Learning Jesus | Week 5
Learning Jesus Week 5
At Hand Author-ity
Key Word – Authority >> Central Passages Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11
Jesus is now declaring that the kingdom is at hand. Israel has been waiting to hear these words, but since these words are attached to a Person and His Works, not everyone is accepting them as coming from the King of the Kingdom. Can this man from Nazareth simply author His own story or is He, as we say today, “controlling the narrative”?
Day 1 - Isaiah 9:1-2; Matthew 4:12-16
Over 700 hundred years before Jesus’ birth, Isaiah prophesied about the first coming of the Messiah, and he prophesied of Jesus’ first coming more than any other prophet. The historical context here is that Assyria is about to invade Israel, and Isaiah is prophesying that the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali, both part of the Galilee region, would fall into shame when their people are taken captive into exile. When you see the word “nations” or “peoples” in the Old Testament, it refers to the Gentiles. Because “Galilee of the nations” had a mixed population due to being conquered first, Israelites held Galilee in contempt. The city of Nazareth lay in Zebulun land and the city of Capernaum in Naphtali. Note here how Isaiah speaks confidently of a better future, a totally reversed future, for humbled Nazareth and Capernaum.
1. Isaiah 9:1-2 God is the acting agent here.
o What does God do and how does He reverse what He did? What is the effect?
o WHY does God orchestrate this reversal? What does it say about Him?
In Lesson 3, we learned God gave Jesus the Holy Spirit without measure and that included “counsel,” the ability to draw right conclusions, strategize, and plan. In the few details given here in Matthew 4, you can see how the Spirit is bringing glory to Jesus – 1. After John is arrested, Jesus withdrew to Galilee to distance Himself from authorities in Jerusalem. 2. Then Jesus moved His headquarters to Capernaum after being rejected in His hometown Nazareth. 3. Capernaum lay along a major trade highway extending from Egypt, along Israel’s coast line, and to Mesopotamia called Via Maris.
Matthew 4:12-16
2. Review Jesus’ three strategic moves. Why is each a wise move if the kingdom is at hand?
Have you considered God’s counsel at work in bringing you into the kingdom? Praise Him for that!
Day 2 – Mark 1:21-28; Luke 4:31b-37
If the kingdom of heaven is at hand, then it is logical that the kingdom of darkness would attempt to get the upper hand. During Jesus’ time on earth, demonic activity was blatantly obvious. Jews in first-century Israel believed demons could fly and know the future as angels and believed demons eat, drink, procreate, and die as humans do. They ascribed all sorts of afflictions and misfortunes to demons, but believed these could be prevented by studying the Torah, reciting the Shema, and keeping the Sabbath. Rabbis did cast out demons, but to do so, they had to know the demon’s name. Notice how Jesus spoke to demons with greater authority.
1. A rabbi’s authority was sourced in the school he attended. He often taught by quoting what other rabbis had taught. By what authority did Jesus teach and cast out demons?
2. How do the demons recognize Jesus’ authority? Why does Jesus rebuke them?
3. We learned that the Pharisees added the Mishna, an encyclopedia set of laws to God’s laws. One of the rabbinic laws forbade casting out a demon on the Sabbath. How do you think your average Pharisee would respond to Jesus’ authority over teaching and over demons? Why might that be?
Optional Memory Verse And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. Luke 4:31b-32
Day 3 - Matthew 8:14-17; Mark 1:29-34; Luke 4:38-41
Because Jesus cast out the demon, all of Capernaum comes to Peter and Andrew’s house, but they waited until the Sabbath was over because the rabbinic law forbade healing on the Sabbath unless death was imminent. This story, told in three gospels, gives us a good opportunity to practice our observation skills.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the synoptic gospels because they include more of the same stories, and their stories share the same main details. However, sometimes these gospel writers differ in the supplemental details they included or word choices they used because each chose to emphasize a different aspect of Christ for his particular audience. Matthew emphasized for His Jewish audience Jesus as the King; Mark for His Roman audience Jesus as the Servant-Messiah; Luke for his Greek audience Jesus as the Ideal Man.
Highlight or underline any words or details that a synoptic gospel writer included that none of the other two included. Then consider if that detail supports His theme in some way.
1. Write a supplemental word or detail each synoptic writer included. Then explain how it develops his theme.
o Matthew
o Mark
o Luke
2. Now consider all these details together. How do together reveal a fuller picture of who Jesus is?
3. Write a prayer thanking Jesus for being the King, the Servant Messiah, and the Ideal Man or praise Him for just one title of authority in particular that brings praise to your lips today.
Deep Think (Totally Optional)
At eighteen, I was in the “Come and See” stage checking Jesus out for myself. I read the gospels one by one: Matthew, then Mark, then Luke, then John. Along the way, I came to saving faith in Christ. Since I was new to reading the Bible, however, I wasn’t sure what to do with some of the differences I saw in how the gospel writers reported Jesus’ story. As I gained knowledge and experience, I learned that wherever I thought there was a discrepancy, there was an answer for that. We will help you see those answers as we go through Learning Jesus. For now be encouraged with this –
God is the author of Scripture. He inspired every word of every book of the Bible (2 Tim 3:15). When men wrote what God breathed out, the Holy Spirit carried them, yet they actively engaged in the work, writing through their own personality in their own style (2 Pet 1:21). Therefore, each writer in Scripture is an “author” and possesses given authority himself. For example,in our story from yesterday, you may have noticed that only Luke says that the demon did not harm the man physically when he leaves. Luke was a physician, so he often includes details a physician would notice, and God was comfortable allowing Luke to write with his own style and emphases because in the end, He alone is the author.
Since God wants us to love Him (Mark 12:30), since He is omnipotent and sovereign (Phil 2:13), and since He cannot lie (Heb 6:18; Titus 1:2), we can trust His Word to be inerrant and infallible (Prov 30:5; John 10:35). God’s Word will accomplish every purpose He intended it to accomplish just as God’ Son THE Word accomplished every purpose the Father intended Him to accomplish (John 19:30).
How does knowing all this brainy stuff lead you to worship the God of the Word?
You might choose to answer this in the form of a prayer to God.
Day 4 - Mark 1:35-39; Luke 4:42-44; Matthew 4:23-25
Jesus is starting His second preaching tour moving from city to city. The gospel He preached was that the Messianic King is here and IF Israel would accept Him, the Kingdom was at hand. To help Israel accept Him and His message, Jesus performed various signs. At this point He did not demand an individual to demonstrate faith before performing a miracle.
1. Mark and Luke both open with Jesus praying before He travels from city to city:
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. Mark 1:35
Underline the details in Mark’s account above that reveal Jesus’ commitment to His relationship with His Father.
2. Use Matthew’s account to practice more observation skills by identifying the W’s.
WHO is in this narrative? List names, titles, descriptors.
WHEN is the action taking place?
WHERE does the story take place?
WHAT is Jesus doing?
HOW is Jesus doing it?
3. Then next W is WHY. It is fun to see how many Why’s you can ask after observing the other W’s. Here’s one – Why did Jesus rise early in the morning and find an isolated spot to pray before saying and doing all that He said and did?
Day 5 - Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11 Central Passages of the Week
Again the synoptic gospel writers – Matthew, Mark, and Luke – each chose to include this story of how Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John from being fisherman while being His disciples into full-time discipleship or what we call vocational ministry. This meant leaving their family fishing businesses. Luke tells the story with the most detail, so be sure to listen to all three accounts. We will revisit Luke’s version of this story again in Week 6 because it fits well thematically there as well. This week we have been focusing on how Jesus asserted His authority as He began His second preaching tour. As you listen, answer this question -- “Over what does Jesus assert His authority in this story?”
A fish can easily swim through the first mesh of a trammel net, but then the next layer of net has smaller mesh, and the third layer of mesh is even smaller. This ensures that the fish will be trapped in the middle or last section of the net. During daylight hours fish could see the three layers, but at night they could not. Also during the day fish swim deeper into the sea once the sun hits the water. For these reasons, fishermen fished at night.
1. Why does Jesus instruct Peter to act against his knowledge and experience as a fisherman? Why do you think Peter obeys?
2. Why was it important for Jesus to assert to His disciples that He has authority over nature? (Next week we will consider His authority over human nature as well using this same story.)
3. Jesus combines comfort (Do not be afraid) with call (From now on you will catch men.)
Why might He do that?
REFLECTION Questions
These questions along with the Central Passage will usually be the focus of your group’s discussion each week.
1. Can you think of a time in your life when you learned a truth in the Word that seemed to go against your knowledge and experience? How did you respond?
2. How comfort-able are you with Jesus’ authority or calling in your current life situation?
3. This week you often read the same story in three different gospels. God inspired each of these authors; therefore, each author wrote ONLY what was true. Still, each author retained choices in details, theme, and style.
How does this make you feel about God’s author-ing of who you are while allowing you to make free choices?
4. We read how Jesus traveled from city to city speaking primarily in synagogues proclaiming that “the kingdom of God was at hand.” Our title this week is At Hand of Author-ity. What does this title mean to you personally now that you have worked through this lesson?
Are you ready to “put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee”?
According to Lyrics Playground, “Put Your Hand in the Hand” has been recorded by 28 different artists. You can check out the lyrics and artists at lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/p/putyourhandinthehand.shtml
COMMUNITY GROUP TIME
• Discuss the Central Passages questions. (This week that is Day 5 — Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11)
• Open Share Time -- Allow time for each to share “starred” insights or questions from Days 1-5. Allow others to respond to the shared insight.
• Discuss Reflection Questions.
• Is anyone able to recite all or part of Luke 4:31b-32?
• Close in prayer.
God’s joy & strength to you,
kpaulson@gracelaredo.org