Lenten Reading March 1st, 2016

Reading Guide for Lent

Each day read the Gospel passage for the day and the Psalm passage for the day (you can read them all at once or do one reading in the morning and one in the evening) and use the reflection questions to help process the passage.

The 18th day of Lent

Tuesday March 1^st, 2016

Gospel Reading:  Luke 18

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18      Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ²He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

⁴“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ”

⁶And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

¹³“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

¹⁴“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The Little Children and Jesus

¹⁵People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. ¹⁶But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

¹⁸A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ²⁰You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”

²¹“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

²²When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²³When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. ²⁴Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

²⁷Jesus replied, “What is impossible with human beings is possible with God.”

²⁸Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”

²⁹“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God ³⁰will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time

³¹Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. ³²He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; ³³they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”

³⁴The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

A Blind Beggar Receives His Sight

³⁵As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. ³⁷They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”

³⁸He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

³⁹Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁰Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, ⁴¹“What do you want me to do for you?”

“Lord, I want to see,” he replied.

⁴²Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” ⁴³Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.

The Holy Bible : Today's New International Version. 2005. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Reflection Questions:

1. In verses 1-30 we have a collection of stories.  Write down what is the lesson on each story?
2. What do these lessons tell us about being ready for God’s kingdom?
3. When Jesus predicts His death a third time (31-34) why do His disciples not understand?  What does the blind man in the next story have to do with it?
4. The Blind man sees!  What important title does the blind man give Jesus?  (see Luke 20:41).

Psalm Reading:  Psalm 2

¹Why do the nations conspire

and the peoples plot in vain?

²The kings of the earth rise up

and the rulers band together

against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,

³“Let us break their chains

and throw off their shackles.”

⁴The One enthroned in heaven laughs;

the Lord scoffs at them.

⁵He rebukes them in his anger

and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,

⁶“I have installed my king

on Zion, my holy mountain.”

⁷I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;

today I have become your father.

⁸Ask me,

and I will make the nations your inheritance,

the ends of the earth your possession.

⁹You will break them with a rod of iron;

you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

¹⁰Therefore, you kings, be wise;

be warned, you rulers of the earth.

¹¹Serve the Lord with fear

and celebrate his rule with trembling.

¹²Kiss his son, or he will be angry

and you and your ways will be destroyed,

for his wrath can flare up in a moment.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.