Group Guide

August 13th, 2023

This Week's City 7:

3. Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Since “all have sinned” and the “wages of sin is death,” Jesus had to die on the cross to pay the fine for my sin so I could be right with God.
(Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:21-23, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:1-6; Colossians 1:13-14, 21-22)

Ice-Breaker:

Talk about a time you had a "rage monster" moment that Clayton talked about, when you wanted to defend someone you love who was being hurt or mistreated.

Discussion Questions:

Have someone read Luke 23:1-56 aloud.

In verse 8, we see that Herod was excited to meet this guy, Jesus, that he had heard so much about. He wanted to see the show, witness a miracle firsthand. It's obvious that Herod likes talking about religious things. He's entertained by it. Jesus responds by refusing to answer any of his questions. How many people in our culture are like this? How many are curious about religious things or want to be lightly entertained by religious activity but have no interest in actually taking up their cross and following Him?
As Jesus is heading up to the crucifixion site, and as Simon is carrying the cross for Him, He turns and addresses the many grief-stricken women that were following along. He stops and looks at them and tells them that if they understood at all what had been going on, they would not be weeping for HIM but for THEMSELVES because of the judgment that was about to come upon their nation. Jesus was saying, "You think MY judgement is bad? Just wait until evil is punished." If God does this in judging His own Son for the sake of forgiveness, what will His judgement look like on those who reject His offer? The real tragedy is those that don't choose deliverance, life and forgiveness. The failure to choose correctly about Jesus has grave consequences. Do you carry with you an urgency and a burden for those in your life that don't know Jesus? If not, why not?
Can you imagine watching your child, or someone that you love, enduring the things that Jesus did? Think about have to sit back and watch an innocent child getting berated, mocked, punched, spat on, humiliated, whipped, beaten, and ultimately murdered. This is the position God was in as evil people had their way with the Holy One. What does it say about the grace of God that He didn't incinerate for all eternity the earth and everyone one in it at that very moment? What can we learn from His gracious and patient example?
Verse 45 we see that the veil in the Holy of Holies was torn down the middle, from top to bottom. The veil was a thick, heavy curtain in the temple that separated God's presence from the rest of the temple. It symbolized the barrier between God's holiness and a polluted human race. It being torn in two symbolizes that, because of Jesus' death on the cross, there is now nothing that stands between us and our Heavenly Father. We now have complete access to the God of the Universe. Talk a little about how amazing that is. Do you ever think we take this unlimited access for granted?
This message should be a sobering reminder to all of us. Yes, we know the Gospel. But we can easily forget the brutality and significance in our day to day lives. The CREATED killed the CREATOR, but the CREATOR rescues the CREATED. The JUST one died UNJUSTLY for the UNJUST in order to make them JUST. Spend some time talking about how grateful and humbled you are for God's inconceivable grace and love. What do you need to do in return?

Prayer Topics:

That we would be about following Jesus, not religious activity.
That we would be burdened for those that don't know Jesus.
That we would never take God's grace for granted.

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