Pastor Ralph Posted October 12, 2020 Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 Please share your thoughts on one or more of the questions in this lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmela Posted October 19, 2021 Report Share Posted October 19, 2021 1. How could the Kingdom be in or in the midst of the Pharisees? (17:20-21). I understand that to be that the Kingdom of God (i.e. GOD'S REIGN) is present in the Person and ministry of Jesus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmela Posted October 19, 2021 Report Share Posted October 19, 2021 2. How do we know for certain that the real messiah won't be the subject of messiah-sightings in the next decade or two? (17:22-23) The real Messiah won't just be revealed to a few. The false ones cannot reveal themselves all-over at the same time. So when one does hear of them to apparently be the real-deal. We do not need to believe it for further on we read that He will come visible to all. It will not just be a few and that we will not need to go looking for Him. We will all be able to see Him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmela Posted October 19, 2021 Report Share Posted October 19, 2021 3. According to 17:24, will Jesus' coming be secret or public? It will not be secret but be an event seen by all. In Revelation 1:7 we are also clearly told that "every eye shall see Him". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmela Posted October 19, 2021 Report Share Posted October 19, 2021 4. Why was it so difficult for the disciples to comprehend that Jesus had to suffer? They had the idea or hope, as so many did, that the Messiah would be there to overthrow the oppressors there and then in their life-time and set up the "kingdom" and reign on David's Throne. The parts of Scripture where the prophets had foretold of the Suffering Servant as being the Messiah was pushed into the background. So it was very hard for them to understand or accept that their beloved Teacher would have to suffer. They did not yet understand the full picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmela Posted October 19, 2021 Report Share Posted October 19, 2021 5. There's been a lot of speculation in our own day about the coming of Christ. Witness the huge mainstream popularity of Tim LeHay's "Left Behind" series. What are the problems this creates for disciples? What are the strengths this offers disciples? Now with the Pandemic even more is said about the second coming. Lots of speculation and guessing and "calendar" set up. This in a way causes problems in that sceptics pose the question critisizingly "when is this big event to be", and it can easily bring discontent. In fact it should bring even greater excitement in that we do not know the time or the hour but we do know it is real. It is coming. OUR MESSIAH IS COMING BACK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanks Posted October 21, 2021 Report Share Posted October 21, 2021 1. How could the Kingdom be in or in the midst of the Pharisees? (17:20-21) The Lord Jesus had not meant that the kingdom was actually inside the hearts of the Pharisees, because they were hardened religious hypocrites who had no room in their hearts for Christ the King. He meant that the kingdom of God was in their midst. That He, Jesus Christ was in their midst. He was the rightful King of Israel and had performed His miracles, and presented His credentials for all to see. But the Pharisees had no desire to receive Him. And so, for them, the kingdom of God had presented itself and was completely unnoticed by them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanks Posted October 21, 2021 Report Share Posted October 21, 2021 2. How do we know for certain that the real messiah won't be the subject of messiah-sightings in the next decade or two? (17:22-23) Jesus warns us that many will come and claim to be the Messiah, but we are not to be deceived by such false claims. Others will say that Jesus has returned – and people will believe them. Also, there will be attempts to pinpoint exactly when Jesus will return. We are not to take these reports seriously, no matter how convincing they may appear. Such speculation can only be false predictions by false teachers trying to lead believers astray. Because, when Jesus returns, His power and His presence will be evident to everyone, like lightning that flashes across the sky. There will be no need for anyone to spread the message since everyone will be able to see this for themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanks Posted October 21, 2021 Report Share Posted October 21, 2021 3. According to 17:24, will Jesus' coming be secret or public? Jesus’ coming will be public. He made it clear to us that there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind when He returns to this earth. There will be tremendous flashes of lightning which will come suddenly and very quickly, and it will light up the sky from one end to the other. This will be visible to us all, so we all will know of His Second Coming. One can imagine, we will be behaving in a normal way, and then in an instant, everything will be changed. Come, Lord Jesus Come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanks Posted October 21, 2021 Report Share Posted October 21, 2021 4. Why was it so difficult for the disciples to comprehend that Jesus had to suffer? The disciples had been taught about a future Messiah that would come to usher in a new era in the history of their nation. Throughout the OT they had learnt about the Messiah as a figure chosen and anointed by God to deliver and redeem His people. He would be their future King, so it must have been most difficult for them to even try to understand that Jesus must suffer many things and be rejected by their generation. The Messiah to suffer and be executed? Impossible! They would only learn later that the suffering of Christ was God’s plan for the salvation of the world. That Jesus suffered and died in order to secure salvation for all who would believe. That there was no other way for us to be saved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanks Posted October 21, 2021 Report Share Posted October 21, 2021 5. There's been a lot of speculation in our own day about the coming of Christ. Witness the huge mainstream popularity of Tim LeHay's "Left Behind" series. What are the problems this creates for disciples? What are the strengths this offers disciples? Sorry, I cannot comment as I’ve never even heard about the Left Behind series. No excuses, but remember I live in Darkest Africa! Without any offence, I think I would still rather prefer spending my time reading about end-times theology in the Bible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Jerry Posted December 2, 2021 Report Share Posted December 2, 2021 How could the Kingdom be in or in the midst of the Pharisees? (17:20-21) A. I think he was telling them that he was the Kingdom and he was standing among them. How do we know for certain that the real messiah won't be the subject of messiah- sightings in the next decade or two? (17:22-23) A. Because said that we will all see him at the same time. According to 17:24, will Jesus' coming be secret or public? A. Jesus’ coming will be public. Why was it so difficult for the disciples to comprehend that Jesus had to suffer? A. Because they were expecting a great leader that would overthrow the Romans. Therefore they didn’t think that Jesus was going to suffer. There's been a lot of speculation in our own day about the coming of Christ. Witness the huge mainstream popularity of Tim LeHay's "Left Behind" series. What are the problems this creates for disciples? What are the strengths this offers disciples? The strength that this offers is that we won’t be left behind because of our belief in Jesus. I haven’t read the book nor seen the series so I don’t know the problems that it creates for us disciples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted March 8, 2022 Report Share Posted March 8, 2022 Q1. Jesus meant that the Kingdom of Heaven was in their midst in the presence of Jesus and His ministry which they were witnessing but were to distracted to really take notice. They were too occupied with their own legalistic viewpoints to be open to anything different or anyone , even to the exclusion of Jesus the Saviour of the world. Q2.We know because Scripture tells us “ For the Son of Man in His day will be like the lightening which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.” Luke 17 v24. Nobody no matter who they are, will be in any doubt as to what is happening. Q3. Jesus coming will be very public so that everyone will know exactly what is happening. Q4. It was very hard for the disciples to understand that Jesus was going to suffer because they had understood that the Messiah was going to come and deliver them from the Roman oppression which was extremely difficult for them to bear. Jesus suffering didn’t fit in with any of their expectations. After Jesus death and resurrection they began to understand that the suffering was a part of God’s rescue plan for mankind. Only then did they begin to understand all the things that Jesus had told them. Q5. I am not familiar with the series mentioned in the question. I think it is a difficult topic to discuss with non believers because I know so little about it, other than the fact that Jesus is coming back to take believers home to be with Him. There will judgement and punishment . We will all know when it happens and although we don’t know when it will happen we need to be ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godswriter Posted January 9, 2023 Report Share Posted January 9, 2023 How could the Kingdom be in or in the midst of the Pharisees? (17:20-21) He was talking about the Kingdom of God being Himself as the Messiah How do we know for certain that the real messiah won't be the subject of messiah- sightings in the next decade or two? (17:22-23) Because He said that He would come back again on the Mount of Olives and only one Messiah can do this and that is Christ. According to 17:24, will Jesus' coming be secret or public? It will be public because He will come down from heaven through the air and stand on the Mount of Olives. Why was it so difficult for the disciples to comprehend that Jesus had to suffer? They could not understand that the Messiah would have to suffer and die for our sins to save us from them. There's been a lot of speculation in our own day about the coming of Christ. Witness the huge mainstream popularity of Tim LeHay's "Left Behind" series. What are the problems this creates for disciples? What are the strengths this offers disciples? The problems would be how can someone be saved after the rapture. It offers hope that we won't be left behind because we are His own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreilly Posted August 7, 2023 Report Share Posted August 7, 2023 How could the Kingdom be in or in the midst of the Pharisees? (17:20-21) I thank Pastor Ralph for his teaching on this point, because I had always thought Jesus was referring to the Kingdom being of the Spirit, dwelling in our hearts in Jesus' comment to the Pharisees here. Pastor Ralph makes a valid point that Jesus would be stating that the Kingdom had come because He was dwelling among them now. Also, the Spirit was sent later, after Jesus' resurrection. There's been a lot of speculation in our own day about the coming of Christ. Witness the huge mainstream popularity of Tim LeHay's "Left Behind" series. What are the problems this creates for disciples? What are the strengths this offers disciples? I have never read the Left Behind series, but know the gist of it. I recently read a book about the end times which followed a similar story line. It appears that there is a commonly taught, very specific outline of how many people think things will go down in the years preceding Christ's second coming. I think a problem with this is that when He came the first time, people were of the mindset things were going to look a certain way when the Messiah came and it didn't look like that at all. God's thoughts are not our thoughts, His ways are not our ways. Who can fathom the mind of God? So I think people might be setting themselves up for disappointment if things don't unfold exactly as they were planning. If you look at history, Jesus was not what the Pharisees expected and they rejected HIm out of hand. Even His followers kept waiting for Him to set up an earthly kingdom and vying for positions within that kingdom. They were shocked when He went to the cross. I think the strengths this offers disciples is to urge them to be watchful and ready, waiting eagerly for His coming, just as Jesus' disciples eagerly awaited the Messiah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George L Posted January 7 Report Share Posted January 7 How could the Kingdom be in or in the midst of the Pharisees? (17:20-21) Jesus was the manifested presence of kigndom authority. Luk 11:20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. Jesus was walking out the prophetic proclamations of the Messah’s ministry. So ‘in the midst’ of them their very culture and society. How do we know for certain that the real messiah won't be the subject of messiah-sightings in the next decade or two? (17:22-23) He will be seen by all arriving as with a lightning strikes suddenss. According to 17:24, will Jesus' coming be secret or public? Very open for all to see. Why was it so difficult for the disciples to comprehend that Jesus had to suffer? It was not clear to them that the teacher they knew was also the Lamb of God. The perfect one sacrifice for all. There's been a lot of speculation in our own day about the coming of Christ. Witness the huge mainstream popularity of Tim LeHay's "Left Behind" series. What are the problems this creates for disciples? What are the strengths this offers disciples? It generates supositions of the end which are not exact to God’s actual plan. The opening of the subject of the end of the age to the public creates interest and generates conversations giving opportunity to bring the good news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.