Life of Jesus
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Wholemaker
Learning the ways Jesus makes us whole
3/24: The Wholemakers
What Easter traditions did you have growing up?
A vital component of the Book of Matthew is the raising up of the Church, a new group of shepherds and wholemakers. Jesus didn’t just come to die for our sins. He was also establishing a new leadership that would care for the marginalized and take God’s worship seriously.
Most of us grew up with some idea of professional clergy, people paid to do God’s work (pastors, nuns, priests, and missionaries). But God’s plan was for everyone to see themselves as sent into the world to establish the Kingdom. From doctors to engineers, plumbers to bankers, even lawyers have a role in easing the suffering of the world and helping people follow Christ.
The religious leaders at the time had an upside-down view of God’s kingdom. In their mind, the church, synagogue, and temple all existed for their comfort, status, and power. Of course, they would never admit it, but they attacked whenever one of those three things was threatened. Jesus saw this and called them out. In this parable, Jesus challenges the religious elite directly. And they get the message. In the process of exposing the Pharisees, Sadducees, and priests, he gives us a clue into his thinking.
Verse 43 talks about theg over Kingdom building—those who would produce the fruit of the Kingdom, which we defined as new group takin restoring worship, welcoming the weak, and healing the broken.
A landowner … planted a vineyard (21:33). Clearly alluding to Isaiah 5:1–7, Jesus intensifies his rebuke of the religious leadership by pronouncing God’s judgment. Stone walls were built around vineyards to protect them from thieves and wild animals, and some larger vineyards had watchtowers built for added security. It was common to have large farming estates in Palestine, which were owned either by foreigners or wealthy Jews and rented out to poor Jewish farmers. A wealthy landowner might employ a farmer or rent out his vineyard to tenants, if he had other preoccupations.
The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third (21:35). Many absentee landowners were notorious for harsh treatment of their tenants. Here, the scene is reversed, and the landowner’s servants are abused when they come to collect a portion of the harvest. The treatment of these “servants” calls to mind the same fate that befell God’s prophets throughout Old Testament history (e.g., 1 Kings 18:4; Jer. 20:1–2).
Last of all, he sent his son to them (21:37). This is an unmistakable allusion to the Father’s sending his Son, Jesus (cf. 10:40–41; cf. 3:17; 11:27; 15:24; 17:5), which is further evidence of Jesus’ self-consciousness of his identity as God’s unique Son (cf. 3:17; 11:27).
“The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone” (21:42). The crowds at Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem had sung out a portion of the last of the Egyptian Hallel psalms, “O Lord, save us,” a quotation of Psalm 118:25 (cf. Matt. 21:9). Now Jesus draws on Psalm 118:22 to point to his rejection and future vindication. God has given prominence to his suffering servant like a “capstone” (lit., “head of the corner”), either the stone that held two rows of stones together in a corner (“cornerstone”) or the wedge-shaped stone placed at the pinnacle of an arch that locked the ascending stones together. The suffering of the Son will be turned into the position of ultimate prominence and importance.
Have someone read the passage aloud while everyone sits and listens.
Ask each person to share a word or phrase that caught their attention. Don’t offer commentary but notice people who have the same word.
Have everyone read the passage themselves. Give them 2-3 extra minutes to ponder the passage. We’re cultivating a sense of listening to God. There is no need to rush this but be mindful of those who finish early.
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“ ‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” k
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
When have you experienced Christians not acting like Jesus? How did that affect your faith?
How has the reputation of Christianity changed since you were a kid? Why do you think that is?
We talked about three aspects of producing kingdom fruit: restore worship, welcome the weak, and heal the broken. Which is most exciting to you? Which is hardest?
How do you feel about being a sent one? What fears come to mind? What opportunities?
Who do you feel God is sending you to?
3/17: Transformation
What in your life is giving your joy right now? What is giving you sorrow?
They say that nothing tastes as good as a New York bagel. Many people have speculated and tried to recreate the so called magic, but it never measures up. Or so they say. The same seems to be true about their pizza. But for us casual tourists, we don’t always taste the difference. Perhaps it isn’t the water, handed down recipes, or even the mix of pollution and sea air that makes the difference. Maybe it is the culture reinforcing the idea that nothing could be better. It’s the same phenomena that surrounds In-n-Out Burgers or Whattaburger. The food is fine, unless you grew up there – then it is sublime.
Every culture has these imbedded messages shaping our values. If it was blown out bangs in the 80s, tight jeans in the teens, or even those “whatzzzzup” commercials, culture has a way of telling us what is good and what is normal. What happens when these messages go beyond trends and begin shaping how we see the world, ourselves, and even God.
Jesus does little to warn the disciples of the power of greed, pride, or lust. But the ‘yeast of Pharisees’ has Jesus worried. Yeast was an invisible force in the ancient world. Like our cultural messages, yeast determined the nature of the bread that would be baked. It shaped the taste of it. The yeast of the Pharisees smacked of ego, insider/ outsider thinking, and a hierarchy for God’s love. And these messages permeated people’s approach to God, themselves, and others.
While this attitude still exists today, our modern, suburban culture has its own yeast. We are swimming in a culture of affluence and individualism that unlike anything in the history of the world. We too need to be mindful of the yeast of our world.
Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees (16:6). Jesus earlier used yeast in a positive metaphorical sense to point to the permeating nature of the kingdom of heaven (cf. 13:33). Now he returns to the more consistent use of yeast in Scripture as a negative metaphor to indicate the evil of disintegration and corruption that can permeate what is good (e.g., Ex. 12:8, 15–20).
Against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees (16:12). Josephus testifies to the “controversies and serious differences” between the Pharisees and Sadducees. Jesus does not suggest that these two religious groups share the same overall theological teaching, but emphasizes that they have a united opposition to Jesus.
Have someone read the passage aloud while everyone sits and listens.
Ask each person to share a word or phrase that caught their attention. Don’t offer commentary but notice people who have the same word.
Have everyone read the passage themselves. Give them 2-3 extra minutes to ponder the passage. We’re cultivating a sense of listening to God. There is no need to rush this but be mindful of those who finish early.
5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6 “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”
8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11 How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
How do you feel about the “He Gets Us” commercials?
What are the biggest cultural influencers right now?
What cultural messages or values make it difficult for people to trust Jesus?
Where do you feel most exposed to cultural messages?
What cultural messages or values make it difficult to follow Jesus?
How have you learned to expose cultural assumptions that make following Jesus hard?
3/3: He heals us...
What do you love that most people dislike?
Conversations about healing and faith can provoke many feelings. Some traditions celebrate and expect physical healing. At the same time, others treat it simply bygone time. Other traditions lean towards reinterpreting modern healings as only having to do with the soul. The idea that ‘you’d be healed if you had more faith’ has caused immeasurable grief and shame in the hearts of many of God’s most faithful.
So, what are we to make of healing? Should we still pray? Is healing only limited to the soul?
The Bible presents us with several truths about healing that don’t always align as neatly as we’d like.
- We are called to pray for healing, and that prayer works. (Jas 5:16; Luke 11:9-13; Mk 9:29)
- People get healed without asking for it (Jn 5:1-9; Jn 11:1-46; Mt 9:23-25)
- Even the most righteous don’t get healed. (2 Cor 12:7-10)
- Not all healing is physical (Mt 8:28-34; 9:20-22; Lk 19:1-10)
- Everything is still for our good and God’s glory (Rom 8:28; Jn 9:3)
Our journey is to live in the tension of brokenness and wholeness. Seeking and trusting Christ for healing. Knowing that everything he does, even saying ‘no’ is for our good and his glory. And to remember that we’re not abandoned and one day – all is made whole.
A ruler came and knelt before him (9:18). Mark 5:22 and Luke 8:41 give the man’s name as Jairus; Matthew simply calls him a “ruler” (archōn), which can be used of either a community leader or a head of a synagogue board. Mark and Luke specify him as the latter, though Jairus may in fact function as both a community and a synagogue leader. By kneeling before Jesus he indicates the extreme honor he gives to him, for kneeling is the appropriate position one takes before God171 or a king or superior.
Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years (9:20). The woman’s bleeding could have been from some sort of internal disease or hemophilia, although the latter is mostly a male disorder. The term haimorroeō, “subject to bleeding,” was used in Greek medical writings and in Leviticus 15:33 (lxx) to mean “menstruous.” This most likely indicates that the woman had menorrhagia, a disease in which the menstrual flow is abnormally prolonged, usually producing anemia as well. The condition was all the more difficult because she would have been considered ritually unclean and excluded from normal social and religious relations, since others making contact with her would become unclean as well (Lev. 15:25–30).
When Jesus entered the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd (9:23). Music was long considered an important element at both times of mourning and at times of gladness. The music of the dirge (qînâ); David’s lament over Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. 1:18–27) is an example of the music that accompanied a time of mourning. Professional mourners were customarily hired to assist at funerals, usually including flautists and wailing women. Rabbi Judah later said, “Even the poorest in Israel should hire not less than two flutes and one wailing woman.” In the family of a prominent person like the ruler, many professional mourners would have joined the family and friends in expressing their grief. Mourning was considered an important way of dealing with the reality of death, and various rites encompassed the mourner’s clothing, diet, relationships, and religious activities, usually for a period of seven days.
Copied from Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary
18 While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.
20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”
22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.
23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, 24 he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. 26 News of this spread through all that region.
Hearing the Word: Have someone read the passage aloud while everyone follows along.
Giving Attention: What is something that immediately catches your attention?
Look Again: Give everyone 2-4 minutes to re-read the passage.
What catches your attention this time around? Why is that significant?
Discovering the text: What is revealed about God or Jesus in this passage?
What does this passage reveal about humans?
How is the Spirit at work in this passage?
How have you experienced healing in your own life?
How have you experienced waiting in your own life?
Is it a cop-out to equate the physical healing stories of Jesus with healing emotional, spiritual, and mental wounds?
Who in these stories do you most identify with: the woman seeking healing, the father praying for healing, or the daughter receiving what she was unable to ask for?
How are you praying for healing now?
2/25: Prayers from the Broken
What are your unconventional views on prayer?
In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus paints a pretty stunning picture of perfection and wholeness. Many of us read things like “even if you look lustfully, you’ve committed adultery” or “even saying ‘you fool’ is the same as murder” and think no one can live up to this standard. For sure, Jesus’s words are extreme, but they’re not painting a standard to live up to. Rather, Jesus is giving us a picture of the depth of our sin and brokenness AND a hope in his wholeness. Throughout the sermon, Jesus moves the focus from behavior to the heart. Our hearts are the problem, not our behavior. And Jesus has hope for our hearts.
This week, we join in with Wednesday’s Bible Reading. In Matthew 6:5-15, Jesus invites us to examine how and why we pray. If you’re like me, prayer is a weird subject to wrap your mind around. Most of my prayers seem to go unanswered. Yet, the Bible still encourages me to pray. But what if prayer has less to do with getting what I want and more to do with becoming who I wish I was? What if prayer is about transformation?
When you pray (6:5). Although individual prayer was appropriate at any time, pious Jews prayed publicly at set times: morning, afternoon, and evening (Ps. 55:17; Dan. 6:10; Acts 3:1). Josephus indicates that sacrifices, including prayers, were offered “twice a day, in the early morning and at the ninth hour.”
For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men (6:5).When the set time of prayer arrived, pious Jews would stop what they were doing and pray. This could be done discreetly or with a great deal of display.
But when you pray, go into your room (6:6). Since common people did not often have separate, private quarters in their homes, the meaning is intended metaphorically to emphasize privacy, or it may refer to a storeroom for grain and foodstuffs. Jesus does not condemn public prayer, because he prayed publicly himself (14:19; 15:36).
Hallowed be your name (6:9). The first petition is directed toward God’s name. The purpose of hallowing that name (the name signifies the person) is that God will be “sanctified” or set apart as holy among all people and in all actions. The Jewish Qaddish (“holy”) prayer of the synagogue, which likely goes back to Jesus’ time, begins similarly: “Exalted and hallowed be his great name in the world which He created according to his will.” This affirms the typical Jewish expectation that God is to be treated with the highest honor.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors (6:12). Sin creates an obligation or “debt” to God that humans cannot possibly repay. The evidence that a person has truly been forgiven of his or her debt of sin is the willingness to forgive others (cf. 18:21–35), a sentiment found commonly in Judaism: “Forgive your neighbor the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray” (Sir. 28:2).
Copied from Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, s
but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Hearing the Word: Have someone read the passage aloud while everyone follows along.
Giving Attention: What is something that immediately catches your attention?
Look Again: Give everyone 2-4 minutes to re-read the passage.
What catches your attention this time around? Why is that significant?
Discovering the text: What is revealed about God or Jesus in this passage?
What does this passage reveal about humans?
How is the Spirit at work in this passage?
How have you seen God answer prayer?
When do you find it difficult to pray?
How do you feel when God seems silent to the prayers of his people? Your prayers?
Looking at the Lord’s Prayer: what elements stand out to you? (note: for example, honor, submission, requests for provision, forgiveness, and guidance)
When has praying changed your perspective, values, or attitude?
2/18: Jesus the outsider
On a scale of 1 to 10, how cool were you in high school? What was something to tried to do to become cooler?
We’re kicking off a new series called Wholemaker, talking about the ways that Jesus makes us whole. Along with this series is a Bible Reading plan that takes us through the book of Matthew. This discussion is taken from the February 20th reading.
Jesus begins making us whole by joining in our mess and brokenness. He does this because we are more than our problems, messes, and screw ups. Jesus embraces his humanity because there is so much beauty, wonder and joy in being human.
Becoming human isn’t easy for Jesus. Right after his birth, he has to flee for his life. He becomes a refugee and an exile in the very world that he created. This theme of being of an outsider will follow Jesus throughout his life on earth. He’ll be misunderstood by his family, rejected in his hometown, constantly challenged, and ultimately betrayed and abandoned by his closest friends. Jesus knew what it was like to be an outsider.
He also enjoyed times of popularity and fame. Sometimes the fame got away from him and people wanted Jesus to become something he wasn’t and never intended to be. It was as if, being an insider was just as difficult as being an outsider. Through it all Jesus teaches us that following him has moments of being both inside and outside the mainstream. But through it all we must keep our eyes on him.
Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt (2:13). During the turn of the first century, Egypt was a Roman province outside of Herod’s jurisdiction, so Joseph and his family would have found a natural hiding place there among their fellow dispersed Jews. As far back as Abraham, Egypt had become a haven of refuge for the people of Israel when they faced difficulties or danger. Perhaps the largest, most significant, and culturally creative center of the Jewish Diaspora (“dispersion”) in the first century flourished in Alexandria. According to the Jewish philosopher Philo (15 b.c.–a.d. 50), who lived there, its population included about a million Jews.
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt (2:14). The border lies approximately eighty miles from Bethlehem. If they took the primary route, Joseph and the family would have traveled south to Hebron, west to the coast at Gaza, and then south again to the Nabatean border. From there, it is about fifty miles to the Egyptian border and over two hundred miles to the main Jewish community in Egypt at Alexandria.
“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning” (2:18). Centuries earlier, Nebuchadnezzar’s army had gathered the captives from Judah in the town of Ramah before they were taken into exile to Babylon (Jer. 40:1–2). Jeremiah depicts Rachel, who is the personification of the mothers of Israel, mourning for her children as they are being carried away. However, there was hope for their future because God would restore Rachel’s children to their own land (31:16–17), and messianic joy would come in the future establishment of the new covenant with Israel (31:31–34).
He went and lived in a town called Nazareth (2:23). Nazareth was occupied early in Israel’s history, but was apparently deserted in 733 b.c. during the Assyrian invasion of the northern kingdom and appears to have been uninhabited from the eighth to third centuries b.c. Modern archaeological excavations have uncovered the remains of houses and a tomb from the Herodian period, indicating that Nazareth was reestablished as a small agricultural village around the third century b.c., perhaps founded and named by exiles returning from the Babylonian captivity. The town is located in the hills in lower Galilee, twenty miles from the Mediterranean Sea to the west and fifteen miles from the Sea of Galilee to the east. Nazareth was not a strategic town politically, militarily, or religiously in Jesus’ day, so it is largely left out of documents of the first century. However, it was not isolated. A ten minute walk up to the ridge north of Nazareth provided villagers with a magnificent view of the trade routes a thousand feet below on the valley floor and of Herod Antipas’s capital city, Sepphoris. In Jesus’ day, this humble agricultural village probably had a relatively small population of around five hundred people.
Copied from Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary
The Escape to Egypt
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” n
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.” q
The Return to Nazareth
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Spend about 3-5 minutes allowing people to read and explore the text. You may want to have someone read it allowed.
Instruct everyone to look for the things that jump out or catch your attention.
Give everyone a chance to share what stood out to them.
Ask someone to re-tell or summarize the passage in their own words.
When have you felt like an exile or an outsider?
How has it felt to be an outsider? What pain or difficulty have you experienced?
Why do you think God made Jesus an outsider? What are the benefits of being outside the mainstream?
How do people confuse following Jesus with following the group?
Being a follower of the mainstream and a rebel of the mainstream, both suffer the same failure – a preoccupation with what the group identity is doing. How can we keep our eyes on Jesus knowing that we’ll sometimes be in and out of the group?
Facilitation Tips
Here are some best practices for getting the most out your time together
Small Group facilitating can be flustering; it doesn’t matter if it is your first time or your hundredth. Prayer is simply talking to God about what matters. While you may have big plans and prayers for your group, God wants to also talk about your heart. Take 15 minutes during the day to review the lesson and talk with God about your hopes, fears, and stresses about the group.
Provide time for each person to participate before moving onto the next question. It is important to build space for each person to be comfortable in sharing. There may be individuals that aren’t comfortable or aren’t sure how to respond. That is okay too.
Stay focused on the individual that is speaking. Being engaged will build a connection for them to feel seen and heard.
Listen for keywords/topics that relate to the question, and follow up with a question to build on. This does not have to be with everyone person; pick one or two to build engagement.
If the conversation is drifting off-topic, listen for a window to steer the group back. Ways to guide the group back could be restating the question or calling on another individual to answer the question. If neither of those tactics is successful, it is okay to politely say, “These are great conversations. To make sure we have time to make it through the full experience, I would like to shift us back.” It may be helpful to repeat the question.