EMMAUS SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL STUDIES

I think what I most got out of the book of Luke is that no one is ever an inconvenience to Jesus. Luke shows this by expressing numerous times how Jesus is bringing this new kingdom, and tons of example of it throughout the whole book.  Jesus always has time to heal someone, pray with someone, feed someone, save someone, and talk about the Kingdom to someone. This shows that we have a God that wants to pursue us, and is pursuing us day in and day out. Jesus constantly went out of his way to meet the needs to the people around him, and never told people to come back, because he was too busy.

I want to become like this in my life. My prayer is that I would adapt the attitude, character, and nature of Jesus in my every day life. That is something we so often take for granted in Christian-life, that is; saying the normal statements like “What would Jesus do?” and “Is that Christ-like?” or “Jesus did it like this, or Jesus did it like that.” But, when it really comes down to it, I mean really when you put that mindset into 21st century reality, how often do we justify our individualistic lifestyles to better accommodate “us”, or even worse “me.” I am completely guilty of it also. Could you imagine the kind of impact Jesus had, when no one in need was an annoyance to him! Imagine what that would look like nowadays. “Hey John I’ll meet you at the movies at 7:00″ and right before you leave to get to the cinema, there is a lady that is broken-down on the road and how easy we jump to justifying, rationalizing, and minimizing why we shouldn’t stop, as opposed to the right response of every reason why we should stop. I know this concept seems far off, and it’s easy to say well I am a good servant, and I go out of my way for people. Yes, that’s true, but is it a 24-7 mentality like Jesus echoed, and demonstrated?

As Christians, we need to deal with these really hard questions, and I have definitely been convicted of it. There has to be a way this can be tangible in this society. And, it might even be so tangible, that it will take you to the lengths of having a life that is constantly about other people. Glory to that! Hey after all, Jesus did it!

Lastly, my title of this is blog is supposed to represent how when Jesus served, healed, saved, he did it with 100% holy, right, loving, hot compassion! So, that is what we should be striving after, and hopefully we’ll see it play out in our lives.

            How refreshing Jesus’ love for humanity is in this book! The heart of Luke is to show that Jesus loved and pursued every kind of person, especially the marginalized of society. He loved radically and fiercely. He loved people that were complete outcasts of society, the people who no one wanted to make eye contact with on the streets or touch because of a repelling sickness, even the people others hated because of how they treated them. He directed his love towards those people and was never inconvenienced to love someone else.

            In Luke 5:12-16, Jesus encounters a man who was covered with leprosy. Day after day, if he had the heart to publicly shame himself one more time and enter town, he would have to walk down the streets yelling, “Unclean!”. With his skin rotting, because of Jewish Law, his family and friends would have not been able to come near lest they also become “unclean”. He probably had no relationships and had not felt loved or noticed by anyone in years. People would go out of their way to avoid him. Probably no one looked him in the eyes, not wanting to acknowledge him out of pride or be made to feel guilty. What if the way this lonely, shamed man most felt loved was by physical touch and no one hugged him since he was a child?

             Jesus could have spoken a word to heal him, yet to do so, he touched this man with rotting skin. I can’t even imagine that feeling of restoration and overwhelming love!

            He loves us when we do not deserve it and when society tells us that we aren’t worth loving. He restores our hearts to himself. Without his love, we are aimlessly looking towards other things to fulfill us – success, family, the “American Dream”, slowly realizing they leave the God-shaped vacuum in each one of our souls empty.

            In reading Luke, I am overwhelmed by how alive and fierce Jesus’ love is for humanity. Thus, I am challenged to love others in the same way – with no concern for my reputation or convenience, thinking of others before myself. I’m thankful the Lord is patient with me in rooting out my selfishness!

Luke presents the gospel in a way different from the other gospel writers, because he focuses on Jesus’ concern for the lost. Not just for the Jews, not just for people that were waiting for a Messiah, but for everyone.

Luke accounts numerous parables of Jesus, and many of these parables have to do with the Kingdom of God, and the way that God seeks the lost. The gospel of Luke was written to Theophilus, who was a Roman official, and thus a Gentile. Luke wanted to show Theophilus, that Jesus had indeed come to seek out and save all people, which included Gentiles like himself, and bring them into the Kingdom of God.

Several of Jesus’ parables in the gospel of Luke in particular stood out to me, because they dealt with just one sinner who repented, rather than a large group of people. The parables of the prodigal son, the lost sheep, and the lost coin all demonstrate the fact that God seeks out even one sinner to save them and rejoices over their repentance.

This stood out to me because I realized more deeply that God cares about the individual just as much as the great crowds. Of course, it is a great event when many people are saved, however now I realize that it is no less a great event, when only one person is saved. Numbers don’t matter to God; he seeks even one lost person and rejoices when that person is saved.

So then, when I am applying this truth to my life, I realize that it is not my job to make sure I am witnessing to a lot of people; the numbers don’t matter. My goal should be to love the people that God has put in my life, whether many or few, and to rejoice with those who do get saved, however many that may be.

    The book of Luke is really a sweet portrayal of the compassion of Jesus for those who, in the eyes of the Jews, were the least likely and worthy of receiving it.  The theme of Luke, Jesus’ heart for the lost, appears in every inch of the book and illuminates the fact that, unlike many Christians-myself included, Christ did not hold back, He did not candy coat the truth, so as not to offend others.  The truth is, he offended many, but adhering to social norms and making sure he said things that no one would be sensitive to was not on his agenda, saving them was, and saving them meant breaking social rules.  For me this speaks volumes! I have been a Christian for most of my life and yet I daily battle with whether or not its appropriate to bring up Jesus in a conversation because someone might be offended, basically it’s me trying not to be like the typical Christian that gets a bad reputation for forcing their religion on others or falsely representing the truth.  At this school I am daily gaining the knowledge of the truth, so that I can walk righteously and spread the word rightly, as God intended, fighting against that stereotype!  In this fight I pray the Lord will give me strength and courage to be bold to speak, and to have the disernment of when it is and when it is not appropriate to do so.  Jesus didn’t fear going against the Jewish law and the norms of the society and I should not fear breaking norms and following the religion that many still shun today!

A suffering, serving, humble, Messiah God?  Hmm…that didn’t click really well with anyone really in the book of Mark.  How can a God that is supposed to be all powerful, and come save us, suffer and then die? If  He’s suppose to take the kingship of the Roman pagans, how can he die then? That would be a failed Messiah.  What no one pretty much realized, beside the ones that just had blind faith, were that Jesus didn’t come to set up the 4th kingdom, as an earthly kingdom, he came to set up the Kingdom of God.   And his life, death and resurrection was going to defeat, and offer communion into a relationship with God by dying for the ultimate battle, and ultimate king in our lives: SIN.

So, throughout this book of Mark, it has been highlighted to me over and over, how the disciples spent day in and day out with Jesus, learning to live in Jesus, act like Jesus, forgive like Jesus, serve like Jesus, think outside the box like Jesus, be concerned about heavenly things over earthly things, etc. He also talked of how the Son of Man has to suffer, and die for them, and mankind, and be raised from the dead after three days. They spent countless moments with Jesus, as Jesus paints this picture of what life is supposed to look like. Not only that, but he healed the physically sick in front of them, cast out demons, took the rejected, hurt, neglected under his wing. And to get even more personal, Jesus chose them to be his disciples, and to be examples of him, after he passes.

How could they not see it? Where was their heart, and where was their mind? How could they not just let go, and follow him whole-heartedly? I laughed at the disciples, and scoffed at them for their stupidity, blindness, and hardness of heart. But, after reviewing this book, and scoping on just what God wants to teach me through this book, is that I am no better than a disciple, but even kind of worse, I am a disciple. I do the same things they do. Their earthly desires and expectations stifled on what was right in front of them. I am alike the disciples in so many ways. Maybe I don’t want an earthly kingdom to be set up, but I create an earthly kingdom inside of my mind, wanting people to bow down to my needs. Maybe I don’t want to be seated at the right hand of the throne ruler, but I want to be known as important. Maybe I don’t want to give up the law, but I want to follow the pattern how everyone around me is getting married, and having children and starting this young exciting life. Maybe I don’t want to accept something new like a suffering Messiah, but I certainly don’t want to let go of my old expectations, attached with a chance of suffering.

Within the time disecting this book, I have fallen in love with Jesus more and more, and how it may seem he is frustrated, he simply wants everyone to understand how important he is, and he is the only way to eternal life, the need of a saviour from our biggest battle, our sin. I have been humbled by how much Jesus wants me to let go of these desires in my heart, plans I have made that I want him to meet, letting go of my past, and step into this thing for real. With raw faith. No expectations. So often with my life, and relationship with Jesus I have these things that I think I am keeping hidden from God, (Like he can’t see it or something) of how I want my life to turn out. I put the trump God card on it, thinking and convincing myself that is what God wants for my life. And if it doesn’t turn out like how I wanted, I stomp my feet, and point the finger at God. Mark has taught me that in all seriousness, I really do need to let go of what I want my life to be, and step into this new life that Jesus wants for me. I mean really really do it.

I’ve been saying throughout this lecture that Jesus could only be fully understood through the lens of the cross and resurrection. We’ve seen how the religious leaders, and even the disciples struggled to wrap their minds around this concept of a Messiah who suffers, they just have no categories for this in their minds. Let alone a Messiah who is also God, who willing suffers and dies so that we could be redeemed. Here is what they are having a hard time wrapping their mind around, that their problem is so much bigger then they ever dared imagine. Their problem is so much bigger then the fact that they have the wrong pagan rulers over them, their problem is so much bigger then their need for political freedom and victory, their enemy is an enemy so much greater than an earthly ruler, so much more powerful than the worst of the Roman Emperor’s, their problem is SIN!!! You guys know the story, at the Fall Adam messed things up for everybody! Sin entered the world and now there is a huge problem and no matter how hard man-kind tries he cannot save himself, we see this time and again through out the Old Testament, WE NEED A SAVIOR. You may ask yourself if God is so powerful, so holy, why he couldn’t just destroy sin, wipe it all out and start all over. He certainly could, but in order to do that he would have to destroy us as well. So rather than do that, he wraps himself in human skin, and WILLINGLY SUFFERS AND DIES IN OUR PLACE! He does for us what we could not do for ourselves. The Holy, Infinite, Powerful God, becomes man, and suffers, so that we could go free. Yes God is coming to vindicate his people and deliver them from their enemies, but their ultimate greatest enemy, is SIN, not the Romans. And we can see how hard it was for his disciples to wrap their brains around this, but this doesn’t stop God from going through with it, the fact that so many would misunderstand, that so many wouldn’t get it, it doesn’t stop God, he knows what it will take, and it truly is only through his suffering on our behalf that we could go free!

Stop for a moment and think about the implications of this! Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves! We have peace between us and the Father because of Jesus suffering on our behalf. He took on our punishment, the punishment that we deserved! We now have acceptance, we don’t have to earn it, we don’t have to prove our worth through our efforts and discipline, we don’t have to work up to a certain acceptable spiritual state, we have ALL THAT WE NEED! We have been given every spiritual blessing in CHRIST! All we have to do is place our faith in Him, Yes Lord I believe that you suffered and died in my place, I believe that I am the one who deserved that punishment and I believe that you took that punishment for me! And now I have forgiveness and acceptance and righteousness! Here is the beauty, there is nothing left for us to do, we are free, we’re free to respond in love to this great gift he has given us. We are free to love God and enjoy Him forever! How is that possible, through faith in the SUFFERING, SERVING, MESSIAH, GOD!

    From the moment I started reading the book of Mark this week, I knew my heart was going to be be touched.  It was the first time I read through the text in one sitting; that in and of itself was eye opening, just to see the life of Christ unfold and all he did and how he reacted to different situations all the way up to his resurrection.  On the last day of class Eileen asked us to write down the implications that what we had learned from Mark had on our lives and all my thoughts, emotions, and frustrations came to a peak as I wrote the following:

   “Knowing this means that when I wake up everyday I should not have anything that is demanding of my time other than thanking Christ for who he is and what he did. I don’t have to stress about the day to come and I don’t have to put any other issue or struggle into the limelight because I can be comforted knowing that God is bigger than any of that. God is bigger than marriage, and who you are meant to be with, God is bigger than our futures because he already has that planned out, and God is bigger than our children growing up in a generation that is saturated in sin and selfishness. God is in control and nothing about this world or the people living in it should be daunting to me anymore because in Christ we can conquer all of that daily. We have the armor of God with us to protect us and we have God on the frontlines of the battlefield. I should not fear what others think of me to any degree whether its how I look, how I dress, what I say, or if I’m smart enough, because IT ISN’T ABOUT ME! It isn’t about what I am doing and what I can do; whether or not I can save the world communicating to one Spanish speaking person at a time or  by making one business transaction at a time. My point here on earth is to show people who Christ really was and how that is played out in EVERY part of scripture and that scripture is still ALIVE. It is not dead, it is not antiquated, it is not applicable to just the people who were hearing it at the time. Christ lives in us and through us and this is the point of our time here on earth. He doesn’t care about our economy or the war that is going on (and not to mean in an apathetic way), because he sees to the end and he knows that that is all so small in comparison to what he has in the end.  God is not blind, he is not deaf, he is not uninformed, he is not outdated, God is and has been with us through all time in everything. HE IS EVERYTHING.

   These implications are the things that we must DAILY remind ourselves of because we lose sight of it so quickly!”

 

 The Holy Spirit blessed me in this revelation and I wanted to post it so that others could be blessed as well, for it was not my revelation to keep-the Lord wants us all to be humbled by the power of the gospel!

This gospel is written to suffering, persecuted Christians living in Rome in the first century. Mark writes this gospel to encourage those Christians that Jesus was a suffering servant – not a conquering king like had been expected. They were able to look at what Jesus went through for their sake (so they could be reconciled to God) and look at their own suffering in light of that.

In light of what he did for me, I realize that what I have to offer him is of no significance. I can’t wave to him what I’ve given up for the sake of following him, nor can I cling to my expectations of what this life should be when he gave up everything so that I could be forgiven and reconciled to my Father – his heavenly home, his reputation, his comfort, his physical well-being, and ultimately his life. He did not withhold anything for me.

Why, then, am I so stingy? He may not call me to give up my dreams, my reputation, my health, or my life, but he does call me to live with the perspective that everything I have is his. It should be my pleasure to offer anything I can to him!

How beautiful and freeing that is! I am able to freely give myself out of gratitude, not striving to earn his approval or pay back the debt he paid for me. Therefore, I am free to live in what he purchased for me, living a life of “thank you”– knowing that when I let go of my dreams and expectations, he replaces them with true life and true joy. How beautifully ironic!

One thing that really stood out to me when studying the book of Mark was the theme of serving throughout the entire book. Mark wrote this gospel to the Christians in Rome, who were being persecuted under the Emperor Nero around 66 AD. He is writing to remind them of who they serve, Jesus, the ultimate suffering servant. In this way, the Christians can be comforted that their sufferings are not in vain.

Jesus discusses and exemplifies serving throughout the entire book of Mark, but one case where it stood out to me the most was in Mark 10: 41-45. In these verses, Jesus is explaining to his disciples that those around them, the Gentiles, lord authority over others and act tyrannically because they are the “great ones”. He says that it should not be so among his followers; rather, whoever wishes to be great, must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first, must be slave of all. Thus, in actuality, Jesus is saying that to be great does not mean you act greater than others around you; rather your humbleness and serving heart is what makes you great.

The disciples would see that what God considered great was a heart willing to serve others, no matter if you thought you were greater than them or not.

This implies that God does not consider people great just because they exercise authority over others; rather, greatness is found in humility and serving. Of course, Jesus is the ultimate example of this.

When I looked at this passage, I was struck by how opposite this is to human thinking, and how it is most natural that people in positions of authority truly do “lord it over” their inferiors. However, God does not consider this great at all. He says that the great ones are the servants. Kind of makes you think whether God considers your actions great?

Hi ESBSer’s!!

Love to you all!  I read some of your blogs and it is soo good to see that you are learning so much already!  Isn’t it amazing how God can open your eyes to his truth in the LIVING word of GOD?  Keep on keeping on!

Love to all!

Austin

This book of Ephesians needs to encounter you right now.  This book is something of such great need in anyone’s life.  Because it shows identity in Christ, how to walk that out living a godly life, once again kicking your old ways of the past out. In a life begging for your attention, time and investment, it teaches and equips you how to tune in with who you are in Christ, and through the body of Christ standing firm against the enemy. The church in Ephesus have pretty much strayed thinking that there are things you must do to please certain “elemental spirits” that ascended above earth, but not in the “heavenly places” and in order to get to the heavenly paces, vast array of gods and goddesses wanted them to do certain acts of “worship” to please the elemental spirits. bizarre, huh? well this really happened.  Paul is writing to them stressing them to understand that there is one God, who through Jesus Christ offers a way to God, and he lives inside of the church; body of Christ.  He then goes on clearly stating identity in Christ is through him and should lead you a life worthy, truthful, not darkness but light, and wisdom.  Finally at the end Paul saying the famous spiritual armor that you need to strap on every day.

This goes on to my next point that the end of Ephesians is usually looked at like ‘Oh, heres what we have to do everyday to withstand the enemy,” not taking into consideration the HUGE IMPORTANCE, AND NECESSITY of the first 5 chapters.  Giving us the message that first it is Identity in Christ, leads to good works, because its by grace and faith you have been saved, saints.  Now, lead a life worthy of your calling, through your identity comes works, all awhile identity in Christ attains righteousness, peace, truth, but most importantly shield of faith.

God surprised me by how much he wanted to show me through my identity in Christ who I am.  I have somehow in these past 6 months have been going through this funk, and I couldn’t put my finger on what wasn’t clicking, because I felt unworthy, and distant from Jesus.  I would constantly rehears who I was in Christ, but I didn’t feel strong, and out of tune with Christ.  Ephesians laid rest to that.  God revealed how I didn’t feel worthy in my identity in Christ, and it was causing my “shield of faith” to be weakened.  By that, it only got worse, because once the shield was down, my identity was weak.  The whole point of this is the fact that i’ve been missing the middle part of Ephesians, you know the part about believing in your identity, you are worthy, now walk in the Spirit, with wisdom, truth.  The biggest part of getting back on track with my identity in Christ is not accepting grace in vain.  It is by grace through faith I have been saved, which is the basis for salvation anyways, right?  However this all works out, its true.  Its essential for me to believe it, because lets face it, life without Jesus would be be a bummer.

      Ephesians was an amazing book, packed with deep and impactful timeless truths, some of them obvious and some hidden to the casual reader. For me it was one of the hidden truths that struck the cord in my heart. You see the timeless truth I grasped from Ephesians was one from the observance of the writer rather from the observance of his writing.  Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians as a letter of encouragement, pouring over them the truth of their identity in Christ and then prompting them to live lives worthy of their calling.  What was so special about Paul to me in this letter? The fact that Paul was in prison while writing it, and yet he never stops in the midst of encouraging the others in their walks to complain about his unfortunate position or to solicit any form of empathy.  So I have to ask myself, what kind of friend am I? Am I the friend, who like Paul, is always so concerned about how everyone else is doing that I don’t care to mention I’m not doing so hot myself? No, sadly I’m not. I’m that friend who only when she feels comfortable in her current state, can begin to worry about the state of others. It’s not a fun thing to admit, but that’s me, at least most of the time.  I am learning and growing and fully confident that the more I understand the character of Christ and am transformed by his work for us, the more I will want to be like Him in my acting like Him towards others! Won’t you join me?

Having been a Christian since I was nine, I have become familiar with Christian terminology. However, I have wrestled this week with Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church, with its dense theology, to make its truths relevant to my heart. The purpose of the letter is to encourage the church to remember their identity in Christ – that they have been made fully alive – and in light of that truth, to live godly.

In the first century, the church in Ephesus was surrounded by the worship of Greek gods and goddess – namely, Artemis. Often, they would worship these gods through orgies and meetings with prostitutions. The Ephesians lived in fear of the elemental spirits that controlled their day-to-day life, as well as their eternal destination. At all times, they had to appease these gods, not knowing necessarily if it worked, or which other god they had angered by doing so. The Christian God who does not need anything, but still chooses freely to love and forgive, would have been an enigma to such Ephesians.

The same truths that Paul was writing to the Ephesian church, wrestling with their identity amidst mystery religions and magic, are still true to us today. However, it frustrates me that my heart does not always overwhelm with gratitude for what I have been freed from and given. I have been given life. For this reason, I must rehearse daily what is true:

It is true that I was a stranger, far from Christ. I did not deserve for him to come near and make himself known to me. However, because he did, I am blameless and holy before him – meaning, I am viewed as completely pure, regardless of my past. He chose to love me out of his good pleasure. He did not need me, and still does not need me, thus allowing me to be free to love him in response. I have redemption in him. He paid the ultimate price for me to be free from my sin. I am no longer in bondage or captivity to it. I have the forgiveness of sins. The penalty for every impure motive or action I have ever done or will do has been paid for. In God’s just ways, my punishment by death was completely satisfied in Christ. I have obtained an inheritance. My inheritance is knowing God forever. I was marked with the Holy Spirit. My eternal resting place is guaranteed. I am a member of the household of God. I am God’s child. He is my daddy.

I thank God that truth is independent of my emotions.

Well so far, Ephesians has been my absolute, most favorite book of the Bible! It has SO many good things in it to apply to my life and culture. Originally, Paul wrote this book as a letter to many churches that first went to the church in Ephesus. He instructed the church to live their life in Christ and no longer according to their old habits and ways of thinking. This theme of “in Christ” instead of to, or through, or from, Christ, can be seen throughout the whole book of Ephesians.

The one thing that really stood out to me in the book of Ephesians was Paul’s application of our lives in Christ, in the area of marriage. My whole perception of marriage was changed by these truths. Paul first instructs everyone in the church, including both husbands and wives, to be subject to one another (5:21). He then draws illustrations of how this should look for each spouse.

Wives are to subject themselves to their husband as to the Lord. This simply means that she prefers him and loves him above herself, just as she does with Jesus. It does not mean that she must ask him permission for everything, or grovel at his feet; rather she chooses to lovingly prefer her husband above herself. This requires humility.

Then, husbands are first told to love their “wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (5:25). So how do we see Christ loving his church? Giving himself up for her. Preferring her above himself; allowing himself to become a slave, and be put to death, so that she might have life. Thus, Christ subjected himself and his desires to the church. So too, husbands are to subject themselves and their desires, to their wives.

Also, the husband is referred to as “the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the savior” (5:23). So when looking at how Christ became the head of the church, you see the reason is that he became her Savior. How? By death. Not because he loves power, authority, leadership, etc., but only because of a sacrifice of himself. So too, husbands should be the head of the wife because of the sacrifice of themselves for her. This too requires subjecting themselves to her, with humility. So now, we see that “headship” doesn’t mean “authority, domination, control, or power over”, but rather it implies service.

So now, we see that as the husband is the head, and lays down himself out of love, for his wife, so too she subjects herself to him and prefers him above herself. So in actuality, they are both preferring or subjecting themselves to each other, as Paul commands in (5:21). This takes both humility and love, but how wonderful it is when both husband and wife are preferring each other, and not lording power over each other in an attempt to gain submission or love.

This is such a beautiful picture of Christ’s love for his church, and how it can apply to the area of marriage between a husband and wife. I am so surprised and thankful for Christ’s example of love for us, and how we in turn, can use that love to prefer one another in a Christian marriage.

One of the major themes of Titus is Grace produces change!  Paul is informed of how terrible the church in Crete, which Titus is in charge of, is doing.  It has gone so far from the truth, that Paul has to go back to basic truths of the Gospel reminding them of the grace of God and sound doctrine.  He not only reminds them, but tells Titus to get this thing in order.  It is so corrupt in Crete though, that noone is representing the Gospel, but a few people.  So, basically Paul tells Titus in order to see change, find people that know the Grace of God, then from there, good works will play out.

Speaking the truth out of love is huge in this book.  To expect change from people through the Grace of God is crucial!  Paul is ticked off by how once again there is false teaching going on, and tells Titus to make sure sound doctrine is stable, so noone can refute it.  He goes on to say that it’s not about refuting it though.  You are always going to live with different people’s views, but not to get caught up in them.  Get caught up in Jesus first.  That is my prayer.  That wherever I go, whatever I do, I get caught up in Jesus first with my relationships, conversations, attitudes, and thoughts.  Speaking the truth out of love is being an example of Christ.

This life with Christ is real, and it needs to penetrate every area of my life.  Even if it means that people aren’t going to like it.  First and foremost in my relatonships, I need to be a role model for Christ before I am a brother, cousin, friend, or son. awhile ready to speak the truth of the Gospel out of love.  From that, I should expect change, and never let it rest.