What was biblically accurate about tonight s episode? What was inaccurate?

Sunday, March 24 Watch the current episode of the miniseries The Bible, airing Sunday night on the History Channel. Discuss the episode with your family, using these questions to guide your discussion. What was biblically accurate about tonight s episode? What was inaccurate? How did seeing these biblical events portrayed visually deepen your understanding and appreciation of them? What about tonight s episode was portrayed differently than you had imagined it? Monday, March 25 Read Matthew 14:1-36 with your family, then spend a few minutes talking about the lesson. Use these 1) In Part Three of The Bible, you saw the beheading of John the Baptist. After reading Matthew 14:1-12, what lessons do you learn from the biblical account of John s death? 2) What do you learn about Jesus from the feeding of the 5,000? How can you model these traits in your life? 3) Let s do a brief character study of Peter. From the account of Jesus walking on the water, what is good and admirable about Peter? What is not so admirable? Tuesday, March 26 Read Luke 5:12-6:11 with your family, then spend a few minutes talking about the lesson. Use these 4) Look at Luke 5:15-16. Why does Jesus withdraw by himself? What does this tell you? 5) What do we learn about Jesus when he heals the paralytic? 6) In Jesus day, tax collectors were particularly unpopular. The Roman government typically used Jewish agents to collect taxes. These Jewish men were viewed as traitors for serving Rome, an oppressive power in their eyes. Tax collectors often defrauded their own people, making them 1

that much more unlikeable. With this in mind, how does Jesus answer to the Pharisees inform our lives and ministries? Wednesday, March 27 Read Matthew 21:1-17 with your family, then spend a few minutes talking about the lesson. Use these 7) Agree or Disagree: Jesus entry into Jerusalem was both triumphant and humble. 8) Contrast the attitude of the crowd in verses 8-9 with the attitude of the crowd in Matthew 27:20-24. Which crowd best reflects the attitude of your own heart? 9) Why does Jesus clear the temple and say what he does in verse 13? What point is he making? Thursday, March 28 (Maundy Thursday) Read Matthew 26:1-56 with your family, then spend a few minutes talking about the lesson. Use these 10) Where do you see that Jesus is in perfect control of the events of this night? 11) In verses 26-28, Jesus institutes the Lord s Supper. What does Jesus give his disciples? What does he say it is? What blessings come through this eating and drinking? After reading these verses, what are you led to pray for? 12) What a contrast in Jesus disciples! Look at them in verse 35, then look at them in verse 56. Which portrayal of the disciples is an accurate reflection of your heart? Do you stand steadfastly with Jesus, or leave when it becomes hard to follow him? Join us for Maundy Thursday worship, beginning at 7:00pm. To prepare for worship, meditate on these words from hymn #742 in Christian Worship Supplement. 1 What is this bread? Christ s body risen from the dead: this bread we break. This life we take was crushed to pay for our release. Oh, taste and see - the Lord is peace. What is this wine? The blood of Jesus shed for mine; the cup of grace Brings his embrace of life and love until I sing! Oh, taste and see - the Lord is King. So who am I, that I should live and he should die under the rod? My God, my God, why have you not forsaken me? Oh, taste and see - the Lord is free. Is this for me? I am forgiven and set free! I do believe That I receive his very body and his blood. Oh, taste and see - the Lord is good. 1 Hymn #742, Christian Worship Supplement. Northwestern Publishing House, Milwaukee, WI: 2008. 2

Friday, March 29 (Good Friday) Join us for Good Friday worship at 7:30pm as we remember the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus. To prepare for worship, meditate on these words from hymn #98 in Christian Worship. 2 Jesus, I will ponder now on your holy passion; If my sins give me alarm and my conscience grieve me, With your Spirit me endow for such meditation. Let your cross my fear disarm; peace of conscience give me Grant that I in love and faith may the image cherish Help me see forgiveness won by your holy passion. Of your suff ring, pain, and death that I may not perish. If for me he slays his Son, God must have compassion! Yet, O Lord, not thus alone make me see your passion, But its cause to me make known and its termination. Ah! I also and my sin wrought your deep affliction; This indeed the cause has been of your crucifixion. Graciously my faith renew; help me bear my crosses, Learning humbleness from you, peace mid pain and losses. May I give you love for love! Hear me, O my Savior, That I may in heav n above sing your praise forever. Saturday, March 30 (Holy Saturday) Read Matthew 26:69-75 and John 21:15-19 with your family, then spend a few minutes talking about the lesson. Use the provided 13) Why does Peter disown Jesus? How do we do the same thing in our lives? 14) Luke 22:61 tells us that Jesus was able to see Peter while he disowned him: The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter And he went outside and wept bitterly. What do you think was going through Jesus head? Peter s head? What do you learn from this about your sins? 15) How do you see Jesus love and gentleness as he reinstates Peter? Join us for Easter Vigil, beginning at 8:00pm. To prepare for worship, meditate on these words from the song, And Sleeps My Lord in Silence Yet, by Timothy Dudley-Smith and David W. Music. 3 And sleeps my Lord in silence yet, within the darkness laid away; Where none remember nor forget, where breaks no more the sunlit day? And sleeps my Lord in silence yet, where cold his lifeless body lay? And does the sting of death remain to work unchanged its bitter will? Were cross and passion all in vain, no battle won on Calv ry s hill? And does the sting of death remain, and gapes the grave in triumph still? Have faith in Christ, the risen Son, who reigns eternal, glorified! Who death destroyed, who triumph won, who flung the gates of heaven wide! Have faith in Christ, the risen Son, the living Lord of Eastertide! 2 Hymn #98, Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal. Northwestern Publishing House, Milwaukee, WI: 1993. 3 And Sleeps My Lord in Silence Yet, by Timothy-Dudley Smith and David W. Music. Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL: 2005. 3

Answers to questions: Q1) We can glean a number of lessons from the death of John the Baptist. First, don t make foolish oaths like Herod Antipas did. Simply let your Yes be yes and your No be no (James 5:12). We also learn that not everyone likes hearing what God has to say. But their displeasure or anger does not give us an excuse to keep quiet. We must stand up for what God says. But it won t always be easy to stand up for the truth of God s Word. We will not likely face death, as John did, but we may suffer in other ways: ridicule, mockery, slander, and other verbal and emotional abuse. But God calls us to be bold as we stand up for his truth, knowing that the victor s crown awaits us in heaven. Q2) The first thing we learn is that it s alright to take time for yourself and some self care. Jesus heard the news of John s death, then withdrew to a solitary place. He needed some time to himself. Life can hit you pretty hard sometimes, and it s alright to take some time to regroup. The bigger lesson here, however, is that Jesus had compassion on the crowds. Even though he needed some time alone, Jesus had compassion on others. He put others before himself. This selfless attitude of Jesus is an attitude which we all should model, especially as we work to find a balance between time for ourselves and time for putting others first. Q3) Peter was bold, to say the least. What else do you call it when you ask to walk on water? He made a bold request of faith, as God also invites us to do (Matthew 7:7). He also trusted in Jesus - he got out of the boat and walked on the water. But that s where we should stop imitating Peter. His doubts and fears got the better of his faith, and he started to sink. We do the same, don t we? Our doubts and fears crowd out our faith, and we lose sight of our Lord. But be like Peter, and know where to look for help: Lord, save me! He alone can calm our fears and bring us back to the sure footing of faith. Q4) Jesus withdraws by himself to pray. He needs time alone with the Lord. There were many demands on his time - people to heal, demons to drive out, crowds to instruct, and disciples to train. Yet Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Imitate your Lord. For more on this idea of being alone with the Lord, read Prof. James Tiefel s excellent sermon, Alone with the Lord, found at: http:// www.wlsessays.net/node/3849. Q5) We learn that Jesus deals with our biggest problem first: the problem of sin. This paralytic was brought to Jesus to be physically healed. What do you think his friends thought when Jesus forgave his sins? Um, Jesus? It s his legs. Fix his legs. But Jesus fixes our biggest problem first - he forgives sins. We also learn that Jesus has the authority to forgive sins - he is true God! We learn that Jesus knows thoughts, that he can see our faith, and that he has the power to heal physical ailments. He truly is the Son of God! Q6) Jesus answer makes it clear that we are no better than the tax collectors of his day. In God s eyes we were dirty, rotten scoundrels who were against him. Yet Jesus came for people just like us - people in desperate need of forgiveness - the spiritual cure for our wretched state. This makes us hungry to share this forgiveness with people who need it, especially those who don t know about God s love for them. Get out there and share this blessed forgiveness from God! Q7) Agree. The dominant tone of Jesus entry was triumph. He entered Jerusalem like a conquering king - a large crowd greeted him, they cheered him on with shouts of praise, and they paid him homage by spreading their cloaks and palm branches before him. Yet in all this Jesus rode not on a war horse, but on a donkey, an animal symbolic of humility and peace. Jesus is a king above all kings, but he entered Jerusalem humbly, knowing that the cross awaited him. So he rode on in humble majesty on a donkey s colt to fulfill the words of Zechariah 9:9. Q8) It s likely that many of the same people were in both crowds - they cheered the arrival of Jesus one day, but just days later they screamed for his blood. What a change - and in just a few days! Sadly, this abrupt change in attitude is something we find in our own hearts. One day we are wild about Jesus, and 4

the next we could care less about him. Use this reading as an opportunity to examine your heart and pray that God would create a pure heart and a steadfast spirit within you. Consider using the words of Psalm 51 as your prayer. Q9) Jesus is fittingly upset that the house of God, which should have been a place of reverence, prayer, and worship, was turned into a marketplace filled with cheats and swindlers. His point? Treat God s house with the reverence it deserves. It is a place where God meets his people. He feeds their faith with Word and Sacrament, and God s people respond with their thanks and praise. God s house is indeed a precious and valued place! Q10) Matthew 26:2 shows that Jesus knows exactly what will happen in the next 24 hours. Yet what does he do? He stays on the path of God s plan of salvation, knowing full well what awaited him. In verse 21, Jesus predicts Judas betrayal. Yet verse 50 shows Jesus willingly going along with Judas betrayal. Verse 56 reads, This has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled. Jesus knew God s plan, and he was on board with every detail of it. He knew everything that he would have to endure to complete that plan, yet he willingly walked the road to Calvary. What wondrous love is this! Q11) Jesus gives his disciples bread and wine. He calls the bread his body, and the wine his blood. He doesn t say, These are representations of my body and blood or These are reminders or symbols of my body and blood. He says they are his body and blood, poured out for the forgiveness of sins. What a blessing is the forgiveness of sins! Though our sins are like scarlet, they are now as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool (Isaiah 1:18). Though we do not deserve such treatment, God has forgiven us through the blood of Jesus. Read Isaiah 53 (the Old Testament s gospel in a nutshell ) and note the pronouns - he took up our infirmities...he was pierced for our transgressions What a blessing is forgiveness! Q12) Jesus disciples were a lot like us - they sometimes wavered. Mere minutes after declaring that they would never leave or disown Jesus (verse 35), we see the disciples deserting him and thinking only of themselves (verse 56). When I read those verses, I am reminded of my own heart. Sometimes I am ready to give everything for Jesus. Come cross! Come trial! Come death! But when the path of following Jesus becomes less comfortable, I think only of myself. After all my Savior endured for me, I still give him second place in my heart. Yet I can confess with the apostle Paul, What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24,25). Q13) Peter was scared. He wanted to see what would happen to his Lord, but he didn t want to get in trouble himself. He denied Jesus because he was frightened for his life. In a moment of weakness of faith, he swore that he did not know the man who had been his teacher, mentor, and leader for three years. When do you act like you don t know Jesus? When the going gets tough? When you don t want him to know the things you are thinking or doing? When following him seems like a burden, not a blessing? Q14) What was going through their heads as this was happening? We can t say for sure, but you can imagine the emotions they probably felt. Jesus probably felt betrayed and saddened. Peter probably felt guilty and was overcome by his sorrow. This account teaches us that sins are a burden on our consciences. They are a burden that needs to be removed by confessing our sins and receiving God s forgiveness. Q15) Peter deserved a swift kick in the rear and a harsh rebuke from Jesus. But Jesus lets Peter reaffirm his love for him three times - one for each time he denied Jesus. He gently warns him about the trials and death he will face in the future, then gives him the invitation and command, Follow me! Along with Peter, we follow Jesus until the end. 5