Key Thought: The religious leaders came to confront, confound, and defeat Jesus, but they never succeeded. We need to consider what Christians can do to break through prejudice and speak to those resisting God’s call.
August 31, 2024

1. Have a volunteer read Mark 11:12-26

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What importance of the events is depicted here?
3. Personal Application: Why is humility so important for Christians?
   Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “How are we supposed to be proud of being Christian without being accused of being judgmental, superior, or self-righteous? How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Mark 11:27-33

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What is the importance of the events depicted here
3. Personal Application: What things in your life do you need Jesus to purify? How does this happen? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “How did Jesus follow up His refusal to answer, and what effect did it have? Why did Jesus speak in parables here?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Mark 12:13-27

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What challenge did the religious leaders bring to Jesus and how did He respond?
3. Personal Application: If someone asked you, “Do you know the power of God?” How would you answer? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “The Bible is just people’s own ideas about God, who He is, and how He operates. You can make the Bible say anything you want it to.” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Mark 12:28-34

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What question did the scribe ask and what double response did Jesus give?
3. Personal Application: How do we learn to love God and our neighbors as ourselves? How is the cross the key to following these commands? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/9-jerusalem-controversies-teaching-plan/

Daily Lesson for Wednesday 28th of August 2024

The religious leaders were trying to catch Jesus in something they could use to condemn Him, either to the Roman governor or to the people. In this controversy, it was the question of paying taxes. In this time and place, refusing to pay taxes could be taken as rebellion against the Roman government, a serious offense.

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

Jesus’ reply to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s kept Him out of a trap and also provided profound instruction on the believer’s responsibility to the government. “He declared that since they were living under the protection of the Roman power, they should render to that power the support it claimed, so long as this did not conflict with a higher duty. But while peaceably subject to the laws of the land, they should at all times give their first allegiance to God.”—Ellen. G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 602.

What follows next is a question about the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees were a priestly group that accepted only the five books of Moses as Scripture. They did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. The scenario they present to Jesus was probably hypothetical. It involved seven brothers and one woman. According to the law of Moses, when a man who died left no sons, his brother would marry the widow to maintain property in a family line, and any children born to that union would be legally those of the dead man (Deuteronomy 25:5-10).

Seeking to discredit the doctrine of the resurrection, the Sadducees point to a moral dilemma of whose wife the woman would be in the resurrection. Jesus counters their argument in two steps, referring to the Scriptures and to the power of God. First, He describes the power of God in the resurrection and indicates that there will not be marriage in heaven. Then He defends the doctrine of the resurrection by appealing to Exodus 3:1-22, where God indicates that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus implies that this means that they will be raised; they cannot remain dead if God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are, for now, dead.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-09-earthly-duties-and-heavenly-outcomes/