Go to the source! Discover what the Bible says about …
These pages are designed to aid study or investigation for Christian discipleship through individual Bible study, Cell groups, Home groups, or meeting one to one. The questions could be used alone allowing each person to use their own Bible.
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Lead us not into temptation
Introduction
Jesus’ teaching on the the kingdom is scattered throughout the first three gospels. It is not a structured set of teaching but a scattering of profound challenges to the way we see and live life. I have organised them along the structure of the Lord’s prayer which brings together most of the elements.
On this page is a short summary of Jesus teaching for each of the main elements. At that point there is a pointer to a page which will give a more exhaustive view.
Bible Zone
- Our Father - King Jesus directs attention and prayer to our Father.
- Hallowed be your name - The values of the king, summarised by holiness.
- Your kingdom come - We work to extend the reach of the kingdom.
- Your will be done - The kingdom is worked out in obedience that comes from within.
- Give us this day - We look to the king to provide for us each day.
- Our daily bread - Jesus himself, broken for us is our bread.
- Forgive us - We need to be reconciled to the king.
- As we forgive - The king looks for us to forgive as we are forgiven.
- Lead us not into temptation - Testing abounds in life. We look for protection
- Deliver us from evil - The king has an enemy. We need protection from him.
Our Father
Hallowed by your name
A time of testing is a time when the reality of who we are and what we value is exposed. In this text we see someone who outwardly and with his words expresses complete devotion, until he is asked to let his beliefs be seen in his actions.
- How does the young man express his passion?
- How does the young man press Jesus into the place where he will be tested?
- What is the issue in the young man’s life that is exposed by testing?
- What is the link between the test that Jesus sets before him and treasure in the Kingdom?
Mark 10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
Your Kingdom come
The kingdom is offered to many, but whereas many presume that they would want it, when it comes to the actual decision it is another matter.
- What does the banquet in the Kingdom of God represent?
- Over time, to whom was an invitation to the banquet extended?
- What excuses were offered by those who were invited at first?
- What excuses are offered by people in our day?
- In what way is the invitation a test?
Luke 14:15-24 Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, "What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet* in the Kingdom of God!"
16 Jesus replied with this story: "A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations.17 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, 'Come, the banquet is ready.'18 But they all began making excuses. One said, 'I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.'19 Another said, 'I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.'20 Another said, 'I now have a wife, so I can't come.'
21 "The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, 'Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.'22 After the servant had done this, he reported, 'There is still room for more.'23 So his master said, 'Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.24 For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.'"
Give us this day
Our Daily Bread
Forgive us
As we forgive
Lead us not into temptation
Whatever is our wealth, whether it is money or gifting or relationships or … This is often the area that keeps us from the Kingdom. When these things become a wedge between ourselves and God, it is often then that we find ourselves in the place of testing.
- What did Jesus say would keep a person from entering the Kingdom?
- Why would our riches keep us from the Kingdom?
- What is Jesus’ solution to the challenges of such a test?
- What are the rewards for those who have given up their wealth?
Mark 10:23-31 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Deliver us from evil
Your Will be done
The king is not looking for mere words but for action. Often it is the challenge to act that is the point of testing that the Lord brings us to.
- What contrast did Jesus make between the senior religious figures and tax collectors and prostitutes?
- What does Jesus identify as being needed to enter the Kingdom?
- What does it mean, to repent and believe?
- How can something so simple be such a challenging test?
Matthew 21:23, 28-32
23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him …
28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
It might seem that Jesus is concerned only for what happens in a person’s heart. This encounter however continues, and Jesus points to the fruit of belief -
- What did Jesus say was going to happen to the religious leaders?
- Why did Jesus say this was going to happen?
- To whom is the Kingdom to be entrusted?
- What does it mean to produce the fruit of the kingdom?
- What do you think Jesus meant when he said the Kingdom would be taken from them?
Matthew 21:42-46 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.