1. Hope and Change, God’s Way Hope and Change, God’s Way Lesson 2 Matthew 4:18 – 5:16 Hope in the Gospels March 7, 2010

2. I.Introduction to Lesson 2 A.The apparent absence of hope in the gospels B.The problem: Not the absence of hope, but hope of the wrong kind C.A new way of thinking through the gospels II.Hope prior to our Lord’s public ministry A.400 years of silence B.The birth of John the Baptist 1.Zacharias is speechless (Luke 1:5-23) 2.The naming of John (Luke 1:57-79) C.The birth of Jesus 1.Angels and shepherds (Luke 2:8-20) 2.Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:22-38) 3.Magi (Matthew 2:1-12)

3. D.Jesus in the temple at 12 (Luke 2:41-52) III.Hope and the public ministry of Jesus A.Jesus and John the Baptist 1.Jesus’ baptism (John 1:29-34) 2.“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 3:1-2; 4:17). 3.John’s doubts (Matthew 11:1-6) B.Jesus calls His disciples 1.Putting off some (Luke 9:57-62) 2.Choosing and calling the 12 a.The promise of His presence (Mark 3:14) b.The promise of provision (Luke 5:1-11) c.The assurance of power (Matthew 10)

4. d.The promise of present blessings – relationships (Mark 10:30) e.The promise of future blessings (12 thrones, eternal life – Mark 10:29-30) f.The promise of persecution (Matthew 10:16ff.; Mark 10:30) C.The problem with John and Jesus’ disciples 1.Equating future blessings with present circumstances (or focusing one’s hope on the present). 2.Confusing physical, earthly blessings with heavenly blessings (see Hebrews 11:13-16) 3.This foreshadows the same confusion among the masses of that day.

5. D.Jesus and the masses 1.Withholding hope – religious leaders 2.Giving hope – to the hopeless: sinners, the suffering, the sick, demonized 3.Dealing with false hope a.Teaching 1)Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:7) 2)Gentiles (Luke 4:16-30) 3)Cost of discipleship ( Matt. 10; Luke 9) 4)Parables (Matt. 13) 5)John 6 – Bread of Life 6)Upper Room (John 13-17) 7)Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24-25)

6. b.Minimizing the spectacular 1)Restricted miracle ministry (Mark 1:35-39) 2)Jesus silenced the demons (Luke 4:41) 3)Private miracles Mark 1:43-44 (leper – tell no one/go to priest) Mark 7:31-36 (deaf man – took aside/don’t tell anyone) Mark 8:22-26 (blind man – don’t go back to village) Luke 8:49-56 (official’s daughter – put everyone out but parents and the 3) c.Only occasional visits to Jerusalem (John)

7. E.What happened to hope after the Triumphal Entry? 1.The masses – why they chose Barabbas 2.The disciples – why they fled & forsook F.New hope as a result of the resurrection IV.Conclusion Copyright © 2010 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited PowerPoint presentation of Lesson 2 in the series, Hope and Change, God’s Way, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh for March 7, 2010. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.