Gospel of Luke 18:1-34

Are you ready?

Gospel of Luke
Paul J. Bucknell

Handling Hopelessness (Luke 18:1-8) | Facing Self-righteousness (Luke 18:9-14) | Caring for the Neglected (Luke 18:15-17)

False Confidence (Luke 18:18-27) | The Reward of Faithfulness (Luke 18:28-30) | Lesson to Remember (Luke 18:31-34)

Personal preparations that make an eternal difference!

What kind of preparations did the disciples need to face the sufferings of Christ?

How can we get ready now for what we yet need to face in the future?

An Introduction (Gospel of Luke 18:1-34)

As Christ approaches the cross, He readies His disicples for what they would soon be facing. He was guarding them from hopelessness that might arise after seeing their hope disappear at the cross. Although they could not understand any of this, Jesus simply reminded them to keep praying even when things looked dark. The disciples were now facing another problem of self-righteousness.

Jesus exposed two kinds of self-righteousness, both of which are devasting. The first had to do with comparing themselves to others while the other was to think that they had fulfilled the law when in fact they were far from it. The disciples were as blind as the ruler, perhaps worst. Jesus told the disciples several times about His coming death, but they refused to listen. They insisted on living on in their dreams which would never be fulfilled, at least in their way.

Some of the six passages listed in this mini-series are probably very much influenced by the passages before or after it. We suggest that the last section (18:31-34) give us insight into their total lack of readiness, hence the importance of this chapter's teachings.


Handling Hopelessness

The persistent widow – a lesson on persistent prayer

Luke 18:1-8

The Bible Text (Luke 18:1-8)

Ready for the ride?Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God, and did not respect man. “And there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ “And for a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, lest by continually coming she wear me out.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now shall not God bring about justice for His elect, who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1-8, NASB).

An Introduction (Luke 18:1-8)

As we look at the whole chapter and the context at the end of Jesus' earthly ministry before His sufferings (Triumphal entry is in Luke 19), we should be aware of the way Jesus is preparing His disciples for the drastic changes that they soon would face. He is quietly preparing them as He is preparing us.

The Lord in the same way is addressing all of us so that we would be ready any dark times ahead of us. It is at the difficult times, we need to persevere. When it is dark, remember the dawn is coming. When things seem hopeless, it is just at that time we need to keep on praying.

The Bible Study Questions (Luke 18:1-8)

• Have you ever faced a situation where you thought about giving up praying? Explain. Did you give up?

• Why do people give up hope?

• What is Jesus’ point of the parable of the judge and the widom as said in Luke 18:1?

• Describe the parable in Luke 18:2-7. If you can, act it out!

• What are the key components of this parable (Luke 18:2-7)? How might we face them in our lives?

• Why would the Lord compare God with an unrighteous judge (Luke 18:6-8)?

• Why might God’s people cry out day and night (Luke 18:7)?

• Why does God delay help to His people? (Note: how they have to keep crying out).

• What is the answer to Jesus’ question, “Will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:9)?

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“That at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart” (Luke 18:1).

The Application Questions

• Have you accepted the fact that one day you might face some serious problem without immediate resolve? How might you handle that? In Job’s case, his wealth, family, friends and health were stripped from him.

• Why does God allow such things happen to His people? What should our resolve be in such cases?

• What will the end of the world be like (cf. Luke 17:20-37)? If many people fall away, will you join them? How do you know? Can you be sure?

A Summary (Luke 18:1-8)

 Jesus is preparing His people for the worst. He knows things will drastically change for the worse (18:31-34). His days on earth are limited. Once gone, they must live by faith.

Faith is essential to communion with God. Without faith, we have no hope. The strength of our faith comes from the time we spend with Him each day. Satan tries to bring dire circumstances on us so that we will lose faith and stop praying. God, however, wants to keep us praying because He wants to do great and mighty things through our prayers. It is not us doing the great things, but Him. We are reminded of His great power as we day and night cry out to Him in prayer and see Him answer prayer in His time.

Darkness will come. Will we continue to pray?


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Personal preparations that make an eternal difference! Luke 18

Hopelessness 18:1-8) | Self-righteousness (18:9-14) | Caring (18:15-17) | False-confidence (18:18-27) |
Faithfulness (18:28-30) | Reminders (18:31-34)

Biblical Foundations for Freedom - Resources on the Gospel of Luke

INTRODUCTION TO CHRIST
(Luke 1-3)

Luke Introduction pdf
Luke Teaching Outline pdf
Luke 1:26-38 Christmas Lights pdf
Luke 1:45-55 Christmas Prayer pdf
Luke 1:56-75 Notes pdf
Luke 1:57-80 John's Birth pdf
Luke 2:1-20 Jesus' Birth pdf
Luke 2:8-20 Good News pdf
Luke 3:1-38 Jesus & John pdf
Luke 3:21-38 Genealogy pdf

THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST
(Luke 4-9:36)

Luke 5:27-32 Needy pdf
Luke 5:33-35 Fasting Discipline pdf
Luke 5:36-39 New-Wineskins pdf
Luke 6:1-11 Sabbath pdf
Luke 6:11-19 Character & Calling pdf
Luke 7:1-10 Faith html
Luke 7:11-17 Widow & Son html
Luke 7:18-35 John the Baptist html
Luke 7:36-50 Two-debtors html
Luke 7:1-50 Faith pdf
Luke 8:22-25 Storm-Stilled pdf
Luke 8:26-39 Demoniac pdf
Luke 8:40-56 Power-Death pdf

Luke 9:1-36 Handout Questions pdf
Luke 9:1-10 Sending out Twelve html
Luke 9:11-17 Feeding of 5000 html
Luke 9:18-26 Life of Denial - Questions html
Luke 9:27-36 Glory of Christ html
Luke 9:37-48 Greatness pdf
Luke 9:45-55 Pride & Leadership pdf
Luke 9:57-62 Discipleship html | pdf | Questions html | pdf
Luke 9:57-10:2 Mission Ready html | pdf {See NT Library for more}
Luke 10:1 Mission Involvement html
Luke 10:2a Mission Worldview html
Luke 10:2b Prayer & missions html
Luke 11:1-5 Content of Prayer pdf
Luke 11:14-26 Participating in Prayer pdf
Luke 11:14-28 Prayer Strategy pdf
Luke 11:5-13 Persistent in Prayer pdf

INSTRUCTION IN VIEW OF CHRIST'S REJECTION
(Luke 12-19:27)

Luke 12:25-26 A Perspective on Worry html
Luke 13:1-5 Understanding Disasters html | pdf
Luke 13:18-19 Mustard Seed pdf
Luke 13:20-30 Leaven & Decisions pdf
Luke 13:31-35 Mission Growth pdf
Luke 14:1-14 Teaching html | pdf
Luke 14:15-35 Commitment html | pdf
Luke 15:1-2 Lost pdf
Luke 15:3-10 Lost Sheep pdf
Luke 15:11-32 Lost Son pdf
Luke 16:19-31 Lazarus pdf
Luke 17:11-19 Perfect Response pdf
Luke 18:1-34 Being Prepared pdf
Luke 18:1-8 Hopelessness html
Luke 18:9-14 Self-righteous html
Luke 18:15-17 Neglected html
Luke 18:18-27 False-Confidence html
Luke 18:28-30 Faithfulness html
Luke 18:31-34 Remember html
Luke 18:35-43 Blind Man pdf
Luke 19:1-10 Tax Collector pdf
Luke 19:11-27 Ten Minas pdf

PASSION OF CHRIST & BEYOND
LUKE 19:28-24)

Luke 19:28-40 Palm Sunday pdf
Luke 19:35-38 Entry html
Luke 19:41-44 Weep Lost pdf
Luke 19:45 20-47 Preach pdf
Luke 20:26-40 Eternity pdf
Luke 22:1-06 The-Plot html
Luke 22:1-30 Introduction html
Luke 22:7-13 The Preparation html
Luke 22:14-23 The Passover html
Luke 22:24-30 Leadership html
Luke 22:1-30 Lord's Supper pdf
Luke 22:29-36 Temptation pdf
Luke 22:31-65 Temptation Handout pdf
Luke 24:13-35 Questions pdf
Luke 24:13-53 Resurrection pdf

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