Friday, March 7, 2025

March 30, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – Pressing On

 Pressing On

Psalms 22:11-19 - New International Version (NIV)

11 Do not be far from me,
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls surround me;
    strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey
    open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
    it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

16 Dogs surround me,
    a pack of villains encircles me;
    they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
    people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.

19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
    You are my strength; come quickly to help me.

What is near (verse 11)?

Where are the “strong bulls of Bashan” (verse 12)?

What has happened to His bones (verse 14)?

How does His mouth feel (verse 15)?

What happens to His hands and feet (verse 16)?

How do people respond (verse 17)?

What did they do with His clothes (verse 18)?

What is His plea to the Lord (verse 19)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the suffering of Jesus?

Matthew 27:32-44 – New International Version (NIV)

32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.

38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Who did they force to carry the cross (verse 32)?

What does Golgotha mean (verse 33)?

How did Jesus respond to the offer of the wine mixed with gall (verse 34)?

What did they do with His clothes (verse 35)?

Where was the “the charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS” placed (verse 37)?

Who was on His right and His left (verse 38)?

What did those who passed by do (verse 39)?

How was Jesus challenged to prove He was the “Son of God” (verse 40)?

Who said “He saved others . . . but he can’t save himself” (verses 41 and 42)?

What did the rebels “who were crucified with him” do (verse 44)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the suffering of Jesus?

In your opinion, how does Psalm 22:11-19 help us understand the suffering Jesus faced in Matthew 27:32-44?

Hebrews 13:8-16 – New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. 10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Who “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (verse 8)?

What “is good for our hearts” (verse 9)?

Who does not have a right to eat at our alter (verse 10)?

What is the sin offering that the high priest carries into “the Most Holy Place” (verse 11)?

Why did Jesus suffer “outside the city gate” (verse 12)?

What does Paul invite us to bear “outside the camp” (verse 13)?

What are we looking for (verse 14)?

How does Paul say we please God (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the suffering of Jesus?

 

In your opinion, what does Psalm 22:11-19 help us understand about what Hebrews 13:8-16 says Jesus endured outside of the city gate to “make people holy”?

In your opinion, how does the torment of the chief priests, teachers of the law, and elders in Matthew 27:32-44, ““He saved others, . . . but he can’t save himself”” shown by Hebrews 13:8-16 to be accurate only because of the choice Jesus made about who He was saving?

 Philippians 3:7-14 – New International Version (NIV)

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

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.

What does Paul “consider loss” (verse 7)?

Why does Paul “consider everything a loss” (verse 8)?

Where does the righteousness Paul desires come from (verse 9)?

What did Paul want to participate in (verse 10)?

What did Paul hope to attain (verse 11)?

What does Paul “press on to take hold of” (verse 12)?

What is the “one thing” Paul does (verse 13)?

How has God called Paul heavenward (verse 14)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the suffering of Jesus?

 

In your opinion, how are the messages of Psalm 22:11-19 and Philippians 3:7-14 similar?

In your opinion, is Paul’s statement in Philippians 3:7-14 that he wants to participate in the suffering of Jesus, found in Matthew 27:32-44 literal?  If not literal, then what does Paul mean?

In your opinion, how does Philippians 3:7-14 show us how to respond to the amazing gift of Jesus that is revealed in Hebrews 13:8-16?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Psalms, Matthew, Hebrews and Philippians teach us about the suffering of Jesus on the cross, and the reason for His suffering?

In your opinion, as people who have been made holy through the suffering and blood of Jesus, what goal should we expect to reach?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

No comments:

Post a Comment