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FROM THE PASTOR'S STUDY

Topic: Luke's Perspective of Jesus: Ch. 9 Message Outlines (Include Audio)

Luke 9:10-17 (3)

by Darrel Cline
(darrelcline biblical-thinking.org)

Chapter # 9 Paragraph # 3 Study # 3
September 27, 2009
Lincolnton, NC
(Download Audio)

(562)

Thesis:   "Faith" assumes the availability of divine resources.

Introduction:   Since Luke 9 begins with a serious test of faith (in regard to The Twelve and Jesus' command to them to go and proclaim the Kingdom of God) and ends with people making excuses for why they will not simply do what Jesus tells them to do, it is my assumption that the point of the chapter is that those who are going to be involved in legitimate ministry are going to have to pass certain "tests" before they can fulfill Jesus' expectations of them.

The record before us is an example of such a "test". As we saw last week, the disciples did not handle the test well in the beginning. Instead of relying upon Jesus' wisdom and power, they took it upon themselves to try to tell Him how to handle the issues at hand. This is the reason for the necessity of such "tests". As long as human beings think they know more about how to live than does the God of Life, they will never "live". Life, at its most basic identity, is participating with God in His character and agenda, and this participation has a very exclusive root: faith.

This means that we must understand what it means to "believe". Our need for understanding is at least partially met by the record of Jesus' feeding of the 5,000, so we will do well to consider the facts as Luke presents them to us.


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This is article #563.
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