The New Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Student Workbook, SW13

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T H E N E W T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

You Are the Christ, the Son of the Living God

In discussing the importance of Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi, one Sunday School student suggests, “Since we already knew that Jesus was the Messiah from the very beginning of the our reading of the Gospels, why does Jesus make Peter’s realization and confession such a big deal? Many people today would say that Jesus is the Messiah, even a lot of people call him Jesus Christ (which means Messiah), but they don’t act like it means anything to them at all. Can a person call Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, and it not mean what Peter took it to mean?” How would you answer this student’s question?

Not at First

In a growing church that focuses on being seeker sensitive, a looming argument is brewing among the Elders Council. Even though there has been great excitement about the church’s growth (over 300% in the last two years), there is growing concern among the elders that their Gospel is becoming bloodless and crossless. Direct, blunt messages about the love of God shown on Calvary’s Cross, the prospect of doom, and the need for saving grace, have been replaced with nice messages on the significance of family, the importance of integrity, and the need for care in our financial matters. These messages offend no one, but, as one elder suggests, neither do they awaken anyone to the their dire need for the Blood of the Cross. The strategy is to befriend these dear people first, share with them as friends and neighbors, and share the weighty matters of the Gospel after a relationship has been established. If you were called in to give the Council advice, what would your answer be to their challenge and situation?

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An Anti-Semitic Hoax

A famous lecturer is causing a stir in the local neighborhood. At a free public lecture, one of the professors of one of the great Ivy-league divinity schools suggested recently that the Christian religion as it has been historically taught is completely false and untrue, as presented in the Gospels. The Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day had a deep understanding of grace, longed for a Messiah who would deliver them, and have a keen understanding of salvation by God’s mercy, not by one’s works in obedience to the Law. The lecturer claims that, based on the most recent historical data available to us, the account of the Jewish leaders in the Gospels