Chronological Gospels: Luke 17:11-18:14
This week’s reading is humbling. Along Jesus’s ministry journey, he heals ten men with leprosy. He then told them to go show themselves to the priests, which was the law and custom of the time. If you had leprosy you had to keep away from others, and if you were well again you had to go to the priest for them to bless and cleanse you and then welcome you back into the community.
I love what Jesus says when one of the men comes back to Him and falls down at His feet. The man didn’t go to the priest, he came back to the One who healed him and Jesus’s response tells us that is exactly what He wanted all of the men to do – praise God for the healing they received.
Describe a blessing you received from God. How did you respond?
He then gives us another important lesson that we all need to take heed of. He was asked when the Kingdom of God would come. His response teaches us that there are multiple phases to the coming of the Kingdom of God and that His presence is essential to every phase.
How does this passage challenge or confirm your understanding of the Kingdom of God? Explain.
Connected to Jesus’s lessons about praising God and the Kingdom of God, He then tells a couple of parables about prayer and humility. I love His parable about God answering prayers. His point here is that He wants us to be persistent in prayer, dedicated and focused on giving all matters to the Lord, and trust the Lord to respond how and when He knows is best.
What does this parable teach you about your own prayer life? Explain.
He then tells a parable about two people, a tax collector and a Pharisee, praying and the different ways they prayed. Jesus points out that the one who shows humility is the one God will exalt. The one who exalts himself will be humbled by God because God hates pride. Those who see themselves as justified and righteous need to be careful and seek for the Lord to check their heart.
What does this parable teach you about God?
