It Is Written… Pt. 1
Welcome back to the worship companion! if you have not used the Worship companion before I'd like to quickly introduce it to you. Each week I create a blog post here on the Utmc.ca resource page. here you will be able to find the key passages for the sermon this week, which I refer to as anchor texts. Next you will find list of questions that will aid in discussion for your connect group or for your personal study. This blog post will usually also link you to visual or musical arts that Christians have done in the past or present that us in contemplating the message of the Scriptures that we are studying this week.
That being said, this week, and carrying on for the next several months we will be beginning a new series entitled “It Is Written…” the idea behind this series is to spend time studying portions of the New Testament in which Jesus quotes the Old Testament. We will examine the context Jesus is in, and what it means for his immediate audience and we will also take a look back into the Old Testament to see what he is quoting from and what it meant to its first hearers. Finally, of course, each week we will pay careful attention to contemplating what Jesus words mean now for us today.
This really beauitful representation of the Bible’s 63, 779 cross-references was created by Christ Harrison. Here’s an explaination of the image from his website: The bar chart that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible, starting with Genesis 1 on the left. Books alternate in color between light and dark gray, with the first book of the Old and New Testaments in white. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in that chapter (for instance, the longest bar is the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119). Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible are depicted by a single arc - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect. You can read more about it on his website here.
Anchor Texts: (This are links you can click for quick reference!)
Matthew 22:34-40 NIV - The Greatest Commandment
Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV - Love the LORD your God with all…
Romans 13:9 NIV - The commandments…
Galatians 5:13-15 NIV - Life by the Spirit
Questions to Ponder:
While our anchor passage is Matthew 22:34-40 we are going to focus specifically on verse 39 and the second commandment which Jesus adds to the great commandment.
What was the name of the Greek Old Testament? ____________
Why do Christians need to read the Old Testament?
Why do you think the Pharisees wanted to test Jesus with this particular question? What made this a “good test” in their mind to try to trip Jesus up?
What does “love your neighbour as yourself” mean to you? Put it in your own words like you were explaining it to someone whose never heard this concept.
Why do you think Jesus pairs this commandment to love your neighbor with what was, in Jewish convention, The original “Great commandment” (“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength”)?
What is “love” according to the passage here today? An emotion? if not, then what?