The Kingdom is Within You
Comments for Study 30
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I. Four Basic Responsibilities (1-10)
>1. What is the first basic responsibility Jesus' disciples must have for all people? (1-3)
* Luke 17:1-3 "Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come.
2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him."
* "If your brother sins, rebuke him"
* "if he repents, forgive him"
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>How does Jesus emphasizes the seriousness of sin and causing others to sin?
* Luke 17:2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
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>2. What double responsibility do we have toward a Christian brother who sins?
* Luke 17:4 "If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."
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>To what extent should we go in forgiving our brother who repents?
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>3. How did the apostles respond to Jesus' teaching about these two responsibilities?
* Luke 17:5 "The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!""
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>Why did they ask for more faith?
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>How can we increase our faith? (6)
* Luke 17:6 "He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you."
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>4. What is the point of the parable of the unworthy servant in verses 7-10?
* Luke 17:7-10 "Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'?
8 Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'?
9 Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?
10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"
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>What basic responsibility toward duty does this parable teach?
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II. Ten Lepers (11-19)
>5. Who did Jesus meet on his way to Jerusalem?
* Luke 17:11-13 "Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.
12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance
13 and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
* Leviticus 13:45-46 "The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out, 'Unclean! Unclean!' As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp."
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>Where did he send them?
* Luke 17:14 "When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed."
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>Why? (Lev. 13:9)
* Leviticus 13:9 "When anyone has an infectious skin disease, he must be brought to the priest."
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>6. Who came back to Jesus?
* Luke 17:15-16 "One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.
16 He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan."
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>How was he different from the other lepers?
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>What does Jesus teach about a person's basic responsibility to give thanks to God?
* Luke 17:17-19 "Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"
19 Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
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III. The Kingdom of God (20-37)
>7. When Jesus was asked about the coming of the kingdom of God, what did he teach about it? (20-21)
* Luke 17:20-21 "Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." "
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>What does this mean?
* Although Jewish people acknowledged that God ruled in the present, most especially longed for God's unchallenged rule, or kingdom, in the future. Jewish teachers disputed when the kingdom would come: either at a set time unknown to mortals, or whenever all Israel repented. By teaching that the kingdom as God's reign is somehow present, Jesus implies that something of the kingdom such as the messianic king is already among them. (Bible Background Commentary - The IVP Bible Background Commentary - New Testament)
* "The kingdom of God will not come with observation. My (Calvin) opinion is, that Christ now disregards those dogs, and accommodates this reply to the disciples; just as on many other occasions, when he was provoked by wicked men, and seized the opportunity of giving instruction. In this manner God disappoints their malice, while the truth, which is maintained in opposition to their sophistry, is the more fully displayed.
The word observation is here employed by Christ to denote extraordinary splendor; and he declares, that the kingdom of God will not make its appearance at a distance, or attended by pompous display. He means, that they are greatly mistaken who seek with the eyes of the flesh the kingdom of God, which is in no respect carnal or earthly, for it is nothing else than the inward and spiritual renewal of the soul. From the nature of the kingdom itself he shows that they are altogether in the wrong, who look around here or there, in order to observe visible marks. "That restoration of the Church," he tells us, "which God has promised, must be looked for within; for, by quickening his elect into a heavenly newness of life, he establishes his kingdom within them." And thus he indirectly reproves the stupidity of the Pharisees, because they aimed at nothing but what was earthly and fading. It must be observed, however, that Christ speaks only of the beginnings of the kingdom of God; for we now begin to be formed anew by the Spirit after the image of God, in order that our entire renovation, and that of the whole world, may afterwards follow in due time. (Calvin's Commentaries)
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>8. To whom does Jesus refer to while speaking of the Son of Man?
* "Son of Man" -Jesus refers to his Messianic ministry as the Son of Man.
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>What future event is he talking about? (22-24)
* Luke 17:22-24 "Then he said to his disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
23 Men will tell you, 'There he is!' or 'Here he is!' Do not go running off after them.
24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other."
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>What must happen before the Son of Man comes in glory? (25)
* Luke 17:25 "But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation."
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>9. How are the days of Noah before the flood like the days preceding the second coming of Jesus?
* Luke 17:26-27 "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man.
27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all."
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>What does this analogy teach us about God?
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>About men?
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>How should we live in light of this teaching?
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>10. How does the story of Lot reinforce this teaching?
* Luke 17:28-29 "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all."
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>What lesson should we learn from Lot's wife?
* Luke 17:30-36 "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
31 On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.
32 Remember Lot's wife!
33 Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.
35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left."
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>What do you think verse 37 means?
* Luke 17:37 "Where, Lord?" they asked. He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather."
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>11. What do verses 20-37 teach about the kingdom of God?
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>How should we live in light of this teaching?
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