Stories from the Bible - Ep 23 Missing the Point (Luke 10)

Episode Date: October 24, 2022

We re-cap Luke chapter 9, and hear the stories from Luke chapter 10. In this chapter Jesus helps a few different people who think they are right, but are actually missing the point. The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved

Beauty, perfection, desire, deception, rebellion, judgment, hope. You're listening to Stories from the Bible. Bible stories told in order, using the words of the Bible, with introductions to give a recap and provide context. At the end of each story, you might want to pause and take a moment to reflect on what you noticed in the story. Things you liked or didn't like. Something the story showed you about God or about people. Don't worry if not everything makes sense. Keep listening to each episode and sit with the journey. I'm stoked to have you on the ride. Hello and welcome to episode 23.

Last time, in Luke chapter 9, the question, who is Jesus, really, was asked by Herod and also by Jesus himself. Herod, the local ruler, is confused by all the things he is hearing. Is Jesus a prophet who has come back from the dead? And Herod wants to see Jesus for himself. Then Luke tells us about Jesus miraculously feeding more than 5,000 people with only five loaves and two fish, these people who had followed him into the middle of nowhere. What is Luke showing us about who Jesus is? This miracle

should remind us of God feeding his people bread from the sky, way back when Moses had just led them out of Egypt. Have a listen to episode 7 if you missed that story. God is the one who feeds and cares for his people in the desert. God is the one who fills the hungry with good things. So who is Jesus? He's more than a prophet, that's for sure. Do the disciples understand the true identity of Jesus? Well, kind of. After the miracle of the five loaves and two fish, Jesus asks his disciples, who do you say I am? And the disciple Peter answers, the Christ of God. Was Peter right? Well, yes. We already know from back in chapter one, back when the angel spoke to Mary, that the baby Jesus would one day be given the throne of David and rule God's people forever.

This is what Peter meant when he called Jesus the Christ of God. The Christ was the long-promised rescuer who would deliver God's people from evil and permanently establish a kingdom. Most Jews in Peter's day, including Peter, expected that the Christ, when he came, would do the obvious thing, unite them and overthrow the evil Romans. However, if you've been listening to a few of these episodes, you'll know that the peace that is won after God gives the people victory over human bullies never proves to be very permanent. After God defeated Pharaoh and rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, after God used Joshua to give them the land of Canaan,

after he used David the shepherd boy to rescue Israel from Goliath, there was, humanly speaking, always peace for a time. However, temporary peace and prosperity from a human perspective fell far, far short of what God wanted for his people. It goes back to understanding what happened in the Garden of Eden. In the Garden, before Adam and Eve ignored God's command, we have a picture of what it means to be at peace and experience abundant life. Life equaled a close friendship with the good and powerful Creator. Adam and Eve walked with God and enjoyed unhindered access to His presence. But when they rejected God's words and decided they would be better off making up the rules themselves,

they were cut off from God. They were separated from him and that was death. They believed the lie that choosing their own way would make them happier. That's what the Bible calls sin. And it's because of this deep-rooted desire to be independent from God that the Israelites could never enjoy permanent peace. Yes, they might have been rescued from their human enemies, but their greatest enemy was their own hearts. God longed to draw them into the life and peace that equaled close friendship with himself. But despite everything he did for them,

they continued to reject his words and they persisted in going their own way. And so, for God to permanently establish peace and friendship and abundant life for his people, something far bigger and deeper and greater was needed than political victory over the Romans. But Peter doesn't get this yet. He knows Jesus is the one God will use to achieve their rescue, but he's still caught up with the human view of things. Jesus knows this, and he immediately commands his disciples to tell no one that he is the Christ,

because if news spread that the long-awaited Christ had arrived, the excitement of an insurrection would probably result in Jesus' swift execution by the Romans. But more time is needed. According to Jesus, he must suffer many things, not just execution, and his suffering must also include his total rejection by the religious leaders of his day. Jesus then goes on to explain that, contrary to popular expectations, following the Christ does not mean picking up a sword or a pitchfork to overthrow human oppressors. In fact, to be his true follower, one must do the opposite of fight for earthly desires. One must daily put those desires to death.

Following him will mean suffering and sacrifice in this world. But Jesus promises that those who give themselves up for him will be the ones whose lives are really saved in the end. Then about a week later, Jesus takes some of his disciples up a mountain to pray. And while they are there, we get God's answer to the question, who is Jesus? After being revealed in dazzling glory with Moses and Elijah, the prophetic superstars of the Old Testament, a voice from the cloud says,

This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to Him. Jesus is definitively greater than Israel's greatest prophets. He is God's own Son. Way back in time, back in the desert on Mount Sinai, God gave Moses his words written on tablets of stone. Now God gives his son his word made flesh for the world to listen to. In the rest of the chapter, we hear a number of stories, most of which show the same thing in different ways. That is, the disciples don't yet understand what it means to be true followers of

Jesus. They are still caught up in human ways of thinking. We're told how the disciples failed to cast out a demon because of their lack of faith. Jesus calls them twisted, pointing to their mixed-up understanding of reality. They still don't see the world through the lens of eternity that Jesus has been laboring to teach them. And then we hear about an argument they have about who is the greatest among them. The disciples don't yet understand that following Jesus is not about grasping for personal power and influence. And when Jesus and his disciples pass through some towns and are not welcomed by those towns, two of the disciples are eager to call down fire from heaven

in judgment on those people. Again, they still don't get that being with Jesus is not about receiving worldly recognition and approval. At the end of the chapter, Jesus has some interactions with some others about what it means to follow him. And what comes out of these conversations is the absolute all-or-nothing nature of being a Jesus follower. It's either all in, no looking back, accepting whatever may come, or not at all.

Jesus has no halfway, sitting on the fence followers. The story starts here. After this, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead of him two by two into every town and place where he himself was about to go. He said to them, The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. Go, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not carry a money bag, a traveller's bag or sandals, and greet no one on the road.

Whenever you enter a house, first say, May peace be on this house. And if a peace-loving person is there, your peace will remain on him, but if not, it will return to you. Stay in that same house, eating and drinking what they give you, for the worker deserves his pay.

Do not move around from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and the people welcome you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in that town and say to them, The kingdom of God has come upon you. But whenever you enter a town and the people do not welcome you, go into its streets and say, I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!

For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to Hades. The one who listens to you listens to me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects the one who sent me. Then the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name. So he said to them,

I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Look, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and on the full force of the Holy Spirit and said, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will. All things have been given to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son,

and anyone to whom the Son decides to reveal him. Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said privately, Now, an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus, saying, Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said to him, What is written in the law? How do you understand it? The expert answered, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus said to him, you've answered correctly. Do this and you'll live. But the expert, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, Jesus replied, Now, by chance, a priest was going down that road, but when he saw the injured man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came up to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan who was travelling came to where the injured man was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him. He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring olive oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal,

brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day, he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, Take care of him, and whatever else you spend, I will repay you when I come back this way. Which of these three do you think became a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers? The expert in religious law said, The one who showed mercy to him. So Jesus said to him, Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. She had a sister named Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he said. But Martha was distracted with all the preparations she had to make. So she came up to him and said, Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me. But the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, you are worried

and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the best part. It will not be taken away from her. The story ends here. Thanks for joining us for today's stories. You might like to take a moment to pause and think about what you noticed. Things you liked. Things you didn't like,

something the story showed you about Jesus. To read it for yourself, it's in the book of Luke chapter 10. If you can find someone willing to read it and talk about it with you, even better. You've been listening to Stories from the Bible. I'm Jen, and I look forward to sharing more stories with you.