The Choice for Salvation
Zechariah 11:4-13 - New International
Version (NIV)
4 This is what the Lord my
God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter. 5 Their
buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise
the Lord, I am rich!’ Their
own shepherds do not spare them. 6 For I will no longer
have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their
neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not
rescue anyone from their hands.”
7 So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly
the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the
other Union, and I shepherded the flock. 8 In one month I
got rid of the three shepherds.
The flock
detested me, and I grew weary of them 9 and said, “I
will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing
perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”
10 Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it,
revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It
was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me
knew it was the word of the Lord.
12 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not,
keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the Lord said
to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So
I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the
house of the Lord.
Which flock is Zechariah to shepherd (verse 4)?
Who does “not spare them” (verse 5)?
What will the Lord no longer have “on the
people of the land” (verse 6)?
Which members of the flock did Zechariah “particularly”
shepherd (verse 7)?
What were the names of the two staffs that
Zechariah took (verse 7)?
How did the flock react to Zechariah (verse 8)?
What was going to happen to the “perishing”
(verse 9)?
What was revoked with the breaking of the staff
called Favor (verse 10)?
Who “knew it was the word of the Lord”
(verse 11)?
How much was Zechariah paid (verse 12)?
What did Zechariah do with what he was paid
(verse 13)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about
the choice for salvation?
Matthew 27:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)
1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and
the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. 2 So
they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was
condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of
silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have
sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he
went away and hanged himself.
6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the
law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So
they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for
foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of
Blood to this day. 9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah
the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the
price set on him by the people of Israel, 10 and they used
them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”
When did “all the chief priests and the elders of the people”
make their plans (verse 1)?
What
did the chief priests and elders do (verse 2)?
How
did Judas react when he saw Jesus was condemned (verse 3)?
How
did the chief priests and elders respond when Judas said “I have betrayed
innocent blood” (verse 4)?
Where did Judas throw the money (verse 5)?
What did Judas do next (verse 5)?
Why
was it against the law to put the money “into the treasury” (verse 6)?
What
did they decide to do with the money (verse 7)?
What
has the field been called (verse 8)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In
your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about the choice for
salvation?
In your opinion, how do the reactions of the chief priests and elders to Jesus in Matthew 27:1-10 and the flock the Zechariah to Zechariah 11:4-13 compare?
Acts 22:1-16 – New International Version (NIV)
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.’
Who did Paul want to listen to his defense (verse 1)?
How zealous was Paul (verse 3)?
Who did Paul persecute “to their deaths” (verse
4)?
What did the voice say to Paul (verse 7)?
Whose voice was it (verse 8)?
In your opinion, why is Paul’s question, “what
shall I do, Lord” crucial (verse 10)?
How did Paul get to Damascus (verse 11)?
What did Ananias say as he stood beside Paul (verse 13)?
What did Ananias tell Paul to do (verse 16)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what
does this passage reveal to us about the choice for salvation?
In
your opinion, how would the flock who detested Zechariah in Zechariah 11:4-13 have
been transformed by asking the questions that Paul did in Acts 22:1-16, “who
are you” and “what shall I do”?
In
your opinion, why did Judas, who “betrayed innocent blood” in Matthew
27:1-10, have such a different outcome than Paul, who admitted to persecuting “followers
of this Way to their death”, did in Acts 28:1-16?
Romans
10:11-17 – New International Version (NIV)
11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put
to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and
Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on
him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord will be saved.”
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And
how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they
hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can
anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the
feet of those who bring good news!”
16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah
says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently,
faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the
word about Christ.
Who
“will never be put to shame” (verse 11)?
Who
does the Lord “richly” bless (verse 12)?
Who
will be saved (verse 13)?
Who
has beautiful feet (verse 15)?
What did not all the Israelites accept (verse
16)?
How is the message heard (verse 17)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage
reveal to us about the choice for salvation?
In your opinion, what do the “how”
questions of Romans 10:11-17 reveal to us about the closeness of Judas to
salvation in Matthew 27:1-10?
In your opinion, how does the salvation
of Paul in Acts 22:1-16 serve to illustrate the salvation process outlined by
the “how” questions of Romans 10:11-17?
In
your opinion, what do these passages from Zechariah, Matthew, Acts and Romans teach
us the difference between being saved and remaining lost?
In your opinion, how is the teamwork of Jesus and
Ananias in the salvation of Paul an example for us today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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