Plymothian

Jesus believed heaven and hell to be real places.  However, hell seems to have dropped off the map in recent years.  With humans dictating what is true and false, they have decided that there is no ‘hell’.  However, there does still seem to be a heaven for those who dream about it.  People comfort each other with the words that the dead have ‘gone to be with Jesus’ at a funeral.  Why?  Jesus never spoke the way that we do about heaven and hell.  The story Jesus tells below puts the rich and successful in hell whilst a beggar called lazarus is in heaven.  Those who have not had a thought for Jesus whilst they are alive will be surprised to find they have an address far from his house when they die.

Luke 16:19-31

¹⁹ There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.

    ²⁰ At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores

    ²¹ and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

    ²² The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.

    ²³ In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

    ²⁴ So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

    ²⁵ But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.

    ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

    ²⁷ He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house,

    ²⁸ for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

    ²⁹ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

    ³⁰ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

    ³¹ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’

Questions

1. Where did Lazarus live?
2. What did the rich man ask Abraham to do for his family?
3. Why would the rich man’s family have thought they were entitled to heaven?
4. Why do people believe they are entitled to heaven today?
5. Why do people believe a loving God would force people to be with him forever?

Wedged between two passages about riches is this bridging passage.  We frequently don’t see how whole books of the Bible are written as units.  We do not see the Bible itself as one large story of the whole of human history.  We need to be mindful of the bigger picture when we look at a few verses.  These few verses remind us of whom Jesus is talking to.  He is talking to people who love to appear respectable, all together, religious, and wealthy.  Jesus points out here that ultimately our lives are to be about one thing and that is God’s Kingdom.  Anything, pursuit of money, relationships, honour or power aside from God are distractions at best.  Jesus does not abolish the morality of the Old Testament or its devotion to God above all else.  Jesus is the means to live out the morality and the devotion that the Old testament call for.  This is with a heart that is sincere and authentic.  Who are you beneath the facade?

Luke 16:14-18

¹⁴ The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. ¹⁵ He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.

    ¹⁶ “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. ¹⁷ It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

   ¹⁸ “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Questions

1. What did Pharisees love?
2. What does God think about what humans value highly?
3. How were Pharisees probably justifying divorce?
4. How do God’s laws become modified today by those wishing to justify themselves?
5. How do we recover over time from living for wealth or self-justification?

Going Deeper

The Authentic Self

Everyone lives in denial to a greater or lesser degree.  We either justify our dysfunction by saying that we are victims of our circumstances or we say that things are our fault and become stuck in self-loathing.  Some people who think that they are the most healthy are those who can not see their inability to change or who have mastered their environment to suit themselves but to the destruction of others.  The Apostle Paul knew that he would not attain all that God wanted him to be in this life.  He was redeemed in Jesus after the Damascus Experience of Acts 9, but he did not cease changing to be more Christlike until the day he died.  We see in the gospels and in Acts how the disciples changed through their experience with Jesus.  When we think that we have no major changes to make we have not arrived at our ultimate destination, we are in a state of denial. 

To become the selves that God has created us to be we must look at the things that we blame others for.  Where are the sources of pain in our lives?  We can not change others.  We must admit our responsibility for our own feelings and actions.  We are responsible for our own unhappiness and for our own reactions to circumstances.  We only have control over ourselves.  We must reach out to others with unconditional love.  This means that we must repair our broken selves so that we can truly love without conditions.  We must learn to heal from the pain that neglect, abuse, or conflict have built within us.  Why do we sometimes think, like the Pharisees, that our interpretation of the law must be upheld by all?  What insecurity is this hiding?  Why do we take advice as criticism?  Why do we shut down conversations that would require us to change?

Often our inability to change is because we consciously and subconsciously protect ourselves from pain.  Rather than investigate the pain that we have suppressed over the years we claim that all is well and we will not talk about  issues.  Of course, this either leads to depression, anxiety, or personality disorders.  Why can we not express our opinions in a conversation?  What are we afraid of?  Why can we not participate as equals with others?  Why do we go to the other extreme and control others through emotional manipulation or even violent authority?  Why do we not argue through the storms of conflict to a place of calmer waters?

Jesus did not shy away from conflict.  He told the truth to those who ran from it.  The Pharisees even sneered in reaction to the truth about how they were enslaved by money and tradition.  They wanted tidy rules and financial security.  They sanctified these pursuits and even blessed their own divorces lest they have to face the truth inside themselves.   Unlike the Pharisees, can we list some serious flaws that we have?  Can we see their origins?  Can we travel into the darkness of our hearts trusting God to light the way and give hope?  God has a course for us to sail.  However, we can only sail if we lift the anchors that we have put in place for safety.  Trust God with safety and be free.

There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.

(Shakespeare:  Julius Caesar)

The parable that I read yesterday was hard to understand.  Why does Jesus praise a man who seems so crooked?  In the story a man is called before his boss for swindling and has a week or two before he will be fired.  He uses this time to go to his boss’s clients and reduce what they owe.  Either he removes the cut that he has swindled in the past, or he just readjusts the clients’ accounts so that they will think more favourably of him.  The best guess that I ca make of this parable is that it points to the wisdom of doing things in the present that will bode well for the future.  Even corrupt people who are driven by self-interest seem to realise the importance of this.  So the lesson for us is whether we are making decisions today that will improve the future or make it harder for ourselves and those whom we love.

Luke 16:1-13

 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. ² So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

   ³ “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— ⁴ I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

   ⁵ “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

   ⁶ “‘Nine hundred gallons^[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.

   “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’

   ⁷ “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’

   “‘A thousand bushels^[b] of wheat,’ he replied.

   “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

   ⁸ “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. ⁹ I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

   ¹⁰ “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ¹¹ So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? ¹² And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

   ¹³ “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Questions

1. What was the dishonest manager not prepared to do?
2. How much does the manager reduce his clients’ debts by?
3. For what exactly is the manager commended?
4. How do you treat people today in ways that will affect your future?
5. How might you apply truth and grace to the lives of others today so that your future life with God is more healthy?

The story of the prodigal son is quite famous.  However, the story is not really about the son.  The story is about the father and the older brother.  The father responds to the prodigal’s return with relief, compassion, and mercy.  the older brother responds with skepticism.  After all, the younger brother has frivolously wasted a fortune that he should have only had after his father was dead.  The lesson is that we should be like the father when someone lost to sin repents.  However, those listening to Jesus were more like the older brother.  They thought they had every right to be upset at God’s mercy and forgiveness, never seeing a need for repentance in themselves.

Luke 15:11-32

¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

   ¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

   ¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.

   “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

   ²¹ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

   ²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

   ²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

   ²⁸ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

   ³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Questions

1. What did the son remember in a foreign land?
2. What was the contrast between how he knew he deserved to be treated and how he was received?
3. How is this story connected with the previous two parables?
4. How would you describe your attitude to the lost?
5. What is your attitude to those who are trying to get their lives together?

God goes in search of that which is lost.  Are we willing to be his agents to seek and find those who are willing to turn back to him?  The reckless abandon of deserting 99 sheep to look for one, the fervent search for a coin that is of little value – both speak of a God who is reckless in his pursuit of the lost.  Do we reflect his nature in this way?

Luke 15:1-10

 ¹ Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. ² But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

 ³ Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

    ⁸ “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins^[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” 

Questions

1. What has the shepherd lost?
2. What has the woman lost?
3. What is the focus of each story?
4. What have you lost?
5. Who have you helped find?

It’s no easy task being a Christian.  Jesus will accept no-one who puts anything before him.  To be a disciple means putting everything else in its right place, that means that it is second to Jesus.  The language here seems harsh.  Jesus says that we must hate those we usually think to love.  It does not mean that we should be spiteful, cruel, or callous.  Hate, here, just shows the contrast with the devotion a person has for Jesus.  Compared to our love for Jesus all other loves should seem like hate.  If we lack the determination to love Jesus in this way, we lack the basic qualification of discipleship.

Luke 14:25-34

²⁵ Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

   ²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? ²⁹ For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, ³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

   ³¹ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. ³³ In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

   ³⁴ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? ³⁵ It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

   “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Questions

1. How are the crowds following Jesus described?
2. What does Jesus tell the crowds they must do to become disciples?
3. In what different ways do you think the crowd responded to Jesus telling them they must count the cost?
4. What will it cost you to be a disciple?
5. Why is Jesus worth following in today’s world?

Some people wait to make amends with God until their death bed.  Some people believe in living it up before they adopt the dull twilight of religion.  Heaven for some is a boring eternity of harp playing on some cloud, dressed in girly white dresses, and sprouting wings.  Of course, the passage today says that the afterlife is a party.  However, those who excuse themselves from the invitation to follow Jesus will find that he accepts no excuses.  The planner in the parable does not reschedule the party to suit the self-obsessed and wealthy.  God will bring in the poor and humble to his party, and those who try to put God off will be outside without excuse.

Luke 14:1-24

 ¹ One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. ² There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. ³ Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” ⁴ But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.

 ⁵ Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child^[a] or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” ⁶ And they had nothing to say.

 ⁷ When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹ If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. ¹¹ For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

 ¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The Parable of the Great Banquet

 ¹⁵ When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

 ¹⁶ Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷ At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

   ¹⁸ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’

   ¹⁹ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

   ²⁰ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

   ²¹ “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

   ²² “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

   ²³ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. ²⁴ I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

Questions

1. What were the leaders of Israel doing on the Sabbath?
2. What did Jesus do on the Sabbath?
3. Why are the wealthy and the enititled excluded from God’s feast?
4. God has called you to follow him, how did you answer?
5. How can you call others to God’s banquet?

The Jewish people thought that, as genetic descendents of Abraham they would be withing God’s Kingdom.  When someone realized that Jesus was casting doubt on Israel’s access to The Kingdom of God, they asked if most would be saved.  Jesus indicates through the illustration of the Narrow Gate that a minority from Israel will be included.  This is the shocker for many nations that consider themselves godly.  Both Britain and America have lost their way and are trying to fulfil themselves spiritually through consumerism and a mosaic of all faiths.  The truth is that a narrow way leads to salvation and this reckless, hedonistic generation will see that those in Sudan, Korea, China, and Kenya are entering the Kingdom before them.

Luke 13:18-30

¹⁸ Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? ¹⁹ It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

 ²⁰ Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? ²¹ It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds^[a] of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

 ²² Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. ²³ Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

   He said to them, ²⁴ “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. ²⁵ Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’

   “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

   ²⁶ “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’

   ²⁷ “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’

   ²⁸ “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. ²⁹ People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

Questions

1. What two illustrations does Jesus give for the Kingdom of God?
2. Who will be last?
3. What is Jesus saying here to his Jewish audience?
4. How does western civilization owe much of its growth to Christian thought?
5. How do people in America and Europe assume they are part of God’s kingdom?

As a former school administrator I frequently had to deal with discipline.  There were two basic approaches advocated to do away with misbehaviour.  The most immediately popular way to deal with sin was to legislate it away, in other words we could make a new law.  There is no end to the number of laws a Christian school can invent if it really puts its mind to it.  This was the Pharisee’s solution to making the Sabbath holy.  However, they missed the main point.

God’s rules support relationship.  we should not legislate away problems so much as ‘relate’ them away.  we should talk with each other and find what the deeper motivators are for the presenting behaviours.  We should heal.

Luke 13:10-17

 ¹⁰ On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, ¹¹ and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” ¹³ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

 ¹⁴ Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

 ¹⁵ The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? ¹⁶ Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

 ¹⁷ When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

Questions

1. On what day did this reading take place?
2. What did Jesus do?
3. How did the Pharisees overlook what is really important about the law?
4. Are the rules in your work made to serve people or for control?
5. How can you bring a more relational approach to any environment stifled by rules?

Jesus was not forever meek and mild.  He was gentle to those who needed encouragement but he pulled no punches about the consequences of rejecting Him and His teaching.  He starts today’s passage by saying that he brings fire.  He ends the passage by talking about the destruction of a fig tree which represents Israel.  Israel will be destroyed in spite of God’s patience because they have failed to produce fruit.  So we see an indicator as to whether Jesus’ judgment rests on us:  Are we bringing forth fruit in keeping with repentance?

Luke 12:49 – 13:9

⁴⁹ “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! ⁵¹ Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. ⁵² From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ 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.”

 ⁵⁴ He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. ⁵⁵ And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. ⁵⁶ Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

   ⁵⁷ “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸ As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

 ¹ Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ² Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

 ⁶ Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. ⁷ So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

   ⁸ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

Questions

1. What will happen between 5 in a house?
2. How does the wind show times are changing?
3. What is Jesus telling his listeners they should see coming?
4. Do you see division between those who follow Jesus and those who do not?
5. How do you know whether or not you will be a recipient of God’s judgment?