Luke 13.22-14.35 – In, Out, Shake it all About

Jesus holds open the gate to the kingdom of God and offers an urgent but costly invitation to enter in; not least to the people of Jerusalem.  But in the kingdom of God things are not as they might first appear.  For there will come a time when those who thought they were automatically in God’s kingdom will find themselves thrown out of it, and many who thought themselves to be out of God’s kingdom will instead be drawn in to it.  Those who sit down and eat the feast of God’s kingdom will indeed be a surprising and perhaps even ‘shocking’ group of people – people with all kinds of moral, social, ethnic, cultural, ethical and physical backgrounds.  And this is simply the result of the strange workings of God’s grace.

• ‘All those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted’ (14.11).  Why do you think the kingdom of God operates on principles like this?

• In your experience what reasons do people give for not accepting the invitation to share in God’s kingdom?

• How could you help people to accept God’s invitation?

• In what ways is the invitation to enter God’s kingdom a costly one?

Luke 12.22-13.21 – Be Prepared

Jesus prepares his followers for the events to come after his death.  He encourages them not to worry, and to be watchful and discerning of all that is going on around them.  From Roman occupation and the oppressive regimes of Pilate and Herod, to the arrogant and hypocritical leadership of the Jewish religious authorities – and then, in the middle of it all, Jesus himself; a young prophet proclaiming the coming of God’s kingdom, healing the sick and calling people to live a fruitful life of repentance.  Can the people not see that this is the moment that all of Israel’s history has been waiting for?  That the time for her to respond is therefore short?  

• Can you sense the urgency in Jesus’ voice here?  And if so, what does that urgency have to say to you about the way in which you live out your faith?

• In what ways are you (and/or your Life Group) bearing fruit for God’s kingdom?  

• In what ways are you anxious today?

• Can you bring those anxieties to God in prayer, in the knowledge that you are subject to God’s care, and that he knows what you need even before you ask? 

Luke 11.37-12.21 – Kingdom Priorities

Jesus challenges the hypocrisy and pride of the Pharisees and lawyers, accusing them of neglecting the justice and love of God in favour of a detailed outward observance of religious piety and practice that leaves the heart untouched.  The warnings are stark and dire.  There is talk of judgment, hell-fire, of being disowned and being cut-off.  And the warnings are not just for the Pharisees and the lawyers, but for anyone who might think that life is to be found in material comfort or an abundance of possessions.
    
• Who do you think the ‘Pharisees’ and the ‘lawyers’ are in today’s society?

• Is your understanding and practice of the gospel leading you into a confrontation with the agendas of our world?

• Where and how can you stand up for God’s love and justice?

• What are you ‘storing up’ on earth that you might need to surrender in order to live more by kingdom priorities than by worldly ones? 

Luke 10.38-11.36 – Spiritual Life

Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray and assures them of his provision and the presence of God's kingdom.  In doing so he announces that God’s ways and God’s timing is best.  Yet in those ways and in that time, Jesus continues to reveal something radically new – God’s grace knows no boundaries.  For by sitting at the feet of Jesus, Mary crosses an invisible yet strictly demarcated social and familial boundary; only men would meet in the public room of a house, with quarters unseen by outsiders belonging to the women.  So Mary is behaving as if she were a man!  But Jesus affirms her right to do so.  God’s kingdom is simply boundary-breaking.

• In what ways is your relationship to Jesus leading you to be a boundary-breaker?

• What is it that you’re currently asking God for?

• Imagine what it will be like when God’s kingdom is fully here on earth as it is in heaven?  How might this help you pray today?

• Can you commit to praying the Lord’s Prayer each day for the rest of Lent?

Luke 10.1-37 – Loving Action

The seventy-two discover that Jesus’ ways really do work; the kingdom of God comes in power through signs and wonders.  Jesus’ task and the work that is to occupy his followers is to defeat Satan; to usher in God’s new creation in which evil and even death itself are banished.  But as Jesus then explains to a lawyer, the kingdom of God is also a kingdom that comes through practical demonstrations of love and grace; actions that shatter religious, cultural and social boundaries, and so bring God’s peace to his people.

• Do you think you can do what the seventy-two did today?

• Are you aware that as a follower of Jesus you are ‘sent out’ to engage in a cosmic battle?

• Can you recognise those who are radically different to you as your ‘neighbour’, and so love them in the way described in v.27?

• Who can you demonstrate God’s love, grace and peace to today? 

Luke 9.46-62 – Following Well

Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem begins.  From now on Jerusalem is his goal; the city to which Jesus will travel in obedience to God’s call, and where God’s redemptive plan and the rejection of his Messiah will be realised.  And this is one of Luke’s most significant pictures for what it means to be a Christian – travelling in obedience to God’s call.  Following Jesus is what it’s all about.  But following Jesus has serious implications for the trajectory of life.  People discover that their own ambitions and plans, purposes and expectations are called into question.  For Jesus’ followers everything must be secondary to the call to follow him and announce God’s kingdom.
     
• ‘Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem’ (v.51).  What is it that God is currently asking you to face resolutely in obedience to him?

• Is your relationship to Jesus the defining priority of your life?

• What conditions are you currently attaching to following Jesus?

• Are you prepared to follow Jesus wherever he leads and whatever the cost?     

Luke 9.18-45 – Seeing Jesus

Who am I?  This is the question that Jesus brought to his first disciples and brings to us again today.  For some he was simply a prophet, to be identified in the tradition of Elijah and John the Baptist (and others) who pointed towards the coming of God’s kingdom.  But Jesus was so much more.  Prophet - yes; but not one who simply pointed towards a distant divine kingdom.  No, that kingdom was actually being realised in and through his person; it was appearing before people’s very eyes - something that Peter knew; you’re the Messiah, he says, God’s anointed king.  A king however who had come to die in Jerusalem.  In God's kingdom, life only comes through death.

• If someone asked you today ‘Who is Jesus?’ what would you say?

• ‘If you want to gain your life, you have to lose it.’ How does this make you feel?

• What do you need to ‘lose’ for the sake of Jesus?

• In what ways can you see God’s kingdom appearing before your eyes?