Luke 9:10-17

Key Verse: 9:13a

* HE SPOKE TO THEM ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD (10,11)

1.Where had the apostles been? What might have been the contents of their reports? Why were the Twelve called "apostles" here?

2.Where did Jesus take the apostles and go? What was his purpose in withdrawing with them by themselves? What was the probable mood of the Twelve?

3.Why could Jesus and his disciples not have a quiet staff retreat by themselves? What was Jesus' attitude toward the uninvited crowd? Think about why it might be hard to welcome such a crowd. What does this teach us about Jesus? (Jn 1:14; Lk 15:20)

4.What did Jesus do for the crowd? Why did the crowd need Jesus' message? (Mk 6:34; Jn 14:6; Gn 4:12,13) What is the message of the kingdom of God? How did his healing ministry contribute to this?

* YOU GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT (12-14a)

5.As the day wore on, what problem and practical suggestion for its solution did the Twelve bring to Jesus? What does this show about them?

6.How did Jesus respond? How was his thinking about the crowd different from theirs? How does Jesus' command teach them a sense of responsibility? Why is this important for a servant of God?

7.How did the Twelve respond? What could they do with such an impossible task? What did Jesus want them to learn? (Mk 9:23)

8.What does Jesus' desire to feed the crowd show us about him? (See Mk 8:1-3; Jn 10:11) Can you think of other leaders who reflect Jesus' shepherd heart? (Nu 27:15-17) How can we learn this?

* HAVE THEM SIT DOWN (14b-17)

9.What did Jesus tell the disciples to do? Why? How did this prepare the people for Jesus' blessing?

10. What did Jesus do? What did the people do? What did the disciples do? What can we learn here about Jesus?