Questions for Personal Reflection and Group Discussion
Read Matthew 11:25-30 (ESV):
At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
- Read what came just prior to our passage in Matthew 11:2-15. Bobby pointed out that Jesus and John the Baptist viewed the same set of circumstances very differently. Bobby said that one saw “pennies” where the other saw disappointment. What did Bobby mean by this? Why did Jesus and John see the same circumstances so differently?
- Matthew 11 describes the mixed responses to Jesus: some received him positively, some negatively, some neutrally. Jesus could have seen this rejection as failure, yet “at that time” Jesus burst into a prayer of thanks and praise to God (vs.25ff). What made Jesus so full of gratitude even at that time that was far from perfect?
- If you’ve had a painful experience in your life through which God’s goodness and gifts actually became more clear to you, share about that with your group.
- Bobby told about a morning in Switzerland when the fog was so dense that – if he had never seen the Swiss Alps – he would have had a difficult time believing descriptions of their beauty. They would have seemed like rumors, dreams, or Freudian wish-fulfillment. What was Bobby’s point in this story? How have you experienced something similar your life?
- In Thornton Wilder’s play The Angel that Troubled the Waters, the angel told the physician: “Without your wound, where would your power be? … In Love’s service only the wounded soldiers can serve.” What was Wilder getting at? Do you agree or disagree? Explain.
- What is the significance behind Jesus’s statement in verse 26, “Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will” – particularly in this difficult moment when he said it?
– Is there a difficult situation in your life to which you sense God asking you to say, “Yes, Father”?
– What makes it difficult to say “Yes, Father”?
– What are the benefits of saying, “Yes, Father”?
- How does a regular practice of gratitude impact daily life?
- Notice in this passage that Jesus – the One to whom “all things have been handed over” and who has wisdom to fathom all mysteries – describes himself as “gentle and lowly in heart.”
– What does this tell you about Jesus and what it was like to be with him?
– What can we learn from this for our own lives?
- How does humility impact our perspective on the world and on God?
- What did you sense God saying to you through this passage and this message?
