NOTES: 1] Last week Jesus was told to 'go away' after healing Legion. Now, Samaritans (part-Jews) don't want anything to do with him. 2] In 51, 'taken up' refers to the whole process of Passion, Resurrection, & Ascension (prefigured earlier by his Transfiguration). 3] In 52, 'messengers' is the same word as 'angels'. 4] 'Fire from heaven' connects back to 2KINGS 1+.

WARMING UP: How much part does bias - of any kind - play in daily life?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Afterthoughts from, follow-up to last week’s Group, or since?

EXPLORING GOSPEL:

51-56    Is there any sense in which we recognize ourselves as messengers sent ahead of Jesus? What about 'on behalf of'  rather than 'ahead of' Jesus? Are we turning down the opportunity to be a true angel if we aren't where Jesus wants us to be, when he wants us to be there? Is our understanding of 'spiritual gifts' broad enough to include gifts like the determination Jesus shows here. How is our effectiveness as messengers, etc., limited if we restrict our understanding of God's gifts?
             Do we ever assume 'outsiders' won't be interested in Jesus, or are incapable of responding to him? Where does this leave our outreach, of any kind, for Jesus? Do we ever, in any way, try to 'call down fire from heaven' on people who aren't where we'd like them to be along the faith path? Is God's fire ever anything other than the fire of love? Are we sometimes too prone to invoke the wrong kind of fire?
             Are we ever conscious that God is rebuking us - for something we're doing, or not doing? Does that only happen to those not Christians, or our kind of Christian? How do we discern when it's time to walk away from a situation & move on?

57-62   Have we ever got as far as saying to God revealed in Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go"? How did we fare  with such a good intention? What if we haven't ever made such a declaration of intent? Where does that leave us? God?
            What 'fox-holes' or 'bird-nests' have we settled for along life's way? What about 'having nowhere to lay our head'? Or was that kind of imagery OK as a 1st C. approach, but not any more? Why shouldn't we live in a comfortable home, have a comfortable bed, in our kind of society?
            Why is 'burying our parents' so important to us, culturally & religiously? How can Jesus say that it's not as high priority as 'proclaiming the kingdom (Rule) of God'? Why is Jesus being so tough here? Isn't that just going to put people off?
            Are there people (or things?) we haven't really left behind for good since we began following Jesus? Are any of them  still a distraction, causing us to 'look back'? Can we think of anything more scarey than 'not being fit for the kingdom of God'?  i
            If Jesus is saying things like: a) A disciple doesn't need to know where he / she's going to sleep tonight; b) There's a more important responsibility than burying our parents; c) There's no going back, in God's eyes, under any circumstance; can we really bear to meet any, let alone all, of these standards? Why not just give up now? Is this side of Jesus & his teaching a necessary corrective to some of the sloppy stuff that's around? If there's a bright side to all of this, what is it?