April 12, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Rejection and Grace

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.”

Rejection and Grace

Matthew 21:33-46 – New International Version (NIV)

³³ “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. ³⁴ When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

³⁵ “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷ Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

³⁸ “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰ “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

⁴¹ “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³ “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. ⁴⁴ Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. ⁴⁶ They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.”

What did the farmer, after planting the vineyard, putting a wall around it and a winepress in it, and a watchtower up, do (verse 33)?

When did the farmer send his servants to collect his fruit (verse 34)?

How did the tenants treat the servants (verse 35)?

What was different about the second group of servants that the farmer sent to collect his fruit (verse 36)?

Why did the farmer send his son after the second group of tenants was mistreated (verse 37)?

How did the tenants respond to the son (verses 38 and 39)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus ask the chief priests and the Pharisees “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants” (verse 40)?

How did the chief priests and the elders respond (verse 41)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He says “the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (verse 42)?

What does Jesus say has been taken away from the chief priests and the Pharisees (verse 43)?

Who will it be given to (verse 43)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on who it falls will be crushed” (verse 44)?

What did the chief priests and the Pharisees know about these parables (verse 45)?

How did the people view Jesus (verse 46)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 21:33-46 show us about the Great Commission?

Psalm 118:18-29 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ “The Lord has chastened me severely,
    but he has not given me over to death.
¹⁹ Open for me the gates of the righteous;
    I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
²⁰ This is the gate of the Lord
    through which the righteous may enter.
²¹ I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
    you have become my salvation.

²² The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
²³ the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴ The Lord has done it this very day;
    let us rejoice today and be glad.

²⁵ Lord, save us!
    Lord, grant us success!

²⁶ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
    From the house of the Lord we bless you.
²⁷ The Lord is God,
    and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
    up to the horns of the altar.

²⁸ You are my God, and I will praise you;
    you are my God, and I will exalt you.

²⁹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.”

What has the Lord not allowed to happen to the writer (verse 18)?

What is the writer going to do when “the gates of righteousness are opened” (verse 19)?

Who can enter through “the gate of the Lord” (verse 20)?

What has the Lord become (verse 21)?

Who rejected that stone “that has become the cornerstone” (verse 22)?

Who has made the stone the builders rejected into the cornerstone (verse 23)?

How should we respond to what the Lord has done (verse 24)?

In your opinion, why is “he who comes in the name of the Lord” blessed (verse 26)?

What has the Lord done (verse 27)?

How is the Psalmist going to respond to “my God” (verse 28)?

Whose love “endures forever” (verse 29)?

In your opinion, how knowing that the Psalmist who is quoted by Jesus in the Matthew 21:33-46 in which He makes statements that attack the chief priests and Pharisees begins the Psalm 118:18-29 passage by saying that “the Lord has chastened me severely” and then ends the passage by saying that the Lord’s “love endures forever” enrich our understanding what Jesus was doing in Matthew?

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

Acts 13:38-52 – New International Version (NIV)

³⁸ “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. ³⁹ Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you:

⁴¹ “‘Look, you scoffers,
    wonder and perish,
for I am going to do something in your days
    that you would never believe,
    even if someone told you.’”

⁴² As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. ⁴³ When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. ⁴⁵ When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

“‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
    that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

⁴⁸ When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

⁴⁹ The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. ⁵⁰ But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. ⁵¹ So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”

How is the forgiveness of sins proclaimed (verse 38)?

What happens to “everyone who believes” through Him (verse 39)?

In your opinion, why will the scoffers “look . . . wonder and perish” (verse 41)?

Who invited Paul and Barnabas to “speak further about these things on the next Sabbath” (verse 42)?

What did Paul and Barnabas urge the Jews and devout converts to Judaism who followed them to do (verse 43)?

Who gathered on the next Sabbath to “hear the word of the Lord” (verse 44)?

How did the Jews feel about this (verse 45)?

In your opinion, why did Paul and Barnabas have to “speak the word of God” to the Jews first (verse 46)?

What did the Jews rejection of the word of God mean they did not consider themselves worthy of (verse 46)?

Who commanded Paul and Barnabas to be a “light for the Gentiles” (verse 47)?

What did “all who were appointed for eternal life” do (verse 48)?

Where did the “word of the Lord” go (verse 49)?

Who did the Jewish leaders incite to stir up persecution and expel Paul and Barnabas from the region (verse 50)?

In your opinion, why in the midst of persecution, were the disciples filled with joy (verse 52)?

In your opinion, why do the builders reject the cornerstone in Psalms 118:18-29 and the scoffers “look . . . wonder and perish” in Acts 13:38-52?

In your opinion, how in the prophecy of Jesus in Matthew 21:33-46 that “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit” find fulfillment in Acts 13:38-52 when Paul and Barnabas “shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them”?

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

Titus 2:11-15 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. ¹² It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³ while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

¹⁵ These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.”

Who does the “grace of God” offer salvation to (verse 11)?

What are the positive things that we are to do after saying ““No” to ungodliness and worldly passions” (verse 12)?

Who do we wait for (verse 13)?

What did Jesus give Himself for (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why are the people who “are his very own” be “eager to do what is good” (verse 14)?

How is Titus to “encourage and rebuke” (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why does Acts 13:38-52 say that scoffers “look . . . wonder and perish” when Titus 2:11-15 makes it clear that the grace of God “offers salvation to all people”?

In your opinion, how is Jesus predicted in Psalm 118:18-29 when the psalmist says “I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation” and proven in Titus 2:11-15 when Paul says “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own”?

In your opinion, what can you know about the Kingdom of God when you combine the statement of Jesus in Matthew 21:33-46 that “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit” with the statement in Titus 2:11-15 that “Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good”?

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

Next, back to Matthew 22:1 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)