路加福音 Luke 22:24-34
Objective
- Appreciating the love of Jesus even in the midst of our spiritual failures, and knowing that our God remains hopeful in us even though our weaknesses are transparent to Him.
Suggested Questions
- When do you think a person is the loneliest?
- Read the bible passage.
- What thoughts are preoccupying the minds of the disciples in this passage? (In the middle of discussion, you may want to remind the group members that this is a continuation of the conversations in the Last Supper.)
- What is your assessment of the disciples in this passage? Why?
- In verse 28, what is Jesus' expectation for the role to be played by the disciples?
- In verses 31-34, Jesus points out that Peter will fail his expectation. If you were Jesus, how would you feel?
- Could you share an experience in which you have a similar feeling?
- Background: In verses 29-30, Jesus expects the disciples to share his coming kingdom, and to become "judges" in the new kingdom. That is, they are to be leaders in the Kingdom of God.
- Verses 24-27 show that the disciples do not really understand the nature of leadership in the Kingdom of God. If you were Jesus, how would you feel?
- What is an experience of yours in which you have a similar feeling?
- Ask the group members to share a recent spiritual weakness or failure.
- Summary: The disciples are real people like us, people who are not always perfect, people who fail at times of spiritual trials. At these dark hours of spiritual weakness, our Lords' heart aches for us.
- How would you describe the "tone" of Jesus in verses 24-27? Elaborate on why you sense this specific "tone". (Invite group members to exercise their imagination.)
- In verses 31-34, why would Jesus bring up Peter's denial when he already anticipates it? (Lead the group members to explore verse 32.)
- Summary: Even when we may not be forgiving of our own spiritual failures, our Lord remains gentle and hopeful. His prayer is that, no matter how hard we fall, our faith may not fail, and when we have turned back, we strength our brothers and sisters.
- Prayer: Invite group members to pray for each other regarding the spiritual weaknesses that they named during the bible study.
Background
- When you approach this passage, you probably will be asking, what is the focus of this passage? Such a hesitation is quite understandable because the passage appears to have two foci: the first one concerns servant-leadership, and the second concerns Peter's denial. Why would the two "stories" be put together in one bible study?
Yet one has to recognize that it is Luke who puts the two passages together. The passages belong to the same discourse that Jesus gave after the establishment of the Lord's Supper. Luke intends the two passages to be read together as a unit.
The key to help us appreciate the narrative unity of this passage is the "seam" (verses 28K30) that joins the two parts (verses 24-27 on servant-leadership and verses 31-34 on Peterss denial). In fact, if you consult a good Synopsis of the Four Gospel (such as the one edited by Kurt Aland), then you will notice that the unit consisting of verses 28-30 (i.e., the seam) is specific to Luke (i.e., not found in the other three Gospels). That means this unit is introduced by Luke to bring out his theological emphasis.
The seam (verses 28-30) functions in the passage as an interpretive key. It sets up the evaluation criteria for discipleship (i.e., accompanying Jesus in his trials and leading as one who serves). The two surrounding units (verses 24-27 and verses 31-34) then illustrate the failure of the disciples to live up to these criteria. The structure can be summarized as follows:
vv. 28-30: discipless first failure to live up to their role
vv. 28-33: the expected role of the disciples vv. 31-34: discipless second failure to live up to their role
Yet this passage is genuinely a masterpiece that conveys what the gospel is all about. The intention has never been simply to highlight the disciple's failures, but instead to portray the tenderness of our Lord, in his hope for the disciples to one day stand up again and become others' blessing, even when he has full knowledge that they are imperfect.
I understand that you are probably more familiar with interpreting smaller unit of texts in gospel (technically known as "pericope"), and you are probably not quite familiar with figuring out the plot lines that span multiple pericopes (as in this passage). This passage could serve as a first example of such a reading. We will have more to say about interpreting narratives in the Bible Study training course to begin in the coming September.
- In the biblical world, kings have a special role --- that of a judge. (This model of governance is radically foreign to us who live in Western democracy, in which the judicial power is separated from the executive and legislative powers.) Biblical kings and leaders also assume the role of a judge. For example, one of the most memorable stories about the archetypical king of Israel, Solomon, is the story of him judging a case in which two women fought for a baby (1 Kings 3:16-28). As another example, if you consult the NIV, for the footnotes associated with the word rendered as "lead"/"leader" in 1 Samuel chapter 8, verses 1, 4, 6 and 20, you will notice that the literal rendering of the word "lead"/"leader" should have been "judge". (By the way, 1 Samuel 8 is the story of Israel asking Samuel to find them a king.) To judge in the biblical worldview is to lead. If you are not yet tired of examples, recall the leaders and saviors of Israel in the Book of Judges. They are called, guess what, "judges". So when Jesus says that the disciples are to judge the twelve tribes of Israel, he is appointing them to be leaders in the Kingdom of God.
Reference
- Robert C. Tannehill. The Narrative Unity of Luke-Acts: A Literary Interpretation, Volume one: The Gospel According to Luke. Fortress Press, 1986. See particularly the section on "The Disciples' Defects and Their Role in the Passion", pages 253K274.
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