9.6.20 Huddle

Zach Below   -   September 6, 2020

9.6.20 Huddle – BECAUSE 2020 WEEK 2

 

INTRO QUESTION

  1. If you knew it was your last day on earth, what would you do? Who would you spend it with?

 

 

WEEK 2 INTRODUCTION

LEADER: Over the course of this series, we are examining one of Jesus’ most controversial statements. In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

One of the primary laws of Biblical interpretation is to look at the text in its original context. And this statement from Jesus is actually a part of a longer discourse that begins in chapter 13 and takes place on Jesus’s last night on earth before his death.

 

 

SCRIPTURE ENGAGEMENT – John 13:1-5

1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

 

 

SCRIPTURE ENGAGEMENT QUESTIONS

  1. How did Jesus spend his last night on earth? Who did he spend it with?

 

  1. This is Jesus’s last time eating with his disciples before his death. It is his “last lesson” to his disciples so to speak.

 

  1. Try to put yourself in the room with the disciples. You are celebrating a feast with your buddies, you’ve been following one of the most electrifying and amazing teachers in the history of the world, and then this text takes place. What do you think the vibe of the room was? What would it have been like to be there?

 

SCRIPTURE ENGAGEMENT #2 – John 14:1-5

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.”

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

 

SCRIPTURE ENGAGEMENT QUESTIONS

  1. Language experts believe that verse 1 is actually an imperative (command, authoritative statement). How does that change the way you read/understand this?

 

  1. In light of what will happen over the next 24 hours, why do you think Jesus has to remind/command this to his disciples?

 

  1. How does Jesus reassure them? Does he give any reason why they could/should “not let their hearts be troubled?”

 

  1. 20th century author and Wheaton College president Victor Edman said, “Never doubt in the dark what God has told you in the light.” How is that relevant to this text?

 

 

APPLICATION QUESTIONS

LEADER Verse 2 says “My Father’s house has many rooms.” This verse has caused some misunderstandings in the past because the King James Version translates the word used for “rooms” as “mansions” instead. However, the word used for “rooms” is only used in one other place in scripture which is in John 14:23, which says, “Jesus replied, ‘anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My father will love them, and we will come to them and make our HOME with them.” These verses together suggest the dual idea that if you are in Christ you 1) Have a home and 2) are going home.

 

  1. What are the characteristics of a healthy home? How much does the actual “dwelling” matter in a healthy home?

 

  1. When you say that you want to build a great home for your kids, what are you trying to build?

 

  1. Growing up, was your house a “home?” Share if you are comfortable.

 

  1. Another word for hell is “outside.” How does this relate to the idea of home?

 

  1. What does it mean to feel “at home” with God? Have you ever experienced that feeling?

 

 

CLOSE IN PRAYER