The Servant Hero
Click below to download the Cornerstone Connections leader’s guide and student lesson. This week’s resources also include two lesson plans and a discussion starter video which offer different ways of looking at the topic. Each lesson plan includes opening activities, scripture passages, discussion questions, and real-life applications.
When Jesus came, He was not the kind of Messiah Israel was hoping for. Their hope was for deliverance from their immediate problem—political oppression. Jesus came to be a different kind of leader.
Royalty in Ruin (Prophets and Kings)
Chapter 59 - Where Is God’s True Israel
As a result of this lesson, we want the students to consider how Jesus upended all expectations of a Messiah, and what that means for their own lives.
This game is a test of who’s truly listening, and who’s just doing what they think is expected of them. It’s the worldwide phenomenon “Simon Says,” a childhood favorite that still manages to throw people off balance no matter their age.
The rules are simple. The leader gives a series of commands to the players, each starting with the words, “Simon says.” Instructions may be something like, “Simon says . . . do jumping jacks. Simon says turn around two times. Simon says rub the top of your head. Clap your hands.” And when you give a command without the all-important words, “Simon says,” whoever mistakenly does the action anyway is out of the game.
For some people, following orders come naturally—a trait that may or may not make it easier to play this game. This week’s lesson explores how the Messiah gave of Himself like no one else in history. The greatest figure in history didn’t care about His reputation, His image, or even His sense of honor. Instead, He gave of Himself until there was nothing left to give.
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When the ancient Israelites imagined the Messiah, they pictured a leader, a commander, a king. Few pictured a servant—let alone one who would willingly endure cruelty and crucifixion.
Ancient Israel was part of an honor culture. People lived their entire lives seeking to avoid shame and insult. You may have seen a movie or read a book in which someone tells a close relative, “You have brought shame upon our family.” Honor cultures persist even today in parts of the world, including the Middle East. The most infamous aspect of honor culture may be honor killings. You may have heard of fathers or brothers killing a daughter or sister who entered into a relationship of which they did not approve or had sex outside of marriage, or even after she was raped.
The teachings of Jesus—turn the other cheek, go the extra mile—pointedly counter the prevailing attitudes of honor culture. Centuries before Jesus, Isaiah introduced readers to the “suffering servant,” a depiction of the Messiah that upended their every preconception of a Savior figure. In Isaiah 50:4-7, the servant declares:
4 The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. 5 The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away. 6 I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. 7 Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.
Isaiah 53 is a favorite of Bible students, and one of the most-memorized chapters of the Bible. Its familiarity, however, can make it easy to forget just how radical an image of a Messiah, “the anointed one,” it presents. Let’s take another look.
Read Isaiah 53:1-4.
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
Read Isaiah 53:5-10.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested?For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death,though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
Read Isaiah 61:1-3.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
Read Zechariah 8:3-8.
3 This is what the Lord says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.”
4 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. 5 The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.”
6 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvelous to me?” declares the Lord Almighty.
7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west. 8 I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.”
Most people have at least a general sense of who Jesus was. A teacher. A healer. A super-nice guy. But the real Jesus is so much more.
This week, read a chapter from each of the gospels, and discover the multi-faceted, endlessly fascinating Jesus. Each gospel shows Jesus from a different angle.
Read:
• Zechariah 7:1-14
• Zechariah 8:1-23
LEADER’S NOTE
For a Relational Bible Study (RBS) you’ll want to get into the Scripture passage and encourage the youth to imagine participating in the story while it’s happening. Then you will be able to better apply it to your own situation today.
You will need to ask God for the Holy Spirit to be present as your small group discusses the questions (no more than 3-6 people in a group is recommended). Start with the opening question. It is a personal question and the answer is unique for each individual. There is no right answer and nobody is an expert here, so don’t be surprised when you hear different responses. You are depending on the Holy Spirit to be present and to speak through your group. Say what God prompts you to say, and listen to what others share.
Take turns reading the chapter out loud. Follow that with giving the students some time to individually mark their responses to the questions (a PDF version of the handout is available as a download). This gives each person a starting point for responding when you start to share as a group. Next, begin the discussion by asking the students to share what they marked and why on each question as you work your way through. Feel free to take more time on some questions than others as discussion warrants.
Encourage each person in the group to apply what is discussed to their personal lives and to share with the group what they believe God wants them to do. Then ask them to pray that God will help each of them to follow through in doing so. Remind them to expect that God will show them ways to live out the message of this passage in the coming week, and that they are free to ask others in the group to help hold them accountable.
DOWNLOAD THE HANDOUT
We are almost finished with this quarter, and what a ride it has been! We have worked through the stories of Ezra, Esther, and Nehemiah. Now, we have entered a crucial part of the Bible that normally goes overlooked—the minor prophets. This week as we look at the book of Zechariah, we see a prophecy that we know is fulfilled: the coming of the Messiah. In this particular section, however, we return to an original theme that carried throughout the quarter: displacement.
The Israelites were naughty. They had been naughty for many years, and now they were reaping the consequences of that behavior . . . in exile. Having been in exile for 70 years, God decided to allow them to return. Throughout the stories of Ezra and Nehemiah, we see this operation in action. You would think that after such a long punishment and exile, everyone would be eager to come home. But, this was not the case; in fact, many wanted to remain in exile. In Esther’s story, we view God’s marvelous works for all His children. Now, we receive an explanation: Why did God put His people through all of this? What did He expect them to learn?
In this week’s lesson, we receive God’s side of the story; His feelings and thoughts behind His actions. God never does anything in vain or out of the blue; He always has a reason. Let’s begin with prayer that we can understand and learn from God’s words and actions.
When have you ignored somebody on purpose?
Read Zechariah 7:1-14.
1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev. 2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat the Lord 3 by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: 5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? 7 Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’ ”
8 And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: 9 “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’
11 “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. 12 They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.
13 “ ‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty. 14 ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’ ”
Read Zechariah 8:1-23.
1 The word of the Lord Almighty came to me. 2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.”
3 This is what the Lord says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.”
4 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. 5 The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.”
6 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvelous to me?” declares the Lord Almighty.
7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west. 8 I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.”
9 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Now hear these words, ‘Let your hands be strong so that the temple may be built.’ This is also what the prophets said who were present when the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord Almighty. 10 Before that time there were no wages for people or hire for animals. No one could go about their business safely because of their enemies, since I had turned everyone against their neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as I did in the past,” declares the Lord Almighty.
12 “The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give all these things as an inheritance to the remnant of this people. 13 Just as you, Judah and Israel, have been a curse among the nations, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong.”
14 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Just as I had determined to bring disaster on you and showed no pity when your ancestors angered me,” says the Lord Almighty, 15 “so now I have determined to do good again to Jerusalem and Judah. Do not be afraid. 16 These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; 17 do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the Lord.
18 The word of the Lord Almighty came to me.
19 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.”
20 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, 21 and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.’ 22 And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him.”
23 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’ ”
___When we disobey Him.
___When we repent from our sins.
___When we are not sincere in worship.
___When we start paying attention to Him again.
___When He wants to.
___When we truly begin to worship Him.
___When we ignore Him.
___When we join a church.
___Other.
The two chapters of Zechariah that we studied bring us a good sense of God’s character. In some ways, it is comparable to a good, sensible parent. When we do wrong, He punishes us. But He doesn’t just punish us; He explains His reasoning for it. When we repent from our sins and endeavor to correct them, He accepts us back without hesitation. Ultimately, God is a merciful God, and He is always on our side. When we are bad, it hurts God, just like it hurts a parent; He does not enjoy punishing us, but He will do so to point us in a better direction. He is always ready and willing to fight for us and bestow blessings upon us, just as He did with the errant Israelites. Let’s remember to always seek God’s blessing so we can benefit from the joys of being God’s children.
The Israelites constantly fell into sin and departed from God. Many of them were being hypocrites and horrible influences for one another. However, they still received God’s mercy and blessings. Today, whether we want to admit it or not, we can be just as bad. But God is still on our side and is ready and eager to bestow His blessings on us. To apply the lessons we learned from Zechariah this week, take a look at the ideas below for possible applications to your own life.
What have people around you done in the past to receive God’s blessings?
See what parts of your character you can mold so that you can be a good role model for those around you, right now and in the future.
