Queen's Road Cell

 We celebrated Qin’s birthday! 

1. What mission did Jesus give the seventy-two? (10:1-2, 9) To herald his ministry (v.1) To gather in the harvest (v.2) To bless people with peace(v.5) To heal the sick (v.9) To proclaim the coming kingdom (v.11)   The number appears to be symbolic of the nations of the world, a view the Jews based on Genesis 10, where there are seventy names in the Hebrew text and seventy-two in lxx The gospel is for the whole world. Some, however, associate the number with that of the elders appointed by Moses (Num. 11:16f., 24f.; seventy-two with the two who remained in the camp). They see Jesus as the second Moses. Others think of the seventy members of the Sanhedrin (Morris) 70 may also refer to the household of Jacob (Gen 46:27). i.e. the 12 in Chapter 9 refer to the patriarchs of Israel = the apostles, and the 70, to the whole household of Israel =  the whole church of God. (Wilcox)   2. What might the disciples have leared about the priorities in their mission from the follo...

Luke now brings together four short incidents which show the disciples’ lack of faith, their slowness to learn, their pride and their intolerance.(Morris) Why were Jesus' disciples unable to cast out the evil spirit (9:41, cf. Mark 9:28-29)? What do you make of that? Does it have any relevance to us today?   The private enquiry of the disciples tells us that they were surprised that they could not cast out the demon. Jesus identified the reason:'except by prayer (and fasting)', and implied that there are different types of demonisation. ("this kind"). There is no harsh condemnation of the disciples, so "faithless and perverse generation" (cf. Dt 32:5) probably does not refer only to the disciples, or the boy's father, who had imperfect but existent faith. We should take the address then as ‘to all people who are present and had failed to show faith enough for the healing of the boy’ (Morris). This passage reminds us that extraordinary works requi...

14. How does the disciples' understanding of Jesus exceed that of the crowds (see 9:18-20)?   Peter speaks on their behalf in identifying Christ as the Messiah. Luke has previously noted that that was proclaimed by the angels (2:11) and Simeon (2:26). The demons (4:41) also knew this, calling him the Son of God Jesus immediately tells them not to reveal this (v.21) so that there are no wrong expectations   15. What new aspect of Christhood does Jesus want His disciples to understand? (see 9:22) Jesus immediately teaches that being Messiah means death for him.   16. Recall 6:40. What does Jesus' mission (see 9:22) imply for His disciples (see 9:23-24)? Jesus immediately followed his announcement of his death with teaching on the cross his followers ('vif anyone') must bear. The man or woman who plans and intends to save their life will lose it; the one who actually lose their life for His sake will save it. One form of 'saving' is to preserve for oneself.  It p...

Notes: 'Tetrarch' is a technical term only Luke uses among the Synoptic writers. Herod was one of 4 rulers over the previous territory of Herod the Great.   Herod's conscience was perhaps troubling him when he thought of John the Baptist. So he wanted to see Jesus for himself, perhaps to check up on whether he was John 9. How was the mission of the Twelve related to Jesus' own mission? (compare 7:22, 8:1, 9:2) Jesus healed (the blind, lame, lepers, deaf) , raised the dead and preached the good news to the poor (7:22). He proclaimed and brought the good news of the kingdom of God through cities and villages (8:1).  Now He sends the twelve to proclaim the kingdom of God (i.e. the gospel) and to heal (9:2, 6). The disciples perform the same mission. This is training for when He has gone. He empowers them, gives them authority (likely, temporariiy, cf. 9:40) and sends them out.  'Power' is to have the ability/capicty to accomplish a task, 'authority' is to h...

Notes The crowd 'welcomed Him' (cf. the Gerasenes, who asked him to depart from them, v.37)   Luke says that the people 'pressed round' Jesus, where his verb is that used of the thorns crushing out the wheat in the parable (8:14). The woman touched the fringe of his garment, i.e. the tassel on the end of the square garment that was thrown over the left shoulder and hung down the back (Num. 15:38ff.)   Because this complaint made her ceremonially unclean (Lev. 15:25ff.), the sufferer was not permitted to take any part in temple worship or the like. Her uncleanness was readily communicable to other people (a touch was all that was needed, Lev. 15:27). Luke mentions spending money on physicians, but Mark (5:26-27) is more critical ("suffered much under many physicians...spent all she had...'no better but rather grew worse')   There is the first mention of the inner group of 3 in Luke (cf. Lk 8:51)   6. Once again, Jesus revealed His power (see 8:40-56). What d...

 4. a. What do the disciples learn about Jesus in 8:22-25? In Mark the disciples rebuke the Lord "Do you not care if we perish?" Mk 4:38) and in Matthew they call out to Jesus to save them (Mt 8:25). Jesus rebuked the wind as God rebuked the Red Sea (Ps 106:9) and ruled over the waters (Ps 89:9) The point Luke wants his readers to note is "Who then is this?" (v.25). Mastery over the forces of nature is authority of a higher order than authority over illness. In the presence of Jesus' power the disciples are again 'afraid' (Gk. phobeo ) cf. Mt 8:25 b. What do they learn about themselves?   "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" are also Jesus' questions to us. The disciples had shown fear (Gk deilos ) rather than faith. They knew Jesus could help but did not see that His mere presence with them already assured their safety although he was asleep in the boat. They learned that they did not know Jesus well enough.  What did the...