October 26, 2024
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: Matthew 11:2-5, 11
A video introduction using illustrations, personal stories, metaphors, or active learning examples to begin the discussion.
After the video, prompts are supplied for thinking and sharing with others personal perception and experience. This opening activity prompts participants to think about and relate to the topic, and to share with others.
The title the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of all Time) will always be a very difficult title to prove, or for someone to try to live up to.
What is “The Best . . . ?”
You can say that anything is the best, but a personal preference will ultimately drive the argument. But when God uses superlatives in His word, is it for real? When Jesus makes a shocking statement, it might be a hyperbole (exaggeration), or maybe it is precisely accurate.
What do you think?
The Bible discussion begins with a careful reading of the whole passage, either from your own Bibles, or from the provided images below.
Then participants are to ask:
2 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.
11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Read the whole section Matthew 11:1-11 to gauge whether the "greatest of all time" caption works for John the Baptist. Don’t miss what is going on in Christ’s mind when He pronounces the title.
The statement that Jesus makes about John the Baptist is compelling. What are His cousin’s quality/qualities that Jesus makes outrageous claims about? That he is focused? Committed? Sincere? Bold? Selfless?
Follow the logic or the outrageous, inverted, and unexpected direction of Jesus' claim:
The selflessness/humility of the "G.O.A.T." is referred to on several occasions.
Notice that the most amazing words by Jesus for John the Baptist happen when the selfless forerunner of Christ is struggling with uncertainty and doubts in prison.
A parting video clip with a personal invitation to apply the message to “knowing Christ” and “living in Christ” in the coming week.