WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?
Small Group Lesson: Announcement of the Christ
Luke 9:18-22
18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”
19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”
20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”
21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone.
22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
Questions:
1. Who Do People Say Jesus Christ Is?
2. Who Do YOU Say That He Is?
3. If YOU Say Jesus Is Your Savior, Is He?
4. What Aspects Are Present in the Life of ALL Believers?
5. Why Did Jesus Warn the Disciples NOT to Tell Anyone?
Answers:
1. The Barna Study. Following is a specific study based upon American reactions on how people are connected with Jesus (the entire study will be printed in the extra category).
Whenever I use numbers, I usually begin by asking the students what they think. If you feel like using it, here is how I would word it.
A. What percent of USA say they connect with Jesus directly with their mind, emotions, or feelings?
B. What percent of USA say they connect with Jesus through the Bible.
C. What percent of USA say they connect with Jesus through signs?
D. What percent of USA say they connect with Jesus through miracles?
E. What percent of USA say they connect with Jesus through words spoken to them by others?
F. What percent of USA say they connect with Jesus through an audible voice?
Below are the answers…
According to Americans, Jesus speaks to them in multi-faceted ways. At least one out of every six adults contends that He communicates with them in the following manner:
· 52%: by influencing or connecting directly with their mind, emotions or feelings
· 41%: through the content of a Bible passage they read or which was read to them
· 36%: by providing a sign
· 34%: through sermon or teaching content concerning their immediate situation or need
· 31%: through miraculous or inexplicable circumstances or outcomes
· 31%: through words spoken to them by someone else who was speaking for God
· 18%: through a passage they read in a book other than the Bible
· 16%: through an audible voice or whisper that they could hear
2. YOUTUBE.COM
Look up “Paul Washer” OR “The Shocking Youth Message (Paul Washer)”
He is a missionary to foreign countries speaking an American youth pastor audience. He speaks very plainly on salvation, and is a must 58 minute watch of all youth leaders who dare to have an honest opinion about salvation.
I am sending this out to you way in advance so that you can carve out time to look that up (if I knew how to attach it to this article I would).
And don’t get me wrong, Paul Washer is absolutely NOT promoting a works salvation. Instead, he focuses on the difference between the narrow gate and the narrow path—for there is a difference. Remember, salvation happens in an instant but continues for a lifetime.
Please watch this video…okay?
3. Are You Saved? Leaders, you want to begin with a personal testimony here about how you came to Christ and what it means to be really saved. As for me, I said a prayer to accept Jesus in December of 1989, and on that day Jesus came into my heart and I have never been the same.
But understand, I have Jesus in my heart—NOT because of the prayer—but instead because of how my heart changed after I said the prayer. My heart change, and then the actions that followed it were the evidence.
The problem is that most of the youth groups I encounter use the “I said a prayer to accept Christ” as their evidence. Though people can and do absolutely say a prayer in a genuine manner and Christ absolutely comes in, there are thousands of others who have said a prayer and then there was no redeeming difference in their life. So are they saved? Well, we are not here to doubt another’s salvation. But, isn’t it just as bad for an unsaved person to be convinced that they are saved by their youth pastor? I mean, everyone in the Bible who underwent salvation went through a major change in their life, so we can expect after a genuine prayer of salvation to see a major change, shouldn’t we?
So, if someone says a prayer to accept Jesus, but does NOT go through a major change in their life, what could that mean?
“American Christianity is more based upon a godless culture than the Word of God.” -Paul Washer
Please, salvation is by faith and faith alone, the “saying a prayer to Jesus” is new in history over the last 50 years. With it, there is a great desire NOT to be like Brittney Spears, NOT to watch the Bachelor, NOT to listen to gangsta rap music. There are certain things that make a Christian sick, but somehow we delight in them! If we are honest, seriously, if we are honest, there would be a high percent of our American Christian Church whose lives would be excommunicated by other churches in other nations based upon how we live our lives.
LOOK BACK AT THE NUMBERS ON QUESTION ONE…DOES IT MATCH THE SCRIPTURES?
4. THE EXAM.
One of the evidence of salvation is that God will NOT allow you to talk like the world talks.
Another evidence of salvation is that God will NOT allow you to show nakedness like the world shows.
Does everyone who is a believer in the Bible tells others about Christ? YES.
Is there anyone who is a believer in the Bible show up to a meeting only once a month? NO
Any constantly drunk people called believers in the Bible? Well, the prodigal son. But does the Bible say he was a believer prior to his commitment to his return to his father? NO
BELIEVERS HUNGER FOR THE WORD. So if reading the Bible is a struggle, well, eating food is hard to do for something that is dead. A lack of a hunger for the word is a great indicator isn’t it?
You will know a genuine Christian by their FRUIT. Look at that. If Jesus is some accessory, a decoration, well…
Do you love sin and rebellion and relish it like the world does? Do the same sexual jokes that makes the world laugh make you laugh?
THISTLES: Do you find thistles on a fig tree? Uh…no. Okay, do you find figs on a thistle tree? Yeah, again, no way. So, if we are fig trees, if your life are fig trees, then why are there thistles? There should be 0 THISTLES on our life.
5. The Warning. Now, there is enough here to lead a small group for 5 hours, so nobody will get to question 5 more than likely. But since it is the next question in the next order and since we are leaving nothing out, I will provide the answer here (but understand this is really more for us than our students).
Here is a solid answer, better than I could write…
There are several reasons why Jesus would have made these commands and warnings:
In the case of the leper, Jesus called the man to show himself to the priests in accordance with Levitical law (Leviticus 14) and to let their testimony confirm the man’s complete healing of leprosy. The man’s testimony may have been disputed, but the priestly testimony would not be.
Jesus didn’t come to be a rockstar; He came as Messiah, our Rescuer. Yes, His miracles were done in public and were meant to reveal His divine power and support His claim as Messiah. But, many came to see Him only as a healer and miracle worker and were unwilling to follow those signs to see Him as Messiah. They wanted to see the magic show and get a free meal, not accept Jesus as their Messiah. So, Jesus wanted to fend off as much of this crowd as possible.
Jesus was also aware that the repeated miracles and demonstrations of His divine power could attract a following that would try to raise Him up as a great political and/or military leader. This was the historical expectation many Jews had of the Messiah and of course, nothing about Jesus’ birth, family, life, and public ministry lined up with this thinking. Jesus did not want people to become fanatical about Him and attempt to raise Him up as the political or military leader they expected Messiah to be. Also, Jesus did not want to prematurely incite the religious establishment that would then come after Him and have Him killed for His claims to be Messiah. This was, after all, why Jesus was killed – He claimed to be the King of the Jews, yet the Jews did not receive Him. The timing of it all had to be according to the Father’s plan.
In all of these, there is a bottom line reason why Jesus would warn people as He did: “Perhaps the most important reason Jesus did not want His miracle power to be too highly acclaimed was that this was not the time of His exaltation but of His humiliation” (John MacArthur). Jesus’ life was one of astounding humility (Phil. 2:5-12). His death was worse than that of the worst criminal. And all of it was so that His resurrection would be that much more a demonstration of His power and Messiahship. The miracles were mere previews of what was to come. Before He would be exalted, He would be deeply humiliated.
Jesus didn’t come to be exalted as a miracle worker who cured people’s physical needs. He came to be exalted as the Resurrected Messiah who cured people’s deepest spiritual need.
EXTRAS:
Americans Feel Connected to Jesus
In the age of Facebook, Twitter, and texting, many Americans feel more connected to people than ever, but a new national survey by The Barna Group shows that Americans are not just connected to each other. One of the dominant connections in people’s lives is with Jesus Christ. In fact, more people claim to be closely connected to Jesus Christ than have a Facebook page or Twitter account.
Close Relationship The Barna study, conducted among a random sample of 1,002 U.S. adults, discovered that two out of every three adults (67%) claimed to have a “personal relationship” with Jesus that is currently active and that influences their life. While a majority of most demographic segments said they had such an active and personal relationship with Jesus, some segments were more likely than others to claim such a connection. For instance, women (72%) were more likely than men (62%) to do so. Protestants were more likely than Catholics to cite such a relationship (82% versus 72%). People who describe themselves as mostly conservative on social and political matters were far more likely than those who see themselves as liberal on such issues to connect with Jesus (79% compared to 48%). And one of the most instructive findings was that the younger a person was, the less likely they were to claim to have an active and influential bond with Jesus. Specifically, while 72% of adults 65 or older and 70% of Boomers (i.e., ages 46 to 64) had such a relationship in place, 65% of Busters (i.e., ages 27 to 45) and only 52% of Mosaics (ages 18 to 26) did, as well. Communication in the Relationship For any relationship to be meaningful there must be effective two-way communication. While an overwhelming majority of Americans claim to pray during a typical week (more than 80%), the new Barna study points out that a majority also believes that Jesus speaks back to them. Overall, 38% said they are “completely certain” that Jesus speaks to them in ways that are personal and relevant to their circumstances. An additional 21% said they are “somewhat certain” that He does so, while 10% contend that Jesus speaks to them but they were not as sure about that communication. Eight percent did not know if Jesus Christ speaks to them. In total, less than one-quarter of all adults (23%) stated that Jesus does not speak to them. Those people were most likely to be atheists and agnostics; under the age of 30; residents of the western or northeastern states; Asian-Americans; and those who describe themselves as mostly liberal on social and political matters. According to Americans, Jesus speaks to them in multi-faceted ways. At least one out of every six adults contends that He communicates with them in the following manner:
· 52%: by influencing or connecting directly with their mind, emotions or feelings
· 41%: through the content of a Bible passage they read or which was read to them
· 36%: by providing a sign
· 34%: through sermon or teaching content concerning their immediate situation or need
· 31%: through miraculous or inexplicable circumstances or outcomes
· 31%: through words spoken to them by someone else who was speaking for God
· 18%: through a passage they read in a book other than the Bible
· 16%: through an audible voice or whisper that they could hear A Relationship with Feelings A large majority of Americans (59%) also believes that Jesus gets personal in their lives, going so far as to feel their pain and share in their suffering. One-fifth (21%) believes that Jesus is aware of people’s pain and suffering but does not feel it or share it with them. The remaining adults either contend that Jesus is not aware of people’s pain and suffering (8%) or that He does not exist (5%). Americans Wrestle with an Imaginary Jesus The nature of people’s interacting with Jesus is a central focus of a new book by Matt Mikalatos, entitled Imaginary Jesus. In that story the main character encounters a wide variety of characters who claim to be Jesus, but who actually represent our diverse and ever-changing depictions of who we want Jesus to be and the roles we want Him to fill for our personal benefit. In his take on America’s theological confusion about their savior, Mikalatos gently and humorously exposes the errant views of Jesus that have undermined people’s perspectives about faith, morality, relationships and life purpose. In his fast-paced, not-quite-true but not-quite-false story, Mikalatos provides a deceptively serious and significant inspection of how Americans’ views of Jesus and how we remake Him into our desired mold before we discard Him in order to move on to our next need. Introducing us to some of the countless Jesus characters we fabricate for our personal use – ranging from "King James Jesus," "Magic 8-ball Jesus" and "Testosterone Jesus" to "Free Will Jesus," "New Age Jesus" and "Meticulous Jesus" – this wild ride pushes the reader to consider the relationship and communication we have with Jesus – the relationship that two-thirds of Americans claim to have firmly in place and the communication that three out of five Americans say influences how they live.
For more information about Matt Mikalatos's critically-acclaimed new book, Imaginary Jesus, or to order a discounted copy of this paperback, click here
About the Research
This Barna Update is based upon nationwide telephone survey conducted among a random sample of 1,002 adults by The Barna Group during September 2009. Interviews were conducted with respondents based upon samples of both landline telephones and cellular phones. The maximum margin of sampling error associated with the aggregate sample of adults is ±3.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Minimal statistical weighting was used to calibrate the aggregate sample to known population percentages in relation to several key demographic variables.
The Barna Group (which includes its research division, The Barna Research Group) is a private, non-partisan, for-profit organization that conducts primary research on a wide range of issues and products, produces resources pertaining to cultural change, leadership and spiritual development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders, children, families and Christian ministries. Located in Ventura, California, Barna has been conducting and analyzing primary research to understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors since 1984. If you would like to receive free e-mail notification of the release of each new, bi-monthly update on the latest research findings from The Barna Group, you may subscribe to this free service at the Barna website (www.barna.org). Additional research-based resources, both free and at discounted prices, are also available through that website.
Sources:
Americans Feel Connected to Jesus, Barna.org, April 23, 2010.
Hardwick, Jay. Question: Why Did Jesus Warn People Not to Share What He Had Done For Them?, jayhardwick.com, January 7, 2010.
Washer, Paul. The Shocking Youth Message. Youtube.com.