Date: March 21, 2010
Week 3: Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet (John 13:1-17)
Bible Study: Jesus wants us to follow his example of serving others.
Background: Foot Washing in the Ancient World
• people walked from place to place on dusty, dry roads
• their feet would become extremely dirty
• when guests came for dinner, it was customary to have their feet washed, and this was typically done by a servant
• it was a lowly task in the social hierarchy of the ancient world
John 13:1-17 Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,
4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.
• Layeth aside his garments — That part of them which would have hindered him.
5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
• Into the basin — A large vessel was usually placed for this very purpose
6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”
7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”
• We do not now know perfectly any of His works . . . it is enough that we can love and obey now, and that we shall know “everything” later.
8 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”
• Peter did not understand what was happening
• Peter did not understand what Jesus, the Messiah, was all about
Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
• wash us in His blood and purify us by His Spirit
• if not, we con not share in the blessings of His Kingdom
9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”
10 Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”
• having already been cleaned by asking Him into our hearts and lives, we need only to walk holy and undefiled. (wash our feet)
11 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.”
12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?
13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
• he teaches us
o in every possible way to assist each other in attaining that purity
o to wash each other's feet, by performing all sorts of good offices to each other, even those of the lowest kind, when opportunity serves, and the necessity of any calls for them
15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.
17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
• It is significant, then, that Jesus, the Master, chose to wash the feet of his disciples.
• He introduced a new way of looking at each other, and introduced humility and service into the understanding of His ways.
• To be great in the kingdom meant to serve.
• This ran counter to the culture of ancient Palestine and still runs counter to the way we live today.
• Those whom Christ loves, he loves to the end. Nothing can separate a true believer from the love of Christ.
• Jesus washed his disciples' feet, that he might teach us to think that nothing is below us so that we may promote God's glory.
• We must put aside everything that would hinder us in behaving like a Christian.
• Jesus does many things of which even his own disciples did not know the meaning of . . . but they shall know afterward.
• We see in the end what was the kindness from events which seemed meaningless.
• All those, and those only, who are spiritually washed by Christ, have a part in Christ. All whom Christ owns and saves, he justifies and sanctifies.
• Peter more than submits; he begs to be washed by Christ.
• Those who truly desire to be sanctified, desire to be sanctified throughout, to have the whole man, with all its parts and powers, made pure. The true believer is thus washed when he receives Christ for his salvation.
• From yesterday's pardon, we should be strengthened against today's temptation.
• We must both accept help from our brothers and give help to our brothers.
Should we balance helping our own family with helping others ??
How can we balance that ??
What prevents us from serving others (including our family) ??
Mark 9:35b: 35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
What does it mean to be last ??
What’s wrong with being first ??
What do our children gain by the message of today’s Lesson ?? (John 13:16 above)
20100331
20100315
Luke 15:11-32
Date: March 14, 2010
Spring Week 2: Jesus tells the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32)
Bible Study: God will Forgive us when we sin
Luke 15 .. previously . . love that seeks
• the Parable of the Lost Sheep – the shepherd went and found the sheep
• the Parable of the Lost Coin – the woman went and found the coin
Luke 15:11-32
The Parable of the Lost Son . . . (this is the end of Luke 15) . . love received
11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood.
• the root of all sin! … a desire to not depend on God!
13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
• Far from God .. God was not in his thoughts … then he wasted away all the grace he had received
14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
• All his worldly pleasures failing, he grew conscious of his want of real “goodness”
15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
• Either the devil or one of his children, the genuine citizens of that country which is far from God.
• He employed him in the base drudgery of sin
16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
• He would have satisfied himself with worldly comforts. Vain & fruitless!
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
• For till then he was beside himself, as all men are, so long as they are without God in the world.
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’
• the first steps of true repentance are pointed out! Against Heaven - Against God.
20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
• The moment he had resolved, he began to execute his resolution
• Returning, starved, naked
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
• Interrupting him before he had finished what he intended to say. So does God frequently cut an earnest confession short by a display of his pardoning Love
23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
• “merry” -- Both here, and wherever else this word occurs, whether in the Old or New Testament, it implies nothing of levity, but a solid, serious, religious, heartfelt joy: indeed this was the ordinary meaning of the word four-hundred years ago, when my translation was made
25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
• The elder son seems to represent the Pharisees and scribes, mentioned Luke 15:2
2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”
27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’
• He doesn’t mention the robe or ring . . the music and dancing are around the food
28 “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.
• How natural to us is this kind of resentment!
29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’
• the character of the Pharisees
• So he was one of the instances mentioned Luke 15:7.
7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.
• Don’t “murmur” against the attention/prayers shown to “big sinners”
• the father's receiving of the younger son did not cause him to disinherit the older one
• God's receiving of notorious sinners will be no loss to those who have always served him
32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”
• So beautiful is scripture !!! ... this line brings tears to my eyes when I think of my own sons
• The older son had unkindly said, This your son … the father replies This your brother –
• the best of men ought to account the worst sinners their brothers
• the Jews had no cause to murmur at the reception of the Gentiles
• even when enriched by the Blessings of God we still run from him (v12)
• Sensual pleasures are eagerly pursued, till they have squandered away all the grace of God (v13)
• while these continue, not a serious thought of God can find a place in their minds.
• even when afflictions come upon them (v14), still they will make hard shifts before they will let the grace of God persuade them to think of a return (v 15,16)
• When they see themselves naked, indigent, and undone, then they recover the exercise of their reason (v17)
• Then they remember the blessings they have thrown away, and attend to the misery they have incurred. And hereupon they resolve to return to their father, and put the resolution immediately in practice (v 18,19).
• God receives us back with Joy!
• God’s gifts are not due to us
• Don’t be content with your life .. and just receiving their “good things”
• The Lord opens our eyes, and convinces us of our sin; then we view ourselves and every object, in a different light from what we did before.
Spring Week 2: Jesus tells the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32)
Bible Study: God will Forgive us when we sin
Luke 15 .. previously . . love that seeks
• the Parable of the Lost Sheep – the shepherd went and found the sheep
• the Parable of the Lost Coin – the woman went and found the coin
Luke 15:11-32
The Parable of the Lost Son . . . (this is the end of Luke 15) . . love received
11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood.
• the root of all sin! … a desire to not depend on God!
13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
• Far from God .. God was not in his thoughts … then he wasted away all the grace he had received
14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
• All his worldly pleasures failing, he grew conscious of his want of real “goodness”
15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
• Either the devil or one of his children, the genuine citizens of that country which is far from God.
• He employed him in the base drudgery of sin
16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
• He would have satisfied himself with worldly comforts. Vain & fruitless!
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
• For till then he was beside himself, as all men are, so long as they are without God in the world.
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’
• the first steps of true repentance are pointed out! Against Heaven - Against God.
20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
• The moment he had resolved, he began to execute his resolution
• Returning, starved, naked
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
• Interrupting him before he had finished what he intended to say. So does God frequently cut an earnest confession short by a display of his pardoning Love
23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
• “merry” -- Both here, and wherever else this word occurs, whether in the Old or New Testament, it implies nothing of levity, but a solid, serious, religious, heartfelt joy: indeed this was the ordinary meaning of the word four-hundred years ago, when my translation was made
25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
• The elder son seems to represent the Pharisees and scribes, mentioned Luke 15:2
2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”
27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’
• He doesn’t mention the robe or ring . . the music and dancing are around the food
28 “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.
• How natural to us is this kind of resentment!
29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’
• the character of the Pharisees
• So he was one of the instances mentioned Luke 15:7.
7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.
• Don’t “murmur” against the attention/prayers shown to “big sinners”
• the father's receiving of the younger son did not cause him to disinherit the older one
• God's receiving of notorious sinners will be no loss to those who have always served him
32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”
• So beautiful is scripture !!! ... this line brings tears to my eyes when I think of my own sons
• The older son had unkindly said, This your son … the father replies This your brother –
• the best of men ought to account the worst sinners their brothers
• the Jews had no cause to murmur at the reception of the Gentiles
• even when enriched by the Blessings of God we still run from him (v12)
• Sensual pleasures are eagerly pursued, till they have squandered away all the grace of God (v13)
• while these continue, not a serious thought of God can find a place in their minds.
• even when afflictions come upon them (v14), still they will make hard shifts before they will let the grace of God persuade them to think of a return (v 15,16)
• When they see themselves naked, indigent, and undone, then they recover the exercise of their reason (v17)
• Then they remember the blessings they have thrown away, and attend to the misery they have incurred. And hereupon they resolve to return to their father, and put the resolution immediately in practice (v 18,19).
• God receives us back with Joy!
• God’s gifts are not due to us
• Don’t be content with your life .. and just receiving their “good things”
• The Lord opens our eyes, and convinces us of our sin; then we view ourselves and every object, in a different light from what we did before.
20100303
Luke 6:43-44
Date: March 7, 2010
Spring Week 1: Jesus Teaches About Good Fruit (Luke 6:43-44)
Bible Study: Our Christ-like actions show we’re Christians
Spring Week 1: Jesus Teaches About Good Fruit (Luke 6:43-44)
Bible Study: Our Christ-like actions show we’re Christians
Luke 6:43-44
A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit
43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.
Blackberries (bramble) with thorns can easily be mistaken for grapes (no thorns)
Likewise, certain flowers found on thistles could mistakenly lead someone to think that figs were growing on the plant. Such flowers and berries might look like good fruit, but looks are deceiving. In the same way, we must be careful to evaluate what we see in others and ourselves. Looks are deceiving. Only real spiritual fruit comes from authentic believers.
The tree is known by its fruits; may the word of Christ be so grafted in our hearts, that we may be fruitful in every good word and work.
· Jesus pointed to an example in nature in order to teach a spiritual lesson.
· Jesus is referring to the dangers of false prophets and spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ by example.
· A person that is not really a servant of God, no matter how good they seem to be, cannot possibly be producing fruit for Him. . . Conversely, someone who really is God’s servant will automatically produce fruit.
· If we claim to be Christians, what fruit should we be producing ??
· How are Christians generally viewed in your experiences ??
· Imagine you’re a non-Christian viewing our church … how do you think they would characterize the fruit being produced ??
· What if they were viewing you ??
· How can we teach this to our kids ??
REFERENCE NOTES:
Matthew 7:15-20
You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Doing Good
Deuteronomy 6:18 DO what is right and GOOD in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may go in and occupy the GOOD land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you.
Goodness leads to Fruitfulness
Deuteronomy 6:3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.
Bramble Bush
Bramble Berries
Grapes
Figs
See how the "Bad Fruit" of the Bramble Berries (thorny) look like "Good Fruit" (grapes and figs)
Be Real.
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