Luke 8 v 6. “Some fell on the rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because it had no moisture.”   Jesus explained that another response to the message of the Kingdom is its reception with joy. But this joy is short lived because they have no root. There...

Luke 8 v 5. “As he was sowing the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up.” We often wonder why people cannot see the simplicity and the truth of the Gospel message. Sometimes when we speak to our friends, it seems like...

Luke 8 v 5. “A farmer went out to sow his seed”. And the rest most of you will know from your Sunday School days. But take the time to read the whole passage. It will do your soul the world of good. Leading up to this moment we have met the Roman Centurion, the Widow...

Luke 8 v 3. “…….These women were helping to support them out of their means.” The conversion of a woman of ill-repute was an interesting story for Luke to record, at this point. The point of the story is forgiveness and forgiveness is exactly that aspect of our...

Luke 7 v 47. Please read the whole story. A believer in Christ would have believed him if he said the woman’s sins were forgiven. But Simon was not a believer. How was Jesus to convince him? Jesus begins by telling him a parable about two debtors. The point of the...

Luke 7 v 47. “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little, loves little.” How do we know we have been saved? This is the point of this next story recounted by Luke. The previous stories demonstrated...

Luke 7 v 28. “I tell you, among those born of women there was no one greater than John. Yet the one who is lest in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.” People flocked to hear John preach in the wilderness. They did not go because he was a reed shaken in the...

Luke 7 v 19. “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” One of the most disturbing things in this part of the story is the doubt that John the Baptist expressed about Jesus. Yet Luke includes this in his narrative so that his friend,...

Luke 7 v 13. “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” In the preceding story the lesson was that salvation depends on faith in Christ with no dependence on personal merit. This is such an important lesson that Luke reinforces it with...

Luke 7 v 6. “He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. Now follows two stories regarding salvation from death, the story of the centurion’s servant...

Luke 6 v 46. “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say?”   There are many people who say “Lord, Lord”. That is a reference by Jesus to a false and superficial discipleship. True discipleship depends on a deep and true commitment of one’s life to...

Luke 6 v 43. “No good tree bears bad fruit nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.” In many ways this is a self-evident parable. The fruit of a tree is a fool-proof indication of what kind of tree it is. In the same way a person’s actions, words and attitude are a...

Luke 6 vs 39. “He also told them this parable. ‘Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?’” Here is a threefold parable based on eyesight. First Jesus refers to a man who has no sight at all but is totally blind. Yet he may profess to lead...

Luke 6 v 38. “Give and it will be given to you.” The generosity of God should be seen in all the disciples of Jesus. The opponents of Jesus were judgemental and censorious. They were quick to point out faults and condemn others. Furthermore there was a...

Luke 6 verse 27-28. “I tell you who hear me: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you.” Jesus has just spoken about people being reviled and cast out because of Him. Now he tells us how we are to...

Luke 6 v 24. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.” The “woes” Christ pronounces here have no parallel in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount. They are peculiar to the writings of Luke who wanted his friend Theophilus to know them. This...

Luke 6 v 20. “Blessed are the poor for yours is the Kingdom of God.” This passage reads very much as does Matthew 5 vs 7 where our Lord gives his famous “Sermon on the Mount”. Is this the same sermon? Probably not but in all probability a very similar sermon on a...

Luke 6 verses 18 &19. “…Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.” The opposition of the religious leaders would eventually lead to Christ’s death. He had no time to...

Luke 6 v 9. “Then Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath; to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?’” This is the second instance where the practise of those days perverted a law that was intended for good. This time it did not...

Luke 6 v 5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” It is very important to read this entire passage for it deals with two incidents which illustrate how the people of Jesus’ day, had twisted and perverted the divine law of God to mean...

Luke 5 v 38. “No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. To further illustrate his point, that his presence, with his disciples is a time for rejoicing and not for mourning, Jesus gives the parable of new and old garments and new and old wineskins. Jesus did not...

Luke 5 v 34. “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? Please read the passage for the day. Jesus had many critics and amongst the criticisms was the behaviour of those he gathered around him. It seemed to some onlookers that they lacked...

Luke 5 v 31. “Jesus answered them: ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’” At the beginning of the chapter Peter is called by Jesus from his fishing boat. Now Levi is called from his...

Luke 5 v 20. “When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven”. Once again I urge you to read the whole passage referred to above. The “experts” in this story are mentioned in v 17. They were the Pharisees and teachers of the law. These men were...

Luke 5 v 13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. The experts here are the priests alluded to in v 14, to whom the healed leper had to report. Once again it would be helpful to read...

Luke 1 v 8   When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said “Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man!” It is of course, important to read the whole story from Chapter 5 v 1 – 11, and to realize that Peter is responding to Jesus because of a miraculous...

Luke 4 v 43. “I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent” The last few verses of this chapter (chapter 4 v 38 – 44) are full of action on Jesus’s part. There were healings, exorcisms and preaching. Don’t...

Luke 4 v 36. All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!” At this point in Luke’s story about Jesus, he introduces an event that happened in Capernaum, not too...

Luke 4 vs 28-30. “… But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.” It is important to read the entire passage quoted above. Why was the crowd so mad with Jesus? The story of the gentile widow of Zarephath is told in 1 Kings 17 vs 8-16. The prophet...

Luke 4 v 28. “All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.” Things turned ugly that day in Nazareth. The people were furious with Jesus and tried to throw him off a cliff. Why? Well, the people did not understand Jesus. Or at least if they did it...