hanks

2. Martha was a spiritual woman. How was she seeking to honour Jesus? Mary was a spiritual woman. How was she seeking to honour Jesus? Both Martha and Mary loved Jesus and acknowledged Him as Lord. Martha was seeking to honour Him by having invited and welcomed Jesus to her home. Also, by trying to be the perfect hostess for THE most important guest and His disciples. I’m sure there must have been at least a few of the disciples, if not all of them, present with Jesus. So much to do! Mary was seeking to honour Jesus by listening to His will; by sitting at His feet and listening to His Words of wisdom. What a great privilege! Not to do so would have been impolite. Therefore, Mary did exactly the right thing and showed the utmost respect and courtesy to her guest.

1. This is just a short glimpse, a few verses, a couple of minutes in Jesus' entire lifetime. Why was it so important that it was preserved for you and me to read? I think Jesus has an important lesson for us. Jesus is telling us to watch out that we are not too busy with other things. That is, there is no time to think about God, no time to do God’s work, no time to pray, no time to read His Word. We may find ourselves anxious and troubled, like Martha was, about many things, about temporal things, that there is no room for spiritual matters, for things that really matter. In other words, we have to get our priorities right in this life. Our text contrasts Martha and Mary, and we notice Mary is a picture of a Christian who sits at the feet of Jesus and listens to His Words. Our top priority should be to put God first in our life. If not then other things can quickly become more important to us. “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt 6:33). If we put God's interests first in our life, He will guarantee our future needs.

7. How are we to emulate the Good Samaritan by "doing likewise"? What is God speaking to you from this passage? The ultimate Neighbour was Jesus, whose compassion contrasted with the Jewish religious leaders who had no compassion on those who would die in their sin. He has blessed me abundantly and as a Christian I should emulate Him by loving my neighbour, having mercy, and showing compassion as needed. God has brought to my attention the self-centred selfish life I live, and that I need to start putting other people’s needs before my own. In this passage He has taught me that I should be a neighbour to anyone I meet who has a need that I can satisfy.

6. What does the parable of the Good Samaritan illustrate? What does it teach us about love? About mercy? About selfishness? It answers the question, “What must I do to inherit everlasting life?” Proving that being a neighbour, and doing this to perfection, and besides, loving God with a love that is also perfect, would indeed result in eternal life. But of course, such perfection is impossible. It is impossible for us, by our own action, to fulfil the demands of God's law: “a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ’ (Gal 2:16). Jesus Christ by the substitutionary sacrifice of Himself and by His life of perfect obedience, has done for us what we ourselves would never have been able to do. He has declared us not guilty and has offered us freedom from sin and power to do His will, and live the Christian life with the help of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:1-3). For salvation we must, by God’s grace and the power of His Spirit, place our trust in Christ (John 3:16, John 3:36). And now, out of gratitude for the salvation which, because of Christ's merits, we have received as a free gift, we must now, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit, live a life to the glory of God. This means that even though while on earth we cannot love God and the neighbour perfectly, yet in principle we will begin to live in accordance with His law. Empowered by the Holy Spirit we will, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'" We will truly love God and our neighbour, have mercy and show compassion to our neighbour. Even love our neighbour as ourselves.

5. Extra Credit: Jesus wasn't reciting an historical incident; He was creating a hypothetical incident for teaching purposes. Why do you think that the hero of the story was a Samaritan? What was Jesus' point by including the Samaritan? How do you think the lawyer felt about it? The Samaritan was the hero of the story because he was the only one who had compassion on the injured man. Instead of passing by as the priest and Levite, he saw the man not as an enemy, and shows mercy by taking a risk in case this was a trap. He used his time, his money, and even pledging to pay all further expenses if needed. I think Jesus included a Samaritan to show the contrast and difference between a hated enemy of the Jews and the two Jewish religious men. For Jesus to introduce the Samaritan as the caring person, after a priest and a Levite had neglected mercy, must have been intended as an especially biting commentary on what passed for "mercy" among the Jewish scholars. For us the point is that Jesus has found us helpless and has rescued us at great personal cost in the showing of mercy. The lawyer must have been repulsed and shocked by Jesus’ choice of a Samaritan as the third passer-by. He and the other Jewish listeners must have expected the next person to be a Pharisee or even a lawyer/scribe. The purpose is to crush the lawyer’s self-righteousness and pride.

4. How did the lawyer justify his actions? How do you think the priest and Levite in this story justified their actions? After Jesus’ reply “Do this and you will live”, the lawyer who was an educated man realized that he could not possibly keep that law, and he did not want to admit his own lack of love for both God and his neighbour. He knew that he could not love everyone as himself, so he tries to justify himself by limiting the law’s command. This he does by changing and managing who his neighbour is. There would always be people in his life that he could not love. So, he asks the question “who is my neighbour”. This is an evasive tactic on his part. He knows the word “neighbour” in the Greek means “someone who is near,” and in the Hebrew it means “someone that you have an association with.” This interprets the word in a limited sense, referring to a fellow Jew and would have excluded Samaritans, Romans, and other foreigners. Both the priest and Levite are full of excuses. Some of them being: the Priest had been serving God all week at the temple and was anxious to get home; avoiding defilement from touching a corpse or a Gentile; maybe the bandits are still active in the vicinity and using the victim as bait; it is a very busy road somebody will soon come along and help the man. In actual fact this man was a nuisance to avoid.

3. Have you ever heard a Christian try to justify a less-than-Christian attitude or action? Why do we constantly try to justify our actions? What motivates justifying ourselves? There is no person who could say with perfect truth, that they love God with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their strength, and with all their mind. And that they love their neighbour as themselves. But this is not all. They must do this all the time! This should teach us of our need for Christ’s righteousness. We must seek His grace so that the love of God and man may become ruling principles in our lives. Only in the cross can we see the grace that covers all our sin and defeat the constant tendency toward self-righteousness in our hearts. It is far easier to justify ourselves by comparing ourselves with one another than it is to recognize that we cannot measure up to the standards of a holy God. Because of our self-righteous attitude and false pride, we provide all sorts of excuses rather than admit we cannot do it on our own. We also don’t always face reality and prefer to not get involved. No one but Jesus ever loved God with all of His heart, mind, soul, and strength. No one but Jesus ever loved His neighbour as Himself.

2. How is it possible to be able to correctly recite the greatest commandments in the Bible (10:27-28), and still not have them "installed" in your life? This can happen when we are spiritually blinded by our own intellectual pride and self-righteousness. As often happens, the religious person will often ask questions that they already know the answers to. We see this here. One could probably ask this lawyer the same question in the middle of the night and he would correctly answer (Deut 6:5 and Lev 19:18). Jesus knew that people such as the Pharisees and this lawyer thought they did a superb job of keeping the law, and in keeping the law they would merit entrance into the kingdom of God. We also know that Jesus tried to get people to see that if they really understood the law, they would see how it exposes their sin and their need of forgiveness. Head knowledge when accompanied by a determined stubbornness of the heart is the most dangerous state for our soul to be in. Jesus said, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:17). To know these truths concerning humility and unselfishness and service is one thing, but one can know them and never practice them. The real value and blessedness lie in doing them!

1. If you were to select three themes that this passage discusses, what would they be? What is the chief theme? The first theme is that we are to show love and compassion for our neighbour, as depicted by the Samaritan. It is a love which describes a supernatural, self-less, sacrificial love that is only possible through the help of the Holy Spirit. We are to love God, and then to love our neighbour who is made in His image, as we love ourselves. The second theme is to show us who our neighbour is. Our neighbour is anyone we encounter in our daily activities and is regardless of race, religion, nationality, or culture, who we are able to help in their time of need. The third theme is to show us that it’s not enough to see a need. We must do something about it, and not move on with hardness of heart and be insensitive to that need. But, what we do is dependent upon what we see, and what we see is determined by who we are. Are we responding to the love of God that He has for us? Similar to the Samaritan, when we see a need, if possible, we are to give generously and freely, without expecting anything in return. The chief theme is to show us our need for a Saviour. The law demanded total devotion to God and to love one’s neighbour as oneself. Unless this is a constant life pattern we will not have eternal life. No way could we ever hope to do this continually. Maybe a one off now and then. On our own this all would be an impossible task. As believers, we are all sinners saved by grace and in dire need of a Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ. Eternal life is only for sinners who acknowledge their lost condition and who are saved by God's grace.

6. What are we disciples supposed to learn from this passage? State what are the main lessons for us? Many Old testament prophets and kings wanted to know and understand what is now available to us. Jesus told His disciples that they were living in a day of unprecedented privilege. So, they, that includes us as well, had the privilege of knowing the Messiah. God has revealed Himself to us through the person of Jesus Christ. This is one of the main lessons for us in this passage – the fact that we can truly know our Lord Jesus, and on top of this, have a relationship and fellowship with Him. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The other lesson is that we get to know the person of Jesus is through the Word of God. Jesus Himself taught that the Scriptures reveal who He is (Luke 24:27). We should realise that we are without excuse! We are in such a privileged position with the Bible available in virtually all the languages on earth. We have access to many excellent commentaries over hundreds of years, to many excellent sermons, and to speakers; all available in books, over the internet, or through the media in various forms. We have Jesus’ very Words spoken, yet we take Him for granted, not really listening to Him or obeying Him.

5. What do you think God looks for in a person He chooses to reveal Himself to? God chose us before the creation of the world, for no other reason than because it pleased Him to do this. We are all sinners and deserve eternal punishment from God, but in His great mercy He decided to save some. But, if the Father does not first start His work in our heart and life, we will never realise our terrible guilt and our need for a Saviour. Christ paid the penalty for our sin and earned our salvation when He died on the Cross, but we do not have the strength to come to Jesus by ourselves. Besides electing individuals, God speaks through the teaching of His precious Word to the hearts of individuals, and those who respond are the ones who come to Christ. Here one’s own will is involved. The two great truths of God’s sovereignty and man’s choice is placed side by side, showing that salvation has a divine side as well as a human side. Almost like a paradox.

4. Why do you think God doesn't allow just anyone to know Him intimately? Why does this kind of knowledge require deliberate revelation by the Spirit? There are only two types of people on the earth today. Those that are being saved for eternal life with Christ, and those that will perish and spend eternity in hell. To those that are being saved, the gospel is the power of God. They hear the message, they accept it by faith, and the miracle of regeneration takes place in their life. This kind of knowledge requires deliberate revelation by the Holy Spirit, were these wonderful truths are made known to them. For we read in 1 Cor 2:10 that the Holy Spirit is infinite in wisdom and understands all the truths of God and is able to impart them to us. Only the gospel leads to salvation, as it sets aside all our own efforts to save ourselves and presents Christ as the only way to God. In Joh 14:6 Jesus said: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”.

3. Why do you think God takes delight in revealing Himself to spiritual novices instead of sophisticated scholars? God delights in revealing Himself to spiritual novices because of their infant-like trust in Him which makes them receptive to His divine revelation. They willingly submit themselves to God and do not depend upon their own wisdom to have the truth revealed to them. This contrast with so called sophisticated scholars who so often think they are too wise, too knowing, and too clever to submit themselves to God. We see this even as far back as Isaiah who prophesied that the gospel would be offensive to human wisdom (Isa 29:14). Their pride often blinded them to the true worth of God's Word and His beloved Son. So, they see no need for Him – they may think that they can earn their own salvation – no need to humble themselves before God. So, we see God hides His divine truth from those who refuse and reject it, and instead reveals it to those who may not seem wise and learned but have trusting hearts.

2. There is a qualitative difference between joy that springs from the Holy Spirit, and normal human joy, as good as that is. How would you describe this difference? Compared to normal human joy, joy that springs from the Holy Spirit is completely independent of circumstances. Human joy is nearly synonymous with such words as happiness, pleasure, delight, gladness, merriment, and enjoyment, etc. A feeling of well-being, success, or good fortune. It is a self-indulgent pleasure that does not lead to happiness and fulfillment (Ecc 2:1–11). On the other hand, joy from the Holy Spirit, is a joy that can be felt regardless of how the person feels. We read examples of this in the Word. Jesus instructed His disciples to rejoice when they are persecuted, reviled, or slandered (Mt 5:11–12). James tells us to consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds (Jas 1:2). As a fruit of the Holy Spirit, joy is present, in all circumstances, in every Christian (Gal 5:22). This is because of our right relationship with God, and it is not something we can create by our own effort. It is a joy that wants to continually praise both our Heavenly Father and our Saviour Lord Jesus Christ! It is present in the believer’s life in direct proportion to our walk with the Lord.

1. What was it that prompted Jesus to be filled with joy in 10:21? Jesus was filled with joy as the Seventy returned and reported their victories. He had given them power and authority to heal, to cast out demons, and to preach the Word, and they were successful. They were not the intellectuals or the scholars, but they were faithful, devoted, and obedient to Him. Jesus looked upon His humble followers and rejoiced in the Spirit, thanking the Father for His matchless wisdom, and that their names are written in heaven. Our Lord was happy for all those whom the Father had given to Him, and for this initial success of the Seventy, which foretold the eventual downfall of Satan.

5. (10:20) Why should we rejoice that our names are written in heaven? What does that mean? Why are we often tempted to rejoice over much lesser things? We should rejoice because of the greatest miracle – the salvation of our previously lost soul. A sinner condemned to die, but by His grace our names are written in the book of life – we are citizens of heaven. This means that we will spend eternity with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!, and experience eternal joy. We are often tempted to rejoice over temporal things. That is because our minds are not focused on the reality of eternity and heaven. What can be more important and of greater value than the salvation of our souls? Definitely not all earthly honour, power, and/or wealth.

4. (10:19b) What does Jesus' declaration, "Nothing shall by any means hurt you," include? What does it mean here? Is it to be interpreted physically or spiritually, literally or figuratively? Jesus promises that we will ultimately be kept or guarded by His power. We know from Rom 8:38-39, that nothing in all creation can separate us from God's love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord, not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. We are all aware that believers through the ages have been harmed and even martyred, but Jesus promises that we will obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for us (1 Peter 1:3-5). So, this is to be interpreted spiritually. In our verse under discussion, it meant that the 70 would not come to any physical harm at all during this mission of theirs. Here, it is to be interpreted literally.

3. (10:19a) What does the "authority to trample on snakes and scorpions" entail? What does it lack? The authority Jesus has given the 70 against the forces of evil, over the kingdom of darkness, over all the power of Satan, might entail Jesus providing them with special powers or even Him intervening miraculously on their behalf. Protecting them and granting them immunity during their mission. What it lacks is testing Jesus by being careless or exposing them unnecessary to dangers or tempting the laws of nature.

2. (10:18) Why did the disciples' report of their power of demons prompt Jesus to recall the Fall of Satan from Heaven? The 70 came back from their mission excited about their success. I don’t think it’s a warning against their pride but more about saved souls; perhaps a mixture of both. Jesus shared their enthusiasm but He wanted them rather to remember a more important victory. More important than the success of casting out demons was the victory they had over Satan which resulted in more souls in heaven.

1. (10:17) If the demons were subject to the Seventy's command in Jesus' name, should they be subject to our command today? Why or why not? What did the Seventy have that we don't? What do we have that the Seventy didn't? Jesus’ coming to earth stirred up a great deal of demonic activity which subsided after His ascension. So, to show His dominion over demons, the 70 were given the power to cast out demons to show that they had come to the villages in Jesus’ name and by His authority. True Christians today are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and therefore cannot be possessed by demons, but this does not mean we can ignore Satan and his devices, as he has declared war against all who follow Jesus. Therefore, if given the power by Jesus, they should be subject to our command. The 70 were explicitly given this power. However, we have the power of the Word of God, complete as we have it today, which they did not have.

5. What is Jesus' chief message: judgment or salvation? What qualities do you think Jesus should look for in His "Press Secretary" or spokesperson? Jesus’ chief message is both salvation and judgment. To be a spokesperson for Jesus one would truly have to know Him, and reflect His attributes in our daily life. The only way one can know Jesus is by entering into a relationship, and the only way we can reflect some of His attributes is by obedience to Him. This means to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (10:27), and surrender to His plans for your life. To deny self, take up our cross, and follow Him (9:23). The Holy Spirit changes us forever, and Jesus comes alive in us, as we get to know Him personally. We can and must proclaim Jesus’ message calling a spade a spade, not only by our words but also by our life. The message of salvation means repentance and total trust in Jesus Christ as our Saviour. The message of judgment is the warning of the consequences of rejecting the gospel. Jesus made it clear that people will be judged according to the degree that they rejected. In other words, there will be degrees of punishment in hell. This reminds me of Heb 4:12: “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart”. God’s Word requires decisions. CH Spurgeon wrote: “while you reject Christ you are living on the borders of hell, and ere long you will be lost to all eternity”. This is not a message we often hear today. The alternative is to live for eternity with Him in heaven!

4. Why is it so terrifying and sobering to think that someone might reject Jesus because of the inconsistencies they see in our lives? Will our inconsistencies give them an excuse on the Day of Judgment? It is terrifying to think that our hypocrisy and our lifestyle could cause some people to reject Jesus. One of the greatest hurts we can hear if someone tells us that we are no different from the rest of the world; that as Christians we don’t standout or make a difference in our community. There can’t be any unloving acts in our life. Malice - evil thoughts grudges, revenge. Deceit - any form of dishonesty. Hypocrisy - insincerity, pretence, sham - pretending to be someone we is not. Envy – jealousy, resentment, spite. Evil speaking - backbiting, malicious gossip, false accusations. All of these sins are violations of the fundamental commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves. (1 Peter 2:1). If we truly belong to Jesus Christ we will exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), in greater measure as we grow in Christ-likeness. No Christian is perfect, but they will genuinely try to grow and mature spiritually in this life; and this is not the same as being a hypocrite. Those who reject Christ, for whatever reason, will have no excuse on the Day of Judgment. Each person is responsible for their own salvation.

3. Are people already under God's judgment, or only become so if they reject Jesus' message? Believers will be spending eternity in heaven and unbelievers will be spending eternity in hell. Jesus will ultimately judge all people – believers and unbelievers. Believers will be judged on the work they have done for Jesus during their ministry, to determine the size of their rewards. Unbelievers will be judged on the extent of their rejection of Jesus’ message to determine the severity of their punishment. How often have they heard the gospel and still rejected it, and still, they reject our Saviour.

2. Is it possible for disciples to be agents of salvation and healing, without at the same time being possible agents of judgment? Disciples are to preach the gospel and all those God elected/chosen will hear and respond in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Resulting in them being drawn out of the kingdom of darkness and bringing them into God’s kingdom of light, so that they can enjoy full fellowship with Jesus. Salvation is solely the work of God. We do not even have the strength to come to Jesus by ourselves. It is only when God begins to work in our hearts and life that we will realise that we have a need for a Saviour. We then have the choice of accepting or refusing Him, but those chosen by God will hear the gospel, respond positively, be saved, and spend eternity with Him. They would be healed from their sins. Only God can forgive us our sins, and only Jesus Christ can judge believers and unbelievers. Romans 14:10-12 says that we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and that each one of us will give an account to God. All unbelievers will be judged by Christ, and they will be punished according to the works they have done. All believers will also be judged by Christ, but since Christ’s righteousness has been imputed to us and our names are written in the book of life, we will be rewarded, but not punished, according to our deeds.

1. Why are the disciples sent to both the receptive and the unreceptive? Why are they to say to each, "The kingdom of God is near you"? The 70 went out to talk about the kingdom of God and the King, and there were two possibilities; either the people of the house were receptive or unreceptive to the good news of the kingdom. On entering a house, they must first pronounce their greeting upon the home; saying “Peace to this house”. This was the characteristic blessing, but here the blessing conveyed the messianic peace promised in the OT and stressed the authority based on power from God that was behind these disciples. If the householders were worthy, that is, receptive to the message, then the blessing would stand. It meant that they had a proper attitude toward God, and these people would be open to the gospel message. Some of God’s elect were present in the house and they responded positively to the message. The disciples, two at a time, would then stay in this house knowing that they are welcome. But if the people were not worthy, that is, unreceptive to the message, then the blessing would return to the disciples. They would then leave and move on to a new home. There was going to be a lot of this kind of hostility and rejection to the gospel as there still is today. “The kingdom of God is near you” is part of their message. They had to proclaim the gospel otherwise how could the people accept or reject it without first hearing it. The 70 were stating the fact that the kingdom is here and that they have come to introduce them to the King of that kingdom. There cannot be a kingdom without a King, and this King was the Messiah, Jesus Christ. They were being invited to enter this kingdom, to leave behind them the kingdom of darkness were Satan rules.