Jesus is asked by the disciples to teach them to pray. So the Lord's prayer. Father - your name is set apart and holy I recognize that I am reliant on you for even the bread I eat today. Forgive me for my sins and help me to forgive those who have wronged me.. You have much more reason to hold a grudge than I do, but I know you have forgiven me, so help me to forgive others. This is a briefer version of the prayer in Luke. Jesus tells a strange story. A man went to his friend and asked to borrow some bread. The guy tells him to go away cause the house is already in bed. But Jesus says the man will get what he wants because he's persistent and bold. And he then relates that to us when we pray to God. Ask and it will be given to you. Everyone who asks receives. Sometimes it sure doesn't feel like that though. I think the point is that we need to be persistent and continue to have faith in God that eventually things will turn around. God is our heavenly father and knows how to give us good things. What father gives his child a bad thing? Jesus casts out a demon. The issue was that the man who had the demon was mute. The Jews had their own exorcists, but they believed that they had to get the spirit to say its name in order to cast it out. Since the man was mute, he couldn't talk, and yet Jesus cast out the demon. That's why the people were amazed and why some of them accused Jesus of casting him out by Beelzebub. It appears that evil spirits wish to inhabit bodies. When they leave one, if they are not replaced by the Holy Spirit, then they return to that body. This is a very strange concept, particularly in our modern world. But Jesus makes it plain that it's real. So what do we do with that? Jesus then talks about Jonah - the people of Nineveh, a wicked city, repented at the preaching of Jonah. But here was Jesus, and those people rejected his message. So Jesus says that they are in bad shape at the judgement day. Jesus then talks about a lamp and the fact that no one lights it and then hides it. They put it on display. He is likely partly referring to his miracles. He did these things in the open so that people could see God's power. But they saw the miracles and attributed them to Satan. So it's like their eyes must be bad, because they didn't accept what they themselves saw. And if their eyes are bad, then their insides are dark. It's a little bit of a strange analogy. Then Jesus lays out the Pharisees and teachers of the law for hypocrisy and worrying about little details in the law while missing the main points around justice and mercy. He says that they have loaded the people down with rules but not done anything to help them. And that they have closed the gates to heaven. Even though they don't want to enter in, they have made it impossible for others as well. What a stinging rebuke. And so from that point on, they were his enemies and started looking for how they could get him.  Read less

This chapter includes the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness at the outset of his ministry. Satan tempts Jesus with things that he would typically want from a human perspective - food, because he was hungry - the kingdoms of this world, since He owned them already - vindication by being saved from falling, proving that he was God's Son. But he rejects all of those temptations. Jesus returns to Nazareth and at first people are pretty happy and amazed by him. He taught with authority, threw out demons, etc. But then he started pointing out to the people that a prophet never is really accepted in his home town. He implies that there is something wrong with the people - that they have no faith in him. He didn't pull any punches and the people became furious - so angry that they were going to throw him off a cliff. That was often the first step in stoning - throw them off the cliff and then throw stones at them til they died. In addition to their own lack of faith, Jesus pointed out that there were Gentile people who got God's favour in the time of Elijah and Elisha. And that made them angry too. But then Jesus "walked through the crowd". Somehow there was something that made the people calm down and Jesus just walked through them. That was a miracle in itself - that somehow the people went from murderous rage to calmness.  Read less

An otherwise human event, the census, is necessary to get Joseph from Nazareth all the way down to Bethlehem in time for Mary to give birth in the right place. Caesar Augustus was the first Roman emperor. He had defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra with whom he was competing for control of Rome. Once he seized power, rather than restore Rome to a republic, which was ruled by laws, he set himself up as Emperor. The objective of the census was taxation - he had to get money from taxes to get the Roman economy back on its feet after decades of internal civil war. I'm sure Mary & Joseph were not happy with the thought of having to travel to Bethlehem when she was so close to delivering her baby. But they had no choice. God used the decree of the Roman emperor to get them to where they needed to be. Shepherds were not just thought of as peaceful farmer types, but were sort of on the edge of society and considered unreliable and perhaps thieves. Mary and Joseph take Jesus to Jerusalem to be consecrated to God. Simeon comes across them and now he prophesies that he has seen the God's salvation in Jesus. And Simeon says that Jesus will be a light for the Gentiles. So right at the very beginning of his life, the Gentiles (me!) are included in his ministry. At some point in his life, Jesus became aware of who he was and what his mission was to be. When he was 12 he went to the temple instead of staying with his parents and was found discussing the law with the Jewish teachers.Even at that age, he was aware of who he was. So what happened between birth and 12? We don't know. People have tried to speculate and there are some fanciful stories, but the reality is that the Bible is silent on the topic.  Read less

Luke was a gentile - not one of the 12 disciples. The first mention of him is in Philemon. He was a follower of Paul, a physician and an educated man. It is possible that Luke wrote this as part of the defense for Paul as he was in prison. The letter is addressed to "most excellent Theophilus", who by that address seems to have been a Roman official. The Herod mentioned here was a notoriously wicked and cruel ruler. Zechariah was a priest at the temple and was chosen by lot to go in to burn incense. This was a big deal and was like winning the lottery. There were many priests, perhaps 20,000. And so this was likely a once in a lifetime event, so for him as a priest, it was one of the biggest days of his life. And there he had a vision of an angel. The angel told him that although he and his wife were old, they would have a child. There's a strong parallel here to the story of Abraham. Their son is to be named John, and will become John the Baptist. He would bring many back to God. John was to be a Nazarene, the same way Samson was supposed to have been. Zechariah asks the angel, Gabriel, how he can know this to be true. Which seems like a dumb question to ask an angel....but Gabriel tells him it will happen and that because he didn't believe, that Zechariah would not be able to speak until it happened. He leaves and goes home and his wife, Elizabeth, becomes pregnant. She is so happy because her disgrace at being barren was to be removed. Gabriel also went to Nazareth to talk to Mary and Joseph. He talked to Mary and said the was "highly favored". Mary was scared of course but Gabriel told her not to be afraid. The virgin birth was a huge problem for Mary and Joseph. There was a death penalty for adultery and it would be pretty tough for people to accept this virgin birth story. So for her to go along with the idea is amazing. Mary rushes to visit Elizabeth, who she was related to. The angel told her that Elizabeth was expecting as well, which I guess she didn't know since Elizabeth had hid herself away. Mary has an exclamation praising God for his faithfulness and the way he lifts up the poor but doesn't honor the wealthy. When John is born, the people are confused at why she wants to call him John, since there was no one in her family with that name. But she insists and then they go to Zecahariah who still can't speak, but writes down the baby's name as John. And then he can speak and he tells the people all that has happened. Zechariah prophesies that John will prepare the way for the Lord. It's so easy to skip over this part. Zechariah prophesies - there hadn't been a prophet of the Lord for over 400 years. And now the spirit of the Lord comes upon Zechariah and he prophesies. So that's a big deal. John goes off to live in the desert until he appears publicly to Israel.  Read less

This letter is written specifically to Philemon, concerning Onesimus who was a slave of Philemon that ran away. He is also mentioned in the 4th chapter of Colossians. Paul starts with his usual greetings He says that he could be bold and direct Philemon in what to do concerning Onesimus he wants to appeal on the basis of love instead. Onesimus somehow came under Paul's teaching while Paul was in prison in Rome. Paul would've liked to keep him there with him to help him in his old age, but he was still Philemon's property, so he sent him back. He is sending him back, hopefully no longer as a slave but as a dear brother. Paul is asking that Philemon receive him back as such, not with anger or punishment for having run away. Paul says that if Onesimus owes anything, that Paul will pay it. Then he throws in "not to mention that you owe me your very self", just to remind Philemon of where they each stand. Then he puts some more pressure on and says that he knows Philemon will do even more than Paul asks. It's hard to understand how Paul could have had so much work to do and been so active while in prison. Perhaps it was work among the prisoners or maybe he was a little freer to walk around?  Read less

It seems strange that when they were adding chapters they left verse 1 behind here, since it clearly is a continuation from the prior thought about slaves. Paul tells masters to provide slaves with what is right and fair because you also have a Master in heaven. Would have been interesting to hear what slave owners had to say about this verse in relation to slavery and their treatment of their slaves. Paul has instructions for them, mostly telling them to pray and to be wise in the way that they talk and the way they deal with outsiders. Again, Tychicus is mentioned as the person that is bringing the letter to them. Epaphras is "always wrestling in prayer" for the Colossians. Paul calls Luke his dear friend. So one of Jesus' original disciples was with Paul and considered him a dear friend. So it's unlikely to think that Paul's message was somehow different than the original message. And he tells them to remember his chains. To keep praying for him.  Read less

Paul continues his thoughts about what we do and the value it brings us. He says that since we have been raised with Christ, we should set our hearts on things above - not on earthly things. Somehow we died - to the earthly desires, to earth itself. This is a bit of a mystery. So since we died, we need to put to death what belongs to our earthly nature. It's not that we're trying to control these things to be saved, but we put them to death because we are saved. They are earthly things and we are objects of heaven. Paul lists some of the things they need to stay away from - anger, rage, sexual immorality, greed - most of the usual suspects. v11 is a critical verse - there is no Greek or Jew, slave or free - there is only Christ. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Kind of contrasts with Ephesians where Paul is talking about armour. Here he's talking about clothing for the Christian - how do we behave when we are not at battle. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Wives are to submit to their husbands and husbands are not to be harsh. Interesting to think why it was necessary to say not to be harsh. Slaves are to obey their masters - this must have been hard for a slave to hear. Paul tells them to do everything as though working for the Lord - but it must have been hard to keep that in mind when the work was hard and conditions not great. But Paul says that there is an inheritance for those people as well.  Read less