JESUS 10 lessons on the radical Saviour For high school students in years 7 and 8
Student handbook Written by Tim Clemens
Christian Education Publications PO Box A287 Sydney South NSW 1235 Australia Ph: +61 2 8268 3333 Fax: +61 2 8268 3357 Email: sales@youthworks.net Website: www.cepstore.com.au Published January 2013 Copyright © Tim Clemens 2013 This book is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism and review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced by any process without the express permission of the Publisher. Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV) ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. ‘New International Version’ and ‘NIV’ trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Biblica. National Library of Australia ISBN 978-1-922000-53-8
Author—Tim Clemens Managing editor—Julie Firmstone Theological editor—Loren Becroft Design—Chrisy Savvides
JESUS
C ON T EN T S Chapter 1
R adical birth
Luke 1:26–38
4
Chapter 2
Radical beginning
Luke 3:21–22; 4:1–13
8
Chapter 3
Radical teaching
Luke 6:27–36
12
Chapter 4
Radical authority
Luke 8:22–25; 8:26–39; 9:10–17
16
Chapter 5
Radical followers Luke 9:18–27
20
Chapter 6
Radical opposition Luke 20:9–19
24
Chapter 7
Radical betrayal
Luke 22:39–53
28
Chapter 8
Radical death
Luke 23:32–43
32
Chapter 9
Radical resurrection Luke 24:33–49
36
Chapter 10 Radical ascension Luke 24:50–53
40
3
RADICAL TEACHING
Jesus lived an upside-down life, and in his teaching he called his followers to live upside-down lives too. At the heart of his teaching was a desire to see people acting in a way that resembled their Creator. TO GET YOU STARTED Put a tick next to each of the statements that you think represents what Jesus taught: Make peace not war. Love your enemies. Hate the sin, love the sinner. Turn the other cheek. Love your neighbour as yourself. Take a chill pill. Take up your cross and follow me. You only live once.
Read: Luke 6:27–36 27 ‘But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.’ 12
FROM THE PASSAGE 1. List all of the things Jesus teaches us to do in verses 35–36.
2. Put a line through the reasons Jesus does not give to explain why we should live this way:
your reward will be great you will live an easy life everyone will like you everyone does it you will be children of the Most High God will love you more you will live longer 3. How does God treat the ungrateful and the wicked?
13
DIGGING DEEPER At the heart of Jesus’ teaching, here is a desire to see his followers imitate God. Since God loves his enemies, his followers ought to love their enemies. By the way, your ‘enemy’ doesn’t just refer to your opposition in a war; it also includes the person you find it difficult to be nice to. 1. Do you have any enemies or people you find difficult to get along with?
Yes
No
2. Give one example of a behaviour or situation that you find difficult to deal with.
3. How do you think Jesus would respond to this behaviour or situation (in question 2)?
Read: Romans 5:6–8 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 6 7
4. How did Jesus embody (live out) his own teaching to ‘love your enemies’?
14
GET CREATIVE Form groups of four or five and prepare a 30-second drama in which you apply one of the teachings of Jesus in this unit to a real life experience. You may like to apply it to one of the following scenarios.
1. An older student takes something off you in the playground.
2. Everyone in the class is picking on someone while the teacher is outside.
3. Your brother or sister wants to watch something different to you on television.
4. A friend asks to borrow $5 from you and promises to pay it back.
5. Someone in your year is spreading false rumours about you.
Back in the day ... Jesus lived in a very religious culture. Unlike many countries today, virtually all Jews in the first century would have called themselves followers of God. They even had a name for people who didn’t follow God: ‘sinners’. This name should not be mistaken for a description of someone who sins—everybody sins. In that sense, we are all ‘sinners’. But in the context of the time when Jesus spoke these words, both he and the people of his day were referring to those whom society thought were beyond God’s concern.
15