Devotions

More Joy in Heaven

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Did you ever wonder what it is like in heaven? There are places in the Bible where we get a glimpse. For example, it says there is a great audience watching from heaven in Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us” and there is, in Luke 15:7 “joy in heaven over one sinner who repents”. We know though, that many times in life we run after the wrong things and even when we have the right intent, sometimes things end badly. But this we can count on, God is a good God. He loves us and will always receive us and rejoice if we will return to him. 

There Will Be More Joy in Heaven

Luke 15:1-7
Jesus attracted people to himself. The sinners, the worst of the worst in Luke 15:1 “were drawing near to him“. But some, in Luke 15:2 “were complaining”. Jesus had to deal with all kinds of people, just as we do. These people that were complaining had a religious belief that God wants us to separate ourselves from the ungodly and the unclean who are sinners. This is an area that causes many to stumble because God does hate sin, but he loves people. What God is demonstrating and teaching is that God desires to turn a sinner to righteousness. Through Jesus Christ, people can be forgiven and restored to right relationship with God. This is what Jesus is teaching in Luke 15:7 “joy in heaven over one sinner who repents”.

Rejoice With Me

Luke 15:8-10 

When He Came to Himself

Luke 15:11-19
Although Jesus is telling a parable, this is could be very real story, and there are others that may begin in a similar way. This young man said in Luke 15:12 ‘Father, give me the share of the property that is coming to me.’ and he got what he wanted. This is the way many events in life begin, we get what we wanted and then, somehow, it turns out badly. In this parable in Luke 15:13-16 “he squandered his wealth by living wastefully … spent everything … there was a severe famine … he began to be in need … no one was giving him anything”. All of his plans had failed. There wasn’t any place to turn. There wasn’t anyone to help. Some would say he hit bottom. But here is a truth, as long as we are alive, there is always a decision we can make to move forward and in Luke 15:17 “when he came to himself, he said … ”. He had an idea and said to himself in Luke 15:18 “I will set out and go”. 

He Was Lost and Is Found

Luke 15:20-32
In this parable, the lost son, in Luke 15:20 “came to his own father” and in Luke 15:21 “said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight! I am no longer worthy to be called your son!’” and the father immediately received him. This may be the way a human father would react, but sadly, not all human fathers are so loving and kind. But this is not the story of a human father, this is a lesson about how God, our father feels toward us. If we will come to him as this young man in this parable did, he will not only receive us, but will celebrate our return to him.

John 3:15–17 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.” 16 For in this way God loved the world, so that he gave his one and only Son, in order that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world in order that he should judge the world, but in order that the world should be saved through him.

He Had Acted Shrewdly

Luke 16:1-13

Lovers of Money

Luke 16:14-18

He Lifted Up His Eyes in Torment

Luke 16:19-31

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Luke 15:1-32
  • Luke 16:1-31
Devotions

The Kingdom of God

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Jesus continues teaching in the synagogues and also he continues demonstrating the will of God and the goodness of God as people are healed and set free. And as he is teaching, he is also making disciples as he gives parables saying in Luke 13:18 “What is the kingdom of God like …”. The kingdom of God seems small in the eyes of the natural man, just as the mustard seed is, but there is a great yield that comes from it. As the crowds follow with him to Jerusalem, his message gets stronger as he says a disciple must, in Luke 14:27 “carry his own cross and follow” and in Luke 14:28 “count the cost”. But there is nothing we can leave behind that is as valuable as what we gain, the presence of the holy Spirit in our lives right now and eternal life with God to come. 

The Kingdom of God

Luke 13:18-21
Jesus is teaching on the Sabbath and notices a woman, disabled. So, he does what he has been doing, declares her free. After healing her, he must rebuke the ruler of the synagogue. Then, Jesus goes on to present two parables beginning in

Luke 13: 18 “Therefore he said, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it?”

First he says in

Luke 13:19 “It is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his own garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.”

Then he says in

Luke 13:21 “It is like yeast that a woman took and hid in three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”

People often overlook the kingdom of God as a small thing, something unimportant in the affairs of men. But the kingdom of God has tremendous impact on the lives of men. That impact may not be noticed at first, but in the end, everything is changed.

Enter Through the Narrow Door

Luke 13:22-30

Blessed Is The One Who Comes In The Name Of The Lord

Luke 13:31-35

Is It Permitted to Heal on the Sabbath

Luke 14:1-6 

Everyone Who Exalts Himself Will be Humbled

Luke 14:7-11
The way of the world is different from the way of God’s kingdom. In the world, people drop the name of their powerful acquaintances to raise their stature in the eyes of others. But Jesus is teaching his disciples a different way. Jesus tells them in Luke 14:10 “recline at the table at the last place”. Jesus is teaching them that it is better that the host recognize you and invite you to come closer, this in Luke 14:10 “will be an honor to you in the presence of all”. For this to happen, you must have done something of value, something beneficial, something that blessed them or someone they know. But the one that “exalts himself” is boasting about who they know and what they might do and it is all for show with no substance. Jesus finishes this parable by saying in

Luke 14:11 “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Go Out Into the Highways and Hedges and Press Them to Come

Luke 14:12-24 

Carry Your Own Cross and Follow Me

Luke 14:25-35
Again we find in Luke 14:25 “large crowds were going along with him”. This was coming to the time of the Passover and the men of Israel were to be in Jerusalem. In some ways, this was like the trips he would have taken as a child with his parents from Nazareth to Jerusalem and back (see Luke 2:41-52)1 where the crowd traveled together for several days. Now though, Jesus says something that is hard for us to understand because our English translation says “hate” in

Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and furthermore, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple”.

If we consider what Jesus is teaching and read carefully from the original language, we understand that it isn’t hate as in despise but he is talking about taking a step in discipleship where “To come to Jesus is the initial step … Mt. 11:28 … complemented by coming after (ὀπίσω) … μισέω, ‘to hate’, is usually said to have its Semitic sense, ‘to love less’ … At the same time, however, it should be noted that the Hebrew sìānēʾ has the sense ‘to leave aside, abandon’”.2

The message is clear though, that to follow Jesus means putting the kingdom of God first. It means, not just counting the cost but taking on the fulfillment of the mission every day. So, “Just as one should not attempt a venture without having sufficient resources to complete it, but will need to put everything into it in order to be successful, so the disciple must be continually ready (present tense) to give up all that he has got in order to follow Jesus (cf. 9:23; J. Dupont*)”.3

But Jesus was not talking to them into joining his band of rebels who would overthrow the Romans, even though, “When he spoke to them of the kingdom of God, they generally assumed that he was talking about the resurgence of their own nation in a political sense, and that he himself intended to be the new King of the Jews, overthrowing the invader Pilate and the pretender Herod … Jesus was ‘calling not for spectators but for recruits.’ … to throw in their lot with him in commitment.4

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Luke 13:18-35
  • Luke 14:1-35

References

  • 1. Ritmeyer, Leen (April 8, 2017), Twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple at Passover, https://www.ritmeyer.com/2017/04/08/twelve-year-old-jesus-in-the-temple-at-passover/
  • 2. Marshall, I. H. (1978). The Gospel of Luke: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 592). Exeter: Paternoster Press.
  • 3. Marshall, I. H. (1978). The Gospel of Luke: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 594). Exeter: Paternoster Press.
  • 4. Wilcock, M. (1979). The Savior of the world: the message of Luke’s gospel (p. 147). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Devotions

If It Produces Fruit

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What is the fruit the Lord desires? His desire is for the precious fruit of the earth, the souls of man. Now is the time, today is the day as in 2 Corinthians 6:2 “For he says, “At the acceptable time I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation! There is an urgency, a need to reach those that are questioning and even those rebelling as in Joel 3:14 “Commotion, commotion in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near in the valley of decision!” because we know that even Saul, who was the worst of the persecutors turned and served the Lord. Though the Lord has said in Luke 12:52 “For from now on … 53 They (families) will be divided …” And, I also know that once there is one who becomes a pillar of the love of God in their family, once there is a faithful grandfather or grandmother, a faithful father or mother, or even a faithful child, the Lord will work to draw the others in.

Guard Yourselves From All Greediness

Luke 12:13-21

Your Father Knows That You Need These Things

Luke 12:22-34

You Must Be Prepared For Action

Luke 12:35-40

Who Then is the Faithful

Luke 12:41-48 

I Have Come to Bring Fire on the Earth

Luke 12:49-53
God is Love! is often heard, but he is also a consuming fire. The Lord is righteous and holy and cannot abide sin. Just as darkness cannot remain when light shines in, so the glory of God completely overwhelms any uncleanness. When Moses said to the Lord in

Exodus 33:18 “Please show me your glory.”

The Lord responded, not with his glory or with his face, but only his goodness in

Exodus 33:19 And he said, “I myself will cause all my goodness to pass over before you, … You are not able to see my face, because a human will not see me and live.”

But here, the Lord is explaining the age of grace. He explains that every person will have a choice to make, for the Lord, or against. And as much as we want all of our friends and family to share our love for the Lord, he says in

Luke 12:52 “For from now on … 53 They will be divided …”.

There is a battle going on for the souls of man and we may face some of our greatest challenges in our own families. We also though, have these words in

Acts 11:13 “… summon Simon, who is also called Peter, 14 who will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’”

and in

Acts 16:30 … “Sirs, what must I do so that I can be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household!”

so let us take Jesus words and fight the fight, not with sword or anger or force of our will, but with the Love of God because in

John 13:35 “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.”

When You See a Cloud Coming Up

Luke 12:54-56

Make An Effort to Come to A Settlement

Luke 12:57-59

Do You Think That These Were Worse Sinners

Luke 13:1-5 

If It Produces Fruit

Luke 13:6-9
Jesus is communicating the urgency of the work at hand and tells the parable of the fig tree. It begins with the owner looking for fruit on his tree and his frustration in

Luke 13:7 So he said to the gardener, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and did not find any. Cut it down! Why should it even exhaust the soil?’

But the gardener intervenes to give it special care to see that it will produce. This is much like the work of Jesus Christ as he, in Hebrews 7:25 “is able to save completely those who draw near to God through him, because he always lives in order to intercede on their behalf”. And we also have, in John 14:26 “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name—that one will teach you all things, and will remind you of everything that I said to you”.

 

Is It Not Necessary That She be Released From This Bond

Luke 13:10-17
As Jesus is teaching in the synagogue in Luke 13:10 he notices a women that was bent over in Luke 13:11.

Luke 13:12–13 And when he saw her, Jesus summoned her and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability!” 13 And he placed his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and glorified God”.

There were several things that happened before she was healed. Jesus was teaching so her faith began to rise. The attention shifted from teaching to her need. Then, Jesus spoke to her, he spoke to the woman and declared her freedom from her disability. And then, in Luke 13:13 he placed his hands on her. In this case it says she had a spirit that disabled her, but Jesus didn’t speak to the spirit as he had with the man with the legion. Here, he spoke to her to be free and then touched her body for restoration to her full normal stature.

This is God’s will, as Jesus demonstrated in Matthew 12:15 “and many followed him, and he healed them all”.

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Luke 12:13-59
  • Luke 13:1-17

References

Devotions

The Holy Spirit Will Teach You

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As Jesus is teaching, he is also demonstrating the power of God to heal and free people from demonic influence. More and more are coming but others begin to join the crowds. Some that would be his disciples and follow him, but also in Luke 5:17 “Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village”. Now, Jesus begins to speak to these who have come to judge his teaching as they have done through their history in Luke 11:49 “I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,”. But what Jesus came to deliver is a new covenant and an outpouring of his Holy Spirit for all that will accept him. Now, for us, a teacher, guiding us into all truth. 

The Sign of Jonah

Luke 11:28-32
Jesus is recognized by more and more people and his message changes in Luke 11:29 “as the crowds were increasing”. In the early days, many of the people came to be healed and delivered. As news of Jesus teachings and miracles spreads, others come to be his disciples and still others, including Scribes and Pharisees come to test him. In

Luke 5:17 “And it happened that on one of the days as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was there in order for him to heal”.

Now Jesus reminds them of Ninevah (see Jonah 3:4) and the Queen of Sheba (see 1 Kings 10:1–2, 2 Chronicles 9:1) and how these recognized the work of the Lord in their midst. This also tells us that we will not only stand before the judgement seat of Christ, but there will be witnesses that will speak against those that refused to turn to righteousness.

Your Eye is the Lamp of the Body

Luke 11:33-36

Give as Charitable Giving the Things That are Within

Luke 11:37-48 

I Will Send Them Prophets and Apostles

Luke 11:49-54
God doesn’t judge anything before the time. We aren’t judged when we have a thought, but when we take an action. It is the shedding of blood that is judged but that only comes after the word of the Lord has been rejected. This may seem harsh, that the Lord would allow some to be killed, but in the Lord’s righteous judgement, he will not condemn for what someone might do. So, in

Luke 11:49 “For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’”

But for us, through Jesus Christ, there is forgiveness of our sin and we are told in

2 Corinthians 10:4 “for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but powerful to God for the tearing down of fortresses, tearing down arguments 5 and all pride that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”.

The Lords greatest power was exercised as Christ died for us and He raised Christ from the dead. When we accept this, the Lord gives us a new heart and his Holy Spirit and our thoughts are changed as we are being transformed into the image of Christ.

Everything You Have Said in the Dark

Luke 12:1-3

Fear the One Who Has Authority

Luke 12:4-7

 

The Holy Spirit Will Teach You

Luke 12:8-12
As Christians, we don’t need to know everything. We just need to know Jesus Christ and his plan for our salvation. But knowing him isn’t the only reason we are here. He also says, in Luke 12:8 “everyone who acknowledges me before people, the Son of Man also will acknowledge him before the angels of God”. There are times for us to tell others about the goodness of God and how he has changed our lives. It is good for us to write out our testimony as a way to gain some confidence and clarity in our own minds, and that will help us when we are teaching or speaking to a small group of willing hearers. Here though, Jesus is talking specifically about persecution. Here Jesus is talking about what you will say, not to your peers, but when you are brought in front of authorities, leaders, those that have power over you in

Luke 12:11 “But when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you should speak in your own defense or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what it is necessary to say.”

And what you will say may be something like Peter and John in Acts 4:1-31 or as Stephen responds in Acts 6:8-7:60.

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Luke 11:29-54
  • Luke 12:1-12
Devotions

You Have Hidden These Things

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The Lord is not hiding who he is. He has not hidden his character and nature that in Romans 1:20 “from the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, both his eternal power and deity, are discerned clearly, being understood in the things created”. But his plan of salvation has not been seen, the delegation of authority over spirits through Jesus Christ was not known. Now, Jesus celebrates that in in Luke 11:20 “the kingdom of God has come upon you!”. Now, for us, in Christ, we know that in Luke 11:10 “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened”. The kingdom of heaven is open to us. 

You Have Hidden These Things From the Wise and Intelligent

Luke 10:21-24
God has been revealing himself to men since the foundation of the world. And we know that in

Romans 1:20 “For from the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, both his eternal power and deity, are discerned clearly, being understood in the things created, so that they are without excuse”.

So it isn’t that God couldn’t be known. Jesus rejoicing in Luke 10:21 is to the revelation of authority to his disciples as they are sent in Luke 10:1-3. This is something new, “their passionate, devoted, activity springs from abilities which he has given, not which they have evolved, and from understanding which he has revealed, not which they have attained. Indeed, the thing which above all else makes Christ’s people what they are, is the fact that every one of them can say, (Galatians 2:20) ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.’14 Thus the account of the return of the seventy reaches forward in time, and captures the essence of the new age of the Spirit which is to begin at Pentecost: the supernatural indwelling power of Christ among and within his people”.1

This power in the Holy Ghost is what had been hidden, “that the spirits are subject to you … that your names are inscribed in heaven” in Luke 10 20, these things were hidden from the wise of the world.

Do This and You Will Live

Luke 10:25-37

Mary Has Chosen the Better Part

Luke 10:38-42

Teach Us To Pray

Luke 11:1-4 

Everyone Who Asks Receives

Luke 11:5-13
Jesus is teaching his disciples about the kingdom. In Luke 11:1-4 he gives them the well known Lords prayer which is all most people ever hear. But Jesus went on to also give them this message of persisting in asking. People often misunderstand the kinds of prayer that Jesus is presenting here.

In the Lord’s prayer, there is a recognition of who the Father is, Holy, and a call for his kingdom to come and be established on the earth, but the main focus is on our daily life, that we have the food we need, that we recognize our own sin as it happens and forgive others and that we walk in the path of holiness as we go forward.

There are also times when we pray, that we are asking the lord to do something that he has already said he would do. For example, in

James 5:15–16 “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much”.

So we can trust the Lord to forgive and to heal, and in James he follows with the example of Elijah in James 5:17 “he prayed fervently” in 1 Kings 17:1 he spoke out the words and it did not rain. In these cases, where the will of God is known , where the Lord has given us a covenant promise, we pray and believe, and receive.

Jesus though, goes on to this other area where we are unsure, where we have come to an unmet need, where we need an answer from the Lord. In these times, Jesus says, keep on asking, keep on knocking, and in

Luke 11:9 “ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you”

and we can confidently know the answer will come. We will receive, we will find, the way will be opened in

Luke 11:10 “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened”.

 

A House Divided

Luke 11:14-26
Jesus is doing what no one else could in Luke 11:14 “he was expelling a mute demon” and “when the demon came out, the man who had been mute spoke and the crowds were astonished”. It is in our nature to try to explain what we can’t understand so in Luke 11:15 “some of them said, “By Beelzebul the ruler of demons he expels demons!” and in Luke 11:16 “others, in order to test him, were demanding from him a sign from heaven”.

Their responses reveal something about what they believe and the first group believed that the devil has power over men so Jesus must in Luke 11:18 “expel demons by Beelzebul” but they aren’t thinking right because there were among them, those that “practiced incantations intended to ward off or remove evil spirits; for example, among the Dead Sea Scrolls (ca. 250 BC–AD 50), an incantation text commonly called Aramaic Exorcism was discovered”.2

The second group doesn’t know how he expelled the demon so they want some other demonstration of his power to confirm Jesus authority. Jesus doesn’t indulge them he simply says in Luke 11:20 “But if I expel demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you!”

And since the demon was expelled, Jesus has already confirmed that “the kingdom of God has come” and Jesus admonishes them to choose saying in Luke 11:23 “The one who is not with me is against me, and the one who does not gather with me scatters”.

Hear the Word of God and Follow It

Luke 11:27-28

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Luke 10:21-42
  • Luke 11:1-28

References

  • 1. Wilcock, M. (1979). The Savior of the world: the message of Luke’s gospel (p. 122). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
  • 2. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Lk 11:19). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Devotions

The Kingdom of God Has Come Near

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Jesus begins to prepare for the end of his earthly ministry and in Luke 9:51 “when the days were approaching for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem”. He teaches his disciples as he goes and they reacted when he is rejected in Luke 9:54 they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” but this isn’t the message Jesus came to deliver. He came to say, in Luke 9:60 “go and proclaim the kingdom of God”. He came to say in Luke 10:11 “the kingdom of God has come near!” and he demonstrated that by, in Luke 10:13 “the miracles that were done”.

Two Men Were Talking With Him About His Departure

Luke 9:28-36

They Were All Astounded

Luke 9:37-45

Who Might Be Greatest

Luke 9:46-48

He Does Not Follow in Company With Us

Luke 9:49-50 

He Set His Face To Go To Jerusalem

Luke 9:51-56
Jesus is in Capernaum and sets himself to go to Jerusalem. The route for many would be about one hundred twenty miles through Tiberius, along the Jordan river to Jericho and West to Jerusalem. Jesus wanted to take the shorter route through Samaria. This may have been the route he traveled with his parents as a child, about ninety miles. Their weren’t hotels at every little stop like we have today, so in Luke 9:52 “he sent messengers … and they … entered into a village … And they did not welcome him”. This delayed their arrival in Jerusalem and added extra miles making this a harder journey than necessary so in Luke 9:54 “James and John … said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” but this isn’t the heart of God. Jesus in Luke 9:55 “rebuked them (James and John)” and refused to take any offense. Jesus simply went on in Luke 9:56 “to another village”. 

Follow Me

Luke 9:57-62
Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and many others were also on the road because it was the time for the Passover. In

Luke 9:57 “And as they were traveling on the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go!””

Jesus answers in Luke 9:58 “the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” which seems an odd response. So why did this person want to follow Jesus? It seems this person expected to get something from him but following Jesus is not about wealth or power or position and we cannot appoint ourselves in God’s kingdom.

Then Jesus initiated the request in

Luke 9:59 “And he said to another, “Follow me!” But he said, “Lord, first allow me to go and bury my father.””

Jesus responded in Luke 9:60 “leave the dead … you go and proclaim the kingdom of God”. When God calls, there is a commission, “proclaim the kingdom of God”, and that is what we are to be doing.

Then in Luke 9:61 “another person also said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first … ””. There are many things in life that we think are important, but our priority must always be “the kingdom of God”. What do you have to say in response to “God’s call”? Is it “I answered!”.

Ask The Lord of the Harvest

Luke 10:1-9 

The Kingdom of God Has Come Near

Luke 10:10-20
Jesus came to bring a message to the world in Luke 10:11 “the kingdom of God has come near!”. Before this, the Lord had spoken through prophets as it says in 2 Peter 1:21 “men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God”. But now, the message is coming through Jesus Christ the very son of God as also recorded in 2 Peter 1:17 “For he received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice such as this was brought to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.””.

Jesus did also speak of himself when he read from Isaiah 61:1 in

Luke 4:18–19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because of which he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send out in freedom those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

Then Jesus demonstrated the will and purpose of God with signs for all to see in

Matthew 4:23 “And he went around through all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and every sickness among the people”.

And as it is recorded in

Acts 10:38 “Jesus of Nazareth—how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him”.

We also find the demonstration of power to heal in these other references “Jesus, attested by God with mighty works, wonders and signs (Acts 2:22); God confirmed the word with the signs that followed (Mark 16:20); the Lord bore witness to his word with signs and wonders (Acts 14:3); God bore witness with signs and wonders (Heb. 2:4)”1

So when he says in Luke 10:13 “Woe to you”, they will be without excuse. And it is true that they should have recognized the power of God in their presence. But there is another message that Jesus adds here. He goes on describing Satan fallen and in the world in Luke 10:18 “I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven” and also says in

Luke 10:19 “Behold, I have given you the authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will ever harm you”.

In this age, we must take our place, and stand as it also says in Ephesians 6:10-18.

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Luke 9:28-62
  • Luke 10:1-20

References

  • 1. Day, A. C. (2009). Collins Thesaurus of the Bible. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.