Luke Part 3 Week 11

Day 1 

RECEIVE 

Luke 20:1-2 

¹ One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. ² They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?” 

The religious leaders were always questioning Jesus. Now they want to know the authority that gave Him the right to teach what He was teaching and preaching the gospel. They seemed to realize it was a person because they asked, “Who gave you the right?”  

REFLECT 

Think how much these religious leaders knew about the Old Testament in their time, yet they did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Just knowing information in the Bible is not enough. 

RESPOND 

Join with a friend to talk about the authority pastors and all Christians have. Their authority is the Bible, the Word of God. If one does not believe the Bible, that person’s opinions are no better than any other person’s opinion. These are “notional” Christians. The have a notion about what the Bible teaches but it is not supported by the Bible. 

Day 2 

RECEIVE 

Luke 20:3-4 

³ “Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. ⁴ “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”  

Rather than Jesus attempting to answer the unbelieving religious leaders, He asked them a question. Jesus wanted to know where these leaders thought John the Baptist got his authority. Did his authority “come from heaven, or was it merely human.” How would these unbelieving leaders answer Jesus’ question?  

REFLECT 

Have you ever asked a person where he got his authority for what he was saying?  

RESPOND 

Today when discussing various moral issues, it is easy for people to differ. A good question can be, “On what do you base your opinion?” Some who deny the teaching of the Bible will reveal they only have a human source for their opinion. With a friend read Romans 1:18-32 to see that all people are without excuse. 

Day 3 

RECEIVE 

Luke 20:5-8 

⁵ They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. ⁶ But if we say it was merely human, the people will stone us because they are convinced John was a prophet.” ⁷ So they finally replied that they didn’t know. ⁸ And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.” 

The unbelieving religious leaders realized they were on the horns of a dilemma. No matter what they answered they would be in trouble. Their solution was to say they didn’t know where John the Baptist received his authority. Because they refused to answer the question Jesus asked, He refused to answer their question. 

REFLECT 

Have you thought about redirecting a difficult question by asking another one? Try it sometime. 

RESPOND 

Visit with a friend about how to answer a difficult question. You may say, “I’m not sure about the answer to that but I’ll get back to you about it later.” Then you could go on to say what you do know for sure about Jesus being the only way of salvation (John 14:6). You could also add that someday we will all meet Jesus face to face either as our Savior or as our Judge. 

Day 4 

RECEIVE 

Luke 20:9-10 

⁹ Now Jesus turned to the people again and told them this story: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and moved to another country to live for several years. ¹⁰ At the time of the grape harvest, he sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers attacked the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed.” 

Jesus then told his listeners another story, or parable. One will be able to see in this story how it was referring to the servants of God who had been sent to earth but were scorned. At that time, all that was available for the people to read is what is now called the “Old Testament” or “Old Covenant.” But even that gave prophecies about a coming Messiah. 

REFLECT 

As you read the New Testament in your Bible with study notes, do you also go back to the Old Testament to check on prophecies being mentioned? 

RESPOND  

When Saul of Tarsus became converted and began using his Gentile name Paul as he was later sent to the Gentiles, all he had was the Old Testament. Yet as one reads the book of Acts he sees Paul going into synagogues to preach about the Messiah to the Jewish people. Some use what the theologian Augustine said, “In the Old Testament the New is concealed, in the New the Old is revealed.” 

Day 5 

RECEIVE 

Luke 20:11-13 

¹¹ “So the owner sent another servant, but they also insulted him, beat him up, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² A third man was sent, and they wounded him and chased him away. ¹³ ‘What will I do?’ the owner asked himself. ‘I know! I’ll send my cherished son. Surely they will respect him.’” 

As Jesus continued the story, the opposition to the owner became greater as the servants kept being mistreated. Do you see how the story is leading up to God sending His “cherished son” in hopes they would respect Him. As the listeners heard this story, one wonders if they began guessing the ending of the story.  

REFLECT 

Telling Bible stories is a good way to teach the Bible to others. Those who work with children know this, and good Bible teachers use illustrations for the same purpose.  

RESPOND 

Talk with a friend about picking out a story in the Bible and then trying to memorize enough of it you could tell that story to someone else without reading it. Not only knowing the story but also knowing where to find it in the Bible will be helpful to you.