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I Peter 2:4-12 Bible Study
When our relationship with Jesus changes, our relationship with everything else changes too! Nothing about us stays the same. We can’t simply add ‘christianity’ to our life whilst leaving everything else untouched. In coming to Christ, we are by definition being built into the life of the Church. Whether we strengthen or weaken the structure of the Church life is another question. We are part of the life of the people of God. As such we are part of something that is holy (in this passage see: I Pet.2:5 & 9, but also I Pet.1:15-16). It’s a much misunderstood concept, often equated with moral purity. That is in fact part of what holiness is about, but it cannot be reduced to this. ‘Holiness’ is much more about be set apart. In Leviticus – which unsurprisingly is where we are taught about such things – many things can be designated as holy that have no intrinsic moral quality: food, time, a house, oil, an animal, a field, and so on. People, things, time, are all ‘set apart as holy’. What that means will look different depending on what it is that has been set apart. When people are set apart as holy (Lev.20:26), that will carry a moral connotation – but also much more. A people set apart for the Lord’s purposes is a glorious thing. And this is what we are reminded of in our creed: We believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
When Peter speaks about our priesthood, he is reminding us of the privilege the Church has in holding forth the Gospel to the world. That is one of the things we are set apart to do (so Paul in Rom.15:16). To be set apart from the world is not to withdraw from it in such a way as to leave it unaffected by our presence. Our being God’s special possession, a holy nation is not to hermetically seal ourselves away from ‘the darkness’ (2:9) in a ‘holy huddle’. That sort of idea is a counterfeit holiness, not at all what the Lord has in mind when He calls us holy. To retreat is to misunderstand the heart of God, and the identity of the Church. We are set apart not geographically, but spiritually. We are set apart in order to be different, in order to transform that which we have been set apart from.
I’ve always found the description of Christians in the Epistle to Diognetus inspiring stuff to read. It may well have been written to one of Emperor Marcus Aurelius' tutors, somewhere in the mid-second century! In it we find this brilliant description of Christians:
“For Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by country or language or custom. They do not live in cities of their own; they do not use a peculiar form of speech; they do not follow an eccentric manner of life... although they live in Greek and barbarian cities alike, as each man’s lot has been cast, and follow the customs of the country in clothing and food and other matters of daily living, at the same time they give proof of the remarkable and admittedly extraordinary constitution of their own commonwealth. They live in their own countries, but only as aliens. They have a share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign land is their fatherland, and yet for them every fatherland is a foreign land. They marry, like everyone else, and they beget children, but they do not cast out their offspring. They share their board with each other, but not their marriage bed. It is true that they are ‘in the flesh,’ but they do not live ‘according to the flesh.’ They busy themselves on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. They obey the established laws, but in their own lives they go far beyond what the laws require.
They love all men, and by all men are persecuted. They are unknown, and still are condemned; they are put to death, and yet they are brought back to life. They are poor, and yet they enjoy complete abundance. They are dishonoured, and in their very dishonour are glorified; they are defamed, and yet vindicated … They are treated by the Jews as foreigners and enemies, and are hunted down by the Greeks; and all the time those who hate them find it impossible to justify their enmity”.
Questions:
Why do you think that Peter particularly draws attention to the fact that Jesus was ‘rejected by humans’ (2:4)? From what you know of the rest of the epistle, why might that help and encourage the Churches Peter is writing to?
How does the Church offer ‘spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God’ (2:5)?
Peter links 3 passages from Isaiah and Psalms to speak of Jesus and of the responses people make to Him. When you look back to those passages, how can you tell they were written about Jesus? ...or is Peter bringing a meaning to those passages they didn’t originally have?
How does Jesus cause people to ‘stumble’ and ‘fall’? What does Peter mean when he says that this is ‘also what they were destined for’ 2:8)?
In 2:9, Peter draws four Old Testament descriptions of the Church forward to the New Testament people of God? What does that teach you about how Peter sees the relationship between the two?
Take each of those descriptions: Chosen People; Royal Priesthood; Holy Nation; God’s Special Possession. What do they communicate about the life and mission of the Church? How well do you think MIE fits those descriptions... or do those descriptions fit MIE? What would you need to do for us to grow into a better fit?
Why is it wrong to argue that because we are all a ‘royal priesthood’, the Church shouldn’t have recognised and ordained leaders?
What does Peter mean when he talks about our declaring the praises of God?
Do you think of the Church as a distinct people? How does your belonging to that people shape you (see also e.g. Acts 4:23)? What do you do when the claims of belonging to different people are in tension? Can you give examples?
What does Peter want us to understand about being ‘foreigners and exiles’? How does that status affect our abstaining from sinful desires? In what ways do those desires wage war against our soul?
Do you live sucha good life that even people who disagree with Christianity and see it as a problem, are impressed by your good deeds? How canw e ensure that it is God who is glorified, rather than us (you’re such a good person)?
Eph.4:1-16 Ideas for family Worship
For the next 4 weeks we’re going to keep thinking about the Church, but from a different angle. In our services we say the Nicene Creed when we are preparing to take Communion. In that we say that we believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. What does that mean? We’re taking each of those key words that describe the Church, and exploring them in our Services and Sunday Groups.
The word Creed is taken from the Latin word ‘Credo’, which means ‘I believe’. The Creed marks out the boundaries of what the Church believes. This is the core of what it means to be a Christian, and to be a Christian Church, so it’s worth understanding what it means. We spend a whole term at DTP exploring this as a foundation of life and faith, so don’t be deceived by it’s succintness and simplicity.
Maybe you could print it out and decorate it... and put it on the fridge. These are all things that all Christians have agreed that the Bible teaches. Maybe you could memorise it? (The Apostles’ Creed is shorter than the Nicene Creed)
Read Ephesians 4:1-16.
To speak of the Church as ‘One’ is to say we believe that all Christians who have ever lived are joined together in Christ and are united with one another. In the Bible we can see that God wants Christians to be able to express and experience that unity ...that togetherness.
There are all kinds of ways we can illustrate this. An airfix model? lego? ...anything where a ‘whole’ is comprised of many bits. Or a great image from the Bible is a loaf of bread. Why not bake one, and then look at I Cor.10:17. Think about our communion service where we all eat bits of bread taken from one loaf! what a great picture of our belonging together.
And here is this week’s Catechism Q&A (To Be a Christian Q&A 96):
In what sense is the Church ‘one’?
The Church is one because all its members form the Body of Christ, having ‘one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all’ (Eph.4:5-6). The Church is called to embody this unity in all relationships between believers
Pause for thought:
Have think about what kind of things causes Christians to fall out? Why do Christians start so many different Churches? do you think this is something God is pleased with?
In our passage Paul gives us some tools to help us keep the unity of the Spirit. He tells us to be humble, patient, gentle, loving. How do these help us to stay united?
How can you pray as a family for the unity of the Church? Are there people you know who have fallen out?
And if you want to take this a step further:
Communion isn’t the only thing that keeps us together. Everything about our faith works for our unity. We have ONE baptism, ONE Lord, ONE faith. We share in ONE Holy Spirit. And we worship the ONE God who is Father of us all! We are all growing to be like Jesus. A fun way to illustrate this is to draw a circle and put some dots around the edge of the circle. As the dots move towards the centre, they also get closer to each other! (OK – maybe fun was a strong word!!). As we all grow towards Jesus, we grow towards each other!
And there is one more tool to help us keep our unity! Jesus has put people in the Church who will teach us the Bible (Apostles, we’ll look at them in a couple of weeks; Prophets; Pastor-Teachers and Evangelists, who teach the Bible to people who aren’t Christians yet!). As we listen to those people teach us, and as we learn and believe more and more of what the Bible says, we’ll find that we all agree more and more with each other! If a lots of pianos are tuned to the same tuning fork, they will all be in tune with each other. One of the reasons it is so dangerous to say we’re not going to believe something the Bible teaches – we are making it more likely that we will fall out and divide the Church!
How do you as a family engage with the Scriptures? ...and with the teaching of the Scriptures at MIE? This is a great opportunity to model to your children how to listen to the Bible as the Word of God.
Why not memorise Ps.119:96-97, To all perfection I see a limit, but your commands are boundless. Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
Dear God, We Thank you for all the blessings you give us day by day. We thank you that you love us and help us but we know we don’t live as we know we should.
We’re sorry for the times we hurt You through my words, actions and bad thoughts. We’re sorry that we don't do what we know is right. Please forgive us because of Jesus, and help us by your Spirit to live as you say we should.
Amen
Eph.4:1-16 Bible Study
What a glorious challenge! To ‘live a life worthy of the calling you have received’! Paul has laid out a vision of our experience of the love of God we have experienced in Christ. Something, Paul tells us, that has been on God’s heart since before the creation of the world (1:4-10). Paul has taken us across the landscape of the Gospel, helping us to understand God’s vision and purpose for the Church, and then he inspires us to live up to our identity, our destiny, our purpose.
I wonder what images and ideas that conjures up in your mind and imagination? What would be the first thing Paul would expect to see in a life worthy of the calling to be a child of God? Perhaps unexpectedly, Paul seizes on the question of unity as of first and highest priority in this. Someone who understands what it means to be a Christian, will be someone deeply and personally committed to the unity of the Church. Paul gives us the tools to fashion that unity in lived experience in our own congregation (4:2-3); and the spiritual framework that makes that unity so necessary. It remains a gift of grace, bestowed by the risen and ascended Christ (vv.7-11), but that is not an excuse for our passivity in the face of such a high and holy calling. It is worth pondering how we are active in cultivating that unity, and how we protect it when facing the temptation to behave in ways that undermine it.
The building of that unity is profoundly connected in Paul’s thinking to the question of truth and of our shared understanding and experience of Christ. The current Church of England mantra about the wonders of a ‘broad’ Church where people believe contradictory things about Jesus, is a recipe for disaster, and is likely contributing to the implosion of the Anglican Church as we know it in this country. It pulls in exactly the opposite direction to the course charted by the Apostle towards a unity ‘of the Spirit’ that is founded on speaking truth in love.
That’s as true in any individual congregation as it is in a denomination. Paul anticipates a growing stability and agreement to develop as the Scriptures are taught (vv.14-16). That stability and agreement is focussed on Christ, and works itself in to the fellowship of the Church as it shapes us in to those who love Christ and each other in deeply practical ways. Those two are inextricably linked, and it is hard to convey the spiritual dissonance that exists when people say they love God, yet are distant from the Church. We are saved into the people of God. We cannot envisage spiritual life without reference to our relationship with other Christians. We cannot love Christ, and not love those who also love Him.
Questions
Under what circumstances do you think it would be legitimate to leave a Church? How would you advise someone who was thinking of leaving their Church? What sort of reasons to people give for leaving Churches?
Have you ever left a Church? Would you be prepared to share the story? How do you feel about it now?
Do you think MIE should leave the Church of England if Synod and the House of Bishop change the Church’s Law on marriage later this year?
How can we cultivate a deeper sense of fellowship at MIE?
Read Eph.4:1-16
What does complete humility look like? How can we develop this?
How can we be gentle, patient and bear with one another when they behave in ways that frustrate us, hurt us, and provoke us? What does it mean to bear with someone? What if they don’t change? How long should we be prepared to behave this way?
Is Paul saying we can’t confront or challenge someone who is behaving in ways that annoy us? When should we raise this issue with the leadership of the Church?
Paul lists seven things there are ‘one’ of in vv.4-6. How does each of these motivate and inspire us in our efforts to ‘keep the unity of the Spirit’?
Based on what you read in this passage, what role do the Scriptures have in building and sustaining the unity of the Church?
How do those entrusted to preach and teach the Scriptures ‘equip’ you for works of service?
How does false teaching and deceitful teachers damage the unity of the Church?
Would you say that MIE was a Church that was growing and building itself up in love? Is it a Church in which each part does it work? Can you pray for each other in your group as you serve the ministry and mission of the Church?
Ideas for Family Worship Numbers 24:1-19
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Num.24:1-19 Bible Study
Looking at the whole story of Balaam (Num.22-25) is a bizarre experience. For some, the existence of narratives such as this – with a talking donkey - simply affirms that the Bible belongs in the realm of myth and fairy tales, albeit fairy tales with a moral. But even within the Bible's account there is the awareness that this is a unique moment, an exception to the way the world is. As a rule, animals don't talk. So why is the rule broken?
A prophet-for-hire has been employed to curse the Church. It gives us insight into the nature of God who deigns to speak through him in spite of all the ambiguities, and into the nature of inspiration. The Lord's desire to bless His people is abundantly clear throughout. In the end it is only their sin that brings curse (in line with the Mosaic pronouncements of Deut.28). But the Lord's desire is to bless an obedient people.
We are shown the dynamics of inspiration - which remain as important in today's Church as in the Church of Moses' day. Can we trust those who speak by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Are their words exclusively the result of the Spirit's work, or are they a mixture of divine and human origins? Can a prophet get things wrong while speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Or could a prophet's human motivation somehow undermine what they say? All such questions are answered through the account of Balaam. As Balaam himself puts it repeatedly: 'Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?' (Num.23:12, see II Pet.1:19-21, and I Cor.2:10-14).
So why the talking donkey? Well... when you see Balaam's greed and his betrayal of the people of God (Num.31:8 & 15-16) perhaps the analogy comes into focus. The stubborn mule who cannot utter a word on its own takes on the role of Balaam himself, and Balaam's struggle to simply get the beast to do what he wants gives us insight into the LORD's own frustration at the recalcitrance of a wayward prophet determined to go their own way. As Balaam would have killed the donkey with his sword, so the Angel of the Lord is waiting to slay Balaam (Num.22:29-33). Balaam gets to see his behaviour from the Lord's perspective (see Ps.32:8-9). Unfortunately, even such revelation does not halt his descent into spiritual treachery. Balaam knows that the only way God will come against His own people is if they capitulate to sin. His counsel to Balak then is to have the Moabite women to seduce the Israelites, both sexually and spiritually (Num.25:1-2). The God who desires to bless His obedient people now stands against them in their unfaithfulness and disobedience, '...and those who died in the plague numbered 24,000' (Num.25:9).
Balaam thus earned his wages. Unfortunately, in spite of the short term monetary gain, the wages of sin remain what it has always been: death (Num.31:8, Rom.6:23).
Questions:
Is this how you understand the idea of the Inspiration of the Bible? How does what we believe about the Bible shape our attitude to it? What would you say someone believed if their engagement with Scripture amounted to only a few minutes each day?
Why do you think preaching is so undervalued in the Church today?
How has this series in Numbers challenged you? ...inspired you? ...changed your thinking about God, or the Church? What is different for you going forward?
Do you think MIE has learned the lessons God would want to teach the Church in the Book of Numbers?
Have another look at I Peter 1:10-12. How do Balaam’s prophecies speak of the grace that was to come to [us]? How do they predict the suffering and glories of Christ? How do they serve [us]?
What does it teach us that after everything that has happened, it still pleases the LORD to bless Israel (Num.24:1)?
What can we learn about the experience of being inspired by the Holy Spirit from what Balaam says (24:3-4 & 12-16)?
To what extent do you think the prophecy in 24:17-19 is about Jesus? What parts encourage you? What parts do you struggle with? Why?
Family Worship Ideas - Numbers 20: 1-13
Here is the Family worship Ideas based on this weeks passage Numbers 20:1-13 Click on the Down load button to access the PDF.
Num.20:1-13 Bible Study
One of the most traumatic things we can experience is the death of someone we love and have shared life with. Even when we know they were a Christian, so that grief is tinged with hope, it can still be a horrendous experience to live through (I Thess.4:13). Miriam had been so incredibly significant in the life of the Church (e.g. Ex.15:20-21), and of Moses. This profoundly personal loss must have created a fault line in Moses’ emotional landscape... which might perhaps explain his signal failure in the incident that followed.
I’m sure the ‘gathering in opposition’ in v.2 wasn’t premeditated to take advantage of Moses in this moment of vulnerability. It is probably more likely that they simply didn’t think to give Moses space to grieve. A congregation can often see an ‘office’ rather than a ‘person’ in their leader, and are often unaware of them struggling with all the pain and pressures of life that everyone else struggles with, and even less aware of the stresses and temptations that are unique to those in spiritual leadership. Did it simply not occur to them that, whatever their issues might be, there could be compassion, wisdom, gentleness is giving Moses space to grieve before grumbling, criticising and complaining against him in this way (v.3-4)? Probably not. We fallen humans can even in our redemption, be a remarkably egocentric bunch at times. And even when we know our leaders are under personal pressure, we can still expect them to be available... the good news is that it may be they learned from this episode, and when Aaron died (20:27-29), the whole Church took 30 days to mourn.
But for Moses the convergence of his personal grief and pressure of another round of public criticism and complaint has tragic consequences. The pressures he has lived with since confronting Pharaoh and leading the Church out of Egypt has had an accumulative effect. The people’s relentless and pathetic infatuation with Egypt has eroded his patience and humility. His personal loss has left him uniquely susceptible to temptation. They blame him for what their own sin had caused. And yet whilst his impatience, frustration and anger may seem justified – or at least justifiable – to us, it constituted an act of disobedience that had disastrous consequences. However true his allegation against the Church might appear (you rebels... v.10), it was not his place to judge. It remained his place rather to teach the Church and to model the implicit obedience Christ will only ever show to His Father (Jn.5:19). A new generation of the Church is growing up, and it is crucial they see that obedience is non-negotiable, and that the Word of the Lord is sufficient.
Questions:
This is a significant moment that ripples through Scripture. One such ‘ripple’ is Psalm 95, which embeds it in the corporate worship of the Church.
Does what we see of God in Num.20:1-13 inspire you to worship? Or does God’s dealing with Moses raise too many questions for you?
What other grounds in Ps.95 are we given for worshipping Him? Which of these speak particularly to you? Why?
In Ps.95:8-9, the Lord complains that the Church should have learned by then to trust His faithfulness. Why had the Church not learned these basic lessons even so far into their wilderness experience? Why were they still so nostalgic for Egypt (Num.20:3-5)? Why were they still quarrelling?
How do we exhibit the same reticence to learn the basic lessons of Christian discipleship?
What does it mean that the first generation of the Church (apart from Caleb and Joshua) never entered His rest?
...and back to Num.20.
How do we ‘quarrel’ with the Lord? Based on this passage, how serious would it be to do so?
Have you ever seen a Church leader treated in the way Moses is being treated here?
What are the critical errors Moses makes in 20:10-11? How are they expressions of his distrust of the LORD (20:12)?
Do you think Moses disobedience is sufficiently serious to warrant the punishment he receives (20:12)?
How does this episode ‘prove’ the Lord was holy amongst His people (20:13)?
Numb.16:1-34 Bible Study
In the sermon this week, I focussed on the key idea running through this passage – the importance of ensuring that Christ is exclusively shaping and structuring our relationship with God. This is linked to His office as our ‘great High Priest’ (Heb.4:14). That’s why Aaron is the focus of this latest outbreak of grumbling and resentment in the Church. He is the ‘actor’ who represent Christ in the drama of worship that is played out at the Tabernacle. He is like a living, breathing visual aid, and when we watch him fulfilling the office and ministry of High Priest, we are being shown what Jesus will do. It’s an important – if often neglected – dimension to the corporate worship of the Church that it is designed to teach us the Gospel. If it doesn’t model the Gospel, it is immediately sub-Christian!
Of course Aaron is only an actor. As Hebrews teaches us many generations later, those like Aaron who play the part of Jesus are themselves ‘subject to weakness’. Consequently, they have to offer sacrifices again and again, ‘for their own sin as well as for the sins of the people’ (Heb.5:2-3). When Christ is called as High Priest, He sacrifices for the sins of the people once for all when He offers Himself (Heb.7:27). But for all the inbuilt inadequacies, there is much about Aaron that helps us understand Jesus. And because of that, it is incredibly important that the ancient Church learns to accept his role, and to learn from it. The LORD has chosen who will be holy and who will come near to Him (16:5). It is Christ. And anyone else who wants to approach the Living God must do so, and can only do so through Him.
That – in part – explains what happens in the rest of Numbers 16-19. In the wake of this rebellion (see Num.26:9), the Lord re-iterates in a number of ways the centrality of the ministry of the High Priest. It is the High Priest alone who can make atonement, and who stands between the living and the dead, and who alone can stop the plague that is the expression of the wrath of God (16:42-50). It is the High Priest that can bring life out of death (17). And after these drama-tic teaching moments, the Lord then hands down a raft of new legislation that relates to the Levitical Priesthood.
All are powerful and pictorial representations of Christ’s ministry. He has forged the way into the Presence of the living God. Our sincerity is not the criteria by which God accepts us. Neither is what may seem meaningful, or spiritual to us. The only grounds for acceptance by God is the question fo whether it is structured and mediated by the High Priest, His beloved Son, who He gave to death on the cross. To spurn this is indeed ‘insolent’ (16:1)
Questions:
In 16:3, the reason given for rejecting the High Priesthood of Aaron is ‘the whole community is holy, everyone of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD’s assembly?’. What contemporary equivalents of this argument have you come across over the years? Why is this spurious reasoning?
What is going on in 16:12-14? Why do they describe Egypt the way they do? How can they have such a ‘romanticised’ view of Egypt when it was actually a place of slavery and death? What is the charge they are bringing against Moses and Aaron (and by implication, against the Lord)?
Why is Moses so angry in 16:15? Is it appropriate for him to ask the Lord not to receive the worship of others in the people of God? Is that something we could ever pray today?
Why does the Lord invent a ‘new thing’ to deal with those caught up in Korah, Dathan and Abiram’s rebellion? What is the significance of their going ‘down alive into the realm of the dead’ (16:30 & 33)? Does the Bible really think the ‘realm of the dead’ is under the ground?
It is a bit harsh to say they treated the Lord with contempt (16:30)?
What would you say to someone who called themselves a Christian, but who didn’t allow Jesus to structure their relationship with God, or the way that worked out in their lives?
What would you say to someone who said they didn’t need to become a Christian because they had their own genuinely meaningful spirituality that they felt connected them with God?
Read Jude 11. Why does Korah get a mention here? What does that teach us about how to apply this story into the life of the New Testament Church?
And if you still have time:
In the sermon, I also mentioned the Sons of Korah and their stepping back from their family’s fate (Num.26:11). The appearance of their work in the Book of Psalms is an important testimony to the grace of God in the face of judgment, and reminds us that there is no necessity for any to face that judgment. It takes a deliberate defiance to refuse to repent. Ps.42-49 explore what its like to live in this fallen world waiting for the return of Christ in glory, anticipating various aspects of the Church’s destiny when He does return. Ps.84-5 speak of the kind of longing for the Lord that only comes from those who have sacrificed much for Him. Ps.87 rejoices in the international nature of the Church. If you have time though, it might be worth turning up Ps.88, and reading it in the light of Numbers 16.
Questions:
What stands out to you with new meaning, or what takes on a new signifigance, when you do that?
In what sort of situation would you find Psalm 88 useful to read?
What can you learn from Ps.88 about the experience of stepping away from family and friends to be identified with those who trust in Christ as high Priest?
How do you think the Sons of Korah would have felt looking back on the events of Num.16? How would it have shaped the way they lived and worshipped?
Num.16:1-34 Ideas for family worship
It’s great story, and one that a lot of children will enjoy! But what does it mean? well, if you’ve followed along with the sermon and perhaps dipped into the Bible Study notes for Num.16 you should have a pretty good idea that the focus is on the role and work of the High Priest (representing Jesus), and the fact that He is the only way for us to access the life of God. That’s probably where I would start any discussion or teaching on this passage: Why can we not just get to God ourselves?
Once you get past that into a discussion of the High Priest, and his ministry, the key ideas are about the fact that it is the Lord who gets to set the terms of our worship, and to choose who can have access to Him. It is nothing short of presumption to start anywhere else than there. And He chooses a High Priest. More specifically, He choose His own Son as High Priest (see Heb.4:14-5:10 if you want to unpack this). He approaches the Father – and anyone else who wants to has to go with Him. This is great news and gives us incredible confidence – we know the Father accepts His Son.
The idea of representation is an easy one to explore. Depending on age the idea of sports team representing a country (or a town); an MP representing people in their constituency; or an ambassador representing their government might all help.
In a similar way, Christ represents us in the throne room of heaven! There is no one better to trust to work in our best interests. The costume of the High Priest visualises this for us. He carries on his shoulder two onyx stones on which are engraved the names of the 12 tribes of Israel, literally carrying the Church into the heavenly throne room, as He appears before the Father with the blood of His sacrifice. Imagine a child being lifted up to on their parent’s shoulders to see something they couldn’t see on their own – that’s a pretty good picture of what’s going on!
Once we get past the drama of Num.16:25-34, it is worth pointing out that God isn’t being unfair in His dealing with these trouble-makers and their families and followers. There are two critical things to remember. The first is that the result of trying to get to God iwthout Jesus is always death. The second is that no-one actually had to suffer this fate! In fact we’re told in Num.26:11 that not everyone did. Some of Korah’s descendants wanted to stand with Christ, rather than with their families who rejected Christ.
This is such a rich (if quite challenging) area to explore. As parents it gives us a chance to help our children think through what it means to choose to follow Christ even when other important people in our lives choose not to. The danger of being carried along by other people’s decisions is one we will want them to recognise and avoid.
But one of my favorite obeservations on this whole incident is the realisation that the Sons of Korah can teach us a lot about how to approach God properly in worship. It might be good to explore one of the Psalms written by the Sons of Korah! One of the easiest would be Ps.45, which describes the wedding of Christ and the Church (Eph.5:25-27; Heb.1:8-9). Older hcildren might appreciate Ps.42-44 though, which explores what it feels like to live in a fallen world, waiting for Christ to come and fix it!
A great memory passage for this week might be from another Sons of Korah Psalm: 85:6-7, Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you?Show us your unfailing love Lord, and grant us your salvation’. Worth praying that together as a family!!
Num.13-14 Ideas for Family Worship
Because it was an all age service last Sunday we had a shorter reading (Num.13:26-14:9). It was a great reading, but it is in fact part of a longer story (Num.13-14). I’ll leave it to yourdiscretion how much of it you want to tell or read as you build a Family Worship session around the passage. U+you can download a single-side-of-A4 version of this here:
In the great drama of our salvation that is played out on the stage of Gen-Joshua, the Promised land is teaching us all about the New creation. The idea in Chap.13 is that these spiritually responsible leaders (likely from amongst those who had sat with the Lord in Ex.24:9-11) were to bring back a report that would inspire the rest of the Church to pursue God’s vision of their life together. With their redemption fresh in their minds, with the presence of the Lord in their midst, and with the hope of their God-given future before them, they would be unstoppable!
The whole idea of having a secure and well informed hope for our New Creation future is critical to our being able to live as disciples today. This is a fairly straightforward idea to get across to anyone who has sat an exam! Something you know will happen in the future affects how you feel and what you do today. A conscientious student will forego hobbies, social events, TV, Game-play and so on in order to prepare for their future (Exam!). Sometimes people even miss Church when exams are getting close! That might be something you’d want to talk about as a family!!
So, looking forward to the New Creation is very different from looking forward to exams (maybe, planning for a holiday would be a better image to work with!!), but the idea that a future anticipation can affect us and shape us today is a dynamic we can cultivate however old we are. For someone like Paul, his hope for the New Creation helped him when he was facing struggle and persecution (e.g. Rom.8:18). And we can see how dangerous it is when we don’t believe the New Creation is for us.
So – what do we know about the New Creation? What can we learn even from Num.13:23-27?
A great way in might be to read the closing sections of Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan. OK – so the whole of Pilgrim’s Progress is always worth a visit. you can watch a pretty good animation of it on Youtube, here.
Or perhaps ‘My first books...’ sections 212-217. Or for older children/youth, ‘To be a Christian’ Q&A 144-120. If you did get a copy of The-Ology, the Ch.62-65 are pretty amazing ways of getting a really tangible sense of the New Creation hope we have.
Talking about what we are looking forward to about New Creation life is bound to get exciting (if at times prompting some unexpected answers). And spending some time praying that the Holy Spirit would help us know the hope we have is something Paul teaches us to do. Why not re-write Eph.1:17-21 in your own words, and use it as a family prayer? ...perhaps each person could pray for one of the things Paul teaches us to pray about? You could trace around your hand and break the prayer in five, writing each part on a different finger / thumb, and praying them every day this week...
For older children, I’d suggest a second part of the conversation can focus on the mistakes made by the ten spies who are crippled by unbelief. What is the mistake they are making? Why is the Church more inclined to listen to them than to Caleb and Joshua? How can we avoid making the same kind of mistakes ourselves?
Oh – and if it’s your kind of thing, you can get grasshoppers to eat (13:32-33)! How you get that into family devotions, I’ll leave to your imagination!!
Num.13-14 Bible Study
As last Sunday was an All Age service, we had a truncated reading (13:26-14:9). But really, the story stretches through all of Chap.13-14. Parts of it are fairly well known, but the profound dangers of the issue it exposes can easily be missed in the drama of the moment.
The idea in Chap.13 is that these spiritually responsible leaders (likely from amongst those who had sat with the Lord in Ex.24:9-11) were to bring back a report that would inspire the rest of the Church to pursue God’s vision of their life together. With their redemption fresh in their minds, with the presence of the Lord in their midst, and with the hope of their God-given future before them, they would be unstoppable! It’s a matrix that should continue to frame Christian spirituality. When we remember what we have been saved from and how; when we experience the presence of the Lord in our midst, and when we are focussed on the hope set before us, the Church is unstoppable. This is what shapes Paul’s prayer for the Church in e.g. Eph.1:17-21, and it might be worth stopping as a group and spending some time praying the same for MIE!
Numbers 13 then was all about establishing their hope in the New Creation Inheritance God had promised His people. There were battles and challenges ahead, but with a clear vision of their future, they would step into them with courage and expectant faith! The reality of what happened fell somewhat short of that intention. They were so close, and yet so far. All twelve of the spies did in fact grasp the glory of the Promised Land: ‘It does flow with milk and honey’ (13:28). It’s the next word that does all the damage: ‘But...’. It is so easy to hear everything God says to us, but... to know what we are called to, but... to realise the incredible privileges and responsibilities the Lord gives us, but...
And which side of that ‘but’ you stand decides a great deal about your life as a Christian. Caleb and Joshua saw everything the other ten did. They saw nothing different, but everything differently. Whereas the ten saw themselves as unable to stand against the obstacles to God’s promises (13:33), Caleb and Joshua saw those obstacles as unable to stand against the Church stepping into God’s promises. The difference is perspective. Your perspective on Christ that is. How you see Him determines how you see everything else.
Questions:
What is Moses trying to establish by asking the spies about the aspects of the land listed in 13:17-20? Why does he want some fruit brought back? What achieves the same purpose in our own discipleship?
Why are the congregation of Israel more inclined to listen to the ten, rather than to Caleb (13:30) and Joshua (14:6-9)? How can we guard ourselves against making the same mistake today?
In Josh.2:8-11, we hear how the Canaanites saw Israel (granted it is 40 years later, but I doubt much has changed). In the light of Rahab’s speech, what is wrong with the spies’ report in Num.13:27-29, and 13:31-33.
What accounts for the attitude of the people in 14:2-4? What does it say about their understanding of the Lord? How can they still desire Egypt? Why can they not accurately remember the reality of their experience there?
This isn’t the first time the Church has behaved in this way (see Num.11:1-6; Ex.16:2-3). Why can they not learn this lesson? How should we behave if we keep falling into the same pattern of sin? What do we need from each other, and from our Church? When is it right to comfort, and when to rebuke?
Are you ever tempted to think that life would be better if you weren’t a Christian? Do you sometimes find yourself envious of those who don’t follow Jesus? What is that like? How do you resist such temptations?
Do you think the Lord’s response to the ten is fair (14:36-38)? Why does He take it so seriously? What has been the impact of their unbelief? Is it fair that the whole Church is treated as it is because of the failure of these ten (see 14:26-35)?
Do you think the Lord still deals with His people in this way? What might it look like for a Church today to be similarly disciplined by the Lord?
What difference does your hope in the New Creation make to daily life? How could you tell whether a Church was rooted in such a hope?
How does what you believe about the future express itself in your discipleship?
Num.12:1-16 Bible Study
The Book of Numbers calls us to think through our vision of Church. It can so easily become a series of events I attend, or not; a friendship group, or in a crasser vein: a one-stop shop for my personal spiritual needs to be met, whilst I carefully avoid getting too involved. There are any number of variations on a theme, but they are all deeply inadequate. The Church is a body of people growing into God’s vision for their life together.
As the Lord sends the disciples to school in the Book of Numbers we find Him tackling the head on something that threatens the unity of the Church. It’s hard to pin down exactly what’s going on, which is true-to-life, in that sin is rarely a cut and dried thing. It travels in packs, and in this pack there is at least jealousy, pride, bitterness and resentment, but the flash-point seems to racism. Which fed which is anyone’s guess! It’s worth noting the stridency of the Lord’s response to racism in the heart of the Church. It is dealt with ‘at once’ (12:4).
The issue of racism is more complex than ever in our own culture. The whole concept risks being distorted and weaponised in our own context. In some quarters it has already been hijacked and turned into a new form of discrimination. It is a volatile subject in both personal and cultural experience, and we are naïve if we think it isn’t in the experience of the Church.
As we get into this passage, it might be worth remembering that someone once had a dream. As Martin Luther King stood on the steps of the Lincoln memorial he delivered one of the most famous speeches in recent history. He demanded that we never be satisfied as long as children – dare I say, of any race – are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity ... that we be not satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream... until one day those children will be judged not by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character ... until one day when freedom will ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and city, and we will be able to speed up the day when all God’s children, black and white, Jews and gentiles, Catholics and protestants will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old negro spiritual: Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we are free at last.
Questions:
Can the dream of a society without racism ever be realised outside of the Church? Could it be realised inside the Church? What constitutes a specifically Christian response to the sin of racism? How is it different from much of the discourse about race in our culture?
Hab.3:17 links Midian and Cush. Why do you think Zipporah’s ethnicity had never been a problem before? What might have triggered it at this point in the narrative of Numbers?
What else is going on along with the complaints about Moses’ wife? Do any of the other issues raised by Aaron and Miriam have validity?
How can we cultivate humility? Why is this point made about Moses at this point? How does it explain Moses response... or lack of one?
Is racism really such a big deal that it requires the Lord’s personal intervention like this (v.4)? Why / why not? Do you think it is something we need to worry about at MIE? How would you recognise it if it was?
Jesus picks this narrative up in john 5:36-38. What is the point he is making there? How does it connect with Numbers 12?
This passage is also picked up in Heb.3:1-6. What is the point being made there? How does it connect with Numbers 12?
Have a look at Lev.14:1-9 / 15:8. How does the Lord’s disciplining of Miriam underline the seriousness of her sin? Why does the camp stay in one place during the period of her exclusion?
How can you ‘make every effort ot keep the unity of the Spirit’ (Eph.4:1-6)?
Num.12:1-16 Ideas for family worship
Number 12 is a difficult passage to navigate in today’s political and cultural climate. The discussions are increasingly polarised, and our society’s attempts to confront racism constantly run the risk of being hijacked by virtue-signalling, and tokenism. This can make conversations about racism eve more complex, and many parents may feel this is simply a week to miss! Can I encourage you to explore this in your family worship time? Jesus thinks it is important enough to address (12:4), and that in itself should warn us of the dangers of ducking the issues!
In my sermon on this passage I sought to highlight the danger and the incongruity of racism in the Church by putting it against the backdrop of God’s vision for the Church as a multi-ethnic reality, characterised by unity without uniformity, and difference without division. That would be a great place to start any conversation. Col.3:11; Gal.3:28, Rev.7:9-12, Eph.4:1-6 would all be great passages to start with. One of those could easily be a memory verse / passage for the week!
How could you celebrate the way God brings us together from different cultures, countries and ethnicities, unites us in Christ, and dwells in us by His Spirit..?
Another way in might be to explore the idea that God doesn’t show partiality (Dt.10:17). Usually in the Bible this is about rich / poor divides (e.g. Job 34:19). Mind you, that is something else that brings division to Church life. How many Churches are divided along racial / ethnic groupings; or by ‘class’ or wealth lines? Why is this a bad thing? What other ways do we segregate Churches..? e.g. by age, culture, special interests? What do you think God thinks of Churches like that?
With older children / youth this could be a great opportunity to explore the difference between our culture’s response to racism (such as BLack Lives Matter) and something that is specifically Christian... How does a clear understanding of Church and discipleship teach us to be people who cannot be racist?
You might want to watch Martin Luther King’s speech from the Lincoln Memorial: I have a dream. You can see it here.
The Church of England Evangelical Council has produced a 30 minute video looking at the question of racism, ethnicity and justice. You might want to watch this as parents (rather than as a family) and use it to help you help your children think some of these issues through.
A very straightforward question to reflect on as a family might simply be: Is MIE racist? or: Are there racist people in our Church? And how would we know? It can feel combative, but can we have the conversation without prejudice? The reason after all that Numbers 12 is in the Bible is that - like all the lessons the Ancient Church had to learn - it is a sin that the Church will always have to be dealing with.
Prayer:
Merciful God,
you are righteous and love justice:
stir the hearts of your people that,
rejoicing in our diversity,
we may repent of the wrongs of the past,
and, by your grace, seek the peaceable kingdom of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Num.11:4-35 ideas for family worship
It’s a young Church, and it behaves in childish ways! Generally wailing when it doesn’t get what it wants!
This is a tricky passage to deal with at the level of Family Worship, especially with younger children, but the issue is basically focussed on what we want. The ‘rabble’ want what the world has to offer... conveniently forgetting the terrible price they would have to pay for the fleeting pleasures of sin (Heb.11:25). Forget the tyranny, slavery, and the death of our children – at least we’d have the chance to sink our teeth into a melon! It’s the kind of warped thinking that sin – and our desire for sin – produces. This could be a great teaching point! what does the world offer us... and what is the terrible price we’d have to pay! You could use adverts as a way of visualising some of this. How can we cultivate an appetite for the things of God? How can we be those who hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matt.5:6)? How can we long for the future He has redeemed us for? Do you present involvement in the life of the Church as something to be enjoyed? As a place where these appetites can be cultivated?
How do we change our appetites?
Another key theme is that of influence. This might be easier to work with as it feels less abstract. understanding the dynamics of influencing and being influenced. In crass terms, we often talk about role-models, or perhaps peer-pressure. Wanting to fit in is a God-given instinct. We are supposed to want to fit in with the Church and to find role models (I Cor.11:1 & Phil.3:17).
Timothy is told by Paul: ‘...set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity’ (I Tim.4:12), and the aspiration of Hebrews is that we would ‘imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised’ (6:12).
But this God-given dynamic can also be warped and become deeply problematic. We see this in Numbers 11, where the rabble actually influences the rest of the Church in a negative way that has a huge impact on the leadership!! Moses has a kind of spiritual breakdown.
Why not have a think about who could function as spiritual role models for your child(ren). As parents this is first and foremost our privilege, but it really helps when we have others around who re-inforce the example we are setting our children in loving the Lord (Deut.6:5-9). This can be god-parents, others from MIE, other Christian families that you build relationships with... pray about this as a family...
AND
think about how you can be an encouraging example to others. What can you do this week as a family, that would set a great example that could inspire others!
Num.11:4-35 Bible Study
So, we’re three days out from Sinai, and for the first time the Lord has brought them to a place where they can rest (10:33). His Presence is with them, protecting and shading them. Daily they gather the manna (literally heavenly food eaten by angels, see Ps.78:24-25). And bizarre though it may seem, they ‘began to crave other food’, and wailing about having been redeemed by the Lord. At least a proportion of the Israelites actually began to wish they could go back to their slavery... at least they had a varied diet.
The impact on Moses is a tragedy in its own right. Amongst the greatest pastors the Church has ever been blessed with, Moses has faithfully led the Israelites out of Egypt. He has been used by the Lord in singular ways to teach and structure the life and worship of this new-found people. He has modelled for them the glorious ministry of Christ their Mediator. He has taught them, interceded for them, led them, endured their grumbling, and their sullen reluctance to embrace the vision of life their Lord has held out to them. He is likely elated on their behalf at the success of their first journey. His own response has been one of worship as the Ark was settled back into its place in the Tabernacle (10:36). But his joy is punctured when he hears ‘the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents’ (11:10). He is overwhelmed and crushed that – in spite of everything they have experienced over the last year – they would reject the Lord’s purposes for them so fundamentally. To wish they had never been redeemed... to long not for the Land the Lord had promised them, but for a return to the tyranny and threat of Egypt... to refuse to trust that He could and would provide for them! Moses is pushed to the limit by their petulance, and is actually willing to die if that is the only way out (11:15). Their heart is revealed (Deut.8:2), and it is not a heart that trusts and delights in the Lord. Like Esau of old, they would sell their birth right for meal (Gen.25:29-34, contra Matt.4:1-3).
The Lord answers both prayers: Moses’ for help in bearing the burden of the people; and the peoples’ for meat. Though the manner of answering is radically different. Elders are raised up to share the burden of the people; and quail to a depth of 3ft falls daily on the camp. People literally had to wade through quail. But even this miraculous and extravagant provision doesn’t produce repentance; the people don’t confess the sinfulness of their failure to trust the Lord’s goodness. They ignored the Lord, and simply stuffed their faces for 24 hours straight (11:22-23). Finally, the Lord’s anger (and remember, he is slow to anger, so this is an extraordinary moment) could be constrained no longer! Their ingratitude and greed shows the idolatry of their own appetites. The people are given a terrifying lesson: sin only ever leads to death. To choose to be obsessed with our own appetites and desires, rather than with the Presence and provision of the Lord, is to be buried in ‘the graves of craving’.
Questions
In Exodus 16:31 the manna was said to taste of honey, but here in Num.11:8, it is said to ‘taste like something made with olive oil’. What’s changed? What is this teaching us about the spiritual dynamics of our own pilgrimage through the ‘wilderness’ of this age?
Can you understand someone who is offered the bread of angels to live on, but who would rather have the menu of 11:4-5? What is going on in their mind and heart?
Who do you think this ‘rabble’ is? Why are they spoken of in such disparaging terms?
Is Moses’ reaction (11:10-15) appropriate? ...understandable? ...sinful? Why does the wailing of the people have such a profound impact on the leadership? How does this insight into the experience of Church leadership effect the way you think about the relationship between a congregation and their leadership? How would that play out in MIE?
Seeking first the things of the Lord and trusting Him to provide for us remains one of the first lessons He would have us learn (Matt.6:33). From that passage in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt.6:25-34), what do we need to be convinced of before we can learn this lesson? Can you share from your own experience of being a Christian how this looks for you? Have you any stories you can share about when you experienced God’s provision after you first sought His Kingdom and righteousness?
Read Phil.4:10-13. How is Paul’s attitude different from that of the Israelites in Num.11? Why does Paul call the ability to be content a ‘secret’? How can we learn this secret? How can you spot a Christian who is content?
Do you think that all of the 70 elders were actually Christians (11:25)? What about Eldad and Medad (11:26)? Can you experience the Spirit, and even be caught up in the gifts of the Spirit and not be a Christian? Have a look at Heb.6:4-6. How can someone who has ‘shared in the Holy Spirit’ then fall away as in Heb.6:6? Do you think the parable in Heb.6:7-8 helps us understand Num.11 any better?
What do you make of 11:29? What would it mean if Moses wish were granted?
Num.9:1-14 Bible Study
Why are we starting in Numbers 9? Because strange though it first sounds, this is where the Book of Numbers starts. Compare Num.1:1 (the first day of the second month of the second year...) with Num.9:1 (the first month of the second year)... and we know it was before the 14th (9:3). Which raises the question, ‘Why 8 Chapters of legislative material before we get to the action?’. In part because Num.1-8 sets the context. It shows how everyone in the Church in connected to and invested in the ministry of the Tabernacle (i.e. the proclaiming of the Gospel to the nations). That extended introduction also contains the first census (numbering of the people) from which the Book takes its name. Before we get into the narrative of the journeyings of God’s people, we need to know who those people are, and what it is that defines them.
And so we join the ancient Church a year after their liberation from Egypt. That year has been spent en route from the land of their captivity (3 months) and then camped at the foot of Sinai. Whilst there they have been building the Tabernacle, and learning how to worship the LORD there. Now they are getting ready for their first ‘trial run’ (see 10:11-34 for the first 3-Day journey). Moving a mass of people the size of the Church is a huge logistical undertaking, and we learn the elegant organisation required. But first: Passover ‘...in accordance with all its rules and regulations’ (9:3).
That might seem restrictive. By and large, we don’t appreciate our worship being constrained by rules and regulations. In our time we tend to prize freedom (and in some cases, spontaneity) as marks of true, spiritual worship. But that is because, by and large, we have forgotten that as we worship in accordance with the Lord’s directives, He is teaching us about Christ: about His work for us, and about the discipleship to which He is calling us. This profound Spiritual dynamic in our gathered and formal worship might be news to us, but it has always characterised truly Christian worship. We need to step back from our obsession with what we want to say in worship, and learn to listen to what He wants to say, and with what He wants us to say!
Questions:
What does it mean to say that ‘some of them could not celebrate the Passover on that day because they were ceremonially unclean on account of a dead body’ (v.6)? Why does coming into contact with death mean they can’t join the worship of the people of God?
Is there anything today that would mean we can’t join the worship of the people of God? Can we be rendered unclean in the same way?
What is the attitude of those who were going to have to miss out on the celebration of the Passover? Do we ever feel the same about the corporate worship of God’s people?
Why is Moses so cautious about responding to the peoples’ question (v.8)?
Having read through Num.9:1-14, what would you make of someone who could in the worship of the Church, but decided not to? Why is the treatment of someone who could have celebrated the Passover but didn’t so severe? Should this be our attitude today?
How does the Passover teach us about Christ and the Gospel?
There is more going on here than you might realise. If you want to explore this further you can do so at the Jews for Jesus website.
Who is ‘the foreigner’ that the Lord has in mind in 9:14? What does this teach us about the nature of the Old Testament Church? How then should we respond to the idea that in the Old Testament, the Church is an ethnically specific reality (i.e. about a particular race)?
Num.9:1-14 Ideas for Family Worship
Why not have a simple Messianic Passover meal for dinner tonight? Roast lamb, pitta (unleavened bread), grape juice / wine, parsley (instead of bitter herbs) - I’ll leave it to you to decide whether to have salted water (to remember the tears shed). You could read the story of the Passover, or watch the film, ‘Prince of Egypt’ and talk about how Jesus is the fulfilment of the Passover. There are more complicated versions of the Messianic Passover on line, but this would get the idea across. There is a full account in Ex.12, and bit of liturgy that goes with the meal in Ex.13:14-16.
As you enjoy this simple meal together, talk as a family about what it means to live in a way that is enslaved to sin, under the tyranny of the devil, and under the shadow of death. And what it means to be liberated to live as the people of God. There are all kinds of bases you could hit, such as Jesus’ teaching in John 8:31-47; or exploring how ‘celebrity culture’ is born out of our fear of death; or exploring the difference between slavery and freedom, and what it means to be free as a Christian. You might find it helpful to connect it with Communion (see e.g.. Matt.26).
For younger children, you might find this a helpful resource:
Jesus Storybook Bible, ‘God to the rescue’, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDlWC0nQoOI
As parents we are chief evangelists and disciple-makers when it comes to our children. This gives us an incredible opportunity to talk with our children about what it means to trust in the death of Christ for salvation... why being good or having your own bespoke spirituality isn’t really going to help... we can talk with them about how the Lord delivered His people and then taught them how to live by giving them the 10 Commandments. We can explore what it means to be those who obey everything HE has commanded... and all in the context of a meal!!
Enjoy.
Zech.9:9-17 Bible Study
Zechariah is prophesying during the re-building of Jerusalem by those who have returned from exile. There weren’t as many of them as you’d like to think, and as it turns out they were fearful and easily intimidated by the locals. They had bribed officials, threatened open violence, and written to the king warning him that if Jerusalem was built, there would be sedition. All this conspired to bring the work of rebuilding Jerusalem to a standstill (Ezra 4:24). In response, the Lord raised up two preachers: the prophets Haggai, and Zechariah (Ezra 5:1).
We might feel that isn’t the most helpful of responses... and if that is the case, we’d have been even less impressed by Zechariah’s message. Faced with enemies all around, the idea of a lowly king riding on a donkey (Zech.9:9) hardly inspires courage and confidence. How little we understand the ways of the Lord. Zechariah’s message centres on the disturbing idea that the Lord is sovereign over the nations (even those who oppose Judah), and that as such He will draw them with His grace into the very Church they now oppose. Peace will extend across the nations. Shalom. Rest. This is something far more profound than victory through the domination, the annihilation of enemies. That is all we have the imagination to envisage. But the foolishness of God far transcends the wisdom of humanity, and His victory is not at the expense of righteousness (9:9). The meek will inherit the earth... and there is none more meek than the king who comes to us lowly and riding on a donkey.
Paul writes: God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Col.1:19-20). This is the blood of the covenant, the spilling of which was foreseen by the mighty Zechariah (9:11). The donkey-king comes to die, not kill; to be defeated not to defeat. And in that moment of inversion, He changes everything. A New Creation is inaugurated. A New Creation in which prisoners are rescued from pits, and are shackled to hope (9:12). A New Creation in which chariots and war-horses are taken away and battle-bows are broken (9:10). A New Creation in which the King will rule over those He has saved (9:16) with justice, and faithfulness, and integrity, making full provision for those in His care.
Questions:
How do you reconcile the picture of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey with the vision of Jesus we are presented with in Rev.19:11-21? Why are both needed? What happens if we only have the lowly Jesus on the donkey? ...and if we only have the war-wager on the white horse?
Which inspires a response of love, commitment and worship? Why?
What glimpses of Rev.19:11-21 can you see shining through in Zech.9:9-17 (you can take in the whole of Zech.9 here)? Can you see in Zechariah’s prophecy evidence of the King who ‘wages war’ (Rev.19:11)? How does that affect the way we read this prophecy being fulfilled on ‘Good Friday’ (e.g. Matt.21:1-11)?
What is the difference between meekness and weakness? How does meekness achieve such extraordinary results? Where have you seen meekness in action?
How does Jesus example help us as we find ourselves in situations where we too must refuse to resist an evil person, but rather turn the other cheek; or where we must love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us? Have you ever put such teaching (Matt.5:38-48) into practise? What happened?
Read Zech.9:13. Does Zechariah envisage the Church being implicated in the execution of God’s judgment against the sons of Greece? How do you make sense of that? Have a look at I Cor.6:1-3. What does this mean?
What is there about the New Creation that really captures your imagination? How does your vision of the New Creation shape your experience of discipleship here and now?
end note on Zech.9:13. After Alexander the Great defeated Persia (and during his campaigns Syria, Tyre, Sidon and Philistia was conquered as per Zech.9:1-8), the Jews did in fact fight the Greeks, and gained an incredible victory. Alexander died unexpectedly in 323 BC, and his empire was divided into four. A ruler called Antiochus eventually ruled over one of these fragments, and against the background of a growing Roman Empire, sought to instil unity by in his realm around his pagan Greek culture. When the Jews resisted, it resulted in war during which the Jewish forces under Judas Maccabeus won a series of stunning and frankly, unlikely, victories. This secured a century of independence until the Romans invaded in 63 BC.
Family Worship ideas for Holy Week
So here is link to a PDF doc that lays out activities, discussion starters, prayers etc. for use thorughout the week running up to Easter:
Entering as a family into a period such a holy week gives you the chance to work on something over a few days. Something as simple as printing off depictions of key events throughout the week (or printable colouring pages) which can be put up in the home. That can create a montage of Jesus’ journey through the cross to resurrection.
There are so many incredible ways of talking about all that Jesus acheives in His Passion. We all face the temptation to reduce this moment to a single idea - often something such as forgiveness of sins. As true as that may be, it falls drastically short of all the Bible has to teach us. His death is about victory over evil, cleansing the whole of creation (including us!), redeeming death so that it is no longer something we need to fear but becomes a servant that carries us to Christ, it gives us an example to follow, a revelation of God’s heart to delight in, and a vision of true spiritual power to develop. His resurrection is not simply His triumph over death. It is the birth of a new creation, our being ushered into a new way of Divine living. It is the securing of our future, the fulfilling of the past Levitical Priesthood, and the guarantee of our righteousness.
As a parent (or grandparent) you might it helpful to revisit out Jesus Centred Life term on the Work of Christ. that will give you plenty of ideas about how to talk with your kids about all that is acheived in the first Easter. Or if you are using ‘To be A Christian’, have a look at Q&A 59-70… I’ve included them here in case its useful. If it isn’t, jsut stop reading here - there’s nothing else after the questions below except one other downloadbale idea - the Holy Week Calendar!
59. Why did Jesus suffer?
Jesus suffered as a sacrifice for our sins so that we could have peace with God, as prophesied in the Old Testament: “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 52:13–53:12, see 53:5; John 1:29; Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4)
60. In what ways did Jesus suffer?
On earth, the incarnate Son shared physically, emotionally, and spiritually in the temptations and sufferings common to all people, yet without sin. In his agony and desolation on the Cross, he uniquely suffered in my place for my sins and, in so doing, revealed God’s love and compassion for fallen and suffering humanity. (Psalm 22:1–24; Matthew 4:1–10; 27:26–50; Hebrews 4:14–16)
61. How do Jesus’ sufferings help you?
Jesus has experienced our sufferings, understands our sorrows, and is able to sympathize with our weakness. Therefore, I should bear my sufferings with perseverance and hope, for my Savior is with me in them, and through them I will come to know him more fully. ( Job 9:32–35; Psalm 22:22–26; Isaiah 53:4–7; Luke 4:1–13; Hebrews 4:14–5:10)
62. Why does the Creed say that Jesus suffered under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate?
The Creed thus makes clear that Jesus’ life and death were real events that occurred at a particular time and place in Judea in the first century AD. (Psalm 2:1–6; Luke 3:1–2; 23; Acts 4:24–28).
63. What happened at Jesus’ crucifixion?
Jesus was executed as a common criminal. He was scourged, mocked, and nailed to a Cross outside the walls of Jerusalem. Though believing in christ humanly a miscarriage of justice, his execution fulfilled God’s plan of salvation. (Psalm 22:1–21; Isaiah 53:8; Matthew 27:22–26)
64. What did Jesus accomplish on the Cross?
Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures by dying on the Cross as a sacrifice for sin in obedience to his Father. He thereby showed the depth of the love of God for his fallen creation, satisfying the justice of God on our behalf and breaking the power of sin, Satan, and death. (Leviticus 23:18–21; Psalm 34:15–22; Colossians 2:13–15; Hebrews 10:11–14)
65. What does Jesus’ death mean for you?
Jesus bore my sins and died the death that I deserve, so that I could be saved from sin and eternal condemnation and reconciled to God. (Psalm 32:1–2; Isaiah 53:10–12; Matthew 20:28; Romans 5:8–10; 2 Co rin thi ans 5:17–21)
66. Why does the Creed make a point of saying that Jesus died?
The Creed makes the point to emphasize that Jesus died a real, bodily death such as all people face because of our sins. (Psalm 22:14–15; Isaiah 53:8–9; Matthew 27:45–50; John 19:30–35)
67. Why does the Creed emphasize Jesus’ death in this way?
The Creed emphasizes Jesus’ death to counter suspicions that Jesus did not truly die on the Cross, to celebrate the fact that he died there to secure our salvation, and to prepare our minds to grasp the glory of his bodily resurrection. ( John 19:31–34; 1 John 5:6–8)
68. What does the Creed mean by saying that Jesus descended to the dead?
That Jesus descended to the dead means that he truly died and entered the place of the departed. (Psalm 16:9–10; Acts 2:25–32; Ephesians 4:9–10; 1 Peter 3:18–19)
9. What does the Creed mean when it affirms that Jesus rose again from the dead?
It means that Jesus was not simply resuscitated; God restored him physically from death to life in his resurrected body, never to die again. His tomb was empty; Jesus had risen bodily from the dead. The risen Jesus was seen by his apostles and hundreds of other witnesses. (Psalm 30:1–5; Luke 24:1–12; John 20:1–18; Acts 1:3; 1 Corinthians 15:3–8)
70. What kind of earthly life did Jesus have after he rose from the dead? Following his resurrection, Jesus spent forty days visiting and teaching his followers. He appeared to his disciples, spoke to them, invited them to touch him and see his scars, and ate with them. (Luke 24:13–49; John 20:19–29; Acts 1:1–8)
this idea can be downloaded here.