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3. How is the power Jesus can delegate to you limited by the size of your faith? Faith is expectant, confident, and assured of things I cannot yet see, here as related to Jesus and His work in me. Faith gives substance to the unseen realities of the spiritual realm. If my expectations, confidence, and assurance are weak and small with little substance, there isn’t much room for His power to enlarge and fill my life. Faith expands my capacity to receive His power like a deep breath expands my lungs. It opens God’s hand to release the flow of His blessings and mighty power at work in and through me. The moments of testing that God allows in my life will always reveal the degree of faith I have. So I would simply say that little faith = little power.

In your own words, state the insight that the centurion had of Jesus' power. How did this insight differ from that of Jesus' disciples at the time? Because he held a position of authority over others, the centurion had a degree of insight into Jesus’ unique authority that the disciples could not yet fully relate to. He had heard the stories and reports of the wondrous events of healing and restoration, even raising of the dead. The centurion comprehended that Jesus possessed great power and authority in the natural realm, but also in the spiritual realm, to the extent that the Healer didn’t even have to be physically present and only had to speak the command of healing in order for it to be done. He had surely heard of the compassionate heart of Jesus toward the sick and dying, and he fully placed his complete deep trust in that power and mercy. This military leader was utterly humbled by this to the point of feeling unworthy to have Jesus even enter his home or meet face to face. The disciples were constantly exposed to these acts of healing, so they had some realization of Jesus' power in the natural realm. But I’m not sure they had really begun to grasp the fullness of His authority within the spiritual domain as they struggled to reconcile what they had been taught to expect of Messiah against what they heard and saw in the Man they had been called to follow.

Thank you, Pastor Ralph, for this gritty, grimy, realistic description of Hosea’s story that displays the sordid betrayal of Yahweh’s love and speaks to what that love for His people costs Him. This section of the lesson began with His command for Hosea to choose a known adulteress as his wife, a woman so entrenched in her sinful lifestyle that she was never faithful to her husband and even bore 2 illegitimate children fathered by other men (2:4-5). She clearly represents the people who God has chosen and called as His own, just as Hosea represents divine love-in-action as he sought out an undeserving woman to offer redemption as his wife and to provide an honored name and blessed future. Hosea understood that her choices and behavior clearly depicted the stubborn, wayward, unfaithful heart of Yahweh’s chosen “bride”, Israel. The names of Gomer’s adulterine offspring, No Mercy and Not My Name, clearly depicted the fruit of her sins and they represent God’s warnings of judgments on His own adulterous people. Israel’s rebellion and unfaithfulness that characterized the broken relationship with Yahweh would result in much judgment and many consequences. BUT even as Yahweh warns, He always offers the hope that He is always ready and waiting to show mercy and secure restoration. He instructed Hosea to go to the man that took in Gomer as his mistress and buy her back at his own personal expense. This pictures what Yahweh would do in a future time to redeem Jews and Gentiles alike by purchasing our pardon at great personal expense with the sacrifice of Messiah. He comes after us with His mind-blowing mercy and grace to buy us back and offer redemption through His extravagant love and passionate favor shown to the undeserving. The opening words of a hauntingly beautiful modern hymn I love have come to mind. "How deep the Father's love for us, How vast beyond all measure, That He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure" How Deep the Father's Love For Us - words and music by Stuart Townend Extending this kind of grace is sometimes very messy, very painful, and very costly.

First, continuing with thoughts from Yahweh’s revelation of His character attributes in vs.6, I’d like to add the next two I see in vs.7. It is part of Yahweh’s nature to be forgiving – God desires to pardon and release us from the penalties and consequences of our iniquities, transgressions, and sins. He longs for our restoration to Him. And here we see that He revealed Himself as the just and righteous Judge – He makes it clear that although His desire is to forgive, by no means will He release the guilty from the consequences of sin apart from acceptance of the atoning sacrifice of redemption. Yahweh promised to forgive any and all iniquities of perverse offenses, transgressions of rebellion, and sins of missing the mark of obedience – when we identify, admit, and confess them with repentance. Any time we twist the truth to justify our choices, or decide to rebel against God’s design and trust our own plan or judgment, or reject what He says is the right way, we are guilty and in need of repentance. Yahweh has clearly laid out the certain punishment of unrepentant sin. When we refuse to be humble and honestly confess our sin with repentance, when we reject His offer of grace, God cannot apply that grace to our offenses and we bear the consequences on our own.

The background here is interesting to me and influences my understanding of Yahweh's revelation. Bear with my recap. Prior to this encounter at Mount Sinai, Yahweh had sealed His covenant with the commandments He personally engraved on the stone tablets that had been given to Moses, the people had abandoned Yahweh while Moses was on the mountain and created an object of pagan worship, and Moses had thrown the tablets down to break them in his anger at coming back to find the people engaged in ungodly worship (Exodus 32). Yahweh revealed to Moses that the people were now to leave Mount Sinai, but with the guidance of an angel instead of His own presence lest He destroy them all because of their rejection of Him. Moses and the people mourned at this “disastrous word”. Moses continued to commune with Yahweh in the tent of meeting and stood in the gap to plead for the people, but also for assurance that Yahweh would not leave him on his own to face all the uncertainties and responsibilities of this demanding task. What pressure Moses must have felt,at any thought of doing this without the intimate presence of Yahweh to lead them in the journey. Yahweh promised that He would not remove His presence from Moses, who then asked Yahweh to reveal a visual glimpse of His glory to this servant. Moses had been assured of Yahweh’s favor and maybe was drawn to make the request of being able to see his faithful LORD as an intimate personal connection, or maybe needed that tangible evidence of Yahweh’s presence to bolster his confidence to do all that Yahweh was requiring. He was then directed to prepare 2 new stone tablets and come up the mountain alone the next morning to present himself. Now to Exodus 34:6. That next morning, Yahweh began with this wonderful assurance of His character and relationship to Moses and His people. Here are some things I see in His self-revelation. 1. Merciful – God intimately feels our pain and needs in this earthly life. He looks on us with compassion. And I think this could also reveal that He doesn’t desire to give us what we do deserve as the fruits of our sin. 2. Gracious – God responds to these human pains and needs with lovingkindness. He is not detached or uninvolved. I think this could also reveal that He freely gives what we do not deserve as the remedy for our sin. 3. Slow to anger – God is patient with our flaws and rebellion because He knows how He created us … on our own, we are incapable of perfection. We are warned and consequences are certain, but He is not a rash hot-head who looks for opportunities to bash us. 4. Loving – God’s love for us overflows and is unshakeable. Nothing will change this character trait of abounding affection and perfect desire for our good. 5. Faithful – God is trustworthy. He is true to His commitments and promises to His people. He will never violate His Word. In this revelation, I think maybe Yahweh was personally responding to Moses’ plea for guidance and favor as this servant faced the monumental task of leading the people from their encampment out into the unknown. The rest of chpt.34 records that He went on to give full assurance that Moses would never be out of His sight or alone in this call on his life. Yahweh forgave Moses’ anger that led to the destruction of the first tablets of commandments, provided the glimpse of His glory perhaps to reassure and encourage Moses of His intimate presence, and then renewed His divine covenant with His people and gave the second set of tablets of Ten Commandments to define His relationship with them and their relationship with Him. This list of Yahweh’s personal characteristics and qualities in vs.6 presents a broad picture of the outpouring of kindness and favor that He desires to shower over His people. He wanted Moses - and His chosen people - to know who He really is as the God who intimately knows and cares for them. And still today, true to character, He’s always at work in our lives to reveal His extravagant love and passionate favor, though we don’t deserve a single component of such grace.

Grace is a gift freely given when not merited or deserved. It isn’t given as a loan and it can’t be earned. Wages are what is owed to you to satisfy a debt for work or expectation of favors in return for something you have done for someone. I’ve read something like this: “Grace is the extravagant love of God shown to the unlovely, the passionate favor of God to the undeserving”. No amount of human effort could ever earn that. In the big view, humanity is showered with God’s grace, an essence of who He is as “the God of all grace”. He gives because He is a giver who is the Source of all giving, not out of obligation or debt. And we don’t deserve anything He gives or provides for our temporal existence on this earth. But His greatest gift of grace is His Son Jesus, the Redeemer given to rescue humanity from the penalty of sin. Through that grace, God has provided for our existence individually in heaven for eternity. In keeping with the character of grace, this can’t be earned and it’s never given as a loan. It merely has to be honestly accepted.

4. How can you tell if you are a true follower of Jesus? Is being "born again" a good indicator? What does "born again" mean if it doesn't affect a person's lifestyle? Spiritual birth is only possible through faith in Christ. You can’t be “born again” or become an authentic follower of Christ without that genuine faith because you won’t have access to the presence or power of the Holy Spirit and His transformative work that changes lives. And even once a person does make that decision and is spiritually “born again”, the lifelong battle between the old nature of the flesh and the new nature of the Spirit begins and is unrelenting. Authentic believers often still fail miserably at times in living a Christlike life. BUT, many years ago the LORD impressed on me this practical marker to watch for in my own life: a true born-again follower of Christ is grieved by those failures and seeks the Spirit's guidance and help. It may take a while, but when I care what God thinks about something I shouldn't have said or done, I am always convicted with regret and a desire to make things right, opt for better choices, choose better words, dwell on better thoughts, etc. (And then the battle begins all over again a lot of the time!) That’s a completely different lifestyle from a person who may act the part but has never been truly transformed by being “born again” of the Spirit, and who never demonstrates understanding or sorrow or concern for unChristlike words or behavior – or the consequences that follow. No fruit of the Spirit = no true follower of Jesus.

2. How does what you say when you're angry indicate what is in your heart? What you harbor in your heart is what you will always outwardly express eventually. The old example of a teabag and a cup of hot water is still a great word picture for me. A teabag can’t produce anything except the kind of tea it really is. It can’t produce coffee or hot chocolate, only the specific essence and flavor contained in the specific leaves inside the bag. When your teabag-heart is plunged into hot-water-circumstances, the kind of “tea” you are will always ultimately be revealed.

Con men continue to trick people and take advantage of them. How can you tell them, according to Jesus' teaching? Jesus simply said to observe the evidence of what a person’s actions and words cause and bring about. Good treasure of the heart will produce good things. Evil treasure can only produce evil consequences. Analyze the fruit.

3. How does Jesus' teaching encourage his disciples to be generous? These divine promises and the record of the LORD’s faithfulness to His Word are trustworthy encouragement for us to obey. Even though His call to be generous in giving and forgiving can be costly and painful at times, He has promised that our every act of obedience rooted in faith will be abundantly rewarded! 4. What is Jesus' point about the parable of the speck and the plank? Pastor Ralph’s comment completely sums it up: “until we take the time to deal with our own sins and weaknesses, we're in no position to help someone else get rid of sin in his own life.” I can't give meaningful advice to someone else about an issue I have not dealt with in my own life. My hypocrisy would be even more detrimental to the other person.

2. What do giving and forgiving have in common? We are commanded to follow the example of Jesus in developing and maintaining the disciplines of being givers and forgivers, always looking for opportunities where we can offer both in a display of God’s character. And both share an amazing promise: that the LORD Himself will return those blessings back to us far more generously than what we are capable of offering to others.

Jesus says, "Don't judge." But we have to make judgments every day in order to survive. What kind of judging does Jesus forbid in this passage? Jesus speaks here of an attitude that openly criticizes and denounces, that condemns and declares a judicial-type sentence on another person,. It isn’t our rightful place to do that. We are called to use discernment in evaluating the evidence of behaviors and actions we see in others - but not to presume to know their intent or motive, and not to “sentence” them. That’s only God’s place and right to do because He alone is the perfect Judge with flawless insight, knowledge, wisdom, and authority.

3. Why is loving your enemy so much like divine love? What is the implication of this for our salvation? For our lifestyle? This agape love that Jesus taught is not natural to the degenerate human soul. It is based in a willing offering of unmerited, costly mercy to the undeserving. An exact picture of what God offers to us because of His divine love. There is no salvation from the penalty of sin without understanding and accepting this truth that He offers undeserved mercy to sinful humanity because of His love. And in order to rightly reflect the character of Christ being developed in every believer by His Spirit within, we’re called to extend this kind of supernatural love to our enemies as a living breathing example of what He has done for them. That requires death to self-protection and personal interests. Not usually a very easy transition! 4. What is the difference in effect of stating the Golden Rule as a negative ("Don't do to others, as ..."), as did Rabbi Hillel, rather than a positive ("Do to others, as ..."), as did Jesus? “Don’t” is a negative command to simply restrain yourself from doing something, sort of a call to inaction. “Do” is an active command that requires you to consider the circumstances and make the choice to take constructive action, as Jesus would do, for the best interest of another person . It seems that Rabbi Hillel’s interpretation missed the heart of the deeper spiritual principle that Jesus was teaching.

2. Do you see "turning the other cheek" and giving your enemy your tunic as literal, figurative, hyperbole, or what? What is the point Jesus is making here? I think the examples Jesus used for His disciples could have been somewhat literal for them but that His primary goal was to teach them the higher principles of refraining from revenge and choosing to show love to those who hate (especially those who despise and persecute because of a person’s faith). It helps to remember the saying that “hurting people hurt people”. I don’t believe Jesus was saying believers are never to address wrongs against us, but that we must address them with Christlike love and kindness and mercy rather than our natural anger and desire to retaliate. In verses 35-36, Jesus made the point clear. The LORD is kind to the ungrateful and the evil, as well as to those who love Him. Our conduct and attitude toward those who hate us should reflect His love and goodness and mercy. And He promises that will be greatly rewarded.

Why is the real test of agape love being able to love your enemies? If we fail this test, do we really have agape love? Agape love requires making a deliberate conscious choice to act with love. That’s a really difficult choice to make for dealing with someone who hates you and actively seeks harm for you. So coming to the place in your Christian growth where you can willingly do this with all humility and submission to Jesus would definitely “pass the test” of loving as He loves. Refusal to grow in this discipline would be a fail.

1. What does Jesus mean by his use of the words "poor" and "rich" in this passage? Does he intend these words to be taken literally or figuratively? Jesus was using relatable human conditions to convey spiritual principles. These brilliant examples were meant to reveal spiritual truths. Being economically poor or physically hungry, etc. does not ensure that you will belong in the kingdom of God or have basic needs abundantly satisfied, etc. As we read His words today, we can take them literally in the spiritual understanding that we have on the other side of the cross. But to His audience of that day, I would have to say these words were meant to be taken figuratively. In vs.23, we see that He made it clear to them these things would be fulfilled in a future time and place. These spiritual blessings will be fully realized in “that day” - to provide our security, fulfillment of every need, and enduring joy when we each are accepted into heaven and receive our reward. That is when these blessings will become fully literal. 2. Choose one of these four alternatives and then support your choice: (1) Christianity can be accurately characterized by delayed gratification. (2) Christianity can be accurately characterized as seeking a present blessing and experience. (3) Christianity can be characterized by both a present blessing and experience, and by delayed gratification. (4) Christianity can be accurately characterized by none of the above. Why did you make the choice you did? I think #3 is a fair statement. 1. On the most basic foundational level, I think our present blessing and experience are all found in the Holy Spirit’s presence within every believer. He brings the attributes of Yahweh into communion with our spirits made newly alive when we place all faith in the work of Christ to redeem us. He provides full access to divine power, provision, peace, wisdom, direction, strength, encouragement, comfort, assurance, etc. These are blessings and experiences with Him meant to guide and bless us through this earthly life. But even in this wonderful relationship, we have only a foretaste of the glorious life we will have in eternity! 1 Corinthians 2:12-13; Galatians 5:22 2. All that has been secured for us by Christ, all that we long for, cannot be fully realized in the natural realm of this earthly life. We lean on hope (confident expectation) and live by faith in what has been promised to us. Ephesians 1:3; Titus 2:11-14

What kinds of situations face us today where all night prayer is appropriate? (6:12) Of course, the vast variety of disasters and troubles and major decisions in this world and our personal lives are worthy of this kind of intense prayer. Jesus' example here specifically reflects His determination to seek the Father's will in selecting the leaders that would take the Gospel to the world. The primary similar situation I think of in our day is selection of deacons. Some denominations like the one I grew up in ask the congregation for nominations, and unless there was some glaring reason to eliminate a candidate the names were all presented for a vote by the church. While I understand the desire for input from the people, I am certain that their votes on the whole were not bathed in earnest prayer like we see in Jesus’ example. And I certainly have to realize and confess that I never sought the Lord's leading back then the way Jesus did. The church I belong to now selects deacons differently, with a structure that is not subject to an open vote by the membership, and I have every reason to believe it is based much more on careful prayer.

2. Teaching that God's rules can sometimes be set aside for the sake of human need, can be dangerous. How can we observe this truth without abusing it? I may be going in a different direction than intended by this question, but this is where my thoughts were immediately led. Jewish life was governed by specific laws and rules, and the principles of those laws are vitally important to us because they reveal God’s character and moral law. But the Christian life is not established on obeying rules and keeping laws. Jesus revealed that it is to be governed by only one law that supersedes all other laws, the Law of Love. Luke later records in his writings the heart of that law in an exchange between Jesus and a religious lawyer: “And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."(10:25-28) Matthew recorded Jesus’ answer to the lawyer in this way: “And He said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." (22:37-40) When we're motivated by our complete love for God and humbly submitted to the Spirit's leading in sharing that love with others, I believe that demonstrating such love with assistance to someone in genuine need honors Him and the intent of His commandments, and displays obedience to the Law of Love. The danger would be in acting on the 2nd great commandment Jesus gave without adhering to the 1st and greatest one. Then we'd be stepping out in our own flawed and unreliable human wisdom or ability or feelings, etc. That could truly lead us in the wrong direction that might actually create problems and doesn't rightly help the one in need or accomplish what God would have intended.

2. What are the structures in our lives and society that are incompatible with the Life of the Spirit in our lives? I'll just address the number one thing that comes to mind for me. It is simply our human nature that thinks it knows best and wants to be in control. People are generally very independent-minded and have an innate desire to be self-sufficient -- which is the exact opposite of the humility and recognition of our complete inability to please God apart from dependence on the Spirit’s leading that is required of a follower of Christ. That sets up the lifelong battle between flesh and spirit that Paul spoke so honestly about in Galatians. Then come the earthly pressures, parameters, and variety of factors others have mentioned here.

1. Does Jesus speak against fasting in this passage? What does he teach about fasting, if anything, in this passage? In responding to the legalistic criticism about the lack of pious public fasting noticed in Him and His disciples, Jesus spoke about fasting, not to condemn or forbid it but to relate a new perspective. For their unparalleled moment in time, celebrating the presence of the Bridegroom was infinitely more important than their ritual of fasting. At the heart of His challenge to them was the motive for fasting, the reason for the practice. It had been turned into a hypocritical demonstration of just how “holier-than-thou” a person was. For most people (and certainly a large number of scribes and Pharisees) it was only an outward practice that had no spiritual meaning, just another law that must be kept in order to be in line with the Jewish concepts of outward obedience to Yahweh’s legal requirements. But the old-wine concept of self-effort in obeying rules could never fit with the new-wine application of obedience to God’s law through the leading and power of the Spirit. Jesus was challenging their blindness to the spiritual meaning of fasting - the humbling of self and setting aside natural desires in order to deeply seek His presence, to more clearly “see” God and what He’s doing, to hear His voice and where He's leading. The new wine of the Spirit that was soon coming to be poured into every believer could never be contained or properly developed in the old rigid wineskin of law-keeping.

3. Which of the two phrases IS easier to say? "Your sins are forgiven!" OR "Get up, take your mat, and go home!"? What point did Jesus want us to draw from this incident? Jesus had authority and power to do both, so either one was “easy” for Him. Forgiveness of the paralytic man’s sin was a healing in the invisible spiritual realm that the religious leaders would certainly dispute. But the physical healing was quite another matter. It was the indisputable evidence that Jesus was truth. 4. Why did Jesus use the term "Son of Man" rather than "Son of God" or "Messiah"? The man these religious leaders were looking at and hearing speak was Yahweh manifested to the world in skin and bones. Jesus was God come to earth in human flesh, born of a human woman with human DNA. Using this title “Son of Man” from Old Testament writings, He most often identified Himself this way as He related His mission for restoring man’s broken relationship with God – one Man standing in the gap for all other men. This title didn’t blatantly identify Him as God, but was a subtle revelation of His divinity to these Jewish scholars. It was not yet time for that full revelation.

2. What is the connection between sin and sickness in this passage? Sin and sickness are linked here to this paralytic’s healing. We don’t know if the man was paralyzed as a result of some sinful behavior in his life, but in a general sense all sickness stems from the original innate sin nature of all humanity. Forgiveness and healing of sin was this suffering man’s greatness need. No one but God Himself has the right and authority to bestow that forgiveness. This links to healing in that only God Himself has the power and authority to cure disease and restore normal function to damaged bodies. With Jesus’ statement, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”, I think that the physical healing was not just compassion for the crippled man, but was to be an observable evidence of His power to give the even more important inner healing.

Why do you think Jesus spoke the extremely controversial words, "Your sins are forgiven?" He could have been less offensive to the visiting guests. Why did he choose not to be? Jesus was on earth to bring truth to all of Israel, which would include the scribes and Pharisees. This was a moment to challenge what they thought they knew and to demonstrate the reality of who He was – God on earth in flesh, the Son of Man. Jesus knew they correctly understood God’s sole authority to forgive sins and power to heal sickness. He also knew their blind misinterpretation of prophecy and misapplication of God’s Word and promises. So He went directly at their secret questions to expose them and subtly reveal His identity - not just as a physical healer but as the spiritual healer. Nuance was not going to be effective in unveiling their perceptions. He was giving them opportunity to consider truth, knowing they were not going to. Jesus was God and possessed all power to heal of spiritual and physical sickness.

4. "I will. Be clean!" is pretty strong. Can you think of any place where Jesus indicates that he isn't willing to heal those who are sick? Jesus would surely have desired otherwise, but had to warn his hometown of Nazareth that He could do no mighty works there because of their lack of faith. Mark 6:5-6 records there were only a few people that He did heal, because they demonstrated faith. Mostly the people there were completely focused on who they thought Him to be as a hometown boy made good, and were so clueless to the miracle of fulfilled prophecy standing before them that they attempted to murder Him. God responds to honest genuine faith, but the people were looking for prestige and sensational favors from Him. I'm sure it was heartbreaking for Him to have to hold back healing from many more people there. However, I don’t recall that Jesus was ever unwilling to heal anyone who came to Him in faith. Also, there was Lazarus. Jesus could easily have healed this dear friend from afar, but chose not to because of an even greater purpose.

2. Describe the kind of faith it takes to act and speak as this leper did. What level of belief was required of him? 3. What is the difference between believing God can do something for us and believing that he wants to do something for us? Would you call the difference faith? or knowledge? or both? Knowledge and faith are complementary concepts but they are not the same thing. You cannot authentically choose to place your faith in something you have no knowledge of. Today, our churches are filled with people who have lots of Biblical knowledge but never lean into the faith to trust and apply that knowledge in their real everyday lives. Intellectually believing something is true isn’t the same thing as trusting and relying on that truth in your own heart. A classic practical example is someone who believes that airplanes are a great way to travel quickly, comfortably and generally safely, but refuses to trust and act on that belief by actually buying a ticket and stepping through the gate to board the plane. Saying you believe something and actually living like it’s true are two different things. This courageous leprous man not only believed the demonstrable truth that Jesus had the power to heal; he trusted that Jesus had the power to heal him and took action according to that faith!