Welcome to our new project, the Daily Bible Devotional. The goal is to help you understand and apply

scripture as you go through a New Testament Bible read five days a week, Monday through Friday,

as we move from Matthew straight through to Revelation. In under four minutes each morning, we will recap the chapter,

make some application, present thought questions for the day, and offer a prayer together.

I'm excited about exploring God's word with you, so let's get started.

Welcome to our Bible study today from Luke chapter 19.

Compassion and repentance go together.

Jesus has compassion for a tax collector by approaching him,

and Zacchaeus responds by repenting of his sinful past.

Jesus establishes a kingdom of workers who will carry his saving message.

As the parable of the minas indicate,

some will reject him and be wasteful with their opportunities, but those who engage enthusiastically

in sharing him with others will be rewarded. As Jesus approaches Jerusalem for the last time,

some worshippers gather to praise him, but sadly many in Jerusalem do not. It hurts Jesus to see

so many reject his mercy. Jesus goes to the temple to drive out the greedy men, and this enrages the

Jewish leaders. These men prove to be the hateful and wasteful citizens from the parable of the minus.

Let's look at these characters a bit more closely.

Jesus went out of his way to help a tax collector in a tree, a man most would avoid.

The parables of the minas or even the talents is only understood from this perspective.

The work of cultivating his investment in us demands reaching people who are seeking Jesus. Evangelism is at the

heart of discipleship. Jesus came to seek and save the loss. The Jewish leaders simply could not

understand this. They wanted to protect their own established traditions, even though it had led to

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