New Hope High School – Lesson 4 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Blessed Are those Who Mourn

New Hope High School – Lesson 4 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Blessed Are those Who Mourn

Matthew 28:18-20 - New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 5:4 New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.

Who is blessed?

How will they be blessed?

In your opinion, why is comforting an appropriate blessing for those who mourn?

In your opinion, what does this passage at the beginning of Matthew show us about the Great Commission?

Ezra 9:1-6 New International Version (NIV)

After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. ² They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.”

³ When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. ⁴ Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles. And I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice.

⁵ Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God ⁶ and prayed:

“I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.

Who came to Ezra (verse 1)?

What were the people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, not doing (verse 1)?

How are they mingling the holy race with the peoples around them (verse 2)?

Who led the way to the mingling (verse 2)?

What was Ezra’s response (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why did he respond in this way?

Who gathered together with Ezra (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why would Ezra wait until the evening sacrifice before he did anything?

At the time of the evening sacrifice, what did Ezra do (verse 5 & 6)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Ezra teach us about Matthew 5:4?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Ezra show us about the Great Commission?

James 4:1-10 New International Version (NIV)

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

⁴ You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? ⁶ But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

What causes fights and quarrels (verse 1)?

Why don’t we get what we ask for (verse 2)?

In your opinion, what are the right motives?

If we are friendly with the world, what does that mean to our relationship with God (verse 4)?

How are we to respond to God (verse 7)?

What initiative are we to take with the devil (verse 7)?

How will the devil respond (verse 7)?

How do we come near to God:

            As sinners (verse 8)?

            As double-minded (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does grieving, mourning and wailing have to do with coming near to God?

How does God respond if we humble ourselves before Him (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from James teach us about Matthew 5:4?

In your opinion, what does this passage from James teach us about the Great Commission?

Colossians 2:1-5  New International Version (NIV) (Comforted is from the Geek word “parakaleo (par-ak-al-eh’-o)” which is a complex word that is translated into the King James as: besought, beseech, exhort, comforted, comfort, desired, pray, exhorting, beseeching, comforteth, desiring, entreat, exhortation, exhorted, prayed, called, desiredst, entreated, and exhorteth.)

I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. ² My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. ⁵ For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

What is Paul (the author) doing for the Colossians, the Laodiceans, and for all who have not met him personally (verse 1)?

Why does Paul want them to be encouraged in heart, united in love, and having the full riches of complete understanding (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why would the Greek word “parakaleo” be translated as “comforted” in the King James and “encouraged in heart” in the NIV?

What is hidden in Christ (verse 3)?

What does Paul want the treasures of wisdom and knowledge to protect us from (verse 4)?

What is Paul delighted to see about the Colossians (verse 5)?

In your opinion, how is “comforted” or “encouraged in heart” related to discipline and firm faith?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Colossians teach us about Matthew 5:4?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Colossians teach us about the Great Commission?

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