Adult Teching Resources August 3, 2014 Words bout Words from God A Picnic to Remember Mtthew 14:13-21 No Distinction Romns 10:5-15 Wht bout Isrel? Romns 11:1-32 Everyone Is Gifted Romns 12:1-8 A Lbor of Love Romns 12:9-21 www.bptiststody.org Subscribe to Bptists Tody to ccess the core Bible content for this lesson. www.nurturingfith.net Find links nd videos relted to this lesson. 1 Nurturing Fith August 3, 2014
A Picnic to Remember Mtthew 14:13-21 FIT Teching Guide by Rick Jordn This dult teching outline is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. [Note to the techer: Tody, I m offering two lesson plns. The first (nd the one I will use s I tech this lesson) is bsed on spiritul exercise clled Holy Reding (in Ltin, Lectio Divin ). The second lesson pln follows the typicl FIT Fith model.] Before the Lesson: Choose your lesson pln. Prepre one copy of the hndout for tht pln for ech prticipnt. In Option One, the hndout will be used for the reflection time fter ech of the three redings re completed. For Option Two, the hndout will be used in the Trnsformtionl Exercise. Hve pens/pencils for the students, s well. Fellowship Question Use one of the following to brek the ice, to begin discussion, nd led into the study: When is the lst time you went on picnic? Do you hve fmily story tht gets retold? Cn you shre it with us? Informtion There re some fmily stories tht get retold. In my fmily, there ws the time we took Dd, who lived in wheelchir, bowling for his birthdy; the time Mom pssed out t their 50th Anniversry celebrtion; the time the mrshmllows cught fire in the oven t my sister s house. Although the sme people were present when the event occurred, ech of us would shre it in different wy. In tody s text, thousnds of people join spontneous picnic. You hve probbly herd this story mny times. Actully, it is the only mircle story (besides the resurrection) tht is told in ll four gospels, so of course is told in four different wys We will look more closely t Mtthew s telling of the story in minute. But first, this question: Why do you think every gospel writer felt this story needed to be told? Before we red the story, let s keep in mind the context. The story just before this event ws the trgic event of John the Bptist s beheding. John ws Jesus cousin nd gve Jesus his public ministry entrée. You cn imgine how Jesus ws feeling s he delt with this very personl grief. 2 Nurturing Fith August 3, 2014
Informtion continued [Hve clss member red Mtthew 14:13-16.] Wht is going on within Jesus in verse 13? (grief, exhustion, etc.) When you feel this spent, wht do you do for refreshment? Jesus wnted to get wy from people, but people wnted to be with Jesus. We ve probbly ll been there we just wnt deserted plce. This ws before the dys of bubble bths, but there ws bot, so Jesus got in it. Surprisingly, when the bot reched the other shore, there were the people gin! One commenttor sys tht the first mircle in this story is Jesus ttitude. How does he rect to the sight of ll these needy people? The Bible Lesson writer notes, For Jesus, compssion ws not just something one feels, but something one does, even when tired. Hve you ever hd tugs of compssion, but not cted on it? Why do you think we do this? There is second mircle. Jesus hels the sick. We re given no detils bout this. We hve no further stories. For some people, this ws the dy tht chnged their lives the dy they were heled! Wht does this tell us bout the Bible s ccounts of Jesus mircles? (Mny, mybe most, re not recorded; the gospel writers were selective in which stories they told; etc.) This hs been big dy. Imgine being present s Jesus hels person fter person. Wht is the disciples response? ( Lord, send them wy! ) Wht does this sy bout our wlk of fith? (God is t work, but our exhustion blinds us; we cn hve compssion ftigue ; our will is not God s will; we lwys hve lessons to lern, etc.) We hve herd this story so mny times, Jesus words to his disciples no longer shock us. We know wht is bout to come up. But put yourself bck into the story before there ws the feeding mircle. Jesus tells you, You, feed this multitude. How would you rect? Could Jesus hve simply fed the people without involving the disciples? (Yes; in Jesus tempttions, even the devil believed Jesus could turn stones into bred did the devil hve more fith in Jesus mirculous power thn the disciples???) Yet Jesus chllenges his followers. Wht does this tell us bout our wlk of fith? [Hve clss member red Mtthew 14:17-19.] Where did the disciples find the bred nd fish? Tht ws kind of trick question. Mtthew does not tell us bout the smll boy. (Only John s ccount mentions the boy.) For Mtthew, then, the point ws not the source of the food. Wht ws the point? (the size of the portions; the disciples were not completely empty hnded; the disciples common sense mde sense, etc.) Mny scholrs note tht the words Mtthew uses here re lso used to describe the Lord s Supper: he broke, he blessed, he gve. This is striking preview of the lst mel 3 Nurturing Fith August 3, 2014
Informtion continued he would shre prior to the crucifixion. [Quote is from the online resource Digging Deeper The originl Lord s Supper? ] Wht do you think Mtthews point would be in tying these two events together? The disciples took wht Jesus blessed nd shred it with others. A common phrse herd in offertory pryers sks God to multiply these gifts. Wht does this story hve to tech us bout our personl stewrdship of the loves nd fishes God hs given us? [Hve clss member red Mtthew 14:20-21.] Twelve bskets of leftover food. Twelve disciples. Is this mere coincidence, or cn we think of symbolic mening? At the very end of the story, Mtthew tells us how mny were fed. Of course, this is not n exct count of the men. And, dding women nd children to the number fed would probbly triple, t lest, the count. Wht does this tell us bout our compulsiveness bout ttendnce numbers? Trnsformtionl Exercise In verse 18, we red powerful word from Jesus. Wht does Jesus sy? ( Bring them here to me. ) [Distribute the hndout.] I wnt us to consider the resources we hve. Few of us hve million dollrs in the bnk, but we hve something. Few of us re Fulbright Scholrs, but we hve some knowledge bout some subjects. Few of us re models of perfect helth, but we hve enough to mke it here tody. Most of us my not hve ll the resources we might wnt, but we hve some loves nd some fish. In the next few minutes, consider the loves nd fishes you hve. How re you doing s stewrd of those resources? How re you doing s one who shres their loves nd fish? Jesus did not scoff t the little tht the disciples hd. Wht does this sy to us bout the limittions we my feel we hve? [After some time for silent reflect nd journling, close in pryer something like this: Lord, we thought we knew this story, but we re still lerning lessons from it. Help us to be bold to shre the resources we hve so tht your children my be fed physiclly nd spiritully. Amen. ] Comments or Questions for Rick Jordn? You my send comments to the lesson pln uthor t rjordn@cbfnc.org. Rick is lso vilble to led workshops nd conferences on Christin Eduction, with prticulr emphsis on how best to use the FIT Fith model. 4 Nurturing Fith August 3, 2014
Digging Deeper by Tony Crtlege Digging Deeper is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. Wtch for the shovel icon in the The Bible Lesson, nd then reference tht item in this Digging Deeper resource. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. A deserted plce The trditionl site of Jesus multipliction of the loves nd fish is t Tbgh, on the northwest shore of the Se of Glilee, not fr from the villge of Cpernum. In the picture below, the Church of St. Peter s Primcy is the gry stone building t right. The roof of the Church of the Multipliction of Loves nd Fishes is seen t left. Beneth the ltr of the church is fifth century mosic showing smll bsket of loves nd two fish. Sheep without shepherd Mtthew typiclly bbrevites the stories tken from Mrk, often by bout one-third. Mtthew noted tht Jesus ws moved with compssion by the crowd (v. 14), but did not include Mrk s comment tht they were like sheep without shepherd (Mrk 6:34). Perhps Mtthew omitted tht line here becuse he hd lredy used similr expression in Mtt. 9:36. Fish The most common commercil fish in the Se of Glilee were type of tilpi known loclly s St. Peter s Fish. These were typiclly hnd-size, or lrger. Srdines were lso commonly cught. Their smller size mde them esy to preserve by drying nd slting. Smll groups Mtthew omits Mrk s observtion tht Jesus told the disciples to rrnge the thousnds of people in groups of fifties nd hundreds (Mrk 6:39-40), sying only tht Jesus ordered the crowd to sit on the grss (Mtt. 14:19). Perhps the uthor s purpose is to leve out extrneous mteril nd shrpen the focus on Jesus. Wht, no fish? After sying tht Jesus took the bred nd fish in his hnds, Mtthew loses interest in the fish, sying only tht Jesus broke the loves nd gve them to the disciples, nd the disciples gve them to the crowds (v. 19b). The other gospels 5 Nurturing Fith August 3, 2014
Digging Deeper continued continue to include the fish, though lmost s n fterthought. The originl Lord s Supper? Writers often note similrities between the feeding of the 5,000 nd the Lst Supper. The fish ply very minor role in the story, for exmple, while bred especilly Jesus breking of the bred is front nd center. Furthermore, the sequence of verbs used he took, he blessed, he broke, he gve is precisely the sme s in the Lst Supper (Mtt. 26:26-27). Even with the bsence of wine, the similrity in the wy Jesus is sid to hve tken, blessed, broken, nd shred the bred is striking preview of the lst mel he would shre prior to the crucifixion. The mnner of the mircle None of the gospels explin how the mircle took plce, only tht Jesus broke the bred nd fish before giving it to the disciples, who distributed it to the people, nd tht there were 12 bskets of leftovers. Some writers hve speculted tht the mircle ws not relly one of multipliction, but of shring. In their view, the people in the crowd hd food with them, but hd kept quiet when the disciples sked for potentil supplies. After hering Jesus pry nd seeing him set the exmple, however, they furtively brought out nd shred the bred nd fish they hd brought, so tht there ws enough, nd more thn enough. Such n explntion robs the story of its power. The whole point of the story is tht Jesus is the Messih who provides bred in the wilderness, even s God hd provided mnn for the Isrelites. The 12 bskets of leftovers is more thn n indiction tht ech disciple returned with full bsket. It is probbly intended to symbolize the 12 tribes of Isrel. Donld A. Hgner rgues tht the feeding of the 5,000 is designed to show tht Christ cme first to the Jews, s the fulfillment of their messinic hopes, while the feeding of the 4,000 in Mtt. 15:32-38 demonstrtes the extension of Jesus provision to the Gentiles. In tht story, the word for bsket is word typiclly used by Greeks, nd the leftovers fill seven bskets, symbolizing Christ s provision for ll ntions. (Mtthew 14-28, Word Biblicl Commentry Vol. 33b [Word Books, 1995], 419, 452). 6 Nurturing Fith August 3, 2014
The Hrdest Question by Tony Crtlege The Hrdest Question is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Why re the gospels so different? With this study, s in other studies of the gospels, we tke note of wys in which Mtthew, Mrk, Luke, nd John tell the story of Jesus in wys tht re both similr nd different. Even surfce reding shows tht Mtthew, Mrk, nd Luke re quite similr t mny points, nd they re clled the synoptic gospels becuse of this ( synoptic is from Greek, nd mens seen together ). A few scholrs hve rgued tht Mtthew ws written first, nd tht Mrk nd Luke bbrevited wht ws found there. Most scholrs, however, gree tht Mrk, the shortest of the gospels, ws written first. Prt of the evidence for this is tht when Mtthew nd Luke include stories tht follow the sme order, it is those sections tht they hve in common with Mrk. It is commonly thought tht the gospel of Mrk reflects the memories of the Apostle Peter, with whom Mrk worked. The uthor of Mtthew my hve been the postle, or someone writing in his nme. We know Luke s the uthor of both Luke nd Acts. He ws Gentile physicin who hd come to know Christ nd sought to gin s much informtion s he could before writing his books, which were ddressed to Theophilus, which mens lover of God. It seems evident tht the uthors of both Mtthew nd Luke hd ccess to Mrk s gospel, nd included much of its mteril in their books, often in slightly bbrevited form, or shped to emphsize their personl interests: some believe Mtthew ws writing minly to Jewish udience, while Luke wrote for other Gentiles. Luke s gospel lso gives extr ttention to the role of women nd to those who re sick or poor. Mtthew nd Luke lso shre number of Jesus techings in common tht re not in Mrk. This mteril is often ttributed to n otherwise unknown collection of Jesus syings tht scholrs cll Q (from Quelle, Germn word mening source ). In ddition, both Mtthew nd Luke incorporte unique mterils not included elsewhere, notbly their seprte nrrtives bout the birth nd infncy of Jesus: Mtthew hs more to sy bout Joseph s plce in the story, while Luke focuses more on Mry. Both Mtthew nd Luke sometimes mix nd mtch their vrious mterils in different wys. 7 Nurturing Fith August 3, 2014
The Hrdest Question continued Thus, Mtthew is thought to consist minly of mteril from Mrk, Q, nd Mtthew s distinctive source, while Luke consists of mteril from Mrk, Q, nd Luke s seprte source. John s gospel, which reflects more philosophicl pproch nd more developed Christology thn the synoptics, shows reltively little dependence on them. It ws probbly written towrd the end of the first century, somewht lter thn the snyoptics, which re often dted to round 60-90 CE. The mny differences between John nd the synoptics mke it ll the more remrkble tht the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 ppers in it, too: it is the only Glilen mircle of Jesus tht occurs in ll four gospels. 8 Nurturing Fith August 3, 2014
Holy Reding of Mtthew 14:13-21 After the first reding: Wht did you her tht you ve not herd in this story before? After the second reding: How were you ble to live into this story? (senses, emotions, thoughts, etc.) Did you choose chrcter to live through? If so, who? After the third reding: Wht word, phrse or imge clled to you for further reflection? Why is this word significnt to you tody? Wht is it tht God wnts to sy to you tody in this text? Wht insights did you gin through this exercise? 9 Nurturing Fith August 3, 2014
Bring them here to me. Mtthew 14:18 Consider nd jot down some resources you hve. Some ctegories re suggested below, but do not limit yourself to these ctegories: Helth Skills Eduction Ability to work with people Ability to work with things Ability to work with ides Money Other mteril welth Other resources Few of us hve million dollrs in the bnk, but we hve some finncil resources. Few of us re Fulbright Scholrs, but we hve some knowledge bout some subjects. Few of us re models of perfect helth, but we hve enough to mke it here tody. Most of us my not hve ll the resources we might wnt, but we hve some loves nd some fish. In the next few minutes, consider the loves nd fishes you hve. How re you doing s stewrd of those resources? How re you doing s one who shres their loves nd fish? Jesus did not scoff t the little tht the disciples hd. Wht does this sy to us bout the limittions we my feel we hve? 10 Nurturing Fith August 3, 2014