Sunday
Morning Bible Study
June
14, 2015
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Regular: 2900
words Communion: 2500 words Video=75wpm
Israel Update – The trip cost has been lowered to $3851 per person, and we
can add more of you up until September 16. There are new brochures on the back
table.
Luke was a doctor and a travelling companion of the apostle Paul.
He wrote this book while Paul was in prison.
In writing his book, Luke made use of other older documents like the Gospel
of Mark, as well as extensive eyewitness accounts.
Jesus’ ministry has begun.
The people are amazed at both the things He teaches as well as the miracles
He performs.
Last week we read about the paralytic brought to Jesus by his four
friends. Jesus surprised the crowd by
not immediately healing the man, but proclaiming that he was forgiven.
Jesus went on to prove His authority on earth to forgive sins by then
healing the paralytic.
This week we see this authority to forgive sinners applied in unexpected
ways.
5:27-28 Levi is called
:27 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi,
sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.”
:28 So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.
:27 tax collector – telones
– a tax gatherer, collector of taxes or tolls, one employed by a publican
or farmer general in the collection of taxes. The tax collectors were as a
class, detested not only by the Jews, but by other nations also, both on
account of their employment and of the harshness, greed, and deception, with which
they did their job.
:27 tax office – telonion
– toll house, place of toll, tax office; the place in which the tax
collector sat to collect the taxes
:27 follow – akoloutheo
– to follow one who precedes, join him as his attendant, accompany him; to
join one as a disciple, become or be his disciple
:27 he left – kataleipo
– to leave behind; to forsake, leave to one’s self a person or thing by
ceasing to care for it, to abandon, leave in the lurch
:27 a tax collector named Levi
saw – theaomai
(“theater”) – to behold, look upon, view attentively, contemplate
Jesus didn’t just catch a glimpse
of Levi. He spent time watching the
fellow.
Tax collectors in Israel were Jews who worked for the Roman government to
collect taxes for Rome.
Roman law required them to collect a certain amount from every person, but
they were allowed to collect more than the bare minimum, and that’s how they
made their living, with the extra.
They were considered traitors to the Jewish people. They were known from being extremely dishonest.
The Jews even made laws so that a tax collector could not enter into a synagogue,
even though they were Jewish.
When the idea of “forgiveness” is raised by Jesus, there is someone that most
people would think it impossible for God to forgive – a tax collector.
We know Levi by another name, Matthew.
He is the fellow who would write the gospel of Matthew.
:27 he left all…and followed Him
Levi left his job.
Levi left his lucrative income.
He apparently even left his money.
All to follow Jesus.
Lesson
The cost of following
When you decide to follow Jesus, there is a price to pay.
(Luke 9:23 NKJV) Then He said
to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
He loves you the way you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay
like you are.
I can’t tell you exactly all that might mean for you, but it at least means
to be willing to give up your sin when you follow Jesus.
5:29-32 Levi’s party
:29 Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a
great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.
:29 feast – doche
– a feast, banquet
:29 number – ochlos
– a crowd; a throng; a multitude
It wasn’t just a “great number” of
tax collectors, but a great crowd of tax collectors.
:29 sat down – katakeimai
– to have lain down, i.e. to lie prostrate; of those at meals, to recline
:29 a great number of tax collectors
The word for “number” literally
means “crowd” or “throng”.
There was a great crowd of tax
collectors.
Levi is so amazed at Jesus that he throws a party so his friends could meet
this one who has changed his life.
People who were considered “unforgiveable” were interested in seeing this
Man who forgave sins.
:29 others who sat down with
them
The word for “sat” is literally
“recline”.
This is a dinner party. In Israel, the custom was to eat dinner at a
low lying table, and the guests would sit on the floor and lean against one arm
while they fed themselves with the other.
:30 And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples,
saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
:30 complained – gogguzo
– to murmur, mutter, grumble, say anything against in a low tone; of the
cooing of doves; of those who confer
secretly together; of those who discontentedly complain
This is the word used of the
Israelites grumbling in the wilderness.
:30 scribes and … Pharisees
We saw these fellows show up when Jesus had healed the paralytic who had
been let down through the roof.
These are the strict religious leaders who are trying to understand who
this new, popular Rabbi was.
:30 eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners
Jesus was not only in trouble for associating with sinners, but He went way
further than that – to actually eat and drink with them as well.
In the ancient world, eating and drinking with someone was a form of fellowship,
of camaraderie with them.
When you and I eat from the same piece of bread, we are both being
nourished by the same loaf, and in a way are becoming “one” through the meal.
The last thing a Pharisee would want to do would be to be “one” with sinful
people.
:31 Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a
physician, but those who are sick.
:31 well – hugiaino
– to be sound, to be well, to be in good health
:31 physician – iatros
– a physician
:31 sick – kakws
– miserable, to be ill; to speak ill of, revile, one
The word comes from kakos, a word often translated
“evil” or “wicked”
:32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to
repentance.”
:32 righteous – dikaios
– righteous, observing divine laws
:32 sinners – harmartolos
– devoted to sin, a sinner
:32 repentance – metanoia
– a change of mind
We’ve seen that it’s more than just
a change in the mind, but it affects a change in our actions as well.
When we’ve truly changed on the
inside, the outside begins to change as well.
John the Baptist told the people he
was baptizing –
(Luke 3:8a NKJV) Therefore bear fruits
worthy of repentance…
He went on to
describe those “fruits” as a change in lifestyle.
:31 well … physician … sick
Doctor Luke is telling us about Doctor Jesus.
I would imagine that when Luke first heard about Jesus saying this,
something clicked inside.
Jesus considered Himself a physician.
He needed to be where sick people were.
Lesson
Hanging with sinners
Jesus actually went to a “sinner party”.
I think that some people would have
a hard time feeling welcome in church.
Sometimes we need to think about
taking church to where the people are.
Keep in mind, Jesus wasn’t just trying to be accepted by the cool
crowd. He went to bring healing.
Jesus didn’t relate to them by sinning with them. He loved them and taught them about God’s
forgiveness and their need to repent, their need to change.
If you look back at what we’ve seen so far in just Luke 5, you will see
that Jesus is all about calling sinners back to God.
When Jesus started to get close to Simon Peter,
(Luke
5:8 NKJV) When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees,
saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
When Jesus met a man afflicted with
leprosy, a disease that reminds us so much of sin,
(Luke 5:13 NKJV) Then He
put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
Immediately the leprosy left him.
When four men broke through the roof of the house where Jesus was staying
and lowered their paralytic friend down to Him,
(Luke
5:20 NKJV) When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are
forgiven you.”
The Jews considered tax collectors to be the worst of all sinners, and yet
when Jesus met Levi,
(Luke
5:27b NKJV) …He said to him, “Follow Me.”
Are you willing to admit that like the rest of us, you too are a sinner?
The Bible says,
(Romans
3:23 NKJV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
If you are ready to admit that you are a sinner, then you are just the kind
of person that Jesus wants to reach out to.
5:33-35 Fasting
:33 Then they said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and
make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?”
:33 fast – nesteuo
– to abstain as a religious exercise from food and drink: either entirely,
if the fast lasted but a single day, or from customary and choice nourishment,
if it continued several days
:33 often – puknos
– frequently, often, recurring; vigorously, diligently; often, more
frequently, the oftener
:33 prayers – deesis
– need, indigence, want, privation, penury; a seeking, asking, entreating,
entreaty to God or to man
:33 but Yours eat and drink?
I am only aware of one time annually that the Jews were required to fast,
during the “Day of Atonement” (Lev. 16:31)
(Leviticus 16:31 NKJV) It is
a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is
a statute forever.
The Pharisees always had to do things better.
Their tradition required they fast two days a week.
Some people have this idea that for religion to be genuine, you must be miserable. The more miserable you are, the more
religious you must be.
Lesson
Grace Envy
I was thinking of calling the lesson “Stop your whining”, but I think this
title will be a little more instructive, because it’s all about understanding
grace.
We learned it early in life when our parents were trying to make everything
“fair”.
“Why does Johnny have one more candy bar than I do?” we’d cry.
“How come my chores take longer than my sister’s does?” we’d complain.
I almost wonder if one of the reasons the Pharisees were “grumbling” over
Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners was because it looked like He was
having more fun than they were.
I find that when I see others who aren’t “trying as hard” as I am, and aren’t
making the same kinds of sacrifices that I do, that I get to grumbling myself.
It’s like being on a diet and you go out to eat with a friend who orders a
big hot fudge sundae to eat in front of you.
It’s just not fair.
After the resurrection, Jesus appeared
to the disciples in Galilee. Jesus had
prepared breakfast for the disciples after they had been fishing all night, and
Jesus began to tell Peter about how Peter was going to suffer for following
Jesus. The first thing Peter thinks
about is John – he wanted to know if John would suffer as much as he would…
(John 21:22 NKJV) Jesus said
to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You
follow Me.”
Jesus told the story of a Prodigal Son who had rebelled against his father
and had ruined his life. When he
returned home admitting his rebellion, his father threw a huge party for him.
What we often neglect in this story is the fact that there was another son,
a good son, one who didn’t rebel.
When that son came in from working out in the fields, he could see that a
big party was going on.
When he found out that the party was for his black sheep
brother, he was mad. He thought it “wasn’t
fair” that a party like that had never been thrown for him.
The father responded,
(Luke
15:31–32 NKJV) —31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I
have is yours. 32
It
was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and
is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ”
The older brother felt his brother was being rewarded for
being a bad boy while he never seem to be rewarded for being a good boy.
The older brother had lost the appreciation that he always
had the Father’s grace.
He was already a co-owner of all the Father owned.
He had just not learned to enjoy what he already had.
What do you do if you have “grace envy”?
Examine yourself.
Why are you “fasting”?
Why do you deprive yourself of certain things?
Is it beneficial?
If you are on a diet in order to lose weight, you need to
remind yourself of the eventual benefits of eating lettuce and carrots.
Losing weight will change your health. It will lower your risk for diabetes. It will lower your risk for heart
disease. The benefits go on and on.
Is it necessary?
If you are saying no to certain sins, or saying no to your
addictions, remind yourself of why it’s necessary.
There is certainly pleasure in sin for a season, but in
the end you’ll wish you had never gone down that road.
Is it too much?
The Pharisees were fasting far more than God ever asked
them to.
Perhaps the “fast” you’re on is not necessary.
Maybe you’ve gone past what God gives you grace for.
Maybe you’ve entered into some kind of legalism, and
that’s why you are miserable.
Maybe you’re doing this for the wrong reasons – like
trying to impress others with your spirituality.
Perhaps you need to lighten up on yourself.
This is where the Pharisees were. They should have been feasting with Jesus.
:34 And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast
while the bridegroom is with them?
:35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from
them; then they will fast in those days.”
:34 friends – huios
– son
:34 bridegroom – numphon
– the chamber containing the bridal bed, the bridal chamber; of the friends
of the bridegroom whose duty it was to provide and care for whatever pertained
to the bridal chamber, i.e. whatever was needed for the due celebration of the
nuptials; the room in which the marriage ceremonies are held
The phrase is literally, “sons of
the bride chamber”
:34 Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast…
Jewish weddings lasted a week and were times of great joy and feasting.
Jesus is the “bridegroom” while those who follow Him are His “friends”.
It’s almost as if Jesus is saying, “This is a time of joy like a wedding,
do you want to make is a sad time like a funeral?”
As a pastor, I’ve done my share of funerals and weddings.
Sometimes I will do one of each in the same week.
Even though the funeral for a believer can have a measure of joy, there is
still a sense of sorrow in the air.
Yet a wedding is just nothing but pure joy.
The wedding reception is a time for eating, joy, and sometimes even
dancing.
Like this Mother-Son dance…
Video: Gingrich Mother-Son dance
:35 taken away – apairo
– to lift off, take or carry away; to be taken away from anyone
:35 when the bridegroom will be taken away
There will be a time when Jesus’ disciples will be fasting.
It will be after He is crucified, raised, and ascended into heaven.
But for now, Jesus is still with them.
It’s not a time for fasting, but feasting.
Lesson
Appropriate
We tend to be creatures of habit.
We like for things to stay the
same, done the same, at the same time
We don’t have to spend too much
time thinking about things if it’s a habit.
But some things are just not
appropriate at certain times.
Illustration
A sign on the Alaskan highway
reads:
Choose your rut
carefully -- you'll be in it for the next 200 miles.
The following two parables explain that Jesus’ new way of doing things
(like with fasting) and the old ways of doing things don’t really mix too well.
Keep in mind, the “new way” doesn’t mean that you won’t ever do what the
“old way” did.
Here, the “old way” involved fasting and prayers.
Jesus’ disciples would still one day fast and pray, but just not now, just
not while He is with them.
5:36-39 Garments and Wineskins
:36 Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one puts a piece from a new
garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that
was taken out of the new does not match the old.
:36 He spoke a parable
parable – parabole
– a placing of one thing by the side of another; comparison of one thing
with another, likeness; an example by which a doctrine is illustrated
We often think a parable is a story
(like the Prodigal Son), but it may be something short like the two found in
these next four verses.
:36 puts – epiballo
– to cast upon, to lay upon
:36 piece – epiblema
(“upon” + “to cast”) – that which is thrown or put upon a thing, or that
which is added to it; an addition; that which is sewed on to cover a rent, a
patch
:36 makes a tear – schizo
– to cleave, cleave asunder, rend; to divide by rending; to split into
factions, be divided
:36 does not match – sumphoneo
– to agree together; to agree with one in making a bargain, to make an
agreement, to bargain
:36 a piece from a new garment on an old one
The idea is this: You have two
pieces of clothing, one new, one old.
In order to fix a hole in the old piece of clothing, you tear out a piece
from the new to fix it.
You’re going to have two problems.
First, you’ll now have a hole in the newer garment.
Second, the new piece isn’t going to match the old garment very well.
The idea behind the parable:
Be careful about trying to patch up something that’s old and broken with
something new.
Jesus didn’t come to just patch up the Pharisee’s broken down form of
religion.
He came to start a whole new thing, a way in which mankind was able to know
God personally.
Lesson
New Things
God likes to do “new things”, but
we need to be in a place to see and receive them.
:37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will
burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.
:37 puts – ballo
– to throw or let go of a thing without caring where it falls; of fluids
– to pour, pour into
:37 wineskins – askos
– a leathern bag or bottle, in which water or wine was kept
:37 burst – rhegnumi
– to burst or break asunder, break up, break through
:37 be spilled – ekcheo
– to pour out, shed forth
:37 be ruined – apollumi – to destroy; render useless;
to perish, to be lost, ruined, destroyed
:38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.
:38 preserved – suntereo
– to preserve (a thing from perishing or being lost)
:38 wine … wineskins
The skins of grapes already have yeast growing on them, so when the grapes
are crushed, the juice begins fermenting on its own.
Yeast takes the natural sugars in the grape juice and produces alcohol and
carbon dioxide.
The newly squeezed grape juice would be placed into wineskins, or leather
bags, to continue to ferment.
The release of carbon dioxide during the fermenting process causes the
wineskin to expand.
New wineskins are flexible and able to stretch as the pressure of the
carbon dioxide grows.
An old wineskin has already been stretched out.
If you put new wine into an old wineskin, it isn’t going to be able to
stretch, and when the carbon dioxide begins to build up while the wine is
fermenting, the wineskin will burst.
Lesson
New Things
There may be those who think the wineskins is talking about Judaism (old)
versus Christianity (new).
They will say that the new wine of Christianity needed a new wineskin – the
church.
They may even say that after the birth of the church, there is no longer a
need for any different wineskins – that the oldest church is the best church.
But keep the context in mind.
Jesus is simply addressing the practice of fasting.
He doesn’t even suggest that fasting will cease, but only that it is
inappropriate at the moment.
I think the wineskin parable has to do with the ways that God is wanting to
move and work.
God may want to work in new ways that we’re not used to.
(Isaiah 43:18–19
NKJV) —18 “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I
will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in
the desert.
:39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for
he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”
:39 desires – thelo
– to will; to desire, to wish; to like to do a thing, be fond of doing; to
take delight in, have pleasure
:39 better – chrestos
– fit for use, useful; virtuous, good
This is the “comparative” form,
meaning not just “good”, but “better”.
The superlative form would be translated “best”.
:39 The old is better
People who have tasted “old wine”, wine that has been aged properly, would
prefer to drink the “old wine” because it tastes better (or so I’m told).
When people have grown up in the “older” traditions, they don’t like to
change.
They feel their “tradition” is “better”, and they can’t understand the
“new”.
Lesson
Stay Flexible
Jesus didn’t say it was impossible for someone who loves old wine to get
used to the new, but that it wasn’t something “immediate”.
Jesus’ way was something new.
The scribes and Pharisees were used to the old.
Did Pharisees ever become followers of Jesus?
Yes they did. At
least some of them did.
Paul the apostle is an example. But it took some time, and some convincing by
Jesus.
I remember during the days of the Jesus People Movement, a lot of hippies
were getting saved.
I was going to a Baptist church at the time, one of those churches where people
dressed up in a suit and tie when they came to church, where there was a choir
that sang, there was an organ, and we sang lots of hymns.
I remember when the first long haired barefoot hippie came into our
church. A lot of folks were quite
unsettled.
There was a pastor down in Costa Mesa at the center of the Jesus
movement. Chuck Smith had all kinds of
hippies coming to his church. At one
point his elders wanted to keep out the kids that were barefoot because it
would ruin the carpet. Chuck told them that
if they were so worried about ruining the carpet, then he’d tear out the carpet
in order to let the kids come.
I get concerned that we too can get comfortable in the way we do things and
not be open to new ways of reaching the next generation.