Luke 19:41-44

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Day Four of Steps to the Cross - Luke 19:41-44

 

⁴¹As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it⁴²and said, "If you, even you, 

had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 

⁴³The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."

Luke 19:28-40

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Day Three of Steps to the Cross - Luke 19:28-40

28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount 

of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.' "

32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"

34 They replied, "The Lord needs it."

 35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

 37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 

 38 "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" [a]

      "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"

 40 "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

Footnotes:

[a] Luke 19:38 Psalm 118:26

Luke 18:31-19:27

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Day Two of Steps to the Cross - Luke 18:31-19:27

³¹Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. ³²He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him.³³On the third day he will rise again.

³⁴The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

³⁵As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. ³⁷They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."

³⁸He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

 ³⁹Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

 ⁴⁰Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, ⁴¹"What do you want me to do for you?" 

 "Lord, I want to see," he replied.

 ⁴²Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you." ⁴³Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.

Luke 19

¹Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ²A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. ³He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. ⁴So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

⁵When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." ⁶So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

⁷All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "

⁸But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."

⁹Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

¹¹While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. ¹²He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. ¹³So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.^[a] 'Put this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.'

¹⁴But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.'

¹⁵He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.

¹⁶The first one came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.'

¹⁷'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'

¹⁸"The second came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned five more.'

¹⁹"His master answered, 'You take charge of five cities.'

²⁰"Then another servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. ²¹I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.'

²²"His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? ²³Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'

²⁴"Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.'

²⁵" 'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!'

²⁶"He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. ²⁷But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me."

Footnotes:

1. Luke 19:13 A mina was about three months' wages.

Luke 9:51-62

Day One of Steps to the Cross - Luke 9:51-62

Luke 9:51-62 (via BibleGateway.com)
Samaritan Opposition
 51As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" 55But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56and they went to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus
 57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
 59He said to another man, "Follow me."   But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."   60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
 61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."  62Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

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Reminder:
There are two new series to look forward to in Bible for Everyday. Steps Towards the Cross will begin tomorrow and continue through Easter, emailing pertinent scriptures that led Jesus to the cross. (Our writers will take a short 2 ½ week sabbatical from commentary.)

Devastation and Hope, 2 Samuel 24

What a horrible thing! What stabbing imagery from a true story. It demonstrates the deep distaste that the Almighty has towards sin. Counting the fighting men demonstrated before God, and all the people, that David did not trust God to defend them. Israel was to represent God, and the king was to lead the way in trusting God for defense in the face of hostility. David’s counting (with Joab’s ironic role as the voice of conscience) was a deliberate act of pride, declaring that he will defend Israel, independent of God. What do you make of how this passage says that the Lord incited David whereas the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 21 says that Satan did?

The hand of the Angel of the Lord is eventually stayed at the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite (Jebusites were ancient dwellers of Jerusalem). The hand was stayed at the word of David’s confession. Note that his confession owned full responsibility and was directed fully upward first. He knew he needed to own his stuff before God and with the strength he found there, could then go and deal with the outward consequences. That led him to a special hill where Araunah threshed his grain. It is there that David comes to worship and purchase land to build an alter to God which later becomes the site of the temple in Jerusalem (click on the photo).

This hill became a place where a purchase was made to redeem David’s shameless pride and heal the senseless pain his sin caused. It became a place where God’s presence would dwell and offer hope and salvation for all who looked up to it. A thousand years later, just a few hundred yards away, on a different mount, Jesus would die to purchase redemption for the sin of our shameless pride and heal our senseless pain. May we never forget the cost of our salvation and the horror of our sin which requires such a payment.

What’s Next?

There are two new series to look forward to in Bible for Everyday. Steps Towards the Cross will begin tomorrow and continue through Easter, emailing pertinent scriptures that led Jesus to the cross. (Our writers will take a short 2 ½ week sabbatical from commentary.)

After Easter, 50 Days to Freedom will begin and run up to the day of Pentecost. This series will focus on God’s meeting the people of Israel in Egypt and leading them out of slavery into freedom; paralleling it with the freedom the gospel offers us. With bold faith and the grace of God we will learn how to be freed from the bondage of sin and to walk in the freedom of being God’s children.

2 Samuel 23: Mighty Men

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for the saints who have gone before me, from generation to generation laying the foundations for my faith. Thank you for my fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters who have taught me about the faith. Thank you for the friends who sharpen me as iron sharpens iron. May I be the kind of friend, like the mighty men of David who protect and inspire those around them.

Reflection:

It is an interesting side note to look at what may have been a major secret of David's success. He had great warriors and leaders around him. Our parents taught us this--the people we associate with will deeply shape the way we go in life and how far we go. Part of why Jesus spent so much time in his ministry, is because he wanted to teach the disciples how to become a new kind of family that would eventually be the church.

Questions:

• Who are those who are mighty in their faith around you in your life?
• Who spurs you on to follow Christ more intently?
• How can you build your relational network more tightly to have strong, inspiring people in your life to help you grow
• How can you be the kind of friend that enable others to succeed?

2 Samuel 21-22: Wrapping up Samuel

Prayer:
God, you are the one who delivers me from all that oppose you. You protect me. You strenghten me. You are a shield for my battles. I can hope in you in the time of trial because you have delivered me before. Hear my praise. Hear my grateful heart. Grant me courage and strengthen to do all that you call me to.

Reflection:
These last four chapeters of 2 Samuel form an epilogue with events that are added in out of sequence. Here the author includes what later became Psalm 22. David recalls ho God had enabled him to win battles and how God delivered him from defeat. The language is extraordinary for victory and deliverance.

Hearing how God has delivered David helps us. We may or may not have years of confidence built up because we have seen God do great things. Either way, we can look at David and see that not only has God done great things, but he can protect us as well.

Questions:

• Where do you strength for battle?
• Where do you need protection?
• How are you seeing God provide both?