Bible Study

Questions

Bible Reference

1. Who would you equate with

a tax collector

a Roman soldier

a Jewish citizen

today?

2. There was a LOT of compassion emphasized in this episode. From not giving publicly to the healing of a leper. Hod did Jesus preach about and show compassion?

Do you think there is a difference between

compassion, giving, empathy, and good will?

3. Leprosy is one of the major diseases in the time of Jesus. It was the sickness that renders a person no longer worthy of dignity, love or community.

Are there any "like" situations in our society today

that would cause a person to no longer have dignity?

How do you think Jesus would treat them?

4. What's holding you back from the kind of bold faith the leper had?

5. How can you connect with people in your life who aren't part of the "in" crowd, as Jesus did?

6. In order to take such extreme measures, what must the four men, who carried their friend, have believed about Jesus?

1. Who would you equate with

a tax collector

a Roman soldier

a Jewish citizen

today?

2. There was a LOT of compassion emphasized in this episode. From not giving publicly to the healing of a leper. Hod did Jesus preach about and show compassion?

Do you think there is a difference between

compassion, giving, empathy, and good will?

3. Leprosy is one of the major diseases in the time of Jesus. It was the sickness that renders a person no longer worthy of dignity, love or community.

Are there any "like" situations in our society today

that would cause a person to no longer have dignity?

How do you think Jesus would treat them?

4. What's holding you back from the kind of bold faith the leper had?

5. How can you connect with people in your life who aren't part of the "in" crowd, as Jesus did?

6. In order to take such extreme measures, what must the four men, who carried their friend, have believed about Jesus?

The Leper: "Please don't turn away from me."

Jesus: "I won't.

Matthew: "They don't believe what I saw but I do. I need to know, am I deceived?

Nicodemus: "If God did something that you felt contradicted the Torah, would you tell him to get back in that box you have carved for him, or would you question your interpretation of the Torah?"

Mary Magdalene: "I don't want to interrupt the Teacher by causing a scene."

The Paralytic: "What if you were me?"

Jesus to Tamar: "Your faith is beautiful."

The Leper: "Please don't turn away from me."

Jesus: "I won't.

Matthew: "They don't believe what I saw but I do. I need to know, am I deceived?

Nicodemus: "If God did something that you felt contradicted the Torah, would you tell him to get back in that box you have carved for him, or would you question your interpretation of the Torah?"

Mary Magdalene: "I don't want to interrupt the Teacher by causing a scene."

The Paralytic: "What if you were me?"

Jesus to Tamar: "Your faith is beautiful."

Jesus teaches people how to help poor people

1 Jesus then said to them, ‘You should do good things to help people. But be careful! Do not do this so that other people see you. If you want other people to praise you, your Father in heaven will not praise you.

2 When you give something to a poor person, do not tell anyone

about it. The hypocrites do this in their meeting places. They also do it in the busy streets of the town. They do this so that other people will praise them. I tell you this. They have already received their gift. God will not give them anything more.

3 So when you give something to a poor person, keep it a secret from other people. Do not tell anyone. Your left hand will not even know what your right hand does!

4 Nobody else will know about the good thing that you have done. But God sees the things that you do secretly. In return, he will give you good things.’

Jesus teaches people how to pray

5 ‘Also, you must not pray in the way that the hypocrites pray. They like to stand and pray in their meeting places. They like to do it on the corners of the busy streets. Then many people will see them and they will praise them. I tell you this. They have already received their gift from people. God will not give them anything more.

6 But this is how you should pray. Go to a place in your house where you can be alone. You can shut the door and you can pray to God your Father. He is in that secret place. He sees what you do there. He will give you good things in return.

7 When you pray, do not say the same words many times. People who do not believe in God do that. They use many words that mean nothing. They think that when they pray like that, their gods will hear them.

8 Do not pray like they do. God your Father already knows what you need. He knows this even before you ask him.

9 So this is how you should pray:

“God, our Father who is in heaven,

we want people to give honour to you.

10 We want the day when you rule everyone to come soon.

We want everyone to obey you on earth, like everyone in heaven obeys you.

11 Please give us the food that we need today.

12 We have forgiven people who have done wrong things to us.

In the same way, please forgive us for the wrong things that we have done.

13 Do not let us agree to do wrong things.

Keep us safe from Satan.” ’

14 Then Jesus said, ‘When other people do wrong things against you, you must forgive them. Then God, your Father in heaven, will also forgive you for the wrong things that you have done.

15 But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive you.’

Jesus teaches people about different things

16 Jesus then said, ‘You may decide to fast for some time. But do not look sad so that people know you are doing a special thing. Hypocrites want people to see how good they are. They make their faces dirty. Then other people can see that they are fasting. I tell you this: people have praised them and that is the only gift that they will get.

17 But when you fast for some time, you should wash your face. Make your hair look nice.

18 Then other people will not know that you are doing a special thing. But God, your Father, will know. You do not see him but he sees what you do secretly. He will give you good things in return.

6:2Hypocrites want people to think that they are good. But they are not really good people.

6:5The corners of the streets were places where Jews met to pray. They also prayed in the special buildings. In those places there were a lot of people who could see them when they were praying.

6:16Some people stop eating for hours or days so that they can have more time with God. This causes them to feel nearer to God when they pray. But the hypocrites did it for the wrong reason.

19 Do not want to have many valuable things here in the world. Insects or water can destroy those kinds of things. Or people may come into your house and they can rob you of those things.

20 Instead, you should want to have valuable things in heaven. Insects and water cannot destroy anything there. Men cannot rob you of your things there.

21 Then you will be thinking a lot about heaven, because that is where you keep your valuable things.

22 Your eyes are like lamps and your body is like a room. Make sure that your eyes are like a clean lamp, then your whole body will have light.

23 If your eyes are not good, then your whole body will be in the dark. If the light in you has become dark, you will be living in a very dark place.’

24 Jesus said, ‘Nobody can work as a slave for two masters at the same time. Maybe he will hate one of the masters, but he will love the other one. Or he will work well for one master, but he will think bad things about the other master. God and money are like different masters. You cannot work for both of them.

25 So I tell you this. You should not worry about how to stay alive. Do not worry about the food and drink that you need. Do not worry about the clothes that you need to wear. Your life is more important than the food that you eat. Your body is more important than your clothes.

26 Think about the wild birds. They do not plant seeds in the ground. They do not cut down plants to eat. They have no buildings to store food. But God, your Father in heaven, gives them food to eat. You are much more valuable than the birds.

27 Even if you always worry about your life, you cannot make it as much as one hour longer!

28 You should not worry about your clothes. Think about how the wild flowers grow. They do not work or make clothes for themselves.

29 But I tell you this. Even one wild flower is more beautiful than King Solomon was. And King Solomon wore the most beautiful clothes.

30 It is God that gives beautiful clothes even to the grass. One day the grass is growing in the field, but the next day people will cut it and burn it. God will certainly take care of you, much more than he takes care of the grass. You should trust him more than you do!

31 So do not worry about these things. Do not always say, “What will we eat?”, or “What will we drink?”, or “What will we wear?”

32 People who do not know God are always trying to get these things. But as for you, your Father in heaven knows that you need them.

33 Instead, always think about the things that are important in the kingdom of heaven. Always do what God shows you is right. Then he will also give you the things that you need each day.

34 So do not have trouble in your mind about what might happen tomorrow. Tomorrow will have its own problems. It is enough for you to be thinking each day about the problems of that day.’

6:21People think about their valuable things, so it is better to have them stored with God in heaven above. They will be safe there. We will also think about going to be with God.

6:23Jesus himself is the light that he is talking about. If a person lets Jesus rule his life, there will be nothing dark or hidden. But some people do not believe Jesus' words. They are like a person who is living in the dark.

6:30People burned dry grass and wild flowers on fires to cook their food.

Jesus helps a man who cannot walk

1 Several days after that, Jesus returned to Capernaum. People heard the news that he had come back to his home.

2 Many people came into the house. The house was so full that there was no room, even outside the door. Jesus was teaching people about the good news.

3 Four men came. They were carrying another man on a mat. That man could not move his legs.

4 They could not reach Jesus because of the crowd. So they made a hole in the roof above the place where Jesus was. They helped the man to go down through the hole. He was still lying on his mat.

5 Jesus saw the man and his friends. He knew that they believed in him. So he said to the man who could not walk, ‘My friend, I forgive you for your sins.’

6 But some teachers of God's Law were sitting there. They thought about the words that Jesus had spoken to the man.

7 They thought, ‘This man Jesus should not have said that. He is speaking as if he is God. Only God can forgive people for their sins.’

8 Immediately, Jesus knew in his spirit what the teachers were thinking. He said to them, ‘You should not think these things.

9 I said to this man who cannot walk, “I forgive you for your sins.” Instead, I could have said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Which of those is easier for me to say?

10 But I want you to know this. I, the Son of Man, have authority on earth to forgive people for their sins.’ Then he said to the man who could not walk,

11 ‘I am saying to you, stand up! Pick up your mat and go home.’

12 Immediately, the man stood up. He picked up his mat and he walked out of the house. Everyone watched him do this. The people were very surprised. They praised God and they said, ‘God is great. We have never seen anything like this before.

2:4Houses in Israel had flat roofs. There were steps outside the house up to the roof. The roof was made of small sticks and hard dry soil. It was easy for the men to make a big hole in the roof. Then they could tie ropes on to the mat and they could put it down through the roof.

2:10Jesus often called himself the Son of Man. He may have done this so that people would remember about some messages in the Bible. See Daniel 7:13-14.

13 I continued to watch in my vision at night and this is what I saw: I saw someone who seemed like a son of man.

He was coming towards me, with the clouds of the sky around him. He came near to the God who has ruled for ever. People took him to stand in front of God.

14 God gave him great honour and authority to rule as king.

The people of all nations and those who spoke every language agreed to serve him. He has authority to rule for ever. He will never stop being king. Nobody will be able to destroy his kingdom.

Be ready for Jesus to return

35 Jesus said, ‘Always be ready for my return. Be like people that are ready to start work at any time. They have put on their clothes so that they are ready for work. And they have lit their lamps.

36 You must be like servants that are waiting for their master to arrive. When he returns home from the marriage party, he will knock on the door. His servants should be ready to open it for him immediately.

37 Those servants will be very happy if their master finds them awake. I tell you this: The master will dress himself to give them food. He will say to them, “Sit at the table. I will come to serve you.”

38 The master may arrive in the middle of the night. He may even arrive just before the sun rises. But, if the master finds them awake and ready, the servants will be happy.

39 You can be sure about this. The master of a house does not know when a man might come to rob him. If he knew the time, he would keep awake. He would not let the robber come into his house and take away his things.

40 You also must be ready. The Son of Man will come at a time when you are not thinking about it.’

Be a good servant

41 Peter asked Jesus, ‘Master, are you only telling this story to us, your disciples? Or is this story for everyone to hear?’

42 Jesus replied, ‘Be a wise servant. Be someone that the master can trust. The master will choose a man like that. He will say to him, “I want you to rule my house and the other servants. Give them the food that they need at the right time.”

43 That servant will be very happy when his master comes home. His master will see that he has done everything well.

44 Let me tell you what will happen. The master will give that servant authority to rule over everything in his house.

45 But another servant might say to himself, “My master is very late. He will not come yet.” Then he begins to hit the other servants, both the men and the women. He eats too much, and he drinks too much. He even becomes drunk.

46 Then the master of that servant will come home and he will surprise the servant. He did not think that his master would come home on that day or at that time. Then the master will punish that servant a lot. He will put the servant with those people that do not obey him.

47 A servant may know what his master wants him to do. Then he should prepare himself and do that. If he does not, his master will punish him very much. He will hit him a lot.

48 But another servant perhaps does not know what his master wants him to do. So he does wrong things. The master will punish him because he did those wrong things. But he will not hit him as much. If God gives a lot to somebody, he will want a lot back in return. And God will want much more from the person to whom he has given authority over much more.

12:35In those days, everybody wore long clothes. To be ready to work, they pulled up the lowest part of their skirt. They then fixed it to their belt, so that they could move easily.

12:40A robber takes things from someone, when that person is not watching. Jesus is telling those that obey him to be ready for his return. Nobody knows when that will be.

A man with a bad disease of his skin

12 One day, Jesus was in a certain town. A man with a bad disease of the skin was there.

When the man saw Jesus, he threw himself down on the ground in front of him. He said, ‘Sir, you can make me well again if you want to do that. Please do it.’

13 Jesus put out his hand towards the man and he touched him. He said, ‘I do want to help you. Be clean again!’ Immediately, the disease left the man.

14 ‘Do not tell anyone about this,’ Jesus said to him. ‘Instead, go and show yourself to the priest. Take a gift to him for God. Moses taught the people what gift to take to God when they are clean again after this kind of disease. This will show everyone that you are now well again.’

15 After this, more and more people started to hear the news about Jesus. Crowds were coming to hear him teach. Sick people also wanted him to make them well.

16 But Jesus would often go away from the crowd to pray in quiet places.

Jesus helps a man who cannot walk

17 One day, while Jesus was teaching in someone's house, many people were sitting there. Some of them were Pharisees. Other people were teachers of God's Law. They had come from many villages in Galilee, and from Judea and Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was there with Jesus to make sick people well.

18 Then some men arrived. They were carrying a man on a mat. The man could not walk or move his legs. They tried to get into the house because they wanted to bring the man to Jesus.

19 But the house was full of people and they could not get in. So they carried the man onto the flat roof of the house. Then they made a hole in the roof. After that, they put the mat down through the hole. The man was still lying on it. He came down in the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.

20 Jesus saw them. He knew that they believed in him. So he said to the sick man, ‘My friend, I forgive you for the wrong things that you have done.’

21 The Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law were there. They heard what Jesus said. So they began to think among themselves, ‘Who is this man? He is speaking as if he is God. Only God can forgive people for the wrong things that they have done.’

22 Jesus knew what these men were thinking. He told them, ‘You should not be thinking these things.

23 I said to this man, “I forgive you for the wrong things that you have done.” Instead, I could have said to him, “Stand up and walk.” Which one is easier for me to say?

24 But I want you to know this. I, the Son of Man, have authority here on earth. I can forgive people for the wrong things that they have done.’

Then he said to the man who could not walk, ‘I am saying to you, “Stand up. Pick up your mat and go home!” ’

25 Immediately, the man stood up in front of them all. He picked up the mat that he had been lying on. He went home. He was praising God as he went. 26 What had happened surprised everyone. They said, ‘God is great and powerful! We have seen very strange and special things happen today.’

5:12People with this bad disease of the skin could not live near to other people. They lived outside the town. ***

5:17The Pharisees were a group of Jews. Many of them thought that they were obeying all God's rules. But they were also obeying many of their own rules. They did not like the things that Jesus taught. They did not like him because he did not obey all their own rules.

5:24Jesus often spoke about himself as the Son of Man. He used this to cause people to think about some messages in the Old Testament. See Daniel 7:13-14.