When does Reasoning give way to Faith?

 

(95) When does Reasoning give way to Faith?

Read Luke 21:37-38. But what was Jesus teaching in the Temple, in this time between his triumphal entry to Jerusalem and the Last Supper? John’s gospel gives an answer, starting with some Greek who come to Philip. Read John 12:20-26

1.       Why Philip, and what sort of Greeks are these – believers, non-believers, hangers-on? Do they sound sincere?

2.       When did Andrew play an important part in bringing someone to Jesus before this? Read John 1:40-42

3.       How does verse 23 answer the question that they want to “see” Jesus? How often do we want to keep arguing the details and trying to understand instead of moving forward with Christ?

4.       The Greeks probably aren’t farmers, and they probably are familiar with Greek mythology. What would verse 24 mean to them? (Dionysus was torn apart by the Titans with only his heart remaining, which was used to bring him back to life. Adonis “died” each year, spending part of his life in the Underworld with Persephone.)

5.       Assuming “hate” is Jewish overstatement, what does verse 25 mean?

6.       How might Jesus’ disciples have felt after failing to follow him to the cross, in light of verse 26?

Jesus just promised that God will honor those who serve him. Now God fulfils that promise to Jesus. Read John 12:27-36

1.       Read Mark 14:32-36 When will Jesus next say his soul is troubled?

2.       When have you heard thunder (or something similar) and felt sure God was speaking? When have you deeply wished God would speak to you? And if God has spoken to you, how did He do it?

3.       Read John 1:32-34, Mark 1:9-11, 9:7-8 When did we last hear of God speaking to Jesus? What do you think people heard at Jesus’ baptism? Or at his transfiguration? Read Acts 9:3-7 Or at Paul’s conversion?

4.       In what sense was hearing the thunder beneficial to Jesus’ listeners?

5.       In what sense is reading about the end of days (as we did last week) beneficial to us?

6.       Would “lifted up” mean more to Jews or Greeks? Read Exodus 17:16, Numbers 21:9, Psalm 30:1, Isaiah 40:4, 52:13

7.       In verse 34 the people present a very “logical” argument. Have Christians ever applied logical, Biblical arguments to prove our own points instead of letting God change our point of view?

8.       Read John 12:35-36.Do we have the light? Can we lose the light? Do we need to hear the thunder?

The Greeks most likely wanted to argue religion, philosophy, politics and more. But Jesus has already given more than enough proof of who he is, and still people don’t believe him. Read John 12:37-41, Isaiah 53:1, 6:10

1.       When did/does God harden people’s hearts? Read Exodus 4:21, Deuteronomy 2:30, Matthew 13:15, Romans 2:5

2.       What does a hardened heart look like? Who tries to harden our hearts? And how do we protect our hearts from being hardened in the present world?

3.       Read John 12:42-43 The rulers wanted to rule rightly and protect the people. Why were their hearts vulnerable?

4.       Read John 12:44-50 Can you paraphrase this?

5.       In verse 47 Jesus says he’s not judging people who don’t believe. Do we judge them? Does our churches?

6.       In verse 48 Jesus says nonbelievers, who have heard, carry their judgement with them. What might it look like, to suspect something might be true but be committed to not agreeing with it?

7.       In verse 49 Jesus claims to speak with God’s authority. Can anyone else make that claim?

What makes Jesus’ life death and resurrection so clearly different from Greek (and other) myths? And why am I giving you so many Old Testament references?