Gospel Meditation

Luke 12:1–12

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Recite the Lord’s Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         Jesus warns His disciples of accusations the Pharisees are spreading among the crowds of people coming to hear Jesus teach and preach.

2.         Despite the efforts of the pharisees, nothing of what they attempt will remain hidden, thus go unpunished.

3.         So then, Jesus says that His disciples will spread His word far and wide.

4.         Yes, those who oppose the words of Jesus will cause fear, but He says that His disciple are not to be afraid. Afterall, Christians can only lose their lives; they will not be prevented from being in His presence. And these only fear God.

5.         Jesus’ followers, though many, are all of value––not one is forgotten––this is the encouragement Jesus gives to all who follow Him.

6.         Indeed, all who proclaim Jesus to the world, these will the Son of Man, Jesus Himself, declare as His own.

7.         On the other hand, and here is where fear is real,  that those who reject Jesus as Lord will be denied salvation.

8.         Now then, Jesus goes on to say that those who speak negatively about Himself will be forgiven, but those who speak against the Holy Spirit and His working, cannot be forgiven.

9.         Jesus then assures His followers who will suffer for His sake that they have nothing to fear as the Holy Spirit will be present to defend them.

Gospel Meditation

Luke 11:37–54

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Recite

the Lord’s Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and

yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage above and

the Bible passages listed under the title, “Scripture

Reading.”

1.    Pharisees, a religious party, not priests, and lawyers, also known as scribes, the professionals, these held enormous influence throughout Israel, and ruled over the synagogues.

2.    For a second time, a pharisee invites Jesus into his house for a meal. Jesus does not conform to the pharisee’s extra-biblical demands and so invites an attack on Himself.

3.    Jesus proceeds to mention three woes, or warnings, to the pharisee. The pharisees may be careful with their extreme rule keeping, but essentially, they miss the whole point of what is said in the Hebrew scripture.

4.    Following the three woes spoken to the pharisee, Jesus next turns to a one of the lawyers, or scribes, who must have also been at the meal. And Jesus issues three woes to this person as well.

5.    The pharisee and the lawyer lay upon the common person burdens that are difficult if not impossible to perform, while at the same time, do not observe such themselves.

6.    Jesus, out of His agape love for these religious persons, confronts them with their hypocrisy. Yet, their response is an ongoing effort to challenge and harass Jesus, “lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.” (Verse 54)

Luke 11:27–36

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Recite the Lord’s Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage above and the Bible passages listed under the title, “Scripture Reading.”

1.    Here are three separate statements by Jesus, and it is likely that He said these, and others, any number of times.

2.    The brief account titled here in the ESV “True blessedness,” comes following a nameless woman praises Jesus by alluding to the mother who bore Him, and this from a very feminine perspective.

3.    This is followed by an account when Jesus was ‘enjoying’ considerable and favorable attention. He relies upon His audience’s understanding of the Book of Jonah, especially about Jonah being inside a great fish for three days. Jonah is one of the Twelve Minor Prophets, and Jonah 4:1–10 is especially relevant.

4.    Jonah was sent to the Gentile city, Nineveh, which was reigned over by a woman titled “Queen of the South,” and who had travelled to Jerusalem to hear King Solomon. And the people of Nineveh repented upon hearing the words of Jonah.

5.    Jesus said the people of that city Nineveh, at the end time judgment, will fare far better than the current Jewish generation because “something greater than Jonah is here.”

6.    Now a parable about a lamp that is lit, it is not covered over but put where the light will shine.

7.    Jesus warns His followers that the light in them must shine out into the darkness.

Luke 11:14–26

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Recite the Lord’s Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage above and the Bible passages listed under the title, “Scripture Reading.”

1.           From ancient days there were exorcists who errantly thought they were casting demons out of people. Then along came Jesus who in actuality did cast out demons, and in our passage is the story of such a situation. His ministry was obvious, but Jesus’ opponents said it was by the power of the chief demon, Beelzebul, that He did this work.

2.           This charge must be made or those who were rejecting Jesus would have to admit Jesus’ authenticity and superiority.  

3.           Jesus, in defense, points out that if the Satan casts out demons, then Satan is divided against itself. Then Jesus indicates that the Jewish exorcists cast out demons by the power, or trickery, of the chief demon Beelzebul.

4.           Jesus then states that those who charge Him of being in league with Satan are against Him. He also charges that what their “sons” do is by the working of Beelzebul.

5.           With that, Jesus states that if it is by the finger or power of God that He casts out demons, and the “if” word means that He does cast out demons by the power of God, then the “kingdom of God” has come upon then, right there and then.

6.           Then a warning to the false exorcists, that their work merely results in a worse demonization of those who come to them.