April 28, 2024 – Isaiah in the New Testament – Proclaiming Good News

Proclaiming Good News

Isaiah 52:7-10 - New International Version (NIV)

⁷ How beautiful on the mountains
    are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
    who bring good tidings,
    who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
    “Your God reigns!”
⁸ Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
    together they shout for joy.
When the Lord returns to Zion,
    they will see it with their own eyes.
⁹ Burst into songs of joy together,
    you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people,
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.
¹⁰ The Lord will lay bare his holy arm
    in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see
    the salvation of our God.

 

Whose feet are “beautiful on the mountains” (verse 7)?

What do the people with those feet “say to Zion” (verse 7)?

Who will see the Lord’s return to Zion “with their own eyes” (verse 8)?

What will the “ruins of Jerusalem” do (verse 9)?

Who has the Lord comforted (verse 9)?

What will the Lord lay bare “in the sight of all the nations” (verse 10)?

Where will the “salvation of our God” be seen (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about reacting to God’s “good news”?

John 12:23-36 – New International Version (NIV)

²³ Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

³⁰ Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. ³¹ Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. ³² And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³ He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

³⁴ The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

³⁵ Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. ³⁶ Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

What hour has come (verse 23)?

When can a single seed produce many seeds (verse 24)?

Who will lose their life (verse 25)?

What will the one “who hates their life in this world” keep for eternal life (verse 25)?

Where must the servant of Jesus be (verse 26)?

How was Jesus’s soul (verse 27)?

What did Jesus say that caused the voice from heaven to say “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again” (verse 28)?

Who did Jesus say the voice was for (verse 30)?

What does Jesus say is it time for (verse 31)?

When will Jesus “draw all people” to Himself (verse 32)?

What had the crowd “heard from the Law” (verse 34)?

Who does not know where they are going (verse 35)?

Why did Jesus instruct the crowd to “believe in the light while you have the light” (verse 36)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about reacting to God’s “good news”?

In your opinion, how does Isaiah 52:7-10 help us understand more about how Jesus, the seed that dies in John 12:23-36, will “draw all people to myself”?

Romans 10:14-21 - New International Version (NIV)

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. ¹⁸ But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.”

¹⁹ Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,

“I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;
    I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.”

²⁰ And Isaiah boldly says,

“I was found by those who did not seek me;
    I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”

²¹ But concerning Israel he says,

“All day long I have held out my hands
    to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

What are the five “how can they” steps leading to the statement “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news” (verses 14 and 15)?:

            ______________________ (verse 15)?

            ______________________ (verse 14)?

            ______________________ (verse 14)?

            ______________________ (verse 14)?

            ______________________ (verse 14)?

Why did Isaiah ask “Lord, who has believed our message” (verse 16)?

How is the message heard (verse 17)?

Where has “their voice” gone (verse 18)?

Who did Moses say God will use to make the Israelites “envious” (verse 19)?

Who did Isaiah say God will be “found by” (verse 20)?

What did God hold out “all day long” to Israel (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about reacting to God’s “good news”?

In your opinion, how does Paul in Romans 10:14-21 expand the prophecy of Isaian 52:7-10 from the good news that Israelites can go home after their exile to a call for Christians?

In your opinion, what does John 12:23-36 reveal to us about the “good news” that Romans 10:14-21 says beautiful feet are bringing? 

Ephesians 4:17-24 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

²⁰ That, however, is not the way of life you learned ²¹ when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

What does Paul insist on (verse 17)?

How does Paul describe the Gentile’s understanding (verse 18)?

Why are the Gentiles “separated from the life of God” (verse 18)?

What have the Gentiles lost (verse 19)?

What are the Gentiles full of (verse 19)?

When did the Ephesian Christians learn of a different way of life (verses 20 and 21)?

What were the Ephesian Christians “taught, with regard to your former way of life” (verse 22)?

Where are the Ephesian Christians “to be made new” (verse 23)?

What is the “new self” created to be like (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about reacting to God’s “good news”?

In your opinion, how does the response with “songs of joy” of the redeemed in Isaiah 52:7-10 become so much more in Ephesians 4:17-24?

In your opinion, how does Paul in Ephesians 4:17-24 build on Jesus’s discussion of darkness and light in John 12:23-36?

In your opinion, what does Ephesians 4:17-24 teach us about how Christians should respond to the “good news” of Romans 10:14-21?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, John, Romans, and Ephesians help us understand about true beauty?

In your opinion, how can our feet be made beautiful today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

December 25, 2022 – Song of Salvation

Song of Salvation

Isaiah 52:7-10 - New International Version (NIV)

⁷ How beautiful on the mountains
    are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
    who bring good tidings,
    who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
    “Your God reigns!”
⁸ Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
    together they shout for joy.
When the Lord returns to Zion,
    they will see it with their own eyes.
⁹ Burst into songs of joy together,
    you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people,
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.
¹⁰ The Lord will lay bare his holy arm
    in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see
    the salvation of our God.

Whose feet are “beautiful on the mountains” (verse 7)?

What do they “say to Zion” (verse 7)?

What do the watchmen shout for (verse 8)?

What will they see “with their own eyes” (verse 8)?

What will the “ruins of Jerusalem” do (verse 9)?

Who has “comforted his people” (verse 9)?

What will the Lord do “in the sight of all the nations” (verse 10)?

Where will the “salvation of our God” be seen (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, where do you see Jesus the Messiah in this passage?

Psalm 98 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
    have worked salvation for him.
² The Lord has made his salvation known
    and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
³ He has remembered his love
    and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
    the salvation of our God.

⁴ Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
    burst into jubilant song with music;
⁵ make music to the Lord with the harp,
    with the harp and the sound of singing,
⁶ with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
    shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

⁷ Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it.
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands,
    let the mountains sing together for joy;
⁹ let them sing before the Lord,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples with equity.

Why will “a new song” be sung to the Lord (verse 1)?

What has the Lord made known (verse 2)?

Where has the “salvation of our God” been seen (verse 3)?

Who is the earth to “shout for joy” to (verse 4)?

How should music be made to the Lord (verses 5 and 6)?

What should resound (verse 7)?

How should the rivers and mountains respond (verse 8)?

What does the Lord come to do (verse 9)?

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

In your opinion, where do you see Jesus the Messiah in this passage?

In your opinion, how are Isaiah 52:7-10 and Psalm 98 similar in their responses to redemption and salvation?

Hebrews 1:1-4 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. ³ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. ⁴ So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

Who did God speak to “in the past” (verse 1)?

How did He speak to them (verse 1)?

How has God spoken “in these last days” (verse 2)?

Who is the “heir of all things” (verse 2)?

What is the Son (verse 3)?

How does the Son sustain all things (verse 3)?

When did the Son sit “down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” (verse 3)?

Who did the Son become superior to (verse 4)?

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

In your opinion, where do you see Jesus the Messiah in this passage?

In your opinion, what does Hebrews 1:1-4 reveal about how God provides the redemption and comfort that Isaiah predicted in Isaiah 52:7-10?

In your opinion, why are the things that Hebrews 1:1-4 reveals that God has done the reasons for the “new song” of Psalm 98?

John 1:1-14 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

When was the Word (verse 1)?

Who was the Word with (verse 1)?

Who was the Word (verse 1)?

What was made through Him (verse 3)?

Where was life (verse 4)?

What was “that life” (verse 4)?

What has the darkness not overcome (verse 5)?

Who was the man “sent from God” (verse 6)?

Why did he come “as a witness to testify concerning that light” (verse 7)?

What was coming “into the world” (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why did the world not recognize the one who “was in the world” and through whom the world was made (verse 10)?

What did “his own” not do (verse 11)?

What did “those who believed in his name” receive (verse 12)?

How were those “children” born (verse 13)?

Where did the Word make His dwelling (verse 14)?

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

In your opinion, where do you see Jesus the Messiah in this passage?

In your opinion, how are the redemption and salvation that the beautiful feet on the mountains bring in Isaiah 52:7-10 described in John 1:1-14?

In your opinion, why does Psalm 98 begin with salvation and end with judgment but John 1:1-14 reverses that by beginning with people not receiving the “true light” while others received and believed? 

In your opinion, how does John 1:1-14’s description of Jesus as the light grow richer as we read about Jesus’ radiance in Hebrews 1:1-4?

In your opinion, how do these passages from Isaiah, Psalms, Hebrews and John help us more fully see Jesus the Messiah?

In your opinion, as those who have received and believed in Jesus, what song do we need sing to have beautiful feet today?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)