Sabbath: Jesus in Jerusalem
Read for This Week’s Study: Zech. 9:9, Matt. 21:1-46, Rom. 4:13-16, Rev. 14:7-12, Acts 6:7, Matt. 22:1-15.
Memory Text:“Have you never read in the Scriptures:‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’S doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’ ? ” (Matthew 21:42, NKJV).
Image © Lars Justinen Goodsalt.com
In Matthew 20:27-28 Jesus said, “‘And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many’” (NKJV). Here’s Jesus, the eternal God, the one who created all things, who lived the life of a servant here on earth, ministering to the needs of the lost, the sick, the needy, many of whom still scorned Him. Such self-denial, self-abnegation; we can hardly begin to grasp it!
But as incomprehensible as His servanthood is, the marvel goes even deeper, for He, the eternal God, is now facing the whole purpose of His coming here: to “‘give His life a ransom for many.’” This self-denial, this self-abnegation, will soon climax in a mystery that even “angels desire to look into” (1 Pet. 1:12, NKJV)—and that is the Cross.
This week’s lesson looks at some of the major events and teachings of Jesus as He came to Jerusalem, not to be crowned an earthly king, as so many people had desired and hoped, but to be made “sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21, NKJV).
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, June 4.
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It is so interesting to know, the all powerful God did not come to be served, but to serve. If he can do so,who are we that we cannot do the same? Thank you Jesus.
And how can we do the same?
One way is to go to Sabbath school to give (share/talk) instead of just receiving (listen).
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” ACTS 20:35
It is amazing to me that the creator of the universe would humble Himself to such a depth as to live in human form with all the vulnerability of living in a body that was so genetically tainted and degenerated as ours is with the possibility of failure to maintain His mission at any point in this life.
I think that He knew all the risks, but He also knew the strength of His own Character and He knew that His Love was powerful enough to withstand the test. He knew that He had the ability to forgive every sin of every person in this world.
But we didn't know how great His Love and forgiveness was until He demonstrated it on the cross and resurected that human body of His with the condemnation of the sin of this entire world from start to finish.
I think this shows that He really can forgive sin without condoning it at all.
Now we have the proof. Will we accept His pardon? Will we accept His power to repent of our sins by giving permission for the Holy Spirit to take charge of our basic thoughts and feelings to give us a new heart and His Spirit that resurected Jesus from the grave, to raise us up out of our sin and separation from Him to produce His character in us?
We are instructed to let the same mind that was in Jesus Christ to be in us. We can do this by answering the questions above in the affirmative.
I have a question regarding the following passage found in the book of Matthew:
"They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them."
Did Jesus actually ride on two animals or on only one?
Hi Nic. The story about how the animal was chosen is found in Mark 11, and in particular, verse 7 states "And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him". KJV
Yes, the problem is that according to Mark and Luke, Jesus rode on a colt, but Matthew says that he rode on a donkey and a colt. This makes no sense.
This can be explained by the fact that Matthew was quoting from Hebrew poetry and ignored the fact that Hebrew poets indulged in what is called "parallelism," the practice of repeating a line with another similar thought.
There was only one animal involved, and both Mark and Luke interpreted the Old Testament correctly.
Thank you very much, my question is; when Jesus left the planet earth whom did he left as our leader among his students?
Jesus left His Comforter, his Holy Spirit, as the leader of His church. We are His disciples on this Earth today if we have received this same Holy Spirit as our leader now. When His Spirit is motivating us, this makes all other motivations in our life right--and brings the righteousness of Christ into all our actions.
It does take our permission for his spirit to be allowed to give us motivation in our thoughts and feelings. This motivation is something that needs to be continuous. At times we may find that we are not being motivated by God's Spirit.
This is a good time for prayer to humble ourselves before God and to ask that his Holy Spirit be restored as our motivation as David did when he asked that God would not take His Spirit from him but he would restore him in His Nature.
In the Triumphal entry of Jesus we see something really amazing. Imagine the King of Kings who comes as a lowly servant on a donkey and not even on royal robes. He did not come to conquer by force as earthly kings do, instead He came to conquer by love, grace, mercy and by laying down His life for us as a sacrifice. His Kingdom is that of servanthood and lowliness. The question is are we doing the same? He came to conquer not nations, but our hearts and our minds. As the prince of peace He brought the message of peace that surpasses all understanding. As disciples of Jesus Christ we are also expected to have such qualities that Jesus Had. We need to have the same attitude that was in Christ Jesus. Let us humble ourselves and understand what the Kingdom of God really entails. We need to have humility so that we would be able to serve in the Kingdom of God. It’s not about having a position, it’s about doing what is expected of us as His disciples. Let us not be like James and John who did not ask to be servants in the Kingdom of God. They did not ask Jesus to use them. They asked for honour and power (Mark 10:35-45)
A little confused, if the Holy Spirit is our leader and the rest disciples -who are pastors? Why do we use college degrees to put them in office and, lastly, is theology not designed by freemasons?
AH Tando Gumbo, I think you are linking ideas together in a way that they are not meant to be.
The Holy Spirit is the comforter - the quiet small voice of God that speaks to us. The Holy Spirit works through a variety of ways to communicate to us. How many of us have heard suggestions from people we respect; only to think on reflection that they had been led by the Holy Spirit to say those things to us.
Why do we need pastors? A good question. In an ideal world we would all be pastors, ministering to one another. In the real world we appreciate those people who have been called by God to work full time in ministry. A wise pastor will be used by the Holy Spirit to guide and teach us.
We do not use College degrees to put ministers into office. I personally know of many successful ministers without college degrees who are wonderful servants in the Church who have my respect and appreciation. Having said that though, a sound education provides a background and training that enables a minister to be more effective. Education is not everything, but a good education wisely given by Spirit-led teachers will always be helpful.
Lastly, theology and free-masonary have very little to do with one another. I am the grandson of a high-ranking free-mason who became a Seventh-day Adventist at 80 years of age. He said that while free-masons have high moral principles, and most believe in a supreme being, they do not make a study of theology as such. Theology is the study of the nature of God and religious belief. It is not an invention of the free-masons. While such a study can be done from an entirely secular perspective, it can also refer to those who study it from a deeply spiritual and faith perspective. It is up to us to ensure that our theology is Christ centered and an effective witness to our neighbours.
we can also be of service as Jesus did. Using our daily undertakings and available opportunities can assist us emulate the Saviour's example as a man of service. We are also busy misusing our freely given opportunities in and time serving ourselves than serving God through doing well with His own creation - human through getting concerned, contact compassion and care.