Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Luke 12:13-21

Ancient Lens

What can we learn from the historical context?

Small Town Boys

The towns in this area were small and close together, but they were not particularly large.  As such, even a few thousand people would have been familiar with each other and what was going on in their communities.  This conflict between brothers—or at least by one brother against another, who may well have been in attendance—was probably a topic of conversation and gossip in the region.  

Why Jesus and Not Their Local Elders?

Rabbis were authorized to settle disputes, so even though Jesus was in the middle of talking about forgiveness and acknowledging him before men in the sense of eternal…

1. What is your first reaction to receiving more than you expected?

2. For whom do we have a responsibility to provide, beyond simply ourselves?

3. How often do we interpret things in our lives as blessings or gifts from God?

4. How often do we interpret those blessings or gifts as being for the use of others?

5. Do you/we have “elders at the city…