Queen's Road Cell

 5. The religious men were willing to set aside their rules about Sabbath work for the sake of one of their sons or animals (see 14:4). If they would do this and disallow the healing of strangers, what was wrong with their practice? The passage has similarities to 13:10ff   It showed double standards - hypocrisy. They refused to commit to an answer, because they knew they were wrong. This refusal to face their own wrong in the light of what they should have known.disqualified them from Jesus' regard. (cf. John 5:43-45: 43  I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44  How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45  Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope .) Jesus did not exclude himself from the company of His enemies - He still went whe...

 The 2 miracles recorded today prepare the reader for the questions of John the Baptist in 7:18ff 10. Scripture records only two occasions where Jesus was 'amazed' (Mk 6:6, Lk 7:9). What was it about the centurion that amazed Jesus? Scripture has a positive view of the character of centurions (Lk 23:47; Acts 10:22; 22:26; 23:17, 23; 24:23; 27:1, 43) This particular individual: valued those under him (v.2) loved the nation and people he was occupying (v.5) showed that love by generously building the synagogue at Capernaum was humble ('worthy' vs 4 vs, 'not worthy' v.6). He sees Jesus as greater. He sent messengers (possibly changing his mind after asking Jesus to 'come' v. 3), described his own place in a heirarchy. Matthew's account (8:5-13) seems to show that the centurion came personally to see Jesus, but it is likely that Matthew "gives the gist of the centurion’s communication to Jesus, whereas Luke in greater detail gives the actual seque...

  9. Why did God have His Son born in the circumstances described in 2:7, rather than in a royal or at least comfortable, household? (see Luke 6:20, 9:58, 22:27; 2 Cor 8:9)   The verses tell us that Jesus was poor and came to serve. He upended the world's idea of 'blessing' as being rich. This indeed is the pattern of all God's working in the Bible. He chooses the small and insignificant (Dt 7:7-8), like king David (1 Sa 16:11) and peasants in Galillee  to exalt and to accomplish His great and wise purposes. 10. What does 2:1-20 reveal about: Jesus' identity (2:11) 'Saviour' (cf. 1:47, Jn 4:42) 'Christ' - the Messiah, the Anointed One. (cf. Jn 1:41, 4:25) - empowered for ministry. 'The Lord ' (cf. Acts 2:36; 2 Cor. 4:5; Phil. 2:11) How people and angels reponded to his coming (2:8-20)  The angels were 'praising God' The shepherds were filled with great fear. They quickly went to look for the baby, told Mary and Joseph what the ang...

We noted that discipling (mentoring one-on-one) is not necessarily something all of us feel comfortable doing. Some feel that we need mentors, although we know that needing a mentor does not mean that we are not able to mentor someone else. We can mentor as long as there is a "spiritual gradient" between mentor and mentoree. There are prerequisites (e.g. spiritual hunger, calling, commitment) that need to be present to make a mentoring relationship secure. We should be praying for someone to mentor. I would add that if you need a mentor, you should be praying for a mentor as well! We had a side discussion on whether Jesus failed to take Ian Malin's advice when He chose Judas. John 6:64 assures us that Jesus used foresight to choose someone 'right' for the role of betraying him after 3 years. But in general, we should choose mentorees who are i) faithful (loyal, trusting, dependent) to God and ii) able to teach others what they have learned. We side-tracked into ...

We studied Luke 15, a chapter with 3 parables (The lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son). These parables have in common something that was lost, then found, followed by rejoicing. Jesus taught the parables in response to the charge by the scribes and Pharisees that He "received (= eagerly awaited", c.f. Lk 2:25, 2:38, 12:36). sinners and ate (= had fellowship, cf. Rev 3:20) with them. "Sinners" refers to those on the fringes of respectable society - the outcasts and despised because of their lifestyle. Tax collectors and prostitutes were the usual sinners of gospel times, but we should be looking at our own society and context to ask where we would find 'sinners' to identify with and seek to save. I mentioned that the story of Tony Campolo and the prostitute's birthday is worth reading (http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Bible/Agnes.htm). The Kingdom of God is a party where we invite others to join in true joy and celebration! Jesus teaches in the parab...