Adult Bible Studies Spring 2023 Teacher/Commentary Kit

By Cokesbury

A comprehensive Bible study plan and spiritual practices to deepen your relationship with God

Hundreds of thousands of people each week have transformative encounters with God through Adult Bible Studies—Bible-based, Christ-focused Sunday school lessons and midweek Bible studies endorsed by the Curriculum Resources Committee of The United Methodist Church.

The Kit includes a Teacher Book and a Concise Commentary that are both supplementary and complementary to the Adult Bible Studies student book

The Teacher Book provides small-group leaders, teachers, and facilitators with additional biblical background and exposition, and suggestions for guiding group discussion. Printed with a larger font for ease of reading. Included to help leaders prepare and lead each week:
As a comprehensive Bible study plan with more flexibility in terms of Scripture selection and topics.
Additional information, as well as suggestions, is designed to help leaders and facilitators lead with confidence.
Observation of the church seasons, including Advent and Lent.
Suggestions for developing spiritual practices (prayer, confession, worship, mindfulness, solitude, community, hospitality, neighboring, service, and celebration).
One font size in the student edition to accommodate all readers.
No printed Scripture text allows you to choose your own Bible translation.

The Concise Commentary provides biblical commentary for the focal Bible passages used in Adult Bible Studies. Based on the Abingdon Basic Bible Commentary. Printed with a larger font for ease of reading. Included each week are:
The focal Bible passages for each Sunday.
The unit introductions.
Commentary on the focal Bible passages.
A pronunciation guide for Bible names and places.

Additional information about Adult Bible Studies, Spring 2023
Theme: The Life of Faith
This spring, our lessons center around the theme “The Life of Faith.” The language of journey and pilgrimage is commonly used to describe the Christian life. This spring our lessons encourage us to walk alongside Jesus and his disciples on Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem and explore the nature of faith that calls us to follow Jesus despite our uncertainty and doubts. The last unit this quarter looks at the concept of sabbath, the foreshadowing of the rest that God promises at the end of our journey. The teacher book writer is Von Unruh.

Unit 1
Journey to the Cross
This Lenten season, we follow Jesus’ journey to the cross in Matthew’s account. Matthew’s Gospel stresses in many places that through his crucifixion, Jesus makes clear his perfect obedience to God’s will and the true nature of kingship under God’s reign.
Scriptures: Matthew 16:21-28 | Matthew 20:20-28 | Matthew 21:23-27 | Matthew 22:15-22 | Matthew 22:41-46
Spiritual Practice: Simplicity | Accountability

Unit 2
From Doubt to Trust
We often treat doubt and wisdom as belonging in opposite categories; but often, questioning our wisdom, knowledge, and certitude is a sign of wisdom. As humans, we should struggle to understand. The path forward from doubt is one of trust in God. We are invited to imitate Jesus and let go of our doubt and our competition with God and to trust in God’s love and intentions.
Scriptures: Matthew 26:36-46 | Matthew 28:1-15 | John 20:11-29 | 1 Corinthians 15:12-28 | 1 Peter 1:3-16
Spiritual Practice: Meditation

Unit 3
Intentional Sabbath
In the secular West, the concept of holy days and sabbath have been replaced by days off work or school and vacations. We rest so that we can work harder and earn more money so that we can take vacations away from our community. In the Bible, rest from work had a different purpose. One worked to prepare for the sabbath. On the sabbath, one participated together with the entire community, the livestock, and the land in a shared rest that signi

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cokesbury
• Release date: Jan 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781791020552

Book preview

Adult Bible Studies

Spring 2023 • Vol. 31, No. 3

Teacher

To the Teacher

The Spiritual Practice of Simplicity

Greatness Is Based on Service

Authority

Controversy Over the Poll Tax

The Question About David’s Son

The Spiritual Practice of Meditation

Gethsemane

The Women, The Guards, and Jesus’ Resurrection

Mary Magdalene

Resurrection

First Peter

The Spiritual Practice of Self-Care

Sabbath

Shepherds

Editorial and Design Team

Jan Turrentine, Editor

Tonya Williams, Production Editor

Keitha Vincent, Designer

Administrative Team

Rev. Brian K. Milford, President and Publisher

Marjorie M. Pon, Associate Publisher and Editor, Church School Publications

ADULT BIBLE STUDIES TEACHER (ISSN 1059-9118). An official resource for The United Methodist Church approved by the General Board of Discipleship and published quarterly by Cokesbury, The United Methodist Publishing House, 810 12th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee 37203. Copyright © 2022 by Cokesbury. Send address changes to ADULT BIBLE STUDIES TEACHER, 810 12th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee 37203.

To order copies of this publication, call toll free: 800-672-1789. FAX your order to 800-445-8189. Telecommunication Device for the Deaf/Telex Telephone: [phone]. Automated order system is available after office hours, or order through Cokesbury.com. Use your Cokesbury account, Visa, Discover, or Mastercard.

For permission to reproduce any material in this publication, call 615-749-6268, or write to Permissions Office, 810 12th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee 37203.

Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from the Common English Bible, copyright 2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ are used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Scriptures quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission (www.Lockman.org). Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 (Second edition, 1971) by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. Scripture taken from the Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version–Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

ADULT BIBLE STUDIES is available to readers with visual challenges through BookShare.org. To use BookShare.org, persons must have certified disabilities and must become members of the site. Churches can purchase memberships on behalf of their member(s) who need the service. There is a small one-time setup fee, plus a modest annual membership fee. At the website, files are converted to computerized audio for download to CD or iPod, as well as to other audio devices (such as DAISY format). Braille is also available, as are other options. Once individuals have a membership, they have access to thousands of titles in addition to ABS. Live-narrated audio for persons with certified disabilities is available from AUDIOBOOK MINISTRIES at http://www.audiobookministries.org/.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Meet the Writer

Von W. Unruh is retired clergy from the Tennessee Conference. A former editor of ADULT BIBLE STUDIES TEACHER, Von also pastored churches in Kingston Springs, Nashville, and Monteagle, Tennessee; and in Fulton, Kentucky.

His paternal ancestors were Mennonites who emigrated to the United States in the 1870s and settled in the Dakotas and western Kansas, bringing with them the Turkey Red Wheat that helped to turn Kansas into the bread basket of the world.

Von is the author of several books and articles published by Discipleship Resources, Abingdon Press, and Cokesbury.

Von has retired to his maternal grandparents’ farm in northwest Arkansas, where he is the third-generation caretaker of land that was once Native American hunting grounds.

To the Teacher

Palm branches. Hosannas. Joy. Laughter. Celebration.

Ashes. Confession. Holy Communion. Fasting. Penitence. Almsgiving. Self-reflection.

Accusations. Trials. Verdict.

Stations of the Cross. Whip. Nails. Spear. Crown of thorns. Torn curtain.

Silence.

Darkness.

The events, symbols, and traditions of Lent and Holy Week call us to walk with Jesus through the days leading up to his crucifixion. Despite the horror, this walk can for us be somehow comforting in its familiarity. We choose to move through these days each year because they remind us of our commitments, our priorities, our brokenness, our doubts. They remind us of just how far God was willing to go to prove God’s love for us and provide for our salvation. Raw and harrowing as these events were, we know what to expect. We know when we get to the tomb, we will find that it is empty. During Lent, we walk solemnly with labored steps, but we know that come Easter, joyful celebration is ours.

Jesus’ first followers had no such knowledge, no symbols or traditions. The path they walked with Jesus was uncharted. He taught; they listened and learned. He led; they followed. He healed; they praised and worshiped. He encouraged; they became emboldened.

And then he died.

The whip, the nails, the spear, the crown of thorns—these were not mere symbols in their minds. They were harsh physical realities that turned their lives completely upside down. No darkness had ever been darker; no silence had ever pounded so strongly in their ears. Resurrection? That concept was to them unknown. The cross, the tomb—they marked the end for Jesus.

What Jesus’ first followers did not know, but what we now profess, is that the end was actually the beginning. Jesus redefined everything. Death brought life. Darkness brought light. Deafening silence brought joyful song. Thomas Merton said, It is of the very essence of Christianity to face suffering and death not because they are good, not because they have meaning, but because the resurrection of Jesus has robbed them of their meaning.¹

Just as Jesus’ first followers expressed uncertainty and doubts, so do we. The journey to the cross should challenge us to question our wisdom, knowledge, and certitude. We should struggle to understand, for to act with complete confidence in our power of discernment is to claim God’s power as our own. The journey to the cross leads us forward from doubt to trust in God and God’s intentions for us and, indeed, for the whole world.

Our lessons this quarter take us through Matthew’s account of Jesus’ journey to the cross. Written in the student book by Michelle Morris and in this teacher book by Von Unruh, they confront us with our doubts and perceived wisdom. And they encourage us to firmly trust in God, the source of well-being and abundance for all creation.

Where is your victory, Death? Where is your sting, Death? Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! … As a result of all this, my loved brothers and sisters, you must stand firm, unshakable, excelling in the work of the Lord as always (1 Corinthians 15:55-56, 57-58).

Jan Turrentine

[e-mail]

¹From goodreads.com.

Unit 1: The Journey to the Cross

The Gospels describe what we have learned to call the season of Lent in terms of Jesus’ journey to the cross. After several months (perhaps as much as two years) of ministry in Galilee, Jesus determined to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). The decision was made in the wake of his Transfiguration; apparently, he was quite aware of the fate that awaited him there. Making the link between Lent and Jesus’ journey is not to suggest that it literally took Jesus and his disciples 40 days to traverse the 95 miles from Mount Tabor to Jerusalem. It is to superimpose, symbolically, the season of Lent onto Jesus’ journey.

Our annual journey to the cross is, therefore, like the one originally made by Jesus’ disciples, a time to address matters of discipleship. We reflect on what we believe about Jesus, and why; and try to do so with an open heart, willing to be instructed by the teachings of the church. We ponder how our actions square with Jesus’ teachings. We seek to become aware of faults and failures in the ways we think or believe or act. We seek to be willing to repent of sin, and are eager to grow in holiness.

The five lessons that, together, comprise the first unit (the first of which actually appeared as Lesson 13 during the previous quarter), are all taken from the Gospel of Matthew. They invite us to ponder afresh some of the controversies Jesus had to address as he and his disciples made their journey south from Galilee toward Jerusalem.

In Lesson 1, Jesus is still having to deal with wrong understandings of power and authority that his disciples have. He has just explained to them for the third time that he will die in Jerusalem. Ignoring his morose comments, James and John respond by requesting (through their mother) that he elevate them to important positions of authority in his kingdom. Jesus then attempts to explain to all his disciples that true greatness is defined by service in the kingdom of God. The lesson invites us to ponder whether we believe service is the end or a means to the end in God’s kingdom.

Lesson 2 occurs after Jesus and his disciples have arrived in Jerusalem. Irritated by Jesus’ actions, a delegation of chief priests and elders confront Jesus while he is teaching in the Temple courts. They want to know by what authority he is doing such things. The lesson invites us to reflect on what authority is, from where it comes, who disperses it, and whether we have any today.

Lesson 3 takes place perhaps the next day. Forced to take into account Jesus’ dialectical skills, the Pharisees have decided to confront him a second time, this time on a subject regarding which they feel sure they can best him: the paying of the Roman poll tax. Jesus immediately sees through their disingenuous compliments and addresses the topic of allegiance, a matter that is as current today as it was 2,000 years ago. The lesson invites us to ask hard questions of ourselves regarding where our true loyalties lie, especially when it comes to matters of church and state.

In Lesson 4, the Pharisees are once more hanging around Jesus. Having just sidestepped a rather insincere discussion with the Sadducees regarding resurrection, which they didn’t actually believe in, Jesus has had enough. This time he initiates the conversation with the Pharisees—the last he has with them. He invites them to offer their thoughts regarding an interpretive question about the Messiah raised by Psalm 110:1. Despite having cultivated a reputation for being knowledgeable about Scripture, the Pharisees are stumped by the question. The lesson invites us not only to reflect on what we believe about the Messiah, but also to ponder why we don’t know more about Scripture than we do.

March 5 | Lesson 1

Sharing in Jesus’ Cup

The Second Sunday in Lent

Focal Passage

Matthew 20:20-28

Background Text

Matthew 20:17-28

Purpose

To determine to commit ourselves, as Jesus did, to servanthood

Matthew 20:20-28

²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus along with her sons. Bowing before him, she asked a favor of him.

²¹What do you want? he asked.

She responded, Say that these two sons of mine will sit, one on your right hand and one on your left, in your kingdom.

²²Jesus replied, You don’t know what you’re asking! Can you drink from the cup that I’m about to drink from?

They said to him, We can.

²³He said to them, You will drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left hand isn’t mine to give. It belongs to those for whom my Father prepared it.

²⁴Now when the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus called them over and said, You know that those who rule the Gentiles show off their authority over them and their high-ranking officials order them around. ²⁶But that’s not the way it will be with you. Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant. ²⁷Whoever wants to be first among you will be your slave—²⁸just as the Human One didn’t come to be served but rather to serve and to give his life to liberate many people.

Key Verses: Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant. Whoever wants to be first among you will be your slave (Matthew 20:26-27).

Connect

In high school, I wasn’t exactly what I would call arrogant (although I wouldn’t argue if some of my classmates wanted to take issue with that self-assessment). I was, however, definitely full of myself. Most of us had known each other for years; many of us had been in classes together since kindergarten. By our last year or two of high school, our public roles were well-known. We knew who were the class clowns, the best athletes, the sharpest students, the most popular; and we tended to know which of us led troubled lives, and why.

I was a member of the debate team that participated in debate tournaments. My partner and I were pretty good at it and certainly enjoyed the game. And, truth be told, we rather liked demolishing the arguments of our opponents; if we could also make them appear rather foolish in the process, so much the better. (I’m no longer proud of that fact; I’m just admitting the truth of it.)

The summer between my junior and senior years of high school, I responded positively to God’s call on me to enter the ministry. Perhaps others had known all along that that was where I was headed; but it never had occurred to me. I had always been faithful in church but had never thought of myself in a clergy role.

Learning to think of myself in that role required a host of changes—in the college I would attend, for instance, and in the courses I would study. As my senior year of high school ended and I began the transition to college, I discovered that I was fine with the shifts in priority and actually was looking forward to all they represented.

However, I quickly learned that those shifts in priority would not be as simple to navigate as I had assumed they would be. The course-work itself was no big deal; indeed, it was fun to explore new topics and think deeply about Scripture texts and matters of faith and discipline.

What I was absolutely not prepared for was the way God began to address matters of my character. Previously, on the basis of a few scrawled notes, I could easily debate an opponent. Give me a few minutes, and I could typically commit a ten-minute oration to memory. Now, suddenly, the very idea of speaking in front of a class—even reading in front of a class—left me hyperventilating, red-faced, and barely able to adlib my name. I had no idea what was wrong with me.

Unable to get a grip on myself, much less overcome my sudden and inexplicable stage fright, I finally began admitting my fears to God and asking for divine help. The answer I eventually received may make some persons roll their eyes at me, but I was (and still am) convinced of the truth of what I heard.

What I heard God telling me was that he had no use for the sharp-tongued way I mistreated others—competition or not. Until I was willing to use my speaking ability to build others up rather than to tear them down, I could jolly well forget about being able to speak with any ease. And when I did finally get around to realizing that any speaking ability I had was to be used to build others up (rather than to tear them down), then and only then would the ability be returned to me. Even then, to guard against my ever again becoming as full of myself, speaking would never be as effortless as it once had been.

I promptly began doing my best to use my speaking ability to build others up instead of using it primarily to make me look good. Even so, it took me years to finally stop hyperventilating when I wanted to speak in public. To this day, if I forget myself and start berating someone, my mind clouds; my throat constricts; and I can barely speak sensibly. Thankfully, I’ve been down this road enough times that I know God is reminding me of my place. God didn’t call me to be great; God called me to serve.

Inspect

Introduction. In the last lesson of the previous quarter (the first Sunday of Lent), Jesus told his disciples that they would soon be headed to Jerusalem (Matthew 16:21). Given the fact that Passover was approaching, Jesus’ disciples may be excused for thinking he was merely telling them something they already knew; of course, they’d soon be traveling to Jerusalem! Then again, had they listened carefully to all he had said, they should have known that Jesus believed this would be no ordinary celebratory trip to the Holy City. Something big—which he wasn’t yet fully sharing—was up!

In our own life of faith, the journey to Jerusalem is fraught with missteps. Even if we have grown up in church, there are aspects to discipleship that seem to elude us, aspects that (sooner or later) we must eventually address. How we respond will reveal our awareness (or lack thereof) of just how narrow is the path we are taking (Matthew 7:14.).

It is worth noting, in the verses immediately preceding our biblical text, that Jesus once again told his disciples that he would not survive their brief stay in Jerusalem, to which they were now going up (20:17). In fact, it would be worthwhile including Matthew 20:17-19 as valuable background for this lesson.

Mark’s version of this story can be found in Mark 10:35-45.

Matthew 20:17-19. Hinting that Jesus and his disciples were part of a much larger group that was traveling together toward Jerusalem, Matthew notes that there came a moment when Jesus took the Twelve aside by themselves.

At one level, Jesus only repeated what he had previously said to his disciples. Yet the simple fact that this was now the third time (fourth, if one includes Matthew 17:12) in a fairly short period of time that Jesus had told them he was about to die is troubling and startling (16:21; 17:22-23).

Two details emerge in this third prediction of his eminent death that Jesus had not previously shared. First, his death would come at the hands of the Gentiles (verse 19), which (given the locale of Jerusalem) clearly meant the Romans. Second, the previously generic statements that he would be killed are now ratcheted up several degrees; in fact, he would be crucified (verse 19). Matthew doesn’t try to explain how Jesus knew these things; he simply declares that this is what he told them.

Verse 20. Sometime later (not necessarily immediately), the mother of Zebedee’s sons approached Jesus to request of him a favor. Her presence is a reminder that, in addition to the disciples, others were regularly in Jesus’ company, including several women.

Zebedee’s sons were James and John, two of Jesus’ first disciples (Matthew 4:21-22). Excluding Judas Iscariot, James was the first disciple to die (Acts 12:2). Church tradition states that John, believed by many to be the writer of Revelation and the Gospel that bears his name, was the only one of the Twelve who did not die a martyr’s death.

Their mother was apparently named Salome [sah-LOW-may] (compare Matthew 27:56 with Mark 15:40) and was the sister of Jesus’ mother, Mary (John 19:25). This would mean she was Jesus’ aunt, and James and John were his cousins. The fact makes Jesus’ statement from the cross to John and to his mother more understandable (John 19:26-27). As the eldest son, he was entrusting the care of his mother to his cousin, her nephew.

As Bathsheba had once done a thousand years before to King David (1 Kings 1:16), the mother of James and John knelt before Jesus, openly acknowledging his authority over those who were following him. Whether her sons had asked her to make the request of Jesus—or she had insisted they come along with her—James and John accompanied her when she approached Jesus.

Verse 21. When Jesus invited his aunt to state her request, he wisely refrained from making any promises he might later have to retract: What do you want?

To say that her request was both audacious and inappropriate is all but self-evident. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus has just declared that the kingdom of heaven belongs to little children (19:13-15). Also, he has twice concluded conversations (one of which was a parable) by stating that the last will be first and the first will be last (19:16-30; 20:1-16). But, despite the fact that Jesus had already effectively elevated Simon Peter into the role of first among equals (16:18-19), she wanted her sons to be Jesus’ special assistants after he established his kingdom, which she was certain he was about to accomplish.

It would, of course, be easy—even before we hear Jesus’ response—to shake our heads in disapproval of Salome’s request. Her nepotistic move on behalf of her sons leaves a bad impression. Clearly, there is nothing about being followers of Jesus that protects disciples from engaging in poor and inappropriate actions, a truth on which we would do well to meditate whenever we become too self-assured about the purity of our own motives and declarations.

At the same time, any disapproval we think Salome deserves must be tempered by the realization that she did not flee Jesus’ side (unlike her sons) when he was arrested and crucified (27:55-56). Learning to be gracious (not condemnatory) toward other followers of Jesus, even when they’ve performed poorly, is not necessarily an indication that we do not care about the faith; it is a sign of deepening Christian maturity.

The right and left hands of an authority figure are positions of honor and prestige. We still refer to an especially capable assistant as a right-hand man. Psalm 110:1, which Jesus himself would soon quote (to the consternation of the Pharisees [Matthew 26:64-66]), speaks of Yahweh telling the Hebrew king to sit at my right hand.

Verse 22. Salome made the request, but Jesus directed his response to her two sons, James and John. In both of Jesus’ comments in this verse, you is plural.

Despite his repeated (and apparently failed) attempts to help his disciples understand that personal grandeur did not await his followers, Jesus did not respond angrily to James and John. Instead, his words almost drip with sadness. You don’t know what you’re asking of me.

Then, instead of referring any further to the kind of dreams that accompany right and left hands, Jesus spoke of [drinking] from the cup. The image in Scripture is often one of divine wrath (Psalm 75:8; Ezekiel 23:32-34), but could also be one of general suffering (Matthew 26:39, 42) or even of salvation (Psalm 116:13).

In light of Jesus’ words in verse 28, the notion of divine wrath is almost surely present (which Christian doctrines of atonement address); at the same time, his reference to this cup while later praying in Gethsemane certainly permits a more general reference to suffering. Today’s English Version actually adds the words of suffering after cup.

To Jesus’ pointed question regarding their ability to participate fully in the suffering he is convinced awaits him in Jerusalem, James and John respond too blithely, We can. Perhaps they heard Jesus’ query as questioning their level of commitment: Would they stand by him when times were no longer so rosy? Then again, perhaps their response was merely an expression of (mostly untried) youthful exuberance.

Verse 23. Perceiving that they spoke more truly than they knew, Jesus acknowledged their response: You will [indeed] drink from my cup. James would be put to death by Herod Agrippa. (Was the king attempting to stamp out family dynastic rumors?) John would spend the last years of a long life in exile on the penal island of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea, 60 miles west of Ephesus.

Returning, then, to the original request, Jesus explained to Salome and her sons that he did not have the authority to