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Summary:
Imagine a fearsome and all powerful king who's subjects fear Him greatly, trying to love a poor maiden. What could he do to truly have the maiden love him without her faking it? He could come down in the form of a beggar. This is what God did with Jesus. Jesus came down as a vulnerable babe but also free from having to say "Fear not!" for His power was restrained. Kenosis means to empty oneself. Jesus emptied Himself of His power and authority and honor to meet us at our level. For love.

Question:
1. Can you imagine a king giving up his throne for the love of a woman? Explain why he would need to do that.

Answer:
Because he was a king, he knew that he could not fully trust the love of a woman. The woman would either act as if she loved him out of fear, or love him for his position. In order to attain love that would last and that he desired, he gave up his throne. He wanted her to love him for who he was and not love him out of fear.

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Summary
God is like a king who gave up his throne so that he could have an equal lover. He often humbled himself when being with humans, and ultimately became a human through Jesus. Through Jesus, God finally appeared in a form that would not terrify the humans, and God no longer had to say ‘Fear not!’. While God did become much more vulnerable by becoming human, he also gained the ability to finally act on the human scale.

Question
God had the choice, but He chose kenosis, a sort of "self-emptying." Jesus made Himself "nothing," but what does this truly mean? Did He have the power to actually change the world on His own accord, or was He subject to the agenda of the Father?

Answer
Jesus most likely could speak and act like God, as he was fully God, but since he wanted to be in the level of humans, didn't. This makes him both fully God and human. A great analogy would be nuclear war - we can technically go annihilate ourselves by starting WW3 and launching nukes everywhere, but we won't. Similar to this, Jesus could have defeated everyone using his powers, but he didn't.

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Summary:

God’s people, the Jews, had this idea or expectation of what it would be like when the Messiah returned. They envisioned it would be like the days of Solomon with a lavish kingdom of gold and great prosperity. However, when Jesus came, he fulfilled that promise but not in the way which His people expected. This chapter uses Jesus’ existence and being to address the three main questions presented in this book; is God hidden, unfair, and silent? Anyone was able to approach Jesus and speak to him and have a conversation. He was there physically, therefore he was not hidden. What was unexpected was that not everyone, even those closest to him were unable to accept Him as the Messiah. Jesus only healed certain people when he had the ability to heal everyone.

Question:

2. When God wasn’t silent, all of His teachings were given in the form of parables. Why do you think God brought His truths to the people in that way?

Answer:

So that His Spirit would be the one to interpret for those who truly want to know and have faith.

Similar idea to how God’s miracles did not inspire long lasting change or effects. They would have not been affected the way they needed to (misinterpretation).

Parables were also a more personal and applicable form of lesson learning that may have been better for the Israelites to understand in some other ways.

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Summary:
During God's years of silence, Jews had high hopes for better days and a messiah. When Jesus finally came the questions- Is God silent and hidden were answered. However, he wasn't exactly fair, and this aroused skepticism. He performed miracles for some people, but not for others. Another intriguing aspect was that those closest to Jesus, such as his neighbors and friends, did not believe that He was the Messiah.
Question:
What was the reason for God teaching us through parables? To leave it up to our own interpretations?
Answer:
God may have brought his truths to the people in parables so that people actually put thought into it. Back in the old testament when God was very direct about his rules, the Israelites simply acted like children and disobeyed all the rules. If God speaks in parables, people who are reading it will be more likely to follow it as if you put time and effort into something they are more willing to do it. |

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Summary:
There is evidence of God's existence, but they are unclear to humans. Satan tempted Jesus during His 40-day fast. Satan provided three simple ways to elicit belief: miracles, mysteries, and authority. On the other hand, Christ refused all of them. He seeks love, not subservience. He did not control Satan and allowed evil to work. He utilized his disciples as evidence of who He was. The Bible's records suggest, that miracles don’t strengthen deep faith. The disciples became even more frightened when God allowed Moses and Elijah to appear on a cloud. People are more intrigued by the miracles that Jesus did not operate. Jesus used his power to help people rather than to perform tricks. God's miracles are about love, not power.

Question:
6. Why do you think some people refuse to believe in God and/or Jesus despite obvious miracles? For those who are true followers of Jesus, do you think that miracles reinforce your faith?

Answer:
Some will never let go of their previous beliefs for various reasons (like comfort, conformity, being simpler, etc).

Miracles, in most circumstances, possibly do not really reinforce your faith. It may lead to some increase, but not a deep impact.

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Summary:
Jesus had the chance to prove God’s existence, and was even tempted by Satan to do so. Satan offered Jesus a shortcut, a way to make people believe without dispute. These temptations by Satan are no different from us demanding God to intervene, but God denied both Satan’s temptations and our demands. This is because God does not want to force obedience, but instead wishes for love, which is not possible with power and fancy miracles. Miracles serve as signs, but do not exist to solve all of human disappointment.

Question:
Philip Yancey states that "how does the Temptation differ from times when I beg, almost demand, that God intervene and save me from a predicament". Is requesting God for supernatural assistance, such as praying for someone to be miraculously cured of cancer, bad?

Answer:
There most likely is a difference between demanding God to intervene because you do not trust him, such as was with Richard's case, and praying to God for help, because you already trust him, such as with praying for someone to be healed.

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Summary:
This chapter goes over overall disappointment with God. Yancy explains the disappointment that even Jesus had and the feelings of despair. He goes on to talk about how often people stake everything on God, childbirth, cancer, or other things. Jesus' suffering and separation were necessary even if He could have easily saved Himself.

Question:
5. Jesus said “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Why do you think Jesus said this although He was ready to fulfill God’s will and He knew the entire plan?

Answer:
Possibly because His emotions and bodily pain were overwhelming. He was separated from His Father and acted out in despair (which could be seen as worse than the physical pain).

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Juniors - Ch. 16 - The Postponed Miracle 

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Juniors - Ch. 16 - The Postponed Miracle 

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2. Summary:
Chapter 16 conveys the feelings of Jesus, God's own Son, and His valid reason to be disappointed with God. At Gethsemane, God let Jesus to His own fate, so to speak; He did not intervene, nor did He spare His "condemned Son". Jesus yielded to God's will, and held through His suffering on the cross, and resisted the temptation of demonstrating a selfish act of power, saving Himself from His death. He then died, and rose from the tomb on the third day. This delayed, but much greater miracle proved a significanly greater purpose: to save the lost souls on earth. As stated by Philip Yancey, "The spectacle of the Cross, the most public even of Jesus’ life, reveals the vase difference between a god who proves himself through power and One who proves himself through love."

Question:
2. What should you do to prepare for when your greatest time of temptation comes.

Answer.
Step one:
Know and trust that God has the greatest and best plan for your life.

Step two:
Practice self control. In a state of temptation, we think it is best to completely stop what you are doing, stop talking and acting, since those actions will be fueled by your influence, and be according to your bad head. Stop, and listen to God's voice.

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Summary:
There has been great progress in how much God has revealed Himself through Christ (especially in how close people can get to God without fear). Jesus makes a difference in our disappointment with God. He made intimacy possible, allowed us to see who God is, and gave us confidence in God and how He can identify and relate to us. Unfairness - God is always in control yet it is very difficult to see it that way in our current circumstances here on earth.

Question:
6. What do you think of the statement, “a person can only learn obedience when tempted to disobey, can only learn courage when tempted to flee”? Can a person only learn patience when tempted to be impatient? Is that why all these trying situations “pop up” when we pray for patience?

Answer:
If a parent offers their child candy and puts it in front of them but they can’t eat it until the parent returns from the restroom, that child will be forced to choose something. The child can choose to obey their parents and wait for them to come back, or just eat the candy without waiting. I think the same example can be applied to patience. The child sitting and waiting for the parent will learn a little patience. However, I don’t think these ‘pop up’ situations happen because we pray for patience. These situations are just a part of life, things happen that are out of our control. And if we need a little bit more patience and ask for it, that doesn’t affect the scale of the situations around us.

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Summary:
Throughout the years and throughout the Bible, God has revealed himself through Jesus. This has made a significant difference in our relationship with God, as instead of fearing and gaining an overwhelming feeling, Jesus tore the curtain and established a deeper, more intimate relationship with us. He has allowed for us to known him better, and more importantly, to relate to Him more. In the end, Yancey touches a bit on unfairness, questioning why the best man who ever lived meets the most gruesome fate. However, God suffered through it because of His immeasurable love for us.
Question:
In the NT we see the greatest, kindest, most loving man who ever lived being cruelly killed by other men for no reason other than pure jealousy and hatred. Can anything be more unfair and disappointing than that? Yet what did that greatest disappointment
accomplish?
Answer:
This disappointment tore the veil. It allowed for a more intimate relationship with God that is not based on fear but is based on love.

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Summary:
Jesus was comforting his disciples, but then He criticizes them for their shortage of belief. Peter was certain that he could save Christ, but he end up denying him three times. The Sending of the Seventy, the Last Supper, and the Ascension all expose things about why Christ came to the universe and why He left. He came to resolve divine justice and to reveal the nature of God to us. But He also came to demonstrate a Church which is a new home for the Holy Spirit. The disciples, God's closest friends, were given a purpose to spread God's words. Jesus' body left the earth in front of his surprised disciples at the Ascension. However, the Holy Spirit would soon take up residence in other bodies.

Question:
4. From these chapters we see that the main purpose of our lives is to live as Jesus did and bring the message of the Kingdom of God to others. Why is this usually a minor or missing part of our lives?

Answer:
In our generation, it is hard for us to impose our opinions or judgments on others (which goes against the status quo and ideas of freedom in some ways). The belief now that no one should judge people for their beliefs?

Sometimes, we assume they have already heard about Christianity and Jesus before.

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Summary:
Jesus gave a speech and set the disciples out, and when they returned, was quite happy with the results. He gave a rare display of public celebration, and things started to look up. However, Jesus had a very alarming mood that night, and he ended up getting crucified. However, he was resurrected again in a couple days. While some may have thought he would literally liberate Israel, fighting the Romans, he was not interested in that, but bringing spiritual salvation. Jesus finally ascended into heaven, “transferring” his mission to his disciples.

Question:
Why is living as Jesus did and bringing the message of the Kingdom of God to others usually a minor or missing part of our lives?

Answer:
We often only priortize things that are important to us in the forseable future. We lack a wide view, and only care about short-term things, even if those short-term things are quite useless in the big picture, and there are more pressing concerns we have to take care of.

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Summary:
In the old testament, God was highly feared and stayed in a temple built by Solomon. Then later God is seen through Jesus Christ, and finally through the Holy Spirit residing in imperfect creatures. This transition slowly brought an intimacy between God and His people. Today God’s kingdom is represented through believers in Christ who show the holiness of God. When Jesus was on the earth, God was limited to only one person. However, nowadays, God is able to work through millions of people simultaneously.

Question:
4. In the Old Testament, God took care of people's needs during the exile. In the New Testament Jesus took care of the needs of people. Does God still take care of us? If yes how?

Answer:
Yes, of course God still cares for us. Sometimes we might still feel that God is hidden but He is always working in our lives even if we see it or not.

He still take care of us by providing us by our needs. He guides us. He opens the path.

He works through believers.

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Summary:
In old testament times, God was a being one must hide from. God was a terrible, powerful being, whose name could not be said without fearing death. But with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, this changed. God seeked intimacy with His children, now called "the Body of Christ", as He lived in and through them. Now, the world will know God not through tales and scary stories, but through people who have received His Spirit to live in them.

Question:
Realizing that you are the temple of God, how does that make you feel about yourself and other believers? What
are your thoughts on piercings, tattoos, plastic surgery, and such?

Answer:
Because we are the temple of God, we should respect our body and not abuse it, such as using drugs, or defiling it by doing unholy things. We are to keep our body holy as we are to represent God's holiness. However, in regards to piercings, tattoos, and plastic surgery, we do not think they are necessarily defiling the body, as they could also be viewed as embellishing the temple. A piercing of a cross, or a tattoo of a bible verse, is more in the lines of decorating the temple then defiling it.

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Summary:
The plotline of the Bible shows the interaction between man and God - how His 'policy' towards man 'changes'. Jesus coming to earth was a radical move as God was putting dependence on the Church to further His will. God's three humiliations are in the incarnation and death of Christ plus in His entrusting of the Church with His reputation and will. God wants a mature, love-filled relationship where both parties give their love freely - not a child's love. Reliance on Church leads to disappointment. Three voices in the OT, NT through Jesus, and finally with the NT and the Holy Spirit.

Question:
Why does God use us when he could just do anything by Himself?

Answer:
If God does everything, it inhibits us from growing, just like a child who gets spoiled by their parents. By allowing us to do things on our own and make mistakes, we are able learn and grow from different experiences.

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Summary:
Yancey proposed that we look at the Bible as one big story. From Creation, to Noah, and all the way to Jesus. By doing this, it emphasises the importance of Jesus coming down to us. However, this may act oppositely in some people, where they long for God to be more present in the world. He then talks about the Church- both the good and bad. Clearly, the Church is carrying out God's work, but He also takes a risk in that humans will misrepresent Him in a malicious way. And of course, that is exactly what happened, from the "racism in South Africa" to "the bloodshed in Northern Ireland." In spite of this, God took all the risks, as well as three great humiliations: the Incarnation, the Cross, and the Church. He risks and does all this in hopes of a relationship with us that is based on trust.
Question:
In the opening paragraphs we read a summary of the Bible which talks about the spirit of excitement of reclaiming all of creation for God by His Church. Do
you still see much of that excitement?
Answer:
We can stilll see some of this excitement today, however, it is much more subtle, and it probably is more accurate to call it 'hope' then 'excitement'. We still have some excitement in reclaiming all of creation for God by his Church, but they are in a much smaller scale, such as when a missionary has accomplished some goals or projects, or when a church has suceeded in a fundraising campeign, but it will be inaccurate to say there exists a church wide excitement. These excitements are also usually mixed with hope of Jesus's second coming, as that will reclaim all of creation in a definite way.