good works — Luke 19:1-10 — November 26

The concept of ‘good works’ has been a thorny issue in the church.  On the one hand, you have long-standing precedent in the reformed faith for ‘good works’ being a negative concept, as in the writings of Paul on how one ‘gets right’ with God.  Paul speaks of those who have missed the righteousness that [...]

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blinded — Luke 18:31-43 — November 25

Jesus encountered a number of blind people as He traveled to Jerusalem. 
We have the blind man, sitting by the roadside in Jericho who, when he heard Jesus was passing by, immediately started shouting for Jesus’ mercy.  Although he couldn’t see Jesus, he nonetheless ’saw’ Him with the eyes of faith, and was healed that day, [...]

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mission impossible — Luke 18:15-30 — November 24

Jesus looked at the rich ruler and said, how hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!  Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God  (Luke 18:24-25).  This wasn’t good [...]

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some perspective — Luke 18:9-14 — November 22

Jesus tells us that we have a problem with perspective.  Whether it be our trying to take an offending speck out of someone else’s eye while we’re carrying a log in our own (Matthew 7:1-5), or our once regarding Jesus and others from a human point of view (2 Corinthians 5:16), we tend to see [...]

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don’t lose heart — Luke 18:1-8 — November 21

Recently, I experienced the end of a situation which I had been praying about for 35 years.  I had been asking God for something, and it ended up that I didn’t get what I wanted.  Over the years, however, there had been remarkable fruit to my praying, situations in which God partly answered the prayer [...]

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among you — Luke 17:20-27 — November 20

I love thunderstorms.  There’s this awesome “electricity” that comes with the sights, the sounds, even the smell of supercharged air.  Thunderstorms aren’t something you can easily ignore.  Even when they strike a glancing blow at your location, they illuminate everything, dominate conversation, and seep into even the most impregnable dwelling.  And there’s the rain: often [...]

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the unexpected — Luke 17:11-19 — November 19

Once again, this is a story of the unexpected. 
First, Jesus is walking the line between acceptable territory, Galilee, and unacceptable foreign land, Samaria.  As another gospel says simply, “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans”.  But not Jesus.  He deliberately violates these man-made boundaries, and must have been delighted when He was met by the ten [...]

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growing faith — Luke 17:1-10 — November 18

My study bible links together this passage under a generic heading:  “Some Sayings of Jesus”.  Yes, it appears as if this is Luke the writer, collecting a seemingly unrelated series of teachings given by Jesus to His disciples.  Perhaps so.  But in the middle of this section, we can find a key to pursuing all of [...]

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a shocking story — Luke 16:19-31 — November 17

It’s hard for us today to imagine how shocking this story would have been to Jesus’ first hearers.  It was assumed that rich people were blessed by God (and so they are, of course).  But the blessing was assumed to be a direct result of their being faithful to God.  This assumption wasn’t one that [...]

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the quest — Luke 15:1-2,11-32 — November 13

Jesus’ response to the grumbling continues. 
Apparently the religious people were upset that He was offering a radical welcome to “the lost”, those who certainly weren’t as eager as they to learn from and follow this Messiah.
And so, in this final of three parables, we see a pattern emerging in the stories, and in the heart [...]

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