Please Read Chapter 24 Ordinary Man, and Matthew 5-7, 9, 14, Mark 4-6, Luke 10, 15, and John 6
Timeless Truth: Neutrality is not an option – Jesus demands a response.
One thing about
this Jesus: He never invited
neutrality. His followers called Him the
Christ. His contenders called Him a
blasphemer. Some were drawn to Him,
while others could muster nothing in His presence but contempt. His teachings were revolutionary and His
miracles undeniable. He claimed nothing
less than equality with God and proclaimed Himself as the long expected
Messiah. Jesus never left sitting on the
proverbial fence as an option.
He attracted
criticism in spades, but He also drew crowds.
He often taught the people in parables, pithy stories that drew
spiritual lessons from everyday life to reveal the “secrets” of God’s kingdom.
With simple illustrations, Jesus taught that in Him, God’s kingdom had come,
while exposing the religious leaders’ misguided view of religion. Jesus’ trilogy on lostness told of a lost
sheep, a lost coin and a lost son and demonstrated the value God places on a
repentant heart. In the story of the
lost son, Jesus exposed the hard-heartedness of the Pharisees as the older
brother’s indignity, angered by his father’s compassion. Like this father, Jesus’ concern for sinners
created an ever-widening rift with the Pharisees. His popularity increased and so did His
opposition. Yet Jesus’ teaching ministry
to the masses continued, and in the Sermon on the Mount, He taught them how to
live by faith in close relationship with God.
Jesus was a great
teacher, but even His closest disciples struggled to grasp His true identity
and purpose. He authenticated His words
with miracles that made His authority irrefutable. The disciples were awestruck when Jesus
calmed a raging storm at sea. The people
were confounded when he expelled demons from a possessed man into a herd of
pigs, who promptly drowned themselves.
Who was this man? He certainly
wasn’t looking or sounding like a Messiah should. The desperate came to Him for healing, and
weren’t found wanting. Jesus healed a
woman with a bleeding disorder, while pausing to restore her dignity and
commend her faith. Meanwhile, the
daughter of a synagogue leader named Jairus died. Jesus established His authority over death by
raising her back to life. He healed two
blind men, and the Pharisees exposed their own desperate lack of vision by
crediting such miracles to the prince of demons.
News about Jesus
spread through villages and cities, homes and institutions. Even King Herod grew interested. He was haunted by the fear that John the
Baptist might have returned from the dead, for he had ordered John’s execution.
Wherever He went, people gathered around Jesus.
After one especially long day, Jesus fed more than 5,000 with five
loaves of bread and a couple of fish.
The miracle was meant for more than filling empty stomachs. He had come to fill empty lives; the real
point was that He is the “bread” of eternal life. As a result of his teachings, the people were
divided. Many turned away, but those who
truly believed remained. In one of His
finest moments, Peter announced, “You have the words of eternal life…you are
the Holy One of God.”
Many came to Jesus
with Lower Story needs, but Jesus’ mission was greater than any had imagined.
He’d come to offer an Upper Story life, to fulfill the promises that began
centuries ago with Abraham and David.
He’d come to offer a life of faith – faith in unseen realities, faith in
who He is, and what He could do for them eternally. The offer still stands.
Questions
- You might think that Jesus spoke in parables so everyone could understand, but the disciples as well as the crowds had a hard time understanding his meaning. Why did Jesus say he spoke in parables? (p. 277) Why was this so?
- Who was Jesus referring to when he said “those who have will be given more; as for those who do not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” What will be given or taken?
- How are genuine believers differentiated from unbelievers in the parable of the soils? What does each of the soil types represent? Can a “soil type” be changed?
- Note the setting and the target audience of the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin and lost son (p. 279-280). From the parable of the prodigal son, what do we learn about what the Father values? Do you share his values?
- Review pages 277, 278. Based on the parables, what is the Kingdom of God? Look up Mark 1:15. What should be our response to the Kingdom of God?
- The Sermon on the Mount opens with nine statements called “the Beatitudes,” from the Latin word for “blessings.” How does someone gain these blessed qualities? (Hint: See Rom. 3:21-23)
- Christians believe that Jesus was fully God and fully man. How do you see this in the episode of calming the storm (p.283-284)? What encouragement can believers today draw from this story?
- John the Baptist languished in prison until he was finally executed. Faithful believers are persecuted around the world in greater numbers today than ever before. Discuss practical ways that your group could support the persecuted church around the world. (Check out www.persecution.org . This website provides accurate details about the persecution of Christians throughout the world.)
- What lessons of faith and courage can be gleaned from the account of Peter walking on water (p. 288)?
- Identify two or three ways the crowds misunderstood Jesus’ description of their need for eternal life (p. 288-290). How is Jesus’ message (Jn. 6:29, 35, 47) different from most people’s idea of salvation?
