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Luke Chapter 7

  • Bible Study on Luke 

    Luke Chapter 7

    >> Click Here For Audio Version << 

     

    Luke 7 Outline:

    7:1-10 Jesus heals a Centurion’s servant.

    7:11-17 Jesus raises a widow’s son from the dead.

    7:18-23 John’s disciples question Jesus

    7:24-35 Jesus commends John the Baptist

    7:36-39 Penitent woman anoints Jesus

    7:40-43 Parable of the forgiven debtors

    7:44-50 Jesus forgives the woman

    Fun Facts:

    • Centurions were Roman officers who commanded 100 men. 
    • Andrew was a disciple of John the baptist before he followed Jesus (John 1:40).

    Study Notes:
    — Centurions were men of integrity and character. They were solid, stable, trusted leaders in the Roman army. They are mentioned favorably in the Bible (Luke 23:47; Acts 10:22; 22:26; 23:17, 23; 24:23; 27:1, 43). The Centurion in Luke 7 had financed their synagogue (5). Cornelius (Acts 10:22) was a Roman Centurion “who feared God.”

    — The servant was “at the point of death” and highly esteemed by the Centurion, who was a gentile.

    — Matthew (Matt 8:5) records that the centurion came to see Jesus himself where Luke records that he sent messengers. The traditional view is that Matthew abbreviated the story and left out details that were not essential to it where Luke’s commentary is much more detailed. One’s actions through agents is still viewed as one’s actions, like when Herod killed the children of Bethlehem. 

    — The centurion was a humble man and told Jesus that he was not worthy to come to Him (7).

    — The centurion had faith in Jesus, “simply speak the word and let my servant be healed.” We speak all day, but about what? It makes one think. What if the words that you are speaking are prophesying your own future?

    —  (9) Jesus “Marveled” at him (To wonder, to admire). Jesus is only recorded marveling twice in the Bible: once in Nazareth because of their unbelief (Mark 6:6), and again at the centurions belief (Luke 7:9).

    —  Jesus entered a town called Nain and came upon a funeral procession. A widow’s son had died. As a widow, her husband was dead and her son would have taken care of her, but now she had nothing. Jesus had compassion on her and told the young man to get up, and he did. No one asked Jesus to do anything. He did it on His own accord.

    — (7:11) This is the only place in the Bible that the town of Nain is mentioned. It is generally held that this site is modern day Nein which is located about 6 miles from Nazareth and a days journey from Capernaum. 

    — To touch the undead would make Jesus “ceremonially unclean” but He never placed religious ceremony before human need. Jesus reached out to him, spoke a word that resurrected his lifeless body, and gave him back to his mother alive. The people who witnessed this resurrection glorified God, and said “God has visited His people.” 

    — John the Baptist was now in prison. Evidently he expected Jesus to do something about that, or something spectacular, but as time went by, John remained in prison. So John sent some disciples to Jesus to ask what was going on. John had prophesied that the One coming would bring judgement (Luke 3:17), but Jesus had only brought mercy and compassion. It would have been perplexing. John had a chance to become offended at Jesus.

    — After John’s disciples had left, Jesus made it clear that He was not degrading or rebuking John by explaining that he was the greatest of men. Yet John belonged to the time of promise, and those that entered the kingdom would be living in the time of the fulfillment.  

    — (29) The “tax collectors” became a of class of their own, lower than the low. 

    — (30)  The religious leaders of the day “rejected the purpose of God for themselves.” They heard the words of Jesus, they saw the actions of Jesus just like everyone else. Yet they rejected the plan of God for themselves. They could have accepted it. They were concerned with the past law of God, but not with the current will of God. A closed mind will always lead to mistakes. 

    — Jesus points out that there is no way to please the religious leaders (32). John came eating no bread and drinking no wine and they rejected him and said that he had a demon. Jesus came eating and drinking wine and they rejected Him and called Him a “glutton and a drunkard.”

    Wine in the Bible: Grapes ripen in the fall and in biblical times, people had no way to prevent the fermentation. All grape juice would soon become wine and that is what they drank until the next grape harvest. The grape harvest would occur around the month of September and the Passover was celebrated about the month of April. This means that all the grape juice would have been at least 6 or 7 months old, and stored at room temperature without air tight containers. It was now wine. As it continued to age, it became vinegar (sour wine). If you want to test this yourself, buy a bottle of grape juice, open it and sit it on your counter and within 30 days it will start to become wine. In three months, it will be. All that you need to turn grape juice into wine is air, nature will provide the rest. Try this and then tell me that 6-month-old grape juice was “unfermented.” A church that I served at did communion once a month and I helped prepare it. At first I tried to save opened bottles of grape juice, but by the next month it had begun to ferment and I had to throw it out.

    Only Nazirites like John the Baptist (Numbers 6:1-4) were commanded to not drink wine. When Melchizedek met Abraham, he brought out bread and wine (Gen 14:18). One of the drink offerings offered to God was a portion of wine (Exodus 29:40). This was “fermented” wine, not grape juice (Hebrew: Yayin). This word is used over 130 times in the Hebrew Bible to mean “fermented wine”, not grape juice. The primary word used for wine in the New Testament is the greek word: “Oinos” (Strongs #: 3631). Paul told Timothy to use a little (Oinos) wine for his stomach problems (1 Tim 5:23). Jesus drank wine (Luke 7:32) because the passover meal would include fermented wine and Jesus drank from that (Mark 14:23) at the last supper. Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine (Oinos) (John 2:9) and it was a fine wine at that. Drinking wine was no more of a sin than eating bread and Jesus used those two terms together.

    That said, there are plenty of scriptures about having too much (Pro 20:1). Drinking too much wine continuously would make you a drunkard, and that is sin (Eph 5:18). Also eating too much food continuously will make you a glutton (Pro 23:2), and that is also sin. Moderation is key to a good life. However the prohibitionists view of scripture is twisting the word to fit a personal preference instead of what it actually says and when examined closely, fails to make sense. Jesus was a Jew, and Jews have no problem with drinking wine especially at events like weddings. Think about it…

    — The woman who wept over the feet of Jesus loved God more than the pharisee who owned the house. Her sins were many, but so was her love and love covers a multitude of sins (Prov 10:12, 1 Peter 4:8).

     
    A map of the town of Nain



    Questions:
    1. Jesus said that He found greater faith in the centurion than He had anywhere, even in Israel. What do you think the Lord saw in this soldier that impressed Him so?

    2. With the centurion, Jesus acted on a request. In the case of the widow who had lost her son, His compassion caused Him to act without even being asked. What do these situations tell you about God’s nature?

    3. Jesus declared that John was the greatest amongst those “born of women”, yet the “least in the kingdom of God is greater than he”. What do you think that statement means for us as Christ followers?

    4. At the table of Simon the Pharisee, Jesus rebuked the Pharisee and forgave the sinful woman. Do you think we may ever act like the Pharisee? If so, what can we do about it?

    5. What do you think are the qualities He saw in the sinful woman, and how can we develop them in ourselves?


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Social Sharing

25 comments
  • 0
Lissy Verghese
Lissy Verghese Thank you Pastor!
May 25, 2015
  • 0
J D  Williams
J D Williams #4.YES WE CAN ACT LIKE THE PHARISEES/WE CAN REPENT  AND ASK FOR FORGIVENESS GOD IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE OUR SINS AND CLEANSE US OF ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS AND REPENT
May 26, 2015
  • 0
J D  Williams
J D Williams #2.IN THIS CASE IT SHOWS JUST HOW MUCH GOD CARES FOR US HE IS SO LOVING AND COMPASSIONATE TO ALL OF US .....
May 26, 2015
  • 0
Lucas Napo
Lucas Napo Thank you Pastor Dion for higher education
May 26, 2015
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Lucas Napo
Lucas Napo 1. A centurion knew whom Jesus was in Spirit. He somehow knew His deity and anointed powers were unlimited by men's thinking. 2. God is our heavenly Father and loves us. He knows all our need even if we decide to hide them from Him or don't  mention them in prayer 3. We should humble ourselves before the Lord. Rulers and synagogues leaders knew God through the law and were superior, this made it hard for them to heed the Gospel, but if we choose to trust in God and lean not on our own understanding. W e are destined for gretaness 4. We do sometimes. Paul warned us of being slow to react or answer, this prevent saying things we will regret later. We act like pharisees as Christians when we are quick to judge/ talk / conclude things without being compassionate towards others. 5. One quality a woman had was her recognition of who Jesus was and her  faith. We can choose to believe in JESUS. All our inequities are not greater than His ability to cleans us from all unrighteousness. We fall many times yet each time H e will be ready and waiting for us to ask. To grow in faith we need not to focus on our weaknesses and addictions but on the Lord. 
May 26, 2015
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Kay Rushin
Kay Rushin 1. He knows what's  in the heart 2. Love, Compassion, Empathy. 3. John was born with a special mission from God.  He bridged the gap from old testament "law" , to new testament "grace"  He paved the way for our Jesus to come. As christians  we are not weak in this world. We have the power of the spirit.  We need to let our light shine into the darkness. 4. Sometimes.... be mindful of God's love and forgiveness.  His basic nature...."W.W.J.D" comes to my mind. 5. Love,   Stop worrying about the nonsense and focus on the most important thing. Love God  most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.  (1 Peter 4:8 )
May 26, 2015
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<i>Deleted Member</i>
Deleted Member 1)His humbleness 
May 26, 2015- Edit- Delete
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Carol Pady
Carol Pady 1. The Centurion believed it wasn't necessary for Jesus to travel to where his servant was, that Jesus could heal him no matter where he was 2. God's nature is loving and all knowing 3. That when we reach the Kingdom of God we will all be as His children, far greater than any earthly position 4. We must never judge others simply because they sin differently. 5. The sinful woman was truly remorseful for her sins, her tears revealed the condition of her heart.
May 26, 2015
  • 0
Madalyn Myers
Madalyn Myers I think that Jesus saw that the centurion had been faith filled and he had dedication to zeal for God. I also think that the sinful woman had the quality and belief that she wanted to change her ways of sin. Her tears I think were considered a faith tool that only could describe her hearts desire to honor Christ and his works. In my opinion this is what I could grasp from the written passages.
May 26, 2015
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Daryl Donerson
Daryl Donerson Q1- I think Jesus saw humility, how humble and believing with faith the centurion was. Q2-These situations show us how loving and caring God is for us his creation.
May 27, 2015
  • 0
Daryl Donerson
Daryl Donerson Q3- I believe it means that us as followers of Christ can do more in our service for God in our life time than John did. Q4a- Yes when we are being selfish and unforgiving. Q4b- We should always remember how God has saved and forgiven us.
May 27, 2015
  • 0
Daryl Donerson
Daryl Donerson Q5a- She acknowledged God's Mercy, Forgiveness and Love. Q5b- We can develop those qualities by realizing what God has done by saving us from our sins,giving us a new life, and we need to continue to read His Word which tells us how much God really loves us.
May 27, 2015
  • 0
<i>Deleted Member</i>
Deleted Member 2) He has a loving and caring heart and whatever hurts His children, hurts Him and He would come to help us even when our hearts are so broken and we can't even ask for what we have need of. Jesus already knows what is in our hearts and He wants to give us comfort and joy through whatever storm or situation we may be in.
May 28, 2015- Edit- Delete
  • 0
<i>Deleted Member</i>
Deleted Member 3) That we as Christians will be greater in the Kingdom of God that anyone, even John that was greatest among men, born of women on this earth. 
May 28, 2015- Edit- Delete
  • 0
<i>Deleted Member</i>
Deleted Member 4) Yes, I think we probably do act like that sometimes. Judging others knowing we shouldn't, but we as humans seem to forget that others are humans too and they make mistakes, so we should learn not to be judgemental like the Pharisees, but be like Jesus and be forgiving. 
May 28, 2015- Edit- Delete
  • 0
<i>Deleted Member</i>
Deleted Member 5) I think we should learn to come humbly to Jesus like she did and be a willing vessel and really want to serve Him more than anything else. Our heart needs to be a heart for Jesus and a heart like Jesus.
May 28, 2015- Edit- Delete
  • 0
Richard Mondello
Richard Mondello 1)He was a gentile, of all people.But, he had faith in Jesus even though he had never met Him before hand and only hearing about Jesus did he send the Jewish elders to ask Jesus to heal his servant. He loved the Jewish people and built them a synagogue. So he must have believed in God and recognized that the Israelites were God's chosen people. It seems that the centurion had faith in Jesus by hearing and he called Him Lord. The centurion also acknowledged that he was not worthy of Jesus coming to his home or to meet Jesus face to face. He asked the Lord to just say the word from where He was and the servant would be healed. The centurion had faith with out seeing and he trusted the Living Word of God,Jesus.
May 28, 2015
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Richard Mondello
Richard Mondello 2)God answers the prayers/requests of the righteous faithful,the centurion was certainly righteous by faith similar to Abraham, since Jesus didn't die yet. God knows our needs before we even ask. He loves us and cares deeply about us.
May 28, 2015
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Richard Mondello
Richard Mondello 3)John,while in his mothers womb was filled with the Holy Spirit then born of his mother physically. He obeyed God's calling on his life and was righteous by faith. We as believers are born of our mother's,but, through faith and God's grace we are born again. We become joint heirs with Christ and God sees us as righteous through Jesus finished work on the cross.
May 28, 2015
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Richard Mondello
Richard Mondello 4)Yes. We need to ask the Lord to forgive us for being judgmental,and having a condemning spirit.
May 28, 2015
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Richard Mondello
Richard Mondello 5)She was sincere,sorrowful for her sins,grateful and faithfully sought the Lord with her whole heart. She served Jesus through her tears,her hair and the ointment that she anointed His feet with. I need to start each day with Him and in His word asking God to help me apply what He is teaching me to my life.
May 28, 2015
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Darla Bailey
Darla Bailey Thank you! 
May 30, 2015
  • 0
Deng Tembreza
Deng Tembreza Q5. I have sin lots. But I know GOD has forgiven me. Fairhfullness and obedience as well as repentance are the qualities this sinful woman has that is so beautiful to be like Her love for our LORD GOD is the best example of how we have to love HIM
May 30, 2015
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Deng Tembreza
Deng Tembreza Q2. GOD is loving and forgiving. HE will always be there for us full of HIS graces, blessings and mercy. HIS unconditional love for us is always there and his graces are full of abundance for us without even us asking for it
May 31, 2015
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Delores Greenwood
Delores Greenwood God is always good! Amen
June 8, 2015