Queen's Road Cell

1. Explain Jesus' prayer in 22:42. What does it reveal about Him? Jesus had a human will. Jesus willingly, freely, consented to death, unlike the sacrifical animals of the OT with no say in the matter. He had a choice. We, too can choose to be obedient to do the will of the Father when we are faced with difficult choices. The 'cup' speaks of suffering and God's wrath (cf. Ps. 11:6; Isa. 51:17; Ezek. 23:33) The custom of the time was to pray standing with the eyes raised to heaven (cf. 18:11, 13), but here Jesus knelt down. He 'fell on his face' (Mt 26:39).   The word 'agony' (Gk agonia ) is found here only in the New Testament. Jesus not only faced death, but the bearing of sin (2 Cor. 5:21) and abandonment by His Father (Mark 14:34) . The bloody sweat may or may not be literal .   Luke tells us that he first instructed the disciples to pray, 'that you may not enter into temptation'. This last word may mean temptation to sin, or, as some take it...

11. One purpose of Jesus' baptism was that He might identify fully with man. How did His temptation fulfill a similar purpose (see Hebrews 2:18; 4:15)?   To suffer in his humanity, as humans suffer.  To sympathise with our weaknesses.   In a sense, Jesus was unable to sin, or the plan of redemption of God would have failed. But He had a human nature that was fully subject to the chance of falling into temptation. In His sinlessness He bore the full force of the temptation because He did not give way to it. We do not feel a struggle against sin if we continually give in to it, just like we will never feel the weight of a load if we let it drop the moment it is placed on us. 12. a. In all three temptations, Satan intended to entice Jesus to grasp by His own power what the Father planned to give in His own time (see Phil 2:6-9). In what specific area was Jesus asked to disobey His Father in each of the three temptations? 4:3-4     Physical need (hunger) 4:...

Joyce mentioned how we do it tend to think of Jesus as a “superhero” whose life we model after - unlike David, or Daniel or Joseph. This is even though we see David’s imperfections, whereas Jesus had no imperfections.  This is because we tend to think of Him as ‘God’ and therefore not so vulnerable to temptation. And yet we only experience the full power of temptation when we resist it without giving in. Unlike Jesus, who resisted every sort of temptation like us (Heb 4:15)  we are like someone who tries to carry a heavy weight and then lets it down immediately when it becomes too heavy, unlike the Lord who bore the full burden without ever letting it down.\ I asked if it is the 'norm' for Christian couples to have children. Younger couples nowadays may not have a strong parental instinct and will often see children as an option. Scripture teaches us that: The marriage mandate is not only about companionship (Gen 2:18), but procreation (Gen 1:28). In both OT and NT, child...

I was blessed by the Church Camp! I learned that marriage is not (just) for the husband and wife, but to demonstrate God to a watching world. Marriage is evangelism. We are observed as we share ministry and share our homes with both Christians and non-Christians. There is the challenge to intentionally open our home more and more for this, and to 'adopt' those who may not have Christian parents. Home is the most difficult place to be a Christian! Home is not just a place to 'be ourselves' where we drop our masks. It is training ground for godliness. We need to speak gracious words to one another at home - words each of us does not deserve. I was reminded too, how little I know of Joyce's giftings and abilities and how I should be intentionally helping her develop them. I remember Herbert speaking about the blessing of Ephraim ("God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction") and Manasseh ("God has made me forget all my hardship"). I...

Great time hearing the experiences of Josh, Winnie and Qin Ying overseas on their mission trips. My takeaway is that greatness in the Kingdom is measured by how childlike we are (Matt 18:4) We discussed the topic "Lead us not into temptation". On one hand, it appears that God never does that (When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone, James 1:13). So if He doesn't, why pray that He not? Then we read that "Jesus  was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." (Matt 4:1), which seems to contradict this idea...! The Greek word 'periasmos' can mean either a 'trial' or a 'temptation'. Which of these translations is preferred at any time in the NT solely depends on the context in which it is used. The same situation is both trial and temptation. God does lead us into trials, and we are to rejoice when we face them (James 1:2). He does this to ...