THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT
Preparing For the Journey to Jerusalem
CRAFT: One of the things we need to travel to a distant land is a passport. Our passport to heaven is our baptism. Have the children make a passport. On the inside have them make a picture of themselves along with their name, birth date and baptism date. Have them ask their parents when they were baptized.
SNACK: Today we need travel food. I think, finger sandwiches of deviled ham, carrots and celery (but be creative.)
LESSON PLAN: An attempt was made by the Pharisees, to frighten Jesus into going away. Herod wanted to see Jesus - in fact Herod thought Jesus might be John the Baptist come back to get him. Jesus called Herod a fox, because the Pharisees claimed a lie as the truth. It would be tricky (like a fox) of Herod to say one thing but mean another. Then Jesus went on to explain that He was already prepared to die, which is the point of going to Jerusalem.
MEMORY WORK: Luke 13:35b "Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord."
THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT
Preparing for the Journey to Jerusalem
We will learn how much the cross directed the life of Jesus.
We will understand that going to the cross to die was the journey Jesus took up in His birth.
We will thank God that He had a plan for our Salvation, and nothing deterred Jesus from fulfilling the plan.
Preliminary considerations: The overall theme for today is mercy. Mercy is: 1. Compassionate treatment, especially of those under one's power. 2. A disposition to be kind and forgiving. The Introit mentions God's great mercy and love. The Collect states the mercy of God. The Old Testament Lesson reminds the people that if they reform their ways God will "not bring the disaster he has pronounced," in other words, He will show mercy. The Gradual talks about Jesus being willing to endure the cross rather than force us onto it. The Epistle Lesson shows God's mercy in that He will transform our lowly bodies so they are glorious. The Gospel Lesson proclaims our blessed nature when we come (live, move and have our being) in the Name of the Lord, which is only accomplished through the mercy of God.
THE OLD TESTAMENT LESSON: Jeremiah 26:8-15
This lesson is about one thing, and Jeremiah makes it clear enough; repent! What the prophets and priests were hearing as rejection and destruction was really given by God as an invitation for life and hope, an opportunity to receive mercy from God. Jeremiah was made very vulnerable by God in these statements. The leaders accused him of blaspheme (which is funny because it is what they were doing) and stated that he should be killed. Jeremiah is a compassionate man who writes with deep feeling. Even though he must declare to them their doom, he always uses it as an opportunity to proclaim God's mercy. He, like Paul and Jesus have spoken only the truth, and will each suffer for the Word of God brought near to the people.
THE EPISTLE LESSON: Philippians 3:17--4:1
Those who live just for the present love delusions and seek false gods. To the contrary, Paul encourages the Christians at Philippi to imitate him as a messenger of Christ. Christians cannot count on this world as their home. Their citizenship is in heaven. At the same time, in this world they need to live a life or transformation, repentance and renewal. Heaven bound they long for the kingdom of heaven to become real to them. Here they live by the mercy of God, there they will live in God alone.
THE GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 13:31-35
Jesus is not caught by surprise. His way is to be the way of the cross. He knew every step of His way, the way to the cross and resurrection. He would perform His work and bring His journey to Jerusalem where He would die. Jesus' life and death followed God's design and timing. Jesus would perform His prophetic mission as teacher and miracle worker among the people. But His own people would reject Him as they rejected the prophets of old. The Pharisees advise Jesus to leave. Jesus treats them as Herod's agents and tells them what to reply to their master. Jesus mentions "today and tomorrow" because then comes the "third day" and on the third day His work was finished, He came out of the grave. Jesus quickly switches to a prophetic Word spoken to warn those among the Pharisees of the great Love of God and the depth of their rejection of Him and His mission. Through Faith we are able to see The Christ at work in our life, when all the Pharisees could see was competition for their authority.
STUDY SHEET
Every time I go in to give blood, they ask a series of questions designed to ensure that my blood is healthy. Among the questions are a series having to do with travel to foreign countries. A whole list of countries have various diseases in their water, in their food, that could cause my blood not to be useful as a transfusion. The Red Cross seems to really like my blood, because I don't travel. I haven't been out of the country in about 30 years.
We are citizens of heaven through Faith in Jesus Christ. Although we live in the world, we are not citizens here. We are only here until we are called home. Jeremiah felt the problems that can be created by being a citizen of heaven. God called on him to proclaim to the chosen people the fact that unless they repented their country would be destroyed. Jeremiah would much rather have been with the people instead of having to speak against them.
Jesus came to tell us about heaven, to ensure that we would be citizens of heaven. The Pharisees saw Him as competition. Jesus surely would have rather been with the people in all they were doing, but ended up having to speak against them.
We often find ourselves in conflict with the message of the world. The world teaches there is no God, the world teaches money as a source of security, the world teaches that we must depend on ourselves and our own hands for all that we have.
1. Why wasn't Jesus afraid of Herod? (see Luke 23:6-12)
2. Why does Jesus mention today, tomorrow and the third day?
3. How does Paul describe our citizenship?
4. What difference does it make where we hold our citizenship?
5. What did Jeremiah want from the people?
6. What did Paul want from the people?
7. What did Jesus want from the people?
8. How are these the same? How are they different?
9. How does it make you feel to know that the people at the time of Jeremiah failed?
10. How does it make you feel to know that Jesus accomplished everything necessary for you to be a citizen
of heaven?