Luke Devotional – Week 8
February 20 – The Gospel of Luke
Luke 10:21-37, At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.“ My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” 23 Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. 24 I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.”
25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” 27 The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” 29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. 31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ 36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. 37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, revealed how close He and the Father are: to know the Son is to know the Father. Jesus was progressively revealing His divine nature. He told His disciples just how blessed they were to see and hear what so many had hoped to experience.
Jesus was asked by a religious lawyer how he could enter the eternal kingdom. Jesus asked what Moses’ law said. He replied, “Love God with all you have and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus agreed and that if he did this, he would live. The lawyer wanted to win the point so he asked who his neighbor was. Jesus told the well-known story of the priest and Levite who passed by the beaten and unclean man, but the much-despised Samaritan was filled with God’s mercy and stopped to help. He fulfilled what Jesus said earlier, “Be merciful as your Father is.” The loathed Samaritan was the hero of the story. In God’s kingdom, all barriers come down. There is one God and one way for all people to know God. Jesus answered that the neighbor was not the one in need but the one who showed mercy. We are to do the same.
Prayer: Father, thank you for the revelation that we have in Jesus as the Son of God, the way to the kingdom. May we love you with all we have and show mercy to others. Amen.
February 21 – The Gospel of Luke
Luke 10:38-42, As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke places this story out of chronological and geographical order to further make the point that barriers are coming down in the new age of God’s kingdom. As we discovered yesterday, the much-despised Samaritan was the hero of Jesus’ story. It was a scandalous story to teach that true neighbors are those, regardless of background, who show mercy and extend help to those in need.
Mary acts outside of her first-century gender role. Martha did what was expected in showing hospitality to her house guests. However, Mary abandoned the normal custom and was in the male space. She was an outsider, breaking the mold, to be a learner.
The word disciple literally means to be a learner. Sitting at Jesus’ feet, Mary was in the position as the other male disciples were. She was not lazy, refusing to do her part in the kitchen, but had chosen what was best.
For those of us who are task-oriented, who are driven to get the job done well, we empathize with Martha. We feel Martha’s pain. Martha was living out the cultural and religious expectation of providing generous hospitality for her guests. This was no small meal to prepare. Martha was doing no wrong in serving Jesus, except her service became a burdensome task.
Instead of joyfully doing what she chose to do, she became frustrated, maybe, even angry that her sister was not helping. Jesus’ response was not that Martha’s task was wrong but her mindset was. She was worried and upset about all the necessary preparations that needed to be done. Again, many of us have been there and know the feeling.
Jesus told her that instead of her anxious toil, there was one thing that was more important. Mary had discovered it. It was enjoying Jesus. Martha’s joy was gone. Her loving service had become a disgruntled act because her attitude had become compromised. She robbed herself of the joy of freely loving Jesus.
Mary’s actions of sitting as a disciple were out of the norm. However, this is the point Luke wanted to make. Barriers are coming down, and boundaries are changing in the kingdom. Are we worried and upset about all of the tasks of life, even if they are good? How can we incorporate more of Mary’s heart into our lives? Do we take time to sit at Jesus’ feet?
Prayer: Father, in the midst of so much activity, compel us to sit at Jesus’ feet. Give us more of Mary’s devotion so that we can enjoy You as You desire to enjoy us. Amen.
February 22 – The Gospel of Luke
Luke 11:1-13, Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 Jesus said, “This is how you should pray:
“Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon.
3 Give us each day the food we need,
4 and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation.”
5 Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 6 ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ 8 But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.
9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? 12 Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! 13 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
Luke’s version of Jesus’ model prayer is a bit briefer than Matthew’s. Even though the prayer is short, it is long on depth. It communicates what we ultimately need to say and what we most need in life to have a healthy growing relationship with the Father.
Jesus teaches the core content of prayer declares the holiness of the Father, asks for God’s kingdom to be known on earth, requests our daily needs to be met, seeks God’s forgiveness as it is willing offer it, and asks for power to live a holy life that refuses to succumb to temptation.
The practice of prayer requires perseverance. It demonstrates bold faith that God can and will act upon that which we passionately and persistently pray is according to His will. It does not give up but keeps on believing and surrendering to God.
The character of prayer is based upon the pure goodness of our Father in heaven. Even in our unredeemed state, we know how to give good gifts so how much more will our Father give us His best gifts. From Jesus’ perspective, the greatest gift available to all who ask is the Spirit of the Father and the Son. There is no more significant life-enriching gift than the very essence and presence of God dwelling within us. May we seek this gift more than any other.
Prayer: Father, thank you for your pure goodness. I think I need many things. I know I want many things, but the gift that rises above is Your Holy Spirit. Please fill me full of You today. Amen.
February 23 – The Gospel of Luke
Luke 11:14-28, One day Jesus cast out a demon from a man who couldn’t speak, and when the demon was gone, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed, 15 but some of them said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.” 16 Others, trying to test Jesus, demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.
17 He knew their thoughts, so he said, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. 18 You say I am empowered by Satan. But if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive? 19 And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said. 20 But if I am casting out demons by the power of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. 21 For when a strong man is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe— 22 until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings. 23 “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.
24 “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ 25 So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. 26 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.”
27 As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “God bless your mother—the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!” 28 Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”
Some were still trying to figure out where Jesus’ authority to defeat demons came. They even suggested it was from Satan himself. Jesus quickly defeated that idea by saying how foolish it is to be at work to defeat your own kingdom. A kingdom working against itself will not survive. Jesus used this as another opportunity to declare that the kingdom of God had come. The strong man illustration speaks that someone stronger than Satan had come. As Jesus won His battle over Satan in the wilderness, so now He was defeating him in public. Jesus declared if you were not actively working with Him, you were against Him.
Verses 24-26 are a bit hard to understand. If this is the case, then why do exorcisms? One thought is in mentioning “home,” it was a sign of the whole house of Israel, the temple in particular. There were attempts to clean up the temple in the past, but it was followed by another spiritual decline. Jesus was saying, if you only clean up the temple temporarily, then things will get much worse. Only judgment will be left. Of course, this can be true personally as well. If we are only looking for a quick spiritual fix and do not pursue a daily walk to take up our cross and follow Jesus, then we are opening ourselves up to the kingdom of darkness entering back in. This is why Jesus responded to the woman by saying that true blessing comes to those who hear and obey the Word of God. We must go all in and be totally devoted to the Word of God.
Prayer: Father, thank You, that in Jesus, Satan is defeated. Make me a doer of the word so that I can experience spiritual victory at all times and in all things. Amen.
February 24 – The Gospel of Luke
Luke 11:29-36, As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, “This evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of Jonah.30 What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God.
31 “The queen of Sheba will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen. 32 The people of Nineveh will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.
33 “No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.
34 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is unhealthy, your body is filled with darkness. 35 Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. 36 If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.”
Jesus warns of coming judgment on the nation for failing to see the truth and fully turning to Him. There was one group of radical Jews who believed that revolutionary violence was the way to salvation. This group, in particular, was opposed to Jesus’ message of peace. Their approach was shut down, once and for all, by Rome in 130 AD. In other words, judgment came.
The sign of Jonah was a message that their last chance to repent was through Jesus. Jonah reluctantly, but finally went to preach to the enemy, the Assyrians, and they wholeheartedly repented. They did more than the generation of Jews who Jesus was calling into a new life. Even a pagan queen traveled to hear Solomon’s wisdom but God’s people failed to listen to Jesus, who was far greater than Solomon. The ultimate meaning of Jonah’s sign is that Jesus will resurrect as it appeared Jonah had dead in the fish for 3 days.
This was a radical message that the foreign pagan people who saw and responded to the light of truth would stand in judgment over the people of God who refused to repent. Because of their failure to respond, they were not letting the true light of God’s message shine out for others to see. The leaders’ message and methods were hiding the light of truth from others to see.
So, Jesus told them to take care of what they see both literally and spiritually. The inner eye of the heart needs to be illuminated. They needed divine perceptivity to see the truth that the kingdom was being revealed right in front of them. The Pharisees were good at putting on a self-righteous religious show of piety but did not have transformed hearts. The true gospel floods a person’s life with the brightest light of purity for others to see the beauty of God.
Prayer: Father, give me the spiritual perceptivity to see deep into my heart and receive the light of the gospel so that I might shine brightly for you. Amen.
February 25 – The Gospel of Luke
Luke 11:37-54, As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table. 38 His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom.39 Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? 41 So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over. 42 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. 43 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces. 44 Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”
45 “Teacher,” said an expert in religious law, “you have insulted us, too, in what you just said.” 46 “Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. 47 What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago. 48 But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you join in their crime by building the monuments! 49 This is what God in his wisdom said about you: ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others.’ 50 “As a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world— 51 from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation.
52 “What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.” 53 As Jesus was leaving, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees became hostile and tried to provoke him with many questions. 54 They wanted to trap him into saying something they could use against him.
This scene carries on from yesterday where the religious leaders were more focused on the trivial details of the law, even tithing on their tiny herb gardens. However, they were missing the most important matters of loving God and doing acts of justice. They were to keep tithing but not neglect the most valuable works of faith that come from the heart.
Jesus spoke the convicting word that they were standing with those who killed the prophets of old. They placed unrealistic demands on the people to follow burdensome rules but did not help them find forgiveness and freedom. The surprising warning Jesus gave was that the blood of the prophets was coming due with them. The kingdom of God had brought the judgment of God to those who refused to repent and trust in Jesus’ message. It was all coming together now. We must not be misled. This is the ultimate judgment that will come to all who fail to do so.
Prayer: Father, help us to see what You see. Help us to prioritize what You prioritize. May we not miss Jesus by focusing on the trivial matters of religion. May we not bring judgment upon ourselves because we have failed to repent and trust in Jesus. Amen.