Learning From Luke: Before The End Credits

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Luke 21:5-19

End credit scenes aren’t new; lots of movies have had them (Ferris Bueller), but the Marvel superhero genre has elevated end credit scenes into prominence. However… did you know JESUS did it long ago?

Before The End, There Will Be

* Back and Forth ~ Luke 21:5-8

• 5/6 disciples focus on temporary; Jesus resets viewpoint
• 7 disciples: WHEN?
• 8/9 redirect: watch for WHO

* Signs and Struggles ~ Luke 21:10-14

• 10/11 not JUST end times: humans have been doing this, and will continue; WILL BE great signs – keep watching for them!
• 12/13 THOSE DISCIPLES were persecuted; we might be, too (no guarantees of easy blessed life)
• 14 CHOOSE TO not worry – still good advice!

* Words and Winning ~ Luke 21:15-19

• 15 God speaks THROUGH us
• 16/17 Jesus IN us will draw anger; what did they do to Him? Why would we think we’ll escape that if He is IN us?
• 18/19 “gain life” = psuche/SOUL – not ease, not comfort, not mere physical life

Our ultimate truth? WE ARE HEADED HOME. There are going to be bumps along the journey, but make no mistake: God is calling us HOME TO BE WITH HIM.

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Learning From Luke: Married For Life

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Luke 20:27-38

We often avoid conflict – but it CAN be a good thing. As iron sharpens iron implies friction, heat, sparks. But the result can make us sharper. In marriage, partners can find themselves in conflict, but that’s not necessarily bad – it depends on how you react to it…

Coping With Conflict

* When Faced With A Sadducean Stumper ~ Luke 20:27-33

• 27 Sadducee summary: materialistic, exact law followers, only Pentatuch
• 28 diagnostic JOKE pulled on Pharisees; Let’s see how Jesus answers it
• 29/32 Levirate marriage from Deut.25 explanation
• 33 remember: Sadducees don’t believe in afterlife; they believed the soul dies with the body. This is SUPPOSED to be a nonsense question with a nonsense answer…

* Give An Anointed Answer ~ Luke 20:34-38

• 34 Lukan detail: doesn’t chew them out, but explains more; “this age” = the present time in the present realm=this material world; Jesus answers them using phrase they would connect with
• 35 then expands that idea to the NEXT world; connected to worthiness (also very important to Sadducees); doctrinal correction: no marriage in the next age: the problem isn’t concept of marriage, but in Sadducees refusal to see the next world
• 36 God’s children enjoy one death, then life forever!
• 37 Jesus uses Pentatuch reference to show they’re not paying attention to their own source material

38 conclusion: God has made us FOR Life (John 10:10), and real life can only be found IN Him

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Learning From Luke: Overcoming Shortsightedness

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Luke 19:1-10

In 1984, I had corrective eye surgery called Radial Keratotomy – I once was (legaly) blind, but then I saw much better after the procedure. However, I didn’t follow directions regarding aftercare, and so my eyesight fell back into myopia. I’m not as restored as I could have been…

To Overcome Shortsightedness, What Do We Need To Have?

* The Inability to See ~ Luke 19:1-4

• 1 Jesus is nearer than we think
• 2/3 Q1: AWAKENING: why would a tax collector want to see Jesus? He MUST have heard about Him, especially about Jesus’ choices to hang out with tax collectors and sinners
• 4 Zacchaeus MOVED – he put in effort to find Christ

* The Need To Be Seen ~ Luke 19:5-6

• 5 Jesus calls Zacchaeus by name; HE’S CALLING YOU, TOO
• 6 Q2: ATTRACTION: why would a rabbi want to spend time with Zacchaeus? God sees us through Jesus – God can see past our sin; because of Jesus, our sin can be in the past

* The Plea To Amend ~ Luke 19:7-8

• 7 The watching world won’t understand at first; they judge Jesus because He DOESN’T judge they way they do
• 8 Q3: APOLOGY: when the world rejects our change of heart, how will WE respond? Zacchaeus’ response is repentance; he thinks differently about how he’s going to use his wealth

* The Acceptance of Grace ~ Luke 19:9-10

• v9/10 Q4: ACCEPTANCE: when will we realize that “salvation” isn’t the choice to do better? It’s the reception of Jesus! This PROMPTS us to change after – change is not demanded before the Spirit brings us to life

Steps of Repentance:

• Awakening – the Spirit has worked in us before we even know it (God chooses us first)
• Attraction – we are drawn to Christ as He draws near to us (Christ influences us next)
• Apology – we reject our old ways, and resolve to make a change (We respond to Christ)
• Acceptance – we realize our new life in Christ supersedes our life of self (we surrender to God’s influence)

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Learning From Luke: Look Down To Be Lifted

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Luke 18:9-14

Both the hummingbird and the vulture fly over our nation’s deserts. All vultures see is rotting meat, because that is what they look for. They thrive on that diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly flesh of dead animals. Instead, they look for the colorful blossoms of desert plants. The vultures live on what was. They live on the past. They fill themselves with what is dead and gone. But hummingbirds live on what is. They seek new life. They fill themselves with freshness and life. Each bird finds what it is looking for. We all do.

What Part Does Attitude Play In Prayer?

* Pretend “Perfection” is Powerless ~ Luke 18:9-12

• 9 notice the audience: Jesus isn’t IGNORING those who ignore Him; He’s still reaching out to them
• 10 both of these men are religiously aware – they make their way to the temple to pray; HOW AWARE ARE WE?
• 11 “prayed about himself” COULD mean “prayed TO himself”; this kind of “prayer” isn’t prayer at all
• 12 demonstrates boasting in religious-like specifics

* Plea of the Penitent is Potent ~ Luke 18:13-14

• 13 what does the tax collector demonstrate? Respect (stood at a distance); Humility (wouldn’t look up); Godly Sorrow (beat his breast); Repentance (“have mercy on me”)
• 14 cf. II Corinthians 7:10: Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
• signposts on path to salvation; justified = JUST as IF I’D never sinned

God’s Value System is Opposite of Ours – the heights of glory are in debasement!

Learning From Luke: Missed By Nine

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Luke 17:11-19

In 1999, Simons & Chabris conducted an experiment called the Selective Attention Test. In it, three people wearing white shirts passed a basketball to each other while three people in dark shirts also passed a basketball. The challenge was to count how many times did the white shirted people passed the basketball. But what many people missed as they were focused on counting how many passes was that A GORILLA WALKED THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE EXPERIMENT…

What Spiritual Truths Are Easily Missed?

* Jesus Comes TO US ~ Luke 17:11-14

• 11 On His way to worship, Jesus is on the outskirts: HE STILL IS! He doesn’t only show up in the fancy clean religious places – He meets people right where they’re at
• 12 these guys are together in their pain: they are ostracized from everyone else, and they have banded together in their infirmity
• 13 notice that they CALL OUT IN A LOUD VOICE – they know they’re not allowed to get Miracles can be missed by those too wrapped up in what THEY receive instead of FROM WHOM they’ve received it to Jesus – so they call on HIM to come near… HE DID THEN, AND HE STILL DOES NOW
• 14 notice the order: Directive (“go and show”); Obedience (“they went”); Blessing (“they were cleansed”) – we need to listen, then obey, THEN see how God will bless, not the other way around!

* Functional Faith Saves Us ~ Luke 17:15-19

• 15 we don’t know how much time passes; it COULD be that the lepers go all the way to the priests and show themselves, and perform the ritual… OR: they could all be on their way, and one looks down, realized he’s been healed, and turns right around to praise God with all he’s got
• 16 the Samaritan shouldn’t know “official Jewish theology” – but he knows two things: Jesus healed him, and Jesus deserves to be thanked
• 17/18 Jesus statement about “foreigner” implies that at least SOME of the lepers were Jewish countrymen… and should know better than to ignore the One who did the healing of leprosy, the One who signaled that He Is The Messiah
• 19 faith, by itself, doesn’t DO anything: practicing faithfulness IN CHRIST is what makes the difference

Miracles can be MISSED by those too wrapped up in what THEY receive, instead of FROM WHOM they’ve received it.

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I watched Pastor John K. Jenkins, a Baptist minister bring this point home: I don’t know where the other nine are, but HERE I AM TO THANK YOU, LORD!

Learning From Luke: Faith Enough

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Luke 17:1-10

The dimensions of the Mayflower was 113 feet by 26 feet. That little ship spent 67 days on the stormy North Atlantic filled beyond capacity with 120 passengers in 1620. If ever there is an illustration that size doesn’t mean quality, it’s the Mayflower.

How Much Faith Is Needed

* To Forgive Again ~ Luke 17:1-4

• 1 stumbling in sin inevitable
• 2 but intentionally tripping someone else up in their faith is much worse
• 3 “watch yourselves” in how you interact with OTHERS, not just your own sin
• 4 let’s be honest – we don’t always get things right the first time; forgive and forgive and forgive again for YOUR sake, not for other’s sake

* To Live In Faith ~ Luke 17:5-6

• 5 apostles are dismayed; they SEE the cost of faith, and they’re concerned that they don’t have **enough** faith
• 6 Jesus’ reply isn’t about the AMOUNT of faith – it’s allowing the PRESENCE of faith to make the difference

* To Humbly Serve ~ Luke 17:7-10

• 7/8 the point of service is to SERVE, not RECEIVE
• 9 recognition of service is nice, but not required; we’re not serving the Lord for tips
• 10 In many places in the Gospels, Jesus teaches His followers to stop holding on to STATUS, and give up trying to jockey for position

Think about it: can we **earn** God’s love? Can we do enough good things to take the place of God’s LIMITLESS grace? Of course not. We’re ADOPTED into God’s Kingdom – we are daughters and sons – but we still must remember that, like anyone in a family, we have CHORES TO DO. And God has gifted us enough faith to get started.

Learning From Luke: The Great Divide

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Luke 16:19-31

You can’t help but notice how fractious society has become. People seem opposed to one another over all kinds of issues…

How Are We Divided Today? Same As Always…

* Divided In Life ~ Luke 16:19-22

• 19 context: Jesus teaching here is almost certainly the same day that He taught about the dishonest manager (that we studied last week); this parable addressed to the Pharisees
• 20/21 the characters: a rich man, and a poor man; since Jesus was addressing the Pharisees, who greatly valued riches, the rich man in this parable is a stand-in for all who would pursue riches rather than righteousness; the poor man is the opposite
• 22 Two truths to catch: 1) the PERSON still exists after the body has died; 2) the spirits of those belonging to God immediately pass into a conscious state of blessed comfort (next to Abraham)

* Divided In Death ~ Luke 16:23-26

• 23 “hell”: Sheol/Hades – the realm of the dead. Prominent idea that all who die, leave our realm of Earth, and enter into the state of Death. Both Jews and Greeks understood the realm of the dead to be divided between a good place (Abraham’s side / Elysium) and a bad place (Gehenna / Tartarus); notice this truth as well: the spirits of the UNRIGHTEOUS immediately pass into a conscious state of discomfort
• 24 interesting fact: communication is possible between Abraham’s side and Gehenna
• 25 Abraham replies that a person’s eternal state is dependent upon how they use what they’ve been given (this is a callback to Jesus’ comment in verse 9 about using worldly wealthy for heavenly purposes)
• 26 the state in which you die is the state in which you stay; no salvation out of purgatory

* Divided By Truth ~ Luke 16:27-31

• 27/28 once the rich man realizes HE is stuck, he asks for Lazarus, the poor man, to be sent to speak truth to his brothers (he still wants to call the shots and order poor people about!)
• 29 the Truth is Already Given – just have to accept it
• 30 and the rich man disagrees; HIS brothers need something SPECIAL to get through to them
• 31 do we realize that Jesus is kind of teasing the Pharisees here? The Law, the Prophets, and the Writings (the OT) all speak about how God will send His Messiah, His Prophet, His Anointed One – and Jesus even gives away the end of the plot here! “Rises from the dead”

What will it take for the world TODAY to listen to the truth that Jesus is the only way to CROSS the Great Divide?

Learning From Luke: Matters Of Money And Trust

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Luke 16:1-13

It’s been said that Jesus’ most common teaching was about money, because 11 of His 39 parables mention it. But is that really the whole picture?

What Matters to the Messiah?

* The Matter of Character ~ Luke 16:1-4

• 1/4 This parable makes the most sense (to me) when you figure out who is represented in the lesson: GOD is the rich man in control; religious leaders of the Jews are the dishonest managers
• Lesson #1: WE WILL BE CALLED TO GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF HOW WE USE OUR LIVES

* The Matter of Management ~ Luke 16:5-7

• 5/7 Notice how the manager lessens the debts owed to the master: he’s representing himself as using Master’s authority, when he’s actually acting in his own self-interest.
• Remember parable of talents? Stewards we’re expected to make investments on behalf of Master; it’s possible that decreasing the debtor’s amounts could have gotten the Master paid faster, or increased loyalty toward the Master as well as the steward; the text doesn’t say.
• Lesson #2: EVEN WHEN YOU’RE SERVING YOUR OWN ENDS, YOU’RE ALWAYS REPRESENTING THE MASTER

* The Matter of Influence ~ Luke 16:8-10

• 8/10 What it DOES say is the Master recognized the shrewd managers actions. He made a choice that could have benefited the Master as well as himself. Jesus says to use worldly advantages for heavenly purposes. He then warns that it cuts both ways; being trustworthy with whatever resources you have is better, both short and long term.
• Lesson #3: INFLUENCE ALWAYS HAS ETERNAL ECHOS – WHICH SIDE DO YOU SHOW?

* Christ’s Questions for Today ~ Luke 16:11-13

• 11 Will you live so that people trust you with true value?
• 12 Will you live so that you will be able to trust people?
• 13 Ask yourself – Who is your **actual** Master?

Learning from Luke: The Lay of the Land

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Luke 15:1-10

“Lay of the Land” possible that the term originated because scouts were sent ahead to get the topology of a piece of land before settlers moved in. Refers to determining how an unknown area can be accessed.

Jesus gave “the lay of the land” of the Kingdom to his hearers, and they were unprepared for His report. Are we?

As We Look At God’s Kingdom, Ask:

* Who Does Jesus Attract? ~ Luke 15:1-2

• v1 Jesus draws sinners
• v2 this makes religious people uncomfortable

* What Does Jesus Address? ~ Luke 15:3-7

• v3/4 isn’t it normal to look for what is lost?
• v5/6 isn’t it normal to rejoice when you find the lost?
• v7 Heaven is like that; Heaven responds the way we would.

* What Does Jesus Affirm? ~ Luke 15:8-10

• v8 high value = careful effort to regain
• v9 once found, community invited to rejoice
• v10 in the same way: do our values match God’s

The difference is in what is valuable enough, when lost, to find. We like what we’re already comfortable with; we “drift” from our initial decision to follow Jesus to following what we think Jesus would like. Part of our challenge as citizens of God’s Kingdom is to always be “recalculating”, to reorient ourselves on the values and the Person of Christ.

Learning from Luke: The Bottom Line

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Luke 14:25-33

Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” speech; one of the most famous “what should I do” moments in all of English lit. How did Hamlet work through the choice to live or die? He compares one state (living with pain) to another state (dying with unknowns).

Long before Shakespeare, Jesus challenged people to make a similar choice; to discover their Bottom Line.

To Find What Is Most Important To You,

* Compare with the Cross ~ Luke 14:25-27

• v25 notice the large crowds: He points to the Kingdom of God
• v26 Jesus’ example: Kingdom of God first, THEN family
• v27 even more extreme: Kingdom of God, THEN life

* Consider the Cost ~ Luke 14:28-33

• v28/30 count the cost TO COMPLETION (what are your resources?)
• v31/32 count the cost FOR VICTORY (what is your strategy?)
• v33 count the cost FOR ETERNAL LIFE (what do you
  value most?)

What could you possibly have in this life that is better than Jesus? Let go of your old life so you can receive New Life in Christ!