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THE KING AND HIS CROSS
This series introduces Jesus and His mission. As you journey with Jesus through the gospel of Luke, you will read about His miracles and preaching, as well as His death and resurrection. We pray that through this, you will come to understand that Jesus is the true King who came to die on the cross - when He calls you to follow, how will you respond? |
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AND HIS CROSS
OF THE KING
Luke starts the story of Jesus with stories of the announcement of the King. At the start of the story, angels announce to poor shepherds that the King who would rescue them, had been born! Then later, John the Baptist begins to announce that Jesus is that King that they had been waiting for for generations, and that He has come. John the Baptist was a traveling preacher who focused on calling people to turn away from their wrongdoing and to turn toward God. Through it all, he was telling people that the King was coming, and warned that this King would come to save some and judge others. And even after this, when Jesus is baptized, God speaks and announces that Jesus is His Son! That’s a big deal - angels, men, and even God Himself have all identified Jesus as the King!
MAIN POINT
Jesus is qualified to be king because He is without sin; He trusts in God’s provision, God’s timing, and God’s Word.
READ THE PASSAGE
Luke 4:1-13
STUDY THE PASSAGES
Read Luke 4:1-2
Following these announcements, Jesus goes into the wilderness for forty days where He is tempted by the devil, also known as Satan. This period of testing gives us an opportunity to see if Jesus really is qualified to be the King that everyone has been saying that He is.
When we learn that Jesus faced temptation for forty days in the wilderness, it’s connected with a story from earlier in the Bible. In the book of Exodus, God chooses the nation of Israel to be His people, and they too faced temptation in the wilderness, except instead of 40 days, it was 40 years! For them, they continually failed to resist the temptations they were faced with, choosing their own desires over God’s intended design. Let’s see how Jesus responds to His own temptation. During this time, he faces three major temptations.
Read Luke 4:3-4
First, the devil tempts Jesus to use His powers to turn stones into bread and break His fast. There is nothing wrong with bread, of course, but Jesus was there to fast and pray. And God had not given Jesus miraculous powers to make bread whenever He got hungry. This reminds us that the devil and the world love to tempt people to “meet legitimate desires in forbidden ways.”[1] We all want food, money, intimacy, and a good self-image. So Satan tempts us to get these in ways God has forbidden. Rather than giving into this temptation to satisfy his temporary hunger, Jesus remains steadfast, displaying faith in God’s ability and faithfulness to sustain and provide for His people.
Read Luke 4:5-8
Second, the devil tempts Jesus with the opportunity to become the king of the world. All Jesus has to do is worship Satan. Jesus rejects Satan’s offer saying God commanded us to only worship Him. This shows that anytime we are worshiping things other than God, we are actually living with Satan as our king. Jesus knows that Satan over promises and under delivers. As a pastor once said, “Satan will give you what you want as long as you give him what he wants.”[2] What does Satan want from you? Two words: “Addictive allegiance.” Satan wants to get your allegiance by getting you addicted to sin. Rather than taking a shortcut to becoming King over everything, something that Jesus would eventually be, Jesus displays his faith in God’s timing, being patient even if it is more difficult.
Read Luke 4:9-13
Third, Satan tempts Jesus to test God by throwing Himself off the top of a temple, knowing that the angels will prevent Him from being injured. Satan tempts Jesus saying, “If you are the Son of God,” and then cites a prophecy that God would protect His Son. Satan is essentially trying to get Jesus to prove His identity, either to himself or to others. But for Jesus, there is no “if” about it - in Luke 3:22, God clearly states that Jesus is His Son. Satan loves to tempt people to doubt the truth and reliability of the things that God has said, and he wants us to doubt God by following his advice rather than God’s plan for our lives. Jesus displays faith in the words of God to be true.
Why do these things matter? This passage shows that Jesus is qualified to be King because he resisted the temptation to sin - rather than rejecting God’s way for an easier and more comfortable path, Jesus embraces God’s provision, God’s timing, and God’s Word. Jesus is qualified to be King because He lived without sin. This also shows us that Jesus understands our temptation and He wants to help us with it. Jesus loves you enough to give His life for you. We all deserve God’s judgment for all the sins we have committed. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty we deserve, then came back to life, proving that He truly is the King that can offer us eternal life.
If we confess our sin and receive Him as our Savior and Lord, He will forgive us and give us His Spirit to help us resist sin just like Jesus did.
DECISION POINT
The Bible teaches us that if we confess our sins and place our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He will forgive us and give us the Holy Spirit to help us resist sin and temptation just like Jesus did. Doing this means that we are accepting the truth that Jesus is the true King, and that He alone is worthy of our devotion. With all the wicked and corrupt leaders in our world, we need a king like Jesus who is perfect and pure, without sin. Will we admit that when we have experienced temptation, we often fail to resist, giving into our sinful desires and tendencies?
The truth is that, just like John the Baptist preached, Jesus is the King who will judge the world. Those who are a part of the Kingdom of God, through their faith in Jesus, will be with Him for eternity, and those who are a part of the Kingdom of Satan, will face judgment for their sin. If you are reading this as someone who is not a follower of Jesus, we pray that you would become a part of God’s Kingdom. If you are a follower of Christ, then we hope this encourages you to continue to trust in Jesus to help you resist temptation toward sin.
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What is significant about Jesus going through temptation in the wilderness? What kinds of temptations are you facing in your life right now, that you need God’s help to get through?
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What does Jesus’ example teach us about resisting temptation in our own lives?
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Why do you think it is important that Jesus lived without sin? How does that encourage you?
[1] Dr. Erwin Lutzer. www.moodymedia.org/sermons/who-are-you-judge/judging-entertainment/
[2] Dr. Erwin Lutzer. www.moodymedia.org/radio-programs/running-to-win-25/judging-neo-paganism-part-2-3/
OF THE KING
In the last passage, we saw that Jesus is qualified to be king because He lived a life without sin. In this passage, we see Jesus proclaim that He is a king on a mission to save, heal, and restore the lost. Despite having a mission to save people, we’ll see people get angry and try to kill Jesus.
MAIN POINT
- Jesus’ mission is to save, heal, and restore.
- Jesus is rejected by those unwilling to believe He is King.
READ THE PASSAGE
Luke 4:16-30
STUDY THE PASSAGES
Our story begins after Jesus left His encounter with Satan in the wilderness. Jesus went back to the area of Galilee and started teaching every week in their synagogues. He quickly became the talk of the town and people praised Him everywhere He went. He went to Nazareth, the small town where He was raised, and taught in their synagogue too.
Read Luke 4:16-20
Jesus read an amazing passage from the book of Isaiah, a prophet who prophesied about the Messiah who would be Savior of the world. The word Messiah literally means the Anointed One, pointing to a king-like figure who would come to save the world. Isaiah said the Messiah’s mission would be to “proclaim good news to the poor…liberty to the captives, recovering sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” Isaiah 61:1-2.
In many ways this is the message of the Christian faith - that Jesus Christ is the King who came into this world to save the spiritually lost, to heal the broken and hurting, and to restore all that is broken in this world by sin.
After reading the brief passage, Jesus sat down. Luke says everyone’s eyes were “fixed on Him” Luke 4:20. Perhaps they were waiting to hear what He was going to say next. Or perhaps they were marveling at how Jesus, whom they had known since He was a kid, had grown up to be such a nice young man.
Read Luke 4:21-24
No one expected what Jesus said next. “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Initially people were amazed at Jesus’ gracious teaching and spoke well of Him. Then they seemed to grow concerned about what Jesus was saying about Himself. By saying this, Jesus is claiming to be the King that would save the world. They asked, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” They can’t seem to believe the kid from down the street could be the Messiah promised by Isaiah.
Maybe they also grew offended at what Jesus’ teaching meant about them. If this Scripture was fulfilled in their hearing, did that mean Jesus thought they were poor, captive, blind and oppressed? Maybe they thought themselves to be good people and didn’t like Jesus claiming to be a Savior who could heal them.
Whatever was going on in their hearts, Jesus knew what they were thinking. Whether they were offended or just unwilling to believe, he knew that they were wanting to see a miracle as proof. They do not believe Jesus at His word! This is why Jesus says to the crowd, “No prophet is acceptable in his hometown.” Because they have known Him all His life, they do not believe.
Read Luke 4:25-30
He goes on to remind them of two stories of the prophets of Israel from the Old Testament.
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The first is about Elijah, who offered to save a poor widow who was near starvation during a 3 ½ year famine. There were many that he could have gone to, but God only sent him to one. She had to exercise faith in God to work, before she saw the miracle that He would do for her. (Read 1 Kings 17 for the full story)
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The second story is about Elisha who God sent to heal a man with leprosy. Again there were many who he could have gone to, but God sent him to this one particularly. He also had to act out of faith in God, even before he saw the miracle that He would do for him. (Read 2 Kings 5:1-14 for the full story)
What makes Jesus’ stories about Elijah and Elisha so offensive is that these miracles were given to people who weren’t part of the nation of Israel. For those hearing Jesus, they assumed that being of the nation of Israel means you will be favored by God, and if you were not, then you would not be. In these stories, there were so few people in Israel that had faith in God, that God instead sent His prophets to take care of people who were considered outsiders. Jesus was telling His hometown that if they did not believe in God without first seeing the miracle, He would take His offer of salvation to outcasts and to people all over the world.
When Jesus said this, the people became “filled with wrath,” drove Him out of town, and tried to throw Him off a cliff. The people were angry because Jesus’ message insulted their faith and was in many ways a rebellion against their religious and social structures. Rather than miracles coming before faith, Jesus was calling people to faith in God before seeing the signs and wonders. In other words, they liked Jesus initially, but as soon as His message turned into something that they didn’t want to hear, they turned against Him. And yet, God protected Jesus, and He was able to somehow pass through the crowd and leave this situation.
DECISION POINT
In this passage we saw how people heard the message of Jesus, and rather than respond in faith and joy, were filled with wrath and violence. How about you? How will you respond to Jesus’ claim that He came to save? Will you believe Him and act on that belief? Or will you be offended by the claim that you are a sinner who cannot save yourself?
Jesus offers you the favor of the Lord, something that you cannot earn yourself. He is offering to forgive every sin you’ve ever committed, and to give you a clean slate. He is offering you the gift of eternal life with Him, not because of how good you are or could be, but because of His grace and mercy as the King. This is the gospel! Do you believe it?
- What do you think about Jesus’ mission to save, heal, and restore? Where might you need this in your life?
- What assumptions do you think people have about Jesus that might lead them to reject Him today?
- What hesitations or doubts do you have that might keep you from believing Jesus’ words?
OF A KING
In the last passage, we saw how Jesus proclaimed that He is a King on a mission to save, heal, and restore. In the next part of Luke 4, we will see Jesus doing that very thing as He casts out demons, cleanses a leper, and even makes a lame man walk! As Jesus encounters people who have some serious problems, we will see how He solves them in ways that no one else can, even forgiving sins, which Jesus says is the biggest problem of all. Through these passages Jesus will demonstrate the reality that He is the King!
MAIN POINTS
- Jesus' Word has authority to heal and to save.
- Jesus teaches that the biggest problem people have is their sin.
READ THE PASSAGES
Luke 4:31-37
Luke 5:12-26
STUDY THE PASSAGES
Our story unfolds as Jesus has just left His hometown that rejected Him and went to the city of Capernaum where He continued teaching. Luke tells us these people were “astonished at His teaching for His word possessed authority” (Luke 4:32). In our reading today, we’ll see three different people healed by the authority of Jesus’ word, starting with a man possessed by a demon.
Read Luke 4:31-37
Being demon-possessed isn’t something that we think about as much in the United States as people do in other parts of the world. Not to be confused with other medical or mental conditions, demons are real and destroy the lives of countless people today. Jesus said in John 10:10 that the devil is out to “steal, kill and destroy.” That’s just what the devil and his demons do - just like Jesus experienced in the wilderness, they will tempt people to do things that will be harmful to them and will lead them away from worshiping and loving God.
Amazingly, when Jesus encountered this demon-possessed man, the demon immediately recognized Jesus. He knew who Jesus was and loudly cried out, “Have you come to destroy us?” Jesus rebuked the demon and effortlessly cast it out, much to the amazement of the crowd. This was such a significant and undeniable showing of power that “reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.”
Read Luke 5:12-15
Jumping ahead to the next chapter, we see that Jesus encountered a man with leprosy. Leprosy was a skin condition that doomed a person to a life of misery. The disease was painful as the infections caused wounds all over the body and even eyes. These infections could make limbs fall off or require amputation. Because it was contagious, lepers were considered unclean and lived as outcasts isolated from the community. Just like the man afflicted by a demon, this man was in a hopeless situation, but his problem too was effortlessly solved by Jesus. All Jesus had to do was speak the words, “be clean,” and “immediately the leprosy left him.”
Read Luke 5:17-20
Next, Jesus encountered a paralyzed man. Jesus eventually heals this man with a simple command, “Pick up your bed and go home.” However, healing this man wasn’t Jesus’ first response. When the paralyzed man’s friends took desperate and dramatic action to get him in front of Jesus, Jesus responded by saying that his sins are forgiven. It isn’t that Jesus lacked sympathy for the man’s condition. It’s that He cared for the man’s greatest problem – his sin! To define it simply, to sin is to reject God’s good purpose and design for our lives, instead choosing to do what we think is good in our own eyes.
Read Luke 5:21-26
It is at this point that the religious leaders observing all of this speak up - Jesus’ statement was too much for them. They cried out, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God?” Their anger is similar to the crowd in Nazareth that we read about in the previous chapter. Jesus was claiming to do something that only God could do, but the fact that they didn’t understand is that Jesus Himself is able to forgive sins because He is God. To prove that He has the authority to do the impossible thing of forgiving sins, Jesus did the impossible thing of healing a paralytic. In verse 26, Luke tells us that “Amazement seized them all and they glorified God and were filled with awe.”
DECISION POINT
Each person who Jesus encountered, whether it was demon possession, leprosy, or being paralyzed, Jesus is able to solve the problem that no one else could solve. At the end of it all, Jesus reveals that the primary problem that He came to solve was that of sin. Jesus fixed the lesser problems to prove that He has the desire and power to heal us of our main problem - our sin. The Bible teaches us that our sins have separated us from God, and, like the demon possessed man, leave us in the power of the devil who wants to steal, kill, and destroy all that is good. Our sin causes us to be isolated from the God who created us, and can oftentimes leave us to feel stuck, unable to do anything ourselves to resolve our problems.
Jesus has come to save us from this reality! He came to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, then rose again from the dead proving once and for all that He truly is the King who has come to save, heal, and restore! That’s why He alone can forgive us from our sin. He does this so that those who place their faith in Him can spend eternity with Him in heaven, where there will be no more sickness or pain, where He will wipe every tear from their eyes. This all starts with placing faith in Jesus as King, receiving his forgiveness and healing, and through that being made right with God. Jesus wants to heal you - will you call out to Him in faith and ask Him to save you from the problem of your sin that you can’t solve yourself?
- If Jesus’ primary concern is with teaching people that their sins need to be forgiven, why would He also spend so much time healing people of other problems? Why not just forgive them of their sins and move on?
- As you think about your life, what are the problems that you want to see Jesus fix? What sins are in your life that make you feel stuck and hopeless?
In the last passage, we saw Jesus cast out demons, heal the sick, and raise a man who couldn’t walk. We also saw that He has the power to forgive sins. Today, we’ll see how Jesus cuts away at our excuses and teaches why we really do bad things. We’ll also learn from Him how we can build our lives on a strong foundation.
MAIN POINTS
- The state of our heart is revealed by the fruit in our lives.
- Jesus is the only sure foundation for our lives.
READ THE PASSAGES
Luke 6:43-49
STUDY THE PASSAGES
Read Luke 6:43-45
Jesus begins this section teaching about the hearts of mankind. He says, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by the fruit.” This is just common sense. Apple trees produce apples, and orange trees produce oranges because trees produce fruit according to their kind. We also wouldn’t expect a tree that is rotting and dying to produce a clean, crisp apple. And if a tree consistently produces rotten fruit, something is wrong not just with the fruit but with the tree.
Jesus uses this illustration to describe the heart. A good heart produces good works and a bad heart produces bad works. In other words, the things you do show the kind of person you are. So much for our excuses when we do bad things, right? Based on this, how would you rate the quality of your heart? In another place where Jesus teaches about a similar thing, he says, “For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.” Mark 7:21-23 .
Jesus says anything on that list that we can relate to should show us what our heart is really like. Preachers have often put it like this, “The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart.” We all start out in life with a heart like this. The Bible says, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” Romans 3:10-12. This points us back to the reality that we cannot fix the problem of our sin ourselves; our hearts are corrupted and produce bad fruit - only Jesus can change our hearts, causing us to produce good, God-honoring fruit!
Read Luke 6:46-49
Jesus then has a hard word for people who claim to be His followers. He says, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” Jesus does not want fake Christians. It’s easy to say nice things about Jesus. It’s easy to call Him, “Lord.” Talk is cheap. How we live shows what our hearts are really like.
However, Jesus doesn’t just point out people’s problems and sins. He shows a better way. He calls his listeners to be people who do three key things - come, hear, do. He puts it like this, “Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them…is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock” (Luke 6:47-48). This way of life isn’t easy. The man had to dig deep, but it paid off big time. The man also had to choose wisely where to build. Jesus said he built not on “a rock” but on “the rock.” Jesus is the rock, and the only sure foundation for your life.
Here’s why we need to build our lives upon Jesus Christ. Storms are coming. Life is hard and trials are coming. How often do we see people who seem to have it all together in life go through challenges and they simply fall apart? Movie stars living the dream life end up in 3rd, 4th and 5th marriages and look lonely and miserable. Athletes who are at the peak of their careers feeling empty and hopeless. Even for your life, how many times do you feel like things are going well, only to feel like everything falls apart around you.
Whether our lives will be easier or harder than others around us, we all have one thing in common. One day we will all die. Jesus loves us enough to give us this warning: “The one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:49).
DECISION POINT
The good news is that Jesus knows that our hearts need help, so he offers to give us a new one. Jesus says that we must be “born again” John 3:3, offering to take the old heart and give us a new one that is not corrupted by our sins. Jesus offers to fill us with the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside - the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit will cause us to produce “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” Galatians 5:22-23.
Jesus is calling all of us to come to Him, hear His words, and do what He says. What will you do?
- What do you think of the teaching that our hearts apart from God’s work are wicked and produce bad fruit?
- When you do things that you know are wrong, what reasons do you tend to give to justify or excuse those decisions?
- What is the foundation you are building your life on? What are your priorities and values in life? What do you think might happen to those priorities and values when the storms of life hit you?
In the last passage, we read Jesus’ teaching that we all sin because of our sinful hearts, but that He can and will restore the hearts of those who follow Him. Now, we will read about His mission as the King, and wrestle with the most important question in all of human history as Jesus asks, “Who do you say I am?”
MAIN POINTS
- Jesus welcomes and has compassion for those who want to hear His message.
- Jesus’ mission was to die on the cross for our sins and rise from the dead to defeat death.
- Jesus is calling you to consider who you say Jesus really is.
READ THE PASSAGE
STUDY THE PASSAGE
Read Luke 9:10-17
It’s impossible to overstate how popular Jesus was. Our story starts with Jesus trying to get away from the crowds, but the crowds learned where He was going and followed Him! But Jesus didn’t chase them away,instead showing compassion for them. Luke tells us that “Jesus welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing” (Luke 9:11). People spent all day listening to Him teach. As the day went on, people grew hungry and had no food. And the disciples only have five loaves and two fish. Jesus did an amazing miracle and multiplied that food into enough to feed over five thousand people.
If Jesus was popular before this, imagine how much His popularity would have sky-rocketed even more after this! In John chapter 6, where this same story is recorded by John, he writes that when the people saw this, they wanted to make Him king right then and there. This is an incredible miracle displaying once again Jesus’ power and qualification to be King. But for Jesus, He wanted to go one step further; He wanted to help people understand that His mission is about more than just meeting physical needs like hunger.
Read Luke 9:18-22
After this miracle, Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” People knew Jesus taught good things. Many people even knew Jesus did mighty miracles. Many thought Jesus was a prophet. Even today, most people will say Jesus was a good teacher who did good things. But Jesus probed deeper and asked His disciples directly, “Who do you say that I am?” This is the most important question in all human history. Who do you say that Jesus is? Is He just a good teacher? Or is He more?
Jesus doesn’t just point out people’s problems and sins. He shows a better way. He calls his listeners to be people who do three key things - come, hear, do.
Peter answered that Jesus is “The Christ of God.” A common misconception is that Christ is Jesus’ last name, but the truth is that it is a translation of the title Messiah, or savior. The Old Testament prophets promised that God would send the Messiah, or the Christ, to save His people. Peter is rightly declaring that Jesus is that promised King who would save the world. Surprisingly, when Peter answered correctly, Jesus told the disciples not to tell anyone. This was probably because they did not yet fully understand what it meant that Jesus is the Christ.
It is at this point that Jesus explains his mission more clearly - He says that He must “suffer many things and be rejected…and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” This was not what the disciples were expecting or wanted in their Messiah. In their minds, and in the minds of others in that time period, they expected that the Messiah would come to overthrow the Romans who were oppressing Israel. They thought that he would heal the sick, feed the poor, and unite the people - they never would have thought that His mission involved Him dying.
But Jesus was serious about His mission. He tells them again in Luke 18:31-33 , “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” Jesus’ death was a part of His plan and mission all along.
And what is so important is that you know this: Jesus did all of this because of His great love for everyone, including you! Jesus loves you enough that He was willing to be mocked, beaten, spit upon, and killed. This is the price He paid to take the penalty our sins deserve. And He proved that He was who He said He was by coming back to life on the third day just like He promised. This is the core of the entire Christian faith!
DECISION POINT
So what about you? Jesus is asking you the question He asked His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” When you think about your answer to this question, the reality is that there are only really 3 options; either He is a liar, who is intentionally attempting to mislead people, He is a lunatic who thinks He is God, or He truly is God who became man, who died for the sins of the world and rose from the grave on the third day.
CS Lewis said this about Jesus, “You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.” This quote highlights that Jesus cannot just be a good person who was a good teacher - if He is not God, then He is irrelevant to our lives, and if He is God, then nothing else matters!
Jesus is offering to be your Savior and Lord. He is offering to forgive you of every sin you’ve ever committed because He died for you. To receive His gift of salvation, we must confess our sins, believe in Him and turn our lives over to Him. You can do that today by saying, “Lord Jesus, I’m sorry for my sin. I believe in you. Please forgive me and be my Savior and Lord.”
Will you follow Him today? To learn more, go to this page and decide now.
- What are your thoughts about the claim that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or King? Who do you think that Jesus is?
- What parts of Jesus’ teaching are difficult for you to believe and accept? What do you think Jesus would want you to do with these concerns?
- What, if anything, might keep you from embracing Jesus as King?
In the passage right before this one, we saw that Jesus came into this world with one singular mission - to die on the cross for the sins of the world and to rise again on the third day, proving once and for all that He truly is the King! In the passage we will study here, we will hear Him teach that if we want to be His followers, we must go all in for Him.
MAIN POINTS
- Jesus says we must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him.
- The cost of following Jesus is great, but the rewards are worth it!
READ THE PASSAGE
Luke 9:23-27
STUDY THE PASSAGE
People had been following Jesus as He healed the sick and fed the hungry. It’s easy to follow Jesus when He’s giving us what we want. Now Jesus is going to tell people what He wants from them.
Read Luke 9:23-25Our story begins with Jesus openly saying to everyone that if they want to follow Him they have to deny themselves and to carry their cross. He was very upfront about the price that “anyone” who wants to be connected to Him must pay to be a part of His Kingdom. Jesus says that following Him requires a complete and total surrender of one’s life to Him. Although intense, this is nothing unusual. The most important decisions in our lives always require a commitment of some kind. Nothing worth our time comes without some sort of sacrifice.
For example, if you want to succeed in academics, then you would have to focus on your studying, even if it keeps you from doing other things you enjoy. Or if you want to succeed in sports, then you have to prioritize things like working out and practicing, which might take away from other things you might spend your time doing. What Jesus is saying is that if you want to be a part of His Kingdom, it requires us to prioritize Him over anything else.
Let’s look at Jesus’ teaching more closely by looking at the three verbs He uses: deny, take up, and follow.
DenyJesus says we must deny ourselves. Our problem is, we have all denied God and rejected Him as our rightful King. We have said “No” to Him and acted like we were king instead. If we want to follow Christ, we must put Him back on the throne of our lives. One preacher put it like this, “Instead of gratifying ourselves or indulging ourselves in all the ways our sinful nature desires, we are called to deny ourselves, rejecting anything and everything that will get in the way of offering ourselves for God’s service.”[1]
Jesus says we must take up our cross. For the people listening, this would have sounded crazy - the cross was a tool that the Romans used to execute people! As one author put it, “When a man from one of their villages took up a cross and went off with a…band of Roman soldiers, he was on a one-way journey. He’d not be back.”[2] Rather than living for ourselves as though God were dead, Jesus calls us to die to ourselves and live for God.
Follow
Jesus was on His way to die in Jerusalem. So when He says, “Follow me,” He means that we should follow Him, even if it means we might face rejection and ridicule from friends and family. Jesus is saying that we must go where He goes and do what He does, even if it leads us to suffer for Him just like He suffered and died for us.
Many people hear this and say, “No thank you! I’d rather keep my life!” They think following Jesus will get in the way of their fun, their relationships, goals, and dreams. It would require letting go of sins they want to keep. It might cost them their popularity with friends or peace with their parents. So they try to “save their life” by living their way and rejecting Jesus.
Jesus challenges this thinking with a haunting question. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” Everything in our lives will one day come to an end. Wouldn’t it be better to “lose” the things that keep us from Jesus so we can be truly saved? If this is hard to accept, remember this: Life is short. Eternity is long. Jim Elliot, a famous missionary, said it like this, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Read Luke 9:26-27Jesus also warns that if people are ashamed to be His followers, then He will be ashamed to receive them as His followers in Heaven. It’s easy to get swayed by the opinions of our friends, but a day is coming when the only thing that will matter is what Jesus thinks of us. When we see Him standing in His glory with His mighty angels, His is the only opinion that will matter.
However, Jesus doesn’t leave it there - the rewards He promises far outweigh the cost of following Him. Jesus told His followers that they would see “the Kingdom of God.” In Luke 18:29-30, Jesus promised, “There is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” Jesus says that whether you lose friends and family, financial stability, pleasures, or status, in following Him you will actually gain so much more than you had in the first place. He says that in following Him, everything you lose you will receive back in abundance, both in this life and in eternity.
DECISION POINT
When we read these verses, we see that Jesus only gives two options:
- What stands out to you about what Jesus says in this passage? Between denying yourself, picking up your cross, and following after Jesus, which part of that seems the most difficult to you?
- What is something that you think you would have to give up if Jesus was the King of your life? What is keeping you from following Him wholeheartedly?
- Based on what you have read here and throughout this series so far, what do you think about the life that Jesus offers and promises? What is appealing to you about following Him?
Which kind of life will you live? Will you continue to try to rule your own life, or will you let Jesus be the King?
- What stands out to you about what Jesus says in this passage? Between denying yourself, picking up your cross, and following after Jesus, which part of that seems the most difficult to you?
- What is something that you think you would have to give up if Jesus was the King of your life? What is keeping you from following Him wholeheartedly?
- Based on what you have read here and throughout this series so far, what do you think about the life that Jesus offers and promises? What is appealing to you about following Him?
[1] Philip Ryken. Luke. Volume I. Reformed Expository Commentary, p. 458.
[2] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to St. Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, p. 170.
OF THE KING
Over the last couple of passages, we have seen Jesus promise that He would go to Jerusalem to die on the cross. Here in Luke 23 we will see Jesus keep that promise. We pick up the story after Jesus was betrayed by one of His followers, taken before the Roman rulers and falsely accused of wrongdoing. Pilate, the Roman governor, said he found no fault in Jesus but gave in to the demands of the mob and ordered for Jesus to be crucified.
MAIN POINTS
- Jesus died for our sins.
- If we ask Him, He will forgive us of our sins.
- If we don’t, we will face His judgment.
READ THE PASSAGE
Luke 23:26-49STUDY THE PASSAGE
Read Luke 23:26-38
As Jesus is led away to be crucified outside of the city walls, there are a few surprising things that we see.
First, they made a stranger carry Jesus’s cross. Normally, Romans made condemned men carry their own crosses as they walked to be executed. But in some cases, if the condemned was unable, they would make someone else carry it for them. In other gospels, we read about how Jesus was beaten, whipped nearly to death, and had a crown of thorns pierced into His head. He endured much pain and suffering before even getting to the cross.
We also see Jesus tell women who are weeping for Him that they should weep for themselves instead. On the way to His own crucifixion, Jesus says He is not the one to pity. Why? Jesus loved these women enough to warn them of God’s coming judgment. If the rulers and authorities did these things while Jesus was with them, what would they do when Jesus is gone? Rome did destroy Jerusalem 40 years after they killed Jesus. But Jesus is also warning them, and us, about God’s coming judgment. If God allowed His innocent Son to be crucified so people could be saved, how severe will His judgment be for guilty sinners who reject the salvation Jesus died to bring?
Finally, we see Jesus pray for those who are crucifying Him. Even as He hung on the cross, Jesus asked God to forgive them. This shows us how loving and compassionate Jesus is - even while they are putting Him to death and mocking Him, He is still praying for them. This doesn’t mean everyone there was saved, but it means Jesus asked God to be merciful to them. And it reminds us that Jesus is ready to forgive you and me no matter what we have done if we ask.
Read Luke 23:39-43
This brings us to the central conflict in our story: the two different responses from the criminals being crucified next to Jesus. The first criminal mocked Him. He followed the mob and soldiers in making fun of Jesus saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” There was a sign hanging above Jesus on the cross saying, “This is the King of the Jews.” The first criminal taunted Jesus by asking Him what kind of king He was if He was stuck up on the cross?”
The second criminal, on the other hand, humbly called Jesus by name and said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He believed that Jesus was innocent and that He is the King. He prayed one of the simplest, yet most sincere prayers, ever prayed. And in that moment, everything changed. This criminal had already been judged by the Romans and was just moments from death. He would soon stand before God the ultimate Judge and would have been condemned to Hell. But in that moment, Jesus gave him the greatest promise: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
What we need to understand is that, just like these criminals, we too are guilty and deserve judgment. God is Holy and just, and we have all broken His law, and so we must face the consequences. Romans 3:23 tells us that “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23 adds that “the wages of sin are death.” Because we all have sinned, and all sin must be punished, we all deserve to face God’s righteous judgment.
Jesus on the other hand never sinned, and therefore does not deserve the death that we deserve. However, out of love for us, Jesus willingly died on the cross to take the punishment that we deserve in our place. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us, “For our sake [God] made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus died on the cross so that your sins would be paid for and removed from you, and so that you would no longer have to face God’s judgment.
This is the kind of King that Jesus is - a King who loves you enough to lay down His life on the cross. Jesus died in your place, taking the penalty that you deserve, so that you can have life now and forever more! Some people will respond like the first criminal, not believing Jesus’ words and instead mocking Him and rejecting Him, while others will recognize the truth of who Jesus is, and will place their faith in Him. How will you respond?
Read Luke 23:44-49
Our story concludes as Jesus breathes His final breath. The curtain of the temple was torn in two, showing that Jesus opened a way for all of us to have access to God. As people watch this happen, we see a few final responses. One of the Roman soldiers said, “Surely this man was innocent.” Others went home “in deep sorrow”, perhaps feeling guilty for their sins. Others “stood at a distance.”
DECISION POINT
How about you? Will you stand at a distance? Will you mock Jesus like the one criminal? Or will you, like the other, ask Jesus to save you? There’s no good you can do to save yourself, but Jesus is offering you salvation today as a free gift. He promises that all who confess their sin and believe in Him, like the criminal on the cross, will be with Him forever in paradise. You can receive this gift right now in prayer. Prayer is just talking to God - it's as simple as saying, “Jesus, thank you for dying for me. Please forgive me for my sin. I’m turning my whole life over to you.”
Will you pray this now? Will you let Jesus save you from your sin and bring you into His Kingdom?
- Based on what you just read, do you think Jesus’ death was necessary? Why or why not?
- How does it make you feel to read that Jesus died to cover the penalty for your sins?
- What might be keeping you from following Jesus and allowing Him to save you from your sin?
OF THE KING
In the last passage, we looked at Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins. If the story had stopped there, it would have been a moving story, but His death would have been pointless. He’d be dead in His grave like everyone else who ever lived. In our story today, we’ll see that Jesus is alive and that changes everything.
MAIN POINTS
- Jesus rose from the dead so we can have forgiveness in His name.
- Jesus invites us to a life of peace, joy, purpose, and His blessing.
- Jesus sends His followers on His mission and empowers them by His Spirit.
READ THE PASSAGE
Luke 24:36-53
STUDY THE PASSAGE
Read Luke 24:36-53
Jesus didn’t stop with giving His disciples peace and confident joy. He also gave them a new purpose. “You are witnesses of these things,” He said. Jesus said that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed to all nations.” The disciples embraced that purpose and became Jesus’ witnesses around the world. They all suffered greatly for it. They were put in prison and most of them were killed because they would not stop preaching that Jesus died and then rose from the dead. Their witness can help us have confident joy.
If they were lying or making it up, it is unlikely that many would have been killed - no one is willing to die for something they know is not true. Their commitment to the truth, to the point of persecution or even death, shows us that there is truth to what they preached - Jesus really did die to pay the penalty for sin, and He really did rise from the dead three days later!
Jesus did not send them on this mission alone. He gave them the promised Holy Spirit to be with them, to give them power to do the things He wants them to do. Jesus wants to empower you and me for His mission too. God doesn’t send His people to do things without giving them what they need to do those things. In order to proclaim the gospel with boldness and courage, Jesus needed to give His followers the Holy Spirit.
The final thing we see Jesus do is ascend into Heaven. That means Jesus is still alive today, ruling in Heaven as the King who has conquered sin and death so that His people could experience eternal life. It means He has made a way for us to someday live with Him there and see Him face to face. The Bible also teaches that Jesus will come again and judge the living and the dead, so we should get right with Him now. As Jesus was going into heaven, He lifted up His hands and “blessed them.” The one who could have been their judge gives them His blessing instead!
DECISION POINT
Do you want to live your life with the blessing of God? Do you want to have peace with God? Jesus is offering you that today. He went through death and came back in order to offer you forgiveness, so that you can have peace and life with Him forever. He knows all the things you have done, and no matter how much good or bad you have done, His offer still stands. No one is too far from God’s grace found in Jesus Christ. He is offering you the same confident joy that we have read about today.
To have Jesus’ blessing, you must have Him as your King. Jesus is inviting you to confess your sin and to turn from it, believe in Him and become a citizen of His Kingdom. Will you accept His gift for you? Won’t you follow the King, take up His cross, and join Him in His mission?
You can do that right now through prayer saying, “Lord Jesus, I believe in you. Thank you for dying for my sin and coming back to life. Please forgive me of my sin and be the King of my life.”
- Christians believe that Jesus really did rise from the dead - what questions or doubts do you have about that claim?
- If Jesus really did die and rise from the dead, what implications does that have for you?
- Why do you think Jesus sent out His followers to spread the message of what He did to others?
Luke starts the story of Jesus with stories of the announcement of the King. At the start of the story, angels announce to poor shepherds that the King who would rescue them, had been born! Then later, John the Baptist begins to announce that Jesus is that King that they had been waiting for for generations, and that He has come. John the Baptist was a traveling preacher who focused on calling people to turn away from their wrongdoing and to turn toward God. Through it all, he was telling people that the King was coming, and warned that this King would come to save some and judge others. And even after this, when Jesus is baptized, God speaks and announces that Jesus is His Son! That’s a big deal - angels, men, and even God Himself have all identified Jesus as the King!
MAIN POINT
Jesus is qualified to be king because He is without sin; He trusts in God’s provision, God’s timing, and God’s Word.
READ THE PASSAGE
Luke 4:1-13
STUDY THE PASSAGES
Read Luke 4:1-2
Following these announcements, Jesus goes into the wilderness for forty days where He is tempted by the devil, also known as Satan. This period of testing gives us an opportunity to see if Jesus really is qualified to be the King that everyone has been saying that He is.
When we learn that Jesus faced temptation for forty days in the wilderness, it’s connected with a story from earlier in the Bible. In the book of Exodus, God chooses the nation of Israel to be His people, and they too faced temptation in the wilderness, except instead of 40 days, it was 40 years! For them, they continually failed to resist the temptations they were faced with, choosing their own desires over God’s intended design. Let’s see how Jesus responds to His own temptation. During this time, he faces three major temptations.
Read Luke 4:3-4
First, the devil tempts Jesus to use His powers to turn stones into bread and break His fast. There is nothing wrong with bread, of course, but Jesus was there to fast and pray. And God had not given Jesus miraculous powers to make bread whenever He got hungry. This reminds us that the devil and the world love to tempt people to “meet legitimate desires in forbidden ways.”[1] We all want food, money, intimacy, and a good self-image. So Satan tempts us to get these in ways God has forbidden. Rather than giving into this temptation to satisfy his temporary hunger, Jesus remains steadfast, displaying faith in God’s ability and faithfulness to sustain and provide for His people.
Read Luke 4:5-8
Second, the devil tempts Jesus with the opportunity to become the king of the world. All Jesus has to do is worship Satan. Jesus rejects Satan’s offer saying God commanded us to only worship Him. This shows that anytime we are worshiping things other than God, we are actually living with Satan as our king. Jesus knows that Satan over promises and under delivers. As a pastor once said, “Satan will give you what you want as long as you give him what he wants.”[2] What does Satan want from you? Two words: “Addictive allegiance.” Satan wants to get your allegiance by getting you addicted to sin. Rather than taking a shortcut to becoming King over everything, something that Jesus would eventually be, Jesus displays his faith in God’s timing, being patient even if it is more difficult.
Read Luke 4:9-13
Third, Satan tempts Jesus to test God by throwing Himself off the top of a temple, knowing that the angels will prevent Him from being injured. Satan tempts Jesus saying, “If you are the Son of God,” and then cites a prophecy that God would protect His Son. Satan is essentially trying to get Jesus to prove His identity, either to himself or to others. But for Jesus, there is no “if” about it - in Luke 3:22, God clearly states that Jesus is His Son. Satan loves to tempt people to doubt the truth and reliability of the things that God has said, and he wants us to doubt God by following his advice rather than God’s plan for our lives. Jesus displays faith in the words of God to be true.
Why do these things matter? This passage shows that Jesus is qualified to be King because he resisted the temptation to sin - rather than rejecting God’s way for an easier and more comfortable path, Jesus embraces God’s provision, God’s timing, and God’s Word. Jesus is qualified to be King because He lived without sin. This also shows us that Jesus understands our temptation and He wants to help us with it. Jesus loves you enough to give His life for you. We all deserve God’s judgment for all the sins we have committed. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty we deserve, then came back to life, proving that He truly is the King that can offer us eternal life.
If we confess our sin and receive Him as our Savior and Lord, He will forgive us and give us His Spirit to help us resist sin just like Jesus did.
DECISION POINT
The Bible teaches us that if we confess our sins and place our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He will forgive us and give us the Holy Spirit to help us resist sin and temptation just like Jesus did. Doing this means that we are accepting the truth that Jesus is the true King, and that He alone is worthy of our devotion. With all the wicked and corrupt leaders in our world, we need a king like Jesus who is perfect and pure, without sin. Will we admit that when we have experienced temptation, we often fail to resist, giving into our sinful desires and tendencies?
The truth is that, just like John the Baptist preached, Jesus is the King who will judge the world. Those who are a part of the Kingdom of God, through their faith in Jesus, will be with Him for eternity, and those who are a part of the Kingdom of Satan, will face judgment for their sin. If you are reading this as someone who is not a follower of Jesus, we pray that you would become a part of God’s Kingdom. If you are a follower of Christ, then we hope this encourages you to continue to trust in Jesus to help you resist temptation toward sin.
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What is significant about Jesus going through temptation in the wilderness? What kinds of temptations are you facing in your life right now, that you need God’s help to get through?
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What does Jesus’ example teach us about resisting temptation in our own lives?
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Why do you think it is important that Jesus lived without sin? How does that encourage you?
[1] Dr. Erwin Lutzer. www.moodymedia.org/sermons/who-are-you-judge/judging-entertainment/
[2] Dr. Erwin Lutzer. www.moodymedia.org/radio-programs/running-to-win-25/judging-neo-paganism-part-2-3/
In the last passage, we saw that Jesus is qualified to be king because He lived a life without sin. In this passage, we see Jesus proclaim that He is a king on a mission to save, heal, and restore the lost. Despite having a mission to save people, we’ll see people get angry and try to kill Jesus.
MAIN POINT
- Jesus’ mission is to save, heal, and restore.
- Jesus is rejected by those unwilling to believe He is King.
READ THE PASSAGE
Luke 4:16-30
STUDY THE PASSAGES
Our story begins after Jesus left His encounter with Satan in the wilderness. Jesus went back to the area of Galilee and started teaching every week in their synagogues. He quickly became the talk of the town and people praised Him everywhere He went. He went to Nazareth, the small town where He was raised, and taught in their synagogue too.
Read Luke 4:16-20
Jesus read an amazing passage from the book of Isaiah, a prophet who prophesied about the Messiah who would be Savior of the world. The word Messiah literally means the Anointed One, pointing to a king-like figure who would come to save the world. Isaiah said the Messiah’s mission would be to “proclaim good news to the poor…liberty to the captives, recovering sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” Isaiah 61:1-2.
In many ways this is the message of the Christian faith - that Jesus Christ is the King who came into this world to save the spiritually lost, to heal the broken and hurting, and to restore all that is broken in this world by sin.
After reading the brief passage, Jesus sat down. Luke says everyone’s eyes were “fixed on Him” Luke 4:20. Perhaps they were waiting to hear what He was going to say next. Or perhaps they were marveling at how Jesus, whom they had known since He was a kid, had grown up to be such a nice young man.
Read Luke 4:21-24
No one expected what Jesus said next. “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Initially people were amazed at Jesus’ gracious teaching and spoke well of Him. Then they seemed to grow concerned about what Jesus was saying about Himself. By saying this, Jesus is claiming to be the King that would save the world. They asked, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” They can’t seem to believe the kid from down the street could be the Messiah promised by Isaiah.
Maybe they also grew offended at what Jesus’ teaching meant about them. If this Scripture was fulfilled in their hearing, did that mean Jesus thought they were poor, captive, blind and oppressed? Maybe they thought themselves to be good people and didn’t like Jesus claiming to be a Savior who could heal them.
Whatever was going on in their hearts, Jesus knew what they were thinking. Whether they were offended or just unwilling to believe, he knew that they were wanting to see a miracle as proof. They do not believe Jesus at His word! This is why Jesus says to the crowd, “No prophet is acceptable in his hometown.” Because they have known Him all His life, they do not believe.
Read Luke 4:25-30
He goes on to remind them of two stories of the prophets of Israel from the Old Testament.
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The first is about Elijah, who offered to save a poor widow who was near starvation during a 3 ½ year famine. There were many that he could have gone to, but God only sent him to one. She had to exercise faith in God to work, before she saw the miracle that He would do for her. (Read 1 Kings 17 for the full story)
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The second story is about Elisha who God sent to heal a man with leprosy. Again there were many who he could have gone to, but God sent him to this one particularly. He also had to act out of faith in God, even before he saw the miracle that He would do for him. (Read 2 Kings 5:1-14 for the full story)
What makes Jesus’ stories about Elijah and Elisha so offensive is that these miracles were given to people who weren’t part of the nation of Israel. For those hearing Jesus, they assumed that being of the nation of Israel means you will be favored by God, and if you were not, then you would not be. In these stories, there were so few people in Israel that had faith in God, that God instead sent His prophets to take care of people who were considered outsiders. Jesus was telling His hometown that if they did not believe in God without first seeing the miracle, He would take His offer of salvation to outcasts and to people all over the world.
When Jesus said this, the people became “filled with wrath,” drove Him out of town, and tried to throw Him off a cliff. The people were angry because Jesus’ message insulted their faith and was in many ways a rebellion against their religious and social structures. Rather than miracles coming before faith, Jesus was calling people to faith in God before seeing the signs and wonders. In other words, they liked Jesus initially, but as soon as His message turned into something that they didn’t want to hear, they turned against Him. And yet, God protected Jesus, and He was able to somehow pass through the crowd and leave this situation.
DECISION POINT
In this passage we saw how people heard the message of Jesus, and rather than respond in faith and joy, were filled with wrath and violence. How about you? How will you respond to Jesus’ claim that He came to save? Will you believe Him and act on that belief? Or will you be offended by the claim that you are a sinner who cannot save yourself?
Jesus offers you the favor of the Lord, something that you cannot earn yourself. He is offering to forgive every sin you’ve ever committed, and to give you a clean slate. He is offering you the gift of eternal life with Him, not because of how good you are or could be, but because of His grace and mercy as the King. This is the gospel! Do you believe it?
- What do you think about Jesus’ mission to save, heal, and restore? Where might you need this in your life?
- What assumptions do you think people have about Jesus that might lead them to reject Him today?
- What hesitations or doubts do you have that might keep you from believing Jesus’ words?
In the last passage, we saw how Jesus proclaimed that He is a King on a mission to save, heal, and restore. In the next part of Luke 4, we will see Jesus doing that very thing as He casts out demons, cleanses a leper, and even makes a lame man walk! As Jesus encounters people who have some serious problems, we will see how He solves them in ways that no one else can, even forgiving sins, which Jesus says is the biggest problem of all. Through these passages Jesus will demonstrate the reality that He is the King!
MAIN POINTS
- Jesus' Word has authority to heal and to save.
- Jesus teaches that the biggest problem people have is their sin.
READ THE PASSAGES
Luke 4:31-37
Luke 5:12-26
STUDY THE PASSAGES
Our story unfolds as Jesus has just left His hometown that rejected Him and went to the city of Capernaum where He continued teaching. Luke tells us these people were “astonished at His teaching for His word possessed authority” (Luke 4:32). In our reading today, we’ll see three different people healed by the authority of Jesus’ word, starting with a man possessed by a demon.
Read Luke 4:31-37
Being demon-possessed isn’t something that we think about as much in the United States as people do in other parts of the world. Not to be confused with other medical or mental conditions, demons are real and destroy the lives of countless people today. Jesus said in John 10:10 that the devil is out to “steal, kill and destroy.” That’s just what the devil and his demons do - just like Jesus experienced in the wilderness, they will tempt people to do things that will be harmful to them and will lead them away from worshiping and loving God.
Amazingly, when Jesus encountered this demon-possessed man, the demon immediately recognized Jesus. He knew who Jesus was and loudly cried out, “Have you come to destroy us?” Jesus rebuked the demon and effortlessly cast it out, much to the amazement of the crowd. This was such a significant and undeniable showing of power that “reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.”
Read Luke 5:12-15
Jumping ahead to the next chapter, we see that Jesus encountered a man with leprosy. Leprosy was a skin condition that doomed a person to a life of misery. The disease was painful as the infections caused wounds all over the body and even eyes. These infections could make limbs fall off or require amputation. Because it was contagious, lepers were considered unclean and lived as outcasts isolated from the community. Just like the man afflicted by a demon, this man was in a hopeless situation, but his problem too was effortlessly solved by Jesus. All Jesus had to do was speak the words, “be clean,” and “immediately the leprosy left him.”
Read Luke 5:17-20
Next, Jesus encountered a paralyzed man. Jesus eventually heals this man with a simple command, “Pick up your bed and go home.” However, healing this man wasn’t Jesus’ first response. When the paralyzed man’s friends took desperate and dramatic action to get him in front of Jesus, Jesus responded by saying that his sins are forgiven. It isn’t that Jesus lacked sympathy for the man’s condition. It’s that He cared for the man’s greatest problem – his sin! To define it simply, to sin is to reject God’s good purpose and design for our lives, instead choosing to do what we think is good in our own eyes.
Read Luke 5:21-26
It is at this point that the religious leaders observing all of this speak up - Jesus’ statement was too much for them. They cried out, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God?” Their anger is similar to the crowd in Nazareth that we read about in the previous chapter. Jesus was claiming to do something that only God could do, but the fact that they didn’t understand is that Jesus Himself is able to forgive sins because He is God. To prove that He has the authority to do the impossible thing of forgiving sins, Jesus did the impossible thing of healing a paralytic. In verse 26, Luke tells us that “Amazement seized them all and they glorified God and were filled with awe.”
DECISION POINT
Each person who Jesus encountered, whether it was demon possession, leprosy, or being paralyzed, Jesus is able to solve the problem that no one else could solve. At the end of it all, Jesus reveals that the primary problem that He came to solve was that of sin. Jesus fixed the lesser problems to prove that He has the desire and power to heal us of our main problem - our sin. The Bible teaches us that our sins have separated us from God, and, like the demon possessed man, leave us in the power of the devil who wants to steal, kill, and destroy all that is good. Our sin causes us to be isolated from the God who created us, and can oftentimes leave us to feel stuck, unable to do anything ourselves to resolve our problems.
Jesus has come to save us from this reality! He came to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, then rose again from the dead proving once and for all that He truly is the King who has come to save, heal, and restore! That’s why He alone can forgive us from our sin. He does this so that those who place their faith in Him can spend eternity with Him in heaven, where there will be no more sickness or pain, where He will wipe every tear from their eyes. This all starts with placing faith in Jesus as King, receiving his forgiveness and healing, and through that being made right with God. Jesus wants to heal you - will you call out to Him in faith and ask Him to save you from the problem of your sin that you can’t solve yourself?
- If Jesus’ primary concern is with teaching people that their sins need to be forgiven, why would He also spend so much time healing people of other problems? Why not just forgive them of their sins and move on?
- As you think about your life, what are the problems that you want to see Jesus fix? What sins are in your life that make you feel stuck and hopeless?
In the last passage, we saw Jesus cast out demons, heal the sick, and raise a man who couldn’t walk. We also saw that He has the power to forgive sins. Today, we’ll see how Jesus cuts away at our excuses and teaches why we really do bad things. We’ll also learn from Him how we can build our lives on a strong foundation.
MAIN POINTS
- The state of our heart is revealed by the fruit in our lives.
- Jesus is the only sure foundation for our lives.
READ THE PASSAGES
Luke 6:43-49
STUDY THE PASSAGES
Read Luke 6:43-45
Jesus begins this section teaching about the hearts of mankind. He says, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by the fruit.” This is just common sense. Apple trees produce apples, and orange trees produce oranges because trees produce fruit according to their kind. We also wouldn’t expect a tree that is rotting and dying to produce a clean, crisp apple. And if a tree consistently produces rotten fruit, something is wrong not just with the fruit but with the tree.
Jesus uses this illustration to describe the heart. A good heart produces good works and a bad heart produces bad works. In other words, the things you do show the kind of person you are. So much for our excuses when we do bad things, right? Based on this, how would you rate the quality of your heart? In another place where Jesus teaches about a similar thing, he says, “For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.” Mark 7:21-23 .
Jesus says anything on that list that we can relate to should show us what our heart is really like. Preachers have often put it like this, “The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart.” We all start out in life with a heart like this. The Bible says, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” Romans 3:10-12. This points us back to the reality that we cannot fix the problem of our sin ourselves; our hearts are corrupted and produce bad fruit - only Jesus can change our hearts, causing us to produce good, God-honoring fruit!
Read Luke 6:46-49
Jesus then has a hard word for people who claim to be His followers. He says, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” Jesus does not want fake Christians. It’s easy to say nice things about Jesus. It’s easy to call Him, “Lord.” Talk is cheap. How we live shows what our hearts are really like.
However, Jesus doesn’t just point out people’s problems and sins. He shows a better way. He calls his listeners to be people who do three key things - come, hear, do. He puts it like this, “Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them…is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock” (Luke 6:47-48). This way of life isn’t easy. The man had to dig deep, but it paid off big time. The man also had to choose wisely where to build. Jesus said he built not on “a rock” but on “the rock.” Jesus is the rock, and the only sure foundation for your life.
Here’s why we need to build our lives upon Jesus Christ. Storms are coming. Life is hard and trials are coming. How often do we see people who seem to have it all together in life go through challenges and they simply fall apart? Movie stars living the dream life end up in 3rd, 4th and 5th marriages and look lonely and miserable. Athletes who are at the peak of their careers feeling empty and hopeless. Even for your life, how many times do you feel like things are going well, only to feel like everything falls apart around you.
Whether our lives will be easier or harder than others around us, we all have one thing in common. One day we will all die. Jesus loves us enough to give us this warning: “The one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:49).
DECISION POINT
The good news is that Jesus knows that our hearts need help, so he offers to give us a new one. Jesus says that we must be “born again” John 3:3, offering to take the old heart and give us a new one that is not corrupted by our sins. Jesus offers to fill us with the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside - the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit will cause us to produce “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” Galatians 5:22-23.
Jesus is calling all of us to come to Him, hear His words, and do what He says. What will you do?
- What do you think of the teaching that our hearts apart from God’s work are wicked and produce bad fruit?
- When you do things that you know are wrong, what reasons do you tend to give to justify or excuse those decisions?
- What is the foundation you are building your life on? What are your priorities and values in life? What do you think might happen to those priorities and values when the storms of life hit you?
In the last passage, we read Jesus’ teaching that we all sin because of our sinful hearts, but that He can and will restore the hearts of those who follow Him. Now, we will read about His mission as the King, and wrestle with the most important question in all of human history as Jesus asks, “Who do you say I am?”
MAIN POINTS
- Jesus welcomes and has compassion for those who want to hear His message.
- Jesus’ mission was to die on the cross for our sins and rise from the dead to defeat death.
- Jesus is calling you to consider who you say Jesus really is.
READ THE PASSAGE
STUDY THE PASSAGE
Read Luke 9:10-17
It’s impossible to overstate how popular Jesus was. Our story starts with Jesus trying to get away from the crowds, but the crowds learned where He was going and followed Him! But Jesus didn’t chase them away,instead showing compassion for them. Luke tells us that “Jesus welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing” (Luke 9:11). People spent all day listening to Him teach. As the day went on, people grew hungry and had no food. And the disciples only have five loaves and two fish. Jesus did an amazing miracle and multiplied that food into enough to feed over five thousand people.
If Jesus was popular before this, imagine how much His popularity would have sky-rocketed even more after this! In John chapter 6, where this same story is recorded by John, he writes that when the people saw this, they wanted to make Him king right then and there. This is an incredible miracle displaying once again Jesus’ power and qualification to be King. But for Jesus, He wanted to go one step further; He wanted to help people understand that His mission is about more than just meeting physical needs like hunger.
Read Luke 9:18-22
After this miracle, Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” People knew Jesus taught good things. Many people even knew Jesus did mighty miracles. Many thought Jesus was a prophet. Even today, most people will say Jesus was a good teacher who did good things. But Jesus probed deeper and asked His disciples directly, “Who do you say that I am?” This is the most important question in all human history. Who do you say that Jesus is? Is He just a good teacher? Or is He more?
Jesus doesn’t just point out people’s problems and sins. He shows a better way. He calls his listeners to be people who do three key things - come, hear, do.
Peter answered that Jesus is “The Christ of God.” A common misconception is that Christ is Jesus’ last name, but the truth is that it is a translation of the title Messiah, or savior. The Old Testament prophets promised that God would send the Messiah, or the Christ, to save His people. Peter is rightly declaring that Jesus is that promised King who would save the world. Surprisingly, when Peter answered correctly, Jesus told the disciples not to tell anyone. This was probably because they did not yet fully understand what it meant that Jesus is the Christ.
It is at this point that Jesus explains his mission more clearly - He says that He must “suffer many things and be rejected…and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” This was not what the disciples were expecting or wanted in their Messiah. In their minds, and in the minds of others in that time period, they expected that the Messiah would come to overthrow the Romans who were oppressing Israel. They thought that he would heal the sick, feed the poor, and unite the people - they never would have thought that His mission involved Him dying.
But Jesus was serious about His mission. He tells them again in Luke 18:31-33 , “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” Jesus’ death was a part of His plan and mission all along.
And what is so important is that you know this: Jesus did all of this because of His great love for everyone, including you! Jesus loves you enough that He was willing to be mocked, beaten, spit upon, and killed. This is the price He paid to take the penalty our sins deserve. And He proved that He was who He said He was by coming back to life on the third day just like He promised. This is the core of the entire Christian faith!
DECISION POINT
So what about you? Jesus is asking you the question He asked His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” When you think about your answer to this question, the reality is that there are only really 3 options; either He is a liar, who is intentionally attempting to mislead people, He is a lunatic who thinks He is God, or He truly is God who became man, who died for the sins of the world and rose from the grave on the third day.
CS Lewis said this about Jesus, “You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.” This quote highlights that Jesus cannot just be a good person who was a good teacher - if He is not God, then He is irrelevant to our lives, and if He is God, then nothing else matters!
Jesus is offering to be your Savior and Lord. He is offering to forgive you of every sin you’ve ever committed because He died for you. To receive His gift of salvation, we must confess our sins, believe in Him and turn our lives over to Him. You can do that today by saying, “Lord Jesus, I’m sorry for my sin. I believe in you. Please forgive me and be my Savior and Lord.”
Will you follow Him today? To learn more, go to this page and decide now.
- What are your thoughts about the claim that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or King? Who do you think that Jesus is?
- What parts of Jesus’ teaching are difficult for you to believe and accept? What do you think Jesus would want you to do with these concerns?
- What, if anything, might keep you from embracing Jesus as King?
In the passage right before this one, we saw that Jesus came into this world with one singular mission - to die on the cross for the sins of the world and to rise again on the third day, proving once and for all that He truly is the King! In the passage we will study here, we will hear Him teach that if we want to be His followers, we must go all in for Him.
MAIN POINTS
- Jesus says we must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him.
- The cost of following Jesus is great, but the rewards are worth it!
READ THE PASSAGE
Luke 9:23-27
STUDY THE PASSAGE
People had been following Jesus as He healed the sick and fed the hungry. It’s easy to follow Jesus when He’s giving us what we want. Now Jesus is going to tell people what He wants from them.
Read Luke 9:23-25Our story begins with Jesus openly saying to everyone that if they want to follow Him they have to deny themselves and to carry their cross. He was very upfront about the price that “anyone” who wants to be connected to Him must pay to be a part of His Kingdom. Jesus says that following Him requires a complete and total surrender of one’s life to Him. Although intense, this is nothing unusual. The most important decisions in our lives always require a commitment of some kind. Nothing worth our time comes without some sort of sacrifice.
For example, if you want to succeed in academics, then you would have to focus on your studying, even if it keeps you from doing other things you enjoy. Or if you want to succeed in sports, then you have to prioritize things like working out and practicing, which might take away from other things you might spend your time doing. What Jesus is saying is that if you want to be a part of His Kingdom, it requires us to prioritize Him over anything else.
Let’s look at Jesus’ teaching more closely by looking at the three verbs He uses: deny, take up, and follow.
DenyJesus says we must deny ourselves. Our problem is, we have all denied God and rejected Him as our rightful King. We have said “No” to Him and acted like we were king instead. If we want to follow Christ, we must put Him back on the throne of our lives. One preacher put it like this, “Instead of gratifying ourselves or indulging ourselves in all the ways our sinful nature desires, we are called to deny ourselves, rejecting anything and everything that will get in the way of offering ourselves for God’s service.”[1]
Jesus says we must take up our cross. For the people listening, this would have sounded crazy - the cross was a tool that the Romans used to execute people! As one author put it, “When a man from one of their villages took up a cross and went off with a…band of Roman soldiers, he was on a one-way journey. He’d not be back.”[2] Rather than living for ourselves as though God were dead, Jesus calls us to die to ourselves and live for God.
Follow
Jesus was on His way to die in Jerusalem. So when He says, “Follow me,” He means that we should follow Him, even if it means we might face rejection and ridicule from friends and family. Jesus is saying that we must go where He goes and do what He does, even if it leads us to suffer for Him just like He suffered and died for us.
Many people hear this and say, “No thank you! I’d rather keep my life!” They think following Jesus will get in the way of their fun, their relationships, goals, and dreams. It would require letting go of sins they want to keep. It might cost them their popularity with friends or peace with their parents. So they try to “save their life” by living their way and rejecting Jesus.
Jesus challenges this thinking with a haunting question. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” Everything in our lives will one day come to an end. Wouldn’t it be better to “lose” the things that keep us from Jesus so we can be truly saved? If this is hard to accept, remember this: Life is short. Eternity is long. Jim Elliot, a famous missionary, said it like this, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Read Luke 9:26-27Jesus also warns that if people are ashamed to be His followers, then He will be ashamed to receive them as His followers in Heaven. It’s easy to get swayed by the opinions of our friends, but a day is coming when the only thing that will matter is what Jesus thinks of us. When we see Him standing in His glory with His mighty angels, His is the only opinion that will matter.
However, Jesus doesn’t leave it there - the rewards He promises far outweigh the cost of following Him. Jesus told His followers that they would see “the Kingdom of God.” In Luke 18:29-30, Jesus promised, “There is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” Jesus says that whether you lose friends and family, financial stability, pleasures, or status, in following Him you will actually gain so much more than you had in the first place. He says that in following Him, everything you lose you will receive back in abundance, both in this life and in eternity.
DECISION POINT
When we read these verses, we see that Jesus only gives two options:
- What stands out to you about what Jesus says in this passage? Between denying yourself, picking up your cross, and following after Jesus, which part of that seems the most difficult to you?
- What is something that you think you would have to give up if Jesus was the King of your life? What is keeping you from following Him wholeheartedly?
- Based on what you have read here and throughout this series so far, what do you think about the life that Jesus offers and promises? What is appealing to you about following Him?
Which kind of life will you live? Will you continue to try to rule your own life, or will you let Jesus be the King?
- What stands out to you about what Jesus says in this passage? Between denying yourself, picking up your cross, and following after Jesus, which part of that seems the most difficult to you?
- What is something that you think you would have to give up if Jesus was the King of your life? What is keeping you from following Him wholeheartedly?
- Based on what you have read here and throughout this series so far, what do you think about the life that Jesus offers and promises? What is appealing to you about following Him?
Over the last couple of passages, we have seen Jesus promise that He would go to Jerusalem to die on the cross. Here in Luke 23 we will see Jesus keep that promise. We pick up the story after Jesus was betrayed by one of His followers, taken before the Roman rulers and falsely accused of wrongdoing. Pilate, the Roman governor, said he found no fault in Jesus but gave in to the demands of the mob and ordered for Jesus to be crucified.
MAIN POINTS
- Jesus died for our sins.
- If we ask Him, He will forgive us of our sins.
- If we don’t, we will face His judgment.
READ THE PASSAGE
Luke 23:26-49STUDY THE PASSAGE
Read Luke 23:26-38
As Jesus is led away to be crucified outside of the city walls, there are a few surprising things that we see.
First, they made a stranger carry Jesus’s cross. Normally, Romans made condemned men carry their own crosses as they walked to be executed. But in some cases, if the condemned was unable, they would make someone else carry it for them. In other gospels, we read about how Jesus was beaten, whipped nearly to death, and had a crown of thorns pierced into His head. He endured much pain and suffering before even getting to the cross.
We also see Jesus tell women who are weeping for Him that they should weep for themselves instead. On the way to His own crucifixion, Jesus says He is not the one to pity. Why? Jesus loved these women enough to warn them of God’s coming judgment. If the rulers and authorities did these things while Jesus was with them, what would they do when Jesus is gone? Rome did destroy Jerusalem 40 years after they killed Jesus. But Jesus is also warning them, and us, about God’s coming judgment. If God allowed His innocent Son to be crucified so people could be saved, how severe will His judgment be for guilty sinners who reject the salvation Jesus died to bring?
Finally, we see Jesus pray for those who are crucifying Him. Even as He hung on the cross, Jesus asked God to forgive them. This shows us how loving and compassionate Jesus is - even while they are putting Him to death and mocking Him, He is still praying for them. This doesn’t mean everyone there was saved, but it means Jesus asked God to be merciful to them. And it reminds us that Jesus is ready to forgive you and me no matter what we have done if we ask.
Read Luke 23:39-43
This brings us to the central conflict in our story: the two different responses from the criminals being crucified next to Jesus. The first criminal mocked Him. He followed the mob and soldiers in making fun of Jesus saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” There was a sign hanging above Jesus on the cross saying, “This is the King of the Jews.” The first criminal taunted Jesus by asking Him what kind of king He was if He was stuck up on the cross?”
The second criminal, on the other hand, humbly called Jesus by name and said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He believed that Jesus was innocent and that He is the King. He prayed one of the simplest, yet most sincere prayers, ever prayed. And in that moment, everything changed. This criminal had already been judged by the Romans and was just moments from death. He would soon stand before God the ultimate Judge and would have been condemned to Hell. But in that moment, Jesus gave him the greatest promise: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
What we need to understand is that, just like these criminals, we too are guilty and deserve judgment. God is Holy and just, and we have all broken His law, and so we must face the consequences. Romans 3:23 tells us that “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23 adds that “the wages of sin are death.” Because we all have sinned, and all sin must be punished, we all deserve to face God’s righteous judgment.
Jesus on the other hand never sinned, and therefore does not deserve the death that we deserve. However, out of love for us, Jesus willingly died on the cross to take the punishment that we deserve in our place. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us, “For our sake [God] made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus died on the cross so that your sins would be paid for and removed from you, and so that you would no longer have to face God’s judgment.
This is the kind of King that Jesus is - a King who loves you enough to lay down His life on the cross. Jesus died in your place, taking the penalty that you deserve, so that you can have life now and forever more! Some people will respond like the first criminal, not believing Jesus’ words and instead mocking Him and rejecting Him, while others will recognize the truth of who Jesus is, and will place their faith in Him. How will you respond?
Read Luke 23:44-49
Our story concludes as Jesus breathes His final breath. The curtain of the temple was torn in two, showing that Jesus opened a way for all of us to have access to God. As people watch this happen, we see a few final responses. One of the Roman soldiers said, “Surely this man was innocent.” Others went home “in deep sorrow”, perhaps feeling guilty for their sins. Others “stood at a distance.”
DECISION POINT
How about you? Will you stand at a distance? Will you mock Jesus like the one criminal? Or will you, like the other, ask Jesus to save you? There’s no good you can do to save yourself, but Jesus is offering you salvation today as a free gift. He promises that all who confess their sin and believe in Him, like the criminal on the cross, will be with Him forever in paradise. You can receive this gift right now in prayer. Prayer is just talking to God - it's as simple as saying, “Jesus, thank you for dying for me. Please forgive me for my sin. I’m turning my whole life over to you.”
Will you pray this now? Will you let Jesus save you from your sin and bring you into His Kingdom?
- Based on what you just read, do you think Jesus’ death was necessary? Why or why not?
- How does it make you feel to read that Jesus died to cover the penalty for your sins?
- What might be keeping you from following Jesus and allowing Him to save you from your sin?
In the last passage, we looked at Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins. If the story had stopped there, it would have been a moving story, but His death would have been pointless. He’d be dead in His grave like everyone else who ever lived. In our story today, we’ll see that Jesus is alive and that changes everything.
MAIN POINTS
- Jesus rose from the dead so we can have forgiveness in His name.
- Jesus invites us to a life of peace, joy, purpose, and His blessing.
- Jesus sends His followers on His mission and empowers them by His Spirit.
READ THE PASSAGE
Luke 24:36-53
STUDY THE PASSAGE
Read Luke 24:36-53
Jesus didn’t stop with giving His disciples peace and confident joy. He also gave them a new purpose. “You are witnesses of these things,” He said. Jesus said that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed to all nations.” The disciples embraced that purpose and became Jesus’ witnesses around the world. They all suffered greatly for it. They were put in prison and most of them were killed because they would not stop preaching that Jesus died and then rose from the dead. Their witness can help us have confident joy.
If they were lying or making it up, it is unlikely that many would have been killed - no one is willing to die for something they know is not true. Their commitment to the truth, to the point of persecution or even death, shows us that there is truth to what they preached - Jesus really did die to pay the penalty for sin, and He really did rise from the dead three days later!
Jesus did not send them on this mission alone. He gave them the promised Holy Spirit to be with them, to give them power to do the things He wants them to do. Jesus wants to empower you and me for His mission too. God doesn’t send His people to do things without giving them what they need to do those things. In order to proclaim the gospel with boldness and courage, Jesus needed to give His followers the Holy Spirit.
The final thing we see Jesus do is ascend into Heaven. That means Jesus is still alive today, ruling in Heaven as the King who has conquered sin and death so that His people could experience eternal life. It means He has made a way for us to someday live with Him there and see Him face to face. The Bible also teaches that Jesus will come again and judge the living and the dead, so we should get right with Him now. As Jesus was going into heaven, He lifted up His hands and “blessed them.” The one who could have been their judge gives them His blessing instead!
DECISION POINT
Do you want to live your life with the blessing of God? Do you want to have peace with God? Jesus is offering you that today. He went through death and came back in order to offer you forgiveness, so that you can have peace and life with Him forever. He knows all the things you have done, and no matter how much good or bad you have done, His offer still stands. No one is too far from God’s grace found in Jesus Christ. He is offering you the same confident joy that we have read about today.
To have Jesus’ blessing, you must have Him as your King. Jesus is inviting you to confess your sin and to turn from it, believe in Him and become a citizen of His Kingdom. Will you accept His gift for you? Won’t you follow the King, take up His cross, and join Him in His mission?
You can do that right now through prayer saying, “Lord Jesus, I believe in you. Thank you for dying for my sin and coming back to life. Please forgive me of my sin and be the King of my life.”
- Christians believe that Jesus really did rise from the dead - what questions or doubts do you have about that claim?
- If Jesus really did die and rise from the dead, what implications does that have for you?
- Why do you think Jesus sent out His followers to spread the message of what He did to others?