Archive for the ‘resurrection’ tag
April 4, 2010: Jesus Dies and Lives Again
The text for this lesson is Luke 23:26–24:12
Key Points
Discussion Points
1. “Christ is risen!” “He is risen indeed! Alleluia!” Perhaps you have already used this traditional exchange today. What does alleluia or hallelujah mean? Why have we refrained from using alleluias during the forty days of Lent only to resurrect its use today?
2. When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). Even in heaven, He is the “Lamb who was slain” (Revelation 5:12). A crucifix helps us see with our eyes the message of the preceding verses. How does a crucifix also communicate the reality of the Christian’s earthly life more clearly than an empty cross does?
3. Compare Luke 23:32–33 with Luke 22:37. How does the crucifixion scene fulfill this prediction of Jesus? Read Isaiah 53:11–12. What additional knowledge does this prophecy of Isaiah give us concerning the significance of Jesus being numbered with the transgressors upon a cross?
4. In Luke 23:40–42, what remarkable confession does the criminal make about himself and Jesus? What words of Jesus might have brought the criminal to faith? How does the criminal provide an ideal pattern for us?
5. In Scripture, darkness and light are often contrasted. For example, we read in 1 John 1:5, “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” Darkness usually represents evil things, such as sin, death, and hell. Sin is darkness, for Solomon states that “the way of the wicked is like deep darkness” (Proverbs 4:19). Death is darkness, as David describes those who “sit in darkness like those long dead” (Psalm 143:3). So also, hell is darkness, for Jesus says that those who reject His Gospel will be “thrown into the outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12). In Genesis 1:2, the earth was chaotic and in darkness before God said, “Let there be light.” In view of what we know about the biblical use of darkness, how are Luke 22:3 and 22:53 related to the darkness described in Luke 23:44? What does the darkness suggest is happening to the world during Jesus’ crucifixion? According to Revelation 21:22–23, what did Jesus’ death and resurrection ensure for our new Jerusalem in heaven?
6. Luke emphasizes the innocence (righteousness) of Jesus throughout his Passion Narrative. When Jesus is first brought to trial in Luke 23:4, Pilate says, “I find no guilt in this man.” According to 23:15, neither did Herod. Pilate wanted to release Jesus (v. 16). He pleaded with the Jews to let him free Jesus, and he continued to maintain His innocence (vv. 18–22), but finally he gave into their vociferous demands (vv. 23–25). The criminal confessed Jesus’ righteousness (v. 41), and when He died, the centurion said, “Certainly this man was innocent” (v. 47). We also see Jesus’ perfect trust in His Father when He cried out, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit!” (v. 46). Luke emphasizes through these things that Jesus was the righteous one who committed no sins at all and did not deserve punishment. According to Leviticus 18:4–5, what would result for one who perfectly obeyed God’s Law? What is the relationship between that promise and Jesus’ resurrection?
7. To justify something is to declare it righteous or innocent. Pilate, the criminal, and the centurion all justified Jesus by declaring Him innocent. Yet God alone can truly declare someone innocent (Romans 8:33), and by raising Jesus from the dead, He declared to the world that His Son is the Righteous One. According to Romans 4:24–25, what else happened in Jesus’ death and resurrection?
8. According to Romans 6:3–5, what is the connection between Baptism and Christ’s death and resurrection?
9. We read in Luke 23:56 that the women remained faithful to the Old Testament Law, which said that they could not handle a dead body on the Sabbath. The women were still living under the Law. Since Jesus, God’s righteous servant, obeyed the Law perfectly, what did Jesus’ Sabbath rest in the tomb symbolize? According to Romans 10:4, how does Christ change our relationship to the Old Testament Law?
August 9, 2009: Dorcas, the Mercy Worker
The text for this lesson is Acts 9:36–42.
Key Points
- The Lord continued His acts of charity and power through Dorcas and Peter.
- Law: We are often so busy with our own agendas that we give little time or thought to the needs of others, even those in our own congregations.
- Gospel: Our greatest needs of forgiveness, life, and salvation have been met by Jesus’ full devotion; therefore, we joyfully contribute our talents and energy to meet human needs.
- Law: The entire Church suffers loss at the death of one of its own.
- Gospel: The household of faith is comforted by the sure hope of resurrection to a blessed reunion.
June 14, 2009: Jacob’s Death and Burial
The text for this lesson is Genesis 49:29–50:14.
Key Points
- Jacob requested burial in Canaan, rather than in Egypt, because Canaan was the land to which God had promised to send the One through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed—Jesus (Genesis 12:1–3; 46:2–4).
- Law: Death is a time of tremendous grief.
- Gospel: We do not grieve as those who have no hope, because Jesus has overcome death and the grave.
- Law: We ourselves must also face death. Gospel: Because Jesus died in our place, we can look ahead to God’s promised land of heaven.
- Law: How we deal with death—our own and that of a loved one—can sometimes give a witness of doubt, worry, and fear.
- Gospel: By God’s grace, comforted with the assurance of our resurrection in Christ, we are able to testify to the hope that is in us.
Context
After Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, their father Jacob presumed him dead (Genesis 37). However, the Lord preserved and prospered Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 39–41). After Joseph helped his brothers during a famine (Genesis 42–45), Jacob came to settle in Egypt (Genesis 46). Joseph and Jacob were happily reunited. Before Jacob died, he blessed his sons (Genesis 49:1–28).
The Messiah first promised to Eve (Genesis 3:15), then to Abraham (Genesis 12:7; Galatians 3:16), Isaac (Genesis 26:3), and Jacob—renamed Israel (Genesis 35:9–12), would come through Judah (Genesis 49:8–12). Matthew 1:1–2 traces Jesus’ lineage from Abraham to Judah. Matthew 1:17 presents Jesus as the promised Christ, “who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).
April 12, 2009: Jesus Dies and Lives Again
The text for this lesson is Mark 15:1—16:8.
Key Points
- Good Friday is both the worst of days, revealing the gravity of our sin and God’s wrath, and the best of days, forever portraying God’s love for us in the crucifixion and resurrection of His Son.
- Law: Though I was not there, I am among those who spat in Jesus’ face and crucified Him by my sinfulness.
- Gospel: Willingly, Jesus came to earth, suffered, died, and rose again so that God might enliven me and forgive my sins.
Context
Our Holy Week was for the Jews the week of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In Jerusalem, it was standing room only. Because the Jews were under Roman rule, the death penalty could only be pronounced by a Roman official—thus, Pilate’s involvement. Jesus is executed on Friday but rapidly removed from the cross because of the approaching Sabbath. He rests in the tomb the few remaining hours of Friday, then Saturday (the Sabbath), and then rises sometime on the third day, Sunday. Sunday, therefore, becomes the day for Christians, replacing the Sabbath of the old covenant.
February 15, 2009: Jesus Heals Jairus’s Daughter
The text for this lesson is Mark 5:1–24, 35–43.
Key Points
- Just as Jesus by Word and touch raised the dead girl to life, so by His divine Word, Baptism, and Supper, He kills and buries death and raises us to life eternal.
- Law: “The wages of sin is death”—wages death pays faithfully and fatally (Romans 6:23). From the stillborn babe to the gray-haired grandma, death is no respecter of persons. It has its way with us all, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Thus, for the sinner, death is the ultimate defeat, the ultimate fear, the sad end to pre-hell days.
- Gospel: The glory of God is a living man. Death is the foe of God, man, and the God-man Jesus. He is not only life itself, He is a killer of death and the bestower of life. That life He gives via Hiw Word, the very Word that once crafted a living man from dust and will, one day, raise us from the dust, resurrected and re-created to live forever with Him.
