Filed under: acts, andrew, bartholomew, david, god, james, john, judas, mary, matthew, peter, philip, simon, thomas
1. So…all the disciples (besides Judas) were staying together in this upper room: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James 2, Simon, and Judas 2. They all prayer together constantly. And it wasn’t just the guys– the women and Jesus’ mother Mary were all there along with Jesus’ brothers. I can’t imagine the emotions they all felt during this strange but wonderful time.
2. Peter took the lead. He stood up in front of 120 believers and told them that Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was all according to the prophesy of David in the psalms. That’s all well and good, but how do you think Peter really felt talking about Judas?
3. Whoah, so Judas hung himself; and the rope broke, causing him to splatter open upon impact. Sick.
4. So…Peter knew, from his knowledge of Scripture (remember, Jesus gave them all this ability), that they needed to elect a replacement to Judas in the twelve. The replacement had to be someone who had been around from Jesus’ baptism to His ascension. He will become a witness to all that had happened.
5. The two guys who were suggested were Justus (hey, that’s the name of my Compassion kid!) and Matthias (hey, that’s the name of a guy who plays for the New York Giants!).
6. They prayed to know which would be the guy. (Incidentally, Judas “left to go where he belongs” was right in the middle of that prayer. Still bitter?) Then they drew straws, and it was Matthias. How about that? They didn’t run it by the board or session. They trusted God with the dice. Hooray for Matthias!
1. Eleven disciples. Man, that’s kind of sad.
2. How did the disciples doubt Jesus after they saw Him and worshiped Him? I don’t get that.
3. Jesus possesses all the authority of heaven and earth. Personally, I take that to mean that Jesus has power over the natural and spiritual world.
4. What does it mean to make a disciple?
5. Why do you think baptism is so important?
6. I understand obedience. We serve a holy God, so we must be holy.
7. Jesus promises His with-ness. Awesome.
So…do we take the “Great Commission” seriously in our day-to-day lives?
1. What do you think the women were afraid of?
2. Jesus met up with the running women. This time He says, “Greetings.” That would have freaked me out. Again, the women clasp Jesus’ feet and worship Him. Here’s that idea that maybe the women were trying to keep Him there.
3. Again, Jesus seems most concerned with the women telling the disciples what is going on.
4. I wouldn’t have wanted to have been one of the guards who had allowed this stuff to happen. There are secret trap doors in front of bad guys for these kinds of situations. When the guy comes in and says, “We lost the body,” the guy falls into a pit with a snot covered-guy-eating monster. Yeah, I watch too many movies.
5. I still have a hard time believing that priests and elders actually bribed the guards. Why on earth would a Roman soldier admit to being duped by some Jewish peasants? It’s all about the Benjamins, I guess…
6. Does anyone know the penalty for sleeping on duty?
7. I’d like to know how the religious leaders kept these “sleeping on job” guards out of trouble…
8. Why all the covering up?
Filed under: god, jesus, joseph, mary, mary magdalene, matthew, pontius pilate
1. Now we learn that Joseph was, in fact, a disciple of Jesus. So…he was waiting for the Christ, and he found Him. This is pretty counter-cultural, considering that he was high on the echelon of the Jewish community.
2. How do you get a Biblical workout? Do Pontius pilates… He he he…all be here all week.
3. What do you think Joseph was thinking while he was providing these burial rites for Jesus? I mean, he is His disciple; so what do you think was going through his mind while he was burying his Rabbi?
4. Something tells me that big stone is a detail that we should remember…
5. A lot of people try to say that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a romantic relationship. Funny, I just read all four gospels and don’t see that. Are we supposed to assume that because she cares that He died? Women are better at being real about their emotions. Also, maybe the guys are in hiding because they felt like they were in danger. I mean, would the women really be a threat? Anyway, I don’t know why it’s just the two of them there. But they are. I’m not going to read too much (see “The DaVinci Code”) into it.
6. I bet Pilate thought that he as done with all of this Jesus “nonsense.” Nope. Not quite.
7. Doesn’t it just burn you up that they call Jesus “that deceiver”?
8. The religious leaders were paying attention. I like the fact that they set a guard at the tomb. If they would have just let things be, it would been a whole lot easier to explain away what happens next…
9. Some people do believe that the disciples stole the body. Others believe that Jesus never died and swapped Himself out with a look-alike. Sounds like Moses wasn’t the only person who was living in denial (get it, “da Nile,” man, I’m on fire today!)
10. Pilate was walking on eggshells. He had to appease the religious leaders. Nowadays, the government wouldn’t have wasted money on something like this; but Pilate lived in fear of rebellion at all times.
11. What does it mean to “put a seal” on the stone? Sounds more secure than before– that’s for sure.
1. It’s funny how the religious leaders “decided” to put Jesus to death and then took him to the Roman governor, Pilate. Last time I checked, they could really put anyone to death– the Romans were in charge. Rome conquered Israel, so they don’t take orders from the religious leaders. This ought to be interesting…
2. Do you think that Judas was no longer possessed when he was seized with remorse?
3. What would be the point of returning the money? Wasn’t it too late?
4. Judas is basically testifying to the religious leaders that Jesus is innocent. And, for your typical religious leader response, we get, “What is that to us?” Um…you’re religious leaders. You’re supposed to care about minor details like, um, I don’t know, HE’S INNOCENT!
5. I can still remember the chills that went down my spine in the Passion of the Christ trailer when Judas throws the money back into the temple.
6. Judas kills himself. There are only a few other people in the Bible who go so far as to take their own lives. How much free will do you think Judas had, and how much of what Judas did was just preordained by God?
7. Those religious leaders are totally out of it. They talk about how to spend the money. This is a perfect example of how they break their religion down into sections. Are we really supposed to care that they are being “holy” by not using blood money in the treasury when they are knowingly condemning an innocent man and fishing for false evidence?
8. This all fulfilled, what would seem to be, and obscure prophecy about how the betrayal money would be used. Do you think that the religious leaders were just totally dense about this prophecy?
1. OK…so by now it was all the teachers of the laws and the elders with Caiaphas. We already know where a lot of these guys stood on Jesus. This could get ugly…
2. Peter followed at a distance. He seemed curious, but he wasn’t committed to letting people know who he was. Why do you think that was the case?
3. Notice that it says that these religious leaders were looking for “false” evidence. They were trying to set Jesus up because they knew they couldn’t get Him on anything real. Wow, they wanted to set Him up to die!
4. There were false witnesses (isn’t there a commandment against this?), but none really brought evidence. Two guys misrepresented what Jesus said about destroying and rebuilding the “temple.” We know He meant His body, but these guys were grasping at straws. It was like Jesus was making a bomb threat to their house of worship.
5. Jesus remained silent. I would have been so tempted to explain, so tempted to insult, so tempted to break free. But Jesus remained silent. Why?
6. The high priests asks if Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of God.” Well, that’s more direct, I guess. Jesus says, “It is as you say.” Not a popular response, I’m sure. Jesus adds more than that: He talks about sitting at the right hand of God. Yeah, I’d say that is a yes.
7. You used to tear your clothes if “blasphemy” (total anti-God stuff) was said. They are saying that it is blasphemy for Jesus to say He is God. It would be if He isn’t, but He is.
8. Apparently, the punishment for blasphemy is death. Uh oh…
9. Why would they feel justified to spit on Jesus and strike Him? Why would they feel that it would be ok to mock Him? This doesn’t really do a good job of revealing that they had pure hearts (if they did).
10. Peter denied being with Jesus three times, being casual, making oaths, and bringing curses down upon himself. Again, why?
11. I can’t imagine how it felt when the rooster crowed, and Peter remembered. I have wept tears of regret before, but I don’t they have ever been like those bitter tears.
1. Imagine what it will look like when Jesus returns in all of His glory. We know that He will have all His angels around Him, sitting on his throne. Awesome.
2. I don’t want to be a goat.
3. To be a sheep means to be blessed by God, to have an inheritance (the kingdom of God). It also implies that sheep did something with their lives– feeding the hungry, giving the thirsty something to drink, inviting in strangers, clothing the unclothed, looking after the sick, visiting those in prison. I want to be a sheep, but do I live that way? Do you?
4. God places a greater emphasis on loving the unloved than He does worshipping Him. Kind of changes the idea of what the church is for, doesn’t it?
5. I think we need to be more “least”-focused…
6. How would your church change if it behaved more sheep-like? Do you think that a lot of church is a waste of time and effort?
1. First of all, when we’re talking about “virgins” here, we’re not talking about whether or not the ladies had sexual experience or not. This simply refers to young women. (I guess, to some degree, it was assumed that younger, unmarried girls wouldn’t have sex.)
2. Why would the ten young girls want to see the groom? This almost seems like a Duracell commercial. Five used the copper top, while the other five used store brand lamps. He he he… Anyone, five were prepared. Go girl scouts!
3. I guess the groom coming at midnight was like him arriving after he got married? Either way, the girls all wanted to see him. And some were prepared and others weren’t. Then the five unprepared ones try to bum some oil off of the smart girls. Do you think that being prepared is a high priority? I remember being in school and knowing kids who simply expected to be able to bum stuff off of their neighbor (like a pen or paper). Is this healthy?
4. How many oil stores are open at midnight?
5. Imagine that, they missed out on the party. Darn. Man, they must have been partying until the early light…
6. So the girls get shut out. What do you think this has to do with the kingdom of God?
7. For the sake of ease, let’s call a talent a G (or 1,000 bucks). One guy gets 5 G’s. The other gets 2 G’s. And the last gets one G. Apparently, the man knew who was skilled or trustworthy and gave them responsibility to coincide with that.
8. 5 G guy made 5 more G’s, making him 10 G guy. Good for him.
9. 2 G guy made 2 more G’s, making him 4 G guy. Good for him too.
10. There might be a reason why 1 G guy got only 1 G. He just dug a hole and put his money in there. Ruh roh… This left him 1 G guy.
11. And now this episode of “The Apprentice” nears its end. The Donald comes in to check how everyone did. 10 G guy is living large and gets a pat on the back and assurances that they will have many more opportunities to do business together.
12. 4 G guy also gets love from the boss man. He will also get more opportunities to work with the master. Niiice.
13. And then 1 G guy comes in. Uh oh. He implies that the master is kind of lazy and evil, maybe like a mafia boss. So…in fear, this guy gives his excuse. Oh oh…
14. The master flips out. He basically says that if he was so afraid of Him, the least he could have done is gained some interest or something. This guy was so scared he did nothing.
15. Mr. 10 G’s becomes 11 G’s. Maybe this is to show the extravagance of perks that one gets if he does well for the master.
16. Mr. 1 G becomes penniless. That’s what you get if you put nothing into it. And, beyond that, this guy is going to get thrown out of the business and experience pain.
17. Why did the guy think that the boss was like a mafia boss? If this whole story is analogy of God’s character and our response to it, do we ever look at God like this harsh mafia boss?
18. Do we make excuses for why we are not productive?
19. Do we actually think that God would prefer for us to do nothing with out talents (out of fear) than to at least fail in an effort to grow His kingdom (the family business)?
1. It’s interesting that Jesus is clearly saying that He believes that the religious leaders are hypocrites but that they still must obey them. Wow. He says it is because they are in Moses’ seat, placed their by God. Would you want to follow a hypocrite?
2. The religious leaders make the common person jump through all kinds of hoops to earn salvation, but it seems like they consider it to be automatic for them.
3. They are focused on the outward: wide phylacteries (pieces of scripture woven into their hair), long tassels (I don’t know what the significance of that is), sitting in the big boy chairs, being greeted and recognized, and having people call them by their title and not their name. Note to self…don’t become Rev. Mannino. Stay Paul.
4. This shoots a hole in calling priests, “Father,” doesn’t it. We don’t toss “Rabbi” around, but other people do. We’re not to call another person Master.
5. Why is it so hard for average people to think that they are on the same level as priests, rabbis, and preachers?
6. I wonder if Jesus intended for us to not even call our own dads “Father.” It says that He is our Father. Hmm…
7. Again, wouldn’t we get into a lot of trouble if we didn’t call our teachers “teacher” and our professors “professor.” Is there something deeper that Jesus is talking about here?
8. Incidentally, “minister” means servant. It’s funny how that term is used to elevate people to a “higher” position.
9. And now…the woes. [#1] How do you think they “shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces”? It’s like they are bouncers who won’t let the people experience God.
10. [#2] Wow…so…they are all about “converting” people; but, once they are converted, they become more lost than ever. Hmm…I wouldn’t want to be called a “son of hell.”
11. [#3] He he he…a blind guide would be funny. Think about taking a tour on a bus with a blind guide. He he he… Not funny to Jesus though. For some reason they made up stupid rules about what kind of swear (like a pinky swear) is more important. They’re missing the point.
12. [#4] They are so careful to tithe their spices, but they ignore all the important stuff like LOVING PEOPLE. Now, I know some churches like that…
13. [#5] Again, cleaning the outside but not the inside is a sign of too much concern for outward appearances.
14. [#6] Outside = righeteous, inside = wicked. Not good.
15. [#7] They thought too highly of themselves. They think that they wouldn’t have been jerks to all God’s prophets in the past. Um…based on the way they are treating John the Baptist and Jesus, I’m having a hard time believing that.
16. Snakes! Wow…the whole idea of Jesus petting sheep isn’t really in this verse. He’s bringing it! Jesus tells them that they are so thickheaded that He is sending people to change their minds. Too bad they kill people who think differently than they do. And, when they do that, they are only making things worse. They are already accountable for the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah. The religious leaders have killed God’s people for thousands of years. It’s kind of their trademark.
17. Look at Jesus’ love for His people, though. He wants to tuck them all in “under [His] wings.” These chicks are crazy, though. Are we crazy too?
1. Again, our excuse-making culture would think that this is totally acceptable. But, I mean, the guy is THE KING. What excuse could you have to not come to the prince’s wedding banquet?
2. It almost seems like the king is lowering himself to even have to beg people to come to this banquet. He shouldn’t have to be telling them what the menu was. They should just come because he is the king.
3. They seem preoccupied with their work or evil. Busyness and wickedness. Yeah, those will keep you from experience the parties of life.
4. Wow…he killed the killers.
5. I love the fact that the king invites anyone his servants can find, good and bad. Amazing. If the king is God and we’re the servants, does this mean that God will accept into heaven “anyone [we] can find”?
6. Why would it have been important to be wearing wedding clothes? Did it mean that this random guy wasn’t showing the king or the prince respect? Was he simply a wedding crasher?
7. The king deals with wedding crashers harshly.
8. So…if this is all an analogy about how God treats us, I would look at it that the religious leaders are the people who rejected the invitation, and the servants are God’s servants (prophets and evangelists or even us). There is no discrimination towards the people who are invited, but there seems to be a requirement for these people…that they at least show some respect for the occasion. What do you think this means about the way that God looks at people and salvation?
