Lesson 3

Lesson 3

Day 3 of Holy Week-Tuesday

There is a great deal that happens on this Tuesday of Holy Week. It begins early in the morning and you can read about it in Matthew 21:18-21.

You need to begin this week let by reading the following Scripture:

Matthew 21: 18-21

This passage about how Jesus cursed the fig tree might have left you a little puzzled!   

So now that you have read this, what came to your mind as you read the first three verses? You probably had some questions. What did you learn from this? How did your reaction compare to that of the disciples?

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Vs. 21 tells us that Jesus is teaching the disciples about faith. If you have faith and do not doubt, then you have the ability to ask many things in prayer and believe they will happen.

“Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.”

When you pray, do you have the strength of faith to believe that your prayer will be answered?  for answered prayer?

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How about this Scripture:

     Matthew 17:20

²⁰ He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Do you see any similarities between Matthew 17:20 and Matthew 21:18-21?  If so, what are they? If not, why not?

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I think sometimes it is hard for us to understand that we really can believe that God will answer our prayer. Maybe we do not think we are worthy, maybe it is because we don’t read our Bible enough (do enough reading our Bible) or we find ourselves not being truly kind to one another, or we act on one of a host of other things that we know would not please God.

Paul teaches us in Hebrews 11:5

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

As Jesus moved through the day…..

We need to go back to Matthew and do some more reading:

Matthew 21: 23 - 27

Here the temple chief priests and elders are questioning Jesus’s authority to be teaching.  Why do you think they were doing this?

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Jesus’ response to the questioning was to ask the chief priests and elders about John’s baptism and where it came from.  What prompted them to say they didn’t know?

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Take a few moments to reflect on what your thoughts are regarding baptism today. What does it mean to you as a believer and follower of Christ? Do you know what it means according to our UMC faith tradition?

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Let’s side track for a moment regarding Baptism, since Jesus spoke of John’s baptism.  Sometimes people are not clear about the why and when of it. 

This is what came to my mind about baptism:

1.    That when we are infants we cannot understand the meaning of the water and the Spirit that is active in the sacrament.

2.    That as we grow older, we begin to say, “Baptism does not mean anything to me because I was so young”.

3.    Baptism is the very first step in our journey to become a follower of Christ. That the sin, (which is) called original sin, which, as a result of Adam and Eve, all humankind is born into, needs to be washed away.

4.    As United Methodists we believe that Baptism is a sacrament.  In this sacrament “God uses elements – in this case, water – as a means or vehicle of divine grace. Baptism is administered by the church, which is (as) the Body of Christ. It is the act of God through the grace of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit.” (https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/faqs-about-baptism-membership-and-salvation. March 4, 2017)

Before you go on, stop and write down any thoughts and questions that you might have.

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These readings in Matthew are bringing up many questions.  We started out with a passage about faith, which we struggle with then there was the question about Jesus’ authority and now we read that Jesus was given great authority by God to do many things.

 

Matthew 28:18 tells us this:

^“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (NIV)

My final questions for this week are…

Where is your faith right now? Is it strong, is it weak? Does it need to be renewed through the power of the Holy Spirit?

I would ask that you think about this.  Don’t stop there.  Journal it or talk about it with someone else.  Putting it into actual words, either shared with someone else or written, is more powerful than your thoughts alone. 

If you are a FB fan. Ask me to join our closed ACC Bible Study FB group. We will be discussing our thoughts there.

Until next week! Ask God to show you how to worship Him freely and openly, or maybe you will need to go for a walk and hear the rocks singing!