Opening prayer
Read the italicized passages of Scripture in Chapter 4.
Questions
- On p. 37, Timothy Keller writes “Jesus declares not that he has come to reform religion but that he’s here to end religion and replace it with himself.” What thoughts went through your mind when you first read that passage?
- When Jesus encountered a man with a shrivelled hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath, why did Jesus become angry with the religious leaders?
- Keller describes religion as relating to God by being good. What are some of the various ways that religions say we can draw close to God (p. 39)?
- For Keller, the main difference between religion and Christianity is that religion is advice (about what you can do to get closer to God) and Christianity is news (what Jesus has already done to bring you close to God). As a result, there is big difference between how religion and Christianity view the law (p. 41). In your own words, how would you describe that difference?
- How is Jesus our Sabbath (pp. 42-43)?
- What is the significance of Jesus referring to himself as “I am”? How was Jesus’ teaching centred in his identity?
- Timothy Keller includes this quote from N. T. Wright: [Christianity] is either the most devastating discourse of the deepest reality of the world, or it is a sham, a nonsense, a bit of deceitful playacting. Most of us, unable to cope with saying either of those things, condemn ourselves to live in the shallow world in between” (p. 45). Which of these three options describes the world in which you live?
- How is the gospel of Jesus Christ an offense to both religion and moralism, on the one hand, and irreligion and relativism, on the other (p. 46)?
- Why don’t “righteous” people need Jesus?
- How does Jesus make it possible for us to rest from religion forever?
Closing Prayer
Farewell to Shadowlands 