Luke 10:38 11:13 Sitting at the Feet of Jesus

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1 SMALL GROUP STUDY GUIDES Luke 10:38 11:13 Sitting at the Feet of Jesus Luke 10:41-42 Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her. NOTE FOR LEADERS This document is intended to be used as a discussion guide, rather than a curriculum. As small group leaders, please feel free to lead through the topic as most appropriate for your group. HOUSEKEEPING Things going on at the moment to remind your group of: Save the Dates: o EBC Nights Sunday 15 Nov 5:30pm o Christmas on the Green Sat 12 Dec 4:00pm

2 REFLECT This is a time to generate some discussion around the ideas in the sermon. Some ideas include: Ask the group to debrief for those who missed the sermon on Sunday. What stood out? Do you have any questions? Were there any special moments of clarity where God spoke to you clearly? Why is this important and worth discussion? THE BIG IDEA In this week s text, Jesus comes to Martha s house, who welcomes him in and seeks to serve him as her honoured guest. Meanwhile, her sister, Mary, refuses to help Martha in serving, and instead, chooses to sit at Jesus feet and soak up every moment of his presence. When Martha finally vocalises her frustration to Jesus, asking Him to rebuke Mary and to instruct her to help in serving, Jesus instead gently corrects Martha, explaining that Mary had chosen the better thing: to enjoy his presence. We are prone to compulsively replace the enjoyment of God and our relationship with him for other lessor things. Often these things aren t bad things; in fact they may even be good things, as in Martha s case. Rather, our treasuring of Jesus must stand at the centre of our life and our faith. Following this, in teaching his disciples how to pray, Jesus emphasises strongly that the reality of our relationship with God is what colours our prayer life and gives it a depth and vibrancy. Our prayer life is to be built on this central fact: that our God is our Father who delights to give good gifts to his children. He instructs our prayer to be worship centred and intimate, like time at His feet. But he also teaches us to be bold and persistent in our prayer life. We are encouraged and indeed commanded to ask for all we need. We are to pray to our Father who loves us, who gave himself for us, and who will respond to our prayers with love and provision. EXPLORE Let s dig a little deeper. Use the biblical text to discover what God reveals to us in his Word. RELEVANT SCRIPTURES Luke 10:38 11:13 38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me. 41 But the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.

3 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples. 2 And he said to them, When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. 5 And he said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him ; 7 and he will answer from within, Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! UNDERSTANDING 1. Getting Started: In what ways are we prone to replacing the spiritual reality with a symbol or religious activity? 2. Read Luke 10:38-42 again: a. What does Martha s frustration reveal about what was going on in her heart? b. How did the priorities of Mary put her other responsibilities in perspective? c. Why didn t Jesus rebuke Mary for neglecting her work? d. How did Jesus respond to Martha s distortions? 3. Read Luke 11:1-13 again: a. What is the central truth Jesus is trying to teach us about our relationship with God as Christians? b. What is so significant about praying to God as a loving Father? c. Why does God command us to be bold in prayer? APPLY Help your group identify how the truths from the Scriptures apply directly to their lives. Get group members to talk about the real life implications of the study. 1. Is there any immediate personal response to the sermon necessary for you? 2. Distractions and Substitutes to relationship with Jesus:

4 a. What are our Martha Actions? What things keep you preoccupied and keep your focus off Jesus? b. What do these preoccupations reveal about your heart? Do your priorities line up with your actual actions? c. How are the priorities of our community distorted? d. How can we encourage one another towards gospel-centred priorities? 3. Time at Jesus feet in prayer: a. What of Jesus teaching on prayer here do you find most difficult to live out? Why? What is the remedy that he provides in this text? b. What things can you put in place to make your prayer life more worship-centred? c. What barriers to boldness in prayer do you experience? 4. Is God calling you to any practical application? What positive steps can you take? Is there any active repentance necessary? PRAY Close time in prayer, sitting at the feet of Jesus. Imagine God as a radically generous and always ready friend, as well as a wise, loving, warm father. Ask him boldly what you have not dared asked before. Take time to pray for those in need in our church family, and in our wider community. HELPFUL NOTES Luke 10:38 42 Martha and Mary. village. Bethany (cf. John 12:1). who sat at the Lord s feet. A disciple s proper place (cf. Luke 8:35; Acts 22:3); unlike some in his culture, Jesus encouraged women to study the Scriptures. you are anxious about many things. Cf. Luke 8:14; 12:11, 22 30; 21:34. Mary has chosen the good portion echoes OT passages where the greatest possession is close fellowship with the Lord as one s portion in life (cf. Ps. 16:5; 27:4; 73:26; 119:57; 142:5; also Josh. 18:7). Mary has chosen this, and it will not be taken away from her neither now to help Martha in the kitchen, nor for all eternity. Luke 11:1 13 The Lord s Prayer. These verses include a prayer Jesus taught his disciples (vv. 1 4), a parable about prayer (vv. 5 8), and various encouragements to pray (vv. 9 13). Luke 11:1 Lord, teach us to pray. The request of the disciples is for a distinctive prayer that they can pray as his disciples. Usually referred to as The Lord s Prayer, it would be better to understand this as The Disciples Prayer i.e., as the prayer that uniquely binds them together in a community of worship and intercession and as such it is therefore a distinctively Christian prayer. The prayer underscores the unique relationship of Christian believers to God as their Father (cf. Rom. 8:14 17; Gal. 4:4 7). Luke 11:2 Father is Patēr in Greek and Abba in Aramaic (Mark 14:36; Rom. 8:15 16; Gal. 4:6 7). It was the word used by Jewish children for their earthly fathers. However, since the term in both

5 Aramaic and Greek was also used by adults to address their fathers, the claim that Abba meant Daddy is misleading and runs the risk of irreverence. Nevertheless, the idea of praying to God as Our Father conveys the authority, warmth, and intimacy of a loving father s care, while in heaven reminds believers of God s sovereign rule over all things. The theme of heavenly Father is found throughout the OT (Deut. 14:1; 32:6; Ps. 103:13; Jer. 3:4; 31:9; Hos. 11:1). Jesus disciples are invited into the intimacy of God the Son with his Father. Hallowed be your name is a request that God s name would be honoured and treated with reverence. His name includes his reputation and all that is said about him. Your kingdom come has a twofold emphasis: (1) it is first a prayer that God s rule and reign would continually advance in people s hearts and lives until the day Jesus returns and brings the kingdom in perfect fullness; (2) thus it also refers to the future consummation of the kingdom already realized in part by Jesus coming (Luke 11:20). Luke 11:3 Daily bread includes all of the believer s physical needs, which the Lord supplies not once for all but day by day. Luke 11:4 Forgive us our sins refers not to initial salvation but to the continual confession of sins (cf. 1 John 1:9) needed to maintain one s relationship with God. for we ourselves. Asking God s forgiveness requires forgiving others. Sins and indebted to us are synonyms (cf. Luke 7:41 43, 47 49).lead us not into temptation. This final (sixth) petition addresses the disciples battle with sin and evil. The word translated temptation (Gk. peirasmos) can indicate either temptation or testing (James 1:13). The meaning here most likely carries the sense, Allow us to be spared from difficult circumstances that would tempt us to sin (cf. Matt. 26:41). Although God never directly tempts believers (James 1:13), he does sometimes lead them into situations that test them (cf. Matt. 4:1; also Job 1; 1 Pet. 1:6; 4:12). In fact, trials and hardships will inevitably come to believers lives, and believers should count it all joy (James 1:2) when trials come, for they are strengthened by them (James 1:3 4). Nonetheless, believers should never pray to be brought into such situations but should pray to be delivered from them, for hardship and temptation make obedience more difficult and will sometimes result in sin. Believers should pray to be delivered from temptation (cf. Matt. 26:41; Luke 22:40, 46; 2 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 3:10) and led in paths of righteousness (Ps. 23:3).. The use of the first person plural ( us ) throughout emphasizes that the petitions of The Disciples Prayer are not primarily for the individual but for the entire community of believers. Luke 11:6 Having nothing to set before a guest was unthinkable for a host in Jesus day. Luke 11:7 Do not bother me. The omission of friend (cf. v. 5) reveals the man s aggravation. my children in bed. The entire family is sleeping, and opening the door to the guest would probably awaken everyone. This friend s unwillingness to help is in contrast to God s great desire to help his children (vv. 9 10; cf. 18:1 8). Luke 11:8 Impudence is Greekanaideia, which occurs only here in the NT. In all of its other known uses in ancient literature, the term means lack of sensitivity to what is proper, impertinence, impudence ; it describes being without aidōs ( respect, modesty ). Impudence, then, would indicate that the friend is shamelessly and boldly awakening his neighbour, and of course the neighbour will give him whatever he needs. On this interpretation, Jesus point is that if even a

6 human being will respond to his neighbour in that way, then Christians should go boldly before God with any need they face, for God is more gracious and caring than any human neighbour. Some other interpreters believe that anaideia means persistence here, even though there are no other known occurrences of that meaning. Such a reading does fit the context, however, for the very next verses emphasize that believers must keep seeking, asking, and knocking (vv. 9 10). This would make the parable similar to 18:1 8. Both ideas a kind of shameless persistence are possibly intended by this unusual term. Luke 11:9 10 Jesus tells his followers to ask God (a common term for pray ), seek God (Deut. 4:29; Isa. 55:6; 65:1), and knock at the gates of God for mercy (cf. Luke 11:5 8). The three verbs are all present imperatives, and in this context of teaching a general principle, they encourage prayer as a continual habit of life (cf. 1 Thess. 5:17). The promised result is that it will be given and opened (by God).Everyone who asks receives does not mean that believers always receive what they ask for, because God is wiser than they are and has better plans for his children than they could imagine (cf. Rom. 8:28; 1 Cor. 2:9). Luke 11:11 13 This concluding example in Jesus teaching on prayer (vv. 1 13) is a lesser to greater argument: granted the truth of vv , the concluding statement (v. 13) must be even truer. If you then, who are evil. Human sinfulness would be readily acknowledged by Jesus audience (Genesis 3; Rom. 3:10 23). Fish and eggs were common foods in Palestine, while serpents and scorpions were regular hazards. A far more important gift than material blessings is the powerful anointing and guidance of the Holy Spirit in a believer s life (see Matt. 12:28; Luke 4:1, 14; Acts 1:8; Rom. 8:13 14, 26; 1 Cor. 12:11; Gal. 5:18). REFERENCE: Developed with the help of the following: Tom Wright. For Everyone Bible Study Guides Luke. Ada Lum. A LifeGuide Bible Study Luke: New Hope, New Joy. ESV Study Bible, Crossway.