LEADER'S GUIDE - Lutheran Bible Ministries



Light on the Lessons

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:5-10; John 12:20-33

Fifth Sunday in Lent; Cycle B; March 21, 2021

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

+ Read Bible dictionary articles on “priests,” “priesthood,” and “Melchizedek.”

I Getting Started

Pray for enlightenment and for needs within the group. Read the lessons now, or as you study each one. Briefly discuss “Getting Started” questions.

1. Responses will vary. Internal motivation beats external, but not being perfect, we still depend on outside forces: rules, tradition, laws.

2. Responses will vary. As much as we long for the “easy life,” such a life doesn’t often lead to paradise. If the need arises, point out that God does not send us problems in order to shape up our character. Suffering is part of the sinful world, but God’s Spirit can empower us to turn many losses into gains. For example, do economic slowdowns lead us to overcome our desire for an easy road to the “easy life” through excessive debt, or do signs of economic improvement persuade us that it is safe to return to old habits?

3. Responses will vary. Did any mention their congregation? The answer to this query, of course, should be, “Look at me.”

II Check the Texts

1. Jeremiah 31:31-34

A. To the distressed exiles, Jeremiah offers the promise of return. This is a word of hope, summarized in verse 17. Verses 31-34 reinforce that hope with the promise of a new covenant in the future, one that will work out better than the first one. The prophet makes clear to the devastated people that God has not abandoned them.

B. The new covenant will be cut with Israel and Judah at some vague, but certain to come, time in the future. The new covenant will be written in the hearts of the people. This pictures a more direct relationship with God than one mediated by priestly ritual and sacrifice. The new covenant will not replace the law; indeed, the law will be written on the hearts. We can imagine that the law written on hearts is the core moral law, not the law of ritual. (Jeremiah was not a fan of the religious establishment.)

C. Forgiveness forms the basis of the new covenant, a concept Jesus stated at the Last Supper when he instituted his covenant. Forgiveness of course was possible under the old covenant. Forgiveness here means remembering no longer the sins that brought the people to their destruction. They will return one day and God will give them a new start, unencumbered by the past.

D. The writer of Hebrews says that the first covenant had faults; the new one conveys better promises. In support of this claim, he quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34. He considers the first covenant to be obsolete now and will disappear. (He was wrong. The first covenant endures. That all the people of the first covenant did not immediately embrace the new covenant created some real problems for interpretation. Paul struggles with this in Romans 9-11. Romans 11:25-29 gives a good summary of his thinking.) Hebrews 9:9-10 make the point that the religious system of the first covenant could not satisfy the conscience. It was lost in rules and rites and sacrificial rituals. (One is reminded of Luther whose conscience could not find peace in the ritualized religious establishment of his time.)

E. Ezekiel 36 makes a similar point to the one Jeremiah makes. Ezekiel speaks of God’s Spirit making the difference. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel envision a more personal, inner-directed religious life. Clearly, that vision would help those who lost all their visible props of faith and yet realize that they could still enjoy a deep relationship with God.

2. Hebrews 5:5-10

A. The priest makes offerings and sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. He serves as intermediary between God and humanity. Verses 2-4 describe the humility of the priest, who must recognize his own faults and have empathy with other people. No human would assume this awesome task apart from God’s call. (The writer speaks in idealized terms because the high-level priesthood in Jesus’ day was thoroughly corrupt and politicized.)

B. The writer describes Melchizedek’s charismatic force; on one meeting, Abraham tithes to him. He also stresses the eternal aspect of this priest, which he says resembles the Son of God. In verse 7:11, the writer claims that the Aaronic priesthood has failed; it had not perfected the relationship with God. Thus, a new and better priesthood was called for: Jesus, at once the High Priest and the sacrifice.

C. The writer mentions Jesus’ “days of flesh,” and his loud cries and tears as he prays to the one able to save him. He learned obedience through suffering. But he was made perfect and now becomes the source of eternal salvation, designated as high priest.

D. In this image, Jesus as high priest does not make sacrifices because he himself was the sacrifice. However, we can picture him interceding on our behalf before his Father.

3. John 12:20-23

A. The festival is Passover. Six days before, Jesus arrives and dines at the home of Lazarus; the next day (fifth day before Passover) he enters the city triumphantly riding a donkey. The crowd was still talking about his raising Lazarus, chapter 11. Many were moving to Jesus, verse 12, also verse 11.

B. This incident shows Jesus reaching out to the Greek-speaking world, prefiguring his wider mission. Verse 32 claims his death on behalf of “all people.”

C. The string of passages all note that Jesus’ hour has not yet come. In 12:23, the hour has come. What motivated the change is not too clear. It may be somehow related to the query from Philip and Andrew indicating that the message was reaching Gentiles. It may have to do with his arrival at Jerusalem in the midst of rising conflicts for what he senses to be his final visit.

D. The image is that of life coming from death, the paradox of the crucifixion. Verses 25-26 suggest that discipleship involves dying to many assumed values in order to serve Jesus fully. Our egocentric focus dies so that a Christocentric focus might live.

E. The struggle that John places in a public venue, the Synoptic Gospels situate in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus will not pray to be saved from this hour (his death) because this hour is precisely why he came. The voice from heaven came at Jesus’ baptism and at the Transfiguration (Mark 1:11and 9:7, for examples). Jesus glorified the Father’ name by his ministry (past) and will glorify that name by his death and resurrection (future).

III What Does It All Mean?

1. Responses will vary.

2. Responses will vary. We check insights against other Christians and against the general tenor of the Gospel.

3. Responses will vary.

4. Responses will vary. Our faith, if serious, runs counter to many North American cultural norms.

5. Responses will vary. This is another faith-culture conflict. It does not imply that a low self-image is the goal. God went to great lengths to love us; we are, as the ad says, “worth it.” But our life-focus falls on the Kingdom and not simply exclusively on me.

6. People may make the same query of us and we must point them to Jesus. We are, as it were, intermediaries between seekers and the Truth they seek. Most people who come to know Jesus have done so because of an invitation of some kind from a Christian.

7. The “priesthood of all believers” means that in Christ we are all priests. Our sacrifices are our prayers, our offerings, our service. We mediate God to humans; that is, we are witnesses to Christ and “little Christs” to our neighbor.

8. This question aims to explore Christian witness. Where do participants feel they are doing that right now? We need to affirm positive witness, and we all do that in some way. On that base, we can stand and look around for new witness opportunities. Remember that working for justice for the poor, as an example, brings Christ to the world; not all witness is evangelistic. Still, we need to practice “naming the Name” in whatever witness engages us.

IV Into the Week

Take a moment to encourage use of “Through the Week” options.

Copyright © 2021, Lutheran Bible Ministries. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to make photocopies for use in church-related study groups.

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