December 8, 2019 – Mark’s Good News about Jesus – New Witnesses

New Witnesses


Ezekiel 18:25-32 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁵ “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? ²⁶ If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. ²⁷ But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life. ²⁸ Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die. ²⁹ Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

³⁰ “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. ³¹ Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? ³² For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

What do the Israelites say (verse 25)?

Who will die if they turn from their righteousness and commit a sin (verse 26)?

How will the wicked person save their life (verse 27)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them” (verse 28)?

What do the Israelites say (verse 29)?

How will the Lord judge the Israelites (verse 30)?

What are the Israelites to do after getting rid of all the offenses they have committed (verse 31)?

Who takes no pleasure in the death of anyone (verse 32)?

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

Mark 2:18-22 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. ²⁰ But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

²¹ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ²² And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

Who was fasting (verse 18)?

What did “some people” ask Jesus (verse 19)?

In your opinion, why don’t the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them (verse 20)?

When do the guests of the bridegroom fast (verse 21)?

Why is a patch of unshrunk cloth not used to patch a garment (verse 22)?

Where is new wine poured (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, how is Ezekiel’s command to “get a new heart and a new spirit” In Ezekiel 18:25-32 related to Jesus teaching about the old and new wineskins in Mark 2:18-22?

Acts 1:1-11 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach ² until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. ³ After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. ⁴ On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. ⁵ For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

⁶ Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

⁹ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

¹⁰ They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

What did Luke write to Theophilus in the former book (verse 1)?

When was Jesus taken into heaven (verse 2)?

How many days did Jesus appear to the disciples and give them convincing proofs that He was alive (verse 3)?

How long were the apostles to wait in Jerusalem (verse 4)?

What were the apostles to be baptized with (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why did the disciples ask “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel” (verse 6)?

What was not for the apostles to know (verse 7)?

What were the apostles to be (verse 8)?

What happened to Jesus (verse 9)?

Who appeared beside them (verse 10)?

How will Jesus come back (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, how is Jesus’s suffering that Luke writes about in Acts 1:1-11 proof of the Lord’s statement in Ezekiel 18:25-32 “For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!”

In your opinion, what does Luke’s summary in Acts 1:1-11 teach us about the “new wine” that Jesus was talking about in Mark 2:18-22? 

Colossians 3:1-11 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸ But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹ Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

What are the hearts of the Christian to be set on (verse 1)?

What are the minds of Christians not be be set on (verse 2)?

Where is the life of the Christian hidden (verse 3)?

When will the Christian appear with Christ in glory (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why should a Christian put to death “whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed” (verse 5)?

What is coming because of these things (verse 6)?

When did Christians walk in these ways (verse 7)?

What should Christians do with “anger, rage, malice, lander, and filthy language” (verse 8)?

What have Christians “taken off” (verse 9)?

What have Christians “put on” (verse 10)?

Who is “all and is in all” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, how are the discussion’s of Ezekiel about a new heart and a new spirit in Ezekiel 18:25-32 and Paul about the new self in Colossians 3:1-11 different?  How are they similar?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s discussion of what Christians should set their hearts and minds on in Colossians 3:1-11 help us understand Jesus’s parable of the new wine and old wineskins?

In your opinion, how does the fact that Jesus told those who were with Him for years, heard His teaching, witnessed His miracles and were witnesses of the proofs that He was alive to wait in Jerusalem for “the gift my Father promised” in Acts 1:1-11 help us understand how the transformation from old self to new self that Paul teaches about in Colossians 3:1-11 takes place?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezekiel, Mark, Acts and Colossians teach us about the difference between a life without Jesus and a life with Jesus?

In your opinion, how are we witnesses to Jesus today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

The December 1, 2019 – Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Stiff-necked to Saved

Stiff-necked to Saved


Psalm 51:1-10 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
² Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
⁶ Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

What does David ask God to have on him (verse 1)?

How does David ask God to treat his iniquity (verse 2)?

Where is David’s sin (verse 3)?

Who has David sinned against (verse 4)?

When did David become sinful (verse 5)?

Where was David taught wisdom by God (verse 6)?

How does David believe he will be “whiter than snow” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what does David mean by “let the bones you have crushed rejoice” (verse 8)?

What does David ask God to do with his iniquity (verse 9)?

How does David believe he can have a “pure heart” (verse 10)?

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

Mark 2:13-17 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. ¹⁴ As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Where did Jesus go (verse 13)?

Why did Jesus begin to teach (verse 13)?

What did Jesus tell Levi the son of Alphaeus (verse 14)?

What did Levi do (verse 14)?

Who was eating dinner with Jesus at Levi’s house (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why did the “teachers of the law who were Pharisees” ask “why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners” (verse 16)?

How did Jesus answer the question (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, how would you contrast David’s view of sinfulness in Psalm 51:1-10 with that of the “teachers of the law who were Pharisees” from Mark 2:13-17?

Acts 7:51-60 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵¹ “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! ⁵² Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— ⁵³ you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

⁵⁴ When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸ dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹ While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Who does Stephen say the members of the Sanhedrin always resisted (verse 51)?

In your opinion, who had the members of the Sanhedrin “betrayed and murdered” (verse 52)?

What had the members of the Sanhedrin not obeyed (verse 53)?

How did the members of the Sanhedrin react to the accusations of Stephen (verse 54)?

How was Stephen able to see Jesus (verse 55)?

Where did Stephen say Jesus was (verse 56)?

In your opinion, why did the members of the Sanhedrin cover their ears and yell at the top of their voices as they rushed Stephen (verse 57)?

Where did the witnesses lay their coats (verse 58)?

What did Stephen pray (verse 59)?

What did Stephen cry out (verse 60)?

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

In your opinion, how did the members of the Sanhedrin in Acts 7:51-60, who would have considered themselves to be children of David, reveal that they had different attitudes than David when he wrote Psalm 51:1-10?

In your opinion, how does the question asked by the teachers of the law who are Pharisees in Mark 2:13-17 prove them to be similar to the members of the Sanhedrin who stoned Stephen in Acts 7:51-60?

1 Timothy 1:12-17 – New International Version (NIV)

¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. ¹³ Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. ¹⁴ The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶ But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. ¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

What does Paul thank Christ Jesus for (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why does Paul call himself “a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violet man” (verse 13)?

What was Paul shown (verse 13)?

How was the “grace of our Lord” poured out on Paul (verse 14)?

What did Christ Jesus come into the world to do (verse 15)?

Why was Paul shown mercy (verse 16)?

What does Paul pray for “the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God” (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, how are David, who wrote Psalm 51:1-10, and Paul, who wrote 1 Timothy 1:12-17, similar?  What does the fact that David prayed for mercy and Paul said he had received mercy reveal to us?

In your opinion, what does Paul’s statement that he was the worst of sinners in 1 Timothy 1:12-17 reveal about how he would have reacted to Jesus statement in Mark 2:13-17 that “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners”?  How should we react?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the fact that Saul, who witnesses laid their coats at the feet of in Acts 7:51-60 as Stephen was stoned for saying he saw Jesus in heaven is the very same person who says in 1 Timothy 1:12-17 that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am thre worst”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Psalms, Mark, Acts and 1 Timothy teach us about stiff-necked people and saved people today?

In your opinion, what should we who were once sinners but now are saved do today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

November 24, 2019 – Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Transformed by Forgiveness

-                        The

Transformed by Forgiveness


2 Chronicles 7:11-22 - New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, ¹² the Lord appeared to him at night and said:

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.

¹³ “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, ¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ¹⁵ Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. ¹⁶ I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

¹⁷ “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, ¹⁸ I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’

¹⁹ “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, ²⁰ then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. ²¹ This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ ²² People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”

What had Solomon finished (verse 11)?

Who chose the temple (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the fact that the Lord began His statement to Solomon with “when” (verse 13)?

How would the Lord’s people need to act in order to be forgiven and have their land healed (verse 14)?

What will the Lord’s ears be attentive to (verse 15)?

Where will the Lord’s eyes and heart always be (verse 16)?

How does Solomon need to walk before the Lord (verse 17)?

What will the Lord establish (verse 18)?

When will the Lord “uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name” (verses 19 and 20)?

Who will be appalled (verse 21)?

What will people understand about why the temple is “a heap of rubble” (verses 21 and 22)?

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

Mark 2:1-12 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ² They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³ Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶ Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷ “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

⁸ Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? ⁹ Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, ¹¹ “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ¹² He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Who heard that Jesus had come home (verse 1)?

How were people gathered around Jesus (verse 2)?

What did the four men carry (verse 3)?

Why did they make an opening in the roof (verse 4)?

When did Jesus say “son, your sins are forgiven” (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why were the teachers of the law thinking “Why does this fellow talk like that?  He’s blaspheming!  Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (verses 6 and 7)?

What did Jesus say to them (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus ask them “Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?” (verse 9)?

What did Jesus want them to know (verse 10)?

What did Jesus tell the man (verse 11)?

How did the people who saw this respond (verse 12)?

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

In 2 Chronicles 7:11-22 the Lord promises “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land”?  In your opinion, do you think the paralyzed man in Mark 2:1-12 was going to Jesus expecting Him to fulfill that promise Why or why not?

Acts 16:11-15 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. ¹² From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

¹³ On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. ¹⁵ When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

How did Paul, Silas and Timothy travel (verse 11)?

Where was the “Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia” (verse 12)?

Why did they go to the river (verse 13)?

What did they do when they got to the river (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to us today that Lydia was “a worshiper of God” and that “the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message” (verse 14)?

Who was baptized (verse 15)?

How did Lydia persuade them to stay at her house (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, what does it mean that the Lord did for Lydia along a river in a foreign land in Acts 16:11-15 what He had promised Solomon to do for the Israelites in the temple in 2 Chronicles 7:11-22?

In your opinion, how are the paralyzed man in Mark 2:1-12 and Lydia in Acts 16:11-15 similar?  What do we have in common with them?

Philippians 3:12-21 – New International Version (NIV)

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. ¹⁶ Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

¹⁷ Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. ¹⁸ For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. ²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Who “took hold” of Paul (verse 12)?

What one thing does Paul do (verse 13)?

How is Paul called heavenward (verse 14)?

Who will clear up our thinking if it is different from Paul’s (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “live up to what we have already attained” (verse 16)?

Who does Paul say we should keep our eyes on (verse 17)?

How do “many live” (verse 18)?

What is “their god” (verse 19)?

Where is a Christian’s citizenship (verse 20)?

What will Jesus Christ do (verses 20 and 21)?

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

In your opinion, how is the transformation of the nation of Israel that was promised when its people called on the Lord, humbled themselves, prayed, sought the face of the Lord and turned from their wicked ways in 2 Chronicles similar to the transformation Paul speaks of in Philippians 3:12-21?

In your opinion, how does Jesus being able to heal the paralyzed man prove not only His ability to forgive that man of sin in Mark 2:1-12, but also that he can give us citizenship in heaven as Paul promises in Philippians 3:12-21?

In your opinion, how does the Lord opening Lydia’s heart in Acts 16:11-15 help us understand how we can imitate Paul in Philippians 3:12-21 and forget what is behind and strain for what is ahead?

In your opinion, what can we, whose sins are forgiven, learn from the paralyzed man and from Lydia?

In your opinion, what do these passages from 2 Chronicles, Mark, Acts and Philippians teach us about Jesus ability to forgive our sins and to transform us?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

November 17, 2019 – Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Purified and Indignant

-                        The

Purified and Indignant


Isaiah 52:11-15 - New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ Depart, depart, go out from there!
    Touch no unclean thing!
Come out from it and be pure,
    you who carry the articles of the Lord’s house.
¹² But you will not leave in haste
    or go in flight;
for the Lord will go before you,
    the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

¹³ See, my servant will act wisely;
    he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
¹⁴ Just as there were many who were appalled at him—
    his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being
    and his form marred beyond human likeness—
¹⁵ so he will sprinkle many nations,
    and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
    and what they have not heard, they will understand.

What are the Israelites not to touch when they leave bondage for Israel (verse 11)?

Why will they “not leave in haste or go in flight” (verse 12)?

Who will “be raised and lifted up and highly exalted” (verse 13)?

How did many feel about Him (verse 14)?

What happened to His appearance (verse 14)?

Who will shut their mouths because of Him (verse 15)?

What will they understand (verse 15)?

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

Mark 1:40-45 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴⁰ A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

⁴¹ Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” ⁴² Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

⁴³ Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: ⁴⁴ “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵ Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

Who came to Jesus (verse 40)?

In your opinion, what can we learn about the man from his statement “if you are willing” (verse 40)?

In your opinion, why was Jesus indignant (verse 41)?

What did Jesus do as He was saying “I am willing” (verse 41)?

What happened to the man (verse 42)?

How did Jesus send him away (verse 43)?

Who was the man’s cleansing and offering to be a teatimony to (verse 44)?

What happened when the man talked freely and spread the news (verse 45)?

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

In your opinion, how do you reconcile Jesus touching the leper in Mark 1:40-45 with the command in Isaiah 52:11-15 to “touch no unclean thing”?

Acts 11:4-18 – New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: ⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. ⁶ I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. ⁷ Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’

⁸ “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹ “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

¹¹ “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. ¹² The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. ¹⁴ He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’

¹⁵ “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸ When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Where did Peter start (verse 4)?

What was Peter doing when he saw the vision of the sheet being let down (verse 5)?

What was in the sheet (verse 6)?

How did Peter react to the command to “Get up, Peter.  Kill and eat” (verses 7 and 8)?

In your opinion, what did the voice from heaven mean when it said “do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (verse 9)?

How many times did this happen (verse 10)?

Who came to the house where Peter was staying (verse 11)?

What did the Spirit tell Peter (verse 12)?

Who had said “send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter” (verse 13)?

How was the household going to respond to Peter’s message (verse 14)?

What happened when Peter began to speak (verse 15)?

What did Peter remember (verse 16)?

In your opinion, who could stand in God’s way (verse 17)?

How did those listening to Peter praise God (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, how is our understanding of what is considered unclean that Isaiah 52:11-15 indicates should not be touched altered by what happened to the man in Caesarea in Acts 11:4-18?

In your opinion, what things do the leper in Mark 1:40-45 and the man from Caesarea in Acts 11:4-18 share?

 1 John 1:5-10 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

What message has John heard that he declares (verse 5)?

When do we lie (verse 6)?

When do we have fellowship “with one another” (verse 7)?

What does “the blood of Jesus, his Son” do (verse 7)?

In your opinion, how is claiming to be without sin deceiveing ourselves (verse 8)?

When does God “forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (verse 9)?

Who do we make out to be a liar if we claim we have not sinned (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, how can those who live in fear of violating the command to “touch no unclean thing” from Isaiah 52:11-15 find both condemnation and comfort in 1 John 1:5-10?

In your opinion, how does the miracle of cleansing that 1 John 1:5-10 promises dwarf the miracle of the cleansing of the man with the incureable disease in Mark 1:40-45?

In your opinion, how does 1 John 1:5-10 explain what happened to the man from Caesarea in Acts 11:4-18?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Mark, Acts and 1 John teach us about our uncleanness and our purification from sin?

In your opinion, what should we be indignant about today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)