Saturday, February 22, 2014

The resurrected Jesus

This is the lesson from 2014-02-16. I am scheduling it in advance, so I can’t talk about what we did or did not get to, or even whether we got to the lesson. Sometimes prayer needs outweigh the need for me to talk. This is not “big church,” so the priorities are different, and that’s okay.

Peter & John at the tomb

  • READ 20:1–2
  • READ 20:3–5
  • READ 20:6–9

  • SAY Jesus had been teaching his disciples that he would be killed and resurrected. (e.g., Matt 16:21, Mark 8:31). Peter even rebuked the creator of the universe for talking like that. Even though Jesus had been telling them, they didn’t yet understand that it had been prophesied over and over in the Old Testament.

Mary Magdalene at the tomb

  • READ 20:10–11
    • ASK What was Mary Magdalene feeling? (open discussion)
    • ASK Have you ever felt that?
  • READ 20:12–15
  • READ 20:15–18
    • ASK What is Mary feeling now? (open discussion)

Jesus appears to most of the disciples

  • READ 20:19–23
    • SAY When Jesus breathed on them, he was using an object lesson about the Holy Spirit:
      • Breath and spirit are the same word in Greek.
      • Jesus had already told them the Holy Spirit was coming.

Jesus and Thomas

  • READ 20:24–25
  • READ 20:26–29
  • READ 20:30–31

SAY There has been a lot of malarky that followed from reading verse 29 by itself. It is used to support name-it, claim-it teaching; it has been used to support blind faith in various sorts of preachers. But look at what follows in verses 30–31: “[T]hese things are written so that you may believe …”

Back in 17:20, when Jesus was praying, he said, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word …” John’s gospel is the word of an eyewitness, and it is on this basis we believe.

John emphasizes this point in 1 John: READ 1 John 1:1–3. John is telling us that this is from those who have seen Jesus and can be believed.

One more thing

In 20:17, Jesus tells Mary, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father …”

But since then, he has asscended to the Father. Now is the time to cling to him.

When it seems he has abandoned you,

  • cancer
  • divorce
  • pregnant daughter
  • more cancer
  • bullied daughter

that is when you should cling to Jesus. But not to the fantasy Jesus of what you would make up, and not to the false Jesus of some of those people on TV. The real Jesus, the one revealed in the Bible.

  • Don’t put on a brave face and pretend to be okay.
  • Do get to know your Savior in his word, so that when you hit a hard time, you know what you are holding on to.
    • One way to do this: The Gospel of John has 21 chapters. Read 3 chapters each day — that’s one week. Do this every week for a month.
    • The next month, go do the same with Matthew: 28 chapters, 4 each day.
    • Then Mark: 16 chapters, 2 or 3 each day.
    • Then Luke: 24 chapters, 3 or 4 each day.
    • Then the rest of the New Testament in appropriate-sized chunks.
    • Then go to the Old Testament, and see how Jesus is revealed there.
  • This is how you learn who you are clinging to.

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