"Are You the One Who is to Come?"

Discussion Questions

Sermon Overview 

Respond to Jesus' authority and compassion with humble faith.

Digging Deeper    

Read Luke 7:1-35

1. Why did Jesus marvel at the centurion? 

2. When the centurion sent the elders of the Jews to Jesus, they touted the centurion’s worthiness, but the centurion himself recognized that he was truly unworthy. Consider your own heart. Do you feel the need to defend your worthiness before God or do you see your unworthiness and trust in Christ like the centurion?

3. The compassion of Jesus is eager to help all who are in need: whether Gentile (centurion) or Jew (widow), rich or poor, male or female. How does Jesus’ broad compassion speak to our tendency to show favoritism to our “tribe” (i.e., those we align with or are like us)? 

4. Woven throughout the storyline of the Old Testament is a theme of restoration to life (see Elijah (esp. 1 Kings 17:8-24) and Elisha (esp. 2 Kings 4:18-37). How is Jesus the ultimate Restorer-to-life in ways other great “men of God” (like Elijah & Elisha) could never be?   

5. Jesus didn’t respond to John the Baptist’s question in verse 20 with a direct “yes” or “no.” Instead, he quotes from Isaiah in the Old Testament, showing he’s the fulfillment of those promises (see Isaiah 26:19, 21; 35:4-6; 61:1-2). What difference does it make that Jesus fulfilled passages like the ones mentioned above? How does it impact the way we approach the entire Bible?

6. Even John the Baptist had doubts and questions. How might Jesus’ response to John and his words about John comfort you or another believer with doubts or questions about God? 

7. Who in your life does not believe that Jesus is “the one who is to come?” As a group, pray for opportunities and courage to share the gospel with them and pray for their salvation. 

Prayer