Sunday, May 27, 2012

On 6-3-12 Exodus 23:1-9 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Rules for Just Living aka Practice Justice.






Rules for Just Living
Or
Practice Justice
Exodus 23:1-9
International Sunday School Lesson
June 3, 2012



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough



Folks, sometimes I really do work on these lessons too early in the morning, let me explain.  The first thought that came to my mind when I read today’s scripture was one word, “Really?!”  I mean, really, this even needs saying?  I cannot imagine any that belong to God need to be told to not spread malicious gossip, or lie, or that it is ever right to be a part of a mob thinking that anonymity makes it okay to be in the wrong for any reason.  It seems funny that those who are His would need to be told not to be unjust, unfair or not to be prejudiced.

We could go on but the guilt started to descend upon me as I woke up and I realized that unfortunately yes, this scripture, these laws and rules were needed both then and now.  At the time that these laws were given we should understand that these are the foundations for order of a newly birthed nation and were directed to a whole people, the people of Israel.  Though recently freed from bondage by miraculous means and as one cohesive unit had said they would do everything the Lord commanded, these are the people that were called a stiff-necked people just 9 chapters further along in this book of Exodus.

Stiff-necked people need rules to live by and some will follow God’s commands and some will not.  At best even those that are His will be obedient only part of the time.  When we are stiff-necked we are like a horse that refuses to obey the rider and these laws deal with us at those times.

Of course you will need to go to Exodus 21 and read from that point forward to see the laws God gave to Israel regarding servants, personal wrongs, property rights, Sabbath rules and so on. 

Today’s reading dealing with legal matters are just one more cog in this system that our God of order gave to His chosen people to set them apart from the other nations and this makes me think of one other thing.  This system, in a manner of speaking, was once upon a time the basis for a new country—the United States of America.

We may have slipped a long way as a country but it is still thrilling to think about the country that came into being that still has “In God We Trust” emblazoned on its currency.  That was the faith upon which our country was founded.  America believed in the God of the Bible and her judicial system in no small measure followed the rules laid out by God from the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 to the laws of justice we read of in today’s scripture.

Just like the people of Israel there are plenty of stiff-necked people here too that need to be told that God expects certain behavior and if it isn’t forthcoming there are repercussions.  Just as with Israel the closer we stay on track in following the commands of God the more blessed and protected we have been.  But the further we come from this standard and the more we violate them and denounce and turn our back on them the more punishment we will see just like Israel.

Let’s be frank, we know that as Christians, not just from the United States but united in our faith all over the world that we have seen false reports even in our houses of worship, we have seen Christians who went with the crowd with bad results, and all types of prejudice I am sorry to say.  But you and I can stand for the oppressed.  You and I can defend the falsely accused, stand against the mobs, and be there for the poor.  We can live to not create enemies but mend the relationship with those who have chosen to make us theirs.

Never forget that like Israel who was once an oppressed alien so are all of us.  Just before we read the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 God said this in Exodus 19:6a about Israel, “you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”  And we can read this similarly about ourselves  in 1 Peter 2:9-10a, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.”  

Once we “were not a people” so hopefully this gives us all the empathy we need to seek out all the aliens among us, making “disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”  Matthew 28:19-20a.





For Discussion:

1.      Citizen of this country or not, please pray for America.  This country has been a mighty source of Christian growth and charity throughout the world and I shudder to think where the world would be without that both in the past and future if we slide ever further away from God.  Discuss.
2.      Discuss the false reports of verse 1 and the damage they do specifically within our churches.
3.      Discuss people’s need to fit in and how we need to be aware of that so that we are not caught up with a crowd that is wrong.  Peer pressure is one aspect of this at any age.
4.      Do you have enemies or does someone think of you in that way.  Ask those within your group to consider that question and then discuss what they plan to do about the situation.
5.      Often times the poor are only thought of as being taken advantage of which is addressed in verse 6 but neither are they to receive favoritism.  Discuss the problems that are created when this occurs, perhaps even in your church.
6.      There are many ways to give or accept a bribe and just because there isn’t money involved doesn’t mean it isn’t just as offensive.  Discuss different types of bribery.
7.      You know that you have heard prejudicial remarks against aliens within your midst and have been silent at times.  Discuss aliens in light of all of us who once were aliens to God in hopes that a new outlook might be achieved.



Upcoming Adult Sunday School Class Commentaries


6-10-12:  Living as God’s Just People Leviticus 19:9-18, 33-37
6-17-12: Celebrate Jubilee Leviticus 25:8-12, 25, 35-36, 39-40, 47-48, 55 or Leviticus 25:8-12, 25, 35-40, 47-48, 55
6-24-12:  The Heart of the Law (Love God; Love People) Deuteronomy 10:12-22; 16:18-20
7-1-12:    Samuel Administers Justice 1 Samuel 7:3-11, 15-17 or 1 Samuel 7:3-17





Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved


Sunday, May 20, 2012

On 5-27-12 John 14:1-14 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as The Way, the Truth, and the Life.

The Way, the Truth, and the Life
John 14:1-14
International Sunday School Lesson
May 27, 2012



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough




Success—Failure
Right—Wrong
Strong—Weak
Truth—Lie
Light--Dark
Good—Evil


As you notice there is an opposite of all these things and that is what I thought about after reading today’s scripture about Jesus being the way to the Father.  If there were those who trust in God there are also those who do not.  If there was a place for those who follow The Way there is a place for those who do not.

Back when John wrote the words that we read today the church was in a fledgling state yet despite all the persecution it rapidly grew.  I am sure you must have thought about how Christianity grew and spread in light of how terrible that persecution was and continued to be for centuries.


Fox’s Book of Martyrs is a book that I downloaded from Amazon that happens to be in the public domain so it was free but the cost in terms of human lives that are detailed is beyond calculation.

In this book the atrocities that were poured out upon Christian martyrs is detailed in agonizing detail.  The depravity is beyond human invention and is clearly of the devil as he fought with a fury against The Way.

Christianity spread despite the persecution because the world was longing for its truth.  Once they had tasted it there was no denying it, meaning God, and no amount of threat of torture would cause those that had tasted this truth to denounce it.

In receiving the faith one must confess that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God.  So it stands to reason doesn’t it that to denounce would be the route that the devil would take via the spirit of the antichrist, the opposite of God’s Son.

The Apostle John tells us that this denial of Jesus and the Father is a sign of being in what he called the “last hour”.  For him it was already at that time when he wrote the words in 1 John 2, 1 John 4 and 2 John 1 because many antichrists were among them even then.

We know because Christ told us that in Matthew 24 verses 11 and 23 that in the progression up to the end this would be one of the main signs of the end of the age, false christs and false prophets that will deceive.  There way will be the lie and therefore no way at all because it is the opposite of Christ.  Let’s look at the final fulfillment of this opposite by looking at 2 Thessalonians 2.

Our scripture for today finds us listening in as Jesus tells the disciples words of comfort in part by telling them that He is going to the Father but that one day He will be back for His chosen.  Paul tells us it 2 Thessalonians 2:3 to not be deceived about when this will occur.  He says that two things will happen:

1.      That a rebellion occurs, what I understand to be apostasy, a rebellion from the faith, a falling away from Christianity.
2.      That the man of lawlessness will be revealed, what I understand to be the culmination of the many antichrists with this final fulfillment in the antichrist.

Remember how I have stressed it is always about the glory of God even for Jesus who is fully God?  In the antichrist we see the opposite as we read in 2 Thessalonians 2:4, “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”

Even before the cross and even at the end when every knee will bow at the name of Jesus it was and will be to the glory of God, not this perversion.

Verse 9-11 in this chapter Paul wrote tells us more of the opposites from Jesus’s way to the Father.  We read of false miracles, false signs, false wonders and all manner of evil.  These things will deceive just as Jesus warned in Matthew 24 and people will, “perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”  Jesus is the truth and what saves but this is the opposite of The Way.

The big question seems to be how could the fledgling faith of Christianity grow despite the terrible persecution that was going on as they held on to Jesus as the way and the truth but yet once established as the world’s largest religion have this rebellion or falling away?

For me to answer that I would bring all types of personal theology to bear which could taint the truth I am afraid.  The most honest answer is that we won’t know the total truth of this fulfillment until after its conclusion.  But it is fair, is it not, in comparing what Christ said in Matthew 24 and Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 in that they say the same thing?  There is every sort of thing that deceives, this is the key, and it is the opposite of the truth.  To believe in the truth brings eternal life and to believe in the lie brings death.

The scariest thing of all is that God of course will take it personal and as it says in verse 11 that God will send them a powerful delusion so they believe the lie!

Brothers and sisters, you are here with me studying the truth in John 14:1-14 today but many around you are not.  We do not all have to study the Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lessons but all those who are not studying His word in some literal fashion are at risk of being deceived.  False teaching and false teachers are the opposite of the way, the truth and the life, the only way to the Father.





For Discussion:

1.      I never really answered that question near the end of why, at the end, this deceit will reach a climax.  Note in Matthew 24 verse 14 Jesus says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”  With technology that can now put the truth in every corner of the world and in every hand so comes the means to put the opposite before every eye and into every ear.
2.      Discuss Thomas in verse 5.  It could be said that he was slow on the uptake but I would rather think that we should consider that he cared; he was upfront that he didn’t understand but wanted to.
3.      Jesus talks to His disciples about knowing Him and seeing Him and that they therefore knew and had seen the Father.  Discuss how it is only through God’s word that we can know Him and recognize Him and recognize conversely what is NOT Him or of Him.
4.      In verse 12-14 Jesus talks of some things that are not talked about in most of our churches.  Where was this lost?  How are we missing out?  How has it been corrupted?  How can we get this back?  Discuss.
5.      The Way, see Acts 9:2; 16:17; 18:25-26; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14, 22.
6.      A private lesson question could be for us to examine during a time of silence a series of probing questions that you hand out.  The individual would answer in their own heart if they are walking in the Way or the opposite.
7.      Jesus begins our scripture for today by saying, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”  How many different ways can you share that Christ offers comfort in today’s passage?





Upcoming Adult Sunday School Class Commentaries


6-3-12:    Rules for Just Living (Practice Justice) Exodus 23:1-9
6-10-12:  Living as God’s Just People Leviticus 19:9-18, 33-37
6-17-12: Celebrate Jubilee Leviticus 25:8-12, 25, 35-36, 39-40, 47-48, 55 or Leviticus 25:8-12, 25, 35-40, 47-48, 55
6-24-12:  The Heart of the Law (Love God; Love People) Deuteronomy 10:12-22; 16:18-20





Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved

Monday, May 14, 2012

On 5-20-12 John 11:17-27 or John 11:17-27, 41-44 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as The Resurrection and the Life.

The Resurrection and the Life
John 11:17-27
 or
 John 11:17-27, 41-44
International Sunday School Lesson
May 20, 2012



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough




Who benefited from the return of Lazarus to the living?  Certainly it wasn’t Lazarus.  I am sure he was loved and I am sure he loved but his suffering was over, he had left this mortal coil to wait for his reward.

Paul who had a passionate mission but who also suffered much knew more than most what waited for him when he said, “ I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!  I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.  Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.” Philippians 1:20-26.


We see from this guidance that Paul gave us from his own life that whether he lived or died, it was about Christ.  Lazarus may not have been as enlightened as Paul as Christ demonstrated through him that our lives are not our own as he demonstrated through Lazarus to the glory of God.

But God in His grace always allows us to benefit by association when He receives the glory.  When Paul was in chains, guards were converted and other Christians preached the gospel more fearlessly.  And here if we read the scriptures that both precede and follow those for today, again we see it is for the glory of God but others also benefit by association.

In John 11:1-3 Jesus is told of the sickness of His close friend Lazarus the brother of Martha and Mary and Jesus reply in John 11:4 said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

Then in verse 14 and 42 we see that the disciples and those who were there at the resurrection of Lazarus would benefit because they would believe.

We could all live our lives and return to the dust of the earth and have that be the end of the matter but Ecclesiastes 12:7 tells us that indeed the dust returns to the earth but our “spirit returns to God who gave it.”  Note the word gave and I think you will have a bit more appreciation for what you have so that while here you will understand what we are to do, again it is to glorify God.

At the conclusion of the book of Ecclesiastes we read, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

But with regard to the benefit for us part as you know there is a catch if God will bring every deed into judgment, we must believe.  Martha did, she said in today’s verse 24, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

I love that term, “at the last day”.  Jesus stresses it 5 times personally in those words in John 6.


John 6:39

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

John 6:40

For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”



John 6:44
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

John 6:54

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

It seems like He wanted us to understand something clearly, huh?

But as Jesus makes abundantly clear in that same chapter of John 6 not all will benefit just as we see in the latter verses of today’s chapter 11.

Lazarus was raised from the dead.  Christ did what He did and said what He said so that people would believe but then we read this in John 11:45-53, “Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.  But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.  “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs.  If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all!  You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.  So from that day on they plotted to take his life.”


Yep, Jesus had an answer for that:

John 12:48


There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.









For Discussion:


1.      How do you think Lazarus would have felt about being resurrected?
2.      Discuss those who were against Jesus despite being aware of and believing in this miracle.
3.      Read 1 Corinthians 15 to your group.
4.       Discuss the resurrection at the last day.
5.      Discuss why Jesus waited 4 days before performing this miracle.
6.      Discuss the emotion of Jesus in this chapter.
7.      Elijah, Elisha, Peter and Paul all through the power of God raised the dead.  Discuss.

Upcoming Adult Sunday School Class Commentaries


5-27-12:  The Way, the Truth, and the Life John 14:1-14 for this one use the opposite meaning antichrist as found four instance in 2nd Thessalonians, not the way, a lie and so not be saved if followed.
6-3-12:    Rules for Just Living (Practice Justice) Exodus 23:1-9
6-10-12:  Living as God’s Just People Leviticus 19:9-18, 33-37
6-17-12: Celebrate Jubilee Leviticus 25:8-12, 25, 35-36, 39-40, 47-48, 55 or Leviticus 25:8-12, 25, 35-40, 47-48, 55





Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved

Sunday, May 6, 2012

On 5-13-12 John 10:7-18 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as The Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd
John 10:7-18
International Sunday School Lesson
May 13, 2012



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough





I grew up raising a flock of sheep so whenever I read the scripture from John 10 I know that it rings true.  Sheep do not have a complicated life but they are creatures of habit.  Within their own flock they have leaders who they follow as they feed and there is a hierarchy that they follow and one of their number cannot usurp that position.

Likewise the sheep know who their master is, their shepherd.  They will in fact come at their master’s voice and anyone else who tries is just wasting theirs. 

If a stranger attempted to enter their pen the nervousness they would feel would be evident but when the shepherd appeared he could move through their midst as if he were one of them.

I think that this comparison of us to sheep and Christ as the great shepherd is an apt one.  Those who are His spend time in His word and recognize His voice.  His flock wants to follow where He leads them, He can impart comfort and confidence.  Just as a ewe in difficult labor must rely on her shepherd so must we rely upon Him for help through our travails.  Just as the master over a flock knows what is best for a flock because of the mind that God has given man so is God’s knowledge of what is best for us.  And just as a predator stalks a flock so are we stalked “as our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Those are just some of the parallels that can be drawn but there are also places that they cannot.  Unlike the sheep in a flock we have a complicated life.  We have other leaders that we follow unlike the sheep we have people who have gone against the natural leadership that should be followed.

In the case of the Jews that is what happened with the Pharisees and the high priests.  Those leaders had become thieves and robbers who destroyed by their lack of godly leadership and like the hired hand who doesn’t own the sheep.  No one cared for the people as a true shepherd would his flock.

Fortunately for us Christ is the shepherd.  Though we were sheep that were not of the original sheep pen we have heard and listened to His voice. But…the Bible tells us that there will be another.  2 Thessalonians 2 tells us of the man of lawlessness and elsewhere in John 5:43, “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.”

The following quote is an extensive one but vital to our scripture from today:

Zechariah 11:4-17


4 This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter. 5 Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the LORD, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them. 6 For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the LORD. “I will hand everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will oppress the land, and I will not rescue them from their hands.”
 7 So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock. 8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.

   The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them 9 and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”

 10 Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD.

 12 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.

 13 And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter.

 14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

 15 Then the LORD said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs.

 17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd,
   who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!
   May his arm be completely withered,
   his right eye totally blinded!”


But again as it said in John 5:43 above, they or is it “we” will accept him.  Why is the discernment of men sometimes worse than sheep?  Christ said in the first verse for today that He was the gate.  If we go through that gate we will be as sheep entering a pasture receiving all we will ever need.  The Jewish people had leaders similar to what we can have today.  Like them we will be in essence killed and destroyed just as a thief would do a flock.

I think I would be remiss if I didn’t take this all the way and say examine those you follow.  Examine what you hear and what you want to hear from these leaders.  Can you take what they offer from sermons to curriculum and compare it to the teaching of Christ and the Apostles?  Do those things sound like Christ’s voice?  I pray so and encourage you then to follow away little flock.  But what if what you hear and see bears very little resemblance to His voice?  What if what you hear is what someone thinks you want to hear, the old itching ears syndrome you know?  There has been lots of entering into the sheep pen by some other way than the gate.  The real sheep would run when they saw that.  What will you do?

I say you are not really sheep, contend for the faith!






For Discussion:


1.      What are your favorite shepherd scriptures outside of John 10?  The 23rd Psalm and 1 Peter 5:1-4 are two of my favorites.
2.      Discuss who is most likely to follow a false leader.
3.      Based on a quick review of shepherd qualities from the Bible discuss the characteristics of a good shepherd of the people.
4.      Christ said, “I am the gate.”  Therefore it is only through Him that we may gain admittance.  I pray that you don’t but you probably do have those who think otherwise in your midst.  Discuss.
5.      Verse 8 is difficult to understand.  Get people’s viewpoints.
6.      It might be hard to believe but a shepherd knows each of his sheep.  Of course so does Christ.
7.      See if you think that chapter 10 is a continuation of the discussion Jesus was having with the Pharisees at the conclusion of chapter 9.  It appears from verses 19-21 that it was and so it is vital that those who lead place themselves in the role of a Pharisee for self-examination purposes when reading this passage.


Upcoming Adult Sunday School Class Commentaries


5-20-12:  The Resurrection and the Life John 11:17-27 or John 11:17-27, 41-44
5-27-12:  The Way, the Truth, and the Life John 14:1-14
6-3-12:    Rules for Just Living (Practice Justice) Exodus 23:1-9
6-10-12:  Living as God’s Just People Leviticus 19:9-18, 33-37





Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved