LET THE SPARKS FLY
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NOTE TO LEADER
These Bible studies have been written with three goals in mind:
1. In studying the Bible, Greek students will see that the ancient
scriptures intersect with their lives today, discovering that God can
speak directly to them through the Bible.
2. Interesting conversations will be generated. People would leave
the study and say, “Wow that was a really great discussion!”
3. Deeper relationships will be forged. Greeks in the same chapter
know each other well, but long to connect in deeper and more
significant ways. By asking some probing questions Greeks would
find ways to share more deeply.
As a leader, feel free to tweak this study to fit your group. This series
on the life of Christ was written to have seven studies total, but if you
find them to be too long for your group, feel free to modify as
necessary. You can also feel free to skip questions. You know your
brothers - you’ll have a good sense of which questions they will
respond to and which ones will lead to blank stares. Feel free to
print out the questions for your group members or just print out one
copy for yourself and read them to the group members. You decide;
it’s up to you to adapt the study to the unique needs of your group.
May you encounter the living God in your times together and be
transformed in the process of these studies.
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STUDY
READING
TITLE
Study 1
Mark 2
The Paralytic and his Friends
Study 2
Mark 2
Dinner with Sinners
Study 3
Mark 11
Clearing the Temple
Study 4
John 9
The Blind Man
Study 5
Luke 7
The Prostitute
Study 6
John 11
Facing Death
Study 7
John 4
The Samaritan
FOR MORE STUDIES AND OTHER GREEK RESOURCES
Visit http://greekiv.org to find a range of Bible Studies and
guides on leading ministry in your house and on your campus.
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STUDY 1
THE PARALYTIC AND HIS FRIENDS
Ice breaker
If your car broke down at 3:00 am in the middle of nowhere,
what would you do?
A. Call one of my parents
B.
Call a friend to come and help me
C. Call the police or AAA
D. Try to figure it out myself; real men don’t ask for
help
E.
Start walking
F.
Wait in my car until someone stopped to help
The story for today takes place in a person’ home. Jesus has
become so popular that he is drawing crowds of people.
Some people come out of curiosity, other to hear the great
teaching, others come as watch dogs to see if this traveling
radical is leading people astray. It is a story of a man who was
in a desperate state and was frankly dependent on the help of
his buddies.
READ: MARK 2:1-12
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1. How is the scenario of the 4 guys carrying their
buddy to get help, and dismantling a roof to make it
happen, typical of life in a fraternity? What aspects of
this story do you see in your chapter?
2. What positive traits did the 4 men who carried the
paralytic have that you would like to see more of in the
guys in your house?
3. Why did Jesus bring in the whole “your sins are
forgiven” thing? Why not just heal the paralyzed man
straight up? Why combine a physical healing with talk
of forgiveness?
4. What caused the teachers of the law to be so outraged?
Why is this such a big deal to them?
5. How does Jesus validate his claim to forgive sins? How
does he show that he has the power to do this?
6. What is the paralyzed man’s greatest need:
forgiveness of his sins or the ability to walk?
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7. How are your friends like the paralytic and how are
they different? How can you get your friends in front of
Jesus?
8. Who would you want to be in the story?
A. The paralyzed man who has great friends,
experiences the thrill of being healed and then
becomes a big deal in town.
B.
One of the 4 guys that carried the paralyzed
man to Jesus and dismantled the roof.
C. Jesus, the one with healing power and the
courage to ignite controversy.
D. Teachers of the Law, the power brokers who
legislated and maintained religious order.
Closing Reflection
We see in Jesus a man of courage who does not maintain the
religious status quo of his day. Compassionate, yet gutsy, he
swims up-stream and is not afraid to ignite controversy.
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STUDY 2
DINNER WITH SINNERS
Ice breaker
Did you have any friends growing up that your parents
disapproved of? What complaint did they voice with your
choice of friends? Was there any truth in their assessment?
In Jesus’ day, conventional wisdom held that truly religious
people did not hang out with “sinners”. The term “sinners”
was a biblical euphemism for tax collectors, prostitutes,
adulterers and those who blew off the regulations of the
Jewish law. Tax collectors were particularly despised since
they were Jewish men who cooperated with the occupying
Roman government and basically ripped off their own people.
They were barred from the synagogue.
READ: MARK 2:13-17
1. In verse 14, Jesus calls a tax collector named Levi (who
later is renamed Matthew) to be one of his disciples.
Some of the other disciples that Levi joined were
former fishermen who had previously paid outrageous,
rip-off taxes to tax collectors. How would they have
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felt when Jesus invited a tax collector into the
brotherhood of the disciples?
2. How have you handled it when your fraternity has
issued a bid to someone you didn’t want in the
chapter?
3. To eat dinner with someone was a sign of friendship in
Middle Eastern culture. Why did it enrage the
Pharisees to see Jesus sharing a meal and hanging out
with sinners?
4. If Jesus was visiting your college today, where would
he hang out if he wanted to find the “sinners” on your
campus?
5. Jesus gave an answer for why he hung out with the socalled “sinners”. Unpack his explanation in verse 17.
6. Jesus was never dragged into sin by hanging out with
sinners. What was the secret of his ability to bring
other people up to a higher moral ground and not
allow other people’s bad choices to drag him down?
How could you make that true of yourself?
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7. Do you consider yourself one of the sick in need of
Jesus or do you see yourself as one of the healthy and
righteous?
Closing Reflection
It’s good to know that Jesus did not come to call the righteous,
but sinners like us. He invites us to come to him as we are.
We do not have to rehabilitate ourselves and clean up our act
before we come to him. He desires to have a deep personal
relationship with each of us and it is his love and power that
transform us.
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STUDY 3
CLEARING THE TEMPLE
Ice breaker
Growing up, did you ever get in trouble for being so angry
that you damaged property….smashed something, broke a
window, slammed a door, or threw something?
Alternate Ice breaker
Recall a time when you’ve seen someone bounced from a bar
of fraternity party. Was the removal deserved? Did the person
not belong or were they exhibiting unruly conduct or
inappropriate behavior?
The historical account today is set in the Jewish temple. Outof-town travelers needed to buy animals approved for
sacrifice in order to participate in Jewish worship. They also
needed to have their money changed into the local currency.
Businessmen had set up shop in the Court of the Gentiles, the
only place where non-Jewish people were allowed to come
for prayer and worship. These business men were lining their
pockets with cash by charging rip-off prices for the animals
and cheating people in the pursuit of money.
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READ: MARK 2:13-17
1. What concrete evidence is there to show that Jesus was
angry? What provokes His anger?
2. How are Jesus’ actions like a bouncer when he clears
the temple? How is he different?
3. Any place that warehoused animals for days would
smell like animal dung. The Court of the Gentile had
become a crappy place—literally. How is dung on the
floor of the temple disrespectful to God?
4. Verse 17 quotes a Scripture verse from Isaiah 56:7.
What is Jesus trying to say here? Why quote that verse
now? What is significant about the phrase “all
nations”?
5. Is it sinful to be angry? How can you tell if anger is
sinful or righteous?
6. Jesus was outraged that the temple was no longer a
place to honor God, but instead a place that was an
affront to God: exorbitant prices, dung on the floor,
and the space reserved for non-Jews hijacked for
business racket….all this infuriated Jesus. What
arouses your righteous anger?
7. If Jesus came to your campus, where would he
“overturn tables” in righteous anger? What kind of
behavior in your fraternity might tick him off? What
about in the Christian church, what would provoke
anger in Jesus and make him “over turn” tables?
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8. The gospel of John records this account but includes
the additional detail of Jesus holding a whip made of
cord (John 2:15). A painting of Jesus overturning
tables, with whip in hand is never shown to children in
Sunday school. If you were designing a kid’s
curriculum would you include this picture? What could
be a potential benefit? What could be a potential
harm?
9. We often hold a sanitized view of Jesus: The gentle
man with freshly-washed hair, immaculate clothing
and well -trimmed fingernails. But the carpenters and
construction workers I know are strong and muscular,
with rough and calloused hands. When you envision a
buff carpenter getting angry, getting physical, and
creating a scene how does this blow the stereotypical,
domesticated view of Jesus?
10. In this account Jesus demonstrates godly manhood:
moving powerfully into an environment, having an
impact, effecting change, confronting injustice,
defending the weak and powerless, and up holding
God’s honor. Which of those positive traits would you
love to see more of in your fraternity? In yourself?
Closing Reflection
We see in Jesus a righteous anger that boldly steps into
action. God can take the anger within us and harness it for
good. The world is in need of manly strength that is exerted
on behalf of others. May we have the wisdom to know when
to “turn over a table” and the courage to confront injustice.
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STUDY 4
THE BLIND MAN
Ice breaker
Have you ever been in a situation when you really could not
see (like a power failure, snow white-out, camping, cave
exploring, eye-surgery, etc)? Share your story. What did you
do? How did you feel?
Our story today is about a man blind from birth. Tragedies
like this always raise the question, “Why do bad things
happen to good people?” This is one of those Big Questions
that mankind has wrestled with for ages. In the time of Jesus,
the commonly held view of suffering was that if a person had a
physical problem, or was ill, it was the result of sin. It might
be that person’s sin or the sin of a family member –but
someone’s sin incurred the judgment of God. Some Rabbis
even believed that it was possible for a baby to sin within the
womb and thus be born with a physical defect. This, of
course, compounded the heartache by adding guilt and
blame to the existing suffering.
READ: JOHN 9:1-41
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1. The disciples’ question in verse 2 reveals the common
thinking of the day. How does Jesus explode the view
that the man’s blindness could be attributed to sin?
2. Why would Jesus use spit and dirt, two substances
attractive to middle school boys, but repulsive to the
general public, to bring about a healing?
3. Jesus told the blind man to go and wash in the pool of
Siloam. Why was it important to give the blind man an
active role in his healing?
4. The healed man is brought to the Pharisees who seek
to investigate the healing. What causes them to be
divided in their response to a blind man who is healed
and can see?
5. When the parents of the formerly blind man are called
in how do they react? What is the basis for their fear?
6. Jesus seemed to perform a lot of miracles on the
Sabbath which caused the Pharisees to be upset. Why
was it strategic for Jesus to heal on the Sabbath, a time
when it would agitate the Pharisees?
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7. Looking at verses 30-33 we see an unschooled man
with excellent reasoning ability. Why are the
Pharisees so outraged by what he says? Why do they
excommunicate him from the Synagogue?
8. Being thrown out of the synagogue was no small thing.
The synagogue was the center of religious life but also
social life-- really it was the center of the Jewish
community. After verse 34 we find a man who has
been miraculously healed and can see for the first time
in his life… but also has been thrown out of the
synagogue, and abandoned by his parents. What
emotions would he be feeling?
9. What do you learn about Jesus by the fact that he went
looking for this man? Why was it important for Jesus to
have a one-on-one with this man? What new
information is conveyed?
10. Notice the progression in the man’s understanding of
Jesus: calling Jesus a man (verse 11), a prophet
(verse17), Lord (verse 38) and finally worshipping him
(verse 38). How has your view of Jesus progressed
since you have come to college?
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11. What does Jesus mean when he says, “For judgment I
have come into this world, so that the blind will see
and those who see will become blind?” The Pharisees
claimed to have sight, but what evidence do you see
that convinces you that they are really blind?
12. What evidence do you see of blindness on your
college campus? How about in your fraternity?
13. Can you think of any situations where people are
clearly blind to something obvious around them but
don’t see it?
14. The Jewish people were expecting a Messiah to come.
Prophesies existed that said the Messiah would give
sight to the blind (Isaiah 29:18, 33:5, 35:5, 42:7). When
John the Baptist was dealing with doubt and sent word
to Jesus to see if he really was the Christ, the promised
Messiah, Jesus responded with scriptures from Isaiah
about the blind receiving their sight (Luke 7:18-23). If
the Pharisees were well schooled in these sacred
writings, why were they bent on dismissing the
miracle of a man born blind being able to see? Why
didn’t they see this as evidence of the Messiah?
15. In verse 3 Jesus says, “Neither this man nor his
parents sinned, but this (blindness) happened so that the
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work of God might be displayed in his life.” What
others viewed as a punishment and a tragedy, Jesus saw
as an opportunity for the work of God to be
demonstrated. Are you facing a difficult situation
(illness, job loss, parent’s marriage problems, failing
grade in class, financial trouble, addiction, broken
relationship) that might provide the opportunity for the
work of God to be displayed?
16. A well known Hymn called Amazing Grace, has a verse
that says, “I once was lost but now am found, was blind but
now I see.” If you have become a follower of Jesus, how does
this describe your life? If you are a seeker, what new things
about God do you see now that you didn’t a few years ago?
Closing Reflection
The person of Jesus elicits strong reactions. Jesus ignites
controversy and has a polarizing effect. Some worship him
and others are filled with hate. May we be like the blind man
who sees and not like those with sight who are blinded by
their own locked in thinking. May the touch of Jesus turn our
problems into occasions for the work of God to be displayed.
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STUDY 5
THE PROSTITUTE
Ice breaker
Have you ever crashed a party? Have you been at a party
when uninvited guests showed up and created drama? Have
you ever attended a party when the guests were so radically
different that there was tension in the air?
READ: LUKE 7:36-50
This historical account takes place at a dinner party hosted by
Simon, a Pharisee. Pharisees were teachers in the Jewish
synagogue and were known for meticulously keeping not only
the God-given laws in the Old Testament, but also the many
additional man-made rules devised by religious leaders.
Dinner parties often took place in outdoor patios and the
Middle Eastern culture had a more elastic view of the guest
list. No exclusive VIP list or rigid e-vites, parties at this time
were more like an open house. The uninvited guest is
refereed to as a sinful woman, a biblical euphemism for a
prostitute.
1. In what sense was it gutsy for a prostitute to show up at a
dinner party hosted by a Pharisee?
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2. Looking at all that transpired in verses 37 and 38, how is
the way the woman interacted with Jesus different from the
way a prostitute would have interacted with her male
clients?
3. What was the concern of Simon, the Pharisee, as seen in
verse 39? How does Jesus’ welcoming the prostitute’s
touch lead Simon to believe that Jesus could not really be
a prophet?
4. What was Jesus’ purpose in telling the parable in verses
41-43? Why didn’t he just shoot straight and call Simon
out? (As a point of reference, a denarii was a coin worth
about a days wage.)
5. Compare the way Simon viewed the sinful woman with the
way Jesus viewed the sinful woman? Who has been the
“Simon” in your life and who has been the “Jesus” in your
life?
6. In verse 47, Jesus talks about the relationship between the
ability to love lavishly and the awareness of being
forgiven much. How are these two things related?
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7. Who is the bigger sinner, the “sinful woman” or
Simon?
8. Even deeply devoted followers of Christ often find their
heart to be a cesspool of critical and negative thoughts.
How can we do battle with the “Simon” that is within each
of us?
9. When Jesus redeems us, he redeems every corner of our
personhood. How would His welcome and affirmation of
the sinful woman’s touch have been a transforming
experience for her?
10. Jesus dispatches the sinful woman with three brief
statements. How would these statements shape her new
life as a reformed prostitute?
Closing Reflection
When we see ourselves as deeply needing forgiveness and
find that forgiveness in Christ, our hearts are filled with
gratitude. That gratitude spills over into lavish love; for Jesus
and for others. May you increasingly see yourself as the one
who has been forgiven much, so that you may love much.
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STUDY 6
FACING DEATH
Ice Breaker
What was the most heart-rending funeral you have ever
attended? If you haven’t ever attended a funeral, have you
ever lost someone dear to you? A relative, friend, or beloved
pet?
READ: JOHN 11:1-54
Some have said that the greatest fear of all time is death.
Although medical science has eliminated many diseases and
prolonged the average lifespan, the remarkable fact is that
the rate of mortality remains exactly what it has always
been—100%. We can use hair products to prevent baldness,
and work out 7 days a week and delay the aging process…but
death will eventually catch up with us. In this text today, we
see that Jesus has a showdown with death.
1.
Mary and Martha sent word for Jesus to come and heal
their brother who was very sick. Yet when Jesus heard
this news he stayed where he was for two more days. Why
did Jesus deliberately delay his coming?
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2. Have you ever prayed for something and felt like God was
not listening? Why doesn’t God always give us what we
request, when we request it?
3. Jesus life, actions and words were directed by God the
Father, not by the requests of people, even dearly loved
friends. How can we learn to be led by God, and not let
the requests of people around us shape our choices in life?
4. Mary and Martha were disappointed in Jesus at the
beginning of the story. By the end, they see that Jesus’
plan was far better than their own plan. Jesus would not
do less than they hoped for, he would do more than they
ever dreamed. How could this account help you deal with
your unanswered prayers and unfulfilled hopes?
5. The text says that Jesus was “deeply moved in spirit and
troubled”. Why did Jesus cry at the tomb of Lazarus if he
knew he was going to raise him from the dead and make
him alive again?
6. Many Jewish people believed that the soul remained near
the body for three days after death in hope of returning to
it. Since this account takes place on the 4th day, all hope
was gone. Martha is concerned about “a bad odor” (she is
apparently the prim and proper Martha Stewart of her
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day). How does her concern with the bad odor line up
with her strongly professed belief in verse 22?
7. Jesus calls forth to Lazarus and he comes out of the tomb.
How does Jesus move Mary and Martha from their faith in a
doctrine to faith in himself?
8. If Jesus can do the impossible job of raising someone from
the dead, surely he can do the ordinary task of removing
the grave clothes. He could have said, “Lazarus come out
and grave clothes drop off!” Why in so many miracles is
there a supernatural part done by God, and an ordinary
part done by people? Why would Jesus want people to
participate “hands-on” in his miracles?
9. How do you account for the fact that people who witnessed
Lazarus being raised from the dead reacted in two totally
different ways? What good are miracles if they don’t
prove the presence of a supernatural God?
10. When word gets out about Lazarus being raised from the
dead why do the religious leaders call a meeting? What
happens at the meeting? In what sense was Jesus a threat?
11. How does Jesus change His strategy as a result of the plot
to kill Him?
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12. It has often been said that the worst harm in the world has
been done by well-meaning people with good intentions
who are horribly misguided. How is this true of the
Pharisees and chief priests in the Sanhedrin meeting?
Have you ever felt like there was a time when your
fraternity was operating with good intentions but in a very
misguided direction?
13. In verses 25 & 26 Jesus makes a bold declaration. What
does this mean for those who have put their trust in Christ?
In what sense will they never die? If you knew for sure
that your ultimate destiny was in heaven how would this
affect the way you live your life now?
Closing Reflection
For the Christian, death is a doorway into a new and glorious
existence. To be united with Jesus is to share right now in a
rich and meaningful life that continues beyond death. Jesus
had a show down with death and won. In our quest to have an
impact, may we seek to follow truth.
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STUDY 7
THE SAMARITAN
**LEADERS NOTE**
This study is long. Consider spending two sessions on it or
consider selecting your favorite questions to answer and
skipping the others.
Ice Breaker
When you were growing up, who were the “bad people” your
parents told you to avoid? Was there a neighborhood or city
you weren’t allowed to go to?
Bitter hostility existed between the Jews and the Samaritans in
Jesus’ day. Samaritans were a mixed race made up of Jews
who had intermarried with Gentiles. Jews considered them
half-breeds and inferior. When Jewish people traveled in the
area near Samaria they would take the long way around just to
avoid having to interact with these “unclean people.”
READ: JOHN 4:4-42
1. Verse 4 says that Jesus “had to go through Samaria.” Why
would he intentionally route his trip through the bad
neighborhood and risk contamination?
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2. Drawing water was usually done in the cool of the morning
or the cool of the evening in this desert region. The well
in town was something like the local Starbucks in that it
was a place of socializing and friendly chatter. Why would
this woman draw water in the heat of the day, at noon (the
sixth hour) by herself?
3. Jewish people believed that they would become
ceremonially unclean if they used a drinking vessel
touched by a Samaritan. Why does Jesus disregard this
religious believe? How would his request affect this
woman?
4. How does Jesus use the idea of our thirst for physical
water, one of the most basic human needs, to bridge to the
topic of our spiritual thirst for spiritual “living water”?
5. Why would Jesus say to her, “Go, call your husband and
come back”, when he knew full well that she was not
currently married, but actually living with a guy?
6. How does Jesus knowledge of her personal life lead her to
believe he is a prophet?
7. Why does the woman change the topic so abruptly to the
proper place of worship?
8. In verses 21–26 Jesus engages this woman in a lofty
theological discussion. This was an era when women were
considered intellectually inferior and not worth educating.
Many men had seen this woman’s sexual potential, but
Jesus saw her spiritual potential woman. How does life in
a fraternity cause its members to see women as sexual
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objects? How can you be more like Jesus and learn to
appreciate a woman’s mind and spirit and see her as more
than a collection of beautiful body parts?
9. John 4:26 records the first instance when Jesus clearly
declares himself to be the Messiah. Why would this great
religious revelation be given to a promiscuous woman in a
small town?
10. When the disciples return, they are surprised to find him
talking with a woman. Godly, religious men avoided
talking to women (other than their wives) for fear of falling
into sexual sin. If Jesus was committed to sexual purity
why wasn’t he careful to avoid interaction with a woman
that many would consider so sexually immoral? How did
Jesus risk his reputation by being seen alone with a
woman with such a disgraceful sexual past?
11. Looking at verses 28-30, what elements would compel the
townspeople to come and check Jesus out for themselves?
Why might they have been reluctant to believe this
woman?
12. What does Jesus mean when he says, “My food is to do the
will of him who sent me and to finish his work”?
13. At the beginning of the story, the woman is at the well
alone and socially isolated, but at the end of the story she
is the center of the social buzz. What made her go from
being an outcast to “action central”?
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14. Spokespeople are usually people who we admire and
want to emulate. Why would Jesus choose this woman, a
person some would label a “ho”, to be his PR agent? What
made her a good choice? What made her a risky choice?
15. In this account we see that Jesus broke through three
major barriers:
*He was willing to go to Samaria and spend two days
with the so called “unclean people”.
*He was willing to break through the gender barrier
and relate to a woman.
*He was not afraid to interact with a woman who had a
shameful reputation.
What barriers might God lead you to break though? Are
there some people you have considered “off limits” that
God is urging you to reach out to?
16. If you were to use this account to teach a seminar on “How
to Share Your Faith” what helpful principles could you
glean from Jesus interaction with this woman?
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Closing Reflection
Jesus looks beneath the surface of our life and sees that many
of the bad choices we have made are a misguided quest for
love. He knows the deepest needs of our soul and offers us
living water to provide true satisfaction. The courage of Jesus
and the love of Jesus combine and enable him to break
through social barriers.
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A FRATERNITY BIBLE STUDY PREPARED BY
MINDY MEIER AND KRISTEN DALTON
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Mindy Meier is an Alpha Chi Omega from the University of Illinois.
While at the University of Illinois amidst one of the largest and wildest
Greek systems in the country, Mindy became a follower of Jesus.
While there she met her husband Bill, a FIJI at the same campus. They
have three grown children and now reside in Chicago, IL where Bill is
a pastor and Mindy works with Greek students across the country.
Kristen Dalton was a member of the Greek system at Indiana
University and volunteers with staff of Greek InterVarsity across the
country. Along with her husband, Andy, she has two daughters and
resides outside Indianapolis.
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