1. Luke 16:19-31. What do we learn about the fate of the lost from this story, whether it is just a parable or was an actual incident?

• The rich do not care for the things of God, quite often.
• The poor have room for God in their lives, and learn to love Him.
• Death and burial are not the end.
• In the abode of the dead there is torment, even before the final judgment.
• Abraham is alive and well and has entered the Kingdom of Heaven.
• The Kingdom that the rich man missed is now visible to him.
• Pride still dominates the unsaved after death.
• There is a great gulf between where Abraham is and where the lost are.
• The damage done to the soul on earth is irreparable in the next life.

2. Luke 17:2. Who are the “little ones”?

The choices: Little children or those who have just come into the Kingdom of God. Matthew 18 is the parallel passage and seems to include both categories: Jesus calls a little child to Himself and says about him, “…whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble…”

Rather than choosing between the two, let us resolve never to put any sort of stumbling block in front of a little child, a Christian who is a child, a new disciple of Jesus… or anyone else. The consequences of such actions are easy to understand.

3. Mark 9:44. What “worm” is this?

It is hard to find a commentator who wants to take this word literally. It is a quote from Isaiah, and depicts the idea of endless suffering. Worms feed on dead carcasses. But if the carcasses are not really dead, but are equipped to be in existence forever, so their destroying worms will go on feeding for that long.

Jehovah does not choose words casually, whether speaking through the prophet Isaiah, the Gospel writer Mark, or His own Son Jesus. If this is not a literal worm in a literal fire feeding on a literal carcass, write it down that it will be something in the “real world” of equal horror. This is not a scare tactic, though scare us it should. This is fact. This is awful eternal fact.

4. Mark 9:49. What is the meaning of this statement?

One very possible meaning is that the fire of eternal punishment is eternal. Salt is a preservative. It keeps things from perishing. In this instance, the salt God uses to preserve the wicked… is fire. Awful thought.

5. Matthew 18:18. The same promise as to Peter? How was it fulfilled?

The context of the words spoken to Peter is the giving of the Keys of the Kingdom, devices used to open and shut doors. It was these very keys that opened the Gospel to believing Jews, then believing Gentiles, as recorded in Acts.

But the context here is quite different. Though there is a common element, namely, the use of the Word of God.

It has to do with church discipline. If a brother sins against you, tell him his fault, try to take care of it yourself. Doesn’t work? Take a witness or two along with you, and approach him again. Still nothing? Tell the whole church, via the ordained leaders, we assume. Still no response? You must cut yourself off from that brother.

Then comes the statement in question about binding and loosing. In this case, the common believer holds a key of sorts, to allow in or force out an offending brother. God says that what you decide through this patient, careful, prayerful approach, will be ratified in Heaven.

God is going to be with his Church.

6. Luke 17:20. Will we not see the Kingdom coming with our eyes?

The key here is the defining of “Kingdom.” In fact, the Kingdom was already on the earth in the form of the King and His followers. All they lacked then was a physical domain. And this the true followers of Jesus will continue to lack until His return. But the domain is real nonetheless, in the hearts of the faithful.

The Kingdom has entered nation after nation since those days, causing some to become citizens of that Kingdom, while causing others to take themselves out of the running forever. There are miracles in some places. But no earth-shattering signs for now. Just a constant quiet plodding through the earth, awaiting the time when all of this will be changed. Eventually the Kingdom will come in power and glory and with no doubt about it.

7. Luke 17:37. What is the meaning of this response?

The disciples want to know where all of this returning of the Lord will take place. And Jesus talks about vultures gathering over a dead body. What is the connection?

The body. What is the body here? The people of God? The antichrist and his helpers, confronting Christ on His return? It will be something or someone significant to the Bible story. A place where it will be obvious for the final battle to take place.

The vultures? In Revelation 19:19, Satan gathers the “dead” of earth to make war against Jesus. So, judgment falls there first.

We know that Jesus will touch down on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4). Jerusalem will continue to be the focal place of this Planet.

8. Matthew 19:10. What did the disciples mean, “… it is better not to marry…”

The mentality of the disciples is a first-century Jewish mind-set. The notion was everywhere that a woman could be put away for the least of infractions. If she displeases you, they implied, send her packing. Why suffer for the rest of your life with a troublesome woman?

Come to think of it, this is the mentality of 21^st century Americans, unfortunately some of them calling themselves Christians.

Now Jesus comes along and says, No, as long as she is faithful to you, you are to remain faithful to her. She’s not to be thrown out like a torn shirt. We think of Jesus’ attitude toward a “smoking flax” or a “bruised reed.” Constant patience and acceptance. Regardless.

This was a new and very extreme consideration for the twelve, and their immediate response was, “In that case, it’s better not to marry at all!”