Luke/Acts for Beginners

Perhaps Luke is drawing the distinction from a beginning to an ending. He might be taking a long view where he would consider the ascension as the culminating event of the turning to Jerusalem rather than the interim phases of the death and resurrection. Students should realize that the death and resurrection were critical to the mission of Jesus, but the ascension into heaven marked not only the ending of His earthly mission, but the beginning of His role as our intercessor to the Father.

James and John were among those given miraculous power by Jesus on the mission. Now they wanted to misuse that power. They had not fully embraced the lessons on humility. Note that the apostles stated, "Lord, do you want us to command…" This clearly shows they misunderstood that power was the Lord's, and not theirs. Jesus rebukes them and moved on. This emphasizes the humble spirit of our Lord, especially compared to the prideful spirit of James and John. Jesus was again teaching not only by word, but by example. God has given us the great gift of teaching others about Him. It is important that we go humbly remembering that we are simply the messengers and must not make the message about ourselves.

In our eagerness and desire to follow our Lord we make a commitment, perhaps not truly understanding that our commitment is an all-encompassing one. We are putting aside our own desires to follow our Master's will. Everything we have, desire, and do should now be dedicated to His service. We develop the ability to do so as we spiritually mature.

A major similarity was that they were not to take with them any of their personal belongings or means to provide for themselves. The differences were that Jesus gives them more detail as to their actions. Note that these disciples did not include the apostles. This group would be the ones making up the larger body of disciples that also followed Jesus. This may be simply because of the scope of the area and number of people to teach that required Jesus to use more disciples.

However, it may also be that this would symbolize to them that they also had a role in the upcoming Kingdom of spreading the Gospel. We will learn in Acts how the church spread following the death of Steven. In the beginning of the persecution, the apostles remained in Jerusalem and the other Christians were driven out. It is possible that as this occurred, they would remember how Jesus previously sent out the 70 on a limited mission.

Certainly, it was that their names were written in heaven. The events of the mission were wonderful but life eternal with our Lord is the goal of all Christians.

Look for responses that relate to our role today of proclaiming the good news of our Lord to all. Like them, we go without the apostles being directly with us. We go out with the teachings of Jesus, the knowledge from the New Testament and the Spirit of God with us. The focus is not on ourselves or our power and abilities, but on the Lord and His message.

Jesus rejoices in the demonstration of God's power to the disciples. Of special note is the inclusion of all three of the Godhead (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) in this event (verse 22).

This prayer resembles our Lord's prayer in found in John 17 as he prays for His disciples.

Note that the use of "Lawyer" in this society is not like we use it today. This person would be one who ensured the Jews strictly followed the teachings of the Jewish rulers and Law of Moses. They did not defend someone as much as prosecute those not following the law.

This lawyer wished to test (another word for examine) our Lord to see if he could lessen His stature as the Messiah. The lawyer was not satisfied with the response Jesus gave so he questioned Him on a point and this led to the parable. The lesson from the parable is that we are to be compassionate to all, even those we might not desire to help.

It may not be a major point, but when we try to raise our stature before God, we are humbled by Him instead. The lawyer tried to justify himself before Jesus and failed miserably. Truly, as the proverb states, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18).

Taking physical care of others is an important ministry for Christians. Since the very beginning, Christians have been involved in doing good works for others in a wide range of activities. However, learning about Jesus and teaching others so that souls are nourished is more important. We can and must do both. This would be a practical demonstration of the teachings of Jesus as he sent out the disciples on their mission and instructed them to not take anything with them and only accept the gracious hospitality of others. Their role was to spread the good news of Jesus, not to worry or be concerned about their physical needs.

By being persistent we demonstrate a greater level of faith. We must learn that as servants of the Master we serve according to our Lord's will, and not our own. Yet it is the Lord's will that we come to Him in prayer and He promises to answer. The answer will also be according to our Lord's will. Take special note of the statement in verse 13. Our Lord promises that the answer to the prayer will be far greater than even what we dared hope for. The use of good in this statement can mean not only something we would like, but also what is best for us. God takes an eternal view and knows our needs whereas we often take a short term or temporary view only seeing the need for the moment.

Answers will vary. Some were jealous. Perhaps some feared Him knowing that if they had not led the people as they should, they would be held accountable. It may also be possible that over time their self-righteousness (pride) so weakened them spiritually that they now had become tools of Satan rather than shepherds of God's flock. Either way, we see that instead of being willing to learn of Jesus and acknowledge His Deity, they now began to plot how to destroy Him.

A point to note here. We think Satan and those that work for him are all powerful. The reality is that he is not. Had Satan truly known the outcome of our Lord's sacrifice he would have done everything he could to prevent it rather than allow it to go forward.

James is teaching that those who teach God's word will be held to a higher standard since many times they influence whether one responds to God's will and how well one grows spiritually. The Scribes and Pharisees were the appointed spiritual leaders of the Jewish community. They were supposed to teach God's word yet they were not shepherding God's people or using their influence to glorify God. As a result, Jesus was holding them personally accountable for the peoples' misunderstanding of scripture and their ignorance of God's true will. Instead, they had manipulated God's word and imposed their will in place of God's will. They glorified self rather than God.

A clear warning to us is that we must make every effort to ensure that we are holding to God's teaching with our teaching and lives. Some teach in a formal way while all of us should be teaching by the example of our lives.

Look for responses that show we must humbly submit to our Lord and carry our His message in our everyday lives. As we do so we not only fulfill our role as disciples but bring glory to our Lord.