On the Road to Jerusalem: A Study of Luke (Getting Ready [Part 1] - Luke 12:1-34)

Join us as we use the Gospel of Luke to discuss the journey made by Jesus Christ to the city of Jerusalem, from his birth to his ascension. During our time together, we’ll look at the following:

• Session 1 - The Announcements (Luke 1:1-56)
• Session 2 - The Births (Luke 1:57–2:21)
• Session 3 - Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:22-52)
• Session 4 - The Ministry of the Baptist (Luke 3:1-20)
• Session 5 - Jesus is Identified (Luke 3:21–4:13)
• Session 6 - Off and Running (Luke 4:14–5:16)
• Session 7 - Early Controversies (Luke 5:17–6:11)
• Session 8 - Choosing and Preparing the 12 (Luke 6:12-49)
• Session 9 - The Christ (Luke 7:1-50)
• Session 10 - Hearing and Doing (Luke 8:1-21)
• Session 11 - Revealing the Power of God (Luke 8:22-56)
• Session 12 - You Are the Christ of God (Luke 9:1-27)
• Session 13 - A Different Kind of Christ (Luke 9:28-50)
• Session 14 - Beginning the Journey (Luke 9:51–10:24)
• Session 15 - Love of God and Neighbor (Luke 10:25-42)
• Session 16 - Prayer (Luke 11:1-13)
• Session 17 - Conflicts and Controversies (Luke 11:14-54)
• Session 18 - Getting Ready [Part 1] (Luke 12:1-34)
• Session 19 - Getting Ready [Part 2]  (Luke 12:35–13:9)
• Session 20 - Unexpected Reversals (Luke 13:10-13:35)
• Session 21 - Kingdom Etiquette (Luke 14:1-35)
• Session 22 - Parables of Joy (Luke 15:1-32)
• Session 23 - The Problem with Wealth (Luke 16:1-31)
• Session 24 - Forgiveness and Faith (Luke 17:1-19)
• Session 25 - The Kingdom Is Coming (Luke 17:20–18:8)
• Session 26 - Rich and Poor (Luke 18:9-18:30)
• Session 27 - Approaching the City (Luke 18:31–19:28)
• Session 28 - The Entry into Jerusalem (Luke 19:29-48)
• Session 29 - Jesus in the Temple Again (Luke 20:1–21:4)
• Session 30 - The Coming End (Luke 21:5-38)
• Session 31 - The Last Supper (Luke 22:1-20)
• Session 32 - Parting Words (Luke 22:21-38)
• Session 33 - Prayer, Arrest and Denials (Luke 22:39-62)
• Session 34 - Trials (Luke 22:63–23:25)
• Session 35 - Crucifixion and Death (Luke 23:26-56)
• Session 36 - Empty Tomb and Emmaus Road (Luke 24:1-35)
• Session 37 - The Blessing and Departure (Luke 24:36-53)

In our eighteenth session, we looked at Luke 12:1-34 and talked about how disciples might avoid hypocrisy. The discussion and passage are below.

Luke 12:1-34 [New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition]

Meanwhile, when the crowd had gathered by the thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that can do nothing more. But I will show you whom to fear: fear the one who, after killing, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear that one! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you will answer or what you are to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.”

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith! And do not keep seeking what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that seek all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.