5.22.22 Huddle
Intro Question:
- What is something you found hard to believe until someone showed you it was true? (This can be silly like pickles come from cucumbers)
Lesson Intro:
This week Pastor Bret gave us a history lesson about how the tomb where Jesus was laid was a real historical place. He showed us how the Bible communicates spiritual truths through physical events.
John 19:17-20, 31-42 NIV
17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.
31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
- What do these verses tell us about the physical layout of the area where Jesus was crucified and buried?
- How does this line up with what has been discovered by archeological digs?
- Why does John go into so much detail about where and how Jesus was buried?
- What are some reasons you or others have hang ups about the resurrection of Jesus?
- Read verse 35 again. Why is eyewitness testimony important to our faith in Jesus?
- What are some ways this passage can build your hope in the ultimate things more than the temporary things?
2 Peter 1:16
For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
- How does the Bible help us build our hope on real events, not just nice ideas?
- What are some ways you have been eyewitnesses of Jesus’ majesty?
- What are some reasons people might be lacking in hope?
- Why does it feel easier to build our hope on temporal things instead of ultimate things?
- How can you let others know about the ultimate hope you have in Christ in a practical way?
Challenge Question:
- Who is one person you can share the hope of Jesus with this week?
Memory Verse:
2 Peter 1:16
For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
Closing prayer:
Thank God that He has given us evidence throughout His Word through eyewitness testimony to give us reasons for hoping in Him. Thank Him for archaeological discoveries that point to the Truth laid out in the Bible. End your time of prayer worshiping the Lord for who He is and what He has done.