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?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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!

Lesson 2

Lesson 2

Day 2 of Holy week – Monday

This week we will be reading about Jesus and his travels to Bethany. Here he visits the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. A very important occurrence happens during this visit. Let’s explore it together.                                                                   

                                                                                                                 

John 12: 1-11

Isaiah 42: 1-9; Hebrews 9: 11-15

Jesus visits the home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary.  Martha was the sister who served the guests; Mary was the sister who served Jesus!

What significance is there between Martha and Mary?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Judas Iscariot, the disciple that betrays Jesus had an opinion about how the money was spent in the ministry. How can the idea of money and behavior of Judas connect with us today?

Once again, we find the Pharisees’ wanted to kill not only Jesus but also Lazarus.  What challenge does Lazarus’ life have toward the Pharisees?

As we move forward this week let us read the entire chapter of Isaiah 53!

Can you find the significance of how Isaiah 53 and John 12: 1-11 compare?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Read Isaiah 42: 1-9 and Isaiah 53.

Discuss how these 2 Scriptures share the same thoughts.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hebrews 9:11-15

¹¹ But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. ¹² He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. ¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God!

¹⁵ For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

This text shows us how Jesus came to redeem the world. Can you see how this passage of Scripture is important to the story of Jesus as he travels to Bethany and visits the home of his best friends.  EXPLAIN

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As you reflect on these text this week, let us ask the Holy Spirit to show us the importance of Jesus’ visit and how he tells of his pending death.

Day 1 Holy Week

Lesson 1

Day 1 of Holy Week-Sunday

I am praying that as we go through this together, you will think about my questions before continuing to read what came to my mind.  In some instances you may not respond the way I did but this in itself is good because we all see scripture in terms of where we are in our walk with God.  Letting me or someone else know what you thought about the verse or passage is a great way to interact.  Sharing what we think about what we’ve read is one of the ways we grow in our understanding of the Bible.

I want you to start by reading

Luke 19: 28-42

This is the story of Jesus triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. Let’s break this text down, shall we!!!

So now that you have read this, did anything in verse 28 jump out at you?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Vs. 28 tells us that Jesus is walking with his disciples, but the thing that jumps out at me is that he is walking ahead of them.  This struck me because most of the time we see Jesus walking with the disciples and teaching them along the way, or maybe answering their questions from the most recent teaching he shared.

So why do you think that he would be walking ahead of them?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

1 thought --- he wanted to get to the Mount of Olives, his favorite place, where he could talk to the Heavenly Father.

What do you think it is about this place that draws Christ to it?

_____________________________________________________________________________

Did you imagine it as a quiet and restful place where Jesus could regain his spiritual strength so that he is ready to be overwhelmed on his way into Jerusalem? 

The story goes onto say that he sends 2 disciples on ahead! 

What could be so important that he would separate part of his team?  Do you have any thoughts on that?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

You see Jesus is already preparing for his ride. He has the disciples go and round up a small colt or donkey and bring it back to him. You probably know that this was foretold in Zechariah 9:9

“Rejoice, O people of Zion,

Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem!

Look, your king is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious,

yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey’s colt.”

So why would He ride on a small colt or donkey?  Does that say anything to you or do you just  think that was the way someone would have ridden in His time?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

It might be that the donkey portrays a sense of following. Could it be that there was more than 1 donkey? If it were a donkey’s colt, could the Momma donkey also be with Jesus as he enters the Holy City, the City of God?

Matthew 21:7 New International Version (NIV)

⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.

See how we read the same story written by 2 different authors and we have 2 different ways of looking at it!

Matthew tells us that after the disciples chose the colt and brought it to Jesus, they placed their garments on the colt before Jesus rode on it’s back.

Why?

There’s a question.  Why would they put their garments on top of the donkey?  It probably was not the norm.  What do you think the disciples were thinking when they did this?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

These are things that came to my mind:

Maybe for cleanliness!

Maybe because they did not want Jesus to get his garments dirty?

Maybe they wanted him to be treated as a king!

Here are some possible explanations, using some Biblical references, as to why the cloaks were placed on the donkey before Jesus sat on it….

2 Kings 9:3 “They quickly took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, "Jehu is king!".”

These two thoughts were taken from, MacPhail’s Manuscripts…Sermons by The Reverend Bryan MacPhail…

• “What kind of animal is a donkey? Zechariah calls them "a beast of burden"(Zech.9:9). This "beast of burden" points to what kind of king Jesus is.”

AND

• “This is not what Jesus wanted to portray. Instead, Jesus sent a very different message to the multitude when He entered Jerusalem riding on two donkeys. Jesus portrayed a humble, serving king.” (http://www.reformedtheology.ca/matt21.html copied Feb. 23, 2017)

Now the people began shouting and saying all kinds of wonderful things about Jesus:

What do you think the Pharisees and leaders of the people were thinking about Jesus at this point?  What were their reactions like?

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

At this point, the Pharisees were getting very scared, for they knew that this worship of Jesus as a King was getting out of hand.

Some of the religious leaders wanted Jesus to get the people to stop what they were doing… and Jesus replied: “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”

How does your heart respond to what Jesus said?  Also, what does it mean that the very stones would have to respond?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

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!

LIFE

"the experience of being alive" Merriam-Webster

Scripture teaches:

"Fight the good fight for the faith;

take hold of eternal life

that you were called to

and have made a good confession about

in the presence of many witnesses." 1 Timothy 6: 12 (HCSB)

Sometimes life is just hard, we find ourselves going through the motions, we get up each day, brush our teeth, grab a cup of coffee and run out the door. At the end of the day, we return, take off our shoes and descend into the sofa, to awake the next morning to do the same thing.

Life is more than that, we are a called people, we are the chosen of God to fulfill the great commandment: to love God first and foremost and then love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Life is that moment when we come to the place of weariness from the world and know that there is much more that we are to do!!!

Scripture tells us very clearly we we are to MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION and to do it in the presence of many witnesses!

There is no plainer explanation of what we are to do: to live life by first confessing Jesus as our Lord and Savior so that we are his witnesses throughout the entire world...

Mark 16: 15 "Then He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation." (HCSB)