Luke 1

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 11: In reply one of those versed in the Law says to him: “Teacher, in saying these things, you insult us also.” Then he says: “WOE ALSO TO YOU WHO ARE VERSED IN THE LAW, BECAUSE YOU LOAD MEN DOWN WITH LOADS HARD TO CARRY, BUT YOU YOURSELVES DO NOT TOUCH THE LOADS WITH ONE OF YOUR FINGERS!

- Man, do you see the balance: on the one side A MOUNTAIN and on the other side A PEA!

- How is it possible not to see the difference?

- Is that HABITS?

- Like doing something without thinking?

- Is that what we must do when dealing with God’s and Jesus’ affairs?

- Are we ZOMBIES?

- Do God and Jesus need ZOMBIES?

- Is God’s word a LIVING SPRING or a DEAD ONE?

 

[JLG]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!

- don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 11: “Woe to you who are versed in the Law, because you took away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not go in, and you hinder those going in!”

- It is as if the religious leaders let the door of knowledge closed or they shut it!

- In both cases it is a personal choice!

- They do it on purpose!

- They mislead people!

- By doing this, they oppose God!

- That’s why we can’t let people think for ourselves!

- It is too easy to let the others do everything!

- We need to do our parts!

- We need to study the Bible daily and check everything!

 

[JLG]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!
- don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 11: So when he goes out from there, the scribes and the Pharisees begin to put extreme pressure on him and to ply him with many more questions, lying in wait for him to catch him in something he might say.

- They are not looking for God’s word!

- They just want to protect their own interests!

- And their interests go against God’s ones!

- It has always been so and it is not going to change!

- As a consequence they work against the people who follow them!

- And they bring them into the pit!

- And they mislead them!

- And they are ready to do anything for that!

 

[JLG]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!
- don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 12: “Watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. But there is nothing carefully concealed that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore, whatever you say in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you whisper in private rooms will be preached from the housetops.

- Hypocrisy is well developed among religious leaders, politicians and business leaders!

- It is a game!

- It was revealed through history sooner or later!

- Everything has always been made for a minority to control the majority!

- So much corruption!

- Everything for money and power!

- But that’s human history, why should it change?

- It won’t in this human society!

- Only through God’s intervention to cleanse the old world!

 

[JLG]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!
- don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 12: “Be dressed and ready and have your lamps burning, and you should be like men waiting for their master to return from the marriage, so when he comes and knocks, they may at once open to him. Happy are those slaves whom the master on coming finds watching! Truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table and will come alongside and minister to them. And if he comes in the second watch, even if in the third, and finds them ready, happy are they! But know this, if the householder had known at what hour the thief would come, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also, keep ready, because at an hour that you do not think likely, the Son of man is coming.”

- Will you be ready when Jesus comes back?

- Do the religious leaders prepare you to be ready?

- Remember what happens to Jerusalem!

- It should serve as a warning!

- The religious leaders brought many people with them to death or slavery!

- And not only once!

 

[JLG]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!
- don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 12: Do you think I came to give peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on there will be five in one house divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

- Yes, Jesus didn’t come to bring peace on the earth !

- We must understand that !

- We must understand that each one of us must be ready to save oneself first !

- Then whoever we can if they want to be helped !

- Of course, everybody is free to do like Adam !

- But we know what happened next !

 

[JLG]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!
- don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 13:

- The Jews are selfish!

- The Jews have no hearts!

- The others don’t exist for them except when it means to control them and get power!

- The Jews are Hypocrites!

- The Jews are conservative!

- They are not flexible except for their own interests!

- LIGHT VS DARKNESS!

- GOODNESS VB BADNESS!

- Both are incompatible!

- The choice should be easy to make!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 14: On another occasion he goes to eat a meal in the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath, and they are closely watching him.

- He never refuses the confrontation with religious leaders !

- He even goes to eat with them at their houses !

- They are always many against him !

- « They are closely watching him »

- They are always watching him to find something wrong against him !

- It is always in a negative way !

- They belong to two different opposite worlds !

- He is looking for God’s interests and for people’s interests !

- They are looking for their own interests !

- No comparision possible !

- They are always fighting God like the devil does !

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 14: So in response Jesus asked those versed in the Law and the Pharisees: “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath or not?” But they kept silent. With that he took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him away. Then he said to them: “Who of you, if his son or bull falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” And they were not able to reply to this.

- It is interesting to analyze Jesus attitude towards the religious leaders:

- First he asks them a question!

- As they don’t answer, he cures the man!

- Then he condemns them through another question using an illustration enhancing their personal interests!

- Thus he shows how selfish they are!

- They say one thing but they will do something else if they have to protect their own interests!

- Jesus takes into account people’s interests!

- When he says something it is always to teach people!

- It is always useful for us!

- So once again he shows us the way!

- If we only say empty words, that’s not Jesus’ way!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 14: He then told the invited men an illustration when he noticed how they were choosing the most prominent places for themselves. He said to them: “When you are invited by someone to a marriage feast, do not recline in the most prominent place. Perhaps someone more distinguished than you may also have been invited. Then the one who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Let this man have your place.’ Then you will proceed with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when the man who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, go on up higher.’ Then you will have honor in front of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

- It seems to be similar to what Jesus says about the rich people!

- We can say the same for the people who are supposed to be important in this world!

- They think they know better!

- But the reality is that the world is only going down!

- And each time it is going faster and faster!

- And we are always in the same train!

- We can’t escape!

- And scientists have been warning them!

- But they don’t care!

- Or they always start to think about it when it’s too late!

- it has always been the same with the wold empires!

- They went up and down!

- Man never understands!

- And they keep teaching history at school!

- What for?

- Why do you want people to work together to improve the situation when the majority don’t care!

- Animals live in harmony with nature!

- Man only knows how to destroy and can only destroy!

- Man is only looking for his own interests but when he destroys nature he works against his own interests!

- And it is worst with religious leaders and political leaders and business leaders!

- They are only wolves!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 14: Next he said also to the man who had invited him: “When you spread a dinner or an evening meal, do not call your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors. Otherwise, they might also invite you in return, and it would become a repayment to you. But when you spread a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; and you will be happy, because they have nothing with which to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous ones.”

- When we help people to get to know about God’s word, we don’t expect anything in exchange!

- We follow Jesus’ example!

- We work for God!

- If we die, we will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous ones!

- And the more we tell, the more we get to know!

- And the more we get closer to them!

- And we have the prospect to keep working for them in the new world!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 14:

Jesus said to him: “A man was spreading a grand evening meal, and he invited many. He sent his slave out at the hour of the evening meal to say to the invited ones, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I bought a field and need to go out and see it; I ask you, have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I bought five yoke of cattle and am going to examine them; I ask you, have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I just got married, and for this reason I cannot come.’ So the slave came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly to the main streets and the alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ In time the slave said, ‘Master, what you ordered has been done, and still there is room.’ So the master said to the slave, ‘Go out to the roads and the lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I say to you, none of those men who were invited will taste my evening meal.’”

- What about today?

- Is it so different?

- People are busy and find excuses?

- I am so and so but I am not practicing!

- What do you think will happen when Jesus comes as a king and a warrior to destroy this society?

- What happened to the Israelites?

- They made a bad end!

- Think about Lot’s wife!

- It is so simple and apparently so complicated!

- Remember the destruction of Jerusalem!

- The false prophets said nothing bad will arrive!

- They were wrong!

- When men follow man’s tradition and not God’s word, sooner or later they pay the price!

- God has always been warning men but they usually don’t care!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 14:

- Now large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said to them: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

- Jesus tells us that it is not possible to be one of his disciples and be a tourist!

- We must be able to defend our faith!

- Otherwise it is dead!

- We must prepare ourselves for any bad situation!

- We must be at Jesus’ service!

- But the majority doesn’t do that!

- They think like the Israelites!

- But think about their end!

- Compare with the faithful servants of God!

- Jesus’ message is quite different from the religious leaders’ one!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 14:

Whoever does not carry his torture stake and come after me cannot be my disciple. For example, who of you wanting to build a tower does not first sit down and calculate the expense to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, he might lay its foundation but not be able to finish it, and all the onlookers would start to ridicule him, saying: ‘This man started to build but was not able to finish.’ Or what king marching out against another king in war does not first sit down and take counsel whether he is able with 10,000 troops to stand up to the one who comes against him with 20,000? If, in fact, he cannot do so, then while that one is yet far away, he sends out a body of ambassadors and sues for peace. In the same way, you may be sure that not one of you who does not say good-bye to all his belongings can be my disciple.

- Remember Lot’s wife!

- Whom do we want to look like?

- It is not possible to have two masters?

- The master of this world is the devil!

- If we look toward this world, we can’t look toward God’s kingdom!

- The majority prefers to enjoy life!

- It’s a personal choice!

- Then there will be no surprise when Jesus says I don’t know you!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 14:

- “Salt, to be sure, is fine. But if the salt loses its strength, with what will it be seasoned? It is not suitable for soil or for manure. People throw it away. Let the one who has ears to listen, listen.”

- Jesus taught us about God’s word!

- He didn’t teach us about Man’s tradition!

- Or he warned us against it!

- When we read the Bible, we are told how God’s word was corrupted by the Israelites and the Jews!

- They were rejected by God!

- But they kept going after man’s tradition which corrupted!

- Jesus, the apostles, Paul told us about such a corruption!

- But people don’t really care!

- They keep following man’s tradition!

- The Israelites and the Jews kept following their religious leaders!

- They lost everything!





- Yes, “let the one who has ears to listen, listen.”

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 15:

- Now all the tax collectors and the sinners kept gathering around him to hear him. “And both the Pharisees and the scribes kept muttering: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

- On the one hand, tax collectors and sinners!

- On the other hand, Pharisees and scribes!

- Two different categories of people!

- Some want to be taught by Jesus!

- Others don’t care!

- Find the mistake!

- Those who think they know usually don’t know anything!

- Those who don’t know and look for are on their way to knowledge!

- Knowledge is not a point to reach, it is a continuous process!

- The brain is made for it!

- There is no limit to it except death!

- If you are ready, you can make it grow and grow!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 15:

- Then he told them this illustration, saying: “What man among you with 100 sheep, on losing one of them, will not leave the 99 behind in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he has found it, he puts it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he gets home, he calls his friends and his neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous ones who have no need of repentance.

- For Jesus every person is important!

- Quite different from religious leaders!

- Either God and Jesus want the biggest number of human beings to repent and be saved!

- But there are conditions!

- People must show they want to live under their authority!

- They are gathering people!

- And it is necessary to prepare for that!

- Remember the flood!

- Only Noah and his family escaped!

- There is no mystery!

- There is no maybe!

- There are certitudes!

- If we don’t look for, we can forget it!

- There will be no surprise!

- When Jesus will say I don’t know you, it will mean I don’t know you!

- if he says I know you, it will mean I know you!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 15:

- “Or what woman who has ten drachma coins, if she loses one of the drachmas, does not light a lamp and sweep her house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma coin that I had lost.’ In the same way, I tell you, joy arises among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

- Light!

- Darkness!

- Lost!

- repentance!

- Joy!

- God has given mankind a lot of time!

- The majority of humanity is unable to understand that!

- He wants people to repent and look for him!

- He sent his son for that!

- But they corrupted his message!

- They corrupted every little part of it!

- They pushed men to kill one another in the name of God!

- Or in the name of their gods!

- Always man’s tradition vs God’s word!

- In fact, the majority of mankind doesn’t really care about God!

- It was the same with the flood!

- It was the same with the Israelites and the Jews!

- They all did a bad end!

- And history is going to reproduce again sooner or later!

- But this time it will be to put an end to this society!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 15:

- Then he said: “A man had two sons. And the younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that should come to me.’ So he divided his belongings between them. A few days later, the younger son gathered all his things together and traveled to a distant country and there squandered his property by living a debauched life. When he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred throughout that country, and he fell into need. He even went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to herd swine. And he longed to be filled with the carob pods that the swine were eating, but no one would give him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, while I am dying here from hunger! I will get up and travel to my father and say to him: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Make me as one of your hired men.”’ So he got up and went to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him and was moved with pity, and he ran and embraced him and tenderly kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quick! bring out a robe, the best one, and clothe him with it, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. Also bring the fattened calf, slaughter it, and let us eat and celebrate, for this son of mine was dead but has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they started to enjoy themselves.

- It is a good description of man, isn’t it?

- The only difference is that man usually doesn’t go back to God!

- And the situation keeps deteriorating!

- And Jesus will come to put an end to such a situation!

- May we understand the lesson!

- May we make the right choice!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 15:

“Now his older son was in the field, and as he returned and got near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants to him and asked what was happening. He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father slaughtered the fattened calf because he got him back in good health.’ But he became angry and refused to go in. Then his father came out and began to plead with him. In reply he said to his father, ‘Look! These many years I have slaved for you and never once did I disobey your orders, and yet you never once gave me a young goat to enjoy with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours arrived who squandered your belongings with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’ Then he said to him, ‘My son, you have always been with me, and all the things that are mine are yours. But we just had to celebrate and rejoice, for your brother was dead but has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

- Let’s think about the Israelites!

- Because of Abraham, God made a covenant with them!

- He freed them from Egypt!

- They were to receive a promised land!

- They kept going away from him so many times and all the time!

- And he waited and waited from them to come back!

- But they didn’t care!

- Every time he would strike them, they would come back and as soon as possible they would turn their back from him!

- And it was the same with the Jews!

- When Daniel prayed God about the restoration of Jerusalem, God answered him by speaking about the reconstruction of Jerusalem followed by its destruction!

- We can say the same with mankind!

- It is the same repetition!