Jesus crucified

This is the lesson from 2014-02-09. Time was short because of a church function, so I only got 10 minutes to teach. We concentrated on fulfillment of prophecy and the finality of Jesus’s work on the cross.

Pilate’s poke at the Jews

• READ 19:17–22
• Opinion question: Why did Pilate write “The King Of The Jews”? (Because the leaders of the Jews had said “We have no king but C{}sar,” and he was taking them at their word.

Soldiers gamble for Jesus’s clothes

• READ 19:23–24
• All the way through the rest of this chapter, John wants to make sure to connect the crucifixion to prophecies.
• READ Psalm 22:18

Jesus sees that his mother is cared for

• READ 19:25–27
• John was the one who cared for her.
• Why not Jesus’s brothers? We don’t know.

Jesus dies

• READ 19:28–29
• Jesus is thirsty, dehydrated, so the thing they give him to drink fulfills prophecy.
• READ Psalm 69:21
• READ 19:30
• It is finished. ASK What was finished? (All the wrath of God for sin.)
• This is how we were saved. Remember the song we sing sometimes: “Till on the cross where Jesus died the wrath of God was satisfied.”
  • READ Romans 6:10
  • READ Hebrews 7:27
  • READ Hebrews 9:12
  • READ Hebrews 10:10

When Jesus said finished, he meant finished.

• READ 19:31–37
• Prophecy fulfillment keeps rolling in even after Jesus dies.
• READ Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12 about the passover lamb.
  • We know it was about Jesus because of 1 Corinthians 5:7

Jesus is buried

• READ 19:38–42
• ASK Jesus was crucified between 2 thieves. Normally when a criminal was crucified, his body was thrown on the burning trash heap. But what happened to Jesus’s body? (Buried in a rich man’s tomb.)
• This fulfilled even more prophecy. READ Isaiah 53:9.

Hail!

Crown him the Lord of love. Behold his hands and side! Those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified. All hail, Redeemer, hail! For thou hast died for me. Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity.

Betrayal & arrest, trial, denial

This is the lesson from 2014-01-26. It has been so long that I don’t remember how closely I was able to follow this outline.

Betrayal & arrest

• Read 18:1–3
• Read 18:4–8
  • Weirdness — at least it seems weird to me — v. 4: “knowing all that would happen to him.”
    • READ John 10:18
• Read 18:9–11
  • 22. 9: “to fulfill the word he had spoken” in 17:12.
  • 22. 11: “shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” — a reference to the “other” prayer as recorded in Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42.
  • SAY The Gospels don’t give identical accounts. ASK Is this a weakness? (No! It’s a strength: It’s like eyewitness accounts of anything: Everyone’s perspective is different, and the different accounts combine into a complete picture.
• Read 18:12-14
  • SAY Annas used to be the high priest, but the Romans wouldn’t allow him to continue in office, probably to prevent him from accumulating power.
  • One way or another, Annas’s son-in-law, Caiaphas, had become the high priest, but the real power among the Saducees remained with Annas, so Annas gets the first crack at Jesus.

Denial

• Read 18:15–16
  • The “other disciple” may have been John, may have been someone else.
    • John usually refers to himself as “the disciple Jesus loved.”
    • A fisherman from Galilee might be known to the high priest.
    • Doesn’t matter.
• Read 18:17–18
• Read 18:25–27
  • Earlier the same night, Peter had said, “I will lay down my life for you” (13:37)
  • We read above that he whacked off the servant’s ear. (18:10)
  • Now he’s denying that he even knows Jesus.
    • SAY Don’t be too hard on Peter: It’s easy to be like him. Acknowledging Jesus and proclaiming yourself to be on his side when it’s safe. But it’s something altogether different when there’s real opposition.
    • ASK How can we be stronger so that when push comes eventually to shove, we don’t deny Jesus, but stand up and are counted for him?
      • Knowing the Bible
      • Prayer
      • Worship
      • Fellowship

Trial

• Read 18:19–21
• Read 18:22–24
• People who study this stuff say that there was a certain order to the way the trial should have been handled, but Jesus knew they weren’t following the order, and when he said to call witnesses, he was trying to get them to follow their own procedures.

The wrong reaction

In Mark 4, when there's a storm on the lake, the disciples are afraid. But when Jesus calms the storm, they are terrified.

Huh?

In Mark 5, when the demon-possessed man is healed, the people ask Jesus to go away.

Double-huh?

Why does everyone have the “wrong” reaction to Jesus?

Why aren't they glad when he does Good Things?

My guess: People want a tame God. When Jesus demonstrated that God was really there in the flesh, they didn't want anything to do with him.

Respect life

Here is the outline of the lesson for 2014-01-19, Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. It’s based on Psalm 139. As I told the class, even if you aren’t thinking about the topic of this lesson, it would be a blessing to your soul to memorize this Psalm. Even though I forgot the outline (I left it on the printer at home), I managed to remember most of it. I got a little preachy toward the end …

Read

• 139:1–6
• 139:7–12
• 139:13–18
• 139:19–24

The basic outline of the psalm

• God knows me. (1–6)
  • ASK Who does God know to this level of detail? (everyone)
• I can’t escape from him. (7–12)
  • ASK Who can find a place where God can’t reach him? (no one)
• He knows every detail of how I was made, down to the molecule. (13–18)
  • ASK How much does God know about everyone? (everything)
• I hate God’s enemies, but what if I am one of them? (19–24)
  • ASK Why should I be merciful to those who hate God?
    • because to some extent, I am one of them
    • God may lead them to repent and trust in Christ

Implications

• The focus is on the 3rd section (13–18).
• If God knows how I am made, and he made me that way on purpose, what should my attitude be toward how I am made? (respect for life as made by God)
  • What about characteristics that can be corrected by surgery? (cleft lip/palatte?)
• We should have the same attitude about everyone God has made.
• What about those who don’t share our attitude?
  • Pro-choice?
  • Pro-euthenasia
    • The Liverpool Care Pathway was developed by Royal Liverpool University Hospital and Liverpool’s Marie Curie Hospice in the late 1990s for the care of terminally ill cancer patients. Since then the scope of the LCP has been extended to include all patients deemed dying.
    • In 2012, it was revealed that just over half of the total of NHS trusts had received or were due to receive financial rewards to hit targets associated with the use of the care pathway.[1] These payments are made under a system known as “Commissioning for Quality and Innovation” (CQUIN), with local NHS commissioners paying trusts for meeting targets to “reward excellence” in care.
    • In 2012 … the government advised that NHS hospitals should phase out the use of the LCP over the next 6–12 months, and that “NHS England should work with [Clinical Commissioning Groups] to bring about an immediate end to local financial incentives for hospitals to promote a certain type of care for dying patients, including the LCP.

But it’s bigger than health care.

• George -> Elizabeth.
• It is probably coming to your neighborhood, workplace, restaurants.
• So far, urbanized areas are more affected than suburbs, but It is coming.

How should we respond?

• Humility before God (per the psalm: “search me, O God & know my heart” …
• Knowledge that for anyone who is breathing, repentance and faith are still possible.
• Prayer for our neighbors.
• ASK What would we do if a transgendered person or a flamboyantly homosexual person came to worship at Wildwood? What would you do?
  • 1 Cor 6:11 “… and such were some of you.”
• Knowing the Gospel and being ready to share it:
  • In a short sentence: “Christ came into the world to save sinners.” I Tim 1:15
  • In a longer sentence: “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:3–4
  • In a familiar sentence: “For God so loved the world that he sent his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

Jesus prays

This is the outline for the lesson of 2014-01-12, on John 17. The outline is short, and (I felt like) class didn’t go well, at least the teaching part. The handout I gave out follows the outline. It’s probably better than the lesson proper.

Intro

Like a lot of John’s Gospel, this chapter is so full that it’s almost numbing to try to organize it into one lesson.

Read

• 17:1–3
• 17:4–6
• 17:7–9
• 17:10–12
• 17:13–15
• 17:16–18
• 17:19–21
• 17:22–24
• 17:25–26

The prayer

ASK Who does Jesus pray for, and what does he pray?

• Himself
  • That he would be glorified so that he could glorify the Father. (v 1, 5)
• The disciples
  • That the Father would keep them in his name. (v 11)
  • That the Father would keep them from the evil one (v 15)
  • Sanctify them. (v 17) ASK What does sanctify mean? (To set apart for holy service)
• Us
  • That we will all be one. (v 21)
  • To be with Jesus where he is to see his glory. (v 24)

The assertions about believers

ASK What does Jesus say about believers?

• We are in the world (v 11)
• Not of the world (vv 14, 16)
• Sent into the world (v 18)

HANDOUT

The Father Gave the Son …	John 17
authority to give eternal life	v. 2
people out of this world	vv. 2, 6, 9, 24
work to accomplish	v. 4
words	v. 8
his name	vv. 11, 12
glory	vv. 22, 24

The Son Gives Believers …	John 17
eternal life	v. 2
the Father’s word	vv. 8, 14
manifestation of the Father’s name	vv. 6, 26
glory v. 22

The Son Asks the Father to …	John 17
glorify him	vv. 1, 5
keep believers in the Father’s name	v. 11
keep believers from the evil one	v. 15
sanctify believers in the truth	v. 17
make believers one	v. 21

Jesus’ Followers and the World	John 17
they are sent into the world	v. 18
they are in the world	v. 11
they are not of the world	v. 16
the world has hated them	v. 14
their unity with each other and union with God may cause the world to believe the Father sent the Son	v. 21

Full of Jesus's Joy

This was the lesson from 2013-12-29. We may have covered as much as half of it.

Question

Can we be the enemy of someone and the friend of him/her at the same time?

READ

• 15:1–3
• 15:4–6
• 15:7–8
• 15:9–11
• 15:12–15
• 15:16–17
• 15:18–20
• 15:21–23
• 15:24–25

The vine (1–11)

• This chapter is not the first place in the Bible that the “vine” language shows up.
  • Isaiah 5:1–7. Here’s verses 1 & 2: “Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it ith wchoice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.”
  • In contrast to the “false” vine of Israel, Jesus is the “true vine.” (This doesn’t mean every individual Israelite was false, but the nation as a group.)
• ASK What are the 2 kinds of branches? (Unproductive & productive)
• ASK What happens to the unproductive branches? (v. 2: taken away; v. 6: thrown away and burned.)
  • ASK What does “burned” mean? (Eternal punishment – hell)
• ASK What happens to the productive branches? (v. 2: pruned to bear better fruit)
  • SAY Let’s talk about pruning: Does anyone have an example of how you have been pruned, of some part of your life being taken away so that you can be more productive in something else?
• ASK What other word do you have for “abide” (v. 4)?
  • Remain
  • Stay joined
  • Live in
  • Remain united to
  • Go on growing in
• Each word tries to get to the idea. My idea: Stay planted in me, and just as the soil the vine is planted in becomes part of the vine, I become a part of the believer. The longer and deeper you’re planted in that soil, the more it becomes a part of you and the firmer your roots take hold of it.
• Every analogy fails at some point. It can’t help it. SAY If you think I take this too far, call me on it.
• ASK But now, what does “abiding in Christ” mean in practical terms?
  • Bible reading/study
  • Prayer
  • Worship
  • Service
  ASK Does Jesus single out any of these? (Bible: “my words” in v. 7)

Ask

• ASK In v. 7, does anything worry you about “ask whatever you wish”?
• ASK What if you ask for something God doesn’t want? Is he obligated to give it to you anyway?
  • What about James’s “You ask and you do not have because you ask wrongly”?
  • The key is abiding in Jesus and his words abiding in you. Then you are aligned with what God wants.
  • SAY Get to know God’s word.
    • Start on a Bible reading plan and don’t give up on it.
    • Memorize big chunks, not just cherry-picked verses. Ideas:
      • Psalm 139
      • Romans 5
      • 2 Corinthians 4
    • For more on the benefits of Bible memorization & meditation, see Psalm 1.
• This abiding thing is the key to bearing fruit (v. 8)

Joy

• SAY In v. 9, Jesus says one of the most astounding things he ever said: The Father’s love for me is like my love for you. I have a hard time comprehending the depth of that. In Chapter 17, Jesus in his prayer talks to the Father about the love the Father had for him “before the foundation of the world.” (17:24)
• SAY And Jesus loves his own people that much.
• ASK In v. 10, how does Jesus tell us to abide in his love? (Keep his commands)
• ASK In v. 11, what is the result of abiding in his love? (His joy in us, filling us up)
• ASK What does he mean when he says “My joy”? (The joy that he has) And you thought v. 9 was something.
• ASK Which commands is he talking about? (v. 12: Love one another)

The command: Love each other

• ASK What is the greatest love? (Lay down your life for your friend.)
• ASK How does this work in light of Romans 6:7–8 (“when we were sinners Christ died for us”)?
  • If Jesus laid down his life for his friends
  • AND we were sinners, enemies of God (Romans 5:10)
  • How did we get changed into Jesus’s friends?

(*Extra points to anyone who points out v. 16)

Missing graphics

The site that was hosting the graphics shown here was deleted by its owner, so the graphics are (currently) missing. How-some-ever (as Pogo the Possum would say), they will be back soon, prolly this week. If I get some time, I may improve the lot.

Jesus’s birth

This is the outline of the lesson from 2013-12-22. Note that one of the references in the table under “Rant” is incorrect, and I have been too lazy to correct it. There was some discussion about what Mary’s “character” must have been like to submit to God’s command; I found myself in the minority here, but I let it go.

Rant

We look at Christmas too sweetly. When we consider the brutality of the whole thing we should be in awe of just how far the creator of the universe stooped to save us.

Why did he do this?

John 1:14	Galatians 4:4–5	Matthew 5:17	Galatians 3:24
1 Timothy 1:15	John 9:39	Matthew 20:28	Mark 10:45
Luke 19:10	1 John 3:5,8	Hebrews 9:26

It was not ultimately about the baby. To paraphrase Fozzy Bear in the Muppet Movie, there’s a hundred babies around. From exaltation of being God the Son in the presence of the God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, he came and was born in a borrowed stable and slept in a hay trough wrapped up in rags.

Foretold

• READ Luke 1:26–33
• SAY In verse 30, the angel describes Mary finding “favor” with God. The word for favor is also the word for grace. This phrase echoes Genesis 6:8: “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” But if it’s grace, then it’s nothing Mary could deserve intrisically, and it’s nothing she could earn. That’s the whole point of grace.
• Sometimes we concentrate on Mary, or the baby, or even the hardship, or Joseph, or a hundred things. What does the angel concentrate on?
  • The greatness of the Savior
  • The fulfillment of prophecy
• READ 1:34
• What is Mary’s point? (As delicately as I know how to say it: This is a natural law she understands.)
• READ 1:35–38
• Mary understood the humiliation she was in for, and she somehow decided that she could stand the reproach.
  • We aren’t going to have a new Messiah any time soon. But are we willing to bear the scorn of our neighbors for the sake of Christ?
  • SAY Hebrews 11:24–25: “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”
• ASK Do you consider Mary blessed? Why? (v. 45, what Elizabeth says)

Praise

• READ Luke 1:46–55
• ASK What phrase shows up over and over in Mary’s song: (He has)
• ASK What has he done:
  • looked on Mary’s humble situation
  • done great things for her
  • shown strength
  • scattered the proud
  • reversed the situations of the weak and the powerful
  • reversed the situations of the hungry and the full
  • helped his servant Israel.
• ASK What does Mary think she has done? (Nothing)

Birth

• READ Luke 2:1–7
• ASK What strikes you here?
  • My main thing: Even though Mary & Josephe lived in the wrong place, God made arrangements for them to be in the right place.

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;

Christ the everlasting Lord;

Late in time, behold Him come,

Offspring of a virgin’s womb.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

Hail th’incarnate Deity,

Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,

Jesus our Emmanuel.

Hark, the herald angels sing,

“Glory to the newborn king!”

The time has (finally) come

This is the outline for the lesson of 2013-12-01. Something weird happened: We actually got through it all.
One disturbing thing: If you look at my previous outlines, you see lots of places where I wrote “ASK,” but there are none of those in this outline. I still managed some questions for the class, but figuring out where I asked them is left as an exercise for the reader. (I’ve always wanted to write that!)

Intro

• Up to now, we have worked our way through most of Jesus’s public ministry. What we will be looking at through February will almost all be contained within a single week. It was a busy week.
• In chapter 11, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, demonstrating Jesus’s authority over death.
• But before that, Jesus already said one of the most important things you must understand about his own death. READ John 10:17–18
  • Jesus wasn’t killed by the Romans.
  • Jesus wasn’t killed by the Jews.
  • READ Isaiah 53:10

Annointed for burial

• READ 12:1–3
• READ 12:4–8
• The perfume
  • Factlet: Nard was imported from northern India. The transportation alone increased the price.
  • 300 denarii was roughly equivalent to $20,000. (based on $8.00/hr in a 6 day work week).
    • Trivia: This is about the price of 10 bottles of Clive Christian Number 1.
  • The “pound” John mentions is a Roman pound, i.e., 12 ounces.
• Judas wasn’t a good guy until Satan entered into him (chapter 13) — he was already bad.
• Jesus explains why it was okay for Mary to do this.

Entry into Jerusalem

• READ 12:12–16
• Just unraveling all the Old Testament quotations and allusions in John’s gospel would take a lifetime.
• READ Psalm 118:25–26
• “Hosanna” means “Save now,” so even that is a quote from the psalm.
• The palm branches were a symbol of the revolution in which Judas Maccabeus kicked the Gentiles out of the temple. This made the Jewish leadership nervous.
• The reaction of the Pharisees: READ 12:19. And what should happen next?

The time has come

• The world (i.e., Gentiles) came to Jesus.
• READ 12:20–21
• The thing the Gentiles said was written or engraved on the preacher’s side of Charles Spurgeon’s pulpit where he could see it when he preached.
• It is uncertain whether Jesus’s reply was for Andrew and Philip or for the Greeks. But it was important:
• READ 12:23
  • Up to now Jesus was concious that his time had “not yet come.”
  • READ John 2:4 (Wedding at Cana)
  • READ John 7:30 (Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths))
  • But now his time has come.
• READ 12:31–33
  • Jesus has said this “lifted up” thing before (3:14, 8:28). Here, John makes it explicit that Jesus is talking about his own crucifixion.
  • Jesus is also pointing out that this was prophesied. The Jews who knew their O.T. could not miss the reference to READ Isaiah 52:13.
• Paul understood what Jesus meant about the time being right: READ Romans 5:6
• Repeat from earlier:
  • Jesus wasn’t killed by the Romans.
  • Jesus wasn’t killed by the Jews.
  • Jesus put down his life himself to pay for our sins.