PREPARING FOR SESSION 5 - Kingdom

As Christians, who have "grown up" with "Christian" terms and phrases, we often lose their original impact in either the New Testament language (being Greek) OR its original context. Here's an example. . .

Kingdom of God / Heaven: Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose to speak about the Kingdom of God / Heaven? Why not the family of God; the people of God; or the community of God? Aren't these three phrases valid understandings of our relation to one another and God? Why did Jesus use the term "Kingdom?" What was the "other" prominent kingdom in the first century? What might the connection be here between these two kingdoms?

Often, I feel like we, as Christians, often equate the Kingdom of God / Heaven as just being the place where God lives, up there, out there, beyond the clouds. This would be the place we hope to go when we die. It has nothing to do with the here and now. Yet, let's consider a few lines of the Lord's Prayer:

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, ON EARTH as it is in Heaven.

Consider the implication here: We are praying that God's Kingdom be HERE on the earth. We are NOT praying to go to God's Kingdom someday, but that God's Kingdom will come HERE!

Consider these passages of Scripture as well:

• Psalm 139: 7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. (NRSV)

• Acts 17: 28 For "In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "For we too are his offspring.' (NRSV)

• Ephesians 4: 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (NRSV)

If we really believe these passages as well, God isn't just up there, out there, beyond the clouds. God is HERE. Does that mean we can experience the Kingdom of God HERE? Why or why not?

PREPARING FOR SESSION 4 - Healing

Often, people look at the stories about Jesus and say, "The fact that Jesus performed miracles and healed people proves that he was divine."

Yet, consider these examples:

• In Exodus, Moses makes all sorts of miracles happen with the plagues and parts the waters of the Red Sea (or Sea of Reeds);
• In 1 King 17:17-24, Elijah raises a dead boy to life;
• In Acts 3:1-11, Peter heals a lame man;
• In Acts 20:9-12, Paul heals a man who had fallen from a window and died during Paul's sermon.

These are just a FEW examples of others in the Bible (Old & New Testaments) who performed miraculous signs. Do the stories of Jesus' miracles, then, really prove that he was divine? If so, does that mean that the others listed above were divine? If not, what might be the real message / meaning?

SESSION 3: Follow Up

Thanks to Gary Tahmahkera for leading our discussion on Sunday! Here are questions he posed following last Sunday's discussion:

What compelled individuals to seek out John the Baptizer? What was their motivation? What were their expectations upon arrival on the other bank of the Jordan River?

"Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand": I always flash in my mind to the prophet on the soap box on the street corner with the sign, "Are You Saved?" or "Are you ready for eternity?"

What are your thoughts?

PREPARING FOR SESSION 3: Why & What?

Last Sunday's session showed us the sad state of life in peasant towns in 1st century Galilee, particularly Jesus' hometown of Nazareth. The average lifespan of peasants in this culture was 30 years of age - apparently the same age Jesus was when he started his ministry.

Why did Jesus wait until he was one of the oldest in his community to begin his ministry? What was "the straw that broke the camel's back?"

Why does it seem that Jesus' first place to go was to John the Baptizer? What was the draw? What in John's message seemed attractive to Jesus?

If something seemed to draw Jesus to John and his message, what made Jesus go do his own thing? Did he not agree with John's message once he learned more about it? What difference does it make to realize that the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, & Luke) imply that Jesus does not go out on his own until AFTER John is put in prison (Matthew 4:12; Mark 1:14; to a lesser extent, Luke 3:19-20)?

The Gospels seem to imply that John thought Jesus was the Messiah. If that is the case, why did John send his own disciples to Jesus to ask if he was REALLY the one (Matthew 11:1-6; Luke 17:17-23)? If John thought Jesus was the Messiah, why did he not tell his own disciples to follow Jesus rather than staying with John?

What was different between the two?