Dear Friends,
Two Sundays ago we saw how people, without even knowing it, can try to derail God’s plans. Since before the world was created God had planned that His Son would die as the Passover Lamb Who would rescue people from their bondage to sin and its penalty. God’s timeline was in jeopardy until He and Jesus intervened to move it forward. God allowed the devil to prompt Judas to go to the Jewish leaders and Jesus then prompted Judas to act “quickly”. God’s timeline is back on track…for now.
Jesus is now going to spend the next couple hours with the eleven remaining disciples, telling them the most important information they needed to know for the battle ahead. During that final Passover evening Jesus communicated what they would need to embrace in order to persevere through the next three days and for the rest of their earthly lives. He is preparing them for the trials and tasks that lay ahead. All that He had said and done over the previous three years and what He was about to do for the world would soon be entrusted to them. His final instructions to them would not only frame the remainder of their lives and ministries, but also the lives and ministries of all who would follow their testimony about Jesus for the next 2,000 years. These “final instructions” are super-important to us.
When you complete this week’s reading in Sections 215 – 235 (pages 211 – 239), the Man Who continues to be perceived by the vast majority of the massive Passover crowds in Jerusalem as the Messianic “Son of David” will have less than seven hours to live.
In order for you to be prepared for this coming Sunday’s discussion please pre-read Section 215 (page 211) through Section 235 (page 239).
This week’s lesson title will be: Jesus Broadens His Apostles’ Beliefs For The Battle Ahead – Part 2 – Sections 215 – 235.
Here is a review of the lesson titles we have used and the Sections we have covered in previous weeks:
- Jesus Begins His Ministry With A “Bang” – Sections 27-42
- What Began With A “Bang” Begins To Have “Bumps” – Sections 43-56
- The “Bumps” Become A “Brouhaha”: The Sabbath Controversies – Sections 57-62
- The “Brouhaha” Becomes A Verbal “Barrage” – Sections 63-72
- Jesus’ “Barrage” Is Answered With A “Bomb” – Sections 73-92
- Their “Bomb” Causes Jesus To “Bifurcate” His Ministry – Sections 93-108
- Jesus “Begins” His “Break” With Contemporary Judaism – Sections 109 – 111
- Jesus “Broadens” His “Break With Contemporary Judaism – Sections 112 – 123
- Jesus “Brings” Their “Belligerence” To Jerusalem – Sections 124 – 129
- Jesus “Brings” Their “Belligerence” To Jerusalem, Part 2 – Sections 130 – 143
- Jesus “Beaconing” Becomes Even More “Blunt” – Sections 144 – 152
- Jerusalem Is Brought To The Boiling Point – Sections 153 – 164
- Jesus “Miracle-Bombs” Jerusalem Into Believing – Sections 165 – 172
- Jesus “Miracle-Bombs” Jerusalem Into Believing – Sections 173 – 183
- The Breach Over Jesus Brings Jerusalem To The Breaking Point – Sections 184 – 192
- Jesus Brutally Condemns The Willful Blindness Of Judaism’s Leaders – Sections 193 – 199
- Jesus Begins To Focus Beyond The Failings Of Israel – Sections 200 – 208
- Jesus Broadens His Apostles’ Beliefs For The Battle Ahead – Sections 209 – 214
This week’s Table Discussion Question will focus on what Jesus introduced to His remaining eleven apostles just hours before He would be arrested:
Why did Jesus wait until His final hours with the apostles to tell them about the Holy Spirit and to institute “The Lord’s Supper”? Does that seem odd or strange to you?
