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Luke 23 - Look Up At the Cross!

Luke 23 - NIV Luke 23 - Enduring Word Commentary Key Verses 13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.” 18 But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.) 20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Commentary What is so interesting to me about this text is that here you have the two men with the most power, Pontius Pilate and King Herod, and they find no basis to charge Jesus with anything. Certainly he had done nothing deserving of ...
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Luke 22 - Satan's Conversation with God!

Luke 22 - NIV Luke 22 - Enduring Word Commentary Verses for Today 31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” 33 But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”34 Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” Commentary  " Sift as wheat " is a metaphor that could also be expressed as “ shake someone apart ” or “ break a person down. ” Amos 9:9 gives us a similar image of God shaking Israel: “ For I will give the command and will shake Israel along with the other nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost” (NLT). It was not just Peter who was in danger, though. The word for “you” in Luke 22:31 is plural. Jesus was speaking to Peter, informing him that Satan had his sights set on all the disciples. Some translat...
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Luke 21 - How Can You Be Ready for the Second Coming of Christ?

Luke 21 - NIV   Luke 21 Enduring Word Commentary Key Verses for Today 34 “ Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:34-36 Commentary This chapter can be a little confusing. Is Jesus talking about the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, or about the end times?  I think this is the best explanation.  Luke 21 addresses both the destruction of the Temple and the end times, often weaving them together as a "prophetic type" where one event serves as a precursor or foreshadowing of the other.  After describes the imminent destruction of the temple, he talks about the signs which will precede Jesus' second coming. These include...
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Luke 20 - Does the Bible Teach the Separation of Church and State?

Luke 20 - NIV Luke 20 - Enduring Word Commentary Key Verses: Paying Taxes to Caesar 20 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. 21 So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” 23 He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. 25 He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Commentary: The Pharisees were trying everything and anything to trap Jesus. They felt their grip on him slipping away, so they started getting desperate. In this case they asked Jesus if it was right to pay taxes to Caesar. The trap they set f...
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Luke 19 - The Reward for Faithfulness!

Luke 19 - NIV   Luke 19 - Enduring Word Commentary The Parable of the Minas 20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’ 24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’  25 “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’  26 “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over th...
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Luke 18 - Don't Give Up On Prayer!

Luke 18 - NIV Luke 18 - Enduring Word Commentary Verses for the Day The Parable of the Persistent Widow 18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Commentary ...
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Luke 17 - Do You Have Kingdom Mentality?

Luke 17 - NIV Luke 17 - Enduring Word Commentary Key Verses: The Coming of the Kingdom of God 20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” 22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.  Commentary The coming of the kingdom of God was an important theme which Jesus referred to on more than one occasion. When John the Baptist welcomed Jesus he said, " Repent for the kingdom of God has dr...
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