Beginning the Journey to Jerusalem (see links to the right)
This week my blog focuses on a theme that is crucial
to BOTH the worldwide movement of Christianity and the Messiah’s ministry
to the marginalized. One marginalized
group Jesus cared for was poor disciples. They would give their all in serving Jesus, but would Jesus meet their physical needs?
Providing for the
Physical Needs of Disciples/Apostles
Follow this path of touchstones in the text to see how
Jesus provides for the needs of those who carry his message into the world. You're looking for references to food, clothing, possessions, money, etc. Here is a general set of application questions for the journey:
- What difference does this make for how you think of God's provision in your life?
- Do you trust that God will meet your needs?
- Do you bring your needs to him in prayer? Do you pray for others' needs?
- How might God use you to meet another disciple's practical needs? In your church? In another part of the world?
ONE - Jesus sends out the seventy and they return
with joy
10:4 “Carry no purse…” 10:7 “Remain in the same house,
eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be
paid.”
TWO - Jesus tells the parable of the Good
Samaritan
10:25-37 “…when he saw him he was moved with pity. He
went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then
he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, took out two denarii (coins/money), gave
them to the innkeeper, and said, Take care of him and when I come back, I will
repay you whatever more you spend.” Question: Did the early Christians ever get
beaten up like this man? See 2 Corinthians 11:23-29.
For the movement to keep going, no doubt disciples had to fund "recovery
operations” just like the Good Samaritan did.
THREE - Jesus teaches his disciples how to ask God
to provide their food
11:3 “Give us each day our daily bread” (Your Bible may
have a note that says this could be translated as “Give us each day our bread
for tomorrow"). Question: In 11:5-13, how does Jesus follow up this teaching on prayer? By talking about God’s
provision in terms of food: the lending of loaves of bread and parents giving
children the food they ask for.
FOUR - Jesus denounces the Pharisees for their neglect of justice
11:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and
rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is
these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others.”
FIVE - Jesus tells the parable of the Rich Fool
Luke 12:13-21 “Take care! Be on your guard against all
kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of
possessions.” Question: If God provides
food for his people, do you think he may want to use the grain in those barns
to answer the disciples’ prayers for food?
Look up Acts 2:43-47 and compare this parable to the way that the early church disciples would sell their
possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all as any had need!
SIX - Jesus teaches his disciples not to worry
about food & clothing
12:22-34 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your
life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is
more than food and the body more than clothing….And do not keep striving for
what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying.”
SEVEN - Jesus teaches about growth in the kingdom of
God from small beginnings
13:20-21 The kingdom of God is “like yeast that a woman
took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was
leavened.” There it is again...the expansion of food.
Samaria & Samaritans
- 9:51-56. Samaria is territory on the road to Jerusalem. Notice that Jesus doesn’t condemn them when they do not receive him. Why not?
- 10:25-37. Surprisingly, the marginalized Samaritan is the model citizen in the story.
- Samaria is important territory in the expansion of the church beyond Jerusalem, as recorded in the Book of Acts
- In Acts 1:8 Jesus said “And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
- In Acts 8:4-25, Philip fulfills this commission.
Did you see the Holy Spirit sightings?
- 10:21 “Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit…”
- 12:12 “…for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.”
Key Verse - What does it mean to you? What might it mean to the powerful? What might it mean to the lowly?
Luke 10:21 - “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have
revealed them to infants.”
Blessings in Christ,
Kurt
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