September 20, 2018
We spent our time in Luke 14 last night, tackling three of the parables that Jesus told around the table of a prominent Pharisee’s house. I had the students break up into different groups to study different sections of the text, focusing on: the setting, characters, Jesus’ actions, and, of course, the parables. The students noted that the Pharisee’s had invited Jesus to their table not to give him a nice meal, but to trap him into breaking the Sabbath. Seeing their intentions, Jesus smarty responded in such a way that all of the pharisee’s were stunned in silence. Then, he proceeded to tell three parables, addressing the self righteousness of the Pharisee’s hearts.
Of course, the Pharisee’s were very familiar with the Old Testament Promises of God, including the promise of the resurrection of the dead, and how it was related to a great banquet in Isaiah 25:6-9. Knowing this, Jesus used the analogy of a banquet to rebuke the Pharisee’s for their prideful hearts, stating in Luke 14:11 “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” We unpacked the parables, but our key takeaway was that we have a tendency to be just as self righteous as the Scribes and Pharisee’s. We need to take Jesus’ words to heart here, that only the humble will be exalted. We connected this to Paul’s admission in 1 Timothy 1:12-16 that, although he was formerly a blasphemer and persecutor, he was saved on the basis of his faith that Jesus covers his sins… not on the basis of his righteousness. We spent some time following up in small groups talking about how we can daily humble ourselves to the glory of God. It was a well spent night in the Word!
Please note that next week, we’ll be hosting a parent meeting at the same time as youth group! We’ll be going over the upcoming youth group schedule, the current series, and address whatever questions or concerns that you may have! If your available, I would love to have you join us for the evening!
Categories: Youth Night Updates, Youth Parables