Irmela

5. The rich man seems like a wise agribusinessman. Where does Jesus fault him? What was the man's error? A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. The man did not give God honor for blessing his land to yield such an abundant crop, as it did. Nor did the man think of sharing with the poor in his community. It was all self. He focused on goods and not on God. On material wealth and security, not giving God a thought. (Eat, drink and be merry) Eternity did not enter his picture.

4. Is it more likely for a poor man or a rich man to be greedy? Why did you choose the answer you did? The answer provided by "hanks" is scary. It really makes the warning of Jesus make sense: WATCH OUT! BE ON YOUR GUARD AGAINST ALL KINDS OF GREED; A MAN'S LIFE DOES NOT CONSIST IN THE ABUNDANCE OF HIS POSSESSIONS. I was privileged to know a very humble, God-fearing, wealthy family. If you did not know their status in life and met them anywhere you would never know that there was any difference between them and any others (financially). They continued to live a normal modest lifestyle, caring for those in need (not in a pushy way). Giving God honor always. Where we worked with the poor we noticed that they do not store much worth on material goods. (If they had something, fine, if not, so what). Whatever they were given, they were happy with for then. If it had been taken by someone else the following week, it did not matter. Also it was easily exchanged for food. I guess the difference is being poor and staying poor ; being poor and working yourself up to a new level and no longer being poor. Your status in life changes. Then it is easier to hold onto what you worked for and easier to hoard instead of share.

3. Does concern for justice in financial matters always involve greed? (12:13) How can you tell if it does or not? No, I don't think so. I guess one would need to know the full story and judge accordingly. When the person is prepared to give up the financial gain rather than fight for it, that would certainly reflect that no greed is involved.

2. How would you define greed? What other areas of life besides material wealth can greed affect? Greed can take all sorts of forms. Anything desired in access of what is really needed. {In the passage, covetingis described to be the desire for something that is not yours or to which you do not have a right to.} After reading this passage in the Bible several times I think it is much more than just wanting more possessions. (Clinging to them). Greed can be desirous of getting attention immediately and the way you want it, not even in the normal way. This man, who wanted the inheritance split up should have used the legal authorities of his neighborhood or community. Instead his motive pushed him away from the norm and he greedily hoped that Jesus would give a quick-fix answer in his favour. Greed can be in wanting more "me-time". Not wanting to share your alone time with someone in need. Otherway round also, greed can be wanting excessive time with another person, if it is convenient or not.

1. Count the number of times you find the personal pronouns "I," "me," "my" in verses 13-21. What is the significance of this? It shows that it all revolves around "self", the big "I". The man who wanted the inheritance divided was obviously distressed and wanted his desire seen to urgently, that he did not think things through properly and just interrupted Jesus with what He was doing. In the parable that Jesus used, He used the pronouns "I, me, my" ten times to show how the desire of this man (his greed) revolved around himself. It was important because it brought home the fact that with greed we are consumed with ourselves and do not think clearly ahead of us.

5. It is not too difficult when a person is called before a persecutor or court of law to determine if that person has acknowledged or denied Christ. How much, if any, does Jesus' teaching apply to how we identify, or fail to identify ourselves as Christians, to those who come to know us? To whom are we obligated to identify our faith as Christians? Our lives should by rights portray Christ. It is no longer I that liveth, but Christ that liveth in me. (Gal 2:20). I guess from this the people we deal with daily should be able to identify that we are different in our speech, in our mannerism, in the way we handle adverse situations, in just 'everything'. Not only the ones who know us well but also those who briefly come into contact with us. Our 'being' ought to catch their attention. Then too Jesus says if you acknowledge Me before men, i.e., if you agree that you are My follower, that You are Mine, that You serve Me ... regardless of the outcome, even be it death, ... then I will acknowledge you (as Mine) before the angels of God. ... We are not to suddenly deny knowing Him, just to stear clear of persecution or death. (He promises to be with us, even when we go through that experience).

4. How do thoughts of sparrows and hair counts assure Jesus' disciples? (12:6-7) Sparrows are very small birds and the text indicates that even the seemingly insignificant is important to God. He does not forget them. Then something closer to home, even the very hairs of our head are numbered. Even the minutest detail of our lives are important to God. So if the insignificant and seemingly unimportant details are noticed by God then we can rest assured that the person as a whole is also important to God.

3. How do you know that it is God, rather than Satan, spoken of in 12:5-6, who can both kill men and throw them into hell? God alone has the authority(power, ability) to throw a person into hell. Satan does not have that authority. It is also only God's grace and mercy that keeps us out of hell. Satan's end will be the fires of hell.

2. In the light of speaking and thinking positively, how should we evaluate Jesus' use of fear to motivate his disciples? How should this influence our own motivational methods? The worst the enemies can do is kill the body. They can do no more than that. (If we serve the Lord then to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord). We should sooner fear going against God for He has the Power to throw into hell. By being God-fearing we are more likely going to live right and shun sin, than openly walk into sin. As we grow closer and closer to our loving God, we will not want to disappoint Him by our wrong actions. It will be our desire to live right and have His approval rather than live in sin and gain His disappointment.

1. Jesus gives four arguments for remaining faithful to him in times of persecution in 12:4-12. What are these four arguments? (1) The ones who can kill the body, can do nothing more than that. (v4) So we do not need to fear our persecutors. It is God that we need to fear for He has the power to throw into hell. If we remain faithful to Him we will not need to fear being thrown into hell. (v5) (2) God, who takes care of everything, even the birds, who are not of much monetary worth, promises that He takes care of us too. (v6-7) How much more will He watch over us, in times of persecution. (3) If we remain faithful to God, even in times of persecution, the Son of Man will acknowledge us also before the angels of God. (v 8&9) We will not be disowned by Him, but He will claim us for His own. (4) If perchance we are brought before authorities (in times of persecution, be it to be set free or imprisoned or martyred) the Holy Spirit will give us the right words to speak. (v11&12) Far better to remain faithful. We have nothing to lose and all to gain. Thank You amazing Father for Your faithfulness.

4. How can we both live humbly in our churches and still foster high standards of behavior for ourselves and one another? If our standards are Christ's standards, that means humbleness is one of the marked characteristics. Being humble is a high standard of behavior. Pride is not a good quality to have. We truly need that taken out of or uprooted from, our lives. If this is a struggle we are given advice how this can be accomplished. JAMES 5:16 says the following : Confess to one another therefore your faults - your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins; and pray also for one another, that you may be healed and restored - to a spiritual tone of mind and heart. The earnest, (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available - dynamic in its working. This advice is not only for pride but for whatever we are struggling with. In this way we can have a high standard of behavior and not fall morally into corruption.

3. What is necessary for a Christian to do to escape the inaccurate "public" image of himself that he may have so carefully constructed for others (and perhaps himself) to see and believe? What is the antidote to hypocrisy? Become real and transparent. If the public image was one that is really worldly, i. e. accepting language that is inappropriate for a Christian and other inappropriate behavior, then make this right. Go to the people concerned, who know you like that. Apologize for your inappropriate behavior. Start afresh and be and live who you really are. The antidote to hypocrisy is the willingness to make right, to confess our sins quickly and openly. To live what we believe and when we have done wrong, confess it (make it right) so we remain consistent. 1John 1:9 gives us much hope. If we freely admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises] and will forgive our sins (dismiss our lawlessness) and continuously cleanse us from all unrighteousness - everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought and action.

2. What kinds of hypocrisy have you personally had to struggle with the most? Unfortunately at times much the same (see answer of first Q) It is a continuous being before the Lord and asking Him to cleanse and make whole. I am afraid I battle with accepting strange weird music and yet sit through it and nod my head saying, yeah not that bad, meanwhile back in the ranch i cannot handle it at all. Listening to certain ministers also make my hair stand on edge. (Especially after seeing their appearance) That too is judgemental and hypocritical. I kneel before my God and ask for change of attitude and help to accept and let Him do the changing etc.

1. The scribes and Pharisees were caught in a rigid system of legalism to justify themselves before God. In what ways do our Christian religious cultures foster the same kind of self-justification and hypocrisy? Pointing a finger at the Christian Religious Cultures developed in our time or the Culture that is portrayed at this time is pretty much pointing a finger at oneself. There seem to be opposing cultures. Both extremes. One set accepting anything and everything from strange music, to weird dress code, to what is allowed to be done and what is not allowed to be done. (accepting warts and all) Unfortunately there is not much difference between this and the world. And I do believe that there must be a difference. The other set again, is the other extreme. Very prim and proper. There is unfortunately, often a hypocritical stare at those who cannot (or do not) follow the dress code. The unfortunates are very often the genuine ones. Here too you find a rigid set of rules that are kept for Sundays and don't apply the rest of the week. The ones who fail to keep these rules rigidly are often the genuine ones. They are found to be the same Sunday to Sunday. You can meet them on the street at anytime and they will reflect the same joy at seeing you as they do at church. (sometimes amid painful circumstances). This would be outer appearance does not always reflect inner holiness. Then comes so often, as Dr Wilson referred to, those who seem to have so much knowledge, who bring doubt into simple minds and you have a falling away of those who cannot explain their understanding of their simple faith. So as in Jesus' day, you still get the hypocritical Pharisees walking about.

7. In what ways do you see Pharisaical attitudes in yourself? What are you doing to counter them? When someone gives a spiritual teaching and that person is in any way overjeweled or "painted" or dressed unseemly, I tend to block out the teaching. With God's help I try to look beyond the outer and 'see' the heart. I find I have become very unobservant as to what a person looks like. Yeah!! What "hanks" quoted from Psalm 139:23&24 is a good request to make of God so I can stop that behavior in my life and any other aspect that I may not have noticed. Truly God, search me, so that I will not continue in any unseemly conduct.

6. Did Jesus go out of his way to insult the Pharisees with 11:44? What purpose did his comment serve, if any? I don't believe Jesus would have purposely insulted them. I do believe He would have been honest and very seriously told them the truth so that they could repent and amend their lifestyle. Not only did théy hear about it but also the people who they were trying to influence. The (common) people were being defiled by their teachings and practices and were unaware of it. Now the people were told the truth and did not need to continue blindly following them.

5. What is wrong with seeking to be seen and approved of by others? (11:43) What in us might tempt us to seek acclaim? If we seek to be seen and approved by others, then we have received our reward already. ( Much rather to have our reward given by God.) Self-aggrandizement or in plain English, arrogance, conceit or pride tempts us to seek acclaim. Be it because we feel we are important or because of what we achieved or accomplished.

4. Did Jesus fault the Pharisees on their scrupulous tithing or compliment them? Where did he find fault with them? (11:42) In one way He did fault them but in another way He complimented them. It was in the way they did it. They wanted all and sundry to know that that is how they tithed. He wanted them to carry on tithing but not with all pomp and pride in the fact that that is what they did. Do it, but low key. Check out the motive behind it. What He did find fault with was their attitude to and their handling of the poor. They neglected justice, i.e., fair treatment of the poor and the downtrodden of society. They neglected to reflect 'love of God'. If and when they truly love God they would also treat people (poor or rich) with mercy. Humbleness would be part of their character too. (Haughtiness or pride is not of God)

3. How could giving food to the poor bring about spiritual cleansing, as implied by 11:41? Greed and selfishness can so easily become or be part and parcel of a person. An antidote for this greed (something to squash or do away with this greed) is to give to the poor or to help the poor, selflessly. In doing this you combat greed or selfishness and are so to say cleaning the inside or ridding your heart of the impurity. So thereby you have brought about spiritual cleansing of the heart.

2. What modern-day examples can you think of that illustrate cleansing the outside of the vessel but leaving the inside unwashed? (11:39-40) So often one hears of relief funds in disaster stricken areas having been mis managed. Or where parcels are made up for the needy. Some indeed get handed out. Big public show gets made of it. How good of the organization to do it. Looking further into it not half the parcels were handed to the poor but the greedy "already haves" have taken for themselves. So we have the poor and needy having been used as a means to get at the money or provision to satisfy their own greed. So outwardly it looks all good and great but inwardly it is full of greed (unwashed)

1. Why do you think Jesus and his disciples didn't follow the Pharisees' practice of ritual washing before meals? (11:38; see also Mark 7:14-23) The practice of ritual washing was beyond what the Law required. It was part of the Tradition of the Elders (an accepted interpretation of the Law) . This was what had been added onto the Law. The washing of the hands was not to get rid of germs on the hand but rather they believed it would prevent spiritual defilement to enter the body. Jesus knew that it was what was in the heart that defiled the body spiritually (wrong thoughts etc). Because the ritual washing was not a physical cleansing Jesus did not take part in it.

5. What is the relationship between our repentance from sin and God's grace? Why don't all repent and respond to his grace? Let's stay away from doctrinal answers we may have learned, and seek the answer to this question in Luke's Gospel. When we repent from our sin, God forgives us. This is not because we deserve it but because of God's grace. (works will not accomplish it). Not all repent because some spiritual eyes have been dulled. Only when the spiritual eyes are enlightened by His Word (by Christ's light) do we actually truly repent and run away from the snares of the sin satan would have us be ensnared by. So the important thing is to ask God to enlighten our spiritual eyes. Lord be merciful to me is my heart's cry.

4. How do we recover our spiritual discernment from years spent in sin or a cult or a rigid, legalistic church? This can only transpire when we break the bonds holding us and allow Christ to open our vision and letting us see things as they really are. (Use His Word as a filter and get out what is not of God). We would need to be truly set free from what man says and allow God to speak and reveal Himself instead. A good way of putting that is becoming Christ's disciples instead of man's disciples.

3. In what way does our spiritual enlightenment depend upon the health of our spiritual eyes? What sharpens our spiritual discernment? What dulls it? In the natural, that what we see depends on the health of our eyes. If our vision is hampered in any way we cannot see as those who have perfect vision. In the same way if our spiritual eyes are not healthy, we will not have good spiritual enlightenment. It will be dulled. We need to spend time in God's Word and spend time in prayer and worshiping God and draw close to Him, for our spiritual discernment to be sharpened. Neglecting study of God's Word and instead spending time with people that are negative and opposed to God will soon dull our spiritual discernment also.

2. What does the lamp in 11:33 represent? Why is the lamp not hid but put on a stand? Jesus is the lamp, who shines His light on all. The lamp is put on a stand so the darkness can vanish before the light.