Read Luke 12:1-12. Our Lord has arrived in Jerusalem to attend the Feast of Dedication which occurred around December 18th. He is well known by this time, and many people are coming to hear Him speak. He teaches His disciples about what they will face in the coming days in verses 12:1-12. Again remember that the viewpoint from which our Lord speaks does not see the church. This mystery was still hidden at this time to be revealed through the apostle Paul following the ascension of our Lord. What was revealed in the Old Testament was that Messiah would come, be rejected by the nation, die as a sacrifice for sin, and then be resurrected. Our Lord has told His disciples that He would leave and then return to claim the Kingdom. From the book of Daniel, we know that between His death and the establishment of the Kingdom, a week of years (7 years) would elapse. This is the period we call the Tribulation. What isn’t seen here as our Lord addresses His followers is the long age of the church intervening between His ascension and the rapture, but rather what is in view is these seven last years following the rapture before our Lord returns to take up His Kingdom. While we do not live in these days, the applications are valid for us as well.
1. When Jesus warns His disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees, to what does leaven refer?
Sin
2. What is the sin of the Pharisees?
Hypocrisy
3. Why does Jesus tell His followers not to be afraid of those who can only kill the body?
His followers will soon face death for their faith.
Read Luke 12:13-34. A question from someone in the crowd is the issue that this passage concerns.
4. What was the request someone made of our Lord?
Tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.
5. What was our Lord’s response to this man (his brother and the multitude in general)?
Beware against any form of greed, for your life does not consist of your possessions.
6. What parable does Jesus tell to drive this point home?
The parable of the man who had so much he had to build more storage facilities, but then he died, and his wealth did Him no good.
7. What kind of “treasure” should we labor for? (See verse 21 and Jeremiah 9:23-24.)
We should labor to be rich toward God.
8. Do we collect possessions because we have a materialistic attitude, or do we have a materialistic attitude because we have collected possessions? Explain.
While one definitely feeds and strengthens the other, verse 34 seems to indicate that where our possessions are, there will our hearts be. As a general rule, the more we have, the more we love what we have and the more we desire!
Read Luke 12:35-59. Jesus continues to teach about the coming of the Kingdom.
9. What does Jesus tell His followers about the coming of the King in verses 12:35-40?
That you must be prepared, He will return unexpectedly.
10. What is Jesus telling His followers about the coming of the Kingdom in verses 12:41-48?
That those who are doing what the Lord wants them to be doing will be rewarded, those who are doing their own thing because they do not expect Him to return will be judged.
11. What do you think it means that Jesus came to cast fire upon the earth, and He wishes that it were already burning in verse 12:49?
He came to set up the Kingdom and judge the earth. This judgment will be carried out during the seven years prior to His Return, the time of the Tribulation. It is a time of “fire” upon the earth! He wishes this were started.
12. What do you think Jesus meant by His statement that He had a baptism to undergo, and He is distressed until this is accomplished?
One thing He is referring to is the fact He must die on the cross; He did not look forward to this at all! Also included, I believe, is the fact that although He will righteously judge the earth prior to His return, this terrible time of judgment, while rightly deserved and righteously given, is not something our Lord rejoices in. While He must judge and do so harshly, it grieves Him to have to do this. He would much rather have a person repent and accept His forgiveness than pour out wrath upon them!
13. What do you think it means when Jesus says He did not come to grant peace upon the earth but division?
He will bring peace ultimately, but the process will divide people.
14. In verses 13:54-56, what is Jesus saying to the crowds?
He is saying that they are unable to discern the signs of the coming Kingdom.
Read Luke 13:1-9. During the Feast of Dedication, Jesus was asked about or told of a group of Jews that the governor had executed. While the question or statement is not given to us, it is possible to determine what it might have been.
15. From what Jesus tells the crowd in verse 13:2, what about these Galileans was the issue?
That they were great sinners
16. What was general thinking behind the idea that the eighteen men killed by the falling tower had to have been evil?
If God allowed something bad to happen to you, it was punishment for sin; the worse the circumstances, the worse the sin was that supposedly evoked these circumstances.
17. What did Jesus tell his hearers about their sin in comparison to these two groups of people who were killed?
He said that they were no better than these people, and unless they repented, they were doomed.
18. What parable did Jesus tell in verses 13:6-9?
It was the parable of the fig tree that did not bear fruit and was about to be cut down.
19. What do you think the point of this parable might be?
We are not immediately judged by God when we sin; He patiently allows us to go on, doing everything possible to bring us to Him. But eventually, those apart from Him will be judged.
The Applications:
What are the applications of these passages to our lives today? Identify as many as you are able.
1. We live today in the age of the church. For us, it is a comfortable time, relatively speaking, at least for us in the west. We are not persecuted for our faith. Rather, it is even fashionable to attend church, for it raises one’s status to some degree in many circles. In our comfort and amid the plethora of our possessions, we have forgotten about the King, that He will return! Instead, our thinking goes something like this,
“Who can know when this will be? It hasn’t happened in 2000 years! Maybe our theology was wrong. Maybe there is not a second coming. In any case, why think about this today? Live for the moment! Get all you can out of life now! God has given me many material blessings; why not enjoy them, for it would be wrong to deny what God has given me?”
We, in the church in the west, live for the most part in luxury compared to the rest of the world. We may not be farmers trying to build bigger barns to store our produce, but we try to build bigger IRA’s and 401-K’s. We do this, so in our later years after we retire, we may say, “I have a good retirement laid up for many years to come; relax now, eat, drink and enjoy the rest of your life.” Yet how different is that from the rich man who says, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry?”
While it is indeed true that our Lord’s exhortations to His followers in Luke 12:13 to 48 are addressed to believers who will be living in the times of the Tribulation period rather than to us living in the age of the church, we must clearly remember the principles found here apply to us today just as surely as they did to the disciples living right after our Lord’s ascension to His Father. We would not deny what our Lord said to them applied to them; and, if it applied to them, it applies to us as well.
This passage is one that is very uncomfortable to most of us. It raises questions that we do not want to ask or discuss. It touches us where we are the most sensitive, in our wealth and possessions, in our comfort and ease. Our Lord says, “And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.” How much time and effort should we devote to providing for our families? At what point does this transform into providing for ourselves? Our Lord says, “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” How many of our possessions should we sell? How much are we to keep? At what level of wealth are we to stop?
We are not under any law or requirement to give a certain amount. Tithing, giving 10 percent, was a requirement for Israel under the Law. It was to provide for the priesthood and the upkeep and functioning of the temple. It was not commanded or extended to the church. The principle for giving in the church age, the age in which we live, is found in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7; “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Giving then is to be an individual thing. What I give is not the pattern for you; what you give is not how I should give. It is not compulsory. It is not to be done grudgingly. If you feel begrudged to give, don’t give! It is a private thing between you and your Lord. It is to be done freely, willingly and cheerfully.
How then do we mesh these New Testament principles with the instructions of our Lord in Luke 12? I believe the answers relate to our attitudes toward wealth. If we view our wealth as the primary means of providing for ourselves now and in our later years, then we are failing to trust our Lord to provide as He has promised. We will begrudge giving it up for it will affect our comfort and ease and living conditions. If, on the other hand, we view our wealth as a gift from our Lord over which we are stewards to administer it as best we are able, then we are freer to give cheerfully.
What is your attitude toward your wealth? Is it a weight which drags you down or a resource to be employed in the service of your Lord?
2. The common opinion in our Lord’s day was that what happened to you was an indication of your standing before God. If you were well off in material wealth, it was so because God had blessed you and you were favored by Him. If misfortune struck you, it was so because of some unknown and terrible sin in your life. Therefore those that were killed by Pilate or those killed in the falling of the tower really have had to be terrible sinners for God to allow that to happen. Our Lord’s reply was that those to whom He was speaking were no better off. They, too, needed to repent, or they too would perish.
How often do we also compare ourselves to others so that we might feel a bit better about our own level of righteousness? We do not pick the ones Pilate killed or those on whom the tower fell; nevertheless, we do pick others who look worse than we appear! We pick that neighbor who parties all the time and is not known for his sobriety. We single out others who look worse than we look. And by comparison, we look better. Yet the standard with which we must continually compare ourselves and the paradigm which we strive to emulate is the person of our Lord and none other.