Blessings and Woes

Luke 6:17-6:26

How many of you, in the morning while having breakfast, getting dressed, or otherwise getting ready for your day, turn on the TV and watch CNN, or the Today Show, or some similar informational show? At our house we don’t do this; in fact, we have largely gotten out of the habit of watching “live” TV altogether, except for some kiddie shows Hannah watches. With four kids, our mornings, like many of yours, are hectic, busy, and noisy.

But when I travel for business reasons, it is a different story. I am alone. Once I get up in the morning it is quiet. It is too quiet. And I admit it, it is lonely. I miss my wife and my children. So when I travel, even before I take a shower, I turn on the TV to one of these programs, as much to make it less quiet as it is to actually learn what is going on in the world.

If you have watched these types of programs, many of them do not just give news, but equally, or even more so, have a great variety of segments that could be classified generally as “how to live a better life.” Make better food, make better career decisions, get better gadgets, have a better love life… and a million more topics like this.

Lord of the Sabbath

Luke 6:1-6:16
We have been going through the book of Luke, chapter by chapter, line by line, and now we come to Chapter 6. In Chapter 5 last week, we saw the beginnings of tension between Jesus and the priests and teachers of the Law. We heard the story of how a paralytic was unable to get past the crowd to see Jesus, so his friends cut a hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was teaching and lowered him in, Before healing this man, Jesus told him “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” That didn’t go over too well – they thought, “Only God can forgive sins!”

One thing I didn’t go into about this last week is the “why” this is true. Clearly, if I sin against someone here, I can go to that person, ask for forgiveness, and that person, if they so choose, can forgive me. What is the difference here? The difference is that Jesus is implying that all of the paralytic’s sins are being forgiven.

What is a Disciple?

Luke 5:1-5:39

Last week we had a glimpse, through Luke 4, of the life of Jesus after his fasting and temptation experience in the desert. He was now going from town to town, teaching with astounding wisdom and authority, and miraculously healing people. He was becoming more and more well known, and whenever news spread that Jesus was back in town, the crowds left what they were doing to find Him and listen and watch.

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around Him and listening to the word of God, He saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then He sat down and taught the people from the boat. – Luke 5:1-3

Experiencing Rejection

Luke 4:14-4:44
Last week we looked at Jesus’ temptation in the desert. Recall that Jesus spent 40 days without food and then was tempted by Satan in three ways. First, He was tempted to use His power as God to turn the stones into bread and satisfy His intense hunger. Second, He was tempted to worship Satan in exchange for having total power over all the kingdoms of the world, to do with as He pleased, even to do things for their good. And third, He was tempted to throw Himself down from a high place at the Temple so that His angels would protect Him. Each of these temptations was ultimately about having Jesus do what He would want rather than what God the Father would want. But Jesus, filled with the Spirit, rejected these temptations and stayed true to His Father. Let’s pick up the account with Luke 4:14.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised Him. He went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, as was His custom. And He stood up to read. – Luke 4:14-16