February 26, 2024
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in our Lenten readings from “The Life of Jesus”? Here’s today’s reading:
Day 8 in the Book: “The Life of Jesus“
The Year of Growing Opposition
Read Sections 4.60 through 4.61 (pages 118-120)
This book is an account of Jesus’ life and teachings told through in chronological order from the four Gospels to create one continuous story.
*If you do not have a copy of the book please contact the church at (401)667-0775 and we can get you a copy.
The Life of Jesus 4.60-4.61 and Romans 5-6.
4.60 The Rich Man and the Poor Man (Luke 16:19-31)
“He said to them, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'” This is a staggering statement because Jesus is providing foreshadowing of His own resurrection and the reality that even having risen from the death, so many will still not believe in Him. But He says that we should not be surprised by this…because if they won’t believe the Word, then they won’t be convinced by miracles either. My study bible app gives a nice cross reference here…where Jesus says “They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them”, it is in foreshadowing again of what He does in Luke 24 on the road to Emmaus when he meets two of His followers who are discussing the events of the crucifixion and reports of His resurrection…”O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Jesus Himself reveals the Truth about Him found in the Scriptures to these two on the road…and for us, He sends the Helper, indeed, the Spirit of Truth, to guide us into all Truth about Him! “He will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that He will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14-15)
4.61 Forgiveness, Faith, and Duty (Luke 17:1-10)
1. Don’t cause people to sin. We should spend time thinking about how we might contribute to causing others to sin.
2. Forgive. Forgive…and then Forgive some more. How much more has God forgiven us?
3. The power of faith is not found in how much faith we have…but rather in WHO our faith is in. Do we trust God? Do we love Him? How did Jesus show that He loved the Father? We must go and do likewise…it is then that we will experience the power of faith…not because of our faith, but because of WHO our faith is in!
4. We are not our own. We have been bought with a price. Set free from slavery to sin and self in order to be placed in bondage to righteousness in Christ Jesus, because He has bought us with His very life. There is no room for pride…God is God, and we are not. Praise be to God!
Lent Day 8
Lenten Day 8
SPM. 4:60 – 4:61
Also reading Moses by Chuck Swindoll. Through nine of the ten plaques at this point and thanking God that my heart is not hardened.
A great chasm fixed. Wish this didn’t exist but mans stubbornness as the rich man’s brothers who would refuse to believe Can’t imagine being God figuring all things. The rich man didn’t go to hell because he was rich but Lazarus was in desperation and he received no help. Every time I read Luke 17 I am reminded of all those I knew who were abused as a young age by, of all people, a catholic priest. If only they taught the truth and Luke 17 and other scripture was brought to their attention. Little bit of yeast works through the whole batch. 1 cor. Ch. 5
Here Jesus tells the story of the rich man and the beggar while in the company of the Pharisees. They were the rich man in this story. For they wore fine clothes and loved money and enjoyed the praise of men. These things did not make them righteous before God. They did not love God but only served God out of duty as we saw in the story of the lost son. They being the self righteous son. The beggar on the other hand even though he was poor put his trust in God. He became righteous before God. The rich man was very aware of his senses and even talked to Abraham. He was in conscious torment and desired that someone warn his brothers of Hell. That Lazarus be sent back from the dead to warn his brothers. The answer given was that if they refused to listen to the scriptures neither would they believe if someone rose from the dead. This is not the same Lazarus that Jesus rose from the dead a short while latter. For this Lazarus is a beggar with no one to take care of him. The other Lazarus was a brother to Martha and Mary. These three were also friends of Jesus. But it is interesting that Jesus did raise a Lazarus after this story. The Pharisees sought after signs and miracles but Jesus told them to heed the scriptures which was Moses and the Prophets. Actually when Jesus did raise Lazarus { brother of Martha and Mary} from the dead the Pharisees hated Jesus for it and planned to kill Him { Jesus} Peace to you all.
Lenten 2024-Day 8
Day 8
The account that Jesus shares is unique in that it is the first time he tells a story and provides a personal name. There are those, I among them, who believe, therefore, that this is not a parable but a description of actual events. And it describes what happened to people before Jesus died and was raised. Hades, which is the Greek word for hell in the passage, was the abode of the dead, Sheol as mentioned in the Old Testament. It was divided in two parts, a place of paradise for the righteous (who came to God in faith for who He is and what the sacrificial system of the Jews provided…ie the faith in the sacrifice is what mattered, not just giving the sacrifice) and a place of punishment for those who rejected God. In other words just like it is described in this story Jesus shares. It is also confirmed in Jesus saying to the thief on the cross, today you will be with me in paradise (not heaven) and Jesus in Ephesians 4 leading captives to heaven and leaving gifts to men. Jesus closed down the paradise part of Hades when He opened access to heaven through His death and resurrection. So now everyone after that goes to heaven or the punishment side of Hades. Hades is shut down in the end when it gives up it’s dead and they are thrown in the lake of fire. And so the rich man can perceive what is going on, but there is no consolation for him. And the issue in coming to God is not about the ability to believe, but the willingness to believe. For people without willingness, God could do anything and it wouldn’t matter.
And we need to be careful not only for our own sin, but how we cause others to sin as well. And in the same way forgiveness flows freely from God to us, it should flow freely from us. And when we consider our service to God, it is it’s own reward. We should not think about what we might get in return, but be gratified that we got to serve God in the first place.
Thank you Pastor for your words on the Jews sacrifice It was not the giving of the sacrifice that was important, it was the faith that it took away sin that really mattered.
The rich man has a case of hindsight is 20/20 and so many will as well if they choose not to hear the good news of Jesus. You see people make explanations or scientific reasons for the miracles they see even today, even in creation itself. So when Jesus says even the dead can’t convince them He is really speaking about their willingness to believe because we all have the chance to hear and see the work of God but then it is up to us to believe!
Forgiveness is something man struggles with, despite the perfect example we have been provided with in our own lives through Jesus. “Feelings” get in the way of the truth of knowing that others deserve the same forgiveness God provides us and He desires for us to follow His example.
Leading others to sin is something we should take the time to think about in our lives. How often are our actions playing a role in other’s sin. You think of things like engaging in gossip, our refusal to speak up in the face of sin due to fear of opposition and have a “go with the flow” mentality, and even forgiveness…when we don’t encourage others to forgive and maybe even give them the impression that holding anger toward someone is justified. These are all times where we could shine the light of Jesus and do the right thing to help prevent sin in someone else’s life.
Just looking over some past verses and comments. It gave me more insight into the topic of forgiveness. Like Kelly said, we struggle with it even though we have a perfect example in Christ. Sometimes feelings are so strong that we allow them to affect our thinking in toxic ways. If we are aware of this, we can begin to change it so it evenually becomes more automatic – choosing forgiveness out of our compassion for others and our gratefulness for God’s gift of salvation through his forgiveness of our sin.