Category: Luke

Betrayal…

Luke 22:1-6
22 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 2 and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. 5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6 He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.

Friendship is a beautiful thing. And like all beauty, it is fleeting if not taken care on a consistent basis. In this passage, Jesus is betrayed by His friend by Judas, who hands Him to authorities for money.

Now, what would you? Would you take the money and turn in Jesus? Now know this. Jesus loved Judas, even after the betrayal. Jesus Saves!

Amen.
DK

Continued…

Luke 21:12-38
12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 And so you will bear testimony to me. 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 Stand firm, and you will win life.

20 “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. 22 For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 23 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

29 He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

32 “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

37 Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, 38 and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.

This is beautiful. Jesus Saves!

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times

Luke 21:5-11
5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

8 He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. 9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”

10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

Feels like it’s happening now. We pray for the will of God to be done. Tonight, ask God to reveal your sin, both seen and unseen, known and unknown, so that we may be cleansed. Made pure by the blood of Jesus.

Amen
DK

God is good. He knows every hair on our heads…

Luke 21:1-4
The Widow’s Offering

1 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

To give from the heart. To give when there is not much to give. To give, even when the world tells you not to. To love, even when hatred stares you in the face. This is the blessing from God.

Jesus gave us His life as a gift. From nothing, He gave everything. From baby born in a barn, to King of salvation. Jesus gave all. When we think there is nothing to give, Jesus has shown us there is more. The blessings and gifts that He has given us to share are numerous. They are meant to be given as blessings. The longer we hold on to them, the less they can do.

Let us be like the widow, and give from all that we have been given. God will know. He knows everything about you. Now go be His messenger of love. Even when the world tells you to hate.

Amen.
DK

Jesus Saves!

Luke 20:45-47
45 While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

No need for show. Just love. The Holy Spirit will take you the rest of the way. Nothing happens for good without the perfect plans of God.

Amen.
DK

Question answered…

Luke 20:41-44
Whose Son Is the Messiah?
41 Then Jesus said to them, “Why is it said that the Messiah is the son of David? 42 David himself declares in the Book of Psalms:

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand
43 until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet.”’[c]
44 David calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”

I often wondered when I read these verses. Then I saw it over and over again. In order to fulfill prophecy, Jesus came into a lineage that would make Him the Son of David, the great king. But in reality, the birth of Jesus was a divine conception. God the Father of all is the actual father of Jesus Christ.

I know you have heard the story of the birth of Jesus before. By being of the bloodline of David, Jesus simply gave man what man needed. He fulfilled every prophecy in order for man to accept Him without question. Despite this, He was questioned, doubted, chastised, persecuted, humiliated and murdered. He did this for us.

We live in a time now where we can freely worship Jesus, without fear of death. Early Christians we killed and murdered just for spreading the Gospel. Yet, somehow many do not feel the urge to share with all. This is our calling. This is our duty. To be a living witness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Share today. Spread the Word. Time is running out. He is coming.

Amen.
DK

No need to worry about petty things…

The Resurrection and Marriage

Luke 20:27-40
27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. 28 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30 The second 31 and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

34 Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. 37 But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[b] 38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

39 Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!” 40 And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

In this parable Jesus tells us that regardless of who we marry and love on this Earth, when we get to Heaven we will no longer need to worry about is married to who. We are done with things of this world and enter into the care of God. We enter into marriage with Him.

Interesting question, and one that must have been important to them or the wouldn’t have asked it. But with all that we have to ask the Creator and Messiah, would we ask such an Earthly question? More than likely we would. The repose would be much the same. The love just poured from Jesus. How awesome is He!

Amen.
DK

The hunt was on long ago. The Pharisees were after Jesus, and would try everything they could to catch Him in breaking the law…

Paying Taxes to Caesar

Luke 20:20-26
20 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. 21 So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

23 He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

25 He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

26 They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.

Astonished? That’s the Creator they were trying to deceive. What did they expect?

You almost want to feel sorry for them, the Pharisees. You feel like yelling at them and pleading with them to see Jesus as the Messiah that He is. They can’t though. The way that we can’t sometimes. Intentional or not, we can blind ourselves, and unfortunately blind others around us.

Before we begin to place ourselves above the Pharisees, we must see our own inability to have the true faith and belief that is required to carry out God’s will in our lives. To make that our priority every day.

Don’t get me wrong. We are righteous. We have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, which in turn covers us in His saving blood. However, when we forget to love first and start to point at others as they fail, then we have avoided our own areas in our lives that require the prayer of the very person you are pointing to.

We are all the recipients of unmerited favor. Jesus died for all. Included are those that sought to kill Him. That is love. So now, give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what is God’s. That’s you.

Amen.
DK

Amazing story. Jesus teaches in such a bold and comforting way…

The Parable of the Tenants

Luke 20:9-19
9 He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’

14 “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”

17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone’[a]?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

19 The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.

The teachers of the law held back knowledge from those God had sent to receive it. They had kept so much for themselves. They had perverted it. They had refused for so long to know God. They assumed just following their own interpretation was enough. They were so “knowledgeable “.

Jesus always had a way of teaching and telling those that needed it the truth. The truth is what hurt these teachers of the law the most. Jesus, the very author of the laws, was right in front of them. Telling them what to do. They were asked, told, ordered, pleaded with, and in every other way given a chance to accept Jesus as Christ. As Messiah. They refused. They were blinded by this world.

Let us not be blind. Let us accept the gift freely given by God to us. To allow of us that do not deserve it. It was given out of love that is incomprehensible to us. We won’t even come close to feeling the full love of the Father until we stand before Him. Jesus was sent so that when we get the there, we are clean. Pure. Redeemed.

Amen.
DK

Always the teacher…

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

Luke 20:1-7
1 One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. 2 “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”

3 He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: 4 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

5 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”

7 So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”

8 Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Jesus saw the traps. God had told Him exactly how it would go down. As Jesus saw the traps ahead, He walked with the authority of the Creator straight through the traps without fear. And He did it as a man.

The question was where Jesus’ authority came from. We know where it came from. The Pharisees sure knew. Everyone knew where it came from. The Pharisees where trying to get Him out. Their fear was growing, and the traps became more public and desperate.

Jesus did not act until the Father told Him to. He waited. The plan is perfect. The plan that continues to this very day. The plan that includes you. What is your role in it? Ask.

Amen.
DK