Purpose: To rejoice that we can express in prayer that we are sick and sinful and only God can make us whole.
Scripture: James 5:13-18
What are some situations in life when most people pray?
I love the story of the man who sat on his roof while floodwaters crept up his house. The man cried out to the Lord to be rescued. He was offered a ride in a kayak. He declined. He said, “I’m waiting for God to rescue me.” He waved off a small fishing boat. He dismissed a helicopter hovering overhead. Each time he professed with ever growing indignation, “I will wait for the Lord Almighty to save me from this flood!” He was convinced the Lord would perform some spectacular miracle and deliver him from his roof.
Well, eventually, the water reached the roof and the currents swept the man away to his death. In Heaven, the man told an angel, “You know, I was faithful my entire life. Why did God not answer my prayer?”
Can you guess the angels response? “God sent you a kayak, a fishing boat, and a helicopter. What more did you need?”
Clearly, the man had his own idea of how God should deliver him from the flood, but God did not cooperate.
Have you ever been there?
We’ve all been there. “God, I know you’re the Almighty, but I believe I have a better understanding about this situation.” We often bring our concerns and requests before God, and then we give him a choice of what we consider acceptable resolutions and a time frame in which to accommodate us. We are surprised and sometimes angry when the Creator disregards our human logic and reasoning.
How have you seen prayer bring changes in people or circumstances?
What should a person do when he or she is in trouble? Why? (see James 5:13, 15)
What should a person do when he or she is happy? Why? (5:13, 15)
What should a person do when he or she is sick? Why? (5:14-15)
How can we use prayer to help someone who is sick?
When do you find it most difficult to pray? Why?
How does prayer help shape and grow your faith?
What are your views about anointing with oil and praying for healing?
When have you had the opportunity to pray specifically for someone or for a special need?
Why is prayer important? (5:15)
13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
James 5:13-18 (NRSV)
What are some things that we may be reluctant to pray about?
Why are we sometimes reluctant to pray?
What does James mean by “suffering”?
How do we respond when someone says that they have prayed for healing for another person, but the person was not healed?
I am going to tell you a story.
Some of you may have heard this before.
My daddy was dying. He had developed emphysema and had been totally unable to work for several years. At that time all he could do was sit and read. And that’s what he did. He could not even walk to the next room without an oxygen bottle. This was at the time that I was first acknowledging that I was a Christian. I, for the first time in my life, developed a prayer habit. I prayed all the normal young Christian prayers: “Thank you God for your blessings, thank you for my family and my church, take care of Daddy, amen.” In my immaturity, I always thought of that “take care of Daddy” as equivalent to “make Daddy better, heal his body.” I was not the only person praying for Daddy, I’m sure. There was my wife and daughter, my mother and my brother. And there was a preacher who was visiting Daddy regularly.
Daddy had known Andy for years. They both were both farm equipment salesmen and were acquainted through business. Andy was also a preacher, preaching at the church down the road that my daddy had grown up in. In the forty years that I had known Daddy, I could only remember a couple of funerals that he had been to inside a church. I have no memory at all of Daddy going to a church for any other reason. Daddy, being the reader he was, read the Bible and had some tough questions for Andy. Daddy knew he was dying. He also knew what the Bible said about salvation.
Andy assured Daddy that all he needed was faith, but Daddy felt a desire to be baptized. One of the most moving services that I have ever witnessed was the night that a few members of Hebrew Free-Will Baptist church gathered at Daddy’s house along with the family and Andy sprinkled Daddy and we all sprinkled tears. I cried more that night than I did at Daddy’s funeral a two months later.
Do you see the point of my telling this story?
God did “take care of Daddy”. My prayers WERE answered, only in a way that I would not have imagined. God “took care of Daddy” all right. God took care of Daddy in a way so far beyond my immature imaginings that I did not really realize the implications until much later. The healing that God brought to Daddy was much, much greater than if he had been given new lungs.
Why should we confess our sins to one another? (5:16)
What healing is promised to the person who confesses their sin to God, but never to another human being? (5:16)
Why not just confess your sin individually and privately to God-why confess to someone else?
Some Christians do practice confessing their sins to people (priests). We Protestants generally confess our sins directly to God.
Why does James say confess your sins one to another?
How does our church provide for the confession of sin so that it serves a redemptive purpose in our lives?
The Protestant Reformation never taught that we do not need to confess our sins to a priest. But….the Reformation brought us the concept of the priesthood of all believers. We are all priests.
Do we need a priest (another believer) to confess to?
What is the role of clergy in hearing confessions in the UMC?
Do you like the idea of confessing your sins to one another?
What are the benefits of confessing our sins one to another? What does it cost us to not confess our sins one to another? What happens to us individually and to the church when we fail to confess?
There is something very healing about coming clean to someone who will listen and respond in a godly way.
Quote of the day: "We are only as sick as our secrets." - Rick Warren
What qualities would you look for in someone to confess your sins to?
Do you think it would be a good idea to confess all your sins all at once, or get into it gradually?
Have you ever been hurt by confessing your sin to someone who could not keep a secret? Who has a story?
Does failure to confess affect the outcome of our prayers?
What is the effect of a righteous person’s prayers? (5:16)
How do you understand James’ statement that “the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective”?
Does our righteousness obligate God to answer our prayers?
Who is a good example of how God answers prayer? How? (5:17-18)
Think about Elijah. What do we learn about following God from Elijah?
Have you seen prayer bring changes in people or circumstances?
Would anyone care to share any real-life examples of how God answers prayer?
What hinders Christians from praying with confidence?
What hinders Christians from confessing sins and praying for each other?
If we confess our sins to God, why should anyone else have to know about it?
What circumstances beyond our control can we affect through prayer?
Do you think God is pleased when we bring our joys as well as our needs to Him in prayer?
What would it take for us to learn to be honest with God and with one another?
What does our church do to create a climate in which we all can be honest with one another and build healthy relationships?
James tells us that we are to:
¨ Pray about bad feelings and circumstances.
¨ Sing with cheerfulness.
¨ Pray for the sick.
¨ Confess our sins.
How effective is our church in providing opportunities for these things to happen?
Which of these opportunities lend themselves to small groups?
Which are better suited to a worship service?
Which has been particularly meaningful to you? Why?
Friday, August 29, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Book Study
We have started a new book study (Wednesday nights 6:30 in the Grace Sunday School Class room). The book is The 4:8 Priciple: The Secret to a Joy-Filled Life by Tommy Newberry, a motivational speaker from Atlanta. The study is being led by Bill Burke.
The book is inspired by Philippians 4:8:
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Phil 4:8 (NRSV)
The key word in that verse being "think". If we can learn to control our thoughts, to make all of our thoughts honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable we will experience joy.
The book is inspired by Philippians 4:8:
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Phil 4:8 (NRSV)
The key word in that verse being "think". If we can learn to control our thoughts, to make all of our thoughts honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable we will experience joy.
Sunday School Lesson: Wise Speakers
After reading and studying this week’s lesson I am almost tempted to say let’s just read the scripture and then meditate in silence for the remainder of our time. I think that would make the most impact.
But, I also realize that the chance of this class sitting in silence is pretty slim….and that’s a good thing.
So…here’s the lesson.
Lesson: Wise Speakers
Purpose: To recognize that God’s wisdom gives us the power to control the tongue and speak true and constructive words.
Scripture: James 3
If you could hear a tape recording of everything you said last week, what would you want to edit out?
Listen to these quotes and tell me what you think of them. I’m not going to tell you who said what, but you can guess if you want to….
"I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that." (This statement made shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast)
"As millions of people anticipate the release of the latest Harry Potter book and film, we're reminded once again of Satan's ongoing attempt to deceive and destroy. The whole purpose of the Potter books is to desensitize readers and introduce them to the occult."
"Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom (Washington, D. C. neighborhood, home to the U. S. State Dept.) to shake things up"
"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say: "You helped this (Sept. 11) happen."
“God told me: I want you to get this going in one year or I will call you home. It will cost $8 million and I want you to believe you can raise it. "
“I've never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I'm going to be blunt and plain: if one ever looks at me like that, I'm going to kill him and tell God he died.
"The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God’s plan for both Israel and the West… a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ."
“The world will be destroyed by fire on April 3rd 1843.”
“My observation is that women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership.”
What do all of these statements have in common?
They were all public statements made by prominent Christian leaders. Whether we agree with the statements or disagree, or whether we personally consider these folks “Christian” leaders or not really doesn’t matter. These are the folks that are in the spotlight. They are the ones who are sought out when the news reporters need a “Christian” opinion. They are the ones who the people outside of the Christian faith think of when they think of Christians. They, whether we like it or not, represent us; and, even of even more importance, they represent Jesus.
What overall impression or feeling do you get listening to those statements?
What impression do you think these statements would make on someone outside the Christian faith?
What image of God is projected by statements such as this?
Did the persons I quoted exercise careful and responsible speech?
Did the persons I quoted advance peace and understanding or did the words have the potential for creating confusion and conflict?
Like all of us, religious leaders occasionally fail to exercise the best judgment in speaking. Sometimes the Church and the faith community at large come across as judgmental, harsh, unforgiving, and exclusive because of ill-chosen words of a single religious leader quoted on a particular occasion. At times, a religious leader may promote a teaching that is unclear or unaccepted as truth within the larger faith community. Words that take only seconds to speak can cause damage that may take years to repair.
How do you react when you hear someone cursing and using abusive language or speaking improperly?
Can a person be hurt by the words of others? How?
What can you learn about a person by listening to him or her speak?
Anytime any of us speaks, we have an opportunity to build bridges of understanding, sow seeds of peace, and extend words of grace.
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4 Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
James 3:1-5a (NRSV)
We often say in our churches, "We need more teachers. Will you please teach? Please help us by teaching a class." Why does this passage suggest people ought not to teach?
What qualifications are required to be a teacher in your church? In ours the only qualification is to be willing or to possess an inability to say “no”.
What does it mean, "will be judged with greater strictness"?
In the New Testament, we get glimpses of teachers who failed in their responsibility. Some teachers tried to turn Christianity into another kind of Judaism by requiring Gentile converts to practice circumcision and follow the law (Acts 15). Some teachers lived lives which were a contradiction of what they taught (Romans 2). Some teachers tried to teach before they had learned (1 Timothy 1). Some teachers only taught what the crowd wanted to hear (2 Timothy 4).
Is James’ caution for teachers just a caution against false teaching?
James seems to think that teaching is a dangerous occupation for anyone.
What unique responsibility does a teacher bear?
There are two dangers which all teachers must avoid. Because of the position, it is very likely that you will get the opportunity to teach either those who are young in years or those who are children in the faith. Teachers must struggle to avoid two things: 1) They must take every care that they are teaching the truth, and not their own opinions or even their own prejudices. It is easy for teachers to distort the truth and to teach not God’s version but their own (see quotes above). 2) They must take great care that they do not contradict their teaching by their living. No “do as I say, not as I do”. A teacher must never get into the position where his students cannot hear what he is saying for listening to what he does.
What is the primary instrument used in teaching? Speech.
What is it’s (speech’s) agent? The tongue.
If we were able to control our tongue perfectly, what else would be true of us?
Verse 2 tells us that one who can control his tongue is totally in control of his or herself.
And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.
(Jas 3:2 MSG)
What about the first line of verse 2: For all of us make many mistakes.
Is all sin deliberate? Is sin sometimes the result of a slip-up when we were off our guard?
Other translations use the words “slip up” or “stumble” where the NRSV uses “make many mistakes”. Does it sometimes seem as if all of life is walking on banana peels?
How much of what it means to sin has to do with what we say?
Let's test this. Turn to Exodus 20-the 10 Commandments. How many of these have to do with how you use your tongue?
There is no sin into which it is easier to fall and none which has graver consequences than the sin which is the result of something uttered. This idea was woven into Jewish thought. Jesus warned that we will give account for every word spoken.
36 I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
Matt 12:36-37 (NRSV)
Of all the Jewish writers, Jesus ben Sirach, the writer of the Apocryphal book Ecclesiasticus, had the most to say about the terrifying potential of the tongue.
13 Honor and dishonor come from speaking, and the tongue of mortals may be their downfall.
Sirach 5:13 (NRSV)
11 Be quick to hear, but deliberate in answering. 12 If you know what to say, answer your neighbor; but if not, put your hand over your mouth.
Sirach 5:11-12 (NRSV)
1 Happy are those who do not blunder with their lips, and need not suffer remorse for sin.
Sirach 14:1 (NRSV)
16 A person may make a slip without intending it. Who has not sinned with his tongue?
Sirach 19:16 (NRSV)
The Evil Tongue
12 If you blow on a spark, it will glow; if you spit on it, it will be put out;
yet both come out of your mouth.
13 Curse the gossips and the double-tongued,
for they destroy the peace of many.
14 Slander has shaken many,
and scattered them from nation to nation; it has destroyed strong cities,
and overturned the houses of the great.
15 Slander has driven virtuous women from their homes,
and deprived them of the fruit of their toil.
16 Those who pay heed to slander will not find rest,
nor will they settle down in peace.
17 The blow of a whip raises a welt,
but a blow of the tongue crushes the bones.
18 Many have fallen by the edge of the sword,
but not as many as have fallen because of the tongue.
19 Happy is the one who is protected from it,
who has not been exposed to its anger, who has not borne its yoke,
and has not been bound with its fetters.
20 For its yoke is a yoke of iron,
and its fetters are fetters of bronze;
21 its death is an evil death,
and Hades is preferable to it.
22 It has no power over the godly;
they will not be burned in its flame.
23 Those who forsake the Lord will fall into its power;
it will burn among them and will not be put out. It will be sent out against them like a lion; like a leopard it will mangle them.
24 As you fence in your property with thorns, As you lock up your silver and gold,
25 so make a door and a bolt for your mouth. so make balances and scales for your words. 26 Take care not to err with your tongue,
and fall victim to one lying in wait.
Sirach 28:12-26 (NRSV)
What is the purpose of a bit in the mouth of a horse?
What is the purpose of the rudder of a ship?
What damage can a small spark cause to a great forest?
What similarity does a person’s tongue have to a horse’s bit, a ship’s rudder, and a spark of fire?
How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8 but no one can tame the tongue--a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
James 3:5b-12 (NRSV)
What damage do our tongues do to us?
What is so difficult about taming the tongue?
Of what inconsistencies are we capable?
In what ways are we inconsistent?
What are the ways we sin with our speech?
Why are sins of speech often overlooked as not serious?
How is our speech influenced by others around us?
What practical advice would you give someone who wanted to control his or her tongue better?
What weaknesses in our lives does our speech often expose?
In what times or places can your tongue be used for good?
Does James call us to practice silence?
Would a life of silence be an improvement over a life of harmful speech?
James does NOT want us to be silent. He is pleading for the control of the tongue, not the silence of the tongue. Aristippus, the Greek philosopher, had a saying: “The conqueror of pleasure is not the man who never uses it. He is the man who uses pleasure as a rider guides a horse, or a steersman directs a ship, and so directs them wherever he wishes” James is pleading not for the silence that comes from a fear of saying something wrong or hurtful but for a wise use of speech.
Respond to this statement: Christian living is mostly about talking right. Is that true or false?
What are some good things we can do with our speech?
Verses 9 - 12 offer some hint as to how we can gain some control over the tongue. What is it?
Let’s look at Matthew 12.33 – 35:
33 "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure.
Matt 12:33-35 (NRSV)
What do these verses teach about controlling our speech?
Is this saying that if we think bad thoughts about people that those thoughts will eventually make their way out?
Matthew 12.33 says, "make the tree good." How do you do that?
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
James 3:13-18 (NRSV)
What is the best way to make a lasting positive impression on others?
What is the difference between earthly wisdom and God’s wisdom?
What life experiences increase our wisdom?
What are the marks of humility in a person?
What damage can bitter envy or selfish ambition do to a person?
How can we get or experience heavenly wisdom?
What are practical ways we can sow seeds of peace during our life?
What godly characteristics are present in our speech when we are pursuing God’s wisdom?
What kind of bitter envy or selfish ambition do you tend to hold in your heart?
But, I also realize that the chance of this class sitting in silence is pretty slim….and that’s a good thing.
So…here’s the lesson.
Lesson: Wise Speakers
Purpose: To recognize that God’s wisdom gives us the power to control the tongue and speak true and constructive words.
Scripture: James 3
If you could hear a tape recording of everything you said last week, what would you want to edit out?
Listen to these quotes and tell me what you think of them. I’m not going to tell you who said what, but you can guess if you want to….
"I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that." (This statement made shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast)
"As millions of people anticipate the release of the latest Harry Potter book and film, we're reminded once again of Satan's ongoing attempt to deceive and destroy. The whole purpose of the Potter books is to desensitize readers and introduce them to the occult."
"Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom (Washington, D. C. neighborhood, home to the U. S. State Dept.) to shake things up"
"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say: "You helped this (Sept. 11) happen."
“God told me: I want you to get this going in one year or I will call you home. It will cost $8 million and I want you to believe you can raise it. "
“I've never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I'm going to be blunt and plain: if one ever looks at me like that, I'm going to kill him and tell God he died.
"The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God’s plan for both Israel and the West… a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ."
“The world will be destroyed by fire on April 3rd 1843.”
“My observation is that women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership.”
What do all of these statements have in common?
They were all public statements made by prominent Christian leaders. Whether we agree with the statements or disagree, or whether we personally consider these folks “Christian” leaders or not really doesn’t matter. These are the folks that are in the spotlight. They are the ones who are sought out when the news reporters need a “Christian” opinion. They are the ones who the people outside of the Christian faith think of when they think of Christians. They, whether we like it or not, represent us; and, even of even more importance, they represent Jesus.
What overall impression or feeling do you get listening to those statements?
What impression do you think these statements would make on someone outside the Christian faith?
What image of God is projected by statements such as this?
Did the persons I quoted exercise careful and responsible speech?
Did the persons I quoted advance peace and understanding or did the words have the potential for creating confusion and conflict?
Like all of us, religious leaders occasionally fail to exercise the best judgment in speaking. Sometimes the Church and the faith community at large come across as judgmental, harsh, unforgiving, and exclusive because of ill-chosen words of a single religious leader quoted on a particular occasion. At times, a religious leader may promote a teaching that is unclear or unaccepted as truth within the larger faith community. Words that take only seconds to speak can cause damage that may take years to repair.
How do you react when you hear someone cursing and using abusive language or speaking improperly?
Can a person be hurt by the words of others? How?
What can you learn about a person by listening to him or her speak?
Anytime any of us speaks, we have an opportunity to build bridges of understanding, sow seeds of peace, and extend words of grace.
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4 Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
James 3:1-5a (NRSV)
We often say in our churches, "We need more teachers. Will you please teach? Please help us by teaching a class." Why does this passage suggest people ought not to teach?
What qualifications are required to be a teacher in your church? In ours the only qualification is to be willing or to possess an inability to say “no”.
What does it mean, "will be judged with greater strictness"?
In the New Testament, we get glimpses of teachers who failed in their responsibility. Some teachers tried to turn Christianity into another kind of Judaism by requiring Gentile converts to practice circumcision and follow the law (Acts 15). Some teachers lived lives which were a contradiction of what they taught (Romans 2). Some teachers tried to teach before they had learned (1 Timothy 1). Some teachers only taught what the crowd wanted to hear (2 Timothy 4).
Is James’ caution for teachers just a caution against false teaching?
James seems to think that teaching is a dangerous occupation for anyone.
What unique responsibility does a teacher bear?
There are two dangers which all teachers must avoid. Because of the position, it is very likely that you will get the opportunity to teach either those who are young in years or those who are children in the faith. Teachers must struggle to avoid two things: 1) They must take every care that they are teaching the truth, and not their own opinions or even their own prejudices. It is easy for teachers to distort the truth and to teach not God’s version but their own (see quotes above). 2) They must take great care that they do not contradict their teaching by their living. No “do as I say, not as I do”. A teacher must never get into the position where his students cannot hear what he is saying for listening to what he does.
What is the primary instrument used in teaching? Speech.
What is it’s (speech’s) agent? The tongue.
If we were able to control our tongue perfectly, what else would be true of us?
Verse 2 tells us that one who can control his tongue is totally in control of his or herself.
And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.
(Jas 3:2 MSG)
What about the first line of verse 2: For all of us make many mistakes.
Is all sin deliberate? Is sin sometimes the result of a slip-up when we were off our guard?
Other translations use the words “slip up” or “stumble” where the NRSV uses “make many mistakes”. Does it sometimes seem as if all of life is walking on banana peels?
How much of what it means to sin has to do with what we say?
Let's test this. Turn to Exodus 20-the 10 Commandments. How many of these have to do with how you use your tongue?
There is no sin into which it is easier to fall and none which has graver consequences than the sin which is the result of something uttered. This idea was woven into Jewish thought. Jesus warned that we will give account for every word spoken.
36 I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
Matt 12:36-37 (NRSV)
Of all the Jewish writers, Jesus ben Sirach, the writer of the Apocryphal book Ecclesiasticus, had the most to say about the terrifying potential of the tongue.
13 Honor and dishonor come from speaking, and the tongue of mortals may be their downfall.
Sirach 5:13 (NRSV)
11 Be quick to hear, but deliberate in answering. 12 If you know what to say, answer your neighbor; but if not, put your hand over your mouth.
Sirach 5:11-12 (NRSV)
1 Happy are those who do not blunder with their lips, and need not suffer remorse for sin.
Sirach 14:1 (NRSV)
16 A person may make a slip without intending it. Who has not sinned with his tongue?
Sirach 19:16 (NRSV)
The Evil Tongue
12 If you blow on a spark, it will glow; if you spit on it, it will be put out;
yet both come out of your mouth.
13 Curse the gossips and the double-tongued,
for they destroy the peace of many.
14 Slander has shaken many,
and scattered them from nation to nation; it has destroyed strong cities,
and overturned the houses of the great.
15 Slander has driven virtuous women from their homes,
and deprived them of the fruit of their toil.
16 Those who pay heed to slander will not find rest,
nor will they settle down in peace.
17 The blow of a whip raises a welt,
but a blow of the tongue crushes the bones.
18 Many have fallen by the edge of the sword,
but not as many as have fallen because of the tongue.
19 Happy is the one who is protected from it,
who has not been exposed to its anger, who has not borne its yoke,
and has not been bound with its fetters.
20 For its yoke is a yoke of iron,
and its fetters are fetters of bronze;
21 its death is an evil death,
and Hades is preferable to it.
22 It has no power over the godly;
they will not be burned in its flame.
23 Those who forsake the Lord will fall into its power;
it will burn among them and will not be put out. It will be sent out against them like a lion; like a leopard it will mangle them.
24 As you fence in your property with thorns, As you lock up your silver and gold,
25 so make a door and a bolt for your mouth. so make balances and scales for your words. 26 Take care not to err with your tongue,
and fall victim to one lying in wait.
Sirach 28:12-26 (NRSV)
What is the purpose of a bit in the mouth of a horse?
What is the purpose of the rudder of a ship?
What damage can a small spark cause to a great forest?
What similarity does a person’s tongue have to a horse’s bit, a ship’s rudder, and a spark of fire?
How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8 but no one can tame the tongue--a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
James 3:5b-12 (NRSV)
What damage do our tongues do to us?
What is so difficult about taming the tongue?
Of what inconsistencies are we capable?
In what ways are we inconsistent?
What are the ways we sin with our speech?
Why are sins of speech often overlooked as not serious?
How is our speech influenced by others around us?
What practical advice would you give someone who wanted to control his or her tongue better?
What weaknesses in our lives does our speech often expose?
In what times or places can your tongue be used for good?
Does James call us to practice silence?
Would a life of silence be an improvement over a life of harmful speech?
James does NOT want us to be silent. He is pleading for the control of the tongue, not the silence of the tongue. Aristippus, the Greek philosopher, had a saying: “The conqueror of pleasure is not the man who never uses it. He is the man who uses pleasure as a rider guides a horse, or a steersman directs a ship, and so directs them wherever he wishes” James is pleading not for the silence that comes from a fear of saying something wrong or hurtful but for a wise use of speech.
Respond to this statement: Christian living is mostly about talking right. Is that true or false?
What are some good things we can do with our speech?
Verses 9 - 12 offer some hint as to how we can gain some control over the tongue. What is it?
Let’s look at Matthew 12.33 – 35:
33 "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure.
Matt 12:33-35 (NRSV)
What do these verses teach about controlling our speech?
Is this saying that if we think bad thoughts about people that those thoughts will eventually make their way out?
Matthew 12.33 says, "make the tree good." How do you do that?
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
James 3:13-18 (NRSV)
What is the best way to make a lasting positive impression on others?
What is the difference between earthly wisdom and God’s wisdom?
What life experiences increase our wisdom?
What are the marks of humility in a person?
What damage can bitter envy or selfish ambition do to a person?
How can we get or experience heavenly wisdom?
What are practical ways we can sow seeds of peace during our life?
What godly characteristics are present in our speech when we are pursuing God’s wisdom?
What kind of bitter envy or selfish ambition do you tend to hold in your heart?
Friday, August 08, 2008
Sunday School Lesson: Impartial Disciples
Purpose: To realize that the expression of Christian love makes it possible to avoid social and cultural discrimination and to honor all persons.
Scripture: James 2:1-13
What are some reasons why we may think that one person is more important than another?
What is it in us that makes us want to favor certain kind of people?
Where do you see prejudice being practiced?
What is the most extreme example of prejudice that you have personally witnessed?
Have you ever been the brunt of prejudice?
Have you ever been around someone who made you feel judged? Describe how that felt?
In what ways have you been a victim of favoritism or prejudice?
How have you shown favoritism or prejudice toward other people?
Why do we often treat rich people as more important than poor people?
How do we use physical appearance, job status, and athletic ability to show favoritism toward people?
Who is richer, a man with five children or a man with five million dollars? Why?
The man with the five kids, because he doesn’t want any more.
1 My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
James 2:1-4 NRSV
What is the greatest threat to the church?
Does the greatest threat come from the outside or the inside?
The greatest threat to the church, in my opinion, is the threat of becoming irrelevant. If the church is no different and holds the same attitudes as the outside world, then what use is the church?
(From page 75 in Adult Bible Studies):
James asked the early church, “How can you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and show such blatant partiality on the basis of wealth and social status?” That question holds relevance for us and should cause us to reexamine our attitudes and actions.
The danger of Christians and the church adopting the secular standards of the world is ever near. Too often the finance boards of churches are composed primarily of the wealthiest members, simply because of their wealth. Those with obviously less means are still often virtually ignored in some churches. Our own social circles are usually composed of people from similar economic means and racial backgrounds.
It is one thing to run a clothing bank or food pantry; it is quite another to invite the poor to teach your children in Sunday School or to serve on the Board of Trustees.
Do you think there are certain kinds of people we treat better when they come to our church?
How can we welcome poor people in our church?
Why does God have a special concern for poor people?
Why is it wrong to show favoritism to the wealthy?
(From Life Application Study Bible):
1. It is inconsistent with Christ’s teachings.
2. It results from evil thoughts.
3. It insults people made in God’s image.
4. It is a by-product of selfish motives.
5. It goes against the biblical definition of love.
6. It shows a lack of mercy to those less fortunate.
7. It is hypocritical.
8. It is sin.
Why is it wrong to judge a person by his or her economic status?
Wealth may indicate intelligence, wise decisions, and hard work. On the other hand, it may mean only that a person had the good fortune of being born into a wealthy family. Or it can even be the sign of greed, dishonesty, and selfishness. By honoring someone just because he or she dresses well, we are making appearances more important than character.
Why would we do that?
…because (1) poverty makes us uncomfortable; we don’t want to face our responsibiblites to those who have less than we do; (2) we want to be wealthy too, and we hope to use the rich person as a means to that end; (3) we want the rich person to join our church and help support it financially. All these motives are selfish; they view neither the rich nor the poor person as a human being in need of fellowship. If we say that Christ is our Lord, then we must live as he requires, showing no favoritism and loving all people regardless of whether they are rich or poor.
Is it OK to have favorite people?
Is it OK to play favorites?
What is the difference between having favorite people and playing favorites?
What is the opposite of favoritism? (prejudice) Is it equally bad? Worse? Better?
5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? 7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
James 2:5-6 NRSV
What has God promised to the poor of this world?
Quote of the Day:
“God must love the common people because he made so many of them.” – Abraham Lincoln.
What does "rich in faith" mean? Can we control whether we are rich in faith?
James seems to be of the opinion that the poor are more likely to trust and to love God than are the wealthy. Is this true?
What are some possible reasons for why the poor may be more faithful?
It may be because the affluent rely on their riches for security, the poor have no riches on which to rely. God is their only hope for a better future. It may be easier for them to acknowledge the need for a savior. One of the greatest barriers to faith is pride.
What does the church do to the poor person when it shows favoritism toward the rich?
In what practical ways can we show genuine love to people of different races, cultures, and economic standing?
How does our church and class help the poor? What else could we do?
8 You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11 For the one who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 2:8-13 (NRSV)
What is the royal law found in Scripture?
Why is it “royal”?
From William Barclay’s New Daily Study Bible:
It may mean the law which is of supreme excellence; it may mean the law which is given by the King of Kings; it may mean the supreme law; it may mean the law that gives the regal quality to people and is fit for royalty.
If you followed the one command in verse 8, would it be possible to sin in any other way?
How is favoritism a violation of the royal law of verse 8?
What does practicing favoritism do to a person who is trying to keep the law?
From Barclay:
James has been condemning those who pay special attention to the rich man who enters the church. “But”, they might answer, “the law tells me to love my neighbor as myself. Therefore we are duty-bound to welcome this man when he comes to church.” “Very well,” answers James, “if you are really welcoming the man because you love him as you do yourself, and you wish to give him the welcome you yourself would wish to receive, that is fine. But, if you are giving him this special welcome because he is rich, that is favoritism and that is wrong – and, far from keeping the law, you are in fact breaking it. You don’t love your neighbor, or you would not neglect the poor man. What you love is wealth – and that is not what the law commands.”
James’ key point is that wealth cannot be the criterion for assigning value to people and determining how we treat them. How does his view compare to ours?
Are there categories of sin, or are all sins alike?
How does a “minor” sin like prejudice rank against such things as adultery and murder?
What does a person have to do to be considered a lawbreaker?
Personally, I would much rather you lie to me than murder me and, if you are going to rob me, I would much rather you steal a dollar than a thousand. But I’m not sure God sees it that way.
Why is favoritism or prejudice often overlooked as a sin?
Verse 12 says that the law is a “law of liberty”.
How does the law give freedom?
If Christianity is about freedom, why do so many see it as about mere rule keeping?
Have there been times in your life when you perceived Christianity to be about mere rule keeping?
What place does rule keeping have in the Christian life?
Verse 13. Do we earn God's mercy by being merciful to others?
What does it mean mercy triumphs over judgment?
Those who have shown mercy will, in the end, find that their mercy has blotted out their own sin.
This question is just for our new members:
What has been helpful to you in feeling like you are a part of this congregation and this class?
What could our class or congregation do to make it easier for visitors and new members to feel welcomed and valued?
Scripture: James 2:1-13
What are some reasons why we may think that one person is more important than another?
What is it in us that makes us want to favor certain kind of people?
Where do you see prejudice being practiced?
What is the most extreme example of prejudice that you have personally witnessed?
Have you ever been the brunt of prejudice?
Have you ever been around someone who made you feel judged? Describe how that felt?
In what ways have you been a victim of favoritism or prejudice?
How have you shown favoritism or prejudice toward other people?
Why do we often treat rich people as more important than poor people?
How do we use physical appearance, job status, and athletic ability to show favoritism toward people?
Who is richer, a man with five children or a man with five million dollars? Why?
The man with the five kids, because he doesn’t want any more.
1 My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
James 2:1-4 NRSV
What is the greatest threat to the church?
Does the greatest threat come from the outside or the inside?
The greatest threat to the church, in my opinion, is the threat of becoming irrelevant. If the church is no different and holds the same attitudes as the outside world, then what use is the church?
(From page 75 in Adult Bible Studies):
James asked the early church, “How can you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and show such blatant partiality on the basis of wealth and social status?” That question holds relevance for us and should cause us to reexamine our attitudes and actions.
The danger of Christians and the church adopting the secular standards of the world is ever near. Too often the finance boards of churches are composed primarily of the wealthiest members, simply because of their wealth. Those with obviously less means are still often virtually ignored in some churches. Our own social circles are usually composed of people from similar economic means and racial backgrounds.
It is one thing to run a clothing bank or food pantry; it is quite another to invite the poor to teach your children in Sunday School or to serve on the Board of Trustees.
Do you think there are certain kinds of people we treat better when they come to our church?
How can we welcome poor people in our church?
Why does God have a special concern for poor people?
Why is it wrong to show favoritism to the wealthy?
(From Life Application Study Bible):
1. It is inconsistent with Christ’s teachings.
2. It results from evil thoughts.
3. It insults people made in God’s image.
4. It is a by-product of selfish motives.
5. It goes against the biblical definition of love.
6. It shows a lack of mercy to those less fortunate.
7. It is hypocritical.
8. It is sin.
Why is it wrong to judge a person by his or her economic status?
Wealth may indicate intelligence, wise decisions, and hard work. On the other hand, it may mean only that a person had the good fortune of being born into a wealthy family. Or it can even be the sign of greed, dishonesty, and selfishness. By honoring someone just because he or she dresses well, we are making appearances more important than character.
Why would we do that?
…because (1) poverty makes us uncomfortable; we don’t want to face our responsibiblites to those who have less than we do; (2) we want to be wealthy too, and we hope to use the rich person as a means to that end; (3) we want the rich person to join our church and help support it financially. All these motives are selfish; they view neither the rich nor the poor person as a human being in need of fellowship. If we say that Christ is our Lord, then we must live as he requires, showing no favoritism and loving all people regardless of whether they are rich or poor.
Is it OK to have favorite people?
Is it OK to play favorites?
What is the difference between having favorite people and playing favorites?
What is the opposite of favoritism? (prejudice) Is it equally bad? Worse? Better?
5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? 7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
James 2:5-6 NRSV
What has God promised to the poor of this world?
Quote of the Day:
“God must love the common people because he made so many of them.” – Abraham Lincoln.
What does "rich in faith" mean? Can we control whether we are rich in faith?
James seems to be of the opinion that the poor are more likely to trust and to love God than are the wealthy. Is this true?
What are some possible reasons for why the poor may be more faithful?
It may be because the affluent rely on their riches for security, the poor have no riches on which to rely. God is their only hope for a better future. It may be easier for them to acknowledge the need for a savior. One of the greatest barriers to faith is pride.
What does the church do to the poor person when it shows favoritism toward the rich?
In what practical ways can we show genuine love to people of different races, cultures, and economic standing?
How does our church and class help the poor? What else could we do?
8 You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11 For the one who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 2:8-13 (NRSV)
What is the royal law found in Scripture?
Why is it “royal”?
From William Barclay’s New Daily Study Bible:
It may mean the law which is of supreme excellence; it may mean the law which is given by the King of Kings; it may mean the supreme law; it may mean the law that gives the regal quality to people and is fit for royalty.
If you followed the one command in verse 8, would it be possible to sin in any other way?
How is favoritism a violation of the royal law of verse 8?
What does practicing favoritism do to a person who is trying to keep the law?
From Barclay:
James has been condemning those who pay special attention to the rich man who enters the church. “But”, they might answer, “the law tells me to love my neighbor as myself. Therefore we are duty-bound to welcome this man when he comes to church.” “Very well,” answers James, “if you are really welcoming the man because you love him as you do yourself, and you wish to give him the welcome you yourself would wish to receive, that is fine. But, if you are giving him this special welcome because he is rich, that is favoritism and that is wrong – and, far from keeping the law, you are in fact breaking it. You don’t love your neighbor, or you would not neglect the poor man. What you love is wealth – and that is not what the law commands.”
James’ key point is that wealth cannot be the criterion for assigning value to people and determining how we treat them. How does his view compare to ours?
Are there categories of sin, or are all sins alike?
How does a “minor” sin like prejudice rank against such things as adultery and murder?
What does a person have to do to be considered a lawbreaker?
Personally, I would much rather you lie to me than murder me and, if you are going to rob me, I would much rather you steal a dollar than a thousand. But I’m not sure God sees it that way.
Why is favoritism or prejudice often overlooked as a sin?
Verse 12 says that the law is a “law of liberty”.
How does the law give freedom?
If Christianity is about freedom, why do so many see it as about mere rule keeping?
Have there been times in your life when you perceived Christianity to be about mere rule keeping?
What place does rule keeping have in the Christian life?
Verse 13. Do we earn God's mercy by being merciful to others?
What does it mean mercy triumphs over judgment?
Those who have shown mercy will, in the end, find that their mercy has blotted out their own sin.
This question is just for our new members:
What has been helpful to you in feeling like you are a part of this congregation and this class?
What could our class or congregation do to make it easier for visitors and new members to feel welcomed and valued?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sunday School Lesson: Jesus is Messiah
Purpose: To understand what it means to confess that Jesus “is the Christ, the Son of the living God” and how that confession shatters our presuppositions about Jesus.
Scripture: Matthew 16:13-23
If you could ask any person in the world one question, whom would you ask, and what would you want to know?
Let’s locate Caesarea Philippi on a map. It is north and east of the Sea of Galilee, about halfway between the Sea of Galilee and Damascus Syria.
Why were Jesus and the Disciples at Caesarea Philippi?
They were travelling and preaching, teaching, and healing. They had just recently traveled to Tyre and Sidon in Phoenicia, then returned to the Sea of Galilee and the city of Magadan where the Feeding of the Four Thousand took place, then left there and proceeded to Caesarea Philippi.
Caesarea Philippi was located at one of the sources for the Jordan River. In ancient times the location had been a shrine to the Greek and Roman nature god, Pan and was originally named Panion. Caesar Augustus gave the city to Herod the Great. Herod’s son Philip renamed the city after the emperor and himself.
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
Matt 16:13
Why do you think Jesus asked this question?
When Jesus said, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" was that like saying, "Who do people say that I am?"
From William Barclay’s The New Daily Study Bible:
Confronting Jesus at this time was one pressing and demanding problem that would not go away. His time was short; his days on earth were numbered. The problem was – was there anyone who understood him? Was there anyone who had recognized him for who and what he was? Were there any who, when he had departed from this world, would carry on his work, and labor for his kingdom? Obviously this was a crucial problem, for it involved the very survival of the Christian faith. If there were none who had grasped the truth, or even glimpsed it, then all his work was undone; if there were just a few who realized the truth, his work was safe. So Jesus was determined to put all to the test and ask his followers who they believed him to be.
Who do people today say Jesus is? If you were to ask ten people on the street, "Who do you think Jesus was?" how do you think they would answer? What are some common views of Jesus among our generation?
Why do you think Jesus cared who people said he was?
Should we care what people think of us?
What is the correct answer to the question “Who do you think Jesus was”?
Are you familiar with C.S. Lewis' "Lord, liar, or lunatic" argument? Can anyone explain that to us?
From C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity:
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
We are faced, then, with a frightening alternative. This man we are talking about either was (and is) just what He said, or else a lunatic, or something worse. Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form.
14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
Matthew 6:14
From Barclay:
….Jesus determined to demand a verdict from his disciples. He had to know before he set out for Jerusalem and the cross if anyone had even dimly grasped who and what he was. He did not ask the question directly; he led up to it. He began by asking what people said about him, and who they took him to be.
What different answers did Christ get to His question?
What do the answers tell us about Jesus’ reputation with the people?
For 400 years the Jewish people had believed that the time of the prophets was history. But they did believe and several passages in the Old Testament concur that the prophets would return and usher in a savior for all the people.
15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Matthew 16:15
Can you imagine that upon hearing that question, there may have come a moment of silence?
Who do you say Jesus is?
16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
Matthew 16:16
What does “Messiah” mean?
From the Hebrew “Mashiah”, translated into the Greek “Christos”, literally means “anointed one”, an anointed agent of God appointed to a task affecting the lot of God’s chosen people. Mashiah is used numerous times in the Old Testament most commonly connected with the anointing of kings or priests. In the New Testament it is used exclusively for Jesus. After the death and resurrection of Jesus, “Messiah” took on a specifically Christian meaning as a title that referred only to Jesus and it was used so frequently that the Greek form “Christ” became his second name. “Lord” and “Savior” are also used but not with the same frequency as “Messiah”.
What happened the first time you spoke publicly about your faith in Christ?
17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Matthew 16:17-20
Why was Peter blessed?
When Jesus says, "this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood. . ." does he mean we can't come to this conclusion without God revealing it to us?
In what way is coming to faith and understanding the gospel a supernatural event?
How did God work in your life and lead you to faith in Christ?
What does he mean by, "this rock"?
This is the first of only two times in the New Testament that Jesus speaks of a “church”.
What exactly is a church?
The word church is the English translation of the Greek “ekklesia” which literally translated means “assembly” or “gathering”.
What exactly is a church?
Some say it is Rome. Some say it is a local church as we think of it. Some think of it as any gathering of believers, formal or informal. Some think of it as the universal, invisible church. Some say that parachurch organizations such as campus ministries or mission organizations are like a church or part of the church. What exactly is a church?
Is this group, in some sense, a church?
What kind of church like activities can this group engage in?
Loving one another. Teaching one another. Encouraging one another. Forgiving one another. Bearing with one another. Greeting one another.
Are there any church-like activities that this group cannot do? What about baptism? What about the Lord's supper?
In what way is a gate a weapon? What is being suggested here?
What does it mean that “the gates of Hades will not prevail” against the church?
Gates are actually more defensive than offensive. It sounds like the church is going to take the offensive.
Barclay:
….Hades was not the place of punishment, but the place where, in primitive Jewish belief, all the dead went. Obviously, the function of gates is to keep things in, to confine them, to shut them up, control them. There was one person whom the gates of Hades could not shut in….
Who?
Barclay:
Jesus Christ…burst the bonds of death….this may be a triumphant reference to nothing less than the coming resurrection. Jesus may be saying: “You have discovered that I am the son of the living God. The time will soon come when I will be crucified, and the gates of Hades will close behind me. But they are powerless to shut me in…
However we take it, this phrase triumphantly expresses the indestructibility of Christ and his Church.
Someone explain verse 19. What does that mean?
Why do you think Jesus warned the disciples not to tell?
What two great truths can we glean from this passage?
1. Human categories, even the highest, are inadequate to describe Jesus Christ.
2. This passage teaches that our discovery of Jesus must be a personal discovery. Jesus’ question is: “You – what do you think of me?” When Pilate asked him if he was the king of the Jews, his answer was: “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”
Our knowledge of Jesus must never be at second hand. We might know every thought about Jesus that human minds have ever thought out, we might be able to give a competent summary of the teaching about Jesus of every great thinker and theologian – and still not be a Christian. Christianity never consists of knowing about Jesus; it always consists in knowing Jesus. He did not ask only Peter, he asks every one of us: “You – what do you think of me?”
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." 23 But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
Matt 16:21-23 (NRSV)
We don't have the actual words of Jesus in verse 21. How do you imagine this-do you think Jesus just mentioned His upcoming death in passing, went into detail about it, or something in between?
We know that the disciples didn't get it. They were totally caught off guard by Jesus' death. Why didn't they get it, in light of Jesus clear teaching on this?
We sometimes only hear what we want to hear. There is an admonition for real humility for us. We have to wonder in what ways we have missed Jesus teaching and not know it. We must not be like the disciples who assumed they got it.
What do you think about Peter’s reaction in verse 22?
How do you think Jesus’ reaction made Peter feel?
What difference does it make what we believe about Jesus?
Scripture: Matthew 16:13-23
If you could ask any person in the world one question, whom would you ask, and what would you want to know?
Let’s locate Caesarea Philippi on a map. It is north and east of the Sea of Galilee, about halfway between the Sea of Galilee and Damascus Syria.
Why were Jesus and the Disciples at Caesarea Philippi?
They were travelling and preaching, teaching, and healing. They had just recently traveled to Tyre and Sidon in Phoenicia, then returned to the Sea of Galilee and the city of Magadan where the Feeding of the Four Thousand took place, then left there and proceeded to Caesarea Philippi.
Caesarea Philippi was located at one of the sources for the Jordan River. In ancient times the location had been a shrine to the Greek and Roman nature god, Pan and was originally named Panion. Caesar Augustus gave the city to Herod the Great. Herod’s son Philip renamed the city after the emperor and himself.
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
Matt 16:13
Why do you think Jesus asked this question?
When Jesus said, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" was that like saying, "Who do people say that I am?"
From William Barclay’s The New Daily Study Bible:
Confronting Jesus at this time was one pressing and demanding problem that would not go away. His time was short; his days on earth were numbered. The problem was – was there anyone who understood him? Was there anyone who had recognized him for who and what he was? Were there any who, when he had departed from this world, would carry on his work, and labor for his kingdom? Obviously this was a crucial problem, for it involved the very survival of the Christian faith. If there were none who had grasped the truth, or even glimpsed it, then all his work was undone; if there were just a few who realized the truth, his work was safe. So Jesus was determined to put all to the test and ask his followers who they believed him to be.
Who do people today say Jesus is? If you were to ask ten people on the street, "Who do you think Jesus was?" how do you think they would answer? What are some common views of Jesus among our generation?
Why do you think Jesus cared who people said he was?
Should we care what people think of us?
What is the correct answer to the question “Who do you think Jesus was”?
Are you familiar with C.S. Lewis' "Lord, liar, or lunatic" argument? Can anyone explain that to us?
From C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity:
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
We are faced, then, with a frightening alternative. This man we are talking about either was (and is) just what He said, or else a lunatic, or something worse. Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form.
14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
Matthew 6:14
From Barclay:
….Jesus determined to demand a verdict from his disciples. He had to know before he set out for Jerusalem and the cross if anyone had even dimly grasped who and what he was. He did not ask the question directly; he led up to it. He began by asking what people said about him, and who they took him to be.
What different answers did Christ get to His question?
What do the answers tell us about Jesus’ reputation with the people?
For 400 years the Jewish people had believed that the time of the prophets was history. But they did believe and several passages in the Old Testament concur that the prophets would return and usher in a savior for all the people.
15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Matthew 16:15
Can you imagine that upon hearing that question, there may have come a moment of silence?
Who do you say Jesus is?
16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
Matthew 16:16
What does “Messiah” mean?
From the Hebrew “Mashiah”, translated into the Greek “Christos”, literally means “anointed one”, an anointed agent of God appointed to a task affecting the lot of God’s chosen people. Mashiah is used numerous times in the Old Testament most commonly connected with the anointing of kings or priests. In the New Testament it is used exclusively for Jesus. After the death and resurrection of Jesus, “Messiah” took on a specifically Christian meaning as a title that referred only to Jesus and it was used so frequently that the Greek form “Christ” became his second name. “Lord” and “Savior” are also used but not with the same frequency as “Messiah”.
What happened the first time you spoke publicly about your faith in Christ?
17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Matthew 16:17-20
Why was Peter blessed?
When Jesus says, "this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood. . ." does he mean we can't come to this conclusion without God revealing it to us?
In what way is coming to faith and understanding the gospel a supernatural event?
How did God work in your life and lead you to faith in Christ?
What does he mean by, "this rock"?
This is the first of only two times in the New Testament that Jesus speaks of a “church”.
What exactly is a church?
The word church is the English translation of the Greek “ekklesia” which literally translated means “assembly” or “gathering”.
What exactly is a church?
Some say it is Rome. Some say it is a local church as we think of it. Some think of it as any gathering of believers, formal or informal. Some think of it as the universal, invisible church. Some say that parachurch organizations such as campus ministries or mission organizations are like a church or part of the church. What exactly is a church?
Is this group, in some sense, a church?
What kind of church like activities can this group engage in?
Loving one another. Teaching one another. Encouraging one another. Forgiving one another. Bearing with one another. Greeting one another.
Are there any church-like activities that this group cannot do? What about baptism? What about the Lord's supper?
In what way is a gate a weapon? What is being suggested here?
What does it mean that “the gates of Hades will not prevail” against the church?
Gates are actually more defensive than offensive. It sounds like the church is going to take the offensive.
Barclay:
….Hades was not the place of punishment, but the place where, in primitive Jewish belief, all the dead went. Obviously, the function of gates is to keep things in, to confine them, to shut them up, control them. There was one person whom the gates of Hades could not shut in….
Who?
Barclay:
Jesus Christ…burst the bonds of death….this may be a triumphant reference to nothing less than the coming resurrection. Jesus may be saying: “You have discovered that I am the son of the living God. The time will soon come when I will be crucified, and the gates of Hades will close behind me. But they are powerless to shut me in…
However we take it, this phrase triumphantly expresses the indestructibility of Christ and his Church.
Someone explain verse 19. What does that mean?
Why do you think Jesus warned the disciples not to tell?
What two great truths can we glean from this passage?
1. Human categories, even the highest, are inadequate to describe Jesus Christ.
2. This passage teaches that our discovery of Jesus must be a personal discovery. Jesus’ question is: “You – what do you think of me?” When Pilate asked him if he was the king of the Jews, his answer was: “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”
Our knowledge of Jesus must never be at second hand. We might know every thought about Jesus that human minds have ever thought out, we might be able to give a competent summary of the teaching about Jesus of every great thinker and theologian – and still not be a Christian. Christianity never consists of knowing about Jesus; it always consists in knowing Jesus. He did not ask only Peter, he asks every one of us: “You – what do you think of me?”
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." 23 But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
Matt 16:21-23 (NRSV)
We don't have the actual words of Jesus in verse 21. How do you imagine this-do you think Jesus just mentioned His upcoming death in passing, went into detail about it, or something in between?
We know that the disciples didn't get it. They were totally caught off guard by Jesus' death. Why didn't they get it, in light of Jesus clear teaching on this?
We sometimes only hear what we want to hear. There is an admonition for real humility for us. We have to wonder in what ways we have missed Jesus teaching and not know it. We must not be like the disciples who assumed they got it.
What do you think about Peter’s reaction in verse 22?
How do you think Jesus’ reaction made Peter feel?
What difference does it make what we believe about Jesus?
Friday, March 09, 2007
Sunday School Lesson: Love is Light
Purpose: To motivate us to appreciate and live in the light of God’s love in a world of darkness.
Scripture: 1 John 2:7-17
This week we start a new series of lessons. This series follows the previous series perfectly. Last quarter we studied how in Jesus Christ we have a perfect image or portrait of God. Most of those lessons were taken from the writings of John in the Gospel of John and the First Letter of John. In this new series we will discover how the Church is called to be a portrait of Christ. These lessons will all be from the writings of John in 1 John and Revelation.
This week’s lesson is from 1 John and follows scripturally directly from our December 17 lesson. That lesson was from 1 John 1:1 – 2:6 and was titled Walking in the Light. The purpose of the December 17 lesson was: To show that the reality of the Incarnation enables us to walk in fellowship with God and one another. This week’s lesson follows thematically directly from last week’s lesson which was taken from John 15:1-17. the purpose of last week’s lesson was: To show that true life is life in Christ and that such life bears fruit worthy of Him.
From John 15:
Joh 15:4-7 ESV Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. (5) I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (6) If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. (7) If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
In the lesson last week I asked several times throughout the lesson these questions:
Jesus said: “Abide in me..”
How do we abide in Jesus?
How can we tell that we are abiding in Jesus?
Our answer was that we abide in Jesus by following His Word and that we can tell that we are abiding by the fruit we produce.
We should have gone back to the December 17 lesson. That lesson gives us a better answer to: How do we abide in Jesus?
1Jn 1:5-7 ESV This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (6) If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. (7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
These were the key verses from that lesson and they do contain picture of Jesus as the perfect image of God: In Him is no darkness at all. Do these verses also contain a portrait of believers? In what way do believers portray Christ?
Back to abiding:
1Jn 2:6 ESV ....whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
How do we abide in Christ?
So the new question for this week is:
How did Jesus walk?
How do we go about walking as He walked?
What are some adjectives that come to mind that describe how Jesus walked?
1Jn 2:7-8 ESV Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. (8) At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
Any idea what commandment John is writing about?
We would probably look back and think that he was referring to the statements in verse 6: to walk as Jesus walked. How can we further define walking, abiding, and this old/new commandment.
John is very likely also referring to words of Jesus as recorded in John’s Gospel:
Joh 13:34-35 ESV A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (35) By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
In what sense is that commandment both old and new?
It was old in the sense that it was already there in the Old Testament:
Lev 19:18 ESV ….. you shall love your neighbor as yourself….
The Jews were taught this from earliest childhood. Jesus also taught this as an old commandment:
Mat 22:36-40 ESV "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" (37) And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (38) This is the great and first commandment. (39) And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (40) On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."
The command to love each other was also old in the sense that this was not the first time these Christian believers had heard it. John was probably nearly 100 years old when this epistle was written. He had witnessed almost the first century of Christianity. This commandment was taught by Jesus and had been taught by the Church from the very beginning. From the very first day of entry into the Christian life, believers had been taught that the law of love must be the law of their lives. This commandment went a long way back into the history of God’s interaction with man and a long way back in the lives of the Christians to whom John was writing.
So how was it new?
It was new because of the way Jesus made it new. It was new as to who was considered a neighbor and worthy of love. Jesus included even sinners, who under the law would have been hated instead of loved. Jesus included even Gentiles, who under the law were despised. Jesus widened the boundaries of love until there was no one outside it’s embrace.
It was new because of the lengths to which it would go. No lack of response, nothing that anyone could ever do to Him, could turn Jesus’ love to hate. He even prayed for God’s mercy on those who nailed Him to the cross.
1Jn 2:9-11 ESV Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. (10) Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. (11) But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
What did John mean by the words “light” and “darkness”?
If you dislike someone, does that mean you are not a Christian or cannot be a Christian?
Is there any room for hate in a Christian heart?
How are claiming to be a Christian and loving one’s neighbor related?
How do we regard our neighbors?
Do we regard them as negligible? Do we make all of our plans without taking our neighbors into consideration at all?
Do we regard them with contempt? Do we think that they are all fools when compared with our intellectual level, so their opinions should just be brushed aside?
Do we see them as a nuisance? They are here and we have to interact with them or even care for them when necessary. But do we sometimes begrudge that necessity?
Do we see them as enemies? As our competitors?
Or do we see them as brothers and sisters?
If we walk in the light we are in fellowship with God. True?
Who else will we be in fellowship with?
Love and light go together as do hatred and darkness.
Is Christian love just a feeling or something that we can agree to intellectually?
What is required for a feeling or thoughts of love to actually become love?
What love does God hate?
1Jn 2:15-17 ESV Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. (17) And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Verse 15 says not to love the world. What does that mean?
Is the "world" the earth itself?
Are we commanded to not love the earth and all the natural beauty created by God?
Is the world the people of the world?
We have already been told in this lesson that we are to love our neighbor. Is this a reversal? Are we now told that we are not to love the people of the world?
Joh 3:16 ESV "For God so loved the world (the people of the world), that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
God loved the world, but we are not supposed to?
So what is John speaking of when he says: “Do not love the world”?
Can I love a beautiful sunset?
Can I love to see a small child grin?
Can I love the family pet?
What is this world that I am commanded not to love?
Eph 6:12 ESV For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
1Jn 5:19 ESV We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
The world in this sense does not mean the world in general, for God did indeed love the world and the people which he had made; it means the world which, in fact, had and has forsaken the God who made it.
What restrictions should we place on our affections?
What things in the world are you tempted to love?
What would you categorize as the “desire of the flesh”?
What would you categorize as the “desire of the eyes”?
What would you categorize as the “pride in riches”?
Why are the things of the world so enticing to us?
What worldly things or values do we substitute for God?
What are some ways that Christians disagree concerning the definition of worldliness?
Scripture: 1 John 2:7-17
This week we start a new series of lessons. This series follows the previous series perfectly. Last quarter we studied how in Jesus Christ we have a perfect image or portrait of God. Most of those lessons were taken from the writings of John in the Gospel of John and the First Letter of John. In this new series we will discover how the Church is called to be a portrait of Christ. These lessons will all be from the writings of John in 1 John and Revelation.
This week’s lesson is from 1 John and follows scripturally directly from our December 17 lesson. That lesson was from 1 John 1:1 – 2:6 and was titled Walking in the Light. The purpose of the December 17 lesson was: To show that the reality of the Incarnation enables us to walk in fellowship with God and one another. This week’s lesson follows thematically directly from last week’s lesson which was taken from John 15:1-17. the purpose of last week’s lesson was: To show that true life is life in Christ and that such life bears fruit worthy of Him.
From John 15:
Joh 15:4-7 ESV Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. (5) I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (6) If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. (7) If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
In the lesson last week I asked several times throughout the lesson these questions:
Jesus said: “Abide in me..”
How do we abide in Jesus?
How can we tell that we are abiding in Jesus?
Our answer was that we abide in Jesus by following His Word and that we can tell that we are abiding by the fruit we produce.
We should have gone back to the December 17 lesson. That lesson gives us a better answer to: How do we abide in Jesus?
1Jn 1:5-7 ESV This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (6) If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. (7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
These were the key verses from that lesson and they do contain picture of Jesus as the perfect image of God: In Him is no darkness at all. Do these verses also contain a portrait of believers? In what way do believers portray Christ?
Back to abiding:
1Jn 2:6 ESV ....whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
How do we abide in Christ?
So the new question for this week is:
How did Jesus walk?
How do we go about walking as He walked?
What are some adjectives that come to mind that describe how Jesus walked?
1Jn 2:7-8 ESV Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. (8) At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
Any idea what commandment John is writing about?
We would probably look back and think that he was referring to the statements in verse 6: to walk as Jesus walked. How can we further define walking, abiding, and this old/new commandment.
John is very likely also referring to words of Jesus as recorded in John’s Gospel:
Joh 13:34-35 ESV A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (35) By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
In what sense is that commandment both old and new?
It was old in the sense that it was already there in the Old Testament:
Lev 19:18 ESV ….. you shall love your neighbor as yourself….
The Jews were taught this from earliest childhood. Jesus also taught this as an old commandment:
Mat 22:36-40 ESV "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" (37) And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (38) This is the great and first commandment. (39) And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (40) On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."
The command to love each other was also old in the sense that this was not the first time these Christian believers had heard it. John was probably nearly 100 years old when this epistle was written. He had witnessed almost the first century of Christianity. This commandment was taught by Jesus and had been taught by the Church from the very beginning. From the very first day of entry into the Christian life, believers had been taught that the law of love must be the law of their lives. This commandment went a long way back into the history of God’s interaction with man and a long way back in the lives of the Christians to whom John was writing.
So how was it new?
It was new because of the way Jesus made it new. It was new as to who was considered a neighbor and worthy of love. Jesus included even sinners, who under the law would have been hated instead of loved. Jesus included even Gentiles, who under the law were despised. Jesus widened the boundaries of love until there was no one outside it’s embrace.
It was new because of the lengths to which it would go. No lack of response, nothing that anyone could ever do to Him, could turn Jesus’ love to hate. He even prayed for God’s mercy on those who nailed Him to the cross.
1Jn 2:9-11 ESV Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. (10) Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. (11) But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
What did John mean by the words “light” and “darkness”?
If you dislike someone, does that mean you are not a Christian or cannot be a Christian?
Is there any room for hate in a Christian heart?
How are claiming to be a Christian and loving one’s neighbor related?
How do we regard our neighbors?
Do we regard them as negligible? Do we make all of our plans without taking our neighbors into consideration at all?
Do we regard them with contempt? Do we think that they are all fools when compared with our intellectual level, so their opinions should just be brushed aside?
Do we see them as a nuisance? They are here and we have to interact with them or even care for them when necessary. But do we sometimes begrudge that necessity?
Do we see them as enemies? As our competitors?
Or do we see them as brothers and sisters?
If we walk in the light we are in fellowship with God. True?
Who else will we be in fellowship with?
Love and light go together as do hatred and darkness.
Is Christian love just a feeling or something that we can agree to intellectually?
What is required for a feeling or thoughts of love to actually become love?
What love does God hate?
1Jn 2:15-17 ESV Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. (17) And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Verse 15 says not to love the world. What does that mean?
Is the "world" the earth itself?
Are we commanded to not love the earth and all the natural beauty created by God?
Is the world the people of the world?
We have already been told in this lesson that we are to love our neighbor. Is this a reversal? Are we now told that we are not to love the people of the world?
Joh 3:16 ESV "For God so loved the world (the people of the world), that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
God loved the world, but we are not supposed to?
So what is John speaking of when he says: “Do not love the world”?
Can I love a beautiful sunset?
Can I love to see a small child grin?
Can I love the family pet?
What is this world that I am commanded not to love?
Eph 6:12 ESV For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
1Jn 5:19 ESV We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
The world in this sense does not mean the world in general, for God did indeed love the world and the people which he had made; it means the world which, in fact, had and has forsaken the God who made it.
What restrictions should we place on our affections?
What things in the world are you tempted to love?
What would you categorize as the “desire of the flesh”?
What would you categorize as the “desire of the eyes”?
What would you categorize as the “pride in riches”?
Why are the things of the world so enticing to us?
What worldly things or values do we substitute for God?
What are some ways that Christians disagree concerning the definition of worldliness?
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Book Study - The Cost of Discipleship - Intermission
We're giving up Bonhoeffer for Lent!
well, not really, but we are taking a break. Our Church is doing a church-wide study during Lent called Serving from the Heart: Finding Your Gifts and Talents for Service and our Book Study Group is taking part. So we'll be back on Bonhoeffer the week after Easter.
well, not really, but we are taking a break. Our Church is doing a church-wide study during Lent called Serving from the Heart: Finding Your Gifts and Talents for Service and our Book Study Group is taking part. So we'll be back on Bonhoeffer the week after Easter.
Sunday School Lesson: Secure Connections
Purpose: To show that true life is life in Christ and that such life bears fruit worthy of Him.
Scripture : John 15:1-17
Joh 15:1-4 ESV "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. (2) Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. (3) Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. (4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
Jesus commonly used ideas or examples which were part of the religious heritage of the Jewish people. This passage from John 15 is no exception. Over and over in the Old Testament Israel is pictured or described as the vine or the vineyard of God.
Isa 5:7 ESV For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting….
Jer 2:21 ESV Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed……
Eze 19:10 ESV Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard planted by the water, fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water.
Hos 10:1 ESV Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. …
Psa 80:8-9 ESV You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. (9) You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.
The vine became the symbol for the nation of Israel. The emblem on the coins of Israel was the vine. One of the greatest distinctive features of the Temple was a great golden vine on the front of the Holy Place. It was considered a great honor to give enough gold to mould even a single grape on that vine. When Jesus used references to the vine He was not introducing something new. Any reference to the vine would have been immediately recognized by any Jew of the time as a reference to Israel and her special place in the vineyard of God.
How do you think Jesus’ statement: “I am the true vine” would be understood by His Jewish audience?
What exactly was Jesus saying with that statement?
If we look closer at the Old Testament references to the symbol of the vine, we see that in the Old Testament the symbols were always in reference to a declined, degenerate, and corrupt Israel.
Isaiah pictured a vineyard that had run wild:
Isa 5:10 ESV For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath….
Jeremiah complained:
Jer 2:21 ESV ….. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?
So what was Jesus’ message to Israel?
Jesus seemed to be saying: “You may think that just because you belong to the nation of Israel you are a branch of the true vine. But the nation is a degenerate vine, as reported by the prophets. It is I who am the true vine. The fact that you are Jews will not save you. The only thing that can save you is to have an intimate living fellowship with me, for I am the vine and you must be the branches joined to me.”
Who we are, which nation we are born into, which church we belong to , etc. will not save us. No external qualification can set us right with God. Only our relationship with Jesus Christ can do that.
Since the Jews had not produced righteousness, God sent the “true vine” to accomplish His work. Jesus replaces Judaism as the means by which people are connected to God. The only way to God is through Christ.
Jesus said: “Abide in me..”
How do we abide in Jesus?
How can we tell that we are abiding in Jesus?
What is the difference between “removing branches” and “pruning branches”?
Pruning is essential to grape production. Grapes are only produced on one-year old canes. Care must be taken to ensure that sufficient one-year canes are on the vine to produce a crop and also that some canes are growing to be the producing canes for next year. All two-year canes are removed as they are past their usefulness. What do you think happens to a one-year old cane that fails to produce?
They are completely removed so that they will drain away none of the plant’s strength which is needed by those that are producing fruit.
A vine cannot produce the crop of which it is capable without much severe pruning – and Jesus knew that.
And what happens to the pruned branches?
They are thrown into the fire. One curious characteristic of the vine is that the wood of the vine is good for nothing. It is too soft and not durable enough for any purpose.
Eze 15:2-5 ESV "Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? (3) Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? (4) Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? (5) Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything!
Who was Jesus thinking of when He spoke of “fruitless” branches?
He may have been thinking of two groups. He may have been thinking of the Jews. They were certainly branches of God’s vine. But did they accept Jesus? Did they “abide” in Jesus? If they did not then their branch would wither and die.
The second group He was thinking of was more general. He was thinking of “fruitless” Christians: Christians whose Christianity consisted of profession of faith without practice of faith, Christians of words without deed. Those are useless branches, all leaves and no fruit. He may also have been thinking of Christians who heard the message and accepted and later fell away.
What is Jesus pruning tool?
In what way has God removed dead and useless branches from your life?
Have you noticed God “pruning” in you life?
What have you learned from the experience?
Joh 15:5-8 ESV I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (6) If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. (7) If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (8) By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
How do we abide in Christ?
How do we know that we are “bearing fruit”?
Is “bearing fruit” limited to bringing others to Christ?
How well do you think we are doing at “abiding” in Christ?
What are some things that we could do to abide in Christ more than we do?
What are the benefits to abiding in Christ?
What are the costs of failing to abide in Christ?
Verse 4: “For apart from me you can do nothing.” What does that statement say to a very good person who is not a Christian?
Is there a such-thing as a “good” non-Christian?
Can a non-Christian bear good fruit?
What is the only way to live a truly good life?
Joh 15:9-11 ESV As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. (10) If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. (11) These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
What is the relationship between abiding in Christ and obedience?
How is joy and love related to abiding and obedience?
What is Jesus’ goal in this lesson?
Do you think most believers enjoy their relationship with God?
How can we come to find complete, continuous joy in God?
Is the joy spoken of in this passage the kind of joy that makes you smile, or is this a deep, deep joy that no one ever sees?
How do we abide in Jesus’ love?
Can we simply tell ourselves over and over that “Jesus loves me”? Is that abiding in His love?
Is it possible to have a warm, loving relationship with God if we don’t dutifully follow His commandments?
Does the warmth of relationship always go along with the duty of obedience?
Is it possible to be dutifully obedient without being connected in a warm, loving relationship?
How does joy fit into obedience? Can you have joy without obedience?
Do you normally think of joy and obedience as going together?
Is it important that we be joyful or just that we are obedient? Is it ok to be obedient but grumpy?
Joh 15:12-15 ESV "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (13) Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (14) You are my friends if you do what I command you. (15) No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
Who did Jesus say were His friends?
Why does Jesus call His disciples friends?
Can you command love? Is love that is the result of a command true love?
What does it take to be a friend of God?
As followers of Christ shouldn’t we be called servants?
We are called to obedience, but not called servants. Why?
Do we sometimes struggle to love others as Jesus has loved us?
In what ways is it hard to be Jesus’ friend?
Joh 15:16-17 ESV You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (17) These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
Did the disciples choose to follow Christ of their own free will?
We like to think of our relationship with Jesus as something we decided to do. Is this true? Do we choose to follow Christ of our own free will?
Why did and does Jesus choose His disciples?
What is Jesus’ commandment?
Homework:
Imagine yourself as a branch on the vine of Christ. What do you look like?
Are you a healthy branch?
What do you need? More water, fertilizer, sun?
What do you need from Christ to nourish you so that you become an outstanding specimen and bear much fruit?
Scripture : John 15:1-17
Joh 15:1-4 ESV "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. (2) Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. (3) Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. (4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
Jesus commonly used ideas or examples which were part of the religious heritage of the Jewish people. This passage from John 15 is no exception. Over and over in the Old Testament Israel is pictured or described as the vine or the vineyard of God.
Isa 5:7 ESV For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting….
Jer 2:21 ESV Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed……
Eze 19:10 ESV Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard planted by the water, fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water.
Hos 10:1 ESV Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. …
Psa 80:8-9 ESV You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. (9) You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.
The vine became the symbol for the nation of Israel. The emblem on the coins of Israel was the vine. One of the greatest distinctive features of the Temple was a great golden vine on the front of the Holy Place. It was considered a great honor to give enough gold to mould even a single grape on that vine. When Jesus used references to the vine He was not introducing something new. Any reference to the vine would have been immediately recognized by any Jew of the time as a reference to Israel and her special place in the vineyard of God.
How do you think Jesus’ statement: “I am the true vine” would be understood by His Jewish audience?
What exactly was Jesus saying with that statement?
If we look closer at the Old Testament references to the symbol of the vine, we see that in the Old Testament the symbols were always in reference to a declined, degenerate, and corrupt Israel.
Isaiah pictured a vineyard that had run wild:
Isa 5:10 ESV For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath….
Jeremiah complained:
Jer 2:21 ESV ….. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?
So what was Jesus’ message to Israel?
Jesus seemed to be saying: “You may think that just because you belong to the nation of Israel you are a branch of the true vine. But the nation is a degenerate vine, as reported by the prophets. It is I who am the true vine. The fact that you are Jews will not save you. The only thing that can save you is to have an intimate living fellowship with me, for I am the vine and you must be the branches joined to me.”
Who we are, which nation we are born into, which church we belong to , etc. will not save us. No external qualification can set us right with God. Only our relationship with Jesus Christ can do that.
Since the Jews had not produced righteousness, God sent the “true vine” to accomplish His work. Jesus replaces Judaism as the means by which people are connected to God. The only way to God is through Christ.
Jesus said: “Abide in me..”
How do we abide in Jesus?
How can we tell that we are abiding in Jesus?
What is the difference between “removing branches” and “pruning branches”?
Pruning is essential to grape production. Grapes are only produced on one-year old canes. Care must be taken to ensure that sufficient one-year canes are on the vine to produce a crop and also that some canes are growing to be the producing canes for next year. All two-year canes are removed as they are past their usefulness. What do you think happens to a one-year old cane that fails to produce?
They are completely removed so that they will drain away none of the plant’s strength which is needed by those that are producing fruit.
A vine cannot produce the crop of which it is capable without much severe pruning – and Jesus knew that.
And what happens to the pruned branches?
They are thrown into the fire. One curious characteristic of the vine is that the wood of the vine is good for nothing. It is too soft and not durable enough for any purpose.
Eze 15:2-5 ESV "Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? (3) Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? (4) Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? (5) Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything!
Who was Jesus thinking of when He spoke of “fruitless” branches?
He may have been thinking of two groups. He may have been thinking of the Jews. They were certainly branches of God’s vine. But did they accept Jesus? Did they “abide” in Jesus? If they did not then their branch would wither and die.
The second group He was thinking of was more general. He was thinking of “fruitless” Christians: Christians whose Christianity consisted of profession of faith without practice of faith, Christians of words without deed. Those are useless branches, all leaves and no fruit. He may also have been thinking of Christians who heard the message and accepted and later fell away.
What is Jesus pruning tool?
In what way has God removed dead and useless branches from your life?
Have you noticed God “pruning” in you life?
What have you learned from the experience?
Joh 15:5-8 ESV I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (6) If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. (7) If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (8) By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
How do we abide in Christ?
How do we know that we are “bearing fruit”?
Is “bearing fruit” limited to bringing others to Christ?
How well do you think we are doing at “abiding” in Christ?
What are some things that we could do to abide in Christ more than we do?
What are the benefits to abiding in Christ?
What are the costs of failing to abide in Christ?
Verse 4: “For apart from me you can do nothing.” What does that statement say to a very good person who is not a Christian?
Is there a such-thing as a “good” non-Christian?
Can a non-Christian bear good fruit?
What is the only way to live a truly good life?
Joh 15:9-11 ESV As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. (10) If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. (11) These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
What is the relationship between abiding in Christ and obedience?
How is joy and love related to abiding and obedience?
What is Jesus’ goal in this lesson?
Do you think most believers enjoy their relationship with God?
How can we come to find complete, continuous joy in God?
Is the joy spoken of in this passage the kind of joy that makes you smile, or is this a deep, deep joy that no one ever sees?
How do we abide in Jesus’ love?
Can we simply tell ourselves over and over that “Jesus loves me”? Is that abiding in His love?
Is it possible to have a warm, loving relationship with God if we don’t dutifully follow His commandments?
Does the warmth of relationship always go along with the duty of obedience?
Is it possible to be dutifully obedient without being connected in a warm, loving relationship?
How does joy fit into obedience? Can you have joy without obedience?
Do you normally think of joy and obedience as going together?
Is it important that we be joyful or just that we are obedient? Is it ok to be obedient but grumpy?
Joh 15:12-15 ESV "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (13) Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (14) You are my friends if you do what I command you. (15) No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
Who did Jesus say were His friends?
Why does Jesus call His disciples friends?
Can you command love? Is love that is the result of a command true love?
What does it take to be a friend of God?
As followers of Christ shouldn’t we be called servants?
We are called to obedience, but not called servants. Why?
Do we sometimes struggle to love others as Jesus has loved us?
In what ways is it hard to be Jesus’ friend?
Joh 15:16-17 ESV You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (17) These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
Did the disciples choose to follow Christ of their own free will?
We like to think of our relationship with Jesus as something we decided to do. Is this true? Do we choose to follow Christ of our own free will?
Why did and does Jesus choose His disciples?
What is Jesus’ commandment?
Homework:
Imagine yourself as a branch on the vine of Christ. What do you look like?
Are you a healthy branch?
What do you need? More water, fertilizer, sun?
What do you need from Christ to nourish you so that you become an outstanding specimen and bear much fruit?
Book Study – The Cost of Discipleship, Week 6 – Chapters 14-16
Chapter 14 – The Hidden Righteousness
Mat 6:1-4 ESV "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (2) "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (3) But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, (4) so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
We have already studied Matthew 5: 13-16 which tells us that our life of righteousness must be seen. The Body of Christ is to be visible in the world and known by it’s righteousness. Salt and light. Here we are told that our righteousness is to remain hidden. Which is it supposed to be? Visible or invisible?
The passage from Matthew 5 left no doubt that our discipleship must be visible to the world. If it is not seen, it probably doesn’t exist. Being a witness to the world is the purpose of discipleship. So, from whom are we to hide our discipleship?
Not from others, but from ourselves. When we begin to notice our own righteousness, we have taken our eyes off of the One who is truly righteous.
How can the visible and invisible aspects of discipleship be combined?
How can, at the same time, discipleship be both visible and invisible?
Bonhoeffer:
“To answer this question, all we need to do is to go back to chapter 5, where the extraordinary and the visible are defined as the cross of Christ beneath which the disciples stand. The cross is at once the necessary, the hidden and the visible – it is the ‘extraordinary’.”
If our “visibility” ever takes the eyes of the world away from the cross, we have crossed the line. If our discipleship ever is seen as “our” righteousness then it is no longer the righteousness of the Cross.
How is the seeming contradiction between Matthew 5 and 6 resolved?
Notice that in the Table of Contents the chapters dealing with Matthew 5 and those dealing with Matthew 6 are separated. Matthew 5 is subtitled Of the “Extraordinariness” of the Christian Life and Matthew 6 is subtitled Of the Hidden Character of the Christian Life.
Bonhoeffer:
“All that the follower of Jesus has to do is to make sure that his obedience, following, and love are entirely spontaneous and unpremeditated.”
Easy for him to say. How can we, if we are “making sure” of anything do so spontaneously and unpremeditated? If we are thinking about it enough to “make sure” it is spontaneous, we have in so doing lost it’s spontaneity.
Chapter 15 – The Hiddenness of Prayer
Mat 6:5-8 ESV "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (6) But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (7) "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. (8) Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Jesus had to teach his disciples to pray. Is prayer a natural thing for man?
Bonhoeffer:
“Prayer is the supreme instance of the hidden character of the Christian life. It is the antithesis of self-display. When men pray, they have ceased to know themselves, and know only God whom they call upon. Prayer does not aim at any direct effect on the world; it is addressed to God alone, and is therefore the perfect example of undemonstrative action.”
Do you agree with the statement that “prayer does not aim at any direct effect on the world”. Isn’t that why we pray? To plead with God to “effect” the world?
John Wesley:
“God does nothing but in answer to prayer. Even people who have been converted to God without praying for it themselves (which is extremely rare) were prayed for by others. Every new victory that a soul gains is the effect of a new prayer.”
Who do you agree with, Bonhoeffer or Wesley? Does prayer “not aim at any direct effect on the world” or is every direct effect on the world the result of prayer?
Chapter 16 – The Hiddenness of the Devout Life
Mat 6:16-18 ESV "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (17) But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, (18) that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
How many of you have ever fasted?
Is it wrong to admit that I have fasted, or should my fast remain secret?
I’m sure next week folks will be asking, “What are you giving up for Lent?”
Should we just keep our Lenten fast between us and God?
Jesus doesn’t tell the disciples to fast. He takes it for granted that they will.
Bonhoeffer:
“strict exercise of self control is an essential feature of the Christian’s life.”
What does this passage say to those who desire a monastic lifestyle? Those who intentionally and very visibly seek suffering as a show of piety?
Bonhoeffer:
“This is a pious but godless ambition, for beneath it lurks the notion that it is possible for us to step into Christ’s shoes and suffer as he did and kill the old Adam. We are then presuming to undertake that bitter work of eternal redemption which Christ himself wrought for us. The motive for asceticism was more limited – to equip us for better service and deeper humility.”
If I do certain things with the intention of showing my humility, haven’t I totally defeated their intended purpose?
Mat 6:1-4 ESV "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (2) "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (3) But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, (4) so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
We have already studied Matthew 5: 13-16 which tells us that our life of righteousness must be seen. The Body of Christ is to be visible in the world and known by it’s righteousness. Salt and light. Here we are told that our righteousness is to remain hidden. Which is it supposed to be? Visible or invisible?
The passage from Matthew 5 left no doubt that our discipleship must be visible to the world. If it is not seen, it probably doesn’t exist. Being a witness to the world is the purpose of discipleship. So, from whom are we to hide our discipleship?
Not from others, but from ourselves. When we begin to notice our own righteousness, we have taken our eyes off of the One who is truly righteous.
How can the visible and invisible aspects of discipleship be combined?
How can, at the same time, discipleship be both visible and invisible?
Bonhoeffer:
“To answer this question, all we need to do is to go back to chapter 5, where the extraordinary and the visible are defined as the cross of Christ beneath which the disciples stand. The cross is at once the necessary, the hidden and the visible – it is the ‘extraordinary’.”
If our “visibility” ever takes the eyes of the world away from the cross, we have crossed the line. If our discipleship ever is seen as “our” righteousness then it is no longer the righteousness of the Cross.
How is the seeming contradiction between Matthew 5 and 6 resolved?
Notice that in the Table of Contents the chapters dealing with Matthew 5 and those dealing with Matthew 6 are separated. Matthew 5 is subtitled Of the “Extraordinariness” of the Christian Life and Matthew 6 is subtitled Of the Hidden Character of the Christian Life.
Bonhoeffer:
“All that the follower of Jesus has to do is to make sure that his obedience, following, and love are entirely spontaneous and unpremeditated.”
Easy for him to say. How can we, if we are “making sure” of anything do so spontaneously and unpremeditated? If we are thinking about it enough to “make sure” it is spontaneous, we have in so doing lost it’s spontaneity.
Chapter 15 – The Hiddenness of Prayer
Mat 6:5-8 ESV "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (6) But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (7) "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. (8) Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Jesus had to teach his disciples to pray. Is prayer a natural thing for man?
Bonhoeffer:
“Prayer is the supreme instance of the hidden character of the Christian life. It is the antithesis of self-display. When men pray, they have ceased to know themselves, and know only God whom they call upon. Prayer does not aim at any direct effect on the world; it is addressed to God alone, and is therefore the perfect example of undemonstrative action.”
Do you agree with the statement that “prayer does not aim at any direct effect on the world”. Isn’t that why we pray? To plead with God to “effect” the world?
John Wesley:
“God does nothing but in answer to prayer. Even people who have been converted to God without praying for it themselves (which is extremely rare) were prayed for by others. Every new victory that a soul gains is the effect of a new prayer.”
Who do you agree with, Bonhoeffer or Wesley? Does prayer “not aim at any direct effect on the world” or is every direct effect on the world the result of prayer?
Chapter 16 – The Hiddenness of the Devout Life
Mat 6:16-18 ESV "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (17) But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, (18) that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
How many of you have ever fasted?
Is it wrong to admit that I have fasted, or should my fast remain secret?
I’m sure next week folks will be asking, “What are you giving up for Lent?”
Should we just keep our Lenten fast between us and God?
Jesus doesn’t tell the disciples to fast. He takes it for granted that they will.
Bonhoeffer:
“strict exercise of self control is an essential feature of the Christian’s life.”
What does this passage say to those who desire a monastic lifestyle? Those who intentionally and very visibly seek suffering as a show of piety?
Bonhoeffer:
“This is a pious but godless ambition, for beneath it lurks the notion that it is possible for us to step into Christ’s shoes and suffer as he did and kill the old Adam. We are then presuming to undertake that bitter work of eternal redemption which Christ himself wrought for us. The motive for asceticism was more limited – to equip us for better service and deeper humility.”
If I do certain things with the intention of showing my humility, haven’t I totally defeated their intended purpose?
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Sunday School Lesson: Life After Death
Purpose: To explore how Christ is Lord over life and death and what this means for our present and future life.
Scripture: John 11:1-44
Joh 11:1-44 ESV Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (2) It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. (3) So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." (4) But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." (5) Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. (6) So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. (7) Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." (8) The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?" (9) Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. (10) But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." (11) After saying these things, he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him." (12) The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." (13) Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. (14) Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died, (15) and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." (16) So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." (17) Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. (18) Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, (19) and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. (20) So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. (21) Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. (22) But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." (23) Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." (24) Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
(25) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, (26) and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (27) She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." (28) When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." (29) And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. (30) Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. (31) When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. (32) Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (33) When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. (34) And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." (35) Jesus wept. (36) So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" (37) But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?" (38) Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
(39) Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." (40) Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" (41) So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. (42) I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." (43) When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." (44) The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
Do you believe in life after death?
What do you believe about life after death?
What were you taught as a child?
Have you beliefs changed over the years?
What do you believe is the nature of life after death?
What is heaven really like?
Hell?
Questions of life after death at some point in our life haunt all of us. We have all had friends or family who have become ill and we have all probably prayed that God would somehow intervene. We have all probably felt like responding the way Martha and Mary did in this passage:
“Lord, you could have done something about this. You still could…..if you would.”
Why did Jesus wait for Lazarus to die before coming to Bethany?
The raising of Lazarus was not Jesus’ last miracle, but it is the last one recorded by John. This particular miracle was probably chosen by John as the culmination of Jesus’ miracles for the simple fact that this is Jesus’ greatest miracle prior to the Cross. This particular miracle aroused the most response both from Jesus’ friends and his enemies. This miracle was the one, according to John, that pushed Jesus’ enemies from threats on His life to actual plots to take His life. This miracle also caused such a commotion among the people that when Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem a couple of weeks later He was met by crowds waving palm branches and singing “Hosanna!’
Let’s look at this miraculous raising of Lazarus and see what all the commotion was about…
The city of Bethany was located only a couple of miles from Jerusalem. This town was the location of the Mount of Olives. Bethany was not only the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but also Simon the Leper who is mentioned in both Mark and Matthew. The modern city at this location is called El-Aziriyah, “the place of Lazarus” in Arabic. A church has existed from at least the sixth century on the supposed site of Lazarus tomb here and still offers tours of the tomb.
Was this the first time that Jesus had brought someone dead back to life?
He had brought back the widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:11-17) and the daughter of Jairus (Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43. Luke 8:40-55).
What was different about this miracle?
One difference is that in both of those miracles, the raising took place immediately following the death. It could be said that those two were more reviving or resuscitating than resurrecting. Those two could have still been alive with just the appearance of death and Jesus may have revived them from a comatose state. Burial in those days in Palestine followed very soon after death because the climate caused rapid decomposition. Archeologists have found evidence that frequently people in those times and in that place were buried alive because of that necessary haste in burial. It could well be that in those two cases, Jesus made a diagnosis that actually saved two young people from a dreadful death of being buried alive.
How was Lazarus’ raising different?
There is no parallel anywhere in Scripture for the raising of a man who had been dead for four days and whose body had already begun to putrefy.
Why did Jesus wait for Lazarus to die?
That was actually a trick question. If we look at the timeline, we see that Jesus did not wait for Lazarus to die. Lazarus was already dead when the messenger reached Jesus. Jesus was across the Jordan, at least a days walk from Bethany. Day 1 – the messenger was sent to Jesus. Day 2 – the messenger returns with the message in verse 4. Day 3 – Jesus and the disciples wait one more day. Day 4 – Jesus arrives in Bethany. So if Lazarus had been dead for four days, he had died on the very day the messenger left and was already dead when the messenger reached Jesus. Jesus knew this when he sent the return message to the sisters.
So why did Jesus wait at all? Why didn’t He return immediately to comfort the sisters?
He stated His reason for delay four times:
Joh 11:15 ESV …. so that you may believe…
Joh 11:25-26 ESV Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, (26) and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
Joh 11:40 ESV …, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?"
Joh 11:42 ESV I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me."
His delay was for the sole purpose of enlightening the witnesses.
Let’s picture the scene:
A usual Palestinian tomb was either a natural cave or was hewn out of rock. There would be shelves cut in the rock and on those shelves the bodies would be placed. There were usually eight shelves in a tomb. The bodies were wrapped in grave clothes, which were wrapped round and round the body and impregnated with spices which would embalm the body. These tombs had no door, but had a great circular stone which rolled in a groove across the entrance to seal the opening.
There is a reason for four days delay. It was a Jewish belief that the deceased person’s spirit hovered around a tomb for four days, hoping for an opportunity to re-enter the body. After four days, it was believed, the spirit permanently departed, never to return, for after four days of decomposition in the Palestinian climate, the face and the body were so badly decayed that it could no longer be recognized, even by the spirit of the person who had inhabited that body. After four days there was no way anyone could be convinced that Lazarus was still alive.
Have you ever felt like Martha must have felt? Have you ever felt like questioning God, yet having faith that God is good and whatever God does is right, that we really have no right to question God, regardless the circumstances we find ourselves in?
One of the most human, heart felt speeches in the Bible has to be when Martha said to Jesus:
Joh 11:21 ESV …… "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Do you think that she would have really liked to say: “Why didn’t you come immediately when you got our message?”
“Now it’s too late! Four days! Surely Lazarus’ spirit has left him!”
Yet no sooner had she spoken her near reproach, than there follows words of great faith:
Joh 11:22 ESV But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."
These words show a faith that defied the facts of Lazarus’ death. And Jesus told her:
Joh 11:23 ESV ….. "Your brother will rise again."
There was a debate among the Jewish people at the time concerning life after death. In Old Testament times and in the writing of the Old Testament there is no indication of any real life after death. The Hebrews of the Old Testament believed that every soul, good and bad alike, went to Sheol. Sheol is not Hell, although sometimes it is mistranslated to mean hell. Sheol was not a place of torture and suffering. It was just the place of the dead, the land of shades. Every deceased soul went there and they all lived a shadowy, ghostly existence. After death, according to ancient Hebrew belief, came the land of silence, where human souls were separated from each other and from God.
Yet during the time between the Testaments a new belief in bodily physical resurrection was developed by the Jews. The major disagreement between the Pharisees and the Sadducees was on the issue of resurrection. The Pharisaic belief was in a general physical resurrection of all the dead during the end times. The martyrs of the Maccabeean revolt expected to get back from God even the parts of their bodies which were lost in battle. The Pharisaic belief eventually developed into the hope of a physical resurrection in exactly the form in which a man died, after which will come the judgment. This belief carried so far as to believe that a man would rise wearing exactly the same clothes in which he had been laid in his tomb. There were cases of dying Rabbis who gave minute and detailed instructions regarding the clothes in which they were to be buried.
The numerous statements that Jesus made throughout the Gospels concerning resurrection show that the Jewish beliefs of the time may be at least partially correct.
So Martha’s next statement to Jesus fit perfectly into the contemporary Jewish belief regarding resurrection:
Joh 11:24 ESV Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
How do the Jewish beliefs concerning resurrection compare to Christian beliefs?
What are our Christian beliefs concerning resurrection?
Will our resurrection be spiritual or physical?
When will our resurrection occur?
Where will we live after the resurrection?
What will be our state in the time between death and resurrection?
Joh 11:25-26 ESV Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, (26) and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
What did Jesus mean by that statement?
If I believe in Jesus, I will never suffer a physical death?
Jesus must not have been speaking strictly in a physical sense. It is just not true that those who believe in Him will never die. Christians experience a physical death just like everybody else. So what exactly did Jesus mean?
There is obviously more than a strictly physical meaning in this statement of Jesus. Can you think of any way that Christians are alive that is not true of non-Christians?
One possible meaning of this statement is that Jesus was thinking of the death of sin. We are all, prior to coming to Christ, dead in sin. Our sins create in us a hardness of heart that is equal to spiritual death. Sinners may become so selfish that they are dead to the needs of others. They may become so insensitive that they are dead to the feelings of others. They may become so involved in a sinful lifestyle that they are dead to honesty and integrity. Their lives may become so hopeless that the best way to describe it is spiritual death. No matter the situation, faith in Jesus can bring about a resurrection. There have been millions of just such resurrections.
There is also the resurrection to come. The life to come. As I said earlier, Jesus mentioned the end-time resurrection many times in the Gospels. This was just a theological theory to the Jews who believed in resurrection. To Jesus it seemed to be common knowledge. Jesus brought into the world the certainty that our physical death is not the end. We all die. But in the most real sense, we are not on our way to death, but on our way to life.
How does this happen?
It happens through the One who is “the resurrection and the life”. Jesus’ own resurrection is the cornerstone of all redemption.
So what kind of bodies will we have in our resurrection?
Where will we live?
Was the raising of Lazarus the same as the resurrection we are promised as Christians?
What is the difference between resurrection and resuscitation?
This event with Lazarus is more accurately described as a resuscitation. The same could be said of the widow’s son and Jairus’ daughter. Resuscitation is the act of restoring on who was dead, or very near death, back to life. This life is the same life that one previously had. EMT’s and doctors perform resuscitations every day.
Unlike resuscitation, resurrection is being given, and receiving, a totally new life. Resurrection is not being restored to the old life that one previously had. Resurrection is being “born again.” A resurrected sinner does not return to the previous sinful life. Physical resurrection means beginning a new life, perhaps in an entirely new form.
The only example we have (so far) of a physical resurrection is Jesus Himself. Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18), the two apostles on the road to Emmaus (Luke 21:13-35), even Peter and the others fishing on the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-14) did not immediately recognize the resurrected Jesus. Thomas didn’t recognize Jesus until placing his hand on Jesus’ wounds (John 20:25-28). But when each and every one of them finally recognized Him there was no doubt that He was the Savior.
Thomas:
Joh 20:28 ESV Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"
Jesus was not resuscitated to the life he had prior to the crucifixion. He was resurrected to a new and different life.
Those resuscitated, like Lazarus, the widow’s son, and Jairus’ daughter, will yet again die a physical death. Once resurrected, we will, like Jesus, never die again. The resurrected will be given a new life, a life everlasting.
The physical resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of redemption, both for mankind and for the earth itself. Without Christ’s resurrection and what it means – an eternal future for fully restored human beings dwelling on a fully restored Earth – there is no Christianity.
1Co 15:17-22 ESV And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. (18) Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (19) If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (20) But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (21) For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. (22) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Jesus spoke too many times of a physical resurrection for His only meaning to be spiritual. There is absolutely a spiritual resurrection for all believers. There will also absolutely be a physical resurrection for all believers. We will have bodies; whether the same bodies we now inhabit remains to be seen, but we will have bodies. Without bodies, we wouldn’t be resurrected. Our body is as much a part of us as our spirit. The essence of humanity is not just spirit. Humans are only human when their spirit is joined with their body. Our bodies are not just a house for our spirit.
Where will we live in our resurrection bodies?
2Pe 3:13 ESV But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Rev 21:1-3 ESV Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. (2) And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (3) And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
We will live on the New Earth. The New Earth will still be Earth, just like our resurrection bodies will still be our bodies. But just like our new bodies, the New Earth will also be changed.
Are Christian’s immortal or just promised resurrection? And what is the difference?
Resurrection is not immortality. Immortality would mean that our spirits could exist without bodies and that when we die a physical death we don’t really die. This belief would mean that when our bodies die, our spirits are set free but still live.
The Christian faith rejects completely the notion of immortality. When we die, we die. Every part of us. Body, spirit, soul. We truly, entirely cease to be. But through the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, we will not be left for eternity in an earthly grave. In the end, not even the death of all of the component parts of human life can separate us from the love of God.
Rom 8:38-39 ESV For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, (39) nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Christian faith is confident that when we are resurrected all of our parts will be resurrected, not just our spirit and soul, but also our bodies. Our bodies may not be exactly the same, but our bodies they will be. In the Apostles’ Creed we do not confess to mere belief in resurrection. Instead, we boldly confess to believe in the “resurrection of the body”.
What does “the resurrection and the life” mean to us today?
It means everything. It matters more than anything else that Jesus is the resurrection and the life for everyone who is dead in sin and dead to God today. Jesus resuscitated Lazarus those many years ago because he loved him. Jesus is the “resurrection and the life” today just as he was then. And Jesus loves us with the same love that He had for Lazarus. And that is all that really matters.
Scripture: John 11:1-44
Joh 11:1-44 ESV Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (2) It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. (3) So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." (4) But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." (5) Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. (6) So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. (7) Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." (8) The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?" (9) Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. (10) But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." (11) After saying these things, he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him." (12) The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." (13) Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. (14) Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died, (15) and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." (16) So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." (17) Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. (18) Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, (19) and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. (20) So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. (21) Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. (22) But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." (23) Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." (24) Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
(25) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, (26) and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (27) She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." (28) When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." (29) And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. (30) Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. (31) When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. (32) Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (33) When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. (34) And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." (35) Jesus wept. (36) So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" (37) But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?" (38) Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
(39) Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." (40) Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" (41) So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. (42) I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." (43) When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." (44) The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
Do you believe in life after death?
What do you believe about life after death?
What were you taught as a child?
Have you beliefs changed over the years?
What do you believe is the nature of life after death?
What is heaven really like?
Hell?
Questions of life after death at some point in our life haunt all of us. We have all had friends or family who have become ill and we have all probably prayed that God would somehow intervene. We have all probably felt like responding the way Martha and Mary did in this passage:
“Lord, you could have done something about this. You still could…..if you would.”
Why did Jesus wait for Lazarus to die before coming to Bethany?
The raising of Lazarus was not Jesus’ last miracle, but it is the last one recorded by John. This particular miracle was probably chosen by John as the culmination of Jesus’ miracles for the simple fact that this is Jesus’ greatest miracle prior to the Cross. This particular miracle aroused the most response both from Jesus’ friends and his enemies. This miracle was the one, according to John, that pushed Jesus’ enemies from threats on His life to actual plots to take His life. This miracle also caused such a commotion among the people that when Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem a couple of weeks later He was met by crowds waving palm branches and singing “Hosanna!’
Let’s look at this miraculous raising of Lazarus and see what all the commotion was about…
The city of Bethany was located only a couple of miles from Jerusalem. This town was the location of the Mount of Olives. Bethany was not only the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but also Simon the Leper who is mentioned in both Mark and Matthew. The modern city at this location is called El-Aziriyah, “the place of Lazarus” in Arabic. A church has existed from at least the sixth century on the supposed site of Lazarus tomb here and still offers tours of the tomb.
Was this the first time that Jesus had brought someone dead back to life?
He had brought back the widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:11-17) and the daughter of Jairus (Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43. Luke 8:40-55).
What was different about this miracle?
One difference is that in both of those miracles, the raising took place immediately following the death. It could be said that those two were more reviving or resuscitating than resurrecting. Those two could have still been alive with just the appearance of death and Jesus may have revived them from a comatose state. Burial in those days in Palestine followed very soon after death because the climate caused rapid decomposition. Archeologists have found evidence that frequently people in those times and in that place were buried alive because of that necessary haste in burial. It could well be that in those two cases, Jesus made a diagnosis that actually saved two young people from a dreadful death of being buried alive.
How was Lazarus’ raising different?
There is no parallel anywhere in Scripture for the raising of a man who had been dead for four days and whose body had already begun to putrefy.
Why did Jesus wait for Lazarus to die?
That was actually a trick question. If we look at the timeline, we see that Jesus did not wait for Lazarus to die. Lazarus was already dead when the messenger reached Jesus. Jesus was across the Jordan, at least a days walk from Bethany. Day 1 – the messenger was sent to Jesus. Day 2 – the messenger returns with the message in verse 4. Day 3 – Jesus and the disciples wait one more day. Day 4 – Jesus arrives in Bethany. So if Lazarus had been dead for four days, he had died on the very day the messenger left and was already dead when the messenger reached Jesus. Jesus knew this when he sent the return message to the sisters.
So why did Jesus wait at all? Why didn’t He return immediately to comfort the sisters?
He stated His reason for delay four times:
Joh 11:15 ESV …. so that you may believe…
Joh 11:25-26 ESV Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, (26) and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
Joh 11:40 ESV …, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?"
Joh 11:42 ESV I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me."
His delay was for the sole purpose of enlightening the witnesses.
Let’s picture the scene:
A usual Palestinian tomb was either a natural cave or was hewn out of rock. There would be shelves cut in the rock and on those shelves the bodies would be placed. There were usually eight shelves in a tomb. The bodies were wrapped in grave clothes, which were wrapped round and round the body and impregnated with spices which would embalm the body. These tombs had no door, but had a great circular stone which rolled in a groove across the entrance to seal the opening.
There is a reason for four days delay. It was a Jewish belief that the deceased person’s spirit hovered around a tomb for four days, hoping for an opportunity to re-enter the body. After four days, it was believed, the spirit permanently departed, never to return, for after four days of decomposition in the Palestinian climate, the face and the body were so badly decayed that it could no longer be recognized, even by the spirit of the person who had inhabited that body. After four days there was no way anyone could be convinced that Lazarus was still alive.
Have you ever felt like Martha must have felt? Have you ever felt like questioning God, yet having faith that God is good and whatever God does is right, that we really have no right to question God, regardless the circumstances we find ourselves in?
One of the most human, heart felt speeches in the Bible has to be when Martha said to Jesus:
Joh 11:21 ESV …… "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Do you think that she would have really liked to say: “Why didn’t you come immediately when you got our message?”
“Now it’s too late! Four days! Surely Lazarus’ spirit has left him!”
Yet no sooner had she spoken her near reproach, than there follows words of great faith:
Joh 11:22 ESV But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."
These words show a faith that defied the facts of Lazarus’ death. And Jesus told her:
Joh 11:23 ESV ….. "Your brother will rise again."
There was a debate among the Jewish people at the time concerning life after death. In Old Testament times and in the writing of the Old Testament there is no indication of any real life after death. The Hebrews of the Old Testament believed that every soul, good and bad alike, went to Sheol. Sheol is not Hell, although sometimes it is mistranslated to mean hell. Sheol was not a place of torture and suffering. It was just the place of the dead, the land of shades. Every deceased soul went there and they all lived a shadowy, ghostly existence. After death, according to ancient Hebrew belief, came the land of silence, where human souls were separated from each other and from God.
Yet during the time between the Testaments a new belief in bodily physical resurrection was developed by the Jews. The major disagreement between the Pharisees and the Sadducees was on the issue of resurrection. The Pharisaic belief was in a general physical resurrection of all the dead during the end times. The martyrs of the Maccabeean revolt expected to get back from God even the parts of their bodies which were lost in battle. The Pharisaic belief eventually developed into the hope of a physical resurrection in exactly the form in which a man died, after which will come the judgment. This belief carried so far as to believe that a man would rise wearing exactly the same clothes in which he had been laid in his tomb. There were cases of dying Rabbis who gave minute and detailed instructions regarding the clothes in which they were to be buried.
The numerous statements that Jesus made throughout the Gospels concerning resurrection show that the Jewish beliefs of the time may be at least partially correct.
So Martha’s next statement to Jesus fit perfectly into the contemporary Jewish belief regarding resurrection:
Joh 11:24 ESV Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
How do the Jewish beliefs concerning resurrection compare to Christian beliefs?
What are our Christian beliefs concerning resurrection?
Will our resurrection be spiritual or physical?
When will our resurrection occur?
Where will we live after the resurrection?
What will be our state in the time between death and resurrection?
Joh 11:25-26 ESV Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, (26) and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
What did Jesus mean by that statement?
If I believe in Jesus, I will never suffer a physical death?
Jesus must not have been speaking strictly in a physical sense. It is just not true that those who believe in Him will never die. Christians experience a physical death just like everybody else. So what exactly did Jesus mean?
There is obviously more than a strictly physical meaning in this statement of Jesus. Can you think of any way that Christians are alive that is not true of non-Christians?
One possible meaning of this statement is that Jesus was thinking of the death of sin. We are all, prior to coming to Christ, dead in sin. Our sins create in us a hardness of heart that is equal to spiritual death. Sinners may become so selfish that they are dead to the needs of others. They may become so insensitive that they are dead to the feelings of others. They may become so involved in a sinful lifestyle that they are dead to honesty and integrity. Their lives may become so hopeless that the best way to describe it is spiritual death. No matter the situation, faith in Jesus can bring about a resurrection. There have been millions of just such resurrections.
There is also the resurrection to come. The life to come. As I said earlier, Jesus mentioned the end-time resurrection many times in the Gospels. This was just a theological theory to the Jews who believed in resurrection. To Jesus it seemed to be common knowledge. Jesus brought into the world the certainty that our physical death is not the end. We all die. But in the most real sense, we are not on our way to death, but on our way to life.
How does this happen?
It happens through the One who is “the resurrection and the life”. Jesus’ own resurrection is the cornerstone of all redemption.
So what kind of bodies will we have in our resurrection?
Where will we live?
Was the raising of Lazarus the same as the resurrection we are promised as Christians?
What is the difference between resurrection and resuscitation?
This event with Lazarus is more accurately described as a resuscitation. The same could be said of the widow’s son and Jairus’ daughter. Resuscitation is the act of restoring on who was dead, or very near death, back to life. This life is the same life that one previously had. EMT’s and doctors perform resuscitations every day.
Unlike resuscitation, resurrection is being given, and receiving, a totally new life. Resurrection is not being restored to the old life that one previously had. Resurrection is being “born again.” A resurrected sinner does not return to the previous sinful life. Physical resurrection means beginning a new life, perhaps in an entirely new form.
The only example we have (so far) of a physical resurrection is Jesus Himself. Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18), the two apostles on the road to Emmaus (Luke 21:13-35), even Peter and the others fishing on the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-14) did not immediately recognize the resurrected Jesus. Thomas didn’t recognize Jesus until placing his hand on Jesus’ wounds (John 20:25-28). But when each and every one of them finally recognized Him there was no doubt that He was the Savior.
Thomas:
Joh 20:28 ESV Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"
Jesus was not resuscitated to the life he had prior to the crucifixion. He was resurrected to a new and different life.
Those resuscitated, like Lazarus, the widow’s son, and Jairus’ daughter, will yet again die a physical death. Once resurrected, we will, like Jesus, never die again. The resurrected will be given a new life, a life everlasting.
The physical resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of redemption, both for mankind and for the earth itself. Without Christ’s resurrection and what it means – an eternal future for fully restored human beings dwelling on a fully restored Earth – there is no Christianity.
1Co 15:17-22 ESV And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. (18) Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (19) If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (20) But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (21) For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. (22) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Jesus spoke too many times of a physical resurrection for His only meaning to be spiritual. There is absolutely a spiritual resurrection for all believers. There will also absolutely be a physical resurrection for all believers. We will have bodies; whether the same bodies we now inhabit remains to be seen, but we will have bodies. Without bodies, we wouldn’t be resurrected. Our body is as much a part of us as our spirit. The essence of humanity is not just spirit. Humans are only human when their spirit is joined with their body. Our bodies are not just a house for our spirit.
Where will we live in our resurrection bodies?
2Pe 3:13 ESV But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Rev 21:1-3 ESV Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. (2) And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (3) And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
We will live on the New Earth. The New Earth will still be Earth, just like our resurrection bodies will still be our bodies. But just like our new bodies, the New Earth will also be changed.
Are Christian’s immortal or just promised resurrection? And what is the difference?
Resurrection is not immortality. Immortality would mean that our spirits could exist without bodies and that when we die a physical death we don’t really die. This belief would mean that when our bodies die, our spirits are set free but still live.
The Christian faith rejects completely the notion of immortality. When we die, we die. Every part of us. Body, spirit, soul. We truly, entirely cease to be. But through the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, we will not be left for eternity in an earthly grave. In the end, not even the death of all of the component parts of human life can separate us from the love of God.
Rom 8:38-39 ESV For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, (39) nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Christian faith is confident that when we are resurrected all of our parts will be resurrected, not just our spirit and soul, but also our bodies. Our bodies may not be exactly the same, but our bodies they will be. In the Apostles’ Creed we do not confess to mere belief in resurrection. Instead, we boldly confess to believe in the “resurrection of the body”.
What does “the resurrection and the life” mean to us today?
It means everything. It matters more than anything else that Jesus is the resurrection and the life for everyone who is dead in sin and dead to God today. Jesus resuscitated Lazarus those many years ago because he loved him. Jesus is the “resurrection and the life” today just as he was then. And Jesus loves us with the same love that He had for Lazarus. And that is all that really matters.
Book Study – The Cost of Discipleship – Week 5 – Chapters 10-13
Chapters 9 – 13 contain Bonhoeffer’s discussion of the section from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:21-48. According to William Barclay, “This section of the teaching of Jesus is one of the most important in the whole New Testament.”
In this passage Jesus put before Christian disciples a startling standard of behavior.
Barclay:
“Jesus said that in God’s sight it was not only the person who committed murder who was guilty; the person who was angry with another person was also guilty and liable to judgment. It was not only the person who committed adultery who was guilty; anyone who seriously entertained unclean desire was also guilty.”
“It may be that we have never struck another person, but can we say that we never wished to strike someone? It may be that we have never committed adultery, but can we say that we have never experienced the desire for the forbidden thing? It was Jesus’ teaching that thoughts are just as important as deeds, and that it is not enough not to commit a sin; the only thing that is enough is not to wish to commit it. It was Jesus’ teaching that we are not judged only by our deeds, but are judged even more by the desires which never emerged into deeds. By the world’s standards, people are considered good if they never do a forbidden thing. The world is not concerned to judge people’s thoughts. By Jesus’ standards, we can only aspire to goodness when we never even desire to do a forbidden thing. Jesus is intensely concerned with our thoughts.”
Does this seem to contradict the whole idea of discipleship according to Bonhoeffer? According to Bonhoeffer, a mere intellectual acknowledgement of faith (thoughts) is not enough and we will be judged by actions. Yet in this passage, Jesus seems to say that we will be judged by our thoughts. So, which is it? Either, or, or both?
Last week we discussed the first section of this passage where Jesus declared anger as equal to murder. That was the first example of the new standard which Jesus places on Christian disciples. Let’s move on to the second new standard:
Chapter 10 – Woman
Mat 5:27-32 ESV "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' (28) But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (29) If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. (30) And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. (31) "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' (32) But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Bonhoeffer:
“Adherence to Jesus allows no free reign to desire unless it be accompanied by love.”
What would you think if you saw a new ad on TV – a surgeon who claimed to have developed a procedure that would cure you from all impure thoughts? Doesn’t sound possible, does it? We would likely label that surgeon as a quack and demand a State Board investigation. But isn’t that what Jesus prescribes? A surgical cure to lust?
The wording used is quite interesting. The phrase “causes you to sin” (other translations “causeth thee to stumble”, “offend thee”, “proves a stumbling block”) is translated from the Greek word “skandalizo” which is a form of the word “skandalethron” which literally means ‘the bait stick in a trap’. Think about that for a moment. If you are at all familiar with traps of any kind, you know that there is always a trigger or trip and the trip is always baited. Even fish traps, which are basically cages with no moving parts, must be baited. Even a fish hook is a type of trap and must be baited. What happens to any type of trap that is not baited? An un-baited trap may catch its intended prey, but if it does it is pure luck.
What is the purpose of bait? To lure the prey to the trap. It causes the prey to stumble into the waiting trap.
So are we to think that Jesus meant that we are to literally remove our eyes or limbs?
Do our eyes lure us into lust? Or is it the object seen by our eyes?
What is it that we are to surgically remove in order to protect us from sin?
Barclay:
“What they mean is that anything which helps to seduce us to sin is to be ruthlessly rooted out of life. If there is a habit which can be seduction to evil, if there is an association which can be the cause of wrongdoing, if there is a pleasure which could turn out to be our ruin, then that thing must be surgically excised from our life.”
So what do we do? Do we identify the causes of our lustful thoughts and just refuse to think about them?
What happens when we attempt to stop ourselves from thinking certain thoughts? The more we say, “Don’t think about it” the more we do in fact think about it.
Does that indicate that a vow of chastity is in fact a very dangerous thing?
So what do we do? How do we go about surgically removing our stumbling blocks?
We fill our mind with Jesus.
Bonhoeffer:
“Jesus does not impose intolerable restrictions on his disciples, he does not forbid them to look at anything, but bids them look on him. If they do that he knows that their gaze will always be pure, even when they look upon a woman. So far from imposing on them an intolerable yoke of legalism, he succors them with the grace of the gospel.”
But we must remember that no sacrifice is too great if it removes whatever keeps us away from Jesus. We must deal with our temptations as drastically and radically as necessary, and cut off or pluck out whatever bait may be leading us into a trap.
Chapter 11 – Truthfulness
Mat 5:33-37 ESV "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' (34) But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, (35) or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. (36) And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. (37) Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.
Does it seem that Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount was just giving the disciples and the crowds a review of what they already knew?
Surely they all knew that the law forbade murder, adultery, and lying?
Can we make oaths, or are they forbidden?
What about in court?
What if we hold an office that requires an oath?
What about the “Pledge of Allegiance”?
What do oaths prove?
Bonhoeffer:
“The very existence of oaths is a proof that there are such things as lies. If lying were unknown, there would be no need for oaths.”
What does Jesus do, according to Bonhoeffer, by forbidding oaths altogether?
Bonhoeffer:
“Jesus destroys the lie... ..the lie must be seized by Jesus in the very place to which it flees, in the oath. Therefore the oath must go, since it is a protection for the lie.”
Do oaths make lying easier?
If oaths are eliminated, does this mean that we are no longer answerable to God for our lack of truthfulness?
Bonhoeffer:
“This is not to say that the disciples are no longer answerable to the omniscient God for every word they utter, it means that every word they utter is spoken in his presence, and not only those words which are accompanied by an oath. Hence they are forbidden to swear at all. Since they always speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth, there is no need for an oath, which would only throw doubt on the veracity of all their other statements. This is why the oath is ‘of the evil one’.”
Bonhoeffer:
“For the Christian no earthly obligation is absolutely binding.”
Does this mean that we should not “pledge our allegiance” to earthly nations?
I think that if a Christian aligns himself with a political entity, an oath or pledge is not necessary. His “yes is a yes”.
Chapter 12 – Revenge
Mat 5:38-42 ESV "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' (39) But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (40) And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. (41) And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. (42) Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Barclay:
“Few passages of the New Testament have more of the essence of the Christian ethic in them than this one. Here is the characteristic ethic of the Christian life, and the conduct which should distinguish the Christian from others.”
Are there different “degrees” of Old Testament laws? In other words, are there some that are binding on Christians and others that only applied to the Jewish people of Old Testament times?
Are the Ten Commandments more important than the other Old Testament laws?
Is the law of “eye for eye” also known as the law of “tit for tat” binding on Christians?
Exo 21:23-25 ESV But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, (24) eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, (25) burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Lev 24:19-20 ESV If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, (20) fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.
Deu 19:21 ESV Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Are we to accept these as laws that we must follow?
Bonhoeffer:
“Jesus will not countenance the modern practice of putting the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) on a higher level than the rest of the Old Testament law. For him the law of the Old Testament is a unity, and he insists to his disciples that it must be fulfilled.”
So what do we make of this? Do we place “tit for tat” on the level with “thou shall not murder” or “thou shall not commit adultery”?
The world probably places “tit for tat” on a higher level, but what are Christians to make of it?
What happens when Jesus turns “tit for tat” into total “active”, nonviolent, non-resistance?
Bonhoeffer:
“This saying of Christ removes the Church from the sphere of politics and law… the church … is different: it has abandoned political and national status, and therefore… must patiently endure aggression.”
Has the Church in America “abandoned political and national status”?
What happens when a Christian disciple meets with injustice?
Bonhoeffer:
“At this point it becomes evident that when a Christian meets with injustice, he no longer clings to his rights and defends them at all costs.”
“The only way to overcome evil is to let it run itself to a standstill because it does not find the resistance it is looking for. Resistance merely creates further evil and adds fuel to the flames. But when evil meets no opposition and encounters no obstacle but only patient endurance, its sting is drawn, and at last it meets an opponent which is more than its match…..Then evil cannot find its mark, it can breed no further evil, and is left barren.”
How do these statements reconcile with the fact that Bonhoeffer was part of a “resistance” in Nazi Germany?
Bonhoeffer:
“There is no deed on earth so outrageous as to justify a different attitude. The worse the evil, the readier must the Christian be to suffer; he must let the evil person fall into Jesus’ hands.”
Is the call to active non-violent non-resistance only binding on persons? Are we freed from this obligation of discipleship when we see a “duty”?
Such as:
True or False:
A Christian husband and father has a “duty” to protect his wife and children, even with violence if necessary.
A government employee or official who is also a Christian has a “duty” to defend those he is charged to protect, even with violence if necessary.
If my home is invaded, I have a “duty” to defend my life and property.
Bonhoeffer:
“…this distinction between person and office is wholly alien to the teachings of Jesus…..the precept of non-violence applies equally to private life and official duty….when it comes to practice, this distinction raises insoluble difficulties. Am I ever acting only as a private person or only in an official capacity? If I am attacked am I not at once the father of my children, the pastor of my flock, and e.g. a government official? Am I no bound for that very reason to defend myself against every attack, for reason of responsibility to my office? And am I not also always an individual, face to face with Jesus, even in the performance of my official duties? Am I not therefore obliged to resist every attack just because of my responsibility for my office? Is it right to forget that the follower of Jesus is always utterly alone, always the individual, who in the last resort can only decide and act for himself? Don’t we act most responsibly on behalf of those entrusted to our care if we act in this aloneness?”
“How then can the precept of Jesus be justified in the light of experience? It is obvious that weakness and defencelessness only invite aggression. Is then the demand of Jesus nothing but an impracticable ideal? Does he refuse to face up to realities –or shall we say, to the sin of the world? There may of course be a legitimate place for such an ideal in the inner life of the Christian community, but in the outside world such an ideal appears to wear the blinkers of perfectionism, and to take no account of sin. Living as we do in a world of sin and evil, we can have no truck with anything as impracticable as that.”
“Jesus, however, tells us that it is just because we live in the world, and just because the world is evil, that the precept of non-resistance must be put into practice.”
Chapter 13 – The Enemy – The “Extraordinary”
Mat 5:43-48 ESV "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' (44) But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (45) so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (46) For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? (47) And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? (48) You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
What one word, according to Bonhoeffer, sums up the whole message of the Sermon on the Mount?
What one word, according to John Wesley, sums up his doctrine of “Christian Perfection”?
Love.
Bonhoeffer:
“Here, for the first time in the Sermon on the Mount, we meet the word which sums up the whole of its message, the word “love”. Love is defined in uncompromising terms as the love of our enemies. Had Jesus only told us to love our brethren, we might have misunderstood what he meant by love, but now he leaves us in no doubt whatever as to his meaning.”
Wesley:
“What is then the perfection of which man is capable while he dwells in a corruptible body? It is the complying with that kind command, "My son, give me thy heart." It is the "loving the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind." This is the sum of Christian perfection: It is all comprised in that one word, Love. The first branch of it is the love of God: And as he that loves God loves his brother also, it is inseparably connected with the second: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself:" Thou shalt love every man as thy own soul, as Christ loved us. "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets:" These contain the whole of Christian perfection.” (Sermon 76, On Perfection)
Barclay:
“To the ordinary person, this passage describes essential Christianity in action, and even the person who never darkens the door of the church knows that Jesus said this, and very often condemns the professing Christian for falling short of its demands.”
What does Jesus mean by “loving our enemies”?
Is this love a passive emotive response toward our enemies?
How do we get rid of our enemies, according to popular notions?
Bonhoeffer:
“From now on there can be no more wars of faith. The only way to overcome our enemy is by loving.”
“To the natural man, the very notion of loving his enemies is an intolerable offence, and quite beyond his capacity: it cuts right across his ideas of good and evil. More important still, to man under the law, the idea of loving his enemies is clean contrary to the law of God.”
Who are our enemies?
Bonhoeffer:
“By our enemies Jesus means those who are quite intractable and utterly unresponsive to our love, who forgive us nothing when we forgive them all, who requite our love with hatred and our service with derision.”
“Christian love draws no distinction between one enemy and another, except that the more bitter our enemy’s hatred, the greater his need of love. Be his enemy political or religious, he has nothing to expect from a follower of Jesus but unqualified love. In such love there is no inner discord between private person and official capacity. In both we are disciples of Christ, or we are not Christians at all. Am I asked how this love is to behave? Jesus gives the answer: bless, do good, and pray for your enemies without reserve and without respect of persons.”
What does it really mean to be a Christian?
What separates, more than any other quality, Christians from the rest of the world.
Christians are “peculiar” in that they love their enemies.
Bonhoeffer:
“When we love those who love us, our brethren, our nation, our friends, yes, and even our own congregation, we are no better than the heathen and the publicans. Such love is ordinary and natural, and not distinctively Christian. We can love our kith and kin, our fellow countrymen and our friends, whether we are Christians or not, and there is no need for Jesus to teach us that.”
How does the extraordinary quality of the Christian life work out?
The extraordinary life is described in the beatitudes and is done by the followers of Jesus.
And then there are the Christians who justify their actions with thoughts that if we truly love our enemies we show them by dropping bombs on them.
In this passage Jesus put before Christian disciples a startling standard of behavior.
Barclay:
“Jesus said that in God’s sight it was not only the person who committed murder who was guilty; the person who was angry with another person was also guilty and liable to judgment. It was not only the person who committed adultery who was guilty; anyone who seriously entertained unclean desire was also guilty.”
“It may be that we have never struck another person, but can we say that we never wished to strike someone? It may be that we have never committed adultery, but can we say that we have never experienced the desire for the forbidden thing? It was Jesus’ teaching that thoughts are just as important as deeds, and that it is not enough not to commit a sin; the only thing that is enough is not to wish to commit it. It was Jesus’ teaching that we are not judged only by our deeds, but are judged even more by the desires which never emerged into deeds. By the world’s standards, people are considered good if they never do a forbidden thing. The world is not concerned to judge people’s thoughts. By Jesus’ standards, we can only aspire to goodness when we never even desire to do a forbidden thing. Jesus is intensely concerned with our thoughts.”
Does this seem to contradict the whole idea of discipleship according to Bonhoeffer? According to Bonhoeffer, a mere intellectual acknowledgement of faith (thoughts) is not enough and we will be judged by actions. Yet in this passage, Jesus seems to say that we will be judged by our thoughts. So, which is it? Either, or, or both?
Last week we discussed the first section of this passage where Jesus declared anger as equal to murder. That was the first example of the new standard which Jesus places on Christian disciples. Let’s move on to the second new standard:
Chapter 10 – Woman
Mat 5:27-32 ESV "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' (28) But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (29) If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. (30) And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. (31) "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' (32) But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Bonhoeffer:
“Adherence to Jesus allows no free reign to desire unless it be accompanied by love.”
What would you think if you saw a new ad on TV – a surgeon who claimed to have developed a procedure that would cure you from all impure thoughts? Doesn’t sound possible, does it? We would likely label that surgeon as a quack and demand a State Board investigation. But isn’t that what Jesus prescribes? A surgical cure to lust?
The wording used is quite interesting. The phrase “causes you to sin” (other translations “causeth thee to stumble”, “offend thee”, “proves a stumbling block”) is translated from the Greek word “skandalizo” which is a form of the word “skandalethron” which literally means ‘the bait stick in a trap’. Think about that for a moment. If you are at all familiar with traps of any kind, you know that there is always a trigger or trip and the trip is always baited. Even fish traps, which are basically cages with no moving parts, must be baited. Even a fish hook is a type of trap and must be baited. What happens to any type of trap that is not baited? An un-baited trap may catch its intended prey, but if it does it is pure luck.
What is the purpose of bait? To lure the prey to the trap. It causes the prey to stumble into the waiting trap.
So are we to think that Jesus meant that we are to literally remove our eyes or limbs?
Do our eyes lure us into lust? Or is it the object seen by our eyes?
What is it that we are to surgically remove in order to protect us from sin?
Barclay:
“What they mean is that anything which helps to seduce us to sin is to be ruthlessly rooted out of life. If there is a habit which can be seduction to evil, if there is an association which can be the cause of wrongdoing, if there is a pleasure which could turn out to be our ruin, then that thing must be surgically excised from our life.”
So what do we do? Do we identify the causes of our lustful thoughts and just refuse to think about them?
What happens when we attempt to stop ourselves from thinking certain thoughts? The more we say, “Don’t think about it” the more we do in fact think about it.
Does that indicate that a vow of chastity is in fact a very dangerous thing?
So what do we do? How do we go about surgically removing our stumbling blocks?
We fill our mind with Jesus.
Bonhoeffer:
“Jesus does not impose intolerable restrictions on his disciples, he does not forbid them to look at anything, but bids them look on him. If they do that he knows that their gaze will always be pure, even when they look upon a woman. So far from imposing on them an intolerable yoke of legalism, he succors them with the grace of the gospel.”
But we must remember that no sacrifice is too great if it removes whatever keeps us away from Jesus. We must deal with our temptations as drastically and radically as necessary, and cut off or pluck out whatever bait may be leading us into a trap.
Chapter 11 – Truthfulness
Mat 5:33-37 ESV "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' (34) But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, (35) or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. (36) And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. (37) Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.
Does it seem that Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount was just giving the disciples and the crowds a review of what they already knew?
Surely they all knew that the law forbade murder, adultery, and lying?
Can we make oaths, or are they forbidden?
What about in court?
What if we hold an office that requires an oath?
What about the “Pledge of Allegiance”?
What do oaths prove?
Bonhoeffer:
“The very existence of oaths is a proof that there are such things as lies. If lying were unknown, there would be no need for oaths.”
What does Jesus do, according to Bonhoeffer, by forbidding oaths altogether?
Bonhoeffer:
“Jesus destroys the lie... ..the lie must be seized by Jesus in the very place to which it flees, in the oath. Therefore the oath must go, since it is a protection for the lie.”
Do oaths make lying easier?
If oaths are eliminated, does this mean that we are no longer answerable to God for our lack of truthfulness?
Bonhoeffer:
“This is not to say that the disciples are no longer answerable to the omniscient God for every word they utter, it means that every word they utter is spoken in his presence, and not only those words which are accompanied by an oath. Hence they are forbidden to swear at all. Since they always speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth, there is no need for an oath, which would only throw doubt on the veracity of all their other statements. This is why the oath is ‘of the evil one’.”
Bonhoeffer:
“For the Christian no earthly obligation is absolutely binding.”
Does this mean that we should not “pledge our allegiance” to earthly nations?
I think that if a Christian aligns himself with a political entity, an oath or pledge is not necessary. His “yes is a yes”.
Chapter 12 – Revenge
Mat 5:38-42 ESV "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' (39) But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (40) And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. (41) And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. (42) Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Barclay:
“Few passages of the New Testament have more of the essence of the Christian ethic in them than this one. Here is the characteristic ethic of the Christian life, and the conduct which should distinguish the Christian from others.”
Are there different “degrees” of Old Testament laws? In other words, are there some that are binding on Christians and others that only applied to the Jewish people of Old Testament times?
Are the Ten Commandments more important than the other Old Testament laws?
Is the law of “eye for eye” also known as the law of “tit for tat” binding on Christians?
Exo 21:23-25 ESV But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, (24) eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, (25) burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Lev 24:19-20 ESV If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, (20) fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.
Deu 19:21 ESV Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Are we to accept these as laws that we must follow?
Bonhoeffer:
“Jesus will not countenance the modern practice of putting the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) on a higher level than the rest of the Old Testament law. For him the law of the Old Testament is a unity, and he insists to his disciples that it must be fulfilled.”
So what do we make of this? Do we place “tit for tat” on the level with “thou shall not murder” or “thou shall not commit adultery”?
The world probably places “tit for tat” on a higher level, but what are Christians to make of it?
What happens when Jesus turns “tit for tat” into total “active”, nonviolent, non-resistance?
Bonhoeffer:
“This saying of Christ removes the Church from the sphere of politics and law… the church … is different: it has abandoned political and national status, and therefore… must patiently endure aggression.”
Has the Church in America “abandoned political and national status”?
What happens when a Christian disciple meets with injustice?
Bonhoeffer:
“At this point it becomes evident that when a Christian meets with injustice, he no longer clings to his rights and defends them at all costs.”
“The only way to overcome evil is to let it run itself to a standstill because it does not find the resistance it is looking for. Resistance merely creates further evil and adds fuel to the flames. But when evil meets no opposition and encounters no obstacle but only patient endurance, its sting is drawn, and at last it meets an opponent which is more than its match…..Then evil cannot find its mark, it can breed no further evil, and is left barren.”
How do these statements reconcile with the fact that Bonhoeffer was part of a “resistance” in Nazi Germany?
Bonhoeffer:
“There is no deed on earth so outrageous as to justify a different attitude. The worse the evil, the readier must the Christian be to suffer; he must let the evil person fall into Jesus’ hands.”
Is the call to active non-violent non-resistance only binding on persons? Are we freed from this obligation of discipleship when we see a “duty”?
Such as:
True or False:
A Christian husband and father has a “duty” to protect his wife and children, even with violence if necessary.
A government employee or official who is also a Christian has a “duty” to defend those he is charged to protect, even with violence if necessary.
If my home is invaded, I have a “duty” to defend my life and property.
Bonhoeffer:
“…this distinction between person and office is wholly alien to the teachings of Jesus…..the precept of non-violence applies equally to private life and official duty….when it comes to practice, this distinction raises insoluble difficulties. Am I ever acting only as a private person or only in an official capacity? If I am attacked am I not at once the father of my children, the pastor of my flock, and e.g. a government official? Am I no bound for that very reason to defend myself against every attack, for reason of responsibility to my office? And am I not also always an individual, face to face with Jesus, even in the performance of my official duties? Am I not therefore obliged to resist every attack just because of my responsibility for my office? Is it right to forget that the follower of Jesus is always utterly alone, always the individual, who in the last resort can only decide and act for himself? Don’t we act most responsibly on behalf of those entrusted to our care if we act in this aloneness?”
“How then can the precept of Jesus be justified in the light of experience? It is obvious that weakness and defencelessness only invite aggression. Is then the demand of Jesus nothing but an impracticable ideal? Does he refuse to face up to realities –or shall we say, to the sin of the world? There may of course be a legitimate place for such an ideal in the inner life of the Christian community, but in the outside world such an ideal appears to wear the blinkers of perfectionism, and to take no account of sin. Living as we do in a world of sin and evil, we can have no truck with anything as impracticable as that.”
“Jesus, however, tells us that it is just because we live in the world, and just because the world is evil, that the precept of non-resistance must be put into practice.”
Chapter 13 – The Enemy – The “Extraordinary”
Mat 5:43-48 ESV "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' (44) But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (45) so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (46) For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? (47) And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? (48) You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
What one word, according to Bonhoeffer, sums up the whole message of the Sermon on the Mount?
What one word, according to John Wesley, sums up his doctrine of “Christian Perfection”?
Love.
Bonhoeffer:
“Here, for the first time in the Sermon on the Mount, we meet the word which sums up the whole of its message, the word “love”. Love is defined in uncompromising terms as the love of our enemies. Had Jesus only told us to love our brethren, we might have misunderstood what he meant by love, but now he leaves us in no doubt whatever as to his meaning.”
Wesley:
“What is then the perfection of which man is capable while he dwells in a corruptible body? It is the complying with that kind command, "My son, give me thy heart." It is the "loving the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind." This is the sum of Christian perfection: It is all comprised in that one word, Love. The first branch of it is the love of God: And as he that loves God loves his brother also, it is inseparably connected with the second: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself:" Thou shalt love every man as thy own soul, as Christ loved us. "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets:" These contain the whole of Christian perfection.” (Sermon 76, On Perfection)
Barclay:
“To the ordinary person, this passage describes essential Christianity in action, and even the person who never darkens the door of the church knows that Jesus said this, and very often condemns the professing Christian for falling short of its demands.”
What does Jesus mean by “loving our enemies”?
Is this love a passive emotive response toward our enemies?
How do we get rid of our enemies, according to popular notions?
Bonhoeffer:
“From now on there can be no more wars of faith. The only way to overcome our enemy is by loving.”
“To the natural man, the very notion of loving his enemies is an intolerable offence, and quite beyond his capacity: it cuts right across his ideas of good and evil. More important still, to man under the law, the idea of loving his enemies is clean contrary to the law of God.”
Who are our enemies?
Bonhoeffer:
“By our enemies Jesus means those who are quite intractable and utterly unresponsive to our love, who forgive us nothing when we forgive them all, who requite our love with hatred and our service with derision.”
“Christian love draws no distinction between one enemy and another, except that the more bitter our enemy’s hatred, the greater his need of love. Be his enemy political or religious, he has nothing to expect from a follower of Jesus but unqualified love. In such love there is no inner discord between private person and official capacity. In both we are disciples of Christ, or we are not Christians at all. Am I asked how this love is to behave? Jesus gives the answer: bless, do good, and pray for your enemies without reserve and without respect of persons.”
What does it really mean to be a Christian?
What separates, more than any other quality, Christians from the rest of the world.
Christians are “peculiar” in that they love their enemies.
Bonhoeffer:
“When we love those who love us, our brethren, our nation, our friends, yes, and even our own congregation, we are no better than the heathen and the publicans. Such love is ordinary and natural, and not distinctively Christian. We can love our kith and kin, our fellow countrymen and our friends, whether we are Christians or not, and there is no need for Jesus to teach us that.”
How does the extraordinary quality of the Christian life work out?
The extraordinary life is described in the beatitudes and is done by the followers of Jesus.
And then there are the Christians who justify their actions with thoughts that if we truly love our enemies we show them by dropping bombs on them.
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