Rejected and Accepted Lavish Love
2 Kings 1:1-8 - New International Version (NIV)
1 After
Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Now Ahaziah had
fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So
he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of
Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.”
3 But the angel of the Lord
said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers of the king of
Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are
going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’ 4 Therefore
this is what the Lord says: ‘You
will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!’” So Elijah
went.
5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have
you come back?”
6 “A man came to meet us,” they replied. “And he said to us, ‘Go
back to the king who sent you and tell him, “This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God
in Israel that you are sending messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of
Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will
certainly die!”’”
7 The king asked them, “What kind of man was it who came to meet you
and told you this?”
8 They replied, “He had a garment of hair and had a
leather belt around his waist.”
The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”
Who rebelled
against Israel after Ahab dies (verse 1)?
Why did
Ahaziah send messengers to “Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron” (verse 2)?
Who sent
Elijah the Tishbite to meet the messengers (verse 3)?
How was
Ahaziah’s question for Baal-Zebub answered by the Lord (verse 4)?
In your
opinion, why did king Ahaziah ask the messengers “why have you come back”
(verse 5)?
How did the messengers
answer the king (verse 6)?
What did the
king ask the messengers (verse 7)?
How did the
king know it was “Elijah the Tishbite” (verse 8)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
Mark 3:20-35 - New
International Version (NIV)
20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he
and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family
heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is
out of his mind.”
22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He
is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”
23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in
parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is
divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a
house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And
if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In
fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he
can plunder the strong man’s house. 28 Truly I tell you, people
can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but
whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are
guilty of an eternal sin.”
30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”
31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they
sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him,
and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will
is my brother and sister and mother.”
How big was
the crowd that gathered when Jesus entered the house (verse 20)?
Why did His
family go “to take charge of him” (verse 21)?
Who said “He
is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”
(verse 22)?
How did Jesus
begin to speak to them (verse 23)?
In your
opinion, why can a kingdom that is divided against itself not stand (verse 24)?
What has come
if “Satan opposes himself and is divided” (verse 26)?
When can a
strong man’s house be plundered (verse 27)?
Who can be “forgiven
all their sins and every slander they utter” (verse 28)?
Who will never
be forgiven (verse 29)?
What were they
saying about Jesus (verse 30)?
Who stood
outside looking for Jesus (verse 32)?
In your
opinion, why did Jesus ask “who are my mother and brothers” (verse 33)?
Who is Jesus “brother
and sister and mother” (verse 35)?
In your opinion, how are Ahaziah from 2 Kings
1:1-8, Jesus’s mother and brothers, and the teacher of the law who came from
Jerusalem in Mark 3:20-35 similar?
27 The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the
Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 28 “We gave you
strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled
Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s
blood.”
29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather
than human beings! 30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus
from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. 31 God
exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring
Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. 32 We are
witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to
those who obey him.”
33 When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to
death. 34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law,
who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that
the men be put outside for a little while. 35 Then he addressed
the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to
these men. 36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be
somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his
followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37 After
him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of
people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38 Therefore,
in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their
purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if
it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find
yourselves fighting against God.”
40 His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had
them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let
them go.
41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been
counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after
day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching
and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
Who were the apostles
made to appear before (verse 27)?
In your opinion, why
did the high priest say that the apostles were “determined to make us guilty
of this man’s blood” (verse 28)?
Who said “we must obey God rather than human beings” (verse
29)?
Who “raised Jesus from the dead” (verse 30)?
Why did God exalt Jesus “to his own right hand as Prince
and Savior” (verse 31)?
Who are the witnesses “of these things” (verse 32)?
How did the Sanhedrin react to what the apostles said (verse
33)?
What did Gamaliel order (verse 34)?
Why did Gamaliel say that the Sanhedrin should “consider
carefully what you intend to do to these men” (verses 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39)?
What did the Sanhedrin order should happen the apostles
(verse 40)?
Why did the apostles rejoice (verse 41)?
How did the apostles react to the Sanhedrin’s order in verse
40 to not “speak in the name of Jesus” (verse 42)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how are Elijah in 2 Kings 1:1-8 and the
apostles in Acts 5:27-42 similar?
In your opinion, what does the dispute between the Sanhedrin
and the apostles in Acts 5:27-42 help us understand about Jesus statement about
His mother and brothers in Mark 3:20-35?
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should
be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does
not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we
are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we
know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he
is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as
he is pure.
4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But
you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no
sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who
continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does
what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one
who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning
from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared
was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God
will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on
sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how
we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are:
Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does
not love their brother and sister.
11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should
love one another.
How can we
understand that the Father has lavished great love on us (verse 1)?
Why does the world
not know us (verse 1)?
What do the
children of God not yet know (verse 2)?
When will we
see Christ “as he is” (verse 2)?
What do those
who hope in Jesus do (verse 3)?
Who breaks the
law (verse 4)?
Why did Jesus
appear (verse 5)?
In your
opinion, what does James mean by “no one who lives in him keeps on sinning” (verse
6)?
Who is
righteous (verse 7)?
Why did the
Son of God appear (verse 8)?
Who is God’s
seed in (verse 9)?
How can we
tell “who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are” (verse
10)?
What is the
message heard from the beginning (verse 11)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your
opinion, how does John’s statement that “the reason the Son of God appeared
was to destroy the devil’s work” in
1 John 3:1-10 help us understand why Ahaziah, who reached out to the god of
Ekron instead of the God of Israel was never able to leave his bed in 2 Kings
1:1-8?
In
your opinion, what does John’s statement that “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s
work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because
God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been
born of God.” in 1 John 3:1-10 help us understand about the
desire of Jesus for the teachers of the law and for His mother and brothers who
were outside the circle of those He claimed as His mother and brothers in Mark
3:20-35?
In your
opinion, how are the decisions and acts of the Apostles in Acts 5:27-42 an
illustration of how Christians are to love one and other according to 1 John
3:1-10?
In your
opinion, what do these passages from 2 Kings, Mark, Acts and 1 John teach us
about the differences between those who accept the “great love the Father
has lavished on us” and those who have not?
In your
opinion, as recipients of the “great love the Father has lavished on us” how
are we to be obedient to the command to “love one
another”?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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