Monday, March 31, 2014

On 4-6-14, Isaiah 56:6, 7; Jeremiah 7:9-11; Mark 11:15-19 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Jesus Cleanses the Temple
 Isaiah 56:6, 7; Jeremiah 7:9-11; Mark 11:15-19
International Sunday School Lesson
April 6, 2014
                                                                                 


Commentary
By
Jed Greenough


This is another one of those weeks that comes around where rather than having a direct theme in my commentary my effort to assist you consists of a multitude of questions.
Questions can create conversation either for a student to use or a teacher.  I know just as in sales the classroom production is something like 20% of the students produce 80% of the discussion.  Maybe these “questions” can help increase participation.

1.    Discuss the foreigners in sight in today’s Isaiah 56:6-7.  For interest see the eunuch from the not included Isaiah 56:5 and the Ethiopian Eunuch who was reading Isaiah in Acts 8:26-40.
2.    Discuss God saying, in today’s Jeremiah 7:10, “…I have been watching!” and apply it to His house today.
3.    Discuss what resulted from the behavior described in Jeremiah 7:9-11.
4.    Discuss the people saying, “We are safe” from those same verses.
5.    Read the parallel accounts from Matthew 21 and Luke 19.
6.    Discuss that these 3 accounts of Jesus are near the end of His ministry but the one that John wrote of in John 2 is near the beginning of His ministry.
7.    Discuss the necessity of money changers and the selling of doves.
8.    Discuss what the real problem was.
9.    Discuss Mark 11:18’s words about the priests and teachers, “…they feared Him, because the whole crowd was amazed at His teaching.”  
10.     Discuss what we can glean from how the crowd reacted to this type of teaching and apply it today.
11.    Discuss How Jesus was bringing an end to this system.
12.    Discuss the idea of worshiping in spirit and truth.
13.    Discuss the significance in the not included verse 11 when Jesus had come here the night before, “Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple.  He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.”
14.    Discuss that these people in view in today’s scripture for the most part though they were in His temple were neither thinking of God nor glorifying Him.
15.    Discuss who had responsibility for the temple then and what was going on and who is in that position today.  If the answer was the priests remember we are a kingdom of them now.
16.    Discuss the parallel with treating Christ’s sacrifice as an unholy thing and what might result.
17.    Discuss Jesus Triumphal Entry as studied last week comparing it to His entry into your heart and the temple within you.
18.    You may find it helpful to read my commentary from April 2012 in this very blog that dealt with the temple clearing as written in John 2.


Remember God’s words as you finish up this week in your life and head for church and sit down to class.  He has been watching!


Upcoming Lessons:

4-13-14         A Messianic Priest-King, Jeremiah 23:5, 6; Zechariah 6:9-15, John 19:1-5
4-20-14         The Third Day, Hosea 6:1-3, Luke 24:1-12
4-27-14         From Suffering to Glory, Isaiah 53:3-8, Luke 24:25-27, 44-47 or Isaiah 53:5-8a; Luke 24:25-27
5-4-14            Jesus Resists Temptation, Deuteronomy 6:13-16; Matthew 4:1-11 or Deuteronomy 6:13-16; Matthew 4:4-11


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

Sunday, March 23, 2014

On 3-30-14, Zechariah 9:9, 10; Matthew 21:1-11 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Triumphant and Victorious

Triumphant and Victorious
Zechariah 9:9, 10; Matthew 21:1-11
International Sunday School Lesson
March 30, 2014
                                                                                 


Commentary
By
Jed Greenough

Victorious, triumphant, yet gentle and riding a donkey with colt.  We love this image of Christ our King.  It comforts me as I write this during troubling times because it is such a pleasant image that is created in my mind’s eye.
The peace soon leaves me though as I know what Christ knows.  Just as He knew that a donkey would be waiting He knew what else would be waiting for Him.  He knew how quickly the cries of Hosanna would change to, “Crucify Him!” Matthew 27:22-23 
How does one so honored as in today’s scripture come to this?  We clearly know from the scriptures that follow in Matthew that the chief priests and elders conspired against Him (as in Matthew 26:3-5) because of what He taught (as in Matthew 23) and what they stood to lose.
These men persuaded the crowd to have Jesus executed (Matthew 27:20) and of course Jesus knew all this as the people honored Him as we read today.
Have you yourself ever been blindsided?  From out of the blue have you had a relationship that you thought was fine suddenly implode?  Has your life been turned upside down by having things leveled against you?
If you have you know what it feels like.  For some it eats away at you and can make even the best of us bitter and untrusting.
I feel with confidence that this is one of satan’s tactics against Christians so when it happens to you remember Christ and His triumphant entry and then what happened later.
The scripture says in 2 Timothy 3:12, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.  And what happens in the meantime, “…evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.2 Timothy 3:13 
Remember, this will happen to everyone who wants to live that life.  You may be making mistakes in your walk but you want to walk that walk.  Don’t give up, don’t get bitter.  Knowing it will come or being reminded after it has happened can help.
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”  Hebrews 12:1b-3

For Discussion:
1.      If it has been awhile read the remainder of Zechariah that being chaps 9-14.  It makes for interesting background when considering the leaders of the Jewish people at Jesus’ time.
2.      Discuss your mind’s eye image of today’s scripture.
3.      Discuss your thoughts on what Jesus was thinking.
4.      Discuss in general terms instances of persecution of varying types.
5.      Discuss being too quick to judge when someone levels things against someone.
6.      Can the damage ever be repaired?  What if the innocent are never exonerated? 
Upcoming Lessons
3-30-14        Triumphant and Victorious, Zechariah 9:9, 10; Matthew 21:1-11
4-6-14           Jesus Cleanses the Temple, Isaiah 56:6, 7; Jeremiah 7:9-11; Mark 11:15-19
4-13-14         A Messianic Priest-King, Jeremiah 23:5, 6; Zechariah 6:9-15, John 19:1-5
4-20-14         The Third Day, Hosea 6:1-3, Luke 24:1-12
4-27-14         From Suffering to Glory, Isaiah 53:3-8, Luke 24:25-27, 44-47 or Isaiah 53:5-8a; Luke 24:25-27


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

Sunday, March 16, 2014

On 3-23-14, Revelation 5:5-13 or 5:6-13 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Worthy is the Lamb

Worthy is the Lamb
Revelation 5:5-13 or 5:6-13
International Sunday School Lesson
March 23, 2014
                                                                                 


Commentary
By
Jed Greenough

We won’t get hung up on the scripture this week by dwelling on unknowns but rather let’s appreciate the beauty of what we should surely most agree upon.
You will not just read 10 or 11 verses for this week as I am sure so you will begin by going to the beginning of this awesome book and know that you are among thousands this week who will be blessed because they “… read the words of this prophecy”, “and take to heart what is written in it.Revelation 1:3
If that doesn’t prepare you the words quickly should, “To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood.”  Revelation 1:5b
After what are known as the letters to the churches the prophecy will transfer in chapter 4 to God’s Throne Room, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is and is to come.  Revelation 4:8b 
You should now be mentally prepared for the momentous gravity of this moment we join in today’s scripture concerning this scroll, this scroll that comes from God’s very hand.  Revelation 5:1 
Prophecy is full of mysterious language that can be misconstrued but we know that the one in sight in today’s scripture is none other than Christ.  We know from Romans 3 that no is righteous but Christ and Revelation 5:3-5, 9 and 12 and really all of it reminds us of that.  We know from the Messianic titles:  the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David and the Lamb, that indeed this is Christ.
There is no way to misunderstand this part of this beautiful and mysterious book of prophecy.  Only Christ is worthy to fulfill God’s plan, to complete God’s plan, to reveal God’s plan because He was slain for us.  Verses 9 and 12, and He is awarded the same praise as God.  Verse 13
As the rest of Revelation is revealed there is much to debate so don’t let your class go down that path but rather concentrate on the certainty that only the Lamb is worthy and that is what we need to be fixating upon.

For Discussion:
1.      Discuss the scriptures from earlier in the Bible that would assign the titles from today’s scripture.
2.      Using a concordance discover a uniqueness to the particular word for Lamb as used here.
3.      Discuss why Christ’s sacrifice made Him worthy.
4.      Discuss the importance of verse 10 for Christians.
5.      Discuss the prayers of the saints being bowls of incense to help people to understand or take the type of scripture such as that found in Revelation.

Upcoming Lessons

3-30-14        Triumphant and Victorious, Zechariah 9:9, 10; Matthew 21:1-11
4-6-14           Jesus Cleanses the Temple, Isaiah 56:6, 7; Jeremiah 7:9-11; Mark 11:15-19
4-13-14         A Messianic Priest-King, Jeremiah 23:5, 6; Zechariah 6:9-15, John 19:1-5
4-20-14         The Third Day, Hosea 6:1-3, Luke 24:1-12
4-27-14         From Suffering to Glory, Isaiah 53:3-8, Luke 24:25-27, 44-47 or Isaiah 53:5-8a; Luke 24:25-27
 

Sunday, March 9, 2014

On 3-16-14, Psalm 110:1-4, Acts 2:22-27, 29-32 or Acts 2:22-36 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Peter’s Report

Peter’s Report
Psalm 110:1-4, Acts 2:22-27, 29-32 or Acts 2:22-36
International Sunday School Lesson
March 16, 2014
                                                                                 


Commentary
By
Jed Greenough

Do you sing or remember when you did, the song “I know who holds tomorrow”?  It is inspired, I am sure in part by scripture such as, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.  Matthew 6:34 
I hate to say it, but I think some of us have gotten a little too good at forgetting about tomorrow and what is to come and focusing too much on today, therefore focusing on ourselves!  This is a result I am sure of the church getting too much into a social message rather than the gospel one.
In today’s scripture from Acts 2 we see Peter quoting a scripture he equates to David and rightfully so, but the fact is, as with many cases for God’s word, there are multiple parallels.  This scripture isn’t just meant to prophesy about Jesus and directed toward David but to all Christians and those who are contemplating becoming one.
This is a message that we have failed to emphasize sufficiently as we concentrate on our lives today rather than what is coming.
We should rejoice and “advertise” that we will not be abandoned to death either but rather we will also have eternal joy in Christ’s presence.
This is the message we forget to explain as we try and be all things to people.  We teach how to recover from addiction, we teach how to deal with being a man or being married or how best to relate in step-families or with our finances.
Teaching the Bible accomplishes all these things as the student listens to God they cannot help but live out their lives in the way they should.  In doing so they also are reminded constantly of the gospel message from Psalms to Acts and from Genesis to Revelation.
Teaching a gospel message saves souls.  Let’s make sure that is where our daily emphasis lies and never forget as Claude Ely wrote in his song by the same name, “There ain’t no grave gonna hold my body down”!

For Discussion:
1.      Discuss if you think we are becoming too much of a social club.
2.      Discuss how social issues could be better handled by the church.
3.      Discuss why this message is so important to the success of the gospel.
4.      Discuss what success Peter had with this message that day.
5.      Read Psalm 116.
6.      Dare to share the gospel message with someone you know.  If you aren’t comfortable doing so you better do something about that!


Upcoming Lessons

3-16-14       Peter’s Report, Psalm 110:1-4, Acts 2:22-27, 29-32 or Acts 2:22-36
3-23-14       Worthy is the Lamb, Revelation 5:5-13 or 5:6-13
3-30-14        Triumphant and Victorious, Zechariah 9:9, 10; Matthew 21:1-11
4-6-14           Jesus Cleanses the Temple, Isaiah 56:6, 7; Jeremiah 7:9-11; Mark 11:15-19
4-13-14         A Messianic Priest-King, Jeremiah 23:5, 6; Zechariah 6:9-15, John 19:1-5


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


Sunday, March 2, 2014

On 3-9-14, Psalm 89:35-37, Isaiah 9:6, 7; Matthew 1:18-23 or Psalm 89:35-37will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Son of David

Son of David
 Psalm 89:35-37, Isaiah 9:6, 7; Matthew 1:18-23 or Psalm 89:35-37
International Sunday School Lesson
March 9, 2014
                                                                                 


Commentary
By
Jed Greenough

In 2 Samuel 7:14-16 last week we were left with the promise that is now repeated in this week’s lesson.
For some of us that scripture which repeats the promise is all that they will read but others of us have the added prophecy in Isaiah and background in Matthew.  I like these additions best for this week.  For me it fleshes out the picture and builds upon the promises and therefore the faith that people develop in God, His word and in Christ.
While some of us are just reading the scripture from Psalms this week and some are reading the other as well that is perfectly fine but the difference between the two lessons caused me, or God did, to think of a question.  How do you prepare for your lesson each week?
I can see that the tact of this isn’t going to help many with this week’s lesson prep but I hope that for some it might help down the road.  I always go with my first thought and so here we go.
1.     Do you normally wait until the morning of class or the night before to prepare?
2.     Do you normally only read what the scripture is and leave it at that?
3.     Do you normally read only the class student guide and leave it at that?
4.     Do you normally go to one place and read commentary on the scripture and stop there?
I am not attempting to offend or shame anyone and I’m glad for all who visit my humble blog but it would be like denying Christ if I didn’t speak the thoughts He puts in my mind.
 I feel that many have a tendency to use or take putting forth only enough effort to get by.
Now if the four questions didn’t “get” some of you I bet that statement might have.  Oh well.  Our faith should be active, living and vibrant and sometimes when things are going along pretty well or we are not getting much encouragement where we worship we need reminded of that fact.
God provided a means of salvation for us.  He had the plan all along.  He promised it right along as well.  When this child was born He was born to die for each of us.  “While we were still sinners Christ died for us.”
It won’t be long and we will be looking again at that death and of course wonderful resurrection which is why you are here preparing today.  I encourage you to:
1.     Start on Sunday for the next Sunday’s lesson a week ahead.
2.     Read not just the week’s scripture but scripture that relates to it as well.
3.     Read the student guide as they are written to help you but never forget to read the Bible if you want to hear God.
4.     If you only read one commentary and leave it at that then coming here as your only stop didn’t help very much this week did it?  Seek out many sources of information to help stimulate your thoughts.

For Discussion:

1.     An example of reading related scripture being helpful can be found by reading verses in Psalm 89 beginning with verse 30.
2.     Discuss God’s promises despite man’s behavior.
3.     Read and discuss the major examples of covenants God has made.
4.     Compare the world we live in today with what is described in the two verses from Isaiah.
5.     Discuss the importance of verse 22.
6.     Discuss how you study.


Upcoming Lessons

3-16-14       Peter’s Report, Psalm 110:1-4, Acts 2:22-27, 29-32 or Acts 2:22-36
3-23-14       Worthy is the Lamb, Revelation 5:5-13 or 5:6-13
3-30-14        Triumphant and Victorious, Zechariah 9:9, 10; Matthew 21:1-11
4-6-14           Jesus Cleanses the Temple, Isaiah 56:6, 7; Jeremiah 7:9-11; Mark 11:15-19

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