Don't Mess With An Exorcist At Work!

This is the Bible study page for the Thursday Night Bible Study Group meeting May 12 to study Luke 11:14-28.  This is a collection of accounts of Jesus that center around demonic activity at first, then ends with Jesus' response to a comment about His mother (it's not as bad as it sounds). 

Per our normal set of instructions, read through the passage in as many different translations as you can, ESV, NIV, KJV, and NRSV are good ones to choose if you're looking at Blue Letter Bible for instance.  Make notes on what's going on, who says what, to whom, when, and so on.  Once you have a good handle on what's happening, see if you can figure out why.  In other words, why would someone accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the power of their prince?  Why would that make sense then, because it doesn't now.  Stuff like that.

Once you have your notes, then look at other sources, commentaries, and so on.  Again there are several on www.blueletterbible.org to choose from, and they're easy to find.  Revise your notes and questions as you find more stuff.

After you've followed these three steps, go back through with the questions below:

• This charge about Jesus casting out demons through the power of their prince is also found in Matthew 9:32-34, but without Jesus' response.  In Mark12:22-30 we have the unpardonable sin attached to this claim about Jesus, along with His defense.  So, why do you think this claim would seem to make sense to those in that culture?
• Luke has a unique challenge to the people about those among them who cast them out.  Who do you think are their "sons" that Jesus refers to?
• Jesus defends Himself in both Mark and Luke by point out that the devil wouldn't work against himself.  But the most common explanation is that the people are claiming that the devil is "making Jesus look good to deceive people."  What do you think the people accusing Jesus are thinking?
• Why do you think the others were "testing" Jesus seeking a sign from heaven?  What's more of a sign than a demon-possessed mute speaking free of the demon?
• Jesus' description of the "strong man" is much more developed in Luke's account than Mark's.  Why do you think that might be?
• In verse 23, Jesus seems to reverse His position of Luke 9:50. Or does He?  What do you think might be the connection between these two statements?
• The discussion of Jesus about the demon leaving and then returning to the person seems somewhat disjointed with verse 23, and more tightly connected with the preceding passage. Why do you think that might be?
• Jesus gives the warning of verses 24 through 26, but doesn't really provide a solution.  Is this referenced elsewhere where a solution is presented?  What cross references were you able to find that explained this or used it differently?
• Finally, a woman has a really weird comment to make about Jesus, or more specifically, about His mother.  What do you think of her statement?  Look at it in a few other translations.  What about this sounds...left-handed, as compliments go?  Or does it? What do you think?
• Jesus doesn't seem to skip a beat, and fires off a correction of the woman's cry.  Jesus seems to think that those hearing and obeying God's word are blessed rather than His mother.  What does that seem to imply about Mary?  Why do you think He would say that?  Do you think this is really negative toward His mother (look back at 8:19 through 21)?

That should keep us more than busy for the time we have.  Remember to also be thinking in terms of the things that seem to shake you Awake!  If you are Honest, what Action is God leading you to take in response what He's shown you?

Rebuking Spirits and Fevers

This is the Bible study page for the Thursday Night Bible Study Group meeting September 3 to study Luke 4:31-44.  This is more an introduction into Jesus' activity rather than His teaching at this point.  It can be assumed that, like in Acts, even though Luke doesn't detail each occurrence, these sorts of exorcisms and healings take place along side the teaching.

Read through the passage a few times in several translations (www.blueletterbible.org has several).  Jot down notes and questions about differences and word choices.  Words like 'authority' and 'rebuke' words have a range of meaning, but you may find a lot of others that are different between translations.

After you have your own set of notes and questions, go through a commentary or two (or study Bible notes).  See if these answer your questions, bring up new ones, or modify your notes at all.  See what nuggets you glean from them, but feel free to disagree with their conclusions.  Good ones tell you when they're guessing, and commentaries do a lot of guessing.

After you've gone through your notes and a few commentaries, go back through the passage with the questions below:

• Jesus 'went down' to Capernaum and does these things, but from what we read previously, He'd already been doing them there.  Why do you think this sounds somewhat out of order?  Or does it sound out of order to you?
• What do you think the people heard in Jesus' teaching that had 'authority'?  How do you think it was different than what they heard the other rabbis teach?
• Consider what the 'spirit' says in a few different translations.  Why do you think the spirit addresses Jesus this way?  If it knows who Jesus is, why challenge Him?
• Why do you think that the spirit's knowledge of who Jesus is would be a 'threat' it might hold over Him?
• Look at the word for 'astonish' in verse 32, and compare it with 'amazement' in verse 36.  What differences do you see?  How is the response to Jesus' teaching different from their response to His casting out of a demon?
• The word for what Jesus does to the fever in Simon's mother-in-law was the same as what He did in the synagogue to the spirit, 'rebuke'.  Why do you think Jesus would rebuke a fever as if it could 'obey'?  How do you understand His approach and what it means for the 'cause' of the fever?
• The sun is going down and people are brining sick to Jesus, and He works through the night.  He tries to leave the next day, and they try to prevent Him.  What do you think about the people treating Jesus this way?  Why do you think they would be so insistent?
• What does this tell you about the extent of sickness and demon possession just in this region?  How different is that from our 'region' here?
• Jesus goes to towns in Judea.  That's a long way to walk from Galilee. Why do you think He would go there?

This should be plenty to keep us occupied for our time together.  This will be the last study page for  a while, as we go through AHA.