July 24

  [media presentation below]

GospelThink

Thursday, July 24

MATTHEW 13:10-17

Knowledge of the Kingdom

Prayerthoughts

a. “Knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” is given to the apostles, and to a certain extent to us who have accepted Jesus into our lives. In general, do I spend enough time with the Gospels?

b. With the quoting of the axiom, the disciples ought to be people who want to know more about the Scriptures. Do I have the desire to know more about the Scriptures by studying the footnotes of the Bible or a commentary on the Scriptures?

c. The Lord obviously wants me to seek and understand. Do I try to apply the words of the Gospel to the happenings of my life?

d. Isaiah’s prophecy points out that people neglected to take responsibility for their actions. Have I truly acknowledged my sinfulness before the Lord?

e. The true disciple has recognized what Jesus said and meant. Does my recognition come out in the way I act and think?

f. My prayerthoughts…

Today I will read Exodus, chapter 19, and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

BE READY

+ The Book of Exodus uses an interesting phrase as it prepares to give a commentary on receiving the Law of God

- the Lord told the Israelites to “be ready”

- be ready to truly accept what the Lord is going to give

+ We don’t like to do that because oftentimes we would much rather prefer our own ways

- that is, we tend to look at solutions which are really not solutions

- we turn to idols like pleasure, money and power

- we trust in drugs

- we trust in created things rather than trust in God

+ Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel becomes very direct as he talks about himself

- he says to his disciples: blest are your eyes and ears because you have been with me

- with the implicit statement that that should do something for them

+ You and I are not eyewitnesses, but we have chosen Jesus and Christianity by faith

- for a person of faith, that is as good as being an eyewitness

- which says then that our closeness to the Lord ought to do something for us

+ The strongest difficulty that the people of the Hebrew Scriptures—the Israelites here—had to face among his people was the difficulty connected with idolatry

- his Israelite people were easily prone to give themselves to the worship of idols

- interestingly enough, as we have mentioned often, our problem is exactly the same thing

- we have given ourselves over to the work of our hands

- coming in the form of money, pleasure and power

+ If we are to ready ourselves for the Lord to speak us, and give into the idols that we have here

- it may look like we are accomplishing something, but we are not

- if we ready ourselves to truly make the Lord present in our lives,

- it will direct our actions away from the idols of this world.

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him."

Gospelthink: Nicodemus understood what I was all about. Do I spend sufficient time trying to understand the Gospels?

Bruce Wayne/Batman finally discovered his own selfishness in the movie "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" by realizing both his and Superman's love of their human mothers. Then the two heroes could finally work together, but immediately they saw their problem. Lux Luthor had managed to create a monster by use of DNA from himself and the evil General Zod one of Superman's foes in the past. General Zod was much more powerful than Superman and Batman and their newly found friend Prince, a metahuman creature who had been working undercover. Understanding that the creature was subject to defeat only with kryptonite, Superman in a weakened state, took a weapon designed by Luthor with a kryptonite head, and thrust it into the creature. But in his state, Superman could not resist the creature's power and the creature finally subdued and killed Superman even as the creature died. 

The Pharisee named Nicodemus was interested in what Jesus was teaching. He was not ready to endorse him completely because he had his own life as a Pharisee to guide him. But he began wondering about the truth. So he came to Jesus secretly, telling him that his own experience did not seem to agree with the signs that Jesus was doing. He was looking for the truth, however, and he felt therefore that he had to study Jesus and his activity.

The secret of a person who is seeking the truth is that she/he is willing to give up their own desires and wishes in order to discover what is right. As Nicodemus in the Gospels, so also Batman and Superman in the movie: "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." They were seeking the truth; in fact, the truth may have been the only requirement for their existence.

Consequently, when Batman realized that his own research about Superman was flawed, he had to give it up, and admit that he was wrong. And when Superman understood that the truth that would save the world was only something that he could do, and it might mean his death in the process, he had to do it. Truth was the ultimate end point that both heroes wanted. In terms of the title of the movie, it was the only way that justice could be maintained.

Obviously, we are not going to prevent major catastrophes or save the world with what we do. For the most part we are normal people attempting to live our lives in the midst of a very complicated world. Perhaps the one guide that we ought to have is the pursuit of the truth, and as we discover it, to regulate our own selfish desires and thoughts to embrace it.  

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we see the importance of the truth as the people of our earth studied Your Son. May our guide be to seek only the truth, and a willingness to give up our own selfishness to accept it. Be with us, we pray. 

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: We must look beyond our own desires in order to discover the truth. 
      
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 70 minutes)
1. What scene during this session is most striking and why?
2. Gospel and character analysis: How would you describe Nicodemus?
3. Most Scripture scholars think that the Pharisees could not agree with Jesus because Jesus was going against their fundamental beliefs. What is most important for a "belief system" to be true?
4. Why are most people not willing to give up their own desires and thoughts?
5. In your opinion, do most people honestly seek the truth as they make decisions in life? Yes or no and why?
6. Is there any time in which the truth should NOT be a guide for someone? Yes or no and why?
7. Scene analysis: Why was Batman so interested in fighting Superman?
8. Analysis: What was Luthor's desire in releasing the creature and killing Superman?
9. Scene analysis: Superman gave up his life in order to kill the creature, the ultimate sacrifice. In general, do you think that most people would give up their lives to save the world? Yes or no and why?
10. What is the significance of the close of the movie?
11. What does the movie "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" teach young people?