Luke 18-24
Thought: Of
the Living Christ, the Prophet Joseph wrote: "His eyes were as a flame of
fire. The hair of his head was white like the pure snow; His countenance shone
above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing
of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying: I am the first and the
last. I am He who liveth. I am he was slain; I am your advocate with the
Father."
18:1–8- Parable: the
importuning widow and unjust judge;
Vs. 1- “to faint” means to
become discouraged or weary or to tire of something.
“When
lonely, cold, hard times come, we have to endure, we have to continue, we have
to persist. That was the Savior’s message in the parable of the importuning
widow. … Keep knocking on that door. Keep pleading. In the meantime, know that
God hears your cries and knows your distress. He is your Father, and you are
His child” (Jeffrey R Holland “Lessons from Liberty Jail,” Ensign, Sept. 2009, 30).
Vs. 7- “the elect are those who love God with all their hearts
and live lives that are pleasing to him” (GS)
If an unjust earthly judge will dispense justice because of
repeated asking-how much more with God.
18:9-14- the Pharisee and the publican- “Could there be greater contrast
in the prayers of the two men? The Pharisee stood apart because he believed he
was better than other men, whom he considered as common. The publican stood
apart also, but it was because he felt himself unworthy. The Pharisee thought
of no one other than himself and regarded everyone else a sinner, whereas the
publican thought of everyone else as righteous as compared with himself, a
sinner. The Pharisee asked nothing of God, but relied upon his own
self-righteousness. The publican appealed to God for mercy and forgiveness of his sins. “Continuing the
story, Jesus then said: ‘I tell you, this man,’ referring to the publican, the
despised tax collector, ‘went down to his house justified, rather than the
other.’ (Luke 18:14.) In other words, the Lord said
he was absolved, forgiven, or vindicated. …“Humility is an attribute of
godliness possessed by true Saints. It is easy to understand why a proud man
fails. He is content to rely upon himself only. … The proud man shuts himself
off from God, and when he does he no longer lives in the light. …“ History
bears record that those who have exalted themselves have been abased, but the
humble have been exalted. On every busy street there are Pharisees and
publicans. It may be that one of them bears our name” (HWHunter Ensign,
May 1984). D&C
52:15- Wherefore he that prayeth, whose spirit
is contrite, the same is accepted of me if he obey mine ordinances.
19:1–10. Zacchaeus
19:11–27. The
parable of the pounds - The
parable of the pounds bears some similarities to the parable of the talents
found in Matthew 25:14–30. Both parables tell of a lord
who departs, leaving his servants various sums of money that they are to put to
good use. When the lord returns and receives an accounting from his servants,
he rewards those who have earned a profit by using his gifts well, but he
reproves those who have failed to do so. Thus, both parables teach us to be
ready for the Lord’s return by making good use of the gifts and
responsibilities He has given us. However, the parable of the pounds teaches
additional truths about the Lord’s future millennial reign. The parable implies
that Jesus Christ would be rejected in Jerusalem (see Luke 19:14) and would not immediately reign
there as king (see Luke 19:11). Elder
Bruce R. McConkie explained the significance of the parable in its
historical context: “Jesus was enroute to Jerusalem for the last time. In about
ten days he would die upon the cross, and to the Jews generally it would appear
that he had failed to set up the promised Messianic kingdom. To correct the
false concept that ‘the kingdom of God’—meaning the political kingdom, the
kingdom which should rule all nations with King Messiah at its head, the
millennial kingdom—‘should immediately appear,’ Jesus gave the Parable of the Pounds. …“Christ is the nobleman; the
far off country is heaven; the kingdom there to be given him is ‘all power … in
heaven and in earth’ (Matt. 28:18); and his promised return is the
glorious Second Coming, when the literal and visible kingdom shall be set up on
earth. … The servants are commanded to labor in the vineyard on their Lord’s
errand until he returns” (DNTC 1:571–72).
19:41-44- Josephus tells us that
immediately after the siege of Titus, no one is the dessert waste around him,
would have recognized the beautify of Judea; and if any Jew had come upon the
city of a sudden, however well he had known it before, he would have asked,
"What place it was>" (MM 3:341) Vs. 43-"shall cast a trench
about thee" Literally, shall build a ramp. This the Romans did in the
siege, making it first of wood, which the Jews burned, and then of stone. The
ramp, 4 miles in length was completed in 3 days. It cut off all hope of the
Jews escaping. (DNTC 1:580)
20 & 21- Read chapter
headings. This material covered in Matthew and Mark.
22:7–20. Jesus
institutes the sacrament- “The hours that lay immediately ahead would change the meaning of
all human history. It would be the crowning moment of eternity, the most
miraculous of all the miracles. It would be the supreme contribution to a plan
designed from before the foundation of the world for the happiness of every
man, woman, and child who would ever live in it. The hour of atoning sacrifice
had come. God’s own Son, His Only Begotten Son in the flesh, was about to
become the Savior of the world. “The setting was Jerusalem. The season was that
of the Passover, a celebration rich in symbolism for what was about to come.
Long ago the troubled and enslaved Israelites had been ‘passed over,’ spared,
finally made free by the blood of a lamb sprinkled on the lintel and doorposts
of their Egyptian homes (see Ex. 12:21–24). …“Now, after all those
years and all those prophecies and all those symbolic offerings, the type and
shadow was to become reality” (JRHolland, Ensign Nov. 1995, 67).
Sacrament Scriptures: 3 Nephi 18:1-14, 27-33; 20:1-9;
Moroni 4&5; Matthew 26:26-29; JST Matthew 26:22-25; Mark 14:22-25; JST Mark
14:20-25; Luke 22:15-20; JST Luke 22:16; 1 Corinthians 11:20-34; DYC 20:75-79;
D&C 27:1-14. The word sacrament comes from the Latin "sacramentum" meaning an oath of
allegiance such as was made by a Ropman soldier to his general.
"An article from a medical
magazine [told] about ‘belaying’ in mountain climbing. The belay system is the
way a mountain climber protects himself from falls. Someone climbs up first,
gets in a firm, secure position, ties the rope tightly around his waist, and
calls down to his partner, ‘You’re on belay,’ which means, ‘I have you if you
fall.’ The article reported about Alan Czenkusch, a man who ran a climbing
school … : “‘Belaying has brought Czenkusch his best and worst moment
in climbing. Czenkusch once fell from a high precipice, yanking out three
mechanical supports and pulling his belayer off a ledge. He was stopped, upside
down, ten feet from the ground when his spread-eagled belayer arrested the fall
with the strength of his outstretched arms. “‘“Don saved my life,” says
Czenkusch. “How do you respond to a guy like that? Give him a used climbing
rope for a Christmas present? No, you remember him. You
always remember him.”’ [Eric G. Anderson, “The Vertical
Wilderness,” Private Practice, Nov. 1979, 17;
italics added.] “What a profound analogy
for us. Like the belayer, the Savior stops our traumatic fall toward spiritual
destruction and offers us a safe line back to him. And what can we
do … ? Always remember him. In fact,
those very words are the words of the sacramental covenant” (Gerald Lund,
"Jesus Christ, Key to the Plan of Salvation"
[1991], 45).
22:31–38. "It
could only have been a couple of years later. Something had happened to Peter.
He had lost that spirit and that testimony (Matt. 16:15-19)that he had once had
and here the master was warning him, 'You'd better get back to 1st Principles.
Get out and get back and get re-converted in order that you might have that
same testimony. What is was-we don't know but something had taken away Peter's
testimony momentarily." (HBLee, Fireside to Young Adults 1993)
"But
Peter was not converted, because he had not become a a new creature of the Holy
Ghost. Rather long after Peter had gained a testimony, and on the very night
Jesus was arrested, he said to Peter. 'When thou art converted, strengthen thy
brethren. Immediately thereafter, and regardless of his testimony, Peter denied
that he knew Christ. After the crucifixion, Peter went fishing, only to be
called back into the ministry by the risen Lord. Finally on the day of Pentecost
the promised spiritual endowment was received; Peter and all the afaithful
disciples became new creatures of the Holy Ghost; they were truly converted;
and their subsequent achievements manifest the fixity of their conversions.
" (Mormon Doctrine, 1623)
22:39–46. Gethsemane
from Luke: 1)An angel
from heaven appeared to Jesus, strengthening Him. 2) Being in an agony, Jesus
prayed more earnestly. 3) The Savior sweat “great drops of blood falling down
to the ground.” Mosiah 3:7; Alma 7:12; D&C 19:18; Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews
4:15-16; Doctrines of Salvation 1:130-Greatest suffering was not on the cross
but in the garden.
23:6–9. He remained silent before
Herod. 27–31. While He was in great personal
danger, He showed concern for the future of the women who followed Him. 32–34. He forgave the Roman soldiers
who crucified Him. 39–43. He reassured the thief on the
cross.
Luke 24:13-35 lists some of the
ways the Lord communicates with His children; personal appearances ( 13–16, 33–52), visitations of angels (23), a burning in our hearts
(32), enlightenment and joy (32, 41), the scriptures (32, 44–45), and feelings of peace (36
also D&C 6:23).
24:13–49. Appearances to
two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Simon, the eleven
24:50–53. Jesus ascends
to heaven, disciples begin to testify of Jesus
2 Nephi 2:8 Wherefore, how great the importance to
make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know
that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it
be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah,
who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again
by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass
the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.
