# Luke 1–24 — Complete O·I·A Study — Berean Dashboard Study

_Seeking God diligently — “examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11)_

Started: 2026-11-10 · Each chapter integrated with its Luke Deep Dive (Guzik, Sproul, Spurgeon, Henry)

## Marking legend

- **gold** — God — His character & actions
- **green** — Command / instruction
- **sky** — Key repeated word
- **rose** — Sin / warning
- **violet** — Promise / blessing
- **amber** — Time / place / contrast

## Chapters

- Luke 1 — Nothing Will Be Impossible with God
- Luke 2 — A Savior Born in the City of David
- Luke 3 — Prepare the Way of the Lord
- Luke 4 — The Spirit of the Lord Is upon Me
- Luke 5 — Not the Righteous but Sinners
- Luke 6 — Merciful as Your Father Is Merciful
- Luke 7 — The Word That Heals, Raises and Forgives
- Luke 8 — Take Care How You Listen
- Luke 9 — The Christ of God and the Road to the Cross
- Luke 10 — Lambs, Neighbors and the One Thing
- Luke 11 — Lord, Teach Us to Pray
- Luke 12 — Rich Toward God, Ready for the Master
- Luke 13 — Unless You Repent
- Luke 14 — Come, for Everything Is Ready
- Luke 15 — Lost and Found
- Luke 16 — You Cannot Serve God and Wealth
- Luke 17 — Faith That Forgives, Thanks and Watches
- Luke 18 — Who Receives the Kingdom?
- Luke 19 — The King Comes to His City
- Luke 20 — The Stone the Builders Rejected
- Luke 21 — Lift Up Your Heads
- Luke 22 — This Is My Body, Given for You
- Luke 23 — The Innocent One Crucified
- Luke 24 — He Is Not Here, but He Has Risen

## Luke 1 — Nothing Will Be Impossible with God

### Marked in the text

- v4 — **“the exact truth”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v4 — **“the certainty of those things”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v6 — **“walking blamelessly in all the commandments”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v6 — **“walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v7 — **“Elizabeth was barren”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v7 — **“Elisabeth was barren”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v13 — **“your petition has been heard”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v13 — **“thy prayer is heard”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v15 — **“filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v15 — **“filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v17 — **“in the spirit and power of Elijah”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v17 — **“in the spirit and power of Elias”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v17 — **“to make ready a people prepared for the Lord”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v20 — **“because you did not believe my words”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v20 — **“because thou believest not my words”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v25 — **“to take away my disgrace among men”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v25 — **“to take away my reproach among men”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v28 — **“The Lord is with you”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v28 — **“the Lord is with thee”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v31 — **“you shall name Him Jesus”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v31 — **“shalt call his name JESUS”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v33 — **“His kingdom will have no end”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v33 — **“of his kingdom there shall be no end”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v35 — **“The Holy Spirit will come upon you”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v35 — **“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v37 — **“nothing will be impossible with God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v37 — **“with God nothing shall be impossible”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v38 — **“may it be done to me according to your word”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v38 — **“be it unto me according to thy word”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v41 — **“the baby leaped in her womb”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v41 — **“the babe leaped in her womb”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v45 — **“blessed is she who believed”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v45 — **“blessed is she that believed”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v47 — **“God my Savior”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v47 — **“God my Saviour”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v51 — **“He has scattered those who were proud”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v51 — **“he hath scattered the proud”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v52 — **“has exalted those who were humble”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v52 — **“exalted them of low degree”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v63 — **“His name is John”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v64 — **“his mouth was opened”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v68 — **“He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v68 — **“he hath visited and redeemed his people”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v69 — **“horn of salvation”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v74 — **“serve Him without fear”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v74 — **“serve him without fear”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v77 — **“the forgiveness of their sins”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v77 — **“the remission of their sins”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v78 — **“the Sunrise from on high”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v78 — **“the dayspring from on high”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v79 — **“To guide our feet into the way of peace”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v79 — **“to guide our feet into the way of peace”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v80 — **“until the day of his public appearance to Israel”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v80 — **“till the day of his shewing unto Israel”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v50 — **“mercy”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v32 — **“Most High”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v32 — **“Highest”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** Luke writes an orderly account for Theophilus (vv1–4). In the days of Herod, the priest Zacharias is chosen by lot to burn incense in the temple, and Gabriel promises him a son (vv5–25). Six months later Gabriel is sent to Nazareth, to a virgin named Mary (vv26–38). Mary hurries to Elizabeth in the hill country of Judah and stays about three months (vv39–56). John is born, named and circumcised, and Zacharias prophesies (vv57–79); the child grows up in the deserts (v80).

**Structure:**
- vv1–4 — **the preface:** many accounts; eyewitnesses and servants of the word; “investigated everything carefully”; “so that you may know the exact truth.”
- vv5–25 — **the angel and Zacharias:** righteous, blameless, barren, old (vv5–7); chosen by lot to burn incense (vv8–10); the angel at the altar — “your petition has been heard” (vv11–13); John: great, no wine, filled with the Spirit, the spirit and power of Elijah (vv14–17); “How will I know this for certain?” — silent until it happens (vv18–20); the waiting people, the mute priest (vv21–23); Elizabeth conceives — “to take away my disgrace” (vv24–25).
- vv26–38 — **the annunciation:** the sixth month, Nazareth, a virgin engaged to Joseph (vv26–27); “Greetings, favored one!” (vv28–30); Jesus — Son of the Most High, David’s throne, a kingdom with no end (vv31–33); “How can this be?” — the Holy Spirit will overshadow you (vv34–35); Elizabeth as a sign; nothing impossible with God (vv36–37); “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord” (v38).
- vv39–56 — **the visit and the Magnificat:** Mary hurries to Judah (vv39–40); the baby leaps; Elizabeth filled with the Spirit; “Blessed are you among women … blessed is she who believed” (vv41–45); “My soul exalts the Lord” — God my Savior, His mercy, the great reversal, help to Israel, the promise to Abraham (vv46–55); three months (v56).
- vv57–80 — **John’s birth and the Benedictus:** birth and rejoicing (vv57–58); the naming — “His name is John” (vv59–63); the tongue loosed, fear and wonder (vv64–66); Zacharias’ song: God has visited and redeemed; a horn of salvation; the holy covenant and the oath to Abraham (vv67–75); “And you, child” — prophet of the Most High; forgiveness; the Sunrise from on high (vv76–79); the child in the deserts (v80).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “Lord” ×17 — vv6, 9, 11, 15, 16, 17, 25, 28, 32, 38, 43, 45, 46, 58, 66, 68, 76.
- “God” ×13 — vv6, 8, 16, 19, 26, 30, 32, 35, 37, 47, 64, 68, 78.
- “child / baby / son” ×14 — vv7, 13, 31, 32, 35 (×2), 36, 41, 44, 57, 59, 66, 76, 80.
- “angel” ×10 — vv11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 26, 30, 34, 35, 38.
- “speak / spoke(n) / mouth / tongue” ×10 — vv19, 20, 22, 45, 55, 64 (×3), 70 (×2).
- “name / named” ×9 — vv5 (×2), 13, 27 (×2), 31, 49, 61, 63; “call / called” ×9 — vv26, 32, 35, 36, 59, 60, 61, 62, 76.
- “Elizabeth” ×9; “Zacharias” ×8; “Mary” ×7.
- “holy” ×8 — vv15, 35 (×2), 41, 49, 67, 70, 72; “Holy Spirit” ×4 — vv15, 35, 41, 67.
- “father(s)” ×8 — vv17, 32, 55, 59, 62, 67, 72, 73.
- “fear / afraid” ×6 — vv12, 13, 30, 50, 65, 74.
- “joy / gladness / rejoice” ×6 — vv14 (×3), 44, 47, 58.
- “behold” ×6 — vv20, 31, 36, 38, 44, 48.
- “mercy” ×5 — vv50, 54, 58, 72, 78; “blessed” ×5 — vv42 (×2), 45, 48, 68.
- “womb” ×5 — vv15, 31, 41, 42, 44.
- “salvation / Savior” ×4 — vv47, 69, 71, 77; “Most High” ×3 — vv32, 35, 76; “visit(ed)” ×2 — vv68, 78.

**Contrasts:** Many accounts ⟷ the exact truth (vv1–4). Righteous ⟷ barren (vv6–7). Zacharias’ unbelief ⟷ Mary’s faith (vv18–20, 34–38, 45). The temple in Jerusalem ⟷ a home in Nazareth (vv9, 26). Silence ⟷ praise (vv20, 64). Proud, rulers, rich ⟷ humble, hungry (vv51–53). Custom (“Zacharias, after his father”) ⟷ God’s word (“His name is John,” vv59–63). Darkness and the shadow of death ⟷ the Sunrise from on high (vv78–79).

**Shape of the chapter:** two announcements side by side (5–25, 26–38), the two mothers meeting (39–45), and two songs (46–55, 67–79). Each half moves from a promise to its keeping, and both songs end at Abraham (vv55, 73).

**Chapter theme (my words):** God remembers. After centuries of silence He answers an old couple’s prayer, sends the forerunner, and announces His Son to a humble virgin who believes. Mary and Zacharias both sing the same thing: God has visited His people in mercy, exactly as He promised Abraham.

### Interpretation

**Why does Luke begin with a preface?** Because the faith is history. Sproul: “Luke is saying, “I am not an eyewitness, but I am a historian, and as a historian, I check the sources.”” Guzik: his “account was based on diligent research.” The goal is *asphaleia* — solid ground for a man already taught (v4).

**Was Zacharias’ barrenness a punishment?** No. They were “righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly” (v6). Sproul: “There was no hidden sin.” Guzik: they were righteous “yet also stigmatized by their barrenness.” Elizabeth felt it as “disgrace among men” (v25); God saw it as the setting for a miracle.

**Which petition was heard?** Guzik thinks both — the private prayer for a son and the priestly prayer for Israel’s redemption: “Zacharias didn’t know that God would answer both prayers at once.” Henry: “Prayers made when we were young … may be answered when we are old.”

**Why was Zacharias struck silent when Mary was not?** Their questions look alike (vv18, 34). Guzik: his was “skeptical unbelief,” hers “wonder-filled faith.” Sproul is blunt: “Abraham got mercy. Zacharias got justice,” because “When I don’t believe what God says, I am assaulting the very integrity of the Almighty.” Henry: his question “was not a humble petition for the confirming of his faith.” Yet the silence was also mercy — a sign he carried in his own body until the promise came true.

**How is John “Elijah”?** Not Elijah reincarnated, but “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (v17), fulfilling Malachi 4:5–6. Guzik notes that Jesus later said this was fulfilled in John (Matt 11:14; 17:12). I hold, with many futurists, that Malachi’s “great and terrible day of the LORD” still has a future fulfillment as well, but Luke’s point is plain: John prepares the way for the Lord.

**A virgin conception.** Sproul: “At no time in the history of the world, however, had any woman ever had a child while she remained a virgin.” The Holy Spirit “will overshadow you” (*episkiazō*) — the cloud of God’s presence, not anything crude (Morris, quoted by Guzik). The holy Child is called the Son of God (v35). Isaiah 7:14 had promised a virgin’s son named Immanuel.

**What about Mary?** “Favored one” (*kecharitōmenē*) means graced — she received grace, she does not dispense it (Guzik). She calls God “my Savior” (v47); Liefeld (in Guzik): “Only sinners need a Savior.” Sproul honors her as “humble, … willing, and … obedient,” and warns: “Mary is not divine. She is a sinner saved by grace, just as we are.” All generations call her blessed (v48) — blessed because “she … believed” (v45).

**David’s throne and the house of Jacob (vv32–33).** Gabriel promises Jesus “the throne of His father David” and a reign “over the house of Jacob forever.” That is 2 Samuel 7:16 kept to the letter. I read it literally: the Son of David will reign over a restored Israel in the kingdom to come, and His kingdom will have no end. Henry notes the irony: “His people will not give him that throne” — at first.

**The unborn baby.** John is filled with the Spirit “while yet in his mother’s womb” (v15) and leaps for joy (v44). Luke calls him a *brephos*, a baby — the same word for Jesus in the manger (2:12). Sproul: “the child in her womb was alive, was human, and was a person.”

**The Magnificat.** Guzik counts Hannah’s song and “at least 12 other allusions to the Old Testament.” Sproul: Mary memorized Scripture. The song moves from what God did for her (vv46–49) to what He does for all who fear Him (vv50–53) to what He promised Israel and Abraham (vv54–55).

**The Benedictus.** Sproul: God “has visited” (*episkeptomai*) — and His visits bring either redemption or judgment, so no one can be neutral about Christ. The song centers on the Messiah first (vv68–75), then turns to John (“And you, child,” vv76–77), and ends with the Sunrise (*anatolē*) shining on those in darkness (vv78–79).

**Word study (Greek):**
- **eyewitnesses — *autoptai* (G845):** those who saw for themselves; only Luke 1:2.
- **exact truth — *asphaleia* (G803):** certainty, firmness, safety (v4; Acts 5:23).
- **petition — *deēsis* (G1162):** a specific request from need (v13).
- **bring good news — *euangelizō* (G2097):** Luke’s gospel verb, first on Gabriel’s lips (v19; 2:10).
- **disgrace — *oneidos* (G3681):** reproach, shame (v25).
- **favored one — *charitoō* (G5487):** graced; only Luke 1:28; Eph 1:6.
- **overshadow — *episkiazō* (G1982):** to envelop with a cloud (v35; 9:34).
- **bondslave — *doulē* (G1399):** a female slave (vv38, 48; Acts 2:18).
- **leaped — *skirtaō* (G4640):** leaped for joy (vv41, 44; 6:23).
- **exalts — *megalynō* (G3170):** to make great, magnify (v46).
- **humble state — *tapeinōsis* (G5014):** low estate (v48).
- **visited — *episkeptomai* (G1980):** to look upon with care (vv68, 78; 7:16).
- **horn — *keras* (G2768):** a horn, strength (v69).
- **Sunrise — *anatolē* (G395):** dawn, the rising; the Branch (v78).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **Faith stands on history** — Luke checked his sources (Sproul).
2. **Godly people still suffer** — no hidden sin (vv6–7).
3. **Old prayers are not forgotten prayers** (Henry).
4. **Unbelief is a moral problem** — it robs us of the joy (Sproul, Guzik).
5. **Same question, different heart** — vv18 and 34 (Guzik).
6. **Grace received, not grace to give** — *kecharitōmenē* (v28).
7. **The right answer to every promise** — “may it be done to me according to your word” (v38).
8. **The unborn are persons** — *brephos* (v41).
9. **God turns the world upside down** (vv51–53).
10. **The silence ends in praise** (vv63–64).

**Cross-references:** Gen 18:14; 25:22; 1 Sam 1–2; 2 Sam 7:12–16; 1 Chron 24:10; Ps 103:17; 132:17; Isa 7:14; 9:2, 6–7; 40:3; Jer 23:5; Mal 3:1; 4:2, 5–6; Matt 11:14; Luke 7:16; Acts 1:1; Gal 4:4–5; Eph 1:6; 1 Tim 2:5; Jas 4:6.

### Application

**Example to follow — Zacharias and Elizabeth.** They kept walking blamelessly through years of disappointment and kept showing up to serve (vv6–9). Some of the men I serve have waited years for a prodigal, a marriage, a release date. Faithfulness in the waiting is not wasted. This week I will keep serving where God has put me, even while the prayer I care about most is still unanswered.

**Sin to confess — unbelief dressed up as realism.** “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man” (v18). I have done exactly that: looked at the circumstances first and what God can do last. Sproul is right — that is not an intellectual problem but a moral one; it calls God a liar. I confess it, and I ask Him to open my mouth in praise instead of doubt.

**Command to obey — say yes to God’s word.** Mary did not understand everything, and it would cost her reputation. She still said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word” (v38). There is something in God’s Word I have been negotiating with. Today I stop negotiating and say yes.

**Promise to trust — “nothing will be impossible with God.”** That word was spoken over a barren woman and a virgin (vv36–37). It does not mean God will do whatever I want; it means no word of His will fail. The men I sit with in recovery and behind the walls need to hear that the God who opened Elizabeth’s womb can open a hardened heart — including mine.

**Example to follow — Mary’s song.** She knew her Bible so well that when joy came, Scripture came out (vv46–55). I want my mouth so full of God’s Word that it is what comes out under pressure. This week I will memorize part of the Magnificat or the Benedictus.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. Luke wrote so Theophilus could know “the exact truth” about what he had been taught. What do I believe about Jesus only because someone told me, and what have I checked for myself? (1:1–4; 2 Pet 1:16) *Faith stands on things that actually happened (Sproul).*
2. Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous and still carried a deep disappointment for years. What long-standing prayer have I stopped praying — and why? (1:6–7, 13) *Your petition has been heard.*
3. When God’s promise came, Zacharias “looked at the circumstances first, and what God can do last” (Guzik). Where am I doing the same right now? (1:18–20) *Unbelief did not cancel the promise; it cost him the joy.*
4. Mary called herself the Lord’s bondslave and said, “may it be done to me according to your word,” knowing what it might cost her reputation. What is God’s word asking me to say yes to that will cost me something? (1:34–38) *She was humble, she was willing, and she was obedient (Sproul).*
5. Mary’s song says God scatters the proud and fills the hungry. Am I coming to God full of myself or hungry for Him? (1:51–53; James 4:6) *They come full of self, and are sent away empty of Christ (Henry).*
6. Zacharias’ first words after nine months of silence were praise. What would my first words be if God gave me a second chance at faith today? (1:63–68) *God gave Zacharias a second chance at faith (Guzik).*

**Worship.** The Lord God of Israel remembers. He heard a priest’s prayer at the altar, sent His angel to a nobody town, overshadowed a virgin by His Spirit, and gave His Son the throne of David forever. He is the Mighty One whose name is holy, whose mercy is on those who fear Him, who visited His people and raised up a horn of salvation — the Sunrise from on high.

**Prayer.** Lord God, You have never forgotten a promise. Forgive me for looking at my circumstances first and at You last. I am Your bondslave; may it be done to me according to Your word. Fill me with Your Spirit, humble my pride, feed my hunger, and open my mouth to praise You. Shine on the men who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, and guide our feet into the way of peace. Amen.

## Luke 2 — A Savior Born in the City of David

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“a decree went out from Caesar Augustus”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v1 — **“there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v4 — **“the city of David which is called Bethlehem”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v4 — **“the city of David, which is called Bethlehem”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v7 — **“laid Him in a manger”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v7 — **“laid him in a manger”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v7 — **“there was no room for them in the inn”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v9 — **“the glory of the Lord shone around them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v9 — **“the glory of the Lord shone round about them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v10 — **“Do not be afraid”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v10 — **“Fear not”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v10 — **“good news of great joy which will be for all the people”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v10 — **“good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v11 — **“a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v11 — **“a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v14 — **“Glory to God in the highest”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v14 — **“on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v14 — **“on earth peace, good will toward men”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v16 — **“they came in a hurry”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v16 — **“they came with haste”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v19 — **“pondering them in her heart”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v19 — **“pondered them in her heart”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v20 — **“glorifying and praising God”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v21 — **“His name was then called Jesus”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v21 — **“his name was called JESUS”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v24 — **“A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v24 — **“A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v25 — **“looking for the consolation of Israel”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v25 — **“waiting for the consolation of Israel”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v29 — **“depart in peace”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v30 — **“my eyes have seen Your salvation”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v30 — **“mine eyes have seen thy salvation”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v32 — **“A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v32 — **“A light to lighten the Gentiles”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v34 — **“a sign to be opposed”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v34 — **“a sign which shall be spoken against”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v35 — **“a sword will pierce even your own soul”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v35 — **“a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v37 — **“serving night and day with fastings and prayers”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v37 — **“served God with fastings and prayers night and day”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v38 — **“the redemption of Jerusalem”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v38 — **“redemption in Jerusalem”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v40 — **“the grace of God was upon Him”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v40 — **“the grace of God was upon him”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v46 — **“after three days”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v49 — **“I had to be in My Father’s house”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v49 — **“I must be about my Father's business”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v51 — **“He continued in subjection to them”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v51 — **“was subject unto them”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v52 — **“increasing in wisdom and stature”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v52 — **“increased in wisdom and stature”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v22 — **“according to the law”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v25 — **“looking”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** Caesar Augustus orders a census, and Joseph takes Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where she gives birth and lays her Son in a manger (vv1–7). Angels announce the birth to shepherds in the nearby fields, who hurry to see and then tell others (vv8–20). On the eighth day He is circumcised and named Jesus; after the days of purification He is presented in the temple, where Simeon and Anna recognize Him (vv21–38). The family returns to Nazareth (vv39–40). At twelve, at Passover, Jesus stays behind in the temple and is found after three days among the teachers; He goes home and grows (vv41–52).

**Structure:**
- vv1–7 — **the birth in Bethlehem:** Caesar’s decree, the first census under Quirinius (vv1–3); Joseph goes up from Nazareth to the city of David with Mary, who is with child (vv4–5); her firstborn son, wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger — no room in the inn (vv6–7).
- vv8–20 — **the angels and the shepherds:** shepherds keeping watch by night; the glory of the Lord (vv8–9); “Do not be afraid” — good news of great joy; a Savior, Christ the Lord; the sign of the manger (vv10–12); the heavenly host: “Glory to God in the highest” (vv13–14); “Let us go straight to Bethlehem” — they find Him (vv15–16); they make it known; all wonder; Mary treasures and ponders; the shepherds return glorifying God (vv17–20).
- vv21–38 — **Simeon and Anna:** circumcised and named Jesus (v21); purification, presentation, the offering of two birds (vv22–24); Simeon — righteous, devout, waiting, the Spirit upon him (vv25–27); “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant” — salvation, a light to the Gentiles, the glory of Israel (vv28–32); the fall and rise of many; a sign opposed; a sword (vv33–35); Anna, eighty-four, never left the temple; she speaks of Him to those looking for redemption (vv36–38).
- vv39–52 — **the boy Jesus in the temple:** back to Nazareth; the Child grows; the grace of God upon Him (vv39–40); Passover at twelve; He stays behind; a day’s journey; three days of searching (vv41–45); found among the teachers, listening and asking; all amazed (vv46–47); “Son, why have You treated us this way?” — “I had to be in My Father’s house” (vv48–50); subject to them; Mary treasures; Jesus increases in wisdom, stature and favor (vv51–52).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “Lord” ×10 — vv9 (×2), 11, 15, 22, 23 (×2), 24, 29, 39.
- “look(ing) / found / find” ×10 — vv12, 16, 25, 38, 44, 45 (×2), 46, 48, 49.
- “child / Child / baby / boy / son” ×10 — vv5, 7, 12, 16, 17, 27, 34, 40, 43, 48.
- “God” ×7 — vv13, 14, 20, 28, 38, 40, 52.
- “see / seen / saw” ×7 — vv15, 17, 20, 26 (×2), 30, 48.
- “Jerusalem” ×6 — vv22, 25, 38, 41, 43, 45; “days” ×6 — vv1, 6, 21, 22, 43, 46.
- “law / Law” ×5 — vv22, 23, 24, 27, 39 (“according to the law” in vv22, 24, 39; “the custom of the Law,” v27).
- “census / register” ×5 — vv1, 2, 3 (×2), 5; “city” ×5 — vv3, 4 (×2), 11, 39.
- “angel(s)” ×5 — vv9, 10, 13, 15, 21; “shepherds” ×4 — vv8, 15, 18, 20.
- “told / made known” ×5 — vv15, 17 (×2), 18, 20.
- “glory / glorifying” ×4 — vv9, 14, 20, 32; “amazed / wondered / astonished” ×4 — vv18, 33, 47, 48.
- “Mary” ×4; “mother” ×4 — vv33, 34, 48, 51; “Jesus” ×4 — vv21, 27, 43, 52.
- “manger” ×3 — vv7, 12, 16; “temple” ×3 — vv27, 37, 46; “Holy Spirit / Spirit” ×3 — vv25, 26, 27; “Israel” ×3 — vv25, 32, 34.
- “heart(s)” ×3 — vv19, 35, 51; “treasured / pondering” ×3 — vv19 (×2), 51.
- “peace” ×2 — vv14, 29; “salvation / Savior” ×2 — vv11, 30; “wisdom” ×2 — vv40, 52.

**Contrasts:** Caesar Augustus ⟷ a baby in a manger (vv1, 7). The city of David ⟷ no room in the inn (vv4, 7). Night fields ⟷ the glory of the Lord (vv8–9). Glory in the highest ⟷ peace on earth (v14). The crowd wondered ⟷ Mary treasured and pondered (vv18–19). The offering of the poor ⟷ the firstborn holy to the Lord (vv23–24). Release in peace ⟷ a sword (vv29, 35). Fall ⟷ rise (v34). Gentiles ⟷ Israel (v32). “Your father and I” ⟷ “My Father’s house” (vv48–49). The temple ⟷ subjection in Nazareth (vv49, 51).

**Shape of the chapter:** two scenes in Bethlehem (birth, shepherds) and two in the temple (presentation, Passover at twelve), with Nazareth as the frame (vv4, 39, 51). Each scene ends with someone responding — glorifying, praising, giving thanks, treasuring.

**Chapter theme (my words):** God keeps His promise to David through a pagan census and a feeding trough. The Savior is announced to the lowly, keeps the Law as a baby, is recognized by those who were waiting, and grows up knowing He belongs to His Father — and still goes home and obeys.

### Interpretation

**Is Luke’s history reliable?** Guzik: “This is not “once upon a time.”” Luke names Caesar Augustus and Quirinius. The census has been debated because Quirinius’ well-known census was in AD 6 (Acts 5:37); Guzik reads “the first census” (v2) as distinguishing this one from that later enrollment. I hold that Luke, who has been tested more than any ancient historian (Sproul, Luke 1), got it right.

**Why Bethlehem?** Because Micah 5:2 said the ruler of Israel would come from there, and because Joseph “was of the house and family of David” (v4). Henry: “Bethlehem signifies the house of bread” — the Bread of Life was born in the house of bread and laid in a feeding trough.

**What was “the inn”?** *Katalyma* means a lodging or guest room (22:11). Whatever the building, there was no space, and the Son of God began life where animals ate. Guzik: “That there was no room in the inn was symbolic of what was to happen to Jesus.” Spurgeon: “By being in a manger He was declared to be the king of the poor.”

**Why shepherds?** Sproul calls them “the lowest people of the land.” God announced His Son first to working men on the night shift. Henry: “We are not out of the way of divine visits when we are sensibly employed in an honest calling.”

**“Peace among men with whom He is pleased” (v14).** The NASB follows the manuscripts that read *eudokias* — men on whom God’s good pleasure rests; the KJV reads “good will toward men,” which Spurgeon preached. Either way, the peace is God’s gift through the Savior, not something men achieve. Guzik: “Let God have all the glory, so we may have the peace.”

**Why was the sinless Jesus circumcised and “redeemed”?** Sproul: circumcision signified the removal of sin, yet Jesus “was perfectly sinless from the moment of His conception to the moment of His death.” He kept the Law for us — “born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law” (Gal 4:4–5). Sproul: “The Redeemer, in following the law, had to be redeemed before He could ever save anyone.” Henry: His blood was shed “by drops” on the eighth day and “in purple streams” on the cross.

**Simeon’s two oracles.** The first is praise: salvation prepared before all peoples, “A light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel” (v32, Isaiah 49:6). The second is warning: “the fall and rise of many in Israel,” “a sign to be opposed,” and a sword for Mary (vv34–35). Guzik: “Jesus is like a magnet.” Sproul: “there will be no neutrality for your son.” I note that Simeon calls Jesus “the glory of Your people Israel” — God has not finished with Israel; the stone they stumbled over (Isa 8:14) will yet be their glory (Rom 11:11–12, 26).

**Anna.** A widow for decades, she “never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers” (v37). Guzik: she “knew pain and loss but had not become bitter.” Henry: “Those that have an acquaintance with Christ themselves should do all they can to bring others acquainted with him.”

**How could a twelve-year-old astonish the teachers?** Sproul: not by switching on His deity — “Jesus didn’t have to rely on His divine nature to astound anybody.” His human mind was untouched by sin. “Find a perfect human being and see what they can learn in twelve years.” Spurgeon: “Hot spirits think that they are not serving God when they are learning; but in this they err.”

**“My Father’s house.”** His first recorded words (Spurgeon) answer Mary’s “Your father and I” with “My Father’s.” The Greek has no noun — “in the things of My Father” — so “house” (NASB) and “business” (KJV) are both fair. The verb is *dei*, the divine must. Then He “went down … and He continued in subjection to them” (v51). Guzik: “Jesus went from vision to duty.”

**Word study (Greek):**
- **census — *apographē* (G582):** an official enrollment (v2; Acts 5:37).
- **wrapped in cloths — *sparganoō* (G4683):** bound in strips of cloth (vv7, 12).
- **manger — *phatnē* (G5336):** a feeding trough (vv7, 12, 16; 13:15).
- **inn — *katalyma* (G2646):** a lodging, guest room (v7; 22:11).
- **host — *stratia* (G4756):** an army (v13).
- **good pleasure — *eudokia* (G2107):** God’s favor (v14; Eph 1:5).
- **pondering — *symballō* (G4820):** to throw together, compare (v19).
- **consolation — *paraklēsis* (G3874):** comfort, calling alongside (v25; Isa 40:1).
- **releasing — *apolyō* (G630):** to set free, dismiss (v29).
- **sign — *sēmeion* (G4592); opposed — *antilegō* (G483):** a sign spoken against (v34).
- **sword — *rhomphaia* (G4501):** a long, broad blade (v35).
- **redemption — *lytrōsis* (G3085):** ransoming (v38; 1:68).
- **amazed — *existēmi* (G1839):** beside themselves (v47); **anxiously — *odynaō* (G3600):** in anguish (v48).
- **had to — *dei* (G1163):** the divine necessity (v49).
- **in subjection — *hypotassō* (G5293):** to rank oneself under (v51).
- **increasing — *prokoptō* (G4298):** to cut one’s way forward (v52); **favor — *charis* (G5485):** grace (vv40, 52).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **God moves emperors to keep a promise** (Henry, Guzik).
2. **The sign was a manger** (Spurgeon).
3. **The gospel came first to the lowly** (Sproul, Guzik).
4. **Glory to God, peace to men — in that order** (v14).
5. **Two ways to hear the news** — wonder or treasure (vv18–19).
6. **The Redeemer was redeemed** (Sproul).
7. **The Lamb came with the offering of the poor** (Henry).
8. **Ready to die because he had seen** (Spurgeon).
9. **No neutral ground** (Sproul).
10. **Jesus grew** — in wisdom, stature, favor, and obedience (vv51–52).

**Cross-references:** Gen 35:19; Exod 13:2, 12–13; Lev 12:2–8; Num 18:15–16; Deut 16:16; 1 Sam 2:26; 2 Sam 7:12–13; Isa 8:14; 9:6–7; 40:1; 49:6; 52:10; Mic 5:2; Mal 3:1; Matt 2:1–23; John 1:14; Acts 5:37; Rom 11:11–12, 26; Gal 4:4–5; Phil 2:7; Heb 2:17; 5:8.

### Application

**Example to follow — the shepherds.** They heard, they went “in a hurry,” they found Him, they told others, and they went back to their flocks “glorifying and praising God” (vv15–20). Nothing about their job changed; everything about them did. Many of the men I serve work hard jobs no one honors, or no job at all right now. God sent His first gospel message to men like that. This week I will tell one man, plainly, what I have seen Jesus do.

**Sin to confess — no room.** I have crowded Jesus out — not with hostility but with busyness, screens, worry and my own plans (v7). Spurgeon asked whether there was room even in the church. I confess the full inn of my heart, and I ask Him to move in and take the best room.

**Example to follow — Mary’s pondering.** She did not understand everything (v50), but she “treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart” (vv19, 51). When I don’t understand what God is doing, I don’t have to quit; I can keep it, turn it over, and wait. Spurgeon: “When you cannot put a truth into your understandings, yet lay it up in your affections.”

**Promise to trust — “depart in peace.”** Simeon was ready to die because he had held God’s salvation in his arms (vv29–30). That peace is for every believer (Spurgeon) — but it grows out of a life lived in peace with God now. Some of the men I sit with have buried friends this year. Christ makes it possible to face death with open hands.

**Command to obey — ordinary obedience.** The Son of God knew who His Father was, and He still went home to Nazareth and “continued in subjection” to His parents for eighteen years (v51). I want big assignments; God often gives me faithful, hidden ones. This week I will do the ordinary things in front of me — my job, my family, my word — as my Father’s business.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. Caesar thought he was running the world; God used his decree to bring Mary to Bethlehem. Where am I tempted to think the powerful people in my life are in control instead of God? (2:1–7; Mic 5:2; Prov 21:1) *Providence had another reach in it (Henry).*
2. There was no room for them in the inn. What in my schedule, my habits or my heart is crowding Jesus out right now? (2:7) *Make room for Christ, even if the world makes no room for you (Spurgeon).*
3. God sent the first gospel message to shepherds working the night shift. What does that tell me about how God sees men the world overlooks — including me? (2:8–12) *The first preacher of the gospel was an angel (Guzik).*
4. The shepherds went “in a hurry,” then told everyone; Mary quietly pondered. Which one do I need more of this week — urgency or reflection? (2:15–20) *The way to keep the truths of Christ safe is to ponder them (Henry).*
5. Simeon could say “depart in peace” because he had seen God’s salvation. If my life ended this week, could I say the same? What would need to change? (2:25–32) *No man can depart in peace who has not lived in peace (Spurgeon).*
6. Jesus knew He belonged in His Father’s house, and still went home and obeyed His parents for eighteen years. Where is God calling me to faithful, ordinary obedience? (2:49–52; Heb 5:8) *From vision to duty (Guzik).*

**Worship.** The Christ of God was laid in a feeding trough, announced by an army of angels to men nobody noticed, carried into the temple with the offering of the poor, and held in the arms of an old man who said he had seen enough. He is the Savior, Christ the Lord; a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of God’s people Israel; the Son who was always about His Father’s business, and the boy who obeyed a carpenter.

**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, You came low enough for shepherds and sinners to reach You. Forgive me for leaving You no room. Make my heart a place where You are welcome, teach me to treasure Your words when I don’t understand them, and give me Simeon’s peace — the peace of a man who has seen Your salvation. Make me faithful in the ordinary places, about my Father’s business, until the day You release Your servant in peace. Amen.

## Luke 3 — Prepare the Way of the Lord

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v2 — **“the word of God came to John”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v2 — **“the word of God came unto John”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v3 — **“for the forgiveness of sins”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v3 — **“for the remission of sins”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v4 — **“MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v4 — **“Prepare ye the way of the Lord”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v6 — **“ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v6 — **“all flesh shall see the salvation of God”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v7 — **“You brood of vipers”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v7 — **“O generation of vipers”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v7 — **“flee from the wrath to come”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v8 — **“bear fruits in keeping with repentance”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v8 — **“fruits worthy of repentance”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v8 — **“We have Abraham for our father”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v8 — **“We have Abraham to our father”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v9 — **“the axe is already laid at the root of the trees”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v9 — **“the axe is laid unto the root of the trees”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v11 — **“The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v11 — **“He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v13 — **“Collect no more than what you have been ordered to”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v13 — **“Exact no more than that which is appointed you”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v14 — **“be content with your wages”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v16 — **“One is coming who is mightier than I”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v16 — **“one mightier than I cometh”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v16 — **“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v16 — **“he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v17 — **“He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v17 — **“the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v18 — **“he preached the gospel to the people”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v18 — **“preached he unto the people”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v19 — **“all the wicked things which Herod had done”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v19 — **“all the evils which Herod had done”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v20 — **“he locked John up in prison”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v20 — **“he shut up John in prison”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v21 — **“while He was praying, heaven was opened”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v21 — **“praying, the heaven was opened”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v22 — **“the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v22 — **“the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v22 — **“You are My beloved Son”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v22 — **“Thou art my beloved Son”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v22 — **“in You I am well-pleased”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v22 — **“in thee I am well pleased”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v23 — **“about thirty years of age”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v23 — **“as was supposed”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v31 — **“the son of David”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v34 — **“the son of Abraham”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v38 — **“the son of Adam, the son of God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v38 — **“the son of Adam, which was the son of God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v3 — **“repentance”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v7 — **“baptized”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v10 — **“what shall we do”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v10 — **“What shall we do”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** About AD 28–29, “in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar” (v1), with Pilate in Judea, Herod Antipas in Galilee, and Annas and Caiaphas over the temple (vv1–2). The word of God comes to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness, and he preaches through the district around the Jordan (vv2–3). Jesus is baptized there with all the people (v21) and is “about thirty years of age” (v23).

**Structure:**
- vv1–6 — **the voice in the wilderness:** seven rulers named; “the word of God came to John” (v2); a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (v3); Isaiah 40:3–5 — make ready the way, every ravine filled, “all flesh will see the salvation of God” (vv4–6).
- vv7–14 — **fruit and the axe:** “You brood of vipers” (v7); bear fruits in keeping with repentance, not “We have Abraham” (v8); the axe at the root (v9); “What shall we do?” — the crowds (vv10–11), tax collectors (vv12–13), soldiers (v14).
- vv15–20 — **the Spirit and fire:** are you the Christ? (v15); water vs. the Holy Spirit and fire; not fit to untie His sandals (v16); the winnowing fork, wheat and chaff (v17); “he preached the gospel” (v18); Herod reprimanded, John locked up (vv19–20).
- vv21–22 — **the heavens opened:** Jesus baptized and praying; the Spirit like a dove; “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
- vv23–38 — **the line back to God:** about thirty; “as was supposed” the son of Joseph (v23); seventy-seven names, through Nathan and David (v31), Abraham (v34), Noah (v36), Adam, “the son of God” (v38).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “son” ×79 — v2, v22, and seventy-seven times in the genealogy (vv23–38): “the son of …” runs from Joseph to God.
- “baptize / baptized / baptism” ×7 — vv3, 7, 12, 16 (×2), 21 (×2).
- “John” ×4 — vv2, 15, 16, 20; “Herod” ×4 — vv1, 19 (×2), 20.
- “God” ×4 — vv2, 6, 8, 38.
- “what shall we do” ×3 — vv10, 12, 14.
- “fire” ×3 — vv9, 16, 17.
- “Abraham” ×3 — vv8 (×2), 34.
- “way / paths / roads” ×3 — vv4 (×2), 5.
- “people” ×3 — vv15, 18, 21; “crowds” ×2 — vv7, 10.
- “repentance” ×2 — vv3, 8; “fruit(s)” ×2 — vv8, 9; “tree(s)” ×2 — v9 (×2).
- “wilderness” ×2 — vv2, 4; “Holy Spirit” ×2 — vv16, 22.

**Contrasts:** Rome’s rulers ⟷ a voice in the wilderness (vv1–2). Brood of vipers ⟷ children of Abraham (vv7–8). Good fruit ⟷ cut down and thrown into the fire (v9). Two tunics ⟷ none (v11). John ⟷ the One mightier (v16). Water ⟷ the Holy Spirit and fire (v16). Wheat ⟷ chaff; barn ⟷ unquenchable fire (v17). John’s boldness ⟷ Herod’s wickedness (vv19–20). “As was supposed” the son of Joseph ⟷ the Son of God (vv22–23, 38).

**Shape of the chapter:** three panels — John’s ministry (1–20), Jesus’ baptism (21–22), Jesus’ line (23–38). John’s story is finished first, even his arrest, so that the spotlight falls on Jesus alone. The chapter opens with the names of the mighty and closes with the name of God.

**Chapter theme (my words):** God speaks again, and He speaks to the wilderness. Real repentance changes the way a man handles his money, his power and his mouth. John makes himself small so Jesus can be seen, and heaven itself declares who Jesus is: the beloved Son, the son of Adam, the Son of God.

### Interpretation

**Why does Luke list all those rulers?** To nail the gospel to real history. Sproul: “Luke is very careful and meticulous to give us the historical framework in which John the Baptist appeared.” Guzik: “This is not a fairy tale beginning with “once upon a time.”” And the list makes a point — the word of God passed every palace and the temple and came to a man in the desert.

**What was John’s baptism?** “A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (v3). Sproul: “This was not New Testament baptism.” It was a sign of a turned heart, getting Israel ready for the Messiah. The forgiveness itself would come through the One John pointed to.

**Why so harsh — “brood of vipers”?** Because the crowd was trusting its pedigree. Guzik: “Addressing your audience as a family of snakes is not a customary way to begin a sermon.” Spurgeon: “Here are no honeyed phrases to delight the popular ear.” Sproul separates true sorrow over sin (contrition) from fear of getting caught (attrition). Fruit tells which one you have.

**What does repentance look like on Monday?** Sharing a tunic, collecting only what is owed, no bullying, no lying, and being content with your pay (vv10–14). Guzik: “John did not see tax collecting or soldiering as inherently evil.” Sproul: “You cannot be converted and be a thief.”

**What is the baptism “with the Holy Spirit and fire”?** Guzik reads both together as cleansing — “God’s power is always a transforming power, a purifying power.” Verse 17 adds the other edge: the chaff burns “with unquenchable fire.” The Spirit was poured out at Pentecost (Acts 2:3–4), and the winnowing will be finished when Christ returns to judge. Same Christ, two comings.

**Why was the sinless Jesus baptized?** Guzik: “Jesus did not receive baptism because He was a sinner.” He stood with sinners, and Sproul adds that He was fulfilling all righteousness as the second Adam — “Only one person has ever satisfied the law of God, and that’s Jesus.” His perfect obedience is credited to all who trust Him.

**What happened at the Jordan?** Jesus was praying (only Luke tells us); heaven opened; the Spirit came in bodily form like a dove; the Father spoke Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1 over Him. Guzik: “The three Persons of the Trinity were all manifested at once.”

**Why does Luke’s genealogy differ from Matthew’s?** Matthew goes down from Abraham through Solomon to Joseph; Luke goes up from Joseph through Nathan to God. Guzik: “The best explanation for this seems to be that Luke followed Mary’s line.” Sproul would like to think so but “can’t prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt.” I hold it loosely too; what matters is that both lines run through David, so Jesus is the rightful King, and Luke’s line runs to Adam, so He is the Savior of every man.

**What does it all add up to?** Henry puts the genealogy and the baptism together: “He was both the Son of Adam and the Son of God that he might be a proper Mediator between God and the sons of Adam.” And at the Jordan, “sin had shut up heaven, but Christ’s prayer opened it again.” That is my hope in one line: heaven opened over Jesus, and through Him to me.

**Word study (Greek):**
- **word — *rhēma* (G4487):** a spoken word; “the word of God came to John” (v2; 1:37–38).
- **repentance — *metanoia* (G3341):** a change of mind that turns the life (vv3, 8).
- **brood — *gennēma* (G1081) / vipers — *echidna* (G2191):** offspring of snakes (v7; Matt 12:34; 23:33).
- **be content — *arkeō* (G714):** to be satisfied with enough (v14; 1 Tim 6:8; Heb 13:5); wages — *opsōnion* (G3800).
- **winnowing fork — *ptyon* (G4425):** the fork that tosses grain into the wind (v17; Matt 3:12).
- **fit — *hikanos* (G2425):** worthy, sufficient (v16; 7:6).
- **reprimanded — *elenchō* (G1651):** to expose and convict (v19).
- **praying — *proseuchomai* (G4336):** Jesus at prayer (v21; 6:12; 9:18, 28–29).
- **well-pleased — *eudokeō* (G2106):** to take delight in (v22; 2:14).
- **as was supposed — *nomizō* (G3543):** thought, reckoned by law and custom (v23).
- **began — *archomai* (G756):** about thirty at the beginning (v23; Acts 1:1).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **The word skipped the palace** — it came to John in the wilderness (v2).
2. **Silence broken** — after four hundred years (Sproul).
3. **The highway is for God** — prepare for the presence of Jesus (Sproul).
4. **Repentance bears fruit** — always (Guzik); no converted thief (Sproul).
5. **Holiness starts at your post** — share, be honest, be content (vv10–14).
6. **The lower the better** — Spurgeon on the sandal strap.
7. **Fire purifies and fire judges** (vv16–17).
8. **Truth to power costs** — John in prison (vv19–20).
9. **Heaven opened to a praying Son** — Father, Son and Spirit (vv21–22).
10. **A Savior for every son of Adam** (v38).

**Cross-references:** Gen 3:15; 5:1–32; 11:10–26; 41:46; Num 4:3; 2 Sam 5:4; Ps 2:7; Isa 40:3–5; 42:1; Mal 3:1; 4:5–6; Matt 1:1–17; 3:1–17; 12:34; 14:3–12; Luke 1:17, 37–38, 80; 2:14; John 1:29–34; 3:24; Acts 1:1; 2:3–4; Rom 5:12–19; 1 Cor 15:45; 1 Tim 6:8; Heb 13:5.

### Application

**Command to obey — bear fruit where I stand.** John didn’t tell the soldier to quit the army; he told him to stop bullying, stop lying and be content (v14). My repentance has to show up in the same plain places: my money, my mouth, my temper, how I treat the men under me and over me. This week I will name one “what shall I do?” and do it.

**Sin to confess — trusting the pedigree.** “We have Abraham for our father” (v8). I have leaned on my history — years in church, the ministry, the books, what I used to be — instead of a turned heart today. A lot of men I sit with lean on the opposite pedigree: “that’s just who I am, my father was the same.” Either way it’s an excuse. God can raise up children from stones; He can change me.

**Example to follow — John taking the low place.** John had crowds wondering if he was the Messiah (v15), and he used the moment to say, “I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals.” Spurgeon: “Anything for Jesus, the lower the better.” I want to do the unseen job, give away the credit, and point every man to Jesus instead of to me.

**Truth to face — the axe is already at the root.** Judgment is not a someday idea (v9, v17). The chaff burns. That is not meant to scare me into hiding but to send me running to the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire.

**Promise to trust — “in You I am well-pleased.”** The Father said it over His Son, and I am accepted only “in the Beloved.” I can’t earn that sentence; Jesus kept the law I broke (Sproul). When I come to God in Christ, the Father’s pleasure that rests on Jesus covers me too.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. God’s word passed by the emperor and the high priest and came to a man in the desert. Where has God met me — in what “wilderness” of my life? (3:1–2; Hos 2:14) *The word of God came to John in the wilderness.*
2. What “mountains” of pride and “ravines” of neglect in me need to be leveled or filled so I am ready for Jesus? (3:4–6; Isa 40:3–5) *Every ravine will be filled, every mountain brought low.*
3. What am I tempted to lean on instead of real repentance — my family, my church, my past, my baptism? (3:8–9) *Do not begin to say, ‘We have Abraham for our father.’*
4. If I asked John, “What shall I do?”, what would he name in my job, my money, or the way I treat people? (3:10–14) *Integrity in the ordinary things (Guzik).*
5. John said, “I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals.” What small, unseen service could I do for Jesus this week? (3:16; Phil 2:5–8) *Anything for Jesus, the lower the better (Spurgeon).*
6. The Father said to Jesus, “in You I am well-pleased.” What does it mean for me that God’s pleasure rests on me only in Christ? (3:21–22; Eph 1:6) *Only one person has ever satisfied the law of God (Sproul).*

**Worship.** The God who passed by Caesar’s palace spoke in the wilderness. He sent a voice to level mountains and fill valleys, so that all flesh would see His salvation. He opened heaven over His praying Son, sent His Spirit, and spoke His delight. He traced His Son’s line through kings and shepherds and sinners back to Adam — so that no son of Adam is out of reach.

**Prayer.** Father, Your word came to John in the wilderness; let it come to me in mine. Level my pride and fill the empty places I have neglected. Keep me from leaning on my history — show me the fruit You want this week, in my wallet, my words and my temper. Make me small and Jesus large. Thank You that in Your beloved Son You are well-pleased, and that in Him You receive me. Baptize me with Your Spirit and burn away the chaff. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

## Luke 4 — The Spirit of the Lord Is upon Me

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“full of the Holy Spirit”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v1 — **“full of the Holy Ghost”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v1 — **“led around by the Spirit in the wilderness”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v1 — **“led by the Spirit into the wilderness”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v2 — **“for forty days, being tempted by the devil”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v2 — **“Being forty days tempted of the devil”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v4 — **“MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v4 — **“man shall not live by bread alone”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v6 — **“it has been handed over to me”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v6 — **“that is delivered unto me”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v8 — **“YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v8 — **“Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v12 — **“YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v12 — **“Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v13 — **“he left Him until an opportune time”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v13 — **“he departed from him for a season”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v14 — **“in the power of the Spirit”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v16 — **“as was His custom”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v16 — **“as his custom was”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v18 — **“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v18 — **“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v18 — **“TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v18 — **“to preach the gospel to the poor”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v18 — **“TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v18 — **“to preach deliverance to the captives”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v18 — **“TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v18 — **“to set at liberty them that are bruised”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v19 — **“THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v19 — **“the acceptable year of the Lord”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v21 — **“Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v21 — **“This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v22 — **“Is this not Joseph’s son?”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v22 — **“Is not this Joseph's son?”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v24 — **“no prophet is welcome in his hometown”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v24 — **“No prophet is accepted in his own country”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v26 — **“to a woman who was a widow”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v26 — **“unto a woman that was a widow”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v27 — **“only Naaman the Syrian”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v27 — **“saving Naaman the Syrian”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v28 — **“filled with rage”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v28 — **“filled with wrath”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v30 — **“passing through their midst, He went His way”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v30 — **“passing through the midst of them went his way”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v32 — **“His message was with authority”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v32 — **“his word was with power”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v34 — **“the Holy One of God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v35 — **“Be quiet and come out of him”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v35 — **“Hold thy peace, and come out of him”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v36 — **“with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v36 — **“with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v39 — **“He rebuked the fever”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v39 — **“rebuked the fever”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v39 — **“she immediately got up and waited on them”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v39 — **“immediately she arose and ministered unto them”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v40 — **“laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v40 — **“he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v42 — **“went to a secluded place”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v42 — **“went into a desert place”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v43 — **“I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v43 — **“I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v43 — **“for I was sent for this purpose”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v43 — **“for therefore am I sent”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v44 — **“in the synagogues of Judea”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v44 — **“in the synagogues of Galilee”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v3 — **“If You are the Son of God”** (rose: Sin / warning) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v3 — **“If thou be the Son of God”** (rose: Sin / warning) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v4 — **“It is written”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v15 — **“synagogue”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v15 — **“synagogues”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** Straight from His baptism at the Jordan, Jesus is led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days (vv1–2), taken to a high place and to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem (vv5, 9), then returns to Galilee (v14). He preaches in the synagogue at Nazareth, His hometown, on the Sabbath (v16), goes down to Capernaum (v31), heals in Simon’s home (v38), and goes on preaching in the synagogues (v44).

**Structure:**
- vv1–13 — **the temptation:** full of the Spirit, forty days, hungry (vv1–2); bread — “It is written” (vv3–4); the kingdoms — worship God only (vv5–8); the pinnacle, Psalm 91 — do not test God (vv9–12); the devil leaves “until an opportune time” (v13).
- vv14–30 — **the Nazareth sermon:** in the power of the Spirit; praised by all (vv14–15); the scroll of Isaiah — “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me” (vv16–19); “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled” (vv20–21); “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (v22); no prophet welcome at home; Elijah and the widow, Elisha and Naaman (vv23–27); rage, the cliff, He passes through (vv28–30).
- vv31–37 — **authority over a demon:** teaching with authority in Capernaum (vv31–32); “I know who You are — the Holy One of God!” (vv33–34); “Be quiet and come out of him!” (v35); “What is this message?” (vv36–37).
- vv38–44 — **healing and sent:** He rebukes the fever; she gets up and serves (vv38–39); at sunset He heals each one; demons silenced (vv40–41); a secluded place; “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also” (vv42–44).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “come / came / coming” ×11 — vv16, 25, 31, 34, 35 (×2), 36 (×2), 41, 42 (×2).
- “synagogue(s)” ×7 — vv15, 16, 20, 28, 33, 38, 44.
- “God” ×7 — vv3, 8, 9, 12, 34, 41, 43.
- “Spirit” (of God) ×4 — vv1 (×2), 14, 18; “unclean spirit(s) / demon(s)” — vv33, 35, 36, 41.
- “devil” ×4 — vv2, 3, 6, 13.
- “written / it is said” ×4 — vv4, 8, 10, 12 (and “written” in v17).
- “led” ×4 — vv1, 5, 9, 29.
- “Lord” ×4 — vv8, 12, 18, 19.
- “Nazareth / hometown” ×4 — vv16, 23, 24, 34.
- “left” ×4 — vv13, 38, 39, 42.
- “Son of God” ×3 — vv3, 9, 41.
- “rebuked / rebuking” ×3 — vv35, 39, 41.
- “teaching” ×3 — vv15, 31, 32; “preach / preaching” ×3 — vv18, 43, 44.
- “amazed / amazement / wondering” ×3 — vv22, 32, 36; “Elijah / Elisha” ×3 — vv25, 26, 27.
- “authority” ×2 — vv32, 36; “power” ×2 — vv14, 36; “Sabbath” ×2 — vv16, 31; “bread” ×2 — vv3, 4.

**Contrasts:** The devil’s “If You are the Son of God” ⟷ the Father’s “You are My beloved Son” (3:22). Bread ⟷ the word of God (v4). All the kingdoms ⟷ worship God only (vv5–8). “Praised by all” (v15) ⟷ “filled with rage” (v28). Gracious words ⟷ “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (v22). Many widows and lepers in Israel ⟷ a widow of Sidon and Naaman the Syrian (vv25–27). The demon’s noise ⟷ Jesus’ “Be quiet” (v35). The crowds “tried to keep Him” ⟷ “I must preach … to the other cities also” (vv42–43).

**Shape of the chapter:** alone in the wilderness (1–13), then rejected at home (16–30), then welcomed in Capernaum (31–41), then sent on (42–44). The Spirit frames it all — full of the Spirit (v1), in the power of the Spirit (v14), the Spirit upon Me (v18).

**Chapter theme (my words):** The Son of God wins where we lose, with the same Book we hold. He came to set captives free, and the only people who miss it are the ones who think they don’t need it. His word has authority over hell and sickness — and He won’t be kept by one crowd, because the kingdom must go everywhere.

### Interpretation

**Why did the Spirit lead Jesus into temptation?** Not to make Him fall but to prove Him. Sproul sets the scene against Eden: “Adam was tempted on a full stomach”; Jesus, after forty days. Henry: “Those are well armed against the strongest temptations that are full of the Holy Ghost.” Israel failed forty years in the wilderness; Jesus answers from Deuteronomy, the book about that failure.

**Were the temptations real?** Yes. Guzik: “We sometimes think that Jesus’ temptations were not real because they were not exactly like ours.” They were heavier, because He never gave in. Hebrews 4:15: tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

**What was each temptation about?** Bread: meet your own need apart from the Father. Kingdoms: the crown without the cross. The pinnacle: force God to prove His love. Each time, “It is written.” Spurgeon: “That is Christ’s sword.” The devil can quote too — Guzik: he “is a Bible expert” — but Scripture interprets Scripture (Sproul).

**Did the devil really own the kingdoms?** He claimed “it has been handed over to me” (v6). Jesus did not argue the point; later Scripture calls him “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4) — a usurper with real but limited reach. The kingdoms belong to the Son, and He will take them His way — through the cross and at His return.

**Why did Jesus stop reading in the middle of Isaiah 61:2?** He read “the favorable year of the LORD” and closed the book before “the day of vengeance of our God.” Guzik: “a 2,000-year-old comma between the two phrases.” Spurgeon: “Our Lord wisely ceased reading at those words.” I believe the first coming opened the year of favor and His second coming will bring the day of vengeance — the same pattern the prophets and Revelation show.

**What is the “favorable year”?** The Jubilee (Lev 25), when debts were cancelled and slaves went home. Sproul: “the year of Jubilee, the time when all debts are canceled,” “the greatest Emancipation Proclamation in the history of the world.” Henry: Christ “came in God’s name to discharge poor sinners that were debtors and prisoners to divine justice.”

**Why did Nazareth turn so fast?** Familiarity — “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (Henry: “Familiarity breeds contempt”) — and grace to outsiders. Elijah went to a Sidonian widow, Elisha cleansed a Syrian. Spurgeon: “God holds the keys of the casket of grace, and distributes as he pleases.” Sproul: with Jesus “there is never neutrality.”

**Why silence the demons?** Their testimony was true but poisoned. Spurgeon: “That is an old trick of the devil, to acknowledge the excellence of the Preacher.” Sproul: demons know the truth and hate it. Henry: “a confession upon the rack.”

**What were the miracles for?** Compassion, and attestation. Sproul: “Miracles point to the attestation of God Himself to the person performing the miracle.” He ties the sign-miracles to the apostolic age; others would say more about healing today. All agree God still hears prayer — and Jesus Himself put preaching first (v43).

**Word study (Greek):**
- **tempted — *peirazō* (G3985):** to test or tempt (v2); *ekpeirazō*, put to the test (v12).
- **devil — *diabolos* (G1228):** slanderer, accuser (vv2, 3, 6, 13).
- **it is written — *graphō* (G1125):** *gegraptai*, written and still standing (vv4, 8, 10).
- **opportune time — *kairos* (G2540):** a fitting season (v13).
- **anointed — *chriō* (G5548):** root of *Christos*, Messiah (v18; Acts 10:38).
- **release — *aphesis* (G859):** release, forgiveness (v18; 1:77; 3:3; 24:47).
- **oppressed — *thrauō* (G2352):** broken, crushed (v18).
- **favorable — *dektos* (G1184):** acceptable, welcome (vv19, 24).
- **today — *sēmeron* (G4594):** v21.
- **authority — *exousia* (G1849) / power — *dynamis* (G1411):** right and might (vv6, 14, 32, 36).
- **rebuked — *epitimaō* (G2008):** vv35, 39, 41.
- **holy — *hagios* (G40):** “the Holy One of God” (v34).
- **must — *dei* (G1163):** the divine necessity (v43; 2:49; 9:22; 24:44).
- **kingdom — *basileia* (G932):** vv5, 43.

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **The second Adam wins** — hungry and alone, He passed at every point (Sproul).
2. **Every answer from Deuteronomy** — the Son succeeds where Israel failed.
3. **“It is written” still stands** — Christ’s sword (Spurgeon).
4. **The devil can quote the Bible** (Guzik).
5. **He leaves for a season** — never out of God’s hand (Spurgeon).
6. **The comma that has lasted two thousand years** (Guzik).
7. **Release is forgiveness** — the great Emancipation Proclamation (Sproul).
8. **Grace offends the proud** — Zarephath and Naaman.
9. **Demons know and hate** (Sproul).
10. **He must move on** — the kingdom to the other cities (v43).

**Cross-references:** Exod 17:1–7; 34:28; Lev 25:8–17; Deut 6:13, 16; 8:2–3; 1 Kings 17:8–24; 19:8; 2 Kings 5:1–14; Ps 91:11–12; Isa 53:4; 58:6; 61:1–2; Matt 4:1–11; Mark 1:21–39; Luke 3:22, 38; 9:22; 24:44; John 8:36; Acts 10:38; 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 6:17; Heb 2:18; 4:15; Jas 2:19; 4:7; 1 John 3:8.

### Application

**Command to obey — answer temptation with the Word.** Jesus didn’t debate the devil; He quoted Scripture, three times, from memory. If the Son of God needed “It is written,” so do I. I’ll pick the one temptation that finds me most often and memorize one verse for it this week — a drawn sword, not a Bible on the shelf.

**Sin to confess — wanting the crown without the cross.** The devil’s middle offer is the one that gets me: the shortcut, the result without the obedience, worship of whatever gets me there faster (vv5–7). I confess the places I have bowed to a shortcut — in ministry, in money, in my own fight with old sins. “You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.”

**Promise to trust — release to the captives.** Jesus read it and said “Today.” The favorable year is open right now. Many of the men I sit with are literal captives; all of us have been captives to something. The release He proclaims is forgiveness first, and then freedom. Sproul calls it the greatest Emancipation Proclamation in history. I believe it for me, and I’ll say it out loud to a man who needs it.

**Truth to face — familiarity can kill wonder.** Nazareth knew Jesus too well to receive Him. I have heard these stories my whole life. I don’t want to be the man who says, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” and walks out angry when grace goes to someone I didn’t expect.

**Example to follow — rise and serve; get alone; move on.** Simon’s mother-in-law got up and served the moment Jesus healed her. Jesus Himself worked till sunset, then went to a secluded place, then left a crowd that wanted to keep Him because He was sent. Healing turns into service; work is fed by solitude; and the mission goes where the Father sends.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. The devil attacked right after God said “You are My beloved Son.” When have I been hit hardest right after a spiritual high? (4:1–3, 13; 3:22) *He left Him until an opportune time.*
2. Which of the three tests do I fall to most often — bread (my appetites), kingdoms (power and shortcuts), or the pinnacle (testing God)? (4:3–12; Heb 4:15) *Every answer came from Deuteronomy.*
3. What verse do I have ready, like a drawn sword, for the temptation I face most? (4:4, 8, 12; Eph 6:17) *It is written.*
4. Jesus said He came to proclaim release to the captives. What am I captive to, and do I believe He has come to set me free? (4:18–19; John 8:36) *The greatest Emancipation Proclamation (Sproul).*
5. The people of Nazareth were too familiar with Jesus to receive Him. Where has familiarity made me dull to Him? (4:22–24, 28) *Familiarity breeds contempt (Henry).*
6. Simon’s mother-in-law got up and served. When Jesus has helped me, how have I turned it into serving others? (4:38–39; 1 Pet 4:10) *Spiritual fever soon disappears before holy, unselfish activity (Spurgeon).*

**Worship.** The Son of God was hungry in the desert and would not make bread for Himself. He was offered every kingdom and chose the cross. He stood in a small-town synagogue and read His own commission — good news for the poor, release for captives, sight for the blind — and said, “Today.” Demons trembled at His word, fevers fled, and a whole town found healing at His hands as the sun went down.

**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, You were tempted in all things as I am and never sinned. When the tempter comes back at an opportune time, put Your Word in my mouth. Keep me from the shortcut and from bowing to anything but You. You came to release captives — release me, and use me to tell other men that the favorable year is still open. Don’t let familiarity make me cold. Rebuke what is sick in me, raise me up, and send me to serve. Amen.

## Luke 5 — Not the Righteous but Sinners

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“listening to the word of God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v1 — **“to hear the word of God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v4 — **“Put out into the deep water”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v4 — **“Launch out into the deep”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v5 — **“we worked hard all night and caught nothing”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v5 — **“we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v5 — **“I will do as You say”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v5 — **“at thy word I will let down the net”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v8 — **“Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v8 — **“Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v10 — **“from now on you will be catching men”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v10 — **“from henceforth thou shalt catch men”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v11 — **“they left everything and followed Him”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v11 — **“they forsook all, and followed him”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v12 — **“a man covered with leprosy”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v12 — **“a man full of leprosy”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v13 — **“stretched out His hand and touched him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v13 — **“put forth his hand, and touched him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v13 — **“I am willing; be cleansed”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v13 — **“I will: be thou clean”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v16 — **“would often slip away to the wilderness and pray”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v16 — **“withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v17 — **“the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v17 — **“the power of the Lord was present to heal them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v20 — **“Friend, your sins are forgiven you”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v20 — **“Man, thy sins are forgiven thee”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v21 — **“Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v24 — **“the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v24 — **“the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v26 — **“We have seen remarkable things today”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v26 — **“We have seen strange things to day”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v27 — **“Follow Me”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v27 — **“Follow me”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v28 — **“he left everything behind”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v28 — **“he left all”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v30 — **“Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v30 — **“Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v31 — **“It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v31 — **“They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v32 — **“I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v32 — **“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v34 — **“while the bridegroom is with them”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v35 — **“when the bridegroom is taken away from them”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v35 — **“when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v38 — **“new wine must be put into fresh wineskins”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v38 — **“new wine must be put into new bottles”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v39 — **“The old is good enough”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v39 — **“The old is better”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v20 — **“sins”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v30 — **“sinners”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v25 — **“glorifying God”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v26 — **“glorified God”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v36 — **“new”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** Jesus stands by the lake of Gennesaret with a crowd pressing to hear the word of God (v1). He teaches from Simon’s boat, sends Simon into deep water, and calls Simon, James and John (vv1–11). In “one of the cities” He cleanses a leper (vv12–16). “One day,” with Pharisees and teachers of the law from Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem listening, He forgives and heals a paralyzed man let down through the roof (vv17–26). He calls Levi from the tax booth and eats at his feast, then answers questions about fasting with parables of new cloth and new wine (vv27–39).

**Structure:**
- vv1–11 — **the catch and the call:** teaching from Simon’s boat (vv1–3); “Put out into the deep water” — “we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say” (vv4–5); nets breaking, boats sinking (vv6–7); “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (v8); “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men” (v10); they left everything and followed Him (v11).
- vv12–16 — **the leper:** “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean” (v12); He touched him — “I am willing; be cleansed” (v13); go to the priest (v14); crowds grow, Jesus slips away to pray (vv15–16).
- vv17–26 — **the paralytic:** the power of the Lord present to heal (v17); friends, the crowd, the roof, the tiles (vv18–19); “Friend, your sins are forgiven you” (v20); “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” (v21); which is easier? (vv22–23); the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins (v24); he goes home glorifying God; “remarkable things today” (vv25–26).
- vv27–39 — **Levi and the new wine:** “Follow Me” — he left everything (vv27–28); the big reception (v29); “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” (v30); the physician and the sick; not the righteous but sinners to repentance (vv31–32); fasting and the bridegroom (vv33–35); new patch, new wine, old wine (vv36–39).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “sin / sins / sinful / sinners” ×7 — vv8, 20, 21, 23, 24, 30, 32.
- “new” ×7 — vv36 (×3), 37 (×2), 38, 39; “old” ×5 — vv36 (×2), 37, 39 (×2).
- “Simon” ×6 — vv3, 4, 5, 8, 10 (×2).
- “boat(s)” ×6 — vv2, 3 (×2), 7 (×2), 11.
- “wine / wineskins” ×6 — vv37 (×3), 38 (×2), 39.
- “fishermen / fish / catch / catching” ×6 — vv2, 4, 6, 9 (×2), 10.
- “crowd(s)” ×5 — vv1, 15, 19 (×2), 29.
- “forgive / forgiven” ×4 — vv20, 21, 23, 24.
- “nets” ×4 — vv2, 4, 5, 6.
- “Pharisees” ×4 — vv17, 21, 30, 33.
- “God” ×4 — vv1, 21, 25, 26; “glorifying God” ×2 — vv25, 26.
- “eat / drink” ×4 — vv30 (×2), 33 (×2); “fast” ×3 — vv33, 34, 35.
- “left” ×3 — vv11, 13, 28; “follow(ed)” ×3 — vv11, 27, 28; “everything” ×2 — vv11, 28.
- “Lord” ×3 — vv8, 12, 17.
- “clean / cleansed / cleansing” ×3 — vv12, 13, 14; “healed / healing” ×2 — vv15, 17.
- “reason / reasoning(s)” ×3 — vv21, 22 (×2).
- “tax collector(s)” ×3 — vv27, 29, 30; “bridegroom” ×3 — vv34 (×2), 35.

**Contrasts:** All night and nothing ⟷ at Your word, nets breaking (vv5–6). “Master” ⟷ “Lord” (vv5, 8). Catching fish ⟷ catching men (v10). Unclean ⟷ cleansed; untouchable ⟷ touched (vv12–13). Crowds ⟷ wilderness and prayer (vv15–16). Easier to say ⟷ harder to prove (v23). Well ⟷ sick; righteous ⟷ sinners (vv31–32). Bridegroom present ⟷ taken away (vv34–35). New ⟷ old (vv36–39).

**Shape of the chapter:** two calls (Simon, vv1–11; Levi, vv27–32) frame two healings (the leper, the paralytic). Each scene puts a sinner in front of Jesus, and each time Jesus speaks a word that changes him. The opposition enters halfway (v17) and the questions sharpen as the chapter goes.

**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus calls, cleanses and forgives the people who know they are sinners — and only those. His authority to forgive is God’s own, and the life He gives is too new to be patched onto the old.

### Interpretation

**Why did Peter say “Go away from me”?** The catch showed him who was in his boat. Like Isaiah (“Woe is me, for I am ruined!” Isa 6:5), he saw holiness and saw himself. Sproul: every sinner feels that discomfort, yet “What Peter needed more than anything in the world was a Savior.” Guzik: Jesus answers with “Do not fear,” because God relates to us on love, not cowering fear.

**Is this the same call as Mark 1:16–20?** Matthew and Mark give a short account of Jesus calling the fishermen by the sea; Luke gives the fuller story with the catch. Many commentators take them as the same event told from different angles; some see Mark’s as an earlier first call. Either way, Luke shows why the men left everything: they had seen His power and their sin.

**“If You are willing” — unbelief or humility?** Sproul defends the leper: he was right about Jesus’ power, and submitting a request to God’s will is not a lack of faith — a “no” is still an answer. Guzik: we usually doubt God’s love more than His power. Henry: “He is as willing to cleanse leprous souls as they can be to be cleansed.”

**Why touch him? Why send him to the priest?** Jesus could have healed with a word (Guzik), but the touch healed the loneliness too. Sending him to the priest kept the Law (Lev 14) and was “a testimony to them” — official proof that a leper had been cleansed.

**Whose faith did Jesus see?** “Seeing their faith” (v20) — at least the friends’, and likely the man’s as well, since he let them carry him. Guzik: “There is something lacking in faith if it can never be seen.” Spurgeon: some men will only come to Christ when several believers carry them together.

**Was Jesus claiming to be God?** The scribes said, “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” Sproul: “We know that only God has the authority to forgive sins.” Jesus did not correct their theology; He proved His authority by healing what could be seen. And He called Himself “the Son of Man” — Daniel 7’s heavenly figure who receives dominion.

**What do the wineskins mean?** Sproul: legalism multiplied fasts the Law never required; the new covenant cannot be patched onto old structures — “Conversion means nothing less than complete transformation.” Henry reads the same verses as Christ’s gentleness, not loading young disciples with exercises beyond their strength. Verse 39 is a sad, realistic word: people comfortable with the old do not want the new.

**Word study (Greek):**
- **Master — *epistatēs* (G1988):** overseer, boss; only Luke, always of Jesus.
- **catching — *zōgreō* (G2221):** to take alive; Luke 5:10; 2 Tim 2:26.
- **leprosy — *lepra* (G3014):** Luke alone, “full of leprosy.”
- **slip away — *hypochōreō* (G5298):** to withdraw; a habit of prayer (5:16; 9:10).
- **forgiven — *aphiēmi* (G863):** send away, release; perfect tense in vv20, 23.
- **authority — *exousia* (G1849):** the right and power to act (v24).
- **remarkable things — *paradoxos* (G3861):** beyond expectation; only here in the NT.
- **tax collector — *telōnēs* (G5057):** a toll contractor (vv27, 29, 30).
- **repentance — *metanoia* (G3341):** a change of mind and life; Luke alone has it in v32.
- **new — *neos* (G3501) / *kainos* (G2537):** new wine (young) / fresh wineskins (new in kind).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **From “Master” to “Lord”** — obedience opened Simon’s eyes (vv5, 8).
2. **The fish obeyed before Peter did** (Sproul).
3. **Caught alive** — *zōgreō*, out of one captivity into life.
4. **We doubt His love more than His power** (Guzik).
5. **Busy ministry, more prayer** — v16; Spurgeon’s locust.
6. **The greater need first** — forgiveness before walking.
7. **The critics had the right doctrine** — only God forgives.
8. **They could hold a rope** (Spurgeon).
9. **Sinners — to repentance** (v32).
10. **New wine, new skins** — not a patch but a new life.

**Cross-references:** Lev 13:45–46; 14:1–32; Ps 32:1–5; Isa 6:5; 43:25; 62:5; Dan 7:13–14; Matt 4:18–22; 8:1–4; 9:1–17; Mark 1:16–20, 40–45; 2:1–22; John 21:1–14; 2 Cor 5:17; 1 Tim 1:15; 2 Tim 2:26.

### Application

**Command to obey — “Put out into the deep water.”** Simon had fished all night and had nothing to show for it, and Jesus told him to go back out. I know men who have tried to get clean, tried to rebuild a marriage, tried to pray, and caught nothing. The word to us is the same: “I will do as You say.” This week I will do the thing Jesus has told me to do even though last time it didn’t work.

**Sin to confess — keeping Jesus at arm’s length.** When Peter saw who Jesus was, he wanted Him to leave. I have done that — kept Him out of the room because I felt too dirty for Him to be there. That is pride dressed up as humility. Jesus answered Peter, “Do not fear.” I will stop being a fugitive and come close.

**Promise to trust — “I am willing; be cleansed.”** The leper was sure Jesus could, but not sure He would. Most of the men I sit with are the same: they believe God is powerful; they doubt He wants them. Jesus touched the man nobody would touch. He is willing. And the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins — mine included, all of them, now.

**Example to follow — four men and a rope.** I can’t fix my friend, but I can carry my corner of the mat. I will name one man this week whom I will help bring to Jesus — a ride to group, a call, a prayer with him — and I will not stop at the first crowded doorway.

**Truth to face — He came for sinners.** The Pharisees grumbled that Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. That is the best news in the chapter: if I were well, I would not need the Physician. I need Him, and He came for exactly my kind. And He doesn’t patch me; He makes me new.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. Simon had “worked hard all night and caught nothing” and still said, “I will do as You say.” Where is Jesus telling me to let down the nets again after I have given up? (5:4–6) *When Jesus directs our work, it makes all the difference (Guzik).*
2. When Peter saw who Jesus was, he said, “Go away from me.” In what ways do I keep Jesus at arm’s length because I feel too sinful to be near Him? (5:8–10; Isa 6:5) *You stop being a fugitive (Sproul).*
3. The leper was sure Jesus could, but not sure He would. Which do I doubt more about God — His power or His love? (5:12–13) *He stretched out His hand and touched him.*
4. Who is the man I could help carry to Jesus, and what “roof” might we have to open to get him there? (5:18–20) *They could not preach, but they could hold a rope (Spurgeon).*
5. Jesus forgave the man before He healed him. What guilt is paralyzing me that only forgiveness can cure? (5:20–24; Ps 32:5) *There is only one cure for guilt, and that is forgiveness (Sproul).*
6. Am I trying to patch Jesus onto my old life, or has He given me new wine that needs new wineskins? (5:36–39; 2 Cor 5:17) *Conversion means nothing less than complete transformation (Sproul).*

**Worship.** The Lord who commands the fish sat in a fisherman’s borrowed boat. The Holy One let a sinful man fall at His knees and told him not to fear. He touched a leper, forgave a paralyzed man before He healed him, and sat down to dinner with tax collectors. He is the Son of Man with authority on earth to forgive sins, the Physician of the sick, and the Bridegroom who would be taken away for us.

**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, I have worked all night and caught nothing; at Your word I will let down the nets. I am a sinful man — do not go away from me. If You are willing, make me clean; You have said You are willing. Forgive my sins, lift me off this mat, and send me home glorifying God. Make me a man who holds the rope for his friends, and who leaves everything to follow You. Pour Your new wine into a new heart. Amen.

## Luke 6 — Merciful as Your Father Is Merciful

### Marked in the text

- v5 — **“The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v5 — **“the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v9 — **“is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v9 — **“Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v10 — **“Stretch out your hand!”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v10 — **“Stretch forth thy hand”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v10 — **“his hand was restored”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v11 — **“they themselves were filled with rage”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v11 — **“they were filled with madness”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v12 — **“He spent the whole night in prayer to God”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v12 — **“continued all night in prayer to God”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v13 — **“chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v13 — **“he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v16 — **“Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v16 — **“Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v17 — **“stood on a level place”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v17 — **“stood in the plain”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v19 — **“power was coming from Him and healing them all”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v19 — **“there went virtue out of him, and healed them all”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v20 — **“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v20 — **“Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v21 — **“you shall be satisfied”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v21 — **“ye shall be filled”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v21 — **“you shall laugh”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v21 — **“ye shall laugh”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v23 — **“your reward is great in heaven”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v24 — **“you are receiving your comfort in full”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v24 — **“ye have received your consolation”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v26 — **“Woe to you when all men speak well of you”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v26 — **“Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v27 — **“love your enemies, do good to those who hate you”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v27 — **“Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v28 — **“bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v28 — **“Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v31 — **“Treat others the same way you want them to treat you”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v31 — **“as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v35 — **“you will be sons of the Most High”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v35 — **“ye shall be the children of the Highest”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v35 — **“He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v35 — **“he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v36 — **“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v36 — **“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v37 — **“Do not judge”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v37 — **“Judge not”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v38 — **“Give, and it will be given to you”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v38 — **“Give, and it shall be given unto you”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v42 — **“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v42 — **“Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v44 — **“each tree is known by its own fruit”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v44 — **“every tree is known by his own fruit”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v45 — **“his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v45 — **“of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v46 — **“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v46 — **“why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v48 — **“laid a foundation on the rock”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v48 — **“laid the foundation on a rock”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v49 — **“immediately it collapsed”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v49 — **“immediately it fell”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v1 — **“Sabbath”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v20 — **“Blessed”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v24 — **“woe”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** On a Sabbath Jesus’ disciples pick and rub grain in the fields, and the Pharisees object (vv1–5). On another Sabbath, in a synagogue, He heals a man’s withered right hand while the scribes and Pharisees watch for a charge (vv6–11). He spends the whole night praying on a mountain and at daybreak chooses twelve apostles (vv12–16). He comes down to a level place, where crowds from Judea, Jerusalem, Tyre and Sidon are healed (vv17–19), and He teaches His disciples (vv20–49).

**Structure:**
- vv1–11 — **Lord of the Sabbath:** grain in the fields — “Why do you do what is not lawful?” (vv1–2); David and the consecrated bread (vv3–4); “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (v5); the withered hand — “Get up and come forward!”; “is it lawful to do good or to do harm …?”; “Stretch out your hand!” — restored (vv6–10); filled with rage (v11).
- vv12–19 — **prayer and the Twelve:** the whole night in prayer (v12); twelve chosen, named apostles (vv13–16); a level place, a great throng, power coming from Him (vv17–19).
- vv20–26 — **blessings and woes:** blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, the hated (vv20–23); woe to the rich, the well-fed, the laughing, the praised (vv24–26).
- vv27–38 — **love your enemies:** love, do good, bless, pray (vv27–28); cheek, coat, giving (vv29–30); the golden rule (v31); “what credit is that to you?” ×3 (vv32–34); sons of the Most High; be merciful as your Father (vv35–36); do not judge, condemn — pardon, give; good measure (vv37–38).
- vv39–49 — **fruit and foundation:** blind guides; pupil and teacher (vv39–40); speck and log (vv41–42); good and bad trees, the heart’s treasure (vv43–45); “Lord, Lord” — two builders, one torrent (vv46–49).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “good” ×11 — vv9, 27, 33 (×2), 35, 38, 43 (×2), 45 (×3); “do good” ×5 — vv9, 27, 33 (×2), 35.
- “Sabbath” ×6 — vv1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9; “lawful” ×3 — vv2, 4, 9.
- “love” ×6 — vv27, 32 (×4), 35; “enemies” ×2 — vv27, 35.
- “eye” ×6 — vv41 (×2), 42 (×4); “speck” ×3 and “log” ×3 — vv41, 42 (×2).
- “judge / judged / condemn / condemned / pardon / pardoned” ×6 — all in v37.
- “Blessed” ×4 — vv20, 21 (×2), 22; “Woe” ×4 — vv24, 25 (×2), 26.
- “now” ×4 — vv21 (×2), 25 (×2).
- “sinners” ×4 — vv32, 33, 34 (×2); “credit” ×3 — vv32, 33, 34.
- “hand” ×4 — vv6, 8, 10 (×2).
- “disciples” ×4 — vv1, 13, 17, 20.
- “hear / hears / heard” ×4 — vv18, 27, 47, 49; “acts / acted” ×2 — vv47, 49.
- “house” ×5 — vv4, 48 (×2), 49 (×2); “foundation” ×2 — vv48, 49.
- “evil” ×5 — vv22, 35, 45 (×3).
- “measure / measured” ×3 — v38; “give / given” ×3 — vv30, 38 (×2).
- “tree(s)” ×3 and “fruit” ×3 — vv43 (×2), 44; “heart” ×2 — v45.
- “Lord” ×3 — vv5, 46 (×2); “Son of Man” ×2 — vv5, 22.
- “pray / prayer” ×3 — vv12 (×2), 28; “merciful” ×2 — v36; “reward” ×2 — vv23, 35.

**Contrasts:** Not lawful ⟷ Lord of the Sabbath (vv2, 5). Do good ⟷ do harm; save ⟷ destroy (v9). Restored ⟷ filled with rage (vv10–11). Disciples ⟷ apostles (v13). Blessed ⟷ woe; now ⟷ then (vv20–26). Lovers ⟷ enemies; sinners ⟷ sons of the Most High (vv32–35). Speck ⟷ log (vv41–42). Good tree ⟷ bad tree; good treasure ⟷ evil treasure (vv43–45). Saying “Lord” ⟷ doing (v46). Rock ⟷ ground; stood ⟷ collapsed (vv48–49).

**Shape of the chapter:** two controversies (vv1–11) lead to a night of prayer and the founding of the Twelve (vv12–19), then the sermon on the level place: blessing and woe, the command of mercy, and a closing call to build on His words.

**Chapter theme (my words):** The Lord of the Sabbath gathers a new people and tells them how His kingdom lives — upside down from the world, merciful like the Father, and built on actually doing what He says.

### Interpretation

**Did the disciples break the Law?** No. Deuteronomy 23:25 let a hungry man pick grain by hand. Sproul: “By no means were Jesus and His disciples breaking the law of God”; they broke the Pharisees’ hundreds of added rules. Guzik: the problem was the day, not the deed. David’s example shows “human need is more important than religious ritual.”

**What does “Lord of the Sabbath” claim?** Sproul: the Sabbath “was instituted at creation,” so “Only the Creator can be Lord of the Sabbath day” — “a clear declaration of the deity of Christ.” Guzik: “This was a direct claim to Deity.” Sproul also explains why the church gathers on the first day: the Lord of the Sabbath rose on it.

**Why did healing make them furious?** Guzik: “There is never a wrong day to do something truly good,” and their rage and plotting were the real Sabbath violation. Henry: “Anger is a short madness, malice is a long one.” Jesus’ question in v9 exposes them: refusing to do good is doing harm.

**Why pray all night, and why choose Judas?** The night came right after the plot (v11) and before the choice (v13). Guzik: Jesus did not simply use His infinite knowledge; He prayed as a man who depended on the Father. Sproul: He prayed knowing one would betray Him. Choosing Judas was not a mistake; it was part of the Father’s plan (Luke 22:22).

**Sermon on the Plain or on the Mount?** Guzik calls it the Sermon on the Plain; Sproul treats it as a segment of the Sermon on the Mount. Luke says “a level place” (v17) — possibly a plateau on the mountainside. Jesus surely taught these things more than once; the substance is the same either way.

**Who are “the poor”?** Here our teachers lean differently. Guzik: a spiritual reversal, not social revolution; poverty of spirit is the entry point. Henry: “Christ’s poor are rich in faith.” Sproul, in one sermon, weighs real material poverty too, since Luke omits “in spirit,” and warns against assuming the poor are lazy; in the next, he reads poor and hungry spiritually. I hold both: God cares for the literally poor, and the blessing rests on the poor who look to Him. The rich are not doomed (Sproul) — but they are “paid in full” if riches are their comfort.

**Blessings now or later?** The “now” of vv21 and 25 points forward: “your reward is great in heaven” (v23). Jesus speaks to disciples living between His first coming and His kingdom. Sproul: “Mourning is not the final chapter.” I believe that kingdom will come in fullness when Christ returns and reigns.

**Does “turn the other cheek” mean never resist evil?** Guzik: “It is wrong to think Jesus meant evil should never be resisted” — this is personal ethics, not the state’s duty. Sproul: “mercy, not vengeance”; vengeance belongs to God. Love acts: “love is defined more by a verb than a noun.”

**Does “Do not judge” forbid discernment?** Sproul: “Our Lord was not saying … that we are to do away with discernment between good and evil.” It forbids a harsh, fault-finding spirit — give your neighbor “the benefit of the doubt.” Then deal with your own log first.

**Faith and works in the two builders.** Sproul: “What we do will not get us into the kingdom of God,” yet “the proof of the pudding is obedience” — “justification is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.” Guzik: none of us does these words perfectly, which keeps us dependent on our Savior. Spurgeon: the rock is real repentance and faith on Christ alone.

**Word study (Greek):**
- **lawful — *exesti* (G1832):** permitted (vv2, 4, 9).
- **withered — *xēros* (G3584):** dried up; his right hand.
- **rage — *anoia* (G454):** senseless fury; Luke 6:11; 2 Tim 3:9.
- **spent the whole night — *dianyktereuō* (G1273):** only here in the NT.
- **apostles — *apostolos* (G652):** envoys carrying the sender’s authority.
- **power — *dynamis* (G1411):** power coming from Him (v19; 5:17).
- **blessed — *makarios* (G3107) / woe — *ouai* (G3759):** God’s favor / a cry of doom.
- **receiving in full — *apechō* (G568):** “paid in full”; **comfort — *paraklēsis* (G3874).**
- **love — *agapaō* (G25):** keep on loving, by action.
- **credit — *charis* (G5485):** grace, thanks (vv32–34).
- **merciful — *oiktirmōn* (G3629):** compassionate; Luke 6:36; Jas 5:11. **kind — *chrēstos* (G5543).**
- **speck — *karphos* (G2595) / log — *dokos* (G1385):** a straw / a beam; **hypocrite — *hypokritēs* (G5273).**
- **rock — *petra* (G4073) / foundation — *themelios* (G2310):** bedrock / foundation stone.

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **The day was God’s; the rules were men’s** (Sproul, Guzik).
2. **Only the Creator rules the Sabbath** — v5 claims deity.
3. **Rage on the Sabbath** — *anoia*, senseless fury.
4. **He prayed before He chose** — and still chose Judas.
5. **Paid in full** — *apechō* (v24).
6. **Mourning is not the last chapter** (Sproul).
7. **Love is a verb** — love, do good, bless, pray.
8. **“What credit?” is “what grace?”** — *charis*.
9. **Merciful, like the Father** — Luke’s “perfect.”
10. **The foundation is hidden until the flood** (Guzik).

**Cross-references:** Gen 2:3; Exod 20:8–11; Lev 19:18; Deut 23:25; 1 Sam 16:7; 21:1–6; Ps 1:1–3; Prov 25:21; Isa 5:8–22; Dan 7:13–14; Matt 5–7; 12:1–14; Mark 2:23–3:19; Luke 2:25; 22:22; Rom 5:10; 12:14–21; 1 Cor 3:11; 2 Cor 8:9; Eph 2:20; Jas 1:22; 5:11; 1 Pet 2:23.

### Application

**Command to obey — “love your enemies.”** Jesus didn’t leave it vague: do good to them, bless them, pray for them (vv27–28). Some of the men I sit with have real enemies — the man who testified against them, the family member who walked out, the guy on the block. I have mine too. This week I will pray by name, every day, for one person who has hurt me, and do one good thing for him if I can.

**Sin to confess — the log in my own eye.** I am quick to see other men’s specks and slow to see my beam. I give myself the best-case reading and give others the worst (Sproul). I confess the hypocrisy of correcting my brother while I step around my own sin. First the log, then I can see clearly.

**Promise to trust — “your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.”** When I love enemies and lend expecting nothing, I am not losing. Guzik: “you can’t out-give God.” And for the man who weeps now, hungers now, is hated now for Jesus’ sake — the “now” is not the last word. “Your reward is great in heaven.”

**Example to follow — Jesus on the mountain.** The Pharisees were plotting against Him, and He spent the night praying, then made the most important choice of His ministry. Before my next big decision — a job, a move, a relationship, a confrontation — I will take real time to pray before I choose.

**Warning to heed — “Lord, Lord.”** It’s easy to say the words in group and in chapel. Jesus asks why I call Him Lord and don’t do what He says. The storm is coming for every man; the only question is the foundation. I will pick one thing Jesus said in this chapter and do it this week, not just agree with it.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. The Pharisees watched Jesus “closely” to find fault. When I watch other people, am I looking for something to accuse or someone to help? (6:7–11) *They watched Jesus closely, but with no heart of love for Him (Guzik).*
2. Jesus spent the whole night praying before a big decision. What decision in front of me have I not really prayed about yet? (6:12–13) *We are never less alone than when we are thus alone (Henry).*
3. Which of the four woes is the one I most need to hear — comfort, fullness, laughter, or everyone speaking well of me? (6:24–26) *Watch out for the person of whom everyone speaks well (Sproul).*
4. Name one enemy — someone who has hurt me. What would it look like this week to do good to him, bless him, and pray for him? (6:27–28, 35; Rom 5:10) *Love is defined more by a verb than a noun (Sproul).*
5. What is the “log” in my own eye that I keep stepping around while I point at other men’s specks? (6:41–42) *We are far more tolerant of our own sin than of others’ (Guzik).*
6. If a flood hit my life tomorrow, what would it show my foundation to be — hearing Jesus, or doing what He says? (6:46–49; Jas 1:22) *The real foundation is only proven in the storm (Guzik).*

**Worship.** The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath — the Creator who rested on the seventh day stood in a synagogue and restored a withered hand. He prayed all night for the men He would send, power went out from Him to heal them all, and He spoke blessing over the poor. He is kind to ungrateful and evil men — He was kind to me — and His word is the rock that no flood can shake.

**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, You are Lord of the Sabbath and Lord of me. Forgive me for calling You “Lord, Lord” and not doing what You say. Take the log out of my eye. Teach me to love my enemies — to do good, to bless, to pray for the ones who hurt me — because You loved me when I was Your enemy. Make me merciful, as my Father is merciful. Help me dig deep and build on You before the storm comes. Amen.

## Luke 7 — The Word That Heals, Raises and Forgives

### Marked in the text

- v7 — **“just say the word, and my servant will be healed”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v7 — **“say in a word, and my servant shall be healed”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v8 — **“I also am a man placed under authority”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v8 — **“I also am a man set under authority”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v9 — **“not even in Israel have I found such great faith”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v9 — **“I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v12 — **“the only son of his mother, and she was a widow”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v13 — **“He felt compassion for her”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v13 — **“he had compassion on her”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v13 — **“Do not weep”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v13 — **“Weep not”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v14 — **“Young man, I say to you, arise”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v14 — **“Young man, I say unto thee, Arise”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v15 — **“Jesus gave him back to his mother”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v15 — **“he delivered him to his mother”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v16 — **“God has visited His people”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v16 — **“God hath visited his people”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v19 — **“Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v19 — **“Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v22 — **“the dead are raised”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v23 — **“Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v23 — **“blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v28 — **“he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v28 — **“he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v30 — **“rejected God’s purpose for themselves”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v30 — **“rejected the counsel of God against themselves”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v34 — **“a friend of tax collectors and sinners”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v34 — **“a friend of publicans and sinners”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v35 — **“wisdom is vindicated by all her children”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v35 — **“wisdom is justified of all her children”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v37 — **“a woman in the city who was a sinner”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v37 — **“a woman in the city, which was a sinner”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v39 — **“If this man were a prophet”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v39 — **“This man, if he were a prophet”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v42 — **“he graciously forgave them both”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v42 — **“he frankly forgave them both”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v44 — **“you gave Me no water for My feet”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v44 — **“thou gavest me no water for my feet”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v47 — **“her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v47 — **“Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v47 — **“he who is forgiven little, loves little”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v47 — **“to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v48 — **“Your sins have been forgiven”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v48 — **“Thy sins are forgiven”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v49 — **“Who is this man who even forgives sins?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v49 — **“Who is this that forgiveth sins also?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v50 — **“Your faith has saved you; go in peace”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v50 — **“Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v4 — **“worthy”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v9 — **“I say to you”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v9 — **“I say unto you”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v47 — **“I say unto thee”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v38 — **“feet”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** After the Sermon on the Plain Jesus enters Capernaum, where a centurion’s slave is dying (vv1–10). “Soon afterwards” He reaches Nain and meets a widow’s funeral (vv11–17). John the Baptist, in prison, sends two disciples with a question (vv18–23), and Jesus speaks to the crowds about John and “this generation” (vv24–35). The chapter ends at dinner in the house of Simon the Pharisee, where a woman known as a sinner anoints Jesus’ feet (vv36–50).

**Structure:**
- vv1–10 — **just say the word:** a valued slave about to die (v2); Jewish elders plead “He is worthy” (vv3–5); friends bring the centurion’s message — “I am not worthy … just say the word” (vv6–7); a man under authority (v8); Jesus marvels — “not even in Israel have I found such great faith” (v9); the slave in good health (v10).
- vv11–17 — **young man, arise:** two crowds at the gate; an only son, a widow (vv11–12); “When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion” — “Do not weep” (v13); He touches the coffin: “Young man, I say to you, arise!” (v14); the dead man sits up and speaks; He gives him back to his mother (v15); “God has visited His people!” (vv16–17).
- vv18–23 — **the Expected One:** John sends two disciples (vv18–20); at that very time Jesus heals many (v21); “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard” (v22); “Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me” (v23).
- vv24–35 — **more than a prophet:** not a reed, not a courtier — a prophet and more (vv24–26); Malachi’s messenger (v27); none greater than John, yet the least in the kingdom is greater (v28); the people justify God, the Pharisees reject His purpose (vv29–30); children in the market place (vv31–32); John fasting, the Son of Man feasting (vv33–34); wisdom vindicated (v35).
- vv36–50 — **her sins forgiven:** Jesus reclines at a Pharisee’s table (v36); a sinful woman with perfume, tears, hair and kisses (vv37–38); Simon’s silent verdict (v39); two debtors, 500 and 50 denarii (vv40–43); “Do you see this woman?” — no water, no kiss, no oil (vv44–46); “her sins, which are many, have been forgiven” (vv47–48); “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” (v49); “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (v50).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “say / said / saying” ×28 — vv4, 6, 7, 8, 9 (×2), 13, 14 (×2), 16, 19, 20, 22, 26, 28, 32, 33, 34, 39, 40 (×2), 43 (×2), 44, 47, 48, 49, 50; the phrase “I say to you” ×5 — vv9, 14, 26, 28, 47.
- “come / came / comes / coming” ×12 — vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8 (×2), 14 (×2), 20, 33, 34, 45.
- “John” ×10 — vv18, 19, 20, 22, 24 (×2), 28, 29, 30, 33.
- “feet” ×7 — vv38 (×3), 44 (×2), 45, 46.
- “see / saw / seen” ×7 — vv13, 22, 24, 25, 26, 39, 44.
- “sins / sinner(s)” ×6 — vv34, 37, 39, 47, 48, 49; “forgave / forgiven / forgives” ×5 — vv42, 43, 47 (×2), 48 (plus “forgives” in v49).
- “sent” ×6 — vv3, 6, 10, 19, 20, 27 (“send”).
- “God” ×5 — vv16 (×2), 28, 29, 30; “woman” ×5 — vv37, 39, 44 (×2), 50; “house” ×5 — vv6, 10, 36, 37, 44.
- “Pharisee(s)” ×5 — vv30, 36 (×2), 37, 39.
- “hear / heard” ×5 — vv3, 9, 22 (×2), 29.
- “love / loved / loves” ×4 — vv5, 42, 47 (×2); “prophet” ×4 — vv16, 26 (×2), 39.
- “worthy” ×3 — vv4, 6, 7; “Lord” ×3 — vv6, 13, 19.
- “weep / weeping” ×3 — vv13, 32, 38; “kiss / kissing” ×3 — vv38, 45 (×2); “perfume” ×3 — vv37, 38, 46; “dead” ×3 — vv12, 15, 22.
- “faith” ×2 — vv9, 50: great faith at the start, saving faith at the end.

**Contrasts:** Worthy (the elders) ⟷ not worthy (the centurion) (vv4–7). Not even in Israel ⟷ a Gentile’s faith (v9). A crowd following Jesus ⟷ a crowd following a coffin (vv11–12). Do not weep ⟷ a widow’s tears (v13). The greatest born of women ⟷ the least in the kingdom (v28). The people justify God ⟷ the Pharisees reject God’s purpose (vv29–30). John fasting ⟷ the Son of Man feasting (vv33–34). Simon’s cold welcome ⟷ the woman’s tears and kisses (vv44–46). Forgiven much ⟷ forgiven little (v47).

**Shape of the chapter:** four scenes, each built around a word from Jesus. Two miracles (a word sent and a word spoken), then a question and a long answer, then a parable at a table. It moves from a Gentile outsider to a widow to a prophet in prison to a sinful woman — and the outsiders all receive what the insiders miss.

**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus’ word has authority over sickness, death, doubt and sin. Those who know they are unworthy, grieving, confused or guilty find Him; those who are sure of themselves find fault with Him.

### Interpretation

**Why does Luke include the elders and the friends?** Matthew tells the story more briefly (Matt 8:5–13), as though the centurion came himself; Luke shows that he spoke through others. Ancient writers often said a man did what his messengers did for him. Luke’s detail sharpens the point: the elders plead merit (“He is worthy”), the centurion pleads grace (“I am not worthy”). Guzik: “The elders said he was worthy; he said he was not worthy.” Sproul: “The centurion understood grace.”

**How can Jesus heal at a distance?** The centurion reasons from authority: if his orders move soldiers, Jesus’ word can move sickness (v8). Guzik: “Jesus’ healing power was not a magic trick that required the magician’s presence.” Sproul ties it to Christ’s person — the divine nature is not limited by place — and to creation by a word.

**What kind of miracle was Nain?** Guzik is careful: “This young man was not resurrected but resuscitated; he rose from the dead only to die again.” Spurgeon preaches it as a picture of new birth — “Conversions are miracles which never cease.” Both are true. The son died again later; but the miracle points to the day when Jesus’ voice will raise the dead for good (John 5:28–29). Luke’s wording (“gave him back to his mother”) echoes Elijah (1 Kings 17:23), and the crowd rightly says a great prophet has arisen — but Jesus does with a word what Elijah did with prayer and struggle.

**Did John really doubt?** Sproul: “Obviously, John was confused,” and the view that he asked only for his disciples is “a stretch of biblical interpretation.” Guzik suggests he expected a different kind of deliverance. John had preached fire and judgment (3:16–17); Jesus was healing and preaching to the poor, and John was still in prison. Jesus answers with Isaiah 35 and 61 and then honors John before the crowd. Honest doubt brought to Jesus is not unbelief.

**What does “least in the kingdom … greater than he” mean?** Not that John was lost or lesser in character. Sproul: “greater” is a matter of blessedness and place in God’s plan — we stand after the cross and resurrection. Guzik: “The least in the Gospel stands on higher ground than the greatest under the law.” John pointed to the Lamb; we know what the Lamb has done.

**What is “wisdom is vindicated by all her children”?** Sproul: “justified” here means shown to be right, as in James, not Paul’s declaration of righteousness. God’s wisdom in sending both John and Jesus is proved by the people it changes — the tax collectors who “acknowledged God’s justice” (v29) and, in the next scene, a sinful woman.

**Did her love earn her forgiveness?** “For she loved much” (v47) can sound that way. But the parable puts forgiveness first and love second (vv42–43), the perfect tense says her sins “have been forgiven,” and Jesus credits her faith (v50). Guzik: her love “was evidence that she had been forgiven.” Sproul: “There was no payment and nothing that could be done to earn it.” Henry: “Silver and gold will not pay our debt.” She loved because she was forgiven.

**Who was the woman?** Luke does not say. Tradition later identified her with Mary Magdalene (8:2), but nothing in the text supports that, and both Guzik and Sproul reject calling Mary a prostitute (see Luke 8). This is also not the anointing at Bethany in the last week (John 12:1–8).

**Word study (Greek):**
- **worthy — *axios* (G514):** deserving, the elders’ word (v4).
- **worthy, fit — *hikanos* (G2425):** sufficient; the centurion’s word for himself (v6).
- **word — *logos* (G3056):** “say the word” — literally “say with a word” (v7).
- **felt compassion — *splanchnizomai* (G4697):** moved in the inward parts (v13).
- **coffin — *soros* (G4673):** only here in the New Testament (v14).
- **visited — *episkeptomai* (G1980):** to look upon and care for (v16; 1:68, 78; 19:44).
- **Expected One — *erchomenos* (G2064):** “the Coming One” (vv19–20; 3:16; 19:38).
- **take offense — *skandalizō* (G4624):** to stumble, to be tripped (v23).
- **acknowledged God’s justice, vindicated — *dikaioō* (G1344):** declared or shown right (vv29, 35).
- **purpose — *boulē* (G1012):** God’s counsel (v30; Acts 2:23; 20:27).
- **graciously forgave — *charizomai* (G5483):** to give freely, from *charis* (vv42–43).
- **forgiven — *aphiēmi* (G863):** perfect tense, “stand forgiven” (vv47–48).
- **saved — *sōzō* (G4982):** “Your faith has saved you” (v50; 8:48).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **Worthy and not worthy** — merit versus grace (vv4–7).
2. **Distance is no problem for His word** (Guzik, Sproul).
3. **The widow did not ask** — her tears were the prayer (v13).
4. **Greater than Elijah** — a touch and a word (1 Kings 17).
5. **Honest doubt is not unbelief** — “Obviously, John was confused” (Sproul).
6. **The answer is the works** — Isaiah fulfilled “at that very time” (Henry).
7. **You can refuse God’s purpose — for yourself** (v30).
8. **Love is the fruit, not the root** (Guzik).
9. **Tears belong in faith** (Spurgeon).
10. **“Who is this man?”** — the One who forgives sins (v49).

**Cross-references:** 1 Kings 17:17–24; 2 Kings 4:18–37; 5:1–14; Psalm 2:12; 32:1; 118:26; Isaiah 26:19; 35:5–6; 61:1–2; Malachi 3:1; Matthew 8:5–13; 11:2–19; Luke 1:68, 78; 3:16–20; 4:18–19, 27; 5:21; 15:2; 19:44; John 5:28–29; 12:1–8; Acts 10:1–2; Romans 5:1; Hebrews 4:15.

### Application

**Example to follow — the centurion.** Everybody around him said he deserved help. He said, “I am not worthy … just say the word.” A lot of the men I walk with have only ever heard the opposite — that they are worthless — and some of us cover it by acting like we deserve everything. The centurion shows a third way: I am not worthy, and His word is enough. This week I come to Jesus on His word, not my record.

**Promise to trust — the Lord sees the widow.** Nobody asked Jesus to stop that funeral. “When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her.” He sees the grief I don’t talk about — the son I lost touch with, the years I can’t get back, the people I buried while I was using. He is not a stranger to my funeral processions.

**Truth to face — honest questions.** John asked from a prison cell, “Are You the Expected One?” Some of the men I serve are asking that from a real cell. Jesus did not shame John; He sent him the evidence and called him great. I can bring my real questions to Jesus and look for His answer in His Word.

**Sin to confess — Simon’s heart.** It is easy to read this chapter and see myself as the woman. Most days I am Simon — sizing people up, keeping score, giving Jesus the minimum. “He who is forgiven little, loves little.” I confess the cold heart that forgets how much I have been forgiven.

**Command to obey — go in peace.** Jesus told her, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” He did not tell her to keep paying. I will stop trying to work off a debt He already cancelled, and I will walk out the door forgiven.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. The elders said the centurion was “worthy”; he said he was not. Which voice do I listen to when I come to Jesus — my record or His word? (7:4–7) *Strong faith and great humility are entirely compatible (Guzik).*
2. Jesus raised the widow’s son without being asked. Where have I been grieving silently, and what does it mean to me that “the Lord saw her”? (7:12–15; Heb 4:15) *The Lord Jesus Christ sees us when we weep (Sproul).*
3. John asked an honest question from a prison cell. What question would I ask Jesus from my hardest place — and where in His Word would I look for the answer? (7:19–23; Isa 35:5–6) *Jesus answered John with Isaiah, not with a scolding.*
4. The people of Jesus’ day criticized John for fasting and Jesus for feasting. What excuse do I use to keep God’s messengers at arm’s length? (7:30–35) *They rejected God’s purpose for themselves.*
5. Am I more like Simon or the woman — someone who thinks he owes 50, or someone who knows he owes 500? (7:41–47) *He who is forgiven little, loves little.*
6. Jesus told her, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” What would it look like for me to actually walk in that peace this week? (7:48–50; Rom 5:1) *Peace is the fit result of what the Saviour has done for you (Spurgeon).*

**Worship.** Lord Jesus, You speak and it is done. You healed a slave You never saw, stopped a funeral and gave a son back to his mother, answered a prophet’s doubt with the promises of God, and said to a woman everyone despised, “Your sins have been forgiven.” Who is this man who even forgives sins? You are the Lord, God visiting His people.

**Prayer.** Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof — but just say the word. See the grief I carry, and speak life where things are dead. When I am confused, help me bring my questions to You and not walk away offended. Forgive me for the Simon in me, and give me the woman’s tears and love. I owe more than I can pay; thank You for graciously forgiving it all. Let me go in peace. Amen.

## Luke 8 — Take Care How You Listen

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v1 — **“preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v3 — **“contributing to their support out of their private means”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v3 — **“ministered unto him of their substance”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v8 — **“He who has ears to hear, let him hear”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v8 — **“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v10 — **“To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v10 — **“Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v11 — **“the seed is the word of God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v11 — **“The seed is the word of God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v12 — **“the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v12 — **“then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v13 — **“in time of temptation fall away”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v14 — **“choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v14 — **“choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v15 — **“hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v15 — **“keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v16 — **“he puts it on a lampstand”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v16 — **“setteth it on a candlestick”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v18 — **“take care how you listen”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v18 — **“Take heed therefore how ye hear”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v21 — **“these who hear the word of God and do it”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v21 — **“these which hear the word of God, and do it”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v22 — **“Let us go over to the other side of the lake”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v22 — **“Let us go over unto the other side of the lake”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v24 — **“Master, Master, we are perishing!”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v24 — **“Master, master, we perish”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v24 — **“He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v24 — **“he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v25 — **“Where is your faith?”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v25 — **“Who then is this”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v25 — **“What manner of man is this”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v28 — **“Jesus, Son of the Most High God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v28 — **“Jesus, thou Son of God most high”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v30 — **“Legion”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v35 — **“sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v35 — **“sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v37 — **“asked Him to leave them”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v37 — **“besought him to depart from them”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v39 — **“describe what great things God has done for you”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v39 — **“shew how great things God hath done unto thee”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v44 — **“touched the fringe of His cloak”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v44 — **“touched the border of his garment”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v46 — **“power had gone out of Me”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v46 — **“virtue is gone out of me”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v48 — **“Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v48 — **“thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v50 — **“Do not be afraid any longer; only believe”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v50 — **“Fear not: believe only”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v52 — **“she has not died, but is asleep”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v52 — **“she is not dead, but sleepeth”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v54 — **“Child, arise!”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v54 — **“Maid, arise”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v8 — **“hear”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v12 — **“heard”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v10 — **“hearing”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v11 — **“word”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** Jesus travels from village to village preaching the kingdom, with the Twelve and women who support Him (vv1–3). A large crowd gathers and He tells the parable of the sower, explains it to His disciples, and adds the lamp saying (vv4–18). His mother and brothers come (vv19–21). He crosses the lake in a storm (vv22–25), frees a demonized man in the country of the Gerasenes (vv26–39), and returns to Galilee, where a woman is healed on the way to Jairus’s house and Jairus’s daughter is raised (vv40–56).

**Structure:**
- vv1–3 — **on the road:** preaching the kingdom; the Twelve; Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna “and many others” giving from their means.
- vv4–15 — **the sower:** four soils — road, rock, thorns, good soil (vv5–8); “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (v8); the mysteries granted, Isaiah 6:9 (vv9–10); “the seed is the word of God” and the four hearers (vv11–15).
- vv16–21 — **the lamp and the family:** a lamp on a lampstand (v16); nothing hidden (v17); “take care how you listen” (v18); His mother and brothers — “these who hear the word of God and do it” (vv19–21).
- vv22–25 — **the storm:** “Let us go over” (v22); He sleeps, a gale descends (v23); “Master, Master, we are perishing!” — He rebukes wind and waves (v24); “Where is your faith?” — “Who then is this?” (v25).
- vv26–39 — **Legion:** a naked man of the tombs (vv26–27); “Son of the Most High God … do not torment me” (vv28–29); “Legion” (v30); the abyss and the swine (vv31–33); the town finds him clothed and in his right mind and asks Jesus to leave (vv34–37); “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you” (vv38–39).
- vv40–56 — **two daughters:** a waiting crowd; Jairus falls at His feet (vv40–42); a woman twelve years ill touches the fringe of His cloak (vv43–44); “Who is the one who touched Me?” (vv45–47); “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace” (v48); “Your daughter has died” — “only believe” (vv49–50); “she has not died, but is asleep” — laughter (vv51–53); “Child, arise!” (vv54–56).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “come / came / coming / comes” ×16 — vv4, 12, 16, 17, 19, 24, 27, 29, 33, 35, 41 (×2), 44, 47, 49, 51.
- “Jesus” ×13 — vv22, 24, 28 (×2), 30, 35 (×2), 39, 40, 41, 45, 46, 50.
- “hear / heard / hearing / listen” ×10 — vv8 (×2), 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 21, 50.
- “seed / sow / sowed / sower” ×10 — vv5 (×4), 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, 15.
- “fell” ×9 — vv5, 6, 7, 8, 14 (seed falling), 23 (asleep), 28, 41, 47 (falling before Him).
- “demon(s)” ×9 — vv2, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36 (“demon-possessed”), 38; “spirit(s)” ×3 — vv2, 29 (unclean), 55 (her spirit).
- “word” ×5 — vv11, 12, 13, 15, 21 (“the word of God” in vv11, 21).
- “light / lamp / lighting / lampstand” ×5 — vv16 (×4), 17.
- “implore / implored / imploring / begging / beg” ×5 — vv28, 31, 32, 38, 41.
- “saved / made well” (*sōzō*) ×4 — vv12, 36, 48, 50.
- “fear / afraid / fearful / frightened” ×4 — vv25, 35, 37, 50.
- “touch / touched” ×4 — vv44, 45, 46, 47.
- “Master” ×3 — vv24 (×2), 45; “daughter” ×3 — vv42, 48, 49; “twelve” ×3 — vv1, 42, 43; “believe” ×3 — vv12, 13, 50.
- “faith” ×2 — vv25, 48: “Where is your faith?” and “your faith has made you well.”

**Contrasts:** Four soils — three fail, one bears fruit (vv5–15). To you it is granted ⟷ to the rest in parables (v10). Hidden ⟷ evident (v17). Whoever has ⟷ whoever does not have (v18). Family by blood ⟷ family by obedience (vv19–21). He sleeps ⟷ they panic (vv23–24). Storm ⟷ calm (v24). Naked, in the tombs ⟷ clothed, in his right mind, at His feet (vv27, 35). The town asks Him to leave ⟷ the man begs to come along (vv37–38). Jairus the ruler ⟷ the unnamed woman (vv41–44). Weeping and laughter ⟷ “she has not died, but is asleep” (vv52–53).

**Shape of the chapter:** teaching first (the seed and the hearers), then four mighty works that test the hearers — over nature, demons, disease and death. Each scene ends with a word from Jesus that someone must believe.

**Chapter theme (my words):** God’s word is the seed, and the condition of my heart decides what it does in me. The same word rules the storm, the demons, sickness and death — so I must listen carefully and trust Him when everything says it is too late.

### Interpretation

**Who were the women of verses 1–3?** Healed followers who used their own money to support Jesus and the Twelve. Joanna’s husband managed Herod Antipas’s household — the gospel had reached the palace. Mary Magdalene had been freed from seven demons; both Guzik (“There is nothing whatever in the sources to indicate this”) and Sproul reject the later tradition that she was a prostitute.

**Why does Jesus speak in parables “so that seeing they may not see”?** Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9. Sproul: “Parables were given not only to reveal but to conceal” — they open the truth to those God has given ears, and they are a judgment on hearts that have already refused. “God’s justice is poetic.” The disciples did not earn their understanding; “it has been granted” (v10).

**Is the rocky soil a believer who lost salvation?** Teachers answer differently. Sproul sees a spurious profession: “If you have it, you never lose it,” and “The only test for that is whether you bear fruit.” Spurgeon calls these hearers Mr. Pliable — quick and warm, then gone. Jesus’ own words are that they “believe for a while” and “fall away” (v13). What the parable makes plain is that only the soil that holds the word fast and bears fruit “with perseverance” is good soil (v15).

**What does “whoever has, to him more shall be given” mean?** It is about hearing (v18). The man who receives and obeys the word gets more light; the man who shrugs it off loses even what he “thinks he has.” Spurgeon: an ear for preachers is not a heart for the truth.

**Were Jesus’ brothers Mary’s sons?** Guzik takes them as Mary’s other children. The point of the scene is not to snub His family but to name the family that lasts: “these who hear the word of God and do it” (v21). Sproul connects it to adoption.

**Why were the disciples rebuked in the storm?** Jesus had said, “Let us go over to the other side” (v22). Guzik: “Unbelief is the rejection of a promise or a command of God relevant to a particular situation.” Henry: “Many that have true faith have it to seek when they have occasion to use it.” Sproul notes their fear grew after the calm — they were in the presence of the Holy.

**What about the demons and the pigs?** Sproul: “The demonic world is real, it was extremely active then, and it is active today.” Guzik reads “Legion” as a bluff; Sproul as a vast host. The demons fear the abyss — the prison Revelation 20 describes — before their time. Jesus permits the swine; Sproul: “Jesus understood the difference between human beings and the beasts of the field.” The town cared more for the herd than the man. Henry: “Those lose their Saviour, and their hopes in him, that love their swine better.”

**Why send the healed man home?** He begged to follow, but Jesus gave him a mission field: “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.” Luke notes that he told “what great things Jesus had done for him” (v39) — for Luke, what Jesus does, God does. Guzik: he “had a more important ministry with his own family and community.”

**Why call out the woman who touched Him?** Not to shame her. She was unclean under the Law (Leviticus 15:25) and had been shut out for twelve years. Jesus made her healing public, called her “Daughter” (Guzik: the only time He used it of someone), and sent her away in peace. Henry: “weak faith shall not be rejected.” Spurgeon: “Do but become united to Jesus, and the blessed work is done.”

**Was the girl dead or asleep?** Dead — the mourners knew it (v53), and “her spirit returned” (v55). Jesus calls death sleep because He is about to wake her (compare John 11:11–14). Sproul: “This was not a resuscitation; this was a resurrection” — a picture of the last day. (Guzik, on Nain in chapter 7, used “resuscitated” for a body that would die again; the two are making different points, and both are true.)

**Word study (Greek):**
- **contributing to their support — *diakoneō* (G1247):** to serve, to minister (v3).
- **private means — *hyparchonta* (G5225):** possessions, property (v3).
- **mysteries — *mystērion* (G3466):** secrets God reveals (v10).
- **seed — *sporos* (G4703):** “the seed is the word of God” (v11).
- **hold it fast — *katechō* (G2722):** keep firm hold (v15).
- **perseverance — *hypomonē* (G5281):** remaining under, endurance (v15).
- **lamp — *lychnos* (G3088):** a small oil lamp (v16).
- **take care — *blepō* (G991):** watch out (v18).
- **Master — *epistatēs* (G1988):** commander; only in Luke (vv24, 45).
- **rebuked — *epitimaō* (G2008):** used of demons and fever too (v24; 4:35, 39).
- **Legion — *legiōn* (G3003):** a Roman legion, thousands (v30).
- **abyss — *abyssos* (G12):** the prison of spirits (v31; Rev 20:3).
- **in his right mind — *sōphroneō* (G4993):** of sound mind (v35).
- **describe — *diēgeomai* (G1334) / proclaiming — *kēryssō* (G2784):** tell it through; herald it (v39).
- **only — *monogenēs* (G3439):** only child (v42; 7:12).
- **fringe — *kraspedon* (G2899):** the tassel (v44; Num 15:38).
- **power — *dynamis* (G1411):** “power had gone out of Me” (v46).
- **made well, saved — *sōzō* (G4982):** vv12, 36, 48, 50; 7:50.
- **asleep — *katheudō* (G2518):** “she has not died, but is asleep” (v52).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **The difference is the soil** (Guzik).
2. **Parables open and close** (Sproul).
3. **Fruit takes perseverance** — *hypomonē* (v15).
4. **Hearing is never neutral** (v18; Spurgeon).
5. **Jesus’ family hears and does** (v21).
6. **He had already said “the other side”** — unbelief rejects a promise (Guzik).
7. **More afraid after the calm** — the presence of the Holy (Sproul).
8. **Clothed and in his right mind** — and sent home to preach (vv35, 39).
9. **They preferred the pigs** (Henry, Guzik).
10. **Never too late** — “only believe” (v50; Sproul).

**Cross-references:** Leviticus 15:25; Numbers 15:38; Psalm 89:9; 107:29; Isaiah 6:9–10; 55:10–11; Matthew 13:1–23; Mark 4:1–41; 5:1–43; Luke 4:35, 39; 5:5; 7:12, 50; John 11:11–14, 25; Acts 8:1–8; Romans 10:17; James 1:22; Revelation 20:1–3.

### Application

**Truth to face — what kind of soil am I?** Some weeks I am the road — the word bounces off and is gone before I reach the parking lot. Some weeks I am rocky — happy on Sunday, folding on Wednesday. A lot of weeks I am thorny — worries about money and family, and pleasures I go back to, choke out what God said. Jesus is honest about it, and so am I. The seed is fine; my heart needs plowing.

**Command to obey — take care how you listen, and do it.** Jesus said His family is “these who hear the word of God and do it.” Men in recovery know the difference between knowing the steps and working them. This week I will take one thing I hear from God’s Word and do it the same day.

**Promise to trust — He already said “the other side.”** The disciples had Jesus’ word that they were going across, and they still thought they would drown. I have His promises too. In this storm I will say out loud what He said, and remember He is in the boat.

**Example to follow — the man from the tombs.** Chains, cutting, living with the dead — and Jesus set him free. Then Jesus did not take him on the road; He sent him home: “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.” Some of the hardest preaching I will ever do is at my own kitchen table. I will tell my family, in plain words, what Jesus has done.

**Sin to confess — preferring the pigs.** The town asked Jesus to leave because He cost them a herd. I confess the times I have wanted Jesus around but not too close — not close enough to cost me what I still love more than Him.

**Promise to trust — it is never too late.** Jairus heard “Your daughter has died,” and Jesus said, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe.” For the men I serve who have been told it is too late — too many years, too much damage — Jesus is still on the way to the house.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. Which of the four soils best describes how I have been hearing God’s Word lately — and what is the rock or the thorn in my life right now? (8:11–15) *The difference is never the seed, but the soil (Guzik).*
2. Jesus said, “take care how you listen.” What would change if I listened to Sunday’s sermon or this week’s reading expecting to obey it? (8:18, 21; Jas 1:22) *The heart is the target (Spurgeon).*
3. Jesus had already said, “Let us go over to the other side.” What promise of His have I forgotten in my present storm? (8:22–25; Ps 107:29) *Unbelief is the rejection of a promise (Guzik).*
4. The town asked Jesus to leave because He cost them their pigs. What am I afraid Jesus will cost me if I let Him all the way in? (8:32–37) *They loved their swine better (Henry).*
5. Jesus sent the healed man home to tell “what great things God has done for you.” Who at home most needs to hear my story? (8:38–39) *Return to your house and describe.*
6. Jairus had to keep walking after hearing “Your daughter has died.” Where am I being told it is too late, and what would “only believe” look like? (8:49–56; John 11:25) *Are you still alive? Then it is not too late (Sproul).*

**Worship.** Lord Jesus, Your word is the seed that bears fruit a hundredfold. You sleep in the storm and rise to rebuke it; the demons call You Son of the Most High God and beg at Your word; power goes out from You at the touch of a tassel; and the dead hear You say, “Child, arise!” Who then is this? You are the Lord.

**Prayer.** Lord, plow up the hard places in me, pull out the rocks, and cut back the thorns, so that Your word takes root and I hold it fast. Teach me to take care how I listen and to do what I hear. In my storms, remind me You are in the boat. Set free the men I love who are still in the tombs, and send me home to tell what great things You have done for me. When I hear “too late,” help me hear You say, “only believe.” Amen.

## Luke 9 — The Christ of God and the Road to the Cross

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“gave them power and authority over all the demons”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v1 — **“gave them power and authority over all devils”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v3 — **“Take nothing for your journey”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v5 — **“shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v5 — **“shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v9 — **“I myself had John beheaded”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v9 — **“John have I beheaded”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v9 — **“who is this man about whom I hear such things?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v9 — **“who is this, of whom I hear such things?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v13 — **“You give them something to eat!”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v13 — **“Give ye them to eat”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v16 — **“looking up to heaven, He blessed them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v16 — **“looking up to heaven, he blessed them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v17 — **“they all ate and were satisfied”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v17 — **“were all filled”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v20 — **“But who do you say that I am?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v20 — **“But whom say ye that I am?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v20 — **“The Christ of God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v22 — **“The Son of Man must suffer many things”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v22 — **“The Son of man must suffer many things”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v22 — **“be raised up on the third day”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v22 — **“be raised the third day”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v23 — **“he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v23 — **“let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v25 — **“if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v25 — **“if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v26 — **“whoever is ashamed of Me and My words”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v26 — **“whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v29 — **“His clothing became white and gleaming”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v29 — **“his raiment was white and glistering”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v31 — **“His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v31 — **“his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v33 — **“not realizing what he was saying”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v33 — **“not knowing what he said”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v35 — **“This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v35 — **“This is my beloved Son: hear him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v36 — **“Jesus was found alone”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v40 — **“they could not”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v41 — **“You unbelieving and perverted generation”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v41 — **“O faithless and perverse generation”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v43 — **“they were all amazed at the greatness of God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v43 — **“they were all amazed at the mighty power of God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v44 — **“Let these words sink into your ears”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v44 — **“Let these sayings sink down into your ears”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v46 — **“which of them might be the greatest”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v46 — **“which of them should be greatest”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v48 — **“the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v48 — **“he that is least among you all, the same shall be great”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v50 — **“Do not hinder him”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v50 — **“Forbid him not”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v51 — **“He was determined to go to Jerusalem”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v51 — **“he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v54 — **“command fire to come down from heaven and consume them”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v54 — **“command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v56 — **“the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v56 — **“the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v58 — **“the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v58 — **“the Son of man hath not where to lay his head”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v60 — **“go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v60 — **“go thou and preach the kingdom of God”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v62 — **“No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v62 — **“No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v2 — **“kingdom of God”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v23 — **“follow”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v11 — **“followed”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v49 — **“followeth”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v22 — **“Son of Man”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v22 — **“Son of man”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** Jesus is still in Galilee, the territory of Herod Antipas (vv7–9). He sends the Twelve through the villages (vv1–6), withdraws with them toward Bethsaida, and feeds the crowd in a desolate place (vv10–17). He prays alone and asks who He is (vv18–27), goes up “the mountain” with Peter, John and James (vv28–36), comes down to a large crowd the next day (vv37–50), and then sets out for Jerusalem through a Samaritan village (vv51–62).

**Structure:**
- vv1–9 — **the Twelve sent, Herod perplexed:** power and authority over demons and diseases (v1); take nothing for your journey (vv3–5); they go through the villages preaching and healing (v6); Herod hears the rumors — John, Elijah, a prophet — “who is this man?” (vv7–9).
- vv10–17 — **five thousand fed:** the apostles report; Bethsaida; He welcomes the crowds (vv10–11); “Send the crowd away” — “You give them something to eat!” (vv12–13); groups of fifty; He took, blessed, broke, kept giving (vv14–16); all satisfied; twelve baskets (v17).
- vv18–27 — **confession and cross:** He prays alone; “Who do the people say that I am?” (vv18–19); “But who do you say that I am?” — “The Christ of God” (v20); the Son of Man must suffer, be killed, be raised (vv21–22); deny himself, take up his cross daily, follow Me (v23); save / lose; the whole world; ashamed (vv24–26); some will see the kingdom (v27).
- vv28–36 — **the transfiguration:** about eight days later, the mountain, prayer (v28); His face different, His clothing gleaming (v29); Moses and Elijah speak of His departure at Jerusalem (vv30–31); sleep, then glory (v32); Peter’s three tabernacles (v33); the cloud (v34); “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” (v35); Jesus found alone; silence (v36).
- vv37–50 — **the valley:** a father’s only boy, a spirit, the disciples could not (vv37–40); “You unbelieving and perverted generation” — healed and given back (vv41–42); amazed at the greatness of God (v43); “Let these words sink into your ears” — they did not understand (vv44–45); who is greatest? a child (vv46–48); “Do not hinder him” (vv49–50).
- vv51–62 — **the face set:** determined to go to Jerusalem (v51); a Samaritan village does not receive Him (vv52–53); fire from heaven? He rebuked them (vv54–56); three would-be followers — foxes and birds; bury my father; say good-bye; the plow (vv57–62).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “follow / followed” ×6 — vv11, 23, 49, 57, 59, 61.
- “heal / healing / healed / cure / curing” ×6 — vv1, 2, 6, 11 (×2), 42.
- “receive / receives / received” ×6 — vv5, 48 (×4), 53.
- “John” ×6 — vv7, 9, 19 (the Baptist); vv28, 49, 54 (the apostle).
- “kingdom of God” ×5 — vv2, 11, 27, 60, 62.
- “Son of Man” ×5 — vv22, 26, 44, 56, 58.
- “Elijah” ×4 — vv8, 19, 30, 33; “glory” ×4 — vv26 (×2), 31, 32.
- “village(s)” ×4 — vv6, 12, 52, 56; “Peter” ×4 — vv20, 28, 32, 33.
- “pray / praying” ×3 — vv18, 28, 29; “Jerusalem” ×3 — vv31, 51, 53.
- “save” ×3 — vv24 (×2), 56; “lose / loses” ×3 — vv24 (×2), 25; “life / lives” ×3 — vv24 (×2), 56.
- “twelve” ×3 — vv1, 12, 17; “eat” ×3 — vv12, 13, 14.
- “first” ×2 — vv59, 61; “Master” ×2 — vv33, 49; “ashamed” ×2 — v26.

**Contrasts:** Power and authority ⟷ nothing for the journey (vv1–3). Herod’s curiosity ⟷ Peter’s confession (vv9, 20). Five loaves ⟷ five thousand men; twelve worried apostles ⟷ twelve full baskets (vv13–17). The Christ of God ⟷ the Son of Man who must suffer (vv20–22). Save your life ⟷ lose it; the whole world ⟷ yourself (vv24–25). Glory on the mountain ⟷ a convulsing boy in the valley (vv29, 37–42). Greatest ⟷ least (vv46–48). Fire from heaven ⟷ to save men’s lives (vv54–56). “I will follow You” ⟷ “but first” (vv57–61).

**Shape of the chapter:** an arc from Galilee toward Jerusalem. Verses 1–17 show the kingdom’s power at work; verses 18–36 reveal who the King is and where He is going; verses 37–62 show how slow His followers are to understand — and set Him on the road.

**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus is the Christ of God, the Father’s Chosen One, whose glory shines before the cross and whose road runs through it. Everyone who wants to follow Him must say no to himself every day, listen to Him, and keep his hand on the plow.

### Interpretation

**What did the shaken-off dust mean (v5)?** Sproul links it to a Jewish custom: returning from pagan lands, a Jew shook off the dust so as not to carry defilement home. Here it is “a testimony against them” — a solemn warning, not a tantrum. “You cannot hear the gospel and be neutral to it” (Sproul).

**Why does Herod’s guilt matter?** Luke never narrates John’s death; he lets Herod confess it: “I myself had John beheaded” (v9). Sproul: “Guilt is objective and has nothing to do with your feelings whatsoever,” and “The only cure for guilt is forgiveness.” Herod wanted to see Jesus, but “not as a sincere seeker” (Guzik) — and when he finally did, he wanted a show (23:8).

**Did the feeding really happen, and why does it matter?** Sproul rejects the explanations that make it myth, fraud or a lesson about sharing: “I have no interest in adoring, worshiping, praising, or working for a myth.” If it happened, Jesus is the Creator who cares for His people. Guzik and Henry stress the disciples’ part: the bread passed through their hands, and “Those that have but a little, let them do what they can with that little” (Henry).

**What does “the Christ of God” mean, and why keep it quiet?** Peter is right (v20), but the Twelve had to learn what kind of Messiah He was — “Before they could preach that Jesus was the Messiah, they had to learn what that meant” (Guzik). So Jesus immediately adds “must suffer” (v22). Sproul: knowing who He is is not the same as trusting Him; the demons know.

**What is the daily cross?** Not a hard circumstance I endure, but a death I choose: “Carrying a cross always led to death on a cross” (Guzik). Only Luke says “daily.” Sproul: “You cannot follow Christ and yourself.” Henry: “We must accustom ourselves to all instances of self-denial and patience.”

**Who would “see the kingdom of God” before death (v27)?** Luke goes straight on to “Some eight days after these sayings” (v28), and Sproul preaches verse 27 with the transfiguration. I read the mountain as a preview: three of those “standing here” saw the King in His glory before they died — a foretaste of the kingdom He will set up when He comes in glory (v26; Dan 7:13–14).

**What was the “departure”?** *Exodos* (v31). Moses led the first exodus; Jesus would “accomplish” a greater one at Jerusalem — His death, resurrection and ascension (v51). Guzik (with Trapp) hears the echo of Israel leaving Egypt. Sproul: Moses’ face reflected glory; Jesus’ glory was His own.

**Why could the disciples not cast out the demon?** Jesus names unbelief (v41). Guzik adds Matthew 17:21, prayer and fasting (a verse some manuscripts lack), and sees mercy in the failure: “Their failure taught them.” Sproul thinks Jesus’ sharpest frustration was with His own commissioned men. Spurgeon sees the demon’s last throw as the enemy’s fury just before deliverance.

**“He who is not against you is for you” (v50) — and Luke 11:23?** In 11:23 Jesus says, “He who is not with Me is against Me.” The two fit: about Christ Himself there is no neutral ground; about other workers who serve in His name, do not be narrow. Sproul: John showed “a spirit contrary to authentic discipleship.” Henry: “We need not lose any of our friends, while we have so few, and so many enemies.”

**Are verses 55b–56a Scripture?** The NASB brackets “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them,” because many early manuscripts lack it; the KJV includes it. Either way, verse 55 says He “rebuked them,” and the bracketed words match what Jesus says of Himself in 19:10.

**Was the man’s father already dead (v59)?** Spurgeon: “We do not even know that his father was dead.” Guzik (quoting Morrison): he “was torn between the right and right.” Elijah let Elisha go home first (1 Kings 19:20); Jesus does not — the King’s business comes first.

**Word study (Greek):**
- **power — *dynamis* (G1411) / authority — *exousia* (G1849):** ability and delegated right, both given (v1).
- **beheaded — *apokephalizō* (G607):** four NT uses, all of John the Baptist.
- **blessed — *eulogeō* (G2127):** took, blessed, broke, gave (v16; cf. 24:30).
- **baskets — *kophinos* (G2894):** twelve full (v17).
- **must — *dei* (G1163):** the divine necessity of the cross (v22; 24:26).
- **deny — *arneomai* (G720):** to disown — oneself (v23), or, as Peter later, the Lord (22:57).
- **life — *psychē* (G5590):** the self saved by losing it (v24).
- **departure — *exodos* (G1841):** three NT uses — Luke 9:31; Heb 11:22; 2 Pet 1:15.
- **Chosen One — *eklegomai* (G1586):** “My Son, My Chosen One” (v35; 6:13; 23:35; Isa 42:1).
- **only — *monogenēs* (G3439):** “my only boy” (v38; 7:12; 8:42).
- **greater — *meizōn* (G3187):** the disciples’ argument (v46; 22:24).
- **ascension — *analēmpsis* (G354):** only here in the NT (v51).
- **set (His face) — *stērizō* (G4741):** fixed, made firm (v51; Isa 50:7).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **Authority is borrowed** — the Twelve had no power of their own (Sproul).
2. **Herod’s question is the chapter’s question** — “who is this man?” (v9).
3. **He feeds through His disciples** — “You give them something to eat!” (v13).
4. **“Must” means the cross was planned** — *dei* (v22).
5. **The cross is daily** — only Luke says so (v23).
6. **His death is an exodus** — *exodos* (v31).
7. **His glory is His own** — not reflected like Moses’ (Sproul).
8. **Listen to Him** — and Jesus was found alone (vv35–36).
9. **Failure can teach** (Guzik).
10. **A set face, not a hard heart** — determined, and merciful (vv51–56).

**Cross-references:** Exod 34:29–35; Deut 18:15; 34:5–6; 1 Kings 19:19–21; 2 Kings 1:10–12; 2:11; Isa 42:1; 50:7; 53:3; Dan 7:13–14; Matt 16:13–28; 17:1–21; Mark 8:27–9:41; Luke 2:49; 4:43; 7:12–15; 11:23; 19:10; 22:24–27; 23:8, 35; 24:26; John 1:14; 6:35; Acts 1:2, 9–11; Gal 2:20; Heb 11:22; 2 Pet 1:15–18.

### Application

**Example to follow — the Twelve with nothing in their bags.** Jesus sent them out with power and authority and almost nothing else (vv1–3). I want to be ready before I go — the right words, enough money, enough time clean. He sends men who are depending on Him. This week I will say yes to the man He puts in front of me, even if I feel I have nothing to bring.

**Sin to confess — Herod’s curiosity without repentance.** Herod wanted to see Jesus but never dealt with John’s blood on his hands (v9). I can be interested in Jesus — studies, sermons, videos — and keep a guilt I won’t name. Sproul is right: the only cure for guilt is forgiveness. I name it to Him today, and I take His forgiveness as a fact, whether I feel it yet or not (1 John 1:9).

**Command to obey — “You give them something to eat!” and “take up his cross daily.”** He still hands His bread through our hands (vv13, 16). And He still asks for a daily “no” to myself (v23) — to my pride when I’m corrected, my comfort when a brother calls at 11 p.m., my need to look good in group. Not once; daily.

**Truth to face — I would rather build a tent than listen.** Peter wanted to stay on the mountain (v33). I like the high moments — the retreat, the breakthrough, the good meeting — and I want to camp there. The Father’s word is not “build Him a shelter” but “listen to Him!” (v35). Then they walked down into the valley where a father was crying. That is where listening leads.

**Promise to trust — He came to save men’s lives.** James and John wanted fire on the village that refused Him (v54). Jesus rebuked them and went on to another village. The men who reject Him — and the man I used to be — are the men He came to save (v56; 19:10). I can stop calling down fire and start walking to the next village.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. Herod wanted to see Jesus but never repented of what he did to John. Is there a guilt I am curious about Jesus over, but not yet confessing to Him? (9:7–9; 1 John 1:9) *The only cure for guilt is forgiveness (Sproul).*
2. Jesus told the disciples, “You give them something to eat!” when they had almost nothing. What need in front of me am I trying to send away instead of bringing my little to Him? (9:12–17) *He challenged both their faith and their compassion (Guzik).*
3. If Jesus asked me today, “But who do you say that I am?” what would my honest answer be — and does my week show it? (9:18–20; James 2:19) *Knowing who He is is not enough; the demons know (Sproul).*
4. What does “take up his cross daily” look like on an ordinary Tuesday for me — at work, at home, in my recovery? (9:23–25; Gal 2:20) *Deny himself and take up his cross are the same idea (Guzik).*
5. Peter wanted to build tents and stay on the mountain. Where am I trying to hold on to a spiritual high instead of listening to Jesus and walking down into the valley with Him? (9:33–37) *This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!*
6. Which of the three men on the road sounds most like me — the eager one, the “first let me” one, or the one looking back? What would it take to put my hand to the plow? (9:57–62) *Once you sign up, you are in for the duration (Sproul).*

**Worship.** The Christ of God fed five thousand from a boy’s supper and shone on the mountain with a glory that was His own. The Law and the Prophets bowed to talk with Him about His exodus, and the Father said, “listen to Him.” Then He came down, healed an only son, took a child in His arms, and set His face like flint toward the cross — for me.

**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, You are the Christ of God, the Father’s Chosen One. Forgive me for wanting to see You without wanting to be changed. Take my five loaves and use them. Teach me to deny myself and take up my cross today — not tomorrow, not after I take care of something first. When I want to stay on the mountain, make me listen to You; when I want fire, give me Your mercy. Keep my hand on the plow and my eyes on You. Amen.

## Luke 10 — Lambs, Neighbors and the One Thing

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“sent them in pairs ahead of Him”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v1 — **“sent them two and two before his face”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v2 — **“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v2 — **“The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v2 — **“beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v2 — **“pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v3 — **“I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v3 — **“I send you forth as lambs among wolves”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v5 — **“Peace be to this house”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v9 — **“The kingdom of God has come near to you”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v9 — **“The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v12 — **“it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v12 — **“it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v13 — **“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v13 — **“Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida!”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v15 — **“You will be brought down to Hades!”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v15 — **“shalt be thrust down to hell”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v16 — **“The one who listens to you listens to Me”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v16 — **“He that heareth you heareth me”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v18 — **“I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v18 — **“I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v19 — **“I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v19 — **“I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v20 — **“rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v20 — **“rejoice, because your names are written in heaven”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v21 — **“He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v21 — **“Jesus rejoiced in spirit”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v21 — **“have revealed them to infants”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v21 — **“hast revealed them unto babes”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v22 — **“no one knows who the Son is except the Father”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v22 — **“no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v23 — **“Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v23 — **“Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v25 — **“what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v27 — **“YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v27 — **“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v27 — **“YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v27 — **“thy neighbour as thyself”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v29 — **“wishing to justify himself”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v29 — **“willing to justify himself”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v33 — **“he felt compassion”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v33 — **“he had compassion on him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v34 — **“bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v34 — **“bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v35 — **“whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v35 — **“whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v37 — **“The one who showed mercy toward him”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v37 — **“He that shewed mercy on him”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v37 — **“Go and do the same”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v37 — **“Go, and do thou likewise”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v39 — **“seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v39 — **“sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v40 — **“Martha was distracted with all her preparations”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v40 — **“Martha was cumbered about much serving”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v41 — **“you are worried and bothered about so many things”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v41 — **“thou art careful and troubled about many things”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v42 — **“only one thing is necessary”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v42 — **“one thing is needful”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v42 — **“Mary has chosen the good part”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v42 — **“Mary hath chosen that good part”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v2 — **“harvest”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v5 — **“peace”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v31 — **“passed by on the other side”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v27 — **“neighbor”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v27 — **“neighbour”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** On the road to Jerusalem (9:51), Jesus appoints seventy others and sends them in pairs to every city He will visit (vv1–16). They return with joy (vv17–20), and Jesus rejoices in the Holy Spirit and speaks privately to the disciples (vv21–24). A lawyer tests Him, and He tells of a man on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho (vv25–37). Then He enters a village and the home of Martha and Mary (vv38–42).

**Structure:**
- vv1–16 — **the seventy sent:** sent in pairs ahead of Him (v1); the harvest is plentiful, pray for laborers (v2); lambs among wolves; carry nothing; greet no one (vv3–4); “Peace be to this house” (vv5–7); heal and say “The kingdom of God has come near” (vv8–9); wipe off the dust; more tolerable for Sodom (vv10–12); woe to Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum (vv13–15); who listens to you listens to Me (v16).
- vv17–20 — **the seventy return:** “even the demons are subject to us” (v17); Satan falling like lightning (v18); authority over serpents and scorpions (v19); rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven (v20).
- vv21–24 — **Jesus rejoices:** rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit; hidden from the wise, revealed to infants (v21); the Father and the Son know each other (v22); blessed are the eyes which see (vv23–24).
- vv25–37 — **the neighbor:** “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (v25); love God, love your neighbor; “do this and you will live” (vv26–28); “And who is my neighbor?” (v29); robbers, a priest, a Levite, a Samaritan (vv30–35); “Which of these three … proved to be a neighbor?” — “Go and do the same” (vv36–37).
- vv38–42 — **the one thing:** Martha welcomes Him (v38); Mary at the Lord’s feet, listening (v39); Martha distracted — “do You not care?” (v40); “Martha, Martha … only one thing is necessary … the good part” (vv41–42).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “see / saw / seen” ×8 — vv23 (×2), 24 (×3), 31, 32, 33; “saw him” ×3 — vv31, 32, 33.
- “Lord” ×8 — vv1, 2, 17, 21, 27, 39, 40, 41.
- “hear / listen(s) / listening” ×6 — vv16 (×2), 24 (×3), 39.
- “Martha / Mary” ×6 — Martha vv38, 40, 41 (×2); Mary vv39, 42.
- “city / cities” ×5 — vv1, 8, 10, 11, 12; “house” ×5 — vv5 (×2), 7 (×3).
- “Father” ×5 — vv21 (×2), 22 (×3); “Son” ×3 — v22 (×3).
- “reject(s)” ×4 — v16 (×4); “send / sent” ×4 — vv1, 2, 3, 16.
- “heaven” ×4 — vv15, 18, 20, 21.
- “harvest” ×3 — v2 (×3); “laborer(s)” ×3 — vv2 (×2), 7.
- “peace” ×3 — vv5, 6 (×2); “rejoice / rejoiced” ×3 — vv20 (×2), 21.
- “neighbor” ×3 — vv27, 29, 36; “do” (the lawyer’s word) ×3 — vv25, 28, 37.
- “care” ×3 — vv34, 35, 40.
- “kingdom of God … come near” ×2 — vv9, 11; “more tolerable” ×2 — vv12, 14; “Woe” ×2 — v13; “passed by on the other side” ×2 — vv31, 32; “subject” ×2 — vv17, 20.

**Contrasts:** Plentiful harvest ⟷ few laborers (v2). Lambs ⟷ wolves (v3). A man of peace ⟷ peace returned (v6). Receive ⟷ reject (vv8–16). Galilean towns ⟷ Tyre, Sidon, Sodom (vv12–15). Exalted to heaven ⟷ brought down to Hades (v15). Spirits subject ⟷ names recorded (v20). Wise and intelligent ⟷ infants (v21). Prophets and kings who longed ⟷ disciples who see (vv23–24). “Who is my neighbor?” ⟷ “Which … proved to be a neighbor?” (vv29, 36). Priest and Levite ⟷ Samaritan (vv31–33). Martha’s many things ⟷ one thing (vv41–42).

**Shape of the chapter:** outward and then inward. Verses 1–24 send disciples out and bring them back rejoicing; verses 25–37 show love going out to a stranger on the road; verses 38–42 bring everything back to one woman sitting still at Jesus’ feet.

**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus sends His people into a ripe harvest with His authority and His peace, and He wants their deepest joy to be grace — names written in heaven. Love for God shows up as love that stops on the road for the wounded, and all of it flows from the one necessary thing: sitting at His feet and listening to His word.

### Interpretation

**Seventy or seventy-two?** The NASB reads seventy and notes that some manuscripts read seventy-two; Sproul uses seventy-two, Guzik and Henry seventy. Henry hears the seventy elders of Numbers 11. The number is not the point; the harvest is.

**What did “lambs in the midst of wolves” mean for them?** Defenseless men depending on God for protection and on hospitality for bread. Spurgeon: “the lambs and the sheep are very defenseless.” Later Jesus will tell them to take purse and bag (22:35–36), as Spurgeon notes — this mission was a special assignment.

**Are there degrees of judgment?** Yes. “More tolerable … for Sodom than for that city” (v12). Sproul: “Some sins are far more egregious than others.” Spurgeon: “Hearing and rejecting the gospel is the crowning sin of all.” The more light a man has seen, the heavier his accountability.

**What did Jesus mean, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning” (v18)?** Guzik: the phrase “doesn’t mean that Satan fell *from* heaven, but that his fall was as dramatic and sudden as a bolt of lightning,” since Satan “still has access to heaven” (Job 1:12; Zech 3:1); his fall was real judgment, “though not complete judgment, which still awaits.” Sproul: Satan’s power fell because of the ministry done in Jesus’ name. I read the mission as a down payment on the final defeat still to come — Satan thrown down (Rev 12:9) and finally judged (Rev 20:10).

**Why not rejoice in power?** Because gifts prove nothing about grace. Spurgeon: “We cannot judge character by gift.” Henry: “Saving graces are more to be rejoiced in than spiritual gifts.” Guzik: “Some people get emotionally intoxicated after successful service.” A name written in heaven (*engraphō*, perfect tense) stands written.

**Hidden from the wise, revealed to infants — is that fair?** Sproul calls it “one of the most difficult aspects of doctrine,” and answers that grace is “altogether undeserved and unmerited.” Spurgeon: “It is not ignorance which God loves, but conceit that he hates.” Jesus did not merely tolerate the Father’s choice; He rejoiced in it — the only time the Gospels say He rejoiced (Guzik, Spurgeon).

**Was the lawyer’s answer right?** Yes — Jesus says so (v28). The trouble is that no one keeps it. Sproul: “You cannot understand grace if you do not understand the law.” “Do this and you will live” drives an honest man to admit he hasn’t, and the lawyer instead tried to justify himself (v29).

**Is Jesus the Good Samaritan?** Our teachers differ in emphasis. Henry reads it as a picture of the gospel: “We were like this poor distressed traveller … then comes the blessed Jesus, that good Samaritan.” Spurgeon cautions against straining the parable but says Christ “has done better than the good Samaritan, because our case was worse.” Guzik lists “many ways that the Samaritan was like Jesus” without making it the main point. Sproul keeps to the lawyer’s question. I hold both: the first meaning is a command — “Go and do the same” — and the deeper reason I can obey it is that Jesus came down my road and stopped for me.

**Who is my neighbor?** Jesus never answers the lawyer’s question; He changes it. Not “Who qualifies to be loved by me?” but “Will I prove to be a neighbor?” Guzik: “My neighbor is the one with a need right in front of me,” even the one others “might consider my enemy.” Sproul: not a universal brotherhood but “the universal neighborhood of God.”

**Was Martha wrong to serve?** No. Guzik: “Martha did nothing wrong in working hard for Jesus.” Sproul: “This was not a contrast, but a comparative analysis.” Spurgeon: “Her fault was not that she served” but that “she grew cumbered.” Henry: “Care is good and duty; but cumber is sin and folly.” The one thing is sitting at His feet and listening to His word.

**Word study (Greek):**
- **send — *apostellō* (G649):** to send on a mission; vv1, 3, 16.
- **peace — *eirēnē* (G1515):** shalom; “a son of peace” (v6, KJV).
- **subject — *hypotassō* (G5293):** to rank under; vv17, 20; 2:51.
- **recorded — *engraphō* (G1449):** written in a register; Luke 10:20; 2 Cor 3:2–3.
- **rejoiced greatly — *agalliaō* (G21):** exult; 1:47; 10:21.
- **infants — *nēpios* (G3516):** babes, the simple; v21.
- **justify — *dikaioō* (G1344):** to show oneself righteous; v29; 16:15; 18:14.
- **felt compassion — *splanchnizomai* (G4697):** gut-level mercy; 7:13; 10:33; 15:20.
- **distracted — *perispaō* (G4049):** pulled every direction; only Luke 10:40.
- **worried — *merimnaō* (G3309):** anxious care; 10:41; 12:22–26.
- **part — *meris* (G3310):** portion, share; Luke 10:42; Col 1:12.

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **Pray, then be the answer** (vv2–3; Guzik).
2. **Sent men carry the Sender** — *apostellō* (v16).
3. **Rejecting light is the heaviest sin** (vv12–15; Spurgeon).
4. **Satan fell like lightning** — real judgment, not yet complete (Guzik).
5. **Grace outranks gifts** (v20; Henry).
6. **The only time He is said to rejoice** (v21).
7. **Grace hides and reveals** — and no one can boast (Sproul).
8. **The law drives us to grace** (vv26–29; Sproul).
9. **Compassion has verbs** (vv33–35).
10. **Service can crowd out the Savior** (vv40–42).

**Cross-references:** Lev 19:18; Num 11:16–25; Deut 6:5; Job 1:12; Ps 27:4; Isa 14:12–15; 52:7; Dan 12:1; Zech 3:1; Matt 5:44; 9:37–38; 11:20–27; 22:37–40; Luke 7:13; 9:1–6, 51–56; 15:20; 18:14; 22:35–36; John 11:1–5; 12:1–3; Rom 3:24; 1 Cor 1:27–29; Col 1:12; 1 John 4:20; Rev 12:9; 20:10–15; 21:27.

### Application

**Command to obey — pray for laborers, then go.** Jesus told the seventy to pray to the Lord of the harvest, and in the next breath said, “Go” (vv2–3). I pray for men in my group, guys at the facility, my own family — and then I wait for someone else to show up. This week I will be the answer to one of my own prayers: a visit, a call, a ride, a Bible open on a table.

**Sin to confess — rejoicing in the wrong thing.** I like it when ministry “works” — when a man opens up, when a study goes well, when someone thanks me. Jesus says that is not the deepest joy (v20). If my joy rises and falls with results, I am standing on sight, not faith. I confess that, and I thank God that my name was written in heaven by grace, not by my record.

**Truth to face — I have passed by on the other side.** The priest and the Levite both “saw him” (vv31–32). So have I — the man asking for help outside the store, the brother who relapsed and stopped coming, the guy nobody sits with. I have had good excuses. Spurgeon says nobody refuses to help without at least one admirable excuse. Jesus asks, “Which of these three … proved to be a neighbor?”

**Promise to trust — He came down my road.** I was the man half dead in the ditch — stripped, beaten, left. The Law could see me but could not lift me. Jesus came to me, bandaged me, paid for me, and promised to come back (v35). Because He proved to be my neighbor, I can “go and do the same” (v37) without trying to earn anything.

**Example to follow — Mary at His feet.** Martha was serving Jesus and losing Jesus at the same time (v40). That is my danger as a man who leads groups and builds things for the ministry. Before I serve this week, I will sit — Bible open, phone down — and listen to His word. Only one thing is necessary, and it will not be taken away.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. Jesus told the seventy to pray for laborers and then sent them (vv2–3). Who is the one person I have been praying would hear about Jesus — and what would it look like for me to be the answer to that prayer? (10:2–3; Matt 9:37–38) *God would use them to answer their own prayers (Guzik).*
2. Jesus said it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for the towns that saw His miracles and did not repent. What have I seen God do that still has not changed the way I live? (10:12–15) *It is good to be made sensible of our advantages and opportunities (Henry).*
3. What do I rejoice in most — what God does through me, or that my name is written in heaven? How would my week look different if it were the second? (10:17–20; Rev 21:27) *Grace without talent will save (Spurgeon).*
4. Jesus thanked the Father for revealing these things to “infants.” Where does my pride or my need to look smart keep me from receiving what God wants to show me? (10:21–24; 1 Cor 1:27–29) *It is not ignorance which God loves, but conceit that he hates (Spurgeon).*
5. Like the lawyer, where am I trying to make “neighbor” small enough to be manageable? Who is the man on my road I keep passing on the other side? (10:29–37; 1 John 4:20) *My neighbor is the one with a need right in front of me (Guzik).*
6. Am I more like Martha or Mary this week? What would it take for me to sit at Jesus’ feet before I start serving? (10:38–42; Ps 27:4) *Serve the Master, but do not break your fellowship (Spurgeon).*

**Worship.** The Lord of the harvest sends lambs among wolves and goes after them. He watched Satan fall like lightning, wrote my name in heaven, and rejoiced in the Spirit that the Father reveals Himself to infants. He is the One who knows the Father and makes Him known, the true Neighbor who came down the Jericho road, and the Teacher whose word is the one thing necessary.

**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, send laborers into Your harvest — and send me. Keep me from rejoicing more in what I do for You than in what You have done for me. Thank You that my name is written in heaven. Open my eyes to the man on my road, and give me compassion that has hands and feet. When I am worried and bothered about many things, sit me down at Your feet and let me listen to Your word. That good part I choose today. Amen.

## Luke 11 — Lord, Teach Us to Pray

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“Lord, teach us to pray”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v2 — **“Father, hallowed be Your name”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v2 — **“Hallowed be thy name”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v2 — **“Your kingdom come”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v2 — **“Thy kingdom come”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v3 — **“Give us each day our daily bread”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v3 — **“Give us day by day our daily bread”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v4 — **“forgive us our sins”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v8 — **“because of his persistence”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v8 — **“because of his importunity”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v9 — **“ask, and it will be given to you”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v9 — **“Ask, and it shall be given you”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v9 — **“seek, and you will find”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v9 — **“seek, and ye shall find”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v9 — **“knock, and it will be opened to you”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v9 — **“knock, and it shall be opened unto you”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v13 — **“how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v13 — **“how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v15 — **“He casts out demons by Beelzebul”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v15 — **“He casteth out devils through Beelzebub”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v20 — **“by the finger of God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v20 — **“with the finger of God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v20 — **“the kingdom of God has come upon you”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v20 — **“the kingdom of God is come upon you”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v22 — **“someone stronger than he”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v22 — **“a stronger than he”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v23 — **“He who is not with Me is against Me”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v23 — **“He that is not with me is against me”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v26 — **“the last state of that man becomes worse than the first”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v26 — **“the last state of that man is worse than the first”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v28 — **“blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v28 — **“blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v29 — **“This generation is a wicked generation”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v29 — **“This is an evil generation”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v29 — **“the sign of Jonah”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v29 — **“the sign of Jonas the prophet”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v31 — **“something greater than Solomon is here”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v31 — **“a greater than Solomon is here”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v32 — **“something greater than Jonah is here”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v32 — **“a greater than Jonas is here”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v35 — **“watch out that the light in you is not darkness”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v35 — **“Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v39 — **“inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v39 — **“your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v42 — **“disregard justice and the love of God”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v42 — **“pass over judgment and the love of God”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v52 — **“you have taken away the key of knowledge”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v52 — **“ye have taken away the key of knowledge”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v54 — **“plotting against Him”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v54 — **“Laying wait for him”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v42 — **“woe”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v43 — **“Woe”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v16 — **“sign”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** Somewhere on the road to Jerusalem (9:51), Jesus finishes praying and a disciple asks Him to teach them (v1). He gives the prayer (vv2–4), a parable and a promise (vv5–13). Then He casts out a mute demon, and the crowd splits — some say “Beelzebul,” others demand a sign (vv14–16). As the crowds grow He speaks of Jonah, Solomon and the lamp (vv29–36). A Pharisee invites Him to lunch, and the meal ends in six woes and a plot (vv37–54).

**Structure:**
- vv1–4 — **the pattern prayer:** “Lord, teach us to pray” (v1); “Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come” (v2); daily bread (v3); forgiveness as we forgive; “lead us not into temptation” (v4).
- vv5–13 — **ask, seek, knock:** a friend at midnight, three loaves, a shut door (vv5–7); “because of his persistence” (v8); ask, seek, knock (vv9–10); fish not snake, egg not scorpion (vv11–12); “how much more … the Holy Spirit” (v13).
- vv14–28 — **the stronger Man:** a mute man speaks (v14); “by Beelzebul” and “a sign from heaven” (vv15–16); a divided kingdom (vv17–19); “the finger of God” (v20); the strong man and someone stronger (vv21–22); with Me or against Me (v23); the unclean spirit returns with seven (vv24–26); “blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” (vv27–28).
- vv29–36 — **the sign of Jonah:** a wicked generation seeks a sign (v29); Jonah and the Son of Man (v30); the Queen of the South and the men of Nineveh — “something greater … is here” (vv31–32); the lamp on the lampstand (v33); the eye, the body, light and darkness (vv34–36).
- vv37–54 — **six woes:** lunch at a Pharisee’s house; no ceremonial washing (vv37–38); outside of the cup, inside of you (vv39–41); three woes to Pharisees — tithe, chief seats, concealed tombs (vv42–44); a lawyer objects (v45); three woes to lawyers — burdens, tombs of the prophets, the key of knowledge (vv46–52); hostility and plotting (vv53–54).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “give / given” ×10 — vv7, 8 (×2), 9, 11, 12, 13 (×2), 29, 41.
- “generation” ×7 — vv29 (×2), 30, 31, 32, 50, 51; “this generation” ×6 — vv29, 30, 31, 32, 50, 51.
- “demon / demons” ×7 — vv14 (×2), 15 (×2), 18, 19, 20; “Beelzebul” ×3 — vv15, 18, 19.
- “light / lamp” ×7 — vv33 (×2), 34 (×2), 35, 36 (×2); “darkness” ×2 — vv34, 35; “body” ×4 — vv34 (×3), 36.
- “ask / asks / asked” ×6 — vv9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 37; “seek / seeks” ×3 — vv9, 10, 29; “find / finds” ×3 — vv9, 10, 25; “knock / knocks” ×2 — vv9, 10.
- “woe” ×6 — vv42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 52.
- “Pharisee(s)” ×6 — vv37, 38, 39, 42, 43, 53; “lawyers” ×3 — vv45, 46, 52.
- “sign” ×5 — vv16, 29 (×3), 30.
- “kingdom” ×4 — vv2, 17, 18, 20; “house” ×4 — vv17, 21, 24, 51.
- “inside / within” ×4 — vv7, 39, 40, 41; “outside” ×2 — vv39, 40.
- “Jonah” ×4 — vv29, 30, 32 (×2); “Solomon” ×2 — v31 (×2); “greater” ×2 — vv31, 32.
- “prophets” ×3 — vv47, 49, 50; “tombs” ×3 — vv44, 47, 48; “blood” ×3 — vv50, 51 (×2).
- “friend” ×3 — vv5, 6, 8; “Father” ×2 — vv2, 13.

**Contrasts:** A sleepy neighbor ⟷ a heavenly Father (vv7, 13). Fish ⟷ snake, egg ⟷ scorpion; you being evil ⟷ how much more (vv11–13). Beelzebul ⟷ the finger of God (vv15, 20). The strong man ⟷ someone stronger (vv21–22). With Me ⟷ against Me; gather ⟷ scatter (v23). Swept and in order ⟷ seven worse spirits (vv25–26). The womb that bore You ⟷ those who hear and observe (vv27–28). Jonah and Solomon ⟷ something greater (vv31–32). Clear eye ⟷ bad eye; light ⟷ darkness (vv34–35). Outside ⟷ inside (vv39–40). Mint and rue ⟷ justice and the love of God (v42). Building tombs ⟷ killing prophets (vv47–48). Holding the key ⟷ not entering (v52).

**Shape of the chapter:** it opens at a place of prayer and closes at a hostile table. The first half is about the Father who gives; the second half is about people who will not receive — they slander the Son’s power, demand signs, and keep the outside of the cup clean.

**Chapter theme (my words):** The Father gives good things — above all His Spirit — to children who keep asking. Jesus is the Stronger One and the greater sign, and He will not settle for clean hands and a dirty heart, in Pharisees or in me.

### Interpretation

**Why is Luke’s Lord’s Prayer shorter than Matthew’s?** Luke gives it in a different setting (a disciple’s request on the road) from Matthew (the Sermon on the Mount). Jesus likely taught it more than once. Guzik: it is “a marvel of powerful prayer put in simple terms.” Sproul: “This is the example to show you how you should pray” — a pattern, not only words to recite.

**Does persistent prayer wear God down?** No. The parable argues from lesser to greater: if a grumpy neighbor gets up for shameless knocking, how much more a Father. Henry: “Not that God can be wrought upon by importunity.” Guzik: “Our persistence doesn’t change God; it changes us.” Sproul: “The purpose of asking is not for God’s benefit. It is for us.”

**Who seeks God?** Sproul argues that the unconverted do not truly seek God — “You do not begin to seek God until you are converted” — and he reads Revelation 3:20 as addressed to a church. Many evangelicals, including teachers in this series, freely invite sinners to seek and knock. Both agree that verse 9 is a command and a promise for disciples, and that the Father gives the Spirit “to those who ask Him.”

**What is “the finger of God”?** The phrase of Pharaoh’s magicians (Exod 8:19): a power no magic could copy. Matthew says “the Spirit of God” (12:28). If the finger of God is driving out demons, “the kingdom of God has come upon you” (v20) — the King is present, and the strong man is being bound.

**Can a person be cleaned up and still lost?** Verses 24–26 say yes. Spurgeon: “This is conversion, the other was only conviction; this is change of heart, the other was only change of life.” Guzik: “He did not come to merely empty the house, but to fill it with Himself.” Sproul: casting out is not enough unless the Spirit fills.

**Does verse 28 demean Mary?** No. Guzik: “This does not demean Mary; but it does honor and bless the one who hears and keeps God’s word.” Sproul: “as blessed as Mary was to be His mother, you are even more blessed.”

**What is the sign of Jonah?** Matthew stresses the three days and nights (12:40); Luke stresses the preaching that brought Nineveh to repentance (v32). Henry and Sproul both see the resurrection: “God has already provided you with the ultimate sign” (Sproul). Guzik: “Jesus Himself is the sign.”

**What is a “clear” eye?** *Haplous* — single, undivided. Henry: “Take heed that the eye of the mind be not blinded by partiality, and prejudice, and sinful aims.” The trouble is not a shortage of light but eyes that will not receive it.

**Why such hard words at a dinner?** The host was offended that Jesus did not wash — a tradition, not a command of the Law. Jesus answers the heart behind the surprise. Sproul: “No human being ever sat down for dinner with cleaner hands than Jesus Christ.” He is not against tithing (“without neglecting the others,” v42) but against majoring on trifles. Henry: “It is a common thing for unhumbled sinners to call and count reproofs reproaches.”

**Who is Zechariah (v51)?** Most take him as Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, the priest stoned in the temple court at King Joash’s order (2 Chron 24:20–22). Abel is the first murder in the Hebrew Bible and Zechariah the last in its order, which ends with Chronicles — “from A to Z,” the whole record of martyred prophets.

**Word study (Greek):**
- **hallowed — *hagiazō* (G37):** “let Your name be treated as holy” (aorist passive imperative).
- **daily — *epiousios* (G1967):** only Matt 6:11; Luke 11:3; “needed for the day.”
- **persistence — *anaideia* (G335):** “shamelessness,” only here in the NT.
- **ask — *aiteō* (G154):** present imperatives in v9, “keep asking.”
- **finger — *daktylos* (G1147):** vv20, 46; Exod 8:19.
- **stronger — *ischyroteros* (G2478):** the comparative of “strong”; Luke 3:16.
- **sign — *sēmeion* (G4592):** ×5 in vv16–30.
- **clear — *haplous* (G573):** single, undivided; only Matt 6:22; Luke 11:34.
- **woe — *ouai* (G3759):** ×6 in vv42–52.
- **key — *kleis* (G2807):** “the key of knowledge” (v52).
- **catch — *thēreuō* (G2340):** to hunt, trap; only Luke 11:54.

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **They asked to be taught after watching Him** (v1).
2. **God’s name before my needs** — two “Your” requests, then three “us.”
3. **Shameless asking** — *anaideia* (v8).
4. **Keep asking** — present imperatives (v9).
5. **The best gift is the Spirit** (v13).
6. **One finger of God** — vv20 and 46.
7. **A clean, empty house is not safe** (vv24–26).
8. **Hearing and keeping beats every privilege** (v28).
9. **Jesus is the sign** (vv29–32).
10. **The worst woe is a locked door** (v52).

**Cross-references:** Exod 8:19; 1 Kings 10:1–10; 2 Kings 1:2; 2 Chron 24:20–22; Isa 49:24–25; Jonah 3:5; Matt 6:9–13; 7:7–11; 12:22–45; 23:1–36; Luke 3:16, 21; 6:12; 9:51; 10:38–42; John 8:12; Rom 8:32; 2 Thess 2:9; Jas 1:17.

### Application

**Command to obey — pray, and keep praying.** The disciples didn’t ask Jesus to teach them to preach; they asked Him to teach them to pray. I can talk about God all day and still not talk to Him. This week I will pray the pattern — His name, His kingdom, my bread, my forgiveness, my protection — every morning, out loud if I have to. And I will stop quitting on the things I have asked for. Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking.

**Promise to trust — the Father gives the Spirit.** Some of the men I serve grew up with fathers who handed out snakes and scorpions. Our heavenly Father doesn’t. “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” I don’t have to earn Him; I ask.

**Sin to confess — the swept, empty house.** Plenty of us know what it is to clean up — stop drinking, stop using, go to meetings, get life “in order” — and leave the house empty. Jesus says that is the most dangerous place to be. I confess the places where I have reformed without surrendering, and I ask the Stronger One to move in and stay.

**Truth to face — clean hands, dirty heart.** I can keep the outside of the cup spotless and still be full of grabbing and resentment inside. Jesus made the inside too. I want to be the man who lifts other men’s burdens, not the one who adds rules and won’t lift a finger.

**Example to follow — hear the word and keep it.** The woman blessed Mary; Jesus blessed the one who hears God’s word and does it. That blessing is open to every man in my group, whatever his record.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. The disciples asked to be taught to pray after watching Jesus pray. If someone watched my life this week, what would make him want to pray? (11:1; 5:16) *They asked after He had finished praying.*
2. Which of the five requests in the Lord’s Prayer do I skip most — God’s name, His kingdom, bread, forgiveness or protection — and why? (11:2–4; Matt 6:9–13) *His glory first, then our needs.*
3. Where have I quit asking God for something, and what would “shameless” persistence look like there? (11:5–10) *Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking.*
4. Jesus says a cleaned-up life with no one living in it ends worse than it began. What have I swept out of my life that I have not yet let Christ fill? (11:24–26) *Change of heart, not only change of life (Spurgeon).*
5. What signs do I still demand from God before I will trust Him, when He has already given the sign of the risen Jesus? (11:29–32; 1 Cor 15:3–4) *Jesus Himself is the sign (Guzik).*
6. Where am I clean on the outside and dirty on the inside — and is there anyone I am weighing down with burdens I will not lift myself? (11:39–46) *Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?*

**Worship.** Father, hallowed be Your name. You are the Father who gives good gifts and the Holy Spirit to those who ask; Jesus is the Stronger One who overpowered the strong man and divides his plunder; He is greater than Solomon and greater than Jonah, the Light that makes a whole body full of light.

**Prayer.** Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give me today what I need, forgive me as I forgive the men who owe me, and keep me out of temptation. Teach me to keep asking. Fill me with Your Spirit — don’t let me be a swept, empty house. Clean the inside of the cup, and make me a man who opens the door for others instead of locking it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

## Luke 12 — Rich Toward God, Ready for the Master

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v1 — **“Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v2 — **“there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v2 — **“there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v5 — **“fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v5 — **“Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v6 — **“not one of them is forgotten before God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v7 — **“the very hairs of your head are all numbered”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v8 — **“everyone who confesses Me before men”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v8 — **“Whosoever shall confess me before men”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v10 — **“he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v10 — **“him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v12 — **“the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v12 — **“the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v15 — **“be on your guard against every form of greed”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v15 — **“beware of covetousness”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v15 — **“not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v15 — **“a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v20 — **“You fool! This very night your soul is required of you”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v20 — **“Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v21 — **“is not rich toward God”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v24 — **“yet God feeds them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v24 — **“God feedeth them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v31 — **“But seek His kingdom”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v31 — **“But rather seek ye the kingdom of God”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v32 — **“your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v32 — **“it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v34 — **“where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v34 — **“where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v35 — **“Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v35 — **“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v37 — **“he will gird himself to serve”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v37 — **“he shall gird himself”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v40 — **“the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v40 — **“the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v45 — **“My master will be a long time in coming”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v45 — **“My lord delayeth his coming”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v48 — **“From everyone who has been given much, much will be required”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v48 — **“unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v49 — **“I have come to cast fire upon the earth”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v49 — **“I am come to send fire on the earth”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v50 — **“I have a baptism to undergo”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v50 — **“I have a baptism to be baptized with”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v56 — **“why do you not analyze this present time”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v56 — **“how is it that ye do not discern this time”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v58 — **“make an effort to settle with him”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v58 — **“give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v4 — **“afraid”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v5 — **“fear”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v11 — **“worry”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v29 — **“worrying”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** “Under these circumstances” (v1) — right after the scribes and Pharisees began plotting (11:53–54) — a crowd of many thousands presses in, stepping on one another. Jesus speaks first to His disciples (vv1–12), then answers a man in the crowd about an inheritance (vv13–21), turns back to His disciples (vv22–53, with Peter’s question at v41), and finally addresses the crowds (vv54–59).

**Structure:**
- vv1–12 — **whom to fear:** the leaven of the Pharisees, hypocrisy (v1); nothing covered will stay covered (vv2–3); do not fear those who kill the body; fear Him who can cast into hell (vv4–5); five sparrows, numbered hairs (vv6–7); confess Me before men (vv8–9); blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (v10); the Spirit will teach you what to say (vv11–12).
- vv13–21 — **the rich fool:** “tell my brother to divide the family inheritance” (v13); “who appointed Me a judge?” (v14); beware every form of greed (v15); productive land, bigger barns, “Soul … take your ease” (vv16–19); “You fool! This very night” (v20); not rich toward God (v21).
- vv22–34 — **seek His kingdom:** do not worry about life, food, clothing (vv22–23); consider the ravens (v24); worry cannot add an hour (vv25–26); consider the lilies (vv27–28); do not keep worrying; your Father knows (vv29–30); seek His kingdom (v31); little flock (v32); sell, give, treasure in heaven (v33); where your treasure is (v34).
- vv35–48 — **be ready:** lamps lit, waiting for the master from the wedding (vv35–36); the master serves the ready slaves (vv37–38); the thief and the unexpected hour (vv39–40); Peter: “to us, or to everyone?” (v41); the faithful steward (vv42–44); the abusive steward (vv45–46); many lashes, few lashes; much given, much required (vv47–48).
- vv49–59 — **fire and the present time:** fire on the earth; a baptism to undergo (vv49–50); not peace but division, three against two (vv51–53); clouds from the west, wind from the south (vv54–55); “You hypocrites! … why do you not analyze this present time?” (v56); settle on the way to the magistrate, or pay the last cent (vv57–59).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “fear / afraid” ×6 — vv4, 5 (×3), 7, 32; “worry / worrying” ×5 — vv11, 22, 25, 26, 29.
- “God” ×7 — vv6, 8, 9, 20, 21, 24, 28; “Father” ×2 — vv30, 32.
- “slave / slaves” ×7 — vv37, 38, 43, 45 (×2), 46, 47; “master” ×7 — vv36, 37, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47.
- “know / knows / known / knew” ×7 — vv2, 30, 39, 46, 47, 48, 56.
- “eat / drink” ×7 — vv19 (×2), 22, 29 (×2), 45 (×2).
- “hour” ×5 — vv12, 25, 39, 40, 46; “ready / readiness” ×3 — vv35, 40, 47.
- “much” ×5 — vv24, 28, 48 (×3); “how much more” ×2 — vv24, 28.
- “life” ×4 — vv15, 22, 23, 25; “soul” ×2 — vv19, 20.
- “judge” ×4 — vv14, 57, 58 (×2).
- “treasure” ×3 — vv21, 33, 34; “possessions” ×3 — vv15, 33, 44; “goods” ×2 — vv18, 19.
- “Blessed / blessed” ×3 — vv37, 38, 43; “Son of Man” ×3 — vv8, 10, 40.
- “seek” ×3 — vv29, 30, 31; “kingdom” ×2 — vv31, 32.
- “divided / division” ×3 — vv51, 52, 53; “Holy Spirit” ×2 — vv10, 12; “Beware” ×2 — vv1, 15.
- “Do not fear / do not be afraid / do not worry” ×6 — vv4, 7, 11, 22, 29, 32.

**Contrasts:** Covered ⟷ revealed; dark ⟷ light; inner rooms ⟷ housetops (vv2–3). Those who kill the body ⟷ the One who can cast into hell (vv4–5). Confess ⟷ deny (vv8–9). Many years ⟷ this very night (vv19–20). Treasure for himself ⟷ rich toward God (v21). The nations seek ⟷ your Father knows (v30). Purses that wear out ⟷ an unfailing treasure in heaven (v33). Slaves who serve ⟷ a master who serves them (v37). Faithful steward ⟷ abusive steward (vv42–46). Knew ⟷ did not know; many lashes ⟷ few (vv47–48). Peace ⟷ division (v51). Sky and earth ⟷ this present time (v56).

**Shape of the chapter:** four questions — whom do you fear, what do you own, what do you worry about, what will He find you doing? — and then a last call to read the season and settle with God. It moves from hypocrisy now, to death tonight, to the Master’s coming at an unknown hour, to the judge at the end of the road.

**Chapter theme (my words):** Fear God, not men; be rich toward God, not yourself; trust the Father, not your barns; and live ready, because the Master who will serve His faithful servants is coming at an hour I do not expect.

### Interpretation

**What is “the leaven of the Pharisees”?** Jesus names it: hypocrisy (v1). Leaven spreads quietly (Guzik: “it only takes a little bit of it to affect a great mass”; Sproul: “It will spread like a cancer”). Spurgeon: “Hypocrisy leads a man to pretend to be what he is not.”

**Fear God and do not fear?** Both, in four verses (vv4–7). Fear the One with authority over hell, and do not fear, because He forgets no sparrow. Sproul presses the first half hard — “I cannot find anywhere in the Bible that God loves you or me unconditionally” — while also saying, “Do not fear, for you matter to your Father.” Not every teacher would put God’s love that way; all four agree that the fear of God and the care of God belong together.

**What is the unforgivable sin?** In context it follows the charge that Jesus cast out demons by Beelzebul (11:15). Guzik distinguishes a moment of weakness (Peter’s denial) from settled rejection of the Spirit’s witness to Christ: “It never has forgiveness because it never wants forgiveness God’s way.” Sproul: “I do not believe any Christian ever does or ever will commit the unforgiven sin.” Spurgeon thinks it a mercy we are not told exactly. A man afraid he has committed it is showing the very tenderness that sin lacks.

**Why wouldn’t Jesus settle the inheritance?** He came to save souls, not to arbitrate estates (v14), and He saw the greed under the request. Guzik: “We often mask our covetousness by claiming we are on a righteous crusade.” Spurgeon: “you had better mind your own business.”

**What made the rich man a fool?** Not his harvest. Guzik: “The man’s problem was not in that he had treasure on earth; but that he was not rich toward God.” Henry: he called God’s fruits “his fruits and his goods.” Sproul: “‘Eat, drink, and be merry’ is the creed of the fool.” He said “I” six times and “my” five times and never once said “God.”

**Does “consider the ravens” mean don’t work?** No. Guzik: “Birds don’t just sit with open mouths.” Sproul: work without paralyzing fear. Henry: “Mind the affairs of your souls with diligence and care, and then trust God with all your other affairs.”

**Who is the “little flock”?** Jesus’ disciples, then and now — few, poor and weak (Spurgeon, Henry), but given the kingdom by a Father who does it gladly (*eudokeō*, the word of 3:22).

**Which coming is in view in vv35–48?** The Son of Man coming at an unexpected hour (v40) — His return. I read this, as I do 1 Thessalonians 5:2, as a call to live ready for a coming that could be any time: no sign has to happen first for the Master to knock. Guzik lists trends that may point to nearness but adds, “None of these guarantees that the return of Jesus is soon.” The steward’s sin begins with “My master will be a long time in coming” (v45).

**Is the abusive steward a lost believer?** Sproul: he is a professing believer who was never converted — “You cannot have saving faith and live like the unfaithful steward.” The many and few lashes (vv47–48) show degrees of punishment tied to knowledge. Henry: “Ignorance of our duty is an extenuation of sin,” but knowledge is “an aggravation.”

**What is the “fire” of v49?** The teachers differ. Guzik lays out options — judgment, the Spirit’s power, the gospel spreading after the cross — and notes fire usually signals judgment. Sproul takes it as real judgment, borne by Christ at the cross: “This was real fire.” Henry stresses the division the gospel kindles. John promised a Messiah who would baptize “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (3:16), and both judgment and Pentecost follow the cross. The “baptism” of v50 all agree is the cross (Guzik: “He was immersed in agony”).

**Did Jesus come to divide families?** He came to save; division is the result when some embrace Him and others reject Him (Sproul: “Christ divides”). Henry: “Christ is not the Author of it, as it is the sin of the incendiaries, the persecutors.” Micah 7:6 had described such homes.

**What is “this present time”?** The *kairos* of the Messiah’s visit. The crowd could forecast the weather but not read the season. The magistrate parable (vv57–59) says settle now. Henry: “Now is the accepted time, now or never.”

**Word study (Greek):**
- **hypocrisy — *hypokrisis* (G5272):** an actor’s mask; “leaven” *zymē* (G2219).
- **hell — *geenna* (G1067):** the Valley of Hinnom; Luke’s only use (v5).
- **confess — *homologeō* (G3670):** to say the same thing, acknowledge publicly (v8).
- **greed — *pleonexia* (G4124):** the itch for more (v15).
- **fool — *aphrōn* (G878):** mindless (v20); **required — *apaiteō* (G523):** demanded back (v20).
- **worry — *merimnaō* (G3309):** pulled apart (vv22, 25, 26).
- **keep worrying — *meteōrizomai* (G3349):** suspended in midair; only Luke 12:29.
- **flock — *poimnion* (G4168):** Luke 12:32; Acts 20:28–29; 1 Pet 5:2–3.
- **chosen gladly — *eudokeō* (G2106):** to delight; Luke 3:22.
- **gird — *perizōnnymi* (G4024):** the servants (v35) and the master (v37).
- **steward — *oikonomos* (G3623):** a household manager (v42).
- **fire — *pyr* (G4442); baptism — *baptisma* (G908); distressed — *synechō* (G4912)** (vv49–50).
- **division — *diamerismos* (G1267):** only Luke 12:51.
- **time — *kairos* (G2540); analyze — *dokimazō* (G1381); cent — *lepton* (G3016)** (vv56, 59).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **A mask cannot survive the light** (vv1–3).
2. **The fear that ends all fears** (vv4–7).
3. **Worried about the unforgivable sin?** No true Christian commits it (Sproul).
4. **Greed wears a halo** (vv13–15).
5. **Six I’s, five my’s, no God** (vv17–19).
6. **Suspended in midair** — *meteōrizomai* (v29).
7. **The Father gives the kingdom gladly** (v32).
8. **The Master puts on the apron** (v37).
9. **Much given, much required** (v48).
10. **Read the season** (v56).

**Cross-references:** Exod 12:11; Ps 14:1; 23:1; Eccl 12:14; Jer 7:31; Micah 7:6; Matt 6:19–34; 10:26–36; 24:42–51; Mark 10:38, 45; 13:37; Luke 3:16, 22; 6:30; 22:27, 57; Acts 20:28; 1 Cor 4:1; 2 Cor 5:10; Phil 1:23; Col 3:5; 1 Thess 5:2; 1 Tim 6:17; Heb 13:5; 1 Pet 4:10; 5:2–3.

### Application

**Truth to face — the mask.** Hypocrisy is the Pharisee’s leaven, and it grows in me when I care more about how I look in the group than what I am in the “inner rooms.” Nothing covered will stay covered. I would rather bring it into the light now, with Jesus and a brother, than have it proclaimed from the housetops later.

**Command to obey — fear Him, not them.** A lot of us have lived by the fear of men — the crew, the cellblock, the boss, a father’s voice. Jesus says fear the One who holds eternity, and then in the same breath, “Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” This week I will say out loud, to one person, that I belong to Jesus (v8).

**Sin to confess — barns.** I can be a rich fool without being rich: planning everything around “my” stuff, “my” plans, “my” comfort, and leaving God out of the sentence. I confess my greed and my worry — two sides of the same coin, as Guzik says. Today I will give something away that it hurts a little to give.

**Promise to trust — the little flock.** “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.” He doesn’t hand it over grudgingly; He gives it with the delight He has in His Son. I can stop clutching.

**Example to follow — the faithful steward.** Nothing I manage is mine — not my money, my time, my family, or the men God puts in front of me. The Master is coming at an hour I don’t expect. I want Him to find me “so doing” — giving out the rations on time, not beating the other servants or drinking the night away.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. Where am I wearing a mask — saying one thing in public and another in the “inner rooms” — and what would it cost to take it off? (12:1–3) *Nothing covered up will not be revealed.*
2. Whose opinion do I fear most right now? How does Jesus’ word about sparrows and numbered hairs change that fear? (12:4–7) *Fear Him; do not fear — you are more valuable than many sparrows.*
3. If God said “this very night” to me, what have I prepared, and whose would it be? Where am I rich toward myself and poor toward God? (12:16–21) *Everything was about him, and nothing was about God (Guzik).*
4. What do I worry about most, and what would it look like to “seek His kingdom” in that very area this week? (12:22–31) *Your Father knows that you need these things.*
5. Look at my bank statement and my calendar. Where is my treasure — and so where is my heart? (12:33–34) *The correlation … is a simple fact (Guzik).*
6. If the Master came tonight, what would He find me doing with what He has entrusted to me — my family, my money, my time, the men I serve? (12:42–48) *From everyone who has been given much, much will be required.*

**Worship.** The God who has authority over hell does not forget one sparrow and has counted every hair on my head. He feeds ravens, dresses lilies, and gladly gives His little flock the kingdom. My Master is coming back from the wedding, and when He finds His servants ready He will put on an apron and serve them. He went through the baptism of the cross so that I could settle my debt on the way.

**Prayer.** Father, take the mask off me and give me a clean heart in the inner rooms. Teach me to fear You and nothing else. Forgive my greed and my worry; make me rich toward You and loose with my barns. I seek Your kingdom today — You know what I need. Keep my lamp lit and my belt tied, and when Jesus comes, let Him find me faithful with what He has put in my hands. Amen.

## Luke 13 — Unless You Repent

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v1 — **“whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v2 — **“greater sinners than all other Galileans”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v2 — **“sinners above all the Galilaeans”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v4 — **“the tower in Siloam fell”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v7 — **“for three years I have come looking for fruit”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v7 — **“these three years I come seeking fruit”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v7 — **“Cut it down!”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v7 — **“cut it down”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v8 — **“Let it alone, sir, for this year too”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v8 — **“let it alone this year also”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v11 — **“for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v11 — **“had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v12 — **“Woman, you are freed from your sickness”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v12 — **“Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v13 — **“immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v13 — **“immediately she was made straight, and glorified God”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v15 — **“You hypocrites”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v15 — **“Thou hypocrite”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v16 — **“a daughter of Abraham”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v16 — **“whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v16 — **“whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v19 — **“It is like a mustard seed”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v19 — **“It is like a grain of mustard seed”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v21 — **“until it was all leavened”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v21 — **“till the whole was leavened”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v22 — **“proceeding on His way to Jerusalem”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v22 — **“journeying toward Jerusalem”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v24 — **“Strive to enter through the narrow door”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v24 — **“Strive to enter in at the strait gate”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v24 — **“will seek to enter and will not be able”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v24 — **“will seek to enter in, and shall not be able”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v25 — **“the head of the house gets up and shuts the door”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v25 — **“the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v27 — **“DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v27 — **“depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v29 — **“recline at the table in the kingdom of God”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v29 — **“shall sit down in the kingdom of God”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v30 — **“some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v30 — **“there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v32 — **“the third day I reach My goal”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v32 — **“the third day I shall be perfected”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v33 — **“I must journey on”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v33 — **“I must walk”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v34 — **“just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v34 — **“as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v34 — **“you would not have it”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v34 — **“ye would not”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v35 — **“your house is left to you desolate”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v35 — **“your house is left unto you desolate”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v35 — **“BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v35 — **“Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v3 — **“unless you repent, you will all likewise perish”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v3 — **“except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v10 — **“Sabbath”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v10 — **“sabbath”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v18 — **“kingdom of God”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v6 — **“fruit”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** Jesus is on the long road to Jerusalem (9:51; 13:22, 33), teaching crowds in Galilee and Perea. Some report Pilate’s massacre of Galilean worshipers (v1); Jesus adds the collapse of the tower in Siloam (v4). He tells the parable of the fig tree (vv6–9), heals a woman in a synagogue on the Sabbath (vv10–17), tells two kingdom parables (vv18–21), answers a question about the few who are saved (vv22–30), and answers a warning about Herod with a lament over Jerusalem (vv31–35).

**Structure:**
- vv1–5 — **the tower and the call:** Galileans killed by Pilate (v1); “Do you suppose …?” (vv2, 4); the eighteen in Siloam (v4); “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (vv3, 5).
- vv6–9 — **the barren fig tree:** three years with no fruit (vv6–7); “Cut it down!” (v7); “Let it alone, sir, for this year too” (v8); fruit next year, or the axe (v9).
- vv10–17 — **the bent woman loosed:** eighteen years bent double (v11); “Woman, you are freed” — hands laid on her, she stands and glorifies God (vv12–13); the synagogue official’s six days (v14); “You hypocrites” — the ox and donkey untied, the daughter of Abraham released (vv15–16); opponents humiliated, the crowd rejoicing (v17).
- vv18–21 — **seed and leaven:** the mustard seed that becomes a tree with birds in its branches (vv18–19); leaven hidden in three pecks of flour (vv20–21).
- vv22–30 — **the narrow door:** on the way to Jerusalem (v22); “are there just a few?” (v23); strive to enter (v24); the door shut — “I do not know where you are from” (vv25–27); weeping, the patriarchs, east and west, last and first (vv28–30).
- vv31–35 — **the fox and the hen:** “Herod wants to kill You” (v31); “Go and tell that fox” — today, tomorrow, the third day (vv32–33); “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem” — the hen and her brood (v34); the house left desolate — until “BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!” (v35).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “I tell you / I say to you” ×5 — vv3, 5, 24, 27, 35.
- “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” ×2 — vv3, 5 (word for word); “perish” ×3 — vv3, 5, 33.
- “Sabbath” ×5 — vv10, 14 (×2), 15, 16.
- “Jerusalem” ×5 — vv4, 22, 33, 34 (×2).
- “year(s)” ×5 — vv7, 8, 9, 11, 16; “eighteen” ×3 — vv4, 11, 16.
- “today / tomorrow / the third day / the next day” ×6 — vv32 (×3), 33 (×3).
- “freed / untie / released / bond / bound” ×5 — vv12, 15, 16 (×3).
- “kingdom of God” ×4 — vv18, 20, 28, 29.
- “like / compare” ×5 — vv18 (×2), 19, 20, 21.
- “woman” ×4 — vv11, 12, 16, 21.
- “first / last” ×4 — v30 (×4).
- “fruit” ×3 — vv6, 7, 9; “door” ×3 — vv24, 25 (×2).
- “glorifying / glorious / rejoicing” ×3 — vv13, 17 (×2).

**Contrasts:** Worse sinners ⟷ all sinners (vv2–5). Three fruitless years ⟷ one more year (vv7–8). Cut it down ⟷ let it alone (vv7–8). Bound by Satan ⟷ freed by Jesus (vv12, 16). Six days for work ⟷ the Sabbath for release (vv14–16). The humiliated opponents ⟷ the rejoicing crowd (v17). A tiny seed ⟷ a tree; a bit of leaven ⟷ the whole batch (vv19, 21). Seek ⟷ strive (v24). Inside at the table ⟷ outside knocking (vv25–29). Last ⟷ first (v30). The fox ⟷ the hen (vv32, 34). I wanted ⟷ you would not (v34). Desolate now ⟷ “until” you say “Blessed” (v35).

**Shape of the chapter:** two warnings (vv1–9), a sign of release (vv10–17), two pictures of the growing kingdom (vv18–21), and two more warnings (vv22–35). The call to repent at the start becomes the door that shuts and the city that refuses at the end — and at the very center, a bent woman stands up straight.

**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus will not let me look at other people’s disasters without looking at my own heart. God is patient, Jesus is a mighty Deliverer, and His kingdom will fill the world — but the time to repent and enter is now, while the door is open and His wings are spread.

### Interpretation

**Does suffering prove guilt?** No. Jesus answers “I tell you, no” twice (vv3, 5). Henry: “we cannot judge of men’s sins by their sufferings in this world.” Spurgeon: “has not the minister fallen dead in the pulpit?” But Jesus does not stop there. Sproul: the question I should ask is, “Why wasn’t I slaughtered along with the others?” All of us deserve judgment; every day of life is mercy.

**“Likewise perish” — AD 70 or eternity?** Guzik ties the warning to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, when many did die by sword and falling stones. I agree that was a near fulfillment. But the call to repent reaches every hearer, and the perishing Jesus warns of is finally the loss of the soul (Luke 9:24–25; John 3:16).

**Who is the fig tree?** First, Israel — planted in God’s vineyard with every privilege (Isaiah 5:1–7). Henry: “God chose them for his own, made them a people near to him.” But Sproul and Spurgeon both preach it to the professing church and to each hearer. The “three years” matches the length of Jesus’ ministry, though no teacher here presses that. The keeper who pleads pictures Christ’s intercession (Henry, Spurgeon) and also the work of ministers.

**Was the woman’s sickness demonic?** Luke says “a sickness caused by a spirit” (v11), and Jesus says “Satan has bound” her (v16). Yet He lays hands on her as a healing, not an exorcism. Guzik warns: “We are foolish to think that spiritual issues cause all physical problems.” She was still “a daughter of Abraham” — Spurgeon stresses she belonged to God while she was bound.

**Is the leaven good or bad?** Here our teachers part. Sproul and Henry read both parables as the kingdom growing from small to great: “Small beginnings yield great and vast fruit” (Sproul). Guzik (with Morgan and Carson) reads the overgrown tree and the birds as unnatural and evil, and leaven — which nearly always means sin in Scripture (12:1; 1 Cor 5:6) — as corruption entering the kingdom community. I take Jesus’ main point to be growth from tiny beginnings, but Guzik’s warning fits what history and Scripture say about this present age: the field has wheat and tares until the King returns.

**“Are there just a few?”** Jesus never answers the number. Guzik: He turns curiosity into a personal call. Sproul: “Strive” is the word behind “agony.” Spurgeon: “Striving is a more vehement exercise than seeking.” Striving does not earn salvation — Jesus is the door (John 10:9) — but it shows a man who really wants in.

**“I do not know where you are from.”** Sproul: “When He said He did not know them, that does not mean He was unaware of them.” It means no relationship. They had eaten with Him and heard Him teach (v26). Henry: “It is the hell of hell to depart from Christ.” And Guzik notes, “their racial identity was no guarantee of the kingdom” — Gentiles from every direction come in.

**Herod “that fox.”** Guzik: a “cunning but weak ruler.” Sproul doubts Herod really wanted to kill Jesus. Henry: prophets have “a liberty of speech in reproving princes.” Jesus keeps God’s schedule — “I must journey on” (*dei*) — and “the third day” hints at what waits in Jerusalem.

**The desolate house and the word “until.”** Guzik (with Pate) sees AD 70. Henry: “The house that Christ leaves is left desolate.” But Jesus puts a time limit on the blindness: “you will not see Me until … you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’” (Ps 118:26). The crowd shouted it at the triumphal entry (19:38), yet the city as a whole rejected Him. I read this “until” with Zechariah 12:10 and Romans 11:26 — a future day when Israel as a nation will look on Him whom they pierced and welcome her King at His return. God is not finished with Israel.

**Word study (Greek):**
- **repent — *metanoeō* (G3340):** a changed mind that turns the life; present tense, ongoing (Guzik).
- **perish — *apollymi* (G622):** to be destroyed, lost (Luke 15; John 3:16).
- **fig tree — *sykē* (G4808):** Israel’s familiar tree (Hos 9:10; Mic 7:1).
- **use up — *katargeō* (G2673):** to make idle, nullify; KJV “cumbereth.”
- **bent double — *synkyptō* (G4794):** only here in the New Testament; “made erect” is *anorthoō* (G461).
- **untie / release — *lyō* (G3089):** the ox untied, the woman released; “bound” is *deō* (G1210); “freed” is *apolyō* (G630).
- **must / should — *dei* (G1163):** vv14, 16, 33 — the ruler’s rule and God’s necessity.
- **leaven — *zymē* (G2219):** elsewhere hypocrisy or sin spreading (12:1; 1 Cor 5:6).
- **strive — *agōnizomai* (G75):** to agonize, contend for the prize.
- **door — *thyra* (G2374); narrow — *stenos* (G4728):** “I am the door” (John 10:9).
- **fox — *alōpēx* (G258):** cunning but weak (Guzik).
- **reach My goal — *teleioō* (G5048):** to complete, perfect (Heb 2:10).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **Jesus refuses to rank the dead** — and turns the question on the living.
2. **The right question is “Why not me?”** (Sproul).
3. **Do not lie to make a point** (Spurgeon).
4. **Repentance keeps going** — a continuing turn (Guzik).
5. **Mercy has a deadline** — one more year.
6. **The barren tree is not harmless** — it uses up the ground.
7. **Untie the ox — release the woman** — *lyō*.
8. **Small beginnings — but watch the leaven** — teachers differ.
9. **Knowing about Jesus is not being known by Him** (v26–27).
10. **A fox cannot rush the Lamb** — today, tomorrow, the third day.

**Cross-references:** Gen 18:6; Ps 80:8–16; 91:4; 118:26; Isa 5:1–7; Jer 8:13; Ezek 17:23; 18:32; 33:11; Dan 4:12; Hos 9:10; Mic 7:1; Zech 12:10; Matt 7:13–14; 13:31–33; 23:37–39; Mark 11:12–14; Luke 9:51; 12:1; 19:38, 41–44; John 10:9; 15:8; Rom 11:26; 1 Cor 5:6; Heb 2:10; 2 Pet 3:9.

### Application

**Sin to confess — judging the other guy’s disaster.** When I hear of a man who overdosed, went back to prison or lost his family, I can quietly think, “Well, he had it coming.” Jesus says, “I tell you, no.” The right question is the one Sproul gives: “Why wasn’t I?” I confess the pride that ranks other sinners below me, and I ask God for a heart that sees my own need first.

**Command to obey — repent, and keep repenting.** Not once at an altar call, but as a direction of life (Guzik). This week I will name one thing I have been turning back toward — a habit, a resentment, a secret — and turn away from it again, out loud, before God and one brother.

**Truth to face — the year of mercy will end.** The fig tree got one more year, with digging and fertilizer. Some of the men I sit with have had their “dirt dug around” for years — arrests, losses, a program, a praying mother. So have I. I do not get to assume three more years (Sproul). Fruit is what the Owner is looking for.

**Promise to trust — He sees the bowed down and sets them free.** Eighteen years bent double, and one word from Jesus: “Woman, you are freed.” Spurgeon: “The devil can tie in a moment a knot which you and I cannot unloose in eighteen years.” Jesus can. If I am bent over by shame, depression or an old bondage, I come to the place where He is and let Him lay His hands on me.

**Example to follow — Jesus on His road.** Herod’s threats did not rush Him, and Jerusalem’s refusal did not harden Him. He kept His Father’s schedule and still wept like a mother hen over the people who would kill Him. I want that steadiness — and that heart for people who are pushing God away.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. When I hear about a tragedy, is my first thought about what “they” must have done — or about whether I am ready to meet God? (13:1–5; Ezek 33:11) *Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.*
2. If the Owner came looking for fruit in my life this year, what would He find? What is the “digging and fertilizer” He has been putting around me? (13:6–9; John 15:8) *Fruit is the evidence of a real conversion (Sproul).*
3. The woman was bent double for eighteen years and still came to the synagogue. What has bent me over — and what would standing up straight look like? (13:10–13) *Jesus always occupies a place from which he can spy out those who are bowed down (Spurgeon).*
4. Where have I cared more about rules, schedules or my own convenience than about a hurting person in front of me? (13:14–17) *Untie the ox — release the woman.*
5. Am I seeking or striving? What would it look like to strive to enter the narrow door this week? (13:24–27; Matt 7:13–14) *Striving is a more vehement exercise than seeking (Spurgeon).*
6. Jesus wanted to gather Jerusalem like a hen gathers chicks, and they would not have it. Where am I resisting His gathering? (13:34–35; Ps 91:4) *How often I wanted to gather your children together.*

**Worship.** The Lord of the vineyard comes looking for fruit and finds a sinner like me — and the Keeper pleads, “Let it alone, sir, for this year too.” He looses what Satan has bound, He keeps His appointed road in spite of every fox, and He spreads His wings over the city that will kill Him. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, forgive me for judging other men’s disasters while ignoring my own heart. I repent today, and I want to keep repenting. Thank You for the year of mercy — dig around me, feed me, and make me fruitful. Straighten what is bent in me. Give me the will to strive through the narrow door while it is open, and gather me under Your wings. And hasten the day when Jerusalem says, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Amen.

## Luke 14 — Come, for Everything Is Ready

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“on the Sabbath to eat bread”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v1 — **“to eat bread on the sabbath day”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v1 — **“they were watching Him closely”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v1 — **“they watched him”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v3 — **“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v3 — **“Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v4 — **“He took hold of him and healed him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v4 — **“he took him, and healed him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v7 — **“picking out the places of honor”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v7 — **“they chose out the chief rooms”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v10 — **“go and recline at the last place”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v10 — **“go and sit down in the lowest room”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v10 — **“Friend, move up higher”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v10 — **“Friend, go up higher”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v11 — **“everyone who exalts himself will be humbled”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v11 — **“whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v11 — **“he who humbles himself will be exalted”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v11 — **“he that humbleth himself shall be exalted”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v13 — **“invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v13 — **“call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v14 — **“you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v14 — **“thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v15 — **“Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v15 — **“Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v17 — **“Come; for everything is ready now”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v17 — **“Come; for all things are now ready”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v18 — **“they all alike began to make excuses”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v18 — **“they all with one consent began to make excuse”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v20 — **“for that reason I cannot come”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v20 — **“therefore I cannot come”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v21 — **“the poor and crippled and blind and lame”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v21 — **“the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v22 — **“still there is room”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v22 — **“yet there is room”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v23 — **“compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v23 — **“compel them to come in, that my house may be filled”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v24 — **“none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v24 — **“none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v26 — **“does not hate his own father and mother”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v26 — **“hate not his father, and mother”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v27 — **“carry his own cross and come after Me”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v27 — **“bear his cross, and come after me”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v28 — **“first sit down and calculate the cost”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v28 — **“sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v30 — **“This man began to build and was not able to finish”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v30 — **“This man began to build, and was not able to finish”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v33 — **“does not give up all his own possessions”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v33 — **“forsaketh not all that he hath”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v34 — **“if even salt has become tasteless”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v34 — **“if the salt have lost his savour”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v35 — **“He who has ears to hear, let him hear”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v35 — **“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v7 — **“invited”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v12 — **“invite”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v8 — **“bidden”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v26 — **“cannot be My disciple”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v26 — **“he cannot be my disciple”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v27 — **“cannot be my disciple”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v33 — **“can be My disciple”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** On the Sabbath Jesus goes to eat at the house of a leader of the Pharisees, where He is watched closely (v1). A man with dropsy is in front of Him (vv2–6). At the meal He speaks to the guests about seats (vv7–11), to the host about whom to invite (vv12–14), and to a guest who blesses the kingdom’s banquet with a parable of a great supper (vv15–24). Then, back on the road with large crowds, He turns and tells them the cost of being His disciple (vv25–35).

**Structure:**
- vv1–6 — **the man with dropsy:** a Pharisee’s house on the Sabbath; “they were watching Him closely” (v1); “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” — silence (vv3–4); He heals and sends him away; the son or ox in a well — no reply (vv5–6).
- vv7–11 — **the guests and their seats:** they pick the places of honor (v7); don’t take the place of honor; “Give your place to this man” (vv8–9); recline at the last place; “Friend, move up higher” (v10); the exalted humbled, the humble exalted (v11).
- vv12–14 — **the host and his guest list:** not friends, brothers, relatives or rich neighbors who repay (v12); the poor, crippled, lame and blind (v13); repaid at the resurrection of the righteous (v14).
- vv15–24 — **the great supper:** “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” (v15); a big dinner, many invited, “Come; for everything is ready now” (vv16–17); three excuses — land, oxen, a wife (vv18–20); the angry master — streets and lanes, the poor and crippled and blind and lame (v21); “still there is room” (v22); highways and hedges, “compel them to come in” (v23); none of the invited shall taste (v24).
- vv25–35 — **the cost:** large crowds; He turns (v25); hate father, mother … even his own life (v26); carry his own cross (v27); the tower builder (vv28–30); the king with ten thousand (vv31–32); give up all his own possessions (v33); salt that has become tasteless; ears to hear (vv34–35).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “invited / invite” ×13 — vv7, 8 (×2), 9, 10 (×2), 12 (×3), 13, 16, 17, 24.
- “come / comes / came” ×8 — vv9, 10, 17, 20, 21, 23, 26, 27.
- “dinner / luncheon / reception / feast” ×7 — vv8, 12 (×2), 13, 16, 17, 24.
- “crippled / lame / blind” ×6 — v13 (×3), v21 (×3); “poor” ×2 — vv13, 21.
- “place(s)” ×5 — vv7, 8, 9 (×2), 10; “honor” ×3 — vv7, 8, 10.
- “slave” ×5 — vv17, 21 (×2), 22, 23.
- “exalts / exalted / humbled / humbles” ×4 — v11.
- “own” ×4 — vv26 (×2), 27, 33.
- “disciple” ×3 — vv26, 27, 33; “cannot be My disciple” ×2 — vv26, 27, and “none of you can be My disciple” — v33.
- “Sabbath” ×3 — vv1, 3, 5.
- “repay / repaid / repayment” ×3 — vv12, 14 (×2).
- “excused / excuses” ×3 — vv18 (×2), 19.
- “sit down” ×2 — vv28, 31; “salt” ×2 — v34.

**Contrasts:** Watching Him ⟷ He noticed them (vv1, 7). Lawful ⟷ silence (vv3–4). Place of honor ⟷ last place; disgrace ⟷ honor (vv8–10). Exalts himself ⟷ humbles himself (v11). Friends who repay ⟷ poor who cannot (vv12–14). Repaid now ⟷ repaid at the resurrection (vv12, 14). The invited who refuse ⟷ the uninvited who come (vv18–24). “I cannot come” ⟷ “compel them to come in” (vv20, 23). Followers in a crowd ⟷ disciples who count the cost (vv25–33). Began ⟷ not able to finish (v30). Salt ⟷ tasteless salt (v34).

**Shape of the chapter:** one table, three lessons (vv1–24), then one road and one demand (vv25–35). The chapter moves from who gets the best seat to who gets into the banquet at all, and finally to who will actually follow the Host.

**Chapter theme (my words):** In God’s kingdom the humble are lifted, the poor are welcomed and the excuse-makers shut themselves out. The invitation is free — everything is ready — but following Jesus costs everything, and only a man who has counted that cost will finish.

### Interpretation

**Was the dropsy man bait?** Guzik: “Some believe that he was invited simply to provoke Jesus.” Sproul: “Jesus came to the dinner, knowing full well the feast was a trap.” Either way, Jesus did not walk around the man to protect Himself. He asked the question first (v3), healed him, and sent him away out of the line of fire.

**Why were they silent?** Sproul: “Healing was lawful, according to Jewish law.” Their traditions had grown past God’s law, and they could not defend them out loud. Henry: “every mouth must be stopped before him.” The ox-in-the-well question (v5) is the same logic as 13:15 — you would show mercy to your own animal.

**Is Jesus teaching etiquette?** The seat advice is Proverbs 25:6–7, but Luke calls it “a parable” (v7). It is about the kingdom: God is the Host who says, “Friend, move up higher.” Guzik warns that humility can be acted — “a subtle form of spiritual pride.” The passive verbs in v11 show God does the humbling and exalting (Luke 1:52; 18:14).

**The resurrection of the righteous (v14).** Jesus assumes a future resurrection with reward for those who gave without return. Henry: “Say not that thou art a loser.” Scripture speaks of the resurrection of the righteous and of the wicked (Acts 24:15; John 5:28–29). I read Revelation 20:4–6 as a resurrection of the righteous before the thousand years, and the rest afterward.

**Who are the guests in the parable?** First, Israel’s religious leaders, the invited who had heard the prophets and then refused Jesus when “everything is ready now.” Then the poor and crippled of “the city” — the outcasts within Israel, the tax collectors and sinners. Then the “highways and hedges” beyond the city — most teachers see the Gentiles here. Sproul explains the two invitations: refusing the second after accepting the first was an insult. God has not cast off Israel (Rom 11:1), but the leaders of that generation who refused did not taste the supper (v24).

**“Compel them to come in.”** All four teachers reject using this verse to force consciences. Henry: “nothing like this was the compulsion here meant, but only that of reason and love.” Guzik and Barclay note Augustine’s misuse. Spurgeon shows what it means in a pulpit — urgent, personal pleading: “Remember, I have no authority to ask you to come to Christ tomorrow.”

**What does “hate” mean?** It is comparison, not hostility. Matthew 10:37: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.” Sproul: “it frequently—but not always—means simply to love less.” Henry: “Not that their persons must be in any degree hated.” Guzik: “The greatest threat to the best often comes from second best.” The man who loves Christ most actually loves his family better.

**Carrying the cross.** Not a hard situation in life — a death march. Guzik: “When the Romans crucified a criminal, they didn’t just hang them on a cross.” The condemned man carried it to his own execution. A disciple has accepted that his old life is going to die.

**Two parables of counting.** The builder asks, “Can I finish?” — the cost of following. The king asks, “Can I win against a stronger King?” — the cost of resisting. Guzik: “It costs something to be the disciple of Jesus; it costs more to reject Him.” Barclay (in Guzik): it is possible to be a camp-follower without being a soldier.

**Salt.** Ancient salt mixed with impurities could lose its saltiness and become useless — not even fit for the manure pile (v35). Henry: “A professor of religion whose mind and manners are depraved is the most insipid animal that can be.” Sproul: Jesus wants disciples who “keep their salt no matter what.”

**Word study (Greek):**
- **watching closely — *paratēreō* (G3906):** hostile, sideways watching (6:7; 20:20).
- **dropsy — *hydrōpikos* (G5203):** swollen with fluid; only here in the New Testament.
- **place of honor — *prōtoklisia* (G4411):** the first couch (Matt 23:6; Luke 20:46).
- **humble — *tapeinoō* (G5013); exalt — *hypsoō* (G5312):** God reverses (1:52; 18:14).
- **make excuses — *paraiteomai* (G3868):** to beg off (Heb 12:25).
- **compel — *anankazō* (G315):** urgent pressing, by reason and love (Henry).
- **hate — *miseō* (G3404):** love less by comparison (Gen 29:31; Mal 1:2–3; Rom 9:13).
- **give up — *apotassomai* (G657):** to say goodbye to, renounce (9:61).
- **tasteless — *mōrainō* (G3471):** to become flat, foolish.

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **They watched Him; He watched them** (vv1, 7).
2. **No hocus-pocus** — He simply took hold of the man (Guzik).
3. **Humility can be faked** (Guzik).
4. **God does the exalting** — divine passives (v11).
5. **Invite the ones who cannot pay you back** (Henry).
6. **Everything is ready now** — the second invitation (Sproul).
7. **Cannot means will not** (Henry; Morgan).
8. **Still there is room** (v22; Spurgeon).
9. **“Hate” means love less** (all four; Matt 10:37).
10. **It costs more to refuse** (Guzik).

**Cross-references:** Prov 25:6–7; Isa 25:6–9; 55:1; Gen 29:31; Mal 1:2–3; Matt 5:13; 10:37–38; 22:1–14; 23:6, 12; Luke 1:52; 6:6–11; 9:23, 57–62; 13:10–17; 18:14; John 5:28–29; Acts 24:15; Rom 9:13; 11:1; 1 Cor 1:26–29; Phil 3:7–8; Heb 12:25; 1 Pet 5:6; Rev 19:9; 20:4–6.

### Application

**Sin to confess — scrambling for the best seat.** I do it in small ways: wanting to be the one who is asked, the one whose opinion counts, the one up front. Even in ministry. Even in humility — I can sit in the back hoping someone notices. Guzik calls that “a subtle form of spiritual pride.” I confess it, and I let the Host decide where I sit.

**Command to obey — invite the ones who can’t pay you back.** Jesus did not say “be nice to the poor”; He said put them on the guest list. This week I will invite a man to a meal or a coffee who has nothing to offer me — fresh out, on the street, alone — and I will not keep score.

**Sin to confess — my excuses.** A field, some oxen, a wife: good things that I let say “not now” to God. Henry: “He pretends that he cannot, when the truth is he will not.” I name my excuse honestly before God, and I go when He calls.

**Promise to trust — still there is room.** For the men I sit with, this may be the best news in the chapter. The poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame are the ones who end up at the table — and the slave says, “still there is room.” No record, no failure, no past puts a man outside the reach of that invitation.

**Command to obey — count the cost, carry the cross.** Jesus did not hide the price. Loving Him more than father, mother, wife, children and my own life. Carrying my cross. Saying goodbye to all I have. That sounds like loss, but refusing Him costs more (Guzik). I will sit down this week, as the builder did, and tell the Lord honestly what I am still holding back.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. Jesus healed a man while people watched to catch Him. Where am I holding back from doing good because of who might be watching or judging? (14:1–6) *Those that are watched had need to be wary (Henry) — and He healed anyway.*
2. Where do I scramble for “the place of honor” — at work, at church, in my family, even in recovery? What would taking the last place look like? (14:7–11; Prov 25:6–7) *Real humility lets the Host decide.*
3. Who could I invite this month who can never pay me back? (14:12–14) *You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.*
4. Which excuse sounds most like mine — the field, the oxen or the wife? What is behind it? (14:18–20) *Back of an excuse is a lack of desire (Morgan, in Guzik).*
5. What does it mean for me that “still there is room”? Who on the highways and hedges near me needs to be urged to come? (14:21–23) *Compel by reason and love (Henry).*
6. Have I sat down and counted the cost of following Jesus? What relationship or possession am I tempted to love more than Him? (14:26–33; Matt 10:37) *It costs something to be His disciple; it costs more to reject Him (Guzik).*

**Worship.** Jesus is the Host who lifts the humble and seats the poor, the Master whose house will be filled, the Lord who carried His own cross before He asked me to carry mine. Everything is ready — because He made it ready. Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God.

**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, You noticed the man nobody wanted to touch, and You noticed me. Forgive my scrambling for honor and my polished excuses. Thank You that still there is room — for me and for the men I love. Make me a man who invites those who can’t repay, who goes out to the highways and hedges, and who has counted the cost and keeps following. I love You more than all I have. Keep my salt from going flat. Amen.

## Luke 15 — Lost and Found

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v1 — **“drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v2 — **“began to grumble”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v2 — **“murmured”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v2 — **“This man receives sinners and eats with them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v2 — **“This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v4 — **“go after the one which is lost until he finds it”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v4 — **“go after that which is lost, until he find it”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v5 — **“he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v5 — **“he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v7 — **“more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v7 — **“joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v8 — **“search carefully until she finds it”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v8 — **“seek diligently till she find it”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v10 — **“joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v10 — **“joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v12 — **“give me the share of the estate that falls to me”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v12 — **“give me the portion of goods that falleth to me”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v13 — **“a distant country”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v13 — **“a far country”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v13 — **“squandered his estate with loose living”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v13 — **“wasted his substance with riotous living”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v16 — **“no one was giving anything to him”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v16 — **“no man gave unto him”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v17 — **“when he came to his senses”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v17 — **“when he came to himself”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v18 — **“I will get up and go to my father”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v18 — **“I will arise and go to my father”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v18 — **“I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v18 — **“I have sinned against heaven, and before thee”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v20 — **“while he was still a long way off”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v20 — **“when he was yet a great way off”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v20 — **“felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v20 — **“had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v22 — **“the best robe”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v22 — **“a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v22 — **“a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v28 — **“he became angry and was not willing to go in”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v28 — **“he was angry, and would not go in”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v28 — **“his father came out and began pleading with him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v28 — **“came his father out, and intreated him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v29 — **“For so many years I have been serving you”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v29 — **“these many years do I serve thee”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v31 — **“Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v31 — **“Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v32 — **“we had to celebrate and rejoice”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v32 — **“It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v4 — **“lost”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v5 — **“found”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v4 — **“finds”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v4 — **“find”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v6 — **“Rejoice”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v7 — **“joy”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v24 — **“was dead and has come to life again”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v32 — **“was dead and has begun to live”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v24 — **“was dead, and is alive again”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** Somewhere on the road to Jerusalem (9:51), right after Jesus’ hard words on the cost of discipleship (14:25–35). Tax collectors and sinners are coming near to listen; the Pharisees and scribes grumble, “This man receives sinners and eats with them” (vv1–2). Jesus answers with “this parable” (v3) in three panels.

**Structure:**
- vv1–7 — **the grumbling and the lost sheep:** sinners draw near; the Pharisees grumble (vv1–2); a man with a hundred sheep leaves the ninety-nine and goes after the one “until he finds it” (v4); carries it home on his shoulders, rejoicing; “Rejoice with me” (vv5–6); more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (v7).
- vv8–10 — **the lost coin:** ten silver coins, one lost; she lights a lamp, sweeps, searches carefully (v8); “Rejoice with me” (v9); joy in the presence of the angels of God (v10).
- vv11–19 — **the son who left:** “give me the share of the estate” (v12); a distant country, loose living (v13); famine, pigs, pods, no one gave him anything (vv14–16); he came to his senses — “I will get up and go to my father” (vv17–19).
- vv20–24 — **the father who ran:** a long way off, the father saw him, felt compassion, ran, embraced and kissed him (v20); the confession (v21); robe, ring, sandals, fattened calf (vv22–23); “dead … alive again; lost … found” (v24).
- vv25–32 — **the older brother:** music and dancing (v25); “Your brother has come” (vv26–27); angry, would not go in; the father comes out and pleads (v28); “so many years I have been serving you” (vv29–30); “Son, you have always been with me” — “we had to celebrate” (vv31–32).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “father” ×12 — vv12 (×2), 17, 18 (×2), 20 (×2), 21, 22, 27, 28, 29; plus “father’s” v17.
- “son(s)” ×9 — vv11, 13, 19, 21 (×2), 24, 25, 30, 31.
- “came / come / comes / coming” ×9 — vv1, 6, 17, 20, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30.
- “found / finds” ×8 — vv4, 5, 6, 8, 9 (×2), 24, 32.
- “lost” ×6 — vv4 (×2), 6, 9, 24, 32.
- “rejoice / rejoicing / joy” ×6 — vv5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 32.
- “celebrate” ×4 — vv23, 24, 29, 32.
- “sinner(s)” ×4 — vv1, 2, 7, 10; “repents / repentance” ×3 — vv7 (×2), 10; “sinned” ×2 — vv18, 21.
- “estate / wealth” ×4 — vv12 (×2), 13, 30.
- “friends” ×3 — vv6, 9, 29; “fattened calf” ×3 — vv23, 27, 30.
- “dead / dying” ×3 — vv17, 24, 32; “famine / impoverished / hunger” ×3 — vv14 (×2), 17.
- “brother” ×2 — vv27, 32; “hired men” ×2 — vv17, 19.

**Contrasts:** Sinners drawing near ⟷ Pharisees grumbling (vv1–2). Ninety-nine ⟷ one (vv4, 7). Lost ⟷ found; dead ⟷ alive (vv24, 32). A distant country ⟷ my father’s house (vv13, 17). Pods for pigs ⟷ the fattened calf (vv16, 23). “Give me” (v12) ⟷ “make me” (v19). “No longer worthy to be called your son” ⟷ robe, ring and sandals (vv21–22). Inside celebrating ⟷ outside angry (vv25, 28). “This son of yours” ⟷ “this brother of yours” (vv30, 32). Serving like a slave ⟷ “all that is mine is yours” (vv29, 31).

**Shape of the chapter:** three stories that get longer and more personal — an animal, a coin, a son — each ending in a party. The last story has a second act with no ending: the older son is still outside, and the father is still pleading.

**Chapter theme (my words):** God is the seeker. He goes after the lost, waits for the runaway and runs to meet him, and calls everyone to rejoice when a sinner comes home. The danger is not only running away from the Father but standing next to His house with a heart that will not go in.

### Interpretation

**Who is Jesus answering?** The grumblers of verse 2. All three panels are aimed at them (“What man among you …?” v4). Sproul: Jesus’ table fellowship “violated every principle they held precious.” Guzik: “This answered the complaint of the religious leaders that began the chapter.” The tax collectors hear grace; the Pharisees hear an invitation and a warning.

**Who are the “ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (v7)?** Teachers differ. Sproul reads them as the already-justified who remain in the fold. Others take the phrase as gentle irony toward the Pharisees, who thought they needed no repentance. Either way, the point of the verse is heaven’s joy over the one.

**Can a sheep or a coin repent?** No — and that is the point. In the first two stories the seeker does everything. Guzik: “God finds the sinner more than the sinner does find God.” Yet Jesus still says “one sinner who repents” (vv7, 10). Repentance is what being found looks like in a person; the third story shows it from the inside.

**What does “came to his senses” mean?** Literally “came to himself” (v17). Sproul makes it the hinge — he came to himself, “not by himself,” because “Nobody ever comes to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ without that divine and supernatural light.” The son’s turn has a true thought (my father’s hired men eat), a decision (“I will get up and go”) and a confession (“I have sinned against heaven”). Henry: “Good purposes are good things, but still good performances are all in all.”

**Why does the father run?** Because he has been watching (Guzik: “The father’s love waited and never forgot”) and because compassion moves the feet (<i>splanchnizomai</i>, as with the Good Samaritan, 10:33). Sproul pictures “weak and elderly legs” running down the road. The son never gets to the hired-man part of his speech (v19 vs. v21).

**What do the robe, ring, sandals and calf mean?** Restored sonship and celebration. Sproul reads the robe as Christ’s righteousness — “No one has ever entered the kingdom of God without wearing the robe of the righteousness of Christ” — and the ring as the sign that “he is not a servant or slave.” Guzik: “It was a love that fully received, not putting the son on probation.”

**Who is the older son?** The Pharisees and scribes of verse 2 (Sproul: he “represents the Pharisees and their complaints”). He never left home, yet he talks like a slave (“serving you,” v29), will not call his brother a brother (“this son of yours,” v30), and stays outside. Henry: “Those who are comparatively innocents seldom know how to be compassionate towards those who are manifestly penitents.”

**Why does the story stop without an ending?** Jesus leaves the older son at the door so the grumblers will finish it themselves. The father’s last words are both tender and firm: “Son [child], you have always been with me … But we had to celebrate” (vv31–32).

**Word study (Greek):**
- **grumble — *diagongyzō* (G1234):** a muttering that runs through the crowd; only Luke 15:2; 19:7.
- **lost — *apollymi* (G622):** to lose, to perish; “lost” vv4, 6, 9, 24, 32 and “dying” v17.
- **silver coin — *drachmē* (G1406):** about a day’s wage; only Luke 15:8–9.
- **repents — *metanoeō* (G3340):** a change of mind that turns the life; vv7, 10.
- **loose living — *asōtōs* (G811):** living like a man who cannot be saved; only here (cf. *asōtia*, Eph 5:18).
- **came — *erchomai* (G2064):** “coming to himself” (v17) — and “came to his father” (v20).
- **felt compassion — *splanchnizomai* (G4697):** gut-level mercy; Luke 7:13; 10:33; 15:20.
- **kissed — *kataphileō* (G2705):** kissed warmly, again and again.
- **son / child — *teknon* (G5043):** the father’s tender word to the older son (v31).
- **had to — *dei* (G1163):** “we had to celebrate” (v32) — heaven’s necessity of joy.

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **The worst people came to listen** (v1; Guzik).
2. **One parable in three panels** — the odds narrow, the joy doesn’t (v3).
3. **Lost means perishing** — *apollymi* (vv4, 17, 24).
4. **The seeker does the finding** (Guzik).
5. **God rejoices** (vv7, 10; Henry, Spurgeon).
6. **He came to himself — not by himself** (Sproul).
7. **The father covers the longer distance** (v20; Spurgeon).
8. **Kisses before the confession is finished** (vv19, 21).
9. **A son can be lost at home** (vv25–28; Henry).
10. **The story ends with a question** — will the older son go in?

**Cross-references:** Ps 51:4; Isa 40:11; 53:6; Jer 31:20; Ezek 33:11; 34:11–16; Luke 5:30–32; 7:34; 9:22; 10:33; 14:25–35; 19:7–10; John 10:11; Rom 5:8; Eph 2:4–5, 13; 5:18; 1 Tim 1:15; 2 Pet 3:9.

### Application

**Example to follow — the seekers.** The shepherd went after one sheep, the woman lit a lamp and swept, and the father watched the road and ran. Not one of them waited for the lost to fix themselves. This week I will go after one man who has drifted from our group — a call, a visit, a meal — and I will keep looking “until I find him.”

**Sin to confess — two kinds of lostness.** I know the younger son’s road: wanting it now, wanting no one watching, spending everything and ending up with nothing. But I also know the older son’s heart: keeping score, resenting grace shown to somebody else, staying outside the party. I confess both by name. The far country and the field are both a long way from the Father.

**Truth to face — I came to myself, but not by myself.** When I hit bottom, it was God who turned the light on. I did not find Him; He found me (Guzik: “God finds the sinner more than the sinner does find God”). That keeps me humble with the men I serve — the light can come on for them too.

**Promise to trust — the Father runs.** I don’t have to finish my speech. The son never got to “make me as one of your hired men.” God does not put me on probation; He puts a robe on me — the righteousness of Christ (Sproul). When I come home I am received as a son, not hired as a servant.

**Command to obey — get up and go; then go in.** If I am still in the far country, the command is verse 18: “I will get up and go to my father.” If I have been home all along, the command is verse 32: celebrate and rejoice when a brother comes back. Both sons were invited to the same table.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. Tax collectors and sinners came near to listen to Jesus. Would the men I know who are far from God feel welcome to come near me — or would they hear grumbling? (15:1–2; 5:30–32) *This man receives sinners and eats with them.*
2. Neither the sheep nor the coin could find its way back. Where do I still think I have to find God, when He has been looking for me? (15:4–10; 19:10) *God finds the sinner more than the sinner does find God (Guzik).*
3. What was my “distant country” — and what was the moment I came to my senses? (15:13–17) *He came to himself, not by himself (Sproul).*
4. The son rehearsed a speech, but the father ran and kissed him before he could finish it. What keeps me trying to earn a place God has already given me? (15:18–24; Eph 2:4–5) *It was a love that fully received, not putting the son on probation (Guzik).*
5. Am I more like the younger son or the older son right now? Where do I see the older brother’s anger in myself? (15:25–30) *The comparatively innocent seldom pity the penitent (Henry).*
6. The father said, “we had to celebrate.” Whose return to God have I been slow to celebrate? (15:31–32) *It is right that we rejoice when someone who is lost is found (Sproul).*

**Worship.** The Good Shepherd went after me and carried me home on His shoulders. The Spirit lit the lamp and swept the house until I was found. The Father saw me a long way off, felt compassion, ran, and kissed me before I finished confessing. Heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents — and I was that sinner.

**Prayer.** Father, I have sinned against heaven and in Your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called Your son. Thank You for running to me anyway, for the robe of Christ’s righteousness, and for a place at Your table. Keep me from the older brother’s heart. Give me Your joy over every lost man who comes home, and send me out after the ones who are still far off. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

## Luke 16 — You Cannot Serve God and Wealth

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“squandering his possessions”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v1 — **“wasted his goods”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v2 — **“Give an accounting of your management”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v2 — **“give an account of thy stewardship”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v2 — **“you can no longer be manager”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v2 — **“thou mayest be no longer steward”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v4 — **“people will welcome me into their homes”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v4 — **“they may receive me into their houses”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v8 — **“because he had acted shrewdly”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v8 — **“because he had done wisely”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v8 — **“the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v8 — **“the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v9 — **“make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v9 — **“Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v9 — **“they will receive you into the eternal dwellings”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v9 — **“they may receive you into everlasting habitations”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v11 — **“who will entrust the true riches to you”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v11 — **“who will commit to your trust the true riches”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v13 — **“No servant can serve two masters”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v13 — **“You cannot serve God and wealth”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v13 — **“Ye cannot serve God and mammon”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v14 — **“who were lovers of money”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v14 — **“who were covetous”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v14 — **“were scoffing at Him”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v14 — **“they derided him”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v15 — **“God knows your hearts”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v15 — **“God knoweth your hearts”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v15 — **“that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v15 — **“that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v16 — **“the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v16 — **“the kingdom of God is preached”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v17 — **“one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v17 — **“one tittle of the law to fail”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v18 — **“commits adultery”** (rose: Sin / warning) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v18 — **“committeth adultery”** (rose: Sin / warning) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v20 — **“a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v20 — **“a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v22 — **“was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v22 — **“was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v23 — **“In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v23 — **“in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v24 — **“I am in agony in this flame”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v24 — **“I am tormented in this flame”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v25 — **“Child, remember”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v25 — **“Son, remember”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v25 — **“now he is being comforted here”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v25 — **“now he is comforted”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v26 — **“a great chasm fixed”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v26 — **“a great gulf fixed”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v28 — **“he may warn them”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v28 — **“he may testify unto them”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v29 — **“let them hear them”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v31 — **“they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v31 — **“neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v10 — **“faithful”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v16 — **“the Prophets”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v29 — **“the prophets”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v20 — **“Lazarus”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v22 — **“Abraham”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** The same audience as Luke 15 — Jesus speaks “to the disciples” (v1) while the Pharisees, “lovers of money,” listen and scoff (v14). The chapter moves from a manager’s office (vv1–13) to the Pharisees’ sneer (vv14–18) to a rich man’s gate and the world beyond death (vv19–31).

**Structure:**
- vv1–8 — **the shrewd manager:** reported for squandering (v1); “Give an accounting” (v2); “I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg” (v3); “I know what I shall do” (v4); oil 100 → 50, wheat 100 → 80 (vv5–7); the master praises his shrewdness; sons of this age vs. sons of light (v8).
- vv9–13 — **faithful with wealth:** make friends by means of the wealth of unrighteousness — eternal dwellings (v9); faithful in a very little thing (v10); true riches, what is your own (vv11–12); no servant can serve two masters (v13).
- vv14–18 — **the Pharisees and the Law:** lovers of money scoffing (v14); justify yourselves before men, God knows your hearts (v15); the Law and the Prophets until John; the gospel of the kingdom (v16); not one stroke of the Law will fail (v17); divorce and adultery (v18).
- vv19–26 — **the rich man and Lazarus:** purple and fine linen; a poor man at the gate, sores, dogs (vv19–21); Lazarus carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom; the rich man buried (v22); Hades, torment, “have mercy on me” (vv23–24); “Child, remember” (v25); a great chasm fixed (v26).
- vv27–31 — **the five brothers:** send Lazarus to warn them (vv27–28); “They have Moses and the Prophets” (v29); “if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!” (v30); “they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead” (v31).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “manager / management” ×8 — vv1 (×2), 2 (×2), 3 (×2), 4, 8.
- “Abraham” ×6 — vv22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30.
- “rich / riches” ×5 — vv1, 11, 19, 21, 22; “wealth” ×3 — vv9, 11, 13.
- “master(s)” ×5 — vv3, 5 (×2), 8, 13.
- “unrighteous / unrighteousness” ×5 — vv8, 9, 10 (×2), 11.
- “owe / bill / debtors” ×5 — vv5 (×2), 6, 7 (×2).
- “faithful” ×4 — vv10 (×2), 11, 12.
- “Lazarus” ×4 — vv20, 23, 24, 25; “father” ×4 — vv24, 27 (×2), 30.
- “torment / agony” ×4 — vv23, 24, 25, 28; “dead / died” ×4 — vv22 (×2), 30, 31.
- “Moses and the Prophets / the Law and the Prophets” ×3 — vv16, 29, 31; “Law” ×2 — vv16, 17.
- “serve / servant” ×3 — v13 (×3); “receive / welcome” ×3 — vv4, 9, 25.
- “shrewd / shrewdly” ×2 — v8 (×2); “commits adultery” ×2 — v18 (×2); “sight” ×2 — v15 (×2).

**Contrasts:** Squandering ⟷ shrewd (vv1, 8). Sons of this age ⟷ sons of light (v8). A very little thing ⟷ much; unrighteous wealth ⟷ true riches; another’s ⟷ your own (vv10–12). Hate ⟷ love; devoted ⟷ despise; God ⟷ wealth (v13). In the sight of men ⟷ in the sight of God (v15). Heaven and earth passing ⟷ the Law not failing (v17). Purple and fine linen ⟷ sores; the table ⟷ the gate (vv19–21). Carried by angels ⟷ buried (v22). Good things ⟷ bad things; comforted ⟷ agony (v25). Here ⟷ there, with a chasm between (v26). Moses and the Prophets ⟷ someone from the dead (vv29–31).

**Shape of the chapter:** two stories that each begin “There was a rich man” (vv1, 19), with the Pharisees’ sneer in between. The first rich man’s manager plans ahead; the second rich man never does. The chapter ends at the edge of the grave with the question of whether we will listen to God’s Word.

**Chapter theme (my words):** Money is a little thing God lends me to manage for eternity. Use it shrewdly for His kingdom, because I cannot serve it and God at the same time, and the choices I make with it now will be fixed forever.

### Interpretation

**Why does Jesus praise a dishonest man?** He doesn’t praise the dishonesty. Sproul: “He did not praise the steward for his dishonesty.” Henry: the master commended him “not … because he had done falsely to his master, but because he had done wisely for himself.” Guzik: “God sometimes uses evil things that are familiar to us to illustrate a particular point.” The point is foresight — seeing the end and acting now.

**What did the manager actually do?** Teachers differ on the details. Sproul suggests he removed hidden interest charges; others think he cut his own commission, or simply cheated his master further. Either way, he used what was in his hands to make friends before he lost it. Luke ties him to the prodigal with the same verb, “squandering” (15:13; 16:1).

**What does “make friends … by means of the wealth of unrighteousness” mean (v9)?** Use money — which belongs to a passing, fallen world — for people and for God’s kingdom, so that when it “fails” (at death) there are friends to welcome you in eternity. Henry: “death shuts up the shop, seals up the hand.” This is not buying salvation. Sproul: “You can give all the money you have to the church, but it will not get you into heaven.” “Only Christ in His poverty can get you into heaven.”

**Why is money called “a very little thing” and “another’s” (vv10–12)?** Because it is small next to the true riches, and because it belongs to God. Sproul: “We do not own it; He does.” Faithfulness with the small and borrowed thing shows whether God can trust me with the great and lasting thing (Guzik, quoting Meyer).

**What is verse 16 saying?** The Law and the Prophets ran up to John; since then the kingdom has been preached. “Everyone is forcing his way into it” is hard. Sproul takes it as eager pressing — “The kingdom of God has never been a casual affair.” Guzik notes the revolutionaries who tried to force the kingdom by violence. I take it as Sproul does, and I hold verse 17 with both men: the Law is not cancelled — not one stroke will fail (Henry: it is “explained and enforced by the gospel”).

**Why does divorce show up here (v18)?** As one example of the Pharisees justifying themselves before men (v15) while emptying God’s Law. Sproul shows how their loose rules on divorce undermined the Law; Guzik reads the verse as God’s ideal for marriage while recognizing the exceptions Scripture gives elsewhere (Matt 19:9; 1 Cor 7:15).

**Is the rich man and Lazarus a parable?** Guzik thinks not — “in no other parable did Jesus actually name an individual” — and calls it “an actual case history.” Many others read it as a parable. Either way, Jesus does not tell stories that misrepresent eternity; the realities are true: conscious existence after death, comfort or torment, and a fixed chasm.

**What is Hades, and what is Abraham’s bosom?** Hades is the realm of the dead (Hebrew *Sheol*). Guzik: “Hades is technically not hell, or what is also known as the Lake of Fire.” At the final judgment death and Hades give up their dead and are thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 20:13–14). Abraham’s bosom is the place of honor and comfort beside Abraham. For a believer now, to be absent from the body is to be “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8).

**Why was the rich man condemned?** Not for being rich (Sproul: “This was not a judgment against wealth”). Henry: “his providing only for himself.” He stepped over Lazarus every day. And Abraham’s answer shows the root: he had not listened to Moses and the Prophets (vv29–31).

**Why won’t a resurrection persuade them (v31)?** Because unbelief is a matter of the will, not a shortage of evidence. Guzik quotes Spurgeon: “Infidelity would still cry for something more.” Jesus raised a man named Lazarus, and the chief priests planned to kill him too (John 12:10–11). Christ rose, and many still refuse (Sproul).

**Word study (Greek):**
- **manager — *oikonomos* (G3623):** a house-manager who runs another man’s estate (vv1, 3, 8).
- **squandering — *diaskorpizō* (G1287):** to scatter, waste; same verb as 15:13.
- **shrewdly — *phronimōs* (G5430):** with practical foresight; only here.
- **wealth — *mamōnas* (G3126):** Aramaic “mammon,” wealth as a rival master (vv9, 11, 13).
- **faithful — *pistos* (G4103):** trustworthy; ×4 in vv10–12.
- **lovers of money — *philargyroi* (G5366):** fond of silver (v14).
- **scoffing — *ekmyktērizō* (G1592):** to turn up the nose; only here and 23:35.
- **detestable — *bdelygma* (G946):** an abomination to God (v15).
- **forcing his way — *biazō* (G971):** to press or use force (v16).
- **stroke — *keraia* (G2762):** the tiny hook of a Hebrew letter (v17).
- **Hades — *hadēs* (G86):** the realm of the dead; **torment — *basanos* (G931).**
- **bosom — *kolpos* (G2859):** the place of honor at a meal (vv22–23).
- **chasm — *chasma* (G5490):** a gulf, fixed for good; only here.
- **warn — *diamartyromai* (G1263):** to testify solemnly (v28).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **Same verb, two wasters** — *diaskorpizō* (15:13; 16:1).
2. **Praised for foresight, not fraud** (Henry, Sproul).
3. **Everyone is a manager** — “We do not own it; He does” (Sproul).
4. **Money is a little thing** — and it belongs to another (vv10–12).
5. **Mammon wants to be a master** — “you cannot” (v13).
6. **They turned up their noses** — the same sneer as at the cross (23:35).
7. **God sees what men applaud** (v15; Guzik).
8. **A beggar with a name** — Lazarus, “God has helped.”
9. **A crumb and a drop** (Henry).
10. **Scripture is enough** (v31).

**Cross-references:** Dan 9:27; 12:2; Matt 5:17–18; 6:19–21, 24; 7:24; 19:9; 24:15; Luke 1:53; 6:20, 24; 12:15–21, 33–34, 42; 15:13; 19:8; 23:35; 24:25–27, 44; John 1:18; 11:43–44; 12:10–11; Acts 2:40; 20:21; 1 Cor 4:1; 7:15; 2 Cor 5:8, 10; 8:9; James 2:5; Rev 20:13–14.

### Application

**Truth to face — I am a manager, not an owner.** My paycheck, my house, my truck, my time, my body — none of it is mine. Sproul: “We do not own it; He does.” One day I will hear, “Give an accounting of your management.” I would rather give that account to myself now, honestly, than be surprised then (Spurgeon: “Judge yourselves, that you be not judged!”).

**Command to obey — be faithful in a very little thing.** Small money, small promises, small jobs nobody sees. Many of the men I walk with lost everything through little unfaithfulness that grew. This week I will keep one small promise I have been putting off, pay one small debt, and give one gift nobody will know about.

**Sin to confess — trying to serve two masters.** I say God is first, but my worry, my envy and my bank statement tell the truth about who I am serving. I confess the love of money — and I remember that you don’t have to be rich to love it (Guzik). “You cannot serve God and wealth.”

**Example to avoid — the man who stepped over Lazarus.** The rich man never hit Lazarus; he just never saw him. Henry: “his providing only for himself.” I will look this week at who is lying at my gate — the man at the light, the inmate with no visitors, the neighbor who is alone — and do something with my hands and my money.

**Promise to trust — the true riches, and a Savior who rose.** God promises “the true riches” to the faithful (v11) and “eternal dwellings” (v9). And I have more than Moses and the Prophets — I have the One who rose from the dead. I don’t need a sign; I need to listen to the Word I already have.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. The manager knew his job was ending and planned for it. If I knew my stewardship would end this year, what would I do differently with my money and time? (16:1–4; 2 Cor 5:10) *Give an account of your stewardship, for you may no longer be steward (Spurgeon).*
2. Jesus says the sons of this age are more shrewd than the sons of light. Where do I put more planning into my career, hobby or habit than into eternity? (16:8–9) *We are usually just the opposite of that in our actions as Christians (Sproul).*
3. How faithful am I in “a very little thing” — small amounts of money, small promises, small jobs nobody sees? (16:10–12) *Faithful in little, faithful in much.*
4. Jesus said “you cannot” serve God and wealth. What signs in my spending, worry or envy show which master I am really serving? (16:13–15; Matt 6:24) *We do not own it; He does (Sproul).*
5. Who is lying at my “gate” — the person I step around every day without seeing? (16:19–21; 1 John 3:17) *The sin of this rich man was … his providing only for himself (Henry).*
6. The rich man wanted a miracle for his brothers; Abraham said they had the Scriptures. Who in my family needs me to point him to God’s Word while there is still time? (16:27–31; Luke 24:27) *If you cry for mercy … after you are dead, it is too late (Sproul).*

**Worship.** God owns everything and lends it to me. He knows my heart when men only see my outside. His Word will not fail by one stroke. He gives the true riches to the faithful, comforts the poor man who trusts Him, and has given me Moses, the Prophets — and His Son, who was rich and became poor for my sake, and rose from the dead.

**Prayer.** Lord, everything I have is Yours. Forgive me for serving money and calling it providing. Make me faithful in little things, shrewd for eternity, and open-handed toward the Lazarus at my gate. Open my ears to Moses and the Prophets, and to Jesus who rose, while there is still time — for me and for my brothers. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

## Luke 17 — Faith That Forgives, Thanks and Watches

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v1 — **“It is impossible but that offences will come”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v1 — **“woe to him through whom they come”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v1 — **“woe unto him, through whom they come”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v3 — **“Be on your guard”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v3 — **“Take heed to yourselves”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v3 — **“rebuke him”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v3 — **“if he repents, forgive him”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v3 — **“if he repent, forgive him”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v4 — **“seven times a day”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v4 — **“seven times in a day”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v5 — **“Increase our faith”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v6 — **“faith like a mustard seed”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v6 — **“faith as a grain of mustard seed”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v10 — **“We are unworthy slaves”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v10 — **“We are unprofitable servants”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v11 — **“on the way to Jerusalem”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v11 — **“as he went to Jerusalem”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v12 — **“stood at a distance”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v12 — **“stood afar off”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v13 — **“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v14 — **“as they were going, they were cleansed”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v14 — **“as they went, they were cleansed”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v15 — **“turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v15 — **“with a loud voice glorified God”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v16 — **“giving thanks to Him”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v16 — **“giving him thanks”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v16 — **“And he was a Samaritan”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v16 — **“and he was a Samaritan”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v17 — **“But the nine—where are they”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v17 — **“but where are the nine”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v19 — **“your faith has made you well”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v19 — **“thy faith hath made thee whole”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v21 — **“the kingdom of God is in your midst”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v21 — **“the kingdom of God is within you”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v23 — **“do not run after them”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v23 — **“go not after them, nor follow them”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v24 — **“just like the lightning”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v24 — **“as the lightning”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v25 — **“first He must suffer many things and be rejected”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v25 — **“first must he suffer many things, and be rejected”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v27 — **“destroyed them all”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v29 — **“destroyed them all”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v30 — **“the Son of Man is revealed”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v30 — **“the Son of man is revealed”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v32 — **“Remember Lot’s wife”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v32 — **“Remember Lot's wife”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v33 — **“whoever loses his life will preserve it”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v33 — **“whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v34 — **“one will be taken and the other will be left”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v34 — **“the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v35 — **“one will be taken and the other will be left”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v35 — **“the one shall be taken, and the other left”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v3 — **“forgive”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v5 — **“faith”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v22 — **“Son of Man”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v20 — **“kingdom of God”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** Jesus is still on the long road to Jerusalem (9:51; 17:11), now passing “between Samaria and Galilee.” He has just told the Pharisees about the rich man and Lazarus (16:19–31); now He speaks “to His disciples” (v1). In a border village ten lepers meet Him (v12). Then the Pharisees ask when the kingdom of God is coming (v20), and He answers them and then His disciples (vv22–37).

**Structure:**
- vv1–10 — **forgive, believe, serve:** stumbling blocks will come — woe to the one who causes them; the millstone (vv1–2); rebuke and forgive, even seven times a day (vv3–4); “Increase our faith!” — the mustard seed and the mulberry tree (vv5–6); the slave who serves his master first, and “We are unworthy slaves” (vv7–10).
- vv11–19 — **where are the nine?:** between Samaria and Galilee; ten lepers stand at a distance and cry for mercy (vv11–13); “Go and show yourselves to the priests,” cleansed as they went (v14); one turns back, glorifying God, falls at His feet, gives thanks — a Samaritan (vv15–16); “where are they?” (vv17–18); “your faith has made you well” (v19).
- vv20–25 — **the kingdom in your midst:** the Pharisees ask when; not with signs to be observed — “the kingdom of God is in your midst” (vv20–21); the days when the disciples will long to see the Son of Man; do not run after “Look there!” (vv22–23); like lightning (v24); but first He must suffer and be rejected (v25).
- vv26–37 — **remember Lot’s wife:** as in the days of Noah and of Lot — eating, drinking, building — until judgment (vv26–29); so on the day the Son of Man is revealed (v30); do not go down, do not turn back; remember Lot’s wife; lose your life to preserve it (vv31–33); one taken, the other left (vv34–36); “Where, Lord?” — the body and the vultures (v37).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “day / days” ×11 — vv4, 22 (×2), 24, 26 (×2), 27, 28, 29, 30, 31.
- “eat / eating / eat and drink” ×8 — vv7, 8 (×5), 27, 28.
- “God” ×5 — vv15, 18, 20 (×2), 21; “kingdom of God” ×3 — vv20 (×2), 21.
- “Son of Man” ×4 — vv22, 24, 26, 30.
- “Lot / Lot’s” ×4 — vv28, 29, 32 (×2); “Noah” ×2 — vv26, 27.
- “turned back / returned / returns / turn back” ×4 — vv4, 15, 18, 31.
- “faith” ×3 — vv5, 6, 19.
- “slave(s)” ×3 — vv7, 9, 10; “commanded” ×2 — vv9, 10.
- “Lord” ×3 — vv5, 6, 37; “Look” ×3 — vv21, 23 (×2).
- “one will be taken and the other will be left” ×3 — vv34, 35, 36 (v36 bracketed).
- “forgive” ×2 — vv3, 4; “sins” ×2 — vv3, 4; “repent / repents” ×2 — vv3, 4; “seven times” ×2 — v4.
- “cleansed” ×2 — vv14, 17; “glorifying / glory” ×2 — vv15, 18.
- “destroyed them all” ×2 — vv27, 29; “life” ×2 — v33.

**Contrasts:** The one who causes stumbling ⟷ the little ones (vv1–2). A huge request (“Increase our faith!”) ⟷ a tiny seed (vv5–6). What the master is owed ⟷ what the slave can claim (vv7–10). Ten cleansed ⟷ one came back; the nine ⟷ the foreigner (vv17–18). Cleansed ⟷ made well (vv14, 19). Signs to be observed ⟷ the kingdom in your midst (vv20–21). “Look there! Look here!” ⟷ lightning across the whole sky (vv23–24). Suffering first ⟷ His day (vv24–25). Ordinary life ⟷ sudden judgment (vv26–30). Seek to keep your life ⟷ lose it and preserve it (v33). Taken ⟷ left (vv34–35).

**Shape of the chapter:** two halves on one road. The first half (1–19) is about how disciples treat each other and how they answer grace — forgive, serve, give thanks. The second half (20–37) is about time — the kingdom present now in the King, and the Day still coming. The hinge is a Samaritan on his face at Jesus’ feet: grace received now, before the Day comes.

**Chapter theme (my words):** Faith forgives what it is told to forgive, obeys before it sees, comes back to say thank you, and keeps its eyes forward. The King has come; the Son of Man will be revealed; there is no going back to Sodom.

### Interpretation

**Why does forgiving seven times a day need more faith?** Because it feels impossible. The apostles heard verses 3–4 and said, “Increase our faith!” Sproul’s answer is bracing: “You do not need a lot of faith to forgive.” Guzik: we cannot keep a record of every offense, and “we are not permitted to judge another’s repentance.” Henry allows honest rebuke — “Smother not the resentment, but give it vent” — but always toward pardon. A mustard seed of faith in a great God is enough to pull up a mulberry tree of bitterness (Guzik).

**What is the point of the unworthy slave?** Not that God is harsh, but that obedience never puts God in our debt. Sproul: “We have added nothing to the assets side of the ledger,” and Christ “and He alone is the profitable servant.” Henry: “God cannot be a gainer by our services, and therefore cannot be made a debtor by them.” Spurgeon, preaching Luke 17:10 with Matthew 25, warns that pride in service is dangerous — “a dizzy head soon brings a fall” — and that “the best are still unprofitable servants.” I note that Jesus is not describing how a sinner is saved here; He is teaching servants how to think about their service.

**Why send the lepers to the priests?** The law gave the priest authority to declare a leper clean (Lev 13–14; Sproul). Jesus sent them before anything had changed — “The lepers had not been cleansed yet, but they obeyed” (Sproul); “The one condition of healing was obedience” (Morrison, in Guzik). Spurgeon: “We are to believe first, just as we are.”

**Why does Luke tell us he was a Samaritan?** Luke loves the outsider — the good Samaritan (10:33), Naaman the Syrian (4:27). The word *allogenēs* (v18) was carved on the temple barrier that kept foreigners out. The man barred from the inner courts is the only one who returns “to give glory to God.” Henry: “ingratitude is a very common sin.”

**Cleansed vs. made well.** All ten were cleansed (v14, *katharizō*); to the one Jesus said, “your faith has made you well” (v19, *sōzō*, the word for “save”). Guzik: the nine “had whole bodies, but sick hearts.” Sproul draws it out: “We are lepers by nature,” and Christ makes us clean.

**“Within you” or “in your midst” (v21)?** Henry reads the KJV inwardly — the kingdom changes “their hearts and lives.” Guzik and Sproul read it of the King standing among them: “Where the King is, there is the kingdom” (Sproul). Jesus is speaking to Pharisees who rejected Him, so I lean to “in your midst” — the kingdom was present in the person of the King. Both are true elsewhere in Scripture.

**What “Day” is this, and who is “taken”?** Here our teachers part ways, and I want to say so plainly. Sproul, a partial preterist, hears much of verses 22–37 fulfilled in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 — “The Christians, however, did not go to Jerusalem” — and he rejects the rapture reading: “the point is that one will escape and one will not.” He is candid: “I candidly confess that I am not completely sure.” Guzik notes, “This passage is often applied to the rapture,” and ties it to 1 Thessalonians 4:16–18. Henry reads it of Christ’s coming in judgment. I read “the day that the Son of Man is revealed” (*apokalyptō*, v30) as His future return, the Son of Man of Daniel 7:13 coming in glory (Luke 21:27). Some who share that view see “taken” as caught up (1 Thess 4:17); others see it as taken in judgment, since the disciples ask “Where, Lord?” and hear of vultures. Either way the command is the same — Sproul: “This message is plain: be ready.”

**Why Lot’s wife?** She was led out by the hand, and still her heart stayed in Sodom (Gen 19:16, 26). Spurgeon: “ALMOST SAVED, BUT NOT QUITE.” Guzik: she lingered, she doubted God’s word, she looked back. Verse 33 is the key: the one who clings to his life loses it.

**Word study (Greek):**
- **stumbling block — *skandalon* (G4625):** the trigger of a trap; anything that makes a man fall (v1).
- **mulberry tree — *sykaminos* (G4807):** the black mulberry, deep-rooted; only here (v6).
- **unworthy — *achreios* (G888):** unprofitable, bringing no gain; only Luke 17:10; Matt 25:30.
- **foreigner — *allogenēs* (G241):** of another race; only here (v18); the temple warning word.
- **giving thanks — *eucharisteō* (G2168):** to be grateful for grace; root of “Eucharist” (v16; 22:19).
- **signs to be observed — *paratērēsis* (G3907):** close, watchful (even hostile) observation; only here (v20).
- **in your midst — *entos* (G1787):** within, inside; only here and Matt 23:26 (v21).
- **revealed — *apokalyptō* (G601):** to unveil; the Son of Man unveiled (v30).
- **taken — *paralambanō* (G3880):** to take along to oneself (vv34–35; John 14:3).
- **vultures — *aetos* (G105):** eagle or vulture; Matt 24:28 (v37).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **Forgiveness is a command, not a feeling** (vv3–4; Sproul).
2. **Do not audit a man’s repentance** (Guzik).
3. **Faith’s power lies in its object** — a seed and a deep-rooted tree.
4. **Obedience puts no one in God’s debt** — *achreios* (Henry).
5. **They were cleansed as they went** — obey before you see (Sproul).
6. **The foreigner came back** — *allogenēs* (v18).
7. **Nine were cleansed; one was made well** — 17:19 and 18:42.
8. **The King was standing in front of them** — the kingdom in your midst.
9. **First the cross** — v25 (Guzik).
10. **Almost saved, but not quite** — Lot’s wife (Spurgeon).

**Cross-references:** Gen 6–7; 19:16–26; Lev 13:45–46; 14:1–32; 2 Kings 5:1–15; Dan 7:13–14; Matt 18:21–22; 23:26; 24:28, 37–41; 25:30; Luke 4:27; 9:22–24, 51; 10:33; 12:40; 18:42; 21:27, 34–36; John 14:3; Eph 4:32; 1 Thess 4:16–17; 2 Thess 1:7; Jas 1:22.

### Application

**Command to obey — forgive him.** Jesus said it twice in two verses. There is a man I have “forgiven” three or four times and I am tired of it. Jesus didn’t tell me to trust him blindly or to stop telling the truth — He said rebuke, and if he repents, forgive. This week I will stop auditing his repentance (Guzik) and forgive him again, and I will ask for faith the size of a mustard seed to do it.

**Sin to confess — keeping score with God.** Some days I act like the slave who expects to be thanked for doing his job — like my sobriety, my service, my years in ministry have put God in my debt. They haven’t. “We have done only that which we ought to have done.” I confess the pride, and I thank God that Christ “and He alone is the profitable servant” (Sproul).

**Example to follow — the man who came back.** He was the foreigner, the one nobody expected, and he turned around before he went anywhere else. Loud voice, face on the ground, “giving thanks to Him.” Many of the men I serve know what it is to stand “at a distance,” unclean and alone. Grace has cleansed us. I don’t want to be one of the nine. Today I will go back and thank Him out loud for one specific thing, and I will tell another man what He did.

**Warning to heed — remember Lot’s wife.** She got out of Sodom and her heart never did. I know men who walked out of addiction, out of prison, out of the old life — and kept looking back until they went back. There are things on the housetop and in the field I am tempted to go down and get. Jesus said, “Remember Lot’s wife.” I will name the thing I keep looking back at, and I will turn my face forward.

**Promise to trust — whoever loses his life will preserve it.** The Son of Man will be revealed, as sudden as lightning, and no one will need to be told. Until then I do not run after every “Look here!” I lose my life for His sake and He keeps it.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. Who has sinned against me more than once — and what would it cost me to forgive him again today, without checking whether his repentance is “real enough”? (17:3–4; Eph 4:32) *We are not permitted to judge another’s repentance (Guzik).*
2. Do I quietly believe God owes me something for my obedience, my sobriety, my service? What would “we have done only that which we ought to have done” sound like in my mouth? (17:7–10) *God cannot be made a debtor by our services (Henry).*
3. The lepers obeyed before they saw any change. What is Jesus telling me to do that I am waiting to “feel” before I obey? (17:14; Jas 1:22) *The lepers had not been cleansed yet, but they obeyed (Sproul).*
4. Name one specific mercy God has shown me this year. Have I gone back to thank Him out loud — or am I one of the nine? (17:15–18; Ps 103:2) *Feeling and doing are not the same thing (Sproul).*
5. If the Son of Man were revealed tonight, what would He find me busy with? What is the “house” I would be tempted to go back into? (17:26–31; 12:40) *Nothing was wrong with eating or building; no one was ready.*
6. What does Lot’s wife’s backward look look like in my life — the old place, old people, old habits my heart still turns toward? (17:32–33; Gen 19:26) *Almost saved, but not quite (Spurgeon).*

**Worship.** Jesus is the Master who has mercy on lepers, the One who cleanses with a word from a distance, the King standing in the middle of His enemies, the Son of Man who must first suffer and be rejected and who will one day be revealed like lightning from one end of the sky to the other. He keeps count of His mercies, and He still receives the one who comes back.

**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, Master, have mercy on me. Increase my faith — enough to forgive the brother I am tired of forgiving. Keep me from thinking You owe me anything; I am an unworthy slave, and You are the profitable servant who earned everything for me. Thank You for cleansing me. I come back to say it out loud. Turn my face forward; don’t let me look back at Sodom. Make me ready for the day You are revealed. Amen.

## Luke 18 — Who Receives the Kingdom?

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v1 — **“men ought always to pray, and not to faint”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v2 — **“did not fear God and did not respect man”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v2 — **“feared not God, neither regarded man”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v3 — **“she kept coming to him”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v6 — **“the unrighteous judge”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v6 — **“the unjust judge”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v7 — **“will not God bring about justice for His elect”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v7 — **“shall not God avenge his own elect”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v7 — **“day and night”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v8 — **“He will bring about justice for them quickly”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v8 — **“he will avenge them speedily”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v8 — **“will He find faith on the earth”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v8 — **“shall he find faith on the earth”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v9 — **“trusted in themselves that they were righteous”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v9 — **“trusted in themselves that they were righteous”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v11 — **“God, I thank You that I am not like other people”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v11 — **“God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v13 — **“standing some distance away”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v13 — **“standing afar off”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v13 — **“God, be merciful to me, the sinner”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v13 — **“God be merciful to me a sinner”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v14 — **“went to his house justified”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v14 — **“went down to his house justified”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v14 — **“he who humbles himself will be exalted”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v14 — **“he that humbleth himself shall be exalted”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v16 — **“Permit the children to come to Me”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v16 — **“Suffer little children to come unto me”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v17 — **“receive the kingdom of God like a child”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v17 — **“receive the kingdom of God as a little child”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v19 — **“No one is good except God alone”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v19 — **“none is good, save one, that is, God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v22 — **“One thing you still lack”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v22 — **“Yet lackest thou one thing”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v22 — **“come, follow Me”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v22 — **“come, follow me”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v23 — **“he was extremely rich”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v23 — **“he was very rich”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v25 — **“a camel to go through the eye of a needle”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v25 — **“a camel to go through a needle's eye”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v27 — **“are possible with God”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v30 — **“eternal life”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v30 — **“life everlasting”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v31 — **“we are going up to Jerusalem”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v31 — **“we go up to Jerusalem”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v33 — **“the third day He will rise again”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v33 — **“the third day he shall rise again”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v34 — **“the meaning of this statement was hidden from them”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v34 — **“this saying was hid from them”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v35 — **“approaching Jericho”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v35 — **“nigh unto Jericho”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v39 — **“he kept crying out all the more”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v39 — **“he cried so much the more”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v40 — **“Jesus stopped”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v40 — **“Jesus stood”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v41 — **“What do you want Me to do for you”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v41 — **“What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v42 — **“your faith has made you well”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v42 — **“thy faith hath saved thee”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v43 — **“began following Him, glorifying God”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v43 — **“followed him, glorifying God”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v16 — **“kingdom of God”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v13 — **“mercy”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v13 — **“merciful”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v38 — **“Son of David”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** Jesus is still teaching on the way to Jerusalem, right after His words about the day of the Son of Man (17:20–37). He tells two parables (vv1–8, 9–14), people bring babies (vv15–17), a ruler questions Him (vv18–30), He takes the Twelve aside (vv31–34), and He approaches Jericho, where a blind beggar sits by the road (vv35–43).

**Structure:**
- vv1–8 — **the widow and the judge:** pray at all times and do not lose heart (v1); a judge who did not fear God; a widow who kept coming (vv2–3); he gives in so she will not wear him out (vv4–5); will not God bring about justice for His elect — quickly? (vv6–8a); “will He find faith on the earth?” (v8b).
- vv9–14 — **the Pharisee and the tax collector:** told to those who trusted in themselves (v9); two men go up to pray (v10); the Pharisee’s “I thank You that I am not like other people” (vv11–12); the tax collector far off, beating his breast: “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” (v13); this man went home justified; humbled and exalted (v14).
- vv15–17 — **like a child:** babies brought for His touch; the disciples rebuke (v15); “Permit the children to come to Me” (v16); receive the kingdom like a child (v17).
- vv18–30 — **the rich ruler:** “Good Teacher, what shall I do?” (v18); no one is good but God (v19); the commandments — kept from youth (vv20–21); “One thing you still lack … come, follow Me” (v22); very sad, extremely rich (v23); the camel and the needle (vv24–25); “Then who can be saved?” — possible with God (vv26–27); “we have left our own homes” — many times as much, and eternal life (vv28–30).
- vv31–34 — **the third prediction:** up to Jerusalem; written by the prophets; handed over, mocked, spit upon, scourged, killed, raised the third day (vv31–33); they understood none of these things (v34).
- vv35–43 — **the blind man:** begging near Jericho (v35); “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by” (vv36–37); “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” — told to be quiet, he cries the more (vv38–39); Jesus stops: “What do you want Me to do for you?” (vv40–41); “your faith has made you well” (v42); he sees, follows, glorifies God; the people praise God (v43).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “God” ×14 — vv2, 4, 7, 11, 13, 16, 17, 19, 24, 25, 27, 29, 43 (×2).
- “say / said / saying” ×23 — through the chapter; “I tell you / Truly I say to you” ×4 — vv8, 14, 17, 29.
- “Jesus” ×9 — vv16, 19, 22, 24, 35, 37, 38, 40, 42.
- “kingdom of God” ×5 — vv16, 17, 24, 25, 29.
- “justice / legal protection” ×4 — vv3, 5, 7, 8.
- “humbled / humbles / exalted / exalts” ×4 — v14.
- “heard / hearing” ×4 — vv22, 23, 26, 36.
- “mercy / merciful” ×3 — vv13, 38, 39; “Son of David” ×2 — vv38, 39.
- “rich / wealthy” ×3 — vv23, 24, 25; “enter” ×3 — vv17, 24, 25.
- “tax collector” ×3 — vv10, 11, 13; “Pharisee” ×2 — vv10, 11.
- “pray / praying” ×3 — vv1, 10, 11; “sight” ×3 — vv41, 42, 43.
- “follow / followed / following” ×3 — vv22, 28, 43.
- “children / babies” ×3 — vv15, 16, 29; “eternal life” ×2 — vv18, 30.
- “faith” ×2 — vv8, 42; “judge” ×2 — vv2, 6; “widow” ×2 — vv3, 5; “fear God” ×2 — vv2, 4.
- In the Pharisee’s prayer, “I” ×5 — vv11–12.

**Contrasts:** An unrighteous judge ⟷ God who brings justice quickly (vv6–8). Pharisee ⟷ tax collector; stood and prayed to himself ⟷ stood far off, eyes down (vv11, 13). Trusted in themselves ⟷ justified (vv9, 14). Exalts ⟷ humbled; humbles ⟷ exalted (v14). Disciples rebuke ⟷ Jesus calls (vv15–16). “What shall I do?” ⟷ “have mercy on me!” (vv18, 38). Extremely rich ⟷ begging (vv23, 35). Impossible with people ⟷ possible with God (v27). The Twelve who see but do not understand ⟷ the blind man who cannot see but calls Him Son of David (vv34, 38). Went away sad ⟷ followed, glorifying God (vv23, 43).

**Shape of the chapter:** five scenes asking one question — “Then who can be saved?” (v26). The answer keeps coming back the same: the one who asks and keeps asking, the one with nothing to offer, the one carried in someone’s arms. In the middle of it Jesus says why that is possible: He is going up to Jerusalem to die and rise (vv31–33).

**Chapter theme (my words):** God hears those who keep asking and justifies those who bring Him nothing but their sin. The kingdom is received like a child, and the rich man’s “one thing” keeps him out, but what is impossible with people is possible with God — because the Son of Man went up to Jerusalem to be scourged and killed and to rise.

### Interpretation

**Is God like the unjust judge?** No — the parable runs from the lesser to the greater. Sproul: “How much more.” Spurgeon: “God will be more easily moved than this unjust judge, only be you as importunate as this widow was.” Then why the delay? Guzik: “the delays in prayer are not needed to change God, but to change us.” And God never gets the verdict wrong: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” (Gen 18:25) — Sproul: “He has never made an unjust verdict in His eternal existence.”

**What does “quickly” mean if the elect cry “day and night”?** I take it this way: when God acts, He acts decisively; His timing looks slow to us, but He “will not delay long” beyond the right moment. The question in verse 8 points to the Son of Man’s coming (17:30): the real issue is not whether God is faithful but whether He will find us still believing and still praying. Sproul: “If Jesus came tonight, would He find faith in your house?”

**Why did the tax collector go home justified?** Not because his prayer was eloquent or his repentance deep enough. He asked God to be *propitiated* — *hilaskomai*, the atonement word (Guzik) — and he called himself “the sinner.” Sproul: “He brought absolutely nothing to the table except his sin,” and “Faith is the sole instrument by which we grab hold of Christ.” Spurgeon warns against turning even conviction into merit: “a sense of sin gives no man a right to grace.” Henry: “Justice condemns me; nothing will save me but mercy, mercy.” This is Romans 4:5 in story form.

**What does it mean to receive the kingdom like a child?** To receive it, not achieve it. Spurgeon: “We enter the kingdom by receiving, and therefore children can enter.” Guzik: children receive Jesus’ blessing “without trying to make themselves worthy of it, or pretending they don’t need it.” Sproul adds a guardrail: “there is a huge difference between a childlike faith and a childish faith.” Our teachers differ on what the passage says about infants and the church — Henry: “If the parents be members of the visible church, the children are so too”; Spurgeon: “He did not baptize them, but he did bless them” (quoted by Guzik). They agree on the main point.

**Was Jesus denying He is good (v19)?** No. He was pressing the ruler: if only God is good, who is this “Good Teacher”? Guzik: “Good Teacher was a unique title.” And He was exposing the man’s confidence — Sproul: “He does not grade us on a curve.”

**Must every disciple sell everything?** Sproul reads “sell all” as a test of the first commandment for this man, whose riches were his god, not a rule for every believer. Guzik agrees the riches were an idol. Henry: “Riches are a great hindrance to many in the way to heaven.” But every disciple has to be willing; Peter’s answer (v28) and Jesus’ promise (vv29–30) show that.

**The eye of the needle.** No gate is meant; it is a picture of the impossible (Barclay and Morris in Guzik; Henry: “a proverbial expression”). Luke uses the surgeon’s word *belonē*. The point is verse 27 — salvation is God’s work. Sproul: “God’s grace does for us what we cannot possibly do for ourselves.”

**Why were the Twelve blind to the cross?** Luke says it three ways in one verse (v34) — they understood none of it, it was hidden, they did not comprehend. Henry: “They are only for the smooth things.” Guzik: “They could not see or understand the truth until God opened their eyes” — which Jesus did after the resurrection (24:45).

**One blind man or two; going in or coming out of Jericho?** Matthew has two blind men; Mark and Luke focus on one (Sproul: Bartimaeus was the spokesman). Mark says “leaving Jericho,” Luke “approaching Jericho.” Guzik and Sproul both note that Old Testament and New Testament Jericho stood side by side; the healing likely happened between them.

**What did the blind man really receive?** Sight first — but Jesus said “your faith has made you well” (*sōzō*, “saved”), the same words as 17:19. Sproul: “A felt need may be a real need, but it may not be your deepest need.” He called Jesus “Son of David” — Messiah — and then he followed Him up the road to Jerusalem.

**Word study (Greek):**
- **lose heart — *enkakeō* (G1573):** to grow weary, give up (v1; 2 Cor 4:1, 16; Gal 6:9).
- **wear me out — *hypōpiazō* (G5299):** to give a black eye; Luke 18:5; 1 Cor 9:27.
- **legal protection / justice — *ekdikeō* (G1556), *ekdikēsis* (G1557):** to vindicate, see that right is done (vv3, 5, 7–8).
- **be merciful — *hilaskomai* (G2433):** be propitiated; only here and Heb 2:17.
- **justified — *dikaioō* (G1344):** declared righteous (v14; Rom 4:5).
- **babies — *brephos* (G1025):** infants (v15; 1:41; 2:12; 1 Pet 2:2).
- **good — *agathos* (G18):** good in nature (vv18–19).
- **needle — *belonē* (filed under G956 *belos*):** a surgical needle; only here; eye — *trēma* (G5169).
- **accomplished — *teleō* (G5055):** brought to its end (v31; John 19:30).
- **called out — *boaō* (G994) / cried out — *krazō* (G2896):** a shout, then a raw, repeated cry (vv38–39).
- **have mercy — *eleeō* (G1653):** the beggar’s plea (vv38–39; 17:13).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **Prayer’s enemy is quitting** — *enkakeō* (v1).
2. **God is not the judge; He is the “how much more”** (Sproul).
3. **Five “I”s and no request** — the Pharisee (vv11–12).
4. **“Be merciful” means “be propitiated”** — *hilaskomai* (v13).
5. **Justified is a verdict, not a feeling** (v14).
6. **The kingdom is received, not achieved** (Spurgeon).
7. **The ruler kept his money and lost the kingdom** (Sproul).
8. **Impossible with people, possible with God** — *belonē* (v27).
9. **The Twelve could see and did not; the blind man could not see and did** (vv34, 38).
10. **He stood still** (Guzik).

**Cross-references:** Gen 18:25; Exod 22:22–23; Ps 34:18; 51:17; Isa 35:5; 53:3–5; 61:1; Matt 19:13–30; 20:29–34; Mark 10:13–52; Luke 1:52–53; 4:18; 11:5–13; 14:11; 16:15; 17:13, 19; 19:1–10; 24:25–27, 45; John 19:30; Rom 4:5; 1 Cor 9:27; 2 Cor 4:1, 16; 8:9; Gal 6:9; Heb 2:17; 1 Pet 2:2.

### Application

**Command to obey — pray and do not lose heart.** There are men I have prayed for for years — sons, brothers, guys who went back out. I have quietly stopped asking. Jesus told this parable for exactly that. This week I will put those names back on my list and pray for them every day, like the widow who kept coming. If He came tonight, I want Him to find faith in my house.

**Sin to confess — the Pharisee’s prayer.** I have prayed “I thank You that I am not like” — not like the guy still using, not like the man in the next cell, not like the brother who fell. That prayer has five “I”s and no mercy in it. I confess it. My only prayer is the tax collector’s: “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” Not a sinner. The sinner.

**Promise to trust — he went home justified.** He went home declared righteous — not because he cleaned himself up first, but because he asked God to accept the sacrifice in his place. That is the gospel I preach to men who think they are too far gone. “Only to a sinner can God be merciful” (Spurgeon). I will tell one man this week that God justifies the ungodly.

**Warning to heed — the one thing.** The ruler had kept every commandment he could think of, and still walked away sad, because one thing owned him. I ask honestly: what is my “one thing” — money, a relationship, my reputation, my anger, my comfort? Whatever I won’t let go of is what Jesus will put His finger on. What is impossible for me is possible with God.

**Example to follow — the blind beggar.** He couldn’t see Jesus, so he used what he had — his ears and his voice. When the crowd told him to shut up, he got louder. When Jesus asked, “What do you want Me to do for you?” he answered plainly. Then he followed Jesus up the road to Jerusalem. I want that kind of faith: loud when others want me quiet, plain when Jesus asks, and following when the healing comes.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. What have I stopped praying for because the answer was slow? What would it look like to go back to that prayer this week like the widow? (18:1–8; Luke 11:9) *The delays in prayer are not needed to change God, but to change us (Guzik).*
2. If I wrote down my honest prayer from last week, would it sound more like the Pharisee’s or the tax collector’s? Who do I compare myself to? (18:9–13) *He brought absolutely nothing to the table except his sin (Sproul).*
3. What do I bring to God as if it earns me something — my sobriety, my record, my religion? What would it mean to come “as a sinner, and as nothing else”? (18:13–14; Rom 4:5) *Come as you are (Spurgeon).*
4. What is the difference between childlike and childish faith in my life? Where do I need to grow up, and where do I need to become like a child again? (18:15–17) *A huge difference between a childlike faith and a childish faith (Sproul).*
5. What is the “one thing” Jesus might put His finger on in my life — the thing I would walk away sad rather than let go of? (18:22–25) *He kept his money and lost the kingdom (Sproul).*
6. If Jesus stopped in front of me and asked, “What do you want Me to do for you?” — what would I say? Is that my deepest need? (18:40–43) *A felt need may not be the deepest need (Sproul).*

**Worship.** God is the Judge of all the earth who always does right, who hears His elect day and night, who justifies the sinner who stands far off, who receives babies and blesses them, who does what is impossible with people. Jesus is the Son of Man who went up to Jerusalem knowing every insult and every blow that was waiting, and the Son of David who stood still on the Jericho road for one beggar’s cry.

**Prayer.** God, be merciful to me, the sinner. I have nothing in my hand to bring. Keep me from the Pharisee’s prayer and the ruler’s sad walk away. Teach me to pray and not lose heart, to receive Your kingdom like a child, and to let go of the one thing I hold onto. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me — open my eyes, and I will follow You and glorify God. Amen.

## Luke 19 — The King Comes to His City

### Marked in the text

- v2 — **“he was a chief tax collector and he was rich”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v2 — **“the chief among the publicans, and he was rich”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v3 — **“Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v3 — **“he sought to see Jesus who he was”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v5 — **“hurry and come down”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v5 — **“make haste, and come down”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v5 — **“today I must stay at your house”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v5 — **“to day I must abide at thy house”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v6 — **“received Him gladly”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v6 — **“received him joyfully”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v7 — **“a man who is a sinner”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v7 — **“a man that is a sinner”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v8 — **“I will give back four times as much”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v8 — **“I restore him fourfold”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v9 — **“Today salvation has come to this house”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v9 — **“This day is salvation come to this house”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v10 — **“to seek and to save that which was lost”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v11 — **“the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v11 — **“the kingdom of God should immediately appear”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v13 — **“Do business with this until I come back”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v13 — **“Occupy till I come”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v14 — **“We do not want this man to reign over us”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v14 — **“We will not have this man to reign over us”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v17 — **“Well done, good slave”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v17 — **“Well, thou good servant”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v17 — **“faithful in a very little thing”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v17 — **“faithful in a very little”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v21 — **“I was afraid of you”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v21 — **“I feared thee”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v26 — **“to everyone who has, more shall be given”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v26 — **“unto every one which hath shall be given”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v27 — **“bring them here and slay them in my presence”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v27 — **“slay them before me”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v28 — **“going up to Jerusalem”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v28 — **“ascending up to Jerusalem”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v38 — **“BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v38 — **“Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v38 — **“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v38 — **“peace in heaven, and glory in the highest”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v40 — **“the stones will cry out”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v40 — **“the stones would immediately cry out”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v41 — **“saw the city and wept over it”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v41 — **“beheld the city, and wept over it”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v42 — **“the things which make for peace”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v42 — **“the things which belong unto thy peace”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v42 — **“they have been hidden from your eyes”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v42 — **“they are hid from thine eyes”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v44 — **“you did not recognize the time of your visitation”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v44 — **“thou knewest not the time of thy visitation”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v46 — **“MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v46 — **“My house is the house of prayer”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v46 — **“ROBBERS’ DEN”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v46 — **“a den of thieves”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v48 — **“hanging on to every word He said”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v48 — **“very attentive to hear him”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v31 — **“The Lord has need of it”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v31 — **“Lord hath need of him”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v13 — **“minas”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v16 — **“mina”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v16 — **“pound”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v13 — **“pounds”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v5 — **“today”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v5 — **“to day”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** The last stage of the journey that began at 9:51. Jesus passes through Jericho (v1), tells a parable “because He was near Jerusalem” (v11), goes “up to Jerusalem” (v28) by Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives (v29), weeps as He sees the city (v41), and enters the temple, where He teaches daily (vv45–47). The chief priests, scribes and leading men want Him dead, but the people hang on His words (vv47–48).

**Structure:**
- vv1–10 — **Zaccheus:** a chief tax collector, rich and short, climbs a sycamore to see Jesus (vv1–4); “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house” (v5); he receives Him gladly; the crowd grumbles, “a man who is a sinner” (vv6–7); half to the poor, fourfold back (v8); “Today salvation has come to this house … the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (vv9–10).
- vv11–27 — **the minas:** told because they thought the kingdom would appear immediately (v11); a nobleman goes to a distant country to receive a kingdom (v12); ten slaves, ten minas, “Do business with this until I come back” (v13); the citizens: “We do not want this man to reign over us” (v14); the return and the accounting — ten minas, five minas, ten cities, five cities (vv15–19); the mina in a handkerchief, “I was afraid of you” (vv20–21); “By your own words I will judge you” (vv22–23); taken and given to the one with ten (vv24–26); the enemies slain (v27).
- vv28–40 — **the King rides in:** going up to Jerusalem (v28); two disciples sent for an unridden colt — “The Lord has need of it” (vv29–34); coats on the colt and on the road (vv35–36); at the descent of the Mount of Olives the disciples praise God: “BLESSED IS THE KING” (vv37–38); the Pharisees: “rebuke Your disciples” — “the stones will cry out!” (vv39–40).
- vv41–48 — **tears and the temple:** He sees the city and weeps (v41); the things which make for peace, hidden from your eyes (v42); barricade, siege, not one stone upon another, “because you did not recognize the time of your visitation” (vv43–44); He drives out the sellers — “a house of prayer … a robbers’ den” (vv45–46); teaching daily; the leaders seek to destroy Him; the people hang on His words (vv47–48).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “mina / minas” ×9 — vv13, 16 (×2), 18 (×2), 20, 24 (×2), 25.
- “come / came / comes” ×11 — vv5 (×2), 6, 9, 10, 13, 18, 20, 23, 38, 43.
- “Lord” ×5 — vv8 (×2), 31, 34, 38; “master” ×4 — vv16, 18, 20, 25.
- “slave(s)” ×4 — vv13, 15, 17, 22; “house” ×4 — vv5, 9, 46 (×2).
- “colt” ×4 — vv30, 33 (×2), 35; “untie / untying” ×4 — vv30, 31, 33 (×2).
- “kingdom” ×3 — vv11, 12, 15; “reign” ×2 — vv14, 27; “King” ×1 — v38.
- “Jerusalem” ×3 — vv11, 28, 41; “temple” ×2 — vv45, 47.
- “today” ×2 — vv5, 9; “The Lord has need of it” ×2 — vv31, 34.
- “exacting” ×2 — vv21, 22; “sow / reap / reaping” ×4 — vv21 (×2), 22 (×2).
- “peace” ×2 — vv38, 42; “enemies” ×2 — vv27, 43; “stone(s)” ×2 — vv40, 44.

**Contrasts:** A rich chief tax collector ⟷ “a man who is a sinner” in the crowd’s eyes, and “a son of Abraham” in Jesus’ (vv7, 9). Zaccheus trying to see ⟷ the Son of Man seeking (vv3, 10). Faithful slaves ⟷ the slave who hid his mina (vv16–21). Servants who are rewarded ⟷ citizens who “do not want this man to reign” (vv14, 17, 27). The disciples’ praise ⟷ the Pharisees’ rebuke (vv37–39). “Peace in heaven” sung ⟷ “the things which make for peace” missed (vv38, 42). The crowd cheering ⟷ Jesus weeping (vv37, 41). A house of prayer ⟷ a robbers’ den (v46). The leaders trying to destroy Him ⟷ the people hanging on His words (vv47–48).

**Shape of the chapter:** two scenes in Jericho (a man saved, a parable told) and two on the way into Jerusalem (a King praised, a city wept over). The chapter climbs, literally — from the Jordan valley up the wilderness road to the temple — and the question rises with it: will people receive this King or not? Zaccheus receives Him gladly; the citizens and the city do not.

**Chapter theme (my words):** The Son of Man seeks the lost one by one, and He comes as King to His city. He receives sinners, gives His servants work to do until He returns, and weeps over those who reject Him — but the day of His visit can be missed, and the King who rode a colt will come back to reign.

### Interpretation

**Why does Luke put Zaccheus here?** Right after the rich ruler went away sad (18:18–23) and Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” (18:24), Luke shows a rich chief tax collector saved — proof that “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God” (18:27). Henry: “Christ came to save even the chief of publicans.” Guzik calls Zaccheus “a model to everyone of how to receive Jesus.”

**Who was seeking whom?** Zaccheus “was trying to see who Jesus was” (v3), but Jesus says, “today I must stay at your house” (v5) and “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (v10). Sproul: “The word “must” communicates urgency and necessity.” Spurgeon: “God does not call his people in shoals, but in units.” I was not the one looking first; He was.

**Did Zaccheus earn his salvation in verse 8?** No. Sproul is plain: “nobody can work their way into the kingdom of God,” and Zaccheus “was mentioning what he planned to do as a result of his conversion.” Fourfold was the law’s penalty for a stolen sheep (Exodus 22:1); Zaccheus holds himself to the strictest standard. That is what grace does in a thief. “Son of Abraham” (v9) means he belongs to the covenant people again — by faith, like Abraham (Romans 4:11–12).

**Why tell the parable of the minas?** Because “they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately” (v11). The nobleman goes away to receive a kingdom and then returns (vv12, 15). Sproul sets it beside Archelaus, who went to Rome for a crown while a delegation of Jews protested — “The emperor did not confirm Archelaus as king.” Jesus’ point: “There would be an interim between His departure to the far country and His commission as king” (Sproul). I read the parable the way the text sets it up: Christ ascended to the Father and will return in person to reign (Acts 1:11; Revelation 19:11–16). In the meantime His servants are to “do business” with what He gave them.

**What is the mina?** Each slave received the same amount (v13), unlike the talents of Matthew 25. So the mina is best read as what every servant of Christ shares — the gospel entrusted to us, the life and gifts He gives. Guzik: the reward “is not rest, but more service.” Henry: “All Christians have business to do for Christ in this world.” The third slave did nothing because he had a false picture of his master — “I was afraid of you” (v21). Sproul: “Out of your fear, you didn’t produce anything.”

**Two groups judged.** The slave who hid his mina loses it (v24); the citizens who said, “We do not want this man to reign over us” (v14), are slain (v27). Henry: “Whoever will not be ruled by the grace of Christ will inevitably be ruined by the wrath of Christ.” Jesus is about to be rejected by His own city; the parable warns them before it happens.

**What did the entry mean?** Jesus arranged it (vv29–34) to fulfill Zechariah 9:9 — Sproul: “Jesus knew the text.” A King on a colt, not a war horse; the disciples sing Psalm 118:26. Guzik: “we should admire, not pity Jesus.” The Pharisees want the praise stopped; Jesus says the stones would take it up (v40). Henry: “Whether men praise Christ or no he will, and shall, and must be praised.”

**Why did He weep?** Because the city did not know “the things which make for peace” (v42) and “did not recognize the time of your visitation” (v44). Verses 43–44 came true in AD 70, when Rome under Titus besieged and leveled Jerusalem (Sproul walks through the siege). Spurgeon: “Jesus is here a king by general acclamation, but king of grief by personal lamentation.” Guzik: “Even when God’s judgment is perfectly just and righteous, His heart weeps.” I hold that this judgment is not God’s last word to Israel: Jesus Himself says the city will see Him again when it says, “BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!” (13:35), and Jerusalem is trampled only “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (21:24; Romans 11:25–26).

**The temple cleansing.** Jesus joins Isaiah 56:7 (a house of prayer “for all the peoples”) to Jeremiah 7:11 (a den of robbers). Guzik: the market filled the court where Gentiles came to pray. Sproul: Jesus “saw the pilgrims being defrauded,” and “His mood changed from sorrow into fury.” The same Lord who wept over the city cleans His Father’s house.

**Word study (Greek):**
- **chief tax collector — *architelōnēs* (G754):** only here in the New Testament (v2).
- **to seek — *zēteō* (G2212); to save — *sōzō* (G4982); lost — *apollymi* (G622):** the Luke 15 words (v10).
- **salvation — *sōtēria* (G4991):** “Today salvation has come to this house” (v9).
- **mina — *mna* (G3414):** about a hundred days’ wages; nine times in vv13–25.
- **do business — *pragmateuomai* (G4231):** only v13; *diapragmateuomai* (G1281), gained by trading, only v15.
- **exacting — *austēros* (G840):** harsh, severe; only vv21–22.
- **colt — *pōlos* (G4454):** the unridden foal (vv30–35; Zech 9:9).
- **will cry out — *krazō* (G2896):** to scream aloud (v40).
- **wept — *klaiō* (G2799):** loud weeping, sobbing (v41).
- **visitation — *episkopē* (G1984):** God’s coming to inspect and deliver (v44; 1:68, 78).
- **robbers — *lēstēs* (G3027):** bandits (v46; Jer 7:11).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **The camel goes through the needle** — a rich chief tax collector saved (18:24–27).
2. **He was seeking; Jesus was seeking him** — “must” (v5), “to seek and to save” (v10).
3. **Restitution is fruit, not price** — fourfold, after grace (Sproul).
4. **“Lost” is a Luke 15 word** — *apolōlos*.
5. **The kingdom comes after a journey** — the King goes and returns (vv11–15).
6. **The reward for faithfulness is more work** (Guzik).
7. **Fear is not an excuse** — the third slave (Sproul).
8. **A King on a colt** — Zechariah 9:9.
9. **God weeps over the judgment He sends** — *klaiō* (v41).
10. **A house of prayer for all the peoples** — Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.

**Cross-references:** Exod 22:1; Num 19:2; 1 Kings 1:33; Ps 118:22–26; Isa 56:7; Jer 7:11; Ezek 34:16; Hab 2:11; Zech 9:9; 14:4; Matt 25:14–30; Luke 1:68, 78; 13:34–35; 15:1–32; 18:18–43; 21:20–24; John 12:12–19; Acts 1:11; Rom 4:11–12; 11:25–26; 1 Cor 4:2; Rev 19:11–16.

### Application

**Example to follow — Zaccheus came down quickly.** He did not care how foolish he looked in a tree, and when Jesus called him he “hurried and came down and received Him gladly” (v6). Spurgeon: “Hardly had he said, “Come down,” when down he came.” Some of the men I sit with have spent years being called “a man who is a sinner” (v7). Jesus calls them by name. This week I will stop putting off what He has already told me to do.

**Command to obey — make it right.** Zaccheus went straight to the people he had cheated (v8). Grace did not make him careless about his past; it made him honest about it. If there is a man I have wronged — money, a lie, a broken promise — I will write his name down and take one step toward making it right. Not to earn anything. Because salvation has come to my house.

**Sin to confess — burying my mina.** I have sometimes done nothing with what Christ gave me because I was afraid — of failing, of looking foolish, of a God I pictured as harsh (v21). That is not humility; it is unbelief. I confess it and ask Him to show me what He has put in my hands to use until He comes back.

**Promise to trust — “Well done, good slave.”** The King is coming back (vv12, 15), and He notices faithfulness “in a very little thing” (v17). The small, unseen work — the phone call to a man who is struggling, the Bible study with three guys at the facility, being honest at work — is not little to Him.

**Warning to heed — do not miss the day.** Jerusalem cheered and still missed Him (vv37, 42, 44). It is possible to be in the crowd and not know “the things which make for peace.” Today is a day of visitation for me. I will not treat it as ordinary.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. Zaccheus climbed a tree and did not care who laughed. What has it cost me — pride, reputation, comfort — to get close enough to see Jesus? (19:3–4) *I wish there were more of us who did not mind being laughed at (Maclaren, in Guzik).*
2. Jesus called a man everyone hated by name and went to his house. Who is the “sinner” I would grumble about if Jesus went home with him? (19:5–7; 15:1–2) *Jesus is joyful to receive sinners (Guzik).*
3. Zaccheus made things right with the people he had cheated. Is there someone I need to pay back or make amends to? (19:8–9; Exod 22:1) *Restitution is the fruit of salvation, not its price (Sproul).*
4. The King has given me a mina and gone away for a while. What has He put in my hands, and what am I doing with it until He comes back? (19:13, 17; 1 Cor 4:2) *The reward for faithful service is not rest, but more service (Guzik).*
5. The third slave hid his mina because he thought his master was harsh. Where has a wrong picture of God made me afraid to act? (19:20–23) *Out of your fear, you didn’t produce anything (Sproul).*
6. Jesus wept because Jerusalem did not recognize the day God visited it. Where is God visiting me right now, and am I missing it? (19:41–44; 2 Cor 6:2) *He looks with weeping eyes upon lost souls (Henry).*

**Worship.** The Son of Man came looking for me. He looked up into a tree and called a thief by name; He rode into His city on a borrowed colt as the humble King Zechariah promised; He wept over the people who would kill Him; and He will come again to the Mount of Olives to reign. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.

**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, You came to seek and to save that which was lost, and You found me. Thank You for calling me down and coming to my house. Give me a heart that makes things right with the people I have wronged. Forgive me for burying what You gave me out of fear; make me faithful in very little things until You return. Open my eyes to the day of Your visitation, and let me be one who praises You when others are silent. Amen.

## Luke 20 — The Stone the Builders Rejected

### Marked in the text

- v2 — **“by what authority You are doing these things”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v2 — **“by what authority doest thou these things”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v4 — **“Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v4 — **“The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v7 — **“they did not know where it came from”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v7 — **“they could not tell whence it was”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v10 — **“beat him and sent him away empty-handed”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v10 — **“beat him, and sent him away empty”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v13 — **“I will send my beloved son”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v14 — **“let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v14 — **“let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v16 — **“will give the vineyard to others”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v16 — **“shall give the vineyard to others”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v17 — **“THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v17 — **“The stone which the builders rejected”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v17 — **“THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v17 — **“the same is become the head of the corner”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v18 — **“Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v18 — **“Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v20 — **“sent spies who pretended to be righteous”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v20 — **“sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v23 — **“He detected their trickery”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v23 — **“he perceived their craftiness”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v25 — **“render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v25 — **“Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v27 — **“who say that there is no resurrection”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v27 — **“which deny that there is any resurrection”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v36 — **“they cannot even die anymore”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v36 — **“Neither can they die any more”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v36 — **“sons of the resurrection”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v36 — **“the children of the resurrection”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v37 — **“the dead are raised”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v38 — **“He is not the God of the dead but of the living”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v38 — **“he is not a God of the dead, but of the living”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v38 — **“all live to Him”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v38 — **“all live unto him”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v42 — **“SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v42 — **“Sit thou on my right hand”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v44 — **“David calls Him ‘Lord,’”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v44 — **“David therefore calleth him Lord”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v46 — **“Beware of the scribes”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v47 — **“devour widows’ houses”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v47 — **“devour widows' houses”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v47 — **“for appearance’s sake offer long prayers”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v47 — **“for a shew make long prayers”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v47 — **“These will receive greater condemnation”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v47 — **“the same shall receive greater damnation”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v2 — **“authority”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v9 — **“vineyard”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v27 — **“resurrection”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** “On one of the days” of the last week, Jesus is “teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel” (v1). The leaders who had been “trying to destroy Him” (19:47) now come at Him one after another: the chief priests, scribes and elders (v1), spies sent to catch Him (v20), and Sadducees (v27). He answers them all in front of “the people” (vv1, 9, 19, 26, 45), then asks His own question and warns His disciples about the scribes (vv41–47).

**Structure:**
- vv1–8 — **the authority question:** “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things” (v2); “Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” (vv3–4); they reason among themselves — if heaven, “Why did you not believe him?”; if men, the people will stone us (vv5–6); “they did not know” (v7); “Nor will I tell you” (v8).
- vv9–19 — **the vine-growers:** a man plants a vineyard and goes away (v9); three slaves beaten, shamed, wounded, sent away empty-handed (vv10–12); “I will send my beloved son” (v13); “This is the heir; let us kill him” (vv14–15); the owner will destroy them and give the vineyard to others — “May it never be!” (v16); the rejected stone becomes the chief corner stone; broken to pieces or scattered like dust (vv17–18); the leaders want to seize Him, “for they understood that He spoke this parable against them” (v19).
- vv20–26 — **Caesar’s coin:** spies “who pretended to be righteous” (v20); flattery and the question, “Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (vv21–22); “He detected their trickery” — “Show Me a denarius” (vv23–24); “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (v25); amazed, they fall silent (v26).
- vv27–40 — **the resurrection:** Sadducees “who say that there is no resurrection” (v27); Moses’ law of the husband’s brother (v28); seven brothers, one wife, “which one’s wife will she be?” (vv29–33); this age and that age; no marriage, no death, “like angels … sons of the resurrection” (vv34–36); the burning bush — “He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (vv37–38); “Teacher, You have spoken well,” and no one dares ask more (vv39–40).
- vv41–47 — **David’s Lord; beware the scribes:** “How is it that they say the Christ is David’s son?” (v41); Psalm 110:1 (vv42–43); “David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and how is He his son?” (v44); before all the people, to the disciples: long robes, greetings, chief seats, devouring widows’ houses, long prayers for show — “greater condemnation” (vv45–47).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “God” ×8 — vv21, 25 (×2), 36, 37 (×3), 38.
- “send / sent” ×7 — vv10 (×2), 11 (×2), 12, 13, 20.
- “vineyard” ×6 — vv9, 10, 13, 15 (×2), 16; “vine-growers” ×5 — vv9, 10 (×2), 14, 16.
- “son / sons” ×6 — vv13, 34, 36 (×2), 41, 44.
- “people” ×6 — vv1, 6, 9, 19, 26, 45.
- “die / dies / died / dead” ×8 — vv28, 29, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38.
- “marry / married” ×5 — vv28, 31, 33, 34, 35; “wife” ×4 — vv28 (×2), 29, 33.
- “authority” ×4 — vv2 (×2), 8, 20.
- “Caesar(’s)” ×4 — vv22, 24, 25 (×2).
- “resurrection” ×4 — vv27, 33, 35, 36.
- “Lord” ×4 — vv37, 42 (×2), 44; “David” ×3 — vv41, 42, 44.
- “stone” ×4 — vv6 (stone us), 17 (×2), 18.
- “question / questioned” ×4 — vv3, 21, 28, 40; “Teacher” ×3 — vv21, 28, 39.
- “scribes” ×4 — vv1, 19, 39, 46.

**Contrasts:** From heaven ⟷ from men (vv4–6). The owner’s patience ⟷ the tenants’ violence (vv10–15). The beloved son ⟷ the heir they kill (vv13–14). Builders who reject ⟷ the stone God makes chief (v17). Falling on the stone ⟷ the stone falling on you (v18). Caesar’s things ⟷ God’s things (v25). Sons of this age ⟷ sons of the resurrection (vv34–36). God of the dead ⟷ God of the living (v38). David’s son ⟷ David’s Lord (vv41–44). Long robes and long prayers ⟷ devoured widows’ houses (vv46–47).

**Shape of the chapter:** four rounds of question and answer, with a parable after the first round. The leaders ask three questions designed to trap Him; each trap fails, until “they did not have courage to question Him any longer” (v40). Then Jesus asks the one question they cannot answer — who is the Messiah? — and the chapter ends with a warning about religion that looks good and does harm.

**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus’ authority comes from God, and the men who reject Him are tenants who have killed the Owner’s Son. The rejected Son is God’s cornerstone. Give the world what it is owed, give God yourself, believe the living God who raises the dead, and bow to David’s son as David’s Lord.

### Interpretation

**Why won’t Jesus answer the authority question?** He does answer — with a question that exposes the questioners. John had pointed to Jesus as the Coming One (3:16; 7:19–27); if John was from heaven, so is Jesus’ authority. The leaders “reasoned among themselves” (v5) about what each answer would cost them. Guzik: “They cared more about winning the argument against Jesus than in knowing the truth.” Henry: “Those that bury the knowledge they have are justly denied further knowledge.” Sproul: “Instead of answering their question, He turned the tables on them.”

**Who is who in the parable?** Sproul starts in Isaiah 5: “God likened His people Israel to a vineyard.” The owner is God; the vine-growers are Israel’s leaders — they “understood that He spoke this parable against them” (v19); the slaves are the prophets; the beloved son is Jesus, who here tells His own death in advance (Guzik). Spurgeon traces the tenants’ slide: “They grow bolder, and more wicked.”

**“Give the vineyard to others” (v16).** Teachers read this differently. Many see the kingdom passing from Israel to the church. I read it as the text does: the vine-growers — the leaders — lose the vineyard and new stewards take charge (Jesus’ apostles and the church He builds), but the vineyard is still God’s, and God is not finished with Israel. The people’s “May it never be!” (v16) is the very phrase Paul uses: “God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!” (Romans 11:1; see 11:25–29). Spurgeon applies the warning to us: “Lest we should have the heritage taken from us, let us yield up the fruit to him who has the best right to it all.”

**What does the stone mean (vv17–18)?** Psalm 118:22 — the stone the builders rejected becomes the chief corner stone; the crowd had just sung Psalm 118 on the road (19:38). Falling on the stone means being broken in humility; the stone falling on someone means judgment, like the stone of Daniel 2:34–35 that crushed the statue to chaff. Guzik: “Anyone who comes to Jesus will be broken of their pride and self-will.” Sproul: “If you trip over Jesus, He will crush you.”

**What does “render to Caesar” teach?** The trap was simple: “yes” angers the people; “no” is treason. Jesus asks for the coin. Caesar’s image is on it, so give it back to him — “Jesus affirmed that the government makes legitimate requests of us” (Guzik). But Caesar claimed divinity — “Tiberius Caesar, like his predecessor, considered himself a god” (Sproul) — and Jesus limits him: “He’s due taxes, but not worship.” Henry: “in sacred things God only is your King.” And the other half: we bear God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Guzik: “Everyone has the image of God impressed upon them.” Give yourself to God.

**What about marriage in the resurrection?** Jesus says those in “that age” “neither marry nor are given in marriage” because “they cannot even die anymore” (vv35–36). Sproul is careful — “At first glance, that would suggest that we are not in a state of marriage in heaven” — and adds, “Whatever state we will be in will be better than anything we can imagine now.” Like angels in deathlessness, not turned into angels. Henry: marriage is “for the comfort of human life, here in this state.”

**How does the burning bush prove the resurrection?** The Sadducees accepted Moses above the rest of Scripture (Sproul), so Jesus answers from Moses. God said “I am” — not “I was” — “the God of Abraham” long after Abraham died (Exodus 3:6). Spurgeon: “A living God is the God of living men; and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still alive.” Guzik: “They are not lost – we know where they are, and they also know.”

**David’s son and David’s Lord.** Psalm 110:1 — “The LORD says to my Lord” — is, Sproul notes, the Old Testament text the New Testament quotes most. If David calls the Messiah “Lord,” the Messiah is more than David’s son: He is God the Son who sits at the Father’s right hand until His enemies are made His footstool (Acts 2:34–36). I read that “until” as pointing to His return to reign.

**The warning about the scribes.** They loved long robes, greetings, best seats, and long prayers — and they “devour widows’ houses” (v47). Henry: “dissembled piety is double iniquity.” Guzik: “God is concerned about our religious reality, not the image.” The next verses (21:1–4) show a poor widow giving all she had.

**Word study (Greek):**
- **authority — *exousia* (G1849):** lawful right to act (vv2, 8, 20).
- **reasoned — *syllogizomai* (G4817):** to calculate together; only v5.
- **beloved — *agapētos* (G27):** “My beloved Son” (3:22; 20:13).
- **scatter like dust — *likmaō* (G3039):** to winnow, crush to powder (v18; Dan 2:35).
- **pretended — *hypokrinomai* (G5271):** to play a part; only v20.
- **trickery — *panourgia* (G3834):** craftiness (v23; 2 Cor 11:3).
- **denarius — *dēnarion* (G1220):** a day’s wage (v24).
- **likeness — *eikōn* (G1504):** image (v24; Gen 1:27; Col 1:15).
- **render — *apodidōmi* (G591):** give back what is owed (v25; Rom 13:7).
- **resurrection — *anastasis* (G386):** standing up again (vv27, 33, 35, 36).
- **like angels — *isangelos* (G2465):** only v36.
- **Lord — *kyrios* (G2962):** Psalm 110:1 (vv42, 44).
- **robes — *stolē* (G4749):** long robes (v46; 15:22).
- **devour — *katesthiō* (G2719):** eat up (v47; 15:30).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **Honest questions get answers; traps get questions** (Guzik).
2. **They reckoned instead of repenting** — *syllogizomai* (v5).
3. **The vineyard was never theirs** (Guzik).
4. **The Son knew He would be killed** — “my beloved son” (v13).
5. **One stone, two outcomes** — broken or crushed (v18; Sproul).
6. **“Others” is not “never again”** — Romans 11:1.
7. **Give back to God what bears His image** — “due taxes, but not worship” (Sproul).
8. **Present tense, living saints** — “I am the God of Abraham.”
9. **Like angels, not angels** — *isangelos* (v36).
10. **David’s son is David’s Lord** — Psalm 110:1.

**Cross-references:** Gen 1:27; Exod 3:6; Deut 25:5–6; Ps 110:1; 118:22–23; Isa 5:1–7; Dan 2:34–35, 44–45; Matt 21:23–22:46; Mark 11:27–12:40; Luke 3:16; 7:19–30; 21:1–4; Acts 2:34–36; 4:11–12; 23:8; Rom 11:1, 25–29; 13:1–7; 1 Cor 15:20; 2 Cor 11:3; Col 1:15; 1 Pet 2:7–8.

### Application

**Truth to face — I am a tenant, not an owner.** The vine-growers forgot whose vineyard it was (vv9–14). My life, my body, my family, my time, my recovery — none of it is mine. Guzik: “The vinedressers didn’t buy the vineyard, and they did not make it.” The Owner is asking for fruit, and He has been patient with me longer than I deserve.

**Command to obey — render to God what is God’s.** Jesus told me to pay what I owe — taxes, honest work, respect for authority (v25; Romans 13:7). Some of the men I serve are rebuilding trust with courts, parole officers and employers; doing that honestly is obedience to Christ. But the coin is not the point. I bear God’s image. He gets me — not a slice of my week, but me. This week I will name one area I have been keeping back and hand it to Him.

**Sin to confess — calculating instead of obeying.** The leaders asked what answer would cost them least (vv5–7). I know that move. I have weighed what obedience would cost me in front of people before I did what I already knew was right. I confess it, and I ask God to make me a man who answers honestly, whatever it costs.

**Promise to trust — He is the God of the living.** “He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him” (v38). The brothers in the Lord I have buried are not lost. Spurgeon: “We are by no means deprived of our dear ones by their death.” And my own death is not the end of my story; there is an age where they “cannot even die anymore” (v36).

**Warning to heed — beware the long robe.** It is possible to look holy, pray long in public, take the best seat, and still use people (vv46–47). Guzik: “God is concerned about our religious reality, not the image.” I want my private life to match my prayers.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. The leaders asked what answer would cost them least, not what was true. Where am I tempted to calculate rather than simply obey what I already know? (20:3–8) *Those that bury the knowledge they have are justly denied further knowledge (Henry).*
2. The vineyard belonged to the owner; the tenants only worked it. What part of my life am I treating as mine that really belongs to God? (20:9–16; Ps 24:1) *They didn’t buy the vineyard, and they did not make it (Guzik).*
3. Jesus is a stone you either fall on and are broken, or one that falls on you. What does it look like for me to be broken on Him rather than crushed by Him? (20:17–18; 1 Pet 2:7–8) *Anyone who comes to Jesus will be broken of their pride and self-will (Guzik).*
4. I bear God’s image the way the coin bore Caesar’s. What would it mean this week to “render to God” what is His — my time, body, money, worship? (20:24–25; Gen 1:27) *He’s due taxes, but not worship (Sproul).*
5. God is the God of the living, and those who die in the Lord live. How does the resurrection change how I grieve, and how I face my own death? (20:37–38; 1 Cor 15:20) *They are not lost — we know where they are (Guzik).*
6. Jesus warned about men who wanted to look holy and used religion to take advantage of the weak. Where do I care more about my image than my reality? (20:46–47) *God is concerned about our religious reality, not the image (Guzik).*

**Worship.** The Father sent His beloved Son to a vineyard that had beaten His servants, and they threw Him out and killed Him — and God made the rejected stone the chief corner stone. Jesus answered every trap with the truth. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of the living, and He is David’s Lord, seated at the right hand of the Father until every enemy is under His feet.

**Prayer.** Father, the vineyard is Yours and so am I. Forgive me for living like an owner and for calculating instead of obeying. I fall on the Stone; break my pride and build me on Jesus. Help me give Caesar what I owe and give You all of me, since I bear Your image. Thank You that You are the God of the living and that those who die in Christ live to You. Keep me from religion that looks good and loves little, and make me honest before You and kind to the weak. In the name of Jesus, David’s Lord. Amen.

## Luke 21 — Lift Up Your Heads

### Marked in the text

- v2 — **“two small copper coins”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v2 — **“two mites”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v3 — **“this poor widow put in more than all of them”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v3 — **“this poor widow hath cast in more than they all”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v4 — **“she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v4 — **“she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v6 — **“there will not be left one stone upon another”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v6 — **“there shall not be left one stone upon another”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v8 — **“See to it that you are not misled”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v8 — **“Take heed that ye be not deceived”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v8 — **“Do not go after them”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v8 — **“go ye not therefore after them”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v9 — **“do not be terrified”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v9 — **“be not terrified”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v9 — **“the end does not follow immediately”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v9 — **“the end is not by and by”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v13 — **“an opportunity for your testimony”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v13 — **“it shall turn to you for a testimony”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v15 — **“I will give you utterance and wisdom”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v15 — **“I will give you a mouth and wisdom”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v18 — **“not a hair of your head will perish”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v18 — **“there shall not an hair of your head perish”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v19 — **“By your endurance you will gain your lives”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v19 — **“In your patience possess ye your souls”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v20 — **“Jerusalem surrounded by armies”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v20 — **“Jerusalem compassed with armies”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v21 — **“must flee to the mountains”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v21 — **“flee to the mountains”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v22 — **“days of vengeance”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v24 — **“until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v24 — **“until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v27 — **“COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v27 — **“coming in a cloud with power and great glory”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v28 — **“straighten up and lift up your heads”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v28 — **“look up, and lift up your heads”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v28 — **“your redemption is drawing near”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v28 — **“your redemption draweth nigh”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v32 — **“this generation will not pass away”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v32 — **“This generation shall not pass away”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v33 — **“My words will not pass away”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v33 — **“my words shall not pass away”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v34 — **“Be on guard”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v34 — **“take heed to yourselves”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v34 — **“dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v34 — **“surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v34 — **“like a trap”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v35 — **“as a snare”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v36 — **“keep on the alert at all times, praying”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v36 — **“Watch ye therefore, and pray always”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v36 — **“to stand before the Son of Man”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v36 — **“to stand before the Son of man”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v7 — **“these things”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v8 — **“near”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v8 — **“nigh”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** Jesus is in the temple during the last week before the cross (21:37–38). He watches the rich and a poor widow giving at the treasury (vv1–4). When some admire the temple’s stones and votive gifts, He says not one stone will be left upon another (vv5–6), and the disciples ask when and what sign (v7). He answers with the teaching Matthew and Mark place on the Mount of Olives (Matt 24:3; Mark 13:3), and the chapter ends with His pattern for those days: teaching in the temple by day, nights on Olivet (vv37–38).

**Structure:**
- vv1–4 — **the widow’s two coins:** the rich and their gifts; a poor widow and two small copper coins; “this poor widow put in more than all of them” — “all that she had to live on.”
- vv5–19 — **not yet the end:** beautiful stones and votive gifts; “not one stone upon another” (v6); “when?” and “what sign?” (v7); do not be misled — many will come in My name (v8); wars and disturbances, but “the end does not follow immediately” (v9); nation against nation, earthquakes, plagues, famines, signs from heaven (vv10–11); but before all this, persecution — synagogues, prisons, kings and governors (v12); an opportunity for testimony; I will give you utterance and wisdom (vv13–15); betrayed by family, some put to death, hated by all (vv16–17); not a hair will perish; by endurance you will gain your lives (vv18–19).
- vv20–24 — **Jerusalem surrounded:** armies around the city — her desolation is near (v20); flee to the mountains (v21); days of vengeance, all that is written fulfilled (v22); woe to mothers; wrath to this people (v23); sword, captivity among all nations, Jerusalem trampled “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (v24).
- vv25–33 — **the Son of Man coming:** signs in sun, moon and stars; dismay among nations; the roaring sea (v25); men fainting from fear; the powers of the heavens shaken (v26); the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory (v27); straighten up, lift up your heads — your redemption is drawing near (v28); the fig tree (vv29–31); “this generation will not pass away” (v32); “My words will not pass away” (v33).
- vv34–38 — **watch and pray:** be on guard — dissipation, drunkenness and the worries of life (v34); like a trap on all the earth (v35); keep on the alert, praying, to escape and to stand before the Son of Man (v36); by day in the temple, by night on Olivet; the people come early to hear Him (vv37–38).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “things” ×11 — vv6, 7 (×2), 9, 12, 22, 26, 28, 31, 32, 36 (“these things” is the chapter’s refrain).
- “come / comes / coming / came” ×10 — vv6 (×2), 8 (×2), 26, 27, 34, 35 (×2), 38.
- “see / saw / seen” ×7 — vv1, 2, 8, 20, 27, 30, 31.
- “take place / happen / happening” ×7 — vv7 (×2), 9, 28, 31, 32, 36.
- “put / putting” (in) ×5 — vv1, 2, 3, 4 (×2); and “put … to death” v16.
- “near” ×5 — vv8, 20, 28, 30, 31.
- “day(s)” ×5 — vv6, 22, 23, 34, 37.
- “nation(s)” ×4 — vv10 (×2), 24, 25; “Gentiles” ×2 — v24 (×2).
- “My name” ×3 — vv8, 12 (“for My name’s sake”), 17; and “My words” v33.
- “pass away” ×3 — vv32, 33 (×2); “heaven(s)” ×3 — vv11, 26, 33; “earth” ×3 — vv25, 33, 35.
- “sign(s)” ×3 — vv7, 11, 25; “kingdom” ×3 — vv10 (×2), 31.
- “temple” ×3 — vv5, 37, 38; “Jerusalem” ×2 — vv20, 24; “fulfilled” ×2 — vv22, 24.
- “Son of Man” ×2 — vv27, 36.

**Contrasts:** The rich and their surplus ⟷ the widow and her poverty (vv1–4). Beautiful stones ⟷ not one stone upon another (vv5–6). “The time is near” (false) ⟷ “the end does not follow immediately” (v9). Some put to death ⟷ not a hair will perish (vv16–18). Those in the city ⟷ those who flee (v21). Men fainting from fear ⟷ believers who straighten up (vv26, 28). Heaven and earth pass away ⟷ My words do not (v33). Hearts weighed down ⟷ alert and praying (vv34, 36). A trap for all who dwell on the earth ⟷ strength to escape and stand (vv35–36).

**Shape of the chapter:** a small scene (one widow, two coins) opens onto the widest horizon in Luke — the temple, the city, the nations, the sky — and then narrows back to the single heart that must be on guard (v34). Questions about “when” are answered with commands about “how”: do not be misled, do not be terrified, make up your minds, endure, flee, straighten up, be on guard, keep on the alert.

**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus tells His people the truth about the future so they will not be deceived, terrified or caught asleep. The temple fell as He said, Jerusalem has been trampled as He said, and He will come again as He said — so I give Him everything, endure, and keep my head up.

### Interpretation

**Why the widow here?** Luke sets her straight after the warning about scribes “who devour widows’ houses” (20:47). Guzik: “Perhaps a scribe devoured her house.” Sproul: she is the answer to hypocrisy — “Jesus realized that this woman was all in.” She is also a picture of the chapter’s whole lesson: hold nothing back from God, because everything else here is passing away.

**What were the disciples asking?** “When therefore will these things happen?” (v7) is about the temple. Matthew adds “the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age” (Matt 24:3). Guzik: “Prophetically, the two are connected, though separated by many centuries,” and “Luke’s record focuses more on the first aspect.”

**Are wars and earthquakes the sign?** No. Jesus says “the end does not follow immediately” (v9). Guzik: like labor pains, “without any one of them being the specific sign of the end.” Spurgeon: they keep us watching, not curious.

**Verses 20–24 — AD 70.** All four teachers agree that Jerusalem “surrounded by armies” describes the Roman siege, the burning of the temple and the scattering of the Jews. Guzik and Spurgeon say the Christians obeyed verse 21 and fled (to Pella), and few or none perished.

**What are “the times of the Gentiles”?** The age in which Jerusalem is under Gentile power and the nations hear the gospel — with an end. Sproul: “up to this point and then it stops.” Guzik notes 1948 and believes that when these times end, “the remaining seven-year period appointed to the Jewish people in Daniel 9 begins.” Spurgeon: the time when the Messiah gathers in the Gentiles, after which Israel turns. This is where I stand: God is not finished with Israel (Rom 11:25–26).

**Verses 25–33 — fulfilled, future, or both?** This is the honest difference.
- *Futurist (Guzik; my frame):* “History records no adequate fulfillment of these words in A.D. 70 or immediately following.” The signs in the heavens, the nations in perplexity and the Son of Man “coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Dan 7:13; Acts 1:11) are still ahead — the tribulation of Revelation 6–18 and the visible return of Christ.
- *Partial preterist (Sproul):* the cosmic language is the prophets’ judgment idiom, “generation” is “an age group,” and “In AD 70, Jesus came in judgment.” He still holds to Christ’s final, bodily return.
- *Double fulfillment (Spurgeon, Henry):* “We have had a rehearsal of that coming in the destruction of the favored city” — “fulfilled once, and it shall soon be fulfilled again.”
I read verse 27 as the same coming as Acts 1:11 and Revelation 1:7 — a coming every eye will see — and I take the AD 70 fall as the down-payment that proves the rest will come just as surely.

**“This generation” (v32).** Sproul: the people living then. Guzik: the generation that sees “these things” begin, or possibly the Jewish people, who will not pass away. Spurgeon: “two meanings, an outer and an inner.” Whatever the reader decides, verse 33 settles the main thing: “My words will not pass away.”

**What is the “escape” in verse 36?** Guzik reads it as the Lord taking His ready people before the coming calamity (compare Rev 3:10; 1 Thess 4:16–17). Others read it as being kept faithful through it. Either way, the means is the same: “keep on the alert at all times, praying.”

**Word study (Greek):**
- **two small copper coins — *lepta* (G3016):** the smallest coin; KJV “mites.”
- **poverty — *hysterēma* (G5303):** lack, shortfall; contrast *perisseuma*, surplus (v4).
- **misled — *planaō* (G4105):** to lead astray, make to wander (v8).
- **endurance — *hypomonē* (G5281):** remaining under the load (v19).
- **desolation — *erēmōsis* (G2050):** laying waste; Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20.
- **times — *kairoi* (G2540):** appointed seasons — “the times of the Gentiles” (v24).
- **redemption — *apolytrōsis* (G629):** full release by ransom; only here in the Gospels (v28).
- **generation — *genea* (G1074):** an age group, or a race/kind (v32).
- **dissipation — *kraipalē* (G2897):** the hangover of excess; only here (v34).
- **keep on the alert — *agrypneō* (G69):** to stay sleepless, like a sentry (v36).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **The widow came right after the warning** about devouring widows’ houses (20:47).
2. **Jesus counts what is left, not what is given** — surplus vs lack.
3. **The first word about the future is a warning** — do not be misled.
4. **Persecution is a pulpit** (v13).
5. **Endurance is not passive** — *hypomonē* (Guzik).
6. **Obedience saved the Jerusalem church** — they fled when they saw the armies.
7. **“Until” has an end** — Luke 21:24 and Romans 11:25.
8. **The teachers honestly differ on verses 25–32** — futurist, preterist, double fulfillment.
9. **Redemption is still arriving** — head up, not head down.
10. **Worry can make a sober man drunk** (Spurgeon).

**Cross-references:** Dan 7:13; 9:24–27; 12:1; Zech 12:10; 14:4; Matt 24; Mark 12:41–44; 13; Luke 13:35; 17:22–37; 19:41–44; 20:47; Acts 1:6–11; 2:20; Rom 8:23; 11:25–26; 2 Cor 8:1–3; 1 Thess 4:16–5:9; 2 Thess 2:1–4; Rev 1:7; 3:10; 6–19.

### Application

**Example to follow — the widow.** She had two coins and gave both. Some of the men I sit with have almost nothing — a commissary account, a few dollars, a borrowed Bible. Jesus says that kind of gift counts for more than all the rest. I don’t get to wait until I have more. This week I will give God something I will actually miss — money, time, or the thing I hold tightest.

**Sin to confess — admiring the stones.** I can get impressed with the beautiful things — a building, a program, a reputation, even my own ministry — and forget that not one stone will be left. I confess the idols I have made out of good things.

**Command to obey — do not be misled; do not be terrified.** Jesus gave me no date to chase. I will stop feeding my fear with headlines and start feeding my faith with His words, which “will not pass away.”

**Promise to trust — not a hair of your head.** Men may betray me, even family (v16). Jesus promises utterance and wisdom when I stand before the people who oppose me (v15), and He promises that my life is kept: “By your endurance you will gain your lives.” I will stay under the load today instead of running from it.

**Command to obey — be on guard; keep on the alert.** The trap Jesus names is not only drunkenness; it is “the worries of life.” For a man in recovery both are real. I will name which weight is on my heart, hand it to Him in prayer, and stay awake.

**Hope to hold — lift up your heads.** I believe the Son of Man will come in a cloud with power and great glory, as surely as the temple fell in AD 70. When the world shakes, I am told to straighten up, not shrink back: my redemption is drawing near.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. The widow gave out of her lack, not her leftovers. What would it look like for me to give God something I will actually miss? (21:1–4; 2 Cor 8:1–3) *Jesus counts what is left behind (Guzik: one coin was half her money).*
2. The disciples were admiring beautiful stones. What good thing in my life — even a religious one — has started to become an idol? (21:5–6) *Good things can become the worst idols (Guzik).*
3. Jesus’ first word about the future was “do not be misled.” Where do I go looking for certainty about dates instead of faithfulness for today? (21:8–9; Acts 1:7) *Signs keep us watching, not curious (Spurgeon).*
4. Some believers will be betrayed even by family (v16). How does verse 18–19 help a man who has lost relationships for following Jesus? (21:16–19) *The body may be taken; the life is kept.*
5. Our teachers read verses 25–32 differently. What do all of them agree on, and how does that shape the way I live this week? (21:25–33; Acts 1:11) *A real return, a real redemption, a real call to watch.*
6. Which weight is pressing my heart down right now — dissipation, drunkenness, or “the worries of life”? (21:34–36) *Care can intoxicate as surely as drink (Spurgeon).*

**Worship.** The Lord sees two copper coins. He knew the temple would fall forty years before it fell, and it fell. He holds the times of the Gentiles in His hand and keeps His promises to Israel. His words outlast heaven and earth, and He is coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, You see what I give and what I hold back. Take all of me. Keep me from being misled and from being terrified. When I am betrayed or hated for Your name, give me Your words and keep my soul. Lift the weight of worry and the pull of old habits off my heart. Keep me awake and praying, and let me stand before You with my head up when You come. Amen.

## Luke 22 — This Is My Body, Given for You

### Marked in the text

- v2 — **“seeking how they might put Him to death”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v2 — **“sought how they might kill him”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v3 — **“Satan entered into Judas”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v3 — **“Then entered Satan into Judas”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v5 — **“agreed to give him money”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v5 — **“covenanted to give him money”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v7 — **“the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v7 — **“the passover must be killed”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v13 — **“found everything just as He had told them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v13 — **“found as he had said unto them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v15 — **“I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v15 — **“With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v19 — **“This is My body which is given for you”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v19 — **“This is my body which is given for you”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v19 — **“do this in remembrance of Me”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v19 — **“this do in remembrance of me”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v20 — **“the new covenant in My blood”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v20 — **“the new testament in my blood”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v22 — **“woe to that man by whom He is betrayed”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v22 — **“woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v24 — **“which one of them was regarded to be greatest”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v24 — **“which of them should be accounted the greatest”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v26 — **“the leader like the servant”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v26 — **“he that is chief, as he that doth serve”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v27 — **“I am among you as the one who serves”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v27 — **“I am among you as he that serveth”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v30 — **“you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v30 — **“sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v31 — **“Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v31 — **“Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v32 — **“I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v32 — **“I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v32 — **“strengthen your brothers”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v32 — **“strengthen thy brethren”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v37 — **“AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH TRANSGRESSORS”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v37 — **“And he was reckoned among the transgressors”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v40 — **“Pray that you may not enter into temptation”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v40 — **“Pray that ye enter not into temptation”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v42 — **“not My will, but Yours be done”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v42 — **“not my will, but thine, be done”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v44 — **“His sweat became like drops of blood”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v44 — **“his sweat was as it were great drops of blood”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v45 — **“found them sleeping from sorrow”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v45 — **“he found them sleeping for sorrow”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v48 — **“are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v48 — **“betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v51 — **“He touched his ear and healed him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v51 — **“he touched his ear, and healed him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v53 — **“this hour and the power of darkness are yours”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v53 — **“this is your hour, and the power of darkness”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v54 — **“Peter was following at a distance”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v54 — **“Peter followed afar off”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v61 — **“The Lord turned and looked at Peter”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v61 — **“the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v62 — **“he went out and wept bitterly”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v62 — **“Peter went out, and wept bitterly”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v69 — **“SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v69 — **“sit on the right hand of the power of God”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v70 — **“Yes, I am”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v70 — **“Ye say that I am”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v1 — **“Passover”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v1 — **“passover”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v4 — **“betray”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v48 — **“betraying”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v22 — **“betrayed”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v32 — **“prayed”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v40 — **“Pray”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v40 — **“pray”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** The Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, is approaching (v1). The chief priests and scribes want Jesus dead but fear the people (v2). Over one night and the next daybreak the scene moves from the city (Judas’s bargain, vv3–6) to an upper room (vv7–38), out to the Mount of Olives (vv39–53), back to the high priest’s house and its courtyard fire (vv54–65), and at daybreak to the Council chamber (vv66–71).

**Structure:**
- vv1–6 — **the plot:** the feast approaching; leaders seeking to kill Him, afraid of the people (vv1–2); Satan enters Judas (v3); he bargains with the chief priests and officers; money agreed (vv4–5); he seeks an opportunity apart from the crowd (v6).
- vv7–23 — **the Supper:** the day the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed (v7); Peter and John sent — the man with the pitcher, the large furnished upper room (vv8–13); “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (vv14–16); a cup shared (vv17–18); the bread — “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (v19); the cup after — “the new covenant in My blood” (v20); the betrayer’s hand on the table; woe to that man (vv21–23).
- vv24–38 — **greatness, sifting, swords:** a dispute over who is greatest (v24); kings and “Benefactors” — but the leader like the servant; “I am among you as the one who serves” (vv25–27); a kingdom granted, thrones over the twelve tribes (vv28–30); “Simon, Simon” — sifted like wheat; “I have prayed for you” (vv31–32); Peter’s boast and the rooster (vv33–34); money belt, bag and sword; “numbered with transgressors”; “It is enough” (vv35–38).
- vv39–46 — **the agony:** the Mount of Olives as was His custom (v39); “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” (v40); a stone’s throw; “not My will, but Yours be done” (vv41–42); an angel strengthening Him (v43); agony, sweat like drops of blood (v44); the disciples sleeping from sorrow; “Get up and pray” (vv45–46).
- vv47–62 — **the kiss and the look:** Judas and the crowd; “betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” (vv47–48); the sword, the ear, “Stop! No more of this,” the healing (vv49–51); “this hour and the power of darkness are yours” (vv52–53); led to the high priest’s house; Peter at a distance (v54); the fire and three denials (vv55–60); the rooster; the Lord turned and looked at Peter; he wept bitterly (vv60–62).
- vv63–71 — **the Council:** mocking, beating, blindfolding — “Prophesy!” (vv63–65); daybreak, the Council of elders (v66); “If You are the Christ, tell us” (vv67–68); “from now on THE SON OF MAN WILL BE SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND of the power OF GOD” (v69); “Are You the Son of God, then?” — “Yes, I am” (v70); “we have heard it ourselves” (v71).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “Peter / Simon” ×10 — vv8, 31 (×2), 34, 54, 55, 58, 60, 61 (×2).
- “Passover” ×6 — vv1, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15.
- “eat / eaten” ×6 — vv8, 11, 15, 16, 20, 30.
- “pray / prayed / praying / prayer” ×6 — vv32, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46.
- “betray / betraying / betrayed” ×5 — vv4, 6, 21, 22, 48.
- “table” ×5 — vv14, 21, 27 (×2), 30.
- “Lord” (of Jesus) ×5 — vv33, 38, 49, 61 (×2).
- “I say to you / I tell you” ×5 — vv16, 18, 34, 37, 67.
- “kingdom” ×4 — vv16, 18, 29, 30; “cup” ×4 — vv17, 20 (×2), 42.
- “sword(s)” ×4 — vv36, 38, 49, 52; “chief priests” ×4 — vv2, 4, 52, 66.
- “Son of Man” ×3 — vv22, 48, 69; “Satan” ×2 — vv3, 31; “Judas” ×3 — vv3, 47, 48.
- “deny / denied” ×3 — vv34, 57, 61; “rooster” ×3 — vv34, 60, 61.
- “fulfilled / fulfillment” ×3 — vv16, 37 (×2); “hour” ×3 — vv14, 53, 59.
- “greatest / greater” ×3 — vv24, 26, 27; “serve(s) / servant” ×3 — vv26, 27 (×2).
- “temptation” ×2 — vv40, 46; “kiss” ×2 — vv47, 48.

**Contrasts:** Leaders afraid of the people ⟷ Judas offering a way “apart from the crowd” (vv2, 6). A body “given for you” ⟷ a hand on the table betraying (vv19, 21). Determined ⟷ woe (v22). Kings who lord it ⟷ the One who serves (vv25–27). Satan’s sifting ⟷ Jesus’ prayer (vv31–32). Peter’s boast ⟷ three denials (vv33–34, 57–60). Then without purse ⟷ now take a purse (vv35–36). My will ⟷ Yours (v42). Jesus praying ⟷ disciples sleeping (vv44–45). A kiss ⟷ betrayal (v48). A sword that wounds ⟷ a hand that heals (vv50–51). Daily in the temple ⟷ this hour and the power of darkness (v53). Blindfolded and mocked ⟷ seated at the right hand of God (vv64, 69).

**Shape of the chapter:** six scenes in one night, each a failure of men answered by the faithfulness of Christ — the betrayer bargains and Jesus gives His body; the disciples quarrel and He serves; Peter boasts and He prays; the disciples sleep and He agonizes; a disciple swings a sword and He heals; Peter denies and He looks; the Council condemns and He confesses.

**Chapter theme (my words):** Everyone around Jesus failed Him that night — and He kept every word. He gave His body, prayed for the one who would fall, drank the Father’s cup, and confessed who He is. The same Lord who looked at Peter still prays for me.

### Interpretation

**How could Satan “enter” Judas?** Luke and John both say it (Luke 22:3; John 13:27). Sproul: “Satan entered into the inner core of Judas’ being,” but “Satan did not come and coerce Judas to perform the act. … Judas acquiesced willingly out of the darkness of his own heart.” Guzik: the money “points to the motivation of simple greed,” and Satan’s role “does not diminish” his responsibility. Verse 22 holds both truths: the Son of Man goes “as it has been determined; but woe to that man.”

**Why two cups?** Luke records a cup before the bread (v17) and “the cup after they had eaten” (v20). The Passover meal had several cups; Jesus attaches the new covenant to the cup after supper. Spurgeon: the new memorial was “blended with the passover.”

**What does “This is My body” mean?** Our teachers read the bread and cup as signs and seals of Christ’s sacrifice, not a change of substance. Spurgeon: “It was clearly impossible that he could have meant that bread to be literally his body.” Guzik: it is how we remember and how we fellowship with Him. Sproul: it is the Passover fulfilled — “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.”

**What is the new covenant?** The promise of Jeremiah 31:31–34 — the law on the heart and sins remembered no more — made with “the house of Israel” and opened to all who belong to Christ. Sproul: covenants are ratified by blood, and this one was ratified the next afternoon. I note that Jeremiah’s promise still names Israel, and Paul says God will keep it (Rom 11:26–27).

**The thrones (v30).** Jesus promises the Twelve that they will “sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” I take this as future and literal, in the kingdom when the Son of Man reigns (Matt 19:28); it fits Luke 21:24’s “until” and Acts 1:6.

**Sifted, but prayed for.** Satan “demanded permission” (v31). Guzik: “he had to ask God for permission.” The first “you” is plural — all of them; the second is singular — Simon (v32). Sproul: Satan may tempt a believer but not possess him, and what kept Peter was the intercession of Christ: “If you’re a Christian, Jesus prays for you.”

**The two swords (vv36–38).** All our teachers read Jesus’ words figuratively — a warning that the days ahead would be hostile — not a call to arms. Guzik: He “did not mean, two swords will be enough.” Spurgeon: “A smile must have passed over the Saviour’s face.” “It is enough” ends the conversation; minutes later Jesus says, “Stop! No more of this” (v51).

**What was in the cup (v42)?** Guzik: “The cup didn’t represent death, but judgment.” Sproul: “It was the curse of God. It was the wrath of God.” He explains the prayer with two wills in Christ, the human will shrinking and submitting to the divine. Spurgeon: He suffered “because he stood in the sinner’s place.”

**Was the sweat really blood (v44)?** Guzik: “like blood” — Luke does not say it was blood. Sproul, with Jonathan Edwards: “Jesus really did sweat blood.” Both agree on the point: the agony was real, and it was for us.

**Peter and Judas.** Both were targeted by Satan, both failed, both felt shame. Judas despaired; Peter wept and was restored (John 21). Sproul and Spurgeon both find the difference in Christ — His prayer (v32) and His look (v61). Guzik: “Peter fell, but had not fallen away.”

**“Yes, I am” (v70).** Literally “You say that I am” — a Hebrew yes. Jesus joins Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13 (v69). Guzik: those who judged Him will be judged by Him.

**Word study (Greek):**
- **Satan — *Satanas* (G4567):** the adversary; returns in vv3, 31 (cf. 4:13).
- **betray — *paradidōmi* (G3860):** hand over; vv4, 6, 21, 22, 48.
- **covenant — *diathēkē* (G1242):** a binding arrangement; KJV “testament” (v20).
- **remembrance — *anamnēsis* (G364):** a calling to mind; Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24–25; Heb 10:3.
- **Benefactor — *euergetēs* (G2110):** a king’s title; only here (v25).
- **sift — *siniazō* (G4617):** shake in a sieve; only here (v31).
- **turned again — *epistrephō* (G1994):** to turn back (v32).
- **agony — *agōnia* (G74):** a wrestler’s struggle; only here (v44).
- **drops — *thromboi* (G2361):** thick drops, clots; only here (v44).
- **cup — *potērion* (G4221):** vv17, 20, 42.
- **kiss — *phileō* (G5368):** the disciple’s greeting turned to a signal (v47).
- **looked at — *emblepō* (G1689):** to look straight into (v61).
- **deny — *arneomai* (G720):** to disown (vv34, 57, 61).
- **I am — *eimi* (G1510):** “You say that I am” (v70).
- **right hand — *dexios* (G1188):** the seat of power (v69).

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **Satan needed an open door** — Judas acquiesced willingly (Sproul).
2. **The same verb, two hands** — *paradidōmi*.
3. **He wanted this meal** — “with desire I have desired.”
4. **A new covenant needs a God-man** (Guzik).
5. **The quarrel came at the table** — to ascend, descend (Spurgeon).
6. **“You” all, but “you,” Simon** (vv31–32).
7. **The cup was wrath** (Sproul, Guzik).
8. **Strengthened to pray harder** (v44).
9. **Jesus cleaned up His disciple’s mess** — the healed ear.
10. **One look** — Peter fell, but had not fallen away.

**Cross-references:** Exod 12; Ps 41:9; 110:1; Isa 53:12; Jer 31:31–34; Dan 7:13; Zech 13:7; Matt 19:28; 26:17–75; Mark 14; Luke 4:13; 9:22; John 13:21–30; 17:12; 18:1–27; 21:15–19; Acts 1:6, 18; 2:34–35; 7:56; Rom 4:25; 8:34; 1 Cor 5:7; 11:23–26; Heb 5:7; 7:25; 10:3; Rev 19:9.

### Application

**Sin to confess — the open door.** Judas didn’t fall in one night; greed and disappointment had been working in him a long time, and then Satan walked through the door he left open. I have left doors open too — resentment at God for not being the Messiah I wanted, an old appetite I kept feeding. I name them and shut them today.

**Promise to trust — “given for you.”** At the Table Jesus did not say “given for the world” in general; He said “for you.” Men who have done terrible things sit at that Table forgiven. I will come to the Lord’s Supper next time hearing those two words.

**Example to follow — the One who serves.** The disciples argued about rank right after the bread and cup. In the facility, at work, in my own house, I want the seat that gets noticed. Jesus took the towel. This week I will do one hidden act of service for someone who can’t pay me back.

**Promise to trust — “I have prayed for you.”** Jesus knew Peter would fail and prayed for him before he did — and told him what to do after: “strengthen your brothers.” My failure does not have the last word. Jesus “always lives to make intercession” (Heb 7:25). When I fall, I will turn back quickly and then help the next man who falls.

**Command to obey — “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”** He said it twice (vv40, 46). The disciples slept from sorrow; grief made them drowsy, and temptation found them unprepared. When I am hurting, I am most at risk. I will pray before the trouble comes, not after.

**Truth to face — following at a distance.** Peter loved Jesus and still ended up warming his hands with the crowd that arrested Him. Distance comes before denial. I will move closer — back to the Word, back to the brothers, back to prayer — before the rooster crows.

**Hope to hold — the look.** The Lord turned and looked at Peter. It was not a look of rejection but of love that broke his heart open. Peter wept, and Peter was restored. The same Jesus is seated now at the right hand of God.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. Judas opened a door that Satan walked through — greed, disappointment, anger. What door have I left open that the enemy could use? (22:3–6; Eph 4:26–27) *Satan did not coerce Judas; he acquiesced willingly (Sproul).*
2. Jesus said the bread was His body “given for you.” What changes when I hear “for you” personally at the Lord’s Table? (22:19–20; 1 Cor 11:23–26) *This is how we remember and how we fellowship (Guzik).*
3. Right after the Supper the disciples argued about who was greatest. Where am I jockeying for position — at home, at work, in the group? (22:24–27) *The way to ascend is to descend (Spurgeon).*
4. Jesus prayed for Peter before Peter failed. How does it help me to know that Jesus is praying for me right now? (22:31–32; Heb 7:25) *If you’re a Christian, Jesus prays for you (Sproul).*
5. In the garden Jesus prayed “not My will, but Yours be done,” and His disciples slept. What “cup” am I asking God to take away, and can I pray His prayer? (22:39–46) *The cup was judgment; He drank it for us.*
6. Peter followed at a distance and ended up warming himself with the wrong crowd. What does following Jesus “at a distance” look like for me — and what did the Lord’s look do for Peter? (22:54–62; John 21:15–17) *Peter fell, but had not fallen away (Guzik).*

**Worship.** The Lamb of God earnestly desired to eat the Passover with men who would fail Him. He gave His body and poured out His blood for a new covenant. He prayed for Simon, drank the Father’s cup, healed His enemy’s ear, looked in love at His denier, and confessed before His judges the throne He now occupies at the right hand of God.

**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, Your body was given for me and Your blood poured out for me. Shut the doors in me that I have left open to the enemy. Make me a servant, not a seeker of seats. When I am sifted, keep my faith from failing, and when I turn back, let me strengthen my brothers. Teach me to pray “not my will, but Yours.” And when I fail You, turn and look at me again, and bring me home. Amen.

## Luke 23 — The Innocent One Crucified

### Marked in the text

- v4 — **“I find no guilt in this man”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v4 — **“I find no fault in this man”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v9 — **“He answered him nothing”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v9 — **“he answered him nothing”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v12 — **“Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v12 — **“Pilate and Herod were made friends together”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v14 — **“I have found no guilt in this man”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v14 — **“have found no fault in this man”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v15 — **“nothing deserving death has been done by Him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v15 — **“nothing worthy of death is done unto him”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v18 — **“Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v18 — **“Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v21 — **“Crucify, crucify Him”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v21 — **“Crucify him, crucify him”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v25 — **“he delivered Jesus to their will”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v26 — **“placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v26 — **“on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v28 — **“weep for yourselves and for your children”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v28 — **“weep for yourselves, and for your children”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v31 — **“when the tree is green”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v31 — **“in a green tree”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v33 — **“the place called The Skull”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v33 — **“the place, which is called Calvary”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v34 — **“Father, forgive them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v34 — **“they do not know what they are doing”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v34 — **“they know not what they do”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v35 — **“He saved others; let Him save Himself”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v35 — **“He saved others; let him save himself”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v38 — **“THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v41 — **“we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v41 — **“we receive the due reward of our deeds”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v41 — **“this man has done nothing wrong”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v41 — **“this man hath done nothing amiss”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v42 — **“Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v42 — **“Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v43 — **“today you shall be with Me in Paradise”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v43 — **“To day shalt thou be with me in paradise”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v44 — **“about the sixth hour”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v44 — **“until the ninth hour”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v45 — **“the veil of the temple was torn in two”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v45 — **“the veil of the temple was rent in the midst”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v46 — **“INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v46 — **“into thy hands I commend my spirit”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v47 — **“Certainly this man was innocent”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v47 — **“Certainly this was a righteous man”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v48 — **“beating their breasts”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v48 — **“smote their breasts”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v51 — **“waiting for the kingdom of God”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v51 — **“waited for the kingdom of God”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v53 — **“where no one had ever lain”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v53 — **“wherein never man before was laid”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v56 — **“on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v56 — **“rested the sabbath day according to the commandment”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v2 — **“this man”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v16 — **“release”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v25 — **“released”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v35 — **“save”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v35 — **“saved”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** Friday of Passover week in Jerusalem, from early morning to sunset. The Council brings Jesus to Pilate (v1); Pilate sends Him to Herod Antipas, who is in the city for the feast (v7); Herod sends Him back (v11). Pilate gives way to the crowd (vv24–25). Jesus is led out to “the place called The Skull” (v33), dies at the ninth hour (vv44–46), and is buried in Joseph’s rock tomb as the Sabbath begins (vv53–54).

**Structure:**
- vv1–12 — **Pilate and Herod:** three charges (v2); “Are You the King of the Jews?” — “It is as you say” (v3); “I find no guilt in this man” (v4); sent to Herod, who hopes for a sign and gets no answer (vv7–9); mocked in a gorgeous robe (v11); Herod and Pilate become friends (v12).
- vv13–25 — **Barabbas:** “no guilt … nor has Herod” (vv14–15); “I will punish Him and release Him” (v16); “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!” (v18); “Crucify, crucify Him!” (v21); the third verdict (v22); their voices prevail (v23); the murderer released, Jesus delivered to their will (v25).
- vv26–31 — **the road:** Simon of Cyrene carries the cross behind Jesus (v26); the women mourning (v27); “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me” (v28); the barren blessed, the mountains and hills (vv29–30); the green tree and the dry (v31).
- vv32–43 — **the cross and the thief:** crucified between two criminals (vv32–33); “Father, forgive them” (v34); rulers, soldiers and an inscription — “save Yourself” (vv35–38); one criminal reviles, the other rebukes him and asks to be remembered (vv39–42); “today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (v43).
- vv44–49 — **darkness and death:** darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour (v44); the veil torn (v45); “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT” (v46); the centurion praises God (v47); the crowds beat their breasts (v48); the women watch from a distance (v49).
- vv50–56 — **the burial:** Joseph of Arimathea, good and righteous, waiting for the kingdom (vv50–51); asks for the body, wraps it, lays it in a new rock tomb (vv52–53); preparation day (v54); the women see the tomb, prepare spices, rest on the Sabbath (vv55–56).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “Pilate” ×10 — vv1, 3, 4, 6, 11, 12, 13, 20, 24, 52; “Herod” ×6 — vv7 (×2), 8, 11, 12, 15.
- “this man” ×9 — vv2, 4, 14 (×2), 18, 22, 41, 47, 52.
- “Jesus” ×9 — vv8, 20, 25, 26, 28, 34, 42, 46, 52.
- “see / saw / seeing / looking / observed” ×8 — vv8 (×3), 35, 47, 48, 49, 55.
- innocence — “no guilt” / “nothing deserving death” / “nothing wrong” / “innocent” ×6 — vv4, 14, 15, 22, 41, 47.
- “release / released” ×6 — vv16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 25.
- “people” ×5 — vv5, 13, 14, 27, 35; “crowd(s)” ×3 — vv4, 27, 48.
- “mocking / contempt / sneering / mocked / abuse” ×5 — vv11 (×2), 35, 36, 39.
- “crucify / crucified” ×4 — vv21 (×2), 23, 33.
- “save / saved” ×4 — vv35 (×2), 37, 39.
- “King” ×4 — vv2, 3, 37, 38; “kingdom” ×2 — vv42, 51.
- “God” ×4 — vv35, 40, 47, 51; “Father” ×2 — vv34, 46.
- “Galilee / Galilean” ×4 — vv5, 6, 49, 55; “women” ×3 — vv27, 49, 55.
- “Christ” ×3 — vv2, 35, 39; “chief priests” ×3 — vv4, 10, 13.
- “prison / prisoner” ×3 — vv17, 19, 25; “voice(s)” ×3 — vv23 (×2), 46.
- “Sabbath” ×2 — vv54, 56; “hour” ×2 — v44 (×2); “tomb” ×2 — vv53, 55.

**Contrasts:** The charges (v2) ⟷ “no guilt” (vv4, 14, 22). Herod’s many questions ⟷ Jesus’ silence (v9). Enemies ⟷ friends that very day (v12). Barabbas, a murderer, released ⟷ Jesus, innocent, delivered (v25). Weep for Me ⟷ weep for yourselves (v28). Green tree ⟷ dry (v31). “Save Yourself” ×3 ⟷ He saves a thief (vv35–43). One criminal reviles ⟷ the other fears God (vv39–40). Noon ⟷ darkness (v44). The Council’s plan ⟷ Joseph, who had not consented (vv50–51).

**Shape of the chapter:** Two trials, a road, a cross, a death and a grave. The first half is noisy — accusing, shouting, mocking; the second half grows quiet — darkness, a last prayer, linen and spices and Sabbath rest. Through all of it the verdict of “innocent” keeps repeating, from a governor at dawn to a soldier at three in the afternoon.

**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus is condemned though every witness calls Him innocent, so that the guilty — Barabbas, the thief, the crowd, and me — could go free. He goes to the cross forgiving, saving and trusting His Father to the end.

### Interpretation

**Why take Jesus to Pilate?** Guzik: “The Roman government did not allow the Jewish leaders the authority to execute a criminal.” The Council had condemned Him for blasphemy (22:70–71), but before Rome they turned it into treason — misleading the nation, forbidding taxes, claiming to be a king (v2). Sproul on the tax charge: “That was not true” (20:20–25).

**Why was Jesus silent before Herod?** Herod wanted entertainment, not truth; Sproul pictures him asking for a miracle on demand. Guzik: Herod’s interest “was not sincere and was to his condemnation.” Henry calls Herod “ringleader in that abuse.” Jesus had nothing to say to a man who had silenced John the Baptist (9:9) and wanted only a sign.

**Is verse 17 part of Luke?** The NASB brackets it because the oldest manuscripts do not have it here. The Passover custom itself is clear from Matthew 27:15, Mark 15:6 and John 18:39, so nothing in the story depends on the verse.

**Who was Barabbas, and why does it matter?** A rebel and murderer (vv19, 25) whose name means “son of the father” — Sproul: “Ironically, the name meant “son of the father.”” Peter preached it later: “you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer” (Acts 3:14). The guilty man went free because the innocent Son took his place. That is substitution in a single scene (1 Peter 3:18).

**Why did Pilate give in?** Guzik: he “did not find the courage to oppose both the religious leaders and the crowd.” Sproul: “the supreme act of cowardice.” Henry: Pilate was “sick of the cause.” He knew the truth three times over and still let “their voices” prevail (v23).

**What do the green and dry trees mean (v31)?** Sproul: Jesus is the green wood — “He was not kindling for God’s wrath” — and “We are the dry wood.” Henry reads it from lesser to greater: if the innocent suffer so, how much worse for the guilty. Guzik and Sproul both see the near fulfillment in Jerusalem’s destruction in AD 70. Sproul also connects verse 30 with Revelation 6:16. I read it both ways: a judgment that fell on Jerusalem then, and a picture of the wrath still to come at the end of the age, before the Lamb returns to reign.

**Whom did Jesus forgive in verse 34?** He prayed for those crucifying Him. Sproul: “He was acting in intercession as a priest for His tormentors,” and their ignorance was real but not innocent (1 Cor 2:8). The prayer was answered in part at Pentecost, when thousands from that same city repented (Acts 2:36–41). Spurgeon: “The Lamb of God was silent to men, but he was not silent to God.”

**What does the thief teach us?** That salvation is by grace through faith, with nothing in our hands. He feared God, owned his guilt, confessed Christ’s innocence and asked (vv40–42). Spurgeon: “Never did a poor sinner trust Christ too much.” Sproul: “this very day” leaves no room for soul sleep — to be absent from the body is to be with the Lord. Henry adds the warning: “This gives no encouragement to any to put off their repentance to their death-bed.”

**Why the darkness and the torn veil?** Sproul: “God turned out the lights” — darkness means judgment, and the Son bore it. Then “He tore down the sign that said no admittance.” Guzik: creation in agony at its Creator’s suffering. Henry: the end of the ceremonial law. Hebrews 10:19–20 gives the meaning: we may enter the holy place “through the veil, that is, His flesh.”

**Did Jesus die as a victim?** No. He cried out “with a loud voice” and committed His spirit (v46). Guzik: “No one took His life from Him; He gave it up when His work was finished.” Sproul: He committed His spirit to the Father who had just poured out wrath upon Him. Spurgeon: dying, for the believer, is going home.

**Why does the burial matter?** Sproul: the exaltation begins here — God would not let His Son’s body be thrown away. Joseph, a Council member who “had not consented” (v51), gave a new tomb (Isaiah 53:9). Henry: “That evil counsel or deed to which we have not consented shall not be reckoned our act.” And the women who watched where He was laid (v55) will be the first at the empty tomb (24:1).

**Word study (Greek):**
- **guilt — *aition* (G159; Strong’s noun G158):** legal ground for a charge; vv4, 14, 22.
- **treating with contempt — *exoutheneō* (G1848):** to make nothing of; v11; Acts 4:11.
- **Barabbas — *Barabbas* (G912):** Aramaic “son of the father.”
- **crucify — *stauroō* (G4717):** “Crucify, crucify Him!” (v21).
- **prevail — *katischyō* (G2729):** to overpower; v23.
- **behind — *opisthen* (G3693):** Simon carried it “behind Jesus” (v26; cf. 9:23).
- **green / dry — *hygros* (G5200) / *xēros* (G3584):** v31; *hygros* only here in the NT.
- **forgive — *aphiēmi* (G863):** “Father, forgive them” (v34).
- **sneering — *ekmyktērizō* (G1592):** to turn up the nose; v35.
- **today — *sēmeron* (G4594) / Paradise — *paradeisos* (G3857):** v43; 2 Cor 12:4; Rev 2:7.
- **veil — *katapetasma* (G2665):** v45; Heb 10:20.
- **commit — *paratithēmi* (G3908) / breathed His last — *ekpneō* (G1606):** v46.
- **innocent, righteous — *dikaios* (G1342):** vv47, 50; 1 Pet 3:18.
- **waiting for — *prosdechomai* (G4327) / preparation — *paraskeuē* (G3904):** vv51, 54.

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **Six witnesses say “innocent”** — vv4, 14, 15, 22, 41, 47.
2. **The charge sheet is empty** — *aition*; “That was not true” (Sproul).
3. **Enemies make friends over Jesus** (v12; Guzik).
4. **A son of the father goes free** — Barabbas (Sproul).
5. **Cowardice is a choice** — Pilate knew and gave in.
6. **The light end of the cross** — Simon walks behind Jesus (Spurgeon).
7. **Love kept Him there** — not nails (Guzik); the covenant of redemption (Sproul).
8. **He prayed for the men driving the nails** (v34).
9. **Today, Paradise** — the thief’s date, company and place (v43).
10. **The veil came down from God’s side** — no more “no admittance” (Sproul).

**Cross-references:** Gen 1:3; Exod 26:31–33; Lev 16; Ps 22:18; 31:5; Isa 53:7, 9, 12; Hos 10:8; Matt 27:15, 44; Mark 15:6, 21; Luke 9:9, 23; 20:20–25; 22:37, 70; John 18:39; 19:38–41; Acts 2:36–41; 3:14–15; 7:60; 13:28–29; 1 Cor 2:8; 2 Cor 5:8; 12:4; Heb 10:19–20; 13:12; 1 Pet 3:18; Rev 2:7; 6:16.

### Application

**Sin to confess — Pilate in me.** Pilate knew the truth and said it three times, and then let the loudest voices win (v23). I have done that — known what was right at work, at home, with the guys, and gone along to keep the peace or keep my standing. I confess it by name. Knowing the truth is not the same as standing on it.

**Truth to face — I am Barabbas.** Barabbas did not choose to go free; he was in a cell, guilty, and someone else’s cross became his door out. That is my story. Many of the men I sit with know exactly what a cell and a sentence feel like. The gospel is not that we were innocent; it is that the Innocent One took our place — “the just for the unjust” (1 Pet 3:18).

**Example to follow — Simon, walking behind.** Simon did not volunteer, but he carried the cross “behind Jesus” (v26). This week I will pick up the burden in front of me — the hard conversation, the man who needs a ride, the job I don’t want — and carry it behind Jesus, remembering that I carry the light end.

**Command to obey — forgive as He forgave.** Jesus prayed “Father, forgive them” while they were still driving the nails, and they had not said sorry (v34). I name the person I have refused to forgive, and I pray that same prayer for him out loud today, even before my feelings agree.

**Promise to trust — “today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”** The thief brought nothing but a prayer: “Jesus, remember me.” Jesus gave him a day, a Companion and a home (v43). No man is too far gone and no record too long. If I trust Him, I will be with Him — and so will any man in my group who asks.

**Example to follow — Joseph of Arimathea.** He did not consent to the Council’s evil, and when everyone else was hiding, he went to Pilate and gave what he had — a tomb (vv50–53). I will ask: what do I have that I can give Jesus, that no one else can?

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent and still gave in to the crowd. Where do I know what is right but go along with the loudest voices around me? (23:4, 20–25; Prov 29:25) *Knowing the truth is not the same as standing on it.*
2. Barabbas walked out free because Jesus took his place. What would change in me this week if I really saw myself as Barabbas? (23:18–25; 1 Pet 3:18) *The just for the unjust.*
3. Simon was forced to carry a cross he did not choose. What burden am I carrying that I can carry “behind Jesus”? (23:26; 9:23) *You do but carry the light end of the cross (Spurgeon).*
4. Jesus prayed “Father, forgive them” for men who were not sorry. Who is the person I most need to pray that prayer for? (23:34; Acts 7:60) *He kept on praying it.*
5. The thief had no time to clean up his life — only to fear God, own his guilt and ask. What keeps me from coming to Jesus that simply? (23:40–43) *Never did a poor sinner trust Christ too much (Spurgeon).*
6. Joseph served Jesus in a way no one else could. What can I give Jesus that only I am in a position to give? (23:50–53) *We must serve God in whatever way we can (Guzik).*

**Worship.** The King of the Jews stood silent before a puppet king, was traded for a murderer, carried a cross until He fell, and then from that cross forgave His killers, opened Paradise to a thief, and handed His spirit to His Father. Six witnesses called Him innocent. He is the Righteous One, the Lamb who tore the veil from God’s side, and the Lord who would use a borrowed tomb for only three days.

**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, I am Barabbas, and You took my place. I am the thief, and I ask You to remember me. Forgive me for the times I knew the truth like Pilate and let the crowd win. Teach me to forgive the way You forgave from the cross, and to carry my cross behind You. Thank You that the veil is torn and I can come home to the Father. Into Your hands I commit my spirit today. Amen.

## Luke 24 — He Is Not Here, but He Has Risen

### Marked in the text

- v1 — **“on the first day of the week”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v1 — **“upon the first day of the week”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v3 — **“did not find the body of the Lord Jesus”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v3 — **“found not the body of the Lord Jesus”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v5 — **“Why do you seek the living One among the dead”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v5 — **“Why seek ye the living among the dead”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v6 — **“He is not here, but He has risen”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v6 — **“He is not here, but is risen”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v6 — **“Remember how He spoke to you”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v6 — **“remember how he spake unto you”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v7 — **“the Son of Man must be delivered”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v7 — **“The Son of man must be delivered”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v11 — **“these words appeared to them as nonsense”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v11 — **“their words seemed to them as idle tales”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v15 — **“Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v15 — **“Jesus himself drew near, and went with them”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v16 — **“their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v16 — **“their eyes were holden that they should not know him”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v21 — **“we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v21 — **“we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v25 — **“O foolish men and slow of heart to believe”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v25 — **“O fools, and slow of heart to believe”** (rose: Sin / warning)
- v26 — **“Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v26 — **“Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v27 — **“the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v27 — **“in all the scriptures the things concerning himself”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v29 — **“Stay with us”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v29 — **“Abide with us”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v30 — **“He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v30 — **“he took bread, and blessed it, and brake”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v31 — **“their eyes were opened and they recognized Him”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v31 — **“their eyes were opened, and they knew him”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v32 — **“Were not our hearts burning within us”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v32 — **“Did not our heart burn within us”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v34 — **“The Lord has really risen”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v34 — **“The Lord is risen indeed”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v36 — **“Peace be to you”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v36 — **“Peace be unto you”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v39 — **“See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v39 — **“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v39 — **“a spirit does not have flesh and bones”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v39 — **“a spirit hath not flesh and bones”** (amber: Time / place / contrast)
- v45 — **“He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v45 — **“opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v47 — **“repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v47 — **“repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v48 — **“You are witnesses of these things”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v48 — **“ye are witnesses of these things”** (green: Command / instruction)
- v49 — **“I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v49 — **“I send the promise of my Father upon you”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v49 — **“clothed with power from on high”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v49 — **“endued with power from on high”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v51 — **“He parted from them and was carried up into heaven”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v51 — **“he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven”** (gold: God — His character & actions)
- v52 — **“with great joy”** (violet: Promise / blessing)
- v27 — **“Scriptures”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v7 — **“the third day”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v1 — **“tomb”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter
- v1 — **“sepulchre”** (sky: Key repeated word) — every occurrence in the chapter

### Observation

**Setting.** Sunday, “the first day of the week,” from early dawn (v1) to night (vv29, 33), and then — compressed into a few verses — the ascension at Bethany (v50), which Acts 1:3 places forty days later. Places: the tomb outside Jerusalem (vv1–12); the road to Emmaus, about seven miles away (vv13–28); a house in Emmaus at evening (vv29–32); the room in Jerusalem where the eleven are gathered (vv33–49); Bethany (v50); the temple (v53).

**Structure:**
- vv1–12 — **the empty tomb:** the women come with spices at early dawn (v1); the stone rolled away, no body (vv2–3); two men in dazzling clothing — “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen” (vv4–6); “Remember how He spoke to you” — they remembered (vv6–8); the report to the eleven — “nonsense” (vv9–11); Peter runs and marvels (v12).
- vv13–27 — **the Emmaus road:** two disciples walking and talking (vv13–14); Jesus draws near; their eyes prevented (vv15–16); “What things?” — Cleopas tells the story; “we were hoping” (vv17–24); “O foolish men and slow of heart” (v25); “Was it not necessary …?” (v26); Moses and all the prophets (v27).
- vv28–35 — **the table:** He acts as though going farther; “Stay with us” (vv28–29); bread taken, blessed, broken — eyes opened; He vanishes (vv30–31); “Were not our hearts burning?” (v32); back that very hour; “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon” (vv33–35).
- vv36–43 — **hands and feet:** “Peace be to you” (v36); startled, thinking it a spirit (v37); “See My hands and My feet … touch Me and see” (vv38–40); joy and amazement; broiled fish eaten before them (vv41–43).
- vv44–53 — **witnesses:** all written in the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled (v44); minds opened (v45); suffer, rise, repentance for forgiveness to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem (vv46–47); “You are witnesses” (v48); the promise of My Father — stay until clothed with power (v49); Bethany, hands lifted, blessing, carried up (vv50–51); worship, great joy, the temple (vv52–53).

**Repeated words, with counts:**
- “things” ×12 — vv9, 10, 14, 18, 19 (×2), 21, 26, 27, 36, 44, 48.
- “see / saw / seen / seeing” ×7 — vv12, 23, 24, 37, 39 (×3); fear words — “perplexed / terrified / amazed / marveling / startled / frightened / amazement” ×7 — vv4, 5, 12, 22, 37 (×2), 41.
- “tomb” ×6 — vv1, 2, 9, 12, 22, 24.
- “Jerusalem” ×5 — vv13, 18, 33, 47, 52; “found / find” ×5 — vv2, 3, 23, 24, 33.
- “word(s)” ×5 — vv8, 11, 17, 19, 44.
- “prophet(s)” ×4 — vv19, 25, 27, 44; “Scriptures” ×3 — vv27, 32, 45; “written” ×2 — vv44, 46; “Moses” ×2 — vv27, 44.
- “risen / rise” ×4 — vv6, 7, 34, 46; “the third day” ×3 — vv7, 21, 46.
- “women” ×4 — vv5, 10, 22, 24; “hands” ×4 — vv7, 39, 40, 50.
- “telling / reported / relate” ×4 — vv9, 10, 35, 36.
- “believe” ×3 — vv11, 25, 41; “heart(s)” ×3 — vv25, 32, 38.
- “must / necessary” ×3 — vv7, 26, 44; “suffer” ×2 — vv26, 46.
- “recognize(d)” ×3 — vv16, 31, 35; “eyes” ×2 — vv16, 31.
- “bless / blessed / blessing” ×3 — vv30, 50, 51; “joy” ×2 — vv41, 52.
- “remember(ed)” ×2 — vv6, 8; “bread” ×2 — vv30, 35; “explained / explaining” ×2 — vv27, 32.

**Contrasts:** The dead ⟷ the living One (v5). Spices for burial ⟷ a risen Lord (vv1, 6). Nonsense ⟷ the truth (vv11, 34). Eyes prevented ⟷ eyes opened (vv16, 31). “We were hoping” ⟷ “The Lord has really risen” (vv21, 34). Slow of heart ⟷ hearts burning (vv25, 32). A spirit ⟷ flesh and bones (vv37, 39). Troubled and doubting ⟷ peace (vv36, 38). Stay in the city ⟷ go to all the nations (vv47, 49). Parted from them ⟷ great joy (vv51–52).

**Shape of the chapter:** One long day in four scenes — tomb, road, table, room — each moving from confusion to recognition. Twice Jesus opens the Scriptures, and both times He explains the cross before He explains the mission. The chapter ends where Luke began, in the temple, but now with joy instead of doubt (1:20; 24:52–53).

**Chapter theme (my words):** The crucified Jesus is alive in a real body. He finds His discouraged followers, shows them from the whole Bible that the Christ had to suffer and rise, opens their eyes, hearts and minds, and sends them as witnesses in the power of the Spirit — blessing them as He goes.

### Interpretation

**Why didn’t the disciples believe the women?** Guzik: “They did not expect to find an empty tomb.” Sproul: “They did not believe it for a second.” Luke does not hide it — the report was *lēros*, “nonsense” (v11). That is good evidence: the resurrection was not the fruit of wishful thinking. Jesus had told them plainly (9:22; 18:33), but it had been hidden from them (9:45; 18:34).

**What did Peter see?** “the linen wrappings only” (v12). Sproul: “When Peter saw these grave cloths, he went home astonished.” Guzik adds John 20:8 — John, with him, “saw and believed.” Grave robbers do not leave the linen behind.

**Why were their eyes “prevented” on the road?** Luke uses a passive — their eyes were held (v16), and later “their eyes were opened” (v31). I read both as God’s doing: they had to learn Him first from the Scriptures, and then know Him at the table. What God conceals only God can open (24:31, 45).

**What does “slow of heart” mean?** Sproul: “He did not call them stupid. … It is not an intellectual assessment. It is a moral one.” Guzik: the problem “was more in their heart than their head.” Henry: “Those are fools that act against their own interest.” They had the facts; they did not trust what God had said.

**Why was it “necessary” for the Christ to suffer?** Because God had planned it and written it (vv7, 26, 44). Sproul: “Notice that Jesus said that all these things happened by necessity” — ordained before the foundation of the world. Guzik: the cross was not “some unfortunate obstacle that had to be hurdled.” Suffering first, then glory — for Him and for His people (Rom 8:17).

**What did Jesus show them from Moses and the prophets?** Luke does not list the passages, but Sproul suggests some: the curse on the serpent (Gen 3:15), Abraham and Isaac on Moriah, the Passover, the tabernacle, Micah’s Bethlehem. Henry: “Jesus Christ is himself the best expositor of scripture.” The whole Old Testament — Law, Prophets and Psalms — is about Him (v44).

**Was Emmaus a Lord’s Supper?** The words echo the Last Supper — took, blessed, broke, gave (v30; 22:19). Our teachers stress the recognition more than the sacrament, and Luke calls it simply “the breaking of the bread” (v35). I take it as a meal where the risen Lord made Himself known in the same gestures He had used in the upper room — a reminder that He still meets His people at His table.

**What kind of body did Jesus have?** A real one: flesh and bones, hands and feet, able to eat (vv39–43). Sproul: “I am flesh and blood, even though it is glorified flesh and blood.” Guzik: “a real, physical body, though of a different order than our own bodies.” Henry: the wounds were kept “that they might be proofs that it was he himself.” That body is the pattern of ours (Phil 3:21; 1 Cor 15:20).

**What is the mission?** “repentance for forgiveness of sins” proclaimed “in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (v47). Spurgeon: “The Saviour bade them begin at Jerusalem, because the biggest sinners lived there.” Guzik: “it is good to begin where we may expect opposition.” Acts 1:8 maps it out: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the remotest part of the earth.

**Why wait in the city?** Because the work needs power they do not have (v49). Guzik: “They could not do the work … unless they were endued with power from on high.” Henry: the Spirit gives “a power from on high, a supernatural power.” The promise came at Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4).

**What does the ascension mean?** Sproul: His coronation — He reigns at the Father’s right hand and intercedes as our High Priest. Spurgeon: “He has not changed His attitude of benediction, He will not change it till He shall descend in His glory.” The angels of Acts 1:11 promise He will come back “in just the same way.” I believe that return is literal and still ahead — the Son of Man coming with the clouds to receive the kingdom (Dan 7:13–14).

**Word study (Greek):**
- **the living One — *zaō* (G2198):** *ton zōnta*, v5; “alive,” v23; Rev 1:18.
- **nonsense — *lēros* (G3026):** idle talk; only here in the NT (v11).
- **redeem — *lytroō* (G3084):** to set free by ransom (v21; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet 1:18).
- **foolish — *anoētos* (G453) / slow — *bradys* (G1021):** v25.
- **necessary, must — *dei* (G1163):** vv7, 26, 44.
- **explained — *diermēneuō* (G1329):** to interpret fully; v27.
- **urged — *parabiazomai* (G3849):** to press hard; v29.
- **opened — *dianoigō* (G1272):** eyes (v31), Scriptures (v32), minds (v45).
- **burning — *kaiō* (G2545):** v32.
- **touch — *psēlaphaō* (G5584) / flesh — *sarx* (G4561) / bones — *osteon* (G3747):** v39.
- **repentance — *metanoia* (G3341) / forgiveness — *aphesis* (G859):** v47.
- **witnesses — *martys* (G3144):** v48; Acts 1:8; 2:32.
- **clothed — *endyō* (G1746) / power — *dynamis* (G1411):** v49.
- **bless — *eulogeō* (G2127):** vv30, 50, 51, 53; **carried up — *anapherō* (G399):** v51.
- **worshiping — *proskyneō* (G4352) / joy — *chara* (G5479):** v52.

**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**
1. **They came with spices for a corpse** — the first witnesses were skeptics.
2. **The living One, not a living man** (v5; Rev 1:18).
3. **Remember what He said** (vv6–8; Henry).
4. **Slow of heart, not slow of mind** (Sproul, Guzik).
5. **The cross was necessary** — *dei* (vv7, 26, 44).
6. **All the Bible is about Him** — Law, Prophets, Psalms (vv27, 44).
7. **He waits to be invited** — “Stay with us” (Spurgeon).
8. **Three openings** — eyes, Scriptures, minds (*dianoigō*).
9. **A ghost does not eat fish** — flesh and bones (vv39–43).
10. **The last sight of Jesus is a blessing** (vv50–51).

**Cross-references:** Gen 3:15; 22; Exod 12; Lev 16; Deut 18:15–18; Ps 16:10; 22; 31:5; 110:1; Isa 53; Dan 7:13–14; 9:26; Mic 5:2; Zech 12:10; Luke 1:9, 20; 9:22, 45; 18:31–34; 22:19; John 11:18; 20:8, 27; Acts 1:1–11; 2:1–4, 32; 16:14; Rom 4:25; 8:17; 13:14; 1 Cor 15:3–4, 17, 20; Phil 3:21; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet 1:18–19; 1 John 1:1; Rev 1:18; 5.

### Application

**Truth to face — I go looking among the dead.** Like the women, I sometimes come to Jesus with spices — expecting a memory, not a living Lord. I treat my faith like a grave I visit. The angels’ question is for me: “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?” This week I will pray as to Someone who is alive and listening.

**Promise to trust — He walks with the discouraged.** “We were hoping” is the saddest line in the chapter, and Jesus was already walking beside the men who said it (vv15, 21). Some of the men I sit with have buried hopes — a marriage, years lost, a name. Jesus does not wait for us to cheer up before He comes alongside.

**Sin to confess — a slow heart.** I have known the facts and still not trusted God’s word (v25). That is not a head problem; it is a heart problem. I confess my slow heart and ask Him to open the Scriptures to me until it burns.

**Command to obey — “Stay with us.”** Jesus “acted as though He were going farther” (v28); He waits to be asked. I will press Him to stay — in my morning reading, at my table, at the end of a long day — and I will not let carelessness break my fellowship with Him.

**Example to follow — the two who ran back.** They had walked seven miles; it was night; and “they got up that very hour” to tell the others (v33). When Jesus shows me something, I will tell somebody that same day.

**Command to obey — be a witness, beginning at home.** “You are witnesses of these things” (v48). My Jerusalem is my own house, my own street, the men I already know. Spurgeon: “Begin at home.” And I will not try it in my own strength; I will ask for the power from on high.

**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**
1. The women came looking for a dead body. Where am I still “seeking the living One among the dead” — expecting nothing new from Jesus? (24:1–6) *They did not expect to find an empty tomb (Guzik).*
2. The two on the road said, “we were hoping …” What hope of mine died, and how might Jesus be walking beside me in that very disappointment? (24:13–21) *Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them.*
3. Jesus called them “slow of heart to believe.” Is my problem with faith more in my head or in my heart right now? (24:25–27) *It is not an intellectual assessment. It is a moral one (Sproul).*
4. When was the last time my heart burned while the Scriptures were opened? What would it take to press Jesus to “stay with us” in my daily reading? (24:29–32) *He stays only where He is invited and pressed (Spurgeon).*
5. Jesus showed His wounds and ate fish to prove He was really alive. Why does it matter to me that the resurrection was physical, not just spiritual? (24:36–43; 1 Cor 15:17) *A spirit does not have flesh and bones.*
6. Jesus told them to begin at Jerusalem. Where is my “Jerusalem” — the hard, close-to-home place where my witness should start? (24:46–49; Acts 1:8) *Begin at home (Spurgeon).*

**Worship.** He is the living One who was dead and is alive forevermore. He walked seven miles with two sad men, explained the whole Bible about Himself, broke bread in their house, showed His wounds to frightened friends, and ate fish to prove He was no ghost. He sends the promise of the Father, and He went up into heaven with His hands raised in blessing — and He will come again the same way.

**Prayer.** Risen Lord Jesus, forgive me for looking for You among the dead and for my slow heart. Walk with me in my disappointments. Open my eyes, open the Scriptures, open my mind, until my heart burns again. Stay with me — it is toward evening. Clothe me with power from on high, and make me a witness, starting at home. Thank You that Your hands are still lifted over Your people. Amen.


---
_Do not edit below — this block lets the Berean Dashboard re-import this study._
```berean-study
{"name": "Luke 1–24 — Complete O·I·A Study", "created": "2026-11-09", "notes": {"42:1": {"O": "**Setting.** Luke writes an orderly account for Theophilus (vv1–4). In the days of Herod, the priest Zacharias is chosen by lot to burn incense in the temple, and Gabriel promises him a son (vv5–25). Six months later Gabriel is sent to Nazareth, to a virgin named Mary (vv26–38). Mary hurries to Elizabeth in the hill country of Judah and stays about three months (vv39–56). John is born, named and circumcised, and Zacharias prophesies (vv57–79); the child grows up in the deserts (v80).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–4 — **the preface:** many accounts; eyewitnesses and servants of the word; “investigated everything carefully”; “so that you may know the exact truth.”\n- vv5–25 — **the angel and Zacharias:** righteous, blameless, barren, old (vv5–7); chosen by lot to burn incense (vv8–10); the angel at the altar — “your petition has been heard” (vv11–13); John: great, no wine, filled with the Spirit, the spirit and power of Elijah (vv14–17); “How will I know this for certain?” — silent until it happens (vv18–20); the waiting people, the mute priest (vv21–23); Elizabeth conceives — “to take away my disgrace” (vv24–25).\n- vv26–38 — **the annunciation:** the sixth month, Nazareth, a virgin engaged to Joseph (vv26–27); “Greetings, favored one!” (vv28–30); Jesus — Son of the Most High, David’s throne, a kingdom with no end (vv31–33); “How can this be?” — the Holy Spirit will overshadow you (vv34–35); Elizabeth as a sign; nothing impossible with God (vv36–37); “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord” (v38).\n- vv39–56 — **the visit and the Magnificat:** Mary hurries to Judah (vv39–40); the baby leaps; Elizabeth filled with the Spirit; “Blessed are you among women … blessed is she who believed” (vv41–45); “My soul exalts the Lord” — God my Savior, His mercy, the great reversal, help to Israel, the promise to Abraham (vv46–55); three months (v56).\n- vv57–80 — **John’s birth and the Benedictus:** birth and rejoicing (vv57–58); the naming — “His name is John” (vv59–63); the tongue loosed, fear and wonder (vv64–66); Zacharias’ song: God has visited and redeemed; a horn of salvation; the holy covenant and the oath to Abraham (vv67–75); “And you, child” — prophet of the Most High; forgiveness; the Sunrise from on high (vv76–79); the child in the deserts (v80).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “Lord” ×17 — vv6, 9, 11, 15, 16, 17, 25, 28, 32, 38, 43, 45, 46, 58, 66, 68, 76.\n- “God” ×13 — vv6, 8, 16, 19, 26, 30, 32, 35, 37, 47, 64, 68, 78.\n- “child / baby / son” ×14 — vv7, 13, 31, 32, 35 (×2), 36, 41, 44, 57, 59, 66, 76, 80.\n- “angel” ×10 — vv11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 26, 30, 34, 35, 38.\n- “speak / spoke(n) / mouth / tongue” ×10 — vv19, 20, 22, 45, 55, 64 (×3), 70 (×2).\n- “name / named” ×9 — vv5 (×2), 13, 27 (×2), 31, 49, 61, 63; “call / called” ×9 — vv26, 32, 35, 36, 59, 60, 61, 62, 76.\n- “Elizabeth” ×9; “Zacharias” ×8; “Mary” ×7.\n- “holy” ×8 — vv15, 35 (×2), 41, 49, 67, 70, 72; “Holy Spirit” ×4 — vv15, 35, 41, 67.\n- “father(s)” ×8 — vv17, 32, 55, 59, 62, 67, 72, 73.\n- “fear / afraid” ×6 — vv12, 13, 30, 50, 65, 74.\n- “joy / gladness / rejoice” ×6 — vv14 (×3), 44, 47, 58.\n- “behold” ×6 — vv20, 31, 36, 38, 44, 48.\n- “mercy” ×5 — vv50, 54, 58, 72, 78; “blessed” ×5 — vv42 (×2), 45, 48, 68.\n- “womb” ×5 — vv15, 31, 41, 42, 44.\n- “salvation / Savior” ×4 — vv47, 69, 71, 77; “Most High” ×3 — vv32, 35, 76; “visit(ed)” ×2 — vv68, 78.\n\n**Contrasts:** Many accounts ⟷ the exact truth (vv1–4). Righteous ⟷ barren (vv6–7). Zacharias’ unbelief ⟷ Mary’s faith (vv18–20, 34–38, 45). The temple in Jerusalem ⟷ a home in Nazareth (vv9, 26). Silence ⟷ praise (vv20, 64). Proud, rulers, rich ⟷ humble, hungry (vv51–53). Custom (“Zacharias, after his father”) ⟷ God’s word (“His name is John,” vv59–63). Darkness and the shadow of death ⟷ the Sunrise from on high (vv78–79).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** two announcements side by side (5–25, 26–38), the two mothers meeting (39–45), and two songs (46–55, 67–79). Each half moves from a promise to its keeping, and both songs end at Abraham (vv55, 73).\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** God remembers. After centuries of silence He answers an old couple’s prayer, sends the forerunner, and announces His Son to a humble virgin who believes. Mary and Zacharias both sing the same thing: God has visited His people in mercy, exactly as He promised Abraham.", "I": "**Why does Luke begin with a preface?** Because the faith is history. Sproul: “Luke is saying, “I am not an eyewitness, but I am a historian, and as a historian, I check the sources.”” Guzik: his “account was based on diligent research.” The goal is *asphaleia* — solid ground for a man already taught (v4).\n\n**Was Zacharias’ barrenness a punishment?** No. They were “righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly” (v6). Sproul: “There was no hidden sin.” Guzik: they were righteous “yet also stigmatized by their barrenness.” Elizabeth felt it as “disgrace among men” (v25); God saw it as the setting for a miracle.\n\n**Which petition was heard?** Guzik thinks both — the private prayer for a son and the priestly prayer for Israel’s redemption: “Zacharias didn’t know that God would answer both prayers at once.” Henry: “Prayers made when we were young … may be answered when we are old.”\n\n**Why was Zacharias struck silent when Mary was not?** Their questions look alike (vv18, 34). Guzik: his was “skeptical unbelief,” hers “wonder-filled faith.” Sproul is blunt: “Abraham got mercy. Zacharias got justice,” because “When I don’t believe what God says, I am assaulting the very integrity of the Almighty.” Henry: his question “was not a humble petition for the confirming of his faith.” Yet the silence was also mercy — a sign he carried in his own body until the promise came true.\n\n**How is John “Elijah”?** Not Elijah reincarnated, but “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (v17), fulfilling Malachi 4:5–6. Guzik notes that Jesus later said this was fulfilled in John (Matt 11:14; 17:12). I hold, with many futurists, that Malachi’s “great and terrible day of the LORD” still has a future fulfillment as well, but Luke’s point is plain: John prepares the way for the Lord.\n\n**A virgin conception.** Sproul: “At no time in the history of the world, however, had any woman ever had a child while she remained a virgin.” The Holy Spirit “will overshadow you” (*episkiazō*) — the cloud of God’s presence, not anything crude (Morris, quoted by Guzik). The holy Child is called the Son of God (v35). Isaiah 7:14 had promised a virgin’s son named Immanuel.\n\n**What about Mary?** “Favored one” (*kecharitōmenē*) means graced — she received grace, she does not dispense it (Guzik). She calls God “my Savior” (v47); Liefeld (in Guzik): “Only sinners need a Savior.” Sproul honors her as “humble, … willing, and … obedient,” and warns: “Mary is not divine. She is a sinner saved by grace, just as we are.” All generations call her blessed (v48) — blessed because “she … believed” (v45).\n\n**David’s throne and the house of Jacob (vv32–33).** Gabriel promises Jesus “the throne of His father David” and a reign “over the house of Jacob forever.” That is 2 Samuel 7:16 kept to the letter. I read it literally: the Son of David will reign over a restored Israel in the kingdom to come, and His kingdom will have no end. Henry notes the irony: “His people will not give him that throne” — at first.\n\n**The unborn baby.** John is filled with the Spirit “while yet in his mother’s womb” (v15) and leaps for joy (v44). Luke calls him a *brephos*, a baby — the same word for Jesus in the manger (2:12). Sproul: “the child in her womb was alive, was human, and was a person.”\n\n**The Magnificat.** Guzik counts Hannah’s song and “at least 12 other allusions to the Old Testament.” Sproul: Mary memorized Scripture. The song moves from what God did for her (vv46–49) to what He does for all who fear Him (vv50–53) to what He promised Israel and Abraham (vv54–55).\n\n**The Benedictus.** Sproul: God “has visited” (*episkeptomai*) — and His visits bring either redemption or judgment, so no one can be neutral about Christ. The song centers on the Messiah first (vv68–75), then turns to John (“And you, child,” vv76–77), and ends with the Sunrise (*anatolē*) shining on those in darkness (vv78–79).\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **eyewitnesses — *autoptai* (G845):** those who saw for themselves; only Luke 1:2.\n- **exact truth — *asphaleia* (G803):** certainty, firmness, safety (v4; Acts 5:23).\n- **petition — *deēsis* (G1162):** a specific request from need (v13).\n- **bring good news — *euangelizō* (G2097):** Luke’s gospel verb, first on Gabriel’s lips (v19; 2:10).\n- **disgrace — *oneidos* (G3681):** reproach, shame (v25).\n- **favored one — *charitoō* (G5487):** graced; only Luke 1:28; Eph 1:6.\n- **overshadow — *episkiazō* (G1982):** to envelop with a cloud (v35; 9:34).\n- **bondslave — *doulē* (G1399):** a female slave (vv38, 48; Acts 2:18).\n- **leaped — *skirtaō* (G4640):** leaped for joy (vv41, 44; 6:23).\n- **exalts — *megalynō* (G3170):** to make great, magnify (v46).\n- **humble state — *tapeinōsis* (G5014):** low estate (v48).\n- **visited — *episkeptomai* (G1980):** to look upon with care (vv68, 78; 7:16).\n- **horn — *keras* (G2768):** a horn, strength (v69).\n- **Sunrise — *anatolē* (G395):** dawn, the rising; the Branch (v78).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **Faith stands on history** — Luke checked his sources (Sproul).\n2. **Godly people still suffer** — no hidden sin (vv6–7).\n3. **Old prayers are not forgotten prayers** (Henry).\n4. **Unbelief is a moral problem** — it robs us of the joy (Sproul, Guzik).\n5. **Same question, different heart** — vv18 and 34 (Guzik).\n6. **Grace received, not grace to give** — *kecharitōmenē* (v28).\n7. **The right answer to every promise** — “may it be done to me according to your word” (v38).\n8. **The unborn are persons** — *brephos* (v41).\n9. **God turns the world upside down** (vv51–53).\n10. **The silence ends in praise** (vv63–64).\n\n**Cross-references:** Gen 18:14; 25:22; 1 Sam 1–2; 2 Sam 7:12–16; 1 Chron 24:10; Ps 103:17; 132:17; Isa 7:14; 9:2, 6–7; 40:3; Jer 23:5; Mal 3:1; 4:2, 5–6; Matt 11:14; Luke 7:16; Acts 1:1; Gal 4:4–5; Eph 1:6; 1 Tim 2:5; Jas 4:6.", "A": "**Example to follow — Zacharias and Elizabeth.** They kept walking blamelessly through years of disappointment and kept showing up to serve (vv6–9). Some of the men I serve have waited years for a prodigal, a marriage, a release date. Faithfulness in the waiting is not wasted. This week I will keep serving where God has put me, even while the prayer I care about most is still unanswered.\n\n**Sin to confess — unbelief dressed up as realism.** “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man” (v18). I have done exactly that: looked at the circumstances first and what God can do last. Sproul is right — that is not an intellectual problem but a moral one; it calls God a liar. I confess it, and I ask Him to open my mouth in praise instead of doubt.\n\n**Command to obey — say yes to God’s word.** Mary did not understand everything, and it would cost her reputation. She still said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word” (v38). There is something in God’s Word I have been negotiating with. Today I stop negotiating and say yes.\n\n**Promise to trust — “nothing will be impossible with God.”** That word was spoken over a barren woman and a virgin (vv36–37). It does not mean God will do whatever I want; it means no word of His will fail. The men I sit with in recovery and behind the walls need to hear that the God who opened Elizabeth’s womb can open a hardened heart — including mine.\n\n**Example to follow — Mary’s song.** She knew her Bible so well that when joy came, Scripture came out (vv46–55). I want my mouth so full of God’s Word that it is what comes out under pressure. This week I will memorize part of the Magnificat or the Benedictus.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. Luke wrote so Theophilus could know “the exact truth” about what he had been taught. What do I believe about Jesus only because someone told me, and what have I checked for myself? (1:1–4; 2 Pet 1:16) *Faith stands on things that actually happened (Sproul).*\n2. Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous and still carried a deep disappointment for years. What long-standing prayer have I stopped praying — and why? (1:6–7, 13) *Your petition has been heard.*\n3. When God’s promise came, Zacharias “looked at the circumstances first, and what God can do last” (Guzik). Where am I doing the same right now? (1:18–20) *Unbelief did not cancel the promise; it cost him the joy.*\n4. Mary called herself the Lord’s bondslave and said, “may it be done to me according to your word,” knowing what it might cost her reputation. What is God’s word asking me to say yes to that will cost me something? (1:34–38) *She was humble, she was willing, and she was obedient (Sproul).*\n5. Mary’s song says God scatters the proud and fills the hungry. Am I coming to God full of myself or hungry for Him? (1:51–53; James 4:6) *They come full of self, and are sent away empty of Christ (Henry).*\n6. Zacharias’ first words after nine months of silence were praise. What would my first words be if God gave me a second chance at faith today? (1:63–68) *God gave Zacharias a second chance at faith (Guzik).*\n\n**Worship.** The Lord God of Israel remembers. He heard a priest’s prayer at the altar, sent His angel to a nobody town, overshadowed a virgin by His Spirit, and gave His Son the throne of David forever. He is the Mighty One whose name is holy, whose mercy is on those who fear Him, who visited His people and raised up a horn of salvation — the Sunrise from on high.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord God, You have never forgotten a promise. Forgive me for looking at my circumstances first and at You last. I am Your bondslave; may it be done to me according to Your word. Fill me with Your Spirit, humble my pride, feed my hunger, and open my mouth to praise You. Shine on the men who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, and guide our feet into the way of peace. Amen."}, "42:2": {"O": "**Setting.** Caesar Augustus orders a census, and Joseph takes Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where she gives birth and lays her Son in a manger (vv1–7). Angels announce the birth to shepherds in the nearby fields, who hurry to see and then tell others (vv8–20). On the eighth day He is circumcised and named Jesus; after the days of purification He is presented in the temple, where Simeon and Anna recognize Him (vv21–38). The family returns to Nazareth (vv39–40). At twelve, at Passover, Jesus stays behind in the temple and is found after three days among the teachers; He goes home and grows (vv41–52).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–7 — **the birth in Bethlehem:** Caesar’s decree, the first census under Quirinius (vv1–3); Joseph goes up from Nazareth to the city of David with Mary, who is with child (vv4–5); her firstborn son, wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger — no room in the inn (vv6–7).\n- vv8–20 — **the angels and the shepherds:** shepherds keeping watch by night; the glory of the Lord (vv8–9); “Do not be afraid” — good news of great joy; a Savior, Christ the Lord; the sign of the manger (vv10–12); the heavenly host: “Glory to God in the highest” (vv13–14); “Let us go straight to Bethlehem” — they find Him (vv15–16); they make it known; all wonder; Mary treasures and ponders; the shepherds return glorifying God (vv17–20).\n- vv21–38 — **Simeon and Anna:** circumcised and named Jesus (v21); purification, presentation, the offering of two birds (vv22–24); Simeon — righteous, devout, waiting, the Spirit upon him (vv25–27); “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant” — salvation, a light to the Gentiles, the glory of Israel (vv28–32); the fall and rise of many; a sign opposed; a sword (vv33–35); Anna, eighty-four, never left the temple; she speaks of Him to those looking for redemption (vv36–38).\n- vv39–52 — **the boy Jesus in the temple:** back to Nazareth; the Child grows; the grace of God upon Him (vv39–40); Passover at twelve; He stays behind; a day’s journey; three days of searching (vv41–45); found among the teachers, listening and asking; all amazed (vv46–47); “Son, why have You treated us this way?” — “I had to be in My Father’s house” (vv48–50); subject to them; Mary treasures; Jesus increases in wisdom, stature and favor (vv51–52).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “Lord” ×10 — vv9 (×2), 11, 15, 22, 23 (×2), 24, 29, 39.\n- “look(ing) / found / find” ×10 — vv12, 16, 25, 38, 44, 45 (×2), 46, 48, 49.\n- “child / Child / baby / boy / son” ×10 — vv5, 7, 12, 16, 17, 27, 34, 40, 43, 48.\n- “God” ×7 — vv13, 14, 20, 28, 38, 40, 52.\n- “see / seen / saw” ×7 — vv15, 17, 20, 26 (×2), 30, 48.\n- “Jerusalem” ×6 — vv22, 25, 38, 41, 43, 45; “days” ×6 — vv1, 6, 21, 22, 43, 46.\n- “law / Law” ×5 — vv22, 23, 24, 27, 39 (“according to the law” in vv22, 24, 39; “the custom of the Law,” v27).\n- “census / register” ×5 — vv1, 2, 3 (×2), 5; “city” ×5 — vv3, 4 (×2), 11, 39.\n- “angel(s)” ×5 — vv9, 10, 13, 15, 21; “shepherds” ×4 — vv8, 15, 18, 20.\n- “told / made known” ×5 — vv15, 17 (×2), 18, 20.\n- “glory / glorifying” ×4 — vv9, 14, 20, 32; “amazed / wondered / astonished” ×4 — vv18, 33, 47, 48.\n- “Mary” ×4; “mother” ×4 — vv33, 34, 48, 51; “Jesus” ×4 — vv21, 27, 43, 52.\n- “manger” ×3 — vv7, 12, 16; “temple” ×3 — vv27, 37, 46; “Holy Spirit / Spirit” ×3 — vv25, 26, 27; “Israel” ×3 — vv25, 32, 34.\n- “heart(s)” ×3 — vv19, 35, 51; “treasured / pondering” ×3 — vv19 (×2), 51.\n- “peace” ×2 — vv14, 29; “salvation / Savior” ×2 — vv11, 30; “wisdom” ×2 — vv40, 52.\n\n**Contrasts:** Caesar Augustus ⟷ a baby in a manger (vv1, 7). The city of David ⟷ no room in the inn (vv4, 7). Night fields ⟷ the glory of the Lord (vv8–9). Glory in the highest ⟷ peace on earth (v14). The crowd wondered ⟷ Mary treasured and pondered (vv18–19). The offering of the poor ⟷ the firstborn holy to the Lord (vv23–24). Release in peace ⟷ a sword (vv29, 35). Fall ⟷ rise (v34). Gentiles ⟷ Israel (v32). “Your father and I” ⟷ “My Father’s house” (vv48–49). The temple ⟷ subjection in Nazareth (vv49, 51).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** two scenes in Bethlehem (birth, shepherds) and two in the temple (presentation, Passover at twelve), with Nazareth as the frame (vv4, 39, 51). Each scene ends with someone responding — glorifying, praising, giving thanks, treasuring.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** God keeps His promise to David through a pagan census and a feeding trough. The Savior is announced to the lowly, keeps the Law as a baby, is recognized by those who were waiting, and grows up knowing He belongs to His Father — and still goes home and obeys.", "I": "**Is Luke’s history reliable?** Guzik: “This is not “once upon a time.”” Luke names Caesar Augustus and Quirinius. The census has been debated because Quirinius’ well-known census was in AD 6 (Acts 5:37); Guzik reads “the first census” (v2) as distinguishing this one from that later enrollment. I hold that Luke, who has been tested more than any ancient historian (Sproul, Luke 1), got it right.\n\n**Why Bethlehem?** Because Micah 5:2 said the ruler of Israel would come from there, and because Joseph “was of the house and family of David” (v4). Henry: “Bethlehem signifies the house of bread” — the Bread of Life was born in the house of bread and laid in a feeding trough.\n\n**What was “the inn”?** *Katalyma* means a lodging or guest room (22:11). Whatever the building, there was no space, and the Son of God began life where animals ate. Guzik: “That there was no room in the inn was symbolic of what was to happen to Jesus.” Spurgeon: “By being in a manger He was declared to be the king of the poor.”\n\n**Why shepherds?** Sproul calls them “the lowest people of the land.” God announced His Son first to working men on the night shift. Henry: “We are not out of the way of divine visits when we are sensibly employed in an honest calling.”\n\n**“Peace among men with whom He is pleased” (v14).** The NASB follows the manuscripts that read *eudokias* — men on whom God’s good pleasure rests; the KJV reads “good will toward men,” which Spurgeon preached. Either way, the peace is God’s gift through the Savior, not something men achieve. Guzik: “Let God have all the glory, so we may have the peace.”\n\n**Why was the sinless Jesus circumcised and “redeemed”?** Sproul: circumcision signified the removal of sin, yet Jesus “was perfectly sinless from the moment of His conception to the moment of His death.” He kept the Law for us — “born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law” (Gal 4:4–5). Sproul: “The Redeemer, in following the law, had to be redeemed before He could ever save anyone.” Henry: His blood was shed “by drops” on the eighth day and “in purple streams” on the cross.\n\n**Simeon’s two oracles.** The first is praise: salvation prepared before all peoples, “A light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel” (v32, Isaiah 49:6). The second is warning: “the fall and rise of many in Israel,” “a sign to be opposed,” and a sword for Mary (vv34–35). Guzik: “Jesus is like a magnet.” Sproul: “there will be no neutrality for your son.” I note that Simeon calls Jesus “the glory of Your people Israel” — God has not finished with Israel; the stone they stumbled over (Isa 8:14) will yet be their glory (Rom 11:11–12, 26).\n\n**Anna.** A widow for decades, she “never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers” (v37). Guzik: she “knew pain and loss but had not become bitter.” Henry: “Those that have an acquaintance with Christ themselves should do all they can to bring others acquainted with him.”\n\n**How could a twelve-year-old astonish the teachers?** Sproul: not by switching on His deity — “Jesus didn’t have to rely on His divine nature to astound anybody.” His human mind was untouched by sin. “Find a perfect human being and see what they can learn in twelve years.” Spurgeon: “Hot spirits think that they are not serving God when they are learning; but in this they err.”\n\n**“My Father’s house.”** His first recorded words (Spurgeon) answer Mary’s “Your father and I” with “My Father’s.” The Greek has no noun — “in the things of My Father” — so “house” (NASB) and “business” (KJV) are both fair. The verb is *dei*, the divine must. Then He “went down … and He continued in subjection to them” (v51). Guzik: “Jesus went from vision to duty.”\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **census — *apographē* (G582):** an official enrollment (v2; Acts 5:37).\n- **wrapped in cloths — *sparganoō* (G4683):** bound in strips of cloth (vv7, 12).\n- **manger — *phatnē* (G5336):** a feeding trough (vv7, 12, 16; 13:15).\n- **inn — *katalyma* (G2646):** a lodging, guest room (v7; 22:11).\n- **host — *stratia* (G4756):** an army (v13).\n- **good pleasure — *eudokia* (G2107):** God’s favor (v14; Eph 1:5).\n- **pondering — *symballō* (G4820):** to throw together, compare (v19).\n- **consolation — *paraklēsis* (G3874):** comfort, calling alongside (v25; Isa 40:1).\n- **releasing — *apolyō* (G630):** to set free, dismiss (v29).\n- **sign — *sēmeion* (G4592); opposed — *antilegō* (G483):** a sign spoken against (v34).\n- **sword — *rhomphaia* (G4501):** a long, broad blade (v35).\n- **redemption — *lytrōsis* (G3085):** ransoming (v38; 1:68).\n- **amazed — *existēmi* (G1839):** beside themselves (v47); **anxiously — *odynaō* (G3600):** in anguish (v48).\n- **had to — *dei* (G1163):** the divine necessity (v49).\n- **in subjection — *hypotassō* (G5293):** to rank oneself under (v51).\n- **increasing — *prokoptō* (G4298):** to cut one’s way forward (v52); **favor — *charis* (G5485):** grace (vv40, 52).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **God moves emperors to keep a promise** (Henry, Guzik).\n2. **The sign was a manger** (Spurgeon).\n3. **The gospel came first to the lowly** (Sproul, Guzik).\n4. **Glory to God, peace to men — in that order** (v14).\n5. **Two ways to hear the news** — wonder or treasure (vv18–19).\n6. **The Redeemer was redeemed** (Sproul).\n7. **The Lamb came with the offering of the poor** (Henry).\n8. **Ready to die because he had seen** (Spurgeon).\n9. **No neutral ground** (Sproul).\n10. **Jesus grew** — in wisdom, stature, favor, and obedience (vv51–52).\n\n**Cross-references:** Gen 35:19; Exod 13:2, 12–13; Lev 12:2–8; Num 18:15–16; Deut 16:16; 1 Sam 2:26; 2 Sam 7:12–13; Isa 8:14; 9:6–7; 40:1; 49:6; 52:10; Mic 5:2; Mal 3:1; Matt 2:1–23; John 1:14; Acts 5:37; Rom 11:11–12, 26; Gal 4:4–5; Phil 2:7; Heb 2:17; 5:8.", "A": "**Example to follow — the shepherds.** They heard, they went “in a hurry,” they found Him, they told others, and they went back to their flocks “glorifying and praising God” (vv15–20). Nothing about their job changed; everything about them did. Many of the men I serve work hard jobs no one honors, or no job at all right now. God sent His first gospel message to men like that. This week I will tell one man, plainly, what I have seen Jesus do.\n\n**Sin to confess — no room.** I have crowded Jesus out — not with hostility but with busyness, screens, worry and my own plans (v7). Spurgeon asked whether there was room even in the church. I confess the full inn of my heart, and I ask Him to move in and take the best room.\n\n**Example to follow — Mary’s pondering.** She did not understand everything (v50), but she “treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart” (vv19, 51). When I don’t understand what God is doing, I don’t have to quit; I can keep it, turn it over, and wait. Spurgeon: “When you cannot put a truth into your understandings, yet lay it up in your affections.”\n\n**Promise to trust — “depart in peace.”** Simeon was ready to die because he had held God’s salvation in his arms (vv29–30). That peace is for every believer (Spurgeon) — but it grows out of a life lived in peace with God now. Some of the men I sit with have buried friends this year. Christ makes it possible to face death with open hands.\n\n**Command to obey — ordinary obedience.** The Son of God knew who His Father was, and He still went home to Nazareth and “continued in subjection” to His parents for eighteen years (v51). I want big assignments; God often gives me faithful, hidden ones. This week I will do the ordinary things in front of me — my job, my family, my word — as my Father’s business.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. Caesar thought he was running the world; God used his decree to bring Mary to Bethlehem. Where am I tempted to think the powerful people in my life are in control instead of God? (2:1–7; Mic 5:2; Prov 21:1) *Providence had another reach in it (Henry).*\n2. There was no room for them in the inn. What in my schedule, my habits or my heart is crowding Jesus out right now? (2:7) *Make room for Christ, even if the world makes no room for you (Spurgeon).*\n3. God sent the first gospel message to shepherds working the night shift. What does that tell me about how God sees men the world overlooks — including me? (2:8–12) *The first preacher of the gospel was an angel (Guzik).*\n4. The shepherds went “in a hurry,” then told everyone; Mary quietly pondered. Which one do I need more of this week — urgency or reflection? (2:15–20) *The way to keep the truths of Christ safe is to ponder them (Henry).*\n5. Simeon could say “depart in peace” because he had seen God’s salvation. If my life ended this week, could I say the same? What would need to change? (2:25–32) *No man can depart in peace who has not lived in peace (Spurgeon).*\n6. Jesus knew He belonged in His Father’s house, and still went home and obeyed His parents for eighteen years. Where is God calling me to faithful, ordinary obedience? (2:49–52; Heb 5:8) *From vision to duty (Guzik).*\n\n**Worship.** The Christ of God was laid in a feeding trough, announced by an army of angels to men nobody noticed, carried into the temple with the offering of the poor, and held in the arms of an old man who said he had seen enough. He is the Savior, Christ the Lord; a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of God’s people Israel; the Son who was always about His Father’s business, and the boy who obeyed a carpenter.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, You came low enough for shepherds and sinners to reach You. Forgive me for leaving You no room. Make my heart a place where You are welcome, teach me to treasure Your words when I don’t understand them, and give me Simeon’s peace — the peace of a man who has seen Your salvation. Make me faithful in the ordinary places, about my Father’s business, until the day You release Your servant in peace. Amen."}, "42:3": {"O": "**Setting.** About AD 28–29, “in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar” (v1), with Pilate in Judea, Herod Antipas in Galilee, and Annas and Caiaphas over the temple (vv1–2). The word of God comes to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness, and he preaches through the district around the Jordan (vv2–3). Jesus is baptized there with all the people (v21) and is “about thirty years of age” (v23).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–6 — **the voice in the wilderness:** seven rulers named; “the word of God came to John” (v2); a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (v3); Isaiah 40:3–5 — make ready the way, every ravine filled, “all flesh will see the salvation of God” (vv4–6).\n- vv7–14 — **fruit and the axe:** “You brood of vipers” (v7); bear fruits in keeping with repentance, not “We have Abraham” (v8); the axe at the root (v9); “What shall we do?” — the crowds (vv10–11), tax collectors (vv12–13), soldiers (v14).\n- vv15–20 — **the Spirit and fire:** are you the Christ? (v15); water vs. the Holy Spirit and fire; not fit to untie His sandals (v16); the winnowing fork, wheat and chaff (v17); “he preached the gospel” (v18); Herod reprimanded, John locked up (vv19–20).\n- vv21–22 — **the heavens opened:** Jesus baptized and praying; the Spirit like a dove; “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”\n- vv23–38 — **the line back to God:** about thirty; “as was supposed” the son of Joseph (v23); seventy-seven names, through Nathan and David (v31), Abraham (v34), Noah (v36), Adam, “the son of God” (v38).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “son” ×79 — v2, v22, and seventy-seven times in the genealogy (vv23–38): “the son of …” runs from Joseph to God.\n- “baptize / baptized / baptism” ×7 — vv3, 7, 12, 16 (×2), 21 (×2).\n- “John” ×4 — vv2, 15, 16, 20; “Herod” ×4 — vv1, 19 (×2), 20.\n- “God” ×4 — vv2, 6, 8, 38.\n- “what shall we do” ×3 — vv10, 12, 14.\n- “fire” ×3 — vv9, 16, 17.\n- “Abraham” ×3 — vv8 (×2), 34.\n- “way / paths / roads” ×3 — vv4 (×2), 5.\n- “people” ×3 — vv15, 18, 21; “crowds” ×2 — vv7, 10.\n- “repentance” ×2 — vv3, 8; “fruit(s)” ×2 — vv8, 9; “tree(s)” ×2 — v9 (×2).\n- “wilderness” ×2 — vv2, 4; “Holy Spirit” ×2 — vv16, 22.\n\n**Contrasts:** Rome’s rulers ⟷ a voice in the wilderness (vv1–2). Brood of vipers ⟷ children of Abraham (vv7–8). Good fruit ⟷ cut down and thrown into the fire (v9). Two tunics ⟷ none (v11). John ⟷ the One mightier (v16). Water ⟷ the Holy Spirit and fire (v16). Wheat ⟷ chaff; barn ⟷ unquenchable fire (v17). John’s boldness ⟷ Herod’s wickedness (vv19–20). “As was supposed” the son of Joseph ⟷ the Son of God (vv22–23, 38).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** three panels — John’s ministry (1–20), Jesus’ baptism (21–22), Jesus’ line (23–38). John’s story is finished first, even his arrest, so that the spotlight falls on Jesus alone. The chapter opens with the names of the mighty and closes with the name of God.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** God speaks again, and He speaks to the wilderness. Real repentance changes the way a man handles his money, his power and his mouth. John makes himself small so Jesus can be seen, and heaven itself declares who Jesus is: the beloved Son, the son of Adam, the Son of God.", "I": "**Why does Luke list all those rulers?** To nail the gospel to real history. Sproul: “Luke is very careful and meticulous to give us the historical framework in which John the Baptist appeared.” Guzik: “This is not a fairy tale beginning with “once upon a time.”” And the list makes a point — the word of God passed every palace and the temple and came to a man in the desert.\n\n**What was John’s baptism?** “A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (v3). Sproul: “This was not New Testament baptism.” It was a sign of a turned heart, getting Israel ready for the Messiah. The forgiveness itself would come through the One John pointed to.\n\n**Why so harsh — “brood of vipers”?** Because the crowd was trusting its pedigree. Guzik: “Addressing your audience as a family of snakes is not a customary way to begin a sermon.” Spurgeon: “Here are no honeyed phrases to delight the popular ear.” Sproul separates true sorrow over sin (contrition) from fear of getting caught (attrition). Fruit tells which one you have.\n\n**What does repentance look like on Monday?** Sharing a tunic, collecting only what is owed, no bullying, no lying, and being content with your pay (vv10–14). Guzik: “John did not see tax collecting or soldiering as inherently evil.” Sproul: “You cannot be converted and be a thief.”\n\n**What is the baptism “with the Holy Spirit and fire”?** Guzik reads both together as cleansing — “God’s power is always a transforming power, a purifying power.” Verse 17 adds the other edge: the chaff burns “with unquenchable fire.” The Spirit was poured out at Pentecost (Acts 2:3–4), and the winnowing will be finished when Christ returns to judge. Same Christ, two comings.\n\n**Why was the sinless Jesus baptized?** Guzik: “Jesus did not receive baptism because He was a sinner.” He stood with sinners, and Sproul adds that He was fulfilling all righteousness as the second Adam — “Only one person has ever satisfied the law of God, and that’s Jesus.” His perfect obedience is credited to all who trust Him.\n\n**What happened at the Jordan?** Jesus was praying (only Luke tells us); heaven opened; the Spirit came in bodily form like a dove; the Father spoke Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1 over Him. Guzik: “The three Persons of the Trinity were all manifested at once.”\n\n**Why does Luke’s genealogy differ from Matthew’s?** Matthew goes down from Abraham through Solomon to Joseph; Luke goes up from Joseph through Nathan to God. Guzik: “The best explanation for this seems to be that Luke followed Mary’s line.” Sproul would like to think so but “can’t prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt.” I hold it loosely too; what matters is that both lines run through David, so Jesus is the rightful King, and Luke’s line runs to Adam, so He is the Savior of every man.\n\n**What does it all add up to?** Henry puts the genealogy and the baptism together: “He was both the Son of Adam and the Son of God that he might be a proper Mediator between God and the sons of Adam.” And at the Jordan, “sin had shut up heaven, but Christ’s prayer opened it again.” That is my hope in one line: heaven opened over Jesus, and through Him to me.\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **word — *rhēma* (G4487):** a spoken word; “the word of God came to John” (v2; 1:37–38).\n- **repentance — *metanoia* (G3341):** a change of mind that turns the life (vv3, 8).\n- **brood — *gennēma* (G1081) / vipers — *echidna* (G2191):** offspring of snakes (v7; Matt 12:34; 23:33).\n- **be content — *arkeō* (G714):** to be satisfied with enough (v14; 1 Tim 6:8; Heb 13:5); wages — *opsōnion* (G3800).\n- **winnowing fork — *ptyon* (G4425):** the fork that tosses grain into the wind (v17; Matt 3:12).\n- **fit — *hikanos* (G2425):** worthy, sufficient (v16; 7:6).\n- **reprimanded — *elenchō* (G1651):** to expose and convict (v19).\n- **praying — *proseuchomai* (G4336):** Jesus at prayer (v21; 6:12; 9:18, 28–29).\n- **well-pleased — *eudokeō* (G2106):** to take delight in (v22; 2:14).\n- **as was supposed — *nomizō* (G3543):** thought, reckoned by law and custom (v23).\n- **began — *archomai* (G756):** about thirty at the beginning (v23; Acts 1:1).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **The word skipped the palace** — it came to John in the wilderness (v2).\n2. **Silence broken** — after four hundred years (Sproul).\n3. **The highway is for God** — prepare for the presence of Jesus (Sproul).\n4. **Repentance bears fruit** — always (Guzik); no converted thief (Sproul).\n5. **Holiness starts at your post** — share, be honest, be content (vv10–14).\n6. **The lower the better** — Spurgeon on the sandal strap.\n7. **Fire purifies and fire judges** (vv16–17).\n8. **Truth to power costs** — John in prison (vv19–20).\n9. **Heaven opened to a praying Son** — Father, Son and Spirit (vv21–22).\n10. **A Savior for every son of Adam** (v38).\n\n**Cross-references:** Gen 3:15; 5:1–32; 11:10–26; 41:46; Num 4:3; 2 Sam 5:4; Ps 2:7; Isa 40:3–5; 42:1; Mal 3:1; 4:5–6; Matt 1:1–17; 3:1–17; 12:34; 14:3–12; Luke 1:17, 37–38, 80; 2:14; John 1:29–34; 3:24; Acts 1:1; 2:3–4; Rom 5:12–19; 1 Cor 15:45; 1 Tim 6:8; Heb 13:5.", "A": "**Command to obey — bear fruit where I stand.** John didn’t tell the soldier to quit the army; he told him to stop bullying, stop lying and be content (v14). My repentance has to show up in the same plain places: my money, my mouth, my temper, how I treat the men under me and over me. This week I will name one “what shall I do?” and do it.\n\n**Sin to confess — trusting the pedigree.** “We have Abraham for our father” (v8). I have leaned on my history — years in church, the ministry, the books, what I used to be — instead of a turned heart today. A lot of men I sit with lean on the opposite pedigree: “that’s just who I am, my father was the same.” Either way it’s an excuse. God can raise up children from stones; He can change me.\n\n**Example to follow — John taking the low place.** John had crowds wondering if he was the Messiah (v15), and he used the moment to say, “I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals.” Spurgeon: “Anything for Jesus, the lower the better.” I want to do the unseen job, give away the credit, and point every man to Jesus instead of to me.\n\n**Truth to face — the axe is already at the root.** Judgment is not a someday idea (v9, v17). The chaff burns. That is not meant to scare me into hiding but to send me running to the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire.\n\n**Promise to trust — “in You I am well-pleased.”** The Father said it over His Son, and I am accepted only “in the Beloved.” I can’t earn that sentence; Jesus kept the law I broke (Sproul). When I come to God in Christ, the Father’s pleasure that rests on Jesus covers me too.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. God’s word passed by the emperor and the high priest and came to a man in the desert. Where has God met me — in what “wilderness” of my life? (3:1–2; Hos 2:14) *The word of God came to John in the wilderness.*\n2. What “mountains” of pride and “ravines” of neglect in me need to be leveled or filled so I am ready for Jesus? (3:4–6; Isa 40:3–5) *Every ravine will be filled, every mountain brought low.*\n3. What am I tempted to lean on instead of real repentance — my family, my church, my past, my baptism? (3:8–9) *Do not begin to say, ‘We have Abraham for our father.’*\n4. If I asked John, “What shall I do?”, what would he name in my job, my money, or the way I treat people? (3:10–14) *Integrity in the ordinary things (Guzik).*\n5. John said, “I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals.” What small, unseen service could I do for Jesus this week? (3:16; Phil 2:5–8) *Anything for Jesus, the lower the better (Spurgeon).*\n6. The Father said to Jesus, “in You I am well-pleased.” What does it mean for me that God’s pleasure rests on me only in Christ? (3:21–22; Eph 1:6) *Only one person has ever satisfied the law of God (Sproul).*\n\n**Worship.** The God who passed by Caesar’s palace spoke in the wilderness. He sent a voice to level mountains and fill valleys, so that all flesh would see His salvation. He opened heaven over His praying Son, sent His Spirit, and spoke His delight. He traced His Son’s line through kings and shepherds and sinners back to Adam — so that no son of Adam is out of reach.\n\n**Prayer.** Father, Your word came to John in the wilderness; let it come to me in mine. Level my pride and fill the empty places I have neglected. Keep me from leaning on my history — show me the fruit You want this week, in my wallet, my words and my temper. Make me small and Jesus large. Thank You that in Your beloved Son You are well-pleased, and that in Him You receive me. Baptize me with Your Spirit and burn away the chaff. In Jesus’ name, Amen."}, "42:4": {"O": "**Setting.** Straight from His baptism at the Jordan, Jesus is led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days (vv1–2), taken to a high place and to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem (vv5, 9), then returns to Galilee (v14). He preaches in the synagogue at Nazareth, His hometown, on the Sabbath (v16), goes down to Capernaum (v31), heals in Simon’s home (v38), and goes on preaching in the synagogues (v44).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–13 — **the temptation:** full of the Spirit, forty days, hungry (vv1–2); bread — “It is written” (vv3–4); the kingdoms — worship God only (vv5–8); the pinnacle, Psalm 91 — do not test God (vv9–12); the devil leaves “until an opportune time” (v13).\n- vv14–30 — **the Nazareth sermon:** in the power of the Spirit; praised by all (vv14–15); the scroll of Isaiah — “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me” (vv16–19); “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled” (vv20–21); “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (v22); no prophet welcome at home; Elijah and the widow, Elisha and Naaman (vv23–27); rage, the cliff, He passes through (vv28–30).\n- vv31–37 — **authority over a demon:** teaching with authority in Capernaum (vv31–32); “I know who You are — the Holy One of God!” (vv33–34); “Be quiet and come out of him!” (v35); “What is this message?” (vv36–37).\n- vv38–44 — **healing and sent:** He rebukes the fever; she gets up and serves (vv38–39); at sunset He heals each one; demons silenced (vv40–41); a secluded place; “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also” (vv42–44).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “come / came / coming” ×11 — vv16, 25, 31, 34, 35 (×2), 36 (×2), 41, 42 (×2).\n- “synagogue(s)” ×7 — vv15, 16, 20, 28, 33, 38, 44.\n- “God” ×7 — vv3, 8, 9, 12, 34, 41, 43.\n- “Spirit” (of God) ×4 — vv1 (×2), 14, 18; “unclean spirit(s) / demon(s)” — vv33, 35, 36, 41.\n- “devil” ×4 — vv2, 3, 6, 13.\n- “written / it is said” ×4 — vv4, 8, 10, 12 (and “written” in v17).\n- “led” ×4 — vv1, 5, 9, 29.\n- “Lord” ×4 — vv8, 12, 18, 19.\n- “Nazareth / hometown” ×4 — vv16, 23, 24, 34.\n- “left” ×4 — vv13, 38, 39, 42.\n- “Son of God” ×3 — vv3, 9, 41.\n- “rebuked / rebuking” ×3 — vv35, 39, 41.\n- “teaching” ×3 — vv15, 31, 32; “preach / preaching” ×3 — vv18, 43, 44.\n- “amazed / amazement / wondering” ×3 — vv22, 32, 36; “Elijah / Elisha” ×3 — vv25, 26, 27.\n- “authority” ×2 — vv32, 36; “power” ×2 — vv14, 36; “Sabbath” ×2 — vv16, 31; “bread” ×2 — vv3, 4.\n\n**Contrasts:** The devil’s “If You are the Son of God” ⟷ the Father’s “You are My beloved Son” (3:22). Bread ⟷ the word of God (v4). All the kingdoms ⟷ worship God only (vv5–8). “Praised by all” (v15) ⟷ “filled with rage” (v28). Gracious words ⟷ “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (v22). Many widows and lepers in Israel ⟷ a widow of Sidon and Naaman the Syrian (vv25–27). The demon’s noise ⟷ Jesus’ “Be quiet” (v35). The crowds “tried to keep Him” ⟷ “I must preach … to the other cities also” (vv42–43).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** alone in the wilderness (1–13), then rejected at home (16–30), then welcomed in Capernaum (31–41), then sent on (42–44). The Spirit frames it all — full of the Spirit (v1), in the power of the Spirit (v14), the Spirit upon Me (v18).\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** The Son of God wins where we lose, with the same Book we hold. He came to set captives free, and the only people who miss it are the ones who think they don’t need it. His word has authority over hell and sickness — and He won’t be kept by one crowd, because the kingdom must go everywhere.", "I": "**Why did the Spirit lead Jesus into temptation?** Not to make Him fall but to prove Him. Sproul sets the scene against Eden: “Adam was tempted on a full stomach”; Jesus, after forty days. Henry: “Those are well armed against the strongest temptations that are full of the Holy Ghost.” Israel failed forty years in the wilderness; Jesus answers from Deuteronomy, the book about that failure.\n\n**Were the temptations real?** Yes. Guzik: “We sometimes think that Jesus’ temptations were not real because they were not exactly like ours.” They were heavier, because He never gave in. Hebrews 4:15: tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.\n\n**What was each temptation about?** Bread: meet your own need apart from the Father. Kingdoms: the crown without the cross. The pinnacle: force God to prove His love. Each time, “It is written.” Spurgeon: “That is Christ’s sword.” The devil can quote too — Guzik: he “is a Bible expert” — but Scripture interprets Scripture (Sproul).\n\n**Did the devil really own the kingdoms?** He claimed “it has been handed over to me” (v6). Jesus did not argue the point; later Scripture calls him “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4) — a usurper with real but limited reach. The kingdoms belong to the Son, and He will take them His way — through the cross and at His return.\n\n**Why did Jesus stop reading in the middle of Isaiah 61:2?** He read “the favorable year of the LORD” and closed the book before “the day of vengeance of our God.” Guzik: “a 2,000-year-old comma between the two phrases.” Spurgeon: “Our Lord wisely ceased reading at those words.” I believe the first coming opened the year of favor and His second coming will bring the day of vengeance — the same pattern the prophets and Revelation show.\n\n**What is the “favorable year”?** The Jubilee (Lev 25), when debts were cancelled and slaves went home. Sproul: “the year of Jubilee, the time when all debts are canceled,” “the greatest Emancipation Proclamation in the history of the world.” Henry: Christ “came in God’s name to discharge poor sinners that were debtors and prisoners to divine justice.”\n\n**Why did Nazareth turn so fast?** Familiarity — “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (Henry: “Familiarity breeds contempt”) — and grace to outsiders. Elijah went to a Sidonian widow, Elisha cleansed a Syrian. Spurgeon: “God holds the keys of the casket of grace, and distributes as he pleases.” Sproul: with Jesus “there is never neutrality.”\n\n**Why silence the demons?** Their testimony was true but poisoned. Spurgeon: “That is an old trick of the devil, to acknowledge the excellence of the Preacher.” Sproul: demons know the truth and hate it. Henry: “a confession upon the rack.”\n\n**What were the miracles for?** Compassion, and attestation. Sproul: “Miracles point to the attestation of God Himself to the person performing the miracle.” He ties the sign-miracles to the apostolic age; others would say more about healing today. All agree God still hears prayer — and Jesus Himself put preaching first (v43).\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **tempted — *peirazō* (G3985):** to test or tempt (v2); *ekpeirazō*, put to the test (v12).\n- **devil — *diabolos* (G1228):** slanderer, accuser (vv2, 3, 6, 13).\n- **it is written — *graphō* (G1125):** *gegraptai*, written and still standing (vv4, 8, 10).\n- **opportune time — *kairos* (G2540):** a fitting season (v13).\n- **anointed — *chriō* (G5548):** root of *Christos*, Messiah (v18; Acts 10:38).\n- **release — *aphesis* (G859):** release, forgiveness (v18; 1:77; 3:3; 24:47).\n- **oppressed — *thrauō* (G2352):** broken, crushed (v18).\n- **favorable — *dektos* (G1184):** acceptable, welcome (vv19, 24).\n- **today — *sēmeron* (G4594):** v21.\n- **authority — *exousia* (G1849) / power — *dynamis* (G1411):** right and might (vv6, 14, 32, 36).\n- **rebuked — *epitimaō* (G2008):** vv35, 39, 41.\n- **holy — *hagios* (G40):** “the Holy One of God” (v34).\n- **must — *dei* (G1163):** the divine necessity (v43; 2:49; 9:22; 24:44).\n- **kingdom — *basileia* (G932):** vv5, 43.\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **The second Adam wins** — hungry and alone, He passed at every point (Sproul).\n2. **Every answer from Deuteronomy** — the Son succeeds where Israel failed.\n3. **“It is written” still stands** — Christ’s sword (Spurgeon).\n4. **The devil can quote the Bible** (Guzik).\n5. **He leaves for a season** — never out of God’s hand (Spurgeon).\n6. **The comma that has lasted two thousand years** (Guzik).\n7. **Release is forgiveness** — the great Emancipation Proclamation (Sproul).\n8. **Grace offends the proud** — Zarephath and Naaman.\n9. **Demons know and hate** (Sproul).\n10. **He must move on** — the kingdom to the other cities (v43).\n\n**Cross-references:** Exod 17:1–7; 34:28; Lev 25:8–17; Deut 6:13, 16; 8:2–3; 1 Kings 17:8–24; 19:8; 2 Kings 5:1–14; Ps 91:11–12; Isa 53:4; 58:6; 61:1–2; Matt 4:1–11; Mark 1:21–39; Luke 3:22, 38; 9:22; 24:44; John 8:36; Acts 10:38; 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 6:17; Heb 2:18; 4:15; Jas 2:19; 4:7; 1 John 3:8.", "A": "**Command to obey — answer temptation with the Word.** Jesus didn’t debate the devil; He quoted Scripture, three times, from memory. If the Son of God needed “It is written,” so do I. I’ll pick the one temptation that finds me most often and memorize one verse for it this week — a drawn sword, not a Bible on the shelf.\n\n**Sin to confess — wanting the crown without the cross.** The devil’s middle offer is the one that gets me: the shortcut, the result without the obedience, worship of whatever gets me there faster (vv5–7). I confess the places I have bowed to a shortcut — in ministry, in money, in my own fight with old sins. “You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.”\n\n**Promise to trust — release to the captives.** Jesus read it and said “Today.” The favorable year is open right now. Many of the men I sit with are literal captives; all of us have been captives to something. The release He proclaims is forgiveness first, and then freedom. Sproul calls it the greatest Emancipation Proclamation in history. I believe it for me, and I’ll say it out loud to a man who needs it.\n\n**Truth to face — familiarity can kill wonder.** Nazareth knew Jesus too well to receive Him. I have heard these stories my whole life. I don’t want to be the man who says, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” and walks out angry when grace goes to someone I didn’t expect.\n\n**Example to follow — rise and serve; get alone; move on.** Simon’s mother-in-law got up and served the moment Jesus healed her. Jesus Himself worked till sunset, then went to a secluded place, then left a crowd that wanted to keep Him because He was sent. Healing turns into service; work is fed by solitude; and the mission goes where the Father sends.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. The devil attacked right after God said “You are My beloved Son.” When have I been hit hardest right after a spiritual high? (4:1–3, 13; 3:22) *He left Him until an opportune time.*\n2. Which of the three tests do I fall to most often — bread (my appetites), kingdoms (power and shortcuts), or the pinnacle (testing God)? (4:3–12; Heb 4:15) *Every answer came from Deuteronomy.*\n3. What verse do I have ready, like a drawn sword, for the temptation I face most? (4:4, 8, 12; Eph 6:17) *It is written.*\n4. Jesus said He came to proclaim release to the captives. What am I captive to, and do I believe He has come to set me free? (4:18–19; John 8:36) *The greatest Emancipation Proclamation (Sproul).*\n5. The people of Nazareth were too familiar with Jesus to receive Him. Where has familiarity made me dull to Him? (4:22–24, 28) *Familiarity breeds contempt (Henry).*\n6. Simon’s mother-in-law got up and served. When Jesus has helped me, how have I turned it into serving others? (4:38–39; 1 Pet 4:10) *Spiritual fever soon disappears before holy, unselfish activity (Spurgeon).*\n\n**Worship.** The Son of God was hungry in the desert and would not make bread for Himself. He was offered every kingdom and chose the cross. He stood in a small-town synagogue and read His own commission — good news for the poor, release for captives, sight for the blind — and said, “Today.” Demons trembled at His word, fevers fled, and a whole town found healing at His hands as the sun went down.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, You were tempted in all things as I am and never sinned. When the tempter comes back at an opportune time, put Your Word in my mouth. Keep me from the shortcut and from bowing to anything but You. You came to release captives — release me, and use me to tell other men that the favorable year is still open. Don’t let familiarity make me cold. Rebuke what is sick in me, raise me up, and send me to serve. Amen."}, "42:5": {"O": "**Setting.** Jesus stands by the lake of Gennesaret with a crowd pressing to hear the word of God (v1). He teaches from Simon’s boat, sends Simon into deep water, and calls Simon, James and John (vv1–11). In “one of the cities” He cleanses a leper (vv12–16). “One day,” with Pharisees and teachers of the law from Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem listening, He forgives and heals a paralyzed man let down through the roof (vv17–26). He calls Levi from the tax booth and eats at his feast, then answers questions about fasting with parables of new cloth and new wine (vv27–39).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–11 — **the catch and the call:** teaching from Simon’s boat (vv1–3); “Put out into the deep water” — “we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say” (vv4–5); nets breaking, boats sinking (vv6–7); “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (v8); “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men” (v10); they left everything and followed Him (v11).\n- vv12–16 — **the leper:** “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean” (v12); He touched him — “I am willing; be cleansed” (v13); go to the priest (v14); crowds grow, Jesus slips away to pray (vv15–16).\n- vv17–26 — **the paralytic:** the power of the Lord present to heal (v17); friends, the crowd, the roof, the tiles (vv18–19); “Friend, your sins are forgiven you” (v20); “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” (v21); which is easier? (vv22–23); the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins (v24); he goes home glorifying God; “remarkable things today” (vv25–26).\n- vv27–39 — **Levi and the new wine:** “Follow Me” — he left everything (vv27–28); the big reception (v29); “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” (v30); the physician and the sick; not the righteous but sinners to repentance (vv31–32); fasting and the bridegroom (vv33–35); new patch, new wine, old wine (vv36–39).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “sin / sins / sinful / sinners” ×7 — vv8, 20, 21, 23, 24, 30, 32.\n- “new” ×7 — vv36 (×3), 37 (×2), 38, 39; “old” ×5 — vv36 (×2), 37, 39 (×2).\n- “Simon” ×6 — vv3, 4, 5, 8, 10 (×2).\n- “boat(s)” ×6 — vv2, 3 (×2), 7 (×2), 11.\n- “wine / wineskins” ×6 — vv37 (×3), 38 (×2), 39.\n- “fishermen / fish / catch / catching” ×6 — vv2, 4, 6, 9 (×2), 10.\n- “crowd(s)” ×5 — vv1, 15, 19 (×2), 29.\n- “forgive / forgiven” ×4 — vv20, 21, 23, 24.\n- “nets” ×4 — vv2, 4, 5, 6.\n- “Pharisees” ×4 — vv17, 21, 30, 33.\n- “God” ×4 — vv1, 21, 25, 26; “glorifying God” ×2 — vv25, 26.\n- “eat / drink” ×4 — vv30 (×2), 33 (×2); “fast” ×3 — vv33, 34, 35.\n- “left” ×3 — vv11, 13, 28; “follow(ed)” ×3 — vv11, 27, 28; “everything” ×2 — vv11, 28.\n- “Lord” ×3 — vv8, 12, 17.\n- “clean / cleansed / cleansing” ×3 — vv12, 13, 14; “healed / healing” ×2 — vv15, 17.\n- “reason / reasoning(s)” ×3 — vv21, 22 (×2).\n- “tax collector(s)” ×3 — vv27, 29, 30; “bridegroom” ×3 — vv34 (×2), 35.\n\n**Contrasts:** All night and nothing ⟷ at Your word, nets breaking (vv5–6). “Master” ⟷ “Lord” (vv5, 8). Catching fish ⟷ catching men (v10). Unclean ⟷ cleansed; untouchable ⟷ touched (vv12–13). Crowds ⟷ wilderness and prayer (vv15–16). Easier to say ⟷ harder to prove (v23). Well ⟷ sick; righteous ⟷ sinners (vv31–32). Bridegroom present ⟷ taken away (vv34–35). New ⟷ old (vv36–39).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** two calls (Simon, vv1–11; Levi, vv27–32) frame two healings (the leper, the paralytic). Each scene puts a sinner in front of Jesus, and each time Jesus speaks a word that changes him. The opposition enters halfway (v17) and the questions sharpen as the chapter goes.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus calls, cleanses and forgives the people who know they are sinners — and only those. His authority to forgive is God’s own, and the life He gives is too new to be patched onto the old.", "I": "**Why did Peter say “Go away from me”?** The catch showed him who was in his boat. Like Isaiah (“Woe is me, for I am ruined!” Isa 6:5), he saw holiness and saw himself. Sproul: every sinner feels that discomfort, yet “What Peter needed more than anything in the world was a Savior.” Guzik: Jesus answers with “Do not fear,” because God relates to us on love, not cowering fear.\n\n**Is this the same call as Mark 1:16–20?** Matthew and Mark give a short account of Jesus calling the fishermen by the sea; Luke gives the fuller story with the catch. Many commentators take them as the same event told from different angles; some see Mark’s as an earlier first call. Either way, Luke shows why the men left everything: they had seen His power and their sin.\n\n**“If You are willing” — unbelief or humility?** Sproul defends the leper: he was right about Jesus’ power, and submitting a request to God’s will is not a lack of faith — a “no” is still an answer. Guzik: we usually doubt God’s love more than His power. Henry: “He is as willing to cleanse leprous souls as they can be to be cleansed.”\n\n**Why touch him? Why send him to the priest?** Jesus could have healed with a word (Guzik), but the touch healed the loneliness too. Sending him to the priest kept the Law (Lev 14) and was “a testimony to them” — official proof that a leper had been cleansed.\n\n**Whose faith did Jesus see?** “Seeing their faith” (v20) — at least the friends’, and likely the man’s as well, since he let them carry him. Guzik: “There is something lacking in faith if it can never be seen.” Spurgeon: some men will only come to Christ when several believers carry them together.\n\n**Was Jesus claiming to be God?** The scribes said, “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” Sproul: “We know that only God has the authority to forgive sins.” Jesus did not correct their theology; He proved His authority by healing what could be seen. And He called Himself “the Son of Man” — Daniel 7’s heavenly figure who receives dominion.\n\n**What do the wineskins mean?** Sproul: legalism multiplied fasts the Law never required; the new covenant cannot be patched onto old structures — “Conversion means nothing less than complete transformation.” Henry reads the same verses as Christ’s gentleness, not loading young disciples with exercises beyond their strength. Verse 39 is a sad, realistic word: people comfortable with the old do not want the new.\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **Master — *epistatēs* (G1988):** overseer, boss; only Luke, always of Jesus.\n- **catching — *zōgreō* (G2221):** to take alive; Luke 5:10; 2 Tim 2:26.\n- **leprosy — *lepra* (G3014):** Luke alone, “full of leprosy.”\n- **slip away — *hypochōreō* (G5298):** to withdraw; a habit of prayer (5:16; 9:10).\n- **forgiven — *aphiēmi* (G863):** send away, release; perfect tense in vv20, 23.\n- **authority — *exousia* (G1849):** the right and power to act (v24).\n- **remarkable things — *paradoxos* (G3861):** beyond expectation; only here in the NT.\n- **tax collector — *telōnēs* (G5057):** a toll contractor (vv27, 29, 30).\n- **repentance — *metanoia* (G3341):** a change of mind and life; Luke alone has it in v32.\n- **new — *neos* (G3501) / *kainos* (G2537):** new wine (young) / fresh wineskins (new in kind).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **From “Master” to “Lord”** — obedience opened Simon’s eyes (vv5, 8).\n2. **The fish obeyed before Peter did** (Sproul).\n3. **Caught alive** — *zōgreō*, out of one captivity into life.\n4. **We doubt His love more than His power** (Guzik).\n5. **Busy ministry, more prayer** — v16; Spurgeon’s locust.\n6. **The greater need first** — forgiveness before walking.\n7. **The critics had the right doctrine** — only God forgives.\n8. **They could hold a rope** (Spurgeon).\n9. **Sinners — to repentance** (v32).\n10. **New wine, new skins** — not a patch but a new life.\n\n**Cross-references:** Lev 13:45–46; 14:1–32; Ps 32:1–5; Isa 6:5; 43:25; 62:5; Dan 7:13–14; Matt 4:18–22; 8:1–4; 9:1–17; Mark 1:16–20, 40–45; 2:1–22; John 21:1–14; 2 Cor 5:17; 1 Tim 1:15; 2 Tim 2:26.", "A": "**Command to obey — “Put out into the deep water.”** Simon had fished all night and had nothing to show for it, and Jesus told him to go back out. I know men who have tried to get clean, tried to rebuild a marriage, tried to pray, and caught nothing. The word to us is the same: “I will do as You say.” This week I will do the thing Jesus has told me to do even though last time it didn’t work.\n\n**Sin to confess — keeping Jesus at arm’s length.** When Peter saw who Jesus was, he wanted Him to leave. I have done that — kept Him out of the room because I felt too dirty for Him to be there. That is pride dressed up as humility. Jesus answered Peter, “Do not fear.” I will stop being a fugitive and come close.\n\n**Promise to trust — “I am willing; be cleansed.”** The leper was sure Jesus could, but not sure He would. Most of the men I sit with are the same: they believe God is powerful; they doubt He wants them. Jesus touched the man nobody would touch. He is willing. And the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins — mine included, all of them, now.\n\n**Example to follow — four men and a rope.** I can’t fix my friend, but I can carry my corner of the mat. I will name one man this week whom I will help bring to Jesus — a ride to group, a call, a prayer with him — and I will not stop at the first crowded doorway.\n\n**Truth to face — He came for sinners.** The Pharisees grumbled that Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. That is the best news in the chapter: if I were well, I would not need the Physician. I need Him, and He came for exactly my kind. And He doesn’t patch me; He makes me new.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. Simon had “worked hard all night and caught nothing” and still said, “I will do as You say.” Where is Jesus telling me to let down the nets again after I have given up? (5:4–6) *When Jesus directs our work, it makes all the difference (Guzik).*\n2. When Peter saw who Jesus was, he said, “Go away from me.” In what ways do I keep Jesus at arm’s length because I feel too sinful to be near Him? (5:8–10; Isa 6:5) *You stop being a fugitive (Sproul).*\n3. The leper was sure Jesus could, but not sure He would. Which do I doubt more about God — His power or His love? (5:12–13) *He stretched out His hand and touched him.*\n4. Who is the man I could help carry to Jesus, and what “roof” might we have to open to get him there? (5:18–20) *They could not preach, but they could hold a rope (Spurgeon).*\n5. Jesus forgave the man before He healed him. What guilt is paralyzing me that only forgiveness can cure? (5:20–24; Ps 32:5) *There is only one cure for guilt, and that is forgiveness (Sproul).*\n6. Am I trying to patch Jesus onto my old life, or has He given me new wine that needs new wineskins? (5:36–39; 2 Cor 5:17) *Conversion means nothing less than complete transformation (Sproul).*\n\n**Worship.** The Lord who commands the fish sat in a fisherman’s borrowed boat. The Holy One let a sinful man fall at His knees and told him not to fear. He touched a leper, forgave a paralyzed man before He healed him, and sat down to dinner with tax collectors. He is the Son of Man with authority on earth to forgive sins, the Physician of the sick, and the Bridegroom who would be taken away for us.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, I have worked all night and caught nothing; at Your word I will let down the nets. I am a sinful man — do not go away from me. If You are willing, make me clean; You have said You are willing. Forgive my sins, lift me off this mat, and send me home glorifying God. Make me a man who holds the rope for his friends, and who leaves everything to follow You. Pour Your new wine into a new heart. Amen."}, "42:6": {"O": "**Setting.** On a Sabbath Jesus’ disciples pick and rub grain in the fields, and the Pharisees object (vv1–5). On another Sabbath, in a synagogue, He heals a man’s withered right hand while the scribes and Pharisees watch for a charge (vv6–11). He spends the whole night praying on a mountain and at daybreak chooses twelve apostles (vv12–16). He comes down to a level place, where crowds from Judea, Jerusalem, Tyre and Sidon are healed (vv17–19), and He teaches His disciples (vv20–49).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–11 — **Lord of the Sabbath:** grain in the fields — “Why do you do what is not lawful?” (vv1–2); David and the consecrated bread (vv3–4); “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (v5); the withered hand — “Get up and come forward!”; “is it lawful to do good or to do harm …?”; “Stretch out your hand!” — restored (vv6–10); filled with rage (v11).\n- vv12–19 — **prayer and the Twelve:** the whole night in prayer (v12); twelve chosen, named apostles (vv13–16); a level place, a great throng, power coming from Him (vv17–19).\n- vv20–26 — **blessings and woes:** blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, the hated (vv20–23); woe to the rich, the well-fed, the laughing, the praised (vv24–26).\n- vv27–38 — **love your enemies:** love, do good, bless, pray (vv27–28); cheek, coat, giving (vv29–30); the golden rule (v31); “what credit is that to you?” ×3 (vv32–34); sons of the Most High; be merciful as your Father (vv35–36); do not judge, condemn — pardon, give; good measure (vv37–38).\n- vv39–49 — **fruit and foundation:** blind guides; pupil and teacher (vv39–40); speck and log (vv41–42); good and bad trees, the heart’s treasure (vv43–45); “Lord, Lord” — two builders, one torrent (vv46–49).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “good” ×11 — vv9, 27, 33 (×2), 35, 38, 43 (×2), 45 (×3); “do good” ×5 — vv9, 27, 33 (×2), 35.\n- “Sabbath” ×6 — vv1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9; “lawful” ×3 — vv2, 4, 9.\n- “love” ×6 — vv27, 32 (×4), 35; “enemies” ×2 — vv27, 35.\n- “eye” ×6 — vv41 (×2), 42 (×4); “speck” ×3 and “log” ×3 — vv41, 42 (×2).\n- “judge / judged / condemn / condemned / pardon / pardoned” ×6 — all in v37.\n- “Blessed” ×4 — vv20, 21 (×2), 22; “Woe” ×4 — vv24, 25 (×2), 26.\n- “now” ×4 — vv21 (×2), 25 (×2).\n- “sinners” ×4 — vv32, 33, 34 (×2); “credit” ×3 — vv32, 33, 34.\n- “hand” ×4 — vv6, 8, 10 (×2).\n- “disciples” ×4 — vv1, 13, 17, 20.\n- “hear / hears / heard” ×4 — vv18, 27, 47, 49; “acts / acted” ×2 — vv47, 49.\n- “house” ×5 — vv4, 48 (×2), 49 (×2); “foundation” ×2 — vv48, 49.\n- “evil” ×5 — vv22, 35, 45 (×3).\n- “measure / measured” ×3 — v38; “give / given” ×3 — vv30, 38 (×2).\n- “tree(s)” ×3 and “fruit” ×3 — vv43 (×2), 44; “heart” ×2 — v45.\n- “Lord” ×3 — vv5, 46 (×2); “Son of Man” ×2 — vv5, 22.\n- “pray / prayer” ×3 — vv12 (×2), 28; “merciful” ×2 — v36; “reward” ×2 — vv23, 35.\n\n**Contrasts:** Not lawful ⟷ Lord of the Sabbath (vv2, 5). Do good ⟷ do harm; save ⟷ destroy (v9). Restored ⟷ filled with rage (vv10–11). Disciples ⟷ apostles (v13). Blessed ⟷ woe; now ⟷ then (vv20–26). Lovers ⟷ enemies; sinners ⟷ sons of the Most High (vv32–35). Speck ⟷ log (vv41–42). Good tree ⟷ bad tree; good treasure ⟷ evil treasure (vv43–45). Saying “Lord” ⟷ doing (v46). Rock ⟷ ground; stood ⟷ collapsed (vv48–49).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** two controversies (vv1–11) lead to a night of prayer and the founding of the Twelve (vv12–19), then the sermon on the level place: blessing and woe, the command of mercy, and a closing call to build on His words.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** The Lord of the Sabbath gathers a new people and tells them how His kingdom lives — upside down from the world, merciful like the Father, and built on actually doing what He says.", "I": "**Did the disciples break the Law?** No. Deuteronomy 23:25 let a hungry man pick grain by hand. Sproul: “By no means were Jesus and His disciples breaking the law of God”; they broke the Pharisees’ hundreds of added rules. Guzik: the problem was the day, not the deed. David’s example shows “human need is more important than religious ritual.”\n\n**What does “Lord of the Sabbath” claim?** Sproul: the Sabbath “was instituted at creation,” so “Only the Creator can be Lord of the Sabbath day” — “a clear declaration of the deity of Christ.” Guzik: “This was a direct claim to Deity.” Sproul also explains why the church gathers on the first day: the Lord of the Sabbath rose on it.\n\n**Why did healing make them furious?** Guzik: “There is never a wrong day to do something truly good,” and their rage and plotting were the real Sabbath violation. Henry: “Anger is a short madness, malice is a long one.” Jesus’ question in v9 exposes them: refusing to do good is doing harm.\n\n**Why pray all night, and why choose Judas?** The night came right after the plot (v11) and before the choice (v13). Guzik: Jesus did not simply use His infinite knowledge; He prayed as a man who depended on the Father. Sproul: He prayed knowing one would betray Him. Choosing Judas was not a mistake; it was part of the Father’s plan (Luke 22:22).\n\n**Sermon on the Plain or on the Mount?** Guzik calls it the Sermon on the Plain; Sproul treats it as a segment of the Sermon on the Mount. Luke says “a level place” (v17) — possibly a plateau on the mountainside. Jesus surely taught these things more than once; the substance is the same either way.\n\n**Who are “the poor”?** Here our teachers lean differently. Guzik: a spiritual reversal, not social revolution; poverty of spirit is the entry point. Henry: “Christ’s poor are rich in faith.” Sproul, in one sermon, weighs real material poverty too, since Luke omits “in spirit,” and warns against assuming the poor are lazy; in the next, he reads poor and hungry spiritually. I hold both: God cares for the literally poor, and the blessing rests on the poor who look to Him. The rich are not doomed (Sproul) — but they are “paid in full” if riches are their comfort.\n\n**Blessings now or later?** The “now” of vv21 and 25 points forward: “your reward is great in heaven” (v23). Jesus speaks to disciples living between His first coming and His kingdom. Sproul: “Mourning is not the final chapter.” I believe that kingdom will come in fullness when Christ returns and reigns.\n\n**Does “turn the other cheek” mean never resist evil?** Guzik: “It is wrong to think Jesus meant evil should never be resisted” — this is personal ethics, not the state’s duty. Sproul: “mercy, not vengeance”; vengeance belongs to God. Love acts: “love is defined more by a verb than a noun.”\n\n**Does “Do not judge” forbid discernment?** Sproul: “Our Lord was not saying … that we are to do away with discernment between good and evil.” It forbids a harsh, fault-finding spirit — give your neighbor “the benefit of the doubt.” Then deal with your own log first.\n\n**Faith and works in the two builders.** Sproul: “What we do will not get us into the kingdom of God,” yet “the proof of the pudding is obedience” — “justification is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.” Guzik: none of us does these words perfectly, which keeps us dependent on our Savior. Spurgeon: the rock is real repentance and faith on Christ alone.\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **lawful — *exesti* (G1832):** permitted (vv2, 4, 9).\n- **withered — *xēros* (G3584):** dried up; his right hand.\n- **rage — *anoia* (G454):** senseless fury; Luke 6:11; 2 Tim 3:9.\n- **spent the whole night — *dianyktereuō* (G1273):** only here in the NT.\n- **apostles — *apostolos* (G652):** envoys carrying the sender’s authority.\n- **power — *dynamis* (G1411):** power coming from Him (v19; 5:17).\n- **blessed — *makarios* (G3107) / woe — *ouai* (G3759):** God’s favor / a cry of doom.\n- **receiving in full — *apechō* (G568):** “paid in full”; **comfort — *paraklēsis* (G3874).**\n- **love — *agapaō* (G25):** keep on loving, by action.\n- **credit — *charis* (G5485):** grace, thanks (vv32–34).\n- **merciful — *oiktirmōn* (G3629):** compassionate; Luke 6:36; Jas 5:11. **kind — *chrēstos* (G5543).**\n- **speck — *karphos* (G2595) / log — *dokos* (G1385):** a straw / a beam; **hypocrite — *hypokritēs* (G5273).**\n- **rock — *petra* (G4073) / foundation — *themelios* (G2310):** bedrock / foundation stone.\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **The day was God’s; the rules were men’s** (Sproul, Guzik).\n2. **Only the Creator rules the Sabbath** — v5 claims deity.\n3. **Rage on the Sabbath** — *anoia*, senseless fury.\n4. **He prayed before He chose** — and still chose Judas.\n5. **Paid in full** — *apechō* (v24).\n6. **Mourning is not the last chapter** (Sproul).\n7. **Love is a verb** — love, do good, bless, pray.\n8. **“What credit?” is “what grace?”** — *charis*.\n9. **Merciful, like the Father** — Luke’s “perfect.”\n10. **The foundation is hidden until the flood** (Guzik).\n\n**Cross-references:** Gen 2:3; Exod 20:8–11; Lev 19:18; Deut 23:25; 1 Sam 16:7; 21:1–6; Ps 1:1–3; Prov 25:21; Isa 5:8–22; Dan 7:13–14; Matt 5–7; 12:1–14; Mark 2:23–3:19; Luke 2:25; 22:22; Rom 5:10; 12:14–21; 1 Cor 3:11; 2 Cor 8:9; Eph 2:20; Jas 1:22; 5:11; 1 Pet 2:23.", "A": "**Command to obey — “love your enemies.”** Jesus didn’t leave it vague: do good to them, bless them, pray for them (vv27–28). Some of the men I sit with have real enemies — the man who testified against them, the family member who walked out, the guy on the block. I have mine too. This week I will pray by name, every day, for one person who has hurt me, and do one good thing for him if I can.\n\n**Sin to confess — the log in my own eye.** I am quick to see other men’s specks and slow to see my beam. I give myself the best-case reading and give others the worst (Sproul). I confess the hypocrisy of correcting my brother while I step around my own sin. First the log, then I can see clearly.\n\n**Promise to trust — “your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.”** When I love enemies and lend expecting nothing, I am not losing. Guzik: “you can’t out-give God.” And for the man who weeps now, hungers now, is hated now for Jesus’ sake — the “now” is not the last word. “Your reward is great in heaven.”\n\n**Example to follow — Jesus on the mountain.** The Pharisees were plotting against Him, and He spent the night praying, then made the most important choice of His ministry. Before my next big decision — a job, a move, a relationship, a confrontation — I will take real time to pray before I choose.\n\n**Warning to heed — “Lord, Lord.”** It’s easy to say the words in group and in chapel. Jesus asks why I call Him Lord and don’t do what He says. The storm is coming for every man; the only question is the foundation. I will pick one thing Jesus said in this chapter and do it this week, not just agree with it.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. The Pharisees watched Jesus “closely” to find fault. When I watch other people, am I looking for something to accuse or someone to help? (6:7–11) *They watched Jesus closely, but with no heart of love for Him (Guzik).*\n2. Jesus spent the whole night praying before a big decision. What decision in front of me have I not really prayed about yet? (6:12–13) *We are never less alone than when we are thus alone (Henry).*\n3. Which of the four woes is the one I most need to hear — comfort, fullness, laughter, or everyone speaking well of me? (6:24–26) *Watch out for the person of whom everyone speaks well (Sproul).*\n4. Name one enemy — someone who has hurt me. What would it look like this week to do good to him, bless him, and pray for him? (6:27–28, 35; Rom 5:10) *Love is defined more by a verb than a noun (Sproul).*\n5. What is the “log” in my own eye that I keep stepping around while I point at other men’s specks? (6:41–42) *We are far more tolerant of our own sin than of others’ (Guzik).*\n6. If a flood hit my life tomorrow, what would it show my foundation to be — hearing Jesus, or doing what He says? (6:46–49; Jas 1:22) *The real foundation is only proven in the storm (Guzik).*\n\n**Worship.** The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath — the Creator who rested on the seventh day stood in a synagogue and restored a withered hand. He prayed all night for the men He would send, power went out from Him to heal them all, and He spoke blessing over the poor. He is kind to ungrateful and evil men — He was kind to me — and His word is the rock that no flood can shake.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, You are Lord of the Sabbath and Lord of me. Forgive me for calling You “Lord, Lord” and not doing what You say. Take the log out of my eye. Teach me to love my enemies — to do good, to bless, to pray for the ones who hurt me — because You loved me when I was Your enemy. Make me merciful, as my Father is merciful. Help me dig deep and build on You before the storm comes. Amen."}, "42:7": {"O": "**Setting.** After the Sermon on the Plain Jesus enters Capernaum, where a centurion’s slave is dying (vv1–10). “Soon afterwards” He reaches Nain and meets a widow’s funeral (vv11–17). John the Baptist, in prison, sends two disciples with a question (vv18–23), and Jesus speaks to the crowds about John and “this generation” (vv24–35). The chapter ends at dinner in the house of Simon the Pharisee, where a woman known as a sinner anoints Jesus’ feet (vv36–50).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–10 — **just say the word:** a valued slave about to die (v2); Jewish elders plead “He is worthy” (vv3–5); friends bring the centurion’s message — “I am not worthy … just say the word” (vv6–7); a man under authority (v8); Jesus marvels — “not even in Israel have I found such great faith” (v9); the slave in good health (v10).\n- vv11–17 — **young man, arise:** two crowds at the gate; an only son, a widow (vv11–12); “When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion” — “Do not weep” (v13); He touches the coffin: “Young man, I say to you, arise!” (v14); the dead man sits up and speaks; He gives him back to his mother (v15); “God has visited His people!” (vv16–17).\n- vv18–23 — **the Expected One:** John sends two disciples (vv18–20); at that very time Jesus heals many (v21); “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard” (v22); “Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me” (v23).\n- vv24–35 — **more than a prophet:** not a reed, not a courtier — a prophet and more (vv24–26); Malachi’s messenger (v27); none greater than John, yet the least in the kingdom is greater (v28); the people justify God, the Pharisees reject His purpose (vv29–30); children in the market place (vv31–32); John fasting, the Son of Man feasting (vv33–34); wisdom vindicated (v35).\n- vv36–50 — **her sins forgiven:** Jesus reclines at a Pharisee’s table (v36); a sinful woman with perfume, tears, hair and kisses (vv37–38); Simon’s silent verdict (v39); two debtors, 500 and 50 denarii (vv40–43); “Do you see this woman?” — no water, no kiss, no oil (vv44–46); “her sins, which are many, have been forgiven” (vv47–48); “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” (v49); “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (v50).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “say / said / saying” ×28 — vv4, 6, 7, 8, 9 (×2), 13, 14 (×2), 16, 19, 20, 22, 26, 28, 32, 33, 34, 39, 40 (×2), 43 (×2), 44, 47, 48, 49, 50; the phrase “I say to you” ×5 — vv9, 14, 26, 28, 47.\n- “come / came / comes / coming” ×12 — vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8 (×2), 14 (×2), 20, 33, 34, 45.\n- “John” ×10 — vv18, 19, 20, 22, 24 (×2), 28, 29, 30, 33.\n- “feet” ×7 — vv38 (×3), 44 (×2), 45, 46.\n- “see / saw / seen” ×7 — vv13, 22, 24, 25, 26, 39, 44.\n- “sins / sinner(s)” ×6 — vv34, 37, 39, 47, 48, 49; “forgave / forgiven / forgives” ×5 — vv42, 43, 47 (×2), 48 (plus “forgives” in v49).\n- “sent” ×6 — vv3, 6, 10, 19, 20, 27 (“send”).\n- “God” ×5 — vv16 (×2), 28, 29, 30; “woman” ×5 — vv37, 39, 44 (×2), 50; “house” ×5 — vv6, 10, 36, 37, 44.\n- “Pharisee(s)” ×5 — vv30, 36 (×2), 37, 39.\n- “hear / heard” ×5 — vv3, 9, 22 (×2), 29.\n- “love / loved / loves” ×4 — vv5, 42, 47 (×2); “prophet” ×4 — vv16, 26 (×2), 39.\n- “worthy” ×3 — vv4, 6, 7; “Lord” ×3 — vv6, 13, 19.\n- “weep / weeping” ×3 — vv13, 32, 38; “kiss / kissing” ×3 — vv38, 45 (×2); “perfume” ×3 — vv37, 38, 46; “dead” ×3 — vv12, 15, 22.\n- “faith” ×2 — vv9, 50: great faith at the start, saving faith at the end.\n\n**Contrasts:** Worthy (the elders) ⟷ not worthy (the centurion) (vv4–7). Not even in Israel ⟷ a Gentile’s faith (v9). A crowd following Jesus ⟷ a crowd following a coffin (vv11–12). Do not weep ⟷ a widow’s tears (v13). The greatest born of women ⟷ the least in the kingdom (v28). The people justify God ⟷ the Pharisees reject God’s purpose (vv29–30). John fasting ⟷ the Son of Man feasting (vv33–34). Simon’s cold welcome ⟷ the woman’s tears and kisses (vv44–46). Forgiven much ⟷ forgiven little (v47).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** four scenes, each built around a word from Jesus. Two miracles (a word sent and a word spoken), then a question and a long answer, then a parable at a table. It moves from a Gentile outsider to a widow to a prophet in prison to a sinful woman — and the outsiders all receive what the insiders miss.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus’ word has authority over sickness, death, doubt and sin. Those who know they are unworthy, grieving, confused or guilty find Him; those who are sure of themselves find fault with Him.", "I": "**Why does Luke include the elders and the friends?** Matthew tells the story more briefly (Matt 8:5–13), as though the centurion came himself; Luke shows that he spoke through others. Ancient writers often said a man did what his messengers did for him. Luke’s detail sharpens the point: the elders plead merit (“He is worthy”), the centurion pleads grace (“I am not worthy”). Guzik: “The elders said he was worthy; he said he was not worthy.” Sproul: “The centurion understood grace.”\n\n**How can Jesus heal at a distance?** The centurion reasons from authority: if his orders move soldiers, Jesus’ word can move sickness (v8). Guzik: “Jesus’ healing power was not a magic trick that required the magician’s presence.” Sproul ties it to Christ’s person — the divine nature is not limited by place — and to creation by a word.\n\n**What kind of miracle was Nain?** Guzik is careful: “This young man was not resurrected but resuscitated; he rose from the dead only to die again.” Spurgeon preaches it as a picture of new birth — “Conversions are miracles which never cease.” Both are true. The son died again later; but the miracle points to the day when Jesus’ voice will raise the dead for good (John 5:28–29). Luke’s wording (“gave him back to his mother”) echoes Elijah (1 Kings 17:23), and the crowd rightly says a great prophet has arisen — but Jesus does with a word what Elijah did with prayer and struggle.\n\n**Did John really doubt?** Sproul: “Obviously, John was confused,” and the view that he asked only for his disciples is “a stretch of biblical interpretation.” Guzik suggests he expected a different kind of deliverance. John had preached fire and judgment (3:16–17); Jesus was healing and preaching to the poor, and John was still in prison. Jesus answers with Isaiah 35 and 61 and then honors John before the crowd. Honest doubt brought to Jesus is not unbelief.\n\n**What does “least in the kingdom … greater than he” mean?** Not that John was lost or lesser in character. Sproul: “greater” is a matter of blessedness and place in God’s plan — we stand after the cross and resurrection. Guzik: “The least in the Gospel stands on higher ground than the greatest under the law.” John pointed to the Lamb; we know what the Lamb has done.\n\n**What is “wisdom is vindicated by all her children”?** Sproul: “justified” here means shown to be right, as in James, not Paul’s declaration of righteousness. God’s wisdom in sending both John and Jesus is proved by the people it changes — the tax collectors who “acknowledged God’s justice” (v29) and, in the next scene, a sinful woman.\n\n**Did her love earn her forgiveness?** “For she loved much” (v47) can sound that way. But the parable puts forgiveness first and love second (vv42–43), the perfect tense says her sins “have been forgiven,” and Jesus credits her faith (v50). Guzik: her love “was evidence that she had been forgiven.” Sproul: “There was no payment and nothing that could be done to earn it.” Henry: “Silver and gold will not pay our debt.” She loved because she was forgiven.\n\n**Who was the woman?** Luke does not say. Tradition later identified her with Mary Magdalene (8:2), but nothing in the text supports that, and both Guzik and Sproul reject calling Mary a prostitute (see Luke 8). This is also not the anointing at Bethany in the last week (John 12:1–8).\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **worthy — *axios* (G514):** deserving, the elders’ word (v4).\n- **worthy, fit — *hikanos* (G2425):** sufficient; the centurion’s word for himself (v6).\n- **word — *logos* (G3056):** “say the word” — literally “say with a word” (v7).\n- **felt compassion — *splanchnizomai* (G4697):** moved in the inward parts (v13).\n- **coffin — *soros* (G4673):** only here in the New Testament (v14).\n- **visited — *episkeptomai* (G1980):** to look upon and care for (v16; 1:68, 78; 19:44).\n- **Expected One — *erchomenos* (G2064):** “the Coming One” (vv19–20; 3:16; 19:38).\n- **take offense — *skandalizō* (G4624):** to stumble, to be tripped (v23).\n- **acknowledged God’s justice, vindicated — *dikaioō* (G1344):** declared or shown right (vv29, 35).\n- **purpose — *boulē* (G1012):** God’s counsel (v30; Acts 2:23; 20:27).\n- **graciously forgave — *charizomai* (G5483):** to give freely, from *charis* (vv42–43).\n- **forgiven — *aphiēmi* (G863):** perfect tense, “stand forgiven” (vv47–48).\n- **saved — *sōzō* (G4982):** “Your faith has saved you” (v50; 8:48).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **Worthy and not worthy** — merit versus grace (vv4–7).\n2. **Distance is no problem for His word** (Guzik, Sproul).\n3. **The widow did not ask** — her tears were the prayer (v13).\n4. **Greater than Elijah** — a touch and a word (1 Kings 17).\n5. **Honest doubt is not unbelief** — “Obviously, John was confused” (Sproul).\n6. **The answer is the works** — Isaiah fulfilled “at that very time” (Henry).\n7. **You can refuse God’s purpose — for yourself** (v30).\n8. **Love is the fruit, not the root** (Guzik).\n9. **Tears belong in faith** (Spurgeon).\n10. **“Who is this man?”** — the One who forgives sins (v49).\n\n**Cross-references:** 1 Kings 17:17–24; 2 Kings 4:18–37; 5:1–14; Psalm 2:12; 32:1; 118:26; Isaiah 26:19; 35:5–6; 61:1–2; Malachi 3:1; Matthew 8:5–13; 11:2–19; Luke 1:68, 78; 3:16–20; 4:18–19, 27; 5:21; 15:2; 19:44; John 5:28–29; 12:1–8; Acts 10:1–2; Romans 5:1; Hebrews 4:15.", "A": "**Example to follow — the centurion.** Everybody around him said he deserved help. He said, “I am not worthy … just say the word.” A lot of the men I walk with have only ever heard the opposite — that they are worthless — and some of us cover it by acting like we deserve everything. The centurion shows a third way: I am not worthy, and His word is enough. This week I come to Jesus on His word, not my record.\n\n**Promise to trust — the Lord sees the widow.** Nobody asked Jesus to stop that funeral. “When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her.” He sees the grief I don’t talk about — the son I lost touch with, the years I can’t get back, the people I buried while I was using. He is not a stranger to my funeral processions.\n\n**Truth to face — honest questions.** John asked from a prison cell, “Are You the Expected One?” Some of the men I serve are asking that from a real cell. Jesus did not shame John; He sent him the evidence and called him great. I can bring my real questions to Jesus and look for His answer in His Word.\n\n**Sin to confess — Simon’s heart.** It is easy to read this chapter and see myself as the woman. Most days I am Simon — sizing people up, keeping score, giving Jesus the minimum. “He who is forgiven little, loves little.” I confess the cold heart that forgets how much I have been forgiven.\n\n**Command to obey — go in peace.** Jesus told her, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” He did not tell her to keep paying. I will stop trying to work off a debt He already cancelled, and I will walk out the door forgiven.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. The elders said the centurion was “worthy”; he said he was not. Which voice do I listen to when I come to Jesus — my record or His word? (7:4–7) *Strong faith and great humility are entirely compatible (Guzik).*\n2. Jesus raised the widow’s son without being asked. Where have I been grieving silently, and what does it mean to me that “the Lord saw her”? (7:12–15; Heb 4:15) *The Lord Jesus Christ sees us when we weep (Sproul).*\n3. John asked an honest question from a prison cell. What question would I ask Jesus from my hardest place — and where in His Word would I look for the answer? (7:19–23; Isa 35:5–6) *Jesus answered John with Isaiah, not with a scolding.*\n4. The people of Jesus’ day criticized John for fasting and Jesus for feasting. What excuse do I use to keep God’s messengers at arm’s length? (7:30–35) *They rejected God’s purpose for themselves.*\n5. Am I more like Simon or the woman — someone who thinks he owes 50, or someone who knows he owes 500? (7:41–47) *He who is forgiven little, loves little.*\n6. Jesus told her, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” What would it look like for me to actually walk in that peace this week? (7:48–50; Rom 5:1) *Peace is the fit result of what the Saviour has done for you (Spurgeon).*\n\n**Worship.** Lord Jesus, You speak and it is done. You healed a slave You never saw, stopped a funeral and gave a son back to his mother, answered a prophet’s doubt with the promises of God, and said to a woman everyone despised, “Your sins have been forgiven.” Who is this man who even forgives sins? You are the Lord, God visiting His people.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof — but just say the word. See the grief I carry, and speak life where things are dead. When I am confused, help me bring my questions to You and not walk away offended. Forgive me for the Simon in me, and give me the woman’s tears and love. I owe more than I can pay; thank You for graciously forgiving it all. Let me go in peace. Amen."}, "42:8": {"O": "**Setting.** Jesus travels from village to village preaching the kingdom, with the Twelve and women who support Him (vv1–3). A large crowd gathers and He tells the parable of the sower, explains it to His disciples, and adds the lamp saying (vv4–18). His mother and brothers come (vv19–21). He crosses the lake in a storm (vv22–25), frees a demonized man in the country of the Gerasenes (vv26–39), and returns to Galilee, where a woman is healed on the way to Jairus’s house and Jairus’s daughter is raised (vv40–56).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–3 — **on the road:** preaching the kingdom; the Twelve; Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna “and many others” giving from their means.\n- vv4–15 — **the sower:** four soils — road, rock, thorns, good soil (vv5–8); “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (v8); the mysteries granted, Isaiah 6:9 (vv9–10); “the seed is the word of God” and the four hearers (vv11–15).\n- vv16–21 — **the lamp and the family:** a lamp on a lampstand (v16); nothing hidden (v17); “take care how you listen” (v18); His mother and brothers — “these who hear the word of God and do it” (vv19–21).\n- vv22–25 — **the storm:** “Let us go over” (v22); He sleeps, a gale descends (v23); “Master, Master, we are perishing!” — He rebukes wind and waves (v24); “Where is your faith?” — “Who then is this?” (v25).\n- vv26–39 — **Legion:** a naked man of the tombs (vv26–27); “Son of the Most High God … do not torment me” (vv28–29); “Legion” (v30); the abyss and the swine (vv31–33); the town finds him clothed and in his right mind and asks Jesus to leave (vv34–37); “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you” (vv38–39).\n- vv40–56 — **two daughters:** a waiting crowd; Jairus falls at His feet (vv40–42); a woman twelve years ill touches the fringe of His cloak (vv43–44); “Who is the one who touched Me?” (vv45–47); “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace” (v48); “Your daughter has died” — “only believe” (vv49–50); “she has not died, but is asleep” — laughter (vv51–53); “Child, arise!” (vv54–56).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “come / came / coming / comes” ×16 — vv4, 12, 16, 17, 19, 24, 27, 29, 33, 35, 41 (×2), 44, 47, 49, 51.\n- “Jesus” ×13 — vv22, 24, 28 (×2), 30, 35 (×2), 39, 40, 41, 45, 46, 50.\n- “hear / heard / hearing / listen” ×10 — vv8 (×2), 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 21, 50.\n- “seed / sow / sowed / sower” ×10 — vv5 (×4), 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, 15.\n- “fell” ×9 — vv5, 6, 7, 8, 14 (seed falling), 23 (asleep), 28, 41, 47 (falling before Him).\n- “demon(s)” ×9 — vv2, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36 (“demon-possessed”), 38; “spirit(s)” ×3 — vv2, 29 (unclean), 55 (her spirit).\n- “word” ×5 — vv11, 12, 13, 15, 21 (“the word of God” in vv11, 21).\n- “light / lamp / lighting / lampstand” ×5 — vv16 (×4), 17.\n- “implore / implored / imploring / begging / beg” ×5 — vv28, 31, 32, 38, 41.\n- “saved / made well” (*sōzō*) ×4 — vv12, 36, 48, 50.\n- “fear / afraid / fearful / frightened” ×4 — vv25, 35, 37, 50.\n- “touch / touched” ×4 — vv44, 45, 46, 47.\n- “Master” ×3 — vv24 (×2), 45; “daughter” ×3 — vv42, 48, 49; “twelve” ×3 — vv1, 42, 43; “believe” ×3 — vv12, 13, 50.\n- “faith” ×2 — vv25, 48: “Where is your faith?” and “your faith has made you well.”\n\n**Contrasts:** Four soils — three fail, one bears fruit (vv5–15). To you it is granted ⟷ to the rest in parables (v10). Hidden ⟷ evident (v17). Whoever has ⟷ whoever does not have (v18). Family by blood ⟷ family by obedience (vv19–21). He sleeps ⟷ they panic (vv23–24). Storm ⟷ calm (v24). Naked, in the tombs ⟷ clothed, in his right mind, at His feet (vv27, 35). The town asks Him to leave ⟷ the man begs to come along (vv37–38). Jairus the ruler ⟷ the unnamed woman (vv41–44). Weeping and laughter ⟷ “she has not died, but is asleep” (vv52–53).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** teaching first (the seed and the hearers), then four mighty works that test the hearers — over nature, demons, disease and death. Each scene ends with a word from Jesus that someone must believe.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** God’s word is the seed, and the condition of my heart decides what it does in me. The same word rules the storm, the demons, sickness and death — so I must listen carefully and trust Him when everything says it is too late.", "I": "**Who were the women of verses 1–3?** Healed followers who used their own money to support Jesus and the Twelve. Joanna’s husband managed Herod Antipas’s household — the gospel had reached the palace. Mary Magdalene had been freed from seven demons; both Guzik (“There is nothing whatever in the sources to indicate this”) and Sproul reject the later tradition that she was a prostitute.\n\n**Why does Jesus speak in parables “so that seeing they may not see”?** Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9. Sproul: “Parables were given not only to reveal but to conceal” — they open the truth to those God has given ears, and they are a judgment on hearts that have already refused. “God’s justice is poetic.” The disciples did not earn their understanding; “it has been granted” (v10).\n\n**Is the rocky soil a believer who lost salvation?** Teachers answer differently. Sproul sees a spurious profession: “If you have it, you never lose it,” and “The only test for that is whether you bear fruit.” Spurgeon calls these hearers Mr. Pliable — quick and warm, then gone. Jesus’ own words are that they “believe for a while” and “fall away” (v13). What the parable makes plain is that only the soil that holds the word fast and bears fruit “with perseverance” is good soil (v15).\n\n**What does “whoever has, to him more shall be given” mean?** It is about hearing (v18). The man who receives and obeys the word gets more light; the man who shrugs it off loses even what he “thinks he has.” Spurgeon: an ear for preachers is not a heart for the truth.\n\n**Were Jesus’ brothers Mary’s sons?** Guzik takes them as Mary’s other children. The point of the scene is not to snub His family but to name the family that lasts: “these who hear the word of God and do it” (v21). Sproul connects it to adoption.\n\n**Why were the disciples rebuked in the storm?** Jesus had said, “Let us go over to the other side” (v22). Guzik: “Unbelief is the rejection of a promise or a command of God relevant to a particular situation.” Henry: “Many that have true faith have it to seek when they have occasion to use it.” Sproul notes their fear grew after the calm — they were in the presence of the Holy.\n\n**What about the demons and the pigs?** Sproul: “The demonic world is real, it was extremely active then, and it is active today.” Guzik reads “Legion” as a bluff; Sproul as a vast host. The demons fear the abyss — the prison Revelation 20 describes — before their time. Jesus permits the swine; Sproul: “Jesus understood the difference between human beings and the beasts of the field.” The town cared more for the herd than the man. Henry: “Those lose their Saviour, and their hopes in him, that love their swine better.”\n\n**Why send the healed man home?** He begged to follow, but Jesus gave him a mission field: “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.” Luke notes that he told “what great things Jesus had done for him” (v39) — for Luke, what Jesus does, God does. Guzik: he “had a more important ministry with his own family and community.”\n\n**Why call out the woman who touched Him?** Not to shame her. She was unclean under the Law (Leviticus 15:25) and had been shut out for twelve years. Jesus made her healing public, called her “Daughter” (Guzik: the only time He used it of someone), and sent her away in peace. Henry: “weak faith shall not be rejected.” Spurgeon: “Do but become united to Jesus, and the blessed work is done.”\n\n**Was the girl dead or asleep?** Dead — the mourners knew it (v53), and “her spirit returned” (v55). Jesus calls death sleep because He is about to wake her (compare John 11:11–14). Sproul: “This was not a resuscitation; this was a resurrection” — a picture of the last day. (Guzik, on Nain in chapter 7, used “resuscitated” for a body that would die again; the two are making different points, and both are true.)\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **contributing to their support — *diakoneō* (G1247):** to serve, to minister (v3).\n- **private means — *hyparchonta* (G5225):** possessions, property (v3).\n- **mysteries — *mystērion* (G3466):** secrets God reveals (v10).\n- **seed — *sporos* (G4703):** “the seed is the word of God” (v11).\n- **hold it fast — *katechō* (G2722):** keep firm hold (v15).\n- **perseverance — *hypomonē* (G5281):** remaining under, endurance (v15).\n- **lamp — *lychnos* (G3088):** a small oil lamp (v16).\n- **take care — *blepō* (G991):** watch out (v18).\n- **Master — *epistatēs* (G1988):** commander; only in Luke (vv24, 45).\n- **rebuked — *epitimaō* (G2008):** used of demons and fever too (v24; 4:35, 39).\n- **Legion — *legiōn* (G3003):** a Roman legion, thousands (v30).\n- **abyss — *abyssos* (G12):** the prison of spirits (v31; Rev 20:3).\n- **in his right mind — *sōphroneō* (G4993):** of sound mind (v35).\n- **describe — *diēgeomai* (G1334) / proclaiming — *kēryssō* (G2784):** tell it through; herald it (v39).\n- **only — *monogenēs* (G3439):** only child (v42; 7:12).\n- **fringe — *kraspedon* (G2899):** the tassel (v44; Num 15:38).\n- **power — *dynamis* (G1411):** “power had gone out of Me” (v46).\n- **made well, saved — *sōzō* (G4982):** vv12, 36, 48, 50; 7:50.\n- **asleep — *katheudō* (G2518):** “she has not died, but is asleep” (v52).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **The difference is the soil** (Guzik).\n2. **Parables open and close** (Sproul).\n3. **Fruit takes perseverance** — *hypomonē* (v15).\n4. **Hearing is never neutral** (v18; Spurgeon).\n5. **Jesus’ family hears and does** (v21).\n6. **He had already said “the other side”** — unbelief rejects a promise (Guzik).\n7. **More afraid after the calm** — the presence of the Holy (Sproul).\n8. **Clothed and in his right mind** — and sent home to preach (vv35, 39).\n9. **They preferred the pigs** (Henry, Guzik).\n10. **Never too late** — “only believe” (v50; Sproul).\n\n**Cross-references:** Leviticus 15:25; Numbers 15:38; Psalm 89:9; 107:29; Isaiah 6:9–10; 55:10–11; Matthew 13:1–23; Mark 4:1–41; 5:1–43; Luke 4:35, 39; 5:5; 7:12, 50; John 11:11–14, 25; Acts 8:1–8; Romans 10:17; James 1:22; Revelation 20:1–3.", "A": "**Truth to face — what kind of soil am I?** Some weeks I am the road — the word bounces off and is gone before I reach the parking lot. Some weeks I am rocky — happy on Sunday, folding on Wednesday. A lot of weeks I am thorny — worries about money and family, and pleasures I go back to, choke out what God said. Jesus is honest about it, and so am I. The seed is fine; my heart needs plowing.\n\n**Command to obey — take care how you listen, and do it.** Jesus said His family is “these who hear the word of God and do it.” Men in recovery know the difference between knowing the steps and working them. This week I will take one thing I hear from God’s Word and do it the same day.\n\n**Promise to trust — He already said “the other side.”** The disciples had Jesus’ word that they were going across, and they still thought they would drown. I have His promises too. In this storm I will say out loud what He said, and remember He is in the boat.\n\n**Example to follow — the man from the tombs.** Chains, cutting, living with the dead — and Jesus set him free. Then Jesus did not take him on the road; He sent him home: “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.” Some of the hardest preaching I will ever do is at my own kitchen table. I will tell my family, in plain words, what Jesus has done.\n\n**Sin to confess — preferring the pigs.** The town asked Jesus to leave because He cost them a herd. I confess the times I have wanted Jesus around but not too close — not close enough to cost me what I still love more than Him.\n\n**Promise to trust — it is never too late.** Jairus heard “Your daughter has died,” and Jesus said, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe.” For the men I serve who have been told it is too late — too many years, too much damage — Jesus is still on the way to the house.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. Which of the four soils best describes how I have been hearing God’s Word lately — and what is the rock or the thorn in my life right now? (8:11–15) *The difference is never the seed, but the soil (Guzik).*\n2. Jesus said, “take care how you listen.” What would change if I listened to Sunday’s sermon or this week’s reading expecting to obey it? (8:18, 21; Jas 1:22) *The heart is the target (Spurgeon).*\n3. Jesus had already said, “Let us go over to the other side.” What promise of His have I forgotten in my present storm? (8:22–25; Ps 107:29) *Unbelief is the rejection of a promise (Guzik).*\n4. The town asked Jesus to leave because He cost them their pigs. What am I afraid Jesus will cost me if I let Him all the way in? (8:32–37) *They loved their swine better (Henry).*\n5. Jesus sent the healed man home to tell “what great things God has done for you.” Who at home most needs to hear my story? (8:38–39) *Return to your house and describe.*\n6. Jairus had to keep walking after hearing “Your daughter has died.” Where am I being told it is too late, and what would “only believe” look like? (8:49–56; John 11:25) *Are you still alive? Then it is not too late (Sproul).*\n\n**Worship.** Lord Jesus, Your word is the seed that bears fruit a hundredfold. You sleep in the storm and rise to rebuke it; the demons call You Son of the Most High God and beg at Your word; power goes out from You at the touch of a tassel; and the dead hear You say, “Child, arise!” Who then is this? You are the Lord.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord, plow up the hard places in me, pull out the rocks, and cut back the thorns, so that Your word takes root and I hold it fast. Teach me to take care how I listen and to do what I hear. In my storms, remind me You are in the boat. Set free the men I love who are still in the tombs, and send me home to tell what great things You have done for me. When I hear “too late,” help me hear You say, “only believe.” Amen."}, "42:9": {"O": "**Setting.** Jesus is still in Galilee, the territory of Herod Antipas (vv7–9). He sends the Twelve through the villages (vv1–6), withdraws with them toward Bethsaida, and feeds the crowd in a desolate place (vv10–17). He prays alone and asks who He is (vv18–27), goes up “the mountain” with Peter, John and James (vv28–36), comes down to a large crowd the next day (vv37–50), and then sets out for Jerusalem through a Samaritan village (vv51–62).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–9 — **the Twelve sent, Herod perplexed:** power and authority over demons and diseases (v1); take nothing for your journey (vv3–5); they go through the villages preaching and healing (v6); Herod hears the rumors — John, Elijah, a prophet — “who is this man?” (vv7–9).\n- vv10–17 — **five thousand fed:** the apostles report; Bethsaida; He welcomes the crowds (vv10–11); “Send the crowd away” — “You give them something to eat!” (vv12–13); groups of fifty; He took, blessed, broke, kept giving (vv14–16); all satisfied; twelve baskets (v17).\n- vv18–27 — **confession and cross:** He prays alone; “Who do the people say that I am?” (vv18–19); “But who do you say that I am?” — “The Christ of God” (v20); the Son of Man must suffer, be killed, be raised (vv21–22); deny himself, take up his cross daily, follow Me (v23); save / lose; the whole world; ashamed (vv24–26); some will see the kingdom (v27).\n- vv28–36 — **the transfiguration:** about eight days later, the mountain, prayer (v28); His face different, His clothing gleaming (v29); Moses and Elijah speak of His departure at Jerusalem (vv30–31); sleep, then glory (v32); Peter’s three tabernacles (v33); the cloud (v34); “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” (v35); Jesus found alone; silence (v36).\n- vv37–50 — **the valley:** a father’s only boy, a spirit, the disciples could not (vv37–40); “You unbelieving and perverted generation” — healed and given back (vv41–42); amazed at the greatness of God (v43); “Let these words sink into your ears” — they did not understand (vv44–45); who is greatest? a child (vv46–48); “Do not hinder him” (vv49–50).\n- vv51–62 — **the face set:** determined to go to Jerusalem (v51); a Samaritan village does not receive Him (vv52–53); fire from heaven? He rebuked them (vv54–56); three would-be followers — foxes and birds; bury my father; say good-bye; the plow (vv57–62).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “follow / followed” ×6 — vv11, 23, 49, 57, 59, 61.\n- “heal / healing / healed / cure / curing” ×6 — vv1, 2, 6, 11 (×2), 42.\n- “receive / receives / received” ×6 — vv5, 48 (×4), 53.\n- “John” ×6 — vv7, 9, 19 (the Baptist); vv28, 49, 54 (the apostle).\n- “kingdom of God” ×5 — vv2, 11, 27, 60, 62.\n- “Son of Man” ×5 — vv22, 26, 44, 56, 58.\n- “Elijah” ×4 — vv8, 19, 30, 33; “glory” ×4 — vv26 (×2), 31, 32.\n- “village(s)” ×4 — vv6, 12, 52, 56; “Peter” ×4 — vv20, 28, 32, 33.\n- “pray / praying” ×3 — vv18, 28, 29; “Jerusalem” ×3 — vv31, 51, 53.\n- “save” ×3 — vv24 (×2), 56; “lose / loses” ×3 — vv24 (×2), 25; “life / lives” ×3 — vv24 (×2), 56.\n- “twelve” ×3 — vv1, 12, 17; “eat” ×3 — vv12, 13, 14.\n- “first” ×2 — vv59, 61; “Master” ×2 — vv33, 49; “ashamed” ×2 — v26.\n\n**Contrasts:** Power and authority ⟷ nothing for the journey (vv1–3). Herod’s curiosity ⟷ Peter’s confession (vv9, 20). Five loaves ⟷ five thousand men; twelve worried apostles ⟷ twelve full baskets (vv13–17). The Christ of God ⟷ the Son of Man who must suffer (vv20–22). Save your life ⟷ lose it; the whole world ⟷ yourself (vv24–25). Glory on the mountain ⟷ a convulsing boy in the valley (vv29, 37–42). Greatest ⟷ least (vv46–48). Fire from heaven ⟷ to save men’s lives (vv54–56). “I will follow You” ⟷ “but first” (vv57–61).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** an arc from Galilee toward Jerusalem. Verses 1–17 show the kingdom’s power at work; verses 18–36 reveal who the King is and where He is going; verses 37–62 show how slow His followers are to understand — and set Him on the road.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus is the Christ of God, the Father’s Chosen One, whose glory shines before the cross and whose road runs through it. Everyone who wants to follow Him must say no to himself every day, listen to Him, and keep his hand on the plow.", "I": "**What did the shaken-off dust mean (v5)?** Sproul links it to a Jewish custom: returning from pagan lands, a Jew shook off the dust so as not to carry defilement home. Here it is “a testimony against them” — a solemn warning, not a tantrum. “You cannot hear the gospel and be neutral to it” (Sproul).\n\n**Why does Herod’s guilt matter?** Luke never narrates John’s death; he lets Herod confess it: “I myself had John beheaded” (v9). Sproul: “Guilt is objective and has nothing to do with your feelings whatsoever,” and “The only cure for guilt is forgiveness.” Herod wanted to see Jesus, but “not as a sincere seeker” (Guzik) — and when he finally did, he wanted a show (23:8).\n\n**Did the feeding really happen, and why does it matter?** Sproul rejects the explanations that make it myth, fraud or a lesson about sharing: “I have no interest in adoring, worshiping, praising, or working for a myth.” If it happened, Jesus is the Creator who cares for His people. Guzik and Henry stress the disciples’ part: the bread passed through their hands, and “Those that have but a little, let them do what they can with that little” (Henry).\n\n**What does “the Christ of God” mean, and why keep it quiet?** Peter is right (v20), but the Twelve had to learn what kind of Messiah He was — “Before they could preach that Jesus was the Messiah, they had to learn what that meant” (Guzik). So Jesus immediately adds “must suffer” (v22). Sproul: knowing who He is is not the same as trusting Him; the demons know.\n\n**What is the daily cross?** Not a hard circumstance I endure, but a death I choose: “Carrying a cross always led to death on a cross” (Guzik). Only Luke says “daily.” Sproul: “You cannot follow Christ and yourself.” Henry: “We must accustom ourselves to all instances of self-denial and patience.”\n\n**Who would “see the kingdom of God” before death (v27)?** Luke goes straight on to “Some eight days after these sayings” (v28), and Sproul preaches verse 27 with the transfiguration. I read the mountain as a preview: three of those “standing here” saw the King in His glory before they died — a foretaste of the kingdom He will set up when He comes in glory (v26; Dan 7:13–14).\n\n**What was the “departure”?** *Exodos* (v31). Moses led the first exodus; Jesus would “accomplish” a greater one at Jerusalem — His death, resurrection and ascension (v51). Guzik (with Trapp) hears the echo of Israel leaving Egypt. Sproul: Moses’ face reflected glory; Jesus’ glory was His own.\n\n**Why could the disciples not cast out the demon?** Jesus names unbelief (v41). Guzik adds Matthew 17:21, prayer and fasting (a verse some manuscripts lack), and sees mercy in the failure: “Their failure taught them.” Sproul thinks Jesus’ sharpest frustration was with His own commissioned men. Spurgeon sees the demon’s last throw as the enemy’s fury just before deliverance.\n\n**“He who is not against you is for you” (v50) — and Luke 11:23?** In 11:23 Jesus says, “He who is not with Me is against Me.” The two fit: about Christ Himself there is no neutral ground; about other workers who serve in His name, do not be narrow. Sproul: John showed “a spirit contrary to authentic discipleship.” Henry: “We need not lose any of our friends, while we have so few, and so many enemies.”\n\n**Are verses 55b–56a Scripture?** The NASB brackets “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them,” because many early manuscripts lack it; the KJV includes it. Either way, verse 55 says He “rebuked them,” and the bracketed words match what Jesus says of Himself in 19:10.\n\n**Was the man’s father already dead (v59)?** Spurgeon: “We do not even know that his father was dead.” Guzik (quoting Morrison): he “was torn between the right and right.” Elijah let Elisha go home first (1 Kings 19:20); Jesus does not — the King’s business comes first.\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **power — *dynamis* (G1411) / authority — *exousia* (G1849):** ability and delegated right, both given (v1).\n- **beheaded — *apokephalizō* (G607):** four NT uses, all of John the Baptist.\n- **blessed — *eulogeō* (G2127):** took, blessed, broke, gave (v16; cf. 24:30).\n- **baskets — *kophinos* (G2894):** twelve full (v17).\n- **must — *dei* (G1163):** the divine necessity of the cross (v22; 24:26).\n- **deny — *arneomai* (G720):** to disown — oneself (v23), or, as Peter later, the Lord (22:57).\n- **life — *psychē* (G5590):** the self saved by losing it (v24).\n- **departure — *exodos* (G1841):** three NT uses — Luke 9:31; Heb 11:22; 2 Pet 1:15.\n- **Chosen One — *eklegomai* (G1586):** “My Son, My Chosen One” (v35; 6:13; 23:35; Isa 42:1).\n- **only — *monogenēs* (G3439):** “my only boy” (v38; 7:12; 8:42).\n- **greater — *meizōn* (G3187):** the disciples’ argument (v46; 22:24).\n- **ascension — *analēmpsis* (G354):** only here in the NT (v51).\n- **set (His face) — *stērizō* (G4741):** fixed, made firm (v51; Isa 50:7).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **Authority is borrowed** — the Twelve had no power of their own (Sproul).\n2. **Herod’s question is the chapter’s question** — “who is this man?” (v9).\n3. **He feeds through His disciples** — “You give them something to eat!” (v13).\n4. **“Must” means the cross was planned** — *dei* (v22).\n5. **The cross is daily** — only Luke says so (v23).\n6. **His death is an exodus** — *exodos* (v31).\n7. **His glory is His own** — not reflected like Moses’ (Sproul).\n8. **Listen to Him** — and Jesus was found alone (vv35–36).\n9. **Failure can teach** (Guzik).\n10. **A set face, not a hard heart** — determined, and merciful (vv51–56).\n\n**Cross-references:** Exod 34:29–35; Deut 18:15; 34:5–6; 1 Kings 19:19–21; 2 Kings 1:10–12; 2:11; Isa 42:1; 50:7; 53:3; Dan 7:13–14; Matt 16:13–28; 17:1–21; Mark 8:27–9:41; Luke 2:49; 4:43; 7:12–15; 11:23; 19:10; 22:24–27; 23:8, 35; 24:26; John 1:14; 6:35; Acts 1:2, 9–11; Gal 2:20; Heb 11:22; 2 Pet 1:15–18.", "A": "**Example to follow — the Twelve with nothing in their bags.** Jesus sent them out with power and authority and almost nothing else (vv1–3). I want to be ready before I go — the right words, enough money, enough time clean. He sends men who are depending on Him. This week I will say yes to the man He puts in front of me, even if I feel I have nothing to bring.\n\n**Sin to confess — Herod’s curiosity without repentance.** Herod wanted to see Jesus but never dealt with John’s blood on his hands (v9). I can be interested in Jesus — studies, sermons, videos — and keep a guilt I won’t name. Sproul is right: the only cure for guilt is forgiveness. I name it to Him today, and I take His forgiveness as a fact, whether I feel it yet or not (1 John 1:9).\n\n**Command to obey — “You give them something to eat!” and “take up his cross daily.”** He still hands His bread through our hands (vv13, 16). And He still asks for a daily “no” to myself (v23) — to my pride when I’m corrected, my comfort when a brother calls at 11 p.m., my need to look good in group. Not once; daily.\n\n**Truth to face — I would rather build a tent than listen.** Peter wanted to stay on the mountain (v33). I like the high moments — the retreat, the breakthrough, the good meeting — and I want to camp there. The Father’s word is not “build Him a shelter” but “listen to Him!” (v35). Then they walked down into the valley where a father was crying. That is where listening leads.\n\n**Promise to trust — He came to save men’s lives.** James and John wanted fire on the village that refused Him (v54). Jesus rebuked them and went on to another village. The men who reject Him — and the man I used to be — are the men He came to save (v56; 19:10). I can stop calling down fire and start walking to the next village.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. Herod wanted to see Jesus but never repented of what he did to John. Is there a guilt I am curious about Jesus over, but not yet confessing to Him? (9:7–9; 1 John 1:9) *The only cure for guilt is forgiveness (Sproul).*\n2. Jesus told the disciples, “You give them something to eat!” when they had almost nothing. What need in front of me am I trying to send away instead of bringing my little to Him? (9:12–17) *He challenged both their faith and their compassion (Guzik).*\n3. If Jesus asked me today, “But who do you say that I am?” what would my honest answer be — and does my week show it? (9:18–20; James 2:19) *Knowing who He is is not enough; the demons know (Sproul).*\n4. What does “take up his cross daily” look like on an ordinary Tuesday for me — at work, at home, in my recovery? (9:23–25; Gal 2:20) *Deny himself and take up his cross are the same idea (Guzik).*\n5. Peter wanted to build tents and stay on the mountain. Where am I trying to hold on to a spiritual high instead of listening to Jesus and walking down into the valley with Him? (9:33–37) *This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!*\n6. Which of the three men on the road sounds most like me — the eager one, the “first let me” one, or the one looking back? What would it take to put my hand to the plow? (9:57–62) *Once you sign up, you are in for the duration (Sproul).*\n\n**Worship.** The Christ of God fed five thousand from a boy’s supper and shone on the mountain with a glory that was His own. The Law and the Prophets bowed to talk with Him about His exodus, and the Father said, “listen to Him.” Then He came down, healed an only son, took a child in His arms, and set His face like flint toward the cross — for me.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, You are the Christ of God, the Father’s Chosen One. Forgive me for wanting to see You without wanting to be changed. Take my five loaves and use them. Teach me to deny myself and take up my cross today — not tomorrow, not after I take care of something first. When I want to stay on the mountain, make me listen to You; when I want fire, give me Your mercy. Keep my hand on the plow and my eyes on You. Amen."}, "42:10": {"O": "**Setting.** On the road to Jerusalem (9:51), Jesus appoints seventy others and sends them in pairs to every city He will visit (vv1–16). They return with joy (vv17–20), and Jesus rejoices in the Holy Spirit and speaks privately to the disciples (vv21–24). A lawyer tests Him, and He tells of a man on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho (vv25–37). Then He enters a village and the home of Martha and Mary (vv38–42).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–16 — **the seventy sent:** sent in pairs ahead of Him (v1); the harvest is plentiful, pray for laborers (v2); lambs among wolves; carry nothing; greet no one (vv3–4); “Peace be to this house” (vv5–7); heal and say “The kingdom of God has come near” (vv8–9); wipe off the dust; more tolerable for Sodom (vv10–12); woe to Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum (vv13–15); who listens to you listens to Me (v16).\n- vv17–20 — **the seventy return:** “even the demons are subject to us” (v17); Satan falling like lightning (v18); authority over serpents and scorpions (v19); rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven (v20).\n- vv21–24 — **Jesus rejoices:** rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit; hidden from the wise, revealed to infants (v21); the Father and the Son know each other (v22); blessed are the eyes which see (vv23–24).\n- vv25–37 — **the neighbor:** “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (v25); love God, love your neighbor; “do this and you will live” (vv26–28); “And who is my neighbor?” (v29); robbers, a priest, a Levite, a Samaritan (vv30–35); “Which of these three … proved to be a neighbor?” — “Go and do the same” (vv36–37).\n- vv38–42 — **the one thing:** Martha welcomes Him (v38); Mary at the Lord’s feet, listening (v39); Martha distracted — “do You not care?” (v40); “Martha, Martha … only one thing is necessary … the good part” (vv41–42).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “see / saw / seen” ×8 — vv23 (×2), 24 (×3), 31, 32, 33; “saw him” ×3 — vv31, 32, 33.\n- “Lord” ×8 — vv1, 2, 17, 21, 27, 39, 40, 41.\n- “hear / listen(s) / listening” ×6 — vv16 (×2), 24 (×3), 39.\n- “Martha / Mary” ×6 — Martha vv38, 40, 41 (×2); Mary vv39, 42.\n- “city / cities” ×5 — vv1, 8, 10, 11, 12; “house” ×5 — vv5 (×2), 7 (×3).\n- “Father” ×5 — vv21 (×2), 22 (×3); “Son” ×3 — v22 (×3).\n- “reject(s)” ×4 — v16 (×4); “send / sent” ×4 — vv1, 2, 3, 16.\n- “heaven” ×4 — vv15, 18, 20, 21.\n- “harvest” ×3 — v2 (×3); “laborer(s)” ×3 — vv2 (×2), 7.\n- “peace” ×3 — vv5, 6 (×2); “rejoice / rejoiced” ×3 — vv20 (×2), 21.\n- “neighbor” ×3 — vv27, 29, 36; “do” (the lawyer’s word) ×3 — vv25, 28, 37.\n- “care” ×3 — vv34, 35, 40.\n- “kingdom of God … come near” ×2 — vv9, 11; “more tolerable” ×2 — vv12, 14; “Woe” ×2 — v13; “passed by on the other side” ×2 — vv31, 32; “subject” ×2 — vv17, 20.\n\n**Contrasts:** Plentiful harvest ⟷ few laborers (v2). Lambs ⟷ wolves (v3). A man of peace ⟷ peace returned (v6). Receive ⟷ reject (vv8–16). Galilean towns ⟷ Tyre, Sidon, Sodom (vv12–15). Exalted to heaven ⟷ brought down to Hades (v15). Spirits subject ⟷ names recorded (v20). Wise and intelligent ⟷ infants (v21). Prophets and kings who longed ⟷ disciples who see (vv23–24). “Who is my neighbor?” ⟷ “Which … proved to be a neighbor?” (vv29, 36). Priest and Levite ⟷ Samaritan (vv31–33). Martha’s many things ⟷ one thing (vv41–42).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** outward and then inward. Verses 1–24 send disciples out and bring them back rejoicing; verses 25–37 show love going out to a stranger on the road; verses 38–42 bring everything back to one woman sitting still at Jesus’ feet.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus sends His people into a ripe harvest with His authority and His peace, and He wants their deepest joy to be grace — names written in heaven. Love for God shows up as love that stops on the road for the wounded, and all of it flows from the one necessary thing: sitting at His feet and listening to His word.", "I": "**Seventy or seventy-two?** The NASB reads seventy and notes that some manuscripts read seventy-two; Sproul uses seventy-two, Guzik and Henry seventy. Henry hears the seventy elders of Numbers 11. The number is not the point; the harvest is.\n\n**What did “lambs in the midst of wolves” mean for them?** Defenseless men depending on God for protection and on hospitality for bread. Spurgeon: “the lambs and the sheep are very defenseless.” Later Jesus will tell them to take purse and bag (22:35–36), as Spurgeon notes — this mission was a special assignment.\n\n**Are there degrees of judgment?** Yes. “More tolerable … for Sodom than for that city” (v12). Sproul: “Some sins are far more egregious than others.” Spurgeon: “Hearing and rejecting the gospel is the crowning sin of all.” The more light a man has seen, the heavier his accountability.\n\n**What did Jesus mean, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning” (v18)?** Guzik: the phrase “doesn’t mean that Satan fell *from* heaven, but that his fall was as dramatic and sudden as a bolt of lightning,” since Satan “still has access to heaven” (Job 1:12; Zech 3:1); his fall was real judgment, “though not complete judgment, which still awaits.” Sproul: Satan’s power fell because of the ministry done in Jesus’ name. I read the mission as a down payment on the final defeat still to come — Satan thrown down (Rev 12:9) and finally judged (Rev 20:10).\n\n**Why not rejoice in power?** Because gifts prove nothing about grace. Spurgeon: “We cannot judge character by gift.” Henry: “Saving graces are more to be rejoiced in than spiritual gifts.” Guzik: “Some people get emotionally intoxicated after successful service.” A name written in heaven (*engraphō*, perfect tense) stands written.\n\n**Hidden from the wise, revealed to infants — is that fair?** Sproul calls it “one of the most difficult aspects of doctrine,” and answers that grace is “altogether undeserved and unmerited.” Spurgeon: “It is not ignorance which God loves, but conceit that he hates.” Jesus did not merely tolerate the Father’s choice; He rejoiced in it — the only time the Gospels say He rejoiced (Guzik, Spurgeon).\n\n**Was the lawyer’s answer right?** Yes — Jesus says so (v28). The trouble is that no one keeps it. Sproul: “You cannot understand grace if you do not understand the law.” “Do this and you will live” drives an honest man to admit he hasn’t, and the lawyer instead tried to justify himself (v29).\n\n**Is Jesus the Good Samaritan?** Our teachers differ in emphasis. Henry reads it as a picture of the gospel: “We were like this poor distressed traveller … then comes the blessed Jesus, that good Samaritan.” Spurgeon cautions against straining the parable but says Christ “has done better than the good Samaritan, because our case was worse.” Guzik lists “many ways that the Samaritan was like Jesus” without making it the main point. Sproul keeps to the lawyer’s question. I hold both: the first meaning is a command — “Go and do the same” — and the deeper reason I can obey it is that Jesus came down my road and stopped for me.\n\n**Who is my neighbor?** Jesus never answers the lawyer’s question; He changes it. Not “Who qualifies to be loved by me?” but “Will I prove to be a neighbor?” Guzik: “My neighbor is the one with a need right in front of me,” even the one others “might consider my enemy.” Sproul: not a universal brotherhood but “the universal neighborhood of God.”\n\n**Was Martha wrong to serve?** No. Guzik: “Martha did nothing wrong in working hard for Jesus.” Sproul: “This was not a contrast, but a comparative analysis.” Spurgeon: “Her fault was not that she served” but that “she grew cumbered.” Henry: “Care is good and duty; but cumber is sin and folly.” The one thing is sitting at His feet and listening to His word.\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **send — *apostellō* (G649):** to send on a mission; vv1, 3, 16.\n- **peace — *eirēnē* (G1515):** shalom; “a son of peace” (v6, KJV).\n- **subject — *hypotassō* (G5293):** to rank under; vv17, 20; 2:51.\n- **recorded — *engraphō* (G1449):** written in a register; Luke 10:20; 2 Cor 3:2–3.\n- **rejoiced greatly — *agalliaō* (G21):** exult; 1:47; 10:21.\n- **infants — *nēpios* (G3516):** babes, the simple; v21.\n- **justify — *dikaioō* (G1344):** to show oneself righteous; v29; 16:15; 18:14.\n- **felt compassion — *splanchnizomai* (G4697):** gut-level mercy; 7:13; 10:33; 15:20.\n- **distracted — *perispaō* (G4049):** pulled every direction; only Luke 10:40.\n- **worried — *merimnaō* (G3309):** anxious care; 10:41; 12:22–26.\n- **part — *meris* (G3310):** portion, share; Luke 10:42; Col 1:12.\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **Pray, then be the answer** (vv2–3; Guzik).\n2. **Sent men carry the Sender** — *apostellō* (v16).\n3. **Rejecting light is the heaviest sin** (vv12–15; Spurgeon).\n4. **Satan fell like lightning** — real judgment, not yet complete (Guzik).\n5. **Grace outranks gifts** (v20; Henry).\n6. **The only time He is said to rejoice** (v21).\n7. **Grace hides and reveals** — and no one can boast (Sproul).\n8. **The law drives us to grace** (vv26–29; Sproul).\n9. **Compassion has verbs** (vv33–35).\n10. **Service can crowd out the Savior** (vv40–42).\n\n**Cross-references:** Lev 19:18; Num 11:16–25; Deut 6:5; Job 1:12; Ps 27:4; Isa 14:12–15; 52:7; Dan 12:1; Zech 3:1; Matt 5:44; 9:37–38; 11:20–27; 22:37–40; Luke 7:13; 9:1–6, 51–56; 15:20; 18:14; 22:35–36; John 11:1–5; 12:1–3; Rom 3:24; 1 Cor 1:27–29; Col 1:12; 1 John 4:20; Rev 12:9; 20:10–15; 21:27.", "A": "**Command to obey — pray for laborers, then go.** Jesus told the seventy to pray to the Lord of the harvest, and in the next breath said, “Go” (vv2–3). I pray for men in my group, guys at the facility, my own family — and then I wait for someone else to show up. This week I will be the answer to one of my own prayers: a visit, a call, a ride, a Bible open on a table.\n\n**Sin to confess — rejoicing in the wrong thing.** I like it when ministry “works” — when a man opens up, when a study goes well, when someone thanks me. Jesus says that is not the deepest joy (v20). If my joy rises and falls with results, I am standing on sight, not faith. I confess that, and I thank God that my name was written in heaven by grace, not by my record.\n\n**Truth to face — I have passed by on the other side.** The priest and the Levite both “saw him” (vv31–32). So have I — the man asking for help outside the store, the brother who relapsed and stopped coming, the guy nobody sits with. I have had good excuses. Spurgeon says nobody refuses to help without at least one admirable excuse. Jesus asks, “Which of these three … proved to be a neighbor?”\n\n**Promise to trust — He came down my road.** I was the man half dead in the ditch — stripped, beaten, left. The Law could see me but could not lift me. Jesus came to me, bandaged me, paid for me, and promised to come back (v35). Because He proved to be my neighbor, I can “go and do the same” (v37) without trying to earn anything.\n\n**Example to follow — Mary at His feet.** Martha was serving Jesus and losing Jesus at the same time (v40). That is my danger as a man who leads groups and builds things for the ministry. Before I serve this week, I will sit — Bible open, phone down — and listen to His word. Only one thing is necessary, and it will not be taken away.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. Jesus told the seventy to pray for laborers and then sent them (vv2–3). Who is the one person I have been praying would hear about Jesus — and what would it look like for me to be the answer to that prayer? (10:2–3; Matt 9:37–38) *God would use them to answer their own prayers (Guzik).*\n2. Jesus said it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for the towns that saw His miracles and did not repent. What have I seen God do that still has not changed the way I live? (10:12–15) *It is good to be made sensible of our advantages and opportunities (Henry).*\n3. What do I rejoice in most — what God does through me, or that my name is written in heaven? How would my week look different if it were the second? (10:17–20; Rev 21:27) *Grace without talent will save (Spurgeon).*\n4. Jesus thanked the Father for revealing these things to “infants.” Where does my pride or my need to look smart keep me from receiving what God wants to show me? (10:21–24; 1 Cor 1:27–29) *It is not ignorance which God loves, but conceit that he hates (Spurgeon).*\n5. Like the lawyer, where am I trying to make “neighbor” small enough to be manageable? Who is the man on my road I keep passing on the other side? (10:29–37; 1 John 4:20) *My neighbor is the one with a need right in front of me (Guzik).*\n6. Am I more like Martha or Mary this week? What would it take for me to sit at Jesus’ feet before I start serving? (10:38–42; Ps 27:4) *Serve the Master, but do not break your fellowship (Spurgeon).*\n\n**Worship.** The Lord of the harvest sends lambs among wolves and goes after them. He watched Satan fall like lightning, wrote my name in heaven, and rejoiced in the Spirit that the Father reveals Himself to infants. He is the One who knows the Father and makes Him known, the true Neighbor who came down the Jericho road, and the Teacher whose word is the one thing necessary.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, send laborers into Your harvest — and send me. Keep me from rejoicing more in what I do for You than in what You have done for me. Thank You that my name is written in heaven. Open my eyes to the man on my road, and give me compassion that has hands and feet. When I am worried and bothered about many things, sit me down at Your feet and let me listen to Your word. That good part I choose today. Amen."}, "42:11": {"O": "**Setting.** Somewhere on the road to Jerusalem (9:51), Jesus finishes praying and a disciple asks Him to teach them (v1). He gives the prayer (vv2–4), a parable and a promise (vv5–13). Then He casts out a mute demon, and the crowd splits — some say “Beelzebul,” others demand a sign (vv14–16). As the crowds grow He speaks of Jonah, Solomon and the lamp (vv29–36). A Pharisee invites Him to lunch, and the meal ends in six woes and a plot (vv37–54).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–4 — **the pattern prayer:** “Lord, teach us to pray” (v1); “Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come” (v2); daily bread (v3); forgiveness as we forgive; “lead us not into temptation” (v4).\n- vv5–13 — **ask, seek, knock:** a friend at midnight, three loaves, a shut door (vv5–7); “because of his persistence” (v8); ask, seek, knock (vv9–10); fish not snake, egg not scorpion (vv11–12); “how much more … the Holy Spirit” (v13).\n- vv14–28 — **the stronger Man:** a mute man speaks (v14); “by Beelzebul” and “a sign from heaven” (vv15–16); a divided kingdom (vv17–19); “the finger of God” (v20); the strong man and someone stronger (vv21–22); with Me or against Me (v23); the unclean spirit returns with seven (vv24–26); “blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” (vv27–28).\n- vv29–36 — **the sign of Jonah:** a wicked generation seeks a sign (v29); Jonah and the Son of Man (v30); the Queen of the South and the men of Nineveh — “something greater … is here” (vv31–32); the lamp on the lampstand (v33); the eye, the body, light and darkness (vv34–36).\n- vv37–54 — **six woes:** lunch at a Pharisee’s house; no ceremonial washing (vv37–38); outside of the cup, inside of you (vv39–41); three woes to Pharisees — tithe, chief seats, concealed tombs (vv42–44); a lawyer objects (v45); three woes to lawyers — burdens, tombs of the prophets, the key of knowledge (vv46–52); hostility and plotting (vv53–54).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “give / given” ×10 — vv7, 8 (×2), 9, 11, 12, 13 (×2), 29, 41.\n- “generation” ×7 — vv29 (×2), 30, 31, 32, 50, 51; “this generation” ×6 — vv29, 30, 31, 32, 50, 51.\n- “demon / demons” ×7 — vv14 (×2), 15 (×2), 18, 19, 20; “Beelzebul” ×3 — vv15, 18, 19.\n- “light / lamp” ×7 — vv33 (×2), 34 (×2), 35, 36 (×2); “darkness” ×2 — vv34, 35; “body” ×4 — vv34 (×3), 36.\n- “ask / asks / asked” ×6 — vv9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 37; “seek / seeks” ×3 — vv9, 10, 29; “find / finds” ×3 — vv9, 10, 25; “knock / knocks” ×2 — vv9, 10.\n- “woe” ×6 — vv42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 52.\n- “Pharisee(s)” ×6 — vv37, 38, 39, 42, 43, 53; “lawyers” ×3 — vv45, 46, 52.\n- “sign” ×5 — vv16, 29 (×3), 30.\n- “kingdom” ×4 — vv2, 17, 18, 20; “house” ×4 — vv17, 21, 24, 51.\n- “inside / within” ×4 — vv7, 39, 40, 41; “outside” ×2 — vv39, 40.\n- “Jonah” ×4 — vv29, 30, 32 (×2); “Solomon” ×2 — v31 (×2); “greater” ×2 — vv31, 32.\n- “prophets” ×3 — vv47, 49, 50; “tombs” ×3 — vv44, 47, 48; “blood” ×3 — vv50, 51 (×2).\n- “friend” ×3 — vv5, 6, 8; “Father” ×2 — vv2, 13.\n\n**Contrasts:** A sleepy neighbor ⟷ a heavenly Father (vv7, 13). Fish ⟷ snake, egg ⟷ scorpion; you being evil ⟷ how much more (vv11–13). Beelzebul ⟷ the finger of God (vv15, 20). The strong man ⟷ someone stronger (vv21–22). With Me ⟷ against Me; gather ⟷ scatter (v23). Swept and in order ⟷ seven worse spirits (vv25–26). The womb that bore You ⟷ those who hear and observe (vv27–28). Jonah and Solomon ⟷ something greater (vv31–32). Clear eye ⟷ bad eye; light ⟷ darkness (vv34–35). Outside ⟷ inside (vv39–40). Mint and rue ⟷ justice and the love of God (v42). Building tombs ⟷ killing prophets (vv47–48). Holding the key ⟷ not entering (v52).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** it opens at a place of prayer and closes at a hostile table. The first half is about the Father who gives; the second half is about people who will not receive — they slander the Son’s power, demand signs, and keep the outside of the cup clean.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** The Father gives good things — above all His Spirit — to children who keep asking. Jesus is the Stronger One and the greater sign, and He will not settle for clean hands and a dirty heart, in Pharisees or in me.", "I": "**Why is Luke’s Lord’s Prayer shorter than Matthew’s?** Luke gives it in a different setting (a disciple’s request on the road) from Matthew (the Sermon on the Mount). Jesus likely taught it more than once. Guzik: it is “a marvel of powerful prayer put in simple terms.” Sproul: “This is the example to show you how you should pray” — a pattern, not only words to recite.\n\n**Does persistent prayer wear God down?** No. The parable argues from lesser to greater: if a grumpy neighbor gets up for shameless knocking, how much more a Father. Henry: “Not that God can be wrought upon by importunity.” Guzik: “Our persistence doesn’t change God; it changes us.” Sproul: “The purpose of asking is not for God’s benefit. It is for us.”\n\n**Who seeks God?** Sproul argues that the unconverted do not truly seek God — “You do not begin to seek God until you are converted” — and he reads Revelation 3:20 as addressed to a church. Many evangelicals, including teachers in this series, freely invite sinners to seek and knock. Both agree that verse 9 is a command and a promise for disciples, and that the Father gives the Spirit “to those who ask Him.”\n\n**What is “the finger of God”?** The phrase of Pharaoh’s magicians (Exod 8:19): a power no magic could copy. Matthew says “the Spirit of God” (12:28). If the finger of God is driving out demons, “the kingdom of God has come upon you” (v20) — the King is present, and the strong man is being bound.\n\n**Can a person be cleaned up and still lost?** Verses 24–26 say yes. Spurgeon: “This is conversion, the other was only conviction; this is change of heart, the other was only change of life.” Guzik: “He did not come to merely empty the house, but to fill it with Himself.” Sproul: casting out is not enough unless the Spirit fills.\n\n**Does verse 28 demean Mary?** No. Guzik: “This does not demean Mary; but it does honor and bless the one who hears and keeps God’s word.” Sproul: “as blessed as Mary was to be His mother, you are even more blessed.”\n\n**What is the sign of Jonah?** Matthew stresses the three days and nights (12:40); Luke stresses the preaching that brought Nineveh to repentance (v32). Henry and Sproul both see the resurrection: “God has already provided you with the ultimate sign” (Sproul). Guzik: “Jesus Himself is the sign.”\n\n**What is a “clear” eye?** *Haplous* — single, undivided. Henry: “Take heed that the eye of the mind be not blinded by partiality, and prejudice, and sinful aims.” The trouble is not a shortage of light but eyes that will not receive it.\n\n**Why such hard words at a dinner?** The host was offended that Jesus did not wash — a tradition, not a command of the Law. Jesus answers the heart behind the surprise. Sproul: “No human being ever sat down for dinner with cleaner hands than Jesus Christ.” He is not against tithing (“without neglecting the others,” v42) but against majoring on trifles. Henry: “It is a common thing for unhumbled sinners to call and count reproofs reproaches.”\n\n**Who is Zechariah (v51)?** Most take him as Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, the priest stoned in the temple court at King Joash’s order (2 Chron 24:20–22). Abel is the first murder in the Hebrew Bible and Zechariah the last in its order, which ends with Chronicles — “from A to Z,” the whole record of martyred prophets.\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **hallowed — *hagiazō* (G37):** “let Your name be treated as holy” (aorist passive imperative).\n- **daily — *epiousios* (G1967):** only Matt 6:11; Luke 11:3; “needed for the day.”\n- **persistence — *anaideia* (G335):** “shamelessness,” only here in the NT.\n- **ask — *aiteō* (G154):** present imperatives in v9, “keep asking.”\n- **finger — *daktylos* (G1147):** vv20, 46; Exod 8:19.\n- **stronger — *ischyroteros* (G2478):** the comparative of “strong”; Luke 3:16.\n- **sign — *sēmeion* (G4592):** ×5 in vv16–30.\n- **clear — *haplous* (G573):** single, undivided; only Matt 6:22; Luke 11:34.\n- **woe — *ouai* (G3759):** ×6 in vv42–52.\n- **key — *kleis* (G2807):** “the key of knowledge” (v52).\n- **catch — *thēreuō* (G2340):** to hunt, trap; only Luke 11:54.\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **They asked to be taught after watching Him** (v1).\n2. **God’s name before my needs** — two “Your” requests, then three “us.”\n3. **Shameless asking** — *anaideia* (v8).\n4. **Keep asking** — present imperatives (v9).\n5. **The best gift is the Spirit** (v13).\n6. **One finger of God** — vv20 and 46.\n7. **A clean, empty house is not safe** (vv24–26).\n8. **Hearing and keeping beats every privilege** (v28).\n9. **Jesus is the sign** (vv29–32).\n10. **The worst woe is a locked door** (v52).\n\n**Cross-references:** Exod 8:19; 1 Kings 10:1–10; 2 Kings 1:2; 2 Chron 24:20–22; Isa 49:24–25; Jonah 3:5; Matt 6:9–13; 7:7–11; 12:22–45; 23:1–36; Luke 3:16, 21; 6:12; 9:51; 10:38–42; John 8:12; Rom 8:32; 2 Thess 2:9; Jas 1:17.", "A": "**Command to obey — pray, and keep praying.** The disciples didn’t ask Jesus to teach them to preach; they asked Him to teach them to pray. I can talk about God all day and still not talk to Him. This week I will pray the pattern — His name, His kingdom, my bread, my forgiveness, my protection — every morning, out loud if I have to. And I will stop quitting on the things I have asked for. Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking.\n\n**Promise to trust — the Father gives the Spirit.** Some of the men I serve grew up with fathers who handed out snakes and scorpions. Our heavenly Father doesn’t. “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” I don’t have to earn Him; I ask.\n\n**Sin to confess — the swept, empty house.** Plenty of us know what it is to clean up — stop drinking, stop using, go to meetings, get life “in order” — and leave the house empty. Jesus says that is the most dangerous place to be. I confess the places where I have reformed without surrendering, and I ask the Stronger One to move in and stay.\n\n**Truth to face — clean hands, dirty heart.** I can keep the outside of the cup spotless and still be full of grabbing and resentment inside. Jesus made the inside too. I want to be the man who lifts other men’s burdens, not the one who adds rules and won’t lift a finger.\n\n**Example to follow — hear the word and keep it.** The woman blessed Mary; Jesus blessed the one who hears God’s word and does it. That blessing is open to every man in my group, whatever his record.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. The disciples asked to be taught to pray after watching Jesus pray. If someone watched my life this week, what would make him want to pray? (11:1; 5:16) *They asked after He had finished praying.*\n2. Which of the five requests in the Lord’s Prayer do I skip most — God’s name, His kingdom, bread, forgiveness or protection — and why? (11:2–4; Matt 6:9–13) *His glory first, then our needs.*\n3. Where have I quit asking God for something, and what would “shameless” persistence look like there? (11:5–10) *Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking.*\n4. Jesus says a cleaned-up life with no one living in it ends worse than it began. What have I swept out of my life that I have not yet let Christ fill? (11:24–26) *Change of heart, not only change of life (Spurgeon).*\n5. What signs do I still demand from God before I will trust Him, when He has already given the sign of the risen Jesus? (11:29–32; 1 Cor 15:3–4) *Jesus Himself is the sign (Guzik).*\n6. Where am I clean on the outside and dirty on the inside — and is there anyone I am weighing down with burdens I will not lift myself? (11:39–46) *Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?*\n\n**Worship.** Father, hallowed be Your name. You are the Father who gives good gifts and the Holy Spirit to those who ask; Jesus is the Stronger One who overpowered the strong man and divides his plunder; He is greater than Solomon and greater than Jonah, the Light that makes a whole body full of light.\n\n**Prayer.** Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give me today what I need, forgive me as I forgive the men who owe me, and keep me out of temptation. Teach me to keep asking. Fill me with Your Spirit — don’t let me be a swept, empty house. Clean the inside of the cup, and make me a man who opens the door for others instead of locking it. In Jesus’ name, Amen."}, "42:12": {"O": "**Setting.** “Under these circumstances” (v1) — right after the scribes and Pharisees began plotting (11:53–54) — a crowd of many thousands presses in, stepping on one another. Jesus speaks first to His disciples (vv1–12), then answers a man in the crowd about an inheritance (vv13–21), turns back to His disciples (vv22–53, with Peter’s question at v41), and finally addresses the crowds (vv54–59).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–12 — **whom to fear:** the leaven of the Pharisees, hypocrisy (v1); nothing covered will stay covered (vv2–3); do not fear those who kill the body; fear Him who can cast into hell (vv4–5); five sparrows, numbered hairs (vv6–7); confess Me before men (vv8–9); blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (v10); the Spirit will teach you what to say (vv11–12).\n- vv13–21 — **the rich fool:** “tell my brother to divide the family inheritance” (v13); “who appointed Me a judge?” (v14); beware every form of greed (v15); productive land, bigger barns, “Soul … take your ease” (vv16–19); “You fool! This very night” (v20); not rich toward God (v21).\n- vv22–34 — **seek His kingdom:** do not worry about life, food, clothing (vv22–23); consider the ravens (v24); worry cannot add an hour (vv25–26); consider the lilies (vv27–28); do not keep worrying; your Father knows (vv29–30); seek His kingdom (v31); little flock (v32); sell, give, treasure in heaven (v33); where your treasure is (v34).\n- vv35–48 — **be ready:** lamps lit, waiting for the master from the wedding (vv35–36); the master serves the ready slaves (vv37–38); the thief and the unexpected hour (vv39–40); Peter: “to us, or to everyone?” (v41); the faithful steward (vv42–44); the abusive steward (vv45–46); many lashes, few lashes; much given, much required (vv47–48).\n- vv49–59 — **fire and the present time:** fire on the earth; a baptism to undergo (vv49–50); not peace but division, three against two (vv51–53); clouds from the west, wind from the south (vv54–55); “You hypocrites! … why do you not analyze this present time?” (v56); settle on the way to the magistrate, or pay the last cent (vv57–59).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “fear / afraid” ×6 — vv4, 5 (×3), 7, 32; “worry / worrying” ×5 — vv11, 22, 25, 26, 29.\n- “God” ×7 — vv6, 8, 9, 20, 21, 24, 28; “Father” ×2 — vv30, 32.\n- “slave / slaves” ×7 — vv37, 38, 43, 45 (×2), 46, 47; “master” ×7 — vv36, 37, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47.\n- “know / knows / known / knew” ×7 — vv2, 30, 39, 46, 47, 48, 56.\n- “eat / drink” ×7 — vv19 (×2), 22, 29 (×2), 45 (×2).\n- “hour” ×5 — vv12, 25, 39, 40, 46; “ready / readiness” ×3 — vv35, 40, 47.\n- “much” ×5 — vv24, 28, 48 (×3); “how much more” ×2 — vv24, 28.\n- “life” ×4 — vv15, 22, 23, 25; “soul” ×2 — vv19, 20.\n- “judge” ×4 — vv14, 57, 58 (×2).\n- “treasure” ×3 — vv21, 33, 34; “possessions” ×3 — vv15, 33, 44; “goods” ×2 — vv18, 19.\n- “Blessed / blessed” ×3 — vv37, 38, 43; “Son of Man” ×3 — vv8, 10, 40.\n- “seek” ×3 — vv29, 30, 31; “kingdom” ×2 — vv31, 32.\n- “divided / division” ×3 — vv51, 52, 53; “Holy Spirit” ×2 — vv10, 12; “Beware” ×2 — vv1, 15.\n- “Do not fear / do not be afraid / do not worry” ×6 — vv4, 7, 11, 22, 29, 32.\n\n**Contrasts:** Covered ⟷ revealed; dark ⟷ light; inner rooms ⟷ housetops (vv2–3). Those who kill the body ⟷ the One who can cast into hell (vv4–5). Confess ⟷ deny (vv8–9). Many years ⟷ this very night (vv19–20). Treasure for himself ⟷ rich toward God (v21). The nations seek ⟷ your Father knows (v30). Purses that wear out ⟷ an unfailing treasure in heaven (v33). Slaves who serve ⟷ a master who serves them (v37). Faithful steward ⟷ abusive steward (vv42–46). Knew ⟷ did not know; many lashes ⟷ few (vv47–48). Peace ⟷ division (v51). Sky and earth ⟷ this present time (v56).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** four questions — whom do you fear, what do you own, what do you worry about, what will He find you doing? — and then a last call to read the season and settle with God. It moves from hypocrisy now, to death tonight, to the Master’s coming at an unknown hour, to the judge at the end of the road.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** Fear God, not men; be rich toward God, not yourself; trust the Father, not your barns; and live ready, because the Master who will serve His faithful servants is coming at an hour I do not expect.", "I": "**What is “the leaven of the Pharisees”?** Jesus names it: hypocrisy (v1). Leaven spreads quietly (Guzik: “it only takes a little bit of it to affect a great mass”; Sproul: “It will spread like a cancer”). Spurgeon: “Hypocrisy leads a man to pretend to be what he is not.”\n\n**Fear God and do not fear?** Both, in four verses (vv4–7). Fear the One with authority over hell, and do not fear, because He forgets no sparrow. Sproul presses the first half hard — “I cannot find anywhere in the Bible that God loves you or me unconditionally” — while also saying, “Do not fear, for you matter to your Father.” Not every teacher would put God’s love that way; all four agree that the fear of God and the care of God belong together.\n\n**What is the unforgivable sin?** In context it follows the charge that Jesus cast out demons by Beelzebul (11:15). Guzik distinguishes a moment of weakness (Peter’s denial) from settled rejection of the Spirit’s witness to Christ: “It never has forgiveness because it never wants forgiveness God’s way.” Sproul: “I do not believe any Christian ever does or ever will commit the unforgiven sin.” Spurgeon thinks it a mercy we are not told exactly. A man afraid he has committed it is showing the very tenderness that sin lacks.\n\n**Why wouldn’t Jesus settle the inheritance?** He came to save souls, not to arbitrate estates (v14), and He saw the greed under the request. Guzik: “We often mask our covetousness by claiming we are on a righteous crusade.” Spurgeon: “you had better mind your own business.”\n\n**What made the rich man a fool?** Not his harvest. Guzik: “The man’s problem was not in that he had treasure on earth; but that he was not rich toward God.” Henry: he called God’s fruits “his fruits and his goods.” Sproul: “‘Eat, drink, and be merry’ is the creed of the fool.” He said “I” six times and “my” five times and never once said “God.”\n\n**Does “consider the ravens” mean don’t work?** No. Guzik: “Birds don’t just sit with open mouths.” Sproul: work without paralyzing fear. Henry: “Mind the affairs of your souls with diligence and care, and then trust God with all your other affairs.”\n\n**Who is the “little flock”?** Jesus’ disciples, then and now — few, poor and weak (Spurgeon, Henry), but given the kingdom by a Father who does it gladly (*eudokeō*, the word of 3:22).\n\n**Which coming is in view in vv35–48?** The Son of Man coming at an unexpected hour (v40) — His return. I read this, as I do 1 Thessalonians 5:2, as a call to live ready for a coming that could be any time: no sign has to happen first for the Master to knock. Guzik lists trends that may point to nearness but adds, “None of these guarantees that the return of Jesus is soon.” The steward’s sin begins with “My master will be a long time in coming” (v45).\n\n**Is the abusive steward a lost believer?** Sproul: he is a professing believer who was never converted — “You cannot have saving faith and live like the unfaithful steward.” The many and few lashes (vv47–48) show degrees of punishment tied to knowledge. Henry: “Ignorance of our duty is an extenuation of sin,” but knowledge is “an aggravation.”\n\n**What is the “fire” of v49?** The teachers differ. Guzik lays out options — judgment, the Spirit’s power, the gospel spreading after the cross — and notes fire usually signals judgment. Sproul takes it as real judgment, borne by Christ at the cross: “This was real fire.” Henry stresses the division the gospel kindles. John promised a Messiah who would baptize “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (3:16), and both judgment and Pentecost follow the cross. The “baptism” of v50 all agree is the cross (Guzik: “He was immersed in agony”).\n\n**Did Jesus come to divide families?** He came to save; division is the result when some embrace Him and others reject Him (Sproul: “Christ divides”). Henry: “Christ is not the Author of it, as it is the sin of the incendiaries, the persecutors.” Micah 7:6 had described such homes.\n\n**What is “this present time”?** The *kairos* of the Messiah’s visit. The crowd could forecast the weather but not read the season. The magistrate parable (vv57–59) says settle now. Henry: “Now is the accepted time, now or never.”\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **hypocrisy — *hypokrisis* (G5272):** an actor’s mask; “leaven” *zymē* (G2219).\n- **hell — *geenna* (G1067):** the Valley of Hinnom; Luke’s only use (v5).\n- **confess — *homologeō* (G3670):** to say the same thing, acknowledge publicly (v8).\n- **greed — *pleonexia* (G4124):** the itch for more (v15).\n- **fool — *aphrōn* (G878):** mindless (v20); **required — *apaiteō* (G523):** demanded back (v20).\n- **worry — *merimnaō* (G3309):** pulled apart (vv22, 25, 26).\n- **keep worrying — *meteōrizomai* (G3349):** suspended in midair; only Luke 12:29.\n- **flock — *poimnion* (G4168):** Luke 12:32; Acts 20:28–29; 1 Pet 5:2–3.\n- **chosen gladly — *eudokeō* (G2106):** to delight; Luke 3:22.\n- **gird — *perizōnnymi* (G4024):** the servants (v35) and the master (v37).\n- **steward — *oikonomos* (G3623):** a household manager (v42).\n- **fire — *pyr* (G4442); baptism — *baptisma* (G908); distressed — *synechō* (G4912)** (vv49–50).\n- **division — *diamerismos* (G1267):** only Luke 12:51.\n- **time — *kairos* (G2540); analyze — *dokimazō* (G1381); cent — *lepton* (G3016)** (vv56, 59).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **A mask cannot survive the light** (vv1–3).\n2. **The fear that ends all fears** (vv4–7).\n3. **Worried about the unforgivable sin?** No true Christian commits it (Sproul).\n4. **Greed wears a halo** (vv13–15).\n5. **Six I’s, five my’s, no God** (vv17–19).\n6. **Suspended in midair** — *meteōrizomai* (v29).\n7. **The Father gives the kingdom gladly** (v32).\n8. **The Master puts on the apron** (v37).\n9. **Much given, much required** (v48).\n10. **Read the season** (v56).\n\n**Cross-references:** Exod 12:11; Ps 14:1; 23:1; Eccl 12:14; Jer 7:31; Micah 7:6; Matt 6:19–34; 10:26–36; 24:42–51; Mark 10:38, 45; 13:37; Luke 3:16, 22; 6:30; 22:27, 57; Acts 20:28; 1 Cor 4:1; 2 Cor 5:10; Phil 1:23; Col 3:5; 1 Thess 5:2; 1 Tim 6:17; Heb 13:5; 1 Pet 4:10; 5:2–3.", "A": "**Truth to face — the mask.** Hypocrisy is the Pharisee’s leaven, and it grows in me when I care more about how I look in the group than what I am in the “inner rooms.” Nothing covered will stay covered. I would rather bring it into the light now, with Jesus and a brother, than have it proclaimed from the housetops later.\n\n**Command to obey — fear Him, not them.** A lot of us have lived by the fear of men — the crew, the cellblock, the boss, a father’s voice. Jesus says fear the One who holds eternity, and then in the same breath, “Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” This week I will say out loud, to one person, that I belong to Jesus (v8).\n\n**Sin to confess — barns.** I can be a rich fool without being rich: planning everything around “my” stuff, “my” plans, “my” comfort, and leaving God out of the sentence. I confess my greed and my worry — two sides of the same coin, as Guzik says. Today I will give something away that it hurts a little to give.\n\n**Promise to trust — the little flock.** “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.” He doesn’t hand it over grudgingly; He gives it with the delight He has in His Son. I can stop clutching.\n\n**Example to follow — the faithful steward.** Nothing I manage is mine — not my money, my time, my family, or the men God puts in front of me. The Master is coming at an hour I don’t expect. I want Him to find me “so doing” — giving out the rations on time, not beating the other servants or drinking the night away.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. Where am I wearing a mask — saying one thing in public and another in the “inner rooms” — and what would it cost to take it off? (12:1–3) *Nothing covered up will not be revealed.*\n2. Whose opinion do I fear most right now? How does Jesus’ word about sparrows and numbered hairs change that fear? (12:4–7) *Fear Him; do not fear — you are more valuable than many sparrows.*\n3. If God said “this very night” to me, what have I prepared, and whose would it be? Where am I rich toward myself and poor toward God? (12:16–21) *Everything was about him, and nothing was about God (Guzik).*\n4. What do I worry about most, and what would it look like to “seek His kingdom” in that very area this week? (12:22–31) *Your Father knows that you need these things.*\n5. Look at my bank statement and my calendar. Where is my treasure — and so where is my heart? (12:33–34) *The correlation … is a simple fact (Guzik).*\n6. If the Master came tonight, what would He find me doing with what He has entrusted to me — my family, my money, my time, the men I serve? (12:42–48) *From everyone who has been given much, much will be required.*\n\n**Worship.** The God who has authority over hell does not forget one sparrow and has counted every hair on my head. He feeds ravens, dresses lilies, and gladly gives His little flock the kingdom. My Master is coming back from the wedding, and when He finds His servants ready He will put on an apron and serve them. He went through the baptism of the cross so that I could settle my debt on the way.\n\n**Prayer.** Father, take the mask off me and give me a clean heart in the inner rooms. Teach me to fear You and nothing else. Forgive my greed and my worry; make me rich toward You and loose with my barns. I seek Your kingdom today — You know what I need. Keep my lamp lit and my belt tied, and when Jesus comes, let Him find me faithful with what He has put in my hands. Amen."}, "42:13": {"O": "**Setting.** Jesus is on the long road to Jerusalem (9:51; 13:22, 33), teaching crowds in Galilee and Perea. Some report Pilate’s massacre of Galilean worshipers (v1); Jesus adds the collapse of the tower in Siloam (v4). He tells the parable of the fig tree (vv6–9), heals a woman in a synagogue on the Sabbath (vv10–17), tells two kingdom parables (vv18–21), answers a question about the few who are saved (vv22–30), and answers a warning about Herod with a lament over Jerusalem (vv31–35).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–5 — **the tower and the call:** Galileans killed by Pilate (v1); “Do you suppose …?” (vv2, 4); the eighteen in Siloam (v4); “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (vv3, 5).\n- vv6–9 — **the barren fig tree:** three years with no fruit (vv6–7); “Cut it down!” (v7); “Let it alone, sir, for this year too” (v8); fruit next year, or the axe (v9).\n- vv10–17 — **the bent woman loosed:** eighteen years bent double (v11); “Woman, you are freed” — hands laid on her, she stands and glorifies God (vv12–13); the synagogue official’s six days (v14); “You hypocrites” — the ox and donkey untied, the daughter of Abraham released (vv15–16); opponents humiliated, the crowd rejoicing (v17).\n- vv18–21 — **seed and leaven:** the mustard seed that becomes a tree with birds in its branches (vv18–19); leaven hidden in three pecks of flour (vv20–21).\n- vv22–30 — **the narrow door:** on the way to Jerusalem (v22); “are there just a few?” (v23); strive to enter (v24); the door shut — “I do not know where you are from” (vv25–27); weeping, the patriarchs, east and west, last and first (vv28–30).\n- vv31–35 — **the fox and the hen:** “Herod wants to kill You” (v31); “Go and tell that fox” — today, tomorrow, the third day (vv32–33); “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem” — the hen and her brood (v34); the house left desolate — until “BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!” (v35).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “I tell you / I say to you” ×5 — vv3, 5, 24, 27, 35.\n- “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” ×2 — vv3, 5 (word for word); “perish” ×3 — vv3, 5, 33.\n- “Sabbath” ×5 — vv10, 14 (×2), 15, 16.\n- “Jerusalem” ×5 — vv4, 22, 33, 34 (×2).\n- “year(s)” ×5 — vv7, 8, 9, 11, 16; “eighteen” ×3 — vv4, 11, 16.\n- “today / tomorrow / the third day / the next day” ×6 — vv32 (×3), 33 (×3).\n- “freed / untie / released / bond / bound” ×5 — vv12, 15, 16 (×3).\n- “kingdom of God” ×4 — vv18, 20, 28, 29.\n- “like / compare” ×5 — vv18 (×2), 19, 20, 21.\n- “woman” ×4 — vv11, 12, 16, 21.\n- “first / last” ×4 — v30 (×4).\n- “fruit” ×3 — vv6, 7, 9; “door” ×3 — vv24, 25 (×2).\n- “glorifying / glorious / rejoicing” ×3 — vv13, 17 (×2).\n\n**Contrasts:** Worse sinners ⟷ all sinners (vv2–5). Three fruitless years ⟷ one more year (vv7–8). Cut it down ⟷ let it alone (vv7–8). Bound by Satan ⟷ freed by Jesus (vv12, 16). Six days for work ⟷ the Sabbath for release (vv14–16). The humiliated opponents ⟷ the rejoicing crowd (v17). A tiny seed ⟷ a tree; a bit of leaven ⟷ the whole batch (vv19, 21). Seek ⟷ strive (v24). Inside at the table ⟷ outside knocking (vv25–29). Last ⟷ first (v30). The fox ⟷ the hen (vv32, 34). I wanted ⟷ you would not (v34). Desolate now ⟷ “until” you say “Blessed” (v35).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** two warnings (vv1–9), a sign of release (vv10–17), two pictures of the growing kingdom (vv18–21), and two more warnings (vv22–35). The call to repent at the start becomes the door that shuts and the city that refuses at the end — and at the very center, a bent woman stands up straight.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus will not let me look at other people’s disasters without looking at my own heart. God is patient, Jesus is a mighty Deliverer, and His kingdom will fill the world — but the time to repent and enter is now, while the door is open and His wings are spread.", "I": "**Does suffering prove guilt?** No. Jesus answers “I tell you, no” twice (vv3, 5). Henry: “we cannot judge of men’s sins by their sufferings in this world.” Spurgeon: “has not the minister fallen dead in the pulpit?” But Jesus does not stop there. Sproul: the question I should ask is, “Why wasn’t I slaughtered along with the others?” All of us deserve judgment; every day of life is mercy.\n\n**“Likewise perish” — AD 70 or eternity?** Guzik ties the warning to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, when many did die by sword and falling stones. I agree that was a near fulfillment. But the call to repent reaches every hearer, and the perishing Jesus warns of is finally the loss of the soul (Luke 9:24–25; John 3:16).\n\n**Who is the fig tree?** First, Israel — planted in God’s vineyard with every privilege (Isaiah 5:1–7). Henry: “God chose them for his own, made them a people near to him.” But Sproul and Spurgeon both preach it to the professing church and to each hearer. The “three years” matches the length of Jesus’ ministry, though no teacher here presses that. The keeper who pleads pictures Christ’s intercession (Henry, Spurgeon) and also the work of ministers.\n\n**Was the woman’s sickness demonic?** Luke says “a sickness caused by a spirit” (v11), and Jesus says “Satan has bound” her (v16). Yet He lays hands on her as a healing, not an exorcism. Guzik warns: “We are foolish to think that spiritual issues cause all physical problems.” She was still “a daughter of Abraham” — Spurgeon stresses she belonged to God while she was bound.\n\n**Is the leaven good or bad?** Here our teachers part. Sproul and Henry read both parables as the kingdom growing from small to great: “Small beginnings yield great and vast fruit” (Sproul). Guzik (with Morgan and Carson) reads the overgrown tree and the birds as unnatural and evil, and leaven — which nearly always means sin in Scripture (12:1; 1 Cor 5:6) — as corruption entering the kingdom community. I take Jesus’ main point to be growth from tiny beginnings, but Guzik’s warning fits what history and Scripture say about this present age: the field has wheat and tares until the King returns.\n\n**“Are there just a few?”** Jesus never answers the number. Guzik: He turns curiosity into a personal call. Sproul: “Strive” is the word behind “agony.” Spurgeon: “Striving is a more vehement exercise than seeking.” Striving does not earn salvation — Jesus is the door (John 10:9) — but it shows a man who really wants in.\n\n**“I do not know where you are from.”** Sproul: “When He said He did not know them, that does not mean He was unaware of them.” It means no relationship. They had eaten with Him and heard Him teach (v26). Henry: “It is the hell of hell to depart from Christ.” And Guzik notes, “their racial identity was no guarantee of the kingdom” — Gentiles from every direction come in.\n\n**Herod “that fox.”** Guzik: a “cunning but weak ruler.” Sproul doubts Herod really wanted to kill Jesus. Henry: prophets have “a liberty of speech in reproving princes.” Jesus keeps God’s schedule — “I must journey on” (*dei*) — and “the third day” hints at what waits in Jerusalem.\n\n**The desolate house and the word “until.”** Guzik (with Pate) sees AD 70. Henry: “The house that Christ leaves is left desolate.” But Jesus puts a time limit on the blindness: “you will not see Me until … you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’” (Ps 118:26). The crowd shouted it at the triumphal entry (19:38), yet the city as a whole rejected Him. I read this “until” with Zechariah 12:10 and Romans 11:26 — a future day when Israel as a nation will look on Him whom they pierced and welcome her King at His return. God is not finished with Israel.\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **repent — *metanoeō* (G3340):** a changed mind that turns the life; present tense, ongoing (Guzik).\n- **perish — *apollymi* (G622):** to be destroyed, lost (Luke 15; John 3:16).\n- **fig tree — *sykē* (G4808):** Israel’s familiar tree (Hos 9:10; Mic 7:1).\n- **use up — *katargeō* (G2673):** to make idle, nullify; KJV “cumbereth.”\n- **bent double — *synkyptō* (G4794):** only here in the New Testament; “made erect” is *anorthoō* (G461).\n- **untie / release — *lyō* (G3089):** the ox untied, the woman released; “bound” is *deō* (G1210); “freed” is *apolyō* (G630).\n- **must / should — *dei* (G1163):** vv14, 16, 33 — the ruler’s rule and God’s necessity.\n- **leaven — *zymē* (G2219):** elsewhere hypocrisy or sin spreading (12:1; 1 Cor 5:6).\n- **strive — *agōnizomai* (G75):** to agonize, contend for the prize.\n- **door — *thyra* (G2374); narrow — *stenos* (G4728):** “I am the door” (John 10:9).\n- **fox — *alōpēx* (G258):** cunning but weak (Guzik).\n- **reach My goal — *teleioō* (G5048):** to complete, perfect (Heb 2:10).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **Jesus refuses to rank the dead** — and turns the question on the living.\n2. **The right question is “Why not me?”** (Sproul).\n3. **Do not lie to make a point** (Spurgeon).\n4. **Repentance keeps going** — a continuing turn (Guzik).\n5. **Mercy has a deadline** — one more year.\n6. **The barren tree is not harmless** — it uses up the ground.\n7. **Untie the ox — release the woman** — *lyō*.\n8. **Small beginnings — but watch the leaven** — teachers differ.\n9. **Knowing about Jesus is not being known by Him** (v26–27).\n10. **A fox cannot rush the Lamb** — today, tomorrow, the third day.\n\n**Cross-references:** Gen 18:6; Ps 80:8–16; 91:4; 118:26; Isa 5:1–7; Jer 8:13; Ezek 17:23; 18:32; 33:11; Dan 4:12; Hos 9:10; Mic 7:1; Zech 12:10; Matt 7:13–14; 13:31–33; 23:37–39; Mark 11:12–14; Luke 9:51; 12:1; 19:38, 41–44; John 10:9; 15:8; Rom 11:26; 1 Cor 5:6; Heb 2:10; 2 Pet 3:9.", "A": "**Sin to confess — judging the other guy’s disaster.** When I hear of a man who overdosed, went back to prison or lost his family, I can quietly think, “Well, he had it coming.” Jesus says, “I tell you, no.” The right question is the one Sproul gives: “Why wasn’t I?” I confess the pride that ranks other sinners below me, and I ask God for a heart that sees my own need first.\n\n**Command to obey — repent, and keep repenting.** Not once at an altar call, but as a direction of life (Guzik). This week I will name one thing I have been turning back toward — a habit, a resentment, a secret — and turn away from it again, out loud, before God and one brother.\n\n**Truth to face — the year of mercy will end.** The fig tree got one more year, with digging and fertilizer. Some of the men I sit with have had their “dirt dug around” for years — arrests, losses, a program, a praying mother. So have I. I do not get to assume three more years (Sproul). Fruit is what the Owner is looking for.\n\n**Promise to trust — He sees the bowed down and sets them free.** Eighteen years bent double, and one word from Jesus: “Woman, you are freed.” Spurgeon: “The devil can tie in a moment a knot which you and I cannot unloose in eighteen years.” Jesus can. If I am bent over by shame, depression or an old bondage, I come to the place where He is and let Him lay His hands on me.\n\n**Example to follow — Jesus on His road.** Herod’s threats did not rush Him, and Jerusalem’s refusal did not harden Him. He kept His Father’s schedule and still wept like a mother hen over the people who would kill Him. I want that steadiness — and that heart for people who are pushing God away.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. When I hear about a tragedy, is my first thought about what “they” must have done — or about whether I am ready to meet God? (13:1–5; Ezek 33:11) *Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.*\n2. If the Owner came looking for fruit in my life this year, what would He find? What is the “digging and fertilizer” He has been putting around me? (13:6–9; John 15:8) *Fruit is the evidence of a real conversion (Sproul).*\n3. The woman was bent double for eighteen years and still came to the synagogue. What has bent me over — and what would standing up straight look like? (13:10–13) *Jesus always occupies a place from which he can spy out those who are bowed down (Spurgeon).*\n4. Where have I cared more about rules, schedules or my own convenience than about a hurting person in front of me? (13:14–17) *Untie the ox — release the woman.*\n5. Am I seeking or striving? What would it look like to strive to enter the narrow door this week? (13:24–27; Matt 7:13–14) *Striving is a more vehement exercise than seeking (Spurgeon).*\n6. Jesus wanted to gather Jerusalem like a hen gathers chicks, and they would not have it. Where am I resisting His gathering? (13:34–35; Ps 91:4) *How often I wanted to gather your children together.*\n\n**Worship.** The Lord of the vineyard comes looking for fruit and finds a sinner like me — and the Keeper pleads, “Let it alone, sir, for this year too.” He looses what Satan has bound, He keeps His appointed road in spite of every fox, and He spreads His wings over the city that will kill Him. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, forgive me for judging other men’s disasters while ignoring my own heart. I repent today, and I want to keep repenting. Thank You for the year of mercy — dig around me, feed me, and make me fruitful. Straighten what is bent in me. Give me the will to strive through the narrow door while it is open, and gather me under Your wings. And hasten the day when Jerusalem says, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Amen."}, "42:14": {"O": "**Setting.** On the Sabbath Jesus goes to eat at the house of a leader of the Pharisees, where He is watched closely (v1). A man with dropsy is in front of Him (vv2–6). At the meal He speaks to the guests about seats (vv7–11), to the host about whom to invite (vv12–14), and to a guest who blesses the kingdom’s banquet with a parable of a great supper (vv15–24). Then, back on the road with large crowds, He turns and tells them the cost of being His disciple (vv25–35).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–6 — **the man with dropsy:** a Pharisee’s house on the Sabbath; “they were watching Him closely” (v1); “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” — silence (vv3–4); He heals and sends him away; the son or ox in a well — no reply (vv5–6).\n- vv7–11 — **the guests and their seats:** they pick the places of honor (v7); don’t take the place of honor; “Give your place to this man” (vv8–9); recline at the last place; “Friend, move up higher” (v10); the exalted humbled, the humble exalted (v11).\n- vv12–14 — **the host and his guest list:** not friends, brothers, relatives or rich neighbors who repay (v12); the poor, crippled, lame and blind (v13); repaid at the resurrection of the righteous (v14).\n- vv15–24 — **the great supper:** “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” (v15); a big dinner, many invited, “Come; for everything is ready now” (vv16–17); three excuses — land, oxen, a wife (vv18–20); the angry master — streets and lanes, the poor and crippled and blind and lame (v21); “still there is room” (v22); highways and hedges, “compel them to come in” (v23); none of the invited shall taste (v24).\n- vv25–35 — **the cost:** large crowds; He turns (v25); hate father, mother … even his own life (v26); carry his own cross (v27); the tower builder (vv28–30); the king with ten thousand (vv31–32); give up all his own possessions (v33); salt that has become tasteless; ears to hear (vv34–35).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “invited / invite” ×13 — vv7, 8 (×2), 9, 10 (×2), 12 (×3), 13, 16, 17, 24.\n- “come / comes / came” ×8 — vv9, 10, 17, 20, 21, 23, 26, 27.\n- “dinner / luncheon / reception / feast” ×7 — vv8, 12 (×2), 13, 16, 17, 24.\n- “crippled / lame / blind” ×6 — v13 (×3), v21 (×3); “poor” ×2 — vv13, 21.\n- “place(s)” ×5 — vv7, 8, 9 (×2), 10; “honor” ×3 — vv7, 8, 10.\n- “slave” ×5 — vv17, 21 (×2), 22, 23.\n- “exalts / exalted / humbled / humbles” ×4 — v11.\n- “own” ×4 — vv26 (×2), 27, 33.\n- “disciple” ×3 — vv26, 27, 33; “cannot be My disciple” ×2 — vv26, 27, and “none of you can be My disciple” — v33.\n- “Sabbath” ×3 — vv1, 3, 5.\n- “repay / repaid / repayment” ×3 — vv12, 14 (×2).\n- “excused / excuses” ×3 — vv18 (×2), 19.\n- “sit down” ×2 — vv28, 31; “salt” ×2 — v34.\n\n**Contrasts:** Watching Him ⟷ He noticed them (vv1, 7). Lawful ⟷ silence (vv3–4). Place of honor ⟷ last place; disgrace ⟷ honor (vv8–10). Exalts himself ⟷ humbles himself (v11). Friends who repay ⟷ poor who cannot (vv12–14). Repaid now ⟷ repaid at the resurrection (vv12, 14). The invited who refuse ⟷ the uninvited who come (vv18–24). “I cannot come” ⟷ “compel them to come in” (vv20, 23). Followers in a crowd ⟷ disciples who count the cost (vv25–33). Began ⟷ not able to finish (v30). Salt ⟷ tasteless salt (v34).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** one table, three lessons (vv1–24), then one road and one demand (vv25–35). The chapter moves from who gets the best seat to who gets into the banquet at all, and finally to who will actually follow the Host.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** In God’s kingdom the humble are lifted, the poor are welcomed and the excuse-makers shut themselves out. The invitation is free — everything is ready — but following Jesus costs everything, and only a man who has counted that cost will finish.", "I": "**Was the dropsy man bait?** Guzik: “Some believe that he was invited simply to provoke Jesus.” Sproul: “Jesus came to the dinner, knowing full well the feast was a trap.” Either way, Jesus did not walk around the man to protect Himself. He asked the question first (v3), healed him, and sent him away out of the line of fire.\n\n**Why were they silent?** Sproul: “Healing was lawful, according to Jewish law.” Their traditions had grown past God’s law, and they could not defend them out loud. Henry: “every mouth must be stopped before him.” The ox-in-the-well question (v5) is the same logic as 13:15 — you would show mercy to your own animal.\n\n**Is Jesus teaching etiquette?** The seat advice is Proverbs 25:6–7, but Luke calls it “a parable” (v7). It is about the kingdom: God is the Host who says, “Friend, move up higher.” Guzik warns that humility can be acted — “a subtle form of spiritual pride.” The passive verbs in v11 show God does the humbling and exalting (Luke 1:52; 18:14).\n\n**The resurrection of the righteous (v14).** Jesus assumes a future resurrection with reward for those who gave without return. Henry: “Say not that thou art a loser.” Scripture speaks of the resurrection of the righteous and of the wicked (Acts 24:15; John 5:28–29). I read Revelation 20:4–6 as a resurrection of the righteous before the thousand years, and the rest afterward.\n\n**Who are the guests in the parable?** First, Israel’s religious leaders, the invited who had heard the prophets and then refused Jesus when “everything is ready now.” Then the poor and crippled of “the city” — the outcasts within Israel, the tax collectors and sinners. Then the “highways and hedges” beyond the city — most teachers see the Gentiles here. Sproul explains the two invitations: refusing the second after accepting the first was an insult. God has not cast off Israel (Rom 11:1), but the leaders of that generation who refused did not taste the supper (v24).\n\n**“Compel them to come in.”** All four teachers reject using this verse to force consciences. Henry: “nothing like this was the compulsion here meant, but only that of reason and love.” Guzik and Barclay note Augustine’s misuse. Spurgeon shows what it means in a pulpit — urgent, personal pleading: “Remember, I have no authority to ask you to come to Christ tomorrow.”\n\n**What does “hate” mean?** It is comparison, not hostility. Matthew 10:37: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.” Sproul: “it frequently—but not always—means simply to love less.” Henry: “Not that their persons must be in any degree hated.” Guzik: “The greatest threat to the best often comes from second best.” The man who loves Christ most actually loves his family better.\n\n**Carrying the cross.** Not a hard situation in life — a death march. Guzik: “When the Romans crucified a criminal, they didn’t just hang them on a cross.” The condemned man carried it to his own execution. A disciple has accepted that his old life is going to die.\n\n**Two parables of counting.** The builder asks, “Can I finish?” — the cost of following. The king asks, “Can I win against a stronger King?” — the cost of resisting. Guzik: “It costs something to be the disciple of Jesus; it costs more to reject Him.” Barclay (in Guzik): it is possible to be a camp-follower without being a soldier.\n\n**Salt.** Ancient salt mixed with impurities could lose its saltiness and become useless — not even fit for the manure pile (v35). Henry: “A professor of religion whose mind and manners are depraved is the most insipid animal that can be.” Sproul: Jesus wants disciples who “keep their salt no matter what.”\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **watching closely — *paratēreō* (G3906):** hostile, sideways watching (6:7; 20:20).\n- **dropsy — *hydrōpikos* (G5203):** swollen with fluid; only here in the New Testament.\n- **place of honor — *prōtoklisia* (G4411):** the first couch (Matt 23:6; Luke 20:46).\n- **humble — *tapeinoō* (G5013); exalt — *hypsoō* (G5312):** God reverses (1:52; 18:14).\n- **make excuses — *paraiteomai* (G3868):** to beg off (Heb 12:25).\n- **compel — *anankazō* (G315):** urgent pressing, by reason and love (Henry).\n- **hate — *miseō* (G3404):** love less by comparison (Gen 29:31; Mal 1:2–3; Rom 9:13).\n- **give up — *apotassomai* (G657):** to say goodbye to, renounce (9:61).\n- **tasteless — *mōrainō* (G3471):** to become flat, foolish.\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **They watched Him; He watched them** (vv1, 7).\n2. **No hocus-pocus** — He simply took hold of the man (Guzik).\n3. **Humility can be faked** (Guzik).\n4. **God does the exalting** — divine passives (v11).\n5. **Invite the ones who cannot pay you back** (Henry).\n6. **Everything is ready now** — the second invitation (Sproul).\n7. **Cannot means will not** (Henry; Morgan).\n8. **Still there is room** (v22; Spurgeon).\n9. **“Hate” means love less** (all four; Matt 10:37).\n10. **It costs more to refuse** (Guzik).\n\n**Cross-references:** Prov 25:6–7; Isa 25:6–9; 55:1; Gen 29:31; Mal 1:2–3; Matt 5:13; 10:37–38; 22:1–14; 23:6, 12; Luke 1:52; 6:6–11; 9:23, 57–62; 13:10–17; 18:14; John 5:28–29; Acts 24:15; Rom 9:13; 11:1; 1 Cor 1:26–29; Phil 3:7–8; Heb 12:25; 1 Pet 5:6; Rev 19:9; 20:4–6.", "A": "**Sin to confess — scrambling for the best seat.** I do it in small ways: wanting to be the one who is asked, the one whose opinion counts, the one up front. Even in ministry. Even in humility — I can sit in the back hoping someone notices. Guzik calls that “a subtle form of spiritual pride.” I confess it, and I let the Host decide where I sit.\n\n**Command to obey — invite the ones who can’t pay you back.** Jesus did not say “be nice to the poor”; He said put them on the guest list. This week I will invite a man to a meal or a coffee who has nothing to offer me — fresh out, on the street, alone — and I will not keep score.\n\n**Sin to confess — my excuses.** A field, some oxen, a wife: good things that I let say “not now” to God. Henry: “He pretends that he cannot, when the truth is he will not.” I name my excuse honestly before God, and I go when He calls.\n\n**Promise to trust — still there is room.** For the men I sit with, this may be the best news in the chapter. The poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame are the ones who end up at the table — and the slave says, “still there is room.” No record, no failure, no past puts a man outside the reach of that invitation.\n\n**Command to obey — count the cost, carry the cross.** Jesus did not hide the price. Loving Him more than father, mother, wife, children and my own life. Carrying my cross. Saying goodbye to all I have. That sounds like loss, but refusing Him costs more (Guzik). I will sit down this week, as the builder did, and tell the Lord honestly what I am still holding back.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. Jesus healed a man while people watched to catch Him. Where am I holding back from doing good because of who might be watching or judging? (14:1–6) *Those that are watched had need to be wary (Henry) — and He healed anyway.*\n2. Where do I scramble for “the place of honor” — at work, at church, in my family, even in recovery? What would taking the last place look like? (14:7–11; Prov 25:6–7) *Real humility lets the Host decide.*\n3. Who could I invite this month who can never pay me back? (14:12–14) *You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.*\n4. Which excuse sounds most like mine — the field, the oxen or the wife? What is behind it? (14:18–20) *Back of an excuse is a lack of desire (Morgan, in Guzik).*\n5. What does it mean for me that “still there is room”? Who on the highways and hedges near me needs to be urged to come? (14:21–23) *Compel by reason and love (Henry).*\n6. Have I sat down and counted the cost of following Jesus? What relationship or possession am I tempted to love more than Him? (14:26–33; Matt 10:37) *It costs something to be His disciple; it costs more to reject Him (Guzik).*\n\n**Worship.** Jesus is the Host who lifts the humble and seats the poor, the Master whose house will be filled, the Lord who carried His own cross before He asked me to carry mine. Everything is ready — because He made it ready. Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, You noticed the man nobody wanted to touch, and You noticed me. Forgive my scrambling for honor and my polished excuses. Thank You that still there is room — for me and for the men I love. Make me a man who invites those who can’t repay, who goes out to the highways and hedges, and who has counted the cost and keeps following. I love You more than all I have. Keep my salt from going flat. Amen."}, "42:15": {"O": "**Setting.** Somewhere on the road to Jerusalem (9:51), right after Jesus’ hard words on the cost of discipleship (14:25–35). Tax collectors and sinners are coming near to listen; the Pharisees and scribes grumble, “This man receives sinners and eats with them” (vv1–2). Jesus answers with “this parable” (v3) in three panels.\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–7 — **the grumbling and the lost sheep:** sinners draw near; the Pharisees grumble (vv1–2); a man with a hundred sheep leaves the ninety-nine and goes after the one “until he finds it” (v4); carries it home on his shoulders, rejoicing; “Rejoice with me” (vv5–6); more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (v7).\n- vv8–10 — **the lost coin:** ten silver coins, one lost; she lights a lamp, sweeps, searches carefully (v8); “Rejoice with me” (v9); joy in the presence of the angels of God (v10).\n- vv11–19 — **the son who left:** “give me the share of the estate” (v12); a distant country, loose living (v13); famine, pigs, pods, no one gave him anything (vv14–16); he came to his senses — “I will get up and go to my father” (vv17–19).\n- vv20–24 — **the father who ran:** a long way off, the father saw him, felt compassion, ran, embraced and kissed him (v20); the confession (v21); robe, ring, sandals, fattened calf (vv22–23); “dead … alive again; lost … found” (v24).\n- vv25–32 — **the older brother:** music and dancing (v25); “Your brother has come” (vv26–27); angry, would not go in; the father comes out and pleads (v28); “so many years I have been serving you” (vv29–30); “Son, you have always been with me” — “we had to celebrate” (vv31–32).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “father” ×12 — vv12 (×2), 17, 18 (×2), 20 (×2), 21, 22, 27, 28, 29; plus “father’s” v17.\n- “son(s)” ×9 — vv11, 13, 19, 21 (×2), 24, 25, 30, 31.\n- “came / come / comes / coming” ×9 — vv1, 6, 17, 20, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30.\n- “found / finds” ×8 — vv4, 5, 6, 8, 9 (×2), 24, 32.\n- “lost” ×6 — vv4 (×2), 6, 9, 24, 32.\n- “rejoice / rejoicing / joy” ×6 — vv5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 32.\n- “celebrate” ×4 — vv23, 24, 29, 32.\n- “sinner(s)” ×4 — vv1, 2, 7, 10; “repents / repentance” ×3 — vv7 (×2), 10; “sinned” ×2 — vv18, 21.\n- “estate / wealth” ×4 — vv12 (×2), 13, 30.\n- “friends” ×3 — vv6, 9, 29; “fattened calf” ×3 — vv23, 27, 30.\n- “dead / dying” ×3 — vv17, 24, 32; “famine / impoverished / hunger” ×3 — vv14 (×2), 17.\n- “brother” ×2 — vv27, 32; “hired men” ×2 — vv17, 19.\n\n**Contrasts:** Sinners drawing near ⟷ Pharisees grumbling (vv1–2). Ninety-nine ⟷ one (vv4, 7). Lost ⟷ found; dead ⟷ alive (vv24, 32). A distant country ⟷ my father’s house (vv13, 17). Pods for pigs ⟷ the fattened calf (vv16, 23). “Give me” (v12) ⟷ “make me” (v19). “No longer worthy to be called your son” ⟷ robe, ring and sandals (vv21–22). Inside celebrating ⟷ outside angry (vv25, 28). “This son of yours” ⟷ “this brother of yours” (vv30, 32). Serving like a slave ⟷ “all that is mine is yours” (vv29, 31).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** three stories that get longer and more personal — an animal, a coin, a son — each ending in a party. The last story has a second act with no ending: the older son is still outside, and the father is still pleading.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** God is the seeker. He goes after the lost, waits for the runaway and runs to meet him, and calls everyone to rejoice when a sinner comes home. The danger is not only running away from the Father but standing next to His house with a heart that will not go in.", "I": "**Who is Jesus answering?** The grumblers of verse 2. All three panels are aimed at them (“What man among you …?” v4). Sproul: Jesus’ table fellowship “violated every principle they held precious.” Guzik: “This answered the complaint of the religious leaders that began the chapter.” The tax collectors hear grace; the Pharisees hear an invitation and a warning.\n\n**Who are the “ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (v7)?** Teachers differ. Sproul reads them as the already-justified who remain in the fold. Others take the phrase as gentle irony toward the Pharisees, who thought they needed no repentance. Either way, the point of the verse is heaven’s joy over the one.\n\n**Can a sheep or a coin repent?** No — and that is the point. In the first two stories the seeker does everything. Guzik: “God finds the sinner more than the sinner does find God.” Yet Jesus still says “one sinner who repents” (vv7, 10). Repentance is what being found looks like in a person; the third story shows it from the inside.\n\n**What does “came to his senses” mean?** Literally “came to himself” (v17). Sproul makes it the hinge — he came to himself, “not by himself,” because “Nobody ever comes to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ without that divine and supernatural light.” The son’s turn has a true thought (my father’s hired men eat), a decision (“I will get up and go”) and a confession (“I have sinned against heaven”). Henry: “Good purposes are good things, but still good performances are all in all.”\n\n**Why does the father run?** Because he has been watching (Guzik: “The father’s love waited and never forgot”) and because compassion moves the feet (<i>splanchnizomai</i>, as with the Good Samaritan, 10:33). Sproul pictures “weak and elderly legs” running down the road. The son never gets to the hired-man part of his speech (v19 vs. v21).\n\n**What do the robe, ring, sandals and calf mean?** Restored sonship and celebration. Sproul reads the robe as Christ’s righteousness — “No one has ever entered the kingdom of God without wearing the robe of the righteousness of Christ” — and the ring as the sign that “he is not a servant or slave.” Guzik: “It was a love that fully received, not putting the son on probation.”\n\n**Who is the older son?** The Pharisees and scribes of verse 2 (Sproul: he “represents the Pharisees and their complaints”). He never left home, yet he talks like a slave (“serving you,” v29), will not call his brother a brother (“this son of yours,” v30), and stays outside. Henry: “Those who are comparatively innocents seldom know how to be compassionate towards those who are manifestly penitents.”\n\n**Why does the story stop without an ending?** Jesus leaves the older son at the door so the grumblers will finish it themselves. The father’s last words are both tender and firm: “Son [child], you have always been with me … But we had to celebrate” (vv31–32).\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **grumble — *diagongyzō* (G1234):** a muttering that runs through the crowd; only Luke 15:2; 19:7.\n- **lost — *apollymi* (G622):** to lose, to perish; “lost” vv4, 6, 9, 24, 32 and “dying” v17.\n- **silver coin — *drachmē* (G1406):** about a day’s wage; only Luke 15:8–9.\n- **repents — *metanoeō* (G3340):** a change of mind that turns the life; vv7, 10.\n- **loose living — *asōtōs* (G811):** living like a man who cannot be saved; only here (cf. *asōtia*, Eph 5:18).\n- **came — *erchomai* (G2064):** “coming to himself” (v17) — and “came to his father” (v20).\n- **felt compassion — *splanchnizomai* (G4697):** gut-level mercy; Luke 7:13; 10:33; 15:20.\n- **kissed — *kataphileō* (G2705):** kissed warmly, again and again.\n- **son / child — *teknon* (G5043):** the father’s tender word to the older son (v31).\n- **had to — *dei* (G1163):** “we had to celebrate” (v32) — heaven’s necessity of joy.\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **The worst people came to listen** (v1; Guzik).\n2. **One parable in three panels** — the odds narrow, the joy doesn’t (v3).\n3. **Lost means perishing** — *apollymi* (vv4, 17, 24).\n4. **The seeker does the finding** (Guzik).\n5. **God rejoices** (vv7, 10; Henry, Spurgeon).\n6. **He came to himself — not by himself** (Sproul).\n7. **The father covers the longer distance** (v20; Spurgeon).\n8. **Kisses before the confession is finished** (vv19, 21).\n9. **A son can be lost at home** (vv25–28; Henry).\n10. **The story ends with a question** — will the older son go in?\n\n**Cross-references:** Ps 51:4; Isa 40:11; 53:6; Jer 31:20; Ezek 33:11; 34:11–16; Luke 5:30–32; 7:34; 9:22; 10:33; 14:25–35; 19:7–10; John 10:11; Rom 5:8; Eph 2:4–5, 13; 5:18; 1 Tim 1:15; 2 Pet 3:9.", "A": "**Example to follow — the seekers.** The shepherd went after one sheep, the woman lit a lamp and swept, and the father watched the road and ran. Not one of them waited for the lost to fix themselves. This week I will go after one man who has drifted from our group — a call, a visit, a meal — and I will keep looking “until I find him.”\n\n**Sin to confess — two kinds of lostness.** I know the younger son’s road: wanting it now, wanting no one watching, spending everything and ending up with nothing. But I also know the older son’s heart: keeping score, resenting grace shown to somebody else, staying outside the party. I confess both by name. The far country and the field are both a long way from the Father.\n\n**Truth to face — I came to myself, but not by myself.** When I hit bottom, it was God who turned the light on. I did not find Him; He found me (Guzik: “God finds the sinner more than the sinner does find God”). That keeps me humble with the men I serve — the light can come on for them too.\n\n**Promise to trust — the Father runs.** I don’t have to finish my speech. The son never got to “make me as one of your hired men.” God does not put me on probation; He puts a robe on me — the righteousness of Christ (Sproul). When I come home I am received as a son, not hired as a servant.\n\n**Command to obey — get up and go; then go in.** If I am still in the far country, the command is verse 18: “I will get up and go to my father.” If I have been home all along, the command is verse 32: celebrate and rejoice when a brother comes back. Both sons were invited to the same table.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. Tax collectors and sinners came near to listen to Jesus. Would the men I know who are far from God feel welcome to come near me — or would they hear grumbling? (15:1–2; 5:30–32) *This man receives sinners and eats with them.*\n2. Neither the sheep nor the coin could find its way back. Where do I still think I have to find God, when He has been looking for me? (15:4–10; 19:10) *God finds the sinner more than the sinner does find God (Guzik).*\n3. What was my “distant country” — and what was the moment I came to my senses? (15:13–17) *He came to himself, not by himself (Sproul).*\n4. The son rehearsed a speech, but the father ran and kissed him before he could finish it. What keeps me trying to earn a place God has already given me? (15:18–24; Eph 2:4–5) *It was a love that fully received, not putting the son on probation (Guzik).*\n5. Am I more like the younger son or the older son right now? Where do I see the older brother’s anger in myself? (15:25–30) *The comparatively innocent seldom pity the penitent (Henry).*\n6. The father said, “we had to celebrate.” Whose return to God have I been slow to celebrate? (15:31–32) *It is right that we rejoice when someone who is lost is found (Sproul).*\n\n**Worship.** The Good Shepherd went after me and carried me home on His shoulders. The Spirit lit the lamp and swept the house until I was found. The Father saw me a long way off, felt compassion, ran, and kissed me before I finished confessing. Heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents — and I was that sinner.\n\n**Prayer.** Father, I have sinned against heaven and in Your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called Your son. Thank You for running to me anyway, for the robe of Christ’s righteousness, and for a place at Your table. Keep me from the older brother’s heart. Give me Your joy over every lost man who comes home, and send me out after the ones who are still far off. In Jesus’ name, Amen."}, "42:16": {"O": "**Setting.** The same audience as Luke 15 — Jesus speaks “to the disciples” (v1) while the Pharisees, “lovers of money,” listen and scoff (v14). The chapter moves from a manager’s office (vv1–13) to the Pharisees’ sneer (vv14–18) to a rich man’s gate and the world beyond death (vv19–31).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–8 — **the shrewd manager:** reported for squandering (v1); “Give an accounting” (v2); “I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg” (v3); “I know what I shall do” (v4); oil 100 → 50, wheat 100 → 80 (vv5–7); the master praises his shrewdness; sons of this age vs. sons of light (v8).\n- vv9–13 — **faithful with wealth:** make friends by means of the wealth of unrighteousness — eternal dwellings (v9); faithful in a very little thing (v10); true riches, what is your own (vv11–12); no servant can serve two masters (v13).\n- vv14–18 — **the Pharisees and the Law:** lovers of money scoffing (v14); justify yourselves before men, God knows your hearts (v15); the Law and the Prophets until John; the gospel of the kingdom (v16); not one stroke of the Law will fail (v17); divorce and adultery (v18).\n- vv19–26 — **the rich man and Lazarus:** purple and fine linen; a poor man at the gate, sores, dogs (vv19–21); Lazarus carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom; the rich man buried (v22); Hades, torment, “have mercy on me” (vv23–24); “Child, remember” (v25); a great chasm fixed (v26).\n- vv27–31 — **the five brothers:** send Lazarus to warn them (vv27–28); “They have Moses and the Prophets” (v29); “if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!” (v30); “they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead” (v31).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “manager / management” ×8 — vv1 (×2), 2 (×2), 3 (×2), 4, 8.\n- “Abraham” ×6 — vv22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30.\n- “rich / riches” ×5 — vv1, 11, 19, 21, 22; “wealth” ×3 — vv9, 11, 13.\n- “master(s)” ×5 — vv3, 5 (×2), 8, 13.\n- “unrighteous / unrighteousness” ×5 — vv8, 9, 10 (×2), 11.\n- “owe / bill / debtors” ×5 — vv5 (×2), 6, 7 (×2).\n- “faithful” ×4 — vv10 (×2), 11, 12.\n- “Lazarus” ×4 — vv20, 23, 24, 25; “father” ×4 — vv24, 27 (×2), 30.\n- “torment / agony” ×4 — vv23, 24, 25, 28; “dead / died” ×4 — vv22 (×2), 30, 31.\n- “Moses and the Prophets / the Law and the Prophets” ×3 — vv16, 29, 31; “Law” ×2 — vv16, 17.\n- “serve / servant” ×3 — v13 (×3); “receive / welcome” ×3 — vv4, 9, 25.\n- “shrewd / shrewdly” ×2 — v8 (×2); “commits adultery” ×2 — v18 (×2); “sight” ×2 — v15 (×2).\n\n**Contrasts:** Squandering ⟷ shrewd (vv1, 8). Sons of this age ⟷ sons of light (v8). A very little thing ⟷ much; unrighteous wealth ⟷ true riches; another’s ⟷ your own (vv10–12). Hate ⟷ love; devoted ⟷ despise; God ⟷ wealth (v13). In the sight of men ⟷ in the sight of God (v15). Heaven and earth passing ⟷ the Law not failing (v17). Purple and fine linen ⟷ sores; the table ⟷ the gate (vv19–21). Carried by angels ⟷ buried (v22). Good things ⟷ bad things; comforted ⟷ agony (v25). Here ⟷ there, with a chasm between (v26). Moses and the Prophets ⟷ someone from the dead (vv29–31).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** two stories that each begin “There was a rich man” (vv1, 19), with the Pharisees’ sneer in between. The first rich man’s manager plans ahead; the second rich man never does. The chapter ends at the edge of the grave with the question of whether we will listen to God’s Word.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** Money is a little thing God lends me to manage for eternity. Use it shrewdly for His kingdom, because I cannot serve it and God at the same time, and the choices I make with it now will be fixed forever.", "I": "**Why does Jesus praise a dishonest man?** He doesn’t praise the dishonesty. Sproul: “He did not praise the steward for his dishonesty.” Henry: the master commended him “not … because he had done falsely to his master, but because he had done wisely for himself.” Guzik: “God sometimes uses evil things that are familiar to us to illustrate a particular point.” The point is foresight — seeing the end and acting now.\n\n**What did the manager actually do?** Teachers differ on the details. Sproul suggests he removed hidden interest charges; others think he cut his own commission, or simply cheated his master further. Either way, he used what was in his hands to make friends before he lost it. Luke ties him to the prodigal with the same verb, “squandering” (15:13; 16:1).\n\n**What does “make friends … by means of the wealth of unrighteousness” mean (v9)?** Use money — which belongs to a passing, fallen world — for people and for God’s kingdom, so that when it “fails” (at death) there are friends to welcome you in eternity. Henry: “death shuts up the shop, seals up the hand.” This is not buying salvation. Sproul: “You can give all the money you have to the church, but it will not get you into heaven.” “Only Christ in His poverty can get you into heaven.”\n\n**Why is money called “a very little thing” and “another’s” (vv10–12)?** Because it is small next to the true riches, and because it belongs to God. Sproul: “We do not own it; He does.” Faithfulness with the small and borrowed thing shows whether God can trust me with the great and lasting thing (Guzik, quoting Meyer).\n\n**What is verse 16 saying?** The Law and the Prophets ran up to John; since then the kingdom has been preached. “Everyone is forcing his way into it” is hard. Sproul takes it as eager pressing — “The kingdom of God has never been a casual affair.” Guzik notes the revolutionaries who tried to force the kingdom by violence. I take it as Sproul does, and I hold verse 17 with both men: the Law is not cancelled — not one stroke will fail (Henry: it is “explained and enforced by the gospel”).\n\n**Why does divorce show up here (v18)?** As one example of the Pharisees justifying themselves before men (v15) while emptying God’s Law. Sproul shows how their loose rules on divorce undermined the Law; Guzik reads the verse as God’s ideal for marriage while recognizing the exceptions Scripture gives elsewhere (Matt 19:9; 1 Cor 7:15).\n\n**Is the rich man and Lazarus a parable?** Guzik thinks not — “in no other parable did Jesus actually name an individual” — and calls it “an actual case history.” Many others read it as a parable. Either way, Jesus does not tell stories that misrepresent eternity; the realities are true: conscious existence after death, comfort or torment, and a fixed chasm.\n\n**What is Hades, and what is Abraham’s bosom?** Hades is the realm of the dead (Hebrew *Sheol*). Guzik: “Hades is technically not hell, or what is also known as the Lake of Fire.” At the final judgment death and Hades give up their dead and are thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 20:13–14). Abraham’s bosom is the place of honor and comfort beside Abraham. For a believer now, to be absent from the body is to be “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8).\n\n**Why was the rich man condemned?** Not for being rich (Sproul: “This was not a judgment against wealth”). Henry: “his providing only for himself.” He stepped over Lazarus every day. And Abraham’s answer shows the root: he had not listened to Moses and the Prophets (vv29–31).\n\n**Why won’t a resurrection persuade them (v31)?** Because unbelief is a matter of the will, not a shortage of evidence. Guzik quotes Spurgeon: “Infidelity would still cry for something more.” Jesus raised a man named Lazarus, and the chief priests planned to kill him too (John 12:10–11). Christ rose, and many still refuse (Sproul).\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **manager — *oikonomos* (G3623):** a house-manager who runs another man’s estate (vv1, 3, 8).\n- **squandering — *diaskorpizō* (G1287):** to scatter, waste; same verb as 15:13.\n- **shrewdly — *phronimōs* (G5430):** with practical foresight; only here.\n- **wealth — *mamōnas* (G3126):** Aramaic “mammon,” wealth as a rival master (vv9, 11, 13).\n- **faithful — *pistos* (G4103):** trustworthy; ×4 in vv10–12.\n- **lovers of money — *philargyroi* (G5366):** fond of silver (v14).\n- **scoffing — *ekmyktērizō* (G1592):** to turn up the nose; only here and 23:35.\n- **detestable — *bdelygma* (G946):** an abomination to God (v15).\n- **forcing his way — *biazō* (G971):** to press or use force (v16).\n- **stroke — *keraia* (G2762):** the tiny hook of a Hebrew letter (v17).\n- **Hades — *hadēs* (G86):** the realm of the dead; **torment — *basanos* (G931).**\n- **bosom — *kolpos* (G2859):** the place of honor at a meal (vv22–23).\n- **chasm — *chasma* (G5490):** a gulf, fixed for good; only here.\n- **warn — *diamartyromai* (G1263):** to testify solemnly (v28).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **Same verb, two wasters** — *diaskorpizō* (15:13; 16:1).\n2. **Praised for foresight, not fraud** (Henry, Sproul).\n3. **Everyone is a manager** — “We do not own it; He does” (Sproul).\n4. **Money is a little thing** — and it belongs to another (vv10–12).\n5. **Mammon wants to be a master** — “you cannot” (v13).\n6. **They turned up their noses** — the same sneer as at the cross (23:35).\n7. **God sees what men applaud** (v15; Guzik).\n8. **A beggar with a name** — Lazarus, “God has helped.”\n9. **A crumb and a drop** (Henry).\n10. **Scripture is enough** (v31).\n\n**Cross-references:** Dan 9:27; 12:2; Matt 5:17–18; 6:19–21, 24; 7:24; 19:9; 24:15; Luke 1:53; 6:20, 24; 12:15–21, 33–34, 42; 15:13; 19:8; 23:35; 24:25–27, 44; John 1:18; 11:43–44; 12:10–11; Acts 2:40; 20:21; 1 Cor 4:1; 7:15; 2 Cor 5:8, 10; 8:9; James 2:5; Rev 20:13–14.", "A": "**Truth to face — I am a manager, not an owner.** My paycheck, my house, my truck, my time, my body — none of it is mine. Sproul: “We do not own it; He does.” One day I will hear, “Give an accounting of your management.” I would rather give that account to myself now, honestly, than be surprised then (Spurgeon: “Judge yourselves, that you be not judged!”).\n\n**Command to obey — be faithful in a very little thing.** Small money, small promises, small jobs nobody sees. Many of the men I walk with lost everything through little unfaithfulness that grew. This week I will keep one small promise I have been putting off, pay one small debt, and give one gift nobody will know about.\n\n**Sin to confess — trying to serve two masters.** I say God is first, but my worry, my envy and my bank statement tell the truth about who I am serving. I confess the love of money — and I remember that you don’t have to be rich to love it (Guzik). “You cannot serve God and wealth.”\n\n**Example to avoid — the man who stepped over Lazarus.** The rich man never hit Lazarus; he just never saw him. Henry: “his providing only for himself.” I will look this week at who is lying at my gate — the man at the light, the inmate with no visitors, the neighbor who is alone — and do something with my hands and my money.\n\n**Promise to trust — the true riches, and a Savior who rose.** God promises “the true riches” to the faithful (v11) and “eternal dwellings” (v9). And I have more than Moses and the Prophets — I have the One who rose from the dead. I don’t need a sign; I need to listen to the Word I already have.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. The manager knew his job was ending and planned for it. If I knew my stewardship would end this year, what would I do differently with my money and time? (16:1–4; 2 Cor 5:10) *Give an account of your stewardship, for you may no longer be steward (Spurgeon).*\n2. Jesus says the sons of this age are more shrewd than the sons of light. Where do I put more planning into my career, hobby or habit than into eternity? (16:8–9) *We are usually just the opposite of that in our actions as Christians (Sproul).*\n3. How faithful am I in “a very little thing” — small amounts of money, small promises, small jobs nobody sees? (16:10–12) *Faithful in little, faithful in much.*\n4. Jesus said “you cannot” serve God and wealth. What signs in my spending, worry or envy show which master I am really serving? (16:13–15; Matt 6:24) *We do not own it; He does (Sproul).*\n5. Who is lying at my “gate” — the person I step around every day without seeing? (16:19–21; 1 John 3:17) *The sin of this rich man was … his providing only for himself (Henry).*\n6. The rich man wanted a miracle for his brothers; Abraham said they had the Scriptures. Who in my family needs me to point him to God’s Word while there is still time? (16:27–31; Luke 24:27) *If you cry for mercy … after you are dead, it is too late (Sproul).*\n\n**Worship.** God owns everything and lends it to me. He knows my heart when men only see my outside. His Word will not fail by one stroke. He gives the true riches to the faithful, comforts the poor man who trusts Him, and has given me Moses, the Prophets — and His Son, who was rich and became poor for my sake, and rose from the dead.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord, everything I have is Yours. Forgive me for serving money and calling it providing. Make me faithful in little things, shrewd for eternity, and open-handed toward the Lazarus at my gate. Open my ears to Moses and the Prophets, and to Jesus who rose, while there is still time — for me and for my brothers. In Jesus’ name, Amen."}, "42:17": {"O": "**Setting.** Jesus is still on the long road to Jerusalem (9:51; 17:11), now passing “between Samaria and Galilee.” He has just told the Pharisees about the rich man and Lazarus (16:19–31); now He speaks “to His disciples” (v1). In a border village ten lepers meet Him (v12). Then the Pharisees ask when the kingdom of God is coming (v20), and He answers them and then His disciples (vv22–37).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–10 — **forgive, believe, serve:** stumbling blocks will come — woe to the one who causes them; the millstone (vv1–2); rebuke and forgive, even seven times a day (vv3–4); “Increase our faith!” — the mustard seed and the mulberry tree (vv5–6); the slave who serves his master first, and “We are unworthy slaves” (vv7–10).\n- vv11–19 — **where are the nine?:** between Samaria and Galilee; ten lepers stand at a distance and cry for mercy (vv11–13); “Go and show yourselves to the priests,” cleansed as they went (v14); one turns back, glorifying God, falls at His feet, gives thanks — a Samaritan (vv15–16); “where are they?” (vv17–18); “your faith has made you well” (v19).\n- vv20–25 — **the kingdom in your midst:** the Pharisees ask when; not with signs to be observed — “the kingdom of God is in your midst” (vv20–21); the days when the disciples will long to see the Son of Man; do not run after “Look there!” (vv22–23); like lightning (v24); but first He must suffer and be rejected (v25).\n- vv26–37 — **remember Lot’s wife:** as in the days of Noah and of Lot — eating, drinking, building — until judgment (vv26–29); so on the day the Son of Man is revealed (v30); do not go down, do not turn back; remember Lot’s wife; lose your life to preserve it (vv31–33); one taken, the other left (vv34–36); “Where, Lord?” — the body and the vultures (v37).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “day / days” ×11 — vv4, 22 (×2), 24, 26 (×2), 27, 28, 29, 30, 31.\n- “eat / eating / eat and drink” ×8 — vv7, 8 (×5), 27, 28.\n- “God” ×5 — vv15, 18, 20 (×2), 21; “kingdom of God” ×3 — vv20 (×2), 21.\n- “Son of Man” ×4 — vv22, 24, 26, 30.\n- “Lot / Lot’s” ×4 — vv28, 29, 32 (×2); “Noah” ×2 — vv26, 27.\n- “turned back / returned / returns / turn back” ×4 — vv4, 15, 18, 31.\n- “faith” ×3 — vv5, 6, 19.\n- “slave(s)” ×3 — vv7, 9, 10; “commanded” ×2 — vv9, 10.\n- “Lord” ×3 — vv5, 6, 37; “Look” ×3 — vv21, 23 (×2).\n- “one will be taken and the other will be left” ×3 — vv34, 35, 36 (v36 bracketed).\n- “forgive” ×2 — vv3, 4; “sins” ×2 — vv3, 4; “repent / repents” ×2 — vv3, 4; “seven times” ×2 — v4.\n- “cleansed” ×2 — vv14, 17; “glorifying / glory” ×2 — vv15, 18.\n- “destroyed them all” ×2 — vv27, 29; “life” ×2 — v33.\n\n**Contrasts:** The one who causes stumbling ⟷ the little ones (vv1–2). A huge request (“Increase our faith!”) ⟷ a tiny seed (vv5–6). What the master is owed ⟷ what the slave can claim (vv7–10). Ten cleansed ⟷ one came back; the nine ⟷ the foreigner (vv17–18). Cleansed ⟷ made well (vv14, 19). Signs to be observed ⟷ the kingdom in your midst (vv20–21). “Look there! Look here!” ⟷ lightning across the whole sky (vv23–24). Suffering first ⟷ His day (vv24–25). Ordinary life ⟷ sudden judgment (vv26–30). Seek to keep your life ⟷ lose it and preserve it (v33). Taken ⟷ left (vv34–35).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** two halves on one road. The first half (1–19) is about how disciples treat each other and how they answer grace — forgive, serve, give thanks. The second half (20–37) is about time — the kingdom present now in the King, and the Day still coming. The hinge is a Samaritan on his face at Jesus’ feet: grace received now, before the Day comes.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** Faith forgives what it is told to forgive, obeys before it sees, comes back to say thank you, and keeps its eyes forward. The King has come; the Son of Man will be revealed; there is no going back to Sodom.", "I": "**Why does forgiving seven times a day need more faith?** Because it feels impossible. The apostles heard verses 3–4 and said, “Increase our faith!” Sproul’s answer is bracing: “You do not need a lot of faith to forgive.” Guzik: we cannot keep a record of every offense, and “we are not permitted to judge another’s repentance.” Henry allows honest rebuke — “Smother not the resentment, but give it vent” — but always toward pardon. A mustard seed of faith in a great God is enough to pull up a mulberry tree of bitterness (Guzik).\n\n**What is the point of the unworthy slave?** Not that God is harsh, but that obedience never puts God in our debt. Sproul: “We have added nothing to the assets side of the ledger,” and Christ “and He alone is the profitable servant.” Henry: “God cannot be a gainer by our services, and therefore cannot be made a debtor by them.” Spurgeon, preaching Luke 17:10 with Matthew 25, warns that pride in service is dangerous — “a dizzy head soon brings a fall” — and that “the best are still unprofitable servants.” I note that Jesus is not describing how a sinner is saved here; He is teaching servants how to think about their service.\n\n**Why send the lepers to the priests?** The law gave the priest authority to declare a leper clean (Lev 13–14; Sproul). Jesus sent them before anything had changed — “The lepers had not been cleansed yet, but they obeyed” (Sproul); “The one condition of healing was obedience” (Morrison, in Guzik). Spurgeon: “We are to believe first, just as we are.”\n\n**Why does Luke tell us he was a Samaritan?** Luke loves the outsider — the good Samaritan (10:33), Naaman the Syrian (4:27). The word *allogenēs* (v18) was carved on the temple barrier that kept foreigners out. The man barred from the inner courts is the only one who returns “to give glory to God.” Henry: “ingratitude is a very common sin.”\n\n**Cleansed vs. made well.** All ten were cleansed (v14, *katharizō*); to the one Jesus said, “your faith has made you well” (v19, *sōzō*, the word for “save”). Guzik: the nine “had whole bodies, but sick hearts.” Sproul draws it out: “We are lepers by nature,” and Christ makes us clean.\n\n**“Within you” or “in your midst” (v21)?** Henry reads the KJV inwardly — the kingdom changes “their hearts and lives.” Guzik and Sproul read it of the King standing among them: “Where the King is, there is the kingdom” (Sproul). Jesus is speaking to Pharisees who rejected Him, so I lean to “in your midst” — the kingdom was present in the person of the King. Both are true elsewhere in Scripture.\n\n**What “Day” is this, and who is “taken”?** Here our teachers part ways, and I want to say so plainly. Sproul, a partial preterist, hears much of verses 22–37 fulfilled in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 — “The Christians, however, did not go to Jerusalem” — and he rejects the rapture reading: “the point is that one will escape and one will not.” He is candid: “I candidly confess that I am not completely sure.” Guzik notes, “This passage is often applied to the rapture,” and ties it to 1 Thessalonians 4:16–18. Henry reads it of Christ’s coming in judgment. I read “the day that the Son of Man is revealed” (*apokalyptō*, v30) as His future return, the Son of Man of Daniel 7:13 coming in glory (Luke 21:27). Some who share that view see “taken” as caught up (1 Thess 4:17); others see it as taken in judgment, since the disciples ask “Where, Lord?” and hear of vultures. Either way the command is the same — Sproul: “This message is plain: be ready.”\n\n**Why Lot’s wife?** She was led out by the hand, and still her heart stayed in Sodom (Gen 19:16, 26). Spurgeon: “ALMOST SAVED, BUT NOT QUITE.” Guzik: she lingered, she doubted God’s word, she looked back. Verse 33 is the key: the one who clings to his life loses it.\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **stumbling block — *skandalon* (G4625):** the trigger of a trap; anything that makes a man fall (v1).\n- **mulberry tree — *sykaminos* (G4807):** the black mulberry, deep-rooted; only here (v6).\n- **unworthy — *achreios* (G888):** unprofitable, bringing no gain; only Luke 17:10; Matt 25:30.\n- **foreigner — *allogenēs* (G241):** of another race; only here (v18); the temple warning word.\n- **giving thanks — *eucharisteō* (G2168):** to be grateful for grace; root of “Eucharist” (v16; 22:19).\n- **signs to be observed — *paratērēsis* (G3907):** close, watchful (even hostile) observation; only here (v20).\n- **in your midst — *entos* (G1787):** within, inside; only here and Matt 23:26 (v21).\n- **revealed — *apokalyptō* (G601):** to unveil; the Son of Man unveiled (v30).\n- **taken — *paralambanō* (G3880):** to take along to oneself (vv34–35; John 14:3).\n- **vultures — *aetos* (G105):** eagle or vulture; Matt 24:28 (v37).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **Forgiveness is a command, not a feeling** (vv3–4; Sproul).\n2. **Do not audit a man’s repentance** (Guzik).\n3. **Faith’s power lies in its object** — a seed and a deep-rooted tree.\n4. **Obedience puts no one in God’s debt** — *achreios* (Henry).\n5. **They were cleansed as they went** — obey before you see (Sproul).\n6. **The foreigner came back** — *allogenēs* (v18).\n7. **Nine were cleansed; one was made well** — 17:19 and 18:42.\n8. **The King was standing in front of them** — the kingdom in your midst.\n9. **First the cross** — v25 (Guzik).\n10. **Almost saved, but not quite** — Lot’s wife (Spurgeon).\n\n**Cross-references:** Gen 6–7; 19:16–26; Lev 13:45–46; 14:1–32; 2 Kings 5:1–15; Dan 7:13–14; Matt 18:21–22; 23:26; 24:28, 37–41; 25:30; Luke 4:27; 9:22–24, 51; 10:33; 12:40; 18:42; 21:27, 34–36; John 14:3; Eph 4:32; 1 Thess 4:16–17; 2 Thess 1:7; Jas 1:22.", "A": "**Command to obey — forgive him.** Jesus said it twice in two verses. There is a man I have “forgiven” three or four times and I am tired of it. Jesus didn’t tell me to trust him blindly or to stop telling the truth — He said rebuke, and if he repents, forgive. This week I will stop auditing his repentance (Guzik) and forgive him again, and I will ask for faith the size of a mustard seed to do it.\n\n**Sin to confess — keeping score with God.** Some days I act like the slave who expects to be thanked for doing his job — like my sobriety, my service, my years in ministry have put God in my debt. They haven’t. “We have done only that which we ought to have done.” I confess the pride, and I thank God that Christ “and He alone is the profitable servant” (Sproul).\n\n**Example to follow — the man who came back.** He was the foreigner, the one nobody expected, and he turned around before he went anywhere else. Loud voice, face on the ground, “giving thanks to Him.” Many of the men I serve know what it is to stand “at a distance,” unclean and alone. Grace has cleansed us. I don’t want to be one of the nine. Today I will go back and thank Him out loud for one specific thing, and I will tell another man what He did.\n\n**Warning to heed — remember Lot’s wife.** She got out of Sodom and her heart never did. I know men who walked out of addiction, out of prison, out of the old life — and kept looking back until they went back. There are things on the housetop and in the field I am tempted to go down and get. Jesus said, “Remember Lot’s wife.” I will name the thing I keep looking back at, and I will turn my face forward.\n\n**Promise to trust — whoever loses his life will preserve it.** The Son of Man will be revealed, as sudden as lightning, and no one will need to be told. Until then I do not run after every “Look here!” I lose my life for His sake and He keeps it.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. Who has sinned against me more than once — and what would it cost me to forgive him again today, without checking whether his repentance is “real enough”? (17:3–4; Eph 4:32) *We are not permitted to judge another’s repentance (Guzik).*\n2. Do I quietly believe God owes me something for my obedience, my sobriety, my service? What would “we have done only that which we ought to have done” sound like in my mouth? (17:7–10) *God cannot be made a debtor by our services (Henry).*\n3. The lepers obeyed before they saw any change. What is Jesus telling me to do that I am waiting to “feel” before I obey? (17:14; Jas 1:22) *The lepers had not been cleansed yet, but they obeyed (Sproul).*\n4. Name one specific mercy God has shown me this year. Have I gone back to thank Him out loud — or am I one of the nine? (17:15–18; Ps 103:2) *Feeling and doing are not the same thing (Sproul).*\n5. If the Son of Man were revealed tonight, what would He find me busy with? What is the “house” I would be tempted to go back into? (17:26–31; 12:40) *Nothing was wrong with eating or building; no one was ready.*\n6. What does Lot’s wife’s backward look look like in my life — the old place, old people, old habits my heart still turns toward? (17:32–33; Gen 19:26) *Almost saved, but not quite (Spurgeon).*\n\n**Worship.** Jesus is the Master who has mercy on lepers, the One who cleanses with a word from a distance, the King standing in the middle of His enemies, the Son of Man who must first suffer and be rejected and who will one day be revealed like lightning from one end of the sky to the other. He keeps count of His mercies, and He still receives the one who comes back.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, Master, have mercy on me. Increase my faith — enough to forgive the brother I am tired of forgiving. Keep me from thinking You owe me anything; I am an unworthy slave, and You are the profitable servant who earned everything for me. Thank You for cleansing me. I come back to say it out loud. Turn my face forward; don’t let me look back at Sodom. Make me ready for the day You are revealed. Amen."}, "42:18": {"O": "**Setting.** Jesus is still teaching on the way to Jerusalem, right after His words about the day of the Son of Man (17:20–37). He tells two parables (vv1–8, 9–14), people bring babies (vv15–17), a ruler questions Him (vv18–30), He takes the Twelve aside (vv31–34), and He approaches Jericho, where a blind beggar sits by the road (vv35–43).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–8 — **the widow and the judge:** pray at all times and do not lose heart (v1); a judge who did not fear God; a widow who kept coming (vv2–3); he gives in so she will not wear him out (vv4–5); will not God bring about justice for His elect — quickly? (vv6–8a); “will He find faith on the earth?” (v8b).\n- vv9–14 — **the Pharisee and the tax collector:** told to those who trusted in themselves (v9); two men go up to pray (v10); the Pharisee’s “I thank You that I am not like other people” (vv11–12); the tax collector far off, beating his breast: “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” (v13); this man went home justified; humbled and exalted (v14).\n- vv15–17 — **like a child:** babies brought for His touch; the disciples rebuke (v15); “Permit the children to come to Me” (v16); receive the kingdom like a child (v17).\n- vv18–30 — **the rich ruler:** “Good Teacher, what shall I do?” (v18); no one is good but God (v19); the commandments — kept from youth (vv20–21); “One thing you still lack … come, follow Me” (v22); very sad, extremely rich (v23); the camel and the needle (vv24–25); “Then who can be saved?” — possible with God (vv26–27); “we have left our own homes” — many times as much, and eternal life (vv28–30).\n- vv31–34 — **the third prediction:** up to Jerusalem; written by the prophets; handed over, mocked, spit upon, scourged, killed, raised the third day (vv31–33); they understood none of these things (v34).\n- vv35–43 — **the blind man:** begging near Jericho (v35); “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by” (vv36–37); “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” — told to be quiet, he cries the more (vv38–39); Jesus stops: “What do you want Me to do for you?” (vv40–41); “your faith has made you well” (v42); he sees, follows, glorifies God; the people praise God (v43).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “God” ×14 — vv2, 4, 7, 11, 13, 16, 17, 19, 24, 25, 27, 29, 43 (×2).\n- “say / said / saying” ×23 — through the chapter; “I tell you / Truly I say to you” ×4 — vv8, 14, 17, 29.\n- “Jesus” ×9 — vv16, 19, 22, 24, 35, 37, 38, 40, 42.\n- “kingdom of God” ×5 — vv16, 17, 24, 25, 29.\n- “justice / legal protection” ×4 — vv3, 5, 7, 8.\n- “humbled / humbles / exalted / exalts” ×4 — v14.\n- “heard / hearing” ×4 — vv22, 23, 26, 36.\n- “mercy / merciful” ×3 — vv13, 38, 39; “Son of David” ×2 — vv38, 39.\n- “rich / wealthy” ×3 — vv23, 24, 25; “enter” ×3 — vv17, 24, 25.\n- “tax collector” ×3 — vv10, 11, 13; “Pharisee” ×2 — vv10, 11.\n- “pray / praying” ×3 — vv1, 10, 11; “sight” ×3 — vv41, 42, 43.\n- “follow / followed / following” ×3 — vv22, 28, 43.\n- “children / babies” ×3 — vv15, 16, 29; “eternal life” ×2 — vv18, 30.\n- “faith” ×2 — vv8, 42; “judge” ×2 — vv2, 6; “widow” ×2 — vv3, 5; “fear God” ×2 — vv2, 4.\n- In the Pharisee’s prayer, “I” ×5 — vv11–12.\n\n**Contrasts:** An unrighteous judge ⟷ God who brings justice quickly (vv6–8). Pharisee ⟷ tax collector; stood and prayed to himself ⟷ stood far off, eyes down (vv11, 13). Trusted in themselves ⟷ justified (vv9, 14). Exalts ⟷ humbled; humbles ⟷ exalted (v14). Disciples rebuke ⟷ Jesus calls (vv15–16). “What shall I do?” ⟷ “have mercy on me!” (vv18, 38). Extremely rich ⟷ begging (vv23, 35). Impossible with people ⟷ possible with God (v27). The Twelve who see but do not understand ⟷ the blind man who cannot see but calls Him Son of David (vv34, 38). Went away sad ⟷ followed, glorifying God (vv23, 43).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** five scenes asking one question — “Then who can be saved?” (v26). The answer keeps coming back the same: the one who asks and keeps asking, the one with nothing to offer, the one carried in someone’s arms. In the middle of it Jesus says why that is possible: He is going up to Jerusalem to die and rise (vv31–33).\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** God hears those who keep asking and justifies those who bring Him nothing but their sin. The kingdom is received like a child, and the rich man’s “one thing” keeps him out, but what is impossible with people is possible with God — because the Son of Man went up to Jerusalem to be scourged and killed and to rise.", "I": "**Is God like the unjust judge?** No — the parable runs from the lesser to the greater. Sproul: “How much more.” Spurgeon: “God will be more easily moved than this unjust judge, only be you as importunate as this widow was.” Then why the delay? Guzik: “the delays in prayer are not needed to change God, but to change us.” And God never gets the verdict wrong: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” (Gen 18:25) — Sproul: “He has never made an unjust verdict in His eternal existence.”\n\n**What does “quickly” mean if the elect cry “day and night”?** I take it this way: when God acts, He acts decisively; His timing looks slow to us, but He “will not delay long” beyond the right moment. The question in verse 8 points to the Son of Man’s coming (17:30): the real issue is not whether God is faithful but whether He will find us still believing and still praying. Sproul: “If Jesus came tonight, would He find faith in your house?”\n\n**Why did the tax collector go home justified?** Not because his prayer was eloquent or his repentance deep enough. He asked God to be *propitiated* — *hilaskomai*, the atonement word (Guzik) — and he called himself “the sinner.” Sproul: “He brought absolutely nothing to the table except his sin,” and “Faith is the sole instrument by which we grab hold of Christ.” Spurgeon warns against turning even conviction into merit: “a sense of sin gives no man a right to grace.” Henry: “Justice condemns me; nothing will save me but mercy, mercy.” This is Romans 4:5 in story form.\n\n**What does it mean to receive the kingdom like a child?** To receive it, not achieve it. Spurgeon: “We enter the kingdom by receiving, and therefore children can enter.” Guzik: children receive Jesus’ blessing “without trying to make themselves worthy of it, or pretending they don’t need it.” Sproul adds a guardrail: “there is a huge difference between a childlike faith and a childish faith.” Our teachers differ on what the passage says about infants and the church — Henry: “If the parents be members of the visible church, the children are so too”; Spurgeon: “He did not baptize them, but he did bless them” (quoted by Guzik). They agree on the main point.\n\n**Was Jesus denying He is good (v19)?** No. He was pressing the ruler: if only God is good, who is this “Good Teacher”? Guzik: “Good Teacher was a unique title.” And He was exposing the man’s confidence — Sproul: “He does not grade us on a curve.”\n\n**Must every disciple sell everything?** Sproul reads “sell all” as a test of the first commandment for this man, whose riches were his god, not a rule for every believer. Guzik agrees the riches were an idol. Henry: “Riches are a great hindrance to many in the way to heaven.” But every disciple has to be willing; Peter’s answer (v28) and Jesus’ promise (vv29–30) show that.\n\n**The eye of the needle.** No gate is meant; it is a picture of the impossible (Barclay and Morris in Guzik; Henry: “a proverbial expression”). Luke uses the surgeon’s word *belonē*. The point is verse 27 — salvation is God’s work. Sproul: “God’s grace does for us what we cannot possibly do for ourselves.”\n\n**Why were the Twelve blind to the cross?** Luke says it three ways in one verse (v34) — they understood none of it, it was hidden, they did not comprehend. Henry: “They are only for the smooth things.” Guzik: “They could not see or understand the truth until God opened their eyes” — which Jesus did after the resurrection (24:45).\n\n**One blind man or two; going in or coming out of Jericho?** Matthew has two blind men; Mark and Luke focus on one (Sproul: Bartimaeus was the spokesman). Mark says “leaving Jericho,” Luke “approaching Jericho.” Guzik and Sproul both note that Old Testament and New Testament Jericho stood side by side; the healing likely happened between them.\n\n**What did the blind man really receive?** Sight first — but Jesus said “your faith has made you well” (*sōzō*, “saved”), the same words as 17:19. Sproul: “A felt need may be a real need, but it may not be your deepest need.” He called Jesus “Son of David” — Messiah — and then he followed Him up the road to Jerusalem.\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **lose heart — *enkakeō* (G1573):** to grow weary, give up (v1; 2 Cor 4:1, 16; Gal 6:9).\n- **wear me out — *hypōpiazō* (G5299):** to give a black eye; Luke 18:5; 1 Cor 9:27.\n- **legal protection / justice — *ekdikeō* (G1556), *ekdikēsis* (G1557):** to vindicate, see that right is done (vv3, 5, 7–8).\n- **be merciful — *hilaskomai* (G2433):** be propitiated; only here and Heb 2:17.\n- **justified — *dikaioō* (G1344):** declared righteous (v14; Rom 4:5).\n- **babies — *brephos* (G1025):** infants (v15; 1:41; 2:12; 1 Pet 2:2).\n- **good — *agathos* (G18):** good in nature (vv18–19).\n- **needle — *belonē* (filed under G956 *belos*):** a surgical needle; only here; eye — *trēma* (G5169).\n- **accomplished — *teleō* (G5055):** brought to its end (v31; John 19:30).\n- **called out — *boaō* (G994) / cried out — *krazō* (G2896):** a shout, then a raw, repeated cry (vv38–39).\n- **have mercy — *eleeō* (G1653):** the beggar’s plea (vv38–39; 17:13).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **Prayer’s enemy is quitting** — *enkakeō* (v1).\n2. **God is not the judge; He is the “how much more”** (Sproul).\n3. **Five “I”s and no request** — the Pharisee (vv11–12).\n4. **“Be merciful” means “be propitiated”** — *hilaskomai* (v13).\n5. **Justified is a verdict, not a feeling** (v14).\n6. **The kingdom is received, not achieved** (Spurgeon).\n7. **The ruler kept his money and lost the kingdom** (Sproul).\n8. **Impossible with people, possible with God** — *belonē* (v27).\n9. **The Twelve could see and did not; the blind man could not see and did** (vv34, 38).\n10. **He stood still** (Guzik).\n\n**Cross-references:** Gen 18:25; Exod 22:22–23; Ps 34:18; 51:17; Isa 35:5; 53:3–5; 61:1; Matt 19:13–30; 20:29–34; Mark 10:13–52; Luke 1:52–53; 4:18; 11:5–13; 14:11; 16:15; 17:13, 19; 19:1–10; 24:25–27, 45; John 19:30; Rom 4:5; 1 Cor 9:27; 2 Cor 4:1, 16; 8:9; Gal 6:9; Heb 2:17; 1 Pet 2:2.", "A": "**Command to obey — pray and do not lose heart.** There are men I have prayed for for years — sons, brothers, guys who went back out. I have quietly stopped asking. Jesus told this parable for exactly that. This week I will put those names back on my list and pray for them every day, like the widow who kept coming. If He came tonight, I want Him to find faith in my house.\n\n**Sin to confess — the Pharisee’s prayer.** I have prayed “I thank You that I am not like” — not like the guy still using, not like the man in the next cell, not like the brother who fell. That prayer has five “I”s and no mercy in it. I confess it. My only prayer is the tax collector’s: “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” Not a sinner. The sinner.\n\n**Promise to trust — he went home justified.** He went home declared righteous — not because he cleaned himself up first, but because he asked God to accept the sacrifice in his place. That is the gospel I preach to men who think they are too far gone. “Only to a sinner can God be merciful” (Spurgeon). I will tell one man this week that God justifies the ungodly.\n\n**Warning to heed — the one thing.** The ruler had kept every commandment he could think of, and still walked away sad, because one thing owned him. I ask honestly: what is my “one thing” — money, a relationship, my reputation, my anger, my comfort? Whatever I won’t let go of is what Jesus will put His finger on. What is impossible for me is possible with God.\n\n**Example to follow — the blind beggar.** He couldn’t see Jesus, so he used what he had — his ears and his voice. When the crowd told him to shut up, he got louder. When Jesus asked, “What do you want Me to do for you?” he answered plainly. Then he followed Jesus up the road to Jerusalem. I want that kind of faith: loud when others want me quiet, plain when Jesus asks, and following when the healing comes.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. What have I stopped praying for because the answer was slow? What would it look like to go back to that prayer this week like the widow? (18:1–8; Luke 11:9) *The delays in prayer are not needed to change God, but to change us (Guzik).*\n2. If I wrote down my honest prayer from last week, would it sound more like the Pharisee’s or the tax collector’s? Who do I compare myself to? (18:9–13) *He brought absolutely nothing to the table except his sin (Sproul).*\n3. What do I bring to God as if it earns me something — my sobriety, my record, my religion? What would it mean to come “as a sinner, and as nothing else”? (18:13–14; Rom 4:5) *Come as you are (Spurgeon).*\n4. What is the difference between childlike and childish faith in my life? Where do I need to grow up, and where do I need to become like a child again? (18:15–17) *A huge difference between a childlike faith and a childish faith (Sproul).*\n5. What is the “one thing” Jesus might put His finger on in my life — the thing I would walk away sad rather than let go of? (18:22–25) *He kept his money and lost the kingdom (Sproul).*\n6. If Jesus stopped in front of me and asked, “What do you want Me to do for you?” — what would I say? Is that my deepest need? (18:40–43) *A felt need may not be the deepest need (Sproul).*\n\n**Worship.** God is the Judge of all the earth who always does right, who hears His elect day and night, who justifies the sinner who stands far off, who receives babies and blesses them, who does what is impossible with people. Jesus is the Son of Man who went up to Jerusalem knowing every insult and every blow that was waiting, and the Son of David who stood still on the Jericho road for one beggar’s cry.\n\n**Prayer.** God, be merciful to me, the sinner. I have nothing in my hand to bring. Keep me from the Pharisee’s prayer and the ruler’s sad walk away. Teach me to pray and not lose heart, to receive Your kingdom like a child, and to let go of the one thing I hold onto. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me — open my eyes, and I will follow You and glorify God. Amen."}, "42:19": {"O": "**Setting.** The last stage of the journey that began at 9:51. Jesus passes through Jericho (v1), tells a parable “because He was near Jerusalem” (v11), goes “up to Jerusalem” (v28) by Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives (v29), weeps as He sees the city (v41), and enters the temple, where He teaches daily (vv45–47). The chief priests, scribes and leading men want Him dead, but the people hang on His words (vv47–48).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–10 — **Zaccheus:** a chief tax collector, rich and short, climbs a sycamore to see Jesus (vv1–4); “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house” (v5); he receives Him gladly; the crowd grumbles, “a man who is a sinner” (vv6–7); half to the poor, fourfold back (v8); “Today salvation has come to this house … the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (vv9–10).\n- vv11–27 — **the minas:** told because they thought the kingdom would appear immediately (v11); a nobleman goes to a distant country to receive a kingdom (v12); ten slaves, ten minas, “Do business with this until I come back” (v13); the citizens: “We do not want this man to reign over us” (v14); the return and the accounting — ten minas, five minas, ten cities, five cities (vv15–19); the mina in a handkerchief, “I was afraid of you” (vv20–21); “By your own words I will judge you” (vv22–23); taken and given to the one with ten (vv24–26); the enemies slain (v27).\n- vv28–40 — **the King rides in:** going up to Jerusalem (v28); two disciples sent for an unridden colt — “The Lord has need of it” (vv29–34); coats on the colt and on the road (vv35–36); at the descent of the Mount of Olives the disciples praise God: “BLESSED IS THE KING” (vv37–38); the Pharisees: “rebuke Your disciples” — “the stones will cry out!” (vv39–40).\n- vv41–48 — **tears and the temple:** He sees the city and weeps (v41); the things which make for peace, hidden from your eyes (v42); barricade, siege, not one stone upon another, “because you did not recognize the time of your visitation” (vv43–44); He drives out the sellers — “a house of prayer … a robbers’ den” (vv45–46); teaching daily; the leaders seek to destroy Him; the people hang on His words (vv47–48).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “mina / minas” ×9 — vv13, 16 (×2), 18 (×2), 20, 24 (×2), 25.\n- “come / came / comes” ×11 — vv5 (×2), 6, 9, 10, 13, 18, 20, 23, 38, 43.\n- “Lord” ×5 — vv8 (×2), 31, 34, 38; “master” ×4 — vv16, 18, 20, 25.\n- “slave(s)” ×4 — vv13, 15, 17, 22; “house” ×4 — vv5, 9, 46 (×2).\n- “colt” ×4 — vv30, 33 (×2), 35; “untie / untying” ×4 — vv30, 31, 33 (×2).\n- “kingdom” ×3 — vv11, 12, 15; “reign” ×2 — vv14, 27; “King” ×1 — v38.\n- “Jerusalem” ×3 — vv11, 28, 41; “temple” ×2 — vv45, 47.\n- “today” ×2 — vv5, 9; “The Lord has need of it” ×2 — vv31, 34.\n- “exacting” ×2 — vv21, 22; “sow / reap / reaping” ×4 — vv21 (×2), 22 (×2).\n- “peace” ×2 — vv38, 42; “enemies” ×2 — vv27, 43; “stone(s)” ×2 — vv40, 44.\n\n**Contrasts:** A rich chief tax collector ⟷ “a man who is a sinner” in the crowd’s eyes, and “a son of Abraham” in Jesus’ (vv7, 9). Zaccheus trying to see ⟷ the Son of Man seeking (vv3, 10). Faithful slaves ⟷ the slave who hid his mina (vv16–21). Servants who are rewarded ⟷ citizens who “do not want this man to reign” (vv14, 17, 27). The disciples’ praise ⟷ the Pharisees’ rebuke (vv37–39). “Peace in heaven” sung ⟷ “the things which make for peace” missed (vv38, 42). The crowd cheering ⟷ Jesus weeping (vv37, 41). A house of prayer ⟷ a robbers’ den (v46). The leaders trying to destroy Him ⟷ the people hanging on His words (vv47–48).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** two scenes in Jericho (a man saved, a parable told) and two on the way into Jerusalem (a King praised, a city wept over). The chapter climbs, literally — from the Jordan valley up the wilderness road to the temple — and the question rises with it: will people receive this King or not? Zaccheus receives Him gladly; the citizens and the city do not.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** The Son of Man seeks the lost one by one, and He comes as King to His city. He receives sinners, gives His servants work to do until He returns, and weeps over those who reject Him — but the day of His visit can be missed, and the King who rode a colt will come back to reign.", "I": "**Why does Luke put Zaccheus here?** Right after the rich ruler went away sad (18:18–23) and Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” (18:24), Luke shows a rich chief tax collector saved — proof that “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God” (18:27). Henry: “Christ came to save even the chief of publicans.” Guzik calls Zaccheus “a model to everyone of how to receive Jesus.”\n\n**Who was seeking whom?** Zaccheus “was trying to see who Jesus was” (v3), but Jesus says, “today I must stay at your house” (v5) and “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (v10). Sproul: “The word “must” communicates urgency and necessity.” Spurgeon: “God does not call his people in shoals, but in units.” I was not the one looking first; He was.\n\n**Did Zaccheus earn his salvation in verse 8?** No. Sproul is plain: “nobody can work their way into the kingdom of God,” and Zaccheus “was mentioning what he planned to do as a result of his conversion.” Fourfold was the law’s penalty for a stolen sheep (Exodus 22:1); Zaccheus holds himself to the strictest standard. That is what grace does in a thief. “Son of Abraham” (v9) means he belongs to the covenant people again — by faith, like Abraham (Romans 4:11–12).\n\n**Why tell the parable of the minas?** Because “they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately” (v11). The nobleman goes away to receive a kingdom and then returns (vv12, 15). Sproul sets it beside Archelaus, who went to Rome for a crown while a delegation of Jews protested — “The emperor did not confirm Archelaus as king.” Jesus’ point: “There would be an interim between His departure to the far country and His commission as king” (Sproul). I read the parable the way the text sets it up: Christ ascended to the Father and will return in person to reign (Acts 1:11; Revelation 19:11–16). In the meantime His servants are to “do business” with what He gave them.\n\n**What is the mina?** Each slave received the same amount (v13), unlike the talents of Matthew 25. So the mina is best read as what every servant of Christ shares — the gospel entrusted to us, the life and gifts He gives. Guzik: the reward “is not rest, but more service.” Henry: “All Christians have business to do for Christ in this world.” The third slave did nothing because he had a false picture of his master — “I was afraid of you” (v21). Sproul: “Out of your fear, you didn’t produce anything.”\n\n**Two groups judged.** The slave who hid his mina loses it (v24); the citizens who said, “We do not want this man to reign over us” (v14), are slain (v27). Henry: “Whoever will not be ruled by the grace of Christ will inevitably be ruined by the wrath of Christ.” Jesus is about to be rejected by His own city; the parable warns them before it happens.\n\n**What did the entry mean?** Jesus arranged it (vv29–34) to fulfill Zechariah 9:9 — Sproul: “Jesus knew the text.” A King on a colt, not a war horse; the disciples sing Psalm 118:26. Guzik: “we should admire, not pity Jesus.” The Pharisees want the praise stopped; Jesus says the stones would take it up (v40). Henry: “Whether men praise Christ or no he will, and shall, and must be praised.”\n\n**Why did He weep?** Because the city did not know “the things which make for peace” (v42) and “did not recognize the time of your visitation” (v44). Verses 43–44 came true in AD 70, when Rome under Titus besieged and leveled Jerusalem (Sproul walks through the siege). Spurgeon: “Jesus is here a king by general acclamation, but king of grief by personal lamentation.” Guzik: “Even when God’s judgment is perfectly just and righteous, His heart weeps.” I hold that this judgment is not God’s last word to Israel: Jesus Himself says the city will see Him again when it says, “BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!” (13:35), and Jerusalem is trampled only “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (21:24; Romans 11:25–26).\n\n**The temple cleansing.** Jesus joins Isaiah 56:7 (a house of prayer “for all the peoples”) to Jeremiah 7:11 (a den of robbers). Guzik: the market filled the court where Gentiles came to pray. Sproul: Jesus “saw the pilgrims being defrauded,” and “His mood changed from sorrow into fury.” The same Lord who wept over the city cleans His Father’s house.\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **chief tax collector — *architelōnēs* (G754):** only here in the New Testament (v2).\n- **to seek — *zēteō* (G2212); to save — *sōzō* (G4982); lost — *apollymi* (G622):** the Luke 15 words (v10).\n- **salvation — *sōtēria* (G4991):** “Today salvation has come to this house” (v9).\n- **mina — *mna* (G3414):** about a hundred days’ wages; nine times in vv13–25.\n- **do business — *pragmateuomai* (G4231):** only v13; *diapragmateuomai* (G1281), gained by trading, only v15.\n- **exacting — *austēros* (G840):** harsh, severe; only vv21–22.\n- **colt — *pōlos* (G4454):** the unridden foal (vv30–35; Zech 9:9).\n- **will cry out — *krazō* (G2896):** to scream aloud (v40).\n- **wept — *klaiō* (G2799):** loud weeping, sobbing (v41).\n- **visitation — *episkopē* (G1984):** God’s coming to inspect and deliver (v44; 1:68, 78).\n- **robbers — *lēstēs* (G3027):** bandits (v46; Jer 7:11).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **The camel goes through the needle** — a rich chief tax collector saved (18:24–27).\n2. **He was seeking; Jesus was seeking him** — “must” (v5), “to seek and to save” (v10).\n3. **Restitution is fruit, not price** — fourfold, after grace (Sproul).\n4. **“Lost” is a Luke 15 word** — *apolōlos*.\n5. **The kingdom comes after a journey** — the King goes and returns (vv11–15).\n6. **The reward for faithfulness is more work** (Guzik).\n7. **Fear is not an excuse** — the third slave (Sproul).\n8. **A King on a colt** — Zechariah 9:9.\n9. **God weeps over the judgment He sends** — *klaiō* (v41).\n10. **A house of prayer for all the peoples** — Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.\n\n**Cross-references:** Exod 22:1; Num 19:2; 1 Kings 1:33; Ps 118:22–26; Isa 56:7; Jer 7:11; Ezek 34:16; Hab 2:11; Zech 9:9; 14:4; Matt 25:14–30; Luke 1:68, 78; 13:34–35; 15:1–32; 18:18–43; 21:20–24; John 12:12–19; Acts 1:11; Rom 4:11–12; 11:25–26; 1 Cor 4:2; Rev 19:11–16.", "A": "**Example to follow — Zaccheus came down quickly.** He did not care how foolish he looked in a tree, and when Jesus called him he “hurried and came down and received Him gladly” (v6). Spurgeon: “Hardly had he said, “Come down,” when down he came.” Some of the men I sit with have spent years being called “a man who is a sinner” (v7). Jesus calls them by name. This week I will stop putting off what He has already told me to do.\n\n**Command to obey — make it right.** Zaccheus went straight to the people he had cheated (v8). Grace did not make him careless about his past; it made him honest about it. If there is a man I have wronged — money, a lie, a broken promise — I will write his name down and take one step toward making it right. Not to earn anything. Because salvation has come to my house.\n\n**Sin to confess — burying my mina.** I have sometimes done nothing with what Christ gave me because I was afraid — of failing, of looking foolish, of a God I pictured as harsh (v21). That is not humility; it is unbelief. I confess it and ask Him to show me what He has put in my hands to use until He comes back.\n\n**Promise to trust — “Well done, good slave.”** The King is coming back (vv12, 15), and He notices faithfulness “in a very little thing” (v17). The small, unseen work — the phone call to a man who is struggling, the Bible study with three guys at the facility, being honest at work — is not little to Him.\n\n**Warning to heed — do not miss the day.** Jerusalem cheered and still missed Him (vv37, 42, 44). It is possible to be in the crowd and not know “the things which make for peace.” Today is a day of visitation for me. I will not treat it as ordinary.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. Zaccheus climbed a tree and did not care who laughed. What has it cost me — pride, reputation, comfort — to get close enough to see Jesus? (19:3–4) *I wish there were more of us who did not mind being laughed at (Maclaren, in Guzik).*\n2. Jesus called a man everyone hated by name and went to his house. Who is the “sinner” I would grumble about if Jesus went home with him? (19:5–7; 15:1–2) *Jesus is joyful to receive sinners (Guzik).*\n3. Zaccheus made things right with the people he had cheated. Is there someone I need to pay back or make amends to? (19:8–9; Exod 22:1) *Restitution is the fruit of salvation, not its price (Sproul).*\n4. The King has given me a mina and gone away for a while. What has He put in my hands, and what am I doing with it until He comes back? (19:13, 17; 1 Cor 4:2) *The reward for faithful service is not rest, but more service (Guzik).*\n5. The third slave hid his mina because he thought his master was harsh. Where has a wrong picture of God made me afraid to act? (19:20–23) *Out of your fear, you didn’t produce anything (Sproul).*\n6. Jesus wept because Jerusalem did not recognize the day God visited it. Where is God visiting me right now, and am I missing it? (19:41–44; 2 Cor 6:2) *He looks with weeping eyes upon lost souls (Henry).*\n\n**Worship.** The Son of Man came looking for me. He looked up into a tree and called a thief by name; He rode into His city on a borrowed colt as the humble King Zechariah promised; He wept over the people who would kill Him; and He will come again to the Mount of Olives to reign. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, You came to seek and to save that which was lost, and You found me. Thank You for calling me down and coming to my house. Give me a heart that makes things right with the people I have wronged. Forgive me for burying what You gave me out of fear; make me faithful in very little things until You return. Open my eyes to the day of Your visitation, and let me be one who praises You when others are silent. Amen."}, "42:20": {"O": "**Setting.** “On one of the days” of the last week, Jesus is “teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel” (v1). The leaders who had been “trying to destroy Him” (19:47) now come at Him one after another: the chief priests, scribes and elders (v1), spies sent to catch Him (v20), and Sadducees (v27). He answers them all in front of “the people” (vv1, 9, 19, 26, 45), then asks His own question and warns His disciples about the scribes (vv41–47).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–8 — **the authority question:** “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things” (v2); “Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” (vv3–4); they reason among themselves — if heaven, “Why did you not believe him?”; if men, the people will stone us (vv5–6); “they did not know” (v7); “Nor will I tell you” (v8).\n- vv9–19 — **the vine-growers:** a man plants a vineyard and goes away (v9); three slaves beaten, shamed, wounded, sent away empty-handed (vv10–12); “I will send my beloved son” (v13); “This is the heir; let us kill him” (vv14–15); the owner will destroy them and give the vineyard to others — “May it never be!” (v16); the rejected stone becomes the chief corner stone; broken to pieces or scattered like dust (vv17–18); the leaders want to seize Him, “for they understood that He spoke this parable against them” (v19).\n- vv20–26 — **Caesar’s coin:** spies “who pretended to be righteous” (v20); flattery and the question, “Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (vv21–22); “He detected their trickery” — “Show Me a denarius” (vv23–24); “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (v25); amazed, they fall silent (v26).\n- vv27–40 — **the resurrection:** Sadducees “who say that there is no resurrection” (v27); Moses’ law of the husband’s brother (v28); seven brothers, one wife, “which one’s wife will she be?” (vv29–33); this age and that age; no marriage, no death, “like angels … sons of the resurrection” (vv34–36); the burning bush — “He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (vv37–38); “Teacher, You have spoken well,” and no one dares ask more (vv39–40).\n- vv41–47 — **David’s Lord; beware the scribes:** “How is it that they say the Christ is David’s son?” (v41); Psalm 110:1 (vv42–43); “David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and how is He his son?” (v44); before all the people, to the disciples: long robes, greetings, chief seats, devouring widows’ houses, long prayers for show — “greater condemnation” (vv45–47).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “God” ×8 — vv21, 25 (×2), 36, 37 (×3), 38.\n- “send / sent” ×7 — vv10 (×2), 11 (×2), 12, 13, 20.\n- “vineyard” ×6 — vv9, 10, 13, 15 (×2), 16; “vine-growers” ×5 — vv9, 10 (×2), 14, 16.\n- “son / sons” ×6 — vv13, 34, 36 (×2), 41, 44.\n- “people” ×6 — vv1, 6, 9, 19, 26, 45.\n- “die / dies / died / dead” ×8 — vv28, 29, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38.\n- “marry / married” ×5 — vv28, 31, 33, 34, 35; “wife” ×4 — vv28 (×2), 29, 33.\n- “authority” ×4 — vv2 (×2), 8, 20.\n- “Caesar(’s)” ×4 — vv22, 24, 25 (×2).\n- “resurrection” ×4 — vv27, 33, 35, 36.\n- “Lord” ×4 — vv37, 42 (×2), 44; “David” ×3 — vv41, 42, 44.\n- “stone” ×4 — vv6 (stone us), 17 (×2), 18.\n- “question / questioned” ×4 — vv3, 21, 28, 40; “Teacher” ×3 — vv21, 28, 39.\n- “scribes” ×4 — vv1, 19, 39, 46.\n\n**Contrasts:** From heaven ⟷ from men (vv4–6). The owner’s patience ⟷ the tenants’ violence (vv10–15). The beloved son ⟷ the heir they kill (vv13–14). Builders who reject ⟷ the stone God makes chief (v17). Falling on the stone ⟷ the stone falling on you (v18). Caesar’s things ⟷ God’s things (v25). Sons of this age ⟷ sons of the resurrection (vv34–36). God of the dead ⟷ God of the living (v38). David’s son ⟷ David’s Lord (vv41–44). Long robes and long prayers ⟷ devoured widows’ houses (vv46–47).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** four rounds of question and answer, with a parable after the first round. The leaders ask three questions designed to trap Him; each trap fails, until “they did not have courage to question Him any longer” (v40). Then Jesus asks the one question they cannot answer — who is the Messiah? — and the chapter ends with a warning about religion that looks good and does harm.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus’ authority comes from God, and the men who reject Him are tenants who have killed the Owner’s Son. The rejected Son is God’s cornerstone. Give the world what it is owed, give God yourself, believe the living God who raises the dead, and bow to David’s son as David’s Lord.", "I": "**Why won’t Jesus answer the authority question?** He does answer — with a question that exposes the questioners. John had pointed to Jesus as the Coming One (3:16; 7:19–27); if John was from heaven, so is Jesus’ authority. The leaders “reasoned among themselves” (v5) about what each answer would cost them. Guzik: “They cared more about winning the argument against Jesus than in knowing the truth.” Henry: “Those that bury the knowledge they have are justly denied further knowledge.” Sproul: “Instead of answering their question, He turned the tables on them.”\n\n**Who is who in the parable?** Sproul starts in Isaiah 5: “God likened His people Israel to a vineyard.” The owner is God; the vine-growers are Israel’s leaders — they “understood that He spoke this parable against them” (v19); the slaves are the prophets; the beloved son is Jesus, who here tells His own death in advance (Guzik). Spurgeon traces the tenants’ slide: “They grow bolder, and more wicked.”\n\n**“Give the vineyard to others” (v16).** Teachers read this differently. Many see the kingdom passing from Israel to the church. I read it as the text does: the vine-growers — the leaders — lose the vineyard and new stewards take charge (Jesus’ apostles and the church He builds), but the vineyard is still God’s, and God is not finished with Israel. The people’s “May it never be!” (v16) is the very phrase Paul uses: “God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!” (Romans 11:1; see 11:25–29). Spurgeon applies the warning to us: “Lest we should have the heritage taken from us, let us yield up the fruit to him who has the best right to it all.”\n\n**What does the stone mean (vv17–18)?** Psalm 118:22 — the stone the builders rejected becomes the chief corner stone; the crowd had just sung Psalm 118 on the road (19:38). Falling on the stone means being broken in humility; the stone falling on someone means judgment, like the stone of Daniel 2:34–35 that crushed the statue to chaff. Guzik: “Anyone who comes to Jesus will be broken of their pride and self-will.” Sproul: “If you trip over Jesus, He will crush you.”\n\n**What does “render to Caesar” teach?** The trap was simple: “yes” angers the people; “no” is treason. Jesus asks for the coin. Caesar’s image is on it, so give it back to him — “Jesus affirmed that the government makes legitimate requests of us” (Guzik). But Caesar claimed divinity — “Tiberius Caesar, like his predecessor, considered himself a god” (Sproul) — and Jesus limits him: “He’s due taxes, but not worship.” Henry: “in sacred things God only is your King.” And the other half: we bear God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Guzik: “Everyone has the image of God impressed upon them.” Give yourself to God.\n\n**What about marriage in the resurrection?** Jesus says those in “that age” “neither marry nor are given in marriage” because “they cannot even die anymore” (vv35–36). Sproul is careful — “At first glance, that would suggest that we are not in a state of marriage in heaven” — and adds, “Whatever state we will be in will be better than anything we can imagine now.” Like angels in deathlessness, not turned into angels. Henry: marriage is “for the comfort of human life, here in this state.”\n\n**How does the burning bush prove the resurrection?** The Sadducees accepted Moses above the rest of Scripture (Sproul), so Jesus answers from Moses. God said “I am” — not “I was” — “the God of Abraham” long after Abraham died (Exodus 3:6). Spurgeon: “A living God is the God of living men; and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still alive.” Guzik: “They are not lost – we know where they are, and they also know.”\n\n**David’s son and David’s Lord.** Psalm 110:1 — “The LORD says to my Lord” — is, Sproul notes, the Old Testament text the New Testament quotes most. If David calls the Messiah “Lord,” the Messiah is more than David’s son: He is God the Son who sits at the Father’s right hand until His enemies are made His footstool (Acts 2:34–36). I read that “until” as pointing to His return to reign.\n\n**The warning about the scribes.** They loved long robes, greetings, best seats, and long prayers — and they “devour widows’ houses” (v47). Henry: “dissembled piety is double iniquity.” Guzik: “God is concerned about our religious reality, not the image.” The next verses (21:1–4) show a poor widow giving all she had.\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **authority — *exousia* (G1849):** lawful right to act (vv2, 8, 20).\n- **reasoned — *syllogizomai* (G4817):** to calculate together; only v5.\n- **beloved — *agapētos* (G27):** “My beloved Son” (3:22; 20:13).\n- **scatter like dust — *likmaō* (G3039):** to winnow, crush to powder (v18; Dan 2:35).\n- **pretended — *hypokrinomai* (G5271):** to play a part; only v20.\n- **trickery — *panourgia* (G3834):** craftiness (v23; 2 Cor 11:3).\n- **denarius — *dēnarion* (G1220):** a day’s wage (v24).\n- **likeness — *eikōn* (G1504):** image (v24; Gen 1:27; Col 1:15).\n- **render — *apodidōmi* (G591):** give back what is owed (v25; Rom 13:7).\n- **resurrection — *anastasis* (G386):** standing up again (vv27, 33, 35, 36).\n- **like angels — *isangelos* (G2465):** only v36.\n- **Lord — *kyrios* (G2962):** Psalm 110:1 (vv42, 44).\n- **robes — *stolē* (G4749):** long robes (v46; 15:22).\n- **devour — *katesthiō* (G2719):** eat up (v47; 15:30).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **Honest questions get answers; traps get questions** (Guzik).\n2. **They reckoned instead of repenting** — *syllogizomai* (v5).\n3. **The vineyard was never theirs** (Guzik).\n4. **The Son knew He would be killed** — “my beloved son” (v13).\n5. **One stone, two outcomes** — broken or crushed (v18; Sproul).\n6. **“Others” is not “never again”** — Romans 11:1.\n7. **Give back to God what bears His image** — “due taxes, but not worship” (Sproul).\n8. **Present tense, living saints** — “I am the God of Abraham.”\n9. **Like angels, not angels** — *isangelos* (v36).\n10. **David’s son is David’s Lord** — Psalm 110:1.\n\n**Cross-references:** Gen 1:27; Exod 3:6; Deut 25:5–6; Ps 110:1; 118:22–23; Isa 5:1–7; Dan 2:34–35, 44–45; Matt 21:23–22:46; Mark 11:27–12:40; Luke 3:16; 7:19–30; 21:1–4; Acts 2:34–36; 4:11–12; 23:8; Rom 11:1, 25–29; 13:1–7; 1 Cor 15:20; 2 Cor 11:3; Col 1:15; 1 Pet 2:7–8.", "A": "**Truth to face — I am a tenant, not an owner.** The vine-growers forgot whose vineyard it was (vv9–14). My life, my body, my family, my time, my recovery — none of it is mine. Guzik: “The vinedressers didn’t buy the vineyard, and they did not make it.” The Owner is asking for fruit, and He has been patient with me longer than I deserve.\n\n**Command to obey — render to God what is God’s.** Jesus told me to pay what I owe — taxes, honest work, respect for authority (v25; Romans 13:7). Some of the men I serve are rebuilding trust with courts, parole officers and employers; doing that honestly is obedience to Christ. But the coin is not the point. I bear God’s image. He gets me — not a slice of my week, but me. This week I will name one area I have been keeping back and hand it to Him.\n\n**Sin to confess — calculating instead of obeying.** The leaders asked what answer would cost them least (vv5–7). I know that move. I have weighed what obedience would cost me in front of people before I did what I already knew was right. I confess it, and I ask God to make me a man who answers honestly, whatever it costs.\n\n**Promise to trust — He is the God of the living.** “He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him” (v38). The brothers in the Lord I have buried are not lost. Spurgeon: “We are by no means deprived of our dear ones by their death.” And my own death is not the end of my story; there is an age where they “cannot even die anymore” (v36).\n\n**Warning to heed — beware the long robe.** It is possible to look holy, pray long in public, take the best seat, and still use people (vv46–47). Guzik: “God is concerned about our religious reality, not the image.” I want my private life to match my prayers.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. The leaders asked what answer would cost them least, not what was true. Where am I tempted to calculate rather than simply obey what I already know? (20:3–8) *Those that bury the knowledge they have are justly denied further knowledge (Henry).*\n2. The vineyard belonged to the owner; the tenants only worked it. What part of my life am I treating as mine that really belongs to God? (20:9–16; Ps 24:1) *They didn’t buy the vineyard, and they did not make it (Guzik).*\n3. Jesus is a stone you either fall on and are broken, or one that falls on you. What does it look like for me to be broken on Him rather than crushed by Him? (20:17–18; 1 Pet 2:7–8) *Anyone who comes to Jesus will be broken of their pride and self-will (Guzik).*\n4. I bear God’s image the way the coin bore Caesar’s. What would it mean this week to “render to God” what is His — my time, body, money, worship? (20:24–25; Gen 1:27) *He’s due taxes, but not worship (Sproul).*\n5. God is the God of the living, and those who die in the Lord live. How does the resurrection change how I grieve, and how I face my own death? (20:37–38; 1 Cor 15:20) *They are not lost — we know where they are (Guzik).*\n6. Jesus warned about men who wanted to look holy and used religion to take advantage of the weak. Where do I care more about my image than my reality? (20:46–47) *God is concerned about our religious reality, not the image (Guzik).*\n\n**Worship.** The Father sent His beloved Son to a vineyard that had beaten His servants, and they threw Him out and killed Him — and God made the rejected stone the chief corner stone. Jesus answered every trap with the truth. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of the living, and He is David’s Lord, seated at the right hand of the Father until every enemy is under His feet.\n\n**Prayer.** Father, the vineyard is Yours and so am I. Forgive me for living like an owner and for calculating instead of obeying. I fall on the Stone; break my pride and build me on Jesus. Help me give Caesar what I owe and give You all of me, since I bear Your image. Thank You that You are the God of the living and that those who die in Christ live to You. Keep me from religion that looks good and loves little, and make me honest before You and kind to the weak. In the name of Jesus, David’s Lord. Amen."}, "42:21": {"O": "**Setting.** Jesus is in the temple during the last week before the cross (21:37–38). He watches the rich and a poor widow giving at the treasury (vv1–4). When some admire the temple’s stones and votive gifts, He says not one stone will be left upon another (vv5–6), and the disciples ask when and what sign (v7). He answers with the teaching Matthew and Mark place on the Mount of Olives (Matt 24:3; Mark 13:3), and the chapter ends with His pattern for those days: teaching in the temple by day, nights on Olivet (vv37–38).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–4 — **the widow’s two coins:** the rich and their gifts; a poor widow and two small copper coins; “this poor widow put in more than all of them” — “all that she had to live on.”\n- vv5–19 — **not yet the end:** beautiful stones and votive gifts; “not one stone upon another” (v6); “when?” and “what sign?” (v7); do not be misled — many will come in My name (v8); wars and disturbances, but “the end does not follow immediately” (v9); nation against nation, earthquakes, plagues, famines, signs from heaven (vv10–11); but before all this, persecution — synagogues, prisons, kings and governors (v12); an opportunity for testimony; I will give you utterance and wisdom (vv13–15); betrayed by family, some put to death, hated by all (vv16–17); not a hair will perish; by endurance you will gain your lives (vv18–19).\n- vv20–24 — **Jerusalem surrounded:** armies around the city — her desolation is near (v20); flee to the mountains (v21); days of vengeance, all that is written fulfilled (v22); woe to mothers; wrath to this people (v23); sword, captivity among all nations, Jerusalem trampled “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (v24).\n- vv25–33 — **the Son of Man coming:** signs in sun, moon and stars; dismay among nations; the roaring sea (v25); men fainting from fear; the powers of the heavens shaken (v26); the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory (v27); straighten up, lift up your heads — your redemption is drawing near (v28); the fig tree (vv29–31); “this generation will not pass away” (v32); “My words will not pass away” (v33).\n- vv34–38 — **watch and pray:** be on guard — dissipation, drunkenness and the worries of life (v34); like a trap on all the earth (v35); keep on the alert, praying, to escape and to stand before the Son of Man (v36); by day in the temple, by night on Olivet; the people come early to hear Him (vv37–38).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “things” ×11 — vv6, 7 (×2), 9, 12, 22, 26, 28, 31, 32, 36 (“these things” is the chapter’s refrain).\n- “come / comes / coming / came” ×10 — vv6 (×2), 8 (×2), 26, 27, 34, 35 (×2), 38.\n- “see / saw / seen” ×7 — vv1, 2, 8, 20, 27, 30, 31.\n- “take place / happen / happening” ×7 — vv7 (×2), 9, 28, 31, 32, 36.\n- “put / putting” (in) ×5 — vv1, 2, 3, 4 (×2); and “put … to death” v16.\n- “near” ×5 — vv8, 20, 28, 30, 31.\n- “day(s)” ×5 — vv6, 22, 23, 34, 37.\n- “nation(s)” ×4 — vv10 (×2), 24, 25; “Gentiles” ×2 — v24 (×2).\n- “My name” ×3 — vv8, 12 (“for My name’s sake”), 17; and “My words” v33.\n- “pass away” ×3 — vv32, 33 (×2); “heaven(s)” ×3 — vv11, 26, 33; “earth” ×3 — vv25, 33, 35.\n- “sign(s)” ×3 — vv7, 11, 25; “kingdom” ×3 — vv10 (×2), 31.\n- “temple” ×3 — vv5, 37, 38; “Jerusalem” ×2 — vv20, 24; “fulfilled” ×2 — vv22, 24.\n- “Son of Man” ×2 — vv27, 36.\n\n**Contrasts:** The rich and their surplus ⟷ the widow and her poverty (vv1–4). Beautiful stones ⟷ not one stone upon another (vv5–6). “The time is near” (false) ⟷ “the end does not follow immediately” (v9). Some put to death ⟷ not a hair will perish (vv16–18). Those in the city ⟷ those who flee (v21). Men fainting from fear ⟷ believers who straighten up (vv26, 28). Heaven and earth pass away ⟷ My words do not (v33). Hearts weighed down ⟷ alert and praying (vv34, 36). A trap for all who dwell on the earth ⟷ strength to escape and stand (vv35–36).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** a small scene (one widow, two coins) opens onto the widest horizon in Luke — the temple, the city, the nations, the sky — and then narrows back to the single heart that must be on guard (v34). Questions about “when” are answered with commands about “how”: do not be misled, do not be terrified, make up your minds, endure, flee, straighten up, be on guard, keep on the alert.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus tells His people the truth about the future so they will not be deceived, terrified or caught asleep. The temple fell as He said, Jerusalem has been trampled as He said, and He will come again as He said — so I give Him everything, endure, and keep my head up.", "I": "**Why the widow here?** Luke sets her straight after the warning about scribes “who devour widows’ houses” (20:47). Guzik: “Perhaps a scribe devoured her house.” Sproul: she is the answer to hypocrisy — “Jesus realized that this woman was all in.” She is also a picture of the chapter’s whole lesson: hold nothing back from God, because everything else here is passing away.\n\n**What were the disciples asking?** “When therefore will these things happen?” (v7) is about the temple. Matthew adds “the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age” (Matt 24:3). Guzik: “Prophetically, the two are connected, though separated by many centuries,” and “Luke’s record focuses more on the first aspect.”\n\n**Are wars and earthquakes the sign?** No. Jesus says “the end does not follow immediately” (v9). Guzik: like labor pains, “without any one of them being the specific sign of the end.” Spurgeon: they keep us watching, not curious.\n\n**Verses 20–24 — AD 70.** All four teachers agree that Jerusalem “surrounded by armies” describes the Roman siege, the burning of the temple and the scattering of the Jews. Guzik and Spurgeon say the Christians obeyed verse 21 and fled (to Pella), and few or none perished.\n\n**What are “the times of the Gentiles”?** The age in which Jerusalem is under Gentile power and the nations hear the gospel — with an end. Sproul: “up to this point and then it stops.” Guzik notes 1948 and believes that when these times end, “the remaining seven-year period appointed to the Jewish people in Daniel 9 begins.” Spurgeon: the time when the Messiah gathers in the Gentiles, after which Israel turns. This is where I stand: God is not finished with Israel (Rom 11:25–26).\n\n**Verses 25–33 — fulfilled, future, or both?** This is the honest difference.\n- *Futurist (Guzik; my frame):* “History records no adequate fulfillment of these words in A.D. 70 or immediately following.” The signs in the heavens, the nations in perplexity and the Son of Man “coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Dan 7:13; Acts 1:11) are still ahead — the tribulation of Revelation 6–18 and the visible return of Christ.\n- *Partial preterist (Sproul):* the cosmic language is the prophets’ judgment idiom, “generation” is “an age group,” and “In AD 70, Jesus came in judgment.” He still holds to Christ’s final, bodily return.\n- *Double fulfillment (Spurgeon, Henry):* “We have had a rehearsal of that coming in the destruction of the favored city” — “fulfilled once, and it shall soon be fulfilled again.”\nI read verse 27 as the same coming as Acts 1:11 and Revelation 1:7 — a coming every eye will see — and I take the AD 70 fall as the down-payment that proves the rest will come just as surely.\n\n**“This generation” (v32).** Sproul: the people living then. Guzik: the generation that sees “these things” begin, or possibly the Jewish people, who will not pass away. Spurgeon: “two meanings, an outer and an inner.” Whatever the reader decides, verse 33 settles the main thing: “My words will not pass away.”\n\n**What is the “escape” in verse 36?** Guzik reads it as the Lord taking His ready people before the coming calamity (compare Rev 3:10; 1 Thess 4:16–17). Others read it as being kept faithful through it. Either way, the means is the same: “keep on the alert at all times, praying.”\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **two small copper coins — *lepta* (G3016):** the smallest coin; KJV “mites.”\n- **poverty — *hysterēma* (G5303):** lack, shortfall; contrast *perisseuma*, surplus (v4).\n- **misled — *planaō* (G4105):** to lead astray, make to wander (v8).\n- **endurance — *hypomonē* (G5281):** remaining under the load (v19).\n- **desolation — *erēmōsis* (G2050):** laying waste; Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20.\n- **times — *kairoi* (G2540):** appointed seasons — “the times of the Gentiles” (v24).\n- **redemption — *apolytrōsis* (G629):** full release by ransom; only here in the Gospels (v28).\n- **generation — *genea* (G1074):** an age group, or a race/kind (v32).\n- **dissipation — *kraipalē* (G2897):** the hangover of excess; only here (v34).\n- **keep on the alert — *agrypneō* (G69):** to stay sleepless, like a sentry (v36).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **The widow came right after the warning** about devouring widows’ houses (20:47).\n2. **Jesus counts what is left, not what is given** — surplus vs lack.\n3. **The first word about the future is a warning** — do not be misled.\n4. **Persecution is a pulpit** (v13).\n5. **Endurance is not passive** — *hypomonē* (Guzik).\n6. **Obedience saved the Jerusalem church** — they fled when they saw the armies.\n7. **“Until” has an end** — Luke 21:24 and Romans 11:25.\n8. **The teachers honestly differ on verses 25–32** — futurist, preterist, double fulfillment.\n9. **Redemption is still arriving** — head up, not head down.\n10. **Worry can make a sober man drunk** (Spurgeon).\n\n**Cross-references:** Dan 7:13; 9:24–27; 12:1; Zech 12:10; 14:4; Matt 24; Mark 12:41–44; 13; Luke 13:35; 17:22–37; 19:41–44; 20:47; Acts 1:6–11; 2:20; Rom 8:23; 11:25–26; 2 Cor 8:1–3; 1 Thess 4:16–5:9; 2 Thess 2:1–4; Rev 1:7; 3:10; 6–19.", "A": "**Example to follow — the widow.** She had two coins and gave both. Some of the men I sit with have almost nothing — a commissary account, a few dollars, a borrowed Bible. Jesus says that kind of gift counts for more than all the rest. I don’t get to wait until I have more. This week I will give God something I will actually miss — money, time, or the thing I hold tightest.\n\n**Sin to confess — admiring the stones.** I can get impressed with the beautiful things — a building, a program, a reputation, even my own ministry — and forget that not one stone will be left. I confess the idols I have made out of good things.\n\n**Command to obey — do not be misled; do not be terrified.** Jesus gave me no date to chase. I will stop feeding my fear with headlines and start feeding my faith with His words, which “will not pass away.”\n\n**Promise to trust — not a hair of your head.** Men may betray me, even family (v16). Jesus promises utterance and wisdom when I stand before the people who oppose me (v15), and He promises that my life is kept: “By your endurance you will gain your lives.” I will stay under the load today instead of running from it.\n\n**Command to obey — be on guard; keep on the alert.** The trap Jesus names is not only drunkenness; it is “the worries of life.” For a man in recovery both are real. I will name which weight is on my heart, hand it to Him in prayer, and stay awake.\n\n**Hope to hold — lift up your heads.** I believe the Son of Man will come in a cloud with power and great glory, as surely as the temple fell in AD 70. When the world shakes, I am told to straighten up, not shrink back: my redemption is drawing near.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. The widow gave out of her lack, not her leftovers. What would it look like for me to give God something I will actually miss? (21:1–4; 2 Cor 8:1–3) *Jesus counts what is left behind (Guzik: one coin was half her money).*\n2. The disciples were admiring beautiful stones. What good thing in my life — even a religious one — has started to become an idol? (21:5–6) *Good things can become the worst idols (Guzik).*\n3. Jesus’ first word about the future was “do not be misled.” Where do I go looking for certainty about dates instead of faithfulness for today? (21:8–9; Acts 1:7) *Signs keep us watching, not curious (Spurgeon).*\n4. Some believers will be betrayed even by family (v16). How does verse 18–19 help a man who has lost relationships for following Jesus? (21:16–19) *The body may be taken; the life is kept.*\n5. Our teachers read verses 25–32 differently. What do all of them agree on, and how does that shape the way I live this week? (21:25–33; Acts 1:11) *A real return, a real redemption, a real call to watch.*\n6. Which weight is pressing my heart down right now — dissipation, drunkenness, or “the worries of life”? (21:34–36) *Care can intoxicate as surely as drink (Spurgeon).*\n\n**Worship.** The Lord sees two copper coins. He knew the temple would fall forty years before it fell, and it fell. He holds the times of the Gentiles in His hand and keeps His promises to Israel. His words outlast heaven and earth, and He is coming in a cloud with power and great glory.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, You see what I give and what I hold back. Take all of me. Keep me from being misled and from being terrified. When I am betrayed or hated for Your name, give me Your words and keep my soul. Lift the weight of worry and the pull of old habits off my heart. Keep me awake and praying, and let me stand before You with my head up when You come. Amen."}, "42:22": {"O": "**Setting.** The Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, is approaching (v1). The chief priests and scribes want Jesus dead but fear the people (v2). Over one night and the next daybreak the scene moves from the city (Judas’s bargain, vv3–6) to an upper room (vv7–38), out to the Mount of Olives (vv39–53), back to the high priest’s house and its courtyard fire (vv54–65), and at daybreak to the Council chamber (vv66–71).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–6 — **the plot:** the feast approaching; leaders seeking to kill Him, afraid of the people (vv1–2); Satan enters Judas (v3); he bargains with the chief priests and officers; money agreed (vv4–5); he seeks an opportunity apart from the crowd (v6).\n- vv7–23 — **the Supper:** the day the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed (v7); Peter and John sent — the man with the pitcher, the large furnished upper room (vv8–13); “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (vv14–16); a cup shared (vv17–18); the bread — “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (v19); the cup after — “the new covenant in My blood” (v20); the betrayer’s hand on the table; woe to that man (vv21–23).\n- vv24–38 — **greatness, sifting, swords:** a dispute over who is greatest (v24); kings and “Benefactors” — but the leader like the servant; “I am among you as the one who serves” (vv25–27); a kingdom granted, thrones over the twelve tribes (vv28–30); “Simon, Simon” — sifted like wheat; “I have prayed for you” (vv31–32); Peter’s boast and the rooster (vv33–34); money belt, bag and sword; “numbered with transgressors”; “It is enough” (vv35–38).\n- vv39–46 — **the agony:** the Mount of Olives as was His custom (v39); “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” (v40); a stone’s throw; “not My will, but Yours be done” (vv41–42); an angel strengthening Him (v43); agony, sweat like drops of blood (v44); the disciples sleeping from sorrow; “Get up and pray” (vv45–46).\n- vv47–62 — **the kiss and the look:** Judas and the crowd; “betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” (vv47–48); the sword, the ear, “Stop! No more of this,” the healing (vv49–51); “this hour and the power of darkness are yours” (vv52–53); led to the high priest’s house; Peter at a distance (v54); the fire and three denials (vv55–60); the rooster; the Lord turned and looked at Peter; he wept bitterly (vv60–62).\n- vv63–71 — **the Council:** mocking, beating, blindfolding — “Prophesy!” (vv63–65); daybreak, the Council of elders (v66); “If You are the Christ, tell us” (vv67–68); “from now on THE SON OF MAN WILL BE SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND of the power OF GOD” (v69); “Are You the Son of God, then?” — “Yes, I am” (v70); “we have heard it ourselves” (v71).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “Peter / Simon” ×10 — vv8, 31 (×2), 34, 54, 55, 58, 60, 61 (×2).\n- “Passover” ×6 — vv1, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15.\n- “eat / eaten” ×6 — vv8, 11, 15, 16, 20, 30.\n- “pray / prayed / praying / prayer” ×6 — vv32, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46.\n- “betray / betraying / betrayed” ×5 — vv4, 6, 21, 22, 48.\n- “table” ×5 — vv14, 21, 27 (×2), 30.\n- “Lord” (of Jesus) ×5 — vv33, 38, 49, 61 (×2).\n- “I say to you / I tell you” ×5 — vv16, 18, 34, 37, 67.\n- “kingdom” ×4 — vv16, 18, 29, 30; “cup” ×4 — vv17, 20 (×2), 42.\n- “sword(s)” ×4 — vv36, 38, 49, 52; “chief priests” ×4 — vv2, 4, 52, 66.\n- “Son of Man” ×3 — vv22, 48, 69; “Satan” ×2 — vv3, 31; “Judas” ×3 — vv3, 47, 48.\n- “deny / denied” ×3 — vv34, 57, 61; “rooster” ×3 — vv34, 60, 61.\n- “fulfilled / fulfillment” ×3 — vv16, 37 (×2); “hour” ×3 — vv14, 53, 59.\n- “greatest / greater” ×3 — vv24, 26, 27; “serve(s) / servant” ×3 — vv26, 27 (×2).\n- “temptation” ×2 — vv40, 46; “kiss” ×2 — vv47, 48.\n\n**Contrasts:** Leaders afraid of the people ⟷ Judas offering a way “apart from the crowd” (vv2, 6). A body “given for you” ⟷ a hand on the table betraying (vv19, 21). Determined ⟷ woe (v22). Kings who lord it ⟷ the One who serves (vv25–27). Satan’s sifting ⟷ Jesus’ prayer (vv31–32). Peter’s boast ⟷ three denials (vv33–34, 57–60). Then without purse ⟷ now take a purse (vv35–36). My will ⟷ Yours (v42). Jesus praying ⟷ disciples sleeping (vv44–45). A kiss ⟷ betrayal (v48). A sword that wounds ⟷ a hand that heals (vv50–51). Daily in the temple ⟷ this hour and the power of darkness (v53). Blindfolded and mocked ⟷ seated at the right hand of God (vv64, 69).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** six scenes in one night, each a failure of men answered by the faithfulness of Christ — the betrayer bargains and Jesus gives His body; the disciples quarrel and He serves; Peter boasts and He prays; the disciples sleep and He agonizes; a disciple swings a sword and He heals; Peter denies and He looks; the Council condemns and He confesses.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** Everyone around Jesus failed Him that night — and He kept every word. He gave His body, prayed for the one who would fall, drank the Father’s cup, and confessed who He is. The same Lord who looked at Peter still prays for me.", "I": "**How could Satan “enter” Judas?** Luke and John both say it (Luke 22:3; John 13:27). Sproul: “Satan entered into the inner core of Judas’ being,” but “Satan did not come and coerce Judas to perform the act. … Judas acquiesced willingly out of the darkness of his own heart.” Guzik: the money “points to the motivation of simple greed,” and Satan’s role “does not diminish” his responsibility. Verse 22 holds both truths: the Son of Man goes “as it has been determined; but woe to that man.”\n\n**Why two cups?** Luke records a cup before the bread (v17) and “the cup after they had eaten” (v20). The Passover meal had several cups; Jesus attaches the new covenant to the cup after supper. Spurgeon: the new memorial was “blended with the passover.”\n\n**What does “This is My body” mean?** Our teachers read the bread and cup as signs and seals of Christ’s sacrifice, not a change of substance. Spurgeon: “It was clearly impossible that he could have meant that bread to be literally his body.” Guzik: it is how we remember and how we fellowship with Him. Sproul: it is the Passover fulfilled — “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.”\n\n**What is the new covenant?** The promise of Jeremiah 31:31–34 — the law on the heart and sins remembered no more — made with “the house of Israel” and opened to all who belong to Christ. Sproul: covenants are ratified by blood, and this one was ratified the next afternoon. I note that Jeremiah’s promise still names Israel, and Paul says God will keep it (Rom 11:26–27).\n\n**The thrones (v30).** Jesus promises the Twelve that they will “sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” I take this as future and literal, in the kingdom when the Son of Man reigns (Matt 19:28); it fits Luke 21:24’s “until” and Acts 1:6.\n\n**Sifted, but prayed for.** Satan “demanded permission” (v31). Guzik: “he had to ask God for permission.” The first “you” is plural — all of them; the second is singular — Simon (v32). Sproul: Satan may tempt a believer but not possess him, and what kept Peter was the intercession of Christ: “If you’re a Christian, Jesus prays for you.”\n\n**The two swords (vv36–38).** All our teachers read Jesus’ words figuratively — a warning that the days ahead would be hostile — not a call to arms. Guzik: He “did not mean, two swords will be enough.” Spurgeon: “A smile must have passed over the Saviour’s face.” “It is enough” ends the conversation; minutes later Jesus says, “Stop! No more of this” (v51).\n\n**What was in the cup (v42)?** Guzik: “The cup didn’t represent death, but judgment.” Sproul: “It was the curse of God. It was the wrath of God.” He explains the prayer with two wills in Christ, the human will shrinking and submitting to the divine. Spurgeon: He suffered “because he stood in the sinner’s place.”\n\n**Was the sweat really blood (v44)?** Guzik: “like blood” — Luke does not say it was blood. Sproul, with Jonathan Edwards: “Jesus really did sweat blood.” Both agree on the point: the agony was real, and it was for us.\n\n**Peter and Judas.** Both were targeted by Satan, both failed, both felt shame. Judas despaired; Peter wept and was restored (John 21). Sproul and Spurgeon both find the difference in Christ — His prayer (v32) and His look (v61). Guzik: “Peter fell, but had not fallen away.”\n\n**“Yes, I am” (v70).** Literally “You say that I am” — a Hebrew yes. Jesus joins Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13 (v69). Guzik: those who judged Him will be judged by Him.\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **Satan — *Satanas* (G4567):** the adversary; returns in vv3, 31 (cf. 4:13).\n- **betray — *paradidōmi* (G3860):** hand over; vv4, 6, 21, 22, 48.\n- **covenant — *diathēkē* (G1242):** a binding arrangement; KJV “testament” (v20).\n- **remembrance — *anamnēsis* (G364):** a calling to mind; Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24–25; Heb 10:3.\n- **Benefactor — *euergetēs* (G2110):** a king’s title; only here (v25).\n- **sift — *siniazō* (G4617):** shake in a sieve; only here (v31).\n- **turned again — *epistrephō* (G1994):** to turn back (v32).\n- **agony — *agōnia* (G74):** a wrestler’s struggle; only here (v44).\n- **drops — *thromboi* (G2361):** thick drops, clots; only here (v44).\n- **cup — *potērion* (G4221):** vv17, 20, 42.\n- **kiss — *phileō* (G5368):** the disciple’s greeting turned to a signal (v47).\n- **looked at — *emblepō* (G1689):** to look straight into (v61).\n- **deny — *arneomai* (G720):** to disown (vv34, 57, 61).\n- **I am — *eimi* (G1510):** “You say that I am” (v70).\n- **right hand — *dexios* (G1188):** the seat of power (v69).\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **Satan needed an open door** — Judas acquiesced willingly (Sproul).\n2. **The same verb, two hands** — *paradidōmi*.\n3. **He wanted this meal** — “with desire I have desired.”\n4. **A new covenant needs a God-man** (Guzik).\n5. **The quarrel came at the table** — to ascend, descend (Spurgeon).\n6. **“You” all, but “you,” Simon** (vv31–32).\n7. **The cup was wrath** (Sproul, Guzik).\n8. **Strengthened to pray harder** (v44).\n9. **Jesus cleaned up His disciple’s mess** — the healed ear.\n10. **One look** — Peter fell, but had not fallen away.\n\n**Cross-references:** Exod 12; Ps 41:9; 110:1; Isa 53:12; Jer 31:31–34; Dan 7:13; Zech 13:7; Matt 19:28; 26:17–75; Mark 14; Luke 4:13; 9:22; John 13:21–30; 17:12; 18:1–27; 21:15–19; Acts 1:6, 18; 2:34–35; 7:56; Rom 4:25; 8:34; 1 Cor 5:7; 11:23–26; Heb 5:7; 7:25; 10:3; Rev 19:9.", "A": "**Sin to confess — the open door.** Judas didn’t fall in one night; greed and disappointment had been working in him a long time, and then Satan walked through the door he left open. I have left doors open too — resentment at God for not being the Messiah I wanted, an old appetite I kept feeding. I name them and shut them today.\n\n**Promise to trust — “given for you.”** At the Table Jesus did not say “given for the world” in general; He said “for you.” Men who have done terrible things sit at that Table forgiven. I will come to the Lord’s Supper next time hearing those two words.\n\n**Example to follow — the One who serves.** The disciples argued about rank right after the bread and cup. In the facility, at work, in my own house, I want the seat that gets noticed. Jesus took the towel. This week I will do one hidden act of service for someone who can’t pay me back.\n\n**Promise to trust — “I have prayed for you.”** Jesus knew Peter would fail and prayed for him before he did — and told him what to do after: “strengthen your brothers.” My failure does not have the last word. Jesus “always lives to make intercession” (Heb 7:25). When I fall, I will turn back quickly and then help the next man who falls.\n\n**Command to obey — “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”** He said it twice (vv40, 46). The disciples slept from sorrow; grief made them drowsy, and temptation found them unprepared. When I am hurting, I am most at risk. I will pray before the trouble comes, not after.\n\n**Truth to face — following at a distance.** Peter loved Jesus and still ended up warming his hands with the crowd that arrested Him. Distance comes before denial. I will move closer — back to the Word, back to the brothers, back to prayer — before the rooster crows.\n\n**Hope to hold — the look.** The Lord turned and looked at Peter. It was not a look of rejection but of love that broke his heart open. Peter wept, and Peter was restored. The same Jesus is seated now at the right hand of God.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. Judas opened a door that Satan walked through — greed, disappointment, anger. What door have I left open that the enemy could use? (22:3–6; Eph 4:26–27) *Satan did not coerce Judas; he acquiesced willingly (Sproul).*\n2. Jesus said the bread was His body “given for you.” What changes when I hear “for you” personally at the Lord’s Table? (22:19–20; 1 Cor 11:23–26) *This is how we remember and how we fellowship (Guzik).*\n3. Right after the Supper the disciples argued about who was greatest. Where am I jockeying for position — at home, at work, in the group? (22:24–27) *The way to ascend is to descend (Spurgeon).*\n4. Jesus prayed for Peter before Peter failed. How does it help me to know that Jesus is praying for me right now? (22:31–32; Heb 7:25) *If you’re a Christian, Jesus prays for you (Sproul).*\n5. In the garden Jesus prayed “not My will, but Yours be done,” and His disciples slept. What “cup” am I asking God to take away, and can I pray His prayer? (22:39–46) *The cup was judgment; He drank it for us.*\n6. Peter followed at a distance and ended up warming himself with the wrong crowd. What does following Jesus “at a distance” look like for me — and what did the Lord’s look do for Peter? (22:54–62; John 21:15–17) *Peter fell, but had not fallen away (Guzik).*\n\n**Worship.** The Lamb of God earnestly desired to eat the Passover with men who would fail Him. He gave His body and poured out His blood for a new covenant. He prayed for Simon, drank the Father’s cup, healed His enemy’s ear, looked in love at His denier, and confessed before His judges the throne He now occupies at the right hand of God.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, Your body was given for me and Your blood poured out for me. Shut the doors in me that I have left open to the enemy. Make me a servant, not a seeker of seats. When I am sifted, keep my faith from failing, and when I turn back, let me strengthen my brothers. Teach me to pray “not my will, but Yours.” And when I fail You, turn and look at me again, and bring me home. Amen."}, "42:23": {"O": "**Setting.** Friday of Passover week in Jerusalem, from early morning to sunset. The Council brings Jesus to Pilate (v1); Pilate sends Him to Herod Antipas, who is in the city for the feast (v7); Herod sends Him back (v11). Pilate gives way to the crowd (vv24–25). Jesus is led out to “the place called The Skull” (v33), dies at the ninth hour (vv44–46), and is buried in Joseph’s rock tomb as the Sabbath begins (vv53–54).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–12 — **Pilate and Herod:** three charges (v2); “Are You the King of the Jews?” — “It is as you say” (v3); “I find no guilt in this man” (v4); sent to Herod, who hopes for a sign and gets no answer (vv7–9); mocked in a gorgeous robe (v11); Herod and Pilate become friends (v12).\n- vv13–25 — **Barabbas:** “no guilt … nor has Herod” (vv14–15); “I will punish Him and release Him” (v16); “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!” (v18); “Crucify, crucify Him!” (v21); the third verdict (v22); their voices prevail (v23); the murderer released, Jesus delivered to their will (v25).\n- vv26–31 — **the road:** Simon of Cyrene carries the cross behind Jesus (v26); the women mourning (v27); “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me” (v28); the barren blessed, the mountains and hills (vv29–30); the green tree and the dry (v31).\n- vv32–43 — **the cross and the thief:** crucified between two criminals (vv32–33); “Father, forgive them” (v34); rulers, soldiers and an inscription — “save Yourself” (vv35–38); one criminal reviles, the other rebukes him and asks to be remembered (vv39–42); “today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (v43).\n- vv44–49 — **darkness and death:** darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour (v44); the veil torn (v45); “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT” (v46); the centurion praises God (v47); the crowds beat their breasts (v48); the women watch from a distance (v49).\n- vv50–56 — **the burial:** Joseph of Arimathea, good and righteous, waiting for the kingdom (vv50–51); asks for the body, wraps it, lays it in a new rock tomb (vv52–53); preparation day (v54); the women see the tomb, prepare spices, rest on the Sabbath (vv55–56).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “Pilate” ×10 — vv1, 3, 4, 6, 11, 12, 13, 20, 24, 52; “Herod” ×6 — vv7 (×2), 8, 11, 12, 15.\n- “this man” ×9 — vv2, 4, 14 (×2), 18, 22, 41, 47, 52.\n- “Jesus” ×9 — vv8, 20, 25, 26, 28, 34, 42, 46, 52.\n- “see / saw / seeing / looking / observed” ×8 — vv8 (×3), 35, 47, 48, 49, 55.\n- innocence — “no guilt” / “nothing deserving death” / “nothing wrong” / “innocent” ×6 — vv4, 14, 15, 22, 41, 47.\n- “release / released” ×6 — vv16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 25.\n- “people” ×5 — vv5, 13, 14, 27, 35; “crowd(s)” ×3 — vv4, 27, 48.\n- “mocking / contempt / sneering / mocked / abuse” ×5 — vv11 (×2), 35, 36, 39.\n- “crucify / crucified” ×4 — vv21 (×2), 23, 33.\n- “save / saved” ×4 — vv35 (×2), 37, 39.\n- “King” ×4 — vv2, 3, 37, 38; “kingdom” ×2 — vv42, 51.\n- “God” ×4 — vv35, 40, 47, 51; “Father” ×2 — vv34, 46.\n- “Galilee / Galilean” ×4 — vv5, 6, 49, 55; “women” ×3 — vv27, 49, 55.\n- “Christ” ×3 — vv2, 35, 39; “chief priests” ×3 — vv4, 10, 13.\n- “prison / prisoner” ×3 — vv17, 19, 25; “voice(s)” ×3 — vv23 (×2), 46.\n- “Sabbath” ×2 — vv54, 56; “hour” ×2 — v44 (×2); “tomb” ×2 — vv53, 55.\n\n**Contrasts:** The charges (v2) ⟷ “no guilt” (vv4, 14, 22). Herod’s many questions ⟷ Jesus’ silence (v9). Enemies ⟷ friends that very day (v12). Barabbas, a murderer, released ⟷ Jesus, innocent, delivered (v25). Weep for Me ⟷ weep for yourselves (v28). Green tree ⟷ dry (v31). “Save Yourself” ×3 ⟷ He saves a thief (vv35–43). One criminal reviles ⟷ the other fears God (vv39–40). Noon ⟷ darkness (v44). The Council’s plan ⟷ Joseph, who had not consented (vv50–51).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** Two trials, a road, a cross, a death and a grave. The first half is noisy — accusing, shouting, mocking; the second half grows quiet — darkness, a last prayer, linen and spices and Sabbath rest. Through all of it the verdict of “innocent” keeps repeating, from a governor at dawn to a soldier at three in the afternoon.\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** Jesus is condemned though every witness calls Him innocent, so that the guilty — Barabbas, the thief, the crowd, and me — could go free. He goes to the cross forgiving, saving and trusting His Father to the end.", "I": "**Why take Jesus to Pilate?** Guzik: “The Roman government did not allow the Jewish leaders the authority to execute a criminal.” The Council had condemned Him for blasphemy (22:70–71), but before Rome they turned it into treason — misleading the nation, forbidding taxes, claiming to be a king (v2). Sproul on the tax charge: “That was not true” (20:20–25).\n\n**Why was Jesus silent before Herod?** Herod wanted entertainment, not truth; Sproul pictures him asking for a miracle on demand. Guzik: Herod’s interest “was not sincere and was to his condemnation.” Henry calls Herod “ringleader in that abuse.” Jesus had nothing to say to a man who had silenced John the Baptist (9:9) and wanted only a sign.\n\n**Is verse 17 part of Luke?** The NASB brackets it because the oldest manuscripts do not have it here. The Passover custom itself is clear from Matthew 27:15, Mark 15:6 and John 18:39, so nothing in the story depends on the verse.\n\n**Who was Barabbas, and why does it matter?** A rebel and murderer (vv19, 25) whose name means “son of the father” — Sproul: “Ironically, the name meant “son of the father.”” Peter preached it later: “you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer” (Acts 3:14). The guilty man went free because the innocent Son took his place. That is substitution in a single scene (1 Peter 3:18).\n\n**Why did Pilate give in?** Guzik: he “did not find the courage to oppose both the religious leaders and the crowd.” Sproul: “the supreme act of cowardice.” Henry: Pilate was “sick of the cause.” He knew the truth three times over and still let “their voices” prevail (v23).\n\n**What do the green and dry trees mean (v31)?** Sproul: Jesus is the green wood — “He was not kindling for God’s wrath” — and “We are the dry wood.” Henry reads it from lesser to greater: if the innocent suffer so, how much worse for the guilty. Guzik and Sproul both see the near fulfillment in Jerusalem’s destruction in AD 70. Sproul also connects verse 30 with Revelation 6:16. I read it both ways: a judgment that fell on Jerusalem then, and a picture of the wrath still to come at the end of the age, before the Lamb returns to reign.\n\n**Whom did Jesus forgive in verse 34?** He prayed for those crucifying Him. Sproul: “He was acting in intercession as a priest for His tormentors,” and their ignorance was real but not innocent (1 Cor 2:8). The prayer was answered in part at Pentecost, when thousands from that same city repented (Acts 2:36–41). Spurgeon: “The Lamb of God was silent to men, but he was not silent to God.”\n\n**What does the thief teach us?** That salvation is by grace through faith, with nothing in our hands. He feared God, owned his guilt, confessed Christ’s innocence and asked (vv40–42). Spurgeon: “Never did a poor sinner trust Christ too much.” Sproul: “this very day” leaves no room for soul sleep — to be absent from the body is to be with the Lord. Henry adds the warning: “This gives no encouragement to any to put off their repentance to their death-bed.”\n\n**Why the darkness and the torn veil?** Sproul: “God turned out the lights” — darkness means judgment, and the Son bore it. Then “He tore down the sign that said no admittance.” Guzik: creation in agony at its Creator’s suffering. Henry: the end of the ceremonial law. Hebrews 10:19–20 gives the meaning: we may enter the holy place “through the veil, that is, His flesh.”\n\n**Did Jesus die as a victim?** No. He cried out “with a loud voice” and committed His spirit (v46). Guzik: “No one took His life from Him; He gave it up when His work was finished.” Sproul: He committed His spirit to the Father who had just poured out wrath upon Him. Spurgeon: dying, for the believer, is going home.\n\n**Why does the burial matter?** Sproul: the exaltation begins here — God would not let His Son’s body be thrown away. Joseph, a Council member who “had not consented” (v51), gave a new tomb (Isaiah 53:9). Henry: “That evil counsel or deed to which we have not consented shall not be reckoned our act.” And the women who watched where He was laid (v55) will be the first at the empty tomb (24:1).\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **guilt — *aition* (G159; Strong’s noun G158):** legal ground for a charge; vv4, 14, 22.\n- **treating with contempt — *exoutheneō* (G1848):** to make nothing of; v11; Acts 4:11.\n- **Barabbas — *Barabbas* (G912):** Aramaic “son of the father.”\n- **crucify — *stauroō* (G4717):** “Crucify, crucify Him!” (v21).\n- **prevail — *katischyō* (G2729):** to overpower; v23.\n- **behind — *opisthen* (G3693):** Simon carried it “behind Jesus” (v26; cf. 9:23).\n- **green / dry — *hygros* (G5200) / *xēros* (G3584):** v31; *hygros* only here in the NT.\n- **forgive — *aphiēmi* (G863):** “Father, forgive them” (v34).\n- **sneering — *ekmyktērizō* (G1592):** to turn up the nose; v35.\n- **today — *sēmeron* (G4594) / Paradise — *paradeisos* (G3857):** v43; 2 Cor 12:4; Rev 2:7.\n- **veil — *katapetasma* (G2665):** v45; Heb 10:20.\n- **commit — *paratithēmi* (G3908) / breathed His last — *ekpneō* (G1606):** v46.\n- **innocent, righteous — *dikaios* (G1342):** vv47, 50; 1 Pet 3:18.\n- **waiting for — *prosdechomai* (G4327) / preparation — *paraskeuē* (G3904):** vv51, 54.\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **Six witnesses say “innocent”** — vv4, 14, 15, 22, 41, 47.\n2. **The charge sheet is empty** — *aition*; “That was not true” (Sproul).\n3. **Enemies make friends over Jesus** (v12; Guzik).\n4. **A son of the father goes free** — Barabbas (Sproul).\n5. **Cowardice is a choice** — Pilate knew and gave in.\n6. **The light end of the cross** — Simon walks behind Jesus (Spurgeon).\n7. **Love kept Him there** — not nails (Guzik); the covenant of redemption (Sproul).\n8. **He prayed for the men driving the nails** (v34).\n9. **Today, Paradise** — the thief’s date, company and place (v43).\n10. **The veil came down from God’s side** — no more “no admittance” (Sproul).\n\n**Cross-references:** Gen 1:3; Exod 26:31–33; Lev 16; Ps 22:18; 31:5; Isa 53:7, 9, 12; Hos 10:8; Matt 27:15, 44; Mark 15:6, 21; Luke 9:9, 23; 20:20–25; 22:37, 70; John 18:39; 19:38–41; Acts 2:36–41; 3:14–15; 7:60; 13:28–29; 1 Cor 2:8; 2 Cor 5:8; 12:4; Heb 10:19–20; 13:12; 1 Pet 3:18; Rev 2:7; 6:16.", "A": "**Sin to confess — Pilate in me.** Pilate knew the truth and said it three times, and then let the loudest voices win (v23). I have done that — known what was right at work, at home, with the guys, and gone along to keep the peace or keep my standing. I confess it by name. Knowing the truth is not the same as standing on it.\n\n**Truth to face — I am Barabbas.** Barabbas did not choose to go free; he was in a cell, guilty, and someone else’s cross became his door out. That is my story. Many of the men I sit with know exactly what a cell and a sentence feel like. The gospel is not that we were innocent; it is that the Innocent One took our place — “the just for the unjust” (1 Pet 3:18).\n\n**Example to follow — Simon, walking behind.** Simon did not volunteer, but he carried the cross “behind Jesus” (v26). This week I will pick up the burden in front of me — the hard conversation, the man who needs a ride, the job I don’t want — and carry it behind Jesus, remembering that I carry the light end.\n\n**Command to obey — forgive as He forgave.** Jesus prayed “Father, forgive them” while they were still driving the nails, and they had not said sorry (v34). I name the person I have refused to forgive, and I pray that same prayer for him out loud today, even before my feelings agree.\n\n**Promise to trust — “today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”** The thief brought nothing but a prayer: “Jesus, remember me.” Jesus gave him a day, a Companion and a home (v43). No man is too far gone and no record too long. If I trust Him, I will be with Him — and so will any man in my group who asks.\n\n**Example to follow — Joseph of Arimathea.** He did not consent to the Council’s evil, and when everyone else was hiding, he went to Pilate and gave what he had — a tomb (vv50–53). I will ask: what do I have that I can give Jesus, that no one else can?\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent and still gave in to the crowd. Where do I know what is right but go along with the loudest voices around me? (23:4, 20–25; Prov 29:25) *Knowing the truth is not the same as standing on it.*\n2. Barabbas walked out free because Jesus took his place. What would change in me this week if I really saw myself as Barabbas? (23:18–25; 1 Pet 3:18) *The just for the unjust.*\n3. Simon was forced to carry a cross he did not choose. What burden am I carrying that I can carry “behind Jesus”? (23:26; 9:23) *You do but carry the light end of the cross (Spurgeon).*\n4. Jesus prayed “Father, forgive them” for men who were not sorry. Who is the person I most need to pray that prayer for? (23:34; Acts 7:60) *He kept on praying it.*\n5. The thief had no time to clean up his life — only to fear God, own his guilt and ask. What keeps me from coming to Jesus that simply? (23:40–43) *Never did a poor sinner trust Christ too much (Spurgeon).*\n6. Joseph served Jesus in a way no one else could. What can I give Jesus that only I am in a position to give? (23:50–53) *We must serve God in whatever way we can (Guzik).*\n\n**Worship.** The King of the Jews stood silent before a puppet king, was traded for a murderer, carried a cross until He fell, and then from that cross forgave His killers, opened Paradise to a thief, and handed His spirit to His Father. Six witnesses called Him innocent. He is the Righteous One, the Lamb who tore the veil from God’s side, and the Lord who would use a borrowed tomb for only three days.\n\n**Prayer.** Lord Jesus, I am Barabbas, and You took my place. I am the thief, and I ask You to remember me. Forgive me for the times I knew the truth like Pilate and let the crowd win. Teach me to forgive the way You forgave from the cross, and to carry my cross behind You. Thank You that the veil is torn and I can come home to the Father. Into Your hands I commit my spirit today. Amen."}, "42:24": {"O": "**Setting.** Sunday, “the first day of the week,” from early dawn (v1) to night (vv29, 33), and then — compressed into a few verses — the ascension at Bethany (v50), which Acts 1:3 places forty days later. Places: the tomb outside Jerusalem (vv1–12); the road to Emmaus, about seven miles away (vv13–28); a house in Emmaus at evening (vv29–32); the room in Jerusalem where the eleven are gathered (vv33–49); Bethany (v50); the temple (v53).\n\n**Structure:**\n- vv1–12 — **the empty tomb:** the women come with spices at early dawn (v1); the stone rolled away, no body (vv2–3); two men in dazzling clothing — “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen” (vv4–6); “Remember how He spoke to you” — they remembered (vv6–8); the report to the eleven — “nonsense” (vv9–11); Peter runs and marvels (v12).\n- vv13–27 — **the Emmaus road:** two disciples walking and talking (vv13–14); Jesus draws near; their eyes prevented (vv15–16); “What things?” — Cleopas tells the story; “we were hoping” (vv17–24); “O foolish men and slow of heart” (v25); “Was it not necessary …?” (v26); Moses and all the prophets (v27).\n- vv28–35 — **the table:** He acts as though going farther; “Stay with us” (vv28–29); bread taken, blessed, broken — eyes opened; He vanishes (vv30–31); “Were not our hearts burning?” (v32); back that very hour; “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon” (vv33–35).\n- vv36–43 — **hands and feet:** “Peace be to you” (v36); startled, thinking it a spirit (v37); “See My hands and My feet … touch Me and see” (vv38–40); joy and amazement; broiled fish eaten before them (vv41–43).\n- vv44–53 — **witnesses:** all written in the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled (v44); minds opened (v45); suffer, rise, repentance for forgiveness to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem (vv46–47); “You are witnesses” (v48); the promise of My Father — stay until clothed with power (v49); Bethany, hands lifted, blessing, carried up (vv50–51); worship, great joy, the temple (vv52–53).\n\n**Repeated words, with counts:**\n- “things” ×12 — vv9, 10, 14, 18, 19 (×2), 21, 26, 27, 36, 44, 48.\n- “see / saw / seen / seeing” ×7 — vv12, 23, 24, 37, 39 (×3); fear words — “perplexed / terrified / amazed / marveling / startled / frightened / amazement” ×7 — vv4, 5, 12, 22, 37 (×2), 41.\n- “tomb” ×6 — vv1, 2, 9, 12, 22, 24.\n- “Jerusalem” ×5 — vv13, 18, 33, 47, 52; “found / find” ×5 — vv2, 3, 23, 24, 33.\n- “word(s)” ×5 — vv8, 11, 17, 19, 44.\n- “prophet(s)” ×4 — vv19, 25, 27, 44; “Scriptures” ×3 — vv27, 32, 45; “written” ×2 — vv44, 46; “Moses” ×2 — vv27, 44.\n- “risen / rise” ×4 — vv6, 7, 34, 46; “the third day” ×3 — vv7, 21, 46.\n- “women” ×4 — vv5, 10, 22, 24; “hands” ×4 — vv7, 39, 40, 50.\n- “telling / reported / relate” ×4 — vv9, 10, 35, 36.\n- “believe” ×3 — vv11, 25, 41; “heart(s)” ×3 — vv25, 32, 38.\n- “must / necessary” ×3 — vv7, 26, 44; “suffer” ×2 — vv26, 46.\n- “recognize(d)” ×3 — vv16, 31, 35; “eyes” ×2 — vv16, 31.\n- “bless / blessed / blessing” ×3 — vv30, 50, 51; “joy” ×2 — vv41, 52.\n- “remember(ed)” ×2 — vv6, 8; “bread” ×2 — vv30, 35; “explained / explaining” ×2 — vv27, 32.\n\n**Contrasts:** The dead ⟷ the living One (v5). Spices for burial ⟷ a risen Lord (vv1, 6). Nonsense ⟷ the truth (vv11, 34). Eyes prevented ⟷ eyes opened (vv16, 31). “We were hoping” ⟷ “The Lord has really risen” (vv21, 34). Slow of heart ⟷ hearts burning (vv25, 32). A spirit ⟷ flesh and bones (vv37, 39). Troubled and doubting ⟷ peace (vv36, 38). Stay in the city ⟷ go to all the nations (vv47, 49). Parted from them ⟷ great joy (vv51–52).\n\n**Shape of the chapter:** One long day in four scenes — tomb, road, table, room — each moving from confusion to recognition. Twice Jesus opens the Scriptures, and both times He explains the cross before He explains the mission. The chapter ends where Luke began, in the temple, but now with joy instead of doubt (1:20; 24:52–53).\n\n**Chapter theme (my words):** The crucified Jesus is alive in a real body. He finds His discouraged followers, shows them from the whole Bible that the Christ had to suffer and rise, opens their eyes, hearts and minds, and sends them as witnesses in the power of the Spirit — blessing them as He goes.", "I": "**Why didn’t the disciples believe the women?** Guzik: “They did not expect to find an empty tomb.” Sproul: “They did not believe it for a second.” Luke does not hide it — the report was *lēros*, “nonsense” (v11). That is good evidence: the resurrection was not the fruit of wishful thinking. Jesus had told them plainly (9:22; 18:33), but it had been hidden from them (9:45; 18:34).\n\n**What did Peter see?** “the linen wrappings only” (v12). Sproul: “When Peter saw these grave cloths, he went home astonished.” Guzik adds John 20:8 — John, with him, “saw and believed.” Grave robbers do not leave the linen behind.\n\n**Why were their eyes “prevented” on the road?** Luke uses a passive — their eyes were held (v16), and later “their eyes were opened” (v31). I read both as God’s doing: they had to learn Him first from the Scriptures, and then know Him at the table. What God conceals only God can open (24:31, 45).\n\n**What does “slow of heart” mean?** Sproul: “He did not call them stupid. … It is not an intellectual assessment. It is a moral one.” Guzik: the problem “was more in their heart than their head.” Henry: “Those are fools that act against their own interest.” They had the facts; they did not trust what God had said.\n\n**Why was it “necessary” for the Christ to suffer?** Because God had planned it and written it (vv7, 26, 44). Sproul: “Notice that Jesus said that all these things happened by necessity” — ordained before the foundation of the world. Guzik: the cross was not “some unfortunate obstacle that had to be hurdled.” Suffering first, then glory — for Him and for His people (Rom 8:17).\n\n**What did Jesus show them from Moses and the prophets?** Luke does not list the passages, but Sproul suggests some: the curse on the serpent (Gen 3:15), Abraham and Isaac on Moriah, the Passover, the tabernacle, Micah’s Bethlehem. Henry: “Jesus Christ is himself the best expositor of scripture.” The whole Old Testament — Law, Prophets and Psalms — is about Him (v44).\n\n**Was Emmaus a Lord’s Supper?** The words echo the Last Supper — took, blessed, broke, gave (v30; 22:19). Our teachers stress the recognition more than the sacrament, and Luke calls it simply “the breaking of the bread” (v35). I take it as a meal where the risen Lord made Himself known in the same gestures He had used in the upper room — a reminder that He still meets His people at His table.\n\n**What kind of body did Jesus have?** A real one: flesh and bones, hands and feet, able to eat (vv39–43). Sproul: “I am flesh and blood, even though it is glorified flesh and blood.” Guzik: “a real, physical body, though of a different order than our own bodies.” Henry: the wounds were kept “that they might be proofs that it was he himself.” That body is the pattern of ours (Phil 3:21; 1 Cor 15:20).\n\n**What is the mission?** “repentance for forgiveness of sins” proclaimed “in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (v47). Spurgeon: “The Saviour bade them begin at Jerusalem, because the biggest sinners lived there.” Guzik: “it is good to begin where we may expect opposition.” Acts 1:8 maps it out: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the remotest part of the earth.\n\n**Why wait in the city?** Because the work needs power they do not have (v49). Guzik: “They could not do the work … unless they were endued with power from on high.” Henry: the Spirit gives “a power from on high, a supernatural power.” The promise came at Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4).\n\n**What does the ascension mean?** Sproul: His coronation — He reigns at the Father’s right hand and intercedes as our High Priest. Spurgeon: “He has not changed His attitude of benediction, He will not change it till He shall descend in His glory.” The angels of Acts 1:11 promise He will come back “in just the same way.” I believe that return is literal and still ahead — the Son of Man coming with the clouds to receive the kingdom (Dan 7:13–14).\n\n**Word study (Greek):**\n- **the living One — *zaō* (G2198):** *ton zōnta*, v5; “alive,” v23; Rev 1:18.\n- **nonsense — *lēros* (G3026):** idle talk; only here in the NT (v11).\n- **redeem — *lytroō* (G3084):** to set free by ransom (v21; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet 1:18).\n- **foolish — *anoētos* (G453) / slow — *bradys* (G1021):** v25.\n- **necessary, must — *dei* (G1163):** vv7, 26, 44.\n- **explained — *diermēneuō* (G1329):** to interpret fully; v27.\n- **urged — *parabiazomai* (G3849):** to press hard; v29.\n- **opened — *dianoigō* (G1272):** eyes (v31), Scriptures (v32), minds (v45).\n- **burning — *kaiō* (G2545):** v32.\n- **touch — *psēlaphaō* (G5584) / flesh — *sarx* (G4561) / bones — *osteon* (G3747):** v39.\n- **repentance — *metanoia* (G3341) / forgiveness — *aphesis* (G859):** v47.\n- **witnesses — *martys* (G3144):** v48; Acts 1:8; 2:32.\n- **clothed — *endyō* (G1746) / power — *dynamis* (G1411):** v49.\n- **bless — *eulogeō* (G2127):** vv30, 50, 51, 53; **carried up — *anapherō* (G399):** v51.\n- **worshiping — *proskyneō* (G4352) / joy — *chara* (G5479):** v52.\n\n**Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. **They came with spices for a corpse** — the first witnesses were skeptics.\n2. **The living One, not a living man** (v5; Rev 1:18).\n3. **Remember what He said** (vv6–8; Henry).\n4. **Slow of heart, not slow of mind** (Sproul, Guzik).\n5. **The cross was necessary** — *dei* (vv7, 26, 44).\n6. **All the Bible is about Him** — Law, Prophets, Psalms (vv27, 44).\n7. **He waits to be invited** — “Stay with us” (Spurgeon).\n8. **Three openings** — eyes, Scriptures, minds (*dianoigō*).\n9. **A ghost does not eat fish** — flesh and bones (vv39–43).\n10. **The last sight of Jesus is a blessing** (vv50–51).\n\n**Cross-references:** Gen 3:15; 22; Exod 12; Lev 16; Deut 18:15–18; Ps 16:10; 22; 31:5; 110:1; Isa 53; Dan 7:13–14; 9:26; Mic 5:2; Zech 12:10; Luke 1:9, 20; 9:22, 45; 18:31–34; 22:19; John 11:18; 20:8, 27; Acts 1:1–11; 2:1–4, 32; 16:14; Rom 4:25; 8:17; 13:14; 1 Cor 15:3–4, 17, 20; Phil 3:21; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet 1:18–19; 1 John 1:1; Rev 1:18; 5.", "A": "**Truth to face — I go looking among the dead.** Like the women, I sometimes come to Jesus with spices — expecting a memory, not a living Lord. I treat my faith like a grave I visit. The angels’ question is for me: “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?” This week I will pray as to Someone who is alive and listening.\n\n**Promise to trust — He walks with the discouraged.** “We were hoping” is the saddest line in the chapter, and Jesus was already walking beside the men who said it (vv15, 21). Some of the men I sit with have buried hopes — a marriage, years lost, a name. Jesus does not wait for us to cheer up before He comes alongside.\n\n**Sin to confess — a slow heart.** I have known the facts and still not trusted God’s word (v25). That is not a head problem; it is a heart problem. I confess my slow heart and ask Him to open the Scriptures to me until it burns.\n\n**Command to obey — “Stay with us.”** Jesus “acted as though He were going farther” (v28); He waits to be asked. I will press Him to stay — in my morning reading, at my table, at the end of a long day — and I will not let carelessness break my fellowship with Him.\n\n**Example to follow — the two who ran back.** They had walked seven miles; it was night; and “they got up that very hour” to tell the others (v33). When Jesus shows me something, I will tell somebody that same day.\n\n**Command to obey — be a witness, beginning at home.** “You are witnesses of these things” (v48). My Jerusalem is my own house, my own street, the men I already know. Spurgeon: “Begin at home.” And I will not try it in my own strength; I will ask for the power from on high.\n\n**Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):**\n1. The women came looking for a dead body. Where am I still “seeking the living One among the dead” — expecting nothing new from Jesus? (24:1–6) *They did not expect to find an empty tomb (Guzik).*\n2. The two on the road said, “we were hoping …” What hope of mine died, and how might Jesus be walking beside me in that very disappointment? (24:13–21) *Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them.*\n3. Jesus called them “slow of heart to believe.” Is my problem with faith more in my head or in my heart right now? (24:25–27) *It is not an intellectual assessment. It is a moral one (Sproul).*\n4. When was the last time my heart burned while the Scriptures were opened? What would it take to press Jesus to “stay with us” in my daily reading? (24:29–32) *He stays only where He is invited and pressed (Spurgeon).*\n5. Jesus showed His wounds and ate fish to prove He was really alive. Why does it matter to me that the resurrection was physical, not just spiritual? (24:36–43; 1 Cor 15:17) *A spirit does not have flesh and bones.*\n6. Jesus told them to begin at Jerusalem. Where is my “Jerusalem” — the hard, close-to-home place where my witness should start? (24:46–49; Acts 1:8) *Begin at home (Spurgeon).*\n\n**Worship.** He is the living One who was dead and is alive forevermore. He walked seven miles with two sad men, explained the whole Bible about Himself, broke bread in their house, showed His wounds to frightened friends, and ate fish to prove He was no ghost. He sends the promise of the Father, and He went up into heaven with His hands raised in blessing — and He will come again the same way.\n\n**Prayer.** Risen Lord Jesus, forgive me for looking for You among the dead and for my slow heart. Walk with me in my disappointments. Open my eyes, open the Scriptures, open my mind, until my heart burns again. Stay with me — it is toward evening. Clothe me with power from on high, and make me a witness, starting at home. Thank You that Your hands are still lifted over Your people. Amen."}}, "marks": [{"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 4, "phrase": "the exact truth", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 4, "phrase": "the certainty of those things", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 6, "phrase": "walking blamelessly in all the commandments", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 6, "phrase": "walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 7, "phrase": "Elizabeth was barren", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 7, "phrase": "Elisabeth was barren", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 13, "phrase": "your petition has been heard", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 13, "phrase": "thy prayer is heard", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 15, "phrase": "filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 15, "phrase": "filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 17, "phrase": "in the spirit and power of Elijah", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 17, "phrase": "in the spirit and power of Elias", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 17, "phrase": "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 20, "phrase": "because you did not believe my words", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 20, "phrase": "because thou believest not my words", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 25, "phrase": "to take away my disgrace among men", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 25, "phrase": "to take away my reproach among men", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 28, "phrase": "The Lord is with you", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 28, "phrase": "the Lord is with thee", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 31, "phrase": "you shall name Him Jesus", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 31, "phrase": "shalt call his name JESUS", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 33, "phrase": "His kingdom will have no end", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 33, "phrase": "of his kingdom there shall be no end", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 35, "phrase": "The Holy Spirit will come upon you", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 35, "phrase": "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 37, "phrase": "nothing will be impossible with God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 37, "phrase": "with God nothing shall be impossible", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 38, "phrase": "may it be done to me according to your word", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 38, "phrase": "be it unto me according to thy word", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 41, "phrase": "the baby leaped in her womb", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 41, "phrase": "the babe leaped in her womb", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 45, "phrase": "blessed is she who believed", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 45, "phrase": "blessed is she that believed", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 47, "phrase": "God my Savior", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 47, "phrase": "God my Saviour", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 51, "phrase": "He has scattered those who were proud", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 51, "phrase": "he hath scattered the proud", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 52, "phrase": "has exalted those who were humble", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 52, "phrase": "exalted them of low degree", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 63, "phrase": "His name is John", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 64, "phrase": "his mouth was opened", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 68, "phrase": "He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 68, "phrase": "he hath visited and redeemed his people", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 69, "phrase": "horn of salvation", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 74, "phrase": "serve Him without fear", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 74, "phrase": "serve him without fear", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 77, "phrase": "the forgiveness of their sins", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 77, "phrase": "the remission of their sins", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 78, "phrase": "the Sunrise from on high", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 78, "phrase": "the dayspring from on high", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 79, "phrase": "To guide our feet into the way of peace", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 79, "phrase": "to guide our feet into the way of peace", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 80, "phrase": "until the day of his public appearance to Israel", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 80, "phrase": "till the day of his shewing unto Israel", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 50, "phrase": "mercy", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 32, "phrase": "Most High", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 1, "v": 32, "phrase": "Highest", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 1, "phrase": "a decree went out from Caesar Augustus", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 1, "phrase": "there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 4, "phrase": "the city of David which is called Bethlehem", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 4, "phrase": "the city of David, which is called Bethlehem", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 7, "phrase": "laid Him in a manger", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 7, "phrase": "laid him in a manger", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 7, "phrase": "there was no room for them in the inn", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 9, "phrase": "the glory of the Lord shone around them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 9, "phrase": "the glory of the Lord shone round about them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 10, "phrase": "Do not be afraid", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 10, "phrase": "Fear not", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 10, "phrase": "good news of great joy which will be for all the people", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 10, "phrase": "good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 11, "phrase": "a Savior, who is Christ the Lord", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 11, "phrase": "a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 14, "phrase": "Glory to God in the highest", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 14, "phrase": "on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 14, "phrase": "on earth peace, good will toward men", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 16, "phrase": "they came in a hurry", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 16, "phrase": "they came with haste", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 19, "phrase": "pondering them in her heart", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 19, "phrase": "pondered them in her heart", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 20, "phrase": "glorifying and praising God", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 21, "phrase": "His name was then called Jesus", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 21, "phrase": "his name was called JESUS", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 24, "phrase": "A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 24, "phrase": "A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 25, "phrase": "looking for the consolation of Israel", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 25, "phrase": "waiting for the consolation of Israel", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 29, "phrase": "depart in peace", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 30, "phrase": "my eyes have seen Your salvation", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 30, "phrase": "mine eyes have seen thy salvation", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 32, "phrase": "A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 32, "phrase": "A light to lighten the Gentiles", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 34, "phrase": "a sign to be opposed", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 34, "phrase": "a sign which shall be spoken against", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 35, "phrase": "a sword will pierce even your own soul", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 35, "phrase": "a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 37, "phrase": "serving night and day with fastings and prayers", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 37, "phrase": "served God with fastings and prayers night and day", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 38, "phrase": "the redemption of Jerusalem", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 38, "phrase": "redemption in Jerusalem", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 40, "phrase": "the grace of God was upon Him", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 40, "phrase": "the grace of God was upon him", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 46, "phrase": "after three days", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 49, "phrase": "I had to be in My Father’s house", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 49, "phrase": "I must be about my Father's business", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 51, "phrase": "He continued in subjection to them", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 51, "phrase": "was subject unto them", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 52, "phrase": "increasing in wisdom and stature", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 52, "phrase": "increased in wisdom and stature", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 22, "phrase": "according to the law", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 2, "v": 25, "phrase": "looking", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 1, "phrase": "in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 2, "phrase": "the word of God came to John", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 2, "phrase": "the word of God came unto John", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 3, "phrase": "for the forgiveness of sins", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 3, "phrase": "for the remission of sins", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 4, "phrase": "MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 4, "phrase": "Prepare ye the way of the Lord", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 6, "phrase": "ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 6, "phrase": "all flesh shall see the salvation of God", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 7, "phrase": "You brood of vipers", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 7, "phrase": "O generation of vipers", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 7, "phrase": "flee from the wrath to come", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 8, "phrase": "bear fruits in keeping with repentance", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 8, "phrase": "fruits worthy of repentance", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 8, "phrase": "We have Abraham for our father", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 8, "phrase": "We have Abraham to our father", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 9, "phrase": "the axe is already laid at the root of the trees", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 9, "phrase": "the axe is laid unto the root of the trees", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 11, "phrase": "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 11, "phrase": "He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 13, "phrase": "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 13, "phrase": "Exact no more than that which is appointed you", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 14, "phrase": "be content with your wages", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 16, "phrase": "One is coming who is mightier than I", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 16, "phrase": "one mightier than I cometh", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 16, "phrase": "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 16, "phrase": "he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 17, "phrase": "He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 17, "phrase": "the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 18, "phrase": "he preached the gospel to the people", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 18, "phrase": "preached he unto the people", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 19, "phrase": "all the wicked things which Herod had done", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 19, "phrase": "all the evils which Herod had done", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 20, "phrase": "he locked John up in prison", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 20, "phrase": "he shut up John in prison", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 21, "phrase": "while He was praying, heaven was opened", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 21, "phrase": "praying, the heaven was opened", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 22, "phrase": "the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 22, "phrase": "the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 22, "phrase": "You are My beloved Son", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 22, "phrase": "Thou art my beloved Son", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 22, "phrase": "in You I am well-pleased", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 22, "phrase": "in thee I am well pleased", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 23, "phrase": "about thirty years of age", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 23, "phrase": "as was supposed", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 31, "phrase": "the son of David", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 34, "phrase": "the son of Abraham", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 38, "phrase": "the son of Adam, the son of God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 38, "phrase": "the son of Adam, which was the son of God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 3, "phrase": "repentance", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 7, "phrase": "baptized", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 10, "phrase": "what shall we do", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 3, "v": 10, "phrase": "What shall we do", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 1, "phrase": "full of the Holy Spirit", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 1, "phrase": "full of the Holy Ghost", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 1, "phrase": "led around by the Spirit in the wilderness", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 1, "phrase": "led by the Spirit into the wilderness", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 2, "phrase": "for forty days, being tempted by the devil", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 2, "phrase": "Being forty days tempted of the devil", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 4, "phrase": "MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 4, "phrase": "man shall not live by bread alone", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 6, "phrase": "it has been handed over to me", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 6, "phrase": "that is delivered unto me", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 8, "phrase": "YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 8, "phrase": "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 12, "phrase": "YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 12, "phrase": "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 13, "phrase": "he left Him until an opportune time", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 13, "phrase": "he departed from him for a season", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 14, "phrase": "in the power of the Spirit", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 16, "phrase": "as was His custom", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 16, "phrase": "as his custom was", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 18, "phrase": "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 18, "phrase": "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 18, "phrase": "TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 18, "phrase": "to preach the gospel to the poor", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 18, "phrase": "TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 18, "phrase": "to preach deliverance to the captives", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 18, "phrase": "TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 18, "phrase": "to set at liberty them that are bruised", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 19, "phrase": "THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 19, "phrase": "the acceptable year of the Lord", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 21, "phrase": "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 21, "phrase": "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 22, "phrase": "Is this not Joseph’s son?", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 22, "phrase": "Is not this Joseph's son?", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 24, "phrase": "no prophet is welcome in his hometown", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 24, "phrase": "No prophet is accepted in his own country", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 26, "phrase": "to a woman who was a widow", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 26, "phrase": "unto a woman that was a widow", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 27, "phrase": "only Naaman the Syrian", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 27, "phrase": "saving Naaman the Syrian", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 28, "phrase": "filled with rage", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 28, "phrase": "filled with wrath", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 30, "phrase": "passing through their midst, He went His way", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 30, "phrase": "passing through the midst of them went his way", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 32, "phrase": "His message was with authority", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 32, "phrase": "his word was with power", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 34, "phrase": "the Holy One of God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 35, "phrase": "Be quiet and come out of him", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 35, "phrase": "Hold thy peace, and come out of him", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 36, "phrase": "with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 36, "phrase": "with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 39, "phrase": "He rebuked the fever", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 39, "phrase": "rebuked the fever", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 39, "phrase": "she immediately got up and waited on them", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 39, "phrase": "immediately she arose and ministered unto them", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 40, "phrase": "laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 40, "phrase": "he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 42, "phrase": "went to a secluded place", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 42, "phrase": "went into a desert place", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 43, "phrase": "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 43, "phrase": "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 43, "phrase": "for I was sent for this purpose", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 43, "phrase": "for therefore am I sent", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 44, "phrase": "in the synagogues of Judea", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 44, "phrase": "in the synagogues of Galilee", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 3, "phrase": "If You are the Son of God", "color": "rose", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 3, "phrase": "If thou be the Son of God", "color": "rose", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 4, "phrase": "It is written", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 15, "phrase": "synagogue", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 4, "v": 15, "phrase": "synagogues", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 1, "phrase": "listening to the word of God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 1, "phrase": "to hear the word of God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 4, "phrase": "Put out into the deep water", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 4, "phrase": "Launch out into the deep", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 5, "phrase": "we worked hard all night and caught nothing", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 5, "phrase": "we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 5, "phrase": "I will do as You say", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 5, "phrase": "at thy word I will let down the net", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 8, "phrase": "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 8, "phrase": "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 10, "phrase": "from now on you will be catching men", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 10, "phrase": "from henceforth thou shalt catch men", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 11, "phrase": "they left everything and followed Him", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 11, "phrase": "they forsook all, and followed him", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 12, "phrase": "a man covered with leprosy", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 12, "phrase": "a man full of leprosy", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 13, "phrase": "stretched out His hand and touched him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 13, "phrase": "put forth his hand, and touched him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 13, "phrase": "I am willing; be cleansed", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 13, "phrase": "I will: be thou clean", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 16, "phrase": "would often slip away to the wilderness and pray", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 16, "phrase": "withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 17, "phrase": "the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 17, "phrase": "the power of the Lord was present to heal them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 20, "phrase": "Friend, your sins are forgiven you", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 20, "phrase": "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 21, "phrase": "Who can forgive sins, but God alone?", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 24, "phrase": "the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 24, "phrase": "the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 26, "phrase": "We have seen remarkable things today", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 26, "phrase": "We have seen strange things to day", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 27, "phrase": "Follow Me", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 27, "phrase": "Follow me", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 28, "phrase": "he left everything behind", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 28, "phrase": "he left all", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 30, "phrase": "Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 30, "phrase": "Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 31, "phrase": "It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 31, "phrase": "They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 32, "phrase": "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 32, "phrase": "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 34, "phrase": "while the bridegroom is with them", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 35, "phrase": "when the bridegroom is taken away from them", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 35, "phrase": "when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 38, "phrase": "new wine must be put into fresh wineskins", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 38, "phrase": "new wine must be put into new bottles", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 39, "phrase": "The old is good enough", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 39, "phrase": "The old is better", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 20, "phrase": "sins", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 30, "phrase": "sinners", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 25, "phrase": "glorifying God", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 26, "phrase": "glorified God", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 5, "v": 36, "phrase": "new", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 5, "phrase": "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 5, "phrase": "the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 9, "phrase": "is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 9, "phrase": "Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 10, "phrase": "Stretch out your hand!", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 10, "phrase": "Stretch forth thy hand", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 10, "phrase": "his hand was restored", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 11, "phrase": "they themselves were filled with rage", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 11, "phrase": "they were filled with madness", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 12, "phrase": "He spent the whole night in prayer to God", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 12, "phrase": "continued all night in prayer to God", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 13, "phrase": "chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 13, "phrase": "he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 16, "phrase": "Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 16, "phrase": "Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 17, "phrase": "stood on a level place", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 17, "phrase": "stood in the plain", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 19, "phrase": "power was coming from Him and healing them all", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 19, "phrase": "there went virtue out of him, and healed them all", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 20, "phrase": "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 20, "phrase": "Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 21, "phrase": "you shall be satisfied", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 21, "phrase": "ye shall be filled", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 21, "phrase": "you shall laugh", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 21, "phrase": "ye shall laugh", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 23, "phrase": "your reward is great in heaven", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 24, "phrase": "you are receiving your comfort in full", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 24, "phrase": "ye have received your consolation", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 26, "phrase": "Woe to you when all men speak well of you", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 26, "phrase": "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 27, "phrase": "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 27, "phrase": "Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 28, "phrase": "bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 28, "phrase": "Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 31, "phrase": "Treat others the same way you want them to treat you", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 31, "phrase": "as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 35, "phrase": "you will be sons of the Most High", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 35, "phrase": "ye shall be the children of the Highest", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 35, "phrase": "He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 35, "phrase": "he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 36, "phrase": "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 36, "phrase": "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 37, "phrase": "Do not judge", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 37, "phrase": "Judge not", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 38, "phrase": "Give, and it will be given to you", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 38, "phrase": "Give, and it shall be given unto you", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 42, "phrase": "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 42, "phrase": "Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 44, "phrase": "each tree is known by its own fruit", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 44, "phrase": "every tree is known by his own fruit", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 45, "phrase": "his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 45, "phrase": "of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 46, "phrase": "Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 46, "phrase": "why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 48, "phrase": "laid a foundation on the rock", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 48, "phrase": "laid the foundation on a rock", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 49, "phrase": "immediately it collapsed", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 49, "phrase": "immediately it fell", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 1, "phrase": "Sabbath", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 20, "phrase": "Blessed", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 6, "v": 24, "phrase": "woe", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 7, "phrase": "just say the word, and my servant will be healed", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 7, "phrase": "say in a word, and my servant shall be healed", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 8, "phrase": "I also am a man placed under authority", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 8, "phrase": "I also am a man set under authority", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 9, "phrase": "not even in Israel have I found such great faith", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 9, "phrase": "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 12, "phrase": "the only son of his mother, and she was a widow", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 13, "phrase": "He felt compassion for her", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 13, "phrase": "he had compassion on her", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 13, "phrase": "Do not weep", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 13, "phrase": "Weep not", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 14, "phrase": "Young man, I say to you, arise", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 14, "phrase": "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 15, "phrase": "Jesus gave him back to his mother", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 15, "phrase": "he delivered him to his mother", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 16, "phrase": "God has visited His people", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 16, "phrase": "God hath visited his people", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 19, "phrase": "Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 19, "phrase": "Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 22, "phrase": "the dead are raised", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 23, "phrase": "Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 23, "phrase": "blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 28, "phrase": "he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 28, "phrase": "he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 30, "phrase": "rejected God’s purpose for themselves", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 30, "phrase": "rejected the counsel of God against themselves", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 34, "phrase": "a friend of tax collectors and sinners", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 34, "phrase": "a friend of publicans and sinners", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 35, "phrase": "wisdom is vindicated by all her children", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 35, "phrase": "wisdom is justified of all her children", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 37, "phrase": "a woman in the city who was a sinner", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 37, "phrase": "a woman in the city, which was a sinner", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 39, "phrase": "If this man were a prophet", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 39, "phrase": "This man, if he were a prophet", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 42, "phrase": "he graciously forgave them both", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 42, "phrase": "he frankly forgave them both", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 44, "phrase": "you gave Me no water for My feet", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 44, "phrase": "thou gavest me no water for my feet", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 47, "phrase": "her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 47, "phrase": "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 47, "phrase": "he who is forgiven little, loves little", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 47, "phrase": "to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 48, "phrase": "Your sins have been forgiven", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 48, "phrase": "Thy sins are forgiven", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 49, "phrase": "Who is this man who even forgives sins?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 49, "phrase": "Who is this that forgiveth sins also?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 50, "phrase": "Your faith has saved you; go in peace", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 50, "phrase": "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 4, "phrase": "worthy", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 9, "phrase": "I say to you", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 9, "phrase": "I say unto you", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 47, "phrase": "I say unto thee", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 7, "v": 38, "phrase": "feet", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 1, "phrase": "proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 1, "phrase": "preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 3, "phrase": "contributing to their support out of their private means", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 3, "phrase": "ministered unto him of their substance", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 8, "phrase": "He who has ears to hear, let him hear", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 8, "phrase": "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 10, "phrase": "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 10, "phrase": "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 11, "phrase": "the seed is the word of God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 11, "phrase": "The seed is the word of God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 12, "phrase": "the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 12, "phrase": "then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 13, "phrase": "in time of temptation fall away", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 14, "phrase": "choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 14, "phrase": "choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 15, "phrase": "hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 15, "phrase": "keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 16, "phrase": "he puts it on a lampstand", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 16, "phrase": "setteth it on a candlestick", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 18, "phrase": "take care how you listen", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 18, "phrase": "Take heed therefore how ye hear", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 21, "phrase": "these who hear the word of God and do it", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 21, "phrase": "these which hear the word of God, and do it", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 22, "phrase": "Let us go over to the other side of the lake", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 22, "phrase": "Let us go over unto the other side of the lake", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 24, "phrase": "Master, Master, we are perishing!", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 24, "phrase": "Master, master, we perish", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 24, "phrase": "He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 24, "phrase": "he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 25, "phrase": "Where is your faith?", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 25, "phrase": "Who then is this", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 25, "phrase": "What manner of man is this", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 28, "phrase": "Jesus, Son of the Most High God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 28, "phrase": "Jesus, thou Son of God most high", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 30, "phrase": "Legion", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 35, "phrase": "sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 35, "phrase": "sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 37, "phrase": "asked Him to leave them", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 37, "phrase": "besought him to depart from them", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 39, "phrase": "describe what great things God has done for you", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 39, "phrase": "shew how great things God hath done unto thee", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 44, "phrase": "touched the fringe of His cloak", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 44, "phrase": "touched the border of his garment", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 46, "phrase": "power had gone out of Me", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 46, "phrase": "virtue is gone out of me", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 48, "phrase": "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 48, "phrase": "thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 50, "phrase": "Do not be afraid any longer; only believe", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 50, "phrase": "Fear not: believe only", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 52, "phrase": "she has not died, but is asleep", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 52, "phrase": "she is not dead, but sleepeth", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 54, "phrase": "Child, arise!", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 54, "phrase": "Maid, arise", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 8, "phrase": "hear", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 12, "phrase": "heard", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 10, "phrase": "hearing", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 8, "v": 11, "phrase": "word", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 1, "phrase": "gave them power and authority over all the demons", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 1, "phrase": "gave them power and authority over all devils", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 3, "phrase": "Take nothing for your journey", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 5, "phrase": "shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 5, "phrase": "shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 9, "phrase": "I myself had John beheaded", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 9, "phrase": "John have I beheaded", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 9, "phrase": "who is this man about whom I hear such things?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 9, "phrase": "who is this, of whom I hear such things?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 13, "phrase": "You give them something to eat!", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 13, "phrase": "Give ye them to eat", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 16, "phrase": "looking up to heaven, He blessed them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 16, "phrase": "looking up to heaven, he blessed them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 17, "phrase": "they all ate and were satisfied", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 17, "phrase": "were all filled", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 20, "phrase": "But who do you say that I am?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 20, "phrase": "But whom say ye that I am?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 20, "phrase": "The Christ of God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 22, "phrase": "The Son of Man must suffer many things", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 22, "phrase": "The Son of man must suffer many things", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 22, "phrase": "be raised up on the third day", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 22, "phrase": "be raised the third day", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 23, "phrase": "he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 23, "phrase": "let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 25, "phrase": "if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 25, "phrase": "if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 26, "phrase": "whoever is ashamed of Me and My words", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 26, "phrase": "whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 29, "phrase": "His clothing became white and gleaming", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 29, "phrase": "his raiment was white and glistering", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 31, "phrase": "His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 31, "phrase": "his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 33, "phrase": "not realizing what he was saying", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 33, "phrase": "not knowing what he said", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 35, "phrase": "This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 35, "phrase": "This is my beloved Son: hear him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 36, "phrase": "Jesus was found alone", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 40, "phrase": "they could not", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 41, "phrase": "You unbelieving and perverted generation", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 41, "phrase": "O faithless and perverse generation", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 43, "phrase": "they were all amazed at the greatness of God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 43, "phrase": "they were all amazed at the mighty power of God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 44, "phrase": "Let these words sink into your ears", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 44, "phrase": "Let these sayings sink down into your ears", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 46, "phrase": "which of them might be the greatest", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 46, "phrase": "which of them should be greatest", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 48, "phrase": "the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 48, "phrase": "he that is least among you all, the same shall be great", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 50, "phrase": "Do not hinder him", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 50, "phrase": "Forbid him not", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 51, "phrase": "He was determined to go to Jerusalem", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 51, "phrase": "he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 54, "phrase": "command fire to come down from heaven and consume them", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 54, "phrase": "command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 56, "phrase": "the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 56, "phrase": "the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 58, "phrase": "the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 58, "phrase": "the Son of man hath not where to lay his head", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 60, "phrase": "go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 60, "phrase": "go thou and preach the kingdom of God", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 62, "phrase": "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 62, "phrase": "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 2, "phrase": "kingdom of God", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 23, "phrase": "follow", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 11, "phrase": "followed", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 49, "phrase": "followeth", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 22, "phrase": "Son of Man", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 9, "v": 22, "phrase": "Son of man", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 1, "phrase": "sent them in pairs ahead of Him", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 1, "phrase": "sent them two and two before his face", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 2, "phrase": "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 2, "phrase": "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 2, "phrase": "beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 2, "phrase": "pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 3, "phrase": "I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 3, "phrase": "I send you forth as lambs among wolves", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 5, "phrase": "Peace be to this house", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 9, "phrase": "The kingdom of God has come near to you", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 9, "phrase": "The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 12, "phrase": "it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 12, "phrase": "it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 13, "phrase": "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 13, "phrase": "Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida!", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 15, "phrase": "You will be brought down to Hades!", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 15, "phrase": "shalt be thrust down to hell", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 16, "phrase": "The one who listens to you listens to Me", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 16, "phrase": "He that heareth you heareth me", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 18, "phrase": "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 18, "phrase": "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 19, "phrase": "I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 19, "phrase": "I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 20, "phrase": "rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 20, "phrase": "rejoice, because your names are written in heaven", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 21, "phrase": "He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 21, "phrase": "Jesus rejoiced in spirit", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 21, "phrase": "have revealed them to infants", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 21, "phrase": "hast revealed them unto babes", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 22, "phrase": "no one knows who the Son is except the Father", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 22, "phrase": "no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 23, "phrase": "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 23, "phrase": "Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 25, "phrase": "what shall I do to inherit eternal life?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 27, "phrase": "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 27, "phrase": "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 27, "phrase": "YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 27, "phrase": "thy neighbour as thyself", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 29, "phrase": "wishing to justify himself", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 29, "phrase": "willing to justify himself", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 33, "phrase": "he felt compassion", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 33, "phrase": "he had compassion on him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 34, "phrase": "bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 34, "phrase": "bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 35, "phrase": "whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 35, "phrase": "whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 37, "phrase": "The one who showed mercy toward him", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 37, "phrase": "He that shewed mercy on him", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 37, "phrase": "Go and do the same", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 37, "phrase": "Go, and do thou likewise", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 39, "phrase": "seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 39, "phrase": "sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 40, "phrase": "Martha was distracted with all her preparations", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 40, "phrase": "Martha was cumbered about much serving", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 41, "phrase": "you are worried and bothered about so many things", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 41, "phrase": "thou art careful and troubled about many things", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 42, "phrase": "only one thing is necessary", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 42, "phrase": "one thing is needful", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 42, "phrase": "Mary has chosen the good part", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 42, "phrase": "Mary hath chosen that good part", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 2, "phrase": "harvest", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 5, "phrase": "peace", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 31, "phrase": "passed by on the other side", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 27, "phrase": "neighbor", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 10, "v": 27, "phrase": "neighbour", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 1, "phrase": "Lord, teach us to pray", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 2, "phrase": "Father, hallowed be Your name", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 2, "phrase": "Hallowed be thy name", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 2, "phrase": "Your kingdom come", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 2, "phrase": "Thy kingdom come", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 3, "phrase": "Give us each day our daily bread", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 3, "phrase": "Give us day by day our daily bread", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 4, "phrase": "forgive us our sins", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 8, "phrase": "because of his persistence", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 8, "phrase": "because of his importunity", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 9, "phrase": "ask, and it will be given to you", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 9, "phrase": "Ask, and it shall be given you", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 9, "phrase": "seek, and you will find", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 9, "phrase": "seek, and ye shall find", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 9, "phrase": "knock, and it will be opened to you", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 9, "phrase": "knock, and it shall be opened unto you", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 13, "phrase": "how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 13, "phrase": "how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 15, "phrase": "He casts out demons by Beelzebul", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 15, "phrase": "He casteth out devils through Beelzebub", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 20, "phrase": "by the finger of God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 20, "phrase": "with the finger of God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 20, "phrase": "the kingdom of God has come upon you", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 20, "phrase": "the kingdom of God is come upon you", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 22, "phrase": "someone stronger than he", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 22, "phrase": "a stronger than he", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 23, "phrase": "He who is not with Me is against Me", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 23, "phrase": "He that is not with me is against me", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 26, "phrase": "the last state of that man becomes worse than the first", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 26, "phrase": "the last state of that man is worse than the first", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 28, "phrase": "blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 28, "phrase": "blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 29, "phrase": "This generation is a wicked generation", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 29, "phrase": "This is an evil generation", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 29, "phrase": "the sign of Jonah", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 29, "phrase": "the sign of Jonas the prophet", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 31, "phrase": "something greater than Solomon is here", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 31, "phrase": "a greater than Solomon is here", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 32, "phrase": "something greater than Jonah is here", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 32, "phrase": "a greater than Jonas is here", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 35, "phrase": "watch out that the light in you is not darkness", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 35, "phrase": "Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 39, "phrase": "inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 39, "phrase": "your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 42, "phrase": "disregard justice and the love of God", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 42, "phrase": "pass over judgment and the love of God", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 52, "phrase": "you have taken away the key of knowledge", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 52, "phrase": "ye have taken away the key of knowledge", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 54, "phrase": "plotting against Him", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 54, "phrase": "Laying wait for him", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 42, "phrase": "woe", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 43, "phrase": "Woe", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 11, "v": 16, "phrase": "sign", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 1, "phrase": "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 1, "phrase": "Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 2, "phrase": "there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 2, "phrase": "there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 5, "phrase": "fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 5, "phrase": "Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 6, "phrase": "not one of them is forgotten before God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 7, "phrase": "the very hairs of your head are all numbered", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 8, "phrase": "everyone who confesses Me before men", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 8, "phrase": "Whosoever shall confess me before men", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 10, "phrase": "he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 10, "phrase": "him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 12, "phrase": "the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 12, "phrase": "the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 15, "phrase": "be on your guard against every form of greed", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 15, "phrase": "beware of covetousness", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 15, "phrase": "not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 15, "phrase": "a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 20, "phrase": "You fool! This very night your soul is required of you", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 20, "phrase": "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 21, "phrase": "is not rich toward God", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 24, "phrase": "yet God feeds them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 24, "phrase": "God feedeth them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 31, "phrase": "But seek His kingdom", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 31, "phrase": "But rather seek ye the kingdom of God", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 32, "phrase": "your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 32, "phrase": "it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 34, "phrase": "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 34, "phrase": "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 35, "phrase": "Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 35, "phrase": "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 37, "phrase": "he will gird himself to serve", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 37, "phrase": "he shall gird himself", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 40, "phrase": "the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 40, "phrase": "the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 45, "phrase": "My master will be a long time in coming", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 45, "phrase": "My lord delayeth his coming", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 48, "phrase": "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 48, "phrase": "unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 49, "phrase": "I have come to cast fire upon the earth", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 49, "phrase": "I am come to send fire on the earth", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 50, "phrase": "I have a baptism to undergo", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 50, "phrase": "I have a baptism to be baptized with", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 56, "phrase": "why do you not analyze this present time", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 56, "phrase": "how is it that ye do not discern this time", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 58, "phrase": "make an effort to settle with him", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 58, "phrase": "give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 4, "phrase": "afraid", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 5, "phrase": "fear", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 11, "phrase": "worry", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 12, "v": 29, "phrase": "worrying", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 1, "phrase": "whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 1, "phrase": "whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 2, "phrase": "greater sinners than all other Galileans", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 2, "phrase": "sinners above all the Galilaeans", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 4, "phrase": "the tower in Siloam fell", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 7, "phrase": "for three years I have come looking for fruit", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 7, "phrase": "these three years I come seeking fruit", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 7, "phrase": "Cut it down!", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 7, "phrase": "cut it down", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 8, "phrase": "Let it alone, sir, for this year too", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 8, "phrase": "let it alone this year also", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 11, "phrase": "for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 11, "phrase": "had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 12, "phrase": "Woman, you are freed from your sickness", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 12, "phrase": "Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 13, "phrase": "immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 13, "phrase": "immediately she was made straight, and glorified God", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 15, "phrase": "You hypocrites", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 15, "phrase": "Thou hypocrite", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 16, "phrase": "a daughter of Abraham", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 16, "phrase": "whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 16, "phrase": "whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 19, "phrase": "It is like a mustard seed", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 19, "phrase": "It is like a grain of mustard seed", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 21, "phrase": "until it was all leavened", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 21, "phrase": "till the whole was leavened", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 22, "phrase": "proceeding on His way to Jerusalem", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 22, "phrase": "journeying toward Jerusalem", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 24, "phrase": "Strive to enter through the narrow door", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 24, "phrase": "Strive to enter in at the strait gate", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 24, "phrase": "will seek to enter and will not be able", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 24, "phrase": "will seek to enter in, and shall not be able", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 25, "phrase": "the head of the house gets up and shuts the door", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 25, "phrase": "the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 27, "phrase": "DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 27, "phrase": "depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 29, "phrase": "recline at the table in the kingdom of God", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 29, "phrase": "shall sit down in the kingdom of God", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 30, "phrase": "some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 30, "phrase": "there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 32, "phrase": "the third day I reach My goal", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 32, "phrase": "the third day I shall be perfected", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 33, "phrase": "I must journey on", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 33, "phrase": "I must walk", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 34, "phrase": "just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 34, "phrase": "as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 34, "phrase": "you would not have it", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 34, "phrase": "ye would not", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 35, "phrase": "your house is left to you desolate", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 35, "phrase": "your house is left unto you desolate", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 35, "phrase": "BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 35, "phrase": "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 3, "phrase": "unless you repent, you will all likewise perish", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 3, "phrase": "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 10, "phrase": "Sabbath", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 10, "phrase": "sabbath", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 18, "phrase": "kingdom of God", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 13, "v": 6, "phrase": "fruit", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 1, "phrase": "on the Sabbath to eat bread", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 1, "phrase": "to eat bread on the sabbath day", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 1, "phrase": "they were watching Him closely", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 1, "phrase": "they watched him", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 3, "phrase": "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 3, "phrase": "Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 4, "phrase": "He took hold of him and healed him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 4, "phrase": "he took him, and healed him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 7, "phrase": "picking out the places of honor", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 7, "phrase": "they chose out the chief rooms", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 10, "phrase": "go and recline at the last place", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 10, "phrase": "go and sit down in the lowest room", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 10, "phrase": "Friend, move up higher", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 10, "phrase": "Friend, go up higher", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 11, "phrase": "everyone who exalts himself will be humbled", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 11, "phrase": "whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 11, "phrase": "he who humbles himself will be exalted", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 11, "phrase": "he that humbleth himself shall be exalted", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 13, "phrase": "invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 13, "phrase": "call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 14, "phrase": "you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 14, "phrase": "thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 15, "phrase": "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 15, "phrase": "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 17, "phrase": "Come; for everything is ready now", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 17, "phrase": "Come; for all things are now ready", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 18, "phrase": "they all alike began to make excuses", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 18, "phrase": "they all with one consent began to make excuse", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 20, "phrase": "for that reason I cannot come", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 20, "phrase": "therefore I cannot come", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 21, "phrase": "the poor and crippled and blind and lame", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 21, "phrase": "the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 22, "phrase": "still there is room", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 22, "phrase": "yet there is room", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 23, "phrase": "compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 23, "phrase": "compel them to come in, that my house may be filled", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 24, "phrase": "none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 24, "phrase": "none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 26, "phrase": "does not hate his own father and mother", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 26, "phrase": "hate not his father, and mother", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 27, "phrase": "carry his own cross and come after Me", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 27, "phrase": "bear his cross, and come after me", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 28, "phrase": "first sit down and calculate the cost", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 28, "phrase": "sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 30, "phrase": "This man began to build and was not able to finish", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 30, "phrase": "This man began to build, and was not able to finish", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 33, "phrase": "does not give up all his own possessions", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 33, "phrase": "forsaketh not all that he hath", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 34, "phrase": "if even salt has become tasteless", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 34, "phrase": "if the salt have lost his savour", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 35, "phrase": "He who has ears to hear, let him hear", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 35, "phrase": "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 7, "phrase": "invited", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 12, "phrase": "invite", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 8, "phrase": "bidden", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 26, "phrase": "cannot be My disciple", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 26, "phrase": "he cannot be my disciple", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 27, "phrase": "cannot be my disciple", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 14, "v": 33, "phrase": "can be My disciple", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 1, "phrase": "the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 1, "phrase": "drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 2, "phrase": "began to grumble", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 2, "phrase": "murmured", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 2, "phrase": "This man receives sinners and eats with them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 2, "phrase": "This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 4, "phrase": "go after the one which is lost until he finds it", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 4, "phrase": "go after that which is lost, until he find it", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 5, "phrase": "he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 5, "phrase": "he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 7, "phrase": "more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 7, "phrase": "joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 8, "phrase": "search carefully until she finds it", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 8, "phrase": "seek diligently till she find it", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 10, "phrase": "joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 10, "phrase": "joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 12, "phrase": "give me the share of the estate that falls to me", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 12, "phrase": "give me the portion of goods that falleth to me", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 13, "phrase": "a distant country", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 13, "phrase": "a far country", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 13, "phrase": "squandered his estate with loose living", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 13, "phrase": "wasted his substance with riotous living", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 16, "phrase": "no one was giving anything to him", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 16, "phrase": "no man gave unto him", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 17, "phrase": "when he came to his senses", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 17, "phrase": "when he came to himself", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 18, "phrase": "I will get up and go to my father", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 18, "phrase": "I will arise and go to my father", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 18, "phrase": "I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 18, "phrase": "I have sinned against heaven, and before thee", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 20, "phrase": "while he was still a long way off", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 20, "phrase": "when he was yet a great way off", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 20, "phrase": "felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 20, "phrase": "had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 22, "phrase": "the best robe", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 22, "phrase": "a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 22, "phrase": "a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 28, "phrase": "he became angry and was not willing to go in", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 28, "phrase": "he was angry, and would not go in", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 28, "phrase": "his father came out and began pleading with him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 28, "phrase": "came his father out, and intreated him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 29, "phrase": "For so many years I have been serving you", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 29, "phrase": "these many years do I serve thee", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 31, "phrase": "Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 31, "phrase": "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 32, "phrase": "we had to celebrate and rejoice", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 32, "phrase": "It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 4, "phrase": "lost", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 5, "phrase": "found", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 4, "phrase": "finds", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 4, "phrase": "find", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 6, "phrase": "Rejoice", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 7, "phrase": "joy", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 24, "phrase": "was dead and has come to life again", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 32, "phrase": "was dead and has begun to live", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 15, "v": 24, "phrase": "was dead, and is alive again", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 1, "phrase": "squandering his possessions", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 1, "phrase": "wasted his goods", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 2, "phrase": "Give an accounting of your management", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 2, "phrase": "give an account of thy stewardship", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 2, "phrase": "you can no longer be manager", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 2, "phrase": "thou mayest be no longer steward", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 4, "phrase": "people will welcome me into their homes", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 4, "phrase": "they may receive me into their houses", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 8, "phrase": "because he had acted shrewdly", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 8, "phrase": "because he had done wisely", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 8, "phrase": "the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 8, "phrase": "the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 9, "phrase": "make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 9, "phrase": "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 9, "phrase": "they will receive you into the eternal dwellings", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 9, "phrase": "they may receive you into everlasting habitations", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 11, "phrase": "who will entrust the true riches to you", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 11, "phrase": "who will commit to your trust the true riches", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 13, "phrase": "No servant can serve two masters", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 13, "phrase": "You cannot serve God and wealth", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 13, "phrase": "Ye cannot serve God and mammon", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 14, "phrase": "who were lovers of money", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 14, "phrase": "who were covetous", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 14, "phrase": "were scoffing at Him", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 14, "phrase": "they derided him", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 15, "phrase": "God knows your hearts", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 15, "phrase": "God knoweth your hearts", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 15, "phrase": "that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 15, "phrase": "that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 16, "phrase": "the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 16, "phrase": "the kingdom of God is preached", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 17, "phrase": "one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 17, "phrase": "one tittle of the law to fail", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 18, "phrase": "commits adultery", "color": "rose", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 18, "phrase": "committeth adultery", "color": "rose", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 20, "phrase": "a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 20, "phrase": "a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 22, "phrase": "was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 22, "phrase": "was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 23, "phrase": "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 23, "phrase": "in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 24, "phrase": "I am in agony in this flame", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 24, "phrase": "I am tormented in this flame", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 25, "phrase": "Child, remember", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 25, "phrase": "Son, remember", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 25, "phrase": "now he is being comforted here", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 25, "phrase": "now he is comforted", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 26, "phrase": "a great chasm fixed", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 26, "phrase": "a great gulf fixed", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 28, "phrase": "he may warn them", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 28, "phrase": "he may testify unto them", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 29, "phrase": "let them hear them", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 31, "phrase": "they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 31, "phrase": "neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 10, "phrase": "faithful", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 16, "phrase": "the Prophets", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 29, "phrase": "the prophets", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 20, "phrase": "Lazarus", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 16, "v": 22, "phrase": "Abraham", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 1, "phrase": "It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 1, "phrase": "It is impossible but that offences will come", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 1, "phrase": "woe to him through whom they come", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 1, "phrase": "woe unto him, through whom they come", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 3, "phrase": "Be on your guard", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 3, "phrase": "Take heed to yourselves", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 3, "phrase": "rebuke him", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 3, "phrase": "if he repents, forgive him", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 3, "phrase": "if he repent, forgive him", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 4, "phrase": "seven times a day", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 4, "phrase": "seven times in a day", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 5, "phrase": "Increase our faith", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 6, "phrase": "faith like a mustard seed", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 6, "phrase": "faith as a grain of mustard seed", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 10, "phrase": "We are unworthy slaves", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 10, "phrase": "We are unprofitable servants", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 11, "phrase": "on the way to Jerusalem", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 11, "phrase": "as he went to Jerusalem", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 12, "phrase": "stood at a distance", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 12, "phrase": "stood afar off", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 13, "phrase": "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 14, "phrase": "as they were going, they were cleansed", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 14, "phrase": "as they went, they were cleansed", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 15, "phrase": "turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 15, "phrase": "with a loud voice glorified God", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 16, "phrase": "giving thanks to Him", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 16, "phrase": "giving him thanks", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 16, "phrase": "And he was a Samaritan", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 16, "phrase": "and he was a Samaritan", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 17, "phrase": "But the nine—where are they", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 17, "phrase": "but where are the nine", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 19, "phrase": "your faith has made you well", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 19, "phrase": "thy faith hath made thee whole", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 21, "phrase": "the kingdom of God is in your midst", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 21, "phrase": "the kingdom of God is within you", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 23, "phrase": "do not run after them", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 23, "phrase": "go not after them, nor follow them", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 24, "phrase": "just like the lightning", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 24, "phrase": "as the lightning", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 25, "phrase": "first He must suffer many things and be rejected", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 25, "phrase": "first must he suffer many things, and be rejected", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 27, "phrase": "destroyed them all", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 29, "phrase": "destroyed them all", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 30, "phrase": "the Son of Man is revealed", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 30, "phrase": "the Son of man is revealed", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 32, "phrase": "Remember Lot’s wife", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 32, "phrase": "Remember Lot's wife", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 33, "phrase": "whoever loses his life will preserve it", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 33, "phrase": "whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 34, "phrase": "one will be taken and the other will be left", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 34, "phrase": "the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 35, "phrase": "one will be taken and the other will be left", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 35, "phrase": "the one shall be taken, and the other left", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 3, "phrase": "forgive", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 5, "phrase": "faith", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 22, "phrase": "Son of Man", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 17, "v": 20, "phrase": "kingdom of God", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 1, "phrase": "at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 1, "phrase": "men ought always to pray, and not to faint", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 2, "phrase": "did not fear God and did not respect man", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 2, "phrase": "feared not God, neither regarded man", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 3, "phrase": "she kept coming to him", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 6, "phrase": "the unrighteous judge", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 6, "phrase": "the unjust judge", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 7, "phrase": "will not God bring about justice for His elect", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 7, "phrase": "shall not God avenge his own elect", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 7, "phrase": "day and night", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 8, "phrase": "He will bring about justice for them quickly", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 8, "phrase": "he will avenge them speedily", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 8, "phrase": "will He find faith on the earth", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 8, "phrase": "shall he find faith on the earth", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 9, "phrase": "trusted in themselves that they were righteous", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 9, "phrase": "trusted in themselves that they were righteous", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 11, "phrase": "God, I thank You that I am not like other people", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 11, "phrase": "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 13, "phrase": "standing some distance away", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 13, "phrase": "standing afar off", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 13, "phrase": "God, be merciful to me, the sinner", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 13, "phrase": "God be merciful to me a sinner", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 14, "phrase": "went to his house justified", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 14, "phrase": "went down to his house justified", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 14, "phrase": "he who humbles himself will be exalted", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 14, "phrase": "he that humbleth himself shall be exalted", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 16, "phrase": "Permit the children to come to Me", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 16, "phrase": "Suffer little children to come unto me", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 17, "phrase": "receive the kingdom of God like a child", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 17, "phrase": "receive the kingdom of God as a little child", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 19, "phrase": "No one is good except God alone", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 19, "phrase": "none is good, save one, that is, God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 22, "phrase": "One thing you still lack", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 22, "phrase": "Yet lackest thou one thing", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 22, "phrase": "come, follow Me", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 22, "phrase": "come, follow me", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 23, "phrase": "he was extremely rich", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 23, "phrase": "he was very rich", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 25, "phrase": "a camel to go through the eye of a needle", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 25, "phrase": "a camel to go through a needle's eye", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 27, "phrase": "are possible with God", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 30, "phrase": "eternal life", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 30, "phrase": "life everlasting", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 31, "phrase": "we are going up to Jerusalem", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 31, "phrase": "we go up to Jerusalem", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 33, "phrase": "the third day He will rise again", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 33, "phrase": "the third day he shall rise again", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 34, "phrase": "the meaning of this statement was hidden from them", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 34, "phrase": "this saying was hid from them", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 35, "phrase": "approaching Jericho", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 35, "phrase": "nigh unto Jericho", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 39, "phrase": "he kept crying out all the more", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 39, "phrase": "he cried so much the more", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 40, "phrase": "Jesus stopped", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 40, "phrase": "Jesus stood", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 41, "phrase": "What do you want Me to do for you", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 41, "phrase": "What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 42, "phrase": "your faith has made you well", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 42, "phrase": "thy faith hath saved thee", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 43, "phrase": "began following Him, glorifying God", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 43, "phrase": "followed him, glorifying God", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 16, "phrase": "kingdom of God", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 13, "phrase": "mercy", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 13, "phrase": "merciful", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 18, "v": 38, "phrase": "Son of David", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 2, "phrase": "he was a chief tax collector and he was rich", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 2, "phrase": "the chief among the publicans, and he was rich", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 3, "phrase": "Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 3, "phrase": "he sought to see Jesus who he was", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 5, "phrase": "hurry and come down", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 5, "phrase": "make haste, and come down", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 5, "phrase": "today I must stay at your house", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 5, "phrase": "to day I must abide at thy house", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 6, "phrase": "received Him gladly", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 6, "phrase": "received him joyfully", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 7, "phrase": "a man who is a sinner", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 7, "phrase": "a man that is a sinner", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 8, "phrase": "I will give back four times as much", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 8, "phrase": "I restore him fourfold", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 9, "phrase": "Today salvation has come to this house", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 9, "phrase": "This day is salvation come to this house", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 10, "phrase": "to seek and to save that which was lost", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 11, "phrase": "the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 11, "phrase": "the kingdom of God should immediately appear", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 13, "phrase": "Do business with this until I come back", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 13, "phrase": "Occupy till I come", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 14, "phrase": "We do not want this man to reign over us", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 14, "phrase": "We will not have this man to reign over us", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 17, "phrase": "Well done, good slave", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 17, "phrase": "Well, thou good servant", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 17, "phrase": "faithful in a very little thing", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 17, "phrase": "faithful in a very little", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 21, "phrase": "I was afraid of you", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 21, "phrase": "I feared thee", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 26, "phrase": "to everyone who has, more shall be given", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 26, "phrase": "unto every one which hath shall be given", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 27, "phrase": "bring them here and slay them in my presence", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 27, "phrase": "slay them before me", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 28, "phrase": "going up to Jerusalem", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 28, "phrase": "ascending up to Jerusalem", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 38, "phrase": "BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 38, "phrase": "Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 38, "phrase": "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 38, "phrase": "peace in heaven, and glory in the highest", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 40, "phrase": "the stones will cry out", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 40, "phrase": "the stones would immediately cry out", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 41, "phrase": "saw the city and wept over it", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 41, "phrase": "beheld the city, and wept over it", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 42, "phrase": "the things which make for peace", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 42, "phrase": "the things which belong unto thy peace", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 42, "phrase": "they have been hidden from your eyes", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 42, "phrase": "they are hid from thine eyes", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 44, "phrase": "you did not recognize the time of your visitation", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 44, "phrase": "thou knewest not the time of thy visitation", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 46, "phrase": "MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 46, "phrase": "My house is the house of prayer", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 46, "phrase": "ROBBERS’ DEN", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 46, "phrase": "a den of thieves", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 48, "phrase": "hanging on to every word He said", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 48, "phrase": "very attentive to hear him", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 31, "phrase": "The Lord has need of it", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 31, "phrase": "Lord hath need of him", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 13, "phrase": "minas", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 16, "phrase": "mina", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 16, "phrase": "pound", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 13, "phrase": "pounds", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 5, "phrase": "today", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 19, "v": 5, "phrase": "to day", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 2, "phrase": "by what authority You are doing these things", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 2, "phrase": "by what authority doest thou these things", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 4, "phrase": "Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 4, "phrase": "The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 7, "phrase": "they did not know where it came from", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 7, "phrase": "they could not tell whence it was", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 10, "phrase": "beat him and sent him away empty-handed", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 10, "phrase": "beat him, and sent him away empty", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 13, "phrase": "I will send my beloved son", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 14, "phrase": "let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 14, "phrase": "let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 16, "phrase": "will give the vineyard to others", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 16, "phrase": "shall give the vineyard to others", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 17, "phrase": "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 17, "phrase": "The stone which the builders rejected", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 17, "phrase": "THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 17, "phrase": "the same is become the head of the corner", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 18, "phrase": "Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 18, "phrase": "Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 20, "phrase": "sent spies who pretended to be righteous", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 20, "phrase": "sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 23, "phrase": "He detected their trickery", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 23, "phrase": "he perceived their craftiness", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 25, "phrase": "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 25, "phrase": "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 27, "phrase": "who say that there is no resurrection", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 27, "phrase": "which deny that there is any resurrection", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 36, "phrase": "they cannot even die anymore", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 36, "phrase": "Neither can they die any more", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 36, "phrase": "sons of the resurrection", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 36, "phrase": "the children of the resurrection", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 37, "phrase": "the dead are raised", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 38, "phrase": "He is not the God of the dead but of the living", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 38, "phrase": "he is not a God of the dead, but of the living", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 38, "phrase": "all live to Him", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 38, "phrase": "all live unto him", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 42, "phrase": "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 42, "phrase": "Sit thou on my right hand", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 44, "phrase": "David calls Him ‘Lord,’", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 44, "phrase": "David therefore calleth him Lord", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 46, "phrase": "Beware of the scribes", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 47, "phrase": "devour widows’ houses", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 47, "phrase": "devour widows' houses", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 47, "phrase": "for appearance’s sake offer long prayers", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 47, "phrase": "for a shew make long prayers", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 47, "phrase": "These will receive greater condemnation", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 47, "phrase": "the same shall receive greater damnation", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 2, "phrase": "authority", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 9, "phrase": "vineyard", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 20, "v": 27, "phrase": "resurrection", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 2, "phrase": "two small copper coins", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 2, "phrase": "two mites", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 3, "phrase": "this poor widow put in more than all of them", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 3, "phrase": "this poor widow hath cast in more than they all", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 4, "phrase": "she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 4, "phrase": "she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 6, "phrase": "there will not be left one stone upon another", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 6, "phrase": "there shall not be left one stone upon another", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 8, "phrase": "See to it that you are not misled", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 8, "phrase": "Take heed that ye be not deceived", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 8, "phrase": "Do not go after them", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 8, "phrase": "go ye not therefore after them", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 9, "phrase": "do not be terrified", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 9, "phrase": "be not terrified", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 9, "phrase": "the end does not follow immediately", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 9, "phrase": "the end is not by and by", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 13, "phrase": "an opportunity for your testimony", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 13, "phrase": "it shall turn to you for a testimony", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 15, "phrase": "I will give you utterance and wisdom", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 15, "phrase": "I will give you a mouth and wisdom", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 18, "phrase": "not a hair of your head will perish", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 18, "phrase": "there shall not an hair of your head perish", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 19, "phrase": "By your endurance you will gain your lives", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 19, "phrase": "In your patience possess ye your souls", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 20, "phrase": "Jerusalem surrounded by armies", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 20, "phrase": "Jerusalem compassed with armies", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 21, "phrase": "must flee to the mountains", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 21, "phrase": "flee to the mountains", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 22, "phrase": "days of vengeance", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 24, "phrase": "until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 24, "phrase": "until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 27, "phrase": "COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 27, "phrase": "coming in a cloud with power and great glory", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 28, "phrase": "straighten up and lift up your heads", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 28, "phrase": "look up, and lift up your heads", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 28, "phrase": "your redemption is drawing near", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 28, "phrase": "your redemption draweth nigh", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 32, "phrase": "this generation will not pass away", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 32, "phrase": "This generation shall not pass away", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 33, "phrase": "My words will not pass away", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 33, "phrase": "my words shall not pass away", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 34, "phrase": "Be on guard", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 34, "phrase": "take heed to yourselves", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 34, "phrase": "dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 34, "phrase": "surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 34, "phrase": "like a trap", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 35, "phrase": "as a snare", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 36, "phrase": "keep on the alert at all times, praying", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 36, "phrase": "Watch ye therefore, and pray always", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 36, "phrase": "to stand before the Son of Man", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 36, "phrase": "to stand before the Son of man", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 7, "phrase": "these things", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 8, "phrase": "near", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 21, "v": 8, "phrase": "nigh", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 2, "phrase": "seeking how they might put Him to death", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 2, "phrase": "sought how they might kill him", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 3, "phrase": "Satan entered into Judas", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 3, "phrase": "Then entered Satan into Judas", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 5, "phrase": "agreed to give him money", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 5, "phrase": "covenanted to give him money", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 7, "phrase": "the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 7, "phrase": "the passover must be killed", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 13, "phrase": "found everything just as He had told them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 13, "phrase": "found as he had said unto them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 15, "phrase": "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 15, "phrase": "With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 19, "phrase": "This is My body which is given for you", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 19, "phrase": "This is my body which is given for you", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 19, "phrase": "do this in remembrance of Me", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 19, "phrase": "this do in remembrance of me", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 20, "phrase": "the new covenant in My blood", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 20, "phrase": "the new testament in my blood", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 22, "phrase": "woe to that man by whom He is betrayed", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 22, "phrase": "woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 24, "phrase": "which one of them was regarded to be greatest", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 24, "phrase": "which of them should be accounted the greatest", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 26, "phrase": "the leader like the servant", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 26, "phrase": "he that is chief, as he that doth serve", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 27, "phrase": "I am among you as the one who serves", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 27, "phrase": "I am among you as he that serveth", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 30, "phrase": "you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 30, "phrase": "sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 31, "phrase": "Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 31, "phrase": "Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 32, "phrase": "I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 32, "phrase": "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 32, "phrase": "strengthen your brothers", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 32, "phrase": "strengthen thy brethren", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 37, "phrase": "AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH TRANSGRESSORS", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 37, "phrase": "And he was reckoned among the transgressors", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 40, "phrase": "Pray that you may not enter into temptation", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 40, "phrase": "Pray that ye enter not into temptation", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 42, "phrase": "not My will, but Yours be done", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 42, "phrase": "not my will, but thine, be done", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 44, "phrase": "His sweat became like drops of blood", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 44, "phrase": "his sweat was as it were great drops of blood", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 45, "phrase": "found them sleeping from sorrow", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 45, "phrase": "he found them sleeping for sorrow", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 48, "phrase": "are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 48, "phrase": "betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 51, "phrase": "He touched his ear and healed him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 51, "phrase": "he touched his ear, and healed him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 53, "phrase": "this hour and the power of darkness are yours", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 53, "phrase": "this is your hour, and the power of darkness", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 54, "phrase": "Peter was following at a distance", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 54, "phrase": "Peter followed afar off", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 61, "phrase": "The Lord turned and looked at Peter", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 61, "phrase": "the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 62, "phrase": "he went out and wept bitterly", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 62, "phrase": "Peter went out, and wept bitterly", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 69, "phrase": "SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 69, "phrase": "sit on the right hand of the power of God", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 70, "phrase": "Yes, I am", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 70, "phrase": "Ye say that I am", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 1, "phrase": "Passover", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 1, "phrase": "passover", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 4, "phrase": "betray", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 48, "phrase": "betraying", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 22, "phrase": "betrayed", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 32, "phrase": "prayed", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 40, "phrase": "Pray", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 22, "v": 40, "phrase": "pray", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 4, "phrase": "I find no guilt in this man", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 4, "phrase": "I find no fault in this man", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 9, "phrase": "He answered him nothing", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 9, "phrase": "he answered him nothing", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 12, "phrase": "Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 12, "phrase": "Pilate and Herod were made friends together", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 14, "phrase": "I have found no guilt in this man", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 14, "phrase": "have found no fault in this man", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 15, "phrase": "nothing deserving death has been done by Him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 15, "phrase": "nothing worthy of death is done unto him", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 18, "phrase": "Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 18, "phrase": "Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 21, "phrase": "Crucify, crucify Him", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 21, "phrase": "Crucify him, crucify him", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 25, "phrase": "he delivered Jesus to their will", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 26, "phrase": "placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 26, "phrase": "on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 28, "phrase": "weep for yourselves and for your children", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 28, "phrase": "weep for yourselves, and for your children", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 31, "phrase": "when the tree is green", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 31, "phrase": "in a green tree", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 33, "phrase": "the place called The Skull", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 33, "phrase": "the place, which is called Calvary", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 34, "phrase": "Father, forgive them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 34, "phrase": "they do not know what they are doing", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 34, "phrase": "they know not what they do", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 35, "phrase": "He saved others; let Him save Himself", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 35, "phrase": "He saved others; let him save himself", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 38, "phrase": "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 41, "phrase": "we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 41, "phrase": "we receive the due reward of our deeds", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 41, "phrase": "this man has done nothing wrong", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 41, "phrase": "this man hath done nothing amiss", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 42, "phrase": "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 42, "phrase": "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 43, "phrase": "today you shall be with Me in Paradise", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 43, "phrase": "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 44, "phrase": "about the sixth hour", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 44, "phrase": "until the ninth hour", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 45, "phrase": "the veil of the temple was torn in two", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 45, "phrase": "the veil of the temple was rent in the midst", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 46, "phrase": "INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 46, "phrase": "into thy hands I commend my spirit", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 47, "phrase": "Certainly this man was innocent", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 47, "phrase": "Certainly this was a righteous man", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 48, "phrase": "beating their breasts", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 48, "phrase": "smote their breasts", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 51, "phrase": "waiting for the kingdom of God", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 51, "phrase": "waited for the kingdom of God", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 53, "phrase": "where no one had ever lain", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 53, "phrase": "wherein never man before was laid", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 56, "phrase": "on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 56, "phrase": "rested the sabbath day according to the commandment", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 2, "phrase": "this man", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 16, "phrase": "release", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 25, "phrase": "released", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 35, "phrase": "save", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 23, "v": 35, "phrase": "saved", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 1, "phrase": "on the first day of the week", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 1, "phrase": "upon the first day of the week", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 3, "phrase": "did not find the body of the Lord Jesus", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 3, "phrase": "found not the body of the Lord Jesus", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 5, "phrase": "Why do you seek the living One among the dead", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 5, "phrase": "Why seek ye the living among the dead", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 6, "phrase": "He is not here, but He has risen", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 6, "phrase": "He is not here, but is risen", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 6, "phrase": "Remember how He spoke to you", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 6, "phrase": "remember how he spake unto you", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 7, "phrase": "the Son of Man must be delivered", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 7, "phrase": "The Son of man must be delivered", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 11, "phrase": "these words appeared to them as nonsense", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 11, "phrase": "their words seemed to them as idle tales", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 15, "phrase": "Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 15, "phrase": "Jesus himself drew near, and went with them", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 16, "phrase": "their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 16, "phrase": "their eyes were holden that they should not know him", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 21, "phrase": "we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 21, "phrase": "we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 25, "phrase": "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 25, "phrase": "O fools, and slow of heart to believe", "color": "rose", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 26, "phrase": "Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 26, "phrase": "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 27, "phrase": "the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 27, "phrase": "in all the scriptures the things concerning himself", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 29, "phrase": "Stay with us", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 29, "phrase": "Abide with us", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 30, "phrase": "He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 30, "phrase": "he took bread, and blessed it, and brake", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 31, "phrase": "their eyes were opened and they recognized Him", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 31, "phrase": "their eyes were opened, and they knew him", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 32, "phrase": "Were not our hearts burning within us", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 32, "phrase": "Did not our heart burn within us", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 34, "phrase": "The Lord has really risen", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 34, "phrase": "The Lord is risen indeed", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 36, "phrase": "Peace be to you", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 36, "phrase": "Peace be unto you", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 39, "phrase": "See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 39, "phrase": "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 39, "phrase": "a spirit does not have flesh and bones", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 39, "phrase": "a spirit hath not flesh and bones", "color": "amber", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 45, "phrase": "He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 45, "phrase": "opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 47, "phrase": "repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 47, "phrase": "repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 48, "phrase": "You are witnesses of these things", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 48, "phrase": "ye are witnesses of these things", "color": "green", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 49, "phrase": "I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 49, "phrase": "I send the promise of my Father upon you", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 49, "phrase": "clothed with power from on high", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 49, "phrase": "endued with power from on high", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 51, "phrase": "He parted from them and was carried up into heaven", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 51, "phrase": "he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven", "color": "gold", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 52, "phrase": "with great joy", "color": "violet", "style": "hl"}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 27, "phrase": "Scriptures", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 7, "phrase": "the third day", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 1, "phrase": "tomb", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}, {"b": 42, "c": 24, "v": 1, "phrase": "sepulchre", "color": "sky", "style": "hl", "all": true}], "legend": {"gold": "God — His character & actions", "green": "Command / instruction", "sky": "Key repeated word", "rose": "Sin / warning", "violet": "Promise / blessing", "amber": "Time / place / contrast"}, "method": "inductive"}
```