October 17 Sermon Discussion Guide

This week we covered several additional articles of the Apostles’ Creed:

1.     The words “He suffered” serve as a summary of Jesus’ life and ministry.

If we’re scanning the Creed for what qualifies Jesus to transform humanity and our eyes land on the words “He suffered,” we might have run right past what the creed actually suggests is most important to know about Jesus: He’s God’s Son. What we have confessed about Jesus to this point is not primarily about what Jesus does, but who he is.

  • What implications does this reading of the Creed have for how we view our own baptismal identity?

  • If we confess faith in One who suffered, what implications might this have for our life of faith?

2.     The words “under Pontius Pilate” serve as a setting for Jesus’ life and ministry.

Karl Barth says Pontius Pilate enters the creed “like a dog into a nice room.”

Because Pontius Pilate doesn’t occupy much space in the gospel account, we’re left to wonder what makes him significant enough to find himself on the lips Creed-reciting Christians throughout the centuries.

  • How might Jesus’ relationship to Pontius Pilate as a political authority shape (or re-shape) our conceptions of how we as followers of Jesus relate to political power?

3.     He was crucified, died, and was buried

In Mark 10:37, James and John approach Jesus and request to sit on his right and left when he sits on the throne. We considered their request alongside the image of Jesus on the cross, flanked on either side by two thieves.

  • How might placing these two episodes side-by-side affect the way we view the crucifixion, Jesus’ kingship, and glory? 

4.     He descended to the dead.

Finally, we considered the Creed’s description of Jesus’ general movement downward to this point.

Jesus, in response to his disciples’ request described above, subverts his disciples’ understanding of authority and power.

So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.  But not so among you.”

  • If we are to follow the One we confess in the Creed, what might it look like in practice to “descend”? How might we live out the four words Jesus utters to his disciples, “Not so among you”?

Matt T