The following text contains references to The Gospel of LukeGo here to see the same:
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Jesus made an eternal promise that is recorded in the Bible: "Behold, I stand at the door (of your heart) and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into Him" (Revelation 3:20)
The Bible assures us, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
What does a person do when offered a gift? Receive it. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." (Ephesians 2:8,9)
He has also promised that He would never leave us: "I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5b)
Over the next five days you will receive a brief Bible Study "Who Is This JESUS?" by e-mail. This has been adapted to e-mail from the magazine and is designed to help you better understand who Jesus is and how to have a personal relationship with God through Jesus. If you are not attending a local church, we encourage you to do so.
If you would like to purchase a hard copy of "Who Is This JESUS?" study, including notes on the impact of Jesus' life by Bill Bright, the Four Spiritual Laws, and the Investigative Bible Study, you may do so at: www.campuscrusade.com/
Looking for other resources to help you grow in your relationship with Christ? www.campuscrusade.com
JESUS Investigative Bible Study Day 1
I. Jesus: His Beginnings
In this study we will see:
How Luke's Gospel fits into history.
That Jesus is "the Son of God."
What Jesus said He came to do.
Background to the New Testament
The New Testament is made up of several short books and letters. Our English Bibles are translations of what the early Christians actually wrote. The experts tell us that we can be sure that the text on which these translations are based has very few mistakes in it. How can we be sure?
In the days of the first Christians, there were many writings about the life of Jesus. But some had special quality-they had been written by Jesus' followers or their close friends. These gospels and letters were carefully copied by hand. Over the years, archaeologists have found thousands of manuscripts of bits of the New Testament and even some complete copies. By comparing these, we can get very close to what the New Testament writers originally wrote. Some of these copies are dated less than 100 years after the original gospel or letter was written.
For an idea of how good this evidence is, compare the New Testament with other writings that are about as old as the New Testament. For example, a book called The Gallic War was written by Julius Ceasar about 50 years before Christ was born. We obviously do not have the original copy. Yet, we do have nine or ten copies, and the earliest of these was made about 900 years after the original. This is a normal gap for ancient writings.
When we examine the historical evidence relating to the Bible, one learns that there are thousands of manuscripts of the New Testament books. Therefore, we have good reason to believe that we know almost exactly what Luke, Paul and the others wrote.
About the Author
The author of this gospel, Luke, also wrote another book in the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles. He was the only New Testament writer who was not Jewish, and he was a doctor. Independent evidence confirms that he was a very careful and accurate historian.
A. Luke's Gospel: fact or fiction?
READ: Luke 1:1-4
1. Where did Luke get his information? (1:2)
2. How did he write it? (1:3)
3. Why do you think Luke wrote this introduction?
B. Where did Jesus come from?
Luke gives details of the unique origin of Jesus, and the following passage explains how Jesus' birth was foretold.
READ: Luke 1:26-38
1. What would the future hold for Mary's child? (1:32,33)
2. How would Jesus be conceived? (1:35-37)
3. Jesus is said to be the Son of God. What do these verses say about Jesus' "double" origin?
C. Jesus explains His purpose
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the south of Palestine. He grew up in a very ordinary town, named Nazareth, located in Galilee which was in the north of Palestine. Jesus was a carpenter, but at the age of 30, He became a religious teacher, moving from town to town.
In Luke 4:14-22, we read what happened when Jesus began teaching. He went to the synagogue, which was the local place of worship. Although He probably had no more religious education than the average Jewish man, people wanted to hear Him. He was asked to speak at the synagogue in Nazareth.
READ: Luke 4:14-22
1. What kinds of people had Jesus come to help? (4:18)
Who do you think this means?
2. What was He going to announce? (4:19)
What does this mean?
3. What do you think the people in the synagogue understood when He said the words in verse 21 ?
To think about:
Jesus came to help the "poor", the "captive", the "blind", and the "oppressed." Are there ways in which people today are poor, captive, blind, or oppressed?
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II. Jesus: The Healer
In the first study, we saw that Jesus was not just an unusual person; He was God's Son. He came into the world in order to meet the deepest needs of men and women.
In this study, we will look at how Jesus met the needs of two particular people. Everywhere Jesus went, He came across needy people. Often, the people He met had incurable diseases, but He was able to change their lives completely by healing them.
He healed: Simon's mother-in-law, a Roman officer's servant, a man with a paralyzed hand, a crippled woman, a paralyzed man, people suffering from spiritual and mental disorders or skin diseases, blind people, and He even raised the dead. "All who had friends who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus; He placed his hands on every one of them and healed them all" (Luke 4:40).
A. A blind beggar is healed
READ: Luke 18:35-43
1. What do you think life was like for this blind man?
2. Why do you think he kept calling for Jesus?
3. What did Jesus do and say once He had heard the man? (18:40-42)
4. In what way did the man show he believed in Jesus?
5. If you had seen this miracle, what would you have thought of Jesus?
This was a blind man to whom Jesus gave "recovery of sight" (Luke 4:18). He healed many people of different physical illnesses. But He also healed people in other ways.
B. Jesus and Zacchaeus
The Romans gave the job of collecting taxes to the highest bidder. Tax collectors did not get any wages for their work. They collected as much money as they could so there would be plenty left over for themselves after paying the government. Zacchaeus was one of these tax collectors - a greedy and unpopular man.
READ: Luke 19:1-10
1. What was Zacchaeus' attitude toward Jesus? (19:3, 4, 6)
2. Many people grumbled about Jesus talking to such a man. What was Jesus' attitude toward Zacchaeus? (19:5, 9,10)
3. How did Zacchaeus change after meeting Jesus? (19:8)
4. What do you think Jesus meant by "the lost"? (19:10)
5. What does this incident show about Jesus?
To think about:
Zacchaeus was "captive" to his own greed. Jesus gave him freedom. Jesus said that he had come "to seek and to save the lost." People changed when they met Jesus. How do you think meeting Jesus would affect your life?
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III. Jesus: The Teacher
In the last study, we looked at "Jesus the Healer." But people didn't come just to be healed by Him; they also wanted to listen to Him. Large crowds from all over the country would come to hear what he had to say. He talked about: God's Kingdom, prayer, wise and foolish lifestyles, love and forgiveness, and also Himself.
Not everyone liked Jesus' teaching. He was outspoken against the religious leaders who were hypocrites. He had enemies who tried to trick Him with questions, but He always managed to give wise answers. Even when the religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus, they found it hard because the crowds wanted to listen to His teaching, "not wanting to miss a single word" (Luke 19:48).
In this study, we will discuss two of the best known parables (stories which teach biblical truth) that Jesus told.
A. The good Samaritan
1. What would you say are the most important things in life?
Many people went to Jesus with their important questions. For one man, his concern focused on what would happen to him after his death. He asked Jesus how he could "receive eternal life." Jesus got the man to answer it himself, from the Scriptures (Luke 10:27).
READ: Luke 10:25-28
2. What did the man say were the two most important things in life? (10:27)
What do you think of these answers?
Jesus was then asked, "Who is my neighbor?" He answered by telling the story of the good Samaritan.
READ: Luke 10:29-37
3. What did the priest and Levite do that was wrong? (10:31,32)
Did they break the Law?
Did they disobey the principle "I never do anyone any harm"?
4. Due to their religious and cultural upbringing, Jews looked upon the Samaritans (Gentiles) with contempt. How did the Samaritan in this parable show love?
5. How would you answer the question, "Who is my neighbor?"
Jesus acts as a good Samaritan towards us. He sees our needs and failures, and instead of passing by, He reaches out to help.
B. The lost son
This is a simple story, yet one of the greatest in the world of literature. It takes the problems that often arise between people to illustrate how men and women react toward God.
READ: Luke 15:11-32
1. What do you think the younger son was thinking as he left home? (15:12,13)
Where did he go? (15:13)
How do you think the father felt when his son had gone?
2. Things went fine for awhile. What happened when things got bad? (15:14-16)
3. The son changed his mind. Why? (15:17)
How did he show that his attitude had changed? (15:18-20)
4. What was the father's attitude? (15:20, 22-24)
5. In what ways do you think this story is a picture of our relationship with God?
This story shows us that God still offers His love in spite of our willful selfishness. It also shows us that we can come back to God, no matter how far we have wandered from Him.
To think about:
What do you identify with more: the attitude of the son as he left home or his attitude when he decided to return?
Can you believe that God would accept you as completely as the father accepted his son?
You may be at a point in your life where you know that you need God, and want to return to Him. Perhaps you would like to pray:
Dear Father, I have wandered away from You, and I have sinned against You. I have not loved You or other people as I should. I want to come back to You now, just as the lost son came back to his father. Please forgive me and come into my life so that I can be the person You want me to be. AmenThe next study will explain what Jesus did to make our Return to God possible.
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IV. Jesus: The Redeemer
At the trial of Jesus it seemed that both the weak- willed Roman governor, Pilate; and the shouts of the crowd sent Jesus to death. In fact, the Bible tells us that these events amazingly formed part of God's purpose.
Jesus took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, "Listen! We are going to Jerusalem where everything the prophets wrote about the Son of Man will come true. He will be handed over to the Gentiles, who will make fun of him, insult him, and spit on Him. They will whip Him and kill Him, but on the third day He will rise to life." The disciples did not understand any of these things. (Luke 18:31-34a)
(See the section at the end of this lesson for background notes on unfamiliar terms.)
A. The passover meal and "The Last Supper"
On the last night of his life, Jesus ate a meal with His disciples.
READ: Luke 22:7-20
1. What do you think the atmosphere was like during that meal?
2. What did Jesus say about the bread and cup of wine? (22:19,20)
3. What did you think Jesus meant when He said His body was "given for you," and His blood was "poured out for you"?
B. The trial
After the Passover meal Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was taken before the Jewish ruling council.
READ: Luke 22:66-71
1. What did the Jewish leaders want to find out from Jesus?
2. What did Jesus tell them?
3. How did the Jewish leaders respond? (22:71)
How did he show that his attitude had changed? (15:18-20)
C. The cross
Jesus was not condemned to death for anything He had done. He was condemned for who He claimed to be.
READ: Luke 23:32-49
1. What did the following groups say about Jesus:
(V35)Jewish leaders?
(v36) soldiers?
(v39) the criminal?
2. How was the second criminal's reply different from that of the first? (23:39-42)
What did he recognize about Jesus?
3. What did the army officer say when Jesus died? (23:47)
4. What do you think Jesus' attitude was while He was being crucified? (23:34,43,46)
This study is called "Jesus the Redeemer." To redeem means to buy something back, to recover something by payment. Jesus' death was for the sake of other people, to bring them back to God.
To think about:
As the criminal faced his own death, he asked Jesus to remember him in His future Kingdom. Jesus promised that the robber would be with Him that day in Paradise. In what ways can we have the same hope as the criminal did after hearing Jesus' words?
Background notes
Passover (Luke 22:7 and following)
The Passover is an annual religious festival when the Jews recall how God rescued their nation from slavery in Egypt. They remember particularly how the angel of death killed the first-born of all Egyptians, yet "passed over" all the Jewish families. God told them they would be protected by sprinkling lamb's blood on their door posts. It was after this event that the Egyptians finally allowed the Jews to leave Egypt. An important part of the Passover festival was the killing and eating of the Passover lamb.
New covenant (Luke 22:20)
God had promised in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 31:31-34) that He would bring in a new era. This promise became known as the new covenant. In the New Testament Jesus says that this era is now beginning and that His death would confirm it. This is the guarantee that God gives to us that He will forgive us and that we will have a special relationship with Him.
Messiah (Luke 22:67)
The Hebrew word "Messiah" means "anointed one." (To anoint someone with olive oil was to honor him or to appoint him to do some special work.) In Greek, the language of the New Testament, "Messiah" is translated "Christ." The Jews hoped that the promised Messiah would come as king, to deliver the nation from foreign rule and to set up a righteous, divine kingdom in Israel. There are many verses in the Old Testament that speak of this anointed one who was to come. Although Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, He did not do what the Jews expected. Instead He came as a servant and as one who would suffer. His Kingdom was established, not in a palace, but in the hearts of men and women. Yet in the end all things were to be brought under His rule.
Son of Man (Luke 22:69)
To describe Himself Jesus used "Son of Man" most often. In Luke 22:69, He refers to an Old Testament passage (Daniel 7:13,14) about a son of man (human being) who was given an everlasting kingdom. The Jews have understood Daniel to be referring to the promised Messiah.
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