Study Focus: Matthew 5:13, 14; Philippians 2:15; Mark 12:34; Luke 15:2; Matthew 9:23; Isaiah 42:3; Matthew 9:35; Matthew 25:31-46.
Part I: Overview
Jesus’ words made an impact on the lives He touched because His selfless life was in harmony with His Words. His teachings made an impact because His loving actions were the outgrowth of His teachings. If Christ’s actions were not in harmony with His words, He would have had little influence on the people around Him. There is an old saying that, “actions speak louder than words.” This is certainly true when it comes to our Christian witness.
This week’s lesson underscores the importance of self-sacrificing service that totally is others-oriented, making a lasting impression in their lives. We will examine the outflowing of love from Jesus’ heart as His most effective means of witness.
Millennia ago in the vast heavenly realms of space, Lucifer rebelled against God. He claimed that God was unfair, unjust, and unloving. Jesus’ life testifies to His Father’s immense love. Every miracle of healing reveals the Father’s love. Every time a demon-possessed individual is delivered, it speaks of the Father’s love. Every time Jesus feeds the hungry, comforts the sorrowing, forgives the guilty, strengthens the weak, severs the chains of sin or raises the dead, He reveals the Father’s love.
This week, we will explore how our church can model Christ’s love in our community. We will uncover biblical principles in the life of Christ that define what church is all about. The church is the body of Christ, ministering in Jesus’ name, revealing His love, and meeting needs everywhere.
Part II: Commentary
Christ calls us to engagement with the world, not estrangement from the world. We are not called to isolate ourselves. We are called to light the darkness with the light of Christ’s love. Light overcomes the darkness. Darkness does not overcome light. Where light is, there can be no darkness. The apostle Paul states it beautifully: “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6, NKJV).
Did you catch the significance of Paul’s teaching? The light of God’s love shines out of our lives to those in darkness, so we can reveal the truth about God, a knowledge of His loving character, to a world in darkness.
The Bible also uses the imagery of salt to illustrate the role of Christian witness in our world. Salt is not going to give food much flavor if it stays in the salt shaker. It is only as salt is mixed with the food that it can both flavor and preserve it. Christians who remain together in the comfortable confines of their churches and have little contact with the world will have little opportunity to impact it for Christ.
The monastic movement of the Middle Ages considered the world to be evil. The monks believed that the way to holiness was abandonment of the things of this world. Some of them went to extreme lengths to avoid contact with the world.
Illustration: Simon Stylites
In his attempt to achieve holiness and be separate from the world, Simon Stylites dwelt atop a series of pillars for 37 years in a small town outside of Aleppo, Syria. As an ascetic monk, he spent his days meditating, praying, and contemplating the divine. Often people gathered around the pillar where he stood. They gazed at this “holy man” and sometimes asked for advice. His fame spread through the surrounding area, and many other monks imitated his lifestyle. One basic tenet of these ascetics was that inner oneness with God is achieved through separation from the world.
The Scriptures do call each one of us to prayer, meditation on the Word of God, and separation from evil. The purpose of spending time with Christ on the “mountain” is so we can witness to the multitudes.” The monastics often missed a vital aspect of the Christian faith. Light shines in the darkness. Salt penetrates the food it flavors, and Christians are the light of the world and the salt of the earth.
Jesus’ great intercessory prayer in John 17 puts it this way: “ ‘I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one’ ” (John 17:15, NKJV). Someone has said that Christians are like a boat in the water. It is alright for the boat to be in the water if there is no water in the boat. Christians are in the world to influence it for Christ, but when the world is in Christians, absorbing their time, attention, and energies, something is wrong.
Jesus plunged into this sinful, rebellious world to reveal the love of God and redeem humanity. He looked at each person through the eyes of divine compassion. To a Roman military officer, He said, “ ‘I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel’ ” (Matt. 8:10, NKJV). Surprisingly He encouraged a Jewish scribe by saying,
“ ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God’ ” (Mark 12:34, NKJV). The scribes spent their lives studying the Jewish Torah. While the disciples may have wanted to debate with this scribe, Jesus believed the best about him. Jesus saw each person as a candidate for the kingdom of God.
According to Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus would not “bruise a tender reed” or “quench a smoking flax.” In other words, Jesus gently healed bruised people. He did not further condemn them. Think of the stinging words of condemnation Jesus could have given to the woman caught in adultery or the Samaritan woman at the well. Think of the rebuke He could have given Simon Peter after his denial or the stern criticism He could have had for the thief on the cross. But Jesus did none of this. His words were words of hope. They were words of grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Paul gives us this admonition, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Col. 4:6, NKJV). As Ellen G. White states so clearly, “Only by love is love awakened.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 22. She then adds, “The wonderful love of Christ will melt and subdue hearts, when the mere reiteration of doctrines would accomplish nothing.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 826. When loving words are combined with thoughtful actions that meet practical human needs, unconverted hearts are changed.
Jesus’ method of evangelism was to find a need and meet it. His comprehensive threefold ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing transformed lives. The Gospels reveal Jesus meeting the “felt” needs of people so that He could touch them at the point of their deepest spiritual needs. Consider the Gospel of John. In John 2, at the wedding feast of Cana in Galilee, Jesus meets a social need by saving the host from embarrassment. In John 3, Jesus meets Nicodemus’ deepest heart hunger for an authentic faith. In John 4, Jesus treats the Samaritan woman with dignity and respect, meeting her emotional need for a sense of self-worth. In John 5, Jesus meets physical needs in the miraculous healing of a desperately ill man who hopelessly lies by a pool of purportedly therapeutic waters for 38 years. In John 6, when Jesus breaks the bread and feeds 5,000 hungry people, the crowd wants to make Him king (John 6:14, 15).
What made Jesus’ popularity so high at this point in His ministry? The world had never seen anyone with so much unselfish love who could meet their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. It was here in John 6 that Jesus preached that powerful sermon on the bread of life. For the first time many of His hearers understood that He was calling for a deep spiritual commitment—a commitment that many of them were unwilling to make; so they walked away (John 6:66).
Jesus came not only to meet the “felt needs” of people for good public relations for the Christian church. His mission was much more than a philanthropic organization. The purpose of Jesus’ life was “ ‘to seek and to save that which was lost’ ” (Luke 19:10, NKJV). After healing scores of people on a Saturday night, Jesus was up early the next morning, seeking the Father in prayer. Although there were still more sick people to heal, Jesus said, “ ‘Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth’ ” (Mark 1:38, NKJV). There is nothing more important to Jesus than saving lost people. Jesus did not heal people so they merely could return to lives of sin healthier. Jesus did not relieve disease so that individuals would have more energy to live lives of selfish indulgence. He relieved physical suffering to reveal the Father’s love and to provide tangible evidence of His ability to heal hearts. All of Jesus’ physical miracles served to illustrate His divine power to deliver from the bondage of sin.
Part III: Life Application
Spend a few minutes thinking about someone in your sphere of influence who has a tangible spiritual need. Maybe there is a single mom who needs a break from the kids. What can you do to give her a “mom’s night out”? How can you befriend her? Can you possibly invite her home for a meal? What about offering to change the oil in her car?
Possibly there is a retired man living across the street whose wife has recently died? He is lonely and needs friendship. What practical things can you do for him? What about the young couple that has just moved into the apartment down the hall from yours or into the house across the street? How can you help them become better acquainted in the community? What are their needs, knowing that they are new to the area?
Think about the people in your community that need and want better health. It may be a desire to quit smoking, adopt a healthier diet, lose weight, reduce stress, exercise more, or have a better lifestyle. How can our church develop an ongoing, comprehensive health outreach into our communities?
And what if the community is in an underprivileged area where people need to learn to read, develop basic computer skills, and need groceries or some of the necessities of life?
If we are going to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, let’s think of concrete ways to meet our community’s needs in the loving name of Jesus.
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Key Text: Matthew 9:26
Study Focus: Matthew 5:13, 14; Philippians 2:15; Mark 12:34; Luke 15:2; Matthew 9:23; Isaiah 42:3; Matthew 9:35; Matthew 25:31-46.
Part I: Overview
Jesus’ words made an impact on the lives He touched because His selfless life was in harmony with His Words. His teachings made an impact because His loving actions were the outgrowth of His teachings. If Christ’s actions were not in harmony with His words, He would have had little influence on the people around Him. There is an old saying that, “actions speak louder than words.” This is certainly true when it comes to our Christian witness.
This week’s lesson underscores the importance of self-sacrificing service that totally is others-oriented, making a lasting impression in their lives. We will examine the outflowing of love from Jesus’ heart as His most effective means of witness.
Millennia ago in the vast heavenly realms of space, Lucifer rebelled against God. He claimed that God was unfair, unjust, and unloving. Jesus’ life testifies to His Father’s immense love. Every miracle of healing reveals the Father’s love. Every time a demon-possessed individual is delivered, it speaks of the Father’s love. Every time Jesus feeds the hungry, comforts the sorrowing, forgives the guilty, strengthens the weak, severs the chains of sin or raises the dead, He reveals the Father’s love.
This week, we will explore how our church can model Christ’s love in our community. We will uncover biblical principles in the life of Christ that define what church is all about. The church is the body of Christ, ministering in Jesus’ name, revealing His love, and meeting needs everywhere.
Part II: Commentary
Christ calls us to engagement with the world, not estrangement from the world. We are not called to isolate ourselves. We are called to light the darkness with the light of Christ’s love. Light overcomes the darkness. Darkness does not overcome light. Where light is, there can be no darkness. The apostle Paul states it beautifully: “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6, NKJV).
Did you catch the significance of Paul’s teaching? The light of God’s love shines out of our lives to those in darkness, so we can reveal the truth about God, a knowledge of His loving character, to a world in darkness.
The Bible also uses the imagery of salt to illustrate the role of Christian witness in our world. Salt is not going to give food much flavor if it stays in the salt shaker. It is only as salt is mixed with the food that it can both flavor and preserve it. Christians who remain together in the comfortable confines of their churches and have little contact with the world will have little opportunity to impact it for Christ.
The monastic movement of the Middle Ages considered the world to be evil. The monks believed that the way to holiness was abandonment of the things of this world. Some of them went to extreme lengths to avoid contact with the world.
Illustration: Simon Stylites
In his attempt to achieve holiness and be separate from the world, Simon Stylites dwelt atop a series of pillars for 37 years in a small town outside of Aleppo, Syria. As an ascetic monk, he spent his days meditating, praying, and contemplating the divine. Often people gathered around the pillar where he stood. They gazed at this “holy man” and sometimes asked for advice. His fame spread through the surrounding area, and many other monks imitated his lifestyle. One basic tenet of these ascetics was that inner oneness with God is achieved through separation from the world.
The Scriptures do call each one of us to prayer, meditation on the Word of God, and separation from evil. The purpose of spending time with Christ on the “mountain” is so we can witness to the multitudes.” The monastics often missed a vital aspect of the Christian faith. Light shines in the darkness. Salt penetrates the food it flavors, and Christians are the light of the world and the salt of the earth.
Jesus’ great intercessory prayer in John 17 puts it this way: “ ‘I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one’ ” (John 17:15, NKJV). Someone has said that Christians are like a boat in the water. It is alright for the boat to be in the water if there is no water in the boat. Christians are in the world to influence it for Christ, but when the world is in Christians, absorbing their time, attention, and energies, something is wrong.
Jesus plunged into this sinful, rebellious world to reveal the love of God and redeem humanity. He looked at each person through the eyes of divine compassion. To a Roman military officer, He said, “ ‘I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel’ ” (Matt. 8:10, NKJV). Surprisingly He encouraged a Jewish scribe by saying,
“ ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God’ ” (Mark 12:34, NKJV). The scribes spent their lives studying the Jewish Torah. While the disciples may have wanted to debate with this scribe, Jesus believed the best about him. Jesus saw each person as a candidate for the kingdom of God.
According to Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus would not “bruise a tender reed” or “quench a smoking flax.” In other words, Jesus gently healed bruised people. He did not further condemn them. Think of the stinging words of condemnation Jesus could have given to the woman caught in adultery or the Samaritan woman at the well. Think of the rebuke He could have given Simon Peter after his denial or the stern criticism He could have had for the thief on the cross. But Jesus did none of this. His words were words of hope. They were words of grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Paul gives us this admonition, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Col. 4:6, NKJV). As Ellen G. White states so clearly, “Only by love is love awakened.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 22. She then adds, “The wonderful love of Christ will melt and subdue hearts, when the mere reiteration of doctrines would accomplish nothing.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 826. When loving words are combined with thoughtful actions that meet practical human needs, unconverted hearts are changed.
Jesus’ method of evangelism was to find a need and meet it. His comprehensive threefold ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing transformed lives. The Gospels reveal Jesus meeting the “felt” needs of people so that He could touch them at the point of their deepest spiritual needs. Consider the Gospel of John. In John 2, at the wedding feast of Cana in Galilee, Jesus meets a social need by saving the host from embarrassment. In John 3, Jesus meets Nicodemus’ deepest heart hunger for an authentic faith. In John 4, Jesus treats the Samaritan woman with dignity and respect, meeting her emotional need for a sense of self-worth. In John 5, Jesus meets physical needs in the miraculous healing of a desperately ill man who hopelessly lies by a pool of purportedly therapeutic waters for 38 years. In John 6, when Jesus breaks the bread and feeds 5,000 hungry people, the crowd wants to make Him king (John 6:14, 15).
What made Jesus’ popularity so high at this point in His ministry? The world had never seen anyone with so much unselfish love who could meet their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. It was here in John 6 that Jesus preached that powerful sermon on the bread of life. For the first time many of His hearers understood that He was calling for a deep spiritual commitment—a commitment that many of them were unwilling to make; so they walked away (John 6:66).
Jesus came not only to meet the “felt needs” of people for good public relations for the Christian church. His mission was much more than a philanthropic organization. The purpose of Jesus’ life was “ ‘to seek and to save that which was lost’ ” (Luke 19:10, NKJV). After healing scores of people on a Saturday night, Jesus was up early the next morning, seeking the Father in prayer. Although there were still more sick people to heal, Jesus said, “ ‘Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth’ ” (Mark 1:38, NKJV). There is nothing more important to Jesus than saving lost people. Jesus did not heal people so they merely could return to lives of sin healthier. Jesus did not relieve disease so that individuals would have more energy to live lives of selfish indulgence. He relieved physical suffering to reveal the Father’s love and to provide tangible evidence of His ability to heal hearts. All of Jesus’ physical miracles served to illustrate His divine power to deliver from the bondage of sin.
Part III: Life Application
Spend a few minutes thinking about someone in your sphere of influence who has a tangible spiritual need. Maybe there is a single mom who needs a break from the kids. What can you do to give her a “mom’s night out”? How can you befriend her? Can you possibly invite her home for a meal? What about offering to change the oil in her car?
Possibly there is a retired man living across the street whose wife has recently died? He is lonely and needs friendship. What practical things can you do for him? What about the young couple that has just moved into the apartment down the hall from yours or into the house across the street? How can you help them become better acquainted in the community? What are their needs, knowing that they are new to the area?
Think about the people in your community that need and want better health. It may be a desire to quit smoking, adopt a healthier diet, lose weight, reduce stress, exercise more, or have a better lifestyle. How can our church develop an ongoing, comprehensive health outreach into our communities?
And what if the community is in an underprivileged area where people need to learn to read, develop basic computer skills, and need groceries or some of the necessities of life?
If we are going to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, let’s think of concrete ways to meet our community’s needs in the loving name of Jesus.