What Jesus Did

One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: "Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus replied, "What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?" The man answered, "'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "Right!" Jesus told him. "Do this and you will live!"

—Luke 10:25-28 NLT

Key Thought


A couple of...

 

Then when they were alone, [Jesus] turned to the disciples and said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but they didn't see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn't hear it."

—Luke 10:23-24 NLT

Key Thought


The apostles were common men given an incredible blessing. They were blessed to be able to see God's ultimate promise fulfilled and embodied in Jesus. We have received...

 

[Jesus said,] "My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

—Luke 10:22 NLT

Key Thought


Jesus reveals God. Do you want to know God? You need to look to Jesus! Jesus is God's ultimate expression in human form. He is God's Living Word — God's message spoken through the life of Jesus. Jesus has authority over everything. He...

 

When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to [Jesus], "Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!" "Yes," he told them, "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don't rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven."

—Luke 10:17-20 NLT

Key...

 

[Jesus, to the seventy-two disciples, referring to any town that rejects the disciples and his message:] "I assure you, even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a town on judgment day."

—Luke 10:12 NLT

Key Thought


Jesus was trying to help his disciples understand the dire consequences for those who rejected his message that the disciples were taking to the towns. For those from Jewish heritage, there was no worse example of evil than the city of Sodom. Nor...

 

Then [Jesus] said to the disciples, "Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me. And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me. And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God, who sent me."

—Luke 10:16 NLT

Key Thought


As Jesus' disciples, we must not take the rejection, or the acceptance, of the message of Christ personally. Yes, we should be passionate about sharing that message. Yes, we must understand the eternal implications of accepting or rejecting that...

 

[Jesus] said to another person, "Come, follow me." The man agreed, but he said, "Lord, first let me return home and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God."

—Luke 9:59-60 NLT

Key Thought


Following Christ is our highest priority. Nothing should stand in our way. Does that mean abandoning our responsibility to our families? Certainly not! God makes clear that how we live...

 

[Jesus said,] "What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. Yes, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you. And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead."

—Luke 10:13-15 NLT

Key...

 

The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit.

—Luke 10:1 NLT

Key Thought


The Lord didn't send his disciples out solo. He sent them out in pairs. Pairs were — and still are — more than twice as effective as a single person in accomplishing the work of preparing people's hearts for the Kingdom of God and the good news about Jesus. Several Jewish principles were behind Jesus' approach. First...

 

[Jesus, continuing his instructions to the seventy-two disciples:] "If you enter a town and it welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you. Heal the sick, and tell them, 'The Kingdom of God is near you now.' But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 'We wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate. And know this — the Kingdom of God is near!'"

—Luke 10:8-11 NLT

Key Thought


God's Kingdom...