A Christmas Bible Study "Good News of Great Joy:"
The Book of Luke
DATE: (12/19/14)
Week # 3
Prayer:
Our Father, which are in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, a name so honored. We honor and praise You. Thank You, Father, for sending Your Son Jesus Christ to die for our sin. Thank You, Jesus for leaving Your home in glory to come to the earth, and bring glory to the God of all creation. It's an honor to know You in our hearts. We pray for those who do not know You in their hearts today. Let this Christmas be a holiday that people will be saved for the glory of God. Jesus ministry was a powerful ministry on this earth; bless all ministries to share the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ this season, because we honor You as the reason for the season. It's Good News of great joy to our souls. Let the announcement be heard all of this earth. As we study, give us the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom we have learned in our last study. This we pray in Jesus' Mighty Name. AMEN.
Christ's Birth Announced to Mary: Chapter 1:26-38
Luke's account of the announcement of Jesus' birth focuses upon Mary, whereas
Matthew's account focused upon Joseph (Matt 1:18-25). As you may recall, Matthew's purpose in writing his Gospel account was to prove that Jesus was the rightful heir to the throne of Israel and his primary audience was Jews. On the other hand, Luke's primary audience is Gentile and Luke emphasizes the humanity of Christ more than other Gospel writers. Details relating to Jesus' birth illustrate Luke's focus upon Jesus' humanity and probably derive from the fact that Luke was a physician. This announcement in Luke parallels God's announcement to Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 18:1-15.
The virgin birth prediction and announcement in these verses should cause us to reflect upon at least two Old Testament passages. First, in Genesis 3:15, we see a prediction of "her Seed" which is a reference to the Messiah Jesus. This conclusion is based upon the fact that throughout the Bible the term "seed" is used as a Messianic term (Num 24:7; Is 6:13) Obviously, the prediction of a Messiah to Israel was known even to Gentiles. We saw examples of this in our study of Matthew (Matt 8:5-13; 15:21-28) and the Old Testament is full of
passages that document the blessing that will be experienced by Gentiles when the Messianic kingdom comes. Therefore, even Gentiles would be interested in the prophecy in verses 32-33 that indicate that this babe Jesus would grow to be the recipient of and fulfill the Davidic Covenant. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. (Lu 1:32-33)
Mary Visits Elizabeth & the Song of Mary: (1:39-45)
Since Mary accepted Gabriel's word, there is no reason to think Mary's visit was to check the truth of that word. Two women, not only kin but now drawn by a common experience, meet in an unnamed village in the hills of Judea. The author does not say exactly where Elizabeth stayed. The location is given generally as a town of Judah. Judah is about a three day trip south of Nazareth. Some interpret Luke's statement in 1:41 regarding the baby John leaping in Elizabeth's womb as a fulfillment of the angel Gabriel's prophecy in 1:15 that John would be "filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb."1 As we have previously studied, I believe such an interpretation to be more eisegesis than exegesis. I base this on the following facts and observations:
In Luke 1:15, the preposition translated "from" in many Bibles and "in" in other Bibles is the Greek preposition (ek) meaning "from" or "out."
Luke was perhaps the most educated of all New Testament writers and demonstrated a style of Greek that is unparalleled in the New Testament.
Luke would have known the difference between the Greek prepositions __ (ek) meaning from or out and (eis) meaning in or into.
In Luke 1:41-42, it is most consistent with the use of the phrase "filled with the Holy Spirit" in the rest of Luke's two books (i.e. Luke and Acts) to associate the "filling" with the speaking with the loud voice by Elizabeth when she blesses Mary (1:42) rather than to associate the filling with the babe leaping in her womb (1:41). [For more information on the two types of filling in the New Testament, please see our notes in SLR_8A in the Review of the Spiritual Life of the Believer series].
Pregnant women often experience motility in the womb during heightened emotional states. Such reflex motility could explain John's leaping in the womb when Mary's greeting was heard by Elizabeth. Such excitement is very understandable given the supernatural nature of the two pregnancies involved as well as the fact that they both had been attended by prophetic announcements by the angel Gabriel.
The emphasis of the passage is on the excitement over a common experience between Mary and Elizabeth (see 1:43-45) and Elizabeth's prophecy while "filled" with the Holy Spirit.
There is no Biblical evidence that Elizabeth even knew of Mary's pregnancy prior to prophesying while being "filled" with the Holy Spirit.
Once again, on the basis of these facts and observations, there is no reason for using this passage as some type of proof text for when human life begins. The context and the intent of the passage has nothing to do with when human life begins. Is there life in the womb? Yes, at a minimum, there is biological life with the potential for human life (i.e. soul and physical life). This passage (v. 41-42) has more to do with the faith of Mary and Elizabeth as evidenced by their excitement over their mutual involvement in two of the most momentous births in history than it has to do with the birth of John or Jesus. Elizabeth's statement in 1:43-45 supports this understanding of the emphasis of the passage.
The Song of Mary (1:46-55)
Mary's song, in response to Elizabeth and to the events that have transpired, is sometimes called the Magnificat from the opening word in the Latin translation. The song itself draws upon the song of Hannah (1 Sam. 2:1-10) with other OT allusions and phrases interspersed. Here are some special points of note regarding Mary's song of praise:
Mary manifests joy in her soul. Joy (i.e. magnification of the Lord) can only occur in the soul of the believer who has come to grips with spiritual truths. This was just as true of the Age of Israel believer as it is of the Church Age believer.
Mary calls God "my savior" which evidences the nature of her faith in Yahweh (1:47). This is one piece of evidence to me that the Yahweh God of Israel (as well as the God of the Gentiles prior to the beginning of the Age of Israel) was the Second person of the Trinity, i.e. Jesus Christ, in pre-incarnate status.
Mary is truly humbled by the honor of being the birth mother of the Messiah of Israel (1:48) and she knew that such an honor was a stark contrast with her worldly position. Yet, she possessed great appreciation.
Mary praised God for His special favor on Israel (vv. 51-55). Through the Child that she was to bear, God was being merciful to Abraham and his descendants. Mary was aware that the birth of her Child was a fulfillment of the covenant promises to Abraham and his people. All of the verses in this passage reflect a soul that was saturated with knowledge of several truths pertinent to Mary and the Jewish people and the expressions correspond to similar expressions found in the OT. The following observations reveal the humility of a soul grounded in spiritual truth:
Mary had a tremendous appreciation for the essence of God and His policies.
1). "He who is mighty" (v 49) – omnipotence
2). "Holy is His name" (v 49) – justice & righteousness
3). "His mercy is on those who fear Him" (v. 50) – Mercy = God's policy of grace in action
4). "He has shown strength with His arm" (v. 51) and "He has put down the mighty from their thrones" (v. 52) – God's sovereignty and omnipotence
5) "He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty" (v. 53) – God's justice, righteousness, and omniscience in action to determine blessing and reward or punishment based upon the spiritual quality of one's life
6). "In remembrance of His mercy" (v. 54) – God's policy of grace in action
7). "As He spoke to our fathers" (v. 55) – God's immutable nature means a promise (i.e. the Abrahamic Covenant – Gen 12) will be kept.
QUESTIONS/ANSWERS:
1. Who is referred to as "the voice of one crying in the wilderness"?
John the Baptist (Luke 3:3-4)
2. Which prophet prophesied about "the voice of one crying in the wilderness"?
Isaiah (Luke 3:4)
3. Who was the wife of Philip, the brother of Herod the tetrarch?
Herodias (Luke 3:19)
4. Who had shut John in prison?
Herod the tetrarch (Luke 3:19-20)
5. In what bodily form was the Holy Spirit seen to be descending upon Jesus during
his baptism?
Dove (Luke 3:22)
6. At what age did Jesus begin his ministry?
30 (Luke 3:23)
7. Where did Jesus go after his baptism in Jordan?
He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Luke 4:1)
8. How long did Jesus fast in the wilderness?
Forty days (Luke 4:2)
9. What was Jesus' response to the devil's temptation, "If you are the Son of God,
command this stone to become bread"?
"It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of
God.'" (Luke 4:4)
10. In what city had Jesus been brought up?
Nazareth (Luke 4:16)
QUESTIONS:
Joseph and Mary:
1 Who told Mary and Joseph to go to Bethlehem?
2 Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus because they were following a star.
True or False
3 What form of transportation did Mary and Joseph use to get to Bethlehem? The answer is not a taxi cab.
4 Which Old Testament prophet had the most to say about the birth of Christ?
5 In the accounts announcing the birth of Christ (Matthew 1 and Luke 1 and 2) how many times did an angel or angels appear?
6 Who told Joseph the baby's name was to be Jesus?
7 Can you list 5 names of Jesus found in the Bible? Some on my list are from Old Testament prophecies.
8 What are the meanings of the name Emmanuel?
9 The shepherds and the wise men went to see Jesus. Which group followed a star and which group went to find the baby because an angel told them where to look?
10 What did the heavenly host sing to the shepherds?
11 When the shepherds went looking for Jesus, what was the sign they were to look for?
12 How many wise men or kings or magi came to see Jesus?
13 Matthew 2:8 says that Herod asked the wise men to inform him where the baby Jesus was. Why does this verse say he wanted to know?
14 How old was Jesus when the wise men found him?
15 What are the three gifts which were mentioned given by the wise men?
A Christmas Song:
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconcile.
Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies;
With the angelic host proclaim
'Christ is born in Bethlehem'
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King.
Christ by highest heaven adored
Christ the everlasting Lord
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of a virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail, the incarnate deity,
Pleased as Man with Man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel!
Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King.
Hail, the heaven-born Prince of peace!
Hail the Son of righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King.
Quiz:
Each of the following people or groups had something to do with the story of the birth of Jesus. Match the people with the statement concerning them.
1). Caesar Augustus a). went to see Jesus, then told others about him.
2). Joseph b). announced Jesus' birth to Sheperds.
3). Mary c). issued a decree
4). Angel d). went with her husband to Bethlehem
5). Shepherds e). went to Bethlehem to be taxed.
6). Those who heard f). wondered at what they were told
7). Herod g). said "glory to God in the highest."
8). Heavenly Host h). presented gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh
9). Wise Men i). warned the Wise Men of Herod's evil plan
10). God j) pretended to want to worship Jesus
Reading the book of Luke: Chapters 1-24 (optional)
Week 3 Luke 7-9
Luke 7:11-28 Jesus Raises a Widow's Son, Jesus and John the Baptist
Luke 7:28-8:3 Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
Luke 8:4-15 Parable of the Sower
Luke 8:16-39 A Lamp on a Stand, Jesus Calms the Storm, Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man
Luke 8:40-9:9 A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman, Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
Luke 9:10-27 Jesus Feeds the 5,000, Peter's Confession of Christ
Luke 9:28-43 The Transfiguration, Healing of a Boy with an Evil Spirit
Luke 9:43-62 Who Will be the Greatest? Samaritan Opposition, Cost of Following Jesus
Personal reflection question: Can you identify with Zechariah's and Elizabeth's response to God's activity in their lives?
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