The Aroma of Christ

Read Together: 2 Corinthians 2:12–17  

On Sunday, we reflected on the cost of the mission and the worth of Jesus. The mission of disciples is costly, but Jesus is worth it. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote: “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” Through dying with Christ to our sin, we truly live. In 2 Corinthians 2, the apostle Paul reflected on how this played out in his ministry. 

Paul declares that God, in Christ, is leading him in “triumphal procession.” A triumphal procession in the Roman world was a victory parade through a city where a general marched ahead of a host of defeated enemies. Here, Paul is placing himself in the role of a defeated captive. In Christ, God has conquered Paul and leads him in triumph to spread the knowledge of God around the world.

God leads Christ’s people in triumph to spread the aroma of Christ. And this often includes suffering, as it did for Paul. Paul describes his ministry in chapter 4 as “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies,” (2 Cor 4:10). Paul’s message was the “word of the cross” (1 Cor 1:18), “Christ crucified” (1 Cor 2:2).

For some, this aroma of Christ smelled like death. They could only see the suffering apostle who proclaimed a suffering Savior. But others smelled life! In Christ, we too have become “captives of God,” but this is a liberating captivity.* We are living sacrifices, the aroma of Christ to the world. Some will see our lives and hear the gospel and smell death, but others will smell life and come to know the true life found in trusting Christ and following him in the way of the cross.

Discussion Questions

  1. What does it mean that God leads us in triumphal procession?
  2. How are we the “aroma of Christ” in the world?  
  3. What are some ways you can follow Jesus in the way of the cross this week?

Ideas for Younger Kids

  • Read “Confessing Christ” in The Biggest Story Bible Storybook (pages 354–57). Discuss with your kids who Jesus is as our King and Suffering Servant, who went to the cross to give us life and calls us to follow him in the way of the cross as we trust in him for life. 

Memorization: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 ESV).

Song: Listen to “The Wonderful Cross” (performed by Pat Barrett).

Pray Together

  • Praise God that he has given us life in Christ!
  • Confess before God that we often view Jesus as a means to an end instead of the One we were created to know and love and follow.
  • Give thanks to God that in Christ he always leads us in triumphal procession to spread the knowledge of him in the world.
  • Pray that God would help us to be bold in our mission for Jesus, that as we spread the aroma of Christ in the world through our own suffering and witness to Christ, we would know that Jesus is worth the cost.

Go Together

 

*Dane Ortlund, “2 Corinthians”, in Romans–Galatians, vol. X of the ESV Expository Commentary, p. 432.


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God’s Goodness and Glory

Read Together: Exodus 33:17–34:9  

Our biggest need as followers of Jesus is to know our God more in Christ. A deeper knowledge of God and a sight of his glory banishes our sinful fears and gives us strength to live in the fear of the Lord. On Sunday, we considered what it means to be captivated by a sight of God’s glory and how a bigger view of God helps us drive out our fears. We learned from Moses that we are fearless when we keep the unseen God ever before our eyes.

Moses had a driving desire to see more and more of God’s glory—to see more of the magnitude of who God is. Even after seeing the ten plagues, the crossing of the Red Sea, God’s provision of manna, and the giving of the Law, Moses wanted more. He asks God in Exodus 33:18, “Please show me your glory.” He had seen glimpses of God’s glory before, and he wanted to see more of who God is.

God grants his request. The Lord replies that he will make all his goodness pass before him and proclaim to Moses his divine Name, the LORD (Yahweh). Yet even this display of God’s glory will be limited. Moses, as a sinful human being, cannot get a full glimpse of Yahweh’s face. But he does see in Exodus 34:6–7 another glimpse of God’s beauty and character.

Our God is the God of such glory and beauty that would strike us down dead if we saw it fully in our current sinful state. He is good and just, forgiving and judging, beautiful and fearful. We need this kind of glimpse of the glory of our God as we live on mission for Jesus. We need the desire of Moses every day as we face fears, troubles, anxieties, and suffering. In beholding our God by faith, we grow to love him more, serve him more faithfully, and long for the day when we will see him face to face (Rev 22:4).

Discussion Questions

  1. How does God describe his glorious character in Exodus 34:6–7?
  2. How is Jesus the perfect image or display of this description of God’s character?
  3. How does a glimpse of God’s glory in Christ help us drive out our sinful fears?

Ideas for Younger Kids

  • Read “The Center of the Universe” in The Biggest Story Bible Storybook (pages 512–17). This is a retelling of Revelation 4–5. Discuss with your kids who God is and what Revelation 4–5 teaches us about who God is and how this helps us to love him and live for him without fear.

Memorization: “The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6–7).

Song: Listen to “Show Me Your Glory” (Third Day).

Pray Together

  • Praise God that he is the God of glory and beauty who is infinitely worthy of our lives and our love.
  • Confess before God that we are often captivated by anything but his glory. We are captivated by our sin, our stuff, our fears, and on and on, but we often neglect to look to him and his perfect character.
  • Give thanks to God that he is good and just, forgiving and judging, beautiful and fearful and that in Jesus we can see his glory by faith.  
  • Pray that God would help us to live without fear because his glory has captivated our gaze.

Go Together

  • One of the applications from Sunday’s sermon had to do with how we read the Bible. Often, we read only for practical application. We ask the question: what does this mean for me today? This is not a bad question to ask, but it is not the only question or the main question we should ask. As we read the Bible, we should be asking: what does this teach me about God? How does this give me a glimpse of God’s glory and character, displayed most clearly in Jesus? As a family and as individuals, make a commitment to ask these kinds of God-centered questions first as you read the Bible this week.
  • If it helps, write down the question, “What does this teach me about God?” on a small piece of paper or index card and stick it in your Bible as a bookmark that you’ll see each time you go to read the Bible.

 

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Conspiracies and Fear

Read Together: Isaiah 8:11–15

As we saw on Sunday, Jesus calls us to drive out the fear of people from our hearts and walk in the fear of the Lord. In Isaiah 8:11–15, Isaiah received a similar charge from the Lord for the mission he and his followers had been given. In a time when many were focusing on conspiracies and giving in to fear, God calls Isaiah and the faithful in Judah to fear the Lord.

Isaiah 8:11–15 is set in a time of intense turmoil in Judah (the Southern Kingdom of Israel). They are facing threats from all sides (see 2 Chronicles 28). At the beginning of Isaiah 7, we see that King Ahaz and the people of Judah are shaking with fear when they hear about an alliance between Syria and Israel (the Northern Kingdom) against them. This is a time of wars and rumors of wars, a time of uncertainty and instability. The question is: who will Judah fear and who will Judah trust?

The people of Judah saw conspiracies everywhere (8:12). Some were real. Others were simply rumors. Yet, calling everything a conspiracy led to fear. They came to view the nations around them as bigger and more powerful than the Lord. But God says to Isaiah: Honor the Lord as holy and fear him. The fear of the Lord is the trembling trust in God as the good and sovereign King which leads us to put him first in our lives and obey his Word with a spirit of awe-filled joy and worship.

The fear of people thrives when we focus on conspiracies because it leads to a subtle sense that people and their plots are big and God and his plan is small.* Yet, when we walk in the fear of the Lord, we are not ignorant of opposition to our mission, but we view it in its proper perspective. We trust that God is bigger than any conspiracy or plot against us. And we stay on mission trusting that God will be our sanctuary and the rock of stumbling to those who oppose the gospel.

Discussion Questions

  1. What does it mean to fear people?
  2. What does it mean to fear the Lord?
  3. How does fearing God change how we view what is going on in the world?

Ideas for Younger Kids

  • Read Isaiah 8:11–13. Ask your kids: “What are some things you are afraid of?”
  • Discuss with your kids about how God says that we shouldn’t be afraid when people try to hurt us because we belong to Jesus. We can trust that God will help us and be with us even when people hurt us. But God also says we should fear him. Is this fear like our other fears, like being afraid of the dark or spiders? No, it’s not the same. Fearing God means we believe that he is our all-powerful King and put him first and obey him.  

Memorization: “But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.” (Isaiah 8:13).

Song: Listen to Ancient of Days (CityAlight). “Though the nations rage/ Kingdoms rise and fall/ There is still one king/ Reigning over all/ So I will not fear/ For this truth remains: That my God is, the Ancient of Days.”

Pray Together

  • Praise God that he is the good and sovereign King who rules over all.
  • Confess before God that we sometimes give in to the fear of man and let the rumors of the day turn our gaze from our Holy God.
  • Give thanks to God that he is our refuge and sanctuary as we face opposition to the gospel.
  • Pray that God would help us to honor him as holy and fear him as we live on mission for Jesus this week.

Go Together

  • Discuss together what it would look like for you to walk in the fear of the Lord this week. What does this mean for how you live at work, at school, in your family, or in your community? Write down at least three practical ways you can live in the fear of the Lord in specific areas of your life. Focus on one of those, and consider writing it out as an actionable statement (“We will walk in the fear of the Lord by…”) and putting it in a prominent place in your home.

 

*Author Ed Welch wrote a whole book on this issue of the fear of man and entitled it: When People Are Big and God Is Small.

 
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On Mission for Jesus

Read Together: Acts 26

In Acts 26, Paul stands in chains before a governor and a king and declares the truth about Jesus. In his speech, we see confirmed the words of Jesus in Matthew 10, and we continue to learn about how to stand firmly for Jesus in the face of opposition. Paul describes the mission given to him by Jesus and is a prime example of gracious and bold witness before unbelievers.

Paul begins by telling King Agrippa his testimony: he who once opposed Jesus has now been changed and given a mission from Jesus. This mission is to proclaim Christ crucified and risen from the dead, the source of forgiveness, light, and life and to call all to repent and believe in him. Once he encountered Jesus, Paul did not go on mission begrudgingly but joyfully. We see here in Acts 26 that Paul carried out this mission with a deep desire for people to come to know Jesus for themselves (v. 29).

Now, Paul stands before some of the most powerful men of that time. But he does not shrink back in fear. His testimony before King Agrippa demonstrates both boldness and a careful respect. He does not go about bashing and accusing the king, but he does not flatter either. He boldly asks the king if he believes the prophets, and the king sees that Paul is seeking to lead him to become a Christian (v. 28).

While Paul’s mission was unique in many respects, his mission shares the same foundation as the mission Christ has given all of his people. We who once opposed Jesus are now sent by him to call others to repent and believe in him. By our life and our lips, we are to bear witness to Jesus in the world, come what may. We must be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us, doing so with both boldness and gentleness and respect (1 Pet 3:15).

Discussion Questions

  1. How does Paul describe the mission Jesus had given him?
  2. What is the tone of Paul’s speech? What does this teach us about how we should go about sharing Christ with others?
  3. Do you see yourself on mission for Jesus? What are some ways you can live on mission for Jesus this week, even if it may bring opposition?

Ideas for Younger Kids

  • Read “Paul, Purple Goods, and a Prison Quake” in The Biggest Story Bible Storybook (pages 476–79). Talk with your kids about Paul’s mission and the opposition he faced and how that relates to how we live for Jesus today.

Memorization: “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” (1 Pet 3:15)

Song: Listen to “May the Mind of Christ My Savior” (performed by Norton Hall Band). A prayer for those on mission: “May his beauty rest upon me as I seek the lost to win, and may they forget the channel, seeing only him.”

Pray Together

  • Praise God for his work of bringing us from darkness into the light through Jesus.
  • Confess before God that we are tempted to shirk our mission from Jesus out of fear, anxiety, and lack of faith.
  • Give thanks to God that he meets us in our weakness and gives us strength for this mission through his Spirit.  
  • Pray that God would give us boldness and wisdom in seeking to share Christ with others and as we seek to serve him this week.

Go Together

  • Revisit Question #3 above: What are some ways you can live on mission for Jesus this week, even if it may bring opposition? Discuss together some practical ways you can live on mission in your spheres of family, work, community, church ministries, and so on, and commit to one specific thing or practice you can do this week to live on mission for Jesus.
 

Artwork: Vasily Surikov, The Apostle Paul Explains the Tenets of His Faith in the Presence of King Agrippa, his Sister Veronica, and Proconsul Festus, 1875, Common Domain. Link: Wikipedia.

 
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He Is Risen

Read: Mark 16:1–8

For younger children, consider reading “Jesus Lives” in The Biggest Story Bible Storybook (pages 426–31).

 

Reflect

Sunday dawned. The women came to the tomb expecting to find a heavy stone to move and a corpse to anoint. But the stone is rolled away! They meet an angel who declares that there is no corpse there. Jesus is not there—he has risen from the dead! He’s alive! The news of Jesus’s resurrection is the news we all need today and every day. It’s the centerpiece of our faith, without which all of our hopes crumble.

Jesus’s resurrection means that the Father has accepted the sacrifice of the Son, Jesus is victorious over evil, and we too have hope of a future resurrection when Christ returns. This is what Easter Sunday means! Let’s celebrate this together today and live as people of the Risen King.

Reflection Questions:

1. What do these verses teach us about Jesus?

2. What do they teach us about our response to Jesus?

Some songs for Easter:

Pray

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21)


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Dead and Buried

Read: Mark 15:33–47

For younger children, consider reading “The Sun Stops Shining” in The Jesus Storybook Bible (pages 302–09).

 

Reflect

Jesus’s death was accompanied by several powerful signs. Darkness covered the land at noon. The curtain of the temple was torn in two. A Roman centurion confessed that Jesus is the Son of God. These signs point us to the reality that Jesus in his death has endured the judgment of God (signified by the darkness) to restore our relationship with God (tearing of the temple curtain) for all who trust in him as God’s Son. Jesus breathed his last to breathe new life into the dead. He was buried to rescue those in the realm of spiritual death. He has conquered “death by death,” the grave through the grave. Jesus died and was buried. Yet, Sunday is coming, the day that guarantees that all these things are true!

Reflection Questions:

1. What do these verses teach us about Jesus?

2. What do they teach us about our response to Jesus?

Listen to: It Was Finished Upon That Cross” (CityAlight)

Pray

Holy God, we thank you for the sacrifice of your Son that brings us forgiveness, a right relationship with you, and our great hope of salvation through faith in Jesus. We ask that you would today bolster our faith, that we would confess with our lips and our life that Jesus is the Son of God. Help us to follow him in the way of the cross, dying to our sin that by faith we might know new life.


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Crucified for Rebels

Read: Mark 15:1–32

For younger children, consider reading “The Snake Crusher Is Crushed for Us” in The Biggest Story Bible Storybook (pages 418–25).

 

Reflect

Good Friday is a day we remember that Jesus was crucified as a rebel, with rebels, for rebels. The official charge against Jesus before the Roman government was that he was claiming to be a king, an act of rebellion against Rome. With Jesus’s death-sentence, Barabbas, a popular revolutionary and rebel was set free. They hung Jesus on a cross between two rebels (probably a better translation than “robbers”).

Jesus went to the cross for rebels against God like you and me. Each of us is born into the revolution of the darkness against the light. Yet, Jesus came and took the just sentence of death that we rebels deserved so that when we trust in him, we might be set free. Good Friday is good because it is a day in which God’s gracious love for rebels is displayed in the sacrifice of the Son.

Reflection Questions:

1. What do these verses teach us about Jesus?

2. What do they teach us about our response to Jesus?

Listen to: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” (Norton Hall Band)

Pray

My Father,

Enlarge my heart, warm my affections, 

    open my lips, 

  supply words that proclaim ‘Love lustres [shines]

    at Calvary.’ 

There infinite punishment was due, 

  and infinite punishment was endured. 

Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy, 

  cast off that I might be brought in, 

  trodden down as an enemy 

    that I might be welcomed as a friend, 

  surrendered to hell’s worst 

    that I might attain heaven’s best, 

  stripped that I might be clothed, 

  wounded that I might be healed, 

  athirst that I might drink, 

  tormented that I might be comforted, 

  made a shame that I might inherit glory, 

  entered darkness that I might have eternal light. 

O Father, who spared not thine only Son that thou 

    mightest spare me, 

All this transfer thy love designed and 

    accomplished; 

Help me to adore thee by lips and life. 

Go forth, O conquering God, and show me 

  the cross, mighty to subdue, comfort and save.

Selections from the prayer “Love Lustres at Calvary” in The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions (Click the link for the full prayer).


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Jesus on Trial

Read: Mark 14:53­–72

For younger children, consider reading “Everyone Leaves Jesus” in The Biggest Story Bible Storybook (pages 412­–17).

 

Reflect

In these two scenes surrounding Jesus’s arrest and trial, we find an important contrast. Jesus speaks boldly when confronted about his identity. He confesses that he is the Messiah, the Son of God and Son of Man, and that the high priest himself will one day witness his authority and power. Peter, on the other hand, denies Jesus and his own identity as a disciple of Jesus. Jesus stands boldly before the power of the Jewish religious leaders. Peter caves to the pressure of a servant girl. In this contrast, we see our hope. Jesus stands boldly where all others fall away. Our hope is not in what we can do for Jesus, but in what he has done for us.

Reflection Questions:

1. What do these verses teach us about Jesus?

2. What do they teach us about our response to Jesus?

Listen to: Hallelujah, What a Savior!” (Chris Rice)

Pray

Jesus, you are the Son of God and Son of Man. Please forgive us for when we have denied you in our words and in our lives. Forgive us for when we have given in to fear and remained silent when we should have confessed your Name. Thank you for standing boldly when all others ran away. Help us to know more of your power and submit daily to your authority. Amen. 


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Sorrow in the Garden

Read: Mark 14:32–52

For younger children, consider reading, “A Dark Night in the Garden” in The Jesus Storybook Bible (pages 294–301).

 

Reflect

In the garden, Jesus experienced intense sorrow, immense emotional pain. His grief drives him to his Father in prayer. His main request is that if it is possible the Father would take away the cup he is about to drink. What is this cup? The Old Testament helps us here. We read in Isaiah 51:17 and other places about “the cup of God’s wrath” that he pours out upon the wicked. That’s the cup Jesus must drink. He will experience the torment of God’s wrath, the pain of relational distance from his Father. He will experience his Father’s frown so that we might know the Father’s smile. This is what Jesus endured for you. There was no other way.

Reflection Questions:

1. What do these verses teach us about Jesus?

2. What do they teach us about our response to Jesus?

Listen to: See the Destined Day Arise” (Kenwood Music)

Pray

Jesus, our Lord, you were rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. You have borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. You were pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquities. Words cannot capture the praise that is due to you. But we humbly thank you and give you all our allegiance and faith. Fill us with your Spirit today that we might walk in the newness of life you purchased for us when you drained the cup of your Father’s wrath for us. Amen. (Isa 53:3-6).


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The Last Supper

Read: Mark 14:22–31

For younger children, consider reading, “A Meal for the Ages” in The Biggest Story Bible Storybook (pages 408–411).

 

Reflect

As Jesus eats his final meal with the disciples before the cross, he uses the bread and the cup of the Passover meal as signs that signify what his death means. His body will be broken, given up for his people. His blood will be poured out for many and will ratify the new covenant between God and his people (Heb 8). Jesus’s body was broken, his blood poured out. And now through faith in him, we are heirs of promises of glory and hope beyond imagination. Come to Jesus today and remember his broken body and blood poured out for you and walk in renewed faith and hope in him.   

Reflection Questions:

1. What do these verses teach us about Jesus?

2. What do they teach us about our response to Jesus?

Listen to: “Behold the Lamb (Communion Hymn)” (Keith & Kristyn Getty)

 

Pray

Gracious Lord and Father, we praise and thank you for sending your Son for us, to be broken and bloodied on the cross for our salvation. Help us to remember his broken body and blood poured out that we might be strengthened in our experience of your abundant mercy. We ask that you would help us to walk in a renewed faith and hope in Jesus today and his sacrifice. Amen.


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