What are You Waiting For
Genesis 32:22-32 - 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. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do
not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of
Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.
Who did Jacob
send across the ford of the Jabbok (verse 22?
What else did
Jacob send across the stream (verse 23)?
What did Jacob
do until daybreak (verse 24)?
Why did the
man touch “the socket of Jacob’s hip” (verse 25)?
What did Jacob
want before he released the man (verse 26)?
In your
opinion, why did the man ask for Jacob’s name (verse 27)?
Why was
Jacob’s name to be changed to Israel (verse 28)?
In your
opinion, why does the man not tell Jacob his name (verse 29)?
Why does Jacob
call the place Peniel (verse 30)?
Why was Jacob
limping (verse 31)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
Mark 6:14-29 - New
International Version (NIV)
14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well
known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and
that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”
And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the
prophets of long ago.”
16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has
been raised from the dead!”
17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he
had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother
Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying
to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So
Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not
able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him,
knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was
greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a
banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of
Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and
danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.
The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll
give it to you.” 23 And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever
you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”
24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”
“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.
25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want
you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his
dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he
immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went,
beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a
platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29 On
hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Why had King
Herod head about Jesus (verse 14)?
In your
opinion, why would people say that Jesus was Elijah or a prophet (verse 15)?
Who did Herod
think Jesus was (verse 16)?
Where did
Herod order John to be put (verse 17)?
What had John
been saying (verse 18)?
Who nursed a
grudge against John (verse 19)?
In your
opinion, how could Herod like to listen to John, even if he feared him (verse 20)?
What did Herod
do on his birthday (verse 21)?
How did the
daughter of Herodias please Herod and the guests (verse 22)?
What did Herod
promise the daughter of Herodias (verse 23)?
Who told the
daughter of Herodias to ask for the head of John the Baptist (verse 24)?
How did the
daughter of Herodias want the head to be presented to her (verse 25)?
Why did Herod
give her the head of John the Baptist even though he was greatly distressed
(verse 26)?
What did
John’s disciples do when they heard about what had happened (verse 29)?
In your opinion, what could be similar between
Jacob’s emotions as he anticipated meeting his brother, who he had overcome
years before, in Genesis 32:22-32 and Herod’s emotions as he heard about Jesus
and thought that He was John the Baptist raised from the dead in Mark 6:14-29?
1 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.”
2 When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very
quiet.
Then Paul said: 3 “I am a Jew,
born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under
Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as
zealous for God as any of you are today. 4 I persecuted the
followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing
them into prison, 5 as the high priest and all the Council can
themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in
Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be
punished.
6 “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from
heaven flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a
voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’
8 “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.
“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’
he replied. 9 My companions saw the light, but they did not
understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.
10 “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.
“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into
Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ 11 My
companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the
light had blinded me.
12 “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of
the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. 13 He
stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very
moment I was able to see him.
14 “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know
his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. 15 You
will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. 16 And
now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away,
calling on his name.’
What was Paul asking people to listen to (verse
1)?
How did the people
respond when Paul spoke in Aramaic (verse 2)?
In your opinion, why does Paul mention that he was a Jew,
who studied under Gamaliel and was zealous for God (verse 3)?
Who did Paul persecute (verse 4)?
Why did Paul obtain letters from the high priest and the
council (verse 5)?
What happened about noon as Paul was nearing Damascus (verse
6)?
What did the voice Paul heard say (verse 7)?
Whose voice was it that Paul heard (verse 8)?
How did Paul’s companions perceive what was happening (verse
9)?
What was Paul to do (verse 10)?
Why did Paul’s companions lead him by the hand (verse 11)?
Who was Ananias (verse 12)?
When was Paul able to see (verse 13)?
Who had chosen Paul (verse 14)?
What was Paul to be (verse 15)?
In your opinion, why did Ananias say “what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your
sins away, calling on his name.’ (verse
16)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is Jacob being given a new name in
Genesis 32:22-32 similar to Paul getting up, being baptized and calling on
God’s name in Acts 22:1-16?
In your opinion, how might Herod’s reaction to hearing about
Jesus and thinking that He was John the Baptist, who he had liked to listen to
but still had killed in Mark 6:14-29 been different if he’d followed the
instructions Ananias gave to Paul in Acts 22:1-16?
1 Therefore,
since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run
with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For
the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down
at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you
will not grow weary and lose heart.
What are we surrounded by (verse 1)?
What should
Christians throw off (verse 1)?
How should we
run “the race marked out for us” (verse 1)?
Who should we
fix our eyes on (verse 2)?
Why did Jesus
endure the cross (verse 2)?
Where did
Jesus sit (verse 2)?
What can help
us “not grow weary and lose heart” (verse 3)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is Herodias in Mark 6:14-29 an example
of what can happen if we don’t “throw off . . . the sin that so easily entangles”
as instructed by Paul in Hebrews 12:1-3?
In your
opinion, how might Ananias’s instruction to Paul to “Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away,
calling on his name.” in Acts 22:1-16 have influenced Paul as he was instructing us to “throw
off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” in
Hebrews 12:1-3?
In your
opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, Mark, Acts and Hebrews teach us about
struggling with, holding grudges, seeing the light and persevering?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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