If God doesn't care about us, we are in a pretty precarious position. Previous Next Table of Contents Does God Care? If God doesn't care about us, we are in a pretty precarious position. Tom Faletti (to be continued) Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Table of Contents Next

Betrayal and an impending denial surround Jesus's command to love one another. Can we love even when it is hard, as Jesus did? [John 13:21-30; 13:31-35; 13:36-38] Previous Next John List John 13:21-38 Betrayal and an impending denial surround Jesus’s command to love one another. Can we love even when it is hard, as Jesus did? Judas leaves the Last Supper with a moneybag in hand, as the devil enters at the right. Pieter Pourbus (c. 1523–1584). The Last Supper . 1548. Cropped. Groeningemuseum, Bruges, Belgium. Photo by Vassil, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Groeningemuseum_Pieter_Pourbus_Last_Supper_01052015_1.jpg . Tom Faletti May 15, 2026 Read John 13:21-30 Jesus announces that he will be betrayed In verse 21, Jesus is troubled for the third time (see also 11:33; 12:27). What does he tell the disciples? How do the disciples react to the statement that one of them will betray Jesus? In verse 22, we see the first reference to “the one whom Jesus loved.” We will also see this “beloved disciple,” as the scholars call him, at the foot of the cross, at the empty tomb, and in other places. He is traditionally considered to be the apostle John. How do you think he came to be known as “the one whom Jesus loved”? The beloved disciple is reclining at Jesus’s side – literally, “in the bosom of Jesus.” (At festive meals in Jesus’s time people would lie on their sides on cushions around a low table. If they laid on your left side in order to eat with their right hand, the one to Jesus’s right who be able to lean back into the bosom of Jesus.) Look at the social dynamics between Jesus, this beloved disciple/John, and Peter. What can we learn about the relationships between them from the clues here? Background on “the disciple whom Jesus loved” Besides here in 13:22, we also see “the one whom Jesus loved” identified in the same way several other times: In 19:26, he is standing at the foot of the cross with Jesus’s mother Mary. Jesus says to Mary, “Woman, behold your son,” and to him, “Behold your mother.” In 20:2, he runs with Simon Peter to the empty tomb, enters the tomb, and believes. In 21:7, after the Resurrection, when he and some other disciples are fishing, he is the first to recognize that the man who calls to them from the shore is Jesus. In 21:20, the authors of the final chapter of this Gospel identify him, the beloved disciple at the Last Supper, as the one who wrote the first 20 chapters of this Gospel. There are some other passages that might be referring to the same person: In 18:15 there is someone called “another disciple” who, is known to the high priest, goes into the high priest’s courtyard after Jesus is arrested, and asks that Peter be allowed to come in also. In 20:2, the one who runs with Peter to the empty tomb is called “the other disciple whom Jesus loved,” which suggests that the “another disciple” in the courtyard is the same as “the one whom Jesus loved.” In 1:37, the first two people to follow Jesus are an unnamed disciple and Andrew. Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter, and the unnamed disciple could be this same disciple who is not named throughout the Gospel. In all of these places, this disciple has traditionally been thought to be the apostle John, although some modern scholars have suggested that he might be someone else – perhaps an unnamed disciple who is not one of the 12 apostles. At Peter’s suggestion, John asks Jesus who it is that will betray him. How does Jesus show them quietly who it is? Dipping a morsel was one of the rituals of the Passover feast (dipping a bitter herb in salt water). Although John does not tell us about the moment when Jesus offers the bread and the cup, his story is consistent with this being the Passover meal described in the other Gospels. The fact that Jesus offers the morsel to Judas could have been taken by Judas as a gesture of fellowship and friendship, and Judas could have turned away from his plans for betrayal and chosen to be reconciled to Jesus, but Judas was no longer open to changing his mind. Verse 27 says that after Judas takes the morsel into himself, Satan enters him. Satan’s action was possible because Judas opened the door. In our everyday lives, we don’t usually face such soul-defining moments. But are there ways that we either shut the door to Satan or open a door that allow him to gain a foothold in some piece of our lives? How? Jesus knows that Judas’s mind is made up, so he tells him to go and do it quickly. The disciples have no idea what that interaction is about. We are sometimes oblivious to the evil going on around us. Sometimes that’s a good thing, but other times, we might be able to intervene if we had eyes to see the wrongs that are being done. How can we learn to see what is going on around us at a spiritual level – to see as God sees – when we have opportunities to do something to protect someone from being mistreated or help them see how God is working in their life? God does not override human free will to prevent people from doing evil. What does God do instead? Without violating our free will, how does God nudge us to resist temptation and evil? Sometimes we are very aware of the evil being done around us ,but we are powerless to stop it. How can we handle being in situations like that, and what lessons can we learn from Jesus? Read John 13:31-35 Jesus gives us a new commandment: Love one another as he loves us Jesus says again that he is about to be glorified – that is, he is about to sacrifice his life for all people. That is the context in which he offers them what he calls a new commandment. The Old Testament has commands to love God and love your neighbor. How is this commandment new? How does Jesus’s command go further than the Old Testament command to love your neighbor? When the Law said to love your neighbor, that was understood to mean their fellow Jews, not Gentiles. Christians understand Jesus’s love command to include Gentiles. Jesus also teaches that our neighbor includes anyone in need who we can help (Luke 10:25-37), and that we are even called to love our enemies (Matt. 5:43-48). In addition, he tells us to love as he loved, which is a far greater love than the Old Testament’s love of neighbor. How much does Jesus say we should love one another? As much as he has loved us. What does that kind of love look like in practical terms? Jesus tells us to love as he loved us, and then he shows us how great his love is by dying for us on the cross. What does that tell us about the kind of love he wants us to show? Where might you have an opportunity to rise to a higher level of love in some particular area of your life? In verse 33, Jesus calls the disciples his “little children.” But in verse 34, he tells them that he won’t be with them much longer. In 14:18, he will assure them that this does not mean they will be orphans, because he will return and because his Spirit will live in them. But here, his statement that he won’t be with them much longer proceeds this new commandment to love one another. Why does the fact that Jesus is no longer with us physically make it all the more important that we love one another? When we love each other, Jesus isn’t really gone; he is present in and through us. What does verse 35 say? What will be the effect, if we have this kind of love for each other? To what extent do you think it is true today that people can know who the followers of Jesus are because of their love for one another? What could we do personally, and what could our churches do, so that more people would know by our love or each other that we are Jesus’s disciples? Read John 13:36-38 Jesus predicts Peter’s denial Peter is troubled by the idea that he can’t follow Jesus wherever he goes. He wants to know why. What bold claim does Peter make in verse 37? Peter is being overconfident, but he is undoubtedly speaking sincerely: he truly believes what he says here. What does this tell us about him? What does it tell us about the kind of faith he wants to have in Jesus? What is Jesus’s response to Peter in verse 38? Look at the end of verse 36. Jesus tells Peter, “You can’t follow me now, but you will follow afterward (or later).” What does that mean? In what ways will Peter follow Jesus later? In what ways are we called to follow Jesus? Why do you think John placed Jesus’s command to love one another between Jesus’s discussion of Judas’s betrayal and Peter’s denial of him? Take a step back and consider this: It is intriguing that Jesus’s command to love is surrounded by Jesus’s announcement of Judas’s impending betrayal of him and his caution to Peter that he will soon deny Jesus. Did John place these three events in this sequence in order to highlight that the commandment to love one another may be difficult but that Jesus has shown us the way of embracing it anyway? As we try to live a life devoted fully to Jesus, we may be betrayed by someone we thought was a friend. We may be ghosted or have someone act like they were never our friend. We may be rejected by people we thought were allies in our service to God. Even so, we are still called to love as Jesus loved. As John put it in 13:1: “Having loved his own, he loved them to the end.” In following Jesus, we also must love those whom God has given to us and love them to the end. Have you ever felt betrayed or denied by someone whom you thought was on your side? Have you ever been the one who denied or betrayed someone else? What would Jesus want you to do about it? Why do you think Jesus sticks with us, even though we often fail him? How can you have the same attitude toward others that Jesus has toward you? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2026, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John List Next

Continue in faith, love, and endurance despite persecution, so that the Lord may be glorified in you. Previous 2 Thess. List Next 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12 Continue in faith, love, and endurance despite persecution, so that the Lord may be glorified in you. Image by Olivia Snow provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti March 10, 2025 2 Thess. 1:1-12 Paul begins with the traditional letter format (to, from, thanks, and a prayer) Verses 1-2 Paul begins with words that are very similar to what he wrote at the beginning of his earlier letter. Does anything stand out to you as different in this beginning? Or is there anything that strikes you as especially deserving of repetition here? Explain. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul wishes them “grace and peace,” but does not name the source of that grace and peace. Here, in verse 2, where does he say the grace and peace come from? How do you experience “grace” from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ? How do you experience “peace” from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ? Verses 3-4 In verses 3-4, Paul praises the Thessalonians for their faith, their love for one another, and their endurance in the face of persecution and affliction. He also praised them for these traits in the first letter he wrote to them. What is the value of praising people for the good things they are doing? Are there some people you could encourage by praising them for the good they are doing? How might your life be different if you cultivated a habit of praising others? What would you need to do to be such a person? Verses 5-10 In verse 5, what does Paul say about their persecution? Their steadfastness in the face of persecution is a sign that they are worthy of eternal life in the kingdom of God. In verse 6, what does Paul say will happen eventually to those who are afflicting the Thessalonian Christians? How does the idea that people who mistreat others will someday face God’s judgment make you feel? Is the idea that evil will someday face judgment important for our theology? How does Paul’s statement in verse 7 that those who have been persecuted will find “rest” (NABRE) or “relief” (NRSV) make you feel? Note: The reference to “fire” in verse 8 is standard apocalyptic language of Paul’s time and not necessarily meant to be taken literally. The primary and most haunting pain of rejecting God is not physical but instead lies in having freely chosen to live forever outside of God’s presence, separated from him, as Paul indicates in verse 9. In verse 8, Paul identifies what is worthy of judgment in the people who have persecuted the Thessalonians. He does not just criticize their specific wrongful actions; he diagnoses what is going on in them spiritually. What are the two things about them that he finds worthy of God’s judgment? They do not know/acknowledge God and they do not obey the gospel. So, they do not recognize God’s authority or place in their life and they do not obey God’s teachings about how to live. Paul finds them deficient with regard to both their missing relationship with God (they do not know/acknowledge him) and their missing actions (they do not obey the gospel). How are both of those elements – knowing and doing – important in the Christian life? In verse 9, Paul says that those who have rejected God will experience the ultimate penalty: they will be “separated from the presence of the Lord.” In what ways is this a particularly fitting description of what we call “hell”? Notice that this chief feature of hell – separation from God – is something they already chose while they were on earth: they chose to live a life that was not in communion with God. Why would they want anything different in eternity? How does this passage support the idea that God doesn’t choose to send people to hell; they freely choose it for themselves by rejecting him? Verses 11-12 In verse 11, what two things does Paul pray for the Thessalonians? Paul prays that God will make them worthy of God’s calling and fulfill every good “purpose” (NABRE) or “resolve” (NRSV) and every “effort” (NABRE) or “work” (NRSV) of their faith. In verse 11, Paul prays that God will make them “worthy of his calling.” How might you evaluate whether you are living a life that is worthy of God’s calling? Also in verse 11, Paul prays that God will bring to fulfillment every good “purpose” (NABRE) or “resolve” (NRSV) and every “effort” (NABRE) or “work” (NRSV) of faith. In other words, may God fulfill both their good intentions and the actions they take because of their faith. How can we try to make sure both our intentions and our actions are consistent with our faith? Who is someone for whom you could pray this prayer, that God will fulfill their good purposes and efforts of faith? What are they trying to do with the help of God that you could support in prayer? In verse 12, Paul indicates that, because of God’s grace, the name of the Lord Jesus can be glorified in us, and we can be glorified in him. What does it look like when Jesus is glorified in us, and how can that happen? How can we be glorified in Christ? What does that mean or look like? What are you doing, or what might God be calling you do to, that could bring glory to him? Take a step back and consider this: William Barclay offers a beautiful image, and a challenge, in response to verse 12. He writes: “A teacher’s glory lies in the scholars he produces; a parent’s in the children he rears not only for living but for life; a master’s in his disciples; and to us is given the tremendous privilege and responsibility that Christ’s glory can lie in us. We may bring discredit or we may bring glory to the Master whose we are and whom we seek to serve. Can any privilege or responsibility be greater than that?” (Barclay, The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians , pp. 210-211). Jesus frequently uses the word “joy” to characterize his attitude when we do good. In Matthew 25:21, Jesus tells us that the master says to the servant who uses well the gifts he was given, “Come, share your master’s joy” (Matt. 25:21, NABRE) or “enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21, NRSV). In Luke 15:3-6, he says that the shepherd (an image of Jesus Christ) rejoices and invites others to rejoice with him when he finds the lost sheep. In Luke 15:7-10, he says there is joy or rejoicing in the presence of the angels when a sinner repents. In John 15:11 and John 17:13, he says that he wants his joy to be in us. Jesus is a person of joy. When we fulfill God’s purposes in our lives, the joy is not only ours; it is also his. When we glorify the Lord by serving him effectively, it gives joy to our Lord. How might it recast or even transform how you approach the details as well as the major actions of your life if you were to remember consistently that your faithful efforts to serve Jesus give him joy? How can you live in that joy even when God has not yet fulfilled "every good purpose and every effort of faith” in your life (2 Thess. 1:11)? Bibliography See 2 Thessalonians - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/2-thessalonians/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous 2 Thess. List Next

Jesus tells us to abide in his word and know the truth, which will set us free. He tells the religious leaders who relied on the fact that they were children of Abraham: “Before Abraham was, I AM.” How can we abide in him, know the truth, and allow him to set us free? [John 8:31-38; 8:39-47; 8:48-59] Previous Next John List John 8:31-59 Jesus tells us to abide in his word and know the truth, which will set us free. He tells the religious leaders who relied on the fact that they were children of Abraham: “Before Abraham was, I AM.” How can we abide in him, know the truth, and allow him to set us free? James Tissot (1836–1902). Les pharisiens questionnent Jésus (The Pharisees Question Jesus) . Between 1886 and 1894. Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Pharisees_Question_Jesus_(Les_pharisiens_questionnent_J%C3%A9sus)_-_James_Tissot.jpg . Tom Faletti March 11, 2026 Read John 8:31-59 The religious leaders object when Jesus says, “The truth will set you free.” Verses 31-47 Some people don’t abide in Jesus’s word and therefore do not do the works that a child of Abraham would do In verse 31, John refers to “the Jews who had believed in him.” Usually in John, “the Jews” is shorthand for the religious leaders, but they have not believed in him, so John must have someone else in mind. It is possible that there were people who partially believed in Jesus, but by verse 37 Jesus will say that the people he is talking to are trying to kill him; so the scene morphs quickly into a confrontation with people who do not believe in him. Many scholars think that John is thinking about Jewish Christians in his own time who face pressure and the threat of excommunication from their local synagogues and must decide whether to accept Jesus or to continue to trust in following the rules of the Jewish Law. Jesus’s statement in verses 31-32 has two parts. What does he say in verse 31? The key verb in verse 31 can be translated in many different ways: abide, remain, continue, stay, live. It is the word Jesus uses in John 15:4-5 when he says, “Abide in me, and I in you” and that the one who abides in me “bears much fruit.” To help us maintain that connection, we will use the word “abide” here. Here in verse 31, he speaks of those who abide in his word. What does it mean to abide in his word? How do we do that? Note that Jesus does not say, “abide by my word.” This is not about rule-following. He says, “abide in my word.” He is talking about immersing ourselves in his word, allowing it to permeate our minds and guide our actions, letting it suffuse every part of our existence. Why is abiding in his word so important for being a true disciple? What are some practical things you can do in your everyday life to help you abide in Jesus’s word? In verse 32, Jesus says that if you abide in his word, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” How does Jesus’s word lead us to the truth? How does the truth set us free? In verse 34, Jesus explains that he is talking (at least in part) about freedom from sin. He refers to people who commit sin, and the Greek word indicates that he is not talking about people who commit a single sin but people who sin regularly. He says that anyone who regular practices sin is a slave to sin. How is that true? The people object to the idea that Jesus will “set them free.” In verse 33, they say: We have never been enslaved – i.e., we’ve always been free; we are children of our great father Abraham. This is a questionable claim: at one point they were carried off into captivity in Babylon and they are now under Roman domination. But that is not Jesus’s concern here. He is making a spiritual point. How are they missing Jesus’s spiritual point? In verses 35-36, Jesus draws a distinction between a slave, who does not live in a household forever, and a son, who does. (Slavery in Israel did not mean a lifetime of bondage the way it did in the American South.) Scholars think Jesus is alluding to the sons of Abraham: Ishmael was born of a slave woman and not included in Abraham’s family, and he did not receive the blessings of the covenant with God, whereas Isaac was born of Abraham’s wife Sarah and through him the covenant was passed on to the generations that followed. So being born of Abraham is not enough. Jesus says they will abide in God’s house forever only if a son – i.e., Jesus – frees them. How does being set free from sin by Jesus allow us to live in God’s household forever? It is easy to read these words but still live lives that are bound, not free – bound up in anger, unforgiveness, jealousy, self-centeredness, greed, desire, etc. If Jesus was standing with us now, how do you think he would explain to us how to take hold of the freedom he offers us? In verses 37-38, Jesus tells them that the way to respond to his word is to “do what you have heard from the Father.” How is that a good guiding principle for us? How can we apply it in the real challenges of our lives? In verses 39-47, Jesus and his critics go back and forth over whether they are acting like children of Abraham. Jesus says they are not doing the works of Abraham. How would Abraham act differently than they do? In verse 44, Jesus says that, in their desire to kill him and in their rejection of the truth, the religious leaders are children of the devil, who is a murderer and a liar. This is not a generic statement about people who don’t believe in Jesus; it is particular to the religious leaders who seek to kill him. Jesus repeats that they are unwilling to accept his word (verse 43) even though he speaks the truth (verse 46). Why does Jesus insist on such a tight link between the truth and his word? In verse 47, Jesus links some concepts together: those who belong to God hear God’s word (i.e., listen to it and respond), and those who do not belong to God refuse to listen to God’s word. How do you experience the reality of belonging to God as you hear and try to follow God’s word? Verses 48-59 Jesus says that whoever keeps his word will never see death, and “Before Abraham was, I AM” In verse 51, Jesus says, “Whoever keeps my word will never see death.” What does he mean? The religious leaders object, arguing that Abraham and the prophets died, so Jesus is talking nonsense when he says that those who keep his word will never see death. In verse 56, Jesus responds with a surprising statement about Abraham. What does Jesus say about Abraham? Jesus says that Abraham rejoiced that he would see Jesus’s day, and he saw it and rejoiced. What could this mean? • The scholars mostly interpret this to mean that Abraham rejoiced when God gave him his son Isaac, because that was the start of God’s fulfillment of the promise he had made to Abraham, which led to salvation through Jesus the Messiah. • Abraham also rejoiced when God spared Isaac and stopped Abraham from sacrificing him. • Alternatively, Jesus could be suggesting that Abraham is seeing this from heaven. • Finally, there were texts circulating in Jesus’s time – eschatological texts about the coming Messiah and the end times – in which Abraham is described as rejoicing at the coming of the Messiah (Perkins, p. 967, par. 125), so he may have had that in mind. When Jesus claims to know that Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus’s day, the religious leaders retort that he could not possibly have seen Abraham – he’s not even 50 years old (he’s in his early 30s). How does Jesus respond, and what does it mean? Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” Before Abraham came into existence, Jesus already existed. That is a claim to heavenly origin, because he is taking for himself the Old Testament name of God “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). How do the religious leaders respond to Jesus’s claim? What does their attempt to stone him tell you about how they interpreted his words? The religious leaders pick up stones to stone him because they think he has said something clearly blasphemous: he has claimed to be God. Some scholars think that Jesus’s use of the phrase “I am” is ambiguous and did not necessarily involve a claim to be God, but the reaction of the religious leaders shows that they believed that Jesus was claiming to be God, and he did not tell them they had misinterpreted him. Skeptics sometimes suggest that the Church didn’t decide Jesus was God until the 4 th century, but John is clearly indicating that Jesus himself said he was God (see When Did Christians First Recognize the Divinity of Jesus? ). When the leaders tried to stone Jesus, he “hid” (verse 59). Why do you think he didn’t just make himself invulnerable to the stones – let them bounce off of him? How was his hiding a sign that he really was a human, not just a spirit pretending to be a human? Jesus rejected a show of being superhuman, just as he rejected that option during his temptations in the desert (Matt. 4:3-7, where he refused to throw himself from the top of the Temple and let the angels catch him). He wanted us to know that he was truly human. As Hebrews 4:15 says, he faced the same weaknesses that we face (in this case, the same human limitations) yet without sin. In this section, Jesus has talked a lot about abiding in his word, knowing the truth, and being set free. What is the most important thing you can take with you from this chapter and apply in your everyday life? Take a step back and consider this: In John 8:31-59, Jesus establishes that your background cannot make you a child of God. Not even being a descendant of Abraham can make you a child of God. (John the Baptist makes this same point in Matthew 3:9.) The same thing is true of every religious heritage: there is nothing about your ancestors that can make you a child of God. We use the term “child of God” in several different ways: In a broad sense, every human being is a child of God because every person was created in God’s image and likeness (Gen. 1:27-28). In a sacramental sense, those who have been baptized into Christ are no longer slaves to sin but are now children of God (Gal. 3:27-4:7). In an experiential sense, John tells us in chapters 1 and 3 that those who accept Jesus become children of God – those who believe in his name and are made God’s children by the grace of God. In chapter 9, John describes the signs that someone has accepted Jesus and is a child of God: The children of God are those who are freed from sin by Jesus (see 9:34, 36), who believe in Jesus (9:24), who remain in his word (9:31), who keep his word (9:51). Those are the signs of a child of God. Is there a religious heritage you rejoice in? How can you honor that heritage without implying that your connection to your ancestors is what makes you a child of God? How does your religious heritage support you in living the life of a child of God? What does being a child of God mean to you? How do you experience the reality of your relationship with God? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John List Next

Jesus is buried: Some people take action; others wait and watch. [Matthew 27:57-61; 27:62-66] Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 27:57-66 Jesus is buried: Some people take action; others wait and watch. Gustave Doré (1832-1883). The Burial of Christ . Woodcut. Detail. The illustration was originally published as one of 241 wood engravings created by Doré in La Grande Bible de Tours , issued in 1866. It is in the public domain due to copyright expiration. This image was reproduced from The Doré Bible Illustrations , Dover, 1974, and made available online by Felix Just, S.J. (see http://catholic-resources.org/Art/Dore.htm ) at https://catholic-resources.org/Dore/John19f.jpg , and its use is authorized by him. Tom Faletti May 17, 2024 Matthew 27:57-61 Jesus is laid in a tomb, under watchful eyes In verse 57, what does Matthew tell us about Joseph of Arimathea? He is rich, from Arimathea, and a disciple of Jesus. Mark adds that he is a respected member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council that had condemned Jesus (Mark 15:43), and Luke adds that Joseph had not agreed to the council’s actions. Scholars aren’t sure where Arimathea was. The early Christian historian Eusebius, writing nearly 300 years after the time of Jesus, identified it as the Old Testament town of Ramathaim or Ramah where Samuel the prophet was born (1 Sam. 1:1; 2:11), approximately 5 miles north of Jerusalem. What does Joseph do? Jewish Law required that criminals be buried on the same day they were executed (Deut. 21:22-23), and it would have been particularly unseemly to leave Jesus’s body to scavenging dogs on the Sabbath. Joseph steps in, in place of the family members who ordinarily would have acted. What does Matthew want us to understand about (1) the way Jesus’s body was handled, and (2) the status of the tomb he was buried in? Joseph’s action would have called attention to himself with Pilate and also might have deepened the wedge between him and other members of the Sanhedrin. How is Joseph an example of courage? How might we imitate Joseph in situations we might face in our own lives? Where might this kind of courage be needed? Who is watching as Joseph buries Jesus? The “other Mary” was the mother of James and Joseph – see verse 56. John 19:25 suggests she is the sister of Jesus’s mother Mary and the wife of Clopas. Some scholars sort out the family somewhat differently and think that Clopas ws the brother of Jesus’s (adopted) father Joseph, which would make this “other Mary” the sister-in-law of Jesus’s mother. Either way, the women of the family are steadfast to the end. Why do you think these women continue to follow the action, to the bitter end? Their commitment to God no matter what bad things happen, reminds me of Job’s comment, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15, KJV). It is as though they are saying: “Though He may die, still we will be there for Him.” How is their example a witness to us? Matthew 27:62-66 Setting a guard to avoid a hoax Who goes to Pilate? What is their concern? The Pharisees were last referenced in Matthew 23:29. All of the drama since then has involved the chief priests and elders – the political and religious leadership – not the rank-and-file Pharisees who are so concerned about fervently living out every detail of their understanding of the Law. Why do you think the Pharisees are involved again now? Why do they care whether people make up stories about a dead Jesus? The day of Preparation was the day before the Sabbath. Matthew says they went to Pilate on the day after the day of Preparation. If we understand the timing he is suggesting, it means they went to Pilate on the Sabbath, which would be a significant violation of the Sabbath required by the Law and show how concerned they were about Jesus even after his death. What do they specifically ask Pilate for? Notice that Pilate does not offer a simple “Yes.” His answer in verse 65 is literally, “You have a guard.” (Some translations say, “Take a guard,” but that is an interpretation, not the literal words in the Greek.) Pilate’s unclear answer has led to two different interpretations: Interpretation #1 : Pilate agreed to their request and made Roman soldiers available. There is a problem with this interpretation: If the guard was a Roman guard, it is hard to believe the soldiers would have gone to the Jewish leaders after the resurrection (see Matthew 28:11) and joined in a hoax that, if found out, would have caused them to be executed for dereliction of duty. Interpretation #2 : Pilate indirectly rejected their request by reminding them that they have their own soldiers – the Temple guard, who helped arrest Jesus – and is telling them to set up their own guard if they are concerned. There is a problem with this interpretation: If it was Jewish guards, why would they have been concerned about Pilate hearing about their failure at the tomb (Matthew 28:14)? A possible answer is that when a person has failed a task, they don’t want anyone in power knowing about it, even if they aren’t directly under that person’s authority; and in this case it might be even more troubling since Pilate, in effect, commissioned them to do the task. On balance, Interpretation #2 seems more likely, but it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of our faith who the guards were. In verse 66, what do the Jewish leaders and the guard do? What do you think they expect will happen next? Barclay remarks on the irony of Pilate’s last statement, regarding the plan to guard the tomb: “make it as secure as you can” (Matthew 27:65, NRSV). Barclay says, “It is as if Pilate all unconsciously said, ‘Keep Christ in the tomb – if you can.’” He adds: “They had not realized one thing – that there was not a tomb in the world which could imprison the Risen Christ” (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 2 , pp. 414). Every opponent of God would like to, in effect, keep Christ in his tomb. Why is that so important? If Jesus is risen, then he is still alive and active in the world today and must be confronted or accounted for; and many people would rather not have to explain what they are doing or not doing with regard to a man who said he was the Son of God and has come back to life – which no mere human could do. Are there ways that leaders in our societies do things that look like they are trying to keep Christ in his place rather than giving him free reign to work in our churches and communities? Explain. Are there ways that people in our churches do things that feel like they are trying to keep Christ in his place rather than giving him free reign to do his resurrection work in our churches and communities? Explain. What are some ways that we might unconsciously try to keep Christ in the “tomb” in our own lives rather than allowing the Risen Christ to have free reign? We have been exploring what happened to Jesus on Good Friday. The next passage describes what happens on Easter Sunday morning, the morning of Jesus’s glorious Resurrection. But there is a day in between – Holy Saturday. Take a minute to contemplate Holy Saturday – that day of waiting between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Is there value in those days of waiting, between when we first experience pain and loss and when God helps us move to a new resurrection that rises above the pain and loss? What is the value of those days of waiting, between the dark and the dawn? How do times of waiting for God help build our character so that we become more like Jesus? How can we wait for God effectively? A footnote for the scholarly minded (feel free to skip): This story of the guard is only in Matthew’s Gospel, not in the other Synoptic Gospels, even though other parts of Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels draw significantly from Mark. This bothers some scholars, leading some to suggest that it is merely apologetics (material developed to defend the faith against attacks) or is based in legend. One response is that perhaps Mark and Luke did not consider this story important to their audiences. Matthew’s community was a mix of Jewish and Gentile Christians, and, after Jerusalem was destroyed, the Jewish Christians were frequently challenged by Jewish leaders and even faced expulsion from synagogues. Those Jewish Christians would have valued this story as they tried to defend their faith against people who claimed that Jesus’s resurrection was just a stolen-body hoax. It would have been much less important to Luke’s and Mark’s largely Gentile audiences, who may not have been dealing so directly with that argument. We do not need to have this story to know that Jesus rose from the dead. We have abundant evidence in the 4 Gospels, in subsequent books of the New Testament, and in the lives of believers for 2,000 years. But even today, people who do not want to believe in Jesus like to suggest that perhaps his followers stole his body; so perhaps the story still has special relevance for us today. Take a step back and consider this: The Jewish leaders of Jesus’s time were living in a world of “what-ifs”: What if the people are being fooled by Jesus and it was the devil who sent a wonder-worker named Jesus to turn people away from their historic Jewish faith? What if Jesus’s radically different preaching causes the people to get so riled up that the Romans come down hard on us? What if the disciples of Jesus went and stole the body? What if? What if? What if? “What if” is not always a bad question. Sometimes it keeps us out of trouble or helps us anticipate a problem that we can solve or deflect if we think ahead. But sometimes, “What if” becomes an excuse to avoid confronting the uncomfortable. How do you know when your “what-ifs” are reasonable and when your “what-ifs” are masking your own unjustified resistance to the truth? Is there something that maybe God has been nudging you to do, but you are so caught up in “What ifs” that you can’t get yourself to do it? If so, what might Jesus say to you to encourage you to respond to God’s nudges? Talk to him about it. Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew List Next

Murder, anger, insulting others – how are they related, and what can we do about them? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 5:21-26 Murder, anger, insulting others – how are they related, and what can we do about them? Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti April 26, 2024 Matthew 5:21-26 Anger Jesus here begins a series of six teachings, in Matthew 5:21-48, where he states a Jewish law and then provides his own teaching. Each teaching begins with, “You have heard it said . . . but I say. . . .” They are sometimes called the “six antitheses” because some scholars see them as presenting the opposite (anti-) of a principle taught in the Old Testament (thesis). However, they usually go beyond rather than directly rejecting the Old Testament principle, so “antithesis” is not a good term for them. Some scholars call them the six “hypertheses,” because the prefix “hyper” can signify going beyond the thesis or principle that has previously been stated. In each case, Jesus re-interprets and expands on or transforms the Old Testament injunction. Often, he prohibits not only the action but also the thought that underlies the action or leads to the action. In verse 21, what is the Old Testament law Jesus cites? In verse 22, Jesus takes the principle much further in three ways. What does he say about anger? Still in verse 22, what does he say about using abusive or insulting language? In the third part of verse 22, some translations give us the Aramaic word Jesus uses – “Raqa” or “Raca” – which was a term of contempt used to call someone a fool or empty-headed or an idiot. What does Jesus say about using this kind of especially contemptuous language toward another person? Notice that each sin incurs a more serious consequence than the previous one, moving from being liable to judgment , which invokes an image of being brought before a local court of village elders; to being liable to the Council or Sanhedrin , which invokes an image of being brought before the highest court; to being liable to the fires of Gehenna , a word of Hebrew origin that is often translated as “hell’ but actually refers to the Valley of Hinnom southwest of Jerusalem, where there was a garbage dump that was thought of as always having a fire burning. In what ways are these three steps progressively worse – from anger, to insult, to contempt? How are these things related to murder? In what ways do they all start from the same place? When Jesus says that if we do these things we will be “liable” to these kinds of judgment, what do you think he means? Is he speaking literally (about courts and Gehenna) or metaphorically? And if metaphorically, what is he trying to tell us? For an extended exploration of how to apply Matthew 5:22 to our everyday lives, see How to Deal with Difficult People . Why is anger such a serious matter? Is anger always wrong? Is there an appropriate time for anger – what people sometimes call “holy anger”? Mark describes Jesus as being angry once, when Pharisees resisted the idea of a person being healed on the Sabbath (Mark 3:5), and Jesus certainly appears to be angry when he clears the Temple of the moneychangers (Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17). St. Paul says, “Be angry and do not sin” (Eph. 4:26), which indicates that anger is not necessarily sinful. Anger often arises as a physiological response to situations; it’s what we do with it that determines whether it is a sin. How can we stay open to the kind of “holy anger” that pushes back against injustice, yet avoid the kind of anger that Jesus is telling us to avoid? Why is abusive language such a serious matter? Abusive language has become such an embedded part of our culture – a standard part of television shows, comedy acts, etc. – that we might not even realize we are echoing or imitating it. How can we control our own language, the things we personally say? What are some examples of people in our time using the kind of contemptuous, dehumanizing language Jesus is talking about when he uses the word “Raqa”? The principle of human dignity calls us to recognize that every person has an inalienable dignity given to them by God – even the people who may be seen as our enemies. How is this kind of contemptuous language a violation of human dignity? Why is this kind of dehumanizing language so dangerous? What kinds of things can it lead to? Oppression, murder, discrimination, and even genocide sometimes starts with this kind of language, from the dehumanization of Black people in the history of the American South, to the dehumanization of Dalits in Indian history, to the use of the word “cockroaches” that preceded the Rwandan genocide. A brief look through history can bring forth many similar examples, and they continue in our time. Politicians in many countries are using dehumanizing language to delegitimize people they do not like – often with deadly results. Where is the part of this discussion that might make you uncomfortable? Where might you need to adjust how you manage your anger or your language, in order to be more like Christ? In verses 23-26, Jesus shifts the focus slightly. In verses 23-24, what does he tell us to do? Why would God say that reconciling with a brother or sister is more important than making an offering to God? In verses 25-26, Jesus broadens the idea of reconciliation by moving from a religious context to a legal context. What does he say? How is an openness to reconciliation important for avoiding bad court judgments? How might our society be a better place if there was more focus on reconciliation between offenders and those they have harmed? Both of the examples in verses 23-26 presume that we are at fault. We are often not very good at recognizing our own faults. How can you become the kind of person who recognizes when you are at fault? Looking at this whole passage, what is the most important point for you in what Jesus says about murder, anger, abusive language, contempt, and reconciliation? Take a step back and consider this: In the United States and many other countries, there has been a coarsening of social discourse and political discourse. Many social media voices and political leaders treat those who disagree with them with disrespect and contempt and blatantly distort their views – and rack up millions of views, “likes,” and reposts in the process. Christians might consider ways to push back against this ungodly trend. For example, we might decide that we will never forward or “share” a post that uses disrespectful language about another human being. We can find other articles that express the same views more respectfully. Many of us remember being told by a parent, “If you can’t say something good, don’t say anything at all.” While there is a place for criticizing the views of others, we should be able to accurately state the other side’s claims before showing why we think they are wrong, and our arguments for why they are wrong should be based on facts and evidence, not based on distortion and innuendo. If we can’t do that, we aren’t treating them as people made in the image of God. We might consider a 21st century version of our parents’ maxim: “If you can’t say something that respects the humanity of the other person, don’t say anything at all.” Or perhaps: “If you can’t state your opponent’s position in a way that would allow them to say, ‘Yes, that’s what I’m saying,’ then you shouldn’t try to characterize their views at all.” How can you contribute to a more civil public discourse in your country’s social and political life? And what about anger? Anger sometimes comes unbidden – a visceral reaction that arises from the physiology of our humanity. But we can choose whether to nurture that anger and help it grow, or tame it and give it the perspective it needs to be harnessed for good. What do you need to do to tame or harness your anger so that it is serves the good rather than becoming a trigger that leads to sin? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew List Next

When Jesus says that he is the Bread of Life, some people grumble. Jesus calls us to believe him and have eternal life. How might grumbling undermine our faith? [John 6:34-50] Previous Next John List John 6:34-47 When Jesus says that he is the Bread of Life, some people grumble. Jesus calls us to believe him and have eternal life. How might grumbling undermine our faith? Underlying image by Brett Jordan, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Word balloons added. Tom Faletti February 22, 2026 Read John 6:34-47 Jesus is the Bread of Life who gives eternal life In biblical interpretation, there is a concept known as a “type” – an event or person or thing in the Old Testament that foreshadows, in an incomplete way, an event or person or thing in the New Testament that has a deeper reality or meaning. The perishable manna in the Old Testament was a “type,” or foreshadowing, of the eternal bread of life that God provides to us in his Son Jesus. In verse 34, it is unclear whether the people in the crowd are beginning to understand that, or if they just want Jesus to feed them physical bread every day (their statement is similar to that of the Samaritan woman who asked Jesus to give her the living water always in John 4:15). In verse 35, Jesus responds with his first “I am” statement – the first of 7 key “I am” statements in John’s Gospel. What does “I am the bread of life” mean? How is Jesus the bread of life? How does what Jesus says in verse 35 parallel what he said to the Samaritan woman about the living water (4:13-14)? In verse 35, what must one do in order to never hunger, and what must one do in order to never thirst? We must come to him in order to never hunger, and believe in him in order to never thirst. In verse 36, Jesus then tells them that they do not believe in him. He does not say this in a way that rejects them. What does he tell them in verses 37-39? Jesus wants only to do the will of the Father and will not reject anyone the Father gives him. He will not lose anyone the Father gives him. In verses 37-38, Jesus says that he does not act on his own but does the will of the one who sent him. In modern terms, we might say that Jesus has his marching orders and is a man on a mission. What are his marching orders? What is the mission? In verse 36, Jesus says that those who are rejecting him have seen him but do not believe. In verse 40 he says that everyone who sees him and believes in him has eternal life. How does it happen that people see Jesus but don’t translate that seeing into the act of believing? Their “seeing” in verse 36 is an awareness of him that does not lead them to put their trust in him. In verse 40, Jesus calls us to go beyond a superficial “seeing” – to really see and act on what they see by believing in him. The word for “see” in verse 36 is a word that means to stare at, but the word for “see” in verse 40 is a word that can be translated as to “behold,” which suggests a focused and receptive attention. Are there ways that we “see” what God is saying to us but don’t act on it? How can we catch ourselves when this is happening, and what can we do about it? What do you think it means to “see” Jesus and believe in him? In verse 40, Jesus adds an additional effect of believing. In addition to having eternal life from Jesus, we will be raised up by Jesus on the last day. Eternal life could be seen as something we have from the moment we believe in Jesus. What is added when Jesus says that we will be raised on the last day? What does this promise mean to you right now in your life? In verse 41, the Jewish religious leaders “murmur” about Jesus. What does that recall from the Old Testament? When the Israelites were in the desert, they grumbled against Moses and complained about how God was caring for them in Exodus 15:24, 16:2-3, and 17:2-3, and Numbers 11:1. God gave them the manna they have just been talking with Jesus about immediately after one of the gripe sessions (Ex. 16). What is wrong with murmuring? Murmuring is a form of grumbling, a lack of trust in God or a form of resistance to what God wants. How are we susceptible to grumbling against God and the spiritual leaders he gives us? What can we do to avoid inappropriate grumbling against God? Notice why the Jewish religious leaders are murmuring about Jesus in verse 41. It isn’t because he is describing himself as the bread of life. They appear to understand that this is a metaphor. What they object to is that he says he came down from heaven. What is their objection to that claim in verse 42? How might we be guilty of judging people based on their background – the class or group that we mentally assign them to – and not give due consideration to how what they are doing or saying might be inspired by God? In verses 43-47 Jesus makes several points in response to their complaint. In verse 44, Jesus says more clearly what he alluded to in verse 37: “No one can come to me unless the Father . . . draws him.” What does this mean to you? Who does God want to draw to Jesus? Everyone. We know from the rest of Scripture that Jesus is not claiming some sort of Calvinist predestination where God assigns people to be saved or damned. We have free will and can choose to come to Jesus or not, and yet God draws us to come to him even before we do so. In what ways does it involve our free action and in what ways does it involve God’s action? Have you ever felt drawn by God (to himself, to Jesus, to the faith)? What did it feel like and how did you react? How do you see God’s hand or God’s grace at work in your life now, even as you act based on your own free will? Jesus sums up what he has been saying with a short statement in verse 47 that doesn’t repeat everything but captures the most essential element. What allows us to have eternal life? Have you told Jesus in a definitive way that you believe in him? Some people go through the rituals but never actually have that conversation with Jesus. Is that something you are feeling called to do right now? If you have already had that definitive conversation with Jesus, is there something you are feeling called to do right now to more fully live out your decision to believe in Jesus? Take a step back and consider this: Murmuring is not solely the province of unbelievers. Even people who believe in Jesus can fall prey to murmuring or grumbling. In fact, grumbling is one of the practices that can be most corrosive to our faith. Grumbling involves complaining in an ill-tempered or annoyed way. When we look at what is going on spiritually, we can see that grumbling is often a sign of trust. When the Israelites were grumbling against Moses and God in the desert in Exodus 16 and Numbers 14, their grumbling was an expressing of their lack of faith in God. Not all complaining falls into this category of grumbling. There are times when it is appropriate to express a complaint. But a complaint can be made with faith that the one hearing the complaint cares and will respond, or it can be expressed in a way that reveals a lack of trust. Hannah was so distressed, by her barrenness and the ridicule to which she was subjected by her husband’s other wife, that she wept bitterly as she prayed to the Lord (1 Sam. 1:10). She was bringing her deep pain to the Lord in faith. Her prayer showed her trust in God. The Israelites, in contrast, were expressing their lack of trust in God. When Paul tells us, “Do everything without grumbling or arguing” (Phil. 2:14), the context is provided in the previous verse: “God is the one working in you . . . for his good purpose” (Phil. 2:13). Negative grumbling is unnecessary and out of place when we recognize that God is at work in our lives and that we can trust him. Similarly, Peter says, “Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Pet. 4:9-10). There is no need for grumbling when we recognize that God is working through us to extend his grace to others through the gifts he has given to us. Yet so often, Christians are prone to grumbling, allowing their negative attitudes to undermine their trust in God. In what kinds of situations, or what areas of your life, might you be prone to the negative complaining or grumbling that may signal that you are having difficulty trusting in God? How can you turn your thinking around, so that you can see more clearly how God is at work in your life and let go of any negative complaining or grumbling? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2026, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John List Next

Worry – how to deal with it. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 6:25-34 Worry – how to deal with it. The "lilies of the fields" Jesus talked about may have been these multi-colored flowers called anemones, which are found in Israel today as they were in Bible times. Zachi Evenor, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anemone-coronaria-in-Dalia-Israel-Zachi-Evenor-176.jpg . Tom Faletti May 24, 2024 Matthew 6:25-34 Do not worry; seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness Jesus has just been teaching us not to focus on money, telling us that we can’t serve both God and wealth. The natural reaction might be: But we need money! He responds to that natural concern in this passage. In verse 25, Jesus tells us several things not to worry about. What are the things he tells us not to worry about? Concerns about our life such as what we are to eat or drink, and concerns about our body such as what we are to wear. What does it mean to “worry”? Is worry different than simply thinking about things? What is “worry”? Worry dominates the mind in a way that causes stress or distress. It takes over or preoccupies our thoughts so that we find it difficult to set aside the thing we are worried about and think about other things. In this way, worry absorbs our attention to the extent that it makes us less free. How would you interpret the question in verse 25: “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” What is the point of Jesus asking this question? In verse 26, what is the meaning of the illustration Jesus gives of the birds? Why should we not worry, according to verse 26? Here, the point is a spiritual one: God provides for the birds, and you are more valuable than the birds. What is the illustration Jesus uses in verse 27? Why should we not worry, according to verse 27? Here, the point is a practical one: Your worrying can’t make any difference, so it is wasted effort. Note: Translations of verse 27 vary because the Greek word can mean “life-span” or “stature” (i.e., height). So he may be saying we can’t add a single unit to our life-span or to our height. Both interpretations make the same point – worrying can have no effect on the stated problem. What is the illustration Jesus uses in verses 28-29? Why should we not worry, according to verses 28-30? Here, the point is a different spiritual one: You are an eternal being. God is generous in lavishing beauty even on things that are finite and die quickly; he will clothe you, his immortal ones, with what you need. In verse 28, Jesus says of the lilies that they “neither toil nor spin.” These words describe what humans do to create cloth for clothing. People toil: they work the crop – for example, flax in Jesus’s time. Then they spin: they turn the fibers of flax into yarn from which linen cloth is made for clothing and other purposes. Jesus is certainly not telling people not to work, so we have to look beyond the literal to find his meaning. One possibility is to consider it a caution about focusing too much attention (worry) on how impressively beautiful our clothes are. In your culture, do people worry about whether their clothes are beautiful enough or impressive enough, or made by the right designers? What might Jesus say? This passage might be interpreted metaphorically as referring to our calling to be clothed in righteousness in the kingdom of God, particularly in the context of verse 33. How might you worry less if you clung to the assurance that God desires to, and is able to, provide you with the “clothing” you need? At the end of verse 30, Jesus identifies the spiritual issue at work when we worry. What is the spiritual issue here? The spiritual issue is trust in God. What does worry do to people? In what ways is it harmful? When we are worrying, what is our focus on? What does Jesus want us to be focused on? It is hard to “not” do something, unless we replace it with “doing” something else. How do we “not” worry? Saint Paul offers advice on what to do instead: Read Philippians 4:6 . What does Paul tell us to do instead of being anxious? What does that verse mean? Let your requests be made known to God; i.e., tell God what you need. What it the difference between asking God for what we need and worrying? Why is praying, or talking to God about our needs, an antidote to worry? Worrying is talking to ourselves while focusing on what we lack. Praying about what we need is talking to God while focusing on the Person who can do something about what we lack. Paul is telling us that it is OK to ask God for what we need. Is there any need that is too small to talk to God about it? Explain. In verse 32, Jesus gives us some perspective. What does he tell us about God? What difference does it make that God knows what we need? The phrase “your heavenly Father knows” might be a good refrain or mantra for all the things we face in life. How would absorbing that assurance change your life? In verse 33, what does Jesus tell us to strive for? What does it mean to strive for the kingdom of God? In what ways might striving for the kingdom call us to action? What might it call us to do? What does it mean to strive for righteousness? This could be referring to the righteousness God wants to work into our character, or the righteousness God wants to bring into the world through the coming of his kingdom. In what ways might striving for righteousness call us to action? What might it call us to do? Jesus says that when we strive for these things, the other things will be given to us as well. We know that, in a literal interpretation of this statement, it isn’t always true. Non-believers are not the only people to starve to death in famines; Christians have starved to death too. This is the sort of thing that might make a skeptic take this sentence in isolation and use it to reject the gospel of Jesus. Yet Jesus has warned us earlier that Christians will face trials and persecutions. So, how should we understand this statement? How would you explain it to the skeptic? In verse 34, Jesus broadens his point by adding “tomorrow” to the list of things to not worry about. That takes us far beyond just food or drink or clothing. Almost any concern or possible trouble can lead us to worry about tomorrow. What is he telling us about all the other things we tend to worry about? What are the worries about “tomorrow” that are most likely to take over or absorb your thinking? If you could have a conversation with Jesus where he mentioned the worry or worries you have, what would he say to you about it? At the last sentence of verse 34, Jesus throws ends with a little twist at. What does he say? Today has enough trouble for today. In the final sentence in verse 34, the majority of Bible translations use the word “trouble,” but some say “evil.” There is a reason why the translators don’t agree. According to lexicographers, the word here, which is kakia , means badness (Liddell and Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon , entry for κᾰκία at http://folio2.furman.edu/lsj/ ; Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary , https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ved/e/evil-evil-doer.html ). The word is often used in a narrow sense with regard to human character flaws or evil, but here it more likely encompasses the broader troubles we experience because of the “badness” in the world. This verse might be saying: Don’t worry about tomorrow; today has enough bad stuff for today. There are times when, in the economy of God’s plan for this world, we may be called to help fill the needs of others, and thereby be God's means of answering other people’s prayers. In what ways might we be God’s means of answering other people’s prayers for their basic needs? Take a step back and consider this: Jesus is not telling us to be lazy, and he is not telling us to not think about the things we need. We need jobs in order to pay our bills and in order to contribute in our unique ways to the good of the world. Parents need the means to feed and clothe their children. When we are sick, we need good health care. Our communities need good schools, safe streets, and assistance for those who struggle. Our businesses need customers and affordable inputs and good workers. Our governments needs leaders who seek justice and work for the common good, and don’t settle for assisting the powerful or wealthy or the noisiest voices. We need to apply our minds to think through what we face in order to address these needs. But there is a difference between thinking about things and worrying about things. Can Jesus be our model here? Jesus clearly thought about a lot of things, including the terrible death he was going to endure on our behalf. Yet we don’t see signs that he spent much time worrying. How do you think Jesus handled his thoughts about the difficult things he was going to endure without falling prey to worrying? What is one area of your life where worry often intrudes? What would Jesus encourage you to do about it? How would your life be better if you replaced worrying with trustful conversation with God about the thing you are worrying about, even if the problem didn’t magically go away? How can cultivating a life where you are constantly talking to God, and routinely letting your needs be made known to him, improve your life and help you become more like Christ? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew List Next

We welcome everyone as we explore how to apply the Bible to our lives today, with resources for individual and group study developed over 40 years of church service. Welcome to Faith Explored! What is Faith Explored? Faith Explored is a virtual community for people interested in exploring how to apply God’s Word to our lives today. Our mission is to help each person understand God’s Word and put it into action in their lives. To achieve this goal, we seek to help people: increase their understanding of the Bible ; explore how we can apply God’s Word to our lives today; embrace the adventure of living our lives for God, in our unique individual lives and in communion with others; and identify concrete ways we can work for justice and change the world as we are inspired, transformed, and empowered by Jesus. We welcome people of all faiths in this exploration. We believe that everyone can benefit from studying how the Bible applies to our lives. While our approach is decidedly Christian (and Catholics, evangelicals, and Pentecostals can all be comfortable here), we believe that we can learn from others even as they may learn from us. How Faith Explored got started Faith Explored grew out of Tom Faletti’s quest to bring to a wider audience what he has developed in more than 40 years of small-group Bible Study. When we meet in small groups for Bible Study, we seek to provide a place where people can increase their understanding of the Bible, learn how to put their faith into action through the application of God’s Word, and experience Christian community. While Faith Explored is a virtual network rather than an in-person faith group, we hope Faith Explored will also promote understanding of God's Word, foster spiritual growth, and provide a supportive community for people interested in exploring their faith. Who is Tom Faletti? I am a native of California. In 1976, I investigated the evidence that Jesus rose from the dead and therefore was not just a great man, concluded that Jesus is God, and gave my life to Him. I entered into a personal relationship with God and promised to serve Him the rest of my life. Having been raised a Catholic, I remained in my church and started working to expand understanding of the Scriptures to anyone who was open. I also led programs with evangelical Christians and people in the charismatic renewal, and learned how to present the truth of God’s Word in ways that can help people of all backgrounds grow in faith. That is why, even though I remain deeply involved in my local Catholic parish, Faith Explored should be a comfortable place for people from any denomination. I graduated from Stanford University and earned a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley. I also earned a Graduate Certificate in Catholic Theology from St. Joseph’s College of Maine. My work life included 3 years of service as the youth minister in the parish church I grew up in; 24 years of service on Capitol Hill, where I worked to expand access to health and nutrition programs and improve the lives of everyday people; and 13 years as an award-winning high school teacher. I have been a committed follower of Jesus since 1976; a Bible Study leader for more than 40 years; and an advocate for truth with a passion for justice all my life. I live in Washington, DC, with my wife (and best friend) Sonia. We have been happily married for 45 years and have 3 adult children. My life is guided by a commitment to faith, family, kindness, respect, truth, and a wholehearted response to the call issued to every person that “You Can Change Your World!” Image at top by Mohamed Nohassi, and image of cross by Tabea, both provided by Unsplash via WIx. Image of small group provided by Wix.

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. How does he want to give new life to you, and how can you receive it? [John 11:1-45] Previous Next John List John 11:1-44 Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. How does he want to give new life to you, and how can you receive it? The raising of Lazarus, from the Rossano Gospels, which is one of the oldest surviving illuminated manuscripts of the New Testament. 6 th century. Maria Santissima Cathedral, Rossano, Italy. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raising_of_Lazarus_manuscript,_Rossano_Gospels.jpg . Tom Faletti April 13, 2026 Read John 11:1-16 Lazarus is sick The raising of Lazarus is the seventh and final “sign” in John’s Gospel. In verses 1-2, John explains who Lazarus, Mary, and Martha are. He does not tell the story of Mary anointing Jesus until chapter 12, but he assumes his readers know that story well. In verse 4, how does Jesus describe what will be the outcome of Lazarus’s illness? How can an illness result in God (or Jesus) being glorified? Verse 5 says that Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus. John has not mentioned them previously, and all he tells us here is that they live in Bethany, which is a village around 2 miles east of Jerusalem, beyond the Mount of Olives. Matthew 21:17 tells us that during the final week before his crucifixion, Jesus spent the night in Bethany (presumably at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus). If Jesus spent time at their house when he was in Jerusalem, what do you think his relationship with them was like? Because of the opposition Jesus encountered the last time he was in Jerusalem, he is currently in the area near the other Bethany, across the Jordan River, where John the Baptist had preached and where Jesus’s ministry had begun. When Jesus says in verse 5, “Let us go to Judea again” – i.e., back to the region that includes Jerusalem – how do the disciples respond? Jesus gives a cryptic response in verse 9. What does he say, and what does it mean? Jesus says: When you walk in the daytime, you don’t stumble because you see the light. You only stumble at night, when you are without light. Jesus made a similar comment in John 9:4 when he said that we need to do the works of God while it is still day, because the night is coming when no one can work. Here, he is implying that it is safe to go to Lazarus: they will be in the “light” because his hour has not yet come. Jesus says that Lazarus is asleep and he is going to wake him (verse 11), before stating more plainly in verse 14 that Lazarus is dead. He then adds that he is glad for them that he is not there, “so that you may believe.” Don’t they already believe in him? What benefit will they have when they see him raise Lazarus from the dead? Thomas’s response in verse 16 is instructive. Many people think of Thomas only as the Doubting Thomas. But here, we see that he is much more complex than that. What kind of faith does it take to say, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (verse 16)? Thomas shows his deep faith in Jesus and a willingness to give up his own life rather than stay behind while Jesus goes out into danger. Thomas is willing to follow Jesus even though he thinks it will lead to a bad end. How can we follow Thomas’s example of faith and stay dedicated to walking with Jesus even when we think it will lead to a bad outcome? Are there particular situations in your life right now where you are uneasy about following Jesus because of how you think things will turn out, but you want to follow him anyway? How can Thomas be an example for you so that you can trust Jesus and keep walking with him? Read John 11:17-27 Jesus tells Martha that he is the Resurrection and the Life In verse 21, Martha sounds like she is almost chiding Jesus: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” She is showing both faith and disappointment in Jesus. When have you been disappointed in God, and how have you dealt with it? In verse 22, Martha tells Jesus that she still has faith in him: “Whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” How can you have that kind of faith in God even when you have not received what you hoped for? How does Jesus respond in verse 23? In this Gospel, Jesus has talked about never dying and about being raised on the last day. In verse 24, Martha affirms that she believes in the resurrection of the dead (as did many of the Jews at that time). That opens the door for Jesus to say something new. What does he say in verse 25? What do you think it means, to say that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? What does this mean to you? How is Jesus the resurrection and the life in your life? What does the rest of verse 25 and verse 26 mean? The Jews believed that only God had power over life and death. So again Jesus is asserting his divinity in identifying himself as the one who holds the power over life, death, and resurrection. In verse 27, Martha professes her faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. Why is this an important step? We often face difficult situations that don’t end in a miraculous healing of a loved one. How can we hold on to Jesus’s promise of life when have to face death so regularly in our world? Read John 11:28-37 Mary comes to Jesus in tears, and Jesus also weeps Mary comes to Jesus in tears and says the same thing Martha said: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (verse 32). But whereas Martha was controlled and probing, Mary is disconsolate. In verse 33, how does Jesus feel when he sees her and those with her weeping? The first word John uses, which is translated as “deeply moved,” “perturbed,” or “disturbed” (depending on your translation), is a Greek word that has the sense of being angry. John also says that Jesus is deeply troubled. Jesus asks where Lazarus has been buried, and they say, “Come and see” (verse 34) – the exact same words Nathaniel said to Philip in John 1:46 when Philip wasn’t sure what to think about Jesus. Notice the power in the words “Come and see,” It’s not “Go and see.” It is an expression of accompaniment: I will come with you; let us go together and see. Why is accompaniment so important in times of grieving? Verse 35 is one of the two shortest verses in the Bible: “Jesus wept.” (Ironically, the other shortest verse in the Bible, 1 Thessalonians 5:16, also involves a feeling, but on the other end of the emotional spectrum: “Rejoice always.”) What does Jesus’s weeping tell you about him? Jesus has certainly seen other people die. Why do you think he is so deeply moved and emotional affected here? In the centuries after Jesus lived, people argued over the nature of Jesus. Some said he was only human; others said he was only divine and not really human at all. (Christians believe he was full God and fully human.) How is weeping a sign of Jesus’s humanity? What does the fact that Jesus, who is both God and man, weeps tell you about God? Some people find it difficult to be deeply moved by sad events, and other people experience such deep emotion that it feels like too much to bear. Where are you on the spectrum of how people react to sad events, and how does God work with you in those times? As always, what Jesus does elicits at least two different reactions. How do people react in verses 36-37? Do you see in yourself sometimes a tendency to look at other people’s behavior in a negative way, when there might be a more positive way to think about it? How can we train ourselves to be more generous in how we view other people’s actions and intentions? Read John 11:38-44 Jesus raises Lazarus Lazarus’s tomb was above ground, which was the norm in Jesus’s time – a cave cut out of rock. If you would like to see what Lazarus’s tomb might have been like, you can view this video of a tour group visiting the site that people have considered to be the site of Lazarus’s tomb since at least the 4 th century. It is in the town of al-Eizariya in Palestine, not far from Jerusalem, where Bethany was in Jesus’s time ( Hyman ). We have no way of knowing whether this was actually Lazarus’s tomb, but it can help us visualize it. They came to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone rolled across the entrance. Jesus told them to take away the stone. Martha doesn’t understand what is about to happen and objects. What does she say (verse 39)? Note that even if Jesus had come immediately when he received word that Lazarus was ill, Lazarus would still have been dead for two days when Jesus arrived, since he only waited two days before coming. However, 4 days was long enough that the rabbis would be very convinced that Lazarus really had been dead and not just in a swoon. Jesus responds (verse 40), “Did I not tell you that if you would believe you will see the glory of God?” Raising Lazarus obviously brings glory to God. What about when people are not raised from the dead? How can we bring glory to God by the way we accept death? What does Jesus say to God in verses 41-42? What do his words say to you? When Jesus cries out, “Lazarus, come out,” Lazarus does come out. How do you think Martha and Mary felt when this happened? How do you think the other people who were there felt? How do you think Lazarus felt? How do you think Jesus felt, knowing that his own death is coming soon? In 1 Thessalonians 4:16, Paul says that when Jesus returns at the end of time, he will descend from heaven with a loud cry of command, and the dead shall be raised. When he cries out to Lazarus to come out, it might be considered a foreshadowing of that final shout at the end of time. In John 5:25, Jesus said that the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear his voice and live. How is the raising of Lazarus a foreshadowing of everything that Jesus has been saying for the last several chapters? When Lazarus’s body was prepared for burial, they would have wound strips of cloth around it (which, among other things, would prevent the limbs from flopping around as the body was carried since they did not use caskets). So Lazarus is, in effect, all tied up. In verse 44, Jesus says, “Unbind him and let him go.” Are there ways that we are still bound when we are brought to life by Jesus? What kinds of things “bind” us and make it harder to live the full life God has called us to, if we are not freed from them? We can remain “bound” by fears, by sin, by toxic relationships, by work that does not reflect our dignity and calling, etc. Jesus wants us to be freed from what keeps us from living fully in the light and life of Christ. Jesus doesn’t unbind Lazarus himself. He lets others do that. How is Jesus still using us today to unbind others and help them find freedom? How does Jesus want to bring his resurrection life into your life today? Take a step back and consider this: We Christians live in a curious blend of the now and the not yet. Jesus says in John 11:25-26 that if we believe in him, we will live even if we die, and if we live and believe in him we will never die. This suggests that although some aspects of Jesus’s role in our lives as the Resurrection and the Life will take effect later, we have already begun to experience some aspects of it now. His resurrection is real both in the now and in the not yet. In what ways do you hope to experience, when you die, Jesus’s promise that you will rise (11:23)? In what ways do you experience Jesus’s resurrection and life as a present reality that enlivens you today? How can you embrace his life more fully? Paul wrote, “If we have died with Christ . . . we shall also live with him” (Romans 6:8). In what ways do we need to die even now, while we are still alive, in order to live with him? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2026, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John List Next

Integrity means your words line up with your actions. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 5:33-37 Integrity means your words line up with your actions. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti May 2, 2024 Matthew 5:33-37 Oaths: what are you saying? What did the Old Testament Law say about oaths in Leviticus 19:12? What kind of oaths were prohibited? (See also Deuteronomy 23:21-23.) In Jesus’s time, Jews made oaths and vows frequently and casually. William Barclay says they developed arcane rules for which oaths actually had to be honored and which could be ignored without repercussions (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 157). If you didn’t include God himself in your oath, it didn’t “count.” What does Jesus say about oaths? What are the reasons behind Jesus’s prohibit of these oaths? We do not have control over the heavens, the earth, or even our own bodies, so we have no right to be swearing by them. What do you think about Jesus’s rule, and why? If I leave the heavens, etc., out of my oath is it OK? Or is Jesus making a bigger point? How often do you make promises? How seriously do you take your promises? How do you respond when someone says, “Promise me you’ll . . .”? Some people often signal that they are about to say something honest with a phrase such as: “I’m not going to lie to you,” “Frankly,” “To tell the truth,” etc. I sometimes wonder, when such people say other things that are not prefaced by that assurance, whether that means that what they are about to say might not be the truth. How honest are you in your everyday dealings with people? Can others count on what you are saying to be true, or do you have a tendency to shade the truth? Why does Jesus say that anything more than “Yes” or “No” comes from the evil one? Jesus is saying that a truly good person would never need to take an oath because everything he or she says would always be the truth. If a person needs to add an oath to what they are saying, it is a sign that they have already made compromises with untruthfulness that tarnish their honesty. Why do we sometimes want to embellish what we say by adding a promise? What is the purpose of adding a promise? Some reasons might be: to assure, or to impress. What would it look like to live a life where your “Yes” is so solid that no one would ever feel the need to ask you to swear that what you are saying is true? How can we foster a world where the truth is so cherished that people don’t feel the need to make oaths? Take a step back and consider this: Jesus’s words about honesty in speech are not isolated. They appear right after he asked us to squarely confront our thought life to tame lust, and asked us to be true to our marriage commitments no matter what. He is getting at something bigger than just a series of individual character issues or types of sin. He is pointing us toward true integrity. Integrity is the characteristic of a person who is solid through and through – where the inside of the person and the outside of the person match up and demonstrate a consistent morality. When you look at them, what you see on the outside is what they actually are on the inside. What they say is actually true. What they spend their time thinking about is consistent with the ethical principles they profess. What they do is what they say they will do, and what they do is what God has taught them to do. The word “integrity” comes from a Latin word that means whole or complete in the sense of being intact, unbroken, undivided. The person of integrity is undivided. Their whole being is intact. They are one person – the same person inside and out. That is what Jesus is calling us to be. How can you cultivate a character of integrity? How might you consider changing the way you talk and act – the things you say and do – in order to ensure that integrity defines your character? How might you consider changes in your thought life, so that the you on the outside matches the you on the inside and matches what God is calling you to be inside and out? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew List Next

Make the choice to follow Christ and do not be afraid of the consequences. [Matthew 10:16-25; 10:26-33; 10:34-39; 10:40-42] Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 10:16-42 Make the choice to follow Christ and do not be afraid of the consequences. Image by Redd F, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Cropped. Tom Faletti August 10, 2024 Matthew 10:16-25 The persecution that will come As Jesus’s followers go out to preach the good news, what problems will they face? What are the risks they will face? What are the reassurances Jesus offers? How is the reassurance Jesus offers based on a relationship? In verses 17, 18, and 21, who will oppose them or cause them trouble? Jesus mentions religious leaders, governmental authorities, and family members. As you try to be transparent and open about your faith, is there anyone who is likely to oppose you or cause you trouble? If so, what might you do about it? Have you experienced any situations like what is described in verse 20, where you did now have a plan for what you would say about your faith, but the Spirit spoke through you? How can you live a life that is so open to the movement and guidance of the Holy Spirit that that kind of guidance “in the moment” is possible? Where are you tempted to hold back in boldly following Jesus? What does this passage say to you? Based on what Jesus says in these verses, would you say martyrdom should be sought, avoided where possible, or avoided at all costs? In verse 23b, Jesus says that the Son of Man will come before they have proclaimed the good news in all of the towns of Israel. Matthew might have understood this to be true in the sense that the beginning of the coming of the Son of Man was inaugurated when Jesus died and rose from the dead. Or he might have seen the coming of the Son of Man as having occurred when Jerusalem was destroyed and Israel was shattered by the Romans in AD 70. We will explore the coming of the Son of Man when Jesus talks more about it in Matthew 24. In verse 24, Jesus says the disciple is not above the teacher. The word disciple means a learner or student. How do you maintain your role as a lifelong learner under Jesus? What are some ways that we, as disciples, are called to be “like” our teacher Jesus? Matthew 10:26-33 Do not fear What does Jesus emphasize repeatedly in verses 26, 28, 31 of this passage? Why might fear be a natural response? There might be pain, suffering, rejection, and even death in following Jesus. Why, then, does Jesus tell us not to fear? What is Jesus saying about us and God in the sparrow analogy in verses 29-31? We are greatly valued by God. We are intensely and surprisingly important to him. He never stops watching us, with love. What fears do you face? What does this word from Jesus about not being afraid say to you in your particular circumstances? In verses 32-33, Jesus contrasts those who acknowledge him before others and those who deny him before others. William Barclay suggests (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , pp. 403-404) that there are three ways we can deny Jesus: by our words , by our silence , and by our actions . What does it look like to deny Jesus by our words? . . . by our silence? . . . by our actions? What does it look like to acknowledge Jesus before other people by our words, our silence, and our actions? Where in your life do you need to be a clearer witness to Jesus right now, and how might it affect your words, your times of silence, or your actions? Matthew 10:34-39 The choice What are the some of the things Jesus says will be part of being called by him? What does Jesus mean in verses 34-36 when he says he has come to bring a sword? When Jesus says he has not come to bring peace, but a sword (verse 34), he explains what he means in verses 35-36. He is not talking about military might or violent uprising. He is not saying that he wields a sword, nor is he saying that the sword should be wielded by his disciples. On the contrary, the sword is wielded by those who oppose Jesus and his disciples. Jesus is lamenting the fact that his coming produces such opposition that some will die by the sword. The quote in verses 35-36 comes from Micah 7:6, where the prophet describes with great sorrow how the society around him has degenerated to the point where those who are faithful to God cannot trust the people around them, but instead must look to God and wait for God to provide salvation (Micah 7:7). What does the conundrum in verse 39 about finding your life/losing your life mean? What does it mean to “take up your cross and follow me”? How might a person today have to give up the life they have today in order to find the life they are called to by in Christ? What do you think of Jesus’s blunt honesty in this passage? Do we need more of this kind of honesty in the message of Christianity in our day? Or can we avoid this tough message and still be saved? Most people don’t face this choice in stark, life-or-death terms the way the martyrs did. They do face smaller life decisions that change the direction of their lives and even smaller choices every day about how to live their lives. How do these smaller choices both reflect and determine where we stand with Jesus? What is the cost or sacrifice that comes with following Jesus? What is the reward or benefit? A cross is an instrument of death. How is taking up a cross an apt metaphor for the choice we face? What is the cross you are called to take up right now in order to follow Jesus? Matthew 10:40-42 You are representatives of Jesus What is this passage saying? This passage implies that we are representatives of Jesus. What responsibilities come with being a representative of Jesus? This passage implies that our fellow Christians, even the lowest, are representatives of Jesus. What does that fact call us to do? In verse 42, Jesus talks about giving a cup of cold water to “these little ones.” Scholars debate whether the “little ones” refers to the apostles/disciples or to the uneducated and needy members of the community. But it can also be taken more literally. Who are the “little ones” in this world who need a cup of water? How can we, directly or through organizations or governments, help people who need access to safe, clean drinking water? Benedict T. Viviano comments, “It has been observed that if God will reward one who gives a cup of cold water to a disciple, how much more will he reward one who installs an entire city water system” (Viviano, par. 72, p. 652). Many nonprofit organizations, often operating from a religious orientation, help people in less developed countries build wells or implement water purification programs, so that children and other community members will have safe drinking water. Some people living along the southern border of the United States try to serve Jesus in the “least among us” by providing water to migrants who might die of thirst or heatstroke as they search for a safe place to call home. There are many ways to give a cup of cold water to “little ones” in need. If you were to be evaluated (like in school or on a job performance evaluation) on how you are doing as a representative of Jesus, where would you receive high marks and where would it be said that you could make improvements? How might you respond to this passage in terms of how you relate to other people? Take a step back and consider this: William Barclay wrote, “The Christian may have to sacrifice his personal ambitions, the ease and the comfort that he might have enjoyed, the career that he might have achieved; he may have to lay aside his dreams, to realize that shining things of which he caught a glimpse are not for him. He will certainly have to sacrifice his will, for no Christian can ever again do what he likes; he must do what Christ likes. In Christianity there is always some cross, for Christianity is the religion of the Cross” (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1, p. 408). There are many ways that following Christ may require a sacrifice of the will. It generally doesn’t mean, “I want to be an entrepreneur/lawyer/realtor/artist (etc.) but God wants me to be a missionary in a far-off land.” More commonly it means, “I want to be an entrepreneur/lawyer/realtor/artist (etc.) but because I follow Christ there are certain things I will not do, even if the world tells me it is necessary for success.” In our work, we stay true to God, speak honestly and openly about our faith when the opportunity arises, and trust God, without fear, that if following Christ closes some doors, God has other doors for us. Sacrificing our will generally doesn’t mean we live in absolute penury with only the clothes on our back. It means we choose to live simply so that we have resources left to put at God’s disposal. We put Christ in charge of our budget, recognizing that all we have comes from God and that sacrificing our own luxury may help meet others’ basic necessities. In other words, when our desires and Christ’s will do not line up, we let go of our will so that Christ’s will can have its way. In exchange, we are given the opportunity to participate, from the platform we have as an entrepreneur/lawyer/realtor/artist (etc.), in the greatest mission we could imagine. And when we have made that fundamental decision and have lived it for a while and allowed it to seep deeply into the fabric of our life, the ambitions and luxuries that run counter to the mission of Christ sometimes seem less attractive. That doesn’t mean we won’t face new temptations as situations arise. But they will less commonly be decisions about the major direction of our lives. They will more commonly be: “Can I set aside the thing I am working on right now, because the person in front of me needs me to do something for them.” Those smaller sacrifices of the will are always before us and will continue until we meet the Lord face to face in the life to come. Do you agree with Barclay that Christianity requires a sacrifice of the will to do what Christ desires? Explain. What are the kinds of sacrifices that God is asking you to make right now for the sake of his kingdom? What do you need to do (or keep doing) right now to stay true to the decision you have made to be a follower of Christ? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew List Next