LEADER'S GUIDE



Light on the Lessons

1 Kings 17:8-16; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44

Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Pr. 27, L32); Cycle B; November 11, 2018

Leader Guidance

Materials Needed

+ Bibles for everyone (variety of translations often useful)

+ Lectionary sheets (very convenient if you use them in worship)

+ Chalkboard, newsprint, overhead, or another means for displaying information and recording thoughts

+ Basic reference books for use as needed: Bible dictionary, Bible atlas, concordance, a one-volume Bible commentary

+ Obtain a map showing the Divided Kingdoms and the location of Sidon. From a Bible dictionary, bring a plan of the Temple, showing the Holy Place or Holy of Holies.

I Getting Started

Read the lessons aloud before discussing them, either in advance or as they are studied. Ask participants to share prayer concerns. Then turn to the questions in “Getting Started.”

1. Responses will vary. Miracles are difficult for moderns to understand. While not basic to our faith (save for Easter), they are, in the Bible, frequent testimonies to God’s power.

2. Responses will vary. By trust in Christ, our salvation is surely complete in the sense that we are part of Christ’s victory over sin and death. But with Paul, we can think that our salvation is finally complete when Jesus returns. Some confuse salvation (getting right with God), a one-time thing, and discipleship (living as God’s person), which is a process of growth.

3. Responses will vary. See if any mention the basic principle that we give in thankful response to what God has given us in Christ.

II Check the Texts

1. 1 Kings 17:8-16

A. 1 Kings 16:31-33 establishes the basic conflict; Ahab and Jezebel had turned to Baal worship. Jezebel was a Sidonite, and she brought in the Baal. In 17:1, Elijah predicts a three-year drought. That would show the LORD’s power over Baal, who was supposed to bring seasonal rains. But Elijah is fed and watered, perhaps to show God’s care for his prophets. Still, this ends when the wadi dries up, meaning the prophet has no advantages over the run of the people. (A wadi is a stream bed that is usually dry except in the rainy season.)

B. A widow without family or a working age son was generally in deep poverty, unless her husband left her rich. Deuteronomy 14 describes a kind of “community chest” to feed widows and others, one way the community could meet a widow’s plight. Zarephath was in the heart of Baal country and near Jezebel’s hometown; he was called into the very house of the enemy! Also, he was beyond the relm of Ahab, who was searching for Elijah.

C. In 1 and 12b, the LORD is said to be “living” and in verse 14, he is one who speaks and commands; all these characteristics contrast the LORD with a lifeless Baal idol. The widow was probably not a believer in Yahweh; She refers to “your” God in verse 12 and she lives in Phoenicia. So when God commanded her in verse 9b, it shows that his power extends beyond Israel to the people of Baal’s land.

D. In verse 12, we note tat she was preparing her last meal and expected to die soon. Thus, when Elijah asked her to prepare his cake first, verse 13, her obedience was an act of faith, for she had nothing to spare. As verse 16 declares, a prophet speaks God’s word (God’s truth) to the people.

2. Hebrews 9:24-28

A. Verse 24 reflects Platonic thinking in that the Temple on earth is only a copy of the Real Temple in heaven, where Christ the Real, Eternal High Priest now dwells. The earthly High Priest must repeat the atoning sacrifice each year, while Jesus sacrifices only once. Otherwise, Jesus the Son would have to die repeatedly. “Since the foundation of the world” suggests that he would have to sacrifice many times to cover the past. In turn, this suggests that the once-for-all sacrifice embraced the past as well as the present and the future. Jesus’ sacrifice spans the ages from Creation to the Second Coming because he is the Son of God, the Logos who was present with the Father at Creation; see Colossians 1:15-20 for this thought.

B. “End of the age” refers to Jesus’ time because his advent was considered to be the beginning of God’s new age in contrast to the old age before Christ came in the flesh. Mark and Romans, like verse 28, refer to Jesus’ sacrifice being for “many” which, in John 3:16, means the whole world.

C. In his first coming, Jesus sacrificed to heal our sins; in his second coming, he will not deal with sin but rather will bring to him those who are waiting. Matthew 25 pictures a cosmic-scale judgment at the end of time, but verse 27 seems to suggest an individual judgment after one’s death. 1 Thessalonians 4 pictures the return of Jesus when those alive and those who died will be united with Christ. Early Christians, of course, expected Jesus’ immanent return.

D. Responses will vary. Go over words and phrases. This text includes words that resonate deeply for those who live in the church. Hebrews gives comforting assurance that Jesus has wrought our salvation.

3. Mark 12:38-44

A. Hypocrisy describes this behavior, also criticized in Luke 11 but with Pharisees as the target. Matthew 6 deals with praying, verse 40; Isaiah 10 with abusing widows, verse 40; and Luke 14 with seeking high places, verse 39.

B. She was clearly generous and apparently filled with a desire to help others, which is what these Temple gifts did. But was she “wise” to give her last to charity? Responses will vary. The story is told in Mark to make a point about faithful, sacrificial giving.

C. If Jesus were talking about “devouring widows’ homes,” in the previous pericope, verse 40, perhaps he meant to say that the widow’s gift was another example of the way the Temple and the system abused the helpless. Or take verses 41-44 as independent, and you can conclude that Jesus was praising sacrificial giving.

D. The connection seems to be that both deal with widows.

III What Does It All Mean?

1. Responses will vary. The basic thrust of the biblical tradition is still applicable. In this case, we need to help, rather than ignore, the oppressed and the poor, even at some sacrifice to our own wealth and position. How to do that effectively, of course, is open to debate.

2. Responses will vary. When we come to what we believe to be an authentic, powerful prophetic word, we must act on it in faith. Listening to and following God, in any manner, always involves faith.

3. Responses will vary. “Guilt” is a term applied to a variety of feelings and emotions. In the sense of feeling bad because we don’t feel forgiven, Christians should not have to feel guilty. However, forgiven Christians may still feel bad about what they did, and some people call this “guilt.”

4. Responses will vary. Any parent who has dealt with a troubled child understands redemptive sacrifice.

5. Responses will vary. In truth, some of us sinners still get impressed more by the bottom line than by the relative sacrifice involved.

6. Responses will vary. Avoid making participants feel guilt over not being sacrificial givers. Rather, encourage growth in giving.

IV Into the Week

Talk about last week’s suggestion. Encourage #2.

Copyright © 2018, Lutheran Bible Ministries. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to make photocopies for use in church-related study groups.

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