part0017

R eflect on the material you’ve covered this week by engaging in any or all of the following between-sessions activities. Each personal study consists of several reflection activities to help you implement what you learned in the group time. The time you invest will be well spent, so let God use it to draw you closer to him. At your next meeting, share any key points or insights that stood out to you as you spent this time with the Lord.

Talking about death is an uncomfortable topic. But talking about death in the context of Christianity is different. This is because Jesus brings us hope in the face of our greatest unknown: the end of our lives. So, what does the Bible really say about what happens after death? Read the following passages in today’s personal study to find out.

1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going” (John 14:1–4).

3. Although we are not given all of the details about what heaven will be like, one fact is consistent in Scripture: Jesus will be there. As the apostle Paul writes:

6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6–8).

5. The Greek word aionios is used sixty-eight times in the New Testament. It means “without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be.” English translations render the word aionios as eternity , as the following passage relates:

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16–18 NKJV ).

6. How could the definition of aionios —“without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be”—help you understand the concept of eternity?

Prayer: Read this prayer silently or aloud: “Father, you are the God of life and light. Death does not discourage you. You are not bound by time. You have been and always will be. My human brain has difficulty understanding the concept of death and heaven and eternity. Sometimes it makes me feel afraid. Sometimes it makes me hopeful. Sometimes I avoid thinking about it all together. Today, I give you all of my concerns, doubts, and fears surrounding death. I pray for peace in my spirit and hope in my heart. I pray for understanding, and when I don’t have understanding, I pray for the peaceful presence of Christ. Thank you that death is not the end of my story and that in Christ, I can spend eternity with you. In his name I pray, amen.”

If you’ve been a believer for some time, you have noticed your faith has evolved. It’s grown, it’s changed, and it’s not exactly how it was when you first believed. As you discussed during the group time this week, Martha exhibited a strong faith when confronted with the death of her brother. Yet she wasn’t always portrayed that way in Scripture, as the following account relates:

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38–42).

21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Martha again comes to Jesus with what seems like a complaint—“if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (verse 21)—but she follows it with another statement. What is that statement? How is this different from the way she approached Jesus in the previous story (see Luke 10:40)?

3. Martha could have simply said “yes” when Jesus asked if she believed in him. But she chose to declare who Jesus is: “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” How does this show her faith had grown?

4. What is the overall tone of Martha’s conversation with Jesus in this passage? How does it differ from the conversation she had with Jesus in Luke 10?

5. If you’ve been a Christian for some time, what has changed about your relationship with Christ over the years? What, if anything, is lacking in your communication with Jesus right now? What is strong in your communication with him?

Prayer: Spend some time in prayer before the Lord, talking to him about whatever is on your mind. As you pray, notice the tone you take, your posture, and the state of your conversation with him. Ask that he will continue to help you to grow in your faith and trust in him.

Throughout this study, you’ve seen glimpses of the dislike the Pharisees had of Jesus’ miracles, but when Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, their dislike morphed into hate. Even though Jesus and the Pharisees were both Jews and part of the same community in Israel, the Pharisees would ultimately betray him into the hands of the Romans.

1. Have you ever been betrayed by someone in your our “tribe” or community? If so, how did that person betray you? How did you respond to the betrayal?

45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life (John 11:45–53).

4. John notes the Pharisees claim that Jesus’ growing number of followers would cause the Roman authorities to retaliate against them. Caiaphas, the high priest, suggested sacrificing Jesus in order to save the rest of the Jews. However, the idea of sacrificing one for many was not a Jewish value. In fact, Jewish tradition taught the opposite—to not betray a single Israelite, even if that meant others would perish. So, if Jesus wasn’t actually a threat to the Jews in this way, why do you think the Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus? What was the real reason why they wanted to put Jesus to death?

5. The Pharisees’ plot against Jesus was ultimately successful. It came about as a result of another betrayal—from one of his own disciples—and led to the Romans arresting him in the Garden of Gethsemane. John relates the moments of Christ on the cross:

25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:25–30).

Jesus’ statement, “It is finished,” was not a surrender but a declaration of victory. Humanity had been redeemed . How does this represent the greatest miracle in the gospel? How do you respond to this act of redemption—of Jesus taking on your sin so you would never have to be separated from God?

6. In the Old Testament, we read how Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt, where he suffered greatly. Yet when he looked back on his life, he could say to them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20). How does this statement apply to Jesus and the Pharisees’ plot against him? How does it apply to you?

Prayer: Personalize Genesis 50:20 in your prayer time today. Replace “you” with the name of the person who hurt you, and then thank God for the good that came of it. If there is any hurt or pain left from the betrayal, bring that before the Father. Ask him to help you forgive the person who hurt you or take whatever steps are necessary to move toward healing.

Use the space below to further reflect on what you studied this week: what happens after we die, how we communicate with Jesus, and how God can use evil for good. Journal your thoughts or write them as a prayer to God, either asking him questions about what you learned, thanking him for what you learned, or seeking answers from him on what to do next now that you better understand these topics in Scripture. Also write down any observations or questions that you want to bring to your next group time.