Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

Daily Bread 2011 – Thursday, March 31th, 2011 Luke 20 Luke 20 The Authority of Jesus Questioned 1 One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. 2 “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?” 3 He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: 4 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?” 5 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.” 8 Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. What Does This Mean ? The chief priests and teachers of the law became more and more threatened, so they tried to question Jesus’ au...

Daily Bread 2011 – Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 Luke 19 Zacchaeus the Tax Collector 1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the...

Daily Bread 2011 – Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 Luke 18 The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collecto r 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” What Does This Mean? Jesus tells them another parable to teach them what true “righteousness” looks like. The Pharisees were proud of their...

Daily Bread 2011 – Monday, March 28th, 2011 Luke 17 “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. What Does This Mean? As we taught in yesterday’s sermon, forgiveness is one of the most challenging teaching in the bible. This is especially true when someone has been hurt in a major or traumatic way. Jesus teaches us that even if someone sins against us seven times in day we must forgive them. Or course this is not meant to be literal but Jesus is using hyperbole to teach the disciples about how to have a “forgiving heart”. Of course put a limit on our daily, monthly and annual forgiveness we would all be...

Daily Bread 2011 – Friday, March 25th, 2011 Luke 16 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? What Does This Mean? The above passage is part of a parable on stewardship, where a shrewd manager is called into account for not managing his master’s accounts very well. He is called into account and it looks like he is going to be laid off. But instead of stewing in a “pity party” he decides to take things into his account and see how much he can get out of his delinquent accounts. When he brings in the tally to the owner, he is praised for his shrewdness. The punch-line is the people of the world are often better managers at handling the things of the world than believ...

Daily Bread 2011 – Thursday, March 24th, 2011 Luke 15 “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. Does This Mean? All three of these parables in Luke 15 deal with something that is lost including: the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. They all were valuable and merited an all out search to find that which was lost. Jesus offers these parables in the midst of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, looking down their no...

Daily Bread 2011 – Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011 Luke 14 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 ...

Daily Bread 2011 – Tuesday, March 22st, 2011 Luke 13 The Narrow Door 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!’ What Does This Mean? Luke 13 is one of those really challenging chapters. We mentioned before that Luke has a strong emphasis on discipleship, and in this chapter Jesus teaches on what a disciple looks like. In the parable of the fig tree in...

Daily Bread 2011 – Monday, March 21st, 2011 Luke 12 Watchfulness 35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” What Does This Mean? Interestingly this passage comes right after the passage on worry. Jesus makes the distinction between “worry” and...

Daily Bread 2011 – Friday, March 18th, 2011 Luke 11 52 “Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.” 53 When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, 54 waiting to catch him in something he might say. What Does This Mean? The Pharisees and teachers of the Law were considered the religious experts in the day of interpreting the Old Testament Law. Yet, Jesus confronts two aspects where they had missed the mark completely. First, they did not apply the teachings to themselves. They were good at placing heavy burdens on others, while not being willing to carry it themselves. Secondly, they looked at the letter of Law and completely missed the inner meaning which could only be apprehended by faith. They intellectualized the Law, without applying it to everyday life situations. And they ...

Daily Bread 2011 – Thursday, March 17th, 2011 Luke 10 5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. What Does This Mean? As Jesus moves from doing the ministry before the disciples, to equipping them to be sent out to proclaim that the “Kingdom is at hand”, he gives them several principles. First, he sends them out in two’s realizing that not everyone would be receptive to them. He also told them not to greet anyone on the road, but go to homes and look for a person of peace. He knew that not every home would be receptive to them, but if they were, they were to enjoy the hospitality offered to them. As they went they were to announce the availability of God’s kingdom, and then demonstrate it through healing and delivering people from d...

Daily Bread 2011 – Wednesday, March 16th, 2011 Luke 9 The Cost of Following Jesus 57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 59 He said to another man, “Follow me. But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” What Does This Mean? What is curious about this passage is the excuses these men have for not following Jesus seem to be valid. I mean if you are going to go some place, a natural question is where are we going to stay? In the second two objections, the men cite family obligations to bury their o...

Daily Bread 2011 – Tuesday, March 15th, 2011 Luke 8:38-39 38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him. What Does This Mean? Some might think it is curious that after Jesus had healed this man among the tombs that Jesus sent him away. The man seemed eager to follow Jesus but Jesus told him to return to his home town and tell them how much God had done for him. Considering how bad off he was I imagine the people back home would have been pretty shocked at the transformation. Sometimes when we have a tremendous spiritual experience we are reluctant to go back home, for we might be anxious over how people will accept us. And yet Jesus saw this as an important opportunity for the Good News to spread through this man who had lived among the tombs for a long time. And the man listened obeyed and shared...

Daily Bread 2011 – Monday, March 14th, 2011 Luke 7 Jesus Raises a Widow’s So n 11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” 14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. What Does This Mean? The ultimate sign of God’s kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven is the end of death. Jesus, who came t...

Daily Bread 2011 – Friday, March 11th, 2011 Luke 6 A Tree and Its Fruit 43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. What Does This Mean? In Luke 6, we see what is called the “Sermon on the Plain”, similar to some of the teaching in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7). Jesus gives a variety of teachings to his disciples, while the growing crowd listens in the background. Many of the people who had been healed brought their friends to see what Jesus was all about. As Jesus describes what life in the kingdom looks like, he uses the analogy of the good tree and bad tree. The bottom line he states is that the quality of the tree is judged by its frui...

Daily Bread 2011 – Thursday, March 10th, 2011 Luke 5 Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners 27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. 29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” What Does This Mean? In Luke 5, we see Jesus calling his disciples, who were fishermen, and transforming their vocation into fishing for people. Then he heals a leper willingly, and heals a paralyzed man but first offers him the forgiveness of his sins as a result of his deep ...

Daily Bread 2011 – Wednesday, March 9th, 2011 Luke 4 Jesus Drives Out an Impure Spirit 31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority. 33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 34 “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 35 “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. 36 All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” 37 And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area. What Does This Mean? After Jesus is tested/tempted in the desert, he withstands the temptation by being led by the Spirit and relying on the Wor...

Daily Bread 2011 – Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 Luke 3 23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph What Does This Mean? We see only in Matthew and Luke’s gospels a genealogy, which follows in Luke’s gospel the verses above. In Matthew’s gospel it is key to present Jesus as King, and therefore is presented with king’s pedigree. Whereas Luke presents Jesus as the son of Man so we see eventually the genealogy brings him back to Adam and Eve. Matthew focuses more on Jesus being linked to Abraham and his legal descent through Joseph, whereas Luke focuses more on Jesus’ blood ties with Mary and also the fact that He was born of a virgin, which is why Luke says, “He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph.” This gives clear credence to the Virgin Birth. Either way it is good to see Jesus was both the Son of God, the Messiah, and the Son of Man, our Savior! He is both Savior and Lord! The age of 30 is important a...

Daily Bread 2011 – Monday, March 7th, 2011 Luke 2 1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. What Does This Mean? Again we see Luke’s penchant for historical detail, as he cites the Syrian ruler, Quirinius, and also Caesar Augustus, who was the Roman Emperor at the time. And these facts check out with history. We also agai...

Daily Bread 2011 – Friday March 4th, 2011 Luke 1 Luke 1 1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. What Does This Mean? As we begin Luke’s gospel, the third gospel, we see Luke’s purpose in writing. First of all, he acknowledges that many others had attempted to give an account of “the things that have been fulfilled among us.” This confirms that there were more than 4 gospels in circulation in the 1st century. One of the main components of the authenticity of any gospel is also given in that it relied heavily on “eyewitness accounts”. I.e. the apostles’ testimony about Jesus! L...

Daily Bread 2011 – Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 Mark 16:8 “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” What Does This Mean? This is the last verse of what many feel is the original version of Mark’s Gospel. Most bibles include verses 9-20, though most of the earliest manuscripts do not include it in the original version. One can imagine why as church history rolled on why some who want to amend (or what we call in biblical study “redact”) this ending as it is rather abrupt and leaves out a lot of post-resurrection details that the other gospels including. Most biblical scholars feel Mark is the earliest gospel and that Matthew and Luke borrowed from Mark as their primary source but then both took from another source to add more details to their gospel. Since Matthew and Luke are both quite a bit longer this makes sense. But what can we make of this possible original ending to the earliest gospel. After a...

Daily Bread 2011 – Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 Mark 15 Jesus Before Pilate 1 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. 2 “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “You have said so,” Jesus replied. 3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.” 5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. What Does This Mean? As we reach the end of Mark’s gospel, we enter his version of the last hours of Jesus’ life. Like the other gospels, the Jewish leaders conspire to have Jesus handed over to Pontius Pilate, who has authority in this district and would the only one who would sentence Jesus with the death sentence. But since there is nothing Jesus has done deserving of death or capital punishment, the only thing that they can d...

Daily Bread 2011 – Tuesday March 1st, 2011 Mark 14 3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. 4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages[ and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. 6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” What Does This Mean? In last passage Jesus re-framed the conversation re: the te...