Adult Teching Resources Mrch 3, 2019 Epiphny (Jnury 6-Mrch 3) Not Your Typicl Techer Luke 9:28-43 Climbing Higher Lenten Seson (Mrch 10-April 14) Deliberte Devotion Deuteronomy 26:1-11 A Joyous Confession Genesis 15:1-21 (RCL 1-12, 17-18) A Hir-Rising Prediction Isih 55:1-9 A Stunning Invittion Joshu 5:1-12 (RCL 9-12) A Cutting Reffirmtion www.nurturingfith.net Subscribe to Nurturing Fith to ccess the core Bible content for this lesson. Find links nd videos relted to this lesson. 1 Nurturing Fith Mrch 3, 2019
FIT Teching Guide by Dvid Woody Bible Bckground Then from the cloud cme voice tht sid, This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him! Luke 9:35 One of the big words we use in church is trnsformtion nd the being trnsformed. Usully, when we tlk bout tht, we refer to n inwrd chnge. Tody s story is bout n outwrd, physicl chnge tht Peter, Jmes, nd John witnessed. Jesus externl chnge hd significnt impct on their internl trnsformtion. Tody, we explore Jesus trnsfigurtion. Opening After everyone hs rrived nd the usul greetings nd ctching up from the lst week hs finished, keep everyone in lrge group. Shre your own prphrse of our Lesson Writer s discussion bout superheroes especilly the prt bout the trnsformtion the chrcter must mke from regulr person into their super person. Then, sk your group to think bout their understnding/beliefs/thoughts bout superheroes. Wht superhero is your fvorite? Why? Wht superhero is your lest fvorite? Why? Climbing Higher Luke 9:28-43 This dult teching outline is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Nurturing Fith Journl. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Nurturing Fith Journl to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Nurturing Fith Journl so they cn prepre before the lesson. Wht super power do you most wnt? Why? How would you use it for good? Wht super power do you lest wnt to hve? Why? Wht bout tht super power doesn t excite you? Wht method of trnsformtion would you wnt to go through from your regulr life to super person? Why tht one? After spending some time tlking bout individul s idel super stuff, sk the group to mke list of s mny superheroes they cn think of, listing their regulr person, their super power, nd how they trnsform into the super hero. Write tht list on the bord or lrge sheet of pper in front of the room. Spend some time tlking bout superheroes nd their specil trnsformtions before moving to the Bible. 2 Nurturing Fith Mrch 3, 2019
Reding the Bible Who did Jesus tke with him to the mountin? (Peter, Jmes, nd John) Wht were they going to do there? (pry) Wht hppened to Jesus while he ws prying? (the ppernce of his fce chnged, nd his clothes becme dzzling white) Who did Peter, Jmes, nd John see tlking to Jesus? (Moses nd Elijh) Wht did Peter sy to Jesus? (Mster, it is good for us to be here; let us mke three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, nd one for Elijh) Wht hppened while Peter ws tlking? ( cloud cme nd overshdowed them) Wht did they her from the cloud? (This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him!) How did Peter, Jmes, nd John respond to ll they hd seen nd herd? (they kept silent nd told no one ny of the things they hd seen) Mking Connections Where is your fvorite quiet plce where you cn be lone, cn concentrte on importnt mtters, nd be in the presence of God? Wht hve you experienced in tht plce? When hve you expected one certin outcome from Jesus, but then something totlly different from Jesus hppened? Wht ws the sitution? Wht did you expect? Wht ultimtely hppened? How did the switch ffect you? Wht did you lern bout yourself? Wht did you lern bout Jesus? Our pssge gives vivid imge of Jesus trnsfigurtion. How do you imgine it hppening? Wht does it look like to you? Wht detils do you see? Hve you ever hd n experience where you would sy tht heven nd erth intersected nd you experienced the divine? Shre your experience with the group. Our Lesson Writer gives n explntion for the ppernce of Moses nd Elijh, the presence of Moses nd Elijh served n importnt symbolic function. A trdition in Judism held tht Moses nd Elijh would return to erth before the Dy of the Lord. Moses represented the Lw, nd Elijh the Prophets. The impliction is tht the Lw nd the Prophets were fulfilled in the person of Christ. In wht other wys do you bring the Old Testment into the New Testment? Hve you ever felt scred or terrified of your perceived presence of God? When did tht hppen? Wht ws the sitution? Wht scred you? Wht ultimtely hppened? Wht did you lern bout yourself? Wht did you lern bout God? Hve you ever herd the voice of God? Wht did it sound like? Wht did it sy? How did you respond? 3 Nurturing Fith Mrch 3, 2019
So Wht? Ask everyone to find prtner for this section of the lesson. Shre with the group the words from our Lesson Writer: Jesus trnsformtion crries with it the promise of our own inner nd ultimte trnsformtion if we listen to him. It my be hrd to believe this. We live in mteril world with food to cook, houses to mintin, nd people to plese. The story recounts fleeting vision through sleepy eyes, glimpse of heven, nd cll to listen. As in the Old Testment, to truly listen is to obey. When we listen to Jesus, he clls us to tke up our cross nd follow him. When we listen to Jesus, he clls us to be born gin, to become new cretion. When we listen to Jesus, he clls us to go into ll the world nd mke disciples. When we listen to Jesus, he tells us to feed the hungry, clothe the nked, visit the sick, nd rech out to people who re in prison. When we listen to Jesus, he clls us to live in him nd be trnsformed. This does not hppen immeditely for us, but it does hppen. We cn experience God s sving grce in moment, but our trnsformtion is life-long process. Ask ech person to shre their thoughts to these questions: How hs your life in Christ been trnsformtionl, life-long process? Wht is it bout you now tht is different thn before you knew Jesus? Wht is God working on (trnsforming within you) right now on your fith journey? Wht hs been the esiest prt of Christ s trnsformtion of your life? Wht hs been the most difficult prt of Christ s trnsformtion of your life? Wht hve you lerned bout Jesus through your trnsformtion process? Wht hve you lerned bout yourself through your trnsformtion process? Give ech prtnership time to shre with ech other, then open the floor for volunteers to shre with the lrger group. The Chllenge This week, listen to Jesus. Find the time nd plce to give Jesus spce to tlk to you. Turn off your electronics. Remove yourself from other distrctions. Sit nd be still. Listen. 4 Nurturing Fith Mrch 3, 2019
Pryer Loving God, you revel yourself to us in different wys. For Peter, Jmes, nd John they got n eye-full of your glory on the mountin. Open our eyes so tht we might see you. Open our ers so tht we might her you. Open our minds so tht our lives might be trnsformed by your glory nd grce. Amen. 5 Nurturing Fith Mrch 3, 2019
Digging Deeper by Tony Crtlege Digging Deeper is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Nurturing Fith Journl. 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 Nurturing Fith Journl to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Nurturing Fith Journl so they cn prepre before the lesson. When nd where? Luke crefully sys tht the events in 9:28-36 took plce bout eight dys fter these syings, probbly reference to 9:18-27, which includes Jesus question bout Who do the crowds sy tht I m?, Peter s confession The Messih of God, nd Jesus wrning not to tell nyone. Both Mtthew (16:13-20) nd Mrk (8:27-30) locte the converstion t Cesri Philippi, in the fr north of Isrel. The re is mountinous, with the Mount Hermon rnge being dominnt. Its highest pek is more thn 9,000 feet tll nd snow-cpped even in summer. The text does not identify the mountin or even imply tht Jesus took Peter, Jmes, nd John to the summit; only tht they went up on the mountin. Dy or night? Mtthew nd Mrk (Mtt. 17:1-2, Mrk 9:2) give the impression tht Jesus ws trnsfigured soon fter they rrived on the mountin, which would suggest tht it hppened during the dy. Luke s version, however, implies tht the scene took plce t night, since he notes tht the disciples were weighed down with sleep nd could hrdly keep their eyes open (Luke 9:32). If tht were the cse, the effect of Jesus glowing trnsformtion would hve been even more spooky nd striking. Terrified When Luke sys the disciples were terrified before the trnsformed ppernce of Jesus, Moses, nd Elijh, the word he uses is ephobēthēsn, n orist pssive form of the verb phobeō, to fer or to be frid. The English word phobi is derived from it. Building shelters Though it my seem strnge to us, Peter s suggestion tht they build shelters for Jesus, Moses, nd Elijh ws not entirely inpproprite, becuse fithful Jews built similr shelters every yer when they observed the week-long Fest of Booths, which celebrted the Exodus. Perhps this memory inspired Peter s ide. Being there Consider this medittion: Use the mzing power of your own imgintion nd trnsport yourself to tht mountin in the mist. Crouch down in the grss beside Peter, Jmes, nd John. Brethe deeply of the cool, cloudy ir. Look through the mist nd behold the shining rdince of Jesus fce. Cn you see him? Are you wre of wht obstcles nd tempttions cloud your vision nd mke it difficult for you to drw close? Cn you get them out of the wy? Listen, for God speks. This is my Son my Chosen One listen to Him! In the quietness of these moments, listen to him. Wht is he sying to you? Listen! 6 Nurturing Fith Mrch 3, 2019
The Hrdest Question by Tony Crtlege The Hrdest Question is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Nurturing Fith Journl. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Nurturing Fith Journl to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Nurturing Fith Journl so they cn prepre before the lesson. Why re stories of the Trnsfigurtion so different? All three synoptic gospels (Mtthew, Mrk, nd Luke) include version of this story, ech with distinctive chrcteristics. Why, we might wonder, would the writers introduce different elements or emphsize different spects of the story? Most scholrs who study the reltionship between the synoptic gospels believe tht Mrk ws written first, followed by Mtthew nd Luke, both of whom would hve hd ccess to the stories in Mrk. Both Mtthew nd Luke lso include mteril from common source tht scholrs cll Q (for the Germn word quelle, which mens source ). Mtthew nd Luke lso hd ccess to birth nd infncy nrrtives bout Jesus tht were unique to them. It s likely in this cse tht Mtthew nd Luke, s they composed their version of Jesus biogrphy, begn with Mrk s version of the story nd tweked it to suit their interests, or to incorporte dditionl trditions they my hve known from other sources. Mtthew s gospel ppers to hve been written minly for Jewish udience. It is chrcterized by greter emphsis on Hebrew history nd quottions from the Old Testment. Thus, while Mrk nd Luke spek of Jesus shining riment, Mtthew s ccount (17:1-8) puts more emphsis on how Jesus fce shone, perhps to reflect the stories bout how Moses fce hd shone fter his encounters with God so brightly tht he hd to wer veil to keep from frightening the people (Exod. 34:29-35). Mtthew is lso the only gospel to sy tht Jesus comforted the frightened disciples with both words nd touch (17:6-7). Mrk s version of the story (9:2-8) speks of Elijh nd Moses ppering with Jesus (in tht order), while Mtthew nd Luke list Moses first. Perhps Mrk s prophetic interest ws prmount, while the others followed the chronologicl ppernce nd reltive importnce of the ncient heroes by putting Moses before Elijh. Mrk s gospel, which some believe to hve been drwn from converstions with Peter, is lso more likely to point out the disciples foolishness or filures thn the other gospels. He lone tells us tht Peter nd the others did not know wht to sy, for they were terrified (9:6). Luke ws Gentile who wrote for Gentile udience. His version (9:28-36) is the longest story, nd he lone preserves the trdition tht the disciples were so sleepy tht they could brely hold their eyes open when Jesus trnsformtion took plce (9:32). This gives more of dremlike qulity to the disciple s experience, emphsizing its visionry nture, probbly in keeping with Luke s interprettion of wht hppened. Luke is lso the only one of the three to hint t the contents of Jesus converstion with Moses nd Elijh: he sys they were tlking bout Jesus imminent deprture (lit., exodus ) which he ws bout to ccomplish t Jeruslem (9:31). This is n pprent reference to Jesus suffering nd deth yet to come, nd would hve explined to Luke s reders tht Jesus deth ws not his ide lone, but prt of divine pln tht Moses nd Elijh lso knew bout. 7 Nurturing Fith Mrch 3, 2019
The Hrdest Question continued It should come s no surprise tht three people would tell the story in three different wys. We do the sme thing, dding or subtrcting elements in keeping with our own interests or the prticulr ngle we wnt to put on the story. As we red the gospels, it is helpful to think bout why ech writer told the story s he did. Even when tht results in stories tht re sometimes contrdictory, we should not be thretened, but should seek to understnd the prticulr truths ech writer hoped to convey. 8 Nurturing Fith Mrch 3, 2019