May 9, 2021 - Mark’s Good News about Jesus – A Command to Love

 

A Command to Love

Hosea 6:4-11 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴ “What can I do with you, Ephraim?
    What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
    like the early dew that disappears.
⁵ Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
    I killed you with the words of my mouth—
    then my judgments go forth like the sun.
⁶ For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
    and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
⁷ As at Adam, they have broken the covenant;
    they were unfaithful to me there.
⁸ Gilead is a city of evildoers,
    stained with footprints of blood.
⁹ As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,
    so do bands of priests;
they murder on the road to Shechem,
    carrying out their wicked schemes.
¹⁰ I have seen a horrible thing in Israel:
    There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
    Israel is defiled.

¹¹ “Also for you, Judah,
    a harvest is appointed.

“Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,

What is the love of Ephraim and Judah like (verse 4)?

How were Ephraim and Judah cut “in pieces” (verse 5)?

What does God desire instead of sacrifice (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why would God desire “acknowledgement” more than “burnt offerings” (verse 6)?

What have Ephraim and Judah broken (verse 7)?

How is the city of Gilead described (verse 8)?

Who are “bands of priests” compared with (verse 9)?

Where was a “horrible thing” seen (verse 10)?

What is appointed for Judah (verse 11)?

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

Mark 12:13-34 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. ¹⁴ They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” ¹⁶ They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

And they were amazed at him.

¹⁸ Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. ¹⁹ “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰ Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. ²¹ The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. ²² In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³ At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? ²⁵ When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. ²⁶ Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

³² “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. ³³ To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Who was sent to catch Jesus “in his words” (verse 13)?

In your opinion, how is the question “is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not” a trap (verse 14)?

What did Jesus know (verse 15)?

How did Jesus return the question to the Pharisees and Herodians (verses 15 and 16)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” (verse 17)?

What did the Sadducees say (verse 18)?

In your opinion, why did the Sadducees ask Jesus a complicated question about resurrection (verses 19 through 23)?

Why were the Sadducees in error (verse 24)?

What will the dead be like when they rise (verse 25)?

What did God say to Moses at the burning bush (verse 26)?

Who ask Jesus “of all the commandments, which is the most important” (verse 27)?

What did Jesus say was the most important commandment (verse 30)?

What did Jesus say was the second commandment (verse 31)?

How did Jesus view the man who stated “To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” (verses 33 and 34)?

What did no one dare to do after these discussions (verse 34)?

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

In your opinion, how are the religious leaders who confront Jesus in Mark 12:13-24 similar to the nations of Ephraim and Judah in Hosea 6:4-11?  Has what God wants changed?    

Acts 9:19b-26 – New International Version (NIV)

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. ²⁰ At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. ²¹ All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” ²² Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

²³ After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, ²⁴ but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. ²⁵ But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

²⁶ When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 

Where did Saul spend days with the disciples (verse 19b)?

Where did Saul begin to preach “that Jesus is the Son of God” (verse 20)?

Why were those who heard him astonished (verse 21)?

How did Saul baffle “the Jews living in Damascus” (verse 22)?

What did the Jews conspire to do (verse 23)? 

Where did the Jews watch for Saul (verse 24)?

What did Saul’s followers do (verse 25)?

Why were the disciples afraid of Saul in Jerusalem (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, how are the Jews in Damascus in Acts 9:19b through 26 similar to the bands of priests in Hosea 6:4-11?

In your opinion, how is obedience to the two commandments that Jesus claims are the most important in Mark 12:13-34 displayed in Acts 9:19b-26?

James 2:8-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. ⁹ But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹ For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

¹² Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³ because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

When does James say “you are doing right” (verse 8)?

What is a sin (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why does stumbling at one point of the law make one “guilty of breaking all of it” (verses 10 and 11)?

How are believers to “speak and act” (verse 12)?

What will be shown to “anyone who has not been merciful” (verse 13)?

What “triumphs over judgment” (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, how are God’s statement in Hosea 6:4-11 that He desires “mercy, not sacrifice” and the royal law that James 2:8-13 says is found in the Scripture to “love your neighbor as yourself” related?

In your opinion, what does Jesus reveal in Mark 12:13-34 about the “law that gives freedom” which James 2:8-13 commands us to “speak and act” as though we will be judged by? 

In your opinion, how does the transformation of Saul in Acts 9:19b-26 from one who came to take Christians prisoner to one who “grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah” an example of what James 2:8-13 calls speaking and acting as “those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom”? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Hosea, Mark, Acts and James teach us about what God desires?

In your opinion, how can we demonstrate obedience to Jesus’s command to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and His commandment to “Love your neighbor as yourself” today?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

September 10, 2017 – Psalm 23 – From the lives of David and Jesus – Goodness and Mercy

-            The

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life” KJV Psalm 23:6a

Psalm 28 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ To you, Lord, I call;
    you are my Rock,
    do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you remain silent,
    I will be like those who go down to the pit.
² Hear my cry for mercy
    as I call to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
    toward your Most Holy Place.

³ Do not drag me away with the wicked,
    with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbors
    but harbor malice in their hearts.
⁴ Repay them for their deeds
    and for their evil work;
repay them for what their hands have done
    and bring back on them what they deserve.

⁵ Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord
    and what his hands have done,
he will tear them down
    and never build them up again.

⁶ Praise be to the Lord,
    for he has heard my cry for mercy.
⁷ The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
    and with my song I praise him.

⁸ The Lord is the strength of his people,
    a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
⁹ Save your people and bless your inheritance;
    be their shepherd and carry them forever.

How does David describe the Lord (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what does David mean when he says he “will be like those who go down to the pit” if the Lord remains silent (verse 1)?

What does David cry for (verse 2)?

What word does David use to describe those “who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts” (verse 3)?

In your opinion, how can David cry to the Lord for mercy in verse 2 but to ask for those he called evil to be repaid “for their deeds and for their evil work” (verse 4)?

What do those who David called evil have for the “deeds of the Lord” (verse 5)?

Why is David praising the Lord (verse 6)?

In your opinion, what does David mean when he says the Lord is “my strength and my shield” (verse 7)?

How does David’s heart react to the Lord (verse 7)?

What is the Lord “for his anointed one” (verse 8)?

What does David ask the Lord to do for His people as their shepherd (verse 9)?

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

Luke 6:43-45 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴³ “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. ⁴⁴ Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. ⁴⁵ A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

What can a good tree not bear (verse 43)?

What can a bad tree not bear (verse 43)?

How is each tree recognized (verse 44)?

Where does a good man bring good things from (verse 45)?

Where does an evil man bring evil things from (verse 45)?

What does the mouth speak (verse 45)?

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

In your opinion, what does Jesus’ statement that “no good tree bears bad fruit” in Luke 6:43-45 reveal about David crying for mercy in Psalm 28?

Ephesians 2:1-10 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Where does Paul say the Ephesians were (verse 1)?

Who had the Ephesians followed (verse 2)?

What did “all of us” gratify at one time (verse 3)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says “we were by nature deserving of wrath” (verse 3)?

What is God rich in (verse 4)?

How have we been saved (verse 5)?

Where has God seated us (verse 6)?

How are the “incomparable riches of his grace” expressed (verse 7)?

Where is the grace that saves by faith from (verse 8)?

What are we (verse 10)?

What has God “prepared in advance for us to do” (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, when Jesus says “a good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart” in Luke 6:43-45 and Paul says that we are were dead in our transgressions and sins in Ephesians 2:1-10 then how can he also be right when he says that we are “created in Christ Jesus to do good works”?

In your opinion, how does David’s discussion of those who “have no regard for the deeds of the Lord” in Psalm 28 help us understand what limits the mercy that Paul says in Ephesians 2:1-10 God is “rich in”?

James 2:8-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. ⁹ But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹ For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

¹² Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³ because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

What law found in the Scripture must you keep to do right (verse 8)?

What happens if you show favoritism (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what does James mean when he says that whoever “stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all” of the law (verse 10)?

What do you become if you “do not commit adultery but do commit murder” (verse 11)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom” (verse 12)?

Who will be shown “judgment without mercy” (verse 13)?

What “triumphs over judgment” (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, how is Paul’s statement that all were “dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1-10) become more real to each of us when James teaches that someone who shows favoritism is as guilty of breaking the law as someone who commits adultery or murder (James 2:8-13) and how does this reality make James’s statement that “mercy triumphs over judgment” more wonderful and powerful?

In your opinion, how are we who have received the mercy that “triumphs over judgment” that James talks about in James 2:8-13 to translate into action Jesus statement in Luke 6:43-45 “for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of”?

In your opinion, how is David, who says in Psalm 28 that he cried to God for mercy and whose heart trusted in God, an example to all of us who James, in James 2:8-13, indicates have received mercy that triumphs over judgment and are to “speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom”?

In your opinion, how do these passages from Psalms, Luke, Ephesians, and James help us understand today’s passage from Psalm 23 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”?

In your opinion, how can these passages help us to have a greater appreciation of the God’s transforming mercy and goodness?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

November 8, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Dying by the Sword and Redeemed by the Blood

  

Matthew 28:18-20 – New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission

¹⁸ “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Dying by the Sword and Redeemed by the Blood

Matthew 26:47-56 – New International Version (NIV)

⁴⁷ “While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. ⁴⁸ Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” ⁴⁹ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.

⁵⁰ Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”

Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. ⁵¹ With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

⁵² “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³ Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

⁵⁵ In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. ⁵⁶ But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.”

Who came while Jesus was speaking (verse 47)?

Who sent the “large crowd armed with swords and clubs” to Jesus (verse 47)?

What was the signal that “the betrayer had arranged” (verse 48)?

In your opinion, why did Judas say “Greetings, Rabbi” (verse 49)?

What did the men with Judas do (verse 50)?

Who “reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear” (verse 51)?

What will happen to “all who draw the sword” (verse 52)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus say “do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels” (verse 53)?

What said that “it must happen in this way” (verse 54)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus ask about leading a rebellion and then say that “every day I sat in the temple courts teaching” (verse 55)?

Whose writings would be fulfilled by all that had taken place (verse 56)?

What did the disciples do (verse 56)?

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

Genesis 9:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. ² The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. ³ Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

⁴ “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. ⁵ And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.

⁶ “Whoever sheds human blood,
    by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
    has God made mankind.

⁷ As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”

Who did God bless and say “be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (verse 1)?

What is “given into your hands” (verse 2)?

What is “everything that lives and moves” to be (verse 3)?

What kind of meat must not be eaten (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why will an accounting be demanded “for your lifeblood” (verse 5)?

Who will shed the blood of those who shed human blood (verse 6)?

In whose image is mankind made (verse 6)?

What instruction is given (verse 7)?

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

In your opinion, how are the statement in Genesis 9:1-7 that “and from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being” and the statement of Jesus in Matthew 26:47-56 that “all who draw the sword will die by the sword” similar?

James 2:8-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. ⁹ But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹ For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

¹² Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³ because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

What “royal law” does James mention (verse 8)?

How are we convicted if we show favoritism (verse 9)?

Who is guilty of breaking the whole law (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what point is James trying to make when he says that “if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker” (verse 11)?

How should we “speak and act” (verse 12)?

What triumphs over judgment (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, if an accounting is demanded for anyone who sheds human blood as is stated in Genesis 9:1-7 and if the person who “keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” as James says in James 2:8-13 then is the same accounting demanded of the one who does not honor the Sabbath and keep it holy and of the one who commits murder?

In your opinion, how does the decision of Jesus in Matthew 26:47-56 to not call the “twelve legions of angels” to rescue Him from the arrest show His obedience to James 2:8-13 where it says to “love your neighbor as yourself”?

1 Peter 1:17-21 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ “Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. ¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. ²⁰ He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.”

How should Christians live out their time in the world (verse 17)?

What were Christians redeemed from (verse 18)?

What did redeem Christians (verses 18 and 19)?

When was Jesus chosen (verse 20)?

Who do Christians believe in because of Jesus (verse 21)?

What did God do for Jesus (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, how is the scary knowledge that if we have committed any sin make us guilty of breaking all the law according to James 2:8-13 become changed to hope when we understand that our redemption from all those sins is “the precious blood of Christ” that Peter discusses in 1 Peter 1:17-21?

In your opinion, how does “the precious blood of Christ” that Peter discusses in 1 Peter 1:17-21 become our answer for the “accounting” that God demands in Genesis 9:1-7?

In your opinion, how do you think that the fact that Peter was the one who Jesus told in Matthew 26:47-56 that “all who draw the sword will die by the sword” effected his understanding of being “redeemed from the empty way of life” and the “precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” in 1 Peter 1:17-21?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, Genesis, James and 1 Peter show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 26:57 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)