Sabbath School From Home

God is passionate and compassionate.  We (meaning humans in general and Seventh-day Adventists in particular) tend to be somewhat distrustful of emotions, but it turns out that similar critiques can be applied to reason and other aspects of human experience. One intriguing emotional word used in the Bible to describe God is "jealous", but elsewhere we read that love is not jealous! This is slightl...

This belated episode explores what it means to "be pleasing to God".  Some disruptions are referenced at the start of the conversation, and others persisted long enough to delay this episode by more than a week (sorry)! Thinking about pleasing God often leads Christians to ponder the corruption of sin - but the Parable of the Lost Sons in Luke 15 is a great way to remember that sin doesn't elimina...

Is anger incompatible with love?  This question from the quarterly introduction leads in many productive directions. It comes up in this context because many Christian traditions picture God's justice as somehow being associated with His anger. We explore a few lines of thinking about anger and love, and also have a preliminary go at the related question "How do Love and Justice go together?"

We start a new season looking at the God of Love and Justice.  There's a lot in Christian history that suggests love and justice are somehow opposing attributes of God. We suspect this may not be the case, and in this introductory episode on this theme we tackle a few of the questions in the Sabbath School introduction. When discussing God's love, Isaiah 53:11 is a helpful reminder that there does...

It is important to focus on the resurrection as we conclude an exploration of John's gospel.  This is a well-known passage, but worth revisiting. It is interesting that nobody seems to recognise the resurrected Jesus at first encounter, and we explore some other aspects of this chapter.

John's gospel includes an extensive interaction with Pilate as part of the crucifixion story.  There may be no "book of Pilate" in the Bible, but there are some interesting aspects of this character worth exploring. There are themes of power, control, and God's mission. This is not the most important part of Jesus going to the cross, but we turn to it as a stimulus for good conversation.

How can it be best for the followers of Jesus if He goes away?  This is a simple statement Jesus makes in John 16, but it seems at first glance quite counterintuitive. The answer hinges in the text on the Advocate who is to come, and we explore this idea. We apologise for this episode being published a week late!

We look at seven "I am" statements from Jesus in the gospel of John.  It is interesting to see some patterns in these various passages. People listening typically have difficulty accepting what Jesus is saying, and there's plenty to ponder in what he claims to be. We end up realising the importance of not just "having truth", but finding effective ways to express it.

John loves the phrase "eternal life", but what does it tell us?  This phrase in John serves a similar role as the phrase "Kingdom of God" in the synoptic gospels. We explore how these different phrases can help inform each other, and land on some challenges that arise from this theme. There's even a touch of mystical mathematics!

It is interesting to explore how Jesus fulfills themes and concepts from the Old Testament.

"Blessed are those who believe" sounds wonderful, but what does it really look like?  The resurrection of Lazarus is a fantastic story, and features in quite positive detail two characters who are typically maligned: Thomas and Martha. We explore their actions and statements in this story to ponder what it might look like to be blessed for believing.

Is the majority usually wrong?  The lesson study guide this week poses this idea as a comfort for people who feel like they are in the minority, like Adventism is within Christianity on some issues. Ironically, denominations mean that "minorities" tend to cluster together into communities of worship where they can feel the sense of belonging that is enjoyed by a majority. We explore this idea thro...

The Samaritan woman at the well prompts us to explore the role of testimony.  We spend some time rehabilitating this woman's reputation somewhat, and exploring how Jesus interacts with her. There is power in her testimony and "many from the village believed", but what about her experience and proclamation was so compelling?

John 1 records this strong and confident statement as a profound witness of Jesus as Messiah.  The story is about Jesus calling his early disciples, and them also calling others. It seems at first glance that they really "got it", calling Jesus "the Son of God—the King of Israel!” And yet, we know from the rest of the story that they were regularly confused by Jesus and his actions. It seems possi...

Analogies are so compelling that we need to be careful to keep them the right way around.  Humans are story-telling creatures and so good analogies and narratives captivate us. The opening "prologue" of John's gospel introduces many of the central themes that reappear throughout the book. Perhaps it is possible to get things mixed up if we end up focussing more on the analogy than on Christ himsel...

What features of a miracle make it a "sign of divinity"?  The well-known story in John 6 tells about Jesus miraculously feeding the 5000, and it seems an interesting context to explore the nature of God.

A well-known miracle makes us think a bit harder about "signs".  The healing at the Pool of Bethesda is a great story, but the more we look at it the more questions arise. One obvious one is why just this man was healed when there were 5 covered porches of "sick crowds" by the pool. It is also fascinating that John records this miracle as a sign that can help believers maintain confidence in Chris...

Jesus is risen, go and tell!  The Book of Mark seems to have multiple endings, and the earliest manuscripts lack the final few paragraphs we typically find in our bibles. There's a lot to ponder in the resurrection story, but it turns out that the original ending to Mark is not perhaps as abrupt as it first appears.

In John 3:16 we find that God gave himself for us.  In 1 John 3:16 we find that we are to give ourselves for others.  The cross is not just the center of our own salvation story, it is a call for us to embrace the suffering that comes when we live to establish God's kingdom by sharing His love. 

The Last Supper is a remarkable overlap of ritual and routine.  The menu for the meal recorded in this chapter was almost certainly quite familiar everyday food for Jesus and his disciples, and yet it was also a Passover meal with deep historical and ritual significance. This same juxtaposition shows up in the various ways that Christians celebrate communion - is it the actual body of Christ, or c...

The destruction of the temple seems to be blended here with the end of time, and things are not super clear.  This chapter is almost entirely a sustained speech by Jesus, which is prompted by some observations about the impermanence of the temple. Some of it seems quite specifically about the temple in Jerusalem, and this makes the most sense of some of the details. Other sections sound a lot like...

A number of challenging statements are made in this chapter of Mark.  We focus on the story of Jesus cursing a fig tree, which seems somewhat unfair given that it was not the season for figs. There's something interesting here because when the disciples ask about it Jesus answers with comments about prayer. We find a few connections, but are unable to fully resolve our questions about this passage...

Is it possible that Jesus enhances the gift by allowing Bartimaeus agency in choosing it?  At first it seems almost strange for a proven healer to ask a blind man what he wants, and yet that is the conversation between Jesus and Bartimaeus. We explore this story and some others with similar phrases to ponder the depth of choice and agency that God seems to want embedded in His creation.

A lot happens for the disciples once Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah.  It is fascinating to connect this conversation Jesus has with his disciples with the story of the Transfiguration which happens soon afterwards. The preceding healing of a blind man is the only recorded time that Jesus has to touch twice to heal, and it could be a masterful teaching technique. The disciples are confused...

In an encounter that sounds provocative we learn some deep truths about the Mission of Christ.  We can't fully understand why Jesus responded to the Syrophoenician woman as he did, but her response teaches us as well as His disciples. She understood the vast power of God (thus her request was for mere crumbs), and she reminds us that there were crumbs below the table precisely because the children...