Bible Study: A Survey Through the Gospel of Luke, Part 2

This is the second and final post on the questions for a survey through the Gospel of Luke Using the Ascension Press study which my Lay Dominican Fraternity coordinated during Lent.  Sessions one through four were in Post #1, which you can find here.  Post #2 contains the questions and my answers to sessions five through eight. 

 

 

Session 5: Luke Chapters 10 – 12

 

1.      Jesus often prays to God the father, and in this chapter 10 of Luke we see Jesus thanking God the Father.  In what ways can we adopt a posture of gratitude when conversing with our heavenly Father?  Why is giving thanks an essential attitude for prayer?

My answer: Thank the Father repeatedly during the day for all the little blessings as they happen.  Gratitude is a form of praise.  It’s an acknowledgement of our dependence on Him.

 

2.      During the Divided Kingdom in the reign of King Ahaz of Judah, Israel took captive two hundred thousand men from Judah (2 Chr 28:8-15).  What connections can you find between this passage and Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:29-37)?

My answer: the Samaritans in the Old Testament (from the Northern Kingdom) were merciful to the captives from Judah in the same way the Good Samaritan in the New Testament parable was kind to the injured man from Judah.

 

3.      What are the differences in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 and the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11:2-4?

My answer: In Luke there is no “our,” no “who art in heaven,” no “hallowed be thy name,” no “thy kingdom come,” no “thy will be done,” no “on earth as it is in heaven,” and no “deliver us from evil.  They are similar in that both address the Father, both petition for daily bread, both ask for forgiveness as we forgive others, and both ask not to be led into temptation.

 

4.         Jesus is often harsher when dealing with the Pharisees and scholars of the law than he is with the ordinary sinners who come to him as in chapter 11.  What might account for this?

My answer: The Pharisees and scholars refuse to believe in He being the Messiah.  Both are conspiring to kill Him.  Both are part of the established power structure.  Both are hypocrites.  Both should know better.  Both are missing the interior disposition of charity, emphasizing the stickling of the law instead of the spirit of the law.

 

5.         Consider Jesus’ words: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Lk 12:34).  Where is your heart?  What do you treasure above all else?  What are some ways you can turn away from the “treasures” of the world and align your heart with the treasure of God’s kingdom?

My answer: I consider my treasure my God and my family.  Turning to prayer and reading scripture will help align your heart with God’s kingdom.  Cultivate communion with God.

 

6.         What makes Jesus a source of “division’ (Lk 12:49-53)?  What does this tell us about the cost of discipleship?

My answer: Jesus is a source of division because He is there to overturn those in power, overturn the secular values, and refocus humanity to the Truth.  Faith in Jesus requires a separation from the world and its values.  One has to die to oneself.

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Session 6: Luke Chapters 13 – 17

 

1.      In an earlier chapter of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus teaches a parable about trees and fruit: “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its fruit.” (Lk 6:43-44).  In the parable of the barren fig tree, Jesus tells the fate of a tree that bears no fruit (Lk 13:6-9).  How are these teachings related?

My answer: While the fig tree has not born bad fruit, it has not born good fruit either.  It has born no fruit.  The fig tree is given another chance with the hope that through nurturing it can bear good fruit in the future..

 

2.      What does the parable of the leaven (Lk 13:20-21) tell us about the Kingdom of God? 

My answer: It tells us that on one level the kingdom of God is intended to be here on earth, and that the faithful through good works will be like leaven and make the kingdom rise.

 

3.      Read Mt 5:13; then read Lk 14:34-35.  Why does Jesus bring up the importance of salt retaining its taste?  How is this a metaphor for the Christian life?

My answer: Salt gives flavor to food, and we Christians are to be salt improving the flavor of society.  The Christian life will improve society as salt improves the flavor of food.

 

4.      What does the parable of the lost sheep (Lk 15:1-7) tell us about God?

My answer: A human shepherd would not abandon the 99 sheep to go find the one lost.  That is not realistic.  God, on the other hand, will never give up on any one soul, and will search Him out to the end.

 

5.      In the parable of the dishonest steward (Lk 16:1-13), the master commends the dishonest steward for how he acted.  What point is Jesus trying to make here?

My answer: This is probably my least favorite parable.  It’s confusing.  It appears that the steward is just trying to sell the master’s items at a reduced rate for his own gain.  What I didn’t know is that he is selling off the master’s items eliminating his personal cut.  So he is not actually robbing the master.  The master commends him for his prudence to sell at a reduced cost.

 

6.      After the death of King Solomon, ten tribes of Israel rebelled and broke away, diving the kingdom into two: the Northern Kingdom in Samaria (known as Israel) and the Southern Kingdom near Jerusalem (known as Judah).  The Samaritans of Jesus’ day were the remnant of the breakaway group and dwelled separately from the Jews.  With this context in mind, what is so significant about Lk 17:11-19?  Specifically, why ten, and why does Luke emphasize the Samaritan who returned?

My answer: The ten echoes the lost tribes of Israel, and in that sense all Jews.  The one who returns is the Samaritan, the one who were supposedly enemies, that is the foreigner.  It is the foreigner who is grateful, but the other nine selfishly run off.

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Session 7: Luke Chapters 18 – 21

 

1.      In what ways does the parable of the widow and the unrighteous judge (Lk 18:1-8) reflect our relationship with God?  What are the crucial differences between the judge and God?

My answer: We need to be persistent in our prayers as the widow is persistent in her appeals to the judge.  Faith requires persistence.  The judge is slothful, unrighteous, and arbitrary; God is righteous, and acts with justice.

 

2.      What can we learn from Zacchaeus, a tax collector who clearly cheated people, and his conversion upon encountering Jesus (Lk 19:1-10)?

My answer: We learn that no man is beyond conversion if such a dishonest tax collector can come to repentance.  We learn that Jesus does not give up on the worst sinners.

 

3.      As King David neared the end of his life, he took certain steps to confirm the path of succession for his son Solomon.  Compare 1 Kings 1:32-40 with Lk 19:33-40.  What similarities do you notice between these two scenes?  How is this moment yet another confirmation of Jesus’ identity?

My answer: Both Solomon and Jesus triumphantly enter Jerusalem on a donkey/mule to a jubilant crowd praising their kingship.  This reveals Jesus as a king and a Messiah.

 

4.      How does the parable of the wicked tenants (Lk 20:9-19) relate to Jesus’ conflicts with the religious leaders of Israel?

My answer: The wicked tenants stand for the Jewish leaders and the beloved son stands for Jesus.  The ruler who stands for God will take away the inheritance from the Jews.

 

5.      In Lk 20:27-40, how are the Sadducees, who don’t believe in the resurrection, trying to trap Jesus?  How does Jesus effectively dismantle their trap?

My answer: The Sadducees are trying to trap Jesus citing a potential situation in heaven which would be considered polygamy.  Jesus dismantles it by stipulating that there is no marriage in heaven.

 

6.      How can we apply Jesus’ point about the widow’s offering (Lk 21:1-4) to our own lives?

My answer: The widow gave to God all that she had.  That is what we are called to do at least spiritually.

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Session 8: Luke Chapters 22 – 24

 

1.      Exodus 24 recounts how God established a covenant with Israel through moses while they were at Mount Sinai.  The covenant was sealed with a sacrifice.  Compare Ex 24:5-11 with Lk 22 19-20.  What similarities do you notice between the two passages?

My answer: The covenant is sealed with a sacrifice, the bulls in Exodus, Jesus in Luke.  Both sacrifices are performed in a liturgical setting and both hold up the elements of the sacrificed body and blood.  Both sacrifices are in the presence of God.

 

2.      Daniel lived during the Babylonian Exile, serving in the court of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar.  Daniel received many prophetic and apocalyptic visions.  Compare Dn 7:13-14 with the scene of Jesus before the chief priests and scribes in Lk 22:66-70.  How do they interpret Jesus’ comments to the council?  How do they parallel Daniel 7?

My answer: Jesus alludes to Himself as the Son of Man from Daniel 7.  He refers to Himself as “the Son of Man,” which would be the Messiah. 

 

3.      Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, was the tetrarch who ruled over the region of Galilee at the time of Jesus.  Herod’s family was not ethnically Jewish; he descended from the Idumean converts to Judaism during the time of the Maccabean revolt.  With this context in mind, what is the irony behind Jesus’ confrontation with Herod (Lk 23:6-9)?

My answer: the irony is that Herod is not in the Davidic lineage and therefore not a true king of Judah.  Jesus on the other hand is in the Davidic line.

 

4.      There are three “last sayings” of Jesus on the cross in Luke’s Gospel (Lk 23:34, 43, 46).  These three last sayings are not found in the other Gospels.  What do these words spoken by Jesus from the Cross tell us about him?

My answer: They speak of mercy ((“Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”), of hope ((Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise”), and of trust (“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”).

 

5.      How does the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Lk 24:13-35) mirror what happens during the catholic Mass?

My answer: On the walk from Jerusalem, the hidden Jesus explains how the scriptures fulfill the events at Calvary, reflecting the Liturgy of the Word at Mass.  At the table, Jesus’ breaking of the bread reflects the Liturgy of the Eucharist at Mass.

 

6.      Why might Jesus’ ascension (Lk 24:50-51) be considered both a joyous and a sorrowful event?

It is sorrowful because the person of Jesus has physically left us; it is joyous because He has left us the Holy Spirit to fill us and remains with us in the Eucharist.

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A final note.  I hope you got something out of this.  While the session videos were interesting and educational, I think what was most instructive were reading the Gospel itself, answering these questions, and then reviewing them as a group.  You can certainly do the first two on your own. 

If you want to join us in our next Bible Study in Advent, send me your email address.  We haven’t decided what study to do next yet, but I will announce it when we do.

Bible Study: A Survey Through the Gospel of Luke, Part 1

As some may know or should remember I am a Lay Dominican.  I’m about six months away from my final promise.  Each chapter in the Lay Dominican fraternities has an apostolate, that is a spiritual work, they do together as a ministry.  Our fraternity’s apostolate is to provide Christian studies to lay people.  We put on Catholic studies twice a year through Zoom, once during Advent and once during Lent.  This past Lent we put on a Bible study on the Gospel of Luke.  We used Ascension Press’s study on the Gospel of Luke which you can preview here. 

 

The Ascension Press Bible Studies come with a session video and a workbook.  The workbook has preliminary readings to go with go with the readings in the Gospel itself, and it has a series of questions for each participant to answer.  How we ran the study was that we started with a summary of the preliminary workbook readings and then openly discussed our answers to the workbook questions.  Then we put on the session video, which was about a half hour long, and closed with a group discussion of the video.  Each session took about an hour and a half, and we put on a session once a week for the eight sessions of this course.  We’ve done a few of these now, and I thought this study was the best we have done to date.  And this was free for the participants.  If they wished, they could have bought the workbook, but just listening in was adequate to learn.  We bought the video and shared it on Zoom. 

What I am posting here are the workbook questions and my answers.  I don’t claim my answers are comprehensive.  They are just a sentence or two, but I think by reading the Gospel of Luke and answering the questions yourself, you will come away with a good understanding of that Gospel.  There are 42 questions, six questions for each of the seven sessions of two through eight.  There were no questions for the first, introductory session.

This topic will be divided into two posts. 

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Session 2: Luke Chapters 1 – 3

 

1.      Luke 1 presents a parallel contrast between Zecharia and Mary.  The angel Gabriel appears to both, with a similar message for each of them.  How does Zecharia’s reaction to Gabriel’s news compare to Mary’s?  What is the essential difference between their responses?  What are the results of their individual responses?

My answer: Zecharia questions God’s ability to do the impossible while Mary questions the method.  Mary believes in God’s ability but wonders how it can come about.  Zecharia is punished with a temporary inability to speak while Mary is heralded. 

 

2.      The first chapter of 1 Samuel begins with a barren woman, Hannah, praying for a son.  The Lord hears her prayer, and Hannah bears Samuel, who will become a great prophet and the last judge of Israel.  Read Hannah’s prayer in 1 Sam 2:1-10, and then compare with Mary’s in Lk 1:46-55.  In what ways are these prayers similar?

My answer: Both are exultations of their lowly state in the Lord.  Both overturn the mighty in power to make the lowly high in state.  The proud are brought down while the humble are raised.

 

3.      Lk 2:6-12 depicts Jesus being born in utter poverty.  When God chose to come among us, in his providence he chose to be destitute.  Why do you think God’s Son chose to be born in such poverty?

My answer: He chose to be born poor as the low in order to redeem all.  He chose to go against earthly power and earthly values.  Blessed are the poor.

4.      Lk 2:41-52 describes how Mary and Joseph lost Jesus for three days after they came to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover.  What are some ways in which we can lose Jesus for a time?  How can we increase our joy at finding him again?

My answer: We can lose faith, we can turn to sin, we can slide into acedia (sloth).  Through the Holy Spirit, we receive joy in reconciliation and return to faith.

 

5.      Jeremiah and Ezekial were prophets before and during the time of the Babylonian Exile.  Compare the introductions of Jerimiah and Ezekial (Jer 1:1-3; Ezk 1:1-3) with that of John the Baptist (Lk 3:1-6).  What are some similarities between these scripture passages? Why do you think Luke introduces John the Baptist in this way?

My answer: All three are situated in a specific time under the reign of a particular ruler.  Luke introduces Joh in this way to allude to the other prophets and so designate John as a prophet.

 

6.      Lk 3:21-22.  Who is present during Jesus’ baptism?  Who (or what?) is specifically mentioned?  What can we learn about the nature of God from this moment in Luke’s Gospel?

My answer: God the father and the Holy Spirit are present while Jesus is getting baptized.  What is specifically mentioned is that Jesus is identified as God’s beloved Son.  From this we can infer the Trinity.

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Session 3: Luke Chapters 4 – 6

 

1.      The prophesy recorded in Isaiah 61 refers to “the year of the LORD’s favor” (“the acceptable year of the Lord in Lk 4:19).  This is the Sabbath year (Year of Jubilee), during which slaves were to be released and the land would rest and be restored.  How does Isaiah 61 relate to the scene in Lk 4:14-30?  What is significant about Jesus’ teaching, and how do his listeners respond?

My answer: Both are alluding to the Jubilee year.  Jesus is particularly pointed to showing God’s favor to non-Jews.  They reject Jesus and show that no prophet is accepted in his country.

 

2.      Why does Jesus so frequently go to desert places as He does in Lk 4:42?  What significance does this hold for our personal prayer lives?

Jesus isolates Himself to pray and be free of constraints.  One needs to set time aside to pray and commune with God, creating an whole integrity and free to pray.

 

3.      In Jesus’ day it was customary to fish at night on the Lake of Gennesaret.  In Lk 5:1-11, we find that Simon Peter and his companions have fished all night without success.  Jesus tells them to try one more time; in obeying him, they catch a multitude of fish.  Why does this lead Simon to exclaim , “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Lk 5:8)

My answer: Because Simon realizes he is in the shadow of holiness and transcendence.  He realizes he is unworthy to be before Jesus.

 

4.      Skeptics sometimes claim that Jesus never said, “I am God.”  Yet not only are there many places where He affirms his divine identity when asked (as in Mk 14:61-62); he also says and does things that make it clear he is claiming to be God. In Lk 5:20-26, how do Jesus’ words and actions here demonstrate his claim to be God?

My answer: He specifically forgives sins and says He is the “Son of Man.”  Only God can forgive sins, so He acknowledges He is God.  The miracle also reveals He is God as a sign that points to His authority.

 

5.      Compare Mt 5:1-12 and Lk 6:20-26.  What are some of the differences between these accounts.

My answer: There are eight beatitudes in Matthew, only four in Luke.  Luke has corresponding woes.  Luke is less spiritual and earthlier.  In Matthew Jesus is speaking to a gathered crowd while in Luke he is speaking to the apostles.

 

6.      Lk 6:27-36.  If we are called to imitate God, what does Jesus’ command here tell us about God?

My answer:  God is love, meekness, self-sacrifice, mercy, generous giving; God is compassionate.

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Session 4: Luke Chapters 7 – 9

 

1.      How does the centurion’s response to Jesus (Lk 7:1-10) underscore his great faith?  How can you apply this lesson to your life?

My answer: As a military leader, the centurion believes that a command given will be obeyed.  If Jesus says “the word” the command will be fulfilled.

 

2.      In Lk 7:18-23, we read that John the Baptist sent two of his followers to Jesus, asking if he really was the one “who is to come” or if they should “look for another” (Lk 7:19).  What are we to make of Jesus’ response? 

My answer: Jesus quotes and performs the same miracles mentioned in Isaiah, that the Messiah was to perform.  John the Baptist would recognize the allusion.

 

3.               a. Women were somewhat ostracized in antiquity.  They were even barred from serving as witnesses in many ancient courtrooms.  With that in mind, what does Lk 8:1-3 tell us about Jesus and His relationship with women?

My answer: Jesus was not a male chauvinist.  He kept women in His company, which was unusual for men and women to mix in His culture.  For Jesus, women had dignity.

3.    b. What conclusions can be drawn from Luke’s account of Jesus’ calming the storm on the sea (Lk 8:22-25)?

My answer: Jesus has power over nature.  Jesus has power over our personal storms.

 

4.      Notice the reaction of many people after Jesus heals the Gerasene demoniac (Lk 8:26-39).  In what ways might we react in a similar way to Jesus?

My answer:  Since pigs were not clean for Jews, it makes sense to send the demons, who are unclean, into the swine.  Unclean swine go with unclean demons.

 

5.      a. See 1 Kings 17:8-24.  What similarities do you notice between Jesus and Elijah?

My answer:  Both perform the miracles of multiplying bread and the curing of a boy.

5.   b. In Lk 9:10-17, we read how Jesus works a miracle by feeding more than five thousand people with a few loaves of bread.  How does this relate to the mystery of the Eucharist?

My answer:  The archetype for both is the manna from heaven and both have supernatural events occur through the substance of bread.

 

6.      In Lk 9:57-62, Jesus meets several would-be followers who are caught between their desire to follow Jesus and earthly matters.  How do their dilemmas relate to concerns you face in your own life, and how is Jesus calling you to surrender these concerns to him?  Also, earlier in Luke, Jesus explains that any who wish to follow him must take up their crosses daily (Lk 9:23).  What crosses can you voluntarily take up as part of your Christian life?

My answer: Jesus is calling me to surrender my attachments.  Let them go!  The daily crosses I must accept are that of being a spouse, a father, and a son.

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Sessions five through eight will be in Post #2 on this topic coming shortly.