Discussion Questions

Irenaeus insists David’s words in Psalm 3 (“I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord received me”) cannot ultimately be about David because “he was not raised after death”; what does that assumption reveal about how early Christians thought Scripture “belongs” to Christ, and what makes modern Christians hesitant to read the Psalms that way? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Irenaeus says Psalm 3 can’t finally be about David because David didn’t rise from the dead. What does that show about how early Christians thought the Psalms belong to Christ, and why are Christians today slower to read them that way?

Chuck Pike emphasizes that Psalm 3 mirrors the crucifixion taunts (“There’s no salvation for him in his God” alongside Matthew 27’s “He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now”); how does that parallel shape your understanding of God’s purposes in allowing public mockery of the righteous one rather than immediate vindication? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Psalm 3 sounds like the insults Jesus got on the cross. How does that change how you see God’s reason for allowing the righteous one to be mocked in public instead of rescuing him right away?

The lesson argues Psalm 3 “obviously would make no sense” if it were merely about normal sleep, and that “sleep” functions as a metaphor for death; where do you see modern Bible reading flattening metaphors into mere devotional comfort, and what do we lose about resurrection hope when “sleep” is treated as only soothing language? JumpstartAnother way to ask: The lesson says “sleep” in Psalm 3 is a picture of death, not just bedtime. Where do Christians today turn Bible pictures like that into only “comfort,” and what happens to our hope in resurrection when we do?

Multiple early writers (Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus, Cyprian, Lactantius) saw Psalm 3 as passion/resurrection prophecy though “I’ve never heard any modern preacher use this”; what does that gap suggest about whose interpretive instincts shape your faith most—early catholic consensus or modern pulpit habits—and why? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Many early Christian teachers read Psalm 3 as pointing to Jesus’ suffering and resurrection, but you rarely hear that today. What does that say about who shapes your Bible reading more—early church voices or today’s preaching—and why?

Genesis 49 portrays Judah’s lion “bows down and sleeps… and who shall rouse him?”; how does framing resurrection as an unanswered question (“Who will raise him?”) function spiritually—does it force dependence, worship, awe, or something else—and how is that different from treating resurrection as a doctrinal fact you already “have down”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Genesis 49 asks, “Who will wake the lion?” as if resurrection is an open question. How does that kind of question affect your faith (dependence, worship, awe, or something else), and how is it different from just knowing resurrection as a fact?

The lesson notes the Septuagint word for “bow down” in Genesis 49 is *proskuneo*—the same word used for worship of God (Matthew 4; Hebrews 1:6); how does the idea that “his brothers” would *worship* him confront modern attempts to reduce Jesus to merely a moral teacher or to separate “Jesus as Savior” from “Jesus as Lord”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Genesis 49 uses a word that can mean “worship” to describe Judah’s brothers responding to him. How does that challenge the idea that Jesus is only a moral teacher, or that you can have “Jesus as Savior” without “Jesus as Lord”?

Hippolytus connects the lion’s “stooped down and lay down” to “the three days of sleep or death,” while also saying Christ “sprang from Judah and David according to the flesh” yet was “conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit”; how do these two strands (true death + miraculous conception) shape what you think God is like—especially His humility and His power? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Hippolytus links the lion’s “lying down” to Jesus’ real death, and he also says Jesus had a miraculous birth by the Holy Spirit. How do both truths together shape how you see God’s humility and God’s power?

Eusebius says Jacob’s “Who shall rouse him?” was designed “to impel us to ask” who raised Jesus, answering: “the God of the universe, His Father”; how does emphasizing the Father’s agency in the resurrection challenge the way modern Christians speak as if resurrection were simply Jesus “getting up by Himself,” and what does it imply about the Father-Son relationship? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Eusebius says the Father raised Jesus from the dead. How does that push back on the way people talk like Jesus just raised Himself, and what does it show about the Father-Son relationship?

Eusebius (and others) treated Herod—an Idumean, non-Jew king—as a historical “sign” that the scepter was departing and Messiah was near; what does this approach to prophecy (tying it to political shifts and uncomfortable leaders) suggest about how God governs history, and how might that unsettle modern Christian expectations of “safe” or inspiring signs? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Some writers saw Herod’s rule as a political sign that the Messiah was near. What does that suggest about how God works through history and leaders, and why might that make us uncomfortable with “safe” or inspiring signs?

Cyprian ties Genesis 49 to concrete outcomes: Christ “conquered death” with “the hands which bore the cross,” and becomes “hope to the Gentiles”; if the resurrection is so densely prophesied, why do you think “so many people miss these wonderful prophecies,” and what specific habits (in preaching, Bible reading, or assumptions about grace and obedience) might need to change in your life for resurrection to reshape daily decisions rather than remain a holiday doctrine? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If the resurrection is clearly promised in places like Genesis 49, why do you think so many people miss it? What habits in your preaching, Bible reading, or views of grace and obedience might need to change so the resurrection shapes your daily choices, not just Easter?