Jesus
Commentary
It is clear from the selections for this Sunday that the early church was taking all its clues from what it had come to know about Jesus.
Old prophecies, long since filled with both promise and mystery, now shone with new meaning. They could see that this was the way God worked in their midst. What the prophecies envisioned was the way God works; now that work was made plain in the life and teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus. Through it all, they saw something about the heart and will of God, something of his eternal purpose.
Because of what they saw, they could link all that had happened with God's eternal intent. This was no new thing. It was God in their midst once again, working his work of redemption. All that talk of suffering meant that there was a God who would suffer in order for them to know the full dimension of his love.
One moment they could talk about a God ready to suffer for them, and in the next about the hard (stony) truth that such a message was difficult to accept. Many did not.
They could sum it all up by seeing him as the way to God, as the truth about themselves, and as revealing the essence of what it means to be whole -- spiritually alive -- children of God.
Sometimes we treat the Bible as an answer book, going to its pages for the answer to a question we have formulated for ourselves. Take another look. The Bible is a record of people dealing with questions, struggling to understand, to think through, and to be able to use the insights that come. We are invited to do the same.
And, like them, we continually discover that the more we learn of Jesus, the more we listen to his teachings, the more we seek to let his Spirit dominate our own, the more we come to know God and ourselves as well.
OUTLINE I
Take It from the Beginning
Acts 8:26-40
Introduction: Luke is a good storyteller. This story is not often told in the church, so take time to share it. It will be new to most. Use your imagination and add a few details that expand the story and give it a special flavor. People seldom tire of stories. Be sure to locate the place and do some work on the word eunuch, Candace, Ethiopian. Remember, this story reveals the way in which the good news spread to all the world, even into the Gentile (Pagan) communities. Then, focus on the conversation between the eunuch and Philip.
A. Set the Stage. It is clear that there is already interest on the part of the Ethiopian, for he is reading from chapter 53 of Isaiah.
B. Good Question. Does this prophet speak of himself or another? Answer his question. When it was written, in all probability, it referred to Israel herself. It could have been regarded by many to mean some special servant of God. The eunuch shows some sensitivity and is aware that, as time passes, the opinions and understandings of persons change.
C. Good Answer. Philip begins with the Scripture, and tells the entire story up to and including Jesus. Don't miss that point. "Beginning with this scripture" -- from prophecy to fulfillment. The entire story is not all repeated here. It must have been convincing.
Conclusion: Could it be that some of us are not convincing because we do not tell the whole story? We give conclusions. We offer challenges. We exhort. Often we do not begin at the beginning and tell the entire story, so that our hearers may hear, understand, and make their decision. So, why not take it from the beginning?
OUTLINE II
Speaking of Stones
1 Peter 2:2-10
Introduction: Take time to do some work on the Old Testament meaning and uses of stones. Stones are associated with altars, holy places, visions, cities, people. There is something intriguing and permanent about stones. That story does not stop in the Old Testament. Here we find the writer expanding our ideas about stones in the spiritual sense.
A. Living Stones Living? Most of us think of stones as inert, composed of dead matter, but here the stones live. Maybe the thought has to do with value, or shining capabilities, or strength -- all of which can be thought of as living possibilities. Perhaps one needs to focus on permanency. Stones seem to "live" forever -- always present -- serving their purposes. Put your imagination to work on other possibilities.
B. Cornerstones. Holding things together. Making buildings possible. Enabling other structures to exist. Cornerstones identify the building; may contain wills and testaments, records and history; sum up what has happened in a given place. Cornerstones sometimes -- among pagan peoples -- held the remains of sacrificed children; were meant to ward off evil spirits, to placate gods that may be angered by people's pride. Many messages; the central message is the one that speaks of the importance of the cornerstone.
C. Stumbling Stone. There can be good and bad stones. Some may cause us to stumble. Others may furnish pathways or stepping stones. Here the reference, on the part of the writer, is to the fact that Jesus -- the cornerstone of the faith the church holds -- is a stumbling stone to those who will not accept the message. He is the Messiah; yet, because he does not fit their design, because he does not support their building plans, he is rejected.
Conclusion: Speculate more about stones. Dwell on their qualities; and apply them, as does the writer here, to people, to Jesus, to institutions, to the church.
OUTLINE III
What Jesus Is to Us
John 14:1-14
Introduction: When you read this lesson from John you are listening in on questions being asked by an early second-century church. Eighty or more years have elapsed since the death and resurrection of Jesus. The expected return has not taken place. Membership in the new church has shifted from being mostly Jewish to being mostly Greek. There must have been troubled hearts in that church. They had their questions. We read the material here in order to know what their questions were. Those questions are best summed up in the answer Jesus is said to give to Thomas, the enquirer.
A. I Am the Way. The way to where, to what, to whom? Surely a great concern in that church was the desire to know God -- to really know his heart and mind. Often this word is interpreted as if he were the way for daily life. What is here is more important. Jesus claims to be the way by which people can come to know God; and when they do, they will know him as the Father.
B. I Am the Truth. Greeks had great concern for the truth. The previous centuries are filled with the names of great philosophers who spend their lives in pursuit of the gem of truth about life -- what is real, what is dependable, what is essential insight into the nature of our being. Jesus claims that he is the one who embodies that insight. Follow him, know him, and you will discover the truth about who and what we are meant to be. Through him we not only know God, but come to know ourselves as God would have us be.
C. I Am the Life. Here Jesus speaks of a quality of life that adds meaning and joy to being alive. To truly be alive is to know God and to understand what God means us to be. Then life blossoms forth as real and filled with meaning.
Conclusion: The message that came to the troubled of the early second century can bring peace and joy to the troubled of our own day. Follow Jesus and you will know about God, about yourself, and will discover the life which is more than simply being alive.
Old prophecies, long since filled with both promise and mystery, now shone with new meaning. They could see that this was the way God worked in their midst. What the prophecies envisioned was the way God works; now that work was made plain in the life and teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus. Through it all, they saw something about the heart and will of God, something of his eternal purpose.
Because of what they saw, they could link all that had happened with God's eternal intent. This was no new thing. It was God in their midst once again, working his work of redemption. All that talk of suffering meant that there was a God who would suffer in order for them to know the full dimension of his love.
One moment they could talk about a God ready to suffer for them, and in the next about the hard (stony) truth that such a message was difficult to accept. Many did not.
They could sum it all up by seeing him as the way to God, as the truth about themselves, and as revealing the essence of what it means to be whole -- spiritually alive -- children of God.
Sometimes we treat the Bible as an answer book, going to its pages for the answer to a question we have formulated for ourselves. Take another look. The Bible is a record of people dealing with questions, struggling to understand, to think through, and to be able to use the insights that come. We are invited to do the same.
And, like them, we continually discover that the more we learn of Jesus, the more we listen to his teachings, the more we seek to let his Spirit dominate our own, the more we come to know God and ourselves as well.
OUTLINE I
Take It from the Beginning
Acts 8:26-40
Introduction: Luke is a good storyteller. This story is not often told in the church, so take time to share it. It will be new to most. Use your imagination and add a few details that expand the story and give it a special flavor. People seldom tire of stories. Be sure to locate the place and do some work on the word eunuch, Candace, Ethiopian. Remember, this story reveals the way in which the good news spread to all the world, even into the Gentile (Pagan) communities. Then, focus on the conversation between the eunuch and Philip.
A. Set the Stage. It is clear that there is already interest on the part of the Ethiopian, for he is reading from chapter 53 of Isaiah.
B. Good Question. Does this prophet speak of himself or another? Answer his question. When it was written, in all probability, it referred to Israel herself. It could have been regarded by many to mean some special servant of God. The eunuch shows some sensitivity and is aware that, as time passes, the opinions and understandings of persons change.
C. Good Answer. Philip begins with the Scripture, and tells the entire story up to and including Jesus. Don't miss that point. "Beginning with this scripture" -- from prophecy to fulfillment. The entire story is not all repeated here. It must have been convincing.
Conclusion: Could it be that some of us are not convincing because we do not tell the whole story? We give conclusions. We offer challenges. We exhort. Often we do not begin at the beginning and tell the entire story, so that our hearers may hear, understand, and make their decision. So, why not take it from the beginning?
OUTLINE II
Speaking of Stones
1 Peter 2:2-10
Introduction: Take time to do some work on the Old Testament meaning and uses of stones. Stones are associated with altars, holy places, visions, cities, people. There is something intriguing and permanent about stones. That story does not stop in the Old Testament. Here we find the writer expanding our ideas about stones in the spiritual sense.
A. Living Stones Living? Most of us think of stones as inert, composed of dead matter, but here the stones live. Maybe the thought has to do with value, or shining capabilities, or strength -- all of which can be thought of as living possibilities. Perhaps one needs to focus on permanency. Stones seem to "live" forever -- always present -- serving their purposes. Put your imagination to work on other possibilities.
B. Cornerstones. Holding things together. Making buildings possible. Enabling other structures to exist. Cornerstones identify the building; may contain wills and testaments, records and history; sum up what has happened in a given place. Cornerstones sometimes -- among pagan peoples -- held the remains of sacrificed children; were meant to ward off evil spirits, to placate gods that may be angered by people's pride. Many messages; the central message is the one that speaks of the importance of the cornerstone.
C. Stumbling Stone. There can be good and bad stones. Some may cause us to stumble. Others may furnish pathways or stepping stones. Here the reference, on the part of the writer, is to the fact that Jesus -- the cornerstone of the faith the church holds -- is a stumbling stone to those who will not accept the message. He is the Messiah; yet, because he does not fit their design, because he does not support their building plans, he is rejected.
Conclusion: Speculate more about stones. Dwell on their qualities; and apply them, as does the writer here, to people, to Jesus, to institutions, to the church.
OUTLINE III
What Jesus Is to Us
John 14:1-14
Introduction: When you read this lesson from John you are listening in on questions being asked by an early second-century church. Eighty or more years have elapsed since the death and resurrection of Jesus. The expected return has not taken place. Membership in the new church has shifted from being mostly Jewish to being mostly Greek. There must have been troubled hearts in that church. They had their questions. We read the material here in order to know what their questions were. Those questions are best summed up in the answer Jesus is said to give to Thomas, the enquirer.
A. I Am the Way. The way to where, to what, to whom? Surely a great concern in that church was the desire to know God -- to really know his heart and mind. Often this word is interpreted as if he were the way for daily life. What is here is more important. Jesus claims to be the way by which people can come to know God; and when they do, they will know him as the Father.
B. I Am the Truth. Greeks had great concern for the truth. The previous centuries are filled with the names of great philosophers who spend their lives in pursuit of the gem of truth about life -- what is real, what is dependable, what is essential insight into the nature of our being. Jesus claims that he is the one who embodies that insight. Follow him, know him, and you will discover the truth about who and what we are meant to be. Through him we not only know God, but come to know ourselves as God would have us be.
C. I Am the Life. Here Jesus speaks of a quality of life that adds meaning and joy to being alive. To truly be alive is to know God and to understand what God means us to be. Then life blossoms forth as real and filled with meaning.
Conclusion: The message that came to the troubled of the early second century can bring peace and joy to the troubled of our own day. Follow Jesus and you will know about God, about yourself, and will discover the life which is more than simply being alive.
