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Mary and the baby Jesus

An artist’s depiction of a famous Christmas theme

Bible study for Matthew 1:18-25

Matthew 1:18-25 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

In our passage today, Matthew tells us about Jesus’ miraculous birth by changing the focus of his Gospel from the ‘wide angle’ view of the genealogy to the ‘close up’ of Mary and Joseph’s circumstances at the time.  The central character of this part of the story is Joseph, who acts in response to God’s prompting through dreams to protect Jesus and His mother.  Whilst the Gospel of Luke concentrates upon the figure of Mary, Matthew focuses on Joseph; and in each Gospel, an angel is responsible for both guidance and protection of the holy family (1:20).  The faithfulness shown by Joseph in the whole story is remarkable, for we are told at the beginning that he knows he is not the father of Mary’s child, but he nevertheless takes responsibility for Him with complete integrity.  Joseph is a model of responsibility, initiative, response to God and humble service in the face of dangerous odds; it is a story that stirs the heart!  He was the father that the earthly Jesus could learn from and look up to in preparation for the onerous task of His ministry.

Our text today records what is called the ‘virgin birth’. The Church has long held this to be an article of faith, and yet today, some are happy to dispense with this notion.  There are those who dismiss the idea that Jesus’ birth could be a miracle, and even question the relevance of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 which undergirds this story (1:22,23).  Matthew’s purpose however, is to tell us who Jesus is, and at this point in the Bible, nothing could be more important.  The genealogy traced a male line from Abraham, the father of ‘faith’ in God, through King David to Joseph; but we are left with a quandary.  Firstly, Joseph was not married to Mary when she became pregnant, and Matthew was able to explain why for both historic and also theological reasons.

In the manner of their day, Joseph and Mary were pledged to each other and were formally engaged; this was a solemn step on the path to marriage in which the couple held the same responsibilities to each other of formal marriage, but without sex.  Mary’s pregnancy was therefore a scandal, and with extraordinary literary impact Matthew declared that the Holy Spirit was responsible (1:18)!  He does not say that the Holy Spirit worked through the earthly father to create the child within Mary, but took the place of the earthly father; so this was no ordinary miracle.  It was unique.  Jews and Christians have always believed that the Holy Spirit is involved in the process of the creation of a child, but in the case of Jesus, the Holy Spirit’s role was exclusive.

Joseph weighed up his options in verse 19, and action he took, from a strict Jewish perspective, was questionable, but an angel appeared to him to indicate what he should do (1:20).  None of us can imagine what an experience such as this does to a person, but the angel asked Joseph to take the burden of the problem upon himself.  The instruction to ‘marry Mary’, (1:20) was tantamount to a public confession that he had sex with Mary whilst betrothed.  Making one’s betrothed pregnant was hardly the sin of adultery even in those days, and it would have compromised him in the eyes of many people.  At great personal risk, he did not expose Mary to the humiliation of a public court to ascertain who the father was, because Mary and perhaps even he could well have been stoned.  So Joseph, whilst meticulously righteous, was asked to take on ‘unrighteousness’ for the sake of his wife, and for the sake of the child to be born.  In doing this he points to the work of the Christ.

Our passage concludes with the memorable comment by Matthew (1:22,23) that the whole birth of Jesus fulfils the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14), and he explains carefully that Jesus is ‘Immanuel’ or ‘God with us’, according to the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14). This prophecy is amazing in itself and sets the tone for the whole Gospel that lies ahead.  Isaiah’s prophecy is not just included to explain the ‘virgin birth’; it is there because like a true prophecy, it helps us interpret what is happening, so that we may know God’s Word.

This amazing story holds almost too much for us to look at briefly!  This is the promise of the Saviour of the world fulfilled!  This is the greatest mystery on earth!  This is the moment when heaven and earth touched!  How could it be that anyone might expect this amazing event to be rational, logical or explainable! God has come in human form to bless and save the world!  Yet at heart, this is a deeply human story of a man and his wife, used by God.  Praise be to God that the Saviour came in this way!

Matthew 1:18-25 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Why do you think that Jesus had to be born of Mary by ‘virgin birth’?
2. How does this study help you to understand the figure of Joseph?  What are the key characteristics of his faith?
3. If Joseph was so important at the beginning of the story, why do you think he fades from the scene in the rest of the Gospel?

Personal comments by author

The conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb by the Holy Spirit has been subjected to all manner of literary and historical analysis, but one thing we cannot do is analyse this scientifically!  God chose the right moment to come into the world, and I for one, am amazed at what He has done and the way He has done it.  We welcome Jesus!

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• It is not Christmas time at the moment, but read through this story several times and let it to inspire you afresh in the middle of summer, rather than in the depths of winter!  What can you learn?
• If you are a man, try to imagine what this story must have been like for Mary.  If you are a woman, try to imagine what this story must have been like for Joseph.  What does this teach you?

Final Prayer

Great and Mighty Lord; fix my heart on You with such intensity that no temptations of the evil one can shake me.  Keep my feet firmly on Your pathway, guide me securely through my troubles, and bring me safely into Your complete salvation and my journey’s end.  I ask this through Jesus Christ my Lord; AMEN

Bible study for Matthew 2:1-6

Matthew 2:1-6 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Here, Matthew continues to tell us about Jesus’ coming into the world.  In church, the first few verses of Matthew 2 are usually read some time after Christmas, as part of the celebration of the coming of the Magi (Epiphany), but as far as Matthew was concerned, they follow on from his description of Mary’s pregnancy and Joseph’s faithfulness in providing for Mary and her child.

Around the time Jesus was born, there was feverish expectation about the coming of God’s Messiah amongst every level of Jewish society, especially amongst rulers and religious groups, for example the Essenes, a religious group known about from the Dead Sea Scrolls who lived in desert communities.  However, Jesus was not born into any such group, but into an ordinary Jewish home, untroubled by the politics of his day; both Matthew and Luke agree (Luke 2:1f.) that Jesus was born amongst ordinary people, in ‘Bethlehem of Judea’ (2:1).  What Matthew does however, is to tell us how Jesus’ birth affected the kings and rulers of His day, and this passage introduces us to a strange combination of leaders who were affected by his birth; the King of Israel, Herod the Great, and some foreign ‘Magi’, who were also seeking the truth about God’s coming into the world.

Little is known about the Magi.  Many people think there were three, but Matthew does not say this; people have deduced this from the fact that three gifts were given (2:11)!   In order to find Jesus, the Magi used ‘astrological’ skills to follow a star, and some find it hard to understand why God accepted homage to Jesus from such pagans.  However they came to Jesus, we should note that on arrival (2:11), they ‘paid Him homage’ by worshipping Him as King and God.  This is the clear meaning of the gifts they brought of gold, frankincense and myrrh, indicating royalty, holiness and honour.  Later, the Magi returned home; but in our part of the story today, they represent Gentile seekers for God, and it is therefore not at all surprising that they had begun their search using methods that were not ‘proper’.  People cannot have their eyes opened until they meet Christ!

Herod the Great was a different character altogether.  He was the ruler of ‘greater Palestine’ from 37 – 4 BC acting with the authority of the Roman Empire.  He was ruthless, cruel and, like many a dictator, wanted to leave a heritage by which he would be remembered.  He was not loved by the Jewish people because he was half Jew and half Gentile, but in order to gain the people’s affections, he had accepted circumcision and built a magnificent new Temple in Jerusalem.  There is little doubt that Herod would have regarded any ‘Messiah’ as a threat to his authority, and he knew that groups like the Essenes were preparing for the ‘last days’, believing that at such a time all Roman authority would be overthrown.  Of course, if Rome was overthrown, then Herod would lose all his power, so his interest in any Messiah would only be to destroy him as a threat to his own power!

Knowing this, we can explain the mystery of verse 6, the supposed quote from the Old Testament, mentioning Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Messiah.  In verse 4, in answer to the questions of the Magi, Herod asks scribes to look up in Scriptures where the Messiah would be born.  The answer given by the scribes bears some connection with Micah 5:2, but if you look up this passage, you will find that it is a concoction of Micah 5:2, 2 Samuel 5:2 and Isaiah 11:1!  What were the scribes doing?  We can solve the mystery if we realise that the scribes were probably making a point to Herod as well as answering him.  Herod did not know Scriptures but they did, so they sent him an answer giving him the information he wanted, but also telling him that the Messiah would be a humble servant like David!  The message was a polite way of telling Herod that he was not the Messiah!

Matthew 2:1-6 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What can we learn about the Messiah from this part of the story, particularly in verse 6 of this passage?
2. The Magi came to find Jesus after studying the stars.  Can we expect to find that people come searching for Jesus from similar backgrounds today?
3. Just because Scripture manipulates texts from the Old Testament (see verse 6), does this give us permission to do the same today?

Personal comments by author

This famous story has been used a great deal to tell the story of Jesus, and we are strongly conditioned by the assumptions that we place around it, within the time frame we have concocted for the story.  We need to get right out of the mindset of the nativity play if we are to rediscover what Matthew wanted to say about who Jesus was.  This can be quite challenging, but it is worth it.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Look up the passages of scripture which are mentioned here as behind verse 6.  Read them carefully and find the words which go together to make up the quote.  What do these passages say to you, and what do they say about Jesus?
• If you can, find an opportunity to share what you think about this story with someone who is not a regular church goer.  Dare to explain the difference between myth and scripture!

Final Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, may we seek and always find You within this world of ours.  All too often we forget You and miss what You are doing.  So, give us the grace to accept our failures and turn to You for constant love, support and guidance.  You never fail us!  Thanks be to God! AMEN

Bible study for Matthew 2:7-12

Matthew 2:7-12 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

When the Magi visited Herod in Jerusalem, they were able to obtain from details about where the Messiah was to be born.  Herod sent them on their way out of politeness, but neither he nor the scribes he consulted were willing to consider whether there might be some truth either to the Magi’s tale or to the fulfilment of any of the ancient prophecies about the Messiah.  Herod’s words sound polite enough (2:8), but the Magi probably knew they were being either used.  If Herod was really interested in their report, he would have wished to be the first find out what was happening.

The Magi continued on their way, and miraculously found Jesus, led by the star (2:10).  There has been a great deal of interest in the phenomenon of the star, and clearly, the Magi were deeply impressed by some astrological phenomenon.  Historical records show that ancient Persians were capable of calculating that in 6/7 BC there would be an astrological conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the astrological region of Pisces.  What makes this significant for Matthew’s story is that Jupiter was considered the ‘Star of the Universe’, Saturn was the ‘Star of Palestine’, and Pisces was the constellation representing the ‘last days’.  This would have been regarded as a remarkable omen by people of those times and it is no wonder that the Magi came to Palestine to see what was going on!

However, if this is all we make of the star then we forget the wider picture, for Matthew was not an astrologer and he would have held astrology in disdain as Christians do today.  In his Gospel, Matthew’s intention is for us to see Jesus’ birth as miraculous (see 1:19-25), so we should not be looking for a ‘natural’ explanation of the movement of the star.  This chapter tells us that the star rises in the east (2:2), at an exact time (2:7), went ahead of the Magi from Jerusalem to Bethlehem (2:9) and then stopped (2:9).  Now, all the speculation about Saturn and Jupiter may be seen to fit with the first two of these references, but the last two are different, because stars do not just ‘stop’, or indicate a geographical place on earth!  This, for Matthew remains a miracle, and shows God’s command of the universe.  He is able even to guide pagan astrologers to the baby Jesus!  It was God’s plan to make the Messiah known to all.

When the Magi came to the child, they instantly recognised what we already know, that the child was indeed born of God, and they honoured him suitably, presenting their famous gifts of gold, incense and myrrh, indicating royalty, holiness and honour.  Many theories have been put forward to explain the meaning of the gifts, but it is probably unwise to go beyond these simple Biblical word associations.  The gifts represent the Magi’s acceptance of the baby Jesus’ royalty (gold), His divinity (incense - purity) and his unique role (myrrh - honour) in God’s plans for the world. 

When they found the baby, Matthew says that the Magi worshipped the infant Jesus.  The Greek text says here that they ‘fell down and worshipped’, which indicates that the Magi believed that He was indeed God.  The Magi knew nothing of the meaning of the coming of the Messiah because they did not come from a Jewish background; nevertheless, they accepted Jesus for what they could know of Him.  Their faith was a simple faith and although it does not show the level of personal commitment we attach to that word, what they did was remarkable.  Gentile kings worshipped the baby Jesus for who He was and according to the revelation they had received, moreover, they were the first people ever to worship Jesus according to Matthew!

Despite the wonder and the majesty of these events, the story is not over.  Whenever Jesus is honoured as Lord, there are consequences, and in a land where many people were expecting a Messiah, the discovery and worship of the infant Jesus was bound to draw a response from the earthly authorities, and we shall see more of that tomorrow.

Matthew 2:7-12 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. If the Magi came to Jesus through astrology, do people come to Jesus today, being led through other pagan means?  Discus this in your group
2. What do the gifts mean to you, and what could they mean to Mary and Joseph, his parents?
3. Is there any value in knowing the astrological details of the stars at the time of Jesus’ birth, and what do they tell us, if anything?

Personal comments by author

There is something very beautiful about these stories of Jesus, though they were clearly not written with a western readership in mind!  There are so many things we would like to know about what happened, but we must be content to accept that this was all Matthew wanted to say in order to make his point.  I believe his point was that Jesus was born as king, not just of the Jewish people (as in chapter 1) but of all people (as represented by the Magi).  For Matthew, a Jew, this was a powerful statement to make.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Herod urged the Magi to search for the child, and they found Him.  How do you seek to find Jesus, or do you feel that you have already found Him?  Pray about this, and ask the Lord to help you find out more about the Jesus you lave and worship.
• Pray that God will lead more ‘gentiles’ to seek for Jesus and pray that God’s people, the church, will not stop them from finding the true Christ.

Final Prayer

Dear Jesus, You were born into this world with nothing, and yet the Magi worshipped You as Lord.  May we be inspired by God to worship You as a baby this Christmas time, not expecting anything in return, but giving You our best and our all.  You are worth our love, Lord Jesus, AMEN

Bible study for Matthew 2:13-18

Matthew 2:13-18 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

There are two halves to this passage, which picks up the immediate consequences of Jesus’ birth and the visit of the Magi.  Firstly, an angel appears to Joseph to warn him of danger and guide him in keeping the family safe (2:13-15), and then, Herod responds fiercely to the Magi’s rebuff in not telling him where the young child was, as he had requested (2:16-18).  If Herod had ever entertained any thought of coming to worship Jesus then the Magi had seen through his bluff.  Herod was only interested in himself and his grip on power, and his response to the possibility of a young ‘king of the Jews’ was fierce and cruel (2:16).  He killed all the children in and around Bethlehem (2:16).  It is hard to read about this ‘slaughter of the innocents’ but it is a part of the story we must seek to understand.

Firstly, the story of the flight to Egypt has fascinated many over the centuries, and we know about it from other sources.  Both the Talmud (a compilation of 1^st and 2^nd century Jewish law) and the writer Celsus (2^nd century) refer to this event, and this confirms that this did indeed happen.  Indeed, it would have been natural for a Jew under threat from Herod to go to Egypt, for there was a community of more than one million Jews living in Alexandria (Northern Egypt) at that time, many of whom needed to escape either Herod’s clutches or his taxes!

The key to our understanding of this passage is Matthew’s quote from Hosea found in verse 15:

‘When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son’.  (Hosea 11:1)

Matthew chose to quote from Hosea because the text speaks of God’s love for Israel and for ‘His son’.  However, this verse was originally a reference to the Exodus, when God saved His people ‘out of Israel’.  However, Matthew and others in the early church saw a parallel between Jesus and Israel.  If Israel had been ‘called out of Egypt’, then so would Jesus, and his flight from Herod to Egypt and consequent return enabled early Christians to talk of Jesus (and the church) as the ‘New Israel’. 

What happened to those who remained in Bethlehem churns the stomach, and it makes us ask difficult questions.  Appallingly, Herod murdered all children under two to try and eliminate the Messiah; so, why would God allow this?  It is difficult, but right, to try to find some balance here.  If, as was likely,  the population of the region was around 1,000, then this would equate to about  20 – 30 children.  The murder of such a number was only a small matter for Herod, who had earlier killed his wife, half the Sanhedrin, 300 court officers, and had all the senior figures of Jerusalem massacred in a stadium when he died himself!  Yet none of this justifies what happened in our eyes. 

However, we must accept that what happened was the evil action of a tyrant, not the direct responsibility of God, and Matthew quotes scripture in order to make sense of what is otherwise incomprehensible.  In verse 18, he quotes from Jeremiah 31:15, which refers to the weeping which accompanied the gathering of God’s people in Ramah when earlier generation of Judeans were herded together to be taken into Exile (586 BC).  However, if you read further in Jeremiah’s prophesy, you will find that his message is not one of mourning, but of hope.  Two verses later on Jeremiah says; ‘there is hope for your future, says the Lord; your children shall come back to their own country’ (Jer 31:17).  Jeremiah never questioned the suffering of the people of Israel at the time of the Exile, indeed, he endured it himself, but he did point towards the hope of God’s salvation and a ‘New Covenant’ (Jer 31:31ff).

This, indeed, is Matthew’s point.  There could be no justification for Herod’s cruel actions, but God was at work.  It was God’s intent to bring His salvation into the world through the Saviour, His Son Jesus, and He was saved from Herod’s terrible crime; He was saved for our benefit, for which we should give thanks.

Matthew 2:13-18 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Have you seen an angel, or had a message from God in a dream?  Have you been able to talk to others about it?
2. How does God have His hand on the events of history today, or did He only do this in times past?
3. Read the passage in Jeremiah and check out what you feel it means, and how it relates to this text.

Personal comments by author

The terrible things that happen in the world are often used as an argument against God.  Why does He allow terrible things to happen?  Sometimes there is little answer to be given, but in the case of the ‘slaughter of the innocents’ we should not give Satan the pleasure of attacking God for something that was pure evil.  The greatest concern at this point of history was for the survival of Jesus, the Messiah, and God’s priorities should be our priorities.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• What terrible things are happening in the world around you that you believe to be evil and an affront to the love of God?  Whatever you observe, God has an answer, but are you part of the solution?  Ask the Lord to show you answers to these questions.
• Find out about how children are abused today, and see whether there is anything you can do about this.  Make sure you know what is happening to children throughout the world.

Final Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, may we never get up and walk away from the challenges that you have placed before us.  Grant us the courage to face the greatest spiritual and physical challenges according to your will, and so show our love for You who first loved us.  Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  AMEN

Bible study for Mark 1:1-8

Mark 1:1-8 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

The beginning of Marks’ Gospel is quick and sudden.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is announced (1:1), the Old Testament is quoted indicating that a messenger is coming to prepare the way for Jesus as the Son of God (1:2,3), and John the Baptist is announced as the one delivering this message (1:4-8).  For those of us who like the ‘Christmas’ stories of Matthew or Luke or the rich theology of John chapter 1, this brief introduction to a Gospel seems rather weak.  The beginning of Mark’s Gospel nevertheless holds much, and we miss it far too easily.

So, why did Mark begin like this and not with a story about Jesus’ birth?  In the early days of the church, the Kingdom of God grew as preachers spoke about Jesus Christ, and the ‘good news’ of His death and resurrection brought people into a new relationship with God (see various stories in the Acts of the Apostles e.g. chapter 17).  Through this message, people were ‘saved’ by faith, and other information about Jesus’ life, such as how he was born, was passed on later.  It seems that Mark’s Gospel came into existence at this early phase of the life of the church as something more like a sermon preached to a congregation rather than an integrated story designed to tell us all the details about Jesus’ life.  Throughout the Gospel, Mark’s concern appears to have been to offer people the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that they could hear it and be saved, rather than methodical story telling!  So, just like a good sermon, Mark’s Gospel starts with a powerful series of quotations from the Old Testament telling people to prepare for the Lord’s coming with a messenger ahead of Him, crying out ‘prepare the way of the Lord ...’ (1:3)!

Mark’s quote from the prophet Isaiah (Mark 1:2,3) is very important, but it is more complicated than it looks.  It has obvious similarities to Isaiah 40:3, but the quote is made up of three passages; Exodus 23:20, Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1!  This is no casual connection, and Mark placed these prophecies together like this in order to give us plenty of information about how both John and Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecy.

After the introduction (1:1-3), most of the opening verses of the Gospel are about John the Baptist (1:4-8).  It was clearly Mark’s intention to tell his readers that John the Baptist was the connection between Jesus and the Scriptures of the Old Testament.  This was important, because before Mark began to write, the only Scriptures possessed by the early church were the Old Testament, and it was essential that he prove to his readers that the God they knew from Scriptures and their own traditions was indeed the God to be found in Jesus.  So Mark connect s John with not just one, but all the famous prophecies of the forerunner of the Messiah (as in the quotes above); but most importantly, that he was like Elijah (see 2 Kings 1:8) the prophet people believed would ‘come again’ before the Messiah (see Malachi 4:5).

In addition, Mark’s style as a preacher is also shown in what he said about John, and this connected strongly with his message about Jesus.  He highlighted John’s appeal for ‘repentance’, ‘baptism’ and the ‘forgiveness of sins’ (1:4), and then quoted his significant comment that Christ would ‘baptise ... with the Holy Spirit’ (1:8).  All of this is remarkably similar to Peter’s powerful preaching on the day of Pentecost when the church came into being (see Acts 2:38); this famous sermon and the call for response given by Peter at the end was the first ‘model’ sermon for those preaching the Gospel in the Church.

All this is a tantalising glimpse into how and why Mark began to write his Gospel.  Some say that Mark was a servant of Peter and wrote down his story.  Certainly, the opening of the Gospel gives us good reason to suspect that this may have been the case; and it certainly seems to have copied Peter’s style of preaching.

Mark 1:1-8 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Discuss what you believe to be the ‘Gospel of Jesus Christ’.  How does this relate to the introduction to Mark’s Gospel?
2. In what ways is John the Baptist an important role model for preachers today?
3. From what this passage says, what do you believe is the difference between baptism with water and baptism with the Holy Spirit?

Personal comments by author

I find that reading Scripture is something that can be easy or difficult.  Sometimes I read a passage that stops me in my tracks and forces me to spend time with it, because it says something I had not expected and I need to check it out.  At other times, I read Scripture too quickly and do not take on board the important details it contains.  This passage forces me to go back over it many times, and each time I do this, I find more layers of meaning; more things to discover and find out.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Read through this passage several times yourself; after each time, write down one sentence that comes to mind.  You will then build up quite a stock of ideas about this passage that can be very useful.
• Pray for those who preach the Gospel and seek to make it intelligible for people today.  Pray that they will be gifted by God for their task and faithful o the Gospel of Jesus.

Final Prayer

Call each of us, Lord Jesus, according to Your plans for the world and for the future.  May we be prepared to play our part in whatever way you require of us, so that Your Gospel may be proclaimed throughout the world, and to Your glory!  Thanks be to God; AMEN

Bible study for Luke 1:26-38

Luke 1:26-38 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

This is a beautiful and remarkable story, introducing Mary and describing the momentous events surrounding the conception of her son Jesus, the Son of God.  At the heart of this story is a divine paradox of humanity and divinity created in human flesh, for the Messiah is to be born of a woman by means of a miracle beyond our comprehension.  Throughout the centuries, people have argued about the ‘virgin birth’ as described here in this passage, yet for all our searching we have found nothing to add to what Luke has written.  On the one hand it is a powerfully simple story told with the minimum of fuss, and on the other hand it breaks through all our preconceptions about the difference between God and humanity.

In the previous story, Gabriel appeared to the priest Zachariah in the Temple to announce the birth of John, the man who would announce the Messiah (1:5-25).  Zachariah was troubled by what he heard and questioned Gabriel, and as a reward for his doubt he was struck dumb!  Here, Gabriel appears to Mary, a young woman expecting to be married shortly to Joseph, to tell her the mind-boggling news that she will have a child, though a virgin!  She is understandably perturbed and asks the same question as Zachariah, ‘How can this be ...’ (1:18,34), but something amazing happens.  Mary has already found favour with God, so Gabriel offers this young woman blessing upon blessing (1:28, 30,35), answering her questions by promising her the presence of Almighty God (1:35)!  Finally, after being given reassuring news about the pregnancy of her older relative Elizabeth, Mary ceases her questioning and submits to God’s will and divine purpose; ‘Here am I, the Lord’s servant, let it happen according to Your word’ (1:38).  These are possibly the most exquisite expressive words of pure faith to be found within the Bible, and in them, God’s favour and Mary’s pure trust combine to enable Jesus the Saviour to be born into our world.

Some of the details of the story are intriguing.  Why is it that after centuries of performing miracles through the children born of barren women (see yesterday’s study), God should now chose an unmarried virgin?  Why does God chose a woman from Nazareth?  What qualities might attract Mary to God even before she has expressed her trust and faith (1:30)?  Why does Gabriel emphasise the earthly lineage of the child to be born, but state that her betrothed will not father the child?  How indeed will the child be conceived within Mary’s womb?

It is impossible for us to answer all these questions satisfactorily, but asking them may lead us into a deeper understanding of the nature of Jesus, of His humanity and His divinity.  We will always be left with more questions, because what happened was a miracle.  If we cannot live with this, then we will only search the text in frustration.  What we can say for certain is that God’s favour was given to Mary and she was to be blessed with the gift of a son even though she was betrothed and not yet married.  The description given by Luke of the conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb does not dishonour Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, and it does not describe impregnation by the Holy Spirit.  He says that she will conceive because God will come close to her and His ‘shadow’ will fall on her (1:35), and we limit our understanding of the divine miracle if we trivialise these words or exaggerate them.  Finally, Mary abandons her reticence and natural feminine caution and gives her wholehearted ascent to the angel; with the faith of innocence, she trusts the goodness of God.

People have argued over the details of this story for centuries.  However, this does not change the fact that the Messiah was born of Mary, the woman who was the first to respond to God with faith in the New Testament.  Isaiah’s prophecies were fulfilled, and God’s work of redemption had begun.

Luke 1:26-38 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What does the faith of Mary illustrate to you, and how can God’s people learn from her response to God?
2. What does it mean to say that Jesus will be ‘holy’, and be called the ‘Son of God’?  How do people in our world respond to such claims?
3. How does God show His favour to people today?  How do we experience God’s blessing on our lives, even in the midst of difficulties?

Personal comments by author

This is one of those passages of Scripture that is so powerful, we could continue to study almost infinitely and still not exhaust the possibilities of God’s Word.  I have always found it incredible that God chose to begin the work of salvation by focussing on a woman and not a man, and for this reason, we are duty bound to pay special attention to Mary and her role in God’s salvation.  Jesus is our Saviour, not Mary, though her example of faith is one of the most powerful in Scripture; her faith endured every imaginable test in the course of her life until we see her at the end of the Gospel at the foot of the Cross.  We must learn from what the Scriptures say about her.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Over a period of a week, read through this passage each day and allow its message to speak to you in different ways.  Make a record of the different things that come to you in the course of the week.
• Write down what you think is the simplest definition of faith, using this passage to guide you.

Final Prayer

Bless us with true peace, Lord Jesus we pray.  Love us, heal us, comfort as, guide us, forgive us, encourage us, empower us and challenge us we pray.  Turn us into people fit for active service in the Kingdom of our God; we praise You Lord Jesus Christ! AMEN

Bible study for Luke 1:39-45

Luke 1:39-45 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Here is a simple story of joy and delight, telling us what Mary did as soon as she heard the news brought to her by Gabriel.  At the end of his message, the angel had told Mary that her relative, Elizabeth was pregnant (1:36), and she went to see her as quickly as possible.  She went not just to verify what the angel’s news, but to share the great joy that Elizabeth, a woman who had endured years of misery as a barren woman, was now expecting.  This was more than ‘a dream come true’; both women recognised that what was happening was the result of the Lord’s work within them.  They were privileged to be the ones chosen by God to do His will, and their meeting was a glorious reunion, blessed by the presence of the Holy Spirit (1:41) in a remarkable way.

The more we read Luke’s Gospel, the more we come across the Holy Spirit (1:15, 35, 41), and we know that the second volume of his work, the Acts of the Apostles, concentrates on the work of the Holy Spirit amongst the early believers.  By comparison, the Old Testament describes the Holy Spirit only sparingly, inspiring prophets, bringing purity and cleansing, or being an agent of God’s work to save His people (see Psalm 51:11, or Isaiah 63:10,11).  But now, here at the beginning of Luke’s Gospel, the presence of the Holy Spirit within the stories of Jesus’ birth is immediately striking.  Here in this story, the Holy Spirit breaks into the lives of Elizabeth and Mary with unconfined joy and a sense of great celebration.

Mary had travelled with excitement (see ‘going deeper’) to visit her relative, and Luke tells us that Elizabeth is immediately inspires by her greeting.  She is then ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ (1:41) as the child in her womb stirs within her.  This is a precious moment of joy and reassurance for Elizabeth, for whom the whole event was on-going proof of the Lord’s blessing.  Her barren years may well have included miscarriages or still-births, and this powerful sign of life within her own body was the joyous evidence of God’s promise through her husband Zachariah.  So moved, she cried out a powerful prophetic greeting to Mary (1:42-45).

Elizabeth’s prophetic words are important.  Firstly, it is remarkable that in a culture dominated by men, the first prophetic words within the New Testament are spoken by Elizabeth, who is a woman.  She is not commonly regarded as a ‘prophet’, because her pronouncement to Mary happened on one special occasion, but there is no doubt that her words were prophetic.  First, she offered Mary a blessing for what God had done within her, and as a woman, she would have understood the spiritual and physical consequences of this.  She was also the first to bless Jesus as the ‘fruit’ of Mary’s womb.  Now at that time, Mary had only just heard that she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit (1:35), but Elizabeth recognised the significance of both Mary and the child she bore.  She knew that He special and referred to him as ‘my Lord’; and in using these words, Elizabeth was the first to confess Jesus as God’s Messiah.  Not only did she recognise this herself, but so did the baby within her womb, who was John the Baptist (1:44)!

Elizabeth’s last words were very important; ‘Blessed is she who believes that what has been told her by the Lord will come true.’  Elizabeth had held the news of her own pregnancy private for more than six months (1:38), and Mary’s visit was the first time her pregnancy was recognised by someone outside her family.  During the early months of her pregnancy, Elizabeth had retained her belief in what the Lord was doing within her, and now she had the proof through the stirring of the baby within her.  She therefore encouraged Mary to have faith that what she had been told by the angel of the Lord would indeed come true, just as what had been told her husband had come true for her.

Luke 1:39-45 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What does the term ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ mean here in this passage, and what does this same expression mean to us today?
2. Share experiences you have had in which you have been surprised and grateful for what the Lord has done for you
3. How can we be confident that God will fulfil His promises?  Discuss this with reference to your experience of unanswered prayer.

Personal comments by author

Elizabeth encouraged Mary to believe that what she had been told would indeed come true, and in saying this she offered Mary important and significant support and faith.  We all need the help and support of others in our faith, but ultimately, the Holy Spirit is the one who works within us to enable us to receive this encouragement.  We all know what it is like to offer encouragement and find that it has not been received!  In this story, the Holy Spirit was at work in both Elizabeth and Mary, and this is what makes the story so special.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• How do you recognise the work of the Holy Spirit within your own life and that of others?  Make sure that your understanding of this is Biblical and seek to find evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit that you have not seen before.
• Pray that God’s people will hear and read the story of the birth of Jesus with greater understanding this year, and be inspired by what they hear and read.

Final Prayer

We thank You, Almighty God, for the gift of faith.  You have accepted us on the basis of our faith, and yet it is You who have placed faith within us!  Give us the grace to continue to live by faith, to demonstrate our faith and to witness to our faith throughout our lives.  Thank You, Almighty God:  AMEN

Bible study for Luke 1:46-56

Luke 1:46-56 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

This powerful poem has been used by generations of Christians to reflect on their salvation.  Each verse contains concise and expressive phrases, explaining what God has done through Jesus Christ and continues to do amongst His people today.  The poem is known as the ‘Magnificat’ because this is the first word of its Latin version, and it has an important place in the liturgy of many churches because of its broad and expansive description of salvation.

If we think for a moment about the story within Luke 1, we will remember that immediately after responding to the angel Gabriel, Mary embarked on a long journey.  She travelled for around three or four days to go from Galilee in the north to the hill country of Judea to the south west of Jerusalem, in order to tell her relatives, especially Elizabeth, the news.  When she arrived, Elizabeth immediately shouted with delight and blessed her (1:43-45); however, Mary was more thoughtful.  The words of her response come across as series of a well thought out reflections on the salvation of God.  Gabriel had told Mary that the child to be created in her womb would be the Messiah (1:32,33), so it was natural that Mary should reflect on this.

It seems that the starting place for her thoughts were Hannah’s words in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 2:1-10), the well known song of praise sung by the mother of Samuel after she had given birth to him and dedicated him to the Lord in the Temple.  Having been told that her child would be filled with the Holy Spirit, Mary pondered over what this might mean.  Now if you read the song of Hannah, you will indeed find a few phrases that connect strongly between this and Mary’s song;

• My soul acclaims the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour   (Mary – 1:46)
• My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God   (Hannah – 2:1)
• He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly   (Mary – 1:52)
• The Lord … brings low, he also exalts, He raises up the poor from the dust  (Hannah – 2:7)

Such parallels cannot be found throughout the two songs, however, because Hannah’s is a triumphant song, sung as if she is rejoicing at the expense of her husband’s other wife, who had previously chastised her for having no children (see 1 Sam 1:1f.).  Mary, however, has no one to fight and there is no resentment or bitterness in her.  The ‘Magnificat’ reads as if Mary, a young woman from rural Galilee, has been able to piece together the truth about the saving purposes of God from the Old Testament, whilst walking on her journey across Israel, and putting it into song.  She did this by starting with Hannah’s words, but departing from it to add phrases influenced by the prophets, which speak of God’s salvation.  For example, Mary’s phrase ‘He has pulled the mighty down from their thrones’ (1:52) does not come from Hannah, but from Isaiah, who prophesied ‘I have brought down those who sat on thrones’ (Isaiah 10:13).

Every phrase of this great song uses Scriptural words to give a message that is not Old Testament, but New.  It speaks about salvation as the victory of good over evil, of the pure mercy and love of God (1:50), and of the fulfilled Covenant promise of God made to the forefathers (1:55).  It also speaks about salvation as having been accomplished and God’s will having already been done, as if prophesying the work her son Jesus would soon do, to turn the whole world ‘upside down’ (1:53).  Moreover, it prophesies God’s purpose to bring His salvation to the poor and lowly, a theme barely found in the Old Testament but a strong feature of Jesus’ own teaching.

Each verse of this great Scripture is a Gospel treasure store, and worthy not just of our passing attention, but of our very careful consideration.  Moreover, the gift of this song is to lift the heart, like the smile on the face of one who has been blessed by God!

Luke 1:46-56 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. How does this great poem remind you of the saving power of God?  Why is this poem so memorable?
2. How does this poem look forward to the ministry of Jesus, to His life, His teaching, His death or His resurrection?
3. Within your group, describe to each other how you felt when you first knew that you were saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

Personal comments by author

There is absolutely no way that I can deliver a complete set of study notes on a passage such as this!  Moreover, if I were to split it up into chunks, our understanding of it as a single great work of Scripture would be impaired.  I have to hope that by writing as I have done, I have teased open a few doors that will help the reader to explore further into this great and intense poem.  Personally, I regret the fact that many modern churches do not use Scriptures such as this as liturgies to be said by people.  We can all learn so much by repeating them to the point of knowing them inside out.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Take each of the seven great saving characteristics of God, and meditate on them during the course of one week, perhaps using the rest of the Magnificat as a prayer of introduction and conclusion to each act of meditation.
• Read a newspaper and compare what you read in it with what you have read here in ‘Mary’s song’.  Think about the difference between the world and the world as God can make it.

Final Prayer

Glorious Lord; You live in perfect harmony and peace, and You also see the world with all its sinfulness and discord.  Your plan has always been to change the world through Your Saviour Jesus Christ and bring it at last back to its harmony and peace, in You.  Thank You Lord God, for the love we find in Jesus Christ, which makes this real: AMEN

Bible study for Luke 2:1-7

Luke 2:1-7 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

This is the most well known story of the birth of Jesus, and the tale is told with beautiful simplicity and with great intensity of feeling.  There is much that we are not told, but what it does say is extraordinarily powerful, and it makes us feel that we too have been present at the birth of Jesus.  The previous chapter of Luke tells a joyful story about the conception of Jesus by the power of God in Mary’s womb, but chapter 2 begins with the cold reality of life in the Roman world and a three day journey undertaken by the heavily pregnant Mary.  Nothing prepares us for this harshness reality however we glamorise the manger and the swaddling bands in our own versions of the story.  Mary and Joseph were rejected in their hour of need, and Jesus was born where cattle lived and fed (2:7).  There is much joy to come in Luke’s story, but the details he shared would have initially shocked those who first read them.

Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem because of Emperor Augustus’ census (2:1).  However, there is some confusion about the date of this and Luke’s quote, that ‘Quirinius was the governor of Syria’ (2:2).  Scholars have studied this intensely and struggled to find any date when Augustus was Emperor (27BC to 14AD), Quirinius was governor of Syria (6 to 12 AD), Herod was ruler of Israel (37BC to 4BC), and a census was taken of Israel (we will look at this later)!  Nevertheless, although we cannot easily unpick these dates today, Luke states them as well known facts, and we must accept that when the Gospel was first read, people may well have said ‘oh yes, I remember that year!’  Luke was concerned that we who want to know about the life of Jesus begin with facts and not fairy tales, so according to the knowledge available to him, he located the birth of Jesus in real time.

Mystery also surrounds Luke’s report that Mary travelled south from Nazareth to Bethlehem with Joseph.  Why would a heavily pregnant woman travel under such circumstances?  From all we know, only men were required to register and lineage was established through the male line, so Joseph alone was required, not Mary!  There are some good reasons why Mary might have travelled, however.  Firstly, in chapter 1, Mary had travelled down to Judea (where Bethlehem was situated) to meet her relative Elizabeth for the last months of her pregnancy (1:39,56).  Mary may well have wished to give birth surrounded by her own wider family, including Elizabeth.  Secondly, women could sometimes hold property in Israel (see Numbers 27:1f.); and if Mary held property she would have been required to register.  Thirdly, the scandal of Mary’s ‘virgin’ pregnancy (1:5) may well have created a tight bond between Mary and Joseph (see also Matthew 1:18-25), and the two had become inseparable.  Their pledge of marriage was indeed blessed by God, and we are entitled to imagine that any of these reasons lay behind Mary’s difficult journey to Bethlehem.

Whilst so many nativity plays have given us a variety of mental pictures of what happened next, it is best to stick to the simple words of scripture.  Luke tells us that the time came for Mary ‘to have her child’ (1:6).  Even today, when a mother goes into labour, most people will sacrifice time and effort, and offer every possible form of help to the mother and child at what has always been a ‘life and death’ moment.  We therefore cannot over-emphasise the extraordinary nature of the rejection suffered by the family of Jesus at the moment of his birth.  We have no right to try and suggest that this scene of the baby in the stable is somehow a beautiful depiction of a perfect birth.  Jesus was born and clothed, probably with traditional cloths brought by Mary for the purpose, and laid in the hay-trough normally used by the cattle who occupied a part of any normal house or ‘dwelling’ not otherwise used by people, because ‘there was no room for them in the inn’ (2:7).

Luke 2:1-7 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Discuss in your group the mental picture you have about what happened when Jesus was born, and compare it to this story.
2. Why was it important that Jesus should be born as one who was poor and disadvantaged? Why is it important for us today to know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem?
3. What have you learned from reading this passage of scripture today, and what does it tell you about your faith?

Personal comments by author

God did a wonderful thing in Bethlehem two thousand years ago.  It seems a very long time ago, but in the history of the world it is not very long at all.  Also, when we read the story, it is so well known ssssto us that we can almost imagine ourselves there.  I have found it helpful to try and focus on the story as it is told, and rid my mind of the many pictures I have from nativity plays in the past.  In my opinion, the bare story appeals far more than any extended play, and spending time with it helps me appreciate what Mary and Joseph did so that Jesus could be born, for me.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• By all means, dwell on the story, but ask the Lord to help you see beyond the words of the story to the spiritual truths which lie deeper.  Salvation is a wondrous mystery, and people throughout the centuries have discovered that their path of salvation has been blessed by reflecting upon the birth of Jesus.
• In what ways can this story change the world as well as the church?  Now that it is after Christmas, ask some others about this and see if you can agree an answer.

Final Prayer

Praise You, Lord Jesus Christ! You came as a baby, and although You could not speak to us at that time, Your very presence was the most wonderful gift the world could receive! Come again into our hearts right now, we pray: AMEN

Bible study for Luke 2:8-14

Luke 2:8-14 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

This part of the story of the birth of Jesus is told with remarkable simplicity and honesty, and it is impossible for us to imagine the nativity story without the appearance of the angel and God’s ‘glory’, the reaction of the shepherds and the glorious heavenly host singing the praises of God.  These words have meant so much to so many people for centuries, and they still retain their power to inspire and enthuse those who read them.  As we found out yesterday, Jesus had been born in difficult circumstances; but immediately He was born, earth and heaven responded with joy, and a transformation began in Israel that would one day affect the whole world.

The passage begins with the description of shepherds ‘out in the fields’ (2:8) in the region of Bethlehem.  Shepherds did not have a good name in the early first century; their job was the lowest form of paid manual labour, and many were regarded as thieves.  The story presents us with something of a quandary, because while this was the prevailing attitude towards shepherds within Israel, in the prevailing Greek and Roman culture of the day, shepherds represented the idyllic world of paradise!  Are we therefore to think of them as scoundrels or good people?  It is more likely that Luke saw them as poor people used by God, for centuries previously, in these same fields above Bethlehem, the young David looked after his father’s sheep (see 1 Samuel 16).  How typical it was of God to announce the coming of His Son to the outcast poor in a manner that had meaning in the Gentile world, and also had historic importance to the people of Israel!

In typical Biblical manner, an angel made the announcement that God was at work (2:9), emphasising the classic angelic message from God ‘do not be afraid!’ (2:10, see Gen 21:17, 2 Kings 1:15 etc.).  But this time, the angel, presumably Gabriel, gave the greatest announcement that the world has ever heard; it was as if the whole of heaven was bursting at the seams with joy, now that God had at last begun to do the work He had promised through the prophets for centuries.  The Messiah had come.

When Moses had come into the presence of God (Exodus 35) he had been shielded from the full revelation of God’s glory because it was too much for mere mortals.  Now in the second chapter of Luke, we find no holding back, and no hesitation on God’s part.  He is content to show His Son to anyone, without condition, and to announce the birth with heavenly authority and the singing of the heavenly choirs (2:13,14).  Amazingly, the shepherds were the first people to see God in all His ‘Glory’, and see God truly for Himself!  This was an experience to live with for the rest of their lives; though we reckon that they must have told Mary about what they had seen in order for the story to have been passed down to us through Luke.

Here, the words ‘do not be afraid’ have new meaning in Scripture.  In the past, they represented God’s graciousness to individuals by which they could see something of His glory, but the time had come for them to represent God’s final complete revelation of Himself in Christ.  The time had come when the separation of God and humanity was ending, and gulf of sin between them was in its final days.  God’s heart was now open to all people, because the Messiah had come and He was God Himself, revealed in glory ‘today, in the city of David, a Saviour has been born for you, and He is the Messiah, the Lord!’ (2:11).  It is amazing that God should reveal Himself in all His glory to shepherds on that first Christmas night, and  if He was excited to reveal Himself to them, He is just as keen to show Himself to us today through the same Jesus; ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth, peace amongst those he loves!’ (1:14)

Luke 2:8-14 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What does this passage of Scripture tell us about the coming of Jesus into the world, and about God’s salvation?
2. In what ways does the Lord gloriously reveal Himself to people today, particularly people who are not Christians?
3. How important is it for us to hear God’s message as being one of ‘peace’, and what does this mean?

Personal comments by author

We should all be on the lookout for what the Lord would like to reveal to us today, and we will miss Him if we are tied to a routine of life either mentally or spiritually which means that we cannot see or hear the new things that the Lord longs to do in our lives.  I know that most people live their lives by routine, but surely, our lives are pitifully demeaned if we are cut off from the possibilities of God’s grace and the surprises of His call.  Let us be open and alert to how He wishes to reveal Himself to us now!

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Look back on those times when the Lord has appeared to you in some way.  Has this been strange or has it been ordinary?  Now consider how the Lord might need to appear to you today in order to make you sit up and take notice!  What would it take to make you change what you are doing and give attention to something completely different?
• Pray for the church and pray that the message of Christmas will not be forgotten now that the church ‘calendar’ moves on in the New Year.  Make a New Year’s resolution to remember some feature of the Christmas story from now until Easter

Final Prayer

Thank You Lord God that we have all been born as children, and we have grown and been brought up through infancy and youth.  We praise You that this was right for Your Son Jesus as well, and we ask You to help us value our childhood and youth through which we learned so much: AMEN

Bible study for Luke 2:15-20

Luke 2:15-20 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

There are only a few verses in this passage, but it is a powerful reading, and it shows us how the birth of Jesus was already affecting people.  Jesus’ presence, even as a child, was used by God to bring out the best in Mary and the shepherds.  After the angels left (2:15), the shepherds had a choice, whether to believe what they had seen and heard, or to dismiss it.  They chose to set off and find the baby, to verify what they had been told.  This was indeed an act of faith.  Our passage today illustrates essential faith; it describes the shepherds’ faith as they sought to find Jesus (2:16), the faith shown in their testimony to what God had done (2:17), the faith of Mary who ‘treasured all these things ... in her heart’ (2:19), and lastly, faith shown in worship and praise (2:20).  Even as a baby and unable to communicate with people directly, Jesus inspired faith in the people around Him.

It is easy to understand why the shepherds wanted to discover the truth about what they had seen.  The vision of the angelic host of God telling them of the birth of the Messiah was remarkable, but they needed to know whether it was the truth, and there was an element of risk attached to their search.  Leaving the sheep during the night left them open to the charge of neglect, and if found negligent, they could have lost their jobs.  Nevertheless, they accepted the danger and found Jesus quickly enough.  Yesterday, we encountered one theory about how the shepherds may have found Jesus, which was that they knew the ‘cave’ where Jesus was born as the place where the sheep were kept during the winter months.  We should only sit lightly to such theories however, because the Bible only says that they pursued Jesus with ‘haste’.  Their urgency is an example of faith to all who seek to know the truth about God and the news of His Son Jesus.

The point at which the shepherds found Jesus was critical to their faith.  Yet again, we have to put aside our mental pictures of the shepherds at the manger, because Luke just tells us no more than that they found Jesus ‘lying in a manger’ (2:16).  Given what the angels said, it is still reasonable to picture them worshipping Jesus.  After this, and with their faith verified, the shepherds ‘spread the word’ (2:17) about Jesus.  Their testimony to God’s work would have been very basic; they had seen a vision on the hillside at night, been told of the birth of the Messiah (2:10-14), and verified this prophecy with their own eyes (2:17).  People were amazed at what they heard from the shepherds (2:18), but we are told no more.  Luke does not say that people believed in Jesus because of this testimony.  Could it be that social prejudice against shepherds meant that people marvelled yet did not take their word seriously? 

In complete contrast to the admirable public testimony of the shepherds, Mary famously ‘treasured all these things ... in her heart’ (2:19).  This is only a small phrase in the Bible, but it is powerful; and here at the beginning of the Gospel we are told of the great value of storing up knowledge of what God has done.  Mary had experienced so much already, and everything we have read about Mary and the birth of Jesus in Luke 1 and 2 is worthy of a scholarly thesis today!  Yet by thinking about these things, Mary became a great treasure store for the church.  An early tradition of the church tells us that after Jesus’ death, Mary was instrumental in telling the early Christians the truth about Jesus from the earliest years.  It is almost certain that Luke gained his information about these events from Mary herself.

At the beginning of Luke 2, the story of Jesus’ birth was full of uncertainty; would Jesus be accepted in the world?  Through God’s revelation to the shepherds on the hillside and their visit to Joseph, Mary and Jesus, the situation was transformed into one of faith and worship (2:20).

Luke 2:15-20 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

• Discuss how you think that the shepherds may have found Jesus in the crowds of people in Bethlehem.
• What response would the shepherd’s story receive in Bethlehem that night? What does the shepherds’ story mean to God’s people today?
• What does this passage of Scripture teach you about faith and how can you exercise faith like Mary and the shepherds?

Personal comments by author

The shepherds demonstrated the ability to risk all for God, and to tell the news of His salvation to others with enthusiasm.  This is interesting, because we tend to celebrate Christmas by withdrawing from the usual activities of faith and taking a break with our families.  The Shepherds remind us that what we celebrate is really a powerful incentive to the evangelism and mission of the church.  Indeed, the story of the baby Jesus is one of the best tools of mission that Christians possess; so let us use it!

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• How can you tell the story of Jesus in a way that can help people believe that this is true?  How can God’s people witness to the truth of this story today?  Discuss this with others in your church, because this is the beginning of evangelism.
• Take time to consider whether the story of Jesus birth has changed you in any way.  Should it change you, and if it has not, why not?  Discuss this with a friend.

Final Prayer

Lord Jesus; grant us peace as we rest in You, grant us faith as we live for You, and grant us security in knowing that You will always be there for us when we need You.  We praise You Lord Jesus Christ; grant us the security and peace we need to live a life of faith. AMEN

Bible study for John 1:1-5

John 1:1-5 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

The beginning of John’s Gospel is a profoundly moving commentary on Jesus’ coming into the world.  These verses contain some of the most famous verses of the New Testament and are intensely studied by scholars.  They are also loved and read by countless millions at Christmas time, as they seek to think deeply about the meaning of Christ’s coming into the world at Christmas time.  Our passage today speaks eloquently about Jesus’ role in God’s great master plan for the world; He is the ‘Word’, the mysterious combination of God’s spoken word and deed by which the world was made and by which ‘light’ shines into darkness.  The ‘Word’ is Jesus; God made flesh as a real person, the ‘incarnation’ of our divine Creator come to be with us for our salvation and redemption.

These words have a majesty about them which is hard to define, for the words are both simple and yet deeply thought provoking; both plain and highly complex. Jesus’ birth is not announced in John’s Gospel as in the other Gospels, but it does talk of his coming in verses 10 and 11, and we must give ourselves time to allow these majestic words to speak to us with the same awesome power with which they have spoken to generations.

The opening verses of the Gospel take us back to the very beginning of the Bible, to where Genesis starts with the words ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ (Gen 1:1).  John copies this opening but adds that Jesus, the divine ‘Word’, was there in the beginning.  Later on in his Gospel John explains clearly that the Word is Jesus, but he assumes his readers will make this connection immediately, so we will do this too.  Anyone who has read the first chapter of Genesis will recall that God ‘spoke’ each day into existence and his words were the power by which His unique creative work was done.  John began his Gospel by saying that Jesus was deeply involved with this work as the ‘Word’, and he did so to make a point.  Some of his readers believed that Jesus was just the ‘human bit’ of God, or some other appearance of God in human form which was not the same as God himself, as some believe this even today.  John disagreed most strongly, and wanted to make it clear that Jesus was not simply the Word ‘of’ God, but ‘the Word who was God’.  His message is that Jesus was God.

Towards the end of verse 3, John begins a sentence that straddles to verses, and it is sometimes translated unhelpfully so that the sense of it is obscured.  What John says here is important, however, and we need to know exactly what John as trying to say, so I quote them now without the verse numbers ‘What was made in Him was life, and that life was the light of all people’ (1:3,4).  Here then, with powerful clarity, John explains that although God made all things including the mortal life of men and women (Gen 1:26ff), in Jesus the Word, God gives people a different quality of life, something he calls ‘light’.  This fulfils the promise of God found throughout the Old Testament (Gen 12:2,3; Isaiah 49:6 etc.), which says that God will bring ‘light’ into His world, as a metaphor for salvation and the gift of everlasting life.

By saying this, John offers us a powerful explanation of why Jesus has come into the world.  He has come to bring us God’s salvation, something we cannot achieve for ourselves, and something that can only come through Him.  Moreover, the very last verse of this passage tells us that Jesus the ‘light’ has victory over all ‘darkness’, ‘the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it’ (1:5).  This is a major theme of John’s Gospel, which describes how Jesus successfully overcame darkness and death in this world, and through His death, has won a complete victory over all evil.  The joy of Christmas Day is this; Jesus the Saviour has come, and God’s great plan of Salvation has begun!

John 1:1-5 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Read this passage a few times and in your group, describe to each other the different things that come into your minds.  What does this reveal to you about God?
2. What is your own picture of how ‘Jesus’ and ‘God’ are related?  Is it possible to gain a simple definition of this relationship?
3. What does light mean in this passage?  Is it possible to explain this without using the word ‘salvation’?

Personal comments by author

The beginning of John’s Gospel is an amazing piece of writing, and no notes can begin to cover the extraordinary range of what these words mean.  Yet there is also something powerfully simple about the message we find here, and it should not be forgotten.  God has come in human form to provide the way by which people can receive God’s ‘light’ and overcome evil.  The reason why this message is so important is that it is often so simple, people forget it, and though they have responded to the Gospel and to Jesus, they continue to live in sin; John deals with this very subject in his letters (1,2,3 John).  We should remember why Jesus came into the world in the first place!

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• The Christmas season is not one in which it is easy to remember to do anything other than ‘go with the flow’ of what you usually do at Christmas time.  Nevertheless, try to stop and give some space to yourself in which you read the first chapter of John and let it help you think about Jesus.
• Pray for those whose understanding of the Gospel has become distorted by the world, and they have lost sight of its power to change lives.  Pray for those who need to know the ‘light of Christ’.

Final Prayer

We thank You, Jesus, for coming to this world as a child and bringing us God’s good gift of the Gospel.  As we party and celebrate your coming with joy, may we remain sensitive to why You have come, and welcome You as the One who transforms lives for the better, and brings us close to God.

Bible study for John 1:6-9

John 1:6-9 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

In the first five verses of his Gospel, John begins by describing Jesus as the ‘Word’.  This is his way of saying that Jesus is God, and was present at Creation.  John then describes Jesus as the ‘Light’; the One who has come into the world as the Light of Salvation and has therefore broken the powers of darkness (John 1:1-5).  From this point in the first chapter, the idea of Jesus as the Word disappears, and John now concentrates on Jesus as the Light.  But there is another switch.  Instead of focussing on Jesus exclusively, John describes the testimony of the other John, the man we know as ‘John the Baptist’.  This is the same man we know from the other Gospels, who preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins and also told people to prepare for the coming of the Messiah.  John was not divine as Jesus was, he was human, and so his testimony is that of a prophet, ‘he came as a witness to testify about the light ...’ (1:7).

It is most likely that the John who wrote this Gospel was the same John who was a disciple and one of Jesus’ closest friends (described elsewhere as the ‘disciple Jesus loved’ - see John 21:20), and we should not confuse the two.  However, a little known connection exists between the two that suggests John (the Gospel writer) was himself deeply influenced by John the Baptist.  In this passage, John (the Gospel writer) says of John the Baptist, ‘he came ... so that ... all might believe’ (1:7), and quite remarkably, this is almost the same as conclusion to the Gospel of John found towards the end of his Gospel; ‘these are written ... so that ... you might believe ...’ (John 20:31).  John the Baptist may have been the first to bear witness to Jesus as the Light of the World, but John the other disciple realised that it was their task to continue this witness, and so now we do the same, ‘so that ... all might believe’.

The Gospel of John does not bring a conformable message, but one that challenges us to the core.  John wrote about Jesus as ‘Light ... coming into the world’ (1:9), and the emphasis here is on the Universal nature of the Gospel, with words like ‘all’ (1:7) and ‘everyone’ (1:9).  In today’s world, Christianity is regarded as one religion amongst many, and there is great pressure from society, and even from some sections of the church, for Christians to accept that religion is essentially pluralistic.  Some suggest that Christians bring to the world a valuable, moral ‘spirituality’ which enriches humanity along with other faiths.  This, however, is utterly contrary to the Gospel we have received.  John’s Gospel appeals to us to accept that one God has made the world and shows Himself uniquely as one ‘Light’.  This light is found in Jesus, and His revelation of God is valid for all people and for all time.  Jesus is the Saviour of all humanity, and together with John, we must bear witness to Him alone.  Christianity is not a religious system reflecting human choice about life; it is the truth about God and His relationship with people through the Saviour.  John could not be clearer about this.

Scripture reveals one other thing to us, which is that God is always one step ahead of us.  He sees what we do and has to deal with our sins, yet His plans for the world and for us always come to fruition because He is in command of His world.  John the Baptist was one who, by the grace of God, came close to the steps of Jesus; in earthly terms he was one step ahead, but in heavenly terms he was one step behind!  He announced to the world that the Light was coming (1:9); and even as he began his ministry (see the other Gospels, e.g. Matthew 3) Jesus was growing up in Galilee, preparing His ministry and maybe even aware of the preaching of John.  God’s plan is set!

John 1:6-9 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. How important is the testimony of John the Baptist, and how may we follow in his footsteps?
2. Why does Christianity claim to be the truth about God, in the face of claims by other religions?  How can we expect other people to respond to such a claim?
3. What does it mean to talk about Jesus as ‘the true light, which gives light to everyone’?

Personal comments by author

Before studying this passage, I might have said that the testimony of John was not easily translatable into our testimony of Jesus.  However, it is.  When we testify to other people about Jesus, we do as John did.  We tell other people that Jesus is coming, indeed, that He is ‘at the door’, and people may receive Him if they will hear Him.  Of course, we also testify to more about Jesus, and to His death and resurrection.  But pour starting place is the same as John.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Have a good look at what John (the Gospel writer) says about John the Baptist, and identify those points at which you feel challenged by the testimony of John.  What does this text say to you, and how will you respond?
• Where does the ‘Light’ need to shine in our world today?  Talk to some other Christian friends about this and try to create a plan of action that responds to this challenge.

Final Prayer

Jesus Christ, Your servant John the Baptist announced that You were coming.  May we have the courage to do as he did, and announce to the world what You are doing.  May we follow our commission as he did, without fear and with commitment, and as he did, may we stand firm in the face of adversity.  Thank you for the testimony of John.  AMEN

Bible study for John 1:10-14

John 1:10-14 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Within this text, scripture describes for us one of the greatest mysteries of all; the coming of God into the world as a baby.  The Gospels of Matthew and Luke attempt to describe and explain the birth of Jesus, but John does not describe it.  John simply reports Jesus’ coming, seeking to explain something about it; ‘He was in the world ... yet the world did not know Him’ (1:10).  John is so intrigued by this that he does not even talk about the baby’s name or describe the circumstances of His birth; those details we find within the other Gospels, which form the basis of a million nativity plays across the world.  The birth of a child is always a profound mystery of creation, but this birth is utterly unique because God creates not merely another human being within the womb of a mother, but Himself within the womb of Mary.  Jesus is born ‘not of ... human will, but ... of God’ (1:13). 

This entire passage contains some of the most extraordinary and profound words ever written about the coming of God into the world in His Son, Jesus Christ.  The Christmas season is a wonderful season worthy of our fullest celebration, worship and festivity.  It focuses on the story of the birth of Jesus, but we need more than the story.  We need to know about how God was at work in the world through this astounding event, and how His Son came to be the ‘Word’, and ‘Light’ of the world.

The truth about Jesus is not accepted all, but only those who believe in Him.  The church of God’s people carries this truth through history by the power of His Spirit, but it was established after Jesus’ death, so there was a time when this Good News was hidden from the world.  The prophets had told the Jewish people beforehand about the coming of God’s Messiah, but they struggled to accept what they had been told, at least ‘officially’.  So, Jesus was ‘in the world ... yet the world did not know Him’ (1:10).  The tragedy of His rejection by the very people He came to serve, His own race, is almost too much to understand; but we could not claim to be better ourselves.  We, too, look for Jesus in stories rather than face the truth about what His coming means!

The world has always found it hard to accept that Jesus was truly God.  Some say that it would be easier to decide if Jesus had come and said ‘I am God’, but we know this would be mere showmanship.  Jesus came to prove Himself to us by what He said and did, and we are left to decide for ourselves what we make of Him.  John Himself says at the end of his Gospel, ‘these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God’ (20:31).  In order to start our assessment of God’s work in Jesus, John points us to the miracle of His birth (1:13), and the fact that He came to give people the gift of life, a gift from the loving heart of God (1:12).  God Himself became ‘flesh, and dwelt among us ...’ (1:14)

Lastly, John identifies the nature of the basic choice we face when we hear about the birth of Jesus and the coming of God into the world.  We either reject Him or we may accept Him.  This seems obvious to say, but as John sets this out for us, the stark contrast raises this choice to the level of the highest of stakes; ‘He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him ... to those who did receive Him and believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God’ (1:12).

We leave this passage with the wonderful testimony of those who first knew Jesus and accepted the truth God had given them through Jesus, after several years of staying close to Him and hearing His teaching, and after Jesus’ own death and resurrection.  They knew that in this brief period of their lives, they had ‘seen His glory, the glory that comes uniquely from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (1:14).  John and the other disciples bore this testimony and they knew that the message they bore would change the world .

John 1:10-14 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What have you learned new about Christmas this year, either from this passage or in a service of worship, or in any other way?
2. How can we best celebrate the Good News at Christmas time?  Do people want to hear the Gospel at Christmas during the story of the nativity?
3. How may we best pass on the spiritual heritage of faith we have received, especially the news of Christ’s coming at Christmas?

Personal comments by author

Personally, I am fascinated by the words at the end of this passage, ‘full of grace and truth’.  I know that God came in Jesus to show us the redeeming love of God, and His gracious offer of salvation.  However, John says squarely that this is ‘truth’.  It is fashionable today to stand back from any claims of religious truth, yet for me, if Christianity is not ‘true’ in the fullest sense of this, it is a lie.  Frankly, I do not want to live a religious life supported by a lie, I want to live by the eternal truth; nothing is worth more, and I am convinced I have found this in Jesus.  I do not wish to make other people believe this, but I believe it is right for all people to have religious freedom so that in questing for the truth, people are able to consider the claims of the Gospel and of Jesus Christ.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Consider for a few moments whether you feel able to speak to people about the Gospel this Christmas.  Can you celebrate Christ’s coming to earth by telling another person that this story of Jesus is the truth; moreover, it is not just that the nativity story is true, but it is true that God has indeed come, in Jesus.
• Do your best to bless all those you meet, by your manner and the graciousness of your speech and the quality of what you do.

Final Prayer

I offer You my praise, Lord Jesus.  You are God, and You have made Him real to me.  Without You, I would not know God, I would not know truth, and I would not know that I can have a relationship with the one and only God who has made the world.  Alleluia!  AMEN

Bible study for John 1:15-18

John 1:15-18 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

The coming of Jesus into the world as a baby was a unique event in the life of the world, for at that moment, God Himself became a human being, and entered our world as a child with all the limitations and dangers that this entailed.  John wrote this passage many years later, and sought to explain as concisely as possible what this incredible mystery meant.  His basic teaching is that Jesus is the ‘Word’, God’s divine and active presence within the world (1:14).  In this passage today, John explains what he means by this, beginning with a summary of the preaching of John the Baptist (1:15).  He then describes the generosity of God (1:16), the difference between Moses and Jesus (1:17), and why it is necessary for Jesus to come as the divine ‘Word’, so that we can ‘see’ God (1:18).  We can look at each verse separately, but together, they add up to John’s own personal testimony of Jesus.

To begin with, the testimony of John the Baptist is exactly what we might expect of the prophet who comes before the Messiah.  John clearly had a big following in his day, as we can see from the fact that his ‘disciples’ came to see Jesus on various occasions (see Matt 11:1f., Luke 7:20, John 3:23f.).  John was a charismatic figure who preached repentance and strongly opposed the established religious practices of the day, so it is not surprising that he had many followers in his own right.  There is also some evidence of groups of his followers continuing some time after his death in the first century; and on several occasions the Acts of the Apostles mentions those who preached ‘the baptism John preached’ (Acts 10:37, 11:16, 18:25f. and the Christians at Ephesus – Acts 19).  It was therefore very important for John (the Gospel writer) to emphasise that this great preacher said himself that he was not as important as Jesus, God’s Messiah; he said, ‘He who comes after me is more important than me because He was before me’ (1:15), and in so doing, honoured Jesus.  When a great man honours another, we know that we should listen to his testimony.

John’s personal testimony is this, ‘from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace’ (1:16).  This is John’s expression of gratitude to the Jesus he knew and loved.  Over the time they shared together, Jesus had taught him so much and they had shared some precious moments together, which were undoubtedly a highlight of John’s life.  However, John knew that Jesus’ love was not exclusive, He shared Himself completely with all those around him.  John knew that what he had received from Jesus was truth, love, compassion and eventually the forgiveness of his sins (20:19-32) and the gift of eternal life.  This was  truly ‘grace upon grace’.

Secondly, John wanted to make clear a vital part of Christian testimony, particularly to Jews and to those who did not know the difference between Jews and Christians.  His testimony was that even though the Jews believed Moses passed on the most important revelation of God within the Law, the truth was that this law was only a shadow of what God intended to give His people through the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus.  Judaism was stuck in legalism, but Jesus replaced this with a relationship with God based upon redemption and grace.  The testimony of God’s people is the same today, and if the Christian church gives a different impression, then it has departed from the truth as well as its heritage.

Finally, John describes in one brief sentence the mystery of Jesus’ relationship with God (1:18).  God is Almighty, all-powerful and unseen by human eyes, but if we want to know what God is like, we must look at Jesus, God’s Son.  We know this today, so it sounds easy to say.  However, this statement was utterly revolutionary in the first century AD, and it is impossible for us to fully grasp the significance of these words here at the beginning of John’s Gospel.  John’s testimony is that through Jesus we may both know about God and perceive something of what He is like, and also come near to God because of Jesus’ grace and love.  There is no more powerful testimony.

John 1:15-18 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What have you received from the Lord that you could describe as ‘grace upon grace’?  Do you testify to what God has done for you?
2. How importance for Christian faith is Moses and his work, and how does this differ from its importance for Jews?
3. What has Jesus taught you about the nature of God?  Does this affect you in any way?

Personal comments by author

These passages within John’s Gospel are treasures of Scripture.  Each phrase tells us something about Jesus, but in very different ways.  I find each verse challenging, and feel that my own testimony of Jesus is lacking somewhat, by comparison.  Nevertheless, the purpose of Scripture is to inspire us not to put us down!  Instead of aspiring to get my testimony ‘right’, I need to make sure I speak out what God has given me, just as John did.  His testimony is in Scripture because it was unique.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Somewhere in this passage there is a challenge for each of us, for we all need to grow in our testimony of God’s work in our lives.  If our testimony is the same today as it was several years ago, we should ask what has been going on!  How has your own testimony of God’s grace grown over recent years?
• How does testimony take place within your church, and what steps can be taken to establish a place where people hear what others have to say about their faith in Jesus, and their relationship with God.

Final Prayer

Merciful Lord, I long to be a better person for You, living a life that shows more faith, and trusting in Your death and resurrection.  Help me exercise my faith in every circumstance of my life, in my work, in my home and in the privacy of my mind.  And may I know Your peace all my days:  AMEN