I Get It. What Am I Going to Do About It?

I Get It. Finally. In the Summer of 2008, I began the journey of reading the Bible through in a year. I have been a Sunday School teacher or BFG teacher for 20 years and yet I don't know that I had read every word of the Bible. Now after completing the journey, I know that I have now, in fact, read every word (even though it ended up taking me 18 months).

As I read every book from Genesis to Revelation, one theme continued to show up no matter where I was reading. It showed up in the Old and New Testaments. It showed up in the historical books as well as the major and minor prophets. It was obvious in the gospels and ever apparent in the episitles.

The theme keeping beating me over the head. The theme suggested that the call to be a follower of Christ was much more demanding and sacrificial than the life that I had been leading. The follower of Christ looked much different than I thought it was supposed to look. As I read, the words of my wise wife keep ringing in my ears. "Jesus took care of the physical needs before he took care of the spiritual needs" she would say.

Scripture after scripture would seem to read, "what are you doing to take care of the poor, the hungry, the naked, and the widows?" It was everywhere. I could not escape it. It was especially tough to read since the answer was invariably, "Nothing". Don't get me wrong, I have been serving in numerous places in the church. I teach two BFG's, serve on the Finance Committee, serve as Deacon, and participate in the Christmas Journey. Those are all great areas of service. The problem is which of these even remotely impacts the poor, needy, sick, widow, etc? None of them. Where was/is my obedience to Matthew 25:31-46?

Correspondingly, I have been reading a book called the "Soul of Money" by Lynne Twist. While I don't agree with everything she says in the book, it does have a common theme with Scripture. "What are you doing to help those in need?"

Then I started reading (actually listening to) "The Hole in Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns. Ouch. I cannot get away. What I have believed to be the Christian life the last 37 years may in fact fall dramatically short of God's desire.

The question remains...What I am going to do about it?

To Be Continued....

Who is Jesus?

"And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, "He is a good man." others said, "No, he is leading the people astray." John 7:12

"The Jews therefore marveled, saying, "How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?" John 7:15

"Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, "Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? But we know where he comes from and when the Christ appears, no one will konw where he comes from." John 7:25-27

Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, "When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?" John 7:31

When they heard these words, some of the people said, "This really is the Prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said "Is the Christ to come from Galilee?.... So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. John 7:40-41,43

As you can see, in chapter 7 of the gospel of John, there is great interest and confusion over who Jesus really is. As I read these verses and the questions being asked, I am stuck by how similar these questions are to the ones asked today about Jesus.

• Was he just a good man?
• Was he just a good teacher?
• Was he crazy or mentally unstable?
• Was he the Son of God, Christ, Messiah?

The words and actions of Jesus do not allow us to treat his identity and character casually. He is either a liar, a lunitic or he is Lord. Everyone of us, as believers and even non-believers for that matter, must answer the following questions:

• Who is Jesus?
• Do we believe it?
• Does it show?

As I am now venturing through my second time of reading the Bible through in a year, I seem to be reminded repeatedly as I read that what it means to follow Christ is much different than what I have believed it to be in the past. To follow Christ means to be obedient and in ways that I think we have neglected. God makes it clear throughout his word what he demands of us. We just have to read it to know what that is. I am afraid what I have believed for much of my Christian life to be a Christ-like life falls way short of what it really means to follow him. How about you?

Water into Wine and Cleaning House

This week we are studying the second chapter of John. In this chapter Jesus displays his divinity in his first of seven signs or miracles. Jesus is at a wedding and the wine runs out. After a prompting from his mother to do something, Jesus turns water that had been put into stone pots into wine. Not only was it wine, it was the best wine the party guests had tasted.

What is the purpose of this miracle other than to show His deity?

What could possibly be the symbolism of the miracle?

Who knew of the miracle? What is widespread or did just a few people know about it?

Why did Jesus respond the way he did to his mother?

Why was Jesus at the wedding?

Did his mother prompt him to do a miracle he was not planning to do?

What does "my hour has not yet come" mean?

How did the disciples respond to the miracle?

Jesus enter Jerusalem for the first time after the beginning of his ministry and finds the temple in a less than desirable state.

What is Jesus's response to the commerce inside the temple?

This cleansing of the temple was a fulfillment of what OT prophecy?

Did Jesus cleanse the temple once or on two different occasions? Hint, check the other three gospels for when the cleansing took place.

How did Jesus respond to the challenge by the Jews as to his authority to do what he did?

Would you have known what he meant at the time?

Enjoy the study.

See you Wednesday or Sunday.

Curtis

Is John the Baptist Really Elijah?

We will be studying John 1:19-51 this week. If you have been in a class of mine for long you have probably participated in the debate of whether John the Baptist was Elijah as foretold in Malachi. The debate arises from some interesting passages that appear to contradict one another. Here are some passages to review in your quest for understanding.

2 Kings 2:11 - Elijah does not die.

Malachi 3:1 - A witness will precede Christ.

Malachi 4:5-6 - Elijah will come before.

Matthew 11:7-15 - Jesus says John was Elijah.

John 1:19-28 - John says he is not.

Verses 19-34

Here are some other thoughts/questions to consider in your preparation for this weeks lesson:

• What two names does John the Baptist give Jesus?
• What is the meaning and significance of each name?
• What aspects of the Trinity are identified in the passage?
• How does Jesus baptism differ from Johns?

Verses 35-51

• The first two disciples called by Jesus were actually John's disciples? One was named. Who do we think the other disciple was?
• Who are the first four disciples called by Jesus?
• What names did Nathanael call Jesus? What was Nathanael's initial response to Jesus as the Messiah?
• What supernatural scene is described in verse 51? What other story in scripture gives a similar description?

Enjoy the study.

In the Beginning...

We have officially kicked off our study of the Gospel of John with our overview of the book this week. We are now going to jump into our chapter by chapter study. This week we will be looking at John 1:1-18 which is a powerful part of Scripture.

John's gospel starts out much like Genesis with the words "In the beginning..." As we discussed this week, John was writing this at the end of the first century in Ephesus, which at the time was the center of Christianity. The church was a generation removed from Jesus' presence on earth and the ministry of the disciples (save John) and was experiencing attacks on the faith.

John wrote his gospel and 1 John for the purpose of defending the truth. In John 1, the author is very clearly communicating two fundamental truths regarding the nature of Christ's existance. What are those two truths?

Here are some other questions to consider as you read the first 18 verses of the first chapter:

1. What are the three characteristics of the Word addressed in verse 1?
2. Who does the term Word refer to in this case?
3. What does it say about his role in creation?
4. What was John the Baptist's role?
5. Why is it surprising that he was not recognized?
6. Who has the right to become children of God?
7. What does verse 14 tell us about the nature of Christ? How does that compare to the nature described in verse 1?
8. There are a two words that John uses several times in verses 14-17. What are they and what is John trying to communicate using those words?
9. Who has seen God? If Christ is God (verse 1) then we have seen him haven't we? How do you reconcile verse 1, 14 and 18?

Enjoy the study. See you Wednesday or Sunday.