On Line Bible Study - for the Week September 13-19, 2010

Lesson 457

Luke 9: ¹⁸Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?" ¹⁹They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life."

²⁰"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Peter answered, "The Christ of God."

To appreciate this profession of faith by Peter, you might want to review our previous lesson. Notice how Luke sets this up with Herod's wondering: Who is this about whom I hear such things? (Luke 9:9). That's the question Luke wants us to be asking. While the other synoptic writers (Mark and Matthew) both record Herod hearing about Jesus, only Luke has Herod ask the question regarding Jesus' identity at this point-blank range.

So, Herod inserts curiosity about Jesus into the picture.
Peter will remove any doubt as to Jesus' identity.

Here we have another interesting shift between Luke and the other two synoptic gospels, for in both Mark (8:32f) and Matthew (16:22f), we are told that Peter rejects Jesus' definition of 'messiah' and discipleship, especially as it relates to the path Jesus is going to take. Luke, on the other hand, makes no reference to Peter's intransigence.

When we put the gospels together, we might find ourselves asking: Which is more important, to say who Jesus is, or to imitate what Jesus does? Jesus describes the project, in language that is simple and straight forward.

²³Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ²⁴For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

This is who he is - the suffering servant. And then he asks the question:

²⁵What good is it to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit your very self?

From the perspective of the Gospels, this is what's on the line - not a belief system, but life itself. Life - Life in abundance! Jesus lived passionately. If we follow him, so will we.

On Line Bible Study - For the Week September 6-12, 2010

Lesson 456
Luke 9:9 Who, then, is this I hear such things about?
Luke 9:13 You give them something to eat.

You can read Luke 9 in its entirety here. For our purposes I want us to focus on these two lines - the first spoken by Herod as Jesus' reputation spreads up the chain of command to the halls of the palace; the second spoken by Jesus to his disciples when faced with a hungry crowd. Let's take verse 9 first.

Jesus disciples have returned from a successful mission trip. Jesus' reputation seems to be intimately connected to what his disciples had done. They had preached the gospel and healed many people. Clearly they had done this in the name of Jesus. Herod is left wondering.

I am always uncomfortable when people attribute to God what is clearly the result of their own faith and labor. I am just as uncomfortable when people claim for themselves all the credit, forgetting that talent comes from a Source beyond ourselves. Herod is getting information about this new movement, and he wants more.

How is Jesus living out the good news in your life? What is Jesus' reputation based on your faith and service?

But then we hit verse 13. How is it that this group of disciples who have just returned from their fruitful trip in which people were healed and came to faith - how is it they can't see their way to suspect that, in the presence of Jesus, anything is possible? Surrounded by a hungry crowd, they wonder what they should do.

They instruct Jesus to send the crowd away. Isn't that often the case - us instructing Jesus what to do. How many of our prayers are instructions designed to let God in on what needs to be done and how to do it? Something has happened between their fruitful mission trip and this moment of being stymied by human need.

Where is the faith that enabled healing to come through them? Where is the faith that inspired them to proclaim the name of Jesus and watch people turn to him? How is it that now, faced with the hungry crowd, they are ready with the non-solution, which is: "Send them away."

Faith can be fleeting, can't it! And so can faithfulness. We can get it so right one moment, and completely miss the point the next. Jesus is looking for consistency here. When the disciples tell him to send the crowds away to fend for themselves, Jesus says 'nothing doing'. "You feed them."

Is it possible to fulfill this command? Or is this one of those spiritual "pie-in-the-sky" situations where we all agree with the intent, but also agree the implementation is simply impossible! Is this more impossible an expectation than what the disciples had just returned from?

It makes me wonder if they were more dependent upon Jesus when he wasn't present than when he was standing right next to them. It makes me wonder if sometimes greater faith (and faithfulness) might be found among the "unbelievers" than professed followers.

To Herod's question - Who is this? This is the One who makes it possible for us to experience the impossible. This is the Source of our faith. This is Bread for our souls. This is Jesus, the Christ ... but that takes us to the next lesson.

On Line Bible Study - For the Week August 30-September 5, 2010

Lesson 455

Luke 9:¹When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, ²and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. ³He told them: "Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. ⁴Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. ⁵If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them." ⁶So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.

Two critical things are going to happen in this chapter - Peter will confess his faith in Christ, and Jesus will be transfigured. These two events are preceded by Jesus sending the twelve on their first mission.

The disciples have power and authority as a gift from Jesus. What they do - and what we do - for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is done from a power derived from Jesus. The disciples' mission is always spinning around Jesus, the source of their strength and identity.

Traveling light enables us to travel honestly.

I recently watched a movie about the conflict between Sparta and Persia. In the film, Xerxes is presented as a man-god, and his body is laced with silver and gold. He is more girded than dressed. In the film, however, the originality and splendor of his outfit stands in stark contrast to his actual power over the Spartans. We can fool ourselves - and others - with our fashion statement. What matters is our knowledge of the source of our strength.

St. Paul will say in Galatians 2:20 It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me... Traveling light can be a safeguard against pride and arrogance. (I am also reminded of Psalm 33:17 The horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save.) It is explicit - Jesus is the source of salvation's power.

The church does well to remember this simple fact. It's not the size of our sanctuaries or the complexity of our programs or the smartly-invested endowments that give evidence to our faithfulness; it is Jesus, always and ever at the center of our motives and our actions. Another way to think of it: Healing happens through us, not because of us.