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1. Why was Jesus so secretive about the location of his Passover meal with his disciples? (Luke 22:7-13) He probably wanted to have the process of this important last teaching and impartation of doctrine to his disciples to be uninterrupted. 2. Why do you think Jesus desired with such great intensity to eat this Passover meal with his disciples? (Luke 22:15) What did Jesus hope to find in this sacred meal for himself? What did he hope to impart? It was very important because it was a legacy he wanted the disciples to carry to the next generations after them 6. What does it mean "Do this in remembrance of me"? What are we to do? Humans forget things easily and the disciples and those after them needed to keep remembering what and how it cost Jesus to reconcile them back to God and remain faithful hence the communion rituals.

1. What kind of schedule does Jesus keep the last week of his life? (Luke 21:37-38) He would go to preach in the temple for all day and retired to the Mount of Olives to spend the night probably praying. 2. In what way do the crowds of people protect Jesus from his enemies? Why do they want to kill him? (Luke 22:2) The crowds protected Jesus from His enemies in the sense that the enemy would not arrest Jesus in the present of the large crowd who were enjoying the teaching and the miracles by Jesus, and would start a riot and thus create a problem for them and the Roman leadership. 3. How does Judas enable Jesus' enemies to capture him cleanly? (Luke 22:6) Judas for different reasons, has fallen out with Jesus and in addition to his greed, was ready to hand over Jesus to His enemies by leading them to where Jesus could be found without a crowd. 4. How can greed so overwhelm a person that he'll betray his Friend and Savior for money (or drugs or ....)? Greed, especially for money can entice us to betray a friend. 5. In what ways do our sins give Satan inroads into us so he can control us? Sin takes us away from the protection of God and thereby creates a passage into our hearts that enable satan to gain entry.

1. What is Jesus' reference to the fig tree supposed to teach his disciples? (21:29-30) Just as the fig tree leaves and blossoming is as indication of the specific seasons or times, such as knowing that summer is near. Thus some of happenings around indicate that the time for the Lords coming is near. 2. Extra Credit. In verse 31, what does the term "these things" refer back to in the context? Some of the signs of the end times that indicate the soon return of Jesus 3. Extra Credit. If we assume that "this generation" doesn't refer to merely the people who were contemporaries of Jesus, then what DOES "this generation" mean in the context? (12:32) This is tough! Jesus did not mean that ‘this generation’ refereed to the one at the time he was in at that moment. He probably meant a generation at the Lord’s time which no one knew. 4. Why does Jesus warn us of spiritually-dulling lifestyles? (21:34) How can "the anxieties of life" be just as dulling as drunkenness? Spiritual dulling here refers to the state of insensitivity of the mind that makes it difficult to differentiate wrong or sin and righteousness and right and thus leads us astray on to the way to hell. Hence we can be so anxious about the issues of life that we become worried and agitated and thus lose our hope and thus our faith in God and thus wonder away from Him. 5. What are Jesus' direct commands to his disciples in light of his teaching on the end-times? (21:36) What will these commands do for us? What will they do for Jesus' cause? Jesus instructed the disciples to be alert and ready despite the terrible things that would happened so that they would remain faithful and not to fall and thus miss eternity in heaven. 6. What does it mean, to "stand before the Son of Man"? What does that refer to? To stand before the Son of man means to appear before Him on the day of judgment to be judged and receive the reward appropriate to your works while on earth. 7. Extra Credit. What is the balance between resting in the assurance of the grace of God, on the one hand, and striving to escape the temptations all around us, on the other? Salvation is by the grace God, however, we need to strife to stay in the grace by deliberate determination to stay in the grace obedience in God

1. According to Jesus' teaching here, how is the destruction of Jerusalem related to the time of his return? (21:20-24a) It shows that His time to return is near. 2. What are the Times of the Gentiles (21:24b). What significance does it have for the return of Christ? The times of the Gentiles could mean the times of their occupation of Jerusalem. This indicate that the coming of the Lord Jesus was near. 3. What words are used in verses 25 and 26 to describe what will take place at the very end? Anguish…perplexity… roaring and tossing of seas…terror.. are some of the words in the two verses and they indicate the great worrisome situation people will find themselves at time. What effects will these have upon people? Fear, pain and even death will be some of the consequences of the happenings. 4. What will be the direct sign of Jesus' return? (21:27) What Old Testament Scripture passage is Jesus referring to when he describes his coming? He will be seen coming in the cloud with power and great glory. Daniel: 7:13-14 is the old Testament 5. If fear will characterize unbelievers at these terrible signs, what emotion should characterize believers? (21:28) Joy, because their redemption is drawing near.

1. In what way are church leaders, both clergy and laity, susceptible to the sins of the "teachers of the law" that Jesus criticizes in 20:45-47? How can a leader walk in humility? What are the keys you've discovered? Church leaders are susceptible to sin of the ‘teachers of the law’ if they give amount that is far below their huge reserves of riches. A leader can walk in humility by not showing off his costly dress or publicly displaying his offerings. 2. How does Jesus compare the gifts of the rich verse the poor in 21:1-4? Who put in the most? Please see text below: "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." (Luke 21:3-4) 3. How does the widow demonstrate the principle of proportional giving? How large are your gifts to God in proportion to your income? How large are your gifts in proportion to how much you have left after the bills are paid? She gave more than proportionate to her income. She gave all she had!! I usually pay all my tithes (10%) and round the amount up so that I will not under pay. I try to give as much as offering but I need do better in this area. So help me Lord. 4. How does the widow demonstrate the principle of sacrificial giving? What did that mean for her? What would sacrificial giving mean for you? The widow gave sacrificially when she surrendered all she had as offering to God. This was an act of faith because God did not command her to give all he had. Sacrificial giving to me going forward should be to give to God and the needy even it pains me to do so as long as it is willingly done. 5. How does the widow demonstrate the principle of faith-filled giving? Is this the same kind of faith you and I exhibit in our giving? Why or why not? Please see a- part of my answer to question 4 6. What are the characteristics of well-to-do people who try to control churches by their giving? They try to dictate to Church leadership on how to run the church.

1. What did the Sadducees believe about the resurrection? What did Jesus believe? What did the Pharisees believe? The Sadducees do not believe that the dead will rise. Jesus and the Pharisees both agree in resurrection after death 2. What can be the result in a person's heart if he feels there will be no reckoning in the life to come for the things he or she has done during this life? If a person believes that there is no reckoning in the life to come for the things he or she has done during this life, he or she may set his or her heart to reckless and careless life style while alive. 3. What was "levirate marriage" and what was its purpose in Israelite society? Levirate marriage refers to the practice in Israel where a brother marries his brother’s widow. The purpose was for the brother to bear children for his late brother. 4. In what way does Jesus' reply destroy the Sadducees' carefully constructed objection? The Lord shut the Sadducees up by telling them that the laws or customs and all those things they bothered about would not be relevant after death. He explained that the dead will surely rise but will not die again and there won’t be marrying and family making again. This did not go well with them since they did not believe in resurrection. 5. What effect does Jesus' question about the son of David being David's Lord have? Of whom did he ask the question? Why? Jesus' question about son of David being David’s Lord pointed to the fact that son is actually the Messiah Who was actually talking to them!. 6. What things should we be doing to be able to live both in the present age and be ready for the age to come? What should we cease doing? What we should be doing now is to be ever prepared for the soon coming Lord as he is coming minute. We should be doing good works and bringing souls to salvation. We should stop every act that will lead to sin, This is easier said than done except by prayers for the grace and power of God.

1. What was the strategy of the scribes and chief priests that involved trick questions? What did they seek to accomplish? The main reason why the scribes and the chief priests asked Jesus whether it was right to pay tax to Caesar or not was to trick him to tell them that they should not pay taxes to Caesar. This would have given them a reason to hand him up to the Roman authority to kill him for disobedience and instigating rebellion against the Roman authority. 2. In what way did the "spies" act as hypocrites, that is, pretending they were something that they were not? They acted as hypocrites by first of all talking of Jesus good virtues without meaning what they really say. Secondly, they asked their question with a hidden motive, that is to get rid of him through the Romans. 3. Can flattery ever be used to accomplish righteous purposes? Why or why not? I believe flattery is usually with bad intention and thus can not be used to accomplish a righteous purpose because the motive is evil. 4. Why did Jesus ask his opponents for the coin? Why would they have in their possession a coin that carried blasphemous inscriptions? Jesus asked his opponents for the coin because he knew the coin they would show him had Caesar figure on it. He thus wanted to catch them at their own game by pointing to them where they should pay their taxes to. 5. How does Jesus' answer affect our attitude in paying taxes? Are we ever to resist civil government? Jesus answer to them was for them to give to Caesar what belongs to him and to God what belongs to God. This thus teaches us to pay our tithes to government authority and also to pay to God, our tithes and offering not forgetting the poor, widows and orphans as the scriptures teach us. So help us Lord to comply. 6. What does Jesus mean when he says to render to God what is God's? How do we do that? How do we live that out? Please the B part of my question 5.

1. How did tenant farming work in Jesus' day? In our day? What did the owner of the vineyard expect of his tenants? In Jesus’ day, a tenant farmer pays the farm owner some pre-agreed rent that could be produce for the farm use. This is not significantly different today in Nigeria. In this case, payment is mostly in cash for renting the farm for a period of time. 2. What does the vineyard itself represent? The owner? The tenants? The servants who are sent to collect the owner's portion? Who is the son? Historically, how did God destroy the "tenants"? (20:9-16) In Jesus parable, the vine yard represented the nation of Israel, the owner represented God while the tenants represented the Jewish leaders. The servants represented the prophets and the son represented the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah. 3. In 20:17 who is the stone? Who are the builders? In your opinion, why did they ultimately reject Jesus after studying him carefully? Jesus is the stone rejected. The builders are the Pharisees and leaders. It could be any of us who refuse to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as savior. 4. In what ways did the Pharisees and Chief Priests stumble on the stone and were broken to pieces? In what ways are they crushed by the "falling stone"? Rejection of the Messiah would lead to the physical destruction of the Pharisees (and anyone who rejects him) by their enemy eg. Romans as well spiritual destruction in hell.. 5. How can we detect when our hearts are rebellious against God? We will experience absence of peace in our hearts (from my experience) What should we do when we are angry at God? Confess and repent How can we prevent "a root of bitterness" against God to grow in our heart? Is this only hypothetical or is there any danger of the Stone crushing us to powder? By constantly running back to God any time we sense the feelings of bitterness are arising. This can be done by quickly getting back to God’s word, prayer, confession and worship that includes singing.

1. Why does Jesus weep at the sight of Jerusalem? Because of their blindness or because of their fate? Jesus wept at the sight of Jerusalem, though physically well designed and beautiful, because it would soon face terrible destruction by her enemies for failing to see and recognizing Jesus the Saviour and solution to their danger. 2. In what way is the Triumphal Entry a royal "visitation" or inspection tour? Why are the leaders unwilling or unable to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the King? The Triumphal Entry was a royal “visitation” because it publicly ushered into Jerusalem the true Messiah and the King, riding on a colt that no one had used, and he was received by multitude of people. The leaders were however not able to recognize him as such because they were blinded by their selfish occupation as leaders thus consumed by jealousy. 3. Why does Jesus drive the money-changers and sacrifice-sellers out of the temple? What reason does he give? Jesus drove the money-changers and sacrifice-sellers of the temple for turning the house of prayer into a business center 4. How does Jesus' action to cleanse the temple make his crucifixion more inevitable? (Hint: At whose home was his mock trial held?) Jesus action to cleanse the temple made his crucifixion more inevitable because the action directly would negatively affect the income of the temple leaders and also it was a challenge to their authority. 5. The chief priests are prejudiced toward Jesus because they have corrupted themselves with proceeds from temple sales and Jesus threatens their revenue. How can tithing serve to challenge the shallowness of our Christianity? How can we Christians be corrupted by money? Tithing can be a source of corruption to some church leaders who probably divert it for personal use. There may also be some exploitation of the congregation by church leaders to enhance their personal goals. 6. Why does righteous indignation tend to be shallow when it is not accompanied by tears? I think one can be truly indignant as regards certain issues without shedding tears if it comes from the heart.

Q32. (James 5:19-20) In the light of James' emphasis on active faith vs. dead faith (James 2:17), why is the role of finding and bringing back the wandering sheep so important? We have a responsibility of locating a wandering sheep and bringing him back to the fold. To achieve this objective of saving a wandering soul (man) we need to have active faith that enables us to achieve this spiritual exercise by praying to God to empower us.

Q31. (James 5:14-16) In the healing prayer, what is the role of oil? What is the role of the prayer of faith? What is the role of faith? What is the role of confession of sins? Oil is a symbol of and carrier of anointing from God. Prayer of faith is believing prayer that gives the confidence that God hears and will answer the prayers offered. Confession is required as sin may block answers to prayer.

Q30. (James 5:14) What is the elders' role in prayer for the sick? What must be their spiritual qualifications for this ministry of prayer? The elders’ role in prayer for the sick is to have the faith that prays and expects healing to follow. Such elders must be spiritually experienced and full of faith.

Q29. (James 5:13-14) According to verse 14, who is to initiate prayer for healing? Why might this be important? The sick person initiates prayer process by calling the elders. This might be important because it shows the faith of the sick person that God will answer the prayers offered by the elders.

1. Why do you think Jesus gave such cryptic instructions to the two disciples about where to find the donkey and what to say if they were challenged? I think Jesus wanted to teach his disciples that he had power to know where to get his needs and had authority over our possession. What is the significance of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey? Why a donkey that no one had previously ridden? Jesus was now ready to reveal his identity as the Messiah and King by his choice to enter Jerusalem on a donkey especially that which no one had previously ridden, in fulfillment of prophesy. What elements of the Triumphal Entry point to Jesus' claim to be the King of the Jews, the rightful Anointed One, the Messiah? I think the aspect of huge crowd of the people joining his disciples to shout praises and worship and spreading their garments of the ground confirmed him as rightful Anointed One and the Messiah. Why do you think Jesus is now open about being the Messiah, whereas previously this was something he didn't want his disciples to discuss openly? Jesus was now being open about being the Messiah because he has completed his mission. He has raised and trained a team of disciples, taught, preached and healed the sick and delivered those in demonic bondage etc and the time had come for him to become the sacrificial lamb he came to be for our ransom from sin. What was the reaction of the pilgrims to Jesus' glorious entry? What was the reaction of the Pharisees? Why the difference in reactions? The pilgrims were happy and excited to be part of the historic experience. But the Pharisees were jealous and furious as they saw their power and authority slipping out of their hands to the coming Messiah.

Q28. (James 5:9) What does our grumbling and complaining say about us? About our faith? About our patience? Our grumbling/ complaining indicate our impatience and lack of faith in God.

Q27. (James 5:7-8) What can happen to us Christians if we lack the patience to eagerly expect Christ's return? Why is patience so vital? He may return when we are slack or unprepared and thus loose out hence the need to patiently wait and be ready for his coming.

Q26. (James 5:5-6) What is the spiritual danger of our demand for comfort and luxury? Extra credit: How might our demand for low-priced goods and services cause us to (1) oppress our own employees or (2) cause workers in this country or abroad to be under paid or oppressed? How does all this relate to the need for patience? The spiritual danger of our demand for comfort and luxury is that it can lead us to hoarding, withholding someone’s rights or living in self- indulgence.

Q25. (James 4:13-16) What danger is James warning us about in verses 13-16? How can we be humble in our planning without being indecisive and wishy-washy? James wars us not to plan for tomorrow with arrogance because we may not live to execute the plans. We need to humbly seek the will of God and then plan.

Q24. (James 4:11-12) In what way does criticizing a neighbor cause you to be a judge of the law? Criticizing someone is like pointing out a wrong committed against us and this is like judging the person in our own law court. Why do you think it is so tempting to criticize others? I think it is so tempting to criticize others because when we feel hurt and offended, we usually want to prove our innocence or justify why we are judging the person for the wrong he/ she has committed against us.

Q23. (James 4:6-10) Verses 7-10 contain 10 different commands. Why are these actions so vital? In what way do they go against our nature? Which of these commands is most difficult for you? These series of commands (about ten) include submitting ourselves to God, resisting the devil etc. are so vital to ensure that we have and maintain a good relation with God and with man. I think the ones that I consider difficult are those in v9 asking me to grieve, mourn and wail and to change my laughter to mourning and my joy to gloom.

Q22. (James 4:4) Why does James refer to church members as "adulteresses"? What does the adultery consist of? Who is the aggrieved husband? What is wrong with friendship with the world? James referred to some Church members as adulteresses because they attached themselves so tight to the things and pleasures of this world at the expense of loving relating well with God. The Lord God/ the Lord Jesus Christ is the aggrieved husband. Friendship with the world is enmity with God.

Q21. (James 4:1-3) Is God against pleasure? What wrong in living to increase one's pleasure? No, God is not against pleasure. He is against selfish pleasure. Seeking to increase our pleasure is wrong when it is self-centered and does not take others into consideration. So help me Lord not to be selfish.

1. What do we learn about Zacchaeus in verses 1-4? Limiting yourself to these verses, what do you know about Zacchaeus? About his life, his hopes, his desires? Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, very rich yet, desired to see Jesus but was very short and the crows was thick. So he could not see Jesus and so he run and climbed a sycamore fig tree. Why do the townspeople despise Zacchaeus so much? The town people despised him because they knew that tax collector, they cheat by collecting tax in excess of what they remit to the Roman authorities. 2. How do you think Jesus knew Zacchaeus' name? By divine knowledge? From the bystanders? Jesus knew Zacchaeus name by divine knowledge because being led by the Spirit, he could know what ordinarily, an ordinary person could not. 3. Why do you think Jesus said that he MUST stay at Zacchaeus' house that very day? What risk did Jesus take in doing this? What were the implications of this action to the bystanders? To Zacchaeus? 4. I think Jesus said he must stay in Zacchaeus’s house that day because he had seen his spiritual need for salvation and had to act. He also needed to show everyone that everyone had the right to access salvation no matter how sinful he was. But the risk he took in doing this was rejection from the people. 5. Which aspects of Jesus' ministry to Zacchaeus seem to motivate him the most? (1) Jesus' love and acceptance? (2) Jesus' reputation? (3) Zacchaeus' consciousness of his sinfulness? Others? (1) Jesus’s love and acceptance. 6. How does our cynicism about people keep us from presenting Christ to them? Can we be open and loving without being vulnerable and overly trusting? What's the balance? How do we achieve this? Cynicism keeps us away from individuals that are victims of our attitude and thus robe us of the access needed to initiate presentation of the gospel of Christ to such people. 7. Which shepherd role does Jesus comment on in this passage? (19:10) In what ways can his disciples be involved in this role? A shepherd usually abandons the flock in search of the loss of one strayed sheep. Zacchaeus was like a lost sheep that needed to be rescued and Jesus did just that. So we disciples need to be on the alert to locate a lost sheep and be ready to initiate the process of recovering the lost sheep. We as His disciples should always be on the look out lost sheep and bring them back to the fold. Lord God Almighty, help me to do so.

Q20. (James 3:17-18) With what tool do peacemakers sow peace? Why does this produce a ripening crop of righteousness? In whom does this crop grow? The tool peace makers sow peace is love. Love answers all things.

Q19. (James 3:13-16) In what ways are "bitter envy" and "selfish ambition" (verse 14) direct opposites of "humility" (verse 13)? How does denial of "bitter envy" and "selfish ambition" prevent healing? How does boasting about these prevent healing? Humility is a godly virtue. A Godly person will not be selfish or envious