| Adult
• 8 Sessions of Learner’s Materials
• 8 Sessions of Teaching Materials
• 2 Handouts
1. Luke 13:34-35
2. Luke 13:1-9
3. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
4. Luke 19:28-40
5. Luke 22:14-23
6. Luke 24:1-12
7. John 20:19-31
8. John 21:1-19
This eight-session unit will guide you and your class from the second Sunday in Lent to the second Sunday after Easter. During the first six weeks, through Lent and Easter Sunday, the texts are from the Gospel of Luke. The texts for the last two weeks come from the Gospel of John. This eight-week journey begins by examining Jesus' frustration at a city and an audience that seemed continually to miss the point.
Our journey into discipleship joins Jesus as he traveled to Jerusalem, toward his death. The first session shows Jesus' profound love for and frustration with the city of Jerusalem. In the second and third sessions, we examine Jesus' teachings about repentance and look at the parable of the prodigal son, a story of extravagant love. Both of these sessions come from Luke's travel narratives, during which Jesus shows, through his actions and teachings, his concern for the marginalized people of society.
The fourth session marks the end of the journey to Jerusalem and explores the peculiar nature of Jesus' procession into the city as a king. The fifth session considers the last supper Jesus had with his disciples before his death. The session also explores the meaning of Communion for believers today. The sixth session, Easter Sunday, encompasses the first of the resurrection stories--the finding of the empty tomb. In the final two sessions, we discover the resurrection appearances in the Gospel of John. The first covers Jesus' appearance to his disciples in Jerusalem on two Sunday evenings, concentrating on the interchange between Jesus and Thomas. The last session comprises the appearance of Jesus to seven disciples on a beach in Galilee and Jesus' subsequent conversation with Peter.
Although not explicit in each session, the overriding theme running through this eight-week journey is discipleship. As we look at Jesus' journey and as we pay close attention to his teachings along the way, one question keeps surfacing: What does it mean to be a follower of this man?
In answering that question, many others questions arise. Who is Jesus to us? Why was he determined to go to Jerusalem? With whom did he spend his time? What did he say and do that would tell us what he wants of us? What was he trying to say through his parables? At the end of these eight weeks, perhaps you will have a better understanding of the questions.
by Katherine Cook
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