Friday, April 27, 2012

WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary
For Sunday April 29, 2012

HEALING THE BLIND MAN
(JESUS’ power turns darkness into light)
(John 9:1-34)

In John chapter nine, opposition to JESUS continues to intensify. Even in the first century, the popular Old Testament day theology that accredited a person’s sickness or death as punishment for their sins was still a prevalent belief among the Jewish people of Jerusalem.
As JESUS was walking along the streets of Jerusalem one day, HE encountered a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked HIM why the man had been born blind. Was it because, of his own sins, or, was it because of the sins of his parents? JESUS answers that it is neither, but rather, he was born blind so that the power of GOD could be manifest in him.
Even though sickness and sin can be related, in that, the fall of man, through Adam, introduced both into the world, individual death and suffering, that we experience, are not necessarily a punishment for our individual sins. However, death and sickness are both a witness to the continuing sinful condition or state of humanity.
Here in this passage, the disciples weren’t moved by compassion for the blind man, but rather, they were moved by theological curiosity, and the cause of his condition. Like CHRIST, our first concern must be for the person who is suffering, and how we can meet their needs. We can focus later on, on how they got were they are, and, how we can help them to avoid going astray again.
All of us have tasks that have been assigned to us by GOD, and whether we realize it or not, we only have a short time to perform those duties. While we are still in the world, like CHRIST, we must strive to be a light in the world for others to see (Vs. 4-5).
The unique thing about JESUS’ healing of the blind man, here in this passage, is that, JESUS did not even promise healing. Here HE simply smears the mud from HIS spit on the eyes of the man and instructs him on what to do after that. But because the man was obedient to the word of CHRIST, he was able to gain his sight for the very first time. It is an illustration of what JESUS had already expressed to HIS disciples earlier in John 8:31-32, where HE stated that, “You are truly MY disciples if you continue to obey MY teachings, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”.
When we put JESUS’ words into action, we inevitably come to know the truth. We can then, both see the spiritual reality, and, we can also, experience its goodness. After being cured, this man had a hard time persuading the people and the Pharisees that his healing by JESUS was real. However, the man boldly proclaimed that the miracle on his eyes could only have been accomplished by a man from GOD, not some sinner like the Pharisees tried to lead people to believe JESUS was.
Even today, JESUS is still doing those things that are considered by the unbeliever to be too good to be true, and the Pharisees like many today, were always trying to condemn anyone whose idea of religion was not their own. In fact, that is why we have so many different denominations and sects available to us today. It seems that everyone wants a GOD that they can create in their own image, or a GOD that fits their lifestyle the most comfortable.
The Pharisees were comfortable with being, what they called, “Disciples of Moses”. They felt that they knew who Moses was, but unfortunately, they knew nothing of JESUS (V. 29). The man replied how strange it is that JESUS had healed his eyes, and they, who were of the religious hierarchy in Jerusalem, didn’t even know anything about HIM.
And even though no one in the history of the world, at that time, had ever restored sight to a person that had been born blind, the Pharisees still couldn’t bring themselves to accept that JESUS was truly sent by GOD. As a result of his bold testimony about his belief in CHRIST JESUS, the once, “blind man” was promptly thrown out of the synagogue, by the hard-hearted, angry Pharisees.
The blind man in this biblical account was bolder than his parents, who had refused to take a stand on the fact that their son had been obviously miraculously healed by JESUS. The parent’s position on this matter was heavily influenced by the known hostilities of the religious leaders towards JESUS, and anyone who sided with HIM. However, as far as the son was concerned, the blessing of restored sight was too great to ignore, and he was determined not to be intimidated by the Jewish religious leaders. We can all learn a lesson from the son in this story, on how we ourselves need to share our own faith in CHRIST, because there is nothing that we can possibly lose that would compare to we have gained by knowing CHRIST JESUS as our LORD and SAVIOR.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander

Friday, April 20, 2012

WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary
For Sunday April 22, 2012


TURNING YOUR LIFE AROUND 
(JESUS invites everyone to have eternal life)
(John 4:1-42)


In the Greek, the word New Testament writers use for “longsuffering” is “makrothumia” (mak-roth-oo-mee-ah). It describes a spirit that never grows irritated, never despairs, and never regards anyone as being beyond salvation. In the Gospel according to Saint John, in chapter 4, verses 1-42, the author of GOD writes of JESUS’ journey alone, into Samaria, a land that was rarely, if ever, traveled through by the Jews in those days.
  
HE and HIS Disciples had left Judea together after HIS Disciples had done some baptizing there, and were heading back to Galilee. On the way, JESUS sent HIS Disciples to get food, and HE HIMSELF, continued on into the Samaritan village of Sychar, in the vicinity of the land that Jacob had willed to his son Joseph (Gen. 48:21-22). It was also where Jacob’s well is located.
  
In verse 4 of this passage, the Apostle John tells us that JESUS “had to” go through Samaria, even though we know that there was an alternate, more frequently traveled route, that the Jews would take, just east of the Jordan River through neighboring Perea.
  
The Jews hated the Samaritans, and the Samaritans did not like the Jews. They had harbored ill-feelings towards each other since the days when the Assyrians, under the rule of King Shalamaneser, defeated Israel and King Hoshea, Israel’s last GODly king. The Assyrians took over the capital city of Samaria, and exiled the Israelites to Assyria (2 Kings 17).

The Assyrians then replaced the Israelites with groups of people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and resettled them in Samaria and various other towns throughout Israel. The descendants of the Jews, who married and mixed with those Assyrian groups, became the hated Samaritans of JESUS’ day.

While these Samaritans were worshipers of the same GOD as the Israelites, they worshiped at Mount Gerizim, where Moses, Joshua, and the Jews worshiped (Deut. 27:12 & Josh. 8:33) prior to coming to the “promised land”. But since the time of King David, the “pure breed” Jew’s had been worshiping in Jerusalem. The Samaritans were hated simply because they were “half breed” Jews, and thus, no better than Gentiles in the minds of the pure-breed Jews.
  
However, we see in verse 12 that the woman JESUS encountered at “Jacob’s well”, still considers Jacob as her forefather, and claims her Jewish heritage. What we see here in John chapter 4, is an attempt by JESUS, to show HIS Disciples, and the world, including future generations, that, the new Gospel that HE preached would be embraced by both Jews and Gentiles alike. HE sought to show that prayer is made for all men, regardless of race, and that, for the coming “Christian Way”, there would be no such thing as an enemy, except satan, in all the world. No one would be left outside of the love of CHRIST, and no one has ever been outside of the purpose of GOD. GOD wishes all mankind to be saved.
  
We also see in this passage, JESUS introducing us to “The Five Laws of Persuasion”, “Attention” (Vs. 7-9), “Interest” (Vs. 10-12), “Desire” (Vs. 13-15), “Conviction” (Vs. 16-18), and “Commitment” (Vs. 28-29). The Samaritan woman that JESUS met at the well that day, like many of us, thirsted and longed for that thing in her life, that she felt was lacking. She had drank from the wells of many men, five husbands, to be exact, and was currently “shacking up” with yet another man when she finally had this surprising and unexpected, life-changing encounter with JESUS.
  
The Disciples returned just as the woman was leaving, and they were puzzled as to why JESUS was even talking to a woman alone, and they were, perhaps, even more disturbed that the woman was a Samaritan. JESUS had broken many life-changing barriers by venturing into Samaritan territory that day, and no doubt his disciple’s feet were touching Samaritan soil for the very first time. However, if they were to train to become fishers of men, they would have to first understand that JESUS’ offer of salvation would extend to everyone, both to the Jews, and, to the much hated Gentiles and Samaritans. 

The woman went eagerly back to Samaria to witness of her life-changing event at Jacob’s well. And though she, herself still had many questions, nevertheless, her life had now been jump-started in a new direction. She had come to the well that day, no doubt, filled with shame for living a life that had, to that point, ostracized her from the other women of her community. However, she left the well having a new lease on life that one can only receive by coming to the end of one’s self, and coming face to face with CHRIST JESUS.
  
It seems as if GOD has placed this longing and thirst, inside of each of us, innately from birth, and the only way to satisfy that longing or thirst, is by seeking, and ultimately finding HIM. It is for the purpose of GOD that man was ever created in first place. And just as no man has ever created anything that was not for his own purpose or benefit, so it is with GOD. Man was created to serve GOD, and until we grasp and understand that, we’ll just continue to meander around, searching for physical answers, to problems, that have always been spiritual.

A Sunday school lesson by,


Larry D. Alexander
 

Friday, April 13, 2012

WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary
For Sunday April 15, 2012

CLEANSING THE TEMPLE
(Keep JESUS the focus of worship)
(John 2:13-22)

Unlike the three Synoptic Gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke, John’s Gospel account of JESUS’ cleansing of the temple at Jerusalem comes at the beginning of JESUS’ ministry, rather than near the end. This fact, and, the differences in their narrations, leads most scholars to believe that there were probably two temple cleansings performed by JESUS, during HIS three-year ministry, one at the beginning, which caught the people by surprise, and a second in the third and final year, probably during HIS “passion week”. This second cleansing probably contributed more heavily to the Jewish leader’s plans and desires for JESUS’ death.
At the time of the annual Jewish Passover, JESUS went up to Jerusalem, as was HIS custom, and visited the temple, most likely to teach and preach. However, in the “court of the Gentiles”, the outermost court of the temple, the Jews had begun a tradition of buying and selling animals used for sacrifices at the temple, during Passover. They rationalized these activities, as providing a convenience for the pilgrims, who had journeyed into Jerusalem from afar, and needed lambs, or doves, or, needed their currency changed over to the local currency so that they could participate in the Passover rituals and celebrations.
Unfortunately, like all of the best-laid plans of men, abuses soon developed, and pilgrims became, more often than not, victims of scams and high prices, by corrupt dealers and merchants. For instance, they had even begun to charge an admission fee, or dues, in order to enter into the temple during Passover.
When JESUS saw all of this corrupt activity, taking place in the House of GOD, HE made HIMSELF a whip from some ropes and chased all of the merchants and moneychangers, and their livestock, out of the temple. HE then walked over to those who sold doves and instructed them to take their birds and leave the temple also, because they were turning the house of GOD into a marketplace that was attracting robbers and thieves.
When the angry Jewish leaders, who were, no doubt, getting their cut from the temple proceeds, asked JESUS, “What right did HE have to clear the temple?”, and, to show them a miraculous sign if HIS authority came from the LORD, JESUS responded by telling them to “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”.
Now it had been 46 years since King Herod the great had started rebuilding on the temple that Zerubbabel and his crew had constructed, following the Israelites 70-year stint in Babylonian captivity. Herod had decided that he would restore the temple back to the glorious state that King Solomon had brought to it, during his prosperous reign. However, the temple that JESUS spoke of was the temple of HIS OWN body, a statement that the spiritual-less Pharisees were incapable of hearing, and actually, so too were HIS disciples, at that time. The disciples, however, did recall this statement after JESUS’ Resurrection, and because of the many miraculous signs and wonders that JESUS performed at the Passover, many other people were also convinced that HE was truly the MESSIAH. However, JESUS didn’t trust them, because HE knew what people were like. After all, HE was present at the beginning of creation (John 1:1), and so no one needed to tell HIM about human nature.
JESUS disrupted the ungodly activities that were taking place at the temple in Jerusalem because it had become a den of robbers and thieves whose greatest sin was, that, they were blocking the poor, who couldn’t afford their services, from worshiping GOD in the temple during Passover.
Notice how differently JESUS handled those who sold doves (John 2:16). The dove was mostly used by the poor as an acceptable sacrifice for Passover worship, but their product may have been hard for the poor to acquire because of temple admission fees, and the exorbitant money exchanging fees, that were required before the purchase. JESUS was not protesting against the sacrificial system itself, however, here the purpose of the sacrifices was being lost to the criminal element. Then too, the merchants were also transacting their business inside the temple in the only area where the Gentiles were permitted to enter, thus, they were also blocking their opportunity and right to worship peacefully.
And so, even though the dove merchants were providing a similar temple service for the poor, they were still, in tandem with the other merchants, blocking another segment of GOD’s people from worship, in this case, the Gentiles. Here in this passage, JESUS is clearly showing us that GOD will not hold blameless, anyone, who blocks another human being, made in HIS spiritual image, from worshipping HIM, at any time, not in the Christian Church of the first century, and certainly not in the Christian Church today.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander


LARRY D. ALEXANDER'S BOOK BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY
larrydalexanderbiblestudies.blogspot.com

Larry D. Alexander's Books and Publications Spotlight

Larry D. Alexander - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Friday, April 6, 2012

WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary
For Sunday April 8, 2012

THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY
(The Word lives on)
(John 20:1-18)

In the Greek, the word New Testament writers use for “resurrection” is “anastasis” (an-as-tas-is), and it is “a moral recovery of spiritual truth”. It also means, in the physical sense, “to stand up again”. In John chapter 20, verses 1-18, Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-19, and Luke 24:1-12, these authors of GOD share their respective Gospel accounts of the Resurrection of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST. Each author’s Resurrection account contains something unique from the other. Together, their writings regarding the events surrounding the final week of JESUS” life here on earth, collectively comprise what scholars have dubbed “The Passion Narratives” of Scripture.
The Resurrection of CHRIST is the essence of the Christian faith, and the core of all of the Apostles teachings. All accounts tell us that it was early in the morning, on the first day of the week, in fact, while it was still dark. By combining all four Gospel accounts, we can see that Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom JESUS removed seven demons (Luke 8:2), Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, Salome, who was Zebedee’s wife and the mother of James and John, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager, all went to the tomb of JESUS to anoint HIS body for burial, with spices.
Perhaps no one had ever loved JESUS as much as Mary Magdalene did. HE had done something for her that no one else could ever do, and she never forgot it. It was the custom of the Jews to visit the tomb of a loved one for three days, after the body had been laid to rest. They believed that, for three days, the spirit of the deceased person would hover around the tomb, and only departed when the decomposing body became unrecognizable. The day following JESUS’ Crucifixion was the Sabbath, which in those days was Saturday, so to visit on that day would violate the Sabbath law. That is why their first visit had to occur on that early Sunday morning.
The original Greek writings of the New Testament authors tell us, that, it was during “proi” when they visited the tomb. The Jews divided their nights into four watches. The first night watch was from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., the second watch was from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m., the third watch was from 12 a.m. to 3 a.m., and the fourth and final watch was from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. It was during this forth watch, called “proi”, that, the women came to visit the tomb.
Tombs, in those days, were “cave-like” compartments that had been carved into the side of a hill, or mountain, and then, covered by a circular shaped rock, which rested, in a slanted groove that had been carved out along the front opening of these compartments. This extremely heavy rock had to be rolled uphill to open, and downhill to close. So we can envision that it was much harder to open than to close.
In addition, Matthew tells us that JESUS’ tomb was also sealed by Roman officials, at the request of the Jewish leaders (Matthew 27:62-66). They also placed guards out in front of the tomb. Matthew also records that there was a great earthquake associated with an angel of the LORD, who came down from Heaven and rolled away the stone from the entrance of the sepulcher, and sat on it. This apparently frightened the Roman guards so much that they fainted (Matthew 28:2-4).
When the women arrived at the tomb, they were shocked and frightened by what they saw. However, the angel was able to allay their fears and invite them to look into the cave so they could see that JESUS was no longer there. He then urged them to go and tell JESUS’ Disciples the good news that JESUS had arisen, just as HE said HE would.
The women then ran and found Peter and John, still not understanding, and thinking someone had broken into the tomb and removed JESUS’ body (John 20:2). Peter and John then run to the tomb, and with John arriving first, he looks in and sees JESUS’ body wrappings lying there in the tomb, but sees no body. Peter then arrives and actually goes into the cave, where he too, only sees the cloth that had enwrapped JESUS’ body. When Peter saw this, he remembered and realized what Scripture had said, and what JESUS had said about rising from the dead after three days, and he believed, and they went home.
John tells us in 20:11-18, that afterwards, Mary Magdalene was standing outside the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she peered inside the cave. She saw two white-robed angels, sitting at the head and foot of where JESUS’ body had lain. One of the angels asked her, why was she crying? Mary, still not understanding, replies, “Because they have taken away my LORD, and I don’t know where they have put HIM”.
Just then, she noticed someone standing behind her, that, she thought was the gardener (she didn’t recognize, at that time, that it was JESUS, probably because her eyes were filled with tears). “Sir”, she said, “If you have taken HIM away, tell me where you have put HIM”. JESUS then speaks to her, and she apparently recognizes HIS voice and runs to hug HIM. But JESUS tells her not to cling to HIM, because HE had not yet ascended to HIS FATHER. Mary then runs to find the Disciples once again, but this time, to tell them that she had seen the risen LORD.
We see throughout the “Passion Narratives” of the Bible, that this lady, Mary Magdalene, was always there in the vicinity of our LORD and SAVIOR. She was there at the foot of the cross when JESUS’ earthly life expired on that infamous Friday in world history (John 19:25). She was there when JESUS’ body was wrapped and entombed, by Joseph of Arimathea (Matthew 27:61, Mark 15:47) and Nicodemus (John 19:39-40). And she was there when the empty tomb was discovered, early that Sunday morning. And so, it was only fitting that she became the first person on earth, ever to see the “RISEN LORD”. It is a distinction that she would never have to share with anyone. What a wonderful earthly reward she had received for her unparalleled love for, and faithfulness to, the SON of the ONLY WISE GOD. And her example of undying faith in GOD is one of the great Sunday school lessons of all times. It is a lesson that every Christian should learn, and then, keep in their hearts and use as fuel, to propel them through their Christian journey, and into “Eternal Life”.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander

LARRY D. ALEXANDER'S BOOK BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY
larrydalexanderbiblestudies.blogspot.com

Larry D. Alexander's Books and Publications Spotlight

Larry D. Alexander - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website