July 5, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – From Tombs to Redemption

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.”

From Tombs to Redemption

Matthew 23:27-28 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁷ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

Who does Jesus say are like “whitewashed tombs” (verse 27)?

How does Jesus describe “whitewashed tombs” (verse 27)?

What do the teachers of the law and the Pharisees look like on the outside (verse 28)?

What are they full of on the inside (verse 28)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Ezekiel 37:1-14 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ “The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ² He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³ He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

¹¹ Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

Whose hand was on Ezekiel (verse 1)?

What was the valley Ezekiel was set in full of (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that the bones were very dry (verse 2)?

How did Ezekiel answer the question “can these bones live” (verse 3)?

Who was Ezekiel to prophesy to (verse 4)?

What will happen when the Lord makes breath enter the bones (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why will the coming to life of the bones cause the bones to “know that I am the Lord” (verse 6)?

What happened when Ezekiel “prophesied as I was commanded” (verse 7)?

When was their “no breath in them” (verse 8)?

Where was the breath that was to bring life to the restored bones to come from (verse 9)?

How did the restored bones respond when breath entered them (verse 10)?

Who are the bones (verse 11)?

In your opinion, what does God mean when He says “My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them” (verse 12)?

What will the people of Israel know when God opens their graves (verse 13)?

Who will be put into the people of Israel (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what are the similarities between the Jews that Ezekiel was speaking to who were in exile in Babylonia in Ezekiel 37:1-14 and the teachers of the law and Pharisees that Jesus was speaking to in Matthew 23:27-28?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Romans 3:9-20 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ “What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. ¹⁰ As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
¹¹     there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
¹² All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one.”
¹³ “Their throats are open graves;
    their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
¹⁴     “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶     ruin and misery mark their ways,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they do not know.”
¹⁸     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. ²⁰ Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.”

How are Jews and Gentiles alike (verse 9)?

Who is righteous (verse 10)?

Who seeks God (verse 11)?

What has “all” become when they turned away (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “their throats are open graves” (verse 13)?

How much “cursing and bitterness” are in “their mouths” (verse 14)?

What are their feet “swift” to do (verse 15)?

How are their ways marked (verse 16)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “the way of peace they do not know” (verse 17)?

What is not “before their eyes” (verse 18)?

Why does the law say what it “says to those who are under the law” (verse 19)?

Who is declared “righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law” (verse 20)?

What is the law to accomplish (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what can we, who Paul makes clear in Romans 3:9-20 are dunrighteous and accountable to God for our sinfulness under the law, learn from Ezekiel’s vision about the dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s discussion about the uniformity of all “Jews and Gentiles” being under the power of sin in Romans 3:9-20 impact our reading of what Jesus said to the teachers of the law and Pharisees in Matthew 23:27-28 about being “beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean”?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

1 Peter 1:13-25 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

¹⁷ Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. ¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. ²⁰ He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

²² Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. ²³ For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. ²⁴ For,

“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
²⁵     but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

And this is the word that was preached to you.”

In your opinion, what does Peter mean when he says “with minds that are fully alert and sober” (verse 13)?

What are we to set our hope on (verse 13)?

When did we conform to the evil desires (verse 14)?

Why should we be holy (verses 15 and 16)?

How should we live out our time (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why does Peter say that we are redeemed “from an empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors” (verse 18)?

What redeemed us (verse 19)?

When was Christ chosen (verse 20)?

Why is our “faith and hope” in God (verse 21)?

What should we do “deeply, from the heart” (verse 22)?

How have we been born again of imperishable seed (verse 23)?

What are people like (verse 24)?

What endures forever (verse 25)?

In your opinion, what can we learn by combining Paul’s discussion in Romans 3:9-20 about the universal sinfulness that we all share with Peter’s discussion in 1 Peter 1:13-25 about being redeemed by the “precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect”?

In your opinion, how does the vision of Ezekiel 37:1-14 about the dry bones and the promise “Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.  I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.” obtain new richness when you consider Peter’s statement that “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” from 1 Peter 1:13-25?

In your opinion, how does the fact that Jesus, who condemns the teachers of the law and Pharisees in Matthew 23:27-28 for being full of “hypocrisy and wickedness” but then, according to 1 Peter 1:13-25, redeemed us who also have “evil desires” with His “precious blood” show that there is hope for the teachers of the law and Pharisees and also everyone else?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, Ezekiel, Romans and 1 Peter, show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 23:29 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)