Cudgle your brain in Luke!

For reference, now and in the future, all comments will be referring to the English Standard Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.  It's my favorite right now.


Luke 9:44-45
The concept of meaning being concealed from some, while being made known to others comes up quite often.  Why would God intentionally cause somone to be unable to understand something that he has allowed them to hear, especially when it concerns the truth of Christ?


Luke 9:51-56
I find it funny that the disciples would ask Jesus, the very one who granted them authority in the first place, if they should destroy the Samaritan village for rejecting Jesus.  Jesus was right there with them...if he wanted it done he could have easily done it himself.  It's almost as if the disciples were beginning to take joy in their power and wanted every excuse to exercise it...as if they were disappointed in the mercy of Jesus on the town and hoped to sway him in his decision.  But of course Jesus rebukes them (what a great word "rebuke" is) and puts them in their place.  One more thing: does this passage imply that the disciples had in fact previously called down fire upon a village?  Yikes.  I don't remember that authority being given in the first part of the chapter. 


Luke 10:1
Who are these seventy two and how are they different than the twelve (given authority and sent out in Luke 9:1-6)?  What is the significance of two disticnt groups accomplishing seemily identical goals?  Jesus instructs both groups similarly as to how they are to travel and where they should stay.  He also gives them both authority to cast out demons, however, the disciples are able to heal and no mention is made of the 72 having such authority.  I'm too lazy to look now, but perhaps the other gospels provide more insight.


Luke 11:24-26
This passage is just plain eerie and uncomfortable.  What is it trying to convey and how does that apply to our lives now?  It could simply be describing the constant nagging of sins we've overcome (or thus far managed to resist), and the doubling of efforts by the enemy.  For such a simple concept though, there is a lot of specific description given to the travels of the unclean spirit.  What's the significance here?


Luke 11:29-32
I won't get into it here, but the sign of Jonah is pretty interesting.  Look it up on google and see what sort of articles come up.  If you happen to start reading something about how the sign of Jonah disproves Christ's claims in the Bible, then you're in for some good reading.  Follow up by finding the counter to that argument...even better reading :)