April 30, 2017 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – Names and New Names

Names and New Names

Genesis 32:22-31 – New International Version (NIV)

²² That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. ²⁴ So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷ The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

³¹ The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.

Where did Jacob’s two wives, two female servants and eleven sons go (verse 22)?

What did Jacob do with his possessions (verse 23)?

When did Jacob stop wrestling with “a man” (verse 24)?

Why was Jacob’s hip wrenched (verse 25)?

In your opinion, why did Jacob want the man to bless him (verse 26)?

What did the man ask Jacob (verse 27)?

Why did the man change Jacob’s name to Israel (verse 28)?

What did Jacob want to know (verse 29)?

Why did Jacob call the place Peniel (verse 30)?

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

John 19:6-16 - New International Version (NIV)

⁶ As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

⁷ The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

⁸ When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, ⁹ and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹² From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

¹³ When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). ¹⁴ It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

¹⁵ But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

¹⁶ Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

How did Pilate reply to the chief priests shout “Crucify! Crucify!” (verse 6)?

Why did the Jewish leaders say that Jesus must die (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why did Pilate become afraid (verse 8)?

How did Jesus respond to Pilate’s question (verse 9)?

What power did Pilate claim (verse 10)?

Who is guilty of “a greater sin” (verse 11)?

What did Pilate try to do (verse 12)?

Where did Pilate sit (verse 13)?

What did Pilate tell the Jews (verse 14)?

How did the Jews respond to Pilate’s question “Shall I crucify your king” (verse 15)?

What did Pilate do (verse 16)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn from the different reactions of Jacob, who ask to be blessed after he had wrestled with God all night in Genesis 32:22-31, and of the chief priests, who after watching and confronting Jesus for three years said “we have no king but Caesar” in John 19:6-16?

Romans 8:18-28 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

What is not worth comparing “with the glory that will be revealed in us” (verse 18)?

What does the creation wait in eager expectation for (verse 19)?

In your opinion, who subjected the creation to frustration (verse 20)?

Who has freedom and glory (verse 21)?

How is the groaning of the creation described (verse 22)?

What are “we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit” eagerly waiting for (verse 23)?

In your opinion, who hopes for what they already have (verse 24)?

How do we wait for what we do not yet have if we have hope (verse 25)?

Who helps us (verse 26)?

How does the Spirit intercede for us (verse 26)?

How does the Spirit intercede for God’s people (verse 27)?

In what things does God work for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (verse 28)?

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

In your opinion, how is Paul’s statement in Romans 8:18-28 that “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” demonstrated by the anger of the chief priests shown in their words in John 19:6-16?

In your opinion, how is God struggling with Jacob in Genesis 32:22-31 similar to the Holy Spirit interceding for the children of God in their prayers as described by Paul in Romans 8:18-28?

Revelation 2:12-17 – New International Version (NIV)

¹² “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. ¹³ I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

¹⁴ Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. ¹⁵ Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

¹⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

Who is sending words to the “angel of the church in Pergamum” (verse 12)?

Where does the church of Pergamum live (verse 13)?

What did the church of Pergamum not do “in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city” (verse 13)?

Who “taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality” (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans” (verse 15)?

What is the church of Pergamum to do (verse 16)?

How will Jesus come and fight with “them” (verse 16)?

Who will receive some of the hidden manna and a white stone with a new name on it (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, how could the teaching of Paul in Romans 8:18-28 that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” have helped the members of the church of Pergamum to refuse to renounce their faith in Jesus in the time when Antipas was put to death in Revelation 2:12-17?

In your opinion, how is the choice of the chief priests in John 19:6-16 who stated that they “have no king but Caesar” and the choice of those who hold to the teaching of Balaam and to the teaching of the Nicolaitans in Revelation 2:12-17 similar?

In your opinion, what does the renaming of Jacob in Genesis 32:22-31 help us to understand about the significance of the victorious Christian in Revelation 2:12-17 receiving a “white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, Romans and Revelation help us to understand how victory is found in wrestling God, when God wins?

In your opinion, how can these passages help us to remain true to Christ in our struggles?                           

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 23, 2017 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – The Love You had at First

The Love You had at First

Genesis 50:15-21 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” ¹⁶ So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ¹⁷ ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

¹⁸ His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.

¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ²¹ So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

What did Joseph’s brothers see (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why were they concerned about Joseph holding a grudge (verse 15)?

What did they tell Joseph that their father left (verse 16)?

How was Joseph supposed to react to his brothers (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why did Joseph weep (verse 17)?

What did Joseph’s brothers tell him (verse 18)?

How did Joseph respond (verse 19)?

What did Joseph know that his brothers intended (verse 20)?

What did Joseph know that God intended (verse 20)?

In your opinion, how does Joseph knowing what God intended shape his reaction to his brothers (verse 20)?

How will Joseph treat his brothers and their children (verse 21)?

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

John 20:19-31 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

What did Jesus tell His disciples (verse 19)?

How did the disciples react “when they saw the Lord” (verse 20)?

How is Jesus sending the disciples (verse 21)?

In your opinion, what did Jesus mean by “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do no forgive them, they are not forgiven” (verse 23)?

Who was missing when Jesus came (verse 24)?

What did Thomas say it would take for him to believe (verse 25)?

When were the disciples together again (verse 26)?

What did Jesus tell Thomas to do (verse 27)?

How did Thomas react (verse 28)?

Who is blessed (verse 29)?

What did Jesus do (verse 30)?

Why was the book of John written (verse 31)?

How do we have life in Jesus name (verse 31)?

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

In your opinion, how is God’s intention for Joseph as Joseph understood it in Genesis 50:15-21 and God’s intention for Jesus as John understood it in John 20:19-31 similar?

Ephesians 4:17-24 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

²⁰ That, however, is not the way of life you learned ²¹ when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

What does Paul insist on “in the Lord” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what is the futility of the Gentiles thinking (verse 17)?

What causes the ignorance within the Gentiles (verse 18)?

Why have the Gentiles “given themselves over to sensuality” (verse 19)?

What haven’t the Ephesians who Paul is writing to learned (verses 19 and 20)?

What were the Ephesians taught “in accordance with” (verse 21)?

How were the Ephesians to treat their “former way of life” (verse 22)?

What was to “be made new” in the Ephesians (verse 23)?

What is the “new self” to be created like (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, how is Joseph’s response to his brothers in Genesis 50:15-21 a demonstration of putting on a new attitude as Paul taught about centuries later in Ephesians 4:17-24?

In your opinion, how does John’s teaching about Jesus and the blessing He gave the disciples in John 20:19-31 help us understand the sensitivity that Paul says is lost in Ephesians 4:14-24?

Revelation 2:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Who sent the message to the angel of the church in Ephesus” (verse 1)?

Who had deeds, hard work and perseverance (verse 2)?

How do the Ephesians treat those who claim to be apostles (verse 2)?

Who have the Ephesians persevered and endured hardships for (verse 3)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to say that the Ephesians had “forsaken the love you had at first” (verse 4)?

What were the Ephesians to consider (verse 5)?

What were the Ephesians to do (verse 5)?

What is in the Ephesians favor (verse 6)?

Who is the Spirit speaking to (verse 7)?

How will the victorious be rewarded (verse 7)?

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

In your opinion, how does Paul discussing the results of losing sensitivity in Ephesians 4:17-24 help us to understand how the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7 could be hard working, persevering and discerning, but still have “forsaken the love” they had at first and need to repent?

In your opinion, what does John in stating his purpose for writing in John 20:19-31 help us to understand what it takes to be “victorious” and eat from the tree of life in Revelation 2:1-7?

In your opinion, how does the transformation of the situation in Genesis 50:15-21 by the love exhibited by Joseph help us understand what adding the “love you had at first” to the deeds, hard work and perseverance of the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7 could bring about a transformation that would keep their lampstand in its place?

In your opinion, how do these passages from Genesis, John, Ephesians and Revelation help us understand God’s transforming power; from death to life, from old self to new self, and from a loss of sensitivity to loving like we did at first?

In your opinion, how can these passages transform us into new selves who do deeds, work hard, and persevere due to a love greater than that we had at first?                                                                                                

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 16, 2017 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – I Have Seen the Lord

I Have Seen the Lord

Genesis 49:29-33 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁹ Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. ³¹ There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. ³² The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.”

³³ When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

What words did Jacob use to say he was about to die (verse 29)?

Who did Jacob want to be buried with (verse 29)?

Why did Abraham buy the field (verse 30)?

Who was buried in the cave (verse 31)?

Who was the field and the cave in it purchased from (verse 32)?

What did Jacob do when he finished “giving instructions to his sons” (verse 33)?

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

John 20:1-18 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” ¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁷ Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

When did Mary Magdalene go to the tomb (verse 1)?

What did she find there (verse 1)?

Who did she tell “they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him” (verse 2)?

Who got to the tomb first (verse 4)?

What did he see when he looked into the tomb (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why did he not go inside immediately (verse 5)?

What did Peter find when he “went straight into the tomb” (verses 6 and 7)?

What did the “other disciple, who had reached the tomb first” do when he went inside (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead” (verse 9)?

What did the disciples do next (verse 10)?

What did Mary do (verse 11)?

Who did Mary see (verse 12)?

Why was Mary crying (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why did Mary not recognize Jesus (verse 14)?

What did Mary want from Jesus (verse 15)?

When did Mary recognize Jesus (verse 16)?

What was Mary to tell Jesus’s brothers (verse 17)?

What did Mary tell the disciples (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, how would Mary Magdalene’s heritage of hearing about Jacob’s instructions to his sons when he is preparing to “be gathered to my people” in Genesis 49:29-33 motivate her to go to Jesus tomb, but then make it harder for her to recognize Jesus in John 20:1-18?

Romans 5:1-11 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Why do we have “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 1)?

What do we now stand in (verse 2)?

What do we also glory in (verse 3)?

In your opinion, how can our sufferings produce “perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (verses 3 and 4)?

Why does hope not put us to shame (verse 5)?

Who did Christ die for (verse 6)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says “very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person” (verse 7)?

How does God demonstrate his love for us (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be saved from God’s wrath through Jesus (verse 9)?

How are we saved (verse 10)?

How do we boast in God (verse 11)?

Through whom have we received reconciliation (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, how does Paul in his discussion in Romans 5:1-11 help us understand the significance of the empty tomb that Mary, John and Peter saw in John 20:1-18?

In your opinion, how does the matter-of-fact planning of Jacob as he prepares to be gathered to his people in Genesis 49:29-33, help us to more completely understand what Paul meant when he describe us in Romans 5:1-11 as powerless?

Revelation 1:9-18 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, ¹¹ which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

¹² I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴ The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ¹⁵ His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

How does John describe himself (verse 9)?

Why was John on the island of Patmos (verse 9)?

Where was John on the Lord’s Day (verse 10)?

What did the “loud voice like a trumpet” tell John to write on a scroll (verse 11)?

What was the first thing that John saw when he turned around (verse 12)?

In your opinion, who is the one “like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest” (verse 13)?

What was the hair on His head like (verse 14)?

How was His voice described (verse 15)?

What was His face like (verse 16)?

When did John fall “at his feet as though dead” (verse 17)?

What is the first thing that Jesus tells John (verse 17)?

How does Jesus describe Himself (verse 18)?

What does Jesus hold (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, how does John seeing Jesus in heaven in Revelation 1:9-18 help us understand more completely what Paul meant in Romans 5:1-11 when he said “if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life”?

In your opinion, what is similar between Mary Magdalene seeing the Lord on Easter morning in John 20:1-18 and John, who had seen the empty tomb on Easter morning, seeing Jesus in heaven in Revelation 1:9-18?

In your opinion, what is difference between Jacob’s understanding of death saying he was to be “gathered to my people” in Genesis 49:29-33 and John’s understanding of death after hearing Jesus say “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, Romans and Revelation help us understand about how the empty tomb on Easter morning changed everything?

In your opinion, how should Mary Magdalene’s wonderful message to the disciples help us respond to the risen Christ in our lives today?                                                                                                                        

 (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)