Sep 23
24
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AT HOME OR IN GOSPEL COMMUNITY GROUPS
The sermon manuscript is available at emmausrbc.org/category/sermons
- What does it mean to be offended by Jesus?
- When the disciples of John asked Jesus, are you the one who is to come?, this indicates there were doubts amongst them. Why were the disciples of John tempted to doubt? Why were they tempted to pull back from Jesus?
- Do you think that John doubted? Or do you agree with Calvin and many other ancient and Reformed commentators, that John was sending his disciples to Jesus for their own sake? If you agree that this was for the disciples of John, what was John’s strategy?
- In the sermon, I made a case that the phrase, “the one who is to come”, is technical language referring to the promised Messiah. See Malachi 3:1–2 and Psalm 118:26 and discuss.
- Why didn’t Jesus simply say, Yes, I’m the one? Why did he perform those particular miracles and then say, “the poor have good news preached to them”? How was this a much more helpful answer than a simple “yes”? (Hint: look at Isaiah 35:1-6 and Isaiah 61:1-3).
- The saying of Jesus, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me”, is both a statement of fact and an exhortation/warning. How is it an exhortation? (You might want to keep reading in Isaiah 61 through to the end of the chapter and pay special attention to verse 9).
- Are you, or have you been, tempted to be offended by Jesus? How might we grow in our confidence that Jesus is the Messiah so that we do not pull away from him?
