Week of February 6, 2012

Monday, February 6	Matthew 26
Tuesday, February 7	Matthew 27
Wednesday, February 8	Matthew 28
Thursday, February 9	Mark 1
Friday, February 10	Mark 2
Saturday, February 11	Reflection
Sunday, February 12	Worship

Questions for the Week

It is interesting to read the passion story, arrest, trials and death of Jesus as well as the Easter story as a whole. There are so many different aspects in it, so that is difficult to just choose one issue to ponder per day.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and prayers with us.

Matthew 26: Who do you compare yourself with? Is it the woman who poured out the expensive oil over Jesus or the disciple with their more practical thinking that this is a waste of money which could have been used better to serve the poor?
We read about the Lord’s Supper. There are four different versions of the Lord’s Supper described in the Bible--in the gospels Matthew, Mark (14:12-25), and Luke (22:7-20) (John writes about the act of foot washing--see John 13:1-17) and in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (11: 23-25). How does it feel for you to read those familiar words in context compared with hearing them when we celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion on Sunday morning?
Matthew 27: In the big city Jerusalem to this day, the place, which is assumed to be the field, that Judas ended his life (a different version in Acts 1 is left empty and nothing is built upon. It is difficult to read the stories leading up to the crucifixion and the death of Jesus?
How do you view Pilate’s reaction toward pleasing the crowds? It is not easy to do what is right and to follow our conscience. Have you ever acted under peer pressure even though you knew it was wrong?
Matthew 28: How wonderful to read the Easter story after the horrors of the last days. Every gospel has a different report about the resurrection. In Matthew, the women who experience the empty tomb, “hurried away from the tomb, afraid, yet filled with joy.” (28:8) How would you have reacted if you witnessed the empty tomb?
Matthew’s gospel ends with Jesus’ assurance (after Jesus commissions the disciples to make disciples, to baptize people, and to teach them everything he taught them): “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” If you would write about Jesus, what would be your final sentence?
Mark 1: The second gospel in our Bibles is probably the first one written. The books in the Bible are not published in chronological order. Mark’s gospel is the shortest of the four. He focuses on the relationship of discipleship and Jesus’ prediction of his passion and death, Jesus is seen as the “teacher.” The disciples do not really understand who Jesus is and Jesus tells them specifically not to tell anybody who Jesus is till after Easter (9:9). This is also called the “Messianic secret.” Mark does not have a typical Christmas story--but he starts his gospel with reference to the prophet Isaiah and John the Baptist. What would be your "topics" and how would you start telling the “gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1)?
Mark 2: The second chapter continues describing Jesus’ authority. Jesus has not only power to heal, but even power to forgive sins (2:5). Jesus calls Levi, the tax collector as one of his disciples and he is also not respecting the religious laws to observe the Sabbath as seen by the religious leaders. All these were outrageous in the eyes of the “teachers of the Law” and religious authorities. Jesus doesn’t shy away to argue with the Pharisees and finally says: “The Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” (2:28) How does the Sabbath (observing Sunday and regular worship) serve you in your daily lives?

Posted on Mon, February 6, 2012 by Sigrid Rother

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