Rich Man, Poor Man, Forgiveness and Faithful Slaves

This is the Bible Study page for the Thursday Night Bible Study Group meeting September 22 to study Luke 16:19 through 17:10.  We didn't get through the "Rich Man & Lazarus", so will focus on that for this week.

The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is interesting for lots of reasons.  One of them is the various ways that translations relate the story.  The details are the same, just the word choice was changed.  The real differences between translations is found in the 10 verses of chapter 17.  Be sure to use different translations, I really think it will open up new avenues of understanding; and it's easy to do.

Read through these passages making notes and jotting down questions that occur to you.  The two passages aren't easy to connect, and don't need to be.  They can be, but doing so is an interpretation, not a necessity.  It might be a good exercise though.  See if you can summarize the 10 verses of chapter 17 into a single sentence.  It will be tough, and probably a complex sentence, but give it a try.

Read through some commentaries on the Blue Letter Bible site.  See how they change your comments and questions.  Then go back through the passage with the questions below:

• The parable of the "Rich Man & Lazarus" begins with the setting of the two characters in verses 19 through 21.  What are your first impressions?  Why do you think Jesus made them so incredibly opposite?
• The rich guy ends up in hell, and Lazarus in "heaven".  Why?  What clues do you have for why one went one place and the other to the other?
• The description of the "after-life" is pretty spooky, one side can see the other but neither can get to the other.  What do you think of that?
• Hell (Hades) is "torment" in verse 23, or "agony" due to "flame" in verse 24.  What do you think of this description, in agonizing torment by fire yet able to see the other side where they aren't?
• Notice Lazarus never speaks in this parable.  Why do you think might be important to Jesus' point?
• Abraham has several comments on the rich man's situation (verses 25, 26, and 29), they get progressively more depressing (from irreconcilable agony to it being his own fault).  What do you think of this assessment of the description of this afterlife?
• The rich man constantly wants Lazarus to do this or that, come here, go there.  What does this tell you about the rich man's understanding of himself and Lazarus?  How different do you think this is from when they were both alive?
• Obviously Abraham's final statement relates to Jesus' resurrection and people's persistent unbelief.  Why do you think Jesus would include that to people following Him closely?  What does that tell you about people, even those who follow Him closely?
•  Jesus turns again to His disciples, but remember that this group seems to include some Pharisees.  So, why do you think the topic of "stumbling blocks" is suddenly important, or even in anyway related to the previous parable?
• Jesus refers to "little ones", but who do you think He means?  (hint:  look in parallel verses in Mark and Matthew)
• How do you think verses 3 and 4 apply to our modern approach to "boundaries"?  Is such a person "safe", and how would you relate to such a person having "forgiven" him/her?
• Compare these two verses with Matthew 18:15-17.  What do you make of the differences?
• Compare these two verses with John 20:23.  What do you make of the differences here?
• The disciples ask for Jesus to "increase their faith".  How does a mustard seed-sized faith "increase" their faith?
• Why do you think Luke uses a "mulberry tree" instead of a mountain, like Matthew?
• Consider verses 7 through 10 very carefully.  Slavery is such a foreign concept to us, this probably sounds very harsh.  Keeping in mind that it didn't sound harsh at all to them, what do you think is Jesus' point?
• How do you see yourself in verses 7 through 10?  We talk so much about Jesus being our "brother" or "friend", we tend to forget His is our Lord first.  What sorts of things do you need to do differently considering these verses?

That should be plenty to study Thursday.  We probably won't get beyond the parable, but we're ready if we do.

Finding Party

This is the Bible study page for the Thursday Night Bible Study meeting September 1 to study Luke 15 (since we didn't even touch it last week).  This chapter is made up of 3 parables about the rejoicing in heaven over repentant people.  The first two setup the third.

Read through these a few times.  Their familiarity, especially with the third will be the biggest barrier to really understanding them.  I found it very helpful to keep Luke 14:25-35 in view as you read through these parables because together they provide balance to the issue of evangelism, an intrinsic issue in these parables.

If you're only going to read it once, or focus on it once, do it with an unfamiliar translation.  Jot down things you notice, questions that come up, and details you don't remember quite that way before.  After making your own study, go back through with the questions below:

• After Jesus turns to the many crowds following Him and tells them how expensive it is to be a 'disciple', now "all the tax collectors and sinners" are following Him.  Considering the previous passage, how committed do you think these tax collectors and sinners were about following Jesus?
• Both the Pharisees and scribes began to grumble about all the tax collectors and sinners around Jesus and His close association with them.  What does that tell you about these two ends of the spectrum of "righteousness" among those following Jesus?
• Why do you think the Pharisees and scribes always seem to be around Jesus as well?
• Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep, explaining how the shepherd leaves the 99 in the fields to find the lost one.  And then finding celebrates with his friends and neighbors.  Jesus explains this to illustrate the celebrating in heaven over one repentant person.  So, what do you think is the point to those following Jesus?  Where are they in the parable?
• Jesus then tells the parable of the lost coin where the woman seeks diligently, and then celebrates with her friends and neighbors when she finds it.  Again the rejoicing in heaven is the explanation.  So where are the listeners around Jesus in this parable?
• Then the parable of the lost son.  Now there is a lot more detail.  The lost son repents for one thing (only found in the previous explanations).  The father goes out while the son is still far off, but how diligently is the father seeking the son, as in the previous two parables?
• The lost son is welcomed back and they throw a party.  The elder son is upset (like the Pharisees and scribes).  So, how do you think the father's explanation to his elder son clarifies the response of heaven, and what Jesus expects of the "righteous"?
• Consider again the cost of discipleship from the previous chapter.  How do you see that relating to these parables of rejoicing over finding lost?  How do you see "discipleship" related to elements of the parables or their explanations?

It is likely we won't get through all of chapter 15, but it's possible we will.  The "AHA" of this chapter should be easy since we spent so much time on this parable through that study.  But see what you can do tying the cost of discipleship to the parables, and what you learn from that?

The Care and Feeding of Dinner Guests

This is the Bible study page for the Thursday Night Bible Study Group meeting February 3 to study Luke 7:36-50. This is one of a couple of dinner parties Jesus is invited to where He winds up embarrassing the host.

As you read through the passage a few times, be sure to look for cultural things that sound strange, customs, word choices; try to imagine what the whole scene looks like.  Make notes of these things, and jot down questions along with observations.  Once you've gone through a few times with your own observations and questions, go back through with some sort of commentary.  Some of your questions will be answered, and other questions will come up.

After you've worked through the passage on your own, go back through with the questions below:

• We're not told where this event happens, but it seems to immediately follow Jesus' statement about the Pharisees and Lawyers disbelief.  How likely do you think it is that this Pharisee, Simon heard and understood Jesus' prior statement about "this generation"?
• The woman is considered a "sinner in the city".  It's not like a secret or anything, so what do you think it would take for her to reach Jesus through the people at or around the dinner party?
• Why do you think she would go through all that to reach Jesus?  To this point, He hasn't done much more than heal, cast out demons, and preach about forgiveness.  Like the Centurion, we're left wondering what she heard about Jesus that prompts this response.  What do you think it is about Jesus at this point in His ministry that prompts this woman to go to Him?
•  The woman has purchased a vial of perfume.  We're not told details about cost here, but that aside, what do you think it took for her to weep, to wipe His feet, and then anoint Jesus' feet with the perfume?  Why do you think she thought to honor Him in this way?
• The Pharisee "said to himself", why not out loud?  What does this tell you about "Simon the Pharisee"?
• Simon the Pharisee thinks of Jesus as a prophet.  Why a prophet?  What sort of "Messiah" do you think this indicates the Pharisee is looking for, or is he looking?
• Jesus calls Simon the Pharisee out on what he's thinking by telling him a "parable" about debtors and forgiveness.  What do you think the Pharisee is thinking about the "rhetorical" question Jesus asks about who "loved" more?
• The city-sinner woman hasn't been forgiven yet so what do you think Jesus is getting at with His comparison of her treatment of Him and the Pharisee's?
• If Jesus' comparison is between two people who have been forgiven, what does that tell you about Simon the Pharisee? Do you think that Jesus considers Simon the Pharisee forgiven?
• Do you think Simon considered himself "forgiven", or would he have understood himself as one of the debtors along with the city-sinner woman?
• Jesus tells the woman that her many sins are forgiven.  What do you think Simon the Pharisee thought of that?
• The others at the table begin "saying among themselves", but the grammatical structure is very similar to Simon the Pharisee's except it's plural not singular.  Do you think they spoke out loud and among each other or silently to themselves?
• These at the table also see the woman touching Jesus and hear His parable with explanation.  So why do you think they focus on Jesus' statement about her sins rather than the love for the "forgiver" which is Jesus' point?
• Jesus sends her away in peace.  What do you think was said after the city-sinner woman leaves?
• There are possible parallel accounts in Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, and John 12:1-8.  How likely do you think it is that all of these are the exact same event or woman?

 Now consider what element of this account of Jesus, whether from what you discovered in the text or from a commentary, woke you up to something in your life that needs to change.  If you're honest about yourself in light of that element, what action is the Holy Spirit leading you to take?  What change needs to happen in you based on what you learn here?

That should do it for this week!

Touch And Forgiveness - Needs Of The Healed

This is the Bible study page for the Thursday Night Bible Study Group meeting October 29 to study Luke 5:12-26.  This account is of two healings, one of leprosy, and the other of a paralyzed man.  Both accounts are also found in Matthew and Mark.  It may be helpful to look up those parallel accounts and review the differences (which are slight). 

Read through the passage a few times.  Try and imagine yourself in the action, imagine the smells, the sounds, and the sights.  Sometimes the parallel accounts in Mark and Matthew help imagine the setting.  If you have a Bible dictionary, or look up leprosy on the Blue Letter Bible site to get a better sense of the social problems associated with the disease in Jesus' day.  With that, revisit the encounter between Jesus and the man with leprosy.

The issue in the second healing has to do with the "forgiveness of sins".  This opens up a huge discussion on what exactly is is sin, and why is forgiveness so restricted in Jewish religious teaching.  There are all sorts of places you can look such disucussions up, but the enormous amount of information can be overwhelming.  See what sort of definition you can come up with just from the limited discussion in this passage.

From all this examination on your own, make notes, jot down questions, and see what God may be telling you about these things or related things in your own life.  Please bring these notes questions and 'awakenings' to the meeting on Thursday.  After you have gone through this passage yourself a few times, go back through with the questions below:

• Why do you think Luke is not giving specifics about where Jesus is doing these healings?
• What sort of details about location can you get from Matthew and Mark?
• The man covered in leprosy says, "If you wish..."  or "If you desire..."  Why do you think he poses his request that way?
• Consider that Jesus first touches the man with leprosy before he even replies.  In that culture, why do you think this would be significant to the leper?
• Jesus says, "I wish..." or "I desire..." and then commands the man to be healed.  Think through that, Jesus commands the man to be healed.  Why do you think that might be significant?
• Jesus then commands the man to not tell people all over, but just to go to the priests and follow the law of Moses.  In Mark we see that the man didn't do that.  Why do you think this was important enough for Jesus to command the man, much in the same way he commanded him to be healed?  Why do you think the man didn't do it?
• Besides the obvious connection between the news and crowds around Jesus and his 'escape' to the wilderness to pray, why else do you think this might be an important detail for Luke (notice it's not in the other two gospels)?
• In the next account, we see the religious teachers showing up for the first time.  Right along with the comment about their presence is the statement about the power of the Lord to heal.  How do you think these statements might be related?
• The phrase about the power of the Lord is not only difficult to translate, but also disputed in its arrangement.  Essentially the power of the Lord is there for Jesus to heal.  It's power with a purpose.  This is not a typical way of referring to the power of the Lord, so why do you think it's important here?
• Read the other parallel accounts of the paralyzed man and his friends.  What do you think it was about the paralyzed man and his friends that showed remarkable faith?
• Seeing their faith, Jesus says, "Your sins have been forgiven."  If the power of the Lord was present to heal, and Jesus sees their faith, why do you think Jesus chose to tell him his sins were forgiven? Why not just start with healing?
• The teachers reason together, so it sounds like they are discussing outloud.  In Mark and Matthew, it seems they are reasoning quietly or silently, but thinking the same thing.  Either way, Jesus knows what they are saying/thinking.  Why do you think he asks them "why" if he already knows "what", wouldn't He also know "why"?  Why do you think they need to know why they were thinking that way?
• "What is easier, to say or to do?" What do you think Jesus meant here?  For instance, how would anyone know if Jesus was right, that the man's sins had been forgiven? But they would see right away if the man was healed.
• Jesus uses the healing to demonstrate his "authority" to forgive. What sort of statement do you think He is making here?  Equality with God, or perception given to Him by God, or something else? What do you think He is saying?
• It says that the people were amazed and glorifying God.  Do you think that included the religious teachers present?  What do you think they thought?

And now apply the AHA principles to what you read.

AWAKENING:  Prayerfully go through looking for the thing that God is using to awaken something in you.  Think through your life in relation to the people and teaching involved.  Jot down the 'alarm' that God is using with you.

HONESTY: Next be honest about your life in light of this 'alarm'.  Think through what God is pointing out to you about your life, like where you have strayed from a direction He gave you before, or about something you've been doing or not doing.  What do you see about your life in a new light from this passage?

ACTION:  Lastly, what do you need to do about what you discover?  What action do you need to take in light of your honest assessment of what God is saying to you?  What can you do now, before Thursday?  What do you need to do, perhaps long-term?

That should keep us busy for the week.  Be sure to bring your notes and any AHA with you Thursday!

Not Another Nathan

This is the Bible study page for the Thursday Night Study Group meeting March 12 to study 2 Samuel 14.  This is a really strange story.  The 'story-within-the-story' bothers me because I find it difficult to connect to the overall story.  There are a variety of problems with it, one of which is timing, especially toward the end.

As always, please read the chapter through a few times.  You may have read ahead, but if you didn't, go ahead and do so now.  But come back and re-read this chapter a few times after that.  Jot down questions, insights, lessons learned, and details that you had missed before that jump out at you now.

After reading through several times, go back through using the questions below:

• Hebrew prepositions are pretty simple, and therefore have a huge range of interpretation.  The basic meaning in verse 1 is that the king's heart was 'on' Absalom.  This can also mean 'against', as in you 'lean against a wall' but also as in an adversary.  Consider the various translations you have, some on The Blue Letter Bible.  What do you think Joab 'saw' that he figured what was going on? What do you think David was doing that indicated his heart was 'on' Absalom?
• Tekoa is in Judah (see map below).  Why do you think Joab goes there? Was it 'famous for wisdom'? Did he know of one particular 'wise woman'? Was it simply somewhere if Judah Joab knew David didn't know anyone? Is that even possible?
• Joab 'put words in her mouth' (however a translation words it, that's how it was originally worded).  So, why do you think he need a 'wise woman' if it's his wisdom she's speaking?
• Read Numbers 35:6-28 and Deuteronomy 19:1-13.  The 'avenger' is the word for 'kinsman redeemer' as in Ruth.  What do you think of this legal system in dealing with murders and manslaughter issues?  Considering the rules as they are related here (and keep in mind Numbers is an older witness of them than Deuteronomy), what was supposed to happen to Absalom?
• Considering the story that the woman tells, how does her story relate to Absalom through these rules of the kinsman-avenger versus man-slayer?
• The connection between her story and Absalom may be tenuous (and I think it is), but what do you think about her application of it to David?  What do you think of what she claims are the effects of David's refusal to relent toward Absalom?
• So what do you think it mean for/to Absalom that he be allowed to come back 'free-and-clear'?  How do you think that sets up the rest of the story?
• What do you think of Joab's response to being called out by the king?  What does that tell you of Joab's attitude toward David?
• Why do you think David would let Absalom come back but not see him?  What do you think David was trying to achieve or prevent?
• From verses 25 through 27, what do you think of Absalom?  How do you think he saw himself?
• What about this 'Tamar', why do you think there is another?
• What do you think is more likely, that Absalom waits two years before beginning to summon Joab, or that over two years, he summons him twice, then after 2 years burns his field?
• Why do you think, after having gone through all of this to get Absalom back, does Joab not go see him when he is called for?
• What does it tell you about Absalom that he summons twice, then sets Joab's field on fire to get his attention.  What sort of person is Absalom?
• What do you think if Absalom's statement to either kill him or restore him fully?  What do you think David should have done?

That, and other stuff in this chapter, should keep us plenty busy.  Remember to bring your notes and questions to share in the group.  See you Thursday!