The Path to the Cross Discovery Guide: Embracing Obedience and Sacrifice (That the World May Know)

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Path to the Cross Discovery GuideBy Ray Vander Laan ZONDERVANCopyright © 2010 Ray Vander LaanAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-0-310-88058-5ContentsIntroduction, 7,Session 1 The Way of the Essenes, 15,Session 2 The Way of John the Baptist, 73,Session 3 Into the Desert to Be Tested, 129,Session 4 The Last Passover, 171,Session 5 The Fifth Cup: Our Way of Hope, 225,Notes, 271,Acknowledgments, 277,Bibliography, 281,CHAPTER 1THE WAY OF THE ESSENESAbout 150 years before the birth of Jesus the Messiah, some of God's people - the Essenes - established a community in the Judea Wilderness near the northern end of the Dead Sea. We know it as Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Not all scholars agree that Essenes lived at Qumran, wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, or were the people the scrolls portray, so study and debate about the nature of the community continue. However, given the lack of other significant theories about Qumran, the scrolls, and the Essenes, we will take the position of mainstream Bible scholars that the Qumran ruins are those of the Dead Sea Scroll community that was part of a religious movement that included the Essenes.In any case, our primary focus is not on the relationship between the people who lived in this community and the Dead Sea Scrolls. We will focus on why this group of God's people went into the desert to live as they did. We want to know the role they played in God's great story of redemption.Part of the answer is revealed in the Hebrew Bible where the prophets proclaimed God's command for his people to "prepare the way" for his coming. Malachi wrote that God would come after he sent his messenger to prepare his way (Malachi 3:1). The words of Isaiah add further insight: "In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God" (Isaiah 40:3).The Essenes were passionately committed to learning and obeying every word that came from the mouth of God. They knew that God wanted to dwell among them and believed with all their heart, soul, and strength that if they prepared the way he would come. So they eagerly anticipated the coming of the Messiah and went into the desert to "prepare the way" for him.But anyone who has hiked the rugged mountains of the Judea Wilderness will likely ask, "Why did the way for God have to be prepared in the desert, especially this one?" Throughout history this wilderness has remained virtually uninhabited. Its rough, steep terrain and lack of water make it unsuitable for good travel routes. Its summer heat frequently exceeds 120 degrees Fahrenheit, hot winds often dry out any remaining moisture, and chilling temperatures set in soon after sunset.Wouldn't it have been easier for God's way to be prepared in the fertile countryside near the Sea of Galilee or the well-watered hillsides near Jerusalem? Why did God choose the desert as the place for his people to prepare for his glory to be revealed? Why did he choose a place where simply surviving is so hard?Again, part of the answer can be found in the Hebrew Bible. In the exodus story, God worked through his prophet Moses to miraculously bring the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt, deliver them from Pharaoh's army at the Red Sea, and lead them into the "vast and dreadful desert" (Deuteronomy 8:15) where he met with them and lived among them for forty years. In the desert, they learned to depend on God and live by his every word. Isolated from the influence of Egyptian and Canaanite cultures, the Israelites became a unified people whom God molded and shaped to be a kingdom of priests who would display his character to the world.In a sense, the desert is the perfect place for God's people (including us today) to learn to be his people. In the desert, the diversions of a comfortable lifestyle fade into silence, and God's powerful whisper can be heard. In the desert, we can survive - and even thrive - but only