Thursday, Sept. 27, Psalm 19

Today we will ascend to greatness and consider Psalm 19. Here are a few study questions.

1. The Church teaches that God created the universe by His word, according to His wisdom. Does this concept appear in Psalm 19?
2. The second half of the psalm describes the Torah. Is there something in the first half that describes Jesus or the Gospel?
3. Is there something about the message of Jesus that is inescapable to any man, woman or child, something that no man escapes?
4. Does Jesus' view of the Torah lead to the conversion of souls?
5. The precepts or statutes of the Lord lead to rejoicing of the heart, but federal and state statutes are about crimes and misdemeanors, so how can the Lord's statutes lead to rejoicing? And by the way, how many statutes are on the books of the Lord?
6. WHAT THE --?! Fear endures forever? That does not seem quite right -- or does it?
7. In Acts 3, St. Peter with St. John mentions gold and silver by the "Beautiful Gate" of the temple. How does that series of events relate to God's judgements?
8. To whom will the Day of Judgement be sweet? To whom will it be bitter?
9. What makes sins hard to "detect," hard to comprehend?
10. What was the worst, most horrendous sin ever committed? Is it possible for a man to be complicit with that sin, even now?
11. How would Peter, the Rock, have prayed this psalm?

Let's have some coffee and talk it over, seeing deeper into the perfect Torah of freedom.

James 2

Questions for chapter 2 of James:

1. 
   Why are good works an essential part of Christian faith?
2. James remarks in v. 19 that even the demons believe. What does that mean for a Christian who seeks to be obedient to God?
3. If faith without works is dead, then is it similar to bodily death?

Get going with James 1

Here are some study questions for starting to read in the epistle of James:

1. In Proverbs, wise King Solomon says that the fear of Lord is the beginning of wisdom. How does the fear of the Lord arise in the soul?
2. What part of the Our Father jives with the challenge of James, that we ask God for wisdom?
3. 
   Is a trial, mentioned in v. 2, the same as a temptation, mentioned in vv. 12-14?
4. Was Jesus ever tempted?
5. James admonishes us, saying that we must not "test" God the Father, in the sense of asking God to prove Himself. What is this testing? If you are in a trial of some kind, what would you want God to prove about Himself?
6. The Church teaches that "the family should live in such a way that its members learn to care and take responsibility for the young, the old, the sick, the handicapped, and the poor." Would James have agreed with that?

There is a lot to learn in this beautiful writing. Let's have some coffee on Thursday morning, 7 AM, and then gaze into this perfect Torah of freedom.

Finish ch. 24, dip forward to ch. 25 of Matthew's gospel.

We will take one more look into chapter 24 of Matthew's gospel early this Thursday morning, and then we will dip forward to chapter 25. Here are a few questions to use for studying and thinking ahead:

1. Is the fig tree here in chapter 24 a parable or something else?
   
2. Does this sprouting of the fig tree occur before, during or after the destruction of Jerusalem?
   
3. What would it be like, to be in the Lord's summertime?
   
4. Do fig trees always behave in this manner, sprouting leaves and so forth? How does that help Jesus form the Twelve?
   
5. Jesus is the Lord, the Alpha and the Omega. All time and all the ages belong to Him. Yet how is it that Jesus does not know the hour and day of His coming to the gates?
   
6. "A person who is damned to hell is damned because of the entire history of his entire family." ←← True or false?
   
7. "A person who is damned to hell can actually be damned accidentally, through no fault of their own." ←← True or false?
   
8. "Hell is temporary." ←← True or false?
   
9. In America, we hold that all men are created equal. Does this apply to the talents that each man has?
   
10. Why does God give talents in the way that He does?
    
11. When you enter God's joy, what will you be placed in charge of?
    
    
    

We can look into the perfect Torah of freedom, God's word, by thinking over these questions and discussing it all early on Thursday morning.

The eye of the needle

My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.
My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you
My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.

- St. Nicholas of Flüe
CCC 226

Here are some questions with which to prepare for Thursday morning's look into Matthew 19:

1. In verses 17 and 21, Jesus unfolds a double reply to the rich young man. How is keeping the Commandments related to following the Messiah?
2. St. Nicholas of Flüe left a beautiful prayer for totally giving himself to God. Does it weaken a person if God takes these things away that Nicholas prays about?
3. Did Mary ever experience this unburdening, this taking away of things?
4. Did Elijah ever experience this unburdening, this taking away of things?

That is a short set of four good questions for tomorrow morning, plenty to think over. We will begin with these early tomorrow morning.

Little ones and their safety

About the little ones, to whose safety Jesus assigns us, St. John Chrysostom wrote an analogy with soldiers in battle:

Straightway as we come out of our house, let us have this one object in view, this earnest care above all, to rescue him that is in danger...For in a war too, and in an engagement, the soldier who is looking to this only how he may save himself by flight, destroys the rest also with himself; much as on the other hand the noble-minded one, and he who stands in arms in defense of the others, with the others preserves himself also.

Big Sixteen

The 16th chapter of Matthew's gospel is loaded with useful, wise information. Here are a few questions to start the study of this big sixteenth chapter.

1. In Matt. 13:58, Jesus does not work many wonders when his townsmen reject his actions and teachings. Is that episode similar to the beginning of Matthew 16, where Jesus leaves them looking for the sign of Jonah?
2. Does asking for a sign tell you anything about the faith of the Pharisees and Sadducees?
3. Is there a time when Jesus has appeared or shall appear with great signs from Heaven? Why aren't signs kosher now, at this point in the walk of Jesus?
4. Jesus had just fed multitudes twice with miraculous provision of regular food. Was that a sign?
5. Would the Pharisees and Sadducees have understood what the sign of Jonah was?
6. Uh oh. In v. 5, the Twelve discover that, once again, they do not have bread. What is it with these guys that they have such bread troubles? How many bread troubles are there in this gospel, anyway?
7. Jesus figures that the multiplications of loaves should have been fresh in their minds, but they could not comprehend the meaning of it. How does Jesus' multiplication of loaves relate to the false teaching of the Pharisees and Saducees, as Jesus implies?
8. When Jesus asks the Twelve. "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" what is remarkable about what he finds? Is it a sign?
9. Does seeing a true sign with accuracy help one to become a doer of the Word?

Let's gaze into God's perfect Torah of freedom tomorrow morning and see what can be made of this business of the signs.

Comments from the men concerning Jesus' offer of two laws to follow and carry out, vs. a huge pile of religious laws piled on top of God's Torah.

Follow up questions

Last Thursday, we tackled four question from chapter 8, but we still have a few more to look over, plus a few new ones to follow up on that discussion:

11. How many times in this chapter does Matthew use the verb, to follow?
12. If you follow Jesus for healing, is that the same as following him for obedience, as a disciple?
13. How do you, as an individual, follow Jesus or not follow him?
    1. like the crowds?
    2. like a disciple?
    3. like the two men from the tombs?
    4. like the centurion?
    5. like the swineherds?
    6. like the town's people

Let's tackle these questions tomorrow, gazing into the perfect Torah of freedom, as we work harder and harder at becoming doers of the Word.

Amos 8 requires some questions.

When you read the 8th chapter of Amos, you will be faced with some interesting questions:

1. Does the fruit mentioned here stand for the northern kingdom of Israel?
2. Compare the nature of songs mentioned in Amos with Psalm 119:54. How would you describe the difference?
3. In present day Israel, where is Dan in relation to Beer-Sheba?
4. After reading v. 7, one has to ask, does God ever forget our sins? Is this good or bad?
5. Which is the greater trouble, earthquake or famine of God's word?

Amos proclaims a message concerning Israel's fidelity to the perfect law of freedom. It is a deep river and wide, but these questions get us at least to dip our toes into the stream.

Amos 2

It behooves us to work with some of these questions during our walk through the 2nd chapter of Amos this morning:

1. How is it that Amos saw this message in a vision? What did Amos see?
2. What is the relationship between Israel and Judah?
3. How does the Church relate to Abraham's people, Israel?
4. Think of the three faithful Israelites whose words of praise we repeat every day: Zechariah, Mary and >Simeon. What would Amos have said about a nation made of Zechariahs, Marys and Simeons?
5. What is a nazirite?
6. What is the common property of the weapons and fighting men mentioned in vv. 15 and 16?
7. What was the view of Amos concerning the corporal works of mercy?

Let's have a cup of coffee and start here as we see into this wisdom from our God, the perfect Torah of freedom.

Images: (1) BBC, Mark Ormrod with fellow Gumpathon runner, marine Jamie Jobson, in Maryland; (2) Air Force Times, Marine Corps Marathon, 2009.

Hebrews 7 questions for Thursday, Aaron and Melchizedek.

Here are a few questions for getting your mind to focus on the section of Hebrews we will study on Thursday, Hebrews 7.

1. Why do the priests of the order of Aaron receive tithes?
2. Was Melchizedek a Jew or a Gentile?
3. In v. 20, the author says that the priests in the order of Aaron did not become priests with an oath. How is that these men became priests in the order of Aaron?
4. What was the central event in history by which the priesthood of the order of Aaron was begun?
5. What was the founding document of the Aaron priesthood?
6. Jesus, priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, is quite busy in Heaven... doing what?
7. How does the common priesthood of the faithful fit into all this?

I hope we will get to question 7 Thursday morning, because it is the reason God sent us this part of the perfect law of freedom.

How does love comprehend faith and works?

We discussed the relationship between faith and works yesterday morning. Here is a short discussion that wraps it up well.

What we talked about

Joe and Ken made some important connections between the events in this part of Marks gospel.

1. Jesus teaches with authority about the Torah, the Law, and what is clean, because God is the author of the Torah.
2. Ben16 says that Jesus is, himself, God's living Torah, and as such the Torah was meant to be universal.
3. Joe connected the Syrophoenician woman and her daughter to the universality of the Torah.
4. We read through Peter's dream, Acts 10:9-17, about the sheet lowered down from heaven with clean and unclean animals.
5. Ken pointed out that Jesus uses signs, frequently with the humble things of Creation, so that everybody can see what is happening. He does not just send an email.
6. Joe sees the deaf, mute man as a parable for the Twelve and for all of us. How can we spread the Lord's message unless
   1. we hear the message and
   2. speak clearly to others about the message?

Questions for next time, September 10

This Thursday morning, we will look right into the heart of the matter, Jesus and the Torah, in Mark 7. As you get time, think over these questions:

1. Isaiah the prophet has something to say in this matter. What does God want instead of lip service from his people?
2. Are the Twelve acting like gospel experts yet?
3. Where is another place in the New Testament where the Lord gives Peter an experience that helps him to address the matter of clean and unclean?
4. Who initiates the parable of the children and the dogs? Who shows mastery of the parable?
5. What is unusual about Jesus touching the deaf man's ears and tongue?
6. John's gospel focuses on signs, but so does Mark. Why is this important?

You are not required to write down your answers, like a homework assignment, but you are required to think over the message from Mark and be ready for the Holy Spirit to help you early on Thursday morning.

Torah and a flesh-and-blood person

From Ben16's recent book, Jesus of Nazareth, p. 148 and p. 169.

The Decalogue is not, as we have seen, some burden imposed upon man from the outside. It is a revelation of the essence of God himself... and hence it is an exegesis of the truth of our being.

...Jesus, who is himself God's living Torah.

This reminds me of John's gospel, chapter 1, which we read in mid-July.