Wednesday, January 21, 2015

BIBLE STUDY OF BOOK OF LUKE WEEK # 7 (QUESTIONS)

My Answers to Questions:

 

1).        Who do Mary and Elizabeth represent in the story?

 

Elizabeth represent God's promise, and Mary represent  God's wisdom.  I  also believe that Mary represent God, and Elizabeth represent the Holy Spirit.

 

2).        How would you describe the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Mary and Elizabeth?

 

Mary was full of the Holy Spirit because of Jesus (God) in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit because John was in her womb so he could receive the anointing of Elijah.

 

3).        What was contained in the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament and how does Mary's pregnancy relate to it?

 

Exodus 16:33-34 (KJV) And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations. As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

Hebrews 9:3-4 (NIV) Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.

 

4).        How does the angel Gabriel function in the birth story?

 

The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and Elizabeth as a spirit from God and delivered the message to both of them concerning the child they would have as a miracle.

 

5).        What is the difference between Zechariah and Mary's response to the angel?

 

Mary accepted it because she believed it; Zachariah couldn't accept it because he couldn't believe it.

 

6.         What does Luke's insistence on Mary being a virgin mean to you?

 

I must live a pure and holy life unto God.

 

7).        With which character in Luke's birth story do you identify?

 

Joseph, because he trusted God when God open his heart and mind to His plan for him and Mary to get married. It probably was hard for him at first, but then he accepted it as being God ordained plan, and follow God's instructions.

 

8).        How does the structure of Luke's infancy story help you to better interpret it?

 

I feel Dr. Luke shared more than the other gospels did. This approach to Luke's Gospel, which consists of reading it first for its story, then for its picture of Jesus, and thirdly for its teaching on discipleship, is just one of many that are possible and fruitful. May it bring each of us closer to the Luke who wrote it – that beloved physician who brought comfort to Paul in his imprisonment and to Theophilus, the first to read it. And when we have come to the end of this first volume of Luke's writings, it will be time for us to take up his second, The Acts of the Apostles, where we will learn how the first disciples of Jesus lived and acted as Jesus did, so that our own lives may mirror that of Jesus, the 'first Christian'. All of this help me to interpret the birth story more clearly.

 

9).        What is the meaning of the Old Testament texts that Luke uses for the back drop of his story?

 

Isaiah chapter 9 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel." I believe God sent His Word (Jesus) to heal the people, and to save them from their sin.

 

 

10).      How do you react to the stages of development that the Gospels went through?

 

I am not sure what this question is asking, but I am so grateful that God included everyone in this gospel. To me this is the best of all gospels. The development of this book is unique. To me the gospel of Luke is a catalyze to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

11).      What do we know about the author of the Gospel of Luke?

 

Luke was a very educated man in his day and a physician. Colossians 4:10-14 seems to indicate that he was a Gentile. This would mean that Luke was the only Gentile author of a New Testament book. Apparently, Luke was not an eyewitness to the events surrounding Jesus. Luke's Gospel narrative is the result of his efforts in analyzing the accounts of those who were eyewitnesses. It is likely that Luke became a believer relatively late since there is no mention of him until his presence with Paul is noted in the "we" sections of another narrative he wrote – the book of Acts. You may recall that John Mark, the writer of the Gospel of Mark, spent time with Peter, whereas Luke spent time with Paul.

 

 

12).      With which themes in the Gospel of Luke can you readily identify?

 

Mary's Journey because I have been on a journey for a long time.  My journey in this life can get hard, but God's Holy Spirit guides and protects me to where I need to be each day.  It does not say if Mary took that journey by herself, but if she did, then she was alone, but not alone because Jesus was with her. I know that Jesus is with me on my journey too.

 

13).      How did Luke die?

 

The New Testament mentions Luke briefly a few times, and the Pauline epistle to the Colossians refers to him as a doctor; thus he is thought to have been both a physician and a disciple of Paul. Christians since the faith's early years have regarded him as a saint. He is believed to have died a martyr, although accounts of the events do vary.

 

14).      Was Luke an apostle?  

 

No, he was just a disciple and Apostle Paul's doctor  who traveled with him.

 

No comments:

Casting All Your Care Upon Him

Casting All Your Care Upon Him
1 Peter 5:7

Blog Archive