Join the Hit the Mark panel as they discuss Sabbath School Lesson 7 – Blessed Are Those Who Believe. It’s the fastest hour of the week!

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/blessed-are-those-who-believe-hit-the-mark-sabbath-school/

Daily Lesson for Thursday 14th of November 2024

Again and again, as John presents witnesses to Jesus, his point is to bring us to a sweeping conclusion: “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31, NKJV).

Imagine having been there, in person, in the flesh, and having seen Jesus do many of these miracles. We’d certainly believe, wouldn’t we? We’d like to think so; but, in some ways, we have even more reasons to believe in Jesus than did those who actually saw the miracles.

Why?

Image © Review and Herald Publishing Assn. Goodsalt,com

And that’s because we have not only the powerful accounts in John’s Gospel, but also the great advantage of seeing so much of what Jesus and other Bible writers predicted would come true, such as the destruction of the temple (Matthew 24:2), the spread of the gospel around the world (Matthew 24:14), the great falling away (2 Thessalonians 2:3), and the world continuing to be a fallen and evil place (Matthew 24:6-8). All during the life and ministry of Jesus, His following remained a small and harassed group of men and women who, by all human standards, should have vanished from history a long time ago. How could they have known, as we do, that all these things would come to pass? And they have. In fact, our own faith itself exists as a fulfillment of Jesus’ own prophecy that the gospel would go to all the world.

And, today, about two thousand years later, as followers of Jesus, we also have the privilege of bearing witness to Jesus and to what He has done for us. It is not by the reasoning of Nathanael, Nicodemus, the woman of Samaria, or the teachings of the Pharisees that we can know Jesus as the Messiah for ourselves. It is by the reading of the Scriptures under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit that we accept Jesus as the Savior of the world.

And then, each one of us, in our way, and out of our own relationship with God, can have a story to tell. Our story may not be as dramatic as seeing the dead raised or someone blind from birth healed, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we know Jesus for ourselves, and in our own way bear witness to Him, as did those in John’s Gospel.

<–Wednesday Friday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-07-our-witness-of-jesus/

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:32 NKJV

Was the Father being fanatical when He gave us His Son, or was He just in love with us? Is the Father being extreme when He gives us all things or is He just in love with us?

Image © Darrel Tank from GoodSalt.com

In John 12:1-8, a woman comes to Jesus with an extremely expensive bottle of perfume. She anoints Jesus with this costly perfume as an expression of her love and appreciation for the incredible sacrifice Jesus was making for her. She was a sinner, saved by the love of Jesus, and she simply wanted to give all she had for Jesus because Jesus was giving all He had for her.

However, some of the disciples, including Judas, took exception to her gift. They called it a waste of money that could have been used to help the poor. John points out though, that instead of helping the poor, Judas was using the poor fund to help  himself. This leads me to a couple of conclusions. Judas called the woman out for being “wasteful” simply because he was not as generous and did not want to look bad.

So how do you make yourself look perfectly balanced while still being selfish? You label the unselfish woman as being fanatical and accuse her of extremism. Do some do this today? Others make reforms in their diet or behavior that we are not willing to make, so to make ourselves look balanced, we have to make the more conscientious person look unbalanced and extreme or fanatical. Pushing them into the far-right category moves us into the perfectly moderate and balanced category.

This woman was not being legalistic, fanatical, extreme, or unbalanced. She was simply in love with Jesus. She was simply giving all she had because Jesus was giving her all He had. This is the natural reaction of all who experience the love of Christ today. Just because someone is making changes that we are not willing to make does not mean that they are unbalanced or extreme fanatics. It could just mean that they love Jesus and want to show their appreciation for His love and sacrifice by making a few sacrifices themselves. That is what love does.

Going back to Judas acting like he was really interested in the poor while only serving himself – how many times have we said, “I wish I was rich so I could give to the poor?”  Could we really be saying, “I wish I was rich so I could give to the poor without having to sacrifice?”

Jesus pointed out to Judas that the poor have always been there, and he can help them any time he wants. Likewise, we can help the poor any time we want, if we are willing to sacrifice. Do we really wish we had more money to give to the poor, or do we just wish we had more money so we could give to the poor without it being such a sacrifice?

When the Father gave everything, including His Son, it was a sacrifice. Is there any way we can genuinely respond to such love without also making a real sacrifice?

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/extreme-and-fanatical-or-just-in-love-with-jesus/

Daily Lesson for Wednesday 13th of November 2024

Christ appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, when they were shut up together in a room because of fear. Thomas was not with them. Later, he heard the reports of the Resurrection from the other disciples, but he despaired. It did not fit his picture of the kingdom. And, too, he surely must have wondered why Jesus would have revealed Himself to the others when he himself was not there.

Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com

Thomas said, “ ‘Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe’ ” (John 20:25, NKJV).

Thomas was dictating the conditions of his faith. This approach to faith in Jesus has appeared again and again in John. Nicodemus answered Jesus with, “ ‘How can a man be born when he is old?’ ” (John 3:4, NKJV). The woman at the well asked, “ ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?’ ” (John 4:11, NRSV). The crowd who had been fed with the loaves and fishes asked, “ ‘What sign are you going to give us?’ ” (John 6:30, NRSV).

It is this “see and then believe” perspective that the Gospel of John counters. When Jesus met Thomas after the Resurrection, He invited him to come, see, and touch His risen body. But then He says, “ ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’ ” (John 20:29, ESV).

“God never asks us to believe, without giving sufficient evidence upon which to base our faith. His existence, His character, the truthfulness of His word, are all established by testimony that appeals to our reason; and this testimony is abundant. Yet God has never removed the possibility of doubt. Our faith must rest upon evidence, not ­demonstration.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 105.

Through the Word of God, through the Creation, and through personal experience, we have been given an incredible amount of evidence for our faith in Jesus.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-07-the-witness-of-thomas/

Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and one of this quarter’s authors, Dr. Thomas R. Shepherd, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson, “The Beginning of the Gospel.”

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/7-blessed-are-those-who-believe-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/