Hypocrites to Heirs
Exodus 30:17-21 - New International Version (NIV)
17 Then the Lord
said to Moses, 18 “Make
a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the tent
of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. 19 Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water
from it. 20 Whenever they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with
water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister
by presenting a food offering to the Lord, 21 they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die.
This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the
generations to come.”
Who gave Moses
the instructions (verse 17)?
What was the
bronze basin for (verse 18)?
Where was the
bronze basin to be put (verse 18)?
Who is to “wash
their hands and feet with water from it” (verse 19)?
When are they
to “wash with water so that they will not die” (verse 20)?
Who is “a
lasting ordinance for” (verse 21)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
Mark 7:1-23 - New
International Version (NIV)
1 The
Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem
gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating
food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The
Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial
washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they
come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe
many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t
your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating
their food with defiled hands?”
6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you
hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human
traditions.”
9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the
commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 10 For
Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses
their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 11 But you say
that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or
mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no
longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus
you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you
do many things like that.”
14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me,
everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can
defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that
defiles them.”
17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples
asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked.
“Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile
them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their
stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods
clean.)
20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For
it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual
immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these
evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Who came from
Jerusalem and observed some of Jesus’s disciples “eating food with hands
that were defiled, that is, unwashed” (verses 1 and 2)?
What are the
Pharisees and Jews holding on to when they give their hands a ceremonial
washing prior to eating (verse 3)?
In your
opinion, what did the Pharisees and teachers of the law want to accomplish when
they ask Jesus “why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of
the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands” (verse 5)?
How did Isaiah
say that people would honor God when “their hearts are far from me” (verse
6)?
What have the
Pharisees and teachers of the law let go of in order to “hold on to human
traditions” (verse 8)?
Who said “honor
your father and mother” (verse 10)?
How do the
Pharisees and teachers of the law let people out of that commandment (verses 11
and 12)?
What do the
Pharisees and teachers of the law use to “nullify the word of God”
(verse 13)?
Where does
what defiles a person come from (verses 14 and 15)?
When did Jesus
ask His disciples “are you so dull” (verses 17 and 18)?
Where do the
evil thoughts of “sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice,
deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly” come from (verses 21
and 22)?
What do the evils
that come from inside do (verse 23)?
In your opinion, why would the commandment that
God gave to Aaron and his descendants in Exodus 30:17-21 for when they were
approaching the alter have been changed by humans into the tradition that Jesus
said in Mark 7:1-23 was expected to happen before eating and when returning
from the marketplace?
24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to
Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He
had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor
and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of
John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When
Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to
him the way of God more adequately.
27 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters
encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he
arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 28 For
he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the
Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.
Where did Apollos come to (verse 24)?
What did Apollos have a
“thorough knowledge of” (verse 24)?
How did Apollos speak about Jesus (verse 25)?
In your opinion, what does it mean that Apollos “knew
only the baptism of John” (verse 25)?
What did Priscilla and Aquila do when they heard Apollos (verse
26)?
How did the brothers and sisters react when Apollos wanted
to “go to Achaia” (verse 27)?
What was Apollos able to prove from the Scriptures (verse 28)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how might the commandment of God to Aaron
and his descendants to “wash with water so that they will not die” in
Exodus 30:17-21 have taken on a different meaning for Apollos after Priscilla and
Aquila “invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more
adequately” as described in Acts 18:24-28?
In your opinion, how would the Pharisees and teachers of the
law who confronted Jesus in Mark 7:1-23 have been similar to the Jewish
opponents of Apollos in the public debates mentioned in Acts 18:24-28?
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and
enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy,
being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and
love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of
righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the
washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he
poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so
that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope
of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you
to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to
devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and
profitable for everyone.
9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and
quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. 10 Warn
a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have
nothing to do with them. 11 You may be sure that such people
are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.
What does Paul say he and Titus lived in (verse 3)?
Why did God
our Savior save Paul and Titus (and us) (verses 4 and 5)?
How did He
save (verse 5)?
How was the
Holy Spirit poured out generously (verses 5 and 6)?
What do we
become after we are “justified by his grace” (verse 7)?
What is “excellent
and profitable for everyone” (verse 8)?
Why are “foolish
controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law” to
be avoided (verse 9)?
How should we
respond to a divisive person (verse 10)?
What can we be
sure about an unchanging, divisive person (verse 11)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does Paul confirm in Titus 3:3-11 the
accuracy of Jesus’s statement in Mark 7:1-23 that “what comes out a person
is what defiles them”? What does he
say Jesus did for all of us who are defiled from within?
In your
opinion, what can be found in Titus 3:3-11 that Apollos’s teaching when he
first met Pricilla and Aquila in Acts 18:24-28 would have lacked?
In your
opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Mark, Acts and Titus teach us
about ourselves prior to “the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy
Spirit”?
In your
opinion, how should we, being transformed from hypocrites to heirs by “the
washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” live?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
