Jesus continues to speak about the kingdom of God through his actions, especially on the Sabbath as well as through the parables.
Luke 13: Repent or Perish
1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?
3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?
5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."
The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
6 And he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
7 And he said to the vinedresser, 'Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?'
8 And he answered him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.
9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"
A Woman with a Disabling Spirit
10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
11 And there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself.
12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your disability."
13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, "There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day."
15 Then the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it?
16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?"
17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
The Mustard Seed and the Leaven
18 He said therefore, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?
19 It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches."
20 And again he said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?
21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened."
The Narrow Door
22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.
23 And someone said to him, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" And he said to them,
24 "Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, open to us,' then he will answer you, 'I do not know where you come from.'
26 Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.'
27 But he will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!'
28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.
29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.
30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."
Lament over Jerusalem
31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you."
32 And he said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.
33 Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.'
34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
35 Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'"
Luke 14: Healing of a Man on the Sabbath
1 One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.
2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy.
3 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?"
4 But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away.
5 And he said to them, "Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?"
6 And they could not reply to these things.
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honour, saying to them,
8 "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honour, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him,
9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this person,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.
10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher.' Then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at table with you.
11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
The Parable of the Great Banquet
12 He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid.
13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
15 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"
16 But he said to him, "A man once gave a great banquet and invited many.
17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'
18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.'
19 And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.'
20 And another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'
21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.'
22 And the servant said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.'
23 And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.
24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.'"
The Cost of Discipleship
25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them,
26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
30 saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'
31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Salt Without Taste Is Worthless
34 "Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
35 It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Things to think about…
1. Pilate killed some Jews who had been sacrificing an offering to the Lord. He mixed their blood with the offering blood. A building called ‘the tower of Siloam’ had also fallen over and 18 people died. The Jews thought these people must have been worse ‘sinners’ than everyone else. They were very superstitious in this regard. Jesus says no, we must all repent Luke 13:5. God is sovereign, so why does He allow or not allow certain incidents to happen? Does He judge in these ‘accidents’ or does He not? The message of comfort for the Christian regarding these ‘accidents’ is that all things are working together for good. We of course acknowledge sorrow, loss and pain that can happen under His sovereign will. The m,essage is still the same for humanity, we all must repent of sin and allow Christ to be the Saviour over our sin.
2. Look at this fig tree that is not bearing fruit, Luke 13: 6-9. We are called to bear fruit in Christ. Some spend years serving the Lord but do not see much if any fruit in their ministries. That does not mean that there is no fruit or that a harvest will not come. Some plant, some water and some are blessed to see the harvest. All are required. Ask the Lord to give you the grace to show you the truth and to enable you to honour Him with a life that bears fruit for His glory, regardless of the part that you play.
3. Look at this poor woman who was bound up with a disabling spirit for 18 years, Luke 13:10-17. The Lord of the Sabbath released her on a ‘Sabbath Day’ and she was ‘straightened out’. The true ‘disabling spirits’ were those who, despite a miracle before their eyes, chose to harden their hearts towards grace and mercy. We see this today with people who wilfully go against the direct teaching of Christ regarding the miraculous work of the Spirit. I was once what is called a Cessationist, those that bel;ieve certain gifts and expressions of the Spirit are not for today, eg the gifts of Languages (tongues), healing and prophecy. I was not convinced by experiencing those gifts within myself, although I have seen wonderful expressions ofGod’s Spirit in these areas, but was convinced by the word of God that they are indeed for every season in the life of the Christian individually and the church corporately for all generations until Christ returns.
4. In Luke 13:22-30 we find some of the most fearful verses in scripture. Some who thought they knew Jesus, were not actually known by Him. He says to them ‘depart’. What is the defining thing that proves our ‘rite of passage’ into the presence of God? How do we know that we have entered through the narrow door, vs 24? More about this on Sunday.
5. In Luke 13:31-35 some Pharisees were concerned about Herod destroying the Lord. Jesus responds by calling Herod a fox. He would in fact meet Christ as we know, but Christ is in control of both His ministry and His destiny. Jerusalem missed the hour of the Lord’s visitation, vss 34, 35. May we not miss ours. It is ironic that it was actually the Pharisees that had a hand in the Lord’s death.
6. Luke 14 all takes place at a dinner banquet at a Pharisees house that Jesus and His disciples had been invited to. It was a Sabbath day. A man with ‘dropsy’ is healed and this starts a question about ‘law’ and ‘grace’. I.E. what is legal on the Sabbath, the parables about the wedding feast and the great banquet that follows. Who should we give honour to? Should we minister and witness to our close friends or those who are more likely to respond to the gospel. This certainly challenges me. The stage production, now movie, ‘Les Miserable’ depicts the story of the struggle between two men who represent the law on one side and grace on the other. Jesus fulfils the law so that we can administer His grace.
7. Look at these words of Christ in Luke 14:25-33. Does Jesus really want us to hate our wives, fathers, sons and daughters? You certainly couldn’t invite Jesus to a dinner party without the fear of Him potentially socially embarrassing you if this was the case. He goes on to say that we must count the cost and uses the analogy of someone who builds a tower or another who goes to war against a bigger army whether the desire can be achieved. If you ask anyone whether they want to go to heaven, the obvious answer is ‘yes’. But there is a cost that must be counted. Christ needs first place. As a Christian I am sure you would say that Jesus has first place in your life. How is this evident? Would others see Jesus as first place in your life if they were asked what they see as the most important thing in your life? Test the theory.
Vision Point
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for wisdom and clarity with some restrictions are being lifted in June.
2. Continue to pray for doctors and nurses on the front line of this pandemic across the globe.
3. Pray that as restrictions are lifted that businesses may return and people who have lost their jobs may return to gainful employment..
4. Sunday’s fb live messages for Kids church and – “The narrow door” Luke 13, Doug.
5. Our online Chuwar Kids at church program – that our kids still feel connected to church and love worshipping Him.
6. Pastoral care. Pray people feel connected in this isolation period. Been great catching up with people at the Bean Redeemed café.
7. Church finances to meet our expenses and to put a roof over our café.
8. Our City and Country – Pray for revival over our city and the leadership of our country even through these challenging times. Pray especially for people to be stable with respect to mental health.
Praise Points.
1. Zac’s partner Bec committed her life to Christ recently during a fb live altar call. Praise the Lord He is working during this season.
2. Finances being maintained and donation to Café roof. Thankyou!
5. Streaming and fb live being done very well by Dan and the technical team. Thanks Doug, Dan, Jesse and Peter. Thanks worship team.
6. Infection curve continues to drop below 1% infection levels. as a response to the virus in Australia
7. Praise the Lord churches are functioning well in this environment and the gospel is going out in the media.
8. Encouraging online comments – the church is still functioning well and people are being cared for.
Announcements
1. Pray about offerings to help with putting a roof over the café. Our temporary white shade is coming to the end of its life. $6k required for a new roof. $2k has been donated.
2. No members meeting for May – but an update of ministries and finances etc.
3. New church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
4. Kids Church now streamed live at 9:00am every Sunday morning via CBC’s fb page.
