Jesus and the powerful. Whilst it is true that Jesus spent the majority of his time with the poor, the downtrodden and the marginalized, it is not true that he was therefore against the powerful, influential or rich. Indeed he welcomes powerful people to himself, receives support from the rich, and those who follow him instruct us to pray for our leaders. What he does stand against though, is all forms of pride - religious, social, economic and self-related. Because pride is a barrier to entry into his kingdom of life. Humility is the only way in. Godly humility looks like Jesus. It is neither self-denial, nor self-aggrandizement. Rather it is an acceptance of our gifts and talents, and a receiving of God’s honor towards us - and a submission of our self and our ability to use in his kingdom.

It’s easy to go to extremes in our beliefs about supernatural evil - some become unhealthily obsessed, whilst others can dismiss its existence entirely. In order to be true to the New Testament we must acknowledge both that the demonic exists, but also that this doesn’t now mean all our problems are the result of demons. In fact demonization tends to be relatively rare. When someone is being delivered from the demonic, it is very obvious, so we don’t need to search for demons, demons, everywhere! We can relax!

What Jesus’ deliverance ministry does remind us though is that we live in the midst of a battle. The devil will use anything - the brokenness of our parents, our religious leaders, our friends and fellow believers, and especially ourselves - to steal the life from us. But Jesus is victorious over it all. He is the one who sets us free from all the pain of the past. Let us allow him to be the king of his kingdom and welcome his deliverance from the old and his welcome into the new.

Jesus and the sick. In order to fully experience the life we are intended for we need all of the fullness of Jesus. That means not just receiving his teaching, not just receiving the consequences of his death and resurrection, but also receiving his power and coming under his lordship. Throughout the gospel of Luke Jesus is shown to have authority over death and disease. Everyone is eligible for his healing; it is a natural overflow from his compassion for all people; and it exists as we exercise our faith. The more we trust that he is who he says he is, the more we will see him be true to his promises. At bread we believe we’re being called into more maturity as a community. Maturity means growing in the things of Jesus, all predicated on growing in our faith in him.

Jesus with women: Luke is the New Testament writer with the most references to the role or women in God’s plan of salvation. And when we unpack Jesus' attitude towards and interaction with women in context, we see that he began a revolution for and radical endorsement of the status of women in God’s kingdom. Paul’s assertion that there real are no male or female, for all are one in Christ, is the logical conclusion of Jesus’ treatment of all people. And so, given the gender equality we see promoted in NT, the question for all of us becomes less about what our gender says about who we are, and more about who God says we are as unique individuals. Our job is to give our gifts and calling back to him, and allow him to lead us as we use what we have in service and furthering of his beautiful kingdom.