Our Blog
03: Teaching is Not Dominating
If you have taught much at all, and especially if you have invited students to dialogue with you or each other during the lesson, you most likely have discovered that certain people like to dominate the discussion. What you may have overlooked, however, is your own potential to be overbearing. Sometimes we want to avoid certain people from hijacking the conversation. Sometimes, we are intent on making a certain point. Sometimes, we just want everyone else to listen to us. The end effect, though, is a stifled discussion and lack of reflective thought.
There will be certain points that you need to press home to the students. There will be those who will take over the conversation if you are not careful. This requires extra preparation. Who can you plan to call on to give an extra voice, so one or a few don't take over? How can you teach that essential point by asking questions, rather than just giving the answer?
Devotional: The Messiah's Reproach
“Reproach hath broken my heart: and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.” (Psalm 69:20)
The appropriate title for the picture painted in this verse is “Alone”. We can only identify with being alone in a human sense. We do not have the capacity to feel as our blessed Savior felt. He obviously enjoyed the friendship and fellowship of his disciples, and especially “the twelve”. He had even a closer relationship with the inner circle of Peter, James and John. Yet when he was facing the reality of his crucifixion in the Garden of Gethsemane, and needed their support, they fell asleep.
When he was being led away after his arrest, “... All the disciples forsook Him and fled”. (Matthew 26:56)
We sometime refer to the Passion of Jesus. The Latin word “passio” originally meant to endure suffering. This is an appropriate term when we try to imagine the agony and pain that Jesus suffered during those sham trials and the brutal beatings. As we well know a cruel crown of thorns was forced upon His head, and His hands and feet were nailed to the cross of crucifixion.
We should keep in mind that He suffered all of this for the sins of the world. Because He bore our sins, just before His death He cried, “...My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
“Alone, Alone, He bore it all alone;
He gave Himself to save His own,
He suffered, bled and died alone.” ---Ben H. Price
Jesus died the death of a sinner.
This devotional is the Monday, March 14, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.
Lesson 3: The Son of God on Trial
Lesson 3 - March 20, 2016
FOCUS TEXT: Matthew 26:57-68
CENTRAL TRUTH: Christ suffered patiently as our Substitute.
OBJECTIVE: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to list ways they can suffer for Christ.
LESSON OUTLINE:
- The Slandered Savior (Matthew 26:55-61)
- The Silent Savior (Matthew 26:62, 63)
- The Smitten Savior (Matthew 26:64-68)
Prayer: Lesson 2 – Jesus, Son of God
Heavenly Father, bless our teachers and students today as they discuss the death of Christ. Help us to be overcome again with wonder for Your great love for us. Amen.
How Should We Surrender Our Will to God?
"Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour" (John 12:27).
In "Biblical Perspective" Randall McElwain writes:
There were two possible responses to the question, “What shall I say?” “A prayer to be saved from the hour . . . or a prayer that the Father’s name would be glorified” (New Bible Comm.). Although Jesus was troubled by the prospect of crucifixion, the first response was impossible in light of His surrender to the will of His Father. This left the second option, Father, glorify thy name. Jesus provided a model for every Christian; just as He surrendered His will to His Father’s will, we must surrender our desires, ambitions, and goals to the will of our Heavenly Father. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, a voice from heaven authenticated His min- istry (Matt. 3:17). Later, at the Transfiguration, the voice from heaven testified to His divine sonship (Luke 9:28-36). Now, at the end of His ministry, the voice from heaven testified that His death was part of the Father’s plan.
Source: Jesus, Son of God: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 12.
What did it mean for Jesus to be the "Son of man"?
In "Word Focus" Darrell Grim writes:
The Son of man (v. 23). In Daniel 7:1-8 the writer was describing the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Medes and Persians. These were the nations that had held power over Israel. They were cruel and savage rulers. But the writer had a vision that a new power would arise that would rule in a gentle and humane manner. Daniel 7:13, 14 states that one like the Son of man came before the Ancient of Days to receive an everlasting kingdom.
From this passage in Daniel, the Jews dreamed of a golden age when they would be masters of the world. They realized that their nation was so small and weak that God would have to send a champion to lead them to this golden age. So, to them, the Son of man stood for a great, undefeatable ruler sent to them by God. Thus, when Jesus said, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified,” they would feel that their day of supremacy was at hand. They failed to realize that when Jesus spoke of being glorified, He spoke of crucifixion. When the Jews spoke of the Son of man, they spoke of worldly conquest. When Jesus spoke of the Son of man, He spoke of the victory of the cross.
Source: Jesus, Son of God: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 10.