Monthly Archives: March 2023

The Empty Tomb

International Sunday School Lesson April 2 2023 Spring Quarter #5

Luke 24:1-12 ESV  But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.  (2)  And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,  (3)  but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  (4)  While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.  (5)  And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?  (6)  He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,  (7)  that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”  (8)  And they remembered his words,  (9)  and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  (10)  Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles,  (11)  but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.  (12)  But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

Luke 24:1-12 ESV 

Notes

Background

  • C.I. Scofield — The order of events, combining the four narratives, is as follows: Three women, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and Salome, start for the sepulchre, followed by other women bearing spices. The three find the stone rolled away, and Mary Magdalene goes to tell the disciples. Luk 23:55 to Luk 24:9; Joh 20:1; Joh 20:2. Mary, the mother of James and Joses, draws nearer the tomb and sees the angel of the Lord Mat 28:2. She goes back to meet the other women following with the spices. Meanwhile Peter and John, warned by Mary Magdalene, arrive, look in, and go away Joh 20:3-10. Mary Magdalene returns weeping, sees the two angels and then Jesus Joh 20:11-18 and goes as He bade her to tell the disciples. Mary (mother of James and Joses), meanwhile, has met the women with the spices and, returning with them, they see the two angels.; Luk 24:4; Luk 24:5; Mar 16:5. They also receive the angelic message, and, going to seek the disciples, are met by Jesus. Mat 28:8-10.

Stone Rolled Away — Luke 24:1-2

  • McGee The stone was not rolled away to let the Lord Jesus out but to let them in.

Gone — Luke 24:3

  • Pulpit No evangelist describes the Resurrection-no earthly being having been present. St. Matthew is the evangelist who, in his narrative, goes furthest back. He mentions the shock of the earthquake, the awful presence of the angel, the benumbing terror which seized the guards who were watching. Most probably these signs accompanied the Resurrection.

Living Among the Dead — Luke 24:4-5

  • Pulpit To one company of women one angel appeared: to another, two. Mary Magdalene, a little later, saw two angels in white sitting, as it were keeping watch and ward over the sepulchre for a short time after the sacred form had left it.

Remember — Luke 24:6-7

  • Mark 8:31-33 (ESV) And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. [32] And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. [33] But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Tell the World — Luke 24:8-9

  • Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV) And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Unbelief — Luke 24:10-11

Marveled — Luke 24:12

  • John 20:3-10 (ESV) So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. [4] Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. [5] And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. [6] Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, [7] and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. [8] Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; [9] for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. [10] Then the disciples went back to their homes.

Jesus Overpowers Legion

International Sunday School March 26 2023 Spring Quarter Lesson 4

Mark 5:1-13 ESV  They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.  (2)  And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.  (3)  He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain,  (4)  for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him.  (5)  Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.  (6)  And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.  (7)  And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”  (8)  For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”  (9)  And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”  (10)  And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.  (11)  Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside,  (12)  and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.”  (13)  So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

Mark 5:1-13 ESV 

Mark 5:18-20 ESV  As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.  (19)  And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”  (20)  And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Mark 5:18-20 ESV 

Notes

Background

  • The messianic secret did not apply here.
  • Some healed folks became part of the traveling team but not this one.

Possessed — Mark 5:1-2

  • Happened right after calming the sea — Mark 4:39 (ESV) And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
  • Preacher In one passage only (Act 10:38) mention is made of the healing of “all that were oppressed of the devil.” But in all other like passages there is no mention made of “the devil,” but of “unclean spirits” or “demons.”

Among Tomb — Mark 5:3-4

  • Numbers 19:16 (ESV) Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

Crying Out — Mark 5:5

  • Self-mutilation — 1 Kings 18:25-28 (ESV) Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” [26] And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. [27] And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” [28] And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.

Come Out — Mark 5:6-8

Legion — Mark 5:9-10

  • Matthew 12:43-45 (ESV) “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. [44] Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. [45] Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

The Pigs — Mark 5:11-13

  • Legion might have been planning on coming back into the man — 2 Corinthians 2:11 (ESV) so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

Go and Testify — Mark 5:18-19

  • Psalms 66:16 (ESV) Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

The Word Spreads — Mark 5:20

Jesus Talks with a Samaritan

International Sunday School March 19 2023

John 4:7-15 (ESV) A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” [8] (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) [9] The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) [10] Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” [11] The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? [12] Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” [13] Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, [14] but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” [15] The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

John 4:7-15 (ESV)

John 4:28-30 (ESV) So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, [29] “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” [30] They went out of the town and were coming to him.

John 4:28-30 (ESV)

John 4:39-41 (ESV) Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” [40] So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. [41] And many more believed because of his word.

John 4:39-41 (ESV)

Notes

Flesh and Blood — John 4:7-8

  • Human body — John 4:6 (ESV) Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

Samaritans – John 4:9

Living Water – John 4:10

  • John 7:37-38 (ESV) On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. [38] Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

Greater than Jacob – John 4:11-12

  • Hebrews 3:3 (ESV) For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.

Eternal Life — Jon 4:13-14

  • Romans 8:16-17 (ESV) The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [17] and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Give Me this Water — John 4:15

  • James 4:3 (ESV) You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Evangelist — John 4:28-30

  • She became convinced that he was the Christ
  • Revelation 22:17 (ESV) The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

Revival — John 4:39-41

  • John 6:63 (ESV) It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

The Greatest in the Kingdom

International Sunday School Lesson March 12 2023 Spring Quarter #2

Matthew 18:1-9 ESV  At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  (2)  And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them  (3)  and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  (4)  Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  (5)  “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,  (6)  but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.  (7)  “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!  (8)  And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.  (9)  And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

Matthew 18:1-9 ESV

Notes

Background

  • We seldom see jealousy and ambition in the apostles but it did exist.
  • It may have been the reason that the Lord picked primarily working people as apostles.

Who is the Greatest — Matthew 18:1

  • They had some shame at this at one time — Mark 9:34 (ESV) But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.

Become like Children — Matthew 18:2-3

  • Psalms 131:2 (ESV) But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Humble — Matthew 18:4

  • 1 Peter 5:5 (ESV) Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Cause to Stumble — Matthew 18:5-6

  • Romans 15:1-3 (ESV) We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. [2] Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. [3] For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

Cut it Off — Matthew 18:7-9

  • Individual Application — computers or cable TV and pornography. Get it out of your house if it is causing you to stumble.
  • Group Application Pergamum — Revelation 2:14 ESV But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.
  • Matthew 18:15-20 ESV “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. (16) But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. (17) If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. (18) Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (19) Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. (20) For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.