A Gentle Ramble Through the Bible - Chronologically

A Gentle Ramble Through the Bible - Chronologically

di Pastor Gayle Evers

111 Discipleship 102 - The Greatest Commandment

Jesus and his disciples travel from Galilee through Samaria and on to Jerusalem, so it makes sense that Samaritans figure prominently in today’s stories. They were religious, political and social enemies of the Jews. Lots of bad blood between them. The disciples are proud of their accomplishments after they do some serious flexing in the neighboring villages. Jesus warns them to be sure they’re proud they are known by God rather than proud of the things God does thru them. I don’t think the disciples quite get that memo. A big-shot lawyer asks Jesus a trick question about what it takes to get eternal life. The answer is what we call “the Greatest Commandment,” and Jesus illustrates it with a story about a Samaritan--a Samaritan who has compassion on a Jew. We cover Matthew 8:18-22; 11:20-30; 18:1-5; 22:34-40 Mark 9:33-41; 12:28-34 Luke 9:46-62; 10:1-28 A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. Click here for an index of all classes. More info at PastorintheWild.org.

112 Discipleship 102 - God So Loved The World

Discipleship 102 looks a lot like Discipleship 101. Shocking. Jesus clearly teaches the same thing over and over to the disciples. We focus especially on the new material Luke adds here. The sisters Mary and Martha make their first appearance, but the shocker is when one of the most highly placed Pharisees in Jerusalem sneaks out to find Jesus at night. He’s worried that the religious leaders are getting it wrong. He thinks there’s a good chance Jesus is exactly who he says he is. Jesus talks to him of being born a second time, wind that cannot be seen, the judgment and verdict of God, and…snakes? We cover Matthew (6:22, 25-34 reprise); 10:29; 12:43 Luke 10:29-42; (11:1-13 reprise); 11:24-28, 33-36; 12:22-34 A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. Click here for an index of all classes. More info at PastorintheWild.org.

113 Discipleship 102 - Take Courage And Help Each Other

Discipleship 102 gets very explicit and more than a little scary at this point. Some of the disciples may be rethinking their positions. Do they really want to sell all their possessions, be given the responsibility of sharing God’s love to the people, get arrested, get tried, and probably get beaten or killed? Do they really want to be the ones from whom more is expected? J esus teaches them what to do when they hurt each other. And he tells a parable to help them remember that when bad things happen to someone it’s not because the people involved are worse than anyone else. Good to know. We cover Matthew (5:21-26 reprise); 10:19-21,26-34; 18:15-20 Luke 12:1-59; 13:1-9 A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. Click here for an index of all classes. More info at PastorintheWild.org.

Class 114 - Discipleship 102 - Show Yourself To The World

Jesus reaches back into the Sermon on the Mount to talk about going in through the narrow door--but is he really talking about the same thing this time? Once again there are people who miss the path. Jesus says some interesting things about what will happen to them. Jesus’ life is in serious danger. He’s got to go to Jerusalem for Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, but he must play it smart. He needs to stick to the big crowds, but his brothers (mocking him) urge him to show himself to the world! We catch up with him when he finally does surface in Jerusalem. He’s causing all sorts of confusion. Is this the Messiah? It can’t be--he’s just an uneducated country bumpkin from Galilee. We cover Luke 13:10-30 John 7 A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. Click here for an index of all classes. More info at PastorintheWild.org.

115 Discipleship 102 - Before Abraham, I AM

The religious leaders are pulling out all the stops to trap Jesus, bring him up on charges (probably heresy or inciting violence or both), and then sentence him to death. First they try to get him to choose between compassion or the very clear Law requiring death for adulterers. They catch a woman in the act of adultery, drag her to Jesus and force him to choose. What do you think he chooses? Jesus completely loses patience with them. The whole rest of the chapter is an “in your face” argument in which Jesus tells the religious leaders that they do not even know God! He winds up telling them, “Before Abraham was born, I AM!” Those are definitely fighting words. They pick up stones to kill him immediately. We cover John 8. A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. Click here for an index of all classes. More info at PastorintheWild.org.

116 The Final Parables - Tell Us Plainly

Jesus is very careful never to call himself Christos, the Messiah. In public, he always refers to himself as the “Son of Man.” The Jews understand this is a Messianic title, but the Romans do not, so the religious leaders keep pressing Jesus to be plain--to call himself “Messiah.” What he says in reply nearly gets him stoned. Again. Jesus is the guest of honor at a hoity-toity Sabbath meal with high-ranking lawyers and Pharisees. I bet you can guess that Jesus says some pretty uncomfortable things to them, and he does it with parables. Jesus is down to his last few months. He’s got to get his points across in a way these folks will remember. We cover Matthew 22:1-14 Luke 14 John 1:9-18; 10:22-42 A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. Click here for an index of all classes. More info at PastorintheWild.org.

117 The Final Parables - A Prodigal Son & A Dishonest Manager

Each and every one of us is known by God. We are seen and we are cherished. When the scribes and Pharisees deride Jesus for hanging out with unworthy people, Jesus tells them three parables demonstrating the prodigal love of God (“prodigal” means wasteful, reckless extravagance)! The most famous of these is the story of the prodigal son. As with most parables, there’s more to it than you might remember from childhood stories. Jesus follows this with a really crazy parable directed at the disciples, where he tells them to be more like a dishonest manager. Say, what?!? We cover Matthew 18:10-14; (6:19-24 reprise) Luke 15; 16:1-15 A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. Click here for an index of all classes. More info at PastorintheWild.org.

118 The Final Parables - Rich & Poor, Harsh & Forgiving

Jesus tells the story of a rich man and a poor man and what happens to them after death. It’s an old familiar story drawn from the culture of the Ancient Near East, but Jesus gives it a new punchline. Then he talks about how serious it is when we lay traps for other people and for ourselves. This is apparently a VERY big deal to God, with roots all the way back in the Hebrew Bible. Jesus ties it all to the importance of forgiving each other. We talk some more about life after death vs. life now. There’s a lot of meat in here. We cover Matthew (5:17-20 reprise); 18:6-9, 21-35 Mark 9:42-50 Luke 16:16-31, 17:1-4 A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. Click here for an index of all classes. More info at PastorintheWild.org.

119 The Final Parables - Justified & Elect

Jesus teaches a lot about the difference between being self-righteous and actually doing righteousness. “Righteous” in Greek is synonymous with “justice,” so it makes sense that Jesus uses a parable about a poor widow in court. He warns the disciples not to be proud. He reminds them they are just doing their job. They must not be like the self-righteous Pharisee who prays out loud that he is so thankful he’s not like the sinners in the room! In fact, Jesus says it is people like the widow who are “elect” and people like tax-collectors who humble themselves to pray for God’s mercy who are “justified.” This is the first time we encounter these terms, so we begin to unpack some of the baggage many Christians carry over this. We cover Matthew 19:13-30 Mark 10:13-31 Luke 17:5-37; 18:1-30 A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. Click here for an index of all classes. More info at PastorintheWild.org.

120 The Final Parables - Lazarus Is Raised From The Dead

Jesus raises one of his best friends from the dead and thoroughly awes the crowds, which in turn sets off alarm bells for all the powers that be. Fearing that Rome is about to step in and crush the Jewish nation, the religious leaders call an emergency meeting. Caiaphus, the High Priest, declares that Jesus must die so the entire nation does not perish. There’s just one problem--they have to catch him alone, away from the crowds who increasingly believe he is the Messiah. Jesus calls his disciples aside to give them the bad news (again) that he will die soon. They, like the people, still have trouble believing it. The mother of two of the disciples even asks Jesus to be sure to give her sons places of honor as soon as he gets to be King. We cover Matthew 20:17-28 Mark 10:32-45 Luke 18:31-34 John 11:1-54 A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. Click here for an index of all classes. More info at PastorintheWild.org.

12 di 20