting His lip to keep from smiling.

At this point, the pair (notice Luke records that they retold the events) does a pretty solid job of retelling the key events of the final week of Jesus. (We can take an aside here if the need exists and time allows to point out that mental assent to the details of the life of Christ is not enough. We will see that Jesus does not praise their grasp of the facts, He rebukes their inability to connect the dots and reach the proper conclusion about His identity. How many people in Bible study groups this Sunday need similar rebuking?) As you scan through the pairs retelling, notice their rollercoaster of emotions expressed.

The pair begins sad.

They then perk up as they recount how Jesus was mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people.

They then somber up as they share how Jesus was crucified and how that apparently dashed their hopes that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.

They then perk up again as they share how some women did not find His body and saw a vision of angels who said that He was alive.

That’s some rollercoaster of emotion and teeter-totter of hope and despair, isn’t it? Before we apply this, let me also point out one incredibly significant error they made in their narrative that explains Jesus’ somewhat harsh response to them. Notice how they referred to Jesus as a prophet. That is not correct. He was not a prophet, He is the Prophet. This, along with their admitted wavering in verse 21, proves that they didn’t fully understand who Jesus is and did not, at this point, accept Him as Messiah and the Son of God.

When a person has a genuine encounter with Jesus, a mixture of emotion should follow. In fact, I would contend if there is not a mixture of emotion, the person probably doesn’t fully grasp who Jesus is and what He calls them to do. Let’s be honest. Following Jesus is not all chocolate and coffee (feel free to insert your preferred positive items). When we come to Christ, truly come to Him, it requires us to put to death a large part of who we are and what we desire. This is not easy. Therefore, a gamut of emotions should follow.

Hope.

Fear.

Joy.

Hesitation.

Peace.

Resistance.

We should expect this range of emotions in our lives and allow it in others as we come to terms with the fullness of what it means to follow Jesus.

III.) A Full Explanation of the Gospel (25-27)

Before you examine Jesus’ response to the pair, remember their problem. They had all the information about Jesus necessary to conclude that He is the Son of God, yet they hadn’t reached that conclusion. In addition, the pair probably had a familiarity with the Old Testament because Jesus seems to hold them accountable for not grasping its teachings. And so, Jesus calls them foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Jesus continues by asking was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall (or, I guess, a fly flying next to them as they traveled on) to hear what happened next. Beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. Jesus led the pair on a Bible study through the entire Old Testament to show them where it spoke of Him! Can you imagine what it was like to hear Jesus teach about the Messianic prophecies concerning His birth, life, death, and resurrection?

There is a very important point to be made here. People will often hear fragments of the gospel, but we need to be prepared to provide a more detailed and thorough interaction with the full gospel. We must each train ourselves to be able to discuss, in a conversational manner, the fullness of the gospel. Giving bite-sized morsels of the gospel is a great pre-evangelism strategy, but when it comes down to guiding a person to make a decision for Christ, he or she must be directed to hear and respond to the full gospel message. This is more important than ever considering the false gospels that are so prevalent on television and in bookstores today.

IV.) A Hunger for More of Jesus (28-32)

It probably would have taken the travelers about three to four hours to make the trip from Jerusalem to Emmaus. We don’t know at what point Jesus joined the pair and how long his teaching lasted, but whatever the case, it clearly wasn’t enough for them. As they approached the village where they were going, Jesus acted as though He were going father. An interesting charade the say the least. But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. We know that hospitality was extremely important in Jewish culture, but I don’t think that was the pair’s primary motivation for extending this invitation to Jesus. I say that because of verse 32 which we will examine momentarily.

When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. Later, in verse 35, we learn that it was the act of breaking the bread that caused the pair to recognize Jesus. This may have been because Jesus, the guest, took on the role of host by breaking the bread, or more likely, the pair recognized something in Jesus’ gestures that they had seen before.

At this point, the pair said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” As a discipleship pastor, this verse is incredibly significant to me in my ministry. I desire to teach God’s Word in such a way that it comes alive and connects with the hearts of those I teach with similar fervor. It pains me to see people who study the Bible with apathy or boredom, and I surely don’t want to teach it that way. God’s Word, and more precisely its Star, Jesus, should drive us to our knees in humility with hands raised high in praise. It should draw us to Jesus and create within us a hunger to know Him more. And that was precisely the effect it had on the pair that day. They didn’t want Jesus (even though they didn’t know it was Him at the time) to leave them because they wanted to hear more. Their hearts burned in their chests and they wanted the fire to burn more strongly.

When a person comes to Christ, this should be the expected result. Sure the timing may be stretched more thinly or condensed more tightly, but the trend should be the same: an increasing desire to know Christ more and an expanding love of Him.

V.) A Hunger for Community with the Church (33-35)

I’m a long-suffering Baltimore Orioles fan. As such, I feel an immediate connection with other Orioles fans. If I see someone wearing an O’s cap (an increasingly rare occurrence), I feel an instant kinship with him or her. This is just a small piece of evidence that we are wired for community. We crave it. It’s the way we were created.

Notice what the pair does after Jesus disappeared. They got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.” Remember that the day was almost over, yet the pair felt compelled to make the three to four hour journey back to Jerusalem then. They couldn’t wait for the next day. Even though there was increased risk of traveling in the dark, they forsook the danger and went right back to the city they had left hours earlier. Why? Because people crave community. They wanted to be back with the other disciples and share this wonderful experience with them.

There are two important lessons here. First, and most apparent, we should expect true believers to be in consistent fellowship with other believers. I reject the notion that a believer can worship on his or her own as their normal rhythm of worship. I have heard people suggest that they don’t need to be part of a church because they can worship God just fine by themselves, or by watching or listening to preaching on television or the internet. I contend, that while there may situations that require this, the norm should be for believers to gather together, physically, to worship together in community. I suggest that the Christian who forsakes worshipping in a church has a heart issue or is not a true believer. After a person enters into relationship with Christ, they should hunger for Him, and His bride, the church, more and more. It’s that simple.

Second, we can use this passage as anecdotal support for our need to be evangelists from the moment of our conversion. If you have embraced the gospel, you have enough information, and prayerfully passion, to share it with someone else. Remember it is called “good news” for a reason. Who doesn’t like to share good news? We all do. Let’s encourage one another, even the newborn believer, to follow in the pair’s footsteps and waste no time of declaring the glory and riches of grace and Christ Jesus to all those around us.

April 1 Bible Study Preview

Christianity 102: Live to Benefit Others

Luke 6:27-38, 41-42, 46-48

At FBC Tampa, we have been having a lot of discussion of what a disciple of Jesus looks like. What defines a disciple? What does a disciple do? How can we gauge a disciple’s growth and maturity? How can we monitor our effectiveness in making disciples? These are great questions that deserve careful and prayerful answers.

This week’s Bible study offers a great starting point in answering these questions as we interact with Jesus’ teaching on what one of His followers should look like. The passage we are studying looks a lot like the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 either because this is Luke’s telling of that event, or because Jesus taught this lesson on several occasions (which should not surprise us). Either way, Luke 6:27-48 offers us an important snapshot of a true disciple of Jesus.

At this point in Jesus’ ministry large crowds are still being drawn to Him mostly because word of His miracles had spread rapidly. People were coming out to see a show, not necessarily to encounter the God-Man. It is not surprising then, that Jesus takes the opportunity to teach what true discipleship looks like.

I would encourage you to include verses 39-40 and 43-45in respect to the Bible and to cover important items you would otherwise skip. I would recommend breaking the text down into six parts, each one describing a different defining characteristic of a true disciple.

You will notice that Jesus does not focus on behavior as what defines one of His disciples, but on character. If you read the Sermon on the Mount you would see that Jesus pointedly directs attention away from the hands (actions) to the heart (character). This is important, perhaps needing to be said up-front, spiritual maturity is not about behavior! Spiritual maturity is about allowing the Holy Spirit to conform our character to be like Christ’s and as a result of this, our behavior changes. Let’s encourage our groups to keep the horse and cart in the right order when it comes to maturing as disciples.

I.) Love (27-28)

In verses 24 through 26, Jesus has just declared woe on people who pursue worldliness. I think we could easily conclude that pursuing worldliness is the majority position in our society, and what Jesus offers next in contrast is rather uncommon. But, instead of living like the world, Jesus tells those who hear to love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Look at those one at a time and realize just how counterintuitive each is. It is unnatural to love an enemy. It is unnatural to do good to those who do you wrong. It is unnatural to bless a person who curses you to your face. It is unnatural to pray (positively) for those who abuse you. These imperatives are all contrary to the flesh. They all go against our natural inclinations, desires, and experiences. Appreciate this tension, because it is just what Jesus wants us to grasp.

In Romans 7, Paul shared his struggle with his flesh and the Spirit of God within him. In 1 Peter, the elderly statesman of the fledgling church called on believers to live according to the Spirit even when society was crushing their flesh. All throughout Scripture we see a sharp dichotomy established between the ways of the flesh and the ways of God. One of the clearest defining characteristics of a disciple is when he or she lives according to the Spirit and clearly rejects the ways of the flesh. The reason is because it is proof positive that the person is not living in his or her own power. As Peter says, live in such a way that people wonder how in the world you can live with such peace, grace, and love when 99.9% of people would lash out.

The first defining characteristic of a true disciple is that he or she loves others, without qualification. We are to manifest a genuine unconditional love for everyone and anyone God puts in our path. The gospel leaves absolutely no wiggle room for any –ism (racism, classism, etc.)! God loves people. God has given us His love with which to love them as well.

Let us pray that we develop a deeper, more sincere love for people.

II.) Forgiveness (29-31)

Jesus’ next point is closely connected to the first (actually, all of them are, which should not be surprising). If we truly love people, we will be people with forgiving hearts. Forgiveness will be given freely and abundantly. That’s what love requires. Jesus offers three illustrations of forgiveness and follows with an important principle.

First, if someone hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also. This passage is quite familiar, even with non-disciples. It is often misinterpreted to support total pacifism (e.g. not serving in the military or defending yourself from attack) and/or to argue against capital punishment. However, a strong case can be made that Jesus merely had personal retribution and prideful retaliation in mind (especially when you include Matthew’s account). The context here is humility, specifically in relation to humbly forgiving someone. Remember the contrast Jesus is establishing between behaving according to the flesh and behaving according to the Spirit. If someone strikes you, what does the flesh want you to do? Hit him back, right? Why? Pride. You want retribution because you feel disrespected. But what does the Spirit want you to do? To humbly forgive. Notice that this has no bearing on the criminal justice system. In Romans 13, we read that God has given the government a sword for a reason. We know that God uses government (including the judicial system and military) to restrain evil and punish evil doers. So to use this passage to argue against military service and justice is in error.

Second, if someone takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Again, the basic idea is that we should not allow fleshly pride to retaliate.

Third, disciples are to give to everyone who asks, and if someone takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. Still more humble forgiveness.

Jesus concludes with the overarching principle that we ought to treat others the same way you want them to treat you. Don’t you want people to forgive you when you wrong them? Don’t you want people to love you enough that they offer that forgiveness without condition? The famous Golden Rule tells us then that we ought to live that way toward others.

Let us pray that we develop a deeper, more sincere ability to forgive people.

III.) Selflessness (32-35, 39-42)

We notice a very subtle shift from humble forgiveness to broader selflessness in the next few verses. It would also be helpful to bring verses 39-42 to bear in this section because they address the same issue. (Parenthetically, as you study this passage, you very well may choose to divide up the text differently. These issues are so closely related, it is difficult to parse them conclusively, so follow the Spirit’s guidance and divide them the way that connects with your thinking and teaching the best.)

Jesus rolls off three important and convicting questions in rapid succession in verse 32 through 34. In summary, if we only love those who love us, do good to those who do good to us, and lend to those whom you expect to receive something back, what does that say about our motivation and level of true love, goodness, and generosity? Even sinners do the same. Does the world stand up and notice when the church loves the lovable? Not at all. How about when the church does good for “good” people. Not in the slightest. How about when the church is generous to people who can scratch its back in response? This isn’t just unimpressive, it reeks of utilitarianism. It looks just like Washington D.C. politics. These are the behaviors of selfish individuals who aren’t focused on what they are doing, but instead what they can get as a result from the action.

Should disciples love the lovable? Sure. Should they do good to the “good”? Sure. Should they be generous toward people who are influential? Sure. But it should not be limited to this, nor should this be the primary focus of the church. Instead, disciples are to love the unlovable, do good to those who do them harm, and lend expecting nothing in return. When this is done, the true reward will be great. What is that reward? You will prove yourself to be a son of the Most High. Be careful to understand that Jesus is not saying that doing these things earns salvation and relationship with God. As James says in his epistle, these things prove a genuine relationship. Don’t forget that true character produces actions. That is Jesus’ point. We are to live selflessly – loving, doing good, and being generous – because our heart compels us to live this way, not for selfish gain.

If you choose to jump to 39-42 here, you can connect what Jesus says there to living selflessly with a desire to help others experience an abundant life in Christ.

Jesus shares a rather humorous thought in verse 39 when He invites us to picture a blind man guiding another blind man with the result of a joint fall into a pit. The point is that if we want to help others, we need to be able to see clearly. If we want to selflessly encourage and edify others, we have to be living in the Spirit.

Jesus reaffirms our need to pour into others out of the abundance of what God has done in our lives by reminding us that everyone who has been fully trained will be like his teacher. Clearly, Jesus is setting Himself up here as the teacher and His disciples as the pupils. While He will always be greater than us, if we allow the Spirit to work in our hearts we will become like Him in demonstrating similar selflessness, love, forgiveness, generosity, etc.

Jesus then share another often misinterpreted passage when He speaks of the speck and the log. How often do you hear people rip Matthew 7:1 out of context to argue that it is wrong to ever judge another person? Notice that Jesus is concerned not about judging here, but about judging with the wrong motivation: selfish hypocrisy. Indeed, what does He conclude at the end? You should first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. Do you see it (pardon the pun)? Jesus expects us to judge! He just expects us to do so with the right motivation, which is clearly not hypocrisy and a hateful judgmental attitude. Stop and think for a second. Is it good for a person to have a speck in their eye? Of course not! So whose interested is it in for that speck to be removed? Yours? Nope. Theirs? That’s right. You are helping the person if you point out the speck and help them remove it. But only if you do so selflessly. You point out the speck for their good, not your own benefit. It’s not easy pointing out a speck in someone’s eye. They may reject you. Your relationship is at risk. But Jesus says we risk it because our selflessness compels us to care more about the other person than our own good.

Let us pray that we develop a genuine selflessness in how we live our lives.

IV.) Humility (36-37)

That takes us back a few verses where Jesus addresses humility. We are called on to be merciful just as God is merciful. Mercy is withholding deserved punishment or penalty. It is an act of love and humility. If God has extended so great a mercy to us, how can we withhold such a lesser mercy to others? If we are humbled by God’s grace, mercy, and love, we could not even consider withholding mercy from others.

Jesus amplifies what it means to show mercy by instructing the disciple not to judge, condemn, or fail to pardon others. This is at the heart of mercy. We truly forgive another and spare him or her of the deserved consequences because we desire a greater good. Have you ever heard of the family of a murder victim forgiving and even befriending the murderer? It’s powerful isn’t it? It’s also rare which is why it makes it into the news. That’s not how the flesh responds to wrongdoing. Mercy is not fleshly; it is spiritual. You want to impact someone for Christ? Show them great mercy.

Let us pray that we develop Christ-like humility in our daily life.

V.) Generosity (38)

The final internal characteristic is generosity. In the move Wall Street, the character Gordon Gecko uttered the famous phrase, “Greed is good.” Our nation is divided to a large degree because of perceived greed, either that of business or that of individuals feeling entitled to wealth. What would it look like if the church introduced generosity into the equation? What if we gave freely and abundantly, again not expecting return on earth, but anticipating Jesus’ promise of divine reward? Jesus’ point is that God will bless us in proportion to how generous we are with what He has already blessed us.

Think about the social ills that the church could solve if we only arose and did something about them. Think we could at least make a significant dent in poverty? Medical care? Orphans?

Let us pray that we develop a joyful attitude of generosity toward others.

VI.) Fruitfulness (43-49)

The final characteristic actually lends itself more toward action than character. But again, care must be taken as these verses are studied to remember that the fruit Jesus has in mind here must be born out of the character just discussed.

Jesus’ point is rather simple. A tree is known by its own fruit. You know an apple tree because it produces apples. You don’t seek oranges from an apple tree either. You know it is an apple tree because it produces apples and you expect apples to hang from its branches.

Likewise, we should expect disciples to bear fruit in accordance with the character within. A loving heart will produce loving actions. A forgiving heart will produce forgiving actions. Selfless, humble, generous hearts will produce selfless, humble, and generous actions. It’s that simple. Just as an apple tree could not defend its right to be known as an apple tree if it bore no apples (or worse, oranges), a disciple of Jesus cannot claim to be one if he or she bears no fruit in accordance with a Spirit-led and Spirit-transformed life. It just cannot happen.

At some point, a great tragedy befell the church. Classes of Christians was introduced and accepted. The thinking is that most “regular” Christians look a certain way (e.g. usually pretty worldly with splashes of religiosity mixed in) while “super” Christians look like what Jesus describes here. Surely Jesus doesn’t expect every Christian to look like this! Yes He does! That’s His point in these concluding verses. If we claim to be disciples, we must demonstrate fruit!

That’s why He states that some call Him Lord, Lord but do not do what He says. They are likened to the house built on the ground without any foundation. They will easily be blown away and experience collapse and great ruin. While Jesus may mean in this life, I believe He has the day of judgment in mind here. There will be a great number of people who believe they are good with God because of religion, when indeed, they are estranged from Him and still in sin because they lack relationship. They are not producing fruit because they are not truly disciples. It’s a hard truth, but it is one we cannot ignore.

Let us pray that we develop a fruitful life produced by Christ-like character.