As we look at Jesus’ ministry on earth, we are struck by how selfless He was in His daily approach to people. He sought to deepen relationships with others by first assessing and discovering their felt needs and then leading them to recognize their greater needs. “Our Lord Jesus Christ came to this world as the unwearied servant of man’s necessity It was His mission to bring to men complete restoration; He came to give them health and peace and perfection of character.”—Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 17.
Teacher’s Aims:
Examine with your class basic principles and insights found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), including the blessings and attitudes (the Beatitudes) that Jesus sought to clarify in the minds of His followers.
Encourage class members to wrestle with their response to injustice.
Challenge them to look in a new light at the injustices committed against them.
Remind your students that when confronted by the need of a “neighbor” they must think more of them than themselves.
Likewise, remind your students that while we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, we will be judged by how that faith works in service to “the least of these.”
Explore with your class how living Jesus’ teachings and ministry during His first advent will prepare our communities and ourselves for His second advent.
Part II: Commentary
Scripture: In Christ’s sermon on the mount, He laid out the values of the kingdom of heaven that also will be manifested on earth by His people. The Lord’s Prayer, given during the Sermon on the Mount, implores: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). It has been said that the Beatitudes are Christ’s kingdom manifesto. These principles will be manifested in our actions.
The Beatitudes possibly reference justice. For example, the Greek word for “righteousness” in the well-known beatitude in Matthew 5:6 is sometimes translated as “justice.”
In fact, as we noted in an earlier lesson, the words righteousness and justice are at times used interchangeably in both the Old and New Testaments. Primarily one Hebrew (tsedeq) and Greek (dikaiosune) word is used for both terms. One example of the interchangeability of “justice” and “righteousness” in English is seen in the New Living Translation (NLT): “God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6, emphasis supplied).
Matthew 5:6 presents a metaphor for moral uprightness. This figure could be an allusion to Psalm 37:12–17, which speaks of a time when the power of the oppressors “shall be broken” (Ps. 37:17). Ask your class to read and discuss this passage, which expresses a desire for personal righteousness as well as for a whole world that is characterized by God’s righteousness (or justice). Also discuss: What other parts of the Beatitudes are related to justice and mercy?
Directly after the Beatitudes, Jesus establishes the identity of Christians: “You are the salt of the earth.” “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:13, 14, NKJV, emphasis supplied). And we are truly salt and light when we live the principles of the Beatitudes. Someone once said that it is harder to be salt than light. Have the class discuss that statement in the context of engaging and mingling with the community. What important role do both salt and light have in social ministry? (e.g., light generally shines from afar, makes darkness disappear, and helps us find what is lost. Being “salt,” however, takes extra commitment because it must mingle with ingredients different from itself in order for its healing properties to have an impact.)
Illustration: Years ago, a group of psychologists conducted a study based on the story of the good Samaritan. They met with a group of theology students and asked each of them to prepare a short talk on the theme of the good Samaritan. Then, they were to walk through an alley to a nearby building to present the talk. On the way there, each student encountered an actor, playing the part of a man, sprawled in the alley, groaning and coughing.
Few students stopped to help the man or ask him if he was OK. Some even stepped over the victim to get to their speaking appointment in the next building. The psychologists concluded that compassion and love for humanity all too often works in theory but not in practice.1 C. S. Lewis is credited with saying: “It is easier to be enthusiastic about Humanity with a capital ‘H’ than it is to love individual men and women, especially those who are uninteresting, exasperating, depraved, or otherwise unattractive. Loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular.”
Discuss with your class the personal and church implications of the above story and the C. S. Lewis quote. List on a writing board (if available) specific ideas from the group on how to move from theory to serving particular people or groups in their community.
Scripture: Invite class members to read Luke 10:25–37 aloud, assigning one verse per student. Then, if feasible, sing together one verse of “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior” (The Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, no. 569). Ask: “Sometimes I sing and pray, ‘Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior,’ but do I pass by, and look the other way, when I see someone in need?”
Share and discuss the following:
Talk about a time when someone in your life came and helped you where you were.
Mention a time you came upon someone in need and helped this person.
How have I, or our church corporately, looked the other way from the suffering and needs of others?
What happens to ourselves, as well as others, when we look the other way?
Summarize the parable of the good Samaritan by contrasting the attitudes of the main characters in the story. Then, ask your students to respond to the following questions as exemplified by the different mind-sets in the story:
The mind-set of the priest and Levite: If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?
The mind-set of the good Samaritan: If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?
Scripture: Read Mark 14:7. Some people use this verse as an excuse to ignore one type of “the least of these”—the poor. They reason: “Because the poor will always be with us, the problem will not go away. Anyway, Jesus Himself said it: ‘ “For ye have the poor with you always” ’ (Mark 14:7). So why try to solve the problem?”
Please note: Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 15 in Mark 14:7. Looking to Deuteronomy, we can better understand the context of His comment in Mark 14:7. There are two important references to the poor in
Deuteronomy 15. One is in verse 11: “For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.” Seven verses earlier, in verse 4 (RSV), however, we read: “But there will be no poor among you.” So, how do we reconcile verses 4 and 11, as in, “There should be no poor,” with “the poor shall never cease out of the land”?
There will continue to be poor people because of the injustice of other people. But God’s will is that there be no poor (Deut. 15:4), because God has provided resources to take care of the hungry and the poor. Unfortunately, the injustice of human beings ensures there always will be the poor (Deut. 15:11). The continuation of poverty in the world is not an excuse for inaction, however, but a mandate for generosity.
Discuss This Quote: “Christ has said that we shall have the poor always with us, and He unites His interests with that of His suffering people. The heart of our Redeemer sympathizes with the poorest and lowliest of His earthly children. He tells us that they are His representatives on earth. He has placed them among us to awaken in our hearts the love that He feels toward the suffering and oppressed.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 535 (emphasis supplied).
Part III: Life Application
In your class discuss the following: while you wait for the Second Advent, evaluate your church and yourselves on your effectiveness in living out Christ’s ministry methods and teachings that He exemplified at His first advent. For example:
Rate yourself on each of the attitudes of the Beatitudes: 1 being low, and 4 being high.
In light of Matthew 5:14, is the light in your personal life and your church life shining like a 5,200 lumens bulb or a 200 lumens bulb? Why?
Read the following quote about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus: “The rich man did not belong to the class represented by the unjust judge, who openly declared his disregard for God and man. He claimed to be a son of Abraham. He did not treat the beggar with violence or require him to go away because the sight of him was disagreeable. If the poor, loathsome specimen of humanity could be comforted by beholding him as he entered his gates, the rich man was willing that he should remain. But he was selfishly indifferent to the needs of his suffering brother.”—Ellen G. White, Christ Object Lessons, p. 261 (emphasis supplied). This statement could implicate church members in good standing. It is about what the “rich man” didn’t do. What can your church do for the “Lazaruses” in your community? How can you overcome indifference?
List on a board, if available, some of the pressing “least of these” issues today in your community: for example, people with special needs and human trafficking (an extremely serious and prevalent issue). Even though it may be virtually impossible for your church to intervene in every issue, chose an issue to start with and plan a first step.2
Notes
``
1 Bryan Patterson, “Being a Good Samaritan Is More Than Just Showing Compassion,” Herald Sun, August 25, 2012.
2 For additional ideas see the Adventist Review, August 2016, an issue that focuses on “The Least of These.”
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As we look at Jesus’ ministry on earth, we are struck by how selfless He was in His daily approach to people. He sought to deepen relationships with others by first assessing and discovering their felt needs and then leading them to recognize their greater needs. “Our Lord Jesus Christ came to this world as the unwearied servant of man’s necessity It was His mission to bring to men complete restoration; He came to give them health and peace and perfection of character.”—Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 17.
Teacher’s Aims:
Part II: Commentary
Scripture: In Christ’s sermon on the mount, He laid out the values of the kingdom of heaven that also will be manifested on earth by His people. The Lord’s Prayer, given during the Sermon on the Mount, implores: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). It has been said that the Beatitudes are Christ’s kingdom manifesto. These principles will be manifested in our actions.
The Beatitudes possibly reference justice. For example, the Greek word for “righteousness” in the well-known beatitude in Matthew 5:6 is sometimes translated as “justice.”
In fact, as we noted in an earlier lesson, the words righteousness and justice are at times used interchangeably in both the Old and New Testaments. Primarily one Hebrew (tsedeq) and Greek (dikaiosune) word is used for both terms. One example of the interchangeability of “justice” and “righteousness” in English is seen in the New Living Translation (NLT): “God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6, emphasis supplied).
Matthew 5:6 presents a metaphor for moral uprightness. This figure could be an allusion to Psalm 37:12–17, which speaks of a time when the power of the oppressors “shall be broken” (Ps. 37:17). Ask your class to read and discuss this passage, which expresses a desire for personal righteousness as well as for a whole world that is characterized by God’s righteousness (or justice). Also discuss: What other parts of the Beatitudes are related to justice and mercy?
Directly after the Beatitudes, Jesus establishes the identity of Christians: “You are the salt of the earth.” “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:13, 14, NKJV, emphasis supplied). And we are truly salt and light when we live the principles of the Beatitudes. Someone once said that it is harder to be salt than light. Have the class discuss that statement in the context of engaging and mingling with the community. What important role do both salt and light have in social ministry? (e.g., light generally shines from afar, makes darkness disappear, and helps us find what is lost. Being “salt,” however, takes extra commitment because it must mingle with ingredients different from itself in order for its healing properties to have an impact.)
Illustration: Years ago, a group of psychologists conducted a study based on the story of the good Samaritan. They met with a group of theology students and asked each of them to prepare a short talk on the theme of the good Samaritan. Then, they were to walk through an alley to a nearby building to present the talk. On the way there, each student encountered an actor, playing the part of a man, sprawled in the alley, groaning and coughing.
Few students stopped to help the man or ask him if he was OK. Some even stepped over the victim to get to their speaking appointment in the next building. The psychologists concluded that compassion and love for humanity all too often works in theory but not in practice.1 C. S. Lewis is credited with saying: “It is easier to be enthusiastic about Humanity with a capital ‘H’ than it is to love individual men and women, especially those who are uninteresting, exasperating, depraved, or otherwise unattractive. Loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular.”
Discuss with your class the personal and church implications of the above story and the C. S. Lewis quote. List on a writing board (if available) specific ideas from the group on how to move from theory to serving particular people or groups in their community.
Scripture: Invite class members to read Luke 10:25–37 aloud, assigning one verse per student. Then, if feasible, sing together one verse of “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior” (The Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, no. 569). Ask: “Sometimes I sing and pray, ‘Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior,’ but do I pass by, and look the other way, when I see someone in need?”
Share and discuss the following:
Summarize the parable of the good Samaritan by contrasting the attitudes of the main characters in the story. Then, ask your students to respond to the following questions as exemplified by the different mind-sets in the story:
The mind-set of the priest and Levite: If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?
The mind-set of the good Samaritan: If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?
Scripture: Read Mark 14:7. Some people use this verse as an excuse to ignore one type of “the least of these”—the poor. They reason: “Because the poor will always be with us, the problem will not go away. Anyway, Jesus Himself said it: ‘ “For ye have the poor with you always” ’ (Mark 14:7). So why try to solve the problem?”
Please note: Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 15 in Mark 14:7. Looking to Deuteronomy, we can better understand the context of His comment in Mark 14:7. There are two important references to the poor in
Deuteronomy 15. One is in verse 11: “For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.” Seven verses earlier, in verse 4 (RSV), however, we read: “But there will be no poor among you.” So, how do we reconcile verses 4 and 11, as in, “There should be no poor,” with “the poor shall never cease out of the land”?
There will continue to be poor people because of the injustice of other people. But God’s will is that there be no poor (Deut. 15:4), because God has provided resources to take care of the hungry and the poor. Unfortunately, the injustice of human beings ensures there always will be the poor (Deut. 15:11). The continuation of poverty in the world is not an excuse for inaction, however, but a mandate for generosity.
Discuss This Quote: “Christ has said that we shall have the poor always with us, and He unites His interests with that of His suffering people. The heart of our Redeemer sympathizes with the poorest and lowliest of His earthly children. He tells us that they are His representatives on earth. He has placed them among us to awaken in our hearts the love that He feels toward the suffering and oppressed.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 535 (emphasis supplied).
Part III: Life Application
In your class discuss the following: while you wait for the Second Advent, evaluate your church and yourselves on your effectiveness in living out Christ’s ministry methods and teachings that He exemplified at His first advent. For example:
Notes
``
1 Bryan Patterson, “Being a Good Samaritan Is More Than Just Showing Compassion,” Herald Sun, August 25, 2012.
2 For additional ideas see the Adventist Review, August 2016, an issue that focuses on “The Least of These.”