Reading for October 22nd

 Read Luke 9.37-50. In 9.37-50. In verses 37-43: He heals a possessed boy. On the only son, see 7.12. In 9.43b-50: He speaks firmly to his disciples. In verse 45: This verse emphasizes the disciples' inability to understand Jesus' predictions of suffering as due to God (its meaning was concealed from them, see Isa 6 cited in LK8.10). In verse 46: The argument about who was greatest is even more negatively recounted in Mark 9.33-37. In verse 50: Mk 9.38-41 has a fuller account of the strange exorcist. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 21st

 Read Luke 9.28-36. In 9.28-36: He is revealed as the chosen Son of God. The mountain, the dazzling white clothes, Moses and Elijah, his glory, the cloud, and the voice from heaven are all biblical dimensions of a divine appearance (epiphany). In verse 30 Moses and Elijah has miraculous endings of their lives. In verse 31: Jesus' departure in Greek is his "exodus," which is something he will accomplish at Jerusalem (see his "baptism" in 12.50). In verse 33: The dwellings are "tents" of the Jewish feast of booth (Deut 16.13). 

Reading for October 20th

 Read Luke 9.18-27. In 9.18-27: He is revealed as the messiah and predicts his death. In verse 20: The repeated question of who Jesus is (9.9, 18) receives the decisive answer of Messiah of God (see the demons in 4.41), and this royal title will be the charge for his execution (22.67; 23.35-37). In verses 21-22: This is the first of several predictions Jesus makes of his death (9.43-45; 12.50; 13.33; 18.31-34). In verse 26: The son of Man is the judge at the end time (Dan 7.13). Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 19th

 Read Luke 9.10-17. In 9.7-10: He feeds the 5,000. This section agrees closely with Mark's sequence (see Mk 6.32-44). The feeding story is filled with reminders of God feeding Israel in the wilderness and Elijah feeding 100 men (2 Kings 4.42-44). It also anticipates the Passover supper in Lk 22 (taking the loaves, he blessed, broke, and gave). Comments or Questions...

Reading for October 18th

 Read Luke 9.1-9. In 9.1-50: Jesus, the Christ and chosen of God. In verses 1-6: He authorizes the twelve. The power and authority of the twelve is directly tied to their commission as agents of the kingdom of God within Israel (see 6.13; 22.30). In verse 3: They are sent without staff and bag of provisions for wandering philosophers (see 10.4-5). In verse 5: To shake the dust off is an act to declare freedom from responsibility (10.11; Acts 13.51). In verses 7-9: He provokes Herod. Herod's appearance is ominous (3.1), anticipating his threatening return in 13.31. The link with Elijah again is strong (7.26-27; 9.19). Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 17th

 Read Luke 8.40--56. In 8.40-56: Jesus heals the afflicted and raises the dead. These two stories have already been woven together in Mark (Mk 5.21-43). The delay in healing Jairus' daughter means she is already dead when he arrived. In verses 43-45: Her chronic bleeding exceeded normal monthly flow and rendered her continually unclean to touch anyone (Lev 15.19-30). In verse 46: The power to heal was the presence of the Spirit (4.14; 5.15). In verse 48: To call her daughter is to mark her restoration in the family of Israel (see 13.16) and connects with the child (8.49). In verse 55: To say her spirit returned is to emphasize that she had died (23.46).  Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 16th

 Read Luke 8.22-39. In 8.22-56: The commanding word of Jesus. In verse 24: Master is the title of a person in authority (5.5; 8.45; 9.33, 49; 17.13). In verse 25: "who then is this?" recalls the power of God over the forces of the deep (Ps 107.28-29). In verses 26-39: The Gerasene demoniac. In verses 27-28: The lore about demons included anti-social behavior (he wore no clothes) and ritual impurity (in the tombs). His shouting is a power confrontation where the demoniac knows Jesus name (Son of the Most High God, (see 4.34, 41) and must reveal his, or at least the size of the horde (a Roman Legion was a troop of several thousand soldiers). In verses 31-33: The abyss is the bottomless pit reserved for God's enemies (Rev. 1-11). The swine are unclean and suitable for demons, but water was their destruction (see 11.24, "waterless regions"). In verse 37: The people, seized with great fear, have seen but not believed (8.10). Comments or questions..