The Life of the Christ - ForMinistry

Luke 17, 18
between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten
men with leprosy came toward him. They stood at a distance 13 and
shouted, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 Jesus looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to
the priests.”
On their way they were healed. 15 When one of them discovered
that he was healed, he came back, shouting praises to God.
16 He bowed down at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The
man was from the country of Samaria.
17 Jesus asked, “Weren’t ten men healed? Where are the other
nine? 18 Why was this foreigner the only one who came back to
thank God?” 19 Then Jesus told the man, “You may get up and go.
Your faith has made you well.”
God’s Kingdom
20 Some Pharisees asked Jesus when God’s kingdom would
come. He answered, “God’s kingdom isn’t something you can
see. 21 There is no use saying, ‘Look! Here it is’ or ‘Look! There it
is.’ God’s kingdom is here with you.”
22 Jesus said to his disciples:
The time will come when you will long to see
one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not.
23 When people say to you, “Look there,” or “Look
here,” don’t go looking for him. 24 The day of the
Son of Man will be like lightning flashing across the
sky. 25 But first he must suffer terribly and be rejected
by the people of today. 26 When the Son of Man
comes, things will be just as they were when Noah
lived. 27 People were eating, drinking, and getting
married right up to the day when Noah went into the
big boat. Then the flood came and drowned
everyone on earth.
28 When Lot lived, people were also eating and
drinking. They were buying, selling, planting, and
building. 29 But on the very day Lot left Sodom, fiery
f lames poured down from the sky and killed
everyone. 30 The same will happen on the day when
the Son of Man appears.
31 At that time no one on a rooftop should go
down into the house to get anything. No one in a
field should go back to the house for anything.
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Jesus Goes to Jerusalem
32 Remember what happened to Lot’s wife.
33 People who try to save their lives will lose
them, and those who lose their lives will save them.
34 On that night two people will be sleeping in the
same bed, but only one will be taken. The other will
be left. 35-36 Two women will be together grinding
wheat, but only one will be taken. The other will
be left.
37 Then Jesus’ disciples spoke up, “But where will this
happen, Lord?”
Jesus said, “Where there is a corpse, there will always be
buzzards.”
A Widow and a Judge
18 Jesus told his disciples a story about how they should keep on
praying and never give up:
2 In a town there was once a judge who didn’t
fear God or care about people. 3 In that same town
there was a widow who kept going to the judge and
saying, “Make sure that I get fair treatment in court.”
4 For a while the judge refused to do anything.
Finally, he said to himself, “Even though I don’t fear
God or care about people, 5 I will help this widow
because she keeps on bothering me. If I don’t help
her, she will wear me out.”
6 The Lord said:
Think about what that crooked judge said.
7 Won’t God protect his chosen ones who pray to
him day and night? Won’t he be concerned for them?
8 He will surely hurry and help them. But when the
Son of Man comes, will he find on this earth anyone
with faith?
A Pharisee and a Tax Collector
9 Jesus told a story to some people who thought they were
better than others and who looked down on everyone else:
10 Two men went into the temple to pray. One
was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The
Pharisee stood over by himself and prayed, “God, I
thank you that I am not greedy, dishonest, and