Problem: Critics claim that Jesus’ predictions about the fall of Jerusalem must late date the gospel of Luke, making this an ex eventu prophecy (Latin: “after the fact”). Is this the case?
31
Mar
2021
Month: March 2021
30
Mar
2021
Luke 19:45-46 – Why did Jesus get so angry? Was his anger justified?
Problen: Critics note that Jesus chased out the money changers with “a scourge of cords.” Why was he so angry here?
29
Mar
2021
Luke 19:30 – Were one or two animals brought to Jesus?
The gospels all mentioned that Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem. However, Matthew mentioned that there were actually two donkeys (mother and colt) while the other three gospels only mentioned colt. There is no contradiction in this. Let’s take a look:
28
Mar
2021
Luke 18:35 – How many blind men did Jesus encounter when leaving Jericho?
Two blind men,
Matthew 20:29-30, “And as they were going out from Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. 30 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”
27
Mar
2021
Luke 18:19 – Is Jesus not God?
Problem: Jesus says, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone” (Lk. 18:19). Cultists and skeptics argue that Jesus is claiming that he is not God in this passage. Is this the case?
26
Mar
2021
Luke 17:20-21 – Doesn’t Jesus teach that the kingdom was “spiritually” fulfilled in our hearts?
Problem: The OT predicted a literal kingdom of the Messiah, but Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” Amillennial interpreters hold that this passage states that Jesus was abrogating the OT teaching on the kingdom of God being literal and political. Instead, it is spiritual and invisible. Is this the case?
25
Mar
2021
Luke 17:4 – What did Jesus mean by forgiving someone 77 times?
The Jewish custom in Jesus’ day was to forgive someone three times—tops. Keener writes, “Judaism also stressed forgiveness, though some teachers saw the need to limit forgiveness to three instances of premeditated sin, pointing out that repentance was otherwise not genuine.”[1] While Peter was thinking that forgiving someone seven times was over the top, Jesus ups his standard to 77 times![2]
24
Mar
2021
Luke 18:1 – Should prayer be continuous or brief?
Problem: Jesus condemned the long and repetitious prayers of the Pharisees who thought they would “be heard for their many words” (Matt. 6:7). Yet in this parable Jesus encouraged incessant prayer of those “who cry out day and night” to God (Luke 18:7). But these passages seem to be in conflict.
23
Mar
2021
Luke 16:31 – Do miracles prove Jesus’ divine mission?
Problem: Beginning with Moses, miracles were given as a proof of the divine mission of His servants (cf. Ex. 4:1–17). Nicodemus knew Jesus was sent from God because, he said to Jesus, “No one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (John 3:2). Luke tells us that Jesus was “attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him” (Acts 2:22). The writer of Hebrews declared that God bore “witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit” (Heb. 2:4).
22
Mar
2021
Luke 16:8-9 – Why does Jesus praise the unrighteous steward?
Problem: The manager of a rich man’s estate makes friends by cutting their debts to his boss. It seems odd that Jesus would affirm the deceit of the unrighteous steward. Does Jesus praise lying and stealing from your boss?
21
Mar
2021
Luke 14:33 – Do we have to give up everything?
Problem: Jesus clearly states, “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions” (Lk. 14:33). Some believers use this passage to claim that wealthy Christians are not true believers in Christ. Is this the case?
20
Mar
2021
Luke 14:27-28 – How does this passage square with justification by grace apart from works?
Problem: Jesus says, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?” (Lk. 14:26-28) Lordship theologian John MacArthur writes, “The idea of daily self-denial does not jibe with the contemporary supposition that believing in Jesus is a momentary decision. A true believer is one who signs up for life… It means nothing is knowingly held back, nothing purposely shielded from His lordship, nothing stubbornly kept from His control.”[1] Does this passage support Lordship theology?
18
Mar
2021
Luke 14:26 – Are we supposed to hate or not?
Problem: The Bible says both to hate and to not hate. So which is it? The solution is found in the context of different statements regarding hate. In one sense Jesus uses hyperbole to emphasize how important he is compared to all others and in another sense, were to love our brothers in Christ.
17
Mar
2021
Luke 14:26 – Do we have to hate our parents?
Problem: Regarding this passage, atheist Richard Dawkins writes,
Jesus’ family values, it has to be admitted, were not such as one might wish to focus on. He was short, to the point of brusqueness, with his own mother, and he encouraged his disciples to abandon their families to follow him. ‘If any man come to me and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.’ The American comedian Julia Sweeney expressed her bewilderment in her one-woman stage show, Letting Go of God: ‘Isn’t this what cults do? Get you to reject your family in order to inculcate you?[1]
How might we respond to this accusation?
16
Mar
2021
Luke 13:24 – Do all seekers find God?
Problem: Jesus says, “Seek and you will find.” Other passages of Scripture reaffirm the same truth (1 Chron. 28:9; Isa. 55:6; Acts 10:35). Yet, according to Jesus, “many … will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24). Likewise, Jesus said in John, “You will seek Me and not find Me” (John 7:34).